March 5, 2013 by Born To Organize

Hiking with Dylan

After three weeks of conflicting schedules, I finally got to hike with my four-legged friend, Dylan. Karen came too!

I love all animals, but I have a special place in my heart for Dylan. Unlike my sister’s cat who knows me as “that woman with the vacuum,” Dylan knows I’m his walking buddy. I heard from Karen that he also knows me by name. That news made me stand a little taller. It’s hard to top the selfless love of an animal, isn’t it?

Who’s a happy dog?

Early March is beautiful around here. All the trees are starting to bloom in bursts of pink, white and purple. We hiked along the Campbell trail, with a brief stop at the dog park. It was a feast for the eyes.

I’ve been walking the Campbell Par Course for over twenty years and I never tire of it. I think that’s the way it goes with nature. Nature is constant, but the variables are forever changing. The creek nearby rises and falls, seasons of course change too. Trees fall, new trees grow, ducks and geese lay their eggs. Two ancient foot bridges finally gave way to wider, safer and more aesthetic ones. The trail’s essence remains the same.

Come walk with me. Here is part of the view:

Daffodils at the Trail Head

Trees in bloom

Dylan and a new friend at the dog park
The park backs up to a building sporting the mural…dogs on pedestals of course.

Approaching the foot bridge

Campbell Par Course

Growing along the trail

Crossing the second footbridge

Do you have a favorite walking place?

Resources:

Campbell Par Course
Dog Park
Marking Our Territory: A terrific writer and his adorable dog, Mr. Eko

February 20, 2013 by Born To Organize

From There to Here, From Here to There, This Blogging Thing is Everywhere*

Shooting Star Hydrangea Closeup Today I surpassed a personal milestone. A year ago February, I set out to write every day for a year. During that time, the earth made a complete revolution around the sun. Four seasons came and went. Garden squirrels came and went too, along with aphids, scale and thrips. Raccoons dropped by, leaving tell-tale paw prints next to the overturned sod before washing there ‘hands’ in the fountain. It’s every critter for themselves in the world of gardeningnirvana.

Writing daily was sometimes challenging, but it was always worthwhile. I gained confidence along the way. Dr. Seuss said it best:

“Oh the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ‘blog’ will make you the winning-est winner of all.”

The good doctor was right. Here’s what I won:

The ability to persevere through illness, fatigue and, yes, procrastination.
Discipline, in both writing and gardening.
Goal-setting. It had been awhile since I set such a lofty goal. It was important to me to see it through.
The most generous, thoughtful, gracious, intelligent and engaged readers a person could hope for. (You know who you are)

*With apologies to Dr. Seuss

Dedicated to my fellow bloggers who inspire me daily. ♥

February 11, 2013 by Born To Organize

Blogging vs. Facebook

Do you have a Facebook account? I have a handful of friends who are hold-outs, but the number of account holders globally is staggering. Many of my readers land here as a result of Facebook. More and more though, other social platforms are sharing the love.

When I sit down to write Gardening Nirvana, I’m generally armed with photographs, possibly research and the seed of an idea. Writing a blog every day is hard work, but it grows on you…just like gardening!

Some days my blog “writes itself,” but more often than not it takes work. While I’m busy procrastinating, I leave a window open with Facebook. You never know what might inspire you, right? WordPress is all business, offering editing prompts such as “Save Draft” or “Add Media.” I’ve noticed lately that Facebook is much more touchy-feely:

How am I feeling? Well…I made the mistake of reading a comment in my Spam Folder. Honestly, I really ought to know better. Most of the “comments” are advertising ploys but this one had the sense of legitimacy. Here’s what it said:

“The next time I read a blog, I hope that it doesn’t disappoint me as much as this one. I mean, I know it was my choice to read, but I actually thought you’d have something interesting to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you could fix if you weren’t too busy looking for attention.”

My Facebook tribe set me straight while at the same time piling on the loveliest comments. Most of my blog readers are the same. I’m feeling better with all that support. I’m also sorry for anyone with so much negativity in their heart.

Let’s see…well, the broccoli is looking really good. It’s dark green, pest free and almost ready for harvest. The cauliflower didn’t survive the frost, so I finally yanked it out and tossed it into the compost heap. I tried an orange from our tree today, but it wasn’t as sweet as I would like. I’ll try again in another week. I see a gallon of fresh-squeezed juice in my future. Be sure to stop by for a glass.

One of the tulips is popping up between the potted cyclamen. I’d forgotten all about it. Otherwise, is sure looks like winter out there. Brown, cold, dry, repeat. Not a drop of rain in sight, either. [heavy sigh]

Note to self: I hope no one interprets that heavy sigh as whining.

Gardening Nirvana reader. What’s happening? How are you feeling? I’m so glad you stopped by.

Thanks to you: Where The Journey Takes Me

Thank you so much to Where The Journey Takes Me, for including me in her list of Very Inspiring Bloggers. I’m touched.

Vivien writes: “I live in a small old mill town nestled into the Pennine hills in Yorkshire with my long-suffering husband of thirty some years. I have two beautiful daughters who have flown the nest (most of the time!). I paint and draw (a little) when time allows, make and bake sometimes but not often enough and garden and grow things as much as possible. I recycle and up-cycle, hate waste and I couldn’t live without my time planner and lists.

Follow my journey with me and do let me know if you stop by I would love to hear from you.”

Please forgive my shameless rule breaking, but since I follow (and am inspired by) so many wonderful blogs, I couldn’t begin to limit my list to ten. I hope my love, respect, admiration and loyal following speaks volumes. I’m inspired daily by the creativity each of you brings to the blogging community! Thanks once again, Viv.
blog-award-2

blog-award 3

February 6, 2013 by Born To Organize

Craft it Forward: Did I Say Five?

I never was good at math. What I meant was, ~~five~~ seven of my fellow readers can take part in Craft it Forward. Since Catja was nice enough to let me in on her pay it forward, even though I was number six, I decided to pay forward her generosity as well. Without further ado, the following readers win the Gardening Nirvana craft-it-forward prize.

You can read more about the Pay it Forward (Craft it Forward) concept in my February 1, 2013 post. In return, please pay it forward by offering the same deal to five other people, via your blog, Facebook or Google +. I created a ‘Craft it Forward’ button, below. Feel free to use it on your own post.

I’ll be in touch privately if I don’t already have your snail-mail address. Thank you for your wonderful comments. I’m already having so much fun.

Craft it Forward button

January 30, 2013 by Born To Organize

Planting the Strip: The Results are In!

Earlier this month I wrote about the pros and cons of planting the sidewalk strip. I included a poll and asked readers to vote as well as comment on the idea.

As of today, the vote is split down the middle:

42.31% said yes
42.31 said no
15.38 were on the fence.

The comments were incredibly helpful. Thank you for taking the time to read, comment or vote. There were many things I hadn’t thought of. Here are a few:

Boomdeeada wrote: I voted to plant the easement but everyone here has great comments. I’d be tempted to put in a perennial of some kind more than vegetables…a bed that begins with tulips, then lilies then iris’s….I also liked the beds of Rudbeckia, alyssum and purple petunia at the Alberta Governor Generals house this summer…that would smell really nice.

I like the idea of planting flowers instead of veg. Another reader also suggested growing a hedge first, then planting within its boundaries.

Sensiblegardening wrote: I had to vote “no” but not because I think it’s a bad idea. I think it’s a great idea. However, after living for 20 years on a rural road, at the dead-end turn around, I’ve seen too much of how disrespectful a lot of the public is of our natural spaces, let alone our own private property that butts up against it. Sorry, but that’s just the ugly truth of it at this point in time. Hopefully more people will become a little more enlightened as time goes on.

Several others also cited this. My husband voted no, too. :-(

Suzanne Elliot suggested a nearby alternative: Thoughts on planting the strip – Dogs and passers-by – Dogs will leave deposits – and not the bank kind – passers by will pick your flowers. In looking at your photo of your lovely front garden I notice that you have a lot of LAWN – how about converting your lawn to something else? You could plant veggies mixed with flowers closer in to your house in your current lawn area (full sun) – and thereby thwart all but the most brazen flower pickers and fruit/veggie thieves…

Planting the Strip

The Plan at Hand:

Front garden:

Leave the sidewalk strip/easement alone for now. (Subject to change without notice, void where prohibited).

Combine Suzanne and Boomdee’s idea and plant a perennial garden next to the stone walkway on the property in a curving triangle to balance the curving wall on the other side. If that goes well, I’ll plant more perennials on the other side of the driveway. Honestly, you can never have too many flowers, don’t you think? The bees are counting on them.

Back garden:

Transplant the blueberry bush (still very small) and the raspberry vines to another location in the yard. This will free up 25% of the planting boxes.

Finish clearing overgrown and tired looking shrubs around fruit tree. Plant additional flowers from seed.
Meanwhile, please join me in another rain dance.

The San Jose area has received only 0.9 inches of rain so far this month, a third of the normal 2.72 inches.

In a normal year, San Jose would have received about 7.73 inches of rain by now. Instead, only 2.45 inches have fallen since July, not even a third of normal. (San Jose Mercury News)

January 18, 2013 by Born To Organize

Los Gatos Birdwatcher

What fun it was visiting Los Gatos Birdwatcher this afternoon. I haven’t been in a while and I’ve missed it.

The store is named for the town of Los Gatos which is Spanish for ‘The Cats.’ You’ll find no evidence of any real cats there, though they have a beautiful statue on display (more on that later.)

Now privately owned by John and Freddy Howell, Los Gatos Birdwatcher offers an array of products and services. I’ve never asked a question they couldn’t answer. I asked for assistance today identifying my little backyard hummer, see below.

This particular hummingbird had a green chest and shorter tail feathers, quite different from the usual feeder crowd. John identified it as a probable female Allen or a first-year male Allen. Apparently the males acquire color as they get older.

I also learned about a phone app called iBird. It’s an interactive field guide to birds of North America. If you’re a serious birder, this app’s for you.

Los Gatos Birdwatcher has a huge selection of wild birdseed, bird feeders, nesting boxes and assorted tools. They sell gifts and books as well, including jewelry, t-shirts, puzzles and bird-themed cards. I always feel so at home. They even have a corner dedicated to the bird-feeder nemesis, the squirrel, with clever nesting boxes and feeders. If you’re a fan of the furry ones, you can buy 25 pound bags of peanuts in the shell. You’ll have backyard friends for life.

Cutest Bird Nest Ever

Gorgeous Nesting Box

Nesting Boxes

Birdseed Feeders Galore

The store offers the following services:

Feeder Cleaning: No charge, but they ask for a donation to Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley, Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center, Nike Animal Rescue Foundation or Friends of San Martin Animal Shelter.
Frequent Buyer Program
Seed Delivery in the local area
Monthly children’s nature programs: For pre-school through grade 3.
Community outreach
Backyard Bird Consulting Program

If you’re local to the area, be sure to drop by. If not, you can subscribe to their bi-monthly newsletter following this link.

Los Gatos Birdwatcher
King’s Court Center
792 Blossom Hill Road, Los Gatos, CA 95032

The only cat you’ll ever see at the Birdwatcher

January 5, 2013 by Born To Organize

A Little of This and That

Guess what?

I was out on the deck taking pictures when a bright yellow flower caught me eye. There aren’t any yellow flowers growing this time of year, so it really took me by surprise. Then I realized little visitors stopped by the fairy garden. What a nice surprise.

If you are reading this post and you know who the fairies are, please be sure to extend my thanks. It was such a treat to find those flowers. I spotted a tiny mum tucked in as well and a few greens. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart!!!

Flower Surprise

Pumpkin Countdown

Last summer we grew several pumpkins. Four of them were over 40 pounds. My husband carved one, but they were really thick and not well-suited for ‘Jacks. We lined the wall of our garden pathway with the remaining pumpkins, and they’ve weathered the months beautifully. Twice in recent weeks, someone came to the door and asked if they could take one for cooking. We happily obliged, with a warning to please lift carefully. We now have one large pumpkin sitting on the wall, with a smaller, autographed one nearby. That one is just now starting to soften and will probably be headed to the compost bin in another week. We’ll be down to one ‘little’ pumpkin, sitting on a wall. :-)

Two ‘little’ pumpkins, sitting on a wall

Avoiding the Scale

I know what you’re thinking. It’s January and I can’t hide from the scale forever. Time to put away the treats and face the music. All true.

I’m avoiding the scale that remains on the now-dormant Magnolia. Honestly, it creeps me out. We had quite the infestation last summer. We did a bit of research and got down to business. I ordered beneficial insect larvae. While waiting for them to arrive, I heavily pruned the tree. The inner crown was far worse, so I removed as many of those branches as I could. Left unchecked, scale can kill a tree.

Magnolia infested with scale

Now that the Magnolia is dormant, it’s easy to see what remains. I need to scrape the scale into a bucket, before it takes hold again.

To think I thought putting away the chocolate was hard.

January 3, 2013 by Born To Organize

Planting the Strip: Pros and Cons

Like most gardeners with small, suburban lots, I’m always on the look out for ways to maximize my annual planting. This year I have my eye on the sidewalk strip, the space between our city sidewalk and the street.

There are several pluses (and a few minuses) to planting there. I’m going to toss out both, and you can let me know what you think.

Pros:

Full sun! (Need I say more.) We have limited full sun in the backyard. I have a pair of raised beds tucked up against the back of the house and last year added a two moveable City Pickers. Beyond that, the yard is either landscaped or shaded by large trees, or both. The sidewalk strip is prime, vegetable and flower real estate.
A long, narrow strip. It’s perfect for vegetable gardening due to the already narrow space. It would be easy to manage the box or boxes planted there.
Water. The existing sprinkler system would be easy to tap into. My handy husband could run drip irrigation directly into the boxes.
The view. I can see the strip from my kitchen window, and from the front deck. A flower and vegetable bed is infinitely more interesting than grass.
Additional yields. More dirt, equals more fruits and vegetables. I can taste those sweet tomatoes now.

Cons:

Cost. I no longer have the back to dig out heavy sod, nor the means of easily getting rid of it. I would need to hire someone to dig out the existing lawn. Additional costs include the raised bed (built or purchased), soil and seeds or plants.
Public access. We have great neighbors who’ve openly expressed enjoyment when we’ve grown pumpkins and tomatoes in the front yard. Not everyone that walks by, however, will respect the garden’s sanctity.
Street parking. The space in front of our house accommodates two cars. Maintaining my good-neighbor creed means maintaining continued access to those spots.
Late-season doldrums. Not everyone appreciates the messiness of a vegetable garden going to seed.

Sidewalk Strip (to the right of the Chinese Pistache

Lots to think about in the next few months. I hope you’ll weigh in on the poll below.

December 28, 2012 by Born To Organize

Sunset Gardens: A Self-Guided Tour

As luck would have it, I worked in Menlo Park today. Menlo Park, California is home to Sunset Gardens, a test garden for Sunset Books and Sunset Magazine. After work, I headed straight there and took the (frigid) self-guided tour.

Southern Pacific Railroad Company founded Sunset Magazine in 1898 . It evolved over the years to reflect the changing times. It went from promotional tool, to literary magazine, before settling into what it is today: a lifestyle magazine for the west. For over 40 years, they’ve produced the Western Garden Book, the most comprehensive book of its kind. I’m on my second copy, and though it’s now available on the web, I still enjoy the weight of the book in my hand and the ease of use.

Sunset’s headquarters surrounds the editorial test garden in addition to an array of Climate Zone gardens ranging from the Pacific Northwest to the Southern Desert. It’s a testament to the Bay Area temps that the Menlo Park location can support so many growing zones.

I’m going to make an extra effort this year to get back there in the spring, when the rose garden and many of the flowering shrubs are in bloom.

Here are the highlights from today:

Garden Bench

The one downside to self guided tours is all the unanswered questions. I was curious to know more about this bench,tucked in a corner near the chicken coop. It’s made from a variety of recycled material, including old fence planks, scraps of metal, and the insulator caps from old high-tension wires. The birdhouse posts on the end of the bench are fully functional, though probably impractical from a predator stand point. They’re awfully cute though.

Birdhouse bench detail

Healthy Chickens = garden manure

Wine Country Chicken Coop

That is one, high-end chicken coop, conveniently located near the composting bins.

Succulent Planter

This lovely planter was part of a seating area. It’s made from driftwood and scraps of lumber.

Stylish Seating Area

Test Garden Pavers

This unique patio meandered through the entrance to the Test Garden. What looks like crushed rock, is actually tumbled recycled glass (white and green). The small round objects are actually synthetic wine “corks” from a Bay Area winery. The dark squares, upper right corner, are scraps of fencing lumber. Clever use of cast off materials.

Recycled, Tumbled Green Glass

Cactus Garden: Keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times :-)

The Old Man: Coast Live Oak

Garden Path and Plantings

To learn more about the history of Sunset, visit their website.

Self-guided tours are free and open to the public Monday through Friday from 9:00 to 4:00 pm. Call ahead for additional details at 1-650-321-3600. The gardens are universally accessible.