update of sorts

gardening in the pacific northwest this year has proven to be a difficult task. 

with the plentiful rains this spring came the slugs. they gorged themselves on been sprouts, corn sprouts and zucchini sprouts. we replanted all three, but the zucchini is the only one that we've gotten any bounty. the corn is growing and there are a few ears on the sad stalks, but we're not sure they will be fully developed. it will be an interesting study when we pick and shuck an ear.

the greenie beanies have done not much. the plants are growing and lovely, but there are no beans...our neighbor (whose plants did not get eaten by slugs) has had beans for quite a while now. i am sad. i love beans. 

the walla walla onions are doing really well, though! nobody has attempted to eat them. we also have had a few meals worth of golden potatoes. oh may word! home grown potatoes are the best! they have a texture of velvet on my tongue...

the moby grape tomatoes are growing and producing. although they are not as sweet as the bessers we had a couple of years ago. and our romas are starting to ripen (if all that is on the plant now ripened, i would have more than enough for salsa!). the goliath are looking good. santiem are looking a little sad, but there are many green fruit on all six of our various tomato plants so i am hopeful.
 
that's about all i have for an update.

and the winner is...

so the guesses are all in, the polls are closed, and we have a winner!!!

so listed from lowest guess to highest:

jwo-210
david- 244

mother hen- 250

lily- 282

monika- 288
*gail- 300

mishi-316

terri- 360

jgreg-447

tami- 475

dad-500
**rois- 540

*(changed when # of beds told)
**(# became available when gail changed her guess)

and the winner is...

ROIS!!!

 there are 541 bottles total used around the beds. 540 are wine bottles (well, some are san pelagrino bottles and there are a few champagne bottles) and 1 was a gin bottle. 

i will let you know when your wonderful prize is ready and we can either get together or i can mail it. i vote for getting together...for a cookout...with the fams. :) 

one out of ___?

one last bottle needed. 

i thought i had enough, but obviously i am one shy. so very close to the end of a rather long project. i must say i am proud of it though.



what is this project? some might ask.

well, it started with me wanting to find an economical way of bordering in our vegetable beds because the fabulous soil was being washed away with each winter. i didn't want to use wood because face it, in the pacific nw it can be rather wet.  

i had an idea out of the blue. wine bottles. the perfect solution. most of our friends drink wine. only a few loads were from people we didn't know or neighbor's recycling. kev only picked up a few that way once or twice. they warm the ground and help keep the roots toasty.

i know how many bottles were used in the bed project. i've counted twice. 

Guess how many bottles used in the 6 beds 
and win something fabulous and wonderful!!

Guesses must be made *HERE by next Sunday, the 25th. 8:00 am pst.

* comments left at the fb posting won't be counted. i want to make this easy on my brain people!

garden photo catch-up

i finally got a chance to get out and take some photos of the life in the garden. it's not going to be a huge harvest year, i fear. i am happy for what is growing, though...

the moby grape tomatoes are doing fairly well. they're looking the best out of the six planted this year. one of the romas have thrown some fruit and my oregon spring, but that's about it so far.

 the zucchini looks to me as though it is holding court over the rest of the garden. perhaps he is cheering the rest of the plants on, giving the shout out of positive words?  we lost the first batch (of most everything) to slugs (rat-bastards) and had a few zucchini plants sprout and survive the second sewing. we plucked all but one...we're no fools.

and surprise! artie came back this year! i didn't think it would survive after the really wet winter/spring, but it did. and there are two blooms waiting to be either picked to be eaten or to open wide to the skies. i might suggest to kev that we eat these and let the other blooms open for the bees.

i love the pom-pom top of the flowers from garlic. they bring a smile to my face, but what in my garden doesn't? (besides the slugs, small pepper plants, and one garden bed that is awaiting three more bottles to be complete)


we got some volunteer garlic this year. it's a good thing, because we didn't plant any last fall. we learned our lesson, though, and will be planting some this year!!

my favorite shot of the morning has to be this last one, though...i love daisies. they are happy flowers, one of my favorites. i love how the buds take on almost an alien spaceship feel. our shastas are crazy tall. i did not bend down for the taking of this photo. i am 5'10"...


so that's the garden in a nutshell. beans are giving me a little hope, but i don't think we'll have enough to put up for the winter. only about 5 of the sprouts are pulling through. i will take what i can get, though. 

the garden

the little guy there at the end...

he hangs with me every time i am out in the garden playing in the dirt. he eats the grubs (as well as a seed or two i'm sure). he just hangs, waiting for me to be done in an area before swooping in and munching.

today was a day

we decided yesterday that we'd start winterizing the garden today. we finally had a day off together that was somewhat nice. we did the responsible thing by getting up and getting outside. we cleaned up the beans, zucchini, tomatoes, and weeded around the asparagus (the ferns that is). we discussed what we'd like to see happen back there next year as far as the paths go. i don't feel like mulching every couple of years. we did it last year, our first summer, and as i recall i ended up doing most of it.

i am going to play with it tonight i think. put pen to paper, if you will. in fact, i think i am going to get my graph paper right now...

harvest

this is one of my favorite harvests. those potatoes were like velvet in my mouth. the onions were sharp and wonderful (albeit small), the peppers had some kick to them (which made for amazing salsa).

i have a list on the fridge of the veggies we'd like to plant next year for the summer harvest. i've been remiss about doing a fall crop. i'm not a huge fan of the butternut squash and other fall harvests. but i still feel as though i should have planted something...

oh and next year, we're planting the same type of green bean as last year. not a fan of the taste or the small harvest of the ones we planted this year. the latter of which possibly has to do with the odd weather we've had this year.

have we talked about the potatoes?

we decided to try our hands at growing potatoes, too. i figured that the odds were in my favor because my late grandfather was a potato farmer in pennsylvania.

mom thought the potato we had looked a little sad and it might be too late to plant. well, our potato had other ideas. we planted four chunks, all which had really strong eyes. three have shot forth and become these beautiful plants. one is slower, but it's there.

each time i see the growth, i cover it...as i am supposed to. and each day i go out to visit my plants, i am amazed by how much this little guy is poking out. so i cover him up again. i need to drag the bag of really amazing dirt out of the potting shed to have on had 24/7 by this guy. the mounds will have to be quite big soon.

i can hardly wait!!

the rise of the greenie beanies

hello big world.

greenie beanies will grow again.

this time, even more. planted the entire length of support, instead of just half like last year.

beans coming out of my ears, you say?

yep!!

i spy with my little eye

can you see it? i know you can. if not, click the pic to make it bigger.

you see now? two little sprouts. what are they?

CORN!!!

i planted roughly 40 seeds (two rows) and we have about 10 coming up right now, with hopes for more.

our zucchini sprouts have started too. out of the 9 i planted, 2 are emerging. we'll probably even cull that to one plant (will let the little boogers grow to see who is going to look the strongest).

i could hardly believe my eyes when we took the tour last night. i swear, every single day i walk through the garden i spy something else new and beautiful.

we've got quite a bit of garden work that kind of dropped in our laps last night, however. the tiny italian plum tree is covered in aphids. we have rock to spread. there are always weeds to pull (but that isn't new, so not really something that "dropped" per se).

look ma! i weeded

when mom and dad were here we worked our fingers to the bone. we weeded almost every single day, or at least it felt like it. there was one spot mom really had wanted to get to, but her hips were hurting and she was done. so, with the aide of some amazing tools provided by my neighbor, i did the spot last night. the garden weasel and a claw...

got that space nice and neat, didn't it?!

perhaps that is the reason i am tired today? all this playing in the dirt?

i also trimmed up the grape vines that were obstructing the view of the garden from our kitchen. we can have none of that!!

so what do you think, mom?

thank you garden

i got to harvest some spinach tonight. the first of hopefully many. there wasn't a whole bowlful, so it was lucky i had some more in the fridge we bought when mom and dad were here, but what i had was amazing. so meaty yet tender.

i look forward to more from our garden this summer. we've gotten our beans and corn planted as well as potatoes (not sure if it's too late or not to plant those, so we'll see). all nine of the asparagus crowns i planted have sprouted, just about half are ferning out (which is necessary to allow happen as to strengthen the root systems). our broccoli hasn't put up any buds yet, but all six plants are looking healthy.

our garlic will be ready to come out right around july. i am looking forward to it because we have none left from last year's harvest.

thank you, garden.

busy bees

mom and dad left this morning. tears came to my eyes this time. not sure why, other than i will really miss them. they are such amazing people.

we had many bottles they brought with them, most with labels removed. we finished the tomato bed and started in on the lettuce/asparagus bed yesterday.

we also started clearing out a bunch of weeds in the back to create a zen garden. a little earlier than planned, but ian (our landscaping neighbor and friend) gave us a bunch of crushed rock and i want to get it out of the driveway. we still need to get the weed barrier as well as more rock. will have to ask ian where he got the stuff he gave us so we can get more to match.

mom, dad...thanks for everything. we love you both so very much! still wish you lived closer...

planted

well, mom and dad are here and we've been busy already...

today we were out pulling weeds, planting veggies (tomatoes, hot peppers, corn, beans, zucchini) and cutting back some plants. we're all hot and dirty. well, dad's not anymore since he was the first in the shower.

we're going to have a light dinner of spinach salad with grilled chicken.

kev should be getting home from work shortly and perhaps we'll get to play a game. and drink wine. we need to make more empties for the rest of the beds.

i think it's my turn to jump in the shower...

waiting for the fork

i am done. i am so done i don't even know where to start this post. perhaps i'll try the beginning.

i got up a little later than the norm and had a quiet morning in the house. kev was still snoozing. he arose an hour after me and when he was done with breakfast he joined me outside in the back yard. we'd gotten the labels off of the bottles from Seder dinner and i wanted to get a bigger chunk of the tomato and pepper bed's border underway. i decided to expand the bed a bit so i removed the four bottles jill and i'd already sunk. it was tough work, but once i got into a groove it went smoothly. i did have to watch the line of bottles to keep them from getting out of alignment, making my veggie bed a trapezoid instead of a rectangle.

kev worked on weeding and put up the rest of the grape arbor pipe while i played with bottles. then i removed a plant that we'd honestly hoped wouldn't make it through the snow. it did. we removed it anyway. it was a real estate hog. it was not really an attractive plant. the only thing it had going for it was the flowers it made, but we didn't love them enough to not dig it out.

while we were moving things around the back, we found a pile of small smooth rocks. we realized it would be nice to have the flower beds in the back a little more bordered off as well and figured the small rocks would work perfectly. so now, on top of collecting wine bottles we will also be collecting rocks (we may break down and buy some).

we took a break for lunch, a much appreciated and loved break. we wrote up a grocery list and kev and i made a deal, we go to the nursery, buy a bit of the ground cover (the kind you can walk on and which we are hoping will take over the mulched pathways in the back...there isn't much in the way of mulch left, really) as well as a couple of shrubs for the front. i would plant them and he would go to costco and the grocery store. i was done and cleaned up by the time he got home.

another deal was made. i would put away the food and he would go get propane. i really think i got the best of both deals, although my back may disagree later tonight or tomorrow. i ripped out a scraggly shrub in the front that was obviously a full sun shrub getting only partial sun/shade. the roots were thick and strong. thank goodness the shovel was strong, too!

we are going to grill burgers tonight. i am going to sit and knit on my dress. i might even drink a little wine (y'all know we are having to drink more now). i am not sure that the day could be made more perfect. i'm willing to see, though.

i planted broccoli

on saturday i picked up my friend jill on the way home from work. she had a bottle to contribute to the 'cause' taking place in our backyard. of course, the rest of the bottles from dinner the night previous were still in the back of our car, with kevin at work. so...we 'planted' the four bottles we had on hand and determined it was going to look really cool when we had all of the beds done.

last night, we brought the bottles from the car inside. currently there are 12 soaking in my sink to loosen the labels. i'm going to leave them there all day in the hopes that the labels simply fall off when i get home tonight from work. if the sun continues as it is right now (shining brightly) i might even get to sink some more bottles. if the ground is too wet, though, i will wait and just get the bottles ready to be sunk.

on the way back to our house on saturday, jill and i stopped by the nearby nursery. we bought broccoli and planted it shortly after arriving home. six little broccoli plants all in a row. very perky now, which makes me smile. i am not sure what to expect with the broccoli. i need to do a little more research as to how many plants produce how large a yield. i'm hoping we'll be happy with six plants and not find we are wanting more. if we get too many, we have neighbors and friends who love broccoli and we have no reservations giving away veggies.

we also planted a few ferns that our neighbor ian, the landscaper, brought home from some job where he ripped them out. they are small, but i think will add some softness to the back fence, under some sad looking arborvitae.

and there was also secret gardening happening, but i can't disclose the details until after my parents are here in may! :) i think they will love the change! i know i do already!

happy monday kids!

how does our garden grow?

well, slowly. but that's okay. the beds are not all planted yet. but we do have garlic sprouting in the large bed on the right and we have planted onions behind the three rows of garlic. red onions and white bunching onions. in that bed we will also plant broccoli and potatoes.

the bed in the back, with the poles, will have green beans again. although this time the entire thing will be used.

between that bed and the long one in front (with the green growth) is a small round bed that you can't really see. it's close to the fence. that will be the zucchini spot. the bed with the growth is going to be corn. the green that is there is still the crimson clover. we will till that under shortly to add nitrates to the soil.

the bed closest to the fence, running perpendicular to the corn, will have asparagus (please oh please oh please grow) as well as spinach, romaine lettuce, and butterhead lettuce. the lettuces and spinach are already planted. no sprouts yet, but we only re-planted a few days ago.

finally, the bed to the right of that will have tomatoes and peppers. i am not sure what kinds we will plant, other than for sure some oregon spring tomatoes! they were so sweet and lovely. AND, as you would guess from the name, they produce early.

so there you have it, our garden. i hope to have more photos throughout the growing season to share our bounty. then again, i'm hoping for a bounty...we'll see what happens.

i love it, gardening by the seats of our pants! :)

tease

mother nature is such a tease. the past three days were the most glorious and beautiful. sun was shining, breeze was blowing, it was perfection in that first truly spring day. then, the clouds started to blow in last night. it got chillier. i see people out on walks with hoods pulled up and coats buttoned to the top.

well, perhaps it will make what work we may be getting ourselves into later today a little easier (you know, it won't be too warm for the hard labor we may be doing). we're hitting the rebuilding center to check out what materials we can use to build the vegetable plots up a bit. not too high, but high enough to let the dog know that it's not okay to walk in the area. while she's not stomping through the planted beds, she is zipping through the ones we've not planted yet. plus the soil is washing away, because currently we've got mounded plots.

i am not sure what we'll find at the rebuilding center, but i best get to measuring the plots to figure out things once we are there.

mother nature, one more day wouldn't have killed you.

hammies

i am very aware that i have hamstrings today. you see, yesterday i decided i would tackle the entire yard and rid it of each and every weed. i had lofty aspirations, needless to say i got a lot done, but only lasted for about six hours before my body said it had had enough. i did stretch and take breaks the entire time (and i did stop for lunch) so i'm sure my hammies are not near as sore as they could be, but man i am fully in the know that they exist.

so why, i ask myself, did i decide to put in another hour tonight?

because i wanted to stake around our garden beds so we can lay reclaimed bricks (well, that's the plan) and make them slightly raised beds. we will probably only build them two bricks high, just enough to give a delineation between bed and pathway. the paths we are thinking of planting ground cover that will withstand being walked on by humans and animals. any ideas of full sun loving ground cover?

i can hardly wait to be able to walk outside barefoot to pick something from my veggie garden...my hammies will surely be talking to me again by then, right?

and the weeding, it just sucked me right into it's evil web of "just one more" any and all gardners know.

first beans blanched

I have done it. I forced myself to NOT eat the beans I harvested today. Instead I blanched them and froze them for Thanksgiving dinner. There was probably about one healthy serving (two smaller) picked with many more on the plant that will be ready in a couple of days. I WILL be serving my home grown greenie beanies for Thanksgiving with my family. I am so proud of these beans (yeah, that feels as odd to write as it reads).

We just got home from a burger out. We've been really good about not eating out as much, but tonight I was tired from working, I didn't want to cook anything, and I just got paid.