Soil Matters

If you have ever skimped a little on your soil preparation you may think things are going fine, but here is something that may change your mind.

Around three weeks ago we planted cauliflower in our garden. We had added some compost from our compost bin, but not alot. We also planted one cauliflower in our sons' small children's garden at this same time. Their garden is filled with all brand new compost, recently purchased.

The difference is amazing.

The boys' cauliflower is twice the size of ours. So when we started to add some more plant starts to our garden this weekend, we made sure to work a little harder on our soil prep.

Patience Needed

It took 2 and a half years but our little new peony plant has finally come into its blooms. We now have four dark-red blooms on our Buckeye Belle peony which we bought at Adelman Peony Gardens. I knew we were going to be in luck this year when the ants started showing up on the buds.

There are even more fun things going on this weekend in case you are looking for something to do. Here are links I have found to information on these events:

The fairly new Willamette Community Garden in Albany is holding its second annual plant sale on Saturday:
http://democratherald.com/news/local/community-garden-to-hold-plant-sale-tour/article_5aae7312-9f85-11e1-823c-001a4bcf887a.html

Nichols Garden Nursery in Albany is holding its Plant Day on Saturday:
https://www.nicholsgardennursery.com/store/cmspage.php?page_id=visit_us

Hidden Treasures, The Backyards of Corvallis and More, a garden tour on Saturday:
http://www.ci.corvallis.or.us/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=114&Itemid=74

I have heard that there is a Craft and Garden Fair going on in Burnt Woods on Saturday, but I don't have a link to that information.

and Leach Botanical Gardens near Portland is having a Children's Nature Fair on Saturday:
http://www.leachgarden.org/classes-and-events/

and one more,
on Sunday the Corvallis Environmental Center is holding Cooped-Up in Corvallis, a self-guided chicken and duck coop tour:
http://www.corvallisenvironmentalcenter.org/cooped-up-in-corvallis-2/

Here are some events going on this weekend:

Barns & Bluegrass at William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge

 http://www.fws.gov/willamettevalley/finley/documents/barns%20and%20bluegrass12.pdf

Oregon State University Linn County Master Gardeners Plant Sale
http://www.facebook.com/pages/OSU-Master-Gardeners-Linn-County/152356564816191

Art in the Garden Mother's Day Celebration at the Thyme Garden
http://www.thymegarden.com/site/561124/page/255433

and the Corvallis Natural Areas Celebration has a number of activities going on including a Bat Night
http://sustainablecorvallis.org/action-teams/natural-areas/natural-areas-celebration-week/natural-areas-celebration-week-detailed-schedule/

Holly Tree All a Buzz

A while ago it was our apple tree that was buzzing. Yesterday and today it was our holly tree. If you stand below the tree you can hear the constant buzz of probably 100 or more bees busy doing their job. The pollen is even raining down. I tried to catch a photo of some of the bees that were covered with so much yellow pollen that they could barely fly, but had no luck. Here is the closest I came (the bee is a yellow blur on the left side of the photo).

Spring Garden Festival Day!

Today was the Spring Garden Festival in Corvallis. This is a fun fair to attend. It's full of vendors and organizations selling a wide variety of native plants, annuals and perennials. There are also a number of informational booths providing tips on how to garden environmentally and sustainably smart.
I had to make three trips to my car with all of my new plants, including this trellis and a honeysuckle vine and black-eyed susan vine. The pieris came from last week's trip to the lilac gardens.

Happy May Day!

The elementary school my oldest attends celebrated May Day by asking every child to bring in a flower from their own yard. It was fun to see all of the students walking to school this morning each with a different flower in hand.