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Home » Updates & Recent Happenings » Updates and Recent Happenings: Amaranth and Swimming Holes

Updates and Recent Happenings: Amaranth and Swimming Holes

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Originally published on July 9, 2015. Last updated on October 24, 2018

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Last week started off with a bang! I told Joel that I wanted to BBQ for the 4th of July since we were having a few friends over, but unfortunately we didn’t have a BBQ. Crazy, I know. So Joel, being crafty as he is, built us one on a whim! Pretty cool, I think.

homemade bbqIt was pretty low to the ground, but got the job done. He has since been working on a more normal sized one, which is pretty exciting! I love grilled veggies and meats. I’ll show you once it’s all finished, I may even turn it into a post.

All the warm weather we’ve been having has brought blackberries! They’re not ripe yet, but when they are we’ll be in the blackberry money! There will be literally thousands to pick, and I can’t wait! One of my best memories of summertime as a child is picking bowls full of blackberries and bringing them back to Mom who would turn them into blackberry cobbler. I will definitely be doing that once these are ripe!

unripe blackberriesOn one of our days off last week we had the opportunity to go hiking around the the Illinois River here in Southern Oregon, and it was amazingly beautiful.

illinois riverWith it’s steep cliffs and rock formations it reminded us of Yosemite in a way. So nice to have this fairly close to home! We hiked down to a super awesome swimming hole where we spent the afternoon. Definitely not a bad way to spend a day off!

illinois swimming holeBack at home the garden is sure growing! The pole beans have grabbed onto their respective poles and are climbing like crazy. So fun to watch day by day!

climbing beansThere is also an abundance of teeny tiny baby squash forming, and their tendrils are attaching to the deer cage around the permaculture swale bed. Not sure we’ll be able to open it up anymore, but that’s ok. This will be a spaghetti squash someday!

baby spaghetti squashSpeaking of the swale bed, I got a comment or two on that post wondering how to deal with rainwater runoff during storms. Joel dug a runoff ditch that goes downhill from the bed. We’ve actually had several thunderstorms this past week and it seems to work pretty well!

swale bed runoffThe sunflowers in the swale bed are starting to get tall, growing out of the cage as well. I can’t wait until they’re huge! I love sunflowers.

sunflower seedlingsThe amaranth is also growing really well. It’s such a gorgeous purple color! It’s a really cool plant because you can eat it’s leaves raw when they’re young as salad greens, then cooked when they’re a bit bigger like chard, then they also produce a grain similar to quinoa that is highly nutritious. I’ll probably do a whole post on amaranth one of these days as it’s a great permaculture garden plant. It can also be quite beautiful!

amaranth seedlingThat’s about it for this week! I hope you all are having a wonderful summer, that your gardens are growing, and that you’re in an abundance of fresh fruits and veggies! To me, that’s what summer is all about. Now go find yourselves some amaranth and swimming holes!

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Previous Post: « CSA Box Veggies: What to do With Cabbage
Next Post: Foraging for Lobster Mushrooms »

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Comments

  1. Dustin says

    July 12, 2015 at 6:33 am

    Those pics of your garden and southern oregon have me crazy jealous right now. My wife and i have wanted to move to oregon (portland or willamette valley) for years but circumstances have us still stuck in an apartment in ohio. Don’t cry for us though. We will get out there eventually! Keep posting and living the dream for me!

    Reply
  2. Debby says

    July 10, 2015 at 7:46 pm

    Colleen, your posts are so interesting and I learn something new every time.

    Reply
  3. Don Cochrane says

    July 10, 2015 at 9:15 am

    Re: Joel’s BBQ:
    – the front detail: classy touch.

    Reply
  4. Regina Gurland says

    July 10, 2015 at 9:01 am

    Colleen, what do you do in your spare time? Do you find time to sleep ?I love what you and Joel are doing, stay well and best to you both, Nam

    Reply
  5. Robin Jozovich says

    July 10, 2015 at 6:40 am

    Your garden looks great, Colleen! So many berries! Good memories for sure!
    Sounds like your summer has been good so far!

    Reply

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Hello there! I’m Colleen.

I want to inspire you to live seasonally, become more self sufficient, and protect your health. I share information on foraging and wildcrafting, fermenting and preserving, cooking whole foods from scratch, permaculture gardening, and making herbal products. And that’s just the beginning! Learn more.

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