Monday, April 15, 2013

What the Hail?

Part of Seattle were hit with a couple of inches of hail over the weekend. Most of Wallingford didn't have power for about an hour on Saturday. I'm counting my blessings none of that hail hit my garden.






My peas are still too short to reach the twine on the fence. The last section of peas I planted are up, but there are two suspiciously vacant spots. I'm debating whether it was squirrels or failed seed. I'm betting it was the former.





The daffodil and tulip layered pot we got last year is looking pretty good. We only got one daffodil for some reason (last year it has 3), but we've got a handful of budding tulips.  The violets are full on blooming and look beautiful mixed in with the greenery.





Speaking of tulips, the yard guys didn't weed whack mine this year that they're all about to bloom. Let's hope the neighbor kid is in a better mood this spring....





Here's my herb and rose garden.  The roses look to be healthy and happy, and the herbs I transplanted from the ORG are taking to their new homes. You can't really see them in the photo, but there is winter savory, curry, two limy thymes, and a greek oregano in there.


My strawberries are going bonkers! Several of the runners from the potted plants, in addition to the ones pilfered from the walkway at the display garden are leafing out and looking wonderful.





Several of the blueberries are flowering. I haven't seen too many bees yet, so this is a little worrysome.





The big shade tree is just now starting to leaf. I'm happy it's waited this long because it's allowed me to keep an eye on the bird feeder!





French breakfast radishes. This section of the fence fell down last week. The seedlings were a bit trampled by the guy who came to fix it, but they appear none the worse for wear.





Yesterday I transplanted all of the kale I started indoors. I kind of hardened them off. They went outside on several nicer days and came in at night, then they spent three days in the cold frame. But they're kale and cold hardy, so they should be fine. I plan on sharing a couple of plants with two friends, so I won't be planting all of the nine starts!





Speaking of being cold hardy, you can see the swiss chard and kale that I planted late last fall. They have all woken up from hibernation and are starting to grow. I should probably fertilize them all, but without knowing how long I will be staying at this house, I'd rather just harvest them all the way to the ground at the end of May if I have to move.





One last thing - doesn't this guy look a helluva lot better than it did when we moved in?





Not the best picture, but this was taken right before we moved in. I kept hacking at it until I got it to a manageable size. When I was going walkabout in the yard yesterday I was looking at it and thinking "dang, what a good job." It's sad to think about what the garden is going to look like a couple months after we move out. It's a constant battle with grass and weeds in the beds, and in very little time they will take them back.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Tomato Forest

Oops.



Don't think I really need 24 tomato plants.


Or that much kale.

I ran out of containers and ended up planting two starts in a pot with a blueberry that I'm pretty sure is dead (no new growth) and one in the corner by the grill in a spot that is out of the way and doesn't get watered. It's pretty dang early to plant them, so they'll probably not survive, but I had the extras. I'm considering this a science experiment.