Something to Show for It

The spectacular rhododendron at my parent's house.

This week's post is centered around the idea that at the end of the day we all want to have "something to show" for our hard work. For all of our work at our jobs, in our homes and in our gardens we all want to be able to say "Look at what I did!" This has always been something that has been my motto. For example, I would spend a lot of time thinking of what to spend my vacation money on. I wanted to make sure it wasn't candy, gum or some other expendable item- I wanted to make sure I had something to show for my money- like a doll or a necklace.

Now, I am the same way with my time and my money. If I have free time I have a hard time sitting down just reading a book or watching TV or a movie. I almost feel like I would rather "get something done." It just leaves me with a better feeling. Even when I watch TV many times I try to fold laundry or get ironing done at the same time. That doesn't mean I don't like to relax in the evenings and just watch a movie without doing something, but most of the time I want to get something accomplished. And with my money I like to be able to get as much as I can for it or have "something to show for it." For example, if I get a spa treatment (every once and a while) I prefer to have a pedicure or manicure because I can see the pretty colors on my toes or hands and enjoy it for a while!

With this blog I feel that I am creating not only a record of the work my mom and I do in our gardens and in our homes but it will be "something to show" for all of the meals prepared and all of the care taken in our homes and gardens for all to enjoy.

Weather:

A lovely, bright bloom on the rose bush in the garden that produces large rose hips for tea.

We had just a bit of sunny weather this week- not very much compared to the fabulous weekend that we had last weekend, but we did enjoy it all we could!

Here's the weather report according to NOAA (I am featuring mainly the parts about the northwest) that my mom looked up:

U.S. Climate Highlights – May

"Average May temperatures across the western third of the country were below normal. Oregon and Washington (tied with a previous record) experienced their sixth coolest May on record with average temperatures more than 3.6 degrees F below the 20th century normal. Wyoming and Utah had their seventh and eighth coolest May on record, respectively. "

U.S. Climate Highlights – Spring (March-May)

"A persistent pattern during the spring brought frequent storms and cold air to the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies. Drought intensified in the south, while much of the Northeast, Ohio Valley and Northwest were subjected to historic or near-historic precipitation.

Snow pack in the Northwest and Northern Rockies was much above normal during the late spring, raising concerns about potential flooding once the melt season began. The Northwest had its wettest spring on record with a regional precipitation average that exceeded 10 inches (3.76 inches above normal) for the first time on record. The previous record, 9.39 inches, was set in 1993.
Average temperatures were much cooler-than-normal in the Northwest, which had its seventh coolest spring. Within the region, Washington had its third coolest spring and Oregon its fifth coolest."

Indeed our spring has been quite cool. At least this week most days were above 65 degrees at least out here in the suburbs. It is a slight improvement on last year's very low temperatures during spring and summer. I hope that the weather really does start to warm up a bit more and we need more sun to grow our tomato and pepper plants as well as all of the others!

Some grapes forming on a grapevine in the country garden.

Country Garden Report:

The country garden with a row of potatoes and two long rows of tomato plants.

Last week we had the good fortune to visit the country garden twice! We went out there on Wednesday and then later on Saturday for a short visit. It was such a nice treat since I am on a short break from teaching classes I had more time to go out and do some gardening. We surely will have "something to show" for all of our hard work in the garden this year as long as the weather cooperates! I am hoping for loads of tomatoes to use in sauces and many other dishes this year!

A very healthy potato plant in the country garden.

We had a bit of time in between going on walks with Adam to get a long row ready for planting tomato plants and do a bit of weeding in the garden. My parents finished planting the tomatoes and peppers later on in the week. Everything is looking great! The potato plants look very robust and many of the seeds we planted are coming up.

The boysenberries are blooming!

We will have to go in and do a lot more weeding now that the tomato and pepper plants are planted. We still need to plant corn, beans and a few other warmer weather crops very soon.

One of the healthy tomato plants that my parents planted last week.

On our walk through the woods with Adam and through the "tunnel" as he likes to call it we found many native plants in bloom:

Some sweet little twin flowers in bloom in the woods.

Some lovely salal with many blooms on it.


A plant we have always called "thimble berry" in bloom. Later on it has raspberry-like berries on it that you can eat.

A baby fig on the fig tree in the back yard at my parent's house.

Adam marching along in the woods on his walk.

Suburban Garden Report:

A lavender iris in bloom in my back yard.

I love that every week in my yard I can discover new blooms and enjoy new flowers and new growth on the plants there. A yard or garden is an ever changing and never ending project but it is such a joy to have! I am learning to love each and every plant in it and it is fun to see what will happen next!

A volunteer snapdragon blooming in a pot on the deck!

Unfortunately last week Adam got a bit sick. It all started on Wednesday afternoon when we came home from my parent's house. Adam had a fever and was very tired. Also, all day that day he hadn't eaten very much. Poor little guy!

A bit of a serious Adam outside with his sunglasses on. He was slowly recovering from a bit of a "bug" he caught.

The next day in the early afternoon he seemed to be doing better and his fever seemed to have disappeared so I decided it was okay for him to venture outside since it was our one and only sunny day so far that week. He had fun outside but soon became tired again and took an early nap. I am glad we got out in the sun just for a bit that day. He recovered over the weekend and is now feeling so much better! Thank goodness!

Some raspberries forming on our raspberry bushes!

Our raised bed garden is doing quite well. The rhubarb is positively gigantic! I am going to have to start harvesting some to make pies, bread, preserves, etc. I will have a big crop this year! Also, it is very exciting to see that even in their first year we will have a few raspberries off of our raspberry bushes. Delicious! My lettuce continues to grow and prosper as well. My onions are still too tiny to even take a picture of, but I am hoping for the best.

My little lettuce plants keep growing.

I will finish up my garden report with this lovely photo of the first rose of the year! I love it! It was just in time for the Rose Festival here in Portland, Oregon! What timing! I am really beginning to love my rose bushes. I have two traditional ones and three heirloom roses. It is very special to me to be growing these roses because I have very fond memories of my Grandma Pedersen's large rose garden and also my Grandma Johnston's rose bushes in her front yard. It gives me great joy and peace to take care of these roses and to watch them grow and thrive. I truly have many things to "show" for all of my work in the garden this year and I hope to have many barbecues throughout the summer to share the beauty with others and enjoy the surroundings.

My first rose of the season!

Barbecue Sauce Recipe:

I'll finish up this post with a favorite recipe as I often like to do. I really love to barbecue in the summer and although the weather hasn't been the greatest for barbecuing very much yet this season I decided to make this sauce to coax the sun out! I ended up roasting a chicken in the oven, making some rice and sauteing some asparagus to go with the barbecue sauce because it was raining outside this Sunday, but there is plenty left over to use with some barbecuing I plan on doing soon.

I am not sure where this recipe came from but I have had it a long time. It was so good it caused me to type it up and put it in my recipe notebook and it has been my favorite ever since. I like how it is tangy and sweet at the same time. Since I don't know where it came from I shall claim it as my own! This recipe is actually half of the original because it makes so much. However, it does freeze well so if you are planning a party later on in the summer you could double this recipe and save some for later.

The barbecue sauce simmering in the saucepan.

Trista's Favorite Barbecue Sauce:

1 1/4 cups ketchup
1 1/4 ounces Worcestershire sauce
1/8 cup oil
1 cup cider vinegar (when I last made this I had to use red wine vinegar because I had run out of cider vinegar but it was still very good)
1/8 cup salt
1/2 ounce black pepper
1/4 ounce hot sauce of your choice
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cube or 1/4 cup butter
1/2 ounce liquid smoke flavoring
1 clove garlic- minced

Combine all of these ingredients into a medium saucepan and simmer on low heat for 15-20 minutes making sure to melt the butter thoroughly.

Enjoy this sauce on chicken, ribs, steaks, hamburgers, etc.

Happy gardening, cooking, living and making the most of it this week!

Give Us a Break!

This week was supposed to be relatively dry, but I think the weather folks are just trying to break the news to us gently - it's raining, yet again. This morning it was about 55 degrees, which was 3 degrees better than yesterday, and we are pitiful enough at this point that that actually seemed like good news. The blue sky peeking among mostly clouds seemed like a good omen for the day, but then again, we always try to look on the bright side.

We managed to get some corn seed in. I (Serena) checked to find out the maturity dates on all of the seeds we are planting. The corn, Golden Bantam Improved, is supposed to be ready in 78 to 85 days. We also decided to try some Stowell's Evergreen, a white corn, which is supposed to be ready in 80 to 100 days. At this point we have resigned ourselves to the longest date out.

Adam is not quite two, and is interested in the garden for about 15 minutes, then it's time to do something else. Trista and I thought we could get the corn in, and we did manage to plant some before we needed to go for a walkabout, Adam style.


We walked along the road, admiring native plants we came upon. Adam found a great stick to drag along, too. We saw some beautiful honeysuckle. (Pictured above) I think it has lasted more this year than usual, so there are benefits to this cold and wet weather.


The vine maples (pictured above) are leafed out, and their shapes are so pretty, whether in leaf or without. There is a nice dogwood growing between the vine maples, which are at the edge of the drive in a grove of douglas firs.


The thimbleberry (pictured above) is blooming, and mixed in are mossy areas with ferns. Definitely a feast for the eye! While wandering back, Adam petted a soft-leafed plant, and then hugged it. That's what you do with soft things, don't you? It was one of those moments that you have a camera in your hand, and although you still aren't quick enough to capture it, the vivid memory remains.

I had good luck last year in planting pumpkin and squash among the corn, so we planted our seedlings there. One of our seedlings is pictured above. We have 4 different kinds. They are:

Lady Godiva ( 90-100 days)
Musquee de Provence (100-110 days)
Thelma Sanders Sweet Potato Squash (85-90 days)
Sweetmeat Hubbard (115 days)

That sounds like a lot of time, but since they are ready about the last of fall, we should make it. All we have to do with those is pick them when they are ready, and store them properly. We decided to get just one pumpkin for Halloween's sake - we hope there will be a perfect pumpkin for Adam.

Just about the time it began to rain, Trista finished getting the pepper plants in. One of our pepper seedlings is pictured directly above. We have:

Tolli's Sweet Italian (75-85 days from transplant)
Rooster Spur (95 days from transplant)
King of the North (70 days from transplant)
Ancho Gigantea (90 days from transplant)

We have high hopes for King of the North and the Sweet Italian, but it is going to be touch and go for the two others, as they are hot weather peppers, which doesn't seem to be our lot this year. I like the idea of the Anchos as they are fun to have stuffed, and the Rooster Spur looked pretty, so maybe we'll end up putting the plants in pots, which might warm them up too. For now, though, they are in the garden.

While Trista was making a mad dash to get the peppers in, I noticed our zucchini plants still in their pots so quickly dug some holes for them. The rain was beginning to dash us with giant drops, but our four zucchinis are tucked in the ground and getting watered in as I write.

April Showers Bring May Showers

As you could see if you checked out the April NOAA precipitation and temperature information from a couple of our blogs past, our Pacific Northwest region was cooler and wetter than normal. If the past week – and upcoming week’s forecast – is any guide, May will not be far behind.

Although it is definitely soggy outside, the green beauty and lush native landscape of our area is on full display. The wild flags are in bloom now, and the native dogwoods have just finished. False Solomon’s Seal has spread throughout the woodland behind the house, along with wild ginger. Snowberry and wild roses are setting buds. Sword ferns have unfurled their new fronds, and the combinations of native trees, bushes, and flowers along the pathways look as if an artist combined them there. The tree frogs that abound have stopped their mating chorus, and the spring-fed pond below our house is full of their eggs.

Newts (like the one pictured above) have been sighted around the house too; and likely have their egg cases mixed in with frog eggs in the pond. And, our chamomile- pictured above-is blooming nicely and ready for harvest to make tea! Spring, even with its more than usually wild and wet weather, is definitely here!

Spring is in the garden, too. In the garden, we see bunches of microscopic grapes, and the raspberries are setting. Our boysenberries are just beginning to bloom, too.

For further seed planting, though, we will wait. We have heard tales of over-eager gardeners in our area planting and then replanting, as their first seeds rotted in the ground from all the rainfall. It’s not a problem for the plants we set out earlier –the damp and cool weather seems to suit them. So, the brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli are just fine, as are the onions. The peas have not yet bloomed, but are growing nicely.

It’s okay, though, as our growing season is long enough to accommodate a later planting. We often don’t plant anything until mid-June, but still have a good and plentiful harvest. This year we thought we’d try to get several plantings in for several of the vegetables, but if the rain doesn’t permit, it doesn’t. Spring weather can be iffy in the northwest.

Progress of a Weaving Sort

Since our weather has made it difficult to garden, I (Serena) decided to work on a weaving project I have had in mind for some time now. I had some white silk thread given to me by a weaving friend, Hilda Minnickel, several years ago. Hilda wasn’t interested in using the silk herself, but picked it up at a garage sale for a dollar, thinking that I might like it. The silk is very fine, and has frequent slubs and uneven lengths in it which should give character to a simple weave structure. The color is a creamy white, with the sheen characteristic of silk. At the time Hilda gave it to me, I couldn’t think of how I could use it, although I knew I would some day. Since successfully completing a hand-woven upholstery project recently, I realized the silk would be perfect for some rather formal seating I have from my husband’s family. The loveseat has a carved wooden back and curved arms with an upholstered seat. The slipper chair is small with slender legs. It has an upholstered back, and its upholstered seat ends in a pleated ruffle. I would like to use this furniture together in a guest bedroom. These pieces should be worth the time and trouble to make the fabric and upholster since they are antiques, thus more looked at than used; so the work should last.

Although the silk is fine, the upholstery projects are small; so I think I can manage to weave enough. I am going to make a warp of dark red silk stripes in a creamy white background, with creamy white silk weft. A simple satin weave should show off the character and sheen of the threads.

The first task was to wind the eight skeins of fine white silk onto spools. The person who sold them at the garage sale had tried to wind off the silk into balls, but as the three small balls attest, it was tough going. The spools work much better. Even so, it took several hours to wind the silk, spread over several days. The red silk is already wound on a cone, so no preparation was necessary for that. Now it is time to make the warp.

Because of summer activities, the project will go slowly, but there’s no rush. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Quick Suburban Garden Report:

As you can see my (Trista's) strawberries have grown tremendously! There are many berries formed on the plants, all we need is a little sunshine to ripen them but it has been in short supply lately!

Both of my rhubarb plants have been growing very well with all of the rain as well. I hope to harvest a bit of rhubarb combined with rhubarb I get from the farmer's market this weekend in order to make some pies next week. I'll post about that later!

Last but not least, my mint that I have planted in a pot is going crazy! I have two varieties in this pot pictured above as well as some "volunteer mint" in another corner of the garden. I'll have to dream up a tasty recipe for this sometime as well!

Have a great week!