In Between the Showers

Peas are coming up, shelling peas, snap pea pods and sweet peas for flowers. The rapini and spinach are doing well under the cold frames.

I got 2 cubic yards of mushroom compost and spread it around the garden beds just before we got another round of rains. I'm ready for March to Leave Like a Lamb, as they say.

In the mini greenhouse the raddicchio has just sprouted, 3 kinds. I'm very excited about this. I know most people don't grow raddicchio, let alone 3 varieties, it's just so beautiful and good in salads and on the grill. But being cheap I couldn't stand paying $6.99 for a wild cousin of lettuce. It's a chicory actually. Here's an article from Gourmet Magazine about the man who grows more raddicchio than anyone in the world.
How To Tame A Wildflower

Bad Me, No Writing, Just Staring at Chicks

They are really growing and starting to look like little chickens.

Scarlet, Fonzie, and Queenie are all growing big girl feathers. Scarlett likes to fly up and perch on the edge of the box, when the lid is off. Fonzie has taken to giving herself dustbaths and Queenie likes to splash water around the joint.

I give them a few treats, but try to make sure they are still eating plenty of their chick kibble. They like, no love worms, they are real protein whores. One will grab the worm and the other 2 will chase. When I make sure they all 3 have their own worm they still run around, not realizing that they are not being chased.

They like strips of carrot peel, because it looks like a worm, and they like rolled oats too.

Here are a few pictures of the big girls.

les poulets sont arrivés!

I got my chicks! Here they are inspecting the wall of their new home for the next 6 weeks.






Left to right they are:
Rhode Island Red
Black Australorp
Barred Rock

They spend most of their time, eating, sleeping and chirping contentedly.

More chix pics soon.

I know it's too soon, but...

...I just can't help myself.

I started seeds. Yes some even outdoors. I know we have much rain and cold weather ahead, but the forecast for the next few days is dry, maybe even some sun.

I planted spinach, which should do fine, and some rapini, which I am very excited about adding to the mix this year. I planted some seeds in one of the unsheltered beds in the front yard and some of them in small pots under the cold frames. Let the best seed win.

I also started some cilantro inside on a sunny windowsill.

Here's a Problem...

Distressing news about the depletion of topsoil from the Seattle Post Intelligencer

Topsoil Disappearing

This is what caused the dust bowl disaster of the 1930s.

The first sentence says it all...The Planet is Getting Skinned.

Now it's the Winter Rains

Actually today it's dry, but the ground is still pretty saturated and this morning there was frost and a little ice.

But I'm still harvesting salads every few days. A fantastic mix of Winter lettuces and radicchio, as well as all my arugula volunteers has gotten us through the winter so far. I've also got a couple of Lacinato Kale plants that are still producing tender leaves into their 2nd year. And we still get beets and carrots out of the backyard beds.

So I think I will reach my goal of having something to eat from the garden all year round.

And I finally built my 2 little cold frames on the south facing beds, which should allow me to get an early start with some spinach and other cool weather crops and should help me grow more things into the fall and winter.

Porno for Gardeners

Just in time,
just as the dark, cold, wet days of January are grinding me down, making me forget what it was like to walk outside on a summer morning and smell the soil waking up. Just in time, the seed catalogs have started to arrive in my mailbox.

Flowers, fruits, vegetables, herbs all jockeying for position on the covers. Beckoning me to indulge myself in flavor and fragrance. Shamelessly tempting me to fill the entire order form.

Hunkered down in my blanket, in front of a cozy fire, with a warm mug of tea, I carefully review over and over again the lurid offerings, trying to figure how much I can cram into my raised beds.

One of each please.