Busy as a Bee

What's New...or Ongoing?

    Oh my gosh! The last few weeks have been filled with garden fun! An ounce of sunlight, changes a week of gardening or more. Yep made up that nugget of knowledge all by myself. Don't quote me though because it only makes sense if you live in the PNW probably. So what's really been going on?

1- The Annual Plant Sale- We went to the Annual Plant Sale held by the Snohomish Conservation District. If you haven't checked out your local conservation district, dammit you should they have so much to offer. From rain barrels, classes, soil tests and so much more.Wow! They had so much going on! We purchased a dogwood tree, service berry pushes, bush berry plants, huckleberry plants two kinds thank you very much, two different kinds of Oregon grapes, and a bunch more native plants. I'll be honest, some of the plants looked sad and weepy, but I'm hoping that they will perk up soon enough you know because they are natives! We also purchased a mason bee lodge rather disgruntled when we found out that despite what the sign said no bees came with the lodge oh my poor kiddo who spent the afternoon talking to the little bee larvae that weren't even there, and a bat box clearly no bat with this box. So the mass planting was on like Donkey Kong! Somehow it seemed like we got so many plants, yet not nearly enough!

Ignore the ugly fence (we share with neighbors don't get me started), these are the deer ferns and sword ferns we purchased. Yep that's my handy pine limb border. I love this section of the front yard. At the bottom are huckleberry bushes and an Oregon grape.

2-The seedling nursery is bursting at the seams! Finally those stinking artichokes have come out! Oh man I have three different areas for the plants and little seedlings. 
                            There are both warm and cold germination areas (yes because apparently seeds are like people and they like their own special little environments....damn those divas). 
                             Then there is a main grow area where the young seedlings are placed. Again, there is a hot and cold area. The ever-loving peppers have yet to get off their heat mat in this area. If they are off they turn purple and cold. :( So they remain.

Just before the thinning. I hate thinning...it feels so awful to be cutting down happy little seedling babies!

Peppers and artichokes!

                             Finally, there is the tall plant light section. Coming from lovely farm happy Camarillo, California I haven't had to use grow lights....ever. So when I started this project I missed the part in which you have to keep the plants under lights until it's warmer outside. Holy crap these plants are way too big for the main lights! Where the heck am I going to put them now? That "warmer outside" time doesn't come at the end of February. 

Happy tomatoes...Brandywine, Green Zebra, and Black Cherry Tomatoes!

Cow pots, Trader Joes bottles and a plastic pot from the native plants purchased earlier.

3- Potatoes in the ground! I ordered my potato seeds, probably a little early. So a very stressed Mandy researched what to do with them while the ground warmed. I ended up putting them in a box in our living room and letting them green a little bit. They went in the front yard today!  

These are the tops of the trenches, where the markers are located. Also, to the back right is another Oregon grape. Yea for natives!

4- We even had a chance to trim the massive pine tree in the front. I've made good use of the limbs we cut. I've used them as borders, trellises for peas, and name markers. Yep, I'm feeling good about it!

New pea trellis made of pine tree limbs.

  So the last few weeks have been filled with a plethora of plantings and growth. We have built the raised vegetable beds, and are beginning to work out the watering system. More to come on that! 
Hope your garden is growing too!
Cheers-
Mandy