Progress & More Updates

My friend Joy hosted an awesome baby shower for us. She served brunch style food which included scones and jam, ham, egg casserole, mimosas, and a beautiful sheet cake (white cake with fudge filling and buttercream icing). We played a few games and had a great time hanging out with friends.

We got lots of cute gifts including this little hoodie

Ben and Jacob played a game that involved beer in a baby bottle.....a good excuse to drink at a baby shower. Jacob won.

On top of hosting this beautiful shower, Joy also made us this amazing quilt!

With only about 5 weeks until the baby will be here, we are keeping busy and getting a lot done around the house and garden. The family room is finally done and looks great with a lot more space. The nursery is just about done and just needs a few shelves and some things hung on the wall. We are pretty much as ready as we will ever be for her arrival and cannot wait to meet her!

Here is the paper mobile I made for above the crib

Here is the room mostly done without stuff on the walls. I'll post a final photo of it completely done

A felt bird mobile that I made

Here is the last pregnancy photo I will post at from 3/22 at 35 weeks. Next time you see me, it will be with baby on the outside!

Since my last garden post, we have done a lot more work in the garden and lots of time has passed! Ideally I should keep this as a weekly journal, but I do what I can!

-the grape bed is finished and planted

-both columnar apples are planted (one with kale and one with nasturtium)

this one has a wild kale mix and the one in the upper bed has nasturtium

- the peas finally started coming up despite being partially eaten by squirrels




-buttercrunch lettuce was replanted on 3/16 and as of now they are just starting to come up


-freesia bulbs were replanted, now with a squirrel barrier on 3/14


-we got two galvanized stock tanks to use as raised beds in the garden for carrots, tomatoes, peppers and basil.

- hollyhocks and larkspur seeds were planted on the side of the house on about 3/27 (although it may have been too late for the larkspur)

This is the sunflower we will plant on the side of the house when it warms up a bit more

-Ben decided he wanted grass in the backyard, so he put down some seed, along with compost and lime and of course of barrier to protect the area from the dogs. Here is the before photo taken on 3/23

Other back yard plants taken on 3/23

-the mixed greens havent come up yet. Im guessing its because the seeds were older. I think I will replant newer seeds in another whiskey barrel.


- the honeydew sage was apparently a cold sensitive plant and may or not survive after one night of frost.
-I purchased and planted broccoli and cauliflower starts on about 3/27

the cauliflower

the broccoli

-Ben planted walla walla onions and shallots today 4/2 (the onions are with the asparagus, the shallots are with the garlic)



- the culinary poppy is coming up and will need to be thinned soon


-the parsley is not coming up well and Im not sure why. I will keep watering and give it another week or two.

- a little bit of asparagus is growing! yeah!

- I planted chard with the tiny artichoke plants

The rhubarb flowered! Crazy! Ive never seen this before. Ben cut it to encourage more leaf growth.

These seeds were planted in one of the pots in the front yard awhile ago and havent come up yet. It was at least 2 weeks ago.

The cherry tree is blooming!

We filled the leek area in with some fresh compost

The passion flower may or may not come back this year. I gave it a better chance by clearing some of the grape hyacinth.

Also today Ben planted some thyme to grow over the lower retaining wall, some orange mint, a curly parsley start with the other parsley and an adorable little planter box for the front stoop for tarrgon, thyme, chives (which still need to be planted)


When its time we will also plant cucumbers and string beans in place of the peas, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers and basil. I also have a lot of pots that are in need of some annuals for some color around the front and back yard.

Getting the Garden Ready for The Season.

My previous blog post was getting a little bit out of control, so I decided to do a separate garden post. This is mainly for me to remember what we do in the garden and varieties of the plants we try. Even though we are having a baby in less than 2 months, we still are determined to have a garden this year...we will see how it goes.

Last month my friend Kate and I went to the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. We went to several really interesting talks and got inspired by the amazing demonstration gardens. The best things I learned were how to start seeds indoors from Willi Galloway and that there are melons that can be grown in our climate...the Minnesota Midget Melon was recommended. I think I will wait until next year to try indoor seed starting and melon growing.

A chicken coop with a green roof

I love this bar with made from rocks in a cage and glass top

A great idea for a raised bed...these are bags filled with compost. You can poke holes and plant things like strawberries to cover them.

Mr Ed Hume

A very pretty cold frame

Last week we ventured out into the garden to see what happened over the winter and what needed to be done. The rhubarb is already getting big and everything else is starting to get greener. Spring is still awhile away, but its already time to start planting some seeds and early season vegetables.

grape hyacinth and primroses bringing some color to the garden

Yesterday Ben cleared some weeds and crazy spreading oregano and I planted snow peas, sugar snap peas, culinary heirloom poppy, parsley, sage, butter crunch lettuce, mixed greens, and purple asparagus.

I am really excited about planting grapes in the space above our driveway and growing them along the railing. On the driveway below Ben is going to be building raised beds so that we can grow some heat loving crops.

Unfortunately our neighbor has a small obsession with feeding squirrels. This makes me very unhappy because "Larrys Squirrels" eat my plants! All the bulbs I planted in the fall were eaten as well as the pea seeds I just planted. We are currently in the process of coming up with a plan to save our garden.

I think the lettuce, poppies and parsley will be okay because the seeds are tiny and not delicious like pea seeds.

This a a variety I havent tried

This a a seed packet from seeds that I saved from two years ago, hopefully some come up.

The lower area is where the poppies were planted and just at the top of the wall will be parsley

I am determined to have some luck with asparagus. I started with just two root crowns and planted them in the middle bed on the top level, across from the strawberries.

The two holes are where the asparagus is planted.

Parsley is planted in the lower middle bed along the edge of the bed

I had these old seeds that I mixed with 2010 seeds and planted them in the middle of the first lower bed. It will be growing along with garlic and peas (hopefully)

THE PEAS that have yet to come up. They were planted 7 days ago.

This is were I planted snowpeas Last night I decided that if I want peas this year I am going to have to suck it up and buy starts. I will plant those today. This is where I will most likely plant starts

The other trellis that was planted with sugar snap peas....these also have not come up yet.
"honey dew" sage planted with the cherry tree.

I couldnt resist this Green Tea plant from the nursery. It will stay in a pot
we had our trees pruned by an arborist this year. It was a bit late because we werent expecting Spring in February. Im pretty sure the cherry tree wont do much this year because of it. The good news is that the babys room will actually get some sun, now that the Japanese Maple is under control.

Earlier this week I bought another package of freesia bulbs (Im determined to grow them without getting eaten), two artichoke plants (globe), nasturtium, sunflower seeds, viola seeds, a grape vine (lakemont) and two columnar apple trees (scarlet sentinel and northpole). The apple trees will be planted in Whiskey Barrels and apparently will do just fine there.

First time we ever actually pruned the raspberries

In between the cedar fence and railing is where the grape bed will go. We are hoping it gets enough light! I have my doubts

A view of our whole tiny urban garden..all in the front yard!