Kat
Portland
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Grew up composting and gardening with my dad. Now I grow as many edible plants and trees as I can fit in my urban backyard. In addition, we recently bought a nearby vacant lot with some neighbors, and are using it to grow more food. My garden is mostly a traditional organic garden, but I've been experimenting with bits of permaculture and would love to have a low-work food forest someday.
USDA Zone: 8
Soil: clay with rocks
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the pole beans have a miraculous second wind, after I thought they were winding down! I picked quite a few today, as well as zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, melon, and corn. Still waiting to see if the sweet potatoes are going to do anything.
Kat
Portland | clay with rocks | Zone 8
Portland | clay with rocks | Zone 8
Nice! I have some cukes I can pull, but the tomatoes keep disappearing whenever a certain dog is around. Hmmmm...
ShannonTomey
Oct 08, 2010
I am very curious to hear what your experiences with sweet potatoes were like. I wish they were easier to grow here...
Jade
Oct 09, 2010
Picked small amounts of many things today: blueberries, of all things. Green garbanzo beans. Ground cherries! Potatoes. Chard. Tomatoes. Cucumbers. Small zucchini and yellow squash.
Kat
Portland | clay with rocks | Zone 8
Portland | clay with rocks | Zone 8
Wow, crazy that you have blueberries right now. I picked a few raspberries yesterday, but all my blueberries are quite gone.
Jade
Sep 06, 2010
and oh yeah- corn should be ready soon!
Kat
Portland | clay with rocks | Zone 8
Portland | clay with rocks | Zone 8
Envious!!! Next year, if you post when you're planting your corn, I'm copying you!
Jade
Sep 02, 2010
I'm so close I can taste it already! I think Monday I can pull the first one. Maybe. When did you put yours in?
ShannonTomey
Sep 02, 2010
I don't remember, although I think I posted it here (or somewhere). I think it was in late May or early June.
Jade
Sep 03, 2010
We put ours in so late I thought we were doomed - late June! But many of the plants have done very well.
Kat
Sep 05, 2010
But having not really grown it before I wanna know: how do you know when to pick one?
Kat
Sep 05, 2010
This is only my second year, but if the hairs are turning brown, then give it a light squeeze. You should be able to feel any big holes where the kernels are still forming. Then if that all feels good, then pull the husk back a bit and check it. Then pull it if it looks good!
One thing is that homegrown corn is so meaty and dense compared to store bought. I can only eat half of one of ours, so maybe only pick one and take it from there :)
ShannonTomey
Sep 06, 2010
FINALLY some ripe non-cherry tomatoes!
Also lots of squash, still lots of beans.
The soybeans have mostly been picked.
There are plenty of cucumbers.
The garbanzo beans are at an interesting stage: they taste great fresh but I don't think they're quite ripe yet!
Eggplants are still very small.
We're on the last carrots from the batch I planted in late spring, and the next batch is not ready yet.
Also lots of squash, still lots of beans.
The soybeans have mostly been picked.
There are plenty of cucumbers.
The garbanzo beans are at an interesting stage: they taste great fresh but I don't think they're quite ripe yet!
Eggplants are still very small.
We're on the last carrots from the batch I planted in late spring, and the next batch is not ready yet.
Kat
Portland | clay with rocks | Zone 8
Portland | clay with rocks | Zone 8
We have a fair amount of space getting freed up, now that our spring beets, spinach, lettuce, carrots, peas, and broccoli are done. What have people planted successfully in August in the Pacific NW? I am determined to do better with my fall and winter gardening this year! Most of our free space is in full sun - serious full sun, no shading by anything.
Kat
Portland | clay with rocks | Zone 8
Portland | clay with rocks | Zone 8
This will be my first year fall and winter gardening. From what I understand, your best bet is with the cool season veggies. I am going to go with what I still have seeds for from the spring. I am going to try peas, lettuce, broccoli, and the rest of the onion sets I did not plant in the spring. Just in different places then I did in the spring for crop rotation.
I understand that the seedlings like the warmth of the soil from the still-hot sun, and by the time they germinate the super-hot temps should be over. I have also read to do some fava beans over the winter, then you can work them into the soil in the spring.
ShannonTomey
Aug 26, 2010
I'm planting lettuce now, but I need to get started on my other winter veggies!
Jade
Aug 26, 2010
Salad at lunch had lettuce, chard, cucumber, and carrots from the backyard.
Last year we had a LOT of bitter cucumbers - no doubt a combination of selecting the wrong variety, uneven watering, and some very hot days. Today's cucumber was perfect and sweet.
Last year we had a LOT of bitter cucumbers - no doubt a combination of selecting the wrong variety, uneven watering, and some very hot days. Today's cucumber was perfect and sweet.
Kat
Portland | clay with rocks | Zone 8
Portland | clay with rocks | Zone 8
I read your comment before harvesting our first cucumbers from our yard. I was nervous they would be bitter, but they were wonderful!
Jade
Aug 04, 2010
I'm glad! Really, last summer was rough on our cucumbers. But it also depends heavily on the variety - some tend to become bitter, others don't. Last year was very disappointing, cucumber-wise, all the worse because my son grows them in 'his' garden box.
Kat
Aug 05, 2010
Just joined this site. Nice idea!
We're getting a great bean crop right now - bush beans in purple, yellow, and green. Plus a nice teepee of mostly purple pole beans.
Sunflower house for the kids is doing OK, with scarlet runner beans climbing it. Still getting some artichokes.
We finally pulled up the last of the chard, which had kept us in greens all spring. Lots of lettuce, a few cucumbers, some hot and sweet peppers. It's been a great year for carrots and beets, and for once I did a good job of replanting continuously throughout the season.
But I fear it will not be a good year for tomatoes.
We're getting a great bean crop right now - bush beans in purple, yellow, and green. Plus a nice teepee of mostly purple pole beans.
Sunflower house for the kids is doing OK, with scarlet runner beans climbing it. Still getting some artichokes.
We finally pulled up the last of the chard, which had kept us in greens all spring. Lots of lettuce, a few cucumbers, some hot and sweet peppers. It's been a great year for carrots and beets, and for once I did a good job of replanting continuously throughout the season.
But I fear it will not be a good year for tomatoes.
Kat
Portland | clay with rocks | Zone
Portland | clay with rocks | Zone
My beans are growing like crazy but haven't even flowered yet. It looks like they'll do well this year.
Sunflower house? That sounds interesting. I like the idea of growing beans up sunflowers. Can you post a photo? I bet my daughter would love that!
My tomatoes are doing a lot better than last year, but they did get off to a slow year, and it might be just that I'm getting better at them. I hope they taste good... But they're taller than me now (and I'm 6'4"!). They haven't turned colors yet, but some of them are looking less green, so I'm hopeful.
Jade
Aug 03, 2010
©2012 Email Jade
Also, for the first time this year, I'm attempting winter gardening on a very small scale: I bought row covers with hoops for one raised bed. Right now we've got lettuce, kale, broccoli, spinach, and chard all doing pretty well under there. Good thing I got it up right before it snowed!
Portland | clay with rocks | Zone 8
Nice! My cloche's plastic cover ripped. I'm growing a lot of lettuce inside this winter.
Jade
Dec 03, 2010
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