HorticultureyStuff
@grow-in-place.bsky.social
I’m a horticulturist interested in permaculture, sustainable gardening, food production, and figuring out how to make it work in rainy Western Washington.
Bee balm, what a queen you are! Planted as wee baby seeds last year and now towering over my head.
July 16, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Bee balm, what a queen you are! Planted as wee baby seeds last year and now towering over my head.
Resist, resist, resist the urge to plant a tree or large shrub directly in front of a window. They will eat your house and all the light trying to get in. This laurel isn’t great ecologically or practically and will be replaced with something suitable. #landscaping #landscapedesign #gardening
July 14, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Resist, resist, resist the urge to plant a tree or large shrub directly in front of a window. They will eat your house and all the light trying to get in. This laurel isn’t great ecologically or practically and will be replaced with something suitable. #landscaping #landscapedesign #gardening
2nd year blueberries. Good pruning, low pH soil, NO nitrate-form fertilizer, plenty of wood chips (NO compost), nutrients, and just enough water results in amazing berries. #blueberries #gardening #horticulture #summer #pnwlife
July 3, 2025 at 4:28 AM
2nd year blueberries. Good pruning, low pH soil, NO nitrate-form fertilizer, plenty of wood chips (NO compost), nutrients, and just enough water results in amazing berries. #blueberries #gardening #horticulture #summer #pnwlife
The peas grew. 😳 Last year, I had big issues with nitrogen tie-up with newly established no-dig beds. This year, I added two new beds but only planted them with peas and beans. I made sure they had plenty of micronutrients and let them take care of themselves. They did. #gardening #vegetables #nodig
June 23, 2025 at 1:09 AM
The peas grew. 😳 Last year, I had big issues with nitrogen tie-up with newly established no-dig beds. This year, I added two new beds but only planted them with peas and beans. I made sure they had plenty of micronutrients and let them take care of themselves. They did. #gardening #vegetables #nodig
Say what you will about the lack of rain, it’s been the best berry season of my life. More perfect strawberries coming out of a 4X8 bed than I thought possible. Fresh, jam, freeze dried, in crisps, giving them away…can’t keep up! #gardening #berries #pnwlife
June 16, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Say what you will about the lack of rain, it’s been the best berry season of my life. More perfect strawberries coming out of a 4X8 bed than I thought possible. Fresh, jam, freeze dried, in crisps, giving them away…can’t keep up! #gardening #berries #pnwlife
For me, most ornamentals need a stacking function such as ecological or medicinal value. Last time I checked, out of the David Austin Roses collection, only six are listed as able to produce hips. Here are The Lark Ascending and Tottering By Gently. I’m in love. #roses #davidaustinroses
June 12, 2025 at 5:53 PM
For me, most ornamentals need a stacking function such as ecological or medicinal value. Last time I checked, out of the David Austin Roses collection, only six are listed as able to produce hips. Here are The Lark Ascending and Tottering By Gently. I’m in love. #roses #davidaustinroses
If you struggle repeatedly with growing something, stop and try a really vigorous hybrid. I have been struggling with OP cabbage for a couple years now. Switched to a hybrid and had no problems. 'Tiara' from Territorial Seed is just lovely. (1/2) #gardening #horticulture #cabbage #springgarden
May 31, 2025 at 2:20 AM
If you struggle repeatedly with growing something, stop and try a really vigorous hybrid. I have been struggling with OP cabbage for a couple years now. Switched to a hybrid and had no problems. 'Tiara' from Territorial Seed is just lovely. (1/2) #gardening #horticulture #cabbage #springgarden
When you turn your irrigation on this spring, check everything, let it run a bit, and check it again. I turned mine on for the first time this spring, checked everything, and had parts spring free after about 20 min. Better now than if I am off-property mid-summer. #gardening #irrigation
May 26, 2025 at 10:06 PM
When you turn your irrigation on this spring, check everything, let it run a bit, and check it again. I turned mine on for the first time this spring, checked everything, and had parts spring free after about 20 min. Better now than if I am off-property mid-summer. #gardening #irrigation
A mountain of the last of the winter greens to be steamed, cooled, chopped, and put in the freezer. Eating kale for 6+ months is enough. If I don't harvest another kale leaf until mid-October or later, it'll be OK. #gardening #wintergarden #fallgarden #preserving
May 24, 2025 at 7:12 PM
A mountain of the last of the winter greens to be steamed, cooled, chopped, and put in the freezer. Eating kale for 6+ months is enough. If I don't harvest another kale leaf until mid-October or later, it'll be OK. #gardening #wintergarden #fallgarden #preserving
Overwintering leeks, rockstars. Other than a bag of storage onions bought off a market gardener friend, coming up on a year of not having to buy anything in the onion family. #wintergarden #hugelkultur #vegetables #resilience
May 22, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Overwintering leeks, rockstars. Other than a bag of storage onions bought off a market gardener friend, coming up on a year of not having to buy anything in the onion family. #wintergarden #hugelkultur #vegetables #resilience
The biggest challenge in a hugelkultur bed is weeds. If you don’t want to weed, don’t build one Whatever seed bank was in the soil you built it with, those are your weeds. Mine are thistle. Pernicious weeds and any running grasses HAVE to go. (1/2) #hugelkultur #permaculture
May 22, 2025 at 9:41 PM
The biggest challenge in a hugelkultur bed is weeds. If you don’t want to weed, don’t build one Whatever seed bank was in the soil you built it with, those are your weeds. Mine are thistle. Pernicious weeds and any running grasses HAVE to go. (1/2) #hugelkultur #permaculture
Hugelkultur garlic. Third year of saved seed. Every year, I worry about it. I worry I won’t have a crop Every year, it’s better than the last. I fertilize in early spring and May, keep it weeded, and harvest. 🧄 🧄🧄🧄🧄 #hugelkultur #gardening #permaculture #drygardening
May 22, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Hugelkultur garlic. Third year of saved seed. Every year, I worry about it. I worry I won’t have a crop Every year, it’s better than the last. I fertilize in early spring and May, keep it weeded, and harvest. 🧄 🧄🧄🧄🧄 #hugelkultur #gardening #permaculture #drygardening
It's the first year I have enough garden space that I can get all my plants in and let the brassicas just go and go. They are taller than me and abuzz with both insects and birds. Having started balcony gardening on Capitol Hill, the space is a privilege, no doubt. #pollinators #bees #permaculture
May 21, 2025 at 8:30 PM
It's the first year I have enough garden space that I can get all my plants in and let the brassicas just go and go. They are taller than me and abuzz with both insects and birds. Having started balcony gardening on Capitol Hill, the space is a privilege, no doubt. #pollinators #bees #permaculture
I grew up in a community with an intact watershed. Beaver dams, five species of salmon, moose splashing around, birds diving. Over time, I’ve realized a) how unusual that is and b) how much more unusual it should be to break one up. #alaska #watersheds
May 16, 2025 at 1:46 AM
I grew up in a community with an intact watershed. Beaver dams, five species of salmon, moose splashing around, birds diving. Over time, I’ve realized a) how unusual that is and b) how much more unusual it should be to break one up. #alaska #watersheds
Spring garden, Year 2. At our last home we were on a shared well. The way it was set up, running drip line could burn out the pump. Using larger volumes of water at a time also wasn't an option. I was always on the back foot getting perennials going. (1/2) #irrigation #perennials #gardening
May 5, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Spring garden, Year 2. At our last home we were on a shared well. The way it was set up, running drip line could burn out the pump. Using larger volumes of water at a time also wasn't an option. I was always on the back foot getting perennials going. (1/2) #irrigation #perennials #gardening
Sad crabapple Fermented Plant Juice results. Over the last year, I've really upped my micronutrient game. In theory, my plants should already have access to everything they need to thrive. While my brain would love to say they look crazy strong following a first spray, it's hard to know why. (1/?)
April 11, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Sad crabapple Fermented Plant Juice results. Over the last year, I've really upped my micronutrient game. In theory, my plants should already have access to everything they need to thrive. While my brain would love to say they look crazy strong following a first spray, it's hard to know why. (1/?)
Hugelkultur purple sprouting broccoli taking off. This experiment only went OK. If you're in a climate with reliable late-summer and fall rains, this would be a slam dunk. In our mediterranean climate, it just wasn't worth the work. (1/2) #hugelkultur #permaculture #gardening #pnw #fallgarden
April 10, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Hugelkultur purple sprouting broccoli taking off. This experiment only went OK. If you're in a climate with reliable late-summer and fall rains, this would be a slam dunk. In our mediterranean climate, it just wasn't worth the work. (1/2) #hugelkultur #permaculture #gardening #pnw #fallgarden
After a week of really trying wind and rain, I think we have rounded the bend into true early spring. #gardening #permaculture #pnw #pnwlife
April 9, 2025 at 3:22 PM
After a week of really trying wind and rain, I think we have rounded the bend into true early spring. #gardening #permaculture #pnw #pnwlife
Spring greens on a dark rainy morning. Celebrating a year of having an unbroken stream of food coming in from the garden. Something shifts when the garden becomes the grocery store. Priorities. Health. Time spent. Seasons. What a year means. It's good. #gardening #permaculture #spring
April 7, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Spring greens on a dark rainy morning. Celebrating a year of having an unbroken stream of food coming in from the garden. Something shifts when the garden becomes the grocery store. Priorities. Health. Time spent. Seasons. What a year means. It's good. #gardening #permaculture #spring
Cold night with a frost. Pulled the row cover off the potatoes in the hot bed and found this fella quite content in the double-layered frog sauna. . #gardening #ecologicalgardening #permaculture #wildlife
April 4, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Cold night with a frost. Pulled the row cover off the potatoes in the hot bed and found this fella quite content in the double-layered frog sauna. . #gardening #ecologicalgardening #permaculture #wildlife
Fermented Plant Juice, finished and strained! Full credit to Korean Natural Farming, this is incredibly straightforward. Still importing the brown sugar but it is a major step forward into producing my own fertilizer. (1/2) #koreannaturalfarming #knf #permaculture
April 3, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Fermented Plant Juice, finished and strained! Full credit to Korean Natural Farming, this is incredibly straightforward. Still importing the brown sugar but it is a major step forward into producing my own fertilizer. (1/2) #koreannaturalfarming #knf #permaculture
I don't like lawns but I do love this. We put in a bee-friendly no-mow lawn at our new house. It's a blend of tall grasses that swoop over, short grasses that block weeds, and clover for the bees. It also infiltrates water like a sponge. #ecologicaldesign #gardening #landscaping #permaculture
April 3, 2025 at 12:52 AM
I don't like lawns but I do love this. We put in a bee-friendly no-mow lawn at our new house. It's a blend of tall grasses that swoop over, short grasses that block weeds, and clover for the bees. It also infiltrates water like a sponge. #ecologicaldesign #gardening #landscaping #permaculture
Piles of kale raab and purple sprouting broccoli require a little creativity. Borrowing from a Mexican preparation of huazontles, I roasted the kale raab and then made a casserole with it, salsa, and sliced panela. Piled into tortillas for a good dinner. #gardening #wintergarden
April 1, 2025 at 1:43 AM
Piles of kale raab and purple sprouting broccoli require a little creativity. Borrowing from a Mexican preparation of huazontles, I roasted the kale raab and then made a casserole with it, salsa, and sliced panela. Piled into tortillas for a good dinner. #gardening #wintergarden
The wind rose for today. The NWS scared all of us over a teeny thunderstorm the other night and then completely dropped the ball on an actually-damaging east wind warning today. Ironically, I was out installing the first part of a windbreak when it got too windy to work.....
March 30, 2025 at 10:22 PM
The wind rose for today. The NWS scared all of us over a teeny thunderstorm the other night and then completely dropped the ball on an actually-damaging east wind warning today. Ironically, I was out installing the first part of a windbreak when it got too windy to work.....
Farewell, Amazon Prime. I will still buy books for my Kindle because I like buying books but just can't own that many hardcopies. I'm not embarrassed about having appreciated the genuine convenience but am sad about the consequences. Time for new skills. #amazon #badhabits
March 28, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Farewell, Amazon Prime. I will still buy books for my Kindle because I like buying books but just can't own that many hardcopies. I'm not embarrassed about having appreciated the genuine convenience but am sad about the consequences. Time for new skills. #amazon #badhabits