Rainier Valley Gardening Blog

Today, I’ve got some thoughts on what we can do outside of our regular sustainable practices.  At home, I like to grow my own veggies and berries, but this often feels like I grow them for the novelty of it all.  I also like to collect my rain water for future use, but then lots of people do.  Here are a couple of other options for us all:

In an effort to reduce the need to transport fruits and vegetables into our neighborhood, thus preventing our air from getting any more gross than it has to be, what think we of planting more fruit trees? I know, you’re thinking, “I get bored with apples” or “Cherries are such a pain to pick”. Well hey, there are more options out there than just those.  Here’s a great note about what we could be planting to keep life and lunch interesting: 10 Easy Fruit-Bearing Trees.   Check it out.

Since we’re talking about being sustainable and breaking free from the standard things we might do, let’s throw another idea out there:  a rain garden.  What’s this?  It isn’t a garden of cans and rain barrels.  It is a garden of flowers, shrubs, bushes or trees that help to slow rain water, preventing erosion and over-burdening of the sewer systems.  Another benefit is that the water that flows through the rain garden is purified and made fresh before re-entering the water table or joining the surrounding drainage systems.  This sometimes involves pipe and guiding the excess water, and sometimes involves just plants and soil doing their natural jobs. 

Here is a great source for rain garden information.  If you’re interested in learning more or contacting somebody locally, check out Seattle Rain Garden.

Happy gardening!

I love to expiriment with growing different vegetables. Carrots are the easiest that I’ve found, then radishes, tomatoes and then broccoli. This year, I am attempting greens! I have been reading up on different types of lettuce, chard and kale, and greens seem to be the winner for easiest, most hardy vegetable to grow.

Check out www.northwest-gardening.com/vegetables/lettuce.asp for some great information about growing greens in the Northwest.

In the mean time, if you’re inspired and are looking to grow your own organic goodness, there are a few great organic suppliers both online and locally. I was lucky enough to find a great deal on SeedsOfChangeFoods.com.

Best of luck with trying something new!

I love living in the Rainier Valley.  It is amazing how when I was little, I was always told to never go to Rainier Ave because it had such a negative history.  I must say, that just isn’t the case anymore, and I’m grateful.  Saturday afternoon, I went walking with a friend.  We were actually out hunting for gardens for the 2011 Rainier Valley Garden Tour.

The neighborhood is so alive.  We started in the southeast corner of Columbia City and worked our way to the northwest and then back.  Every street we walked down, there were people out and about:  walking, working in the yard, sitting on the porch…you name it.  I was really impressed by some of the work that our neighbors were tackling.  One resident had just replaced his colapsing driveway wall with a beautiful rockery.  Another was in the process of building portable raised beds for vegetable gardening.  Others were doing the standard work:  maintaining.

Everybody we came across was so talkative and ready to share what projects they’ve got going on.  It was inspiring.  Below you’ll find some pictures from around the neighborhood.  You can see why I feel so fortunate to live here.

My favorite thing about summer and fall is being able to harvest the fruits of my labors.  Juicy tomatoes ready to fall off the vine, cucumbers for great salads and herbs to dry for cooking all winter long.  This last winter was exceptionally harsh with a very early cold snap.  Sadly, many of us experienced some tough losses in our gardens with the 12 degree temperatures in November.  I lost my gnarled little rosemary and two of my heart lavenders.   Neighbors lost even more.

To my surprise though, my broccoli and Brussels sprouts weren’t impacted.  Neither crop had produced anything in 2010, just steady growth.  I truly didn’t believe that they would survive through the winter.  Alas, they did.

With just a few sunny days in February and March, florets appeared at the tops of my broccoli stalks.  They continued down the sides.  I was shocked!  I was so excited as they got bigger and ripened.  The type of broccoli I planted is not like what you’d normally get at the store.  The crown it produces isn’t 2 lbs and 7″ across.  It is small, perfect and tender. 

I cut what pieces were ready, took them inside and washed them, then served them on a bed or organic cous cous.  What a perfect first harvest meal for 2011.  More florets are growing and will be ready to cut soon.  It is such a treat to have produce from my garden when it still feels like winter outside!

I know how much I love sunny days, but I have nothing but issues when it rains and is amazingly windy.  Well, here’s my way of coping with it:  think about the good things that come from rainy days.

The Rain

Rain is a necessity to ensure that there is water so that we can remain alive.  As a bonus, it also cleans the air and makes everything have an amazingly fresh scent.  Without rain, my water bill would be super high, as I’d have to water my garden all of the time.

Days like today make those of us with rain barrels very thankful for being forward thinking about water conservation.  In a few months, when the sun is hot and the lettuce is wilting, that stored up rain will help keep things growing…without depleting other resources, including the bank account.

The Wind

I am currently sitting in my living room watching the trees whip around.  There are blossoms flying through the air.  Pine cones and needles are falling.  Branches with little buds are hitting each other… and everything is being pollenated, setting the rest of the year up for success.  I, myself, do not have any fruit trees, but the neighbors do.  I’ll tell ya’, with a few more crazy, windy days like this, the fall apple and pear crops will be bumper.

The other thing that this nasty wind is doing is moving all of the little bits of trash, litter and leaves off of the roads and into nice little piles to be picked up.  If that’s inspiring to you, City of Seattle has a program to help and encourage you:  Spring Clean Your Neighborhood.  The city is supplying clean-up bags, gloves, safety vests and waste disposal permits.  This open program goes from now until the end of May.  Check it out at www.seattle.gov/util/SpringClean or call 206-233-7187 for more information.

In the mean time…

Let’s utilize icky days where the rain soaks us and the wind steals our hats to be productive.  Here are my suggestions for a day like today:

• online plant shop to find local vendors that can supply both wisdom and socially responsible garden options
• dress up like the Gordon’s Fisherman and brave the storm to work outside.  You may be cold and wet, but fresh air is the bonus
• review pictures of your garden from last year to see what thrived and what failed, then plan appropriately
• use those same pictures as inspiration and create a peice of art to brighten your spirits:  collage, des compage, watercolors, papier mache….

Even though crazy weather can be bothersome, take the opportunity to appreciate what it does for us and think about…no, take action on, some of the many things  that you can do despite the weather.

It seems like years since anything exciting has happened out in the dirt. Winter was harsh and killed off the weaker species, now only the strong survive.

Before the never ending battle between rain and frost began, I took some time to plan out how I was going to grow my veggies and herbs this year. How did I plan? By planting my spring bulbs of course! I know, it sounds funny but it’s true.

In late October, just when I was thinking about putting my garden to bed for the winter, I had an epifany about my spring bulbs. I was going to plant them in nice border rows at thje front of my garden, making a think border of color, but then realized what a pain it is to dig up bulbs each spring to prevent them from rotting…and wouldn’t it be brilliant to plant them in a way that I could water around them through the summer, but still have summer vegetation above them…

And that’s when I thought garden Tic Tac Toe. I planted my tulips, daffodils and some random hycinths like a tic tac toe board with plenty of space to plant herbs or leafy greens in each square. I covered the bulbs with soil, let it settle over the winter and now they’ve sprung up, creating perfect beds to plant useful things.

What has been planted: Rainbow chard, chives, Thai basil, mamouth basil, curry and Provence lavender. I’m still waiting to for my seedlings to show their little heads, but if half make it, I’ll consider this a success in kitchen gardening!

Goat in Diana Vinh's garden

Thank you to everyone who helped make the 2010 tour a great success! I’d love your comments on the tour if you hav=d a chacne to go this year.

I’ve posted a few of my favortie pictures here on our Website, and the full album is here. Please be sure to check them out!

Raingarden Demo

It is amazing what just a bit of direct sunlight will do for plants and seeds. I can’t hardly believe the drastic improvement in my garden over the last week. It’s almost like a different place.

I feel like the best way to describe the amazing changes and how happy my garden looks is just to post the pictures. So here they go:

Strawberries–all three varieties have berries…and they’re changing color

Squash and Zucchinis–the leaves are reaching for the sun and there are blossoms

Radishes–they have hit the point that I need to thin them out or they are all going to look weird like pink carrots

Lavender–it is sprouting and growing into an amazing bush

See the full blog at tidbitfixer.blogspot.com

A big thanks to our earl sposors. You can check em out here http://www.rainiervalleygardentour.org/Sponsors.html.

This weekend is Mother’s Day. We spent a great day with my mom and then came over to Port Townsend to visit Chris’s mom. It was really fun to hang out with the fam, spend some time in the sun and the go mingle with the locals in downtown Port Townsend. Right off of the main drag, Water Street, there was an arts and crafts fair going on. All sorts of stuff going on from jewelery makers to oil painters working live in front of you.

 

One of the artisans we came across was Cindy Mangutz. As it turns out, she was Chris’ neighbor growing up. I’ve got to say, she is the most welcoming and amazing person to talk to. You’re thinking, “what in the world does this have to do with anything?” Well I’ll tell ya: Cindy and her husband Steve create sustainable art. In her own right, Cindy is an incredible artist with a huge expanse of work. Today, I saw a different side. She and her husband take art, function, sustainability and horticulture and blend it all together to make some incredibly unusual pieces.

Using wood coming from their property, they’ve created some amazing things. What caught my eye the most were two chairs. One was a beautiful maple chair, meant for the indoors, that was perfectly crafted and begged to be sat in. The other was a chair with a flowering seat. Thin cedar branches woven through the structure, this piece of furniture was also home to a living bouquet. The chair was structurally sound and visually appealing, but meant for the garden. I was jealous that another visitor made the purchase before we could, but we’ll see what the future holds…

See the complete blog at tidbitfixer.blogspot.com!!