One Green Year

Feb. 11, 2012 - D42

2012-02-11T22:37:00.000-08:00

The frogs are singing up a storm out at the farm, tonight. They're so loud I could hear them from inside the house with all the doors and windows shut. So many different voices and tones - even the tree frogs must be part of the chorus.

There are some broken clouds, but it's still clear enough to see Orion and Taurus facing off in the night sky. I haven't heard a weather report. I hope the rain isn't coming in for tomorrow, no matter what the frogs say.

I finally got to do a little gardening this afternoon. I made a cook's herb garden for the deck, using a big pottery planter. In the center I planted one of my water-rooted "Miss Jessop" rosemary starts. (The other one went into a little pot by itself.) Around the edges I planted English thyme, oregano from my greenhouse, and chives and parsley "stolen" from my raised beds. It looks pretty good, for now. When I cook, I'll have to snip some thyme from the inside and give the rosemary a chance to branch out.

Here's the other rosemary start. I want to put it in a window box on the railing along with some of the other culinary herbs, all in separate pots. Sage and several types of basil would look good there, and maybe some kind of mint.

After I finished the herb pot, I went to my shop and checked on the so-called "Christmas" cacti. (That's plural, right?) Well, mine are confused or something because they've been blooming their hearts out since November. There are enough buds on them to last until St. Patrick's Day. Are they supposed to last this long?

I guess I've given them perfect conditions - an unheated shop, a west window, and I only remember to water them every couple of weeks. Otherwise I leave them alone and they're perfectly happy.

One thing I did this afternoon that's only vaguely gardening related was to spray paint my plant stand. It was black - which I can't stand - so I sprayed it gold.

I need to give it a second coat tomorrow, but already it looks better. I'm so sick of seeing black everywhere - clothes, cars, picture frames, etc. It's like the world got very depressed somewhere along the way. Well, I'm here to brighten up my little corner. I like color and shine, even on lowly plant stands.

The last thing I did in the yard today was to plant the three yellow primroses I bought on Mom's birthday outing. I put them with the white ones in hopes that they'll multiply as happily as their brothers.

This was a very satisfying day. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

Feb. 10, 2012 - D41

2012-02-10T22:13:00.000-08:00

Today it drizzled, sprinkled, and misted - everything but a good honest rain. At mid-morning we had wind and drizzle, just for something a little different. It wasn't a great gardening day.

However, I'm happy to report that three of my zinnias have sprouted, and there's something coming up in the catnip pots. They're so thin and weedy looking, I'd think they were weeds if I hadn't used sterilized seedling mix. Now I remember. The problem with starting seeds early is there's not enough daylight for the seedlings to grow strong and stout. It's been a long time since I tried this, but it's coming back to me.

Tonight, I rummaged around in my shop and found the grow lights stored out there. One of them still works, so I brought it in and set it up over the seed trays. I plugged it in to a timer set from 6am to 10pm. That might be too long. I'll have to look it up. Now, if only I can keep the cats from trying to get under the light or on top of it. I seem to recall problems like that a couple of kitty generations back. We'll see.

So much for a drizzly day. At the end, we at least had a nice sunset.

Feb. 9, 2012 - D40 - Mom's Birthday

2012-02-09T22:59:00.000-08:00

The weather wasn't promising this morning. On my way to the farm, it looked like a big grey cloud had just decided to sit on the ground and rain from there. It was dreary and cold, a good morning to just sit by the fire.

The drizzle cleared off by lunchtime and it looked like we might have sunshine for our trip north. Mom and I set off for Woodburn under a brightening sky, but by the time we arrived at Al's Garden Center, the clouds had thickened again. At least it was warmer, in the mid-50s.

We had a good time at Al's. I told Mom I was treating her to a birthday shopping spree. At first she said no, she didn't need anything. I said, what's need got to do with it? Get something you want. Once we started looking, she softened a bit. I saw the gleam in her eye and went to fetch a cart.

We started in the houseplant section. They had some really interesting things I haven't seen before. I couldn't find the tags on several things, but I took photos anyway. This first plant is such an alien-looking thing, I'd love to have it - but it's probably poisonous to chewing cats.

I love this waxy pink plant, too. I've seen the white version, but I don't know the plant name. I think it's a "Peace Lily" - Spathiphyllum - but I'm not positive.

The "Shooting Star" Hydrangea is a gorgeous thing too. Mom used to have one in the patio, but it froze a couple years ago in the ice storm.

They had primroses on sale today for 79 cents each. We both indulged. You can never have too many primroses.

I want this heuchera, but I don't have any place to put it, yet. Don't worry, I'll make a place.

Mom saw all these cyclamens and couldn't decide which one to get. They're all so beautiful. She finally chose a pink one (surprise, surprise).

I was tempted to get one of these gorgeous things, but I'm trying hard to be good this year. By that I mean not buying things on impulse for which I have no garden space. I took pictures instead.

We each came home with a nursery box full of loot. Mom had the primroses, the cyclamen, and a cineraria. I brought home three pale yellow primroses, three pots of Roman Chamomile, and an English Thyme. I know where all of them are going, so I'll be planting this week whether the sun comes out or not. Fun!

Feb. 8, 2012 - D39

2012-02-08T21:20:00.000-08:00

The rain started last night around bedtime. The gentle sound of it put me to sleep. Today, it continued, but as a fine drizzle for most of the day. I would have worked in my greenhouse, but other duties took precedence. My gardening today consisted of watering and primping the houseplants, both here and at Mom's. Ah well, it's something.

I've been looking at my 2012 Garden Almanac to plan my chores for this moon phase. I see several good days for pruning fruit trees, hydrangeas, and deciduous shrubs. Well, I don't really know how to prune my apple and pear trees, though I did try last year. I didn't get far on either one. The last time I paid someone to prune them, neither tree bore any fruit that year. Could I do worse? I'll try again.

Now, the hydrangea is a mystery to me. All of mine are leggy, but whenever I try to prune them to shape, I end up with all leaves and no blooms. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. Timing? Well, if I follow this almanac, I'll have someone else to blame if they don't bloom again.

Deciduous shrubs... ah. That would be my barberry hedge out front. It definitely needs whacking and weeding. I have to do that when my neighbors are at work, otherwise they come over to watch. They do landscaping for a living, and they'd probably love to get their shears on my hedge. No thanks. I'd rather do it myself, no matter how amateurish it looks afterward.

My mock orange needs to be pruned too, but I should have done that right after it bloomed last June. I can take out some of the dead branches, at least. That's my favorite shrub, so I don't want to hurt it. Jeeter and I wait all year for it to bloom, right around our wedding anniversary. In the old house, the mock orange stood outside the bathroom window. We'd leave that window open to let the scent circulate through the house. I miss that, now that the new house is set back on the property. Can I start that shrub from a cutting? We thought about moving the whole thing, but it's ancient and the roots are extensive. I'll have to do some more research.

I don't know if I'll get any gardening time tomorrow. It's Mom's 87th birthday and if she feels up to it, I'm taking her to Al's Garden Center in Woodburn. I hope the weather cooperates.

Goodnight ~

Feb. 7, 2012 - D38

2012-02-08T11:59:00.000-08:00

Sorry to say, I did nothing more than feed the birds today. I was out of town in the morning, and by the time I got back I was so tired I couldn't think of digging or weeding. Hungry birds are a priority, though. I filled all the hanging feeders in the front and side yards, and filled the window feeder for Shiloh's entertainment. Before I'd finished, the chickadees were calling to each other from the maple trees. I gave my own version of "chicka-dee-dee-deeeee," and received a reply. It's gratifying that they aren't "zeeee-zeee-zeeee"-ing me anymore. That's the danger call. (Yes, I can tell the difference.)

I thought about potting my water-rooted rosemary, but this is the Full Snow Moon. Any full moon or new moon is a time of instability and transition, so it's best to wait a day or two for planting. I'll just enjoy looking at the moon, if the clouds part.

Feb. 6, 2012 - D37

2012-02-06T22:19:00.000-08:00

It was a lovely day with a chilly breeze, but enough sunshine to take the edge off. I took Mom to Terra Nursery this afternoon, hoping to interest her in a Phygelius, or Cape Fuchsia. She's seen mine before, but doesn't remember. I had to do some serious "selling" to get her to buy one. I reminded her that for years the hummingbirds had depended on her honeysuckle for food and now they have nothing. I asked what she had in mind for that bare space in the patio, certain that the answer would be "I don't know." Mom's flower beds used to be her pride and joy, and she planned them out in detail. Now, her idea of gardening is ripping everything out because it's old, ugly, or she just doesn't like it anymore. Everything comes out, but nothing goes back in. She can't remember what flowers look like in bloom. She wants something in her flower beds, but doesn't know what. We have several "scorched earth" borders around the house that I would love to fill, but I have to be very diplomatic about it.

Today, we looked at several varieties of Phygelius, removed dead leaves and old bloom stems, and then walked on. I let her think about it. After a while, I took her back and asked if she'd like one. Mom still wasn't sure, so I picked the kind I thought would look best, and asked her which plant looked healthiest. With a little gentle nudging, she picked the one I wanted her to get, "Croftway Purple Prince."

Back at the farm, Mom went inside to watch TV, so I spaded a place for the new plant. Mom frequently buys plants, then leaves them on the patio table until they die of cold or thirst. That's only because she doesn't know where to put them. This one wasn't going to meet the same fate. Once I had the bed prepared, I fetched Mom and asked her if that spot was okay. She thought so. Then I had her supervise while I planted it, doing all the things she taught me when I was a kid. Tickle the roots. Find the front of the plant and make it face outward. Firm the soil around the roots. Water it in, just a little.

Once it was planted, I gave Mom one of the tags and kept the other for myself. She was happy to finally have something growing in that corner bed, and I was happy to give the hummingbirds a new snack bar. I asked the usual blessing on the plant and told it to grow strong and beautiful. Now, we wait for spring and the first clutch of blossoms.

Feb. 5, 2012 - D36

2012-02-05T22:15:00.000-08:00

On the way home from the farm tonight, I caught the unmistakeable scent of skunk. Happily, I didn't see any mashed in the middle of the road, so he must have just been passing through. It's that time of year already. I wonder if the warm days are bringing them out early? Well, I'll just have to make sure that we keep the garage door closed most of the time. We've had a few smelly visitors in years past.

It was another gorgeous day, and I got to spend a little time in the backyard. I started digging out my Crocosmia with a spading fork, putting the extra bulbs into a large planter. I'm going to need another container, even larger, before I'm through. I was going to leave the clump in the middle, but they really need to be replanted so they all have more room. I don't know what to do with all the extra bulbs. There are only so many places I can plant them. I hate the thought of sending them to the county compost, but at least there they'd be useful. I can't even take any to the farm, since Mom has her own untended patch of Crocosmia. They're sure pretty. They're just a pain in the butt to divide.

I also did a little work at the farm this afternoon, spading the soil in one of the patio beds. It's slow work because I have to get all the lemon balm roots and arum out of there. We had the bed cleaned out last summer, but they came back. All it takes is a piece of a root left in the dirt, and you have an invasion by the end of the season.

Once we get that bed ready, I'd like to plant a Cape Fuchsia there for Mom. She used to have a honeysuckle, and the hummingbirds loved it. That vine is long gone, but the hummers still come around. The Cape Fuchsia would be a good replacement food supply, besides being pretty.

It's cold again tonight, already below freezing at 10 p.m. The sky is clear, and the moon is two days from full. It's bright enough to cast deep shadows. Moon shadows... oh dear. I'm going to be humming that in my sleep.

Good night ~

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Moon Shadow

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Feb. 4, 2012 - D35

2012-02-04T20:37:00.000-08:00

The weather today was absolutely perfect. Unfortunately, I didn't feel good at all, so I didn't do much despite the sunshine. I planted the peas in their special bed, putting in 25 of them. We'll see just how many come up. The weather is supposed to stay nice for several more days. After that, it looks like rain, but that means it'll be warmer. That's okay.


The pea bed with trellis

Late in the afternoon, I planted some flower seeds in a peat pack. They're Violet Zinnias, packed for 2008, so they might be too old. I don't care, I'll give them a shot anyway. I just had to plant something more so that the day wouldn't be a total waste.

It's chilly tonight and I expect ice tomorrow morning. Here's hoping I feel much better by then. It's really annoying to have beautiful weather and feel so bad physically. What a waste of a day.

Feb. 3, 2012 - D34 - Amazing Weather

2012-02-03T22:24:00.000-08:00

I saw on the news tonight that Denver got eighteen inches of snow today. That's three times as much as they usually get all month. It's hard to believe that other parts of the country are snowed in when it was sixty degrees here. The morning was chilly, cold enough to make ice in the birdbath. By lunchtime we had blue skies, brilliant sunshine, and a light breeze.

I continued my clematis pruning, taking down the last two next to my shop. "Nellie Moser" and "Jackmanii" (Jack) have needed a good pruning for several years. They were overgrown, top heavy, and ugly. Honestly, I'm at the point where, if one or both die from the severe clipping, I'll say 'Oh well' and plant something else. I don't think they will. These two are tough. You can't kill 'em with a stick. They might not bloom this year, but that's okay.

Anyway, this is how that corner looks now, after the clipping. I should have taken a before picture, showing all the dead vines hanging over the top of the fence.

This is all the dead stuff from five clematises. I think I'll have to take it out back and burn it instead. The county gets a little hissy if you overfill their compost bin.

I also pruned back the "Hawkshead" fuchsia, something I was supposed to do last fall, and raked filbert leaves and shells out of the beds. Chip, ever helpful, pointed out some of the things that are blooming or sprouting.

For instance, here he's sitting on my poor little Bleeding Heart. Luckily, they're tough, too. He also pointed out that more of my primroses are blooming now that the water has receded.

My Hellebore "Ivory Prince" has loads of bloom buds, but so far none open.

My Winter Daphne is about a week from blooming, but my Sarcococca is doing nothing but look perky. I forget when it blooms, actually. I bought the variety called "Mexican Orange," based on a friend's recommendation. I always think of her when I see this shrub, and I chuckle. When she first told me about it, she called it "Sarcoma." She was very serious about it, so I went to the local nursery and asked if there was a plant by that name. Luckily, the fellow who always helps me mangles words just as badly as she does. He showed me right to the plant. (He once sold my mom a "prostate heather.") Anyway, it looks like I'll be able to get some babies from the old plant, the way it's spread underground.

I worked in my little courtyard under the filbert tree for over an hour. Earlier, my neighbors had treated me to their music - a whole lot of accordion, brass, and bass - so I gave them Rosemary Clooney from my studio CD player. I think they got the better deal.

Eventually, my back gave out, so I quit for the day. I checked on my lone hyacinth and found her a little more bloomed out than yesterday. I think she's happy with her new home. Living in a pot has to be like living in an apartment. It's just not natural.

It was a satisfying day. I just hope my back and joints recover by tomorrow so I can do some more. At the very least, I'll plant the peas this weekend. I can manage that since all I have to do is get on my knees. It's the weekend, Jeeter will be home, so he can pull me to my feet afterwards.

Good night ~

February 2, 2012 - D33 - Groundhog Day

2012-02-02T22:58:00.000-08:00

I never pay attention to what the groundhog says - after all, he's an Easterner and knows nothing of our Pacific Northwest weather. Today, I watched Chip, instead. Not only did he see his shadow, but he took a sunbath to celebrate. He's not scared of any stupid shadow. To him it just means the sun is shining right now, so enjoy the moment. Smart kitty.

I did enjoy the moment, and then some. I cut back three of my clematises - "Ernest Markham," "Star of India," and "The Belle of Woking." Technically, I'm not supposed to cut them back until later this month, or even March, but they're budding now. I believe the gardening instruction books are written for average seasons, and this is not average. This is a La Nina year, which usually means a cooler, wetter winter. Today wasn't cool at all. We hit 57 here. I worked outside without a jacket, and even my hoodie was too much.

I still have two more clematises to cut back, but I didn't want to overdo it. My 50-something body needs to ease into gardening after a couple months of inactivity. I cut a few rose hips from their bushes and briefly wondered if I could start the seeds I found inside them. This weather just makes me want to plant every seed I find and see if it will grow. Not a good idea, but an intriguing one.

My lone pink hyacinth looked so forlorn in her little green pot, I decided to give her some space in the mini rose bed. I very gently un-potted her and tucked her in beside the deck stairs and sidewalk. I'll see her every time I come in from tending the raised beds. Next year, I want a real spring border along the sidewalk. Easier said than done, but I'll do it. I love hyacinths and paper whites, jonquils and muscari. I don't recall if they all bloom at the same time or not, but I'd love a mixed border, the more fragrant the better.

When I finished pruning, I went around the yard to see what's growing. Basically, everything. I was happy to see how much Yuki, my eucalyptus tree, has grown. Last year, I looked down to to inspect her. Now, I have to look up, she's so much taller than I am. She has new growth already at the tips of her branches.

All in all, it was a good day. Earlier in the morning, I returned a clutch of books to the library, grabbed the third Brother Cadfael novel, and then browsed the botany / nature section. I found two books by Thoreau, each one claiming to be his last manuscript, published posthumously. One is called Faith in a Seed, and the other is Wild Fruits. I brought both of them home. I don't care which was last. I just like Henry. Sitting by the fire, reading his thoughts, is like having a cozy conversation with a good friend.

Well, off to bed. Tomorrow is supposed to be fine, so maybe I'll get to those last two clematises.

February 1, 2012 - D32

2012-02-01T22:33:00.000-08:00

This was a fine, clear day with lots of sunshine and a chilly breeze. I spent part of the morning working on the raised beds in the front yard while Chip supervised. I continued weeding last year's tomato bed, getting out the leftover roots as well as the wire grass. I also started cleaning up my chives in another bed, the one taken over by borage. Grass has infiltrated the chive clumps, so I think I need to dig, de-grass, and divide them. Maybe I'll start another cook's herb garden for the deck, similar to one I made a decade ago. The Tuscan Blue Rosemary could go in the center, with chives, common thyme, and parsley around the edges. No sage, it grows big too fast.

When I was done for the morning, I took the soil temperature in the pea bed. It was 48 degrees, good enough for planting. I'll wait for the weekend when the moon is right.

Another thing I did was to plant catnip seeds in a six-pack and put it in the front window with a plastic bag covering. I have a hard time keeping catnip alive around here, for obvious reasons. If I can get it big enough to set out, I'll put a homemade hardware cloth cage over it and anchor it with rocks. (Hey! That's how I can use those garden staples!) The catnip is protected until it becomes well established, and the cats get to prune off anything that sticks outside the cage. It makes the plant branch and get "fluffy."

The problem with trying to raise catnip from seed is that the cats go after the seedlings unless I put them in "the box" (the seedlings, not the cats). I might ask Jeeter to build another one for me, unless I have this timed right. Let's see, the rosemary cuttings should be rooted in another two weeks. The catnip seeds germinate in 21+ days. Oh, yeah - I can just move the rosemary out to the greenhouse by then and let the catnip starts have the box. Always assuming anything comes up at all. I never take it for granted that my seeds will grow, but I'm always hopeful, and I'm grateful when they do.

Well, tomorrow's forecast is for more sunshine, so I'll try to get outside and make a difference. There's so much to be done, it's overwhelming if I look at the big picture too long. It's better if I work on small pieces, and rejoice in every little bit that gets done.

Time for bed ~

Jan. 31, 2012 - D31

2012-01-31T16:12:00.000-08:00

Today was my day off. In the morning, I had a chiropractic appointment,which enabled me to spend the afternoon gardening. That’s not what my doctorhad in mind, I’m sure, but it works for me.

The new writing table that Jeeter put together for me sitsin front of the north window, overlooking the backyard. The view is a nicechange from the one in my office. I get to watch the birds at the feeders andusing the birdbath, which is always entertaining. However, the view is a sourceof agitation, too. Sitting there, I see all the things I need to do in the yard.I make lists and draw plans, and pretty soon, I’m headed out the door with my toolbag.

Today, I sheared off my golden oregano (Origanum vulgare 'Aureum') and removed the trulydead plants from around the birdbath. Earlier, I looked up what I’d plantedthere. The Armeria is perennial, the Marguerite daisies are annuals. The Osteospermumis a matter of whom you ask and where you live, it seems. Some say it’s anannual, others a tender perennial. I checked mine and found that the one withthe spoon-shaped petals was crispy dead, but the other (normal) one was stillgreen inside. I kept the latter to see what happens.

Next, I moved my Penstemon from the fairy garden to thebirdbath bed since it’s getting too big. Then, I moved a clutch of Columbinesfrom the garage wall to that bed. They always get mildew next to the wall, somaybe they need more light and air circulation. We’ll see.

While I worked, the birds kept up a noisy conversationaround me. The new tenants were inspecting the birdhouse – well, the femalewas. The male just kept dancing around her and fluttering his tail feathers.

Chip came to see what I was doing, too. He inspected thepurple sage, sneezed, and turned to eat grass instead.

I worked for an hour and decided to quit before I undid allmy chiropractor’s good work. It felt wonderful to be out there again. The dirtier Iget, the happier I feel. It's a gardener thing.

By the way, does this hairstyle make my face look fat?

Jan. 30, 2012 - D30

2012-01-31T13:53:00.000-08:00

We had a dry day with a little sunshine, and I finally got to spend some time outside. I went into the backyard and pruned my two Cape Fuschias. They seem to keep growing all winter, even on the north side of the house, so they were a little scraggly. I don't know their proper names other than Phygelius something-or-other. Yes, I lost the tags, years ago. The one right under the north window has dusty rose blossoms that are darker inside, with a yellow throat. The one next to the garage door, providing a backdrop for St. Francis, is a deeper, magenta color.

It doesn't seem to be as hardy as the other shrub, though it crawls more. Phygelius is listed as a "suckering shrub," and I can attest to that. The little suckers keep popping up in the middle of other flower plantings. They're not as bad as the wisteria, but they are annoying. I guess that's the argument for doing research before buying, and not making impulse purchases. Anyway, since I have them, I'll just deal with them. They're at the root of many heated hummingbird wars every spring and summer. It's cheap entertainment.

I also cut back the dead-looking plants around the birdbath. I need to remember what I put there last summer, then figure out if any are perennial. Last year, life was more chaotic than usual, and I didn't have time to plan any beds. The area around the birdbath looked naked, so I just raided my stash of homeless plants from the front porch and started filling empty space till it looked good. Chaos gardening, I call it. I do a lot of that, lately. I hope to do better this coming season.

Chip graciously supervised the work from his cozy lawn chair. He's always so happy when I'm outside and he can chatter to his heart's content.

My time outside was short but profitable. I hope the weather is as good tomorrow.

Jan. 29, 2012 - D29

2012-01-30T11:18:00.000-08:00

It was a halfway decent weather day, but I didn't have time to do any gardening other than tending to my rosemary cuttings. I aired them out, spritzed them with rainwater, and told them they were doing just fine. They look green and perky, so I have hope for them.

I discovered something while I was doing the dishes. The two sprigs of rosemary that I put in a vase in the kitchen window have sprouted roots! Seriously? Rosemary is that easy to root? So why did I spend all that time with the rooting hormone and seedling mix... Oh well. That's okay. It was an experiment, like the layering. I'll take all the rooted cuttings I can get. I want that rosemary hedge, someday.

This afternoon, at the farm, I went outside for a few minutes to see what the cats were up to. Blackie had just slurped down his third vole of the day and was ready to look for more. I don't know how he does that. When he eats a vole, he eats the whole vole. They must be the oysters of the rodent world. Bleeeeagh.

Buddy the Manx, whose full name is "Garden Buddy," came out to see what I was doing. He kept me company for the rest of my walk.

Heidi decided to let the boys do the hunting and wandering. At fourteen, she's content just to sit under the maple tree and look adorable.

Charlie didn't even get as far as the maple tree. The grass was wet, a breeze was blowing, and he'd just as soon sit in his rocking chair in the covered patio.

I have to give Charlie some credit, though. There are active mouse holes in the patio garden, and he can watch those from his comfortable perch as well as he could any out in the field. He's a very smart little boy.

I hope we'll have a nice day tomorrow. My routine should be back to weekday normal with fewer family obligations. All I need is a little sunshine.

Jan. 28 - D28

2012-01-28T22:06:00.000-08:00

It was cold but clear this morning. I expected fog, but it never came. I was thankful for that. Thick, day-long fog is the worst kind of winter weather. I'll take pouring rain or freezing cold anytime, but fog is just too depressing.

Despite the clear day and sunny afternoon, I didn't have a chance to work outside. Family trumps garden. That's life. However, this evening I worked out my planting dates with the help of a calendar, the Old Farmer's Almanac for 2012, and Rodale's Seed Starting Chart . Tomorrow, I'll drag out Ed Hume's almanac and compare notes. Tonight I just figured out when the moon signs would be right, but I didn't check the moon phases. Yeah, I know. I'm probably making this more complicated than it needs to be, but it's an experiment, and I'm having fun.

Today I also bought some seed starting mix, peat pots, and the aforementioned Farmer's Almanac. I plan to start the squash, cucumbers, and pumpkins in the peat pots instead of trays. When I plant them directly into raised beds, the crows and squirrels dig the seeds right back out. They bury their treasures all the time, so they want to know what little goodies I've buried. Better to put decent-sized seedlings into the garden. They're not as interesting to the varmints as something "hidden" in the dirt.

Tomorrow, the rain is supposed to return by day's end. Maybe I'll have a chance to get outside in the morning. I hope so. Planning and research is all very good and necessary, but I need to get my hands into the dirt at least once a day.

Now, off to bed to dream of spring.

Jan. 27, 2012 - D27

2012-01-28T08:59:00.000-08:00

We awoke to fog and ice, and I thought that's the way the whole day would go. Mom and I braved the cold with the car heater turned high and hit a couple of nearby estate sales. Anymore, I just look for plants, garden tools, and books. Today, only one sale had some tools outside, but it was too cold to go out and browse. We had a good time anyway, just getting out of the house.

The fog finally lifted just after lunchtime. I went home and started clearing my deck of dead or dormant plants. I dumped the soil from the dead ones into a bin in my greenhouse. Mom taught me never to waste good dirt. You just fluff it and add more compost. Even dirt can be recycled.

I also spent some time de-cluttering my greenhouse. Guess what I found among the pots, netting, seed trays, and labels. A package of garden staples. Huh. I have no idea when or where I got those, or for what reason. Nice to know I have them, now that I know what to do with them. The next time the moon is favorable, I'll try layering another plant or two.

While puttering in the greenhouse, I noticed that the birdhouse just outside the door was attracting some potential tenants. I hadn't cleaned it out yet, and the hinged side wall was aslant.

I dragged the stepladder out and wedged it between the fence and arborvitae hedge, then carefully went up. At the top, I was nearly startled off my perch by a sudden wild barking on the other side of the fence. Staring up at me, from what I'd thought was the neighbor's homemade greenhouse, was a huge pit bull. Ah. That explains the mournful howling at 3 a.m. and why the cats no longer go under the back fence.

"Hi, Sweetie," I said. "I'm Kat, your neighbor."

The dog stopped barking and listened, staring intently.

"I'm just cleaning out the birdhouse, see?"

I opened the side and removed a mass of grass, feathers, and string. I showed it to the dog, who turned his head this way and that, trying to understand.

"Okay, be a good dog. I'll talk to you any time you want. I'm going to be out here a lot when the weather improves."

With that, I went back down the ladder. Not a peep from that poor, lonely dog.

I took the old nest over to the fire pit to study it. It's amazing what they use for nest-making material. The grasses are probably from my own yard. I'm not sure where the chicken feathers are from. The rest is just human debris, bits of plastic and paper, strands from a blue tarp, and so on.

There was one unwanted resident in the old nest. I accidentally evicted a hibernating yellow-jacket. Well, I'm sorry for her, but we don't need them around here either. Jeeter is allergic to them, too.

The rest of the day was clear and so is the night. At least, the night sky is clear. The mist is already rising from the ground. No telling what we'll have by morning. It's a lovely moon, though.

Goodnight ~

Jan. 26 - D26 - Adventures in propagation

2012-01-26T22:22:00.000-08:00

Today, I received that rarest of all gifts, a sunny day combined with an afternoon off. Actually, I had the morning off too, so I spent part of it at the library. I picked up a book on Flower Lore, which talks about the old legends as well as the "language of flowers." I love that sort of thing, and I was happy to spot this book on my way to another section.

Back home, I decided to take advantage of the moon phase (first quarter, the moon in Pisces) to try rooting some rosemary slips. According to the books, you're supposed to take cuttings before the plant blooms. Well, Miss Jessop has little blossom buds all over, so I figure now is the time. I snapped off six tips as long as my middle finger, leaving a "heel" at the bottom.

This is about 3" long

The "heel"

Then, I took them to my greenhouse and mixed up a 50-50 batch of fine peat moss and builder's sand. I added water to make it moist, then filled a six-pack tray with the stuff. I used a wooden skewer to poke a hole in each cell, not quite to the bottom. Taking a slip, I wet the stem and dipped it in rooting hormone, then tapped off the excess. Next, I stuck the powder-covered end into the hole and pushed the wet mixture snug around the stem. I repeated that for each slip, then tucked in a label with the name and today's date. I did the same for a piece of "Blue Spire" that I found broken off beside the bush. (Stupid squirrels.)

While I was in the mood to experiment, I decided to try layering. I've only read about it till now. You're supposed to take a branch from the plant you want to clone, bend it down and bury part of it in the dirt, securing it with a "garden staple." (What?) Well, I don't have any such thing, but I do have big rocks.

This method is supposed to work better than taking slips and trying to root them because the plant-to-be is still getting nourishment from the mother plant while it's busy making new roots. Sounds good to me. I'll check back in a month and see if my "Blue Spire" has babies.

Meanwhile, my tray of cuttings needed to go into the house. My greenhouse is unheated and we're still dealing with winter, despite the odd sunny day. (It was 70 degrees while I was working in there. Pure heaven!) I took the starts inside and plastic-bagged them to help retain moisture.

Finally, I put them into the box Jeeter built for me when Simon was a kitten. I learned the hard way that curious kittens and plant starts don't mix. Simon left a trail of murdered cuttings all over the house after I'd spent hours potting them. He's no longer a kitten, but he still likes to chew on fresh green herbs. Besides, we now have Joey, aka "The Kitten-nator." It hardly seems possible, but he's even more destructive than Simon was at that age.

I need to open the bags once a day for air, and make sure the pots don't dry out. Moist but not soggy, that's the key. I'll know in about three weeks if this worked or not. I gave them my blessing and a pep talk, now the rest is up to them.

What a fun day!

Jan. 25 - D25

2012-01-26T13:56:00.000-08:00

It was a dry, mild day, but a busy one, too. Between takingMom to the dentist, the chiropractor, and shopping for a countertop oven, Ionly managed a few minutes in my garden. I finally found the tag for my newestrosemary half-buried at its base. The plant is Rosemary officinalis ‘Blue Spire.’ Have to remember that. Maybe I’ll write it on one of those fancycopper plant tags I bought a few years ago – if I can find them.

We did stop at the Fred Meyer Garden Centerso that I could look for Ed Hume’s 2012 Garden Almanac. I’m a lunar gardener,and I use his little book to help me plan my chores. Well, not only did theyhave the almanac, they had racks full of garden seeds, all on sale. Mom and Ispent some happy minutes looking at all the new varieties in flowers andveggies. As I knelt to check out the peas and beans, a tall, white-hairedman standing nearby asked, “Do you think we’ll ever have good enough weather to plant any of these?”

I smiled up at him. “I’m counting on it!”

“I don’t know,” he said doubtfully. “All this cold and wet.”

“Well, I can at least try peas,” I said. “They like thecold.”

He disappeared around a rack, and Mom bent to help me look.There were so many kinds of regular peas, snow peas, and sugar snap peas. Each camein either pole or bush varieties. I wanted pole sugar snaps, since I have atrellis and netting all set up for them. In raised beds, it’s wise to govertical when you can.

The old fellow came back. “Did you find your peas?”

“I did.”

“What kind?”

“Sugar snap.”

He made a face. “There’s nothing to those except the pod!”

“But that’s what I like. I eat them for snacks.”

He laughed and moved on to another seed rack. Pretty soon,he came back. “Did you see? All the seeds are on sale, 40% off.”

“Oh, that’s great!”

With his own basket full, he nodded to us and went to checkout.

Old gardeners are my favorite people. We’re none of usstrangers. We all speak the same language, have the same complaints (pests,disease, and bad weather), and the same dream – a garden made by our own hands.The gardeners I meet are always willing to share seeds, plants, and advice, andI return the favor when possible. In brief encounters like this one, I alwayswish we could sit down and talk shop for an hour or two. I’m sure I’d learnsomething useful.

Well, so much for today. Another weather system is duetonight, but I don’t know what that means for tomorrow. I’m beginning to thinkthe weatherman doesn’t know either. I’ll just walk outside in the morning andsee if I get wet.

Jan. 24 - D24 - Rosemary

2012-01-24T16:12:00.000-08:00

Another storm, another twilight day. I had the afternoon tomyself, yet all I wanted to do was nap with the cats. I finally roused myselfto make a cup of coffee and cinnamon toast, and watched the rain. Suddenly, Iremembered that our convalescent, Chip, had wanted out at lunch. I sighed, puton my barn coat and hat, and went outside. He wasn’t on the deck, and not by mystudio door. That would make too much sense. I went back inside, opened thegarage door, and listened.

“Mew! Mew!”

A frantic Chip dashed out from under the fir tree and intothe garage. I was ready. I stuffed him into a cat carrier, took him through thehouse (hostile environs), and out to my studio. Out of the carrier, he rubbedhis wet sides against my legs in adoration and hope of some treats. I left himmunching and purring, and went back to the house for my own afternoon tea. Orcoffee. Whatever.

That was my excitement for the day. La Nina is a real wetblanket where my gardening plans are concerned. I decided to go back to studying my herb books.

Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs. I realized long agothat its scent is one of my earliest memories. When I was about two, someonegave me scented bubble bath in a plastic alarm clock-shaped bottle. I stillhave that bottle, and it still smells like rosemary. Oil of rosemary is used inmany soaps and lotions. Obviously, it’s pretty potent if the fragrance lingersafter fifty years.

I have three surviving rosemary plants. One is Miss Jessop,in the lasagna bed. She has pale lavender blooms and long, thin, blue-greenneedles. My Tuscan Blue has darker blossoms and needles. The one I have now isbiding his time in a fairy garden until I can create a proper place for him.I’ve had two others of that type. One in a planter for six years untila super cold winter killed it, and one in a half whiskey barrel. That last wasin an out-of-the-way spot, and I forgot to water it.

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa.

I have a new rosemary in a bed beside my greenhouse. I can’t find the tag, but I’m looking. It’s greenerthan the other two, with broader needles, and a heavier pine scent. Honestly, Ihave to write down this information when I buy another plant or start seeds.I’m sure I put the tag next to the rosemary when I planted it, but Ihave squirrels who steal things. Seriously, I do. Sometimes, I think they playnutball in the greenhouse with my plant tags and the filberts they filch.

I digress.

I want to grow enoughrosemary to make a hedge. I can’t afford to buy that many plants, so I’ll takecuttings and start them myself. I’ve done it before. I just need to hit the books and refresh mymemory.

That’s what stormydays are for, I guess.

Jan 23, 2012 - D23 - Zoned

2012-01-23T21:50:00.000-08:00

We were fog-bound this morning, the wet, heavy kind that dripsfrom trees and penetrates even the warmest jacket. I felt sorry for the birdsat the window feeder. They looked so cold, all puffed out and sitting on theirnaked little feet. It made me think of a story from my childhood called“Sparrow Socks,” where a little boy made a pair of socks for a tiny shiveringbird. The bird loved his socks and showed them to his sparrow friends, andthey all wanted a pair. Soon, people all over town were seeing sparrows wearing itty-bitty socks, and the children begged their parents for their own pairof “sparrow socks.” It was a cute story. Wish I was a good enoughknitter to produce a few sparrow socks, but I’m not. I can, however, put warmwater in the birdbath and give them a hot tub.

The fog eventually lifted, but not far enough. The whole daywas cold, grey, and dreary. My gardening consisted of weeding the catnip andtrimming the broken parts. It was so cold that even that little bit of gardenwork numbed my fingers for an hour after. I don’t think the temperature gotabove 39 degrees.

I did some more research, this time on the Hardiness Zones.The USDA zip zone sitesays that my area is zone 7b. Well, back when I was a kid it was 8, so eitherthey changed the definitions, or they’re remapping due to climate change. Next,I had to find the first and last average frost dates for my area. I couldn’tfind them on the USDA site, so I searched around. It took a while.One source cited a 1988 data sheet, which truly isn’t valid anymore. Othersources were just confusing. Finally, I found Dave's Garden , where I was able to get my information by zip code. It says that my average risk of frost is from October 18th through April 28th. My frost-free growing season is about 173 days long. Perfect!

That’s about all I accomplished today. Tomorrow, theweatherman says that we’re going to “get slammed” again – another major stormwith high winds and oodles of rain. It’s not so bad for my family, but manypeople around here are still trying to clean up from the last flood. I hope itdoesn’t get that bad again.

Jan. 22, 2012 - D22

2012-01-22T22:48:00.000-08:00

We had a relatively dry day with a few passing showers. We also had some stiff wind gusts rattling the bare tree branches. The yard is still flooded but slowly draining, so I decided to do some organizing today. I spread out my old herb seed packets to find out what I have. It was strange. Some of the packets I didn't remember buying, or exactly why I bought them.

My inventory includes:

Anise (unopened)
Basil (3 packets, all Italian)
Borage (this was a thankyou gift from Nichols)
Calendula (3 packets)
Catnip (4 packets)
Dill (that was a good crop)
Echinacea
Fennel (Bronze)
Hyssop
Lavender (Lavendula angustifolia)
Nasturtium (I wanted to try eating them; never did)
Parsley (single variety)
Sage (Salvia officinalis)
Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus - say that three times fast)
Thyme (common)
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium - red)

Now that I look at the list, I remember why I have things like anise and hyssop. I wanted them all. That is, all the herbs I could possibly collect and coax into growing for me. A long time ago, I wanted to be an herbalist. Actually, I wanted to be a shaman, or a crazy herb woman. Something along those lines. I loved everything about herbs - their scents, their beautiful foliage, their uses as seasoning and medicine, and their lore. Before I was married, I created a small herb garden behind my garage (now studio) with a winding dirt path set between wide beds. I had thyme (silver, lemon, variegated, and common), sage, rosemary, anise hyssop, monarda, yarrow, grey santolina, lemon balm, peppermint, horehound, pennyroyal, mugwort, rue, sweet marjoram, oregano, Roman chamomile, catnip, and others I can't remember. I also had roses, fragrant ones only. I always feel cheated when a beautiful rose has no scent.

In the evenings, I used to stroll through my little garden, usually with my seven cats following along behind me. (I was well on my way to being that crazy cat lady.) The cats appreciated the catnip and a good roll in the chamomile. Sometimes, we'd sit together in this fragrant little world and watch a summer sunset give way to a starry sky.

That garden is long gone, twenty years or more. I still remember, though, and I want to try again. Maybe that could be my main project this year. I need to focus on one thing, and restoring my herb garden would give me the greatest pleasure.

Time to make a plan.

Jan. 21, 2012 - D21

2012-01-21T18:57:00.000-08:00

We started the day with drizzling rain, but finished with sunshine. Around noon, strips of blue sky began to peek through the clouds, and by 2 p.m. it was "dry." The air smelled fresh, as well it should after days of rain washing away all the pollution.

Jeeter and I spent the afternoon downtown, stretching our legs and window shopping. It was a nice change of pace after being cooped up so many days by inclement weather. We didn't get home until late afternoon, so my garden activities were limited to reloading the bird feeders and picking up storm debris. We lost more small branches off the filbert tree. Lucky for us it wasn't the whole tree top. I need to have someone come in and cut away the dead parts before they fall on someone's head.

I checked around the yard for standing water and didn't have to look far. The primroses looked fine, but they're actually sitting in water, too.

As for the wisteria, I wonder how long it can stand in water before it, too, drowns?

In the course of checking the yard, I came across evidence of a crime having been committed. I found Flicker feathers in two different locations, about twenty feet apart. Damn. These were the lovely orange feathers you see under a Flicker's wing. Later, I spotted a likely culprit in our yard.

This is the young stray we call "Vinnie," because it looks like part of his right ear is lopped off. He's a frequent visitor and haunter of the bird feeders. Sometimes, he even chases Mollie off so he can eat her food. He won't come to me, or anyone. He's scared to death of humans, but he knows we're a reliable food source. I can't blame him for trying to survive, though I mourn the loss of such a lovely bird. When the weather improves, I might try to trap him, but I don't dare now while the weather is so miserable.

Meanwhile, I'll just have to put out extra food for Mollie and her uninvited guest. I hope he has a dry place to stay. The weather is supposed to turn ugly again in the next few days.

Jan 20, 2012 - D20

2012-01-21T08:46:00.000-08:00

No gardening at all, today. We had a few dry hours in the morning, but I also had an injured cat to take to the Vet. Someone (feline) or something (possum, raccoon) chomped on Chip's right hind leg, leaving him with a puncture and a nasty bruise. He couldn't put any weight on it, poor baby. So, Ma Kat stuffed him into the carrier and took him to the Vet. I had to drop him off because one doctor was out with the flu and the other had thrown her back out and was working limited hours. Between the drop-off and pick-up, I went to my pottery studio - aka Chip's bedroom - and cleaned. I mopped the floor, cleaned his litter box, and gave him three new beds from which to choose. I also took the time to soak some dried clay, thinking to recycle it in a few days. Chip can be my studio cat while he's recuperating.

There was no opportunity for gardening in the afternoon either. I spent it with Mom, reading aloud the news articles about all the local flooding. Meanwhile, the rain returned, but in a normal form, not the monsoon type we had the other day.

The closest I came to anything garden related was reading my Brother Cadfael novel, One Corpse Too Many. I love all the herbal salves and remedies he uses. Have to look up a few of those.

Well, let's hope for a drier day tomorrow. So far, La Nina is kicking butt this winter.

Jan. 19, 2012 - D19

2012-01-19T22:20:00.000-08:00

It’s deceptively warm and calm tonight. Layers of cloudshide the stars, but for now, it’s not raining. That’s a welcome change.

We awoke to pounding rain and a flooded world. The earlymorning drive to the farm wasn’t bad, but I knew some roads would be impassablebefore long. Back home, I watched the local news and saw hundreds of peopleevacuated from their homes in Turner and Scio, just south of here. Downtown Salem was flooded and manystreets were closed. Mom’s helper had to cancel for today because her home onMill Creek was being flooded. Her family had to evacuate, but before they did,they tried to put all the furniture out of the water’s reach. I hope they were successful.

I went back to the farm and found that the Little PuddingWatershed was now a full-fledged creek that I had to drive through carefully.Beyond that, my route was clear. However, on Mom’s street, half a dozen neighbors on the east side were flooded. On her side, the ditches were full and pastureshad standing water, but the homes were safe. Mom’s biggest problem was that shecouldn’t get to her mailbox. Her neighbor, Ted, put on rubber boots and fetchedthe mail for her, bless his heart. We talked about the high water, and he saidthere’s a culvert that goes under the road that the county usually cleans outonce a year. He’s not sure they did it last year. Neither of us has ever seen the water that high in thatarea, not even in the ’96 flood.

Mark's place right across the street


All the mailboxes were standing in water


Mark's driveway has a waterfall


Looking north to Mom's house

The heavy rain continued until 2pm and then stopped. The suneven came out for a few hours, and in that brief dry period, the water recededa little. Things actually looked quite pretty with all that water.

I managed to get in a tiny bit of gardening – I cut back thegrapefruit mint in Mom’s patio.

According to the weatherman, tonight is the calm betweenstorms. He says another is on its way tomorrow. I hope not. I could do with afew more hours of sunshine. Being stuck indoors all day is too much like working in a cubicle again. Guess I'd better find my rubber boots and prepare for the next onslaught.

Jan. 18, 2012 - D18

2012-01-18T23:04:00.000-08:00

It rained all night and all day. Most of the time the rain came in sideways, driven by strong winds. We didn't get any major gusts like the 100+ mph ones at the coast, but we did manage a few 35 mph ones. Despite the drainage system we put in some years back, our yard flooded again. The wisteria must be some kind of water plant, like a willow. It never seems to mind when the yard turns into a swamp.

Even the stepping stone path to my studio is under water. This is why some of my favorite shrubs, which survived single digit temperatures, later died. They drowned.

Things are just as bad at the farm. All the ditches are running full, and one neighbor's home is now a lakefront property.

Mom's front ditch

Wolfe's place in the morning

Same place this evening

We received about three inches of rain since midnight, and this is just the first of three storm systems coming in this week. More rain is predicted every day, some of it very heavy. It could get interesting, especially with more high winds coming.

I have to broaden the scope of this blog, since I can't physically work at gardening in this weather. I'm including garden research, planning, and design. It's paperwork, but it's necessary if I want to have the garden of my dreams. (That reminds me - I need to check my lottery ticket for last Monday).

Anyway, I spent a pleasant hour in the gardening section at the library this morning. I came home with a book on seed starting, one on companion planting, and the first Brother Cadfael novel by Ellis Peters. Susan Wittig Albert recommended the Cadfael series of novels in her China Bayles' Book of Days, so I found the second novel and read it. I'm hooked. Gotta love a crime-solving medieval monk who's an expert herbalist to boot. I had to request the first book, it's so long out of print but still so popular.

I also did a little more research on starting various herbs and vegetables from seed. Most seem happy to germinate with soil temperatures around 70 degrees. However, eggplant requires a soil temperature of 85 degrees in order to germinate. Seriously?? I'm not sure my soil ever gets that warm. That would require a heating mat under a seed tray, I guess. Don't have one. I know it would be handy, but how expensive would it be? Since I don't intend to grow more than one eggplant bush, maybe I'll just do like last time and buy the plant from a nursery.

Still, it would be a fun challenge to grow one from seed. I bet I could do it indoors without a heating mat. Hmmm.

Another wave of monsoon rain just hit my window. On that soggy note, I'm off to bed.

Jan. 17, 2012 - D17

2012-01-17T22:06:00.000-08:00

The road to the farm wasn’t treacherous this morning,just slushy in the low spots. The bad stuff held off until I headed back, butthen it was like a blizzard. The south wind plastered snow against mywindshield, and slush built up under the wipers until they couldn’t move. Safely home, I built a fire and watched the passing storm with thecats. They watched the birds at my feeders, including Juncos, Pine Siskins, and two pairs of Red-shafted Flickers.

The heavy snow didn’t last long, but there were frequentshowers all day. My backyard had a good dusting by mid-morning.

Actual gardening was impossible. I’ll work in the rain, butI’m not crazy enough to try it in this weather. I did run out to snip somerosemary for the steam pot, and I came back with big wet blobs of snow in myhair. No, I’ll wait for the weather to improve a little before I try to gardenagain.

This afternoon, Mom and I stayed home at the farm. We didn’tfeel like braving the slushy rain that was falling by then. She dozed in herchair with Charlie cat on her lap and Dr. Oz on the tube. I raided her gardenlibrary and found a book on how to start 500 plant varieties from seed, bulbs,etc. I took notes on clematis, thyme, rosemary, and annual poppies, andrealized that I need to look up our climate zone. I knew it once, but thensomebody changed the maps. I guess it’s because the climate has changed. I don’teven know the average last and first frost dates anymore. I think our “averages”have shifted.

Well, that’s a research project for tomorrow. I’ve been keepinga garden journal for years. I should be able to calculate the averages for my own place as well as for the farm.

The weather folks predict “hurricane force winds” at thecoast tomorrow, coupled with torrential rain. We’ll get some high wind gusts herein the valley and could lose power. I need to prepare for that possibility. Thewater was already coming over the road tonight on the way to the farm. Theditches are running full, and several fields were flooded. Wind and floodingmeans downed trees. I just hope none of ours goes down.

Sweet dreams ~

Jan. 16, 2012 - D16

2012-01-16T21:40:00.000-08:00

This morning there was a light dusting of snow on the ground, but the biggest problem was the ice on the road. Jeeter drove me to the farm in the 'Ru, and I borrowed Mom's Camry for the day. It actually performs better on slick roads than my truck, which is a little embarrassing. Ah well. Before I could get in, I had to thaw the doors and windows. There really wasn't much snow, but the car had a nice glaze all over it.

The snow showers came and went all day. Sometimes it was frog egg snow, and other times it was the big fluffy stuff. It was pretty to watch, but the accompanying south wind was bitterly cold.

I took my little tub of seeds over to Mom's and sorted them on her dining table. I put them in three categories - vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Mom asked if I'd gotten those from her stash, and I said no, these were from my greenhouse. We went to the cupboards where she keeps some of her seed and started pulling out boxes and bags of stuff. I know she has more in the garage and greenhouse. What this collection represented was all the seed that she saved from her own flowers, trees, and veggies over the years. She used to raise "everlastings," or flowers for drying, and she made them into beautiful arrangements. She saved seed from the plants that produced the prettiest or brightest colors. That was over a decade ago, so I don't know if any of it is still good. Mom has seed from strawflowers, statice, globe amaranth, gypsophillia, and many others. I'm tempted to till up a big swath of ground and have her scatter all the seed over it in the spring. It would be fun to see what comes up.

This is just part of her stash:

Back at home, I pulled out my collection of vegetable seeds to see what I have. It's a little sad. Some of the envelopes are still sealed. Those were the years I didn't have time to start anything from seed. I look at the year stamped on each envelope and remember what was going on that summer. I wonder how the time got away from me like that.

Well, here's my stash of veggies:

Doesn't look too bad, does it? What's funny is that I keep buying the same things over and over.

These are all Straight Eight cucumbers. I also have two packets of Armenian cukes, two packs of Blue Lake Bush Beans, a couple of sweet corn, several kinds of tomatoes, and two or three kinds of zucchini. I don't know if that's being boring or consistent. I just remember that last year I bought cucumber starts in two different varieties because I didn't have time to start from seed - and we hated the results. I'll stick with the tried and true this year.

Tonight, the ice is gone but the snow, wind, and rain continue. It's anybody's guess what we'll have tomorrow. If the weather is too nasty, I'll stay indoors and sort my herb seeds.

Jan. 15, 2012 - D15

2012-01-15T20:53:00.000-08:00

When the road sparkles like a carpet of diamonds, and it feels like I'm kayaking instead of driving, it's not a good thing. This morning was bad enough, driving out to the farm on an ice glazed road with snow falling around me. Tonight, there's no snow. It melted, and then the temperature dropped after sunset, creating a new road hazard. Even the Subaru had difficulties, despite its all-wheel drive. With ice, there's nothing for any of the wheels to grab onto.

In between ice episodes, we had multiple snow showers today. It stuck for a while this morning, but eventually it warmed up to around 40. The snow was fun to watch, especially when Mom's cats were out in it, trying to figure out what was going on. They forget from year to year. Heidi and Buddy, the oldest ones, decided they wanted nothing to do with it and went inside for the day. Charlie hunkered in the patio, hoping it would quit so he could hunt. Blackie, my all-weather cat, simply sat and stared into a mouse hole by the fence until he was covered with snow. He reluctantly let me pick him up and bring him inside for a good toweling.

The only "gardening" I did today was grooming Mom's African Violets. The ones in the kitchen window above the sink are blooming their hearts out. I think they like the steam from the sink.

More snow is predicted for tomorrow, but that might be Portland. I'm just concerned about the ice. I have the pickup tomorrow, and it's worthless on slick roads. We'll see what the morning brings.

Jan. 14, 2012 - D14

2012-01-15T20:33:00.000-08:00

The best part of this day was this morning, when I was driving back from the farm. The sun was just rising on my left, into a narrow space between the hills and cloud layer. As dawn light poured over the fields, a flock of Canadian geese exploded into the air, their bodies flashing golden in the sun. They wheeled and circled over the road, then abruptly formed into a huge V and turned north. I drove on, noting how the sunlight made torches of the bare oak trees against a cobalt sky. With the sun behind me, I raced my own shadow home, until suddenly it vanished. Everything was gray and dark. The sun had risen into the clouds, and that was the last I saw of it all day.

The rest of the day was cold, wet, and miserable. I decided to go into my greenhouse and gather all the seed packets I could find, for sorting and taking inventory. I didn't realize just how many I had.

This is only what's in the greenhouse. There's more in my studio, and maybe some in the garage. Well, it'll keep me occupied over this coming week when our weather is supposed to be stormy.

Jan. 13, 2012 - D13

2012-01-13T22:16:00.000-08:00

It was 18 degrees this morning when I got to the farm, but, you know, once you get below 30 degrees it's all the same: painfully cold. Mom's cats thought so. The boys dashed outside to piddle in the grass, then they dashed right back to the door and begged to come in. Heidi, the 14-year-old, watched them go, then did her business in the nice, clean, unfrozen litter box. Wise kitty.

Sad to say, the only garden related activity I managed today was feeding the birds and providing them with water. We feed the birds year-round to keep them here. They're one of my main forms of pest management, since I don't use pesticides, insecticides, or any other -cide. Some people have asked if the birds eat my fruit or vegetables. Well, sometimes they peck on the apples or pears, but so what? I'm not that greedy. Out of a tree full of fruit, I can spare a dozen for the birds. Especially when they help keep out the tent caterpillars that will damage all the fruit if given a chance.

I was so rushed today, the only photo I was able to take was while sitting at a stoplight on my way home from the farm.

Time to hunker down. There's a system coming in tomorrow, supposedly bringing snow to the valley floor.

Jan 12, 2012 - D12

2012-01-13T21:14:00.000-08:00

It was 20 degrees at the farm this morning, and stayed chilly all day. I didn't get any gardening done, mainly because it's hard to weed frozen soil. Instead, I treated myself to a long walk up at the Oregon Garden in Silverton. I bundled up for it, knowing that the wind on that hilltop can be bitterly cold. I took my camera, of course, and started in the woods. Right away, I met some of the locals.

I made a big loop around the garden, taking in the views. It was a brilliant, clear day, and I didn't really mind the cold as long as I kept moving.

These were taken along the oak grove path on the west side of the garden.

From here, I went down to the "pet-friendly garden" where I found the pond frozen over.

Next, I cut over to the fountain and water garden area, where I found a group of robins enjoying the winter sunshine.

Eventually, I wandered over to the conifer garden so I could pay my respects to "Chief Joseph," the only lodgepole pine that is green in the summer and golden in the winter.

Finally, I visited a new area on the east side of the garden. It's an extension of the wetlands, and it has a nice bark path winding through thickets along a series of little ponds and streams. I saw lots of ducks and wrens, but they saw me too and became camera shy.

I only managed a picture of this little girl.

All in all, it was a refreshing - if chilly - walk on a winter's afternoon.

Jan. 11, 2012 - D11

2012-01-11T22:57:00.000-08:00

The fields were white with frost this morning when I droveto the farm. A few shaggy cows stood along the fences, breathing jets of steaminto the frozen air. As I walked across the road to fetch the paper, I made nosound, for the gravel was stuck together in one solid mass. The thermometer onthe garage read 23, while the one in the patio showed a balmy 26. The birdseed onthe patio wall was encased in ice, so I sprinkled fresh seed over it. As soonas I went inside, a dozen red-winged blackbirds flew down from the trees tofeast. They were joined by Juncos, Mourning Doves, and Pine Siskins.

Yesterday, I was so happy to see that the soil temperaturein my future pea bed was 46 degrees. I even considered planting a few “test”peas, to see if they’d do anything. Guess I’ll just continue to groom the yard and raised beds. I keep forgetting that we have to getthrough winter before we can have spring.

Back home, I refilled bird feeders and thawed bothbirdbaths. In the backyard, I noticed something odd in my rainwater bucket. Itwas frozen, of course, but there was something more.

I have no idea what created those miniature ice sculptures.I’ve seen others like them in the birdbath, and they mystify me. Nature is anenigmatic artist.

I didn’t get to work at home, but at the farm, I cut down avolunteer sapling for Mom. I think it was alder or poplar, but I’m not sure. Itwas about three inches in diameter at the base, so I used my pruning saw. When theseedling first appeared, Mom wanted to keep it. She thought it was cute. It’sbugged me for years, standing in front of her picture window, limbs scrapingthe glass whenever the wind blew. I knew that eventually Mom would get sick ofit too, and today she did. Good thing I keep my tool bag handy.

I was refilling her feeders on the south side when somethingon the garage roof caught my eye: Blackie, my favorite of Mom’s four cats.Sneaky little devil, he was checking the birdhouse for current tenants.

When Icalled him, he gave me a cheeky “Mew!” and clambered over the rooftop to thepatio wall, dropped down to the flowerbed, and made figure eights around myankles. I love that cat.

On the way home, I stopped to photograph Mt.Hood. It was a rare clear day, and themountain was dressed in its winter finery.

From what the weatherman says, we might get some of thatfinery here in the valley by Monday.

Sigh.

Jan.10, 2012 - D10

2012-01-10T22:26:00.000-08:00

At last, a sunny day! It was so nice to feel sunshine on my back as I worked in the front yard. First, I pruned the suckers away from the filbert tree's base. I usually don't get around to this until much later in the year, when they're too thick for hand pruners and have leaves. It's easier doing it now. Also,while the tree already has catkins, they're not releasing all that golden pollen yet. That's good news for my allergies.

Next, I started weeding another raised bed. The Brandywine and Roma tomatoes lived here last summer, and there are still some squishy reminders dotting the soil. I just dug them in for compost. Mostly, I ripped out wiregrass, some with roots a yard long. It's evil stuff, and I don't know where it came from. I didn't have any until about ten years ago. Before that, morning glory and vetch were my biggest problems. At least they were easy to dig out, unlike this grass.

My favorite tool for weeding is my soil knife. It's based on a Japanese tool called a Hori hori. ("Hori" means dig, so it's a dig-dig knife.) Mine is an American version, purchased from Gardener's Edge online. I love it. It's great for digging, prying, and especially for popping dandelions out of the lawn. It came with a sheath, but I honestly never think to use it.

My grass shears are also a favorite. Mom found some at a farm estate sale and tried them at home. They worked better than any other type she'd ever had. I wanted a pair for my place, so I looked for them in garden departments and nurseries. No luck. I looked online for grass shears. Nothing. Finally, Jeeter searched for me and found them. (He's good at that.) Turns out, they're sheep shears, not grass shears. Well, whatever they are, they're the best hand tool I've ever found for cutting grass - even bunch grass.

I put in a good hour's work at home, then spent the afternoon with Mom. By then, a chilly wind was blowing, so we bundled up and went to inspect her big Quonset style greenhouse. It's been neglected the last couple of years, but I have hopes of restoring it this year. Today, we watered the living plants and composted the dead, and knocked down spider webs and yellow jacket nests. It was cold work, so we didn't stay out there long. We watched the setting sun, and then went back inside by the fire.

By the time I got home, evening was in full swing. There was still some color in the sky, and one bright star.

A sky this clear usually means it's going to be a very cold night. The weatherman said our low tonight would be 28 degrees. By 9 p.m., we were already there. Time to stoke up the woodstove.

Jan. 9, 2012 - D9

2012-01-10T10:47:00.000-08:00

We had another foggy, cold day, but after sunset it began to rain. That's okay with me. The rain was warmer than the fog, and being an Oregonian, I'm used to rain.

I didn't get to work outside until late in the afternoon. I worked in Mom's patio, pulling weeds and dead-heading flowers. I was pulling weeds from around a little sedum when I noticed an oyster shell tucked under one side of it. (Mom has all kinds of shells scattered in her patio garden.) I moved the shell and discovered a hole underneath, about as big around as a child's fist. Oh ho! A trap door! Now I know why the cats are so keen to hunt in the patio. I pushed dirt down into the hole and packed it tight. I'm sure there's a back door somewhere, but at least this gives the cats one less hole to watch.

In Mom's patio, the minature rose and "Seven-up" plants are still blooming. So is the grapefruit mint, though it was a little limp from lack of water. I had to water everything because that part of the patio is under cover, and it gets very dry even in winter.

This is the grapefruit mint, planted in an old concrete planter by the back steps. It's been blooming since last spring. Tough plant.

This is the "Seven-up" plant, though not the best picture. It's so named because the crushed leaves smell exactly like the drink.

The only other "gardening" I managed was at home, hacking away blackberry canes from the back fence. Our former stray, Mollie, has a tunnel under the fence, and always gets snagged on the blackberry thorns. The tunnel is in the northwest corner of our place, so I call it Mollie's Northwest Passage. I cut away most of the bigger canes before it became too dark to see.

I hope the rain washes all the fog away for the next few days. I need to get busy on the filbert tree.

Jan. 8, 2012 - D8

2012-01-08T22:22:00.000-08:00

Sad to say, the onlygardening I did today was bringing in catnip to Mom's bored kitties. I pulled afew weeds from the clay bowl it lives in, but that was it. Between errands andfamily duties, there wasn't time for working in the garden. The weather didn'thelp, either. When I set out for the farm this morning, my headlights couldn'tmake a dent in the swirling fog. Once I crossed the boundary road betweensuburbs and country, I had to drive even slower. There aren't any streetlightson the east side, just a few big sodium lights illuminating barnyards here andthere. The winding road is thickly lined with trees and brush, so it felt likeI was driving through a narrow tunnel. Not a fun drive for someone who'sclaustrophobic.

The fog stayed all day, andthe temperature never got above 40. When I went back to the farm tonight, itwas freezing fog. Just a little reminder that it is, after all, January, andjust the beginning of winter.

I'm dreaming of springalready.

Jan. 7, 2012 - D7

2012-01-07T22:38:00.000-08:00

This morning was cool and a little overcast, so we took Mom to some estate sales, just to get her out of the house. I mention this, because one of the sales was that of an 89-year-old lady who loves gardening. She's moving into assisted living, so she was getting rid of many of her gardening books. I picked up a nice 1985 edition of The Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening (special deluxe edition) for fifty cents. Doesn't get any better than that. I looked up "wisteria" as soon as we got home, and it said to "prune it severely" every year. There ya go.

The afternoon was cool but fine, so I gathered my loppers and bypass pruners and went back to work on the wisteria. Meanwhile, Jeeter repaired the bottom step of our deck stairs, with Chip supervising closely.

I worked for an hour on the wisteria, shaping it and removing unnecessary vines. I still insist that it be a "tree," no matter what it wants. We'll see who's more stubborn. I also pulled sneaky, creeping vines out of the grass and soil, chopped them up, and put them in the county composting barrel. I'll let the county deal with them. I don't want to take a chance on any stray pieces taking root again.

When I finished, the wisteria looked like this:

I might cut on it a little more, but I don't want to lose all the bloom this year. We'll see.

I went looking for more blooms and suddenly remembered my Christmas cacti in my shop. Actually, these guys are more like Valentine's Day cacti, or even St. Patrick's Day cacti. One of them bloomed before Thanksgiving, but the rest are just now ready to pop. They all get the same light, water, and food, in the same unheated shop. It's very odd. I find they do much better and bloom more vigorously if I just leave them alone. I check in every couple of weeks to say hi, tell them they're beautiful, and then leave.

When I was taking my tools back to the garage, I heard a commotion at the suet feeder hanging from the maple tree. The local flock of Bushtits had arrived. This group has a regular route around the neighborhood and comes back to my feeder four or five times a day. They're not a bit afraid of me, so I can get some good photos on occasion. Then again, sometimes all I get is tail-feathers.

Here you see the difference between the male, with the dark brown eyes, and the female, with the crazy-looking yellow-circled eyes. I would not want her mad at me.

I also had a Chestnut-backed Chickadee come to dine. He seemed a little miffed at having his picture taken.

"Are you lookin' at me?"

I apologized and went inside to warm up.

All in all, it was a lovely day once the clouds broke up. When I went to see Mom at the farm this evening, I had a hazy, nearly full moon in the east and a beautiful sunset in the west.

When I left for home, the moon was in the trees.

So ends another good day.

Jan. 6, 2012 - D6

2012-01-06T19:21:00.000-08:00

This was not a day for working in the yard, but I did anyway. Despite the fog, the 38 degree "high," and rain mixed with sleet, I managed to put in twenty minutes on my Chinese wisteria. I have to work on it now, when it's just a bunch of naked branches and vines, and I can see the structure. I'm trying my best to impose order and limits on a shrub that wants to conquer the world. I planted it over thirty years ago, before I was even married. I'd seen old wisterias in Corvallis, where their blooms dripped from vine-covered porches in the older part of town. It never occurred to me to ask the residents what they thought of those vines. I went ahead and ordered one from some seed catalog I've long forgotten, and rejoiced when it came. I planted it away from all buildings (my only smart move), intending to train it into a tree.

Well, I did manage to braid three vines together so that they grew into one trunk. That much went according to plan. What I wasn't prepared for was the vines growing just under the soil twenty feet from the trunk, in every direction. That's in addition to the vines waving in the air, grabbing onto every post, tree, or railing they can find, and getting a strangle-hold on them.

If this wisteria wasn't so beautiful and didn't smell so fantastic when it bloomed, I would have nuked it long ago with Round Up and Cross-Bow - never mind that I'm an organic gardener. As it is, I just whack the heck out of it every year with my loppers.

The seed pods are another reason I keep the wisteria around. I love them. They look like little gray bats hanging there, and if you smack two of them together they sound like wooden castanets.

One year, I picked a bunch of the pods and brought them into the house, thinking I'd make some kind of nature arrangement with them when they dried. About a week later, I walked into the kitchen and found the floor covered with shiny brown things that looked like stepped-on Milk Duds. The pods had all burst open, shooting these seeds everywhere. That explained all the wisteria sprouts I'd found over the years, sometimes on the other side of the yard. The burst pods look like this:

I didn't get to finish pruning today because I just couldn't take the rain and ice pellets. That's okay. Sleet happens. I'll just try again tomorrow. As I gathered my tools to go back inside and sit on the wood stove, I heard one of my friends calling.

"Wick-ah! Wick-ah! Wick-ah!"

I looked up, grabbed my camera, and took a family photo.

Our red-shafted flickers have returned for the winter, and it looks like they brought Junior. Guess it's time to put out an extra suet feeder. If he's going to find a girlfriend, he'll want to bring her home for dinner. We want to make a good impression so she'll stick around. Fruit-and-nut suet it is.

Jan 5, 2012 - D5

2012-01-05T21:01:00.000-08:00

Probably every region has the saying, "If you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes." Today, that was true for my neighborhood. At 7 a.m., I fetched Mom's paper in a downpour. A half hour later, I enjoyed the most glorious sunrise. On the way home, had to have the wipers on double-time. And so it went for the rest of the day.

During one sun break, I went out back and brought my "fairy gardens" out of the greenhouse to get some sun and fresh air. They'll need to be redone in the spring, but they still look pretty good.

The ground covers will stay, but the bigger herbs will have to be moved out. Rue and rosemary get big.

Next, I cleaned up the flower bed on the south side of my greenhouse. I pulled up the ratty alyssum and leggy petunias, and removed the dried gladiola stalks. I know that the alyssum and petunias could survive to bloom again, because they've done it before. My backyard has an interesting micro-climate that protects tender perennials and some annuals. The trouble is, the annuals never look as good the second year. Besides, I like to change things every year to keep it fresh. I can't even keep the same wallpaper on my laptop screen for more than a week. Why would I grow the same annuals in the same spot from one year to the next?

When I'd finished the bed, there remained two roses, a lavender, rosemary, and purple sage. The roses are Pink Peace (still struggling after two years), and Polynesian Sunset. Again, I need to find the tags for the herbs, but I think the lavender is Provence. The rosemary has a broader leaf than the others I've grown, and more rounded at the tip. It's vigorous and very fragrant even in the cooler weather. The purple sage is big and shaggy, but I'll wait till spring to clip it.

I had to bushwhack to get around the end of my greenhouse (there's another project), but I wanted to find my Beauty Berry. I love that bush even though I've neglected it badly. I planted it a couple years before I built my greenhouse, and always intended to move it. I just never remember to do it when the time is right. Actually, I don't even know when the time is right. Meanwhile, it puts on its pretty little berries, and I'm always surprised to see a glint of brilliant purple in the darkest corner of my yard.

I broke off a branch and put it in a water jug in my greenhouse. Maybe that way I'll remember that it's still back there, waiting patiently for its new home.

In that same corner, where the board fences meet, there's a gathering of invasive flora from the other three neighbors. From directly behind us, Himalayan blackberries and hawthorns. From the NE neighbor, a grapevine gone wild. (The grapes aren't tasty enough to justify keeping the vine.) From the nice Korean couple to the east, English ivy. They thought it was cute. I have my work cut out for me this year. I thought about complaining to St. Fiacre, hanging there on my fence, but it wouldn't do any good. I'm not Catholic and he hated women. Still, I like the guy. All he wanted was to be left alone to grow his garden in the woods. Trouble was, he was so successful at gardening, people kept coming to him for advice, and his earnest desire for hermit-hood was frustrated. His image usually shows him holding a spade in one hand, and a large book in the other. I'm guessing it's the Sunset New Western Garden Book, the 650 A.D. version.

Hoping for a sunny tomorrow.

Jan. 4, 2012 - D4

2012-01-04T20:59:00.000-08:00

You wouldn't know it, judging from the rain and wind we have tonight, but this morning was all blue skies and sunshine. The breeze was warm, and I was comfortable working outside in jeans and sweatshirt. Our high temperature was 56 degrees - very unusual for January.

I spent a little time in my greenhouse, trimming away dead or mildewy foliage from the few plants over-wintering in there. The geraniums have new growth, so I took off the old ratty leaves and stems and gave them a pep talk. The paper whites in the pot are popping up, while the ones planted in the dirt under the shelves are the same size they've been for a month. I don't know if they'll do anything after all. Just have to wait and see. I weeded around them, and pulled out sprouted filberts and acorns. I'm not sure who planted them - either the blue jays or the squirrels, or both. Someone's been chomping on my tulip bulbs, too. Probably the same critter who's been eating apples under the drier vent next to the house. I'm sure he sits there, enjoying the hot air and apple mash with a big smile on his furry face. That's fine. Just as long as he doesn't try to crawl up the vent.

Later in the morning, I worked on my thyme and lavender out front. There are two types of thyme planted by the sidewalk as a ground cover, dark green and light green. Both smell like lemon, and darned if I can find their tags anymore to see what varieties they are. Anyway, I like to keep them grass-free and neatly trimmed. The rest of my place may be in utter chaos, but my thyme has to be tidy. I like weeding and trimming it because it smells so good. I usually don't wear gloves to work on it because I like having the scent on my hands.

I was surprised to have company while I worked on the herbs. I thought they'd be asleep, this time of year, but again, it's been so unusually warm.

When I finish primping my thyme, I worked on weeding the poor old lavender bush. I know that it should be replaced, and in fact I'm growing a "baby" of this one right behind it. I just can't bring myself to dig it out yet. It's still trying and puts out some beautiful, deeply fragrant blossoms every year. It just looks like heck in the off-season. (Don't we all.)

Eventually, I had to give my knees a rest. (I have five or six kneeling pads, but do you think I could find one?) I grabbed my camera and went to find blooms. The first was on my rosemary, Miss Jessop. Such a pretty girl!

Next, I went to check the "courtyard" outside my pottery studio. The white camellia is trying to bloom, but isn't quite there yet. Likewise, the winter Daphne is all full of buds, but no color. Then, I noticed a bit of green emerging from under the layers of filbert leaves. I brushed back the leaves, and there were my primroses.

Now, that's what I was looking for. Simple, pure, and lovely. See? There is beauty in winter. Sometimes you just have to dig for it.

Jan 3, 2012 - D3

2012-01-03T21:37:00.000-08:00

We had another lovely, pink sunrise but the rest of the day was a little dreary. The sunshine came and went, so that our high temperature was 52. That's ten degrees above normal for this time of year. The weatherman says the trend will continue with warm temps and rain over the next ten to fifteen days. After that, what? This worries me a bit. It's warm enough that the bumblebees could be fooled into coming out of hibernation too early. They'll either starve to death or freeze, if they do. I care about the bumblebees because we have more of them around here than we do honeybees. They're our main pollinators.

I managed to spend an hour working outside this afternoon, and it was wonderful. I trimmed up the pansies in their railing planters and noted several buds showing color at their tips. Then, I worked on my raised herb bed. It was the first we ever built and it was also the first "lasagna garden" I tried. Originally, it held rosemary, sage, chives. Greek oregano, and thyme. After ten years, all that's left is the oregano, some weedy chives, and a monster rosemary bush, "Miss Jessup." Oh yes - the grass too. It's that nasty stuff with roots a yard long. I think it's called Johnson grass, or devil grass. I hate it passionately.

I worked for an hour cleaning out that one little 4x4 bed. Chip the cat first tried to help by standing on my toes and kibbitzing, but he soon got bored. He raced across the yard, zoomed up a maple tree and back down, squeezed through the hole in the fence for a quick lap around the neighbor's yard, then raced back to our deck. Cat-esthenics.

I heard the local gang of bushtits approaching through Daryl's trees, so I ran to refill our depleted suet feeder. They waited for me in our white pine, and as soon as I latched the feeder and stepped back, they flocked to it. They're bold little beggars, more so than the chickadees. They know exactly what I'm doing and they're not a bit afraid of me. However, when Chip came and started doing figure-eights around my ankles, they took off.

When I realigned the top frame in my rosemary bed I uncovered a humongous spider nest. Now, I don't mind little spiders. I even named the variety of jumping spider we have, "Betty Boop," for the white eye-and-lip pattern she has on her back. (An OSU bug-ologist I contacted said I ought to suggest that for her common name, since she doesn't really have one.) Anyway, little spiders are fine. I encourage their presence in my greenhouse since they take care of the aphids. However, this spider nest is something else - like something Shelob would produce. I'm not sure what to do with it, but I don't want it in my herb bed.

I left it on top of the wooden frame in hopes that some bird or critter will make off with it overnight. Otherwise, tomorrow it goes into the county compost bin.

While I was working, the sky looked a little foreboding. The sun kept trying to come through, but it just couldn't quite make it.

I didn't mind, though. It was comfortable working weather, and light enough to see what I was doing. I doubt that I got my vitamin D for the day, but the fresh air and exercise made me feel renewed. Besides, the sunset more than made up for the lack of sun earlier.

Even cloudy days have their moments of glory.

Jan 2, 2012 - D2

2012-01-02T19:12:00.000-08:00

We had a beautiful sunrise this morning, pink and purple and stretching all across the eastern sky. It took me a moment to remember that the sun is heading back north, now that we're past the Solstice. It will be awhile before there's any noticeable difference, but just knowing that the days are getting longer makes me happy.

The clear morning didn't last long. By afternoon, the wind was gusting from the south and east, and scattered rain showers made working outside impossible. Well, not impossible. I was with Mom this afternoon and by the time I had any free moments for gardening, it was too nasty outside. Instead, I compiled my garden wishlist for this year.

I've learned a few things over the past several years. First of all, while it's fun to try growing new veggies and varieties, it's usually wasted space and effort. If I don't eat them normally, I'm not going to eat them even if I grow them. That's just a fact of life. One year, I grew tomatillos. Great crop, but I didn't know what the heck to do with them. Another year, I had a bumper crop of Cherokee Purple tomatoes, but I could never tell when they were ripe - and they just didn't taste right. In 2010, I grew big beautiful eggplants and gave most away because I didn't know how to cook them. I do now, so those will be on this year's list.

My list (so far) includes:

Sugar snap peas
Roma tomatoes (2 plants)
Early Girl tomatoes (1 plant)
Black Seeded Simpson lettuce
Spinach
Red lettuce
Zucchini (1 plant!)
Delicata squash
Butternut squash
Bell peppers - red, yellow, and green
Straight Eight cucumbers
Armenian cucumbers
Eggplant
Jacob's Cattle dry beans

Why not corn or onions? Because E.Z. Orchards gets some of the best sweet corn I've ever tasted from a farm up in Lake Labish. I believe they get some of their Walla Walla Sweet Onions from that area too. It's that beautiful black river-bottom soil that makes the difference. I don't mind paying for veggies like those. I can't hope to match their quality in my little raised beds.

I need to go through my packets of old seed and see what I have, and just how old it is. I'll test them for viability using the wet paper towel method, and anything that's too old I'll buy from a local seed company like Nichols, or Iwasaki Brothers, or even Territorial Seed Company in Eugene. Local, to me, is in this state. It only makes sense to get varieties that I know grow here, and in some cases were developed for our climate.

Many of the seed catalogs have gone online, and that's okay. But I still love to get the others in the mail, with their glossy photos and inky fragrance. Online just isn't quite the same.

I'm hoping for a clear day tomorrow, but the weatherman isn't optimistic. By the way, soil temperature in the raised beds yesterday was 41 degrees. Peas need at least 40 to germinate - but they also need not to freeze their sprouts off afterwards. I guess I'll just have to wait. My Organic Gardening "Bible" says "after all danger of frost is past." Are you kidding me?! That's May! I might have to experiment with a few in the greenhouse. What could it hurt?

Dreaming of spring, here.

New Year's Day - D1

2012-01-01T20:48:00.000-08:00

The morning was foggy out at the farm, but Jeeter told me there was a beautiful sunrise visible from home. That's how it is quite often during the fall and winter. What a difference two miles makes.

The first "green" thing I did was to go to my greenhouse and repot a tiny African violet that Joey mangled a few weeks ago. It's been sitting in water since then, growing new roots. Today I put it into a small pot with violet mix and brought it back into the kitchen. I've read that they like cramped spaces and will be more likely to bloom in a small container. We'll see. I just need to keep it out of the kitten's reach so it has a chance to grow.

After that. I joined Jeeter out front to work on the raised beds. He cut up the fennel stalks I'd dug out last week and stuffed them into the county compost bin. They were too big and tough for our compost pile. Jeeter said the stalks were like bamboo, and he's right. Bronze fennel is not a plant for a raised bed. For the pasture, yes. It would be a good plant for the native bees and other insects. I'll pot up some of the dozen starts coming up in the raised beds and take them out to the farm.

While he hacked, I weeded the former pepper bed and repaired the netting on the trellis. I want to plant sugar snap peas there this year. I've recently discovered that they make a wonderful snack, so if we can grow our own we'll be that much ahead on the groceries. They're spendy at Waremart. Anyway, I focused on that one bed today. The wire grass was thick in one corner, so I got the shovel and dug it out. It was a good workout, and I made sure to pace myself. I'm not in great shape these days, so I have to take it slow and not overdo things. Don't want to cripple myself the first day of winter gardening.

Chip, the stray-who-stayed, came out to see what we were doing. He's more Jeeter's cat than mine, and that's okay. He spent the morning getting under his feet instead of mine.

I checked on the few things still growing in my raised beds and found them very healthy and happy. The sage looks good, and some of the red lettuce is still growing. Well, at least, it's not rotting.

The borage has gone insane and taken over one entire raised bed. I wonder, if I pot up the seedlings, could I sell them? Would anyone be that gullible? They're awfully cute.

The tarragon is still hanging in there. I'll have to check but I suspect it's a tender perennial. It might need some kind of protection from the cold.

That's all I did at our place today. At Mom's, I pulled the plastic off the patio wall and removed two yellow jacket nests. One was two year's old and empty. The other was occupied. Normally, I'll leave the jackets alone, but Mom is allergic and I just can't take the chance. The dozen or so insects fell out of the papery nest in a sleepy stupor, then eventually crawled away.

I also weeded the fire pit she turned into a planter. The rosemary in the center is doing great, and the sedums around the edge are enormous and healthy. What I took out was shotgrass and cockleburr vine. I think the vine is called bindweed in it's green state. Evil stuff, in any case.

That's the extent of my garden activities for today. It was a good start to the year, and it felt wonderful to be out in the sunshine and fresh air, despite the cold. Here's hoping for a few more days like it this week.