Progress.

Our three main beds are really beginning to take off. I think they look beautiful. We grew a lot of heirloom seed varieties this year, particularly beans and squash. I'm excited to see how it turns out.

So, our dirt order arrived and included three extra yards to boot! We are finding creative ways to appropriate it into the landscape. As you can see, the main crops are finally in place. The Husband is exceedingly proud of his compost heap, so there is a photo of that too. Behold the lovely brown leaf matter we've procured so early on in the season! Yes, there is good reason to celebrate. Between the leaf mold and the 'Worms in a Cup' from Portland Nursery, our compost will be the envy of all.

Also note the wooden obelisk created by The Husband: we plan to train the Scarlet Runner beans and some Sweet Peas around it. And maybe a Clematis. Who knows?

Thanks to the extra yardage, we now have a pumpkin patch smack-dab in the part of the yard we were hoping to hard scape. Since that isn't going to happen right away, we might as well get some food out of that spot. Other exciting dirt plans involve amending existing soil beds and filling holes. Yes, this is a charmed life.

Facing the street, we have a semi-neglected corner consisting of ivy, a rhododendron, and some vining plant with berries the birds just love. The Husband tidied up this part of the yard in preparation for a bird bath and some shade plants. My little statue will fill the space until we get the bird bath.

Over the weekend, a tragedy befell our Saint Francis statue who stands as sentry near our front door: he was cleaved in two by our unwieldy garden hose.

Meanwhile, I was making a non-essential run to Portland Nursery (I told myself I was purchasing just one plant--a Delphinium to replace the one that was so carelessly uprooted the other day). I came home with a new Delphinium of course, as well as Aconite (Monkshood), Heliotrope, Flowering Nicotiana, and two Trailing Lobelia. Saint Francis was repaired just in time.

June Gloom

We had an unusual cold snap last June, something we later dubbed 'Juneary'. Despite the colder weather, our newly planted Victory Garden was doing great! We had lettuce, spinach, carrots, beets, broccoli and tomatoes coming up everywhere. It was very satisfying to see things taking so well.

We even planted a garden for our cats-a catnip garden of course! And it was during this time my Husband began to tear up our old walkway in the front yard.

During this time, we moved Gwen and Dru from the bathroom to the chicken coop. We were relived to have the bathroom back to us.

The Flock, the Lot, and the Fate of the 'Hood

The beginnings of our Victory Garden and little flock of hens was in stark contrast to the demolition going on next door. I had high hopes that the land would be converted into a community garden, so imagine my disappointment when I discovered not one, but two skinnies (or row-houses as they are often called) were to be built on the lot.

I hoped that the property owner would see all the effort we had taken to make our yard and neighborhood a nice place before he considered building these skinnies. As luck (?) would have it, the economy took an even worse nose-dive and all construction was called off. As of today (April 11, 2009) construction has yet to take place next door, and I hope it never begins.

Meanwhile, our little flock was growing, and the original three enjoyed their first Big Day Out.

Penelope was (and still is) the trouble-maker. But this gives her character!

People are always surprised to see how well our cats and chickens get along!

Raised Garden Beds

With our 2008 Stimulus Check in hand, we went to a nearby Lumber shop and purchased the wood and hard-ware for our raised beds. My Husband determined we could fit three large beds against the West facing side of the house which regularly gets blasted with sun in the summer. Perfect for the crops we wanted to plant: tomatoes, squashes, and peppers! For two weekends in a row, we worked on clearing away grass and weeds, and dug post holes into the ground.

Once the beds were constructed, we had dirt delivered and we went to work filling them up and planning where the crops would go.

My husband took four days of vacation time to complete the beds, but once they were completed we were thrilled with the results.

April 2008

At this point, the yard was beginning to come together. We had some idea of where we wanted plants and flowers to go, but we also knew we wanted to plant a Victory Garden. After growing up in Eastern Washington and watching my Grandfather harvest fruits and vegetables out of our Zone 5 garden, I knew that as a Portlander, we would have far more opportunity to harvest year round.

After speaking to Grandpa, he recommended building raised beds and my Husband immediately went to work drawing up designs.