From The Patch

Thoughtful Friday, May 18 2012

"Gardening is not a rational act."
"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt."  
~Margaret Atwood

A couple of years ago we started a little vegetable garden right out front, with the main goal of getting Ben interested in where his food came from and getting him to eat his veggies.  And then, as they say, the bug bit me.  The second year, we added a 12' bed, and a 32' x 4' bed, as well as several containers.  This year (the third year), we've added four new raised beds, and still have one more to build.  All told, we'll have almost 600sq feet of veggie garden space.  

It's addicting, that's for darn sure.  I find myself dreaming of new spaces, new plants, and new whatever.  And now, well.... now I'm finding I'm addicted to landscaping - I simply cannot WAIT to make the yard look fantastic.  On the plans?  A waterwheel, full landscaping all around the yard, a pergola with a swing (and hooks for the hammock!), a pergola with a gate, window boxes, framework for climing vines, a craftsman-style fence with a climbing hydrangea, a fire pit, a cob oven and a brick oven, a greenhouse.... yeah.  I just can't help it!  And no, I'm not interested in an intervention.

At least Ben and I get some serious quality time.  Since Janene has so much on her plate with the store, I spend most of my days with the kids so that she can work (and I work all night...).  But Ben LOVES the yard, and is talking incessently about the plans (including his "tree house").

Gardening is not a rational act - and at the end of the day, we do all pretty much smell like dirt...

 

Do you garden?  Are you a veggie gardener, a flower gardener, or both?

What's Happening On The Homestead, May 2012

Since it has been a while since we blogged - and since so many of you comment about how you love seeing what we're up to - here's a brief overview of what's happening on the homestead... I have several posts in here that will be written with more information, so this really is just a quick overview. :)

We're working to expand our veggie garden with the goal of eating out of it all summer, and putting up enough to get us through the winter. All told, we'll have almost 600sq feet of veggie garden space once it's all in place. To accomplish this, Ben and I have been building additional raised beds; we have four of the five new beds built, with three of those in and at least somewhat planted. The fourth is huge (almost 4 yards of dirt!) and isn't seated yet, and the fifth we haven't started at all - it will be 24' x 4'! These projects have been wonderful, both for the soul as well as for Ben and I - he has helped with every little project, including planting! He has his "own" bed that he (mostly) gets to plant whatever he wants in, and he is picking the most RANDOM things - it's quite fun to see what catches his eye.

We've been blessed by a friend with some fruit trees, so we have the starts of an orchard (2 pear, one of which is grafted with 5 varieties; one Italian Prune, 3 apple, one of with is grafted as well, and one existing pie cherry tree). The raspberry patch is starting to explode, and soon we're hoping to expand with some heirloom raspberries from Janene's grandmother's house. The blueberry plants are all still in pots (which may be how they stay one more year), but we have two grape plants to go on a new pergola (not yet built) that are already in the ground.

We WERE hoping to add chickens and bees this year, but that was a "little" ambitious, so we'll see if we might make that happen next year. We did manage to get some strawberries to experiment with; we're trying a Topsy Turvy Strawberry Planter - it holds 15 plants, and thus far seems to be working nicely. We'll see how it goes. :)

Ben is finishing up his first year at preschool, and BOY has he made huge progress this year! We're so incredibly excited to see what next year brings, with kindergarten....

Savannah is now 8 months old; she's started to crawl, and she's also already working on walking (with our help, of course - she's still not even standing up on her own...). She's the happiest little one ever, and she spends all her time playing and exploring her world and smiling a smile will melt many hearts in the future. Definitely time to invest in a shotgun.... ;)

Plants at the store!

Every year, we bring plants in to the store, and this year is no exception! We have an awesome supply of both annuals and perennials this year, and we thought that it would be helpful to link our "plant notebook" that we have at the store to more information here online. So we're starting a new section of the site here, called "Plant Files." We'll be putting plant profiles up with lots of great information and photos about them, including links off to other pages with more information about them. We'll be starting with plants we sell in the store, but will then be expanding over to other plants that we find interesting as well. If you haven't been in to the store, you definitely need to come in and check out the plants - we SO many to choose from, and the prices just can't be beat!

Our Mother's Day 2012

This year, Mother's Day for us fell onto a very strange weekend.  You see, Janene's uncle (Esther's brother) recently passed away, and Saturday May 12, 2012 was his funeral.  In order to attend the services, we visited Esther's home and stayed for the weekend, which allowed us to be with Janene's mom for Mother's Day (instead of working at the store), which was a wonderful change.  

Wes Johnson, Sr.

Unfortunately, Janene ended up sick (the entire clan was down the full week prior, with the flu) so while it was a nice day, it was a low key day.  We visited Hunter Farms, a local nursery and supply shop down in Union - they have some of the BEST ice cream down there....  

From there, we took a little visit out to Uncle Wes' farm in the Skokomish Valley.  It was a spectacularly beautiful day, and the drive through the countryside was as beautiful as it gets.  All in all, I believe it wasn't the day Janene had hoped for (being sick and all), but it was still a pleasant and low key mother's day.  

 

How was YOUR mother's day, and what did you do to celebrate mom?

Weekly Specials - May 14th

Hi all,

Here are the Weekly Specials for this week of May 14th, 2012!  From now until next Monday, these items will be 10% off.  No coupon needed, it is automatically calulated.  Enjoy!

A few of the items are:

Berkshire Chair Pad

Glora, from Lori Mitchell for ESC Trading Company

 

Heritage Plaid Tablecloth, by DII

Star Dinnerware Place Setting, by Park Designs

Dancing in the Rain Frog and Ladybug, by Blossom Bucket

See all the specials this week HERE!

Happy Mother's Day!

Painted by Janene for her mother for a past Mother's Day gift.

For all the mother's out there, as well as the grandmother's and soon-to-be's, today is YOUR day to sit back and bask in the adoration of all your fans. :) And while EVERY day should be "mother's day" (and in some ways it is!), it's wonderful to have a day set aside to remind us all how special mom's are.

So celebrate with us the special woman (or women!) in your life, those angels who have wiped noses, cleaned scrapes, mended broken bones and broken hearts. Those who have had to be strong when no one else could; who have shared joys and sorrows, laughter and tears; who have showed tough love when necessary, and who have held hands through tough situations.

Motherhood is no breeze, so we solute you - the strong, the funny, the tough, and the brave.

Thank you, for your sacrifices, and for a job well done. And today, enjoy your day. We hope you'll come to see us (online or in the store) - but if not, we hope your day is perfect and is everything you hope for and need!

The Year Thus Far (2012)

Wow. I honestly cannot believe it is already May 2012! This year has been even more crazy than last, if that is even possible. Before we start into the blogs again, here's a brief synopsis of what has happened this year thus far, and what you can (hopefully) expect for the rest of the year! :)

To start, we were able to attend two gift shows (both here in Seattle) in January, and we have some AWESOME new lines, and some fantastic new products coming in all year long. Falloween and Christmas are VERY exciting, and we're adding a kitchen section with some truly beautiful products. We endured a wonderfully huge snowstorm that shut the shop down for a few days (and gave us some seriously fun time with Ben outside), and attended the funeral of Janene's brother-in-law, who unexpectedly passed (41 yrs old) due to a major heart attack. We also attended the funeral of Janene's uncle who passed away due to age, and have been enthralled to watch Ben and Savannah grow and mature, and watch Ben enjoy his first year at school.

We were listed as a product source in Martha Stewart Living Magazine, and contacted by This Old House and Women's World Magazine, as well as two TV shows (looks like we're catching on!) The store is looking absolutely fantastic, we have a constant stream of new and beautiful product, the gals are doing great and are getting trained up in all kinds of new stuff.

We have a Pinterest page to go along with our Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and blog; check us out at http://www.pinterest.com/theweedpatch.

We are on the edge of releasing the new website, which will make it much easier for you to find what you're looking for, communicate with us, and overall be easier to use. Soon after that, we'll be releasing a new magazine-style blog site that will replace our current blog.

We're super excited about all the new stuff - from website to product - and we know you'll love it all too! All in all, this year has already proven to be insane - but it's also looking to be simply amazing. We hope you'll join us in Making Your House a Home!

New Park Designs for January 2012

As long as we're snowed in, I might as well watch some movies and get our new Park Designs for 2012 online!  It is actually sitting in the store right now, though it will be a bit before I can get in there.  If you aren't  following the weather at all, we have about 8 or so inches of snow out here, which is very rare for this area.  The whole world seems to shut down if we have 1/2 inch, let alone 8 or more!

So, I though I'd whet your appetites by getting some of the new things online.  I'll showcase them here over the next several days, as I get it all up.  We also attended at least half of the Seattle Gift show, and somewhere we have pictures from that too.  So, stay tuned for some eye candy!

 Scrapbook Collection, by Park Designs.

 

Time Worn Collection, by Park Designs.

Casual Classics Dinnerware in Chocolate, by Park Designs.

Casual Classics Dinnerware in Bisque, by Park Designs.

Rue du Marche, by Park Designs.

New Years Day!

A pre-emptive Happy New Year from the team here at The Weed Patch!  We just wanted to give a quick shout out that we will be open on New Years Day our normal hours (10am - 6pm).  And also keep in mind that the absolutely most fantastic quilt shop ever (Keepsake Cottage Fabrics - next door to us) has their annual sale on New Years Day!  So you can escape the football and come on in for a fun day of shopping and deals!  We hope you'll come on in and say hello!

A confusing fiasco

This blog post is for a very targeted audience.  It is for an audience that shopped at Amazon.com over the holiday season, from a shop with the name of The Weed Patch Country Store.  Unfortunately, that shop is NOT us.  We do not sell North Face products.  And we don't (at least at this moment) sell on Amazon.com, either.  

We did, however, graciously field hundreds of phone calls and voice mails from people who ordered things and never received them.  If you are in this boat, you have our deepest apologies.  Take a look at our website at the products we offer - we have some fantastic items, but no clothing.

If you have stumbled across this, you're probably angry and frustrated - please visit amazon.com and complain, if you can't reach the appropriate seller via their contact form.  This is, unfortunately, the best we can do to help you resolve your issues.

Good luck, and please let us know if we can help you with anything we actually carry! :)

~The Weed Patch Team