Looking Forward

Double Rainbow in Village of Marblemount, USA
Songhurst Farm

Looking out the window as I type, I watch the rain come down as it has been for the last two weeks.  But this is one of our rainiest months, so I don't mind too much.  Next week it will be sunny and warm which seem to make up for all the days of rain.

I have my temporary greenhouse up and shelves full of all kinds of vegetables.  It is too cold to put them in the garden which has been prepared and waiting.  Maybe next weekend.  This is the first year I have tried Bok Choy and Artichoke and they have exceeded what I expected of them.  Though they are in the greenhouse, both vegetables seem very hardy and robust.  I have transplanted all the seedlings three times.  Well, I can't call them seedlings anymore.  They are plants ready for the garden.

Even though watermelon won't grow here, I still try.  So I have one plant started and will try to baby it along this summer.  Maybe one year I will get a watermelon and then be satisfied.  Sure, I can buy them in the grocery store, but there is satisfaction in doing what seems the impossible.

I hope your week goes well.  Try something new. 

~SMS, Songhurst Farm

Foster Parents for GSD

King - Foster Dog

We have taken the leap to become foster "parents" to German Shepherds in need of a temporary home.  This in addition to having our own little pack of German Shepherd dogs.  Northwest German Shepherd Rescue (NWGSR) is the organization we foster through.  Currently, we are fostering, King.  He is a beautiful black GSD with Belgian Shepherd lines.  A puppy at 70 pounds, he is about 11 or 12 months old. 

The goal is to find permanent homes for each foster dog, and when they do find a "forever" home, it helps when we have to let them go with their new parents.  However, they leave a little void when they are gone.  But we know it is worth it to see them go to a good home. 

My First Garden Dibbler

~by SMSonghurst

I finished my first attempt at a garden dibbler.  It is functional, but as I was making it, I made notes on how to do things a little different when I make the next one.

Garden Dibbler - Songhurst Farm

The garden dibbler is a tool that is used by gardners to make impressions in the ground in which a seed is then placed.  The impressions are uniform in depth and spacing. 

The one I made was one foot by one foot for square-foot gardening.  My garden is big, but I use the square-foot gardening concept when I plant, instead of planting in rows.  However, the garden dibbler can be made to accomodate rows.

There are handles on the back of the dibbler to hang onto when placing it on the soil and picking it back up.  I am looking forward to making more.  I know a couple of gardners who would love to have one.  I have included a picture of my first attempt.  Rough but functional.