There has not been all that much work to do around here this week; mostly waiting for things to grow. Chance made us the El Salvadorian Clam Salsa that I posted for dinner last night. I could have sat down with a spoon and chowed down the whole bowl by myself.But I was good and shared it. It is nice to be eating out of our own garden.I know so far it has been just salads, herbs and bits of greens but there is no comparison to the taste of fresh picked goodness.
Last Sunday we were just here at home working around the place and I noticed that my herbs have all gone crazy with growth.So I figured why not put up a sign for fresh cut herbs? I made $10 at $2 a bunch that was good for just selling while working in the yard. These sales inspired Chance to make me a sign to put up when I have extras to sell. I am excited to have a professional looking sign that will draw peoples attention.And maybe after awhile folks will remember I am here and check back. I know once our Wynadotts are laying I will be able to offer eggs as well as veggies and the herbs.Next year I hope to add cut flowers to my list of things to sell.
I am starting to really scratch my head over the Hay Bales.It is working and it is still early in the growing season but there seems to be a different kind of labor to them that I am not to sure about.One is the water issue,hay bales need lots of water,daily if there is no rain.In the past I only watered every few days or during a heat wave more often.So the bales are using more resources when it comes to water.We are trying to be sustainable and are working to reduce our carbon foot print and extra water use goes against that. Also we have to fertilize weekly.We are using an all organic fertilizer mix from Steve Solomons book "Gardening West of The Cascades" .This mix is awesome and dose wonders.It is part of the reason my herbs have doubled in size.The draw back is the cost,it is not high $5-6 but that was for a 2 week supply.Over the growing season that will add up to close to the $100 mark. I am still open to the the idea behind the hay bales and have not given up yet.I just think it may not be as cheap and effective as we thought.We shall see.
Here in Oregon and especially here in the Portland area it would not be late spring with out Roses.Portland is known as the City of Roses you see them every where including a many week Rose Festival. In our garden we have 2 climbing roses.One came with the house and is very aggressive in its climbing,by summers end it climbs up over the peak of the garage.This beauty has smallish dark pinkish red blooms.I planted closer to the porch a rose called 4th of July,a nice mottled flower of red,white and a touch of yellow and has a faint almost apple scent to it.Both roses have stated to bloom hearlding in the coming summer months.
Chance and I have been talking about what else we would like to grow and where.A few weeks ago we thought we would put off working on the area of the yard that had our plumb until next spring.But we are on a roll and want to keep going.The soil in this area will need much amending due to lots of clay and I am sure the tree has zapped all of the nutirents. Over the summer we will work on adding more beds,mulching, fertilizing them and getting them healthy enough to plant in.
Journey on,
Rois
The water:haybale issue is one I had been wondering about...My old bones love the idea of not stooping and crouching to garden, but that much watering - it might be more cost effective for me to make my raised beds taller instead, water is expensive! As always, I love your thoughtful writing
ReplyDeleteWe save our water in big pots (like the canning pots). We put them under the shower water when waiting for the water to heat up and, of course, out in the rain. This makes me feel a little better about watering the bales. But it's a pain. This is our first year too, so I'm curious about your results.
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