Hope Springs Eternal

Puerto Vallarta

It's been a little over a week since our return from 16 days in sunny Puerto Vallarta Mexico. And it doesn't take long for the gloomy skies of the Pacific Northwest to sap your energy. Even so I have begun my new year's resolutions on a slow build. Last Saturday grudgingly provided mild temperatures and some dim sunlight to get out in the garden. It more or less was my first effort to clean up the disaster caused by the 2010 growing season. I don't think we ever did get temps above 80 between July 4th and Labor Day.

I spent most of afternoon prunning the old apple tree. While we have lived in this home more than four years, I only began last January to educate myself on fruit tree maintenance by attending classes sponsored by Plant Amnesty and City Fruit . Initially the grand dame seem to suffer from apple maggot but a season of observation proved that the problem was actually apple scab. That requires a thorough clean up of fallen fuit and leaves (last October) followed by treatment with a fungicide between now and late spring. I'll be treating the espalier pears and apples as a precaution.

Gardening

As tempting as expansion is I think I'll keep the current vegetable patch pretty much as is. What's likely to change are the plant varieties and planting method. The exotic tomatoes from the UW Hortocultural Society are off the list. We only got one piece of fruit from a dozen plants. And I'm considering moving the peppers to containers. There's some extra room way out back so I'm considering a bee hive. Should help with pollination and the honey that's harvested would be nice. There's a service that will maintain the hive(s) in echange for most of the honey. Not a bad way to sample apiculture before making an investment. Might need to take a class as well.

There's still more work to be done on the blueberry bushes and the strawberries need a new home after the squirrel scourge of last summer. But most importantly we need to get the greenhouse sealed and ready to go. There are seeds that need planting. Anyway, I'll try and make a regular habit of posting about our progress. By the looks of it there'll be plenty to write about since there is so much to do. But isn't that typical of any yard. Meanwhile stay warm and dry even if you can't get away to tropical climate.   

 
Posted by Steve McDonald at 1/25/2011 2:17 PM
Categories: The Things We Do, In the Garden
Tags: Garden Gardening Yard Vegetables Greenhouse Green Living Living Green Seattle Life Living in Seattle Shoreline WA Seatte WA Living in Shoreline Edible Gardens Tree Pruning Plant Amnesty City Fruit
 

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