Urban farming update: Out with the old {lettuce}

It’s been two months since our last urban farming update and a lot has happened in that time!

This is where we started:

Our new planter boxes/raised beds

Our new planter boxes/raised beds

And this is where we were at in the end of April.

Fast forward to the end of June: Our lettuce went crazy! I’m pretty particular about my lettuce (romaine heads, please) and with the abundance of kale we’ve grown, we decided the lettuce was taking up valuable raised bed real estate, so we harvested it all.

Our lettuce, pre-harvest (6-2015)

Our lettuce, pre-harvest (6-2015)

So many greens!!

So many greens!!

We made made great use of the harvest with lots and lots of salads!

The romaine part of our harvest. (Bibb lettuce portion not pictured.)

The romaine part of our harvest. (Bibb lettuce portion not pictured.)

We tilled our soil and planted two tomato plants and a pepper plant. And now our beets can see the light of day and continue to grow big and juicy!

Our new and improved crop: tomatoes and peppers

Our new and improved crop: tomatoes and peppers

Such a beautiful garden! So healthy and pretty!

Such a beautiful garden! So healthy and pretty!

Spring bulbs

It’s possible we had our last warm day of the year this past weekend — it was 75 degrees on Sunday! — and I took advantage of it by spending some quality time in the garden.

A couple of weeks ago I spotted some Hyacinthus bulbs at Costco for a reasonable $15. There were 28 bulbs in the pack, far too many for us to use, so we split them with my parents. They had purchased a different pack of bulbs and split those with us. We’re going to have so many flowers come spring!

My first time planting bulbs

My first time planting bulbs

Using my genius idea from last year, I found my leftover golf tees and painted the tips purple. Once everything dies back for the winter, these will help me know where to look for new growth. I used a $0.59 bottle of acrylic paint that I had on-hand (it’s Husky purple!) and painted the tops. They dried within a couple of hours.

Purple bulb markers

Purple bulb markers

Once the paint on the tees was dry, it was time to get to planting! I dug my holes per the specifications and covered them back up with dirt.

Bulbs = planted

Bulbs = planted

And...that's it. Bulbs are so easy!

And…that’s it. Bulbs are so easy!

Looking forward to the spring and all of our new flowers!

Looking forward to the spring and all of our new flowers!

Spring! Spring! Spring!

It seems as though February showers brought March showers and March showers will likely bring more April showers and then possibly we’ll get some May flowers. In between all of those Seattle showers, spring has sprung on Megan’s Island.

Little buds are here! It's SPRING!

Little buds are here! It’s SPRING!

The plants are still alive! Yay!

The plants are still alive! Yay!

I took advantage of a break in the rain last weekend (seriously, it’s been so rainy here; halfway through the month we had already received more than three times the amount of rain we usually get in the entire month of March!) and planted some bulbs that I found at Costco.

Shade garden bulbs from Costco

Shade garden bulbs from Costco

I like to focus most of my gardening time on the backyard and this project was no exception. Our garden gets very little sun, so I’ve learned to limit myself to shade-specific plants. I finally learned how to ‘plant right for my site‘ and have killed way fewer plants since.

I bought the perennial shade lovers bulb mix and scoped out where I was going to plant my new plants. Thankfully, I was able to navigate the garden very well because of some forward thinking I did last November and my well-placed golf tees.

I planted Ostrich Fern bulbs in our fern garden and “the nothing” / “grotto” (more on that later) and Bressingham Blue Hosta bulbs in the hosta garden (are you sensing a garden grouping theme yet?) and pink Federsee Astilbe bulbs throughout the garden, mainly in the pots.

I guess the rain is a good thing, since its helping the bulbs grow roots and grow into tall, beautiful plants. More on that once I see some actual  growth.

Megan's Island fern garden

Megan’s Island fern and hosta gardens. Can you see the white golf tees?

Happy spring!