tiny morsels of summer

this weekend i ran off to portland with one thing in mind: boysenberries.
well, mission accomplished. i came back with 17 pounds of berries. black-, marion- and boysenberries, not counting the three pints of black caps in tow too.

it couldn't have been better timing.
my memories of berry picking on Sauvie Island were of hands-and-knees, thorny, under-the-bush endeavors in the heat and sun. on saturday we walked out in to the cool portland weather with jackets on, out to the marionberry patch and the berries hung out from the bushes, just asking us to pick them. i secretly wondered how i could have remembered so poorly.

...then i found the boysenberries. oh yes, that's what i remember. how is it that boysenberries seem to want to hide their juicy goodness so much when the other berries are handing their candy out for free?

either way, i was smart enough and early enough in the season that their wiles didn't hold me back for long. and when the sun started to break through just after noon, i was mighty glad that it had been overcast and cool through most of my efforts.

(the farm and the hills)

on top of my berry delight, i also had the chance to pick up some cherry tomatoes, broccoli romanesco and bakery treats from my former employ—Baker & Spice. (if you live in the Portland area, or are planning a visit, i highly recommend stopping by the bakery. they make wonderfully fantastic treats.)

while in portland, a friend and i saw Food, Inc.—how devastating. it was of course, everything i already knew and have read, but this time coupled with visually compelling video footage.

no sooner had i thought to myself how i have been reading about the travesties of slaughterhouses since i was in grade school, then did the narrator mention Upton Sinclair's The Jungle—a book i read in fifth grade.

i'm glad i saw it. i would like to see Fresh too. it looks like it has a more uplifting vibe to it and i'm a sucker for seeing people excited about food.

now i am home, three two-gallon bags of berries in my freezer, and three bowls of fresh berries awaiting my attention and delight. renewed commitment to eating locally and in season.

not bad for my first mini-break in nine month.

looking forward to the weekend

to my delight and just in time for the weekend, my berry plants arrived!
black raspberry, currants and gooseberries. maybe a flowering tree?

this weekend i will play in my garden.
plant berries and seeds, build a fire pit and rain barrels.

clean and organize my life and my house.
i've come to realize my house is the perfect size for me.
easy to clean with an hours worth of effort.

i'm going to try and rest my mind, reset my attitude.
i'll have the added benefit of the house to myself. the timing is impeccable.

((chicken count: 53. five bantys, six sussex, four marans, five wynadottes, seventeen amerucanas, ten barred rocks, ten miscellaneous. a little ridiculous but if you're going to raise five, why not fifty?))

once bitten...

i'm on a spending spree.
my terrible planning of my berry bed has left me practically berry-less.
the two blueberries i ordered from raintree nursery are holding on but everything i ordered bareroot from indiana berry is dead.

i am a victim of bad timing and guilty of overestimating my own get-up-and-go. the plants had a rough welcoming, a late start and a piss-poor environment.

so today i ordered 75 everbearing strawberry plants from farmer seed—ozark, quinalt and ft. laramie, as well as victoria rhubarb and dwarf lemon and lime trees for the house. let me tell you, farmer seed has amazing prices.

then i bit the bullet and ordered more items from raintree nursery. if you pre-order now for spring 2009 you can lock in 2008 shipping charges—which given the price of gas, is definitely going to go up. so i ended up with two jewel black raspberries and one each of: royalty purple rasberry, highbush cranberry, hinnomake red gooseberry and primus white currant. as a bonus, i got a free red japanese maple.

the berries won't come until next march, giving me plenty of time to amend the beds and make them perfect.

spent a couple of hours planning my fall crops, winter amendments or cover crops and my likely spring crop rotation. a couple hours later i wonder if i am really making it too difficult. sometimes i think i over-think things.

either way, the garden had a rough start but next year will be better. i will learn from my mistakes and not over-do it or buy all my plants too early. and i will set aside some time to plant everything in two days!

for now, time to pick some lettuce.

updates from another time zone

from across the country i hear that my tomatoes are hurting.
not a whole lot i can do about it as this moment, but i do fret a little.

when i get home i should probably build a cloche for the bed. i wonder how everything else is doing and if the radishes are being watered. i wonder what my greens look like.

in my absence my grandmother had my berry beds finished and planted for me, so that is one large project i can happily cross off my list. lets hope they grow, grow, grow!

have been spending a lot of time at botanical gardens. nice to see some greenery while visiting this massive city. have used them (and my digital camera) as an opportunity to scout out plants that i might like.

all in all, its making me feel very old.
(nearly everyone at botanical gardens are retired.)

back in town on sunday. then i can properly attend to my garden.
its getting close. close to being able to invite people over.

now if only the weather would warm up!
(be careful what you wish for....)

the garden update

the garden has consumed me for weeks.
i am frustrated with myself in that i undertook foundational projects to the garden while at the very same time ordering plants for those very foundations. its left me in a position of being unable to plant plants, watching them wither and die and with them the money i spent on them.

not very smart.
try as i might, i always find new ways to be stupid about money.

over the last week or so i have gotten a lot planted.
all that remains are the potatoes and berries (not planted) and the melons and sweet potatoes (not yet bought). once things warm up i will get my beans in but that is something else all together.

it looks like i am going to get a little help finishing up my berry bed.
it sounds like i will be able to return from my vacay to finished berry bed, complete with planting, and the remaining dirt moved. i heart grandmas with an excess of money. i'd say there is a really good chance that my grandpa will come over and mow my lawn as well.

so hopefully i can relax and come home and finish up the little stuff. the much more fun stuff.

the buying has begun

yesterday i picked up blueberries from walmart (bluecrop).
and a climbing rose (joesph's coat) for by the chickens.
and a seed tray (to start early) and pasture mix (for the chickens) at the feed store.

this morning i lounged in bed and finally made my momentous purchase from indiana berry company! it will ship march 17th which gives me time to build and ammend the beds. it included: black raspberries (black hawk & jewel), a low growing cranberry, a hinnoke red goosberry, horseradish roots, and an imperial white currant.

on a roll, i went to gurney's and completed my order (they wanted to give me 20$ free, so i took them up on it.) from them i got a blend of pepper seeds, 50 strawberry plants (for by the driveway) and parsnips.

today i will focus on setting up some seeds.
but then i'd better not buy anything more until i get the ground turned and the beds built. i had the brainstorm that the farm girl might have a rototiller in her possession. i figured out that i can build each bed for sixteen dollars—not including soil. that will be the doozy i think. but it will be a one time investment (like the berries).

its becoming spring!