Ingy Plants - Zone 7B

Spring starts in January

2012-01-24T17:27:00.000-08:00

Snow is still on the ground, the sky is gloomy-grey with a large dollop of drizzle. But I just invested in a little bit of hopeful sunshine. I put in my order for veggies through Territorial Seed Company, a Pacific Northwest-geared company.

Qty	Item #	Description	Price
1	TM901/S	Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry - 1/8 gram	$2.85
1	ON557/P	Guardsman Onion - 4 grams	$5.15
1	MS479/P	Italian Saladini Blend - 4 grams	$4.65
1	LT403/L	Little Gem Lettuce - 1/2 gram	$3.05
1	MS499/S	Miners Lettuce - 1/4 gram	$3.05
1	SW850/S	Perpetual Swiss Chard - 3 grams	$2.75
1	SP779/S	Regal Spinach - 5 grams	$2.50
1	KL361/S	Winter Red Kale - 1 gram	$2.55

Miner's Lettuce (The Atlantic, Mar 2011)

Three lessons learned from last year's vegetable gardening:

1) The garden (and life) is too short for veggies we don't like. No matter how easy to grow. That means you, radishes. You're quick to reach harvest, but not my cup o' tea.
2) Fussy is out. Tomatoes that require primping and preening, warmth and coaxing in this climate are too much effort for not enough reward.
3) Re-use garden space. If a spring crop has been harvested, yank it in July and use that space for a fall harvest crop. Easy peas-y!

Ground Cherries (Smithsonian, Sep 2010)

Ground Cherries, are easier to grow versions of tomatoes for our temperate climate. I've never grown them before, so we'll see how this goes.

Winter Red Kale will be a Fall crop, which sweetens with the frost. Yumm.

Miner's Lettuce - high in vitamin C and cold-tolerant, making it possible to harvest year-round.

I'm mainly planting easy-grow greens, which can be plucked for each meal. I'm lazy about shading things, so I picked out varieties that aren't quick to bolt.

In the meantime, I'm buying greens in the store, but dreaming of later in the year when they're a few steps from the door...

First bounty of the season

2011-06-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about going out of town in June is the Seattle weather is still mild enough to pamper your plants, and can even give you a nice amount of rain. We recently returned from a trip to the Bahamas, and here is the yard that greeted us:

Strawberries, ripe and delish

A couple weeks later, even with weeding and trimming things back, and things are busting out even more.

I harvested a nice bowl of strawberries that are so fresh, they have a hearty, rich feel to them as I pop them in my mouth. They're not rock-hard, like strawberries can tend be from the grocery store.

I also plucked some fresh sugar snap peas from the trellis to snack on. Yum.

The herbs are threatening to take over, so I'm starting to look up recipes for things like fennel ice cream (yet to be tested), and sage tea (which was delicious with a bit of honey).

Red Russian kale

The kale is still young, but needed more thinning. So I took advantage of this and slipped some young greens into my grilled cheese sandwich for lunch today:

The red russian kale has a tanginess, with a slight honey aftertaste. Perfect with cheddar and tomato.

All's I can say is, I love summer in Seattle. Harvesting endless tasty food from your yard is what it's all about.

Rats? Ah, rats.

2011-06-07T08:29:00.000-07:00

It finally happened - we have some special visitors to the chicken coop: rats. I had a feeling this might happen, as I was lazy when we first put the coop in and didn't rat-proof the coop. I kind of just hoped that they wouldn't smell the yummy chicken feed, wouldn't enjoy the perfect bedding of wood chips and ample fresh water.
The first sign of them was while we were on vacation. Amanda, poor dear, was changing the water and a rat scurried out from under the brick platform. Yikes!
They have been burrowing under the coop in two spots. The walls of the coop mainly have chicken wire, which they say isn't the best at keeping rodents out. But I think I'll start with protecting at the base, and work my way up with the hardware cloth if needed.
So now a week later I'm getting around to it. I was a bit worried about just how to do it. The internets provided some basic info, but not the comprehensive start-to-finish that I would expect. So allow me to walk you through a step by step of how I did this in our coop:

Step 1: Gather tools and materials

Step 2: Dig the trench

Start as close to the edge of the coop walls as possible. Dig about 8" down (some say 6", others say 10", so I split the difference), using the flat edge shovel. Using a combination of the flat-edge shovel, hand trowel or regular shovel, remove the dirt. Pile it next to each section, so that you don't have to do what I did and rake the dirt all the way over from one big pile.
If possible, dig the whole trench first before moving on. This will ensure you can just slap the hardware cloth in without retrofitting.

Step 3: Cut and Fold Hardware cloth

Using the tin snips, cut 11" of hardware cloth off of the roll. Fold 2-3" worth over. This will be your top piece that you'll nail to the frame of the coop. You fold it over to protect the chickens from scraping against it and hurting their cute little feet and legs.

Step 4: Attach hardware cloth
Put the hardware cloth in the trench, folded side up, with folded side facing in to the coop. Keep it as vertical as possible, to ensure no burrowing can be done by any varmints. Using the poultry staples, nail onto the frame.
Repeat along the perimeter of your coop, overlapping the pieces so that there are no gaps.

Step 5: Refill the dirt

This part is easy, but just make sure that the hardware cloth stays vertical, so that you get maximal depth protection.

Keeping my fingers crossed that this keeps the little guys out!

Spring starts in May? I'll take it.

2011-05-14T09:04:00.000-07:00

The seeds have started sprouting up in the raised beds.

I love planting beans. Since they are so easy to grow, you get an instant reward for just popping their large seed in the ground. They don't need much of anything, and reward you with endless beans at harvest time.

The kale sprouts (blue kale and red russian kale, respectively, above) are busting out too. This is the part of planting from seed that I get squeamish about: thinning. I seriously don't like having to pick and choose who lives and who goes. This time I took all the thinned seedlings and put them in the chicken's food dish. At least they won't go to waste.

Speaking of the chickens, they LOVE their wheatgrass:

I put it out a couple days ago, and they went crazy for it. They couldn't stop eating it. At first only Janet and Chrissy had discovered it. Henrietta (who might actually be the dumb one, as it turns out) was blithely snacking on some boring old feed when Janet seemed to look up, turn to Henrietta and squawk at her to get the heck over here and try some of this out-of-this-world wheatgrass. Henrietta ran over and tried it, and you couldn't tear her away after that.

At that point, I started getting curious about how they knew that wheatgrass was delicious. And how did they find it in the first place? I know their eyesight isn't the greatest, but maybe it's good enough, particularly when they see new things, like a rectangular black box of grass? And what about their tastebuds? Do they have fine palates to distinguish salty from spicy from umami?

The google provided ample information, though some of it was conflicting. So allow me to add to the mix. From what I gathered, it seems that most people agree that chickens have a keen sense of smell. They do have tastebuds, but they are concentrated on the back of their mouth/throat area. Not sure about their eyesight. But however you want to look at it, they seem to really enjoy yummy food like wheatgrass. So as their mom, that makes me happy. :-)

Chrissy getting her snack on.

Very Seedy

2011-05-07T08:47:00.000-07:00

The mesclun planted a few weeks ago is starting to come in. Soon I'll be able to take clippings and add it into the salad bowl.

Inspired by these little salad sprouts, I decided to do myself a favor and put in a small raised bed in the side yard. I grabbed seeds from my stash and set to work.

The raised bed is in a small square of grass which is not used for much, but easily viewable from my kitchen window.

I put together that handy diagram on the pic itself because unless I write it down somehow, I easily forget what was planted where until things start growing in.

Beans, two kinds of kale, beets and carrots will thrive in the rich soil. I can keep an eye on them, and will be more likely to water since I'm looking at it daily from the kitchen.

I also started on the plants for chickens project: two trays of wheatgrass! I am keeping the trays outside, so with the weather going up and down, it might be a bit slower going than starting them indoors. Our house has boxes galore from a recent moving-in of stuff, so the idea of having two trays of dirt in the mix held little appeal.

Once the wheatgrass sprouts, will the chickens dig it? I'm excited to find out.

Gardening Podcasts

2011-05-05T11:24:00.000-07:00

I've been enjoying podcasts as a way to entertain and inspire my gardening. There are many different ones out there, some definitely better than others (to my taste, at least).

The not-so-great ones can be rife with self-promotion (one I tried out talked for 15 minutes solid about their products, sigh), jumpy recording levels (ouch, especially on headphones), or poorly organized thoughts/no content.

The gardening podcasts that I enjoy are ones that have solid information, are inspiring, and can meander a bit as long as they are entertaining, fun, or thought-provoking. Since I mainly listen to them out and about, I've stuck to non-video (sound-only) podcasts.

How do I listen to these podcasts? I download them from the Itunes pc application, via the Itunes store. Then I listen to them on my ipod in the car, at the gym, or even while gardening with headphones. Instead of listening to the news, which can be such a downer, I get positive info that can be put to good use!

Here are my current faves...

Coopette.com - Alternative Kitchen Garden
Emma Cooper, a British gal with a great voice, very warm and soothing. Shows are typically 20 minutes in length, giving an update on her own personal garden, and thoughts on gardening today. Trends, gardening in society, permaculture, garden plant ideas, etc.

Invasive plants, posted on 3/20/11, was an interesting discussion, which went beyond the usual, a 'weed is in the eye of the beholder' topic, and went into greater detail on history of UK landscape, noxious weeds such as buddleia (butterfly bush) and japanese knotweed (which I myself have had dealings with, grrr). She also reminded me of rosa rugosa, one of my favorite roses which is similar to a wild rose's scent, and produces fabulous rose hips for the kitchen. Yummmm.

http://coopette.com/

Composting: A Seattle Tilth Podcast
Dry, kind of geeky, but kind of sweet. It's cool to hear people so jazzed about composting. And they do offer a lot of helpful tips on composting.

http://seattletilth.org/

Good Enough Gardening
Two women, Jean Ann Krevelen and Amanda Thomsen, discuss gardening and their lives in general. They are upbeat and funny, but they tend to get off-topic and meander. Not necessarily a bad thing! What I like about them is that they aren't about doing things perfectly. They make gardening accessible. They also have a hotline for questions and comments.

http://www.goodenoughgardening.com/

RadioGarden
Well-produced interviews with interesting topics. Very 'This American Life-esque,' with thoughtful discussion on ideas such as being plant-obsessed, being a garden artist, and one of my favorites, Episode 4 "Ever wish you could check out of the rat race?" featuring Margaret Roach, who did just that.

http://www.hortmag.com/category/horticulture-radio/radiogarden-horticulture-radio

Melinda Myers: Growing Among Friends
Instructive, helpful information on specific gardening tips. She does a good job of clearly explaining how-to's.

http://www.melindamyers.com/

Survival Podcast
Not just pertaining to gardening, but I like his style. I listened at first thinking he might be a wacko, but he's actually pretty common-sense in his take on being practical and self-sufficient. It appeals to my Red Dawn side, and he's a fairly positive person that seems to believe being prepared for things makes for being a good citizen, which I can definitely agree with. Politics-wise we might not see eye to eye on all things, but the permaculture and preparedness tips more than make up for that.

http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/

HerbMentor Radio
Interviews with master herbalists. They provide advice and stories from past generations. I haven't listened to much of this, but so far it seems promising. The interview with Phyllis Light, Southern Appalachian Folk Medicine, was quite cool. Imagine growing up with herbal knowledge passed down to you from generations!

http://herbmentor.podbean.com/

Harvest Eating Podcast
What to do with the food you've created in your own garden? This podcast provides great ideas, very inspiring. This guy is a definite foodie. He has his own opinions on things, for sure. Sometimes I disagree, but it's usually an interesting show.

http://harvesteating.com/

Growing Your Grub
Organic gardening podcast with occasional expert interviews. The 4/24/11 Gary "Tomato Man" Ibsen episode was really interesting. I love hearing stories of serendipity, where people first discovered their joy in gardening. I've recently started listening to this podcast, looking forward to exploring more.

http://borntofarm.com/

The Chickens Have Landed

2011-04-27T11:00:00.000-07:00

I was looking at some of my favorite Seattle gardening websites a few months ago, and while I was checking Seattle Tilth's site they mentioned raising chickens. At first the idea sounded like it was not for me. It held no appeal, because hey, am I a chicken person?
My husband and I jokingly refer to being prepared for the 'Red Dawn scenario.' Taken from that 80s classic, Red Dawn, with Patrick Swayze and C. Thomas Howell. We're interested in being prepared for things like an earthquake, power outage, or being taken over by the Rooshkies as they parachute into your town while you're in 11th grade English class. You know, the "yooj."

So the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. Raising chickens provides eggs for eating, and manure for the garden. Initial costs are in the coop and feeding equipment. And ongoing you're paying for feed and bedding, which isn't astronomical. It's probably cheaper to just get eggs from the store, but homemade eggs are richer, and you get to enjoy the fun of chickens in your backyard.
After some back and forth, and research via the web (thank you http://www.backyardchickens.com/!) and the library (tons of books on chickens to be found there), I decided to take the plunge.

I found a place in Roy that was selling pullets for 9 bucks a piece (email me if you'd like their info!). I wanted variety, a veritable bouquet of hens. So I got a Rhode Island Red, a Golden-Laced Wyandotte, and a Maran/Blue Orpington cross that will lay eggs with shells the color of rich chocolate.

Naming them was a challenge, but then I came up with the idea to reach out to my friends for help. I sent out the call on Facebook (I guess FB does have its uses, after all). Offering 6 eggs to each person whose name I'd use, I got some great entries for chicken names:

HENrietta
Piccolo (Italian word for little, as in Chicken Little)
Fried, Baked, and Fricasseed
Huey, Dewey, and Louie
Chico, Rico, and Suave (pronounced "Swavee" of course).
Gertrude, Matilda, and Evelyn
Janet, Chrissy and Jack
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Skipper, Nutmeg, Ben
Fried, Baked, and Stewed Rosie, Flo and Maude
Marian, Wyatt and Rod Stewart
Fat Albert, Ms. Sprinkles, Fluffy chicken little
Marsala, Parmigiana, and Cacciatore
Edith. Crackers. Babs.
Foghorn
Minerva and Maceo
Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso (assuming they are Italian chickens)
Narya, Nenya, Vilya (assuming they are middle earth chickens)
Tony! Toni! Toné! (assuming they are some R& B loving chickens :)
Gertrude or Gertie, Bob, Magpie, Lulu
Chauncey, Buttons, Steve

The winners were 'HENrietta' for the Rhode Island Red, 'Chrissy' for the Golden-Laced Wyandotte (the blonde),and 'Janet' for the Maran/Blue Orpington cross. Both Chrissy and Janet are from Three's Company fame, and totally fitting since they are the ditzy ones.

Chrissy

Janet

HENrietta

They're not yet at laying age, so I'm fattening them up, and harvesting their manure for the garden.

A few open questions and ideas:

How to keep their food and water clean, free of debris and poops?

So far I've put their waterer and food up on blocks, raised up a bit. This helps some, but Janet in particular is a real pig and throws food around and scratches up a storm like nobody's business. For a purdy lady with gorgeous grey feathers, she really is a tasmanian devil of a hen.
I'm looking at buying a couple pop bottle waterers, that sit on the sides of the run, maybe that will do the trick?

photo from lcsupply.com

Fake eggs to encourage laying in nesting boxes!

Since Easter just came and went recently, I'm heading to Fred Meyer or Big Lots to get some sale price fake eggs. I've read that fake eggs encourage the chickens to lay in their nesting boxes, making it easier for collection. Coolio.

Wheatgrass!
I read on a webpage (http://www.healthbanquet.com/chickens-eat-wheatgrass.html) that they love wheatgrass, and that it ups the Omega 3 and vitamin content tremendously. Results are better health for the chickens, and more nutritious eggs for us humans. Wheatgrass is super easy to grow, so this will be a fun project to try out.

How to socialize them with humans?
I've been hanging out with them daily, talking to them, just being physically near to them. All in the hopes of them becoming accustomed to me and hopefully becoming attached in some chicken-y way.
I've even been trying to pick them up, which only serves to freak them out and make them scurry away when I get close. I also tried hand-feeding them, but they look past my delicious treats, and only see the large human crouching there, supposedly ready to strike.
How to get them more linked to me, so that we can become friends? Not sure yet, but I'll probably continue the smother them with physical attention trick and see if they finally cave.

More on the hens as we progress!

Janet barreling along

Chrissy and HENrietta sharing some girl time

the chicken coop

Garden Artistry: An interview with Debbie

2011-04-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

I met up with Debbie Spurling, a gardener who creates art that is woven into the landscape of her yard in inventive ways. Using driftwood, metal, glass and stone, her backyard has magical mini-landscapes that delight and draw the viewer in. We sat down and discussed what she does, what inspires her, and how anyone can add a touch of whimsy and heart into their garden.

Ingrid: How long have you been gardening?

Debbie: I worked in my yard for the last 15 years. I've gotten interested in this kind of creativity in the last 4. This is where I can spend my creative energy, and my creative time. And where before I'd think I've got to weed everything, or I've got to mow all the grass. I now like sitting in one spot, and playing around in one spot. It's not so much of completing a task, as it is of just seeing what happens when I sit in a particular area.

Ingrid: What are your favorite plants?

Debbie: Sedum, hostas, ferns. And fuschias, or any other plants which attract hummingbirds. The other thing that I learned is that whenever people were thinning their perennial gardens, they'll give me starts. So if I see something, like, in a neighbor's yard, and it's like, oh, if you thin that out, can I have a bit of it?. Also, by going to your neighbor's, then you have an idea of what grows in your area. I've never learned about my soil or anything like that. I just see what grows in other people's yards that live on the same block that I do, and then, go from there.

Ingrid: How long have you been adding art into your garden?

Debbie: I was in San Jose, and I saw someone else's yard, I think she was an artist. And she had these posts with these mosaic circles on top. So that's where I got the idea of standing things up, rather than laying things down. Having height. Of things in the yard that aren't plants. That's where I got the idea of taking my driftwood and putting it upright. But what happens is that when you put it upright, it gives it a different dimension.

I also went to the Phoenix Botanical Desert Garden and saw Dale Chihuly's glass art outside. That was another inspiration.

Thrift store glass and handmade metal hook
from a class Debbie took at
Pratt Fine Arts Center

Candleholders make decorative

bases for old light covers

Ingrid: I know that you do one other kind of visual art, I've seen your cards that you make. Have you always been a visual artist?

Debbie: Never. I never thought of myself as being artistic. I've dabbled in a lot of things. But creating different visual areas in my yard is where I find my interest has stayed.

Her kids' old swingset, moved and converted with a porch swing to enjoy in the shade of her evergreens.

One side of the porch swing has a river of blue rocks. The blue theme continues with a mosaic vase turned upside down, boulder and flower in the distance.

Ingrid: Where do you find the materials?

Debbie: Goodwill, Fremont Market, Ross (housewares section), Tuesday Morning - they've got good metalish stuff. Ross has a lot of metal stuff, made for indoors, but you can put it outside. It lasts. It's coated or painted, or it rusts beautifully.

Also from neighbors, friends, or found outside.

I get a real kick out of getting things free (legally), or cheap, and then going from there.

It's like Chihuly, can you imagine how much Chihuly's stuff is? I can go to Goodwill and find these really beautiful vases. And turn them upside down, and it gives that feel. It's not a Chihuly, but it gives me that feel of 'you can put glass...in your garden.'

Ingrid: What is your creative process? Do you start with an idea, or with a piece of material?

Debbie: I start with materials first. I like to wander around Goodwill or other kinds of places and I see something that I'm really drawn to and it's that piece that then gives me an idea.

I like working in my back yard, because I'm by myself. I can play in my backyard and nobody's watching me. So when I'm left to myself, I find that ideas just kind of start flowing. And then I will try something and then I either like it or I don't like it. Things change all the time. I will re-design a corner just by maybe moving some rocks around. Bring all of your stuff out and then see where things that you weren't putting together you can put together.

Ingrid: What advice would you give to someone who was just starting out doing this?

Debbie: I would say just start and find something that you particularly like. A piece of rock, a piece of metal and just put it out in your yard, and look at it. And then you'll find, you'll go 'ohh, that looks pretty cool. I wonder if that would go with that?'

Another idea is when I go to Goodwill. I will pick something up and I will turn it upside down. Because it gives it a completely different look. So it really is just, get yourself to do something, and then things evolve from that. But it's something that you like. And then go from there.

You really can do different things in your yard besides just planting. And that you can do things where you can sit on your rear end. Like a lot of weeding I do on my butt. Because I just sit and I'll work around the area where I'm sitting. And then that kind of creates.

You can do something that's just a little different than what you'd typically see in landscaping magazines.

And I have, it really brings me joy. Because it's a personal expression. It isn't about what it looks like from the street. It's really about the area that I want to be in when I'm outside.

______________________________

Debbie is reachable at spurldes@comcast.net. If you have questions about her creative process, or want further advice or to share ideas as a fellow outdoor artist, don't hesitate to drop her a line!

Debbie in her garden

More pictures can be found here.

Driftwood "Whale"

"Old Man"

Trumpet

Rain Gardens

2011-03-23T21:38:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to a free class on something called 'Rain Gardens.' If you live in the Seattle area, these classes are being offered throughout the area for the next few weeks. For a list of upcoming workshops, you can go here: http://www.stewardshippartners.org/raingarden_workshops.html

Rain gardens are intentionally concave garden sites that are dug into the ground. They are formed in such a way that they capture run off from the home, as well as funnel water away from undesirable areas (like your foundation) and move water into safer more usable space. Then plants are planted in the basin that love water, with other plants in the upper "level" of the garden that like water, but need a bit of drying out time.

It seemed remarkably simple, yet kind of brilliant. I love the idea of taking something that solves a physical problem, and making it beautiful as well.

Rain Garden featured at https://rainwise.seattle.gov/

The presentation started off with 6 adorable girls from a nearby school in Burien, St. Francis of Assisi. They gave a presentation on an area on their school grounds that is collecting standing water, which was threatening the foundation to their gym. They set about creating a very large rain garden, dug up the trenches, added some nice spots for people to sit, read some poetry or have some lunch.

Want to see a rain garden in its infancy? In a few days, they will be ready to start planting and would be glad to have some help. They're having a planting party on April 7th from 12:30 to 2:30. They're located at 152nd and 20th Ave in Burien.

We also learned how to identify what type of soil we have by wetting soil that had been dug up 12 inches below the surface. You take this soil, wet it, and roll it into a coil with one hand. As you round it into that coily cylindrical shape, how long your coil lasts before breaking off will determine what type of soil you have. Mine is loamy sandy clay, I think. So it has some water retention from the clay, mixed with some sand to allow water penetration.

The best part of the presentation though had to be the slide-show of all the different plants that thrive in these gardens. There were plants that I might not have dreamed of using otherwise. Some because they love water and unless I can set an automatic sprinkler on it, a plant is very much on its own in my garden. But other plants were ones I hadn't considered for my yard. Here are a few that were particularly intriguing:

Shade-lovers:
Black Twinberry
Salmonberry
Cornus Kelseyi (dwarf red-twig dogwood)

Attracts hummingbirds:
Snowberry - beautiful striking berries
Western columbine

I'd recommend going for the information and the free booklet alone, which has a ton more information. Plus, the workshop itself is free. So it's quite a deal.

I'm thinking of one spot in my yard that could be perfect for a rain garden, which could help with run-off from slab concrete patio. It might have to wait until next year, though...

First plantings of the season!

2011-03-21T20:34:00.000-07:00

Time for planting has arrived! Since I haven't put in raised beds at my new home, I've been conditioning the soil every Spring. This is year 3. The soil is getting better, easier to turn with less clods of clay. But it still requires some compost addition. Since compost also provides good nutrients, I'm not complaining. :-)

I didn't start seeds indoors this year, so I opted for the e-z route and bought mostly starts, and some seeds that can be started outdoors, at Carpinito Brothers. Their prices are quite reasonable, and the plants I get there are good quality for the price.

Starts/plants:

chives (pictured below)
globe artichoke
mustard greens
swiss chard (bright lights)
peas
glenora grape in gallon container

Seeds - sown this week:

mesclun
cilantro
flat-leaf parsley
zucchini

The chives are already harvestable in small quantities. So tempting!

I got some other seeds that I'll be sowing later in the season, such as beans (in a few weeks), and kale (towards the end of summer).

The peas are placed strategically along this trellis. Before long their wispy tendrils will be cranking up the posts, sending up shoots and eventually bearing delicious fresh pea pods. Yummm. The trellis was initially (mistakenly) bought for the rasberries that can be seen in the background to the left in the very first picture above.

For some reason I thought rasberries needed something to cling to, but they are doing just fine without a structure. I read somewhere recently that they actually like to be trained to arch down into the ground. I might try that this year.

Here is a close-up of new growth on the rasberries. I can't wait to enjoy their juicy berries later in the summer!

Gardening Self-Care

2011-03-12T10:06:00.000-08:00

I first started gardening in earnest, when I bought my first house about several years ago. Before that I was living in the city in apartments with no planting spaces. Or lived in rented homes where I didn't have free rein to plant what I wanted, and knew I wouldn't be there long enough to enjoy all the fruits of my labor.

So when I moved into my first very own house, I felt like I needed to play catch up. Like years of non-gardening required me to spend long, intense hours to make up for all that lost time.

There was one day in particular years ago when the need for self-care really hit home to me, when I was attacking a nasty patch of false bamboo. The false bamboo was growing like crazy along my property line, right along the edge of a rock wall. I had this whole timeline mapped out. On Day 1 I was going to remove the false bamboo, and on Day 2 of that weekend I was going to plant an amazing garden in its place.

It was a scorcher that day, and I had had a light breakfast. I was so into removing this false bamboo that I actually forgot I was hungry (that kind of never happens for me, I love to eat). Even when I realized I was hungry I didn't stop. I had a timeline to keep! Even when the false bamboo's gnarly roots held on and it took longer than I expected, I kept on digging. At one point I stood up too fast and felt woozy. I almost tipped over and fell of the rock wall. That was when I realized I was pushing myself too hard. I dropped my shovel and went out for a nice big burger. That's when I learned a valuable lesson:

Self-care is important. It should be part of everyone's gardening toolkit.

After that, I started focusing on self-care ideas to enjoy gardening with body, mind and spirit. Here are a few that have served me well. If anyone reading this has other ideas, I'd love to hear them!

Yoga and Pilates: Or really any activity that puts you in touch with your core, and in touch with being grounded in your body. I go to yoga and pilates classes, which kind of trained my muscle memory on what feels good/safe. When I'm out in the gardening lifting something too heavy, or if I start torquing my body in some weird way, an internal alarm system goes off that tells me that's not OK. Then I stop, focus on a more comfortable way to do that action, or ask someone else (like my husband, Jacob) to do it for me. It feels really good to know my limits, and not pay the price the next day with painful muscle pulls.

Stretching during gardening: Once I get warmed up, I like to stretch my arms, legs and back. This limbers me up, but also grounds me in my body. I am missing the bicep muscle in my left arm, and had a wrist fracture in my right wrist a couple years ago. So limbering up makes sure I don't injure those areas that aren't as strong as they might be otherwise.

Heat: After gardening, particularly in spring and fall when it's cooler out, applying some heat to the muscles feels kind of totally wonderful. If you're fortunate enough to have access to a sauna or hot tub, this is a great stop-off after gardening. At home another nice way to apply heat is in a nice hot bath, or using a hot water bottle on specific areas. Yummm.

Protective gear:
I wear gloves most of the time, those nice nitrile breathable ones. Great for dexterity, and reduces the amount of splinters I have to remove per year:

I also learned recently when I was wrangling with pruning my rhododendron that glasses are important too. The rhodie hit me in the eyeball while I was looking up pruning in a high spot. No damage was done, but after that I grabbed some nice big 80's L'Trimm-style sunglasses:

Lotion: My hands get dry with a lot of hand-washing and digging around and whatnot. My favorite lotion that is non-irritating is fragrance-free Alba in the pump bottle. So rich, so good:

Mental stuff: I like to check myself before I wreck myself by having little mental post-it notes. My faves are:

I don't have to do it all today
Gardening is not perfect, revel in the messiness and imperfections of it all.
Enjoy the beauty of the garden today (don't focus on what's wrong).

Stuff like that. For some reason I have a tendency to push myself, even after I've realized I don't need to play catch up anymore. So it's really good to remind myself to slowww down and enjoy the process.

To Sluggo, or not to Sluggo

2011-03-08T00:02:00.000-08:00

The Farmer's Almanac says that the last day of frost for Seattle is mere days away, on March 10th.

Slug dinner #193

I've been a little busy with other projects in the new year, so I'm just now dusting off my gardening tools and looking ahead to the season.

Last year I learned two big lessons: 1) I have a ton of snails and slugs in my yard, and 2) They like pretty much every single plant they can get their mollusc-y mouths on.

I am an organic gardener, so I avoid chemicals. But after seeing my beautiful basil plants reduced to lace doilies, I came dangerously close to buying mega-toxic chemicals to stop the insanity.

I decided to try non-chemical means to persuade these slimy snackers to go elsewhere. One method is to use copper tape, but a small roll of it is expensive, and as you can see from the above picture where I had used it on the basil, the snails and slugs didn't seem to have a problem working around it.
I also tried beer traps. Those seemed to work, in that a lot of slugs could be found in them the next day. But it seemed too costly and time-consuming. You'd need to change out the beer, and if it rained the mixture would be diluted and lose its effectiveness.

One interesting experiment we tried was to put beer in one cup, and put Sprite in a cup nearby. I wondered if the slugs were attracted just to the sugars in beer, or if they prefer the fermented stuff. It's hard to tell from this picture, but the cup on the left holds beer, and held a large amount of slugs. The cup on the right had Sprite, and only a few teetotalling slugs were found inside. Beer wins.

To address the slug problem, this year I want something that is easy, non-toxic and cheap. I found a product called Sluggo.

It looks like it just might do the trick.
I tried it a few weeks ago as the first slugs and snails ventured forth to feast, and I haven't seen any since. I am going to apply a wider application tomorrow and watch for invaders. It could be that my basil, strawberries and sorrel will be safe this year. Fingers crossed.

Spring 2010!

2010-04-05T18:13:00.000-07:00

Things are starting to thaw out in the greater Burien area. It's raining heavily, and we've passed the danger of frost mark by a week or two.
So now it's all about taking stock of what is currently going well, and planting some vegetable seeds for a bountiful harvest.

The name of the game this year is EASY. So I'm not doing tomatoes, which are way to fussy and finicky. Who wants to coax a plant along, starting it indoors, then wrapping it in blankets or covering it with plastic to protect its delicate constitution from the harsh realities of the cool northwest growing season? I don't!
So I'm focusing on vegetables that I enjoy eating, and that are super-easy to grow.
On Sunday, Jacob and I planted basil, mesclun (for sandwich and salad fixins), peas, and zucchini.
Since I'd covered up the grass last year and put cardboard then mulch on top, all it took was a quick hand-tilling with the shovel and I had delicious weed-free soil to plant the seeds in.

Rama helped out by looking cute.

And now for the best part: the survivors. I love seeing plants come back after the winter, or after my summer abuse. It seems like such a miracle that they make it. Here are some plants that have staying power:

This fennel came back bushier than last year. I love tasting the flavor of a fresh bit in my mouth as I'm puttering around in the yard.

Oregano is a real workhorse in my garden. I have several plantings of it throughout. It bushes out nicely, has happy flowers in the summer months that the bees go wild for, and provides a wonderful taste in italian cooking. Yum.

This akane apple tree (left) and flowering currant were planted last year. The apple tree was a housewarming present from my mom and George. The other half of their present is a crab apple tree planted closeby (for pollenization). The crab apple tree was planted on a slope, and got pretty crispy, but it made it back this year! I think I might invest in a treegator watering bag to make sure the trees get some deep soak watering throughout the summer months.

fresh

2007-07-07T20:40:00.001-07:00

carrots
Originally uploaded by ingroid

I am so enjoying having the raised beds this year. It's been so easy to grow vegetables and keep up with it. The amount of space used is small, and it's easy to water because they're right next to the hose.

In return, I've been rewarded with fresh lettuce, and now the carrots are harvestable and the zucchini and yellow squash are growing like crazy.

I think I'd always been a bit skittish about growing my own food, thinking it would end up being gnarled and weird-looking and -tasting. But it's really delicious and fresh and more real than store-bought, which has grown stale in its travels.

I'm really looking forward to the broccoli getting big enough to eat. This teeny little florette is so tempting, though!

I let the cilantro go to flower, and at first was bummed, but then I remembered that you can get coriander seeds once it blooms, and then I was happy again.

Now that I'm harvesting certain sections, I can begin planting another round of crops. I'm thinking of planting some more radishes, plus corn and another round of mesclun lettuce. Not sure if I have enough time in the season for corn, but it's worth a shot! If nothing else, I'll have good Halloween/Thanksgiving decorations.

in bloom

2007-06-24T18:46:00.001-07:00

st-johns-wort
Originally uploaded by ingroid

June is in full swing, and the flowers are popping up all throughout the garden. This yellow flower is a st. john's wort variety with smaller leaves than the norm. I bought this plant several years ago at the Arboretum plant sale, and planted it mistakenly under the eaves where it limped along for a few years with virtually no water.
Once I realized it wasn't doing well, I relocated it to a better shade garden spot and this is the first year it has flowered and looks happy. Thanks for hanging in there, guy!

These orange sassy twins are nasturtiums. I threw down some seeds a few months ago in a spot next to the patio, and they just took off from there. The flowers are great in salads, or just purdy to look at as is. They are easy care, too, needing not a ton of water or attention once they get going.

Here's one of my gaillardia's that is going nuts right now:

I have been watering this one regularly, and it has rewarded me with bushy growth and tons of flowers. This red gaillardia flower comes from a plant I haven't watered as much (read: not at all) and though it hasn't gotten lush it is still holding its own and sending out beautiful blooms.

I've got to say I'm a sucker for flowers. Though I might say I'm all into textures and architectural things like leaves or cool branches, I love a good bunch of flowers. So I'm in a bit of heaven right now. Sigh.

bee porn

2007-05-26T21:37:00.001-07:00

bee-4
uploaded by ingy

One of the benefits of having a garden is being able to go out during the spring and summer months and pluck bouquets to give as gifts. I was going to a birthday dinner today, and decided to grab a bouquet of spanish lavender.

Today was sunny and warm, and the bees were out in full force. This lavender that I planted from a gallon pot has in a couple of short years grown into a beautiful mountain of a plant, and the bees today were very happily buzzing from flower to flower.

I became mesmerized, dropped my shears and all thought of making a bouquet and grabbed my camera. I started snapping pictures like mad, and after a while felt kind of like I was intruding on some sex act. Some hot bee on flower action. I didn't get stung thankfully, but it was kind of funny that I felt like a porn photographer snapping these pictures.

I think my favorite bee is the smallish fuzzy bumblebee with orange markings:

I like the backlighting of the bee on this one, and check out its gams. Mee-yow!

And this one's nice, because it looks like the bee on the left is buzzing away from a trist with that other bee and the flower:

first harvest

2007-05-09T13:10:00.001-07:00

lettuce
Originally uploaded by ingroid.

OK, since I haven't ever done this much in the way of vegetable gardening, I'm totally excited. This morning I decided I wanted to bring a salad to work. So I went outside and plucked some mesclun straight from the beds. Here is a handful of it.

It's just amazing that you can put some seeds in the ground and they'll produce delicious fresh leaves of goodness. There really is a difference in the taste and the feel of this lettuce. It's just very happy tasting. Yay.

gardening days are here

2007-04-30T16:16:00.001-07:00

CIMG2434
Originally uploaded by ingroid.

I spent the better part of yesterday out in the yard weeding and doing general garden-y type stuff. It was really luxurious to spend the day and enjoy doing that. Here's one of my gnomes, who has found a spot next to an archway with a climbing hydrangea which has just started taking off.

This is the shade/semi-shade garden. With things like hostas, sweet woodruff (which smells soooo good right now!), golden moneywort and lamb's ears, it's a nice happy gentle little garden. So the gnome fits right in.

The tomatoes are doing well. At least the ones I kept in my house. I think it was too soon to put the tomatoes into the greenhouse as the nights are still a bit too cold. Here is the difference....

Tomatoes that are still in my house:

Tomatoes that have had to brave the greenhouse:

They're anemic and just generally not too happy. It could also be that they're getting too much light. If anyone knows anything about this stuff, please do let me know. I should learn how to use my greenhouse soon, so I don't kill anything else. :-)

here are some chives I'd grown from seed last year. They came back without a problem, and are now flowing nicely. I love chives, because they're pretty, easy-care and you can eat them!

Speaking of eating, the square foot garden is doing very well. The seedlings are popping up. The radishes (in the foreground) came up the quickest, with the others following suit a few days later.

Mmm. Fresh produce. Yay.

greenhouse is up, seeds are a-planted!

2007-04-08T10:31:00.000-07:00

The greenhouse is up and operational. It took my two construction worker friends a whole day to put it together. The instructions weren't terribly verbose (read, not at all), and none of the pieces were labelled, so it was like a 3-dimensional jigsaw puzzle. Totally crazy. But now it's up and looks terrific:

While they were working on the greenhouse, I decided to risk any remaining days of frost we have left and plant some seeds in the square foot garden. Parsley, cilantro, bok choy, mesclun lettuce, green onions, petite carrots, golden beets, broccoli and radish were all planted in there. I planted the radish because I think they come up first and are easy to grow. So it'll give me something to watch while the rest take their time coming up. I don't particularly like radishes, but this might give me an excuse to dig up some gourmet radish recipe. Braised radish with a light saffron-creme fraiche sauce or something?

snow in April?

2007-04-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

I spent the whole weekend doing fun things like shopping, go-carting and organizing the homestead. I meant to do some seed-planting somewhere in there, and when 6:00PM rolled around today, I decided that I may as well get outside and do it.

For some reason I clicked the tv on first, and saw the weather report saying it might snow tonight. I took that as a sign that I should instead kick back and take a break today.

Part of my shopping this weekend took me to Big Lots, closeout superstore of goodness. It's spring, so they've got tons of gardening kitsch. I weeded through the items that looked like they'd break after a few seconds outside the store, and things that were already banged up or dented. I found a couple of gems that will brighten up the garden.

First, we have the classic garden gnome. I think I've got like 3 gnomes now, and will probably continue peppering the yard with them until I get sufficiently creeped out or someone pulls me aside for an intervention:

Second, we have the ridiculous, yet delightful, duck in raingear. It makes no sense, but it totally makes me happy. I think it's just the cutest thing:

I'm thinking of waiting at least another week before doing any seed planting. I can't see waiting all the way until that safe date of 4/20/07, which seems just way too far away. But then, who knew Ma Nature was going to spring snow on us at this late date?

raise it up

2007-03-25T12:34:00.001-07:00

CIMG2291
Originally uploaded by ingroid.

So the indoor seedlings are progressing, in the meantime though I've been waiting out the days until I can start planting stuff. Last frost date in the south Seattle area seems to be March 24. But then I just checked and there's this thing called a "safe date" which is of course much later (April 20, geez!). Not sure if I can wait that long.

So I got the soil prepared. I'm doing raised beds this year. I figure this will be easier on my arm, and will allow me to do as much or as little weeding/digging in the rest of the yard as I like, while still getting some sort of harvest. I'm using the square-foot gardening book as my guide.

I bought some wood and had them cut it at the store to the right length. Then I drilled holes in it and made them into squares. I put down weed fabric so I don't even have to do any tilling or anything (phew!).

Then I mixed up compost, vermiculite and peat moss in equal parts:

Mmm, delicious loamy soil. I ran out of vermiculite for the second box, and home depot has a ginormous bag of perlite, so for the second box I used perlite instead of vermiculite. Shouldn't be too big of a deal, methinks.

Here is the end product:

Now, I've got to say, sometimes you only think of things as you go along. Well, as I was mixing up and then shoveling this rich, delicious soil into these boxes, I had visions in my head of plentiful, juicy tomatoes, spicy arugula and delicious basil and such.

Meanwhile, Rama (my cat) was literally circling like a shark, eyeing this soil with something very different in mind. Fortunately it started raining right as I was finishing up, so he went inside. That same day I got some bird netting to keep him (and any other critters) out. To answer Rama, no, these are not giant cat boxes built just for you. Nice try, though, my dear sweet Rama.

progress...

2007-03-25T12:24:00.001-07:00

CIMG2306
Originally uploaded by ingroid.

The seedlings are coming along nicely. The tomatoes have grown past their first leaves and seem to be doing quite well. Same for the basil and the flower plants (echinacea and gaillardia in particular).

I planted some tritoma (red hot poker), and after several weeks of nothing, I'm seeing what look like thin shoots of grass coming up. I checked online and it turns out that tritoma might be pretty hard to grow from seed. We'll see how it goes later on.

Here are the tomato plants all-together. I love how their cute fuzzy stalks catch the light:

Sigh. And here are the basil plants. They've just started getting their true (or second) leaves:

Oh, and I tried putting together the greenhouse, but it turns out that it's impossible to put together. Everything worked out fine until I tried to put on the roof, and then I ran into a physical impossibility. Probably the only way to do it would have been massive amounts of silicone and/or duct tape:

So I called greenhouses.com and they gave me a refund and were really cool about it! I ended up buying a larger greenhouse instead, and it's on its way in a week or two. Yay! So excited.

gettin' kinda seedy

2007-03-09T14:10:00.001-08:00

t-maters
Originally uploaded by ingroid.

I got back from my Virginia trip with my halfway put-together greenhouse in a pile thanks to the wind storms that blew through here a few weeks ago. All the pieces are fully in-tact and non-broken, but they're just not put together.

It's been too cold/rainy to tackle putting it back together just yet, so I decided to start a few seed trays near some windows. I planted tomatoes, basil, chives, echinacea, tritoma and butterfly weed. So far, so good. The cute little seedlings are poking their way through the soil and look happy and cute.

Here's a close-up of the tomato seedlings. I like them because they get big from the get-go. They do not mess around.

Note the lacey curtain I put up to filter the light so their sweet little seedling leaves don't get too much strong sunlight.

Spring will come early this year...

2007-01-07T09:59:00.000-08:00

...thanks to my mini-greenhouse that arrives next week!

I'm so excited. I finally sprang for a little greenhouse to call my own. It's bigger than those flimsy, teeny plastic sheet shelf things they sell at home stores, and sturdier too. Check it!

In high school I studied horticulture, and I remember most of it too. That was one neat class. Learning about propagating plants from cuttings. It was this miraculous thing where you would cut a bit off of one plant, then that little plantlet would get roots and so you had a whole new plant. Just amazing!

So now, with this little greenhouse that could, I'll be able to take cuttings of some of my favorite plants in the garden and allow them to multiply, plus get a head-start on Spring by starting some plants from seed. Yay!

It's on closeout so I got it for cheaper, too.

crispy plants, how I did love thee

2006-08-30T23:40:00.000-07:00

CIMG0667
Originally uploaded by ingroid.

It's August, and I gotta say, some plants just didn't make it.
I started out with the best intentions. Planted things with care. Fertilized them, weeded around their delicate roots. And most importantly, vowed to set up a good watering system with soaker hoses or the like.

But most of the soaker hoses sat unused in the shed, perfectly coiled in a neat stack, ready for use. And meanwhile the less hardy plants burnt to a sad little crisp.

Take this creeping willow for instance. It sounded like _such_ a good idea at the nursery. I mean, what an unusual specimen! It would make such a nice undergrowth surrounding my heavenly bamboo (which did make it, by the way). But think about it. Willow. These are the plants that thrive near waterways. And I am not known by my plants to be liberal with my watering, at all.

In fact, as the summer got hotter, I just got more active and did things away from the home, instead of tending to the plants.

Funny thing is, I actually had all the gear all ready for a poor-(wo)man's irrigation setup. I had the aforementioned soaker hoses, plus some splitters and faucet timers to allow different parts of the yard to get watered in succession, and with the right amounts (not too much to drown, and not too little to leave them thirsty). Ah well, lessons learned.

I think on the flip side what I learned is that gardening truly is a grand experiment. And plants that need tons of water are not the plants for me.

Some plants that were a real treat this year were those that did well without a lot of water (known in the biz as 'xeric' plants). So next year I'm going to continue focusing on the gaura, gaillardia and oh the wonderful succulents. God, I love succulents. Here's a planter I did with a large-leaf sedum and rockrose. It just thrived under my semi-neglect:

The bamboo took off too, and while I watered it fairly regularly, it didn't seem to mind the times when I didn't (nor did the sturdy sunflowers):

And one plant that was just a joy to look at is the rhubarb. Its leaves are totally enormous. And starting next year I can harvest the stalks and make rhubarb pie and such. Yum.

July, I love you

2006-07-21T18:08:00.000-07:00

sunflower
Originally uploaded by ingroid.

It's hot and sunny, and all the plants are busting out all over. I love July. I've been keeping up with the watering for the most part, and so most of my plants are surviving. Plus, after weed-fest all of the water is going to the actual plants that need it, and not those pesky weeds, too.

This sunflower to the right is growing in a patch of sunflowers I planted in with the bamboo. I figured I'd put some nice tall annuals in there until the bamboo fills in. They are all blooming right now and are a nice greeting as you come up the driveway.

I've gotten a few more zucchini, and more are on the way.

This is a picture of my with a couple. Happy, happy!

I planted sweet peas from seed this year and they're going like gang-busters:

They keep on blooming and they smell light and delicious. Perfect for a little juice glass-type vase setup.

The daisies, such a simple, cheery, unassuming flower, are going absolutely nuts right now in the best way. They don't need a lot of water, but love the sun, so they're having a field day right now:

A couple of my faves in the "dry garden" that I set up on the hill are gaillardia (the red flower in back) and spring onion (the white flower in front).

The hotter it gets the more I'm really appreciating the more drought-tolerant plants that I put in the yard.

One failed experiment this year is the cascading hill of strawberries. I didn't set up a good irrigation set-up for them, so they turned into the cascading hill of brown dead plants. I'm planning to relocate what remnants I can to a spot where I can give them more attention, and instead fill in that hill with a nice succulent garden that doesn't need so much attention.

Oh, Todd and Mel gave me a TON of tomato plants. I plopped them in the ground last week with a little organic fertilizer and compost mixed into the soil and lots of love. How exciting to have some fresh delicious tomatoes at summer's end!

weed-fest a success!

2006-07-10T22:18:00.000-07:00

On Saturday a bunch of friends came over and pitched in big time to help me weed my yard. It was really wonderful, having everyone over and really working hard.

I feel so lucky to have friends come out and help me. If anyone needs help in their yards, I'm so there. I'm way into the philosophy of many hands make light work, and weed-fest really proved that.

I got so into it that I forgot to take pictures in progress. But here's a nice picture of two bucket's worth of weeds, with the now happily weed-free bamboo section in the background. Yay!

Along the way with the weeding, Beth noticed that the zucchini plants are already bearing fruit! And Karen dug up one of the first potatoes from the garden:

I sauteed the zucchini and petite potato in olive oil and some garlic last night for dinner. Delish!

watering + weeds = TRUBBLE

2006-07-03T12:38:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted. So much has happened in the garden since then. The zucchini plants are sending forth their beautiful large yellow blooms, the lavender is taking off and smells amazing, sweet peas are climbing up the trellis. Sigh.

My digital camera has gone missing, presumably buried somewhere underneath the mounds of clothes and paper in my office. So no pics of the bounty of flowers and such that are growing throughout my yard.

I've been so busy with non-gardening stuff too that the only time I do get out in the yard is for hand-watering, so the weeds have really taken off. I'll stoop down every now and again while watering to pull up some of the worst offenders, but for the most part I haven't made the time to do a thorough job. Sigh.

I decided to finally do it. I'm going against my Emily Post etiquette book and set up a weeding party. I've invited friends that I think might be into it and am keeping my fingers crossed that this isn't taken as me being a lazy, weird friend. I'm supplying food and a kiddie pool and stuff, so my hope is that it will be a fun party of sorts. I could see making some real head-way in a single day if a bunch of people came out instead of just lil ole me doing it all by my lonesome. And having fun while doing it doesn't sound that bad, either!

Here's hoping it goes well. We shall see.

In the meantime I'm getting out there tonight to assess the situation, and see what maintenance can be done between now and the day of the weeding party. Wish me luck...

moles - friend or foe?

2006-06-05T13:15:00.000-07:00

This year (and not previous years, hmm) I've started to see lumps of dirt popping up in my yard. These are tell-tale signs of mole activity.

At first I was a bit annoyed. The mounds of dirt are not the most attractive things in the world. But on the other hand, I didn't get a sense in the pit of my stomach that this was a bad thing. So other than simply tamping the mound down again, I've held off on taking action.

I even felt a bit like the mounds were a good thing, but I couldn't say why. Like, maybe it was the moles way of pointing out areas of the yard in which I could be gardening more. Kind of a "pre-digging" step. Ha!

Then I started looking up information on moles on the internet. It's funny how the kind of question you ask will yield very different answers. At first I looked up things like "mole control." I got a bunch of sites on commercial products and services for mostly non-humane mole removal (poison, traps, etc.). But nowhere in there did they actually say what moles do, and why they do it.

In nature, everything is there for a reason. So I wanted to find out a mole's M.O. I started asking the question "are moles good or bad?" and then I started seeing signs all over that they aren't bad, and might even be good. Here are some interesting facts about moles:

They feed mainly on insects, worms and the like. If your garden is overrun by insects, moles are your friends.
Some people advise that to get rid of moles you can spray insecticide everywhere, and the moles will go elsewhere for food. This strikes me as being the most ridiculous idea. You have a natural, ready-made insecticide (in the form of a cute mole) that cost you zero money and doesn't get into our water supply, and you want it to go away????!!?

Moles are also natural aerators of the soil. Again, no need to rent an areator if you've got a mole in your corner. :-)

Moles do _not_ eat plants or their roots. However, their tunnels may be used by mice or other little critters that _do_ eat plant rootlets. So that can be a bit of a bummer. But so far I haven't seen this in my yard, and the slight damage this might cause is offset by the rewards of keeping things in balance.

In Germany moles are a protected animal. Yay for Germany!
To read more about our friend the mole, check out Wikipedia or other mole-related sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole_%28animal%29

Yay for rain!

2006-05-22T10:03:00.000-07:00

It's been beautifully sunny the past few days. Which is great for the plants, but it also means that I'm watering quite a bit.

Starting yesterday and on into today we're getting a good soaking rain.

A lot of the plants I put into the garden this year are drought-tolerant after the first year (salal, hebe, etc.). But until they're established, their tender roots need water.

So I love it when we get a nice day or two of soaking rain tucked in between the nice weather.

While it was still sunny I tried an experiment on the stupid knotweed that Andy kindly pointed out. I bought a huge marinade syringe, this one to be exact:

Then I filled it full of Round-up and injected it into the stalks of the knotweed. We'll see how it goes. I assume it did some good underground damage to the rhizome.

Since it was rainy yesterday I had to forego heavy-duty gardening in favor of adding some decorative touches. I got some cool bird baths, a copper trellis and a bird feeder from a friend of mine. And I also put in some willow edging around the bamboo plots to hide the black rhizome barrier and to add a nice accent:

evil, evil knotweed

2006-05-01T10:01:00.000-07:00

I remember moving into my house and marvelling at this interesting copse of what looked like bamboo. It swayed gently in the breeze and seemed like a nice screen from the neighbors. A month or so after I moved in, though, it all withered and died, so then when the wind blew it made this death rattle sound. Very creepy.

It turns out that this bamboo-like plant was actually to be the bane of my existence, Japanese Knotweed.

Some characteristics of knotweed:

-spreads by a mass of rhizomes, forming a dense "knot" which while thick, simultaneously does nothing for erosion control
-crowds out all other vegetation
-invasive to banks of waterways as well as on land
-it's edible!
-1/4" of root matter can spawn new plants (see image below)

Funny how, once I found out it was a weed, I changed my attitutude towards it. Now, I'm sure you've all heard the saying that a weed is simply a plant that is in the wrong spot (from the human's point of view, not the plant's). And the plant is just doing what it was born to do, which is grow. And all that good stuff. But you know what? The knotweed needs to go. I've been working on eradicating it for several years now, and it's still here. That's freaky. And nothing else grows with the knotweed. Other than topsoil weeds. And that's just wrong.

Here's a pic where the knotweed invaded someone's home:

Ack!!!

Scientists are finding ways to kill knotweed. It's taking over parts of England and Wales, as well as parts of the US, so it is really not a good plant to have around.

Scientist have been trying out various forms of biological warfare, using pests and fungi and such that specifically attack the plant and leave other plants alone.

I plan to do the same approach as in previous years, digging up the roots and spraying the plants with Round-Up.
But I plan to be a bit more aggressive by really digging out as much of the root material as possible. I think that simply attacking the upper stem and leaves alone does very little, since the rhizomes will just try to resprout.

We'll see how it goes this year...

Bamboo Planting

2006-04-24T19:38:00.000-07:00

Now that my vacation is over, I'm sitting down to blog about some of my adventures in the yard during my time off. Last week and the week before I worked on planting the bamboo. All in all it took me about 2 1/2 days. I thought it would take me longer, so I'm very pleased.

First, I started with mapping out where I'd put the beds:

I had 3 plants to put in: 1 golden bamboo and 2 bissettii. I mapped out a roughly 6' x 8' area for the golden bamboo, and a 30' x 6' spot for the 2 bissettii. Then I broke out the mantis and tilled the grass under until the ground was nice and soft and diggable. This also makes sure that the grass won't come back right away, and by the time it tries, hopefully some of the bamboo will have filled in by then and I won't have to weed as much.

Once I prepared the soil, I began digging a trench about 3 feet deep around the perimeter of the two planting areas. As I dug, I put in the rhizome barrier that is supposed to help keep the bamboo contained. This barrier is made from durable polyethylene. From what I've read, it's not a sure-fire, 100% way to keep the bamboo in, in that you still need to keep an eye out for rhizomes that sneak out over the barrier, but it does a pretty good job.

Digging is hard, dirty work. But it was fun, and quite meditative. On the days that I spent digging, I'd get up and have a nice breakfast (usually oatmeal with soymilk or peanut butter/jam toast and chinese black tea - yum!). Then I'd get into my gardening clothes, put on my Sloggers (rubber garden clogs) and gloves. Then I'd just set to work digging the trench. It seemed to take forever, but after a while I'd settle into a nice rhythm. Before I knew it I'd be thnking about this 'n that and the time would fly.

Here's the bamboo all planted up and happy:

Next thing is to figure out how to cover up the black barrier that's poking up. Do I use soil or rock and mound it up? Or do I plant something low-growing and evergreen? Or do I put up some fence-type edging?

Decor

2006-04-24T19:33:00.000-07:00

Statuary6
Originally uploaded by ingroid.

Garden decor is perhaps not essential, but it definitely spices things up.

I've spent very little money, but have a few interesting pieces. Most of my garden decor comes from dollar stores and discount places like Big Lots. The rooster with the faux patina is jump roping, and was a great find from Big Lots. It kind of looks like he's an angry rooster assassin who uses his jumprope of death. He doesn't look very footloose and fancy free. But I love him anyway.

This squirrel is a good standby, clutching a little nut or something up to his chest. Gotten for a steal at a dollar store down in LA:

I also got this swinging rabbit. The thing I love about garden statuary is how the figures tend to be anthropomorphicized animals doing completely uncharacteristic behavior (even for them). I could see maybe a frog swinging, but a rabbit?

Here is a hula-hooping frog. Khymn gave this to me as a present many years ago. I love it so. It seems to be either really enjoying itself, or bemoaning some cruel fate. Note the gay, delightful candy-stripe of the hoop:

Requisite creepy gnome, smirking with flowers + cute turtle in background:

Smurfy mushrooms:

Frog Prince:

Tuw-tuw:

Miniature Horse:

Ok, that last one is my neighbor's horse. But he was out near my front yard munching some grass, so I couldn't help but take a pic of him. So cute.

Bamboo!

2006-04-12T22:49:00.000-07:00

BambooForest
Originally uploaded by ingroid.

The top plateau of my front yard has been largely ignored for the past couple of years. It's just boring old lawn for the most part, and since I'm up on the hill it's exposed so I don't tend to go out there much.

I've been wanting to use it more for some purpose, so I decided to make it a little more cozy and secluded. The solution? Bamboo!

I went to Clinton Bamboo in Burien, a locally owned and run place that is AMAZING. I highly recommend that you go there just to soak up the scenery. From the front it looks like a regular nursery, but out back there are large stands of bamboo, some of them stretching up 40 or more feet!

The owner (I think he was the owner) was helpful and patient and answered all of my questions. He was passionate about his product, but not at all pushy, very easy and laid-back.

I browsed around after he explained all the different varieties to me. One variety's culms (aka stalks) smell faintly of sandalwood. Some like to bunch, others like to spread.

I finally settled on a couple pots of Phyllostachys bissetii, a rich green bamboo with edible shoots. They are the ones on the left towards the back of this picture:

I also got a couple of horse tail plants. They are voracious weeds if planted in the ground, but they should do nicely in a couple of pots. I love their rich coloring. This variety doesn't get the plume at the top, so they have a nice architectural look to them:

Tomorrow after a hearty breakfast I plan on tilling the soil, and then planting the bamboo with some bamboo barrier to keep it in bounds.

E-Z Garden Path

2006-04-12T22:00:00.000-07:00

The northern side of my house has been rather unuseful since I moved to my house a few years ago. It's shaded, and kinda dry due to the eaves, plus it had a fence (not a gate) cutting through it so you couldn't traverse from front yard to back from that side. I tried planting various shade-loving plants in the beds under the eaves, but they all clung on as long as they could before shrivelling up by summer. Those plants miraculously came back each spring, only to die again a few months later.

I took pity on these plants and moved them to a shady spot that gets more rain, so now they stand a chance of making it.

But this didn't solve the problem of what to do with the northern side of the house. I'm a firm believer in things being useful. If they're not useful, then what's the point? So I removed the weird fence that cut that side of the house off and this Monday I put in a really simple path.

Here's what we started out with:

It really was that messy. But it does kinda remind me of those before and after photos of people where the before shows them in black & white, frowning, pasty and with bad posture -- and in the after-photo they're so tan they're orange, smiling with perfect posture. Ha!

I got some landscaping fabric and rolled it out:

And then spread bark on top. Note that this is one of the few Ingy-approved uses for bark. When I moved into my house, the previous owners had spread bark EVERYWHERE. I had to move bark around in order to plant things and give them space to grow. Bark cuts down on weeds but it also cuts down on allowing plants room to freaki' grow. Good for paths and plants that like decomposing wood, bad for everything else.

Here's the almost-end product:

Complete with cute climbing hydrangea and arch. Yay.

Next steps are to fill in the under-eave beds with river rock, and to plant native, shade-loving salal along the side of the path:

entry #1

2006-04-05T08:23:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about documenting the transformation of my garden in pictures and words, and at first thought about doing it the old fashioned way by scrapbooking some stuff out. And while I think I'll still be doing that, I thought certain aspects of the gardening experience might best be documented via ye olde worrlde wyde webbe. So here I am!

Granted, I don't have any pictures of my yard right now to post of my journey thus far. But I do have to say a few things. Number one, is when I moved into my house, I was a little less than kind to the plants in my yard. I'd plant a whole bunch of things all at once, get excited about them, and then go off and do other things and forget to water and stuff like that.

This time around I'm taking it slow and steady, planting here and there and plodding along, puttering, plucking and planting. It's a good way to be.

One important thing I'm doing differently is I'm doing a little gardening almost every day. Even if it's just 20 minutes of weeding, that stuff all adds up. This can translate to anything you're passionate about in life. If you give it just a little bit of love every day, extraordinary things can happen.