I never expected that one day after months of dutiful watering and fertilizing, I'd notice that 4 tomato plants are as tall as I am. Or that the lettuce is crowding each other and are each larger than the heads I find in the grocery store. Of that I'd have thousands of nasturtiums blooming along my drive.
The beds, which once looked so empty are now overflowing with squash leaves and parsley. The chives are dwarfed by everything else. The red onions are as tall as my knee. I was wondering why I didn't need to weed, and looking up in shock, I notice it's because everything else is shading the ground.
The radishes bolted the second they could, but I've replaced them with turnips, which seem to have no aspirations to bolt. I've had zucchini's and crooknecks every other day for the past week and you wouldn't know by looking at their parent plants.
Josh and I have had salads twice now and we've got plenty more lettuce where that came from. Soon, the carrots will grace those bowls :)
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Not much to tell
I haven't updated in a while because there's not much to tell. June was so wet and cold that nothing grew. July's had a few warm days but mostly it's just low 70's. Today I don't even think I'll take my sweater off. The chill seems to be stunting the growth of all my plants, well except the tomatillos.
The greenbeans have wound about 3 feet high up their posts now, and they've all got flowers on them. One of the tomatoes gave up the ghost, an early girl, 3rd one I've killed this year. The full size tomato plants haven't make tomatoes yet, but the grapes and cherries all have little green fruits and one of them has an almost orange fruit. Most of the squashes died except for 2 crooknecks and a zuchinni, who just opened his first flower yesterday. The crooknecks are making squashes, but most of the squashes have died, except one which is getting bigger every day. All except two of the radishes bolted and made such yucky leaves that I didn't even get the greens. The two radishes were very nice and radishy. Carrots are working their way into being carrots.
Tomatillos are going gangbuster, so I'll definitely do them again next year. I must have a hundred little paper lanterns started, and the plants are getting taller every day. Hope everyone I know likes salsa verde. The jalepeno just opened it's flowers. Here's hoping September's warm, or else many of my veggies won't get to harvest. The neighbor gave me 12 red onions, and about half of them are doing well. The others are just kinda seeing how small they can be.
I wonder if the colder weather has anything to do with all the ash put up by that Icelandic volcano last spring. I've read in geology books that volcanos can make summers colder if enough particles block the sun. Much as I'd like to blame my current climatic woes on BP....
My friend at work gave me 4 dahila bulbs, and one of them is already a foot high. The others are looking good too ^.^
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Weekend update
We discovered a nursery in shoreline called Sky Nursery, and it had really pretty plants at better prices than the one closer to my house. They ever had composting worms, so if my current batch goes tits up I can get more there. Not that it's likely; they're doing great. I've got lots of big fat ones and a swarm of tiny littles ones. I put some watermelon rinds in there a few days ago, and worms have integrated themselves into the rinds. I think I'll stop fussing with them for now and give them some time to breed and eat undisturbed. Don't want my rummaging to inadvertently kill the next generation of worms.
We did get out of the nursery without spending crazy amounts of money, only 24$ for two lupines that Josh fell in love with, 4 marigolds, and a bag of compost. I think I like this compost better than the cedar grove compost I've been buying, so if I need more I'll get that stuff.
The marigolds will hopefully do a good job as companion plants for the south wall veggies. I saw a honey bee getting dinner there a half hour after placing them. I'm optimistic he'll frequent the nearby tomatillos with the same gusto. Speaking of bees, I found this local woodworker who makes mason bee nests out of reclaimed wood, and I think I'll get a box from him next spring. The internet says mason bees in our area are already done for the year, so it's too late to get one now. But since I want to get a plum tree next year, mason bees are high on my list of desireables. Good thing I did a stitch of research; our native mason looks almost exactly like a house fly.
The lupines are along the front of the house along with a geranium I got for free and some chicks and hens that I had in a pot. It looked like some roly polies had been eating the rotting leaves off the bottom of the chicks and hens, so I put lots of leaves near it when I planted it to give them something useful to much on. Apparently roly polies (woodlice) are good at returning nutrients to the soil but will munch on living plants if dead ones aren't available. It's a good argument to mulch the beds with dead leaves this winter.
One of my coworkers was nice enough to give me dahilas, so I've planted the bulbs between the honeysuckle and azaela. We'll see what comes up.
We did get out of the nursery without spending crazy amounts of money, only 24$ for two lupines that Josh fell in love with, 4 marigolds, and a bag of compost. I think I like this compost better than the cedar grove compost I've been buying, so if I need more I'll get that stuff.
The marigolds will hopefully do a good job as companion plants for the south wall veggies. I saw a honey bee getting dinner there a half hour after placing them. I'm optimistic he'll frequent the nearby tomatillos with the same gusto. Speaking of bees, I found this local woodworker who makes mason bee nests out of reclaimed wood, and I think I'll get a box from him next spring. The internet says mason bees in our area are already done for the year, so it's too late to get one now. But since I want to get a plum tree next year, mason bees are high on my list of desireables. Good thing I did a stitch of research; our native mason looks almost exactly like a house fly.
The lupines are along the front of the house along with a geranium I got for free and some chicks and hens that I had in a pot. It looked like some roly polies had been eating the rotting leaves off the bottom of the chicks and hens, so I put lots of leaves near it when I planted it to give them something useful to much on. Apparently roly polies (woodlice) are good at returning nutrients to the soil but will munch on living plants if dead ones aren't available. It's a good argument to mulch the beds with dead leaves this winter.
One of my coworkers was nice enough to give me dahilas, so I've planted the bulbs between the honeysuckle and azaela. We'll see what comes up.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Slacking off
Here I was with all these rainy days where I could have updated this journal but didn't. The weather's been rainy and icky and I haven't had much of a chance to to much other than looking pleadingly at my tomato plants and pray for their little leaves. A few things seem to be happy. The summer squashes aren't growing much, but you can tell they're putting in deep roots; they look stronger by the day.
The nasturtiums are getting bigger every time I look at them. I'm convinced that they'll bloom by Josh's birthday on the 20th. They're now sharing their beds with the radishes and lettuce, which I just planted in the garden. The radishes are alarming; almost all of them added an extra leaf since I moved them from their egg cartons to the garden on Monday. I'm worried that the lettuce is too bunched together because it's not adding leaves, althought the leaves they do have are getting bigger. It's not a head sort of lettuce like iceberg, but more leafy. The packet said it's a mesclun mix or something of that sort. Either way I left the package outside in the rain so I threw it away.
The herbs all seem happy, but apparently in a fit of crazy I put nasturtim seeds down practically underneath the chives. I was going to move them, but most of the chives are far enough away, and if the chives that are right on top of the growing nasturtium can handle the cramped conditions, it'll look really pretty. I've put down some organic fertilizer and hoped for the best.
Not sure if the pots on the south yard were the brightest idea; they don't seem to be growing much and the tomatillos are getting muched on. I'll move some marigolds over there to tempt away the muncher. Or maybe the excess rain is making it vulnerable. Maybe the potting mix is too rich... Will have to google it.
And the tomatoes... oh, the tomatoes. This el Nino year is just beating them up. In the 20 days or so since I've planted them in the garden we've had 3 days without rain. And most days last week, the weather man said it rained over an inch. One of the tomato plants I think I'm just going to have to dig up and give up. His leaves are half yellow and the two lowest branches have turned black near the stalk of the plant. A few others look fair, and two of them are actually looking great. The best looking one is the Brandywine that gets the least amount of sun, and the other one is planted just north of a large granite rock; I think the rock is keeping it warm. I think it's a cherry but I don't remember.
Well this weekend's supposed to be sunny, so I'll probably start staking what's surviving.
The nasturtiums are getting bigger every time I look at them. I'm convinced that they'll bloom by Josh's birthday on the 20th. They're now sharing their beds with the radishes and lettuce, which I just planted in the garden. The radishes are alarming; almost all of them added an extra leaf since I moved them from their egg cartons to the garden on Monday. I'm worried that the lettuce is too bunched together because it's not adding leaves, althought the leaves they do have are getting bigger. It's not a head sort of lettuce like iceberg, but more leafy. The packet said it's a mesclun mix or something of that sort. Either way I left the package outside in the rain so I threw it away.
The herbs all seem happy, but apparently in a fit of crazy I put nasturtim seeds down practically underneath the chives. I was going to move them, but most of the chives are far enough away, and if the chives that are right on top of the growing nasturtium can handle the cramped conditions, it'll look really pretty. I've put down some organic fertilizer and hoped for the best.
Not sure if the pots on the south yard were the brightest idea; they don't seem to be growing much and the tomatillos are getting muched on. I'll move some marigolds over there to tempt away the muncher. Or maybe the excess rain is making it vulnerable. Maybe the potting mix is too rich... Will have to google it.
And the tomatoes... oh, the tomatoes. This el Nino year is just beating them up. In the 20 days or so since I've planted them in the garden we've had 3 days without rain. And most days last week, the weather man said it rained over an inch. One of the tomato plants I think I'm just going to have to dig up and give up. His leaves are half yellow and the two lowest branches have turned black near the stalk of the plant. A few others look fair, and two of them are actually looking great. The best looking one is the Brandywine that gets the least amount of sun, and the other one is planted just north of a large granite rock; I think the rock is keeping it warm. I think it's a cherry but I don't remember.
Well this weekend's supposed to be sunny, so I'll probably start staking what's surviving.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Stakes
Went out looking for stakes yesterday with Josh, in the optimist/foolish hope that the rain will stop long enough for my plants to actually grow. Weather man says we're starting June with a pretty big storm, so I guess not. This close to potting everything up, bringing them inside and putting grow lights over them.
But anyways, back to the stakes. They're hazelnut shoots we found on craigslist. I didn't want to pay 10-15$ a piece for tomato cages, and these sticks were 0.50$ a piece. Got 26 10 foot long sticks for 15$ (I didn't have 13$, and the guy was so nice I thought he deserved the extra 2$). The sellers are this adorable little old couple, Bob and June that had been working this acre for 30 years in Everett. Their garden had an orchard, a rose garden, veggie garden, green house, worm bin, everything you'd want. And it was a bit overgrown, so it had that sort of magical feeling. There were birds nesting right in the middle of the property, and that was just adorable. I think they were thrushes but not robyns. Their garden sorta helped me put to rest any questions I had about comfrey. Ok, the purple blossoms were beautiful. They wasn't too tall, and looked very handsom in the shade under the orchard trees. But it was EVERYWHERE. They told me these were the decendants of one plant June bought 30 years ago. They'd tried an eradication technique a few years ago where they put down lots of black plastic to kill them off. Instead, they sent roots out until they found the light. Kinda thinking comfrey is not worth it...
But anyways, back to the stakes. They're hazelnut shoots we found on craigslist. I didn't want to pay 10-15$ a piece for tomato cages, and these sticks were 0.50$ a piece. Got 26 10 foot long sticks for 15$ (I didn't have 13$, and the guy was so nice I thought he deserved the extra 2$). The sellers are this adorable little old couple, Bob and June that had been working this acre for 30 years in Everett. Their garden had an orchard, a rose garden, veggie garden, green house, worm bin, everything you'd want. And it was a bit overgrown, so it had that sort of magical feeling. There were birds nesting right in the middle of the property, and that was just adorable. I think they were thrushes but not robyns. Their garden sorta helped me put to rest any questions I had about comfrey. Ok, the purple blossoms were beautiful. They wasn't too tall, and looked very handsom in the shade under the orchard trees. But it was EVERYWHERE. They told me these were the decendants of one plant June bought 30 years ago. They'd tried an eradication technique a few years ago where they put down lots of black plastic to kill them off. Instead, they sent roots out until they found the light. Kinda thinking comfrey is not worth it...
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Worm Bins and Unwise shopping
We were debating on what sort of food digester to have for our scraps. We don't have a garbage disposal at the new house since we're on septic, and anyway now that we have a garden it'd be nice to put that waste to good use. We were thinking of either a homemade green cone or a worm bin. In the end, after looking at online instructions and asking people on the Alternative Kitchen Garden's facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=6726001735) we decided to keep our compost pile for grass clippings and whatnot and have a worm bin. We're picking up the little wigglies today from a lady on craigslist and we've got the bedding shredded, all we need to do it wet it down. Some banana peels and coffee grounds are lying in wait for their first meal too. Josh can't wait for the little guys, it's like I gave him permission for 500 new pets.
While I went about searching for worms yesterday, it appears that I forgot that was the whole point of running to the nursury. I told myself that I had as many plants as I could maintain in my first year garden, but apparently I forgot all about that the second I walked into Molbak's. There were tomatillos, jalapenos, artichokes, and hostas all for very reasonable prices. So now, the four very large pots that had contained my ash tree and rhododendrons at my apartment are now lined up along the south wall of my house with their new charges. The hosta's under the cedar tree, as he'd probably keel over on the south wall.
Molbak's had this potting soil that has bat guano and is advertised to contain no less than 15% chicken manure, so I'd better get the biggest tomatillos in the world out of this experiment. I love tomatillos, I love any sort of green Mexican sauce made from tomatillos, so in my own defense I couldn't resist. When we got back and came to our senses, we realized we didn't have red worms for the bin Josh was constructing, so I went out in search. There are two pretty massive gardens within walking distance of my house, so I grabbed some fancy terracotta pots for barter and went out. The first garden is attached to a house that was just sold, and they didn't have any worms. The second house didn't keep worms either, but somehow I was gifted a cherry tomato plant and a purple heirloom tomato plant. Now I already have 5 tomato plants, but who could resist a purple heirloom tomato?! If anything, its seeds will give me good leverage in a seed swap next year. And I love tomato sauce, tomato salsa, etc. and I know how to can, so they won't go to waste.
In the end I came back worm free, but craigslist had a couple of people selling composting worms. One of them is nearby, and now we're back where I started.
While I went about searching for worms yesterday, it appears that I forgot that was the whole point of running to the nursury. I told myself that I had as many plants as I could maintain in my first year garden, but apparently I forgot all about that the second I walked into Molbak's. There were tomatillos, jalapenos, artichokes, and hostas all for very reasonable prices. So now, the four very large pots that had contained my ash tree and rhododendrons at my apartment are now lined up along the south wall of my house with their new charges. The hosta's under the cedar tree, as he'd probably keel over on the south wall.
Molbak's had this potting soil that has bat guano and is advertised to contain no less than 15% chicken manure, so I'd better get the biggest tomatillos in the world out of this experiment. I love tomatillos, I love any sort of green Mexican sauce made from tomatillos, so in my own defense I couldn't resist. When we got back and came to our senses, we realized we didn't have red worms for the bin Josh was constructing, so I went out in search. There are two pretty massive gardens within walking distance of my house, so I grabbed some fancy terracotta pots for barter and went out. The first garden is attached to a house that was just sold, and they didn't have any worms. The second house didn't keep worms either, but somehow I was gifted a cherry tomato plant and a purple heirloom tomato plant. Now I already have 5 tomato plants, but who could resist a purple heirloom tomato?! If anything, its seeds will give me good leverage in a seed swap next year. And I love tomato sauce, tomato salsa, etc. and I know how to can, so they won't go to waste.
In the end I came back worm free, but craigslist had a couple of people selling composting worms. One of them is nearby, and now we're back where I started.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
What's in the Garden so Far
Our garden's going to be small this year, as we weren't able to even start working on it till May 15th. Our house closed on May 3rd, but we were so busy painting, cleaning and donating all the stuff the old tenant left inside that we just couldn't think about the outside yet. Our new across the street neighbor, Brian was sweet enough to mow the lawn for us until we were moved in properly. You know, once we got the 3,000 lbs of stuff the old tenant left on the lawn to the dump. The old tenant was pretty gross, I don't think he moved more than his cars and his clothes and just left everything else here for us.
May 15th was a big day for us. Josh rented a roto-tiller bright and early at 7am and dug me two veggie plots, flower beds along both sides of the drive way, and two flower beds along the house. The ground is really rocky, but we made lemonade out of those lemons by lining the beds with the rocks, which now (has it only been 5 days?) look very nice with their borders of river stone. The two veggie plots will be henceforth called the North Plot and the South Plot, and the flower beds along the drive way will be called the North Strip and the South Strip. The ones along the house probably won't contain veggies, so I probably won't mention them again.
After roto tilling, I took a big bag of organic compost and started working it in. We were going to let the soil rest for a few days before we did anything else, but wouldn't you know not a few seconds after the compost was added I was in dirt so soft I could make holes for the cucumbers with my fingers. The North Plot got 2 tomato plants (one cherry, the other I don't recall the name of but it's a larger variety, but not so big as to be a beefsteak), a chili pepper plant, 3 yellow squash plants, 4 blue lake bean plants, 4 cucumbers, 3 zucchinis, and two green onions that were left over from last year. Today I was wondering around and two of the yellow squashes don't look so hot; their baby leaves are curling under and turning yellow and their grown up leaves aren't exactly out yet. I'm giving those two another week or so to see if they perk up and if not, culling them and giving my best wishes to the remaining one.
The South plot is more of an herb garden. That bed surrounds a the stump of what I think used to be a Douglas Fir tree. That bed got less compost because I figured the decaying stump would give lots of nutrients. I don't know anything about planting anything around and within old dead tree roots so no one tell me, this is a little experiment. I'd like to use that area in the next few years as host to a plum tree, so I'm hoping the herbs' roots will get into the dead tree roots and break them up to make way for the plum. I put a bay tree there, Lori tells me that they aren't winter hardy here, but the nursery I bought him from said he's cold tolerant to 10 degrees, and it has never been that cold here in my life, so he's staying put. A bunch of cilantro went out there as well, along with a rosemary bush who's just finished flowering, a lemon thyme that just started flowering, a million little chive plants, oregano, and two tomato plants. One of the tomatoes is a cherry variety and the other was a gift from one of my new neighbors. I tell ya, buying a house from a complete slob has its advantages. The previous tenant set the bar so low that by simply not keeping garbage on the front lawn, Josh and I are the neighborhood heroes. Brian came over and tacked up a roof tile, I get a tomato plant, another neighbor Jackie gave me a vine maple. It's just been great. If we'd bought this place from someone who was tidy, then all the neighbors would have noticed is that Josh dresses in all black and they'd be worried that he'd shoot up the block.
But back to this gift tomato. He's a brandywine, and all I knew about brandywines was that they are an heirloom variety. I looked him up and wow he's a monster! It takes him twice as long as the other larger variety I got to give mature tomatoes (I just remembered that was an early girl), he gets enormous and his tomatoes can be a pound and a half each! Jeez I hope he tastes good in salsa because that's where he's going.
On Monday I put nasturtium seeds down on the North and South strips. My great grandmother used to feed them to me out of her garden, and I always thought they were so pretty. Erik had them at the farm and once told me they were the easiest thing to grow. I wanted a nice flower that would go all summer, and I hope they'll fit the bill, plus spice up a salad or two. I sowed some radish and lettuce seeds in old egg cartons as well with the intention of planting them next to the nasturtiums. The seed packets indicate that the radishes will sprout well before the lettuce, but it's the other way around for me. I popped them in the dirt on Saturday and now on Wednesday I have lettuce babies and no radish babies, weird. We'll see what happens. Seattle Tilth is putting on a seedling sale this Saturday, and if I don't see baby radishes by then, I'll just buy them there. I also started dill and parsley in egg cartons, but I don't expect to see them up anytime soon.
May 15th was a big day for us. Josh rented a roto-tiller bright and early at 7am and dug me two veggie plots, flower beds along both sides of the drive way, and two flower beds along the house. The ground is really rocky, but we made lemonade out of those lemons by lining the beds with the rocks, which now (has it only been 5 days?) look very nice with their borders of river stone. The two veggie plots will be henceforth called the North Plot and the South Plot, and the flower beds along the drive way will be called the North Strip and the South Strip. The ones along the house probably won't contain veggies, so I probably won't mention them again.
After roto tilling, I took a big bag of organic compost and started working it in. We were going to let the soil rest for a few days before we did anything else, but wouldn't you know not a few seconds after the compost was added I was in dirt so soft I could make holes for the cucumbers with my fingers. The North Plot got 2 tomato plants (one cherry, the other I don't recall the name of but it's a larger variety, but not so big as to be a beefsteak), a chili pepper plant, 3 yellow squash plants, 4 blue lake bean plants, 4 cucumbers, 3 zucchinis, and two green onions that were left over from last year. Today I was wondering around and two of the yellow squashes don't look so hot; their baby leaves are curling under and turning yellow and their grown up leaves aren't exactly out yet. I'm giving those two another week or so to see if they perk up and if not, culling them and giving my best wishes to the remaining one.
The South plot is more of an herb garden. That bed surrounds a the stump of what I think used to be a Douglas Fir tree. That bed got less compost because I figured the decaying stump would give lots of nutrients. I don't know anything about planting anything around and within old dead tree roots so no one tell me, this is a little experiment. I'd like to use that area in the next few years as host to a plum tree, so I'm hoping the herbs' roots will get into the dead tree roots and break them up to make way for the plum. I put a bay tree there, Lori tells me that they aren't winter hardy here, but the nursery I bought him from said he's cold tolerant to 10 degrees, and it has never been that cold here in my life, so he's staying put. A bunch of cilantro went out there as well, along with a rosemary bush who's just finished flowering, a lemon thyme that just started flowering, a million little chive plants, oregano, and two tomato plants. One of the tomatoes is a cherry variety and the other was a gift from one of my new neighbors. I tell ya, buying a house from a complete slob has its advantages. The previous tenant set the bar so low that by simply not keeping garbage on the front lawn, Josh and I are the neighborhood heroes. Brian came over and tacked up a roof tile, I get a tomato plant, another neighbor Jackie gave me a vine maple. It's just been great. If we'd bought this place from someone who was tidy, then all the neighbors would have noticed is that Josh dresses in all black and they'd be worried that he'd shoot up the block.
But back to this gift tomato. He's a brandywine, and all I knew about brandywines was that they are an heirloom variety. I looked him up and wow he's a monster! It takes him twice as long as the other larger variety I got to give mature tomatoes (I just remembered that was an early girl), he gets enormous and his tomatoes can be a pound and a half each! Jeez I hope he tastes good in salsa because that's where he's going.
On Monday I put nasturtium seeds down on the North and South strips. My great grandmother used to feed them to me out of her garden, and I always thought they were so pretty. Erik had them at the farm and once told me they were the easiest thing to grow. I wanted a nice flower that would go all summer, and I hope they'll fit the bill, plus spice up a salad or two. I sowed some radish and lettuce seeds in old egg cartons as well with the intention of planting them next to the nasturtiums. The seed packets indicate that the radishes will sprout well before the lettuce, but it's the other way around for me. I popped them in the dirt on Saturday and now on Wednesday I have lettuce babies and no radish babies, weird. We'll see what happens. Seattle Tilth is putting on a seedling sale this Saturday, and if I don't see baby radishes by then, I'll just buy them there. I also started dill and parsley in egg cartons, but I don't expect to see them up anytime soon.
First Post
Hello all, well whomever reads these things. I'm writing this as a way to keep track of whatever I do in my garden, as this is my first garden outside of a few pots at my old apartment. So, if you are not me and you read through this, I apologize for the many rambling/incomplete sentences and grammatical errors and I recommend that you just stop reading, as I have no wisdom to share and probably won't improve my writing abilities. I'm just not capable of writing well due to a combination of the facts that I studied math in college and my job consists primarily of reviewing websites written by people who only have the faintest notion of the English language. I called the site"experimental garden" because I don't know what I'm doing, not because of any illicit plants, just fyi.
I know very little about gardening so I was looking around the internet for advice and instruction (I sorta owe the library like a hundred dollars, so they're not too keen on lending me books right now) and I found this great podcast done by an adorable lady named Emma in the UK called Alternative Kitchen Garden ( http://coopette.com/akg ). I think she has similar growing conditions to me in Woodinville, WA (same latitude, I'm in zone 7b, I think she's in 8a) and like me she wants variety and organic practices in her garden. Unlike me, she's an absolute genius and I can't wait to get my hands on her book, which is around 25$ on Amazon. A slight problem with this podcast is that I want to try everything she mentions! For instance, did you know that tea bushes can grow in the Pacific Northwest? I mean, that's not what she actually says, but we have the acidic soil they need, thanks to all the cedar trees. They might good to try, since Josh (hubby) drinks about a gallon of Crystal Lite tea everyday and I'm sure it's going to give him cancer if I don't switch him to something natural soon.
I do have real life garden mentors I can ask questions until I'm blue in the face, but their needs are a bit different than mine; one has a fancy proper garden with shaped topiaries and whatnot, and the other is actually a biodynamic co-op farmer who taught me everything I know about how to raise food while I volunteered at his farm. The farm is called Jubilee Farm, and it's just Southeast of Woodinville in Carnation ( http://www.jubileefarm.org/index.cfm ). The delicious food Erik grows taught me that I'm never trying Kohlrabi or apple trees, Plums and grapes are better grown here than from the store, and that one day I must grow my own celery. I would continue to volunteer at Jubilee for my veggies, but Josh and I just bought a house on a whole fifth of an acre and I'm very excited about trying my own garden. If this is a complete failure, then back to Erik I will go next year. Actually, I feel guilty for not going to Erik this year, but he's a very sucessful farmer, so he can manage without me.
I may or may not link this up with my Facebook page, it all depends on wether or not I can figure out how to.
I know very little about gardening so I was looking around the internet for advice and instruction (I sorta owe the library like a hundred dollars, so they're not too keen on lending me books right now) and I found this great podcast done by an adorable lady named Emma in the UK called Alternative Kitchen Garden ( http://coopette.com/akg ). I think she has similar growing conditions to me in Woodinville, WA (same latitude, I'm in zone 7b, I think she's in 8a) and like me she wants variety and organic practices in her garden. Unlike me, she's an absolute genius and I can't wait to get my hands on her book, which is around 25$ on Amazon. A slight problem with this podcast is that I want to try everything she mentions! For instance, did you know that tea bushes can grow in the Pacific Northwest? I mean, that's not what she actually says, but we have the acidic soil they need, thanks to all the cedar trees. They might good to try, since Josh (hubby) drinks about a gallon of Crystal Lite tea everyday and I'm sure it's going to give him cancer if I don't switch him to something natural soon.
I do have real life garden mentors I can ask questions until I'm blue in the face, but their needs are a bit different than mine; one has a fancy proper garden with shaped topiaries and whatnot, and the other is actually a biodynamic co-op farmer who taught me everything I know about how to raise food while I volunteered at his farm. The farm is called Jubilee Farm, and it's just Southeast of Woodinville in Carnation ( http://www.jubileefarm.org/index.cfm ). The delicious food Erik grows taught me that I'm never trying Kohlrabi or apple trees, Plums and grapes are better grown here than from the store, and that one day I must grow my own celery. I would continue to volunteer at Jubilee for my veggies, but Josh and I just bought a house on a whole fifth of an acre and I'm very excited about trying my own garden. If this is a complete failure, then back to Erik I will go next year. Actually, I feel guilty for not going to Erik this year, but he's a very sucessful farmer, so he can manage without me.
I may or may not link this up with my Facebook page, it all depends on wether or not I can figure out how to.
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