Monthly Archives: September 2015

Quilt Retreat

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This weekend I attended a quilt retreat at Walker Creek Ranch, organized by Pati of See How We Sew. I went to the first retreat earlier this year and it was fun, so I expected the same.

Quilt Retreat at Walker Creek Ranch.

I got there on Friday before 4pm and almost everyone was already there. I immediately unpacked my sewing stuff and started working on The Village Mystery Quilt, an old project that was close to done. I finished the quilt top, but after posting it on Instagram and looking at it again, I think I want to add a little more to the top and bottom.

I finished up one of my WIP quilt tops at our quilt retreat. Now that I see this photo, I think I want to add a row of dark mustard on the top and bottom.

Once done, I started working on my second project which I started on the last retreat. I just kept sewing and sewing, but realized that I should count how many blocks I have and how many I needed.

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At dinnertime, around 6pm, we discovered that there was another quilt group at the ranch. They were a much larger group of around 30 women. A few of them came over and introduced themselves and I voted us to visit them later and we did the same.

Went on a little hike at our quilt Retreat before it got dark.

After dinner, a few of us decided to hike a little before it got dark. On Friday, we hiked up to the water tower and on Saturday, we hiked past the vegetable garden and farm animals.

Run Through the Wood

Sunday morning before breakfast, I decided to would have a run in “nature” to the Toad Pond. I studied the map of the trails and set foot.

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Through the weekend, we did a lot of socializing, which was expected.

Another Quick Late Night Planting

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I seem to be on a Salad Greens planting kick and I really want to get some Mizuna, so after work I stopped by Orchard Supply Hardware to see if they had any. They didn’t, but I found a jumbo six-pack of Salad Greens that contained Leaf Lettuce, Arugula and Radicchio. After dinner and washing the dishes, I planted it right away into a large Daiso pot, that I generally use for Salad Greens.

Another quick late night planting. I'm on a salad greens kick and stopped by Orchard Supply Hardware after work to see if they had any Mizuna for sale. They didn't have any, but I got a jumbo six-pack of these salad greens which includes Lettuce, Arugula

I also bought a seed packet of Renee’s Garden Mild Mustard Mix, which at least contains Mizuna seeds, along with other Mustards.

Also, we had a bit of rain… well, not hard rain, but a strong sprinkle or drizzle. I’m not sure it’s enough to penetrate inches into the dry soil, but it’ll increase some moisture.

Late Night Salad Planting

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Today’s harvest was a variety of Lettuce and Parsley for a Lettuce/Parsley Salad.

Today's harvest: Various Lettuce and Parsley for a Lettuce/Parsley Salad.

This inspired me to sow various Salad Greens seeds that I want to use up since they are old or getting old (and I can’t just throw them away).

I planted:
– Mustard ‘Crimson Red’ (2012)
– Celtuce (2013)
– Garland Chrysanthemum ‘Maiko’ (?)
– Lettuce ‘Grand Rapids’ (2010)
– Lettuce ‘Simpson Elite’ (2006)
– Lettuce ‘Marvel of Four Season’ (2010)
– Lettuce ‘Mighty Red Oak’ (2006)
– Lettuce ‘Romaine Paris Island Cos’ (2004)
– Corn Salad ‘Bistro’ (2007)

Salad Green seeds planted.

I really not counting on a lot to germinate, but if I get a few plants out of these, that’ll be good.

Sunday Gardening

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It was very overcast today and cooler, such a big different than the close to 100°F temperatures we have been having the past 3-4 days.

I started working in the garden late and started by digging up the Purple Potatoes that really didn’t grow much. I only harvested a few small tubers, but found the biggest spider that I have ever seen in our garden.

This has to be the largest Spider I've ever found in our garden. Anyone know what kind it is?

I then potted up some of the starts from the cell-based that I just purchased, since I won’t be planting them out in the garden soon. That way they get a head start on growing. These included:
– Collards (leftover from an earlier planting)
– Flowering Cabbage ‘Red’
– Onions ‘Walla Walla Sweet’

I also removed the dying Zinnias from the front garden.

I planted more Salad Green pots including:
– Lettuce ‘Buttercrunch’
– Lettuce ‘Locco Rosso’

I also potted some succulent cuttings that were rooting:
– Kalanchoe hildebrandtii (3 rooting leaves)
– Aeonium ‘Cubic Frost’

Garden Transformation

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This morning, I woke up early (for a Saturday). I was looking forward to going to the nursery to see if they had any Cabbage and Lettuce plants.

I first went to Walmart and checked the garden center and found a couple of succulents that I liked. One was a Rock Purslane (Calandrinia spectabilis) that I’ve been looking for for a while now. Who knew that out of all places, Walmart would have it. The second was Pachysedum ‘Ganzhou’ which had a cool color. I’ve been checked the vegetable section and found a 9-pack of Bonnie’s Best Cabbage and Buttercrunch Lettuce.

My name is Joel... and I'm a plant addict.

I then drove to Mid City Nursery to see what they had. I ended up with a few plants including:
– Onions ‘Walla Walla Sweet’
– Cilantro ‘Slo Bolt’
– Flowering Cabbage ‘Red’
– Shasta Daisy ‘Goldfinch’

The owner came up to me and ask if I needed any help. So I asked him why my Kumquat plant has dying branches. He asked if I had it in the ground or in a pot I replied in a pot and he said maybe its not getting enough water. So I’m hoping that his explanation was correct and that my Kumquat doesn’t have a disease.

When I got home, I decided to pull out the Zucchini plants because they were not doing well and it didn’t look like they would produce any more fruits. In its place, I planted Portuguese Kale. I also pulled what pot of Swiss Chard that were also not doing well. I added new compost and planted 6 Buttercrunch Lettuce plants.

I also pulled all my Tomatoes in the Self Watering Rain Gutter Grow System #2.

I think the Tomatoes are done for the year... so I'll be pulling them out and planting Cabbage in its place. The green in the photo is Parsley which are starting to bolt.

I planted the new Cabbage into each pot.

I'm going try to grow Cabbage this year. Wish me luck because I have never had good luck with Cabbage.

In the Square Foot Garden, I planted 2 squares of the Walla Walla Sweet Onions.