It’s been a crazy week! Lots going on.

• We added 3 goats to our herd. Willow, the mama. Betsy & Georgia the little girls.

• Willow is in milk, so I’ve been milking a goat for the first time.

• I cleaned up Farm Kid2’s flower garden near the chicken coops. I gave the cut flowers to the chickens – which they loved.

• I’m trying something new. I usually sprinkle flower seeds in the spring. But, they don’t grow well in Farm Kid2’s flowerbed. So, I decided I didn’t have anything to lose and sprinkled a bunch now, covered them in dirt and dried chicken poop. We’ll see what happens come spring.

• I ran my first marathon on Sunday. Part of the finisher’s swag was a cedar seedling. I got that baby planted in the ground. Now I need to find a way to keep the deer away from it.

• The well pump quit working. Thankfully, we were only without water for a few hours and it was an easy fix.

• The craziest thing that happened was that our dog found a porcupine. A porcupine?! I have never seen one or heard about anyone else seeing one around our house. But, sure enough, the dog met a porcupine.

• Now we’re in the beginning of what is supposed to be a horrible storm. Fingers crossed the power stays on.

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The kids & I love going to the Audubon Society. We enjoy seeing their education birds & exploring the trails.

Depending on the direction you’re coming from, you may drive through a cool tunnel like this one on Cornell Road. The sign says it was built in 1940.

Interpretive Center & Nature Store

One of our favorite things is watching the birds outside the windows at the bird feeders.

Farm Kid2 & I attended a book signing by author & illustrator Lisa C. Manning. The book is titled Falcons in the City and based on Peregrine Falcons, like this education bird Finnegan.

Interesting Trees

In between the Care Center and the Nature Store are two particular trees of interest.

Left: The Giant Sequoia is the largest tree in the world. I don’t know how this one compares to others, but it is huge.

Right: The Dawn Redwood is said to be a living fossil. Prior to the 1940’s the tree was only found in fossil form. In 2005 it became Oregon’s official state fossil.

Wildlife Care Center

One room of the Care Center is open to visitors and has birds & turtles to see.

Education Birds

Some of the education birds are inside, others are in outdoor homes.

Left: Aristophanes, the Raven

Bottom Right: Ruby, a turkey vulture

Trails

The Audubon Society is a 150 acre nature sanctuary with miles of trails to hike.

Left: Notice the English Ivy climbing the tree…
The setting for the book Wildwood takes place here in the urban forest that is part of the Audubon Society. In the story, Ivy is a villain. In truth, English Ivy is a huge problem. It climbs everywhere and threatens native trees and plant.

Right: Balch Creek, which is also mentioned in the Wildwood Chronicles.

More Trails

Across Cornell Road from the Care Center & Interpretive Center are more trails part of Audubon’s Sanctuaries.

Also, if you head east up Cornell just a short way you will reach the popular Wildwood Trail. Pittock Mansion is a 25 minute hike up the trail. Continuing on you will reach Washington Park, home to Hoyt Arboretum and the Oregon Zoo.

To see what others are sharing for the month of October check out write31days.com

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The kids & I ventured a bit south yesterday to visit The Oregon Garden. This was a first time visit for all of us.

I really wasn’t sure what to expect. We didn’t have time to explore the entire garden, but what we did see we enjoyed very much. It was a great place to explore with my kids. We had fun seeing the birds, squirrels, snakes, frogs, salamanders & bugs. I’ll admit, not all of it was knock-your-socks off gardening. But, we did have a great time & I enjoyed seeing the many different garden styles.

AMAZING WATER GARDEN

Chilean Gunnera
The leaves on this interesting plant caught my attention.

The kids spotted many salamanders in the pools of water.

We also saw a snake hunting frogs in the water. Things like this could entertain my kids all day.

TRAM RIDE

We took a tram ride to the back side of the garden. Then walked our way back. The tram driver was full of information about the various plants & gardens.

According to the tram driver, many of the garden areas are being kept up by various sources. He told us a story about this house & that it is now owned (or at least partly owned) by Better Homes & Garden Magazine. I found that curious.

REDISCOVERY FOREST

A very well managed demonstration forest area. It was beautiful and had lots of information. However, it was a bit too well kept to be an accurate representation of what our forests look like. We live in the hills of the Coast Range and there is a lot more depth in the plants than what is shown here.

Many Christmas trees throughout the country are grown right here in Oregon. We have a few friends that have Christmas tree farms. As part of the Rediscovery Forest, rows of Christmas trees were on display.

CHILDREN’S GARDEN

If I had to pick a favorite part of the Oregon Garden, this would be it. I adored all the whimsy.

Left: Mrs. & Mr. Potts
Right: Dolphin topiary

Awesome bench. Awesome weather vane.

Of all the gardens, the one idea I’m most likely to use at my own house is probably unconventional. I’ve had the idea of making a hobbit house for the kids for a little while now. But, seeing this one in person convinced me that we totally need one. My immediate reaction was how much our goats would love to climb on it. We have two piles of dirt that need rehoming & we need permanent housing for our goats. It’s a no-brainer to combine the two & make the shelter for the goats a hobbit house.

AND MORE…

Avondale Redbud
The one plant/tree that I wanted to come home with. I love the magenta color.

Silverton Market Garden
One area displayed different ways to grow a variety of crops. There were trellises with grape vines & raised beds ready to be planted. I, of course, was happy to see a chicken coop.

Left: The 400 year old Signature Oak. It is one of Oregon’s heritage trees.

LETTERBOXING

The kids & I like to search for letterboxes. We found a couple at the Oregon Garden. Yay!

The kids enjoyed this garden so much & wanted to stay longer, but as it was we were going to be a few minutes late for Farm Girl’s gymnastics class. We will definitely need to visit again. I’m thinking maybe even this summer. I’d love to see the gardens in full summer bloom.

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Farm Kid1 has visited the Tillamook Forest Center twice with Cub Scouts, but this was my first time going. I really enjoyed it. It’s a great discovery center & it’s free (donations accepted, of course). The museum has a ton of information on the Tillamook Forest including plants, animals & how people use the area.

Out Front

The building design is different. To be honest, I didn’t even realize this was the main exhibit hall when we first drove up. Thank goodness the boys knew where to go. Not long after being there, the building grew on me. I actually think it’s fantastic. It’s environmentally friendly, many of the building materials are local and that cute pond in front has many uses including acting as a heat exchange for the cooling system. The long gutter-thing sticking out in between the 2 buildings collects rain water from the roof and dumps it into the pond.

Replica of a forest fire lookout tower. Of course we climbed to the top and were rewarded with a great view of the forest. Inside the small room was a bed, a large map to chart the location of the fire & a radio to warn others.

Inside the Museum

Tillamook Burn

Left: All dressed up to practice putting out a fire.

Top Right: It’s hard to notice in this pic, but this is a 3D map with lights showing the different areas of the various fires during the Tillamook Burn.

Bottom Right: We can’t discuss forest fire safety without thinking about Smokey the Bear.

This is way past my running level, but here’s an ultra event for any one interested in checking it out: Run the Burn 5o miler & 50K

Displays

I loved all the hidden displays. This one shows what it looks like underground, but you had to pull it out to see it.

Left: Life on a rotten log. There’s even a huge magnify glass to get a closer peek.

Right: Another hidden display. This one describes rings on a tree.

This, I thought, was fantastic – especially since we have been discussing the different layers in a forest. There is a small scale model of each of the layers with a quick blurb describing the layer and drawers full of important plants and animals.

Changes in salmon eggs.

Hiking Trails out Back

To finish off our trip, we went on a short hike behind the museum.

I’m so glad we made the trip to this Forest Center. The kids had a great time & learned a bit more about the area we call home.

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