I'm in the Garden

Towards the end of June

I took this picture yesterday when there was a brief display of sunshine. Looking at the weather statistics June is likely to tie the record for the fewest 80-degree days. Disappointing because we all need to see blue skies throughout the spring and summer and we’ve only reached 80 degrees twice this year.

The garden is continuing to look lush with lots of green and the strawberries are prize winning, as far as I’m concerned.

 

 

 

The flowers in my yard, as well as the whole neighborhood are beautiful. The cooler, yet long days keeps them full of color and long lasting. Even though the sun isn’t out, there are loads of colorful blooms. Oregon is truly living up to it’s ‘green’ reputation.

 

 

I’m anxious for the upcoming holiday weekend. The forecast is promising 80 degrees through next Tuesday!  Wow! Almost like summer!

A Productive Weekend

We had another lovely, sunny weekend. Everyone in the neighborhood was out edging, trimming, mowing and weeding and the yards all look more beautiful for the effort.  We even had to take an extra load to the recycling center, as we had no more containers in which to put our trimmings.

I’m concerned for the tomatoes. I’m just not sure there will be enough summer to bring them to their juicy goodness. Usually by now I’d see a few little green orbs, but not this year. Time will tell. I still love the tomatoey smell when I brush past the bush; it’s like a preview of coming attractions.

Both lettuces are growing nicely. I’ve sewn new seed to keep up with our salad needs.

 

 

 

Most of my blueberry shrubs show very few berries. My one big old shrub that I purchased last year (25 years old) is the sparsest of all.  I talked to the woman at the nursery and she said I should add fertilizer in February, just before they set their flowers. Good to know for next year.

 

     

 

Both the marionberry and raspberry bushes are loaded with hard, green fruit. Nothing a little sunshine won’t help.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The peas are getting nice and plump.

 

 

 

 

I planted French Breakfast radishes on 6/15 and they’re already up. I’m excited! I’ve never grown radishes before.

 

 

 

Strawberries are awesome! I picked a bunch of them and made freezer jam!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I purchased a fig tree. it’s called ‘Improved Brown Turkey Fig.’  It’s cold hardy and should grow nicely in our climate. It will stay small so I’m thinking I’ll move it into the fenced garden. I’m also thinking I can’t wait to make strawberry/fig jam next year!

 

 

 

 

 

Even the front yard got an edging. it truly was a productive weekend. 

 

The Newest Fence!

The fence around the older raised beds is now complete! It’s great; only about 2 feet tall, but enough to keep the dogs out, while allowing an easy step over to enter.  Adds quite a tidiness to the yard.

 

As previously mentioned, this garden plot was originally quite functional but too open for wild, running pups. The edges were lined with bricks, which we lifted to change the gardens edge.

 

 

           

Bricks were re-laid and           posts were anchored in gravel.

 

 

 

 

        The guys lined up the fence sections and anchored the end to the fence

 

 

 

 

This picture shows where the two gardens are in relation to one another.

 

 

 

                                         Another great project complete!

 

Please visit Janet's House and let me know your thoughts on chicken keeping

First Day of Summer

What a beautiful day!

The peonies are a bit beat down by the recent rains but a bundle of them held up to the blue skies makes me happy!

 

Other Wonderful Things:

 

While attempting to trim out another old fern, mama bird fluttered away leaving her sweet nest unattended.  I was very careful and used the telephoto lens to capture three perfectly blue speckled eggs. I then left her alone and moved on to another area in the yard.

 

 

On the side of the highway, while waiting for a green light I spotted this sign. I looked closely and read:    “Do Not Mow, Nesting Songbirds!”   

                  

 

 

 

I’m so impressed, because as you can see by the long, messy grasses, it has not been mowed!

A Little Bit of Bounty

Thank goodness for cool weather crops. Yesterday was beautiful.  I saved my work in the garden for today and woke up to a light mist, followed by drizzle, and downright rain by noon. My plans for work in the garden dampened (quite literally) by rain.

Big raincoat, waterproof shoes and off to harvest dinner. Stir fry will be nice.

This is the first year I’ve planted cool weather crops and I’m so glad I did. Satisfaction through the grey cloudy days that our May and June have delivered.

Weather outlook: Sunny!

Things to accomplish: Finish low fence around old raised beds, Weed, weed, weed! Fertilize and tie up the asparagus.

As we Oregonians say “Oh well, as soon as the sun comes out we’ll be complaining that it’s too hot.” I don’t know about that.

 

                     Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there!! 

 

Garden Journal

Lots going on in the garden. It’s beginning to warm up and there is a bit of ripening in the works. I ate a strawberry yesterday. Yummmm! The peas are starting to look good enough to eat; in fact I did. The bees are all over the raspberry blossoms.

We are still working on building the low fence around the older raised beds. We picked up the lumber and screws and we’re ready to go. Should be completed by next weekend.

I worked a couple of the beds and planted a tomatillo and poblano pepper, then put a temporary fence around it. I also sowed French Breakfast Radish seeds, carrots and quite a bit of basil. The cauliflower is coming along and looks quite sweet.

I checked with the nursery about the European Rescue Pear that I purchased and they assured me that it is self pollinating.  Good. One thing I read that I found quite interesting was that the blossoms on a pear tree are quite insignificant so it’s important not to plant showy flowers nearby. I guess we want the bees to be satisfied with the pear blossoms and not be tempted by some other lovely.

Anyway, the weather should be okay for a few days, so I must remember to water. The roses are finally blooming. Quite late, but so beautiful!  

A Pear Tree

I purchased a pear tree yesterday.  I’d been wanting one for a couple of years and yesterday I was visiting Cornell Farms Nursery and roamed out back to the fruit trees. I was immediately taken with this one. It’s a bit difficult to see its branches with the green background, but it’s nicely shaped.

I like the way the branches look already and spent time talking with the woman working there to make sure I knew just what to do in order to give this little pear tree a good life.

• She said ‘yes’, I could plant it in a pot.
• In July I should lop about 12-18” off the top to encourage the new limbs to shoot out vertically.
• I should fertilize it in the fall before it goes dormant.
• It can probably live in this pot for 3-4 years.
• We should get pears as early as next year.

The tree is a European Rescue, semi-dwarf and should produce nice big fruit with a reddish tinge. I’m wondering if I need a second tree for pollination purposes. A phone call or another trip to the nursery is planned to find out. Any pear experts out there?? Let me know.

The pot is a good solid, dense concrete that will winter over just fine. I added the stick and tied the trunk to it to make sure it holds tight in the wind. I’ll take good care of it and maybe someday we’ll enjoy pears as lovely as the ones in the picture, from my kitchen.

Busy Weekend

   

I don’t usually like to show “before” pictures without having the “after” pictures to show off the end result for all the hard work.  We accomplished a lot this weekend but we’re not to “after” yet.  Maybe next weekend. We pulled ivy, scrapped grass and took a large load to the yard debris dump. Bricks were laid to help define the edges.

We’ve decided to add a low fence around the original raised beds. Enclosed, this garden will be much more purposeful. As it is, I tend to use the raised beds for onions and garlic. I can’t put something in that needs good, organic, smelly, rich soil or my dogs nostrils begin flaring and the next thing I know they’re out there eating my dirt. One dog will eat just about any berry, tomato or sweet ripe veggie. Soon he’ll have to lust after them from afar.

So, enough dealing with the pups; we’ll put a two foot high fence around the beds. We’ll be able to step over the fence, and luckily our dogs aren’t jumpers so it should work nicely. I’m anxiously awaiting completion.

This garden is to the far left of my larger, enclosed vegetable garden and there’s a lovely little space in-between that I enjoy very much. There is a beautiful Maple tree, a large fern, and lots of mountain bluets (Centaurea montana). I enjoy the blue forget-me-nots (Myosotis alpestris) and grape hyacinth ( Muscari armeniacum) in the spring and just purchased a couple of lavenders to take the blue through the summer.  Follow up photos next week, weather permitting.

 

Things I saw this weekend:

• The baby birds have left the nest (fledged)
• A tiny green frog hopped from leaf to branch
• A bald eagle flying overhead, right here in suburbia. Two crows were flying back and forth around him, cawing and carrying on, almost as if heralding him. They were definitely excited. So was I!

65 Degrees and Sunny!

Going on record today as the first day it was truly necessary to water the garden. Yikes! June 9th!  Although we’ve had a few nice days, they were always surrounded by rainy ones.  It’s been cool for several days, but no rain and today the sun came out!  I actually had to dig around in the shed to find a nozzle for the hose. It always seems like I’m participating in the growing process when I get to water. Otherwise, once I provide the soil and the initial planting it’s all up to Mother Nature. I appreciate being in on the continuing process.

 

I’m still keeping an eye on this one strawberry. Of course there are other strawberries but this one holds the most excitement. it is right at the corner of the raised bed and I see it every time I enter the garden. It ripening slowly, but I think if the weather holds, I will be eating it on Monday or Tuesday. I will treat it as the delicacy that I believe it is.

 

 

 

 

I added quite a bit of soil to hill up the potato plants. That’s a bit of lettuce at the front left.

 

 

I couldn’t resist digging up a few onions to enjoy for lunch. I know they should be left in the ground longer but it’s a beautiful day and I was bound and determined to eat lunch from the garden.

 

I chopped and slivered the onions, added a rainbow chard leaf, cilantro and Italian Parsley from the pot on the front porch…  

 

 

 

…added two beautiful farm fresh eggs from my favorite farmers market stand, and enjoyed a truly delicious lunch!

  

Now it’s out to the front yard to plant a few annuals. With any luck we’ll enjoy a lovely, weekend.  

                                               busy bee!

Garden Notes

Thinning carrots brings a sweet reward.  They are doing quite nicely. After rinsing, I ate them. Yum!

 

 

See that very pale pink strawberry?

C'mon sun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With any luck, we’ll be eating broccoli soon!

 

 

 

 

 I trussed the marion berries up a bit to keep them from becoming ground cover. I need to find out more about their growth patterns to make sure I am treating them well.

 

 

 

 

The peas have lots of blossoms which will turn into peas, weather permitting. I’m afraid if it suddenly gets too warm I’ll lose them. Still, it’s fun to give them a try.

 

Still cloudy and cool after a lovely warm, sunny weekend. Sunday night brought thunder, lightening and loads of rain. Oh well, sun, then rain…grow, grow, grow!

Bush Baby Surprise!

A sweet song sparrow has a nest of babies in the large fern in my garden. I was trimming out the old fronds and about leapt out of my skin when I reached in to separate the fronds and saw three very wide open mouths!  I had noticed mom watching me earlier, but she was totally silent as I dug, pruned, clipped and tidied the garden. It never occurred to me that I’d happen upon babies. We were unaware that we were weeding in her nesting area and luckily didn’t come across the nest until we were almost finished. I apologize to her for taking one more look to take a picture but she was patient with me. I later caught her with a mouthful of something for the babies.  I’ll leave her alone now to tend to their needs.

The Northwest Garden as I like to call it looks much better. I trimmed the fir tree just a bit and found a beautiful Hosta tucked back there. The Vine Maples needed a bit of trimming also, but mostly I just removed lots of weeds and grasses. It’s funny; to get that natural, native look I’ve got to fight Mother Nature by getting rid of all the ‘native’ weeds and grasses.

This garden is to the right of the fenced-in vegetable garden, so I enjoy tucking in edibles such as a couple of strawberry plants, a nice old blueberry bush and two huckleberry bushes. I rarely see any ripe huckleberries, as the birds must get to them before I do. I guess that’s why ‘mother sparrow’ nested so near. I always feel like I’m doing something right when another creature is happy to move in.

June 1, 2011

Last night brought more rain. Everything is very lush and green.  In May I planted potatoes, yes a bit late, but they are already up several inches so I’ll remember to add soil to cover them. The strawberries are full of blossoms and some very green small berries.

I took the ‘walls of water’ off the tomatoes. Actually, the two on the right had collapsed, but after emptying and bracing the plastic I left the empty ‘walls’ around the tomatoes to protect them a bit.  Oddly, the one on the left that was intact looked pretty awful when I removed the ‘wall’.  Too much humidity with all of our rain??

The broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts all look quite grand with large leaves, but still not much in the way of actual veggie heads. I hope the predicted 80 degree weekend coming up won’t cause them to suddenly bolt.

It will be interesting to see our weather change into summer. I must continue to weed throughout the yard. I have several raised beds to the far left of this garden that I need to ready for lettuce and basil.

I stayed true to my plans last month and got all the wood chips delivered and spread. I moved the compost farther back in the open space next to the shed on the right. Great place for a chicken coop if I decided on that. I spent all day Monday cleaning up the edge along the fence. I haven’t yet put a barrier to discourage the grass from trying to get into the garden area.

I’ve found that publicly stating what my plans keeps me quite disciplined and on task. Good idea! For the month of June my tasks will be to weed (always!), not forget the rest of the yard and get the annuals planted.

 

                 Things I saw in May:

More raise beds in front yards. Yay!    

 

 

                   from simple.…

 …..to elegant

 

 

 

A sweet chickadee waiting

for me to move along so he

can get to the bird house on our deck.

 

Lots of people at the Farmers Market, even though it was raining.

 

Here’s a look at my front yard after a very successful weeding afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Side note: I’ve started a community page on Facebook here called "In and out of the Garden." It will keep you in touch with both my blogs, this one and Janet's house, as well as things I think you might find of interest in the community. I think it will be fun. Check it out and “like” it. Thanks!!