May in Review
A look back at May shows a lot of life and budding fruit on the homestead. This is a photo-heavy post of the spring sights I have been enjoying: flowers, veggies and Baby Junebug! My favorite spring flowering bulbs, Allium giganteum, came out in full force. The purple petals are fading away leaving what looks...
Our Family Hike
My family has been enjoying the same hike through the Columbia River Gorge, a national scenic area, for decades now. My parents began hiking this easy trail in the early 70′s and continued to use it as the family grew. Years are marked in family photos with each child taking our turn riding in the...
What Is a Weed?
“Is this a weed?” I get asked that question a lot from gardeners and my answer is always the same: A weed is simply a plant in the wrong place. So before you get out for this long holiday weekend and start pulling everything in sight, here a few weeds you might want to reconsider...
Favorite Tomato Varieties
There are three general categories of tomatoes: sauce, slicer and cherry. Sauce tomatoes have thicker, meater fruit with less water which makes them ideal for marinara. Slicers are the big beef steak types that you want on sandwiches. And cherries are the little, sweet gems that are great for popping in your mouth while you...
Propagating Grapevines
Springtime means pruning and our grapevines were more than overdue for their annual haircut. We love the Glenora and Himrod grapes growing on old bed frames on either ends of our raised beds. But each year they grow so long that they get tangled into the nearby trees and shrubs. Pruning them back keeps their...
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