Author: straykat
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Japanese Princess
Just sayin’ … Spring in the Pacific NW rocks.
Link to David-san’s page for more info. http://www.davidsansjapanesemaples.com/shop/product/japanese_princess
Here is an article about one of my new plants … I purchased a 6″ pot of “Golden Comet” in Fall 2020 at the RSBG. Planted in Spring 2021.
A New Era in the History of the Rhododendron Species Foundation
Steve Hootman
Federal Way, Washington
With the naming and registration ofRhododendron luteum ‘Golden Comet’, the Rhododendron Species Foundation (RSF) has taken the next logical step in its continuing evolution.
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New plantings
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It’s been a year.
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Little ittty bitty flower buds
are showing on several of our citrus trees. They seem to be pretty happy in the greenhouse, and are going about the business of being citrus trees, with all that that entails.
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Citrus like a greenhouse
I have now moved all of my citrus trees into the greenhouse. They visibly prefer the higher humidity there. All but two of my new citrus are showing top growth, which means they have started rooting!!
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Spring in the greenhouse
Things are growing in the greenhouse on this Spring day. And these trimmings and first harvest will be participating in our brunch this morning.
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So much has changed …
… since I started this project – a straw bale garden. Here we are, in the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak. Borders across the world are closed, schools are closed, there are lines at Costco and empty shelves. The future is very uncertain right now.
The project has taking on different meaning. Maybe it’s not just an idle hobby, but perhaps it will feed us and our friends when things are harder to come by – either because of supply, or costs.
My grandmother lived through two world wars, depression, inflation, famines, and being a refuge. Her stories were part of my childhood, as she was my minder after school until I was around 12, because my mother worked.
While this outbreak is unprecedented, the basics still apply – we need to eat. We need shelter. We need community. And medicine, but that’s a different blog. As a person with T1D, I guess I should figure out how to make insulin … Until a few months from now, I’ll be focusing on growing food.
… You should be feeling movement soon, and in 60-80 days, welcome a harvest of new potatoes.
I planted the seed potatoes elbow deep into the straw bales – I create a tunnel of sorts, added some soil, then the potato at the bottom of the bale. Potatoes develop tubers between the location of the seed potato and the surface of the soil. The theory is, that the bale is fluffy enough to allow the potato to make lots of tubers without the need for repeatedly hilling up soil.
I have never planted anything elbow-deep inside of a straw bale. I imagine, giving a pelvic exam to a cow could be a bit like that – probably less scratchy. Weird. Long sleeves are warranted.
Now, two bales are planted with seed potatoes, and I added beet seeds and radish seedlings to the surface. This is done. But more potatoes must be planted!!!
If all goes well, we should have some radishes to eat beginning of April, beets and potatoes about a month later. So exciting!!!
