Flower Under-Powered: A Tale of Woe

The poppy seed harvest (such as it is) is now in, and the results are underwhelming, to say the least.

The borage took over the pollinator/botanical beds this year and squeezed out all but 4 poppy plants. I should have knocked the borage back a peg - or five - but just didn't have the heart to do it since our honeybees LOVE the stuff.

Our pollinator bed - borage, poppies, calendula and bachelor buttons.

It's a trade off, I guess.

Sorry, Ukrainian Grammies. I wanted to attempt makivynk this Christmas with all homegrown poppy seeds, but it was not to be. While the recipe calls for a staggering three cups(!) of poppy seeds, I managed to grow just a scant half cup this year.

I *might* be able to eek a lemon poppy seed loaf or two out of this, with a dash leftover to throw in a batch of soap (poppy seeds are the best exfoliants ever), but the makivynk - she will have to wait a while longer.

On the plus side, other Ukrainian favorites grew well this year - beets, cabbage, tomatillos... ok, well pretty much just beets and cabbage. Borshch and holubtsi for everyone! 

Garden Milestones

Not having been raised in a farming family, I've had to glean little morsels of folksy, hand-me-down farm wisdom wherever I could. Things like:

 -Tomato plants go in the ground on Mother's Day weekend
 -Don't cut hay before the 4th of July
-Fresh cream won't whip unless it's at least 3 days old
-Turkey poults are constantly on the lookout for new, more exciting ways to die
-Foxes and coyotes are at their murderous peak during the full moon

And maybe the most apropos bit of wisdom re: a Western Washington garden - if it isn't planted out and well established by mid-July, your crop ain't happening.

Our Summers are short here and typically have just two weeks or a month of any kind of heat, which is not always enough to make many garden favorites happen. I've learned the hard way that, short of using a greenhouse; hot peppers, watermelon and anything else that takes more than 90 days to grow or a month's worth of heat to ripen,  isn't meant to grow here.

There are exceptions, of course, a few of which are merrily growing away in my garden right now. My short-season corn is looking amazing, and well after I'd already resigned myself to the fact that in the land of mold and hungry raccoons, there would be no homegrown corn for us, ever. Behold the beauty (and note that the tassels cometh!) -

Yukon Chief Corn, day 37 (direct sown on 5-30-13)

Minnesota Midget Melons (Cantaloupe), day 70 (started indoors 4-27-13)

These melons are supposed to only take 70 days from seed to fruit (hence their appeal), but were held up on account of my delay getting them out in the ground, and their very rough (nearly fatal) transition from indoors to out. I'd love to see our first melon harvested before July is out, but I guess we'll get what we get when we get it.

Toma Verde Tomatillos, day 70 (started indoors 4-27-13)

Giant Greystripe and Miriam Edible Sunflowers, day 42 (direct sown 5/24/13) 

It may not look like much, and honestly, it's not, but to me... how do I put it? I get a sense of pride and nervous excitement when I think about my little garden, and all of the stuff that is growing beautifully there in spite of it a) being grown in soggy/unsunny/unpredictable western Washington, and b) being grown by a lady who is still learning to speak and understand the language of plants. So far I haven't screwed this up. Suffice it to say I'm pleased.

In addition to all of the up and coming beauty and bounty in the garden, there are a few other foodie delights coming our way shortly - wild blackberries and the opening of crabbing season in the Puget Sound. Happy days are here again!

If you're interested in learning more about any of the varieties of seeds/plants that I've mentioned here, you can read more and/or purchase some of these same seeds through Victory Seed Company and Seeds of Change. By the way, this is not a sponsored post - just one farm nerdess gushing about her garden. :) 

Plant sale suggestions, please!

I'm setting a personal goal to contribute 100 plants to our school's plant sale, and I'm wondering if you all could help me figure out what the people might want?

When you buy plants (indoor plants, ornamentals, edibles, trees, etc.), what are the top three types of plants that you look for at your nursery? Do you buy primarily bulbs, veggies, herbs, flowering plants, seeds, shrubs/trees or garden decor?

I have started a few veggies and plan to start more, but I want to know what the hot sellers are, veggie or otherwise, so that I can make the most of my time and effort on behalf of our kids. I want to send this year's plant sale numbers through the roof! :)

Our sale will be taking place in early May, which is typically when most folks in Western Washington start their veggie gardens. It's also good to note that our growing season is on the short side, meaning that some plants are more trouble than they're worth in a Pacific Northwest garden - peppers, melons, citrus and tropical-type plants just don't do well here. Our first frost date is often in October. So bearing all that in mind, please lend a hand - what else should I offer up?

I just bought a handy little book, called The Plant Propagators Bible that has inspired me to try things that I haven't had much luck with before, like rooting cuttings and simple grafting, so baby trees and shrubs aren't outside the realm of possibility. I also have some old garden roses that I'm considering digging up and offering for sale, since Rex is cracking off canes regularly for his own personal chewing pleasure, and when darting through the bushes to bark at startled cyclists. He takes protecting his charges from attacks by sinewy men in spandex very seriously. Would you buy a hand-me-down rosebush?

So please leave me your thoughts in the comments so that I can get to growing some goodies to benefit our little school. Thanks!

The Garden (take two) and Other News

We can all agree that last year's garden was an unmitigated flop, yes? And yet, here I am again, feeling that garden fever, brought on by an inundation of seed and nursery catalogs.

I heard it mentioned within the farming community, that a seed catalog received before mid-January or so is considered tacky, bordering on pushy. Our minds and backs have earned the right to a Winter of not even thinking about gardens, fertilizer, seeds and weeds, so what's the hurry?

Well, the hurry is about getting the seeds you want from the supplier you trust before everyone else does. Because once they're out of stock for a season, you have to find a backup source or nix that crop for that year. I buy almost exclusively from Victory Seed Company and have learned the hard way in years past that if you snooze, you lose.

So I did a quick inventory of what we have leftover from last year, and found that we are all set in the greens department, but could stand to stock up on carrots, pumpkins/squashes, sunflowers and herbs. So a-browsing I will go to see which cool old varieties are on offer. This bit of the garden planning is cake. It's figuring out the logistics and layout of the new garden that is going to drive me (but even more so, my poor Billy) completely mad.

We've consulted with an amazing edible landscape designer, and decided on a new, sunnier, less soggy location for the garden. Now we "get to" till fresh ground, slog a couple thousand pounds of compost and critter poo down through the hollow and back up the hill, and disassemble and move our deer fencing. My knees and spine weep at the very thought.

On a completely different subject, which doesn't pain me at all - yay!, is the happy news that we're finally getting a dog!

We found our little fella, Rex, though a Great Pyrenees rescue organization. He is not a purebred Pyr, but does have (according to his foster Mom) all of the friendly and desirable traits that you could want in a livestock guardian and family companion. We are very excited, especially the girls who love dogs. We are going to foster him for a few days in order to make sure that he is good for us, and we are good for him before locking him down as our forever pooch, but we're certainly hoping that that will be the way things work out!


The newest member of the Boggy Hollow crew!

It's shaping up to be a very full 2012 here in the Hollow! ;)

Early Spring Garden Update

Or ESGU. If Rachael Ray can make annoying acronyms, why can't I? ;)

The weather 'round here is relatively springish, and about 50% of what I want to have in the garden and yard for this year is already out. So far, I've put in -

*Sugar Snap Peas (Cascade & Oregon varieties)
*Redbor Kale
*Chives
*Strawberries (Hood & Rainier varieties) - These are in addition to last year's returning strawberries.
*Horseradish Root
*Stevia (Giving this a try. It is apparently an annual in these parts, so we'll see how it goes.)
*Cylindrical Beets
*Carrots (Cosmic Purple, Red-corded Chantenay and "Little Fingers", a stump-rooted variety)
*Potatoes (Yellow Finn, Russett & Yukon Gold)

Still to go -
*Cocozelle Squash (zucchini)
*Cucumbers (Homemade Pickles variety)
*Delicata Squash
*Burgess Buttercup Squash
*Cinderella Pumpkins
*Sunflowers
*Mammoth Dill
*Tomatoes
*Basil
*Lettuces, Chard, Arugula (still under the grow lights)

The farmers market had tomato plants for sale today, but I'm once bitten, twice shy about putting 'maters out this soon. The weather has been highly unpredictable and I'd hate to waste my time and money, and that poor little plant's life on a foolish gamble against Mother Nature. However long it takes for our first tomato to be ripe, is how long it'll take. I've found that delayed gratification usually results in a better experience in most cases, especially in the case of a backyard tomato.

Seeds 'n' Stuff

I'm either neurotic or bored, because I've already started planning next spring's garden, and have even just ordered some seeds from my beloved Victory Seed Company. Here's what I've ordered, what I saved and what I still need to get-

Ordered-
*Squash, "Cocozelle" (grew these last year and loved them!)
*Squash, "Burgess Buttercup"
*Pumpkin, "Cinderella"
*Cucumber, "Homemade Pickles"
*Carrot, "Chantenay Red Cored"
*Carrot, "Little Fingers"
*Mammoth Dill
*Sunflower, "Autumn Beauty"
*Sunflower, "Annual"

Saved & Given
*Swiss Chard (from Kristin - thanks!)
*Cilantro (saved seed)
*Squash, "Delicata" (leftover from last year)
*Arugula (saved)
*Sweet Peas (leftover from last year)
*Lettuce, "Marvielle de quatre saisons" (leftover from last year)

Starts to get in the Spring-
*Tomatoes (starting these from seed last year failed miserably!)
*Basil
*Lemongrass (I want to give this a try in my pond.)
*Horseradish
*Marjoram
*Raspberries
*Blueberries (Grandpa has offered us his blueberries which are failing to thrive for him. I don't know if we can turn them around, but I'll sure try!)
*4 fruit trees (We have 4 dying non-fruiting trees in our yard that will be replaced with as-yet undetermined fruit or nut trees. We're leaning toward pie cherries, apples, peaches, big-leaf maple (for the sap) or walnuts.
*Yet another male fuzzy kiwi - Let's hope this guy lives longer than his predecessors!

Our plan is ever-evolving, but a few things are locked in - we're expanding the garden by at least two beds, we (or more accurately, Bill) will be building one or two cold frames out of found/scavanged windows & lumber, and we'll be doubling the number of tomatoes that we plant, because we use them like mad, and because of some concerns that I have about the healthfulness of canned tomatoes - even the organic ones. :(

At the moment I'm researching, reading and planning; readying myself for the days when the sun comes back and the green things thrive. I can only hope that my energy comes back at the same time, because right now, on these single-digit freezing cold days of snuggling by the fire, reading and knitting, I'm blissfully lazy, just daydreaming of sunny spring days to come.