Flower update

I am having such fun this spring.  Nearly every day, something new is going on in the yard.  Its fun to explore and see what is new.

The daffodills are the star of the yard right now.  They are doing extremely well.  I just love them - they're so cheerful!

The tulips are finally blooming, despite the yard-bunny's best efforts to eat them.  I got the Monet mixture - all pastel shades of pink and yellow.  So far, they're white, pink, and dark red.

Our lilacs are finally blooming.  I LOVE lilacs and it was such a nice suprise that the former owners of this house planted several.  When I lived in Houston, I really missed lilacs.  They don't grow there and that made me sad.

Our irises have been a bit of a mystery.  We got several from Will's grandmother's yard in Idaho.  I thought it would be a nice tribute to have some of her plants in our yard.  They were all done blooming when I dug them out, so I have NO IDEA what colors I grabbed.  Then a bit later in August, my mom found some random guy in the neighborhood who was dividing and giving away some of his very expensive, award-winning irises.  Mostly in blue.  We think.  And I just randomly scattered both sets of irises throughout the yard, so I really have no idea what is planted where.  I'm just going to assume blue = random guy, everything else = grandma.

My mom has been telling me all winter that the irises won't bloom the first year.  I did some googling, and the interwebs told me that if the rhyzomes are planted early enough in the late summer, chances are good for flowers.  We planted the Idaho ones in mid-August, so I thought we'd have a good chance for flowers.

And look what I found this morning:



You can see one of my alliums in the near left background, my pack
of garlic directly behind the iris, and some daffys in the far background

Isn't it beautiful?

View from the top, showing off the coloring:

So extremely pretty.  I just wish it was located in a place where I didn't have to peer through some corner window to see it.

We also have a white iris flowering.  While not as pretty, it sure smells good.

My garden experiment has been an experiment.  And that's about the best I can say about it.  About 3 weeks ago I posted this:

This is my indoor seed starter.  In the foreground is mostly lettuce, with some kohlrabi and some herbs.  In the background are tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant (ie the long to germinate plants).  The background plants were starting to get leggy, so I left the lid off the greenhouse.  And then Zipper ate all the plants.  Poo.  These guys needed to be in the ground mid-May and need a good 8-12 weeks before they're ready to go outside.  I now had only 4-6 weeks.  :( 

I transplanted the cool weather seedlings last weekend.  And then they all shriveled and died from the heat.  So, my big "start the seeds indoors" experiment has not been a successful one.  So far.  I am determined to somehow get it to work.

About 2 weeks ago, I did direct-sow some cool weather seeds.  I wanted to see how they'd do outside vs their pampered inside siblings.  So far, so good:

I think these are my mixed lettuce seeds.

Yes, the cups look weird.  But here's my logic:  From top to bottom, the bed consists of: several inches of mulch, weed block fabric, dirt.  You sow the seeds very shallowly in the soil. I didn't want the little seedlings to get lost in the maze of fabric and mulch, so I thought the cups were a clever way of helping them find their way.  And they seem to be happy.  I will probably be planting another round tomorrow, so we have lettuce growing in stages.

Also: 2 of our 6 hops are showing leaves.  The hops we took from Cow Camp in Idaho and some Chinook hops.  But of course, I neglected to snap a photo of them.  They've been secured in chicken wire so the bunnies won't eat them.  Hopefully they'll be happy and grow us lots of hops.

More spring

We have a daffodil!

so cheerful!

It still boggles my mind that people lived in our house for 15 years and never bothered to plant any flowers.  Who does that?!?!  Bulbs are so easy.  Honestly, I think it took us maybe an hour to plant everything last fall.  And then all you do is sit back and watch the show.

Green things are slowly poking up from the ground.  I've made it a habit to wander through the back yard every 2 days or so, investigating progress and looking for new green things.  Its also been entertaining trying to figure out what I planted and where.  Notes or a map or something would have been helpful, but this has been kind of fun.

The garlic has been going bonkers.  The stalks are now about the diameter of green onions.  Here's a not very good side-by-side comparison photo of the growth in the past 2 weeks.

It would help if I managed to shoot things for useful reference.  Still, you get the idea.  The bunnies have stayed away from these, I wonder why?

We now have tulips coming up along with one hyacinth (that a bunny ate a good chunk of) and a mystery bulb.  I think the mystery bulb is an allium, but I had 6 of these bulbs and I only see one of them so far.  Of course, I don't remember where I planted any of them.

mystery bulb - the flower looks a bit strange... kinda like an onion flower.



tulips



the bunny ate the top clean off this one.  I think its a big hyacinth.  maybe.  stupid bunny

The grape hyacinths are poking up all over the yard and, in one spot, they have started blooming.  My mom suggesed these because they're inexpensive and they spread pretty quickly.  I think I got 100 of them for $20.  Pretty sure I planted them in groups of 20, but I can't quite remember.

aren't they cute?

I've started to plant my long-lead time seeds indoors.  Tomatoes (for a friend), peppers and eggplants.  I think this weekend I'll start herbs and some other things that get planted mid-May.  Although, if things stay as warm as they have been, I suspect they'll get planted much earlier than May.

Gardening is so cool. :)

Sprung

Is it me, or does it suddenly feel like *wham!* it's spring?

It is 70+ degrees in Denver this week.  70.  In March. 

Last year, I was outside all spring but I really don't remember a sudden change to Spring.  At least not like this.  Of course, it could be that even though I was outside, I was too focused on running or cycling to actually take note of my surroundings.  And it did snow up until mid-May.  So spring may have been more gradual.  I dunno.

Whatever the reason, this week, all of a sudden, I am PUMPED for warmer weather.  I love the longer days (hello, it's light enough so I can run or bike after work!). I love the warmer days.  I just feel energized.  And I actually feel like training.  Is that was a proper off-season is supposed to do?  Leave you hungry and wanting to train again?  Craziness.

I went for my first "real" run of the season on Tuesday.  Maybe I should put "run" in quotation marks too... it was sad.  My endurance is basically nothing.  Strength feels ok.  I wasn't sore after, which is good.  But I can tell that my body is not used to running, as weird things were pulling or straining.  I kept it short - just 30 min - and I really wanted to run the next day, but I thought it was wise to wait a day or so.  No use doing too much and then getting hurt.  An interesting feature to this run?  Will came with me.  (I know... did anyone feel like hell was freezing over at about 6:30 on Tuesday night?).  He's even talked about buying real running shoes.  I know!  He had a hard time (partially because he's sick) so he did a bit less than me.  Still, it was so nice to have a buddy out with me.

In other "hey, it's Spring" observations are that my yard is doing some cool stuff.  The previous owners did practically zero landscaping, which was depressing.  How can you have a yard with no flowers?!?!  To remedy this travesty, we planted ~200 bulbs last fall.  Don't ask me what I planted exactly.  I do know that they are flowers, likely hyacinths, daffodills, and tulips.  Just don't ask me where I planted these things.  It will be a surprise.

With the warmer temps and snow melting, little green things are appearing.  It's going to be fun watching them and seeing what happens.

These might be daffodills

Autumn blaze maple with sap running down the side (dark orange staining)

do you see the fat bunny? he provides hours of entertainment to Zipper and Gunny.



skinny stuff is garlic, thicker stuff are irises.



No idea.  Could be tulips or hyacinths.

strawberry plant in the uncovered raised garden bed.  crazy thing stayed green all winter.

Veggie Garden Planning - 2012

I somehow have some time on my hands, so I thought it would be fun to start planning our 2012 veggie garden.  Last year, we constructed a raised bed and planted seedlings we purchased from a nursery.  I think we spent almost $100 on the seedlings.  The problem was that due to IMTX, we couldn't actually work on the raised bed and garden until June.  Sadly, our garden hardly did anything.  I think I got a total of 1 zucchini (from 3 plants), 4 cucumbers (from 2 plants), and a ton of basil.  The egglplant and peppers had fruit but they didn't actually grow or mature into something edible.  The winter squash and cantelope were a complete bust.  The herbs did really well, although it wasn't until August when the basil really took off.

Weirdly, our strawberries (which produced TINY but awesome berries) are still green.  In JANUARY.

The plan this year is to start plants from seed in March and then plant them in April or May, depending on temperatures.  My plant list is based on some items that I really LOVED from the CSA last year (romenesco summer squash), some herb favorites, and some veggies that I really like but didn't get much of with the CSA.  I also had to keep in mind which plants I recieved in crazy amounts from the CSA and resist planting them myself.  (although, I did buy cilantro and green onions.....). 

In addition to the veggies, I bought one pound of seed garlic to plant in the yard.  I got 4 varieties and it turns out that one pound equals about 60 individual cloves.  You plant the clove of garlic in the fall and they magically turn into full bulbs of garlic.  So.... I'll have 60 (!!) bulbs of garlic next summer.  Interesting.

The list:
Golden wax bush beans:

Delicious, golden-yellow pods are stringless and are of good quality with extra- fine rich flavor. This old-time favorite has bush plants.

(my mom's turtle LOVED these last summer)








Telegraph improved cucumber:

Smooth, straight, dark-green fruit, to 18 long. Flesh is very crisp, tender and mild, superb flavor. Very few seeds, vigorous high yielding vines, great for greenhouse production; also good cultured outdoors. This is an excellent English heirloom variety, introduced around 1897.

(I did get a ton of cukes from the CSA, but I like the idea of having my own home grown ones too.  Here's hoping this variety does better than the 2 types I did last year)




Malaysian Dark Red Eggplant:

Tender and delicious violet-colored fruit are long and slender. This productive and tasty variety comes from the Southeast Asian country of Malaysia. A hard-to-find but very good variety that is perfect for frying.


(I LOVE eggplant, but tragically, the CSA only gave me ONE of them last year.  And my garden eggplants fruited but never actually grew.)

 
 
 
 
 Early purple vienna kohlrabi:

Delicious cabbage-flavored bulbs that grow above ground. Purple skin and sweet, white flesh good cooked or raw. Kohlrabi makes a real staple crop, with high yields; cold hardy. A pre-1860 heirloom.


(I freaking loved the kohlrabi I got from the CSA last year.  Excellent raw in salads.  Texture of jicima (crunchy) and tasted sort of like a broccoli stalk.)
 
 
 
 
  Rocky top lettuce mix:

Hopefully we won't get tired of salad.....
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ho shi ko bunching onion

An heirloom Japanese, perennial bunching onion; talks grow and divide from the base. Mild and tasty. These are an essential ingredient in both Oriental and American foods. A non-bulbing white type.


(I got a ton of green onions from the CSA.  I'm planting these out of sheer curiousity)





Orange bell pepper

Super sweet, brilliant orange fruit are blocky with and good-sized thick flesh that is flavorful and among the best tasting of all peppers. Plants produce large yields of this most magnificent pepper
(who doesn't love a good pepper?)








Romenesco squash

Famous ribbed zucchini from Rome, Italy. The distinctive long fruit are fluted with medium-green striped skin. The cut slices are scalloped. When small, they are popular fried whole with the flower still on. Rich and very flavorful. A perfect gourmet variety for the market grower.


(I FREAKING loved these.  Very buttery tasting.  Yummmy!)





Patisson golden marbre scallop squash

A unique French scallop squash; fruit is a beautiful bright golden-orange color, very beautiful. Young fruit are very tender and well flavored! Also makes good winter squash. Tall bush plants are very attractive, and yields are good. A favorite of mine.


(I have no idea if these will be good or not.  Its an experiment)





Green tomatillo

Deep green fruit; a standard, richly flavored type. Huge yields as with most tomatillos.

(I've never grown these before, so its an experiement.  Something tells me we'll be innundated by tomatillos.....)







Herbs: genovese basil, sweet thai basil, dill, and cilantro.  I will probably go and buy some oregano and thyme that's been started already.