... and then a berry patch ...

I do love getting packages in the mail from Raintree Nursery!  

This time it's  two blueberry patches (chosen specifically for cross pollination and a full season of bearing), strawberries, raspberries and blackberries.  Look at how well the plants from Raintree are packaged!  Here are some of the blackberries ...

...each in it's own protected pot.

My "Garden Fairy" is back in town and has started cleared out the weeds so I can start work on the "Lake Garden".  It's going to be a combination Edible and Ornamental Garden ...
I have my work cut out for me ...

This is going to be fun!  

Enjoy!

Midsummer At Paradise Cove ...

August 1st is Lughnasadh, the Celtic festival of the midsummer harvests.   To celebrate I'm participating in Northwest Edible Life's nosy neighbor homestead tour today.  Check it out!

Let's take a look at what's happening now that we have actually had a couple of weeks with some sunshine here in soggy Shelton, Washington!  We'll start in "The Garden", the "Edible Landscaping" on the lake side of the property ...

The "Three Sisters" wine barrel plantings (Anasazi and Cherokee Trail of Tears Beans with Golden Bantam corn and assorted squashes) are doing great!  I did have to add some trellising as the beans were outgrowing the corn in the cool weather we were having.

 The Delicata squash in the wooden crate ...

...has even started to form some fruit ...

The cedar log bed down by the lake is looking good ...

... more squash and Tiger Eye beans (the red gadget in the background is one of FitzGyver's toys ... a gasoline powered pump that takes water from the lake and sends it to a fire hose).

The "Dock Box" with buckets full of Rose Gold potato plants that are are starting to blossom now ...

Bingo Beans in one half wine barrel ...

Squash and Anasazi Beans in another ...

The Terrace Garden has a new resident ...

This was totally not my fault.  I HAD to buy him after reading this post on "The Bloggess".  When I saw him at the local nursery I was doomed ... so now Bunny has a friend ...

The two bay laurels in the Bell Garden have doubled in size and the herbs under the bell are ready to be cut and dried ...

I think that's about all that is new in "The Garden"; so let's take a look at " The Farm" on the back side of the house ...

The tomatoes and cucumbers are still coming along ...

I've harvested the potato bed and boxes and am getting ready to replant them ... and the logs in the garbage can are soaking in water.  Do you remember my mushroom experiment?  Well, it's time to see if it has worked; soaking the logs is the first step (I'll keep you posted).

Several of the beds have already been harvested and replanted for fall ...

These are root crops (carrots, beets and parsnips) ...

... and some green beans, beets and onions in the fore ground, snow peas and lettuce to the rear ...

More potatoes ...

...and more potatoes (I use a lot of potatoes in the winter time).

The wine barrel herb planting has come along nicely and I am very impressed with the Pesto Perpetuo Basil; that one is a keeper!

And last, but not least ...

The Cherokee Purple tomatoes outgrew their cages and needed additional support.  They are full of green tomatoes and I have my fingers crossed that the weather will continue to cooperate.

Enjoy!

Where There's A Will ...

I thought I might explain a bit about my weather rant in my Sunday post.  I've lived in the Pacific Northwest for 20 years ... you either learn to live with the weather or you move back to California.  I've done a pretty good job of making  "The Farm" impervious to the weather ...

But "The Garden" is another story ...  this area is my "edible landscaping" ... edibles mixed with ornamentals in a garden setting.  It is on the lake side of the house and gets the brunt of the wind and rain and is not as easily protected as "The Farm".  I had the top two beds of the terrace garden covered with low hoops ...

... but the tomatoes it the top bed were getting too large ... they needed some support and protection from wind and rain ....

So what's a Northwest gardener gonna do?  Grumble about the weather for a while ... sit and think for a while ... wait for the first break in the rain and then grab some wire, and some bamboo stakes ...

...and some plastic sheeting and some twine ...

...get all three tomato plants caged and covered ...

... and then run for cover because it's getting ready to rain cats and dogs again!

So now I'm sitting and thinking about how to cloche the "Three Sisters Plantings" in the wine barrels ...

I suspect it will have something to do with a lot more wire, plastic sheeting and twine ... the local hardware store should start giving me a "frequent flyer"discount!

Enjoy!

"The Berry Patch"...and A Sneak Peak at "The Garden"

First..." The Berry Patch"...

 

So far there are only five raspberry canes and a few strawberry plants, but more will be added soon.  The thing to notice here is the absence of raised beds and hoops...instead there is a path made of  hundreds of small shells, driftwood accents and a birdhouse  made out of driftwood (a find at the Belfair Farmer's Market last summer)...because this is the transition point from "The Farm" to "The Garden"....

Living on a lake is fun...and has it's own set of rules.  It has taken me six years to really "get it" that the "front yard" is the portion of the property that faces the lake (accessible only by boat or from the back yard) and the back yard is the portion of the property that is accessible from the road.  This is really backwards as far as I'm concerned...*sigh*

So for the last two years I've been building raised beds in what I thought was the "front yard". But when I started building beds in what I thought was the backyard which turned out to be the front yard (are you following this...confusing, huh?)...my husband rebelled!  He didn't want raised beds with hoops next to the lake (the front yard)...it would spoil the "ambiance"...sheesh!  I really needed more beds...Edible landscaping to the rescue!

We are creating terraced beds that will combine ornamental plantings with edible ones...the project is nearing completion and I wanted to show you a preview...and comment about how much I appreciate all I have learned from the the garden bloggers out there.  I wanted to get some of the vegetable plantings in the terraced beds started...but how to protect them from wind, rain and hail?  I tried teepees covered with plastic (that fell down) and wire supports (that fell over) and was thinking of turning all of my plastic food containers into cloches when I saw this post on Laura's  blog (The Modern Victory Garden).  The wire fence hoop she put over the bed planted with greens...YES!!  (Thanks, Laura!)

So...here is part of the new landscape (still under construction)...

And how well is it working?

That tomato plant looks  pretty happy...yes!...I've put some of my tomato plants out...seven to be precise.  If they don't make it I'll only have 87 tomato plants left...I think I'll risk it...

So...from this point on the backyard (which I thought was the front yard) with the raised beds will be known as "The Farm".  And the front yard (which I thought was the backyard) will be known as "The Garden"...and my husband is happy...and I'm happy...and planning new ways to sneak more edibles into the landscaping :)

Enjoy!