Bradner Gardens P-Patch plot B15A

My old plot B29B, as I left it in October 2014.

The 4 photos above are of my new plot B15A in October 2014.

I stopped gardening plot B29B at Bradner Gardens Park in October 2014, when I moved most of the perennials to plot B15A & the Ornamental Border at Bradner Gardens Park.  I spent the season gardening both plots.  B15A was vacant & there were no new gardeners to take B29B.  B15A is considerably larger & sunnier.  I had great crops of bush beans, carrots & chard after amending the soil with Cedar Grove compost & composted steer manure.  I transplanted strawberries from another vacated plot in the spring.  They spread modestly.  I had planted 4 blueberry bushes at B29B in the spring of 2014, before I decided to move to B29A.  I transplanted them in October.

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.

Bradner Gardens Plot B29B

Viburnum x burkwoodii 'Mohawk' with plot B29B at upper right in April 2013

Allium karataviense in May 2013

Pacific Coast Hybrid Iris in May 2013

Geranium sanguineum (Bloody Cranesbill) & Luzula sylvatica 'Aurea' (Golden Woodrush) in May 2013

Campanula medium (Canterbury Bells) & Paeonia veitchii in May 2013

Above are photos from Bradner Gardens P-Patch plot B29B in late April & early May of 2013.  I moved perennials from my garden to the plot in November 2012.  These grew & spread quickly as the weather warmed abruptly from 55F/13C on 4/30 to 65F/18C on 5/1 & on to a record high of 87F/30.5C on 5/6.  Most of the cabbage, carrot, Chinese greens, collards & radish seeds I planted on 3/26 had sprouted by 4/26 when I planted bean & squash seeds.  The beans had begun to sprout when I visited again on 5/7 to water thoroughly after the record heat.  Everything had made it through just fine on the abundant rains of April.  I met with the ornamental border lead for an hour on 5/1, which counted as volunteer work.  I decided to work on an inventory of the plants in the border.  It was planted 10 years ago & may need some renovation.  Click here for earlier posts about plot B29B.  Below are photos of the ornamental border & p-patch.

Syringa meyeri 'Palibin' in the Ornamental Border in May 2013

Bradner Gardens P-Patch in May 2013

Bradner Gardens P-Patch plot B29B

Plot B29B March 2013

Luzula sylvatica 'Aurea' in Plot B29B March 2013 

Ribes sanguineum in the ornamental border at Bradner Gardens Park March 2013

This friendly cat lives across the street from the park.  She ran up to me, as she had before.

The meeting room at Bradner Gardens Park March 2013

Click here for more pictures of Bradner Gardens Park.
Click here for the Bradner Blog.

I attended a meeting at Bradner Gardens Park on March 9, 2013.  I was given a tour of the facilities beforehand.  About 30 people came to the meeting.  The room was nice, but chilly with the huge sliding door open.  I heard a number of speakers who were in charge of this or that.  There was a lot of emphasis on completing & recording volunteer hours.  In addition to the fee, everyone is required to do 8 hours of work, outside their own plot, during the season.  I signed up to work in the ornamental border.  I was there 2 hours, which did not count as volunteer work, unfortunately.  
   
I planted the first vegetable seeds in plot B29B on March 26, 2013.  Those were Beta vulgaris ‘Perpetual’ (Swiss Chard) Brassica oleracea ‘Danish Ballhead’ (Cabbage) Brassica oleracea ‘Gai Lan’ (Chinese Broccoli) Brassica oleracea ‘Yu Choi’ (Chinese Greens) Brassica oleracea ‘Vates’ (Collards) Daucus carota ‘Merida’ (Carrot) Daucus carota ‘Purple Sun’ (Carrot) & Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus ‘Minowase’ (Daikon).  In southeast Seattle, Asian vegetables are common.

I was very happy to get half of a plot in November 2012 after waiting for only 3 months.  It is located on Mt Baker Ridge, 1.6 miles from my former home in the Mt Baker neighborhood & 1.8 miles from my future home at Rainier Vista in the Rainier Valley, but 4.1 miles from my temporary home at The Station at Othello Park. I moved a number of perennials to plot B29B & planted a shipment of bulbs on November 15, 2012.

Bradner Gardens Park has perhaps the nicest p-patch in Seattle.  There is an excellent view of Downtown Seattle.  The tool shed is spacious & filled with tools.  In the same structure, there is also a restroom with tile-mosaic walls, a kitchen & a meeting room with a fireplace.  The 1.6 acre park contains a pavilion, a native plant garden with a bioswale & seasonal pond, an ornamental border & a basketball court.  From September of 1970 to June of 1971, I was in the 6th grade at John Muir Elementary School Annex on the property that became Bradner Gardens Park.  The baby boom caused my to become so crowded that the 5th & 6th grades were temporarily relocated there in portable classrooms.  

Below is the plant list for plot B29B.  I drew a plan for a formal, nearly symmetrical perennial & vegetable garden.  The plot is said to be 100 square feet, but is really about 60 square feet, not that I'm complaining. 

Plant List

Agapanthus campanulatus: 6
Ajuga reptans ‘Black Scallop’ (Carpet Bugle): 4
Allium cristophii (Star of Persia): 10 bulbs
Allium karataviense: 10 bulbs
Allium unifolium: 50 bulbs
Beta vulgaris ‘Perpetual’ (Swiss Chard): seed
Brassica oleracea ‘Gai Lan’ (Chinese Broccoli): seed
Brassica oleracea ‘Danish Ballhead’ (Cabbage): 4 from seed
Brassica oleracea ‘Yu Choi’ (Chinese Greens): seed
Brassica oleracea ‘Vates’ (Collards): 4 from seed
Campanula medium (Canterbury Bells): 4
Campanula portenschlagiana (Dalmation Bellflower): 4
Clematis integrifolia: 4
Cucurbita pepo ‘Sunburst': 2 from seed
Daucus carota ‘Merida’ (Carrot): seed
Daucus carota 'Purple Sun' (Carrot): seed
Fragaria vesca (Woodland Strawberry): 12
Geranium sanguineum (Bloody Cranesbill): 4
Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ (Japanese Forest Grass): 4
Hemerocallis ‘Bela Lugosi’ (Daylily): 1
Hemerocallis 'Root Beer' (Daylily): 1
Hyacinthus ‘Peter Stuyvesant’ (Hyacinth): 8
Iris hartwegii: 4
Lamium maculatum ‘Beacon Silver’: 4
Lilium auratum (Gold Band Lily): 5
Luzula sylvatica ‘Aurea’: 2
Nectaroscordum siculum: 10
Paeonia veitchii: 1
Penstemon x mexicali: 8
Phaseolus vulgaris ‘Serengeti’ (Bush Bean): seed
Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus ‘Minowase’ (Daikon): seed
Scilla peruviana: 5

Bradner Gardens P-Patch plot B29B

Bradner Gardens P-Patch plot B29B when it was given to me on November 10, 2012

Bradner Gardens P-Patch plot B29B 5 days later

Downtown Seattle from the Bradner Gardens P-Patch November 2012

Tool shed, restroom, meeting room & kitchen at Bradner Gardens P-Patch November 2012

Inside the tool shed at Bradner Gardens P-Patch November 2012

Click here for more pictures of Bradner Gardens Park.
Click here for the Bradner Blog.

I was very happy to get half of a plot there after waiting for only 3 months.  It is located on Mt Baker Ridge, 1.6 miles from my current home in the Mt Baker neighborhood & 1.8 miles from my future home at Rainier Vista in the Rainier Valley.  When the Rainier Vista house is built, it will have a small shade garden.  My current garden is mostly in sun.  I moved a number of perennials for sun to plot B29B.  I will plant vegetable seeds in the spring.

The Bradner Gardens Park P-Patch is perhaps the nicest p-patch in Seattle.  There is an excellent view of Downtown Seattle.  The tool shed is spacious & filled with tools.  In the same structure, there is also a restroom with tile-mosaic walls, a kitchen & a meeting room with a fireplace.  The 1.6 acre park contains a pavilion, a native plant garden with a bioswale & seasonal pond, ornamental theme gardens & a basketball court.  From September of 1970 to June of 1971, I was in the 6th grade at John Muir Elementary School Annex on the property that became Bradner Gardens Park.  The baby boom caused John Muir to become so crowded that the 5th & 6th grades were temporarily relocated there in portable classrooms.  

Below is the plant list for plot B29B.  I have a plan for a formal, nearly symmetrical perennial & vegetable garden.  The plot is said to be 100 square feet, but is really about 60 square feet, not that I'm complaining. 

Plant List

Ajuga reptans ‘Black Scallop’ (Carpet Bugle): 4
Allium cristophii (Star of Persia): 10 bulbs
Allium karataviense: 10 bulbs
Allium unifolium: 50 bulbs
Beta vulgaris ‘Perpetual’ (Swiss Chard): seed
Brassica napus ‘Purple Top’ (Turnip): seed
Brassica oleracea ‘Gai Lan’ (Chinese Broccoli): seed
Brassica oleracea ‘Tundra’ (Cabbage): 4 from seed
Brassica oleracea ‘Yu Choi’ (Chinese Greens): seed
Brassica oleracea ‘Vates’ (Collards): 4 from seed
Campanula medium (Canterbury Bells): 4
Campanula portenschlagiana (Dalmation Bellflower): 4
Clematis integrifolia: 4
Cucurbita pepo ‘Sunburst': 2 from seed
Daucus carota ‘Caracas’ & ‘Merida’ (Carrot): seed
Fragaria vesca (Woodland Strawberry): 12
Geranium sanguineum (Bloody Cranesbill): 4
Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ (Japanese Forest Grass): 4
Hemerocallis ‘Bela Lugosi’ (Daylily): 1
Hemerocallis 'Root Beer' (Daylily): 1
Hyacinthus ‘Peter Stuyvesant’ (Hyacinth): 8
Iris hartwegii: 4
Lamium maculatum ‘Beacon Silver’: 4
Lilium auratum (Gold Band Lily): 5
Luzula sylvatica ‘Aurea’: 2
Nectaroscordum siculum: 10
Paeonia veitchii: 1
Penstemon x mexicali: 8
Phaseolus vulgaris ‘Serengeti’ (Bush Bean): seed
Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus ‘Minowase’ (Daikon): seed
Scilla peruviana: 5
Spinacia oleracea ‘Bloomsdale’ (Spinach): seed