The return of the Meadowfoam

You may remember my love of Douglas Meadowfoam and how excited I was to realize it self-seeded in the pot in which I planted it last spring.

One month ago the Meadowfoam looked like this:

Now, it's blooming and lovely!

This week we're going to be doing some major sheet mulching.  In the background you can see the cardboard, which forms the base layer of mulch.  Got to get those weeds under control!

If last year is any indication, we'll have an ever-increasing cover of Meadowfoam.  This is good.  Now I just have to do some research to see if I can find a plant to install in the same spot to start growing as the Meadowfoam's season comes to an end.  Native or edible suggestions?

Update:  Just look at the meadowfoam now!

Urbanite in the Garden

Once upon a time (2010) my sloping front yard was just that- a yard.  There were two sad plants among a sea of grass.   Matt and I decide we wanted to put in a retaining wall, minimizing the grass and maximizing our planting capacity, and adding a little curb appeal.

Not wanting to use environmentally-destructive and expensive stone, I began searching for urbanite inspiration on the internets.  "Urbanite" facetiously refers to reused slabs of concrete that usually come from sidewalks or driveways. These are a couple of walls I found and liked.

Photo from http://apld.posterous.com/urbanite-in-the-jungle

Photo from http://hastingsplayground.blogspot.com

My stone mason friend, Wyatt, graciously worked within our budget to create a piece of art that will only improve with age.  Plants like kinnickinnick and coastal strawberries will cascade down the wall, while ferns and other natives will peak out from pockets in the wall, and plants of varying heights will grow above and below the wall.  You may need to don your 5-years-in-the-future glasses to appreciate the planning here.

Some day soon, the space at the base of the wall will be filled with gravel or river rock and native grasses.

Wyatt also created lovely steps and a walkway leading up to the front door, allowing guests to avoid squeezing by the car in the driveway.  Our mailman left a note, thanking us for his new walkway.  Like the wall, the path was created by expertly joining together slabs of concrete and filling the spaces with rocks found throughout our garden.

You'll notice the beginnings of sheet mulching efforts in the front.

To many, this free material may not be as sophisticated as stone, but I love the juxtaposition of the various materials represented in this project, from the moss-covered blocks to the slabs allowing a cross-section view of the concrete ingredients, to the natural river rock.

Here you can see several opportunities for pocket plantings.

I will be seeding the spaces between the pavers with a "stepable" ground cover to achieve a look similar to this:

We have a few more urbanite projects happening in our garden.  And you, lucky readers, will learn all about them in upcoming posts. Have you seen urbanite used in interesting ways?

Bloomin' Garden

Our first flowers of spring have appeared.  Everyday I like walking through the garden, taking a look at the progress made by our plants.  I snapped these photos yesterday.

Clockwise from top left:
1. Chocolate rhododendron: This is perhaps the only rhodie flower/foliage combination I like.  Matt and I picked this up from a neighbor who was having a plant sale.  Matt loves rhododendrons.  I prefer them without flowers.  I know, I'm strange.  (Update: It's possible this is not a chocolate rhododendron.  We got two rhodies from our neighbor, but I don't know which is which!)
2. Oregon grape: A native.  I know this is not a picture of the flower, but look at that color!
3. One of our plum trees: I'm hoping the other two are going to bloom soon.  Otherwise, no plums.
4. Red Flowering Currant: Another lovely native.  I can't wait until  our red flowering currants are mature.  I've spotted a few around town and they're spectacular this time of year.
5. Our neighbors' evergreen clematis

What do you have blooming in your garden now?

A cheap way to label plants

Let's face it, sometimes being able to identify every plant in our garden is tricky.  I've found it really helpful to place a label with newly planted material, which can be expensive if you purchase labels specifically for this purpose.

I don't remember where I first heard this tip, but I tucked it away in my brain until I took a trip to the Rebuilding Center, a nonprofit warehouse that houses materials in need of reusing or repurposing.  I was in search of old aluminum blinds and I was in luck!

Nothing fancy here.

All you do is take apart the blinds, cut them to the size you'd like, and write on them with a permanent marker.  Last year I had issues with the writing fading in the sun, so I'd suggest placing the labels facing the direction that gets the least sun in your garden.

I've made a ton of labels.  See the sea of them below, keeping our water-loving plugs company.

Lots of blue and yellow-eyed grass and Oregon iris.

Have you ever been caught in the following dilemma?

"Oops.  I forgot I planted <insert non-evergreen perennial here> in this spot and planted <insert another plant here> too close to it."

Take the dozen or so Western bleeding hearts (Dicentra formosa) I placed around the garden last spring.  I didn't label them and when the foliage disappeared during the winter, I forgot exactly where I'd planted them.  And then I started putting in new plants probably too close to the bleeding hearts.  Now I'm taking advantage of the bleeding hearts' re-emergence to label their locations in the garden to avoid this in the future.

Oh it'll be so exciting when they're in their full, lovely glory!

And I'll remember to expect more Douglas Meadowfoam in this spot next year.

A garden pest

Ack!  I have a horrible, kale-munching, collards-crunching pest in my vegetable garden. 

Please don't judge the horrible, neglected condition of my veggie garden!

Sure, he looks like an innocent grass-muncher in this photo, but you can be sure Andy jumped the fence to chew on some greens as soon as my back was turned.  A perimeter reinforcement is in order before our new veggie babes get tucked into their beds.

Creamy Collards Soup and Greening Your Winter Windowsill

Although the climate in Portland suites me perfectly, it seems everyone else has complaints about the grey and drizzly winters, longing for the dry, sunny summers.  I love it all.  Just as each season is on its way out, I welcome the next.  Winter is not too cold, calm, and comforting.  Spring is still cool and provides the excitement of seeing new buds and flowers.  Summer is warm (luckily, on too-hot days I can retreat to the basement to sleep) and sunny and colorful, but can also be exhausting.  Fall is relaxing and allows me to use the oven again.

It's still winter here and right now, we're not growing much in our vegetable garden except for some greens and herbs.  I'm happy to have year-round collards, because, among other dishes, I'm able to make Creamy Collards Soup.  This recipe, found below, was one I posted during VeganMoFo 2011.

If you don't have a winter garden, or any garden space at all, I have a solution to winter blues you may be experiencing.  The first item is something I started doing when I lived in a Philly apartment that was lacking in the natural light department.  It's not a novel idea, but it's a fun way to have a little "garden" on your windowsill.

Idea One: Sprouting!
All you need is a clean jar with lid and a small handful of sprouting seeds.  I've had success with dried mung beans, lentils, alfalfa, etc.

Here "salad mix" seeds have sprouted.

Method:
Day 1: Place a tablespoon or so of seeds in the jar and cover with water to soak overnight.
Day 2: Drain water by placing lid loosely over the jar and turning upright, removing as much water as possible.  Replace lid and set on a windowsill.
Day 3-7 (or longer): At least once a day,  rinse and drain the seeds/sprouts, until they're ready to be eaten!

If you want to make your job easier, you can get a small section of screening, place it over the mouth of the jar with a rubber band, instead of dealing with the lid.  Alternatively, you can get an actual sprouting jar, equipped with a fancy lid-with-screen.

Idea Two: Continuously grow your own green onions

I learned about this idea on Pinterest.  And thought "of course!"  Simply purchase a bunch of green onions at your grocery store.  After use, save the bulbs and roots, stick the roots in water, and watch the green grow back!  Empty and refill the water once per day.


Creamy Collards Soup
makes two generous bowls of soup

Ingredients:
1 large yellow potato, peeled and cubed
1 small bundle of collards, stems discarded, and chopped
1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 carrot, shredded
1/2 small onion, diced
1 sprig parsley, chopped
1 clove garlic, smashed
4ish cups vegetable broth (I just used "Better Than" bouillon and added water until the right consistency was achieved)
salt and pepper to taste
Hot sauce to drizzle on top

Method:
1. Boil the potato in water until soft (about 8-10 min).  Meanwhile, steam collards (about 5-6 minutes) until bitterness is gone and collards are soft.  Reserve about 1 cup of the potato cooking water, draining the rest.  Cool.

2. While potato and collards cool, saute the carrot, onion, parsley, and garlic in olive oil for 5-7 minutes.  Add vegetable broth.  Add half the cooked potato.

3. Blend the other half of the potato and the collards in 1 cup of the potato cooking water until smooth.  Add to the vegetable broth mixture and stir until the contents are well combined.*

4. Serve hot with a swirl of hot sauce and nice piece of sourdough and a salad.

*If you have a high-powered blender (like a Vitamix) you may need to spoon foam off the top of the soup.

My Dear Meadowfoam

Spring brings many happy things: longer days, warmer weather, and, in my case, the reemergence of forgotten or presumed lost garden friends.

Last spring I visited an annual native plant sale at the Audubon Society and bought a little flower called "Douglas' Meadowfoam" (Limnanthes douglasii), known also by the less desirable name "Poached Egg". 

Sweet summer flowers

I enjoyed this sweet, yellow-flowered herb in the summer until it lost its flowers and the foliage started to wilt.  I thought I had killed it.  Luckily for me, it turns out Douglas' Meadowfoam is an annual, and a self-seeding one at that.  Last week I noticed new growth in the pot that formerly contained my little yellow friend.  Sure enough, after a quick image search for Douglas' Meadowfoam's winter appearance, I established my meadowfoam hadn't been lost.  Where once there was one plant, I now had over a dozen!

Today, I took advantage of a sunny window in an overcast day to transplant the bitty seedlings to their new home along the top of our urbanite wall (more on that later). 

Welcome home, little ones.

Here, they're nestled between coastal strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis) and western bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa).  My hope is that they'll continue to spread by reseeding and fill in this space nicely over the years.

As I was nestling the babes into their new home, a woman walking by asked me what I was planting and if she could have one for her garden.  It's amazing how interactive a home garden can be!  Being out in the garden has allowed me to meet more of my neighbors and become more a part of my community.  Gardens are great things, aren't they?