Just Pickin'

Most everyone that knows me knows that I come from a family of, ahem, “collectors.” But I could write volumes on that and maybe one day I will, but not today. So, part of this adventure that I’ve chosen to undertake in renovating this house and landscape, is that I have the wonderful, or cursed, ability to walk right out into my back yard and go “pickin’.” No, not as in mandolin or banjo or flat pickin’, but Pickin’, like the show, American Pickers. There are no deals to be offered, no haggling or back and forth, just plain and simple easy pickin’.  I know, it’s a little bit redneck to go pickin’ in your own back yard, but it can be cool too. Today’s pick looks like this:

A nice little quint of “glassy” ladies. So, what are they? Three are canning jars and the two smaller ones look to be old pharmaceutical or household vessels. From left to right:

Ball Ideal with glass lid, quart size

Unknown with cap

Mrs. Stewart’s Bluing, minus the cap (what the heck is bluing anyway?)

Atlas E-Z Seal with glass lid, pint size

Atlas E-Z Seal with glass lid (slightly aqua tinted glass), quart size

I just looked up bluing, and apparently bluing is a solution that is added to laundry to enhance your “whites.” It’s the old school method for whiter whites. Thanks Mrs. Stewart! Check her out – hotter than firecrackers on the fourth of July!

I love the typeface on the Atlas and Ball jars – always have. It’s a shame these were left outside to get all rusty crusty (although I am a huge fan of the oxidation process of weathered steel), these fetch a decent price on ebay, when in pristine condition.

Oh well, for now they’ll just be cleaned up and left sitting on my kitchen window sill- a good daily reminder to get gardening, so I can, in turn, get to canning! There are many other picks that I have yet to discover, like an old parking meter!?! I know, I know, look back at my first sentence. But really, it will make an awesome wall hanging one day. Presently, it is an industrial model of housing for a huge family of fire ants! One that did not want to be disturbed, and violently let me know it! I’ll “pick” it another day, after I’ve put out the fire ant killer.

Have you "picked" anything lately? Did you repurpose it as home decor or garden art?

I'd love to hear your stories; email me pictures if  you have any and I'll post them.

Happy Pickin' ya'll!



Bye Bye Chickadees, Hello Bluebirds!

Well, last week our Chickadee family went on to bigger and better things, leaving our birdhouse vacant. Not two days later, I spied from my kitchen window, this happy bluebird couple checking out their new digs. It was awesome watching their back and forth exchange, bringing new pieces of grass and branches to add to the nest already inside. It took me thirty minutes standing in the yard, still as a statue, to get these photos.

First, the male would fly up and check things out. He would go in the house, come out and sit on the roof.

Once he knew things were safe, he would fly up to a branch on a nearby tree and wait for the female.

Then, the female would swoop down. This time she had a long piece of grass.

You can see the grass, still hanging out, as she makes her adjustments to the nest.

When she was done, she would rest with her head sticking out, making sure things were safe before leaving the house. With the male still on the nearby tree branch, they would chirp back and forth with each other. This process lasted all day. These birds are amazing to watch. They are so cautious and persistent and split their work equally.

I had no idea this birdhouse was so popular. We should really invest in more throughout our yard. Do you have any birdhouses in your yard? If so, what types of birds are coming to it?

Join me and take the Urban Farm Handbook Challenge!

Our new foundation plantings

Last week we braved the pollen and invested in a little DIY yardwork. After roto-tilling the front beds and purchasing new foundation shrubs, our front yard has a more inviting look. Here's the reveal:

 Everything is on the small side right now; our budget allowed for three-gallon size material. Hopefully everything will grow at a fast rate and we'll see a size improvement in about one to two years. We also plan to add decorative planters on the stoop and a trellis panel in the niche on the left side. So, what did we plant?

On either side of the front stoop are Yellow Knockout Roses 'Radsunny'. Sometimes I feel that the pink knockout roses get too much attention, making them a little too commercial for my liking. I found these yellow ones; they are fragrant, slightly compact with an upright growth habit. The bright yellow flowers fade to a pastel cream color, as displayed in the photo. This rose should produce flowers from mid-spring until first frost. 

To create a continuous hedge across the front, we've planted these Wintergreen Boxwoods, Buxus microphylla var. koreana 'Wintergreen'. I love boxwoods as foundation plantings; they are evergreen, have good texture and color and are very reliable. We planted ours about 2.5' on center. They should grow together nicely in a few years.





To add a little height on the right side corner of our home, we went with this Japanese Privet, Ligustrum japonicum. This one is probably a little overused in the industry too, but I wanted something fast-growing and evergreen, that can be easily pruned into a small tree. This was the best solution. It has glossy bright green foliage year-round and white flowers in the spring.

Our next project is to incorporate a bed along the right side of our yard. We've already purchased a few azaleas, but I need to get more native plants in our yard. I saw some beautiful Virginia sweetspire, Itea virginica, the other day at a local native plants nursery. Some native perennials would be nice too. Maybe Stokes aster, Stokesia laevis, and Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia. We would also like to add a small flowering tree, a Dogwood or Eastern Redbud, to replace a dead Pecan tree.



Itea, Photo credit: NC State Cooperative Extension Service

Stokes aster, Photo credit: Floridata

Rudbeckia, Photo credit: Floridata




Hopefully the weather will remain as cool as it has been so we can get a jump start on our second phase landscape improvements! Let us know what you think about our landscape so far. As always, if you have questions about your landscape, post a question.

Hey there, Lovey Dovey!

As a follow up to my last post on our bird families, I want to share this little lady with you.

This mama dove has been putting in some hours on her nest (again, I am still learning about my birds, so I assume this is the mama). I was finally able to get a decent photo of her without disturbing her.

It's amazing what you can see when you take the time to slow down and notice them.
Have a great day!



Join me in taking the Urban Farm Handbook Challenge!

Happy Monday!

Well, after having spent most of last week as a shut-in, thanks pollen, I am happy to report some new discoveries in our own back yard. I noticed a few weeks ago that some birds had taken interest in one of our bird houses. Over the last several days, there has been a lot of activity; fluttering in and out of the house. I was finally able to get close enough to snap a few pictures without disturbing her (I am assumming it is a "her.") So, meet the matriarch of our new little black capped chickadee family.

Here's a closer view. Isn't it cute?

Not only do we have this little family, but in our live oak tree by our back fence, we have two more bird families. On one branch, there is a nest of brown trasher babies, and one limb over in the same tree, I spotted a dove sitting on her nest. No pictures yet, but hopefully soon.

Another sweet occurence that I was able to observe was a mother and baby brown thrasher hanging out in our front yard under another live oak. It was obviously a morning of learning; she was teaching it to fly and search for food. I wish I could have recorded it.

We are so fortunate to have a large yard with very mature trees. It's amazing the amount of wildlife we see daily compared to our old neighborhood. So plant those trees, folks, and put out those bird boxes. Our feathered friends will thank you for it.

Have you observed any bird families in your yard or neighborhood lately? I'd love to hear your stories.

Have a wonderful week!

Follow up to "Chartreuse"

So, in my last post I was complaining that I wasn't lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to snap a photo of a chameleon anole. Well, sure enough, the very next day, there he was. All pumping his red throat and looking for action. B helped me spot him.
Where is he, B?
"Der e is, right der. A wizard"

Please disregard the state of my yard - we are in the middle of a
huge renovation of this inherited landscape.

Where, B? I'm not sure I see him.
"Der e is, right der."

Ohhh, there he is, right there.

Mission completion.

Color in the landscape: Chartreuse

Good Monday Morning Folks! Hope everyone had a great weekend. As I was walking in the yard yesterday evening, I noticed that our viburnum was starting to open it's buds. I love that bright green of the young buds before they turn in to puffy white snowballs. Then I remembered this great moss that is growing on the bark of a very old juniper "tree?"- so old that my dad shaped it into a multi-trunk tree years ago when he was having an Asian garden obsession. But more on that another time.

Do you notice a theme here, a color theme? I am a big fan of writer Keri Smith. In her book How To Be an Explorer of the World, Keri challenges us to be better observers of our world. She say to observe an object, any object. When you think you are done observing it, look closer. And then when you think you are done, look even closer. Well that's what I was doing in my yard last night. I think I found some pretty cool stuff - some chartreuse stuff. I would like to dedicate this post to all my chameleon anoles in my garden, who are very chartreuse, and apparently are very camera shy. Yesterday morning they were practically jumping into my lap as I sat on the back deck. But walk around the yard with a camera, well that was just too much for them.

So, here's my lovin' to the color chartreuse, found all within the confines of my own backyard. What are the colors surrounding you that bring you inspiration this spring?