Sunday, July 11, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
July Already?
It's been too long since my last post. Many things have happened, too many to list in one blog post! This post will be a 'portal' of sorts - I'll give a brief overview (and link) to each post. The posts are listed in chronological order of occurance.
Hail - and not so Hardy
- On June 15th, most of Portland was struck by a freak hailstorm. The resulting effect on the garden is detailed here.
South Campus Tilled
- The northern, weedy-filled half of South Campus was weeded by myself on the 21st, and then tilled several days later on the 26th. Pictures of the newly cleared land and new plans here.
(Re)planting
- Cucumber and cilantro was planted in a newly prepared bed on South Campus on the 31st. The cucumbers have since sprouted. Also, beans and squash were (re)planted to compensate for early losses to the wet beginning of the summer. Pictures and details here.
Deer Attack, the Third
- The deer dealt a devastating blow to the strawberry patch. I'll likely have to replant and hope for the best. Pictures and details here.
Hail - and not so Hardy
- On June 15th, most of Portland was struck by a freak hailstorm. The resulting effect on the garden is detailed here.
South Campus Tilled
- The northern, weedy-filled half of South Campus was weeded by myself on the 21st, and then tilled several days later on the 26th. Pictures of the newly cleared land and new plans here.
(Re)planting
- Cucumber and cilantro was planted in a newly prepared bed on South Campus on the 31st. The cucumbers have since sprouted. Also, beans and squash were (re)planted to compensate for early losses to the wet beginning of the summer. Pictures and details here.
Deer Attack, the Third
- The deer dealt a devastating blow to the strawberry patch. I'll likely have to replant and hope for the best. Pictures and details here.
(Re)Planting
Hello Readers,
As the summer passes by, the correct time to plant things is passing as well. With the cold, rainy June, my plans went slight awry. However, on the 27th, cucumbers and cilantro were planted. The cucumbers are doing great. Many of them have already grown to a couple inches tall. The cilantro is remaining for elusive, but I think I've started to see some sprouts. Also, I replanted a bunch of bean/squash seeds in the corn bed to replace those lost to slugs in early June. So far, the bean have also sprouted over the weekend. Judging from how long it took the squash to sprout the first time (2-3 weeks), it will likely be awhile until they come up. Today I'm going to plant some left-over summer/winter squash seeds in the last remaining 'lower' bed (bed 2). I'll give update as to what is going to be planted in the 'upper' have of the garden (beds 10, 11, and 12) later this week.
As the summer passes by, the correct time to plant things is passing as well. With the cold, rainy June, my plans went slight awry. However, on the 27th, cucumbers and cilantro were planted. The cucumbers are doing great. Many of them have already grown to a couple inches tall. The cilantro is remaining for elusive, but I think I've started to see some sprouts. Also, I replanted a bunch of bean/squash seeds in the corn bed to replace those lost to slugs in early June. So far, the bean have also sprouted over the weekend. Judging from how long it took the squash to sprout the first time (2-3 weeks), it will likely be awhile until they come up. Today I'm going to plant some left-over summer/winter squash seeds in the last remaining 'lower' bed (bed 2). I'll give update as to what is going to be planted in the 'upper' have of the garden (beds 10, 11, and 12) later this week.
Monday, July 5, 2010
South Campus Tilled
Hello Readers,
By tending a small portion fuel toward its entropic fate, the entire northern half of the South Campus garden was weeded and tilled. A good trade-off, in my opinion. The story is this: I used a weed-whacker, borrowed from facilities, to mow the then-enormous weeds down. A few days later, after the ground had dried out, Jerry (an extremely nice and helpful member of facilities) tilled the weeded ground. Here's what the garden looks like now:
By tending a small portion fuel toward its entropic fate, the entire northern half of the South Campus garden was weeded and tilled. A good trade-off, in my opinion. The story is this: I used a weed-whacker, borrowed from facilities, to mow the then-enormous weeds down. A few days later, after the ground had dried out, Jerry (an extremely nice and helpful member of facilities) tilled the weeded ground. Here's what the garden looks like now:
1: Beans/Squash/Corn
2: Unplanted, Tilled
3: Blueberries (2), Onions, Spinach
4: Lavender, Cherry Tomato (1)
5: Strawberries
6: Cherry Tomatoes (2), Blueberry
7: Unplanted, Tilled
8: “Tropical” Bed – Peppers, Cherry Tomatoes, Basil (recovering)
9: Cucumbers, Cilantro
10: Unplanted, Tilled
11: Unplanted, Tilled
12: Unplanted, Tilled
Hail - and not so Hardy
Hello Readers,
From what I have learned in my two-year stint in Portland, summers are usually hot, sunny and dry. As you can tell from previous posts, June was strangely dominated by rainy weather, clearing up for a few precious days towards the end. In total, more than half of June was overcast, at the very least. While I have a few friends that enjoyed avoiding the summer heat, photosynthesis is hard to accomplish with clouds in the sky. So, when a freak hail storm came in the midst of the already poor summer, it had a 'salt on the wound' effect. I watched from my dorm window as thick pellets of ice carpeted the ground, creating a white film on the ground several inches thick. Most of the garden's plants survived, but with different types of damage to their leaves. The species hit the hardest were those close to the ground, with broad, fleshy leaves. Examples include swiss chard, lettuce, and squash. While the squash were young and immediately grew new leaves, the swiss chard are still recovering. The hail punched many holes in this type of leaf, sometime leaving only tattered remains. Strawberries can be included in this category, but only marginally. Strawberry leaves seem more hardy and resilient to puncture, although some showed signs of puncture. Next on the list is a much more poorly defined category, including peas, corn, and blueberries. These plants showed white, scarring patterns on their leaves. Worst hit were the peas and the corn, with the blueberries being only marginally affected. Although I can't say authoritatively, 'scarred' leaves seem to perform more poorly than their healthy counterparts, resulting in an overall stress on the plant. Some of the worst affected plants, such as swiss chard, had both types of damage. Most other plants seem to have no visible damage (although the chill resulting from the layer of hail could have been damaging). Plants in this category include chives, onions, broccoli, broccolini, blackberries, potatoes (protected by the hay), mint, tomatoes, kale, basil, and peppers.
From what I have learned in my two-year stint in Portland, summers are usually hot, sunny and dry. As you can tell from previous posts, June was strangely dominated by rainy weather, clearing up for a few precious days towards the end. In total, more than half of June was overcast, at the very least. While I have a few friends that enjoyed avoiding the summer heat, photosynthesis is hard to accomplish with clouds in the sky. So, when a freak hail storm came in the midst of the already poor summer, it had a 'salt on the wound' effect. I watched from my dorm window as thick pellets of ice carpeted the ground, creating a white film on the ground several inches thick. Most of the garden's plants survived, but with different types of damage to their leaves. The species hit the hardest were those close to the ground, with broad, fleshy leaves. Examples include swiss chard, lettuce, and squash. While the squash were young and immediately grew new leaves, the swiss chard are still recovering. The hail punched many holes in this type of leaf, sometime leaving only tattered remains. Strawberries can be included in this category, but only marginally. Strawberry leaves seem more hardy and resilient to puncture, although some showed signs of puncture. Next on the list is a much more poorly defined category, including peas, corn, and blueberries. These plants showed white, scarring patterns on their leaves. Worst hit were the peas and the corn, with the blueberries being only marginally affected. Although I can't say authoritatively, 'scarred' leaves seem to perform more poorly than their healthy counterparts, resulting in an overall stress on the plant. Some of the worst affected plants, such as swiss chard, had both types of damage. Most other plants seem to have no visible damage (although the chill resulting from the layer of hail could have been damaging). Plants in this category include chives, onions, broccoli, broccolini, blackberries, potatoes (protected by the hay), mint, tomatoes, kale, basil, and peppers.
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