Tomato Beds

Here is the original bed starting to fill out and get greener.


















My second little bed in front of the sugar snap peas.



























A closer picture of the bigger plants. Today this guy has a bunch of cute little yellow flowers on him, this was taken about a week ago or so.











Squash plant is doing very well in the cabbage bed.

Prying the bromeliad pups and repotting them. There is also a geranium and come rooster tail to be dealt with.













This is the container garden full of peppers I planted yesterday. We have been very busy in the garden lately.










Here's all my pepper plants, hoping they will stay warmer in the containers than they would in the tomato bed and then produce more peppers.

















A close up of all the new flowers.











A tomatillo that I grew from seeds harvested last year.












The second banana pepper of the season.



















A better image of the peach tree.

The Garden is Finally HERE!

The tomatoes are starting to flower, can't wait for actual tomatoes!












We just planted this crocasnea today it should fill in around the honeysuckle.














Blueberries look all ripe and juicy but they aren't quite as sweet as they need to be.















This little peach tree was acquired yesterday at Lowe's, he was a pretty good deal for $14. We will be taking him with us when we decide to find a permanent residence.
















Purple beans are starting to flower, no beans yet though.




















Here is the competed chicken run, little chickies are so happy!

Yesterday we finished the chicken run. Tiring work but the chickens seem really happy. With several days of warmer weather the tomatoes are beginning to fill out and look better. The peppers are about a week away from being covered in flowers, and then little peppers (hopefully!). A trip to Lowes today for more potting soil to put them in bigger containers.
The scarlet runner beans are starting to fullfill their purpose climbing the chainlink fence. And the cabbages are huge. Thinking of some low cost cloches to install on the raised beds for this fall.

today it was finally in the mid-70's summer weather couldn't get here fast enough! I planted what was left of all those tomato seedlings. Don't know if tomato production will happen but it felt really nice to dig in the dirt and get that job completed. I planted the basil I grew from seed, too! Just a couple small additions to my herb bed. All the framing for the chicken run was completed on Monday and we have a temporary door.
Jarett and Lacey took all the spare wood and put it in the basement so its no longer exposed to the elements and it might prove useful for other projects.
Last major projects are putting the rest of the plastic wire stuff around the chicken run and on the 'roof' so its entirely enclosed, and building that permanent door with hinges and a locking mechanism. It shouldn't take long once its started but with my gardening partner away, I don't feel like doing too many projects without her!

free projects stuff

We've had a few fun conversations about the millions of things you end up doing when you have no money and lots and lots of time. (which is where we are at now) Funny thing is I think I've had more fun doing things this way then I would if we'd had plenty of money and no time, or for that matter even if there had been a balance.  I love that our garden projects have taken time and effort, somehow it makes the success better!   While thinking about this I felt like making a list of all the awesomeness because I like lists.  This starts from last year.

-free plant starts: tomatoes, cabbages, brussel sprouts, shiso, broccoli, peppers, dill
-free seeds: carrots, lettuce, beans, tomatoes, squash, kohlrabi, beets, broccoli, multiple herbs
-free burlap from coffee roasters
-free pallets from coffee roasters
-free 4x4's from neighbor
-free dresser (used to make potting table)       
-free table (used to build chicken coop)
-free bricks
-free mulch
-4" and 1 gallon pots

I'm sure there's more that I'm not remembering.  It's an amazing list.

upgrades

Yesterday we went to Lowes (again!) to get a few more pieces of wood.  We realized we needed support for the roof so we've got wood to go across the top now.  While we were there we bought some new deck chairs which it seems have replaced our chicken watching bench. Jen and her NGP (non-gardening partner) are having their morning coffee while being entertained by the chickens. heehee! 

After discussing the trials and tribulations this year with other gardening family members I don't feel so bad about losing so many plants to the slugs. Seems like everyone is having this issue. I need to ask my sister where she got that green house for my mom and how much it cost. I am quite envious of her tomato plants, and it isn't too late to set one up this year to extend the season for some of my tomato seedlings and at least gather some seeds for next year.
Still need to build the upper half of the chicken run, not to mention build the door. Its wet and cool outside but we might still making it a work day, because we have to get it done as soon as possible!

chicken run is getting done!

Here's some pics of the chicken run, it's about 1/2 way done!  We even got sit on our "chicken watching bench" and  let the chickens explore their new home.  I think they like it :)

It was a long process, digging holes is HARD!  the whole album is on FB: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=lf#!/album.php?aid=14803&id=1756879312&ref=pb

Added some more basil, thyme, and greek oregano to the herb bed, other than working on digging the post holes not much has been going on here on the farm!

chicken run 2 and gardening updates

We began the day (yesterday) clearing the space of all of the knotweed that had grown in and raking out the Photinia leaves.  We also pruned back the Photinia that was growing in the way.  We've set the run back far enough that the coop will be able to be partially in the shade but the chickens will still have mainly sun.  At least, that's the goal. Home Depot still doesn't have the mesh instock that we want to use so we are going to look into buying it online, it's just a 1" heavy duty plastic mesh, nothing special but it's significantly less expensive than the other products we've found.  The run only needs to keep out daytime things anyways since the chickens will be in their coop at night.  This afternoon I will most likely finish digging the corner posts then tomorrow dig the other 2 post holes.  6 total.  whew!

 Not much going on for gardening.  We're finally getting some sun so hopefully that will encourage things to grow.  I'm attempting cucumbers for the 3rd time and they seem to finally be growing.  I ended up buying starts about twice as big as I normally would but with all the rain the seedlings couldn't grow fast enough to out compete the pests.  Nothing is really dying but to compare by this time last year we were already eating green beans, tomatoes and zucchini's.  This year we have baby plants still :/  


We're starting to research more cold weather veggi's to try to extend our growing season which should be fun but right now we're studying for finals.   After next week I'll have more time to devote to reading fun gardening books!  Or at least that's the idea ;)

 

Chicken run!

This morning we were up early to head to the West Seattle Tool Library http://www.sustainablewestseattle.org/tool-library/ to borrow a post hole digger and begin building the chicken run.  I'm not sure how many post holes I have to dig yet (6 or 8 I think) but it sounds like a ton of work!  Apparently by signing up for my library account online last night I am the first member of the tool library!  This means that I get to be put down as a founding memmber (yay, me! lol) and Jen & I will have our picture in the West Seattle Blog and the Sustainable West Seattle blog. Um. yay?  If I'd known that was a consequence I might have at least taken a shower this morning instead of rolling out of bed, putting some work clothes on and a hankerchief on my head.  oops. The pictures should be awesome.

so.  Now that I've had coffee, the chickens are out playing in their dog crate and the sun is out it's time to go sort all of that free wood we got a month ago (or more?) and decide how big this run will be and exactly where it's going.  We have a rough idea of course, but not a set one. Sounds like a long day of working to me but the chickens will be really glad when we are done!

Another thing is the Photinia trees, they are toxic to grazing animals, but are they toxic to chickens?  Do I need to worry about raking all the fallen leaves out of the run before the chickens go in there?  I can't seem to find this info online, I may need to start emailing other Seattle chicken people and see what they know.

There's finally stuff going on in the garden and I'm sooo happy about it!  It's taken a long time just to get warm enough to put plants outside this year and I'm still not sure it's quite there but we're trying anyways.  Our chickens seem really happy and they like being outside in the dog crate every day and in their coop at night. Next week when the West Seattle tool Library opens we'll be borrowing a post hole digger and building our official chicken run.  I think they are really going to like the extra space.

I don't know if we'll have enough produce this year to make the pickles and jams we dreamed about last year, but I'm still hopeful.  Either way the experiment is fun and it does look beautiful thanks to all of Jen's hard work growing seeds, planting the cabbages, tomatoes and herbs.  

This summer I'm thinking of joining the Puget Sound Beekeepers Association and working in their clubs apiary to learn about bees.  Perhaps in the next year or two I can have bees too!  

I figured my strawberry plants counted as flowers too!












Some sort of fiery honysuckle that we bought last year and Lacy planted on the back porch. I love the colours.











Lacy's gorgeous peony, it didn't like being transplanted thus we only have the single flower, but it is beautiful.











Rose plant from Lacy's Lynnwood house, we transplanted it in early spring with a couple others not knowing if they would survive, but they all have and this was the first to bloom.










Chive flowers are a bit faded but they look beautiful under the plum tree.












Aww this little guy has been around awhile now, we repotted him last year and half of his branches died off. He is all happy and blooming now.

The newest additions to our urban farm. The two black speckled ones are Henrietta and Henny-Penny. The red ones don't have names. They are wonderful at getting rid of all those pesky kitchen scraps that have been filling our compost bins to the brim.

This is our experimental tomato bed. The taller plants are basil, and there are a few small pepper plants in there. We cut some burlap sacks in half lengthwise to create to tubes, filled them with mulch and lined the bed with them. Next year we may be able to plant herbs in the sides of the tubes.
Unfortunately the weather is working against us, with the cooler wetter spring, I don't know if the tomatoes or peppers are going to produce much. Better luck next year, I suppose.

This is the new herb bed, there is rosemary, marjoram, oregano, thyme, and basil. We got some free shiso starts from the Sustainable West Seattle Fair but they didn't get in the picture.

I didn't think she knew how to mow the lawn! I had to get a picture, and sit back and watch for awhile. Sure looked like a lot of work. :P

The cabbages and brussel sprouts are getting way big!

Here is the rearranged squash bed, three spagetti squash, 2 zuchinni, and one acorn squash, I think.