Becoming and Outdoors Woman- Birding in Montana Workshop wrap-up

Thanks to Liz Lodman from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' Becoming an Outdoors Woman program (BOW) for organizing a great birding workshop and thanks for the invitation to participate. I always look forward to teaching workshops and programs at BOW events. It is great to see so many interested and engaged people of all different backgrounds learning about things that are important to me- whether it is hunting, fishing, or, in this case, birding...

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The repurposed potting bench in use

My wife spent the afternoon re-potting some of our basil (read: a huge fleet of basil) in our shady area repurposed potting bench.  Although this new addition to our garden performs many tasks (room divider, buffet, potting bench and trellis), today was the first day it got a workout as a potting bench.  Here are just a few photos showing her (and the potting bench) in action.We grow a lot of basil.  Everything from Genovese...

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It's National Pollinator Week- Learn about bee and wasp mimics!

Celebrate National Pollinator Week by joining me at the Fort Missoula Native Plant Garden this Thursday (June 21) at 5:30 pm to learn about bee and wasp mimics.  This workshop is presented by the Montana Natural History Center.  I hope to see you there.I will discuss insect identification in general (i.e., the distinguishing characteristics of bees, flies, beetles, moths, etc...), and introduce the diversity of native bees...

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The Little Green Roof: a year later

Things didn’t quite go as planned. Nothing bad happened, per se, but this is not the green roof I was expecting. If you recall- my goal was to try to find some native plants to grow on a green roof. I selected species I thought would do well- those that were easy to grow, were diverse, would tolerate hot and dry conditions, and had a low rooting depth and some that would spread via rhizomes to hold the soil. I wanted this green roof to really...

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Repurposed Garden Tool Trellis

I’ve been meaning to install a trellis on the side of my house for some time.  This portion of my house always seemed like a blank slate- an expanse of siding. Visually this is a common problem with many houses- between windows house look like monoliths- a monotone expanses of siding.  To me this always represents an opportunity to garden vertically with trellises, add architectural elements, and it helps to add some height- to draw your...

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Native Plant and Widlife Gardening Opportunity!

Join us Sunday night at 7pm, at the 8th Street Pocket Park Native Plant Garden (at the corner of 8th and Grant) for an hour of light weeding and garden clean-up.  This is a great opportunity to learn to identify native plants, learn gardening techniques and see some easy to grow beautiful native plants in action. Ranger OrientationSince the planned events don't work with everyone's schedules, several neighbors have requested to do an "independent...

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$75 Shabby Apple Gift Card Giveaway!!

Today Shabby Apple, an online boutique of Women's Dresses,  would like to give one of my readers a $75 gift card! I know many of you, like me, are busy mothers who need to wear dresses that give you full coverage without having to worry that you will flash someone while taking care of a little one. A great new feature Shabby Apple has added to their website is a length guide. Now you can know exactly how long a dress or skirt is before purchasing...

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Chickadee update: they fledged

The black-capped chickadees that had been nesting in our garden fledged this morning, and fortunately I was able to watch it all.  I took this lousy video of the last two leaving the box.  Even though the video quality is not too good, it is still adorable to watch them fly out of the box for the first time.It is always amazing how quickly they grow- just a couple of weeks ago they were eggs. Here is a video from inside the nest box on May 15 showing the first 4 hatchlings getting fed for the first timeThere is a good chance...

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Branding Time

Last Saturday was the annual branding of new calves.  It was cloudy and cold!The cowboys/cowgirls in action. We have friends who come and do this because we are not as skilled!Instead we do the branding, vaccinations, ear clipping, and castrating {if necessary}Fudge watching the action from atop the corral fence.The smell is either good or bad depending on who you ask.Mr. Ferrero Rocher and Hershey making the same face.This cowgirl has one of...

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Hello June!

Here's the tentative blog schedule for June. As you can see there are a couple of posts that rolled over from May's schedule that I didn't get around to writing. As usual, hover over the dates to read more information! © 2007-2012 Chocolate on my Cranium, LLC all rights reser...

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