I’ve been keeping these notes in a traditional notebook, but I’m more of a digital girl. I keep realizing that I haven’t written anything down for a week - so I’ve decided to keep a running journal on this page. Yep, it’s pretty boring if you’re not me.

I washed my final garden plan, but here’s a rough outline of what’s going where for spring/summer.

West

Row 9: Peppers (6′) - Onions (20′) - Leeks (7′)

Row 8: Peppers (6′) - Tomatoes (26′)

Row 7: Carrots / Radish (12′) - Snap/Snow Peas (8′) - Cukes (12′ with trellis)

Row 6: Lettuce / Spinach (12′) - Shelling Peas (8′) - Squash / Pole Beans (12′)

Row 5: Broccoli (16′) - Bush Beans (10′) - Squash (6′)

Row 4: Brussels Sprouts (26′) - Pumpkin (6′)

Row 3: Potatoes (35′)

Row 2: Potatoes (25′) - Asparagus (10′)

Row 1: Asparagus (35′)

East

*****

March 26, 2008
Started two full flats of seed and put them under lights. Flats included:

• 5 Violetta Artichoke
• 5 Imperial Star Artichoke
• 4 Gill’s All Purpose Tomato
• 2 Chocolate Cherry Tomato
• 7 Principe Borghese Tomato
• 7 Viva Italia Tomato
• 4 Thyme
• 4 Parsley Giante d’Italia
• 8 Sweet Genovese Basil
• 4 Greek Oregano
• 4 Broadleaf Sage
• 4 Spearmint
• 4 Chives
• 6 Broccoli Blend
• 6 Bell Peppers

April 1, 2008
Turned over 35′ x 50′ garden area.

April 2, 2008
Rototilled in grass.

April 4, 2008
18 yards of Cedar Grove compost delivered and spread.

April 9, 2008
Purchased 30 gallon rubber bin and turned it into a worm bin. Drilled 20 holes in the bottom with 1/4″ bit. Filled with damp brown leaves. Seed with pint of worms from Cathy’s worm bin.

April 13, 2008
Turned in compost in row 9, fought with remaining turf. Set onions, about 80 each of Walla Walla Sweet, Red Burgermaster and Coppa.

Potted up tomatoes (20), artichoke (7 violetta, 2 imp. star) and broccoli (6) into 4″ clay pots.

Started new flat of seeds including:

• 4 Diablo Brussels Sprouts
• 4 Igor Hybrid Brussels Sprouts
• 4 Silverbeet
• 32 Lettuce

Planted new rosemary, 1 half gallon and 2 four inch pots, in herb garden.

April 20, 2008
Planted strawberry starts from nursery. 12 Quinault, 12 Tr-Star, 12 Tribute

April 22, 2008
Potted up peppers (6) into 4″ plastic pots

April 28, 2008
With help from mom, turned compost into rows 1 and 2.

Planted asparagus crowns and first of the seed potatoes - Russian Fingerling and King Harry.

Planted main herbs into beds:

• Cilantro
• Thyme (2 left as of 5/23)
• Oregano
• Sage (suffering from slugs on 5/23)
• Mint
• Parsley (lost 1 in first week)

April 29, 2008
Moved flats outside so starts could harden off. Flats included lettuce and broccoli

Scrapped the Brussels sprout and silverbeet starts - too leggy.

May 3, 2008
Went to the Seattle Tilth Edible Plant Sale and purchased starts for:

• 2 varieties pepper
• 2 horseradish roots
• 2 globe artichoke starts
• 1 bay leaf bush
• 12 broccoli starts
• 4 broccoli raab starts
• 2 each, 2 variety tomatillo

Picked up Steve the rooster and 6 heirloom tomato starts from Denise - check tags for names!

Planted artichokes (all - total of 11), horseradish. Potted up 2 tomatoes from Denise to 1/2 gallon pots. Potted up 2 new peppers to 4″ pots.

May 4, 2008
Purchased rototiller and tilled center 6 rows. 6 hours.

May 5, 2008
Started seeds for:

• 16 Brussels sprouts
• 16 Broccoli
• 32 Lettuce
• 8 Basil
• 12 Dill

May 6, 2008
Planted second row of potatoes - yukon golds and reds, 35 feet each.

May 8, 2008
Finished rows 3 and 4.

May 10, 2008
Planted first 21 broccoli starts. Planted 40 lettuce starts, lost 8 to hot weather following weekend.

Prepped rows 5, 6 and 7.

May 11, 2008
Seeded the following:

• Bush Beans - 2 rows, 10′, 3-1/3 feet each of three kinds
• Shelling Peas - 5 rows, 4′ long, 3 kinds
• Snap / Snow Peas - 3 rows, 4′ long, 2 kinds
• Radish - 5 rows, 2′ wide, 2 kinds
• Spinach - 2 rows, 4′ wide
• Carrots - 8 rows, 2′ wide, 4 kinds

May 17, 2008
Very hot! Didn’t water early enough and lost some lettuce and herbs.

May 18, 2008
Prepped row #8 for tomatoes and the north end of row #9 for leeks.

Planted 26 tomatoes in row 8 and 8 basil in the herb garden. Put cages on tomatoes and watered.

May 20, 2008
Potted up broccoli, sprout and lettuce starts from 5/5 into 4″ plastic pots. Also potted up peppers (8) into half gallon pots. Peppers still inside with basil and dill.

May 23, 2008
Fertilized bush beans which are up about 1″ with seed leaves.

Peas up an inch, just starting to set leaves. Radish up 2″, need to be thinned. Carrots and spinach starting to make an appearance. Asparagus making an arrival - about 15 spears so far. About 2/3s of early potatoes up, just 1 of the later rows. Broccoli going strong, just minor bug damage. Lettuce starting to perk up and looking good. Onions doing well, leeks just starting to look alive. Herbs struggling a bit in cool, wet weather.

May 24, 2008
Watered all before leaving. Direct seeded 12 hills of cucumbers, 2 hills of spaghetti squash and 1 hill of delicata squash.

May 26, 2008
Lost a couple more heads of lettuce - not sure why other than perhaps it’s just generally too warm for the spring types. Direct seeded a summer blend and two summer head types today. Seeded the second rows of bush beans - remembered to mark them this time so can determine which isn’t sprouting well. Seeded more spinach - summer variety. Hilled the first of the potatoes. Put up the trellis for the snow / snap peas. Need to pick up posts so I can put up trellis for shelling peas. Watered rows 5 - 9. Watered herb garden and dealt with slug situation on basil and artichokes - need long term solution.

May 29, 2008
Stopped at the local nursery and picked up: 6 cauliflower starts, 6 red cabbage starts, 20 lettuce starts, 6 corn starts, 6 broccoli starts. Promptly put them into the garden.

May 31, 2008
Spent the day in the garden. Transplanted remaining broccoli starts and all Brussels sprouts - they were a bit pathetic due to overwatering, interesting to see if they perk up. Transplanted 8 sweet peppers and 4 tomatillos. Seeded the bush beans on their teepees. Seeded scallions between the rows of snow/snap peas. Seeded the next round of radish and carrots. Put up the rest of the pea trellis and the beginnings of the cucumber trellis. Weeded the onions (sucked!) and hilled the King Harry potatoes (strangely fun).

June 3, 2008
Tonight I started 10 cukes in pots inside. Of the 12 hills that I seeded 2 weeks ago, only 4 sprouted. The seeds in the others are now hollow so I suspect that some type of microbe had a nice snack on me. Since it’s pouring I decided that I’d start them inside for this round and then transplant them outside after they start. I also seeded another 18 cells of basil since the transplants outside took a real beating in the pouring rain today.

June 4, 2008
Hilled all 4 rows of potatoes tonight. Mike loaded the John Deere trailer for me so that I wouldn’t have to move it all the way from the back property line by hand. I used a total of 8 wheelbarrow loads.

June 7, 2008
Mike and Kevin helped weed the herb garden, man there were a lot! Everything is still there, mostly, but a bit worse for wear from the slugs. The basil didn’t make it through the cold wet weather we’ve had, oh well. Need to transplant the dill and the thyme, rosemary and sage from the old pots to the new beds

Potatoes already need to be hilled again - they got a growth spurt from the rain. The lettuce seed is sprouting as is the radishes. No sign yet of the new carrots or the scallions. The bush beans are starting to push through but the pole beans are MIA, but it’s only been 7 days - need to check how long they take to sprout. Spaghetti squash and pumpkins are doing well in the rain, cukes not so much…

June 8, 2008
Still no progress on the seed pots with the new cukes and basil. Good thing I wrote it down so I know it’s only been 5 days. Maybe by the time I get back from Iowa.

June 13, 2008
Back from Iowa. The cukes sprouted (all but one cell) but the delicata squash failed to germinate. Basil is all up as well. Dill got too dry, now trying to revive it.

June 16, 2008
Blew out the soaker hose for the onions again - that one must just be defective. Will pull it out later this week and replace it. Wonder if Lowe’s will give me a refund?

June 17, 2008
Transplanted the new cuke starts to the garden along with a delicata squash start I bought on impulse at Haggen’s (not organic, oh well). Also transplanted 28 new lettuce starts to fill in by the heads that are starting to bolt and the couple of empty spots still left. We’ve got A LOT of lettuce. Found the first small head of broccoli.

June 18, 2008
Mike helped me move a bunch of dirt and hill the red and yukon gold potatoes. Also did some weeding around the asparagus and the carrots. Replaced the hose for the onions, leeks and peppers. Accidentally took out a pepper while doing so - whoops! Oh well, they don’t look very good anyway. Lost 1 brussels sprout and 2 red cabbage - not sure if they weren’t healthy to start with or if they got too dry while I was in Iowa/Portland? Also lost 3 of 4 tomatillos to the cool wet weather.

June 19, 2008
Did some putsy weeding in the herb garden after cleaning the chicken shack. Contemplating pulling the peppers and tomatillos if they don’t look up soon. Would be a good place to start some overwintering kale, chard and such. Too bad, but then they were experimental anyway.

June 20, 2008
Did some clean up in the herb garden and then transplanted: 12 dill starts, 2 thyme starts, 2 sage starts, 1 tarragon and one bay leaf. All but the dill from the nice lady at the Everett farmer’s market. Also moved the dill, rosemary, thyme, sage and mint out of the pots from the old house and into the beds. Seeded some more dill since the starts look sad (got too dry). Finally, trimmed back the chives now that they’re done blooming. Found (and ate) the first two ripe strawberries from the new beds - all 36 starts are going strong, can’t wait for next year!

June 21-22, 2008
Hilled potatoes and did it some more - good to get it down while we had Mike M’s machine. Also weeded the asparagus and the path between rows 8 and 9.

June 26, 2008
Harvested and ate the “rock star” - the first head of broccoli.

June 29, 2008
Weeded the onions of clover. Did spot weeding everywhere else.

July 3, 2008
Did some aggressive weeding of paths, carrots and radish.

July 4, 2008
Harvested lettuce, spinach, radish and onion for salads and burgers.

July 5, 2008
Megera helped weed for 2 hours - give that girl a prize! Found and harvested the first 2 pounds of potatoes. Gave half to Megera along with a small head of broccoli, lettuce, radish and onion.

July 7, 2008
Pulled and ate the first carrot. A bit too small. The cherries are in on the trees by the road.

July 12, 2008
The pole beans are just starting to climb, the bush beans are blooming, the cucumbers have more than 2 leaves, the squash and pumpkin are going gangbusters, the radish is growing too fast in the heat, the peas are almost ready to eat.

July 13, 2008
Harvested the first handful of snow peas. Ate them for dinner with a few young carrots, broccoli and sweet onion. Plus dug another pound or so of red potatoes.

July 14, 2008
Another small handful of snow peas. Snap peas on Wednesday maybe. Shelling peas are getting long and there are a lot of them. Now just waiting for them to plump up. Onions are starting to bulb - but still watering as they haven’t started to fall over yet.

August 9, 2008
Been a while since I updated. Snow / snap peas done and pulled on July 25. Bush beans ready beginning week of July 28. Shelling peas done today. Radish done (last batch didn’t do well) on July 25. Mature carrots (first planting) July 25. Knocked over onion tops for Walla Walla Sweets on August 3. Knocked over tops on Red Burgermasters and Copra today. First cucumbers ready on August 5 - small number so far - remember to space them from tomatoes and pole beans next year. Pumpkin taking over - find it more space next year. Still no ripe tomatoes. Potatoes starting to die back - digging new potatoes as needed for dinners. Second round of broccoli starting to come in - should have started eating it sooner.ß

Put in seeds for fall lettuce, radish and broccoli on August 6. Putting in seeds for carrots, chard and kale tomorrow.