Rework, Repair, Improve and Extend Drip Irrigation System. 4.27.22

Last year, the areas where I installed drip irrigation were so much easier to water.  For areas without the drip lines, I had to carry buckets of water or haul garden hose around.  I'm not always up to all that work, especially in the heat when it is needed the most.

Plus of course, drip is considered more water conservation friendly.  So win/win.

However, I had to pull out the lines to install and repair the raised beds.

Time to get to work before summer. Waiting too long made it harder for me last year.

This year, each of the beds will have a shut off valve.  So when water isn't needed for a particular crop, I can turn off that bed's water supply and still water the others.  Or, when one needs less water thN the others, I can control that. 

This is the start of the system for the tall raised bed.  Next it will need lines to distribute water to each plant.  I may wait until the lettuce and radishes are done, and tomato plants are in place.  It's not needed yet.

Here it is for the big planter box.   This is an extension to supply water to more garden plants than I did last year.  Last year, I had to hand water this area.The main line is installed.  I'll add the distribution lines when they are needed, although I started some already.

The lines for the garlic are 1/4 inch soaker hoses.  Last year the clogged up and I used a safety pin to punch tiny holes and convert them into minisprinklers.  They are outside the bed because watering isn't needed yet and the lines get in the way of weeding.  It's messy.  I should find a way to make them neater.

The lines are all held in place by brackets.  That's a lot better than having them sprawl all over the place.

There is still a lot of work to do.  I ran out of energy and some of the parts.  I think this was a good start.  About 1/4 of the system is done, or about half of what I had last year, only better.

Tomato Plant Update. 4.26.22

 Here are some of the tomato plants now.  I'm glad I did not plant them as early as last year, although I could probably have waited one or two additional weeks.

Reisentraube and Dwarf Johnson Cherry.  It's interesting that, at least at this stage, Reisentraube is growing a lot like a dwarf variety.  I didn't expect that.  It will be fun to compare it to other varieties.

Most of the other dwarf varieties.  They have shorter, stockier stems compared to non-dwarf types, and the leaves are more compact and stockier too.  Brandyfred and CC McGee (not shown) have potato-type leaves.

"Bush" type (Early Girl Bush).  These are not dwarf type, but grow multiple stems that in the end don't grow as tall as regular tomato plants.  To confuse matters, "Extreme Bush" is both dwarf and determinate. The blue labeled plants, "Honeybee" and "SunGold" are regular height varieties that I planted a few weeks later.  I had those varieties planted at the same time as the others, but gave them away to someone who I think will appreciate that they are already blooming.

Some of the sauce tomatoes, Ranger, La Roma III, and Supremo.  I planted these a month after the fresh eating tomatoes.  I'm not interested in as early bearing for these and they appreciate the later sunnier, warmer weather.

Do Little Ducklings Like Water? 4.22.22

 Yes they do!

Rufus at the Oregon Tulip Festival. 4.23.22

 There were lots of tulips there.  South of Oregon City.  I think Rufus got a little overstimulated but if so, he's all better now.

The Buried Dead Chicken Test. 4.21.22

 For the past two years, I grew sweet corn in this area.  The year before, it was potatoes, and squash the year before that.  Last winter, I buried a dead chicken who was viciously murdered by some sort of chicken-obsessed predator.  Then I planted nematocidal mustard in the bed for green manure and to kill of any nematodes.

The lush thick leaves are the mustard on the chicken grave.  The test is the mustard where there are no buried chicken victims.

It's the same seeds, but obviously the area over the chicken is much more fertile than the rest.  Those leaves are green and lush, and the plants are very vigorous.  The other mustard plants are puny and unhealthy looking.

That proves that the soil there is now depleted and needs fertilizer (preferably organic) or nothing will grow well there.

It also proves that chicken corpses make a good fertilizer, at least for mustards.

The Last Batch of Seed Potatoes are Planted. 4.21.22

Thanks to my helper who dug the trenches, I was able to plant two rows of late potato Elba and one of mid season potato Soraya.  This area has not been used for garden before.

That's the last of the potato starts.  I could celebrate by having an impromptu parade on Main street, but I feel too tired LOL.

Just because potato starts in a trench aren't all that interesting, here is a free vintage illustration of potatoes from a website called freevintageillustrations.com.

It doesn't look like potatoes have changed much over the years 😀

Trench of Elba potato starts, before covering them.  I mixed in about a half cup of "Morecrop" vegetable fertilizer in the trench before planting.

Here is a view with my loyal companion.  He's keeping a careful watch so that evil cats and stupid deer don't attack.

Making Some Gingersnap Cookies. 4.20.22

 After my mom's cousin Pearl died, my mom gave me the cookbook that she had inherited from Pearl.

It's mostly just sat in my baking cabinet.  Thanks to the pandemic, I've been baking more and got it out.  With feelings of nostalgia, I bought a Sunbeam stand mixer.  I didn't want a mixer made in "that" country. Plus I could have bought a Kitchen Aid, which ate certainly high quality, solid made-in-USA machines.  However, the big Kitchen-Aid mixers are too big and heavy for me, and the mini model still cost more than double what the Sunbeam cost.  Plus nostalgia, my mom had a Sunbeam.  This one is remarkably like hers.  More plastic, not as heavy, but it still reminds me of her.

So I used her recipe book to make a batch of gingersnaps.  I've never made them before, but it was pretty easy.  I love molasses, so these were right up my alley.

I wasn't able to spend a lot of time with my mom in her later years, but sometimes she sent me cookies.  I can look at these as a gift from her.

Edit:  I looked at the label on the bottom of the mixer.  Made in China.  Well, I will keep it but won't buy another from them if this one breaks.  I don't mind buying imported goods, but I think we should have the ability to determine where something is made before we buy it.

Planting Some Soraya Midseason Potatoes in Potato Bag. 4.20.22

 It was raining and I am feeling the effects of a shot from yesterday.  I was able to plant the potato growing bag that I made yesterday with five chitted starts.

Here is how they looked before I covered them.

Sewing a Potato-Growing Bag from Landscape Fabric. 4.17.22

I read in a book that potato-growing bags can be made from weed suppressing fabric ("Growing Potatoes" by Dion Rosser). But no pattern was provided. We have a roll of landscaping fabric so I decided to try. I measured the diameter of a half-barrel planted and went with that.

I'm making a second one with more precision so will give details when I post that. This one is roughly 2 feet in diameter, with sides that can unfold to 2 feet tall. The top and bottom are reinforced, and the bottom has about a dozen one inch holes cut for drainage, with button-hole type reinforcement around the drainage holes. The sides and bottom ate double layer of landscape fabric. I used denim-weight polyester thread so the seams wouldn't deteriorate with soil contact and moisture. 

 Here is the final result. I planted it with five Kennebec seed potato chunks. The sides are folded down and will be unfolded upwards as needed as I fill in more soil during growth.

This was so much easier than planting in the ground. Incredibly easier. Now the important test is to see how they grow and produce.

Kitchen Garden. 4.16.22

I'm pretty happy with the vegetable half. The fruit half will need a lot more tidying up this Spring.

First Apple Blossoms. 4.16.22

It's interesting, Gravenstein isn't the first to bloom. Scarlet Sentinel is the most prolific in bloom at the moment. It's by itself, with no apple trees blooming nearby. It will be interesting to see if it sets fruit. It usually does. A good, late pie apple that keeps well.

Others starting to bloom. Zestar got hit by the sleet and snow. Still lots of buds to open.

Summerred is also blooming. There are lots more to bloom over the next month.

Potatoes. 4.16.22

Also known as "The truffles of Bavaria (I just made that up LOL). The first batch that I planted, from sprouted potatoes, is all growing. These are the red potatoes that I planted Feb 13.

The second batch, from "official" seed potatoes, is also all growing. I planted those March 12, so they needed about a month to emerge. Most have been visible for about a week. They are Yukon Gold and Red Norland, which is what they had at that Orange big box store at the time.

Yesterday I finished planting the earliest of early varieties, Envoy. It will be interesting to compare. Half are in the ground and half are in nursery bag containers. Yesterday or the day before, I planted all of the early variety, Yukon Gem, in the ground. They are an improved Yukon Gem, more productive and disease resistant. Today I planted the first of the midseason potatoes, my favorite variety Kennebec. I reserved a few starts for a container that I'm sewing. That leaves the other midsesson, a German variety I haven't tried before, Soraya. So maybe they really are "The truffle of Bavaria" LOL. And the late season Elba. I hope to have those in the ground in a few days. I think this will be more than we need. The harvesting season will be June to Sept, and some shoukd keep at least 3 months, maybe quite a bit longer. No Russets this year, but Kennebec can do anything a Russet can do, and do it better. Next year I'll cut back, grow the top four maybe - a super early, and early, a mid, and a late season. Depends on how they perform this year and if the container method is worthwhile and easier.

Some of the Moved Plants in the Meditation Garden (continued) 4.16.22

The Itoh peonies survived their move and are growing. There are a few flower buds. It wouldn't surprise me if those don't develop. It was a traumatic move for them. And for my back.

The Camassia bunches are all sending out lots of flower buds.

All of the lavenders survived their move and are growing.

That mostly leaves the perennials I started from seeds. More on those another time. Most of them are growing but it would not surprise me if thecneed another year before they reach blooming size.

Some of the Moved Plants in the Meditation Garden. 4.16.22

Today I found two big clumps of Crocosmia "Lucifer" to move to the meditation garden. Also called the "deer park" or "beneficial insect garden. I had to dig very deeply and lift carefully to move the clumps. They were very heavy. I think I got most of them. They are pretty hardy, deer and rabbits dont touch them, they don't require watering during hot weather, and hummingbirds like them. Plus they have striking red flowers in mid summer.

Most of the other moved plants are settled in and growing. One exception is Rosemary. Most seem to be dying. This one seems OK so far.

Most of the rest seem settled in and growing nicely. The rhubarb divisions and horseradish divisions look promising. One has a too-close clump of Camassia that I might divide this summer.

(to be continued)

Tulips and Daffodils. 4.16.22

There hasn't been much to show, due to bad weather. That spell seems to be ending and we are back to Spring. It's nice to have some color.

Snow! 4.11.22

Still falling hard at 7:20 am. Quite a snow fall. Quiet and peaceful now.

Somehow I don't think I'll be digging in the dirt this morning LOL.

That Poor Hen! 4.11.22

The green-ish eggs are duck eggs, which are like jumbo sized chicken eggs.

Twin Yolks,

Growing Ginger From A Grocery Ginger Root. 4.10.22

During the Winter I cut a swelling bud from a grocery store ginger root. I planted it in seed starting medium.  Last week I transplanted it into potting soil.  Growth is pretty nice so far.  Each leaf is larger than the last.

I think this will always be in a container.  Ginger is tropical.  From what I read, we might have usable ginger by late fall.

Transplanting A Climbing Rose that I Grew from a Cutting Last Year. 4.10.22

Last year I started this climbing rose from a dormant pruning.    I didn't expect it to grow so well.  It was in a bad location so I moved it.  Since we are still in early Spring, I think it should settle in OK.

This rose is a pink-ish color, sort of peachy.  I don't know the name.  I pruned back about half of the top growth, to compensate for root loss.

Seedlings. Four O'Clocks, Extreme Bush Tomato, and Salpiglossis. 4.10.22.

 The Four O'Clocks are germinating quickly on the seedling mat.  I don't think it's necessary to pre-sprout them although maybe the overnight soak help was helpful.

The Extreme Bush tomatoes germinated but not the eggplants,  so far.

The Salpiglossis are starting to grow.  The seeds were tiny, like dust, so I sprinkled them on top of the seed starting medium and pressed them into the soil.  Supposedly they require light so I had them in the sunroom instead of on the warming mat.

Baby Chickens. 4.10.22

We've had these a few weeks.   So far they are healthy and growing quickly.

Sweet Cherries In Bloom. 4.10.22

 Last fall I pruned these sweet cherry trees pretty severely.  I wondered if they would bloom as well this year.  They look great!  Barring a  bad weather event, I think they will have a heavy crop with lots of sweet cherries to eat fresh, to share,  and to can.

One is Ranier and the other is Bing.  I planted them about ten or fifteen years ago.

New Growth on Refurbished, Transplanted Lavender Shrubs. 4.9.22

 This is encouraging.  The old lavender shrubs that I rescued, cleaned up, and pruned, appear to have settled in.  The green growth is new.   Original old growth is grey.

I think that if I keep weeds away and keep them pruned, they will develop into nice shrubs (actually small enough, "subshrub" might be a better term), with lots of lavender to harvest and lots of flowers for local bees of all minds.