Just call me Urban Farmer

Welcome to my small homestead. I have been gardening since I was a small child, helping to tend my parent’s vegetable gardens in our small suburban lot. Growing my own food has been a passion of mine through the years, and even when I lived in a condo, I grew containers of tomatoes, potatoes, herbs and fresh greens.

Jade Gardens is animal powered. The orchard and gardens are my attempt at a sustainable lifestyle, with the help of goats, chickens and rabbits. The excess eggs and produce that are not preserved or canned are shared with the local food bank. In the past I have gardened in urban areas and find the act of Suburban and Urban Homesteading to be very satisfying.

2011
02/18
CATEGORY
My Urban Homestead
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A Walk through the Gardens. . .

. . . for my mother, a walk through the August landscape.


The hairy stemmed plant is Borage, with it’s simple blue blossom,

always a favorite.

I had an entire hillside planted with it this year, and it is going to seed right now.

Salvia Patens, the clear blue is always a Summer delight.

This photo actually does not show how very blue the blossoms are.

The blossom of a mildly spicey pepper, the Hungarian Black.

The intoxicating oriental lilies, which without would be

a summerless Summer for me.

The only remaining dahlia that survived the hard freeze last Winter.

I lost the giant, pie-plate sized white ones.

The next three images are just lowly potato blossoms!

A simple white snap dragon, dressed in bridal attire.

Sunset through the broccoli seed pods, reflecting off the water,

creating a double sunset.

Dead grasses and fallen leaves, victims of a long dry summer with no rain.




2010
08/23
CATEGORY
Photo Tour
Plants
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Mother’s Day

Hi mom! Thought you might enjoy this particular rose. It was growing outside of your brother’s house, by the deck. Seeing as how you looked at and smelled this very rose, I thought it would be the best virtual rose I could send you! My words may be virtual, but the feelings behind them are heart felt. You have been the best mom I could have hoped for, standing by me through thick and thin, my cheerleader and sole member of my fan club. So pamper yourself today, and every other day, you deserve it.

2010
05/09
CATEGORY
Photo Tour
Plants
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Created a blog specifically for Art

Hopefully everyone in my family has found my newest blog that relates specifically to art, which will leave this blog to focus on family, farm, and fotography. Sorry, just could not resist!

http://kathrynaultnoble.wordpress.com

It has been so windy the last week that getting any type of floral close-up has been impossible but I am hoping to get some decent shots today of all the Spring shoots that are basking in the almost sunny day.

Yesterday I worked for hours rebuilding paths and raking rocks out of the flower beds. The chickens were all gathered at their fence glaring at me as I undercovered worms just out of their reach. It is satisfying to be cleaning up the yard knowing that the chicken creatures will not undo it right behind me. When they scratch, it throws rocks 10 feet in every direction, so the gravel pathways are now mixed in with the dark composed soil. I do have a nice mounted screen that separates out the rocks and larger debris, but it is a slow process.

The sun is trying to warm my deck so I will go out now and appreciate its attempts on my behalf!

2010
04/25
CATEGORY
Random Thoughts
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April Showers. . .

Yeah, yeah, whatever. I know the showers bring the flowers, but I need a few warm, dry days to enjoy! I was comparing photos from early April in 07, 08, 09 and the growth this year is definitely ahead of any other year. I’ll try to get some comparison photos this week, but here on some shots from previous years.

The hot pink leaves of the Acer palmatum ‘Geisha‘ are stunning again this year and the tree has grown significantly since I planted it. All of the 100+ Japanese Maples need to go up one pot this year, but I may have to just do the ones that seem the most desperate. I up-potted about 30 trees and perennials so far this year that I would normally have planted in the ground but with Wells Fargo wanting to take my house, I think it best to keep as many things in planters as possible.

2010
04/06
CATEGORY
My Urban Homestead
Plants
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Old things have passed away. . .

behold, new things have come! Happy Easter and Resurrection Day!

The last image is the view from my kitchen window, well zoomed in, and across the street down towards the Hood Canal. There has been a huge pink tree blooming down there for a couple of weeks so I should walk down and see what it is. The water and Olympic mountains can almost be seen, but my neighbors spent $850,000 for a full view so I’ll be happy with the much cheaper peek that I have!

2010
04/04
CATEGORY
Photo Tour
Plants
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Hatchling photos. . .

As promised, here are the photos of the French Standard Feather Shanked Black Copper Marans chick pipping it’s way into the world. I finally got to watch the whole process and realized that the chick actually turns itself around inside the shell and breaks off small pieces as it circles the shell, like a can opener. Then it just pops out!

And I am the chickie’s mama! The one that hatched three days before and the new one are sitting in my lap as I type. The first one will be Carloman, or Louise depending on the gender, and the second will be Pippin the Younger, or Bertrada. I had a grandmother named Bertie, and as I child I thought her name was Birdie.

Three more dark chocolate BCMs eggs arrived today and are already in the incubator. These will add to the genetics of my little Marans flock. If I had to narrow it down to three breeds, it would be Welsummers, Australorps and BCMarans, as they are all very sweet birds.

2010
04/01
CATEGORY
Animals
Photo Tour
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Remembering Sparky

Someday I am going to turn this into a children’s book. Its hard to imagine that I rescued this baby Robin from the crows, then cared for it until it finally flew away. It was so much fun gardening with Sparky following me around the yard, waiting for worms. I hope he/she finally figured out that digging for worms does not require a shovel! I often wonder if I heard the crows trying to kill a baby robin again, would I plug my ears, but no, I believe I would do it all over again if I had the time. Every Robin that lands in my yard gets called Sparky now, just in case.

Snow White!

2010
03/23
CATEGORY
Animals
Photo Tour
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The chickens are captive!

I dragged two rolls of horse fencing up to the chicken house, 70′ long, 6′ tall, then staked it with rebar woven through. Looks like Granny and Jetho put it up, but it was just Granny. I am looking forward to the soil staying IN the flower beds, not all over the sidewalks and driveway. They can flip gravel 10 feet when they start scratching, so even the grass is full of rocks now.

Wrestling that roll of wire took all my strength. I fell over backwards twice! At least I did not land on the pitchfork or large rocks. I will definitely have some bruises tomorrow, but looking out my window and seeing the chicks were they belong? Priceless!

I have aches on top of aches, so am calling it a night, yep at 8:00!

 

2010
03/23
CATEGORY
My Urban Homestead
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The Song of Robins. . .

beckoned me outside today, even though I had just told my mother I was going to ignore the outdoors and get that painting finished. I just could not help myself! So I swept up the white lime off the deck where the bottom had let loose yesterday, then rinsed it all away. Then I prepared one tray of pots and soil for my tomatoes and put in the label stakes. . . Black Brandywine, Black Cherry, and Black from Tula. . .which were my favorites from last year. The seeds will go in tomorrow.

Then I headed for the back patio area and began to rake out the leaves, again, and finished the dead heading. I filled two large black bags of leaves and trimmings. Hopefully it will look like this again. . .

The Japanese Maples are starting to leaf out in the most delicate shapes, something I find utmost pleasure in. I am guessing that is why I have over 100 of them! I only saw 6 that did not survive which is better than I had originally thought after that horrid heat wave last year, and then the hard freeze early in the Winter. Both events were record breaking weather for this area, but most of my perennials seem to have survived.

2010
03/21
CATEGORY
Plants
Random Thoughts
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