Ecological Gardening and Other Creative Pursuits
…because everything is connected.
~*~
Is August crazy? The heat, bugs, smoky skies, and too little rain … so much fruit, we can’t keep up … with its tall, bold flowers, August is summer’s last fling. Got overwhelm? I’ve got a cure for you. Oh, and check out the photos of the new peachicks. Adorable!
A lot going on here. What it is, ain’t exactly clear. June was garden chaos at it’s best, or worst, depending on perspective. Bee swarms, wild animal visits in broad daylight, attacks in the night…. I bushwhacked through grass, thistle, bindweed, and bramble to find my way through this thicket of life…
A swarm of honey bees has decided to move into one of our empty Warré hives at Barbolian Fields. Thoughts about honey bees and native pollinators. Is there room for both?
In May, birds are busy feeding fledglings, everything is blooming at once, the air is filled with bees and cottonwood fluff, and we are being invaded by peacocks.
First …
Daffodils and Dandelions
Red Flowering Currants
Nanking Cherry and Honeyberry Blossoms
Purple Deadnettle, Stinging Nettles, and Chickweed
Bumblebees, Ladybugs, Butterflies
FROGS
First Total Lunar Eclipse!
AND the long-awaited First Day of Spring
And suddenly it is the end of October! Time to get ready for winter! This post highlights what is blooming, fruiting, and transforming before our very eyes! It would be one of those “October Chores” posts, but instead offers ideas on what we *should* be doing if we weren’t so sidetracked by all the beauty around us!
A photo tour of what is growing at Barbolian Fields while I try to get some leaves raked up and put down for mulch, but mostly just get sidetracked!
A very simple thing we can all do to save the planet: Plant a seed. To create a garden for wildlife, simply provide what we all need: food, water, shelter, and a safe place to raise young.
Rainwater is such a precious resource! How much do we get, where does it go, and how can we harvest it for later? In Part 1, I review the water cycle, calculate how many gallons we can get off our roofs, and look at different barrel, tank, and cistern options.
What will pollinators eat when they emerge from their winter havens? Here’s what’s blooming in my garden & pointers on planning a garden for pollinators.
How well do you understand your own microclimate? In this post, I take a look at the interaction of rain, temperature, and wind over the last water year.
Such a busy time of year! Sometimes, though, we need to set aside our To-Do lists and take a moment to breathe in the air of spring. Miracles all around us! I just wanted to share a few photos of some of the spectacular flowers blooming right now. SO gorgeous! So very much appreciated after the deep snows of this last winter! Take a quick look, and then go out in your own backyard and take a moment to wander and linger.
Wow. We got hammered with the snow! Mild compared with the Midwest, but enough to make me think about how the birds survive in this crazy winter weather! Here are some ideas on how to help them survive.
I am always amazed at what is still blooming in November. Such gifts! The bees and other pollinators are especially grateful. So am I! In the midst of the leaf-raking season, be sure to take a break to smell the roses! Hope your Thanksgiving is full of blessings, your life full of gratitude, and your garden full of whatever it is full of. It’s all good!
It’s another drippy day in the Pacific Northwest. What to do … or not … that is the question.
April is National Gardening Month. The blogs are full of To-Do Lists on what you should be doing if you had your act together (which is making this overachiever feel like a real slacker). What is truly feasible? How to find balance? Taking an April Garden Survey is a good procrastination technique. In this post, I explain my strategy for this year’s garden (and for minimizing my workload) and take a look around at what is up and blooming.
Walk along a soaked garden path in early March and what do you see? Raindrops, birds, insects, and the world waking up. So amazing, it drove me to write poetry. Herein a poem for March, the wondrous transformations in a garden, and the miracles of spring. They’re everywhere. If we build it, they will come.
Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata): its red speckled fruits stand out like tiny Christmas lights against the bare branches, so bright beneath the snow – such a gift in mid-December!
We turn the corner into November. It is amazing how much is still blooming and how many fruits are still available! Here is a quick autumn garden inventory. Lots of pictures of flowers, fruits, fall colors, and cute grandkids – plus an amazing bald-faced hornet’s nest that was revealed after the leaves had fallen!
Happy New Year from Barbolian Fields! We live in “interesting times.” This year, we are incorporating Holmgren’s Permaculture Princples into our New Year’s Resolutions. Our goals, in general, focus on reaching out, buying local, being prepared for uncertainty, optimizing our backyard ecosystems, and keeping things in balance by also taking time to enjoy life. We hope you will join us in making a difference!
Earth Day! Such an opportunity to do something positive for our planet! Whether you recycle, upcycle, bicycle, reduce your footprint, make a footprint, go for a simple walk, plant a tree – so much we can do to celebrate another day of living on this incredible planet that supports life as we know it.
Sometimes I just have to step back in amazement that any of this exists at all!
The temperatures are dipping into the 20s, and yet… such miracles! The bees are so very grateful!
I think we, too, appreciate them all the more!
Wow. What a transformation! Here are 12 accomplishments and lessons learned in the 2012 garden. It’s all good! And 2013 promises to be even better!
Has winter exposed your garden as a bunch of boring rectangles and squares? Do you wish it more replicated real life, running in circles? There is help for people like us. Work WITH nature to transform your labor-intensive squares into a self-supporting food forest.
I tried a little unconventional approach to this year’s garlic garden. I built the beds in a series of circles around nitrogen-fixing shrubs and a meandering form that looks a lot like my life – er, I mean, a whirligig. Whatever. I was lost.
Snowstorm in the PNW! The garlic is under a blanket. Here’s a good recipe for a simple high-energy food mix for the birds.