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. 

Onions

Today I pulled all the onions. This was supposed to be a storage variety (New York Early), but it's obvious that many of them would not be appropriate for storage. They had very hard flower stalks going down into the onion. I saved the ones that didn't have the flower stalk, about half of them, and cut the roots and tops off. They are now drying in the bed. I don't have a lot of hope for them, but we'll see.

Next year I'll start my own plants from seeds, a variety I know will be good.

Two More Firsts

Yesterday I picked the first pole beans and the first aubergine.

The zucchinis are starting to get ahead of me. Right now I have nine in the refrigerator. I think I'll grate some and freeze them for zucchini bread later.

I decided it was time to braid the garlic. It wasn't hard, and I think it turned out OK.

Next I'll try the onions, but they aren't dry yet.

The squirrels have started in on the Orcas pears, so I picked them all. We got fourteen. They're much smaller than the Ubileens.

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.

Midsummer

The garden is nearing its peak.  We haven't had any beans yet, but just about everything else is producing.  We've had some small tomatoes and peppers. The garlic is ready to come out, and the onions are close.

The side has never looked better, thanks to lots of volunteers.

 The front is really looking good. 

 

Even the new bed is taking off.  The skimmia has been moved to the back yard for more shade.  It was getting fried in the front.  

 

And not a stinkbug in sight!!

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.

More Salad Greens

I've planted another bed of salad fixings for over the winter.  From the right side there's Red Sails and Garnet Oakleaf lettuce and arugula; Red Kitten and Bloomsdale spinach; Evergreen bunching onions; purslane; and a double row of mache.  I'm not sure if all those things will do well, but it's worth a try.

Onions

Today I planted the onions that I started from seed (Copra).  There aren't as many as I had hoped to have -- only twenty plants.  I planted them in bunches of four every foot, ala Eliot Coleman.

My Lillian Austin rose is blooming, filling the patio with its wonderful scent.

Cold Frame

The aubergines and onions are up, so I figured it was time to put up the cold frame.  It went together nicely.  I think we've finally made enough alterations to make it useable.

I also started the tomatoes.  I have Debarao, Cherokee Purple, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Stupice, and Sungold.

Veggie Starts

Today I started the onions, peppers, and aubergines, all in six packs, except for the onions.  They are planted very close together in a 4-inch pot.  All are cozily resting on a heating pad. 

Yesterday I bought some natives at the Deepwood plant sale.  I got more dodecatheons, several more erythroniums, including some hybrids, three trilliums, and three aquilegias. 

Onion Harvest

The onions that have been in the garage for several weeks are now nicely dry.  Some of them are gigantic.

The PrimeArk blackberries are still producing, I assume now on this year's canes.

Onions

The onions have still not started to fall over, but I decided to harvest some to dehydrate.  I pulled a dozen nice big ones.  After first attempting to chop them by hand, I figured I probably would be there for the rest of the day.  So I used my little Cuisinart chopper.  I cut them into smaller pieces, then pulsed them four or five times.  They were not quite as neat as the ones chopped by hand, but they'll do.  I filled all nine trays.

Here's what they looked like after drying, about six hours later.  I have two quart jars full.  I'll do another batch later. 

Boy! Does the garage stink!

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.

Onion Harvest, the Sequel

Yesterday I pulled all the onions and shallots out.  They are now basking in the sun next to the compost bins and blueberries.  My plan is to freeze half of them and keep the rest for fresh use.

The yellow onions are huge.  I have 50 of them.  There are 14 red onions and 10 (very large) shallots.

Onion Harvest

The tops on about half of the onions have fallen over, so I knocked the rest down.  I also turned off the water in that bed.  I'll leave them in the bed for a week, then dig them up and let them dry in the sun.

The Turkish Orange aubergines are really looking neat.  Now I just have to figure out what to do with them.

Fall Crops

Yesterday I went to 13th Street Nursery and snagged the last broccoli and the next-to-last cauliflower.  I got a six pack of each.  Also some seeds to start more.  I got 'Broccoli Blend' and 'Rudolph,' a green sprouting broccoli. I started three and two six packs of each, respectively.

I also started two six packs of 'Red Sails' lettuce, and one each of 'Valmaine' romaine, tatsoi, arugula, 'Bright Lights' chard, mizuna, and a pot of 'White Lisbon' scallions.

The 'Red Ace' beets and 'Yaya' and Danvers 126' carrots are up.

Aubergines and Onions

Today I picked the first aubergine, a Dusky.  Also, since I needed an onion for dinner, I pulled one that was looking like it was dying.

This morning we picked 5 1/4 pounds of Blue Lake bush beans to can.

First Carrots

Yesterday I pulled the first carrots, Yayas.  A few were forked, but most were really nice.

The onions are getting really big, but they aren't showing any signs of dying down.