A SUNNY DAY IN JANUARY

21 Tuesday Jan 2014

Posted by backyardnotes in Growing, Photography, Weather, West Seattle garden, Winter

Tags

apple bud, Bay laurel buds, beet leaves, brussels sprouts, fennel fronds, Hotei, nicandra, pea shoots, winter sun, yellow crocus

Hotei enjoying a little sunshine

WE HAVE HAD MORE THAN A WEEK OF FOG that just stuck around all day, day in and day out. It has been so tiresome. But yesterday and today the fog melted away and we have sunshine. I like the way the low angle of the winter sun lights up the leaves and dried seed heads around the garden; it feels happy. So here is a little tour of what’s going on around here.

Fennel fronds

rosalind broccoli

Ribes sanguineum bud

Apple bud

Bay laurel flower buds

Young poppy leaves

Nicandra pod

Mibuna mustard leaves

Brussels sprouts

Beet leaves

Pea shoots

Lovely, ruffled edges of January King cabbage

Red cabbage sprouts on a cut stalk

First crocus of the year and the days are getting longer!

SEATTLE REVERTS TO TYPICAL WEATHER

06 Friday Sep 2013

Posted by backyardnotes in Canning & Preserving, Cooking & Eating, Food, Harvest, Pickling, Vegetable garden, Weather

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Tags

brandied peaches, fruit vinegars, infusing vinegar, peach preserves, pickling, plum butter, seattle rain, shiro plum, tomaotes

Today’s weather

AFTER A FANTASTIC SUMMER THAT BEGAN IN MAY we are easing back into typical northwest weather. Last night we had quite a light show with 5,600+ lightning strikes! Very unusual for this part of the country. No complaints really. Day after day of sunshine and temperatures of 80°+ has produced some wonderful results in the vegetable garden and loads of pears, beans, tomatoes and more.

A few rainy day photos:

Jaune Flamée tomatoes in the rain

Fucschia “Dark Eyes”

AUGUST WAS REPLETE WITH CANNING AND PRESERVING PROJECTS. I accepted 22 pounds of Shiro plums from my mom’s neighbor.

Shiro plums

Those 22 pounds yielded plum butter, 12 cups of plum juice; half of that became plum jelly, and

Plum infused white wine vinegar; one of two versions

We took a trip to north east Washington to our favorite little lake and on the return home stopped in Okonogan at Smallwood Farms where I bought a box of beautiful, just ripe and sweet Diamond Princess peaches.

Peach infused vinegar

Peach Basil preserves & brandied peaches

I have had exceptional pole and bush bean crops this year; lots to put in the freezer and plenty to make pickled beans too. Nice heads of cabbage. My late spring planting of carrots came up nicely and then quickly eaten by little critters. My second planting last month is looking promising The cucumbers were doing well until we left them on their own for a week when they succumbed to the heat. But I did manage to get a big jar of my favorite refrigerator pickles. Now it’s time to tackle the pears coming on.

RAIN, RAIN, HOW DO WE LOVE THEE?

22 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by backyardnotes in Flowers, Inspriation, Musings, Rain, Weather, Winter flowers

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Tags

blogging, clematis, Early tulips, hamamelis, pear & apple trees, rain, winter, winter flowers, winter gloom

TODAY A BIG RAIN STORM IS MOVING IN after some pretty fair days. But no complaints considering the weather everywhere east of here. We even managed to get some general maintenance and weeding done over the past week or so.

Witchhazel, Hamamelis x intermedia

SOMETIMES WE NEED A BREAK from our routines. I needed a break from this blog. Keeping up on a regular basis was becoming a drag and I no longer felt that inner voice to be engaging. So I gave it and myself a rest. The busyness of the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas seemed like a good excuse to ignore the beast. I spent time painting and creating; baking with my granddaughter, hanging out with family; having dinner with neighbors and generally enjoying the hustle and warmth of the holidays. After the holidays were over it was time to take a break from the monotony of long, gray, days here in the Pacific Northwest by spending 14 days in Death Valley National Park. And now with winter flowers popping and some early spring ones too, I’m back to feeling like I still have some thoughts and pictures worth sharing.

A lovely winter blooming clematis on a clear day

This clematis cirrhosa blooms continuously from November to March when little else relieves winter gloom.

Nothing lightens the spirit like the first crocus on a sunny winter day.

A red blooming hamamelis in the warm glow of a setting sun.

The earliest tulip has just pushed up over the past week

Silhouette of pear and apple trees at sunset. Hooray! The sun is now setting closer to 6:00 p.m.

THE TOMATO EXPERIMENT

02 Thursday Jun 2011

Posted by backyardnotes in Tomatoes, Vegetable garden, Weather

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Tags

fava beans, tomatoes

I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE THAT JUNE HAS ARRIVED! But, we may have 70° days ahead according to the NOAA forecast. WOOHOO! We have not had a 70°+ day around here since early November 2010.

And, I think that we have finally hit the 50° for steady, average overnight temperature (I hope). On Sunday I put some of the tomatoes into the ground. As you can see from the photo above, I am using SRM-Red Plastic Tomato Mulch. I bought this product from Territorial Seed Company a few years back and never got around to using it. Yesterday afternoon the soil temperature 6″ below the red plastic was 64°, while 18′ away the soil temperature was 59°; so it makes a difference. I will use this same technique with some of the remaining tomatoes and plant some without at the same time for a control.

Before we took off on a ten day trip two weeks ago, I planted the cukes, squash, lettuce, broccoli, and brussels sprouts starts. And over the weekend I planted seeds (quite a bit later than normal) for radishes, fennel, beets, carrots, and two kinds of celery. I have had mixed success with celery in the past, but decided to try again.

Just waiting now for the fava beans to be ready for harvest and that will free up some additional space for the remaining tomatoes, eggplant and pepper starts.

The garlic is looking very good this year, must be the prolonged cool and wet spring weather.

And lastly, a couple of nice heads of Slyvesta Butterhead lettuce near harvest size.

APRIL PHOTO A DAY: MORE TULIPS!

25 Monday Apr 2011

Posted by backyardnotes in April flowers, Spring, Spring bulbs, tulips, Weather

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Spring flowers, tulips

SWEETHEART TULIPS are a burst of sunshine. And, this is the perfect photo for today’s return to the same cool, rainy pattern we’ve been in for months. These fosteriana type tulips were planted in 1998 and are among the few that continue to bloom after more than ten years. They look good underplanted with those pesky grape hyacinths – if you have the nerve (or in my case, they were already in place). A source for these tulips and other bulbs is here.