June as I remember them from years ago

Rain.  Lots of rain.  Good for planting, not so good for getting the leaves chipped and shredded to use as mulch.

Here's a link to more pics:
https://goo.gl/photos/xWpS12dpvns3JXkd6

I also planted some Pink Muhly Grass out front.  Right now, it looks like a tall crabgrass.  I am hoping the blooms are all the magazines say they will be.

Below are some random pics from today just to spruce things up a bit.

Larkspur that seeded on it's own from about 5 stalks last year.  The hummingbirds LOVE this plant.

Lillies. I have to move them next year.  The laurel is shading it too much and they're having to lean very far left to be seen.  

Lamium, English Ivy, some kind of mint creeper that I can't remember the name of.  Calendula in the background.  The rabbits eat those, and can be put in salads for humans too.

New container garden for the year.

Our Koi.  The big white fish is 13 years old, and the spotty one is 4.

What a DAY!!!

Oh my Goodness, what a fabulous day.

First off, we have a woodpecker looking for love.  On our METAL propane vent attached to our chimney.  Sounds like a drill, and he likes to look for love early in the morning.  So I'M up early in the morning.  Even poor Kermit only got to sleep until 7am.

Mad a new quiche/frittata thing in the morning.  Shredded potato, cheese, bacon, eggs.  Turned out really nice.  Next time I'm upping the temp and cooking it shorter.  Took an hour at 350 degrees.

At around 10am, we headed out for a Clearwater County Safari!  Up and around the loop to Pierce/Weippe.  Took a side trip to Headquarters.  Took CiCi along and let her out to romp around from time to time.  Took a bunch of pics, which I will post on my Facebook Account since none of you actually read my blog.  Kermit reads it, and leaves anonymous comments.

I'll insert pics here tomorrow.

Ate a very nice lunch at the Pioneer Inn in Pierce. My club sandwich was great, and Kermit had their chili burger which they served open face like civilized people do.  I took half of mine home because the portions were sooo big! 

Got home, took a nap, then we walked the pooches around the park.  There was a big party at the City Park, with a bounce house.  The kids were using the splash pad and having a blast.

Now to the gardening part!!!

When we got home, I planted the following:

Two kinds of radishes (Belle types)

Carrots (Nantes - not as long because of our clay type soil even with amending)

Lettuce Mix

I tried the "Potato Experiment"  I took some clippings of rose bushes I wanted to start.  One from next door that has the daintiest pink blossoms.  The deer have been trying to kill it for years, but it survives.  The other one is a nice climber that I wanted to mix with the Lilacs and the Hummingbird Vine.  We'll see how it goes.  You stick the the cutting into a potato, supposedly keeping it moist.  I want to know the following:  What if I get a crop of potatoes under it?

WELCOME SPRING!!!

The OFFICIAL First Day of Spring!!!

What a fantastic day it was too.

Kermit and I made a nice Sunday breakfast, I worked on the yearbook a little in the morning.

Being such a nice day, we had to go on an adventure!  Opened up the Jeep, and off we went.  We took CiCi and Sofie to "Heart of the Monster" in Kamiah for a walk and some tracking training.  CiCi trained, Sofie played.  It is so cool to see CiCi when she's in tracking mode.

Came home, and did a bunch of yardwork.  Pulled up the leaves on the perennial beds and put them in the HUGE PILE to be chipped and shredded over Spring Break.

Transplanted my strawberries to a new place, We're going to be replacing the raised beds this year, so I needed to clear the bed under the pile of bags in the foreground.  Picture in the gallery below.

The bunnies both got to play in the yard today.  I only took a picture of Walter though.

Did some minor upkeep on the beds.  Sat and thought about what I want to change this year.

I dug up the hollyhocks today.  Their leaves never looked great, and they were too tall for where they were planted.  I was just done with them.  Shorter plants will be but in their place as not to block the view to the rest of the yard.

Mike grilled chicken for dinner and I sat by the pond, watched the fish, petted the dogs.

Now I'm back inside writing this.  I did finish a background for the yearbook.

ENJOY SPRING!!!

...

Welcome to Spring!

After the snow and cold dispersed, it was really wet.  So I haven't had time to really play in the dirt.

That all changed today!!!

So for my gardening soul, Spring started today, no matter when the official start is.  

I turned over and separated out 3 compost piles.  Took the matted leaves out and sprinkled them in an empty bed to dry out.  When the leaves get a little crispy, I'll put everything through the chipper shredder, add manure, and hopefully it will compost fast.

Prepped my new strawberry bed.  Will transplant tomorrow.  My raised beds need rejuvenating, so I won't have as many veggies this year as a rebuilding year.  Might redo the raised beds in a more artistic manner.  Lots of ideas from Pinterest.

Plants that have come and gone already:  Crocus, Snowdrops.

In Bloom:  Daffodils

Budding in serious mode:  Crab Apple, Lilac, Roses, Weigela, Willow.

Item that has taken over the yard, and it's OK with me:  Leaf Celery.  It's nice looking, only grows in clumps, digs out nicely.  So I let it do what it wants within reason.  I wonder if the rabbits can eat it.  I'll look that up.

The Crabapple tree has been such a joy since its addition.  The squirrels feed off it, the rabbits eat the dried trimmed limbs.  It is the perfect size for the site.

Here are some pictures of the squirrels feasting this Winter.

I should start taking enough pictures to record the color markings like they do on National Geographic.

I am so glad they eat all of these! 

{Le-sigh}  WELCOME SPRING!!!

Wow, so much has happened....

The yard grew of course since May.  Lettuce ended, peppers and tomatoes are ripening on a regular basis now that it is August.

My veggie beds need a rest next year.  The plants just aren't as big, harvest is down.  So next spring will be the "Year of the Soybean."  Plant the whole thing in them and flowers and let it go.  It will help rebuild the soil.

This Fall, I'm planning on replacing my raised beds after 10 years.  A little tweaking on the size and placement, but not a lot.

On to pictures!

Here's a few from June:

CiCi with her buddies the Koi

Walter the Rabbit

 

Pepper in a patch of Lemon Verbena.

Right now, the verbena is about the only perennial that looks half way decent.  Man, it's dry out here.

Some Garden Notes

What has worked:

• Shredding leaves for mulch and adding rabbit bedding.
• Buying herbs and annuals from Hay's in Clarkston
• Chard has done great
• Strawberries used in perennial beds (for looks, not covered so the birds and dogs are getting the fruit) - I do intend to put a permanent strawberry bed SOMEWHERE up on my hill with a cover.  
• All the plants I picked for the pots around the pond are doing wonderfully.
• So far so good on the new blueberry plants.
• One regular
• One pink blueberry bush
• Snow peas did great in the half circle frame.  I'll do that again.

What has NOT worked:

• Welded wire covers over beds with bird netting.
• Robin got caught in it.  Hence, the need for a better location and cover for strawberries.  
• Plus, it just didn't look neat and it got in the way  - A LOT.
• Waiting forever to ship and shred leaves.  Do it earlier next year!
• The year round lettuce never sprouted.  Either it is too hot, or the birds ate them.
• I am going to make frames with bird netting when we make the new raised beds. The seeds need to be protected.
• The lawn.  The freakin' lawn.  Getting water but is UGLY. Need to aerate and fertilize better next year.

Overall, the yard is still our little slice of sanctuary.  Green, water, aaahhhhh.

Just another day out there in the garden.

Emotionally, it's been a tough week for hubby and I.  I thank God for our house and garden as our sanctuary.

I did promise some pics of lettuce!

Snow Peas and Lettuce Mix

Today I planted two kinds of cucumbers.  Marketmore and Burpless.  One is tall, the other is not, so I planted them every other one so they would intertwine.

Marketmore and Burpless Cucumbers

These pics are taking For.ev.er. to upload.  I'll do some more another day.

Gardening Today

Put out a half full bin of finished compost.  Three wheelbarrows of dirt went into the fenceline perennial bed in the side yard.

The pups were out there with me of course.

I found two tree peony seedlings!  Supposedly, they are very hard to grow from seed.  I wonder what color they will be.  I do not know if they are true to color from seed.

For dinner tonight, I am being able to serve my first fresh salad!!!  Freckles, Red Sails, and Butter.

Two wrens are back and nesting in the "Snow in Winter" plant in the dog yard.  This year I saw them, so I know not to go sticking my hand in the plant.

It was pretty windy, so we didn't spend a lot of time sitting out in the yard.

Tomorrow I'll post some pics of the grown up lettuce bed.