Pepper and Onion Seedlings. 2.31.19

 These are some of  the pepper and onion plants that I started from seeds in January.  Doing quite well under LED lights.

Chitting Potatoes. 2.20.19

Seed Potatoes, Kinnebec.  2.19.19

Seed Potato Labels.  2.19.19

These are the first batches of potatoes that I plan to plant.   I bought 2 packages at the hardware store, Kinnebec and Russian Banana.  Not having grown either variety before, it's nice to try.

I had lots of the smaller size russets in the garage over the winter, with 6 inch or longer sprouts.  I broke off the sprouts, and am chitting them in a sunny window so new, stouter sprouts with shorter interstems will grow.  

Russet Seed Potatoes from Garage, Overwinter.  2.19.19

More Russets from Garage.  2.19.19

Russian Banana Seed Potatoes.  2.19.19

I still have packages of Yukon Gold, Red Norland, and I think some fresh Idaho Russet seed potatoes.  That's enough.  I don't know if the overwintered ones will work, or produce as much.  I'll wait a couple of weeks before chitting the other batches.  Too much to plant, otherwise.

Garlic Update. 2.18.19

Overwintered Garlic Starts.  L is Spanish Roja. R is Music.  2.18.19

Here is the garlic that I planted last fall. Some varieties look good. The Spanish Roja is the tallest, while Musik is much smaller and Inchelium Red is even smaller.  I gave them all a boost of urea, and watered it in.  Since they are growing, albeit slowly, I thought that would be beneficial.  I dont know if the greater height, this early, will help or hinder productivity later.  I'm guessing it willhelp,

Planting in a fully fenced bed really helped.  Last year they were all chewed off at this point,

Next I need to pull the rest of last years's tomatoes from the same bed, for onion plants.  That will be in about a month, I think.

Swelling Flower Buds. Hollywood Plum and "Son of Oregon Curl Free" Peach. 2.16.19

Flower Buds, Hollywood Plum Tree. 2.16.19

These are in the chicken and duck yard.  The Hollywood Plum tree was grown from cuttings taken about 5 years ago, I think.  The tree is covered with swelling buds now.

The peach tree was grown from a peach pit, from an Oregon Curl Free peach tree.  That tree died of canker.  This tree is also 4 or 5 years old.  Last year were the first flowers, no fruits.  It could be a dud, but I hope not.  No evidence at all for any leaf curl.   No canker yet, either.  This tree grew fast. If it bears nice fruits, I want to give it a name that honors those who were here before, possibly a word in the Cowlitz language.

These blooms could be killed by a late freeze.   However, they seem to produce, every year.   Wait and see.

Flower Buds, Peach Tree Grown From Oregon Curl Free.  2.16.19

Rufus Watching the Rain. 2.16.19

After his bath, Rufus watches the El Nino rains pouring down.  Too muddy out thete to do any gardening.

Clivias in Bloom. 2.16.19

 We grew these clivias from seeds, sVed from other clivias.  They like to bloom now. Large, dramatic plants.  Very easy to grow.

Starting More Seeds Indoors. 2.11.19

 Here are the seeds that I started yesterday.  It's too early for tomato seeds. I wanted to test them, and also see how they do in the sunroom.

The Supersweet 100 seeds are from 2015, as are the Sunny Boy hybrid.  The Brandy Boy seeds are from 2018.  If any don't germinate, there is plenty of time to try again.

I'm also teying again with the peppers that did not germinate 2 or 3 weeks ago, and trying a very early start of some perennials, Ridbeckia, Echinacea, and  Goldenrod.  Interesting, the goldenrod seeds were so tiny, they were like fine dust.

This Weekend in The Garden.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

by Robert Frost

 Whose woods these are I think I know.
 His house is in the village though;
 He will not see me stopping here
 To watch his woods fill up with snow.

 My little horse must think it queer
 To stop without a farmhouse near
 Between the woods and frozen lake
 The darkest evening of the year.

 He gives his harness bells a shake
 To ask if there is some mistake.
 The only other sound’s the sweep
 Of easy wind and downy flake.

 The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
 But I have promises to keep,
 And miles to go before I sleep,
 And miles to go before I sleep.

Starting Peppers and Onions under LEDs. Update 2.9.19

Here are the pepper and onion seedlings under LEDs. I bought an additional unit.  I think this one was 35 Watts.  I did not realize it would give, in addition to the blue and red lights, some yellow and white.  That's fine, and from what I read, better.  I also have aluminum foil sheets that I hang on side and ends of the plant rack to reflect more light onto the plants.  So far Im very happy with how the plants are doing.

The bottom photo shows my old CFL light.  I got it out for getanium cuttings that I started from last fall's plants, and a couple of orchids.  Those geraniums are growing fast under this light.

Repotting Yamamoto Dendrobiums. 1.29.19

These Yamamoto Dendrobiums kept falling over.  I think I over-nurtured them last summer and fall, and they became top heavy.  Maybe they would have bloomed already if I held off longer on watering and did not fertilize as much.  Still, they are very lush.  Maybe they will bloom later.

These orchids usually prefer being fairly pot-bound, but I don't like having them be so top-heavy and maybe dry out too fast between waterings.  So I repotted them.

Not much to it this time.  I just removed the pots and without much root disturbance, filled in with more orchid bark medium around the original roots.  I watered them in to settle the orchid bark.  They will be without water for a while now, as they settle in.

There is no excess of keikis - new stems with roots growing on top of the old stems.  That can happen with too much fertilizing too.  So I think they got enough, and not too much.  They look pretty happy with the care they got.