BKYD Life

Gather. Create. Grow.

Backyard Garden

Friday 5

The month of May sure did fly and it’s time for another Friday 5. Today, I would like to share with you 5 Instagram accounts that have inspired me to gather, create and grow in my backyard. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Living with Landyn

Landyn has great style and uses her backyard daily. She has a pool, pool house, a garden and chickens at her home in Nashville. She shares helpful tips and ideas for adding potted plants to your patio decor, not to mention the meals she and her husband create on their many grills and outdoor cooking spaces.

Here is the link to her website and here is the link to her Instagram.

Danielle Walker

Danielle shares her journey of health and healing through food. She gives us a glimpse of her family and their home in Northern California. Danielle is the author of several cookbooks that I thoroughly enjoy. They include recipes that can feed several and some are grill friendly. As a matter of fact, I am making a meal from her Eat What You Love cookbook tonight. We really enjoy the Grilled Shrimp Summer Harvest Salad with Basil Vinaigrette, if you have the cookbook it can be found on page 155.

Here is the link to her website and here is the link to her Instagram.

Wendy Bellissimo

Wendy is a designer of home, baby and pet products. If you don’t have something in your home now, you may be ordering or looking for her designs in stores near you. She lives in a gorgeous home on a California hillside with her husband, four beautiful daughters and several sweet dogs (and I think she might have a cat or 2). She shares her backyard frequently on her IG stories and it looks like a great place to relax at the end of a long day.

Here is the link to her website and here is the link to her Instagram.

Brooke Giannetti

Brooke also lives in California. She, also a designer, and her architect husband, Steve Giannetti, have a small farm in the Ojai area. You can find inspiration for flower gardens, vegetable gardens and all sorts of farm animals on her feed. Brooke and her husband are the authors of 4 books that detail their journey on their farm as well as within the design and architectural world. After following their IG for awhile, I want to move to the country and get some mini-donkeys!

Here is the link to her website and here is the link to her Instagram.

Lylah Ledner

Lylah is local to my hometown of Phoenix, AZ. She and her husband have a sweet space of garden beds and goats. A few years ago, Lylah began using her garden beds to grow elements for natural skin care products. She uses the goats milk for yummy caramels that I love to include in Christmas packages every year. Lylah is also fantastic at building community and uses the space at her small farm for events and farm dinners among the garden beds. My husband and I recently attended one and we thoroughly enjoyed the evening, meeting new people, drinking wonderful wine and devouring an incredible meal.

Here is the link to her website and here is the link to her Instagram.

So that’s my Friday 5 for today. Please feel free to reach through email and let me know if you have any ideas for future Friday 5’s. have a fabulous and safe weekend!

Hummingbirds and Butterflies

Now that the temperatures are starting to warm up and flowers are blooming, the hummingbirds and butterflies are buzzing around my backyard. I love to watch them, they just amaze me.

Have you ever thought about what you can add to your backyard to attract more hummingbirds and butterflies to your outdoor space? Here are a few ideas to get you started~

Hummingbirds

Zdenek Machacek Photo, courtesy of Unsplash

For centuries, gardeners have been fascinated with the beauty and aerobatics of hummingbirds. The key to attracting hummingbirds to your yard is to plant lots of flowers and provide the habitat that will give them shade, shelter, food, water, and security.

  • Herbs, flowering shrubs, dwarf trees, and vines can all be used to create an ideal tiered habitat from ground level to 10 feet or more.
  • Provide lots of space between plants to give hummingbirds enough room to hover and navigate from flower to flower.
  • Hummingbirds love water, especially if it’s moving. A gentle, continuous spray from a nozzle or a sprinkler hose is perfect for a bath on the fly.
  • Hummingbirds do not have a keen sense of smell and rely on bright colors to find their food.
  • They are particularly fond of red and are often observed investigating feeders with red parts, red plant labels, red thermometers, and even red clothes on a gardener. Note: Do not use red dye in a hummingbird feeder; there is concern that it may harm the birds. Instead, use plain, clear sugar water (1 part white sugar mixed with 4 parts water). The birds love it! If your feeder does not have red on it, attach a red label or other item to attract them.
  • Brightly-colored flowers that are tubular hold the most nectar, and are particularly attractive to hummingbirds. These include perennials such as bee balms, columbines, daylilies, and lupines; biennials such as foxgloves and hollyhocks; and many annuals, including cleomes, impatiens, and petunias.

*This information is copied from the Old Farmer’s Almanac.

Butterflies

Christopher Paul High Photo, courtesy of Unsplash

To attract butterfly’s to your backyard you need to know what they need. The list includes sunny open spaces, shelter from the wind, and fresh water. They also need plants where they can lay their eggs.

You will need to include food sources in the form of host plants for caterpillars and nectar plants for butterflies. Stick to native plants, as those will encourage the native species of caterpillars and butterflies. Consult your local garden center or Cooperative Extension service for more information on native plants.

Flowers that offer fragrance and nectar are great options for attracting butterflies. These fabulous pollinators are just as interested in a colorful array of flowers as mother’s on Mother’s Day. So go bold, enjoy some color in your backyard and watch the flying friends flock to your outdoor space.

Let’s Talk Compost

I grew up in my Italian grandmother’s tiny kitchen. Out of that small space she would regularly create incredible meals for 40+ guests. It all seemed so natural. You really don’t need a lot of space, if you use it well.

One of the lessons I learned from my grandmother in that tiny space was to use a little bit of it for a compost bin. The laundry room was right next to the kitchen so grandma would keep a bin on the dryer and put the food scraps in it. Once it was full, she would transfer it outside.

What to Compost

Items you can compost from your kitchen include ~

  • Fruits and vegetables
  • Eggshells
  • Coffee grounds and filters
  • Tea bags
  • Nut shells

Other common household items you can compost include ~

  • Shredded newspaper
  • Cardboard
  • Paper
  • Yard trimmings
  • Grass clippings
  • Houseplants
  • Leaves
  • Fireplace ashes
Compost Pile

Why to Compost

There are three main reasons to compost~

  • To create fertile soil
    • Composting enriches the soil and helps retain moisture which will suppress plant diseases and pests.
    • It also reduces the need for chemical fertilizers.
  • To close the loop (and give back to the earth that which was taken from it)
    • Composting encourages the production of beneficial bacteria and fungi that break down organic matter to create humus, a rich nutrient-filled material.
  • To work less
    • Composting is natural. When trees drop their leaves in the fall it is to isolate the roots. When we compost, we are following in Mother Natures example.

How to Compost in your Backyard

  • Select a dry, shady spot near a water source for your compost pile or bin. When your kitchen bin is full, transfer the contents to the outside bin.
  • Your compost pile should have an equal amount of greens to browns. Greens includes materials such as grass clippings, vegetable waste, fruit scraps, and coffee grounds. Browns are materials such as dead leaves and twigs or small branches.
  • Keep everything moist, it will break down faster than if it stays dry.
  • Turn the contents of your bin or pile over regularly.
  • Once your compost pile is established, mix grass clippings and green waste into the pile and bury fruit and vegetable waste under 10 inches of compost material.
  • When the material at the bottom is dark and rich in color, your compost is ready to use. This usually takes anywhere between two months to two years.

In the Phoenix Metro area, the city will provide you with a compost bin for a nominal fee. You can read more about it here. Don’t live in Phoenix? Search your cities website for composting resources.

If you have a garden, do you compost? You should. Your garden will thank you ~ literally thank you with a much better crop!