The Horrible Exploding Weed

I finally found out what it is. The horrible exploding weed. It starts out in the winter as little sprouts that completely cover every single bare spot in the lawn. In the early Spring it grows about 6"-8" tall between lawn mowings, and has tiny little white flowers. But in the summer it gets dry and has seed pods, that, when you try to pull the weed out, explode and throw seeds out everywhere. It's a horrible, beastly weed, called Hairy Bittercress. Apparently its edible, but that doesn't make me feel any better. It is literally taking over my yard. Here's a link with pictures and a description. It must grow everywhere...East, West, Midwest, UK, Australia, because I found references to it from all those places. Perhaps I should just turn over my yard to it and call it a food crop!!!

http://www.ppws.vt.edu/scott/weed_id/carhi.htm

I'm Baaaaaa aaaack!

It was a long, gray winter in Oregon. I can't complain too much, because it was far worse in the Midwest and East, with snow and ice. In fact, they have 6" of snow in parts of the Midwest this weekend (crazy!), but nevertheless the gray winter in the Northwest really got to me this year.

So I was itching to get my veggie garden started and on a rare sunny weekend in early March, I uncovered part of the bed and planted a row of carrots, two rows of radishes, some nasturtiums and marigolds, and two kinds of peas -- all from seed -- and also put in some lettuce starts. It's been slow going. The nights have been cool, and things have only just now sprouted.

This weekend, the beginning of Spring Break, was beautiful, so I also added a row of broccoli and cauliflower starts.

Yesterday I took soil samples down to a local nursery that was offering free testing. I found out the soil around my blueberries is too alkaline...my garden soil is basically dead and not good at all...and my compost is gold! So I spent yesterday emptying my compost bin, carrying buckets of it and working it into the garden bed in the rows between the seedlings. I also amended the soil around my blueberries. And I planted the pots on my front deck in different varieties of bright blue Senetti. They are so gorgeous! Spring has sprung, and for that I am grateful.

Happy Halloween!

How can it possibly be the last day of October?

The last of the fall peas, beans, and peppers are harvested. Half of the garden has been "put to bed" for the winter...everything cleared, compost added and covered with a breathable black cover to keep the weeds back. All that remains are the spent plants from the peas and pole beans. I haven't been able to get those cleared because we've had so much rain and life has been busy. I also still have about six heads of Romaine growing, and I've enjoyed pinching leaves off for last minute Caesar salads at dinner time. Hope I can keep them alive for awhile longer.

I had high hopes of gardening throughout the winter, but ... truth is, I'm kind of a fair weather gardener. I'm not really one to don the rain gear and dig in the mud.

So what do I do all winter to satisfy my love for growing?

Well, the seed catalogs are fun to contemplate. My back yard really needs some landscape work, and winter will give me time to come up with a plan. I have some pathetically neglected house plants that could use some attention. Perhaps I will prune, re-pot, fertilize and wash the leaves of those plants. I will continue to feed the birds and enjoy the Anna's hummingbirds that winter over here in Oregon. That means checking, cleaning, and re-filling the feeders regularly. After the holidays, I can force some bulbs indoors, and by February, I'll be thinking about what seeds I want to start indoors. Before you know it ... I'll be planting potatoes again. Time flies. Happy Halloween.

The Return of the Little Green Worms and Other Stuff

$#@!%&*!! Those nasty little boogers have returned, and while my son and I were successful at picking them off the broccoli before they did much damage, we weren't so on top of it with the Brussels Sprouts I was so excited to be growing. I'm afraid my winter crop is a total loss. I pulled out all the plants because the leaves had been chowed down to nubs. They looked so sickly and horrible. So...how do I prevent this from happening next year? I don't know, I'm going to have to read up on these little pests over the winter. Simply picking them off regularly and killing them seems to be the only organic solution I know of, but perhaps there's another way. Oh well.....live and learn. That's what this is all about.

My fall green beans and peas are doing really well. The beans already have blossoms, and the pole bean plants are probably 6 feet tall. Hopefully that will be a good crop.

We had a couple of lovely days of steady, gentle rain, which was so good for everything, and now we've come into wonderful Indian Summer weather...cool at night and warm all day. Good harvesting weather and good growing weather. I will be able to do at least one more big batch of red salsa and one of green salsa before the tomato and tomatillo plants are finished, and I still have jalapenos growing, and 3 or 4 eggplants that will be ready soon. I'm really enjoying the harvest season. So rewarding.

I am up way too late. Must sign off. If you know about organic pest control for cabbage loopers, please do comment.

It's Salsa Time!

Here's photo of today's harvest. The tomatoes are coming in all at once. I picked a whole bunch of tomatillos and cut the plant back a bit because it was overgrown and covering up other plants. My cucumbers are just beginning to show some signs of powdery mildew on otherwise very healthy plants. I'm thinking...hey, it's September and they held out this long, that's pretty good. I stopped using the sprinkler hose once fruit was on the plants and began to hand water at the roots, so I'm sure that helped. Honestly, I've eaten so many cukes, I would have no problem ripping the plants out entirely and planting some fall crop, but...they are pretty healthy and there are a lot of baby cukes on the vines, so I just don't have the heart to do that yet.

I am up late and have just finished making two giant batches of salsa...one red and one green. I will take some of each to a dinner party tomorrow evening, share some at work, and still have a jar of each for us to use over the next week or so.

I also made a big cucumber-tomato salad to take tomorrow night: sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, Walla Walla sweet onion, fresh basil, balsamic vinegar, a touch of olive oil, salt, pepper, little bit of fine sugar. Made it a day early so it could marinate a bit.

Yum! I love this time of year!

September Morning

Heavenly Harvest

Well, I had to resort to abuse, but the tomatoes are finally ripening! I withheld water and pruned off all the new growth and blossoms and within a few days there was color and in a week there were some ready to harvest. The plants are now looking a little sad, but the tomatoes are beautiful. Last night I made a simple dinner of chopped fresh tomatoes, basil, sliced green onions, garlic and canelinni beans, tossed with hot whole wheat penne and a little olive oil and parm cheese. It was yummy. What a difference good tomatoes make! Even my kids...who don't usually like fresh tomatoes... ate it. When you toss the fresh ingredients with the warm pasta, the flavors really come out. So easy and so yummy. We're going to a pot luck dinner party tomorrow evening and I plan to make a batch of salsa and a tomato-cucumber salad. I love sharing my wonderful garden bounty!