Two steps backwards, one hobbled step forward

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Sandy
Late winter snow

Late winter snow

Many aspects of gardening involve adjusting for the unplanned and unexpected. Weather, of course, is a primary element to which gardeners have to adjust and readjust expectations and plans. Earlier in the week, I planned on using this weekend to start a garden clean up and pruning project. We awoke on Saturday, however, to snow. Not a lot of snow, but enough to make it too cold for me to want to go outside.

The snow didn’t matter, though, because I couldn’t have worked in the garden this weekend anyway. Earlier in the week, I injured my leg and am now on crutches.  The ER doctor told me it could take 2 – 3 months to recover. This, of course, had me thinking about how I’d still be able to get the garden started in time for the primary growing season. Luckily, I think the doctor’s prognosis was worse than reality. I’m already down to using just one crutch. Hopefully, I’ll be fully mended in a few weeks. In the interim, I’ll have to ask Derek to help out with the garden a bit more than usual.

Fresh eggs

Fresh eggs

While I hobble on my crutch, the garden goes on. The hens are waking up to the impending spring and their egg production has increased significantly  in the last month. We are now getting about six eggs daily, which is pretty good for nine hens, especially since a few of the hens are now getting long in the beak.

Inside, my tomato seedlings have sprung forth from the potting soil. The peppers should catch up soon. They always seem to take a few days longer than the tomatoes.

Oh, I also found out about a new program this week. We’ve been members of the Puget Sound Energy Green Power Program for some time. In addition to using electricity, we also use natural gas for heat and cooking. While natural gas is better than electricity, it does produce carbon. PSE now also has a Carbon Balance Program, which allows customers to buy carbon offsets to balance out natural gas usage. For a typical household, the offsets cost about $8/month. We’re now all signed up.

That’s it for now. I’ll taking it easy for the next week, hoping for the leg to perk up. By next week, though, I’m going to head into the garden, even if it is just to supervise as I ask others to help out.

Sandy

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Garden season 2012 commences

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Sandy
Garlic and pea beds

Garlic and pea beds

After a long blogging hiatus, I’m back! And I’m really late kicking off garden season 2012. Truth be told, I’ve been working on some other projects (not related to gardening and sustainability) that have monopolized my spare time over the last few months. Plus, the time has just gotten away from me. I can’t believe we’re already nearing the end of February!

To rectify matters, I officially kicked off my gardening season today. First, I cleaned out the bed for the peas and planted three varieties, which included two flat peas (Oregon Sugar Pod 2 and Taiwan Sugar) and one snap pea (Sugar Sprint). Gee, that’s a lot of “sugar” peas. In front of the pea bed, above, you can see the garlic has come through the winter just fine and is putting on new growth.

Rhubarb emerging

Rhubarb emerging

Also putting on new growth is the rhubarb. I’m hoping that my rhubarb plants will provide enough for a decent harvest this year. These are fairly young plants (just a few years old) and it does take a few years for them to become established and provide a decent harvest.

Cover crop in raised bed

Cover crop in raised bed

Last fall, I planted a cover crop in a few beds. It grew really well and I turned the cover crop in one of the beds today. I’ve never done a cover crop like this before so I’m not sure how long it will take to break down. Hopefully this bed will be ready for the summer crops I’ll need to plant out in May.

Peach blossoms in the greenhouse

Peach blossoms in the greenhouse

In the greenhouse, the mini dwarf peach and nectarine trees are about to bloom. Unlike last year, I did a much better job keeping these watered over the winter and the trees are looking great.

Other recent tidbits:

  • My annual order from Raintree Nursery arrived. I think this will need to be my last annual order for a few years as I’ve basically run out of space. Last fall, we removed our big leaf maple tree. We did this to create more sunny, plantable space. Of course, this prompted the Raintree order. Delivered, and planted, were two more cherry trees, a crab apple, and a plum.
  •  We’ve noticed that our energy bills over the winter have been noticeably lower than they were last year, in fact, about 20% less. We believe this is the direct result of the insulation project we did last fall. We significantly increased the insulation in the attic as well as under the floor. Looks like it worked!
  • Also on the energy front, we’ve received our first solar assessment and bid. The proposed solar system would supply about 30% of our electricity needs (more if we can reduce our electricity usage further which is definitely possible) with a payback of about seven years. I think we’ll pull the trigger on this in the next couple of years as we continue to work on bringing our usage down.
  • We have a new plan for our car situation. We recently decided that Derek would get a Jetta TDI wagon. This is the diesel version that gets 40+ MPG. We’ll use this as the main family car and for road trips. Then, once my Volvo (current family car) hits 100,000 miles, I am going to get an all-electric vehicle. Since I am currently at 86K with this car, it will probably be a few years before I go electric.

That’s it for now. I hope everyone had a great winter and that you are well ahead of me with your gardening 2012 tasks.

Sandy

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Dear Big Leaf Maple

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Sandy
Big Leaf Maple

Big Leaf Maple

Dear Big Leaf Maple,

Although I’ve tried for a number of years to be friends, it’s just not working out. Not to be rude or anything, but you are in the way. You see, I have plans. Big plans. And I just can’t do them with you around. I know it’s harsh. You are probably shocked I came right out and just said it. I could have spared your feelings, but it would have been disingenuous. With some relationships, the only ending is a bad ending. This is one of them.

Without you around, my days will be much sunnier. You simply cast too large of a shadow. It gets me down. Plus, I have other friends just like you and they are not in the way. They know their place.

Yes, we did have some good times. You were great to have around on a hot sunny day. But you see, those days are few and far between here. You just don’t fit in. So, my decision has been made. It’s over. I’m sorry you only lived to be thirty-five. But good-bye.

Sandy

P.S. I’m sure you’ll find some great new friends who like you much better as fire wood.

P.P.S. I’m SORRY! 😦

R.I.P. Big Leaf Maple

R.I.P. Big Leaf Maple

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Squash

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Sandy
Blue Hubbard Squash

Blue Hubbard Squash

This wasn’t the best year for squash, but we did get five sugar pumpkins, three delicata squash, and this nice blue Hubbard squash. Isn’t it pretty? That’s all for today. I just wanted to share the picture of this nice squash.

Sandy

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Apples

Posted on September 25, 2011 by Sandy
Gravenstein and Chehalis apples

Gravenstein and Chehalis apples

Walking through the orchard last weekend, I noticed a few apples had dropped from a couple of trees. I picked the apples that looked reasonably good off the ground and then checked the trees for ripe fruit still hanging on limbs. I picked just some of the fruit that was ready because I wasn’t prepared that day to do a full picking. This did, however, give me a great opportunity to see how well the nylon socks worked to protect the fruit from pests and disease.

Bagged and unbagged Chehalis apples

Bagged and unbagged Chehalis apples

The above two apples grew on the same Chehalis apple tree.

Exterior comparison of bagged and unbagged Chehalis apples

Exterior comparison of bagged and unbagged Chehalis apples

After unbagging the apple protected by the nylon sock, it is clear the protected apple looks much better. The flesh of the unprotected apple is bumpy and covered in little dots.

Interior comparison of bagged and unbagged Chehalis apples

Interior comparison of bagged and unbagged Chehalis apples

After cutting open the apples, the difference was even more noticeable. The apple on the left looks perfect. The apple on the right has blotchy brown coloring on the interior. Now I need to do a bit of research to figure out what this is. I’m thinking some sort of fungal problem, but am not sure which one exactly. Any suggestions?

So, the good news is that the nylon covers help. Even though it is a pain to put the nylon socks on, it does seem worth the effort. I will change one thing about how I put the nylons on next year. This year I used small orthodontic rubber bands to secure the bags on the small apples. Unfortunately, these bands did not stand up to the weather and sun and completely broke off within a month or so. I’m going to have to find another solution for next year.

Sandy

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Judge me by my size, do you?

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Sandy

And well you should not!

We’re starting to see some ripe apples from our various and sundry trees.  The larger apple is a Chehalis and the smaller apple is a windfall Honeycrisp that was blown down in last night’s rain.  I don’t know about you, but the smaller apple certainly looks riper and more appetizing.  The larger egg is from one of our established hens, while the smaller is the first egg from one of our new ladies – one of the three Barred Rock pullets we picked up after the mystery deaths of an Americana and Golden Campine pullet.

In other news, hopefully the weather will cooperate this week and I’ll be able to work on setting the posts for the 5′ tall fence around the orchard in preparation for moving the hens there for the winter.  The hens should have plenty of bugs and rotting windfall fruit to eat to augment their scratch and layer mix (at least until the snow hits).  After the posts are done, I’ll be able to cut and attach the rails and wire, and work on the gates.  The final step will be disassembling, moving and reassembling the henhouse that’s in the old kennel area adjacent to the house.  I am NOT looking forward to that.

-Derek

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Tomatoes

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Sandy
Various tomatoes

Various tomatoes

I’ve been harvesting tomatoes in onesies and twosies for a few weeks now, but with the recent heat I’m finally getting full batches of tomatoes ripening at once. I smell tomato sauce making and canning in my future this weekend. Yum.

Sandy

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Pears

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Sandy
Green Barlett pears

Green Bartlett pears

After waiting nearly two weeks for them to ripen, the above box of green Bartlett pears has been transformed . . .

Pint jars of pears

Pint jars of pears

into 33 pints of canned pears. I do still find pears one of the most difficult canning projects, but it seemed a bit easier this year.  Derek was a huge help with the peeling. Thanks Derek!

Up next: Picking the last of my Shiro plums and making fruit leather and then moving on to processing tomatoes into sauce. I have a good tomato crop this year, but I’ll probably still buy a box or two of pears from the local fruit stand to supplement. I’ll definitely need to do this if I want to can tomato soup in addition to regular tomato sauce.

How is your food preserving coming along?

Sandy

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Yes, I can

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Sandy
Sungold tomatoes

Sungold tomatoes

We’ve had a bumper crop of Sungold tomatoes this season. The plants go all the way up to the top of the greenhouse (at least 12 feet up) and have been producing for weeks. Last weekend,  I picked two pounds of Sungolds and made them into tomato jam, a savory jam. I found originally found the recipe on Salon.com as an out of season replacement for fresh tomatoes in a BLT. My husband loves this stuff. One note about the recipe. Sungolds are super sweet by themselves so go easier on the sugar than the recipe suggests.

Canned peaches and tomato jam

Canned peaches and tomato jam

After making the tomato jam (the small jam jars in the photo above), Derek and I moved on to canning peaches. This is the second batch of peaches we’ve canned this summer and do believe we are not done with peach canning.

Bartlett pears

Bartlett pears

The pears, on the other hand, will need to be canned soon. We bought the pears last week on our way back from a short vacation to Suncadia and have been waiting for them to ripen. From the looks of it, these will need to be canned in the next few days. Canning pears is a lot of work, but they taste so good.

FoodSaver sealing green beans

FoodSaver sealing green beans

In addition to canning, I’ve been using my new FoodSaver to freeze some of our harvests. First, I processed a large batch of La Ratte fingerling potatoes. I diced and then blanched them before freezing. They will be perfect for soups or for hash browns. I’ve also started freezing green beans and I’ll have a whole bunch more to process this week. This is my first season using a FoodSaver and I love it.

Roma and Celebrity tomatoes

Roma and Celebrity tomatoes

Finally, I’ll end with a shot of our first ripe Roma and Celebrity tomatoes. Don’t they look lovely?

Happy harvesting.

Sandy

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Welcome Jasmine, our new Kinder goat

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Sandy
Jasmine, Kinder doeling

Jasmine, Kinder doeling

Join us in welcoming Jasmine, our new Kinder doeling, to our menagerie. Jasmine is the black and tan goat standing in the front of the picture, with Lucy and Harry behind her. Kinder goats, a cross between a Nubian and a Pygmy, are a “totally awesome goats in a small package.” We plan to breed Jasmine next year and then milk her.

Barred Rock pullet

Barred Rock pullet

When I was out taking pictures of Jasmine, our new Barred Rock hens (we added three pullets to the flock) were very curious about my camera. In fact, it was pecked a few times. I had to get a few close-ups of the ladies. Isn’t this one an inquisitive looking lady?

Sandy

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