Spring Vibes 2024

Lately I've been thinking off all the things in my life that I have and feel blessed about.  Then every night before bed I try and do a little visualization about my future goals.   If I compared my visualizations to 10 or even 20 years ago - it would be so much different. Things that make me happy now are things I would have either taken for granted or would not have seen the relevance.  I may not be where I thought I'd end up, but I gotta say - Life has turned out better the way it's unfolded, or at least for me.  

Here are a few things that make me happy today, for spring.

1. Rain Barrels

     We recently purchased several additional rain barrels in anticipation of the summer drought.  We went from 1 55 gallon drum to 9.   6 off our greenhouse and 3 off our chicken coop.  The 3 by the chicken coop are overfull right now.  The 6 by our greenhouse are being filled with our steady spring rains.  We hope these to be full by the first weekend in May.

2. Blooming fruit trees.

     Our Burgundy Plum tree has fruit set!  I am trying to keep my expectations low so we're not disappointed, but B is guessing 2-4 and I am guessiing 20-30 fruits this year.  

3. We finally decided to bring in one more aspect to our half acre, Bees!   

We have a wild bee  population, but the last few years they have dwindled.   It could just be the funky weather, habitat destroyed, or neighbors who use too many chemicals.  So we made the decision (years in the making) to start with one hive and then see how it goes.  This will be B's responsibility as I've already got thhe chickens and main garden.   As the orchard grows, we want to be know that we have polliators ready to incorporate with our local bee population of Carpenter bees (they live in the chicken coop), mason, tiny wild bees, big honeybees, daubers, and yes my asshole friends the paper wasps.  They all have a job to do around here and I will leave them to it.

4. No more doggy accidents in the house.   Our youngest is now holding it all night without issue and gives us clear signals when he needs to go out to potty.  As a reward, and since they love to eat grass, i planted a basket of grass just for them in my garden.   You can see that Little Diesel Dog has claimed it as his.   This is a mix of wheat, rye, oat and barley. 

These are my 4 favorite things this Spring.   We see growth in our gardens, return of the birds, long days are ahead as are more blue skies.

Wishing you and yours a good Spring Sunday filled with whatever makes you happy.

how is it 2024?

In 2023 I made a plan, blog more.   Write down my thoughts so that future generations can see how folks of this Era felt.  Then life happens and you just live it.    2024 I want to be more present, so that means less social media and more in person interaction.  

For a garden update, we went thru the extreme freeze of January, where our Temps reached 0 degrees F, but with wind chill were about - 7.   It was cold.   I know my brassica plays are cold handy, but unfortunately they were not that cold hardy and got frost burnt.

So there I was the other day, worried because I thought I was smelling propane.    Nope.   Dying brassica. Kale and Brussel sprout plants were nasty and slimy.  Off to the heap they go!

Meanwhile the interior greenhouse plants got cold, but no Frostburn on them.   Good thing I snipped cuttings of my favorite flowers!

I've also started purposely scheduling time to read.   I cannot multi-task when reading so it's been nice to simply sit and let my mind wander. I've enjoyed a few new authors via Kindle as well as hardcover.

Lastly, it's winter in the pnw.  So that means we need lots of green veggies to keep us going til spring!

I tried my hand at making smashburger tacos.  It came out really good, but I piled more lettuce to make sure I got that good green veg!

end of Summer is approaching

As we approach the last weeks of Summer, evidence of the upcoming transition are upon us.  Maple leaves are turning, the neighbor's cherry tree leaves are dropping, mornings are cooler with the hint of dew in the air, and my little world is rejoicing. There is still wildfire smoke in the air, but hopefully not for too much longer. 

I love the changing seasons, and here in the pacific northwest, man do they swing!  It's supposed to be upper 90's here today, the last weekend of my pool, the last weekend of August.

As I look back and reminisce of the past month or so, I gotta say I feel pretty accomplished.   My garden is in one of those in-between phases.  Tomatoes are still mostly green, but turning pinkish (gotta stop watering them now).  My greens are looking heat stressed, but swiss chard is a trooper.  It's been pretty tolerant so far of the high temps. The broccoli is looking like I'm going to get a good fall crop, so long as I keep the cabbage moth larvae from eating it all (gotta spray again). All my flowers are showing off their beauty, and we have 4 pumpkins (or are they pumpkins??).  We have so much cross polination here on our half-acre that sometimes second year varieties are their own breed.

We had a great Gumbo night here a week ago.   My back was in pain and I almost wanted to call it off - but like my swiss chard, I'm a trooper.   We offered both Regular and  Gluten-Free Gumbo this year, and I don't mind saying it, the GF version was so good, and it holds up better in the fridge the next day. One of these years I'm going to get a photographer, or designate someone, so we can make a mini cookbook of our event. I am here to say, that Manny's GF flour can make a great roux, it just takes time, patience and a little bit of bacon grease too!

Menu always consists of Gumbo, rice, fried green tomatoes  ( which a friend who doesn't like raw tomatoes really liked), potato salad, green beans, green salad, bread, and sweet tea.  We provide plenty of fixings, ask folks bring a dessert (so fun to sample them all) and BYOB.  There is no admission fee, just the gift of your presence.  

Looking forward, this weekend is pickling time, with fabulous field run cucumbers from Schuh's Farm in Mount Vernon, WA (thanks Jen & Farmer Steve!), crossed with some pool time, and maybe some baking (maybe, if the temps don't get too hot) as I want to use my new bread recipe to toss up a fresh pesto / mozzellea sour-french braided bread (bake now, freeze for later).   But if it's too hot, I also have no problem grabbing a book, a glass of iced tea, and sitting and enjoying the last weekend in August.

So whatever you do this weekend, make it something to remember.

it's not the 4th of July without ....

To say we are blessed is an understatement.   Family, friends, compassion, a home, food, a garden, skills, forgiveness,  love, and an environment where all are accepted to live life in the pursuit of your own happiness without fear of repercussions for not conforming to someone else's set of views. 

Independence Day in the USA can be celebrated in different ways.  For us it's a reminder that all are created equal, we all are borne, bleed and die and each human deserves to choose their own path. Whether that path leads you, hopefully we travel the same way for a while and when we veer off - we wish you the best in life.  There are folks we'll see again and those that cross a bridge and burn it down later.

It takes too much energy anymore to keep hatred aflame, so wish them well and keep moving down your path in life.

In true fashion, we celebrated with family and friends, our dogs and the catch B brought home from a day out with friends.

How blessed are we?  Immensely. 

Crab salad and bratwurst.

Dungeness crab meat, caught fresh.

Garden greens, leftover roasted corn, tomatoes and radish.

Served alongside a cheddar brat, sodo  style  (cream cheese and relish).

Make the best of the path you are on.   

Time for Summer

Summer is officially here. 

Bring on the berries, the garden bounty, warm nights, and flip flops!

Wishing all a wonderful Summer filled with great memories!