A long update
May. 29th, 2012 22:37![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillAfter a week or so, I lost half the peppers and two tomato plants to damping off -- but the rest of the tomatoes went great guns. They're off like rockets, apparently making up for lost time. I have got to be more careful about my choice of potting mixes...
The beans are now up, all the summer squash are showing, and I'm waiting on the cukes and one hill of butternut squash. I replanted a few sweet potatoes when I replaced the tomatoes and all but one of the peppers (I may have to buy something). It's looking pretty good out there, reduced as it is.
The garlic is ready to pull (must put that on my to-do list). The onions are bulbing and, predictably, several decided to bolt. There are a few wise guys every year... The old parsley is flowering, as are the mustard greens. The brassicas both let me down this year -- the mustards bolted as soon as they hit mature size, and the collards haven't grown since March. I keep expecting them to give up and bolt too. I told the SSE seed trial people that January is too late to be planting collards here... I'm afraid any trial data I give them will be of marginal use. At least the Betas are behaving, so we should have some flavorful beets and chard on the menu very soon. Commercial beets aren't worth the money anymore.
I bought a bunch of things at Morningsun Herb Farm a bit ago, to add to the front strip; I planted my catnip starts (as stunted as the veggies *sigh*), valerian, winter savory, lemon verbena, and mugwort. I then realized my error a few days later, dug up the mugwort, and put it in a broad plastic pot on bricks. That left my spearmint homeless, so I bought a very nice ceramic pot (who knew that there were ten-quart glazed pots for $18 at Orchard Nursery, the Whole Foods of nurseries?) and perched it on the edge of my broad, shallow peppermint pot in front; they complement each other nicely, and they should be happy. It's a nice arrangement with the lime/thyme barrel and the licorice barrel. Which, by the way, is going insane this year. I'll feel good harvesting licorice root this winter, that's for sure. It almost makes up for having to replace the frozen kaffir lime.
The lovage is waist high, the lemongrass is recovering from the frost, and the meadowsweet is starting to look like a real plant rather than an odd groundcover. I may have to move the terragon, which looks like it isn't getting enough water, and the rosemary is touch and go -- surviving, but I have a feeling it may keel over when we hit hot weather, as it just isn't recovering well from its transplant. The rest of the Mediterraneans are very happy, though, the oregano forming a huge globe, the sage flowering madly, and the lavender a petite and well-mannered ball covered in purple blossoms. I really only put it there because I had a spare, I don't use much lavender.
I'm starting more ginger, in the hope that I can get it to take hold before the cold comes again. I should seek out more turmeric on Saturday, too (I'll add that to my Berkeley errand list). I'd love to get some live turmeric out there, and if I mulch it well an established plant will survive our normal winter weather. The occasional brief low of 29 isn't a big threat to buried rhizomes.
I've been weeding out front a great deal, attacking the few annual weeds and especially the bindweed that wants to carpet the place. It's surprisingly vulnerable -- unlike bermudagrass, which sort of shrugs when you pull it, bindweed immediately loses vigor, sending up a clump of very thready stems that grow more slowly than the original. It's still stubborn, but I feel like mechanical means might actually work to eradicate it, if I'm as tenacious as it is. My weeding is in preparation for finally spreading Mount Chipmore, the pile of chips that has been there for (sigh) two years? maybe a bit more. It still makes decent mulch, and a couple of inches of that should discourage most weeds, even the humbled bindweed. It'll make weeding easier, at any rate. I've done the area around the pile, which was already weeded, and now I'm headed west toward the fruit trees.
Once the pile is gone from its current location, I'll be free to put in a few irrigation bubblers and finally plant the blueberries I got this spring *and* the red currants I started from cuttings this winter. I lost half the rhubarb to the cold (conveniently, plants 2 and 4 of the original five), but finally I'm close to having the rhubarb-currants-blueberries set of the shady half of the front strip done. (The blues will have full sun in the summer, courtesy of a solar path that runs north of midline and therefore skirts the acacia trees.) I have a small, about 10'x6' triangle between the blues and the currants, and I should figure out something to do with it that likes light shade. Maybe a pequin chile pepper; I still have seed for that somewhere. And the mashua might like it there, if I give it something to climb.
The blues will be protected at least somewhat from public predation -- we live down the street from an elementary school, lots of traffic -- by a climbing Altissimo rose I've had since 1997, which really deserves a home. I think training it along the back side of the split rail fence, just far enough that it isn't actually ON the fence, should discourage anyone from figuring they can just hop the rail and grab a handful of free blueberries from the bushes beyond. Serious theft is another matter, but at least I can keep idle paws off them. Besides, the red single roses are strikingly beautiful, and go on all summer if it's happy.
So the front strip is shaping up, and I continue to grab cardboard for other areas of the property. Weed control is essentially done (never mind the ankle-high foxtails and remaining cleavers, there's little I can do at this point). I should finish making the compost pile in the back, which is much more browns than greens; I can always add horse manure and brewer's mash. I'm already propagating ground covers for later. Then it's on to taking out trees, whee. No wonder I'm focusing more on raking chips... it's much more pleasant work. :)
Offsite is good too. I've made good progress on one other person's front yard, and hit a major milestone at Greg's -- I actually finished sifting rocks. I think that one task alone has been going on more than a year. The old junipers are all gone, all the weed-control plastic has been pulled up, and I dug out every little river rock I could find that had covered that plastic, separated it from dirt/bark/roots, and dumped them all into the new streambed. It'll take about one load from the back to finish the stream, but this allowed me to level the last stretch of hillside into an even slope and rake the ever-present piles of mulch down to cover it. It looks awesome. I have to move a few other piles around to cover bare spots and level things out, then I can finally figure out where the rest of the plants and rocks will go to fill out the design. I'll keep adding as the years go on, of course, but it should be at least a basic planting by the end of the summer. (The side yard still needs doing, but it can wait a bit.) Pictures soon.
It's odd to realize that every stone visible in that yard, every last one, has been through my fingers at least once. I have personally handled them all. Even the half-inch runts. Talk about leaving your mark on a place.
Just in case you think gardening is all I'm doing, I should post an update on my Maker stuff... it's getting late tonight. Maybe in a couple of days. I've got to walk some cherry orchards on Thursday for the Buckskin survey, but Friday may be quieter.
The beans are now up, all the summer squash are showing, and I'm waiting on the cukes and one hill of butternut squash. I replanted a few sweet potatoes when I replaced the tomatoes and all but one of the peppers (I may have to buy something). It's looking pretty good out there, reduced as it is.
The garlic is ready to pull (must put that on my to-do list). The onions are bulbing and, predictably, several decided to bolt. There are a few wise guys every year... The old parsley is flowering, as are the mustard greens. The brassicas both let me down this year -- the mustards bolted as soon as they hit mature size, and the collards haven't grown since March. I keep expecting them to give up and bolt too. I told the SSE seed trial people that January is too late to be planting collards here... I'm afraid any trial data I give them will be of marginal use. At least the Betas are behaving, so we should have some flavorful beets and chard on the menu very soon. Commercial beets aren't worth the money anymore.
I bought a bunch of things at Morningsun Herb Farm a bit ago, to add to the front strip; I planted my catnip starts (as stunted as the veggies *sigh*), valerian, winter savory, lemon verbena, and mugwort. I then realized my error a few days later, dug up the mugwort, and put it in a broad plastic pot on bricks. That left my spearmint homeless, so I bought a very nice ceramic pot (who knew that there were ten-quart glazed pots for $18 at Orchard Nursery, the Whole Foods of nurseries?) and perched it on the edge of my broad, shallow peppermint pot in front; they complement each other nicely, and they should be happy. It's a nice arrangement with the lime/thyme barrel and the licorice barrel. Which, by the way, is going insane this year. I'll feel good harvesting licorice root this winter, that's for sure. It almost makes up for having to replace the frozen kaffir lime.
The lovage is waist high, the lemongrass is recovering from the frost, and the meadowsweet is starting to look like a real plant rather than an odd groundcover. I may have to move the terragon, which looks like it isn't getting enough water, and the rosemary is touch and go -- surviving, but I have a feeling it may keel over when we hit hot weather, as it just isn't recovering well from its transplant. The rest of the Mediterraneans are very happy, though, the oregano forming a huge globe, the sage flowering madly, and the lavender a petite and well-mannered ball covered in purple blossoms. I really only put it there because I had a spare, I don't use much lavender.
I'm starting more ginger, in the hope that I can get it to take hold before the cold comes again. I should seek out more turmeric on Saturday, too (I'll add that to my Berkeley errand list). I'd love to get some live turmeric out there, and if I mulch it well an established plant will survive our normal winter weather. The occasional brief low of 29 isn't a big threat to buried rhizomes.
I've been weeding out front a great deal, attacking the few annual weeds and especially the bindweed that wants to carpet the place. It's surprisingly vulnerable -- unlike bermudagrass, which sort of shrugs when you pull it, bindweed immediately loses vigor, sending up a clump of very thready stems that grow more slowly than the original. It's still stubborn, but I feel like mechanical means might actually work to eradicate it, if I'm as tenacious as it is. My weeding is in preparation for finally spreading Mount Chipmore, the pile of chips that has been there for (sigh) two years? maybe a bit more. It still makes decent mulch, and a couple of inches of that should discourage most weeds, even the humbled bindweed. It'll make weeding easier, at any rate. I've done the area around the pile, which was already weeded, and now I'm headed west toward the fruit trees.
Once the pile is gone from its current location, I'll be free to put in a few irrigation bubblers and finally plant the blueberries I got this spring *and* the red currants I started from cuttings this winter. I lost half the rhubarb to the cold (conveniently, plants 2 and 4 of the original five), but finally I'm close to having the rhubarb-currants-blueberries set of the shady half of the front strip done. (The blues will have full sun in the summer, courtesy of a solar path that runs north of midline and therefore skirts the acacia trees.) I have a small, about 10'x6' triangle between the blues and the currants, and I should figure out something to do with it that likes light shade. Maybe a pequin chile pepper; I still have seed for that somewhere. And the mashua might like it there, if I give it something to climb.
The blues will be protected at least somewhat from public predation -- we live down the street from an elementary school, lots of traffic -- by a climbing Altissimo rose I've had since 1997, which really deserves a home. I think training it along the back side of the split rail fence, just far enough that it isn't actually ON the fence, should discourage anyone from figuring they can just hop the rail and grab a handful of free blueberries from the bushes beyond. Serious theft is another matter, but at least I can keep idle paws off them. Besides, the red single roses are strikingly beautiful, and go on all summer if it's happy.
So the front strip is shaping up, and I continue to grab cardboard for other areas of the property. Weed control is essentially done (never mind the ankle-high foxtails and remaining cleavers, there's little I can do at this point). I should finish making the compost pile in the back, which is much more browns than greens; I can always add horse manure and brewer's mash. I'm already propagating ground covers for later. Then it's on to taking out trees, whee. No wonder I'm focusing more on raking chips... it's much more pleasant work. :)
Offsite is good too. I've made good progress on one other person's front yard, and hit a major milestone at Greg's -- I actually finished sifting rocks. I think that one task alone has been going on more than a year. The old junipers are all gone, all the weed-control plastic has been pulled up, and I dug out every little river rock I could find that had covered that plastic, separated it from dirt/bark/roots, and dumped them all into the new streambed. It'll take about one load from the back to finish the stream, but this allowed me to level the last stretch of hillside into an even slope and rake the ever-present piles of mulch down to cover it. It looks awesome. I have to move a few other piles around to cover bare spots and level things out, then I can finally figure out where the rest of the plants and rocks will go to fill out the design. I'll keep adding as the years go on, of course, but it should be at least a basic planting by the end of the summer. (The side yard still needs doing, but it can wait a bit.) Pictures soon.
It's odd to realize that every stone visible in that yard, every last one, has been through my fingers at least once. I have personally handled them all. Even the half-inch runts. Talk about leaving your mark on a place.
Just in case you think gardening is all I'm doing, I should post an update on my Maker stuff... it's getting late tonight. Maybe in a couple of days. I've got to walk some cherry orchards on Thursday for the Buckskin survey, but Friday may be quieter.
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no subject
Date: 2012-05-30 21:04 (UTC)We have onions (green and full sized white) and have considered planting garlic. But bolting sounds like something we need to watch out for.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-30 21:16 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-30 22:43 (UTC)Some plants don't have flowers, or they're not significant: green onions, for example. Garlic may flower, depending on the type and how stressed it is, but even when it does the bulb is still perfectly usable. (The green flower buds are called scapes, and they're usually cut and used like green onions.) So both green onions and garlic are pretty carefree.
Onions, on the other hand, shrink and go mushy to support the flower head, and even if you snip the bud off (as I did) storage life goes down dramatically. I planted mine very late to try to avoid any warm weather in the fall, which might make their little biennial clocks think this was their second spring, but then the freaky weather in January and February got to them instead. I almost never have a year when I don't have at least one try to bolt; maybe They Just Do That.