Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Hops Are going crazy!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Edible Landscaping Services
Specializing in design, installation, and
maintenance of edible and medicinal gardens.
- Pick luscious strawberries in your slippers
- Eat fresh vegetables from your kitchen garden
- Treat yourself to an herbal tea garden
- Teach your children how to grow food
- Make your own home remedies
- Enjoy an Edible Oasis in your own back yard!
We do the hard work, and you enjoy the healthful benefits.
For more info email Jayne.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Vegetable Plant Sale in West Seattle
Hurray, It’s Spring, Finally!!!!!
Backyard Greenhouse
7939 28th Ave. SW
(between Holden & Thistle in West Seattle / 98126)
Cool Weather Veggies / Perennials / Herbs
Organically Grown
Sat., March 26, 9:00-4:00 / Sun., March 27, 10:00-3:00
Bring neighbors, friends and family!—Come rain or shine!!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Early Spring Edible Plant Sales
If you plan out your garden well, you can figure out how many plants to purchase before hand at the Seattle Tilth Early Edible Plant Sale - March 19th! check it out at http://seattletilth.org/. The good thing about buying plants there is that you can get plants that should be grown this season in our area such as peas, kale, chard, spinach, broccoli, chives, etc. Pretty much anything you buy at this sale, you will be able to put in the ground now or very soon, then you can go back in May to the next edible plant sale and purchase your next round of plants for the hot weather as well as more lettuces, etc.
A few things to consider:
1) How much can you or your family eat of a particular crop in a week? Ok, after you decide, plant a few for the slugs, etc. For head forming lettuces that are all going to be mature at the same time, I usually try to buy at least one kind of lettuce seeds that I like (or a lettuce mix) each season. I plant most unique lettuces I can find at the sale, then buy a reliable seed lettuce to sow in between the plantings so those plants that come up will replace the older ones. I make my lettuce seeds last a long time by putting only a small pinch exactly in the spot between the bigger plants and I have less thinning to do in the end.
2) How much space do you have? If you have good soil to start with you can put more plants than you think in the bed, especially when you can harvest lettuce at any age. If you do not, amend it with compost and/or amend with a nitrogen rich natural fertilizer. Make sure the leaves are not touching each other or especially the ground. If you stagger the plants by height so tall growing plants are in the back (North side) of the row, and short plants are positioned in front the plants will stay healthier, and there will be less chance of rotting leaves. I have grown kale really close together and it stays small and spindly, but makes a good tender stir fry mix, and also I have grown a few dino kales for three years (and they really did look like dinosaur chicken legs!
3) Leave space for your summer crops! You can grow things like peas where you will eventually grow tomatoes because they will probably be done by the time the tomatoes get big enough to matter (depending on the year, of course). You can also get creative with it and put food crops in containers with your spring flowers or herb containers, and you can also plant seeds indoors on a window to get them started, but use a cool part of the house so they are not too dependent on the heat- seeds like warm moist medium to sprout, but they usually do fine outdoors soon afterwards.
4) Watch the watering- We usually have a short time in the spring when we have a mini drought, so make sure the bed in moist and the seeds don't dry out before they sprout. But, do not water other areas until you check the soil. Dig a shovel in the ground nearby and see if there is moisture where you want it. If the seeds have sprouted, chances are the roots go way farther than you would think. Most roots have small hairs that extend way down. the more they have to reach for water, the deeper (and usually stronger) the roots will be. To check the soil easily, grab a handful and squeeze it in your hand. If it sticks together it doesn't need water (and may need compost added) and if it falls apart, you need to water.
I plan on making a couple more raised beds fitted with old windows to help the sun warm the plants and grow faster. During the spring I will use it as a seed starting bed, then transfer the plants out to grow in the regular beds or in a warmer hoop house in the case of my tomatoes and eggplants. Then, in August or so I will start more lettuces, spinach, and kale to hopefully last the winter.If it is hot, I may need to use shade cloth to start the seeds. I live in a low area with plenty of moisture, so I haven't had much luck with carrots, but I plan on starting a just slightly raised bed to grow yellow carrots in the spring and see if I can over winter some carrots, too.
A few things to consider:
1) How much can you or your family eat of a particular crop in a week? Ok, after you decide, plant a few for the slugs, etc. For head forming lettuces that are all going to be mature at the same time, I usually try to buy at least one kind of lettuce seeds that I like (or a lettuce mix) each season. I plant most unique lettuces I can find at the sale, then buy a reliable seed lettuce to sow in between the plantings so those plants that come up will replace the older ones. I make my lettuce seeds last a long time by putting only a small pinch exactly in the spot between the bigger plants and I have less thinning to do in the end.
2) How much space do you have? If you have good soil to start with you can put more plants than you think in the bed, especially when you can harvest lettuce at any age. If you do not, amend it with compost and/or amend with a nitrogen rich natural fertilizer. Make sure the leaves are not touching each other or especially the ground. If you stagger the plants by height so tall growing plants are in the back (North side) of the row, and short plants are positioned in front the plants will stay healthier, and there will be less chance of rotting leaves. I have grown kale really close together and it stays small and spindly, but makes a good tender stir fry mix, and also I have grown a few dino kales for three years (and they really did look like dinosaur chicken legs!
3) Leave space for your summer crops! You can grow things like peas where you will eventually grow tomatoes because they will probably be done by the time the tomatoes get big enough to matter (depending on the year, of course). You can also get creative with it and put food crops in containers with your spring flowers or herb containers, and you can also plant seeds indoors on a window to get them started, but use a cool part of the house so they are not too dependent on the heat- seeds like warm moist medium to sprout, but they usually do fine outdoors soon afterwards.
4) Watch the watering- We usually have a short time in the spring when we have a mini drought, so make sure the bed in moist and the seeds don't dry out before they sprout. But, do not water other areas until you check the soil. Dig a shovel in the ground nearby and see if there is moisture where you want it. If the seeds have sprouted, chances are the roots go way farther than you would think. Most roots have small hairs that extend way down. the more they have to reach for water, the deeper (and usually stronger) the roots will be. To check the soil easily, grab a handful and squeeze it in your hand. If it sticks together it doesn't need water (and may need compost added) and if it falls apart, you need to water.
I plan on making a couple more raised beds fitted with old windows to help the sun warm the plants and grow faster. During the spring I will use it as a seed starting bed, then transfer the plants out to grow in the regular beds or in a warmer hoop house in the case of my tomatoes and eggplants. Then, in August or so I will start more lettuces, spinach, and kale to hopefully last the winter.If it is hot, I may need to use shade cloth to start the seeds. I live in a low area with plenty of moisture, so I haven't had much luck with carrots, but I plan on starting a just slightly raised bed to grow yellow carrots in the spring and see if I can over winter some carrots, too.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Create Health Right In Your Yard!
If you want me to come give you a quote, call soon, my Spring is starting to fill in! I can offer a free quote, or a 1/2 price consultation if you book before April 1st- get to it Gardening Fool!
I create edible gardens and use herbs to create a living medicine chest in your yard. You decide what you want to eat this year, and I will plan your menus to come from the garden. Kale, chard, spinach, and other greens can live and be harvested from in the winter, and you can be the first on your block with peas for dinner! I once planned a solstice dinner backwards- deciding what we would need for the dinner and counting the days it would take for each vegetable to be harvested.
I can tend the plants for you, weekly-as much as harvesting, washing and putting them in your fridge, or as little as once a month to help with the more difficult gardening tasks. I even have one client who leaves me piles to clean up in the garden- she can weed, but not lift much. Each garden is custom to the location, and the time is variable and controlled by how much time you and your family can spend in your garden. I will leave you with a garden map of your new plants and how to care for them. I use organic seeds and plant starts, and use heirloom varieties of vegetables almost exclusively. I can even give you recipes on how to process the herbs into medicines, teas, and refreshing beverages through the year.
I have an herb farm on Vashon Island and own a natural remedies company (sistersageherbs.com). I am a former board member of Seattle Tilth, a non-profit teaching people to grow food sustainably, and WA Tilth Producers, the state farmers association.
I create edible gardens and use herbs to create a living medicine chest in your yard. You decide what you want to eat this year, and I will plan your menus to come from the garden. Kale, chard, spinach, and other greens can live and be harvested from in the winter, and you can be the first on your block with peas for dinner! I once planned a solstice dinner backwards- deciding what we would need for the dinner and counting the days it would take for each vegetable to be harvested.
I can tend the plants for you, weekly-as much as harvesting, washing and putting them in your fridge, or as little as once a month to help with the more difficult gardening tasks. I even have one client who leaves me piles to clean up in the garden- she can weed, but not lift much. Each garden is custom to the location, and the time is variable and controlled by how much time you and your family can spend in your garden. I will leave you with a garden map of your new plants and how to care for them. I use organic seeds and plant starts, and use heirloom varieties of vegetables almost exclusively. I can even give you recipes on how to process the herbs into medicines, teas, and refreshing beverages through the year.
I have an herb farm on Vashon Island and own a natural remedies company (sistersageherbs.com). I am a former board member of Seattle Tilth, a non-profit teaching people to grow food sustainably, and WA Tilth Producers, the state farmers association.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Friday, December 24, 2010
Bees Hunker for Winter
My friends and I were lucky enough to find a swarm of bees while they were swarming! We (mostly my friends) collected the bees and put them into a frame around Earth Day this year, and by this fall, we had a couple of quarts of honey, and they had enough left to last the winter. But how do they last when no flowers are blooming and it is so cold and wet? Here is a great article about it. It sounds like they are just hunkering down and solidifying their community. I am down with that!
Enjoy!
thedailygreen.com
Enjoy!
thedailygreen.com
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