Just Another Harvest

Wow, the peppers, eggplant and tomatillos are rolling in like crazy now.  And check out the watermelon!

Roma Harvest!

I decided to preserve most of my romas by slow roasting them and then freezing them.  So happy they did this well my first year of gardening here!

Seed Saving!

I had some dried pea pods from the peas that did so well in my garden this year that I needed to break open to get the seeds out.  It turned out to be a surprisingly popular activity with the kids - they both loved it!  A real tactile experience I guess!

All done and ready for a few days in the freezer.

Just a random chicken shot.  Seemed to go well with the seed saving.  The girls love to dust bathe in this dirt in the patio.

More Harvest Fun

Peppers and delicata squash even!

Another Harvest :)

Having fun taking harvest photos, and eating stuff of course.  I clearly need to get better about picking the green beans before they get too big though.  :)

Random Garden Things

Triple carrot!  Must be blessed by the Goddess!  :)

OMG, the tiny watermelons are killing me!  They have wittle stripes and everything!

Yes the Garden is Doing Well!

I can't tell you how amazing I feel every time I see this garden.  I love living in the Pacific Northwest so much!

Some Garden Photos

It is coming along nicely and the tomatillos are loaded! The bees also really love the tomatillo flowers.

Wine bottle border!

The Leaning Tower of Peas-a

Haha, I'm so punny. :) But seriously, the peas have gotten so big the whole structure is bending over!

Kale harvest!

Our Peas Are Huge!

Can't believe how well these peas have done! And yes, that is my hand not Akasha's!

Yep those are good!

I did seed testing with several old packets I had. These are zucchini seeds. Everything I tested sprouted. I guess seeds really do keep much longer than what it suggests on the packet. :)

Plants, Etc.

This is a little air plant Orion wanted when we saw them at New Seasons:

These are some tomato plants I started from seed that I got at a swap.  I have never started them from seed before, so I am feeling pretty proud of myself.

Leaning to the light.

Stacking egg halves from Easter.  :)

Coop and Fence

Are you tired of pictures from my yard yet? :)  The chicken coop got delivered this morning!  The amazing Dusty has been hard at work on it using almost all reclaimed materials! 

You can see the egg collecting door on the side in the following photo.

My favorite touch by far.  Tree of life pattern for ventilation in the back!

Later that day, Dusty came back to help get some type of fence up.  I didn't want anything fancy.  Just something to keep the chickens and dog out.  This was a really cheap option - metal pipes hammered into the ground with green plastic fencing ziptied to them.  Good thing I am into function over fashion.  :)

Akasha supervised the proceedings. 

Dusty hard at work.

Dusty really is the greatest guy you can hire to work in  your yard.  The kids love him, he played with the dog, and he is committed to finding low cost solutions to fit your needs.

More daffodils have been coming up every day.

See what I mean?

Always time for a quick break and lots of fun.  :)  So many people I have known over time merely tolerate kids versus really enjoy them.  I can tell the difference really quickly.

More Garden Pictures!

The garden is almost done! Where the mounds are, the beds will be.  They are currently covered with hay to keep moisture in, add nutrients and help smother the grass.  The paths are ditches filled in with wood chips.

This is an underground compost system.  It is a big paint bucket, drilled all over with holes and buried into the ground.  So you can just toss food scraps in let the worms do all the work going in and out. 

Close up on a couple of the beds.

This is the corner where the chicken coop will be.

Long view of the garden.

The Giant Woodchip Pile!

Dusty had these delivered for the garden.  There doesn't seem to be a kid in the world that can resist a climbable pile of stuff lol.

Look What is Showing up in our Garden!

I just love Oregon.  You never know what is going to happen in the Spring.  There is so little you have to do with bulb flowers here.  They just show up!

More Progress on the Garden!

Does this mean I'm an urban farmer now?!  :D

Here is where all the hay is going:

 

The hay will be mulch, and where you see wood chips there are actually trenches that are filled in.  The wood will help hold moisture and send nutrients into the planting beds.  The garden is only about half finished here.  More photos to come!

Breaking Ground!

So that garden our landlord said everybody talks about but nobody puts in... Thanks to my friend Dusty, we are on our way.  He is a local guy knowledgeable in permaculture who is dedicated to helping people grow their own food.



And over in this corner, we see where the future chicken coop will go...! big thanks to Dusty, the most awesomest garden putter inner in the world!

Our Dirt!

I have been taking a permaculture course.  It is something I have always wanted to learn more about, so this has been an exciting opportunity.  One of our homework assignments was to put some of our dirt in water and see how the layers settle out.  if you look really closely, you can see there are quite a few!  Our soil is pretty clayish, just like I suspected.