With all the talk of recession and making do with what you have, having your own little garden makes sense. It doesn’t take a lot of space. Even a container or two of your favorite herbs and a vegetable or two will suffice. This year my goal is to plant lots of herbs (I use them everyday) and my favorite vegetables. Here’s the list so far:

• oregano
• thyme
• tarragon
• sage
• basil
• arugula
• chives
• dinosaur Kale
• scarlet brussel sprouts
• alpine strawberries
• lemon cucumber
• sweet peas
• garlic
• fennel
• lovage
• san marzano tomatoes
• bay Leaf  shrub

Scarlet Brussel Sprouts

The Pacific NW weather is slowly beginning to warm up.  Made the mistake of planting cucumbers too early this month (they died).Other than that the garden is coming along nicely.

Alpine Strawberries

This has all been planted in less than 100 square feet, using my own compost and raised beds that I built myself.  It’s a work in progress, and am learning as I go. Hope you decide to give it a try as well.

The Memorial Day  weekend provided three days of DIY for me. The pergola attached to the back of my house was in need of repairs. The posts were rotting through at the bottom, the white paint was peeling, and the clear corrugated roofing was growing more opaque and covered with moss and debris.

Removing old posts

One Zipcar truck and several trips to the lumber and hardware store provided the needed supplies to restore the pergola back to it’s former beauty. Here’s what was done:

• remove old polycarbonate roofing
• clean and scrape away peeling paint
• replace 2 posts with pressure treated lumber
• improve structure reinforcement using StrongTie post-to-floor, and post-to-beam brackets
• repaint entire pergola a new darker color
• install new Palruf polycarbonate clear roofing

New bracket and post

The process was fairly straightforward, but as with all DIY projects on an old house, there were a few snags along the way. Removing the old bolts from the posts was difficult (one bolt proved immovable and still remains). Also I underestimated the amount of roofing sheets needed by 3 and had to wait for a new shipment in order to finish the job.

Painting the entire structure took longer than expected, but the results were well worth the time. All in all, it looks new and improved the appearance in the backyard.

Before

After

If you crave a quick yet delish meal for breakfast, you can’t beat homemade granola. This recipe is hella-easy to make; you can substitute the spices, nuts and dried fruit to your taste.  I’ve been making a weekly batch of the stuff for years. Make it once and you’ll soon be able to whip this out in 30 minutes or less.  Goes great with greek yogurt and keeps you full until lunchtime.

Recipe:

4 cups rolled oats (the thicker the better–no instant stuff, please)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon cardamon

Equal parts vegetable oil and maple syrup (just enough to coat the oat mixture)

Optional:

1/2 cup nuts

1/2 cup coconut

1/2 cup dried fruit

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Combine the oats, nuts, spices, and coconut and mix well. Add oil and maple syrup, you only need enough to moisten the mixture, but not too much that you end up with a soggy mess.

Take a large baking/cookie sheet and spread the mixture evenly across the surface.

Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven to toss mixture, place back in oven and bake for 10 minutes more. I prefer mine granola to be on the toasty side, so adjust the last few minutes to your own taste.

Remove from oven and toss in the dried fruit. Let cool and enjoy!

The granola lasts for a week or more; store in a glass or ceramic container with a lid.

The warmer weather here in the Pacific Northwest means it is time to crawl out from under our wool and fleece and enjoy the sun once again.

It’s also full-on garden time as I witnessed on recent trips to the local plant nurseries. Businesses are bursting forth with plants and veggie starts. And it seems like, due to the economy, homeowners are taking the opportunity to improve on what they have. I’ve been doing this since I bought my place and the time has come for a patio addition in the backyard.

Cleared the land of grass and added gravel from a local rockery.

Hard work, but well-worth it.

The snow continues to fall in the Pacific NW and the everyone is coping as best as they can. It’s amazing how long the snow has stayed around, quite unusual for this area. It started snowing again today around 4pm and hasn’t stopped.

Pretty.