Mostly about a mid week update...

An excerpt from Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery.

"What is the name of that geranium on the windowsill, please?"

"That's the apple-scented geranium."

"Oh, I don't mean that sort of a name. I mean just a name you gave it yourself. Didn't you give it a name? May I give it one then? May I call it - let me see - Bonney would do - may I call it Bonny while I'm here? Oh do let me!" 

"Goodness, I don't care. But where on earth is the sense of naming a geranium?"

"Oh, I like things that have handles even if they are only geraniums. It makes them seem more like people. How do you know but that it hurts the geraniums's feelings just to be called geranium and nothing else? You wouldn't like to be called nothing but woman all the time. Yes, I shall call it Bonny. I named that cherry tree outside my bedroom window this morning. I called it Snow Queen because it was so white. Of coure, it won't always be in blossom, but one can imagine that it is, can't one?"

This was a conversation between Anne and Marilla, but it got me thinking. Maybe that is why some of my plants don't grow well! If I named them, they might do better. Feeling the love and all. Only time will tell. 

For this Wednesday, I thought I'd take you on a short walk through the garden, knowing how much you've been wondering how it growing. 

Lucy can lead the way.

First, step into the garage, these are the (from left to right) Cucumber starts, Summer squash start (some didn't germinate, so I started more last weekend) and Starship summer squash. 

Here are Lucian, Heather, George, Godfrey, and Kevin

Out front we'll pass the bird feeder, so you may as well see that the gold finches have arrived. Also our Flicker is back. He likes to hang onto the bird feeders tipping them over and the food falls all around him. In the picture, he's trying out the suet squares we made.

Now to the garden. On the right you can see our strawberries. They are growing well, but no flowers - and therefore no fruit quite yet. 

This is Phyllis, Horace, James, Jim, Redwood, Scarlett, George, George II, and George III.

The raspberries are only in their beginning phase of transplanted life, but each are showing signs of growing and that sure makes mama happy. Within a few years we'll have more than we can keep up with.

The herb garden is only beginning, but growing well. There is garlic, chives, chocolate mint, parsley, oregano, and thyme.

Now to the main garden. The first bed here, is red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, spinach, green onions, broccoli, bush beans (nothing showing quite yet) and peas in back. 

Say hello to herbert. 

Here is Lillian

Jeffery, alice, and Jamie.

In the second bed, we have carrots, radishes, beets, more broccoli (these are transplanted starts), and storage yellow onions.

Red, Balmy, and Phillip

these transplanted broccoli seem to be doing alright in this mild weather. 

A clump of storage onions (Margery, Megan, and Michelle

Walla walla onions in a side 4X4 frame

The poor asparagus isn't doing well, but hasn't handed in its dinner pail yet.

I love how the water drops lay on the flower right after a nice refreshing rain.

The last stop is the back yard cold frame. We planted everything here last winter, and have been eating from them since march 16th. We are through all of the radishes, but the lettuce and spinach is doing very well. Most of the Pac Choi bolted, but one plant is still producing. 

One side of our cold frame. Carrots, radishes, and beets. A stray red leaf lettuce is also growing. I call him Lost.

One side of our cold frame. Beets, Red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, Spinach, and pac choi

 Well, that's the grand tour. I hope you have enjoyed yourself! We hope to see you around here again soon.

early garden indoor planting

Here is a little update on the indoor planting we did on Jan 28th. Well, first is another photo of Mt. Ranier. Tuesday night was supposed the be the last nice day for a little while, so I got a few photos of the pink sunset on the mountain. I still think it's nice living close to the beauty of a mountain.

Back on track now, here is the heat mat with the grow light. I learned (the hard way as usual) that if you have the grow light too high (I had it about 18") the plants get long a spindly. You can see I lowered it to 4-6". The damage is done, but they should bounce back (or fill out). 

The broccoli has sprouted up and is off the races. I may have to move them into the cold frame if they fill out the 2" dirt square early. The opposite is the asparagus seeds. They all seem to be thinking that life is real; life is earnest, but not earnest enough to show sprout up and take a look around. Should I just buy asparagus crowns and forget the whole "I've known you when you were a mere speck in yer mother's eye" business?

Broccoli

Early Lettuce and spinach for the cold frame. Some are a bit top heavy though. 

The asparagus have all gone on strike.

I must have dropped a seed in the tray, but it started growing anyway.

And, last of all we bought a few more primroses. Do you think you can have too many primroses? I do wonder at times, when I'm trying to decide where to put them, but I sure like them as they add some color into the dull grey of almost spring.

So, you can tell all is quiet on the western front for now. I'm am ready, and willing, and impatiently waiting for spring beginnings and beauty.

A Prayer in Spring by Robert Frost

OH, give us pleasure in the flowers today;

And give us not to think so far away

As the uncertain harvest; keep us here

All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,

Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;

And make us happy in the happy bees,

The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird

That suddenly above the bees is heard,

The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,

And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,

To which it is reserved for God above

To sanctify to what far ends he will,

But which it only needs that we fulfill.

Mostly about week end fun...

After a bit of light reading and researching, I took our dogs on a walk. Winter is definitly here. It doesn't bring snow, but just the dull, drab, grey, wet, murky, boy this couldn't get much worse type of feeling. However there were a few things to take pictures of so I took them.

a bit of light reading

When I got back, I checked, watered and took pictures of the plants in the cold frame.

Spinach Sprouts

Radishes

Red Leaf Lettuce

Green Lettuce

Then planted the next side of the cold frame. This is a much more condensed planting, and I hope they won't crowd when everything gets bigger. I guess only time will tell.

2nd Planting of all of the veggies

Building a Cold Frame

It has been cold, wet, and windy all weekend... in other words, perfect weather to build a cold frame. If you have been following the last few weeks, I have been heading in this direction. The culmination of all the efforts are on a video posted at the end of this. I hope you find it enjoyable and maybe even entertaining.
The problem with actually doing things and not just imagining doing them (which I am very good at) is that now it had better work. If an imaginary plan doesn't work, you don't feel too bad. However, when I spend the money, time, and energy to do the project, I spend the next few days thinking of ways I could have done it better or smarter. It is done and now we wait for the organic harvest to begin.

 

In case there is anyone who may want to build one of these, I will be happy to give you as detailed of info as you wish. However, as the vast majority of mankind will never even think of building one, I will not bore you with the steps here. You may e-mail or comment and I will respond.

Happy Gardening!

Mostly about Planting Seeds...

Radish Seeds

  My Johnny’s Seeds have arrived! Well almost all of them…all but one package (which is back ordered a few more days) and the potatoes. It was enough for a beginning.

Lucy "helping" plant seeds

    I want to talk a little about the goal of this venture because it may make the process I am following clearer. I think that anyone can grow lettuce, carrots, etc. (though I have failed even at that) However, I have a grander scheme. I don’t just want to plant, watch them grow, eat, then start all over. We must eat more than once every three months, so I think I have come up with a sustainable system. I am planting based on a two adult/two children appetite. Counting in the variable that my wife doesn’t like the taste of anything green and Lucy is just as happy with rice and beans, we may need even less. This works out in round numbers to 12 Lettuce, 12 Spinach, 6 pokchoi, 12 beets, 36 carrots, and 36 radishes every two weeks. I devised the “divisible by six plan” because the basis will be egg cartons. Starting today, I am planting a few egg cartons every 2 weeks. Once the harvest starts, I will then have harvestable, all organic, loved, cared for, beautiful vegetables every two weeks, with none of those terrible, toxic, deadly pesticides you hear about (although we've eaten our share of non-organic and haven't died yet :-) This is, of course, marring natural disasters, inquisitive dogs, forgetful gardeners, and other phenomenon.

   The process: #1 Steal the egg cartons from the recycle bin (you should have seen the look on its face when it realized it had been swindled) #2 Plant in rows #3 Mark rows #4 Watch and water.

   Once I begin to see sprouts, I will plant them in the hoop house and cold frame. The carrots and radishes should be able to just grow through the packaging, so I can plant their whole cartons. The leafy specimens, I will separate and plant with adequate spacing. Then marking the cold frames and hoop house by dates, I should be able to track them with mathematical precision and watch the cornucopia of organic goodness fill up! (Aren't I "poetical"?)



Egg Cartons filled with Dirt



Radish Seeds getting planted



Cartons ready for transport

Notes: There are a couple small but important notes here for the few weary travelers who have made it thus far.
1) If you buy johnny's seeds, they come in these really nice resealable packages. Don't rip off the top before reading the label.
2) You can buy "pelleted" seeds, which means they have a clay around the seed that will break down. This helps when trying to plant one seed at a time. They are a little larger and easier to handle, though about a dollar more per package $3.95 instead of $2.95. I plan on buying all pelleted from now on.