Category Archives: Gardening

Bees & bikes

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Sandy

Wow! After a slow start, the Orchard Mason Bees have done really well this year. Last week, I shared a video of the bees doing their thing. A few sunny days later and the bee nesting tubes are pretty much … Continue reading →

Posted in Bees, Energy usage, Gardening | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Orchard Mason Bees

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Sandy

Steve the bee guy set up an extra orchard mason bee nest at our place this year. The bees having been doing great and have almost filled all the nesting tubes. The timing has been perfect since we have many fruit … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening | Tagged | 8 Comments

Where or where have I been?

Posted on April 28, 2013 by Sandy

Everything about this gardening season has gotten off to a slow start. I didn’t get my spring seedlings planted in time so I had to buy starts this year. I planted the cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and onion starts only to … Continue reading →

Posted in Electricity usage, Gardening | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Final summer harvest & I LOVE my Leaf

Posted on November 11, 2012 by Sandy

In the late fall and winter, I have to remind myself to head out the greenhouse every few weeks to water the potted trees. Obviously, they get zero rainfall inside and it’s a task I sometimes forget. While watering today, … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy usage, Gardening | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Pear-fect & pumpkins

Posted on October 21, 2012 by Sandy

We moved into our house ten years ago. There were a few fruit trees, including a broken off twig of a young pear tree. It’s a in a weird location jammed up against a fence and was obviously seriously damaged at … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening | 5 Comments

Our new best plum

Posted on September 2, 2012 by Sandy

About eight years ago I planted a lovely Italian prune tree. I love Italian prunes and the trees are supposed to be easy to manage and fruit abundantly. After a few years, I did get a decent prune crop. And then … Continue reading →

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100 lbs of apples

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Sandy

After a lovely five days in Carlsbad, CA, we’ve returned home to find two of our apple trees in dire need of harvesting. One, the Chehalis, had super pretty fruit because I bagged it all to prevent pest damage. The other, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking & food preservation, Gardening | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Share your best fruit

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Sandy

Last week, I encouraged you to eat your ugly fruit. This week, I’m going to encourage you to share your best fruit. Anyone who plants numerous fruit trees hits a point in time when it becomes tough to find enough to do … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking & food preservation, Gardening | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Eat your ugly fruit!

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Sandy

Organic fruit growing requires some additional work and compromise. In terms of additional work, perfect looking fruit requires manual pest control, such as I did with the nylon socks I used to cover most of my apple crop. I was a little … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking & food preservation, Gardening | Tagged , | 8 Comments

High summer in the garden

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Sandy

Earlier this year, after the removal of the big leaf maple, we planted an edible landscape garden, which is a mix of ornamentals and edibles heavily mulched by the big leaf maple wood chips. Some of my edibles are loving this environment. … Continue reading →

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