| Today was day was a day of experiencing how a house not only becomes a home but can also become a habitat. I recently noticed that family of chickadees made a home in our modest birdhouse (pictured next to the feeder). I also found a robin's nest full of baby birds under our deck. As awesome as this is, I'm not telling my kids, because the temptation to tamper with bird families might be too great. More habitation: the house we moved into last winter came with an overgrown grape plant and rotting trellis. Several weeks ago, I fixed the trellis and trimmed the vines. About a month ago, a friend brought me some hops rhizomes. I expanded the trellis a little and planted the hops next door to the grapes. I really didn't expect that either the grapes or the hops would take off, but as the last of the pictures shows, both are doing well. The vines are budding and some of the hops are already a yard or more tall. |
Without knowing what I was doing, today I also dug a garden. I bought a pitchfork, herbs, and veggies at the home/garden store, with the goal of pulling up the grass under the vines and seeing if a few things might grow. I have a hunch that the grape leaves will provide a lot of shade as spring turns into summer, so I focused on the using the southern exposure. My hope is that extra moisture provided by cool shade will make up for a little less sun. We shall see. I had already planted some raspberries there last month, which seem to be doing okay. Aside from a good experience with raspberries at our old house, however, I have a poor track record of growing food to edibility. My hope is that at least some of the kale, spinach, herbs, asparagus, or viney plants like cucumber and pumpkin will make it to fruition. Again, we shall see.
For a midday break, I enjoyed some freshly home-brewed kombucha. They say that probiotic foods/drinks like these are good for intestinal health: more healthy habitat! I think I've reached a new level of kombucha brewing, because this batch has truly rich flavor, color, and body. That was the midday refreshment. After about six hours of work digging the garden, I poured some home-brewed beer, which I've also gotten pretty good at making. My goal has been to keep my beer-making process as easy as possible. I've settled on a very fine personal recipe that takes less than two hours to brew. It's flavor is somewhere between a bitter and pale ale, resulting in something like a very drinkable session ale. The beer is pictured with our rhododendron, which will bloom soon. Rhododendrons are the state flower of Washington, reminding me of my first habitat in the Pacific Northwest.
My aforementioned trip to the home/garden store also resulted in giving me more work than I could finish today. Later this week the fun will continue as I'll shovel away some of the landscaping rocks, plant native coneflower and black-eyed Susans, and lay down some mulch. More habitat for bees and butterflies!
Life is beautiful. Blessings on your habitations.
For a midday break, I enjoyed some freshly home-brewed kombucha. They say that probiotic foods/drinks like these are good for intestinal health: more healthy habitat! I think I've reached a new level of kombucha brewing, because this batch has truly rich flavor, color, and body. That was the midday refreshment. After about six hours of work digging the garden, I poured some home-brewed beer, which I've also gotten pretty good at making. My goal has been to keep my beer-making process as easy as possible. I've settled on a very fine personal recipe that takes less than two hours to brew. It's flavor is somewhere between a bitter and pale ale, resulting in something like a very drinkable session ale. The beer is pictured with our rhododendron, which will bloom soon. Rhododendrons are the state flower of Washington, reminding me of my first habitat in the Pacific Northwest.
My aforementioned trip to the home/garden store also resulted in giving me more work than I could finish today. Later this week the fun will continue as I'll shovel away some of the landscaping rocks, plant native coneflower and black-eyed Susans, and lay down some mulch. More habitat for bees and butterflies!
Life is beautiful. Blessings on your habitations.