This Week On The Farm ...

The weather continues to be cold and cloudy.  On "The Farm" side of the property the peas, carrots, potatoes, lettuce and cabbages are all happy; everything else is pouting.  The potted peppers, tomatoes and tomatillos are all now housed in the little greenhouse or the newly expanded "Pepper Palace" ...

I moved it to the side of the greenhouse so I can tap in to the drip watering system and the electric box there.

Yes, that is a heater in the right hand corner.
It is still getting down into the 40's at night!

I harvested my broccoli this week, what little of it there was.  I have to agree with Annie's Granny on the subject of broccoli; I don't think it's worth it.  Ditto cauliflower ... 

As I mentioned in a previous post, this is the first time I've tried to grow brassicas.  Am I missing something here?  Looks like I've got all "cauli" and no "flower".  Shouldn't it be showing some sign of  a head by now?

I think the cabbages are doing what they are supposed to ...

...at least I hope so; that is a head forming in the center, isn't it?

On the bright side, the Dakota shelling peas are just about ready to harvest; maybe another week or so ...

...and the two pumpkin plants also seem to be doing well.  This bed is under some large trees which I think shelter it a bit from cold and wet.  I added the trellis in the back of the bed this week and planted runner beans (Sunset and Painted Lady) at it's base ... I'll add some bush beans after I pull the peas out.

Also on "The Farm" side of the house ...

There is no sign of any hatching going on in the junco nest.  The nest is in the basket right next to the back door which is the most commonly used door into the house ...

Mama junco jumps off the nest every time anyone goes in or out or if the dogs are in the yard, so I can't imagine that the eggs are staying very warm.  I'm hoping that they will still hatch ....

Well, that's it for "The Farm" report ...I'll save "The Garden" for later ....

Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday ... Under The Hood

Enjoy!

Now What?

I was watering the hanging flower baskets on my back porch just now.  When I poured a glass of water into the second basket a very upset dark eyed junco came flying out ... I looked in the basket and this is what I found ...

So ... this is in the dog's yard and baby birds + barking dogs = not good!  Does anyone have any ideas?  Can I move the nest?  If I move the whole basket out of the dog's area will mama find it?

Help!!

PS : The nest is lined with Carly's hair ... there's a lot of that floating around for the birds to use : )

A Visit To The Candy Store ...

I was at Bark and Garden in Olympia yesterday.  I needed some Sluggo Plus and some Tanglefoot and a few more herbs and ground covers.  It was like walking through a candy store ... and the shopping list went out the window ... first I found these ...

"Fuchsia Firecracker"

And I knew exactly where I was going to put them ... the shade garden next to the back door ...

Two of them up next to the pink hyacinths ...and one beside my pretty ferns ...

Next I found these ... 

"Pesto Perpetuo Basil"

A variegated foliage basil!  So of course I  had to buy the rest of the variegated herbs and some annuals for the wine barrel planting ...

I got back to my shopping list, found my ground covers and the Sluggo and Tanglefoot and was heading to the checkout stand when I saw it ... like I said; it's a candy store ... and I'm hopeless when it comes to candy : )

Enjoy!

Our Goldfinches Are Home!

I can spend hours watching these little guys!

The bright yellow ones are the males, the duller, more olive colored ones are the females.

Here's a link to more information about Washington's State bird and a recording of their pretty songs ...

Enjoy!

Garden Pests ...

I'm trying to grow an organic garden ... I do pretty well keeping the slugs and other pests at bay...but look what I found this morning!!!

That would be my 14 year old Maltese, Taffy, grazing in one of my potato boxes!

So...does she look guilty because she knows she was caught in the act?  Or does she look smug because she knows that she's Mom's baby and she's going to get away with it?

And, yes, I do have the garden fenced off to keep the dogs out, I'm the one who let her in ... to keep me company ...

*sigh*

Wordless Wednesday...

Use the talents you possess - for the woods would be a very silent place
if no birds sang except for the best.

~Henry Van Dyke


The call of the Northern Flicker ....

Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday .... Night Dive at Redondo

Above...

And Below ...

Enjoy!

Ewuuuh! PU! Gag...cough...

No photo to go with this post...but I wish I could post a link to the smell!  YUCK!

I was out working on the new raised bed in between rain squalls...and our young pup, Carly, was out in the yard with me...one minute she was there, then: POOF!  She was gone...I thought I had found all the spots where she could get under the fence, but apparently not.

I spent the better part of an hour looking for her when she finally answered my call and came running from next door...covered in pitch and some kind of black slime that smelled like dead fish....OMG!  I realized that she'd been rolling in otter poop!!!  GAG!

So little Pepe Le Pew has had one bath and she still stinks...I'm heading for my herbal cabinet to put together a rinse for the next bath...I'm thinking peppermint and pennyroyal might do the trick...

All of a sudden having otters living next door isn't so cute after all...

Otter Update...

I just realized that I haven't posted the most recent otter sightings!

This one was about a week ago....

And this one was sometime before Christmas...it was the first time I've ever see three of them...all curled up and keeping warm on the dock next door to us...

I've been seeing them out fishing almost every day recently...and so has Carly!  Now she KNOWS there are monsters living under the dock next door...bark, bark, bark, bark...sigh.....

Enjoy!

Deb

Otters!

I found these two sitting on our dock yesterday...feasting on wild crayfish fresh from the lake...

Enjoy!
Deb

The Finches Are Back!

We moved to our lake home last April...I wasn't really paying too much attention to the comings and goings of the birds at first...but came to love watching them at our feeders.  We have a population of resident juncos, flickers and chickadees...but it seems that the finches are only here for the spring and summer...

So...if the finches are back...that means summer can't be far off, right?

Deb

Visions of Eagles...

Paradise Cove is a magical place....

This morning as I sat in my easy chair enjoying my first cup of coffee I saw an eagle swooping down low over the water, then landing in a tree on the other side of the lake.  I realized that he had caught a fish and was now enjoying his breakfast as I was enjoying mine.  I sipped my coffee and reflected on the simple pleasures of living close to nature....

Deb