Washingtonians

[Chickielady]

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It is getting lighter daily ! Amazing how much lighter it is in Northern Cal than here, I was in total darkness speaking to DH (last night) and he was in full day light, sun still above the horizon. He said that is because Cali "is closer to the sun"

 

[Chickielady]

And while we are on the gardening thing...how many of you do a tater tower ??
Start with a big CR kinda truck tire...put on a heavy hunk a plastic on level ground, add compost, straw from the coops or shavings, more compost unntil the tire is full, smash the 'dirt' innto the inside of the tire.
Then add tater eyes, or peels from your cooking, and cover lightly with more straw/compost and maybe tater starts, and as they grow, add more straw, and keep damp until you need a new tire, keep it going until you cannot go any higher. The tater plants can be very tall, and producing taters all along their length.
In the fall, knock it over, and taters and compost fall out. Stack the tires for next year, and sort the spuds out to store, and compost in the wheel barrow. I think it is easier than digging them, and easier to find them..but do watch for those grey slugs that love to get in a tater and just eat it from the inside out.
I do slug baite in the tater tower, and a window screen on top to keep the boogers out.

 

[ByN8ureHomstead]

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Well, finally a negative about Washington. I will need to find a work around. 3 years ago I did not like peppers now I can't get enough. What I like about the earthbox is I can move them. I have 2 in the house now, moved them inside before the first frost. One box has 4 bell plants and the other has 4 jalapeño plants. I made fresh jalapeño poppers at Christmas.

 

[Cowgirlgrace]

Love the boxes. Keeps the garden lookin tidy and like the not bending over so much. My garden is on 1/4 acre and wish it could be smaller but I could use even more area. Lots of work to get new beds going though as we have glacial till also. I gave up trying to get the rocks out and just build on top of it. My beds are 4' wide and 35 to 52 ft long. To cover them I use sections of rebar pounded into the ground on either side about 6' apart and a single rebar at each end in the center. I get the schedule 40 1/2 in pvc pipe and cut into 8-10' sections and slip them over the rebar. I use 12' wide greenhouse plastic and gather the ends together and tie it off with baling twine and then tie it to the rebar on the ends. I have LOTS of rocks so use them to hold the plastic down and clamps to hold it up for ventilation. Wish I had a picture but I think Johnnys Seeds website has an online video showing it done. I think it's Elliot Colmans idea so I think its in his books too except I used rebar cause you can't PUSH anything into the glacial till! If it's over winter and there is lots of wind you can take baling twine and tie it to the rebar at dirt level and run it over the top to the other side. This will also work to hold the plastic up to vent instead of clamps. You can use these to grow melons and anything else that needs extra heat. Helps to get melons into the ground earlier. Start the melons in the greenhouse or cold frame. In the meantime, prepare your soil and lay some sort of drip line for watering then black plastic on top of that, put up your hoops and plastic and get the soil warmed up early. Depends on our spring but you can usually get them in the ground in April or May. Even if we have a rotton summer you can still ripen melons in this. You can also do this in the raised beds like Chickys, just smaller scale. Planting into black plastic will keep the soil nice and warm. In my 4 ft beds I pick varieties that are bush to semi bush so they don't need to sprawl all over and by the time they start wanting to grow out of the plastic you can just cut the tips off and it redirects energy into ripening the fruit inside the cover instead of more flowering and melons that probably won't have time to ripen anyway.

 

[Cowgirlgrace]

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I totally agree and would add that since you have a life and (it sounds like) they don't they have nothing better to do than try to make you look bad. I have several of those and I just tell them to KMWA.

now there is an idea !

Actually we have made up, and I apologized even though I said nothing nasty to her, just defended myself to her nasty remarks...I just do not want to continue the useless argueing and hate 'mail'
It dimenishes the energy, robs me of sleep and makes me totally consumed in toxic negativity and it is inevitible that some poor well meaning soul comes along and gets dragon fire from me.
A person can only hold so much.
I am not doing it any more, good article in this month's AARP::how to use loose weight without trying -and-how to deal with toxic people.
Toxic people you just need to smile and ignore.
The loosing weight thing consisted of the three rules to adopt for the upcoming year:

Pick three, if one does not work, change to a different one but always keep three:

1) Always include a fruit and a vegetable with your lunch and dinner
2)Do not ever eat white foods at dinner (I love that one !)
3)Use the half plate rule: Always fill your plate with half salad or veggies first.
4)Have a sweet or salty snack in the afternoon ONLY if you FIRST eat a piece of freash fruit.
5)Drink 1 glass of fresh cool water before every meal.
6)Use the restaurant Rule of 2: Limit yourself to only two other items on the menu besides your entree.
7)Never eat in front of the TV.
8)Eat a peice of fruit on the way to work everyday.(NO doughnuts, rolls muffins or other starch !)
9)Save dessert for a weekend treat.
10)Freeze half of what you make to use for another meal, and use the other half.
11) Slow down, sit at a table and eat, not in front of the TV, or in the car or in front of the computer.
12) Pre plate your food in the kitchen and then go sit in the Dining room to eat, do not put the Pots of food on the Dining table as it is too easy to dip seconds.

I think #10 referred to freezing half the food on your plate for another meal, so I will skip that one, and I seldom if ever eat in a restaurant, so I skip #6 also.
But I love the rest, especially the dessert weekends and no white food at dinner (except cauliflower!)
I have another one of my favorites: Do not sauce/butter and dip yourself fat either.
I watched so many people buy and eat Kentucky Fried Chicken or Pizza and alot of other foods that are nasty fat in the first place, add Ranch dressing to dip in, yes even their chicken and pizza. YUCK!
There is also a group that think having a 40 pound salad for a meal with 16 toppings and a gallon of rich fattening dressing on top is a diet.
No.
So stay firm on no cheese sauce on that cauliflower, no dipping, and no gallons of (*sigh!*) gravy either.
I like O&V spritzed...I used to LOVE Blue Cheese but it has gluten so had to stop that.
So #13 is my personal dressing/topping/dipping rule:
13) Knock off the dipping, limit the salad dressing to a spritz of lemon, or a tablespoon or two of oil and vinegar dressing.(Cream salad dressing are the worst for calories!)

OK, now let's see some more gardens !!
All of the pictures are so beautiful !

Love those ideas. I need to work on weight creeping creeping creeping! I get that magazine too but haven't read that one yet.

 

[Chickielady]

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Honestly I have never seen any insect eat nasties !
Chickens do not like them either. I can let mine go and they wander through the nasty forest looking for bugs but never eat the nasties...maybe you had some different kind of nasties ?

 

[jbear]

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But I meant we should save seeds from our own home grown stuff from open pollinated varieties. I KNOW i could get tomato seeds from my dad, and corn and squashes, beans, peppers etc. My mom saved ALL her seed and had been doing so for YEARS. They are all organic.. and probably there are a few that are their 'own' ..

On the other hand, I will also have many extra purchased seeds shortly as I am placing my orders! I did just join the Seed Savers Exchange too.. Anyone else do that??

So, this was a long term project I thought would be fun.

I just picked up a seed saving book at the library==and I know there's another one out there by someone Bubel? is that right?

Cackle--You should totally hang onto that wheat as long as you can... grow it in a protected area somehow and save from it. You are not kidding you will have a commodity!

CL~~ may your husband have a safe trip home!!

BNF~ if you are moving to EW, you will have NO problem growing any of the hot weather stuff. The only thing my poppa can't get to grow (but some of his friends do) are melons. The melons have to be babied with plastic and mulch and sweet whispers. But poppa grows peppers--alllll kinds, and many many tomatoes. He lives in the Methow Valley. Last summer was kind of an exception for growing things, it was so wet and cold. But he STILL gave many tomatoes away after he put up enough salsas etc for himself. My dad is like you--the hotter the better. Sometimes I can't eat his cooking! lol!

 

[Chickielady]

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I will never share my nasties with any of them. They can plant their own since they are sooooooooo superior in all ways.
I am sorry JB but they will have to get their sprays !!

We have never had a fight incident in my family and fairly certain DH has never had a fight in his either, holidays ofr not...until now.
And what an ugly situation it was.
Dh was not there so does not know all the gory details, but it does look like it is piling serious issues on cousin's marriage.
Too bad, she is a very nice person, I like her alot and she works hard to have the family over and certainly does not deserve this ugly display in her home.
It was her hubby who clocked the neice who stayed a few days with her large and barfy dog, not a good idea to drag a large to dog to the family get together. Enough stresses on the host and hostess without a barft dog eating their expensive furniture...why was this dog in the house anyway ??
Who knows...glad I was here on my hill in my little cabin with my critters.

 

[Imp]

Quote:
Honestly I have never seen any insect eat nasties !
Chickens do not like them either. I can let mine go and they wander through the nasty forest looking for bugs but never eat the nasties...maybe you had some different kind of nasties ?

I don't know either. The bugs look just like the aphids that get on roses etc, just black. I will usually see a few then overnight the nasturtiums are coated like they've been spray painted black. Haven't even tried planting them in 10 years. I tried Ciscoe Morris' "el kabatski" method of control, but the damage is too extensive. I do not see those bugs on other plants. I usually buy the Ed Hume seeds.
Guess it's just one of those things.

Russ

 

[Chickielady]

Quote:
But I meant we should save seeds from our own home grown stuff from open pollinated varieties. I KNOW i could get tomato seeds from my dad, and corn and squashes, beans, peppers etc. My mom saved ALL her seed and had been doing so for YEARS. They are all organic.. and probably there are a few that are their 'own' ..

On the other hand, I will also have many extra purchased seeds shortly as I am placing my orders! I did just join the Seed Savers Exchange too.. Anyone else do that??

So, this was a long term project I thought would be fun.

I just picked up a seed saving book at the library==and I know there's another one out there by someone Bubel? is that right?

Cackle--You should totally hang onto that wheat as long as you can... grow it in a protected area somehow and save from it. You are not kidding you will have a commodity!

CL~~ may your husband have a safe trip home!!

BNF~ if you are moving to EW, you will have NO problem growing any of the hot weather stuff. The only thing my poppa can't get to grow (but some of his friends do) are melons. The melons have to be babied with plastic and mulch and sweet whispers. But poppa grows peppers--alllll kinds, and many many tomatoes. He lives in the Methow Valley. Last summer was kind of an exception for growing things, it was so wet and cold. But he STILL gave many tomatoes away after he put up enough salsas etc for himself. My dad is like you--the hotter the better. Sometimes I can't eat his cooking! lol!

Jen we talked about saving seed and sharing last spring...maybe you were not online here yet or missed the post.
But seed savers sounds interesting !