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.

We Were Gardening Fools Today!

Happy Sunday Everyone!

Started out by making a quiche for Kermit and me.  It turned out well.  Late breakfast, laid around and goofed off until about 11am.

After breakfast, Kermit and I got to work!

Yesterday, we went plant shopping at Hay's in Clarkston.  They have really good plant stock. 

A plug for Green Things Nursery in Orofino - don't know I'd survive without their local knowledge! 

Today, 9 bags of dirt with manure mixed in from Orofino Builder's Supply.  All of my finished compost, and the leaf/bunny shavings mix I had rotting.

Planted

Early Girl
Roma
Gypsy Pepper
Sun Gold
Anaheim
Pablano
Jalepeno
24 annual flowers mostly Dianthus, Wave Petunias in burgundy, and some grasses for filler.
Quinalt strawberries
Basil - wherever I get this, they come all packed together and you have to rip the poor things apart.  They are all floppy right now, but they always seem to snap into it and produce like crazy.

Seeded 

Chard
Radish
Annual flower that I did not identify for the envelope last year.  It says "I have no idea what this is, but I must have liked it since I saved it."  Now there's some good record keeping for you.

Fiber Optic Grass with Raspberry Dianthus

Roma Tomatoes, Basil, and Radishes

Early Girl Tomatoes, Basil, and Radish

Strawberry Patch  - Quinalt from Green Things and Hay's in Clarkston.
It has welded wire and netting over is so I actually get to eat some of them.  The dogs and birds love the.

Lettuce - almost ready to eat!  Will seed some more on Monday.
Welded wire so the birds didn't eat the seed.
Last year was not a good lettuce year because nothing sprouted.

The chipping and shredding pile from heck.

But then that pile turns into the BEST mulch EVER.

I'll put up the annual mix tomorrow.  

I'm a little sunburnt, but I feel great.

Got to REALLY play in the dirt today!

First of all, a BIG thank you to Joan at Green Things Nursery for selling me strawberry plants when they were technically closed.

I was going to try to plant them up on the hill, but I gave up that idea when it was obvious I'd have to spend at least a week relocating other stuff to make it happen, and that isn't going to happen.

Planted Today:
Pink Lemonade Highbush part Deu.
We planted one last year and the thing died.  Got it from a different source this year and put it in a different spot.  If it produces, it will have pink blueberries!

Elliot Northern Highbush
Smaller variety, blueberry.  When I put this in, I found the rootball to the bush I tried last year.  Did not change AT ALL.  No root growth at all, no wonder it didn't survive.

I planted 25 strawberry plants, and cannot for the life of me remember their name.  They are a variety that grows runners.  I put a cage over the bed to keep the birdies and rottweilers out.  Ok, not Rottweilers, but CiCi!!!!  She has no concept of "Keep the heck out of my beds" yet.  She's getting better.  Lucky she's cute.

The lettuce looks like lettuce now.  Fresh greens in a few weeks!  A bunch of cilantro is sprouting.

Daffodils and Hyacinth faded.  Lilacs and Narcissus are on their way.  Red and yellow tulips in full bloom.  Looks like they actually naturalized a little.  I picked some Tulips from out front because I rather enjoy them inside than let the deer eat them.  Deer LOVE tulips. And lots of other things.

Some pictures from a few days ago:

Miss CiCi

Toad House

Pepper - 10 yr old Rabbit - eating Lemon Verbena!

Can't remember the name.  Very STINKY bulbs.  Deer HATE IT.  I LOVE IT.

Daffodils

Hyacinth

A good roll on the grass

Lettuce.  Three varieties there.  Spreckles, don't know, Red Sails.

Red Tulip - Doubled in spread in 4 years.

Yellow Tulip - about the same naturalization.

Just a log post

In Bloom:
Early Tulips
Grape Hyacinth
Regular Hyacinth
Dandelions are starting

Budding:
Lilacs
Narcissus

Planted:
Huntington Carpet Rosemary
Zones 8-10, so it's a long shot that they'll be here next year.

Blood Veined Sorrel
Annual Ornamental/Culinary

First day of GARDENING SEASON!!!

It's the middle of February, and I planted seeds.  Lettuce and Snow Peas.

I must have had my act together in the Fall, because I have 2 beds that are completely ready for planting, and one where I need to fill it with compost and dirt, and I'm done with that one.

The beds I use for flowers and vegetables are pretty much ready too.  I'm not going to till this year.

Since I cannot rotate my night shade crops, I need to do some research and see what I need to do in order to recharge the soil. I really don't want to pull up all of my supports in order to plant a Spring cover crop and till it in.

Things I want to plant this year:
Lemon Grass
Roma
Early Girl or other early variety 
ONLY two sungold plants  (last year was the year of the cherry tomato)

Of course, I saw a bunch of things in the gardening catalogs that I would like, but don't remember them now.

We've had a LOT of birds in the backyard already this year.  Finches, Woodpeckers, Juncos, Grosbeaks, and some Tanagers (I least I think they were).

I saw one this morning that I need to ID again.  I've looked it up before, but I don't see them often enough to remember.

Today was "Clean Up Day" in the yard.  Sifted dirt, put dirt out, turned the compost.  There were soooo many worms.  A few really large ones.  Trimmed some bushes, raked up Fall debri, cut back the roses.

One piece of advice I got from Marc McGrath of gardening fame was "Leave the tomatoes up on the supports if you live in the North.  When Spring comes, it will be easier to clean up."  It definitely is.  They're all dried up and just snap right off the supports.

Raked the bed that were ready to plant, put out eggshells.  Last year, I think a lot of seeds got eaten.  This year, I put welded wire with netting over it up to keep the birds and our new dog out of the bed where I put the lettuce.

Here's to Spring!

A day in the life of a Fleuron Puppy!

I'm such a good girl.  My name is CiCi

I like to play bitey-face with Auntie Sofie ALL the time.

Sometimes Mom has to Lesson Plan or Grade Papers (whatever they are).
Then I have to go in my x-pen.

That's OK.  I like it in here.  She gives me lots of toys, and I....zzzz.

I go outside quite often.  I have no idea why.  Then we come back in and play some more.

Sofie and I play tug, and she always lets me win.

DAD's HOME!!!  I greet him at the door with Sofie.

This is Penny.  She loves me.  We nuzzle.  Dad still gives her plenty of attention.

When Sofie and I are playing, sometimes she gets concerned.
Or maybe she just thinks we're crazy.

Then I flop over again.  Being a puppy is HARD WORK.

I can't help being cute.

I get lap time with Dad.  He says to enjoy it while I can.
I do not understand this.  I'll always be a lap dog.

When it's really dark, and the humans start yawning, we go to our crates.  I am soooo good, I only cried for 10 minutes the first night.  I needed to let them know I am just a puppy.  But I like it so much in there, I've given up the ruse and just flop myself down and sleep until Mom or Dad's alarm goes off.  My Aunties and I wake them up on days the alarm does not go off promptly at 6am.  They must have forgotten to set it!

Catch up Post!

I had a great garden year.  I pickled many cukes, processed and froze many tomatoes.  Flowers didn't do so well this year.  I will try to be a better blog citizen next year just for my garden records alone.  I will not like the Iris of Garden Season 2015 when I go back and find....nothing.

We went to Oregon for a week and had a great time with my friends Steph and Wulf.  Met two of their friends who are very nice people.

We got a puppy!  Sharon Marples of VonMarc Rottweilers had a bitch available from the litter we met in August.  What a lucky break!  We thought they'd all been placed, but Sharon kept two and decided to place the last one.  WITH US.  Whooo Hooo!!!

The story of a girl and 5 birds

A few weeks ago, I was puttering in the yard and thought I saw a weed in the middle of a plant.  I put my hand in to get it and pulled out...a bird's nest.

After closing my mouth  - it was gaping open stupified at the dumb thing I just did.  I shoved the nest back into the plant as best I could.  It had three little spotted eggs in it. 

Anywere from a few days to a week later, I was in the spot checking to see if I had woven it in back in well enough.  Obviously not, because the nest was on its side.  I looked down, and two of the little ones were on the ground.  I'm talking brand new with hardly any fuzz on them.  Now this is in the Dog Yard.  Luckily, I have very lazy dogs that never go out to their yard while I'm at work.  I picked them up, put them back in, and then devised a way to fortify the nest.

Fortified Bird's Nest.  That is garden fabric that rain goes through. 
I stuffed it with straw then put the trail of plant and nest into that approximately where it was built.

Momma or Poppa Bird in the nest with the wee ones.

I felt so bad for disturbing them in the first place!  Since then its been rainy and windy with no ill effects.  Mom and Dad bird take turns feeding, and they have not abondoned the nest.  If I get in a particular spot in the yard, I can see the fuzzbies in there.  All three are still there and are getting fat and sassy.  Definitely more fuzz on them.

Hard Working Duo taking care of the Fuzzbies.

Since it's in the Dog Yard, no cat in their right mind would be back there.  That's a plus.

I feel much better now.  It's a part of the dog yard that I'm in quite a bit and they have gotten very accepting of me being around.  They'll dart back and forth while I'm out there with the bunny.

Here's two pictures of who I believe is the Momma Bird.  I think the one that is male is a little fluffier with a bigger darker spot on its chest.

Mmmmmm....bugs.  It's what's for dinner.

Now that I have a nice picture, I'll re-look up what they are and edit this caption.

Now that they are settled, I hope all three make it to the flight stage.  Live and be well birdies!

A sneak preview of Spring!

What a wonderful day!

Got some bills paid, did a little tech research.  And then something great happened - the sun came out!

I had some errands to run so I did those first.  When I got home I leashed up the girls and took them out for a nice long stroll.

I started a new Ann Rule book on my tablet.  I love the Kindle app.  

The outdoors kept beckoning me.  Out I went and got really muddy.  I pulled some perennial Vinca out of my border and transplanted a dwarf Rhododendron.   When I pulled it out I was really disappointed in the root growth.  It's been in the ground for two years and it popped right out in mostly the same shape that it was planted in.  Which means it was horribly root bound and the roots are probably just still circling in.  I might dig it up again and box cut the roots. 

There were some Lillies that stuck out like a sore thumb after they bloomed last year, so I dug those up and put them behind some bushes so the foliage would be hidden but not the flowers when they bloom.  They came with the house, I'm not sure what kind of Lillies they are.  They were about 4' tall last year.  The corms were huge.  I was able to split one into three sections.  So more Lillies this Summer.

No early fake Spring day is complete without playing in the compost pile.  I have MAJOR wormage.  That's my term for big, fat, multitudes of worms.  

The fish have come out of hibernation and were greeting Sofie and I.  Penny opted to stay in and cuddle by her heat register.

It started to rain a little and I don't work outside in the rain.  I brought my muddy self in and it took a good 10 minutes to get all the mud out of my fingernails, because of course I did not wear gloves.  As if the day could not get any better, I look up and there is a FULL RAINBOW.

Cooked dinner, now I'm sitting on the Sofa with Sofie listening to Jazz and Classical.  With some Trip Hop thrown in.

Bliss.

Yup, it's still Winter here.

I must say I find my Weather Bug notifications amusing.

Every day - "Hey, it's Winter!"  Snow advisory, wind advisory, etc. etc.

In honor of Weather Advisory, I give you Snow Pics.

Sofie and Penny in the backyard having fun:

Penny always walks on the perimeter of the yard.

I took a big pink ball out for Sofie to play with.

"I hear a neighbor - Constant Vigilance!"

Digging - "There's Bunny Pan Mulch down there!"

The Pond in Winter.

We saw a new bird!  The color is off because I had to take these through the window.  If I tried to even squeak the window open it would fly away.

We looked the birdie up last night, and found out it is a Thrush.  Very poofy and LARGE.  When it sat on a small branch to eat the crab apples, the branch would sag.

Thrush in a Crab-Apple Tree

It's great to see a new bird!