New Seeds in 2012

It's been one year since I visited Aslan's How Organics in Bow, WA - my inspiring friend Aaron and his very cool wife Carolyn are continuing to expand their CSA operation. When I lived in Skagit I became acquanted with some of the community gardens and helped establish one in Anacortes. I got to bike by farms everyday, trying not to fly off into a ditch with those insane winds and narrow side lanes. It felt so good to bike out there again, too much time later. In the upcoming year I will re-root as a farm tourist since there are so many amazing operations to witness in this area. Of course I say that in the winter when little is growing except my wild imagination.

On the other hand, I hope I can continue to receive inspiration. Aaron and Carolyn gave me a sampling of Territorial climbing snap peas, "Oaxacan Radish" from their friend Nelida, and Seed Savers evening sun sunflowers leftover from their wedding. The snap peas and sunflowers will be perfect to re-establish in the North Beach garden, playing off Dita's plants in 2011 and the radish must continue passing right along to the BCC community garden. Now I have to do the work of cultivating their best chance. Researching on a winter's day.

Sunflowers were my grandmother's favorite flower, and my goodness, look at those beautiful colors. And the dark center. I'm excited to plant these seeds to see what colors emerge. Accordinng to Seed Savers Exchange this variety produces multiple heads on a plant, and may grow 6-8' tall - but Carolyn said they grew a couple feet tall on their farm. Maybe they were planted late. Dita's sunflowers grew over 6 ft this summer, which she planted in full sun but this variety also enjoys partial shade. The North Beach garden receives full sun in about half of the space and partial shade due to an enormous hedgerow separating our yard from the street. She had planted them in one row but I think I will plant them in a couple places to experiment with sun. The sunflowers were my favorite part of her garden last year because they towered above me, and I felt like an insect walking under them. Their stalks were so strong I took pruners to them at the end of their season. I hope I can grow sunflowers that big this year. 

I tried to find an image (on google) of the trellising that best resembles what Dita constructed last year but was a bit unsuccessful. That is a good lesson I should have taken photos throughout the growing season! A nice reminder to get photos this year! Although I don't have a working camera at this point... She angled the sticks, bamboo and plastic along the rows forming cross hatches. She also used tomato cages, which proved to be inconvienent when I finally removed the plants (I am still wondering if I should have left them overwinter, planting the cover crop around them) I have seen these and runner beans trellised up walls. I'm not sure where I will plant these snap peas in the garden. I just checked out the territorial blog after a long time and have found they are posting how-to videos. That's so awesome. Perhaps these will be the first plants I will harvest this year (60 days) along with greens. Can't wait to eat them straight off the vine.