The Modern Victory Garden

My blog posts of late seem to be largely confined to the weekly harvest and cooking recaps, which could lead one to believe that there is nothing going on in my garden at the moment.   While it is true that things are largely quiet right now, there is still a certain level of activity that is happening.   It is hard to give garden photo updates to show you though, because the winter crop beds are largely under the cover of grow tunnels and unless I am getting into them to do some harvesting they are not readily visible.   Easier to see are the containers in the greenhouse that have some greens and carrots I direct seeded late this fall.   They are growing slowly and should provide some early spring harvest items.   The plants are all quite small at this time (and a little hard to see) but they seem to be doing quite well.   Here are some of the carrot seedlings.      

This year I am making the switch from using plastic cell packs to start my transplant seedlings in – to using soil blocks.   I bought the block makers earlier this summer and have been just waiting to start using them until this winter when I had more time to learn and practice.   Today I did my first effort at using soil blocks.   I started with some flats of mini blocks and planted the following:

• 20 Arctic King – lettuce
• 20 Autumn Blend – lettuce
• 36 Ching Chiang – dwarf pac choi
• 80 Ailsa Craig Exhibition – onion

I am not that great yet at releasing them smoothly into the trays but practice will eventually make me better at this.   I used clean empty chicken stock boxes cut in half (length wise) to create trays for the mini blocks.                

These were then placed on a heat mat under the grow lights in the house.                                   

When the seeds are germinated and grown a bit, I will plant these into the medium sized soil blocks and grow them on from there.   The lettuces and the pac choi will eventually be planted under the grow tunnels or in the greenhouse.                       

I had another garden task to do today as well.   The tree kale/collard plants have been growing beautifully.   The original plant is now over 8 feet tall and the young plants I have rooted from cuttings are several feet tall as well.    Unfortunately, the bamboo pole I used as the main support for the original plant was both not tall enough and not sturdy enough to properly support this really tall plant.                                              

With my husband’s help, we used a 10 foot stick of 3/4 inch metal conduit and just slipped it over the original bamboo pole and then drove it deeply into the ground to anchor it well.   Added a few additional tie wraps (loose) on the top most portion of the plant to provide better support and the whole thing was in much better shape afterwards with virtually no disruption to the plant itself.   

I have some pole bean vines that are dead and need to be removed from the grow support structures and I have leaves to rake up and compost from the front yard.   Both tasks are things I will do when the weather gives me a bit of a break.   What garden tasks have you been doing lately?          

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener

Like so many other things this year, the pea patch has been very slow to reach harvest maturity.   However, the patch was finally ready for picking when I checked on it Friday night.   The annual pea harvest and then processing them for freezing is a rather long process.   It takes just a little over two hours to harvest all of the peas, approximately another two plus hours to shell them (with two people working steadily at it), and a few more minutes to blanche and freeze them.   Essentially, I need about a five-hour block of time and my husband’s help in shelling them to get this yearly harvest completed.                                                          

I had a morning commitment to keep on Saturday so my first inclination was to put this job off until Sunday.   However, when I woke up very early on Saturday morning and could not go back to sleep, I decided to just make use of that time and tackle the harvest a day earlier than my original plan.   So at 5:30 am, I headed out to the patch and got the harvest underway.   I grow a pea variety (Dakota) that matures the peas at relatively the same time so that it is convenient for freezing.   I harvest the peas by just removing the pea vines from the bed and stripping the pods off as I go along.   The pea vine is added to the compost pile, and after I am all done the bed is ready for a succession crop to be planted for fall/winter harvesting.   The first of the next photos is quite dark as a result of the very early hour.      

The pea patch before I began the harvest.    Now your see it…..               

…. and 2 hours and 15 minutes later - now you don’t!                            

I will be removing the horizontal trellis wire mesh and putting it in the shop for storage until next spring, but I am planning to leave the frame structure in place.   The next thing to be planted in this bed will be some direct seeded onions for over wintering.   I am hoping to get the bed cultivated and planted up on Sunday.             

This is my third year of using my horizontal trellis system and the first year of the second-generation of this horizontal pea trellis.   Every year I have used the same amount of growing area (4-foot by 12-foot) and my results have always been excellent with this approach, but this year was my best to date.   I ended up with over 18 pounds of peas from this harvest!                  

Once I was done harvesting, I put the bucket of peas in the kitchen; hurriedly got cleaned up; and then headed off to the Kingston Giving Garden to put in my usual hours of volunteer work.   When I arrived back home later that afternoon, my husband and I split the peas between us and worked on shelling them as we watched a movie together (Spirit of St. Louis).   We ended up with just over 7 lbs of finished (shelled) peas from the 18 pound bucket of peas I harvested.   The last step in the annual process was for me to blanche the peas in boiling water for 90 seconds and then immerse them in an icewater bath to stop the cooking process.   Once drained thoroughly, the peas were then placed in gallon Ziploc freezer bags and put in the freezer.      

Another successful pea harvest concluded and the winter supply of peas is well stocked.                         

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener

Wednesday I blogged about the worm box we ordered, which arrived and was assembled by my husband.    It was just waiting to be put in place and initialized with some food waste/bedding layers and the first red worms.   Here’s what it looked like fully assembled in the shop on Wednesday night.                       

The 2 lbs of red worms we ordered arrived on Friday.   We went with 2 lbs because we are now only a family of 2 people and although the garden produces a lot of trimmings, we also use much of those for the regular garden compost and for the chickens.   According to the Washington State University (WSU) Extension Service, 2 pounds of worms are required for each pound of kitchen waste produced per day.    So in order to feed 2 lbs of worms, we need to layer in 7 lbs of food wastes on a weekly basis.   Between our weekly kitchen compost pail amounts plus other food scraps, and trimmings from the garden as needed, we should easily be able to produce that amount for them on a consistent basis.  

On Friday afternoon my husband dug the spot for the worm box and set it down into the ground, backfilling around it.   Next to it we placed a large black tub full of thoroughly dampened peat moss.   The peat moss is the bedding layer needed.    Having it close by makes it easy to add several inches of damp bedding material on top of each thick layer of food wastes placed in the bin.   The bedding layer helps keep the bin from getting smelly and also gives the worms some additional insulation and protection from light (which they don’t like).   We can also use wetted shredded paper as well and intend to do that in the future, but for now we went with a large bale of peat moss.   We situated the worm box behind the house in a strip of land between the house and the back sidewalk (under the eaves of the house) that gets shade virtually all day and is unsuitable for growing any plants in.   Here’s a picture of the worm box as finally positioned and set up.   As you can see, it is largely buried below ground level, which provides insulation for the worms during colder weather months.                               

It’s kind of hard to see in this next photo, but the left hand bin has been filled about half full with several thick alternating layers of damp bedding and food wastes.   It is topped with a layer of the damp bedding material.   The worms were added into this prior to adding the top most layer.                    

 We will continue to layer on food wastes and bedding in this first bin until it becomes full and then we will shift to adding the materials to the second bin on the right.   Once the worms have exhausted the food supply in the first bin, they will migrate through the slats in the center divider to the new bin and begin working that side.   That is when the first side should be ready for us to begin harvesting worm castings.   Eventually the first bin is emptied out and the worm castings are used as a soil amendment and fertilizer and the process starts all over again by filling the left bin once the right bin is full.   Everything is now in place and in operation.   Hopefully the worms will find their new home to their liking and produce lots of castings for us to use in the garden.                                     

While I am in the processing of giving you an update, let me share with you that I spotted the first artichoke buds forming on my plants yesterday.   They are tiny and down deep in the central growing area of the plant so they are hard to photograph, but here is a picture of one of them.                     

Hopefully I will get more than just these first central buds, but I am thrilled to see that they are going to produce buds in this first year of growth.   Obviously I was successful in giving them an adequate period of chill to induce budding the first year.                              

Finally, I had to share that the Sun Gold tomatoes have their first few tomatoes that are ripening.                           

There is only one cluster so far that has really broken color but several more should be right behind it.   We have a stretch of decent weather forecasted for the coming week and I expect it will push all of the tomato plants along with their production and ripening of fruit.   The full size tomatoes will be a while longer yet, but having some cherry tomatoes to enjoy will make the wait much more tolerable!                            

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener

It seems we always come up with projects for our garden and homestead.   In fact, I don’t think a year has gone by in my adult life where there has not been some improvement, change, or addition that was undertaken.   This year, I thought our big project would be installing the cross fencing, but in retrospect our involvement was fairly minimal as we just staked it out and then paid someone else to come in and install it.   It seems that this was not near enough to satisfy the “Project Demons” that apparently reside within my husband and myself, because lately one of our wish list projects has repeatedly come up for discussion.   Specifically, the notion of getting a worm box established has suddenly elevated in interest level for both of us.    The clincher was last Saturday while I was working some volunteer hours at the Kingston Farm and Garden Co-op Giving Garden, some of the volunteers were working to assemble a worm box (from a kit) for the Giving Garden.    I really liked the simple design of the box, the cedar lumber used to construct it, and how easily and quickly it was assembled.   Seeing this nifty worm box just threw gasoline on our worm box fire and after getting home that afternoon and having a brief discussion with the spouse… the same worm box kit was ordered and on it’s way.                       

We purchased it from a local supplier, so it arrived incredibly fast.   In fact, we ordered it Saturday and it was here on Tuesday.   Today (Wednesday) while I was away at work, my husband assembled the box in the shop.         

You can see in this last photo that the bottom is open (you can see the table top it is sitting on).   This weekend, I will help my husband carry this to its designated spot.   It is too bulky for one person to do alone.   We are waiting for the weekend to do this because the ground where this will be located must be dug out before setting it in place, and neither of us wanted to do it on a weeknight.   Once it is put in place it will end up being partially buried below the soil line, which provides an insulation effect that protects the worms.   The next step after that will be to layer in the compostable items and the bedding material (peat moss, shredded paper, etc) in the first bin and moisten it thoroughly (just like regular compost pile assembly) so that it is moist like a damp sponge throughout.   A couple thick layers are all that is needed to get started.   We can then add the red worms (we will be adding 2 lbs of worms) and then just continue that process of regularly adding layers of food wastes covered by a thick layer of damp bedding until the first bin is full.   When that happens we start layering in the second bin.   When the worms have used up all the food supply in the first bin, they will migrate to the second area where the fresh supply has been provided.   This is when we will be able to start harvesting the worm castings from the first bin to use as fertilizer and a soil amendment for the garden.     The cycle then just keeps repeating back and forth.   We have been doing lots of research on this and feel ready to become worm wranglers, but I know we will learn a lot more through actual hands on experience.    I will provide updates later on how this project progresses.                     

So I wonder… what will next year’s project be?                 

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener

Fortune was smiling upon me today.   I really needed to get the tomatoes into the ground and under their protective cover, but it is a job that must be done on a warm and dry day – which is weather we have not seen in these parts for a long time.   Mother nature cut me a break today though and provided a beautiful sunshine filled day.   The temps got into the mid 60’s and it was dry.   The weather forecast starting tomorrow and for the next two week period is back to cloudy and rainy, so I seized this opportunity to get the tomatoes in and under their protective cover.                              

Before I tackled the tomato-planting project, I took a few minutes this morning to finish installing the supports for the ultra-dwarfed apple trees I recently planted.   This involved driving two 6-foot T-Posts into the ground at the right distance from the trees and then installing the support bracket that came with the trees.   It was actually quite simple to install and the arrangement provides a really strong support system for the trees.                

The tomatoes are going into one and a half beds in the back garden area.   Growing in one of the beds was the overwintered spinach and a few overwintered green onions.   I harvested all of the baby spinach and green onions before I began the process of aerating and amending the bed.         

The bed was prepped by spreading some compost and then aerating it by using a broad fork.   I used a hoe to cultivate the top few inches of the soil and then I raked it smooth.                   

Next, the soaker hoses were laid out over the bed.                 

Over this, the red plastic mulch was then put down and secured with earth staples.          

I used scissors to then cut out the planting areas for the 12 tomatoes that will go in this 4’X24’ bed.                        

The tomatoes were then planted.   I trimmed away the lowest leaf branches just prior to planting them up to keep leaves from touching the ground as much as possible.   At the bottom of the planting hole, I mixed in 2 TBS of ground up oyster shell, 1/3 cup of general-purpose organic fertilizer, and 4 plain aspirin tablets.   The plants were then placed in the hole and firmed in.   The plants in this larger bed are either indeterminate or semi indeterminate and so I used the combination of the tomato ladder inside of a tomato cage.   The final step was to hand water it with a dilution of 1 tsp of Epsom salts to 1 gallon of water.                 

The determinate varieties were planted in the adjacent half bed.   I chose not to try and lay down soaker hoses or plastic mulch, as this bed has other items in it that would be disturbed if I had tried to do that.   The determinate varieties only get a tomato cage for support.         

Once the tomatoes were planted up, I raced to get the plastic tunnel covers on them while the sun was still shining on the area.   The reason I was hurrying is that the passive solar affect of the grow tunnel covers provides a significant warming of the soil and air inside and I want these plants to go into the night with as much warmth built up as is possible.       

Here's what I planted today:

• 5 Market Miracle
• 3 Defiant
• 4 Sun Gold
• 4 Siletz
• 2 Legend

There was supposed to be some Stupice plants as well but they did not germinate well this year and those that did come up were weak and failed to thrive - not garden worthy plants and I ended up sacrificing them to the compost heap.             

These tomatoes have been hardening off for more than a week now.   They have been in the unheated greenhouse during the night, and have been outside during the daylight hours.   The protection of the grow tunnel mimics the unheated greenhouse and these plants should not be much impacted by the transplanting process as a result.   The covers will stay on until the persistent rain showers subside and the temperatures warm up.   The ends open up to create ventilation and airflow on warmer days and then can be closed up in the evening to keep the plants protected during the cold evening hours.   The real benefit of the cover is that it keeps the plants from getting soaked by the chill spring rains.                

So the tomatoes are in and hopefully they will quickly get settled in and keep growing.   With this project completed, I only have three more beds to plant up and two of those need to wait until the weather really warms up.   The plants all enjoyed the sunshine today and I expect to see a surge in growth in the lettuces and greens as a result.      As for me, I am all worn out and expect I will sleep soundly tonight.            

Happy Easter everyone!                         

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener

The great weather on Saturday did not spill over into Sunday, but it was at least a dry day making some more garden tasks possible.   There were four things I wanted to get done Sunday – 1) Clean the Chicken Coop and Run; 2) Plant the Pea Patch; 3) Find a Home for the Remaining Onion Seedlings; and 4) Transplant the Hardened Off Broccoli, Kale, and Cabbages.   I worked the chicken coop and yard cleaning in between some of the garden activities and I squeezed some planting room out for more onions and got them in the ground as well.            

The pea planting was the first of the bigger tasks to be tackled.   The second generation pea trellis has been in place since I constructed it at the end of January.     Usually I would not erect the support system until AFTER I had planted the peas.    I had a choice…take the trellis down, plant the bed, and then put the trellis structure back up… or…. remove the horizontal panels but leave the structure in place and just plant up the bed with the supports in place and then reinstall the horizontal mesh panels.   I chose the latter as it was the least work, but it posed some challenges because working the bed was harder with the vertical and cross supports in the way.   Recognizing this was going to be a little more restrictive, I decided to block plant the pea patch this year rather than use my planting jigs.   This is a really easy and efficient way to plant a large bed of peas or bush beans and was my preferred method of planting those crops up until I created my planting jigs.                       

Here’s the process and what I did on Sunday to plant the pea patch.            

Prep the garden bed.    Aerate it with a garden fork or broad fork; broadcast some good organic fertilizer; use a hoe to work up and mix the top few inches of the soil; rake the bed smooth creating a fine seed bed to plant into.                 

 Scatter the seed across the prepared bed.   This takes a little practice but generally you are trying to get the seed evenly dispersed across the planting area with about 1 to 2 inches between the seeds.   You will have some spaced wider and some too close but don’t get caught up in precision.   After you have scattered the seed you can go back and move a few seeds around manually that are really bunched up if needed.           

 Use a board to firm the seeds into the soil.   This is an important step as it locks the seeds into the soil so that they do not move when you cover and smooth the soil over the seeds.   It also ensures the seeds have firm contact with the soil to ensure proper uptake of moisture from the soil.   I have a 2-foot by 2-foot piece of plywood that I use for this purpose.   Lay the board on the seeded bed and then press down using your hands and leaning into it – or by stepping on the board.   Do not worry about over compacting your soil as the board disperses the weight over a broader area minimizing the compression effect.   Work your way around the entire bed until all the seeds are firmed in.              

The next step is to place some soil or screened finished compost over the surface and gently smooth it into place creating the soil covering for the seed.   Gently smooth the soil over the surface area of the bed.   The seeds will stay put if you do not get heavy handed because you locked them into the soil with the preceding step.   I like to use old container potting soil for this purpose that needs to be replaced in the current year anyways.   It is a great way to recycle the spent potting soil into the garden beds.   I have several large planters in the greenhouse that will need soil replacement this year, so I used one of them to provide the soil for this planting process.   A small bucket was used to carry it from the greenhouse to the bed and one bucket was just right for a 2-foot by 2-foot section.            

Firm the soil down over the seeds.    Once the bed is covered and the soil smoothed out over the surface of the bed, it is a good idea to take the planting board and firm the soil down one more time.   This ensures the seeds are firmly in contact with the soil both on the top and the bottom.     

The final steps are to water the bed thoroughly and then to set up your grow support structures.    In my case I only had to reinstall the horizontal trellis mesh since the structure was previously assembled.   I also put some bird netting over the entire structure to keep our wild birds from eating the sprouting peas as fast as they emerge.   That’s all there is to it!          

I also planted out the hardened off broccoli, kale, and cabbages on Sunday.   These are really nice, sturdy seedlings and were ready to go into the ground.   Next to these plants I made room for the remaining onion seedlings as well and got them into the ground too.       

The spring planting up season is well underway now. Lots more to go but I got a good start on it this past weekend.                            

 Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener

One of the late winter projects this year was to get a section of cross fencing installed to separate the garden from the rest of the fenced back area that will be the continued free-range pen for our flock of hens.   This gives the hens a large area to range on daily, but allows me to protect the garden beds during the main growing season.   The chickens will be allowed into the garden area to graze periodically during the summer season, but only with supervision.   During the winter months they will once again be given full access to the main garden area (winter crops protected with grow tunnel covers) so they can work down the bug and weed population.                          

The new section of fence has two gates; one up by the house and coop area, and another one that opens up into the dense woodlot that is part of the chickens free range area.   Last week the project got underway with the posts being set by the contractor and early this week they came back out and installed the chain link fencing material and gates.   Here is the finished project.                             

This was the last big project I had on my list for late winter.   With this “to do” project marked off as “ta done!” I am ready to get focused on spring bed prep and the first plantings for the year.   Monday is the official first day of spring, so getting this project wrapped up this week was perfect timing.   

I have several flats of greens and cabbage starts that are definitely ready to move out to the unheated greenhouse to begin hardening off.   I intend to move them out Friday morning to start that process.   If the weather will give me a break, I hope to direct seed some spinach and radishes in the garden this coming weekend.   I also plan to do some bed aeration and prep over the next several days too.                 

Spring is definitely lurking in the shadows. I noticed this evening that my rhubarb crowns are starting to surface new growth.         

It won’t be long before fresh rhubarb is on the menu again and I can hardly wait.      

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener

A dense mixed species forest surrounds my garden.   The perimeter of the garden is a transition zone that has many large rhododendrons, ferns, and a constant encroachment of blackberries and other brambles.   Periodically I have to use a machete and brush loppers to cut back the encroaching brambles and exuberant growing rhodies because if I did not push back the jungle of growth it would eventually reclaim the garden area.   Today I did a major brush cutting and trimming effort on the back perimeter of the garden, which was earlier than I normally do this task but necessary as I am prepping the area for installation of some cross fencing.   The end result was a good pushing back of the jungle and I placed some stakes to show the general line of the fence to be installed.        

The fence will separate the garden from the rest of the back fenced area that will be the continued free-range area for our flock of hens.   This gives the hens a large area to range on daily but allows me to protect the garden beds during the main growing season.   They will be allowed into the garden area to graze during the summer season but only with supervision.   During the winter months they will be given full access to the main garden area again (winter crops are protected with grow tunnel covers) so they can work down the bug and weed population.   There will be two gates in the cross fencing section.   The main one up by the house and coop area and another one that opens up into the dense woodlot that will be part of the chickens range area.   Here’s where the gate into the woods will be located.               

I hope to get the fencing installed fairly soon.   Mid-March is when a lot of the early crops need to start going in and I want to have this small construction project completed well ahead of that time.                  

The hens love it when I turn over soil or otherwise disturb vegetation as it opens up access to bugs and worms and/or supplies some fresh vegetation to nibble on.   They followed me around all afternoon as I was working, enjoying the benefits of my labor.                     

This is a rare picture as it has all six of the hens in it!   Usually they are busy in different groupings and it is difficult to catch them foraging all together.   They seem to really like hanging out with us when we are outside doing things and frequently ask to be picked up and held – particularly the littlest all black hen pictured on the left and in front.   She is absolutely the sweetest creature and has turned into my buddy.                                       

Started another big round of seeds on Saturday including the regularly timed tomatoes (which I expect to largely give away unless I need them to replace plant losses from the early start tomatoes), peppers, celery, and some swiss chard.   I moved the onion seedlings out to the unheated greenhouse to make room for all the new seed trays under the lights.                   

Next big project is getting the cross fencing installed.   Hopefully that will be soon!                       

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener

Harvest Monday Recap                          

Each Monday, Daphne’s Dandelions hosts “Harvest Monday” where everyone submits links to their blog posts summarizing their harvest for the week.   It’s fun to see what everyone else is harvesting from gardens in so many different regions.    Check it out and join in!                

The only fresh harvest this week was a small bit of lettuce that did not round up to ¼ lb and therefore is not included in the harvest tally, and some more fresh mushrooms.                                    

Currently, we are using a lot of stored, frozen, and canned items for our meal preparation.   Sunday I brought in a colander full of potatoes from storage to use in a large potato salad.   I estimate we still have about 40 lbs of potatoes left in storage after pulling these out.            

It is almost February and the potatoes are still in really good shape and the amount we have left should easily keep us fed until April, at which point the potatoes usually are sprouting too much for good eating anyways.          

We have eaten the last of the stored pumpkins and it was timely as it was starting to show some signs of softening.   Also in storage are the onions. I use onions in absolutely everything I cook (at least it seems that way!).   Sunday, I gathered up the remaining onions and picked out the ones that are starting to sprout or go soft.   All of the bigger onions have all been used up and I am now down to the small ones.   Some are no bigger than “pearl” onions.   They are still quite usable – just takes longer to peel and dice these small ones.                                         

If I use these judiciously, they should last me through March.   By then, the green onions growing under the protection of a grow tunnel should be ready for use and pick up where the stored onions leave off.                  

Harvest totals for the week of January 24th through January 30th (rounded to the nearest ¼ pound).                                

• Mushrooms 0.75 lbs

Total For Week 0.75 lbs

Total Year To Date 4.00 lbs                         

Eggs harvested this week - 38                                

Second Generation Horizontal Pea Trellis                      

It’s been a busy weekend.   On Saturday morning my husband and I headed out to Point No Point for a walk on the beach.     This is one of our favorite local beaches to walk because it is a really long stretch of beach, has a wonderful lighthouse at the point, is beautiful, and there is always something to see.   On this day, we were pleased to be able to watch a group of seals fishing just off the point.                              

On the way home we stopped in Port Gamble and enjoyed some barbeque for lunch at Mike’s Four Star BBQ.   We got home around 2pm on Saturday and I used the rest of the afternoon to work on the second-generation horizontal pea trellis project.                      

In 2009, I created a horizontal pea trellis using some nylon netting and bamboo poles that I had on hand and some minimal purchases of some wood posts and screw eye hooks.   Here is the first generation horizontal pea trellis as initially set up...                  

....and later that same first season as the peas were growing happily up and through the support netting.                                 

I have used this first design for two years now and I am totally in love with it because it allows peas to be planted in a full bed block planting – providing much more plants per square foot of garden area than a traditional vertical support would permit.   After living with it for two years though, I have noted things that could be improved on from the original design and choice of materials.      Specifically:

• The trellis structure needs to have a hoop or peaked top to it so that when draped in the early spring with clear plastic it will not puddle water on the top in heavy rains – causing breakage of the supports from the weight.
• The supports need to be made out of a material other than wood.   Each year the wood supports would swell from rain and be almost impossible to remove from the metal support brackets.
• The nylon netting used worked very well but was prone to tangling up when unrolled after having been stored for the winter.

With all these objectives in mind, I formulated in my head a second-generation horizontal pea trellis that used PVC pipe and a wire mesh fencing material to replace the nylon netting.     On Saturday afternoon I was able to get the lower posts all positioned with connector fittings and the side arm supports and cross supports for the first layer cut and installed.   I then laid out and cut the first piece of fencing material for the bottom layer.                        

This is where I quit for the day and went inside to fix dinner and do some other indoor tasks.                                     

On Sunday afternoon I picked up where I left off on Saturday by securing the wire fencing to the end cross supports using tie wraps.                 

Then the second tier of posts, connector fittings, side arm and cross arm supports were installed and another layer of fencing cut and secured to them.                                   

The next step was to cut some short pieces (1 ½ inches) from the scrap PVC pipe to use for connecting the top elbow fittings to the top post connectors.                                 

The peaked top was then installed using another elbow connector at the top and 2 ½ foot pieces of PVC pipe on each side.                     

That’s it!   I will (of course) have to disassemble this to actually plant up the bed later this spring, but the design and construction of the second generation horizontal pea trellis is done.                              

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener

Work day evenings during the winter are generally not spent doing garden related tasks because it is quite dark when I get home, wet, cold, and (lets face it) not that much is going on in the garden anyway!   I do have projects going, but for the most part they are best done in the light of day and so are relegated to weekends accordingly. 

One of those projects is the design and assembly of the second-generation horizontal pea trellis.   I got an initial start on it a few weeks ago but quickly discovered I needed two specific PVC fittings that were not carried by my local hardware outlets.   I could have kept trying to track some down in the area but opted instead to just order them from a greenhouse supply company.   Specifically, I needed some 5-way connectors and slip T fittings.   They look like this:                                  

The slip T fitting is hard to show in a photo.   It essentially has a sleeve that just slides over a PVC pipe with one connector fitting to firmly seat a PVC pipe end into.   The small box of PVC fittings showed up yesterday - so I am all set to get back to this project this coming weekend.   I expect some trial and error to get the concept turned into a practical reality, but I have the supplies needed to get going again.                                    

One of the other winter projects is the annual seed starting process.   I have onions up and growing, the ultra early tomatoes (started last Saturday) are just emerging, and this coming Saturday I plan to get some leeks started.    The available open space under the grow lights is rapidly dwindling.       

Another project getting underway is the installation of a short section of cross fencing to allow the chickens a large free ranging area in the back woodlot area but keeping the garden itself protected from their hungry beaks during the main growing season.   The weather has been moderate enough this winter (so far) that I think we can get this done in February so this coming weekend I am planning to do a quick staking of the fence line in preparation.                     

That’s about it for winter garden projects around my homestead. Are you working on some projects this winter?                        

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener