P and I worked in the garden this afternoon. He mowed and got the irrigation mostly set up. I planted planted planted.
4 okra plants went into south d.
I replaced the non-starting direct sown squash seeds with starts.
Planted the remaining “healthy” peppers in upper c. Five total between the two beds.
Starting some more leafy greens to plant in the upper beds.
As I do every year I planted “just one more” tomato (red Robin) in a container.
Here’s some progress shots.
Feeling better today- so I decided to embrace the sun and get some stuff in the ground!
Also notable- although I feel like we’ve had some rain, the soil was DRY dry, and I had to hand water everything. It’s about time to set up the drip line I guess.
2 Nova sauce and one red Robin cherry tomato start (my starts) went into west C and west d. They went into cages… Which always feel a little optimistic in size this time of year. (;
Two peppers went into upper B… Which was supposed to be full of kale, chard, and romaine…. HA! Next year I won’t even bother direct seeding those.
I put out one little okra to test soil conditions in West D. If it’s still alive in a couple of days I’ll move the rest out. Okra would probably be a good use for water walls in the future.
I moved a couple of the squash starts out to the greenhouse, and planted a bit more romaine and kale in there.
I also added red fertilizer to the tomatoes in the ground, and blue to the blueberries and camelia.
PROGRESS
Green bean sprout
Chardonnay or Gewurztraminer grape. Not sure which. /:
Garlic
we also have a small army of mushrooms around the planters.
I’m very eager to get the tomatoes in the ground- but nights are still getting below 55, and a bad EDS flare up means I’m not walking very well.
So they are mostly in big pots, and all in the greenhouse now, along with the okra and peppers. I gave a couple of cherry tomatoes away- then realized that they will still need supports- so once I can get down to the shed I’ll put a support on my little container tomato.
Planted some more cilantro in the wide pot. I’ve found that I have better luck overseeding, eating them young, then letting the rest go to seed. I have no luck cultivating an adult plant without bolting. The cilantro actually did very well throughout the winter, so I will continue successive plantings for yummy tacos.
Hippity hops.
I’m going to try to start some romaine inside now now that I have space. Maybe I’ll have better luck planting starts.
(not pictured)
Green beans are showing their little heads in south d. A bird pulled at least one out to investigate- adorable monsters. I love green beans- especially the flavor and abundance- but I hate how long they tease you before they have vegetable.
I think that’s it for today- gotta go ice my ankles and “rest”.
I’m getting some ready to debut the studio, but there’s also garden stuff to do.
Today I planted delicata seeds (lower c), butter baby (lower d), yellow squash (lower g) and zucchini (lower g).
I did a bunch of weeding in the lower bed and on the slope. There are a lot of volunteers I don’t recognize- so more weed identifications are coming.
Cooper helped me in the garden, Stevie decided she did NOT want to be outside. Then it started raining.
Progress photos…
Today I moved 2 each of my starts up into bigger pots (free from buy nothing- yay! But had to be cleaned and bleached, boo!) and put them out in the green house. It’s chilly this morning, so hopefully they will do ok.
They had very complete roots, so if we get don’t warmer weather I sound probably transplant some more.
I also planted 2 each of the squash, to give it a head start, and to have backup in case I have another terrible squash year. Those are starting from seed inside (but I’m not going to use the warming pad.)
I also pulled one of the offending Rhodies, and trimmed the other and wrapped the stem in duct tape. P has been so busy I don’t want to add “dig up the plants” to his list. /: I did notice some chewing on Jessica’s (neighbor) tree, so maybe they are already here and I don’t have to feel so guilty.
They, by the way, are root weevils, which I suspect were infesting the fun free rhododendron volunteers I picked up. (sigh). Let’s pray they don’t move on to my other plants.
Time and (limited) experience in the garden has taught me that the only way to learn anything out here is to do it wrong at least once. I’ve run this theory by several experienced gardeners, and they always nod then tell me stories.
So, here are some things I’d like to tell past Alison.
– Plant perennials that need time to mature the second that you decide you’re interested in gardening. Do not wait several years so that you can wait another couple of years to eat your raspberries and asparagus
-DO NOT PLANT OREGANO IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST, you idiot. It is monstrous!
-Do not leave the greenhouse closed on a 86Degree spring day. Everything will die. It will roast and die, and you will cry.
-Don’t skip soil amendment just because it’s far away and heavy.
-Don’t plant strawberries or raspberries without some heavy defenses. They will conquer the garden.
-Don’t take free plants with holes chewed in them. You. Are. Dumb.
****
Okay! Enough berating. One thing I did so right was to use the leaves as mulch on some of the beds and between our neighbors very weedy yard and our moderately weedy lawn.
The patch of green in the middle is a transplanted perennial sunflower. g.
I spent the morning weeding (if there isn’t an old saying about the difficulty of pulling grass from the onion bed there should be.) and placing a second bed for peas (west e). The poor peas that I planted in the lower bed have not been able to win the war against whatever is eating them (I have all kinds of theories, but no luck… Something is digging there. /: ) so if they come up in the west bed, I’ll have to reorganize a bit more. (Squash, peppers, and okra need homes.)
Things that weren’t roasted in the greenhouse LOVED the warm sunny weather. I think some greens are starting (kale, chard, romaine), radishes are getting bigger, grapes… many things.
One of the main reasons that this blog exists is to remind me of the cycles of life. I will have a bout of depression in late winter, which will be followed by an intense need to build/grow/change, followed by a flurry of activity, followed by a lull. The plants don’t come up right away, the weather doesn’t cooperate, the plans to build and change hit a snag of indecision/loss of motivation/other uncontrollable factors.
The lull is almost bad as the late-winter-blues… but it gives me the distinct impression that all my work was for nothing.
It’s sunny outside. I want it to be summer; with a bounty of veggies, a room full of kittens, and a fully formed studio.
*deepbreath*
So this is why there’s a blog. So next year I can feel this way, then look back 52 weeks and see that the feeling isn’t new. Then go from there and see proof that given a little time, a little sun, and a little warmth it will all happen.
***
We’re past the “last average frost” now, so green beans went in. I changed them to South D because it was empty, and sad, and weedy. I also went a little overboard with the root veggies in West E, but many of them will be ready to harvest (fingers crossed) by the time the peppers and okra go out. I jumped the gun a little and planted the yellow bush beans too… I probably should have waited (they suggest soil temp of 65 and it’s 50 now /: ) but the last of the seeds were just sitting in the envelope all lonely.
And you know… The lull is dangerous!
I’ll hold off on the squash, maybe check soil temp tomorrow after today’s 73 degrees. (Squash want 60 deg soil.)
We’ve only had a few days of sun. Enough that the grass has grown taller than the raised beds, but not enough for p to mow it.
The peas are still getting chewed and pulled up by something. I replanted them today- maybe they will be so excited by the weather that they will overcome all obstacles.
I also planted more chard and kale (this time in upper c) Willy nilly I tossed the seeds in the soil. I really want some greens.
I cleared a portion of the back rocks and spread allysum seeds. I just can’t seem to have luck with this plant that is supposed to reseed itself and be happy here!
The tomato, pepper, and okra starts seem to be tolerating the greenhouse, only doing a little worse than the ones inside. The one tomato plant I already have in a container is still alive.
Parsley basket might be getting started, and the strawberry basket is happy. Once it gets a little warmer I’ll hang them on the porch.
Fingers crossed on all of it.
We have had the joy of living without half of our appliances for a week, because of a lack of 240 voltage and dependable electrician. It’s also been gross outside- including some snow, and lots of rain.
I am not happy.
So let’s start with what’s good in the garden…
The two blue hydrangeas are coming in quick. I fertilized them with the hydrangeas food today.
The two rhody transplants are settling in well.
The hops are coming up- p has been pulling extra shoots.
The rhubarbs all seem very happy.
Some root veggies are sprouting in west E.
NOW for the bad news.
Something has been eating my pea sprouts. I have a feeling it’s the pnw monster slug. I do not feel any warm feelings. I sprinkled Sluggo across the soil with ruthless abandon.
The garlic is not happy about the weather. There’s a lot of yellow showing. I don’t think there is anything I can do- but I put the tomato fertilizer on it while chanting. /:
Onions are also barely hanging in there, and got the same treatment.
The lawn looks like hell- although some of the clover and fleur de lawn seed seems to be catching. All the effort we made trying to smooth it may or may not have helped.
Here are the fertilizers I used.
The blue one went on the hydrangeas, camelia, and blueberries
The red one went on the onions, garlic, and the places I’m putting tomatoes.
In the process of writing this (and waiting for water to boil for my bath), the asparagus and raspberrys have arrived.
I begged P to plant them- since he has access to a shower at work.
Raspberries are going in west A, asparagus in west B.
I’ve been growing greens and herbs in an Aerogarden (turquoise, of course), and while they do great for a while, eventually all plants start to look a little sickly, and that was the case with the lettuces and basil I planted back in January.
After reading about successful transplants, I decided to rescue the 3 basil plants, and to try them out in different soil conditions.
Plant 1 will be inside in fresh soil
Plant 2 is outside in fresh soil
And plant 3 gets the maiden voyage in the greenhouse shelf.
We’ll see who is happiest.
** UPDATE: 4/30/18
Unsurprisingly, the two outside basils kicked the bucket. The one inside is going strong!
