Garden Art: An Ode to Salmon Fertilizer

On our way to a medical appointment a few days ago we noticed jet sleds in the Willamette River as we drove over the Burnside Bridge into downtown Portland. It was fairly early in the morning, and the appearance of so many boats only meant one thing to us: salmon. It reminded me that I needed to hang up a piece of garden art I'd purchased a year or so ago so I thought later that afternoon might be a good time.

Salmon have always been around throughout my entire life, but I see them less and less on the dinner table. Instead, the salmon I now see is often in a bucket, it's sludge-like, and I feed my garden with it. If you've ever used the stuff, it's likely you never bought it again due to its odor, but the salmon emulsion fertilizer is truly great stuff.

Later that afternoon, I attached the salmon head to our back door. It faces east because salmon head that direction when they leave the Pacific Ocean, swimming up the Columbia River in order to reach their spawning grounds. Ideally, from Astoria, Oregon to Washington State and Idaho, the salmon will find their way home to spawn.

Native Americans along the Columbia annually place the bones of the first caught salmon of the season back into the river. They are meant to act as a kind of marker for the supernatural salmon to return to the area during next season. My salmon is the mythical salmon, so it is white. I too want to make a kind of salmon prayer, urging the fish to come home.

I also placed my salmon marker facing east to watch the sunrise, watching over my garden, showing the others which way to go, cheering them on. As for the salmon fertilizer, much like the salmon bones, I toss it out each season so the supernatural bees and other pollinators know I'm open for business.

Garden Flaws: How to Improve Aluminum Windows Blocking Your Complete Garden Vision

Our home was built in 1911, and during the last 100 years, some things have been changed. Sometimes these changes don't sit well with the real integrity of the house, and for me, one of these many beefs I have is with the aluminum windows on the back of the house. They just don't fit in with the rest.

Originally, the back of the house had a large sun porch and a butler's pantry. Much later, the wall between these rooms was removed, the door to the kitchen was covered up, and the large windows were replaced with these cheap aluminum ones. I love the extra back room, and the lack of kitchen storage space is something we deal well with, but the windows drive me nuts.

In a perfect world, I'd replace them and put back the appropriate windows, but this is not that world. Usually, each summer I hide the windows with plants from the outside, and this year is no exception. I intend to grow all of my Christmas cacti in these old hoops soon. The sight of the plants is almost always distracting when you have them all hanging in a row, but what about a solution? I need a solution I can afford!

Then I noticed this amazing window treatment at the Portland Japanese Garden last weekend at their annual plant sale while I was standing in line. It's brilliant and I think it would look great! Our garden is a mess right now, and it is hard to see all of this clearly through the debris, but I think this is the new plan. 

Don't you agree? (I should add that we have plenty of other Japanese elements in the garden and this might actually begin to tie them all together. So often the details are so easily overlooked.) 

Top 12 To-Do List for the 2011 Growing Season

There's nothing I'd enjoy more than to complete the many tasks on any one of the lists floating around this house. As a recovered perfectionist, it has pained me greatly to become so physically unable to do so many simple things. But I'm not giving up—and neither should any of you—when swelling or any other kind of chronic malady shows up to bring dark clouds to an otherwise sunny day. I know that when you cannot work, you cannot hire help, but that doesn't mean that you should let it all pile up as I so often do. Things need to be tackled, and when they are tackled, you beat that obstacle and are better prepared for whatever else is coming your way.

(If you are not a gardener struggling with chronic illness, I am pretty sure you have these lists too. If you are able-bodied, and willing to help, think about offering a hand to help another gardener in need. For you too may be there someday.)

1. COVER. Add a larger covered area of some kind, any kind, to the backyard to encourage the cats to recreate outdoors more often. I'd like to have a place back there too. Kids might even figure out that's it's fun. We will see.
2. SHELTER. Enclose the small shed attached to the garage/storage studio and throw out its contents. Consider using the large inherited kiln in this space. The pile of salvaged wood stored in the garage/studio is sure to come in handy for this task.  
3. DEFENSE. Get around to having a gorgeous fence made in the backyard and add a small deck platform to it. After all this time, I'd like to finally say goodbye to that apartment building once and for all. 
4. POWER. Add electrical outdoors outlets since there is not a single one in sight! 
5. GUIDANCE. Clean all paths in the garden from my many piles of debris. Get rid of broken pots. Throw away anything that is not vital to the completion of my goals. No empty planters. Sell them or give them away.
6. STRUCTURE. Make things and things with happen. The fact that our cement stucco home terrifies me is a big hinderance to the completion of this task.
7. EDIT. Be brave and remove plants that show little improvement. Others WILL take their place. I have a pile of those too.
8. VIEW. Buy a projector so we can watch movies with the kids in the backyard this summer. They are so often denied such luxuries and it is such a perfect fit for all involved. 
9. DIRECTION. Better define how the garden functions with more hardscaping projects completed. 
10. SOLID. Finish up the back porch. It's an eyesore in concrete and it needs to be pebble mosaic. 
11. HANG. That's right. Hang all the items I need to hang, and get over my fear of masonry.
12. COLOR. Color me concrete. Paint the architectural details on the front porch and garage/studio and consider repainting the front porch. Finally!

Hope you're all making your lists too!

Pieris japonica 'Valley Valentine.'

Wordless Wednesday: Springtime in the Garden