The bright greens and purples of our lush front garden in springtime has faded to the yellow and tans of late summer. This past winter I dug up and divided several perennials from the front garden, arranging and replanting them to fill in empty spaces. After a few years of this routine, the entrance to our homestead is getting more and more welcoming. Euphorbia produces
What? It’s the End of July??
How did it become the end of July? I feel like this summer is slipping by so quickly this year. Maybe that’s part of getting older. Nah… I like to think it’s more related to living close to the land. I’m noticing artichoke flowers getting so huge and open that they topple over from their own weight. Juniper could hardly hold the hose a few weeks
How to Install Drip Irrigation
It takes some serious juggling to balance modern living with growing a substantial amount of your own food at home. I am no expert juggler, but I have become much more savvy when it comes to simplifying the way I manage our homestead. One of the best ways to simplify your garden time: an automatic drip irrigation system. Setting up an automatic drip irrigation system
From Spring to Summer
I can’t tell you how many people I have heard gushing about the amazingly sunny spring we are enjoying in Portland… How much they love being outside again… How it’s so overdue after a gray winter… Meanwhile, I’m the curmudgeon wishing for showers in the forecast! It has turned out to be one of the driest Oregon springs in state history, which is bad news
Front Yard – Spring Update
Remember back in the fall when I was busy cutting and dividing perennials for the front garden? The new little plants held on through the winter – mostly cuttings of lamb’s ear, artichoke, sage, euphorbia, and irises. It was a slow start in February, with just a few spots of green emerging from the mulch. April rolled around and things started to take off. Colors
Baby Fruit
A home orchard is the best way to savor the delicious sweetness of summer fruits. I would argue that it is just as much fun to watch the baby fruits develop as it is to devour them when ripe. It’s like Christmas as a kid – the presents were that much more fun because of the excited anticipation leading up to the unwrapping. I’m not
The Case for Boring Vegetables
My first years of gardening really focused on the divas of the produce world: tomatoes, pepper, eggplant and melons. Those are the plants that want a hot climate (something the mild NW can barely provide) and lots of water. They are the plants we garden nerds coo and crow over with one another, talking about which sexy varieties we’re adding this season. As the years
Awakening Garden
April has stirred the garden to life and I wanted to share some of those signs of beauty with you this morning. Of course there is a lot to be done this season, but this moment in time reminds me that there is a lot to cherish as well. By June we will be swimming in currants! Both red and black, our many currants shrubs
Harvesting Compost
Building a compost bin system is one of the first things I do when I move into a new place. It feels good to know I am working on building good soil even before my boxes are unpacked inside. My three bin system ensures we have a constant supply of compost “cooking” outside: one pile we are adding organic matter into, one pile that is
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