Enjoy!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
This Week On The Farm ...
On Sunday I cleared out the last of the Asian greens that had bolted in Bed #4, amended the soil with some compost and chicken manure and planted 196 carrots (Mokum) on seed mats (thanks, AG, for the Seed Mat Tutorial ... this is so much easier on my hands with the smaller seeds). As I was making the seed mats I realized that I have never posted a photo of the way I organize my seed packages...
The Mason Jar box came with cardboard dividers between the jars ... exactly the size of most seed packs. I group them by root crops, lettuces, brassicas, bush beans, pole beans, peas etc. And yes, I do have to admit that I am compulsive when it comes to buying seeds ... I probably need intervention ...
Yesterday I made seed tapes for more lettuces; 10 each of Spock, Sulu, Red Sails and Speckles (Yes! I am growing Spock and Sulu! How cool is that? I wonder if there is a lettuce called Enterprise? I need to Google that : ) I also got some of my fall/winter brassicas started in soil blocks ... I have more to do today; my fall seed order from Johnny's is here. I'll have a few more when my fall seed order from Territorial arrives ... yes; I ordered more seeds ... I'm hopeless ...
The Mason Jar box came with cardboard dividers between the jars ... exactly the size of most seed packs. I group them by root crops, lettuces, brassicas, bush beans, pole beans, peas etc. And yes, I do have to admit that I am compulsive when it comes to buying seeds ... I probably need intervention ...
Yesterday I made seed tapes for more lettuces; 10 each of Spock, Sulu, Red Sails and Speckles (Yes! I am growing Spock and Sulu! How cool is that? I wonder if there is a lettuce called Enterprise? I need to Google that : ) I also got some of my fall/winter brassicas started in soil blocks ... I have more to do today; my fall seed order from Johnny's is here. I'll have a few more when my fall seed order from Territorial arrives ... yes; I ordered more seeds ... I'm hopeless ...
I transplanted out some of the leek starts (Lexton) that have been growing under lights in the potting shed ... I added 20 leeks to Bed #6 ...
... and 10 more next to the newly planted carrots.
There is an open spot in the bed for fall/winter beets and turnips that I will be planting in the middle of July. I find it hard to leave a "hole" like that empty ... I just want to plant something in it ... now!!
Today I am going to put a Carlos Nakai CD on my boombox and get out there and and do some serious weeding. It is a weekday and all the neighbors are at work so I can turn the volume up : ) Do you listen to music while you garden?
Enjoy!
Friday, June 10, 2011
This Week On The Farm ...
The weather continues to be cold and cloudy. On "The Farm" side of the property the peas, carrots, potatoes, lettuce and cabbages are all happy; everything else is pouting. The potted peppers, tomatoes and tomatillos are all now housed in the little greenhouse or the newly expanded "Pepper Palace" ...
I moved it to the side of the greenhouse so I can tap in to the drip watering system and the electric box there.
Yes, that is a heater in the right hand corner.
It is still getting down into the 40's at night!
It is still getting down into the 40's at night!
I harvested my broccoli this week, what little of it there was. I have to agree with Annie's Granny on the subject of broccoli; I don't think it's worth it. Ditto cauliflower ...
As I mentioned in a previous post, this is the first time I've tried to grow brassicas. Am I missing something here? Looks like I've got all "cauli" and no "flower". Shouldn't it be showing some sign of a head by now?
I think the cabbages are doing what they are supposed to ...
...at least I hope so; that is a head forming in the center, isn't it?
On the bright side, the Dakota shelling peas are just about ready to harvest; maybe another week or so ...
...and the two pumpkin plants also seem to be doing well. This bed is under some large trees which I think shelter it a bit from cold and wet. I added the trellis in the back of the bed this week and planted runner beans (Sunset and Painted Lady) at it's base ... I'll add some bush beans after I pull the peas out.
Also on "The Farm" side of the house ...
There is no sign of any hatching going on in the junco nest. The nest is in the basket right next to the back door which is the most commonly used door into the house ...
Mama junco jumps off the nest every time anyone goes in or out or if the dogs are in the yard, so I can't imagine that the eggs are staying very warm. I'm hoping that they will still hatch ....
Well, that's it for "The Farm" report ...I'll save "The Garden" for later ....
Enjoy!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Now What?
I was watering the hanging flower baskets on my back porch just now. When I poured a glass of water into the second basket a very upset dark eyed junco came flying out ... I looked in the basket and this is what I found ...
So ... this is in the dog's yard and baby birds + barking dogs = not good! Does anyone have any ideas? Can I move the nest? If I move the whole basket out of the dog's area will mama find it?
Help!!
PS : The nest is lined with Carly's hair ... there's a lot of that floating around for the birds to use : )
So ... this is in the dog's yard and baby birds + barking dogs = not good! Does anyone have any ideas? Can I move the nest? If I move the whole basket out of the dog's area will mama find it?
Help!!
PS : The nest is lined with Carly's hair ... there's a lot of that floating around for the birds to use : )
Harvest Monday ... And An Easy Little Trellis
This week saw the start of the pea harvest! Only a few made it into the house; Mike and I munched a bunch of them right off the plant in the garden : )
And a lot of lettuce was harvested that didn't get photographed.
I'm joining other bloggers over at Daphne's Dandelions as we share our weekly harvests...it's fun to see what others are harvesting and what they are cooking up with it...check it out!
I've been adding some simple trellises to the ends of some of my raised beds ...
I added another piece of PVC to the bed about 6" back from the one at the end. Then all I needed was a piece of wire fencing and some twine ...
I cut the fencing to match the interior width of the bed ...
...tied the fencing to the PVC with some twine ...
... trimmed the fencing to the curve of the hoop ...
...and then did the same on the other end of the trellis ...
I planted cucumbers at the base of the trellis. There are Asian greens on the other side that will be glad of the shade the cucumber foliage will soon supply while the cucumbers will enjoy the direct sun at the end of the bed.
Enjoy!
Snow Peas : Oregon Sugar Pod II
There was a big haul of spinach that was destined for the freezer ...
Spinach Bloomsdale Savoy and Everlasting
The start of the broccoli harvest ...
Broccoli : De Cicco
And a lot of lettuce was harvested that didn't get photographed.
I'm joining other bloggers over at Daphne's Dandelions as we share our weekly harvests...it's fun to see what others are harvesting and what they are cooking up with it...check it out!
I've been adding some simple trellises to the ends of some of my raised beds ...
I added another piece of PVC to the bed about 6" back from the one at the end. Then all I needed was a piece of wire fencing and some twine ...
I cut the fencing to match the interior width of the bed ...
...tied the fencing to the PVC with some twine ...
... trimmed the fencing to the curve of the hoop ...
...and then did the same on the other end of the trellis ...
I planted cucumbers at the base of the trellis. There are Asian greens on the other side that will be glad of the shade the cucumber foliage will soon supply while the cucumbers will enjoy the direct sun at the end of the bed.
Enjoy!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Early June On "The Farm"
Back on May 15 I posted a rant about our missing spring in the Pacific Northwest ... and it hasn't shown up yet! But with the help of some fairly inexpensive "Season Extenders", my garden isn't doing half bad, if I do say so myself : )
Just so you know that anyone can learn to do what I am doing ... I'm a newbie vegetable gardener. This is my third year "farming in the Pacific Northwest". The list of vegetables that I am growing for the first time this year includes shelling peas, garlic, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower (I had to look up the word "brassica" last year when I saw it on a blog) ... dry beans, winter squash, pumpkins, leeks and onions are all new this year, too. What I know about season extension I've learned in the last year from reading Eliot Coleman's books and watching the videos on The Johnny's Select Seed web site.
I had my husband take some photos today so that you could get an idea of the size of my vegetables. For the record, I am 5'2" tall (and weigh more than I ought to). This is one of my cabbages ...
Postscript:
One of the comments that I received made me want to clarify a few things. I handle the heat/cold differently depending on the weather. In February and March I kept the covers closed all the time. In April and the first part of May I started opening them for part of the day, but closed them up tight again in the early afternoon to capture the heat for the night. Now that it has warmed up a bit and we are seeing the sun occasionally I am leaving the covers off most of the time except for the tomatoes and peppers; those I leave covered but with the ends open for ventilation. I'm still leaving the covers attached, though; if we have a hail storm or really heavy rain I can run out and cover everything back up in a matter of a few minutes (which I have had to do a couple of times). It helps that I am retired and am home to manage the covers most of the time. If I were working I would look at the forecast and set the covers open, closed or closed with ends open for ventilation accordingly.
The way I close the ends makes it easy (and inexpensive) to open and close the covers quickly ; when I cut the plastic for the covers I leave about 3' on the ends that I roll up and hold closed with spring clamps (I get a whole bag of them cheap at Home Depot).
Here you can see how I use the clamps to hold the cover open on a warm day ...
The weight of the wood helps keep the covers closed and also makes it easy to close the covers quickly; I just grab the piece of wood and toss it over the top of the hoops.
I'm not saying this is easy ... it's a lot of work and can get pretty messy at times ...this is me, wet muddy and obviously not too happy after running out in a deluge to cover my beds ...
Still, I think being able to grow my own produce all year round, regardless of the weather is worth the effort ... and I've been able to quit going to physical therapy for my arthritis; the effort of keeping up with my garden has proved to be all the therapy I need : )
Both are available at most public libraries.
My garden is located near Shelton, WA. If any of my readers is in the area and would like to look at my set up, just drop me an email; I'm here most of the time and love having visitors ...
Just so you know that anyone can learn to do what I am doing ... I'm a newbie vegetable gardener. This is my third year "farming in the Pacific Northwest". The list of vegetables that I am growing for the first time this year includes shelling peas, garlic, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower (I had to look up the word "brassica" last year when I saw it on a blog) ... dry beans, winter squash, pumpkins, leeks and onions are all new this year, too. What I know about season extension I've learned in the last year from reading Eliot Coleman's books and watching the videos on The Johnny's Select Seed web site.
I had my husband take some photos today so that you could get an idea of the size of my vegetables. For the record, I am 5'2" tall (and weigh more than I ought to). This is one of my cabbages ...
We're starting to pick the snow peas ... and the plants are nearly as tall as I am ...
This is my carrot and tomato bed on April 12 ...
... and here it is today ...
This is a carrot I pulled the other day just to see how they were doing ... I figure that I can start harvesting them in another two weeks ...
These are my brassicas ...
I'll be harvesting broccoli soon . And my potatoes ...
some of them are getting ready to bloom!
some of them are getting ready to bloom!
And my shelling peas ...
...are covered with pods that are starting to swell up with peas ...
I don't want you to think that I have some ideal garden in the Banana Belt or something ...it's been cold, cloudy and rainy here ... and my "Farm" isn't in the best possible location for growing vegetables ... we are surrounded by tall Douglas Firs ...my garden only gets direct sun from 10:00am until about 2:30pm.
This was taken at about 2:00 and you can see that the garden will be shaded soon.
I haven't spent a ton of money on my season extenders. I did spend $40 for a soil heating cable for my tomato bed ... and $200 for a pop-up greenhouse ... my now semi-permeable greenhouse!...wish I'd saved that $200 ... you get what you pay for ...
And I've figured out how to get the same effect for about $25...
this is the "Pepper Palace"...
... and my happy pepper plants ...
...and another "palace" ready to get dropped over some pots or an exposed bed...
That's 6 pieces of 10' schedule 40 PVC at about $2 apiece, some elbows and T's and a couple of dollars worth of 4 mil plastic sheeting to go over it. And here is a view of the farm showing the PVC hoops and covers that have the rest of my vegetables looking so good ...
Now I know a lot of us gardeners have been complaining about the weather; me too! And I've seen on other blogs that a lot of people are struggling with trying to get their gardens growing this year. But there is a lot to indicate that this spring may not be unique ...it may be part of a trend that is only going to get worse. So it seems to me that it's up to us to learn how to grow food with the weather we have and what technology we can learn. With the rising price of food in the grocery stores and one "contamination" scare after another (not to mention GMO's) I believe that my investment in season extenders is definitely a good one!
I have a slide show on my "Gardening Resources" page that shows how we put together our raised hooped beds (Mike is going to add some captions, but I think the photos are pretty self explanatory). If you have any questions, please feel free to ask ...
I have a slide show on my "Gardening Resources" page that shows how we put together our raised hooped beds (Mike is going to add some captions, but I think the photos are pretty self explanatory). If you have any questions, please feel free to ask ...
I'm still a newbie, but I'm happy to share what I've learned so far ...
Enjoy!
Postscript:
One of the comments that I received made me want to clarify a few things. I handle the heat/cold differently depending on the weather. In February and March I kept the covers closed all the time. In April and the first part of May I started opening them for part of the day, but closed them up tight again in the early afternoon to capture the heat for the night. Now that it has warmed up a bit and we are seeing the sun occasionally I am leaving the covers off most of the time except for the tomatoes and peppers; those I leave covered but with the ends open for ventilation. I'm still leaving the covers attached, though; if we have a hail storm or really heavy rain I can run out and cover everything back up in a matter of a few minutes (which I have had to do a couple of times). It helps that I am retired and am home to manage the covers most of the time. If I were working I would look at the forecast and set the covers open, closed or closed with ends open for ventilation accordingly.
The way I close the ends makes it easy (and inexpensive) to open and close the covers quickly ; when I cut the plastic for the covers I leave about 3' on the ends that I roll up and hold closed with spring clamps (I get a whole bag of them cheap at Home Depot).
Here you can see how I use the clamps to hold the cover open on a warm day ...
I also staple a piece if scrap wood to the bottoms of the sides of the covers ...
The weight of the wood helps keep the covers closed and also makes it easy to close the covers quickly; I just grab the piece of wood and toss it over the top of the hoops.
I'm not saying this is easy ... it's a lot of work and can get pretty messy at times ...this is me, wet muddy and obviously not too happy after running out in a deluge to cover my beds ...
Still, I think being able to grow my own produce all year round, regardless of the weather is worth the effort ... and I've been able to quit going to physical therapy for my arthritis; the effort of keeping up with my garden has proved to be all the therapy I need : )
Recommended reading:
Eliot Coleman's
Both are available at most public libraries.
Recommended viewing:
My garden is located near Shelton, WA. If any of my readers is in the area and would like to look at my set up, just drop me an email; I'm here most of the time and love having visitors ...