Strawberries!

Today I picked our first Seascape strawberries. They sure are good. Tomorrow we'll have some on our oatmeal.Our first raspberry looked ripe yesterday and today it has disappeared. A bird perhaps? Let's hope they leave some for us. The blueberries are showing some color, so it won't be long before we'll be picking them. I've put netting on both the blueberries and strawberries.

In the last few days I've planted lots of dry beans - cranberry, cannellini and navy beans. I've pulled up the last of the bok choi, as it was bolting. The broccoli was disappointing. I think it didn't like the recent heat. But the cauliflower and cabbage are still looking good. We've started picking snap peas.

The tomatoes all have flower buds except the San Marzanos. And both the zucchini and delicata squash have female flower buds.

Most of the pears on the trees have fallen off, but there are still a few on each one. The mandarin is just finishing blooming. If a tenth of the flowers produce fruit, we'll be inundated.

Lots of Veggies In

We've had a few days in the mid-80s, so I was anxious to get things into the ground. I've planted eight tomato plants, eight pepper plants, and two aubergines, all in the rose bed. I've planted zucchini and delicata squash and cucumbers in a raised bed, all ones I had started. Two melon plants went into the bed along the back of the house, in front of the raspberries.

I sowed some pole beans along the trellis on the deck where I killed the clematis montana by pruning it too late. I hope the ground is warm enough for them to sprout. And I sowed another row of carrots. Something is eating the first row, but I put Sluggo Plus down, so I hope that stops whatever it is.

The blueberries have lots of fruit coming, as do the new strawberries and the raspberries. And both the asparagus and potato beds are looking good. The pear trees has lots of fruit, and even the peach tree, which looks totally butchered, has quite a bit of fruit. And the mandarin is loaded with flower buds.

August Status Report

The blueberries are finished (much earlier than usual) and the strawberries have started producing again. We've been getting a few raspberries from the new plants. We had a few nice pears from the Ubileen and lots of small ones from the Orcas.

The tomatoes and peppers are still not looking great, except for the Cherokee Purple, which is finally ripening lots of tomatoes. I've picked one aubergine so far, with a few more coming.

The cucumbers are producing nicely, as is the zucchini. I pruned lots of leaves out of the zucchini, and so far there hasn't been any mildew. I also thinned out the melon leaves and cut off the growing tips. They had started to develop some mildew.

I've taken out the first row of bush beans. The second planting are ready to pick. I've sowed more lettuce, as well as kohlrabi, bok choi, and something called golden celery, with seeds from Grow Journey.

The big project now is removing most of the roses, one side of the lilies, and most of the herbs and lavender from the rose bed. I've decided I want more vegetable space and not so many flowers. Next year I'll plant a few new herbs and use the current herb bed for something else.

New Herb Bed

Today I dug out all the raspberries to take to Dave and Marna.  Then I fertilized the bed and planted a row of garlic.  Next I moved my herbs from against the back of the house into the new bed.  I now have sage, parsley, marjoram, oregano, thyme, and chives.  Next spring I'll put in some dill.  Maybe something else, who knows.

I also dug up the Beckyberries, boysenberries, and four blueberry bushes to take to Dave.

Raspberries are Gone

I've finished trimming all the cane berries.  The raspberries have been cut down. 

I've now found stink bugs in the chard.  I guess they're getting desperate.  But I really feel like we have them on the run.

We're still getting a handful of blueberries, mostly Elliot but a few Chandlers as well.  The strawberries are picking up production. 

Fruit Report

We've picked the first blueberries (Earliblue) and had a couple of pickings of strawberries.

The raspberries and Beckyberries are a little further behind, but the Beckyberries are starting to show some color.

Oh, and the nectarine tree still has quite a few small fruit.  Some are damaged by leaf curl, so they'll probably fall off.  But some still look good.

State of the Garden

The vegetable garden is really starting to take shape. 

The potatoes are looking amazing.  They seem to grow right before our eyes.

We've put up the fence to hold up the asparagus and added another layer of twine to the raspberry bed.

 I planted the tomatoes, aubergines and peppers, the latter two under netting to foil the stink bugs.

I started the summer squash in the pea bed.  We've been getting really nice lettuce, which is also under netting to keep the leaf miners out of the chard and beets.

Off and Running

Yesterday and today were sunny and warm, so I got lots done in the vegetable garden.

I sowed peas, carrots, kale, chard, lettuce, and beets.  I also started some parsley in a six pack.

I did some weeding as well, although things don't look bad. 

I decided to try a new way of growing the raspberries.  I split each plant into two sets of canes and tied half on each side of the wire.  My hope is that this will make them easier to pick.

I learned an expensive lesson about seed storage.  When I dug the gloriosa and sweet potato tubers last fall, I thought they were dry after a short time and put them in paper bags in the bucket with all my seeds.  Today I opened the bucket and found that not only had the tubers molded ( I think I can save the gloriosas) but all my new seeds, in just their paper packets instead of in ziploc bags, were also moldy.  So I had to reorder nine or ten new seed packets.  Fortunately, nothing needs to be planted right away, so I have time to wait for the replacements to come.  Rats!!

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!

Berries Galore

We're  back from our trip and the berries are really coming.  While we were gone, the Marionberries

and Prime-Ark blackberries have started ripening.  They're both very tasty.  The Prime Ark is the everbearing one.

We have more raspberries than we can eat, and I've frozen enough, so I'm going to juice a bowl of them to freeze for later use.

The leaf miner battle has become interesting.  The chard is gorgeous and perfect under the netting.  But the miners have switched to the beets, and boy, have they made a mess.  Obviously next year I'll have to put nets over the beets, too, as well as spinach.

Frost on the Roof

Our low last night was 38.  This morning there is frost on the roof.

David picked a nice handful of raspberries this morning, but the strawberries are a grey, fuzzy mess.  I think once dry weather returns they'll be good again.  We've had an awful lot of rain in the last couple of weeks.

Meeker Raspberries

Yesterday I picked three Meeker raspberries.  There are a few more coming.  I looked up the description of them, and it says they fruit in July.  So they're a little late.  It would be nice if they did produce now.  The summer ones are long gone, and the fall ones are just starting to produce buds.

Pepper and Berries

I picked our first Gypsy pepper today.  The plant has several more nice ones coming.  The bells are quite a bit further behind.

I cleaned out the old canes in the raspberry patch and dispatched canes coming up outside the wire.  It looks much nicer now.

We've started picking the Triple Crown blackberries next door.  The place is vacant and uncared for, so we're helping ourselves.  I have one Triple Crown plant that jumped the fence into our yard.  I think I'll dig up another start.  They are not quite as sweet as the Beckyberries or Boysenberries, but they are later, and they are thornless.  They get bonus points for that.

Zucchini

Yesterday I picked the first four small squash for dinner.  They were the portofinos, and they were yummy.

We have tiny beans coming on the bush beans.  And the pole beans have started to bloom.  The nasturtiums growing at their feet are gigantic.

The strawberries are finally blooming again, so we should have some berries soon.  The raspberries are nearly finished, and the Beckyberries are winding down.  Yesterday I picked two large ziploc bags full.

In the front yard, the sedums are blooming, and the bees, of all kinds, are in heaven.

I think I've finally finished shuffling the plants and pots around on the deck.  I'm particularly fond of the arrangement in the green pot.  It has a flax in the back, with red-veined sorrel and white bacopa.   The variegated creeping Jenny in the urn is also working well.  The nasturtium in the blue pot has turned out to be a thug.  I've had to cut it back several times.

Beckyberries and Blueberries

Today we got our first Beckyberries.  I've put up some flash tapes, and so far the birds have mostly left the berries alone.

The blueberries are just starting to turn color, and the birds have found them.  So we put up a cage of bird netting.

The top and ends are attached, but the long sides open.

I don't remember posting this, but we've had raspberries for about a week.

Raspberries

The raspberries just won't give up.

Doing Some Cleanup

Today was overcast but no rain, so I did a few chores outdoors.  I straightened out the raspberries in the front yard and moved a couple of stragglers to fill out the row.  I still need to put compost on them.  Amazingly enough, they are still producing.

Then I removed all the tomato plants and turned the straw under.  There are still some chard plants at one end, and I sowed some mache and arugula there.

I also pulled out the aubergines.  I found lots of lady bugs on them, including this foursome.

I picked the leaf and set it on the ground under the apple tree.

Except for a little loss of privacy, which we'll remedy soon, I'm really happy we decided to remove the larger of the two fir trees.    We now have a nice new view.  We couldn't see the beautiful gingko tree before.

 

Last week, when we walked at Minto Brown park, I found this big-leaf maple leaf.