mOss

See anything Odd? Any ideas? We couldn't find the geocache hidden here, but maybe it has already been Overtaken by mOss. (Remember: Geocaching aka Garden Tours by GPS)

Welcome March

What she said...! Visit Homesteading in the NW for a report on our weather yesterday. We had a nice covering but the convergence zone a little north of here had 6 or more inches. Welcome March, indeed.

This weekend, I'll post the March gardening to do list.

Why Wait

I SHOULD wait to post this until it flowers, but why wait alone? This bromeliad (or air plant) has happily moved to our bathroom for the winter (from the kitchen). We've had it for years. It just sits on the stones for support and takes its nutrition and moisture from the atmosphere (plus a dunking now and then). In the photo, its slightly furry texture shows up as frosted white areas. Soon after flowering, a new plant clump, or pup, will appear to the side. They could be broken apart, but we've just left them together so far. This is my kind of house plant.
This is a small century plant that keeps the bromeliad company. Seems rather content, but with more light, it would probably be more compact. I suspect the roots have reached the bottom too. The damaged lower leaf was from the cutting required to remove it from the crowded pot it was in when it was tiny. Other than that, the leaves are beautiful and the face makes me smile in the mornings.

Winter's Grasp

Gourd bungee cords. This is just to remind me that it was still quite frosty this morning. Iced over water puddles and everything. I wonder how the sprouting garlic greens are handling it. This photo is from the frost on Oct 30th. See here and here for other frost photos.

Has anyone planted peas yet?

Radiant Flower Power

Good, this warms me up a little! And are you noticing more light at the beginning and ending of each day? I can tell even on these gray days.

A few more extra busy days and then I'll be around to catch up with everyone.

Key word: Unusual

The unusual bit could also be that I'm a paper magnet. Just cannot keep the stuff from latching on. Time to fill up that recycle wheelie bin again!

Beets, Beans and Other Treats

Dear Husband, pondering (sadly) the selection of certain vegetables. Sorry, Dad B., there are some beans in there too. Special beans, though. You might like them! Overall, the order is a mix of hybrids, heirlooms and organics. I just could not resist the Bubbles hybrid and powdery mildew resistance! Here is the 2007 list.

Sweet Nikko, below, hoping that "beets" taste like "treats"! She definitely knows what "treats" mean and I even think she knows how we spell it.

2007 Vegetable & Friends List

This list includes the vegetables and other plants I will be growing this year. I hope to get it in a better format, but this will do for now. I'm tracking it in an Excel file with sowing/growing information. Some of the seeds are left from last year and some were just received today. A few flowers and herbs are listed, but most herbs already in the garden are not on this list.

1. Alyssum
2. Anise Hyssop
3. Bachelors buttons-self seeded
4. Basil-Spicy Globe Basil
5. Beans, bush-Romano Gold
6. Beans, French/Filet-Cupidon
7. Beans, pole-Helda
8. Beans, pole-Violet Podded Stringless
9. Beans, runner-Scarlet Emperor
10. Beet-Kestrel
11. Borage-self seeded
12. Broccoli-Hybrid Blend w/ Southern comet, Everest, Small Miracle and Packman.
13. Brussels Sprouts-Bubbles
14. Carrots-Jeanette F1 Hybrid Organic
15. Coreopsis-Tinctoria Mixture
16. Cucumbers-Lemon
17. Echinacea-Purple (in the garden already)
18. Fennel-Perfection, organic
19. Four O'Clocks-Tea Time
20. Garlic-California Garlic (?), planted Feb 10
21. Garlic-Elephant Garlic, planted Feb 10
22. Lettuce-London Springs Mix: Red Sails, Flashy Trout's Back, Outredgeous, Hyper Red Rumple, Capistrano
23. Lettuce-Super Gourmet Salad Blend: Slobolt, Buttercrunch, Red Sails, Salad Bowl, Valmaine
24. Marigolds-Mr. Majestic & other self seeded
25. Nicotiana-Only the Lonely self seeded?
26. Oriental Poppy-Papaver orientale "Karine"
27. Parsnip-Harris Model
28. Peas, snap -Cascadia
29. Peas, snow-Oregon Sugar Pod II
30. Pumpkins-Rouge vif d'Etamps Heirloom
31. Pumpkins-Snackjack
32. Radish-Easter Egg II
33. Rudbeckia Hirta-Black-eyed Susan (in the garden already)
34. Spinach-Olympia
35. Squash, winter-Delicata
36. Squash, zucchini-Romulus PM
37. Sunflower-Infrared mix
38. Sunflower-Italian White
39. Sunflower-Sorya
40. Sunflower-Sunseed
41. Sweet Peas-Garden Orchids, perennial sweet peas
42. Sweet Peas-Jewels of Albion, antique sweet peas
43. Swiss chard-Bright Lights
44. Tomatoes-Lemon Boy (to buy plant)
45. Tomatoes-Sungold (seeds)
46. Tomatoes-Sweet Million (to buy plant)

Blossom (the Travel Bug) Update

I cannot photograph the critter hooting outside tonight so here is a critter from the summer garden. This Tiger Swallowtail was looking like (s)he'd had a late night and and was hanging out in the cosmos soaking up some sun.

Remember Blossom, my geocaching travel bug? See her release, more about geocaching and travel bugs in this post. Apparently, releasing a garden seeking travel bug at the end of the traditional garden season isn't a good idea. (Any type of garden, natural or tended will do, though.) She has finally moved a little and is in Utah. I hope she doesn't get lost before spring. I'd love to see some pictures of her travels, but none have been posted yet. Here is the link to track her travels. If you see her, please give her a tour of your garden (and post photos!).

I'm going to the "library"...

We have a wonderful library system in this area. Maybe they're all like this now. No matter which library in the system has the book, I can go on line and place a hold on it. Then it will magically appear on a shelf at the library of my choosing waiting just for me! An e-mail will be sent when the book arrives and I tell dear husband that I'm stopping at the library tonight.

The library of my choosing is on the way home, but it is also near my favorite charity / second-hand store that just happens to be open a little later in the evenings. Thrifting and librarying all in one evening! That's my library card, above. Self-service check-out means more time for browsing (at both locations). I'm always watching for older or interesting items and just never know what I'll find. Tonight I was pleased to find this aluminum chair (and even with the comfortable curved seat bar) and solid stepping stool (I can see it in a colorful coat of paint). I have one aluminum chair now that came with DH years ago. It's always in the garden or barn, but it's getting very wobbly. They're so easy to move around and remind me of childhood camping trips.

And with the stepping stool, I can even reach the top of the white board in the barn! With no sheep supplies sharing the space now, I'll be doing a spring arranging in the garden shed part of the barn.

And the book? Two Gardeners, a Friendship in Letters, Katharine S. White and Elizabeth Lawrence. This is the February selection for Carol's garden bloggers book group. Here is her post about it. And see this post about what happens next in the book club. I think Carol has some fans here locally as all of the copies were checked out.