Gardening in My Rubber Boots

Mar 8

Seed GROW Project Starts April 4 – My Seeds Have Arrived!

Nasturtium "Spitfire" seeds from Renee's Garden

Starting April 4, over 40 garden bloggers nationwide will post their experiences growing Nasturtium “Spitfire” seeds from Renee’s Garden. I’m posting a little early only because I’m excited I got my media kit and free seeds from Renee’s Garden. What a fun project!

I heard about the Seed GROW Project in early January and jumped at the chance to participate. The first Sunday of every month we’ll all post a status of our seeds/plants so we can compare how they’re doing in different climates using various techniques.

I’m planning on starting some indoors and some right in the garden. I’m also going to plant in a couple different locations – like next to the chicken coop and in the veggie garden. Can you imagine the beautiful green foliage & bright red flowers growing up my white chicken coop?

You can read more about the Seed GROW Project and find a list of blogs participating by clicking here. Starting April 4, the GROW site will also provide links to all participating blog posts so you can find them all in one location.

I can’t wait to read all the posts!

“I’m growing Nasturtium “Spitfire” for the GROW project. Thanks, to Renee’s Garden for the seeds.”

Mar 7

2 Comments

Adding Native Plants to Our Landscape

Our Conservation Plant Sale Loot

The Snohomish County Conservation District held their 25th annual plant sale this past weekend at the Monroe Fairgrounds.

I’m almost ashamed to admit it but this is not my kind of plant sale.

That being said, here’s what I picked up:

Evergreen Huckleberry (Vaccinium Ovatum) x3; Red Flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum) x5; Kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) x2; Camas (Camas Leichtinii) x3; White Flowering Yarrrow (Achillea millefolium) x2; Common Thrift (Armeria maritima) x2; Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) x10; Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea); Cascara (Rhamnus purshiana) x 5

Now I just need to find room for all these crazy plants. Since most are okay with part shade, we’ll probably put them in the new beds we’re creating in the back yard. I’m thinking the Cascara is a bit of a stretch for us – there are five and they can reach up to 30 ft! Anyone want one?

The plant sale also offered a lot of conifers and deciduous trees that looked great! If we had more than .12 of an acre we may have considered some of those as well.

Mar 6

3 Comments

It’s Time to Get Chicks! We Got Ours!

Well, I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a couple chicks to add to my flock. I currently have two hens and a rooster but originally planned on having four hens. Both my chicks last year turned out to be roosters so we sent one to my mom’s farm so he could crow his little heart out! (He was loud.)

Just last night I picked up two chicks at our local feed store. One black one and a white one – both Silkies.

Once we got the chicks home we put them in our little homemade brooder with water, food, straw/shavings and a heat lamp. Our brooder consists of a clear plastic bin with a wire hardware cloth lid. First we showed the chicks how to drink water (and helped them drink some) and where their food was. Since these guys are a little small, I put about half their special chick food in the blender to make sure it was small enough to eat.

Unfortunately, even with all our precautions, the white one (a little runt) didn’t make it through the night. We learned a valuable lesson about picking smaller chicks just because they’re cute. We’ve decided not to replace the chick since we have a small yard and may need to get another chick a couple years down the road and don’t need too many chickens all at once. We really got two so they’d have company.

Since we already have Silkies we’ll probably introduce the chick to our hens once she’s big enough to withstand a little cold. They do snuggle up already so the chick will be fine outside in two-three weeks. This is what we did with our last chicks – the hens loved them and protected them instantly.

So, without further ado. Here’s my new black Silkie:

She doesn't have a name yet, but isn't she cute!

She's trying to figure out what I'm doing.

Our brooder with a large rock on top to keep the cats away.

Since we have two kittens we’ve also placed the brooder in the bathroom so we can close the door and keep them out. This also keeps our chick a little warmer.

Mar 3

7 Comments

It’s Almost Blooming – Wordless Wednesday

Saucer Magnolia

Feb 28

9 Comments

Inspiration Needed for Front Pathway

We were chatting about how we were going to remove my front pathway and before I knew it my pathway was being broken up into tiny pieces. It was way easier to remove than we thought. Unfortunately, I haven’t decided what I’m going to put there INSTEAD!

I have my two inspiration pictures (at bottom) that both have large pieces of stone leading through a garden. I guess I figure when I get to the stone yard I’ll pick a stone that speaks to me.

I appreciate any ideas, tips or encouragement you can provide.

Here’s the space we need to add a new pathway: