Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
Potato bags and other accomplishments
Got home on Friday from our trip to Breitenbush Hot Springs (exactly the rest and relaxation I needed) – to some decent gardening weather on the weekend. I spent Saturday cleaning out my sewing room closet and working on finishing a quilt. Sunday was all outdoors, even though I was still in vacation mode and didn’t really want to!
But at least I can post some accomplishments from yesterday’s garden session. Brian got a hole dug in the front yard for the pond we are putting in – which doesn’t look like much right at the moment so I don’t have any pictures to post.
I finished the irrigation set-up in the backyard which now means I can water almost everything with a single turn of the tap (and my neighbour won’t be so annoyed by his lawn being wetted by our sprinkler). I’ve still got a few more spray-heads to put in to ensure even watering – but the basic system is finally done! (If you are interested in doing this easily and affordably – check out the Lee Valley kits for mail-order. These are easily expandable with all other Lee Valley watering components ).
Also, I made up eight potato bags (pictured above) from burlap sacks kicking around the basement (I over-ordered last year). This is my prefered way of growing potatoes even though the burlap is not reusable from year to year (the water rots the burlap, but it is compostable). Many years ago I planted in old tires, but since then have become a bit edgy about the toxicity leaching from the black rubber – so I prefer this method. One of these years I may actually invest in re-usable potato bags… but burlap is cheap! I’ve gone ahead and ordered another ten bags from West Coast Seeds since I’ve still got lots of seed potatoes to throw around.
And on top of all that, I was offered two more garden plots yesterday afternoon through some strange machinations of the universe. First of all, my new neighbours (renters on the non-crazy-person side of our house) have a garden plot in the backyard that they intended to plant but now feel overwhelmed by. Yesterday, they mentioned to Brian that they would hate it to go to waste…. and he suggested they talk to me about whether I would want to work it or not. I haven’t followed up on it yet because I’m not sure about the whole gardening in the neighbour’s yard thing….. but I love the idea of doing it and sharing produce. It is a small sunny plot, and only a day’s work to get it into shape and planted with something – though the soil could use some serious livening up so there would be a bit of money for soil ammending to throw down.
The second offer came out of the blue from Pandora Park Community Garden who have offered me a 5 x 10 plot. I had totally forgotten that a friend of mine said she’d put me on the waiting list for a plot there months ago but was really glad to be offered this space so I immediately said YES! And now I’ve got to pay my membership fee and get down there to check it out as soon as possible.
As much as my own garden is a lot of work, the notion of having more space to grow food is very appealing to me -and I’d really like more room for winter storage vegetables like squash, and cucumbers for pickling. Additionally brussels sprouts, fall cabbage, overwintering onions, kholrabi, and corn are all things I would like room for – and I wouldn’t mind being able to produce enough to give more away this summer. So I’m excited to have one confirmed extra plot at the moment and am going to talk to the neighbours about what their expectations might be if I was to take on their garden plot this summer. Both of these mean more work in the short-term that I’m going to have to fit into my schedule, but I’m pretty optimistic about the possibilities. I think if I make up a schedule for each garden (stopping in before or after work every third day) than I should be able to manage it.
My garden goals for this week include planting beets and carrots, drafting up a front-yard garden plan, and getting things sorted with the Pandora Garden folks. Yee haw! Spring!
Breitenbush is beautiful!
Despite the long drive, the rain and snow, and the many washed out footbridges impeding hiking – we just had the most amazing week of holiday at Breitenbush Hot Springs in the Willamette National Forest. Four whole days of hot springs, an incredible sauna, three vegetarian meals a day (that I didn’t have to cook), lots of book-reading, and even a cranio-sacral massage treatment. Heavenly!
Breitenbush retreat is an old hot springs lodge from the 1920s that has been run by an intentional community dedicated to service since the early 1980s. In addition to the historic lodge building, many sleeping cabins, workshop/yoga spaces, an incredible sauna, a gift shop/office and a massage house spread across the forest site along the Breitenbush River. Think sleep-over camp for grownups – with bunk beds in some of the cabins, shared toilet and bathing facilities – but a whole lot quieter than your Camp Thunderbird experiences of the past! There’s a definite sense of being cared for in this environment, as staff are friendly and helpful – while at the same time lots of space to just be on one’s own. While we were there, two structured retreats were also taking place, which meant that during sessions the hot springs were empty except for us and sometimes a few others.
For $70 per day, per person (offseason rate) we got a very cozy cabin (rustic, heated with geothermal radiators), all meals, access to the hot spring/sauna/lodge and other physical spaces, plus yoga and other wellness classes offered on a daily basis. We felt like this was a pretty good deal for the level of service, relaxation, privacy, and beauty we were afforded in this gorgeous spot… and we will definitely be making another stay (or more) here in the future.
The only downside from Vancouver is the long drive (9 and a half hours) which is mostly on the I-5. Having looked into things, I now realize that Amtrak offers a continuous service from Vancouver to Portland (first offered during the Olympics, now on as a trial service) and I’m thinking that next time we’ll just take a train to Portland and then rent a car from there. This is something we’re going to try in June when we meet my parents in Lincoln City for a family holiday – since the driving issue there is the same (about 9 hours from Vancouver). As much as I used to not mind driving that much, I’m finding the I-5 a real drag these days, not to mention the fact that going as far as we can by train is the far more ecological option.
I’m back at work now which is a real shame if you ask me, but at least it’s a short week!
On holiday…..
Gone on holiday – back on the 15th!
Eternal green onions…..
A friend showed me this trick and I think its too cool not to share. Supermarket green onions (and any other bulbing scallion) will put out new green onion when immersed in water. And it happens remarkably quick — less than a week from immersion to more usable green. Which means one bunch of onions can last you a very long time if properly tended…. water should be changed in the jar every five days or so. I am pretty sure that the bulb can’t be forced eternally but this technique certainly does stretch out their edible life!
Three things I love about spring.
In honour of the sunshine, I’m cramming a whole bunch of things I’ve been thinking about lately under one heading. Things I love about spring:
1) Worms! Over the past few weeks I’ve been turning beds and planting seeds in my raised boxes and beds out back – and I am proud to note that I have a very healthy worm colony happening – indicating healthy soil! Honestly, I have never seen worms as big as some of the suckers turning up on the end of my shovel, and all the little babies in their worm pockets are an indication of a continuing trend. (Unfortunately, this also means it’s slug and snail season – this year looking particularly active).
2) Alley-snooping: This is when you get to see the real bones of people’s yards, and there is nothing better than peering through and over fences to see the new spring plans on the block. This picture is from a block and a half down and clearly indicates some nice raised-bed veggie action with trellises and seating areas. Now that’s a nice refresher! While poking around on Sunday as I headed towards the Drive, I came across a carport greenhouse, replete with a lemon tree growing actual lemons! 
As much as I get inspired by reading books and looking on the Internet, it’s actual examples in my neighbourhood that show me what’s really possible in the very specific growing conditions of East Vancouver. My yard is merely a collection of ideas that come from the gardeners who surround me – and I am so grateful to live in a ‘hood that is full of such creative growers.
3) Yard planning! No matter how full the backyard gets, I have new plans each year…. and this year we’re going for the front yard as well. I made up new yard diagrams last night and present them here for info purposes in case you are making your own yard plans right now. Essentially, I make a drawing using photoshop (earlier ones were made by hand) and then print multiple copies off for writing on. That way – both B. and I can scribble all over the place while working out different ideas without worrying about it too much. This year I splurged and went with colour layouts which are also a way of 
helping me define how much of my yard is active carbon-sink, and how much is not (like the gazebo and the studio). I include extra blank copies in my gardening binder so that I can use them throughout the growing season to determine changes or make notes of ideas. Best thing of all? The white space in the frontyard diagram is all blank canvas….. Nothing more inspiring than seeing that warming in the morning spring sun, just waiting for us to go at it on our return from holidays.
Red Cedar 