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Backyardnotes

~ All things botanical in photos and words—in my West Seattle garden and elsewhere; seeing and creating art and assorted musings.

Backyardnotes

Category Archives: Fun in the Garden

OUT WITH THE OLD POND, IN WITH THE NEW WATER FEATURE

30 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by backyardnotes in Birding, Birds, Ephemera, Fun in the Garden, Garden Wildlife, Inspriation, Nature

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Tags

bamboo standpipe, Little Giant Disappearing water feature basin, pond, pond replacement, Water feature

Original pond design, circa 1998

Original pond design, circa 1998

IT WAS TIME FOR THE OLD WATER FEATURE, A POND, TO GO. And in its place, a simpler, easy to care for one.

View from the house

View from the house

In the fall of 2013 (!) my grandson and I removed the old pond, all of its rocks, the bog, and pond liner. It was too much of a chore to keep clean under a couple of conifers and time for a new look. It took me a year and a half to figure out just how I wanted it to look and how to achieve that look.

The raccoon family visits

A raccoon family visits

The pond was attractive to our small, urban, wildlife population. I knew that I wanted running water to attract small songbirds; I liked hearing the sound of running water; I wanted to use a large rock from the previous incarnation and the bamboo standpipe as well. I missed the birds most of all.

A Western Tanager makes a rare visit

A Western Tanager makes a rare visit

A Cooper's Hawk makes a visit.

A Cooper’s Hawk rests a while—watch out little birds!

What I wanted was a pond less water feature that was easy to deal with. In March I got serious about it and in my research found the Little Giant Disappearing Water Feature Basin. It was the answer to my needs!

Placement of the basin

Placement of the basin

The Jumping Jack in action with the groundskeeper and grandson

The Jumping Jack in action with the groundskeeper and grandson

 

 

 

 

 

 

We set the empty basin in the old pond excavation for location and elevation. We then brought in 3.5 cubic yards of topsoil to fill the old hole. We rented a ‘Jumping Jack’ compacter to compact the first layer of soil and then set the basin in place and filled around it.

Preliminary layout

Preliminary layout with weed barrier fabric laid down.

 

Once the backfilling and compacting was completed we began laying out the rock saved from the old pond structure.

This is how the reservoir is set up; a central cone/support  protrudes about two inches above the perforated plates

This is how the reservoir is set up; a central cone/support protrudes about two inches above the perforated plates. The Little Giant will carry a load of up to 2,000 pounds, so my rock was back at center stage! Yes!

Downstream, dry streamed.

Downstream, dry streamed.

How do you make a not natural feature appear natural? That is tricky, so it took some time to get it right. I spent three days arranging the rocks. We ended up having to buy more small rock to complete the project. Had I known what I was going to do 18 months ago, I would have stockpiled all of the small rock instead of throwing it into the dry stream bed ‘downstream’.

Almost complete!

Almost complete!

By Saturday, I had the pump/fountain running and within 15 minutes of my walking away, the chickadees were there drinking and bathing! And then more small songbirds took advantage too. It has been so dry here this year that this is a real happy setup for the small birds.

'New' path to the bird oasis

‘New’ path to the bird oasis

Yesterday we finished up by resetting the stepping stones on the path to the pond, added the remaining topsoil and river rock. My goal was to have this project completed by the end of the month and we did it!

completed WF_2

'New' path to the bird oasis

‘New’ path to the bird oasis

All that is left now is to complete the planting and a little fine tuning. And, if at some point in the future I tire of the rock, I can easily replace it with a granite millstone, a stone basin or whatever strikes my fancy. An easy fix!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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SAVING SEEDS FOR THE NEXT SEASON

05 Monday Jan 2015

Posted by backyardnotes in Fun in the Garden, Gardening, Harvest, Plant Crazy, Tomatoes, Vegetable garden

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bean seed, onion seed, planting, saving, Saving seeds, Seeds, tomato seed, tomato seeds

Dried Lazy Housewife pole bean seed

Dried Lazy Housewife pole bean seed

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

AS ANOTHER YEAR ROLLS IN there is no better time to begin dreaming about and planning this year’s vegetable garden. Seed saving for me started about twenty-two years ago. Even though the seeds were some type of F1 hybrid (called La Roma) and unlikely to come true, I saved them anyway. The plants from the saved seed were just fine and the tomatoes were successively better each year, farther away from the parent. I still grow these tomatoes, although I no longer am using the original saved seeds.

As mentioned in previous posts, I often let some lettuces, herbs, leeks, and other greens go to seed, then shake the seed around the vegetable garden; the seeds come up on their own schedule; when the new plants are large enough I thin and transplant them into vegetable beds (except for cilantro and dill, which do not like to be disturbed).

Rattlesnake pole bean, green stage

Rattlesnake pole bean, green stage

I have been saving some bean seed the last few years, mostly pole beans. I really like Lazy Housewife, a great pole bean that was from Seed Savers (found at flower and garden show several years back). I also have become fond of Rattlesnake, a good green snap bean and shell-bean. This year I let a lot of beans go to dry seed stage rather than pull them out when the vines started to die back.

 

Rattlesnake beans drying on the vine

Rattlesnake beans drying on the vine

The last stage of harvesting

The last stage of harvesting

Rattlesnakebeans_2

 

Leek seedhead

Leek seedhead

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pollination in action!

Pollination in action! Walla Walla onion seed to follow!

I have always let some leeks go to seed as the seed stalks are tall and the seed heads large and showy, an easy ornamental as well as a tasty vegetable! I also like growing my own Walla Walla sweet onions, but had never saved the seed. In the fall of 2013 I reset some small, unharvested onions so they would set seed the following summer.

Dried seedheads

Dried seedheads

When the onions had ‘bloomed’ and set seed I left the seed heads to mature then cut the tops and set them in a cool, dry and shady spot until the seeds separated easily from their husks. Not very scientific but it worked just fine.

Walla Walla onion seed

Walla Walla onion seed

I was rewarded with more seed than I could possibly plant in my small, limited space garden and I shared some seed with my neighbors. Walla Walla’s are long-day onions, perfectly suited to our long, Northwest summer days and suggested planting is late August. The seedlings were up within two weeks of sowing and are perfectly hardy through our normally temperate weather and sporadic freezing we often have around here; I usually transplant the seedlings in mid-to late February and harvest onions in June and July.

Lots of onion seed and plenty to share!

Lots of onion seed and plenty to share!

BACK TO THE TOMATO SEEDS. In the 1990’s Taunton Press published Kitchen Garden magazine, to which I subscribed until they unfortunately ceased publication. However, in one issue there was an article about saving tomato seed and I have followed the procedure ever since and with good success; the method goes like this:
Remove the seeds from the ‘jelly’ that holds them in place. Place in a shallow container and cover with water. Let the seeds stand until they start to ferment and the water acquires a moldy top layer.

The fermenting, moldy seed

The fermenting, moldy seed

At that point, gently pour off the water and layer of mold; most of the ‘jelly’ has now loosened and separated from the seed; all of the good seeds will stay at the bottom of the container and everything else slips out. Add clean water, gently drain once more and add more water to cover the seed; let stand another day or two then rinse and drain off the water leaving the seeds to dry in the container.

After fermentation

After fermentation

The fermented and dried tomato seeds

The fermented and dried tomato seeds

I may be leaving out something here, and I don’t recall the reason for the fermentation or know the science behind it, but I do know that I have successfully saved tomato seed this way for a very long time. I wish I had saved the article; it is one of the few things not to be found in the vast depths of the internet. But I have thought that tomato seeds that end up in the compost heap go through a similar kind of fermentation and there is never a lack of volunteer tomatoes in my garden beds.

Finished seed for next year

Finished seed for next year

Tomatoseeds_2

At least a few new varieties to save every year

As the seed catalogs begin to arrive, my thoughts are turning to spring planting and the promise of juicy tomatoes, sweet onions and the first pickings of snap beans.

 

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THE MUSE WENT ON VACATION

04 Saturday Oct 2014

Posted by backyardnotes in At the beach, Camping, Clouds, Ephemera, Flowers, Fun in the Garden, Growing, Photography, Vegetable garden

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blues festival, Garden seating, hiking, Ice Caves, Musings, vegetables, wildfires

A late summer afternoon walk on the beach.

A late summer afternoon walk on the beach.

IT HAS BEEN A GOOD LONG WHILE SINCE MY LAST POST.  At some point I felt like I had run out of topics to write about. The muse went on vacation. How many times can I write about the same plants in the same place in my garden with continued enthusiasm? If it is tiresome for me what about you, the reader? Best to take some time off and gather some new experiences, tackle some small projects, do some canning (a bumper crop of snap beans and apples), do a little local traveling and connect with the people and things I love. So here, is a short review in words and pictures.

Big Four Mountain and waterfalls

Big Four Mountain; waterfalls, and snowfield

In July I had a birthday and it was my wish to do the short hike to the Ice Caves at Big Four, about 90 minutes northeast of Seattle, with our grandchildren. The snow slides off of the shear, vertical face of Big Four mountain and piles up at the base over the winter. As summer comes along, the snow at the top of the mountain melts, water cascades down the faces creating numerous waterfalls that undermine the piles of snow. The snow mounds melt from the inside-out creating caves. They are cool to stand in front of on a hot summer day, but notoriously unstable and known to collapse, so going into them is a bad idea. IceCaves_v   IceCaves_1

One of many Winthrop area fires seen from the fesival grounds.

One of many Winthrop area fires seen from the fesival grounds.

A week later we were off to the Winthrop Blues Festival where we heard great muscic (Charlie Musslewhite; Shemekia Copeland, Homemade Jamz, Too Slim & the Taildraggers) and watched fires burning in the Methow Valley; that part was strange. For a couple of days the only route to and from the area was Hwy 20 through the North Cascades. Scores of people lost their homes and the fire burned up 300,000+ acres.

Fire and smoke influenced the sunsets.

Fire and smoke influenced the sunsets.

A member of Homemade Jamz playing his Muffler Guitar! (They were great.)

A member of Homemade Jamz playing his Muffler Guitar! (They were great.)

BACK ON THE HOME FRONT…

A quiet spot in the garden to sit and reflect

A quiet spot in the garden to sit and reflect

Back in April I shared a post about the redwood tree rounds that were saved from the cutting of our neighbor’s 60 year old redwood. In August I made a visit to my sister (RedClothespin) in Long Beach, WA and she sewed up the covers for the seat top cushions; she is a whiz with a sewing machine.

Weather resistant Sunbrella fabric. Only one drawback–they are under the canopy of a large pine and susceptible to pitch drips.

Weather resistant Sunbrella fabric. Only one drawback–they are under the canopy of a large pine and susceptible to pitch drips.

The view into the vegetable garden from the redwood seating.

The view into the vegetable garden from the redwood seating.

I finished the second of the Steelcase chairs. I haven’t quite decided where in the garden they will take up residence. For now they are mobile.

Steelcase chair #2

Steelcase chair #2

ChilipepperChair

Hibiscus hybrid "Cranberry Crush"

Hibiscus hybrid “Cranberry Crush”

Two years ago I purchased a new perennial, this Hibiscus/Rose Mallow. It bloomed in August for the first time. It was spectacular. I was SO excited, I ran into the house to get the groundskeeper!

Hibiscus_Cranberry

Too bad the flower lasts only one day. However, there were a total of five blooms. I am hoping for more next year. The plant should reach 3-4 feet in height at maturity; currently is it at about 24 inches.

The fall planting of snow and snap peas.

The fall planting of snow and snap peas.

A late blooming poppy.

A late blooming poppy.

Lady's Eardrops, hardy fucshia.

Lady’s Eardrops, hardy fucshia.

Dahlia "Awe Shucks"

Dahlia “Awe Shucks”

Akane apples.

Akane apples.

The muse is slowly returning. More later.

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GLAMMING-UP AN OLD STEELCASE CHAIR

22 Tuesday Jul 2014

Posted by backyardnotes in Art, Creative, Fun in the Garden, Serendipity

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Tags

art chair, creative, garden chair, garden project, metal chair, Steelcase chair

 

 

The finished chair

The finished chair

MY LATE FATHER-IN-LAW probably bought this (and at least one other) chair surplus some 40-50 years ago for his office. A no frills chair, perfect for a cement mason or laborer to sit on when waiting for a paycheck. Somehow, the groundskeeper managed to hang on to two of them after he took over the business and now one has a new life.

One of these chairs made its way to our house years ago and has been hanging out with the potting bench. As a testament to the quality of its overall construction, the chair has rusted only slightly and the seat and seat back material has held up well too, in the elements. Three months ago we found a second chair in a storage room where the office used to be and I decided to bring it home and dress it up for the garden rather than scrap it to the metal guy who parks just outside the transfer station.

1950's (?) era Steelcase chair

1950’s (?) era Steelcase chair

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I sanded the frame to get rid of the rust, removed the seat and seat back and then gave the chair 1 1⁄2 cans worth of Rustoleum’s 2X Ultra Cover spray paint; they have some great, vibrant, colors for outdoor use.

In the “spray booth”

In the “spray booth”

Refinshedchair_2I found some great oil cloth prints at Pacific Fabrics, wrapped the new fabric around the old and I have a great chair in the garden. This so much fun that I am going to do the second chair; I found a ladybug print vinyl that called out to me!

 

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REDWOOD SEATING IN THE VEGETABLE GARDEN

02 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by backyardnotes in Ephemera, Fun in the Garden, Inspriation, West Seattle garden

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Tags

garden bench, Garden seating, garden views, redwood seating

Redwoodseating_1OUR NEIGHBORS CUT DOWN FOUR OLD TREES, one red cedar, one redwood and two deodora cedars two days before Christmas. It was tough to see them go. One deodora was growing up against the gutter, so there was little other remedy. All of the trees were 50+ years old. I asked for three of the cut rounds; the two redwood pieces now have a second life as seating in the vegetable garden. The original ship’s plank bench that we set up (found on the property when we moved here) on a couple of terra cotta flue tiles, finally rotted away several years ago and we never really found a satisfactory replacement that seemed to fit. I laid down a level, crushed rock base for the rounds to sit on so they won’t come into contact with wet earth when we have long periods of rain (like our record breaking 9 inches in March this year). I removed the excess rock, added some soil and transplanted some creepng thyme around the base of the seats.

A long view

A view through the vegetable garden

A view through the vegetable garden

The combination laurel and horrible holly (who in their right mind would really plant this?) hedge provide a windbreak from the north wind and the pine branches overhead give a little shade from late afternoon sun. This is a pleasant, sheltered spot to sit and view the rest of the garden. Read a book. Take a rest and contemplate. Do some reading. Listen to bushtits and nuthatches in pine branches overhead. Inhale the sweet perfume of honeysuckle that has woven itself into the horrible holly. Have a drink and watch the sunset color develop. These redwood rounds are the perfect solution–they look right, they’re the right height for sitting, and they will last for a very long time.

Time to go and contemplate some garden planning.

 

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