Washingtonians

[Mia_]

Quote:

The family doesn't plan to drive far anywhere anytime soon, most of my show-worthy birds need molting before actually being able to show, no one else but myself wants to actually spend a night somewhere just to show some chickens, and, I certainly don't have the money for it.

You'see, I live with my fam who does all the money related stuff and has the vehicles. I just take care of the farm, feed them, and pay for stuff through selling. It's nice and, umm, horrible at the same time. They like seeing the chickens and the money that comes in, but if they don't even like talking about chickens, well, they sure aren't gonna help organize a trip to a show anytime soon.

They would prefer if you stick around and play with the vampires?

 

[Illia]

Get Chestnuts from Raintree in June.

They have huge sales and their Chestnuts go CHEAP.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

About the lack of adventure in Wetside fruit plantings:

One thing was suggested by my experience with Figs (which I'd love to have, especially since fresh figs are relatively nonglycemic): most of the wetside has low enough temperatures to kill off Zone 7 plants at least once a decade, except in the most favored microclimatic pockets (of which the stretch of Burnt Ridge Road where both Raintree and Burnt Ridge are is one).

Another is that all fruit trees need careful consideration in their placement, and forced to choose between spending a good chunk of money on a plant you know will bear well and most importantly bear fruit your family will eat and taking a chance on something utterly unknown, which will take a few years to fruit and considerable hassle to remove and replant if you don't like it, well, give the people what they want and all that jazz.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Quote:
Dang right cause there ain't nuthin wrong wiff meat, spuds n gravy. Dats survival food right there. Ya caint survive on all dat foo foo junk!

Hmm...not all true.

Folks like to plant their comfort foods, but it also depends on what are in the stores.
There are lots of "interesting" home grown foods out there.

Trouble is ... home grown foods stay at home and not shared in the farmers markets.
So they are growing it, you just not seeing it. LOL And they is not sharing.

Folks also grow their old timers because they know it works in their garden and they can always buy the more interesting varieties in the stores.
Garden size is the determining factor in most cases. If you just have a teeny plot, you dont want to put "untested" varieties in it.
Just got to look in the right places and you'll see some cool things growing in backyards.
I started a pea patch in Redmond and there were lots of expats. 70%+ were from another country. You should see the variety of plants there!
I tried white eggplants this year...Cool plant, no fruit. I also tried ichiban japanese eggplants...loads of fruit.

I know for a fact in the central part of seattle, you will see lots of very interesting foods grown in the pea patches. Some of those seeds are saved and passed from neighbour to neighbour.
I saw a paw paw plant in Bellevue, PUR-simmons, walnuts, asian pears & dates, etc & in Beacon Hill, its just that if we grow "interesting" fruits...we risk not harvesting due to our climate zone.
I never harvested my "failed" persimmons, giant pumpkins, grapes...the list goes on and on. I try new things, but I also have a big lot to plant in.
Also, some plants are just not available. I have been trying to get a nice chestnut tree for a while ... w/o having to pay too much for shipping.
Raintree is very good, but prices add up fast.

Mike from Burnt Ridge still does order pick-up at the Oly Framer's Market, I think, which is one way to get around shipping costs. Another is to noise around, in June, and get a group together to co-op on a rental truck and go pick up a load of discount plants at the clearance sale- a minivan full of shoppers and a truck to haul plants back and do not, whatever you do, go pick up plants for anyone without having cash in hand, unless you can afford to lose said money. I used to go down to the clearance sale every year as well as the Memorial Day sale at Lawyer's until I ended up with too many plantings where I'd heeled in the rest of a bunch of ten and never got around to finding homes for the surplus.

OH: Lawyer's. This is a commercial nursery which grows the better sort of commercial landscape plants (I bet CGG knows about them) and has a massive discount sale every Memorial Day, with stuff like bundles of six own-root tree peonies for $25, and I think they have chestnut trees. Again, you need to go and get, but in this case it's just go and get in Evergreen Valley instead of God-foresaken Morton.

(Anyone who goes to the RT clearance remember what I said about microclimates up above: the nursery is HOT in June, and the same topography which protects it from arctic weather also shields it from refreshing breezes. Bring water, dress in layers, wear a hat).

 

[SadieSue]

Quote:
I had one of those do that under my broody gal the other day!

Wasn't home when it happened and my broody gal decided to move over to the next nest with some recently laid eggs. There was a nasty stench and flies all over the place! Took the eggs, soaked in warm water for a bit to get the goo off, cleaned the nest box, and put them back. We've had two successful hatchings from them as of today with my broody still sitting on the other eggs!

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb273/inc0gnit0_OK/IMG_20110907_142109.jpg

Dont you just love the little chicks? So sweet!

 

[blueducklings]

Quote:
I had one of those do that under my broody gal the other day!

Wasn't home when it happened and my broody gal decided to move over to the next nest with some recently laid eggs. There was a nasty stench and flies all over the place! Took the eggs, soaked in warm water for a bit to get the goo off, cleaned the nest box, and put them back. We've had two successful hatchings from them as of today with my broody still sitting on the other eggs!

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb273/inc0gnit0_OK/IMG_20110907_142109.jpg

Eew...stink bomb on fluffy butt.

 

[Ogress]

Quote:
Dang right cause there ain't nuthin wrong wiff meat, spuds n gravy. Dats survival food right there. Ya caint survive on all dat foo foo junk!

Hmm...not all true.

Folks like to plant their comfort foods, but it also depends on what are in the stores.
There are lots of "interesting" home grown foods out there.

Trouble is ... home grown foods stay at home and not shared in the farmers markets.
So they are growing it, you just not seeing it. LOL And they is not sharing.

Folks also grow their old timers because they know it works in their garden and they can always buy the more interesting varieties in the stores.
Garden size is the determining factor in most cases. If you just have a teeny plot, you dont want to put "untested" varieties in it.
Just got to look in the right places and you'll see some cool things growing in backyards.
I started a pea patch in Redmond and there were lots of expats. 70%+ were from another country. You should see the variety of plants there!
I tried white eggplants this year...Cool plant, no fruit. I also tried ichiban japanese eggplants...loads of fruit.

I know for a fact in the central part of seattle, you will see lots of very interesting foods grown in the pea patches. Some of those seeds are saved and passed from neighbour to neighbour.
I saw a paw paw plant in Bellevue, PUR-simmons, walnuts, asian pears & dates, etc & in Beacon Hill, its just that if we grow "interesting" fruits...we risk not harvesting due to our climate zone.
I never harvested my "failed" persimmons, giant pumpkins, grapes...the list goes on and on. I try new things, but I also have a big lot to plant in.
Also, some plants are just not available. I have been trying to get a nice chestnut tree for a while ... w/o having to pay too much for shipping.
Raintree is very good, but prices add up fast.

I have loads of eggplant but I don't know what kind. I have 2 Asian pears for 8 years already and neither has ever set fruit. I have 3 other pear trees (2 varieties I never hear of at a Bartlet) guess which is the only one to ever set fruit? 7 varieties of apples - most are coming down this fall as only Liberty and King have fruit wirth eating, the others are few and full of black spots. My Kirk Blue plum has also never had a fruit on it, so I may get rid of it as well.

I have some pretty cool tomato, corn and squash varieties I bought from Uprising, but this summer has been too cool and it does not look like anything will ripen in time.

I need a large wind-resistant greenhouse that does not have chickens in it.

 

[Kaneke]

Quote:
I was thinking that I ought to build a stone or brick wall, near my fruiting trees, to be a "heat sink" and help them survive the unseasonable cold snaps

plenty of rocks to be gathered around here

after all, that's what the Apple Garths in England were for, to hold the heat and, to a certain extent, shield the trees from wind

I wonder, if you put in a brick barbecue, especially if you chose to burn charcoal in it the evening of a predicted cold snap, if that would protect the figs you want to plant ...

 

[blueducklings]

Quote:
Hmm...not all true.

Folks like to plant their comfort foods, but it also depends on what are in the stores.
There are lots of "interesting" home grown foods out there.

Trouble is ... home grown foods stay at home and not shared in the farmers markets.
So they are growing it, you just not seeing it. LOL And they is not sharing.

Folks also grow their old timers because they know it works in their garden and they can always buy the more interesting varieties in the stores.
Garden size is the determining factor in most cases. If you just have a teeny plot, you dont want to put "untested" varieties in it.
Just got to look in the right places and you'll see some cool things growing in backyards.
I started a pea patch in Redmond and there were lots of expats. 70%+ were from another country. You should see the variety of plants there!
I tried white eggplants this year...Cool plant, no fruit. I also tried ichiban japanese eggplants...loads of fruit.

I know for a fact in the central part of seattle, you will see lots of very interesting foods grown in the pea patches. Some of those seeds are saved and passed from neighbour to neighbour.
I saw a paw paw plant in Bellevue, PUR-simmons, walnuts, asian pears & dates, etc & in Beacon Hill, its just that if we grow "interesting" fruits...we risk not harvesting due to our climate zone.
I never harvested my "failed" persimmons, giant pumpkins, grapes...the list goes on and on. I try new things, but I also have a big lot to plant in.
Also, some plants are just not available. I have been trying to get a nice chestnut tree for a while ... w/o having to pay too much for shipping.
Raintree is very good, but prices add up fast.

I have loads of eggplant but I don't know what kind. I have 2 Asian pears for 8 years already and neither has ever set fruit. I have 3 other pear trees (2 varieties I never hear of at a Bartlet) guess which is the only one to ever set fruit? 7 varieties of apples - most are coming down this fall as only Liberty and King have fruit wirth eating, the others are few and full of black spots. My Kirk Blue plum has also never had a fruit on it, so I may get rid of it as well.

I have some pretty cool tomato, corn and squash varieties I bought from Uprising, but this summer has been too cool and it does not look like anything will ripen in time.

I need a large wind-resistant greenhouse that does not have chickens in it.

I have a chickless green house, but it is overgrown with weeds. LOL
I also have a chicken tractor that is sitting empty that I can convert to a greenhouse tractor.

It is 8 feet tall adn 8 feet wide. It was my duck chalet, but hte ducks have moved to duckingham palace & grouds.

Maybe it will house the ducklings next year.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Quote:
I was thinking that I ought to build a stone or brick wall, near my fruiting trees, to be a "heat sink" and help them survive the unseasonable cold snaps

plenty of rocks to be gathered around here

after all, that's what the Apple Garths in England were for, to hold the heat and, to a certain extent, shield the trees from wind

I wonder, if you put in a brick barbecue, especially if you chose to burn charcoal in it the evening of a predicted cold snap, if that would protect the figs you want to plant ...

The first one I lost on the south wall of the house had a chiminea with charcoal buring in it and a cinderblock retaining wall reflecting the heat. As the night progressed the lower patio filled with cold air even so (Christmas '98 or maybe '99 when it got so cold the water in my dug well froze). The second and third ones I lost to late-May freezes after they'd leafed out. The south wall of my house is down-slope by quite a lot, and decissions I've had to make to have stable retaining walls and not channel too much cold air under the house end up creating a secondary cold-air trap in still weather; what's ended up working best is to turn on the kitchen (wall mounted) exhaust fan to stirr up the air circulation!

I've wanted to build a long stone wall on the north side of the west yard since I've moved here, but the foundation that would take, on a slope, in sand is just beyond my budget- not to mention all the rock would have to be moved in. My sister's house is under the south slope of an esker, and she's 10-15 degrees warmer than I am in winter, but my parents decided to leve a lot of doug fir in the yard when they built the house, so she's also shaded to an extent that it interfers with growing fruit.