Time Machine. 2006

From December 2006, same dogs, 6 years younger.  Different fireplace.


Tomatoes Summer 2006.  I think this was one of my better crops.


This is the fig tree I just moved to Battleground.  Summer 2006.  According to my notes then, I started it from a cutting Dec 2003/Jan 2004.


May 2006.  Sunny Disposition bearded iris.  I've moved a start to Battleground.  This is a good performer, increases well, blooms well even with neglect and grass/palm competition.


I was also reading about old and ancient seeds.  That Judean Date Palm is still growing.  The tree is male, so the only way we'll get a taste of the ancient dates, will be for it to be crossed with modern date palms, then back cross with the parent for a 75% ancient palm.  Probably not in my lifetime.  According to this blog, Methusaleh bloomed in 2011, so I hope they used it to pollinate a related palm and potentially have fruit from those trees in 2022.

Setting up Bee Keeping

I've been reading up on beekeeping.  For years I've had bee boxes for Orchard Mason Bees.  Now I'm feeling like they are the gateway drug for Honey Bees.

Today we went to Portland, BeeThinking store.  Bought a Top Bar Hive.  Went to their beekeeping class a few weeks ago, and this seems like the best approach for me.  Easier to manage, less weight for the back to manage.  That coming from someone who lifts 200# fig trees.  This is from their website, beethinking.com

The hive kit fit nicely into the back of a Prius. Over the winter I'll be assembling it. Got the copper roof for rain protection and keep a bit cooler.
The bee that got Ferdinand the Bull into trouble. I have this image tattooed on my right calf. I share a few traits with Ferdinand.

I also placed an order for Italian Honey Bees for next Spring.


Woodcut of honeybee and red clover. I will order some red clover seed and inoculum so I will have more nectar sources nearby. Also those linden trees although they may not do much next Spring. Blackberries are endemic, including our property, and honeybees love blackberry flowers. The fruit trees are small, so may not be meaningful this year for the bees, but there are lots in the area.  I read that honey bees forage as far away as 3 miles.

And one in Portugal, made from cork. It will be fun to learn about another aspect of gardening and nature.

Victorian Beehive via Commons.wikimedia.org. There are many variations on beehives. Bees have been at it much longer than humans. Even though we have a certain image in mind when we think of beehives, they don't have to look like the usual boxes.

Skeps in UK.  Skeps are hand woven, basket-like beehives.

Ukranian beehive, also via wikimedia commons.

Skep, 1800s, Switzerland.

Cork beehive in Portugal, also via wikimedia commons.

The Hen Fortress

Done for the winter.  The upstairs window openings are covered with plastic sheeting, to keep the cold wind out and keep rain from coming in.  The hens are moved in.  They have 2 new pullet friends - sex-linked.  They won't be laying for 3 months.  There was some initial role assertion by the normally placid Leghorns, but now they are cooing like pigeons.

The dogs won't be there to keep guard all of the time, but it's looking secure.

I still need to paint the door frame.  The upstairs section will need work next Spring.  I'm thinking they will have a balcony to view their realm.

View through the front door. They have a roost, a private laying booth made from recycle bins, and a screened-off food storage area. There is a little door-within-the-door for summer coming and going.

They enjoy the dandelion greens, which make for orange yolks and more flavorful eggs.  Dandelions are growing like crazy now.

The view from the other entrance, showing the doors into the laying booths. Below the laying booth, there is a plastic bin for chicken feed.  To the right, screen doors to access the feeder and waterer.

The Last Tree-Planting of the Year

The big box store had a close out on trees. Not many there, but $8.00 a tree. I debated for a while, and made another trip there. If not for the beekeeping plans, I would not have done this. But lindens are famous for sweet honey. The leaves are edible, so pruned branches can be fed to the hens, as I already do with grapes.

Similar to the other recent Linden. All are the Greenspire cultivar. Grafted trees. Tilia cordata. The trees are a bit lopsided. I can correct that with some corrective pruning and staking over the next one to two years. Aside from that, perfection is not needed. It's just my preference. These are east of the Chicken house, so won't be much for shading the hens. But they will give some privacy and food. The bees will find them here easily.

Like some of the other big box store trees, and some nursery trees, these were balled-and-burlapped trees, placed in containers in chopped tree bark. I'm surprised at how little root growth there was. A few roots are winding around the pot, but not much.

Even though the burlap and twine were soft and  nearly degraded, I removed as much as I could.  That was partly because I wanted to see into the original rootball, looking for winding roots.  There weren't any.  I'm surprised at how minimal the roots were.  Maybe that's a characteristic for this species or cultivar, or the treatment they had.

This isn't bad at all for a left-over tree that's been in the lot all spring and summer.  Most experts would recommend against buying these trees, now, but I think it was OK for these.

The Linden that I bought mid summer had more winding roots.  It was also a bigger tree, which may be why.

I pruned a minimum of roots to unwind them. Very minimal. I teased out the rest using my gloved hand. It was easy, more shaking and jiggling than pulling and scraping.  The roots separated easily.  That will give the tree a better future.

Even though I haven't decided on whether mycorrhizal inocula will make a difference, I added some.  The "Plant Success" product was discussed yesterday.  I sprinkled it directly on the roots. When the soil was about half way filled in, I planted bulbs, added some more inoculant, and filled in the rest. The bulbs are for fun, and I think moles may not like alliums and daffodils. So it's a test.

It was interesting to look at the tree label.  They recommended filling in, with a soil / amendment mixture.  Most experts recommend against using a soil amendment.  Just the native soil.  This is a change for me, but I finally got the message.  The reason is, the roots will need to grow into the surrounding soil, and not be over-stimulated by amendments, to wind around in the original hole.

It's been raining, but not for the past couple of days. The soil was easy to dig, didn't clump into gloppy clods, and was crumbly like a moist chocolate cake. So I didn't firm it down with my foot. That would be too tight. I did water each tree in with about 6 gallons of water, 3 trips of 2 gallons for each tree. Then some compost mulch, and they are ready for winter.  The water drained in a couple of minutes.  Very fast.  I'm not worried here about clay or compaction.

This summer I was excited for Fall to come, so I could plant trees, and vines, and bulbs, and fall planted vegetables. Now I'm anxious for Spring to come. For these trees, I'm confidant they will get through the winter fine, but will they bloom? I want that.  Will they tolerate next summer's heat?

I think they will do OK.  I'm glad I planted them without waiting for the Spring shipments.  Way ahead of next Spring's trees - bigger, an extra season of growth, and much, much, much better price.  Can't go wrong with a nice 8 foot tree for $8.00.

First Seed Orders for 2013 Season.

I've been thinking about it for too long, so went ahead and ordered most of the seeds for next season. It's not so far away. Some cold tolerant plants may be planted in Feb or March. I concentrated on plants that were as short-season as possible. I wanted ones that I could save seeds from for the future, so they need to be open pollinated, nonhybrid varieties. Where possible, I chose plants that have high likelihood to grow with cool summer nights and short summer season.

 Here's my list from Seedsavers.org:
 Watermelon, Petite Yellow to plant in May or June. Small fruits, 65-80 days.
Pepper, Santa Fe Grande, 75-85 days. May use row cover tunnel.
Pepper, Hot Portugal, 65-75 days. I usually get a few peppers each year. May use row cover tunnel. Lettuce, Tennis Ball, 50 days.
Pea, Asparagus, 60-75 days. Something new to try.
Tomato, Dester OG, 70-80 days. This looks a bit like the pink Ponderosas I grew as a boy.
Tomato, Japanese Trifele Black, 70-80 days.
Tomato, Earliana, 60-70 days
Swiss Chard, Five Color Silverbee, 50-60 days. I don't know if we'll like it. Probably. Otherwise, there's the chickens to feed.
Radish, Cincinnati Market, 25-30 days
Radish, French Breakfast, 20-30 days
Watermelon, Blacktail Mountain. 65-75 days, regionally adapted (N. Idaho),
Melon, Minnesota Midget, 60-75 days. Early, North adapted, small size melons.
Salsify, Mammoth Sandwich Island, 120 days. Long season. Something different.
Okra, Clemson Spineless, 50-64 days. Needs warm. May use row cover tunnel.
Carrot, Scarlet Nantes, 65-75 days.
Carrot, Paris Market, 50-68 days. Round balls, like radishes.
Beet, Detroit Dark Red, 60-65 days.

I forgot to order Butternut squash and a couple of other things, but this is most of my planned kitchen garden.

I also ordered a few items from Sustainableseeds.com
Parisian Carrot Seeds - oops, duplicate
Chamomile, Roman, experiment, for edging kitchen garden beds
Chamomile, German Herb, experiment, for edging kitchen garden beds.
True Lavender Seeds, ditto. We may want to grow a lot more lavender - bees love it, it's dry tolerant, and smells great.
White Dutch Clover, mix into grass in my little orchard.
Organic Purple Top White Globe Turnip, heirloom, at least back to 1881. 57 days.

In my seed collection I have Roma bush beans, a dwarf Snowpea (forget the name). Also saved seeds for yellow wax pencil bush beans. And lots of various pepper and tomato varieties.  Those may be too old. I'll need to check them for germination.

From Territorial Seeds, I ordered Rhizobium inoculum for beans and peas. I'll probably add a few items, not much. This looks like a lot but the planting will go fast.