Pictured: Molalla River 6/21/26
| This week was less eventful than last week! This is a much larger blog this time though! Shane made something for my mother, we did some birding, Shane did some fishing, and we went on a woods walk of course! LOTS of photos! Enjoy! Amy | Table of Contents: ~ The Garden: Guides & Plantings ~ Phenology: Seasons Based on Flowers ~ The Travels: Local Wildlife Refuges ~ The Travels: Molalla River Recreation Corridor ~ The Birds: Birding with the Merlin App ~ The Videos: Spying on Nature ~ The Funnies: Plant & Nature Humor ~ The Blog: Livestock & Upcoming Editions ~ Thank You! |
~ The Garden: Guides & Plantings ~
The waxing gibbous moon (First Quarter moon through the Full moon) is good for planting fruiting crops.
I’ve compiled a list of planting dates for 2026 based on the moon phases:
2026 Planting Guide – Zones 7/8
Here is the advice for this week:
After 2:56am June 22nd to before 4:58am Jun 29th (waxing gibbous moon) –
Sow Outdoors: corn
Transplant: eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, corn
In other “garden” news….
Shane built this stand for Mom to be able to see some flowers, birds, and hear wind chimes from her bedroom window. She’s currently spending a lot of time resting in bed and spends a lot of time looking out her window when she’s bored watching TV.
The hanging baskets are all Ivy Geraniums since they likely will do best in the hot sun that hits this side of the house most of the day. Later that day I was “forced” to run to town and get a couple more hanging baskets for the patio to fill in some gaps left by taking the Geraniums. While in town, we bought some paint to seal in the wood on the stand.
Shane’s idea was to incorporate some driftwood from the Molalla River in its design to make it interesting. Eventually we will get a plant in that hole at the base!
~ Phenology: Seasons Based on Flowers ~
This week’s blooms: Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia uvaria), Two-lobe Larkspur (Delphinium nuttallianum), Ocean Spray (Holodiscus discolor), Bird’s-Foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), and Slender Yellow Woodsorrel (Oxalis dillenii).
We also have several new flower buds forming that will likely make it into next week’s bloom list. Here, you can see the daylilies and my “baby mystery elderberry” getting ready to open!
~ The Travels: Local Wildlife Refuges ~
On Thursday, Shane went birding out at Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge and Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge. He managed to find 9 new birds to add to his Life List and brought back some great photos! Along with the birds, the mid-June wildflowers were putting on an incredible show.
Blooms from his trip: Farewell to Spring (Clarkia amoena), Bachelor’s Button (Centaurea cyanus), Showy Tarweed (Madia elegans), Narrowleaf Mule Ears (Wyethia angustifolia), Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa), Bigleaf Lupine (Lupinus polyphyllus), Canada Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis), Rose Spirea (Spiraea douglasii), Wild Teasel (Dipsacus sylvestris), Oregon Grape (Berberis aquifolium).
A few wild critters were seen as well (Velvet ants are actually a wingless ground wasp with a horrendous sting – nicknamed Cow Killer):
~ The Travels: Molalla River Recreation Corridor ~
Sunday, Shane went fishing with his co-worker up the Molalla River. He found an incredible piece of petrified wood that looks frozen in a charred, burned state!
Blooms: Cascade Beardtongue (Penstemon serrulatus), and Self-Heal (Prunella vulgaris).
~ The Birds: Birding with the Merlin App ~
We saw the Cedar Waxwing on 6/20/26 down by the creek and the Acorn Woodpecker on 6/21/26 in the Oak trees by our well. Both birds I think had nests close to where I spotted them as they were very active in those areas.
~ The Videos: Spying on Nature ~
It’s just cute baby season!! Trail cams caught some baby Robins on the Creek Log and a doe with her ADORABLE fawn!
~ The Funnies: Plant & Nature Humor ~
Enjoy weekly memes found online!
~ The Blog: Livestock & Upcoming Editions ~
Don’t forget the monthly Homestead Happenings: Livestock Edition that goes out the first of each month!
Here’s the latest:
The next Homestead Happenings: Livestock Edition for the June recap will come out July 1st, where we check in with how the sheep & chicken flocks are faring at the start of Summer!
We’ll also see you all again June 22nd for the next Homestead Happenings: Flowers & Nature, where there will be even more garden guidance and we check out what else is blooming in the woods and gardens!
The blog is a sampling of all the photos I’ve taken this month. Please head over to our social media to see the photo dumps!
~ Thank You! ~
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Hollow Hills Ranch 