Fall.......

seeds for my spring '12 garden have arrived~ I'm thinking ahead. now that I'm back in Bellingham...seasons are shorter, much more pronounced. the way I like them to be. I'm going to buy a new bike. I'm glued to my computer far too often.

the start of things.

a peak of whats to come :) the baby plants in my closet are doing well, everything seems happy, though not quite ready for outside. the 'soil' in this picture is the nice compost combined with mushroom substrate, where brown rice instead of manure was used, so the smell of this soil is sweet. barely nothing is planted yet. i did put in some cilantro seeds and radish seeds as they like the cold, and buried my oriental lilys.



2/3rds of the garden is bordered in pinks and lavenders with the pink perfume rose on all corners. already i can really relax and be happy in this place, knowing hazel is safe and no random dog is going to chase him or trample my tomatoes.

mushi!

for my garden(s) this year!

i built a raised bed and surrounded it with a fence (mark helped) which will help keep all sorts of 'pests' out. i mixed organic compost with medicinal mushroom substrate, purchased 2 pounds of red worms to mix in and keep a third to start a mushroom bin. the raised bed isn't just for annuals; in the borders i planted pinks, lavenders & a few roses i had in containers - all grown from cuttings :) peas are growing along the fence wall - they need something to climb and it'll be too hot in the summer for them.

in a different location (outside of my fenced garden) i put down mushroom substrate. well again mark helped, because the shovel tends to ruin my back. i'll plant annual pumpkins, sunflowers & lilys once they get big enough, as space in my fenced bed is limited. my closet is full of baby plants; death from slugs is down from last year.

i am going to scale down to 3 day work-weeks soon ('soon'... is probably 2 months away) as to have more time for.. so many activities. happy!

seed starting update

So far this year, the seeds i've planted are starting their lives in much better conditions than last year - last year I started all my plants in the same forest dirt but outdoors, in march - april. my problems last year were the soil drying out in the heat of the day and slugs killing baby plants with one bite - especially pumpkin and sunflowers. i'm starting earlier this year and indoors at this point. I set up a basic light purchased at lowes for $20, its a shop light about 8" x 4" which just so happens to be great for growing plants. I had my snailflower growing under it during this winter. snailflower is a vine that has extremely fragrant flowers, looking like this:



my tomatoes should have a much longer growing season this year as I'm already starting them and it's still february, and under this light they're growing quickly, threat-free. I also have the seedlings of my dalias, zinnias and holy basil happy. in a couple days I am transferring the seeds from their 0.5" diameter starter containers to individual small containers about 3-4" in diameter. I'll give them a little longer indoors, then move them outdoors and start another batch indoors. mid march to late april I will also start batches of other seeds outdoors. (I have a huge collection of plastic containers I start plants and cuttings with)

Here in California, 30 minutes from the ocean, the biggest threat to young plants is snails and slugs (and yes, drying out). last year slugs did quite a number on my garden, this year to compensate I'll start more seeds and try to stay on top of maintenance (that means manual removal). I can't bring myself to lay out bait or beer to kill them, it's against my principles. I don't need this garden, I have no intention of killing life to have it, even if they are just slugs and snails.

...

it's rained a whole lot the past few months. we won't have a drought year! :) it's really great but it's causing some tree casualties. an old, about 80 years old, willow tree crashed down outside my workplace yesterday. I watched it happen and it made me really sad, as I see woodpeckers and other birds like chickadees use the tree for food and rest. the owners of the property will remove all of the willow and not let him re-sprout, but i'll let the willow itself live on; i took a few branches before I left. willow is among the easiest of trees to grow from cutting. I stuck the branches in a few pots of dirt and in mostly shade. that is nearly all i'll have to do, I will water a few times when it stops raining. in less than a month the willow will be on its way to rooting its pots :)

are you growing a vegetable / food garden this year? i cannot think of better (inexpensive) way to help ourselves become more self sustaining and help yourself live more locally.

visit rareseeds.com for inexpensive yet high quality non-gmo heirloom seeds. i have been a supporter of this company (baker creek) for many years, and was quite surprised when they suddenly opened a seed store in my hometown of petaluma. still i placed my order for this year over the internet, as they have cheap ($3.00) shipping fees and i find it easier to pick out exactly what i want online than in the store. i am soaking pea seeds right now, for a couple days, then i will plant them in soil. i'm also growing lots of flowers, but those aren't so important to my life as us learning the basics of growing our own gardens (for our own health and prevention of disease)

in a few weeks i am starting seeds for my basil, tomatos, pumpkins and potatos. the problem for me, is finding enough space in containers and the ground to grow all that i want to. last year i had a wonderful pumpkin, and a somewhat sad tomato yeild. great basil though! this year i want more.

lve

have not updated in almost a year. how time goes. i have shiitake mushroom growing right now. my hazey cat is very happy. life is sweet, precious, lets not take it for granted, even with all the evil, there is so much to love. i have ideas and things i'd like to share..hopefully next growing season.

yellowdaze