2009 Garden Stats

•Basil: 2 repotted (5/1/09), 3 more repotted (5/9/09), 2 more added (7/19/09) 39 harvests so far, 4 trays of frozen pesto cubes. done

•Bell Peppers: 2 planted in late May. 7 peppers harvested.done

•Blackberry: 2 bushes planted (5/1/09), Over 70 berries so far, done for season

•Blueberry: 4 bushes of differring varieties planted (3/22/09), 14 mini harvest so far. done for season

•Boysenberry: 1 bush planted (3/22/09), 8 berries so far. done for season

•Broccoli Rabe: 12 seedlings set out (6/23/09), went to seed in hot weather, ended. cool season; 12 seedlings planted 10/14

•Broccoli: 6 planted (4/19/09), 8 harvest of 6 heads, side shoots,and leaves.cool season: 12 seedlings set 10/14

•Cabbages: 6 purple planted (4/19/09), 15 harvests, 3 finished, 1 full head harvested 9/20/09, last 2 harvested 10/11. 12 green and 12 napa seedlings planted 10/14

•Carrots: 7 short rows seeded (4/20/09), 102 harvested.Done

•Celery: 6 planted (5/9/09), 4 harvested so far, 2 late harvested. Done

•Chard: Rainbow 8 planted (3/26/09), 4 additional planted (5/1/09), 26 small harvests, done


•Chinese cabbage (opps erased first stats) cool season; 12 seedlings planted 10/14

•Chives: 1 plant, carryover from last year and 1 new planted (4/19/09), 83 harvested so far

•Cilantro: 1 divided to 4 and planted to garden, 1 potted (5/1/09), 25 harvests , Done (7/19/09) Indoor bowl planted 10/10

•Collards: 2 planted (4/19/09), 13 harvests. Done. Cool season; 12 seedlings planted 10/14

•Cucumbers: lemon 4 planted (5/9/09), 3 harvested

•Curly kale: 1 planted (4/19/09), 11 harvests, done. Cool season; 12 seedlings planted to garden 10/14

•Eggplant: 3 planted (4/19/09)

•Garlic chives: 4 pots seeded (4/20/09)

•Garlic: 6 planted (3/26/09), 6 harvested, done

•Green beans: 2 runners planted (4/19/09), 8 royal burgandy and 8 Italian black seeded to garden and 8 more of each potted (4/20/09), 4 planted to garden (5/1/09), 10 additional bean plants planted to garden (5/9/09), 2 given to neighbor, 6 additonal plants to garden (6/17/09) 48 small harvests and 7 large harvests so far. Done

•Lacinato Kale: 8 seedlings set out (6/23/09), 12 small harvests so far, done. cool crop; 12 seedlings to garden 10/14

•Lavender: 1 planted /4/20/09)

•Leeks: 6 planted (3/26/09), 10 seeded to pots (4/20/09)

•Lemon balm: 1 planted (4/19/09)

•Lettuce: Butter 6 planted, French heirloom 6 planted, Spreckled Red-leaf 6 planted (3/26/09). 12 lettuce thinned from pots and transplanted to garden (4/20/09), 41 harvests so far. New gourmet blend seeded to pots. 11 mini harvest so far. 10 planted to garden 10/10

•Loganberry: 1 bush planted (3/22/09), berries on the vine, 12 berries so far. done for season

•Marigolds: 7 planted (4/20/09) to garden, 9 pots seeded, all planted to garden (9/20/09)

•Mint: 1 chocolate, 2 garden, and 2 citrus planted (4/19/09). 4 additional peppermints potted (5/1/09). 5 harvests so far

•Mystery squash family member - these were volunteers, we won't know what they are until they grow! 8 replanted (6/23/09). It looks like some of these are yellow summer squash, 27 harvested so far.

•Nasturtium: 6 planted (4/20/09), 18 harvests so far

•Nonedible flowers for pollination: 2 lupine and 2 butterfly bush carryovers, tulip and glady bulb carryovers, 5 Falling stars and 5 Crocosia bulbs planted (4/20/09), 2
Asiatic lilies and 2 additional glady bulbs planted (5/1/09), All flowers transplanted to make more room for tomatoes (7/18/09)

•Onions: 2 short rows of sweet yellow and 2 long rows of green bunching seeded to garden (4/20/09) and 4 pots of each seeded (4/20/09), 1 upstart green planted from compost pile (5/9/09). 15 planted to beds 10/10

•pansy/violas: 2/3 planted (4/19/09), 21 harvests so far, Transplanted to front garden to make room for additional lettuce. Multiple volunteers in garden bed for window.

•Parsley: 1 Italian planted (4/19/09), done, 3 curly planted (5/9/09), 67 harvests so far

•Peas: Snap 6 planted (3/26/09), 12 sugar snap seeded to pots (4/14/09 by Anni) , 36 of 3 differing varieties seeded to pots (4/20/09), 12 planted to garden beds (5/1/09), 13 additional planted to garden (5/9/09), 6 given to neighbor, several given to friends, 55 small harvests. Back bed of peas ended (7/21/09) to make room for summer squash. Front bed ended 8/1/09. Cool crop; 12 plants to garden 10/10

•Potato: 20 spuds planted (4/17/09), All spuds are up now, 9 harvests so far of purple, red, and white spuds, 179 spuds, ended

•Pumpkin: 1 planted to garden (5/9/09), 12 seeded. 10 planted to garden. 3 harvested, more on the vine. 2 new plants added to garden (9/20/09)
•Radishes: 2 short rows of 2 types seeded (4/20/09), and 1 bowl seeded, 8 harvested, done.

•Raspberry: 1 bush planted (4/8/09), 33 berries. done for season

•Rhubarb: 1 crown planted (3/22/09)

•Rosemary: 2 planted (4/19/09), 8 harvest so far

•Russian Kale: 6 planted (3/26/09) &; 1 planted (4/19/09), 339 harvests. Ended

•Sage: 4 planted (4/19/09), 1 planted (4/20/09), 1 pineapple planted (5/9/09), 15 harvest so far.

•Slugs terminated: 47

•SNOW days: 15 and counting

•Spinach: 2 rows seeded and 1 pot seeded (4/20/09), 7 harvests. Done. Cool crop; 24 seedlings planted 10/12

•Strawberries: 17, of 3 varieties planted (4/8/09), 201 berries. done for season

•Summer Savory: 1 planted (5/9/09), 4 harvest so far

•Sunflowers: 6 planted (5/1/09) All harvested for seeds. Done 8/25/09

Thai hot peppers: 4 repotted (5/1/09), 21 peppers harvested

•Thyme: 4 planted (4/19/09), 14 harvest so far

Tomatillo: repotted (5/9/09), 82 harvested so far

•tomatoes: 10 plants of 4 different varieties repotted (5/1/09), 2 early girl and 2 cherry planted to garden (5/9/09), 2 repotted. 5 plants place in new bed (7/18/09) and 4 potted up. 158 big tomatoes and 489 cherry and chocolate cherry tomatoes havested so far. done

•Winter squash: acorn 6 planted, Kab. 3 planted, Delicata 1 planted (5/9/09), 3 acorn harvested, 2 delicata harvested, and 1 Kab. harvested. More acorn on the vine. done

•Zucchini: 2 planted (4/20/09), 6 planted from volunteers (5/09) 196 harvested so far! done

We had an awesome summer season this year. We added a vine berry patch and multiple new raised beds. The fall crops did not do well due to lots of warm rain and a poliferation of slugs! Next year, we add the green house!

And the winner is...

And the winner of the guess when the 100th egg will appear is....

Farmer Alex! who guessed Jan 1st, 2010. And a close second was David who guessed Christmas eve, but was disqualified for suspected chicken squeezing (Just Kidding!). The chickens produced the 100th egg yesterday. Congrats to Alex, who gets to pick our next restaurant adventure and received a surprise token for his awesomeness.

In other news, we used our family pass and went to the Woodland Park Zoo yesterday. Of course, I forgot the fabulous new camera I got for Christmas. It's still sitting by the booklet that tells me how to use all of its fabulous features. So, no pics. In the children's farm area, a goat and a sheep were head butting for the right to stand on a big flat rock. The goat was winning. The Bengal tiger was having a roaring fit, and the three snow leopards were playing a rousing game of tag. We also got a very up close view of the sloth in the night exhibits, especially cool as that exhibit is scheduled to close due to budget cuts. And finally, all the tropical bird decided to come out and show themselves. Our favorites were the golden pheasants, hornbills, and the toucans. We had a great time and no rain!

And the final bit, I've run so many miles since the beginning of November that I can now fit in my high school Levi 501's. (Yes, I still have them!). I've logged 321 miles, and now I run a 10K daily. So far, my legs haven't staged an open revolt. Now, I just need to get faster!

Holiday Tartlets!

Heart Jam tartletts with homemade cherry jam.

Mini mincemeat tartlets. Yum!

Today the future farmers and I met up with our friend Lisa at the Soul Foods coffee area. We had awesome cinnamon roll muffins, organic coffee, and exchanged holiday gifts.

Then it was time to hit Trader Joe's for last minute supplies for our annual Christmas Eve tamales. We made tamales with a homemade ranchero sauce, yellow rice (thanks Lisa for the Saffron), and a big leafy salad for dinner, delish.

We also took a trip to half price books and Uncle's game store so the future farmers could spend their gift cards. As Ari often says, "So many books, so little time."

In the spirit of the day:

Happy Hanukkah

Midwinter Peace

Joyous Yule

Feliz Navidad

Noel

Merry Christmas

and

Season Greetings!

Of the sea..

Today was an of the sea day. We went to the Seattle Aquarium this morning. For once, the Giant Pacific octopus was wide awake and putting on quite the show. It glided all over its tank, pressing tentacles against the glass to the ohs and ahs of the visitors. It snatched a herring lightning fast from its keeper, too. We also saw a large wolf eel in full swim in the dome tank, and had a chance to view embryo skates in their egg pouch - extremely cool!

Then we went to Pike Place Market to buy supplies for holiday dinners. It was pretty much seafood; king crab, salmon - smoked and fresh, and mussels. No octopus, eel, or skate on the menu. We also found some great avocados and blood oranges (okay go on, make Dracula fangs here, you know you want to). I love the holidays in the Northwest!

Deck the hall with lots of merry!

Down on the funny farm, we've really been enjoying our winter holidays. We started off by going to an awsome concert in Kirkland, Geoffrey Castle's Holiday Show is an absolute must see. Get your tickets early!

We celebrated Midwinter and Yule last night. David and I went out for dinner, without the future farmers. (That hardly ever happens.)

We've also been enjoying holiday foods, especially cookies! Thank goodness, I'm running alot! I average a 10K a day now, wahoo!

Tonight, we went to the Bellevue Botanical Gardens to see the lights. Every year, volunteers light up the plants and transform the gardens into a winter wonderland of beauty. And it gets better every year (except for the traffic!).

Movie alert: If you haven't seen it yet, go see Avatar! It's amazing! See it in 3-D!

Happy, Merry Everything!

3 Teens!

A news update: Anni turns thirteen (13). We now live with three teenagers in the house! I'm earning every one of my grey hairs! No, seriously, the future farmers are awesome. I'm a lucky mom!

The weather has finally warmed back up into the 40's. We no longer have to worry about the chickens freezing to their perches. And despite the cold weather, they're still laying eggs! We believe this is due to the clear top we put on the coop, clever design that!

I'm still running and my knees have not yet abandoned my body, but my pants are threatening to. I seriously need new jeans in a much smaller size. The future farmers are playing a new game, 'Honey, my mom is shrinking'.

Lisa came over for holiday card making on Saturday, and Sunday, we celebrated Judith's birthday with a movie and lunch. This year our house smells like the great northwest woods thanks to all the fresh greenery around the house. We have a Balsam fir, extremely fragrant and lots of garland (juniper, I believe) We also have oodles of variegated holly and mistletoe over all the doorways (hey, I like kisses). We've decided to take a more natural approach to our holidays, since we celebrate absolutely everything!

December!

Our frosted Chinese lanterns on the back deck.

Thanksgiving dinner on the funny farm.

The younger farmers can't wait to dig in!

In other news, farmer Alex had a birthday. We went to the zoo. He really liked the bats. Anni's is coming up this week. I'll be living with three teenagers! Say a blessing and eat a vitamin or two for me!

We've been busy doing lots of holiday events. We went to the Pike Place Market the day after Thanksgiving for holiday favorites, pomegranates! yum. Yesterday, we did some holiday shopping and then the river lights walk in Redmond in the evening.

Our weather has turned for the cold, with a few places getting light snow last night. Today, I took the older farmers to see New Moon. Ari liked it, Alex did not. Then I went running. I can do a 10k now, yipee!

Nano, the national novel writing contest has ended. The Seattle area won again for most words and donations! I wrote almost 186,000 words on my story, and have added another 120, 000 since. So, a very productive November! I'm still working on the novel and having so much fun. I love the story!

And a project update to close with:
1) We are still eating seasonally and as locally as possible by continuing our CSA farm box with a local organic farms and trips to the Pike Place market.

2) We are still attempting to grow more of our own food. The chickens are producing eggs, and we still have some greens and herbs growing in the garden. Our attempt at winter garden was not sucessful. The heavy rains caused a huge influx of slugs! They ate most of the small plants.

3) This is a tough time of year to decrease consumerism, but we're trying. We've limited everyone to just a couple of gifts. We're not wrapping gifts within our family, instead placing them in large decorated bags - reusable. We've also asked the future farmers to chose an experience over a thing as part of their holidays, more fun for everyone.

4) We're spending lots of time doing holiday events in our area, winter hiking, and staying snuggly at home.