Hi, I'm brand new here........... I am a 'determined' gardener, I think is the best description for me ;) ...... I live in SW OR about 80+ miles north of the CA border...... God's country, in my opinion ............. We have been here since 2003, and have never looked back ( we moved from an area that we lived there long enough to see it SNOW EVERY month of the yr ) ................. I don't have nearly as much ground as I've had in the past, but that's ok, it's big enough for me... We have started raisin' Dorper hair sheep ( the BEST meat) ........ And have recently added our first LDG pup, Txiki Txiki (say 'Cheeky Cheeky', it means tiny baby in Basque ) She is 1/2 Spanish Mastiff, 1/4 Maremma and 1/4 Anatolian Shepard.... She is just 3 1/2 months and weighs 40 lbs ( Gonna be a big girl)..... We plan on gettin' her a 'partner' in this next yr ..( also have my Boo, my 10 yr old Schipperke and a few barn cats) ..........

I have a long suffering husband and 2 children, my baby just started college this yr..... Needless to say, it is a yr of 'adjustment' for me, I've been blessed to be a 'hands on' Mom for 24 yrs .................... My garden, in spite of my determination to 'branch out' tends to run heavy on maters ( I am Tracy, and I am a tomato addict ) I like what I see here and look forward to exploring some more

Your puppy is so cute! Snow every month of the year!! Yikes not for me, bet your happy to be relocated on Oregon. Would love to see some of your pictures of your garden or animals.

Tracy, how nice to met you, and your menagerie.
When I read the 3 breds she is made up of, you just have to know she will be huge.
I have only known 2 Schipperke, you just don't see them anymore.

I agree with springcolor, would love to see more photos, and don't forget the sheep. I love sheep. We used to raise them.
I know nothing about hair sheep. Ours were all mixed wool sheep.

What are your favorite non edible plants.

Tracy, good to meet you, I've been on here since Nov 2012 (so also a newbie!) Its a fun forum, and there is much knowledge and giggles! (the only veggies I grow are "maters" and lettuce )
Cheers

Glad to meet you Tracy, and your tiny baby. A friend had a tiny kitten that we called "Teeny Tiny Tony" until we had to rename him "Ten Ton Tony".

Are you in the "maritime influence" part of SW Oregon, or up in the mountains or high desert or ??? Here's the Sunset zone map.
I find them more usefull for indicating growing conditions than the USDA hardiness zones.
http://img4.sunset.com/i/clima...

I'm in a mild wet winter, cool dry summer, 7 months-of-drizzle climate. Pure clay "soil" but that may be because of developer's bulldozer that treated topsoil as a nuisance to be removed. I shouldn't say "pure" clay. I also have rocks, stones and pebbles.

Hello Tracy, and welcome to the PNW forum. We post most often when it is raining out, because whenever it lets up we high tail it outdoors.

Hello everyone. I tend to post in short responses and not to often. Love reading everyone's post when I have time. I lived near Portland all my life. I've been to other parts of the country, but have to say that this area is the best. Here's a few pics---sorry,none of me.

Wow Duane, I am envious of high well maintained your garden/yard is. Loved the stand-out Gallardia (?) and hope to someday include them in our garden plans. Our front yard is all dirt until my husband (who was promised that if we bought this house, he would not have to touch a lawn mower) and I agree on a strategy/design plan for it. In the meanwhile, it is low on the priority list. Beautiful photos of beautiful garden!

What lovely gardens you have Duane. I love all the photos. Which hosta is that in the fourth photo? It is huge.

Thanks Bev and Lynn for the compliments.
Bev, I think you were looking at rudbeckias.
Lynn, that hosta is "sum and substance". I've had it for a number of years. I moved all my hostas from my old house to this one.(what a chore). Sum and Substance didn't get big for a long time until I moved it in the spot it is now. It certainly likes it there.

Mine is nothing like that. I have had it for about 6 years. I had it in my small woodland garden, I think the tree roots kept sucking up all the water. I finally moved it last year to the north side of the house. We'll see if that makes a difference.

Duane,
Wow, Just beautiful, the banana trees are wonderful. Do your wrap them in winter?

Thank you for the warm welcomes ............ Not too much 'maritime influence' here, I'm in the Z7 part south of Roseburg, normally, hot dry late May/early June ( 80-90+) through September/October, NOT the Willamette Valley, we don't average as much rain the rest of the yr as 'they' do.......... We live at 1575 and don't live in a 'fog belt' either ( you'd have to go to Medford in the winter for 'serious' fog ... .................) This mornin' it was 20, though, that generally doesn't happen often or for long ( I still giggle when talkin' to my friends on the 'other side', yesterday it was -20 at my friend's house, so 25 at mine, wasn't so 'bad' :biggrin:, the first yr we moved here, it was 5 am, and I was 'having coffee' with a friend form 'there', she was tellin' me how glad she was that it was supposed to 'warm' to 0, I looked a the thermometer on my porch and it was 40, took ALL of my willpower not to say "nanner, nanner" )

Yup, my 'baby', Txiki, is gonna be a big girl, her Momma is well over 100# .......... Frankly, I 'need' BIG, she's gonna have to hold her own for a while, until I get her a 'pardner' ....... I live where things that go 'bump in the night', eat you ............... In the last couple of yrs there have been 7 cougars that have been killed ( trust me, there's more, only the 'problem cats' ) The attacks on livestock and domestic animals has be terrible...... By the grace of God, my sheep have dodged that bullet, I have neighbors on 2 sides that have lost an entire herd of goats and several Jacob sheep ( not to mention 'down the road' and the horses that were maimed) I believe it is better to have a 'deterrent', that can 'take care of business', if necessary ......

I did take a couple more pictures this weekend........... Txiki will be 4 months on Friday, she stand 23" at the shoulder and I weighed her 3 weeks ago at 38.8#s


She looks so 'regal' in the first shot, I had to post this one, cuz I know better ( she can be a goofy girl)



The ewe is on the left, she is due to lamb ( fingers crossed) about the middle of March, she is a dorper/St Croix cross... My ram is on the right, Binx, such a calm nice boy, he is 100% Black headed Dorper

Awesome, and I see you are training her to bond to the flock. Good idea.
Will her ears eventually be upright?

I think I moved that hosta 4 or 5 times until it settled on the north side of my house.

Last year was the first year I left those bananas outside. They were always in pots before and brought them in my unheated garage for the winter. We had a very mild winter last year, so they did very well. I did wrap them, also. This year I wrapped them differently--using bubble wrap and a black plastic bag on top. I'll try to get out and take a pic tomorrow. I remove all the leaves in the winter. They looked pretty ugly in the spring--here's a pic--

here's another by July 1---

I've been tempted to leave this red banana outside, but haven't had the guts to do it yet. Here's a pic--

Those are gorgeous bananas. I've never had a hankering to try tropicals myself, but do enjoy seeing how others incorporate them into their landscape. Nicely done.

valleylynn said:Awesome, and I see you are training her to bond to the flock. Good idea.
Will her ears eventually be upright?

No, they stay, um, 'floppy' ( is that a 'dog' term?) Here's a picture of her Momma



PS.... If you click on the piture, it shows the whole picture ( of course, you may have known this, I only figured it out when I posted it, then 'panicked' because it didn't 'show') LOL, I am SUCH a dork ;)

She is massive.
And you are not a dork. I don't know how long it took me to realize I was missing things in some posted photos if I didn't click on them.

Tracy
I hope Txiki never meets up with those cats! and her mother is beautiful. I with Lynn your not a dork. Keep us posted on your pup and post pictures.

Duane,
A local garden center wrapped theirs with bubble wrap and black garbage bags, then used red ribbon for a festive look.