Friday, August 07, 2020

Garden Update 7 Aug 2020

 I haven't been posting everything.  We have had some good stuff for the kitchen, out of the garden.  I guess since this is the "Coronavirus war", this is my "Victory Garden".  In addition to the photos, we are getting a lot of bush beans, especially Dragon's Tongue, a spotted thicker Roma type bean.

Breba figs are ripening.  The big brown fig is a Brunswick, which rarely gives anything.  The others are all Desert King, very flavorful and sweet.  Both trees are cutting-grown. Neither gets any supplemental water any more.


Kennebec Potatoes.  This row us providing about 3 pounds per plant.  These are very good.  Eight plants in a row gives about 24 pounds per row.  These are great air fried or baked.

Triple Crown blackberries.  For productivity, flavor, size, juiciness, Triple crown beat, by far, all of my other varieties- Arapaho, Prime Ark Freedom, Ebony King, Babycakes.
The first tomatoes of the year.  Sungold and Bush Early Girl.  OK, Early Girl did beat the other slicing tomatoes, with no other ripening ones on the vine yet.  Haven't tasted it yet. 


Wednesday, August 05, 2020

Gardening Update. 5 Aug 2020.

I haven't taken photos of the harvests.  The garlic is all harvested, and we have been digging lots of potatoes.  Beans are doing well.

Here are some flowers.  This flower bowl with dianthus, petunias, and others, is doing well.

Many of the honeybee flowers are done.  The most activity now is on a few remaining poppies, oregano, and a few onions.  That's not enough to sustain the bees.  I planted the garlic bed, about 4 by 8 feet, with phacelia seeds, and a former iris bed, about 5 by 6 feet, with buckwheat.  I don't know if these well be helpful, or just serve as a cover crop.  I usually plant disturbances, such as molehills, with clover seeds.

I'm not adapting well to the change in the Blogger platform.  I will continue trying.  I may have to stop labeling, and just allow the search function.  The new label function is too difficult for me.


Sedum Planter.  No watering this summer, doing well.  Honeybees love the sedum flowers.  8.5.2020


I think the poppies start with a lot of pollen.  The honeybees mob the pollen - laden flowers, then when it's gone, that's that.  I'm starting to save seeds from these Shirley poppies for next year.


The oregano is one of the last flowers of the summer, that honeybees really love.  It's difficult to take a photo - these flowers are full of motion.  My plan is to divide them again this fall, for more plants next year.


These onions didn't do well at all, so I let them bloom.  Honeybees love all allium flowers.


These are garlic chives that finished blooming and are starting to set seeds.  Honeybees love these too, so the plan is to collect the seeds and plant more next year. 


Another Shirley poppy with lots of pollen for honeybees.

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Sempervivum and Sedum. 7.28.2020

This Spring I stuck a lot of cuttings from Sedums I had around the yard, into this planter by the mailbox. I also planted a start from the Sempervivum from my parents (grandparents before them). I think this is one of my favorite garden details now. The sedum cuttings take almost no effort - just cut pieces from the old plants, use a stick to make holes and stick the cuttings into the holes. I barely even watered them.
This spring I stuck cuttings of sedums, and a start of sempervivum, into this planter by the mailbox.  7.28.2020

Chestnut Graft. 7.28.2020

Late last winter I grafted chestnut varieties onto branches of the Marissard seedling chestnut tree. The reason is that tree is about 15 feet tall and still not blooming. They all appeared to take, but when I unwrapped one of the Marigoule grafts, it fell off. So that one appeared noncompatible. This Marivale graft looked OK and continues to look good. These were all whip and tongue grafts.

This tree is upwind of the others.  I want it to at least produce some pollen for those trees.  Marissard is not considered a pollen producer, although it's hard to know what a seedling would do.  If I had it to do over again, I would not have used that variety or a seedling, but I don't have it to do over again.  So attempting grafts is the next best thing to try.

Maravale Graft on Marissard Seedling Chestnut Tree. 7.28.2020

Maravale Graft on Marissard Seedling Chestnut Tree. 7.28.2020

Saving Seeds. Taiwan Sugar Snow Pea. 7.28.2020

This Spring I planted some old Taiwan Sugar snow pea seeds that I saved about 6 or so years ago.  About 2/3 of them germinated and grew. They were earlier and the plants were smaller, about 4 to 5 feet, compared to the Oregon Spring ones that I grew, about 6 to 7 feet tall.  It was hard to find new seeds of these online, so I saved seeds again.   Some are brown with crispy shells, which I think is how they should be.  Some are green and larger pea, but the shell is brown.  I think those need  a longer drying time.

These are the dried and drying snowpea pods.  I think the ones that are not fully dry will be OK once they are dried out. 7.28.2020

These are the shelled snowpea seeds.  I will let them dry some more then store them in an envelope.  7.28.2020

Flowers and Some Honeybees. 7.28.2020

This is kind of prime season for a lot of summer flowers. Some are volunteers or perennials, some are grown from seeds and a couple from transplants.
Volunteer Cosmos.  Very pretty white.  7.28.2020
Tigridia, survived the winter and now blooming. m 7.28.2020
Dahlia.  I think this was a tuber in a box at Winco this winter.  7.28.2020
Shirley Poppies.  These seeds were a couple of years old.   First time growing them.  Honeybees love them.  7.28.2020
I grew these Echinacea from seeds a few years ago.  I didn't know if they would survive.  They did.  7.28.2020
I grew this rose from a cutting about 15 years ago.  I forget the name.  7.20.2020
These gladiolus were from a box at Winco.  They should survive the winter, so I"ll leave them there.  7.28.2020

Yellow Cosmos, a volunteer among the squashes.  7.28.2020

Another Dahlia from a grocery store box.   7.28.2020

Zinnia from a 6-pack.  I had trouble getting the seedlings to grow this year and something ate them.  6.28.2020

Another zinnia from that six pack.  6.28.2020

Another Shirley poppy full of honeybees.  6.28.2020

French marigolds from an old seed packet.  7.28.2020

African Marigolds from an old seed packet.  So far they don't look great.  7.28.2020
Another rose I grew from a cutting about 15 years ago.  7.28.2020

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Better Bud Patch Graft. 7.21.2020

These are the bud patch grafts that I did, "Sunny Day" peach leaf curl resistant peach on Lovell rootstock, about 4 weeks. Today I was able to get out into the garden with my better camera. Still recuperating but each day is a bit better. I think it's time to cut off the top of the tree, to encourage the bud to grow. I can keep these out of the worst of the winter, so I'm not too worried about the growth needing to be too cold resistant.
Bud Graft, Peach "Sunny Day" on Lovell.  About 4 weeks.  7.21.2020

Bud Graft, Peach "Sunny Day" on Lovell.  About 4 weeks.  7.21.2020

Better Flower Photos. 7.21.2020

These are some better flower photos this morning.  I took them with the Nikon ESLR instead of cellphone.  Mostly poppies.  I think the artichoke flower falls somewhere in the "stunning" category. 

Shirley Poppy.  7.21.2020

Artichoke Flower.  7.21.2020

Dahlia.  7.21.2020

Dahlia.  7.21.2020

Dahlia.  7.21.2020

Shirley Poppy.  7..21.2020

Flower Border.  Deer avoid these.  7.21.2020

Echinacea.  7.21.2020

Shirley Poppy.  7.21.2020

Shirley Poppy.  7.21.2020

Monday, July 20, 2020

Flowers and Some Honeybees. 7.20.2020

A lot of flowers bloomed while I was in the hospital.  I had decided to leave the artichokes, because I don't know how to cook them anyway and they have cool but weird looking flowers.  It turned out that the honeybees like them, some had 6 or more bees per flower.   It was like a honeybee party among strange blue trees.

Artichoke with honeybees.  7.20.2020

Artichoke with Honeybees. 7.20.2020

Dahlia.  7.20.2020


Mixed flowers.  7.20.2020

Home Made Daylily Hybrid.  7.20.2020

Petunia, Grown From Seeds.   7.20.2020

Peach Bud Grafts. 7.20.2020

I was hospitalized and had abdominal surgery last week.  Last night was the first time I was able to get into the garden for a look and not much else.  Here are the "Sunny Day" leaf curl resistant Peach grafts on Lovell rootstock.  They took.  I unwrapped them.  It was a little late, and my wrapping technique might have been a bit tight or uneven but they might be OK.  I can't believe I was able to graft peaches.  Its hot and dry outside so they will need good watering.

Peach Bud Graft, about 4 weeks later.  7.20.2020

Peach Bud Graft, about 4 weeks later.  7.20.2020