Arugula Seed

This is the first seed I’ve ever saved. The process is easy and maybe one of the most satisfying aspects of gardening — completing the circle.

The arugula went to flower, and then created green pods that finally dried out. The dried pods burst open easily and the little black seeds dumped right out. Hopefully they’ll germinate next year!

St. Patrick’s Day Tradition

It’s a bit early for potatoes, but the weather’s been great and I decided to put some in the ground. I’ll save some for April/May and “chit” them — let them sprout a bit in a sunny window before cutting and planting them.

For this planting, I purchased some seed potatoes from a garden store. They say not to plant potatoes from the grocer, because they aren’t certified “disease free.” Pictured here are Yukon Golds, a red potato whose name I can’t remember, and some fingerling potatoes. The fingerlings I left alone — these little guys weigh just a few ounces and have plenty of eyes, perfect for planting. For the large potatoes, I cut into pieces with 2 or 3 eyes each.

I dropped each seed shallowly in the soil and covered with loose compost. Once the vines sprout and grow, I’ll “hill” them up — that is, mound dirt up around the vines — to encourage potatoes to grow in that mounded earth. I planting them a little bit more shallow this year, so we’ll see what happens and maybe I’ll adjust my strategy for the second planting.

Why plant potatoes? They’re so cheap after all. I do it for two reasons: 1. Home grown potatoes are delicious and are a good opportunity to bring carbs to the home-grown table, and 2. They are the most fun vegetable to harvest. It’s like digging for buried treasure.

Prepping the First Bed

What a beautiful day! We have days in May that aren’t this nice. Spring may be early, but I’m not going to rush to get seeds into the ground yet. A day like today can set me into frantic garden fever, and the result is I want to do everything at once. What? The neighbor’s planting lettuce? I should be planting lettuce! No, instead I’m trying to just **breath** pace myself and enjoy the process.

Today I prepped the first bed for seeding in the next couple weeks – peas, spinach, maybe chard or potatoes.

I prepped the bed with: Approx. 2 cups of organic fertilizer, a couple inches of compost and a healthy sprinkling of lime (calcium carbonate). I used a shovel, then a manure fork to loosen and mix to a depth of about one shovel length. I could go deeper (and I will where I plant the potatoes) but for peas and spinach, this will be adequate. The result is a bit messy, but I’ll clean it up and lay a top layer of compost when I plant.

The straw is a remnant of a “lasagna” gardening technique I tried last fall. I layered newspaper on top of the bed with droppings from the chicken coop, straw and lime. It has reduced weeds for sure. I may do it again this fall… we’ll see. With chickens constantly disturbing it, a lot of the straw didn’t decompose.

Cherry Tree

I planted a little “stella” cherry tree from dwarf root stock. I got it from a workshop by http://www.growportland.org/, a new little nonprofit that looks like it is going to take root quite well here in Portland.
In the workshop we learned quite a bit about open center vs. central leader tree forms. There seems to be some debate about where cherries fit into this. The workshop encouraged an open center form for cherries (unlike apples and pears, which take a central leader form), and so I pruned the tree to encourage growth on three limbs that angle out from the central trunk. I even put little notched wooden shims bracing each limb out from the center, in order to encourage outward, rather than upward growth.  I’m looking forward to watching this cherry tree grow, and using it as a learning tool to become a better pruner. It definitely takes practice.

Here’s a good article about fruit tree pruning and training from Oregon State University Extension Service.

Egg Carton Starts – Take Two

The first batch of peas and greens are starting to poke their little heads out. This is very exciting. The thyme is still a no-show, I don’t really expect to see it germinate. I’ve started a second egg carton with more peas, shallots, and bok choi.

Egg carton starts

Here we are in February, waiting, waiting.

I planted some seeds today in an egg carton. I cut of the lid and wrapped it in a plastic produce bag, then nested the lid under the carton for a moisture barrier. Then I filled the egg slots with soil from the garden (didn’t take much) and a bit of castings from the red worm bin. In this carton I’ve planted peas, butterhead lettuce, mesclun salad mix, and I’m trying some thyme for the heck of it (although I’ve heard thyme is notoriously hard to grow from seed). The carton now sits on the window sill.

Cover crops

I planted two cover crops in October-November, crimson clover and fava beans. Those who live in the northwest know what wacky-cold and snowy weather we had this winter. The result in spring? The fava are nada. Frost killed all of the plants. The crimson clover? Thriving. I’m going to experiment with some other cover crops this fall, but clover will definitely be making a repeat appearance.

One decision I have to make this spring: whether to just give the clover a “haircut” and let it continue to keep root, preventing weeds while my vegetables grow out right from under it, or whether to till it under. I think I’ll try both options and see what happens.

The OSU extension service has a wordy but very useful article about cover crops for home gardens and their benefits for building healthy soil.

I don’t think this is broccoli

Here is a perfect example of how I can feel like a total idiot in the garden. 

My friend very lovingly gave me two broccoli plants.  They shot up stalks and flowered, and now they look like this.  Nothing like any broccoli I’ve seen.  Broccoli should grow kind of like cabbage or cauliflower, kind of like this.  Right?  I’m really confused.  I’m wondering if I have an unusual variety.  Maybe they’re mutant.  I’m becoming a little impatient but I’m going to wait it out and see what happens.

“Don’t look, I’m hideous.”

Darn. Should have picked cauliflower all at once. In just several days, it has gone from sweet to acrid. I guess it began bolting, because the curds are sort of irregular. I found aphids all over one head. I don’t think it did well with the recent 90-degree weather.

I’ll have to read up on this. Then get over it.

Another thing about Cauliflower… this purple business

My c-flower is turning yellow in the sun. Call it sepia. Next year I think I’ll rubber-band the leaves to give them a little cabana so they can stay snowy white. Because we’re all about perfection.

But I also noticed a PURPLE coloration in between the curds. I thought it was a fungus or something. It’s not. Here’s one explanation. I guess it’s just harmless pigment, again, related to sun exposure. It doesn’t seem to be affecting the taste.