As I’m sure you’ve gathered by now, I am an avid gardener! Nothing beats getting up early on a Saturday morning and getting my hands dirty! So I made sure to mark my calendar for the first Saturday in May, which kicked-off the Newberg High School Plant Sale! The sale is open from 9am to 5pm on Friday and Saturday throughout the month of May.
Back in early February we had a few days without rain, and I felt the need to get out into the yard and inspect the garden. We had meant to plant a cover crop, but didn’t quite make it happen before the weather got bad in late fall. So our garden stayed bare all winter and thankfully didn’t collect too many weeds.
We planted our Honey Crisp Apple Tree back in September of 2014…see it there on the left?
First off, I owe a huge thank you to my fantastic neighbor who sent me a text message to see if I’d be interested in attending a Lavender Wreath Making class at Red Ridge Farms! Our neighbors rock!
Second, I learned so much about lavender at this event!
We’ve had fun this summer trying to incorporate as much produce from our garden into every single meal! We’ve been using all sorts of green and red peppers in all sorts of dishes. However, my favorite to date is the breakfast scrambles. In typical Southern fashion all great meals start out with the holy trinity…bell peppers, onions, and garlic (minus the celery)!
Everything goes into the pan with a little olive oil and butter to sauté.
My love of Honeycrisp Apples started when I moved to Austin, Texas. I remember one of my first trips to the grocery after arriving on campus for graduate school, “The HEB” had the biggest display of apples I had ever seen! It was also probably the biggest grocery store I had ever been to…everything is bigger in Texas right? The Honeycrisp Apples happened to be on sale that week, so I filled up my bag and hoped for the best.
And I have to say…THEY WERE THE BEST APPLES I’VE EVER HAD!
We put in a backyard pond for the honeybees this spring and it’s been a fun project to watch over the summer. I feed the goldfish every day after work and it really is mesmerizing to watch them swim around and come to the surface for food. I’ve also been watching the water lilies.
So this post is half praying mantis and half “Where’s Waldo?” It’s been hot outside the last few weeks, so I’ve been spending lots of time watering the plants…they need it, and the sunshine is good for me too! As I’ve been watering away I keep spotting what I call like to call “teenage” praying mantis. They’re about two inches long and mainly just hop from plant to plant as I’m watering the grasses.
I’m still in awe that we bought a mantis cocoon and that it actually hatched!? This backyard experiment is certainly the best $7 I’ve ever spent at the grocery store…endless entertainment!
Ok, so here it goes…can you spot the praying mantis?
Once we installed the paver patio last summer, I just knew we needed some patio lights at the back of the yard in order to utilize that space throughout the summer and into the evenings. The Renaissance Man and I had been keeping our eye out for lights and were happy when we spotted some at Costco that we thought would do the trick.
It’s hard to believe that I started planting our garden over a month ago!? Where has the time gone? Just look at the overall growth that’s taken place in the last three weeks.
Late May…
