While it is a day belated, I wanted to celebrate the 4th this year by showing the red, white, and blue currently in the garden.
Raspberries in raised beds
The Red
Earlier this year, we built two new raised beds for our raspberries. A few years ago, we planted a number of raspberries canes directly in the ground, but it was a nightmare to keep the bed weeded. It has been much easier to keep the raspberries weeded in the new beds. Although most of the canes are new this year (we did move a few from the old planting) we are getting a nice crop of raspberries.
"Teddy Bear" Shasta Daisy
The White
I’ve been planting more and more Shasta Daisies in my yard. They are low-maintenance, bloom for a long time, and make nice flowers for a bouquet. The also work well with our somewhat rustic (meaning a bit wild and out of control) landscaping. This Shasta Daisy is particularly nice. The variety is “Teddy Bear” and it has a nice ruffled petals.
Blueberries, ready to harvest
The Blue
We’ve had an usually dry spring and early summer. This has allowed the blueberries to begin maturing weeks before they would during a more typical year. This is a bush that I planted last year and it is doing really well it its new home.
I hope everyone had a lovely 4th of July!
Sandy
Categories: Gardening
Tagged: blueberries, raspberries, Shasta Daisies
- Lemon cucumber
Quick post tonight. Take a look! My first cucumber of the season. This is a lemon cucumber, a variety I have been growing for years. Even before we started building out a large garden, I always found a place to grow cucumbers. Cucumber production in the Puget Sound area can be a bit tricky because the plants do need some heat. This is why I am doing our primary cucumber growing in the greenhouse. This little guy came off a plant hanging in a Topsy Turvy planter in the greenhouse. I’m more than thrilled to have my first cucumber before July. I don’t think I’ve ever harvested a cucumber in Seattle in June before.
Oh, I am having some trouble with my cuke plants. I’ve got some powdery mildew problems. I’m going to try some diluted baking soda/soap solution to see if that helps, but if anyone has a better recommendation I’d love to hear it.
Sandy
Categories: Gardening
Tagged: lemon cucumber, powdery mildew
The greenhouse in June
In just a few short weeks, the tiny little tomatoes I planted have turned my greenhouse into a jungle! Everything in the greenhouse is growing like crazy. The cucumbers, melons, peppers, and more are all looking great.
Melon trellis
This is the first year I am growing melon in the greenhouse. I decided to use this cucumber/melon trellis that I found at Gardener’s Supply to save space. This allows me to underplant the melon vines with shade happy plants, such as lettuce. So far, the system is working out well.
Mini sweet pepper in hanging planter
In addition to using the Topsy Turvy planters for tomatoes, I am also growing cucumbers and peppers. Here you can see fruit forming on a mini sweet pepper plant.
Hanging lemon cucumber plant
Last year, I planted a lemon cucumber in a Topsy Turvy planter and it did really well. I’m doing the same this year and already have fruit forming on this lemon cuke plant.
Pole bean towers
I planted two batches of pole beans at the same time and one has clearly been much faster to grow. Santa Ana is on left and Spanish Musica is on the right.
Cinderella pumpkin plant
In the half wine barrels, I planted a number of squash this year. The barrels help me keep the weed situation under control, plus a more permanent home for squash and other sun intensive crops won’t be ready until we do a garden expansion sometime in the future. This plant is the antique French Cinderella pumpkin. I also have sugar pumpkin planted in another barrel.
Our pullets
Finally, I’ll end with a current shot of our pullets. These young chickens are now about seven weeks old. We have three Golden Sex Links and one Golden Laced Wyandotte. I’m starting to think the Wyandotte might be a rooster. I guess we’ll figure out whether this is the case in the next few months. If it is, I’m not sure what we’ll do with it since we didn’t exactly plan to have a rooster as part of our flock.
Well, that’s it for today. I hope everyone is ready for and excited about summer, which officially begins tomorrow, June 21st.
Sandy
Categories: Gardening · Homesteading
Tagged: beans, chickens, cucumbers, greenhouse, peppers, pullets, pumpkin, tomatoes
By this point in the growing season, I have a pretty good idea of what my future summer fruit crop will look like. The blossoms are gone and the bees have done their work. Some crops are looking good. Others, not so much. Here’s the June 2009 pollination report.
Strawberries in June
The strawberry bed is full of strawberries this year. In fact, the kids have already started raiding the bed each day. They will eat every berry they find. In addition to the large strawberries, we also have quite a few patches of alpine strawberries (red and yellow varieties) and these are ripening now as well.
Raspberries in June
We planted two new raspberry beds this year. We bought some new canes but also transplanted some existing canes that we had into the beds. While nowhere near ripe, you can see that the raspberries are forming nicely.
Blueberries in June
The blueberry crop is coming along nicely as well. I have about 10 blueberry bushes in varying stages of maturity. Two of the bushes are getting pretty large and are heavily loaded with berries this year.
Currants in June
The red currants have been ripening over the last week. The berries are tart, even when fully ripe, but the kids still love them and keep the bushes picked pretty clean.
Grapes growing over the pergola
The grape vine growing over the pergola is beginning to show fruit. Hopefully we’ll be able to eat more than we did last year when the birds stole the grapes just as they became fully ripe.
Shiro plum in June
And as usual, the Shiro plum will have a heavy crop. This is by far the most reliable fruit tree I have growing.
Other fruit trees did not set nearly as much fruit as the Shiro. This isn’t entirely unexpected because a number of the fruit trees in the orchard are only a few years old. Here’s a rundown of the pollination in the orchard:
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Peach trees: I have two fairly established peach trees in the orchard. Between the two trees I have a grand total of one peach growing. Peaches are self-fertile so it can’t be a cross-pollination problem. I think the varieties simply bloom when it is too cold here for the bees. These two trees will probably be removed when I start the next phase of the garden bed expansion. The peach and nectarine trees I have in the greenhouse are likely to be more successful. I have three peaches going strong on the mini peach tree and one nectarine on that mini tree.
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Pear trees: I have three trees. Two I just planted this year so I wouldn’t allow fruit to grow on them if fruit had set. The third pear is a little twig of a tree that has been in our yard for years. It is the remaining growth of a larger tree that mostly died back. The little twig is really perking up now and has four pears growing this year.
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Cherry trees: I have three cherry trees. The pie cherry is a medium-sized tree that we transplanted this year (it had to be moved because of the greenhouse) so I have no expectations of a crop and am just hoping the tree doesn’t die. We also have a Ranier with a light crop and a new sweet cherry that won’t produce anything this year.
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Apples: We have eight apple trees. Most are too young to set fruit. I do have a Winesap that has a few dozen fruit this year. Last year it had more, so I am wondering if I pruned it wrong this winter. The Gravensteins only have about a half-dozen fruit. These require cross-pollination with two other varieties, so I think the cross-pollination has been a bit problematic. The new trees I planted this year should help with this in the future however. I was hoping for a better apple crop than I am getting this year.
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Plums: I already mentioned the Shiro and how well it is doing. I also have an Italian Prune with a light crop and newish Schoolhouse plum that has only one plum on the tree. The Italian Prune has been a disappointment the last few years. This is a fairly mature tree. We planted it at least five years ago. Two years ago we had a good crop. Last year was a bust. This year is a bit better, but just a bit. It is supposed to be self-fertile, but the fruit doesn’t seem to be setting well.
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Kiwi: The kiwi vine growing up the pergola is looking great this year. Kiwis take a number of years to become establish. This one is about five years old, so it is possible we could start getting fruit from it this year. Fingers crossed!
Well, that’s about it for the pollination report. Definitely not the best year, but I do have a number of fruits and berries to look forward to as the summer progresses.
Happy gardening!
Sandy
Categories: Gardening
Tagged: apple, berries, blueberry, cherry, currant, fruit, grapes, kiwi, orchard, peach, pear, plum, raspberry, strawberry
Front yard, circa 2002
I’ve gardened for years, but most of my gardening experience has been with ornamental (as opposed to edible) plants. When we moved into our house in 2002, we knew the yard needed a lot of work. We had no idea that we’d do the level of transformation that we have done. Take, for example, the front yard. Originally, there was an odd, curved retaining wall heavily planted with juniper. Beyond the wall, the yard dropped down to a fairly large slanted patch of grass and weeds that was totally useless. Well, that had to change.
Front yard, terraced and fully planted
So it did change. A few years ago we moved the retaining wall and then filled in and terraced the sloped lawn area. We planted a variety of shrubs (including lilac), ornamental perennials (mostly flowering, including lots of primulas), perennial herbs (including lavender and rosemary), as well as lots of alpine strawberries. The whole area makes a whole lot more sense now and we get a lot of use out of the space, something that wouldn’t have happened with the old layout. I thought it would be fun to share before and after pictures so this will be the first in a series that I’ll do from time to time.
Switching gears, it sure is great that we’re now able to regularly harvest from our garden. The spring crops are in full swing and we’ve been adding home-grown food to our meals as much as possible. Here are some of the things we’ve been eating:
- Last night Derek made an awesome lasagna with fresh chard and basil from the garden.
- We have lot of salad greens growing and have salad with almost every dinner now.
- The kids keep harvesting the carrots, even though they are still a bit small. This is why I planted lots of carrots.
- I’ve been nibbling on radishes now and then, mostly while I am working out in the garden.
- Every pea pod that matures is swiftly eaten by the kids. Good thing we’ve got a giant crop about ready to mature.
Many other plants are on the verge of maturing so we’ll have a lot of new foods to weave in to our meals as the season goes on. I hope everyone has enjoyed these last two amazingly beautiful weekends.
Sandy
Categories: Gardening
Tagged: basil, carrots, chard, landscape, peas, radish, salad
Clothesline in use
A beautiful sunny weekend gave me the perfect opportunity to kick off the clothesline season for the year. As I’ve previously written, our highest electricity usage happens on the weekends, which is when I do all the laundry. On a nice, sunny day I can easily dry two loads of laundry on the line per day. Over a weekend, this reduces my dryer usage by 66%. This is great from an energy use reduction standpoint. Plus, the clothes smell great.
Asparagus bed, May 2009
My biggest gardening disappointment so far this year has been the asparagus bed. Last fall, I put a lot of work into prepping the asparagus bed for a spring planting. When the asparagus crowns arrived, I planted all 25 of them exactly as directed. And then I began the wait. About a month ago, the first shoot appeared. And then I waited some more. Out of the 25 crowns, I’ve counted eight little wimpy asparagus shoots so far. I’ve heard asparagus can be difficult to establish, and my experience so far is proving this to be true.
Spinach in greenhouse, bolted
This is a much more minor disappointment, but I’ve learned it is not a good idea to do a second spring spinach planting in the greenhouse. As you can see, the greenhouse spinach has already bolted, which means the temperature is signalling it to go to seed. I’m going to need to harvest all of this today. Guess we’re having spinach with dinner tonight!
Canoe peas, sparse germination
Another disappointment this year, the planting of Canoe peas. In the foreground, you can see that the Canoe peas did not germinate consistently. I’d say that only 20% of the seeds I first planted actually germinated. I did a second planting a few weeks later and had a few more germinate, but the plants are not nearly as dense as I would like. Certainly not as dense as the Oregon Sugar Pods that you can see in the row behind. I won’t be including the Canoes in my planting plan for next year.
Golden Bantam corn
Switching gears, here you can see my little corn patch. I planted the corn in the leftover tops of the bins I used to make self-watering containers. These containers are sitting on top of a lasagna planting area that I’m building up over time. When I’m finished growing the corn, I’ll simply remove the tops of the bins and the soil will become part of the layers of materials I am using to build a large new planting area. I’ve never grown corn before, so we’ll just have to see how it goes.
I hope everyone has been enjoying the spring so far this year!
Sandy
Categories: Electricity usage · Gardening
Tagged: asparagus, clothesline, corn, Electricity usage, spinach
Our garden in May
Sunday was a beautiful day to garden, which was great since I had a pretty long to-do list. Above you can see one section of the garden. The far raised beds are planted with raspberries. The raised bed in the middle left is the asparagus bed (which has been a sad disappointment so far — only five shoots out of the 25 crowns I planted). Middle right I have the bean towers. The lower bed has a small patch of spinach and some onions. The wine barrels have an assortment of beans.
Pole bean towers
First up for the day — planting beans. This year, I am planting both pole beans and bush beans. Since pole beans are vines that grow quite tall, they need good supports. This year I am trying the bean tower supports from Gardener’s Supply. At $35 each, these are a bit expensive but they are supposed to be quite sturdy and they should last many years. Assembling the bean towers was quick and simple. Once of the the box, they easily sprang into shape. In terms of varieties, I am growing Spanish Musica on one tower and Santa Anna on the other. I also planted an assortment of other beans, some in the same raised bed as the towers and others in the wine barrel planters. Rounding out the beans, I planted bush beans, Etna, Maxibel, and Purple Queen. The Etnas are typically grown for dried soup beans and not eaten fresh. I also planted a soybean, Misono Green. These tend to like warmer weather than we have, but this variety supposedly does OK in a Pacific Northwest climate, so we’ll see how it does.
Barrel planters, mid-may
To the south of the greenhouse, I have a whole row of wine barrel planters. The planters fit well in this narrow space and because they are elevated, it helps reduce weeds, which are a huge problem for this part of our yard. On the other side of the fence is our neighbor’s pasture and it is pretty thick with pasture grasses and weeds that would quickly overtake a planting area not raised above the natural ground. The first five planters have a variety of carrots and radishes (note to self, 3-year-olds must be supervised around baby radish seedlings — one whole barrel was picked clean yesterday in the bat of an eye). The three barrels with the green plastic mulch have butternut squash, spaghetti squash, and sugar pumpkins. I’ll likely do a combination of trellising and letting them sprawl over of the sides of the barrels. The two near barrels, still empty, will soon be planted with acorn squash and another pumpkin (Cinderella).
Strawberry bed, mid-May
Here you can see a section of our strawberry bed. I think we’re going to have a good crop this year. Earlier this year I thoroughly weeded this bed, cut down the old growth, and then gave it a thick layering of composted goat manure and hay. The strawberries seem to be happy.
Blueberry bush, mid-May
I have a number of blueberry bushes in the yard. Out of all of them, this one looks the happiest this year. This is a Duke blueberry, which is an early producer with medium-sized berries. If it gets decent pollination, we should get quite a few berries from this bush alone.
Other planting efforts this weekend: cucumber, melon, and watermelon plants were all planted in the greenhouse. For these, I am using green mulch as well as trellising. We’ll see how this system works out. Overall, it was a productive weekend. Now that I’ve got pretty much everything in the ground, I am looking forward to weekends with lighter garden duties and actually eating the results of this labor over the weeks and months to come.
Sandy
Join your local green power program today! Green Power Network
Categories: Gardening
Tagged: beans, blueberries, cukes, melon, squash, strawberries
Last summer, we joined the Green Power Program at Puget Sound Energy. The Green Power Program allows energy customers to buy and add into the system energy from green energy sources (wind, solar, biomass and landfill gas). It’s a good way to support the growth of green power sources for your local utility. Since independent residential green energy infrastructure (home solar systems for example) can be quite expensive, this is the fastest, easiest, and cheapest way to go green with your energy usage, in my opinion. In reality, I do believe that it will take consumers working with energy companies to really solve our green energy needs. While independent efforts to introduce green energy do help, I believe the real solution for the vast majority of energy users with come through our existing grid tapping into green energy sources in the future. You can help support this conversion.
How the program works (from the PSE Green Power Program page):
- When you enroll in PSE’s Green Power Program, PSE purchases renewable energy credits from regional renewable energy facilities on your behalf.
- This guarantees that electricity from wind, solar, and biomass facilities is delivered to the regional power pool (the grid).
- Electricity from renewable energy facilities reduces the need for electricity generated from non-renewable sources like fossil fuels, creating measurable environmental benefits.
- PSE’s Green Power Program is certified by Green-e Energy, the nation’s leading voluntary certification program for renewable energy.
On top of this, it really is inexpensive and you can choose a program that will work with your budget. We chose to purchase green energy for 100% of our electricity usage. Looking back over our bills, we used the most electricity in January and paid an addition $17 to participate in the program. Most months it is even less. By doing this, on average, each participating household helped avoid the release of 13,375 pound of carbon dioxide emissions into the air.
We still plan to do independent energy savings and green energy projects, including grid-tied solar, but for now the Green Energy Program allows us to green our energy consumption in a way that is easy and inexpensive. If you have a green energy program at your local utility, check into it today!
Update: Neurotic Gardener shared this great site for finding the local green energy program in your area. Thanks Neurotic Gardener!
Sandy
Categories: Energy usage
Tagged: green power program
Three Golden Sex Links, one Golden Laced Wyandotte
After our first baby chicks met a sad fate, we decided to try again. Here you can see our four new baby chicks: three Golden Sex Links and one Golden Laced Wyandotte. The chicks are now about a week old and appear quite healthy so far. Cheep cheep.
Sandy
Categories: Homesteading
Tagged: chicks, golden laced wyandotte, golden sex link
Today, pretty much all my garden time was spent working on projects in the greenhouse. In spite of a weather forecast that predicted mostly cloudy weather today, it was really mostly sunny, making the greenhouse quite warm. I opened up the side panels, so there was a nice breeze blowing through and the temperature felt nicely warm but not too hot. Although it took a few hours, I was able to get a good amount accomplished today.
Tomatoes in self-watering containers
Planting the tomatoes in the self-watering containers was my big project for the day. Derek has been working on building the containers since last weekend and today was the day to put everything together and put the tomatoes in their new home. I have both San Marzano and Viva Italia tomatoes in these containers. Both are supposed to be good sauce tomatoes. I prefer tomatoes cooked so the majority of the tomatoes I am planting this year are sauce varieties.
Hanging planters and raised beds
Last weekend I began planting in the Topsy Turvy planters. This year I will grow tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers in the planters. I have room to hang 10 planters and will finish getting these planted as soon as the cucumbers are ready for planting. It’s hard to see, but I also prepped the two far beds for growing cucumbers and melons. Each bed had a cucumber trellis set up. Under the trellis, I will grow lettuce and other plants that can tolerate some shade. I should be able to plant the melons and cucumbers next weekend. Next weekend will be a busy one as I’ll need to plant the winter squash as well, possibly also the bean plants. I’ll have to check with DoubleD to know if the timing is right to get the beans in the ground.
Our little flock
And I’ll end with a group shot of our chickens. All five of the chickens continue to lay well, even as they’ve gone through moulting. Speaking of chickens, after the demise of our baby chicks, we decided to try again, this time with more dog-proofing in place. We’ve replaced the three Golden Sex Links and I added a Golden Laced Wyandotte for good measure. Hopefully we’ll have better luck this time.
Happy gardening.
Sandy
Categories: Gardening · Homesteading
Tagged: chickens, greenhouse, raised beds, self-watering containers, tomatoes, Topsy Turvey planters
