It's Berry Good Life

Happy Monday!

This looks to be one of the best berry seasons I have ever experienced in Western Washington, and I am so excited!! Local berry farms have been selling berries 2 weeks ahead of schedule, and don't believe the season will be shortened -WooHoo!!
We've slowly been building up our berry patch over the years; Started with a couple of dwarf blueberries, one of which is still incredibly small and not a great producer, next came the thornless blackberry from my childhood backyard, a few strawberries here & there that got their own patch this year, a marionberry in a gallon pot 2 years ago, and this year a raspberry patch comprised of a few new sticks (uh, canes) we bought at the favorite hardware store and transplants from Mom K's house.
This has all resulted in some good yield so far:
Strawberries -not enough for a decent batch of jam yet, but plenty to pick and eat.
Blueberries -couple of handfuls so far, some of them even came off of the teeny one!
Raspberries -even though these were just planted early to mid spring, we've gotten a couple of handfuls off of them. Success in my book! We will be making a trip south to buy some locals just so I can get my jam on. We like Spooner's.
Marionberries -The current star of the show:

 As they started ripening, we picked and ate a few each day, but I was able to pick enough (5+ cups) to make hubby a welcome home crisp over the weekend. It was gone before I could snap a pic. :)

 This morning I went out and snagged 3+ cups, with probably a second picking later today.

Here are my happy, berry-stained fingers. :)
I'll be washing and freezing the berries this week to jam later on, and probably another crisp or cobbler.
Last but not least:
Blackberries -Already seeing green berries, busy bees all over the multitude of blossoms. It's gonna be another great (and early!) blackberry year.
Honeyberries -Okay, this is a new one. Some friends of ours are moving out of state and gave us their 2 honeyberry bushes. I had never heard of honeyberries. We won't get berries this year, but if you have tips for this plant, I'd love to hear it! They are going to be planted east of the raspberries.

This is a section of our berry patch. Blackberry is blooming in the back. That one bush can get me 3 large batches of jam, a couple of cobblers/crisps/pies, and leftovers for smoothies or just eating. Shrub at the right is our "large" dwarf blueberry. It usually gives a handful+ each year. This year we've already gotten two, with another ready to pick today. Enough for munching, or maybe pancakes. Unfortunately, with it's location (low) I think we lose the fruit to birds and other critters. In the foreground is the marionberry. I am so glad we bought this, it rocks! Raspberries live to the left of the photo, strawberries to the right.
We have a berry good life...

One Down or: Evolution of a Driveway

So, I had a couple of bigger projects planned for the summer. Not of a crafty nature per se, but definitely diy projects. The first, we have talked about since our remodel 5 years ago. We know that sometime in the future, the original front side of our home will get bumped out approx 3ft., which would take out that part of the patio and knowing we want to replace it, that in turn would take out a chunk of the "wild" garden. So, we had planned to expand the garden to cover for that and then some, using up a lot of what used to be our driveway before the remodel, and using the gravel that was already there for a pathway. Last summer, we started inching the rocks forward, tried to get Middle Monkey to do it for pay, but all in all, a half-hearted effort with little result.
This summer, I decided, it was going to get done before I head back to work in the Fall.
My thinking, was to spend the hours I wasn't getting paid to work over the summer doing something that otherwise: a) wouldn't get done or b) we would have to pay someone to finish.
We came into some free dirt (good stuff!) on my birthday, hubby took a mattix to the hardened ground/asphalt leftovers, Middle Monkey and I removed large rocks & raked off a lot of the gravel left behind. Then, I went through and turned it all over again, re-raked, then shoveled over the new dirt, added some half off pony-packs annunal/perennials at my favorite hardware store, and transplanted some of the plants that would eventually be moved (count 6 lavender plants), and a few other herbs from the garden.
I was pretty sore the next day, but so glad to have this done. I cannot wait for the plants to grow and let this new space get a little wild itself. We have a ton of ferns that need to be thinned, so a couple of those will get moved to the new area come fall, along with some lillies that were missed when I moved them earlier this year, and I'm sure I'll find something else to add in.  
Here are some way before pics:
     Just before the driveway was demoed

      Demoing

      What was left, and the space cleared for the new driveway.

Jump ahead 5 years, we lined one side of the driveway w/lavender and I repositioned my lillies from the backyard to between said lavender.
Here is just before the "after" (I'd already cleared it and started spreading dirt):

 Wide-angle view (with new plants still in pots set out for effect)

 Everything planted, and Middle Monkey's innovative placement of a salmon shaped paver -he thought it should look like it was jumping through the stream. Frankly, it made me wish we had a couple more of those guys.

Really glad it turned out so well. Hubby's been gone and I can't wait for him to see what we did while he was away. :)
Not bad for a few hours and $6.54!
Have a great weekend!

Square Foot Gardening Anyone?

So, once upon a time, there was a school garden bed...This bed had generously been built and installed by a local fast food company known for their fresh ingredients. Sadly, after a year of curriculum use, and the loss of it's PTA chairperson, the garden has been in decline for 2+ years.
Enter a go-getting PTA volunteer who felt just as sad as I did seeing it's decline.
She asks for help.
I say yes, because, well, I guess maintaining my own garden just isn't enough. :) Seriously, I want families and staff at the school to see what it can be, and hopefully, inspire someone to do something great with it.

Here's the Monkey in the Middle, who so graciously accepted the extra pair of work gloves I brought when I picked him up after school today, with the "before" shot:

 The garden has dividers in it for square foot gardening. All told, there are 32 square (4x8).
Here are the 9 we got cleared of the well-established clover:

I need to research a little on square foot gardening, but the plan is to put in a plant in every square. I'm thinking this could be a great home for my extra starts. This garden has a twin to the north that another school family has "adopted" for the summer. It will be neat to see how they turn out!
Happy Crafting!

So many strawberries...

The little one and I headed down yonder to Grandma & Grandpa's house yesterday. While we didn't help Grandma out much in her studio (Grandpa had already beat us to it!), we did all go together to the local berry stand to see what was available.
This is what was available:

 Mom/Grandma went for the fresh picked mere hours ago berries, where I opted for the more economical, but required immediate processing berries picked Monday morning. After enjoying lunch and visiting time, we headed home to get this going:

 Washin', squashin', and gettin' jammin'

 Last but not least, a jam spoon to be cleaned!

 Even Happy-Bunny gets in on the strawberry action:

All told, the little monkey and I ate at least 3 pints ourselves, and I've got a batch of  "fancy jam" -Strawberry Lavender cooking on the stove now. This will be the first time I've used fresh herbs from our garden in jam, as well as making jam without pectin. It is a lengthier process than I normally entail.
But, I'm very much enjoying the new canning tools, and amazing canning cookbooks I received as a Christmas gift.  They will be getting a lot of use.
Next up: "Fancy Jam 2" -Strawberries with Thai Herbs. Stay tuned.

Happy crafting!