Dirt Therapy

One of the few trees already existing at our house is an apple tree in the middle of the hedge that runs along the back fence line. For the past several weeks, it has been loaded with apples and with them, flocks of birds. The scrub jays are the ones that seem to be enjoying them the most (as well as disrupting the peace and quiet with their incessant cawing). I have been picking a few of the apples, thinking that they were probably no good, but it turns out they are okay for the most part. I made an apple crisp this afternoon.  The late summer sun here looks just like autumn in the South. It is very strange but wonderful. Apple Crisp 4 or 5 medium tart apples, peeled and sliced 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats 1/3 cup butter, softened 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. nutmeg Preheat the oven to 375. Grease an 8x8 pan with butter or shortening. Spread the apples in the pan. Combine all the other ingredients and sprink...

A few weeks ago, we went on the Green Neighbors Natural Garden Tour which featured ten eco-friendly gardens in the Vancouver (Clark County) area. We saw all but two gardens and got a chance to see parts of the county that we had not visited before, like Washougal, which reminded us a lot of North Carolina. The gardens ranged in size, from larger ones with more than an acre to very tiny ones. All of the gardeners practiced sustainable gardening techniques (no chemicals, pesticides or herbicides). This small front garden was a rain garden and a good example of how to prevent storm water runoff. This is something I am interested in. I have been thinking about ways to add a rain barrel to catch water that would otherwise be wasted. We have gutters all around our house but I know there has to be a way around that. I loved the color combinations here. I am suddenly a big fan of orange, a color that I tended to stay away from in our formal garden. (Garden of Barbara Sa...

It wasn't much but we got what the weather forecasters call a "trace" of rain overnight. Any is welcome and the plants seem to dramatically react to just a sprinkle. I went ahead and watered thoroughly anyway. We have had glorious weather but hot temperatures are on the way and I even saw the dreaded 90 number in the forecast for next week. We can look on the bright side - perhaps the tomatoes will start to turn red.  I have finally completed the gravel pathway in front of the house. This was supposed to be my very first project. Well, you know how those things go. When we first moved in, both Michael and I thought there should be a pathway leading from the front door to the driveway. As you can see in this "before" photo, no pathway in front of the border. And now we have a path. I removed about 4-5 inches of soil and installed edging along both sides of the path. I then put down a layer of landscape fabric and covered that with pea gravel. The g...

  Last Saturday, we took a long trip to Estacada, Oregon, to visit another open garden - Laurel Hedge. It was well worth the drive. This is the garden of landscape designers Darin Simmons and Matthew Greydanus. There is also a nursery and gift shop on the premises. There was a wonderful birdhouse that I am still kicking myself for not buying. The extensive gardens cover two acres and have just about everything you can think of - the catalog description reads "a Bamboo garden with tea house, koi pond with rustic pavillon, white-flowering spiral garden, rose garden, hornbeam-lined allee, flower garden with greenhouse and many others". I would add to that - a pond, several water features, statuary, containers, bridges, bird houses, and a beautiful selection of plants. As we were ooo-ing and ah-ing around every corner, I kept saying to myself - "We are downsizing, remember?" It was all gorgeous and a tremendous amount of work has gone into it. We chatted with D...