Some New, Old Gardening Ideas

And, for the second post of the day....

A post I saw this morning led me to this website,HERE

Now, you might remember that we are doing lasagna gardening here... and layer our beds with biodegradable paper, with straw and peat moss, and then garden soil.  Our elevated beds have the same in them, and I have just top-dressed them with straw for the current growing season. 

I am going to experiment with growing IN just a bale of straw, and report on it, for you. 

Yesterday evening, we got some great ideas for a watering system using Homer buckets and hose to get water from the duck pond that I am now emptying and refilling daily to the fruit trees.  If you have read along here for a long time, you know that I carried many, many buckets of water to those trees last summer to keep them alive in our terrible drought.  It worked, all four lived. 

Gail suggested that we raise a bucket and do a downward-running siphon system to the trees, so that I only have to bucket into that bucket from where I stand by the pool.  It will keep the yard MUCH drier, and gravity will water the trees.  Keith got it immediately when he read her comment, and we are going to put it into effect in the next few days, because frankly, today is a mess out there. 

34 degrees! 

Back to comfort food... it's Beef and Bean Casserole from Betty Crocker, and will have lettuce and some more tomatoes on top by the time Keith gets home.  Notice I had to taste-test it. 

HERE is the recipe. 

I made some chocolate chip cookies for dessert. 

I thought you would all enjoy seeing some of the birds coming to the deck today.  Everytime I say I am going to stop feeding on the deck, we have another crazy weather day.  I just love the wildings so much and enjoy watching them... so I am still feeding.  

As Keith says... they have my number! 

I had some particularly good pictures of tufted titmice, but, in going back over them... I can't isolate them, there were so many pictures.  How I love to watch them, even the grackles and cowbirds. 

Today is a Tuesday Gardening linkup at An Oregon Cottage, HERE and there's lot's of good gardening information if you have time to go read a few. 

Let's hope this is the last of the "S" word for our spring, here at Calamity Acres!