back in action

Met with a college friend last night in Bellingham to assess her potential for an over-wintering garden in the yard of her newly rented abode. Light situation looks pretty amicable, all things considered. Emphasis on greens, roots, and anything else that seems to tolerate our mild Pacific Northwest "winters."

To the drawing board to evaluate space limitations and the (presumably/typically) compacted and clayey soils of our recently glaciated past. Will try to make this a priority as the sooner these buggers can get established, the more chance they'll have of surviving/thriving the cold rains to come.

I am but the gardener. Planting seeds is all I do. Help yourself to some random hiking pictures from earlier in the day.

Hard Frost/Times

Finally got our first frosts since I last posted. The ground has actually been frozen in our back yard for the last little bit. Clear and beautiful days though. An unusually dry December so far. Had a chance to visit with Christian last week and took some pics of his garden to pass along.

Beginning to re-think the location we selected for his garden. It doesn't seem to receive much direct sunlight during the day. This wouldn't normally be a problem in the Pacific Northwest because the typically overcast days diffuse light that would normally not be available to the plants. The past week has been unusually clear though, and downright cold. And it's when the ground stays frozen that the plants are in the most danger. Hopefully the daytime temps will warm a little or at the least the clouds will return for a while (never thought I'd be inviting gray skies...).

Broccoli sure looks good though.

Slug Proof

Last week Christian and I went about protecting his fledgling garden from the urban gardeners' perennial nemesis, the slug. Slugs LOVE rain! That makes the maritime northwest a veritable slug paradise. Pair that with the fact that our overwintering plants will only be growing at an almost immeasurable pace due to lower temperatures and light levels (and thus putting out little foliage to replace leaves damaged by said pests), and our immediate attention was required.

Christian's garden is getting pretty meaty and an easy target for would-be pests

Our weapon of choice: a pet-safe, environmentally friendly, naturally derived slug bait called Sluggo. Sluggo's active ingredient is iron phosphate, which is found naturally in soil. The slugs eat the bait, and after ingesting only a little bit, stop eating, wander off, and eventually die (within 3-6 days). The bait, which resembles rice-sized pellets, is spread in a perimeter around the garden to create an effective barrier. Over time the bait dissolves harmlessly into the soil. A new application may be needed every two weeks depending on how wet the winter is and how often the bait is eaten.


Christian spreads the slug bait around the perimeter of the garden

Winter Cover Sprouted

After about a week, the cover crop seeds that Christian and I planted began to poke up in the recently cleared garden. The mix, which includes crimson clover, barley, buckwheat and some other varieties I can't seem to remember off hand, has performed very well considering the rather cool temperatures we've had lately. The absence of frost likely has much to do with their success.

A ground view of the cover crop:


The reasons to plant cover crop are many. It prevents erosion (something which can take a toll during our typically rainy winters), is more aesthetically pleasing than bare dirt, prevents other weeds from taking over in the absence of other vegetable crops, and, prior to spring planting, can be dug and turned right back into the soil to decompose and give the new crop a bit of a nutrient boost (as it decomposes quickly and makes many nutrients available to the surrounding soil).

Thinning

On Wednesday I helped Christian with the thinning of some of the seedlings from his winter garden. All plants require different spacing, so it's best to follow the directions stated on the seed packet. The plants we thinned were kale, collards, and arugula. When thinning it's best to grab firmly at the base, near the soil, so that you have the best chance of pulling up the entire thing, roots and all, in one tug.

A view of the rows prior to thinning

Thinning should be undertaken once the seedlings are 2-3 inches tall, once they are fairly well established but before they begin to compete with their neighbors for water and nutrients from the surrounding soil. When possible, cull the weakest performing plants and leave the ones that seem to be growing the strongest.

Christian thins the collards

The thinned row

The importance of thinning cannot be overstated. If plants are left in overcrowded rows, the individual plants will never reach their full potential, and rather than having fewer, stronger, full grown specimens you will be left with too many scraggly, etiolated plants fiercely competing for the same resources.

In the case of greens such as the ones we thinned, the thinned plants can even be put to good use in a salad or perhaps on a sandwich. We chose the former, and was it ever delicious.