What began as a rather boring winter here a year ago became too exciing when a record snowstorm hit the Oregon Coast in late February. Trees were falling everywhere, loud cracking sounds echoed in our valley, and the road became impassible for days. We were out of power for so long I had to freeze ice packs in the snow banks to preserve food. While troublesome, the event was incredibly beautiful and the amount of free firewood on the ground was unprecedented.
Once the snow was gone, power restored, and the roads cleared, I set up a free seeds, bulbs, and dahlia tubers area in the garden shed. I plan to do the same again this year.
Some colder than normal late winter weather slowed spring this year. By mid-March we finally have lots of daffodil color. I've planted lots of bulbs around the yard here over the years, and some are getting so crowded blooming falls off and they need digging and repropagation. I dug the front yard planter this fall. In a decade thirty bulbs multiplied to over 300 and I'm still replanting them. The area under the grape arbor, planted in 2015, will be next.
Peas were in the ground by my usual schedule, the equinox, but cool weather slowed their growth and gardening generally this spring.
In June the roads are finally dry and firewood season begins. I put on too much weight over winter, but cutting and hauling eight cords in thirty mornings fixed that problem. I took off 18 pounds and felt really fit again. In the early days of July I finished splitting all the bolts and stacking the haul. This year's wood is all snowstorm downed alder. With our daily afternoon coastal breeze and a sunny back yard, all the wood was dry and in the shop by equinox.
Early one morning in June I stepped out the back door and discovered the tamest doe had dropped her fawn only a few yards away. They were regular visitors all summer.
By July flower colors really get going in the garden and I'm having to deadhead the dahlias. All totaled, there were over 100 dahlia clumps this year, many now dug up and either stored or given away already. The new dahlia patch was bountiful and now well established, should be even better next year.
One of the best harvests was peppers, and, as usual, I grew too many hot peppers. Corn did fine, albeit I had to replant twice to fill in gaps because spring was too cold. There are plenty of other veggies in the freezer, and I'm off to the kitchen to have a spinach scramble for brunch.
