Planting Snow Pea and Carrot Seeds. 2.12.22

 It's in the high 60s again today.  In early Feb.  Nice, but if the fruit trees bloom and then a hard frost, that could kill them.  Or at least kill the crop.  Well, nothing I can do about that.

Today I planted Oregon Sugar Pod II Snow Peas in the newest raised bed.  Again, as soil conditioner cover crop, possible early snow pea crop, and to build up soil nitrogen.  Also, I inoculated these with Rhizobium, like I did with the snap peas.  Supposedly Oregon Sugar Pod II grows only 30 inches tall and does not need a trellis.

Not much to look at yet.

I also planted a row of carrots.

I started clearing an area where I can plant the rest of the pea seeds and let them mature, to save seeds.  There is still plenty of time to plant those, it's only Feb 12 today.

Planting Cold Growing Greens and Root Crops. 2.11.22

Today I planted one of the new raised beds with various greens and root crops, including white radishes, red radishes, "corn salad" which is not corn at all, also called "Mâche" or lamb's lettuce and is a chill weather green, red stem Swiss chard, spinach,  and cilantro and Simpson lettuce from home-saved seeds. Some of these are old so I planted extra (white radishes and Bibb lettuce). This bed will be planted with tomatoes in mid to late May, so they have about 90 days to grow and produce.

The row markers are coppiced pussy willow poles, as with the peas yesterday. Mâche doesn't germinate if it's warmer than mid 60s, and today was 67F. I think there should be enough chill later. It's only early February right now.

Planting Bush Type Snap Pea Seeds. 2.10.22

Peas like chill and can be planted very early. I read "Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades" and the author, Steve Solomon, recommends a late winter crop of peas to condition the soil. He recommends just tilling then in before planting summer vegetables, but I hope for an early crop instead. Portland Nursery says they can be planted in February. Peas have very deep roots, bringing nutrients up from the depths and adding soil structure. If the soil contains Rhizobium bacteria, legumes (peas, bean, clover, alfalfa, among others) pull nitrogen out of the air, leaving it in the plant material when they are dead. That enriches the soil without chemicals or manures. I love snap peas and snow peas, and they are an expensive vegetable, so they are a good crop for me to grow. Plus the tender shhots are tasty too. However, my soil does not contain Rhizobium. I know that because the previous pea crops and bean crop roots did not contain the nodules that are made by the plant to host the bacteria. So I bought some Rhizobium inoculum by mail order, and inoculated the pea seeds with that.

Then I planted the inoculated pea seeds in trenches about two inches deep. The poles are willow, which is as strong and straight as bamboo. I source both in the garden for making stuff.

Then I filled in the trenches, covered with screening to keep birds away, and scattered slug bait to keep emerging seedlings safe from the miniature Brontosaurus of the invertebrate world. Now it's mostly just waiting. There are also more to plant this month.

Moving and Rehabilitating Old Rosemary and Lavender Shrubs. 2.10.22

We had a sort of wildflower small meadow, planted with herbal shrubs as well as annual wildflowers. Meadows need some maintenance or they become weed patches with a handful of the dominant species. This one is about to become garden, so I decided to recover the most healthy looking of the Rosemary and Lavender shrubs. They were scraggly and mostly fallen over, with a lot of dead branches. Over the past few days, I dug up four of the Rosemary shrubs and about the same number of lavendar. I pruned off all of the dead branches, pruned a lot of the longest brances back to growing buds, and slightly tipped them. Then I replanted in the privacy row, where they joined forsythias and where I will plant annual flowers for birds and bees and me. Once cleaned up and replanted vertically, some of the rosemarys look decent.

Some don't look so good.

The lavender is more difficult to photograph. The leaves are short and gray.

Without planning it that way, this border is turning into an herb garden. It also contains lenon balm and catnip, and mint, with more to come. Other than occasional pruning and keeping weeds controlled, these don't need much care at all. They like hot dry conditions in summer, with no fertilizer. Working with both lavender, they leave incredible scent on my hands and clothes.

February Seed Starting. 2.9.22

I started some more seeds today. Some were quite old and may not grow at all. Some more chili peppers. Their raised bed has room for at least a dozen plants. Last year I used all of the Serranos from two plants, so I'm aiming for three. Similar for Jalapeños. The Jalmundo is a hybrid between Jalapeño and bell, which basically is a larger, meatier Jalapeño. I think they are stabilized and not F2 hybrid. I don't know if the old Yellow Banana pepper seeds will grow, then I found some newer ones in the seed box.

I planted a different Eggplant from Baker Creek, then found these really old eggplant seeds and planted them too. With old seeds, I plant about twice as many to make up for expected poor germination. I also planted the entire rest of the packet of NY Early onions. The poor germination for the first attempt was frustrating. Maybe the seed warming mat is too much for them, so I will leave them off it. That's an excellent variety, good flavor, long keeper, open pollinated to I was hoping for a couple I could over-winter to grow a seed crop next year.

This is my first ever attempt at growing Florence Fennel. I don't expect deer to eat it. The collards seeds were eight years old so I planted them very thickly. I found yet another packet of carnation seeds in the flower seed box. The ones from 2014 didn't germinate. Maybe these will. The "Jig saw" chili peppers look quite ornamental but the first batch didn't germinate at all. I am trying again. And I am starting some sweetpeas. If the grow, they can go outside almost immediately. I think. I've never grown them before. I'm using an overnight soak although some writers state it isn't needed.