Honoring the spirit of MLK and Day of Service, we partnered with the Washington Conservation Corp to rejuvenate our demonstration garden, paving the way for a thriving spring planting session. Through our partnership, we've implemented sustainable practices that enhance soil quality, protect pollinators, and provide habitats for beneficial wildlife. As we look forward t9 another productive growing season, with a projected harves of 12,000lbs, we're reminded of the profound difference that collaborative efforts can make in our community.
Nearing the end of August 2024 Garden Tour
Summer never quite feels long enough for this PNW native and traveler of all places.
After an extraordinary couple of cold days the sun has returned and the garden is in a hurry phase, both Melanin and Gnocchi love to join me for a walk in the garden and know I'm a sure thing for a snuggle.
Blueberries are all done for this year, squash are squashing and being harvested daily. Sunflowers are just beginning to die back and we are currently harvesting the heads to share with the birds this winter and to use in seed bombs next year.
Dahlias, Salvia hot-lips, black-eyed Susan's, Heather are packed with blooms but the crocosmia and lillies have gone to seed. Every seed that can be saved is gathered.
My hubby will love to hear that the California Lilac has almost fully recovered and will prune it with guidance in the future.
There are still strawberries thanks to the everbearing variety, those will continue until the first freeze.
Peppers are fruiting fast along with the tommatillos and tomatoes, everything still needs to change color and ripen, fortunately we still have time. The heirlooms will fruit until the first freeze so be sure not to prune those. Feel free to thin out extra foliage to allow for added sunlight and airflow on your cherry tomatoes.
Keep a close eye out for powdery mildew in the garden, prune affected foliage rather than attempt to treat. This will be done repeatedly thanks to the extra humidity.
Thornless blackberries feel endlessly infinite to harvest, I've resorted to begging the neighbor kids to help, they take home what they pick which is not insignificant. The daily average is 15-20lbs of these finger sized bites of awesome.
Gallons of Bush beans are harvested daily while the corn is maturing. Leafy greens and root veggies can be found almost everywhere.
The rhubarb normally dies back in the summer heat but it has been the coldest August in 14 years.
I'm feeling grateful for the yields
🎼Easy peasy ways to attract the beesies🎼
Shhhhh do you hear that? Its the sound of pollinators!
🐝🐞🦋 Would you love to attract more to your garden? Obviously the answer is “Of Course yes!”!
Some obvious ways are plant native plants appropriate for your area and using less or no chemicals.
Lets get even easier than that…
Let some things bloom.
This is just Apple Mint, Oregano, and Bee Balm.
Its truly that simple. No hard to grow flowers, just let the herbs bloom.
Carrots, radishes, and anything in the Brassicaceae family also attract pollinators if you let a few bloom.
Get your pollinator buzz on🐝✌🏼
🌱THE GARDEN BERMUDA TRIANGLE🌱
We are in it and it can be a challenge, especially for new gardeners.
The Bermuda Triangle is a shorter period of time where 3 seasons of crops overlap.
Tender Spring crops like Peas, Radishes, leafy greens are wrapping up.
We are looking ahead to replant those for Fall/Winter. Some should be replanted now, some need to wait.
Then we have our Summer crops like Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant, Squash, that are recently growing a lot, putting blooms out, and even harvesting some early ones.
It can become overwhelming!
Remember you are growing for you. If you only want to grow certain plants or for certain seasons that is wonderful!
If you had big garden plans and life stuff happened that is priority, its okay.
Always give yourself grace because you can’t have a healthy garden without a healthy gardener.
If you need help or have questions DTECG is here to help✌🏼
A quick primer on primocanes.
For those of you growing the Triple Crown THORNLESS blackberries this year, it's time to do some pruning.
Here are some things you can do with primocanes, or first-year canes, of blackberry plants:
Prune: During the summer, you can prune primocanes to encourage better fruit production and make the plant more manageable.
This type of pruning is called tipping and involves cutting the canes to a height of 3–4 ft, or when they reach chest height.
Cutting the tips by 6–12 inches encourages lateral branching, which produces more potential berries.
For best results, tip the canes when they are small and the tips are soft.
You can use sharp pruning shears and provide support with tomato cages if the canes lean.
Avoid pruning if you want an earlier harvest, or if buds or flowers have already formed on the tips.
Train: You can also train primocanes up through the plant to the top wire, then divide and tie them to the wire. This method works well for semi-erect and less vigorous trailing cultivars.
Uniformly placing the lateral canes along the trellis wires can maximize light exposure and yield.
Support: You can tie primocanes loosely together as they develop.
Scapes!
Garlic scapes only grow on Hardneck Garlic varieties.
There is a lot of misinformation out there about them.
Removing them does not increase bulb head size. However they are incredibly delicious, especially when young and tender.
Garlic is a plant that gives us many ways to enjoy it.
Every part of the plant is edible and useful.
We all know the bulb. The greens are also edible. The scapes can be used in stirfry, pickled, chopped in salad.
The garlic seeds can be used to pack a huge punch of flavor or saved to plant.
If you haven’t grown Garlic before ask us how🌱
*How to plant a root bound plant*
Always soak the pot first. If its really dry overnight is helpful. A damp rootball helps reduce transplant stress.
Remove from pot.
Use your fingertips to gently rub up and down all sides of the rootball.
This helps unbind and stimulate the roots.
Do the same on the bottom. If it is matted do it a bit more aggressively. Pull off any long dangling weak roots but be mindful that some plants have a “Tap Root” and you don’t want to damage it if thats the case.
Most plants, with the exception of tomatoes and a few others, should be planted only to the depth where soil met stem in the pot.
The bottom of the hole must be flat to ensure there are no air pockets.
Once placed just gently fill in and tuck in like you would a blanket around a kid. Don’t compact, just tuck the soil. This ensures there are no air pockets on the sides.
Then hand compress firmly but gently on top and done.
Written out it sounds like a lot but its simple.
Hopefully later this week I’ll do a better video showing more of the planting part.
Whatever you do, go grow✌🏼
We had an exciting visit to the Tulalip Tribe Senior Center Garden, where we explored the world of gardening and shared sustainable practices that promote healthy living for seniors!
Thank you Volunteer Growers
Starts are beginning to sprout! We will be distributing these to some of our projects very soon.
🍅So many people are struggling with Tomato Plant issues right now. 🍅
The majority of Tomato Plant varieties originate from very warm climates with longer seasons and struggle in ours.
We too often plant early and cause irreparable stress to the plants on top of exposing them to bacteria/viruses/fungi they aren’t equipped biologically to deal with at an early vulnerable state.
Two options.
1) wait to plant them. If you are one who does major kudos and your plants love you! 🫶🏻
2) plant cold tolerant varieties (usually Siberian).
These are varieties are bred to grow in colder climates.
Downside is they aren’t as easy to find. These varieties aren’t commonly commercially grown and sold here.
Only select growers have them and its usually someone personally growing them but they are worth finding.
We are sharing a rainbow of seeds with everyone at Lake Stevens Pride 2024!
Down To Earth Community Gardens is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization. Do you love gardening?
