How crazy the birds are now that it is really summer here in Portland. I was sitting in the living room today and there was so much squaking and chirping outside, it sounded like we were on the grounds of a bird sanctuary! It made me laugh and then feel glad. We really have a great spot. We are in Portland, the city, but our spot is quiet and full of big Douglas Fir trees and a lot of birds!
When D and I take walks, it's like being in the countryside (sometimes). Then a big low-riding Cadillac will drive by blasting Blame It (On the Alcohol), and I'll remember I'm in the city. But in general, it's silent at night and full of wildlife during the day. You can see the stars and the moon clearly at night and D says "Mo!" and points to the moon.
My dad was just here talking about all the green we have, and it's true. Portland is GREEN. That, and the houses aren't smashed up against eachother. Growing up in the BIG city, I never saw this much green, heard this much wildlife, heard this much silence. It's nice for D, and nice for us too! Feeling very lucky where I'm at.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Garden Overhaul Plans
W and I keep arguing about the garden. He wants it to have greenery year-round. I want to grow a million vegetables.
When we first moved in here, we both fell in love with the garden. It was full of plants, fruit trees, ornamentals, even a few vegetable beds! How lucky! I remember feeling very much in awe of the woman who created the space - she was so knowledgeable to grow all these plants herself (we found out she had done so many years ago from bare dirt).
The more I learn about gardening and plants, the more I realize she really didn't know what she was doing. There is one huge hazelnut tree and three big fruit trees on the south side of the garden. Beneath those, on the south side, are two raised beds. Nothing can grow there! I've tried for two years now to get something to grow there - lettuce gets about 4 inches high and then stops. They are completely in the shade by early June! Plus the trees are crowding eachother so badly (even with pruning) that I think one will have to go.
There are two Eucalyptus trees in the entrance-way. I talked to an Arborist after our bad winter storm (when I was afraid one of them was going to topple over). He said, "You know, so many people plant Eucalyptus here in Western Oregon and they always have to be taken out because the soil and climate are not at all right for them."
So, sadly, we are going to have to make some changes. We may have to completely remove the Eucalyptus trees and the cherry tree. The cherry is smashed in between the two other trees and I'm afraid that we will have a lot of disease on our hands soon if we don't remove it.
The fruit trees in general need lots of help. They are ok, but I'm currently reading The Backyard Orchardist in hopes of learning how to better take care of them. We like fruit too! Not just vegetables, and I want to be sure that we are keeping our trees healthy!
So tonight W and I talked about really re-arranging things. It will be a LOT of work, but it will be a lot better. We love the herbs and the plants in the garden, they just need better spots! We are also going to start a tree for D, hopefully a little peach tree.
When we first moved in here, we both fell in love with the garden. It was full of plants, fruit trees, ornamentals, even a few vegetable beds! How lucky! I remember feeling very much in awe of the woman who created the space - she was so knowledgeable to grow all these plants herself (we found out she had done so many years ago from bare dirt).
The more I learn about gardening and plants, the more I realize she really didn't know what she was doing. There is one huge hazelnut tree and three big fruit trees on the south side of the garden. Beneath those, on the south side, are two raised beds. Nothing can grow there! I've tried for two years now to get something to grow there - lettuce gets about 4 inches high and then stops. They are completely in the shade by early June! Plus the trees are crowding eachother so badly (even with pruning) that I think one will have to go.
There are two Eucalyptus trees in the entrance-way. I talked to an Arborist after our bad winter storm (when I was afraid one of them was going to topple over). He said, "You know, so many people plant Eucalyptus here in Western Oregon and they always have to be taken out because the soil and climate are not at all right for them."
So, sadly, we are going to have to make some changes. We may have to completely remove the Eucalyptus trees and the cherry tree. The cherry is smashed in between the two other trees and I'm afraid that we will have a lot of disease on our hands soon if we don't remove it.
The fruit trees in general need lots of help. They are ok, but I'm currently reading The Backyard Orchardist in hopes of learning how to better take care of them. We like fruit too! Not just vegetables, and I want to be sure that we are keeping our trees healthy!
So tonight W and I talked about really re-arranging things. It will be a LOT of work, but it will be a lot better. We love the herbs and the plants in the garden, they just need better spots! We are also going to start a tree for D, hopefully a little peach tree.
Visit from a Master Gardener
Our yard was visited by a Master Gardener the other day. I am taking a class once a month on year-round gardening here in the Pacific Northwest (I posted a link in the resources section if anyone is interested), and the instructor is an OSU Master Gardener. He volunteered to come see how I was doing in the garden, so I gave him a tour of things with D on my hip.
The good news is that he said my plants for the most part look great. The bad news is, yes, we have a difficult plot to garden in considering the overhanging trees to the south and the aggressive turf.
Also, apparently, I was growing two weeds that I thought were bell peppers. I said, "And those peppers over there are doing GREAT!" He said, "Which ones?" and when I pointed again, he said, "I hate to break it to you, but those aren't peppers, those are weeds." So sad, so embarrassing.
Guess I might not be a Master Gardener. I'm going to try, though. Someday!
The good news is that he said my plants for the most part look great. The bad news is, yes, we have a difficult plot to garden in considering the overhanging trees to the south and the aggressive turf.
Also, apparently, I was growing two weeds that I thought were bell peppers. I said, "And those peppers over there are doing GREAT!" He said, "Which ones?" and when I pointed again, he said, "I hate to break it to you, but those aren't peppers, those are weeds." So sad, so embarrassing.
Guess I might not be a Master Gardener. I'm going to try, though. Someday!
Fail! Fail! Fail!
Every time I look at my sad, pathetic bean and pea trellises, I just cringe with embarrassment. Failing on trellising big time. I know I posted about this, but it's just SO BAD I had to say it again.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Places and Books of Learning
Over the past few years (three, to be precise), I have done a lot of reading and a lot of learning. Here are some of my resources that I highly recommend to anyone wanting to grow vegetables in the Willamette Valley, or in general in other parts of the country. One thing I learned was to read books that are particular geographically; otherwise there can be a lot of misleading and erroneous information. Also, buy seeds from seed companies that supply mostly to your region. Otherwise you may be buying a lot of varieties that may not do well for your climate. You can probably grow any variety, but it will be harder to grow it well and may yield less.
I hope to update this post as I read and learn more! So come back!
Books
Steve Solomon's, Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades (and other books)
- a real definitive guide to understanding from the ground up how to be a vegetable gardener. His books are less of a reference guide and more of a manifesto. He obviously puts his heart and soul into what he does and his books help you to understand how to do this if you know nothing about growing things. I think the first chapter is "Think Like a Plant" or something. This perspective has helped me troubleshoot when things go wrong ("Ok, what would I need if I were that plant?"). Oftentimes I don't know the answer, but it gets me meditative and contemplative in a calm way, rather than "Shit! All the beans died! Damn! Now I have to start all over!" I probably still would have to start over, if all my beans were to die, but I'd go back to that first chapter and think, "Well, why did the beans die?"
Seattle Tilth's Maritime Northwest Gardening Guide
- an excellent resource for growing vegetables here. It's a booklet that goes month by month, what to grow (specifically what varieties) in the garden in our climate. It says for each month - what you should start inside, what you should start outside in a protective frame, what you can direct seed outside. Really great; the only thing that is hard I find with this guide is that it doesn't just have "squash", it goes strictly by each particular type of squash only. So it may say to start X variety of squash indoors in mid-March, and Y variety of squash indoors at the end of March, while Z variety of squash can be direct seeded in July outside. Well, if you aren't growing THOSE varieties, it's hard to use. For a beginning gardener like myself, I need something a bit more general. Like "most tomatoes can be started indoors now" would be better for me. You can get this by looking at the guide, but you have to sift through it for a while and sort of see when most of the kale is being planted. That too is misleading since there is kale you can plant in spring and overwintering kale that you plant in Fall. The guide doesn't go into any of this, so you need a bit more education I'd say before really utilizing this guide.
Ed Smith's Vegetable Gardener's Bible
- although he is a Vermont (yikes!) year-round vegetable gardener, this book is fantastic as a quick reference book. The chapters are brief, with lots of pictures; the first half being about his techniques and the second half about each vegetable in detail. I'd recommend this book to someone starting out. I wish I'd had it three years ago!
Classes
I recommend taking classes if you can! I think the key to good classes is that they should be affordable (very affordable or by donation or free) and lengthy (ie comprehensive). A two hour class for $60 for instance automatically sends up warning flags that this will be an information kind of class without a lot of practical hands-on (so to speak) information. There will probably be coffee and donuts, lots of glossy pamphlets about the organization giving the class, and lots of introductions about the teacher and the organization. I've sadly taken a few of these kinds of classes and they were never worth it.
A few years back both W and I took an organic gardening 101 class through Oregon Tilth's OEC out at Luscher Farm. It was great and really comprehensive, two full days and lots of time for personal Q&A about your specific situation/garden. I am not sure how the classes are now, but they are probably quality, since it's Oregon Tilth. Oregon Tilth's newsletter I get each month is still printed on newsprint with minimal color and house to a lot of interesting articles about important issues - a true sign of a good nonprofit. Check out current classes here.
I also recently started a class at Livingscape Nursery called What to Do in the Garden Each Month with Master Gardener Tim Lanfri. This class has been perfect for me. It meets for a few hours once a month and you discuss what you should be doing in your vegetable garden that month! Perfect! Tim is great and very open to troubleshooting your particular problems/questions. The nursery seems to have a number of good classes that are very inexpensive or free to the public.
I hope to update this post as I read and learn more! So come back!
Books
Steve Solomon's, Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades (and other books)
- a real definitive guide to understanding from the ground up how to be a vegetable gardener. His books are less of a reference guide and more of a manifesto. He obviously puts his heart and soul into what he does and his books help you to understand how to do this if you know nothing about growing things. I think the first chapter is "Think Like a Plant" or something. This perspective has helped me troubleshoot when things go wrong ("Ok, what would I need if I were that plant?"). Oftentimes I don't know the answer, but it gets me meditative and contemplative in a calm way, rather than "Shit! All the beans died! Damn! Now I have to start all over!" I probably still would have to start over, if all my beans were to die, but I'd go back to that first chapter and think, "Well, why did the beans die?"
Seattle Tilth's Maritime Northwest Gardening Guide
- an excellent resource for growing vegetables here. It's a booklet that goes month by month, what to grow (specifically what varieties) in the garden in our climate. It says for each month - what you should start inside, what you should start outside in a protective frame, what you can direct seed outside. Really great; the only thing that is hard I find with this guide is that it doesn't just have "squash", it goes strictly by each particular type of squash only. So it may say to start X variety of squash indoors in mid-March, and Y variety of squash indoors at the end of March, while Z variety of squash can be direct seeded in July outside. Well, if you aren't growing THOSE varieties, it's hard to use. For a beginning gardener like myself, I need something a bit more general. Like "most tomatoes can be started indoors now" would be better for me. You can get this by looking at the guide, but you have to sift through it for a while and sort of see when most of the kale is being planted. That too is misleading since there is kale you can plant in spring and overwintering kale that you plant in Fall. The guide doesn't go into any of this, so you need a bit more education I'd say before really utilizing this guide.
Ed Smith's Vegetable Gardener's Bible
- although he is a Vermont (yikes!) year-round vegetable gardener, this book is fantastic as a quick reference book. The chapters are brief, with lots of pictures; the first half being about his techniques and the second half about each vegetable in detail. I'd recommend this book to someone starting out. I wish I'd had it three years ago!
Classes
I recommend taking classes if you can! I think the key to good classes is that they should be affordable (very affordable or by donation or free) and lengthy (ie comprehensive). A two hour class for $60 for instance automatically sends up warning flags that this will be an information kind of class without a lot of practical hands-on (so to speak) information. There will probably be coffee and donuts, lots of glossy pamphlets about the organization giving the class, and lots of introductions about the teacher and the organization. I've sadly taken a few of these kinds of classes and they were never worth it.
A few years back both W and I took an organic gardening 101 class through Oregon Tilth's OEC out at Luscher Farm. It was great and really comprehensive, two full days and lots of time for personal Q&A about your specific situation/garden. I am not sure how the classes are now, but they are probably quality, since it's Oregon Tilth. Oregon Tilth's newsletter I get each month is still printed on newsprint with minimal color and house to a lot of interesting articles about important issues - a true sign of a good nonprofit. Check out current classes here.
I also recently started a class at Livingscape Nursery called What to Do in the Garden Each Month with Master Gardener Tim Lanfri. This class has been perfect for me. It meets for a few hours once a month and you discuss what you should be doing in your vegetable garden that month! Perfect! Tim is great and very open to troubleshooting your particular problems/questions. The nursery seems to have a number of good classes that are very inexpensive or free to the public.
Starlings
The baby starlings are learning to fly out back. Every year, they return to the nest they have made in the edge of our roof. I know this is probably something a savvy homeowner would repair and seal up; it was noted in the previous inspection of our home (the previous owner also let the birds be!). But we like the birds, and I try and let wildlife live whenever possible. The house already has a million things wrong with it, so sealing up a nest is the least of our worries, really. Plus there is a small window upstairs that acts as a magnifying glass into the nest area, so we can watch the birds and their progress without them noticing us!
Starlings seem to be hated everywhere by bird enthusiasts and backyard gardeners. I guess they are pretty tolerant of our disgusting urban environments, much like pigeons, and seem to reproduce and compete with other "desirable" birds. Apparently they are not native to North America, but so many things are not, and it seems people like to pick and choose the non-natives that are fashionable, and those that are not. Starlings are apparently not in fashion any more. Kind of a dorky site, but an interesting overview:
http://www.pleasebekind.com/coexist/starlings.htm
In any case, the young birds are learning to fly and it's very sweet to watch. Learning to walk seems hard enough, having just watched D go about it for many months; I can't imagine learning to fly! It's nice too for D having the birds out back - she can see them up close and point and marvel, if a toddler can really "marvel" at anything. Granted, the birds think she may eat them and they send out their warning screech, which only adds to D's joy.
Starlings seem to be hated everywhere by bird enthusiasts and backyard gardeners. I guess they are pretty tolerant of our disgusting urban environments, much like pigeons, and seem to reproduce and compete with other "desirable" birds. Apparently they are not native to North America, but so many things are not, and it seems people like to pick and choose the non-natives that are fashionable, and those that are not. Starlings are apparently not in fashion any more. Kind of a dorky site, but an interesting overview:
http://www.pleasebekind.com/coexist/starlings.htm
In any case, the young birds are learning to fly and it's very sweet to watch. Learning to walk seems hard enough, having just watched D go about it for many months; I can't imagine learning to fly! It's nice too for D having the birds out back - she can see them up close and point and marvel, if a toddler can really "marvel" at anything. Granted, the birds think she may eat them and they send out their warning screech, which only adds to D's joy.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Backyard Thoughts
We had an unusually snowy winter last year and a few things died. We had two jasmine plants in the back. One died, and the other seems to be struggling to stay alive. That said, the backyard is starting to fill out again after the brutal winter. I have some Mediterranean vegetables in containers out there which will start to look great once they get their flowers and fruits! Plus they will be edible! I need to get a few perennial climbing vines however that will be hardy enough for the wintertime. I'm tempted to try jasmine again, but am also thinking of honeysuckle and some others.
We need to get some stepable groundcovers for back there for the "grassy" side. We have some thoughts, just no time to execute as usual. Otherwise, it is cozy, and we hope to start eating dinner back there soon, as the days are warming up! D loves to climb the steps and "help" me pull weeds.
We need to get some stepable groundcovers for back there for the "grassy" side. We have some thoughts, just no time to execute as usual. Otherwise, it is cozy, and we hope to start eating dinner back there soon, as the days are warming up! D loves to climb the steps and "help" me pull weeds.
Lessons Learned So Far This Year
There are a few things I've learned so far this year, and here they are:
Use sterile soil for germinating seeds. Although I agree with Steve Solomon that a good way to eliminate weak plants in the beginning is to cast aside the idea of sterile seedling soil, I'm not sure if this is more important than the treatment of the plants once out in the garden. No matter how "strong" my starts were, since the weak had died from the damping off disease, all of the pac choi was demolished by slugs, and many others were fatally attacked. I think my efforts are better served focusing on row covers, deep watering, trellising.
Label pots themselves so plants don't get mixed up. I like to think I'm beyond this. So does my toddler.
Establish a better germinating area in the house.
Broccoli raab are huge plants and W doesn't even care for the taste, so next year, perhaps one or two plants only.
Limit broccoli to five plants tops! Not sure why I planted so much broccoli this year, but I did.
Tomatoes limit to five plants, plus five paste tomato plants. Again, waaay to many plants!
Work on a better pea/bean trellis for next year. Pea / bean teepee is good; perhaps they can take up their own pie-section in the Wheel with the teepee trellis.
Do not plant anything in partial shade no matter how convinced you are it will be ok; it will not be!
Humus from nature's needs is fantastic! Get more next year.
Two rows of spinach is plenty; cover against leaf miners!
Put out slug/snail bait before you put out plants - 2-3 weeks before.
Next time, focus on planting lettuce better - smaller plantings, 10 days apart. Use a calendar so you don't forget!
Peppers and eggplants - just a few plants each; see how pots do this year.
Basil - for some reason is hard to start. Start outside and plant a LOT.
Use sterile soil for germinating seeds. Although I agree with Steve Solomon that a good way to eliminate weak plants in the beginning is to cast aside the idea of sterile seedling soil, I'm not sure if this is more important than the treatment of the plants once out in the garden. No matter how "strong" my starts were, since the weak had died from the damping off disease, all of the pac choi was demolished by slugs, and many others were fatally attacked. I think my efforts are better served focusing on row covers, deep watering, trellising.
Label pots themselves so plants don't get mixed up. I like to think I'm beyond this. So does my toddler.
Establish a better germinating area in the house.
Broccoli raab are huge plants and W doesn't even care for the taste, so next year, perhaps one or two plants only.
Limit broccoli to five plants tops! Not sure why I planted so much broccoli this year, but I did.
Tomatoes limit to five plants, plus five paste tomato plants. Again, waaay to many plants!
Work on a better pea/bean trellis for next year. Pea / bean teepee is good; perhaps they can take up their own pie-section in the Wheel with the teepee trellis.
Do not plant anything in partial shade no matter how convinced you are it will be ok; it will not be!
Humus from nature's needs is fantastic! Get more next year.
Two rows of spinach is plenty; cover against leaf miners!
Put out slug/snail bait before you put out plants - 2-3 weeks before.
Next time, focus on planting lettuce better - smaller plantings, 10 days apart. Use a calendar so you don't forget!
Peppers and eggplants - just a few plants each; see how pots do this year.
Basil - for some reason is hard to start. Start outside and plant a LOT.
The Garden So Far
This year we are trying new things. We have the following areas where we are growing edible things:
In front of the house, on our "boulevard" strip by the curb, we have:
Front Bed 1 (southern-most 8x4 framed bed, humus/soil mix)
Front Bed 2 (next in line, same as above)
Front Bed 3 (northern-most framed bed, this one only 4x4, amended garden soil)
In the front yard we have:
Shade Bed (this old 8x4 framed bed was here, along with another, when we moved in, virtually entirely in the shade due to mature trees to the south of it!)
Areas A, B, C, and D on the northern most side of the "herb wheel" in the center of the yard. (each area is a pie-shaped, small, maybe five square feet area, mostly clay soil with added compost)
Cobb Bench Bed (where an old cob bench was, this is just a mound of existing soil from a former shady raised bed)
Then we have areas in the backyard, sandy/clay areas along the fence - not much room, perhaps about 8 inches wide... we also have many black plastic pots we are growing things in, plus some small areas in between other plants in the front yard where we are growing things (like the onions and garlic).
What is growing:
Well, in Front Bed 1 we have some lettuce still and also beets, which are not yet mature. We have some collards growing as well. The three rows of spinach are done, and about a third of it went to the leaf miners! The rest of it was delicious! I just yesterday planted another few rows of lettuce.
In Front Bed 2 we have broccoli getting mature; the broccoli raab is done; we have four tomato plants and some basil doing well. We also have two tomato plants in the walkway area that are doing ok but are crowded by grassy weeds!
In the Wheel area we have 10 broccoli plants, maybe 8 tomato plants, snap peas, beans, a few peppers and eggplants.
We have onions and garlic maturing.
In the Shade Bed we have some lettuce doing poorly.
In back, we have three tomato plants, plus three more in pots, eggplant and peppers in pots...
I think that is all.
We have a number of fruit trees, nut trees, herbs that are all established in the yard, plus many ornamentals. I don't know how to take care of the trees, other than some basic pruning. I do my best to watch for pests, but otherwise, I need to read up on what an orchardist does! We have:
Filbert hazelnut tree
a young hazelnut tree of the same(?) kind
two apple trees, still very young
two asian pear trees, still very young
a plum tree
a cherry tree, which has yet to produce cherries
a few seaberries
a mulberry tree
some kind of a currant bush
a fig tree
a couple japanese maples
an artichoke plant
a huckleberry bush (the non-fruit kind)
two eucalyptus trees
the big douglas fir tree!
other random trees that are ornamental
rosemary, sage, lavender...
medicinal herbs such as yarrow and some others.
It is really amazing when I write it all down. We love our garden. The only hard thing is it makes growing a lot of vegetables very hard. I am trying my best, but often get so frustrated when I see books on growing vegetables, showing rows and rows of vegetables, without grass or shade in sight! I wish we had so much more land, so that we could have an AREA for the vegetables. I'm really into intermixing things, as in guild/permaculture style, but when it comes to vegetables, it's very hard to plan and execute things in that kind of a setting. You spend more time trying to organize the garden and less time actually planting, or at least that is what happened to me this year.
Vegtables vary in size and needs, and trying to squeeze them in "wherever they will fit" in the yard makes for difficult gardening. You spend more time making sure the grass doesn't encroach on the brocolli than you to tilling your soil or fertilizing your plants.
In front of the house, on our "boulevard" strip by the curb, we have:
Front Bed 1 (southern-most 8x4 framed bed, humus/soil mix)
Front Bed 2 (next in line, same as above)
Front Bed 3 (northern-most framed bed, this one only 4x4, amended garden soil)
In the front yard we have:
Shade Bed (this old 8x4 framed bed was here, along with another, when we moved in, virtually entirely in the shade due to mature trees to the south of it!)
Areas A, B, C, and D on the northern most side of the "herb wheel" in the center of the yard. (each area is a pie-shaped, small, maybe five square feet area, mostly clay soil with added compost)
Cobb Bench Bed (where an old cob bench was, this is just a mound of existing soil from a former shady raised bed)
Then we have areas in the backyard, sandy/clay areas along the fence - not much room, perhaps about 8 inches wide... we also have many black plastic pots we are growing things in, plus some small areas in between other plants in the front yard where we are growing things (like the onions and garlic).
What is growing:
Well, in Front Bed 1 we have some lettuce still and also beets, which are not yet mature. We have some collards growing as well. The three rows of spinach are done, and about a third of it went to the leaf miners! The rest of it was delicious! I just yesterday planted another few rows of lettuce.
In Front Bed 2 we have broccoli getting mature; the broccoli raab is done; we have four tomato plants and some basil doing well. We also have two tomato plants in the walkway area that are doing ok but are crowded by grassy weeds!
In the Wheel area we have 10 broccoli plants, maybe 8 tomato plants, snap peas, beans, a few peppers and eggplants.
We have onions and garlic maturing.
In the Shade Bed we have some lettuce doing poorly.
In back, we have three tomato plants, plus three more in pots, eggplant and peppers in pots...
I think that is all.
We have a number of fruit trees, nut trees, herbs that are all established in the yard, plus many ornamentals. I don't know how to take care of the trees, other than some basic pruning. I do my best to watch for pests, but otherwise, I need to read up on what an orchardist does! We have:
Filbert hazelnut tree
a young hazelnut tree of the same(?) kind
two apple trees, still very young
two asian pear trees, still very young
a plum tree
a cherry tree, which has yet to produce cherries
a few seaberries
a mulberry tree
some kind of a currant bush
a fig tree
a couple japanese maples
an artichoke plant
a huckleberry bush (the non-fruit kind)
two eucalyptus trees
the big douglas fir tree!
other random trees that are ornamental
rosemary, sage, lavender...
medicinal herbs such as yarrow and some others.
It is really amazing when I write it all down. We love our garden. The only hard thing is it makes growing a lot of vegetables very hard. I am trying my best, but often get so frustrated when I see books on growing vegetables, showing rows and rows of vegetables, without grass or shade in sight! I wish we had so much more land, so that we could have an AREA for the vegetables. I'm really into intermixing things, as in guild/permaculture style, but when it comes to vegetables, it's very hard to plan and execute things in that kind of a setting. You spend more time trying to organize the garden and less time actually planting, or at least that is what happened to me this year.
Vegtables vary in size and needs, and trying to squeeze them in "wherever they will fit" in the yard makes for difficult gardening. You spend more time making sure the grass doesn't encroach on the brocolli than you to tilling your soil or fertilizing your plants.
Monday, June 8, 2009
About Growing Vegetables
I am trying this year to grow vegetables year-round for my family. Last year I tried to grow some vegetables - got a lot of tomatoes, some squash, some spinach, some lettuce... that was about all. I had a new four month old baby, was breastfeeding constantly, and tired mostly.
But I read alot about gardening for vegetables, did a lot of research, talked to people and went in this year with big plans and a lot of seeds. Not all of those plans are manifesting in success, but we are growing alot. This section of the blog will be documenting my successes and failures as the year goes by. I plan to grow vegetables that can be harvested throughout our generally mild Portland winter, and we will see how that goes!
Everything that I am growing I started from seed myself, either indoors or in the garden, unless otherwise noted. All methods and supplies are organic unless otherwise noted. We have a standard 50 x 50 lot with a house on it in a semi-urban area of NE Portland. We started with a beautiful yard, and two raised beds in the shade under a plum tree! I couldn't get anything to grow there very big. This year we made two 4x8 raised beds (12 inches deep with organic humus brought in!) in the front of the house (on the boulevard strip). We are also using the sunny part of the herb wheel in the center of the garden as a growing area. There, I just have mounds of compost going. We are also trying to use as many sunny spots as possible, as well as an attempt at container gardening for peppers and eggplant and tomatoes, who generally like a lot of heat. We are still trying to grow things in the shady bed (the one left), but probably will abandon this next year.
Since I am starting this blog in the beginning of the year, the next post will summarize what has happened so far and then I hope to post often to follow the months for the remainder of the year and into next year. It will hopefully be ongoing. I'll try to put up pictures too. We'll see. With a toddler around, it's hard to imagine having the time to do this (see About Motherhood)!
I also use "I" and "we" here: I am the one planning and implementing the actual growing of vegetables, W is also a part of the process, often helping to build raised beds, do other manual labor, discuss what to grow, help with weeding, etc. It is our house and our family, but when I am doing something specific I use "I". D also helps in the yard by moving starts around, putting soil in odd places and sticking her hand in the sprinkler quite a bit.
But I read alot about gardening for vegetables, did a lot of research, talked to people and went in this year with big plans and a lot of seeds. Not all of those plans are manifesting in success, but we are growing alot. This section of the blog will be documenting my successes and failures as the year goes by. I plan to grow vegetables that can be harvested throughout our generally mild Portland winter, and we will see how that goes!
Everything that I am growing I started from seed myself, either indoors or in the garden, unless otherwise noted. All methods and supplies are organic unless otherwise noted. We have a standard 50 x 50 lot with a house on it in a semi-urban area of NE Portland. We started with a beautiful yard, and two raised beds in the shade under a plum tree! I couldn't get anything to grow there very big. This year we made two 4x8 raised beds (12 inches deep with organic humus brought in!) in the front of the house (on the boulevard strip). We are also using the sunny part of the herb wheel in the center of the garden as a growing area. There, I just have mounds of compost going. We are also trying to use as many sunny spots as possible, as well as an attempt at container gardening for peppers and eggplant and tomatoes, who generally like a lot of heat. We are still trying to grow things in the shady bed (the one left), but probably will abandon this next year.
Since I am starting this blog in the beginning of the year, the next post will summarize what has happened so far and then I hope to post often to follow the months for the remainder of the year and into next year. It will hopefully be ongoing. I'll try to put up pictures too. We'll see. With a toddler around, it's hard to imagine having the time to do this (see About Motherhood)!
I also use "I" and "we" here: I am the one planning and implementing the actual growing of vegetables, W is also a part of the process, often helping to build raised beds, do other manual labor, discuss what to grow, help with weeding, etc. It is our house and our family, but when I am doing something specific I use "I". D also helps in the yard by moving starts around, putting soil in odd places and sticking her hand in the sprinkler quite a bit.
About This Blog
This blog is about our home garden and the things that go with it. I have been learning to grow vegetables here in the Pacific Northwest. We live in the city, but there is a lot of space out here, not like in San Francisco, where I grew up. There is space between the houses, crickets and bats at night, and a lot of trees (a lot of trees).
The weather out here is pretty conducive to year-round gardening (with the occasional extra bad cold spell), which is exciting. 2009 marked my third year at an attempt to grow anything, flowers or otherwise. This is a chronicle of our yard and what we are doing year by year. Mostly it is a way for me to chronicle for ourselves what we are doing, but I hope it is of some interest to other vegetable gardeners.
Sometimes I also put up some random things that are nature-related, or that are food-related. I am also learning to preserve the harvest, which is part of food gardening. There may be other avenues to explore as well as I find more time and get better at gardening.
The weather out here is pretty conducive to year-round gardening (with the occasional extra bad cold spell), which is exciting. 2009 marked my third year at an attempt to grow anything, flowers or otherwise. This is a chronicle of our yard and what we are doing year by year. Mostly it is a way for me to chronicle for ourselves what we are doing, but I hope it is of some interest to other vegetable gardeners.
Sometimes I also put up some random things that are nature-related, or that are food-related. I am also learning to preserve the harvest, which is part of food gardening. There may be other avenues to explore as well as I find more time and get better at gardening.
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