A View of the Gardens

A conversation with Savannah on a walk lead to a spur of the moment decision to add a large garden to the front yard. The area had been in dis-repair for years. The arborvitae had died from water damage, we finally repaired the problem, a small retaining wall was built and then.... We had no other plans except to plant grass. I was so happy with the decision to make a garden space that we got right on it! 

Two days after our plan was hatched excavation began two houses down to build a new home. Mario asked if we could have some soil dumped in our front yard and few days later it was there! Very rich soil with no rocks and minimal sticks. Savannah and Spencer helped us shovel the soil. Without them I fear how long it would have taken. After the area was prepped Mario and Spencer built the boxes. The next weekend Chial and Nikki helped us shovel again, filling the boxes with soil. We got some compost to amend the boxes and barkdust to surround them. 

Leo was not happy working in the yard!

I got to planting right away!

I have tomatoes and basil. Cauliflower and broccoli. Sweet peppers and jalapenos. Zucchini, cucumbers and squash of different varieties. Carrots in the planter and marigolds, calendula and nasturtium seeds are planted around the edge of the boxes. I have a variety of sunflowers planted along the retaining wall. Can't wait to see how it all looks in a few more weeks.



This is the box I planted entirely with corn. Only 15 seeds sprouted! Such a disappointment as I dreamed of the sweetest corn I have ever tasted. The corn I grew in my very own garden last summer and only ate one sweet ear of. I dreamed of rows and rows of sweet corn to harvest.

I replanted the seeds two days ago. I hope it's not too late and we'll get a good crop. If these seeds don't germinate then I'm putting beans and lettuce in. And that is snap peas growing on the side. We still need to put a trellis up for the peas and beans.

Here is my side yard garden with abundantly growing kale, spinach, chard and cilantro, and peas in the back (and weeds. lots of weeds). I recently planted beets for the first time. Now that we are juicing more I love beets in my juice. I have even tried using them in other dishes and I think I'm liking them.

Here is my backyard garden box. My tomatoes usually do well back here so I have five plants. The rest are in the front yard. I also have some zucchini with some fruit almost ready to harvest. Newly planted cilantro, lettuce, spinach and kale. (I think the chickens may have gotten to some of the newly planted seeds this weekend. I accidentally left the garden fencing open and saw some suspicious holes. We'll see what happens. I may have to plant again.) I also just planted some scarlet runner beans on the right side of the box. I love scarlet runners and they are hard to find, but I just found some this weekend at Naomi's where I get my chicken food. They'll look pretty in bloom near the fire pit.

Garden Goodies

The garden was put in very late this year. I didn't want a repeat of last year, which was I put the garden in very early and then we had weeks and weeks (months?) of rain and I lost just about everything. Plus having the chickens free ranging the yard didn't help because whatever was growing they were eating!

So the garden went in much later than I had planned. I bought almost all of my starts at Grocery Outlet. I know, who'd of thought? But they were all organic and cheap and I was there so it made it easy. All that rain we had most of the summer made my garden lush and green. And just as I wondered if I would actually get any fruit on those vines they appeared! Zucchini, broccoli, cucumbers, spinach, lettuce, snow peas. Yellow squash are beginning to appear. Waiting on the carrots. Last week got a few handfuls of cherry tomatoes and I'm waiting on the rest of the tomatoes to redden up. Most of my tomato plants are heirloom, my favorite! My cauliflower plants are big but I don't see anything on them yet.

The chickens have a new home so they aren't free ranging in my garden anymore. This means not only more vegatables, but more eggs, as I don't have to scour the yard looking for all of their sneaky hiding places to lay eggs. Right now we are getting anywhere from 5-10 eggs a day (usually around 6-8). I LOVE having an abundance of eggs in my fridge.

Believe it or not I also LOVE the abundance of zucchini. It has been years since I've grown a prolific zucchini plant, which was beginning to mess with my confidence! I'm running out of ideas for the cucumbers, though. If anyone has any ideas or recipes let me know!

And come on tomatoes.....I'm eagerly awaiting your arrival!

All Because Of A Hammock

I guess the hammock is the reason we've been "remodeling" our backyard for the last three weekends. When we realized it wouldn't fit the hammock frame that we already had, we needed to find another place to hang it. The perfect location was hidden by brush and branches. Very soon it will be done. As soon as we lay the bark chips I will take pictures of the results. I'm excited to have about 20 feet added to my back yard. Oh, and doesn't Emilia look adorable chillin' in the hammock?

The Anti-Vaccine Midwife Gets A Shot!

I'm forecasting late nights by the fire outside, afternoon iced teas with friends, lazy afternoon reading in the hammock, the dog frolicking in the grass and cleaning up the chicken poop that's everywhere. At least they give us yummy eggs to eat.

Do you want to come over and play with me?

We've been mighty busy over here creating an outdoor space that feels happy:) I'm pretty happy with the results.

Saturday morning while I ran some errands my husband went crazy! I came home and he had chopped a whole bunch of our HUGE tree off, creating a whole new shady space for our hammock. I was thrilled that he used his strong muscles and got so much done while I was gone.

He really deserved this break.
(Yes, it's an apple and hot powder)

Then I decided to paint the hen's house....

While moving things around I stepped on a chicken poop covered rusty nail while wearing flip flops! Ay Carumba, that hurt!!!! But I kept on working. (Being the dedicated backyard fixer upper that I am) Mario mentioned something about a tetanus shot. Oh that. Hmmm..... well it has been 22 years since I've had one.

No way was I going to waste that beautiful Saturday sitting in urgent care to get a freaking vaccine. I don't even vaccinate my kids for hecks sake. I'd think about it and read about it and then decide. After 24 hours (and some mighty strong words of warning from others) I did my homework and decided that YES I would get the vaccine. Statistically I was going to be ok. But on the small chance that little poop covered nail did carry some tetanus, well that's some serious sickness that I didn't want.

Sunday afternoon I consulted with the Kaiser advice nurse. I had some questions and the sweet lady was patient with me. When I told her I don't go to the doctor much she said in the sweetest voice, "I can tell". They need to make a "Navigating Kaiser Permanente for Dummies" book just for me.

On Monday I consulted with my Naturopath, who concurred on my decision to get the vaccine. So I headed to the Nurse Treatment window (they don't even charge you to go in and get vaccinated) and got my shot. I was a little pissed that I wasn't getting just the tetanus. I asked for the Td, but the snooty nurse said they had to give me the Tdap, just to be on the "safe" side, since there was an outbreak of pertussis. Oh well.

Here's the ironic shot of the anti-vaccine midwife getting a shot


Oh, and one of the finished projects, our new fire pit area.
Did I mention how happy I am with how the backyard is coming along?
AND SERIOUSLY, I LOVE COMPANY.

The First Half Dozen

Don't they look like pretty Easter eggs?
They are fresh from the hen and tasted oh so good!

Meet my Little Ladies

Went to pick up my hens yesterday. They are Banty's which means they are much smaller than a regular hen (therefore: less food consumed, less poop and smaller eggs). I have 2 Ameraucana's and 1 Barred. The barred is already laying and we got our first egg this morning! The Ameraucana's may be laying but the woman we got them from isn't quite sure. In any case, they should begin laying soon.

The biggest challenge is Amos. No surprise there! We can't figure out if he's excited or terrified. Maybe a little of both. But he sits at the back door whining and scratching to go out and when he's out he is barking and terrorizing the chickens!