Last Snow

With the odd early spring and today a late snow, the trees and bushes around my house are not happy.  The lilacs are almost on the ground and I think the ornamental cherry tree between the house and creek has cracked in half.

Bird Sanctuary

We've seen a lot of birds around our property; a pair of cardinals, bluejays, chickadees, titmice, wrens, crows, ducks, downy woodpeckers, doves, and a junco or two.  And a wild turkey... alone and in the middle of the city.

Shade Gardens

I'm starting to buy bulbs and roots for plants that might do well underneath the pine trees.  I bought a bunch of Lillies of the Valley because they seem to be able to grown anywhere.  I keep checking the shade garden I started last year but nothing seems to be coming up yet.

The Yucky Stuff

Post-winter cleanup.  I forgot again how much I dislike this. 

For some reason, although we've had a mild winter, we've had more dead bodies than last year.  I took care of a squished mouse a couple of weeks ago.  I detailed the Husband to take care of the half eaten squirrel near the swingset.

Paperbags, soggy receipts, mushy mounds of tissues.    Damp cardboard, squirrel dropping.  Forgotten toys, sopping wet gloves.  What the hell is that in the creek?

At least we don't have a dog (yet).  Rotten dog poop is the worst.

Spring Sprouts

It was a beautiful day yesterday so I took the time to rake out the flower beds and check the bulbs I planted last Fall.

The crocuses in the front yard are sprouting up and one is in full bloom already.  The daffodils are all about a half an inch high and this week they should grow fast.  I can't wait to see what my gardens look like in bloom!

I have to remember to plant the dahlias and begonias later in the spring.

Home and Garden Shop

I'm going to my first home and garden show as a home owner!

Summer Plans

I'm getting back on top of things and I'm going to try to make a weekly post.

I ordered a bunch of seeds yesterday for the vegetable and herb gardens.    I updated my garden book and folder so we're ready to go!  Last fall Dave made the garden twice as big so we can grow more stuff.  Last year there just wasn't enough to do with it later in the season.

Here are the projects I hope to get done this year:

Scrape all of the American flags off of the exterior doors.

Strip and paint the walls in the entryway.  I'm thinking a cream or light blue for the upper half of the walls and a slate gray for the lower half.  I'm planning on just painting the current lower paneling.

Install a new light in the dining room.  That may involve running new wire through the ceiling.  That may be a bit involved and I'll probably hire a cousin to do it.

Replace or repair the siding corners on the house.

Fill the squirrel hole in the garage rafters.

One Year

Well, we've owned our house for a week or so more than a year and I love it.

Yesterday evening we ate the first ripe tomato out of the vegetable garden!

Recent Garden Pictures

Garden Update

This week we are harvesting broccoli, peas, and mustard greens.  My daughter is having a great time.  My nephew was over yesterday and he got to taste vegetables straight out of the garden.

In my mind, I got the onions and the garlic switched.  I thought the garlic wasn't doing well and that the onions were going like bonkers.  It was the other way around so I think next year I won't do onions.

I definitely need to make the garden bigger next year.  We need more broccoli and I need more to fuss with in the evenings.

Dinner

I actually a bit proud of dinner last night.  It was nothing special in the cooking department, the ingredients are what I'm proud of.

The steak, butter, garlic, and oil were from a store.

The salad was two kinds of lettuce from the farmer's market and edible flowers from my herb garden.  The yellow squash was also from the farmer's market and cooked with basil and oregano from my garden.  The bread I baked myself last weekend.

Kitchen

My Mom came over Saturday afternoon to put burlap on another wall in the kitchen with my help.  Now we have the corner next to the sink and around the chimney.  We're going to have to use spray adhesive instead of staples on those areas.  We'll be applying on top of the painted wall paper that is already there so we won't have issues removing everything later when I decide to gut the kitchen.

The burlap really does change the look of the kitchen.  It tones down the peach of the painted paneling on the bottom half of the walls.  I found some nice cafe curtains in brown and cream stripes to match everything.

While I had that half of the kitchen torn apart I decided to rearrange a bit to open things up some more.  I moved the rolling tile top wooden cart to the end of the island and the garbage over next to the dryer.  I also put the stuff on the prep counter in the cabinet above it.  It looks much better in there.

Next up in the kitchen is sanding down the cabinets from my Mom's kitchen remodel, painting them white, and putting them up in the laundry area of my kitchen.  Right now I have nowhere to keep my plastic food containers.

Gardening Report

We've been harvesting broccoli, edible flowers, and herbs.

I staked up the tomato plants over the weekend and it looks like they're doing well.  There are a lot of flowers and some actual green tomatoes.  The mustard greens have sprouted and the pea plants are getting big.

I've been given a lot of plants so I'm working on those now.  I've planted two dahlias and five day lillies in what should be interesting colors.  My neighbor dropped off a flat of begonias so I'm working on distributing those.  I think the final four will go into a shade garden in the back.  I have a couple of hostas to put back there too.

Identifying Creek Trees

There are three large trees left along the creek bank on our property.  One I know is a maple tree.  One I have tentatively identified as a boxelder maple but I'll know for sure when I can see the seeds.  The third one I am sure is yellowwood.  It is identical to pictures I've seen on Google and Wikipedia, my tree identification book has lead to yellowwood five times, and when we cut of a branch to give the herb garden a little more light the heart wood is a bright yellow.  It has white flowers that have a smell almost as beautiful as the lilacs it towers over.

Tree Management

Last week I was telling people that we have at least three trees to cut down but that it was ok because we had at least 27 trees.  I counted a couple of days ago; 56 trees and one of those was a group of 8 closely packed smaller trees.  That is not counting lilacs, bushes, hedges, or trees under 2 feet tall.

Today my Dad came over and cut down some of the trees.  The big tree next to the garage was the first to go.  Then we attacked the conglomerate near the front of the house and after that was the one I discovered while thinning out the forsythia.  "Ooooooh, that's why the forsythia could get that tall!"

I have a much clearer view of the back of the yard and the vegetable garden will get more sunlight.  At the corner of the garage is a drop off so we'll plant something there; probably rhubarb.

This is the view of the carnage from within the side yard.  At the bottom is a large brush pile which really covers most that section of the yard.  I'm debating the thin straight tree toward the left of the picture.  I might take that out too.

Here is what the right side of the front looks like now.  The cherry tree will have a lot more light next spring so it should look awesome.

We're probably going to have to hire someone to take care of the tree at the front of the house.

Spring 2011

The first spring in our new house; the spring of discovery.  Here is the album of the current state of the yard:

https://picasaweb.google.com/112027436046345326346/Spring2011?feat=directlink

This is what we've discovered so far:

The bushes in the front bloom white.
The scrub brush along the creek is overgrown forsythia.
There is varigated hosta near the creek.
The tree just outside of the dining room is a massive ornamental cherry.
The flowering tree next to the neighbor's bridge is a 100 year old crab apple that was struck by lightening.
There is a third lilac half way out the back yard.
There is a rose bush off the near end of the line of pines.
We have peonies, roses, and ferns next to the garage.
There are forget-me-nots behind the garage.
The backyard has a ton of wild strawberry plants.
There are random tulips beside the patio.

I have made a few changes but nothing drastic yet:

We dug out and planted a vegetable garden; garlic, onions, carrots, broccoli, green peppers, and watermelon so far.
I'm half way done with a raised herb garden.
Two trees are scheduled to be removed next weekend.
I have started cutting back the forsythia; it is where I want it, just too overgrown.
We planted to berry canes that in coming years we will train over the rubble pile.

Plans for the future, not necessarily this year, include the following:

Rhubarb bed at the the top of the steep part of the slope.
Low fences and mulch around the flower beds.
Garden benches in the back.
More lillies of the valley and other shade tolerant plants in the back.
Day lillies from the neighbor for the back property line.

New Gardens

Taking the advice of a book I bought while I was suddenly away for a week, I removed the sod and dug up the vegetable garden without the use of power tools.  It's smaller that I think I'd really like but it might be as much as I can manage.

I've started on the herb garden using a 20' flexible border staked in a circle.  I was just tossign the sod in a pile as I removed it then it suddenly ocurred to me that if I piled it around the outside fo the border, it would look more natural.

Next up is getting a lot of screened dirt for both gardens.

Existing Gardens

I have found a couple of little perennial gardens on the property.

There is one along the side of the patio turning the corner at the house and continuing just past the air conditioner.    One tulip bloomed and two others were trampled.  There is a big hosta that should be divided, some variety of  Pulmonaria, and one perennial that we had at the apartment that sort of looks like a cactus when it starts to come up.

There is a hosta garden in front of the trees by the creek.  It's kind of random and I'm not sure I like it.  I may relocate those plants to the back section of the yard in the more shaded areas.

Along the side of the garage I have found what I think are peonies, hosta, and some that sort of looks like a miniature rose bush.

Forsythia Picture

It's beautiful, but it's huge.  Within the next couple of days I'll start pruning out the branches that didn't bloom.  Later, once the blooms start to go, I'll cut it down a bit. 

The tree behind the section towards the front of the house was placed there on purpose.  Now I need to figure out what kind of tree it is before I take the chainsaw to it.