Another Side Project

I actually finished this project a few weeks ago, but I have been so crazy busy and distracted I didn’t take pictures so I could blog about it. My very good friend and Editorial Page Editor John Laird is retiring so The Columbian needed to fill his position. The Sports Editor Greg Jayne ended up getting promoted to the job and then my boss Micah Rice was promoted to Sports Editor. That left the copy desk without a fearless leader. So as assistant news editor, it made sense for me to try for it. And I got it. I am now, or will be at the end of this month when everyone shifts around, the News Editor at The Columbian. So far it is being really stressful and one of the first things on my to-do list is to fill our vacant position. I am excited for the challenge but also nervous. So we’ll see. The next few months are going to be insane!

Anyway, this project was pretty easy to throw together — just laid down some more of that leftover mulch that I removed when redoing the front patio and artfully arrange some of my pots. Planted a few extra things in said pots and done. But I love how it looks. And it is a good place to have some of my more heat-sensitive herbs — parsley, cilantro, sorrel — so they don’t bolt as fast.

herb garden bed

Looks super cute. On the other side of the walk, the blueberries are doing great. And the chamomile and callengula are filling out. I also threw some sunflower seeds that Eric Murray got in a wedding invitation last year in the ground and was surprised, not only that they came up, but that they are doing great.

And now that things are looking so cute back here, I have been trying to take time to enjoy it. So after a long weekend of weeding, I fired up the grill and cooked dinner.

grilling

A rib-eye steak and zucchini from the garden

Dinner

Steak, grilled zucchini and a arugula, blueberry and corn salad. (arugula and some of the blueberries are from my garden.) Holy crap it was delicious!

And as an added bonus, here is one of my more-awesome day lilies, that I snap a pic of today.

orange lily

Super cute orange day lily. Have I mentioned that I love orange?

4th of July Tomato Gauge

When I lived at the Rex Hamilton with brother Derek, we always had a 4th of July party. They were super fun and crazy, hanging out in the  yard with friends. An inadvertent consequence was I always managed to snap a photo of how the garden was doing. So it became something of a tradition to see where the tomatoes were on the Fourth.

4th of july garden

Things are chugging along but not as great as I hoped, considering new soil and all.

Tomatoes look kind of lame compared to former years — One year they were at the top of a 6-foot fence. The radishes bolted before they were really ready to eat. Same with the arugula. Peppers and squash are doing ok. Beets hardly came up. Peas are basically done. The only thing doing really well is the beans.

Behind the retaining wall

Things back here are going gang-busters! Tons of cosmos, callengula, mallow. Plus morning glory on my garden gate. So cute!