The Garden that Ate Stillwaters!

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Earlier in the week I thought about writing this week’s blog about “dreaming of a sunny August” to the tune of “White Christmas.” Just as I was fine tuning my rhyming skills for this task the weather suddenly changed and we are enjoying traditional August weather again!

So here is a last minute fill-in for the blog:

As a resident of Stillwaters, I have a small plot in one of our community gardens that I plant vegetables, raspberries and have an amazing rosebush. The garden is surrounded by a tall fence to keep out the deer and is guarded at ground level with chicken wire to keep out the earnest rabbits who dig under these fences.

Mystery bug From my house garden. Not a Mantis but what?

My title for today’s blog comes from my innocent act of planting a single summer squash in May, hoping I would enjoy a few squash from my small plot. First thing I noticed was that this plant of 4 or 5 inches was very shortly standing a foot tall and growing noticeably each day. I thought I would be clever so I put a tomato ring around it forcing it to grow upwards three feet (hoping to contain it in my limited space of about 8′ by 14′). The squash outwitted me!

Before I knew it that little squash was up and over the tomato ring and down again, going all directions. Soon I had to stake the squash away from other plants and it moved out to the walkway between gardens. My gardening neighbors started to notice and ask questions. It was huge!

Well, this week I picked the multitude of squash it had produced (and it was threatening to produce many more!) and pulled up the squash plant that was likely to eat Stillwaters. Lovely squash but I fought back and saved the neighborhood from this ever-growing plant.

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Here is an interesting website on gardening in a small space. Click HERE for the website called Gardenguides.com

Quote of the Week:

Baby Deer two What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have never been discovered. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happenings this week:

Now Through Sunday: Mount St. Helens Bluegrass Festival: The 32nd annual Mount St. Helens Bluegrass Festival will be held Friday through Sunday in its traditional location at Toledo High School, with the main stage erected outdoors in a tree-lined setting behind a wing at the school.

“It’s a great place to watch a show,” said Washington Bluegrass Association president General Cothren. of Winlock. “We have a few rows of chairs set up in front of the stage and a set of bleachers set back toward the trees. Lots of people bring their own lawn chairs, too, and the whole setup has worked out well for us over the years.”

This year’s festival will feature five bands performing regular sets the first two days of the event plus the annual gospel show on Sunday morning, with most bands performing more than once over the weekend. There will be four sets on Friday and another eight on Saturday. The the gospel show will be held indoors at the Commons.

The festival will also include a band scramble, various workshops, quilting room, food concessions and prize drawings. Tickets range from $20 for Friday and Saturday night sets, $25 for all-day passes on Saturday and $35 for weekend passes. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Cothren at (360) 785-3478 or WBA board member Jamie Guenther at (360) 880-9667.

Now through Sunday: Loggers Jubilee-The Morton Loggers Jubilee, called “The Grandaddy of All Logging Shows,” gets underway tonight with the queen coronation at 8 p.m. at Morton High School. Lawnmower races are Friday, with a drivers meeting at 6:30 p.m., then time trials, and racing beginning at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for seniors and children 6-12. Children 5 and under are free.

The Jubilee Grand Parade commences at 11:30 a.m. Saturday on Main Street. It is preceded by a Children’s Parade. The 2016 Jubilee Logging Show begins at 2 p.m. at Jubilee Arena, with gates opening at 12:30 p.m. Events in the two-day show include ax throw, birling, choker set, hot saw, obstacle buck, speed climb, stock saw tree top, and Jack ‘n’ Jill.

Also on Saturday are the Lions Club Loggers Breakfast, 6 a.m.-noon, Jubilee Park and Lions Hall; 10k run, 7 a.m. registration and 8 a.m. run, Morton High School; Morton Senior Center sandwiches and desserts, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.; and ed races, 11 a.m., Main Street. An Uptown Dance featuring Lyte Fantastic will be 7:30-11:30 p.m. behind the GasPlus store.

Another Lions Club Loggers Breakfast will be on Sunday, also 6 a.m.-noon. The Logging Show commences at noon Sunday. Admission to the logging shows are adults $7, seniors $5, children 6-12 $5, and children 5 and under free. More information is available at www.loggersjubilee.com.

Enjoy the week ahead and all that sunshine! june-sunshine-2015-clipart-1

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