Category: Our Green Life

More Baby Birds Coming Our Way Soon

Remember this finch nest with four eggs built in the re-purposed sugar bowl wind chimes on our front porch?

Bird eggs in the nest in our wind chimes

It seemed so idyllic until the birds pooped all over the nest and turned this perfect picture into a gigantic mess.

Baby birds in the nest in our wind chimes

Nevertheless we watched four little birds grow up and leave the nest and loved every minute of it. We thought that was it for the season.

Yet here we are several weeks later with a surprise. Mama House Finch has returned and laid five more eggs, her second clutch of the summer!

Next clutch of house finch eggs in the nest on our porch

Such dainty, little pale blue spotted eggs.

Next clutch of house finch eggs in the nest on our porch

Since the four baby birds of the first clutch barely fit in the nest,

Baby birds in the nest in our wind chimes

we’re curious to see how five birds will fit! Stay tuned.

Strawberries (Literally!) Jumping the Planter Box

Strawberries in (and out) of our garden planter box

Our strawberry plants are flourishing in our planter box. Growing strong, producing heavily, and evidently trying to take over the rest of the garden.

Strawberries in (and out) of our garden planter box

The strawberry plants keep sending runners to jump out of our raised bed!

Strawberries in (and out) of our garden planter box

Not that I’m complaining. In fact, I’m thrilled. And I’m not the only one: something has been nibbling on my strawberry plants!

Strawberries in (and out) of our garden planter box

See, we’re all strawberry lovers here at our house.

Here are some strawberry recipes from around the net that I’m excited to try:
– Arugula Salad with Strawberries
– Making Dried Strawberries
– Strawberry Salad with Strawberry Poppy Seed Dressing
– Strawberry Hearts (tutorial to cut strawberries into heart shapes)
Nom nom nom!

Mother’s Day Bouquet

Mother's Day plants for the garden

Every year for Mother’s Day we visit our local nursery and I get to pick out flowers for the garden.

By doing this…

Mother's Day plants for the garden

we get more bang for our buck — sixteen plants for the price of one bouquet,

Mother's Day plants from last year in the garden

we support local, organic farmers, plus our independently owned garden center,

Mother's Day plants from last year in the garden

I receive a gift that I enjoy year after year as each plant continues to grow, spread, and bloom in our garden,

Honeybee landing on lavender plant in our garden

we share this gift with the creatures living in our yard and our neighbors in our community,

Toddler helping mama garden on Mother's Day

and we enjoy a family activity that I look forward to each year.

Every Day is Earth Day

I believe that we must honor, care for, and respect the earth every day of the year.

We must encourage our children in their development of a sense of responsibility for our planet.

To build that, we garden, hike, explore, learn about and come to treasure the world around us.

Every day is Earth Day. Let’s try to get outside today to enjoy and celebrate our beautiful world!

Our Spring Garden

We’ve been gardening! And by gardening I mean we’ve been weeding, weeding and weeding some more… yes, I know, we’ll be weeding ALL SUMMER LONG. It’s one of those perpetual cycles, like laundry or dishes, that can really bring you down. The good news is that 1) I get to work outside and the weather truly is gorgeous here in Sonoma County, and 2) I have a wonderful little helper to keep me company.

If only I could get her to clean up her garden tools. Ahem.

The Little Miss and I have started planning out and planting our front yard victory garden. Almost all of our perennial plants have resurfaced, so we’re focusing on cleaning up those beds and making room for our vegetables.

Last year we planted potatoes, chard, carrots and lettuce in the front yard:


This year we’re shaking things up, rotating the location of our crops, and planting peas, (keeping the same) chard, and tomatoes:

Last year the raised bed contained tomatoes, zucchini, herbs and strawberries:

This year we’re devoting the bed to strawberries, with a few leftover pea plants (that we couldn’t find another spot for) and some (yet to be planted) herbs:

Tonight the temperature is supposed to drop to freezing, so I’ve laid out our frost blanket. We’ll see if the crops survive! We’re all about the garden drama here in the wilds of Northern California.