A Hothouse Update

A few weeks ago I wrote about building a hothouse for my hot peppers, (you can read about it here.), and thought it was about time for an update.  I've been monitoring three jalapeno plants.  One plant I put in the hothouse that I built, one I placed in the commercial hothouse, and the other I left out in the open.  They all started out around 8 1/2" tall.

Cauliflower, Cabbage Worms and Chili Juice

The holes in the cauliflower leaves can no longer be ignored. For the last few days I've been pulling an average of five cabbage worms a day. Well, pulling isn't exactly the right term. As most of you know I hate bugs (just writing about them I have to pause every few seconds to itch my scalp and arms) and cannot stomach the thought of touching them. So I have a spoon that I use to scoop up the worms and hurl them over the side of the deck. (Bye-bye worms!)

Yesterday after my morning scoop and toss I noticed down in the folds, way down, down in the center of the plant were these bumps. Bumps? Hmm...upon closer examination I saw they were teeny-weeny worms. Okay, time to change plans. I'm using the recipie from the DIY site which is 1/2 cup chili flakes and one pint water, strain the chili flakes and spray on leaves. The treatment calls for two spray sessions two to three days apart, and I hope it helps because as you can see the cauliflower is starting to appear!!

Going Home

Today Paul and I went to mom's house to check out her old compost tumbler. I saw it last somewhere in the early '90s in the back yard. Mom wasn't sure what condition it was in, but it was ours if we wanted it. I hadn't been in the back yard since my son was little. After dad died we didn't barbecue much, the grandkids were too old for Easter egg hunts, and there just wasn't much reason to go out the back door anymore. Mom warned us that it was a mess. She hasn't been able to keep up like she used to, and everything was overgrown. I know her kids have tried for years to offer help, but she's a stubborn one -- wants to do it all herself. The shed is falling down, the trees need to be cut back, the ivy is slowly overtaking the spot where her cherry tree used to be but we know better than to insist too much. When mom says no, she means no.

As we walked down the deck steps I noticed she was right -- everything was overgrown, and it was beautiful, magical even. The overgrown trees with their unchecked canopy shaded the yard, plants and bushes sent their scraggly branches in a desperate search for the the sun, and the lawn reduced to a mowed path that encircled the garden. Even the weeds were luscious and green. We stood in the garden for a good while pointing out trees, bushes and plants to Paul telling stories of where and when, and remembering.

I wouldn't change one thing.

A Half Hour, I Promise!

A half hour Paul said. That's all he would need to do some weeding in the front bed. I thought, hmm, half hour -- I could thin out the front maple. Of course a half hour turned into two hours, but we made some good progress. Paul has 95% of the weeding done. I thinned the maple, rhododendron, and cleaned up a bunch of plants. I also hacked away at my nemesis the burning bush. I don't know the correct name, but I call it the burning bush. In the summertime it's thick and green with tiny yellow flowers -- beautiful. In the early fall the leaves turn blood red -- beautiful. Then in the late fall through the winter it's a bunch of twigs -- not so beautiful. I never knew what to do with the bush so I've let it go. It was about four feet in diameter when Paul and I married, and now it's about eight feet in diameter so I'm slowly trimming it back.

Now that so much of the bed is cleaned up we'll have to find some plants to fill in the gaps. It was amazing to see the bleeding hearts coming back. Anne and Lisa gave them to me for Mother's Day about eight years ago, and I haven't seen them for about six years. Even the Jack in the Pulpit I planted around the same time has reappeared. There's a mystery plant that we'll let live another week before we decide if it's a plant or a weed.

We're making some progress on our yard one weekend at a time. Maybe this will be the year when we finally put a retaining wall around the bed.

Paul models for the camera.

Before...

And after!

Garden Haircut

I always forget to take the "before" picture until after. I was almost done with the Spinach before I caught myself, so I was able to get a shot of my lettuce before they received their haircuts.


We went to the Proctor Market yesterday, and I just couldn't resist a few purchases to add to our garden. I had promised Paul no more additions but he was a good sport, and agreed to these two. So I am pleased to announce that we are now the proud owners of a Negronne Fig tree and a Mary Washington Asparagus plant. Both of which will grow quite happily in containers according to the lovely man from Calendula -- can't wait!

Tonight Paul wants to barbecue but I'm thinking spinach salad. Hmm...with thin slices of red onion, a few bacon sprinkles, a sliced egg and an herbed goat cheese vinaigrette along with a few slices of River Valley Ranch cheese, and a loaf of french bread from the Upper Crust, yum! And that's what's for dinner tonight folks!

Memorial Day Weekend

Some people like to get away for the holiday. Others plan gatherings and barbecues in the comfort of their decks and yards. Paul's plan was to bring home the laptop to prepare for the financial meeting he has tomorrow. Luckily I was able to steal him away for a few side trips.

Saturday was busy, tiring and fun. We rode our bikes down to the Proctor Farmers Market, about a five mile ride. We could have bought one of everything there, but luckily we remembered we didn't bring the car and settled on some cheese, asparagus, and baby bok choy. After we dropped off the groceries we headed to Tacoma Wine Merchant to pick up our wine club selections (and a few other bottles too). The weather was so glorious we didn't want to go back home so we headed off to Dukes for a late lunch and some water gazing. For dinner Paul barbecued a couple steaks along with the baby bok choy we purchased that morning. Then Heather and Rick surprised us with dessert which we enjoyed after a game of Scrabble (Rick won). They brought a growler of Oatmeal Stout (please correct me Heather, I know I didn't get the name right) which we had over vanilla ice cream -- a grown up (root)beer float. It was yummy!
Sunday we met Lynn for breakfast, and then did a "photo shoot" around the Bostwick Building. You'll hear about that later. Then we stopped at the Swiss to leave a card and some flowers in memory of Gayl Bertagni. When we returned home we set to weeding the front bed and building a small retaining wall on the side of our porch. Later that afternoon Kevin, Laura, and Jessica came over for a barbecue. We had shish-kabobs. It was a lovely day, but believe me I was ready for bed!

Monday started off slowly as we relaxed over coffee and pancakes. Paul decided to continue with the weeding while I started knitting some washcloths for Kevin. Then Paul set out to Salmon Beach to visit with the kids at their mom's house. I did some shopping, and we met up in time to throw together some dinner. We spread the last bag of mulch over the front bed and called it a day. Now all we need a vacation to recover from the three day holiday.

Springtime in our backyard

Our back yard is surrounded by some tall pines that keep the burning afternoon sun off our house. Unfortunately it also cloaks our back yard in shade for most of the day. A few years ago our neighbor lost a big hemlock that almost took out our back deck when it fell over during a windstorm. We decided to cut down a hemlock that was growing a little too close to our house, and a pine that was on our lot -- we didn't want to worry about another storm blowing them over. As a result our once shaded yard is now dappled with light. There's enough light coming in that a rhody that was dormant is coming back. A lilac that was bent over to reach the sun is now sending shoots straight up. Even the grass is returning. So yesterday after Paul cleaned the house and made dinner for my mom and me (mom and I? Me and my mom?) he snapped some pics of our backyard.

Enjoy!

Planting? Done!

So happy to have all the plants in their containers. Tomorrow I'll have to unearth a table from the garage and move the plants to their final resting spot.

I've planted bell peppers, cauliflower, red leaf lettuce, tomatoes, arugula, and my herbs are cilantro, chives, basil, lemon thyme, sage, oregano, and Italian parsley.

My next hurdle is to transplant all the sprouts from the Mesclun salad mix.

I have to say I'm feeling I've accomplished a lot today. Now if I can just get this dirt out of my nails and cuticles!

Grow Babies Grow!

Oh, look at my little seedlings of love! I planted the mesclun salad mix seeds on Sunday, and look how far they've come! They've sprung these shoots that are starting to grow leaves, and now what the hell am I supposed to do?

Usually this is where my projects end. I get an idea, I buy supplies, and dig right in. The project goes smoothly long enough for me to feel a sense of pride and accomplishment, and then I think holy cow! Now what the hell am I supposed to do? One day I'll actually do some research and formulate a plan, but for now I'll just shoot from the hip. Heck with this many sprouts the odds are one of them will survive for its debut on my dinner table, right? It could be worse. I could be trying to raise something like, I don't know, chickens.

Oh, yeah, chickens! Hmm...http://suburbanchicks.blogspot.com/