After the Ice

 During the week that our power was out, following an ice storm, I started more seeds. I planted celery, leeks, and onions. 

Out in the garden I sowed lettuce, arugula, Ethiopian kale, spinach, two kinds of chard, and three kinds of peas. 

The first lettuce and chard are in the greenhouse and doing well. The onions and leeks are now ready to put out there. 

First Frost

Two nights ago we had our first frost, although the temperature only got down to 36. But with the colder temperatures coming, I pulled out most of the summer vegetable garden. 

I sliced and froze all the bell peppers, except for four, which I'll stuff for a couple of dinners. The zucchini had a few small fruits on it, so we'll have those soon. I have several jars of shredded zucchini in the freezer for zucchini bread. I have several aubergines, which I'll probably make into more ratatouille. 

When a substantial rain storm was predicted a couple of weeks ago, I picked all the tomatoes, mostly San Marzanos, which had any color on them. I put them in the guest room to ripen. I now have enough tomato soup for nine lunches, plus two trays of roasted tomatoes, with garlic, basil, and olive oil. I'm planning to use them on pizza, or maybe as a pasta topping. I had also canned 26 pints of cut up tomatoes. 

We still have lots of things in the garden for winter. I have a row of kohlrabi, a row of beets, a row of chard, and two rows of spinach. One bed has cabbage, Chinese cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower, several plants of each. I have about twenty bok choy plants, plus a few short rows of mache, arugula, and Ethiopian kale. And I have a row of turnips and rutabagas. There is still some lettuce, but I don't expect that to last much longer. I planted a few snap peas at the end of the strawberry bed. They probably won't produce anything until next spring. And of course, there are still several rows of carrots.

I got just four delicata squash, which was a bit disappointing. Next year I'll grow a vining one instead of the bush variety. I also have three small 'Honey Nut' squash, which may or may not make it. They're still not ready to pick. Again, next year I'll do a full size butternut vine.

Starting seeds

Today I started a bunch of things for the garden: Tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, and chard.

The green onions and leeks that have been out in the greenhouse are doing well. They'll be ready to set out in the garden soon.

I also sowed pak choi and spinach in the garden.

Feels Like Spring

I know it isn't close to being Spring, but the last week or so has given us a taste of things to come. We had several days of highs close to 60 and sunny. We even had lunch on the deck a few days ago.

Update on overwintered vegetables:
My fall plantings of lettuce and spinach are still there, and we've eaten many meals of them. However, we've had a fairly mild winter, so I won't expect that to happen every year. I still have some carrots left, mostly big split ones, but they're still good. The bok choi was good for a while, but it has now bolted. I left the plant to flower, hoping to entice some early bees. And we have seen one.

After some major pruning, the pear and peach trees seem to be fine and are close to blooming. With them being short now, I'm hoping to be able to hand pollenate them.


I started green onions and leeks indoors, and now they are in my greenhouse. Three days ago I sowed snap peas, but they aren't up yet.

An Experiment

I planted a long row of garlic today, as well as three large shallots. Recently I've been planting the root ends of scallions and they've sprouted and produced more leaves. So I thought I'd try it with leeks. I have three large leek roots, which I put in the bed, about an inch down, and covered them with soil. They each had some short roots that had been cut off. I also have a celery base, which I've read will sprout. However, it doesn't have any roots, so I put it in a dish of water to see if it will sprout.

Status Report - July 23, 2018

Things have really been happening in the garden.  I've harvested the garlic and two of the potato plants.  We're now getting Stupice and Lizzano cherry tomatoes, green beans, zucchini, bell peppers, aubergines, carrots, chard, and kale.  The lettuce was very good (starts from Minto Island Growers) but have now bolted.  I've just planted the third sowing of green beans

and the last two rows of carrots.

 I also planted some cranberry beans.

 The leeks are ready but I haven't pulled any yet.

I started two Kale-ette plants from seed.  I moved them to the potato bed and put them under a shade cover because it's been in the 90s.

The herb bed has been a great success.  I'll do it again next year.

The rhubarb and squash bed is doing well.

The trough planter is really filling in.

 The new bed is filling in gradually.

 And the rose bed has been spectacular.

And last but not least we just picked all the pears on the Ubileen.  It was a bumper crop!

Status Report - June 1, 2018

I've been pretty busy and have really neglected my blog.  Here are some photos from the first of June.

There were hundreds of blossoms on the mandarin.

 The new trough planter.

The new bed along the back fence

Kale and chard.

 Carrots and garlic.

Leeks, peppers, and aubergines.

 And here's the front yard.

Planting in Earnest

Now that we are back from our two-week trip to Tucson, I can really start to plant things.  We had a blowout in the bed that I had planted some carrots in.  I'm giving up on the watering system in that bed, so I'll just plant a couple of squash that I can hand water.  I'll find another spot for the carrots.

My onion seeds did not do well, so I bought some starts, as well as leeks. 

The lettuce that I started a couple of weeks ago is coming along nicely. 

The strawberries are really starting to take off.

I bought four tomato plants and six pepper plants.  I've transferred them to gallon pots and will bring them in at night for now.

Off and Running

We've had two nice days in a row, so I was able to get most of the vegetable garden started. 

I planted Yukon Gold potatoes, and one bed with spinach, a few beets, and chard.  I immediately covered that bed with netting to keep the leaf miners out (I hope!).

I also sowed one bed with kale, lettuce, and arugula.  I also sowed some basil in that bed.  And I started carrots in the bed that still has some leeks and chard from last year. 

I transplanted the seedling leeks into the herb bed, although they seem really tiny.

Just about everything has started to bloom or leaf out.  The early blueberries are in full bloom, as are the peach and nectarine.  The apples and pears are a little behind, but coming. 

We're seeing several stink bugs a day, including in the house.  I even saw a young light green one. Sigh.

New Fountain

Today we got a new fountain for the deck. 

I started melons and cucumbers and sowed leeks in the onion/garlic bed.

Raspberries on the Move

Yesterday we moved some raspberries from the front yard into a bed in the back garden.  We plan to put a tallish hedge in front along the fence to block out the neighbor across the street's house, which is an eyesore. 

I moved one Meeker, one Willamette, and five of the nameless fall-bearing plants that Barb Crothers gave me.  We put up wooden posts to hold the wire through screw eyes.  We also put posts in the asparagus bed, to hold up some sort of fence, maybe lattice, to hold the ferny fronds in. 

I added four small bags of compost and some all purpose fertilizer to the raspberry bed before I planted them. 

The garden is nearly cleaned out, except for a few leeks, a few cabbages, and some greens and carrots. 

Today is foggy, but yesterday was beautiful.  It was sunny and in the low 60s.  We even had lunch on the deck!

Vegetable Washing Station

I've been wanting a vegetable washing station outside for a long time, and now I finally have one.  I can wash all the dirt off vegetables before I bring them in.  And an added benefit is I can collect the water and reuse it in the garden.   It cost me $10 for the old sink and $6 for the blocks.

I sowed more onions, 'Copra' this time, and some 'White Lisbon' scallions.  I also planted out the leeks I started in a pot.

Spring Planting

Today I got the first of the spring crops in.  I planted snap peas, carrots, beets, lettuce, chard, and kale. I also planted onion starts and started some leeks in a pot. It really felt good to get out there in the dirt.

We're getting an estimate on having the irrigation lines repaired.  Several of them broke during the extreme cold in January.

Overwintering Carrots

So I lied.  I still have a few things to plant.  Today I pulled out the remaining leeks (which should have been harvested ages ago) and sowed five short rows of an overwintering carrot called 'Merida.'  They should be ready some time next spring or early summer.  Update:  A flop

When I pulled out the leeks I found three little plants, so I put them in the ground.  Maybe they'll grow.  Update:  They didn't do much.

The early planting of salad greens is getting pretty big.  I'm a little worried that the lettuce may bolt before we can eat it all.

The next planting is coming along nicely.  Timing is everything.

The sweet potatoes are taking over their corner of the garden.  I'm supposed to wait until cold weather, but I may have to sneak a peek before then.

Onions

Yesterday I went to 13th Street Nursery and bought lots of vegetable plants and starts.  I bought several kinds of onions, four artichokes, potatoes, and asparagus.  I also bought six more blueberry plants.

The showers eased in the afternoon, so I planted the onions.  After adding fertilizer, I planted three rows of leeks, one row of shallots, two rows of red onions, and four rows of yellow 'Storage' onions.  I also sowed two rows of spinach.