Recent content by Xtina

Haha, thanks. I think probably every "Portlander" from around the world forgets that there are other Portlands most of the time.

Last year was my second real gardening attempt ever and I learned a lot from the experience. I got even better results than the first year, and I made mistakes that I learned from. I'm hoping to best last year's garden this year. I have a gardening book that was written specifically for...

That is beautiful! I think your path idea would be perfect for my yard, especially if I can find some free bricks or gravel on craigslist. How do you keep the pea gravel from getting spread out all over?

Thanks for all the advise! Grass is going to be a major challenge for my yard, and one that I'm not nearly up to the task of doing, but I'm going to try. Pictures of what others have done though will give me a good idea of what can be done. I'm just very bad at visualizing, and I have next to...

I am trying to get ideas about what to do with the ugly mudpit I call my backyard this year. The past two years I've spent working on the vegetable garden half, but this year, I want to deal with the other side. In case this doesn't make sense to you, my yard is divided with a four foot fence...

I'm curious about any fast-growing grasses that might do well in my yard. I also have chickens eating up as much grass as they can, and that's what I want them to do because it makes their eggs so good! But I need to throw something down that will pretty much take over the yard, year after...

Oh, I am a major oregano fan, that's why I planted it. I forget that people can't just immediately tell that I'm of Greek descent. I was making a pasta sauce garden by putting tomatoes, basil, oregano, and parsley all in one! My oregano was probably the most successful, but it got...

Sorry, I forgot to mention, I'm in Portland, Oregon! We had such bad luck with tomatoes last year, everyone's were green still in October. Only my cherry tomatoes turned red, and they're no good for sauce! Anyhow, thanks for the advice, that'll be helpful. I'll cut out the corn and...

I am having the same problem, but I'm a little more hemmed in by restrictions. Primarily, that I can't possibly keep the dogs out of any part of the tiny bit of yard that is devoted to them. It's all they've got! And they've worn out the entire middle section of grass. So I'm wondering, if...

I'm getting really revved up to start gardening again this year! I learned so much last year, but I now have some big questions about crop rotation that I need answered before I begin planning this year's garden. Here's a pic of my garden. I made this when I was considering putting a chicken...