junipertown

a new year, a new garden

2011-03-28T21:51:00.001-07:00

it's already evident from my first transplanting day, that i am far less concerned (and therefore stressed out) about exactly how many plants i will plant, and how much i can cram into our little urban plot.

last year and the year before, gardening, although thoroughly enjoyable, was also a point of stress. taking on the project of "feeding the family from the backyard" was daunting. trying to map out a garden that grows in the midst of grassy areas proved insanely frustrating - picking weeds from my tiny mounds of dirt on a daily basis. having very few right angles made it very hard to plan rows. with all the joy, there was a lot of nail biting and frustration, back pain and "wishing things were different".

not to go on and on about it, but this winter my family and i went through some harrowing health experiences. and it gave me new perspective. i emerged with a bright light that now sits behind my eyes, thanks to some healers, some vitamins, a light box, and forced exercises!

so as i planted bok choi and other asian greens for the fourth year in a row, i took greater care in those 10 plants, and really tried to win this time against the slugs, but with a bit of humor and a feeling of calm. if they eat them, they eat them. but this time i am not trying to plant 70 other things WITH these plants, so maybe my care and attention to them will cause them to flourish this year.

a garden with purpose is how i am seeing this year. the previous two years were a garden with quantity in mind. i really wanted to be on a large tract of land, with rows and rows of soil. and i still do. but that is not what we have here, and it will not be perfect. it will not be ideal. but it will be beautiful and it will be calm and it will be bountiful enough!

i am loosely following the calendar until may. sadly, i am working alot until mid april and then we will be away for two weeks. all during prime planting time. but i have to remind myself that what i get in the ground before may will be alright, whatever it is. in may i can really focus. it's hard to want to travel and also have a garden year-round. i've found that without balance, comes imbalance, and i've had a lot of imbalance lately. balance is the focus this year in my life and that includes the garden.

hibernation!

2010-12-30T13:30:00.000-08:00

nothing, absolutely NOTHING is going on right now in the garden. there is pruning to do, and the garden calendar to attend to, but in general there is nothing going on. and good thing too, since we've had some family health issues and other preoccupations. i'm looking forward to getting out there and pruning. i'm looking forward to ordering seeds and planning the calendar and garden for next year, but i'm happy right now not to have to do anything. a much needed break.

Peppers!

2010-10-19T16:54:00.001-07:00

The chili peppers, eggplants, and green peppers did fantastic this year. A pepper called "Big Bomb" was late to mature, but very very tasty.

Here are some of the chili peppers that we ended up drying! We borrowed a friend's dehydrator and I think one may need to be a future purchase. Last year, drying them inside, many molded. This year, they were all preserved by fast, hot drying. I debated drying them in the oven but was afraid our eyes would start burning downstairs.

Yay! Hot peppers! One of my favorite things.

Some photos

2010-09-27T22:04:00.000-07:00

It has been a crazy summer all around. Not just the weather, but that as well. Eggplants did fantastic - did I mention that before? I think I may have reported on that now several times. We are still harvesting them. I count about 25 eggplants all together, both Oriental and Dusky varieties. Apparently they love water, and that is what they had. They would have gotten bigger but it's been chilly.

The peppers are turning red on their vines.

Green peppers are very small but tasty,and we are harvesting many of them.

BEANS! I do not have a photo, but the six or so bean plants out back went NUTS in the sunny, cloudy, rainy months we've had. I know you are supposed to harvest beans as they develop so that the plant will produce more, but I don't like them enough to do that. I gather that we've harvested all together one of those big painter's buckets worth of beans. Dora likes to eat them raw.

PUMPKINS are also nuts. The ones, like this one below, ballooned up early and I'm afraid will rot before pumpkin carving time. And they are apparently no good for pies. I have to investigate to see if we can eat them. But smaller ones are coming as well! Perhaps ten pumpkins altogether. I have a very late winter squash growing, which will probably fail to ripen. There are also a myriad of zucchini and other squash plants that are doing well but it will get too cold for them very very soon. I was so concerned about the pumpkins that I forgot to get our other squash out in a timely manner this year.

We have more beets, kale, mizuna, and lettuce growing. And spinach.

Larvae Galore

2010-09-17T10:12:00.001-07:00

I wish I had a picture for this, because it's very very disturbing. I've noticed a great quantity of black fly larvae in our compost tumbler. We got this new tumbler as a gift and it's EASY but I'm not used to the amount of insects it attracts. I suppose because they are truly contained in the bin, they are just easier to see.

Anyway, lately I have been going out to dump food scraps and in the handle depressions, there is maybe an inch of water. In this inch of water, there are about 30 inch long black larvae, all squirming around. I am not sure how they appear so quickly in the depressions after a day of rainfall, but they do! It looks like something from a sci-fi movie, all those larvae squirming about in the clear water.

Yuck! But it's all part of nature.

Late Summer

2010-08-15T21:13:00.000-07:00

The pumpkins are HUGE. I did some research, back into my seed ordering archives, and discovered that they are Magic Lanterns, a hybrid. Based on that, as well as their size, they are probably not too tasty for eating. D discovered today that they were beginning to turn orange, and she is very excited. It's hard to say if they will ripen just in time, or perhaps too early. I have a feeling I have timed it just right. By accident, of course. I had such a fiasco getting pumpkin seeds to start this year! And after all of that, we now have GIANT pumpkins out side. The ones in front have really been allowed to roam and soak up the sun. Very exciting.

I have been thinking a lot about pumpkins. And reading this.
We also have more and more onions. Some onions did so poorly, others so well. Most, very well. But they were all from the same seed packets... so it's odd. Again, I have soil discrepancies everywhere. My goals for this winter are:
Evaluate my soil all over the garden in its various little pockets
Re-do my garden calendar
Make plant cards for every plant out there that is NOT a vegetable. There are so many plants to care for - ornamental plants, berries, trees, nut trees, vines... only some of which I know the names for and know how to care for.

Anyway, I digress. I have been thinking about how busy I am and how much there is to do, and I've been cataloging things for wintertime activities. Excitedly.

We have been picking mulberries every week for a future mulberry pie!

Here are some images from the garden. Oh and we are having a massive porch built!

Insects

2010-07-29T20:46:00.000-07:00

I am slowly becoming more aware of the plethora of insects outside our door. I was never a fan of bugs of any kind, but gardening has changed that. So has my friend Milagra whom I casually refer to as a bee specialist, although she would deny that.

Still, I have been looking around at all the insects out there and growing amazed, really. I used to just think there were bees, wasps, ants, big spiders and little spiders. Now I realize there are many many different kinds of insects. Well, I did know of course that there were many many different kinds of insects, but I suppose I always thought that living in the city, there really weren't that many where I lived. Hawaii was the first place I lived where I realized cockroaches could actually be small animals, that cane spiders were as big as taurantulas, but could fly, that fire ants could burn your feet off, silverfish would destroy CDs, and that carpenter ants would actually eat electronics (as in my computer). That was Hawaii.

It's also true that the numbers of insects in general are on sharp decline, so there are not as many as there could be or should be. But still, it seems that there are perhaps 6 or 7 different types of bees, 3 or 4 different types of wasps, many different kinds of spiders and a few different kinds of ants, just outside our door on a daily basis.

Some sting or bite, others do not. Some pollinate, others do not. Some eat all those annoying cabbage worm larvae! Some eat aphids!

This year, we have had a drastic decline in aphids on greens, as well as cabbage moth larvae. But we've had an increase in wasps! At first, when I noticed how many wasps were about, I got nervous. But with a little research, it seems I should be hugging them for sticking around! Perhaps hug is the wrong action. Then, with yet more research, it seems that I still don't even know what kind of wasp I am trying to identify. I have named a few different wasps in the meantime, however: thread-waisted wasp, spider wasp, and mud daubers.

We also have honey bees, bumble bees, carpenter bees, hover flies, and a few others. I am learning alot. D is fascinated by bees and so I am trying to make her understand how to react around them without taking away her innate curiosity and wonder. So far it has been working.

I'm not sure why I was never a fan of insects, probably because I saw so few of them, growing up in the city, without a garden. We had plants and space outside to play, but you just don't see the mass amount of insects that you do when you actually have a functioning garden. D and I like to talk about all the insects and creatures out in the garden. She washes lettuce and points out bugs and takes them outside to help them (even slugs). I encourage it and show enthusiasm for bugs. Bugs are so important, so misunderstood, and so feared. It's too bad.

But back to wasps. I am trying to name the wasps that seem to hang around the grassy areas. Mostly because D plays there and I want to know how aggressive they are or what they are trying to do. If they are mud daubers, then they are trying to collect mud. But it's more wet and grassy than muddy. Plus they look more like yellow jackets, but I know they aren't since there isn't anything that would attract a yellow jacket there. Plus, they are bigger, longer, and simply look different than I've known your standard yellow jacket to look. They also seem unphased by us walking around and doing stuff there. What I want to know is: are they beneficial for the garden? Are they beneficial for us? For the yard? Also, will their queen hibernate and therefore their nest grow year after year? I'm not sure I want that. We had paper wasps in Hawaii and they got pretty bad, and they were right by the doorway to the house. These seem to be making their home underneath the back porch, so they are also in a high traffic area.

To be continued...

Update on the stunded bed

2010-07-29T13:47:00.000-07:00

Well, the stunted bed continues to grow. There are tomatoes, chard, and pumpkin. All are growing and flowering and developing, just teeny tiny. I checked for root maggots but don't see any. Perhaps the bed is missing an essential nutrient. I'm not sure, but think that we'll just have to take out this bed in the fall. It's no great loss really, but it is amusing to see very miniature pumpkins and tomatoes.

Garlic!

2010-07-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

I finally harvested the garlic and it looks GREAT! Fifteen huge heads of garlic. Well, maybe ten huge heads and the rest, your average garlic. I cured it and it's now hanging in the basement in bunches. Very exciting. My garlic last year was tiny and silly.

Onions are coming up too. For some reason my onions have started to bolt - perhaps because of all the wacky weather we are having this Spring and Summer. So I pulled a few onions that were supposed to be storage varieties. Seems we will have to eat them like shallots. I also planted new spinach seeds next to my onion I am trying to dry out in the ground. Possibly my most stupid gardening mistake of all time. So we may have to eat all the onions as shallots!

Cauliflower

2010-07-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

I recently read that the size of the broccoli and cauliflower heads depend on how big the plants get before flowering. No wonder the heads last year never got too big - the plants themselves were pretty small.

This year is my first year growing cauliflower! I read too that you can grow cauliflower pretty much year-round here in the Pacific Northwest, from overwintering to Early varieties to the standard varieties, you can harvest heads year-round! This is good news considering how good it is for you.

We have some heads that are developing and looking good!

PUMPKINS and more PUMPKINS!

2010-07-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

Well, after what I thought were a few transplant failures, then a few more false starts, it seems we are now in for a huge number of pumpkins! Both the sad transplants and the late sowings have taken off! We have two plants out front that are each about 9 feet long!

Stunted Bed

2010-07-05T21:46:00.000-07:00

The two beds that we made from the leftover old pile of concrete bits is not doing that well. I realize that saying I made a vegetable bed from "leftover... concrete bits" sounds like well, of COURSE it would not do well ...

I still haven't done much investigating, but everything growing in the first bed is extremely stunted. In the other bed, the wildflowers have done well, and so have the strawberries, but everything else looks yellow, sickly and also is simply not growing. Root maggots? Bad soil? There are lots of quick, black spiders running in and out between the rocky concrete, and in March and April they had egg sacs, and were fiercely defending their territory (one bit me and it hurt like hell!). So my other thought is that somehow their presence draws other bugs that are affecting the plants. I will have to do some more investigating. Here is a picture of the sad, tiny plants (lettuce, tomatoes, chard, and pumpkin are all the same size).

Other things growing in the garden

2010-07-05T12:26:00.000-07:00

Here is some more of what is going on in our soil. The fourth attempt (after some indoor failings and transplant failings) at pumpkins are doing great!

Next you can see the garlic growing with lettuce in between. It's time to stop watering this garlic, so we are going to have to pull the lettuce soon.

My transplanted beans (from another area of the garden) are growing well but slowly. They are a bit yellow too. The patch they are in was where the old compost was, so there may be some bizarre mix of soil there. Not sure. It's also not too sunny, so I'm not sure how they'll do.

Then there are the potatoes which I think are doing well. I've tried my best to mulch and keep the soil consistently moist, but there are quite a few of them in that little square bed!

The peas out along the backyard fence have been thriving for months!

Peppers and Eggplants

2010-07-05T12:21:00.000-07:00

Here are the peppers and eggplants that survived from the downpour and frigid temperatures we had in May and June. Here you can see some little purple peppers on a couple plants, some very very sad looking peppers under a soaker hose, and the eggplants looking healthy and robust!

Early Summer Harvest

2010-07-05T12:04:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our harvest last week. Snap peas, collard greens, Touchstone Gold beets, one of the 47 heads of Drunken Woman Frizzy Headed lettuce, and some overwintered shallots that I grew last Summer or Fall.

We harvested maybe 60 or 70 huge collard green leaves, blanched them and froze them to use this winter.

The beet greens were partially devoured by leaf miners that I didn't tend to, but we made a large warm beet green salad with the rest!

The pictures don't do the greens and brilliant color of the beets justice. These were ta ken with a camera phone that is not very good with color. The beets are a vibrant orange-red and the taste of these beets (this is my first year growing this variety) is very very mild, which W prefers, since he is not a huge beet fan.

Sunshine!

2010-07-01T15:48:00.000-07:00

Sun has finally come to Portland, Oregon! And I take stock of the damage done by the rain. It seems most of the eggplants have hung in there and come back, looking good. As for the peppers, the sweet ones are yellowing and have been mostly devoured by slugs, but as for the hot peppers, they seem a bit stunted (leaves are tiny), but I see a few small peppers coming!

So in this past sunny week, I have done the following:

Harvested much of our 47 heads of lettuce. As much as we can eat and give away, we are. There is still way too much lettuce out there, note for next year!

Harvested snap peas which are doing well, despite their initial battle with slugs.

Transplanted beans to another area of the garden, which was a gamble. They seem to have recovered easily and both sets now are growing vigorously.

Pumpkins are doing fabulously. The two planted in the ground versus the ones started indoors. Still, the indoor ones are doing ok.

Harvested beets! Leaf miners attacked the leaves more than I hoped, but there are still many edible parts, and the beets are a good size and look great!

Harvested collard greens and blanched and froze them! Harvested the rest of the spinach. I did not grow enough spinach this year.

Many of the tomatoes are doing great. Others look ill and stunted.

Chard is coming up. Strawberries are doing great. Garlic and Onions look great, and so do the potatoes!

Harvested some shallots from last Fall which look great. Right now they are hanging on our front screen door to dry out, but I have to find a better spot for them!

I will post pictures soon. I was hoping to do them simultaneously but I'm trying to catch up on posting.

More Rain

2010-06-06T09:29:00.000-07:00

I am about to book a flight to somewhere. This rain is damaging my psyche. I recall laughing at people who said to friends from California, "Summer doesn't really start in Portland until mid-June." I said, "That is completely untrue. It was like that last Spring, but you're exaggerating." I was defending our life here in Portland, trying to look on the bright side in the middle of February.

Well, now here we are on the bright side, and it's been acting like November for over a month. I'm ready to pack up my garden here and move. So are the eggplants. So are the peppers and the tomatoes. And what about all the rotten seeds that I planted in hopes of some perfect June germination weather, who got drowned repeatedly?

I won't dwell anymore than I already have. We are due for some dry, warmer weather sometime near the end of the week, and I will keep my fingers crossed that it will be here to stay.

Rain Rain Rain

2010-05-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-18T21:21:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-14T21:27:00.001-07:00

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

Peppers!

2010-05-14T21:21:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-14T21:07:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-05-14T20:58:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-12T21:38:00.000-07:00

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.

Sacrificial Plants

2010-04-30T14:21:00.001-07:00

I feel bad, but there are always a few sacrificial plants that I see being eaten by the slugs and let them stay, to be eaten! Poor things. I think they would be happy to know that they are sacrificing in the name of the group, wouldn't they?

I just took a look around outside, a real look around, instead of bolting from Point A to Point B with a task at hand, and boy are there a lot of weeds! We have family in town to help this month, this entire month, and I am looking forward to really getting the yard into shape!

I also just looked at my tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers, again, really looked at them. And, they desperately need to go outside! They are huge! Soon, everything, soon!

Cat Poop

2010-04-24T23:49:00.000-07:00

I was so worried about the slugs, but it seems that the cat poop in the garden beds is by far the worst threat to the new plants.

Today, not only was there another cat poop that had ruined a few onion starts, but there was a dead, gutted songbird on the front walkway, its entrails just right of it's head beside a long cat poop. Have I mentioned that our sweet, cuddly lap cat has become Defender of the Premises? She recently went outside and since has little interest in being inside with us. Apparently now she is making statements with wildlife. I am still trying to figure out how the entrails of this poor creature ended up next to the cat poop. Did the cat eat the bird's stomach and then poop it out? Or did it simply poop next to the dismembered bits? Seems odd that a cat would just poop on the concrete. Perhaps she was trying to make a statement, to warn other birds. This will happen to you too!

I am glad for the prospect of fewer rats and mice threatening to crawl into the old, cracked foundation, glad for the aggressive packs of squirrels and Stellar's Jays to back off from the hazelnuts and the peas. But I am not happy about the threat towards the local birdlife. Birds have enough problems. We were just starting to see some different birds coming around. Now I'm worried that they will all stay away. I will have to look into habitats we could create for them that they might take to with a ferocious cat around.

Soldier Fly Larvae

2010-04-18T23:08:00.000-07:00

In digging up the beds some, I came upon some very, VERY big reddish-brown larvae. About the size of half of my thumb. Looked very Star Trek and very creepy, and because I found them in the beds where the cabbage was, I worried they were some kind of pest similar to the cabbage moth.

So I did some research. Turns out they are Soldier Fly larvae. Apparently harmless, often found where vegetable matter is decomposing. The soldier fly is a large wasp-like fly, but harmless to vegetation, animals and humans. Much relieved.

April 2010 and Plant Guilds

2010-04-18T22:34:00.000-07:00

Early this month I direct seeded herbs (cilantro and dill), some shady wildflowers in pockets of the backyard, and beets out front. I also planted beans, entirely too early, and they did not come up - not sure what I was thinking. Well, I think I was reacting to the nice weather we had early in April. Lesson learned. I also sowed some seed potatoes. I wasn't planning to, but my friend K had some extra and I found a place for them. I hope they do well. I haven't been treating them very well since I know potatoes pretty much grow anywhere, under most conditions, but the other day I saw the squirrels messing around in that bed and now I'm worried.

I also transplanted the first lettuce and onions this month. We have a LOT of onions, and I kind of put them everywhere. I hope they do well, they seem so tiny and fragile, but I am banking on them repelling pests both for themselves and the other plants around them. I also spread some marigold seeds around the potatoes, and side dressed the garlic.

This weekend, mid-month, I transplanted the pumpkins, which seem to be doing well. They are BIG, and most sources say they do not do well started inside, especially when they get too mature. Ah, well. We shall see. I may plant one more pumpkin for good measure, but I'm already scared of how much they will take over out there.

I also bought strawberry starts and planted those. My only purchased start, but they take a long time apparently to start from seed and are finicky and I really wanted strawberries, for D's sake. So I bought some.

I also did a LOT of garden maintenance, beautifying, and planning of beds. The hardest thing for me is figuring out which plants will go WHERE, after considering:

good plant companions (and bad ones),
plant rotations (ie, brassicas and tomatoes not in the same spaces as previous year),
and this year, how to integrate more of a guild pattern than before.

Plant guilds are really fascinating to me and something I wish I knew more about. I do have a book, but it's one I have not gotten to. It's dense and my brain already hurts with the amount of plant knowledge added to it lately. It's like plant integration; instead of planting all your tomatoes in one spot, all your lettuce in another, and all your onions in yet another, it's making the integration of plants work for them (and you), by deterring pests, balancing elements in the soil, and using taller, tougher plants to shade more tender ones that need some shade.

This year, knowing more about certain plants and what they need I am trying to do some "guilding" as I plant. Interplanting lettuces and onions and marigolds is almost as far as I've gotten, but it's a start. It also helps ease the stress of having a finite number of each plant per space in a bed. If I interplant lettuce and onions, then I have that much more room for them, vegetables that we can use a lot of. I will see if this method serves me well this year, and of course report back here.

March 2010

2010-04-18T22:24:00.000-07:00

I am behind on updating here, so I will post a March and an April entry to get things up to speed. Contrary to popular advice, I started pumpkins indoors. I really want some pumpkins this year, so I am trying to get a head start.

I also planted peas outside, and started broccoli and cauliflower and the second batch of greens inside this month.

I am updating my garden calendar as I go so that next year I can be a bit more realistic. For instance I am NOT going to do 5 batches of greens to follow with succession planting. That is just way too hectic and too much trouble. I suppose some people do it, but they must have a super indoor system that doesn't require any bending, balancing, or guessing where their next start tray will fit.

The Hedge

2010-04-17T21:24:00.000-07:00

I was cutting the hedge today that divides our lot from our neighbors' lot. I hate the hedge. It's in poor shape, having not been attended to well over the years. It's straggly, with big pockets of dead wood in places. I maintain it only so that we can light through our southern windows and walk pleasantly through our side alleyway.

I have my dad's electric hedge clippers which are pretty scary, almost like a mini chainsaw. They make my arms and hands hurt, since you have to hold them at this 45 degree angle in order to "sweep" over the side of the hedge to really do a nice job. Plus, right now I have a sprained wrist, so that is an added handicap and cause for cursing during the job. There is a chain-link fence which the hedge has grown over, and as you are slicing away, you have to be sure not to hit the metal fence. At the same time, you want to get as close as possible since that is the dividing line between the properties.

Today, I got halfway through the job, my wrists and arms aching, when I hit the metal fence. So the blade was bent and there was no straightening it out, at least not today. The only option was to pick up the small, rusty, unsharpened manual hedge clippers and finish the job with those. Oh boy. So I did. And it got me thinking back to life before electric Makita hedge clippers. All those hedges in England! All that snipping by hand! All those hours, all those full time gardeners.

Lately I have been reading my good friend Priya's blog, The Plum Bean Project. She is a historical fiction writer, and her blog centers along the lines I was thinking today. Aside from being a fantastic blog, it has taken me back to imaging things we no longer have to think about. Like attending to all the hedges in England without electric hedge clippers. Which got me thinking about gardening in general throughout time. As a vegetable (food) gardener, I often think about how a) people don't grow their own food anymore, b) even if people do grow their own food, they do not know how to begin with seeds, opting to buy starts at the nursery and start there, or c) how people know little about actually growing the food they want to grow, finding out things via the internet, the backs of seed packages, books. Essentially, how we don't know anything about farming, soil, weather, etc.

But today I was thinking about the importance of tools, the fine art of topiary, how I know nothing at all, and how dependent we are on information and machines.

Planting has begun

2010-03-21T20:42:00.000-07:00

Well, those B. sprout and cabbage plants did nothing but bolt to flower. Sad. A handful of kale and some collards are still edible and doing alright. Garlic is about 6 inches, and leeks are going strong.

Indoors, we have many peppers, eggplant, onions, spinach, lettuces, and some basil started. While I was away, W did a fantastic job of keeping everything watered and under light. It's hard to be away for too long with plants! Much like having dogs, I suppose. Today I re-planted some of the plants I started before I left that did NOT make it, like the squash, which zipped up then wilted for lack of space, most likely, and the second round of greens. I am going to try to put the squash outside under cover, but I am probably just kidding myself and should just plant it in the ground like last year when it did just fine.

Right now there is a lot of working of the soil to be done. Amending to be done... So far I have not stayed on top of my massive garden calendar, but it is helping me stress far less about what I have not done, and in general I am more on it than last year because of everything written out that I can reference. I am marking when I actually do things instead, if it's not ON the calendar day.

Recently heard about hydroponic growing for vegetables. Sounds pretty amazing, and an interesting way to grow things in small spaces.

Tomorrow... more slug bait.

Seeds are beginning to sprout!

2010-02-19T23:48:00.001-08:00

It has been a long time since I posted here! Winter was mild - an early freeze, and then a mild, mild winter. The early freeze, sadly killed many of the plants I was hoping to overwinter, but there is still lots of kale, one cabbage plant, and several Brussel's sprouts. I am waiting to see what they do. The BP and the cabbage have yet to form buds or a head, respectively.

Got many of the hot weather plants started indoors (peppers, eggplant, squash, pumpkins, basil, etc), and some early greens as well (lettuces, collards, mostly). This year I am using sterile soil and trying to plant LESS of each plant. Last year, I had way too many plants. I always want to err on too many in case some die or get eaten once out in the yard, but I am trying to find a happy medium this time around.

I also have created a very overwhelming garden calendar (or, I should say a series of 6 calendars, all for different aspects of caring for the garden and the vegetables: planning, planting, yard maintenance, harvesting, etc). I hope to follow it somewhat for the year to test it out.

I am hoping this weekend to get the peas in (late!) and do some more maintenance with the beds.

Leeks!

2009-11-22T18:05:00.000-08:00

It's never fun smooshing the slimy bodies of paralyzed green aphids off of the undersides of greens, but, alas, I was doing it again this evening, washing the mustard greens. I think the most dreaded part of gardening is spending the back-breaking hours washing produce.

And I learned my lesson with the leeks. Today I pulled ten FAT, LONG, WHITE leeks from the ground (every other one in the front bed, so that the others could continue to expand)! They are truly a success, and I owe part of their success to my friend S who gave me the babies. But I did learn my lesson in "hilling up" and making sure to avoid dirt in between the leaves. I should have hilled them up even more. The remaining ones are scrawnier and even more dirty.

Year-Round Calendar

2009-11-18T15:44:00.000-08:00

I'm working on a year-round calendar, for year-round vegetable gardening. There are a number of books, publications, and notes from classes that I've compiled, and in determining what I have to do each month in the garden, I always have to reference EVERYTHING. It gets confusing and difficult. I always miss something.

So I now have all the reference material covering our kitchen table, in an attempt to create the perfect year-round calendar for OUR garden. It's a daunting task. Perhaps when I am done, I will post it here (not that it will be of any use to anyone but us...).

Canning 2009!

2009-11-12T15:54:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine instructed a few of us on some basic canning/jam making.

For a while now, I have wanted to can and preserve fresh fruits and vegetables so that we can use all that our trees provide, as well as span out our fresh fruit into the winter months (without relying on strawberries from Mexico or Chile...).

There are a number of places on the web that have lots of information, but there's nothing like getting a first-hand instruction, and there's nothing like trying it yourself.

This Summer and Fall we made plum jam, applesauce, and dill pickles! I still have figs and mulberries in the freezer in order to make more jam. Here are some photos from the process.

Pictures from Summer and Fall

2009-11-12T14:51:00.000-08:00

Below is one of the new beds I made out of chunks of cement we had in the yard. We are still growing chard, kale, Brussel's sprouts, and broccoli in these beds. The lettuce is all done. I wanted to keep some lettuce going for the winter, but never got to it - you have to enclose it here somehow to keep the heavy rains off, and it was just too much for me to tackle.

Above you can see the lettuce growing in the shade of the hardier Fall plants, a technique I plan to use more of next year! Below is a little immature green bell pepper! We had a handful of them this year and they did surprisingly well in both the ground and in the black pots.
Below is an area in which I am trying to inspire the herbs to grow! Basically, I had an odd assortment of herbs that were not doing well in pots; I also had echinacea and rosemary that were already established in the area. So I planted everything else here, and we will see how Darwin's theory functions come next Spring. I have basil, thyme, sorrel, borage, mint, parsely, and cilantro... plus some leeks that are doing well to the side of the area (you can see their young stalks in the background).
Here is one of the cement beds with a lot of kale in it. The kale had some aphids this year, but did very very well and is still thriving. I hope to keep harvesting from it winter-long.
Below is part of the backyard, where I had everything in containers except for one cucumber and three tomato plants. Here you can see basil, tomato, and rosemary. You can also see my nasturtium that FINALLY grew in the foreground - of course, it will probably not last through our cold, rainy winter. Nasturtium grows like a weed in California and I miss it up here.
Here are the leeks in the front bed, still doing strong:
And here are the front beds, this past Summer. The tomato plants and the chicory are gone, but the rest remains:
Here is the cucumber plant, that we got ONE cucumber from at the end of the Summer. It was very very tasty, and hopefully we can grow more next year!

And above is the front bed that is not doing so well right now. Here was its promising beginning - the beets, and other hardy Fall plants (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli...), but my lack of attention to this bed brought aphids (even with row cover) and dry, parched soil for too long. Only a few of these plants are thriving, sadly. I pulled up a handful of the beets and some of the broccoli and planted garlic bulbs three weeks ago, mulching them with leaves from the trees. Hopefully we will have a better garlic crop come next Summer!

Something is Eating the Leeks!

2009-11-12T14:45:00.000-08:00

And it looks like this (someone else's image). We don't have rabbits here (not that I know of!) so it must be a squirrel, cat, dog, raccoon... that is really all I can think of. Hmm... only a few have been chomped on, but it's a mystery that needs to be solved, considering I am planning on eating every single leek I have.

Hello, Winter Gardening!

2009-11-01T12:39:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I made a post here. We've been busy with guests, travelling, and with a lot in the garden. What I've been doing in the garden:

-Pulled all the tomato, pepper, and eggplant plants (all the hot weather plants). I salvaged the remaining 8 tomatoes and one of the pepper plants that still had mature-ish peppers on it is now drying in the kitchen.

-Winter-pruned all our fruit trees. I did some of the pruning myself on the smaller trees, and then we HAD some pruners (they'd say they were arborists, not "pruners", which they were, in all fairness), come and prune the plum, and the fig. The fig tree got massively cut down which is very very exciting. They were cool guys who came by and were very willing to tell me how to prune correctly and why certain trees can be massively hacked and others can not; they also demonstrated orchard style pruning versus "ornamental" pruning or pruning for general care. I learned a lot! They also took out the two eucalyptus trees, sadly, that needed to go.

-Planted garlic and shallots! This year I decided not to accidentally plant the garlic in the shade, like I did the year before. So hopefully it will grow big and strong this year. Not sure if I mentioned, but last year I planted it in a little pocket of dirt that was mostly in shade. I'm STILL not sure what to do with the mini bulbs that appeared. Probably have to toss them at this point. Over the garlic and shallots, I put a layer of leaves that had fallen from the trees. Apparently, the leaves act as a very good mulch for these bulbs as they break down.

-Mulched the yard with the pruned clippings. Well, I should say my sister, who was visiting did all of this! Prepared areas for wildflower planting in the front area by the street. I am almost ready to plant wildflowers, just waiting for someone named Sam to come get the extra mulch that is sitting by the curb.

Otherwise, I generally assessed the garden and did some cleaning up. We have leeks, chard, four kinds of kale, collards, mustard greens,, mizuna, brussel's sprouts, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower all doing well. The brassicas have been very heavily attacked by aphids, to which I've counter attacked with various oils; but the plants still seem healthy. (My row covers were not that well monitored so I suspect this was the cause!)

The lettuce and spinach we have eaten and I again did not plant successively as I should have, so we won't have more until early spring.

The beets - same seed that did so well in spring - are very sad. I am sure it is because I watered too infrequently this summer when we had those heat waves! (D was learning to run and liked to practice this every time we went out by the front of the house, so that is my excuse.) I had to pull the golden variety entirely and the Bull's Blood crop is looking oh so sad. And I was SO looking forward to beets this winter!!

Cutting Myself Slack

2009-09-03T21:24:00.001-07:00

So I realized this week I have been very very hard on myself. In general, but that is another post for somewhere else. In terms of growing vegetables, this is after all the first BIG year I have tried this. I have had a lot of success and your average amount of failure. The yard does look like hell, but it's all I can do to keep up with watering (and even that I am not doing enough of) and preventing bugs, fertilizing and harvesting all the millions of tomatoes. With D underfoot, constantly demanding my attention (literally every 8 seconds, I am estimating), it's a wonder I am doing this with any kind of follow-thru.

I think of farmers, but they have a system down, and a lifestyle down. It's hard to pretend you are a farm in the city. It makes for constant readily apparent incongruencies, both in system and lifestyle. Especially your first REAL year at it. I did grow vegetables last year but they were mostly in the shaded beds and so nothing but lettuce, squash and a few tomatoes happened.

What has happened since I last posted:
- I realized that I have not been watering enough in general this summer and I am having a lot of dry compacted earth. Note for next year: use straw mulch in raised beds and wherever there is dryness.
- The tomatoes have been going crazy. I never thought that a five gallon bucket of tomatoes would only yield 4 cups of pureed tomato. No wonder those plants produce so much! We have given so many tomatoes away and still more come. Especially cherry tomatoes. We are overrun and I swear next year we only need 5 plants, not 22.
- We had lots of record heat for a few weeks and the brussels sprouts bit it. I don't think there is one survivor. I really want BS this winter, so I am thinking of buying STARTS! NO! My garden will not be entirely from seed after all.
- The beds out front are doing bizarre things. First of all the slugs have found them which is a bummer. So have the cabbage moths. But there are four beds. In the larger beds, the moisture is barely staying in the beds; in the smaller beds, the moisture retention is better and the plants are much much larger and healthier. These smaller beds are newer and did not have a previous crop, so perhaps that is why. But is mulching the only solution? I've been liquid fertilizing everything the same... hmm...
- In October we are having much of the fir tree limbs cut to get more light into the garden which is exciting, and also to prevent sudden impalement from above as we sit around the firepit. Also the two Eucalyptus trees must go, which will be sad but also better for the beds out front. The fruit trees will all be massively pruned.
- I have been also learning about preserving (canning, jamming fruit mostly, but also how to freeze and dry things properly for best future use). W and I made plum jam with about 5000 plums from our tree. It turned out good! We have 22 jars of it, so if you personally know me, look out for some this holiday time.

So considering all the OTHER garden related things I have been doing (making jam etc), I should really really cut myself some slack. I should actually be amazed at myself! But I can't help looking out into the yard at the shriveled brussels sprouts and dead chilis and get depressed. I decided this past week I am no good at gardening when it gets really hot without relief. I have much more respect now for people trying to garden in say, Australia.

Another great thing I found this past week that is going on here in Portland: Sellwood Garden Club. Awesome!

Chile Failure!

2009-08-20T22:30:00.001-07:00

Oh boy, big note for next year: if you let D mess up the labels on any of the starts, be sure they are NOT the pepper starts. Hopefully next year none of the starts will be lacking in labels... however: for fear of cold nights and early rains, I decided (upon reading I could) pulled all my green chiles off of their plants and decided to ripen them inside. Not a good idea. Mainly because I didn't know what kinds of chiles I had, and apparently there are different ways of ripening them, depending on the variety.

I assumed (not sure why I'm assuming anything as a novice vegetable gardener, but it is my style) that there was a sort of standard way of ripening chiles/peppers, as there is with tomatoes, etc. Apparently not. Some like to be in a bag, under the counter, dark. Others you can put in direct sunlight. I read a "how to" on the latter, and so put mine on the windowsill. After the smell of hot chile was too strong in the house I thought why not put them outside in the sun - same thing.

I think I've killed them all. They are white! Well, blotchy. And flabby. It's very sad. They were such an accomplishment! I grew two handfuls of chile peppers west of the cascades! The black pots worked! And then I put them out to die before I could even try one!

Well, people lost entire food supplies during the depression; people are starving all over the world, so I suppose I should look on the bright side of things. I did have successful pepper plants! I did grow chiles! Some of the plants are still producing! Next year do not lose the labels, do not let your child mix up the plants, and do a little more research before pulling all your peppers off ahead of time because you think what you are doing must be right!

Tomatoes!

2009-07-26T16:32:00.001-07:00

Tomatoes are starting to ripen!

We picked our first tomatoes on Friday. So far, the plants are very healthy and the fruit is perfect! I believe I picked some Early Girl tomatoes and definitely some cherry variety but not sure which.

The squash plants are getting big now. The eggplants and peppers are growing fast and putting out fruit that is growing fast now.

We are in the middle of a heat wave here in Portland and I'm a big concerned about my very little starts, but so far they are doing alright.

To do in the garden for the next week/weekend:
-Finish filling the new raised beds with dirt (we have two new concrete lined ones IN the garden
-Plant the kale, chicory, lettuces, chard, brussel sprouts, etc the first week of August
-Harvest mulberries and figs and plums and save mulberries and figs for canning/jams
-Take stock of what we have and see if we can guess how much MORE we need (of Winter gardening plants!)

I think that is it! Oh, and of course harvest my perfect little eggplant!

Perfect Little Eggplant

2009-07-24T15:34:00.001-07:00

Well, container planting seems to have been successful, as I have a perfect little eggplant outside! The pepper plant next to it has been demolished by slugs, and I am hoping my eggplant avoids this fate. It seems the eggplant plant out front though, is having some trouble, as it has yet to bear fruit. And this one is far bigger, so I thought it would bear some fruit before the others! Again, D was playing with the starts and they got all mixed up, labels falling off, so... I do not know the varieties of anything that is maturing in the yard. Note for next year: toddler-proof labels.

I will try to start putting up photos, starting with one of my perfect little eggplant!

Soil Testing!

2009-07-19T23:31:00.000-07:00

We have various plots where things are grown, each with different types of soil and different nutrients being fed on a regular basis.

In the front boulevard, we have raised beds: two with humus brought in from Nature's Needs. this humus seems to be nutrient rich but is very dry and water absorption is an issue. The other two beds have soil from the old raised beds (topsoil and compost blend).

Inside the garden, we have the wheel area, which has clayey soils and soil that has been amended with compost/chicken manure. The two other beds IN the garden have the soil from the old beds. Also this area gets constant droppings from the huge fir tree, so the soil is more acidic.

Then, in the back, we have the random ground soil which seems to have a lot of sand to it; we also have potted vegetables out back.

SO: next year perhaps a soil test in various locations would be good. Perhaps some areas need more of something. It would be nice to even them all out some or see how different they are!

Catching Up and Fall Planting Notes

2009-07-19T23:06:00.000-07:00

It's amazing what I can get done without D around. W and her went away for a few nights and I have been getting so much done in the yard. Funny, it doesn't look much different to the outside eye... but:

I took two hours today and pinned up all the tomato plant parts that were dragging on the ground. It's good to see we have various varieties going strong. Two hours, because we have 20 plants! What we lack in other vegetables this summer (due to my faulty planning), we make up for in tomatoes!

I finished filling the other two beds that we are trying to use for Fall / Winter planting. I planted many of the chicory, broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage starts. I read up on Steve Solomon's advice for leeks and trimmed the stems. I thinned the carrots which seem not to be doing so well; I also thinned the beets and the cauliflower that I direct seeded.

I made a big batch of Steve Solomon's complete organic fertilizer in an old doughnut bucket. Why we have a doughnut bucket I do not know, but we do. I also spread some fertilizer around the plants.

I started lettuce seeds (again!). I have had such a problem with lettuce this year. I didn't plant enough in the Spring and then recently my starts fried out in their trays with the hot weather we suddenly had. So, all I can do is start again. Gardening I have found is all about "oh well, start again". It's hard for me to be ok with that kind of work, because I usually have a plan for anything I do, and then I execute the plan. Not so with living things! Sometimes they don't start when you want them to; sometimes you don't nurture them enough or realize they need some help.

I also started kale, chard, mustard greens, and some other things.

I am wondering about the number of plants I have and if I need more: cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts? I have no idea. One of the hardest things about year round gardening is that I have NO IDEA how many plants I need to feed us! Trial and error. It is only the first year of really trying this, so I must be patient.

It's been HOT HOT HOT here. It was 92 degrees yesterday and almost as hot today. I have been able to really water the plants alot, which has been good.

It seems that no matter what, any time I pick up Steve Solomon's book, I realize I am doing SOMETHING wrong. Very discouraging to say the least. Today I was reading about water. It was getting very very specific and I stopped reading. I got the point I needed to know - that lack of adequate watering leads to root stress, which leads to poor root development, which leads to plants not able to mature as they would. In general I think I water enough, but apparently with the ground wet 6-8 inches is not enough. I do know though that I have two problems:

I start sowing seeds about a week too late
I do not water well enough
We have different beds with different types of soil (amended differently), so what works for some does not for others and makes for difficult application of fertilizer, water, etc.

I think both of these things contribute to most of the problems I come up against. Those problems being mainly one: that plants don't mature to the point I think they should.

All in all, I spent about 10 hours between yesterday and today doing work in the garden (what I consider BASIC work that was in desperate need of doing). It's amazing how much more I could do, but I have other things to accomplish before my alone time is up!

More Winter Planting

2009-07-12T21:32:00.001-07:00

Today I got quite a bit done - finished the other small beds out front. Now we have two 4x8 beds and two 3x3 beds. I also, much to my Dad's horror, made another bed out of chopped up concrete. I read extensively about concrete and whether or not it leaches chemicals into the soil, and came to the conclusion that it is not a concern. Apparently most of the chemical leaching is done when the cement itself is made (due to the heavy metals in the machines it is made in); the other time chemicals can leach out is when it is mixed for use. Once it solidifies and is formed, this no longer happens. At least that is what some scientific article all about cement and concrete said, somewhere on the web. I also consulted a few organic forums/resources and all agreed that it was not a concern to them. But my Dad's horror lies in the appearance. Apparently it's way to trashy for him. Well, it's free (since we already had it) and holds the dirt in.

I planted a million leeks. These were from a friend and they look strong. But she gave me hundreds it seems. Oh wait, I said millions. Well, a LOT. My own leeks are growing, but very slowly, and I'm hoping they will gain some speed. I also planted some chicory, collards, beets (yes more beets!), and cauliflower.

I've also decided to keep the "wheel" in the center of our garden as is. W and I are doing much rearranging in the garden, and had plans to break open the wheel of bricks and make more rectangular shapes at the top (better for laying out a vegetable design), but I decided that the wheel is very nice as is, and with all the extra beds we are making, I think using the wheel for things like pea and bean trellises and tomatoes and potatoes, even squash - that will make good use of it's circular shape.

We have already pulled several large ornaments/herbs that we had far too much of and were blocking space and sun. It's all in progress. Hopefully I can put up some photos someday.

We also had an arborist come by and give us an estimate on some pruning and removals. It wasn't as much as I expected and it's very exciting knowing that soon there will be MORE sunlight and happier fruit trees in the garden!

I also restarted my lettuce seeds after noticing some moldy seeds. Perhaps they were too moist, but I don't think I did anything differently this time. The rest of the starts are getting used to the cool Portland July nights in their little trays, soon to join the big kids in their open spaces.

Fall, Winter Planting

2009-07-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

I have to have more faith in my seeds!

Some have germinated but the lettuce is dragging its feet. I know, 6 days often for lettuce, but I'm still antsy. I am also unsure if I've started enough. Spring planting was not enough. I should have done a second round two weeks later, but with the Fall I want it to be a success! I want to be sure there will be enough to last us through the winter. No matter what I do that will probably not be the case, but it's a goal.

So I'm waiting for the seeds...

Sanctuary

2009-06-28T23:58:00.000-07:00

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.

Garden Overhaul Plans

2009-06-28T23:45:00.000-07:00

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.

Visit from a Master Gardener

2009-06-28T23:40:00.000-07:00

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!

Fail! Fail! Fail!

2009-06-28T23:38:00.000-07:00

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.

Places and Books of Learning

2009-06-12T12:18:00.000-07:00

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.

Starlings

2009-06-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

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.

Backyard Thoughts

2009-06-11T23:19:00.000-07:00

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.

Lessons Learned So Far This Year

2009-06-11T22:55:00.000-07:00

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.

The Garden So Far

2009-06-11T22:08:00.001-07:00

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.

About Growing Vegetables

2009-06-08T16:48:00.000-07:00

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.

About This Blog

2009-06-08T16:28:00.000-07:00

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.