PNW: June 2013

Oh and yes, it turns out my husband was messing with me. I found this post on his facebook:
I now have one week to plot my revenge...

HA!

I can't wait to see what you dream up!

It had better be good!

gee Gwen You had me going for a minute there.... for awhile I was wondering....if I had missed it too.

Hi everyone! I love to look at the pic's of my neighbor's gardens, gives me something to aspire to! You all have done such a nice job with them, keep up the good work; and keep posting those pics!

Gwen, I love the strawberry pic and please update us on what you cook up for Father's Day, lol

Boffer, I think we will have a better than average summer this year.

My biggest head of broccoli is about the size of a tennis ball, but no cauliflower yet. They were planted at the same time and the plants are about the same size. Does this sound right to you? My corn was planted at different times, but some are about 18" tall, yea!

Boffer, I saw your post somewhere about automatic watering systems in PNW, did you see my post about the drip line? I am working toward having it all automated some day.

Someone mentioned somewhere about this forum being addicting; omg, what an understatment! The more I read/see the more I search!! I had a devil of a time convincing my poor husband to garden in the first place, and now, not only are the veggies, herbs, and flowers growing, but so are my plans. Look out Randy (my hubby) you ain't seen nothin' yet

nurzemjd hi ya neighbor

seems like our broc's form heads before the cauli's do...so far we haven't had any to harvest yet....but they are getting there

happy gardening
rose....

nurzemjd wrote:...My biggest head of broccoli is about the size of a tennis ball, but no cauliflower yet. They were planted at the same time...

...Boffer, I saw your post somewhere about automatic watering systems in PNW, did you see my post about the drip line? I am working toward having it all automated some day. ...

...I had a devil of a time convincing my poor husband to garden in the first place...

My broccoli always comes in first. I started harvesting broccoli over three weeks ago, and ate my first cauliflower yesterday.

Automatic watering? Yep, I automatically water my garden when it needs it...with a wand! I look forward to seeing your system working.

The secret to getting hubby's enthusiastic support is to figure out what he really really likes from the garden, and then when you're discussing expansion, remind him how much more of his favorites that you'll be able to grow!

boffer wrote:The secret to getting hubby's enthusiastic support is to figure out what he really really likes from the garden, and then when you're discussing expansion, remind him how much more of his favorites that you'll be able to grow!

Sneaky - I like it!

GG

Ah, how I did miss having a garden!  Glad to be back in the swing of things.  Broccoli has sprouted, beans are popping up, radishes all accounted for and thinned.  Tomatoes are growing happily; pepper plant is not but it'll survive.  Corn is up.  Still waiting on mini pumpkins and cucumbers to make an appearance.

boffers post on winter squash made me remember that I learned this year that I like spaghetti squash.  Found some starts at Shorty's so I'll put one in each of the corn barrels once the corn sprouts get 6" tall.  Hopefully they'll survive being separated anyway (there's four in one pot).

Lots of dark, rainy weather last few days.  Had a rare opportunity yesterday afternoon to enjoy some quiet time with my oldest while my 5 y.o. was off on a playdate and 2 y.o. napped.  She didn't have any homework and it was dark and rainy so we made hot chocolate and opened up a new puzzle to work on together.  Once the sun is back, I'll get some pictures of my colorful new tabletop garden to share. 

FamilyGardening wrote: ...we started more corn starts that just poked thru yesterday....now the hard part comes....should we pull up ALL the corn in the back garden and start over   ....or move the corn that's doing well all into one area of the bed and then plant the new starts....eeeek....

happy gardening
rose

Rose, have you transplanted corn before?  Was reading an article a few days ago on growing corn and it said it doesn't like to be transplanted.  

But if your only choices are move it or lose it, then you may as well try, don't you think?

GWEN yes we have used transplant corn....our three sisters corn is from transplants we started from seed.....we direct seeded the back garden seeds and again this year and had problems with germination again.....from now on we will do all transplants....i too have read that corn doesnt like to be transplanted....but from what we have tried as long as you make sure not to break off that really long tale the corn seedling gets then they seem to do well.....

hugs
rose

GWEN    BTW....... Did you know that fathers day was coming up  ....  We are still waiting for your revenge... plan

gwennifer wrote:...I now have one week to plot my revenge...

Well...what's it gonna be?

Sorry to let you guys down. My husband is a work-a-holic and the girls are so excited that he, in their words, "just has to stay home because it's the real Father's Day!". So I feel I have to help them celebrate it all over again so they can get some more precious daddy time.

Ah well, my husband and I aren't the practical joker types anyway. I just may go and get myself a pedicure or something else entirely feminine and wasteful while he's spending that quality time with the kids though...

Have fun!  No men  bashing!

Well Father's Day #2 was a success.  I went to bed exhausted after preparing many a fine meal.  I tried a Pinterest pin for Mini German Pancakes with a triple berry topping for breakfast that worked fabulously (you never know with Pinterest ), made his favorite Monte Cristo sandwiches for lunch after church (who ever thought up dipping bread in pancake batter anyway?), and we even squeezed in a trip to OMSI and a short walk along the Eastside Esplanade before coming home to Italian Beef in the crock pot for hoagie style sandwiches with sauteed onions and peppers and melted provolone cheese.  Corn on the cob for a side using the microwave prep trick I learned here.

In gardening news:

• My June experiment carrots all sprouted yesterday.  And I mean all of them.  Everyone talking about poor germination had me allowing a generous 4-5 seeds per hole.  Well I now have 4-5 carrot sprouts in each spot!     
  
• I spotted some of my June experiment lettuce.  So far not impressed with how fast growing it's supposed to be as it took a full week to sprout.  May not come to anything by the time the month is up and it's time to get my broccoli in there.  But I planted in a dice pattern and can just pull the middle one when it's time to plant the broccoli seed.
  
• My cucumbers are up!
  
• Mini pumpkins are sprouting!
  
• I have a baby tomato!
  
• My son destroyed half my corn and two of my three Spaghetti squash planted with them, but I now have a spot for the spontaneous purchase Sugar Baby watermelon start that I bought.  A trip back to Shorty's will net me more Spaghetti squash transplants.  Just have to keep anything else from jumping in my cart; my little garden is full.
  

Just have to keep anything else from jumping in my cart; my little garden is full.

Sounds like a good excuse for more beds.

Kay

exciting to see and hear that our PNW gardens are growing

hope to see and hear from others who haven't posted in awhile :)we always look forward to see others gardens in our area ....you all inspire us!!

surprised to see peppers already ...this pepper plant below is a tiny, tiny plant with lots of fruit.....



a start to a baby cucumber .... so cute



early harvest of 7 pounds of potatoes :drunken:



happy gardening
rose

Rose your gardens are always inspiring! Congratulations on your potato harvest and all those babies on the way. Thanks for posting and always sharing pictures!

Awfully quiet around these parts...  Hope everyone is doing well.  

Beautiful day yesterday here, just as forecast, and the rain is back already, just as forecast!  

My little cement tub table top garden is doing well and inspiring many people - everyone that's seen it so far has said it's such a great idea and inquired about how to make their own.  Hope a wonderful harvest can make them prove useful too and not just a fun concept.  Everything has sprouted and (with the exception of my lettuce), seems to be moving along at a fine pace.  Can't wait for the cukes and mini pumpkins to get big enough to start spilling over the sides!

Did my second sowing of broccoli and radishes yesterday, this time 'Watermelon' and 'Purple Palace'.  Found some 'Black Beauty' radishes too (where's Josh?   ) that say to wait until fall to plant.  Supposed to get 3-4" in diameter!  White inside.  

What's going on with all of you?

Gwennifer, I have never seen a Black Beauty radish, please let us know how they turn out.
The garden update for the last week consists of harvesting green onion seeds from the fall 2012 planting and dehydrating the green onions themselves.
Squash: I have a few baby Summer Squash and Round Zucchini. The Buttercups have started climbing the arch trellis and the Spaghetti Squash plant is very small (not enough sun I suspect). Acorn Squash plants are getting big but no fruit starting yet.
Cucumbers: They are vining up the trellis and I found one baby a few days ago.  I hope all the bees are working hard!
Beans: I have flowering bush beans in one bed which are the first ones I planted.  I have two successive crops of beans that are doing well and are at various stages of growth.  I have one Scarlett Runner bean that was left in the ground from 2012 that is regrowing.    
Peas: I still have lots of peas and we are enjoying eating fresh pea salad.  I have started drying some of them for next years seed and will be pulling them within 2 weeks whether they are still producing or not to clear space for a last planting of bush beans.
The Rest: Lettuce, Radish, KohlRabi, Parsnips and everything else all appear to be on track.  I will be able to harvest my seed for next years Kale, Tatsoi and Radish soon which will free up space for the Fall garden.
I found a few baby Tomatoes which seems really early in the year but I am not complaining by any means.  I hope everyone else's gardens are doing well for the 2013 growing season!

Whoops! The radish is actually called 'Black Spanish Round'. Described as a medium-hot winter radish, 55-60 day to maturity, 3-4" bulbs that store well. I found it at WilCo, by Livingston Seed Co.

rainy today and stuck inside...blah....

it was HOT yesterday thats for sure......up potted our fall cole crops....wow they are really growing inside under the lights...we dont have enough room inside for them.....we want to move them outside but need to find a cool area for the mini green house to go and house them.....last year we put them out with out cover and they brought cabbage worms and aphids to the hoops as we must have missed some eggs when transplanting...so ....we are being very careful this year.........we still havent harvested any spring cole crop plantings.....they are showing signs of heading up....so still hoping....the plants look great the leaves are perfect...so... we just may start to eat the leaves with or with out heads......LOL.....I see a lot of stir fri and cabbage rolls in the near future and some dehydrating as well

we sowed 12 SQ's of bush beans in the back garden....where we harvested some potatoes and another 12 SQ's in with the aspargus as only two of them came up this year and they were tiny...so we cant stand to see a growing area not growing something to eat.....LOL

we also started a couple houndred bush bean starts in the green house to put out where the rest of the potatoes are growing .....hoping the beans will be ready about the same time as the last harvest of potatoes.....

hoping to have enough bean starts to put out into the SFG to replace the garlic SQ's once we harvest them.....

besides the beans is there any other veggie you have found to plant when some of your SQ's are harvested to get in a bit extra???

we have cole crop seedlings going inside....and they will go in one of our hooped back garden beds when they are ready.....

we are going to sow another set of sugar snap peas......should we do green house starts for those?.....or just sow them direct?.....whats worked best for you?....last year we did direct sow them and did get a nice little late harvest....hmm?

so far we have found that we can squeeeeze in a good harvest of bush beans and sugar snap peas....just not sure what else?

we REALLY want some spinach....last year.... it bolted....this year it went *poof*....planted some more and it bolted....eeer.....when do you all replant spinach?.....cause i want to make some rooom and get to harvest some this year...

ok...enough rambling.....
hugs
rose....who hopes its back to sunshine tomorrow.....
oh....p.s.....I think we should have our first ripe grape size tomato ....tomorrow

GWEN your new table tops sound wonderful  we sure hope we are able to build some of those this year....love the idea of them and Im sure our kids would love to have their own and paint them too!....they have the gardening bug and want more space of their own to grow what they want..... ....for example our daughter just loves flowers and we let her plant some but not as many as she would like to...we try and encourage flowers that you can eat.........."kind of boring mom".....I really love the idea of those tub tables you guys made....its the right height for the kids and for me:rockon:and I really think they would work great in the green house to try and over winter some veggies......I like they are up off the ground too!....I told hubby we could put some wheels on the corners and be able to push them into the green house.......yah!

let me know how the watermelon raddish turns out....we planted some but they bolted so we didnt get to try any yet.....going to replant some again soon and hope to harvest some....they sound yummy and look so pretty!

Happycamper.....your garden sounds like its growing, growing, growing  we are just starting to get some flowers on a few of our cucumber plants...no sign of squash or pumpkin yet...our pole beans are just starting to climb and no sign of flowers yet on the bush beans.....sounds like you are going to get some great seeds saved this year as well....we are hoping to try and do the same  we too are thinking about pulling our sugar snap peas so to be able to replant some more for a fall harvest.....its hard to pull them though...the plants look good still but Im not seeing very many new flowers....so we are going to give them this week and then pull them if flowers dont start to show.....early tomatoes I think is a good sign to a great summer!!

hugs
rose

Rose,

Last year I planted my first veggie seeds during the last week in July.  The spinach produced wonderfully!  

This year, I planted two squares on May 10, and they're growing like crazy.  I really need to harvest about twice a week.  

So, I plan to put in another two squares in a week or so, then another two a couple of weeks later.  

I have some neighbors who started a small SFG last year, then moved here temporarily and decided not to start a new one until after they move again.  Naturally, they're hungry for some fresh SFG produce....