Gardens

[Sean Troy]

I can't wait to start planting this year. We had a pretty fair crop last year. This year we put in Grapes and a few different types of berries. We should reap the benefits of the berries and grapes next year. As soon as it gets a little warmer, the veggie garden gets planted. I do love summer gardening.

[Tony De Masi]

We are looking forward to the gardening this year as well. It will be our second attempt on our new property and we learned a bit from last year. I recently took down a few trees which will enable the garden to get the full sun at least three hours earlier in the day too. Last year we watered with the regular house water which was running through a salt softening system which is not very good for the plants. This year the softening system has been bypassed for the outside hose bibs so we should do much better.

Tony

[Joe Pelonio]

With all the 80-100' fir trees we have very little sunny spots to plant in, and our season is short (still close to freezing the last few days). I have some small, white eggplant seeds from France that have sprouted in the house,
and when it warms up in May, will get some tomatoes and squash plants as big as I can find at the nursery. My raspberry crop should be good this year, buds are already forming. I'll net it to keep the deer out, and the rest will be netted to keep the squirrels out. It's a constant battle but worth it for the fresh produce.

[Belinda Barfield]

My parents planted their garden last Saturday, or the bulk of it anyway. Potatoes went in the ground in February. I wasn't able to help them plant this year. The only thing left to do is set out tomatoes. Their garden is usually around an acre or so. They plant snap peas, string beans, butter beans, corn, peppers, squash, cucmbers, okra, and two or three varities of tomatoes. The give most of the produce away to neighbors and friends. I miss having a garden.

[Greg Peterson]

Last year was a tremendous year for blueberries. I planted several more bushes a month ago. I replaced my dogwood with a sugar maple in my front yard last fall ans moved the dogwood to where my Italian plum tree used to be.

All my rose bushes have been pruned down and given their dose of systemic, euphorbia have been cleaned up. I like cleaning up the Blue Oat grass - it's as close to combing hair as I'll ever get!

Hydrangeas have been pruned, bee balm is good to go, lavender is good to go, Coreopsis and salvia, good to go.

Everything is showing signs of life or in bloom.

Project for this spring/summer is to install the dry stack retaining wall in the alcove I dug out a year and a half ago. I blew out my left elbow during that process and it has only been the past few months that it has felt in the 90% bracket. The dry stack wall will be a breeze compared to digging.

Spring is in the air. Officially.

Now I have to divide my spare time between the shop and the yard. terrible problem I know.

[Chris Kennedy]

I blew out my left elbow during that process and it has only been the past few months that it has felt in the 90% bracket. The dry stack wall will be a breeze compared to digging.


I feel for you on this one. I fractured my wrist fifteen months ago, and it took all that time plus surgery to heal. So, my yard and garden have suffered terribly (as has my shop time:mad:). I have spent the last couple of weekends getting the yard and the garden plus flower beds back into shape.

This year, we are going to plant soybeans. Our ground is nitrogen-depleted, and soy beans are a good way to help fix the nitrogen level.

Cheers,

Chris

[Ted Calver]

Spent the day rototilling the garden. Last week I spread 8 yards of compost, 6 yards of bark fines and 4 yards of sand. I've been working this clay patch for 5 years now, adding compost and mulch fines each year, and finally think this latest offering might let something grow like it should. We did have a nice batch of swiss chard for dinner that had over wintered. It was mighty tasty sauteed with garlic and a little olive oil. We plant pretty much the same things Belinda's folks plant except the okra......and we end up giving most of it away to the neighbors too (other than the corn, which always seems to go to the raccoons). This year we will try adding some greasy beans and stringless pole beans. Also some scarlet runner beans to try and screen the back deck from the neighbors. Gardening is good therapy and brings back memories of my great grandmother's garden and my grandmother's garden and my parents garden. I am happy to say at least one of our three offspring is also a happy gardener...so maybe it's in the blood?

[Shawn Pixley]

Have you tried using a cloche for your veggies? When I lived in Seattle, we found it gave us a leg up on the weather. On the Sammamish Plateau, it could even be more valuable.

[Bill Clifton]

I started heirloom tomato seeds for the Master Gardener plant sale - my first attempt at this project. Like a lot of things I do, I really over did it. First you build a 4' wide x 2' deep x 6' high insulated box with 3 shelfs. (Only used 2 shelves.) Hung 2 four foot lights over each of the two shelfs (purchased 3 new flouresents with the electronic ballast). Controlled the lights with a purchased timer (soon to be recycled to control the landscape lights). Purchased and installed 2 brood lights for heat at night controlled by a purchased thermostat. Purchased and installed a cabinet vent fan controlled by a separate thermostat.

Used the four cell, 2" x 2" cellpacks. Purchased 9 types of heirloom seeds. I ended up with 250 tomato sets.

The punch line is that I started the seeds way too early. So I have now wnnowed the 250 plants in 2" x 2" cells to 12 of each of the 9 types in 4" pots. And the weather is good enough that I have started the hardening off process - tonight they are out.

I probably have 30 hours and $200 starting 100 plants that may bring $2.50 each for the master gardeners.

I only plant about 6 tomato plants - hopefully I'll have a couple that don't sell.

[Charlie Reals]

Even though this is California there are no gardens here until after the middle of May. Woke up to 10" of new snow. Along with the late frosts I have many trees around my house that are approaching or taller than 200feet. Shade all day lol. So much for sunny ca.