Ning's beans

Yesterday I planted more of Nings beans. Today I re-stringed their trellises. These are on the South side of the house, so they shade windows in the summer. Also the location is warmer in Spring so they might germinate and grow faster. It's hard to see the trellis - it's just cotton string, and doesn't show well in the photo.

The seeds that I planted were old ones from the bottom of the seed box, so I dont know how old they were. They did swell nicely on soaking. Then I found the package here, probably about 4 years old. So I soaked some of those to plant as well.

Just follow these simple instructions.... Maybe I'll have Ning translate when he returns from China later this month.

Finally, I found the seeds that I had saved last year. These will be planted if the others don't grow. They are about 5 or 6 consecutive years of saved seeds, so I'm hoping to continue them.

Spring Garden Diary

This is where things are currently.

The new little Desert King is either quite happy in this location, or it just gets to an earlier start compared to the other fig trees. It looks quite happy.

The garlic is knee high. These are on the south side of the house. The garlic in the front yard (north of house but still in sun) is not as large, but is also not from the 'prime' garlic bulbs (Inchelium red)

Grapes are starting to bloom. This is Venus, but other varietes are not far behind.

The recently planted beans have started to show. These were the Romano Bush Beans planted April 26th. About half are showing now. None of the corn or squash planted that day are up. Yesterday I planted some yellow string bush beans, and more romanos, after an overnight soak. Also replantged the corn after an overnight soak. I suspect the issue is soil temperature, but the soaking probably wont hurt anything and might speed germination. Also today I planted old seeds. I mixed together old packets of lettuce, mesclun, basil, spinach, and vegetable chrysanthemum, then planted thickly. These seeds are anywhere from 1 to 5 years old, and most probably wont grow. I didn't want to waste space for individual trials, so they are all planted together. Of note, this WSU publication gives life expectations for common vegetable seeds. They show lettuce, cucumber, and spinach seeds may be viable for 5-6 years; carrots beans and peas for 3-4 years. Maybe they WILL grow, after all. Oregon State say's don't presoak corn or beans at all - that this method damages seeds! Of note, I did presoak beans last year and they sprouted well, so who knows?

Here are some comments about presoaking seeds: This author - goes further and and discusses presprouting (chitting) his seeds. Hmmm... I'll have to try that. This author says DON'T soak bean seeds! Apparently they become more fragile when soaked. This author says DON'T soak them, due to concern for rotting! This author says DO presoak them! This author recommends presoaking certain seeds but doesn't address beans. Well, the consensus appears to be that I shouldn't have soaked them. We'll see if they grow! If no growth in 2 weeks, there is time to try again.

The chickens laid one egg each today. Must be the lengthening days, although I would like to think it is all of the weeds that I have been feeding them!

Tomato planting time

After a trip away for a few days, now some time at home for a brief "staycation". The tomatoes look sturdy:


So I planted them. This year I learned from past mistakes and placed the stakes before planting the tomato plants.


In light of recent entries regarding phenology, "When the flowering dogwood is in peak bloom it is time to plant tomatoes, early corn and peppers. "

So here we are:


Also, the "Tomatoes can be set out when lily-of-the-valley is in full bloom." And it is (sorry, they are too small for this camera to do a good job photographing).

So, I planted most of the tomatoes. About 6 remain, due to my un willingness to throw away some 'duplicates' that I had thinned out at the seed-leaf stage and stuck in soil to see if ehy would grow. They did.

So what other phenological phenomena should I be tracking. Well,

The dicentra is blooming.


The miniature (early) iris have been blooming for one week.


The wisteria catkins reach from the 1st joint of my thumb to the end of my index finger.


The purple rhodie is starting to show color.


The strawberries have begun to bloom.

Phenology

It took a while to find the term. All That I could think of was "when (something) leaves are the size of mouse ears"... then who knows what.

Finally I did this search google search that resulted in some answers. It's when OAK leaves are the size of mouse ears. That's when to hunt for morels, when to plant soybeans, when to fish for crappies, and when the orioles come back. Also, apparently, the dandelions, lilacs and blue violets bloom at the same time, signalling when to hunt for morels.

This got me to the term Phenology, which I discovered I already had an entry on in my blog. Arrrgghhh!

Wikipedia has an article about phenology, and so does About-dot-com. I especially like the wikipedia article bacause it give the Greek spelling: φαινομαι.

Unfortunately, in the entry on morels, I would have a dilemma. My lilacs are not blooming yet. The 'local' blue violets (ones that 'went native' in my yard so were here before I was) started a month ago, although the "Quincy" violets that came from Illinois just started. The dandelions have been blooming for a couple of weeks. Worst of all, I haven's checked on oak leaves, since I don't live near any. But the ginkgo leaves are about the size of, say, a squirrrel's ear.

This site has some information that looks useful. We'll see if I can put it to work. Some examples:

"When peach and plum trees are in full bloom plant hardy crops." Too late for me this year. And that $^#@*& freak frost showed that even the peach and plum dont know what they are talking about, sometimes.

"When you see new growth on green ash, grapes and bur oaks it is safe to plant tender vines, annuals and perennials." That would be now. The grapes are growing. But it's a bit cool at night (in the 40s)

"Plant peppers and eggplant outside when bearded iris is in bloom." The bearded iris are just beginning to swell. I'll need to wait.

"When the daffodils begin to bloom it is time to plant peas. " Too late. I didn't plant peas, and the daffodils are almost done.

"If apple trees bloom in April the crop will be plentiful- if they bloom in May the crop will be poor. " It's April, they are blooming. Stay tuned!


"Plant corn when oak leaves are the size of a squirrels' ear. " I need to find a squirrel to check on this. And I'll need to find an oak tree. Fortunately, there's another way... see the next entry!

"When the blossoms of the apple tree begin to fall, plant your corn seeds. " I'll do that and record what happens.

"Tomatoes can be set out when lily-of-the-valley is in full bloom." They are not quite blooming yet. Maybe this will be the key. Soil temperature is key, and lily-of-the-valley are so short that they must be a good measure of soil temperature, right?

"When the flowering dogwood is in peak bloom it is time to plant tomatoes, early corn and peppers. " That time is "almost here". The dogwood is in early bloom. We'll see if this matches with the lily of the valley thing, above. The tomato seedlings are at growing rapidly, and some are at their second set of leaves.

"When dandelions are blooming plant beets, lettuce, spinach and carrots." That would be now. Maybe I should get some seeds.

Lest anyone think I'm naive, I do realize that trees can't predict the weather (witness the unfortunate aprium, apricots, and peaches). And if they COULD, we've so distorted them with breeding, grafting, moving them from their providence, and cultural practices, that they would not help but be confused. Plus, with climate change and local microclimates, there's even more to consider. Still, sometimes, it's just nice to have someone tell me what to do. That way I dont have to think, and if it's wrong, it's not my fault for bad planning! And if I stick to MY experience, in MY microclimate, and with MY varieties, maybe it will still make sense.



SO.... I have planted Romano beans when the daffodils were done, and the fig brebas are the size of mouse poop, and the apples and tulips and pink cherry and scilla are blooming. The grapes have started to grow, Venus faster than the others.
We'll see if the beans grow and produce! I did sort of base this on the sprouting volunteer bean - the soil wasnt too cold for that one, anyway!

I also divided and replanted some Egyptian Walking Onions - it's probably too late for that, but they were in the way of the beans.

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After this entry, I looked at the thermometer on the grape arbor. It reads 72.5 degrees. I went ahead and planted a few "scallop bush mix" patty pan squash, and some "white sensation" hybrid sweet corn. Not having had success with corn before, this will be interesting. I intend to plant more in 2 weeks. This is a short season variety.

It's hard to think of something that JUST STARTED - it looks like the Japanese Wisteria has flower buds the about 1/2 inch long, the size of, say, grapes.

Erythronium has been in bloom for one week. OH - A white tree peony (south side of house) just started blooming yesterday. Maybe that's the key!

Seed planting, hummingbird feeder, weeds.

Today there was enough time off that I sat outside and studied for 3 hours. Nice. Charlie sat by my side, pausing occasionally to bark at bees.

I set up the hummingbird feeders. One has a metal base and rusted out. So, I won't by any with metal bases, again. The type with stopper in the bottom that gravity feeds, always leak, so none of those either. I bought a new one, so there are 2. They are filled with sugar water (1/3 cup sugar in 1 cup hot water, then cooled). No humming birds at them yet, although I heard some recently. Humming birds ar enot just cool to look at, they also eat insects. I think I'll put one up at my window at work, see if they visit.

I pulled more weeds to feed Ning's chickens.

It's 68 according to weather channel. Feels warmer. Soil feels warm, too.

The tulips are in bloom all over the place. Some have been in the same spot since we bought this house, so at least 7 years. Those are multiplying, so they are now clusters instead of single blooms. Interesting, since they often seem like annuals. These are either 'perennial' tulips or the situation is ideal.


Planted Romano Bush Beans. Haven't tried these before. After watering them in, I got out the books that I studied. On return, there were doggie footprints in the newly planted bed. I wonder who did that? No harm done, at least they didn't dig. The photo is a volunteer bean, probably one of Ning's "ChangChun" beans.

The daffodil flowers are done.
The Tulips are at their height.
The hyacinths are done.


The muscari are at THEIR height.

The North Pole apple and the Liberty apple are blooming, but not the Jonagold.
The pear is blooming.
Most of the violets are done.



The fig breba 'embryos' are the size of beebees. Actually a little bigger, but I don't have a good comparison. Capers?

The 'lazy man's cuttings' from apples, ginkgos, and forsythia, figs (push dormant prunings into the ground, shady moist area with lots of organic matter) are growing. I know from past experience that this doesn't prove roots are growing, just that they are viable.



Dandelion-eating hen. The hens are up to 2 eggs per day (for 4 hens)

The annual 'Pink cherry and doggies" photo.

Ning and the kittycat.

Ginkos are starting to grow.

The buds are starting to unfold. There must be some saying, like "Plant potatoes when the ginkgo leaves are the size of a mouse's ear"?

What's blooming

These bergenias were grown from seed. They are 6 years old now.

First rhodie to bloom in this yard.

Cherokee Dogwood. Candytuft.

Scilla. These were so invasive, almost the entire yard was filled with them. Every year I pull out more. Might leave a few in nooks and crannies, like these.

Bummer

The peaches have major leaf curl. Im worried this could be fatal. At the very least, it probably means no peaches this year. Reminder to self: Cover them in December!

Second bummer. Aprium blossoms froze. The tree was starting to grow and new growth also froze. There seem to be ne branches starting, so maybe the tree will survive. but no apriums this year.

Ning and some notes

Yesterday and today it's been cold. Last night I brought indoors the brugmansia (small buds starting to form), cannas (small sprouts starting to appear), zantedeschias (ditto) and other tender overwintered plants that I previously had on the deck. They'll stay inside until tomorrow. Last night's low here was 34.

On a whim I bought a package of seed potatoes for "gourmet white" at Fred Meyer. The clerk commented that for the price I could have bought 2# of potatoes. True, so I wont say what I paid. I planted them today in the onion bed.

Thursday I turned under the soil in the tomato beds. I scattered about 1# of crushed eggshells and raked those in as well.

I continue to collect coffee grounds at work. Currently I'm adding them to a batch of chicken poop compost, to keep the worms happy.

I pulled another big bucket of dandelions and other weeds and generously gave them to the chickens. Since the chickens have been here, I like pulling dandelions and am starting to feel disappointed that their #s are diminishing. If they all disappear, we may have to find them in other yards!

I fertilized the smaller lilacs, Quincy Chinese Chives, ginkgos, and a few other plants around the yard with fish emulsion. Supposedly, in the cool weather, this does not release much nitrogen. The lilacs were lacluster last year, so maybe this will encourage them to grow larger this spring and summer.