Garden Update. 6.21.2020

This update is kind of general, lots of areas of my garden. Being June, things are growing fast and there are fresh  fruits and vegetables now.  There has been a lot of rain, so not much chance to weed and cultivate, so there is some catch up to do.  I over-planted, so some areas are too crowded.

This year I've been feeding the hummingbirds a lot more.  They are coming back and emptying the feeder every day.

Most of the vegetables are growing very well.  If something doesn't grow, I replace it. 

Bush beans didn't grow or something was eating the seeds from underground, despite protecting them above ground.  However the later planted rows are ok and growing true leaves now.  Sweetcorn also germinated unevenly and I replanted one bloc.  The first bloc is uneven.  I suppose the slower ones will catch up. 

I planted too many snowpeas.  The seeds were about 6 years old, and I didn't know if they would grow.  The Taiwan Sugar variety is hard to find, and those were seeds I had saved myself.  As it turned out, most did grow, about half of the Taiwan Sugar and most of the Oregon Spring.  The Taiwan Sugar is a bit less vigorous, but much earlier. None yet from Oregon Spring, but they are blooming now, very pretty.

I also planted the squashes where they don't have room to ramble as much as they will.  I had planted potatoes in the fenced garden because the nonfenced area was not ready, which resulted in some room limitation.  I will plan next year better. Still, the potatoes will be done in July, a month from now.

It was not a problem moving raspberry floricane plants this Spring.  They are bearing nicely and sent up a bunch of sturdy primocanes for next year.  The berries are tasty.

I thought I might have planted the pickle cucumbers too early, but they are growing very nice now.  So are the other cucumbers.  Dill isn't growing well.  Maybe it will take off soon.  Cilantro is growing nice.  On the other hand, I got the Jalapenos in too late.  They seem to be growing faster now so might still get a crop later.

I really enjoy those sedum / sempervivum planters, and they should never or almost never need watering.  They are very nice to look at.

Brunswick fig is looking pretty good this year.  Some are within deer reach, so I should do something about that.

Hummingbirds are emptying their feeder every day. 6.20.2020

Sedum planters filled in so nice.  Some are about to bloom. 6.20.2020

I think I know what to plant outside the fence.  Deer don't touch most herbs.  6.20.2020

I think a lot of the bush beans didn't grow because I planted them too early.  The last batch is growing nicely.  6.20.2020

More bush beans.  6.20.2020

The thornless raspberries that I moved in May did very well.  There have been berries to taste and primocanes are growing larger than the floricanes.  6.21.2020

The bush cucumbers (I think "Bushmaster" maybe?) are filling in.  I thought I planted them too early but they are doing well.  The dill is not growing so fast.  Cilantro looks good.  The mini apple tree grafts are behind the raised bed to shade the containers.  They look very good.  6.20.2020

More herbs, on the other side of the fenced garden.  6.20.2020

The sweetcorn is quite variable.  I wonder how much we will get.  There is still plenty of time for it to fill in.  6.20.2020

More sweetcorn, planted later.  Something ate a lot of the first plants.  6.20.2020

Sarracenia.  So lovely.  6.20.2020

Brunswick fig.  Maybe it will bear this year.  Some figs are too low, within deer reach.  6.20.2020

Planting Bush Bean Seeds. 5.23.2020

Of the beans that I planted in the past week to 2 weeks, only the Dragon's Tongue bush beans have germinated.  I need to double check that name, it might be Fire Tongue or something.  These look healthy so far.

I also planted Limas, Yellow Wax, Romas, and Landreth Stringless, all a day or a few days after the Dragon's tongue.  Only a couple of Landreth Stringless have germinated.  Those YellowWax and Romas were older seeds.  Maybe they won't grow.  It might be their age, or not giving them enough time, or the cool weather.

Tonight I'm soaking some fresh, new seeds of Landreth and Roma.  I can plant them tomorrow.

Dragon's Tongue bush beans.  5.23.2020

Seeds Planted, 5.11.2020

I planted these seeds during the past two days.  All are at least a year old, and some beans are at least 5 years old.

I pre-soaked the Roma II but not the others.

Soil temp was in the 70s.  Ambient temperature was in the 80s.

Last night it rained and is in the 50s.  I think most should be OK.  Certainly, the radishes don't mind some chill.  Beans can require a warmer situation.

I added label packing or "use by" dates for future reference.

Kitchen Garden Update. 5.11.2020

 Here are some photos of my current kitchen garden (potager).  About half is newly worked soil, formerly sod, which I treated during the winter with a cover of black plastic to kill the grass, then added dolomite lime, some compost, and eggshells.  That is not the tomato / eggplant / peppers / squashes / bean area.

The greens and snowpeas are in what was tomatoes last year.  There is mesclun from old seed packets, swiss chard and radishes, collard greens and turnips.  There were all 3 to 8 year old seeds.  The snowpeas were 6 to 8 year old seeds.

I now have a seven foot chain link fence, to keep rabbits and deer out.  I don't know if that will work.

 I set out the fresh eating tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants yesterday.  Also bush cucumbers in a raised bed, for pickles.

This strawberry pot is doing better than I expected.  Last month, I transplanted these strawberries from a raised bed, where they appeared to be dying off.  At least not thriving.  I wanted the space for cucumbers this year.  In the strawberry pots, they need better attention to watering. but I have them in fresh potting soil with some added osmocote.  They perked up almost immediately and started blooming..

 This bed is fresh-eating tomatoes, slicers and cherry tomatoes.  Down the center I planted radish seeds, which should not take up much room and will be done before the tomato plants reach much size.  Along one edge, I also planted a row of Roma II bush beans.

 This view shows the sauce tomatoes.  I gave all of the tomates some osmocote when I planted them, about 1 1/2 tablespoon per hole.

 These squashes may not have enough room.  Space is at a premium.  I may be able to direct the vines of the long vining types, into spare locations as other crops such as potatoes are done in midsummer.

Same comment as for squashes above.  This batch is in ground that was sod last year.

The soil temp is 74F at 10 am.  I've had readings as high as 80F and in early am, as low as 65F.  I think this is high enough for the squashes, tomatoes, peppers, to be planted.  Not sure about sweetcorn and bean seeds, but doing a trail of them now.  May 15th is my usual target date for that.  I also wonder about the eggplants, which need warm conditions.

These are the first three rows of sweetcorn.  They are outside the fenced area.  I have the seed rows covered with screening to keep birds from eating the seeds.

These are the bush cucumbers I planted the seeds a few weeks ago inside.  Now they are in the former strawberry bed, along with some dolomite lime and compost treatment.  I also have a row of dill seeds planted, now germinated, in there, and some cilantro from seeds saved several years ago.

 These are the grafted fruit trees, and oak seedlings.  The fruit trees appear to be taking nicely.  These are on the north side of the raised bed, to shade the pots a little.  I stratified the oak seedlings by planting acorns into these containers last fall.  There are white oak, from a magnificent tree in my neighborhood, and some other white oak from a location in Salmon Creek, and some red oak.  I'm not sure where I will plant them when they are bigger.

Vegetable Gardening in Raised Beds. 5.11.15

Raised bed planted with bean seeds and protected with fencing.  5.11.15

 The former strawberry bed was weedy and the soil level sunken lower than I wanted.  I pulled what weeds I could, turned the rest over, and moved a few wheelbarrows of soil from a pile we keep for that purpose.  The pile consists especially of sod removed for other planting around the 2 acres.   Decomposition of the sod makes the soil a little better than it was.

In this bed, I planted Roma and Yellow Wax beans.  Also a small row of cilantro and some onion sets that were laying around already sprouted.

The cover is meant to deter deer and rabbits.

Tomato plants ready to set outside.  5.11.15

The fencing is not perfectly sealed and  birds may also get in.  Better than nothing.

Tomato plants in the sunroom were ready for planting.  That meant removing weeds from a second raised bed.  I had prepped it during winter but failed to cover to prevent weed growth.  The grasses were over 3 feet tall.  I pulled, then used weed eater, turned the soil over and raked somewhat smooth.  Planted tomatoes.  Mulched with thin cardboard food packaging.  Not pretty.  that gets covered with straw or grass clippings later and will no longer show.

Tomatoes started in raised bed, cardboard mulch.  5.11.15

Strawberry Bed. 5.8.15

Start of Strawberry bed.  5.8.15

I renovated 1/2 of a vegetable raised bed, and planted strawberries.  Three of the plants were "Pine-berries", a small white strawberry advertised as having a pineapple flavor.  The rest, I forget the varieties.

The prior strawberry bed developed too many weeds.  Most of the strawberry plants died.  I had not been able to maintain it.

This is in an area not visible from the street or neighbor.  For the moment, I mulched with newspaper.  The boards are there to prevent wind from blowing the newspaper away.  The cage is there for deer.

I added a couple of wheelbarrows of yard soil to the previous strawberry bed.  The soil is from a pile we make from planting and removing sod.   I mixed it into the compost amended soil and planted Roma and Yellow Wax bush beans, and a row of cilantro.  I did not plant strawberries, not knowing if the strawberry plants died due to viral disease.  Viral disease has been described as an issue with older strawberries, best to start a new bed.

Kitchen Garden. Seed starts. 5.6.14

Today I planted seeds for:

Golden Zucchini.  From Seed Savers Exchange.  New seeds.

Squash Patisson panache, verte et blanc.  From Seed Saver's Exchange.  New seeds.

Sweet Corn, "White Sensation Hybrid"  70 day.  Lilly Miller.  Seeds from 2008.

Squash Waltham Butternut.  From Seed Saver's Exchange.  New seeds.

Beans Roma II.   Ed Hume Seeds.  From 2012.

Cucumber "Bush".  From Seed Saver's Exchange.  New Seeds.

Squash "Scallop Bush Mix.".  Ed Hume Seeds.  From 2009 I think.

Zucchini "Dark Green".  From Victory Seeds.  New seeds.

Some of those old seeds might not grow.  If so, it's best to try, and if they don't grow, throw them away.

Kitchen Garden Plan

This is the plan for the kitchen garden for next year.  I used a high-tech method called "writing on an old mailing envelope using a pen".  Bio-powered system.

The three beds on the eastern side are planted as noted. When the alliums are done, in July, I can prep those beds for crop rotation, adding in compost and start fall-planted radishes, cabbages, turnips, mesclun. Another option is late-planted bush beans. I'll build the two late-winter beds next. That will give the coli/compost/supplement mix a chance to settle and "cure" before planting. Probably late feb. Those are fast growing. When they are done, the warm-requiring solanums (eggplant, chilis, tomatoes) and Okra can go in. The taller ones will go to the back. I can build the other beds through the winter and prep them in early Spring, March and April, before they need to be planted in May or June. By then I'll be tired of building raised beds and, especially, hauling soil to them. The soil hauling is heavy work.

One great thing about planning on paper is, I can continue changing it as I think of better choices.

The raised beds now. The soil pile and compost pile are in approx locations for two of the beds. I hope people don't think someone is buried there.

It's great to have company, even if they are sleeping.