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We took an after-dinner walk in the woods and saw some really lovely sites. Let me set the scene...the woods were afire with the setting sun:
As we walked down an access road...this little fellow let us get really close to him and posed for pics.
I found clumps of these beautiful iris-like flowers. They are stunning and EVERYWHERE.
I also saw large patches of these delicate little white flowers that smell like honey:
And my favorite...this lovely little bleeding heart plant:
Nothing uplifts me as much as nature. I am thankful every day that I live in the midst of it.
Yesterday at Lowe’s, I bought 2 Bowles’ golden grass plants and 2 more Stella De Oro daylilies.
Try not to look at my disgusting thumbnail too closely. It's scary.
I plan on putting the grasses in the deck bed on the shady end and the daylilies to fill in a few holes down the length of it.
The wildflower plot is coming along. It’s a carpet of green seedlings now.
I have a compost pile, but it’s pretty sad. I never seem to have enough “green” and “brown” to get it to cook and it just becomes a pile of junk. But, left over a long period of time, it does break down into nice, dark compost. I would really like to make a lot of hot compost one day. To that end, I decided I needed a nice looking kitchen waste crock in the kitchen so I could make use of all the “green stuff” I would normally throw away when I cook. I found this one at Gardeners Supply online site. I love it. It’s nice and big and it actually looks good in my kitchen. It has a charcoal filter that fits nicely into the underside of the lid.
Try not to look too closely at the peeling paint on my windowsill. It's very scary.
I recently read that if you don’t have enough brown material for the compost pile, to keep a bale of straw or hay near your pile and use a layer of it for the brown. I have my bale all ready near the compost pile.
The greens and broccoli are really coming along now...
and the tomatoes and onions look good:
The peas are at least knee high and look nice...
The sunflowers in the veggie garden are coming up (but not enough to bother w/ pics). Still no sign of any asparagus - I’m trying to be patient.
All for now.
Ten school days left. Yes!
In the woods yesterday, I found this little guy:
I didn't get to take this picture, unfortunately. I got it from flickr.com. When I found the little stand of them it was already getting dark and I didn't have time to tie a marker to the tree they were near so I could find them again when I had my camera and better light. I just tried to memorize the location. Today, I got my camera and took a walk in the woods to find 'em again. I was dying to get a picture and then identify them. Well, no luck. I absolutely couldn't find them. I gave up, went inside and tried enature.com to identify it. It was easy looking up native northwest orchids; there weren't that many. And, this is what I found. I'm 100% sure this is what I saw yesterday. It's called summer coralroot (Corallorhiza maculata). I'm so excited I have a little orchid in my woods! I'm really going to have to pay better attention next time I see them, so we don't kill them when we're thinning the woods.
On my walk, I also found this guy:
The pic is pretty bad, but here is our native slug, the banana slug. They eat detritus, not growing plants, so they're good to have around. The brown ones we also have are introduced. They eat the HELL out of growing plants.
While I'm on the topic of wildlife, check out the mason bee house:
You can see how the females have cemented their eggs into the holes with mud. They fly all around the garden when it's warm out.
Here's what the deck bed currently looks like after I planted a few more things in it today:
I added a few rhodies, lady's mantle and a barberry from elsewhere on the property and added a few more purple fountain grass plants. I even experimented with a shoot from the wild rose plant by the porch. I just dug one up and stuck it in the dirt. You can just see it there right above the pink flowering rhodie in the middle. I added diluted fish fertilizer to each transplanted plant's hole and watered with it, too.
We've almost finished the inside of the greenhouse too:
After this was taken, we put in some wire shelving. We then need to install the "j board" I think it's called that contains the thermostat, and other electrical thingies. Can you tell I'm illiterate when it comes to these things?
I think I will buy a copy of this book:
(thanks for the image, amazon.com!)
I got it at the library and it seems really good. Very detailed instructions on growing just about every kind of plant in your greenhouse.
All for today...no work tomorrow. Yes!
I'm so behind updating this blog!
Today I finished off a new raised veggie bed in the garden. I planted two kinds of carrot, some bush cucumbers, and a few bush bean plants.
I finished settling the logs in for another raised bed and just have to fill it with some trucked-in soil and it'll be ready to plant.
I pulled some pea plants out on the east side of the garden. They were shaded by the shop and just not getting enough sun. The other row of peas on the west side were planted at the same time and were triple their size, so I figured I'd plant some lupine in their place since lupines take some shade and I need some color in the veggie garden.
The tomatoes are coming along well. Two of them have blossoms.
Our mason bees have been really active in this warm weather. There are now 14 plugs in the mason bee house. I'm so excited to have them around. The only problem is, the ants seem to love the bee house. They're crawling all over it. It's attached to a wooden fence post at the end of the veggie garden, so spraying the post with Pam won't really work like if it were on a metal pole. I don't really even know if they pose a real problem. Hopefully they don't.
I noticed a hummingbird eating from the blueberry blossoms today. That's great to see, because I'd like it if everything I planted was a hummingbird favorite!
The cherry tree is COVERED in blossoms this year. I wonder if we'll have one cherry after the birds are finished with 'em?
What else...what else? Oh! We hired a guy with this crazy brush mower machine to spend the day clearing trails in our woods. The machine looked a lot like this guy:
It just MULCHED everything in its path up to a diameter of 8"! It was nuts. I felt bad doing it during nesting season. Won't do that again. The end of summer would've been better, I think. We roped off the areas where we know the Coopers Hawks and also some nuthatches are nesting so they wouldn't be disturbed.
Now, we can walk right into the depths of the 10 acres and see things we never could before. There a number of beautiful clearings and some great old alder trees that we found.
The deck bed is looking good. Some of the heuchera and lady's mantle got a little crispy in the few days of heat we've had, but other than that it all looks good. The deer have left all the new plantings alone for the last few weeks, so they're starting to grow back a bit. Some plants they've never touched in that bed yet are:
They might (probably will) try them at some point in the future, but for now, they aren't. I'm tempted to buy more of the fountain grass and daylilies especially to fill in. I'd also still like to get one each of purple coneflower and frikart's aster and see how they do. If they aren't eaten instantly, I'll buy more.
I want to keep transplanting plants into the deck bed as I get them, but I don't want to plant in the heat. I'm thinking of putting shade cloth over the bed, if necessary. I don't want to wait till fall to plant. I'm too impatient!
Besides, summer is when I actually have the time to plant!
Let's see if I can update sooner next time.
Countdown till summer break: 14 days. Only 2 more Mondays.
Yesterday was HOT! I heard on the news that the temps broke the record in Seattle. It was probably as hot or hotter here, which is south of Seattle by a good 70 miles or so.
We got up early (the cats never let us sleep in) and got a lot done before lunch. Let's see what I can remember.
1. We cleaned the bathroom that my husband and the cats use.
2. We gravelled in an area adjacent to the tractor parking spot (for hubby's boat)
3. I got all the laundry done.
4. I hooked up a soaker hose to wind around all my newest plantings in the deck bed.
5. I planted scarlet runner beans.
6. We (mostly) assembled a new wheelbarrow.
Not bad, I think. As the temperature rose, we were done with the big chores and could hide out in the air conditioning. We ate lunch and watched a movie.
Today, I'd really like to get the cukes and carrots planted.
And finish assembling that 'barrow, too.
And fill the fourth raised veggie bed with soil.
Oh! Updates...the sunflowers are coming up. The sluggo pellets seem to be working. The deer left my plants mostly alone last night. Oh, yeah and the wildflower strip in the front of the property is COVERED in little seedlings. Yay! Finally.
Is how you'd describe the weather here today. Golden, warm, clear, wonderful weather. 80 degrees and breezy. Hallelujah! Finally! Tomorrow's supposed to be even warmer.
When I got home from work, I planted two mugo pines (in the shed bed), a Lysimachia punctata (loosestrife 'Alexander'), a purple fountain grass, and a Stella de Oro daylilly (in the deck bed).
The deck bed had been ignored by the deer for a few days (just long enough for me to stop being afraid), so I left the little chicken wire cage off one of the beautiful, full, red-twig dogwoods in the deck bed and it was pretty much just twigs today. Also, one of the andromedas had been yanked right out of the ground and was lying next to its hole.
Also, they'd munched on heucheras and lady's mantle. Ah, well. I suppose that whatever they don't eat, I'll keep and whatever they eat, I just won't buy again. Or I'll fence in the entire 2 acres around the house. Sigh.
The greenhouse is almost done on the inside, now, too. The cedar potting benches are in as well as the potting soil tub. We just have to install the shelving and get all the electrical stuff done.
It was so hot in there today when I got home from work, that the thermometer we put inside couldn't display the temp. It was too hot. Must've been well over 100 degrees. Gotta get the shade cloth on the top if I'm going to attempt to grow seedlings in there this summer.
My asparagus show no sign of any growth. I wonder if there's something wrong. I need to read up on them and find out how long it takes to see something happening!
My herb garden is coming up. The lettuce, cilantro and spinach are too. The tomatoes look okay, the peas are doing well, but have a TON of little bites taken out. I've put "Sluggo", that iron phosphate slug bait/killer, all over the place. Hopefully that will help. The onions look good. I really need to sow carrots, beans, and cucumbers still. I'm so behind. I also need to fill the fourth raised veggie bed with soil mix so I CAN sow carrots, beans and cucumbers!
I got my first issue of Organic Gardening magazine today and it is GOOD. Combined with "Garden Gate", they have already made a great reference. I can't wait to get the next issue of both.
Well, no pics today. I'm tired, it's late (for me) and I can't even think straight.
Off to bed!
Well, we finally have a greenhouse. At least the outside of one! D and I spent a little of Saturday and ALL day today (Sunday) working on it and finally finished by around 4pm. We still have to install the shelving and the cedar work surfaces. Plus, once the electrician comes, I'll have to install the lights, misting system, thermostat, etc.
Once we had it all together, we put the thermometer inside and watched the temp. rise. It was in the mid 50s outside and within maybe a half hour, it was 92 inside the greehouse! We opened the two gable vents and soon, the temp went down to the high seventies.
When the temp is in the 80s this summer, I am DEFINITELY going to need to put shade cloth over the thing and keep the vents open unless I want to fry the plants.
My next step is to find some really good books on greenhouse gardening and see what I can accomplish. D is already wondering if I can work some magic and grow oranges in there! I don't know a THING about growing fruit entirely in the greenhouse. It'd be nice to try growing all kinds of exotic fruits and plants, but I really don't know what's reasonably possible.
I managed to get a few more things accomplished even though the entire day was spent building. I RE-planted tomatoes, considering the frost a few nights ago killed mine right to the ground! I was all ready to cover them in case of threat of frost, but I just didn't check the weather the night before. I should've know better, because it was a clear night.
Oh well, I got three new tomatoes at Lowes and planted them nice and snug today. I half-covered them with plastic this time. I bought sun gold and husky cherry tomatoes and for a full-sized variety, I got Celebrity.
I gave Celebrity the majority of the room in the bed and then the other two (indeterminate) got a corner each and a tower each to support them. And, this time, I covered them for the night. Even if it doesn't freeze, they'll get a little protection. I just hope I can remember to uncover them before I leave for work. It'd be just my luck to freeze the first three and then cook the next 3.
Here are the 'maters inside the plastic sheeting "house".
I also planted two containers for the shady front porch. They each have astilbe, hosta and coral bells. Here's one of 'em:
And, that's about it. I'm SO ready for summer break. I have much to do and work just interferes!
Oh, yeah. Monday, I added a bunch of new plants to the deck bed. So, here are the plants just home from Bennie's Nursery.
They are...
3 Andromedas...
One each of...
One each of...(except the coral bells - I got one large one and 6 small ones.
The astilbe, hosta and coral bells went into those porch pots I just mentioned. The rest (except for that loosestrife) went into the deck bed...
I don't know where the tag for that grass went. I don't even remember what kind it is. Crap. It'll probably be my favorite and I'll never really know how to buy more.
The lady's mantle in this shot have been transplanted from another spot in my garden. I love lady's mantle.
The other project going on is a strip of wildflowers we sowed along the road.
They haven't germinated yet. I think we might have to replant. Don't know what went wrong, we've been watering regularly.
And, one last project update. The edging on the deck bed has been dug. Now I just need to fill the little trench with bark mulch:
Okay, now I'm done. Phew! Time to sleep.
Yesterday, D, his parents, and I spent all day building the greenhouse. The weather was FINALLY perfect for working on it, so we took advantage. Prior to yesterday, we had the foundation all ready and had added tons of gravel all around the foundation for drainage. It looked like this:
We threaded a conduit pipe thingy under the front beam of the house so the electrician would have an easier time wiring. The wall with the conduit thingy is the back wall. The opposite wall is the wall that will have the door.
Then, we had to arrange and fasten those rails along the wood beams. That took a LONG time, because it had to be level and square, and the little bits of gravel getting under it didn't help at all.
Once we had the rails on, it was very easy to start the frame. We just stuck corner posts in each corner. A few more posts between them, and then the plastic wall pieces slide right into the spaces between.
Once we had the walls up, it looked like this:
On the far wall (door wall), we installed a vent. Here's a shot of that:
Next time we work on it we have to add the exhaust fan on the other end and the roof. Then, we'll be done with the outside and I'll have to do the shelves inside. Then, I'll have to install the lights, misting system, heater, etc. Hopefully, the electrician can come out when we're ready for him, but even if it takes him a while to get to us, at least this thing will be completed before the fall.
Other projects I've been working on are...
1. Some containers for the deck. I took the smallish whiskey barrels the clematis used to be in and planted them with these "garden in a bag" things I found at costco... 
One of them, though, is probably in part to full shade:
I'll probably need to move it, because the flowers I planted in it said full to part sun. If it just goes to the other end of the daybed, I think it'll get enough sun.
The other two containers are opposite this one:
I put a thin layer of gravel in the bottom of all three containers, filled it with container mix soil and put them on top of bricks to make sure the water can drain out of the bottom well.
2. I tried out my SunCalc. It was the first day we actually HAD sun to calculate! I stuck it in between the viburnum and dogwood in front of the deck. I put it in the ground at 7am and turned it on. Little red lights flashed to show it was calculating. The directions said that in 12 hours, it'd stop flashing and the calculated sun "rating" would light up. I predicted it'd be part sun, but I wasn't sure, because the deck itself gets so hot in the summer. At 7pm, I looked and I was right - part sun. Great, I paid $20 to find out what I already knew. No, really, it was very cool. There are many places I'd like to calculate, that I'm not so sure about, so I'm sure it'll come in handy a few times, and then I can maybe sell it on ebay, or give it to someone who'll enjoy it, too.
3. In the veggie garden, I started ALL over again in the spinach/lettuce bed. I had planted the seeds WAY to thickly and thinning was just impossible. Plus, I took a reading of the soil with my soil tester and it was LOW in nutrients. So, I used an organic fertilizer, raking it in, and replanted. square foot gardening style.I put in 2 rows of broccoli ("Early Dividend"), one per square foot, and the remaining squares are mostly spinach ("Baby's Leaf Hybrid") and lettuce ("Looseleaf Blend") with some cilantro in one square. All seeds are Burpee brand. Now, when they sprout, thinning will be a lot easier because I only planted 2-3 seeds in each section of each square.
4. Then, I planted tomatoes and walla walla onions. This year, I'm trying these red trays. They have four holes around the stem area that actually poke into the soil. You fill the receptacle with water and it slowly drains into the soil. In one of them, I filled the holes with organic fertilizer and then filled the thing up with water. With the other two, the only fertilizer they got was scratched into the soil before planting. I want to see if there's a difference in growth. Two of the tomatoes are indeterminate ("Bonny Best" and "Brandywine") and one is determinate (the one on the right - "Bush Early Girl"). I think the determinate one needs more space. I might move it to the very middle of the bed. The other two will get square metal cages for support:
5. Then, I planted the third bed with the herb garden seeds I bought from Burpee:
6. THEN, I planted 12 asparagus plants I bought at Home Depot:
I dug two long trenches, about 6 in. deep...
And, put the asparagus babies in there, spaced about 18 in apart...
and covered them with about 3 in of soil and watered them:
Now, supposedly, as they grow, I keep covering them with more soil.
7. THEN, I planted some sunflower seeds over by the fence on the opposite side of the garden. I planted "Red Sun", "Moonshine" and "Evening Sun":
8. I also prepped two containers to plant for the porch. That porch is probably full shade, so I need to go to the nursery and pick out some annuals that love shade.
I think that about covers the projects I've completed recently. I have the day off today, so hopefully, I'll be able to get a few more done.
I have an awesome idea for the front of the house and D and I were talking about yet another project for the future - A prairie meadow area! Can't WAIT. OH! I forgot about a project in process. I'll have to take some photos today and post them later.
All for now. Over and out.
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