Planting something new

I’ve always planted a backyard garden, its so easy to grow your own food here in the PNW . The weather conditions are perfect for growing your favorite vegetables. This year I planted potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, beans, peas, tomatoes and beets. Plus a bunch of my favorite herbs.

One of my old friends started a small batch microbrew a couple of years ago, so I thought I would try my hand at growing hops for his latest brew. Almost all hops used in beer production are grown in either western or central Washington.

I choose the Cascade and Nugget variety. I ordered them online from a local grower, and planted them in some of my best soil. It took awhile but in a short time they had grow to a height of fifteen feet in a matter of months, and in the last 30 days my first hops have appeared.

Looking forward to see how they’ll taste when they’re added to the new brew.

Cascade Hops

Garden Life

This spring I decided to convert my backyard into a garden area. When I was a kid, we always had a huge garden. So instead of more shrubs I planted sunflowers, pumpkins, cucumbers, watermelons, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, onion and garlic. All the things I like to eat and cook with. Its amazing how good food taste fresh out of the garden. This week the tomatoes are ripening and cooking with fresh garlic is a real treat too.

Summer Has Arrived!

Summer has arrived here in Portland!

Last weekend, we already reached temps of 100 degrees. So I've been getting out early in the day to ride my motorcycle with my riding buddies. We always congregate at a local coffee shop to shoot the breeze while enjoying a great latte. This past Sunday, we hit three different spots. Talk about a caffeine overload.

I'm still managing to get a bit of work in, between gardening and auctioneering. Although The fundraising calendar slows down in the summer, new and old clients alike are calling to book their fall events. Spring of 2017 is gearing up to be a busy one with my February and March nearly fully booked. If you can believe it, I've already had a booking request for 2018!

Enjoy your summer. I already am. But then, an auctioneer's work is never done. I'll be close by this summer if you want to drop a line or give a holler!

The Grass is Greener

This week I have had the chance to reflect on and practice my patience. Now this isn't going to be one those self-help posts you can find all over your social media accounts either. It's actually about grass. No, not the kind that you can legally buy here in Oregon now either. It's about actual grass seed.

Nobody plants grass seed on their lawns anymore. Today, you can get a lawn in day. Just pick up the phone and someone comes to lay the sod down, your sprinkler system waters it, and BAM! Instant lawn. Well, I did the opposite. I took the time to till the land, prepare it with topsoil, went out and bought actual seed, spread the seed on my lawn and watered. But nothing happened. I hand-watered it daily. Still nothing. The next thing you know, the birds started to eat the seeds. Not just one or two birds, but flocks of them. I love birds, but they are eating my lawn as fast as I can put the new seed down! My first thought was that the seed was defective and that my front yard is going to be a sea of mud this fall. The reality was that I just hadn't waited long enough, until the seed was ready to sprout.

How many of us give up on something before it was ready to sprout and grow. Think about that when you're going about your daily life or even when planning your next fundraising auction. Everybody and everything takes time to grow. That goes for your grassroots fundraisers too.