June in the Pacific NorthWest aka NorthWet

This turned out to be the Year of the Broccoli at my house. 50 seeds planted in an H3 (heated hoop house), with a 96% germination rate. My big mistake was putting warm and cool crops in the same H3. It made it impossible to harden off the broccoli plants before transplanting. Surprisingly, I didn't lose any transplants; they were stagnant for a while, especially since temps dropped to 25° soon after I transplanted some. I spread the transplanting out over 4 weeks; most of the plants have caught up with each other. These are the lush cauliflower and broccoli plants in the same H3 with tomatoes, pepper, and basils. I kept the temps up for the warm crops and these guys thrived.


These are the transplants. The plants aren't nearly as big or lush, but my first two harvests were from these guys and not the H3 guys.


This is the other end of the H3. It's a happy, out of control jungle of tomatoes that I don't know what to do with!


Here are a couple of Brandywines outside that I protect with cloches every night. Their enthusiasm leaves a lot to be desired! My corn patch is behind them. With the plastic on the ground, the soil temp did reach 60° on 5/20 so I quickly planted my wad. No sprouts yet.


This is a spaghetti squash in an H3.


This is his brother that got transplanted outside a couple weeks ago.


The weather really kicked my butt last year. I had to direct seed all my squash and cukes two and three times because it was so cold and wet that nothing germinated. By the time they started growing, there wasn't enough season left for them to fully develop. I'm sprouting my squashes and cukes in an H3 this year; so far so good. Although I haven't been able to harden them off because they're in the same box as tomatoes, I haven't lost any from transplanting. I use both hands to scoop up as much MM under the transplant as possible and move it to it's new home. All my cuke and squash transplants are showing small signs of growth, and I'm sure they will bust loose when we get a couple days in the 70's next week!

Better behaved toms and a few more cukes waiting to be transplanted.


My first planting of beans on the right; peas are on the left; both planted on 5/12


Peas planted the first week of Feb. They're a bit slow this year!


C'mon warm weather!

These picture really illustrate how much veggies need some heat.
Those broccoli are awsome.

Kay

wow furb and boffer you pic's are amazing!!.....your broc's are so much bigger then mine.....

these were planted indoors from seed on 3-19-11 and are in my SFG


these were my extra's...just incase broc's & cali's planted indoors same date as the others 3-19-11 and are next to my three sisters garden in the ground


here is a cali in the SFG i got from out school plant sale....he is doing awesome compared to my others....you can see one of mine 2 sqaures to the left....they were at one point the same size.....not sure if differnt seeds will grow better then others.....they are in the same MM get the same water and compost tea....?


here is my corn....its coming along....it was really stunted there for awhile and looked a bit weak....but today it looked like its decided to do something does anyone know how tall should i let my corn get before planting my beans?


well i got a couple of surprise's today in the garden....remember when all my baby cucumbers died off because i put them out to early...and i replaced them with some store bought ones....cause the seeds i sowed in the ground were not coming up....well...well....look who decided to join the group top larger one from the store....little baby guy on the bottom is a welcome surprise


second surprise of the day.....does there look to be tiny flower buds on the under neath of my crook neck squash?


when do you know its time to harvest your onions?


first time growing garlic


last but not least....the most exciting.....lady bugs and bee's!

Boffer, I am convinced the H3 is what I need. I am so glad you have breen generous with your ideas and plans. I have purchased my heating cables, but still need insulation and another table top, I guess that will be my late summer, fall project.

Looking forward to trying to grow with heat and have real sturdy, tomatoes, broccoli and squash next spring and early summer.

Those are some beautiful gardens! Eye-candy for a rainy day. Because your gardens are so pretty and my grass is getting so ugly, I'm just going to list out my early June chores.

The Rest of the PNW seems to have their Brussels Sprouts in already. I am just fixen to start mine. I like them best when kissed by cold weather so I wait to start them until June. It didn't happen last year but seed is in hand this year. I have a red sprout called Rubine and a green called Roodnerf.

The soil blocks of green cucumbers, zucchini, Delicatta, and Buttercup squash have been put into bucket size pots of MM. They look happy. The hot weekend of the 4th and 5th should make them even happier. I plan to start the white cucumber, a Cinderella pumpkin and a sweet momma squash soon (like today).

The covered square of Provider beans has sprouted under the cloche. Today (Thursday 6/2) or tomorrow I'll put in another square of Provider and one of Royal Burgundy bush beans (both are said to tolerate cooler soil better than white seeded beans). I think I will also put in a square of "Rockwell" dry beans (a local cranberry type soup bean.....local being Whidbey Island Heirloom) The rest of my beans will have to wait a couple of weeks for warmer weather.

The basil starts are looking good. so are the pepper and eggplants. I intend to put them into the Tomato tent sometime today so that they have a couple of days to settle in before the hot weekend comes. Time to start more basil and salad (including radishes and scallions). The slugs ate all but one of my Chard plants. I need more chard too. If I can find a place I want more kohlrabi.

It has been so cold that none of my melons have sprouted yet. Hope they get their go on this weekend.

Deborah….who has posted all kinds of pictures in the Toy Box thread. LOVE seeing all of yours!!

@FBmom….beautiful artichoke. I lost mine in a winter wind storm.

Furbalsmom wrote:Boffer, I am convinced the H3 is what I need. I am so glad you have breen generous with your ideas and plans.

Super! I look forward to comparing notes. I figure it's going to take a couple years of messing around to get efficient. This year has been a little of this and a little of that to see what works. At this point in time, my plan (subject to change) for next year is starting one H3 in late Jan. of greens, carrots, beets, and scallions for earliest eating. One box will be strictly for germinating for eventual transplanting. (I could never do what you do with all your germinating and up-potting stuff inside; it would drive me crazy!) Third box will be for tomatoes; my timing was way off this year; I should have started them later.

Pretty neat on the artichoke. I've never ever gotten one this early in the year.

77 degrees and sunny

I have a second artichoke!!!! it was hiding in the leaves

The peas have grown up one whole trellis square, about 7 inches, in only two days

Potatoes are a little yellow, they need more water, my fault. I need to put them right next to the Table Tops so I don't forget they are there

And now I'm drooling....

I got my first sad harvest today. I dug up three radishes. There little tops were sticking up above the dirt so I thought it was time to pick them. They didn't taste all that amazing.... I think it was too early. They are on the small side. They are pink french breakfast radishes that are suppose to be sweet, they weren't, tasted kind of like dirt (yes I washed them) and kind of like a pea... it's was odd. Luckily I left more in the ground than I took out.

I really can't wait until I have this planting thing down and I have continuous crops plated at the right time. Those pictures all look so good!

On a side note, got a laugh today when Al Roker said the Pacific Northwet talking about our weather and another round of clouds in the Pacific aiming at us. I'm in the desert and it's still raining raining raining.

We are thinking it is a cool spring...

I found pea blossoms today, on the seeds I planted outdoors on 2/4 and 2/18. 4 MONTHS!

Nothing promising yet on the pea plantings in Mar, Apr, and May.

That is so kewl about the peas Boffer! I'm not finding the peas that I planted in March or April. Only one type of the peas I planted in February can be found. You are ahead of the game in my eyes.

look what i found yesterday



hugs
rose....who is up way to early this morning

Beautiful Rose. Is that a Sugar Snap?

yes....they are sugar star snap peas

the one veggie that the kids fight over LOL.....so this year they planted their own....so we now have the *family* zone veggies & *his* and *her's* veggies

.....they also have zoned the strawberries......

hugs
rose....who doesnt mind the fighting over the veggies.....could be worse right?