Diary 4/30/13

It feels like May out there, ha-ha.  Really, though, we are going to warm up fast around here.  The weather is straightening out and going to be above normal and dry. Hate to say it, but it will be perfect for insects.Working on finishing cleaning up the perennials, the berries and the asparagus patches.  Also unwound hoses and turned water on all over the place today.  Weird for not being even May!  I will get the bulk of the garden in next week. I am in the throws of the Wildflower Show which seems to be coming together fine. Then I can picture doing more in the greenhouses. Apple trees, cherries, and lilacs are blooming in the yard as are the madrone trees. It is verdant here.

Diary 4/26-28th

Razor clamming at the Oregon Coast. Digging with clam guns, cleaning and baking clams, it is all hunting and gathering.  Came home with piles of

tray of clams

See the tools of the trade in the background~ clam guns suck up clams from the beach

cleaning clams takes awhile

breaded and buttered, waiting for the oven

clams and now have 11 packages of vacuum sealed clams and one package of necks in my freezer.  I am razor clam rich!

Diary, Last Thursday

Traveled north to Eugene and then on to Astoria to visit old friends.That is, friends we have known for a long time, lol.  Went out to fish and chips and then up to the Astor Column, an unusual tribute to the local area's history. From that point you could see north to the 6 mile bridge over the end of the Columbia River and south to Fort Clatsop and the final destination of Lewis and Clarke. The weather was intermittent

with sun and clouds and more wind as the afternoon progressed.

Diary 4/23/13

peonies

Finished cleaning the other two big rows of raspberries today thanks to my friend, Allen's, help. There are two dinky rows left to do, but not as much as those big rows.  Looks good and has room for them to grow.  We hauled off all the canes and even the prunings from the fruit trees, so the area looks much better.  The baby plants are doing well.  I will stop covering them at night after tonight and leave them to their own devises as far as the temperature swing goes.  I think they are tough enough now.  Wildflower Show is coming together with lots of last minute help and some extra advertising.  Yeah!

Diary 4/22/13

At least the planet gets one day! Happy Earth Day to all. Out to close greenhouses and turn off waters is a nature show this time of year.  I interrupted to herds of deer, watched a pileated woodpecker working on what I think will be a cavity nest, saw a hawk take off and several swallows, finches, and some smallish striped headed ground bird that I didn't recognize.  Last night there were 17 deer together.  I have to say I have never seen that many black-tailed deer together.  Two woodpeckers were on the dead pine last night, same place, tearing a hole.

Hard to see, but that's him(or her) on the left side.

Deer City

Peek-A-Boo

... that is why I had my camera tonight!

Diary 4/21/13

Yesterday morning when I went to water my freshly sprouted cucumbers and squash, I was saddened to see a mouse had somehow climbed up to the table top and eaten most of what I had started.  I ended up saving 32 plants of the 90 that had been there the day before.  They mice either dug them up and ate the entire plantlette or just chewed the first leaves off at the soil level as the photo shows. My mouse karma is not so good today as I set traps and successfully revenged my loss. In the afternoon, I attended a fun get together in a lovely backyard full of lilacs.  Beautiful day and poignant conversation.

Diary 4/19/13

Transplanted baby tomatoes this morning with friend, Terry, from wildflower group.  Fun to talk and get it done.  The forma are off of the concrete and it is setting up slowly as we had somw rain showers today.  Looks like a strange monument sitting there all alone.  Logs need to go off to mills to make them into uproghts and horizontals.  A bit of a break from construction to get the rafters, etc. and catch up on other things around the farm.

Diary 4/18/13

It doesn't get much more exciting than having two cement trucks in your yard!

Diary 4/16/13

Blogging early as I have a busy day(days) ahead.  Wildflower Show projects such as making posters on tap today.  Collecting signs, jars, etc. tomorrow from storage, and then transplanting baby plants for plant sale on Friday.  Somewhere in there the cement is going to arrive and I will probably not know when until the last minute so may have to rearrange schedule a bit as I want to watch the event. Watching the news, of course, and reasoning with the terror, glad it was not more organized, more serious methodology, or widespread.  Victims in prayers across our country.

Diary 4/15/13

Went to town to take Kubota tractor's dead tire in to be replaced. Oil was fine, needs a battery.  I am excited to get the little tractor going again as it fits what I can drive better than the bigger one.  I will be able to have it for tilling and hauling on call instead of the blue tractor coming from what it might otherwise be engaged in.  Came home to the Boston Marathon news.  There is some consolation, not for those who are at this moment battling for their lives, but in general in the knowledge that it could have been so much worse.  Sad timing, late in the race.  Perhaps providence played a part in a delay and thus less casualties. A permanent mar to an otherwise exciting event. Weather guy is warning we could have a frost, so covered the asparagus that I hadn't picked and

just didn't have the energy to pick so late in the cold evening.

Diary 4/14/13

Would like to say that I will not be working today, but with a garden and baby plants staring me in the face, that is not true.  It was 30 degrees this morning and gloomy outside, so not expecting delight

ful weather.  May get a chance to write this afternoon, but first some chores. Meanwhile, I hope you have a peaceful Sunday

Diary 4/13/12

Busy with so many different fronts.  The other bathroom wall went in this morning, now to think about tiling!  Harvested two trees for uprights for the shop and worked on cleaning up the debris.  Transplanted the second tray of tomatoes into 3 5/8" planters.  Will wait until the end of the week to plant transplant the rest.  Need to poke cucumber seeds and zuc seeds into trays for the Wildflower Show.  Maybe tonight...

Diary 4/12/13

Cleaned up around some of the logging we have already done, getting ready to do some more as there are still some uprights to get for the shop.  The cement is probably coming Tuesday or Wednesday as the weather looks now. Jim says best not to have rain not only the day of the pour, but also the next day. Clipped more raspberry canes.  Lots more to do, but it was certainly a nice day for it.  Showers start tomorrow for a few days.  Might work on bathroom tomorrow and finish wall so I can think about tiling...Busy times!

clean greenhouse

burning root wads

Diary 4/11/13

My friends came over to give me a hand today.  Cheryl came first and we loaded some 3 38" planters for the next step for baby tomatoes.  Will start some basil and flowers soon, too.Then Mel arrived and we weeded almost the entire top greenhouse.  So much more fun while talking and laughing.  It looks so good.  I still have to clean up from the bull(remember the giant range cow that was in there?) Tied the rebar together for the cement pour on the shop an our friend Jim finished the forms.  Will get the piers done and then finish the footing s and maybe get cement next Tuesday or Wednesday.  Very gratifying day!

Diary 4/10/13

Took a late afternoon trip up to a logged over area to look for morels.  I don't think it was quite warm enough to bring them up, but we found three little ones.  Will keep looking around as the weather is due to warm up next week.  As always, the trips to the woods reward us with beautiful vistas and wildflower treats if not baskets of mushrooms.

Diary 4/9/13

Garden Girl has headed north again for a bit so I am going around putting away toys and art supplies.  Outside it is pretty wet to do much without making a mess, but inside the greenhouse, I am working on planting the next round of spinach, carrots, lettuce, and greens.  I stuck in a few bush beans seeds and zucchini to see what happens.  The dirt felt neutral to me and that is a good sign of the right temperature for germinating these warmer weather loving vegetables.  I have been amazed at how early I can have beans in the greenhouse, so I am pushing that date back even more.  There are thousands of self sowed tomatoes.  Anyone's guess as to what they are.  I am moving some of the nicest ones into a bed for early tomatoes.  Hoping they are not ALL cherry tomatoes. Violas are everywhere in the top greenhouse which makes it very cheery in there.

Diary 4/7/13

We had some pretty strong gusts yesterday resulting in a seven hour power outage last evening.  It is getting windy

again out there, so thought I would post before I am in the dark again! Working on upper greenhouse so that I can cover some of the ground with an old rug. Less weeding and a possible play and sitting area.  I hope I can put shade cloth on and make it a desirable place to hang out, maybe read a book, or for kids to play without always being in the dirt.  We'll see. Marigolds and those upside down pumpkin thingees that look like tomatillos are coming up everywhere. I think they will look nice at the end of the carpet and that is the kind of place I am thinking of.   Need to harvest and pickle beets soon, and I am harvesting all the cilantro that is ready for a local Mexican restaurant tomorrow AM, so that will clean out a couple more beds.  I think I will plant a couple test squash seeds and beans, just for the heck of it.  If they make it, they will be early, if not, I will know to wait a little longer. Meanwhile, the cement pour location received a major make-over yesterday.  New dimensions and a place ofr a wooden floor to the side made for lots of digging and replacing rock. Little skid steer sure can fit in small places and make right turns while the excavator removed the excess rock.

Diary 4/5/13

We received almost an inch of rain yesterday and last night.  It came in squalls with high winds

, hard rain, and some lightning. We really need more rain and with the warmer temperatures, the snow pack has depleted severely. Hope the trend of a wet April happens for the moisture part, but it is hard on the getting plants going in the greenhouse part.  I have started two more batches of tomatoes since the mouse ate the first ones.  A few survived, but mostly red cherry tomatoes, of course. I have been separating perennials for the Wildflower Show.  Today it was white chrysanthemums. I figure I should have a few of as many different plants as I can, rather than alot of any one type.  Hopefully they will be perky by the beginning of next month.  The day lilies I transplanting previously are looking better now that it has rained on them a few times. In the yard, the plum trees and quince bush are all about to bloom if not doing so already.

Diary 4/4/13

Started working on the raspberries.  It is hard to ima

After

Before

gine thinning them to one plant every 5 inches or so, but that will give us nicer berries on our summer crop.  I should thin the plants just coming up now for the fall crop, but I never seem to get that done and boy is that a tangled mess of berry canes full of berries.  Maybe this year...

If you could only hear the birds singing...

Diary 4/2/13

The warmer nights(I didn't  say warm, just warmer) and the rains have made everything really come alive.  I am planting a little of this and that in the greenhouse and tending tiny tomato plants under lights. Looking toward mid-April and longer days when everything can go out to the greenhouse to live. For now, progress is slow.