February 18, 2011 - Just a couple of wintered over veggies. 'Long
Island Improved' Brussels sprouts are on the left and 'Purple
Sprouting' broccoli.
April
2, 2011 - Tomato seedlings ready for potting. The rack is a
stainless unit that I picked up at Costco some years back. The lights
are standard 48-inch shop lamps.
The tangled mess of
neglect.
After many hours of
tedious work.
Ready for another season.
Reverse angle.
April 7, 2011 - I got a late start at cleaning and training up the
berries again. But I got it done and that, I suppose, it the
important part. More detailed information on the task can be found
on my blog post by
clicking here.
Information about blackberries can be found by
clicking here.
April
8, 2011 - The weather has been crazy this year. Cold, wet,
very hard to work around. I got the tiller hooked up to the
tractor and got it ready to go. And then the sky darkened again
and down came the rain and hail.
April
10, 2011 - Been working on potting up seedlings and filling up the
greenhouse. Occasionally have freezing temperature scares so have
to heat through the night.
April
22, 2011 - Sun finally came out. Cover crop mowed in an effort
to speed drying.
April
30, 2011 - First pass of tilling done.
May 14,
2011 - This is just a couple of quick picture taken with the cell
phone while out tilling one night.
Click here for a blog entry on the
subject.
May 20,
2011 - For the past decade or more, Mom and Dad have nearly
single-handedly taken care of the landscaping and maintenance. It
has become difficult for them to continue so I started searching out
options. Because we farm organically and are
Certified Naturally
Grown, selecting a landscape maintenance provider is limited.
Although
they will use conventional methods if you so desire, Buel's Greenscapes
is following sustainable practices here on the farm. With all of
the wet weather we have had this sprint, our flowerbeds were being taken
over by weeds and Denise and I were not able to keep up. In two
days, the guys at Buel's got them looking perfect using sweat and hand
cultivation tools. If you are in the Portland Metro Area and need
landscaping work, I would highly recommend them. Click on the
picture above for an easier to read copy. And please, if you
do give them a call for a quote, please tell them that Mike from Victory
Seeds®
recommended them!
Even
with all of the cold weather, the tomato plants are looking pretty good.
A little on the small side for my tastes, but we deal with the hand we
are dealt.
If we can
ever get the ground tilled again (it has rained for about two weeks
since the last time I tilled), we will get these little guys in the
ground.
Bean Trellis Installation
- 7/8/11
Bean Trellis Update -
8/24/11
July 8, 2011 -
We decided to ramp up and plant about five times the typical number of
row feet of beans that we plant in a season. To pull it off, we
needed a more efficient system for trellising them. We created a
video and posted it on YouTube (embedded links above) entitled, "Using
Horticultural Netting (aka Crop Netting) to Trellis Pole Beans."
Summer
- John was home from
college for the summer and ran the grow outs. We also hired a couple of
cousins, who were also out of school for the summer, to help him keep things
watered and weeded.
September 21,
2011 - Tomato harvest has been late this season as the summer was on
the cool side and mild. We are working hard to keep up with the
fruits that ripen, no matter how small the batch.
Even the dahlias are
extremely late this year. But they are a welcome sight.
Buel's
have been doing a great job of keeping the landscaping under control.
And even though we have had no rain since about July and we do not
irrigate, the cooler summer temperatures have kept things green.
September
23,
2011 - The fall crocuses, which typically start blooming here just
about Labor Day, were planted by either my Great-grandmother or my
Grandmother.
Irregardless of who planted
them, they faithfully appear right about the beginning of every new school year.
They are a favorite of mine.
The
weather has been perfect for getting beans to dry down on the plants,
pick and finish drying on tarps. We have already completed
harvesting our bush beans, have made four or five pickings from the
pole-types, and are waiting for the limas to mature.
I thought that this was
pretty cool. One afternoon while washing tomato seeds, I heard a
commotion in the potting shed. It turned out to be this Blue
Darner trying to find a way out. I got it to land on a drying
screen and it remained calm long enough to get it outside and to take
several pictures. An amazing creature.
