So far, so good.

So far, things are going well around the yard.  I have had the occasional pest situation, but I know that they are probably just the warm up rounds.  We are only midway through spring after all.  In a few more weeks the pest world will be insane.  You already take your life into your own hands if you step outside around dusk.  We have mosquitoes the size of Apache helicopters out here and they will suck you dry in no time.  We also have biting flies, ticks and all other kinds of blood sucking annoyances.  Here’s a peek at how my garden and yard are doing.  I have lots I still need to do, but I suppose eventually, it will all happen.

figs forming

Blueberries.

Native bees on a wild flower in the Where’s Waldo garden.

Lavender. Smells heavenly.

Hippie Project: making vanilla oil

So, I totally don’t know if this is going to work, but I think it will.  I hope it will.  I’m attempting to make my own vanilla scented coconut oil.  I managed to score some coconut oil at a great price at my local co-op.  I was pretty thrilled with the deal in itself, when it hit me:   I could make my own scented oil to use in balms and lotions.

One of my favorite brands.  It is fair trade and organic.  It has a slight coconut scent to it already.

I had done a bit of searching for vanilla oil, but 1.) it was expensive and 2.) it was usually in a jojoba oil base.  I don’t have anything against jojoba oil, but I love coconut oil.  I use it cook with as well as personal care.  I use separate jars, obviously.  Coconut oil is naturally antibacterial, but let’s not get carried away.

I picked up the oil and knew I had some vanilla beans in the fridge left over from Christmas gift making.  Coconut oil is solid, though a bit soft, at room temperature and it melts pretty easily around 80 degrees.  When I woke up this morning, the oil was in a solid state so I took it out to the greenhouse.  In a short time the whole jar had melted.  I grabbed a vanilla bean and split it lengthwise and stuck it in the jar.  On went the lid and back on the shelf in the greenhouse the jar went.

This is how the goodness looks with the seeds floating around in it.  I’ll keep an eye on it for the next little bit and see how things are going.  I’m hoping that as it sits out there the heat, which is in the low hundreds most on days, will help it percolate faster.

I am wondering if I should have used two vanilla pods, but I’ll start with one and work from there.

I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Rain, rain, don’t go away… yet.

We have had unusually dry weather so far this year.  I guess maybe it isn’t so unusual.  We had drought conditions last year and it looks like this year is going for a repeat.  This is. bad. news.  My plants need water.  And frankly, I hate watering them.  I prefer to let nature handle that chore.  And today she did.  A bit anyway.

I have been having a bit of a stressful week at work, and decided to work some of it off in the garden this evening.  While I was out there it started to rain lightly.  I thought about coming in, but decided to just keep working.  The temps were comfortable enough and there were things I haven’t had time to do. I stuck a couple more peppers in the ground and replaced two or three plants that were just simply struggling.  And I waged yet another battle on the pest population.

The aphids are under control again.  For now, anyway.  Unfortunately I have been striken (I’m making that a word) with a plague of slugs.  Ugh.  Slimy, nasty creatures.  I did a lot of squishing because, well, I haven’t had to deal with them before.  I guess I need to spend some time developing a battle strategy.

I worked in the rain for about an hour or so before I came in.  I found it incredibly soothing really.  The precipitation has dropped off, but I’m hoping it will pick back up overnight.  My dirt could use a good soaking.

Oops

Yesterday was pretty classic for me in two ways.

1.  After a terrible storm on Saturday night, I saw a branch down in the neighbor’s yard.  I thought to myself, “Wow, I knew that storm was bad, but that is an awful big branch that they lost.”  Now, said storm happened while the Handyman was having a good time with his buddies in another town.  He didn’t come home until the next day.  (We’re progressive and independent like that.  Besides, giving him time to hang with his pals results in lots of lovely quiet time for me.  I love the Handyman, but he is NOT quiet.)  Anyway, this morning he mentioned that we lost a branch in the storm.  Now, I knew we had a few minor twigs on the ground, but nothing major.  Then I did the mental math.  The neighbors have only pine trees.  The branch was deciduous.  Oops.  Handyman went and offered to remove the branch, but they said they would just cut it up and burn it.  Yep, it was that big.   Oops.

2.  I was vacuuming yesterday.  And not really paying attention.  Attention is apparently key when doing household tasks.  Especially if you like all of your appendages and digits.  I ran over my foot.  Today, a toenail is bruised and gross.  I think it is safe to say I will never be asked to be on Dancing With the Stars.  Couldn’t really wear a shoe today.  Thankfully the weather calls for sandals where I’m at.  Guessing I will be wearing sandals for quite some time.  Oh, well.

 

Unconventional Part 2

Last night we had a bit of a squall. Winds gusted between 40 and 50 miles an hour. One of our (thankfully) empty hives got blown over.  However, my tomatoes that were tied up faired pretty well.  I noticed yesterday that I have several wee green tomatoes on the vine. Yay! Now I need to get busy supporting my others before we get another storm.

Have a great week, friends.

Today’s project

Today I am trying to wrap up my support system.  Lots on the schedule for today though, so I may be wrapping it up tomorrow.

A Disturbance in the Force.

I am an introvert.  More of a sit back and watch the action kind of person.  That’s one of the things that I like about gardening.  It doesn’t require me to engage a whole lot.  I can sit back and watch things happen.  Observe.  For a while, anyway.  Inevitably, the first shot will be fired by the insect world, and then, the war begins.  And once it starts, it doesn’t stop.  Now that I have a greenhouse, it won’t stop even in the winter.  It is frustrating, but part of the deal.  Here is the current enemy.

Aphids.  Nasty little devils.  They come in an interesting variety actually, and I wish I could take the time to appreciate that.  But I can’t.  I killed enough today that I’m sure there was a disturbance in the force.  My karma is probably screwed.  I am an organic gardener.  And let me tell you, once you garden this way, you have a totally different opinion of the organic prices at the grocery store.  Bug warfare can be intense.  Especially when you are trying to target individual infestations so that you don’t mess up your whole micro ecosystem in your yard.

Today my peas were covered in these buggers.  I mean, like, totally covered.  So off I went for my initial maneuver.  Soap.  Yep.  Soap.  I use Dr. Bonner’s because it is fair trade and biodegradable.  I have tried a couple of different fragrances, but one doesn’t seem any more affective than the other, so I usually use the citrus, because that is what I use in my showers and I like multipurpose products.  I like peppermint, as well.  Anyway, I have two sprayers, a two gallon and a half gallon.  I used the half gallon today.  I filled it up with water and added about an ounce of soap.  I don’t measure.  It is one of the reasons I stink at baking.  Anyway, They were concentrated on my peas, which I have given up on since it is so hot already.  I am taking the few peas that are still kicking and using them as a seed crop.  But first, I needed to kill the aphids.  I sprayed them down pretty well.  And I will give them another bath tomorrow, then every few days until the problem is cleared up.  That will only be temporary though.  They always come back.  Always.

Here are a few other shots of what’s happening around the yard.

Potatoes doing well.

Where’s Waldo Garden with some wildflowers that reseeded from last year.

Tomatoes

More tomatoes

Chard. A new favorite.

Newest members of the garden. Eggplant.

Running out of room.

Until next time, resist the Dark Side.  Even if they do have cookies.