86°F – With the drop below 90, I decided to give this pile a good turning and consider it in the curing phase now. I’ll likely move this to the curing pit in a couple of weeks, and then not touch it again for months. It looks good already, darker than the previous pile. But of course I can still see plenty of fall leaves mixed in still as those take a long time and a different kind of microbe to break down.
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Fertilizing before rain
I fertilized nearly every plant with Alaska Fish Fertilizer on the 17th. Everything in the ground and all containers got a dose, though amounts varied. Earlier that week I planted potatoes in a mix of containers and a few in-ground spots. I’m curious how they’ll handle pests and how the different locations… [more]
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Sunday Planting with Ivy
This morning Ivy dropped some California Wildflower seeds all around the south side of the house by the AC units. That narrow strip of dirt is often shaded, so I’m not sure what will grow there beyond some native weeds. I’ve been dropping pruned tomato leaves and other things for weeks. And… [more]
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Losing a Tree, Planting an Avocado
A peaceful moment working in the garden, interrupted by a loud cracking, I look over to see this huge branch falling towards me. I was out of range, just. Later we had someone look at it who was able to point out some dead parts of the tree, and the recommendation was… [more]
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Starting Plants From Seeds
In April I planted seeds for the first time: bell peppers and onions in small plastic cups with drainage holes, and a few in small square ceramic pots. The ceramic pots were a bad choice. We bought them on impulse because they looked nice. At that point, I didn’t understand up-potting at… [more]
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Wildlife, Flowers, Tomato Progress
In April and May we began to notice more wildlife. It was always there, we just noticed it more by spending more time outside. But I think there has been a real uptick in pollinators with the new plants we introduced. There are a lot of lizards sunning. One in particular we… [more]
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Painting Fences and Gates
It had been a long time since I painted anything outside. It’s satisfying. Tough work scrapping off the peeling paint. I did some light sanding on the gate. [more]
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Weeding, Mulching, Maintenance
I buried the pvc pipe that was exposed, removed some weeds, and aerated the soil a bit. I used landscape fabric and put cedar mulch down. It looked really nice for the first couple of months. I don’t think I’ll ever use that fabric again where I will be planting stuff. Too… [more]
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Fixing The Strawberry Patches
One of the first things I tackled in the backyard was figuring out why the two strawberry patches were holding so much water. The left patch was empty. The right one held a dense stand of strawberries that Bryon has kept going for years. Long before I started gardening, he would pick… [more]
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How It Started
In February, we got a couple of coupons in the mail from a local nursery. We thought it would be a good outing for us and the kids. The plan was: eat lunch at a place we like close to the nursery, and then get some sun and maybe some flowers for… [more]