Washingtonians

[blueducklings]

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 ...

I am thinking of building a small retaining wall around the fruit trees because they are on a slight slope, but heat will be a bonus. Maybe i will make it bigger to plant my squash in it as well.
Maybe raintree will let me have another PURR-simmon tree. I killed 3 of their trees already.

But this time I have duck poo.

 

[RustyHen]

Quote:
?

 

[Chicken Rustler]

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.

TRY AS YOU WILL still not gonna convince me there is anything better than SPUDS n GRAVY and meat. ok Come on this is where you are suppoda chime in CL !!!!

 

[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 ...

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.

see, we think alike, you were just ahead of me ---

 

[Kaneke]

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.

TRY AS YOU WILL still not gonna convince me there is anything better than SPUDS n GRAVY and meat. ok Come on this is where you are suppoda chime in CL !!!!

spuds + meat + gravy + vegetables = stew !!! which still tastes like spuds, gravy, and meat

 

[Rainwolf]

Quote:
Thats a lot of jam.
We made 4 quarts years ago and it too us over a year to eat 2 jars.
The black berries look really good this year. Maybe I'll try again this year, but I really don't need the sugar and the sugar free stuff is not so yummy.

It is not all jam

50lbs of pickled beets, canned cherries and nectarines, and i dunno what else mom did.. maybe canned plums...
after the tomatoes its time to make pickles....

 

[AriLovesChickens]

Anybody want to go get this? I don't know how you'd move it...
http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/zip/2588863144.html

 

[Kaneke]

Quote:
looks like that would require a lowboy construction type trailer (or a wrecker-type flatbed truck)

and really sturdy chains and come-alongs

or a goodsized forklift ...

 

[AriLovesChickens]

That's the problem with looking for free stuff...

 

[cmsdvm]

My birds are lost AGAIN! I shipped bantam Polish to Massachusetts Tuesday. Did they arrive Wednesday? No. Today? No. 27 minutes on line, 2nd call to Consumer Affairs- 19 min on hold- "Oh, they are still in Seattle. We haven't shipped them because there is flooding in Massachusetts." "Will they go out tomorrow?" "I don't know." "Can I drive down and get them so they can get some water." "No." "Is there any way SOMEONE can get to these birds?" "No." "You do realize these are living creatures?" "Yes, Ma'am, but if they don't arrive tomorrow we can authorize a refund of your Express shipping costs." I hate the Post Office.