Phaselia. 6.22.14

Phaselia.  6.22.14

Phaselia.  6.22.14

I planted Phaselia ("Bee Friend") for bee forage.  I didn't know what to expect.

They are blooming now.  About 2 feet tall.  Beautiful, fern-like leaves.  A bit floppy, they fall over.

So far I've seen bumblebees on them, but no honeybees.

Borage is blooming now too.  Bees usually go crazy for borage, but not yet.  So maybe there's just too much other bee forage around.  They love Ning's meadow.

First Buddleia to Bloom. Miss Molly. 6.21.14

Buddleia "Miss Molly".  6.21.14

The first of the buddleias to bloom this year.  Miss Molly is much more compact, compared to the "Cobbler" series.  Nice fragrant flower.

Bud grafting. Progress Report. 6.21.14

Shiro Plum Bud Graft at 3 weeks.  6.21.14

Shiro Plum Bud Graft on Older Wood, at 3 weeks.  6.21.14

Hollywood Plum Bud Graft at 3 weeks.  6.21.14

These are some of the plum bud T-grafts at 3 weeks.  I read they should be unwrapped at 2 to 3 weeks, so I did.

The Shiro graft on new wood looks very good.  Still green, plump.  So I'm confident it took.  The bud portion also looks viable.  I pruned the branch back some more, about 6 inches above the bud graft.

The Shiro graft on older wig - many 3 years old - is less  green looking, but maybe OK.  I think the younger wood is much better, when there is a choice.

The Hollywood graft is burgundy, so harder to see if it is alive or not.  I think is it alive.

The second batch of bud T-grafts look OK.

I think I'll wait for July or August before grafting more.

Grass Clipping Mulch. 6.21.14

Creative Grass Mowing.  6.21.14

 Yesterday I mowed around the raised beds, and other areas of the second acre.  Most people in this area have tightly trimmed, golf course - like yards.  Some are more like pastures.  This area is on a 30 foot wide  easement that we anticipate will be paved soon, by a neighbor with attitude.  We don't know how much of the 30 feet will be paved, or when.  Meanwhile it's grass, organic, no chemicals added.  As a result, used for mulch, the clippings are coarse and dry to a nice straw-like consistency. dont mat down too much or turn sour.  The golf course-like lawns in the neighborhood get fertilizer, water, chemicals, the grass is green and lush, then they collect clippings and burn them.  The smoke is nasty.  Seems insane.

I cut "crop circles" in an attempt to be whimsical.  There is a lot of clover in the grass, now, for nitrogen and bees.

Peppers in raised bed with grass clipping mulch.  6.21.14

I had newspaper and food package cardboard mulch for the squashes, just compost for the peppers.  Now that is covered with an approx 4 inch thick layer of grass clipping mulch.  Will keep them weed free and not as dry for summer.  Like any organic mulch, they will break down to add orgsnic content and life to the soil.

Potato "well" with grass clipping mulch.  6.21.14

The potato planters also got a thick layer of grass clipping.  About 6 inckes thick.  That is on top of a few inches of aged maple leaf mulch.

Mulch also went into some flower borders and around shrubs.  I view cutting the grass more as a harvest of quality organic mulch, than as grooming.

Sunchokes.  6.21.14

 The sunchokes already had a generous mulch of weeds, pulled from raised beds.  I topped that with grass clipping for a cleaner appearance and better weed control.

We recovered these sunchokes from Ning's meadow.  He planted them there last year when I was in surgery.  They didn't do so well there.  I found 3 of the plants.  We ate chokes from one, and I moved the others to this location.  With some added organic nitrogen, and lots of mulch, they are flourishing.  The shorter plant is shorter due to local herbivores.  The taller had a screen.  The herbivores seem to ignore them now.  Although they like to surprise me.

Cherry Pruning & Harvest. Backyard Orchard Culture. 6.20.14

Today I pruned the cherry trees in the Vancouver yard.  I cut back all new growth to about 5 buds, trimmed back a few older branches.  Cut off dead twigs.

These are in backyard orchard culture style.  Trim in summer to maximize the dwarfing effect.  That removes most of the photosynthetic biomass.  They are still quite vigorous.  Much of the new growth was 3 feet long and very leafy.  I dont fertilize them at all.  Not even compost.  

All if those leafy stems were laid on the ground around the trees, to make a nice thick mulch.  They will quickly become brown and crinkly.  From a distance it looks like bark mulch.  I have read not to do that because of potential disease, but Ive been doing so for 10 years without problems.

A backyard cherry did not getruned last year or two.  Must have removed 15 feet of growth this time.  Now back to workable size.  i also trim the center so the branches are like an empty bowl.  That allows good light penetration for buds cherries and health.

The bowls are the last of the sweet cherries.  The blue bowl is Surefure pie cherry.   Nice and tart.  Also some strawberries