Here goes nothing!

I remember when my kids were little we used to plant peas and all kinds of fun to eat things .. as they got older it became harder and harder to keep up and honestly gardening is not something I’m passionate about.  With the recent Coronavirus and subsequent quarantine I was cleaning up my back room and found a bunch of old seeds.  I thought to myself..what the heck! ... so 2 days ago I began a little garden of my own... green peppers, cucumbers and of course jack o lantern pumpkins 🎃.... let’s hope something grows.. I always say the only thing I can grow well is children ❤️...Tricia

We did clean up the yard a few days ago too.  I planted some wildflowers in my planters but it’s been freezing here at night so who knows!

And we cleaned up my flowerbeds and my dads peonies are still alive! That at least is something! Right?!!

Coronavirus Victory Garden at Camp Crain 2020

This is Snowshoe Inn today.   Still winter here

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In the heated greenhouse you can see micro greens on bench potatoes  chitting  on floor in trays, and other tender plants I have been overwintering

Trays on bench with micro greens and baby greens.

April 2nd 2020.  It is still very cold here at Snowshoe Inn.  Temperature this morning was 13 degrees F.  Forecast high is 36 degrees F.  Not very spring like but winter does not give up with out a good fight here.  In my heated greenhouse I have been overwintering my tender perennials and citrus trees.  The citrus trees started dropping leaves in January.   In Late February and early March new leaves began to appear.  Today I gave the citrus trees and my potted blueberry plants their first shot of fertilizer.  Also today I cut my seed potatoes and set them out in trays to cheat them.  If soil warms enough I hope to plant my first crop of potatoes in a month.  Then I will plant my second crop of potatoes a month after that.  We are planning on heading out to Upper Klamath Lake Monday for five days of isolation from caroniavirus and do some canoeing.  We are at the end of the spring water fowl migration.  I hope we can see some birds on the water.   On or about the middle of April I will begin succession sowing of my spring and summer crops in heated greenhouse.  I have redesigned garden and will have raised bed to help organize plantings.  I hope to be better organized this coming growing season.  Feel free to follow along with this blog this summer..

Spring Snowshoe Inn 2015

Here at Snowshoe Inn, cold nights limit what can be sown out doors or in unprotected areas.  Five weeks ago I sowed arugula, spinach, kale, cabbage etc.    I  have a small greenhouse with heat cables under the greenhouse, this provides lite bottom heat.  Today I out planted the arugula and spinach in unheated green house. 

bottom heated greenhouse

Arugula and Spinach in cold frame

Leeks in bed

garlic doing quite well

Garden time! 4.13.15

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I posted on here.  My garden last year wasn't the focus of what was going on in my life, maybe that's why I haven't put much down recently.

This last weekend I spent some good time weeding the garden and figuring out where I want everything to grow.  I cleaned out some of the overgrowth of weeds and miscellaneous that was growing around the perimeter of the garden in addition to pulling the weeds in the beds.

After gutting the kitchen last summer we kept the old cast iron sink.  I'm going to be using that to plant some sunflowers in.

I have a whole bed of garlic currently growing, and I'm looking forward to getting that bed back when they are mature enough to harvest.  I've also found potato plants all over!  :)  I need to be more disciplined about planting them in one spot.  As it is, I feel sure that I shouldn't be planting any more potatoes ever in my life.

I've given up planting quite a few things I realized this when I was seeding yesterday.  I don't want to fight with the bugs that I can't control.  I just have given in to them.

I am working on planting some big pots on our porch full of mosquito repelling plants.  In the last four years I feel as though our mosquito problem has gotten out of control.  And with such a mild winter, I am sure it is going to be a painful summer if we don't figure out a way to control them this year.

I also have some grape plants a friend has given me that are growing beautifully.  I'm very happy to see them getting green and lovely right now.

I hope to invest in some raspberry plants and maybe a huckleberry.  The one I planted a few years ago died.  My blueberries are flowering now as well.  And the asparagus I put in is finally popping out.  I think most of it got pulled out when I was weeding throughout the years.  But there are a few left.

I'll post a few photos of progress as it starts to show.  I hope all of your gardens are doing well!
e

Spring is in the air!

Two weeks ago I had decided I wasn't going to plant a garden this year.  We're in the middle of a bathroom remodel and as soon as that is finished we plan on starting in on the kitchen and this fall is the basement.  The garden is a back burner for me.  BUT since the weather was so lovely this last weekend I got suckerd into planting some easy to maintain veg.  Beans, beets, kale, garlic (planted last fall actually) corn and some squash/zucchini.  I have tarped everything else off and hope to have a nice clear patch of ground to garden on next spring.  :)

Hope all of your gardens are planted and you're doing well.

-e

Late Winter projects

Well the end of January, So many seed catologs have been in mail box over the past few weeks.  Time to get serious about next season's gardens.  Time to order seeds and get early season plantings sown in greenhouse.  I am thinking about trying a straw bale garden this season. 

Keep warm & dry

Bob

Looking Back

Last night I spent about 30 minutes picking "The Fruit Of My Labor" out of the garden.  Knowing I'm headed to Korea for work again, I anticipate the weather getting cooler and cooler and I'll be losing a lot of what is currently just hanging around.  I thought I'd share the bounty of my my garden with friends and coworkers before I leave.

These are a few of the realizations that I had while reflecting on my 3rd garden's "success".

#1 - I don't eat most of what I grow.  I give a lot of it away.  I haven't been cooking as much lately because I either exhausted from work or exhausted from projects.  Most of my food is packaged or bought out.  Which makes me sad, but until my life changes, that's the truth of it.  I also give a lot away because I like to share it.  It makes me extremely happy to hear someone say they like what I've grown!

#2 - I'm done with the hard veggies.  I'm seriously, DONE.  I don't give two figs to try growing cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts or cabbage again.  Anything that aphids eat, I'm not interested in.  I'm done fighting that fight.  The aphids win.

#3 - I don't know SO MUCH about gardening.  I've got a compost bin, but I don't have a clue what I'm supposed to be doing with it.  :)  It sits there full of "composty things" in it...and I'm baffled about what to do next.

#4 - I don't know how to harvest, or when to harvest most of what I seed in my garden.

#5 - I over plant.  I admit it.  I need 1 tomato plant a year, and I need to remember that, because I make the same mistake every single year.  And who needs more than one zucchini plant?!  Honestly!  They grow so darn fast I can hardly get out there fast enough to harvest them before they're so big they taste awful.

#6 - On the up side, I did pickle some veg this year, and I really quite enjoyed that.  I think that's a fun way to enjoy what I grow and not feel so overwhelmed to eat a mass of tomatoes in one sitting.

#7 - I'm investing in raised beds this next summer.  I'm not convinced I'm a good gardener  but before I give up on this hobby entirely, I'm going to try and do this in a way that is more rewarding for me.

#8 - I'm TRILLED to see the huge pumpkin in my garden this year.  I get a huge smile whenever I go out there, knowing that guy is going to be the coolest carved jack ever this year. I don't care how old I get, carving pumpkins is so fun.

#9 - I do know I'm learning.  I do know that as much as I don't know, I know more now than I did two years ago, and as I go forward and learn more of what I like to grow, what I am good at growing and what my garden WANTS to grow I can only get better at this, and maybe at some point in my future when my career and house projects aren't taking up so much of my time this little hobby will get more of my brain power and I can do the proper amount of research I should be doing to make it a success.  In the meantime, I do enjoy myself when I have the time to devote to it.

#10 - This year, I'm not putting straw down when I put the garden to bed, and I WILL do some research about that compost bin before then so I'm fully prepared for next spring.  :)

#11 - Bush Beans, and climbing beans are VERY, very different, and should not be seeded in the same location....note to self, put the climbing beans on something they can climb on, or they will choke out the bush beans.

Happy Gardening family.   I hope everyone else has had a successful summer of veggies.

The Return of the Never Ending Zucchini

My garden has, remarkably, kept itself alive while I was focused on house projects.  I don't have much diversity this year, but things ARE growing, which considering my lack of interest in it most of the spring is pretty impressive.

I went for 3 separate zucchini plants this year with a cucumber and a pumpkin thrown in....but when things were not coming up, I threw in a few more seeds to see how it would go.  Low and behold, I have a garden full of spreading zucchini plants that are overtaking everything else.  Every morning I go out there i move the tendrils into a new direction trying to navigate the other plants...each morning I feel like I've gotten another foot of growth!

My peas are looking very "pea'y" and growing up the bed frame we put out there.  I have tried a few, and they're delicious!  

My first 2 blueberries!  YAAAY.  I'm not really sure when they are going to be ripe.  I'm just enjoying looking at them at this point.  It's been 2 years now and these are the first two I've gotten.  

The asparagus is in an awful spot.  I think I might have to start over entirely with the Aspargus as soon as I put the raised beds in.  At this point I feel like it's not worth my time to manage them in any way.  

I'm giving up on all veg that Aphids like.  I'm just...SO discouraged.  I've tried non-chemical methods, (soap and water only, water every single morning, washing leaves) and this year, I even resorted to chemicals to kill the aphids.  Chemicals showed the best results but they are still eating my cabbage and kohlrabi alive, I feel so defeated with this issue.  I'm just, DONE trying.  Next summer, I'm not going to try again.  I'm going to do hearty veg and not worry about it.  

3 tomato plants is 2, too many!  Once again I have the most bountiful tomato plants ever!  I've got so much fruit on the limbs they are sagging everywhere.  I don't have enough stakes to prop up all the limbs.  

This year, I bought onion starts from the Portland Nursery and wow have they taken off!  They're lovely to look at and sooo fragrant!  LOVE them.  

saddest little cabbage ever....