Native Tree Nursery Grows

We now have an inventory of 35 plus potted native trees. Student volunteers working on their service learning commitments potted up another 20 plus trees today.  Four evergreen coniferous species Grand Fir Abies grandis, Douglas Fir Pseudotsuga menzeisii, Western Red Cedar Thuja plicata, Western Hemlock Tsuga heterophylla, and one deciduous species Vine Maple  Acer circinatum. This is a fine collection of trees that will grow well in this climate. These tree species have shaped the history of the Pacific Northwest. They have provided habitat, medicine and a livelihood to many who have lived here. It is good to know them and to grow them.

.

 

 

See those green sprouts on the left that is Garlic! 

 

What a happy bunch of people and trees!

Thank You! 

 We hope to sell these trees and to use them to do Bonsaii anyone interested in establishing a Bonsai collection for SMU or learning, creating and having your own Bonsaii should contact me at lynn.villella@stmartin.edu . Keep posted to learn the date of our next plant sale we are hoping to have it the 1st Friday in April. Anyone with plants or bulbs to donate are encouraged to drop them off at the Learning Garden.

Native Tree Nursery at SMU

At our Plant Sale on March 1st we had 4 species of native trees that were available bare root. To keep them healthy we have begun to pot them up into 2 gallon buckets. The buckets are half the price of nursery pots the same size. To make sure the buckets drain as well as pots we drilled holes in the bottom of the buckets.

A well planted Vine Maple Acer circinatum

 

 

The students mixed up soil for the trees and filled the buckets.

Some of the trees required the roots to be trimmed. The planting went well. We will be planting the remaining trees tomorrow March 7th. If you would like to plant some nice trees stop by at 10:00 A.M. The species we will be working with are Vine Maple, Grand Fir, Western Red Cedar, Douglas Firs.  

This amazing crew also removed the rest of the remaining Ivy roots

that we were trying to eradicate and then transplanted seedlings in the greenhouse. I somehow managed to not get a single photo of that work we were so busy 

Holding our flowering Tat soi from the greenhouse

Thank You to all the volunteers!

Plant Sale Raises Funds for Spring Projects

People really turned out for our first plant sale of the year. We had a selection of fruiting plants, Strawberry and Raspberry plants were very popular.

A 

 

We are raising vegetable starts in the greenhouse. They will be available in about 3 weeks.We hope to continue to have our plant sale once a month throughout the Spring semester. If you have bulbs or perennials or Raspberry canes or Strawberry plants you would like to donate to our cause they would be greatly appreciated. Just drop them off at anytime by the picnic table at the Learning Garden located near the dining hall. Thanks to all the people who came out and supported the Learning Garden!

 

PLANT SALE

The Learning Garden

PLANT SALE!

THIS FRIDAY MARCH 1ST
11:00 to 2:00
Outside the Dining Hall

There will be an assortment of Native Trees, Raspberry Canes, Strawberry plants, Bulbs, Roses

All proceeds to benefit to The Learning Garden

Come and help us keep the Planet Green!

Student Volunteers Get the Work Done!

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to work with five students in the Learning Garden. We started inside the greenhouse where we planted two flats of seedlings to sprout  and grow in the greenhouse.  We planted cool weather crops, an heirloom variety of Italian Kale,  and a mix of Asian greens called Mizuna. The volunteers were very enthusiastic and extremely helpful.

When we finished inside we ventured out doors where it was drizzling a fine rain. Everyone wanted to continue to work so we moved several bags of compost and applied the compost to the beds, We planted three new Blueberry bushes into wine barrels we had had some mint in. Three different varieties of Blueberries than what we  already have to increase cross-pollination and improve our fruit yield. Our  native Hummingbirds love the Blueberry blossoms and will be moving the pollen around as will the Bees in April and May then look for the berries in mid Summer!

 

 

Thanks to all the Student Volunteers!

 

Blueberry Bushes in Barrels

The Learning Garden currently has two large Blueberry Bushes growing in half barrels. These  big beautiful bushes have produced a lot of flowers but few fruit. The reason for this is they are the exact same variety. Blueberry blossoms require pollen from the blossoms of another variety of blueberry that blooms at the same time to produce significant fruit. On a day soon to be announced we will be adding three more Blueberry bushes to our collection of Blueberries in barrels.
Last year the bushes were a buzz with bees and Anna's Hummingbirds were sighted as well. We look forward to a big harvest this year. If you would like to help with or observe this planting project check the blog for updates.
 

Heirlooms in the Learning Garden at SMU

 An Heirloom Seed Library at  SMU


 There is interest in creating an Heirloom Seed Library at St. Martin's. So this season we are going to grow Heirloom varieties. We will grow, harvest and process the seeds for saving, and start our library.  Heirloom varieties are often very colorful, hardy and disease resistant. Heirloom varieties are varieties of vegetables and flowers that have been grown and passed down for many generations from one gardener to another. They are also available from select seed companies specializing  in Heirloom seed and from some non-profits and foundations.

Greetings from the Learning Garden!

Things are happening in the Learning Garden. After a nice Winter break we have begun work in the Garden once again. Today we learned the history and parentage of three apples.

Cameo Apple
The Cameo is a cultivar of apple discovered by chance. The Caudle Family of Dryden Washington noticed this apple in 1987. They think it is a cross between Red Delicious and Yellow delicious. It has become one of the top ten apples sold in Washington.
Cameo  
 Braeburn

Braeburn Apple The Braeburn is another chance seedling discovered in 1952 near Motueka, New Zealand believed to be a cross between Granny Smith and Lady Hamilton.

Fuji Apple The Fuji apple was developed at the Tohoku research station in Fujisaki Aomori Japan in the 1930’s. It is a cross between two American varieties The Red Delicious and the Ralls Genet.

 

We tasted each of these apples and compared flavor, sweet/tart and the different textures crisp or very crisp and juiciness. They were all delicious.  I gave a quick demonstration of  a wedge graft. We then walked to the Learning Garden where we grafted scion wood from a Cameo apple and from a Braeburn apple onto the Fuji apple we have planted in the Learning Garden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Suzan Porter and her FYS students!

 

When to start planting?

Wondering what you can start planting? Take a look a look at the Portland Nursery Plant Calendar.

January

Seed indoor
Artichoke
Arugula
Endive
Green onions
Leeks
Lettuce
Onions
Parsley

Outdoor Under Cover
Radish

Seed outdoor
Onion sets

Seed Library

We are starting to think about the coming spring season, so we are thinking about seeds. Seeds have a fascinating history. They are tiny beginnings of luscious gardens and miniature volumes of genetic information that are cultivated and disseminated by farmers and plants. You might have been reading about the controversies surrounding corporations that patent their genetically modified seeds - sort of like copyrighting genetic information that is engineered in a seed pod. As a result, gardeners are starting to pay closer attention to heirloom seeds that are like old books in the public domain. Heirloom seeds have been handed down from generation to generation way back, from the times of pre-industrial agriculture. Because of their long history, these seeds tend to have naturally adapted to resist pests and diseases. Seed exchange organizations often make these seeds available for gardeners and now seed libraries are becoming popular too. We are starting to think about our contribution to preserving and freely exchanging heirloom seeds within our community of gardeners. If you are interested in an internship to begin exploring a seed library on the SMU campus, leave us a comment below and we will contact you!

November in the Learning Garden

Thanks to a few dedicated students work has continued in the Learning Garden at SMU this fall. So far in the month of November we have transplanted our Raspberry Canes along the fence. A simple piece of twine will hold them back and up for easy picking next summer and fall. We hope to control their tendency to spread by under ground roots. We dug a trench first in the hard ground and then filled it with good soil and planted into that.

Blessed with warm weather this November our daytime temperatures averaging 51 degrees and breaks in the gentle Fall rain we have been able to work each week at our usual time of noon to 2. This week we only worked for one hour from 1 to 2 but we completed so many tasks. We planted Garlic. We have two beds of Garlic planted which we will be harvesting next summer.

We weren't done yet. We harvested Jerusalem Artichokes and moved the Barrels over  to where our garden expansion is underway.

We experimented with growing Jerusalem Artichokes in wine barrels.

A bouquet of red Jerusalem Artichokes an edible tuber that tastes like water chestnuts.

 

Thanks to all the student volunteers for helping create a special place on campus. Next week we plan to be here again between Noon and 2, weather permitting. Look at that beautiful sunshine!!