Posts from the ‘Around the “Farm”’ Category

May 10

My Friend Mr. Squirrel

Here is Mr. Squirrel. He comes out of hiding about this time every year and is such a joy. He just sits up in his tree and nibbles on his walnut stash. I’ve never had a problem with him eating any bulbs or plants (that I know of anyway).

He’s a good squirrel because of the two giant walnut trees in my neighbor’s yard (in the picture he’s sitting in one of them). The larger of the two trees hangs over the fence into my front yard.

Mr. Squirrel has a good life. We all love him and he has dibs on all the walnuts his little heart desires. He not only has some buried in my garden, but I bet he’s got a huge stockpile somewhere (just in case).

These walnut trees are beautiful with their light green feathery leaves. It’s a bit of a pain in autumn when the walnuts start dropping out of the tree like little bombs – you really garden at your own risk. Then in the spring I have to seek and destroy all the walnut tree saplings. Other than that, I love the tree and my friend Mr. Squirrel.

May 9

2 Comments

Problem: No Rain Barrel Overflow

We installed our rain barrel a couple years ago but never added an overflow. I had grand dreams, at the time, that we’d eventually add a couple more barrels and collect all the water we needed for summer watering. Someday we’ll do this.

For now we’ll just stick to the one barrel and add an overflow hose towards the top to redirect the water into the drain. AND since we’ve waited so long to add the overflow, you’ll notice that our rain barrel is now slightly lower on the left side.

This is where the water overflows down the side of the barrel and onto the ground below.

This will be my project for next weekend. For now, I need to get to work on my chicken coop. I hate power tools, so wish me luck.

May 1

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Growing an Apple Arbor – A True Piece of Art

I visited a nursery in Duvall over four years ago called Box Hill Farm and spotted the most amazing apple arbor along one of their garden pathways. I loved it on the spot and was pleasantly surprised to find they had directions on how to create one.

By the way, this turned out to be a very successful day for me since I also got my red twig dogwood start for a $1 at the Jr. High plant sale in Carnation. It’s BEAUTIFUL now.

I kept the directions for at least a year (maybe two) until I moved into my charming little house. This is when I found the perfect spot in the front yard where it could frame the edge of the lawn perfectly. It’s difficult to capture the true beauty of the apple arbor in a photo – especially since I have it planted in front of a very large hedge. But to give you an idea, the picture (middle) shows how my apple arbor looked the second year.

I also love my apple arbor because it looks like an amazing piece of art in the winter and even in the fall. You can even see how much the arbor has filled out. The picture (right) was taken this past winter – the arbor is now three years old.

You can click on these directions to see a larger view and print.

They can’t possibly mind me passing the directions along four + years later. Here’s a link to their site if you want more information about their nursery. http://www.boxhillfarm.com/index.html