The beans are growing!

Las Fresas!

No other fruit reminds me of my childhood like strawberries. They also remind me of my Grandpa Elmer Berger. He's the only grandpa I ever knew; my grandma married him after being widowed for several years. I don't remember the exact year Grandpa Berger passed away, but I can tell you exactly what I was wearing at his funeral. Strange how a child's mind works, isn't it? As I remember it, Grandma and Grandpa Berger had quite a large garden. My family lived about 15 miles from them and I could always count on Grandpa B bringing me strawberries when they were in season. They are, hands down, my favorite fruit. I don't recall how those childhood strawberries tasted, but I do remember how special I felt about being singled out. Today, I harvested the first strawberries of the season from my garden and thought about Grandpa Berger as I ate them.

Fuchsia thief

Has anyone ever had birds eat the buds off a fuchsia plant? I planted a basket full of fuchsia plants and someone has come along and chewed open the buds, rendering them un-bloomable. I've done extensive internet searching without any real answers. I don't know who to blame for the thievery. Although, I now know how to spell fuchsia correctly every time. It's always been a tricky word for me. I wish I could reason with the birds. "I provide seed, suet, and a bath. Will you leave my flowers alone? Thank you. Except you hummingbirds. You're free to sip nectar at your leisure." Where's Dr. Doolittle when I need him?

Garden Picture

Garden Stuff

Today I built a teepee for my pole beans.


Planted zucchini.


Checked my lilies.



And admired some apple blossoms.


What did you do?

Making Progress!

I'm making progress! As a true Pacific-Northwesterner, I did not let the intermittent rain showers these past few days hold me back. All four beds are now weeded and looking so much better! Abby gets to go over and patrol the yard while I garden. Brett comes with me when he can. There is some evidence of mole activity and Abby is VERY interested in the mounds they leave behind. One particular bed held her interest so much, that she just stood there, staring at the ground cocking her head back and forth. Is it possible she hears and/or smells some critter below ground plotting against my efforts? So far, all that has gone in the ground are some summer bulbs (glads, lilies), carrots, radishes, and a couple lavender plants. But there is much more to come!!


















Abby helping Brett with the weeds.















The rhubarb making a strong comeback!




















The front of the John Tigard house.

Yay For Gardens!!

I am so excited!! About a five minute walk from my apartment is a historical house that belonged to the founder of my town, John Tigard. I have a connection on the Tigard Historical Association committee and through her, I was put in touch with the director of said committee. I am now the proud foster mother of four garden plots in the John Tigard House backyard!!! After years of container gardening, I am over the moon ecstatic about having actual ground to play around in. It is so difficult to get a community garden plot around here. I've been on the waiting lists for a couple years now - to just have four plots handed to me is such a blessing. They're providing me my water and aren't even charging me a rental fee. THA is just happy to have them put to use and looking good. Last year, the gardens were maintained by a local private school group, but for whatever reason they're not tending them this year. There are eight plots total and Mary was willing to give them all to me. I know my limits, though, and didn't want to get overwhelmed so just took the four. But I did tell her that if she can't find someone to take the others, I'd figure out some way to handle them. It's in my garden's best interest that there aren't beds of weeds adjacent.

Each of my beds is a different size but together they equal ~225 square feet of sweet dirty goodness. The first order of business is pulling weeds and preparing the beds. Then I get to decide what I'm planting!! I'll definitely be doing the usual tomatoes, peppers, carrots, radishes, beans, and onions. With all that space, though, I can really try some new things. There is some established rhubarb that Mary asked I leave be.

Now I need to buy some real tools and really learn composting as there's a composting bin for me to use. Did I mention how excited I am? If I could do a cartwheel, you bet I'd be doing them all over the house.

Here's a before picture of my plots. As you can see, there is a LOT of work to be done. Even the paths between the beds need some attention (i.e. weeding). I can't wait to get started! Let's hope the growing season is better this year than last. You got weeds, I'll pull 'em. You got slugs, I'll kill 'em. You got seeds, I'll grow 'em. So happy!

Baking 101

It's official! I'm a bread baker and my home smells like my childhood.

For the Birds

January has been a good month. I went on my first birding expedition. I've had a long interest in bird life and claim the bird nerd title proudly. It's a part of the animal kingdom that we can observe with immediacy and the more behavior I see, the more fascinated I become.

The Audubon Society of Portland sponsors small birding expeditions regularly. I was on their site a couple weeks ago and saw they were going on a birding trip at Summerlake Park, about ten minutes from where I live. I figured it was a good opportunity to get out of my comfort zone, meet some strangers, and look at birds. The park has a small lake with paths and bridges and a variety of resident and visiting birds. I introduced myself as a newbie at the outset and throughout the two-hour tour, the others made a point of showing me things and giving me identification tips and really making sure I had the best experience possible. I had so much fun! I saw birds I see all the time: varied thrushes, flickers, nuthatches, house finches, goldfinches, western gulls, etc and ones I don't get to see very often: egrets, blue herons, wood ducks, green-winged teals. I even saw birds I'd never seen before: buffleheads, mergansers, widgeons, ruby-headed kinglets, bewick's wren. I even saw a redtailed hawk perched up in a tree thanks to my companions.

We'd just had a freeze, so parts of the lake were still frozen, giving the birds the appearance of walking on water in some areas. The gulls, in particular, seemed to enjoy the ice as they came in for slip-sliding landings. They'd coast, land, slide, and repeat.

I was the youngest member of the group by at least 15 years but couldn't have asked for a more enjoyable experience. In a couple weeks, I'm going to the Tualatin River National Wildlife Preserve to participate in a night hike all about owls. I Can't Wait!!

Gratitude - Take 2

This week I am grateful...
for the first Christmas card of the season!!!! (Thank you Nicole!)
for working heat
for my new orange beanie
that my nieces and nephew think I'm cool enough to be friends on Facebook
to all the people who supported me at yesterday's bazaar
that my Christmas shopping is nearly complete
for my cactus that puts forth gorgeous pink blooms in the middle of winter
for my health
for the birds that visit my feeders every day
for technology that makes it easy to maintain contact with old friends