Gardening

The Chicken Chronicles: Building The Coop Day 1

Anna Blankenheim Chicken Chronicles, Gardening , ,

Today I started on my chicken coop. My husband was super cute… he came down “to make sure I got started and show me tips and tricks”. I think he wanted to help a bit… he ended up spending the afternoon with me. It was nice to work together!

First, I cut and framed the wood for the floor… then covered it in 3/4 inch plywood.

The Floor
The Floor

That was the easy part… then we drove it down to the orchard (where the coop will be) and started trying to figure out exactly how to get it seated on the piers… it took some digging, measuring, and leveling, but we eventually got it!

The Floor & Foundation
The Floor & Foundation

I know it doesn’t seem like much, but let me tell you, that was the hardest part of this whole project. It’s perfectly seated on the piers, is perfectly level, and is braced. That spaced underneath is intentional… it’s a place for the chickens to go to get shade or get out of the rain (if they want to be outside the coop). I am so happy!

Tomorrow… the walls!

While we were moving things around, I noticed how amazing my lavender looks right now:

Lavender Pathway
Lavender Pathway
Busy Bee
Busy Bee

I leave you with today’s chick pic… I have a chick who already likes to roost… she hopped right up on top of the feeder and settled in!

The One Who Roosts
The One Who Roosts

Leap Of Faith

Anna Blankenheim Gardening, Inspirational , , ,

Today was a pretty mellow day in the Blankenheim household… mostly spent recovering from my father-in-law’s retirement party. Stay tuned for a post on that once I feel a little better. This cold is still kicking my booty, so I tried to do some relaxing today. That said, I needed a little movement, so I headed out to a much neglected section of my yard to fix some sprinklers and move a few leaves. It turned out to be a pretty big pile… hard to tell in the picture because Mike was on the deck when it took it, but they came up to just above my waist.

Big Pile 'O Leaves
Big Pile ‘O Leaves

And, once you rake up a pile of leaves, there’s only one thing left to do:

Leap Of Faith
Leap Of Faith

Now, mid-leap of faith, Mike yelled out something along the lines of “it might not be as soft as you think”, so I decided against the face plant. Instead, I landed feet first.

The End.
The End.

Sometimes, even when you’re sick, you need to take some time to indulge your inner child! Happy Fall everyone!

Daffodil Hill

Anna Blankenheim Family, Gardening , , , , , ,

Ever since I moved in with Mike I’ve wanted to visit Daffodil Hill in the spring. Each year, something has happened that has made that impossible – mainly, a brief period of warm weather followed by a cold snap and snow. The snow kills off the flowers for the year, so that pretty much ruins the trip. Today I headed over with Dad, Kati, Nate, and Chloe. According to their website, it’s estimated that Daffodil Hill is carpeted with over 300,000 bulbs when in full bloom. That’s pretty impressive! It was a beautiful day and it was really nice to walk through. They have a bunch of different varieties that I didn’t realize existed.

Daffodil Hill
Daffodil Hill

This was my favorite one:

Orange Daffodil!
Orange Daffodil!

This one was really pretty, too – I think it was more luck than skill, but the picture turned out really amazing!

Yellow & Orange Daffodil
Yellow & Orange Daffodil

When we got back to the house, Mike made some amazing burgers and then we hung out for a while. Chloe was such a good girl and even consented to hang out with Uncle Mike for a while!

Chloe & Uncle Mike
Chloe & Uncle Mike

I love that little girl so much… she’s getting so much more inquisitive and interactive!

Beautiful Day!

Anna Blankenheim Gardening , , , ,

I decided to spend some time playing in the yard today since the weather was so nice. I’m finally getting smart about living in the foothills (don’t plant early!), so I made it out of Lowe’s this morning without buying a single plant. My plan was for today to be a maintenance day – I pulled weeds, took down cages (my crepe myrtle is ready to be free), and staked my apricot trees. I also installed these cute little birds that have a little spinner on the bottom so that your hose moves around them – basically they go on corners so that you don’t drag your hose over your plants.

Hose Bird
Hose Bird

I love them. I can’t wait for them to get a little dirty and look a little worn. I’ve also been putting in a little time in my vegetable garden. My pride and joy right now is my broccoli – I’ve never grown it before and it’s taken a while for the actual broccoli to show up, but all of the sudden, here it is! They’re still tiny, but I’ve got six of these little heads!

Broccoli
Broccoli

I’ve also pulled together a little kitchen window herb garden. It’s got cilantro, basil, oregano, and thyme.

Kitchen Herb Garden
Kitchen Herb Garden

I love mellow days like this. I am so happy that spring is coming and that I have acres and acres of land to play on! Shadow spent the day out with me (Mike spent the day on his bike), so now it’s time for all of us to plop down on the sofa and mellow out!

It’s Winter, Right?

Anna Blankenheim Gardening

This weekend was unbelievably beautiful here in Northern California! I took advantage of the nice weather and satisfied the craving I’ve had lately to do some work in the yard. Since now is an excellent time to plant bare root, I headed to my local Lowe’s to check out their selection. I came home with two pear trees (for the orchard) and a weeping cherry (for Shadow’s pen). I’ve been wanting to plant one of those for a really long time now and thought it would make Shadow’s spot a little prettier. I also came home with roughly sixty little tubs of lavender.

Since we finally finished the patio and walkways around the house, I decided that it was time to get some landscaping in. The back side of the house has rosemary lining the pathways and I wanted something different. I have been waging war with the deer since I moved in with Mike several years ago, and finally came to the conclusion that I need to plant what I know they won’t eat. Rosemary, lavender, pine, and St. John’s Wort are all on the safe list (unless the deer are really hungry, in which case all bets are off). I saw a really pretty picture on Pinterest that showed a garden pathway with lavender growing all around it – that’s what I’m aiming to duplicate here.

Lavender In The Yard
Lavender In The Yard

I think it turned out really nice and will look even better once they fill in. Now I just have to contain my gardening impulse until spring comes around!

New Life

Anna Blankenheim Gardening , ,

Today was such a beautiful day that I decided to visit my local nursery to get some plants for a project I had been thinking about for a while. Back in our patio building days, our old wheelbarrow broke. Like the tire completely exploded. It sounded like a gunshot. Mike mentioned at the time that it might make a cool planter. Fast forward to today. I finally got around to moving it to where I wanted (this perfect bare spot of concrete in our front yard) and decided on the plants I wanted to grow in it. I headed down to the Ridge Road Garden Center – if you’re in the general area and need plants, this is the place to go. Salye (the manager) is absolutely amazing – she knows the customers by name, is incredibly knowledgeable about plants, and is always willing to give advice. Plus, she has a great golden retriever named Gunner who runs around the nursery.

I decided that I wanted a succulent garden – something that tolerated the sun/heat well and that the deer would leave alone (fingers crossed – I’ve learned the hard way that absolutely nothing is “deer proof”).

Wheelbarrow
Wheelbarrow
Wheelbarrow Planter
Wheelbarrow Planter

Of course, I can never make it out of the garden center without buying more than I went in for. I was inspired by Mike’s aunt and uncle in Oregon – they have a beautiful sun room that is full of amazing live plants. I have a couple of houseplants that I’ve been growing for a while, but nothing substantial. The first one I got was the corn plant (Dracaena Fragrans), so named because it’s leaves resemble the leaves on corn stalks.

Corn Plant
Corn Plant

The second is the money tree (Pachira aquatica), complete with braided trunk. I just love having something green and alive in our house! This one is in our bedroom – I’m not sure I love where I put it, so I might move it around.

Money Tree
Money Tree

I absolutely love gardening. I was talking with Salye today and we were both wishing it was spring and could plant more! I had to restrain myself and remember that if I planted too much outside it would all die! There’s something so rewarding about turning the soil, planting something, and watching it grow! I suppose I’ll have to stick with houseplants until spring comes!