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Garden Planning- Helpful Lists: Seed Varieties
Last week, I shared my list of important planting times. Now, I’d like to share with you my list of seed varieties*. I like to try new varieties, but if I find something I like, that grows well here in Seattle, I will buy it year after year. Below is my list of go-to varieties that I have found are very tasty, and perform well, in my climate. Beets Early Wonder Chiogga- these are the cool looking striped ones, I am always talking about, that taste so good! Broccoli Thompson- nice big heads and high yields. Carrots Bolero, Purple Haze Cabbage Derby Day Lettuce I don’t know if there are really any…
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Garden Planning- Helpful Lists: Important Planting Times
It finally dawned on me, that in Seattle, March is a more realistic time for getting my garden started. So I am just now planning my 2014 garden. It feels kind of late, but it’s not really, since the ground is still very wet from all the rain. In planning my garden each year, I have noticed that I do two things. I draw all my garden beds and then write in what I want to plant there that year. I also tend to make some sort of list on the opposite page to help me decide what I want to plant and when, or what kind of seeds to…
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My 2013 “Putting the Garden to Bed” Checklist
All year, I felt like my garden wasn’t as great as it could have been, but I knew that it didn’t matter because next year I can start all over again. So it felt really good putting my garden to bed this year. I mentioned in my post from last year about putting my garden to bed, that every year is different and this year was no exception. This year, I did all the same stuff as last year, but with less overwintering crops and more burlap. My 2013 “Putting the Garden to Bed” Checklist was as follows- 1. Bring in the drip irrigation– I brought in (to store in…
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Renewing Strawberry Beds
Since strawberries send out runners that create new plants, thinning and/or trimming down your strawberry plants every few years, will help increase yields and reduce the spread of diseases. I did this a couple of years ago for the first time, when I noticed a decline in production. The next year, I got more strawberries than I ever had before. That year I was able to make lots of strawberry jam and it was awesome! Strawberry beds can be “renewed” by hand trimming and pulling, or mowing with the lawn mower blade set between 2-4 inches high. This should be done after your last strawberry harvest of the season and…
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Thrifty Gardening Tip: Free Wood Chips!
Got your attention? Good. Okay, technically they aren’t free. The tip should read: Develop a relationship with your local arborist, so they will give you free wood chips. In other words, once you’ve hired them for something, they will probably help you out in the future. We recently had to have some trees trimmed and so we hired Grun Tree Care. This was the first time I had hired an arborist, so I had no idea what to expect. When they pulled in to the driveway, with their wood chipper, a light bulb went off. It had been recommended to me, in my Comprehensive Organic Gardening class, that wood chips made good pathways…
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Watering: Drip Irrigation
June is off to a great start here in Seattle, with sunny, high 70s weather this week. It hasn’t rained all week! What that also means though, is that it is time to start thinking about making sure my plants are getting enough water. There are a few routes one can go when watering their plants; hand watering, soaker hoses, upside down bottles filled with water (good for containers), etc.. I considered all of these when I first started gardening and even tried a few. I now know that I suck at hand-watering, because I always forget to do it. With a large garden like I have now, it’s not…
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Tips for Growing Tomatoes in the Pacific Northwest
One thing I get asked about a lot, is how to grow good tomatoes here in Seattle. With the cooler climate and short “warm season” in the Pacific Northwest, growing tomatoes can be tricky. In an effort to learn what works best, I have planted my tomatoes with slight variations every year. There has definitely been a lot of trial and error. Below is a list of what has proven to work well for me over the years and a few tips on what NOT to do as well. 1. A couple of weeks before I plan on planting my tomatoes, I heat the soil by covering it with plastic. That will start…
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Super Simple Pea Trellis
This pea trellis is so simple it is almost ridiculous that I am even posting about it, but it is the one I always do, so here it is. SUPPLIES: trellis netting- the larger size, so I get the 5′ x15′ wooden garden stakes- pack of six, six feet tall staple gun with 1/4″ 6mm staples INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Put stakes in garden bed where you want them. 2. Staple trellis netting to stakes, cut where you need to. What I like about these: They are cheap, simple and fast to set-up. It’s not permanent and so can be placed anywhere in the garden. What I don’t like about these: They…
