Strawberry Towers

Back in February I ordered 50 strawberry plants.  They cost $12.

We were in the process of rearranging our yard a bit, so we decided to locate the Strawberries in an entirely different location than we've had them in the past.  Rick found some plans for strawberry towers, so we decided to take on a little project.

It turned out to be a bigger project than we had anticipated. (don't they all??)

It turned out that it is harder than you'd think to cut sharp angles on 2x6's.  who knew?

so, we had to borrow a saw from the professionals.  

Once we did that...smooth sailing...kind of.

But, we did conclude that as long as you are building one strawberry tower...you might as well build two.  or more.

This was the first time in my life that I could see a practical approach to learning geometry.

All those angles.  So much math.

Here are the strawberry towers completed, in the yard, filled with compost/soil, and strawberries planted.  (on or about April 7, 2013)

Two months later on June 17, 2013

Each planter has a different variety of strawberries.  I didn't have enough plants to fill the entire planter, so I planted yellow pansies on the side that faces north.  I thought the yellow would show up nicely and would be a pretty contrast with the red berries once they started to grow.

Little, baby strawberries are starting to show up.

They're so tasty.

This is the view of the north side.  If, for some reason the strawberries don't workout, I think these towers will look great with flowers in them.  Or maybe I can talk Rick into building a few more towers.  Probably not.

Autumn Colors

It is supposed to get cold this weekend after a month of the most enjoyable October weather that I can ever remember. The colors are beautiful. Here are some shots of my yard from last week. My yard was neglected this year because we spent so dang much time in Scofield. Projects were left unfinished, like the Gazebo below. But, I love the colors in the yard right now.

This swing is my favorite. It has Hollyhocks growing around it. I have cut them down to the ground once already this year and they have come back. The pinks ones are plentiful. But, there are also yellow, maroon and even some black ones.

thank you Amara for the marigolds. I will pay you back in tomatillo plants.

thank you Amara for the butterfly bush. I will pay you back in tomatillo plants.

Here is the compost bin that is being taken over by the tomatillo plants.

the tomatillos were harvested last week and I now have salsa verde on my storage room shelf.

So does my sister. That was a fun day of salsa making and crafting. Let's do it again.

Later today, I will pick the rest of the tomatoes, trim bushes, pull up marigolds, finish dismantling the garden area by the driveway and brace myself for the impending snow to come in a few days.

Thank you for a beautiful fall.

Noxious Weeds or Beautiful Blossom?

Thistles remind me of my dad.

I think that it was his passion in life to single handedly eradicate the world of this beautiful purple blooming cousin to the artichoke.

When he would go to Fairview to his cabin and find a Thistle growing on the property, no one could do a thing, not even potty, until every Thistle plant was uprooted and destroyed.

Last week when we rode on Skyline Drive, the mountain was full of purple blossoms.

My dad would have flipped at all of the millions of Thistle plants in bloom.

I kinda thought they were pretty.

Cole got a kick out of touching the purple blossoms that were still soft and not prickley.

There are some Thistle plants growing in my front yard right now.

I keep thinking I need to get my tail in gear and get them out--Dad would be so disappointed.

But, after seeing them blossoming so beautifully on Skyline Drive, maybe I will let them just grow for a few more days until I see a pretty purple flower

(but I WILL get rid of them before they go to seed unlike my sweet, kind, old, grumpy next door neighbor whom I think plants Thistle seeds just to spite me...)

photo of the day

These were growing in my flower bed last week.

They don't last that long, especially after the wind that just wiped through my neighborhood.

They remind me of my Grandma Ethel.

One morning last week I stood at the front door while Cole ran out to the driveway to get the newspaper. An SUV slowly drove down my street and pulled to a stop in my front of my house. They didn't notice me at the door and a conversation took place that I could hear:

"What are they?

Don't know.

Cornflower?

No, couldn't be.

Well, I never saw such a flower.

Me neither.

well, huhhhh."

If I hadn't been wearing my pajamas and trying not to laugh, I would have stepped out from my hiding spot and told them to stop on by in a week or two and they could have millions and millions of poppy seeds of their own.

Gardening

above:

Grandma Ethel and Bryan (my younger brother)

probably taken in the summer of 1985

below:

Grandpa Whitey and Grandma Ethel

Circleville, Utah (birth place of many outlaws, most notably Butch Cassidy)

I planted some peas today.

I LOVE fresh peas from the garden.

I've never really had great luck with planting peas, but I am optimistic this time.

Planting peas reminds me of my Dalton Grandparents.

Their garden was huge (at least it seemed to me.)

I would sneak out to the garden and eat peas until I couldn't eat any more.

If there was enough left when I was done, Grandma would make peas and potatoes--yum, my favorite.

Another favorite memory was Grandpa taking a little plastic bucket out to the garden and picking radishes and turnips. I have planted both this year as well. Grandpa would pick the turnips and radishes, and pull up a lawn chair under a big shade tree and turn on the hose to wash the fresh veggies. Cut the tops off, and we would sit and eat them all afternoon.

In the top picture on the bottom left hand corner is one of Grandma's flowering cabbage plants. How did she grow those babies? I still think she used magic manure.

I loved the rock planter that she is standing next to. It was always filled every year with red petunias. I seem to remember that my mom would take the petunias down to her every spring around Mother's Day.

(And I probably should not tell you that the orange/red rocks that you can see in these photos may very well have come from Bryce Canyon National Park, since it is slightly against the law to take anything out of a national park.)

In the bottom picture on the left side you can see the little pink poppy blossoms that still remind me of Circleville.

As I was weeding this afternoon I noticed that there are hundreds of those poppy plants growing in my garden (they are about 2 to 3 inches high). I can't wait to see them bloom.

I don't know why I am so sentimental when I garden. Maybe it's just the time of the year.

The photo above is a forsythia bush. They are blooming yellow right now just like this one.

In 1986 my Grandma lived at our home for a few months while she was sick just before she died. I was 16 years old. I just remember when she got really sick, she sat on the couch near the window and watched the blossoming forsythia bush just before she died. She died on April 21. So, every year when spring comes I look forward to the forsythia bushes to bloom because they remind me of my Grandma. I guess I could dig a little deeper and compare it to the rebirth of spring and how it compares to the Resurrection and that we will all live again just like the blossoming forsythia bush blooms again each spring. I will see my Grandma again.

April Showers...

I decided that because it was rain/snowing this morning when I got up, this was appropriate.

Last week when my mom was here, we did one of her favorite things...we went here and bought some fabric. why? not because we needed any more, that's for sure. Anyway, this fabric was too cute to pass up, so I picked up a couple of yards and made Summer a skirt and Sierra an apron.

Click on the photo it if you can't tell--they are umbrellas. too cute.

Now we just need the May flowers...

pickled beets and flowering cabbage

This is one of the two flowering cabbages that I managed to grow from seed. I picked it last week and put it in the house so that I could enjoy it for one last week before winter really settled in for good. My Grandma Ethel would grow these in her yard. They would grow about waist high. I have no idea how she did it. People would stop and take pictures of her flowering cabbages. (Mom, do you have any pictures of them? or of Grandma with them?)

Some other things that she grew that I remember were columbine, marigolds, and petunias. They had a hedge of lilac bushes that were thick and beautiful green. But, they never blossomed. I think that had something to do with the fact that Grandpa kept them pruned back and he was actually cutting off the "next seasons blooms". They had a snowball bush that I always thought was beautiful. And the Forsythia bushes that bloom in the spring always remind me of Grandma.

And the beets...My Grandma made the best pickled beets. It's been years, but I am going to try to grow beets next spring and see if I can replicate the taste of pickled beets like Grandma Ethel used to make. And my other favorite food from Circleville was "Noodles". I would beg my Grandma to make homemade noodles. My mouth is watering right now. I can feel the texture of the noodles in my mouth. My Aunt Dolores has tried to make noodles like Grandma, but she says that she can't seem to get it just right. Grandma didn't have an exact recipe--she just made them from memory. Oh well. I'll stick with the pickled beets for now. I don't really want to attempt Grandma's noodle recipe until I have a little more time on my hands.

delphinium

This is mostly for you, Amara.  Are they really Delphinium?  (not the greatest photos for identifying flowers !! oh well) That is what we thought they were. But, they didn't look exactly like I remember delphinium looking like when I took floral design at BYU.  But, hey, that's been a while.  We dug one up and took it back to the cabin with us.  The roots went straight down and they were really woody. 

Skyline drive basically begins in Spanish Fork canyon at the Rest Stop.  It winds over 100 miles along the very top of the Wasatch Plateau, providing access to mounts areas, meadows, lake, streams, and camp grounds.  Elevations range from 9,000 to 11,000 feet.  It is one of the highest roads in America.  It extends down to I-70.  Some of it is graded and can be traveled by car, but we have mostly just traveled little sections of it on the 4-wheeler or rhino.  Some people like to take snow mobiles in the winter and mountain bike in the summer.  (this isn't off the top of my head--I looked it up!)