Ben's Backpacking Trip With Blake & Josh

Desolation Wilderness
Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, California

Josh and Ben

Ben and the waterfall

Blake and Ben

Blake jumps across the six foot divide, following Ben's initial lead.

Josh follows suit.

Ben and Blake relax in the sun.

Ben creates a soft spot for sleeping.

Nearby bark from a tree like this makes good padding underneath a sleeping bag.

Wildflower

 Another lovely local

Ben finds a nice place to rest.

Camping on the Oregon Coast

At the end of July, Ben and I took a big road trip with friends for our annual camping trip.  We went to the Oregon Coast and stayed at Umpqua Lighthouse State Park.  The Oregon sand dunes were amazing, and everyone had fun walking in the sand, jumping all around, and exploring the varying landscapes.  Some of the kids tried ATV riding which was quite an adventure.  Although the weather was cool and overcast, the coast was beautiful and the camping was good.   

A beautiful braid from our garlic harvest

Deer Crossing Camp

Ben tried a new adventure this summer for two weeks in July at Deer Crossing Camp, a wilderness camp located on the shore of Loon Lake in California's El Dorado National Forest.  It's west of Lake Tahoe, in the heart of the Sierra mountain range.  Camp activities included hiking, windsurfing, tree climbing, canoeing, orienteering, and backpacking.  Here's a glimpse of what it was like.

This Week in the Garden

Artichokes standing tall

 

 Cornfield poppies

 

 Baby carrots

 

 

Radish, carrot, and lettuce seedlings

 

Bellflowers blooming along the perennial path

Nasturtiums along the rockery

Baby zucchini squashes just starting to emerge

Cucumber & nasturtium tipi trellis

Spring pansies still blooming in summer

Sunflowers and Sweet Peas

The first sunflower of the season

Delightfully scented sweet peas

Garlic Harvest

This is about half of the garlic harvest so far.  We're drying it in the sun in order to cure it for storage.

More garlic to be harvested soon

Summer Garden Growth

Baby carrots

 

Pea patch

Potato patch

Bean trellis

Before and After

Late Winter/Early Spring 2010

Early Summer 2010

Summer Breakfast

So delicious...

Strawberries!

The strawberries are ripe!  The strawberries are ripe!  It feels like we've been waiting a long time.  We're thrilled that we've finally planted enough strawberry plants so there are a few for the squirrels, but still plenty for us to enjoy.  This was just this morning's harvest, and there are still many more in various stages of the ripening process.  Happy summer!

Beautiful Bouquets

The flowers are blooming like crazy, and we're enjoying many lovely colors all around the gardens.  I used to be satisfied with one pretty bouquet at a time, but there are so many to choose from now!  We're flower-rich with lots of blooming foxglove, bellflowers, columbine, lavendar, red crimson clover, phacelia, and even some tiny yellow flowers from the bolting turnip greens!  If you click on the photo, you'll see a larger view of the details.

This Week in the Garden

Blueberry blossoms

 Alpine strawberries

First rhododendron flowers

Snap peas sprouting up

Overwintered carrots

Timber!

 

A couple weeks ago, after several stormy days, we woke up one morning to find our beautiful maple tree hugging the ground.  So sad.  We're lucky it was early in the gardening season, or it might have done some real damage to the beds.  I'll miss its beautiful autumn leaves, its shade in summer, and the use of its limbs as anchors for hammock and clothesline.  At least we'll  have a little more sun for the garden now, and maybe a bit more planting space.