Oh Radish!

I pulled out my very first radish yesterday!! Miraculous, I know...This feat was accomplished by starting radishes in a deep pot in early February.  Look at that glorious tap root!  And that perfect cherry rose color and egg shape! I'm in LOVE...makes it hard to pull them all out and eat them.  Actually, no, not hard at all.  I'm getting crusty french baguette and cultured butter this afternoon...YUM!

Kisses,
The Bear

It's Not Tomato Time...Yet!

On our regular walks through our neighborhood (the best cheap date possible!), Ben and I have been seeing some lovely looking, newly-retrieved-from-the-garden-store, excitement-to-grow-food-filled tomato plants happily nestled into raised beds and pots in our neighbors yards. "But", I say to Ben, "it's only April!". 

I've noticed in my wee bit of growing things and teaching people in this world, that one of the leading causes of an abandoned veggie garden endeavor is unsuccessful tomato plants!  Growing tomatoes in Seattle is totally doable, it just takes some classy techniques to be really successful. And one of those techniques is to put your tomato plants out when the overnight temperatures are pretty steadily around 55 degrees. This means waiting (I know, I hate waiting too!) until late May or early June to put your beautiful tomato starts into your garden.  The starts should definitely be well on their way by this time...I like to plant out starts that are at least 9"-12" tall with good-lookin' leaves and some chubbiness to their overall look (aka super healthy!). 

If I'm feeling like getting my tomatoes started really early, and I just can't wait all the way til June, I put up a big cloche over all of my starts to warm the air and soil or my little tropical babies. This technique means that I do have to keep a very close eye on hydration, as the soil can dry out quickly under the cloche and while the tomatoes are small they need pretty consistent water.  But the payoff can be earlier yields of my favorite food...That's definitely worth the work!

There are many more spectacular techniques and tips I've gleaned from my teachers and my relationships with many enigmatic tomato plants over the years.  Let me know if you'd like a hand cultivating your own tomato-growing techniques and successful relationship with this juicy plant! Check out my mentoring and consultation services here!

With warm anticipation,
-Melissa aka The Flying Bear

Strawberry fields...

Don't say "forever."  We might get sued for copyright infringement.  Melissa and I have been busy putting in new beds. One of them, and my new favorite, is at the 46th Street farm-patch, and it is full of STRAWBERRIES!!! This particular bed has been here for some time, but has been neglected over the years. Three rose bushes and an old holly stump (which still grows, you can't seem to kill holly) are all that were there. They were infested with bind weed when I first moved in. I had to rescue the rose bushes from strangulation at the "hands" of the bind weed.

Today the 15' long bed is weeded, bordered with rocks found on sight, and planted with strawberries.  The strawberries are joined by some delicious and beautiful companions including rhubarb, lilies, sun flowers and a few other flower varieties (Melissa knows what they are, I'm terrible at remembering flower names). Oh yeah, bachelor's buttons! I remembered one :) The holly stump is still there and looks like a crown...we'll keep that one trimmed. Also check out the lavender and sage we rescued from a friend's yard that was too shady. They're basking in the sun now.

More updates to come. I dug out a new bed yesterday where the ground cherries and tomatillos will go. Exciting times on the eves of May. 

 - Ben

Where has April gone?

More importantly, where have we been and what have we been doing? Well, we have we been very busy this month. Need evidence? Our lack of blog posts are a good indication, but that also means we have a lot to update you all on. I write this while on a quiet shift at Makeda Coffee in Greenwood, so I'll leave the details to further posts. Melissa can probably tell you more about her flowers and seed starts than I can. She has been out on in the dirt on 70 degree days like today, while I look longingly out the cafe window...

Enjoy these pictures in lieu of some story telling from Melissa. The first one, where I'm mysteriously invisible, was taken while we were installing a terraced strawberry garden, veggie beds and fruit trees at Melissa's aunts house near Olympia. The other picture is at the same location. We saved a little salamander from being nearly chopped up by our shovels. See how he's the same color as the dirt, amazing! Enjoy the sun and warmth!

 - Ben

Spring Flowers Spring Forth!

Flying Bear Farm Flowers is one of my favorite facets of our urban farm model. I love harvesting and arranging flowers to bring people inspiration and joy and celebration! And now having the opportunity to grow my own flowers for designing with is delighting me beyond belief! A lovely friend and incredibly chef, Trisha, hired me to do small centerpieces for a couple of luncheon meetings these last couple of weeks. Here is what the Spring gifted me for my work...

Hellebore, Magnolia, Plum branches, English Ivy seed heads, Muscari (Grape Hyacinth) straight from the Flying Bear Farm 92nd St. Patch!  The magnolias are about to fully peel open and the plum blossoms smell divine! I have better photos that I'll post later...good thing for iPhones though!

Wishing you delicious, delightful Spring exuberance!
-The Flying Bear