Road Trip: Kickin' it at the County Fair

A few weekends ago we took a drive over to the Linn County Fair here in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. We always like to make an appearance every year at the county fair so that we can pretend for a moment that we live in the country.  It helps us forget about the city noise and "issues" for that brief day.  We saw a lot of animals, heard the goat auctions, saw some rabbits and chickens, and even ran into one of Skylar's buddies from school.

They were setting up for the rodeo and Skylar wanted to watch the tractor raking the dirt.  He couldn't remove his lips from the snow cone long enough to get a good shot, but I will say, it was a pretty good snow cone though.  :-)

The black and white cows have always been my favorite.

Skylar's pal from school (Trayvon) showed us his "soft as a cotton ball rabbit" he was showing at the fair.

After seeing the chickens and rabbits, we headed over to the tractor display.  Skylar even found a table showcasing LEGOs and we all got to color a quilt square to add to the blankets for Project Linus.

The LEGO At-At Walker was Skylar's favorite.

Jeff was pretty proud of his firetruck quilt square to add to the blanket.  He even labeled it with the LFD (Lebanon Fire District) where he works.

We found us some Rangers.  

And a cow with pink hooves.

Setting up the stage for Sawyer Brown to preform live later that night.

It was a pretty good day overall.  After the fair we hit the local burger joint here called Burgerville and had us some locally-grown, organic food.  

Rosemary chicken sandwich!  My favorite!

Skylar colored a picture to add to the coloring wall while we were there too.

Then he headed off to his first EVER sleep over at a buddy's (Lucas F.) house.  I have to cut the apron strings eventually, right?  :-(

Eco-Tip:  When making the switch to a more eco-friendly lifestyle, picture what life was like for Pioneers and the like.  Pick "hand crank" items over electronic ones.  Dipping slowly away from electric dependent items throughout your home is a great way to live a more greener lifestyle.  For more tips visit, The Earth and Me Go Green.

Our Garden Currently: Growing Potatoes

We are a "sometimes" meat and potatoes-type of family here, so we wanted to give a go at growing the potatoes part of the meal.  Under my kitchen sink has always been a prime growing hole for many things...potatoes, onions, ginger, and I even grew a family of field mice under there once (yeah, I know, gross), but nonetheless it was a great area to start a few potatoes and once they shot out their tentacle eyes we carted them out to the garden and began planting them.

Planting them straight into the ground is the best approach I do believe.  We have tried the planter-type of planting before, but never had good results with it.  The picture below is from last year and we never got any potatoes from it.  I think it was because the roots of the potato couldn't spread in the planter like it can in the ground, but that's just a "amateur" yard gardener's point of view.  

I found a few clever potato goods though in my hunt for the best potato growing items.

1.  Kiddie Gardens 2.  Liebermann Pottery 3.  The Garden of Eaden 

4.  A Growing Tradition  5.  Farm Natters 6.  Gardening-Advice 

After doing some online investigation, we still decided to shove them straight into the composted soil mix and take our chances in the ground.  

Hopefully these little guys will give us brown Russets all the way till fall.  My hopes are high!  

For more ideas on growing potatoes, check out the article at Sproutabl.  It goes into great detail about soil requirements, watering, companion plants, etc. Great way to give you a head start on becoming a potato farmer! 

Spark of Loves this Week

Life's changes bring about wisdom and experience, but it also brings forth some loves that you can brag about.  Learning new cooking skills, a new baby, or even a new car can bring forth some present loves that are worth sharing.  Here are a few of the things I am loving lately and have to share.

Blue Sky Ginger Ale.  Made with organic, all-natural, REAL ginger.  Love it!  All the Drink Blue sodas are a amazing though, by the way!

Appreciating the little things in life.

 

Learning to forgive and move past trauma and abuse through yoga training and practice.  It's taken awhile, but I am THERE!  Forgiving someone does not okay their behavior, but it allows you to move on and carry on.  Yoga is a great way to help you cope with the issues that life throws your way.  

Living a more meaningful, eco-friendly lifestyle.  

Trying out new items that are Mother Earth approved.  I'm still on the fence with this one.  :-)

Traveling a lot more.  I hate plane rides, but I am loving the trips!

Giving up Facebook as one of my "necessary" social networks. Sorry Zuckerberg, it is what it is.  

Watching Skylar become an in depth, 'for the love of Star Wars' fan.  I've learned a lot about Star Wars in the journey as well.

Cherry Tomatoes.  I will be so glad when my cherry tomato plants have the little treasures for me soon.

Making the switch to better purchases.  This one is still a work in progress, but every little bit helps.

Shopping and depending more on my local Co-op.  

Smiling.  Instance mood lifter!

This quote.

LC's Crafty Creations Video Series.

Reaching out to understand other cultures and beliefs.  There's a lot to learn out there!  Knowledge is an endless playground.

Falling in love with oatmeal!  Every morning, people!  (Hint:  Blueberries are amazing paired with oatmeal)

Decorating more with the Arkansas Razorback!  Red never looked so good!

What are you loving lately?

Eco-Tip:  Mail-order magazine subscriptions can be costly and waste a lot of paper in the process.  If you're an avid magazine reader consider an e-Reader.  Some brands cost under $150 and provide the same great magazine at your fingertips without all the paper waste.  For more tips visit, The Earth and Me Go Green.




    

Growing and Harvesting Lavender

For the past few years I have been slowly getting more and more into the sweet, relaxing scent that lavender has to offer.  It is one of the main essential oils that I truly love to have on hand no matter what time of year it is.  Along with that, I have slowly been growing lavender herbs and harvesting what I can from year to year.

I currently have on hand two decent-sized lavender herbs growing in my side garden and the harvesting have gotten bigger and bigger with each year.  Of course, they have only been in this bed for the past two year, but nonetheless I still have seen an increase in the cutting since the first year they were planted.

Over the past years of having lavender and knowing I wanted to harvest as much as I could from my own plants, I read every article, blog, and gardening book that I could to educate myself on ways to help it prosper.

I learned a few basic growing techniques about lavender that have really helped me in the long run and have helped my herbs become more vivacious than ever before.  Here are a few tips I learned along the way.

1.  Lavender likes to be watered from the underside of the plant.  It doesn't really like to have sprinkles of water from above, minus the rain, which can't be controlled, obviously.  Make a quick assessment once a year to look out for root rot if drainage is an issue.

2.  Grow lavender on a slope is best, but if a slope isn't available plant the lavender on a raised bed or in a hill where your plant's roots can have the water drain nicely away from them.

3.  Plant your lavender where it will get a full eight hours of sunshine and make sure you water it as needed.  Don't saturate the soil around it and drainage is important.  Lavender is drought tolerant so if you go a day or two without watering, it should still be fine.

4.    Pruning your lavender just before the blooms begin to open up.  Make sure to leave about an inch of green when you cut and prune to maintain shape year after year.  Lavender is a perennial and will return if proper care is taken with them.

5.  Potted lavender should be re potted to a bigger pot every spring to encourage the roots to expand and grow larger.  Just like lavender in the ground, drainage is key and pruning is a must!

I surrounded my lavender with newspaper the first year it was in the ground and added more potting soil over the newspaper.  This helped the lavender a lot that first year so it wasn't fighting for water or nutrients from the soil from pesky weeds.

I've been able to harvest quite a lot from my 2-year-old lavender herb and I have started to collect bundles for a wreath I plan on using this fall on my front door.  Harvested lavender have a pleasant scent and it's one of the smells that will never get old to me.  The image of a pretty, scent-filled, fresh lavender wreath hanging on my door just makes me excited!  It will be the first scent guest and I smell coming and going from my front door this coming fall!

Be sure and store your lavender blooms in an airtight container to retain freshness of the herb for extended periods of time.

By the way, lavender is a great addition to any flower garden or herb/vegetable garden.  It attracts honeybees, bumblebees, butterflies, and many other pollinators.

I hope these tips help you grow the most beautiful and abundant lavender that can be enjoyed and harvested year after year!

Eco-Tip:  When it comes to drinking your eight ounces of water daily, fill a pitcher with the recommended water amount and place it in your refrigerator.  This method is a lot better than standing and allowing the water from the tap to run till it's cold.  Plus, the water will be a lot cooler than straight from the tap anyway!  For more tips visit, The Earth and Me Go Green.