Category: Thistlehook Internship

MONDAY

Monday Anika wasn’t feeling well on Monday so I was flying solo. The temperatures started out below freezing but ended up being in the seventies by the time I left at 3PM. Doug and I started off in the greenhouse, watering all of the seedlings. We also finished weeding bed 5 (the orphanage, where all of the misfit and mystery peonies were planted) of the peonies. Doug also found a random peony growing in the lawn by his house. Apparently, every year he finds a new couple of eyes popping up around there and every year he digs it up, thinking he has gotten the last of it, but they still seem to keep popping up. Either way, I got to see how a peony is lifted and what it looks like after being dug up and how to divide them. We squished our divisions into the orphanage bed.

Once it got into the mid-40s outside, we transitioned to preparing the bed where the Matthiola and Cerinthe were to planted. Doug had already removed the occultation tarp over the weekend to let the bed dry out and had Phalin power harrow the bonemeal in. We set up drip tape and put up the support for the row cover that will keep the plants warm and pest-free. Then we got to planting. We planted out two trays of Matthiola (one of each variety, Glory Lavender and Noble White) and two and a half trays of Cerinthe (Kiwi Blue variety). The bed is 75 feet long, and we planted three rows of each. The Matthiola spacing was 6-8 inches apart and the Cerinthe was a foot apart. The Matthiola’s roots were not as mature as the first two flats of Cerinthe which were nearly pot bound, meaning the Matthiola takes a little longer than the Cerinthe in terms of days to maturity in the greenhouse. It was also interesting to see the first two trays of the Cerinthe (seeded 2/5) which were just past prime for transplanting versus the half flat of Cerinthe we stuck into the bed (seeded 2/13) which were not quite ready to be put out into the field (roots not quite long enough, stems kind of flimsy).

The last task of the day was digging up thyme and dividing and transplanting it into the tiered planting area just behind the house. We also pulled back the occultation tarp we put onto the southeast field on our very first day of working at Thistlehook. We pulled it back just 10-15 feet to let the ground dry out so we can (hopefully as long as it doesn’t rain too much) transplant the rest of the Cerinthe and the Antirrhinum there on Wednesday.

It was cool to see everything blooming; the Prunus mume was flowering and the plum branch leftovers that had been sitting outside since we cut them week 8 are all flowering.

WEDNESDAY

Our last day was filled with planting. We prepared a bed from the bed we covered on our first day working with Doug way back in January and planted out more Cerinthe and Matthiola, as well as some Antirrhinum. We also planted out all of the yarrow that had been potted up and growing in the greenhouse.

In the afternoon, we dug up, divided, and transplanted more thyme as well as all of the marigolds we had potted up (and threw down some marigold seed).

MONDAY

Monday was peony madness. We spent pretty much the whole day after our morning chores working on the peony beds. We fertilized beds 1 and 6 (filled with the earliest emergence and the most expensive plants) and weeded beds 4 and 5. All of the drip tape had to be set up for all of the peony beds, the asparagus, and the raspberries. Doug’s drip tape is so well organized, but does take up a lot of space. He has it laid down in straight rows so it’s easy to tell the length (just use a measuring tape!) and easy to pull out/doesn’t tangle or get kinked. In addition, we set up HortiNova netting for bed 1.

Side note, exciting news for Doug. He was awarded a grant to build a permanent greenhouse structure on his property! Also, the freesias that we planted week 5 have started to emerge.

WEDNESDAY

Started out Wednesday in the greenhouse, watering and seeding. We bottom watered all of the bigger seedlings and misting those not yet germinated. We moved the Cerinthe and Matthiola outside to harden off. And then we seeded 2 flats of more Matthiola, one of each variety (Glory Lavender and Noble White).

We spent the rest of the morning and a good portion of the afternoon weeding beds 2 and 5 of the peonies. We also washed a ton of buckets and pots.

MONDAY

Monday started off with Anika and I adjusting conditions in the greenhouse. Doug has noticed there have been some issues with damping-off so we tried to address those. Damping-off is a fungal infection and usually caused by too damp of conditions for seedlings. We also potted up the marigolds.

We then put up to Hortinova netting for the earliest-to-bloom bed of peonies. This involved putting up two rows of T-posts spaced 4 feet apart and at 8 foot increments. The Hortinova will be used as a support for the peonies once they start growing and blooming.

Maya and Phalin of Little Big Farm were also working on their site at Doug’s place on Monday so we were able to talk to them about what they’re up to right now and see some demonstrations of their equipment in action. Maya showed us their Jang seeder while she seeded some carrots and Phalin showed us their backpack flame weeder and paper pot transplanter on a row of lettuce. It was really cool to get to talk to them and see how efficient their operation is.

In the afternoon, I finally got to put my research on air layering to action. Doug was given special containers specifically for air layering from his neighbor so we used those on the mystery plum, California Bay, and Prunus mume (Japanese Apricot). Hopefully this will work to procure rooting and subsequent multiplication of these plants. On the Prunus mume we actually tried three different types of layering. We did air layering, tip layering (where the tip of the branch is buried), and simple layering (where the branch is buried but the tip is sticking out from the ground).

We also planted out the asparagus that we divided last week. All of the newly divided crowns were squeezed into the already existing bed of asparagus on Thistlehook and the excess we got to take home with us!

WEDNESDAY

Right away Wednesday morning we were outside before the heavy rains hit. We covered our planting of cornus and Pieris japonica in the west pasture orchard with landscape fabric and set up the drip tape lines for these plants. We also covered Doug’s most expensive peonies with landscape fabric, but did not set up the drip tape lines for them as it was raining pretty heavily by then.

We then got to work with all of the watering in the greenhouse. All of the un-germinated/small seedlings were misted with a spray bottle, but the bigger seedlings were bottom watered. To do this, we set the 72 flat in a shallow pool of water for 4-6 minutes. It was really cool to visibly watch the water level go down as the seedlings suck up the water into their cells.

Meanwhile, Doug got to work cutting the mystery plum trees in the front orchard. After lunch, we bunched the plum branches for Doug to take to market. He is going to force them to break bud and begin flowering. To do this, he will put them in the greenhouse (60-70 degrees Fahrenheit) for 3-4 days or until some of the blossoms start to pop. Once he sees that, he will immediately put all of the bunches into his cooler and they should hold for up to a week in there. These branches are sold by the Seattle Wholesale Grower’s Market Co-Op at two lengths; 18-24 inches long “grower’s bunch” (roughly 10-15 branches) for $8/bunch and 36 inches long 10-stem bunch for $12/bunch). Anika and I spent the afternoon bunching these branches and seeding 4 72-flats of Cerinthe, Pride of Gibraltar.

MONDAY

It was 30 degrees Fahrenheit when we arrived at 8AM Monday morning. The entire farm was iced over as we started with our chores. Definitely wanted to linger in the greenhouse as it was more like 70 degrees Fahrenheit in there. While pulling staples from cardboard is a little mindless, it was a welcome task after chores were complete on such a cold morning.

We also seeded a bunch yesterday—14 flats total! All of the flats seeded in the past were looking really happy in the greenhouse. It’s really exciting to see all of the things you seeded and have been taking care of thriving.

What we seeded:

• two 72s—Cerinthe, Kiwi Blue*
• two 72s—Cerinthe, Pride of Gibraltar*
• 72—Matthiola (Stock), Noble White
• 72—Matthiola (Stock), Glory Lavender
• two 72s—Antirrhinum (Snapdragon), Chantilly Bronze
• two 72s—Agastache, Pink Pop
• two 72s—Marigold
• two 72s—Dill

*We are doing a trial on the Cerinthe. Half the seed was soaked before being planted, half planted dry. One tray of each variety was covered and the other was uncovered. This is to see what germinates when.

In the afternoon, we covered part of the west pasture with an occultation tarp. To ensure the tarp wouldn’t be taken away by the wind or snow on the radar for Tuesday and Wednesday, we dug a trench around the tarp and buried the tarp in the trench.

We also pulled the row cover off of the peonies as it wasn’t really doing the job of weed suppression very well. Either on Wednesday or sometime next week we will be recovering with better landscape fabric or solar mulch and netting the earlier-to-bloom varieties so they will have support when they start getting bigger.

Our final task Monday was to wash and divide asparagus crowns. Doug got these from his neighbor, who no longer wanted them because they are all female plants. Asparagus are dioecious meaning they have separate male and female plants. The male plants are what produce the majority of the spears, what commercial growers sell thus making male plants more prized if you are trying to grow apparatus for eating. Doug, however, really wants the female plants because they produce berries on their fronds which are desirable for florists. To divide asparagus, dig up, wash, and tease apart the crowns to softball-sized clumps (make sure there is a crown part in the clump and it’s not just all roots). Anything that can’t be teased apart, divide using a spade, knife, or screwdriver. They can be stored for a fairly long time (their roots hold a lot of water), just keep them in slightly dampened peat moss and plant in early spring.

WEDNESDAY

SNOW DAY!!!! Used the day to work on self-evaluation for Doug and research on air-layering.

Here’s a little of what I learned about air layering:

According to the Royal Horticultural Society, “Air layering is a method of propagating new trees and shrubs from stems still attached to the parent plant. The stem is wrapped with damp moss to encourage roots to form.” Plants that don’t propagate well from cuttings and generally don’t have the shoots that make mound layering possible would benefit from air layering. Some of these species include magnolia, hazel, Cotinus, flowering Cornus species, acers, camellias, Chaenomeles, daphnes, Ficus (fig), Forsythia, Hamamelis (witch hazel), jasmine, Philodendron, rhododendron and azalea, lilac, viburnums, holly, roses, boxwood, wax myrtle, and honeysuckle (Grant and Royal Horticultural Society).

How to Air Layer (from Royal Horticultural Society):

• Choose a one- to two-year-old stem that is straight, healthy and vigorous. Trim off side shoots and leaves from a 30cm (1ft) section. Do not leave any snags
• Wound the stem, making a 2.5cm (1in) cut through a leaf bud, angled towards the shoot tip. This will create a tongue that can be lifted
• Apply hormone rooting compound to the surface of the wound
• Pack a small amount of moist sphagnum moss under the tongue of the wound
• Wrap the wounded stem section loosely with black plastic*, sealing it at one end with weather-proof adhesive tape
• Pack the wrapping sleeve with moist sphagnum moss, to a thickness of 7.5-10cm (3-4in)
• Seal the other end of the wrapping sleeve with weather-proof adhesive tape
• Leave the wrapping in place for up to a year. Open and check it occasionally for signs of rooting
• When strong new roots are visible through the moss, remove the plastic sleeve. Cut through the stem just below the rooted section
• Pot up the rooted stem in potting compost suitable for the plant in question. Do not attempt to remove the moss from the roots. Water, label and grow on until large enough to plant outside

*Use black plastic as clear will allow light to seep through, encouraging algae growth because of the damp conditions inside the wrapped sleeve.

 

SOURCES:

Air Layering of Plants

What is Air Layering: Learn About Air Layering Plants by Bonnie L. Grant

Plant Propagation by Layering

 

SUNDAY

Sunday we woke up at 3AM to drive to Seattle for a special Valentine’s Day event at the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market Cooperative. Doug is a full member of this coop and sells all of his product at their market. During peak season (May-October), they have normal markets on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 6AM-noon (10AM-noon the market is open to the public). During the off season (November-April), they have one market on Wednesdays, same hours. However, with it being Valentine’s Day this upcoming Wednesday, they had a special Sunday event for florists to stock up on flowers for their Valentine’s Day orders.

During the off season, they bring in a lot of product from California and Hawaii to supplement the lack of product from local growers, but all of this product needs to be salmon-safe as a base requirement to be able to sell at the market.

It was pretty insane when we got there at 5AM, with people running around and trucks coming in and out of the loading docks. Immediately, we were given a tour of the new space by Diane and Denis, board members and owners of Jello Mold Farm in Mount Vernon (and my future bosses!). The space includes a storeroom, lobby, and meeting room, and is about double the size of their old space (moved locations in November 2017). They are also located a couple blocks from the other floral wholesaler of Seattle, which is good because it is now more convenient for their customers to be able to go to both in the same day.

After, we were put to work uploading trucks/vans, unpacking boxes, filling buckets, sorting flowers/greenery, and chopping stems before sending them out to the floor. We saw so many really cool and totally new to me plants. Some of these included Proteas and other Leucadendrons, Chamelaucium (wax flower), Claycina, and Moroccan Date Palm. It was really cool to see all of these unique and downright weird plants in conjunction with the more native things like English Ivy (yes someone was selling this noxious weed at the market), pussy willow, and cedar as well as the more familiar things like roses, ranunculus, and tulips.

Doug was really excited by the variety of things the growers from Oregon were able to bring this early. He thinks this is good news for him as Washington will get an earlier spring too. They had a lot of Oregon-grown tulips, ranunculus, anemones, and heather.

In terms of product, they received 90 boxes worth of flowers and greenery this past Wednesday for this market and we received 150 boxes Sunday morning. All of these were unpacked and processed by us Sunday morning. All of this product came from California and Hawaii, thus not even including the actual grower-members’ product. Doug said he believes all of the California/Hawaii product will be sold Sunday or else on their normal Wednesday market on actual Valentine’s Day. The stuff that is less likely to sell is actually the grower-member stuff that’s not the tulips, ranunculus, etc.—the things like the pussy willow and cedar as it doesn’t really say “Valentine’s Day.

It was a long day—we got home at 2PM. But it was fun and I learned a lot. Plus it was really good to see Denis and Diane of Jello Mold Farm as well as the new space for the market.

MONDAY

Monday morning was rough (Anika and I were really tired from the day before), but we had a really interesting project to accomplish. We were tasked with rotating the chicken coop. When I first heard that I was incredibly skeptical, but it actually worked! A little bit sketchy at times, but we did it. Basically, we used a car jack to jacked up the coop, used 4x4s to brace it on top of the trailer, used the tractor to rotate the coop, and set it upon cinder blocks, now facing the south (and the sun).

Why rotate the chicken coop? Well, Doug has been treating it as a grow room and keeping our blueberry cuttings in it, but the window that lets light in is facing north not south (thus flipping it around would allow sunlight to help the blueberries in their rooting process). We used a car jack to hoist the coop up and suspend it on the trailer. Doug used the tractor to turn the trailer (and coop) around. We had to dig a trench for the leg clearance, but it worked! We rotated the coop so it was facing south.

After rotating, we ripped off the front wall and window and part of the westside wall. We then covered that open area with extra greenhouse plastic Doug has lying around. This was to ensure additional light into the coop. Considering I was so skeptical at first that this would work, it was pretty cool to see this project from start to finish. That’s what I really like about working with Doug; he is constantly pushing my limits in terms of what I think is possible/will actually work (i.e. the garage greenhouse conversion, building a foundation for the cooler). He is willing to try pretty much anything, which really seems to pay off for him. I will definitely take that with me into the future as I am not intuitively like that at all.

Monday afternoon, we seeded. We used a new method adopted by Doug from Little Big Farm. Basically, you don’t fill the trays quite as full and seed normally, but cover the top with vermiculite or pearlite. This ensures a crust won’t form over the top, disabling water to penetrate to the seed. Floret also uses this method for seeding.

What we seeded:

• two 72s—Cerinthe, Kiwi Blue variety
• two 72s—Agastache, Pink Pop mix
• one 72—Antirrhinum, Chantilly Bronze

Also the spring crocuses began to bloom! I’m so excited for spring and all of the new blooms to come.

MONDAY

Right away Monday morning we began with our chores. Again, these include misting the blueberry cuttings; checking the west pasture; watering greenhouse cuttings; and feed the animals. This included filling the bird feeders, putting out tuna for Blackie the cat, and giving the cows (Reggie, Boyfriend, and Betsy) next-door apples. These are things we do everyday right when we get to Thistlehook. It’s nice to know exactly what to do right when we get there regardless of if Doug is around immediately or not.

After our normal chores, we got to work mixing up a neem oil foliar spray for the backpack sprayer. To make this spray, we mixed 2 tablespoons neem oil to 1 gallon of water. The spray was used on the Turkish Bay to help alleviate the scale pressure and on the peonies to help ward off botrytis. For best results, spray every leaf top and bottom as well as soak the ground around the emerging eyes of the peonies.

We then got to work planting freesia corms in the unheated greenhouse. To do this, we rolled out HortiNova netting to act as a spacing guide. Two corms went in each square–one in the upper lefthand corner, one in the lower righthand corner. Doug had two different varieties to plant: Albertville (white variety) and Gold River (yellow variety). There were 500 corms of each and all of them fit into the two 3ft x 20ft beds inside of the unheated greenhouse. To plant, you just stick the corm 1-2 inches into the dirt and cover back up. After finishing with the planting, we removed the HortiNova (it was just used as a spacing guide, but will be added back to the beds when the freesias are about 2 inches tall for support) and covered the rows with row cover. The row cover, combined with the protection from the greenhouse, will ensure the corms don’t get too cold. They don’t like for their surroundings to get below 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

After finishing in the unheated greenhouse, we moved to the greenhouse for some seeding.

Here’s what we seeded:

• two 72s (144 total)–Cerinthe Major, Kiwi Blue variety
• 72–Matthiolas (Stock), Glory Lavender variety
• 72–Matthiolas (Stock), Noble White (untreated) variety

The afternoon was filled with transplanting yarrow into the field in Doug’s backyard. So much yarrow! That field is going to look beautiful in full bloom this summer.

A side note: the garage greenhouse is doing it’s job really well! The potted up yarrow is looking really happy and has green new growth. The marigolds and beans from the seed germination trial popped up over the weekend. This means that the grow lights and heater in the greenhouse are actually working to keep the seeds and potted up plants happy and healthy.

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday, we finished up mulching the peony paths (Doug got more wood chips from the free place on Delphi on Tuesday). I learned some new things about peonies and tips/tricks on dividing the crowns. Depending upon variety, peonies can be divided every 3-5 years, but at the very least every 10 years if you want them to be productive (they can live up to 100 years without ever being divided, but the center on the crown will die over time as the eyes spread outward). Peonies don’t really like being lifted, though, and will take 1-2 years before you can start harvesting from them again.

After the peonies, we finally planted the Pieris japonica in the west pasture! Pieirs japonica (Japanese Andromeda) is in the Ericaceae or heather family (so are blueberries) and many of these species like acidic soils, which was perfect because that pasture is slightly acidic–no need to add any lime. We planted 10 Dorothy variety in 1 gallon pots and 9 Snow Drop variety also in 1 gallon pots. There were also 1 of each variety, each in a 5 gallon pot. These pots came with slow-release fertilizer so the holes we dug didn’t need as much amendments as the cornus we planted week 1. Again, we dug holes two times as wide and as deep as the pot we were planting. In the hole, we added 1 cup bonemeal, 1/4 cup azomite, 1/4 cup sulfur, and a pinch of borax.

We also continued with the yarrow planting. Only the yarrow potted up in the greenhouse remains to be transplanted into the field; everything else we got in on Wednesday.

Upcoming excitement: This Sunday (February 11th), Anika and I will be going with Doug to the Seattle Wholesale GrowersMarket Cooperative! As Valentine’s Day (the single most economically profitable day for flowers in the US) is next Wednesday, they are having a special market event for the florists to get their flowers so they can make their Valentine’s Day arrangements. It will be really cool to see the market in action and get a chance to talk to the employees of the market and the florists that frequent the market.

MONDAY

Monday was exceptionally wet and rainy, so we spent most of the day in the barn and garage. Firstly, we rebuilt a sieve to be able to sift through potting mix and compost as well as break up peat moss. Using the sieve, we then broke up some peat moss and used that to mix up seeding mix. We also used the sieve to sift through potting mix, trying to get rid of rocks and large woody bits.

Seeding Mix Recipe:

• 4 buckets (20 gal) peat moss
• 4 cup bonemeal
• 2 cup lime
• 1 cup azomite
• 1 cup sulfur
• 4 cup lime
• 1 bag mushroom compost
• 1 bucket (5 gal) vermiculite

Doug got this recipe from Bare Mountain Farm which is a no-till flower farm  in Shedd, OR. He made some switches and substitutes to this recipe (i.e. swapping pearlite for vermiculite, swapping rock dust for azomite). This recipe made enough to fill 4 bags worth of seeding mix.

With the new seeding mix made up, we were able to seed three 72 trays.

Here’s what we seeded:

• 72–Agastache astromontana (Giant Hyssop), Pink Pop variety
• 72–Antirrhinum (Snapdragon), Chantilly Bronze variety
• 36–Dill
• 36–Coriander

 

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday began with our morning chores, which consists of (1) misting the blueberry cuttings in the hatch, (2) watering all of the cuttings, yarrow, and seedlings in the greenhouse, and (3) checking the west pasture orchard for any downed or damaged cornus.

After our morning chores, we weeded and raked the apple and pear orchard (which is seriously nasty looking because it was poorly maintained by the previous owners of the property, but evidently looks significantly better than when Doug first arrived and the trees were 20-30 feet tall!). These apples, pears, and the plums just outside the orchard are all used both for their fruit (personal consumption and the cows) and for the flower market (cut branches either with blossoms or green fruit).

I then moved to the blueberries already established on Doug’s property (not our cuttings from Week 2) while Anika painted stakes for the peonies. I pruned the blueberries and weeded the patch. After lunch, Anika and I sheet mulched them, using cardboard and mulch on top.

MONDAY

Monday morning, Anika and I did a farm evaluation for Doug. After walking the farm and asking questions of both Doug and Maya and Phelan (of Little Big Farm, leasing part of Doug’s land), we were tasked with coming up with a list of pros and cons to the parcel of land. In addition to this summation, we were also asked to give an evaluation of some solutions to the drawbacks as well as suggestions for Doug going forward. Here is some of our findings:

PROS:

• Lots of worms: good soil fertility
• Good working relationship with neighbors
• Sloping upper fields with SW at lowest point (good for sun exposure, little bit of protection from N winds; excess water flows into drainage pond)
• Not close to forest: less forest disease pressures
• High water table good for some plants (i.e. dogwood, blueberries)
• Because it was previously pasture, easy to maintain weed pressure simply by mowing
• SOLAR!!!! (besides initial cost, not spending a ton of money of electricity especially with walk-in cooler): located in an open area also helps increase energy production
• High organic matter in soil
• High bird population: less insects
• Not on top of neighbors, area to expand (lots land he’s not using)
• Bees interspersed around property on various neighbor land
• House is on the land being farmed (if there’s ever a crisis, can react quickly), cuts down on time commuting
• Barn infrastructure already on property
• Flowers: not too worried about pests
• Companion planting: putting herbs between apricots and others to decrease pest interest in cash crops

CONS:

• Neighbors use pesticides (but they’re pretty far away and this isn’t a certified organic farm)
• West pasture floods during the winter; could potentially harm plants out there (especially if they don’t like sitting in overly wet soil or wet roots)
• Water passing through field: could deplete water-soluble nutrients, potentially for soil erosion
• Water passing under driveway—if high enough, could wash out driveway.
• Exposure: prevailing wind from SW but no wind breaks to block that wind (although not a ton of annuls, excessive wind procures shorter, stockier stems; florists want long and tall stems), there is
• Pest populations: deer, rabbits, voles, mice—especially for deer, entire grow space must be enclosed, voles could do serious damage to plants/roots. Keep fence intact (close rabbit holes). Get a good hunting cat/dog.
• Large goose population: spread of disease (not growing produce but Little Big Farm is), solution: keep boots clean, keep birds off immediate property (but they do eat slugs!)
• Little Big Farm could introduce pathogens (growing brassicas and nightshades)
• Fungal pressures: especially on peonies (botrytis)
• Copper deficiency: potentially increase slug/snail populations and could lead to mold problems, BUT too much is toxic to plants. If spraying some fungicides don’t add copper.
• Drainage issues around spigots: easily floods around them, not necessarily usable
• No water source for west pasture: wouldn’t be able to plant anything needing irrigation (if wanting to expand into that area, would need to plant something that wouldn’t mind being dry in the summer)
• Having cows next door will attract cucumber spotted beetle and other pests
• In summer, if windy, will have to irrigate a lot more
• Annuals can’t be rotated
• Can’t put in a commercial well on site here, would be very difficult (maybe impossible) to get another

SUGGESTIONS:

• Roof compost pile and add concrete floor (prevents runoff/leaching): can have the NRCS collaborate in that process
• Plant windbreaks: could even be harvested from once its big enough and could use it as a part of IPM (and collaborate with NRCS)
• Plant blueberries right by swampy area in west pasture (prevent erosion)
• Plant some sort of shrub at bottom of upper field (SW) to prevent erosion of driveway during heavy rains…
  • Purple contorted filbert? (every season it could be harvested and sold to the floral market, “Red Dragon” variety is blight resistant)
  • Tiger fig? (leaves and fruits are beautiful on stem, could also be sold)
• Cover crop Little Big Farm’s area before putting it into production
• Take out blackberries along trail and replace with something harvestable
• Chip brush pile (could rent chipper) and use directly in field (save some back and forth to get mulch)
• Sloping upper field could yield itself nicely to hugelkultur
• Long-term greenhouse (but already know that)
• Could collect rain water: especially in west pasture where there is no water access
• Prevention of botrytis:
  • Only cut when dry
  • Get rid of infected leaves
  • Clean pruners between each individual plant (keep clorex wipes in pocket at wipe after each plant)
  • Copper and sulfate organic fungicide help with botrytis
  • Neem oil?

    

  • Mulching around plants will trap fungal spores
  • Shake dew off plants (make sure its not wet for too long)
  • Homemade solution: 2Tbsp baking soda, couple drops of dish soap, and 1gal water (commercial fungicides won’t work)

Monday afternoon Anika worked on converting a kitchen shelving rack into a grow chamber while I seeded. These seeds aren’t destined to be out in the field, however, they were just to test germination in the garage greenhouse to ensure it is actually going to work as a greenhouse.

What we planted:

• 36 beans, burgundy
• 30 marigolds, variety unknown
• 6 nasturtium, trailing mix

WEDNESDAY

Contrary to the weather report, it was not raining when we arrived Wednesday morning which we took advantage of and weeded the asparagus. We then pruned a red elderberry tree back by the barn, which really meant cutting it back to the ground. The branches with their buds looked really cool so Anika and I took them home. Not exactly what I’m going to use them for. We also got to work potting up all the yarrow we dug up and divided. Nowhere near close to being done with that endeavor. Doug wants to see works better: individually potting yarrow and leaving it in the greenhouse or healing it in a large trough filled with soil outside. He wants to see if it is worth all of the time to individually pot it up and all of the greenhouse space it takes up or if leaving it outside will work just fine.

We also dug up and potted some California Bay shoots Doug had been mound layering for that purpose. There were nodes present so the method works in terms of getting the plant to start to root. Hopefully they actually end up rooting now that they are cut and potted inside the greenhouse. We also used more of our willow water that we made last week to both soak the sprouts in before potting them up and to water them after they were potted up.

Our final task Wednesday was to prepare the unheated greenhouse structure for the freesias that are going to be planted in there. We raked and broad forked before adding 2 cups of bonemeal to each bed.

RESOURCES:

Plant Propagation by Layering

MONDAY

Monday, we visited Sheilah’s farm to take cuttings from her willow trees. We used these cuttings to make willow water for our blueberry cuttings that we will take on Wednesday.

According to a Deep Green Permaculture article entitled Home Made Plant Rooting Hormone–Willow Water, willow water works in improving rooting in cuttings because of two substances–indolebutyric acid (IBA) and Salicylic acid (SA)–found within the Salix (Willow) species.

“Indolebutyric acid (IBA) is a plant hormone that stimulates root growth. It is present in high concentrations in the growing tips of willow branches. … Salicylic acid (SA) (which is a chemical similar to the headache medicine Aspirin) is a plant hormone…involved in the process of “systemic acquired resistance” (SAR) – where an attack on one part of the plant induces a resistance response to pathogens (triggers the plant’s internal defences) in other parts of the plant. It can also trigger a defence response in nearby plants by converting the salicylic acid into a volatile chemical form.

When you make willow water, both salicylic acid and IBA leach into the water, and both have a beneficial effect when used for the propagation of cuttings. One of the biggest threats to newly propagated cuttings is infection by bacteria and fungi. Salicylic acid helps plants to fight off infection, and can thus give cuttings a better chance of survival. Plants, when attacked by infectious agents, often do not produce salicylic acid quickly enough to defend themselves, so providing the acid in water can be particularly beneficial” (Home Made Plant Rooting Hormone – Willow Water).

How to Make Willow Water:

1. Collect young first-year twigs and stems of any of willow (Salix spp.) species, Will be green or yellow bark. Don’t use the older growth with brown or gray bark.
2. Remove all the leaves.
3. Cut twigs into roughly 1″ (2.5cm) pieces.
4. Add water water. Can use either method
   1. Place the chopped willow twigs in a container and cover with boiling water, (similar to making tea), allow “tea” to steep overnight.
   2. Place the chopped willow twigs in a container and cover with room-temperature water, let soak for several days.
5. Separate the liquid from the twigs. The liquid is now ready to use for rooting cuttings. You can keep the liquid for up to two months if covered and left in the refrigerator.
6. To use, just pour some willow water into a small jar, and place the cuttings in there like flowers in a vase, and leave them there to soak overnight so they take up the plant rooting hormone. Then prepare them as you would when propagating any other cuttings. (Home Made Plant Rooting Hormone – Willow Water)

Additionally, Monday we picked up free wood chips from an arborist in Black Lake (where we met really cute and super sweet goat friends) and used the chips to mulch the paths between peony beds. We also dug up and cleaned more yarrow to be divided later on. Finally, we built the structure for the greenhouse within the garage. We used insulation as walls and plastic over the ceiling to create a sealed off section. It’s a little slipshod but should do the trick. Even without the heaters or grow lights in there yet, it was noticeably warmer within the enclosure.

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday we pruned Doug’s neighbors’ blueberries and in exchange for that work, we were able to take cuttings to propagate more blueberry plants. To get viable cuttings, we had to ensure there were only vegetative buds and not flower buds on the cuttings, snip off the apical bud, and keep 5-10 leaf buds on each cutting. We then stuck the cuttings into a mix of 2 parts sand, 2 parts peat moss, and 1 part pearlite that was watered to saturation. Hopefully they root, although we won’t know until the end of the quarter if even!

Wednesday afternoon we continued to cut and divide yarrow. Hopefully next week we will be done with that and can start actually potting the yarrow up!

RESOURCES:

Home Made Plant Rooting Hormone – Willow Water

How to Propagate Blueberries from Cuttings

 

This week Anika and I began work with Doug Hock on Thistlehook Farm in East Olympia where he grows a variety of flowers to sell at the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market Cooperative. He specializes in Cornus varieties, piers japonica varieties, prunus armeniaca (apricot), sunflowers, and peonies, but is hoping to grow more yarrow and blueberry branches (with flowers and/or immature fruits) to sell this season.

Here are some of my goals for this internship:

• Experience seeding and in greenhouse
• Experience with propagation (cuttings, mound and air layering)
• Work with and be more comfortable around power tools
• Be employed by the end of the quarter (preferably by a flower farm or working with flowers on a farm setting)
• Focus on and learn more about flower cultivation and propagation

MONDAY

We arrived Monday and immediately were put to work, putting occultation tarps over two fields for Doug. We then began the prep work for planting cornus (Dogwood) on Wednesday. This involved watering them, loading them all onto a trailer and taking them out to the pasture where they were to be planted, staking out the row and measuring/flagging where each would be planted (20 total trees, spaced 7 feet apart). Our final task on Monday was building a garage door cover made out of greenhouse plastic and wiggle wire. Doug wants to convert part of his garage into a greenhouse for starts this season. Stay tuned for more of that process!

WEDNESDAY

On Wednesday, we prepared and planted the Cornus varieties. Doug planted the varieties Temple Jewel and China Girl last year, and added 10 more Temple Jewels, 8 Wolf Eyes, and 2 Oculus Rift, making 20 total we had to prep and plant. Prep work involved digging a hole 2x as wide but the same depth of the root ball, fertilizing directly into the dug hole (1 cup bone meal, 1/2 cup sulfur, 1/4 cup azomite, 1/2 cup phosphate, and a pinch of borax), aerating/mixing up that fertilizer with a pitchfork, covering the fertilizer mix with a layer of dirt before planting the tree into the hole.

Additionally, on Wednesday, we divided yarrow, which was very muddy and wet.

All in all, a great first week with a lot of physical labor. Looking forward to the weeks to come and all of the projects we will accomplish.