Phaedra's Garden 2022

[Phaedra]

A painting Tuesday, I took four short breaks to finish this door. During painting, I listened to the podcast from The Economist talking about Boris Johnson, Sri Lanka's situation, the dark side of TikTok; also from The Guardian talking about The Uber files.

Sigh. I suddenly realized a sentence I read yesterday about cleaning the kitchen - "The world is messy, but at least, I can clean up my kitchen."

At least, I can paint my garden doors and well, it looks better than it was this morning.

 

[baymule]

That’s a very good outlook. And the garden doors look fabulous!

 

[Phaedra]

Salat greens as succession plants after garlic - they already look delicious!

Pumpkins on the way

nasturtium - a lovely variety called Night and Day - the dark red ones are the "Night."

Kindergarten area for small Dahlia tubers to grow, also some vegetables for autumn

All three clusters (Florist's Daisy) are developed from a tiny cutting!

The second area of lilies - will blossom in a few days

The daughter tree is already a robust plant - the tiny cutting from last autumn became a small tree. To make it bushier, I topped it several times. It looks pretty small, but the root system is very ready to be transplanted.

Together with the volunteer cherry brought by birds (I guess), I will transplant both young trees in the coming-soon quail run - I want to create a really nice living environment for the quails.

Apples on the way

 

[digitS']

What kind of tree is the mother and daughter, Phaedra?

We have had good/bad luck with our trees. The elderly owner who sold us the home said that "God" had planted all the trees in our lot. She might have had a better perspective on that since she had lived here over 50 years. I cut down a mulberry that was growing in the garden and a hackberry growing against the house foundation, immediately. Two other small hackberries were cut down as soon as I was able to determine what they were. The aging locust had to be removed this Spring before a windstorm would have taken it down.

DW has a special appreciation for peaches. They can be grown here altho this is a little far north for them. Grafting helps. Unfortunately, DW didn't understand this.

Lots of peach peelings go in the compost. Seeds too, but not any more! Seedlings show up now and then in the garden. DW found a "special home" for 2. Both have had the same problem. I have sprayed them with sulphur in late Winter as an orchardist has told me to do. Hasn't helped.

They both have done this same thing. A few peaches at age 3 or 4. A boatload of peaches the next year. Then, sickness. Whatever it is - doesn't matter ... There is no need to have the bother of a tree for one good harvest after 5 years and then nothing but diseased fruit and dying branches. She admitted yesterday, after looking at the problems, that tree #2 will have to go. I can take it down - it's only about about 6 inches at the base and about 15 feet tall (15 centimeters x 5 meters tall). Just have to wait until the dahlia planted around it have finished their season.

Grafted on Healthy Rootstock. We need to buy a peach tree if she wants one so badly 🥴.

Steve

 

[Phaedra]

What kind of tree is the mother and daughter, Phaedra?

It's Salix matsudana, a kind of willow. Last year, when I decided to try propagation with cuttings, I started with the plants in the garden. This willow is near the chicken runs, and the chickens love its leaves and flowers. So it's funny to see chickens chasing for snacks from the sky when the leaves and flowers fall.

Later, I realized that willow cutting is very easy to root, so I kept a few of them. One survived and showed stable growth, so I potted it on three times. Now it's quite ready to go.

You mentioned the peach trees - I recently read and watched a lot for the fruit tree guild. Peach trees seem more fragile, and more difficult to stay healthy. I have two young trees in the orchard area, and they didn't do very well. The late frost almost killed one in the 2021 spring; the other has leaf curl this year. So far, it seems they need much more attention and care.

 

[digitS']

Willows - I believe yours is the one folks have in their landscapes here and what we had in southern Oregon.

There are wild willows along many of the rivers here. Taking a quick look at government information: I believe that they may be Salix amygdaloides. There are some that grow very near the distant garden altho it isn't on the river and I don't believe anyone planted them. They grow along a fence line and what was once, the irrigation system, the pipe is still there. The irrigation valve was placed elsewhere probably 30 years ago and, without water leaking, the little willow thicket has a hard time these days. The neighbor's lawn sprinklers often provide some water altho no water was on the lawn after they moved about 3 years ago. Then, we had the drought.

I thought that it might be the end of them and there were only a few that survived. However, they are looking good this year . The neighbors have a little pet cemetery over there. Their daughter & her husband/sons take care of the property now and keep things watered.

Steve

​

 

[Phaedra]

Summer! This coming weekend will be the peak of white lilies; they light up the entire veggie patch.

Sweet peas are doing very, very well this year; I can harvest a lovely amount every two to three days.

Wild carrot also starts to blossom, pink to burgundy red flowers

Today's harvest: scallions, garlic chives, sweet potato leaves, broccoli, salad greens, yellow zucchini, and peas.

The only possibility to get fresh sweet potato leaves - we stir-fry them with garlic.

Now is the time to harvest the entire salad and prepare to clean up the beds. Chickens got a lot of greens today, too.

I also started removing the pea plants and will plant a new batch this weekend - I should be able to harvest before the first frost arrives.

The propagation practices keep going on. The successfully rooted ones include honeysuckle and geranium.

I also pruned some more cuttings today for further practice.

 

[baymule]

What a bright spot your garden is, in my day. While I wrestle with drought, oppressive heat, working on new farm, moving outside stuff, waiting on closing, your garden reminds me there is beauty, peacefulness and continuity of the circle of life in a garden. Thank you!

 

[flowerbug]

...
You mentioned the peach trees - I recently read and watched a lot for the fruit tree guild. Peach trees seem more fragile, and more difficult to stay healthy. I have two young trees in the orchard area, and they didn't do very well. The late frost almost killed one in the 2021 spring; the other has leaf curl this year. So far, it seems they need much more attention and care.

it does seem that almost any time i hear of people around here trying to grow peach trees that they need a lot of care and sprays to get a useable crop from them. which is sad. i'm not sure if there are any organic methods that work reliably for them as i do love peaches and some varieties will grow here even in our climate, but it seems to be a lot of work and not always reliable results, so they are very far down my list of possibilities...

however, if you can get a tree to maturity and to give a crop then the results can be preserved for years. i had a friend who had extra peaches one year and she let me harvest the last of her fruits one year and from that i had about 80 lbs of fruits in four buckets and put them up as peach jams of various kinds and what i was going to do as peach butter but it turned out i was much happier with using it as peach and lemon sauce which could be used in all sorts of recipes. no regrets and something like seven years of enjoyment for my efforts - however, they did the main effort of growing and keeping the tree.

 

[Phaedra]

Once upon a time, it was a raised bed made of pallets.

Long story short...today, I decided to make it into a multi-functional raised bed, something like a kitchen island. So, let's go.

While painting, I first repotted some strawberries from the hoop tunnel. The planters there are too small for strawberries, so now they are living in their own studios. 🤣

And then, an idea came to my mind.

How about this? The side facing the east will become a small sitting area.

Then the side facing the west becomes a small storage space for tools and foldable chairs.

The pallets are not the same size, but it's ok - every corner can shine.

So far, I am satisfied.

I still used the same color as the paint I bought is 5 Liter - perfect for the door and this raised bed.
Now I have not just a raised bed, but also a garden island, hooray~