Harvest Monday: June 18th

My best harvest so far! Mostly because I decided it was high time to start pulling things so I could plant more tomatoes.  I even remembered to take photos this time.

Saturday alone I managed to harvest over 7 lbs. of veggies.

3 lbs. strawberries

A pile of celery

Some pearl onions that were starting to look like golf balls sitting on the dirt.

Garlic braid, I have no idea what variety this is but it doesn't seem to get very big, the tops had all fallen over.

The last of the Swiss chard and first planting of lettuce, and the first of Alex's carrots.

My garlic were ready according to everything I know (which isn't much), but the bulbs were very small and even the largest only appeared to have about 4 cloves to it.  Oh well, maybe next year I'll plant some other variety, these were given to me last year by a friend and i figured I'd give them a shot.

Alex is super excited about the carrots finally coming up, the Sugarsnax are fabulous and the first to arrive.  I think Little Finger and Atomic Red could wait a bit longer to harvest.

Harvest Monday is hosted by Daphne's Dandelions and is a place to share your harvests and what you do with those harvests with the garden blogger community.

Next week, more strawberries, peas, onions and carrots (I'm hoping!).

Finally, It Looks Like a Garden!

 Can definitely tell the difference between the phone camera and the good camera.  Bunch of shots of the garden after nearly a week of gorgeous weather, the sun really helped get things moving along.

Kale

Artichokes and cilantro

Alex's carrots.  He checks on them regularly to see if they're ready yet. :)

Broccoli.

Leaf lettuce

Romaine lettuce

The tulips are done, but the pansies are taking over.

Oregon Spring tomato just waiting for an opening in the garden beds.

Swiss chard is finally starting to grow at a decent pace.

Potato plant, 3 of the 5 I planted are growing well.  The other two never did anything.

The first bed is really starting to look like a garden now, but the second one has some catching up to do still.

Raised bed 1.

Raised bed 2.

Hot weather starts enjoying some sunshine.

New whiskey barrel (#3) with perennials and bulbs planted.

Strawberry bed, flowering and doing great, but I really need to weed the path next to it.

That's how my garden's growing today, not long now till there will be peas, lettuce, kale, and strawberries coming in on a daily basis.  Over the next few days I plan to make some adjustments to my watering system, and have my brother help me with some work in the front and back yards.

The Need For Speed

One of the conundrums new gardeners face each year is when to plant each type of seed.  The seed packs always say 4-6 weeks before/after last frost date or something similar, but that's not all that helpful most of the time.  They also sometimes say what temperature the soil should be for germination, which is nice for outdoor planting, but doesn't really matter for things you start inside.  More important is the question of how fast the seeds will sprout and grow before you run out of room for them and are forced to put them outside?  And how slow will they grow?  Will you run out of summer before they are big enough to go outside?

So here's a quick list of the crops I've grown and their growing speed to give you an idea what should be planted super early, what can wait a bit and what will outgrow your indoor space before the weather warms.

Fastest to slowest:
-lettuce
-spinach
-squashes (summer and winter)
-radish
-brassicas
-melons
-peas
-beans
-tomatoes
-Swiss chard
-peppers
-carrots
-basil
-onion family (from seed, not set)
-herbs
-eggplant
-celery

I haven't grown corn yet, so have no idea how quickly it grows, but this should give an idea that you would not want to start celery and lettuce together in early Spring for a harvest at the same time.  In fact, celery is the slowest growing vegetable I've planted, which is why I usually buy it as a start.  I could plant celery in January and it still might be too small to go outside in April.  At the same time it would be pointless to plant zucchini seeds (summer squash) inside in February when it will outgrow your space by April and (here, in Oregon) can't be planted outside until the rains slow down in May.  I've lost many cucurbits to powdery mildew and no longer take any chances, plus since they grow so quickly I have plenty of time for a good harvest even after waiting out the rains.

Tomatoes are much faster growers than peppers or eggplants, if you plan to transplant all three together once the weather is warm enough you'll have to plant your eggplants, wait a week, plant the peppers, wait two more weeks and then start the tomatoes.  Otherwise your tomatoes will be far too large to keep under grow lights before the rest have a chance to catch up, especially if you have failed germination and have to replant something.

Point in case:  One row of my garden bed right now has lettuces and swiss chard that were planted inside the same day, cared for the same, and transplanted the same day as well; it also has peas that were planted outside the day the others were transplanted.  Today this row has lettuce that's nearly ready to harvest, peas that are about 6" tall, and Swiss chard that is still little more than a sprout with it's first true leaves.  I transplanted all of this on March 26th, then started some tomatoes on April 10th.  The tomatoes are already putting on their second set of true leaves, and are far ahead of the chard despite being planted 2 weeks after the chard went outside.

I hope this post is helpful in determining planting dates, and good luck with the gardens everyone!

Garden Update: Pictures!

 Garden bed 1 has grown in enough that it was safe to remove the kitty covers; 24 hours later, no plants have been torn up and no presents left behind.  Yay! (plenty of digging happening in the whiskey barrels though. Grr!)

 View of the same bed from the front side. 

Close up of cabbage, tiny carrot sprouts and lettuces.  For once I've actually been impressed with the carrot germination, usually they don't turn out this well.

Above: peas popping up through the dirt.  It seemed like I was running late on everything this year until I checked last year's notes and found that my first peas last year popped up the second week of April too.  One more reason to keep good notes on your garden!

A muffin box from the bakery worked out great for starting seeds.  The clamshell top was used as a cover until the sprouts popped up and then cut off and placed underneath as a tray.  The plants in this are 4 Delicata squash, 2 Butternut Squash, and 2 Buttercup squash.  I hate squash, but my mom really likes them, especially Delicata, so I will be growing them in the blackberry patch  to supply her with all she could ever want.  (My mom is diabetic and lives in a tiny apartment on a very limited budget, I love being able to help her out by growing tons of extra veggies that she can eat throughout the year.)

Artichokes, basil, dill, and cilantro patiently waiting for me to find places to plant them.  I was warned that artichokes tended to be poor germinators, so overplanted in case they didn't do well... but they ALL sprouted and now I'm not sure what to do with them.  Maybe the extras can go out back with the squashes?

Brassicas, onions, and a couple very healthy lettuces for bed number 2.  Now that the kitty covers are no longer needed elsewhere I should be able to get these planted this weekend.  (Unless it's pouring rain!)

Very first tomato starts (Beaverlodge Plum).  They are looking super healthy and I am just hoping they stay that way.  I have had to start most of my own hot weather seeds after all, since my brother is in California and isn't sure he'll be home in time.  These are the first hot weather seeds that have sprouted so far.  Right now a heating pad is under the flat of seeds in hopes that they'll sprout well with the extra heat.  That room tends to wobble between 63 and 75 degrees, so the heating pad is really just for insurance, especially for the eggplants which love the heat.  I kind of wish I had gotten a seedling heat mat, but I think my husband is cranky enough about the money I spent on the grow lights already :).

Hopefully my weekend will be busy and sunny and lots of work!

Things Are Moving Along

Just a quick update.  The peas are popping up like daisies... or peas.  Everything else is growing, but slowly. 

I managed to convince my yard work resistant husband to help me with tearing out more blackberries, and we got most of them chopped down.  We won't be able to get rid of the cuttings until the first weekend of May when the yard debris dumpster is brought in though.  So for now we have a pile of blackberries in the way, keeping us from digging up the roots. 

Admittedly it doesn't look much better than it did two months ago... but they grew back quite a bit in that time!  I'm also slowly (very slowly) laying down a thick layer of newspaper along the back of the house and covering that with buckets full of lava rock that I have been removing from the front yard.  Hopefully this will make a weed proof barrier that can act as a path behind the house, and protect the siding from encroaching blackberries.  i picked up a towing ball for my car so my husband can borrow his mom's trailer this weekend and we can make a dump trip or two.  My hope is that we can remove all the junk from the blackberry area and get both sheds cleaned out as well.  They still have tons of stuff the previous tenants left behind.

Eventually the back yard will house winter squashes, which i just can't seem to fit in the garden proper, and maybe some nasturtiums and sunflowers that I also ran out of space for.  The soil back there is in great shape and should work out well with just a bit of sand and compost mixed in. 

Lastly, the patio is completely scrubbed, the patio furniture moved into place, my solar lights were repaired or replaced, and most of the gardening junk has been moved.  It's finally starting to look like a nice place to spend our time in the summer.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Tulips, pansies and a cedar tree.

The first color of Spring came in these gorgeous tulips that were nearly as pretty before they bloomed due to the fabulous spotted stripes on the leaves.  The little potted cedar was a find from the front yard that I am planning to bonsai.  It needs a shallower pot though.

Volunteer sunflower.

Kale planted in January.

The "winter cabbage" that is not.

The kale in the whiskey barrel are bigger than the ones started inside now.  I have been tempted more then once to go pick all the leaves off them because I'm craving fresh veggies.  Also the winter cabbage that I rescued before turning over the big bed appears to actually be a broccoli, and is bolting now.  I guess growing for 9 months without getting anywhere made it decide to just cut its losses and start making seed.

Seedlings getting some sunshine.

Between-the-beds space all finished.

I've had my seedlings out most of the day every day this week, they are soaking up the sun and growing incredibly fast.  The space between my two large beds is all done now; weeded, un-lava rocked, planted with perennial herbs, and barked.  When the herbs grow in a bit it should look great!

Garden bed this week.

It's hard to tell but this bed has actually had some growth happening.  The cat screens make it harder to see.  The peas in the back row are just popping up, in another week or so I should be able to remove the screens and really see the difference.

Last of the pictures: I was this close to having all of the bark in the garden done... ran out about 4 square feet short.  /facepalm  Which means yet another trip to Home Depot this week.

Garden Update: Yep, Raining Again!

Since my last post it has rained all but 3 days; and it's not expected to stop for 4 more.  Luckily the weatherman is on my good side again for predicting sunshine for the next week after that!  One good week of sun should be enough to finally get all those transplants growing, and to get the second bed turned and amended and planted with more transplants.

My brother, for those who don't know, has a very nice heated grow room and was planning to get my hot weather starts going for me.  His grow room got infested with spider mites a few weeks ago though and is currently under quarantine.  Hopefully he'll still be able to get things started and grown to transplant size before June.  My fingers are crossed that we'll have tomatoes and peppers that are happy and healthy by then.  Last year he lost a lot of them to damping off and mildew issues from lack of air circulation.  This year he has a better ventilation system.

Since I gave him all my seeds for starting but the winter squash, I figured I'd go ahead and get them rolling along today.  I planted Buttercup Squash, Waltham Butternut Squash, and Delicata Squash.  Personally I am not a fan of squash; I kind of hate it.  My mom loves Delicata though, and will eat the others as well.  The main reason for growing them is to fill in the blackberry zone in the back yard.  If I tear out enough blackberries and put in squashes that grow fast and are huge and shade out the ground; my hope is the squashes will also shade out the blackberry roots and help keep them in check.  Of course, having squashes for eating isn't a bad thing either.

Meanwhile, back in the garden... Nothing in the main bed is really growing yet, a few leaves have appeared here and there but not much growth beyond that.  Who could blame them? All this rain doesn't help and they are still recovering from the transplanting.  On the plus side, none of the transplants have died, and the cat-proof covers have done their job.  The kales in the whiskey barrel are doing great though, they have really taken off and are actually putting on some decent sized leaves (about the size of my thumb), which is a big improvement over a week ago when they only had their tiny first set of leaves.

I'm still not seeing any growth from the potatoes, or the rhubarb, but I have heard they can take a while to get going. My cherry tree is popping out green leave buds though, so I guess I didn't kill it after all. :)

In other news:  I was out of town most of last week and apparently one of the cats tried to jump on my little greenhouse.  The cat broke through the plastic cover and tipped over the entire thing, including my tray of starts that was hardening off.  My husband did his best to save everything (and he did great!), I'm hoping the trauma won't do too much harm, but a few stems are looking kinked despite the plants looking as healthy as ever.

And that's the news for today!  Hope everyone's enjoying Spring and growing some garden goodness!

Planting Has Begun

Finally we had enough nice weather to dry out the soil enough.  Digging in soaking wet soil can damage soil structure, smooshing the particles together and destroying air pockets in it.  Since it stayed dry for two whole days, my beds were moist but not wet and in perfect shape for turning.  I mixed in a 1.5 cubic foot bag of garden compost to lighten things up and add organic matter, then evened it out and raked it as smooth as possible.  Then I added in a well-rounded "Garden" organic fertilizer (5-3-3); it was surprisingly hard to find a fertilizer that didn't have high levels of potassium, which my garden already has in plenty.  With occasional doses of fish emulsion to keep the nitrogen levels up I think this fertilizer will work out nicely.  I gently mixed about 1.5 pounds of fertilizer into the top few inches of soil.

Close up of Bed 2 before being turned

Once all of the soil amending was completed I measured out my square feet, and used string and thumb tacks to mark them.  All ready for planting!

Bed 1 ready for planting

My garden beds are a bit of a crazy mish-mash to the untrained eye.  While they are laid out in a square foot grid, the plants are arranged based on my particular location requirements.  For example, the peas are all along the back row where they can climb the trellis on the fence.  Garlic and onions line up along each side of the bed because slugs don't care for them and the slugs seem to come from the bare ground to either side of the bed rather than the front edge where the patio is.  Working toward the inside of the bed from there comes celery which grows taller than most of the brassicas and can help to shade them a bit as the weather gets warmer.  Then the rows of lettuce, between the celery and the brassicas, shaded by their height and away from the slug-filled edges.  The lettuce is also within easy picking range from all sides.  Lastly the brassicas fill the center of the bed, with carrots planted between rows.  Broccoli being tallest is in the back, with cauliflower and cabbage closer to the front. 

All planted and ready to grow!

After things start to grow in it should make for a pretty picture of a garden bed, with everything well located for easy harvest and mutual health. 

If the weather holds out long enough for my back to loosen up again I'll be out digging up the other bed and getting it planted as well.  The pumpkin bed will have to wait a bit, only hot weather plants are going in it.  It is also the cats' favorite place to leave me "gifts" so I want to wait until the other beds have filled in and no longer need the cat-proof screens before working on it.

Mother Nature's Got Me Singin' the Blues

I'm singin the pouring down rain blues.  It was supposed to be sunny next Monday and Tuesday, but after checking the forecast this morning I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for the sun.  My garden beds are so wet there are puddles on top of them, luckily they drain well and one good warm day will leave them workable. 

Meanwhile, I ordered some beneficial nematodes that should arrive soon.  I figured the nematodes couldn't hurt, and I have some concerns regarding the spotted cucumber beetles I saw last summer.  If they laid eggs in my soil I'd better have some defenses in place; I don't really have enough room for good crop rotation so have to use other options to control problems.

I also took some advice on my seedlings and spritzed them with 1/2 strength fish emulsion to give them a boost, one week later it seems to be paying off since they are working on putting out new leaves and aren't showing signs of nutrient shortage.  I ran a quick soil test too, to see where things are in this third year of gardening in the same soil.  I usually add some compost during the growing season to keep the plants happy, but this is the first time I've actually tested the soil to see how it's holding up.  Turns out that my soil is low on Nitrogen and Phosphorus, but a little high in Potassium. 

Nitrogen is essential to good stem and leaf growth; phosphorus is for root, seed, flower, fruit growth; and potassium is for root growth and overall plant health.  So my soil is all set to keep plants alive, but they may not grow well, or fruit/flower/seed well.  From what I can find, it looks as though my best bets for keeping things growing well are a starter of fish emulsion to get them growing followed by compost added to the beds, and fish and/or kelp meal to add micronutrients and more phosphorus.  I really aught to just dish out the cash for a professional soil test to find out what levels of micronutrients and microbes my garden has.  I know it has more than its fair share of slugs, and it's no wonder with all of this rain.

Whatever the case, I am getting more and more disappointed by the weather and feel like I'm falling way behind on things.  Luckily I do have seedlings that are doing great and can stay inside longer if needed, it's worth the late start to protect them against powdery mildew (the scourge of too early plantings).  I just need them out of the house before they get too big!

Some Days the Writing Doesn't Come So Easy

I'd like to say I've been busy in the garden and that has slowed my postings.  Sadly, that's not the case.  Instead I've had to deal with chores, kids, planning dinner, washing laundry, and the weather.  This week has gone from rain and hail (Monday), to snow (Tuesday), to bright sunny days w/ freezing temperatures (Wednesday and Thursday).  It is supposed to warm up on Friday, it is also supposed to start raining on Friday.  I just can't seem to win against the weather, either the soil is frozen or so waterlogged it can't be dug in.

Despite the fact that I desperately need to turn my beds over and amend the soil I will have to wait out the weather for that.  This means I can't plant my peas, garlic (yes, I know, I should have planted it in November) or onions yet.  In fact, while other gardeners are planting things left and right, I am stuck waiting for soil to warm and dry out a bit, and the shade to move.  The only thing I can plant right now is my potatoes since they are going in pots; of course the potting soil I have for them is frozen solid, which means they too have to wait.

The cherry tree and camellia don't seem to be the least bit phased about the weather, in fact they are both starting to show signs of new leaf buds.  I must've done something right!

Hope things improve outside soon, if my starts get too big I won't have room for them under the grow lights.

Today's seedling update:  Things are doing well; I planted too many lettuces in each pot, after some thinning I have decided I'm just going to have to move a bunch into other pots.  The final sprouts to pop up were the leeks, which are just beginning to show. 

Tray 2-planted 2/27 most of these have sprouted, though some aren't above the soil yet.

Tray 1- 2/25 everything is sprouted, lettuce are putting on first true leaves.

Who knew artichoke made such pretty little sprouts?  Hoping these won't get too big before I can move them outside and separate them.

 I ended up adding the 4' light fixture to the upper shelf because the littler ones just weren't cutting it.  it hangs over the washer a few inches, but really, who cares about clean clothes when there are plants to grow? I just have to remember to lift it out of the way to wash clothes; we don't really have to go without laundry.

So that's the news for now, I am chomping at the bit to get the garden in action.  I'll just have to rein it in a little longer.

Today's Update

The weather today has been cold and cloudy, which is a good thing.  After all the work in the yard over the weekend my body is trying to tell me I'm too old for this.  So I will take a break and recover a bit today, in preparation for the rest of the week, which is supposed to be sunny and cool.

After planting the cherry tree and the camellia I even managed to get out back and tear out another swath of blackberries.  It's starting to look like I will need to take a trip to the dump though to get rid of the last of the junk back there, and the blackberry vines I removed.  I also need to try to find a source for old newspaper.  I plan to use it to smother any remaining blackberries along the back of the house so I can put the lava rock back there and have a clear path across that yard.  Maybe I'll put a post on Craigslist and see if someone's got a stockpile they're willing to part with.

Once it's a bit nicer out I'll get some pictures up of the blackberry disaster, and my progress in removing it.

I have a lot of plans for the yard this year that have been put off for a while as I was investing in the garden itself.  This year it's time to spruce up the rest of the yard though.  Edging the grass, removing all the lava rock, adding bark mulch, laying new gravel in the paths.  Those areas have all gone a long time with little maintenance, and as the garden is expanding into them it's becoming time to finally get them up to snuff.  Also the mobile home park has a new manager who is more determined than ever to make this place look appealing to new tenants.  So I am forced to pay more attention to the public areas in front of the house.

For today, I will relax, and do some planning.  Making a list of stuff to buy for the garden needs to be done.  More bark, a bag or two of compost, and old newspaper are on the list already. 

My rhubarb root division should arrive in a couple weeks too, I cleared out the area for it yesterday while planting the camellia.  The artichokes will also go in that area, at the end of the strawberry bed.  I'm trying to keep my perennial edibles in one area so I can easily water and harvest them but they aren't mixed in with the annuals (where the soil is turned and amended yearly and would disturb them), it's a nice sunny spot too that should have excellent soil under all the lava rock.

Lastly, I scattered my packet of beneficial bug mix flowers in the empty lot in hopes of improving it's look, and attracting more beneficials to the area.  We shall see if that is helpful or was a waste of money soon enough.

That's my update for now; still planning a garlic culture post soon and an onion and garlic harvest post as well, so stay tuned.

Cherry Tree Achieved, And Other News

With two whole rain-free days over 50 degrees, I have made the most of the nice weather.  Yesterday my daughter and I finished up weeding the beds, cleaned out the strawberry bed, laid down another bag of bark mulch, and trimmed the candytuft and dead daylily leaves from last summer.

Cleaned up strawberry bed, only the strong were left behind. Still looks pretty messy.

One of the reasons I didn't join in the garden frenzy of getting things planted this weekend, like so many other gardeners, was that my beds are still completely shaded by the fence.

A few more weeks and the front edge of the beds will finally see some sun.

More importantly, my dwarf Bing cherry tree finally got put in the ground.  My husband was kind enough to do all the hard work of raking off the top layer of lava rock and digging the hole.  Then we poured in a small pile of compost, spread the roots around the pile, and held the tree in place while filling the hole in around it.  My fingers are crossed and I'm hoping it will do well. 

View of the cherry from the road.  Not much of a view yet.

Cherry tree, between the new sprouts of the daylilies.

The next thing on my list of garden to-do items is planting the camellia.  If I don't collapse in agony after that, it's back to work on the blackberries.  I might just be able to get ahead of them before they really start growing. 

Tools are all ready for the camellia.

Camellia all ready to be planted. Only one not ready is me!

Hope everyone's out there enjoying some sunshine!