Pookie Goes to a Mariner Game -

Hi Finn, Pookie likes the Mariners!

Pookie meets the Mariner Moose! GO MARINERS!

Grandma Daisy helps Pookie catch a fly ball at the Mariner game. Pookie keeps the ball in the mitt!

Pookie visits Scottie and looks at Finn's wedding outfit.

Pookie and Scottie look at Finn's wedding pants and shirt.

Scottie and Pookie visit Auntie Jen , the bride to be and Uncle Eliot, the groom to be.

Pookie sees and Airplane and meets a friend at the airport.

Pookie sees a Coca Ccola Truck and his airplane.

Pookie meets Bumble Bunnie.

Pookie takes a trip with Bubba and Grandma Daisy

Pookie Travels.

Pookie Takes a Trip with Bubba and Grandma Daisy.

Soil

Even at my ripe old age, I learn something new about gardening every year. Sometimes old information dormant in my head comes back to my attention. The importance of good soil has been revived in my plans for my garden this year. I thought if I just used compost my soil health and ability to support intense vegetable and flower gardening would eliminate my need for fertilizers. I have learned from the reduced development of fruit and flowers that nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus in the soil must be in balance at the right time with the right weather and the consistent watering. However compost will not provide this balance without help.

From an article I read which pointed out that while the compost breaks down it uses the nitrogen from the soil as well as other nutrients and may not have the phosphorus or potassium needed for roots, fruits and flowers. Therefore this year I have applied bone meal or organic root starter fertilizer to the soil as I did transplants. I will switch to fish emulsion as the leaves appear and then either a balanced fertilizer or fertilizer to stimulate blossoms as the buds appear. I will apply compost in mid summer and fall to the top of the soil to improve the soil over time, rather than think that tilling in my golden compost will create the perfect garden!

Arbor Day

Arbor Day - April 26,- Never paid too much attention to this day, the annual plant a tree day. We have lots of trees in the Pacific Northwest. Then this winter we heard Wangari Maathai speak. Wangari is the First Environmentlaist to Win the Nobel Prize for Peace. She won the prize because she has changed the lives of thousands of people by her efforts to plant trees in Africa, rural Kenya. She wrote a book called Unbowed ,which I have bought and not read yet. However hearing her speak was inspirational. So while thinking trees and planting is part of spring this year for Arbor Day I will start reading this book. Two weeks ago I planted or replanted six Ponderosa Pines that were growing in the road right-away. These grand native trees would have been chopped down because they would have grown into the power lines and hung over over the road. I couldn't wait until Arbor Day because the weather becomes too dry. Trees on the East side of the Cascade must be planted late fall or late winter to take advantage of the cool days and the rain fall. This isn't a concern where you are because you get summer rain. So bless the long cool days of spring. The bundle up days of gardening allow us to slowly wake from winter and stretch gradually to seeds and transplants.

Think Spring

A little seed lay in the ground

and soon began to sprout.

" Now which of all the fowers around,"

It mused, " shall I come Out?"

"The lily's face is fair and proud,

But just a trifle cold.

The rose, I think, is rather loud,

And then its fashion's old.

The violet is all very well

But not a flower I'd choose,

Nor yet a canterbury bell, I never cared for blues."

And so it critized each flower,

This supercilious seed,

Until it woke one summer morn

And found itself a weed.

Auther unknown

Gardening in December

As I approach the first day of winter and the shortest daylight of the year,I have garden fantasies. Sitting inside looking out at the wind blown pansy faces, chilled cyclamen and a tiny fir tree adorned with one glittery strand of beads, I imagine where will I plant my sunflowers, pumpkins and potatoes next summer, which pot will hold primroses and how soon can I safely expose them to the winds and rain of the deck. Garden work can be done with my imagination. I daydream of what could be, not what is. I do have hope for what is, because some of the bulbs show green sprouts. This week I cut away last years leaves on the Hellebore. The Hellebore revealed a new mauve bud and fresh green leaves. A tiny red Camellia bud remains squeezed shut, but just a little red color reveals that soon a blossom will be born. In the same pot a white cyclamen in its second year of growth has already announced that not all of winter is dreary and filled with fantasies and day dreams.

So garden on as the darkest day passes and we enter a time of new light.

December in Seattle 2007

December Snow in Seattle fell hard on the tender Christmas Cyclamen. Each night I lift small tender cyclamen setting them in a protected area next to the door to the balcony. The red cyclamen add great color to the winter view out our windows but I know they shiver when the temperaature dips below forty degrees. The larger cyclamen are hardier. I have some white ones that survived from last year but they are not blooming so well this year despite my efforts to fertilize, water them carefully and give them new potting mix. Today I snow has turned to heavy rain and the temperatures are in the fifties! Compared to the snow the view is grey and cheerless but the cyclamen blossoms stand tall to brighten the day.
Hummingbird update: Anna bird comes every morning at dawn to drink and sit despite wind, rain, snow or sleet. Occassionally the weather was so bad in the day that Anna took refuge on the rungs under the seat of a wicker deck chair. At dusk Anna disappears for the night.

Potatoes

Potatoes like bulbs are a surprise, but they are edible. Dig a hole of eighth inches or more. Bury a dried tuber or bulb in straw, hay, and fluffy well draining soil.
Leaves will begin to appear. This small shrub then flowers. Bulbs will be a surprise with their beauty but potatoes are secretive below ground. If the deer don't eat the leaves and flowers then from ten weeks on delicately with a hand trowel small potatoes can be removed. If left until the leaves and flowers wither a half dozen or more potatoes will be discovered under ground! Some large, some small but all potatoes are delicious. Bulbs are not that quick at multiplying like potatoes. Narcissus will multiply after a few years and will need to be divided and replanted. Each year tubers and bulbs can need to be stored in a cool dry space and potatoes eaten as desired!

Here is a yummy recipe for potatoes from "Mom's Best One-Dish Suppers", Andrea Chesman: Lemony Chicken with Artichokes and Potatoes.

Potatoes: 1 1/2 pounds potatoes quartered or cut into eighth

2 TBSP olive oil

3 garlic cloves minced

2 tsp fresh thyme + salt and pepper to taste

To prepare potatoes preheat oven to 425. Lightly oil large skillet sheet pan. Combine the potatoes, oil garlic, thyme and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl. Toss well. Spread out potatoes on the sheet pan in a single layer. Roast for 25-30 minute until browned all over, shaking the pan occasionally for even cooking. Set aside:

Chicken and Artichokes:

2 TBSP olive oil

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into bite size pieces

salt and pepper

2 cans 14 Oz. artichoke hearts, quartered and drained

1/2 cu chicken broth

2 TBSP fresh lemon juice

1/4 c. chopped parsley

1/2 c. pitted olives chopped

Prepare chicken and artichokes, heat oil in a large skillet over med.-high heat. Saute the chicken in the oil until white and firm, 6 to 8 minutes. Season to taste.

Add the Artichoke hearts, chicken broth, and lemon juice to skillet. Cook until the liquid in the pan reduces and is lightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Mix in the potatoes. Garnish with parsley and olives . Serve at once! Serves 4

October Balcony Garden

Late October rain was falling while the humming bird perched on the feeder.

Balcony Hummer sits on feeder.

Here is the Anna's Hummingbird close up protecting the feeder from all other intruders.

The Gartenmeister Fuchsia attracts hummingbirds and blooms from July to when ever the frost brings dormancy. Even though the hummers have the feeder, they check the fuchsia bloosoms for nectar everyday. Gartenmeister is an upright perennial fuchsia that grows in pots but will do well in the ground growing several feet after a spring pruning.

Fascinating that nineteen floors above busy Seattle city streets the humming birds have found this feeder, arriving every morning at sunrise and leaving every evening at sunset. Are they here for the fall or will they spend the winter? I will keep you posted.

Fall Colors

Fall Osprey 2007

This is the willow by the pond

Osprey cottonwoods and crab apples show their color.

Vine Maple and the Larch/Tamarack before the wind removes their needles and leaves.

Plant for Spring

Plant bulbs now for spring. Not all bulbs will reward you year after year. This beautiful yellow tulip refuses to bloom repeatedly or naturalize to return and multiply. It can be done but I have left this challenge to the professionals. Also deer and squirrels eat tulips. This tulip was planted in a protected place hidden under deciduous scrubs and surprised me in early Spring. I like the Narcissus family of bulbs and crocus for naturalizing. In addition the squirrels don't eat daffodils. To have a host of golden daffodils plant them in clumps, three, five , seven bulbs to a clump. I use top add bone meal to the 6-12 inch hole, depth depends on the size of your bulb, but this year some critter dug up two sixty bulbs in order to imbibe on the bone meal. I replanted all but two missing bulbs without the added fertilizer. Now I wait for spring. Also copied this from Ciscoe Morris garden guru in the Pacific Northwest.

By CISCOE MORRIS SPECIAL TO THE P-I
This time of year, it's incredibly easy to root branches cut from twig dogwood, willow, hydrangea, honeysuckle vine, butterfly bush, weigela, forsythia and perhaps others.
Simply cut off a branch and stick it in the ground where the soil is well-drained and the site is shady and protected from cold winds; then leave it alone until you see it begin to grow in spring or early summer.

I strongly recommend that you try this. Use new growth from this year and peal off leaves on lower part of a 8 to 12 inch twig. I probably wrote about this before. I did it too early this year so I think all my twigs died. But this weekend with the fall rains occurring every few days is the perfect time to try again. I also get too excited and anxious and start this process too soon and can't keep the twigs moist for rooting to occur. Especially a great opportunity, if you have a mild late winter like you did last year.
You are probably to busy preparing for baby, but maybe some year this will be helpful.

Renewal

Fall is the time of renewal. The leaves need continuous raking and transporting to the mulch pile. In a pile they turn to mush with the summer grass clippings and kitchen compost. Leaves raked directly on the garden beds protect the sensitive perennials like roses. Living 19 floors above the ground I can only visualize composting, but renewal happens on balconies as well. Pots are freshened with mums and pansies maybe an attractive kale. I potted a one foot evergreen after trimming its roots. A bonsai Christmas tree with outdoor ornaments is a renewable feature. While dirt gardeners are covering their hybrid roses with leaves, my miniature roses filled out with new leaves and new blooms. The coming of cooler, moister fall weather and an additional boost of fertilizer gave them a fresh start.
At Osprey we have a wonderful blackberry bush which grows wild out past the barn. In honor of the fall renewal I plan to choose a long runner or two that touch the ground. I will remove several leaves on the runner, cover the nodes where the leaves were with growth hormone and then place the treated area on a loosened area of ground and cover the section of runner with some composted soil. Hopefully new roots will grow from this rooting and next fall or spring of 2009 I will have started an additional blackberry bush. Fall is not the time to close down, but a time of opportunity and preparation. Make plans now for the future garden.

September and October
September and October I could hardly believe my eyes but the leaves of the acorn squash looked crinkled and the edges were brown, FROST! Date: September 8.
Being a California native I will never get use to September being harvest time in my garden in Cle Elum, Washington! The peaches had just ripened to be picked the week before! The last frost last spring was in May! This year I am promising myself to remember there are only 90 days of summer. This the third week of September I must harvest all the sage, thyme, parsley, basil, oregano, celery, and squash (not pumpkins or squash with hard shells like acorn, even though the leaves and stems look dead). I need to cover spread the compost to protect perrenials and mark where my potatoes are so I can dig as we need. I don't leave my pumpkins on the ground because the rain, which has also started, can cause them to rot. I do leave all picked apples and squash under cover where the cool crisp nights will keep them fresh. All the wildflower seed heads need to be cut and distributed. I need to check the wild bee boxes and see if all the tubes are full. Frost didn't touch my tomato plants because the deer ate them first, but if they hadn't been eaten, I could have cover my plants with the green tomato fruit or I could pick them green, place them on newspaper in a cool dry place or I could leave them to hang on the dead plant in hopes that the last few warm sun days will ripen them before the hard frost and snow! Collecting frost deaden leaves and small twigs and building compost piles are all part of the work of September and October. Also this is time to evaluate the successes of the 2007 garden and begin to plan where to plant tomatoes where the deer can't eat them!

Abundance in the Garden

Abundance in the Garden: August tips

By the first of August the gardens spreads filling every corner with leaves, blossoms, vegetables, and fruits. Pick everything as it ripens. Continuous harvest, picking and eating or freezing and canning will prolong the abundance into fall provided you continue to water and the sun continues to shine. An application of blossom fertilizer (the middle number of the NPK label) will help invigorate the plants. Look for a natural fertilizer designed for blossom production because they have longer lasting effects. Liquid Alaska Fish makes a great one for blooms.

There will always be squash that grows beyond bounds. Overgrown squash won’t have as much flavor as normal size, so chop it to noodle size and pour on the pasta sauce or bake it like lasagna. I also like to stuff squash. Microwave squash halves, then stuff with a mix of rice, cottage cheese and some spices, and bake with grated cheese on top.

This year I am going to buy tomatoes and try freezing them. The deer have eaten my tomatoes that I hid amongst the potatoes and they ate all my potato leaves for the first time ever! So hiding tomatoes in potatoes did not work well! Fortunately I have Pike’s Market for local tomatoes.

If you want large pumpkins, you will need to pinch off the ends of a runner. Once a pumpkin has set and is several inches in diameter, cut off the end of the runner so no other pumpkin can form on that branch. Can’t help with melons because I have never lived where it gets warm enough long enough to ripen.

I have never taken a picture of my vegetable garden. I think I am embarrassed because I grow should a free form willy-nilly garden. I experiment on how to hide the tasty vegetables from the deer, so the garden by this time of the year looks like a jungle where a machete might be needed to find lettuce and celery. Pick, eat, can, freeze and enjoy!

Wildflowers of Pardon My Garden

Wildflower Daisy, Aster and Fleabane: Asteraceae and Erigeron

This is a broad classification and could include Chrysanthemum and Black-eyed Susan and coneflower and all the sunflowers.. These are all flowers with centers and ray like flowers. Fleabanes bloom spring and early summer. The thin multiple petal rays distinguish the fleabane and the nodding weakened bud and stem. They add color to the spring garden but don’t make good cut flowers. Asters on the other hand that bloom in the summer and fall make excellent cut flowers. The Oxeye daisy, easily propagated by seed is considered a weed by some farmers. Here in Washington it is a non-native plant but is a form of English daisy. The Oxeye daisy blooms earlier than the aster and is white while often the aster is blue, pink or purple.

Oxeyed Daisy, Greenfield, New Hampshire




Aster, Fleabane, Greenfield , New Hampshire

References

As I develop these writings I will periodically try to give notes to books that I use as additional references to my own experiences. The notes on wildflowers are being referenced from " The Big Book of Northwest Perennials" by Marty Wingate. This is a beautiful factual guide with lovely photographs highlighted by a focus on " choosing, growing and tending perennials". All the photographs used my postings are ones I have taken. The photos, unless otherwise noted, will be of plants grown in my own garden in Cle Elum, Washington or in my son and daughter-inlaw's garden in Greenfield, New Hampshire.

Wild Flower Rudbeckia

Wild Flowers; Rudbeckia, Asteraceae Black -eyed Susan; Cone flower

Like yarrow, Rudbeckia comes from the Asteraceae, aster daisy family. Deer and elk rarely eat it while butterflies and bees are attracted to the abundant pollen. This picture was taken in the west corner of your drain field and was standing alone 18 inches high. Here in Washington at Osprey these bright flowers start blooming in hot weather July or August. At your home in New Hampshire late June seemed to be hot enough for the Black-eyed Susan in your garden. Rudbeckia make great cut flowers and cutting will prolong their bloom, but don’t pick them all because they can be propagated by their dry seeds in the fall. Leave some of the strongest blossoms for seeding next years plants. Either allow the seed to fall in place or collect seed in late fall after the flower head has become dry. Collect seeds before the autumn rains start by rubbing with gloved fingers on the dark center of the flower. This can be hard. The flower heads are hard and the seed is small. I like to sprinkle the seeds immediately. I scratch bare earth and sprinkle the seeds and cover lightly with loose soil. I have had great luck with this method provided I choose a good location where the new Rudbeckia will get full sun and some moisture as it is not as drought tolerate as other asteraceae family members. These flowers add lots of bright yellow color all throughout a wild flower or cut flower garden. Enjoy!