The Assertive Cancer Patient

The Gardening Report

Despite last weekend's very unusual weather--heavy rain followed by hail showers followed by snow!!!--my garden survived with very little damage.

A few tulips lost their petals, but that was about it. I went out in the hail to rescue my pea plants, which are in containers, so easily moved. The Chinese pea pods are a couple of inches tall now, the sweetpeas are just barely though the soil.

The only things I'm harvesting in my garden at this point are onions, garlic, and chives, all of which wintered over. There is nothing like a fresh green onion to wake up your taste buds. I have lots of them, interplanted with the peonies--don't ask, it just happened that way.

I have edamame plants that I started from seed that are now about six inches tall. They will go to my vegetable garden in the sky before they get tall enough to need to be staked. And I have greens--lettuce, spinach, and chard--that my friend Laurie started and gave to me (I gave her edamame plants in return).

Some of the seeds I tried to start haven't germinated, so need to try again. And yesterday I started some lettuce (seeds from the Amish store in Ohio) and some small French strawberries.

I still want to start carrots, but those have to go outside, they don't transplant well. And I need to get out and weed and fertilize (with chicken compost--I think that's the best) my strawberry patch--I'm seeing the first blooms, so it's time to do it. But it's been so cold! I haven't wanted to work outside for that long at a stretch.

Oh, and my nashi tree in blooming, so I need to get out there with a paint brush and pollinate, just in case the bees are busy elsewhere. I've been seeing bees this year, so we have some around.

Oh, and my lilac is budding, as are the bleeding hearts. The forget-me-nots are blooming. And the purple iris. I'll try to take a photo.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

I See Life!

On my early morning tour of the garden, coffee cup in hand, I noticed little pea shoots are just above the ground. I am way more excited than this really warrants, but, hey, I'm a gardener!

The sweet peas aren't up yet, the shoots I saw were the snow peas, but I'm sure sweet peas will be poking up in a day or two.

See: Call This One 'Anticipation'

OK, I have to get back to work. Paying bills today and sorting paperwork. I would so much rather be blogging!

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

The Sunday Garden

When Younger Son and I left Seattle two weeks ago on our trip, the tulips were budding.

When we returned, a week ago, they were blooming.

As you can see from the photo, I like purple and cream tulips. I also have a few in shades of pink and some that are supposed to be black, but are really a deep purple. I plant them in clumps here and there on my sloping front garden, which has a three-foot retaining wall at the bottom. It's a perfect place for bulbs, because they never get too wet.

And I have more in pots in strategic places.

The biggest surprise in the garden, though, was that one of my poppies--my favorite one, too, a pale peachy pink--is already blooming.

That is way early. Poppies like heat. But maybe the warm weather two weeks ago fooled it. I don't know.

I finally found time to start some seeds inside. I ran out of potting soil before I had everything I wanted in little peat pots, but I started hollyhocks, edamame (I know, I know, not supposed to transplant peas or beans), broccoli, Asian eggplants, and Japanese green peppers.

The Japanese green peppers are much smaller than the kind we eat here, with a thinner wall. They also taste better--not woody.

I have a new bag of potting soil that I shlepped home when I walked Connie on Friday, so once I finish cleaning house (ugh) and paying bills (double ugh) I'll get some more seeds started.

Oh, I have some lettuce seeds that I brought back from Ohio to start also. I'm calling it "Amish lettuce," but it's called deer tongue lettuce on the package.

Read more: Gardening (Click on the link and scroll down.)

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

More Anticipation

The other delightful thing that's happening in my garden right now is that all sorts of things are budding. I almost--almost, but not quite--like this stage better than when everything is in full bloom. Again, because of the joys of anticipation.

The bud in the photo is on one of my peonies, this one the classic rosy red. I have several like this, and then one tree peony that is pale pink. It's budding too. The peonies are obviously in the right spot--I moved them three times till I got it right. Or maybe I'm kidding myself and the plants just needed to mature, but they didn't bloom until they ended up in the bed where they are now, at the top of the slope that is my front yard, with lots of sun.

Also spotted on my morning tour of the garden, buds on: roses, forget-me-nots, lilacs, and irises. Oh, and blueberries, of course.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

Call This One 'Anticipation'

Look closely at the soil in this photo. What do you see?

Nothing.

That's right, nothing.

That's why I say spring for gardeners is all about anticipation. And waiting.

I planted sweet peas, in this pot, and Chinese pea pods in another planter box before Younger Son and I left on our cross-country train adventure. I know the seeds germinated, because I soaked them in warm water for two days before planting, and they had tiny little shoots on them when they went in the ground.

But during the two weeks since then, it's snowed (while we were gone), rained, and gotten a lot colder. Typical Seattle spring. Right now it's in the low 40s at noon.

So I'm waiting. I expect these peas will come up when it gets a bit warmer. If not, well, I'll plant some more.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

Planting the First Seeds

Ever since I bought my seeds, I've been wanting to plant them, especially the heirloom beans, for some reason.

But every time I reread the backs of the seed packets, it is clear that it's simply too early to plant most of these outside. And I know from experience that if you plant beans too soon, they just don't do much until it gets warmer. Late May is the right time to plant beans around here.

I could start some of the other seeds inside, but I'm leaving on Saturday for an eight-day trip. The new shoots could easily die of neglect while I'm gone. So I've been forcing myself to wait until after the trip.

But PEAS! This is the right time to sow pea seeds outside.

So I took the pea seeds (these are for a bush pea that produces peas meant to be eaten as young pods, Chinese pea pod style) and soaked them for two days in warm water (see photo). Then I prepared a planter box for them with a mixture of my own compost, composted chicken poop, and plain old dirt.

I planted the seeds an inch deep and watered them. These will go on the front porch, which helps protect them from snails and slugs, which love young pea plants. I'll tie the plants up against the railing of the porch.

Yesterday, I started soaking some sweet pea seeds, and tomorrow I'll plant them in another planter box for the porch.

Does anyone know why eating peas and sweet peas don't cross pollinate? It seems like they should/would/could.

Read more: Buying Seeds

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

Buying Seeds

Let me confess, first of all, that as a gardener, my eyes are bigger than my stomach. In other words, I bought far more seeds than I have room for in my rather modest garden space.

Never mind that I created a vegetable garden in the sky in my backyard: a structure that was once Younger Son's fort is now a little retreat for me with pots of vegetables and two folding lawn chairs. I drink my coffee there on summer mornings, and having the plants up high keeps them safe (mostly) from slugs and snails.

When my friend Laurie and I visited a couple of plant nurseries on Tuesday, this is what I bought:

Hungarian Breadseed Poppy
So that I can grow my own poppy seeds for cooking. I've tried these before and didn't succeed. I'm trying again.

Edamame
These are Japanese-style soybeans. You cook the green pods in salted water and then eat them cold (slit open the pods and eat the beans inside) with beer on summer evenings.

Alpine Strawberries Mignonette
A tiny, very flavorful French strawberry. I grew these successfully a couple of years ago, but lost the plants to winter cold.

Tricolor Pole Beans: Green, Yellow, and Purple
These delicious beans are really fun and easy to grow. The seeds are a mixture that produces beans of three colors. Unfortunately, they all turn green when cooked.

Heirloom Runner Bean, Painted Lady
This is a new one for me. I think I'm going to plant them on my trellis on the front porch, because the beans have coral and white blossoms which are edible and the plants should climb eight to 10 feet. This bean dates to the 19th century, according to the seed packet.

All of the above are Renee's Garden seeds, a brand that I've had good luck with in the past. And they have such interesting seeds. Look for them at specialty nurseries.

I got some hollyhock seeds too. We had these in our garden at home when I was a kid, and I want to plant them up against my front porch so that they will be at head height when I'm sitting on the porch. These seeds are from Burpee.

I also have some Ranbow Blend carrots (Ed Hume seeds) left from last year that I'm going to plant again. As advertised, these carrots were white, pink, orange, yellow, and red, and were really delicious.

And I have some bush peas (Ed Hume) that I'll plant again. Older Son and I both love sauteed pea pods in fried rice.

I've tried growing tomato plants from seed, but have given up on that. Now I buy young plants at the nursery. I usually get lots of cherry tomatoes and a roma or two. Larger tomatoes don't ripen well in Seattle's mild climate. And I'll look for eggplants and peppers as well, and a zucchini or two.

Younger Son ate zucchini last year and loved it--which I count as a real parenting success since he is such a picky eater!

Once I'm over my cold, I'll start all of these seeds inside, and then move them outdoors as things warm up and we move toward summer. Anticipation!

See also:

Pushing Spring

What I'm Eating 4

Carrots for Breakfast

The Cancer Garden

Bamboo: Eat It, Grow It, Wear It

Paradise in a Pot

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

Pushing Spring

One way I get through the final few dreary weeks of winter is by “pushing spring.”

I do this by starting to work in the yard as soon as my fingers can take the temperature outside. There’s always lots of cleaning up to do, even if it’s too early to put in plants.

I uncover bulbs—crocuses, tulips, daffodils, a few lilies, crocosmia, and irises—then I weed and add fresh mulch.

I put used coffee grounds around the new shoots to keep slugs and snails away. We have a heavy snail infestation in this part of Seattle.

My onions and garlic have wintered over, and I added a few more onion starts to the bed from a big bag that I bought last fall and kept outside.

Today’s job is to choose my seeds for the year. I like to grow vegetables and fruit (strawberries, blueberries, Japanese nashi, and this year I have a new fig tree). Starting seeds inside in February makes me feel like spring is just around the corner.

Last year I had great success with multi-colored carrots, tomatoes of various types, potatoes, green beans, peas, and zucchini. Also the onions and garlic.

Less successful were beets and pumpkins. Also melons—didn’t get a single fruit.

I have quite a few seeds left from past years, so I’ll start with those.

I need to buy green beans, climbing peas, and seed potatoes.

I have a few potatoes left in the ground from last fall that should start growing soon, but I need more. We never seem to have enough potatoes. Potato salad made with small homegrown potatoes and homegrown green onions is beyond delicious. Eat it warm.

On the flower side, I usually grow sweet peas on the front porch for the fragrance, and this year I want to try hollyhocks. They grow really tall, so if I put them in the ground in front of the porch, I figure they will grow to just the right height to enjoy when I’m sitting on the porch next summer.

I also want a couple more honeysuckles (I have two now) for the hummingbirds, and a couple more fuschia if the ones I left in the ground over the winter don’t come back. Hummingbirds like these too.

I have quite a few different lavender plants in my front beds, but I could always use more. There’s a lavender festival over in Sequim in mid-summer. Sequim is a ferry-ride away on the Olympic Peninsula. I think I’ll round up a couple of friends to make a day trip over there to buy more plants.

The last time I went, two years ago, I paid about $2 a plant for some really beautiful lavenders—one with white flowers, and two with pink—and we ate lavender ice cream and lavender cookies. Both were surprisingly tasty.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

The First Crocus of Spring

As far as I am concerned, spring begins when the first crocus blooms.

I took this photo last Sunday--a gorgeous day, "Corvair weather"--in my front garden. If you look closely you can see a bee in one of the blossoms.

It's another gorgeous day today--and time for me to get off the computer and outside to enjoy the sun. Connie and I are going to take his frisbee to the park and then walk through my neighborhood. Connie needs more socialization with people of all kinds, and ages. He's too rough with little kids.

Now that's it's spring, it's also time for me to get out my seeds and decide what I want to plant. I always start seeds inside and then transplant them outdoors later. That's the only way to get a jump on Seattle's wonderful, but brief, growing season.

To read more: Gardening

Click on the above link and then scroll down.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

Dirt Under the Fingernails

The first crocuses are blooming, which as far as I am concerned means spring is here.

Time to start cleaning up the garden beds. Time to mulch, to keep the weeds from coming on stronger than the plants. Time to choose seeds to start inside.

Yesterday, as part of my effort to baby myself, I went to the Fred Meyer gardening department and bought four bags of bark mulch and some potted bulbs--daffodils and tulips. One pot of tulips, the purple ones, is inside against the pumpkin walls of my dining room (Have I said that I love color?). The pink tulips are outside in a pot next to the daffodils by the front steps--a "welcome to my house" greeting, if you will.

Outside, the bulbs I've planted over the eight years or so since I bought this house are just starting to bloom: the crocuses, a few here and there, and a tiny purple iris that I planted last year. But most of the daffodils and tulips have just barely poked their heads above the soil. Time to get out and ruthlessly murder slugs and snails, before they eat the tops off of everything.

I'm an organic gardener, so I just cut slugs in half with whatever tool I have in my hand at the moment, and I step on snails. Awful, I know. I also surround attractive plants with coffee grounds, the slugs don't like those. Good thing I drink a lot of coffee!

I dumped two bags of bark in the backyard in the areas the dogs use. That keeps them from tracking in mud from bare dirt, and also keeps down the doggy smell.

The other two bags are going to go on my beds out front, but I'll leave that job for tomorrow. Time to take a sauna, shower, clean my nails, and walk Connie.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.