Jori Love

My French gray shallots look just like yours, and I generally get similar yields for each bulb planted. I will say that, although I normally plant in the fall, this year I forgot to put them in until spring. They had already sprouted and had green stems when they went in (I think it was in March) but they caught up and were ready to harvest at the normal time of year. I'm sure our very long, cool, wet spring helped. I did not water them this year at all because of the rain and I do think that lack of water in the summer decreased the size of each bulb a bit.

I've also been growing the Dutch Red shallots from bulb because my partner prefers their bigger size when cooking. I lose more of those to rot when planted in the fall though, so I'm planning to do half in the fall and half in the spring to hedge my bets.

The French grays are so pungent you almost have to wear goggles when cutting them. They are delicious!

As is the norm in gardening some things have gone really well and some things could be better. Looking back on what I was excited for in the spring and responding to it is a great practice. I keep meaning to start a garden journal but I never get around to it. At least next season I'll have this little update to look back on.

Jori Love wrote:I can't wait to garden this season! It's my last season here before I move and I'm determined to make it my best yet. Some of the things I'm excited about are:

1. More dahlias. Is 50 plants too many? I think not. Last year I was able to keep my friends in fresh bouquets for a couple months and fill my own home with flowers.

2. A new to me tomato variety called Annarita that is supposed to store up to 6 months on the vine. We grew a huge chunk of our food last year but struggled to process and store it. I'm hoping this one will be happy hanging in a cool, dark laundry room.

3. A mostly weed free garden at the end of the season. I know this sounds picky, but it's because new gardeners are more likely to join the community garden if the plots seem ready to go. Two years ago I dug all four of my plots out from under a combination of grass, thistle, and bindweed, and added manure/woodchips/cardboard and I'm excited to pass it on to the next person.

4. Hosting a seed swap. I'm trying to build more community in the community garden. It's been challenging the last couple years since we've had no events so this spring I'm going to plan a seed swap to get everyone connected early. Plus people give me extra seeds which I start and then share with gardeners who get plots later in the season.

I'm in the PNW so I've had a very cold, wet spring. Evenings were still below 40F/4C into mid-June which means the squash/tomatoes/dahlias took a hit. The squash have yet to take off so we'll see if we get any or if we're going to eat a lot of dry beans and nothing else this winter. The dahlias and tomatoes have bounced back though and I think they'll produce earlier for me this year.

Funny enough, I somehow forgot to plant the tomato that I was most excited about, Annarita. I realized it near the end of May and nearly fell over laughing at my scatterbrain. I'll have to report back on this tomato next year (if I remember to plant it).

I'm still keeping up with the weeds, although I will do everything in my power to find a garden that has no bindweed in the future. A master gardener recently suggested that I use a paintbrush to apply herbicide to it, but that is against both the community garden rules and my own garden beliefs. It reminded me why I don't ask for help from Master Gardeners very often.

I only managed to get one person to come out for my seed swap but that was ok. We had a ton of fun, traded lots of seeds, and spent time catching up. I started keeping a little notebook on me when I'm at the community garden and writing down people's names with an identifying characteristic. Going up to them, saying hi, and using their name has made a world of difference in building community there. Now people stop by my plot all the time to chat and ask questions. I've given away all of my extra starts and gardeners have shared with me when they have something in abundance.

In other good garden news I participated in a mustard greens trial through the Seed Savers Exchange ADAPT program this year. I like doing it because it helps them evaluate varieties, I get free seeds, and I find it fun to taste test and experiment with new varieties. This cold, wet spring was perfect for mustard greens (and all greens really).

Opalyn Rose wrote:
I might approve if I could see your hand and cutting device in the photo but with the plant only it is too open to interpretation.  I personally don't approve photos of the "plant in the garden" when the BB says "picture of the plant being harvested."   I'd want to see evidence of harvesting happening or having just happened.

Thanks for the clarification Opalyn! I will keep this one on my pending list and try to remember to get a better picture this summer.

I'm trying to avoid edge case BBs because I know it adds more work to the permies team. So I thought what better place to ask than in the SKIP club! The slight variations in the natural medicine badges requirements have me uncertain.

I realized that when I harvested calendula I was working off of the infused oil requirement which is "picture of calendula being harvested" and took a picture while picking it in my garden. I had leftover blooms and made the tincture too, and only just now noticed it says "picture of the blossoms, freshly harvested". Of course, I don't take enough pictures and so I have none of harvested, fresh blossoms. I have a pic of them dried and stored in a jar but that doesn't quite work either. Really I need to take more/better action shots of everything I'm doing.

What do you all think? Does the attached photo work for Make a calendula blossom tincture since it works for Make calendula infused oil?

Yarrow grows in all of the paths of my community garden. Usually it just gets mowed down, but since I'm the only one who mows I've been letting it bloom so I can harvest the blossoms. It's hard to find pictures of it being harvested since I almost always have my hands full but I found one photo of the beautiful abundance in my arms. I hung it to dry in a closet and then stripped the blooms into a jar in the fall.

I harvested and dried a bunch of calendula in the fall without a real plan for it. Making this oil was a perfect winter project! Next step is to turn the oil into calendula salve.

First loaf is attempt #12 at finding a home-milled, whole wheat sandwich loaf that isn't a brick. This recipe from Crumbly Cookie is the winner so far, and the one we're now making regularly although it takes quite a few steps.

Second loaf is the family zucchini bread recipe, which we adjust for whole wheat flour, seen below.

2cups grated zucchini (we use frozen, defrost and squeeze out excess liquid before adding)
1cup brown sugar
2/3 cup oil (we used coconut)
2 eggs
2cups flour (we used home milled whole wheat)
2tsp cinnamon
1tsp baking soda
1tsp nutmeg
1/2tsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt
1cup nuts chopped (optional)
Butter (to grease pan)

Mix wet ingredients and whisk well before adding zucchini. Then add in dry ingredients. If using home milled flour let loaf sit for 30min to hydrate. Grease pan with butter. Bake at 325 degrees for 60mins if in a loaf pan or 20-25 if in muffin tins.

Congrats on the commerce BB! Please do keep us posted on the cattails pillow. I'm interested in learning to sew with more natural materials, especially those that are free.

As a side note I hope you're feeling better soon!

I got a BB last week for setting up a rag system. I hadn't had one in place before but wanted to try an alternative to toilet paper. I cut up an old towel and found a sturdy canvas bag that we weren't using. It's working pretty great!

I'm a few BBs behind my goal of one per week but this is what I have in the works:

-Finish Baking Two Loaves of Bread. We finally found a whole wheat sandwich bread recipe that works well for our home milled flour. It's a fair amount of work so I'm trying to make one every couple of weeks.

- Make A Map. I read a book recently called The Book of Delights. It was quirky and it made me want to look for more delightful things in this world. So I decided to use this BB to make a map of delights in my neighborhood. It's going to include things like the Best Sledding Hill and my Favorite Plum Picking Spot plus all the Little Free Pantry/Library spots. I'm going to ask to hang it at the community garden, which is just below the neighborhood.

-Natural Medicine Infusions/Tinctures- I have a few calendula and yarrow infusions in the works. These will be ready to finish next week then I hope to make a calendula salve for my hands before gardening season really gets started here.

-Host a seed swap - I've been doing a lot of research on this and have put out an announcement in my community garden to see how many people are interested in attending. Feeling a little intimidated by the details but hoping to put together a great event that can continue in future years.

Yep, I sewed the fourth side for now, just to keep the stuffing in. But if I end up with some muslin in the future I might make a bag for the stuffing so just the cover can be washed and taken on and off like a pillowcase. I'm sure letting it air out in the sun would help as well. I'll have to try that this summer and see if we can't keep it smelling better without needing a full wash.