They came, they saw, they asked questions -- Back Yard Farm Tour Day One

The 2013 Bend Backyard Farm Tour is history.  On a beautiful sunny Saturday, I had over 100 visitors to my 'farm'.   I was so busy I never had time to take a break, and didn't get 'lunch' until the last guest departed, a little after 4:00.

I was so busy I never even took out my camera, so I have no photos of the day -- sorry.  Just for the record, though, here is some of what they saw, under this morning's cloudy skies rather than the bright sunshine of Saturday.

The entrance to the back garden

leads to a large selection of nursery pots, full of perennials waiting to be transplanted into the front yard.   I think most people just thought they were colorful container gardens.   Shhhh

I will say that I was surprised by some of the questions I got.   I always expect to answer questions about tomatoes

and dealing with deer -- which I did.   A large percentage of my visitors each year are newcomers to Bend and/or gardening in general.  Most newcomers arrive from balmier and/or wetter areas such as Seattle, Portland, or California, and I share the usual caveats 'frost is possible any day of the year' 'add tons of organic matter, the soil here is mostly sand' and 'choose varieties for short season maturity'.   This year, though, I had a most unusual experience, when I got to tell newcomers from Paisley, Oregon (south and east of here, even drier and colder and higher in elevation than Bend), 'hey, you'll love it -- it's warmer and we have a longer growing season'.  

But I also found myself expounding on such random topics as:  why the big old weeping birch trees are dying all over town (they are being stressed by rising temperatures), the need to water trees and shrubs, especially newly planted evergreens in the winter (they frequently die over their first winter because when the cold, dry air dries out the foliage, the moisture cannot be replaced via the frozen soil) ...... best non-bee-attracting annual flowers for restaurant window boxes (how would I know, since I plant everything I can that attracts bees?!  ..... what to do for aphids and powdery mildew on lupine cultivars (take 'em out and plant native varieties which are never touched by either).   It's amazing what knowledge you pick up in 40+ years of gardening.

Of course I answered lots of questions about chickens,

 including 'what do you do to keep them warm in winter?' (nothing -- they have feathers and down that will protect them as long as they are dry and out of the wind), 'what kind are those spotted ones' (Speckled Sussex)

and 'why is that chicken in prison?' (because she has gone broody).

Also, does your cat attack the chickens?  (no, but they definitely keep an eye on each other)

Every year there is one plant in particular that for some reason intrigues people, and everybody asks about it.   One year it was asparagus -- most people have only seen the early spring sprouts that appear magically in grocery stores and don't recognize the beautiful ferny leaves of the mature plant.   Another year it was borage, which I allow to go to seed because I love the blue, star-shaped flowers, and so do the bees.

This year people did ask about the borage and the asparagus, but the big surprises were fruit trees ('you can grow fruit trees here?!')

and my favorite question:  'what is that flower that looks like an artichoke?' (it's an artichoke).

Overall, it was just fun to talk with a bunch of really nice, curious and often well-informed people, many of them experienced gardeners themselves.   Although there is a healthy locavore movement, and a recent crop of small farms raising vegetables and herbs locally, it seems many people still don't know much about how to raise their own food and are eager to learn.  I hope some of them went away with a spark of an idea to try a few kale plants this fall and next year.

Uh Oh. They Are Coming...

No, not goblins and a cave troll.

Visitors.

People who have bought the booklet and, clutching their maps, are touring the local area to look at backyard farms.   Which apparently I have one of.   Who knew?    All these years I thought I was planting a not very organized vegetable garden and tossing in a few random flowers to go with the weeds.   It has never fully lived up to my fantasies expectations of a proper vegetable garden, which tend to come from photos in books and Martha Stewart-type magazines.

But times have changed.   There are locavores.   There is urban farming.   And there seem to be a heck of a lot of people living here who have either never gardened at all or have never planted as much as a radish seed in their lives, but who are worried about GMO's in their food and tired of the pink golf ball tomatoes found in ye olde giant grocery chain market.

Add to that the built-in challenges of growing many of the most traditional food crops in our short-season, cool night, frost-can-happen-any-day-of-the-year climate, and you have a lot of newcomers and even oldtimers who are interested in seeing what can be grown on a city lot.

If the numbers are anything like the visitors in these photos from the 2010 backyard farm tour, I may have a lot of people.  The tour this year has a majority of larger gardens, including several actual farms, rather than smaller ones in people's backyards.   I suspect the average person is more interested in gardens on in-city lots, and since I am designated #1 in the tour booklet, I am expecting a deluge of guests.

Along with recently having become the subject of a Beatles tune (see previous post), I have come to realize that I actually am a genuine 'oldtimer'.  Sadly, along with the vast knowledge of useful oldtimer gardening tips and tricks, has come a bit of arthritis and weariness of limb.   At least I can now blame the weeds on that.   But that isn't going to stop me from tearing the heck out of a few last patches today, before the hordes show up tomorrow.   Tomorrow?!!!!!!    Help!

Come to think of it, the goblins probably wouldn't notice the weeds.

On Becoming the Subject of a Beatles Tune

It's amazing how wise the boys were, back then.  So young (though older than I was) yet spot on with lyrics and titles about Life.  I confess I haven't done rigorous scientific testing to compare the Fab Four's music with song titles of other classic rock groups, folk groups or any other genre of popular music.   I just happen to love the Beatles, for both nostalgic reasons and because their music is so darned fine, musically, harmonically, philosophically and cosmically.

The titles of so many of their songs just WERE about the important things in life:

And I Love Her   (the words I never tire of hearing)
Because  (...... I said so)
Good Day Sunshine  (excellent philosophy of life)
Help!  (yes please, always and every day!)
I Want to Hold Your Hand (ok)
Strawberry Fields Forever (in the garden.   Also raspberries, apples ....)
With a Little Help From My Friends (more important as the decades pass)
Yesterday (more poignant as the decades pass)
I Am the Walrus (well, the less said about this, the better)

But of course there is one song title that is nudging at every Baby Boomer these days.   You know the one I mean.  Last week it came true for me ...

"When I get older, losing my hair ......"
(dang)

'many years from now,"
(hey, where did those years go?)

will you still be sending me a valentine,
birthday greetings,
bottle of wine?

If I'd been out till quarter to three,
would you lock the door?

Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm 64?

You'll be older too.
And if you say the word, I could stay with you.

I could be handy mending a fuse
when your lights have gone.

You can knit a sweater by the fireside,

Sunday mornings, go for a ride.

Digging the garden, digging the weeds,

who could ask for more?
Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm 64?

Ev'ry summer we can rent a cottage in the Isle of Wight
if it's not too dear.

We shall scrimp and save.
Grandchildren on your knee;
Vera, Chuck and Dave

                (oops..... no photo here -- we forgot to have children)

Send me a postcard, drop me a line,
stating point of view.
Indicate precisely what you mean to say,
yours sincerely, wasting away.
Give me your answer, fill in a form,
mine forever more.

Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm 64?
Ho!

Now it's on to Medicare (one year) and Social Security (two years).   How did this all happen?   What a good thing it is to have friends and family, a roof over my head, and 64 years of memories.  Thanks Paul, John, George and Ringo....

Another coop tour

The 2013 edition of the Bend (Chicken) Coop Tour was yesterday.   This time I decided to take it easy and visit only the coops closest to my house, in the central part of Bend.   I enlisted friend Jane, and, fueled by good coffee and an Ocean Roll from the local coffee roaster, we headed out on a hot (for early May) day -- 80 degrees and sunny -- with coop tour booklet in hand.

I had plotted a route, highlighting our selected coops on the map and was confident Jane could guide us hither and yon.   When she initially claimed she had no sense of direction, didn't know the town at all, and would probably get us lost within seconds, I just laughed.  But she was right.  Not only that, but she had somehow forgotten her reading glasses, so she couldn't read the booklet all that well, either.   Luckily, she was, as always, fabulous company and adored all the girls, gardens and coops as much as I did.

But I had cleverly chosen coops (mostly) in town, and ended up getting to show off my Bend Old Fart knowledge, as we visited the various 'hoods.  I only made one bad turn, and that was after we had enlisted the help of Grace, my GPS.  I failed to consult Grace on the way home from a distant coop, and had to apologize for doubting her original circuitous route on the way out.   She was right.   There was a dead end.   Jane tactfully bit her tongue and just made encouraging comments.

Of the 9 coops we toured, our hands-down favorite was ........ a garden.

Tucked away on the west side of town was this jewel of a back yard.  Converted from an initially sage- and bitterbrush-covered slope by the energetic homeowners, into a compact, terraced garden full of vegetables and fruit bushes.  The coop was nice too, but the garden was wonderful!

There were many other fine coops and gardens (I consider the coop tour a stealth garden tour).   One lovely home sported a tasteful welcome sign.

A surprising number of gardens contained beehives!

something I have fantasized about having in my garden for years and years and years.

Probably the most impressive coop had several sections.   Here is the outdoor lounging area for the ladies.   Check out the umbrella and flowering window box.

All in all, a most satisfactory tour.   After dropping off Jane I headed home, re-inspired to spruce up my sadly-neglected spring garden and give my ladies some treats.

Harmonious Spring Activities

Courtyard striding ......... Check:

Leisurely morning strolling ......... Check

Sitting in scenic kiosks ........... Check

As per 16th Century Traditional Chinese Medical advice, see previous post here http://arabellasgarden.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-best-laid-plans.html I have embarked on a program of Spring Health Promotion During the Wood Season.  Determined to nourish the liver network, let down our hair, raise our spirits, and honor the qi of spring, my sweetheart and I decided to seek forests, gardens and scenic kiosks along the Crooked River, 40 miles east of Bend.   It being our 42nd wedding anniversary and the weather forecast propitious, we took the Pinecone (teardrop trailer) attached to the new Cute Car (Oliver) and made it an overnight trip.   And despite the fact that we have camped hither and yon, at all times of year, since before we married (we met in our college's hiking club), we can't remember ever camping on our actual May 1 anniversary before this.   So we are calling it our first Campiversary.

We arrived around 7:30 pm, after a full day's work, and had the place to ourselves except for one distant fisherman.  We spent a quiet night with only the sound of the nearby river to keep us company.

Camping in the bottom of a river canyon means the first job in the morning is to make coffee, start a little fire and wait for the sun to reach camp.

Hmm, sun still on the other side of the river.   Should I get up?

Looks like the sweetheart has the coffee ready ....

And a wee campfire made ....

Here comes the sun!

And breakfast is coming... must go kiss the cook

Decades of practice have taught us the importance of eating a proper camping breakfast:

with concessions to modern healthful, organic 'glamping' practices, the bacon is uncured, natural, gluten and casein free; the eggs are locally pastured, and the pancake mix local and organic.   The salt .....

well, the salt is not just pure, it is 'the purest salt on earth' and is, in point of fact, primordial.  You can't get much better than primordial.   Morton's salt, in the big blue box with the picture of the cute girl holding an umbrella, never claimed to be primordial.

Breakfast under our belts, we headed for the courtyard striding.   Our destination:  Chimney Rock, up on the canyon rim.

 Along the way, we came upon our first scenic kiosk, with the full crookedness of the river displayed below us, along with our local Cascade peaks in the distance.

The second scenic kiosk is right at the base of Chimney Rock.   Sitting on this bench, facing away from the canyon, I watched swallows hovering right in front of me, hanging in the wind pouring over the ground at my feet, in the shallow pass between rock tower and canyon wall.

Following that advice to 'roam through gardens and forests, taking in the tranquil sights of nature', I admired the 'forests' up here, which are pretty sparse, consisting of widely spaced western juniper, interspersed with bunch grasses, sagebrush and those gardens....

Every spring is dry in this desert, but this year perhaps a bit drier than most.   Desert wildflowers are fairly restrained to most eyes, but they are all the more welcome and beautiful to ours.   Native creeping phlox, townsendia and an early clump of lupine:

After a quick telephoto shot of our wee trailer down in the campground,

we headed back to the canyon floor.  Back at the trailhead, we crossed the road to check out the local fisherman action.  Crooked River is a local hotspot for fly fishing.

And with this final view, we hooked up the Pinecone and headed for home.  A most relaxing and harmony-enhancing expedition!   Honoring the qi of spring 'r' us.

The best laid plans ....

Ok, I know.   These 'new' seed packets all say '2012' on them.   That's because I don't have a picture of any 2013 seeds because I procrastinated ordering, and then got sick and couldn't lift a finger to do anything until just last week.

On April 1 it all started with a little tickle, which turned into a cough, which turned into the Dread Flu that kept me down and out for over 2 weeks.   Emerging from the Bubonic Plague and Spanish Influenza Spa and Weight Loss Clinic at last, I rushed to get my precious tomato seeds started before our short WoO was closed.   Happy to fire up my fabulous light cart, last year's Big Garden Splurge.

Despite a serious, ongoing case of the draggies, I've had to keep going and thus my recovery has been slower than normal.   I have scheduled extra massage, gulped down extra supplements and had extra acupuncture sessions, all in an effort to get back on my feet and out into the garden.

After attending a special intensive class a couple of weeks ago on Chinese pulse diagnosis, my wonderful TCM/acupuncturist had a field day reading and interpreting my various pulses.   Mmmm, she said ...... aha ....... interesting ........ and made some expected comments on lung, kidney and the like.   Then she turned to my other arm, saying, 'I'm excited to see what your liver is up to!'  and then she just started laughing.   'It's all over the place, very restless, up and down and all around.....'

Kind of like a carnival ride? I asked and she laughed again.  'Exactly' so she gave me some suggestions for calming and balancing the frisky organ, and a sheet to read about ways to act in harmony with the energies of Spring.

It talks about the need to move slowly and easily, transitioning from the still, more inward and inactive months of Winter.   It advises one to:  "Rest at night and get up early, stride freely through the courtyard, let down your hair and indulge in the leisurely feeling of a morning stroll;  this is how you should raise your spirits in spring..."

"Spring is the season of harmony.   This is the time to roam through gardens and forests, to sit leisurely in scenic kiosks and take in the tranquil sights of nature....."

I then noticed that these were the translated words of a 16th Century Chinese poet and 'medical scholar'.  Wow, I thought, this sounds like pretty good 450-year old advice.

Of course my favorite parts are about striding freely through the courtyard.   If only I had a courtyard!  and indulging in the leisurely feeling of a morning stroll.   So much more appealing than the constant underlying voice in my head to 'get out and start exercising!'  'lift some weights!'  'get fit!'   and do it NOW!

I also love the advice to roam through gardens and forests, sitting leisurely in scenic kiosks. I am wracking my brain to come up with local scenic kiosks.   Perhaps a covered bench in a downtown park -- or one of the trailside benches on Pilot Butte or the Deschutes River Trail would count as 'kiosks'.   Or possibly this is a cosmic hint that I should get to work building a gazebo in the back yard.

At any rate, I am coming into harmony, I can feel it.   The week of warm, sunny weather we've just had is helping.  Sprouting tomato babies are helping.   The scenic kiosks are beckoning later in the week, on our planned anniversary camping trip.   I'm pretty sure they are out there.   When I find them, I'll have photos.   Meanwhile, I'm off to the courtyard/back garden to throw a little dirt around.

(scenic kiosk of a previous year)