It may be getting into the thirties at night, but this little corner of my yard thinks it’s still summer.
I so love an optimist.
Tag: garden
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Readying for winter
Somewhere in the last two months I forgot how to blog. There was an incident with the big window in the front of my house (turns out it’s rotting!) and my sad, sorry attempt to reglaze it. It’s better not to talk about it and instead save my money for a new window.
I went to Hawai’i with my boy and hit the tropical gardens and I almost rethought all the NW natives I have in my yard.
Maybe high maintenance tropicals are the way to go? How gorgeous is that?I’ve been clearing out the yard for winter, chopping down my unruly dahlias and planting tulips en masse. I also planted this freakshow:
It’s an allium, which is the genus of onions, and boy did the bulbs smell like it. Apparently they are good to plant around your tulips and other bulbs because they deter would-be bulb eaters, like voles. While I was in Hawaii a huge storm came through Portland, which knocked over the patio umbrella (I meant to take it down before I left, I swear) . . . which took the table with it . . . which took out my birdbath . . . which smothered my chives. There’s nothing like returning from paradise to a little bit of reality. Surprise! You’re still a homeowner! There are no drinks in coconuts here.
It’s sort of sad to see everything cleared away, like my poor tomato plants that never got past the green stage.
I think I’m going to turn my focus this winter to planning the front yard. And maybe applying for jobs in Hawaii. -
Vegetables . . . finally!
Last summer was the first time in three years I didn’t grow vegetables. It broke my heart. I’m rebounding by planting my starts way too close together. Pickling cucumber, tomatillo, brussels sprouts, parsley, sage, (rosemary will go in a pot), thyme, cilantro, basil, kale, and marigolds.
My roommate’s classmate gave me this box. It originally had a window on top so it could be used as a seedling greenhouse. He neglected to mention that the window was missing so I decided to turn it into a wee planter box.
I put a double layer of window screening in the bottom . . .
I filled it with soil . . .
And I planted my lettuce.
There was an article a couple years back, I swear it was in the NY Times though I can’t find it now, that said lettuce only needs a few inches of soil. I usually grow ten times as much lettuce as this; I love a big salad and homegrown lettuce tastes soooo much better than store-bought. If this plot thrives in the shade of the garage I may build another bed. And another one for arugula. And another one for radicchio! Yum. -
Garden fever!
I officially have garden fever.
I’ve checked out pretty much every book on gardening in the library where I work. At night I pile into my bed with my books and my sketches and plot. This is exactly what I needed to jolt me out of my homeowner ennui.
Last weekend I planted four more peonies and put a columbine in the shade garden.
I planted an Ocean Spray in the back right corner. Ocean Spray is a native plant which means it’s low-maintenance. No mulching, no pruning, no soil amendments, just plant them somewhere they can go nuts. Ocean Spray can get to be 15 feet tall and wide, so it should screen out the neighbors behind me as well.
God, is my yard a mess or what? In addition to screening out the neighbors (a new fence should help, too), I want to put in raised vegetable beds. I have a completely annoying brick heap in my yard, presumably left over from a bricked barbecue.
I started grabbing bricks and laying out where I want to put the bed. But I kept wanting to change the shape and that got really tiring, moving bricks over and over, so I finally got smart and pulled out the hose.
Once I had a shape I liked I moved the bricks. I ended up with a modified bone shape. My sister said it looks more like a shark or a boot.
I was encouraged by my friend T to do sheet mulching. Some people call it “lasagna mulching.” You lay down newspaper or cardboard to choke out the grass, then pile on mulch and organic material. You kill off the grass but maintain all the bugs and bacteria and established naturey goodness in the soil. And you keep piling and piling until you have nice soil to plant your veggies in. I asked one of coworkers to save the newspapers the next time she cleared out the library periodicals room. That very same day I had two huge boxes of newspapers!
I did this on a rainy day, which worked to my advantage (wet newspaper doesn’t fly away). You just spread out a thick layer of newspaper (between 5-20 pages said one website) and grab some bricks so they don’t fly away . . .
Then I grabbed some of the soil from the various pots I had all over the patio and spread it on top.
The next time I mow the lawn I’ll use the bag (I usually don’t) and spread the collected clippings on top. I’ll start collecting compostable materials like kitchen scraps and throw those on too. Then hopefully I’ll figure out what material I want to use to raise the beds and I can start getting my veggies going before we get too long into spring.I also planted ranunculus bulbs and sowed sweet alyssum beneath the rose bushes out front. The maples in the front are leafing out and the color is gorgeous.
I’m planning on planting creeping thyme beneath them. It should provide a nice ground cover that has the bonus of releasing a wonderful smell when it’s stepped on. So as my roommate gets in and out of her car she should be greeted with a lovely scent.This is the carrot I had on the stick last summer when I was working so hard on my house. “Get all this interior stuff done and you can play all next summer in the yard,” I kept telling myself. Hopefully my house will behave and I really can spend my summer toiling in the backyard. Fingers crossed!
