Hop Trellis

March 6, 2016 Elizabeth Boegel

We had a brief respite from rain today. This meant I could get all my outdoor chores done - shoveling mulch out from inside the new raised beds, cleaning and storing the birdfeeders for the summer, and getting some flower seeds in the pollinator gardens.

The Western Redbud tree is blooming.

And the chard sure looks fine with the sun shining through. Plus ladybug.

But the real project of the day was getting the trellis built for the hops. The Cascade rhizomes we got from Ruby at IUH are already sprouting.

Tiny, but they'll grow fast, and will need something to grow on. Tom built four beautiful redwood planters to hold the rhizomes; three more kinds of hops are coming this week. The planters were expensive but will be used forever, for something else if the hop project fails. The trellis is made of 10 foot lengths of 3/4" electrical conduit which was extremely cheap. The trellis is attached to the foot of each planter. It's very, very tall.

I've ordered special twine made of jute for stringing up and over the trellis. We'll get that done next weekend. Then, in theory, the hops will grow up and over, making a nice shade canopy for our outdoor dining room on hot summer days!

As we were working on this project, I noticed that some of the tomato seedlings were drooping a bit. So I found some lengths of old wire that I saved when we made the chicken coop, and I fashioned tiny holders for them, so that the leaves won't ever touch the soil. Many tomato diseases are soil-borne.

A pork shoulder has been in the smoker since this morning, and bread got baked, as usual. It made an excellent lunch, slathered with grass-fed cow butter.

Look at that crumb! So light, and yet you can see all the good bran in there. Healthy and delicious! I'm getting better at bread baking each week.

A Spring Frittata

March 5, 2016 Elizabeth Boegel

It's raining!

I can feel the whole garden growing.

The broccoli is tall, but heading poorly. I'm thinking it's because I started it too late in the season. Anyway, I decided to cut off some of the blossoms, and pick some other veg, and make a Spring Frittata for lunch.

It's delightful to be harvesting out of the raised beds again. Baby turnips, for slicing and eating raw, nearly every day. Greens every day for sure, both for us and the chickens. (The heads of lettuce are filled with tiny slugs and earwigs - I tend to give those to the chickens, who love some protein with their veg. Luckily the kale, chard, and spinach is bug free, for now.) And now shelling peas, getting plumper every day, filling the trellis. I harvested another single asparagus stalk and took it to work to share with the kids. I don't think they liked it much.

I'll saute the veg in some olive oil, add plenty of fresh eggs, salt and pepper, dash of cream, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. With the heel of last week's sourdough, it'll be a delicious lunch.

We have a long list of outdoor chores to get to, but until the rain stops (and we hope it goes on for a long, long time), those will be on hold. We need to get the trellis for the hops built, as the ones already planted are coming up, and three more kinds are on order and will be shipped to us this week. I need to dig mulch out of the new raised beds to prepare them for the soil mix that is being delivered Monday afternoon. The Hosui Asian Pear I ordered will arrive this week and will need to be planted in one of those beds, as well as some rhubarb and lemon verbena, also arriving this coming week. I found a resource for local lavender; Mountain Valley Growers are sending me twelve plants this week, too. I have 50 herb starts going under the indoor lamp that will go in those beds, everything from Thyme to Savory, and they've all sprouted. So it might just be that I'm doing outdoor chores in the rain, whether I like it or not.

That's ok, it's fun to be busy in the garden and have lots to do. Makes me eager for summer and the bounty we'll have then. My tomato and pepper seedlings are spending the day indoors, as well.

We've begun saving egg shells for tomato planting. I plan to put a dozen crushed eggshells around the rootball of each tomato plant, to help with blossom-end rot, which we had a lot of last year. My Epsom salt rescue came too late to fix the problem. Besides, we have no lack of eggshells here. Every time this bowl holds 12 (or 24 halves), I crush them and put them in a small container, then in the freezer. I'll be planting 12 tomato plants, so I need a minimum of 12 dozen eggshells. It wouldn't hurt to add eggshells to the pepper plants, too.

Rhode Island Red, Easter Egger, and Plymouth Barred Rock eggshells

The calcium helps with the uptake and regulation of water in the tomato plants, and we could really use help with that, in our drought-starved area. I read a wonderful post by Garden Betty (also a Californian, though Southern) about how she prepares her beds for tomato plants, and was surprised to see that she adds a fish head to each hole. I'd love to do that, but I'd have Joe the dog and Tasha the cat (not to mention dozens of local raccoons, skunks, and coyotes) digging up my precious plants. So I'll skip that step. However I will follow her idea of spraying the leaves with dissolved aspirin tablets. I am also toying with the idea of using the Florida weave for trellising my tomatoes, rather than making new cages. I'll keep you updated, of course. All of this is just dreamy dreaming right now, but in a month, it'll be time to get these babies in the ground.

I've also spent some time re-doing the summer garden plan, but I'll share that with you when it's closer to planting time.

Happy Saturday! Happy March!

Little Things

February 28, 2016 Elizabeth Boegel

Spring is the season for little things. Unlike summer, there's no tall, golden corn plants to catch the eye; no bushy, fragrant tomato vines to brush up against. You have to search for the beauty: the special things are hidden.

Manzanita. Can you find the tiny, winged creature?

I love taking the time to walk around both my yard, and the open spaces around us, with an eye for tiny treasures. The fruit trees are gorgeous and showy, but everyone sees those. What can you find when you search for the hidden things?

Different Every Day

February 26, 2016 Elizabeth Boegel

Work and other activities have kept us extraordinarily busy lately, but one of my greatest pleasures is a daily walk through the garden at about 4:30 pm. It's still warm and sunny, and I can see everything that has changed during the day. And every day, there is something new to look at.

We're still hoping for a very rainy March (a miracle, in other words) as El Nino definitely hasn't impacted us the way we were hoping.

As I've said before, I've had to work at adjusting my attitude where the lack of rain is concerned. I'm just trying to enjoy this warm, sunny Spring, without thinking about the hot Summer that will soon arrive. Green hills and abundant growth are a fleeting thing here in dry California, so it makes sense to just soak it in while it lasts.

It's hard not to be delighted by all the changes I see in the garden each day. Yesterday, I surprised a lizard, sunning itself on the unused plant marker bricks I have laid by the train shed. I spied a cedar waxwing just next door, eating privet berries.

The first true leaves of a cherry tomato

On my walks, which have been unfortunately quite brief, it's fun to see the wildflowers blooming; mustard, poppies, buttercups, hairy vetch.

We're enjoying eating fresh greens every day, either in morning scrambles or as a side for dinner. Salad turnips have been abundant, and we eat them sliced and raw like radish. The chickens get daily greens that are already going to seed and sending up bright yellow flowers.

Soon we'll be eating peas and carrots and broccoli.

Every night, we leave a window or two open to let in fresh air. It's been in the high 40's every evening and the low 70's every day. As soon as nighttime temps reach about 55 degrees consistently, it'll be time to think about planting summer crops.