Unknown Soldier

"Cares melt when you kneel in the garden"

This is true. Anonymous quotation on Thinkexist.com

The best thing about working from home

Charlie is never more than a few feet away. There is no loyalty like dog loyalty.

Early bloom

Aprium. This will need some hand pollination, no bees out yet.

The little narcissus are the early ones.

I've been spraying the peaches weekly with neem. Will the leaf curl be an issue?

Unknown Soldier

Whatever happened to the folksy "do it yourself" gardening shows?

These are my curmudgeonly thoughts today.

I can remember gardening shows on radio and TV, that were really about gardening. I just did a web search on "Doc and Katie Abraham" who had a show in the 70s, and came up with essentially zilch. As I remember (at this much later, I can't promise an accurate memory), their show was really about gardening - how to improve the soil, making compost, propagating the plants, dividing, taking cuttings, pruning, starting seeds, planting.

There was also Crockett's Victory Garden, in the same era. This was more sophisticated, but was still really about gardening - all of the above, and maybe more, like cooking your garden produce, and visiting gardens, and traveling to gardens in other countries. I'm not the only one who feels this way, of course - here is a related thread from the gardenweb.

Of course, the old "Organic gardening and farming" magazine was pretty much the same thing, pre-counter-culture, with a greater gardening aspect. But if you wanted to learn how to grow aspargus, or graft your apple tree, or get a start from your Dad's 50 year old grape vines, you could find it there.

What do we have now? HGTV, with all kinds of garden make-overs, curb appeal, ,'garden rooms' , landscaping, hardscaping, and lots of stuff to buy, of course. There probably is something that I dont know about, but it seems like it's all marketing and consumer oriented, instead of true gardening oriented.

Of course, there's the GardenWeb, where everyone can sign on and discuss their gardening, and all of the how to and success and failures. Maybe that's the 21st century answer to those old garden shows. And of course, some blogs.....

I would still like to turn on the TV, some time, and watch someone walking through their back yard and pull a grub off a leaf and talk about it. Dirty fingernails, and shirt tail half out, and all.

Apple grafting. Reworked tree.

This is the tree before reworking it. This is a "miniature" Golden Delicious. It's about 5 years old. All of the others have been bearing at this point, and this one had grown larger than the others (probably due to lack of fruit). It set a couple of fruit last year, but they were deformed and did not ripen properly. I'm not a proficient grafter - we'll see if any of them take!

I chose to do wedge grafting, similar to the demonstration in this web page.

This is the source tree. The owner "pruned" their side of the tree, basically topping it, but left many of the branches overhanging the fence. Apples that have fallen into our yard have been somewhat small, but with good flavor. I'm hoping that on a tree that is properly cared for, they might be larger and taste just as good. Plus, they'll be in reach and easy to pick on a small tree.

Here are the scions. I placed them in water while working.

It took multiple tries, but finally I started cutting smoothly with one fast cut.

Example of scion wood. As above, this isnt the best example but it's the one that came out in the photo. Again, after multiple tries, I learned how to hold the scion wood properly, and cut each side with one slice.

After completing the work, I counted fingers. There were 5 on each hand, and no bleeding.

Reworked tree when completed. I did not follow all of the grafting instructions perfectly. Without grafting wax, I tried melting actual candle wax and mixed with parafin, but that was still hard at room temp let alone outside. Finally, I just used petroleum jelly, which at today's temperature was thick and gooey, so it might work OK. Then, I wrapped with plumbers' silicone tape, which is soft, stretchy and flexible. Some grafts were held closed with dental floss before applying the petroleum jelly.

Microorganism that makes fuel from CO2?

Had to comment. This yahoo article claims that an organism is being created to make CO2 into methane.

How interesting. Methanogens have been growing in rumens and colons for, say, a few hundred million years?

Of course, methane is more of a greenhouse gas than CO2. A better approach is to learn to use less fuel, period. Live closer to work, fewer commutes, fewer vehicles used for commutes, would be both greener and healthier, compared to finding a new wonder fuel.

Im sure that he's doing interesting things with them genetically, but this looks more like self promotion than innovation.

clivia seed

Looks like it could not wait to sprout. This is Clivia "Sahin's Yellow". The seed is sprouting on the plant. The blossom was last year. I got these out of "dry dormant" storage last week, and noted this plant is responding as it is supposed to respond by sending up a flower shoot. The others did not, so unclear if that is coincidence or they are not mature yet.

Click on photo for close-upo. The largest fruit definitely has a root emerging.

These seeds will need to be planted. Here is one method (from a clip on gardenweb.com):



More detailed instructions for sprouting Clivia seeds can be found here.

For prior Clivia posts, click on clivia label below.

Sort of related, here's a link with lots of cool Clivia photos (courtesy Clivia forum on GardenWeb).

Compost Mulch

Here is the rose and fruit raised bed after adding a layer of yard waste compost. this is about 1/2 of a truck load, but since it's heavy, there is less than a truck load of bark mulch. Cost about $5.oo for what is in this bed. Since it's black, it should help the garden bed warm up.

I've also sprayed twice with a double strength neem spray. The reasoning is that since I missed covering the peaches this winter, I'm hoping for some benefit from neem in controlling leaf curl. The peach buds are starting to swell, so it seems like now is the time. I have not seen that this will work, but I already sprayed once with copper spray, and after reading that copper can build up in the soil, I dont want to over do it.

This garden bed started out with just roses, but now it also has 2 miniature peaches, 1 cordon apple (North Pole), a strawberry border, Fallgold raspberry, a currant, and various Spring bulbs. With all of the food plants present, non-organic is not the way that i want to go.

Pre-Spring Garden Log: Buds are swelling

 Tranquility Rose. All of the roses are at a simlar stage, buds about 1 inch on most stems.
 Chinese Chives. This 1/2 barrel received a layer of chicken house compost, then a layer of bark mulch to prevent weed growth, 2 weeks ago.
 Aprium buds. The Puget Gold Apricot also has a few small pink buds.
 

Pre-Spring Garden Log: Fig Trees

THe fig trees have no visible bud swelling yet. The embryonic brebas are probably no larger than in the fall. I keep looking at the Lattarula / White Marseilles / Lemon Fig and thinking it is dead. It is supposed to do well here. It is on the South side of the house, so hsould be early.

Lattarula

Petite Negri

Hardy Chicago

Pre-Spring Garden Log. What is growing?

Helleborus, unknown variety. It's been growing in this dry, eastern exposure spot since we bought the house, so at least 7 years old. It was large then so probably much older.
Victoria rhubarb. This received a layer of chicken house compost, then some coffee grounds, then a layer of yard choppings as mulch. That was done over the past several weeks.
Salix chaenomeloides, Japanese pussy willow. OK, I cheated. This was planted 2 weeks ago, a bare root from Fred Meyer, already in bloom.
Forsythia, unknown variety. This was grown from a stick that I picked up on the street while walking the dogs, about 2 years ago. The shrub is 6 feet tall, but only a few stems. Not ready to bloom yet.

eco-motion car

Will I or wont I? one question is whether this will go up the hill on Mill Plain on my way to work... especially with a big boy like me in it. Hmmmmm.
I would love to bike to work, but I can't do that AND work 14 hour days. I wish that I could figure out a better way. The hours are killing me. But so far, I havent found an answer. Anyway, at least if I drive a little solar cart to work I can feel more 'green'. Assuming, as noted above, that it will actualyl take me there. The truck gets 40 miles to the charge, and goes 40 miles per hour. Both are good enough for my in-town only, 10 mi each way, commute.

New Trees

These came on the 14th, planted on the 15th. They were bought via maile order from RaintreeNursery.com. Impressive bare root trees, strong roots, sturdy stems, well packaged. I'm very pleased. The tallest tree is a tri-lite peachplum, a hybrid between a peach and a plum. Next is an El Dorado miniature peach. Finally, the smallest is Desert King Fig.

They were soaked in water for several hours before planting, while I went to the optometrist for a general exam (no significant changes).

A few broken roots were trimmed, otherwise no pruning was done.

Here is Desert King in its planting hole. The roots were so plentiful and long, the hole was bigger that the tree was tall. This is planted on the south side of the house, in a garden bed that has been worked with compost for 5 years. The only soil additive is a handful of crushed eggshells for calcium.

Desert King, planted. Today I also covered the soil with some fresh yard waste compose from H+H recycling.

This is the smallest tree of the bunch, but figs are fast growers.

El Dorado miniature peach. This is also on the south side of the house. These grow very slowly, and mature size is small (about 6 feet), so it was planted under a window.


Here is the ri-lite peach-plum as well. It is in the front yard.

Lunar Eclipse

This must be a good time to do SOME gardening task. Photo is with Sony Cybershot, not a telescope (obviously)

Horseradish

This plant has been growing for 2 years. I dug up the root today. Made some sauce - it was actually fairly mild for horse radish. I used about equal parts payonaisse and grated horseradish. Replanted a root for next year.

Campaign 2008. Primary Caucus Vancouver WA

This was an interesting exercise. People really did sit around and talk about the pros and cons of the various candidates, got the opportunity to express their opinions going in, change their minds, and a decision was made for each precinct. For our precinct, about 40 people went for Obama, about 15 went for Clinton, a few remained undecided. Several who started out undecided went for Clinton. This is out of a precinct that has HUNDREDS of people. Interesting.

Ning will be an alternate delegate for Clinton. I went in + pro Obama, left lukewarm for Obama.

Concerns:

I cant decide on the pros and cons of each on health care plans.

I still haven't forgiven Clinton for her pro-war vote. I think she's brilliant, and the only reason that I can think of for her voting to support the war was political. The war has killed thousands of young Americans, and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, destabilized the region, and had no benefit yet either in or out of Iraq, except for giving voice and power to religious militants. Obama was openly against the war from the beginning, and seems to have more integrity on that issue.

Obama seems like he needs to hold his nose when talking about gay issues. Actually, both he and Clinton are about the same as far as Human Rights Campaign Fund is concerned, but I've watched the videos, and except for stating that "marriage is between a man and a woman", he stumbles over words and pauses throughout the discussions. He also reached out to a known homophobe in his South Carolina campaign. On the other hand, he did speak out against homophobia in African American Churches and even in the Illinois senatorial debate, as well. In his Youtube debate, as well as other forums, he states that as a white woman and a black man, his parents would not have been allowed to be married in several states, until the mid 60s; he expresses that this gives him some credibility on that issue. However, he then goes on to say that civil unions are OK, but not marriage, for same sex couples. Would that have been OK for his parents, too? Since his major push is to bring all of us together, the (perhaps unfair?) feeling that he does not embrace a major segment of the population, is suspect.

Actually, environment didnt come up at all (which is a big focus of my blog, anyway). I know that they have campaign statements. What I dont see is something to distinguish them from each other.

So far, I would take either over what the other side is going to offer, and do so wholeheartedly.

Blog visits, sustainable gardening

It's fun to track the number and geographical distribution of blog visits. In a way I feel 'naked' here, since I don't know who is looking in on the blog. However, I like that people are interested.

Total visits since 7/30/07, pictured here: 3,333
Total visits since start of the blog 7/29/06: 9,980

During this time of year, there isnt much going on in the garden. It's cold and dreary outdoors, and there isn't much time to work on indoor projects. I like having the blog , so that I can look back at things that occurred over the past 2 years, and help with planning for this year.

I like to think that we have moved further along the progression to a sustainable 'semi-permaculture' type of yard. Maybe not as "Mother Earth News" as it would be in a rural area, but more "earth friendly" than the stereotypical suburban yard. In other words, no pesticides, no chemical fertilizers, no hauling off yard and kitchen trimmings and 'waste'. Kitchen waste goes into compost or to the chickens, yard and garden waste also to compost and chickens, and the chicken poop goes back into the compost which ultimately goes to the garden and yard again. Eggshell is a 'special category' which is ground and added as a source of calcium for the figs and tomatoes (this might not seem like much but is probably 10 pounds annually). Prunings are composted or chopped to use as mulch.

Outside 'input', other than sunshine and rain, of course, includes leaf compost, bark mulch, and coffee grounds when I can get them (probably about 50 pounds annually), and water which I usually focus on specific areas. The chicken feed and bedding can also be considered 'input' since it comes from elsewhere as well.

"Output" includes the dog poop (I just can't bring myself to use it in kitched garden areas, and we ran out of places to bury it), and of course whatever we eat.

We're not doing much to improve carbon sequestration, except for the small ginkgo trees that will eventually soak up CO2 as a precursor for tree structures in the form of trunk, roots, and branches. The fruit trees will take up a smaller amount of CO2, but nothing near what shade trees do. On the other hand, trees and vines are probably kinder to the soil than annual food crops, since the soil does not need to be dug annually, and they pull water from deeper in the ground so need less watering.

Overall, it's very satisfying, enjoyable, and good for us and the environment.

Weather Summary Dec 2007

One of my plans with this blog was to keep track of weather conditions. I became over-ambitious with collecting data and graphs, leading to giving up. It would still be nice to have a record so here is a more modest start. Source is weatherchannel.com

Dec 2007

High for the month: 62
Low for the month: 26
Days with low below 32 degrees: 6
Days with precipitation: 24
Total accumulated precipitation: 14 inches

Pruning

This is actually from New year's Weekend. I pruned the back yard roses down to about 18 inches, and thinned out old dead-looking and scraggly canes. I pruned the North Pole Apple, removing the top, which was too difficult to reach to remove apples. It's now about 8 feet tall. Side branches were pruned back to spurs, to maintain the columnar shape. I stuck some prunings into the ground to see if they will grow by the 'lazy man's cuttings' technique, along witih some ginkgo prunings, Korean lilac, and forsythia. It's not a high yield method but has worked for forsythia, fig, grape, and honeysuckle in the past.

Yellow oncidium orchid

This oncidium is a reliable, easy plant. I forget about it because it requires so little effort. It was left under a tree last summer with minimal maintenance. Here it is in bloom now. It usually blooms midwinter. Probably Oncidium flexuosum based on this weblink. A garlic clove fell into the plant during the summer, now providing some grassy leaves.

Pruning

With heavy work schedule, necessary travel, stress, exposures to multiple ill people, it's no surprise that i finally came down with a nasty bug. Five days & I still feel very crummy. I did take about an hour outside yesterday and today, pruning backyard roses and all of the miniature cherry trees.

There is disagreement on when to prune roses or how much. I would have waited, but needed at least a little sunshine. All varieties were pruned to about 4 to 8 large canes, each about 12 to 24 inches tall depending on the vigor of the individual shrubs. Tamara is the most vigorous in the back yard and has the most growth remaining after pruning as well. Some of the newer information suggests just shearing back to the desired height, stating that this results in more flowers. I dont think this is for organic roses, however, so effects of this method on infection control, without pesticide use, are not known. The older information often recommends severe pruning. My approach is somewhere in between, with more growth removed to reduce black spot (removal of sources of infection, removal of branches that clutter and shade the center of the shrub, to allow sunlight to enter), but longer than some of the older recommendations to allow for more flowers.

The cherries are pruned to open "bowl" pattern where possible, with new growth generally pruned back to 2 to 4 buds, the last one outward facing.

I also pruned the "north pole" apple to shorten it a little (could not reach the top apples last year), shorten branches back to spurs, and maintain the columnar appearance.

I cut some apple branches for use as scions later this winter. These went into a plastic bag in the fridge. They came from a tree that overhangs my yard severely, but isnt my tree. The apples are tart and crisp, but the tree bears poorly due to poor maintenance. I will use these scions to rework a miniature Golden Delicious that has not borne edible fruit in 4 years and I doubt ever will without the reworking.

Several prunings were stuck into a shady border to see if they can be grown as cuttings by this "benign neglect" method: some small forsythia sticks, ginkgo prunings, korean lilac prunings, and one apple pruning. If they don't take, that's OK - I dont know what I'll do with them if the DO take. The location is shady, has a tall fence o n the north side, and generally stays fairly moist. I think that last year's attempt at ginkgo cuttings ultimately failed when they were blessed with too much sun.

Overwintering

This room has a south-facing window. It is not used so the heat is turned off. The temperature is usually in the 50s on cold days. Some of the heat is solar, some due to adjacent hallway. The Clivia miniata (lower right corner) are in their "2 months without water" phase. Here is the Royal Horticultural Society info on clivia culture (most of the other websites use the common name which I read is quite offensive). The banana and gingers are watered a little each week, about 2 cups of water each. Lower left, a citrus from seed and Meyer lemon, also minimal watering. Other plants with the same treatment include the Epiphyllum oxypetalum, Brazilopuntia, Aloe vera, scented geranium, and small Brugmansia.


Overwintering using the "warm sunny" method. In the home office windowsill, also south facing but warmer (usually 60s to 70s depending on the sun) are some additional cacti, a Hippaestrum that finished blooming, some Schlumbergera, and additional succulants.