What's outside my kitchen window?

I havent' even got all my "fall" yardwork done!!

Snow.  It was falling softly and silently.

A long time gone

So much time has passed since I've updated my Big Backyard.

I would feel the quilt if I thought anyone paid attention... anyone but my family from out of town. My father-in-law, Phil, especially. He got a kick out of my Square Foot Garden and how I did it.
He is an "old-hand" at square foot gardening.
Since July, we've had another grandbaby, gone to a family wedding, I did a 3day-60mile walk for breast cancer in Seattle.....
....so, I did miss some great summer photos, but, we'll begin again.  (and we'll pretend today isn't November 12th, but sometime  mid-October, when these pictures were taken)
Fall is coming in the Nevada Big Backyard. The Handyman is contemplating all the piles of leaves he'll have to gather. The Leadership Club at the High School is doing leaf raking for a donation, as their project. I asked him about calling them, and he said, NO, he can do his own leaves.
 

Ah... a few little leaves on the ground.  It's not so bad.... but look again!  Look what waits overhead for the Handyman!

Trusty Old Monroe!!

(he'll be as famous as Charlie one day)

So, see?   A little bit of raking and the yard is as good as new.

The colder weather makes the concord grapes GOOD!!

Izzy waits for some attention....on the potting table.

And then..... we make our way to the side yard...the square foot garden.

It's mid-October for heaven's sake!  I gave up watering when I went to Arizona 10 days ago.

Besides, the autumn leaves are falling....

....and falling.  The Handyman has more leaves to rake now.

But once again he gets the job done!!   Well done Handyman!!

(except you might want to pick up the empty leaf/garbage can)

OH NO!  How does this happen.  More leaves.

And more leaves and more leaves!

The Handyman has a helper!

Or...does he?

Our 2 year old granddaughter, visiting from Virginia, helps Granddad  in the yard.

(for some reason Granddad comes out  Bop-ah-dad)

Granddad gives up!!

Leaves can be raked tomorrow!

Random Photos of the Big Backyard

Just random pictures that are RECENT of my backyard and garden.
No explanation is needed....right?

Take a pictoral tour of **** Mt. Tobin Place, our home, where the birds await to sing you a song as you walk along.
(LOL the birds sat on the street sign while I went home and got my camera and walked back down to get their picture. I imagine them following me and singing....zippidee do daa, zippidee aaay, my oh my what a wonderful day........ )

Just back

I've been back from CT for a couple of weeks now....and haven't updated the "garden" blog.
When I first got back....The Handy-Man was putting in these sprayer sprinklers in our "Rock Garden". It has been so hot....over 100 for a couple of weeks, and the rock garden was looking very dry. Very dry.
So, here are the three sprayers he put in.....
(can you see it below the old canteen we found in the desert )

Hopefully, this will keep the plants moister. We are so dry here in Nevada...no humidity at all, so everything dries out right after it's been watered.

Below is the barrel I have my tomato plants in. They have taken off and are hanging over the walkway. Pay no attention to the mess behind the air-conditioner. It's the 'side" of the house.

I have tomatoes on the vine! Finally. We are a little slow here in NV. At the farmers market we have herbs and some early things like radishes and beets.

I have lettuce and peas in the other barrels.

And my Tospy Turvy is doing okay. I have little cherry tomatoes... a lot of them.

My squash and cucumber plants.

The Square Foot Garden!! With radishes that have gone to seed.

The cherry tomatoes in the Topsy Turvy

We'll move to the other side of the yard to the grape vine.

The Apple Tree has apples. I can't wait for homemade applesauce.

The Rock Garden from the Grape Vine side of the yard.

Rich hadn't washed my car the whole time I was gone....

rain rain, go away

It's still raining.

I have a confession to make: I like it.

It NEVER rains here. And it's making everything so green and pretty. If anyone from Winnemucca reads that sentence, I will probably be run out of town. Everyone wants the rain to STOP.

I don't think Izzy cares if it rains or not....she just curls up and sleeps.

I haven't had to water my plants tho. So, that's a good thing. We haven't turned on our air conditioner either, so more of a good thing.

There is just one thing I've found since we've had so much moisture.

TOADSTOOLS.

They are all over our yard this year. I don't like them. (give me a good old dandelion ...I know what to do with those )

But "fungi" is kind of creepy.

LOOK! A toadstool by a toad.
(he's thinking the same thing I'm thinking....creepy)

The pumpkin has finally sprouted. I did plant it a little later than the rest of the garden, and I think the dog walks over it, but it's finally popped up.

And lettuce. This is the lettuce in the barrel.

And some tomatoes!

I have tomatoes in a barrel and then 2 topsy turvy containers. I is doing well. This is the "well" one.

It's kind of hard to see.

This one is the "not so well" one.

My garden thru the fence. Remember, we are using the old dog pen (the dog never actually went in the pen, it was just nice to have for once a year when we had a big BBQ and he was bugging us.

I didn't want to take down all of the fence tho, because the Virginia Creeper is creeping along so nicely.

Summer Squash.

with...

FUNGI.

(the creepy kind)

can you see it?

A closer look for you.

This really is the creepy kind, because it doesn't have a "cap" on it like a mushroom.

So...my question is, will it hurt, or has it hurt the squash?

I took it out after I took the picture, so we have no more fungi in with the vegetables.

My square foot garden!

In the high Nevada Desert.

The cooler weather has done great things for the broccoli and cauliflower plants.

Monroe.

I think he is sometimes walking on the squashes and pumpkin plants.

He is stunting their growth, just like he has stunted the grass under the bush. (he does have a path around the yard )

Can you solve a marital dispute?

the lilac bushes. and the snowball bush.

They hang over the grass.

I think they are pretty.

The Handyman wants to trim them back so he can mow easily.

He wants a more manicured look.

I like the natural look.

You can tell (kind of) by the picture, how much it hangs over the grass. And he does have to mow. He fights with it every time.

I think he makes it worse than it has to be....he exaggerates to make a point to me.

One time he even exaggerated so much he poked himself in the eye with a branch!!

That was taking it a bit far if you ask me.

What do you think?

Trimmed up or ala naturel ?

The Backyard update

It rained the whole time I was gone up north...It rained in Nevada. Every day for over 10 days.
This is very unusual.....

Needless to say, my garden was fine. I was very worried about it....worried that the Handy Man would forget to water it.
It all turned out fine.
Everything has sprouted and is growing.

My plants are all potted and hanging baskets are hung (I'm afraid to open my nursery bill.... it came in the mail while I was gone. It 's still sitting there unopened. I have an idea about how much I spent...how much I budgeted for, but I am always a little over. )

Even tho it rained straight for 10 days, the next day it looks dry....

that is the curse of living in a desert.

Here are my squash, cucumbers and zucchini. The Handy-Man will make some supports for them, so they will grow "up". It says you can do this in the square foot gardening book....of course I'm planted a bit different, but it will work. Just wait and see.

Quail on a rock!

From my kitchen window!!

The dreaded "dog path" can be seen from here. And interestingly, the back of the Handy-man. We only see his back..... not on purpose, but apparently he just doesn't want to be seen.

The only trouble I'm having is with my Mountain Ash Tree. Did you know that Mountain Ash's are not part of the Ash family, but part of the Apple Tree Family? Kind of like a crab-apple tree.
See this branch? a lot of them are like that..... I think it is a disease called "Fire Blight".

Fire Blight:
Flower clusters are killed and turn dark brown to black. Dead leaves and aborted flower parts remain on the tree. Long, slightly sunken cankers are seen where the dead wood meets the live. In the spring, slime may ooze from the canker if the weather is warm and wet. No fungal fruiting structures are found in the canker. Flower clusters are killed and turn dark brown to black.


Management:
During dormancy when the weather is dry, prune infected branches, cutting at least 4 inches below the base of the canker. Disinfest pruning tools frequently. During the growing season, make pruning cuts at least 12 inches below the base of the canker. Use fertilization practices that do not promote excessive succulent growth. Remove root suckers and water sprouts while they are small. Remove unwanted plants that are susceptible to the disease from near cultivated plants.


I don't want to cut it back, but I guess I'm going to have to... this weekend maybe.
and I want to buy a few more flowers, for a pot by the hammock and by the "secret garden" (which is two chairs up in the corner of the yard, where I like to sit and read books. )



And here I was trying to get the whole tree...it's hard because it's kind of spindly. It looks really bad compared to what it looked like last year. (there is an apple tree behind it, so it is hard to picture )

The stepping stones you see , go up to the "secret garden".

The Virginia Creeper is hanging down from the patio cover. The Handy Man will be chopping it off soon, but I like it. It makes it look---more green. When you look out of it, it seems very "English Garden-ish" But he is annoyed by it.

Here is a better view of the sickly Mountain Ash Tree. Not looking so good!!

We walked tonight and it rained on us, by the time we got home it was raining hard. Everything looks so green in the rain. Not so dessert like. yay!!
But I want it to stop soon, because our summers aren't very long and I want every warm day I can get.

A Hummingbird nest

On Sunday, we worked in our yard all day. I finished up the garden, finally getting the tomato plants in the pot and the "upside down" hangers, and finished planting the pumpkins and the rest of the lettuce in a barrel. I know this is stupid, but I went ahead and put in the sweet peas, even tho I know it will be way too hot soon.

I have way too much "junk" in my yard, I know. But it's the greatest yard EVER for an Easter Egg hunt.

Monday we put out some flags for Memorial Day, but I guess it can be the "theme" for the summer... Flag Day, 4th of July, Labor Day....

A few mornings ago, I was out having a cup of coffee in the morning and I noticed a hummingbird who kept coming and hovering right under the patio cover. I didn't think too much of it, but then on Sunday, it happened again.
We have an old string of lights ....red white and blue lights....strung under the patio cover...it gives off a twinkly glow at night, but I said to the Handy Man, "that hummingbird is going to electrocute himself in that cord!"
And then I said " A NEST....there is a nest."

Hummingbird nests look kind of like a big "spider sack" in a way.
I want so badly to get a ladder and see the hummingbird eggs. I bet they are teeny.

On Monday afternoon, I lay in the patio swing trying to get a picture.... and to show how small the nest really is.
It's very exciting to me to have a hummingbird nest so close.

Other bird nerd, posts are here.

Here she sits.

See how small it really is?

I caught her flying away.... on the left bottom you can see her. We make her nervous on our patio.

Random pictures from our yard work on Sunday

The tomato plants are in the barrels now.

And the Square foot garden is coming along.

taking a moment to decorate for Memorial Day

Just watching the show!! Old Monroe.

Oh....and the tomatos in the upside down baskets!

I like my new flower pot....it was so easy to make. I found it in Birds and Bloom.

And now.....I am opening myself to you......and showing you...THE DOG PATH!! He has destroyed the grass in this area. Grrrrrr.....dogs!

And there is my "Kitchen Window".

And coming into my yard from the garage. You have to walk under the Purple Globe Locust Tree.