Redmond Oregon Snow Storm Feb 8 2014

Thursday's snow fall

Friday's Snowfall

Second Year on my little yard

little yard year two

Year two on the little yard.

Daylilies are fine on the left side.

Rock chucks ate the ones on the right.

Tree is growing and needs shaping next spring.

Hubby built new planter boxes.

deck needs new stain this next spring also.

The Little Yard

Work Continues on the little yard.
The last 2 weeks have been a winter gem boxwood Hedge.
Lowes has them still on unmarked sale at 12.94 each for the 2 1/2 gallon size.
Also put in 6 candytufts along the backside.

We hit a 5 foot by 3 foot blue basalt rock and took 5 hours and a jack hammer to break off about 8 inches across the front.

The Little Garden

Well readers it has been 1 year and a few plants more .
The little garden has began to grow. Both trees are healthy and tall ,pansies are still blooming around the flowering pear and the wisteria is shooting all over the place.
Thew veggie garden has cucumbers where the tomatoes were last year and the plastic still protects the peppers.
Temps still dropping into the mid 30s at night in the middle of July.
The Little pear tree had no flowers this year.We had a late snow and froze all the flower buds.

This year we have snow peas,garlic for the marmots,tomatoes,lettuce, tons of strawberries,parsnips,peppers,an artichoke and cucumbers.

The little garden Vegs

As most of you who follow me know I live in the  high dessert at an elevation of 3,200 feet and  have 60 a day growing season.
We have already dropped to 32 degrees at night and I am covering the plants every night with plastic.
When checking out what grows well here I was told you just can't grow these plants here.

The bare spot is where spinach has already been harvested.

The little garden Update

This year is our first year in the little garden.
I have been very pleased with our harvest and type of plants you can  grow here.
I was told most of them would not do well here.
We have 60 days of growing here period. We have already dropped night temps to  32 degrees on the 24 th of august and fall is setting in.
We have harvested tons of great food from the garden
Planted in mostly aged horse manure.
I harvest every third day . Beans squash, peppers, cucumbers, beets ,parsley , herbs and chard.

My favorate are the bush beans.The little plants have produced enough beans to put away for 15 meals into the freezer plus many good dinners on fresh beans.

They take up only a space 4 by 4 feet and 15 inches tall.

The Bush Bean

PLANT TYPE: Annual

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Phaseolus vulgaris
LIGHT: Full Sun
SOIL TYPE: Well-drained, deep sandy loam
pH RANGE: 6.5 - 7.5
MOISTURE/WATERING: Average
MATURITY IN DAYS: 70 - 75
KNOWN PESTS: Root maggots and cutworms
KNOWN DISEASES: Foliar disease, both fungal and bacterial

OVERVIEW:

No garden is complete without bush beans. There are many varieties of bush beans to choose from and every gardener is sure to find one to suit their tastes. Bush beans do well in almost any garden as they are not too fussy about soil.
To ensure the best flavor, bush beans should be picked while still slender and no inner bean is well developed. For fresh bush beans all summer, plant every two weeks and pick frequently.
PROPAGATION / SOWING OF BUSH BEANS:
Direct seed bush beans after risk of frost when soil warms to 18-24°C (65-75°F). Sow bush beans 1" deep and 2" apart in rows 18" (bush beans) to 24" apart (shell beans). Reseed until mid summer for a constant supply all season long. If using untreated bush beans seed, plant thicker and thin to desired density. Use Garden Inoculant at the time of planting to help boost soil fertility*.
COMPANION PLANTING OF BUSH BEANS:
Bush beans are excellent grown with most vegetables except the onion family, basil, fennel, kohlrabi.
CARE & GROWING OF BUSH BEANS:
Both bush bean types require a full sun location, soil pH of 6.5-7.5, and well drained soil. Good air circulation around bush bean plants is essential, especially for late shelling or dry type beans, as they are very susceptible to fungal diseases which prevail later in the season. Bush beans are light feeders; compost or well rotted manures worked into the soil at the time of planting is sufficient.
HARVESTING OF BUSH BEANS:
Use maturity days as an indicator. Harvest once the bush beans are smooth, firm and crisp. Keep bush beans constantly picked to ensure a fresh supply. Bean formation in the pod is a sure sign of over-maturity. Dry & Shell Beans: Harvest when the bush beans pods are completely dry and brittle. Cut or pull pods from bush bean plants and shell the beans. Store beans in an air tight container in a cool dry spot. For fresh eating of horticultural or shell beans, harvest when bean formation starts to take place within the pod.

Note: My beans are in a mixture of horse manure and sandy loam. Also mixed in a good dusting of sulfer dust to ward off  fungal diseases .
Happy gardening

Hope this helps id some of those other beans

http://www.seedman.com/beans.htm

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/veggies/beans.cfm

http://growingbeans.org/

My new Garden Totem

Finished this one up last night and plant to post it on the garden deck with a small plant inside.

Hubby says put it in the hallway with a fish. I still think outside is best !

The Little yard Update

My little yard project is almost done.

Well the foundation is done.

I will add planters and color next year.

But for now all but 6 feet of the main rock is done.

Update pictures 7-9-2010

Zukes are doing well but the cucmbers are a bit sickley ?

Yard Updates Wisteria and Strawberry

This has become almost a weekly update.
We have moved onto the Wisteria and Strawberry Bed.
Rock now crosses the front of the deck so there will be now more mud into the house.
Hubby is working on the trenches for the French drains on this side of the yard. We had gutters put on the house and need deeper trenches on this side of the house. June 13 2010
The benches and cover for the deck will have to wait till next year.
I have almost used my whole garden budget for the year.

Yard Deck Update

Well it took a bit between the rain and storms but the first stage of the deck has been done.

Back Yard Update

Framing Started on Decking

Garden seed in and plastic covering the tomatoes.

Pink rock now comes all the way up to the deck starting area.

Yard Update

As you can see we are moving along down the little yard.

We have the little circle in and some more pink rock in.

And most of the fenceing stained and sealed

May 15 2010

The 20 x 70

Most of you know I have a new place and we have down sized ALLOT !
The back yard is a nice 20 x 70 in size. Of course I wanted a nice 20 x 70 space so this is the progress so far.
Started when we moved in in august last year .
We stopped for snow and -10 degree weather but hubby is back out today working on my grand plan.
So here it is so far

The large horseshoe is my veggie garden .

The new ring is the herb garden.

The tree across the yard is a flowering pear.

The boards are where the ceder deck goes.

The fence line will have a stone raised bed as well and the rest will be in rock .

No grass in the little back yard.

Well that's the plan so far.