Plants in the ground now - Booyah!

In every spare moment for the last week or so, I've been out in the garden and greenhouse shoveling dirt, transferring strawberries, planting vegetable starts and starting seeds in the ground and in the greenhouse. Two days ago some potato starts went into hills - two varieties, red and russet. Four cucumber starts also went into a hill today.The seedlings in the greenhouse picture below are zucchini, lemon cucumbers, butternut squash and pumpkins.The bed in the picture above has starts for two kinds of leaf lettuce, cauliflower, cabbage and spinach, and there are seeds for three varieties of carrots, head lettuce, and broccoli. In the picture below are about a hundred Walla-Walla onion starts - I spaced about half further apart so they'll mature to a full globe size - the other half above are spaced closer so I can pick them to use in salads. There is also one lone broccoli plant that randomly came with a set of herb starts I bought at a local nursery. The brown scrappy looking starts on the left are my asparagus plants - there are four or five of them. They will be placed permanently (they are a perrenial) at the top of this bed - hopefully soon! I picked up some herb starts, I can't wait to start cooking with them! In the picture below from the top left are starts for cilantro, greek oregano, rosemary, parsley, majoram, and mint.This is the same herb bed from al different angle...at the top of the picture are some garlic plants, at the bottom in the 2-liter bottle "hot-houses" are some basil seedlings.I also picked up a roma tomato plant...I can practically taste the tomato sauces I'm going to make and can this summer and fall. My tomatoes are going to live in a plastic umbrella hot house...this will keep them warm and will also keep rainwater off of their leaves and therefore reduce the chance that they'll get fungus or disease. For my tomatoes I am going to use the deep watering method described by Adriana of Anarchy in the Garden. I am also trying to start some tomatoes from seed - it may be a little while before they are in the ground.The husband and I have been on a fruit salad kick lately...it started before we went to Brazil, then we went crazy while we were there and since then we've been trying to get as much fruit as possible. Kiwis have been one of our favorites in the salads...so much so that we decided we should take a shot at growing our own. It was suprising to find out that they grow here...they vine like grapes. So we are now the parents of two kiwi plants, a male and a female. You need one of each so that they can properly cross-pollinate.Snow peas and beans are planted under the trellis - I have plans to put peas in another area as well, on a net that I picked up at a hardware store today.Today it was gorgeous outside, other days it has been rainy...the greenhouse is a good place to hide out when it is wet and I still want to be outside. Everyday there is a little more progress, I'm really proud of how the garden is coming together.

He is risen indeed!

Happy Easter to all! It was a bit rainy but still a beautiful day...and I've made it to my 25th posting...here's to many, many more to come!

Lookin' to be more "Local"

Lately I have been drawn to the idea of self-sufficiency...becoming less reliant on typical sources for food. Funny, I almost used the word "tradional" instead of "typical" - but then I thought about what each means...aren't national chain grocery stores more typical than traditional? I have been buying eggs about a half-a-mile from my house for the past couple of months and the other day my next door neighbor gave me half-a-dozen eggs that came from her chickens. I let the husband know today that next year I am going to want to get chicks to raise for myself for eggs. He has a bit of an aversion to having chickens...as a kid his family had them and it wasn't his favorite thing. So we'll compromise somehow...he just doesn't want to get stuck with the work involved with caring for the chickens. But, I think that he is more open to the idea ever since we got to see Bambino's shepherding instinct kick in when we were hanging out with the neighbors and they wanted to round their chickens back into their coop. It was pretty amazing actually, he acted like he'd herded animals for years, it was pretty amazing to watch my puppy just know how to get those chickens to go where he wanted them to. He was gentle but firm with the chickens as he herded them. So...I think it would be pretty cool to have our own chickens and let him practice his herding instinct - plus we'd have fresh eggs to boot!Summer has always been my most favorite season...but lately spring is in good competition. I guess it's because the last year or so is the first time in my life that I've been able to plant my own yard's garden with things that I chose and then watch what comes of my efforts. Everyday more and more of my tulips are blooming, it is amazing to come home to such beautiful color. We recently picked up some summer bulbs - irises, peonies and callalillies. The goal is to keep it going so that there's always a new wave of gorgeous color to enjoy.The picture below was taken from the back of the house looking towards the front, this is the flower bed that I have literally sunk many many hours of labor into. On the trellis there will hopefully be a ton of sweet peas soon. I planted some perennial sweet peas last spring...they didn't get going too much last year, so I'm hoping that they just needed a year to establish themselves...That certainly has been the case with the cosmos than I put in a year ago. They hardly grew at all last year and now they are bigger and more colorful than I could have ever guessed. Back to the sweet peas though, I am still debating about whether I should also put in some annual sweet peas there...the problem with that is at the end of the season they will dry and brown, whereas the perennials don't brown as much (at least I don't think they do). I also don't want the annuals to choke out the perennials, especially if this is the summer when the perennials are going to really take off...so I am not sure what to do, but my instinct says to plant my annual sweet peas else where and be more patient with my perennials. The rhododendron pictured below is one of a few that we have that just bloomed in the last two days...can I say again how much I love this time of year? Everything is so beautiful with all of this color...it seems like everyday there's another plant blooming to suprise me. I can't wait for the weeping cherry trees along our driveway to show their pink blossoms. They should bloom any day now. So taking a look at this pictuer I am kind of thinking I should have pruned this rhody during the fall or winter...note to self for later.

The husband had a suprise for me when I got home...he was so excited to tell me, I hardly had the chance put down my purse before he was asking me to come outside. I put down the eggs I'd just bought, changed out of my work clothes to play clothes and let him lead me out to the garden. At first I couldn't figure out what was different. The raised beds have been filled with a vegetable mix dirt over the past few days so although that is new, I'd already checked that out...the husband has been working very hard to make that happen. By the way, no we did not get a new dog, the sweet yellow lab in the photo below is Otter, our neighbor's pup. He lives in the house pictured in the distance, but likes to come over to say hello and to play with Bambino. It is his "parents" that are our chicken raising neighbors.Back to my story about the husband's suprise...when I walked out to the vegetable garden, it took me a second to realize what was different...not only are all of the raised beds filled now, but the husband had also picked up a load of gravel for the paths between the raised beds...the last time I'd been out there, the weed fabric on the ground was still showing. I think I didn't notice the gravel right away because it just looked "right" with it there. Needless to say I was excited, the garden is looking sharp, my anticipation for the garden this summer is growing...Below are the rows that the husband formed with his tractor. That is where I will plant corn, zucchini, cucumbers and possibly a few other vine-growing, space-taking crops.

Here are a few of the starts we've picked up...Walla Walla Onions and Asparagus. They are not officially planted yet, that will happen this weekend, they are in the dirt so they can get acclimated and watered when it rains as it is supposed to soon. A year ago when I first started a vegetable garden in this location I did not have a water faucet nearby. One of the projects that was done last summer by the husband was putting in a water line so a faucet would be closer to the garden. I am looking forward to not having to carry watering cans as far this summer and to not having to pull a heavy hose across the yard to the garden and then putting it away for the frequent mowing that has to happen during the summer. It is nice to have these improvements to the garden - it makes it easier to focus on the actual gardening when the chores involved are not so tedious.

Along the lines of trying to eat more locally and becoming more self-sufficient, it is exciting to see the trees in the orchard getting bigger and (hopefully) giving us a nice harvest this year. In the last three years since we first planted trees in the orchard, the number of trees has fluctuated quite a bit - I'm told this is pretty normal. We have lost a few during winter freezes, a few have been lost because they didn't root properly so they choked out in the summer. A couple others were possibly affected by tree diseases and a lack of sunshine because they were situated near a grouping of alder trees that have since been removed. I have been talking about making an orchard map for a few months now, so I finally went out with my garden journal to do so...there are now 16 trees in the orchard...it was getting hard to remember what we had out there. When we go to a nursery to look at trees, it is tough to know what would be a good addition to what we already have. We want to have a good selection of fruit. Right now we're heavy on plum trees (that's my fault, I love plums). We are a little shy on cherries, we've lost a couple and right now have just one bing cherry tree left...once the map was made we were able to make a list of what we still want to plant in the orchard. The husband would like another apple variety, I'd like another nectarine because they are of course delicous and also incredibly easy to can. Little by little it is getting easier to picture going out to the garden, orchard (or chicken coop!) to get food rather than to the grocery store. I like the idea of seeing where my food comes from, knowing that there weren't any strange chemicals added to it, and having the satisfaction of being able to provide nourishment for myself and those I love...I still say that the idea of self-sufficiency is probably more traditional then we give it credit for. I don't think we'll ever be completely "off the grid", but the conversations I've had with the husband about things like getting solar panels and a solar water heater to power our house seem more like future plans than dreams. We've also reached the point where we're seriously talking about raising a yearling for a spring and summer to provide our own grass-fed beef...These conversations are happening partially because of the current economy - we both want to find ways to simplify our lives and take care of our own needs. But it's more than that, there is something innately satisfying about providing for your own most basic needs...

Back from the Southern Hemisphere!

Today when I came home I was greated by a very cheerful yard! The sun was out and beautiful at about 65 degrees...it made coming home easier, I thought it would be cold and rainy.The tulips in the front beds have started to bloom!A close up of those white tulips in the front.And the side yard is full of amazing color!Seeing this made all the many hours I put into this bed last year soooo worth it! I can't believe how amazing the colors are!

These buds are on one of the pear trees in our orchard...looks like we are going to have some fruit this summer! Those buds are going to be full on blossoms soon!

The pets spent the last week at grandma's house getting spoiled. They were at the house to great us...Bambino gave us an especially happy hello.

Figaro got to hunting the first chance he had. He had been cooped up all week...he loves the kind of weather we had today.

I have so many, many things to share about our trip to Brazil...it was such an amazing time. Coming back home is bittersweet because I had a very "home" feeling in Rio. For today I think I will share what I brought home in the way of fabric souveniers. This was the first time I went on a trip with the idea of bringing home fabric from the destination. When I was searching for fabric stores it started off a little rough...the language barrier made an internet search a bit challenging. I came across the chain below.But before stopping at Casa Miro we ended up at a home decor fabric shop at a market in old town Rio. The gentlemen running the store were incredibly friendly...we patched together a conversation with them in a few different languages. This was how they packaged the fabric we purchased from them...love it!Here are the three fabrics I bought from them...the bottom one is a yummy tuscan yellow textile that I am going to use in our living room...just not sure exactly how yet. The palm fabrics will be made into pillows to be used on the wood lounge chairs that we are going to [hopefully] get this summer for our deck. The gentleman that sold me the fabric told me that the palm fabrics "have teflon" for "no water"...perfect for my plan!The fabrics below came from Casa Miro...all of these fabrics were made in Brazil...I made sure of that before buying them. There was lots to pick from, so I tried to go with the ones that struck a chord with what I was experiencing of Brazilian culture.These two sweet florals also came from Casa Miro - very sweet, they just look like they'd taste like guava and kiwi!And this amazing fabric was one that we chanced upon at a little store in Copa Cabanna. It is a "Rio de Janeiro" themed fabric...so fun! I haven't decided for sure what I'll do with it, but I have a few ideas.On the train ride up Corcovado to see the Christ the Redeemer statue there were many beautiful trees and flowers - we also saw beautiful butterflies in some amazing bright colors - I'd never seen anything like it before! That inspired me to purchase the fabric below...notice the manufacturing notes in Portugese.The next fabric is my favorite of all, it was also the most expensive fabric I bought...it caught my eye because it reminded me of the mosaic pattern that was on the sidewalks all along the beaches...it was things like this that made me fall in love with Rio. This stuff is gorgeous...I bought two yards. Some time (soon?) I am going to turn this into something fabulous to wear!We had a day stop over in New York on our way back...the husband came up with the idea of exploring the garment district...put mildly it was overwhelming in an amazing way. I had never imagined the volume of choices...I could have spent weeks going into different stores and examining all the different choices.We ended up in a store specializing in linen fabrics. They had so many beautiful options...I went with the two that jumped out at me the most.Then we ended up at a store specializing in designer fabrics. The three I picked are Michael Miller designs...love them!

Do you see the bird theme going on?

So it is good to be home but bittersweet because that meant leaving Brazil. It is nice to see spring emerging everywhere. Going to work tomorrow is going to be rough for sure, the jet lag has already been brutal! But it was/is worth it. I felt warmth in the people in Brazil, there culture and joy intrigued me...creatively I found inspiration, and being able to experience it all with my husband made us closer. Having the time to rest and talk has been so good for us. I think we both realized that recently life has been taking us for a ride...a fast ride. We got off that ride and had a blast spending so much focused time together. There is definately more of Brazil to come in these posts!

Adeus!

One more day of work to go before my Spring Break!! Tomorrow afternoon the husband's parents will drive us down to Seattle. We're staying there to make our early flight out less painful. I can't explain well enough how excited I am about going to Brazil...it is a place I've heard of since I was very little and a missionary family that worked in Brazil was visiting our church. My family had them over for dinner. They had kids my age and I remember asking them lots of questions about where they lived. I also remember asking them to say different things to me in Portugese - I have always been interested in other languages...So in honor of Brazil (or Brasil) I took a picture of a stack of coffee sacks that the husband recently brought home from a local coffee roaster that gives them away for free. They are not all from Brazil, I have some from Papau New Guinea, Ethiopia, and Guatemala to name a few places, but the 'Brasil' sacks are in my top favorites...this is part of my stash, I have 19 sacks total. I will be 'upcycling' them into new and useful items when I get the chance.Also in honor of my trip to Brazil, I made a new sunglasses case. I go through sunglasses at an alarming rate - usually 2-4 pairs a year. Mostly this is because I don't take good care of them so they end up scratched or with their lenses popped out. I recently bought yet another pair. Don't worry, I never buy expensive sunglasses, I go for the $10 pairs from the Brass Plum at Nordstrom. I bought them the same day I picked up a new swim suit for the trip. I am going to do my best to make these ones last, this cute little bags is meant to help with that.Okay next on my show and tell list is this skirt made with an Amy Butler fabric. I started it yesterday...it's not quite done, I still need to do some hemming and work on the waist band, but it is close. It is actually going to be a late night tonight because of this skirt (and a few other last second things that had to happen - like finishing writing the test I'm giving tomorrow to my classes!)

So for now I will say Adeus! I won't be posting for the next week or so - in stead I will be soaking up the sun and culture of Brazil and it's people! When I get back it will be April and time to get very serious about my vegetable garden! Until then! -db

Welcome Spring!

Spring is officially here - the calendar says so and there are signs of it outside! My first tulip has just bloomed through...a sweet yellow one to match all of the many daffodils that are already decorating our house and yard.There will be many more soon! I recently finished another bag, not for Rio this time though...this one will be "for sale" - I've decided to call it my "Cherry Blossom" bag because it reminds me of the cherry blossoms that we saw last year on our Spring Break trip to DC. The National Mall area around the Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln Memorials was so gorgeous with all of those hundreds of cherry trees in blossom, I have a little bit of that gorgeous pink with this bag. The patchwork strip across the front is a large pocket.

Just like my "Rio" bag, the "Cherry Blossom" bag has a patchwork pocket with a "deetles bird" stamp on it.Because the body of the bag is a light pink I decided to put a patch on the bottom to help hide any kind of "blemishes" that it could attract with use...it seems like that's the first place to show wear and stains on the purses I've used.I am very excited to see all of our trees bloom out soon...this is the crabapple in front of our house...we bought it last year when it was in bloom, I fell in love with it's beautiful color and can't wait to see it again soon!And lastly, a few gratuitous pet pictures because they too are happy that Spring is here! That's Figaro hanging out by the crabapple tree.

Thinking about helping out with some yard work...And then Bambino with his favorite variety of "toy"...why we ever spent money on dog toys manufactured in sweatshops overseas I don't know, he is just as happy (or possibly happier) with a stick found in the yard.