Diary 5/9/13

No time to blog right now.  I am tiling!!!

Diary 5/7/13

Lots going on in the garden today.  Finally got the tiller on the tractor yesterday afternoon and opened up one chunk of area before the thunderstorm arrived with 3/10ths of an inch of rain-perfect. The soil was terribly dry.  Today another two areas were tilled and they look so much better for the addition of moisture.  More due this weekend. Meanwhile, I planted tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, peas, onions, lettuce and cabbage in the main greenhouse I will be growing food in, while Allen turned two beds and weeded most of the rest.  Looking good and feeling like I was back on top of gardening again. Though the grass in some areas needs trimming, it is all so green and lush right now, I love it.  Went out to make sure all gates were closed as there had been a cow siting, and noticed lumps on the ridge top across the canyon.  Sure enough it was bears.  Came home for binoculars and ended up spending the next half hour watching a great big mama bear, a medium sized cinnamon colored bear, and a wee little baby bear also pitch black who was running all over the hill having so much fun on the outing.  I have been checking to see if they circled back up the hill and so far I have not seen them. So maybe they went down to the creek and who knows, may come through the garden tonight!

Pressing flowers

I came home with some of the specimens from the show because I thought I would press them.  I love to stick them between wax paper after they are dry and iron them. Maybe I can make them into something after that.  I have used them for candles and cards

. Soap? Bookmarks? Paper weights? Refrigerator magnet clips? Hmmmm...

Diary 5/5/13

Wildflower Show went well.  We didn't have much of a crowd, but the folks who did attend, spent money, so we still raise some funds. There was a sharp learning curve for me and I will make the next person a folder of what I learned.  For now, I am happy to start new things as the organization of this even has taken an enormous amount of time. I have learned to look closer at the world around me, and I will take that as the gift from this experience.  I was a successful event planner, I would say, it just isn't what I want to do. The thunderstorms they predicted for this afternoon happened. As we were cleaning up the show, lots of fireman's radios were going off.  I drove home through three small fires about 9 miles away. It is cooling down and not much wind now, so they probably got a handle on them.  Still, it is early for such nonsense!

Diary 5/4/13

Ready to go for the Wildflower Show.  We have three tables of raffle prizes, a good looking supply of plants to sell, and a huge array of boutique items.  We have hand painted totes, old tee shirts, and signs painted on old barn boards which you can see in the background on the far wall. We collected 210 specimens compared to the last two rainy years of 170 and 130!  Way to go us.  I know I found around 60 different flowers while searching.  Pretty amazing.  Need to take more photos though.  Hope lots of people show up, but if they don't, I feel a raffle win in my future.  I never win...

Raffle prizes galore!

The botanists hard at work putting the correct names next to the specimens.

Diary 5/2/13

Today was collect the flowers for the wildflower show day.  Cheryl and I went up the Elk Creek drainage to various locales and found probably 50 different specimens.  Very fun!  It was warmer and warmer as we came down the hill.  Had sprinklers going everywhere in the garden and yard today.  More hot weather on the way and then chance of a thunderstorm next week.  Acting like summer already here!

Diary 5/1/13

May Day! May Day! One of the perks of the position as head gardener is being the first to the strawberry patch.  Bring it on strawberries!