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Archive for June, 2009

Rhubarb

June 24th, 2009 No comments

Victoria
This is a green rhubarb

06/22: Bought.
06/24: Planted.
07/18: 11″ tall with 22″ foliage diameter.
07/24: 16″ tall with 24″ foliage diameter.
07/28: Sprayed with 0.001% spinosad, an organic pesticide.
08/01: 20″ tall with 36″ foliage diameter.
08/07: 25″ tall with 36″ foliage diameter.
08/15: 26″ tall with 39″ foliage diameter. Slight red coloration in stalks.
08/16: Harvested one test stalk … for a very tasty mini-crumble.
08/23: 28″ tall with 44″ foliage diameter.
08/30: 26″ tall with 39″ foliage diameter.
09/23: Harvested roughly a third of this vigorous plant, yielding four cups for MJH’s glorious sweet and tangy rhubarb crumble.

Categories: Perennials Tags:

Kiwi, Hardy

June 24th, 2009 No comments

Issai (self-pollinating)

06/22: Bought.
06/24: Planted.
07/18: Three runners, longest is 42″. Many yellow leaf edges as roots aren’t able to deliver enough water yet.
07/24: Three runners, longest is 40″. Overall little changed since last week.
08/01: Three runners, longest is 37″. Half leaves are dying, presumably due to heat.
08/07: Three runners, longest is 35″. More than half of leaves are dead or dying.
08/15: Three runners, longest is dying back and now only 33″.
08/23: 17″ tall. Longest vine is 30″. Vines still dying back but some healthy new growth.
08/30: Considering only the healthy new growth: 18″ tall with longest vine 36″.

Categories: Perennials Tags:

Gooseberry

June 24th, 2009 No comments

Captivator

06/24: Bought, already in fruit, and planted.
07/06: Harvested a few berries, eaten with ice cream.
07/18: 20″ tall and 35″ diameter. Straggly and lob-sided.
07/24: 22″ tall and 34″ diameter.
08/01: 20″ tall and 34″ diameter.
08/07: 22″ tall and 34″ diameter.
08/15: 21″ tall and 35″ diameter.
08/23: 20″ tall and 35″ diameter.
08/30: 21″ tall and 35″ diameter. A little new growth.

Categories: Perennials Tags:

Currant, Red

June 24th, 2009 No comments

Cherry Red

06/22: Bought.
06/24: Planted.
07/18: 32″ tall and 26″ diameter. No fruit this year. Leggy but balanced.
07/24: 33″ tall and 24″ diameter.
08/01: 32″ tall and 28″ diameter.
08/07: 32″ tall and 28″ diameter.
08/15: 32″ tall and 28″ diameter.
08/23: 32″ tall and 26″ diameter.
08/30: 33″ tall and 28″ diameter.

Categories: Perennials Tags:

Currant, Black

June 24th, 2009 No comments

Blackdown

06/24: Bought, heavy with almost-ripe fruit, and planted.
07/04: Harvested a few berries, eaten with ice cream.
07/08: Harvested one cup, for a crumble.
07/18: 44″ tall and 24″ diameter. Losing lower leaves as roots aren’t delivering enough water yet.
07/19: Harvested 7/8ths of a cup, for a crumble. No remaining fruit at this time.
07/24: 45″ tall and 26″ diameter. Still slowly losing lower leaves.
08/01: 45″ tall and 25″ diameter. Heat damage to most leaves in the lower two-thirds of the plant.
08/07: 44″ tall and 25″ diameter. Little changed.
08/15: 45″ tall and 24″ diameter. Little changed.
08/23: 45″ tall and 24″ diameter. Little changed.
08/30: 45″ tall and 24″ diameter. Little changed.

Categories: Perennials Tags:

Five Day Summary

June 19th, 2009 No comments
Start of 16 hour trip

Start of 16 hour journey

June 19th

17 days after planting

The final two species – bell peppers and celery – appeared overnight 14th-15th so all had started to germinate by the time we left for Seattle.

Date Lo Hi Notes
06/15 49 mid-70’s In car to Seattle.
06/16 57 73
06/17 60 70
06/18 60 74 .04″ rain.
06/19 56 67 .13″ rain.

During their sixteen hours in the car the seedlings were covered with a blanket except for an opening at the front for air circulation. Many became distinctly angled toward the light source but recovered after a day or two. The only casualty of the journey seems to have been a single bean with a snapped stem.

Categories: 2009 - Journal Tags:

Seattle Soil

June 19th, 2009 No comments

We tested near two corners of the lawn, an irregular half of which is to become the new veggie plot.

The N center of the garden is the NE corner of the lawn and is the sunniest. It was originally the lowest point so it has the most fill dirt.

The SW corner is the shadiest. The lawn there is mostly moss. It was originally the highest point so there may not be much topsoil over the subsoil.

Location Area pH N P K Elements Fertilizer Amendments
N center 350 sq ft (veggies) 6.7/good 0/depleted 1/deficient 5/surplus 32.5oz N plus 20.1oz P 7.5lbs 16-16-16 and 3 lbs 26-3-4. Rototilled into veggie patch but only scattered onto lawn. 6 cu ft compost rototilled in with the fertilizer, then 6 cu ft compost raked in.
SW corner 350 sq ft (lawn) 6.5/good 0/depleted 3/sufficient 5/surplus none

The 700 sq ft to be fertilized includes both the new veggie patch and the remaining portion of the lawn. Each is about 350 sq ft. For simplicity we applied the same fertilizers throughout despite the differing phosphorus levels. We applied fertilizers containing unneeded potassium because they were much less expensive than fertilizers without potassium.

Categories: 2009 - Journal Tags:

Luncheon in Provençe at Blackberry Cottage

June 17th, 2009 No comments
A table in "Provençe"

A table in "Provençe"

We said farewell to friends with a picnic at Blackberry Cottage on Sunday afternoon.  We’ll miss these dear people during our five-month stay in Seattle.  Since we had been extremely busy preparing for the trip, we knew our menu for the picnic would have to be simple.  Mike thought a French country theme might suit a menu of tomato soup, bread, cheese, and fruit.

Since last year’s changes at the cottage, I have no idea where the picnic supplies, such as table cloths, have been stored, and there is little temptation to search for them in the over-stuffed garage.  At home, though, I found a striped blue and white sheet and laundered it to make a cover for the venerable picnic table.  Over that I placed blue-and-white tea towels as “place mats.”  The picnic china was culled from the cupboards at Bullion Street: light blue Italian soup bowls with a sort of peasant look to them, and some substantial old plates acquired in thrift shops.  Grape leaves from the trellis and plates of fruit were the table decorations. If you squinted as you looked at the table, you might see a French Impressionist still life there.

While I set the table Mike was at Bullion Street warming up the soup (see “Recipes” category).  He carried it over in a “straw box,”  actually a wicker basket insulated with an old blanket.  The swaddled soup stayed nicely warm.  One of our friends surprised us with a fantastic coconut dessert, an ice “cream” made of coconut milk, an ambrosia of purest essence of coconut.

We stayed at table for more than two hours.  Our friends enjoyed the soup and we raved over the coconut dessert.  I don’t know if anybody saw Paul Cezanne in the table decorations, but I know that Mike and I savored this get-together with dear friends in “Provençe.”

Categories: Diario Tags:

Four Day Summary

June 14th, 2009 No comments
12 days after planting

12 days after planting

Longer label stakes raise the roof

Longer label stakes raise the roof

Date Lo Hi Notes
06/11 48 76 First parsnip shoots.
06/12 51 73
06/13 50 75 We used longer label stakes to “raise the roof” on three of four trays – those which contain the beans, peas, and snow peas.
06/14 49 75

Bean germination rate has been disappointing – we’ll plant more later. Bell peppers and celery have not yet germinated. Everything else is looking good.

Categories: 2009 - Journal Tags:

Oh My Stars! Hot Chocolate

June 12th, 2009 No comments

We took a Thermos and two large china mugs when we went star-gazing last night near the intersection of Tiptop Road and Highway 49.  Oak trees were silhouetted like black lace on the horizon.  The sun-glow receded, and the inky sky revealed a million stars.  The Big Dipper.  Arcturus.  The Scorpion.

Star-gazing and a Thermos are a tradition with us.  Sometimes it’s hot soup.  This time it was chocolate, and not the “instant” kind.  It’s easy and economical to make hot chocolate from powdered cocoa, and the result is delicious and satisfying– without all the mystifying additives you find in the “instant” packets.

Recipes abound on the Internet and in cookbooks.  I like  the one in an old edition of the “Joy of Cooking,” and I pep it up by making it less dilute.  Here’s how I make enough for two large mugs:

  • 3/4 cup boiling water
  • 1/4 cup cocoa
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • a pinch of salt
  • 2 1/4 cups scalded milk

In the top of a metal double-boiler I stir the dry ingredients together and add the hot water.  I leave the pan over low direct heat for a minute as I continue to stir the mixture.  Then I place it over the bottom half of the double-boiler, which contains the requisite amount of boiling water.  Now I whisk in the hot milk.  If there is time, I allow the mixture to continue to cook at moderate heat, covered, over the boiling water for 10 minutes.  Then I give it a whisk and pour it into the Thermos.

Add stars and you have the recipe for a delicious evening.

Categories: Recipes Tags: