Tuesday, September 13, 2016

I love the autumn garden. Especially the squash's.

 
I have about a dozen Butternut Squash's this year. This one is about a foot long and looks just perfect. I need to get out my 16 quart stock pot and make a huge batch of Butternut Squash soup. It is so perfect for winter.
 

In this picture you can see the huge zucchini plant, the still developing Lavender Hedge and three of my apple trees. We had an amazing number of apples on the trees I planted last spring. But they were all wormy. Codling Moth is my guess. I will figure out a plan of attack for next spring.

 
This is the Chilean Guava that is still inside the Citrus House. I will be moving it out, but I will let the fruit ripen first.

Monday, September 12, 2016

Amanda's blueberry walk has been overtaken. Time for action.

Look at this poor row of blueberry plants. You can hardly see them because of the HUGE Tulameen Raspberry patch. The blueberry plants have dropped most of their leaves and have substantial dieback.

 
 
We decided today to take the very worst one and move it. We chose our new location and here is the first one in its new home. The dieback has been removed and the plant pruned back. We seriously hacked at the poor root ball. I think we got all of the raspberry roots out of the blueberry roots, but we shall see. Here you go little plant. Good luck.
 

Saturday, September 10, 2016

Greenhouse addition...earth levelled and manure moved in

The new addition/citrus house is looking amazing. The ground was very uneven in there after the foundation install. We have had a very dry summer so the soil/clay is packed very hard. I took an afternoon and raked it out level. Then moved in two nice big wheelbarrows of manure. I levelled it and then made a path to the door. Now I just need to see if we can get the citrus trees into the ground or will the tree roots stop us. If not, they will be moved pots and all into the addition. Isn't the chair hilarious. I always wanted a chair in the greenhouse, so until the citrus goes in, I have a chair. Tiny and plastic.....but it's a chair!!!!

Friday, September 09, 2016

It began innocently enough. Planting some kale and lettuce for winter...

I decided at two o'clock this afternoon to go the greenhouse to plant a tray of kale and lettuce. They will be going in the citrus house to plant under the trees. Normally I would seed directly in the ground, but we would trample the little plants moving the citrus in for winter. I discovered that the whole surface of the bench was cluttered and full, and I needed to make room for the seed tray. I thought to myself, okay, let's organize a bit and get things out of the way at this end so I can get the seeding done. At 7 o'clock I have finally finished up. I was ruthless. I threw out two garbage bags, put about thirty plastic pots in recycle and moved things to the shed, moved things out of the shed. You get the picture.

 

I am so pleased with how much room there is. I hung a little bolt where the hose can hang instead of lying on the floor. All in all, a much more efficient and lovely space to be in.

 
 

Thursday, September 01, 2016

The greenhouse is all but done. Now...the planting.

The greenhouse is all finished except for a small aluminum strip to seal the gap between the two greenhouses. Right now it is sealed with hoophouse tape. Today I even finished cleaning the white paint off the last two panes. I still LOVE to look at the length of it. I guess I will have to extend the blueberry walk a little bit. Maybe another two plants. My personal favorite is Dixi!!


 
The orange tape is on that bar to catch our eye so we don't bump our heads. I'll tidy that up, but it will work for now. Allan made that little curb over the sharp edges so we don't trip.
 
 
I am going to put a chair in here so that I can enjoy it whenever I want. Even when it rains and I can't be in the garden outside, I can be in the garden inside. Doesn't it look nicer without the paint. I used nail polish remover to soften it. I am glad there was a breeze in there, or I would have killed millions of brain cells.
 
{You can see the hoophouse tape in the small gap between the greenhouse sections}