Ready, Set, Starts!

With our unseasonably warm temperatures, we're throwing caution to the wind - and a few seeds too. This weekend we cleaned out our pair of 6x8 raised beds, added aged compost from the pile (enriched heavily with free coffee grounds from Starbucks), and filled them spring veggie seeds. Summer veggies are bound for the new garden spot we're clearing, but that's another story for another day.

We direct sowed:
Veronica Hybrid Broccoli
Burpee's Golden Beets
Chiogga Beets
French Breakfast Radish (a lovely gift from a christmas elf!)
5 Color Silverbeet Swiss Chard
Dragon Carrots
French Market Carrots (oh la la it's getting French in here)
Nantes Half Long Carrots

Flat Leaf Parsley (much better than curly leaf and grows better too)
Cascade Harvest Mix Lettuce (free from Puget Sound Fresh @ NWFGS)

Note the liberal use of bamboo stakes. Later wrapped with jute twine for cat discouragement technique. So far so good.

We tried something slightly different with the Sugar and Snow Peas - we sprouted them between wet paper towels after an overnight soak in warm water. Can't say yet if this makes them come up faster - but it does have a satisfying sense of growthiness about it...observe!Since I had the camera, I snapped a few snowdrops from that day...
Have you planted yet?

Amanda

Chorez!

Today we took advantage of the relatively warm and dry afternoon and did a wee bit o' pruning! We're no pruning experts but every spring we make an attempt to prune our 5 apple trees, 4 Cherries, 2 plums, as well as the other general spring cleanup required by the herbs and flowers. It is a lot of work!

As a teenager I asked my Dad why he spent so much time pruning them every spring. Wouldn't it be better to leave them au naturale? Apparently not! He explained fruit trees are dependent on humans and need pruning or they'll just grow themselves to death! Or something like that? (Hey, I wasn't the greatest listener at that age!) Pruning is also good because it helps you and the sun to be able to reach the fruit.

Hacker's toolkit! Dexter eat your heart out.

Today we pruned one of the two Gravenstein trees on the property. Gravensteins are delicious apples that make amazing pies! If you are looking for a good heirloom apple, they may be for you! This tree had huge water sprouts (good pruning guide) and needed shape improvement so we did a heavy pruning on it. At our house, a light pruning involves taking off the water sprouts and cleaning off dead branches. Heavy pruning more seriously altering the shape. A heavy pruning sometimes leaves you wondering if you went too far but then the leaves come out and the blossoms burst open and all is right with the world again. While we were at it we trimmed the crazy lilac (behind apple on right) behind it and the removed blown over blue spruce(? behind apple on left) that was growing up in its business.

Gravenstein Before

After - hey air and sunshine!

Afterwards it was amazing how much more light was in the yard (from the removed spruce). The greenhouse (out of view, stage right) will benefit from the additional lighting as well, I suspect.

And as if rewarding us for all the hard work, Mother Nature outdid Santa Claus and left us a little present under the apple tree. A little clump of snowdrops just breaking through the soil! Oh green, we've missed you!

Sweet Dreams,

Amanda