Happy Friday! My dirt is coming! My dirt is coming!

LOL! Oxborrow is delivering my garden soil and decomposed granite today ~ asked them to give me a call here at work before they deliver so I can get home by the time they get there.

Am getting 3 cubic yards of Double Mix (topsoil and grape compost) and 3 cubic yards of D.G. 5/16″ (coarse). Have my wheelborrow and shovel ready!

Well have to go shopping for seeds and some plants afterwards. List has been made:

Here’s a picture of where it’s all going ~

Soil in the boxes ~ decomposed granite all around the boxes where the dirt is now. It’s going to be nice not having dirt all over the patio when the wind blows. Tired of sweeping out there all the time! I was going to get the fine D.G., but the lady at the counter asked what it was going to be used for. Told her and she suggested the coarse as the fine is like sand. She said that the coarse D.G. is what everyone uses in their xeri-scape landscaping. Small pebble size, like your pinky finger nail. I plan on using it in the front yard where I’ve been re-landscaping too.

ALSO! Wanted to remind everyone in the Reno/Sparks area that the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension office will be holding their:

ANNUAL MASTER GARDENER PLANT FAIRE next Saturday, May 17th, 2008 at 7:00 am to 11:30 am. 5305 Mill Street, Reno, NV. 784-4848.

From our gardens to your’s at great savings! Wide variety of annuals, perennials, vegetables, herbs, grasses, shrubs, grapes and more. 4-inch and 1-gallon plants.

Here is a link to their Calendar of Events.

Photographs from the Mark Vollmer Fieldtrip to Washoe Valley

Well ~ Saturday we all met up at TMCC’s Meadowood building and carpooled down to the south end of Washoe Valley. Our first stop (besides Wendy’s so Colleen could buy a hamburger) was the wildlife viewing area with the boardwalk.

Very windy (what’s new for Washoe Valley, eh?!) down there. Not much to see but blackbirds ~ both red-winged and yellow-headed. You can’t see far into the lake from the viewing platform unless you have a telephoto lens that goes to as least 200mm…mine only goes to 72mm. So I took lots of fence pictures ~

We saw a flock of pelicans towards the enterance of Washoe Valley State Park so three of us headed back to see if they were still there. Parked at the trailhead of Deadman’s Creek trail and walked over to state park. No pelicans, but there was a redtail hawk sitting in her nest, who flew off once we were close enough for pictures. The bugger. I walked down to the beach while my sister and mom stayed under a couple of bird nest. Colleen got GREAT photos of a Western Tanager…and continued to get great pictures while teasing me with none.

We then went back to the trailhead to wait for the rest of the group ~ took a few pictures in the bottom part of the trail. Figured out the stupid macro on my camera there.

Lots of Phlox, Indian Paintbrush and Alpine Lupine on the way up to the top and at the top where the gazebo is. Sunset wasn’t that great, but pretty none-the-less.

And here’s a picture of Mark Vollmer setting up his shot of the sunset ~

DESERT IN BLOOM SLIDESHOW ~ I put most of my pictures (I took over 200 so I’ve narrowed it down some) onto my webshot’s album ~ I’m nv_michelle there.

All photos taken with a Canon Powershot S2 IS.

Front & Back Yard Gardening ~ Roses are in!

I took yesterday off work to work in my yard…wanted to finish up the front side-yard and my FIL came over to help me ro-do the raised garden beds.

THE ROSES ~ almost didn’t get my English Roses! G&G Nursery had a run on them over the weekend and there were only two Hansa’s left and a few David Austin Roses.

I bought a Weeks Roses Hansa ~ bred in 1905. Medium-tall/bushy round shrub that is suitable for growing in pots and hedges. Tolerant of poorer soils. Ornamental value of hips/large fruit. Very fragrant ~ spicy cloves. Large, full reddish-violet blooms. Very hardy and disease free.

In the ground ~ and a stock photo.

The Squire ~ a David Austin English Rose. The large double blooms of this rose are a deep rich dard red. The attractive strong fragrance of this wonderful cutting rose is a welcome addtion to your garden or bouquets. These roses are a wonderful combination of old world charm and new advancements in rose culture. They will help create a wonderful English Garden feel in your landscape and are excellent for bedding and hedges. Superb border plants.

They look great! Can’t wait for them to grow, grow, GROW! I did a jig out there on the lawn after mulching and watering!

Now onto backyard ~ I decided to take the top boards off of the raised bed as it was just way too deep. My FIL came over yesterday morning and we whacked the crap out the top boards (5 nails each side into a treated 4×4 ~ OY!)…took us a while but we were able to pry them off. We then made a 6×6 box and a small 18″x18″ for a tomato box. We left a nice walk way in between the raised garden beds and will put DG around the beds. Now I have to call Oxborrow and order the double or triple mix of topsoil/grape compost/organic lite.

Now the beds are 5′x12′x1′ and 6′x6′x1′ ~ Soon to be planted ~ tomatoes, peppers, sugar peas, bush beans, potatoes, onions, garlic, corn, zucchini, yellow squash, pumpkin, lettuce. Near the corn I’m going to plant a couple of rhubarb plants and maybe some asparagus.

Vegetable Gardening in Northern Nevada & How to make a Raised Garden

After just about killing ourselves over those bloody junipers and planting the lilac and weeping cherry, I’ve turned my sights to the back yard and making my raised vegetable beds!

In the very back of Sunset’s WESTERN LANDSCAPING BOOK, pages 404-405, in the Materials and Techniques chapter, there is a section on Building A Raised Bed.

Raising your garden above the ground can solve some of the most frustrating problems gardeners face. An easy-to-build bed makes it possible for plants to thrive where soil is poor, wildlife is hungry, or the growing season is short. And if you need easy access to your plants - due to a disability or simply to eliminate back-bending labor - you can sit on the edge of the bed and garden in comfort.
Fill the bed with the best soil you can. Good soil means that plants can be placed closer together, making a small area more productive. Line the bottom of the bed with wire screening to keep out pests, or fit it with a PVC framework for bird netting.
A raised bed can be any size, but if its more than 4 feet wide it will be difficult to reach the middle from either side. If the sides will double as benches, build the frame 18-24 inches high.

We have a small backyard ~ with a huge front and side yard. So much rearranging of the landscaping to do! OY! Here’s what I have to work with out back ~ The soil that has been turned was going to be sod…but I’ve decided to put pavers there instead. The compacted ground area behind will be where the raised garden bed will go. Behind those rocks is a an area of about two feet wide to the fence…that will be where I plant the corn.

A couple of weeks ago The State of Nevada Employees Council had an Open House at The Joe here on campus and I signed up for a lot of information from the University of Nevada’s Washoe County Cooperation Extension office. I used to be in 4-H out in Washoe Valley…so I knew they were loaded with great information. I highly recommend them for all us in Northern Nevada and the Eastern California area! I posted a link to all of their free publications below.

Here are some of the pamplets I asked for:
Vegetable Varieties For Northern Nevada
A Quick Guide to Composting
Nevada Soils - Worth the Toil
Urban Forestry Tree Planting Practices for Nevada
The All Seeing, All Knowing, Lawn Care Manuel for Northern Nevada
Roses for Reno and the Northern Nevada/Eastern Sierra Area
Spring Planted Bulbs Boast Beautiful Blooms
Hardy, Drought-Tolerant and Moderately Salt-tolerant Shurbs and Vines for Northern Nevada
Seven Ways to Make Your Trees and Shurbs Drought Resistant

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS FOR FREE

The Vegetable Varieties for Northern Nevada is four pages long and gives a list of all veggie varieties that are great for planting here with the planting dates. Great comments on which are better for canning, yields, rust resistance, maturing, indoor growing, storage values, disease resistant, most popluar, etc.

ps: For all of you in the Reno/Sparks area…or those of you who will be in town on May 17th ~ at the Washoe County Extension Office on Mill Street there will be a plant sale that morning.

Someone Planted Rocks In My Yard!!! Landscaping in Sparks, NV.

Big sigh. I found out the hard way that the Truckee River used to meander through my property before the Corp of Engineers made it straight.

I took Friday off to do many things…but mainly to start back in killing the Junipers in the southeast corner of the lot. Started off at 7 am at Lowes ~ picked up a mini torch for metalsmithing. Then to mom’s house to write a bunch of kids names (and the two coaches) with puff paint on a soccer flag banner my sister and mom made earlier in the week (my niece is on a school soccer team for 2nd graders). Then mom and I went to Michael’s so I can buy some hemp for those beach glass necklaces. Over to G&G Nursery & Landscaping to pick out a Lilac and Weeping Cherry for the yard. I bought a beautiful Sensation Lilac (Syringa vulgaris ‘Sensation’) that will grow to about 15′ in height. It has single reddish buds that open to deep purple edged in white.

The weeping cherry is a Snow Fountain with white flowers and will grow only to about 12′-15′ high.

Picked my sister up for all of us to have lunch at The Sup. Was back home by 1pm to start in on the Junipers. After a while I got to the point that I couldn’t go on with the tools I had…pruning shears, hand saw and shovel. So I turned my sights on the two conifers on the side where I wanted to plant the weeping cherry tree.

Took the trimmer to the trees so I could get a better area to saw them in half. When I grabbed the one tree it sorta leaned…so I pushed…and it started to fall over! Gave it a good kick and tree with rootball plopped over. So I karate kicked the other one and it too fell over. ME STRONG WOMAN! HEAR ME ROAR! LOL! That was the easy part. Started digging and 4″ down ran into river cobbles…big river cobbles…small river cobbles…medium river cobbles. Lots and lots of bloody river cobbles. It took me an hour to dig a 2′ wide circle 18″ deep. That pretty little tree is planted and staked (just in time I might add…we’re supposed to have 40-60 mph winds hit the valley floor today ~ Bloody Nevada Spring Weather! 80 degrees one day - 58 the next). I still need to pull up the weed sheet thing that someone placed down and then plant some columbine and lavender around the tree area…then lay redwood mulch down.

This is what the conifers looked like from the backside, very nice looking ~ in the front…they were all dead as some idiot sawed off two others in front of them and left these two standing, very dead looking.

\

Some of the river cobbles…they are now in a ring around the tree.

I dug these up with the river cobbles…there was a bunch of glass and a broken tea cup too.

My husband took pity on me on Saturday…after our morning yard sale ritual he helped me get out the main stumps and roots. With the Chevy and chain no less! I think he became obsessed with getting them out, more so than me at that point. He was taking it very personally that they were putting up such a great fight. We worked all day on those bloody things.

Reposting this picture from the previous weekend.

And it continued into Sunday after church. He wanted to go to the El Rancho Swap Meet after the last stump and root system was pulled out…so while he was gone I started to plant the lilac bush and spruce up the corner.

I got the lilac in, re-planted an iris near the fence; planted a sage (can’t remember what type); made a rock stack out of some of the dug up river cobbles; put my obsidian rock between the lilac and sage; put the three metal quail in front of the lilac; put Rufus, the gargoyle, in front of the wee rock stack; and watered. I still need to buy two Old English Roses for the right side…where the dirt piles are still at. And plant more smaller flowers of something that catches my fancy…perferably yellow or white as I realized I will have A LOT OF PURPLE blooming in that corner!

Oh…here are some of my yard sale finds! A free, very large wooden pumpkin; a very cool 12″ copper owl; lots of beads.

Never Fear….JERRY’S HERE! Garden Tonics ~

LOL! That was in my mail last night when I picked it up from the post office ~

Moles Driving ya’ Nuts? Weeds Gone Wild? Sick of Slugs? Never Fear…Jerry’s Here! Inside: 28 of the BEST ard and garden troubleshooting tips, tricks and tonics - and 2,168 amazing backyard problem solvers in all - and they’re all yours to try, FREE!

Ok…So ole Jerry peaked my interest and I opened up the flyer.

Jerry Baker, America’s Master Gardener. Special 40th Anniversary Issue ~ It’s amazing! It’s awesome! And best of all - it’s yours to preview - FREE!

TERRIFIC GARDEN TONICS (Free Look) and GARDEN MAGIC (FREE BOOK!).

You know what??!! I think I’m going to order it! LOL! If even 1/4 of the stuff that is in it works…it’d be well worth the price, me thinks.

Terrific Garden Tonics! In this Special Preview Issue, you’ll discover how my latest and greates all-natural mixers and fixers can give you…

Lovely Lawns - all it takes is a little beer, dish soap, and cola…
Fabulous Flowers - yours will bloom their fool heads off if you use wine, ammonia, and steel wool…
Towering Trees - you’ll have it made in the shade with these bourbon, coffee, and Epsom Salts tonics…
Incredible Edibles - enjoy mouth-watering cukes, tomatoes, and melons with baking soda, chive tea, and jello…

I’m either going to have one helluva great looking yard…or one in rehab! Did you see all the alcohol in the tonics?! ROFL!

The Suspects ~ Billbugs, Mole Crickets, Moles, Bark Beetles, Gypsy moths, Squirrels, Aphids, Cats, Scale, Lilac borers, Rust mites, Cabbageworms, skunks, bean beetles, squash vine borers….

The Solutions ~ Awesome Aeration Tonic, Hot Bug Brew, Mole Chaser Tonic, Peppermint Soap Spray, Orange Aid Elixir, Spicy Squirrel Stopper, Amazing Aphid Antidote, Hit-the-Trail Mix, Crazy Daisy Spray, Double-Punch Garlic Tea, Knock-’Em-Dead Insect Tonic….

Key Indgredients ~ Beer, dishwashing liquid, peppers, garlic, onion, hot sauce, chili powder, orange peels, peppermint oil, baby shampoo, cloves, mustard, Murphy Oil Soap, alcohol, vegetable oil, bleach, vinegar, flour, milk, instant tea

A Whiskey A G0-G0 Elixir!

My Seed and Soil Energizer will give your veggie seeds as much pep as go-go dancers - they’ll just keep on going and growing!

1 tsp of whiskey
1 tsp of ammonia
1 tsp of dishwashing liquid
1 qt of weak tea water

Mix these ingredients in a bucket, then pour the solution into a hand-held sprayer. Shake it gently, then apply a good misting to the surface of all newly-planted seed beds or plant containters.

I’ll let you all know how it works at the end of the growing season!

If you have already tried some of his tonics ~ let me know if they work!!!

Loom Beading & French Beaded Flowers

For some reason my brain’s been fried this week…it’s amazing how waking up at 4:30 am, just one hour earlier than usual, mushes my thought patterns.

So I’m going to just post some pictures of my beadies…

I don’t really remember how I got started into beading with wee seed beads (my favorites are still plain ole 11/0 Czech Seed Beads…although 11/0 Delicas are a close second!).  I DO remember is was UPZNDOWNS of ebay that inspired me first with her BEAUTIFUL French beaded flowers. And VISIBLESOUL from Texas…I’d post his links, but he’s in the process of changing servers. I’ll post it later.

Then about a year after learning french beaded flowers, I tried my hand at square stitch bead work.

This is my very first square stitch project…the tension was way off! LOL! It was fun learning though.

I was a little intimidated by the Peyote stitch, so when a friend, Judah, posted the tutorial for a BEADED PINCUSHION  (the tutorial is also being changed due to the server, so I linked to her site)…I did it by Square stitch instead! Here is that project ~ Celtic Waves.

Then I bought a loom! Precious! I’ve beaded quite a bit on the loom, but alas ~ have not taken all that many pictures! Patooey.

This is my very first loom project ~ a Celtic Knot book mark. My husband uses this in his Bible.

A Celtic Cross ~ shown without the frame it’s in now.

Back-yard Garden & Yard Design Ideas

It’s almost April and I probably should have been thinking about this much earlier (actually the thinking was being done…just not the action!), but I really want to put in a garden this year.

We bought our house in the Fall of 2006. It was built in 1915 ~ we have a very large front & side yard, but a small back yard. There is a covered patio and an area that was full of rocks. We removed the rocks last summer and I started prepping the dirt for sod. My thinking at the time was for half sod and half raised garden. But then I started thinking (very bad thing for me sometimes)…we have a crap-full of grass out front, maybe I’ll lay pavers and still put in my raised garden. And along the side fence (next to the church) ~ plant berry bushes!

(yes…I know I can rent a tiller ~ but I really need the exercise!)

My garden at the old house looked something like this ~

I don’t want the box so big this time…thinking of at least two long thinner ones, with room to walk in between the two.

These are pretty cool…only not squared ~

So I guess the question is ~ to sod or to pave? What are your thoughts?

Easter 2008 Weekend

We had a beautiful weekend here in Northern Nevada!  70 degrees and sunny on Easter Sunday ~ Who’d thunk it!?

Spent some time at Rancho San Rafael Park on Saturday throwing horse shoes (miserably I might add…more so than usual for me!), walking , taking pictures, and winning a game of cribbage.

I made that Christmas Ham of Paula Deen’s for Easter…love the orange marmalade & Dijon Mustard glaze…could have gone without the crust.  Next time just the glaze.  Very tasty ham.  The Mushroom & Asparagus salad that was in Raley’s Something Extra was VERY GOOD! 

After church I made a mad dash to mom’s house to see the kiddo’s and my BIL’s sister’s daughter…Brooke is a cutie. 

Some pictures from the weekend ~ First two from my front yard; rest from Rancho San Rafael park near UNR.

Easter pics of Nathan, Brooke and Hannah ~

Wednesday’s Child is Full of Woe & UFO’s

I’m actually a Thursday’s Child ~ but it’s not Thursday here in Nevada at the moment.

THURSDAY
Thursday’s child has far to go.
You have many ideas, and you want to do them all.  
You will go far in life!

Over in the Crafters’ Cafe Kiwi was talking about all the UFOs she is finishing up ~ and no, not the Area 51 type ~ but the Unfinished Object UFO’s.  

So last night after ruining my copper wire thingy…hammered it too thin and broke it in many pieces…I pulled out a cross-stitch project I’ve been working on for MANY OF YEARS.  Actually…I started it many years ago, then it’s been sitting in a tote for many years thereafter.

Here she is!  It’s the Celtic Christmas by Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum sold by Lavender & Lace.  I just have the right-side to finish.  Pulled her out last night and started stitching ~ will work on her before bed every night and hopefully will be done soon.  Then off to frame her.

I also have an Underground Railroad quilt to finish for my husband. I finished the top not too long ago and need to sandwich the puppy together and get it quilted.

Hmmm…what else is in my UFO pile? Oh yes!

Dresden Plate quilt blocks ~ still have a bunch to make!

And I have the leaves of a beaded Sunflower finished ~ but no sunflower to put them to!

And I have lots of “flowerettes” for a white Hydranga finished…but not enough to make a flower yet. This is what it will look like ~ only white.

Hopefully I will get them all finished soon!