A Week's Worth of Planting

May 8, 2011

I am a little behind on posts, so note the dates in this one.


April 30
Planted 4 boysenberries in a double-dug bed.  I spaced them about 2 feet apart.  They are nice potted plants purchased from Portland Nursery. They have 18" stems. I haven't taken any pictures yet but will post some soon. Before planting I spread about 5 lbs of Alfalfa Meal on the bed and mixed it in 2 inches deep.

"Down to Earth" Alfalfa Meal, (2.5% N, 1% Phosphate, 1% Potash)

Double-dug half of what I am calling Bed 1.  Bed 1 is the bed next to the raspberries and boysenberries.  I felt this one in my lower back. It tired me out a bit.

May 1
Planted 'NorthPole' Columnar Dwarf Apple tree in a 20 gallon container.  Columnar apple trees have short (6") branches and are suitable for containers.  I am following "McGee & Stuckey's the bountiful container : a container garden of vegetables, herbs, fruits and edible flowers" for advice on growing fruit trees in containers.  Powells sited this book at the go-to reference for container gardening.


NorthPole Columnar Dwarf Apple Tree

• Planted in 20 gallon container with NuLife Organic Moisture Control Container Mix
• Ripens early (Sept)
• Lg bright red fruit
• $44.75 at Portland Nursery
• Hardy to -20F

Planted 'Scarlet Sentinel' Columnar Dwarf Apple Tree

• M7 root stock
• Green blush red fruit
• $34.99 from Portland Nursery
• Planted with NuLife Organic Moisture Control Container Mix

May 4

Planted Valencia Onions in South end of Bed 1.

• Harvest early as bunching onion
• Harvest later as cooking onion
• Harvest last for storage
• 4-6" bulbs
• mild-sweet
• 105-130 days
• $3.95 for 6 clumps @ Naomi's

Planted Red Cippolini onions in the Boysenberry bed. There is lots of room here because the Boysenberries are small and there is room for some onions.

• 75-105 days
• mild full flavor
• storage onion
• Harvest when skin turns and tops fall over
• Cure in sun for 1 week before storing

Planted broccoli and cauliflower in Bed 1 next to o

• I don't have the details. TBD

Planted Schwiezer Riesen Heirloom Snow Pea

• planted seeds 1/2" deep
• planted about 2 " apart in hexagon formation
• 5-14 days to germination
• Planted the whole package (1 oz)

Planted Scarlet Nantes Carrots in Bed 1 next to peas

• broadcast the seeds over a 2.5' x 5' area.
• might end up thinning them back quite a bit. We'll see
• Uprising Seeds Co
• thin to 2"
• 10-21 days to germination @ 60-80F

Planted Oregon Sugar Pod Peas in pots

• Jason got these from a PTA fundraiser thingy at Burgerville.
• Planted them in pots at the house so Jason could enjoy
• planted 4 seeds per pot in 5 pots

Planted Misty Souther High Bush on the East side of the house. Bought this 1 gallon blueberry at Portland Nursery

• Mid/Late variety
• grows 3' H x 3' W

May 7

Dug up onions and planted properly. I'm such a dork I thought that maybe the onions I bought were supposed to be planted in clumps!  So I dug them up and pulled apart the individual onion stems and planted them 2" apart in Bed 1

May 8

Planted Chives in the 'NorthPole' Apple tree container

Planted some leftover broccoli and cauliflower in containers at the house. Why not?