Blue Heron Cottage

It was always there, a little seed inside of me that enjoyed flowers and watching plants grow.  During my childhood Summers I tagged along with my grandparents to their allotment just beyond the city limits. This magical place spanned several acres, subdivided into plots where for a fee, you could grow anything you wanted. 

I learned how to ride a bike there and snacked on apples plucked from a tree and gobbled up snap peas as a treat. The neighboring allotment next door had a thicket of raspberries that I stealthily picked, hoping to enjoy this sweet dessert without getting caught.

As an adult, in every rental, I always grew something, succulents, pathos, plumerias, all confined to containers of course. My dream was to someday have a garden of my own, so I could have my own allotment.  In 2019 I finally moved into a home I owned, it was a small cottage along the Oregon Coast, the house was newly remodeled, but the back yard was a MESS.

I embarked on creating my own paradise, digging, cleaning, removing weeds, hauling a ton of rocks for pathways, building garden beds and setting up my first irrigation system. The initial residences of this paradise were three fruit trees: a cherry, a plum and an apple. Being bareroot, they appeared merely as a collection of sticks on planting day.

Digging in the dirt has become my medicine, this is where I shut out the world and immerse myself in the present surroundings. This soundtrack includes the whirr of hummingbirds darting past, the gentle footsteps of a curious deer peering from behind a tree, and the occasional screech of a hawk soaring overhead. 

Over the past five years, I’ve immersed myself into the world of gardening, absorbing everything I could about soil, various plant species, fertilizing, pest control and an array of incredible tools available. Given the multitude of options, methods and gadgets, my aim is to document my experience, I don’t claim to be an expert of any kind, just having fun while I learn. I do however currently attend YouTube University in Gardening so I’m legit, right?