Oregon (A much needed update)
I can't remember if I ever mentioned a couple things about my recent home in Oregon, so I think I'll go ahead and give the brief rundown.
In December of 2005, my girlfriend Carrie and I moved into a little house on the eastern side of Corvallis. The house was small, only two bed rooms, and a little rundown, but it had two major things going for it: it was cheap and isolated, both of which we just love. For a rental, I don't think it's that bad... there's better houses out there, but none of them have the 3 acre backyard that we do. And then, of course, there's all the things that come with a house that I forgot about living in an apartment for 6 years.
The winter was difficult - the house was cold and everything around us was pretty much dead (including a pine tree that fell over on New Years Day). Chopping wood for the stove (for heat, not cooking) was interesting. I really got into it for a while, but toward the end I was certainly glad the weather started warming up. That's when I turned my sights towards gardening.
I dug up lots of dirt in March and April, trying to plan out my garden. As soon as I was able I planted peas and onions, and started many plants indoors. The tomatoes went in the ground in May, and I tried many other plants too. Long story short, the deer ravaged everything.
One of the nice things about our house is that we're in the woods. One of the bad things is that... we're in the woods. Deer came by our house every day (and I do mean EVERY day). They would walk about five feet away from our breakfast nook, and we could watch them walking around our yard and the neighbors looking for food. It was interesting to watch, but crappy for my plants. Luckily the peas and onions made it (the peas were tied up, which confused the deer; and I don't think they like onions). The tomatoes weren't as lucky at first. I had to cage those suckers up pronto. Even then I was thinking of new ways to keep them out every few weeks, when I would find leaves nibbled on the edges.
About the middle of June I gave up on the rest of the garden. The deer were just destroying everything I tried to do. But that's when I noticed something interesting in one of the trees above that area: we had cherries. Black cherries. Very good black cherries, in fact.
After the cherries were gone there was a little lull. We would run out to the local farms and pick up strawberries and raspberries, although we never did get around to blueberries (which are, by far, my favorite). However, as I picked a couple tomatoes that were finally ripening off my guarded plants, I was struck by the new bounty that awaited me:
I should say that I had much more berries than I photographed here... but they are so darn irresistable. I ate half of them while I was picking. And I've been picking them for weeks now.
And just today, when I grabbed some more of the blackberries (now almost past their prime) I noticed one more wonder in my yard:
Yeah, baby. Oregon is such a wonderful place to live.
In December of 2005, my girlfriend Carrie and I moved into a little house on the eastern side of Corvallis. The house was small, only two bed rooms, and a little rundown, but it had two major things going for it: it was cheap and isolated, both of which we just love. For a rental, I don't think it's that bad... there's better houses out there, but none of them have the 3 acre backyard that we do. And then, of course, there's all the things that come with a house that I forgot about living in an apartment for 6 years.
The winter was difficult - the house was cold and everything around us was pretty much dead (including a pine tree that fell over on New Years Day). Chopping wood for the stove (for heat, not cooking) was interesting. I really got into it for a while, but toward the end I was certainly glad the weather started warming up. That's when I turned my sights towards gardening.
I dug up lots of dirt in March and April, trying to plan out my garden. As soon as I was able I planted peas and onions, and started many plants indoors. The tomatoes went in the ground in May, and I tried many other plants too. Long story short, the deer ravaged everything.
One of the nice things about our house is that we're in the woods. One of the bad things is that... we're in the woods. Deer came by our house every day (and I do mean EVERY day). They would walk about five feet away from our breakfast nook, and we could watch them walking around our yard and the neighbors looking for food. It was interesting to watch, but crappy for my plants. Luckily the peas and onions made it (the peas were tied up, which confused the deer; and I don't think they like onions). The tomatoes weren't as lucky at first. I had to cage those suckers up pronto. Even then I was thinking of new ways to keep them out every few weeks, when I would find leaves nibbled on the edges.
About the middle of June I gave up on the rest of the garden. The deer were just destroying everything I tried to do. But that's when I noticed something interesting in one of the trees above that area: we had cherries. Black cherries. Very good black cherries, in fact.
After the cherries were gone there was a little lull. We would run out to the local farms and pick up strawberries and raspberries, although we never did get around to blueberries (which are, by far, my favorite). However, as I picked a couple tomatoes that were finally ripening off my guarded plants, I was struck by the new bounty that awaited me:
I should say that I had much more berries than I photographed here... but they are so darn irresistable. I ate half of them while I was picking. And I've been picking them for weeks now.
And just today, when I grabbed some more of the blackberries (now almost past their prime) I noticed one more wonder in my yard:
Yeah, baby. Oregon is such a wonderful place to live.