Diary 4/30/15

Another nice day with a bunch more to come.

With all the "nice" weather and quite a bit of wind, I decided to turn on some irrigation. (Sprinkle is the white thing in the front corner.) That may have been a first; irrigating in April...Global drying, I fear.

Diary 4/29/15

Working on Wildflower Show stuff. Gathered some plant donations today. Hope to get a few more flower flats to make the plant sale look really good. Here is this year's poster~

Diary 4/27/15

At least now when I work in the greenhouse, I will have a reward at the end!

Diary 4/25/15

Last bit of showers today and then clearing off with a high in the 80's for us here by Tuesday. I will plant some beans in honor of the high temps in hopes the soil will be warm enough to ward off frosts in the future. The greenhouse gives me that extra few weeks ahead of the great outdoors. Other than asparagus, we are eating kale, lettuce, broccoli, and old green onions out of the garden. Not much luck with spinach and I really miss it. I can try one more time, but it is getting late and it doesn't like long days or warm temperatures. There is always fall!

Diary 4/23/15

One of my longest blog breaks. Busy time, sore bodies, and realizing the limits of getting older. You have to make choices and you can no longer get it all done. A little rain today and we are all so thankful. Funny, the jokes used to be about getting webfeet, but you don't hear much of that lately. Everyone is getting some last burn piles finished before it is completely dry.

Diary 4/16/15

Warm weather ahead for us. With the longer day length and the soil warming up, my gardening hormones are starting to kick in. I may be tempted to plants some beans and cucumbers. I did that last year and they took off without a glitch. I figure I have plenty of seeds and if at first I don't succeed, I would just try again a little later. Wish me luck! Have a wonderful week's end~

Snow yesterday morning, now heading for 80 degrees. I Love Spring!

Diary 4/14/15

Our wild crab apple tree is blooming. It is so beautiful with light pink blossom in profusion. Leaves are present follow, but for now, the pink mixed between the brown twigs and new green leaves catches the eye. Crab apples make the best pollinators for other apple trees. I hope its neighbor, a Honeycrisp, makes use of this service. Crab apples bloom over a long period of time. There are flowers, buds, and the hint of buds all at the same time. This long term of flowering and the number of blooms give it the ability to provide the cross pollination from tree to tree that the bees, wasps, flies, and even wind achieves to set fruit. Hoping for our own Honeycrisp apples this Fall.

Diary 4/12/15

Another lovely day. Everything is glowing. The lilacs smell so good. Birds,butterflies, and visiting children are flitting about in the yard!

Diary 4/9/15

On the Rogue again, yep, got to go fishing. Didn't get a bite. but it was so lovely and the weather was perfect for it. The water level is at 800 cfs(cubic feet per second). That is the level of the lower river in Fall right before rains begin. It is that low because they have trying to get Lost Creek Lake filled which they kept down for run-off flood control. With almost no snow pack, they have nothing to worry about except getting the reservoir filled

  in case they need the water for young fish this coming fall. The low water level made some place difficult to navigate a drift boat through~

Diary 4/7/15

It has rained much of the day. I am getting to love the rain and appreciating every drop. With severe drought to the south and east of us, and we ourselves on the verge of a season with little or almost no snow pack, I am loving these days that reflect what should be happening this time of year, not the dry, sunny high 60 degree days we had in between. Worked in the greenhouse, weeding and loading planters for transplanting tomatoes in ten days...Making plans for underground netting and screens, brick walls, and other fortification against gophers.

Diary 4/2/15

Looking forward to summer. Inside the greenhouse,the figs are appearing even if they won't be ready for five months. The tree's leaves are so beautiful to watch unfold and fill in. Outside the greenhouse, the Asian pears are blooming. The deer have pruned their branches into a shape that reminds me of a Monterey Pine. At least they are too tall for over pruning and we still get plenty of fruit.