More from the tulip festival!

Back again with ...

More photos from the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival,
these, courtesy of shutterbug Ari.

This is Roozengard, the largest of the tulip producers.

The Skagit Valley is second only to Holland for bulb production.

We saw over a hundred different variations of tulips, daffodils, hyacinth, etc.

There were tulips that looked like lilies, peonies, roses, and even tulips!

You've gotta luv those colors!

We saw whites, ivories, pinks, reds, oranges, apricots,

yellows, greens, lilac, and purples.

We saw displays of all types.

We saw them up close,

and from the field.

We even saw them from their own town,

Tulip Town, another major grower in the valley!

Flowers, flowers, everywhere!

Guess where we went today?
The Skagit Valley tulip festival!

The sun even came out to shine.

The tulips cooperated by blooming!

These are my favorites!

We even bought a few to take home,

along with some lily & glady. bulbs and sunflower plants.

These photos are courtesy of photobug Alex.

The race is on...

Here's Julie Ann on Greenie, pedaling around the track.

Will she catch her archrival?

Anni on the super trike?
Go girl go!

Today, we made pecan waffles with honey for breakfast.
Then we went out for coffee prior to watering and weeding.
Next, it was time off for biking!
The older farmers and I went to see Monsters versus Aliens in 3-D.
We finished up our Sunday with a backyard BBQ.

The Dandelion Scourge!

The scourge of every gardener, the dandelion!

Did you know, prior to flowering, they are very edible?

And once, they were important food and medicinal item?

And the leaves are delicious as greens in a salad?

(Just make sure they haven't been sprayed with anything nasty!)

Yesterday, we went for a walk at one of our local parks as the sun was briefly shining.

The wildlife was out in force. We saw 36 pond turtles sunning themselves on logs.

We saw a great blue heron make a spectacular landing and numerous

red-winged blackbirds vying for breeding territories. We even saw a super speedy

rufus hummingbird darting around the blackberry vines.

Today, we headed out to look for clothing bargains for Ms. Anni

who is growing like a dandelion weed, taller by the minute.

Luckily for us, most of the stores around here have their summerwear in

and are clearancing the long-sleeved shirts and pants.

Perfect for us, here, where the weather is still not very summery at all.

She picked up a bag full of colorful shirts and pants for just $5 each.

Then because she is such a girlie-girl, she wanted to do lunch - sushi!

She loves the veggie avocado rolls and sesame noodles.

Then, she had a craving for a Godiva chocolate. the girl's got taste!

Ari and I went to RASP, a spoken work group tonight.

Our friend, Lisa, read one of her pieces -very funny!

We also heard a great children's story by a new Nigerian author.

The fruit and veggies

The lastest farm box with potatoes, bok choy, collards,

tangelos, apples, cucumber, kiwi, peas, strawberries,

carrots, avocado, ginger, onions, tomatoes,

shitake mushrooms, and radishes.

Can you say yum?

So far, we have harvested several rounds of chives

and lettuce from our 2009 garden.

Some of the pea seeds Anni planted last week are already up!

The weather turned back to cool and wet yesterday,

and continued along that same vain today.

So, it was out of the garden and back into the house

for some clean-up and organization.

Tomorrow, Barkley is getting a bath.

Shhh! Don't tell him!

Water sampling and cool plants

A giant forest fern.
Anni & Alex preparing to take water samples.
Skunk cabbage
Alex retrieving a sample from Denny Creek.
Fiddle Heads.

Alex and Anni participated in collecting water samples for Sound Citizen, a research project at UW. They collected samples at Juanita Beach and Denny Creek, analyzed pH, alkalinity, chlorine, hardness, nitrate, and ammonia levels. Then they had to use Google Earth to look up the exact GPS coordinates for each site. Finally, they packaged the samples to return to the lab. They had fun participating in this eco-activity.

And just for fun we used Google earth to look at our home, nana and Sharon's home in Victorville, Grandma's house in Hesperia, Auntie's home in Wivenhoe. (What's that big set of buildings behind your home Auntie?) We also looked up the University of Essex by following the road past the pub. By the way did I tell you (Uncle Mel) that Seattle now has a Division 1 Soccer/football team, and they're good! They're entire season is sold out!

Plants, bulbs, and seeds

Anni enjoying the sun and her bike.

Note the short sleeves and shorts!

Today was another beautiful sunny day. So, it was another day in the garden. We started by planting lettuces in bed #1 . Then, we distributed marigolds throughout the future tomato bed (7) and within the potato beds (2,9,12). Then it was time for nasturiums to be added to beds #13 and 14. Zucchini joined bed #13, while the flower bed #6 got 5 crocosmia and 5 falling star bulbs and a lavender plant. Bed #4 got another sage plant.

Our seeding efforts took two fronts; direct seeding into the garden beds and into intermediate pots. We planted spinach, royal burgandy bush beans and Italian black bush beans in bed #11. We potted super sugar snap peas, mammoth melting sugar peas, and green arrow bush peas. We added carrot seed and 2 types of radishes to bed #15. Bed #5 got bunching onions and sweet yellow onions. We also potted leeks and garlic chives.

The tomatoes, peppers, and basil all came out to soak up a bit of sun. Tomorrow, it's time to plant a berry bush and take care of the front yard.

Veggie garden in full swing

After a morning walk along the river, (Hi to Lisa on her new bike!) we had a garden planting day!

In raised bed #1, we planted 3 violas and 2 pansies. Behind that in bed #2, we added chocolate mint to the rhubarb and potatoes.

In bed #4, we planted 6 broccoli, 2 sage, 2 rosemary, 2 collard plants, and 6 purple cabbages.

Next door in bed #5, we transplanted the garlic to bed#7 and then planted Chinese cabbage, sage, thyme, and mint.

To Flower box #6, we added lemon balm. To raised bed #7, we planted parsley and garden mint.

Bed #8, got 2 citrus mints, while #9 got a curly kale and 3 eggplants.

Mini beds #10 got the transplanted chives and #12 got a Russian kale.

Back beds #11 got 2 runner beans and #13 got chives.

We also finally planted the magnolia tree and purchased beauty bark for the front garden.

We finished up the day by having our first BBQ of the season: BBQ chicken, green beans (thanks Lisa), and baked potatoes with sour cream and chives (from the garden!)

Plants, plants, and more plants, and a few critters too

Just had to start with this picture of a very proud parading peacock!

He was part of the foul on display at the mini farm across

the street from flower world.

This is the chicken that thought my flip-flopped toes

looked tasty and took a nip at them Ouch!

We loved these little mini goats and woolly brown sheep!

And finally, here's a gaggle of honking geese that made a fuss

when we came near and an even louder fuss when we left.

Anni piloting the cart at Flower World.

And since we went to Flower World, one of the largest

nurseries in Washington, here's a flower!

Today, we had nice weather in the Northwest. So of course, it was a gardening day! Today we worked on the front garden. Since we lost our two large rosemary plants and our star-jasmine to the snow, we had holes to fill in the main display area. Flower World to the rescue! I planted 3 small trees; a weeping pussy willow, A Harry Launder's Walking Stick (a very cool little contorted tree with twisty curly leaves), and a dwarf conical evergreen. We also found 5 shrubs; two Bowles Hybrid Hebe (a lovely little green, red, and chocolate shrub), Nikko Deutzia and Chardonnay Pearls (both bright green with tiny white flowers), and an evergreen shrub with lovely white fragrant flowers (whose name I can't recall).

It looks like the wisteria, honeysuckle, peonies, roses, bleeding hearts, hydrangas, lavender, and mini maple tree all made it through the winter. I spent the rest of the afternoon planting all the new stuff and weeding all three growing area out front. I think I dug out a million dandelions! The irises are happy! The morning glory is threatening to take over one of the growing areas, so tomorrow we will have to weed wack it back to its territory.

Across the street from Flower World , we found some more vegetable and herb starts. I guess I'll be planting those tomorrow!

Spuds!

Today, we planted 20 potatoes in hopes of spuds late on. This is our first attempt at potatoes so wish us luck. The weather is finally warming. This weekend is a majoring gardening event!

We also made a great Mediterranean pasta for dinner tonight. Here's the recipe:

Mediterranean Pasta (for 5-6 people)

1 pkg or box of whole wheat penne pasta

1 cup of sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, julienned
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 yellow sweet onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/4 sweet red bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 gloves garlic, finely minced
Optional: 2 large prawns per person
1/2 cup white or rose wine
Basil
Parmesan cheese

1. Boil up a large pot of water for the pasta. Add pasta and cook according to directions.

2. Add sun dried tomatoes with their oil and olive oil to a large skillet. Turn heat to medium-low. Add onions, mushrooms, bell pepper, garlic, and prawns (if using). Cook until onions are soft and prawns are pink. Turn heat to medium high, add wine and cover for 1-2 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed.

3. Drain pasta. Toss with veggie mix. Sprinkle with basil and Parmesan cheese. Serve with a glass of wine and enjoy!

A picture is worth a thousand words

Here's a drawing of the 2009 organic garden.

I thought it would be easier to show the layout,

rather than try to describe it.

(Click on the picture to enlarge it)

Essentially, we have 14 raised beds and a plant stand.

Everyone think sun!

A berry good day

Alchemy waiting outside the cupboard,

the cupboard where the DOG treats are kept!

He's a sneaky one, that cat!

This week's CSA box:

Romaine lettuce, celery, leeks, carrots, a double bunch of asparagus,

onions, potatoes, mushrooms, Roma tomatoes, red peppers,

kiwi, oranges, tangelos, apples, Asian pears, and strawberries.

And speaking of strawberries, here's a pic of the strawberry patch,

a raised bed we planted today with 17 strawberry plants.

We used 3 types; an everbearing, an early bearing and a late bearing.

If all goes well (and not well for the birds and slugs),

we should have strawberries well into July! Yum!

Later we'll be adding some bush beans and spinach to this box

as they are good companion plants to strawberries.

We also planted our raspberry plant today.

Tomorrow, it's time to stick those onion starts into some dirt!

And finally to those who have been asking about the gardening resources,

I add them as the books of the week:

Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Sucessful Gardening by Louise Riotte and The Backyard Homestead by Carleen Madigan

The Sun Shineth Down!

Ah, spring at last!

Here's a happy little patch of violas.
We went for a long walk along the River trail,
ending up at Marymoor Park.
The windmill sits near the entrance of the park.

Can you see what's hidden in the grass?
Look below!

It's a well camouflaged great blue heron.

We also saw a very frisky river otter

and a stripy garter snake.

Gettin' down and dirty!

Note the bright sunny day, perfect for spring gardening!

Many thanks to our friend, Lisa, for the loan of the truck.

Today, we filled it with a half ton of compost

and then with a ton of organic topsoil.

Yesterday, we built 14 raised garden beds.

Today, we filled them.

First, we dug down a foot in the existing soil bed.

Then we added 3 inches of ripen compost

and a sprinkling of lime to fix the soil pH.

We mixed that all up.

And topped it off with 6" of organic topsoil.

We have never been so dirty!
(David and I are hoping we can move tomorrow!)
Here are some of the plants sitting on the porch,
just waiting to get planted.
Ah, tomorrow.
(providing we CAN move.)

Fun in the garden!

We spent the day in the garden today,

building raised garden boxes.

We made 14 all together.

It was a whole lot of work!

David trying out a new green do.
Julie looking totally grubby!
Anni manning the wheelly bucket.
Alex sitting down on the job!
Ari giving Barkley a bit of attention.
Some healthy soil wigglers.
2 of the 14 finished boxes!

Tomorrow we fill them with compost, lime, and garden soil.

Prepare to get dirty!