Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Freezing your Produce

Other then canning, another option for saving your bounty is freezing. I froze lots of green beans and even some zucchini this year to save it for winter.

In order to preserve something for freezing you need to blanche it first. This means right after you pick you lovely produce, bring it in to the house and clean it you need to throw it into a pot of boiling water for 3-5 minutes (depending on the vegetable) then strain and immediately cool it in ice water. This will give you the very best results for freezing, along with a good freezer bag and a deep-freeze.

You can use re-usable containers for freezing, but for the best results you need something you can remove all the air from first. This year I'm going to try to procure a vacuum-pack system and give that a whirl.

Some veggies freeze with greater success then others.
I.e. I wouldn't be munching on that zucchini I froze, it's pretty mushy once it's defrosted; but it still goes great in sauces or zucchini bread!

Also some varieties freeze better then others, and you can find that out on your seed package, or by looking up your variety online. For some of my vegetables I plant half for a fresh-crop and half for a freezer-crop (specifically with beans).

All in all, freezing is a great way to extend the season of your veggie crop and help create delicious mid-winter meals when the green of the garden is a distant memory.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Harvesting Beans

It's bean day! That means I'm ripping out my bean plants to process and freeze all my delicious bean produce. If you don't have room for a huge vegetable garden there are a few things that are really worth doing at home: lettuce, tomatoes and beans.

Beans are incredibly easy, even the least-green of thumbs will have success with beans, and they are just delicious straight out of the garden. To freeze my beans I tip them, wash and blanch for 4 minutes, then put them in ziplock bags to freeze. They store quite well and I should have enough for the whole winter.

The best way to ensure you're not going to get a glut of any one kind of vegetable from the garden is to succession plant. What that means is, you want your harvest to be gradual, over as much of the season as possible. The best way to achieve this is to plant a little every few weeks, starting from the beginning of the season, until you're too close to your frost-date for the plants to mature.

I plant bush-beans, which means that the beans grow into a bush and don't need trellising to support them. There are lots of different varieties of beans (I'm actually not sure what kind mine are any more) the most important factor is to pick a variety that is going to produce a bean you like to eat. You're also going to want to decide if you want green beans or dry beans and whether you have the horizontal space for bush beans or the vertical for runner beans. I also have my Scarlett runner beans, which produce both a slightly starchy green bean and a very nice dry bean; and a few experiment varieties a friend gave me.

I find planting beans seeds 3 weeks apart produces the best bean succession. You want to start harvesting beans about a week or two before the entire plant is ready to be harvested, that way you're going to get the best yield. Once the entire bean plant has grown on all it's flowers, and the youngest beans are just big enough to eat you'll want to rip out your entire plant and put in a new seed. They just aren't prolific once they've produced their fruit. Or you can leave the plant as a green manure for next year if it's late in the season.

Beans are one of the easiest plant to save seed from, you just need to let the bean mature on the plant, leave them until the entire plant dies back and the beans rattle around in the pods. Then store in a cool dry location for planting next year. You're going to need longer then your bean's mature-date for this to happen. I always leave a few beans on the plants from my very first harvest of the season, that way I'm sure to have some mature seed for next year.

When planting remember to count backwards from your frost date. Mine is October 5th, but I want my plants to have a week or two before that to finish growing. Most bush beans take between 50-55 days to mature. So I want to give mine 60-65 days, meaning 2 months. So my last day to plant beans should be August 5th.

Careful planning and a little luck with the weather, meant I was able to get 5 solid blocks of succession planting in this year and that worked very well. My largest, freezer batch worthy, block of beans came in with enough time to put down one more big planting so I can have enough to do another freezer-batch in the early fall.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

It's almost time for Pickles!

In truth, I despise pickles. I hate their texture, I hate their taste, I hate the way they look. I am not a pickle-fan. I do love cucumbers though, and salty cucumbers - so go figure! I also really enjoy making pickles. This year I planted both straight-8 cucumbers for eating and calypso for pickles.

Last year was my first attempt with canning, and since everyone is still alive I actually bought myself some real canning equipment this year & I'm all ready to go for it! I had some wonderful videos I followed last year that I have now lost the link for, but You Tube is filled with way more then just pirated movie clips and music videos. There are tons of how-to videos from regular people, lots with really great information. Basically you need a pot, some jars, a few tea-towels and a jar lifter (learned that one the hard way!) in addition to the contents of your jars.

All I can really offer it the moral support as I'm still pretty new at canning. Go for it! It's really not as scary as you think it's going to be. You can impress all your friends and family as well as saving all those veggies from the garden that otherwise would go to waste.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Sunflower Update

My sunflower, oh my sunflowers, I love you so. With the perfect growing conditions we have had this year (lots of sun, just enough rain, nice and hot) my sunflowers are now well over 7' tall and higher then my porch roof. Which only leaves me wishing I had grown something in between the size of the sunflowers and the strawflowers, other then a few Jalapeño plants which are still quite small. Oh well, next year!

One of the many amazing properties of sunflowers is the wealth of little creatures they feed. There are the aphids which happily snack on their juice (instead of my vegetables, I have no aphid issues in my veggie patch!), and the ants which tend the aphids. Then the lady bugs who also enjoy the aphids, in a different way, if they can get around the ants. Then the bumble bees, who enjoy the nectar (you can see them in both pictures with their back legs covered in pollen), I have no fear of bees and I'm very happy to see them as they are struggling these days. Then lastly there are the chickadees who come and visit me in the fall and pick most of the sunflower seeds out of the heads so they can bulk up for the winter.

Plus the flowers themselves are quite showy and beautiful.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Of Babies and Things

One of the greatest gifts from my vegetable garden is the bounty of baby food available for my sweet little 7 month old. Yes, 7 months is a little early for solid foods (I'll level with yah, he started them at 4 months ) and especially to be eating non-pureed foods; but both my boys were early & BIG eaters.

For a quick meal I zip out to the garden, grab a zucchini, put a pot of water on the stove, wash then slice the zucchini, quick steam, cool them in cold water & hand them over to the babbling little guy who happily stuffs his face full. When he was smaller I'd blend everything really quickly in my blender for a nice puree, but once those teeth started coming in he really wanted something to bite down into.

He's been eating green beans, carrots, lots of zucchini but his favourite are the Lincoln peas. I got SCREAMED at for not planting enough when he ate them all in one meal and decided he was still hungry. Unfortunately with the heat this isn't really the best time for peas, but I decided to throw some more into the garden under the shade of the beans and just hope for the best. Once we get a little closer to fall I will plant a whole bunch more.

It is an amazing feeling to deliver to your child something you grew in your own soil just for him; after all I grew him too.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Sparse? ... SPARSE?

My husband actually accused my garden of looking "sparse" this year!! I couldn't believe my ears & quickly corrected him saying it wasn't that it was sparse, it's that compared to last year everything is organized and tidy! He did concur but on further reflection, I'm afraid he's a little right.

I had a great plan set out for my succession planting, and then (as I had really planned) I didn't follow it and just went with what the garden told me. I found out I was eating less salad then I did last year, so I planted less, leaving a ton of extra space at the end of the garden bed. Plus with the warmer weather I found the lettuce I had planted was growing quickly enough I could double up on the space as I harvested (sewing new seeds in the sections were the lettuce was just about ready to be eaten).

My beans are more then over-flowing their bed, but I put them against the back fence so they are very easy to contend with. I actually ran out of bean seeds, mostly because they were the most fun for the kids to play with, and partially because I spilled a whole bunch in our driveway. So there is another gap at the end of their bed I attempted to fill in with transplanted carrots with scummed to the heat.

I decided to forgo putting corn in the vegetable garden and sew it in the field beside the house, combined with a heavy pruning hand with the dill, I have almost nothing, except a few beans, growing vertically in my garden this year. Also the squash usually growing in and around everything isn't invading the patch this year, they are also in the side field. The cucumbers are nicely contained in one of the smaller beds, along with an enormous zucchini plant, they are just sort of tucked away in the corner.

These empty spaces between my veggies are annoying me to no end. To a gardener, there is no greater sin then wasted space! But now isn't really the time (with the great amount of heat we've been having) to put in the few things I had reserved for a fall harvest. So for now I'm keeping these spaces covered with newspaper to keep down the weeds and I will have to come up with a better space-use plan for next year. Maybe with a few different kinds of vegetables! Swiss chard? Brussel Sprouts? Broccoli? No, I better find something we'll actually eat.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

G#!@ &$#@ BUGS!!

When you decide you're going to be an organic gardener you really have to go at it whole-hog. Of course there is nothing wrong with deciding to use pesticides if that's what's right for you, but if you want to make that commitment to organic gardening that sometimes means grinning and bearing it when the bugs win. It started with just a few tiny holes in my cauliflower leaves, then my Arugula developing a few love-bites, then a little more off the cauliflower, and total inhalation of the Arugula. The holes in the cauliflower aren't going to kill the plant, but they do reduce the production capacity and make for smaller vegetables. I can deal with a nip or two of of the outer-leaves of my lettuce, but the Arugula was completely inedible, it was terribly sad smelling that sweet peppery aroma as I ripped them out for the compost. *sigh* They smelled SO good!

The best organic way to prevent bugs is proper crop-rotation and distribution. I know for next time the flea beetles suspected of being the culprit will attack both cauliflower and arugula, and now I know for next time to plant them further apart (in this case they were about 3', next time, either sides of the garden!). I later found cabbage worm in my cauliflower! BOO HISS! A floating row cover would have prevented them from being laid on my lovely vegetables.

The best organic way to treat for bugs is a soap and water solution. You use 1 part liquid soap: 4 parts water in spray bottle and it really knocks the bugs on their bums. You do need to keep it up every day, also you need to be careful not to burn your plant's leaves (especially with lettuces!) with too much soap.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Birds like my Strawberries? What a surprise!

This one it totally on me! I lost my entire first crop of strawberries because I didn't plan ahead. We live in a wildlife rich area. There are a pair of robins who visit my garden quite regularly with their chicks, I quite enjoy seeing them. Until they started eating my strawberries, then I wasn't so pleased.

The solution was quick & easy! Bird netting. Instead of just throwing them over the tiny plants, I had my husband build some stakes from each side of the bed to keep the entire netting elevated over both strawberries. This makes it easier for me to access the plants under the net (strawberries & my lettuces) as well as prevents the birds from landing near the berries and just poking their beaks through the netting.

Originally I went out looking for a floating row cover to do double duty of keeping bugs off my lettuce, the lettuce cool, and the birds off my berries; but I learned something, big-box garden centre employees don't know what floating row covers are and will look at you like you have two heads when you ask for them. At least that was my experience. Oh well, the netting works just find and the berries are SO good! As an added bonus it keeps the cats out of the garden, but I have very little issue with them pooping in there after chasing them with the hose a couple times.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Preventing Weeds

I'm trying a few different weed-reduction solutions this year. Already the raised beds have made segmenting my work so easy I can go out to the garden with 30 minutes of spare time and pick one spot to weed and feel like I've accomplished something. You can purchase landscaping cloth from your nursery or garden centre. There are lots of different kinds, both plastics and biodegradable options, which you lay over your bed then cut slits into for you veggies. I wanted something cheaper (/free or almost free), so here are a few DIY options.

Grass clippings
These work well because they add back nutrients to the soil when they decompose, they also make for a nice mulch to keep the water in. I did find they haven't kepts the weeds down as well as other methods. I am using them both in my potato box as filler instead of soil (for the potatoes to grow in) and around my celery to try and blanch it. You have to be careful when selecting grass-clippings as your weed-supressor because they can create areas of anaerobic bacterial growth (where no air is getting in) and can hide harmful pests. My determination: proceed with caution.

Plastic Garbage Bag
If you live in a hot climate this is not a good idea, you are going to cook your plants. In Ottawa, it's a perfect solution for heat-loving vegetables. I used this in my pepper bed to heat up the soil, then when it was time to transplant I cut slits and grew. I was planning on removing the plastic eventually but it's worked so well I haven't needed to. I did throw a little dirt on top of it to prevent too much sun-absorption as the weather got warmer. It completely blocks out all the weeds so they haven't been a problem at all in this bed. My determination: use selectively.

Newspaper
The best way to use newspaper in a weed-suppression function is to create a garden lasagna (I didn't make that up!). I use it around my beds to keep the weeds down where I haven't put any veggies in yet. And it works really well. It keeps all but the strongest weeds (such as my poplar) from growing, and ensures that when I'm ready to plant, I just have to remove the paper & seed. Plus most newspapers use a soy-based ink now, so you're adding something to the garden that isn't going to add any harmful bi-products. The only problem, it does tend to blow away so I always make sure I keep some soil on top of my paper. Plus you're recycling and if you pick up free community papers or get yesterday's paper from the stand - it's 100% FREE. My determination: use everywhere, but weigh down.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Peas are sprouting!

A wonderful little hint of green is poping up through my soil. This year I decided on a heirloom variety of peas for a couple reasons. First of all our second son is named Lincoln, so when a very pregnant lady (I believe I was 7 months at the time) spotted the "Lincoln" Peas in the seed catalogue, how could I resist? Secondly propagating heirloom seeds is important to me.
A heirloom seed is a variety that has been passed down through the years, being naturally bred for the characteristics you want in that type of vegetable. Meaning where lots of hybrids will not breed true, or are unable to produce seed at all; a heirloom will breed true and will give you lots of seeds to save for next year.

Sometimes heirloom varieties are less productive then hybrids, or are more susceptible to diseases. However you'll frequently find heirloom varieties have a better taste.

There are heirloom varieties for every type of vegetables, and all species of domesticated animals too. One great place to find more about heirloom varieties is seed saver.org. Although they are now available through most seed catalogues.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

SNOW!?!?


Well we had a little set-back in the garden this week. Monday is snowed and was miserable but by Wednesday we were back up to super-warm temperatures. I don't know what the weather-man is thinking this year!

That does mean my tomato seedlings are mostly toast but my strawberries, cauliflower, peas, beans, lettuce are all doing very well still. Then again - that's the difference between warm and cold weather crops!

Here is hoping the weather figures out what it wants to do soon!

Monday, April 26, 2010

The potato box - up close & personal!

My lovely potato box has garnered a lot of attention from the human visitors to the garden. Everyone has asked me why I have this strange box with all the leaves sticking out of it - and also where they can get one! The basis of a potato box is to grow the spuds vertically rather then horizontally because they take up so much space otherwise. Theoretically you can get a much higher yield on a smaller square space this way.

So far all I can say is that, yes it takes up much less room then an entire row of potatoes!

There are lots of different ways to make a potato box, using everything from scrap wood to old tires, there are even commercial available boxes now. A great link for more info is from The Seattle Times (isn't the internet great?).

This is my first year growing potatoes & I've just used the ones out of my cupboard that have grown too much to eat. I'm hoping for a big bounty but we'll have to wait until late summer/fall to find out.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Saving Nature and the Chestnut Tree


There is a great child-hood family story about my husband getting very upset about his father pouring tadpoles back into a stream. Apparently hubby was "saving nature" and he has been teased about it ever since.

So he's as much a sucker for a straggly little lost soul as I am, which is how we ended up with our cat Peaches (and her son Oscar).

The other day he was working in a friend's basement where he found this little tiny Chestnut Tree growing right out of a conker in the dark basement.

Unfortunately the little guy didn't make it once given sun, and food and water (go figure)! So I killed nature... I'm hopping to save some conkers this christmas and see if we can get one to actually grow!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Sunflowers make my heart shine.

Well it's been a little chillier this week so I've mostly been staying out of the veggie garden, just trying to sit back and let things grow. So far everything I did put out seems to be living, even that one little tomato plant. And that's not the only thing that's growing, my sunflowers are coming up!

Sunflowers are my very favourite flower. They come in such a wide variety of shapes and size and colours, their beautiful foliage attracts all sorts of good creatures to the garden and provides a home for aphids so they stay off my veggies. Most of all they usually last quite late into autumn, after all the other plants have died away my sunflowers shine on, providing a last bit of late summer sun.

This year I'm planting all the sunflowers I saved from last year. Among my favourites are Evening Sun because of the beautiful dark red colours. I also have some large very classic yellow petalled sunflowers. One day I hope to add some lovely Italian Whites, maybe some nice peach sunflowers to my garden, there are some gorgeous forms of miniature sunflowers that I'd like to make a border with, and... I stay away from the sunflowers in the seed catalogues for fear we'll go broke.

I've also got some strawflowers growing, a new flower I added last year. I'm sure it's not hard to understand why they are my second favourites.

I'm just waiting for my lovely blue German Iris to burst through their foliage. I'm expecting them and the tulips within the next two weeks.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Sneaking a few plants outside.

I can not contain my excitement any more. The lowest temperature we've had in weeks is about 3C & if you've never survived an Ottawa winter, I don't expect you to understand. The last two summers have been miserably cold and wet and it's looking like this year is going to be anything but. So I'm gambling and I hope it pays off. We got a nice sunny day today with a few days of rain and warm temperatures expected over the rest of the week it is a perfect time to plant.

Firstly, I replanted a few cauliflowers with seed, apparently my little one doesn't understand why we don't dig up the seedlings, which have surprisingly done very well! The 3 (of 6) that haven't been trampled are going strong; although still very small and only have their first leaves. I would suspect my toddler of sabotaging my cauliflower on purpose, but I'm not sure he's ever eaten it before.

I started on my lettuce garden. The lettuce I'm not too worried about if it does get cold, I can cover it over with plastic if necessary and lettuce thrives on cooler temperatures. I chose varieties of lettuce that specifically do well in cooler temperatures and a spot that gets the most sun; that may come back to bite me if it gets really warm this summer. I've planted:
- Vulcan, a read leaf lettuce for a little colour
- Buttercrunch, a butterhead lettuce I grew last year & harvest for seeds - simply delicious!
- New York Iceberg, also grew last year & harvested the seeds. I don't like iceberg very much, but this one is fairly tasty, I grow it for hubby.
- Viking Spinach, I grew this one last year & harvested. I didn't eat too much but I'm trying hard to incorporate more into our diet; it's so good for you.
- Arugula, my first time planting Arugula, I wanted to try out the spiciness.
- Radicchio, also my first time trying radicchio, I'm really excited to try it freshly grown.
I'm planning a few succession plantings over the course of the summer so I don't get a glut of lettuce, but I will plant extra for the first few plantings so that I can harvest some as baby leaves & still get enough for fully developed heads.

I planted a few germinated strawberry seeds. My germination rate on the temptation strawberries was very low, but I've heard they can be hard to get going. I've buried them in the composted straw the farmer gave us, so that should help keep them warm as well as keep the weeds down. I have to start some more in a few weeks, but if these guys live & bear fruit I may have some early berries. I'm so excited about making fresh strawberry jam, although I suspect I'll be fighting the kids for the strawberries!

There is a 1/2 acre plot beside the house that belongs to the farmer, but it is too small for him to bother with. So, I've decided to throw all our squash into it, hopefully that will reduce the bush-hogging he has to do & it keeps the squash out of my vegetable garden. I did choose a few bush-varieties of squash this year, but they still get quite large & take up a lot of room I'd like to use for other plants. So I went out & dug up at least 2 dozen mounds to plant the squash into, then planted 6 with jack-o-lantern pumpkins & transplanted 2 Atlantic giants that were getting too big for their pots in the house. I've got soda-pop bottle halves at the ready should I need to run out & cover the seedlings to protect them, but tonight we're having a thunderstorm in early April - the weather is so warm and beautiful, I'm not too worried. I will be planting the rest of the mounds with acorn, butternut, small sugar pumpkins, zucchini and watermelons in a few weeks.

I also planted a row of Honey Select corn out in the field. I accidentally ordered the fungicide treated corn seed, but no harm, no foul, it will survive if our temperatures do dip. My row is so crooked though, it's going to be a little funny when the corn does come up. I think I'll throw in some Scarlet-runner beans after the corn starts growing, I'll have a 3-sisters field. The only thing I am worried about with that field is last year the cows got into it over the fence & from what I've heard cows love pumpkins! I may have to man the fence with a large-stick and a flash light towards the end of the summer.

I potted up all my herb seedlings. I really only had success with the sage. The rosemary, and oregano did sprout but they are very small. So I re-seeded and hopefully I'll get some herbs soon. I chose to grow them in a pot this year, so at the end of season I can bring them into the house & keep using the fresh herbs over the winter. Last year I kept a pot of parsley in the window-sill, it was a really nice addition to a few special meals over the winter.

Lastly I grew really brave and threw some peas & beans into the soil. I have lots of extra seeds so if it is too cold and they don't grow it's not the end of the world. However, I am remaining optimistic! I can't wait to see beautiful scarlet runners twirling up my fences again this year, as well the humming birds they bring in.

My garden is sprouting all sorts of name-tags, hopefully soon to be followed by plants!

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Cow poo makes me happy!

Maybe a little too excited, but when the farmer came by this weekend to ask if we were too busy to help pick up a few loads for the garden, I had to take a few deep breaths to keep from dancing about the yard (the farmer already thinks I'm strange enough, I don't need to encourage that notion). I've been waiting for this very moment for a few months now. To me, the completion of the garden beds is a true sign of spring; time to get growing!

I have to say as hubby & the farmer crossed the field in the tractor, laden with manure, I fell in love with him all over again (my husband, not the farmer - although he's a sweetie-pie too!). This is the way my man shows me just how much he cares, taking time out of his day to do something that is only important to me. Hubby doesn't even like vegetables .

Now my garden beds are top-dressed with a few inches of 3-year old & well rotten manure. I used the old straw included to create mounds for my strawberries. I also filled in to the wet spots in my garden between the rows so I shouldn't have any more issues with mud-puddles.

Of course, since the farmer was happy to get ride of it and help out with the garden, the cost of all this lovely nutrient rich soil was my favourite price - FREE. I am expecting a great bounty from the garden this year; it will certainly be well fed. I may have to visit the farmer with a few jars of sauce and maybe a pumpkin or two in the fall.

Now, if I could just keep the cows off my back fence & away from the tomatoes.

Monday, March 29, 2010

As soon as the soil can be worked.

I assume that term doesn't specifically apply to "when you are able to get the baby settled and the toddler distracted with his truck enough to get some work done", instead I think it has more to do with the frost level and the weather.

Either way, I finally got my bed prepped enough, my twine strung (for a straight line) and a little time so I could put my onions in. I handled the onions all myself, as I'm growing from seed they were just too small for little hand. Both the toddler and my friend's daughter (4) were very "helpful" in planting the carrots (some heavy pruning will be required!) and putting in the garlic. I also got some assistance throwing cut-potatoes into the potato box.

Sometimes it's a little extra work to include my little helpers, but the reward of passing on my love of gardening is definitely worth the effort.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Raised beds & the reason he's MY man!

My husband did a wonderful, self-less sweet thing for me this year. Some women want jewels and candy, I'm just not that kinda gal. He picked up the scrap wood from a job site. I can't believe the waste of cutting off 2" of a 2x4 then throwing it into the burn pile because it's cheaper to buy new wood (and charge the customers for it) then bring your "leftover" wood from one job-site to another. Good reasons for paying attention to what your contractors are charging you for!

Over the course of two evenings, my husband created 2 4'x4' boxes, one for cauliflower and one for peppers. Then 2 4'x3' U-shapes for each end to plant peas & cherry tomatoes on the fence. Then 3 13'x3' boxes for the rest of my vegetables. He's also built me a new compost out of a few skids with extra boards throw in (I've got the fanciest looking compost in town!). There is also an old pipe-fittings box that is just perfect for my potatoes. For March in Ottawa, it is completely unheard of that we would have no snow! We got a huge jump on the backyard work, especially the vegetable garden. There has even been talk of a white picket fence to keep the dogs out.

The best part of raised-beds is how easy it is to segment the work for each day. As I've turned the soil and prepped my beds I've been able to pick a few feet of whichever bed I'm working on to concentrate on for that day. Much easier when I've got two little babes running around to watch. With all the rain we have had the last two years it also creates a system that will allow the beds to drain; so hopefully I won't see all my tomatoes develop Blossom End Rot and all my onions drown like last year.

I was impatient and planted out my cauliflower seedlings. I'm covering them at night, but I have no idea if they will live or not. Perhaps the warm weather is making me too optimistic, but if I can get a big enough jump on them, I might just get two crops of cauliflower in, so to me, it's worth the risk. I'm waiting to finish my beds for when the farmer brings us a few loads of old cow-manure for my beds, I'm going to be growing huge veggies this year! I'll just side-dress the cauliflower when the time comes.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Seedlings are taking over my home...

Starting from the end of February something started stirring in my soul. I just couldn't ignore it any more, my green thumb was tingling and there was only one way to stop it. February is a little early but it was that or go mad, so I chose to get planting.

I used an interesting technique to create seedling pots from newspaper YouTube has lots of great videos. It's free & worked well for my smaller and slow growing seedlings such as my herbs, and strawberries. I transplanted all my tomatoes into half water-bottles because I wanted to separate them and that has worked very well. The newspaper pots did not work for my Atlantic Giant Pumpkins, they grew far too quickly (although I think that's a good thing!). I had to transplant them into half 2L soda-pop bottles, which worked well enough until the went outside.

The seed flats have Red Beauty onion seeds in them, but very few of them grew - I believe I might have drown them, but transplanted them into the garden anyway to see if anything would grow. Here's hoping & here is to spring!

Monday, March 1, 2010

My "First" Year of Gardening

I don't count my first year of veggie gardening any more. My first son was born in April 2008, and with having a new baby, being a new house-wife, babysitting a friend's child during the day and attempting to train my horse; the garden was an unmitigated disaster. My eyes where bigger then my skills, I took on too much, let the weeds grow too big and ended up with 1 cucumber, 3 beans, and a bruised ego.

My second year went much better, and thus, in my mind at least, I count it as my first real year of vegetable gardening. I chose a section of yard that had previously been a dog run and in the fall of 2008 I cleaned up any remaining excrement and tackled the gravel/stone-dust head on. In the spring of 2009, and it was not an easy task by any means, I managed to turn over that entire plot by hand and prepare it for vegetables. I planned to simply plant the seeds in rows in the cultivated soil, and it worked well.

I scoured high & low for cheap vegetable seeds, then I carefully laid out my vegetable selections so that they would be easier to weed between. Once May hit (and we had our last frost) I pounced! It was a terrible year for weather, it rained & rained & rained & rained and when it wasn't raining, it was cloudy. We only had a few days of sunshine in 2009. Still, my bounty was modest but in comparison to my "first" year - a success!

Despite being pregnant with our second, and the encumbrance that causes, I faithfully trudged into my garden every day, my one-year-old in tow to tend to the plants, and the garden was good to us. More cucumbers then we could eat, delicious Danver carrots, and lettuce so fresh & sweet I've sworn off store-bought for good. I even managed to grow enough pumpkins in the terrible weather so we had 3 all ready for Halloween.


Now with two little men at my heels I've taken even more time to carefully research my variety options and plan out my spacing. So for my second year of gardening I'm going to be planting:

Organic early jalapeño peppers
Atlantic giant pumpkin (for my husband)
Broom corn
Calypso cucumber
Early dawn cauliflower
Napoli carrot
Utah celery
Red beauty onions
Arugula
Vista watermelon
Lincoln peas
Roma tomatoes
Vegetable spaghetti squash
Rosemary
Small sugar pumpkin
Catnip
Vulcan lettuce
Temptation strawberries
Birdhouse gourds
Socrates peppers
Honey-select corn
Spring garlic
Tay belle squash
Onyx zucchini
Early butternut squash
Indigo radicchio
Vesey mosaic tomato mix (cherry tomatoes)
English lavender
Mint
Oregano
Sage
German winter thyme
Chives
Basil

Already the weather is much warmer, and there is a promise of less rain. I just hope the gardening-gods are on my side this time!