When it Rains, it Pours

It always starts like this. Three seeds must be thrust gently into a narrow opening. One must then cover up to avoid inseedsent exposure. Finally, one waits in eager anticipation for a sign of impending life. One repeats this as many times as stamina allows or until all of the available repositories have been impregnated (so to speak). I, a veritable Don Juan of seeding, have sown all 25 cavities shown below. Though I paid equal attention to all of my little seedlings, some nonetheless are reluctant to come out and show their true colors (a rainbow?). Notice that the lettuce seedlings (top), planted yesterday, have begun their upward adventure with only minimal stimulation. Their close cousins, the swiss chard (lower left), are also indiscriminate shooters. Interestingly, the brussels sprouts are unabashedly oxymoronic... The carrots and columbine also have yet to emerge.If you want to put the seed back in speed, best to avoid avocados. I've been germinating a seed in a plastic bag for about three weeks and it's only produced a skinny root and stumpy head (see below). As an aside, while many websites have indicated that one should place a punctured seed on stilts (e.g., toothpicks) in a half-glass of water, I have found it easier to place the seed in a plastic bag with a wet paper towel. I have a general affinity for wet towels, so maybe it's just me, but I'd recommend this technique for anyone trying to grow an avocado tree from seed.
His brother, for example, was started this way about a month ago, and is now burgeoning from a seedy, glorious hole. In related news, the garden is generally over-productive, which isn't surprising given my complete failure to heed spacing guidelines. Our first broccoli have been harvested, and slightly too late. It's supposed to be harvested when the head is somewhere between four and seven inches in diameter (that's what she said) and the little buds are all the same size (that's what Dre said). Ours have just begun to bolt (go to seed) as indicated by the lovely yellow spots interspersed in the green, though as far as I can tell, it has no effect whatsoever on flavor.

We thus have too many veggies. Moreover, the veggies I'd like to eat move to a different beet. Clearing of redundant greens has begun in anticipation of resplendent reds. Stay tuned. I've got to attend to the Moroccan stew that has claimed most of these as vicstems.

To the chopping block!

The garden is coming along, though in some ways it seems even more discombobulated than when we started (snort!). We have now moved into the back yard to begin work under the auspices of a new academic discipline: arboreal Darwinism. That's right - we choose trees according to aesthetic appeal and send the rest to the chopping block. In fact, the trees are often hacked using their own trunks as substrate. To me, this seems vaguely cannibalistic, but as I'm now on a list for having used the words "Darwinism, cannibalistic, and chopping block" in the same post, I'll have to saccharine this up to avoid penal detention, so here goes...

Morning shot of our back yard, before limb massage commenced:

The first tree put to rest - inducing supine state using gentle strokes:


These guys came in the morning to give an estimate and came back the same afternoon to begin beautification. The dude here was tickled to interact so intimately with the power lines during teticure.


This hawthorn was the largest the arborist had ever seen in Seattle. Its removal required extensive maneuvering. Armed with a 42'' dangling chainsaw, the barber pictured below set to work on the hawthorn's head. About an hour later, we were left with a glistening bald stump at which to marvel.

Naively, we opted to be left with the remains, which we have now been hacking up diligently for several hours. We've removed the hatchet from its resting place in order to put old Hawthorn to his.

To be continued...

Lord of the Mud Pies

As threatened, a post on our recent gardening adventures. We have attempted several times to clean up our yard. The largest effort occurred before we took off for a year in China. Naively, we reduced the rent in exchange for upkeep by the renters. Needless to say, upkeep didn't happen and we came back to a yard that was, perhaps, more unkempt than when we bought the place. 

Anyway, this represents one catalyst for a proper revamp of the necrotic plot. Spring's arrival further warrants an outdoor sanctuary. Moreover, as many of our associates are at some stage of child-bearing, we'll need to entertain ourselves and the occasional barren buddy or two. As it so happens, a favorite pastime of one celibate crony involves studying the natural history of raccoons while intoxicated (this is rather cerebral compared to a historical fondness for mattress surfing). The mead and amber are bubbling away in anticipation so it's on to seducing raccoons... 

Raccoon seduction requires professional guidance, which we have obtained. The garden design is quite alluring, even for non-Procyanids - it incorporates a number of local plants, a vegetable garden, a patio and, potentially, an herb spiral (welcome to the Northwest). The re-model is rather intensive, and will proceed slowly given other commitments, but the first stage has now been completed. This is the before photo of the South side yard: 

To begin, we hauled excess dirt, compost and mulch from the side yard into the back yard where we will use it to level the ground before laying the patio (lest we be sued by intoxicated natural historians). This involved a lot of digging and, because this is the space we have around the back staircase, 

a jury-rigged way of getting the dirt into the back yard: 

Digging and hauling have now been completed, and the roses and irises have been temporarily relocated. It's not an attractive pit, but the dirt now exposes 6" of the foundation, which is required by law. 

This will eventually be re-planted, but first the patio needs to be laid. In the mean time, Peter has laid claim to the South side plot,  having taken on the epithet, Lord of the Mud Pies. 

To be continued...