Green and Red Harvest

I think this is the first time I have grown broccoli in my garden. It turned out beautiful. I picked all the flowers today from 6 plants. They only weighed 2 pounds. I hope the plants grown new flowers.

The other harvesting I did was cherries. There are still more to be picked. Like I predicted, it was a good cherry year.

This is my Super Gourmet Salad Mix patch. This has been the best lettuce patch I have ever grown. I have eaten many fine meals from this patch. This year I had beautiful nasturtiums to add to the lettuce. Those little peat pots starts that I had doubts about surviving have now bloomed into lush, hardy plants. The best nasturtiums I have ever grown.

June Peas

"The summer crowd is here and it is well along in June and the sailboats are out on the lake. Mrs. Brubaker has already sent out invitations for her Fourth of July dance. The farmers' fields are green; some crops have even been harvested, while you were still dreaming of spring. You pass trucks on the highway bulging with freshly picked pea vines and reach out in passing to help yourself, popping the lovely raw peas into your mouth from the pods, while the driver, expecting this ritual of early summer, grins a greeting."

I remember reading Edward Harris Heth's description of summer's beginning for the first time many years ago. It is when I fell in love with his cookbook, "The Country Kitchen Cook Book." He paints a memorable and charming picture of every season before sharing recipes using the seasonal ingredient that makes each month of the year unique. Without realizing it, he has greatly shaped my approach to cooking. He succeeded in creating a delight in preparing food and relishing food as it comes through out the year. I wonder if Barbara Kingsolver read Heth as a young woman? Unfortunately, Heth doesn't offer any creative idea for using the abundance of peas I find myself blessed with. Eating them raw off the vine is good and creating stir fry with some is yummy, but I need a way to use up more. I wonder if I could make pea pesto?

No more worms

I have never sprayed a fruit tree with a pesticide before, but a few weeks ago I was in the Grange Coop where I was told how to do it. I bought an organic spray called Monterey Garden Insect Spray with spinosad in it. The best time to give a tree its first spray of the season is when the blossoms are 90% gone. I may have missed the ideal time by a few days. I would say the blossoms are 97% gone, but today was the first chance I had to do i,t so I did it. At first I tried to used the pump sprayer. Ha! I got more spray on me and the thing was difficult to use. I ended up pouring the spray into a spray bottle and doing the job with it. I had to use a ladder to reach the upper part of the tree. I used about 3/4 of a gallon of spray for four trees. If the spray works, we should have a good crop of apples this fall. The two Golden Delicious apple trees in the yard are loaded. They are the ones I did the most though job pruning. The two Red Delicious trees in the garden have fewer but they do have some apples forming. The Gravenstein apple tree has no apples forming. I gave it a quick mist but left it mostly untreated. I am suppose to spray the trees 5 more times before harvest. I hope I remember to do so. It will be the first time to grow apples without sharing them with the worms.

Let Us Harvest

I am eating my second harvest of lettuce. I can not post a picture of these beautiful greens because I can not find my camera. I thinned the thickly sprouted rows of Super Gourmet Salad Mix by Territorial Seed Company. The lettuce plants are big enough to make a colorful bouquet of green and purplish red leaves. There are enough lettuce starts to provide me with baby greens every day for the next couple of weeks.

Only the strong survive

I remember how excited I was when the seeds sprouted in the peat pots, but when I saw how thin and scraggly they grew, I feared they would not fare well when transplanted. Indeed, that was the case. The chard transplants I planted last Saturday in the garden are holding on by their toenails. The Nasturtium starts in the garden area are all but dead.

The combination of cold nights and blaring sun were too much for these delicate starts. The ones I transplanted in the gooseberry pot look better and may survive and the few I transplanted in the flowerbed by the house will most likely survive, though all are still quite fragile and subject to perishing if severe weather manifests itself.
The weather is no problem this week-end. It has been a dreary week-end with heavy rain. I found a few dry minutes to run a shovel over the garden and remove a few weeds, but for the most part I stayed in a warm, dry house and let the earth rejoice in the wetness. This weather may be the best chance for the remaining transplants to survive.
I think the peas are dancing.

Sprouting report

Tanya helped me sow seed March 18. Now 5 and 1/2 weeks later I am happy to report the lettuce, onions, and spinach all came up successfully, but the 2004 and 2005 carrot seeds were not so lucky. Very few carrots germinated. This proves the point about using good seed. Old seed is for those who can't buy new seed.

The surprise in all this is the fact that the spinach seeds I planted early, before Justin tilled the garden, also came up. I now have a very random patch of spinach and a random patch of pole peas and bush peas. The peas I planted, before Justin tilled, also came up in the general vicinity of where I planted them but with a wild and free look to their placement. I should get enough peas to feed everyone I know and then some.

Neat rows needing to be thinned.

Random spinach results of tilling after planting


Neat rows of peas


The random, wildly tillled peas.

Transplants

Today I transplanted the nasturtium and chard starts into the garden. Yesterday I tried starting the Mantis but could not get it to start so I used a shovel to dig weeds and scrape the top soil. Today I used the shovel to prepare the soil for planting the starts. The transplants were very delicate. I hope they survive.

I also planted one package of Chioggia Beets and a few Early Wonder Beets.

I'm feeling a little bit like a delicate transplant. Yesterday Sanford told me he was going to put the farm on the market by the end of the week. As I listen to the geese honking up by the pond and breathe in the fragrant beauty of spring on this 11 acres, my heart has wilted a little with the knowledge that I may be leaving my home at a time when it is at it's loveliest. I put my trust in God, hoping I'll take root and blossom where the Master Gardener places me. The joy of sowing has vanished as I anticipate the harvest going to strangers. Lord, restore my joy and let me find pleasure in the process. If the work I do should bless others, help me to offer that blessing without regret or selfish longing. Give me the grace to offer it wholeheartedly to your purpose and will. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

Sprouts

How exciting! I saw the first pea sprouts today.

The tiny round leaves are folded together like hands folded in prayer.

The first of my peat pots also show signs of life.
Six Hollyhock sprouts
are sticking their pale necks out of the dark moss
with two green leaves opened in praise to the Creator.

First Day of Spring

Since I attended a workshop all day Saturday, March 21, I don't think I will count yesterday as the first day of my spring vacation. For me, today is the first day of spring and the weather could not have been more typical of a Southern Oregon Spring Vacation day. This morning on my way to church the storm clouds hung low on the hills surrounding the valley. A few drops of rain and snow fell but it did not feel cold enough to go back inside for a warmer coat. By the time I reached Ashland the sun was peeping through the clouds reflecting brightly off the snow covered hills. During church service snow began falling again. After church service I drove to Medford through joyful sunshine. By the time I reached Medford it was sleeting. While sitting in a parking lot the sun came out and warmed up the inside of the car, then the clouds blew together and covered the sun while the wind rocked the car. When I got to Home Depot in Phoenix sleet was being driven through every crack in the outdoor gardening section. I walked back to my car with an umbrella hunched against the storm. When I got to my mother's home in Talent, a gentle snow was falling. It covered everything with a thin blanket of soft snow. Within 15 minutes the snow had all melted. I had just got inside my house when a strong wind pounded the house and shook the windows. The trees looked as if they would blow over. More sleet was blown against every inch of the house, scratching at the window panes. Now, all is quiet. The daffodils shine through the wet mist as a sun beam waves good night.

Peat Pots take over spare room

I discovered how easy using peat pots is. Now I have the urge to buy more peat pots and plant all my own vegetable and flower starts instead of buying them from nurseries. I presently have 100 peat pots sitting on various plastic trays and tubs in my hobby room. I planted a whole package of Single Trailing Nastrutium seeds (33), 12 Virginia Stock, 12 Lucullus Swiss Chard, 12 Bright Lights Swiss Chard, and 25 Holly Hock seeds. If I am successful in sprouting the seeds and keeping them healthy until planting, I will feel as though I have accomplished a great feat. I think I will use the remaining peat pots for flower starts but not get any more this year until I know I can successfully transplant starts in this manner. Another reason for restraining myself from buying for peat pots, is the fact that I don't know where to put any more trays of starts. My hobby room is a little crowded that the present, but every time I past the plant section in stores I get the urge to buy more peat pots.

Leaves and roots

I invited Tanya to the farm today. I picked her up after school. We planted short rows of seed alternating spinach and lettuce with carrots and onions. I used carrot seed from 2004 and 2005. They were sent in envelopes requesting World Vision donations so I don't know what variety they are. The spinach is Olympia and the onions area White Bunching by Lilly Miller. The lettuce is Super Gourmet Salad Blend by T.S.C.

Yesterday I planted some pea seed I had put to soak this past week end. The peas were starting to sprout. I planted Green Arrow bush shelling peas and Sugar Snap climbing peas by Botanical Interests.

I saw two pea sprouts and a few sprouted peas lying on top of the soil in the spot where I planted peas on Saturday the 14th. I pushed the peas back in the ground.

Rescuing a fraction of the raspberries

Pa Ingalls, in the Little House on the Praire series, was fond of quoting, "There is no great loss without some small gain." I remember him saying this after the crows wiped out their entire corn crop for the year. He shot dozens of the crows and they had them for dinner that night. Well, my u-pick raspberry patch may be history, but today I salvaged some of the canes and replanted them in the garden spot. Sanford came along when I have half way through and finished digging the holes, giving me the encouragement to complete the job. I relocated 22 canes and Tom Rosette took home another 10 or 15 canes. It is a good start to fulfilling Charles Ingal's folk wisdom by preserving some good from the loss of my dream.

A new flower bed

For nearly all the years I can remember, there hasn't been anything growing along the front of the house between the porch and the barnyard. I vaguely remember daffodills may have bloomed there at one time. But for at least 30 years, there has been nothing but dirt. Dad did plant a climbing rose bush in the space between the bedroom windows but it never really grew or bloomed. Today, I dug it out. Blue skies, 68 degrees, and a need to plant the flowers I bought Tuesday inspired me to change this 30 year old tradition of barren nothingness.

I had almost given the last batch of pansies and snapdragons to my mom because I didn't know where to plant them, but today after getting home from work, the weather was so warm and inviting, I determined to redeem the ugly side of the house. Sanford had filled in this area with dirt from underneath the addition. The lawn had always slanted down toward the house foundation and San determined to have the slant go away from the house. The dirt he used is red and smells like clay when wet. I though it would be unbearably difficult to work with but after soaking it down I found it amazingly easy to turn over. I filled a small wheel barrel full of compost and llama manure. After digging a shallow trench, I mixed the compost and manure with the clay dirt. The crepe myrtle my mother bought me 4 or 5 years ago has languished in a pot without a permanent home. Today I gave it a place of its own in the new flower bed. It will stand guard as the only shrub. I placed it in the corner by the porch and filled in the rest of the bed with pansies, primroses, violas, sweet peas and snapdragons.


I also planted the climbing sweet peas on the west side of the rose trellis. I planted the rest of the climbing sweet peas and the dwarf sweet peas in the space between the bedroom windows where the pitiful rose bush used to be. I am going to put a lattice there for the sweet peas to climb on. I also watered the lawn today with the irrigation water Sanford connected yesterday. It truly felt like spring outside today, but the forecast is for rain tomorrow, so I asked Sanford to build a fire in the fire pit tonight in order to relish the warm beauty of this country evening. After dinner, Sanford and I sat outside by the fire and listened to the creek water spill over the dam and a few frogs begin to practice for the spring concert. I love this place. Thank you God for enabling me to see the beauty in where I live. Thank you for blessing my life to overflowing with simple pleasures. May the new flower bed be a reminder of your grace and the miracle of life.

These are the blossoms I removed from the pansy plants after planting them in the new flower bed. My neighbor, Poppie, taught me to do this. I didn't believe it was good for the plants until I had to do it for the ones I transplanted for Poppie. Within a couple of days the transplanted plants had more blossoms and the plants seems very stout. I hope mine will do the same.

Never Count Your Peas Before They Sprout

This is what the garden looked like on Monday. This is a little patch I turned over by shovel where I planted some spinach seeds. I also had planted pea seeds along the row of fence stakes and to the left of this patch along the bean fence.


I was anxiously anticipating the sprouted peas to poke their delicate leaves above the ground. It had been almost two weeks since I had planted their already sprouted bodies into the crumbly, brown earth of my garden. I was so proud of myself for getting the seeds in before March, even though it was only one day before. I thought about the peas while at work Tuesday. I was sure the little plants would have pushed their way out of the dark earth, longing for the warmth and light of the sun that was shining warmly all day. The first thing I did when arriving home was head for the garden. My husband and son greeted me. Justin had come up while I was at work to surprise me. He brought Dave's tiller and worked the whole garden plot up. He even removed the teepee and tomato stakes so he could do a thorough job. He did not know about the little sprouts laying just under the surface. Of course, I could only smile and thank him for the job well done. What are a few sprouts when I have the whole plot worked into a beautiful bed of soft earth, not a weed in sight! Thank you, Justin.

I spent the rest of the afternoon going to Fred Meyers. They were having a sale on seeds, 50% off. Here is what I bought:
2 Lilly Miller Oregon sugar pod peas
2 Lilly Miller Pole Sugar Snap Peas
2 Ed Hume Roayl Family Sweet Peas
1 Ed Hume Little Sweetheart Dwarf Sweet Peas
1 Lilly Miller White Bunching Onion
2 LM Olympia Spinach
2 EH Baby Filet French Beans, Bush
1 LM Romano Pole Beans
2 6-pack of Strawberry Starts
4 4-pack Ruffle Mixed Pansies
2 4-pack Rocket Mix Snapdragons
3 Red Primroses
1 6-pack Violas
Total Cost = $38.79

Wednesday I Planted the strawberry plants in three different pots with the red primeroses in the largest pot with them. I mixed in compost and llama poop. I covered them with cardboard boxes because the temperature was expected to be in the twenties. I put the peas seeds and sweet peas seeds to soak overnight.


Today, Thursday, I planted the peas and watered the ground. Now the waiting begins all over again.

Putting to rest a dream

10 Years ago I convinced Sanford that we could earn income off the farm by growing raspsberries. This was a key factor in winning my husband's cooperation in making the farm our home. My dad let us plow up the hay field in preparation of planting a U-pick raspsberry patch. Sanford, Justin, Lynnea, and I planted a 1000 raspberry starts in the muddy spring before we bought the farm from my folksl. My dream of having a U-pick raspsberry farm has been a thorny experiment ever since.

This past Saturday, we accepted the help of two high schoolers from Ashland First Baptist Church to remove the irrigation lines and fence stacks from the weedy remains of what was once my cherished raspsberry patch. The hope of continuing this endevor actually died two years ago during the time of my father's passing, but I had realized the year before that it had very little chance of surviving as long as I and Sanford both worked other jobs.

I have now accepted the passing away of this dream. This Saturday was the burial, the putting to rest of that dream and the turning point to facing what lies ahead for Sanford and me. Thank you, Sanford, for risking this experiment and giving me 9 years of living on this 11 acres of rock and thistle I call home.

Spinach

Today was dry and mostly sunny, so I decided to plant the spinach seeds I have been wanting to plant for days. I weeded and turned the soil next to the peas. I planted 5 short rows of Regal Hybrid from Territorial Seeds. Tomorrow is supposed to be in the mid 50s. Maybe the peas will pop up. So far, I can't see any sign of them growing.

The pansies I planted Feb. 28 are full of blooms. It really is best to pinch back the blossoms when you plant them.

Rain

Last night and today the rain poured down. I smiled, knowing the pea seeds are tucked under a blanket of soil in my garden. The little sprouts are already pushing their way upward toward the open air. The seeds planted dry are now soaking up moisture to awaken their little seed bodies to start growing. What a glorious gift is rain.

Peas in the Ground

January 17. 2009

This is the time to buy seeds. The Grange Co-op had their 50% off seed sale.
I bought:
3 packets of Territorial Seed Company Spinach seeds
1 SP778 Olympia Hybrid 5 gr
2 SP779 Regal Hybrid 5 gr
2 packets of Territorial Seed Company Swiss Chard seed
1 SW853 Bright Lights 3 gr
1 SW 851 Fordhook Giant 3 gr
3 packets TSC Green Bean seeds
1 BN020 Venture Bush BEans 1 oz
1 BN024 Royal Burgundy Bush Beans 1 oz
1 BN032 Blue Lake Pole Beans 1 oz
1 packet Lilly Miller Green Bean seed
1 Stringless Blue Lake, FM1K Pole Beans 70 gr
1 TSC Peas seed
PE624 Oregon Sugar PdII 1oz.
2 TSC Beets
1 BT130 Early wonder Tall Top 5 gr
1 BT135 Chioggia 5 gr
2 TSC Cucumber
1 CU308 Green Slam Hybrid 1 gr
1 CU315 Fountain Hybrid slicing cucumber 1 gr
1 TSC Lettuce LT389 super Gourmet Salad Blend 4 gr
1 TSC Pumpkins PU717 Howden 3 gr.
1 Lilly Miller Walla Walla Sweet Onion 1.5 gr.
1 Lilly Miller Giant Musselburg Leeks 1.5 gr.
3 Lilly Miller Flower seed
1 Nasturtium Trailing Single Mixed colors 3 gr.
1 Hollyhock Indian Spring Mix 500mg
1 Morning Glory Early Call mixed colors 1 gr.

A total of 21 packets of seeds for $23.91

February 21, 2009

I bought more peas seed today.

2 Lilly Miller Peas
1 Oregon Sugar Pod Peas 70 gr.
1 Pole Sugar SnapPeas 70 gr.
These seed were not on sale,
I paid full price for 2 packets, a total of $5.98

February 28, 200

Today I planted the peas seeds. I soaked the 2 packets of Lilly Miller seeds (Oregon Sugar Pod and Pole Sugar Snap) two nights ago, drained them in the morning and kept them moist until I planted them. Some seeds were already sprouting. I planted the TSC peas (Oregon Sugar Pod II) dry into the ground. I am thinking this is a way to stagger the harvest a little. It is an experiment to see which method does better. I planted the TSC Sugar Pod on one side of the south side of the row and the LM Sugar Pod on the north side of the row 8 - 12 inches apart.
The ground was wet but not muddy. I weeded the area with little effort, turned the soil by shovel, hoed a furrow in and outside the cucumber tepee, along one side of the bean fence, and on both sides of the tomato stakes. I planted all the seeds this morning. the forecast is for rain the next few days. This was so easy, I don't know why I haven't done this before.
I am hoping the peas will be through producing when I am ready to plant the beans, tomatoes and cucumbers.