Update

I'm back after a nice week long vacation. The garden went along nicely without me, even making it through a nasty thunderstorm with rain and wind. 3/4 " of rain kept everything happy.

Hot weather veggies are ripening up and starting to roll in. This sure was a bad summer for them - cooler than normal temps and many gray days in May and June really set things back. Nothing will be producing to its' full potential this year, but we'll certainly have plenty.

Tomatoes, Sungold here, are finally ripening.

Eggplant is a prayer in Bellingham, but even with this cold year I'll get a few.

Lots of hops maturing - I've got 5 varieties.

Here's the haul for today. Not too fantastic, but I'm happy with it.

Clockwise from the lower left: Sungold toms with Miniature Chocolate Bell peppers behind; Early Jalapenos; 2 heirloom Cherokee Purple toms; Italian pepperoncini peppers; Super Marzano Roma toms; a few Stupice toms and some FIrst Lady II toms.

So it's still spring...

Weather for this week remains cool and rainy. Highs in the upper 50's, nights in upper 40's. That means the peppers will have to wait one more week before even thinking about staying outside at night. Furthermore, cool soil temperatures will negatively affect germination percentage and speed, and general health and hardiness of any direct sown seeds that manage to germinate. It's a well known fact that seeds planted in the proper conditions up to 2 weeks after seed sown in improper conditions will easily catch up and surpass the early sowing. Cucumbers, squash, zucchini, melons, and other hot weather veggies I want to try will just have to wait a few more weeks.

Harvested two nice buttercrunch lettuce heads today, as well as some salad mix, a few leeks and radishes, and a whole rapini.

Snaps and snow peas are flowering.


Strawberries are filling out.


NW native nodding onion (Allium cernuum) ready to flower. Edible chive-like leaves.

A good harvest today

It's different to have garden plots across town than to have them right in your backyard. I would probably spend a little time each night checking on things were my plots close to home. Since they are not, I might go twice a week or, usually, just once. Therefore each time we go it means more than a few hours of weeding, planting, intensive watering, bed preparation, and harvesting. That's why I have lots to report on about once a week, rather than every day.

The Rapini (also known as Broccoli Rabe or Raab, Broccoletti, Broccoli di Rape, Cime di Rapa, Rappi, Friarielli , and Grelos) is ready. Although it shares name and outward appearance with broccoli, it is actually closest to the turnip. I let mine go a few days too long (a downside of my cross-town plot) and a few florets flowered. These are edible, however, along with the stems, toothed-leaves, and florets. They have a pungent, slightly bitter, broccoli-like taste. Best steamed or sauteed as you would any normal broccoli.


Radishes are about finished off. They hold for only 10-14 days after maturing, after which they begin to split open or are lost to chewing insects. A few of our biggest are beginning to split. I'll probably sow a small fall patch later on this summer.

Pollination attractors are blooming!

Tomatoes are setting fruit, butter-crunch lettuce can be picked next week, and peas are growing strong. Here's how the garden looks today.

The foremost bed will have pepper and eggplant transplants in a few weeks, with the bed behind soon holding carrots and salad mix. The bed far in the back will get direct seeded cucumber, squash, and ice-box melon maybe by next weekend, if the weather cooperates.

Sowed and transplanted today as well:

- 6 row feet Mesclun Blend salad greens
- transplanted 8 clumps of salad onions from 2" pots (Guardsman, Purplette, and Copra) (sown 03.16.08)
- transplanted about 12 pots annual dahlias (sown 3.06.08)