Lessons Learned

Now that the weather is finally cooperating, it's time for a reality check and re-evaluate what does not work for this Pacific Northwest veggie garden.

Remember the Thai Red Roselle I had major zonal denial, yet such high hopes for? Well, they didn't make it past 3 inches tall. Even in the warmest spots, they did not enjoy the wet cool spring.

Sometimes, a crop goes missing in the whole shuffle of sowing and transplanting. I cannot find the pepino melons. They're completely gone--vanished. It's possible I mixed them up with the eggplant and gave them away as I handed over a tray of nasturtiums. I do remember them germinating and getting transplanted, but after that, who knows!

And speaking of eggplant, it will be interesting to see if they do decide to do anything. Last week I read they do not like nights below 55 degrees which we have had a ton of. Just now are we maintaining night temperatures above 50. Eggplant will stall out and remain stunted. They looked promising when I set them out in May and had at least four to five leaves each. Some are now holding their own against the slugs and have more leaves, but it's been an uphill battle.

The cucumbers were just an experiment, but I don't have enough to pollinate the girls with the boys. The seed was super old which may be why I have weak plants.

Ironically, I have one fennel plant out of the entire batch that is hanging on. Why is it that when you're not trying to grow fennel, it's everywhere. But, once you decide to plant it and cultivate it, the entire crop fails? I had great germination, but the survival rate has been dismal.

We all know what poor plants look like under such conditions, so I didn't bother taking any photos.

Summer Solstice

Happy Summer Solstice!

Did we think that summer would ever arrive? It's finally here. The warm weather is most welcome by me and my veggies that have had a miserable spring. It was as though winter weather continued through spring.

The weather is making it difficult to stay inside and update everyone with what is going on in the garden. I'll make it short so we can all get back to enjoying the sunshine!

So far, the Swiss chard is producing new leaves, tomatoes are taller, radishes are ready for harvesting, onions are swelling, and edible chrysanthemum is oh-so-tall and flowering. The celery is thicker, and the eggplant is starting to take a turn for the better finally. And the fava beans are climbing high!

Here is one of the views of my garden. Notice the freshly painted blue planter boxes in the background.

Okay! Get back out there, soak up the sun, and fight that morning glory!

Borage

I love to surprise my friends by tossing flowers into my salads. I recently did this to the salad mix I received in my Stoney Plains Organic Farm CSA subscription.

People are used to eating red, yellow, and orange nasturtiums. But, blue starry flowers sprinkled amongst the greens catches them off guard.

"What are those?! Can we really eat them?!"

"Yes. And, they taste so wonderfully fresh almost like cucumbers!"

The flowers are delicate. I pluck the whole flower from the stem and separate the fuzzy sepals from the blue petals. The sepals are underneath the petals, also called a calyx as an entire unit. Here is a photo showing these different parts of the flower: the corolla (petal unit) and calyx (sepal unit). A little botany terminology never hurts!



The petals will easily fall off as you're gathering them for your summertime salad. Since the calyx's texture is too fuzzy for some, I only add the petals. If they aren't separating for you, just add the whole thing. Don't worry since the salad dressing will most likely mask the texture. Enjoy!

Rhubarb

I know it's late in the season for acquiring a rhubarb plant. But there I was, at the West Seattle Farmers' Market, wandering around and I spotted it in a 4" pot at Langley Fine Gardens. It was so cute with several small leaves and a lot of potential. Where it would be planted was already visualized in my garden. I gave the man $3--a bargain!--and took my new crop home.

Here it is in the ground with my Walla Walla onions in the background.

Cute, eh?

I sacrificed a few primroses to make room for the rhubarb. Who wants to eat primroses anyway? Some may argue the same for rhubarb, but I like it. Especially at this time of year when local fresh fruit is hard to find. The apple supply has been looking pretty grim since April. But I haven't had enough heat for cherries.

I've made crisps and sauces this season using the rhubarb from the Columbia City Farmers' Market. The recipe I recently used was from the first edition of edibleSEATTLE. It calls for ground ginger for the topping and the filling. I prefer using fresh ginger for the sauce. The more intense flavor means I don't need any for the topping. All you need is some peeled ginger and a Microplane. If you don't have a Microplane, the small holes (not the nutmeg grater) on your box grater will work just fine.

Rhubarb sauce is easy and quick, and you don't have to make a crisp. I made a sauce last night with rhubarb, ginger, strawberries, butter, and brown sugar. I threw it all in a pan on medium high heat until the rhubarb was tender. You can swirl it into your ice cream or even oatmeal for breakfast. Enjoy!

Radishes, Beets, and Carrots

There's no better way to welcome spring than by dining in the garden. It's even better when you can invite your guests to help plant seeds.

I'll admit I've been carrying around the same 4 packets of seeds for a couple of weeks. The fennel was finally planted early last week, but the radish, beet, and carrot seeds were still in their packets until Sunday.

Part of my problem I'm going to blame on the weather. Now I know I can plant these when the "danger of frost has passed" as it says on the seed packet. But won't they have a better chance of germinating if I wait a little longer? It was still feeling chilly out there last week so why push it?

The other part was letting go of last year's chard. They were starting to bolt and twist into some crazy looking stalks. I usually don't get too attached to my plants, but then Eldon noted how cool they looked. I had a little patch of Dr. Seuss in my garden. I held on.

When I made this lunch date with my friends, we were expecting rain and planned on indoor crafts. The sun was shining and the garden was warm--the perfect time to sow seeds so out went the chard. Unfortunately, I didn't take their photos. It was time to get to work.

I have a few rows of crops scattered here and there--my fava beans are in rows along the bamboo trellis as are the sweet peas, and I have rows of well spaced Walla Walla onions. But rows can be extremely boring. I drew out my plan on a piece of paper, and decided the seeds would be sown in crescents. The radishes, sown by Teresa, are in the longest one. There are two smaller crescents of beets; I sowed one and Kerstin the other. Sarah sowed the carrots in a swirl between the two.

As we planted, we talked about the increase in food prices, and how it may be the catalyst for people to start growing their own fruits and veggies. I know it's difficult for many to take up part of their yard or balcony and dedicate it to urban farming. But maybe it will make us at least think about reconnecting with our land no matter how big or small.

Bud Break

Last year we planted three apple trees, two of which are Nittany. We discovered this variety on a chilly fall afternoon on Orcas Island. The burgundy red apples are tart yet sweet and crisp. Eldon decided on the spot we needed an orchard of Nittanys.

Now that we have our own house, it was time for our own apple trees. The compromise was three trees instead of an orchard. Apples do not self-pollinate. You need a 'pollinizer' to cross-pollinate with. This chart helped us figure out a companion tree for the Nittanys. We chose one Honecrisp.

Since our garden is small, the perfect solution to growing fruit trees is to espalier. The art of espalier allows trees to be trained against a wall or along a fence. There are many different patterns including cordon, candelabra, fan, and Belgian fence. Given our fence design and that I'm a beginner, I decided the cordon style would be the most manageable, but ours will be four to five tiers.

Over Memorial Day Weekend last year, we removed the dying arborvitae hedge that never had a chance since they were still balled and burlapped. The mystery of their death had been solved. A post and wire fence took its place in the front yard. Once those holes were dug and filled, more were dug for the trees. A light rain helped water in the new plantings.

Then came the hard part. It was time to head back the tree to the lowest wire. These trees were at least four feet tall. I couldn't do it, even though the planting instructions told me to do so immediately after planting. I made excuses not to: it was too late in the season; I didn't want to shock them; They may be burned in the south-west exposure. When they broke dormancy and started blooming, I felt it really was too late to head them back. And they provided a small screen between us and our new neighbors. They liked the new fence--what a relief!

Now, almost a year ago, I knew their time was coming. Off with their heads! I mustered up enough courage and headed them back at the end of March. All I could do now is wait and hope that the trees would be okay.



This type of pruning goes against everything I've been taught in school and in the field. Heading cuts are never encouraged, but when you're practicing espalier, no problem! To cover my bases, I attended Kristan Johnson's espalier lecture at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. He's from the Western Washington Fruit Research Foundation and what he said was exactly what all the books and the Internet said to do.

Holding my breath, I lopped the tops off each tree. I checked on the buds' progress weekly. Most of the lower branches had already been pruned at the nursery. Part of me didn't believe that I'd get a new leader and two side branches let alone a few buds breaking. My friends and neighbors asked me what I'm doing and if the trees were taller before. I start to second guess myself all over again, but I explain my plan for these trees.

Sure enough, they leafed out nicely. I wasn't expecting flowers, but I did have one on the southern-most Nittany. This is the same tree in the previous photo.



Eldon and I were careful to install the posts into concrete making sure each post was level. I wasn't careful though how taught the lower wires were. I unknowingly cranked them too tightly. After settling with the winter wet, the posts were pulled inward. To counteract this, we used copper pipe at the very top of the fence and we loosened the wire below. It adds a finished touch and ties in with the copper caps on each post.

(Thanks for your help, cousin Eamon!)

It will be awhile before the trees reach the top. Once they do, I will wrap the copper so it doesn't interfere with the tree branches. We'll see how the pipe resists the pull of the wire next year after another season of wind, rain, and snow.

Spring has Sprung

I almost resigned myself to not having a fava been crop this year. The weather seems to be playing tricks on all of us the last couple of weeks. One day we have temps nearing 70, and then we have what seems to be a freezing cold night.

But just a few days ago, like magic, a row of seedlings poked their heads above the soil. They were probably waiting until the soil was just the right temperature. I thinned out a few where they seemed a bit crowded, and my bamboo poles are all in place.











My chives have started to bloom. The beautiful purple blossoms will add a tasty and colorful surprise to the salad mixes I am getting in my CSA box from Full Circle Farm. I would love to grow lettuce at home, but my slug problem is too unbearable. Instead of trying to battle it out against these slimy beings, I'll have someone else grow it for me.









I left my Bright Lights Swiss Chard in the ground this winter. It keeps a little color going in the garden while everything else is dormant. I don't use it much in my cooking during this time. If I did, there would be very little leaves on the plants to keep going with the little photosynthesis that may happen in the dead of winter. They more or less stall out until a couple of months ago. Now, with the warmer days, my chard has lots of lush leave and is starting to bolt. I snagged a few leaves for lunch yesterday.

Like lettuce, once it bolts, it supposedly becomes bitter and inedible. I took a chance and cooked it up anyway. Plus, I wanted to see how it compared with the chard I received from my Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) box. I took a large clove of garlic and sauteed it in olive oil. Once the garlic was golden, I added the chard, a sprinkling of kosher salt, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, and some chopped walnuts. I removed it from the heat once the chard wilted but was still bright in color.

The chard was nutty without being too bitter. I have to say it was better than the chard from my CSA box. Maybe I'm being a little unfair since my garden-grown chard was cooked less than 5 minutes after it was picked. Though, a good argument to grow your own wherever you can.