Conversations With a 7-Year-Old

Setting: Backyard; I'm in our shed cleaning and organizing and she's swinging on her tree swing near the door.

E "Mom, if you could have just one wish what would it be?"

Me "Probably that we wouldn't have to ever worry about money."

E "Ok, what if I add you up to 5 wishes?"

Me "Whoa, well that's a lot to think about."

E "Ok I'll minus you down to 3."

Me "Ok, no money worries, health and safely for those I love, and...well peace I guess just about covers it."

E "Well, what if our car could fly? Like a rocket button?"

The Definition of an Orchard

The definition of an orchard as spelled out by wikipedia is "an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production." My guess is that my front yard won't look the way it does for many more years. I am slowly replacing ornamental's with plants that give a little bit back. Last fall I planted a 4-way cherry, a 4-way pear and a Gravenstein apple. In years past I put in blueberries, raspberries, rhubarb and strawberries. Everything is growing and looking very healthy (except maybe save for the strawberries, can't figure out why they only want to make pea-sized berries). I wasn't sure I would get anything this season from my fruit trees what with it being their first year in my yard and the flip-floppy weather we're so famous for in the lovely Seattle area. Here is a little peek at my orchard.

The apples are right now about the size of a 'shooter marble' and my mouth just waters when I think of the pie and homemade sauce in my future!

This is on the Bartlett branch, disappointingly no D'Anjou this year (which is kinda the reason I got the tree in the first place)

I have exactly 3 cherries growing this year; have to put up the bird netting soon I would die if birds ate them!

Loads of raspberries comin'; these are the epitome of summer fruit in my mind, nothing better.

Blueberries makin' their way too!

Here are my funny little strawberries, the smallest things I have ever seen (but darn tasty when ripe)! Anyone know what's happening here? I acquired them from a neighbor and his berries were 'normal' - they're Alpine which are a more petite berry, but come on; I'd need 100 of these things to call it a snack!

Party Time!

N got to celebrate his big day for a week. I started decorating the house a week before the actual party, and I was glad to have it so festive! N really wanted a Totoro Party. Our family has a very soft spot in our collective family heart for the Studio Ghibli animated films and Totro is at the squishy center. I set to work checking out blogs from moms that had done the same thing, I filed some good ideas away and wondered if I was really going to pull this off? I found a site dedicated to free printable's I used for hanging ceiling decorations, I found another that offered free wallpapers that I downloaded and printed up for magnets. The kids and I started sunflower seeds so our guests could take home a few sprouts a la the acorn garden scene. I visited a handful of Asian markets to pick and choose a few snacks that our American kid palates would appreciate. I began strategizing how to pull off a Cat Bus birthday cake and Soot Sprite and Totoro carnival games...I had waaaaay too much fun with this.

Seed Starting

Making Acorn Bean Bags

Turned out Great!

Exacto

These Guys were Lurking Everywhere!

Making Pom Pom Soot Sprites

Assembly Line

Super Cute

Late Night Cake Assembly

Magnets

Bean Bag Toss Final Product

Hiding

Fishing for Soot Sprites (we also had leaf hats and soot sprite necklaces )

Bubbles are always a hit

Soot Sprite Balloons

Take Home Gifts

The weather was so nice

The finished product

Surveying the Goods

Stamp of Approval

Blow out the candles

Soot Sprite Cupcakes

Gifts! (notice the lovely Totoro hat he got!

Thank You Card Sneak Peek

* Thanks so much to Jason and Eileen for taking pictures for me at the party, you made this post possible!

(whew)

Thank you to all of those that have shown your support in my near catastrophic day Monday. After watching those seedlings under the cloche for the last few days I do believe everything will be fine. I lost a few, yes, but enough survived to have a really nice and plentiful garden. Jen came to help sort out the starts yesterday and to ease my mind; I will be able to eat from my garden earlier than I had feared on Monday.  You know you're kindred spirits when your friend comes to walk along side you and treat your seedlings with such loving care it makes you cry. My zucchini's did make it, and I'm now busily planting them out in my covered raised bed!

Also in other bandwidow garden news I was given another wonderful gift 2 weekends ago! My dad came over once again and skirted 2 more huge firs to give way for more sun, it's made a huge difference already. Thanks dad, you're the best!

before

after

Garden Tootsies

The sunshine kept me out in the garden all afternoon, N loved this little patch of sun heated earth right next to my garlic and would slid down the tarp covered mound and do a little jig before doing it again and again.

The Bee's Knees

Gravenstein Apple

4-Way Cherry

4-Way Pear

I like the idea of keeping honeybees, but I'm not ready for the work. Some year I'll take a class, invest in a swarm, give that golden sweetness away to friends and family, blah, blah, blah. But for now I'm trying out Mason bees. They're docile, solitary, and really hard workers. I threw in a small orchard last fall and my trees are starting to bud; it's crazy exciting! I have high expectations for these little saplings and my duty is to help them and by extension me out in every way possible way; water, weed, feed...and now pollinate!

box-o-bees

La Casa

I purchased a small starter house, tubes and matchbox sized cardboard box with 10 cocoons inside (that are now patiently waiting in the back of the cheese drawer in my fridge). Apparently these things multiply like rabbits, and maybe I have a few hibernating out round the yard already, but I wanted to start out with a few mating couples now. This bee crisis seems to grow while the EPA looks the other way, my favorite pastime threatened, and the good food on my childrens' plate in jeopardy, I'd like to say I'm doing my part.

Crown Bee is a local information source check them out. Help out your garden and our food supplies!

Now, if only the weather around here would stop the massive rain showers and warm up a bit, we'd bee in business.

A Little Love Nest

We have an escapee, she's figured out how to hop the enclosure and spend the majority of her day out pecking grass instead of marching around in the muddy coop. I let Ivy back in occasionally if she seems to want to return, but for the most part she seems to enjoy her independence and frankly, if she's smart enough to get herself out she deserves a little alone time. It hadn't really been a problem until I noticed she hadn't layed her usual daily seafoamy green egg in a few days. Then one morning after Ella slogged through our muddy backyard to feed the gals I noticed Ivy feverishly pacing the fence, then she got her whits about her, hopped onto the perch, flapped to the top of the fence, awkwardly fluttered to the ground and made a beeline to a patch of dirt that stays pretty dry up against the house. I was so curious, and suspecting to find a few eggs in her new little secret spot among the trowels, rakes and pitchforks leaning up against the house providing her a decent amount of protection. E and I peeked from my bedroom window that is situated exactly above her special little spot (with a bird's eye view) and sure enough she had made a little love nest in the dirt with 2 beautiful seafoamy blue-green eggs.

Excuse Me While I Kiss My Chicken

The winter brings a lot less to worry about in the yard, the veggie garden and fruit trees are resting and in our chicken coop so are the hens. Something most people wouldn't realize is that with the shorter days comes reduced egg production. Chickens need light to lay. The average laying chicken needs approximately 13 hours of daylight to trigger egg production. Often times chicken owners will install an artificial light source to keep those eggs a comin; after all we still have to feed and care for the birds regardless of whether or not their making us breakfast. I didn't get around to that this year, and for 2 strait months my egg bowl on the counter sat empty...no eggs (this is another little known perk about chicken husbandry, freshly lain eggs don't need to be refrigerated. An invisible yet protective membrane is washed away before lining them up in a cartons for sale in stores).

This is a bitter pill to swallow after a plentiful summer of more than 3 dozen eggs a week, I was selling them to neighbors for heaven's sake! A little part of me died each time I had to pay for eggs at the grocery store, I know it's not a handsome fee but to have little egg making machines scratching around in my own backyard and then pay for far less than superior eggs just killed me. Well, the days are getting noticeably longer, and we got our "first" egg this week. When I compare the two it's no contest, my eggs are better. Look at the difference! You couldn't buy an egg that big at QFC!

organic free range egg on the left from a grocey store/organic free range egg on the right from our Marigold

Snow Topped Cabbages

We got over 1/2 a foot of snow during the night, and it never stopped coming down all day. The only thing left visible in my garden were 2 lonely purple cabbages, the chickens have been to 'chicken' to even step one claw outside, and the only thing moving in my backyard at 9am were these 2 clowns.

Season's First Snow

E was at a slumber party last night, so when the boy and I rolled out of bed this morning we had our own little snowy surprise! He looked out the window for a long time, and then decided to pull his parka over his jammies, and chunk on his snow boots for some crunching and digging.

 

...cue the Christmas music.

...and all was right with the world.

Our Petunia wants to be a mom. Every 2 months on the dot she starts showing signs of indisputable mommy-ness.  She sits in the egg box all day and night, to the great irritation of the other gals she commandeers their eggs, and all in the name of hatching babies. Each time I notice we're back in 'broody world', I set up the dog crate in the garage and break her of it.  It works, it's fine, I just can't help but wonder what would happen if we did give her a few fertile eggs to set on?

I did it.

I picked up 5 eggs from Jen, who's allowed to have roosters intermingling with her gals. I set up a private little apartment with her own food and water and nesting box and let her settle in. She immediately strode over, cocked her head this way and that eyeing those gorgeous eggs, gobbled up a large amount of food (broody hens rarely feed themselves), took a dust bath, rearranged the eggs, fluffed her feathers and slowly lowered her warm body right down. That was yesterday, and she hasn't moved! We're hoping to have chicks in 3 weeks (which coincidentally lands right on my birthday)! All the other gals are very curious about why she's getting the special treatment, it's quite hilarious to watch them circle her apartment, not sure how to get in. We gave 'em some extra clean straw so they wouldn't feel left out.

Garlic in the Ground, Tree's in the Trailer

Stopped by my neighborhood nursery and found a few things that got me out in the yard for most of the day. Inchelium Red Garlic, a Gravenstein Apple tree and a 4-way Combination Pear (Highland, Red Bartlett, Conference, Bartlett, Anjou). I love replacing useless trees with food trees; we took out a few ornamental's that had either died or were driving me nuts and quickly divided up the heads of garlic and planted for some good eating next year!