PNW May updates :)

And on a similar note: today we caught our first mole! You'd a thought PapaViino had nailed that bull elk that's made confetti out of our 3-D archery elk target. We're using a new type of trap, and this one works. Called a 'Cinch Mole Trap', comes 2 in a package, but you're supposed to excavate under an active mole hill, and set the long killer snapper thingy of each down both entrances to the space under the hill. Will set it again early tomorrow morning when the critters are most active. Wish me luck.

We had a mole in our backyard a couple of summers after moving in. We came out one morning and saw this little raised tunnel of dirt, only a couple of feet long. No molehill yet. My husband just happened to be back there when he noticed the tunnel start moving. He grabbed a shovel and with a stroke of luck, dug that little guy right out of his tunnel with the first shovelful. He put him in a bucket and carried him around to all of the neighbors to show them - he was so proud. It was pretty funny.

Hey I've got pea blossoms, bell pepper blossoms, and my carrot squares are completely sprouted now. When do I get to eat something?

congrats on your pea blossoms thats great!!

the weather is really messing with my head!!...its to hot for our cold weather veggies!

i think....think...our tom's are looking a bit better.....brewed them some worm castings tea with a splash of fish em, kelp and spritz them with some calcium....ended with a side order of epsom salts.....(sp?? on all of the above) ....im tired....

hugs

rose

funny stories about the moles......hee hee hee

Our garden is going gangbusters!
No pea blossoms yet, but they're scrambling up the trellises like crazy. I'm now thinking I built one of the trellises too short for the variety of peas planted, so am trying to figure out how to add onto the top of it if necessary. I may just build a taller one and set it in directly adjacent to this one.
I'm seeing some little quarter sized broccoli heads way down in the leaves, the lettuce and turnip greens are outpacing the kitchen. I may see about blanching/freezing some of the greens this weekend.
Our cucumber seeds have sprouted in the greenhouse, and will be ready to set out in a week or so. I'll need to get those trellises built pretty soon.
Carrots are coming along, and the ones I "reseeded" in slots that hadn't sprouted in the first and second sowing are now up and growing. The third square has started to sprout, and I believe one in the fourth square has broken ground.
Parsnips are in various stages of sprouting. I had to replant one square after something mowed down all the seedlings in it, and left the other one right next door alone...
Onions/leeks/garlic is doing well, as are all the potatoes.
Peppers are blooming in their WalloWaters and are happy as clams. Roma tomatoes in the hoop house are starting to set blossoms, as is Stupice in the greenhouse. The others were smaller transplants, but are growing well for their varieties.
Beets and the second sowing of turnip greens are growing right along. I've never tried beets before, so this should be interesting.
First planting of filet, purple, wax and green beans are planted, as well as the first planting of corn. The second will go in when these have sprouted, which should be fairly soon.
All in all, I'm VERY pleased with the progress... as this is the first year using Mel's Mix.

He put him in a bucket and carried him around to all of the neighbors to show them - he was so proud. It was pretty funny.

Is there a happy ending to this story? :lolsignwave:

Gwennifer, Inquiring minds want to know: How did your husband know the mole was a 'him'? Your story brought a real smile to my face. Having woods and pasture surrounding us, our battle with them is constant. Years and years ago, an old fellow who lived down the road from us could often be seen in his yard, sitting on a bar stool with a shotgun, near a mole hill. He'd wait until he saw movement, then BLAM. Guess shotgun shells and time were cheaper than traps.

I've had to eat some 1½ inch broccoli heads because they were starting to yellow. I've had some plants send up stalks already. Last year was too cool for broccoli; so far it looks like this year is going to be too warm.

Or does cultivar play into this? This year, the only broccoli seeds I've been able to buy off the shelves is Waltham 29. It's as though the big seed suppliers got a good deal on them, so they are all selling the same thing. Last year, they all were selling Packman. It's my Waltham 29 that aren't handling the heat well; the Packman starts I got from the nursery are doing good so far. I dunno...I just blame everything on the weather!

He'd wait until he saw movement, then BLAM. Guess shotgun shells and time were cheaper than traps.

Bill Murray,,, Caddyshack....

GWN wrote:

He'd wait until he saw movement, then BLAM. Guess shotgun shells and time were cheaper than traps.

Bill Murray,,, Caddyshack....

Ok......I may have a more difficult time shaking the red-neck-prepper look, but "That's what I'm talking about"

Then again, two terriers can be fun.



Maestro Shelly Pea .........I'm just sayen

Boffer, I planted DiCicco from seed I got from Botanical Interest seeds (I think I probably bought them at Molbak's). I had read that it is a good variety for our weather.

Totally different climate, but I finally got broccoli this year. Packman

Kay

happy to report we have rain today.....yes...im happy that rain is watering our gardens....

....over all i think we have had a VERY nice month of May...much warmer then we had plans for......we are hoping it will cool down just enough to allow our brassicas to come full harvest and then warm back up again to have a nice long hot summer here in the PNW!

our brassicas were in need of a deep watering and since we didnt have a chance to install our drip hoses under the hoops....we have been hand watering

some of the brocs have about 3 inch heads!



we put in the corn and layed down our drip hoses in the rest of the back garden





96 corns



peppers are doing well .....still enjoying the green house



found a baby yesterday when giving the peppers a drink!



tom's are doing well.....this is their first day in the rain







potatoes



blue berries



rasberries



strawberries



pumpkin



celery



sunflower



oh....and our beans are up!!......



sorry such a long post of pics....but....hey its raining and this is the only gardening i can do.....

hugs

rose

It's looking wonderful!

ROSE
that is just beautiful, so incredibly organized and... green
What is the little sprout under the CORN....
There is one picture you did not label

Lavender Debs

Ok......I may have a more difficult time shaking the red-neck-prepper look, but "That's what I'm talking about"

Then again, two terriers can be fun.

You got me scratchin my head on that one. I am a little slow....

GWN wrote:ROSE
that is just beautiful, so incredibly organized and... green
What is the little sprout under the CORN....
There is one picture you did not label

its a baby corn sprout

hugs

rose

wow
How do baby corn sprout? They are not related to regular corn are they?
I had never thought I could grow baby corn, ...... a NEW quest... thank YOU

GWN its a corn sprout .....a sweet corn.....reg.....corn....

i just call them our babies....LOL

they are the same kandy sweet corn that we grew last year...... from ed humes.....

hugs

rose

Okay Nonna, so we don't know if the mole was a "he" or not! GWN, my husband didn't have the heart to kill it, and so he drove it to an empty field full of mole hills to release it. But then he found that it had died right there in the bucket.

Well curio, all that talk and have we seen a picture yet? I can't remember. Regardless, it sounds amazing! Do you cage your peppers and then put the wall-o-waters around the cage?

Rose, equally amazing. I am also happy for the rain to be watering my garden. And I'm also hoping the cooler temps will activate my brocc's and lettuces. I can't see that anything tried to bolt, but it didn't grow one whit either. What did you mulch your corn bed with? Did you plant four per square? It looks like your bed is 6 squares by 6 squares.

Well I had a very discouraging weekend trying to figure out how to complete my backyard. (I had to give up my hardscaping plans because I just can't justify the cost). I'm trying to come up with an "it's good enough" solution but my brain is just stuck. It doesn't help now that I'm trying to figure out how to fit in more SFG's and blueberries and strawberries!

GWENN

our back yard garden is raised garden beds filled with the soil that is at least 20 years worth of compost.... we still put grids up because we do not know how to garden any other way then square foot gardening we planted our corn 1 per square.....we have two 6x8 box's for the corn.....96 corns all together....

the mulch is free tree mulch that we get from a local tree sevice company.....this lg mound we got this time was some really great stuff...it came from a down tree so there wasnt to many big peices to it....the pile we have is already decomposing.....when hubby scoops it up to put in the gardens....its black underneath and steaming...... ....i should take a temp and see what its at LOL....

we are trying Back To Eden gardening in our back yard raised beds...its a no till type of gardening.....from now on we are only going to add leaves in the fall and compost in the spring....and then a new layer of tree mulch next spring....by next spring the mulch we have on there now will have broken down and be feeding the soil.....

hope to hear that you get some broc's!!

sorry to hear you had a tuff weekend.....gardening can get expensive.....what are some idea's you have?
hugs

rose

Yes, Gwennifer, inquiring minds want to know: What hardscaping plans are you considering? Stone masonry, fencing, .... what?

Eh, it's just that we have a big house on a tiny lot. Our backyard is fairly shallow but kinda wide. It's an awkward space, with the dining room nook bumping out six feet on one side, and a tiny patio in the middle with stairs down onto it, making it nothing more than a glorified landing.

Once all the neighbors put up fences it became rather difficult to maneuver a lawn mower around (always backing into a fence trying to get turned around). Everyone else just put lawns in all the way to the fence line, or left a 1'-2' planting border all around. I know that you can't plant trees or shrubs in that narrow of a space, and I'd rather look at trees and shrubs than my neighbors house. So I killed the lawn off and planned for extra deep planting beds all around, with hardscaping providing the negative space to set everything off instead of grass.

That would look like stone patios and walkways (or concrete pavers). But the problem is that existing patio. I feel like the lot is too small to waste space with unusable areas, but fixing it is out of our comfort zone and bids are coming in at five to eight thousand dollars. The ultimate price isn't so much the problem - it's just the value isn't adding up to me (what we'd get compared to what it would cost). I'm just tired of the whole thing! It will have been eight years end of August. I'm pretty patient - I was content to wait and save up and do it right - but it's time to move on.

Gwennifer, a 'what if' for your existing landing/patio: build an 8" raised bed that extends from the stairs to just beyond the concrete (for drainage of that part on the patio). Fill with Mel's Mix and plant away. Can't get more convenient to the house, so would be perfect for salad blends and curly kale; kale right up next to stairs for visual interest and quick snacking. On other side, same, but with tomatos up next to stairs, carrots, radishes, etc. further out.

Nonna, sweet of you to try and help. Look, here's a scale drawing I have and you can see the patio layout. The stairs aren't very typical. It's awkward. There is a storm door that swings out that had to be added because the winds would drive rain under the door. I'm thinking I can at least add a window box to that window there for lettuces.

Now I know Mel says we can grow more in less space in our SFG's, but I still don't think a walnut tree will fit (pesky squirrels):

And on a sad note, I opened the blinds this morning to see that one of my cucumber sprouts had been eaten down to the stem. Ran out and found two itsty bitsy baby slugs still on it. I didn't think they would bother the bed now that it's surrounded by cedar chips. Wrong.

Gwennifer, what's planted from the fireplace extension to the end of the 'patio'? Is this a space you can salvage? Nonna, who regularly steals space for another plant or two.