Spring Ahead!

If you know me then you know that I'm a fan of the rainy weather.  I mean, who doesn't love a cloudy day?!

Portland makes me happy because just when I'm starting to get in that winter funk (which takes a while!) spring starts hinting that it's just around the corner!

Days are getting longer, flowers are blossoming, the chickens are laying eggs again, and the sun starts peeking out from behind the clouds.  I tend to get started on garden stuff a little too soon because I just can't wait to get things growing!  

Bring on the garden!

How does your Garden GROW?

The best thing about having a garden is being able to step outside and enjoy fresh, free (ish) food!  It's been a busy weekend for Cam and I so we haven't been able to get some of the staples and our cupboards are running a little bare.  All I could muster up for my work lunch was cereal, rice milk, and a banana so I was pretty hungry when it was time to go home!  My friend gave me a ride home and as soon as I stepped out of the car I saw a beautiful radish!  We recently planted peas and radishes in the front of our house trimming the lawn and driveway just to see what would happen.  This was the first radish from that bunch and it was DEElicious.  I got inside, and though I knew what I would find, opened up the fridge and freezer and cupboards again to find nothing.  But as soon as I went out back I had access to a variety of beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, kale, spinach and of course....EGGS!  Since I'm not very creative I went on the internet and found a recipe for Cucumber, Tomato, and Avocado Salad.  It called for dried basil and oregano and I was bummed for a minute because we don't keep dried basil, but then I realized I could just use fresh!  It was such a delightful salad with all of the ingredients besides the avocado being home grown.  I love our herbs and garden and I really look forward to expanding our horizons!  This is our second year "on the farm" and though we learned a LOT in that short time I just know that we are going to continue to expand and learn.


Tomato, Cucumber Salad w/ basil, oregano, sunflower oil & apple cider vinegar

First heirloom tomato!

Homegrown Cukes!



Some of our first progress!

Stan watching me watch Cam garden

When we first planted sunflower seeds

Look at them now!  Towering over my 6'5 father!

April Showers bring May Flowers!

 

Spring Fever!

Spring is in the air! 

The days are getting longer, flowers and trees are blossoming, and the birds are singing at 6am!  I love having the windows open and listening to all of the sounds.  Cam and  I heard a woodpecker the other day - it was cute!

 

Garden Preparations!

Before we moved to Portland I read that for the most part you can think of the rain as being broken up into three categories.  4 months of constant rain, 4 months of equal parts rain and sunshine, and 4 months of constant sunshine with barely any rain.  We're in the 50/50 stretch right now for sure!  The mixture of rain and sun not only makes beautiful rainbows, but everything is coming alive and growing so quickly and lushly.  The lawn grows so fast it could be mowed every day, and the dandelions are growing like the weeds they are! ;)  The plum tree is blossoming, the dogwood tree is blooming, and the sunflower and poppy seeds that we planted are starting to sprout...I LOVE IT! 


Time of the Season

Sauvie Island Pumpkin Patch 2012

Summer is officially over! I've always loved season changes and fall has always been my favorite. I love the change in temperature, the occasional drizzle, and of course my favorite is the beautiful colors on the trees! That being said I am definitely going to miss being out in the garden and hanging with the chicks! It's sad buying tomatoes in the store, and our egg carton is running a little empty. Baby Bird (Shelly) is almost full grown and she is gorgeous, and the shorter days and chilly weather has started Martini's first "molt". It was alarming to go in the yard afer a few days and see her featherless neck and missing tail feathers. She is supposed to be even more beautiful when her new feathers come in but right now she looks sick! Egg production stops and all of her energy is put into making new feathers so only Layla is laying currently. Eggberta never started back up since she became a mom, and Shelly has 2 more months until her first egg.
We have a couple fall crops in the works ~ brussel sprouts, peas, broccoli, lettuce, arugula, turnips, spinach but they aren't looking too promising. I actually didn't realize we had the much left until I just wrote it! The garden looks so empty compared to how it looked just a month ago. I'd say the cherry tomatoes were the biggest hit. They grew so big and produced so much! Cam's never been a tomato fan but he is now after eating them off the vine. 

Last week we planted some orange and yellow mums in the front yard, along with ornamental kale in purple and white to celebrate renewing our lease. Yup, that's right we're in PDX for another year! We love it here but who knows what's on the agenda for 2014. Hopefully our credit will be back on track so we can look into buying a home again. I'd love to live on a farm with chickens and goats and cows! Maybe even a pot-bellied pig?

 

Martini's first MOLT!

The bright side to the chillier weather ~ seasonal brews!!





Plant it and it will grow!

I love being in the garden.  It's just so peaceful.  Having recently moved from the desert and originally being from New York I am just so amazed by it!  It's hard to believe that just 4 months ago we had a 12x6 raised bed of dirt and now pretty much every day we can go out and get something to eat from it!  The tiny little seeds that I planted in the dirt have become towering bean stalks, and broccoli, and radishes and lettuce.  The little 1ft tall corn starts and pea starts that I bought at the Farmers Market have turned into 6 foot tall plants with beautiful veggies on them.  The corn isn't quite there yet but it's getting ready to flower.  We have at least 6 different types of tomatoes that are all starting to come in, as well as different varieties of peppers. 

On a walk to the park a few weeks ago we found a couple of seedlings sitting out by the community garden.  I wasn't sure where we were going to fit them but I couldn't just leave them there!  We thought for sure that they were tomatoes so put one in the topsey turvey and bought a couple of containers for the other guys.  When we checked on them yesterday they are doing SO WELL!  We think one of them might not be a tomatoe though..looks like more of a cucumber or something in the melon family (maybe a pumpkin)!  I love that we don't know what it is right now and can't wait to find out!