Did I mention that I hate grass? My grass eradication program has been ongoing since 1972, when I first dug out grass in another life in Grants Pass. I've been steadily removing sod all these years...if I had a dime for every square foot of stupid green stuff I've shoveled out...I even got an interview and write up in the Mail Tribune gardening section about removing sod when I moved to Medford in 1987. I was just ahead of my time, I guess. So I've wised up in recent times and instead of digging out sod, I just cover it over with good quality landscape fabric...the stuff that comes in rolls that you can buy at the garden centers. On top of that goes yards of small gravel...used to use pea gravel but have recently discovered "quarter by ten" which is about the size of pea gravel but angular so it compacts. So the new garden sits on about a 25' x 30' section of former lawn.Don't you just love that nice crunchy sound as you walk around in the garden?
After a night at the Eagles, dancing to the big band sounds of the Southern Oregon Jazz Orchestra, Mr. A (with Izzy to hold him down) naps at 11am the next morning. Even though we only drink bottled water when we dance, you can't fool the body! It's almost impossible to keep hydrated, so we both pay the next day with tired, bunched up muscles from all that spinning and Latin motion. Yeah, we're wasted and worthless for most of the following day! But oh well, we were having fun!!! Duh!
Did I mention I like chartreuse green in the garden this year? Can't seem to get enough of it. We found this fun folding chair at Chickadee in Shady Cove (a small town on the banks of the Rogue River north of Medford). Anyway, Chickadee is a garden whimsey store with so much great stuff that it's hard to choose only one thing. The chair was painted a hideous shade of pink...It has a flat seat...terrible for sitting but great for using as a plant stand. So half a can of Rustoleum 2x Spring Green later, and viola! (garden talk for voila!) the undergardener strikes again!
Here is the old sprinkling can I had painted blue during my "blue garden period some years ago...now the same bright green!
My baby tree is celebrating his 20th birthday with a new pot and some recharged potting soil. His official name is Larix kaempferi pendula but you can call him a Japanese Weeping Larch or "Larchy" for short. I've repotted him 3 times, cutting his rootlet back each time so he can be happy in a pot. A Larch is a deciduous conifer! Yes, that means every fall he loses his needles and grow new, bright green ones in the spring. And he has the cutest little cones! Not bad for a tree that is supposed to reach 60 feet in height by 30 feet wide! 
Of course some haircuts were required along the way to keep him in bounds and looking "artsy larchy."
There I was, whipping around the dance floor doing a fast waltz which involves some crossing of the feet for tight and quick turning. Suddenly another dance couple veered into our path and I had to abort my execution of a step. While we were able to avoid a collision, I scraped my left heel into by right toe...did I mention I wear only "Latin' dance shoes which are open toe?) The heels of my dance shoes are sharp because they don't get worn down...you are mainly on the balls of your feet whilst dancing.
We continued dancing of course until the waltz ended. I felt something funny and looked down to see blood running out of my shoe and on to the dance floor. Not good, I thought. I tried to stem the tide with the one bandage I had in our dance shoe bag but we had to go home as it was obvious I had really gouged the crap out of my toe and one bandage wasn't gonna do it. Luckily it finally quit bleeding and today it's just a bit sore. I have found over my 12 years of ballroom dancing that the worst injuries I've suffered on the dance floor have always been self-inflicted!
Got potatoes? I do! Direct from Ronniger's Potato Farm in Austin, Colorado via UPS. 4+ pounds of seed potatoes for fun in the garden this spring. I may have been a bit too enthusiastic, ordering them a bit too early judging from the cold weather we're having but they will store until it's nice enough for this gardener to go outside and plant 'em...probably April!
As you all probably know, you can't use supermarket potatoes if you want a good crop...they are treated with an inhibitor so they won't sprout well. Seed potatoes are grown especially for gardeners. Ronniger's has probably over 150 varieties to choose from...making it a challenge. I try to pick an early red skinned one (robbing some for new potatoes & peas in June), a late, big butterball type that I harvest in November, Yukon Gold for our main potato and some fingerlings for potato dishes and roasting. I usually use the method called"greening" or pre-sprouting to get them going in a warm, well lit space before planting. This will make a better and quicker maturing crop. There is nothing so good as a fresh potato...they have a wonderful nutty taste...no comparison to the duds from the supermarket!
We knew her...a nice Irish lass....To celebrate the upcoming "green holiday" I found a large basket at Freddies, the perfect size for a mini herb garden. Now days you can easily plant a basket by using a "grow bag" or "smart pot," a very heavy fabric sewn into a square or round shape. It keeps the potting soil in place. Do use potting soil...worth the expense because it isn't as heavy as garden dirt. 
I used small plants: parsley, chives, oregano, rosemary, dill, thyme (both English & Lemon) and some lettuce for fun. Later I'll add in some basil and repot the herbs that grow too big for the basket. 
Here you can see the grow bag liner which I folded over to just above the basket height to keep the soil & water from overflowing into the basket. This basket is about 16" square and needs the cookie sheet for support until I place it out in the garden on something...yet to be determined. Meanwhile I can snip bits of herb with my scissors and it's happy in the greenhouse, out of the cold spring weather. .
