Up River.......

soooooo pretty!!!! i have friends that live up the Yachats River... it's a delightful place, often sunny and warm when by the sea, its raining or drizzling!! Quite a different climate than down river on the coast, not so foggy, not so grey, much warmer in the summer, colder in the winter, and sometimes even some snow! The garden/greenhouse is much different than at the coast.. up river they can grow corn and squashes, there are fruit and nut trees and they grow mushrooms, as well as picking wild ones!

their greenhouse has no raised beds, but to keep the weeds down they have used a plentiful supply of cardboard with straw over top..

turtle heaven!! this little fellow needs the extra heat and security of indoors...

these turtles live in the greenhouse, they have their own garden.. nothing like fresh produce!!

Hops!!!! mmmmbeer... not that i drink it, but i've heard that my friend makes very good beer....



the chicken coop is beautiful!! unfortunately due to the number of predators they need to be contained..

note the stained glass window!!! luxury for chicks!!

Chess anyone??

tomato chess that is!!! The players are arranged, the spectators piled on the sides...and OH NO... a salt shaker to the right... waiting for unsuspecting spectators or one of the losing chess tomatoes....

i went back to visit the community greenhouse and had a tour by one of the hosts...

this Rhubarb (inside the greenhouse) and the Rhubarb in the picture below(outside the greenhouse) , were both grown by seed, this year... i've never tried growing Rhubarb by seed, but it definately is interesting and i might let one of my Rhubarb plants go to seed next year...

my kindly host gave me one of these beans to sample.. mmmgood! i'm not sure of the variety, but it looks much like a Scarlet Runner, but has white flowers and the bean didn't have a 'fuzzy' coating like the Scarlet Runner has....

the fall crop of Choi is just starting, beets to the left and in the far left is kale... because of the mild climate, rarely snow and not a whole lot of frost the fall crops should do quite well ... the cold weather crops do quite well in the Oregon coastal climate, the sun days are short, a lot of fog or rain or just grey days...the 'field' behind the garden is their 'poor man's golf/driving range course!! soooo fun!!!

nothing like 'organic' means of insect control! a lovely little Skink stayed still long enough for a picture...

an alligator lizard was sitting on another raised bed... one of my hosts felt she was pregnant.. apparently she's very friendly and comes out when people come into garden...

all in all, the community greenhouse has a wonderful 'organic' feel, no wonder the plants were doing so well... as one of my hosts explained... we learn more from our mistakes and 'failures' than when the crops all do well.. they had a bumper crop of tomatoes this year, next year the plan is to have less tomatoes so there is more room for other types of veggies... the squashes didn't like being outside, too cool and damp, and did much better in the greenhouse... the newly transplanted raspberries had been munched on by the elk but with better fencing should do well next year.. the hosts request dogs to come visit, more dog scent, less likely the elk will come and raid the gardens... and surrounding the gardens were lots of huckleberry bushes, blue and red, and lots of salal bushes... how lucky can they be!!!

thanks to my hosts for the tour, and thanks for the bag of tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini!!

Community Gardens....

are very prevalent in the small community of Yachats Oregon.. there are several of them actually, quite a feat for a village of approximately 600-700 people...there is a beginnings of a Master Gardener teaching centre, a very nice greenhouse which is located 4 miles out of town, and a city lot sized Community Garden and all of them had their start this year... the climate here on the immediate coast is good for acidic loving cool weather plants who don't mind a dusting of salt air and a lot of mist or fog, further inland (a mile or less) is considerably different, the temperatures are higher in the summer, cooler in winter, not as misty or windy, and generally more conducive to more varieties of plants... i have friends that live approximately 10 miles inland from the coast and they get very warm in the summer, some snow and much colder in the winter.. and did i mention ... RAIN!! a LOT of rain in the winter!

The community garden is doing very well, in February just before i left, the garden was a buzz with 'tenants' who were just making raised beds, planting cold weather crops and generally turning a vacant (donated) lot into a wonderful four letter word - FOOD -!!!



note the Cloches around the corn!

The greenhouse 4 miles away was the concept of a different group of folks, who banded together, built a sizable greenhouse and have built raised beds and are continuing to build more beds which will surround the greenhouse... and they have a created a very prolific array of veggies!!







the seeds looked like some kind of brassicas but not sure..








this next set of 3 pictures is because i couldn't fit all of the 'lean-to' in one picture.. but it was built a few years ago, and was the original 'greenhouse', it's a delightful area filled with herbs and veggies... very warm and inviting... i just wish that i could have shown what it really is like!







the real Master!!

The Master Gardener - Demonstration and & Community Garden is something that hadn't been started before i left and i'm not sure of the details... i just know that there are a lot of potatoes and different kinds, and it seems different growing techniques...

Darling Darlingtonia Californica....

A truly remarkable species, at least in my edge of the world... there is a small State Park in Florence Oregon that is dedicated solely to the Darlingtonia Californica , the park is free, the walk is short, and the plants are amazing... unfortunately we've missed them blooming, which is in May and June but still a wonderous sight indeed! i do have pictures of them blooming, which i took at another time, but they are back in Canada, or i would have scanned them and included them in this posting.. nonetheless the links i've posted are awesome, the photos remarkable..
my daughter says they are 'alien'... they do look rather alien, with their hoods and split 'tongues', a rather reptilian breed, waiting for unsuspecting flies to wander into their traps..their method of reproduction is rather unique and a bit of a mystery it seems... if your interested please read the links i've posted, well worth the read...

We're at the BEACH!!!!

Oh yes... we are at the beach... the cool breezes, the sun, the fog, the sunsets... ahhhhhh... not bad not bad! We're mid coastal Oregon, my other 'home' ... they say home is where the heart is.. my heart is here... it's a wonderful little place, filled with character and some of the most beautiful scenery on the west coast of North America..













my poor garden is being neglected... for 10 days it's going to be neglected.. but my eldest said she'd water it for me.. sooooo i'm crossing my fingers that all is well!!

on the way south we stopped at some friends house and of course did the garden tour!!

Innies and Outies... and Hidden Treasures....

Zucchini as prolific as they can be, sometimes aren't.... as i pointed out in Pollination for the Nation , so very frustrating if they decide to not produce male and female flowers at the same time.. my friend so cutely calls them Innies and Outies and it's a great way for kids and forgetful people like myself, to remember which is which!

Innies (female)



Outies (male)

this morning was a watering morning and i discovered some hidden treasures...

my Marion berries, which are not native to here, and i'm hoping will do well with our colder winters have blessed me with several small bunches of berries... i've sadly neglected them over the summer and i was shocked to see berries on them.. the actual plants (only 2 of them) are only about 2 ft high at best and hidden behind the volunteer potatoes and choi which were lurking in the compost that i used for the new bed...

a very beautiful and delicate eggplant flower, i'm sure much too late for any fruiting, but nonetheless a treasure...

the first fall raspberries!! i'm very glad that the picture turned out because i promptly picked them, thanked Creator, and popped them in my mouth!

a Tansy Ragwort with a guest.. i don't know my moths but it's was a beautiful white with black markings... Tansy Ragwort is on the invasive plant list but it's one of the least invasive in my yard... each year i only have one or 2 plants which usually shrivel up and die long before they produce seeds...

Pearly Everlasting, i missed taking pictures when they were at the height of their blooming and this poor little one is struggling with no water for a long time...