Today i went through my blog entries and found a few entries i thought i submitted but had remained as drafts. I decided to post them because they had some info i wanted to remember- like my description about the results of the summer on my gardening. I had done a roundup of tomatoes and root veggies and wrote up some research i did on the amole soap lily seeds i bought from Bountiful Gardens. I don't know if some of them might have been rough drafts of other posts, but it doesn't look like it . I don't have much to write about today except that i got the sent confirmation on my order from Johnny's Selected Seeds yesterday. My Oaxacan Green corn is in it as well as a type of white cucumber. I intend to plant two types of non-sweet corn this year and i have 4 types of cukes this year. I have three broccoli types and lots of assorted greens seeds. In the Johnny's order i found some $1.00 a packet varieties on sale, you can hardly beat a buck a pack for good Johnny's seed.
I don't think i went too nuts on the tomatoes, four or 5 types should be plenty for fresh use and canning.
I'm going to try celeriac this year, its a good low carb root veggie that sounds tasty.
I have been messing with the planner for a few minutes at a time and i'm enjoying it. But now i have things to clean and put away.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Perennial Vegetables *originally written July-8-10
I was buzzing around the Amazon bookstore hoping to find a decent priced copy of This Book. (it is unavailable now but it was a book outlining the fallacy of invasive plant species, yes some plants do invade but letting nature work was the focus of the description. Supposedly the earth has gone through many changes in its existence why do we expect it to stay the same now, just because we decide its time to keep it the way it is? I thought it was an interesting proposition considering my state's ridiculous restrictions on some plant species)
One of the recommendations listed along the page was a book on perennial veggies. It sounded interesting so i went to the site. Here. The site gives you a list of edibles that should be perennial in the area you choose from the left column, under the "Resources" heading.
Here is the list for my area:
Cold Temperate
Cold Temperate: East, Midwest, and Mountain West
This is a large and highly populated region covering much the eastern and central United States, as well as much of the warmer parts of Canada. This region corresponds with USDA Zones 4–7, and Sunset Zones 2–4, 6, 11, and 32–43.
Perennial in all of the Cold Temperate zone:
Allium fistulosum Welsh onion-- have
Allium tricoccum ramps --plan to get
Allium tuberosum garlic chives
Apios americana groundnut
Aralia cordata udo
Asparagus officinalis asparagus --have
Bunias orientalis Turkish rocket
Camassia cusickii Cusick’s camass
Camassia leichtlinnii Leichtlin’s camass
Camassia quamash camass
Camassia scillioides wild hyacinth
Chenopodium bonus-henricus good king Henry
Cicorium intybus chicory
Crambe maritima sea kale --have been looking for
Dioscorea japonica jinenjo
Dioscorea opposita Chinese yam
Helianthus tuberosa sunchoke --have
Hemerocallis daylily
Laportaea canadensis wood nettle
Levisticum officinale lovage --have
Malva moschata musk mallow
Matteuccia struthiopteris ostrich fern --have
Nasturtium officinale watercress
Oenanthe javanica water celery
Oxyria digyna mountain sorrel
Petasites japonicus fuki
Phytolacca americana pokeweed
Polygonatum biflorum canaliculatum giant Solomon’s seal
Rheum rubarbarum rhubarb --have
Rumex acetosa French sorrel
Rumex acetosa ‘Profusion’ sorrel
Rumex acetosella sheep sorrel
Rumex scutatus silver shield sorrel
Sagittaria latifolia arrowhead
Scorzonera hispanica scorzonera
Sium sisarum skirret
Stachys sieboldii Chinese artichoke
Taraxacum officinale dandelion -- who doesn't have this?
Tilia spp. linden
Urtica dioica nettles --have
Some of them i have, some of them sound interesting and some are...uh? Like Linden. Flowers i understand are good for tea... but the nuts, i have never seen listed as edible.
I don't quite consider tea a vegetable. Dandelion.... yes i know it is edible. I have eaten it and i would try making wine from the flowers if i dared to allow it to grow that far. I have seen seeds for a garden type, the leaves are larger, more tender and less bitter, but i think hubby would call me crazy.
One of the recommendations listed along the page was a book on perennial veggies. It sounded interesting so i went to the site. Here. The site gives you a list of edibles that should be perennial in the area you choose from the left column, under the "Resources" heading.
Here is the list for my area:
Cold Temperate
Cold Temperate: East, Midwest, and Mountain West
This is a large and highly populated region covering much the eastern and central United States, as well as much of the warmer parts of Canada. This region corresponds with USDA Zones 4–7, and Sunset Zones 2–4, 6, 11, and 32–43.
Perennial in all of the Cold Temperate zone:
Allium fistulosum Welsh onion-- have
Allium tricoccum ramps --plan to get
Allium tuberosum garlic chives
Apios americana groundnut
Aralia cordata udo
Asparagus officinalis asparagus --have
Bunias orientalis Turkish rocket
Camassia cusickii Cusick’s camass
Camassia leichtlinnii Leichtlin’s camass
Camassia quamash camass
Camassia scillioides wild hyacinth
Chenopodium bonus-henricus good king Henry
Cicorium intybus chicory
Crambe maritima sea kale --have been looking for
Dioscorea japonica jinenjo
Dioscorea opposita Chinese yam
Helianthus tuberosa sunchoke --have
Hemerocallis daylily
Laportaea canadensis wood nettle
Levisticum officinale lovage --have
Malva moschata musk mallow
Matteuccia struthiopteris ostrich fern --have
Nasturtium officinale watercress
Oenanthe javanica water celery
Oxyria digyna mountain sorrel
Petasites japonicus fuki
Phytolacca americana pokeweed
Polygonatum biflorum canaliculatum giant Solomon’s seal
Rheum rubarbarum rhubarb --have
Rumex acetosa French sorrel
Rumex acetosa ‘Profusion’ sorrel
Rumex acetosella sheep sorrel
Rumex scutatus silver shield sorrel
Sagittaria latifolia arrowhead
Scorzonera hispanica scorzonera
Sium sisarum skirret
Stachys sieboldii Chinese artichoke
Taraxacum officinale dandelion -- who doesn't have this?
Tilia spp. linden
Urtica dioica nettles --have
Some of them i have, some of them sound interesting and some are...uh? Like Linden. Flowers i understand are good for tea... but the nuts, i have never seen listed as edible.
I don't quite consider tea a vegetable. Dandelion.... yes i know it is edible. I have eaten it and i would try making wine from the flowers if i dared to allow it to grow that far. I have seen seeds for a garden type, the leaves are larger, more tender and less bitter, but i think hubby would call me crazy.
Amole- Soap Lily
Another interesting plant i got from Bountiful Gardens- (and they are the only seed source i have yet to find) is the Soap Lily. At their site they list it as simply "Chorogalum spp". But a bit of searching based on their somewhat basic description leads me to think that the seeds they sent me are for C. pomeridianum since that is the type with the hairy bulb.
Ok, its called a soap lily because the bulbs make a great soap substitute. Its different than the Saponaria flowers- aka Soapwort (though looking those up for comparison, i learned that soapwort s used in making Halva!)
The bulbs are also edible when cooked, raw they can be a soap. Apparently Native Americans used the leaves as fishing aids since they release a substance that stuns fish in the water .
I'm hoping to get some planted for summer 2011, but i'm not sure where they should go, maybe in the flower garden? Maybe they'd make a good container plant?
Ok, its called a soap lily because the bulbs make a great soap substitute. Its different than the Saponaria flowers- aka Soapwort (though looking those up for comparison, i learned that soapwort s used in making Halva!)
The bulbs are also edible when cooked, raw they can be a soap. Apparently Native Americans used the leaves as fishing aids since they release a substance that stuns fish in the water .
I'm hoping to get some planted for summer 2011, but i'm not sure where they should go, maybe in the flower garden? Maybe they'd make a good container plant?
Using the dehydrator *Originally written late summer 2010*
So far i have dried about 4 pounds of frozen peas, 3 pounds of frozen corn and about 3 pounds of frozen, sliced carrots. I really get a kick out of how much room it saves. Each vegetable in quantity fits in a quart jar. The peas filled the jar completely, the corn only filled about half and the carrots shrunk so much they actually went in a pint jar.
I made some yogurt taffy yesterday afternoon. I simply took two containers of Yoplait yogurt and made dollops of it (like cookie dough) in the 2 Paraflexx sheets that the machine came with. I think it dried for about 6 hours at around 115*. My kids loved it. The strawberry flavor seemed to dry faster than the blueberry flavor, and the strawberry tasted better i am told.
So, now i know what to do with the yogurt that just sits in the fridge waiting to expire. My kids love yogurt, and sometimes we go without it for quite a while, and then we buy it by the dozen.... at those times it will get eaten 3 cups a day for a few days, then they tire of it for a bit and the last 5 or 6 containers linger on in the fridge and end up expired. Other times we will try a different brand with a better price- but the texture on some of those is not too pleasant. I think making them into a taffy seems like a great solution.
I was going to make jerky this weekend, but i have lots of tomatoes coming... I have to use some to make fresh salsa, but i think i'll dry much of them that are left over from this.
Watching the Dehydrate2Store videos, i learned that you can dehydrate thin slices of tomato and then powder the slices in a food processor or blender, then use the powder to make a sort of instant tomato soup- herbs and spices added as well.
Speaking of herbs, i have basil, rosemary, peppermint and sage that need drying. So, there's plenty of things to be using the dehydrator for!
The dill and the cilantro i planted a couple weeks ago has come up nicely, i don't know how fast they will grow. The spinach seeds don't seem to have been viable, at the very least i was able to eliminate another packet from my Ridiculously Large Seed Stash.
I made some yogurt taffy yesterday afternoon. I simply took two containers of Yoplait yogurt and made dollops of it (like cookie dough) in the 2 Paraflexx sheets that the machine came with. I think it dried for about 6 hours at around 115*. My kids loved it. The strawberry flavor seemed to dry faster than the blueberry flavor, and the strawberry tasted better i am told.
So, now i know what to do with the yogurt that just sits in the fridge waiting to expire. My kids love yogurt, and sometimes we go without it for quite a while, and then we buy it by the dozen.... at those times it will get eaten 3 cups a day for a few days, then they tire of it for a bit and the last 5 or 6 containers linger on in the fridge and end up expired. Other times we will try a different brand with a better price- but the texture on some of those is not too pleasant. I think making them into a taffy seems like a great solution.
I was going to make jerky this weekend, but i have lots of tomatoes coming... I have to use some to make fresh salsa, but i think i'll dry much of them that are left over from this.
Watching the Dehydrate2Store videos, i learned that you can dehydrate thin slices of tomato and then powder the slices in a food processor or blender, then use the powder to make a sort of instant tomato soup- herbs and spices added as well.
Speaking of herbs, i have basil, rosemary, peppermint and sage that need drying. So, there's plenty of things to be using the dehydrator for!
The dill and the cilantro i planted a couple weeks ago has come up nicely, i don't know how fast they will grow. The spinach seeds don't seem to have been viable, at the very least i was able to eliminate another packet from my Ridiculously Large Seed Stash.
Tomatoes, tomatillos *Originally written fall of 2010*
Yikes!
Yikes in some ways good and in some ways not so good.
I got great yields. I expected the most from the Romas, but was pleasantly surprised by the Pruden's Purple. The Pruden's were juicy, sweet and firm in the right way. The vines behaved and though the ripening was on the late side it was well worth the wait. It made some lovely- if a little watery- salsa. I did counter the wateryness by draining it a bit and adding some of the dehydrated sweet corn i made and then let the salsa wait over night in the fridge. The dehydrated sweet corn reconstituted itself by drawing in much of the excess tomato juice and it added another sweet flavor to the recipe.
The two Roma plants produced enough to get almost a dozen pint jars in the pressure canner.
I didn't get the time or anything to get anything else canned, but i might experiment with some meats this winter... another subject for later :0)
The 'yikes, not so good' was the absolutely insane growth of the yellow pear tomato plants. Next year one will be more than enough. I had forgotten that cherry types are more like wild and crazy vining plants than anything else- though it produced lovely tasting yellow, pear-shaped fruit in avalanche-like abundance, it took over the space so much, i couldn't harvest half of its fruit or the fruit of the two types closest to it. So it really caused problems in the end.
The Siberia tomato was nothing special for me this year. I kept thinking it was Black From Tula and i mentioned that i was growing them a couple times here and there (even at Seed Saver's Exchange) but it turns out that those seeds didn't germinate and i just kept getting it mixed up in my mind. Anyway, they didn't do well for me. They grew to the size and shape of an over sized salad tomato, they weren't particularly sweet and were rather acid, toughish skin and tended to go bad on the vine quickly...produced slow and the plant just barely got anywhere. I think the seeds were too old and had suffered in a way that the plants that grew from them were lacking severely.
The Empire Hybrid were nice. It continued to produce and most of the green tomatoes i just picked were from the Empire. Its not a bad tomato, not superb though. Sort of like grocery store fruit- only with a real garden fresh flavor instead. If i have more seeds hanging around i'll plant some for next year, but if i don't wi won't order them in particular. I have plenty of new tomato seeds for next year right now.
Polfast. It just wasn't spectacular i guess. I barely remember it doing much. I think it was supposed to be ready earlier than some other types, but i don't think it was anywhere near the first to ripen for me. I'll have to check back to be sure. I guess it was kinda unremarkable in the end.
Tomatillos... I had gotten the purple type and the seeds to my amazement, germinated after being stored for about 10 years. The plants did well, took their time to flower, then suddenly started taking off as if overnoght. Right now the plants are still covered with numerous lantern-like fruit. I have gotten a lot of what i think are ripe ones, at least one mixing bowl full. I tasted one and it must not have been ready even though it was purple all over and the husk had split. It was pretty astringent. Maybe it was overripe?
I have grown these tomatillos before (the year i bought the seeds in the first place), but they produced so late all those years ago i never got to try them at all. The green ones at the grocery aren't astringent and flavorless like this, so i guess i'll have to look into what is up with these purples.
Yikes in some ways good and in some ways not so good.
I got great yields. I expected the most from the Romas, but was pleasantly surprised by the Pruden's Purple. The Pruden's were juicy, sweet and firm in the right way. The vines behaved and though the ripening was on the late side it was well worth the wait. It made some lovely- if a little watery- salsa. I did counter the wateryness by draining it a bit and adding some of the dehydrated sweet corn i made and then let the salsa wait over night in the fridge. The dehydrated sweet corn reconstituted itself by drawing in much of the excess tomato juice and it added another sweet flavor to the recipe.
The two Roma plants produced enough to get almost a dozen pint jars in the pressure canner.
I didn't get the time or anything to get anything else canned, but i might experiment with some meats this winter... another subject for later :0)
The 'yikes, not so good' was the absolutely insane growth of the yellow pear tomato plants. Next year one will be more than enough. I had forgotten that cherry types are more like wild and crazy vining plants than anything else- though it produced lovely tasting yellow, pear-shaped fruit in avalanche-like abundance, it took over the space so much, i couldn't harvest half of its fruit or the fruit of the two types closest to it. So it really caused problems in the end.
The Siberia tomato was nothing special for me this year. I kept thinking it was Black From Tula and i mentioned that i was growing them a couple times here and there (even at Seed Saver's Exchange) but it turns out that those seeds didn't germinate and i just kept getting it mixed up in my mind. Anyway, they didn't do well for me. They grew to the size and shape of an over sized salad tomato, they weren't particularly sweet and were rather acid, toughish skin and tended to go bad on the vine quickly...produced slow and the plant just barely got anywhere. I think the seeds were too old and had suffered in a way that the plants that grew from them were lacking severely.
The Empire Hybrid were nice. It continued to produce and most of the green tomatoes i just picked were from the Empire. Its not a bad tomato, not superb though. Sort of like grocery store fruit- only with a real garden fresh flavor instead. If i have more seeds hanging around i'll plant some for next year, but if i don't wi won't order them in particular. I have plenty of new tomato seeds for next year right now.
Polfast. It just wasn't spectacular i guess. I barely remember it doing much. I think it was supposed to be ready earlier than some other types, but i don't think it was anywhere near the first to ripen for me. I'll have to check back to be sure. I guess it was kinda unremarkable in the end.
Tomatillos... I had gotten the purple type and the seeds to my amazement, germinated after being stored for about 10 years. The plants did well, took their time to flower, then suddenly started taking off as if overnoght. Right now the plants are still covered with numerous lantern-like fruit. I have gotten a lot of what i think are ripe ones, at least one mixing bowl full. I tasted one and it must not have been ready even though it was purple all over and the husk had split. It was pretty astringent. Maybe it was overripe?
I have grown these tomatillos before (the year i bought the seeds in the first place), but they produced so late all those years ago i never got to try them at all. The green ones at the grocery aren't astringent and flavorless like this, so i guess i'll have to look into what is up with these purples.
The other root veggies, 2010 *originally written fall of 2010*
Things like Burdock, parsnips, salsify, sweet potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes....
Well, for the most part its too early for most of these. I did dig up the sweet potatoes out of curiosity, but we haven't tried eating any of them. They are kind of 'fingerling' size if you can call it that.
I pulled op a Jeruslaem artichoke stalk the other day and there were a couple medium sized roots attached, it looked like Stampede. The flowers on these plants are really quite nice. It was rumored that they may have a chocolatey scent, but i can't detect that at all when i tried. They are quite striking though, on stalks almost 10' high at the back of the garden.
I did taste the roots, they were crisp, somewhat like a water chestnut- as they are often compared to, with the same earthy flavor of a raw potato. I only ate the one root that was about radish sized.... actually i think the texture is more like a radish than a water chestnut now that i think of it. Maybe as the inulin changes over they get the water chestnut texture more. But it had a crisp and bright flavor, and the skin was not thick at all, i wiped off and ate it whole within seconds of being pulled.
I yanked a salsify the other day, just to see what was up and i think there may be a problem. It had multiple thin roots instead of a single, thick taproot. This might be because they were transplanted as seedlings. They may not be right for that method. I didn't try eating it because the pencil-thick roots looked more stringy than tender. I have read that they can be edible in the second year or allowed to go to seed.... i might let them go to seed and collect it and try again in 2012. The seed source for these has dried up and i don't know that i would consider these roots a priority for planting since they aren't expected to produce much. The plants didn't get very big at any rate, they weren't as interesting to look at as i had hoped. There isn't a whole lot of information out there for these plants, so troubleshooting best growing conditions might be harder to find. I might try again.
The Burdock i did pull one, but it wasn't big yet either. I'll wait a bit longer before i check again. Of course i did test-pull the smallest leafed plant in the group.
The leaves on the parsnip roots are filling out again. They had been nibbled by the last woodchuck and i guess parsnips don't like growing fast in warmer weather because they have grown more noticeably since it got cooler. I won't even try a test-pull until well after first frost.
Well, for the most part its too early for most of these. I did dig up the sweet potatoes out of curiosity, but we haven't tried eating any of them. They are kind of 'fingerling' size if you can call it that.
I pulled op a Jeruslaem artichoke stalk the other day and there were a couple medium sized roots attached, it looked like Stampede. The flowers on these plants are really quite nice. It was rumored that they may have a chocolatey scent, but i can't detect that at all when i tried. They are quite striking though, on stalks almost 10' high at the back of the garden.
I did taste the roots, they were crisp, somewhat like a water chestnut- as they are often compared to, with the same earthy flavor of a raw potato. I only ate the one root that was about radish sized.... actually i think the texture is more like a radish than a water chestnut now that i think of it. Maybe as the inulin changes over they get the water chestnut texture more. But it had a crisp and bright flavor, and the skin was not thick at all, i wiped off and ate it whole within seconds of being pulled.
I yanked a salsify the other day, just to see what was up and i think there may be a problem. It had multiple thin roots instead of a single, thick taproot. This might be because they were transplanted as seedlings. They may not be right for that method. I didn't try eating it because the pencil-thick roots looked more stringy than tender. I have read that they can be edible in the second year or allowed to go to seed.... i might let them go to seed and collect it and try again in 2012. The seed source for these has dried up and i don't know that i would consider these roots a priority for planting since they aren't expected to produce much. The plants didn't get very big at any rate, they weren't as interesting to look at as i had hoped. There isn't a whole lot of information out there for these plants, so troubleshooting best growing conditions might be harder to find. I might try again.
The Burdock i did pull one, but it wasn't big yet either. I'll wait a bit longer before i check again. Of course i did test-pull the smallest leafed plant in the group.
The leaves on the parsnip roots are filling out again. They had been nibbled by the last woodchuck and i guess parsnips don't like growing fast in warmer weather because they have grown more noticeably since it got cooler. I won't even try a test-pull until well after first frost.
Monday, March 7, 2011
All done...!
With the list. I realized that i don't have any summer squash seeds. Oh the horror. I'll have to watch for them at the seed racks.
Before and after shots of the snow:
Soon i'll be able to drag the mini greenhouses out and begin seed flats for the cool weather crops.
Before and after shots of the snow:
 |
| Before the rain, Friday i think. |
 |
| Today, a few minutes ago, after about 2.5 inches of rain |
Soon i'll be able to drag the mini greenhouses out and begin seed flats for the cool weather crops.
Maybe, just maybe....
During today's toddler nap i will get to the rest of The List then get a bit more done on the garden planner. I decided also that another priority besides seed saving will be to redo those neglected flower beds. The ones i was determined to do last summer and fall. With the cost of groceries expected to raise drastically over here, it may save us some funds in the long run to not waste prime growing space on just ornamental plants. There are plenty of veggies and berry plants that can be ornamental. Some with bright and unusually shaped foliage. I think Seakale is a unique plant. Burgundy okra is a striking red and has some lovely flowers. There are types of leaf amaranth that are showy and of course Bright Lights chard is pretty enough to look at though i have decided that the muddy scent of it is too much for me in large amounts.
Maybe things in the world will calm down, maybe it won't. Hopefully my attempt to think of these things early to avoid panic will make me look silly. I'd rather look silly than be caught unawares. The idea that food and gas prices will rise dramatically has been bandied about many times before- we have seen a rise though not too drastic in some ways. I think that these warnings that don't come to pass as much as feared are only lulling us into a false sense of security. At the bottom of it, i don't see any reason why becoming more self-sufficient isn't a good thing on its face. It is practical and not a sign of abject fear or an excess of caution.
The book i am reading, The Joy of Gardening, was written during the energy crisis of the 1970's and leans heavily on the concept of self-sufficiency and responsible use of resources. I'm kind of thinking that mindset should return to us in this country. Of course i can only speak for myself.
I have more than enough seeds of fruit and berry plants to fill those side gardens if i get a good germination. I'm hoping to have an abundance of "leftover" plants that i can share out to interested friends and family.
The fun part is that i get to spend more time playing with my garden planner program.
I was reading something, maybe an article or a blog i follow about how people go about planning their gardens. It bemoaned the notion that people over think their plans, use complicated programs and spend hours tweaking their lists and figures. I sort of laughed at this because it is one of my favorite things to do. I love to pour over seed catalogs, read gardening books over and over, try to implement new techniques, plot and plan spacing, configuring location, rotating, doublecropping. Oh and don't forget- i love to ramble about my plans, thoughts, ideas and experiences as i go.
Right now, since i made so many entries last summer, i have plenty of reading materials to remind me of what went on last year so mistakes can be avoided (planting birdhouse gourds in a tiny garden, is one- lol). I also get to look at the pictures of things growing and greening up. Its nice to look at them and daydream of warmer temperatures, the flavor of sweet tomatoes and fresh kale and the texture & snap of fresh green beans. Its just plain nice. I get to learn something new every year.
Maybe things in the world will calm down, maybe it won't. Hopefully my attempt to think of these things early to avoid panic will make me look silly. I'd rather look silly than be caught unawares. The idea that food and gas prices will rise dramatically has been bandied about many times before- we have seen a rise though not too drastic in some ways. I think that these warnings that don't come to pass as much as feared are only lulling us into a false sense of security. At the bottom of it, i don't see any reason why becoming more self-sufficient isn't a good thing on its face. It is practical and not a sign of abject fear or an excess of caution.
The book i am reading, The Joy of Gardening, was written during the energy crisis of the 1970's and leans heavily on the concept of self-sufficiency and responsible use of resources. I'm kind of thinking that mindset should return to us in this country. Of course i can only speak for myself.
I have more than enough seeds of fruit and berry plants to fill those side gardens if i get a good germination. I'm hoping to have an abundance of "leftover" plants that i can share out to interested friends and family.
The fun part is that i get to spend more time playing with my garden planner program.
I was reading something, maybe an article or a blog i follow about how people go about planning their gardens. It bemoaned the notion that people over think their plans, use complicated programs and spend hours tweaking their lists and figures. I sort of laughed at this because it is one of my favorite things to do. I love to pour over seed catalogs, read gardening books over and over, try to implement new techniques, plot and plan spacing, configuring location, rotating, doublecropping. Oh and don't forget- i love to ramble about my plans, thoughts, ideas and experiences as i go.
Right now, since i made so many entries last summer, i have plenty of reading materials to remind me of what went on last year so mistakes can be avoided (planting birdhouse gourds in a tiny garden, is one- lol). I also get to look at the pictures of things growing and greening up. Its nice to look at them and daydream of warmer temperatures, the flavor of sweet tomatoes and fresh kale and the texture & snap of fresh green beans. Its just plain nice. I get to learn something new every year.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Ridiculously Large Seed list for 2011
I'm working on it right now. Its looking better already. (see the left column)
The drawer is looking neater too:
I realized i still had remaining seeds of things i thought i was out of. This means i will be less likely to make another order. I only have half a packet of Provider bush bean left, so i'll look out for more of them on the seed racks at the usual stores. I also noticed that i have things that i forgot i had- i was glad to see i had plenty of cabbage for this year. I have hardly any carrots left, but i might not plant them anyway. I'll see how much room i have with the garden planner program.
I'm starting to get spring fever, i'll start reading Dick Raymond's Joy of Gardening this evening most likely. I've been paging through his Down To Earth for the last couple days.
I'm hoping to be able to do what i did last year- planting the entire garden from seeds myself, its cheaper than buying from a greenhouse- even a good local one. There's more satisfaction in it as well. Someday i'll maybe manage to plant the whole thing with my own saved seed. I tried to find some non-hybrid varieties when i shopped last year- i do have a few good ones. Instead of kinda playing around like i let myself last year, i'll concentrate on saving and storing seed. It should be fun. I own a copy of From Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth so i'll have good information to start.
I wonder how thick the Jerusalem Artichokes will come in this year. I harvested a few small baskets of them in the fall and they were delicious roasted with butter and herbes de provence .
Still getting lots of rain this evening. There are flood watches in most areas, so far no major puddles here but the snow has really gone down in the above 40 degree weather. Tomorrow i'll get pictures of the remaining snow to compare the ones i took the other day- its already quite a bit melted.
Meanwhile, here's a picture of Caper enjoying a heating pad while he watches TV.
And i'll copy my seed stash list here because i'll be needing to remove it from the sidebar for 2012 so this post can keep the record of it. Its about 85% complete:
The drawer is looking neater too:
I realized i still had remaining seeds of things i thought i was out of. This means i will be less likely to make another order. I only have half a packet of Provider bush bean left, so i'll look out for more of them on the seed racks at the usual stores. I also noticed that i have things that i forgot i had- i was glad to see i had plenty of cabbage for this year. I have hardly any carrots left, but i might not plant them anyway. I'll see how much room i have with the garden planner program.
I'm starting to get spring fever, i'll start reading Dick Raymond's Joy of Gardening this evening most likely. I've been paging through his Down To Earth for the last couple days.
I'm hoping to be able to do what i did last year- planting the entire garden from seeds myself, its cheaper than buying from a greenhouse- even a good local one. There's more satisfaction in it as well. Someday i'll maybe manage to plant the whole thing with my own saved seed. I tried to find some non-hybrid varieties when i shopped last year- i do have a few good ones. Instead of kinda playing around like i let myself last year, i'll concentrate on saving and storing seed. It should be fun. I own a copy of From Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth so i'll have good information to start.
I wonder how thick the Jerusalem Artichokes will come in this year. I harvested a few small baskets of them in the fall and they were delicious roasted with butter and herbes de provence .
Still getting lots of rain this evening. There are flood watches in most areas, so far no major puddles here but the snow has really gone down in the above 40 degree weather. Tomorrow i'll get pictures of the remaining snow to compare the ones i took the other day- its already quite a bit melted.
Meanwhile, here's a picture of Caper enjoying a heating pad while he watches TV.
And i'll copy my seed stash list here because i'll be needing to remove it from the sidebar for 2012 so this post can keep the record of it. Its about 85% complete:
Ridiculously Large Seed list for 2011
- Annual Flower- Stocks- Excelsior Mix- 2010- Pinetree
- Annual- Amaranthus Caudatus- Love Lies Bleeding- 2008- Pinetree
- Annual- Burgundy Frillytunia- 2008- Pinetree
- Annual- Convolvulus- Blue Enchantment-2010- Burpee
- Annual- Convolvulus- Ensign Red-2010- Burpee
- Annual- Cosmos- Bright Lights mix- 2010- Bentley Seeds
- Annual- Four O' Clocks- Kelidoscope Mix- 2010- Burpee
- Annual- Marigold- Dwarf double mixed colors- 2006- American Seed (5 packets)
- Annual- Morning Glory- Clarke's Heavenly Blue-2010- American Seed (4 packs)
- Annual- Morning Glory- Pink Star-2010- Burpee
- Annual- Morning Glory- Sunrise serinade- 2010- Burpee
- Annual- Nasturtium- Burpee's Tall Mix- 2010- Burpee
- Annual- Nicotiant, Only The Lonely- 2008- Pinetree
- Annual- Scabiosa, House Hybrids- 2010- Hardyplants.com
- Annual- Schizanthus- Angel Wings- 2000-Pinetree
- Bean- Provider- 2008- Pinetree
- Beans- Jacob's Cattle- 2008- Pinetree
- Beans- Kentucky Wonder Pole- 2005- Ferry Morse
- Beet- Crosby Egyptian-2010- Pinetree
- Broccoli rapa- Spring Raab- 2010- harts
- Broccoli- Gypsy- 2010-Pinetree
- Broccoli- Purple Sprouting- 2010- Pinetree
- Broccoli- Waltham- 2010- Pinetree
- Brussels Sprouts- Bubbles- 2008- Pinetree
- Bush- American Blackcurrant-2010- Bountiful Gardens
- Bush- American Elderberry-2010- Bountiful Gardens
- Bush- American Elderberry-2010- eBay Seller
- Bush- Bush Cherry- 2010- Bountiful Gardens
- Bush- Chinese Wolfberry (Goji)- 2010- Richters
- Bush- Gooseberry, Pixwell- 2010- self prepared
- Bush- Nanking Cherry- 2010- self prepared
- Bush- Seabuckthorn- 2010- Richters
- Cabbage- Early Golden Acre- 2002- American Seed
- Cabbage- Krautman- 2010- Pinetree
- Cabbage- Mamoth Red Rock- 2010- Pinetree
- Cabbage- Point One- 2010- Pinetree
- Carrot- Cosmic Purple- 2010- Pinetree (very few)
- Collards- Vates- 2010- Pinetree
- Corn- Hopi Blue Dent- 2010- Pinetree (2 packs)
- Cucumber- Beit Alpha- 2010- Pinetree
- Cucumber- Boston Pickling- 2010-Pinetree
- Cucumber- Spacemaster- 2010- Pinetree
- Eggplant- Ornamental Chinese mini Pumpkin- 2010- Amishland
- Eggplant- Slim Jim- 2008- Pinetree
- Gourd- Birdhouse gourd- 2010- Ferry Morse
- Greens- Aurgula- 2010- Harts
- Greens- lettuce- Buttercrunch- 2008- Liberty Gardens
- Greens- Midnight Red Amaranth-2008- Pinetree
- Greens- Red Shiso- 2010- Pinetree
- Greens- Rose Orach- 2008- Pinetree
- Greens- Saltwort- 2010- Pinetree
- Herb- ANise- 2009- Richters
- Herb- Chives-2010- Park
- Herb- Curled Chervil-2010- Richters
- Herb- French Thyme-2009- Richters
- Herb- Garden Sage- 2009- Richters
- Herb- Genovese Basil- 2009- Richters
- Herb- Greek Oregano-2009- Richters
- Herb- Monarda Didyma, Panorama Red Shades, 2010- Hardyplants.com
- Herb- Oregano, Italian- 2010- Park
- Herb- Parsley, Italian flatleaf- 2010- Richters
- Herb- Roseroot-2010- Richters
- Herb- Rue-2010- Pinetree
- Herb- Sweet Marjoram- 2009- Richters
- Herb- Welsh Onions- 2010- Pinetree
- Herb- Winter Savory- 2009- Richters
- Houseplant- Hypoestes- Polkadot Plant-2000- Pinetree
- Kale- Chinese Kai Lan Queen- 2010- Pinetree
- Kale- Flowering- Fringed Formula- 2010- Pinetree
- Kale- Flowering- Peacock Red- 2010 - Pinetree
- Kale- Red Russian-2010- Pinetree
- Kale- Starbor- 2010 - Pinetree
- Kohlrabi- Early Purple Vienna- 2010- Pinetree
- Kohlrabi- Kossack- 2010- Pinetree
- Leeks- Large American Flag- 2010- Pinetree
- Okra- Cajun Delight- 2002- Johnny's
- Okra- Cajun Delight- 2008- Pinetree
- Okra- Clemson Spineless- 2002- Ferry Morse
- Okra- Clemson Spineless- 2003- Ferry Morse
- Okra- Red Burgundy- 2010- Pinetree
- Onion- Ailsa Craig Exhibition- 2010- Pinetree
- Onion- Southport Red Globe- 2010- Pinetree
- Ornamental- Job's Tears- 2010- Amishland
- Ornamental- Pod Corn- 2010- Pinetree
- Ornamental- Teasel- 2010-Pinetree
- Pepper- Ornamental- Habanero- 2001- Johnny's
- Pepper- Zsa Zsa- 2010- Pinetree
- Pepper-Hot Jalapeno CChile- Early Jalapeno- 2001- Johnny's
- Peppers- Ancho 101 hot- 2000- Totally Tomatoes
- Peppers- Fooled You jalapeno- 2008- Pinetree
- Perennial- Amole, Soap Plant- 2010- Bountiful Gardens
- Perennial- Leonotis Leonurus, 2010- Hardyplants.com
- Perennial- Pleurisy Root (orange milkweed)- 2010- Richters
- Perennial- Rudbeckia Hirta- Autumn Colors- 2010- Hardyplants.com
- Perennial- Shasta Daisy- Alaska- 2008- Liberty Garden
- Perennial- Siberian Motherwort- 2010- Richters
- Perennial- Yellow Echinacea, paradoxa- 2010- Richters
- Perennial-Nettle, stinging- 2010- Richters
- Radish- French Breakfast- 2010- Pinetree
- Radish- Hailstone-2010- Pinetree
- Radish- Round Black- 2010- Pinetree
- Rutabaga- Laurentian- 2010- Pinetree
- Salsify- Sandwich Island Mammoth-2010- Pinetree
- SeaKale- Lily White- 2010- Bountiful Gardens
- Shallot- Mirage-2010- Pinetree
- Sorghum- White Popping- 2009- Pinetree
- Soybean- Beer Friend- 2009- Pinetree
- Swiss Chard- Bright Lights- 2010- Pinetree
- Tomatillo- Purple- 2002- Johnnys
- Tomato- Banana Legs- 2010- Pinetree
- Tomato- Elberta Girl- 2000- Totally Tomatoes
- Tomato- German Orange Strawberry- 2010- Pinetree*
- Tomato- Heirloom Tall Vine Cherokee Purple- 2002- Johnny's (only ONE seed left)
- Tomato- San Marzanl Lampadina- 2010- Pinetree *
- Tomato- Sweet Chelsea- 2010-Pinetree *
- Tomato-Siberia- 2000- Totally Tomatoes
- Tree- Hawthorn- 2010- Bountiful Gardens
- Tree- Mulberry- 2010- Richters
- Tree- Serviceberry-2010- Bountiful Gardens
- Veggie- Pak Choi- Brisk Green- 2010- Pinetree
- Vines- Schizandra- Chinese matrimony or magnolia vine- 2010- Bountiful Gardens
- Watermelon- Pony Yellow- 2010- Pinetree
- Watermelon- Tom Watson- 2010- Pinetree
- Winter Squash- Long Island Cheese- 2010- Pinetree
- Winter Squash- Red Eye- 2008- Pinetree
Friday, March 4, 2011
Spring rains....
Now they aren't spring rains because they happen in spring, but because they usually mean spring will somehow come again this year. With about 3-4 feet of snowfall and drift still hanging around in the yard it is hard to imagine that all that stuff will melt and the ground will be visible again- warm even! The forecast for this weekend is rain, heavy at times. Forty degrees. This will get things melting right quick and lead to backup and large puddles. I'm glad the town finally did something about the huge puddle that accumulated in the road at the front of the house- a puddle so large we facetiously called it a lake and named it after our eldest daughter.
I wonder how my grapes and blueberries are doing. They have had plenty of insulation under the deep snow- much better than cold and dry weather, the snow is a good thing. We did get some very cold weather this winter, but not as cold as it can and has gotten before. As long as i gave them enough time to get established last summer and fall, they should be fine because i am pretty hopeful and sure i did it right.
I went ahead and paid for a subscription to GrowVeg.com, it was very useful for me last year. I have begun to map out my garden with it, just the planting zones and pathways so far. I still have to decide which things to plant this year. I only made one seed order this year, it may be the only one- i won't say i went overboard last year but i sure did gather enough seed packets to last me a number of years if i stored well. The drawer they are in stays cool through all seasons. I'd rather get a minifridge to store them in, but i simply never got to it.
I also never got to do the gourmet mushroom garden i hoped to keep indoors this winter. Simply not enough time and though money isn't exactly tight, we had the extra costs of higher oil bills, repairs to my truck, medical bills and some maintenance on the house. We are at a point where we could easily be in trouble if we choose to ignore self-imposed and necessary restrictions.
Anyway- having gotten my bunch of seeds form past seasons and this under $25 order (and with free shipping) to Johnny's Selected Seeds, i am quite fine for a while. I have not spent as much time delving and pouring over seed catalogs-- so the temptation to buy has been kept under control. I have planted enough fruit and berry plants to satisfy me for now- unless i trade for more- and i have seeds for the rest.
This is what i ordered:
So far i have not gotten to the wintersowing- i have not had the spare dollars or the time to get the potting mix i need, but could use the fridge again i guess. lol
Seed drawer still remains largely unsorted but i'll prioritize it soon. Usually i can get things done while the youngest naps, but lately i have been so totally exhausted that i have been napping too- something i never, ever have been able to do whether i needed it or not. I tried adding another cup of coffee to my morning routine but it didn't make a noticeable difference. I did get very sick last week, so i thought it might be because of that- maybe i was fighting it off and now the sleep is part of the recovery effort. Either way, i'll be glad to see the backside of it so i can return to normal.
I haven't begun reading many garden books this year- yet. I'm sort of waiting until spring fever becomes acute. This year i am armed with my late grandfather's entire arsenal of garden books- which i cherish, so i should be all set when the time comes.
I may or may not have said it before, but where last year was a fun year to play and just try a few new things, this year is hopefully going to be more about production. Now that i have a better idea of how much space certain plants take up in my compact garden. For example, the indeterminate yellow pear tomatoes... in my parents' garden such things look so small. Their garden was at least 8 times the size of mine, so the sprawl of indeterminate tomatoes was easily contained. In my garden this does not work even if i did have a good support structure. There was hardly any room to move by August and though i love the smell of tomato branches, shoving through them jungle style was too much. I should have had a pith helmet.
I'm also letting the melons go by the wayside. They take up too much space and simply don't grow well enough to make it worth it. Last year it was fun to play with, but this year i'm not going to bother. Sweet corn is another thing i will forgo. We actually live within 10 miles of a small family run farm that grows corn, they supply most of the area grocery stores and due to proximity and volume the prices are very good. So good that its not much worth growing a few small ears for my own. I am going to let myself play by trying out some heirloom grain corns. I have Hopi Blue Dent and Oaxacan Green, both make a great corn meal from what i understand and do well growing in most places. Since they are a grain corn, i don't have to worry much about picking them at just the right stage like with sweet corn. Basically they get planted and that's it until fall. If grain prices go up at least we'll have cornbread. Good stone ground corn flour isn't cheap up here. My older daughter also has braces now, so corn on the cob will be a tease.
I'm planting more paste tomatoes this year because they can be stewed or sauced as well as be used in sandwiches and salads. I will plant Pruden's Purple, it made an incredible salsa.
I will plant, use and dry more herbs this year. The onions will be planted closer and more will go in as well as shallots. Cucumbers. Those will be given much more room.
Green beans will be a priority, kale varieties will replace things like burdock and salsify- which i never got to do anything with last year.
I'll really try to get ahead of the cabbageworms, slugs & snails with BT and DE. I will have to use Sevin Dust on the striped cucumber beetles, nothing else worked last year except the row covers- but this year i may end up with emerging adults right from the soil under the row cover.
I hope to plant earlier this year without worry- using the row covers to heat the soil faster and earlier this spring- that is if i can get the soil tilled and the rows prepped that soon.
I also need to get sweet peppers and eggplant seeds started soon and kept under bright light and warm air. Last year was a poor start and a sad season- the Slim Jim eggplant never even had a chance to flower (IIRR) and the Zsa Zsa sweet peppers took so long to sprout i don't recall seeing a fruit on them at all.
I saved some Job's Tears seed from last year, not enough for many bead projects so i might plant most of them in the flower gardens- they are nice looking plants just as they are.
Summer squash and zucchini will be grown and eaten small or sliced, blanched and vac-packed for the freezer- similarly with green beans.
If my artichoke roots survived cold, dark storage in the bulkhead, they will find a spot for themselves in the garden- the strawberries i stored with them will too.
I might even grow potatoes. I had some sprouters in the pantry, they are enjoying being exposed to sunlight now.
That's the plan now at any rate, i'm sure i'll come up with more as winter comes to a close.
Well, here's to the chance of not being snowbound by Monday!
I wonder how my grapes and blueberries are doing. They have had plenty of insulation under the deep snow- much better than cold and dry weather, the snow is a good thing. We did get some very cold weather this winter, but not as cold as it can and has gotten before. As long as i gave them enough time to get established last summer and fall, they should be fine because i am pretty hopeful and sure i did it right.
 |
| I think this was our first big snow of this winter |
 | |
| Now it looks like this. |
I went ahead and paid for a subscription to GrowVeg.com, it was very useful for me last year. I have begun to map out my garden with it, just the planting zones and pathways so far. I still have to decide which things to plant this year. I only made one seed order this year, it may be the only one- i won't say i went overboard last year but i sure did gather enough seed packets to last me a number of years if i stored well. The drawer they are in stays cool through all seasons. I'd rather get a minifridge to store them in, but i simply never got to it.
I also never got to do the gourmet mushroom garden i hoped to keep indoors this winter. Simply not enough time and though money isn't exactly tight, we had the extra costs of higher oil bills, repairs to my truck, medical bills and some maintenance on the house. We are at a point where we could easily be in trouble if we choose to ignore self-imposed and necessary restrictions.
Anyway- having gotten my bunch of seeds form past seasons and this under $25 order (and with free shipping) to Johnny's Selected Seeds, i am quite fine for a while. I have not spent as much time delving and pouring over seed catalogs-- so the temptation to buy has been kept under control. I have planted enough fruit and berry plants to satisfy me for now- unless i trade for more- and i have seeds for the rest.
This is what i ordered:
| 307.11 | Oaxacan Green-Packet Vegetables > Corn > Ornamental & Dry Field | 1 | $2.95 | $2.95 | |
| 1201.11 | Trailing Nasturtium Mix-Packet Flower Seeds > Vining flowers | 1 | $2.95 | $2.95 | |
| 201G.11 | Nira (OG)-Packet Herbs > Chinese Leeks/Garlic Chives | 1 | $2.95 | $2.95 | |
| 2736.10 | Red Choi (F1)-Mini Vegetables > Micro Mix | 1 | $2.95 | $1.00 | $1.95 |
| 2724TE.10 | Longevity (F1) (Treated)-Mini Vegetables > Greens > Asian > Leaf Type | 1 | $1.00 | $1.00 | |
| 2148T.10 | Ambition (Treated)-Mini Vegetables > Shallots > Seed Grown | 1 | $1.25 | $1.25 | |
| 317.10 | Raveena (F1) Eggplant-Mini Vegetables > Eggplant > Green | 1 | $2.95 | $1.95 | $1.00 |
| 2940.10 | Miniature White-Mini Vegetables > Cucumbers > Specialty | 1 | $2.95 | $1.95 | $1.00 |
| 2702T.10 | Picador (Treated)-Mini Vegetables > Shallots > Seed Grown | 1 | $1.25 | $1.25 | |
| 2751.10 | Snapper (F1)-Mini Vegetables > Peppers > Sweet Bell > Green-to-Red Bells > Hybrid | 1 | $3.95 | $3.95 | |
| Order Notes: None |
|
So far i have not gotten to the wintersowing- i have not had the spare dollars or the time to get the potting mix i need, but could use the fridge again i guess. lol
Seed drawer still remains largely unsorted but i'll prioritize it soon. Usually i can get things done while the youngest naps, but lately i have been so totally exhausted that i have been napping too- something i never, ever have been able to do whether i needed it or not. I tried adding another cup of coffee to my morning routine but it didn't make a noticeable difference. I did get very sick last week, so i thought it might be because of that- maybe i was fighting it off and now the sleep is part of the recovery effort. Either way, i'll be glad to see the backside of it so i can return to normal.
I haven't begun reading many garden books this year- yet. I'm sort of waiting until spring fever becomes acute. This year i am armed with my late grandfather's entire arsenal of garden books- which i cherish, so i should be all set when the time comes.
I may or may not have said it before, but where last year was a fun year to play and just try a few new things, this year is hopefully going to be more about production. Now that i have a better idea of how much space certain plants take up in my compact garden. For example, the indeterminate yellow pear tomatoes... in my parents' garden such things look so small. Their garden was at least 8 times the size of mine, so the sprawl of indeterminate tomatoes was easily contained. In my garden this does not work even if i did have a good support structure. There was hardly any room to move by August and though i love the smell of tomato branches, shoving through them jungle style was too much. I should have had a pith helmet.
 |
| Yellow Pear will go one at a time instead of side-by-side in the row. I'll have to check if San Marzanos are as crazy indeterminate as the yellow pears. If so they will be placed one plant in a single file row. Field corn will get its own row at the back this year. The raised bed rows are also going in the other direction this year. This should maximize sunlight (with the corn at the back) and take advantage of the slope to absorb the rain as it runs down it. |
I'm also letting the melons go by the wayside. They take up too much space and simply don't grow well enough to make it worth it. Last year it was fun to play with, but this year i'm not going to bother. Sweet corn is another thing i will forgo. We actually live within 10 miles of a small family run farm that grows corn, they supply most of the area grocery stores and due to proximity and volume the prices are very good. So good that its not much worth growing a few small ears for my own. I am going to let myself play by trying out some heirloom grain corns. I have Hopi Blue Dent and Oaxacan Green, both make a great corn meal from what i understand and do well growing in most places. Since they are a grain corn, i don't have to worry much about picking them at just the right stage like with sweet corn. Basically they get planted and that's it until fall. If grain prices go up at least we'll have cornbread. Good stone ground corn flour isn't cheap up here. My older daughter also has braces now, so corn on the cob will be a tease.
I'm planting more paste tomatoes this year because they can be stewed or sauced as well as be used in sandwiches and salads. I will plant Pruden's Purple, it made an incredible salsa.
I will plant, use and dry more herbs this year. The onions will be planted closer and more will go in as well as shallots. Cucumbers. Those will be given much more room.
Green beans will be a priority, kale varieties will replace things like burdock and salsify- which i never got to do anything with last year.
I'll really try to get ahead of the cabbageworms, slugs & snails with BT and DE. I will have to use Sevin Dust on the striped cucumber beetles, nothing else worked last year except the row covers- but this year i may end up with emerging adults right from the soil under the row cover.
I hope to plant earlier this year without worry- using the row covers to heat the soil faster and earlier this spring- that is if i can get the soil tilled and the rows prepped that soon.
I also need to get sweet peppers and eggplant seeds started soon and kept under bright light and warm air. Last year was a poor start and a sad season- the Slim Jim eggplant never even had a chance to flower (IIRR) and the Zsa Zsa sweet peppers took so long to sprout i don't recall seeing a fruit on them at all.
I saved some Job's Tears seed from last year, not enough for many bead projects so i might plant most of them in the flower gardens- they are nice looking plants just as they are.
Summer squash and zucchini will be grown and eaten small or sliced, blanched and vac-packed for the freezer- similarly with green beans.
If my artichoke roots survived cold, dark storage in the bulkhead, they will find a spot for themselves in the garden- the strawberries i stored with them will too.
I might even grow potatoes. I had some sprouters in the pantry, they are enjoying being exposed to sunlight now.
That's the plan now at any rate, i'm sure i'll come up with more as winter comes to a close.
Well, here's to the chance of not being snowbound by Monday!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Cold.
Its normally chilly up here, but it was particularly cold overnight and this morning. My backyard weather station showed -11*F this morning around 7am. Not the coldest weather i remember from my childhood, but getting close. This weather shouldn't last long.
I haven't gotten much done gardenwise. I have flipped through some catalogs, but haven't made mucvh more than a mental list. Last year's garden was about experimentation. This year it needs to be about production. Now i don't expect to win the combat against inflation with my garden alone, but i'm sure it will help if i try. So its not likely that i will plant oddities so much this year. Pretty much waht didn't produce last year isn't going to be bothered with this year.
The salsify and burdock were interesting to grow, but didn't pan out to be much, so they are just not going to become part of my plans this year. I have the perennial edible landscape seeds that will need to be gotten started. They may be the main focus for fun and experiment this year.
I have my Autumn Olive seedling that is doing quite well and i should be able to plant it out this spring.
An interesting development over the summer that i have noticed is that apparently Elderberries are now legal (with some restrictions) in my state. I guess they were wrongfully accused of being carriers of White Pine Blister Rust which according to the lumber industry of the 1970's (if i remember right) was threatening all the pine forests on the planet. I think i read that Elderberries are incapable of having much to do with WPBR, and so i guess they aren't trying to eradicate the plants anymore. Pinetree Garden Seeds has some plants for sale in this year's catalog, i may go for it. There also has been developed in the last few years, currant and possibly gooseberry strains that are also resistant to WPBR. Those plants have also been much maligned over the disease. In seed catalogs i see that some companies are allowed to sell the plants if you submit a little information about your location and distance from your planting space to the nearest white pine tree. A little snoopy of the regulations, but better than no plants at all. I'll think about it. I wish someone would come up with a plant disease that would wipe out Box Elders.
I've been watching a new company called White Harvest, they sell Heirloom seeds and source some of the seeds they sell from home gardeners. I think that's pretty cool. They have a handful of things i'd like to get- they have a bunch of classic heirlooms- like Moon and Stars melon and good storage cabbages, they have the radishes i like the most and some seeds for those beautiful golden beets. I may not do much for ordering this year since i have plenty of seeds from last year's fun (which i still haven't gotten around to sorting like i planned at my last blog entry) but between Pinetree and White Harvest, i'm thinking i won't have any trouble making a nice list for this spring.
I'm also trying to find a place to get Saffron Crocus corms. I used to see them in the Shepherds catalog, but i guess they are White Flower Farm now and in any case they are out of stock currently. I have wanted to grow those for years and just never did. They are the reverse of other crocus, blooming in the fall and are hardy to zone 6 by most accounts (5 by some) and if i have the promise of my own saffron to cook with, i think i can handle lifting the corms to take in over the winter. I'll stay on the lookout.
My Meyer lemon has two fruits on it. One is getting quite large. The plant is too big for its pot already- it really took off. I will need to repot it as soon as i get some bagged soil. The soil is the reason i have not started Wintersowing yet. I simply haven't gotten out to get a big bag. Everything else is at the ready.
I may try growing some potatoes this year. I'm in one of the best states for it. My oldest daughter loves potatoes and is fascinated with the blue and purple types. I learned how to grow virus-free starts from grocery store taters, so i may go ahead and try it. You basically plant the potato indoors, let it sprout then root the sprouts. As long as the leaves don't get to touch the soil, the plant will not contract the viruses. Not sure how accurate that is, but i got that from a site that should know what they are doing. It might be worth a shot.
I'm going to want to start plotting the garden soon. I go through so many revisions every spring, i guess it won't hurt to start soon. I'm going to be running the rows in the other direction this year. They will go the longer direction instead of the shorter way. I liked using the GroVeg program last year, its $20 each year to buy it, they gave me the free trial last year and i liked it quite a bit so i may go for it this year.
I'm considering getting the pipe bender that is sold at Johnny's Selected Seeds....expensive, but if i go with metal conduit i may have a sturdier structure for the hoophouses and they might stand up to wonter with the addition of greenhouse plastic. I visited their blog and asked a few questions and i got the part numbers of what i need. I'll think about it for the next couple months.
I heard back from Henry Field's about my key lime tree that croaked. They will be sending me a fresh one this spring. It was nice to get a quick and simple email to let me know when to expect it.
I never got to the flower beds on the front and sides of the house. I was just feeling too low to manage it, i bought most of the stuff i will need for it this year, so i'm that much ahead of the plan as of now. I'm thinking i may go with a basic hedge look. I like annuals and perennial flowers, but can't keep up with them. I think i could fill them up with the edible landscape plants i hope to get from wintersowing. I think a simple layout, kept neat with landscape fabric and wood chip mulch would work best. Most of my seeds are for shrubs or small trees that can be kept at a manageable size for the front of a house.
I think for the most part, i have everything i need to start this year. I don't have to buy any mini greenhouses since i have two now. Unless i decide to upgrade the PVC hoops to metal, i don't have to buy anything for them. I have plenty of row cover- i saved last year's and still had half left on the roll. I'll only want (not need) a few types of seed, i have all the planting trays saved from last year. I have my sprayers and my preventative mixtures, all the garden tools- hoes, rakes.... i'm not sure if i'll need another load of manure, the parts of that that were not quite ready are pretty nicely broken down now. We have been saving scraps for the compost all year and have quite a nice pile- though its frozen right now we are still saving it in buckets that go outside and can freeze, to be deposited when the weather thaws. All the books i bought are still relevant and i now have my grandfather's entire collection to read through.
I can't wait to see if my blueberries and grapes made it through the cold. We have about 2 feet of snow in the yard right about now, more should be on the way. Good thing about the snow is that it is nice and insulating for the ground in this below zero cold. I expect things to be quite fine.
I love winter but as usual, i can't wait for spring!
I haven't gotten much done gardenwise. I have flipped through some catalogs, but haven't made mucvh more than a mental list. Last year's garden was about experimentation. This year it needs to be about production. Now i don't expect to win the combat against inflation with my garden alone, but i'm sure it will help if i try. So its not likely that i will plant oddities so much this year. Pretty much waht didn't produce last year isn't going to be bothered with this year.
The salsify and burdock were interesting to grow, but didn't pan out to be much, so they are just not going to become part of my plans this year. I have the perennial edible landscape seeds that will need to be gotten started. They may be the main focus for fun and experiment this year.
I have my Autumn Olive seedling that is doing quite well and i should be able to plant it out this spring.
An interesting development over the summer that i have noticed is that apparently Elderberries are now legal (with some restrictions) in my state. I guess they were wrongfully accused of being carriers of White Pine Blister Rust which according to the lumber industry of the 1970's (if i remember right) was threatening all the pine forests on the planet. I think i read that Elderberries are incapable of having much to do with WPBR, and so i guess they aren't trying to eradicate the plants anymore. Pinetree Garden Seeds has some plants for sale in this year's catalog, i may go for it. There also has been developed in the last few years, currant and possibly gooseberry strains that are also resistant to WPBR. Those plants have also been much maligned over the disease. In seed catalogs i see that some companies are allowed to sell the plants if you submit a little information about your location and distance from your planting space to the nearest white pine tree. A little snoopy of the regulations, but better than no plants at all. I'll think about it. I wish someone would come up with a plant disease that would wipe out Box Elders.
I've been watching a new company called White Harvest, they sell Heirloom seeds and source some of the seeds they sell from home gardeners. I think that's pretty cool. They have a handful of things i'd like to get- they have a bunch of classic heirlooms- like Moon and Stars melon and good storage cabbages, they have the radishes i like the most and some seeds for those beautiful golden beets. I may not do much for ordering this year since i have plenty of seeds from last year's fun (which i still haven't gotten around to sorting like i planned at my last blog entry) but between Pinetree and White Harvest, i'm thinking i won't have any trouble making a nice list for this spring.
I'm also trying to find a place to get Saffron Crocus corms. I used to see them in the Shepherds catalog, but i guess they are White Flower Farm now and in any case they are out of stock currently. I have wanted to grow those for years and just never did. They are the reverse of other crocus, blooming in the fall and are hardy to zone 6 by most accounts (5 by some) and if i have the promise of my own saffron to cook with, i think i can handle lifting the corms to take in over the winter. I'll stay on the lookout.
My Meyer lemon has two fruits on it. One is getting quite large. The plant is too big for its pot already- it really took off. I will need to repot it as soon as i get some bagged soil. The soil is the reason i have not started Wintersowing yet. I simply haven't gotten out to get a big bag. Everything else is at the ready.
I may try growing some potatoes this year. I'm in one of the best states for it. My oldest daughter loves potatoes and is fascinated with the blue and purple types. I learned how to grow virus-free starts from grocery store taters, so i may go ahead and try it. You basically plant the potato indoors, let it sprout then root the sprouts. As long as the leaves don't get to touch the soil, the plant will not contract the viruses. Not sure how accurate that is, but i got that from a site that should know what they are doing. It might be worth a shot.
I'm going to want to start plotting the garden soon. I go through so many revisions every spring, i guess it won't hurt to start soon. I'm going to be running the rows in the other direction this year. They will go the longer direction instead of the shorter way. I liked using the GroVeg program last year, its $20 each year to buy it, they gave me the free trial last year and i liked it quite a bit so i may go for it this year.
I'm considering getting the pipe bender that is sold at Johnny's Selected Seeds....expensive, but if i go with metal conduit i may have a sturdier structure for the hoophouses and they might stand up to wonter with the addition of greenhouse plastic. I visited their blog and asked a few questions and i got the part numbers of what i need. I'll think about it for the next couple months.
I heard back from Henry Field's about my key lime tree that croaked. They will be sending me a fresh one this spring. It was nice to get a quick and simple email to let me know when to expect it.
I never got to the flower beds on the front and sides of the house. I was just feeling too low to manage it, i bought most of the stuff i will need for it this year, so i'm that much ahead of the plan as of now. I'm thinking i may go with a basic hedge look. I like annuals and perennial flowers, but can't keep up with them. I think i could fill them up with the edible landscape plants i hope to get from wintersowing. I think a simple layout, kept neat with landscape fabric and wood chip mulch would work best. Most of my seeds are for shrubs or small trees that can be kept at a manageable size for the front of a house.
I think for the most part, i have everything i need to start this year. I don't have to buy any mini greenhouses since i have two now. Unless i decide to upgrade the PVC hoops to metal, i don't have to buy anything for them. I have plenty of row cover- i saved last year's and still had half left on the roll. I'll only want (not need) a few types of seed, i have all the planting trays saved from last year. I have my sprayers and my preventative mixtures, all the garden tools- hoes, rakes.... i'm not sure if i'll need another load of manure, the parts of that that were not quite ready are pretty nicely broken down now. We have been saving scraps for the compost all year and have quite a nice pile- though its frozen right now we are still saving it in buckets that go outside and can freeze, to be deposited when the weather thaws. All the books i bought are still relevant and i now have my grandfather's entire collection to read through.
I can't wait to see if my blueberries and grapes made it through the cold. We have about 2 feet of snow in the yard right about now, more should be on the way. Good thing about the snow is that it is nice and insulating for the ground in this below zero cold. I expect things to be quite fine.
I love winter but as usual, i can't wait for spring!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
A daunting task....
Ok, so i admit it. I'm almost a hoarder. Definitely a pack rat. I have a lot of seed packets. Hundreds? Amateurs....
Seed packets are a cheap thrill. $1 here, $2 there... they hold the promise of a bowl of salad, a pot of stew, a 50' tree or a 100' vine....all inside that little paper or glassine packet.
Only problem is that they need to be sorted. Since i cannot sort them without getting all fired up, they must be sorted, alphebetized, collated, numbered and re-sorted. My memory is horrible so i have to properly sort things to stop me from buying duplicates. They also have to be sorted according to when they can be planted and by what they are....and where they came from, and then by age among other things.
Wintersowing season is coming upon us, so i need to get in gear. Many seeds i bought at the end of summer or saved myself will be wintersown within the next 4 weeks or so.
Looks like i have my work cut out for me:
Seed packets are a cheap thrill. $1 here, $2 there... they hold the promise of a bowl of salad, a pot of stew, a 50' tree or a 100' vine....all inside that little paper or glassine packet.
Only problem is that they need to be sorted. Since i cannot sort them without getting all fired up, they must be sorted, alphebetized, collated, numbered and re-sorted. My memory is horrible so i have to properly sort things to stop me from buying duplicates. They also have to be sorted according to when they can be planted and by what they are....and where they came from, and then by age among other things.
Wintersowing season is coming upon us, so i need to get in gear. Many seeds i bought at the end of summer or saved myself will be wintersown within the next 4 weeks or so.
Looks like i have my work cut out for me:
Saturday, January 1, 2011
New Year and weird weather.
Well, Happy New Year to all.
The seed catalogs have been rolling in and i'll need to review my entries to remember what i planned to do for this year's garden.
The keyboard on my new full-sized laptop is proving hard to get used to. My last ones were Acers and this one is an HP, the button configuration is slightly different enough that it makes typing a bit more difficult, so it will take some time to adjust to it.
The Wintersowing season is pretty much here, though the weather is making itself kinda odd. The temperature outside is well above freezing and the forecast for tomorrow is rain....not snow. I believe that Wintersowing works as long as the temperature is around 40 degrees, so i won't let that stop me and it may make the project go easier since i won't be so chilly.
Things like Sea Kale and the soap lilies i think will need the cold treatment that Wintersowing provides and i also have some seeds saved from a few berries sent to me by my Adventurous Lemonade friend. Chinese matrimony vine, goji berry and wolfberry are also good for this. I need to go through my stash....
i know i have some Echinacea paradoxa in there that needs cold strat as well....
I had some other things i was going to write a bit about, but i have forgotton already, but i may come in again and make another entry.
For now i am simply waiting for spring and enjoying the though of all the things i'd like to try this year~!
The seed catalogs have been rolling in and i'll need to review my entries to remember what i planned to do for this year's garden.
The keyboard on my new full-sized laptop is proving hard to get used to. My last ones were Acers and this one is an HP, the button configuration is slightly different enough that it makes typing a bit more difficult, so it will take some time to adjust to it.
The Wintersowing season is pretty much here, though the weather is making itself kinda odd. The temperature outside is well above freezing and the forecast for tomorrow is rain....not snow. I believe that Wintersowing works as long as the temperature is around 40 degrees, so i won't let that stop me and it may make the project go easier since i won't be so chilly.
Things like Sea Kale and the soap lilies i think will need the cold treatment that Wintersowing provides and i also have some seeds saved from a few berries sent to me by my Adventurous Lemonade friend. Chinese matrimony vine, goji berry and wolfberry are also good for this. I need to go through my stash....
i know i have some Echinacea paradoxa in there that needs cold strat as well....
I had some other things i was going to write a bit about, but i have forgotton already, but i may come in again and make another entry.
For now i am simply waiting for spring and enjoying the though of all the things i'd like to try this year~!
Monday, December 6, 2010
First real snow of the year.
I had planned on posting many times over the past few weeks.....erm...months. I wrote up a few drafts to fill with pictures later and then post, but never actually did it. I might do it later still.
Of course this time of year is hectic for everyone. We pretty much have everything under control here but life itself is busy in its own right these days.
So the last few things i did with the garden was to remove all the hoops and the sockets. The sockets were easier to pull up than i had expected. I had a medium size pair of pliers to grip the pvc sockets and pulled. The hoops stayed in their partly bent shape and i just stacked them one by one against the shed, the sockets went into some plastic totes i had. The tomato cages had to be cut from the deceased vines and stacked then set aside for next year.
One cool thing i noticed is that late planted dill and cilantro is much hardier than i expected. I was out the day before Thanksgiving to look and despite a number of hard frosts, the cilantro and dill (though short and compact) were still green and very much usable. I haven't been out to look recently nd we had some sleet and freezing rain the day after Thanksgiving, but i wonder if the herbs are still kicking.
The brussels sprouts did try to bud up, but i know i planted them rather late in the spring and they got woodchuck damage which set them back, but i have left them where they are and stripped the leaves to see where they would get- that was the same day i last checked the dill and cilantro.
ABout a week before that i had dug up my rosemary and set it in a medium sized black tub i found at the Dollar Tree, about a 3 gallon. I put all the plants that 'looked' good so there's probably a good dozen going on. So far they have done well indoors and they smell delightful when brushed.
My Meyer Lemon bloomed impressively, i think it still has one bloom that is maybe only a day old, but it had fresh blossoms from early November until right about now. I used a small paintbrush to distribute pollen, but i don't think it is self-fertile- no fruit has set this time around. It was a real treat to sniff the blooms whenever i wanted.... The Venous Orange is looking good too, the fig looks confused. I think it is normal for it to drop all its leaves, but it has a few clinging yet. Its not dead but i think it can't decide if it wants to put out more leaves or take a nap. The only plant that bit the dust was the Key Lime... it was guaranteed for a year so i might request a replacement from Henry Field's. It croaked about midsummer when the other plants were thriving under the same conditions.
Oh, that gets me to the grapes, the ones that came to (way late) had done their best to catch up i'm not sure if they got themselves ready for winter well enough to survive until spring, but we will see. I was fascinated how quickly a moderate frost affects grapes. It just wipes the leaves right out. From lush and mostly still green one day to brown and gone with the wind the next!
The blueberry plantlets put on a little red showing for fall and i cannot wait to see how much growth they put on this spring.
I never got to the flower beds along the front of the house. Its been a painful season for me.
I did manage to dig up the parsnips i planted. I got a few nice and large roots and a number of rather small ones. I roasted them up with a bunch of other root veggies (including my Jerusalem artichokes- more on those later) beneath a whole chicken, seasoned with herbes de provence, olive oil and salt & pepper. Then i used the veggies and drippings in a uniquely seasoned vegetable soup. The soup is inspired by a local restaurant called The Sedgley Place, theirs is a creamy soup full of various veggies. They key seasoning is white pepper, cumin and tarragon. When we go to the restaurant, its a given that i order that soup. Their French Onion is divine as well, but i absolutely crave the veggie soup. I don't have a real recipe for it, i go by taste, available ingredients and tweak it to my liking. Its always just a bit different. Ok, so that was a real treat to have and i admit i cheated on my normal eating plan to allow myself to indulge in something worthwhile!
The Jerusalem artichokes- i didn't get to harvest them all- too challenging for me- but i did get plenty to sample and make the decision that they are well worth the space they use. As a 'famine food' i think that they would be more than welcome at the spartan table. There is a noticeable difference between the varieties i planted. The stampede type bakes up like a creamy dumpling. I didn't have to peel any of them, just scrubbed them well and baked. The fuseaus are more dense and retain the water chestnut like texture when cooked along with the stampede, the red rover has a stronger flavor than the others- more earthy but pleasant. I didn't harvest the whole row so i didn't get to taste all the types i had. The stampede did give me one gigantic tuber, bigger than my open hand, i was going to photo it, but my hands were too muddy and cold to play around. But it was impressive and had to be cut into chunks beofre cleaning. I can't comment on the gassiness of the food that sunchokes have a reputation for. Any time i stray from my chosen dietary plan i experience bloating and.....toots.... so i couldn't blame it entirely on the 'chokes.
The rutabagas did well, i got a number of huge roots and plenty of small ones. I made a delicious rutabaga mash out of some of them. The rest were roasted or simmered with beef.
I did dig up the salsify and the burdock, but not being quite sure what to do with them, and not having the time, they got shrively and put into the compost.
I have been using the dehydrator quite a bit. I was able to get out to the grocery store a few weeks ago and i found a stack of strawberries in boxes for $1 a pound. I bought up all the ones that looked good, got them home and sat down with my huller and knife. They were sliced and placed in the Excalibur. I think i bought 10#, got 8# after trimming and cleaning.
I had also gotten some cheap mushrooms at the same time, those were processed after the strawberries were finished- later that night.
I also peeled, sliced, blanched and dehydrated a couple of my Carnival squash, the flakes have been used in a few soups as well.
SO, the dehydrator has been awesome- i make the rollups out of yogurt quite often and i have made jerky more than a few times- i even used chicken tenderloin hubby found on sale- it came out very well.
Well that is it for now, i have a few garden related emails that i have neglected to reply to- to my shame because i was very interested in answering to them....
oh, i have also begun getting seed catalogs in the mail. Pinetree Garden seeds was first and One Green Earth came just days ago. I have them set aside for later perusal. I still have my copy of "A Countryman's Year" waiting to be read when spring fever becomes acute. I have so many seeds right now i don't think i could need any more- but i know i will conveniently forget that my garden is only about 30x30' and that i cannot physically do all the things i cook up for myself to do even if i didn't have a bad leg....lol
So that is it for now!
Of course this time of year is hectic for everyone. We pretty much have everything under control here but life itself is busy in its own right these days.
So the last few things i did with the garden was to remove all the hoops and the sockets. The sockets were easier to pull up than i had expected. I had a medium size pair of pliers to grip the pvc sockets and pulled. The hoops stayed in their partly bent shape and i just stacked them one by one against the shed, the sockets went into some plastic totes i had. The tomato cages had to be cut from the deceased vines and stacked then set aside for next year.
One cool thing i noticed is that late planted dill and cilantro is much hardier than i expected. I was out the day before Thanksgiving to look and despite a number of hard frosts, the cilantro and dill (though short and compact) were still green and very much usable. I haven't been out to look recently nd we had some sleet and freezing rain the day after Thanksgiving, but i wonder if the herbs are still kicking.
The brussels sprouts did try to bud up, but i know i planted them rather late in the spring and they got woodchuck damage which set them back, but i have left them where they are and stripped the leaves to see where they would get- that was the same day i last checked the dill and cilantro.
ABout a week before that i had dug up my rosemary and set it in a medium sized black tub i found at the Dollar Tree, about a 3 gallon. I put all the plants that 'looked' good so there's probably a good dozen going on. So far they have done well indoors and they smell delightful when brushed.
My Meyer Lemon bloomed impressively, i think it still has one bloom that is maybe only a day old, but it had fresh blossoms from early November until right about now. I used a small paintbrush to distribute pollen, but i don't think it is self-fertile- no fruit has set this time around. It was a real treat to sniff the blooms whenever i wanted.... The Venous Orange is looking good too, the fig looks confused. I think it is normal for it to drop all its leaves, but it has a few clinging yet. Its not dead but i think it can't decide if it wants to put out more leaves or take a nap. The only plant that bit the dust was the Key Lime... it was guaranteed for a year so i might request a replacement from Henry Field's. It croaked about midsummer when the other plants were thriving under the same conditions.
Oh, that gets me to the grapes, the ones that came to (way late) had done their best to catch up i'm not sure if they got themselves ready for winter well enough to survive until spring, but we will see. I was fascinated how quickly a moderate frost affects grapes. It just wipes the leaves right out. From lush and mostly still green one day to brown and gone with the wind the next!
The blueberry plantlets put on a little red showing for fall and i cannot wait to see how much growth they put on this spring.
I never got to the flower beds along the front of the house. Its been a painful season for me.
I did manage to dig up the parsnips i planted. I got a few nice and large roots and a number of rather small ones. I roasted them up with a bunch of other root veggies (including my Jerusalem artichokes- more on those later) beneath a whole chicken, seasoned with herbes de provence, olive oil and salt & pepper. Then i used the veggies and drippings in a uniquely seasoned vegetable soup. The soup is inspired by a local restaurant called The Sedgley Place, theirs is a creamy soup full of various veggies. They key seasoning is white pepper, cumin and tarragon. When we go to the restaurant, its a given that i order that soup. Their French Onion is divine as well, but i absolutely crave the veggie soup. I don't have a real recipe for it, i go by taste, available ingredients and tweak it to my liking. Its always just a bit different. Ok, so that was a real treat to have and i admit i cheated on my normal eating plan to allow myself to indulge in something worthwhile!
The Jerusalem artichokes- i didn't get to harvest them all- too challenging for me- but i did get plenty to sample and make the decision that they are well worth the space they use. As a 'famine food' i think that they would be more than welcome at the spartan table. There is a noticeable difference between the varieties i planted. The stampede type bakes up like a creamy dumpling. I didn't have to peel any of them, just scrubbed them well and baked. The fuseaus are more dense and retain the water chestnut like texture when cooked along with the stampede, the red rover has a stronger flavor than the others- more earthy but pleasant. I didn't harvest the whole row so i didn't get to taste all the types i had. The stampede did give me one gigantic tuber, bigger than my open hand, i was going to photo it, but my hands were too muddy and cold to play around. But it was impressive and had to be cut into chunks beofre cleaning. I can't comment on the gassiness of the food that sunchokes have a reputation for. Any time i stray from my chosen dietary plan i experience bloating and.....toots.... so i couldn't blame it entirely on the 'chokes.
The rutabagas did well, i got a number of huge roots and plenty of small ones. I made a delicious rutabaga mash out of some of them. The rest were roasted or simmered with beef.
I did dig up the salsify and the burdock, but not being quite sure what to do with them, and not having the time, they got shrively and put into the compost.
I have been using the dehydrator quite a bit. I was able to get out to the grocery store a few weeks ago and i found a stack of strawberries in boxes for $1 a pound. I bought up all the ones that looked good, got them home and sat down with my huller and knife. They were sliced and placed in the Excalibur. I think i bought 10#, got 8# after trimming and cleaning.
I had also gotten some cheap mushrooms at the same time, those were processed after the strawberries were finished- later that night.
I also peeled, sliced, blanched and dehydrated a couple of my Carnival squash, the flakes have been used in a few soups as well.
SO, the dehydrator has been awesome- i make the rollups out of yogurt quite often and i have made jerky more than a few times- i even used chicken tenderloin hubby found on sale- it came out very well.
Well that is it for now, i have a few garden related emails that i have neglected to reply to- to my shame because i was very interested in answering to them....
oh, i have also begun getting seed catalogs in the mail. Pinetree Garden seeds was first and One Green Earth came just days ago. I have them set aside for later perusal. I still have my copy of "A Countryman's Year" waiting to be read when spring fever becomes acute. I have so many seeds right now i don't think i could need any more- but i know i will conveniently forget that my garden is only about 30x30' and that i cannot physically do all the things i cook up for myself to do even if i didn't have a bad leg....lol
So that is it for now!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Black Swallowtail
I never got the chance to look up how long it takes for a Swallowtail butterfly to metamorph once it pupated.... so i was surprised the other morning to see that time was up!
Such beautiful wings and contrast of color.
Outside with the jar....
Ready to fly!
Its kinda hard to make out, but the second fence panel from the end toward the driveway- that oval blur is the butterfly. It was about 10 feet away from me. The wind picked up and off the little critter went.
Over the fence and toward that tall yellow tree ...
It made for a nice morning. :0)
Such beautiful wings and contrast of color.
Outside with the jar....
Ready to fly!
Its kinda hard to make out, but the second fence panel from the end toward the driveway- that oval blur is the butterfly. It was about 10 feet away from me. The wind picked up and off the little critter went.
Over the fence and toward that tall yellow tree ...
It made for a nice morning. :0)
Herbs, ornamentals, peppers and other things...
Herbs-
The Basil really did well. Nice plants reaching almost 3' tall. I had picked a bunch of it this summer and made some yummy pesto with macadamia nuts and olive oil. I also pulled some more plants this past weekend when it looked like we were going to have a frost- the one that didn't happen. I washed, dried the big stems and then plucked the leaves for the dehydrator. They are taking forever to dry. I don't know why, maybe it was sheer volume and the low setting. The heat has to be on the lowest setting, just gently warm. But its still taking a long time, and the humidity up here had been rather low for those days. I'll have to keep trying.
I think i might try a variety with much larger leaves though. It might make harvesting it easier. Its a thought i hope to remember later.
The Rosemary is still doing great out there, its more hardy than the basil so it will look nice for a while longer. I'm still going to harvest and dry as much as i can. I might try and bring in a few of them for the winter. I have never successfully kept a rosemary plant alive long term in the house, but its worth a try with my own seedlings.
I get to make some hand-bashed herb mixtures and sauces now that i got my big stone mortar and pestle. I have been ogling these things for years. I have a medium sized ceramic one, but its not the heavy duty granite thing i just got. Its a lot like the one i first saw Jamie Oliver using how long ago? They were almost impossible to find then, but i kept looking. Then i found them about 5 years ago, but to ship a 26 pound mortar and pestle was craziness... until i went looking again about a year ago and found ImportFood.com
They sent me THIS Mine is the 8". They only charged me $8.98 to ship it, Priority. I ordered it Sunday evening and i have it today. It really is very nice. Such a great company!
Ok, ok.... back to the garden stuff! lol
Shiso (Perilla/Shisho)- It took its time growing but it did start to take off as the summer went on. It has a really brilliant mahogany-red and the scent of the leaves is somewhere between basil and fresh tangerine rind. Its very interesting. I might pull it and try and see if it makes a good house plant since i haven't done anything with the leaves yet other than pluck a few to sniff.
The peppers this year just didn't impress. I think the ZsaZsa were so tempremental, by the time i got the seeds to germinate the plants were way behind. It has one singular fruit on one of the plants, but it is small and i don't think its going to grow much more before frost.
Same thing with the New Ace- i did get maybe 3 reasonably sized peppers from it. Not nearly grocery store sized, but tasty enough. The "Fooled You" Jalapeno were interesting... they were not hot at all... which is what they were described as. But i guess the joke was on me cause a green pepper without heat is.....guess what? A sweet green pepper. I guess i was expecting the pepper to retain the musky, smoky flavor of hot peppers but without the heat. But it didn't happen that way, without heat a pepper loses those traits, at least in this case. So it was a disappointment in a way, but not because there was something wrong with the seeds or the plants, it just wasn't what i had hoped it would be.
I won't bother with it again, i'll grow the jalapenos that keep their heat. Since i live in a cooler place they may not be as ripping hot as the ones grown in the South anyway.
Ornamental stuff-
I guess i could say the Ornamental Eggplant, the Birdhouse Gourds and the Job's Tears should fit here.
The Ornamental Eggplant really delivered the "Pumpkin on a Stick" that i was hoping for. A bunch of brilliant orange, tiny, pumpkin-like fruits are all over the stems. I need to pick some for a little fall display on the dinner table. I need to pick them for a picture anyway.
The Birdhouse Gourd was both a success and a pain in the row. It tried to take over the back half of the garden earlier in the summer. Even after being chopped, clipped, and dragged into submission it still got designs. Every time i looked at it i have the Pinky & The Brain cartoon theme song stuck in my head.
But, though i have not plucked them yet, it looks like i have some really nice gourds to dry out. One is huge and the rest are more manageable. I won't grow these again in a garden so small as mine, but i might get to use the space in my parents' garden next year. They haven't been using it much in the last few years.
The Job's Tears are doing really nice things. There are a lot of seeds still on the 2 plants and i have picked a small handful. The only trouble i have had is knowing when to harvest the seeds. The ones i tried were a bit too young. When they dried their coats got a wrinkly texture and turned a shiny white instead of the expected shades of slate and graphite gray. I was worried that the seeds would mature so fast on me that i'd miss picking them and they'd drop to the ground and be ruined for beads. Or that frost destroys their looks too.
I tried picking some more a few days ago, some of the seeds were getting very dark brown and a clean straw-colored shade. Those seem to be drying naturally and are showing the expected lustrous greyscale colors. I'm quite happy with them actually. I can't wait to mix them with other beads of natural materials like shells, earth tone stone beads, coconut, fresh water pearls.... They've re-inspired my interest in doing hand made jewelery. I even dug out my bead stash and made a few things in anticipation :0) I think its the neatest thing to be able to go out into the garden and harvest my own beads.
Fresh picked:
Comparison of dried and fresh. Drying takes about a week for color to develop.
The darker the fresh seed the more blue-grey the bead ends up.
The Basil really did well. Nice plants reaching almost 3' tall. I had picked a bunch of it this summer and made some yummy pesto with macadamia nuts and olive oil. I also pulled some more plants this past weekend when it looked like we were going to have a frost- the one that didn't happen. I washed, dried the big stems and then plucked the leaves for the dehydrator. They are taking forever to dry. I don't know why, maybe it was sheer volume and the low setting. The heat has to be on the lowest setting, just gently warm. But its still taking a long time, and the humidity up here had been rather low for those days. I'll have to keep trying.
I think i might try a variety with much larger leaves though. It might make harvesting it easier. Its a thought i hope to remember later.
The Rosemary is still doing great out there, its more hardy than the basil so it will look nice for a while longer. I'm still going to harvest and dry as much as i can. I might try and bring in a few of them for the winter. I have never successfully kept a rosemary plant alive long term in the house, but its worth a try with my own seedlings.
I get to make some hand-bashed herb mixtures and sauces now that i got my big stone mortar and pestle. I have been ogling these things for years. I have a medium sized ceramic one, but its not the heavy duty granite thing i just got. Its a lot like the one i first saw Jamie Oliver using how long ago? They were almost impossible to find then, but i kept looking. Then i found them about 5 years ago, but to ship a 26 pound mortar and pestle was craziness... until i went looking again about a year ago and found ImportFood.com
They sent me THIS Mine is the 8". They only charged me $8.98 to ship it, Priority. I ordered it Sunday evening and i have it today. It really is very nice. Such a great company!
Ok, ok.... back to the garden stuff! lol
Shiso (Perilla/Shisho)- It took its time growing but it did start to take off as the summer went on. It has a really brilliant mahogany-red and the scent of the leaves is somewhere between basil and fresh tangerine rind. Its very interesting. I might pull it and try and see if it makes a good house plant since i haven't done anything with the leaves yet other than pluck a few to sniff.
The peppers this year just didn't impress. I think the ZsaZsa were so tempremental, by the time i got the seeds to germinate the plants were way behind. It has one singular fruit on one of the plants, but it is small and i don't think its going to grow much more before frost.
Same thing with the New Ace- i did get maybe 3 reasonably sized peppers from it. Not nearly grocery store sized, but tasty enough. The "Fooled You" Jalapeno were interesting... they were not hot at all... which is what they were described as. But i guess the joke was on me cause a green pepper without heat is.....guess what? A sweet green pepper. I guess i was expecting the pepper to retain the musky, smoky flavor of hot peppers but without the heat. But it didn't happen that way, without heat a pepper loses those traits, at least in this case. So it was a disappointment in a way, but not because there was something wrong with the seeds or the plants, it just wasn't what i had hoped it would be.
I won't bother with it again, i'll grow the jalapenos that keep their heat. Since i live in a cooler place they may not be as ripping hot as the ones grown in the South anyway.
Ornamental stuff-
I guess i could say the Ornamental Eggplant, the Birdhouse Gourds and the Job's Tears should fit here.
The Ornamental Eggplant really delivered the "Pumpkin on a Stick" that i was hoping for. A bunch of brilliant orange, tiny, pumpkin-like fruits are all over the stems. I need to pick some for a little fall display on the dinner table. I need to pick them for a picture anyway.
The Birdhouse Gourd was both a success and a pain in the row. It tried to take over the back half of the garden earlier in the summer. Even after being chopped, clipped, and dragged into submission it still got designs. Every time i looked at it i have the Pinky & The Brain cartoon theme song stuck in my head.
But, though i have not plucked them yet, it looks like i have some really nice gourds to dry out. One is huge and the rest are more manageable. I won't grow these again in a garden so small as mine, but i might get to use the space in my parents' garden next year. They haven't been using it much in the last few years.
The Job's Tears are doing really nice things. There are a lot of seeds still on the 2 plants and i have picked a small handful. The only trouble i have had is knowing when to harvest the seeds. The ones i tried were a bit too young. When they dried their coats got a wrinkly texture and turned a shiny white instead of the expected shades of slate and graphite gray. I was worried that the seeds would mature so fast on me that i'd miss picking them and they'd drop to the ground and be ruined for beads. Or that frost destroys their looks too.
I tried picking some more a few days ago, some of the seeds were getting very dark brown and a clean straw-colored shade. Those seem to be drying naturally and are showing the expected lustrous greyscale colors. I'm quite happy with them actually. I can't wait to mix them with other beads of natural materials like shells, earth tone stone beads, coconut, fresh water pearls.... They've re-inspired my interest in doing hand made jewelery. I even dug out my bead stash and made a few things in anticipation :0) I think its the neatest thing to be able to go out into the garden and harvest my own beads.
Fresh picked:
Comparison of dried and fresh. Drying takes about a week for color to develop.
The darker the fresh seed the more blue-grey the bead ends up.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Carrots and Onions (and Shallot) 2010
Wow, the carrots really did well. I got lots of them. I don't remember if i did weigh them. I can't imagine that i didn't- but i don't remember doing it.
They were sweet and crispy, the roots were thick and a bit on the short side- but i think the varieties i had weren't supposed to be the ultra long and thin type- so they may have been as perfect as they could be- which was great. I only had 4 or 5 that were bifurcated, cracked or shaped oddly, the rest were straight, smooth and not 'hairy'. The color of both types was hard to differentiate, the skin on both was a vibrant garnet red. The cores were small, one type more tinged with green than the other, but otherwise the inside color was the usual carrot shade of orange. They pulled up easily- a few broke from their stems but the soil had stayed so nice and loose they were easily pulled out.
I love how light my soil stayed in the planting rows. Even now, this late in the year after all the watering and recent rain, if i step into a bare spot in any planting row, my foot will sink at least an inch or two. I'm used to soil with a higher clay content so this is recognisably different than the garden soil i traipsed through as a kid.
Now the onions- I decided at the beginning of the year that if i got one or two onions the size of a regulation baseball, i'd be happy enough. I got my wish and then some, i got at least a half dozen that were of good size and plenty of sizes close. I got plenty of little tinkers too- and i like the range in sizes actually. The little golf ball ones are great for the morning omelet.
I got plenty of white onions, and the red onions did catch up in size- they seem to grow at a noticeably different pace than the white ones. I probably could have waited to harvest the red ones until the tops were more dried than they are, but we were getting so much rain for a while there i was afraid they'd just rot in the ground. So i pulled them. They will get diced and frozen for convenient use through the winter soon anyway, they don't need to store well whole after all. I never did get to the root cellar yet. Hubby has been working on the basement now and then but there was a lot going on down there and he isn't finished yet. So not having a root cellar for storage this fall isn't a problem since i don't have a big need for it yet anyway.
Oh, and the Shallot...s.... Well, i don't know what was up with those things, the variety was named "Mirage" and i'm thinking that they were that very thing! lol. I planted a number of seedlings, but it looks like i only pulled one or two up. The seedlings may have gotten slugged, and the other thing that i think contributed was the volunteer pumpkin plant that hubby asked me to keep. It was self-seeded in the center of one of my walking rows and it vined in the direction of my shallots. I think it shaded them too much despite my trying to keep those leaves down to a minimum and the vines out of the planting row. So whatever it was, it probably wasn't all the fault of the variety of shallot. I have them green-lighted for next year.
They were sweet and crispy, the roots were thick and a bit on the short side- but i think the varieties i had weren't supposed to be the ultra long and thin type- so they may have been as perfect as they could be- which was great. I only had 4 or 5 that were bifurcated, cracked or shaped oddly, the rest were straight, smooth and not 'hairy'. The color of both types was hard to differentiate, the skin on both was a vibrant garnet red. The cores were small, one type more tinged with green than the other, but otherwise the inside color was the usual carrot shade of orange. They pulled up easily- a few broke from their stems but the soil had stayed so nice and loose they were easily pulled out.
I love how light my soil stayed in the planting rows. Even now, this late in the year after all the watering and recent rain, if i step into a bare spot in any planting row, my foot will sink at least an inch or two. I'm used to soil with a higher clay content so this is recognisably different than the garden soil i traipsed through as a kid.
Now the onions- I decided at the beginning of the year that if i got one or two onions the size of a regulation baseball, i'd be happy enough. I got my wish and then some, i got at least a half dozen that were of good size and plenty of sizes close. I got plenty of little tinkers too- and i like the range in sizes actually. The little golf ball ones are great for the morning omelet.
I got plenty of white onions, and the red onions did catch up in size- they seem to grow at a noticeably different pace than the white ones. I probably could have waited to harvest the red ones until the tops were more dried than they are, but we were getting so much rain for a while there i was afraid they'd just rot in the ground. So i pulled them. They will get diced and frozen for convenient use through the winter soon anyway, they don't need to store well whole after all. I never did get to the root cellar yet. Hubby has been working on the basement now and then but there was a lot going on down there and he isn't finished yet. So not having a root cellar for storage this fall isn't a problem since i don't have a big need for it yet anyway.
Oh, and the Shallot...s.... Well, i don't know what was up with those things, the variety was named "Mirage" and i'm thinking that they were that very thing! lol. I planted a number of seedlings, but it looks like i only pulled one or two up. The seedlings may have gotten slugged, and the other thing that i think contributed was the volunteer pumpkin plant that hubby asked me to keep. It was self-seeded in the center of one of my walking rows and it vined in the direction of my shallots. I think it shaded them too much despite my trying to keep those leaves down to a minimum and the vines out of the planting row. So whatever it was, it probably wasn't all the fault of the variety of shallot. I have them green-lighted for next year.
Corn and beans, 2010
Corn started out quite well once harvesting time came. It was a small patch so i wasn't expecting a high yield or anything. I don't eat corn (too starchy though i used to love it), so it was mainly grown for the rest of my family to have.
As a reminder to myself i planted:
Golden Bantam
Incredible
and
Stowell's Evergreen
I had planted them in blocks in the order listed, the Stowell's in the back. The Golden Bantam and the Incredible did quite well. The Incredible seemed more insect resistant tnan the Golden Bantam. I did try throwing around some Seven Dust early on to keep the darned earwigs out of the husks and i used BT sporadically in attempt to quell the earworms. This seemed to help a bit- still got some nasties but not too terrible in the end.
The only real disappointment was the Stowell's Evergreen. I think it germinates slower, matures slower and that put it at a disadvantage. I got some very large ears on the stalks- but out of these 10"+ ears, only maybe 20 kernels were filled out. I understand this is a pollination issue. I'm not sure if it was because the soil in the back 4' of garden was cooler than the 8' in front of it that the rest of the corn went into (it was all under row cover at the time of planting IIRR- i'll have to go back and look)... i don't know if it was the lack of water--- the silks on the whole plot of all three types dried out as if they were ripe and ready well before they were- which made harvesting tricky.
The stalks of them all are browned out now so i know whatever was left on them is past now. I knocked the stalks down the other day so they might break down better over the winter and early spring.
I had planted some of the purple podded string beans between the corn stalks for kicks, but i think the dry weather with the lack of direct sun didn't do the beans any favors. I'm guessing that beans may be best grown with corn when the corn is planted in thin rows, not blocks. The beans mostly ended up with woody pods even when they were small enough that they should have been tender. I got about a 1/4 pound of the purple beans before the next batch came in almost inedible.
The Provider bush beans, however, were stellar. They are definitely on the list for next summer. I lost count of how much i picked, but it was every other day about a pound for more than 3 weeks. They got ahead of me eventually, i probably could have gotten a few more whole pounds out of the planting if i hadn't lost track.
I'll possibly double the space for them next year so i can keep freezing them, get some canned and still share them out.
As a reminder to myself i planted:
Golden Bantam
Incredible
and
Stowell's Evergreen
I had planted them in blocks in the order listed, the Stowell's in the back. The Golden Bantam and the Incredible did quite well. The Incredible seemed more insect resistant tnan the Golden Bantam. I did try throwing around some Seven Dust early on to keep the darned earwigs out of the husks and i used BT sporadically in attempt to quell the earworms. This seemed to help a bit- still got some nasties but not too terrible in the end.
The only real disappointment was the Stowell's Evergreen. I think it germinates slower, matures slower and that put it at a disadvantage. I got some very large ears on the stalks- but out of these 10"+ ears, only maybe 20 kernels were filled out. I understand this is a pollination issue. I'm not sure if it was because the soil in the back 4' of garden was cooler than the 8' in front of it that the rest of the corn went into (it was all under row cover at the time of planting IIRR- i'll have to go back and look)... i don't know if it was the lack of water--- the silks on the whole plot of all three types dried out as if they were ripe and ready well before they were- which made harvesting tricky.
The stalks of them all are browned out now so i know whatever was left on them is past now. I knocked the stalks down the other day so they might break down better over the winter and early spring.
I had planted some of the purple podded string beans between the corn stalks for kicks, but i think the dry weather with the lack of direct sun didn't do the beans any favors. I'm guessing that beans may be best grown with corn when the corn is planted in thin rows, not blocks. The beans mostly ended up with woody pods even when they were small enough that they should have been tender. I got about a 1/4 pound of the purple beans before the next batch came in almost inedible.
The Provider bush beans, however, were stellar. They are definitely on the list for next summer. I lost count of how much i picked, but it was every other day about a pound for more than 3 weeks. They got ahead of me eventually, i probably could have gotten a few more whole pounds out of the planting if i hadn't lost track.
I'll possibly double the space for them next year so i can keep freezing them, get some canned and still share them out.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Fall Rreport-
Well i have a lot of catching up to do. I have been taking pictures as things go on so hopefully i'll manage to bust out a few entries about separate things in the next few days.
We were warned that we might have our first frost last Monday- but it didn't happen and as of now, there is no frost in sight according to the weather forecasts. Normally for my area, the first frost comes before now (before October begins i think). Its not making too much of a difference though, because the days are rather cool (high 50's to mid 60's) so there isn't a whole lot of growth or extended ripening going on.
We're getting rain today- its funny that we have gotten more rain in the last few weeks than we got all summer. But that is just the way it goes.
Did i mention that i sort of let my summer squash go by too early. It got away from me and i let the veggies get that gourdiness to them. There wasn't enough water going on i think.
So i didn't get to make as many squash chips like i had hoped i could.
Goodness, i'm so far behind i don't know where to start. Maybe if i just start a few entries by subject, finish them off separately as i go and them publish them all when i'm done.
Sounds like a plan!
We were warned that we might have our first frost last Monday- but it didn't happen and as of now, there is no frost in sight according to the weather forecasts. Normally for my area, the first frost comes before now (before October begins i think). Its not making too much of a difference though, because the days are rather cool (high 50's to mid 60's) so there isn't a whole lot of growth or extended ripening going on.
We're getting rain today- its funny that we have gotten more rain in the last few weeks than we got all summer. But that is just the way it goes.
Did i mention that i sort of let my summer squash go by too early. It got away from me and i let the veggies get that gourdiness to them. There wasn't enough water going on i think.
So i didn't get to make as many squash chips like i had hoped i could.
Goodness, i'm so far behind i don't know where to start. Maybe if i just start a few entries by subject, finish them off separately as i go and them publish them all when i'm done.
Sounds like a plan!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Busy
I keep trying to find the time to do a full entry here but it isn't happening. lol
This isn't a dead blog and i have not lost interest- its a time and health thing.
I have taken pictures of a few harvests with the idea in mind of recording it itno the blog, so its not like i haven't had anything to write about.
I have been spending my time listening to audio books while i struggle to keep up with general housework. When i start feeling pain too much to do any more work i try to keep occupied by crocheting- still while listening to audio books, sermons or current events radio programs.
I have been getting so tired that chewing food can be exhausting- i am looking into finding out why.
I haven't even kept up very well with the blogs i love to follow. Much to my own annoyance, lol.
So that is what is up. I plan to be back soon with an update- it was a great Summer, i learned a lot and was greatly blessed with some beautiful produce. Oh i can't wait to use what i learned this year on next year's garden.
God Bless!
This isn't a dead blog and i have not lost interest- its a time and health thing.
I have taken pictures of a few harvests with the idea in mind of recording it itno the blog, so its not like i haven't had anything to write about.
I have been spending my time listening to audio books while i struggle to keep up with general housework. When i start feeling pain too much to do any more work i try to keep occupied by crocheting- still while listening to audio books, sermons or current events radio programs.
I have been getting so tired that chewing food can be exhausting- i am looking into finding out why.
I haven't even kept up very well with the blogs i love to follow. Much to my own annoyance, lol.
So that is what is up. I plan to be back soon with an update- it was a great Summer, i learned a lot and was greatly blessed with some beautiful produce. Oh i can't wait to use what i learned this year on next year's garden.
God Bless!
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