PNW: 2015 March

Hi Boffer!  Welcome back!!!!

Glad no one was hurt in the great fall...  Beds look awesome!

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

LUNCH!  Isn't it great eating a tomato that size knowing it would cost $6-7 from Safeway's organic section, and maybe it cost us 5¢ to grow our own?  

The wood pile fell down because I did a poor job teaching/supervising several young helpers how to stack wood properly.  And, they got bored to tears just as fast as I do, which leads to carelessness.  And, firewood does shift and settle as it dries out.  Firewood stacking 6 feet high is an art, I tell ya!  I have been using the fallen firewood, but woodstove season is pretty much over so most of it will have to be re-stacked.

CC, the spindly carrots were almost 3 inches tall before they got their little leaves.  They looked a lot like the white bunching onions growing in the square next to them.
A new tablet?  Oh joy!  Maybe this one will have an option to turn off auto-fill?

I'm extra anxious to start harvesting something from the garden because my stored veggies are dwindling fast.  I'm down to frozen corn, canned green beans, frozen tomatoes, and misc. frozen soup.  Buying vegetables sucks!

I heard there are water issues on the peninsula and 2 areas east of the mountains.  No projected issues along the I-5 corridor...yet.  

CapeCoddess wrote:...Altho, like Mel says, we only need a cup of warm water for each plant...

I forget, is that per day?

boffer wrote:

CapeCoddess wrote:...Altho, like Mel says, we only need a cup of warm water for each plant...

I forget, is that per day?

He says once a week, and possibly twice/wk in the hot weather. I don't think it's a measuring cup though, I think it's a cottage cheese container.

CC

I just took a peek at the 2nd Edition, pgs. 150-154. It seems you hand water when the plant needs it. ??

Yes.  That way you're pouring right around the roots where the plant needs it.

But I don't know of anyone who actually does that...

can someone explain the cup watering just around the roots to our PNW clouds

was able to go out and take a peek under the hoops out in our SFG area between showers......

radishes & beets are coming up in SFG bed #1

in SFG bed #2 the transplanted seedlings look awesome!!

in our son's SFG Container his peas are coming up and I thought there might be a few carrots too.....his beloved sorrel planted last year is looking yummy!...I think we could almost harvest some leaves to put into a salad

in our Daughters SFG container her lettuce transplants look great, the spinach looks about the same...still tiny...but...at least its still there and no slugs have found it yet LOL...no sign of her carrots.....but her leeks & green onions from fall planting are ready to eat

we added 2 additional rubber maid containers in our SFG area, both have broccoli & cauliflower along with lettuce starts that are all doing great these containers are not covered with hoops and they seem to be doing just as well as the ones that are covered with cloth.....hmm?

some of the herbs that survived the winter in our SFG are looking good...I know one is parsley the others Im not sure....I hope I have my list from last year....it teaches me a lesson that I cant always remember what I have planted the garlic is looking good too....NOT...as good as Boffers though!!

We planted some chicken lettuce....for the chickens.... in the old dog kennel travel container,  that we grew stuff in last year.....its on the north side of the house and only gets a small amount of sun....but....things that don't mind a bit of shade have done really well ....so this year we planted chicken lettuce for the girls and the lettuce is coming up too!!

our cherry trees, peach tree and apple tree are all blooming.... we are really surprised that they have bloomed already....does this seem normal for this time of year here in the PNW?

happy gardening
rose

I'm feeling rather behind! I have some peas out but of course I put them out the day we started getting the nasty storms and wind and they arent faring super well. I do have cucumbers and pumpkin about ready to go out and tomatoes if they ever take off. They are torturously slow in comparison to the cucumbers. I gave in and bought a broccoli start since I ran out of time to start them myself. The carrots are super slow too. They germinated quick in the big container that I brought inside for warmth but haven't progressed. I got some bush beans and sugar baby watermelon seeds today too.

Hello all,

Just got out this afternoon to uncover the salad box and prep it for more plantings. Our garlic is VERY happy looking in it's square. While loosening up and mixing in more compost for the rest of the box I was greeted by a wonderful site; worms, and lots of them, big and small.  

Cleaned up the tomato/pepper box a bit and also found some worms (some were quite large). I hope they stick around.

Hiya everyone! boffer, great looking beds, and, sorry, but that mess of wood made me laugh. Oh boy, a nice new project ...

Unseasonably warm lately here, alternating with tons of rain. Virtually no snow this whole winter, though we got the biggest hailstorm I've ever seen.

Some of my kale did very well over the winter, and my purple sprouting broccoli is purple sprouting. Not very big headlets (headlets?). But lots of them. The grass and weed seeds from last season have taken over huge swaths of my gardening area and everywhere near it, though. All this early warmth plus rain means weeds gone wild.

Luckily, it's not mosquito season yet.

Kelejan wrote:Vash_the_stampede,
If you have worms, sorry, if your garden has worms then you have a happy garden.

Poor Vash.

Kelejan wrote:Vash_the_stampede,


If you have worms, sorry, if your garden has worms then you have a happy garden.

Hello Kelejan,

I can assure you I'm vaccinated. 

This week in our familygardens

sowed 4 triangles of  cucumber seeds in our 5 *tier* SFG bed out front.  Trying something new....we put a small clear food storage container over the top of the seeds to act like a mini green house.....so far it looks like its working, there is a dew that has formed on the inside of the container hoping this will help germination & keep out the pesky squirrels!! ......we also sowed 2 triangles of mixed lettuce & 2 triangles of Orach (red spinach that is delicious!...has a mellow beat flavor)

also out front in containers we sowed yellow Zucchini  & black beauty Zucchini ....trying the mini green houses with them also

we also moved our tomato babies out to the green house as they were out growing their lights....so far so good!

happy gardening
rose

FamilyGardening wrote:This week in our familygardens

sowed 4 triangles of  cucumber seeds in our 5 *tier* SFG bed out front.  Trying something new....we put a small clear food storage container over the top of the seeds to act like a mini green house.....so far it looks like its working, there is a dew that has formed on the inside of the container hoping this will help germination & keep out the pesky squirrels!! ......we also sowed 2 triangles of mixed lettuce & 2 triangles of Orach (red spinach that is delicious!...has a mellow beat flavor)

also out front in containers we sowed yellow Zucchini  & black beauty Zucchini ....trying the mini green houses with them also

we also moved our tomato babies out to the green house as they were out growing their lights....so far so good!

happy gardening
rose

That's how I do the first planting of cucumber seeds, using the clam packs from the one pound spring mix I buy at the grocery store. I also use the packs before seeding to warm the soil up in preparation. I have to top them with a rock because the winds are so crazy here. Will be using them for squash and maybe corn this year. It works!

CC

CapeCoddess .......great news to hear it works....we too put a rock on top so they down blow away

happy gardening
rose

FamilyGardening wrote:This week in our familygardens

sowed 4 triangles of  cucumber seeds in our 5 *tier* SFG bed out front.  Trying something new....snip ......we also sowed 2 triangles of mixed lettuce & 2 triangles of Orach (red spinach that is delicious!...has a mellow beat flavor) ...snip...

happy gardening
rose

Pictures Rose! I want to see instead of letting my imagination run wild.

My other job is teaching JrHi and it requires me to bring a lunch. The greenhouse has provided spinaches, mustards and radishes for my daily bentos. So kewl! I'm sure everyone is eating kale buds and those baby leaves they make all winter long. Mine is fixen to quit on me. I think it will hold out just long enough for my early salads (very spicy this time of year) to get bigger then the micro-green stage... not that I am above snipping micro greens for my bento, other teachers get so impressed, there really is some kind of magic in fresh greens that does not happen in a cello bag.

Had our first potato pop up and say hello. Farmer Ray and I had to quick run out and cover it with a portable cold frame when the hail started pelting us. Peas of all kinds are up, not nearly as many fava beans as we would like, but we do have a few, lots of beets too.

The shelves of the greenhouse are crowded with starts of early, cold-hardy plants. I have a tray of tomatoes and half a tray of peppers that spend the day in the greenhouse and the night on the kitchen table. It keeps me limber.

Debs... whose tomato box is all stirred up and fresh compost mixed in (minus a few worms) thanks to the chicken tractor and the faithful Nuggets. Thanks ladies!

Pictures


5 Tier SFG bed out in our front yard on our BTE Island ( 4 Triangles of cucumbers at the bottom, 2 Triangles of Orach & 2 Triangles of mix lettuce above the cucumbers...the remaining Triangles are flowers)



SFG bed #1....empty back four squares waiting for scarlett runner beans, 2 SQ of radishes, 1 SQ beets, a few squares of onions, mixed lettuce & spinach...it has a growing grid of carrots



SFG bed #2 ....sugar snap peas, onions, mustard, purple cabbage, purple cauliflower, kale, last years celery that survived the winter



SFG beds #3 *herb* garden....a work in progress...so far on the left side ...it has Sage, Thyme, Bee Balm, Cilantro, Rosemary,  Parsley & Chives...with more to be planted!....the right side has Garlic & over wintered leeks in the small outer part of the cement blocks  which by the way the leeks did great in there!




some SFG containers....with lettuce, onions, leeks, carrots, strawberries, herbs, flowers & cole crops



Back Garden ....red, purple, blue and Yukon Gold Gem Potatoes



Cole crops 2 beds



Top hats of ....Cabbage, Collard greens, Brossel sprouts & oinons in between the top hats 



Happy Gardening,
Rose.... who will post more pic's and updates soon in the Tomato Tuesday, Who has chickens & BTE threads

Love the 5-tier bed, Rose!  Looks really good...!

April 14

In the PNW it is May showers that bring June flowers. Precipitation in April is likely to entertain us with big splats of wet snowige (not quite snow) on the windshield. Thank you farmer Ray for covering those potatoes that were silly enough to sprout.

Debs in Everett.... Really feeling good about not removing the extra blanket on the other bed (the one in the house)

Tomato Tuesday


Tardy tomatoes: I am almost two months behind but these late sprouts (hopefully not late bloomers!) are looking happy. I just realized that I forgot to include Gold Medal which was an awesome new addition last year. Huge tasty green tomatoes for frying and pretty yellow ripe fruit with a pink blush in the center. They give generous clusters of 3/4 to 1 lb fruit. I wonder if it is too late to start a few?

(Green) Gold Medal. The orange fruit at the bottom of the bunch is actually a Brandywine. Gold Medal ripens to a lemon yellow.