JoansGarden

@joansgarden

Unique knitting patterns, hand knits. Love to garden (US zone 5). A rural southern Oregon blue dot in a red sea. Born and raised in Adelaide, came to the US for 2 years, 50 years ago. Life happens.

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JoansGarden@joansgarden· 5d

Garden column for August 17th. 🌱 #gardening

A garden article that describes the gardener's history with Scarlet Gilia and California Fuchsia.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· 13d

Garden column for August 10th. 🌱 #gardening

An article about gardening while an out-of-control wildfire rages nearby, complaining about grape tomatoes, and listing the wildlife that eats the garden produce.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· 20d

Garden column for August 3rd. 🌱 #gardening

An article about harvesting and preparing broad beans and Dragon Tongue beans, picky eaters, and summer doldrums in the garden.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· 27d

Garden column for July 27th. 🌱 #gardening

An article about now ripening cucumbers and grape tomatoes, and all picked out raspberries, blueberries and seaberries. And thinning the seaberry plants that have run rampant over the years, making gaps in the vegetation growing along the street.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· Jul 20

Garden column for July 20th. 🌱 #gardening

An article about trying to garden with the effects of climate change, what is being harvested now, a water lily that finally flowered, and volunteer plants in the garden.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· Jul 13

Garden column for July 13th. 🌱 #gardening

An article on harvesting peas, weeds, and blueberries, as well as dealing with leaf miners and onions that have started to flower, when the air is smoky from wildfires.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· Jul 6

Garden column for July 6th. 🌱 #gardening

An article on a volunteer native Penstemon and the insects that visit it, time to start picking blueberries, and noticing that the seaberries are already starting to change color.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· Jun 30

Garden column for June 29th. 🌱 #gardening

An article that talks about how the weather used to be, taking advantage of some cool weather to do some transplanting, and a cat that likes to watch gophers, but not catch them.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· Jun 27

We're in for a couple of 34F degree nights but I think these peas, beets and onions will survive it handily. I've had to cover everything else. 🌱 #gardening

A dark gray colored corrugated metal tall raised bed with sprawling pea plants at the far end, and beet leaves and tall onion stems at the closer end. Growing in the ground in front of the bed is a red Flanders poppy. There are carrots too, but concealed by the onions.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· Jun 22

Garden column for June 22nd. 🌱 #gardening

An article about preventing a raccoon from raiding the strawberries, great broccoli harvest and a resident garter snake.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· Jun 18

I just finished this knitted custom order of my 'Octopus in the Shallows Beanie' and really like how it turned out with a green top instead of blue. She wanted seaweed added with the octopus and I like that too. The pattern is available on Ravelry. 🧶🦑

A knitted beanie in shades of light to dark blue with a green grading to gray top and a maroon band with a cockle shell. A knitted sewn on octopus is red, with green eyes and a black pupil.

The same hat with a view of the octopus head and arms with 2 of them wrapping around the shell.

A back view of the hat showing the wave pattern int he crown and a view of the wrack seaweed on either side of the octopus.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· Jun 16

Garden column for June 16th. 🌱 #gardening

An article discussing a quick change in the weather, an invasion of commercial honey bees, protecting strawberries from raccoons, and finding greens in weeds.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· Jun 8

My garden column for June 8th. 🌱 #gardening

This article talks about another freeze but mostly about growing red hot pokers.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· Jun 8

Let me in! Let me in! (she has a cat door and she knows how to use it) She is also standing in my raised flower bed. 🌱 #catsky

KitKat, a gray rescue tabby cat is standing in a raised flower bed, paws on the window sill, staring in with mouth open and eyes wide as she yowls to be let in. Behind her are red snapdragons and various types of greenery. Inside is a table with a flowery tea tin holding knitting needles and scissors, and a small wooden carved turtle on the window sill.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· Jun 2

Garden column for June 1st. 🌱 #gardening

An article about a severe thunderstorm, plants in the garden out of phase with the butterflies with the weather patterns changing, and dealing with the thousands of willow seedlings after the cotton flies in spring.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· May 26

Garden column for May 25th. 🌱 #gardening

An article about flying cotton, and the weed, Storksbill.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· May 19

Oops, forgot to post this yesterday. My garden column for May 18th. 🌱 #gardening

An article about changing planting times due to warmer weather, the compost pile working at last, fruit in the greenhouse and disappearing bullfrogs.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· May 11

A longer than usual garden column for May 11th and I barely touched the subject of drip irrigation. 🌱 #gardening

An article about drip irrigation and some of the issues that need to be considered. Includes 2 photos of manifolds used to control irrigation in the author's garden.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· May 4

Garden column for May 4th, 206. 🌱 #gardening

This week's garden column talks about seedling crabapple trees, what's up in the veggie garden, and flowering times being out of phase this year.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· Apr 28

This week's garden column 4/27/26 🌱 #gardening

A garden column that talks about gophers and voles and plants that can resist them.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· Apr 20

This week's garden column 4/20/26 🌱 #gardening

April gardening problems discussed - hard freezes, blustery weather. The problems of moving an asparagus bed, and the problems of growing water cress.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· Apr 19

Took these shots this morning through a rather dirty bedroom window but didn't dare show myself outside. Times like this I'm always reminded just how lucky I am. This is in south central Oregon. Luckier still if he managed to catch a gopher. 📸🦉🌏

A Great Blue Heron stands at the edge of a canal, about 1/2 way up a bank, with the water behind and low blue-flowering Dowingia (I think) flowers at the top of the bank.

The Great Blue Heron is now at the top of the bank and bent over, stalking through the Dowingia flowers (hopefully) for gophers. In the background is a cluster of taller Alyssums.

Another view of the Great Blue Heron stalking for prey on dry land.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· Apr 13

Gardening column April 13th. 🌱🌏 🦉 #gardening

A gardening article that talks a lot about the loss of birds due to shrinking wetlands and disease. It includes a photo of Great White Egrets roosting in cottonwood trees.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· Apr 12

Just got finished with a springtime daffodil beanie knitting pattern. Next up is to get it tested. 🌱🧶 #gardening

A knitted beanie using stranded colorwork technique in 3 colors. The background is shades of dark green, the daffodils light orange and the leaves, pale green.

A stranded colorwork beanie in shades of brown and blue featuring daffodils that shade from green to light orange.

Clumps of daffodils in yellow and white, the inspiration for the knitting pattern.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· Apr 6

Today there are dozens of California tortoiseshells nectaring on my plum blossom here in south central Oregon. 🌱🌏🌿 #inverts #gardening

A butterfly sits at the top of a twig with plum blossom, sunlight shining through its wings.

A butterfly with wings spread to show the orange color with black and yellow speckles, and darked edging sits on a branch of white plum blossom.

A wider view of plum blossom showing 4 butterflies nectaring on the flowers.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· Apr 6

Garden column for April 6th. 🌱 #gardening

A gardening article that talks about setting up a new raised bed, and Golden Currants as well as other native currants. Photos of Golden Currant flowers and a clump of golden currents in the landscape.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· Apr 5

KitKat is a bit of a wimp. She's a rescue cat & is afraid of going outside on her own. She'll sometimes go out with me but always first back to the door. The birds in my yard are very safe - as are the gophers! This is her reaction to my suggestion that she might like to go out the open door. #cats

A tabby cat sits on the floor and peers through the long slender hanging leaves of an indoor plant, with a 'leave me alone' look on her face.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· Mar 30

Garden column for March 30th. 🌱 #gardening

This garden article talks about spraying or weeds and grass in a large garden, and the trials of hiring people to do the weeding. Also talks about spring freezes.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· Mar 26

American Bullfrogs have taken over my garden pond again this year. They come up from the nearby canal in the winter. They decimate the native population of tree frogs and anything else they can fit in their mouths. Not very pretty to look at either! 🌱🌏🐸 #gardening

4 dark green bullfrogs sit piled together on the bank of a pond, among dried plants from last summer and lighter green strawberry leaves.

3 very dark green bullfrogs float on the surface of a pond concealed among the leaves and flowers of a water hawthorn plant.

JoansGarden@joansgarden· Mar 24

Daffodils! Lots of daffodils from bulbs dug up by a neighbor a few years ago & given away by the hundreds, then planted out individually by me, in my yard. Other neighbors just dumped them all into one big hole but that didn't work too well for them. The only bulbs to survive the gophers & voles! 🌱