Weekends in Dundee

Join us as we explore Willamette Valley Wine Country one weekend at a time!

We Bought Goldfish for Our Honeybees!

by

So this post is a long one…mostly pictures, but I just couldn’t help myself. I am so excited about having a fish pond in our backyard, even if it is just a cattle stock tank!  So you may be wondering what goldfish have to do with honeybees, but the truth is, it’s a bit of a symbiotic relationship (ok, that might be an overstatement!?). Honeybees need water, and if you have a pond you need goldfish to keep the mosquito larva away. See there…we just had to buy goldfish for our honeybees!

So it started out with a trip to Wilco where we picked up a six foot cattle stock tank. We then started to prep the area where the tank was going. We raked back the bard dust, tried to level the soil, and ultimately used a bag of sand to get things leveled.

DSC08451

[Read more…]

Planting a Cut Garden ~ Dahlias for Days

by

Every time I went my best friend’s house last summer, she had the most beautiful flower arrangements tucked here and there all over her house. Tons of dahlias exploded everywhere from all sorts of beautiful vases. I got to talking to her about her flowers and she let me in on a secret. She had  planted a “cut garden” in her backyard so she could have fresh flowers in the house all summer long. Such a fantastic idea!!!

We were super busy last summer doing all sorts of yard projects, but the idea of a “cut garden” stuck with me and I started creating a mental catalog of all the flowers I would love to fill our home with…the list was long!

Planting_Dahlias_1

[Read more…]

2015 Newberg High School Plant Sale

by

This weekend is the second to last weekend to visit the Newberg High School Plant Sale! All through the month of May, the Horticulture Program at Newberg High School is selling plants on Friday and Saturday from 9am-5pm. The Renaissance Man and I picked up some hanging baskets for our Mom’s on Mother’s Day, and I’ll be going back this weekend  to get some vegetable starts for our garden, and a few hanging baskets of our own! So many beautiful colors!

2015_Newberg_Plant_Sale

[Read more…]

Blue, Blue, Blueberries

by

I LOVE BLUEBERRIES!!!

Seriously, blueberries are one of my favorite summertime fruits. Growing up as a little kid, my parents had about five bushes in our backyard and picking blueberries was always one of my chores. Although I’ll confess, I probably ate almost as many as I picked! ha!

It was time to finally make room for blueberries in our backyard!

DSC07288

[Read more…]

Getting our Herb Garden ready for Summer

by

Our garden last year was the first in our new home. We had all sorts of backyard projects going on, so unfortunately our garden didn’t get the attention that it probably deserved, and our herb garden didn’t even get touched! This is what the “herb garden” looked like most of last summer…see empty concrete rectangle under the corner windows?

DSC00932

[Read more…]

Praying Mantis Cocoon…why not?

by

It’s not every day that you find a Praying Mantis Cocoon at the grocery store…or in your shopping cart. But then again, not everyone goes grocery shopping with The Renaissance Man. His keen ability to find the most interesting items is superb!

I was in the garden section scoping out a trellis, and the next think you know I looked down to find a Praying Mantis Cocoon in our shopping cart sitting normally among the strawberries, frozen spinach, eggs, and shampoo.

Praying_Mantis_Grocery_Store

[Read more…]

The Slowest Growing Lettuce

by

So you may or may not remember…but back in November, I was working on a little garden project. We had enjoyed fresh lettuce from our garden all summer and it took very little effort. I figured we’d plant a winter crop of lettuce and save ourselves some money at the grocery.

After looking at all sorts of complicated greenhouse projects on Pinterest, I decided to keep it simple and make a makeshift greenhouse out of some clear plastic tubs. I was so smitten with my fantastic idea, I could just envision our abundant supply of lettuce!

Sprouting_Lettuce_3

[Read more…]

The Pears are Budding!

by

It sure is hard to believe that we’ve had such a mild winter. I just kept thinking that we’d get a hard freeze or some snow…

But to be honest, I’m ok with sunshine. The warm sun feels like a happy hug on my skin, and even our pear trees are starting to feel the love! The espaliers that we planted last summer are beginning to bud, and I’m sure we’ll have full on blooms within the week!

Pear_Espaliers

[Read more…]

Birthday Surprise: Planting Raspberries

by

Earlier this summer I posted one of my very favorite recipes for raspberry pie! I grew up with a backyard full of fruit trees and berries with a Dad who tended to them like prize possessions, so it’s no wonder that I have such a love of fruit. Summers meant running around the backyard barefoot noshing on all of the fresh fruit I could get my little hands on.

Raspberries are my go-to berry because they’re delicate in nature and can be both sweet and tart. My parents have several healthy raspberry plants in their backyard, and for my 30th Birthday they gifted me enough raspberry starts to get one full row in our backyard.

I have such sneaky parents…they gave me both a gift and a ton of work! ha! Welcome to your thirties Kristen!

Raspberry_Starts

[Read more…]