New Holly Lucky Garden

Veggie on a stick?

 

New Holly Lucky Garden August 2013

The New Holly Lucky Garden is my least favorite garden in the New Holly Development at the south end Rainier Valley of Seattle.  It was in sharp contrast to the very nearby & superficially similar New Holly 29th Avenue Garden, which was beautifully maintained when I saw it in August 2013.  The New Holly Lucky Garden appeared to be down on its luck.  Himalayan Blackberry (Rubus armeniacus), considered a noxious weed in Washington, covered neglected compost bins & the veggie on a stick art project had gone to ruin.  I lived near New Holly from April to September of 2013.  The New Holly Lucky Garden is located at S Holly Street & Shaffer Avenue S.  It covers 2,000 square feet with 9 plots that each measures 100 square feet.  The land is owned by the Seattle Housing Authority.  This garden was established in 2001.  New Holly (formerly Holly Park) was the first of the large Seattle Housing Authority properties to be redeveloped.

Mt Baker Ridge Viewpoint

View from the Mt Baker Ridge Viewpoint September 2012

Mt Baker Ridge Viewpoint September 2012

Sunset stone at the Mt Baker Ridge Viewpoint September 2012

Mt Baker Ridge Viewpoint September 2012

Diagram of solar positions at the Mt Baker Ridge Viewpoint September 2012

The Mt Baker Ridge Viewpoint is located at the top of the west slope of Mt Baker Ridge, above the Mt Baker Tunnels, which move traffic on Interstate 90 in & out of the City of Seattle via the  Lacey V. Murrow Bridge, across Lake Washington.  The viewpoint is located at 1403 31st Avenue S, in a small business district with a few eateries, offices & other businesses, in the Mt Baker neighborhood.  There are views of the northern end of the Rainier Valley, Beacon Hill, 1st Hill, Downtown, Elliott Bay & the Olympic Mountains.  The viewpoint is mostly a metal-grate platform extending out over the slope.  There is seating & also small basalt monuments (called sunset stones) to mark the movement of the sun throughout the year.  Construction of the viewpoint was completed in 2009.  It is easily accessible from Downtown via the 14 Mt Baker bus.

July in Seattle

Lavandula angustifolia (English Lavender) in Columbia City. July 2013

Downtown Seattle. July 2013

Capitol Hill with Queen Anne Hill in the distance. July 2013

Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill. This park covers a reservoir near Broadway Avenue E & E Pike Street, the two largest commercial centers on the hill. The crane & red wall mark the construction site of the Capitol Hill Station for light rail trains.  The water feature illustrates the flow of the municipal water supply from the Cascade Mountains to the city.  July 2013

Lilium martagon at Seattle University. This Jesuit university is a beautifully landscaped space on the east slope of 1st Hill. July 2013

July 2013 in Seattle was warmer & drier than normal.  The mean temperature was 68.1F/20.1C.  The normal mean temperature is 65.7F/18.7C.  There was no measurable rain.  Normal precipitation is 0.7 inches/17.8 mm.  The highest temperature was 89F/31.7C, the lowest 52F/11.1C.  There were 2 days with light rain, 15 days with fog, 2 cloudy days, 16 partly cloudy days & 13 fair days.  The days were mostly warm or hot, sometimes with morning fog.  There were 23 days at 75F/23.9C or above, 7 days at 85F/29.4C or above.  July is typically warm & dry in Seattle.

Bradner Gardens Plot B29B

Hemerocallis 'Bela Lugosi'. June 2013

'Vates' Collards. June 2013

 'Speedy' Bush Beans & Lamium maculatum 'Beacon Silver'. July 2013

Lilium auratum. July 2013

Clematis integrifolia. July 2013

Penstemon x mexicali. July 2013.

June & July at plot B29B were occupied mostly with weeding & watering.  I watered once a week in June.  But then in July I noticed that the vegetable plants in the other plots were many times the size of mine.  I started watering twice a week.  There was faster growth then, but my plants still lagged behind.  In June, the daikon (Asian radish) flowered without producing edible radishes.  I pulled them all out.  I was told I could eat the greens, but they were unappealing to me.  Toward the end of June I had my 1st harvest, which consisted of 11 green beans.  I cooked & ate them.  In July, a week later, I had many more beans, enough as a side dish for 2 people.  There were also 5 sizeable & very tasty 'Merida' carrots.  For the following 2 weeks, I had beans & 'Perpetual' chard. Flowers had been abundant earlier in the spring.  They petered out in June, when the daylilies stopped blooming.  The flowers of early summer were less bountiful.  Clematis integrifolia, Lamium maculatum 'Beacon Silver', Lilium auratum & Penstemon x mexicali bloomed in July.