I'm In the Garden

The 2010 Garden Review

2010-11-01T15:44:00.004-04:00

OK - so for two years I had great hopes and expectations for my garden that turned to discouragement and despair....

2008 - The year of the GROUNDHOG - I had the best success ever in 2008 with seed starting...got my plants out, got the direct seeding done and was eating the best salads ever from my garden...the weather was good and the plants were growing strong...and then CHUCKY made an entrance and kept on breaking in all season. The plants were either eaten or stunted from his tunnels and I got next to no harvest of anything once the varmit got started around the begining of July.

2009 - The year of RAIN - I started out container gardening and eventually planted the garden mid-July after securing a 1/4 inch mesh fence at a right angle outward from the garden fence. I did harvest some beans and a squash or two, but because of the wet and lack of real heat most plants suffered. We had NO tomato harvest at home or at our CSA.

2010 was the year of perseverance and superstision. I was supersticious of posting ANYTHING about my garden here this year....but I persevered and did plant.
I started seeds...they did ok...not great...but ok. I planted in some containers.....and got seeds/plants in the garden by June.
I put out the surviving tomato, pepper and tomatillo plants, onion starts, planted beans (yellow, purple and chinese noodle, kholrabi, leaf cabbage, basil, yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers, broccoli raab and swiss chard. Then I crossed my fingers...
The swiss chard and broccoli raab never came up...
The kholrabi did...and I got some kale out of that row as well ( I guess that seed company doesn't have very good quality control)
I weeded and watered; and weeded and watered; and weeded...which really wasn't great for the onions, but they did OK...not great, but OK.
I replanted radishes when I harvested the onions.
The cucumbers and squash grew...the tomatoes and peppers and tomatillos grew...the cabbage and beans grew...the basil grew (with extremely frequent shavings!!!).
The cucumber plants looked healthy one day and were dead within a week...around mid-late July...I had harvested about 8-10 fruits.
I continuously harvested/thinned kholrabi and kale throughout the summer and fall. The largest were probably a couple of inches in diameter and made tasty sweet pickles.
I got a decent amount of squash both green and yellow, not what I would call an overabundance, but enough.
The tomato plants were ok. I got some from each plant, not a lot, but some. The exception was the Amish Salad tomatoes - largish cherrys - that were abundant and delicious.
The only surviving pepper plants were anchos and they were also fairly abundant. I got a decent harvest of tomatillos, enough for 1 nice sized green sauce.
My regular beans were one of the big successes this year. I planted late enough that they had not yet put out flowers when we got our first hellish heatwave, and they gave me abundant harvests for 6 weeks...until the stink bugs damaged the plants too much for further harvest.
The chinese noodle beans came up - I think I picked 3 beans and then the plants disappeared.
The cabbage leaf....did well, but was unharvestable due to bug dammage.
The radishes did better than I've seen before....I actually got some to grow roots as well as leaves this year...and had a small harvest.

At this point I've got some lessons learned, and some pesto, squash, kale and onions in the freezer (although the bean harvest was great, we managed to eat all of them!!!), and had some delightful fresh dishes from the garden all summer!

This weekend I pulled what remained out of the garden and left the gates open so that my husband can fill it up with the autumn leaves. Next spring I want to re-work the configuration of my very small space. (10X10) so that there is less garden path and more planting space.
The leaves should help renew the ground.

Hope you have had a reasonably good gardening year too!

It's Asparagus/Rhubarb Season!

2010-05-17T13:19:00.003-04:00

It's early spring in NJ. The weather is unpredictable, and tomatoes are months away. What's a gardener to do to keep up their spirits?

Plant perrenial veggies of course!

Asparagus, Rhubarb and Egyption (walking) Onions are perrenial vegetables that you plant once and get YEARS of abundance out of.

In my case, I didn't even do the work of planting my asparagus and rhubarb patches, they were already there when I moved into my house. I did plant Egyption Onions that I received from a local freecycler.

After a couple of years of abundant asparagus harvests, the past two years have seen more sparce harvests. I think some of the local wildlife may have developed a tast for the tender shoots which I thought only appealed to the human population. But the patch is big and the stems are sparce with lots of space in between, so I think it may be time to re-plant some roots as well.

My favorite application for asparagus is broiling or grilling after tossing in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Cook until the shoots are starting to lightly caremelize...and STUFF yourself!

The rhubarb is always more prolific than I can get my family to consume...so I generally freeze some, make strawberry/rhubarb jam, and give it away to friends who are not as lucky as I.
This year, however, is the YEAR OF RHUBARB" and my patch is producing the biggest, most succulent stems I have ever seen! On saturday I harvested the first cutting - somewhere between 10-20 lbs of stems.

If you've never seen/used rhubarb, let me start by saying NEVER NEVER eat the leaves they are poisonous to humans. If you look for rhubarb in a store, it looks like reddish giant stalks of celery, because the leaves have been removed for your safety.

Rhubarb, although actually a vegetable (seeds outside the plant), is used almost exclusively like a fruit, and is sometimes referred to as "the fruit plant". It is tart - almost lemony - and although wonderful by itself, makes any fruit you pair it with taste more like itself.

The classic combo is of course, stawberry/rhubarb pie, which I have never made. The closest I've come to this is making jam...and it is WONDERFUL!
I have paired rhubarb with blueberries and peaches for dessert applications; made sauces with it; and made a lemonade variation with it.

Perennial veggies are the best part of being a gardener in the spring; when you're putting in all of the work for your mid- and late-summer reward and are feeling like you just can't wait for harvest time, you don't have to - you can enjoy the freshness of a spring harvest that comes to you year after year, with only a little nurturing in between!

If It Doesn't Rain This Weekend - Garden Cleanup

2009-10-23T15:39:00.002-04:00

So, we had frost already. HEAVY frost, and snow.
So it's time to clean out the garden pots and the garden plot.
To prevent rot and infestations and diseases from wintering over...all the plant material should be removed and composted away from your main compost.

Hopefully I'll have the chance to do at least some of that this weekend.

Along with that will be harvesting what's left of the herbs.
There's lots of parsley so I'm going to try a batch of Jen's Mom's Chimichurri Sauce!

I'm also going to try to figure out if I can get any of the herbs to keep growing in my east-facing kitchen window....

I'll let you know!

Challenge - Buy Hand for the Holidays

2009-10-07T17:21:00.004-04:00

If you noticed, I recently added a do-hickey to my side-bar.

Deanna over at Crunchy Chicken is running a challenge to gift in a more environmentally manner this holiday season.

I have more information over at my food blog - because I frequently gift food items. But you can simply click on the icon over there --> and get started.

If you do this please leave comments about what you made and how the receiver liked it!!!

Fall Harvest!

2009-10-07T16:10:00.005-04:00

It seems as though the 1/4 inch mesh metal fencing placed at an outward "L" away from the upright fence has kept chucky at bay.
If you remember from an earlier post I had planted squash and beans and had hoped to plant some additional items...that never happened, BUT the squash and beans have done well.

I have harvested a meal's worth of beans from both the lower garden and the window boxes every week or so. I have also harvested about a half-dozen squash and there are more on the way, and about the same number of cucumbers.
The pepper harvest has been ok, but modest.
There was also a tomatillo plant that I had transplanted in the lower garden that took off like a weed. It has produced a bizillion flowers and many empty husks. I don't think there's enough warm weather left for actual fruits.

The window boxes have still been giving me lettuce, beans and herbs. I have plenty of sage dried for winter roasts and bread stuffing. I have also been harvesting an abundance of parsely.

My biggest problems in the lower garden have been weeds/grass and slugs.
Many beans have been eaten by the slugs - so I guess next year I'll be needing to look for organic control methods.

And let me say that again, NEXT YEAR!

I am so happy to be ending this season with hope for next year's garden. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to plant peas, broccoli, cabbage and other early cool-weather items since the fencing is now secure!

Preserving the Harvest - PICKLES!

2009-09-11T14:26:00.001-04:00

Garlic Dills

1Qt Water
1/2 C Salt
1 C white vinegar
8-12 Pickling Cucumbers
Garlic & Dill to taste

1-2 Quart Size Mason Jars / Jars from Tomato Sauce or any Large container
(I used a plastic container initially and moved them to jars after I found some that would work)

Wash pickles, quarter and put in jars with garlic and dill.
Mix salt, water and vinegar and pour over pickles filling jars. (Any large jars will do.)

Leave pickles at room temperature for 3 days.
Refrigerate after that.

Sweet & Salty Slices (with mixed veggies)
sliced onions
green peppers, cut in strips
Green or Yellow Beans
Daikon Radish slices
AND
Enough sliced cucumber to fill a gallon jar (do not peel cucumbers)
4 c. sugar
3 c. vinegar
1/3 c. pickling salt (not iodized)
1 tsp. turmeric
1 1/2 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. mustard seed

If you don't have a gallon jar you can also use Quart or Pint sized Mason jars...of course any jars will do as these will not be sealed.

Wash and slice veggies and put them in your jars.
(I made 1 jar with just yellow beans and onion slices, and put a mix of veggies in the other jars)

Mix sugar, vinegar and spices together in a pitcher or bowl with a spout until sugar is dissolved.
Pour liquid over vegetables in jar.

Mixture may not completely cover pickles, that's ok.
Refridgerate.

Ready to eat the next day.
Will keep all winter in refrigerator.
I
n the picture these don't look as yellow as they became later from the tumeric.
They are both very yummy!

August in the Garden: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

2009-08-24T15:01:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that it's been so long since my last post.
The summer living is not slow and easy here in northern New Jersey, it is HOT and WET and it's been moving at a breakneck speed this year. With all of life, and the garden has been sort of neglected.
So I give you this past weekend's asessment:

The Good
The fenced garden with groundhog proofing has successfully keept out the groundhog for 6+ weeks now. YAY! So, hopefully next spring I'll be able to get an earlier start there and keep it going all summer.

The windowbox lettuce has been wonderful as have the windowbox bush beans...the beans that did well were a specific variety for container gardening.
And, The herbs always do well in containers.

The squash, cukes, and beans I planted in the fenced area are doing well and should produce a decent fall crop. (fingers crossed)

Onion sets I shared with my garden buddy, Kim, also did well in the fenced garden(not as good as hers, but she's a more attentive gardner) and the leeks were AWESOME.

The Bad
The topsy turvy hanging tomato things didn't do so well...I'm not completely ready to give up. It was a weird weather kind of year...so, maybe next year they'll do better.
I kept planting what I thought was cilantro in containers, and it turned out that most of it was parsely. Oh well...
I still need to plant some autumn greens. Hope I get the chance before it's too late.
AND, the weeds OMG!!! With all of the rain we got this year, the weeds in the garden beds have been horriffic. It has been impossible to keep up with them.

The Ugly
Tomato blight...there, I've said it...
The same disease that created the Irish Potato Famine is taking out tomato crops in the NE USA. Organic and Biodynamic farms are hit hard.

I couldn't grow tomatoes this year for love or money. My seedlings didn't do well...I begged some from my friend Kim, but the weather stunted them.
Then I purchased some plants from the local Lowes...which died within a week...a dry week.
So I took them back and re-purchased...and those plants have barely hung on. (still trying to figure out if I took blight home.)

But in the back of my head I knew my CSG (Community Supported Garden) would take care of me. That we'd get distributions of tomatoes and there would be some "pick your own" patches.
Alas, that is not to be. We received word this week that the blight hit them hard and they had to destroy the tomato fields. It is an especially hard hit as they usually save seed and will not be able to do that either.

So here it is...the last week in August and NO TOMATOES! I'll probably be able to hunt some down at a farm stand somewhere....eventually....but it is not the same as eating as you pick from your own garden or watching your kids pick and eat...or bringing them home from the farm we've supported for 10 years.

What to do with the Green Beans You're Harvesting

2009-07-28T15:23:00.000-04:00

It seems that even though some garden plants (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers etc) aren't real happy with the weird weather we're having in NJ this year, the beans like it just fine.
I've picked up 3 lbs at the CSG we belong to, harvested some of my own widow box bounty, and have accepted overflow from a friend's garden.

So, now, what to do with all that bounty....
I've posted a couple of asian-inspired recipes over on my food blog.
Click here, and here.

Of course, you can substitute beans in my friend Leana's squash recipe or just make that with the squash that is also becoming abundant about now!

There's also pickled green beans or 3 bean salad...or blanch them and freeze them for use when you need to taste the summer again.

Happy harvesting, happy eating!

Mid-July Check-In

2009-07-24T14:43:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe it's been more than two weeks since I posted last.
Summer really is flying by.
I finally finished my "groundhog proofing" efforts on the main (aka fenced) garden beds over the past 2 weekends.
During the spring/early summer my attentions to that plot were woefully scant and the weeds and grasses had taken over 3/4 of the space...so I also had to de-weed.
The weeding process, although rough, gave me the opportunity to see how wonderful the ewe poo I added in May had made the earth. The number of earth worms was overwelming!
When I finished those tasks last weekend, I transplanted all my peppers, which were doing ok in pots, but not fabulous; the few tomato seedlings I had left and some summer squash and cucumber seedlings I had started about a month ago.
I also planted some additional squash seeds, and bush bean seeds. Over the next couple weeks I hope to get in some beets, chard and other fall crops.

In the window boxes, the first lettuce planting is ready for harvest; the second and third are coming in and the bush beans should be ready for harvest soon. Some tomato plants are still hanging in there and the herbs are doing well.

Protecting the Veggies

2009-07-07T10:00:00.000-04:00

Even with the bulk of the garden close to the house this year, the deer and/or groundhogs have brazenly partaken of our efforts.
I started with pots close to our main door, and as the seeds sprouted I moved most of the window boxes to arms hanging from the porch railing, and covered some of the pots/boxes I couldn't move with bird netting.
At first I only covered the side of the steps with the bean plants, because the tomato and pepper plants are apperently not as tasty to the beasties.
But then my parsley started to got munched - AT THE very back of the pot ON TOP OF THE STEPS RIGHT ON THE PORCH!
So, I bought a second roll and now have it covering both sides.
My husband does not love it, it's not pretty, but it gets the job done....as long as I remember to tuck it in...because the beastie got some of the parsley AGAIN even with the netting over it ARRGH!

The State of Green

2009-07-05T15:44:00.001-04:00

As I've mentioned before, most of my garden this year (so far) is in pots on the porch. This has mostly kept wildlife at bay...I'll explain more in another post.
With the rain-laden month of June, a lot of things are still not where they should be...but here is what we've got so far.

This box has parsley and broccoli raab.

Here is the lettuce and our eco-friendly clothes drier.

And, on the steps, we have a tomato, peppers, a cucumber, and a cauliflower, additional squash and cucumber starts...

Bush beans and pole beans are at the bottom on the stoop along with some flowers and herbs.

On the other side there is a big pot of herbs at the top,
more tomato and pepper plants and flowers.

In my last tomato post I mentioned problems...well there are still problems. Some of the tomatoes don't look as healthy as they should, and the ones in the topsy turvy planters didn't even warrent taking pictures of they are so small and stunted. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but my usual bad-luck with peppers seems to be changing to tomatoes this year and the peppers look pretty good.
I'm really excited about how good the beans look too! Can't wait to pick and eat my own crop of beans! YAY!

Water Conservation - Washing the Veggies

2009-06-29T14:02:00.000-04:00

I'm going to start a weird topic for my area this week....Water Conservation.
This June has been one of the wettest I can remember. I don't think we've had more than 1 or 2 days where we didn't get at least 1 shower, and most days were completely grey and rainy.
I've had more issues with seedlings and potted (outdoor) plants getting too much water than not enough.

Gardens are waterlogged, Lake Hopatcong is actually full...when on Memorial Day there were many lamenting how empty it still was from the winter lowering.

So, before June, we were in a drought.

And, summer drought has become common in our area in the last 10 years, I've heard announcements about lakes and reservoirs being at record lows frequently. And the building boom of the late 1990s and 2000's has not helped.

I have posted about wanting a rain-water capturing system that we just haven't been able to afford yet, so that I don't have to feel nervous about watering our garden from our well. Nor have we been able to find a source for clean used barrels...

We've never had a problem with our well, and as far as I know, no one around us has either. It's just that when you think about the dryness around, lakes lower, less rainfall in the highlands, etc it makes you take note, so I'm going to blog about conserving water, even after a month with 10+ inches of rain.

We get most of our produce from the biodynamic Community Supported Garden (CSG) at Genesis Farm.
Some of it comes home pretty dirty, and for years I was washing it all under running water. For the past year or two, though, I've been trying to do as much as I can with less water.
I start by putting the veggies in a big bowl or use the salad spinner and letting it fill half way, scrubbing the veggies using the water from the bowl; setting aside each scrubbed veggie until the dirt is off and I have a bowl of brown muddy water.
Then I use that water to water plants, and get the benefit of all that biodynamic soil, rather than letting it run down the drain along with gallons and gallons of water....
After getting rid of the "mud", I give the veggies a final rinse, now free of most of their dirt, it only takes a slow stream of running water, again captured in the bowl...and use that for the plants too.

There have been times when I've been "too busy" to do it this way, but when I don't capture the wash water and let it run even a little, I feel guilty.

Water is a precious resource, even when you've had a rainy June.

Tomato Angst

2009-06-28T14:13:00.000-04:00

This year's seed starting did not go well. I started too late (early April) and tried to start the seeds in my kitchen bay window. I should have known...even though these windows are not as new as the ones in the rest of the house, they are modern windows. Remember my plight 2 years ago? So the seedlings didn't do well inside, and even when I put them outside I hesitated to put them in direct sunlight where the critters could make an easy meal of them. So, they hung out on my porch not doing too much.

My gardening buddy, Kim, took pity on me and gave me some of her leftover plants. She always does well with seed starting. I think her south-facing side porch helps! So I did have a couple of plants, but with all of the June rain and lack of sun, nothing was really doing well.

So, last weekend I bought some tomato plants from a local store to supplement my scrawny seedlings. All 'patio' varieties which were supposed to be more bushy with thick firm stems.
I took them home put them in soil mixed with composted sheep manure (ewe poo) in well drained pots.
I put them among all my other pots filled with veggies, flowers and herbs on the porch steps. Covered everything with bird netting to protect everything from the deer and 'Chucky' and went about my weekly business.
When my mom came to visit on Wednesday they were all DEAD! Probably a fungal infection of some sort, but I had to bring them back to the nursery and try again this weekend with new plants.
These are not "patio" plants, but hopefully will survive ok in the pots anyway.

Everything else has managed to survive in pots on the steps, even the broccolin and cauliflower were doing well until someone found them - that's why there's bird netting now.
The peppers even look like they are thriving.

Keep your fingers crossed for me. I can't imagine another summer with no tomato harvest - and neither can my son, Ronnie...

I'll keep you posted.

Weekend Garden Review

2009-06-08T11:11:00.000-04:00

Almost everything I planted last weekend is, at least, poking its way up.
I have tiny lettuce, spinach, & broccoli rabe seedlings in the window boxes...no sign of the swiss chard yet.
The beans are just-cresting the dirt in the side boxes, and one of the peat pots of cucumbers is up as well.
No sign of the zucchini or yellow squash yet...

This weekend, I transplanted a bell pepper and 2 tomatoes (Striped Roman and Kellogs Breakfast varieties) to bigger pots flowers to hanging pots...made 2 big flower pots for Mom and still have some left over to plant around the yard.
I had posted a "wanted" on the local Freecycle list and received 3 new pots...one was huge - from a large rhododendron the giver had purchased.

My original planting of cilantro is just about big enough to start harvesting...so next weekend we will have fresh salsa! Yay! For my fresh salsa recipe click here.

I have been procrastinating on going to the fenced plot and doing groundhog control...but it must eventually be done....there are more tomatoes to plant, and not much more room on the porch steps..and the squash will need space too.

And, OI, Chucky was sighted last night close to the porch....

Grow Your own Pancakes?!?!?!?!

2009-06-03T16:30:00.000-04:00

I subscribe to Organic Consumers Association newsletters.
Today they had an interesting article which has inspired a whole new train of thought for me.
Growing my own grains, albeit on a small scale.

The grab-line for the e-newsletter was as follows:

How to Grow Your Own Wheat and Make Your Own Flour
The process of of making your own flour is a lot easier than most people imagine. Before the advent of the modern flour mill, grinding wheat or corn into flour was a laborious task. For that reason, most Americans still assume flour is made with some sort of magical machinery in a factory somewhere. In actuality, wheat is one of the easiest crops to grow, even if you have limited space. Once you've grown it, you just need to cut an arm-full, flail it a bit to remove the grain, blow the chaff off the grain, and use a device like your blender to make the flour. From there, the cookie, bread, pasta or pancake recipe you use is up to you!

The link to the whole article online is:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_18082.cfm

The winter wheat sounds like a good option for me...once harvested, other veggies can be grown in the vacant spaces.....let me know what you think...if you've done this before or plan to try it this year along with me!!

I'm at it again - The Garden Experiment 2009

2009-06-01T16:26:00.001-04:00

Last year was pretty pathetic, after initial success with the indoor seedlings and lettuce and garlic harvest, the groundhog (aka "Chucky") pretty much ruined things for me.

Every time I thought I'd managed to bar his way he found a new one. I had very little in the way harvest after the begining of July...mostly just basil.

This year, I had a sluggish start at planting indoor seeds and most things are still really small.
Around Mothers day I started a second batch of seeds in seedling containers, mostly herbs and flowers.
I also started some window boxes and flower pots using the SFG (square foot gardening) theory that you don't need more than 6" deapth of dirt to grow most things.

So, I've got radishes coming along in a window box on the porch rail, and transplanted, store-bought cauliflower and broccoli plants donated by my friend Kim, in large flower pots perched on the patio steps.

I did plant onion sets in the main garden, noting the big tunnel Chucky already dug...
And my husband purchased some mesh fencing that I need to lay around the outside of the garden to prevent Chucky's digging habits.

Yesterday I planted two topsy-turvy tomato hangers with seedlings (Amish Salad, and Prudence Purple varieties) provided by my best garden pal, Kim (of the broccoli and cabbage). And planted some bean seeds, both pole and bush in some more window boxes which I have on the cement patio next to the house. I also planted lettuce, broccoli rabe, and spinach seeds in window boxes on the porch railing. I also planted zucchini, yellow squash, and cucumber seeds in peat pots, in hopes that I'll be able to fill in the main garden at some point........

As you can probably tell, most of my plants are close to the house so far this year.
I am too tired of doing the work of gardening without reaping the rewards!!!

I'll try to keep a record of how it is going with the window box garden and take some pictures to post.
So far, the radish greens are lush and enticing, but no bulb of significance has formed.....

Garden Experiment 2008 - Lammas Update

2008-08-12T12:58:00.000-04:00

Well - it's been 3 months since I've updated this with garden news.
And there's actually been a lot of news...it's just been so bi-polar that I've not had the heart to post it.
As the last post stated, all of my early crops got eaten....by something rabbit...groundhog...chipmonk I wasn't sure.....
Upgrading Defenses
I knew I had to upgrade my defenses, but before I could get around to it the next crops started to come in. The spinach, swiss chard and arugula I had started from seed, and they started to get eaten too....
So, put a new 2' fence with 1/4" openings around the bottom of the existing fence, and put down 1 inch layers of soaked newspaper around the outside in an outward facing L - against the fence and away from it. On top of this I put top soil and planted my marigolds....the marigolds disappeared, but the remaining swiss-chard, the lettuce starts and the arrugula kept growing. I planted lavender and feverfew outside the garden "gate" and radish, scallion, & carrot seeds, my tomato & pepper seedlings inside...and they also grew.
YAY! I was keeping critters out!
My Garden GROWS!
I went on vacation, and when I came home and things were good, so I planted beans, squash, and cucumbers, and took as a good omen the fact that I had at least 2 garden spiders living in my fence and a garter snake living in the flower pot under the windmill.
While I'd been away the tomato plants had more than doubled in size, the radishes had overwhelmed the carrots and scallions (a lesson for next time) and the lettuces were ready to harvest...and harvest...harvest ....and then they were dessimated.GONE eaten completely to the ground.
IT's A GIANT GROUNDHOG
The newspaper barrier had stopped the critters for a while, but apparently the most determined critter of all was a HUGE groundhog who lives just into the woods behind the garden.
He managed to break through the newspaper barrier in late in June, and I have not managed to find a way to keep him out yet. I have used purchased products (Mole-b-gone - a castor oil based repellant & Critter Ridder- a pepper based repellant). I have used rocks that I can barely carry, I have used home made garlic spay....nothing is keeping this guy out.
Continual Destruction
As the bean and cucumber plants appeared they were eaten to the ground...so far the squash are safe. I had re-seeded lettuces for a future crop and have not seen anything so I assume as soon as they show up they are eaten as well.
Blessedly the critter does not seem to prefer tomato and pepper and basil plants....they get nibbled from time-to-time, but more in the way of a trim or pruning rather than eating to the ground.
Do Groundhogs Seek Revenge???
It does seem that whenever I've worked in the garden and tried to put a new layer of defenses down that my nemesis goes for revenge.........
Last weekend I was enthused by 1 of my pepper plants - a mild variety that produces long yellowish peppers - the plant was tall and healthy and had at least a dozen small peppers hanging on it....well, I did my "shoring up" of defenses, pulled some weeds etc then went to make supper.
When I went back to show my husband, the plant had been eaten to the stems...the peppers were, however, left hanging....like me.
Harvest Despite Destruction
As I had indicated, even though the groundhog got the lions share of lettuce I had managed to eat a lot of salad for the two weeks between coming home from vacation and his breaking and entering...I have harvested a few peppers and small cherry tomatoes so far and that will hopefully continue.
My garlic, shallots and onions were harvested over the past month. The garlic had varying results. We planted about 6 varieties and some did better than others I'm not sure if that was due to the spot in the planting bed or just the variety. The shallots did MUCH better than last year and I have high hopes that next year will be even better. Onions were a new crop for me and I don't think I kept the bed weeded enough or watered enough. Despite that, I did get a harvest...they are mostly smallish, but will still be yummy I'm sure.

Growing Challenge & It Doesn't end with the Peas!

2008-05-06T15:07:00.000-04:00

So, the peas got et by a critter......
That's not really ok...I am a bit bitter about it, but figured hey...I didn't put down any of my mole be gone (which has seemed to help with groundhogs/woodchucks in the past). And it's a little too early for marigolds...
This weekend I scattered the castor oil infused corn husks (aka Mole-B-Gone) around the garden, planted some marigold seedlings and stared setting out my cruciferous plants which are another first for me. Broccoli and cauliflower I had started from seed and some left-over purple cabbage starts from my friend K.
I also started some chard, arugula and lettuce seeds.
I did this SUNDAY afternoon.
Yesterday I went to water them and EVERYTHING BUT THE PURPLE CABBAGE WAS GONE!
I am SO FRUSTRATED! How could the varmits have found these things so fast?!?!? Now I'm not sure whether it's a groundhog or a bunny that is managing to get past my defenses, and I 'm really afraid of setting out anything else.
I have more green cabbage and kholrabi starts that didn't make it into the garden on Sunday still in the greenhouse....not to mention all of my herb starts, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants ....
On a side note the garlic onions and shallots are doing just fine with no fence or protection whatsoever.

Growing Challenge: The Peas are GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-04-28T16:29:00.001-04:00

I can't believe it!
After all that waiting and watching.......SOMETHING (woodchuck/groundhog probably) got thorugh the perimeter fence and ATE ALL OF THEM!!!!!!! I planted 2 full packs!

The onions, shallots and garlic are, however doing quite nicely.

I think I'm going to go cry now.

Growing Challenge: The Peas are Coming! The Peas are Coming!

2008-04-18T11:29:00.000-04:00

YAY!
After work yesterday it was SO beautiful that the boys and I stayed outside for a while...them to play on their climbers and met o rake yet another couple of tons of leaves off of the flower beds.
So, of course I wandered over to the garden enclosure and there were some peas...fianlly...peeking up out of the ground!
I didn't have the time or energy to go get the camera last night, but I promise to take a picture and post it over the weekend.
YAY!

Transplanting 1

2008-04-14T21:34:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I transplanted ALL of my tomato seedlings and some of my flower and herb seedlings. It was exhausting and dirty work.
Exhausting because I did it in my kitchen and because I tried to save as many tomatoes as I could...and I only lost 2 during the process. It seems as though the separation of even the tiniest of starts worked.
I have no pictures at the moment, because I was too tired to take them and my kids were yelling for dinner by the time I finished.

Right now, I have no place to put these plants once Mothers' Day rolls around and I can plant outside. The fenced in area that was home to my tomatoes and squash (and everything else) last year should not be a home for them again ghis year according to crop rotation guidelines, but right now I don't have the larger area I intend to use fenced in.

But that problem still has 4 weeks to get a resolution.

In another week or two I'll be doing the transplant shuffle on the peppers and eggplants, and probably more herbs and flowers.

Growing Challenge - Peas Plus Garden 2008 Update

2008-04-07T09:57:00.000-04:00

OK - There's a lot to report, and pictures to go along with the reports, but it's been crazy couple of weeks, so I'm going to start posting and just add as I'm able.
For the Growing Challenge - I said I'd grow peas this year, and I planted them as my friend had advised "BY PADDY's Day" but I have seen NOTHING come up yet and am a little discouraged at this point.
Since I've planted about 6-8 new things, other than the peas, this year I will be ok to go forward no matter what...but I really want the peas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, in addition to the stuff K and I planted at the begining of March I've also planted more flowers and early crop veggies on my own. Right now all of the seeds have been sown in trays indoors except for the peas which were direct seeded outdoors.
(The plants in green type are new to my gardens)
The additional flowers are: coleus, cosmos, more marigolds, petunias, 2 sizes of sunflower & nicotania.
The additonal veggies are:
Cabbage, kholrabi, lettuce, arugula in addition to the earlier veggies.

This weekend I planted onion sets and shallots outside, and as soon as it gets warmer, there are LOTS of other new things to direct seed too.

So, K and I planted our tomatoes and peppers at the same time, but my peppers have taken their time germinating... as you can see in this picture, they are just starting to come up.

Back outdoors, the rhubarb patch is starting to show signs of life...but the asparagus is still a long ways off.

Also new this year - the tags I've made to label the seedlings (re)use strips of #5 plastic tubs that are not recycled around me. This includes yogurt containers, sour cream containers, margarine tubs etc.

A big THANK-YOU to Farmgirl Susan over at Farmgirl Fare for sharing that tip.

Rain Barrel Research

2008-03-22T17:33:00.000-04:00

So, I've been researching Rainbarrels....because it'd be a nice enviromentally friendly way to water the garden this summer.
Some of the better links are listed below....

Of course, as much as I really WANT rainbarrels, the priority is a bigger/better garden FENCE. Since I have enough seedlings and seeds sto plant 2-3X the amount of space I currently have a fence around..........oh well, dreams are good to have :)

http://www.rainwatersolutions.com/rainbarrels.html
http://www.cleanairgardening.com/33galrainbar.html
http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/publications/files/rain_barrels_guide.pdf
http://www.aquabarrel.com/product_rain_barrel_complete_55gal.php
http://www.epcontainers.net/id10.html - These guys are in Idaho and have the BEST prices by far. But shipping might be an issue
http://www.geocities.com/pmm1018/rain_barrel1.html - Using a rain barrel to “feed” a toilet - interesting concept!!

If anyone has any experience with rainbarrels they'd like to share I'd be really grateful!

Growing Challenge: Crocuses are UP &Peas are in!

2008-03-16T16:14:00.000-04:00

These are just some of the bulbs I planted last autumn....they're all popping up all over the yard!
YAY! I just LOVE Crocus - it makes me feel like spring is really on it's way!

I got my peas in by Paddy's Day - as my friend DRS always reminds me! But this is the first year I've had enough of an act together to follow that advice! So - we may actually get to eat garden fresh peas this year - or as my kids call them "green candy"!
YUMM!!!

Last week I found a couple of garden challenge websites and decided to try and participate in several....
The challenges are listed in the sidebar and I encourage everybody to participate in them!

Growing Challenge asks you to grow just one new thing...to produce just a little more of your own food...
My intent is to do much more than that, but PEAS is definitely one of my new crops this year.

As I get going with the other challenges I'll write more about them as well.

I

Seed Starting 08

2008-03-09T10:22:00.000-04:00

And then there were two.
For last year's seed starting, three of us got together....

Friend K who has the most green thumb of all and plants an enormous garden....she hosted the get-together, supplied the knowledge and some of the equipment....

Friend D and I who wanted to get stared in the gardening arena, but with far more modest plots.

This year...K, D and I got together for seed selection night, but since then, D found out that her well water is contaminated with arsenic and that there's a good chance her soil is as well...which leaves her with needing to haul in lots of soil to make raised beds and figuring out ways to water not involving her well...

I found seed-starter kits at the local Lowes that are window box size, so I bought a few of those to put in the kitchen windows - the only windows in the house which are not glazed, low-e.
The rest of the stars will go in the basement under a grow light.

We started all 9 varieties of tomato - the seeds we ordered and two I found at a local shop...
Broccoli, Cauliflower, Eggplant, Cabbage, Leeks, Sweet and Hot Peppers, Herbs - basil (5 varieties) Cilantro, Parsley, Fennel and Dill, and some flowers - Marigolds, & 4 o'Clocks.

I'll be starting additional flowers at home over the next few weeks.

Another Year, Another Chance to Garden

2008-01-16T16:38:00.000-05:00

Ok...it's January...it's COLD and inside three of us are salivating over tomato and green bean varieties!

This year we limited ourselves to

7 tomato varieties:
Pink Stripe
Large Cherry
Brandywine
Hillbilly
Amish Paste
Black Plum
Keeper

4 Pepper varieties:
Bell
Banana
Jalapeno
and Mixed Carribean (hot)

We also discussed beans - pole vs bush and green snap vs shelling....I deferred to our group expert with the exception of voicing that I wanted to do the chinese long beans again this year.

We really didn't get any farther than that - going through the hundreds of heirloom tomato varieties and whittling down the possibilies really took most of our time....
but we're on our way!!!

YAY

Autumn Gardening

2007-11-15T16:00:00.000-05:00

Over the past few weeks I've been cleaning out the fenced garden space, collecting seed pods (marigold, petunia and pinks) and planting.

I've got 6 varieties of garlic planted, and I've planted a bunch of crocus, and scilla (another early spring bulb).

Now it's time to start thinking about next year's garden!

The End of the Harvest

2007-10-28T15:28:00.000-04:00

First frost this year was forecast for Oct 29/30, so as friends and family gathered to celebrate Halloween this weekend, we also harvested the last of the ripe and green tomatoes.

We also started pulling out the tomato plants and moving them to the compost, and started saving the abundant supply of marigold seeds.

My friend D and I have plans to experiment with Green Tomato Relish and Fried Green Tomatoes - look for recipies to be posted on Renee's Recipies...

Harvest is Here! The Garden Experiment at Mabon

2007-09-14T17:37:00.000-04:00

Ok - so Mabon is a couple weeks away yet, but I'm feeling it in the air.

The garden has been a constant for me since Vernal Equinox when we planted some seed trays. Through April when the seeds really weren't growing well and I was trying to prepare the garden beds... May/June when things were finally in the ground and growing...

I worried through cucumbers rotting on the vine - didn't get much of a harvest there this year...boo hoo...but got a TON of cukes from the CSA farm share...YAY! Even made some B&B Pickles last weekend...but I digress...

Another problem was that SOMETHING was getting into the garden and eating my beans pepper plants and sweet potatoes and a few tips of the tomato plants.

A few squash rotted on the vines - but I had enough of a harvest that it wasn't a big deal.

The basil was a constant. I planted it early and have been harvesting all summer. YUM.

The tomato plants grew gangbusters and got me SO excited - but one by one each of the beds got too top-heavy and higher than the cages could handle,then toppled themselves...so the beds look a bit unruly, but the tomatoes didn't stop setting....they just didn't get ripe very early either.

Finally, the tomatoes are turning! All of them - not just the store-bought plants, but the stunted ones planted indoors on St.Pats day! So we've got a variety.

In the picture above there are examples of the "better boy" from the Home Depot, and the Green Zebra - yes that green one is RIPE! and some reisentraub and one yellow plum tomato that should really be a pink stripe, but someone forgot to tell it that.

The butternut squash was a volunteer plant from the compost I used in the garden .... The long greenbeans are finally producing - after being planted late and partially nibbled by my pest early-on and I harvest about 4 a week.

I have been picking about a box-full of veggies every couple of days at this point in the season.
So, the experiment is a success - the garden is really bursting its fence this year - I will need to increase my space next year or not try to plant so many things.....

September - Preserves/Garden

2007-09-11T15:23:00.000-04:00

Setember...

a pause, for summer to say

an awkward and lingering

good-bye

and for autumn,

sitting on a hilltop,

a jug of fresh cider

in one hand,

a bunch of wild purple asters

in the other,

waiting to say hello

-New York Times

This weekend I made pickles - for the first time ever.......bread and butter pickles from my friend K's family recipie. YUMM! Well - I found out a number of things about canning - it being the first time I ever tried to do it on my own....
1) You need to make sure you have ALL of the ingredients you will need -check and RE-check to make sure!
2) It takes a lot longer than you anticipate - you need to prep all of the food - wash, chop etc...
3) You should really make sure you have all of the equipment you need BEFORE you start
4) Where there is a will - there is a way.

I was at the supermarket EVERY day this weekend - because I'd remember I forgot something for the pickles.... In the end I never could find mustard seeds separately so I substituted pickling spice mix I already had in my cubbord. I also had to add some brown sugar because I ran out of white......I thought I had another box stashed somewhere, but couldn't find it when I was looking yesterday....

The 5lb sac I'd had in the pantry got used up in jelly making with the ladies last weekend. (2nd annual hot pepper jelly making extravaganza - we also made peach-ginger jam and rose petal jelly.)

I also froze some medium heat long peppers stuffed with goat cheese - they'll be an appetizer at some fall/winter gathering....

The tomatoes are also starting to come in - and when I get the chance I'll post a couple of photos of the garden in its current state. Yesterday we noticed a LARGE new addition to the garden - a garden spider - very colorful and very beneficial to the garden, but very scary looking. I'll post a photo of her too....

The Garden Experiment Continues

2007-07-30T14:36:00.000-04:00

OK - Update on the garden at Lammas:
Bed 1:

Yellow & Green (Zucchini) Squash -

When the plants started growing they just took off - got to about 3 feet in height and started producing blossoms prolifically. Harvest wise, I have periodically harvested MUCH yellow squash - and a few green. The zucchini plants seem to be a little wilted and at I picked one stunted/rotted squash off of the vine. The last one I harvested, however was gorgeous - it was about 6 inches long and still had the un-wilted closed blossom on the end of it. I'll see if I can get/post a pic of that. The yellow squash - when it has come in every couple of weeks - has been abundant.

Cucumbers - These plants too "took off" at one point and spread and flowered etc...but after picking the first 2 decent sized cukes several weeks ago - the plants have gone downhill and the cukes are yellowing on the vine as small stunted fruits. There are still a lot of flowers and small fruits on the vine, so hopefully things will improve....
This bed is also home to some "volunteers" - one winter squash vine close to the fence and two tomato plants - probably from last years' plants.

Bed 2:

Basil & Cilantro - I've been harvesting for WEEKS - I HAVE to start making some pesto to freeze!! The Cilantro has been less abundant than the basil, but there has been enough to share and to make at least one batch/week of fresh salsas for appetizers/snacks etc - YUMM! The basil has been going into veggie dishes and marinades and has been gifted away..

My Fresh Salsa Recipe:

1 Large ripe tomatoe

1Med vidalia onion

1 Med green pepper

All veggies cut into Large Chop and placed in food processor bowl

a large handful of de-stemmed cilantro

1/2 tsp salt

Dash black pepper

hot pepper sauce/cayenne/or fresh diced chile to taste

juice of 1/2 a lime

Process to desired consistancy

The parsely didn't do well and is gone, the dill seeds never came up, and the beans, though still standing and in flower, lost their leaves a couple of weeks ago. (See pests note at bottom)

I have since added additional cilantro seeds and a "second planting" of broccoli & cabbage plants hopefully for fall harvest

Bed 3:

Tomatoes started indoors - with stunted growth - These plants have gone CRAZY! And, while they are certainly not to the same maturity that the purchased plants are - they have amazed me. I'm not sure what of the multitude of varieties we started have survived, that remains to be seen - hopefully we'll get at least some fruit from these plants.

Jalapeno from the garden center - is also doing well. It currently has a plethora of flowers and a bunch of small fruits.

Pole beans - were nibbled a bit - (see pests note at bottom) - but have continued to grow. Not sure how much I'll harvest from them, but they were more of an experiment this year.

Bed 4:

Purchased tomatoes - are like small trees - completely filling the tomato cages and producing abundant fruit - none have started ripening yet, but we can't wait.

I have harvested garlic and shallots from this bed and planted some chard seed in their place - we'll see how that does.

Purchased peppers - not doing so well - immediately after they were planted something nibbled most of the leaves off of the stalks. So the tomatoes grew faster and are now shadowing the peppers - which have made a small come-back - so, we'll see.

Sweet potatoe starts - gifted from a gardening friend were nibbled unmercifully (see pests note at bottom) but are still alive - who knows what'll happen with them.

PESTS:

About 3 weeks ago something started nibbling SOME of my plants. The squash and cuke plants didn't seem to be touched, however ALL of the leaves were eaten off of the bush bean plants - leaves and shoots were eaten from some of the long bean plants, the sweet potato plants were decimated, the purslane growing in the path was attacked, and there was some nibbling of tomato leaves, but not enough, thankfully, to stunt the plants.The fencing around the garden had not been damaged, nor had it been burrowed under. So, my first thought was that it was a small bunny that made it through the chicken-wire fence without damaging it. So I used a roll of deer fencing over top of the chicken wire fencing and ancored it together. BUT, there has continued to be some damage - the cabages and broccoli I planted for autumn have been nibbled. And there are now some small holes on some of the basil leaves, and some of the pepper leaves....So, maybe it's catapillars of some sort, but I have been unable to find any to confirm this.

I keep calling this the "Garden Experiment" because I certainly do not have the time to devote to it that one of my friends has (she does have a full-time job,like me, but no kids)....or that my mom had when I was growing up (she stayed at home with my brother and I).

So, I have to approach it with less intensity than I would if I was trying to produce a greater portion of our food. This is really to supplement what we get from our CSA(community supported agriculture) farm share and to show the boys where food comes from and how it grows.

So far I've had three summers of "Garden Experiments". Each one has given us more success.We keep learning, experimenting and trying new things.And as a bonus, we get to enjoy the freshness only a home garden can give.

Strawberry Jam!

2007-07-02T14:39:00.000-04:00

This entry has its roots in an event that took place last autumn...
A good friend of mine is an avid jam maker...so as a part of the autumn festivities last October, a few of us decided it would be fun to get her to teach us some jam making techniques.
I had wanted to make hot pepper jelly for quite some time, so we picked out a recipie for that. Someone else proposed lavendar and peppermint jellies, and we also tried a rosemary garlic white wine jam - these using herbs from our gardens.
Yes, we started out a little on the ecclectic side - not a fruit in sight. Although, some would argue that the peppers really are berries. All of those turned out so well that the jam making bug took hold.
On Saturday a couple of us got together again - this time for STRAWBERRY JAM!!!! MMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, yeah, we did add rhubarb to one of the batches we made - it just made the flavor a slight bit more lemony/acidy and very delicious!
Let me tell you, there is NOTHING quite as good as homemade strawberry jam on toast!
And it's EASY!!!! I can't wait to try making Raspberry, blueberry, peach the options are endless!
I'll never have to buy preserves again!

The Garden is IN!

2007-06-21T13:57:00.000-04:00

So...after last year's garden experiment - which though not a total failure was FAR from a success....I was determined to do better this year!

In March - around the equinox - I got together with some friends to do seed-starting. It was great! We planted almost a dozen varieties of tomato, experimented with some older hot-pepper seeds, onion, leek, shallot, herbs - even artichoke.

All of our seeds started poking up around the same time - and I moved mine from the furnace room to a sunnier spot... and nothing happened. They all got to about 2 inches and STOPPED Growing. At this point it was warm enough to move them to the uninsulated, unheated "greenhouse" shaded by the lilac bush...where they did equally well. I was mentioning this to another friend a couple of states away who promptly said, "Didn't you get new thermal windows last year?" And I had the A-Ha moment - of course - the new windows blocked out all of the harmful rays - harmful for us and the furnishings - but necessary for the plants. Next year I need a cold frame or a grow light (or both!).

So, I have these seeds started, and I've borrowed some garden books on "Lasagna Gardening". At first the concept seems like a lot of work - a lot more than just putting the plants in the ground. BUT - I keep reading - and thinking about all of the rocks in my yard - and the fact that I don't have the world's best soil. AND THEN - I sprain my ankle - rather badly - so digging is really OUT.
SO - I decided to give it a go.

The concept is that you can create a garden anywhere - even over top of sod - without digging. That's not to say that it's easy or not a lot of work, because that would be wrong.

Around the same time - I decided to start some additional seeds - like cukes and squashes in containers so that they can be growing while I was getting the garden beds going.

It took me about a month to complete my 8X10 garden space.
My garden is about 8X10' fenced, with a path down the center and one crossing that about half way - in other words - a + path. So it is broken into 4 beds of about 3X4.
The first step to a lasagna garden is to block whatever is currently growing in the area by laying down a mat of wet newspaper. The first bed took ALL of my newspapers - 2 weeks worth. It also took about 5 cartfuls of compost/mulch over top of the newspapers to build the bed up about 6 inches...just barely enough.
So - I spent the next week asking friends to save me papers - and over the course of the next 2-3 weeks I finished covering the rest of the beds and planting all 4.
Ronnie has helped me many days with hauling the endless cartfuls ofcompost - at least taking the emptied cart back to the compost pile and helping push the full cart back to the garden. and both Ronnie and Evan have helped water the garden - since we're in the middle of another drought.
Currently I have:
Bed 1:
Squash&Cucumbers - pre-started ones from my plantings and some that Ronnie brought home from daycare. I also direct seeded some cucumbers in the garden, because you can't have too many cucumbers - and as insurance against the pre-planted ones dying off. Oh- and a few pole beans in the corner by the fence.
Bed 2:
Herbs - Basil, Cilantro, and Parsely- and I put down dill seed which hasn't come up yet; A few onions, a few bush beans
Bed 3:
Tomatoes, Marigolds and Peppers started from seed. Some from my trays - some from another friend - who's starts got to about 6 inches tall...just to see what happens. And some pole beans in the corner by the fence.
Bed 4:
Purchased tomatoes and peppers; more marigolds from seed and sweet potatoe starts; Garlic and shallots .
So...the experiment begins again.
The garden is planted. ...Hopefully there will be more tales to tell of harvest and consumption.
Next I need to re-visit the formal herb garden which is to become a sanctuary garden - and create some herb beds in the lower garden area.....

One step at a time.
At least I have my veggies started!

Summer's Bounty Enjoyed!

2006-09-26T14:32:00.000-04:00

Well, we tried a garden again this year.....
DH fenced in a small area in June and I planted.

I bought 6 tomatoes, 3 bell peppers, 2 habaneros, 2 kinds of basil, zucchini & marigold plants from the nursery and planted potato & sweet potato eyes, and cilantro, parsley, cucumbers, nasturtium, and sun flowers from seed.

The initial 3 pepper plants didn't do well and I picked up some extras in July.
The tomatoes did well initially, but didn't like being on the ground (no cages this year) and just didn't do well over-all. They did however give us some fruit....and all of it was eaten up by a very happy 3 year-old!
The sunflowers were eaten - presumably by deer - every time they got as high as the fence line. They did end up blooming, but close to the ground and very small flowers....
The cukes looked like they'd do well even though they were planted late, but then we got the August rains and unseasonably cool weather at night and they faded.......
We did harvest a TON of basil, some zucchini and some cilantro as well as some small potatoes and a couple of habaneros.

The LATE bell pepper plants produced a few peppers..one of which has been plucked and eaten by the same happy 3 year-old, in apple-like fashion (aka IRON CHEF-Style).

I planted some lettuce in August and am eagerly awaiting the time when it can be picked for a dinner salad..........
So, the 2006 experiment was a success - if only in the education it gave the young'ns, and in that it got mommy back into the habit.....
Next year Iwill
- start earlier
- get a taller fence
- and water more frequently during the dry spells!