Felled Tree Raised Beds

September 28, 2018 Sarah

Raised beds are great to have in a garden, but can be expensive to build. I am always looking for ways to cut cost on our farm and use what we have on hand.

With the clearing of the forested sections on our land, I have ample amounts of Hemlock to deal with. One can only buck and split enough firewood before their eyes glaze over. Using it to make low slung raised beds has been a good use for it, if it is in an area where the tractor can get to. Kirk chainsaws them into size needed, then drops them off for me using the tractor’s grapple. By then I can usually move the logs with my oldest son’s help.

The first step being to figure the location. This spot was an odd shelf of land, above the septic field, hedged in by a retaining wall, near our house. It’s not a great piece of land, and it isn’t big either. It has a trail off the side on the top, that goes up to the back of the house, which I needed to leave access to (it’s slightly overgrown right now with Salal, and the water tanks are hanging out there till we have time to put them in place).

After getting the area prepped a bit, we placed the logs. They are heavy enough I didn’t connect them at all. They are not going anywhere.

Then we added a thick layer of cardboard to smother the ground.

Once it was all ready, Kirk drove up 3 tractor buckets worth of a blend of 3 way soil and mushroom compost, that we packed in, and smoothed out.

The bed is housing 12 more of our heritage alpine strawberry plants, including a few of a new one I am growing, Tresca. I added in a bird bath, as there wasn’t any water sources for birds or pollinators close by. All were items I reused, so no extra cost. I am trying to be more conscious of water sources here, as we live in the Olympic Rainshadow and it is dry into October. Yet, I don’t want a pond because the deer are already a heavy presence here – and I don’t want raccoons. So locked up, and small water sources works well!

Add in wood chips, and fencing…and it’s done. I don’t dwell on making the beds “pretty” anymore. I just need them to work and life is good. And upcycling is about the easiest thing we can do here – and save a lot of cash!

~Sarah

Using Reclaimed Logs To Build Garden Beds

September 24, 2018 Sarah

Garden beds can be a pricey thing to build, but if you are willing to have a rustic look, you can do the framework for free. This project took a verrrryyyy long time to get done. Mostly because no one wanted to work in the hot sun all summer, and clearing the dead trees in the forested sections took precedent.

So back in the Spring, Kirk tilled the start of the design with our BCS tractor. At the time I had no idea yet where it was going to go, but I knew we needed to break the ground open before it got dry and hard. Then…it sat.

In August, as the forest fires choked the air, Kirk got on the Kubota tractor and smoothed out the land he had tilled.

With the bed now ready to use, and knowing I needed to get it done so I could plant garlic in Fall, I got busy. Using downed trees (the free part) we started piecing together a frame for the bed. The bed was cut to be 35 feet long and 15 feet wide.

The shape of the bed takes place in late August. Cardboard was being put down as well, to smother weeds.

Once I had a general frame we started laying down chipped wood, of which we have plenty of (to the point we have been giving away truck loads to people who do Back To Eden gardening). The wood chips give a walk area that will control weeds and mud – and dust in the dry seasons. It also supports the bed frame.

I ended up extending the wood chip area so we’d have a walk area on the outside as well. The raised bed frame was in most areas 2 trees high for reference.

We filled the bed with a blend of a 3-way soil mix and mushroom compost, well packed in. We kept the sides open so we could bring the tractor in to dump the soil in. Made it quick to do.

Many more U Posts added in and the deer fencing put up, along with a bird bath, and a couple of bamboo trellis I had sitting around. For extra strength, we put more downed logs around the outside, on top of the extra fencing. Did I mention how many dead alders we have had to take down? Well….at least they are going to good use!

And because I am frugal whenever I can be, I used a couple of wood pallets on the front. Why? Because it gives me a place to set things, and hang items, outside of the cage. It also helps strengthen that area of the fence. We made agate of hardware cloth tied to a pole, so it can be opened and closed. Maybe not super scenic, but it works…and didn’t cost anything, as it was all repurposed.

Side view. By enclosing the wood chip area I have a work space and an area to keep large plants inside.

The picnic table and bench were free – not good enough for using to sit on, but great as a work area. I have a sunny area to hold pots that don’t need to be in the greenhouse, but need to be away from the deer.

The extra strawberry plants I started in late summer will spend fall and winter here.

As for the area around it? Our next project is to finish digging out the land next to the bed for the greenhouse foundation. Then the greenhouse will be moved there. Once it is done, I plan on developing another large bed on the other side. I haven’t decided what to put into it, but with the rain season returning we can start digging and tilling again.

~Sarah

Gardening · Homesteading

September Garden Tasks for Zones 7-8 (In The PNW)

August 28, 2018 Sarah

September is a pivotal month in the gardens for me. In zones 7 and 8 in the Pacific Northwest, the heat starts to settle down by the end of August. We still get warm days, but the heat dissipates as the sun sets, leading to cooler nights. The soil is still warm though, which helps the crops finish up.

The milder days are some of my favorite ones, to be in the garden working, cleaning up for the year, but also putting in next years ideas. This is the perfect month for garden tasks, where you can get a lot of work done, and sweat less. And it isn’t dark at 5 pm!

Garden Tasks:

Clean your beds of dead or dying back plants.
As bean and pea plants die back, cut the plants to the ground, leave the roots in, to help with nitrogen. You can blend this in in spring.
At the start of the month, trim tomato plants back of any blooms, so that the energy goes to the tomatoes to finish ripening.
Place a clean board or brick under pumpkins, to keep them off the soil, as they finish ripening.
Cut back leaves over pumpkins and winter squash, to let in light.
Plant cold friendly annuals for a pop of color in fall. Nurseries will have plenty right now, and they often bloom into November and December. They will often come back in Spring, unless we have a very harsh winter.
Start prepping your garlic and fall onion beds. Amend the soil as desired and mark the spots. Don’t plant though till the end of the month at the earliest (October is even fine for planting), however it is easiest to move the soil in September as it is still warm.
Buy garlic and onion to plant, if needed.
Trim back herbs, and save to dry. Do this in the early morning and stash in new brown paper bags to dry. Mark each bag with what is inside. Once dry, store in mason jars out of direct sunlight.
Do a fall fertilizing of blueberry bushes and trees, water well after.
If building new beds for next year (the cooler weather makes it a nice time!) lay down a lot of cardboard to help smother weeds.
Clean out your garden shed (If you have one).
Sharpen tools and clean them for winter storage.
Clean your greenhouse (if you have one), removing dead plants and giving it a good sweeping out.
Wash and dry empty pots, stack for fall storage, out-of-the-way, so fall storms don’t blow them away.
Water and turn your compost piles/bins.
Should you find any deals on berry or fruit trees, get them in the ground this month.
Avoid ANY desire to prune trees. Wait till it is winter! Trees and bushes are starting to go into being dormant, and need their rest.

~ Sarah

Gardening · Homesteading

July On The Homestead

August 1, 2018 Sarah

July was a scorcher on the island, and it was a busy month for us. We got so much done, for the prepping of this coming Fall, and as well next years garden beds.

I capped the blueberry and golden raspberry beds, to ensure that the deer would not get in. Doesn’t keep children out though…..

The giant basil grew so huge. I found a new home for it, so that the bees could get to all of it – it is no longer wrapped in fencing. Most days it is covered in native bees.

The Cinabar Moth. When I first saw the caterpillars in the upper acreage I was slightly skeeved, till I found out they were very beneficial. They destroy certain invasive plants, literally drying them out till they die. Good riddance Tansy!

We have spent countless hours bucking the logs, with more to do. Then you have to start the quartering of them……

The little seed that Walker planted in May on a field trip has grown, and was getting there at the start of the month.

On the last day of the month, the little plant was huge and full of flowers.

The few garlic I had in the ground put on garlic scapes, but I let them grow, as I hadn’t ever let them go to seed. I am going to leave the garlic in the ground, till next year.

After growing it for two years…the Chilean Guava put on flowers and tiny berries!

The first zucchini came by the first week of July.

Helichrysm in bloom.

Lavender in bloom.

A Junco bird set up a nest in one of the fields. I was hoping, but alas, the nest was abandoned. Was she eaten? I don’t know. But after a week the eggs slowly disappeared.

Harvesting and foraging, something we do most days. I don’t bring much back to the freezer, but that is OK.

Madrona tree peeling. Love, love the green stage. It doesn’t last long.

The first cherry tomatoes.

The garlic scapes getting closer to flowering.

On the last day of July it just started opening!

As July marched on, the blueberries started to ripen.

Last summer I was gifted a barely alive red raspberry start. I brought it back to life, and it wintered over, then I brought it with us. It put on the first blossoms in July. The native bees love it. I have since harvested a few starts off of the plant, to start for next years canes.

The first beet harvest.

A big project at the end of the month was refencing the upper patio area. When we moved in, I had no time and just made cages around certain plants. Now it is fully caged. And I can get in to weed, if needed. It isn’t perfect and is only 4 feet high, but overall we haven’t had deer issue up on the patio. It isn’t deer friendly up on it.

Native Salal berries ripe.

The first Himalayan blackberries.

Our homestead got featured as the front page article in the local newspaper. :-O

~ Sarah

Gardening · Homesteading

The Newest Raised Bed

July 18, 2018 Sarah

When we were having the issue trees removed around our property, I pulled out a few for projects. We have an odd upper lawn section that I’d guess the previous owners used for nothing, but to mow it once in a while. It is where I planted rhubarb in the spring, and put in a tomato bed with bricks I found in the woods. The new beds sit on the far edge of it, with a rock retaining wall just beyond. I don’t want to till in this area as I have no idea what might be buried line-wise, and it is also hard packed soil.

A few weeks ago I put down a thick layer of cardboard, multiple thickness, then made a frame for a new raised bed with two 8 foot logs, and two 4 foot logs. As needed I tucked in a few small bricks to hold the frame in place (since the logs were not straight nor flat).

The goal was to have a permanent raised bed to showcase our strawberry plants in, so that in the coming year farm visitors can see how they grow. I put in 2 of each plant (Baron, Regina, Yellow Wonder, and White Soul). I used an organic planter/raised bed mix. It took four 3 cubic foot bags to fill it (12 cubic feet). My strawberries had been sitting in gallon pots as reference.

After planting, I covered the bed with well aged wood chips, to keep the soil from drying out, but also to smother any potential weeds.

I had leftover bricks, so I made a path between the beds. It is narrow, but is just enough I can sneak through. I smothered the area and around the bed with more wood chips.

The strawberries should do well in the bed, and continue to grow. This year’s plants have flowers and berries starting now.

Side note: After all was done, we did put a deer fence around the bed. As I have noted before, if it is close to the house, I can usually get away with a 4 foot fence, though I usually cover the fence on top, making it a cage. I save the 7 foot (pricey) fencing for down low. I love our deer, but oh does it make the garden beds not quite as attractive visually, once the fences are up!

It’s the small child catcher!

~Sarah