It’s no secret that we have been rescaling our lifestyle while I continue to look for work. One of the latest victims of our budget cuts was our landscaper Jose. I talked a little about him in an earlier post, so I will leave it at that.
We let him go at the end of August and it is now mid-September. It is a good thing that things are relatively dormant because I haven’t done anything in the meantime. The fire danger precluded the use of power tools. I have been watering the grass to get some seeds started and with the cooler weather, the lawn is really greening up again.
I actually found the grass (and ground) to be really wet, so I turned off the sprinklers for the year. That made mowing a chore as the bag was getting filled with one trip around the yard. Another bit of fun is the Hazardous air quality caused me to do this with an N95 mask. It was hard to breath with the mask on and not safe to work without it.
The mower is an OK unit, it was a cast-off John Deere that was given to my son to try and make some money but it is small (21″ deck) an is not self-propelled. It worked fine though once I finally got it started. I have no idea how old the oil is or how sharp the blade is. I traded my string trimmer for canning jars years ago so I will be on the lookout for an inexpensive or used replacement. For now, I will live without it. My blower is still not working even though I tore it apart.
I plugged into my podcasts and got to work. It wasn’t the glorious start to my new responsibilities as I quite expected with squishy feet and puffing through the mask. I really don’t mind doing yardwork but honestly I will need to make a mental shift from only doing the things that I want to do to keeping up with routine maintenance, especially the weeds in the flower bed. Those can get overwhelming quickly.
I have always enjoyed the leaf season. It is probably because I don’t have a lot of trees that drop leaves, but getting out after the cooler weather sets in and exerting some constructive energy is therapeutic. I am also looking forward to pruning the roses properly next year. If I don’t cut down the apple tree, saving the water shoots for more smoking fodder as well. I think it will be good to get the kids involved in the work for character building.
The calculus was always paying Jose for one to two hours a week was much more efficient use of money and time as this took me an hour and a half just to mow the grass. I can remember spending weeks weeding just the front flower bed. Now, my time is free and money is harder to come by. Now, looking forward to raking some leaves soon.
I believe in transparency, especially in a forum such as this. Not everything can be bang on successful. Not only that, I believe in mistakes are our teachers. In the software industry we used to call project wrap up ‘lesson’s learned’ or using a fancier term ‘plus delta’.
So, look at the picture closely. The first thing you probably see is my dog digging a hole in the bed. Then you might see the bathroom addition that I just finished. Right next to the bathroom, there is a big pile of dirt (it is actually two piles, but the contrast in the picture is not clear).
What kind of plants did I end up with? Good question, I am still not totally sure because my kids planted the seeds in the tray. One of the tray’s was labelled ‘Rainbow’ which they explained to me was all of the leftover seeds mixed into one tray. I noticed that the cabbage tray was growing tomatoes, no peppers actually sprouted. From what I can tell, I ended up with two tomato plants and what I think are two brussel sprout plants.
There are two volunteer tomato plants that I let grow and they are the only thing that is currently producing. The brussel sprouts may have enough time to produce. I don’t think the proper tomato plants will yield anything because it is getting too late in the season. I had some volunteer dill come up as well. This is not exactly the bounty of a Victory Garden.
It is going to be pretty easy to talk about the things that didn’t go well, so let us start with what did.
I got seeds started and sprouted
I kept the seedlings alive from about mid-April until mid-June before I got them in the ground
Most of what got planted is still alive and if the weather holds out, may still produce
I got my kids involved in the process
That is pretty much the positives, now for some constructive analysis
I went from three beds to one, cutting the opportunity for productivity significantly
Because my construction project dominated my life for months, the plants stayed in the trays six weeks too long reducing their vigor and potential for yield
I needed to pay more attention to my kids technique when initially planting the seeds
The bed location is getting less full sun exposure each year. This year particularly also had construction debris all around, materials dragged over the plants and in general in the way of everything.
Some of my seeds are getting long in the tooth. In the past, I was able to get seeds from the library for free and I got kind caught flat footed with COVID and all of the shut downs, including the library
Despite my many issues, and what I consider a nearly wasted effort, I revealed my plans to come back stronger and better. I suppose the good news is that this effort cost nearly nothing. I spent a few dollars to retrofit my irrigation manifold so I could have all soaker lines in the bed.
The other good news is that my dad grows a giant garden and we got broccoli, cucumbers, corn, beets and swiss chard. Sometimes it is better to know a gardener than to be one.
We have had a landscaper for probably eleven years. It was really helpful when I was frequently travelling to keep up on the yard maintenance. Of course I have established that I have not worked in over a year and how busy I was this spring/summer, but now that is over, we let Jose go yesterday.
It is sad, he has a son the same age as mine. When you have someone work for you that long, they are more than a contractor. He used to come every week summer or winter and do things in the yard. I really didn’t think that he needed to do that, but he was trying to make a go of things and I could afford to support him.
Ultimately, it worked out for both of us. We were the only house that he was doing in this geographical direction. He told us that he was hoping to pass us to his brother next month so that he could focus on a more concentrated area closer to where he lived. So, with that I broke the news to my boys yesterday that we now have new responsibilities. Ones that they have never been a part of, routine yard maintenance.
So, with that change there are going to be some other changes to the yard. We are going to try and focus on a more productive yard and food systems. We investigating remodeling the yard to more intensively grow more food. In addition, I want to do some experimenting with greens, grow lights and hydroponics for a more year round harvest. More details about the plan later, we just started talking about this yesterday and I haven’t had time
This could probably be a four post topic. Next subject is the Victory Garden. Hopefully we won’t have to rely on the harvest for survival. I will post results maybe next week.
Finally, what I really wanted to show was what a coastal, USDA zone 9a, temperate rain forest garden looks like. I was very impressed with this yard. I should have taken more pictures.
Do you see the size of the hydrangeas in the background? They are massive. This picture does not do the color or the plants justice. I looked up the climate particulars and thought that I would share what zone 9a looks like. The average annual low of 37 degrees with an all time record low of 6 degrees. The annual high of 80 degrees with an all time record high of 99 degrees. Seventy-two inches of rain fall in a year, mostly in the winter and spring, but some rain all year long.
All this lushness comes at a price. There is a lot of gray throughout the year. The dampness (or humidity) and wind is always present, so it often feels colder than the actual thermometer. It is typical to be pretty breezy when the sun is out, I find it a unpleasant at times. Soils are sandy with little organic matter or clay and water holding ability.
But grow where you are planted. I am going to try and take advantage of what I can do where I am at. For the most part in temperate zones, every climate has conditions that are good for some things and not others. Have a good weekend.
This may not work for everyone, depending on your climate. I know that mine is pretty iffy on nice days in March. I suppose die hards could get-r-done in the wet and cold, but if you pick and choose your timing, a soft wet ground is to your benefit for digging and shrub removal. A caveat to these post is that this applies to my USDA zone.
I mentioned in January that it was time to think about pruning. Well now it is time to think about wrapping most of that up. I still have a week or so, but almost everything is budding or about to bud. Some flowering plants like the Camelias that set buds for next year would be better to wait until after they bloom or in some cases, the fall.
If you hate weeds and like chemicals, get your pre-emergents out because the weeds have yet to take hold. This is a good time to overseed grass and do you soil adjustments if you participate. Don’t forget that grass is starting to wake up from the winter slumber and mowing can almost be done twice a week.
I know several people that have built fire pits in the last week. I built mine about five years ago using landscape pavers from Home Depot. Forty-two pavers, three rows of 14 make a nice looking fire pit about three feet in diameter. That cost me about $75 compared o the $300 and up kits that are sold. Make sure it is level to start and use a bead of construction adhesive to hold the courses together.
The Fire Pit
Tool maintenance anyone? Clean and sharpen your clippers and cutting tools using a file, stones and grinder. Knock the rust off steel with a wire brush and oil with a lubricant like WD-40. Oil your wood handles with linseed oil or other suitable wood protective. Change the oil and tune up your gas powered equipment with spark plugs and filter changes. Mind you I would recommend doing this in the fall before your store everything, but hey we are fighting cabin fever here.
This is a great time to start working on the wood pile if you use firewood. Wet (green) wood takes one full summer to season (dry) properly. It is also a good thing to do when thinking about pruning and tree removal. I find splitting is easier when the wood is green as well. So, clean up and remove trees before they leaf out and create a much bigger mess with leaves and needles.
This last weekend, we removed a whole bunch shrubs that we were just tired of. They were flowering dogwoods that had been haphazardly shaped over the years and just out grew their space. They also did very little other than flower for a few weeks a year.
Brush removal carnage
There is still time to plant summer bulbs. Landscaping plants can still be put into the ground or moved. More permanent irrigation can be designed and installed even though it is not necessary at this time.
So many things in the yard – from junk removal to planting and this is the prime time to do a lot of this, in the next couple of weeks. It is a good family activity as well providing 1) something to do 2) physical activity 3) exposure to the outdoors 4) learning opportunities and skill building.
If you are new to this, then there is a lot more than just putting seeds in the ground. I am going to approach this from a very basic level in case you need those details. If not, skip this and get started.
From Wikipedia: “Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany[1][2] during World War I and World War II. In the war time governments encouraged people to plant victory gardens not only to supplement their rations but also to boost morale.[3]George Washington Carver wrote an agricultural tract and promoted the idea of what he called a “Victory Garden”.[4] They were used along with Rationing Stamps and Cards to reduce pressure on the public food supply. Besides indirectly aiding the war effort, these gardens were also considered a civil “morale booster” in that gardeners could feel empowered by their contribution of labor and rewarded by the produce grown. This made victory gardens a part of daily life on the home front.”
Location: Use the space that you have available. If you live in an apartment, you can still grow in a pot or a window-sill. I have even planted along the landscape buffer next to the house because I have really good south and west exposure. I also grow some things in the front yard because we rarely use that space.
If it is outside, it needs to be in a location that you are going to frequent maybe not every time you leave the house, but you need to be able to see it. Ideally, you are going to have sunlight at least 12 hours a day from mid-spring to late summer, the prime growing season. You should also have access water for irrigation. I know the temptation to do it tomorrow is strong and tomorrow turns into a week.
Conditions: The experts would say that the ideal soil is 1/3 clay, 1/3 sand and 1/3 organic material. I would wager that there is no place on earth with this combination. So, start where you are at. Maybe not every plant will work, but this is how we learn.
I probably cannot help here if you live on a sandy beach or gravel bar, but even there some things will grow. As an alternative, I have seen elevated planters that you fill with potting soil, raised beds are an option to mitigate poor native soil.
It is helpful to add compost to the place that you are going to garden if you have access or the ability to do so. Add as much as practical or possible because it breaks down over time and plants will grow in nearly straight compost. My first year, the beds were 85% and every couple of years I refresh them.
Plant/Seed Selection: Not everything is going to do well everywhere. Things that are considered easy are things that grow to harvest quickly like greens, radishes and summer squash like zucchini.
Even those things can suffer from pest and disease so be prepared to roll with the punches. Chemical treatments can be helpful if you know what you are doing, have access and are willing to use them. I typically do not.
Some items are best to start in the ground directly and others you need a head start. Check your average annual frost dates, read your seeds average date to maturity and back calculate to today’s date to determine whether you should plant seed in the ground or make starts.
My seed starting operation
My average annual frost date is mid-April so I am starting some things by seed namely tomatoes and peppers. You can get a head start on more frost hearty crops like cabbage if you like too.
If you lack the facilities or equipment to start seeds, you may be able to buy starts at a nursery or box store, if you can get out or your stores are open. You are going to pay between $1-$4 per plant vs. the same cost per seed packet. Seed packets will yield thirty to 100 plants and are sold by weight.
If you cant and only have seeds just do that. Your enemy may be time but try anyway. If you don’t have seeds, maybe you can get some from somebody locally; ask on Nextdoor or Facebook. You can also order them by mail order.
Heirloom vs Hybrid: Practically speaking, heirloom means that the seeds of that plant will grow true to type. Hybrid may or may not, it is a gamble. Starting from store bought stock should yield no appreciable difference in taste, disease resistance, vigor etc. However, if you save seeds from plants year over year, you can conceivable achieve a significant yield improvement by taking seeds from plants that display traits that you are most interested in and adapted to your specific garden.
Plan for yield, prepare for failure: When I am planting things, I am thinking about what happens if it does really well. Meaning if I put in 20 cabbages, can I handle that. Will I be able to use it or give it away? There is nothing worse than putting in hundreds of hours to see it go to waste.
I usually start 50% more seeds than I want. I try to give away the starts after I plant what I want. If I cant, I might stick them in the ground or I might just toss them depending on the response.
I really hope that this is not your only hope for survival, unless you already know how to do all of this. This is meant to teach and develop a skill. You learn what does well based on climate, conditions and location of the garden. Year over year, you plant more of what you like and prospers and then you try more experiments and techniques to improve your failures.
Harvest Time: Learn to cook and preserve. I enjoy the challenge of trying to handle bounty. Also take time to document the season and develop plans for next season. Hopefully, you will learn to do something good for you and enjoy it as well as a way to eliminate cabin fever.
I had a lot of thoughts about what I could write today, but I don’t feel well. Despite that, it is a beautiful day. I took some pictures of what is currently blooming, a sure sign that spring will follow eventually.
Believe it or not, what you do matters for the quantity or quality of fall harvest. Now is the time to not only start thinking about it but actually doing something about it.
Like what you may ask. For instance, it is time to start pruning, spraying (if you are into that), and seed starting for minimum cost and optimum diversity.
Pruned and trained Concord Grape vine
The grape vine I have pictured above I am training to cover the fence. It makes a great screen when it starts growing. Grapes need to be pruned to a bearing nodule. All fruiting will happen on new growth.
Remove water shoots for long term health and productivity
For fruit trees like apples, all water shoots (last years growth), damaged and diseased branches should be removed. This tree was neglected for several years before we moved in and the water shoots got multiple years growth. That creates exposure to heart wood which will eventually rot if not covered, so stay on top of it. This tree also has a fungus problem, but I don’t spray, I just cut out the bad parts of the apple. Now would be the time to treat. It takes several applications of dormant spray throughout the winter.
Lest we forget our flowery friends, Roses should be pruned to one or two main stems as well. Grafted roses can and will start shoots from the root stock causing an errant red rose belonging to the root stock to appear with your desired variety. Conventional wisdom in this part of the world is to prune around Presidents day, but I usually do it when I am pruning other things.
Seed starting is probably a whole additional topic. Suffice to say for this post, start calculating days back from your annual frost date to determine when seeds need to get started for your garden. Consider things that are difficult, expensive or exotic to grow because even at $1.99/lb for organic celery there isn’t a lot of return on investment unless you are going to do some specific preserving.
Have a great weekend and good luck with your harvest.
Recent Comments