Summer 1999 - Further Adventures Under the Midnight Sun

This is part 2 of the story of my demo garden project in my native country Finland. After one of the snowiest winters and chilliest springs on record, with killing frosts into mid-May, the heat arrived on June 8th. All of a sudden, we had daytime temperatures in the 80s, even touching 90 degrees, and night-time temperatures near 70 degrees. In combination with the long summer days at latitude 60, the garden really took off. I was amazed to see how well the vegetable garden was doing, even though I had no compost available to amend the soil. My garden site is an old grain field which has been cultivated for at least 240 years, but the last 7 years it has laid fallow. I guess the liberal amounts of chicken manure I used really did the trick. I've never seen broccoli plants as deep green in my life. My tomato plants grew 4 inches each day. Unfortunately, the quack grass and thistles grew at about the same rate. Covering the paths with cardboard and woodchips and the vegetable beds with newspapers and straw did, however, help a lot. I was delighted to see that many of the vegetable varieties I'd brought with me from Seattle actually outperformed the European varieties. Go Territorial Seed Company!

We had no significant rainfall after May 1st, so by mid-June I had to install an irrigation system. Being out in the sticks without any utilities, my only option was to dig a well and install a gas-powered pump. In the evening, I started the pump and pumped water from the well about 300 feet up a gentle slope where I'd installed a holding tank. After filling the tank, I let the water sit in it the next day to warm up, and in the evening I ran the water by gravity from the tank into the garden.

Early July, I returned briefly to Seattle to deal with 3 months of mail and to find my yard in Ballard turned into a jungle. All the rain and overcast weather in May and June had created a rain forest effect. I actually enjoyed spending 2 weeks weeding and pruning in Seattle. It felt like a vacation compared with the demo garden project in Finland. I took out the scythe at Picardo Farm and mowed down all the abandoned plots. Sure felt good. I planted a very late and minimal vegetable garden. Then it was back to work to Finland.

By mid-July, my broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage were ready to be harvested, less than 2 months after transplanting. The peas were also ready at the same time. Early every Saturday morning, my daughter Linnea and I picked produce from our 2000 square foot vegetable garden and took it to the local farmer's market. Thanks to all the publicity from our TV show, we sold out in about an hour.

The tomatoes, cucumbers and beans are starting to come in now in early August. The corn is not far behind. I am growing several different varieties of wonderful Finnish potatoes. It has been interesting to note that in spite of the late start in spring, most crops are coming in at about the same time as in Seattle. One huge advantage over Seattle, and especially Picardo Farm, is that there are no slugs. After living with slugs in Seattle for 15 years, I routinely look for slugs and slug damage on my plants, only to be unable to find any.

Now I have to wrap up the garden season here before fall arrives, usually by early September. Then it is back to Seattle and the Harvest Banquet. See you all there!