Visual Spring » In the Garden

No Vampires Allowed!

Angela — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 18:20:49 +0000

Check out today’s garlic harvest!

Does it seem a bit early to be harvesting garlic? After a mild Winter that ended early, this Spring allowed the garlic to start sending up scapes probably 6 weeks ago, leaves began turning yellow on top and dying back from the bottom – all signs that the garlic may be ready for harvest. I’ve been testing a bulb here and there for the past few weeks, and decided the time was right. Today is also a root day on the biodynamic calendar, which is an excellent choice for harvesting root crops. The concept of biodynamics is still very new to me, but I’m excited to be adding my new-found knowledge to the garden.

After starting today’s harvest, I decided to leave half of the garlic in the ground, as some bulbs could use more time to develop. The remaining bulbs will be carefully harvested one-by-one, as they are ready. The magic solution seems to be to harvest when they have only 2, 3 or 4 green leaves. More leaves than that, and the bulb is underdeveloped. Less than that, and the protective coating has begun to deteriorate, making them less likely to store well. I made the mistake of leaving the garlic in the ground too long last year, and suffered from a poor crop. Many of the bulbs had lost most (if not all) of their protective paper covering, and were sent immediately to the food processor to make garlic paste.

This year’s crop was planted in early October, after enriching the soil with Malibu Compost (a biodynamic compost) and putting some mycorrhizal granules in each planting hole. I planted the following varieties:

Spanish Roja
Music
Inchelium Red
Persian Star

The Spanish Roja and Music are new in my garden this year. I purchased the seed garlic from Grow Organic, since I didn’t have enough good quality garlic left over from last year. The Inchelium Red and Persian Star were salvaged from the bulbs I’d been growing, originally purchased at Botanical Interests in 2012. My only challenge is that I have no idea who’s who! If anyone knows a great way to tell them apart, please leave me a comment.

This process will start again this Fall – I’ll plant the cloves from the leftover garlic I haven’t eaten yet. (Actually, I’ll save the very best bulb of each, and plant those cloves.) With this year’s great crop, I’ll have more than enough! No vampires in these parts!

Blueberries!

Angela — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 21:12:45 +0000

This year has brought some new projects to my garden. Among those are a compost tea brewer and blueberries! I wasn’t sure I wanted to battle the birds and raccoons for my share of berries, but I survived last year with the new raspberries, so why not give it a try! I spend a fortune on organic berries, so having them in my own garden is a fabulous treat and a real money saver.

Since my soil is nowhere near the acidic pH that blueberries prefer, I decided to go with containers filled with planting mix for acid loving plants. I chose EB Stone’s Azalea, Camellia, Gardenia, Planting Mix. At the bottom of each pot is a nice layer of bark, to provide better drainage. From what I understand, blueberries like a fair amount of water, but don’t want to have soggy roots. I used the same bark as a mulch layer over the soil.

The O’Neal and Jubilee blueberries are each in their own 25 gallon bucket, and will get as much as 6′ tall. They aren’t known specifically to grow in containers, so I wanted to give them as much room as possible. The third variety, Sunshine Blue, is in a 15 gallon bucket and will only get 3′ tall. He’s known to do well in containers. Gardening is just one big experiment, so we’ll see how this one goes!

From what I’ve read, blueberries need to cross-pollinate each other, so it’s best to choose at least two. I chose three varieties with different fruiting times, so I may enjoy a variety of berries throughout the season. That is, if I can keep the birds away! As you’ll see in the photo, I’ve constructed some temporary protection out of bird netting, fastened around small tomato cages. As the plants grow, I intend to build a nicer structure that’s easier access for me to go berry picking, and keep the critters out.

These plants are located on the Eastern side of the house, and will only get morning sun. They’ll be spared the hot, afternoon sun. Let’s hope they like their new home!

It’s Spring!

Angela — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 20:45:19 +0000

Just wanted to wish you a Happy Spring! I’ve been busy in the garden, digging up my cover crops, amending the soil, and prepping all of the raised beds for a productive year in the garden. This little gardener did too much digging yesterday, so she’s too worn out to tell you all about it. Stay tuned for photos and details, coming soon! :-)

Starting Seeds

Angela — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 20:32:34 +0000

Happy Sunday! We fired up the grow lights today, and started these goodies:

Calabrese Broccoli
This variety has proven to be my favorite. It grows very well here, and sends off tons of side shoots once the main stalk is harvested. It keeps on giving!
Golden Acre Cabbage
Curly Parsley
The Italian flat variety has been outside all winter, doing great!
Dwarf Pak Choy and Tatsoi Rosette Bok Choi
After reading the seed packets, I missed an opportunity to grow the Rosette all winter outside, as it’s hardy to 15°F. Oh well, I hope my wok forgives me.
Tall Utah Celery
This is a new one for my garden. I hear it’s hard to grow, but let’s see what happens.

When planting these seeds, I used Whitney Farms seed starting mix in recycled plastic 6 packs that were soaked in a bleach solution and air dried, to make sure they weren’t harboring any possible diseases from last year.

I should thank Emily over at www.mysquarefootgarden.net as I purchased her Planting by Color e-book a few years ago. The book is a great guide in deciding what seeds to start at what times. Using her system, my color is Blue, with a last frost date at the end of May. Tell her I sent you!

Another great company worthy of your support is www.sustainableseedco.com. I placed an order today for some new seeds needed for 2013:

Early Jalapeño
Why haven’t I grown these before? I LOVE jalapeños!
Thai Pepper
I use these often in stir fries, and they dry well for year round use.
Rainbow Chard
Also a new addition to this year’s garden. Yum!
Casper Pumpkin
This is a white pumpkin, that’s as cute at Halloween as it is good to eat.
English Telegraph Cucumber
Wish me luck on the cucumbers, as I’m not sure what to do differently with those. They grow about 2″ tall, and then fall over and die. The first year I grew these with some success, but only after putting them under shade cloth until they got a head start. This is in direct opposition to what everyone says, that cucumbers LOVE heat, but we’ll try again this year.
Roma II Bush Beans
I’ve also had some real trouble growing beans. Like the cucumbers, they grow about 2″ tall, and then fall over and die. People have suggested I over watered the beans, but cutting back didn’t solve the issue. I’m trying again with this new variety that does well on a local farm, and will likely buy some inoculant when planting the beans. I’m also thinking birds might be the culprit, so bird netting may be used this year.

Getting Ready for Spring!

Angela — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:01:57 +0000

Welcome to another year in the garden! The 2013 growing season is fast approaching with high expectations for a great year in the garden. I’ve been a busy little bee, getting ready.

INDOORS: This week, I started my Vidalia Onion seeds, and some Lacinto Kale. My storage room got cleaned out, making a nice work space to move the whole operation out of the dining room. My seeds are organized and inventoried, and a shopping list has been started. What’s on the list? Things like new seeds that need to be purchased, and wish list items like Speedling trays and another grow light. I also finished up the garden design plan, and recommitted to being a better garden blogger this year.

OUTSIDE: The cover crops I planted in late fall have done really well – they’re still alive and enriching the soil with nitrogen and organic matter, waiting for me to get out there and plow them into the soil with some extra compost, and maybe a little rock dust or Epsom salt for added minerals. A pile of lovely compost was delivered by surprise from one of my fellow gardening friends (thank you!) and I have a trash can filled with composted leaves from last year. So, lots of yummy goodness is ready to nourish the soil.

What do you think of my garden plan for the year? I never follow it exactly, but having a map is better than getting lost, right?

Soil Testing

Angela — Fri, 04 May 2012 21:17:27 +0000

Welcome to the 2012 growing season!

Tomatoes and peppers are sprouting their first true leaves inside, under the grow lights. The weather is warming up, and hardy vegetables like broccoli and cabbage have already been transplanted outside. Before the beds get more crowded with this year’s plantings, there’s no time like the present to do some soil testing. Not only to adjust the beds that may have been depleted in nutrients by last year’s harvest, but also to test the two new beds I installed for this year. Those beds have been filled with a mixture of organic compost, vermiculite and peat moss. Last year’s beds were filled with genuine ”Mel’s Mix” in a 1:1:1 ratio of these ingredients. The two new beds have equal parts of peat moss and vermiculite, but a larger overall ratio of compost. My idea is to sustain the tomatoes with less watering, since I believe compost holds more water. Call it an experiment!

For the soil testing, I used a Rapitest branded kit, purchased at my local hardware store. In the windowsill, you see three jars that I’ve labeled for the three beds being tested; the Northwest bed, the Northeast bed, and the new Big South bed. Soil was extracted from each bed, from a depth of four inches. The soil was given time to dry out before performing the actual tests, making sure it was well mixed and finely crumbled, taking out any big chunks of organic matter and stones. The test results are shown below.

NORTHEAST BED:

pH: 6.5

Nitrogen: 1 – Deficient

Phosphate: 1 – Deficient

Potash: Higher than 4 – More Than Surplus

BIG SOUTH BED:

pH: 6.5

Nitrogen: Zero – Depleted

Phosphate: Zero – Depleted

Potash: Higher than 4 – More Than Surplus

NORTHWEST BED:

pH: 7.0

Nitrogen: 2 – Adequate

Phosphate: 1 – Deficient

Potash: 4 – Surplus

No adjustments to pH will be necessary. To increase the amounts of nitrogen and phosphates in my soil, I’ll be adding dried blood and bone meal, respectively. These are the organic choices available to improve the nutrient content of the soil. If I was deficient in potash, the organic choice would be muriate of potash.

I’m surprised by the deficiency of nutrients in the beds, especially since the big new beds were just filled with a large amount of fresh compost, and last year’s beds were supplemented with nice bucket-fulls of the same fresh compost. I’d assume compost to have a great deal of available nutrients in it! This is a good illustration of why soil testing is so important – and a good lesson, not to assume anything.

Looking forward to a successful Spring in the garden!

More Raised Beds

Angela — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:46:28 +0000

I’m so excited! Just ordered two more raised beds from www.naturalyards.com, adding an additional 40 square feet to my garden!

First Frost Date

Angela — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:20:32 +0000

I woke up this morning, to a sheet of ice covering the dog’s water bowl. I guess this qualifies as our first frost date?

Recent Harvests

Angela — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 04:22:56 +0000

Shame on me. I haven’t been sharing photos of my recent harvests, so here they are!

CARROTS & A FEW ONIONS
June 24th Harvest

CALABRESE BROCCOLI
June 29th Harvest
I cut off and enjoyed this main stalk, and already have new side shoots forming. Very tasty! The main stalk was a bit smaller than expected, and I had a difficult time figuring out when to harvest, so I waited for the first yellow flowers to bloom, and then harvested. (I know this is slightly too late.) If anyone has any better advice, please comment below.

PEAS, RADISHES AND PARISIAN CARROTS
June 29th Harvest
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the three different peas I’m growing, and the French Breakfast Radishes. Just yesterday, I removed all of the spent pea vines and planted new seeds. It may be too hot for peas at this time of year, but I’m shading them with other plants, and hope to get another great crop again soon. As for the cute little round Parisian Carrots I was looking forward to, I’m not impressed. I prefer the regular Danvers Carrots that are growing beautifully, and taste even better.

Every week or so, I’m planting a few more Danvers Carrot and French Breakfast Radish seeds, to enjoy a continual harvest. This week, I also planted a rainbow mix of carrot seeds with assorted yellow, orange and purple carrots. They should be a colorful addition to any dish.

RED ONIONS
July 3rd Harvest
I’m amazed by the incredible quality and flavor of these Red Onions. A youtube video showed me how to easily make a pretty braided string of onions after curing them in the sun for a few days. I suspect that red onions aren’t particularly well suited to curing for long storage times. Most of the stored onions are already shriveled up and wasted. So I’m glad that my instincts told me to leave a few onions in the ground. They are storing quite well there. Even though their tops have completely fallen over now, they seem to be as fresh as ever when pulling them out as needed.

Carolina Coleslaw

Angela — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 03:58:29 +0000

Hmm… cabbage is ready to harvest. What to make? I know… coleslaw! I love North Carolina Coleslaw, preferring the tangy kind over the creamy kind. Inspired by a recent trip to the Carolinas, I looked up this recipe on www.bonappetit.com. Out to the garden I went, to gather the cabbage, along with some fresh carrots and red onion. I just love making recipes using everything fresh out of my garden.

Ingredients
3/4 cup coarsely grated onion (grated on large holes of box grater)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons celery seeds
1 medium head of green cabbage, cored, thinly sliced (about 10 cups)
2 cups coarsely grated peeled carrots (about 3 large)
Preparation
Whisk first 6 ingredients in large bowl. Add cabbage and carrots; toss. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and chill at least 2 hours.

I only made half this recipe, since I want the other half of my cabbage head for some soup. I’ve never been one to cook exactly according to recipe, so I used less oil, less ketchup, and more vinegar. The additional vinegar was of the rice wine variety, since I love the flavor of that stuff. Am I still in Carolina territory after this change? Not sure, but who cares!

Speaking of a lovely trip to South Carolina, check out my friend’s canteloupes! While my garden was in the loving care of a neighbor, and only suffered minor over-watering problems due to their extra diligence, I was having fun in my vacation garden!

Now, if only my dog would stop eating the leaves of my canteloupe plant, I might have some of my own someday!