Buying the old house Nov 2002...

We bought the Old house, November 2002. Built in 1886 as a Saltbox style home, in a fishing village on peninsula in the center of Willapa Bay, the village was named Bay Center.

The home was originally built and owned by Miller family; their daughter married Harry Bochau, who was a barge builder. Harry began reconstruction projects on the house to add an upstairs cupola that did not previously exist. He added two sets of bay windows to the main floor living and dining areas. His wife, pleased with the changes called the house her 'chateau' and it became known in the community as the Bochau Chateau. We are assured by the old timers who still are alive here and know the history back to the Bochau family, that the wood and beams used in the construction of the house are without flaw, without knot holes, and would be an enviable commodity should the house be torn down. We wanted to give the house a name, and came up with Ruger's Bay Tower House in Bay Center.

The Bochau family lived their entire lives in the house, and it passed down to their son, who unfortunately was not able to retain possession of the house. The house was originally built on the style of post and board without foundation or basement, without inside bathroom, and without inside water. Purchased by a local enterpreneur, who dug out a basement and built a brick foundation, using brick from the high school torn down in neighboring town. It seems he had enough brick to also build a brick fence around front, and sides of the house.

There came two more owners afterwards and during that period of history, the lower level of the cupola was added, the kitchen expanded, an additional add on to create a bathroom on the main floor and a bathroom upstairs, running water, electrical rewiring up to code, a deck was added and later a room was built, bumping out from the main house structure onto what was the deck area. The back porch was surrounded by rough-in structure to shield from the pacific winds and serves as an enclosed porch now. Additional bay windows came along with the various construction add-on's, so that the house now has 13 different bay window areas on three levels.

By the time we came along and bought the house in Nov 2002, the house could be described as unusual - unique - interesting, or some might politely say 'it's different'. The house was among featured drawings by Earl Thollander in book 'Backroads of Washington'.

We have some ideas of our own to add to this quaint house and look forward to the years ahead living in this great old house in this quiet little fishing village of Bay Center, on Willapa Bay, of the Pacific ocean, with gentle seasonal coastal breezes along with the fierce winter wind and rainstorms. We live in an area where tsunami signs are posted road signs....let's hope no tsunamis in the near future for us.

Link to our website Ruger's Bay Tower House in Bay Center

entry by Lietta Ruger - the woman of the house

Read more

When the Generals Speak Out, know there is more than meets the eye

When the Generals Speak Out, know there is more than meets the eye

From left, Major General Paul D. Eaton, General Anthony C. Zinni, Lieutenant General Gregory Newbold, Major General John Batiste, Major General John Riggs and Major General Charles H. Swannack Jr.


Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack Jr., who led troops on the ground in Iraq as recently as 2004 as the commander of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, on Thursday became the fifth retired senior general in recent days to call publicly for Mr. Rumsfeld's ouster.

Also Thursday, another retired Army general, Maj. Gen. John Riggs, joined in the fray.

Another former Army commander in Iraq, Maj. Gen. John Batiste, who led the First Infantry Division, publicly broke ranks with Mr. Rumsfeld on Wednesday

Gen. Anthony C. Zinni, who headed the United States Central Command in the late 1990's before retiring from the Marine Corps.

Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold of the Marine Corps, who retired in late 2002, has said he regarded the American invasion of Iraq unnecessary.

Maj. Gen. Paul D. Eaton, a retired Army general, called for Mr. Rumsfeld's resignation in March.

Read article at New York Times; April 13, 2006 'More Retired Generals Call for Rumsfeld's Resignation'

Read more

"a little 10-point plan" Sen. John Kerry and one point he states; Bring our troops home from Iraq

"Tell the truth.
Fire the incompetents.
Find Osama bin Laden and
secure our ports and our homeland.
Bring our troops home from Iraq.
Obey the law and protect our civil rights,"

Mr. Kerry said in ticking off his list, which also included supporting health care, education, lobbying reform and alternatives to oil, as well as reducing the deficit.

Kerry Sharply Criticizes Bush on Several Fronts; - New York Times
By Patric Healy

Published: April 8, 2006

Senator John Kerry made a slashing attack on the Bush administration yesterday, comparing it to the faltering government in Iraq and equating its war strategy with its planning for Hurricane Katrina, while also invoking Jesus as he criticized federal Medicaid policy.

Mr. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat and his party's nominee for president in 2004, has been on a political and media blitz as he considers running for the White House again in 2008. In an Op-Ed article in The New York Times on Wednesday, Mr. Kerry proposed telling Iraqi leaders to form a unity government by May 15 or the United States military would withdraw.

He spoke by telephone yesterday to a political conference in New York City that was organized by the Rev. Al Sharpton, his friend from when they both ran for president in 2004.

Mr. Kerry, who voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq, repeated his deadline proposal and spoke of civil war there as a certainty that will be worse with no effective government.

Iraq served as a thematic framework for the speech, which challenged the administration's ability to manage crises on domestic and international fronts.

"The Bush administration is wondering when Iraq will have a functioning government. I want to know when we're going to have a functioning government," Mr. Kerry said, according to a transcript of his remarks.

Mr. Kerry, who was sometimes criticized as stiff and dour during the 2004 campaign, got several laughs, Mr. Sharpton said. At one point, Mr. Kerry, who has had his verbose moments, offered "a little 10-point plan" in response to complaints that neither Democrats nor Republicans have an agenda for the nation.

"Tell the truth. Fire the incompetents. Find Osama bin Laden and secure our ports and our homeland. Bring our troops home from Iraq. Obey the law and protect our civil rights," Mr. Kerry said in ticking off his list, which also included supporting health care, education, lobbying reform and alternatives to oil, as well as reducing the deficit.

A Roman Catholic who has struggled at times to talk about his own faith, Mr. Kerry also told the group that he believed "deeply in my faith" and that the Koran, the Torah, the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles had influenced a social conscience that he exercised in politics.

"I will tell you, nowhere in there, nowhere, not in one page, not in one phrase uttered and reported by the Lord Jesus Christ, can you find anything that suggests that there is a virtue in cutting children from Medicaid and taking money from the poor and giving it to the rich," Mr. Kerry said.

A spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, which skewered Mr. Kerry's speeches relentlessly during 2004, responded with a verbal shrug yesterday.

"John Kerry deserves credit for continuing to take himself so seriously, despite the fact that no one else does," said the spokeswoman, Tracey Schmitt.

Read more

Taking the people toward a war to defend the Republican party.

With a 70% disapproval rate for their President, the unpopular Republican party wants to launch a war to defend itself.

The New Yorker: Fact:

"The Bush Administration, while publicly advocating diplomacy in order to stop Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon, has increased clandestine activities inside Iran and intensified planning for a possible major air attack. Current and former American military and intelligence officials said that Air Force planning groups are drawing up lists of targets, and teams of American combat troops have been ordered into Iran, under cover, to collect targeting data and to establish contact with anti-government ethnic-minority groups. The officials say that President Bush is determined to deny the Iranian regime the opportunity to begin a pilot program, planned for this spring, to enrich uranium."

Yeah, yeah yeah ... this from the Bush Republican party on behalf of itself.

In reality telling the nation, "We want your sons and daughters, America. We need them to defend our party and keep us in office."

There is a growing conviction among members of the United States military, and in the international community, that President Bush’s ultimate goal in the nuclear confrontation with Iran is regime change. Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has challenged the reality of the Holocaust and said that Israel must be “wiped off the map.” Bush and others in the White House view him as a potential Adolf Hitler, a former senior intelligence official said. “That’s the name they’re using. They say, ‘Will Iran get a strategic weapon and threaten another world war?’ ”

War is good for who?

Only the current party in office.
Only lobbyists sucking the blood of the nation for war dollars.
Only ideological nitwits stuck in their fantasy and unable to get their foot out of what they stepped into.
Only theological political nitwits stuck in THEIR fantasy and unable to get their foot out of what they've stepped into and want to smear on everybody else

One former defense official, who still deals with sensitive issues for the Bush Administration, told me that the military planning was premised on a belief that “a sustained bombing campaign in Iran will humiliate the religious leadership and lead the public to rise up and overthrow the government.” He added, “I was shocked when I heard it, and asked myself, ‘What are they smoking?’ ”

But not for our sons and daughters.
But not for our families.
But not for our economic well-being.

A senior Pentagon adviser on the war on terror expressed a similar view. “This White House believes that the only way to solve the problem is to change the power structure in Iran, and that means war,” he said. The danger, he said, was that “it also reinforces the belief inside Iran that the only way to defend the country is to have a nuclear capability.” A military conflict that destabilized the region could also increase the risk of terror: “Hezbollah comes into play,” the adviser said, referring to the terror group that is considered one of the world’s most successful, and which is now a Lebanese political party with strong ties to Iran. “And here comes Al Qaeda.”

When rich liars blindly lead the blinded both fall into a ditch.

Arthur Ruger, reading the Sunday morning news

Read more

Marine Staff Sgt. Abraham G. Twitchell, 28, of Yelm, Wash., died April 2, 2006, in Iraq. Twitchell was one of six Marines killed in Iraq when the 7-ton truck he was in rolled over during a flash flood near Al Asad. (AP Photo/Family photo via King County Journal) 

Read more

Lance, our family cat passed away. I miss him as he was constant companion as I went about my daily routines.  

Read more

Lance, our family cat passed away. I miss his company as he was a constant companion as I went about my daily routines.  

Read more

Lance, our family cat passed away

April 3, 2006

We have sad news this week. Lance, the cat, died last night, in my arms. We don't know the cause; our guess is old age, something wrong inside like a tumor or cancer or he got around something outside that wasn't good for him. There was little warning that something was wrong, except the night before he was moving slowly. I had just this past week put his cat box back on the porch as we had him inside all winter, and it was warm enough for him to be on the porch again. Yesterday morning, when Arthur left for work, Jake was there as usual, but Lance wasn't and I called for him. He came (very slowly) from across the street but wouldn't come inside. I called him all through the morning, as he was walking (so slowly) back and forth across the side yard. I went out to round him up and bring him in, and he was nowhere I could find him. Finally, he was just sitting at the bottom of the stairs, and I don't think he had the energy to come up the stairs.

I went and got him, brought him upstairs, bundled him up to dry him off, and put him on the couch. He came in the kitchen where his food and water are and tried to drink his water, but was too weak to manage it. I took away his water bowl and put a flat saucer of water down for him, he took a few sips and his head rather lolled in the saucer dish. It was too late in the day to take him to the Vet, and I called Arthur to tell him that I think Lance is dying. I took Lance, all bundled up and just sat on the couch with him till Arthur got home. Arthur took him, still bundled, upstairs and held him to say his good-byes. I took him back and kept him on couch with me, stroking him, petting him, but he could no longer purr. He tried but it was more a vibration than a purr, and then he gave a couple of small gasp sounds, and there was no more vibration. We had been checking his breathing and when he gave those last gasps, there was no more movemet. He had died in my arms.

Today, I'm so sad because I feel like I lost a friend - really. Lance took to me and went everywhere with me, upstairs, downstairs, outside, kitchen, basement. Every morning Arthur and I turn on our computers in upstairs room, and Lance is right there ready to jump up in my lap. It was part of our morning routine. I used to say 'not yet Lance, it's too early' but he'd jump up anyway. He'd sit and stretch out across my shoulder and purr like crazy. If I went downstairs for another cup of coffee, I'd give him to Arthur and he'd stretch out across Arthur's comfortable sitting spot on his belly and stretch out across his shoulder. When I came back, Lance would come back over to me and do some more sitting, stretching out, purring, sleeping. Whenever I sat down to watch tv, Lance would always come and jump on me, do that kneading motion on whatever blanket I was using to keep warm, then curl up when he got comfortable and stay with me till we went to bed.

I can't believe how much a friend a cat can be, and I never wanted a cat, took in Lance, and he took me in is more like it and became good companions. I will miss him much, every single day. We will bury him by the Harry Lauder tree, so he can always be with me in the yard when I am doing gardening and yard work.

Lance lived for about 7 yrs with Bree's family, and when her family moved to Germany, after Woody returned from Iraq, Lance was fostered out to us. We fostered him to Lica's family where he was intimidated by her family cats, so back to us. We have had Lance for almost 2 yrs, and he became part of our family in strong way.

Read more

Lance, our family cat passed away

April 3, 2006

We have sad news this week. Lance, the cat, died last night, in my arms. We don't know the cause; our guess is old age, something wrong inside like a tumor or cancer or he got around something outside that wasn't good for him. There was little warning that something was wrong, except the night before he was moving slowly. I had just this past week put his cat box back on the porch as we had him inside all winter, and it was warm enough for him to be on the porch again. Yesterday morning, when Arthur left for work, Jake was there as usual, but Lance wasn't and I called for him. He came (very slowly) from across the street but wouldn't come inside. I called him all through the morning, as he was walking (so slowly) back and forth across the side yard. I went out to round him up and bring him in, and he was nowhere I could find him. Finally, he was just sitting at the bottom of the stairs, and I don't think he had the energy to come up the stairs.

I went and got him, brought him upstairs, bundled him up to dry him off, and put him on the couch. He came in the kitchen where his food and water are and tried to drink his water, but was too weak to manage it. I took away his water bowl and put a flat saucer of water down for him, he took a few sips and his head rather lolled in the saucer dish. It was too late in the day to take him to the Vet, and I called Arthur to tell him that I think Lance is dying. I took Lance, all bundled up and just sat on the couch with him till Arthur got home. Arthur took him, still bundled, upstairs and held him to say his good-byes. I took him back and kept him on couch with me, stroking him, petting him, but he could no longer purr. He tried but it was more a vibration than a purr, and then he gave a couple of small gasp sounds, and there was no more vibration. We had been checking his breathing and when he gave those last gasps, there was no more movemet. He had died in my arms.

Today, I'm so sad because I feel like I lost a friend - really. Lance took to me and went everywhere with me, upstairs, downstairs, outside, kitchen, basement. Every morning Arthur and I turn on our computers in upstairs room, and Lance is right there ready to jump up in my lap. It was part of our morning routine. I used to say 'not yet Lance, it's too early' but he'd jump up anyway. He'd sit and stretch out across my shoulder and purr like crazy. If I went downstairs for another cup of coffee, I'd give him to Arthur and he'd stretch out across Arthur's comfortable sitting spot on his belly and stretch out across his shoulder. When I came back, Lance would come back over to me and do some more sitting, stretching out, purring, sleeping. Whenever I sat down to watch tv, Lance would always come and jump on me, do that kneading motion on whatever blanket I was using to keep warm, then curl up when he got comfortable and stay with me till we went to bed.

I can't believe how much a friend a cat can be, and I never wanted a cat, took in Lance, and he took me in is more like it and became good companions. I will miss him much, every single day. We will bury him by the Harry Lauder tree, so he can always be with me in the yard when I am doing gardening and yard work.

Lance lived for about 7 yrs with Bree's family, and when her family moved to Germany, after Woody returned from Iraq, Lance was fostered out to us. We fostered him to Lica's family where he was intimidated by her family cats, so back to us. We have had Lance for almost 2 yrs, and he became part of our family in strong way.

Read more

Funded this WA legislation session; Exposure of troops Depleted Uranium

Quietly, some dedicated veterans in WA went to work on getting together a proposal for legislation funding for exposure of WA Natl Guard troops to depleted uranium in Iraq/Afghanistan. It surprisingly moved to a Bill (SB 6732 and HB 3107), to Hearings in a short space of time (Dec 05 - Feb 06) Links to both bills state House and Senate = Access WA SB 6732.

I was invited into the process to give testimony at State Senate hearings on the legislation. I deferred to give the oral presenters more time to make the case for the scientific data and there were to be 4 presenters with about 4-5 minutes each. I did, however, send in written testimony which was entered into the record.

As the legislative session was coming to a close, it looked like the bill was considered dead due to time constraints. I'm not too knowledgeable on legislative process and couldn't believe there wasn't some sort of 11th hour save, so I placed a call to my State Senator Mark Doumit'sSr. Legislative Assistant, Vicki Winters. She explained that while it appears the bill might be dead, it is not too late to ressurect it by encouraging calls from citizens to their legislative representatives. She thanked me for the call and again was strongly encouraging in how important the individual phone call is and mine was important. (At the time I thought she was just giving the polite formal response to my call - I was wrong, she meant it and it did make a difference).

I sent out email to the group working on this legislation that I had learned it was not yet dead, but still in play, and to please send out email to their networking for people to call their legislative reps and ask them to endorse this bill. Not to elevate my own efforts as we had the advantage of having a lobbyist working with our group. He had told us the bill was dead, not going to happen this session. I phoned him to get better sense of the process and to make a plea for some sort of midnight hour save on this bill. He said unlikely but again, I'm a novice, so took my ignorance directly to my State Senator's office, learned a save was possible and in renewed enthusiasm phoned lobbyist back to explain what I'd learned.

Long story short; see below; the bill was funded. Not quite in the original proposal, but it was funded and this is a beginning to a most important, ongoing issue for our troops and their families. We were fortunate to have a lobbyist working diligently with us on this and I can see the value it lent to the process; a most Special Thank You to Roger Kluck, lobbyist for the Friends Committee on Washington Public Policy.

I want to give a Shout Out of Special thanks to WA Senator Mark Doumit (District 19) and his Sr Legislative Assistant, Vickie Winters for your responsive help. It's given me encouragement in this time of a most discouraging political climate that from time to time the political process works!

Reminder to self; one person can make a difference and one by one by one, We All Can Act to Make A Difference.

Language of the Bill;

Budgeted for $150,000 for a Military Department to study the scope and adequacy of training on exposure to depleted uranium received by Washington state members of the National Guard serving during the first Gulf War or reccently in Iraq and Afghanistan.


(8)(a) $150,000 of the general fund--state appropriation for fiscal
year 2007 is provided solely for the military department to:


(i) Initiate a health registry for veterans and military personnel
returning from Afghanistan, Iraq, or other countries in which depleted
uranium or other hazardous materials may be found;

(ii) develop a plan for outreach to and follow-up of military personnel;

(iii) prepare a report for service members concerning potential exposure to depleted
uranium and other toxic chemical substances and the precautions
recommended under combat and noncombat conditions while in a combat
zone;

(iv) submit a report by October 1, 2006, to the joint veterans
and military affairs committee on the scope and adequacy of training
received by members of the Washington national guard on detecting
whether their service as eligible members is likely to entail, or to
have entailed, exposure to depleted uranium, including an assessment of
the feasibility and cost of adding predeployment training concerning
potential exposure to depleted uranium and other toxic chemical
substances; and

(v) study the health effects of hazardous materials
exposure including, but not limited to, depleted uranium, as they
relate to military service and submit a report and recommendations to
the joint veterans and military affairs committee.

Read more

Spring - time for yard and garden - where's those helping grandkids!

Giving the Harry Lauder Walking Stick tree a much-needed trim and setting out some of those early spring primroses and pansies launched us into our spring clean-up. After the winds and rains of winter, our yard looks strewn with debris and left-over projects undone from the end of last fall.

So, getting the planting station in the carport ready for a new spring workout, we got the area cleaned out. Since we tore out the carpet in the main floor of the house, it had been taken outside to the temporary place under the carport. Sweetie got it all hauled out and loaded into his little pick-up to go to the local landfill. Swept out the winter leaves, and tidied up the area. Found grandchildren's toys from last August when the family stayed with us....ahhhh, miss them all so much.

Pruned up the wild fushia bush and took down it's height. That and a hefty pruning of the Harry Lauder Walking Stick tree and we have some serious burn-barrel fires in store. Maybe our neighbor will be as accomodating as last year and haul it to his burn pile for disposal. First spring lawn mowing done. General clean up in the yard and it is already looking much better - ready for spring and new projects.

The kitchen vegetable garden needs tilling and new plantings and I'd like to expand the vegetable garden this year. My vision of it requires more back-breaking labor than either of us really want to expend, so looking for some easy short cuts to make more raised beds for growing more vegetables. I'd like to try the upside down tomatoes this year. I also thought of getting several half whiskey barrels and planting in them.

I've taken on gardening as a leisurely hobby, outdoor exercise and that great feeling of being connected to nature. But I've wanted to get serious about my kitchen vegetable garden as a means of producing some of our food. I'll NEVER want to learn how to do canning thought, but I'm receptive to the art of 'freezing' what I can of the harvest.

We had a small windfall of a bit of extra $$, so I went out to the garden store where I spent 4 hours just looking at every item; envisioning my entire spring and summer and what I could do; then did a reality check and made a list of what I most wanted right now that would fit the small bonus $$ amount. In my mind I spent several hundred $$ but my reality was quite different than my mental shopping spree. In my mind I had lined up to buy 3 trees, 4 bushes, a new wrought iron with canopy outside room, redwood patio set, water fountain gardens for several places in the yard, trellises, wheelbarrow, electric roto-tiller, red lava rock, mulching, mini-greenhouses in several sizes, several more whiskey barrel planters and hundreds of packets of seeds, bulbs and tubers. WoW - had a great time imagining all I could buy....but the few 20 dollar bills in my wallet just wouldn't stretch that far.

With carefully pruning away my mental shopping, I made a list of what I could buy with my real available dollars. I bought pruning shears (boring), potting soil (boring), seed packets (fun - but I had to put about 50 packets back - over my budget), a new tree = Mt Fuji white cherry, the usual assortment of primroses, pansies, and a few other 2' starter flowers, and I found 3 summer tops at price I couldn't resist so I treated myself.

It was time to refer back to my Wee Garden website and update it some, and I learned something about the climate zone where I live in Pacific coastal area. It's not zone 8 like the gardening books and USDA climate zone tell me; it's zone 5 because of the Pacific winds and climate zone. Well, the good news is that with zone 5, the last frost is later than zone 8, so the planting season is later. Might explain why all the seeds I've started for the last 3 years don't seem to germinate. I need to start them later and actually create a greenhouse environment for them of heat, light and moisture. Forget tomatoes, no way in the climate zone I'm in with short, short hot season can I grow them from seed. Sounds like my instincts to buy starter vegetable plants from the nursery is well-founded.

Now where's those grand-darlings to help me with my yard. They really were very helpful and willing workers with the taskings of the yard. Emily hauling off sod to the back, Drew using the big person shovel to dig a hole, their fascination with the worms when we turned the soil.....ahhhhh, I need my families to live closer. All this training them towards their own independence and they are all making their own lives their own way in different parts of the country. I miss them all. I always wanted to own acerage that would allow for building several homes in one place and having family close by but I'm also wanting mostly that they flourish in their own lives.

Read more

The Country Cottage Garden - Easy as 1, 2, 3

The Country Cottage Garden - Easy as 1, 2, 3:

Adapted from Heirloom Country Gardens, by Sarah Wolfgang Heffner (Rodale Press, 2000).

Simple Solution

A cottage garden is the ultimate country dream come true, where flowers mix with herbs and vegetables in colorful abandon. You’ll love cutting fresh flowers for bouquets, snipping herbs and lettuces for salad, and picking tender beans for dinner.

The real-life cottage gardens of English history were commonly mixed plantings of vegetables, fruits, and herbs, complete with honeybees, chickens, and perhaps a family pig. As time went on and living conditions became less harsh, more flowers were added to cottage gardens.

The joy of these gardens is their casual, informal appearance. They should not be overly neat and tidy! All you really have to worry about is thinning vigorous perennials every few years so that they don’t over step their boundaries! Here is a list of 20 plants to get started. Print it out and take it with you next time you go to the local garden nursery:

Sneezeweed

Honesty

Feverfew

Bacherlor’s button

Hollyhock

Johnny-jump-up

Lemon lily

Golden glow

Garden phlox

Sage

Scarlet runner bean

Thymes

Dill

Borage

Mints

Peonies

Foxglove

Jasmine tobacco

Wild columbine

Bleeding heart"

Read more

Time to hit the garden and yard .. my climate zone

So, I learned something today. I had thought where I live the climate zone per USDA Hardiness chart was in zone 8-9. Ahh, but I found the below today which points out my maritime environment puts me more in line with Zone 5. Now I will adjust my planting times accordingly.

Also, it's April 1, and I'm eager to start the seedlings, and I learned something else about planting some of the vegetables too early. From Washington state Master Gardener's website; Everything can go into the ground now, except the heat loving crops like tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash, cukes, corn and basil.


Sunset Climate Zones, Oregon State Univ., LANDSCAPE PLANTS

Sunset's Climate Zones

In the Sunset Western Garden Book (1996, 2001, Sunset Pub. Corp., Menlo Park, Calif.), the western U.S. is divided into 24 Climate Zones. These Climate Zones do NOT correspond to the USDA Hardiness Zones.

Sunset's Climate Zones are based on winter minimum temperatures, but also include other factors such as summer high temperatures, length of growing season, humidity, and rainfall. This approach is used to avoid the difficulties encountered when the USDA Hardiness Zones are applied to parts of the western U.S. For example, with the USDA Hardiness Zones, the Olympic rain forest in Washington State is in the same Hardiness Zone, Zone 8, as part of Arizona's Sonora Desert. Seven Sunset Climate Zones are used to cover Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. They are:

Zone 1 Coldest Winters in the West In this Zone, snow falls and stays on the ground (from a day to all winter) and the growing season is from 75 to 150 days, but frost may occur on any night of the year. The Cascades and most of Central and Eastern Oregon are in this Zone, including the Oregon cities of Bend, Redmond, Burns, etc.
Zone 2 Second-Coldest Western Climate Here snow is expected but the average annual winter temperatures are higher than in Zone 1; they range from -3^o to -34^o F. A few lower elevation sites in Eastern Oregon, such as LaGrand and Baker City, are in Zone 2, as are Spokane and Pullman, Washington, and Salt Lake City, Utah.
Zone 3 Mildest of High-Elevation and Interior Climates This Zone is often called the "banana belt" since the winter are fairly mild, but minimum temperatures may range from 13^o to -24^o F. The growing season can be shorter than in Zone 2, but the winter temperatures are always higher. Oregon's Coastal Mountains, as well as the Oregon cities of Hood River, The Dalles, Pendleton, and Ontario, and Boise, Idaho, have Zone 3 climates.
Zone 5 Marine Influence Along the Northwest Coast Mild ocean air bring relatively warm winters in this Zone. Minimum temperatures range from 28^o to 1^o F, although in some year a "big freeze" can cause considerable damage to plants. Zone 5 extends from the Puget Sound area in Washington, including Seattle and Tacoma, south along the Pacific Coast to north of Brookings, Oregon, including Astoria, Newport, Coos Bay.
Zone 6 Willamette Valley Warmer summers distinguish this Zone from Zone 5, average temperatures being 5^o to 9^o F higher. Average winter lows are similar or lower than those of Zone 5. Much of the Valley has a long growing season, with 279 days in Portland. However, Portland may also experience icy winds blowing down the Columbia. Zone 6 extends from Longview, Washington to Roseburg, Oregon. This of course includes Salem, Corvallis, and Eugene, Oregon.
Zone 7 Oregon's Rogue River Valley: This Zone has hot summers and mild but pronounced winters. Typical winter lows range from 23^o to 9^o F, record lows vary from 15^o to -1^o F. The Oregon cities of Grants Pass, Medford, and Ashland are in Zone 7.
Zone 17 Marine Effects in Extreme Southwestern Oregon and Northern California A narrow strip along the Coast between Gold Beach and Brookings, Oregon is in this Zone (as is the Coast of Northern California and much of the Bay Area).

Read more

Time to hit the garden and yard .. my climate zone

So, I learned something today. I had thought where I live the climate zone per USDA Hardiness chart was in zone 8-9. Ahh, but I found the below today which points out my maritime environment puts me more in line with Zone 5. Now I will adjust my planting times accordingly.
Also, it's April 1, and I'm eager to start the seedlings, and I learned something else about planting some of the vegetables too early. (Lietta)

From Washington state Master Gardener's website; Everything can go into the ground now, except the heat loving crops like tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash, cukes, corn and basil.
Sunset Climate Zones, Oregon State Univ., LANDSCAPE PLANTS

Sunset's Climate Zones

In the Sunset Western Garden Book (1996, 2001, Sunset Pub. Corp., Menlo Park, Calif.), the western U.S. is divided into 24 Climate Zones. These Climate Zones do NOT correspond to the USDA Hardiness Zones.
Sunset's Climate Zones are based on winter minimum temperatures, but also include other factors such as summer high temperatures, length of growing season, humidity, and rainfall. This approach is used to avoid the difficulties encountered when the USDA Hardiness Zones are applied to parts of the western U.S. For example, with the USDA Hardiness Zones, the Olympic rain forest in Washington State is in the same Hardiness Zone, Zone 8, as part of Arizona's Sonora Desert. Seven Sunset Climate Zones are used to cover Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. They are:
Zone 1

Coldest Winters in the West In this Zone, snow falls and stays on the ground (from a day to all winter) and the growing season is from 75 to 150 days, but frost may occur on any night of the year. The Cascades and most of Central and Eastern Oregon are in this Zone, including the Oregon cities of Bend, Redmond, Burns, etc.Zone 2

Second-Coldest Western Climate Here snow is expected but the average annual winter temperatures are higher than in Zone 1; they range from -3^o to -34^o F. A few lower elevation sites in Eastern Oregon, such as LaGrand and Baker City, are in Zone 2, as are Spokane and Pullman, Washington, and Salt Lake City, Utah.Zone 3

Mildest of High-Elevation and Interior Climates This Zone is often called the "banana belt" since the winter are fairly mild, but minimum temperatures may range from 13^o to -24^o F. The growing season can be shorter than in Zone 2, but the winter temperatures are always higher. Oregon's Coastal Mountains, as well as the Oregon cities of Hood River, The Dalles, Pendleton, and Ontario, and Boise, Idaho, have Zone 3 climates.Zone 5

Marine Influence Along the Northwest Coast Mild ocean air bring relatively warm winters in this Zone. Minimum temperatures range from 28^o to 1^o F, although in some year a "big freeze" can cause considerable damage to plants. Zone 5 extends from the Puget Sound area in Washington, including Seattle and Tacoma, south along the Pacific Coast to north of Brookings, Oregon, including Astoria, Newport, Coos Bay.Zone 6

Willamette Valley Warmer summers distinguish this Zone from Zone 5, average temperatures being 5^o to 9^o F higher. Average winter lows are similar or lower than those of Zone 5. Much of the Valley has a long growing season, with 279 days in Portland. However, Portland may also experience icy winds blowing down the Columbia. Zone 6 extends from Longview, Washington to Roseburg, Oregon. This of course includes Salem, Corvallis, and Eugene, Oregon.Zone 7

Oregon's Rogue River Valley: This Zone has hot summers and mild but pronounced winters. Typical winter lows range from 23^o to 9^o F, record lows vary from 15^o to -1^o F. The Oregon cities of Grants Pass, Medford, and Ashland are in Zone 7.Zone 17

Marine Effects in Extreme Southwestern Oregon and Northern California A narrow strip along the Coast between Gold Beach and Brookings, Oregon is in this Zone (as is the Coast of Northern California and much of the Bay Area). posted by Lietta Ruger

Read more

Spring - time for yard and garden - where's those helping grandkids!

Giving the Harry Lauder Walking Stick tree a much-needed trim and setting out some of those early spring primroses and pansies launched us into our spring clean-up. After the winds and rains of winter, our yard looks strewn with debris and left-over projects undone from the end of last fall.

So, getting the planting station in the carport ready for a new spring workout, we got the area cleaned out. Since we tore out the carpet in the main floor of the house, it had been taken outside to the temporary place under the carport. Sweetie got it all hauled out and loaded into his little pick-up to go to the local landfill. Swept out the winter leaves, and tidied up the area. Found grandchildren's toys from last August when the family stayed with us....ahhhh, miss them all so much.

Pruned up the wild fushia bush and took down it's height. That and a hefty pruning of the Harry Lauder Walking Stick tree and we have some serious burn-barrel fires in store. Maybe our neighbor will be as accomodating as last year and haul it to his burn pile for disposal. First spring lawn mowing done. General clean up in the yard and it is already looking much better - ready for spring and new projects.

The kitchen vegetable garden needs tilling and new plantings and I'd like to expand the vegetable garden this year. My vision of it requires more back-breaking labor than either of us really want to expend, so looking for some easy short cuts to make more raised beds for growing more vegetables. I'd like to try the upside down tomatoes this year. I also thought of getting several half whiskey barrels and planting in them.

I've taken on gardening as a leisurely hobby, outdoor exercise and that great feeling of being connected to nature. But I've wanted to get serious about my kitchen vegetable garden as a means of producing some of our food. I'll NEVER want to learn how to do canning thought, but I'm receptive to the art of 'freezing' what I can of the harvest.

We had a small windfall of a bit of extra $, so I went out to the garden store where I spent 4 hours just looking at every item; envisioning my entire spring and summer and what I could do; then did a reality check and made a list of what I most wanted right now that would fit the small bonus $ amount. In my mind I spent several hundred $ but my reality was quite different than my mental shopping spree. In my mind I had lined up to buy 3 trees, 4 bushes, a new wrought iron with canopy outside room, redwood patio set, water fountain gardens for several places in the yard, trellises, wheelbarrow, electric roto-tiller, red lava rock, mulching, mini-greenhouses in several sizes, several more whiskey barrel planters and hundreds of packets of seeds, bulbs and tubers. WoW - had a great time imagining all I could buy....but the few 20 dollar bills in my wallet just wouldn't stretch that far.

With carefully pruning away my mental shopping, I made a list of what I could buy with my real available dollars. I bought pruning shears (boring), potting soil (boring), seed packets (fun - but I had to put about 50 packets back - over my budget), a new tree = Mt Fuji white cherry, the usual assortment of primroses, pansies, and a few other 2' starter flowers, and I found 3 summer tops at price I couldn't resist so I treated myself.

It was time to refer back to my Wee Garden website and update it some, and I learned something about the climate zone where I live in Pacific coastal area. It's not zone 8 like the gardening books and USDA climate zone tell me; it's zone 5 because of the Pacific winds and climate zone. Well, the good news is that with zone 5, the last frost is later than zone 8, so the planting season is later. Might explain why all the seeds I've started for the last 3 years don't seem to germinate. I need to start them later and actually create a greenhouse environment for them of heat, light and moisture. Forget tomatoes, no way in the climate zone I'm in with short, short hot season can I grow them from seed. Sounds like my instincts to buy starter vegetable plants from the nursery is well-founded.

Now where's those grand-darlings to help me with my yard. They really were very helpful and willing workers with the taskings of the yard. Emily hauling off sod to the back, Drew using the big person shovel to dig a hole, their fascination with the worms when we turned the soil.....ahhhhh, I need my families to live closer. All this training them towards their own independence and they are all making their own lives their own way in different parts of the country. I miss them all. I always wanted to own acerage that would allow for building several homes in one place and having family close by but I'm also wanting mostly that they flourish in their own lives.

posted by Lietta Ruger

Read more