Nestmaker's Flicker Photos

Lots of great plant pics here.

Garden Update

If I eat another tomato, I think I will choke. But they are still coming. I'm drying and canning them as fast as I can.

These leeks have been slow coming, but they are finally starting to look promising. I tried one last night in my roasted veggies. They really aren't big enough to harvest yet. Go leeks. Go leeks. Come on leeks.

The red chard has been making a heartier appearance lately. It was pretty much decimated by leaf miners earlier in the summer.

"Black" hollyhock and cosmos.

The cosmos are about 8' high and falling over.

FINALLY an eggplant! Come on baby!

Portland Nursery's Companion Planting Guide

Download the pdf here.

Nogg Coop

Another great coop design from Nogg.

Mmm... Succulent!

Beautiful Flickr set by DominusVobiscum, the Huntington Library Desert Garden. Via Megan@Plantlust.

Glad to See House and Universe is Back!

At House and Universe we believe that your home is the intersection of your self and the world around you. It's a place where you do things that are important - talk, play, eat, love, daydream, cuddle, sleep, be. It seems to us that the best kind of home is an evolving and playful environment that supports the actions you most love; a place of inspiration where your universe comes in and settles itself around you.

Bulb PlantingTIme

Yesterday was a brilliant jewel of a day. Warm, clear air, vibrant colors. Unfortunately the camera on my new iPhone really sucks a**. ( It's a 3Gs, not 4G. Given that the Apple Store replaced the one I accidentally drowned, for FREE, I shouldn't complain.) I took some photos of good garden sights while out on my bike but the photos are not fit for sharing.

Yesterday I planted Scottish Red shallots, Nootka Rose garlic, and Italian Late garlic. I'm curious as to the Nootka Rose name, as it is actually a native rose plant. Why did they named a garlic variety for it?

I also planted some white tulips interspersed with a few Queen of Nights.

There is a big bag of daffodils still sitting on my kitchen counter, but due to soggy weather those will have to wait for planting.

I unsuccessfully tried to find some more lovely Acidanthera. I wonder why they are so uncommon.

Harvest

I started the season with seven tomato plants, but then Nick said "Oh, we need twice that many!" So I put in five more. I have one insane Sun Gold that is over seven feet tall and still putting blossoms out.

Last night I made a batch of ketchup with all of the San Marzanos I had been saving up.

I've also been drying the little Principe Borgeses. The description on the seed packet said good for drying. The weren't lying. They are unimpressive fresh, but wonderful once dried. They make good snacks, and can be packed in olive oil to use in pasta dishes.

Iceland Photos by Michael Schlegel

More on Behance.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

If you haven't seen it before, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website is a very well designed wealth of information about birds. Check it out!

Cedar Wax Wing

Black Capped Chickadee

Botany Blueprint Column on Imprint

Design news site, Imprint, has a new column:

Botany Blueprint will be a regular column about the form and function of seed cases, intended to advance botanic literacy and make plants relevant to a broad audience. The project will cover 100 specimens in total, and it will detail the design of the seed case and its function in the plant's life cycle. Some are particularly fascinating, from a design perspective, through sheer precision and simple beauty.

Specimen #1: Jacaranda mimosifolia

Not a Dang Thing

On Sunday I ventured a mushroom hunting trip up to Mt. Hood but found nothing but some beautiful sights, soggy feet, and a drowned iPhone.

I find it strange that we do not incorporate more wild beauty—not to be confused with weedy neglect—into our urban landscapes.

This is a great little area of rolling volcanic ash soil covered in mosses and lichens with an open mix of conifers — stunted little lodgepole pine, white fir and western hemlock. I would be in heaven if my front yard looked like this!

I love a good old snag. I suppose they are a hazard, but wouldn't those be lovely scattered about town?

This is a neat little native non-invasive blackberry.

Native cornus forbes. I adore them.

Brittish Soldier lichens.

The angular, buzzing, crackling power lines made a wonderful contrast with the soft misty mountain side and low evening light from the west.

Where are the mushrooms?

Sunday Sights

The dogwood all have bright red pods. I read somewhere that the inside of them is edible. (If you are inclined to try them, please look it up on your own. Don't take my word for it. I just read it on the internet.)

I was hoping for more squash, but I'm happy with these. I think the soil was lacking nutrients.

Bouquet of anemones, blueberries, and coco-something. The name slips my mind at the moment. All from the garden of course.

Coops

I'm beginning to think about chicken coops. I definitely do not want some ratty old poop encrusted hut.

The Eglu by Omlet is a very cool, easy to clean and easy to set up coop. They seem a bit small, but perhaps I am anthropomorphizing. They come in a variety of bright colors.

They also make these great behives. (That will be my next project after the house improvements, garden, and chickens.)

The Cocorico by Maxine Evard (via Yanko Design) looks great. I wonder if the run structure is strong enough to keep predators out. At this point it looks like a concept, so who knows if it will ever be built and available to buy.

Nice flat-pack design by Chicken Crib.

Nice looking Breed Retreat concept by Fredrick Roijé. But is it functional?

Very nice basic design by Drew Waters.

I ♥ the Urban Farm Store. ♥♥♥♥♥!!!!!

Last night I attended the Urban Farm Store's free class on how to keep chickens. Their book on keeping chickens will be coming out in March. Now I've got to start designing and building a coop. The recommended flock starting size is 3 chickens for city dwellers. It's going to be difficult to choose which breeds.

I definitely want an Ameraucana. They lay such beautiful blue-green eggs and are reputed to have very pleasant personalities.

I'll probably get a Brahma too,

and a Barred Plymouth Rock,

a Rhode Island Red,

Silver Laced Wyandotte,

and a Buff Orpington.

... oh wait, how many did I say?

The Garden Inside You

Did you know that the majority of cells—about 90%— in your body are not human? Here are two stories, the light side and the dark side, of what could be going on in your micro world.

In this Fresh Air episode Terry Gross interviews Dr. Jeffery Gordon on the subject. Bonanza: Microbes Keep us Alive.

For those with a strong stomach, here's a Radiolab segment on Parasites.

Modular Garden Design

Comfortable and loosely ordered design UK based Modular Garden Design. Flickr set here.