After a January ice storm caused unprecedented destruction to the local tree canopy and mature shrubs throughout SW Portland, this year’s garden was defined by an exceptionally late beginning and end to the growing season as the microclimate recovered. The harvest included:
13 pints of blackberries
Three dozen small Asian pears, plus a dozen Red Bartletts sprouted off the rootstock
Two hundred worm-infested apples
Several dozen large persimmons
Five pumpkins
One butternut squash
Two dozen Pattypan squashes
A dozen zucchinis
A dozen bell peppers
Two dozen Anaheim peppers
A dozen jalapeno peppers
Three dozen cayenne peppers (extended to overwinter inside)
Several hundred tomatillos
Around two hundred heirloom tomatoes biased toward smaller varieties
The persimmon tree begins the year with a coating of ice.The soaked garden struggles through a challenging winter.A mid-winter dusting of snow surrounds lilies. Asian pear budsOregon GrapeAsian pear blossomsOregon GrapeAsian pear blossoms and Bartlett pear buds.Oregon grape through a vine maple.A newly planted dogwood emerges from a field of lilies.Apple blossomsApple blossomsApple blossomsThe young dogwood in the understory of a deteriorating bunch of black locusts.The patch of maturing Arbutus Marina “Strawberry” trees did not survive the winter storms, but began re-sprouting from the root system in May.First planting of tomatoes (and blackberry clearing) in June.Lilies and blackberries surround the freshly planted garden.Abundant apples.Wild rose bushes slowly recover from heavy dieback in the winter storms.Lilies anchor the front of the garden beds.Squashes and peppers become established.Red Bartlett pears emerge in abundance from last year’s sucker off of the Asian Pear rootstock (an original, labeled branch of rootstock never developed).Ripe Oregon GrapesPumpkins reach beyond their garden bed.The garden beds fill out by mid July.The first tomatoes set.Pumpkins and squash fill the lower bed.Tomatillos stretch across a bed shared with a variety of peppers.Evening sun cuts across the garden.Pattypan squash.An aggressive pattypan squash plant hoards its fruit.Tomatoes begin to ripen over the pumpkins and squash.First harvest of Asian pears.Two green pumpkinsTomatoes barely begin to ripen at the end of August.Pollinator 1Pollinator 2Pollinator 3 approachesRed Bartlett pearsA second harvest of Asian pears and Red Bartlett pears.Large pattypan squashes, a zucchini, and the first few heirloom tomatoes in early September.Tomatoes finally begin ripening en masse. Tomatillo flowers and ripening tomatoes.A butternut squash sets on an overhanging vine.Tomatoes ripenTomatoes ripenThe first full tomato harvest.Harvest of squashes, tomatoes, and peppers.Tomatoes, tomatillos, and peppers.Second harvest of tomatoes, selected for interior ripening to mitigate the late season.SunflowersTwo pumpkins ripenSun-soaked sunflowers.A third September tomato harvest with some peppers and tomatillos. Tomatillos ripenTomatoes ripenHarvest of medium to large pattypan squashes and one butternut.Harvest of tomatillos and Anaheim, cayenne, and bell peppers.A late tomato seeks sun for ripening.Mid-October tomatoes for an initial round of indoor ripening.Persimmons begin to ripen in November.Late tomatillos and a hiding pumpkin.Vine mapleVine mapleMost of the garden mass continues producing into November, in an unusually warm and dry autumn. Squirrel snacks on persimmons.Final persimmon harvest.Bird feeds on an extra persimmon.
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