garden notes.........

Went to my absolute FAVORITE U-Pick place today and got a lot of peaches, carrots and basil that will need to be dealt with. It's early a.m. here so I'll have to post the pics of that after a few hours of sleep.

In the morning, my friend Dawn will come over and help can peaches. In the meantime, I've made several batches of pesto and stashed them in the freezer. As I type this, basil dries up in the dehydrator overnight. I'll use it all winter in casseroles, soups, and salad dressings.

Early yesterday, Max and I dug up our trove of fingerling potatoes. Fingerlings are rather small, irregularly shaped, and elongated. A bit like fingers if you've got a vivid imagination. :) They fetch a costly price in the store as a specialty item. I simply grew them because a friend gave me some starts.

The green beans have finished for the season. Secretly I'm happy. There comes a point when you've seen one too many. For now, I'll be content to make myself weary of the peaches.

And after all these months of waiting, guess what??? Soybeans!! Finally! I'd begun to think they'd never show up. At least once a week some inquisitive person wants to know what that 'green mound' is in my front yard. That, I inform them, is my soybean patch. Minus the soybeans. But now they are growing and I'm quite happy. We may yet have edamame to snack on this winter.

So tune in tomorrow, another spate of pictures is on the way.
Happy Eating,
-E

Mid-season garden update

I absolutely love this time of year. The garden really starts to pay off in June and July. We have more lovely salad greens than I know what to do with. The peas are getting quite prolific, lovely dark green heads of broccoli are appearing. Veggie Paradise!

Something new we tried this year was potatoes and boy was it worth it! 10 Yukon gold starts have yielded more gorgeous spuds than I ever thought possible. They are so large the ground above the plants is crumbling as they burst through. It is so much fun to dig into the ground and find large new-skinned potatoes just lying around like rich women on lawn chairs!

The spinach is all gone now. It got fairly large but bolted too quickly and began to gather powdery mold due to all the rain. I had to run outside and pull it up all at once to save it. In it's place I've planted a multi-colored carrot mix. The package promises purple, white and red carrots. If they really turn out, that is going to look so cool! We have a juicer and I want to drink some purple carrot juice.

Ahhh, soybeans. Such enigmatic little plants. I fear our climate gets too much rain and too little heat for them. But they shyly hold their own. I really have high hopes for them.

Also new this year: exotic radishes. Why radishes? I just don't know. Max likes them, they are easy to grow, and there are some wicked cool varieties available. We planted these monster sized red radishes that looked just like carrots. They were pretty nifty. But check this out, I just planted some variety of Black radishes. And since we are big lovers of Japanese food, Daikon radish has been planted as well. More on that later.

Also new, the herb garden. The unused space just outside the front door under the eaves is our new herb garden location. Up and running are Borage, Cilantro, Sage,Mint, Chamomile, Parsley,Rosemary and Marjoram. The Thyme is dead. What is it about Thyme? It always dies! Is there some Thyme god I need to sacrifice to , to get this stuff to grow?

Newly planted herbs include Lemon Balm, Coriander and, ummmmm..... shoot I forgot. Something else.

On the far end of the herb garden Is a new wooden trellis I added specifically for growing climbing beans. The particular variety we are growing this year are bright red. The pretty vines are winding themselves up the trellis and climbing higher each day. One of the vines has wound itself around a sunflower. Yes, that's right. Sunflower.

All those years I lived in Kansas and never grew the dang things. Now I have three of them in my front yard! It happened because we use our rabbit compost in the garden. The rabbits eat a mix of grain and seeds, i.e. sunflower seeds. A few of them sprouted and I am letting them do their thing out of sheer curiosity.

Also new this year strawberry plants in large flower garden and baby's breath growing around the mailbox. Whew! I'm almost as tired typing this as I was doing all that work. Thank goodness Dante' is such a good helper. :)

Bleeding heart, Oregano, Society Garlic, lettuce....

Just some beautiful photos from our garden. :)

Moonlight Gardening

We hadn't intended to stay up so late. But the moon was nearly full, and the evening was mild.

It all started with a desire to landscape. Then a shopping trip for plants and flowers led to an all day project. Dante' and I crouched over the dirt for hours. She constructed an absolutely beautiful stone path up the hill to the yard. Maxwell sat on the steps and kept us company as we worked.

In the end, we worked solely by the glow of the outside porch light. It wasn't until my husband came home that we all went inside. Dinner was served at 10:30 pm. Sweet Maxwell was asleep by 11:00.

Waking up this morning was thrilling. How would it all look in the daylight?

We are far from finished, but the results so far are exciting.

Perhaps we were called by the moon.


Ellen

The third time is the charm

I just planted my third (and hopefully final) garden. Corn, squash, and tons of beans. Thanks to my friends Leona and Marvin, this one should do very well. The bed is raised which Leona says means you can plant more veggies closer together.

This garden space also features a drip system so we don't need to babysit it much or worry about it drying out.

What was SUPER interesting about Marvin and Leona's garden is that they have two large raised beds with only 1 tomato plant in each bed. Just 1! The rest of the bed is bright orange plastic mulch and they are domed in a clear plastic frame.

Noting that the beds were about 4' by 15' (rough guess), I couldn't help but ask her where the other plants were. " Oh, that one tomato plant will spread out and fill the whole space," Leona assured me. Wow. How is that possible?

But it obviously is possible because Leona is a seasoned gardener and she has done this all before. I can't wait to see how it works out. Just think of the money you could save by not planting a whole fleet of tomato plants!

This week I will try to get out and get pics of the new garden space plus Leona's tomato beds. Until then, take care and God Bless!
-E

Picture and Quote of The Day

This is not as easy to read as I had hoped it would be. The little plaque in our garden reads " Plant kindness, Harvest love."

wishing you a great harvest,

- Ellen

Has anyone seen this bird?

Weeks ago when I first planted beans at the community, I knew they would take awhile to come up. So I was patient.

But days went by, then a week, then two weeks. No beans. What could be the problem, I wondered? Finally, I planted them all over again. "These will come up!", I tried to reassure myself.

Another week went by- no beans. Today I took my husband with me to check out the garden. " Have you checked to see if the seeds are in the ground?", he asked.

Honestly, I looked at Phil as though he had sprouted a horn right out of the middle of his forehead. Nevertheless, I grabbed a stick and began digging at the ground. Guess what? NO SEEDS!

It's like the opposite of Jack-and-the-Beanstalk. We have magic disappearing seeds.

Phil thinks the crows might be eating them. I think it's time to bake four- and-twenty-blackbirds into a pie. Dang birds.

BTW,the first person to get that reference and reply back to me wins a Dutch Bros Coffee.

much love,
-E

planting asparagus, making soaps

A couple of weeks ago I did two things:

* Plant asparagus
*Make home made soap

Since my camera was non-compliant I couldn't share the pics, but they are here now.

The soaps:

The star shaped soaps were made by re- batching. We grated up bars of Ivory, added color, milk and wheat germ for softening properties and scent. They look pretty good.

The pink rectangular soaps were created from scratch. They need to cure for another week before we can use them. I will describe the process more in a future post.

















And now the Asparagus:



First off, let me say that baby asparagus are quite cute. They pop right out of the ground looking exactly as you see them in the store, but in miniature. Asparagus shoots are so difficult to see that at first you fear they didn't work out. But they do, and they are cool!

Check out this cutie: The really interesting part of planting asparagus is what they look like when you bring them home.

Asparagus grows from a mass of grey/brown roots. If you saw it in your garden, you'd likely pull it up and toss it out.

You take this mess of 'medusa hair' and plant it in the soil, taking care to keep it moist. And voila', little shoots emerge shyly from the earth.


After a bit more research, I'll print some tips for anyone who wants to grow their own.

with love,
-E

You just can't make this stuff up

Here is a play-by-play of a typical day in our life. It really should be titled, "The Good , The Bad , and The Ugly, (with yours truly playing the part of ugly) but that has already been taken. Read on. You'll laugh, you'll cry, it will become a part of you. Grinning- Ellen.





AM- * emptied the rabbit cages, lined the bottoms with newspaper, and filled both food and water containers. Shoot! We forgot to get more straw for bedding. It will have to be gotten today.

* Fed the dog and the cats. Rex generally fulfills most of his caloric requirements eating the neighbor's cat food. Aphrodite eats the dog's food. What's up with that?

* Friends come over to knit, crochet and talk. We exchange patterns, ideas and life stories.

PM* Dante', Max, Rex and friends pile into the van. We go to the community garden to tend
our plot. Surprise! Over the weekend potatoes have come up. We are jubilant. The
peas, radishes and green onions are tall. What ever happened to the beans, we
wonder? Organic slug repellent is sprinkled, stray calendula from last year's garden is
ruthlessly yanked.

* Rex ate a chocolate Easter bunny we didn't watch carefully in the car. We panic and
take him to the vet. She smiles and says he will be fine as he didn't eat enough to
make him sick.

* Next we head for the stable where we board our horse. The dog
comes along and usually causes trouble by trying to chase a horse. Max searches out
puddles and gets soaked-again.

* The goats need more grain and the girls want to see the cute guy at Milk-E-Way feed
and seed. So we drive 12 miles and buy the grain. The cute guy isn't there today,
which leaves the girls feeling rather deflated.

* We grab sandwiches and sodas at the McKay's. Full bellies make for good spirits.

* At Melissa's house we drop off the goat grain. Our pregnant girls are really fattening
up. Dante' takes some of the goats straw home for the rabbits.

* Home again, home again, jiggety-jig. We drop off Dante's friends and go back to our
house. The dog goes into his kennel, Max goes into the bathtub, and I go into the
kitchen to clean up and start dinner.

* Our cat, Aphrodite has brought a mouse inside. It promptly gets away from her and
is lost somewhere in the living room. Is that it? Did I see it? Paxson moves
furniture, Dante' shrieks, and Aphrodite grows bored. She leaves without retrieving
her prize. This would never have happened in her younger days. I realize she is
beginning to grow old.

* Phil comes home, dinner is over, we all scatter to the far ends of the house. William
helps with dishes. I fold laundry. Phil is working on taxes.

* Bedtime ritual for Max: Brush teeth, wash face, hands and feet. Read a bedtime
story before prayers. I steal a few moments of computer time before doing it all
over again.
Believe it or not, today was relatively quiet.(minus the dog drama) That is our life. It sounds crazy sometimes but it's real. You just can't make this stuff up.

Goodnight and God Bless,
Ellen

ps- I still don't know where the mouse is.

slugs

They eat the garden. Every tender shoot that dares rise above the soil line is chewn upon.( Hmmm, according to my spellchecker, 'chewn' isn't a word. I'm gonna run with it anyway.) Who knew gardening could be such a melodrama?

Slugs are just a fact of life in the pacific northwest. Our rain forest climate makes this area one big slug-growin' petri dish. They aren't typically a problem. Until you decide to actually grow things in your yard. Other than dog and cat poop, of course. I've got a bumper crop of those.

So What are my slug-killing options? Many Oregonians swear by putting beer in little dishes in your garden. The beer attracts the slugs who then drown in it. This little gem of a tip had to come from the old days when women just stayed home and played housewife all day. A few beers and even weed pulling is fun! Or was it conjured up by a couple of guys who thought drunken invertebrates would be a real knee-slapper?

But I had to try it. So I nabbed a cheap can of no brand suds from my 92-year-old grandfather's house and divvied it into custard cups. It worked. Not well enough to keep buying beer for the yard, but it did work.

At the community garden we are only allowed to use organic remedies. They keep a gallon jug of something called "Sluggo" on hand for us to use. It's a great joke to the slugs. The little pellets are sprinkled on top of the ground. Well, that's just fab for the large, above-ground slugs. But guess what I discovered while planting today? Little baby slugs living under the dirt. Holy cow, who knew? I swear they were laughing at me.

Suggestion #3- How about a pellet gun? Next time I spy a slimy critter munching on my would-be salad, it'd be more fun to just shoot it.
-E

Calendula From Hell

Last weekend I put Dante' and her friends Mariah and Danica to work. They planted most of the seeds that are set aside for the front yard garden.

I started by planting 6 asparagus plants. These things come back every year so that space is permanently occupied. Then the girls planted rows of salad mix, broccoli, soy beans, peas, cabbage, etc.

Each row was labeled with permanent marker on a wooden stake. Now for the challenges:

1. How to keep the cats from digging up the garden and pooping in it.
2. How to keep the dog from digging up the cat poop and eating it.

UGH!!

Today I went outside to admire the garden (such as it is at this point) and discovered soy beans and peas just sitting on top of the soil. What happened??? Probably a combination of two things.
1. Not planted deep enough.
2. watered too much.

At the community garden, plants are popping up everywhere. The problem is, I can't tell what the heck any of it is. Let me explain:

Last year, someone made use of their plot by haphazardly emptying TONS of Calendula seeds into the dirt and then never coming back. This resulted in hundreds of flowers that went to seed last fall. I remember thinking " I pity the poor guy that is assigned that bed next spring!".

Needless to say, that person was ME!! There are not words for how "less than thrilled" I am. Until all the plants are bigger, I have no cotton-pickin clue what is calendula and what isn't. And How many times a week am I gonna be pulling those blasted things out of the garden?

If I find out who planted those things last year, I may drive by their yard and empty packets of calendula seed.


Plotting,
-E

It's that time once again

The community garden is open, and our plot is planted. Oh yeah, I told myself to not be in a hurry. Be cool, take my time. Wait in case the weather changes. Let's face it, I'm not a waiting kind of girl.

So our little plot is full of seeds. Peas, onions, lima beans, pole beans, radishes, potatoes- as many as I could get in and not be too over-the-top. Waiting is no longer optional, but mandatory. How long 'til seedlings come up? Will it freeze again?

While waiting for those answers I will be content digging up and planting the garden in the front yard. Tiny packets of lettuces, cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, chard and spinach await their turn for planting. Herbs will occupy the space just outside the front door and make a lovely tea garden.

In mid-April Leona will open her raised garden beds for planting. Her generosity allows a space for squashes and root vegetables. Turnips , carrots, zucchini and more will be planted there.

Our goats grow fatter by the day. Their bellies are near to bursting. Will they make it until May or surprise us and kid in April? There will be sweet new babies and mommas full of milk.

I love spring and the promise of things to come.
-E

So what now, Ellen?

I'm so glad you asked! We've planted lots of herb and veggie seeds in little peat pots.

I've also included pics of our homemade fire starter, as mentioned in a previous post. It looks just like my cat's hairballs. Maybe that is why Rex is sniffing it. mmmm, yummy.


Dante' made a sweet and cute cake for Valentine's day so I had to put up a pic of it.

And the pic of Max is just because he's cute.

We are loving life here in Oregon. Hope you all are happy too, no matter where you live.

blessings,
Ellen

what we've been up to

Tonight new friends Paul and Joanie came for dinner. Good friends Joy, John, and Melissa came as well. It was a lot fun. Amazingly, I was still able to pull together enough greens from both gardens for a salad. A few straggling swiss chard leaves from the community garden, and a few tiny lettuces from the front yard.

Dante' and I have acquired a new skill. Our friends Dawn, Annie, and Shannalee taught us to crochet. It is really quite addicting. Not easy at first, then so much fun! My first finished project was a tiny dishcloth. Dante' easily topped me by making two of them and turning them into a potholder. Nicely done.

The pictures here represent the last efforts of our garden and the first efforts at crocheting. Please note Maxwell's french radishes. He grew them himself and is so proud of them.

Also pictured are the cranberries Dante and I canned ourselves. They look so bright and beautiful.

Oregon, your personal 'Kitchen Stadium'

Have you ever watched the TV show "Iron Chef?". It's a cult classic. The original show was filmed in Japan but there is an American version currently running on the Food Network. In a nutshell, a challenger goes head-to-head with a renowned chef in a one hour cook-off. The objective being to make the best dishes with the themed ingredient. The winner gets , well, nothing. Except, I suppose, bragging rights on national television.

What really used to capture my attention about this show was the availability of the very best ingredients all in one location. When the starting bell goes off, the contestants get to grab anything and everything they desire to cook with. That just made me a bitter woman. I'd think "Yeah , I could make amazing meals too if I just happened to have filet Mignon and foi gras laying about the house every day!"

Back then I lived in the state of Virginia in a really big city. Now I live on the Oregon coast and I have to say, it is kinda like having my own kitchen stadium year 'round.

Salmon are in season, Deer season just ended and Elk are now up for grabs. At this time of year Crabs are filling in their shells nicely so its the best time to catch them. Black huckleberries are still fairly abundant and mushrooms are just everywhere.

Since coastal weather is mild, we are still pulling lettuces and beets from our garden. Some people are still harvesting squash, broccoli and cabbages. There are so many apple trees around here , we drive through neighborhoods and see apples just lying in the gutters. stores are bursting with inexpensive local produce. What's not to love? You can pretty much get what you want within reason and guarantee it didn't have to get shipped in from , say, Argentina.

So I'm not so bitter after all. Iron Chef can keep it's kitchen stadium.

New seeds are in

Seeds Phil and I ordered for spring planting are in. I am really excited because next year we will try some new things. For general veggie planting we ordered:

purple haze carrots
baby bok choi
tiny seedless cucumbers that mature at just 3 in. long
swiss chard of geneva
straightneck squash
organic purple podded climbing beans

For our herb/tea garden we ordered:

Chamomile
catnip
stevia
lemon balm
borage

a couple of months ago I purchased seeds at the grange for 'just in case' reasons'. Those included:

greens- purple oak leaf lettuce, spinach, bright lights swiss chard, leaf lettuce

herbs- English lavender, garlic chives and cilantro seeds saved from this years planting

root veggies- red cored chantenay carrots, cylindrical beets, Kohl rabi, and turnips

onions- walla walla sweets, and scallions

squash- zucchini, patty pan and various winter squash

basics- peas, green beans, corn, lima beans

other- english cucumbers, green peppers, cantaloupe, broccoli, and Zinnia

If we put some planning into it, my hope is that next year's garden will produce even more than this year's. It will be fun to see how some of these 'specialty' veggies turn out.

I'd love to hear from anyone else planning a garden. Let's hear your ideas.
-EJ

Fall Garden notes, forage notes, self-sufficiency efforts

Already it's November and there is very little left in either of our two gardens. At the community garden some radishes, celery and beets remain. At home there is only an assortment of half-grown lettuces. The season passed so quickly. Here is what our family grew during our very first growing season:

Lettuce, green onion, Swiss chard, zucchini, yellow squash, cabbage, peas, parsley, beets, mustard greens, mesclun, oregano, radishes, chives, carrots, cilantro, green beans, cucumber, tomatoes, corn, cauliflower, celery, spinach, basil, mint, catnip, and lovage.

Until we actually wrote it down, Phil and I could hardly believe we had wrested such diversity from two tiny garden plots. We are so pleased with the results.

Our foraging results have been successful as well. So far, the lovely Oregon coast has provided, free of charge, : Huckleberries, blackberries, Salmonberries, and Thimbleberries. In the mushroom category we have wild harvested Chanterelles, hedgehog mushrooms, and lobster mushrooms. In the Miscellaneous category we have obtained crabs we caught in nets at the dock and even picked wild fennel seeds to use in salads and cook with.

Phil has not had any success yet at shooting a deer. Nor has anyone else I know bagged one this year. Still there is hope. Elk season is about to begin and I think Phil is going to give it a try. For some reason, the critters around just know when it's Fall and they disappear. I am convinced there is a four-pronged buck kicked back on a beach somewhere sipping pina coladas and laughing quietly 'til the season is over.

Other changes our family has made this year:
1. being really picky about turning lights off in the house.
2. All veggie peels and other bits of unused produce are being fed the various animals we own.
3. Buying in bulk and saving up for an emergency.
4. Canning our own veggies, fruits and jams at home.
5. drying veggies, fruits and herbs for home use.
6. making our own soaps and cleaning products.
7. bakin our own bread.
8. treating our belongings well and not regarding everything as expendable or easily replaceable.
9. Re-using grey water for the watering of household and garden plants. (confused? read my pre
-vious post explaining grey water and its uses.)
10. purchasing more clothing from second hand stores.

This isn't enough, but its a start. Next we need to look at additional ways to improve self-sufficiency, frugality and preparedness. But again, and I can't stress this enough, my families attempts at saving money were not done to make our life more complicated. It really has been a fun process. It has made us closer as a family, it has put us back in touch with what is really important, and it has seen us living a little better even in financially devastating times.

We may not always be able to pay the bills on time, but we are surviving, and in many ways, thriving. I am not suggesting these methods for everyone. But it sure is working for us and we are grateful.
peace, -EJ

taking stock

The year is beginning to wind down and I'm looking back on the positive changes of the last several months. I feel the need to evaluate all the endeavors of this year and fine-tune it all a bit for next year.

coming up will be final reports regarding gardening, canning, dehydrating, energy conservation and self-sufficiency efforts. What worked , what didn't and what I can try that I havent' already. It has been a lot of fun and a great education.

Update on the goat situation: Phil and Richard finished both the fencing and the goat pen. It looks really great. The girls are spending their first night in it and I hope they like it. Thanks again to my hubby for playing along with the wild ideas generated by his wife and daughter. :)

Misc.

Lettuce in the home garden is really doing well. At the community garden today we actually got to pick a few radishes. This new batch is a different variety, red at the top, white at the bottom. Max loves them. Well, loves to eat them is a more accurate statement.

The goats, Robin and Locksley are my new obsession. ( I know I say that about everything) They are just so darned cute. They 'baa' for us when we arrive and bleat piteously when we leave. I feel like such a heel when they do that.

Lots of life stuff happening. Nothing to call the press about, just normal life. Youth group is going well. It's a great group of kids with a heart for the Lord. They are just super. We meet at a nursing home and have already made a new friend there. A woman named Teresita has sort of adopted us and we adore her. She is a retired school teacher, 77 years old, and she LOVES kids. We visit Teresita every week after youth and she prays for us.

Oregon's Autumn Edibles

With most of our summer crops long gone, the winter crops are now emerging. There are at least 6 different types of lettuce planted in our front yard as I type this. My neighbor Vi graciously gave packages of kale seed I hope to have in the ground tomorrow. Gardening friends say that peas and broccoli grow well in the fall, also. I'm not sure just how ambitious I am concerning fall/winter gardening so we'll see about that.

As promised, the rains have brought seemingly millions of mushrooms bursting forth from the musty forest floor. Mushroom hunting is my personal 'zen' activity. There is something about the earthy fragrance of the forest, the spongy retraction of rotting logs, pine needles and debris under my feet as I walk, the dimmed light of being underneath the pine and fir canopy. The preternatural quite has an odd effect on my pulse which quickens with adrenaline as I forage. All mushrooms are lovely. The loveliest are usually inedible. Many are deadly. "Mom!" one of my kids will shout, "What is this?". Out comes the identification book. We stoop, we peer, we search the pages. Ahh, a bolete.

Salmon celebrations are in the works. Salmon is an important part of Coastal life. It is a major source of income for some. Ocean caught, non-farmed salmon at $12 a pound is an occasional treat for most of us. It's joke here that acquaintances with boats become best friends during salmon season.

Blackberries are nearly done. Several jars of jam and preserves line our shelves. Huckleberries are still around for those who don't mind the tediousness of picking them.

With summer over, the crab catching should be better and better. I'm not entirely sure, but I think crab molt during the summer, making for puny crabs with little meat in the shell. Regardless, I'm ready to ditch the canning and head to the docks with a crab net. Nothing, and I mean nothing, beats fresh, sweet, Dungeness crab. You East Coasters can keep your little-bitty blue crabs. I will take Dungeness any day.

Fall is glorious on the Oregon Coast. Abundance is everywhere. Join us. Oh, and bring a rain coat.

-EJ