In the Orchard

There is an awesome (neglected) orchard on our property. I have dreams of taking care of it so that it really produces its potential but I think it may just stay a dream. It would be such a huge task. These trees need pruning and the whole orchard needs mowing, and who knows what other kind of tree care and spraying would need to be done to make this orchard what it was meant to be.
Nevertheless there is still plenty of yumminess to be had. There are lots of different kinds of apple trees out there right now. At least 3 different kinds of plums. There are grapes coming on and lots of cherry trees that never really did produce anything. And the peaches have been the biggest surprise. They are huge and so tasty. I didn't know peaches could do this well on this side of the mountains. Maybe it was just a good summer.

Brendan is my orchard/picking partner. He loves fruit the most and he and I think it is great fun to explore the orchard and see what kind of treasures we can find. Everyone else either is climbing or somewhere else playing.

 

 

 

 

A Garden.....Sort of

We have visitors this week. I love when people we love from far away come to visit. Rand's Aunt and Uncle from Minnesota are here. And I discovered tonight that they just laugh and giggle about how in the world I can knit and throw birthday parties, let alone blog at all with this new(ish) baby and 3 crazy boys. They even went so far as to tell me that they joked and said, "What's next? A gardening blog??" Well it just so happens that was exactly what I was going to do next and there are some gardening photos just sitting there on my camera card as a matter of fact!

We jest in fun, right Chris and Joanie??

So for real. I've been plotting a garden (and other things!!!) in my mind since we moved in here in November. Our "lower yard" where we have all the space is a great spot. BUT, we would have to rip out grass and rocks and break up hard ground and bring in good dirt and then protect it from all the animals and honestly I don't think we could have made that happen...at least not this year. (See??? I have limits!) So my mom came over one day and told me she had heard about this public garden in Shelton where you can "lease" a garden box for the summer and grow your own stuff. It's super cheap, it's filled with organic soil and compost, there is water and tools available. I just have to plant what I want and maintain it. If I have extra produce I can donate it and they distribute it to the food bank or others who need/want it. It's perfect.  I have a small garden space near the house that I will plant in and then I have my garden box in Shelton too! Seemed like a good solution for this tough "season" we are in right now.

So believe it or not....I've planted some stuff. It just feels irresponsible to not try to at least grow some of our food!

Around the Yard

Talk about a major work in progress!!! We LOVE having a big yard, but there is so much we want to do with it, we have to be careful not to be always frustrated that it isn't up to par yet...and who knows when it will be! There is never enough time or dollars to get it done fast enough!  When we bought this house the yard was, at best, patchy grass. There was strange railroad-tie landscaping everywhere. There was buried river rock and boards that probably nicely bordered the yard a long time ago. And that was about it! Since late winter we have been working, working, working (mostly Rand has). He ripped out every last railroad-tie (except the 2 hammock posts). He spent HOURS engineering a watering system that would get the most coverage with the least amount of work (he has actually succeeded!!). We have planted grass seed and re-planted grass seed. We have watered diligently. We have planted a (very) small vegetable garden. I guess I could go on and on! There are a few pictures of what the yard used to look like here and here.

And here is some of our work in progress!



see? still have new grass coming in.



our mini-park. we want to fill this area with something but haven't decided on what. sand? pea gravel? rubber mulch??

This whole area is right off our patio when you come out our back door. Coming soon (hopefully) pavers to extend the patio and make this a nicer (cleaner) lounging and eating area.

this is what the ground is like under that table. really fine dirt. i have an obsession with sprinkling it with the hose so it's not all dry and dusty. :)

beyond that black hose (part of our intricate watering system) my plan is to make this the future vegetable garden. i'd like 5 (or so) raised beds.

growing vegetables has been a big learning curve. how do you garden in the desert??? we protected everything from the chickens, but failed to think about other birds. pretty much all the seeds i planted didn't have a chance. of 2 rows of cantaloupe i have 2 little plants that survived. same with sunflowers and zinnias. BUT, i have tomato plants with green fruit already! i have peppers doing nicely from starts, but the bell pepper seeds i planted got gobbled up as soon as they sprouted!

grass is almost all filled in. the soft green grass is all new, the brown yellow grass in the back is old grass that we have practically killed by over watering to start our seeds! (drought tolerant grass is a good thing!)

this area is going to have a small retaining wall on the one side and a stone path

and this spot. still in question. we are considering ripping out the hammock posts and putting a fire pit here.

more yard. that back corner is going to have a retaining wall flower bed. you can't see it but the back corner is actually a big pile of mulch from the yard. it's the chickens favorite place to scratch. they can take down the whole pile in a day! :)

the last brown spots! can't wait to plant along that back wall. i hate all the concrete!!!

thank you, olive trees, for shade!!!

and last but not least. our watering system. 6 sprinklers (soon to be 7) and hundreds off feet of hose. all connected to one hose bib. rand is pretty much a genius.

Summer Storm

The amount of rain we have had this summer so far (and I am counting May) is absolutely ridiculous! I was wondering how I was going to keep up with the watering of my garden, being that it is in the far back corner of our yard and we have no hose that even comes close. Worry not! Mother nature has watered my garden plenty!! I think I've only hauled a watering can out there maybe 4 or 5 times....today being one of them. If I would have known the forecast I would have known that today would be unnecessary for watering by me as well!
The garden is going bazerk and I cannot keep up with the pruning, weeding, thinning of the garden by any means. I am going to tackle it something serious tomorrow if the weather permits, but it is like a jungle out there!!!

This big mess just so happens to be carrots!


Green Beans


Lettuce and more lettuce

And more beans

Cucumber and Peas


Lillies


And Sweet Peas....my all time favorite


Right after I took these pictures we had the biggest summer storm. Black clouds, wind, rain, lightening, thunder. Crazy.
I found Rand relaxing on the front porch....his favorite place to be when it's storming...doing one or two of his favorite things.




So we all hung out and watched the storm. I left early to blog about it. :)





Sammy was a little scared.....but that's what Wyatt is for! :)

Spring in Full Bloom

I have to say, Spring over here in Pennsylvania is really awesome. The amount of blooming trees along with the contrast of such a gray, dead winter makes Spring over here amazing! I have been enjoying watching life explode from the landscape. The NW stays so green all year round. In the winter here...everything dies. Even the grass is brown. There is no green on the trees. There is no brush growing in the woods. It's very strange. But with Spring comes insane amounts of new life and crazy, amazing blooming color....everywhere! Every time I look out the window, or go for a drive I just feel great relief. Everything is soft again. It's been rainy the last few days, and I'm fine with that. After all, I'm not in Washington anymore, anticipating a rainy, frustrating next few months. The rain here comes and goes quickly...not as quickly as Arizona, but quick enough! :) Plus with the rain, I haven't had to water my vegetable garden...which I foolishly placed in the back corner of my huge yard and have no way of getting water back there except by bucket. I need a rain barrel! Or I need about 700 feet of hose! :)

Dogwoods are EV.RY.WHERE. We have them in the NW, but nothing like this. Hence the upcoming Dogwood Festival. (I haven't experienced it yet, but from what I can tell, it is similar to Shelton's Forest Festival)



We had a little petal fight.





Now for the Garden.
It has been 7 Days since I planted.

Cucumbers


Green Beans


More Green Beans


Sugar Snap Peas


Cucumbers again. I think I'm going to need to thin those.

Lettuce is showing, but not as impressively. Tomato plants aren't in the ground yet, and there's barely a sign of the carrots. I guess the hot weather and then the rain, rain, rain, is working for them. Let's hope I can keep up with the watering this summer!