Pictured: Oxeye Daisy and St John’s Wort blooming together in our woods 6/27/26.
| This past week went from the 90s early on to the 60s and rain by the weekend. I spent a good deal of time in the heat working on my new planting guide, but Shane and I enjoyed a woods walk and birding Saturday morning with the arrival of cooler temperatures. Later that morning we took a peaceful trip up the river, completely unaware of the drama unfolding back home. We returned to a full-blown Tornado Warning! Everyone is safe, but it was quite a scare. Dive into this week’s updates below! Enjoy! Amy | Table of Contents: ~ Phenology: The Seasons through Blooms ~ ~ Woods Walks: Blooms & Hidden Finds ~ ~ The Birds: Birding with the Merlin App ~ ~ The Yard: Bucket Garden & Bird Tree ~ ~ The Funnies: Plant & Nature Humor ~ ~ The Blog: Livestock & Upcoming Editions ~ ~ Thank You! ~ |
~ Phenology: The Seasons through Blooms ~
I switched to using phenology to plan my garden, and I’ve created a brand new planting guide for you to peruse! Instead of following a rigid calendar, phenology means watching local indicator plants to know exactly when the soil is ready for your crops.
What to look for in Late June/Early July: Daylilies & Ocean Spray blooming. Himalayan blackberries starting to form green berries after blooms fade.
Harvest begins immediately: Summer Squash, Cucumbers, and Bush Beans
Harvest begins shortly: Garlic*/Onion** bulbs.
*Garlic: Look for the lower leaves of the stalk to turn brown and dry out. When the bottom 3 to 4 leaves are brown but the top leaves are still green, your bulbs are ready to dig!
**Onions: Watch the green, tubular tops. When the plants are ready, the stems will lose their structural integrity and naturally flop over at the soil line. Once 50–80% of the patch has flopped, it’s time to harvest!
Make sure you pay attention to what nature is doing, as the months listed are APPROXIMATE. Especially with the crazy weather we’ve experienced last winter until now! It may seem early to start some tasks, but trust that nature knows exactly what it’s doing!
~ Woods Walks: Blooms & Hidden Finds ~
What’s Happening in the Woods This Week
In Active Bloom:
- Wild Basil (Clinopodium vulgare)
- Rough Hedgenettle (Stachys rigida)
- Tiger Lily (Lilium columbianum)
- Rose Spirea (Spiraea douglasii)
Transitioning to Seed Pods:
- Crimson Columbine (Aquilegia formosa)
- Pacific Ninebark (Physocarpus capitatus)
Setting Summer Fruit:
- Oregon Grape (Berberis aquifolium)
- Pacific Trailing Blackberry (Rubus ursinus)
- Himalayan Blackberry (Rubus armeniacus) — just starting to set fruit!
The creek is still running this week, though it’s slowing down! I didn’t go looking for rocks this time, but I captured a few nice views of the water.
Leaving the creek behind, our trip up the Molalla River rewarded us with even more stunning native plants.
The Molalla River was stunningly calm, acting like a perfect mirror for the towering basalt cliffs and evergreen trees lining the banks.
Little did I know while filming this peaceful footage, things were chaotic back home. The National Weather Service had issued an extreme Tornado Warning for Molalla! Because there is no cell service upriver, I was completely oblivious until we started heading back. Suddenly, my phone caught a fleeting signal and absolutely blew up: lightning strike alerts, an emergency voicemail, and panicked texts from my daughter saying, ‘MOM GET HOME!’ Before I could even check the radar or text her back, the signal dropped again. To make matters worse, the skies opened up and rain started coming down in buckets. By the time we finally drove back into service, the storm had passed—definitely not the kind of excitement we wanted for a Saturday afternoon!
~ The Birds: Birding with the Merlin App ~
I added two exciting new birds to my life list this week! The first is a super common one, but for some reason, it has always managed to evade my official list until now. The second is a bird we actually see upriver quite a bit, though I only spotted a single one this time. I also had the perfect opportunity to capture some beautiful photos of Cedar Waxwings resting on the branches after hunting bugs over the water.
~ The Yard: Bucket Garden & Bird Tree ~
Back at the ranch, Shane’s bucket garden is moving right along! On Saturday, he planted the next succession of radishes and salad greens in a few more buckets to ensure a steady supply of fresh salads all summer long. We can already see the bright nasturtiums and cucumber blooms from the driveway. It is so wonderful of him to take this project on—he feeds, waters, and tends to them daily!
We also brought up more wood from the creek and river for Mom’s bird “tree.” The local wildlife is already visiting. Scrub Jays are regulars, of course, but just this Saturday, we spotted our very first Black-headed Grosbeak! To top it off, on Sunday morning my mom yelled, “Come quick!”—and there was a sweet Cottontail bunny sitting right under the feeder. Later that morning, Shane planted Mom’s clematis and added some of the new wood to the bird “tree.” He added rocks around the base temporarily so the chickens don’t dig it up!
Some of our patio plants are blessing us with new blooms! Daylilies started opening this week, as did a different lavender variety, and the Red Hot Poker sent up a striking yellow flower. Our Martha Washington Geraniums come back every year because we mulch them heavily to keep them safe from winter freezes.
Meanwhile, the petunia baskets have filled in nicely and look gorgeous. The Calibrachoa we planted ourselves is a bit slower to fill out, but it seems to be doing great. On the other hand, the two baskets I bought at HSP feel a little root-bound and require water CONSTANTLY—but they’re still beautiful and fill the spot perfectly!
~ The Funnies: Plant & Nature Humor ~
~ 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 July 6th for the next Homestead Happenings: Flowers & Nature, where we’ll share even more garden guidance and check out what else is blooming!
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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