Stories from someone who is learning to grow
It’s that time of year again. The nights are getting cooler here in Portland. We’re dipping down into the high 40s occasionally, so I think it’s time to think about bringing my citrus and other houseplants I had put out on the porch for summer back inside for the winter.
See Week 20: here
We got a ton of rain this weekend. It’s officially fall here!
There is a strawberry tree planted in the front yard that (in my opinion) needs to move. The strawberry tree fruit are not very tasty, and this tree is taking up valuable real estate in the relatively sunny front yard, and it’s planted kind of awkwardly in the yard and is going to (very soon) be much too big for the space.
So it needs to go.
Continue reading “Root Pruning (or Slowly Killing) the Strawberry Tree”Today’s Foilage Friday is another weed in our yard that I didn’t have a name for until now.
The black walnut tree – the tree that blocks sunlight from my vegetable garden and dumps juglone into the soil – has been dropping walnuts.
Black walnuts are notoriously difficult to get out of the shell – unlike English walnuts. But, I figured it was worth a shot to try to collect the walnuts.
Continue reading “Harvesting Black Walnuts”The fig tree in the front yard (the tree that gets the most sunlight) is producing plenty of figs these days. Yum!
Nate and I had tried making fig ice cream a few years ago. It was….not a success, to say the least. It turned out like a block of ice.
Now, I prefer eating my figs fresh. A few months ago, I came across a recipe for fig leaf ice cream. Hmmm….
Continue reading “Fig Leaf Ice Cream”See week 19: here
Anther dahlia grown from seed is in bloom.
I planted beets and carrots in this area earlier in the season. A couple came up, but not very well, and the bean teepee leaned over putting them in almost 100% shade, so nothing really came of them.
The beans have been eaten by the deer. There are a few stragglers still on the vines, so I’ve just propped the bean teepee back up to clear this space for sowing more seeds.
From left to right, I’m planting scallions, chervil, cilantro and parsley, purple carrots, and two varieties of beets in the last two rows.
I’m just hoping to get a few plants going that I can cover and overwinter so I can get a headstart in the spring.
I sowed these seeds exactly one week ago (Sept 5). I was in the garden yesterday and I don’t see any seedlings yet. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong? Perhaps they’re not getting enough water? I don’t think lack of light or warmth should be a problem for germination of these plants. Perhaps the seeds are bad…
Or maybe I just need to be more patient.
I’m continuing with Foliage Fridays. I had a few other ideas for a Friday series (recipes, native plants, …) but for now I’m sticking with Foliage Fridays. I still can’t identify many of the plants in my own backyard, and I’d really like to change that!
Today’s Foliage Friday is this shrub around the back of our house by the porch steps. It’s growing in a part shade area.
I know there are people in the world who don’t like tomatoes, but I don’t understand that. My absolute favorite thing to eat in summer is a tomato mayo sandwich. I suppose it’s a BLT without the bacon or lettuce…so just a T?
It’s essential to use a large, juicy tomato. I forgot to take a photo of it before I sliced it – I was just so excited to eat it. Best part of summer. Tomatoes….yum!