It's a Boy!

The first flowers on my Indian Plum opened today and, as I expected, they contained pollen-capped stamens.




A male red-winged blackbird also made an appearence on the deck, demanding more seed. When he flushes the the other birds away and struts along the rail, I am reminded of Darth Vader’s swagger upon boarding the rebel ship in the opening scene of Star Wars. Ew! comparing birds to Star Wars. Could I get more nerdy?



Speaking of movies, I recently watched Into the Wild, the excellent adaptation of the nonfiction book. I was most taken with the relationships formed by the doomed main character, Alexander Supertramp, while on the road. The people he met instantly loved him and had a hard time letting him go. Alexander Supertramp seems to embody the spirit of the “Wandering 20’s,” a demographic I will depart later this month. As I watched the movie I could not help but think back to my own wanderings prior to meeting my wife and agreeing to sink our roots into Oregon soil. Back then I worked on bird research projects in many western states and spent several months in South America. I loved the changes of scenery, sleeping in a different places, and meeting so many interesting people. The hardest part of it all was leaving the people with whom I lived, partied, and worked. Alexander Supertramp seemed to have little problem doing this, perhaps that was his undoing. Though I still like to travel for work, I miss my wife and dog when I am on the road, I have trouble sleeping in new places, and I make fewer friends wherever I go. Perhaps my exit from the Wandering 20’s is complete.

Deck Garden Maintenance

This weekend, I performed some overdue maintenance on my deck garden/bird feeding station. We live on the third floor and face the northwest, so the deck does not receive much sun or rain at any time of the year. I therefore try to grow forest understory plants and herbs and veggies that I found, through trial and error, can survive on the deck.


My containers were in disarray, filled with remnants from the last growing season and weeds that took hold. The surviving plants needed pruning and watering to improve their appearance and help them make it to the next summer. So far, the only native survivors are my beloved Indian plum, a vine maple, and two bunches of purple wood sorrel. Among the herbs, a purple sage, an English lavender, an Italian parsley, and some dormant Hood strawberries remain.


The indian plum now has four inflorescences emerging from their buds.


I cut down the remnants of last year’s cherry tomatoes, the only types that grow well under our poor sunlight conditions. I leave the twine loosely attached to the frames for the house finches to use as nest material.


I sprinkle seed into the large pots for ground foraging birds such as mourning doves and juncos.


The finished product! Ready for this spring’s planting...