A home, a yard, a never-ending adventure

A home, a yard, a never-ending adventure

Garden

2403, 2020

Natives and Newcomers

March 24th, 2020|Garden, Photos|

Wildflowers, some native, some not, growing among the weeds in spring 2020 The wildflowers are a mixed bag, but they're better than weeds There's a strip of The Acre that borders chaparral and oak surrounding the pond. Technically, it's "defensible space" mandated by the fire department, so it's supposed to be cleared of weeds and growth in the fire season, which is roughly June to October when things are dry and hot. But during the winter and early spring it doesn't have to be kept clear, so rather than just letting it be a weed bank, I seeded it each [keep reading...]

1703, 2020

Keyhole Garden Progress – March 17, 2020

March 17th, 2020|Garden, Projects|

Warm weather followed by a week of rain has really kicked the leafy greens into high gear. On the front left you can see the remainder of the romaine heads giving one last push. Meanwhile on the right, it's a motley assortment of loose leaf greens, spinach and cilantro. One head of broccoli remains as does the red cabbage (back and center right). The dill I have planted around the perimeter of the compost bin (center) is thick, leafy and deep green. Way in the back is the garlic and cucumbers now in need of trellising. If you look at [keep reading...]

1503, 2020

Hummingbird Sage Colony

March 15th, 2020|Garden, Photos|

I started with two small Hummingbird sages (Salvia spathacea) in March of last year, planting them in my native garden on the south side of the house. This particular spot happens to be in the shade of a pine and a large blue gum eucalyptus, two tress notorious for their ability to keep other things from growing under them. Fortunately, Hummingbird sage is a California native that thrives on the floor of oak forests, so the pine and eucalyptus were no problem. Over the winter the sages have taken the opportunity to colonize the whole area and are now producing [keep reading...]

302, 2020

Rain Barrel Follies Part 3

February 3rd, 2020|Garden, Tools|

A couple of weeks ago I was all proud to show off my newly installed rain barrel. However, I forgot to close the drain valve, so when it rained. it dumped 55 gallons of water directly under the rain barrel, causing the ground to sink and tipping the barrel to one side. Then it rained again and re-filled the now heavily listing barrel. I thought I was going to have to dump all that water as well, until I figured out a better method that let me save the water and empty the barrel at the same time. Here's the [keep reading...]

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