May 2, 2016 by Born To Organize

Re-covering the Garden Swing: The 2016 Edition

It’s become a bit of a hobby of mine. I like re-covering the garden swing every year.

Not!

I just finished sewing my third cover, not counting the original, for my beloved swing.

Garden swing cover, the bed sheet edition

I blame the squirrels. I’m not being mean here. I have photographic proof of the carnage. It’s become a bit of a neighborhood tradition to dismantle parts of my swing cover each year. Apparently they haul it off and line their nests.

My boys gave me this swing for Mother’s Day in 2009. I love it! It’s a relaxing place to hang out during the warmer months, and it gives me a wonderful view of my garden.

Mother’s Day, May, 2009

The swing came with a tan-colored cover, suitable for the outdoors. It lasted a few years, but weather and time took its toll. I decided to buy some nice upholstery fabric to make a colorful slip cover for the swing. I bought contrasting pink fabric and soft, cotton piping for trim and fashioned my pattern after the original.

My first swing cover, 2012

It turned out well.

Then one 4th of July I came home to a squirrel chewing on the back of the swing. She was after the soft cotton piping. How she knew it was there under the fabric is anyone’s guess. She chewed through the fabric to access the cord, then pulled it out and was on her way. Our block party was under way, so I couldn’t stay long. I came back inside, found the leftover piping and cut it into smaller strips. I draped them over the back of the swing, and sure enough, they were all carted away by the following day. Sadly, they didn’t stop there and by year’s end they had damaged the slip cover AND part of the original cover, this time after the fluff.

Garden swing rehab using a thrift store shower curtain, 2015

Last summer I went with a quick and easy cover. I found a blue cotton shower curtain at a thrift store for $4. Instead of putting a lot of time into sewing a cover, I simply attached a few ties to the back using a scrap of material on hand and called it done. Of course I had to re-stuff and repair the swing seat first, which I did using an old pillow and a tired looking tea towel.

My shower curtain fix worked for months, but eventually the squirrels got to it as well. Not quite as bad, but chewed nonetheless.

Off I went to my favorite thrift store, but this year no luck. I couldn’t find any shower curtains or fabric remnants that would work. I drooled over some pretty fabric at JoAnn’s Fabrics, but left after coming to my senses. I finally settled for a set of soft, cotton sheets from Target.

I used the fitted sheet to make the cover and bought some $3 bias trim in a coordinating color to trim the bottom edge. Now I have a second sheet to use next year and a pair of pillowcases for another project. Score!

I removed the elasticized edge of the fitted sheet and set it aside. In order to keep the sheet cover from slipping, I stitched the elasticized pieces together into one long length, then tied it at the back of the swing.

Removing the elastic from the fitted sheet

garden swing cover sewing machine detail

Stitching the lengths of elastic together to hold the swing cover in place

This holds the cover in place, staying hidden under the fold

Here’s the definition of a hobby:

noun:

1.
an activity done regularly in one’s leisure time for pleasure.
“her hobbies are reading and gardening”

Using this definition, it makes perfect sense that I would “regularly” make a garden swing cover “in my leisure time” while the squirrels laugh at me “for pleasure.”

Little stinkers!

April 20, 2016 by Born To Organize

No Bigger Than Thumbelina

Fairy garden jungle?

Imagine for a moment that you’re no bigger than Thumbelina. You’ve been away for a while, and when you return your garden is overgrown.

Nature’s been kind this year. The longed-for rain finally fell and the earth smiled. Precious seeds pushed up through the dampened soil, welcomed by the warming sun.

They grew healthy and strong. Encouraged by continued rains, seedlings turned into plants. Starter leaves became true leaves and from there they spread. Tiny greens stretched out across the land, filling the once-vacant landscape.

The fairy house still stands, but the garden surrounding it looks more like a forest. The giant gardener who presides over the land retreated for quiet contemplation.

Allowing nature to be her guide, the giant gardener issued a decree:

The land heretofore known as the fairy garden will be given over to the trees and any tiny deer passing by.

Foraging in the forest

And it was so.

The giant gardener waved her magic spade and a lake-side, fairy-sized, mossy, watery retreat appeared.

Fairy Garden Lakeside Retreat

Verdant moss to tickle the toes blankets the earth. Tiny succulents line the edges for privacy and a break from the wind.

For reading by lamp light

A small chair for reading nestles in the greens, and a hammock is at the ready nearby.

Lots of places to relax, but it’s particularly fragrant under the umbrella

Fairies can cool off in an improvised lake, a ceramic bowl rescued from a nearby thrift shop.

On Fairy Garden Pond

All our welcome in the wee-sized, lake-side fairy garden retreat.

A straw umbrella, made from the shell of an orange and a few strips of raffia give shelter from the hot sun.

Refreshed from a recent rain

There is, however, a small price of admission: one must possess a child-like imagination and the ability to leave one’s worries at the foot of the tiny ladder below.

Leave your troubles at the foot of the ladder

April 18, 2016 by Born To Organize

Catnip Tomfoolery

Slinky Malinki has impaired hearing and her overall senses are dulled, but her sense of smell is superb. How else to explain her catnip tomfoolery?

A domestic cat’s sense of smell is about fourteen times as strong as human’s. Cats have twice as many receptors in the olfactory epithelium (i.e. smell-sensitive cells in their noses) as people do, meaning that cats have a more acute sense of smell than humans. Cats also have a scent organ in the roof of their mouths called the vomeronasal (or Jacobson’s) organ. When a cat wrinkles its muzzle, lowers its chin, and lets its tongue hang a bit, it is opening the passage to the vomeronasal.- Source: Wikipedia

Working in the garden at dusk, I looked up to see Slinky crossing the patio with determination. She headed toward a small mulch-covered patch of earth. Mouse the Cat looked on with interest, but kept a respectable distance. Slinky is a cranky, aging cat, and not one to be trifled with. He (generally) knows his place.

Mouse the Cat keeps his distance, hiding behind the love-in-a-mist

As I watched, she bowed her head, twisted it to one side and dove in. What odd behavior.

I crawled towards her since I was down at her level anyway pulling weeds, to see what she’d discovered. Sure enough she’d found a tiny sprig of catnip (Nepeta cataria) growing near the edge of the patio.

Slinky enjoys a catnip moment

Mmmmm, this catnip smells yummy

I planted catnip several years ago and it thrived. Last year it died off, another causality of the drought. This year, thanks to the recent rains, volunteers are sprouting everywhere. There are many things I didn’t set out to grow, happily filling patches of bare earth. Nepeta is one of them. It’s nice to see this perennial come back, and even nicer to see Slinky enjoying it. The plant is small and partially crushed after her romp, but it looks like it will recover.

This is my catnip. Don’t make any false moves

I suspect that once Slinky is slumbering on her cushions nearby, Mouse will help himself to. Lindy is quite a fan as well.

I too enjoy the subtle, herbal scent when you crush the leaves. The herb is also sold as a tea. It’s easy to understand why the kitties enjoy it so much.

I guess I better get in line.

April 13, 2016 by Born To Organize

Top Ten Reasons to Grow a Fairy Garden

Everyone loves a top ten list.*

If you’ve been on the fence about starting a fairy garden, read on. By the end of my top ten, I hope you’re ready to let your creative juices take flight.

Lets dig in.

10

Fescue yurt and an orange peel umbrella

Fairy gardens are a short cut to our inner child. Not the cranky, I-don’t-want-to-take-a-bath-and-go-to-bed inner child but the child that loves digging in the dirt with a spoon. Remember chasing butterflies and dandelion fluff on a warm summer day? Fairy gardens are a wonderful way to express that carefree joy once again.

9

Fairy Garden on the Deck

You don’t need a lot of space to grow a fairy garden. You can plant in a pot on your patio or fill an old wheelbarrow in your back yard. Grow your tiny garden indoors or out. Let your imagination be your guide.

8

Lavender mattress frame

Fairy gardening is affordable…or free. You don’t need to buy a thing. A traditional fairy garden might live under a shrub or near the forest floor. Smooth stones make wonderful seats and twigs are perfect for fences, walkways and four-poster beds. Fairies enjoy resting on the soft side of a flower petal with a blanket fashioned from a sprig of fern.

7

One spooky Halloween night

Decorating on a dime. If you love decorating but have run out of money or rooms, this is the hobby for you. You can switch out the decor of your tiny garden as often as you like. It’s fun to put up lights for the holidays or lay down green stones for St. Patrick’s Day. The sky’s the limit, without the price tag.

6

Fairy gardens are a fun way to up-cycle household items. I’ve used wine corks, empty tea light holders, scraps of ribbon and the cap from a bottle of champagne, pictured above. You can use up old paint, or give a second life to a discarded toy. I love the challenge of using things I have on hand.

5

Fallen Log Bridge

Scavenging for your fairy garden is a great way to spend time outdoors. I brought home a tiny “log” from one of my hikes and turned it into a bridge. I used broken twigs from a pine tree to make a small rope ladder. One year I fashioned a hammock from the soft petal of a magnolia. Using nature’s discards is fun.

4

Celebrating birthdays in the fairy garden

At a loss for words? Fairy gardens are wonderful conversation starters for guests five through 105. People always have questions or comments when they see my fairy garden. Chatting about fairies is a terrific icebreaker.

3

This fairy house roof line is decorated with straps from an old pair of sandals, a bottle cap and a bit of glitter. The door is cut from the tough bark of a large fern with a seed for a door handle.

Fairy gardening is a unique way to express thoughts and emotions that are hard to put into words. Creative endeavors help lower stress and anxiety. An hour in your fairy garden can help you feel calmer and happier. It allows you to create something uniquely yours which in turn can bring you a sense of pleasure.

2

Tiny garden gifts from friends: a wee little welcome sign, a small hammock and a woodland chair

Your friends will join in the fun. A few of my friends started their own fairy garden. Several others send me wonderful little garden treasures in the mail. I’ve found a few anonymous surprises on my doorstep and even more in the garden. My neighbor’s daycare children add flowers and the odd sticker to let me know they’ve stopped by. It’s fun to be a part of this not-so-secret society of fairy lovers.

1

This way to the fairy garden

Designing and tending a fairy garden allows your imagination to soar. There are no rules, no guidelines and no restrictions. Creative endeavors relax the mind and feed the soul. Even the busiest among us can carve out time to tend to a wee garden. In exchange, the tiny garden will tend you.

Stay tuned for my latest fairy garden creation: time at the lake.

*There’s a website called ListVerse that publishes top ten lists. According to their About page: “We publish lists that intrigue and educate, specializing in the bizarre or lesser-known trivia.”

April 5, 2016 by Born To Organize

It’s The Little Things

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed. Khalil Gibran

I’ve always loved this quote. It’s beautiful, lyrical and true.

This little nest landed in the garden under the Chinese pistache tree. I spotted it in the tree late last year after the leaves dropped for the winter. Before I could take a picture, it came down in the wind. It is actually illegal to remove a bird’s nest, but once it’s on the ground…and empty, you can pick it up and admire mama bird’s nesting skills. I kept the little nest indoors through the wet months, then returned it to the garden for bird recycling.

Bird’s Nest

My friend Marcia and her lovely daughters dropped of this sweet little heart on Valentine’s Day. It’s a birdseed cake, shaped into a heart and ready for hanging in the garden. I love this little heart, and the big hearts that placed it on our doorstep.

Heart Shaped Birdseed Cake

And on the subject of big hearts and little things, my friend Kelly, sent me a few packets of sweet pea seeds for our summer garden. She thoughtfully included purples, so that when my purple-loving sister stopped by, she could enjoy them too.

Sweet pea seeds from Kelly

Those tiny seeds didn’t amount to much in the first year, leaving me wondering what I did wrong. I take it personally when I can’t get something to grow.

Last year, they came up on their own, filling a corner nicely till the first heat wave laid them low. Like me, they wilt in the heat. They were stunning while in bloom though, and those little seeds taught me a thing or too along the way.

Sweet Peas, 2015

This year something big happened. It rained. Then it rained some more. I noticed seedlings spreading all over the front garden, right next to the newly planted California natives. Those little seedlings shot up and out and eventually filled out an entire corner of the front garden.

Self Sown Garden

The garden is flourishing with an all-volunteer mixture of sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus), love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena) and bachelor buttons also known as cornflowers (Centaurea cyanus).

Now that I have several blooms, I’m going to start cutting indoor bouquets. The scent is out of this world.

Bachelor’s buttons, pink and blue, Love-in-a-mist in the background, lavender and fuchsia sweet peas

“…for in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.”

What is your favorite little thing?

March 30, 2016 by Born To Organize

My Garden has a Great Sense of Humor (Humour)

Note: I started my schooling in Canada, and learned to spell humour ending in “our”. We moved to California in the late sixties and I had to relearn the American spellings of humour, judgement, and colour.

Now that I have a global blog following, I’m acutely aware of the different spellings. American English prefers humor whereas all the other main varieties of English prefer humour. I’m always worrying that I’ll offend people (which comes from my British upbringing). What to do what to do?

Where was I?

Oh yes, my garden. My garden has a great sense of…playfulness.

If you’re a regular around here, you know that we replaced our lawn with California native plants last fall.

Newly planted California Natives, November, 2015

Then it rained! Wet, wonderful, welcome rain. All those seeds lying dormant around the garden sprang to life. Sweet peas, love-in-a-mist, bachelor buttons and others slowly overtook the new landscaping.

A plethora of sweet peas (March 5th, 2016)

By the end of March, I pulled out one of my garden trellises and staked it in the ground. These flowers plan to stay awhile. It makes me smile (and cringe a little too). I hope the California native buried under all those sweet peas will survive this temporary but beautiful upstart.

Sweet peas and love-in-a-mist take over, March 27th, 2016

Our lemon tree enjoyed the showers as well, but I think this is carrying “fresh” a bit too far. Avert your eyes if necessary and move on to the next photo.

Rain kissed lemon tree using a gesture considered rude in many places

I popped the following photo on my Facebook page last week and asked friends to guess its true identity. If you didn’t know, it might be mistaken for an invading alien. In reality, it’s a recently undressed California poppy. They’re beautiful to the last, don’t you think?

Alien landing or a California poppy recently undressed?

Hmm, more ironic than funny

Okay, so the snail working its way across the sweet peas after a recent rain isn’t that funny. I’m trying to keep my sense of humour/humor though. Where there’s rain, there are snails. You take the good with the “oh no, snails!”

Acer shows off fall colors in early spring

The bright blue sky and the orange leaves remind me of fall, not spring, but here is the Acer setting wonderfully orange leaves. It makes me smile.

Snicker

Still not smiling? How about this pic of Mouse moving in for a nibble of grass? I smile whenever I see his little pink tongue.

Is the cat wearing flowers or are the flowers wearing the cat?

While we’re on the subject of Mouse, I didn’t even notice his head in the flowers until I downloaded the pics. Silly kitty,

Rock n Roll hands?

Last but far from least, doesn’t this remind you of Rock n Roll hands, or horns?

I hope I’ve left you with a smile.

Quotable

I have many problems in my life, but my lips don’t know that. They always smile. ~ Charlie Chaplin

Be someone else’s sunshine. Be the reason someone smiles today. ~ unkown

A warm smile is the universal language of kindness. ~ William Arthur Ward

March 29, 2016 by Born To Organize

Sleeping Under a Tree

It’s been years since I napped in public. It was much more common in my youth. I could fall asleep anywhere: curled up in a chair at the college student union, at the beach with friends or on a wide swath of lawn with a boring textbook close at hand.

The idea of sleeping under a tree seems idyllic, but in reality you get twigs in your hair and bugs in the wrong places. Unless of course you’re a cat.

An afternoon snooze on a warm spring day

Though her senses remain muddled, Slinky Malinki, my shiny black kitty is still with us. She found her way out the back door into the garden this weekend, and settled herself in a cool spot of green under the maple tree. She spends most of her time sleeping, but her appetite remains good. She grooms her coat to a lovely shine.

Slinky’s cozy little nest

She’s the grand dame of the house, keeping Lindy and Mouse in their place, even with her limited vision. If either one of them gets too close, she takes a random swing in their direction. They’ve learned to give her a wide berth, even though they are more than twice her size.

Mighty Mouse in the garden

Lindy keeping a respectful distance

Living with Slinky reminds me a lot of the toddler years. She wants in until she’s out; then she immediately wants back in. I close the door, leave the room and she starts howling to go out again. She walks out the back door, takes a few steps, and then she wants to come in. I can hear her howling at me now to open the door once again. I’m outwardly patient, but weary as well. She’ll be ready for another nap soon.

Nature’s pillow

We have a cat fountain indoors along with a small water bowl near Slinky’s favorite sleeping spot. No matter. She wants to go outside and drink from the cold water in the bowl on the steps. She relieves herself in the garden, even though she has a litter box. She uses that too…or the floor when the mood strikes. She’s officially crossed over into high-maintenance territory, leaving me feeling weary when the day is through.

Whoever said “dogs have owners, cats have staff” knew what they were talking about.

Yes, Slinky…I’ll be right there.

March 28, 2016 by Born To Organize

The Traveling Adventures of Gardenerd

Gardenerd joined me at our local post office for his last excursion in San Jose. We’ve had such a good time. As plush carrots go, he really has quite the personality.

He briefly considered auditioning for the part of a California Poppy, but alas it was time to hit the road.

To be [a poppy], or not to be, that is the question.

Gardenerd arrived in San Jose via Sarah the Gardener. He spent time in the gardens of Upper Hutt and Waiuku, New Zealand before traveling to the States. He’s now on his way to Des Allemande, Louisiana, a small community in the southern United States.

While here in San Jose, Gardenerd posed for the obligatory “I’ve just arrived and I’m happy to be out of my box” pics. Then I put him to work. He supervised the VegTrug planting bed assembly, then helped us celebrate the arrival of some much-needed rain.

Together we welcome Gardenerd

Gardenerd admires the garden

Gardenerd supervises the VegTrug assembly

Checking out the rain harvesting system

Will you look at that? Love-in-a-mist is growing everywhere

Yes, Gardenerd, those are California oranges

Gardenerd feeling just a bit out-of-place in the fairy garden

In between storms, Gardenerd came along on a walk through Martial Cottle Park. I plan to write more about this wonderful new place in a future post but in summary: Martial Cottle arrived in the valley in 1864 and farmed the land for over 150 years. The Cottle-Lester family resisted eager developers swooping in for years. At his death, following his mother’s wishes, the family transferred the remaining 287 acres to the state and county for development of a public park and urban farmland. They opened to the public in December of 2014.

No rules about carrots on leashes

Mary Ann introduced me to this park

The Martial Cottle homestead

Gardenerd plays on the playground

A carrot on a horse. You don’t see that every day

More cuteness with Mary Ann

David Tuttle poses with Gardenerd amid the Jacobs Farm carrots

I’ve walked there two or three times with my friend Mary Ann, and I’m eager to share this gem of a place with others.

At the end of his first week, Gardenerd traveled with us to beautiful Carmel-by-the-sea. Doesn’t he look rested? I think it’s that wonderful sea air.

He lounged in the room, considered a game of chess and enjoyed the beautiful gardens.

Cheek to cheek

A bold move

What do you think of Carmel so far, Gardenerd?

Resting our feet

Ah, this is the life

Alas, it was time for Gardenerd to move on to his next garden adventure. Safe travels, little buddy. I’m looking forward to seeing you on Twitter and Instagram.

Where Did He Go?

You can follow Gardenerd’s travels via Instagram or Twitter by using the hashtag #wheresgardenerd (just one ‘n’)

Additional photos on my Facebook Page Gardening Nirvana

My heartfelt thanks to Christy at Gardenerd.com for allowing us to host Gardenerd in San Jose, California.

March 26, 2016 by Born To Organize

Happy Easter

Spring in the fairy garden

Treasures from the garden

Pink cosmos with a sunshine center

For those who celebrate, Happy Easter.

March 22, 2016 by Born To Organize

Tilling the Soil, Tending my Soul: Planting a Summer Garden

Over the years, the arrival of spring usually means one thing: it’s time to plant a summer garden. Last year I skipped the garden entirely. Year four of the drought and mandatory water rationing put the kibosh on a summer garden. Instead of planting tomatoes, I finished sheet mulching the lawn in the back garden and let the rest of the grass die. What a summer, eh? It was disheartening.

This year is different. For starters, the lawn is gone. In its place: native plantings that will thrive throughout our hot, dry summers. Also in place this year is our newly installed rain catchment system. Harvesting rain water for our vegetable garden should see us through at least half the summer if not more. Mike is connecting a drip system to the tank so that we can water judiciously. I’m hoping it will last all summer.

All this is to say that I’m gardening guilt-free this season.

I’ve also nearly doubled my planting space using a space-efficient gardening box called a VegTrug Elevated Garden.

The only practical place for a vegetable garden in our yard is along the back of our house. Unfortunately, that same spot houses an electrical outlet, a low-voltage transformer and an irrigation manifold intake valve.

The “business end” of the garden

All of those unattractive components used to hide behind shrubs. Several years ago we removed the shrubs to make way for a vegetable garden. We added a pair of 4 x 4 elevated beds assembled from a kit, fitting them around the boring but necessary items that are part of the business end of the garden.

Planting Box One: Upper half, transplanted raspberry vines, nasturtiums, lower box, cosmos and nasturtiums

Edible Nasturtium

Planting Box Two: Heirloom tomatoes, three varieties, cosmos and nasturtiums

We added gravel to fill in the odd spaces.

When I grew pumpkins, the gravel provided space for the vines to grow, but otherwise it wasn’t any use for planting.

I spotted the VegTrug in one of my gardening catalogs and inspiration struck. I went out back and measured the distance between the two existing boxes, allowing for the immovable pipe protruding out of the ground.

Oh-my-gosh!!!

The longer of the two Trugs would not only fit, but would have the perfect amount of clearance off the ground and away from the house. I placed the order.

UPS left the box on our front deck while my husband was away on business and my son at school. I couldn’t get it to budge. I opened the box where it sat and carried the pieces through the house and out the back door.

Assembling the VegTrug

I watched a YouTube video ahead of time so I would be able to assemble it (mostly) myself. I sorted the pieces, doubled checked the parts and assembled the legs. No problem. The long planks were a bit unwieldy and they suggested a second person help with that part. In my impatience, I tried to do this on my own, and promptly dropped one of the boards on my little toe. Boy did that hurt. And before you ask, yes the foot with the recent surgery. I felt like a fool.

Later that afternoon, my son helped me with the larger pieces before it started raining. When Mike came back from Brazil at the end of the week, he helped me finish the assembly and move the planter into place.

I have to say, I am in love with this planting box. It’s elevated, making it easy to plant. The inverted triangle means that you use less soil. Deeper rooted plants go in the center where the soil is deep. I planted the shallow rooters along the sides.

Fish-eye view of garden boxes before placing the Veg Trug

Fish-eye view of garden with new VegTrug

It comes with a removable cover to keep the bugs out, while allowing water to flow through. The cover frame breaks apart into smaller pieces for easy storage when it’s not in use. They’ve thought of everything.

Not willing to take any chances, I wrapped the legs with copper tape. Sorry snails, you’ll have to look elsewhere for dinner.

Thanks to tips from Pauline and Sarah, both New Zealand gardeners, I’ve added nasturtiums to the mix this year. I had a vague notion of companion planting, but somehow never researched the pros and cons. I’ve just been lucky most years, other than snails of course, that the pests stayed away. A couple of seasons of nasty squash bugs sent me scrambling for an organic deterrent. Nasturtiums help keep the bad bugs in check.

If all grows well, it will be a summer filled with raspberries and strawberries, three varieties of heirloom tomatoes and delicious sweet basil. The nasturtiums are also edible, but I’ll let them grow and do the job of keeping nasty pests at bay. I planted the lower boxes with one of my new summer favorites. Cosmos grow like weeds, providing cut flowers all summer long.