Closer Still.....

We got an offer on our house and we have one house that we would love to buy. It is on 4 acres that were left native and mostly untouched. I am starting to get a little excited.

One Step Closer

I was offered a job in the Austin area, we may have a buyer for our house, and we are going to scout out possible houses in the area on Monday. This could be a reality very soon! Although I am trying not to get too excited yet. I can not wait to find the next spot to continue learning about native, organic gardening. I have so many ideas!

Native Organic Gardening 101: Native Plants in your Garden

One of the turning points in making my garden successful was deciding to go native! This decision led me to choose plants for my yard that were used to living in the conditions in my area. This helped me so much in maintaining everything and more importantly, keeping it alive. I have had to weed less, water less, and I was able to expand the size of my gardens, so I could also mow less.
To choose the native plants that I wanted, I started out looking on the internet to find what my exact growing conditions for my area were and which plants grew native in my region. One invaluable resource was www.wildflower.org. It is the website for the National Wildflower Reseach Center in Austin, Texas, but they keep a huge database of native plants for all regions.
Once I had some ideas, I blackled (same as google, but has a black screen so it uses less energy on your computer)native nurseries in my area. I found 2 of my favorites here, Buchanan's and Nelson's Water Gardens. In a good, native nursery, the plants will be clearly marked if they are native to your area or not. Both of these nurseries put placards on their displays that tell you if they are native or non-native.
Parks and hiking areas were also an important part of my choosing plants. We spend alot of time camping in our area, and there is a nature preserve close by that I go running at. At these places, I would look along the paths to see which wild growing plants and flowers I liked, then I would look for these in the nurseries. The park rangers are usually more than happy to help you identify plants. If they don't know what it is, they usually have books and printouts that can help you. I have found that this is their job, they are excellent at it, and they love to talk with you about it! I have struck growing gold many times by doing this and found plants and flowers that survive virtually everything!
The birds and butterflies are also much more attracted to your yard when you have their natural surroundings in your backyard. We have seen many species of birds. I think our most exciting visitor so far has been the indigo bunting.
Going native has saved me so much time and energy. And water. And mowing time. And the plants grow beautifully.

Luck?

I have been told or read somewhere that having nesting wrens in your garden is a sign of good luck. I hope so because I need it! We are still trying to get our family moved to the Austin area sometime in August, but it has been more difficult than we thought. I didn't think it would be easy, but the parts I thought would be easy are being a little more difficult than they should be. That is why we need the luck. I saw about 6 Carolina Wrens flitting around in the front oak tree the other day. One pair was feeding each other right in front of me. It had to have been the cutest thing I have seen in a while. They were clinging to the side of the oak tree. I ran in to get my camera, but of course they were gone when I came back.
I have had some very young cardinals in the back eating out of the feeders. One of them has just the tiniest bit of red on his tail and wings. The blue jays are always out. I have much more this year than last. And I have a lot more chickadees also. Those little birds are so loud for their size!

Native Organic Gardening 101: Composting

I am going to try to start something new because I feel I need a little direction with this blog. Every Monday, I will write about something that I have found helpful in making our yard into the hackyard habitat that it is today. I will put a disclaimer in first of all, that none of this stuff is researched, these are things that I have done that work in my yard. I do not guarantee any of the same results.
The first topic I will cover is my compost pile. I do not think that I would have near the same results that we have had in our yard without it. My husband made ours from an old dog kennel we had in the backyard. It is pretty big, maybe about 6'x8'. They do not have to be that big. It is chain link and we have it covered in trumpet vine to make it more aesthetically pleasing. It does not smell, although every once in a while it gets a little odor if you are close to it, usually right after it has rained alot. I do not really turn it. When I need soil from it, I push aside the top layers and dig it from the bottom, then I cover the hole I just made with the stuff I scraped off. That has worked pretty well at keeping it circulated.
What I put in it:
fruits (old fruit, pieces I may have cut off, cores)
vegetables (the ends of veggies I have cut off, layers of lettuce I have peeled away, potato peels)
eggshells
all yard clippings (grass from the mower, clippings from trimming back plants, even weeds I have pulled)
I think it is a healthy compost pile because I have tons of bugs in it. There are thousands of earthworms! These are a double benefit because when I use the soil in my gardens, the earthworms go in it also, and help keep it aerated. The compost pile is very close to my gardens in the backyard and I have very few bugs in it. I think they just prefer the compost pile to the plants in the garden. I don't even have bugs on my tomatoes!
You can involve your kids in it also. My son loves to take stuff out to the compost pile and throw it in there, and he is 13. He even did a school project on how to make one and informed me that the mushrooms growing in it are a sign of a healthy compost pile.
All of plants in the backyard are huge and healthy and I could almost promise it is because they get the soil from the compost pile. Everything that is back there grows out of control and gets bigger than what I have seen anywhere else.
I will put some pictures in of portions of our yard that we have used compost and haven't used it. Like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Here is a part of our yard we resodded and used the compost as a base for it and then sprinkled it over.


Here is a part of our yard that we didn't use it.


This is one our back flowerbeds with compost.


This is a front flowerbed without it. The plants in it are not near as healthy and somewhat anemic looking.

Now I know there are many more things that factor into how plants grow, etc. However, there is such a big difference, and in that front flowerbed, I usually use compost, but this year I didn't, and the results have been less than stellar.
And here is the gratuitous picture of Bad Stormy, who by the way, does use the compost pile sometimes. My husband says she is going green.