Let the Gardening Begin!

 

Dirt, compost, and soil builder

A few days' tomato harvest

Let gardening begin? Isn’t fall the time to harvest? We are still harvesting tomatoes, more tomatoes than I care to see the rest of the year. 😀 But squash was a bust, except for the pattypan squash. This was the first time I’ve tried patty pan, and it’s worth a try again next year. 

Pattypan squash

But to the topic of beginning, fall is the time to get started on next year's garden—from the ground up. I’m adding soil booster, a rich mixture of compost and organic matter that will allow better air to plant roots. Perlite, is an organic volcanic glass that improves aeration and drainage, and the addition of peat moss will enhance water retention.

Once the weather finally cools (we saw 90 degrees twice this week!), I can start transplanting blueberries and raspberries to new garden beds. I’ll have an entire 8x4-foot bed for each.

Rhubarb starts

We love fruit, and it grows well in my “yarden”, but dedicating three
beds to fruit doesn’t mean we won’t have some vegetables. I have six new rhubarb plants for a 3x3 bed, and will try moving asparagus to its own 3x3 bed. The latter may be risky, but the squirrels aren’t giving the asparagus much of a chance where it is now, and the new bed will allow me to cover everything easily, thwarting the squirrels.

After all that, the really big job begins when I pull the strawberries out of their 8x4 bed so I can enrich that soil before putting the plants back in. I have a lot of work ahead of me, but also a lot to look forward to! 

Just as fall starts, rain is predicted on Sunday. At least watering the garden is done for the season. 

Photo by John Noonan on Unsplash

 

Boats, Boots, Bikes

Sign at the Stehekin Valley Ranch cookhouse. Good eatin' in Stehekin.

 

The Stehekin ferry

Early this month we vacationed in a location we'd never been to--Stehekin, Washington. The trek began with a 3.5 hour drive to 53-mile-long Lake Chelan. Then we had a nearly three hour ferry ride. Finally, a bumpy nine-mile ride up the Stehekin River road on an old school bus to our destination, the Stehekin Valley Ranch. Only the first day of our vacation and I was travel weary. 

After a peaceful rest, the next morning we enjoyed a delicious home-cooked breakfast before heading off to our first death-defying adventure, I mean hike. Take a look at the delights that awaited us on the Rainbow Loop trail. If the photo isn't large enough I'll spell it out for you: bears, cougars, and rattle snakes. So much fun to be had in the outdoors! 😏

 

 

 

 

I was greatly relieved that we saw none of these critters and instead, enjoyed panoramic views of Lake Chelan at the summit of the hike. Sadly, there had been a forest fire two years ago making the trail far less tree-filled than its earlier glory.

 

 

Having made it safely down the trail three hours later, we caught another old school bus back to the ranch. We'd done enough hiking for one day and there wasn't time before dinner to catch a bus to "town" for some souvenir shopping at the general store. There was, however, enough time for an e-bike ride on the Rad power bikes available for rent at the ranch. 

 

75 pounds of bike!

 I have never been on an e-bike and between the pedal assist (so helpful), throttle (tried it once and the bike nearly left me behind), and the gear shifting (too much for me with the novelty of an e-bike), I just relied on the pedal assist and never shifted. My husband, though, was so impressed by the bikes that he bought one for himself just a day after getting back home! 

In retrospect, we didn’t spend enough time in Stehekin, and despite my initial doubts, we’ll probably return. Next time I’d prefer to stick to hikes in the valley and along the river to avoid rattle snakes, bears, and cougars. I’m even up for more e-bike riding.

Happily, the only felines we saw were some friendly ones hanging around the ranch!

Cherry on Top

Our dwarf cherry tree is three years old and this year it paid for itself with the great crop we harvested! Getting those five pounds required care. First, I kept watch to keep squirrels from eating the blossoms—yes, that’s something they do. Then, to keep squirrels and birds from eating the fruit as it ripened, we covered the tree in garden netting.

So, what to do with all those delicious cherries? Out came the recipes and the next two weeks I was busy in the kitchen making cherry cake, cherry cobbler, cherry crisp, and, after a suggestion from my sister, dried cherries.

Cherry cake

First, I made the cherry cake, which was delicious. But the cherry cobbler was our favorite, so much so that a “mouse” got into it before I could take a photo. 🤤 We enjoyed both with vanilla ice cream.  

Cherry cobbler. Recipe

 

 

Finding a cherry cobbler that used fresh, not canned cherries, took a bit of Googling. I was surprised by how well sprinkling the fruit on top turned out with this recipe. 

 

 

Cherry crisp turned out just as good, and was even better with ice cream or frozen whipped topping.

Dried cherries

 

I was delighted by how well the dried cherries turned out, and they are yummy in oatmeal and granola. Drying the cherries did take ten hours in a dehydrator, but I’m glad I tried it.

I’m now trying to propagate the cherry tree so that in a few years we can get more fruit. While our yard isn’t large, the tree should thrive several years in a ten-gallon pot. Life is more than a bowl (or two) of cherries—it’s a whole ‘nother tree.

 

Kitten Shower

 

https://www.seattleareafelinerescue.org/

Early this spring we went to a kitten shower at our local cat rescue, Seattle Area Feline Rescue (SAFe). What is a kitten shower? It could have rained kittens and delighted me! In reality, it’s like a baby shower where donation fees go to purchase food, toys, blankets, medical supplies, and provide medical care for rescued kittens.

While there, I learned that SAFe loves it when volunteers makeblankets for the rescue cats and kittens. Each adopted cat goes home with its own blanket so it has something familiar as it settles in with a new family. Some blankets can be made from fleece material without any sewing skills needed. I purchased some cat-themed material and made over half a dozen fleece blankets.

Much of my leftover fleece material became kick toys, stuffed with homegrown catnip and crinkle fabric that I found online (a SAFe staffer gave me a tip on where to find the fabric). I made a few fish-shaped toys with fabric left over from Christmas gifts.

 

Then I looked to my yarn supply and knitted a blanket. It ended up being smaller than the 24x24 inch size that is desired, so I added crocheted edging. I’m now knitting more kitty blankets with yarns found at estate and garage sales or at the sad closing of Joann stores 🙁where I also got discounted fabric for the blankets. 

My cat sat on the first blanket while I was knitting it and my husband guilted me into keeping it for her—she's a cute little thief. 😼 I think we’re both happy I know how to knit and crochet, and now the rest of the blankets can go to the shelter.

Mine!

Busy as a Bee

https://21acres.org/event/pollinator-fest-2025/

Later this month, my husband and I will be vendors at a local pollinator fest. There, attendees can learn all about bees, buy bee-related merchandise and local organic food. They can also wander a 21-acre farm filled with gardens of fruits, vegetables, and flowering plants.

My husband makes bee watering stations that need only a Mason jar or soda bottle to provide water. In autumn and winter especially, bees benefit from supplemental food and water, thus these feeders. 

The bee watering design and a customer photo.

 

 

 

 

 

Pattern and instructions: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/H3TFBWSYd28

Once he signed up as a vendor, I thought about other bee wares we could offer. After a trip to a fabric store, out came the sewing machine. The items I made are simple and took little time. The most useful items, in my opinion, are the pocket tissue holders, the easiest pattern ever! If it's pollen(ator) season, tissues might come in handy.

 

Another pattern I found was for scrunchies. Sew a simple tube, pull elastic through, and you’re done! 

 

 

Pattern: https://seekatesew.com/diy-gift-guide-free-diy-coffee-cozy-pattern

 

I had plenty more fabric at my disposal and found another easy pattern for cup cozies. These were the most time-consuming items due to needing four pieces of material cut out and fusible interfacing ironed on. Still, they were straightforward to make, and even cuter with little flower buttons to close the two ends. 

Instructions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIAqzWg5Ikc

Finally, I thought these fabric trays to hold all my items would be especially decorative. This is another pattern that was easy to sew and I’m very happy with how they turned out. After the pollinator festival I will find uses for them around the house.

I had fun bee-ing creative and hope visitors will enjoy all of the items we've both made. Here is our favorite bee quote by Elizabeth Lawrence.

 

Photo credit: https://homeiswheretheboatis.net/2017/07/19/the-hum-of-bees-is-the-voice-of-the-garden/