Building My Dream Strawberry Bed

July 8, 2019 Sarah

When we lived in a suburban setting I long fantasized about having the space to have my dream alpine strawberry bed. This year it occurred to me it was the perfect thing to put in near the fruit orchard, where it wasn’t feasible to put in “normal” crops due to being so near the well head. I needed a crop that didn’t need fertilizers on a regular basis, if ever. Strawberries and herbs? Perfect.

And while we have a bunch of plants near the blueberry bed, they barely produce enough to satisfy the boys!

Walker happily picking berries.

(Side note: Sitting in the middle of that large bed had been 4 wooden pallets with 150+ alpine strawberry plants, growing just for the project)

Some of the other bed near the blueberry bushes. The robins love to get in there.

Kirk plowed up the land with the tractor.

Once done it was time to start rocking, and we pulled out many big rocks and as always a ton of small ones.

Using landscaping fabric, we laid out the bed. While pinned lengthwise, we used rocks to ensure no tripping on the edges, and to keep any fabric flying down.

The boys working on rock picking, from all the ones tossed to the side.

The first things to go in were Victoria and Rhaptonic Rhubarb plants on two sides. These did not need to be behind a fence.

Based on how the deer treat the strawberries (they seem to ignore them mostly), to save money I put in a 3 foot high fence, with stakes going up to 7 feet high, zip tied on. We then strung garden twine along the stakes, which gives the illusion of a higher fence. Your mileage may vary of course, and if you have larger deer that are aggressive just use full fencing!

The first plants going in.

The first five rows nearly completion.

First five rows done. On the left we put in a row of four varieties of lavender we grew from seed. Second row in is two types of basil, sage, and more. In the front are six Helichrysm plants.

A lot of hard work, but worth it.

We added two more rows, bringing it up to seven rows. There is room for two more rows to go in. I will be adding in more herbs on the right side as I have time.

There is 17 varieties of alpine strawberry plants (all are random, for a fun berry picking experience).

217 strawberry plants
20 lavender plants
14 basil plants (cinnamon and blue spice)
6 helichrysum plants
5 sage plants
6 oregano plants
2 thyme plants
21 rhubarb plants

~Sarah

Spring On The Farm

May 10, 2019 Sarah

I won’t lie….I have been very, very busy the past month. Not much time to sit down and actually write blog posts. Some weeks I don’t turn on my computer more than every 3 days! But that isn’t a bad thing, it just means I am busy on the farm, growing plants and produce like crazy.

We finally got over 50° at night, which is the key part in everything waking up and coming to life. You can see it in the greens especially. One week they are tiny, then suddenly it’s all 4x the size.

My days are spent working on the farm (since we don’t have irrigation in still, I move 400 to 500 feet of rubber hose most days. It’s a good workout however!) and prepping for market time/farm sales. You go from do nothing winter to overwhelmed spring. Lol.

The first radishes being harvested.

First Chamomile flowers forming. These will be this years for drying.

Rosemary in flower. This is my favorite Rosemary, that I take all the cuttings from, to air dry.

Chives getting ready to open.

Tom Thumb Peas.

The first alpine strawberries forming. The first year plants are growing quickly the past two weeks. We brought our first plants last week to market.

We are selling at the South Whidbey Tilth Farmer’s Market this year. It’s a small market, compared to some, but has so much to offer. The location is child friendly, and vibe is very relaxed.

And they make the best pizza for lunch!

We have been bringing our many herb plants to market – and they are all growing quickly in the heat/daylight. $5 for a gallon plant.

This Sunday we will have with us:

Rhaptonic Rhubarb
Soap Wort
Red Dock
Marshmallow
Comfrey
White Horehound
Feverfew
Borage
Calendula
Sage
Cinnamon Basil
Blue Spice Basil
Helichrysm
Munstead Lavender

We will have tomato plants (numbers are VERY limited):

Red robin (these are 1 ft tall dwarf plants, a cherry): 12

Oregon spring (Bred to produce earlier for the colder pnw): 24

Bush beefsteak: 1

Black Versaniage: 2

Italian: 1

Wa Cherry: 1

Stupice: 3

Graham’s: 5

Sweetie: 2

At market we have our hand salve, two of our newest soaps, lip balm and a few other items.

As well, many of our gently air-dried herbs and flowers.

We’d love to see you at market on Sundays, or drop us a line to come out to the farm for plants 🙂

~Sarah

Gardening · Markets

This Year’s Tomato Plants

April 4, 2019 Sarah

Along with the herbs and strawberry plants, the tomato plants are growing happily in the greenhouse. Early in the season, I wasn’t sold entirely on growing lots of tomato plants, as I normally do every year. This has more to do with the field not being quite ready for them. But, of course, as soon as Spring came, I got the urge and planted more seeds. We will have plants for sale as usual. We are growing more than these, this is just a teaser!

Black Vernissage is a very pretty indeterminate heirloom tomato, that is considered a cherry size.

Stupice.

One of my favorites, year after year, is the White Cherry. It produces large pale yellow cherry tomatoes that never stop till first frost.

Sweetie. Only a couple made it though the long cold session, but these will be strong plants.

Bush Beefsteak.

Green Vernissage.

Legend.

Our goal is to have the plants ready, for sale, by end of April/early May, which is the prime time to plant them here on the island.

~Sarah

Gardening · Herbalism · Reviews

Hydropod Review

March 20, 2019 Sarah

I came across the Hydropod this winter, and picked it up for the boys to use. While they are active with our farm, I prefer to keep them out of the greenhouse in growing season. Just too many precariously placed 1020 trays that can get knocked over. So my feeling was they could enjoy the Hydropod inside the house – and not make a mess.

The review: It works. And it does that while looking gorgeous. And that is the key – it is fashionable and will fit into any room. The base is frosted glass, the top is white plastic. 2 parts and that is it. All one does is open the coconut husk peat pod, put it into the white holder, add water to the base, a pinch of included plant food, and drop 2 of the included basil seeds in. Place in a sunny area and walk away.

It sits near the boys computer in the very sunny dining room, on the window sill. I turn it every day usually, so it evenly gets sun exposure.

Once it started really growing, I changed the water and added more food as the directions called for. The cool part is being able to show the boys the roots coming through the bottom, into the water. The boys love seeing this. Once the plant is a bit bigger, we will transfer it into a pot, with potting mix and take it to the greenhouse to finish growing – and start some more seeds!

The Hydropod is reusable, however the company (W&P) that makes it doesn’t exactly tell you what to buy, nor do they offer refills. I would think most pods would do just fine, as long as they stay firm. And they are not hard to source either online, or at hardware/garden stores. The setup isn’t cheap, but it isn’t pricey either and it is attractive as decor. What I liked is it doesn’t require electricity (since no grow lights) and you could have a couple of them in a sunny window doing their thing. The other (huge) thing is the device doesn’t have an odor – where as pots grown inside often have a musty, earthy smell, there is no smell from it.

~Sarah

Gardening · Homesteading

February On The Farm

March 1, 2019 Sarah

If January was unseasonably warm, February came in and reminded the PNW that sometimes winter does come. We went from days in the 50’s and balmy nights, that were leading to this in the greenhouse (and to Daffodils opening in January!) –

To warnings of snow storms coming. But the past decade the snow storms have petered out or just been icy cold.

The first wave was OK, and everyone was fine. After all, it wasn’t that bad. This is normal, that if it does snow, it melts quickly and little falls. Especially as low as we sit to sea level (and the open water). The boys were excited to finally use the sled that has now moved twice with us!

However I did cover everything in the greenhouse with frost fabric.

Which it turned out, was a good choice.

And the snow came. And stayed. And more came.

The little feral domestic black rabbit was down to eating blackberry leaves at one point. I took pity on it and fed it some old apples I had found. Between it and the deer, the apples were gone overnight.

But the sunsets and sunrises were amazing between the snow storms.

Then finally, after many days, it stopped and started to warm up a bit. We still have snow on the edge of the woods, where the sun doesn’t hit.

Once it was mostly gone we got into the woods, and started removing issue trees, a number of alders that were already dead or dying (this massive beast core was riddled by termites).

Then the other projects that had waited called to be done.

The dwarf Tom Thumb peas started coming up, tucked into the greenhouse. A side project I love doing is to plant in ground, and then in the greenhouse, and see which does faster – and by how much faster.

Slowly the herb seeds have come up. The front row is Marshmallow.

A big project was the berry garden/orchard that is now done.

There was a public seed swap on the south end of the island that was a lot of fun to go to, and I met more local folk. Some seeds I took from the farm.

I might have brought home some as well….

I donated a gift box to the raffle because everyone needs love for the hands!

I almost hauled off the big pots, that I had built a quick container garden in last Spring, right after we moved in. But then I thought about it. It was great for the kids. They loved being able to run out and pick carrots and peas. I added a 6th container, and got them all filled up, and planted cold weather crops for salads.

We got another large project done, the laying of the first sileage tarp on the lowest field.

It is 100 feet long by 40 feet wide. Once we get the large pile of trees and branches chipped in the foreground we will lay out the second tarp.

Next month we will roll it back, flame weed, then till the land, and most likely cover it again to smother weeds.

Pepper helping me plant pea seeds and getting trellis in position. The garlic is coming up nicely.

But yeah, March is here. Time to get to work. Daylight Savings Time is nearly here!

~Sarah