Late March is the busiest time of year under my seed-starting lights. I’ve got assorted tomatoes and peppers up and growing right now. The tomatoes are nearing pot-up time but the peppers are slower to get up and go. I’ve also got brassicas which are pouring out and over their small 72-count cell-packs. It is…
Gardening
Keeping Dry: Securing Tunnel Cloches
The past few days in the Seattle area have been so lovely, I think the weather Gods are apologizing for the veritable monsoon of rain that dumped on us two weeks ago. If you are not in the Maritime Northwest, you might be shaking your head right now, saying: “Seattle is called Rain City for…
Backyard Orchard Culture: Too Good To Be True?
I have struggled for a few years with a desire to have more fruit trees than my 1/3 acre lot can accomodate. A third-acre is actually pretty big by urban standards, but only one-quarter of our property is given over to edibles. The house, driveway, paths, shady areas and kid’s play area (aka lawn) take…
It’s Called Gleaning. No Relation To Glee.
I have a friend, the Shoreline Fruit Lady. Today is her birthday, so in her honor I thought I’d talk about one of her favorite things: gleaning. Fruit Lady is a neighborhood gleaner. She walks around her ‘hood with kids in tow and if she notices a big overgrown plum or apple tree in someone’s…
Be A Very Lazy Garden Planner
When I look out the window right now my garden has big bare patches that trick me into thinking I have far more room for fruit trees than I really do. When the rain is coming down and my infant is asleep, I like to stare out to the garden, imagining a wonderland of edible…
What We Look Forward To
Well, last week didn’t really feel like it in the Pacific Northwest, what with the intermittent hail and occasional snow flurry, but spring is fighting the good fight. President’s Day weekend was the traditional time to put your peas in the ground, though in my area the soil was still a bit cold. Did you sow peas outside? Did…
Turn Your Old Wire Hangers Into Garden Staples!
If you or a housemate work off the farm at one of those jobs that require clean, starched shirts, you probably have a lot of dry-cleaner’s wire hangers kicking around the house. We return our wire hangers to our dry cleaners for re-use (better for the earth and helpful to the small business owners who…
Heat Lovers in A Cool Clime: Tomato Dreams and Tomato Delusions
Forget sugarplums – at this time of year it’s visions of big, juicy, vine-ripe tomatoes that dance in the gardener’s head. Tomatoes are the quintessential garden edible. The tomato is so culturally ubiquitous – so representative of summer itself – that people not in possession of gardening gloves, a shovel, or the slightest desire to…
Seed Starting 101: Up-Potting
If you are new to growing seedlings, you might want the entire Seed Starting 101 series: Seed Starting 101: Key Components To Healthy Seedlings Seed Starting 101: A Step-By-Step Visual Guide To Growing Seedlings At Home Seed Starting 101: Up-Potting (this post) Occasionally your seedlings will outgrow their containers before you are ready to move…
Seed Starting 101: A Step-By-Step Visual Guide To Growing Seedlings At Home
If you are new to growing seedlings, you might want the entire Seed Starting 101 series: Seed Starting 101: Key Components To Healthy Seedlings Seed Starting 101: A Step-By-Step Visual Guide To Growing Seedlings At Home (this post) Seed Starting 101: Up-Potting New to starting seeds? You might want to start by reading yesterday’s post, Seed…
Seed Starting 101: Key Components For Healthy Seedlings
If you are new to growing seedlings, you might want the entire Seed Starting 101 series: Seed Starting 101: Key Components To Healthy Seedlings (this post) Seed Starting 101: A Step-By-Step Visual Guide To Growing Seedlings At Home Seed Starting 101: Up-Potting Seeds don’t ask much: give them some moisture and the right temperature and if…
Garden Inventory: February 2011
Here’s how the garden is sitting as of early February. Root Crops Beets We are down to just a few beets now. Carrots & Parsnips Down to a small patch of each. I started with about ⅓ bed of each, and last month more than half of that remained. We harvested a lot of carrots…