Strawberries

Today I planted 75 strawberry plants. 25 each of Tri-star, Shuksan and Benton. It was cold (about 40 degrees) and my fingers were pretty cold by the time I finished. There are freeze warnings in effect for later in the week. The strawberries will probably be OK but the bare-root fruit trees we planted last weekend might need some mulch.

Rototilled Today

I went to the farm today intending to set out 75 strawberry plants I received recently from Raintree Nursery. As I was looking over the area where I intended to plant them, I noticed a lot of grass coming up in the soil I had last tilled in early December. I sure would like to take another whack at that grass before setting out the plants. So I started up the tiller to see how it would do. We had an inch of rain yesterday, so I wasn't very hopeful. Voila! the soil tilled nicely. It is mostly sand with lots of Cedar Grove compost worked in. It tilled very nicely.

So I went on and tilled the entire garden (1/4 acre). Only the very lowest 2 ft were a bit wet for tilling.

Then it started raining again -- hard. So I will delay planting another day. I have 25 plants each of three Varieties: Tri-star, Shucksan, and Benton. I planted Shuksan two years ago at the house and liked it a lot.

February Harvest

Yesterday, Feb 12, we harvested a nice meal of brussel sprouts and leeks. It's so nice to have something fresh from the garden in mid-winter.

We also planted fruit trees: 3 frost peach, 1 liberty apple and 1 dayton apple, several thornless blackberry and several red raspberries. Before we planted the berries, I dug a ditch to help drain part of the front garden and we piled up dirt to raise the root zone of the berries up away from water during heavy winter rains.

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The garlic and shallots are up nicely. I mulched two beds of garlic and left two beds unmulched. I thing the mulched beds will do better -- fewer weeds.

January

Not much happened in January. I had a bad cold. We had some really cold weather. And I worked on a new chicken house -- sized for 25 laying hens. I'll post pictures of it when I have it closer to being done.

We did plant a bunch of walla walla sweet onions today. One bunch = one row. We could use a couple more rows. $3/bunch at Cenex. Pretty good looking onion sets, not like last years half dried out sets. You plant walla wallas from pencil-like starts. These were a good quarter inch in diameter.

Jennie also cleaned up the rose bed and the raised vegetable bed. I'm considering putting a hoop cover over the raised bed. We could probably get lettuce and spinach a month earlier that way.

I've gotten two truck loads of horse manure this winter. I found a nearby farm that feeds organic oats and organic local hay. The first truckload I bagged in 1 cu ft bags and gave away as Christmas presents. I thought it would be nice with a bow under the tree, or maybe as stocking stuffers.

The second truckload went into a compost pile, layered with coffee grounds from the T&A espresso stand down the street. I could easily use 4-6 more loads.

Can you tell from the picture that I have tractor envy?

Raspberries

We set out raspberries last weekend. These had been ordered last spring from Raintree Nurseries and 'heeled in' in our yard for the past summer. Some of them bore lots of big red berries last fall, right up until the first freeze. This one is Autumn Britten. Se set out at least a dozen of these plants.

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This one is called E320 Caroline. I believe it bears in June. We will see next year.

Preliminary Farm plan

This overlay on the overhead photo is my current thinking about how I want to use the land -- primarily the half acre north portion of the former pasture. Here are my thoughts:

1. Orchard: Raspberries, Boysenberries, Filbert and peach trees. Perennial beds.

2. Carport, shop (2 rooms), barn.

3. RV parking.

4. 3000 gallon water tank to catch water from the roof for the garden

5. Patio and picnic table

6. Small chicken house.

7. Chicken run or orchard.

8 - 9 First year garden (1/4 acre)

8. Garlic, shallots, carrots

9. Early stuff -- lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, etc.

10. Beans, corn, squash

11. Strawberries, corn, squash

12. Reserve for garden in 2 years. Chicken run with moveable house, Perhaps a grain plot

13 - 14 ???

15. 1/2 acre part of house rental.

16. Small building with prta-pottie.