PHOTO Journal
Every day is a learning day in the garden. :) I tend to be over reliant on my memory and am not great at keeping written notes. But with so much going on, it is important for me to keep a journal. My journal is made up more of photos than words, but it’s all a great reference (i.e. when plants bloom, pollinators visit, planning crop rotation).
I blog occasionally, but below are concise yearly summaries as well as links to different sources that comprise an organic journal of our garden (with even more photos).
~ Latest Instagram Posts ~
~ Yearly Summaries ~
Year 5 ** Dragonfly Nursery (2024)
Yikes - in January we had the mother of all ice storms. It’s a good thing I dig up my dahlia bulbs each fall, because I don’t think they would have made it. The moss on our stone work has really exploded this winter! Funny enough, after all the bunny sightings last year, I didn’t see a single bunny this year in our garden.
It was a fairly warm spring and the mild summer made for a super successful year for our apple trees and veggies. Our mason bees emerged mid-March, and we discovered dragonfly nymphs in our pond after it was installed just last summer. I even got photos of some of the first dragonfly species to emerge from our ponds! We added 5 more rose varieties this spring and expanded our rose garden.
With the passing of another year in our garden, we implemented a few more ‘edits’... namely adding a few gravel pathways to help navigate the garden, relocating a couple raised beds, and transforming the last remaining ornamental shrubs to native plants.
It was a great year and I can’t wait for next season!
Blog posts: (none)
Year 4 ** BUNNIES & Big Trees (2023)
We had four mature native trees planted in January and we’ve enjoyed seeing them change throughout the year. It stayed fairly cold well into April, which meant a bit of a late start for some plants and pollinators emerging. But it’s way better than the snowmageddon last April that zapped so many things!
Funny enough, this year was the year of the rabbit! And in the spring, little bunnies wreaked havoc on our roses and dahlias, which prompted us to put up some fencing around those beds to give the plants a chance.
We had a pond installed in July, specifically to attract dragonflies. And just a few weeks after, we witnessed Shadow Darners laying eggs in our new pond!
I completed the OSU Master Naturalist program this year and worked to become a volunteer with Portland Audubon to support the Backyard Habitat Certification Program as a site certifier.
Our garden was also featured heavily in this video by our city: Backyard Habitats - Carbon Responsible Community Development - Tigard, Oregon (2023)
Blog posts: Bird Buddy - New Pond
Year 3 ** WATERFALL JOY (2022)
With two years of gardening experience in our new home in Portland, I’ve had the opportunity to see a couple of seasons play through and looked forward to honing my skills in year 3! We had a waterfall installed over the winter, which really boosted the number of backyard birds - they love to bathe, drink and play!
We had snow. In April. In Portland. What the heck? This late arrival stunned many plants and prevented them from blooming this year, including all of our kiwi vines, the honeycrisp apple tree and even our huge jasmine.
Even with the late snow, this was a very productive year in the garden. Our tomatoes did outstanding and it was such joy to see numerous other things grow from seed to harvest.
I also began the OSU Master Gardener program this year and our garden was part of the Certified Backyard Habitat tour.
Blog posts: Snow in April!?! - Tomatoes 2022 - Garlic 2022
Year 2 ** NEW BEDS, CRAZY TEMPS (2021)
This was the first year with our new hardscape, greenhouse, and double the area of raised beds! We began to see all the natives we planted over winter begin to bloom and take-off, as well as integrate many more flowers to feed the pollinators. :) But this year was hard. Portland broke temperature records with both a crazy freeze in February and the heat bubble in June/July. Both of these extremes put our plants, even natives, through a serious test. Annual crops that did amazing last year were stunted with the heat bubble and did not finish growing or produce. Some annuals still seemed to thrive (still with attentive watering), such as our sunflowers, tomatoes and lemon cucumbers. But most everything else suffered.
Our critters had a great time this year with all the new beds and more flowers. The chipmunks harvested all the snap peas and a number of cherry tomatoes. The squirrels harvested a ton of sunflower heads. And the finches had the best time at the ‘salad bar’, feasting on sunflower leaves and swiss chard.
This was also my first year canning — and I preserved a number of tasty things from the garden.
Blog posts: Backyard Certification - Canning 2021 - New Water Features
Year 1 ** THe Pilot (2020)
2020 was a tough year for the world. With so much sacrifice and hardship, it can be hard to find a silver lining. As a hobby baker, I spent the first month of quarantine producing countless treats for the family. But after a few weeks, my family politely asked me to direct my energy elsewhere. :) I’d always wished I had more of a green thumb and being homebound gave me the perfect opportunity to try gardening in earnest. I started with one bed, but it didn’t take long before I was hooked. Then four more beds. And a makeshift greenhouse. And then we tore out all the grass and installed our new hardscape with stone pathways and a circle of raised beds. We also began to plant natives and started the path to our backyard habitat certification. What started out as a small activity to pass the time is now an integral part of our family routine, planning and joy.
Blog posts: "No Lawn" Remodel