Rain Rain Rain

The title of this post says it all, really. It seems it has been raining for most of April and all of May. And not just Portland Spring drizzling, either - heavy showers, flooding, and hail.

I'm so glad I put my peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes out a few weeks back, now they get to face this beating. At least the temperature hasn't dropped down too far, but still - there have been gusty winds, hail and just tons of water without much sunshine. I'm afraid for my hot climate plants. I'm worried for all my hard work, and cursing my impatience and my trend towards root-binding my own seedlings this year.

Like I said before, it seems there is always something you are exceeding at, something you are failing at. But then, who would have predicted this?

I have been taking stock of what I do have through all of this: the internet to tell me what the weather will most likely be like for the next 10 days in advance, the option to replant or (heaven forbid) buy starts from up the road should things really fall apart, and lastly the knowledge that whatever happens we will not go hungry. I have been thinking back to what it must have been like for farmers, and not just in Oregon, farmers in the midwest, in the dustbowl during the depression... I cannot imagine having planted (by way of tradition or the Farmer's Almanac) most of what you needed for eating and selling, only to face week after week of torrential rains, or worse, no rain at all. I am thinking of the days before running water, before hoses and pH testers and Home Depot, before people lived close enough to a market should things fail, when their entire livelihood depended on those seeds germinating and having enough water to mature.

And there are still people today who are quite dependent on the weather, even with modern conveniences. No wonder Monsanto has gotten so big - what a great thing to have drought-tolerant, disease resistant crops! A guarantee!

This weather was also the impetus for reading that Steve Solomon book, Gardening Without Irrigation. Not because we are having a lack of water, but because the weather itself has made me reflect on a time when people depended on the weather in its entirety, when there was a need for a rain dance. "Dry gardening" was practiced, not out of trying some quirky new technique in a popular book, or to save on a utility bill, but because it was the only option. People planted differently (plants spaced farther apart, often in trenches, rather than in raised beds like people do today) in order to accommodate the natural rainfall levels. What those people would say to our monsoons this Spring here in Portland, I do not know, but all of this certainly reminds me that nothing can be that controlled when you grow living things.

In our family, we have control issues. My dad once said that he was surprised that my sister and I turned out the way we did; that he realized now, as both my sister and I enter our 30's, that he could not control the way we lived our lives. It took him 30 years to realize that. It was not a negative comment, but just one of surprise. I, too, like to control things around me. And so does my gardening friend, S. But as parents and gardeners, there is little we can ultimately control, and it is surprising we have chosen to do both. And yet, at the same time, it is good to be reminded that we shouldn't try, which is what this weather is telling me.

Steve Solomon

Steve Solomon is one of my heroes. And not only because he once told me in an email that he was certain I'd be a successful gardener. His books are filled with immense knowledge and are written so well.

And I just realized, although it's been up for a while, that his book Gardening Without Irrigation is available to read in entirety online, here. Of course, I have to read it, online or in print (in print to support him), but I'm hesitant to do so, because although I really want to utilize water better both for the planet and our pocketbook, the last thing I need is more gardening information to digest.

First Harvest and Calendar Fail

Well, first the bad news: it seems my oh-so-toiled-over garden calendar is basically a fail. Not entirely, but it needs much re-working. I suppose this is next winter's project. It has served as an outline and a tool to make sure I stay on target, but as far as taking it literally, forget it.

In brighter news, we had our first salad of the season! And it was delicious! I grew Tom Thumb and Drunken Woman Frizzy Headed lettuce that have both really blossomed, even with the threatening cat poop of February and March. I am looking forward to many more tasty salads.

We also harvested some collards, spinach, and chicory that overwintered from last Fall. D has been eating spinach leaves right from the yard. She likes to spray them off and then just eat them, which pleases me immensely.

Herbs

Yay for thyme, oregano, dill, cilantro, sage, and basil!

Peppers!

I may have stunted some of them, but the peppers are all OUT and seem to be doing well.

I recently read that you should snip the flowers that come out before transplanting and for a week afterwards so that the plant grows strong enough to hold it's future yield. So I did.

I planted eight plants in pots and about seven into the ground. I have a LOT of peppers! All different kinds too, from the very hot Bulgarian Carrot to Lady Bell's. But, like the other hot weather plants, I kept them in, and in cramped pots, for too long. I'm hoping they are ok.

Peas and Beans

Well, I realized that my wonderful attempt at a pole bean trellis just isn't going to happen. Why? Because the soil at the foot of it is in the shade!

Drat.

In Portland, it's really hard to tell what spot may be in the shade until May. Because before May, there is no sunshine. And even then, it's optional. So there I was thinking that where I was putting my crafty tee-pee style pole bean trellis was in full sunshine. But no, now that the sun is actually shining, I realize that it is a foot too south, and is shaded by that damn arbor vitae hedge.

The beans at the North side of the backyard have come up but they are weak and being slaughtered by slugs.

I don't really like beans that much, and I'm sad to admit that I am more disappointed for the aesthetic purpose they were going to serve. Perhaps they knew that, and decided to protest. It's definitely a possibility, considering what seems to do well in the garden based on my input and interest. Hmm.

The peas don't have as much sun as they'd like but they are doing well, are not affected by slugs and are progressing smoothly.

I am learning a lot about the sun conditions in our backyard. It's a tricky place; it's not so obvious where the sun will hit and for how long. It's only five or six feet wide, but 30 feet long, and there is a fence to the East, our house to the West, and a hedge to the South. Last year, I only had the eggplants and peppers and some tomatoes back there in pots, that I left in the center of the yard. This year, I'm trying to work with the existing soil and make a few areas for planting. Difficult.

Onions Onions Onions!

I am not sure how many onion plants I have, but I think I am setting a record. Not just a personal record. They are everywhere. I think I may have 50 or 60 plants. And all are doing well.

I was thinking lately how every year there is something different happening. This year it seems the booms are all about onions, garlic, lettuce, and herbs. Last year, I tried so hard to get good lettuce yields, onion and garlic to grow more than the size of a dime, and forget about herbs. But I did have 23 tomato plants proving prolific, and too much broccoli. This year? I hope I get some tomatoes off the plants that I seemed to have stunted indoors, and as for the broccoli, well, it all got eaten and the second planting never germinated.

It seems to be true that the more thought and effort you put into a plant, the better it does. Last year I was so worried about the tomatoes and the broccoli; this year, I really wanted some success with alliums and lettuce. So there you have it. Perhaps as the years go on, I will become more familiar and therefore more relaxed about all of it, and therefore have more of a general success. That is the hope at least.

Putting Stuff Out Early

I am not sure what I am thinking this year, but I'm sort of throwing things out in the garden way too early. Or planting them indoors way too early, like the pumpkin fiasco (I seeded more pumpkins a few weeks ago and hoping for the best.) I think it's a reaction to last year, when every step seemed to happen two weeks too late.

I put the EGGPLANTS out! Yes, the eggplants. My friend S said, "Oh no!" when I told her, which was not good news, but she was right. Oh no! One has already died. The others seem to be surviving, but at what cost! I don't know. I can't exactly take them back in, once they go out. We should have two solid days of hot weather starting tomorrow, so I'm hoping they will gain some momentum then. I also put out the tomatoes which also seem mediocre. Well, the problem started when I sowed all of these. I started them indoors too early, and suddenly they were trying to get out of their little cups! So instead of transplanting them to bigger pots AGAIN, I decided since it was May already, to just put them out. Now, I'm trying not to bite my cuticles (since I got my teeth fixed), and I'm hoping they will be ok, or that most of them will.

The peppers will go into big pots (they will be in containers), and possibly go out tomorrow. I know... I'm wondering about that. The eggplants are all in containers and I'm hoping it helps keep their soil warmer that way. Last year they did well in containers! I should also mention that the eggplants and tomatoes all have row cover, light as it is. I have been lazy at getting more row cover and that is also part of the problem. I keep thinking I have enough, but I really don't, or it's in bad shape and i really just need more.

The collard greens are doing great, so is the spinach and all of the lettuce. Time for harvesting already! Very exciting! The potatoes are about an inch and a half up already too, and for some reason I'm noticing what look like some volunteer potatoes in odd spots around the garden - or perhaps they are a weed that resemble the potato plant? I busted out my weeds of the northwest book, but haven't really checked it out yet.

I have one bed that seems to be doing well with its attempt at a guild. I have lettuce, beets, some wildflowers, onions and chicory all in alternating rows. Plus this rose that I yanked to make way for the vegetable bed that does NOT want to quit. It keeps appearing and I keep pulling it.

The greens and onions that I put out that were covered with minimal row cover seem to be doing far better than the ones that did not have row cover. I wanted to do a test, and could spare the extra onions and collards, so now I know. When in doubt, cover.

I also planted more beans since the other ones rotted (another overzealous moment). And the peas, although still only 6 inches or so are doing really well.

I'm hoping to water a lot better this year, and I'm trying to water every other day but for much longer and actually aerate the dirt quite a bit. D can now use the sprayer and she helps with watering too!

And lastly, the wildflowers all seem to be doing really well. It's exciting that new successes are happening and things are different this year! I'm hoping to get out and do a lot more planting this week and weekend.