PNW: 2015 March

Hi everyone! Computer broke down, car broke down, life intervenes! But here is our March 2015 thread. Hope that now that spring is in the air, we will all perk up with gardening hints, stories, questions,and tall tales.

I had a very slack winter, but it's so warm I'm thinking of planting peas now. Mustard's still growing - Red Giant is a true hamp. I look forward to the new growing season, but not to the thing that makes it work - plenty of sun. I'm a gardening guy, but not a sun guy. Go figger.

Let us know what you're up to this March! Hope you're ready to start planting, because summer will be here before you know it.

Computer broke down!  And car? Welcome back.  How are your 2 conservatees?  God bless you, you have a good heart.

Glad to see you back, Marc!

Thanks Marie and sanderson!

I got both ladies in out of the rain and into foster homes. One is in a secured memory care facility, because she tends to take off walking, rain or shine, on indeterminate and not very safe or sensible missions. They both own places that should be sold to fund their foster care, and one owns a rental, it turns out, so figuring out how to do all this remains a puzzle. Whether I'm doing it or will do it the best way it can be done, I don't know, but at least the ladies are safe and warm and eating right and getting medical attention.

Hope we're all staying safe and well and looking forward to a new gardening season. It's still early, but so unseasonably warm around here that it seems winter hardly got started and then ended early. Honestly, I miss it. I'm not looking forward to another four months plus of 90 to 100 degree temps. But, I do look forward to those peas, beans, and tomatoes.

Big day here in our family gardens!

back garden: 4x8 & 4x10 beds filled up with cole crop seedlings!

SFG: 4x4 #2 bed filled with sugar snap peas, purple cauliflower, mustards, swiss chard, bok choi and purple cabbage seedlings!......with an edible grid sown of green onions

happy gardening
rose

forgot to mention we also planted our 3- 3x5 beds of potatoes yesterday too!

happy gardening
rose

With all that you plant, do you preserve any?

sanderson wrote:With all that you plant, do you preserve any?

yes, canning, freezing and dehydrating!

keeping the critters out is the biggest problem we have......this year we are upping up our game in the coverings for our beds.....

today we planted our SFG bed #1 with radishes, spinach, beets, carrots..... along with an edible grid of carrots  also saved room for some summer tomatoes & runner beans and our seedlings of lettuce that are still under lights......

happy gardening
rose

another nice day in our Family gardens today we were able to plant cabbage, brossel sprouts and collard green seedlings in the back garden......hope we can keep the slugs away!

happy gardening
rose

Hi-Ho, Chickens... Away! 

Let them have a feast if those nasty slugs attack.

AtlantaMarie wrote:Hi-Ho, Chickens... Away! 

Let them have a feast if those nasty slugs attack.

that's what we are hoping, as the girls have spent some time in the back garden beds before we planted!....this is the first time ....and we are excited to see if there is a difference this year we also put down some slugo.....

happy gardening
rose

Hello,

This week we'll be planting the radish, chard, lettuce and peas.

We'll also be starting most of our tomatoes and peppers indoors over the next couple of weeks.

With the weather as mild as it is I anticipate we'll have everything on our list going fairly quick.

Oh also, going to be building our pumpkin and watermelon boxes soon.

Oh boy...things are really crankin' up in the PNW! Any photos for those of us still awaiting the big melt?

CC

Been so sunny around here lately, then we're hit with a ton of rain. Can't begrudge the ecosystem the rain it's evolved to adapt to over millions of years, though. And I don't mind grey skies a bit myself. Does make me put aside notions of planting for a bit. Moist soil is fine, but I don't want my seeds to rot.

AtlantaMarie -- I can't read the sign on your avatar picture -- what does it say?

It says, "I'll be dead soon"

I used that one to give the snow-bound folks some hope that spring IS coming...

LOL gallows humor. Frosty the Dead Man.

That cartoon always was kind of unexpectedly wistful and sad.

Yeah, but for those of us who REALLY don't like cold...

CapeCoddess wrote:Oh boy...things are really crankin' up in the PNW!  Any photos for those of us still awaiting the big melt?
CC

I know you guys back east  are setting some winter weather records.  Did you know that we are too?  We've had some warmest days on record!  

This year, I thought I'd try getting an extra early start on spring cool crops in a hoop house with heated MM, inside a greenhouse.



This box was direct seeded on 12/24.



This box was direct seeded on 1/25.



Even during a mild winter, we just don't get enough sun for growing much.  It's been almost 90 days since the first box was planted with lettuce, spinach, radishes, carrots, bok choy, and kohlrabi.  Normally, I would be harvesting that stuff by now.  The carrots got leggy; I've never had leggy carrots before.


I started snow peas in January.  I need to get them moved outside.



The two on the right are some happy cauliflowers.  The left two are broccoli.  Planted indoors on 12/28.  Transplanted to the greenhouse on 2/7.



Happy garlic in the greenhouse; planted mid-November.



Last year's kale in the background.  Kale usually survives our winters.  Broccoli and cauliflower transplants in the foreground.



Perennials are showing up: sunchokes, horseradish, rhubarb, and asparagus.



Misc. cool crops.



In the "First Time for Everything" category...

My wood pile went BOOM!  Scared the crap out of my wife and I.




I'm sure there's some mice who are very unhappy about losing the nests that they built in the wood pile!

Wow Boffer, you have a lot of nice things growing there.  What made your wood pile go BOOM!

What in the world happened??

PS: Picture perfect cool beds, as usual.

PPS: Welcome back. You haven't been on very much lately. We missed you.

sanderson wrote:What in the world happened??

PS:  Picture perfect cool beds, as usual.

PPS:  Welcome back.  You haven't been on very much lately.  We missed you.

I would like to know the answers to the above questions as well and Im so glad to hear from you !!!

hugs
rose

I know its only the first day of spring.....but....hubby said its predicted that we are going to have a very warm April.....anyone think that also??

Cant wait for the harvesting to begin....... both spring & summer 





Happy gardening
rose...... who wonders if we are going to have another great tomato year

Boffer as always your beds look great!.....even though some of the veggies are growing slowly....they look really healthy and as soon as they get more light they are going to just take off and you will be harvesting them Were you able to nibble on some of it thru the winter?

your garlic is way ahead of ours!! & we don't see our asparagus until may I believe much later than others and not sure why that is?


sorry to see that your wood pile fell over that's going to be a lot of work stacking it up again....I bet it was laud when it happened!....glad no one was hurt...except maybe the feelings of some mice

hugs
rose

FamilyGardening wrote:I know its only the first day of spring.....but....hubby said its predicted that we are going to have a very warm April.....anyone think that also??

Happy gardening
rose...... who wonders if we are going to have another great tomato year

I have not heard about April, but if we don't get rain in Biblical proportions, we are all set to have a California like drought. The snow pack is said to be next to nothing. Did I hear that they are already having water problems on the Olympic Peninsula? They guys are talking about more rain barrels while there is still a possibility of more free water.

I have not even started my tomatoes yet (and it is time to start peppers). The peeps at Uprising assure me that they never start anything until late march... hope that will work out for me.

I do have some salad in the green house. It seems that no matter how dilligent I am, the slugs take what they want. The good news is that I've got handfuls of kale and kale buds nearly every day for dinner, smoothies and bento. Other than herbs, it is the only thing I get fresh daily, I'm not tired of it yet. One of these days I'll have enough free time to get the kale and peas from the green house to the garden.

Boffer... boom or no boom, that is a nice pile of wood for late winter early spring.

Debs.... thinking sweet kale buds are worth braving this mornings (3/21) wind and rain.

Wow, beautiful winter crop there, Boffer! I'd be eating that. I'd also leave the wood pile as it is and use what's fallen first. What do you mean leggy carrots, the green stems grew too tall before leafiing out? Btw, I'm replacing my broken tablet next week so we can play "blame the tablet" again.

You folks are so far ahead of me this year whereas I'm usually right there with ya. I sure hope you don't have to do that horrible drought thing. Altho, like Mel says, we only need a cup of warm water for each plant. I haven't tested that theory personally, preferring to keep my MM wet, but I would if I had to.

Happy gardening, PNW.
Our time's a'comin.
CC