The Wet Coast

The furnace kicked in this week, signaling the end of sleeping with the window open at night, and planting a suggestion that I think of pulling my electric blanket out of the closet to warm my bed before I get into it at night. We keep our thermostat at 19.5, which is not 'comfortable' for most people, but electric blankets and space heaters take up some of the slack.  Our house is drafty, and I don't want to pay for heat that I won't really benefit from.

The change in temperature also signalled that there were some chores that needed attending to.  I did a full hive inspection on Thursday afternoon, when the sun was shining and the bees were going to and from the hive as fast as they could. (A few actually bounced off me when I got in the way of their mad scramble).  I removed a couple of unused bars of drawn comb, to tighten up the interior chamber a bit, noted no queen cells (thank goodness!) and only about a dozen drone cells (so, no worry that the colony was thinking of moving out).  Though I could not locate the queen, here were larva in various stages, in a brood nest that spanned the top of five bars, and pollen and nectar being stored -  with some capped honey. Still, not enough.  I moved the remaining bars to the center of the hive, to make room for the feeder at one end of the hive body, and today I made a thicker-consistency syrup that I will quickly put into the hive tomorrow, assuming there is a break in our rainy weather.  With the way the hive is now set up, it's not too difficult or risky to quickly lift the lid and switch out new syrup bottles as needed over the next week or two.

 

As with my Spring feeding, this syrup includes chamomile tea, thyme, a dash of sea salt and some apple cider vinegar.  This time, though, rather that an 1:1 ratio of sugar and water, the ratio is 2:1.  The less water the bees need to evaporate for storage the better right now.  Hopefully they will bulk up their stores a bit to make it through the colder months.  The lack of drones shows that the queen is already streamlining the colony to make it through the winter.  I put the bottom board on today, to cut down on the inflow of cold air, and will wait until it gets a bit cooler to limit the entrance holes from 3 down to 1, so the bees can still go out to forage as needed, or make cleansing flights on sunnier days.  Ideally, we will be physically moving the hive back to its original position, where it will be more protected under the branches of the apple tree, and where I will ideally do a visual check each time I go to see the rabbits. Once the real winter weather is here, I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed that the colony has enough food stored to survive.  I'll hang a branch across the entrance hole so that any bees emerging will reorient and make it back to the new hive site (fingers crossed). If we were concerned about larger predators, I could also tie the hive to the tree for stability.

 

The chickens are not impressed with the rain, and hang out under various tables, benches, in the gazebo where my seeds are drying, and even under the bee hive - but close quarters are leading to some lost feathers, telling me that not everything is peaceful.  I continue to have all four girls settling into the chicken tractor at night, so I just have to hope that no one is getting seriously hurt when I see a pile of wet feathers scattered on the ground.

It seemed to take forever this year, but the Monkshood has finally bloomed, though the rain is doing a good job of pounding the tall stands of flowers.  Still, they look lovely in contrast with the orange/yellow of the Black-eyed Susans which are still glowing in the rain.

 

I trimmed my potted perennials and berry starts back, checked labels, and tightened up most of my containers in their little corral.  I removed several empty pots, which had either failed during the gardening season, or been eaten by curious chickens.  I dug up a couple of new sorrel divisions, and will *not* be leaving them here where the girls can eat them... again. Some of the extra divisions, and some garden volunteers were planted out in the front yard, to help fill in spaces between existing plants and berry bushes.  When it rains, it helps new plants settle right in.  My seeding of winter rye is coming up nicely thanks to the weather.

 

I made some additional 'Greek' and lasagna casseroles to use up fresh herbs from the garden, before the cold turns them to mush.  Chard stood in for spinach.  Lots of chard.  The final harvest of apples was sliced for a full load in the dehydrator, and the nicest fruit will be making a Dutch Apple Bread for sharing this weekend.

 

A quick grab of tomatoes in the hoop house today became an all-out harvest at the sound of the rain increasing.  Because the fruits have taken so long to ripen, many have succumbed to blight or mildew.  I quickly dunked the harvest in a bowl of water with a squirt of castile soap, and spread them out on a towel to allow them to dry and get some decent air flow while they ripen.  The fully green tomatoes may not colour up, but I might finally get around to trying a fried green tomato recipe or two, just to use what we have managed to grow!

 

There are still some cherry tomatoes from the last picking, to enjoy with lunches over the next few days; some will be sliced and frozen, to be thrown into sauces over the winter.  The other night we had a lovely treat of homemade, fresh salsa.

 

 

During the next break in the rain, we need to get the garlic, shallots and multiplier onions in the ground. 

 

 

Emergency Tomato Harvest

We were due for some rain over the weekend, but though the clouds closed in on Friday, the rain failed to show - until Saturday night when I was woken by the sound of a deluge!

Sunday morning, Adrian and I were in the hoophouse, where I've been keeping an eye on the oh-so-slowly-ripening tomatoes, and gathering everything that had a blush of colour, lest the rain cause splitting, and the loss of our small tomato harvest.

 

There was minimal splitting - possibly because we still have the plastic down around the growing area to minimize water absorption. The ripest have been eaten, the splits given to the chickens, and the rest set in a single layer to colour up on the dining table. Today I picked a smaller basket of tomatoes showing a bit of colour.  Soon I'll have enough ripe tomatoes for a batch of homemade salsa, with sweet onions, tomatoes and the last of the Fall cilantro thrown into the blender. I just have to figure out how to grow citrus and the limes will be accounted for..... Better late than never! 

Jodie and her foster mom.

The chickens, who are notorious for hanging out under the picnic table in the rain, enjoyed a break in the rain to run about. Jodie is getting big and testing her wings, though is quickly put in her place by the two elder hens.

Late July Update

Well, it's been just over three weeks for my gooseberry cuttings, and there was a 50% success rate, which I'm perfectly happy with.  There is evidence of good rooting, and new growth.

The blueberry cuttings are starting to look a bit questionable, but I'll keep watching and watering.  The lavender and hydrangea cuttings seem much happier. I'll be taking cuttings of the currant bushes as soon as I locate my bottle of rooting powder (?!) It's probably somewhere with my spare set of pruners and the gardening gloves I can't find...

In the hoop house, everything is growing like crazy - though more with leaves than with the vegetables I'm waiting for.  It's true that a lot of gardeners judge their gardens by when they have their first tomatoes, and I'm running behind.  The neighbour has already been eating ripe, red fruit - from tomato plants that I gave her (which makes my impatience slightly worse).  Her plants are falling over with fruit, while mine are just showing a few per plant. She dug up the side lawn and plopped them into the ground, while I added rabbit manure, topsoil eggshells and manure tea! It just goes to show that you can't account for all the circumstances in your garden.  Heading into week 6 without rain certainly isn't helping. This is one of the Siletz plants I have my eye on:

Oh well - there's still weeks to go for the tomato season. Just as I'm not terribly sad to see the blueberry bushes finishing up their production for the year, we'll soon be harvesting tomatoes daily in the heat, and wondering what to do with them all.  At least I'm starting to harvest the zucchini and cucumber crops, and the bees are helping with that. I've never managed to have enough cucumbers ripen at once before, for making my pickles - I've bought my supply at the farmer's market. This year may be the first year in my gardening history that cucumbers - and homegrown dill - are ready for pickling in adequate quantities at the same time.

 

The leaves of the shallots and multiplier onions started to fall over, so I finished harvesting them this morning.  They'll cure outside in the sun for a couple of days, then go into the carport to finish drying with the garlic bulbs (which have already had a preliminary cleaning). The biggest of these onions will be planted back into a freshly-prepared garden bed (after the wheat is harvested) at the same time as we put out our garlic in October.

 

The bed that was hosting our garlic plants and peas is now home to chard, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, pole beans and some peas planted for harvesting as pea tips. The transplants were getting a bit root-bound waiting for more space, so I've got my fingers crossed that they will establish themselves and not bolt to seed. The Jerusalem artichoke in the background is flourishing - and escaping into my pathways as it tries to expand its territory. That's fine, as the rabbits are happy to eat the invaders.

 

Celine is still sitting on 'her' eggs, so we're counting down another five or six days and hoping to hear the peeps of a few baby chicks.  I'm prepared to house mother hen and her little ones in a dog kennel and covered run, if the other adult hens seem intent on interfering or harming them.

Still Dreaming of Tomatoes

The tomato plants are growing like crazy, but the fruits seem to be taking forever to set right now.  Sometimes it's hard to be patient.

The tomato plants were transplanted out to the hoophouse on May 15th, and we are just starting to see a few little green tomato hints. 

This is what our planting looked like this morning - with winter squash, peppers and cucumbers added along the front and sides.  This picture was taken *before* I spent an hour and a half hacking back unnecessary foliage and pulling a few weeds.  Keeping things open for better air flow, pollination and visibility is important.  I've had issues with mildew on the squash vines before, and I'll do my best to keep the plants trimmed and focus their energy on ripening those fruits that will be ready before the cold weather hits in October.  I'll be pruning at least twice a week from now until the end of tomato season to keep things tidy.  Then the chickens move back into their winter shelter...

Strawberries, Blueberries and Huckleberries

Technically, the month for strawberries has passed in the garden - though there are a few lagging behind to ripen as the season continues.  If we're lucky, and the heat-wave subsides, these 'everbearing' plants will flower again (maybe two more times), and we will enjoy more fruit in the future.  For the time being, our attentions have turned to the blueberries which have been ripening since the beginning of July.  We try to pick the ripe berries at least once a day from our established bushes, to discourage predation by all of the birds looking for a tasty treat.  I just scared off several Stellar Jays having brunch... By the end of the season, we will be so tired of these daily pickings that the time will come to just let the birds have a little feast.  We still treat Nugget to a few of her favourite tidbits - our chicken loves her blueberries, and will jump to carefully nip them from between our fingers.

Yesterday morning, I went out to one of my favourite picking spots to hunt for wild huckleberries.  They're much harder to pick, averaging roughly 1/2 hour of picking for each 1/2 pint of jam that I make, but it's become a bit of a tradition for me.

 

Several times throughout the day, I checked on the hive to make sure that there was no sign of the robber bees - we physically moved the hive after the robbers returned the second day after they found the hive. The distance of a mere 10 feet and some tall plantings seems to have caused enough confusion to discourage predation. Two of the three entrance holes are blocked, and will stay that way in the near future.  I've observed guard bees pacing in and out of the remaining entrance, wary of intruders. We will do a hive inspection on Sunday to verify if our new queen is laying, and if the brood from Jen's hive has begun to emerge.  

 

In the garden, the barley, shallots and garlic are nearly ready for harvest. We had the last of our first -sown lettuce greens with dinner last night, and had blueberries with a bit of ice cream to top off our meal.  The tomatoes are in bloom, but I have yet to see any fruit development (very late this year). Cucumbers and zucchini are beginning to form, as well as the fruits on our winter squash vines.  The pole and bush beans have peaked in their growth, and are starting to set flowers for pollination. More pole beans are just breaking the ground to replace the pea plants I pulled on the weekend. Cilantro plants are busy flowering, so it looks like we will have a good crop of coriander seed - and I have successive plantings of the herb, so we are still enjoying fresh salsa, even if the tomatoes are from the store. The heat caused the oriental greens to bolt, and I've decided to let the planting essentially re-seed itself in place for the cooler months.  The first planting of basil is hitting a foot in height, and I should be harvesting this weekend to make basil/almond pesto (it keeps wonderfully in the freezer). Also on the to-do list is using up some of the parsley for home-made tabouli. 

 

While I was giving some of our plants a bit of extra water, this dragonfly fearlessly landed a foot away from me, and stayed to let me take pictures.

 

Tomato Promises And Heritage Grains

Over the years I have tried to grow a large variety of crops in our gardens. Sometimes I'm seduced by the pictures and descriptions in the seed catalogues and overreach (and overspend). Sometimes I don't listen to experience and think 'maybe this year' - but not every garden is ideal to grow eggplants, melons and peppers (until some future greenhouse dreams are realized!). Not everything does well in our climate or our soil (we have a wireworm 'problem' that makes growing carrots and parsnips a heartache).

A large portion of our crops are old favourites that have proven over several seasons that they will do well and provide for the table. These plants form the base of the garden, and I happily plant them each year. I still manage to plant too much of one thing, and not enough of another - nothing like that enthusiastic response to green beans for the fifth dinner in a row, or the sad expression when there are no more peas is there?  I try new varieties each year, and sometimes they will be added to our 'repeat' list. At the same time, I am trying to grow mostly open-pollinated, heritage varieties that I can save seed from for future use. I support small seed companies that do not sell GMO modified products.

Left up to Adrian, my experiments are fine - as long as there are tomatoes. Unless you've grown tomatoes and eaten them fresh-picked, you don't know what you're missing by eating grocery store offerings. Luckily for those without a garden, we do have the advantage of a fairly healthy network of Farmers' Markets in the Lower Mainland, and a hothouse industry that manages to provide some passable tomatoes in the dead of winter, when all I have left is dehydrated and canned offerings.

Yesterday I sat down and started my tomato seeds for this season. Two flats of seed-starting mix and tomato seeds are now sitting under my grow lights. Garden season has begun.

From Baker Creek:
Bloody Butcher
Flamingo
Japanese Black Trifele

From West Coast Seeds:
Gold Nugget
Principe Borghese
Siletz
Sungold (our one hybrid tomato, which we fell in love with at Pike Place Market in Seattle. Five dollars for fifteen seeds!)

From saved seed (formerly WCS):
Black Cherry
Sasha's Pride
Sweetie Cherry

I started another flat - this time of parsley and cilantro, which I have also direct-seeded outside. I will continue to plant more of those seed outside, tucked amongst the herbs, vegetables and flowers, in weekly intervals for continued availability.

Once the rain let up, and the sun began to shine, I cleared two of our 4x8 raised beds, and planted wheat and barley into each. The seed for these grains is from Salt Spring Seeds, a small seed company that offers unique selections for our coastal region. I hope to save this year's harvest and use it to grow more of these heritage varieties in the future. Some of our grain harvest will be used for human consumption, and some for our livestock. The wheat varieties are Blue Tinge Ethiopian, Kamut, and Red Fife. Our barley varieties are Faust, Lompoc and Sheba. I look forward to seeing how they perform, and how easily they are harvested - that will be the real test.