Garden Preparation

Tonight we continued our work down in the garden. After last night's epic mowing session, we were able to put our focus on the actual garden tonight. Dad brought down his tractor and began using the blade to level the soil. As he worked on that, I hand weeded the pile of Nature's Best soil that was left over from last year. It was growing an impressive collection of Canadian thistle. I wanted all of the thistle pulled before the soil was spread out on the garden onto low spots. When I finished with the weeded, I directed him where to place the extra soil. He leveled some more and then we were done for the night. Now the garden is finally ready to the first tilling of the year.

A Warm Spell & a Second Mowing

Tonight after I got home from work, Dad and I went down to the big garden and mowed. We hadn't mowed since early April, due to the weather and commitments during the sunny spells. Needless to say, the grass was very, very tall! In some areas, I had to go over it three times to get it cut cleanly. It took us over two hours of hard work, but we finally have it looking like a garden once again.

In the hedgerow that surrounds much of the garden, the oso berries are starting to ripen. It won't be too long before the birds strip them all from the bushes. I also caught the False Solomon Seal just as its pretty white blooms begin to fade.

New Wooden Gates

When I got home from work today I discovered that Dad had made me two new gates. The first gate is for the kitchen garden, replacing the sad old chair that kept out the cats and the deer. The second gate is for the west end flowerbed. Last year the deer wrecked havoc in that bed, eating all of my sunflower starts. Once the house painting gets completed, we can secure the gates a bit more. They look good, are easy to handle, and should keep out all of the pesky critters. Thanks Dad!

Finishing Touches

Today was a day of "final touches". After completing the planting of all of the dahlias last Thursday night, the garden was still in need of some TLC. This morning we gave all of the lawn inside and outside of the deer fence a good mowing.

Then we gave all of the plants a good watering. I filled up the bird feeder and pulled out all - or at least most - of the sunflowers that the chipmunk has been planting in the dahlia rows. He seems to have 100% success with his germination.

I then moved all of the volunteer morning glory starts that had come up away from the fence.Since I planted six or seven different varieties here last year, I have no idea what these volunteers will be this year. But that's part of the fun and you can't beat the price either.

We also brought down my purple bench and set it in place.

On my way down to visit the big garden this afternoon, I heard a familiar tapping coming from one of the oak trees. After a lot of looking,I finally spied this woodpecker. He kept peaking out from behind the moss and madly thumping the white oak gall with his bill.



The Time-Lapse Kitchen Garden

One of the great things about blogging is that you have a permanent visual record of your garden. Day to day, year to year, I always think that I will remember everything. And of coarse, within weeks I forget a lot. It is always fun to look back at the pictures of my garden over one growing season just to appreciate how much growth and change there was. The top picture was taken on 04-03-2011. On a dry April day I had the chance to finally get the kitchen garden all cleaned up from the precious year. I added a fresh layer of Nature's Best Compost, raked it all in and it was ready to go for the new growing year.

04-10-11

Here the first two raised beds have been made and the radish and lettuce have been planted.

06-05-11

By early June the radish are being picked and enjoyed. The lettuce is ready also but under the protective cover of a remay tent. Both onion varieties are planted and growing and the tomatoes are in the ground now too.

06-27-11

By late June everything has been planted in the garden except the "Butternut" squash transplants. The remaining lettuce will get pulled after the Fourth of July weekend to make way for the last 2 hills of squash. With the cool weather, I kept a remay cover over the "Marina di Chioggia" squash for a while to provide some extra warmth.

07-11-11

Now the kitchen garden is all planted for the Summer.

07-25-11

By late July the tomatoes are at the top of the first tier of their cages. The morning glory have also reached the top of their support towers. The onion bulbs are really expanding and the "Marina di Chioggia" squash is starting to crawl.

08-01-11

By the first day of August the garden is really starting to fill-in. By this time it is obvious that the late-transplanted "Butternut" squash are not going to make it. This is actually good news because the "Marina di Chioggia" is about to engulf their whole growing area.

08-15-11

By mid-August the tomatoes have reached the top of the second tier of their towers. The "Delicata"squash is finally coming on in size just as the "Marina di Chioggia" reaches it. The onions are slowly disappearing from sight, lost in a sea of squash leaves.

08-29-11

By the end of August the garden has completely filled up with green plant material. The squash are pushing out of the deer fencing, only to get eaten every night. Both morning glories are blooming profusely.

09-06-11

Everything has grown over the tops of their respective towers. One vine of the "Marina di Chioggia" is now growing up the inside of the deer fencing, heading toward the sky! You can't see it in the picture but the plants are loaded with green tomatoes and maturing winter squash. Harvest time won't be far away!

The Big Garden Inventory 2011

Last week we took a tour and inventory of the kitchen garden next to the house. This week it's time to go down to the Big Garden and see what's growing! This garden is planted primarily with flowers but a few vegetables did find their way in. Here's a complete list of what's growing there this year:

Seed

• "Hutterite Soup" Bush Bean - Seed Savers Exchange
• "Queen Sophia" Marigold - Johnny's Select Seed
• "Durango" Marigold - Johnny's Select Seed
• "Tangerine Gem" Marigold - Johnny's Select Seed
• "Red Gem" Marigold - Johnny's Select Seed
• "Lemon Gem" Marigold - Johnny's Select Seed
• "Persian Carpet" Zinnia - Renee's Seed
• "Zahara Double Cherry" - Zinnia -Johnny's Select Seed
• "Blue Point Bouquet" - Zinnia - Renee's Seed
• "Bling Bling" - Zinnia - Renee's Seed
• "Speckled Hound" - Winter Squash- The Cook's Garden
• 199 Misc. Dahlias - various sources

Plants

• "Profusion" Mixed Colors - Zinnia - Peoria Gardens
• "Apricot Profusion" - Zinnia - Peoria Gardens
• "Lady Bird Cream Purple Spot" - Nasturtium - Log House Plants
• "Sunrise Serenade" - Morning Glory - Log House Plants
• "Grandpa Ott" - Morning Glory - Log House Plants
• "Split Personality" - Morning Glory - Log House Plants

The "Hutterite Soup" bush beans are now about 8" tall. They are doing well but I really don't think that there will be enough time for them to grow beans to maturity before the rains come this Fall. I just got them planted too late this year. It's already a week into August and they haven't even bloomed yet.

I ended up with more rows for flowers this year then I had flowers started to plant in the rows. So it was off to the nursery! I came home with a couple of 6-packs of "Apricot Profusion" Zinnias. I have grown many of the Profusion series from seed, but hadn't ever heard of the apricot color before. I took a chance and I am so glad that I did. It is a wonderful shade of orange that just glows on overcast days. I can't wait for the plants to really branch out and be covered in this terrific color.

One of the many "new-to-me" plants that I started from seed this year are the Gem series of Marigolds. These dainty plants are getting covered in the smallest, single blooms of reds, oranges, and yellows. I think these plants would be better displayed planted in a pot closer to eye level then they are here in the ground. I do think they are awfully sweet though and it will be interesting to see how tall they get.

The "Zahara Double Cherry" Zinnias are another new one for me. I read about this variety in an issue of Organic Gardening last year and decided that I wanted to give it a try this year. It shouldn't be too much longer before the first blooms open.

My two rows of "Persian Carpet" Zinnias are finally starting to take off. These poor guys didn't get planted until quite late so they have some catching up to do. They will reach a height of only around 12" so they are a bit quicker to bloom than some of the other taller varieties.

A perfect bud on a "Bling Bling" Zinnia. This is another new variety for me. The colors on the package are super bright as the name implies. It should make for a dazzling row.

I think that this "Blue Point Bouquet " Zinnia will be the first zinnia that I started from seed to open. I haven't grown this variety for two years and I am excited to have it in my garden once again. It offers a great color assortment on nicely sized, well branching plants.

The dahlias have just started to open. Here is a bloom of a new-to-me Pom "Valda".

Another Pom, this time the pink beauty "Lismoore Peggy". This particular bloom is perfectly round, just as a pom should be. It would be a great candidate to take to a dahlia show.

One of my favorite collerettes "David Lam". It is such a beautiful shade of dark red.

A partially opened bloom of "CG Nordic".

And this bloom is all about potential! An immature bud of "Ryecroft Dave's Choice", an excellent show flower. Depending on the weather this bloom should be open in about a week I would guess.

A view looking across all of the dahlias down toward the flower rows at the far end.

Yes, there are a few vegetables in this garden! Here are two of my four "Speckled Hound" Winter Squash. Considering what a shady, and slightly damp place that I have planted them in, they are doing remarkably well.

Here are two fruit on one of the plants. The yellow fruit on the left did not get pollinated and is in the process of falling off. The one on the right did get pollinated, I think, and should begin to rapidly expand in size. Fingers crossed!

Here is my trellis planted with many varieties of Morning Glories. Because this picture was taken in the evening most of them have closed up for the day. I have had a big problem this year that when the varieties finally bloom they are not the variety printed on the plant tag. Oh well, I love them all so it's just been a bit of a surprise to see what all I have.

Here is a bloom that has started to close of "Sunrise Serenade".

I have had a lot of these open this week. Again, it is not the variety on the tag but I think it is "Flying Saucer".

And I can't forget Dorothy's rose. It is still throwing off a beautiful bloom here and there. I don't know its true name but it is a reliable performer year after year.

Garden Visitors

Tonight I went down to the garden after dinner to get some more dahlias planted. I had probably been working for about half an  hour when I heard voices coming down the secret path. They grew louder until I spied some young guests coming in the garden gate! Needless to say I didn't get anymore work done tonight. Sometimes garden surprises are plants growing that you didn't expect and sometimes they are people arriving that you didn't expect. My little cousins from Michigan were an unplanned joy tonight. Thanks for visiting my garden Quinten & Mikaila!

First Day Of July

Well, somehow it is already the first day of July! How did that happen? After work Dad helped me and we took down a pickup truck load of Nature's Best from Lane Forest Products. We got it dumped and I stayed down and worked in the garden for awhile. I was able to finish laying out the last of the dahlia stakes. Now the garden is officially ready for me to start planting. Its about time!



After the storm

As anyone who lives and gardens in Oregon knows, last Friday afternoon a strong storm rolled in. By Saturday evening our rain gauge had overflowed its 1 1/2" capacity. Today after work was the first time I had a chance to walk our property and survey the outcome. As I strolled across the footbridge on the way to my big garden, I heard the unmistakable sound of running water. The storm had dumped enough rain that the creek has started running again. Normally this doesn't happen until late October.

The second thing that jumped out at me on my walk was the abundance and size of the wild blackberries. They are amazing this year. The only issue is getting them picked before they get too damp and begin to mold.

Down in the garden everything is doing the best that it can, under the circumstances. My "Persian Carpet" Zinnias are really starting to open. Their much smaller bloom size has served them well with all of this rain. I haven't had a single plant tip over yet.



I also have two nice plants of "Taxi" yellow tomatoes. This determinate variety is truly determined to ripen its fruit, sunshine or no sunshine.  You have to admire that.

Also trying its very best are my "Bingo" pole beans. They have turned the most amazing color. Their skin is a light green with a marbled overcoat of maroon.



And my poor, sweet little "Canoe Creek Colossal" cantaloupe. It's about 4" long now and is slowly getting munched on by someone. I guess, since it will never reach full maturity, someone else might as well enjoy it if the humans can't.

The dahlia plants were hit hard by all of that rainfall. I had done a great job this year with my tying and dis-branching but it was no match for all of that water weight. Still, after I was done cutting off all of the broken stems and tossing the blooms over the fence, I still had an equal number of good blooms left on the plants. This is a pom called "Irish Miss".

A beautiful waterlily form called "Kelgai Ann". It fades badly in full sun but is stunning when it opens in cool, overcast weather.

And here is "Jessica" a BB sized incurved cactus bi-color.

This last weekend was the last dahlia show of the season. My garden was really peaking and I staged more blooms to enter than I ever have before, for any show. Here are my 24 entries Saturday morning right before I packed them into the car.

And when the judging was over, I won Best Miniature Ball in Show with this variety- "Odyssey".