Category Archives: Gardening

Andrew’s carrot

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Sandy

Andrew wanted to have his own garden this year, so I let him use a half wine barrel for planting his seeds. He planted peas, carrots, and turnips and everything has done well. He’s especially happy with his carrots, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening | 2 Comments

Green beans and a new venture

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Sandy

I’ve had trouble with green beans this year. Even though I waited until the weather improved before planting, I had to replant both my pole beans and my bush beans. Birds might have been a factor, but germination seemed to … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking & food preservation, Gardening | 7 Comments

Berries & artichokes

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Sandy

Strawberry season is officially over, but the blueberries and raspberries are going strong. In fact, the raspberries are fantastic this year. We have a few different varieties of raspberries planted (I’ve lost track of exactly what we have though) and … Continue reading →

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Garlic & potatoes

Posted on July 8, 2012 by Sandy

My softneck garlic starting flopping over earlier in the week, so I knew it was time to harvest. Harvesting garlic is easy (just pull from the ground), but curing is an important step for long-term storage. After the garlic dries … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking & food preservation, Gardening, Livestock | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Pie cherries

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Sandy

Pie cherries are a lovely fruit and fortunately they grow well in the Pacific Northwest. We grow Montmorency pie cherries, which offer a classic tart pie cherry flavor. Unfortunately, after changing up our garden plans, I attempted to move an … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking & food preservation, Gardening | Tagged , | 3 Comments

First blueberry and tomato

Posted on June 30, 2012 by Sandy

The blueberries are coming! We’re just a week or two away from our first batch of mixed berry jam (Lily’s favorite) and blueberries for fresh eating. This year, I’ve got about 5 bushes with a good amount of blueberries and probably … Continue reading →

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Strawberry jam, peaches, and peas

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Sandy

I picked enough strawberries today to make my first batch of jam. It was a half batch, but I’ll take it! With our wet weather, the strawberry patch has been doing OK, but I do have some fruit that has … Continue reading →

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Cherries

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Sandy

It’s cherry season! Not all cherries do well in our cooler Seattle weather, so I am happy to report that the Glacier cherry tree we planted a few years ago is doing well and providing tasty cherries. In addition to the … Continue reading →

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Tomatoes & hummingbirds

Posted on June 10, 2012 by Sandy

In spite of the wet, cool conditions outside, the tomatoes in the greenhouse are putting on signficant growth and are starting for form tomatoes. This year, we’re doing something new to trellis the Sungold tomatoes, which get huge in our greenhouse. … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Salad fixin’s

Posted on June 4, 2012 by Sandy

Andrew (age 6) is very excited about the salad we are going to have with dinner tonight because he picked a bunch of the ingredients. In addition to lettuce, we will be adding the pea pods, garlic chives, and alpine … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking & food preservation, Gardening | Tagged , , | 3 Comments