kandas-adventures

Tiiiimmmmmber!

 

 

The shaded-in veggie gardener's favorite sight: Man with Chainsaw removing overhanging trees! We planted these cedars years ago when the property behind us was clearcut and a 3 story duplex was built.

 

 

For a number of years it was good to have the giant structure behind us obscured, but soon the trees grew so large that they shaded our veggie garden most of the year. Another row of trees planted behind those had filled in, so this row of trees closest to our garden had to go. Let the sun shine in!

Here's the "After" picture.  You can see there are 3 nice cedars still standing between us and the townhouse behind us.  But now, even in early March, I again have direct sun (for part of the day, sometimes) on all three of my vegetable beds.  Also, that apple tree to the right, which was being crowded by the cedars, now has room to spread it's branches and get some sun.  I am so happy, even if it is raining today.

February 2012 Garden Surprises

After snow the 3rd week of January, I expected a final die-back in the garden after an unusually mild winter.  Even after being buried in nearly a foot of snow for a week, and enduring a heavy ice storm, plants that should be dead live on.  In fact, I think it spurred increased vigor, and the 50 to 60 degree days that followed in early February convinced the plants that spring is here.

 

Last summer when I planted this radicchio I was so disappointed because it refused to set heads.  Week after week it would send up long, flimsy, furry green leaves that were not what was pictured on the seed packet, and didn't taste anything like radicchio.  After 8 months it not only survived the snow, but finally decided to set beautiful, firm heads of the radicchio I know and love.  I've been enjoying several leaves a day in my salads.

The Swiss Chard is still coming on strong.

Chives have emerged.

The mints usually die back, but not this year.  They are as vigorous as ever.

Pieris Japonica is in bloom.

Spring bulbs are bursting up from the japanese maple leaf mulch I cover the beds with in the winter.  I usually wait until March to rake away the mulch, but I may have to lift it earlier so as not to encourage slug overpopulation.

If it ever stops raining again, I obviously have lots to do in the garden.  I finished pruning the fruit trees and though I'd have a couple more weeks before getting my hands dirty again, but maybe not!

 

Fall Has Come

The house at the end of our street that was vacant after foreclosure last year has new owners now, so we couldn't play in their yard like we did last year.  About half of the houses in our neighborhood have a maple tree in their front yard.  Ours is a Japanese Maple, with probably a million tiny leaves.  Others have giant-leafed maples, with bigger, but fewer leaves.  Most homeowners deal with their leaves by mowing them into bits with their lawn mowers, and dumping them in the yard-waste bins for collection by the waste management service.  Others let their lawn-service people use those annoyingly loud leaf blowers to disperse them off their property -- sometimes into the street, often under the bushes to be left as winter mulch.  Few people seem to own a rake and make a pile for children to jump in anymore.  That leaves me.

Perfecting the peak of one of several piles.

Even after dark, it's fun to go out and play in the leaf pile.

During a quieter moment, after the jumpers had collapsed from exhaustion, we even brought a foster kitten outside to explore the leaves for a few minutes.

When we move from this house, I'm really going to miss this maple tree.  We can't take it with us, because it is huge, and also because the developer was very thoughtful about siting all trees directly over all the underground utilities -- gas lines, water lines, electric lines, sewer lines.  Some of our neighbors have had trouble with root intrusion because of this.  Stupid developers!  They had good taste in trees (sometimes), but poor judgement in placement.

Now that the leaves have all fallen, the kids are anxiously awaiting the first snowfall.

Late Summer Garden 2011

It's been a crazy summer.  June and July were colder and wetter and darker than normal.  Seeds rotted before sprouting, those that did manage to sprout got sheared off by slugs.  Finally, in August, the weather turned warm.  Now that the kids are back in school we are having an unusual heatwave: 80's all week, possibly 90 by the weekend.  Our Royal Epineuse plum set a lot of fruit this year, enough that I had to bring out the dehydrator and make prunes.  Of course I ate them fresh, too, to the point of having a belly-ache every night, but I'd be right back out there the next morning gorging again.  There's nothing better than sweet, juicy plums (except maybe dark chocolate).

We didn't get any beans until mid-August, which was about 5 weeks late.  Now I am harvesting, blanching, and freezing daily.  About another week of beans to go, before the shorter days and cooler nights kill back the vines.

The freezer is looking pretty full!  We went to a local farm to pick blueberries (also weeks late) and froze about 15 pounds for use through the year.  All that rain plumped up those blueberries to colossal proportions, and many were the size of grapes.  I still have 3 "blocks" of apple sauce from last year, and it's almost applesauce season again, so I better start using it up.  For applesauce I freeze it into silicone containers, pop it out when solid, and then vacuum seal it to prevent freezer burn.  The potato towers turned out pretty well.  I did have some problems with this design, though.  First, getting the dirt in from the top when the plants were small was challenging.  The plants were very tender and easily broken by the falling soil as I scooped it on from the top.  Second, the dark, moist environment became a magnet for slugs, and overnight they would completely denude entire plants of their leaves.  Luckily potato vines are tenacious, and once it warmed up their growth finally outpaced the slugs appetites.  Third, I ran out of dirt.  I couldn't fill the towers all the way to the top without spending more money to buy more soil.  Also, following the advice to use straw as a filler wasn't appropriate for our wet climate, because it just gave the slugs more places to hide, and reproduce.

The Gardman Potato Tubs were more successful.  They were easier to fill without damaging the plants because they were more shallow.  The little flap at the bottom where you could reach your hand in to harvest potatoes without disturbing the plant didn't work, though.  The opening was too small even for the girls to get their hands into, and the dirt was too packed to dig through from the underside.  Nice thought, but not practical.

Potato harvest is fun, especially for the little ones.  For the "tubs" I just dumped them out onto a tarp and let the kids dig in.  For the "towers" I undid the sides and peeled them back to reveal a column of dirt.

This tower was the least-filled.  When I realized that I wouldn't have enough dirt, I focused on filling just 2 towers about 2 to 3 feet high, and letting the other 2 towers get by with the initial 6 to 12 inches.   You can see a potato peeking out from the soil.  The yield wasn't bad, actually.  That potato found it's way into a potato-leek soup, along with about a dozen of it's brothers and sisters.

So despite some earlier crummy weather, the garden wasn't entirely a bust this year. 

The 20 Dollar Oyster Mushroom

We recently bought an Oyster Mushroom growing kit.  We live in a damp climate where mushrooms pop up everywhere (including on the interior walls of the vacant house at the end of our street), but I can never tell which are edible and which are not, so I don't eat the ones I find in the wild.  Both of the girls love mushrooms, so I decided to get this mushroom growing kit we saw at Whole Foods for $19.99.  

It is basically a sack of used coffee grounds impregnated with mushroom spawn.  All you do is soak it, then mist it twice daily, and supposedly in 10 days a flush of mushrooms will appear.  Well, after 3 weeks of waiting, we got one mushroom.  It doubled in size daily.  You could almost watch it growing!  

We ate half of it raw with blue cheese dip, and the other half became part of a mushroom green bean saute.  It was delicious.

We've turned the bag around in the box and supposedly more mushrooms will grow from the other side.  Hopefully we'll get more than one this time.  Next we're thinking of trying shiitake mushrooms, a family favorite.

Next week is June and it's still in the low to mid 40's at night, and mid-50's during the day.  And raining.  A lot.  So the outdoor garden is in suspended animation, nothing's really growing except the spinach, sage, and kale, but the weather's fine for mushrooms, so I guess that's what we'll focus on.

The 2011 Garden Begins

The potatoes I'd left to overwinter in the garden decided it was time to start growing.  Given the mole infestation we had last year, It was time for the potatoes to move to new territory. 

Instead of having the potatoes in the ground, I decided to try potato towers, made of bamboo screening (sliced bamboo wired together), secured around a frame of wire fencing and metal stakes.  Placed on top of wire mesh hardware cloth, these should keep the moles out, and allow the potatoes to grow upwards.

In you go!  Happy growing!

Looking down into the 4 foot high tower, with sprouting potatoes ready to be covered.  I had heard about potato towers years ago, but this article on the Sunset Magazine blog inspired me to go for it this year.  They made it look so easy, and really, it was!  Now we'll see if I get good results at 47 degrees latitude, with cool and damp weather, and a shorter growing season. 

I'm also going to try Gardman Potato Tubs.  The green plastic "bags" have drain holes, strong seams, and velcro-closing flaps where you can reach in to harvest throughout the season without uprooting the plants.

We'll see which method works best for potatoes in our Northern climate.

 

I finally got around to installing pvc pipe hoops on the raised beds, which the girls now call the "covered wagons."  The frost blanket or remay cover shields the seedlings from hail, hard rains, and cold winds.  They also protect transplanted seedlings from the direct sun (when it's out, which hasn't happened more than 3 times in the last 2 weeks).

 The Earthboxes are planted up with peas and kale.  Later in the season they'll hold eggplant and tomatoes.  I cover them with frost blanket as well, which also helps keep the birds and bunnies at bay.

 

From top to bottom in the above photo: we cut back the grape vines on the arbor by about half, since last year they started to climb up the side of the house toward the roof, half blocking the girls' bedroom windows.  Plus it was a little TOO shady on the deck.  In the black pots are raspberries and currants, and to the right is the honeysuckle, which is really healthy this year.  In the lower garden we're turning in compost and letting it rest before planting Zucchini, probably a month from now.  Currently the soil temp is only 48 degrees, so we need more sunny days to warm things up.  The Rhubarb is happy and is calling out to be harvested and made into a Rhubarb Crisp.  I hear you!  I'm warming up the oven!

 Our 5-way cherry tree is loaded with blossoms this year.  If the bees are able to do their work, and the deer and birds aren't too pesky, hopefully we'll actually have cherries this year. 

I've mowed the lawn twice so far this spring.  I picked up this push mower from a thrift store last year and I love it.  The quiet whirring sound of the blades, the lack of gas fumes, the exercise I get pushing it...it's all good.  Here it's tipped on its side because I hose off the grass clippings after I use it and let it dry, so won't rust.

 Speaking of low tech, a pressure washer would have been nice to have to help get rid of the bumper crop of moss that covered our walkways and decks, but the girls were eager for a "job" to earn some money, so I sent them outside with brushes and buckets.  Little K wants to buy a new fish tank with her earnings.

 

A donated the $10.00 she earned to the Make a Wish foundation.

 I'm creating a new children's garden using pots elevated on blocks to evade the slugs.  Our super-wet and unusually cold spring has caused an explosion in the slug population. Here the girls are planting peas and Nasturtiums, which hopefully will grow up the tipi trellis.

My husband got me the most wonderful book for Mother's Day, the Vegetable Gardener's Container Bible, which I have devoured cover-to-cover, and highly recommend.  The photography and illustrations are amazing. If you'd like your own copy, you can follow this link, or check out this contest that runs through May 19, 2011.

I see my garden future with lots of raised beds and containers, less lawn, and a larger diversity of plants.  This change will mean fewer weeds, less slug damage, no moles, and it will be easier on my knees and back (not so much kneeling and stooping).

Bookmark my Suburban Garden thread and follow along as the season progresses!

Crazy Spring Weather

4/6/11  a surprise snow, even enough to build a good sized snowman!

and then less than 48 hours later...

warm and sunny!

The girls couldn't resist breaking out the sprinkler for the first time this year.

Then there was the heavy hail on 4/13/11, which beat down just after I'd transplanted some onion sets and pea sprouts in the garden. I'm not sure yet if they'll survive the hard ice fall.

I did have the intelligence to put a frost blanket over the Earthboxes, so hopefully the peas planted in there will live.  I need to get some hoops and frost blankets on the larger beds if this bizarre weather continues.

 

Flashback Friday -- Succulents

 
Every February I make a trip to the nurseries and tropical plant stores in search of succulents. When the weather outside is grey, miserable, damp, and dark, my dish gardens of succulents remind me of my time in the desert when I was 19.  During that year I struggled to find my place in the world, didn't always have enough to eat or a roof over my head, but living in the desert the sun always shone and I was surrounded by plants that defied the odds and survived harsh conditions.  Their strength, as well as their intricate beauty and ability to adapt, inspired me.

Although my dish gardens of succulents reside near a window where I don't often see them, I water them on schedule and inspect them carefully, rotating them as they grow toward the light.  One might think they're neglected, but really they thrive on solitude.  The succulents remind me of a time in my life that was dark emotionally, but bright with potential.  It's fitting that in the darkness of winter when I might be feeling blue, when I miss working outside in my garden, that I can turn to my succulent gardens for encouragement.

I used to keep them in a north facing window (pictured above) with my grandfather's shell and glass float collection, but they didn't do well in the winter, so they now live near a south facing window where the winter sun can induce their growth and blooming.  

The February re-potting ritual is one the girls look forward to almost as much as I do.  We buy a few new specimens to replace those that have passed, trim the ones that are leggy, wash the pots thoroughly, use fresh soil, and create new arrangements.  It's a great way to begin the gardening season, and dream of warmer, sunnier days ahead!

This picture is of Little K at age 3, helping me with the repotting, and dreaming of warmer days ahead.  

Anna's Hummingbird

 One morning my neighbor called me in a panic, concerned because her favorite hummer, "Spike" was perched on her front porch motionless.  I'm the animal rescuer of the community, so I'm the first person people call.
I rushed over and this is exactly how I found him, plumage all puffed out, sitting upright.  I took this photo, then I picked him up.  He was frozen solid.  For days it had not gotten above freezing, and the nights were in the low 20s.  Anna's hummingbirds used to not spend the winter in our area, but now they do.   Last winter we had no snow at all, and most winters there are only a few nights that fall below freezing.  The hummers cope with the long nights by going into a torpor, almost like a nightly hibernation.  Usually they are smart enough to perch in a sheltered area, deep within an evergreen tree.
We're not entirely sure what happened to Spike, but one theory we came up with is that the cement porch where we found him had been in the sun all afternoon, and although the air temp was below freezing, the cement may have abosorbed heat from the sun and felt good to him as he slowed down around dusk.  It was also within 8 feet of the feeder, which he very territorially defended.
As my neighbor and I inspected Spike, the females lazed about on the feeder, delighted to get their fill without being buzzed off by Spike.

We then took Spike for a tour of the neighborhood, stopping by the houses of our friends who we knew would be curious to see him up close.

A took particular interest in sharing everything she knew about hummers with the neighbors.  For Girl Scouts A is doing a wild bird project for her Bronze award, where she is teaching others about the benefit of wild birds.  This was the perfect opportunity for her to practice!
It was just a few hours before another male Anna's hummingbird moved into Spike's territory and claimed my neighbor's feeder as his own.  Our feeder has a male and several females, and another neighbor also has a set.  So thankfully not all the hummers died that bitter cold night. 
Farewell, Spike, you beautiful boy.

The 2010 Garden -- Fall is Here

Cooler, darker days are here, and so are the garden visitors.  The grapes are too sour and tough-skinned this year to be palatable for us, but the raccoons love them.  We have more apples than I can eat or make into applesauce, so the deer, rats, squirrels, and other creatures feast on them. At this point, I'm happy to share, I just don't want the dinner guests to mutilate the trees as they forage.  That's all I ask.
This photo was taken just before the "die-back" began in early October.  Long cool nights, lingering dampness, extended shade from cedar trees which the Southern sun now hides behind, and punishing rains are putting the garden to rest.
Here's a look at the kind of rain that I'm talking about.  Punishing to my garden!
The kind of rain where the sun is fighting with the clouds, still wanting to have a presence, but battling the inevitable blanketing of gray that seems to cover Seattle from October to May.
I think I wore shorts for the last time this week.  I continue to harvest apples, leeks, potatoes, green beans, sage, basil, kale, cauliflower, and beets.  I should put in a winter crop of greens, but that means waging constant war with the slugs, and I just don't have time to be picking off the slugs right now.
It's fun to look outside and see who's visiting each day.  There's been a black bear nearby, but as far as I know, he hasn't come to our garden yet.  We'll be waiting until late November to start putting out the birdseed again, since bears love bird feeders.
If they don't rot in the rain, we may even have some homegrown sunflower seeds for the birds this year.  The seeds are still forming, but as soon as they get plump, I'll pick the heads and hang them upsidedown to dry.
Happy Fall!  (note the leaves falling in the photo above)