As you can tell I've been away from the blog for quite awhile. Life happens and sometimes changes get in the way as we learn to adjust. Now, I'm back!

After spending 5 years in our rented duplex in the historic Hudson Bay neighborhood we will be moving to our own house in about 3 weeks. I've never enjoyed moving but the end result will be worth it. As we prepare we are canning from the current garden, teaching classes in food preservation, playing music and keeping our open mics going along with our "day jobs".

The "new" (to us) house is a sturdy concrete block in an older neighborhood 2 miles north of where we are now. Part of the immediate challenge will be getting the large plants and trees into the ground as quickly as we can and getting the fall/winter garden going. This house actually has a garage so we will have our freezer with us rather than 3 miles away.

Good things are happening and the adventure begins.

Cool, damp Monday After And Epic Weekend

It's cloudy, cool and damp Monday in the NW. Saturday was sunny and bright. Like the final day of summer. We started early. Out the door at 8:30 AM and into Portland to the historic Veterans Memorial Colesium where I sang the national anthem to kick off day two of the Bridgetown Brawl-the west coast semi final for Women's Roller Derby. For decades the Colesium was the only venue for big shows. Everyone played there from the Beatles to the Royal Lipizzan Stallions. Walking the halls, hearing the crowd, background music and announcements was exciting. The Rose City Rollers really know how to host and manage a big event. Every thing worked smoothly and it was a blast to walk to the apex of the track and sing our national anthem. A great experience!
Then we hustled south and east to the Fun On Foster Street Fair. Again gorgeous early fall sunshine, a great sound man/host (Joe Reed) and appreciative audience.
It's now early afternoon and back to Vancouver USA where I have voice and piano students ready for their Saturday work out as Eric loads for his evening gig. By 8 PM we are at the River Road House in Milwaukie, OR where Eric played bass with Mean Satisfaction. Live music, dancing and fun until 1 AM and we head North for the last time (or first time since it is Sunday now). A great day of music, fans, and being really happy that we have an economical vehicle. We're ready to do it all over again.

This week in the 'couve

Here we are in the middle of May 2011 and the weather says "April" loud and clear. Lilacs are blooming, thunder storms are predicted and it is the coldest spring on record with only 5 or 6 days above 50 degrees F.

We are so lucky and blessed to have a greenhouse. It is full of 12 kinds of tomatoes, seedlings including scarlet runner beans, popcorn, anahiem peppers, banana peppers and bell peppers, watermelon, pumpkin, blueberries and a variety of pollinator attracting flowers.

The grape vine, filbert and apple trees are breaking bud.

Chives, raspberries and strawberries are blooming. Blueberries are setting on fruit. Lettuce, spinach, onions, scallots and garlic are growing well.

We intend to set out the bean starts this weekend so soil prep is under way. Will add coffee grounds, rabbit manure and compost after picking out at least one bucket of river rock. Sigh. Lots of rock for lots of projects.

Check out my book review at http://www.examiner.com/organic-gardening-in-vancouver/seeds-of-change-the-living-treasure-review

What are you doing in your garden this week?

The new TwoRivers Music Podcast will be available later today at http://tworiversmusicpodcast.blogspot.com/    Drop by and listen!

All images are by Eric Donaldson Tworivers. You can view his work at http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/eric-tworivers.html

Happy first week of May!

We are still working our way through the coldest, dampest April in many years but the garden is growing.
Spinach, lettuces, onions, shallots, garlic,strawberries, raspberries and blueberries are doing well.

We assembled our new greenhouse over the weekend. What a job! Removed sod, chipped mortar from bricks (thank you craigslist) and got it together. 3 ft x 6ft of warmer growing area and the plants are loving it!

Experienced gardeners in our area look to the eastern hills to know when to plant out. If there is snow on the ridge top we wait. So... we are waiting. The greenhouse is stuffed with tomatoes, scarlet runner beans, popcorn starts and flats of seeds waiting to germinate.

The music business is perking along with additional gigs and improving statistics. You can check that out at www.reverbnation.com/tworivers music.

The new Podcast addition is available for listening at http://tworiversmusicpodcast.blogspot.com/

Last week we suffered a huge set back when all the gear from my husband's day job was stolen. He is a professional photographer and this theft put him out of work. We are struggling to move beyond that.
So you can imagine that this past week has been a mixed bag. The photos on this addition, including the cd cover shot, are by Eric Tworivers. You can view his work at http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/eric-tworivers.html

Our cd is available for download at Amazon.com!  


Thanks for taking the time to read!

How we meet the challenging economy

By doing it ourselves and being creative. Growing as much of our food as we can. Learning about slow/real food and how to produce it for taste and good health. Working creatively.
As musicians we are greatly effected by the "slow" economy. As TwoRivers Music we teach, perform, compose, arrange and work hard to build a "job" of our own. One method is to host Open Mics in our area.
This last 2 weeks we have begun a new open mic with a twist. We showcase a featured player and, as a value added item, podcast the event. In a world of heavy competition you have to break out of the box. We know from experience that the featured performer format works but are new to the podcast . It has been challenging and exciting. You can listen in at the link below.
 http://tworiversmusicpodcast.blogspot.com/

This week in the garden.

Kale

Lettuces

It rained, poured actually most of the week but we were able to harvest four nice salads from the garden. Three kinds of lettuce, baby spinach and two kinds of kale. Those four salads have almost paid for the seeds we've bought this year.

Transplanted twelve tomatoes, a Sweet Basil and two Stevia plants to larger pots in the greenhouse - still too cold to plant out. Also planted twelve seed cells of Scarlet Runner Beans, Japanese white hull less popcorn, six Jack Be Little Pumpkin, six Sugar Baby Watermelon, twelve Anaheim pepper and six each of Chinese lantern, Snapdragon and Asters. Said greenhouse is getting full! It's a good thing we have a larger one to put up. Just have to dig up a bit of turf, spread sand and lay the brick we got from Craig's list. Might start that today as the sun is shining.

Tomatoes in the greenhouse.

Last week we had a Forsythia bush and two old, ratty Rhododendrons removed. The roots are under the house and sidewalk so could not pull them out. This means constant duty to keep them from growing back but it does give us a bit more space for edible crops.

Other news: First: We-meaning Eric-are working on a podcast! We have a new Thursday evening venue, The Sellwood Public House, where we are doing a showcase/open mic and podcast. AS soon as it is on line I'll post the link here. The talent is amazing! Second: Volume I of our cookbook should be available sometime in May! I'll let you know about that too. Third: Two of my piano students performed for an educators dinner and did very well! It's fun to watch them grow and progress.

I have a review of a lovely book at http://www.examiner.com/organic-gardening-in-vancouver/apples-by-gail-gibbons-review.

It's fun and busy here. Hope your gardening week will go well.

Check out The Examiner

I'm writing as an organic gardener for The Examiner.com. Please wander over and take a peek at what we have going on in the garden.
http://www.examiner.com/organic-gardening-in-vancouver/deanna-tworivers

Oh, by the way...it's raining. Welcome spring! Waiting for a delivery of heirloom tomatoes today, stevia and basil tomorrow and filbert bushes by Thursday! Going to plant watermelons in our greenhouse. Photos by the weekend!

What are you doing in your garden this week?

Thank you for your support! Keep gardening!