haller lake

A bird fly into one our birdhouses this afternoon and I realized it was time to encourage some full on bird farm action.

Ben was a gentleman and offered to clean out the house we had chickadees in last year.

Lo and behold, after some work out popped a very small nest was made of fur.…from Pickles!

Honestly out of everything in our yard this strikes me as ludicrous. Were they rooting around in our couch?

I’m now slightly mortified our yard obviously contains as much dog hair as the inside of the house.

Another plant sale today, dirt buying and truckloads of weed-pulling.

2011 garden action can be found here on Flickr.

2.5 weeks until the next and BEST plant sale with  the Master Gardener folks.

Clearly my favorite thing about gardening is buying plants.

These plants, so accommodating as to die in hoards each year … so I can buy some more.

Spring some days is my favorite time of year, but it also causes me to hyperventilate.

Especially when you have 24-48 hours (the weekend) to live out your entire life.

Here’s a to do list started a year ago…. and away we go:

*Plant plants (ha that seems to never end!)

*Finish beds in front

*Re stock beds in back

*mulch hill

*finish front fencing edging

*finish fence by Secret Garden

*refinish deck

*demoss roof

*gravel path on north side

*elevate rain barrel

*put plants in planters and pots on deck

*path by Secret Garden

*herb garden

*continue bird farming

*find a bird bath

*patio for green chair

*finish de-grassing hill (that sounds like a french method of some sort)

*plant 5000 vines so no one can see our house, and we can’t see them.

*an actual vegetable garden that sprouts vegetables

*prune the espalier trees

*galvanized trough garden

*phase three

oh, and take care of plants so they don’t die.

Finally it is time to get the hands in the dirt.

Thanks to Chris and Jeff I finally got out and got into the plant yearning mood when they invited me to the “Early Bloomers Sale” the Arboretum. A blissfully civilized event, I acquired a few new plants and am now excited to put them into soil.

Before that came to pass I was able to sneak in lawn mowing, pulling about two weeds and making a laundry list of the many, many things to be done in the yard. It is gratifying that some of it seems to be almost self sufficient at this point, as long as I help with the weeds.

It was so nice to be outside, even if it was short lived. Do you think this has been the rainiest winter on record?

Next week, sharpening the gardening mojo for another plant sale!

Speaking of plant sales, this is Chris a year ago we had already been sunning ourselves in her garden mid MARCH as she mentions in foible and folly. A lady at the Arboretum told us it was supposed to dip down into freezing temperatures again in the upcoming week. I don’t like.

Has it been just about forever since we looked at the yard?

Our first reasonable day in months and I found myself outside dredging leaves off the garden.

Things are starting to poke their way up and thankfully come back to life.

I’m having strange yard mojo right now. Usually at this time of the year I can barely wait to get my mitts into the soil.

This year, I look around and am feeling a strange lack of ambition. I don’t know if it’s because I am distracted, or more importantly wasn’t able to go to the Flower and Garden show this year (the annual enthusiasm kick off), or I just look around and see a lot of work .

Once I was out there I was completely happy to be lost and the day absolutely got away from me.

I also was thinking, it’s probably been since last June? End of July that I was out there. A good 8 months.

Last year a lot got done though in a very short amount of time- the patio and wall I put in, the trees up front, and don’t forget the fence that Ben built that actually gave us a whole new area of the yard to work with. All that damn sod that has been dug up and the swearing at chunks of grass I kept finding yesterday (that had again reappeared).

The garden is now going on five years now and it is hardly in the spectacular shape I thought it would be. A lot of things need to be replaced now (lavender is looking shabby, my wonderful beauty berry bush literally disappeared thanks to Pickles new hobby of digging holes when we are not looking. Lots of compost needs to be delivered. Yeah, I need to get my mojo back.

These are such beauties.

Tonight some much needed time just hanging in the garden. Things are coming up so quickly.

I got this bright idea to have a potted kitchen herb garden this year.

I say bright as the galvanized containers have been sitting as above for a few weeks and the lovely plants are still in their plastic start pots.

Both sides just staring at me everytime I go out onto the deck.

Let’s see if we can make this thing come to fruition.

I’m participating in Seattle Tilth’s FB How Does Your Garden Grow? photo documentary project.

Apparently I am currently the only participant, which means I’ll get a lot of air time I guess.

I’ve chosen the Green Arrow Peas, which are still unplanted.

I love the concept of stop motion plant progress but have yet to figure it out for myself.

A few years ago I tried to do this with another plant, a hydrangea, a silly project I called Hydrangea Sunday.

In the end seemed like a weekly curse as the thing has never grown right, never quite gets its sea legs and promptly  dies.

Then it has the audacity to come back every year just to irritate me. I’ve moved it, trimmed it, fed it and everything else calculated to give it a new life and forget it.

So peas, don’t do me wrong.

Today at 10:00 it’s chilly but sunny and there is no excuse to stay inside.

That damn bird that sits on the metal supports of our chimney cap was at it again. Occasionally it gets the loud impulse to sharpen his beak up there, which sounds like a woodpecker taking down the roof. The first few times it happened I almost had a nervous breakdown. Now I just throw on a coat, go outside and laugh- there he is.

Of course today I tried to take his photo and he disappeared.

This year I want red. Lots of it.

For the past few years I repeatedly think it’s a brilliant idea to plant a garden filled with green flowers.

I love the color chartreuse and green zinnias etc seem like a great idea upfront.

Then summer drolls along and there is nothing out there.

I’ve also attempted the chocolate garden idea, which was also better on paper.

So this year, starting off with the garden accessories, we are going in the opposite direction.

Red, and lots of it.

Red garden clogs to boot.

Post Tilth and we certainly have our work cut out for us.

Here’s a list of the booty (still yet to be planted). Yeah, and Sunday was a total loss for many reasons, so gardening got put on hold.

PS Chickens continue to be sexy. On Sunday, two blocks away from our home I noticed a newly installed chicken hatch in someone’s front yard, and yep, a chicken inside. Tonight when Pickles and I went for a walk, no chicken, must literally be cooped up.