Heart-Shaped Garden

Leap Day Photos

2012-02-29T17:59:00.000-05:00

It's snowing in NY! Quite a bit! We've gotten two or three inches so far and are expecting more tonight. And I just put the screens on the windows too... darn.

Photo time!

Little lettuce before thinning.

Kale on the left, lettuce on the right.

Artichokes! They are growing faster than I remember.

First true leaves on kale seedlings are so darling.

Flowers (blanketflower, love in a mist, snapdragons)

Red russian kale is easy to spot even before their true leaves came in! Dino kale is easy to spot with their true leaves.

Onions and leeks after a haircut

The final picture is to show the size of the roots on the lettuce seedlings! I was very impressed when thinning them out. I had no ruler so I used a thumb tack for size reference.

By the way, Happy Leap Day! Do something you'd only do once every four years! My husband said he did the dishes... HA.

Our Old House (or A Rant About Windows)

2012-02-25T16:53:00.004-05:00

Let's take a break from gardening for a moment and talk about cute little old houses.

As some of you may have read about, my husband Adam and I very recently purchased a new house.

So charming!

New to us, at least- this house is not new to the world. It was build in 1899 and has had only two previous owners (third time's the charm?) While it has been updated in it's lifetime, it has a large amount of old, original elements. The previous owners did build an extension to the back of the house sometime in the 60's and 70's, and had a two windows replaced, a new furnace put in, added a side porch and redid the wood floors.
Luckily, 12 out of 14 windows in the original part of the building are the original, double-hung wood (with sash weights!) though most of the sash cords are broken and many have been painted shut. Much of the glass is older as well, of the wavy and charismatic variety. The hardware on the doors and windows- oh! It makes me swoon. It's gorgeous and intricate, but unfortunately again, the previous owners carelessly painted them all up.

I have no idea on how old the molding is around the windows and doors but it is beautiful. Again, unfortunately painted, which I hope to remedy soon. Restoring the wood trim and windows is a high priority on my list.
The walls and ceiling are all plaster and lathe- the original house, at least (the extension includes the updated kitchen, family room, laundry room and a bath that was built in the 70's). The walls were splattered with very dated wallpaper, so we're hoping to gently remove it in rooms where the plaster can be kept. Some of the plaster is crumbling such as in the original bathroom (now a guest room). The roof is even slate in nearly perfect condition. I found chunks of coal in the basement, along with an empty cistern that sits below the kitchen which was used for collecting rain water. It's an incredibly creepy 8ft deep hole.

I've discovered that the hardware is Sargent & Co (445A stamped on the back)

I'm talking about this because it's fresh on my mind after meeting with a window salesman for nearly two hours. He was from a local, family-owned company in this area. It's a great premise. They employ their own people, have their own factory where they make the replacement windows, never outsource and have fantastic customer service. They come in, take out old windows and replace them with new fancy shiny vinyl windows. Easy to clean! No maintenance! Lifetime guarantee!
It had been hammered into my head- who knows where, when, by whom (but I sure do know why)- that old windows are drafty, crappy, worth nothing, and need to be replaced by triple-pane argon filled low-e UV blocking vinyl and aluminum windows. For the sake of the children/the environment/your sanity as a modern homeowner! SPEND MONEY. DO IT. DO IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BEFORE EVERYTHING COLLAPSES AROUND YOU.
Then the salesman made a sale-halting comment.
"These windows are old. They were definitely built my craftsmen, hand-made, custom done..."
I realized then, rather quickly, how awfully insulting it is to tear out the original windows- the eyes of this house- to replace with vinyl windows. And there is not a damn thing wrong with them. They have suited this home perfectly well since the day they were installed 113 years ago. They haven't leaked, blown in, caused the pipes to freeze in winter, killed children, caught fire, leached chemicals, smothered your hamster, or assaulted you. They are just hanging there as they were the moment the last nail was driven in, happy as a clam to stay for another century. So, they are drafty. They didn't know much about insulation then, nor had the proper tools and materials. I can fill the gaps (literally and figuratively) that they left without jeopardizing the history and character of this home.
Nothing can replace real wood manipulated by craftsmen a century ago to custom-build the windows to this home. That is an insult to the history. Even if it's just a little tired home in a little tired town, it doesn't deserve to be splattered with modern and flimsy home improvements.
Therefor, I am taking on the task of restoring every last original window in this house. I'm going to get to know these 12 damn windows weather they like it or not. To help keep them insulated and draft-free I hope to find well-build storm windows and re-insulate the walls and surrounding area of the window (as seen in this awesome video on This Old House)
This train of though is going to be extended to all parts of this house. I want to- Adam wants to, as well- help this house become a safe, efficient, beautiful home while still maintaining it's unique aspects, preserving the quality craftsmanship, and restoring it to what it was and beyond.
And it's going to take a whole lot of work.

I don't want to be the type of person I was raised to be: one who throws money at the problems (or imaginary problems, problems that I've been told are problems but are not at all) and believe it's much better. Just add cash, all will be well.

I'm going to add dedication, hard work, creativity and manual labor, and all will be better than ever. Not at all unlike what was harnessed to build this home in the first place.

Happy home, happy garden, happy me.

My Room

2012-02-24T21:23:00.000-05:00

Another post, you ask? Yep. All six of you readers are now subjected to more useless info! I'm popping up in your feed because: boredom.

I love seeing a peak at people's garden rooms. Here's my room. It's my gardening/office/art/exercise room. The area is 80% gardening, 10% office, 5% art and 5% exercise, in terms of space. I do a lot of yoga in here though, and much less work (non-gardening related work anyhow). I rarely do art anymore.

Seed corner. The tubs house my starting and potting mixes.

Of course, the seed-starting area with the houseplants still happily sitting under a shop light. I have the fan on the onions to both cool them and strengthen them. Also: TIN FOIL EVERYTHING!

Seeds. Too many seeds.

Garden plan. A photocopy. I love having access to a copier.

My desk area. That is a child's desk that I've had for a long time... what? I'm small. Don't mind the fire hazard to the left. Everything looks tilted, but it's just the entire house. It's a bit crazy.

Attempts at watercolors. Haven't painted in five years.

Weekend sowing, again!

2012-02-24T20:21:00.000-05:00

Tonight I sowed broccoli and celery. A few days ago I sowed six varieties of lettuce, which sprouted quite fast! I re-planted some red roselle because two cells were empty. The only things that have not sprouted are the sage and chives. The seeds were questionably old.

Thinning out the onion seedlings was difficult... not difficult because they're so tiny (I have dexterous fingers) but because I feel like a baby murderer when I thin seedlings. They are all like "oh wow, after a year of being cooped up in that tiny seed I'm finally free! Warmth and light and moisture! Oh the joy!" And then I stomp along. "Oh hi gardener, thank you for giving me life again! Wait.. what are you doing? Owch! Hey! Aaahhhhh!!!"
And then all that's left is one seedling per cell to lament over the loss of his brothers and sisters.

Maybe one day I can learn to live off air, water and sun like a plant, and I wont have to kill anything.

February Yardwork

2012-02-19T11:06:00.001-05:00

This weather: WHAT? It's insane. Yesterday it was a crisp 40F so the husband and I did some yard work. We pulled out the 4x4s used to enclose the previous owner's garden, marked out the corners of the new garden with bamboo stakes, covered it all with black tarp to murder the grass (I hate grass). I also pruned the grape vine and did some murdering of a bush that was growing out of the leaf compost pile, all while hoping that it wasn't some sort of rose bush or something attractive. We even raked a good amount of the leaves still in the yard (curse those two giant trees...). Then, suddenly, snowfall. Lots of it. Well, not lots, but enough to actually look like wintertime. Big, fat snowflakes too! It was just lovely and a perfect end to a long day of work. We went inside and I promptly was struck with a fever... apparently this chest cold-type thing isn't gone yet.
This weekend is a no-sow weekend, I have nothing planned. Scratch that- I had planned on sowing onions and leeks this weekend but I was impatient last weekend.

Pardon Daphne, she was taking a pee.

I used the Smart Gardener website to help me plan out my plots for this year. It is a pretty useful tool!
I'm getting ready to publish my garden plan tab, suuuuper exciting! It's just going to have some ideas and plants and the layout. Find it at the top of the blog next to "about".

Ta ta for now!

Sprouts and weather

2012-02-16T17:26:00.001-05:00

Crazy weather, happy sprouts. Everything is up except for the chives, they generally take forever. The red roselle I'm experimenting with this year shot up in nearly a day! Thinning has been done to the kale and artichokes. Just waiting on the onions to get bigger to see how many are alive per cell. The artichokes and kale are incredibly vigorous... thinning them and pulling out their roots, they are twice as long as the seedling stems and nearly as thick! I've never seen such robust root systems in new sprouts... I'm pretty sure it is the incredibly light and airy seed starting mix I used. Before I would use coconut fiber or pre-made seed starting soil that is pretty heavy. The home-made mix is heavy on the vermiculite and perilite and the plants are loving it!
On the houseplant front, I'm getting excited about the English ivy. It started as a tiny three-inch pot filled with 10+ clippings, all with little or no root system. They were quite crowded so I separated them into two pots- they are doubled in size and are looking happy and gorgeous! Everything else seems to be just hanging in there, waiting for warmer indoor weather- this room stays in the 50's because it has no heat vent, and we keep it closed during the day from the hall to prevent cats and dogs from chewing on the greens.

Now for the weather portion of my post. I'm going to be lazy and repost this from my facebook:

Spring begins in one month. Mother Nature, if you happen to read Facebook, you better get your ass in gear and cram a lot of winter in a short amount of time because come spring I will not be dealing with any late winter bullshit.
Love, a gardener.

Photo time!

L to R: Kale, Snapdragons, Love in a Mist

Kale!

Top to bottom: Kale, Snapdragons, Love in a Mist, Blanketflowers

Tiny oregano

Weekend sowing

2012-02-11T14:12:00.002-05:00

This year I planned all my seed starting to happen on the weekend. That separates the dates nicely by one week, and works well with the 14/12/10/8 etc "weeks before last frost date" sowing instructions. Nice and even. I'm sick with something of a chest and head cold (thanks husband), so after sleeping another 12 hours I figured I'd get my hands dirty and do some sowing. I feel better, especially after seeing my happy little kale seedlings up and growing! I sowed Alisa Craig, Brunswick and Bianca DiMaggio onions and American Flag leeks today.
I managed to snap a few photos of my gardening room, seedlings, and my helper Daphne!

"I help!"

Flowers!

2012-02-11T00:45:00.003-05:00

Er... I went a little wild with the flower seeds this year. We'll see what happens come spring! If you're reading and have any tips about the flowers below, please share! The plan is to get at least a few of each flower in the ground this year, at least so I can figure out how they grow- size, color, shape, care. I know some, but not all.

Mammoth sunflowers
Nasturtium
Delphinium
Zinnia
Foxglove
Columbine
Four O’clock
Cypress Vine
Salvia
Sweet Peas
Johnny Jump Ups
Poppies (red, California)
Cosmos
Love Lies Bleeding
Butterfly Bush
Daisies, Painted Mix, Shasta
Wild Bee Balm
Creeping Thyme “mother of thyme” (ground cover for front yard)
Black Eyed Susan
Marigold (for veggie garden)
Coneflower
Blanketflower
Love in a Mist
Kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate
Snapdragon
Italian White Sunflower
Morning Glory
Purple hyacinth bean

Edit: Lowes had a good selection last night!

True Lavender
Aster Oceanstar Mix, Spring Bouquet Mix
Convolvulus
Chrysanthemum
Coreopsis
Lupine
Hollyhock
Northeast Wildflower seed mix, for the back "parking strip" (sweet allysum, pot marigold, cornflower, bachelors buttons, Siberian wallflower, shasta daisy, lance-leaf coreopsis, cosmos sensation, Chinese forget me not, baby's breath, candytuft, baby snapdragon, scarlet flax, blue flax, love in a mist, evening primrose, poppy, black-eyed susan, soapwort, silene)

I'm tickled that I have individual seed packets for a lot of what's in the wildflower mix. Growing them both in a controlled way and in a wildflower meadow-style way is going to be so much fun! I can't wait to test my flower knowledge and figure out which flower is what in the mix!

The 2012 season finally starts for me!

2012-02-05T18:39:00.002-05:00

This afternoon I spend a good chunk of time setting up my seed starting shelves and making my own starting mix. The internet told me to use 1:1:1 peat, perilite and vermiculite, but I found that mixture seemed too light on the "soil" so I added another part peat moss. The recipe I used today was 2 parts sphagnum moss to 1 part perilite and 1 part vermiculite, which made a nice, airy soil that took in water like a sponge. As for the shelving, the mess of wires next to the shelves is precarious looking due to the five shop lights, two heat mats, the timer for the lights, the heat-controller thing for the mats and the fan. I'm hoping the older wiring in the house can handle all that draw from two outlets.

Today I planted: 4 green globe artichokes, 9 cells of chives and 9 cells each of squire kale, dino kale, red russian kale, dwarf blue kale and ripbor kale.
I also planted some blanket flowers, snapdragons, poppies and love-in-a-mist flowers as a test.
In a week or so I will be starting my onions indoors, and some slow-growing herbs. Spring is not too far away!

I've never been a flower gardener, but my interest is growing vigorously like it did with veggie gardening. Just two years ago I would not have considered myself a gardener at all- but not-all-that-slowly I've taken it up as my major hobby. The flower gardening started with sunflowers. It evolved to nasturtium (you can eat them! They are peppery and great in salad) and morning glories. I tried my luck with some fancy flowers like italian white sunflowers, snapdragons and love-in-a-mist last year. That was the first time I've ever "snapped" a snapdragon and I instantly fell in love.
This year my flower gardening has exploded! On the way are seeds for poppies, cosmos, foxglove, love lies bleeding amaranth, butterfly bush, multi colored daisies, wild bee balm, and creeping thyme. I hope to find the remainder of my flower seeds at local stores in the spring time, the multiple shipping cost isn't justifiable if I can't buy all my seeds from one seller online. The plan is to make the front and side yard at least 80% flower gardens. The yard in the front is quite tiny compared to the back yard but it still is a large area to turn into flower beds- something I have never done before. I found amazing information at Better Homes and Gardens, specifically their garden plans (I have most of the front yard garden plans printed out and ready!) I highly recommended it for someone who has no idea where and what to plant together.

I've never owned a houseplant before now.

2012-02-01T19:12:00.001-05:00

Houseplants did not like our previous living arrangements. It was too cold, received no sunlight, and it always seemed mold would attack the soil. Well, not any more! Hah hah hah!
I enjoy perusing Lowes or Home Depot and finding their "neglected and abused discount houseplant" section (okay, it's not really called that). Protip: Lowes, so far, is much better. They seem to mark ANYTHING down to a dollar as long as it looks really sad and dejected. Hell, I found a beautifully large bird nest fern for a dollar and all it needed was water and some more soil. To be honest, it looked dead when I bought it all droopy and off-colored and wilted, but it sprung back within ten minutes of watering it! Magic.
I purchased 10 or more houseplants for one dollar each, and some were even able to be split into multiple pots plants such as the baby snakeplants and ponytail palm- the latter created six different plants alone. Some are multiple bulbs, and some I left single. I'm interest in seeing how they fair alone- though truthfully, at the size I bought them, they look nicer in a clump of small bulbs. I hope they grow vigorously.

Houseplant Intensive Care Unit

This area is soon to be filled with vegetable seedlings. I believe I start planting onions within the next two weeks! It's refreshing to have something green in the winter, finally.

Where is winter?

2012-02-01T18:15:00.001-05:00

I'm not complaining, honestly. Temperatures in the 50's is A-Okay with me. I just really, REALLY hope this doesn't mean spring is going to be bitter cold and miserable. Last year I couldn't get potatoes in the ground because of all the water, and they ended up rotting in my house. Crossing my fingers that our new yard is not as swampy as my dad's yard, but so far the standing water seems to be closer to the house. Yay for gardening, nay for the basement. It's a little moist, and we'll be purchasing a dehumidifier to bring the humidity to the recommended 30% for winter- it's at 60% now- but other than that the house has not been a disappointment. Somehow this paragraph has gone from gardening to the house- but dammit, I love this house. We're the third owners, THIRD! In 100+ years! The back stair door has a height chart of the previous family starting in the early 60's (and boy they have tall sons). The windows are old, single-paned, but thankfully have storm windows installed. We had to update all the outlets in the house to grounded, three-prong, and plan on updating the light switches from the nasty 70's and older switches and plates. I love being a homeowner, I have learned so much. I even installed the kitchen faucet all by myself! Okay, so my husband got home in time to muscle the old hose connecter off the cold water pipe, but that's all I needed him to do! I promise! It didn't even leak! I also tore off the old wallpaper in one of the bathrooms in a fit of wallpaper rage. It was so ugly. So. So. Ugly.

Anyway, where the heck is winter? The birds were even chirping, today felt more like April than February.

In related news, the USDA Hardiness zones have changed. I was once in zone 4b, I am now in zone 5a.

You don't have to come back winter, I will always see you next season.

Missing Summer

2012-01-20T20:44:00.001-05:00

I miss juicy sweet tomatoes, the crunch of cucumbers warm from the sun, the snap of fresh beans and spicy green onions. I miss peekaboo peppers hiding in green foliage and peas so sweet they should be called candy.
The sterility of a supermarket feels so wrong. Dead, cold and white like winter. Products placed just so with the right colors, terms, shapes and graphics. Labeled and packaged and sealed. Even the tomatoes are individually stickered with a date, name, brand. I lose my appetite just walking in.
Give me dirt and weeds and rain and bugs. I'll even take sunburns and stained knees and physical labor in the heat of July. I'll suffer through bending and lifting and digging. Even the borers and beetles and biting gnats.

I miss zucchini so fresh that it weeps when it's picked. I even miss the little green worms in my broccoli.

Winter kills my garden and my spirits.

To Fence or Not To Fence?

2012-01-12T22:51:00.001-05:00

I like fences. They contain things, they give stuff a beginning and an end. They hold things inside and keep things out. I've fenced my gardens every year since the first year my plants were eaten by rabbits, skunks and ground hogs.The fence also worked well as a trellis and support structure for beans, peas, cucumbers, tomatoes and vining squash.

2010 fenced garden

2011 fenced garden

I have yet to decide if I should fence in my new garden. The fence is looking quite ugly to me now. I will use the 5' fence I have in some way, most definitely for corn because the squirrels go crazy for the corn and knock over all the stalks and eat them to death when not protected. I'll use the left-over chicken wire to undoubtedly protect seedlings from nibbling critters as well. Will all my other plants be safe unfenced? I wonder what type of animals lurk in our new back yard?

The Plan

2012-01-09T19:28:00.001-05:00

Planning has commenced. This is my general idea so far. The herbs, lettuce and other greens will be in raised beds close to the back porch.

Planning is my second favorite part of gardening- eating my harvest is my first of course.

Trellises, A-frames and Raised Beds [oh my!]

2012-01-09T19:25:00.000-05:00

My husband and I are hoping to live in this house for many years, unless by some miracle the house appreciates in value and we can sell it at the drop of a hat, then we can buy the 100 acres and farmhouse we dream of.
That will not happen, but we are pleased with what we have. I get chills thinking that if we hadn't walked into this house, we would still be looking, or (ick) stuck with one of the other houses we saw in our price-range. The house, the yard, the neighborhood! We struck gold.

As I was getting at, we plan on living here for a long time, and I want to build a "permanent" garden. My gardens in the previous place were not permanent- that's because it expanded every year so I would just till over the whole thing, and each bed was newly devised that spring. I already have four 3x5 raised beds and plans in my head for tomato and bean trellises. The hard part is deciding where everything will go.

I like this A-frame hybrid tomato trellis. An A-frame for pole beans seems logical, but I read how difficult it is to pick the beans that grow inside the "A", so I'm thinking of a flat "wall" trellis. I also really like the idea of a pea trellis that uses tree branches, which is functional and attractive, but I also like the horizontal pea trellis for larger yields (especially of shelling peas).
I'm excited to try to build my own bamboo trellises and teepees for flowers, beans, peas, and other climbing plants.

As for the front of the house, I have big plans to have a flower garden, and this website is really helping me plan it.

To the gardeners reading, any tips on building permanent trellises and beds?

Organizing seeds

2012-01-08T12:48:00.003-05:00

I took a hint from gardening blogs I follow and organized my seeds by planting date. Already I can tell this is a fantastic idea! I only have three seed packets that are in the ?? category: asparagus, Kiss-Me-Over-The-Garden-Gate flowers, and catgrass.

On the right there are 11 folders of seeds that will be sown indoor or outdoors anywhere from 14 weeks before my last frost date to 2 weeks before. The pile at the left are tender plants that should be direct-sown outside 1-2 weeks after danger of frost.

I can now take out a folder on the appropriate date, spread out it's contents, and choose which varieties I will be planting this year. Before, when I organized by plant type (and doesn't necessarily hint at planting dates), I always seemed to miss a packet of seeds that I could have sown.

Yesterday I attempted to rake up the left-over leaves. This yard is huge, and even after muscling three giant piles to the composting area in the back, barely a quarter of the yard is free of leaves. I also marked out as best I could a rectangular plot that is 25ftx35ft. The back yard isn't perfectly straight, it thins out towards the end and the back fence is at an angle. Therefore, the 25x35 plot is aligned with the side fence, but that leaves an awkward triangle of space between it and the back fence. I'm hoping to stick some corn in that area, but it all depends on the tree stumps. We had two coniferous trees taken down to reduce the shade on the garden area, but the stumps are far-reaching and deep, I'm sure.

35ft long, 25ft wide. I highlighted the wood dowels I used to mark the corners. Daphne is helping! She is right next to the water hose that was led out to the back, anything beyond that is safe ground, but any space before it I have to consult the previous owner's drawing to make sure I don't cut up the hose he buried. Smack dab in the middle of the plot is the raspberry patch (marked by metal fence posts), which I will be relocating, and in the front right corner is their previous garden (surrounded by mostly underground 4x4 planks). There is obvious evidence of the tree massacre that happened, and the two stumps occupying the triangle.

I can barely contain my excitement... When is it going to be May?

A New Year, A New Home

2012-01-02T10:52:00.008-05:00

Happy New Year!

We moved into our new house Dec 31st! The yard is fabulously large (about 60ft x 200ft), and I'm having two large trees taken out in the back. They shade the spot where the main garden will be, so with those gone I'm going to have a nice sunny corner garden! We have a ton of plans for our home, inside and out, but this winter will be used to plan and prepare my new garden. We expect to live in this house for many, many years, so I want to build a more permanent space for growing food. We will be putting in two 16ft "straight" trellises for indeterminate tomatoes, some A frame and net trellises for beans and peas, a section for corn (mostly decorative for the fall, but I want to try some popcorn) and a few raised beds. I have plans to make a stone raised bed for strawberries and a culinary herb garden closer to the back porch. As it stands now, the main garden will be a good 100+ feet from the house.

This photo was taken in the middle of the yard- there is still a good length of yard behind the photographer.

They already had a small garden out back. There is also one blueberry bush, a 3x5 plot of raspberries, a lonely grape vine, and a composting pile full of lawn clippings. The house is beautiful, old, charming, and in great condition, and the yard is just beautiful with so much potential. We are so lucky to have found it!

New house, new garden

2011-10-15T16:12:00.002-04:00

Within the last two months I married an amazing man, we adopted a puppy, and we found (and purchased) a lovely home! We're moving in mid-January, which gives me plenty of time to plan and start seedlings for my NEW plot! The yard is fabulous, and we're so excited!
As for this year's garden, I ripped out a lot of stuff today, but there are brussel's sprouts, peas, the last bit of green beans, and different types of lettuce growing right now.

My Garden in mid-July

2011-07-15T18:02:00.000-04:00

It has been a good summer so far.

Goodbye Peas

2011-07-09T11:42:00.001-04:00

I have never grown peas successfully until this year. Looking back, I wish I had planted 200% more! The snap peas were brilliant in stir-fries or just snacked on while gardening. The shell peas were fabulous- I have never had steamed peas with butter, salt and pepper before, but it's my new favorite food. I will miss you peas, but I hope to plant you again for the fall.

I went after the tomato plants showing signs of blight, and snipped of a lot of lower leaves and suckers. There is a lot of fruit setting on the tomatoes, I hope they start ripening soon!

Cucumbers, broccoli, a tomato and basil.

Tomato diseases

2011-07-07T19:19:00.000-04:00

It seems my tomatoes are getting the same disease they've gotten since I first started growing them a few years ago. The symptoms are yellowing leaves with brown/dry spots. It closely resembles Septoria, a fungal disease, or early blight. I have yet to lose any tomatoes, it only seems to affect the bottom portion of the plants and they continue to grow and produce. I did however pull out one plant that was severely affected and was wilting, I believe it was an old antique heirloom and possibly not as immune as the others.

Harvest

2011-07-07T19:18:00.001-04:00

Quick harvest update:
Picked the second cucumber of the season, one fava bean (to test), a crookneck squash, a yellow squash, a zucchini, three green bell peppers, two jalapenos, two banana peppers. Earlier this week I picked enough jalapenos and peas to pickle- pickled peas are AMAZING.
I'm seeing tiny beans on the plants too, I can't wait for bean season to start!

The tomatoes definitely have early blight. It's not looking pretty. I regret bringing home the store-bought tomato.

Time for happy photos.

Large leaf, and powdery mildew.

Garden thoughts and notes AND 1k views!

2011-06-30T08:56:00.004-04:00

I've hit 1k views for my blog :)
Here are photos to celebrate!

I just need to take some notes and remind myself how to make my garden a teeny bit better for next year:

Protect soybeans/sunflowers (from adorable little evil bunnies)
More chard, less mustard
More herbs, larger plot, more varieties, no mammoth basil, sweet/greek basil is better
Less green beans, more fava and lima and shell beans, also separate shell beans because they get confusing
Make sure you are sowing a bush bean/pole bean... pole beans have no place in the middle of a garden and bush beans have no place along a fence. Oops.
More peas! Spread them out because they get all tangled and it's gross eating a shelling bean whole!
Peppers need a bit more room between each other, tomatoes need a wider walkway between them
More tomatillos!
Tomatoes: LABEL LABEL LABEL!!! And don't forget those suckers!
Lettuce and herb beds = raised
Vine squash love to grow up the fence- space adequately so they don't steal sun
Fewer jalapeno plants

Late Harvest

2011-06-21T06:44:00.000-04:00

I've been bad, there are no photos of my harvests so far. Nothing but a few good meals in my belly and nothing to show. The mustard greens have been the star this spring, I eat them nearly every day in sandwiches. I've also gotten a meal out of the rainbow swiss chard. I have been picking a good amount of basil and other baby greens (arugula, spinach, romaine). You can find me snacking on the first peas as I harvest other veggies too, but I've yet to cook any. I've harvested a few small jalapenos and one Anaheim pepper (or was it Aconcagua?) As for everything else, it's almost there! I foresee cucumbers and zucchini in the near future.

Fathers Day Photo Update

2011-06-19T08:14:00.001-04:00

A soon-to-be overgrown path.

Swiss chard, celery and dill!

Mustard and artichoke

This pepper is only a few inches long but it's the largest bell that's grown for me ever!

Cucumbers.

Baby crookneck squash.

Baby zucchini, but I'm sure you could tell!

Baby spaghetti squash, a casualty of not labeling. This was supposed to be in my dad's garden.

My dad and stepmom gave me this gift, thanks!

I'm off to visit my dad's garden to mulch more heavily (he has some wicked field grass that just refuses to die) and sow some herbs. Happy Fathers Day!

More Photos

2011-06-12T18:26:00.001-04:00

The garden is doing really well with this crazy weather we're having. One week it will be 90+ and humid, and then it will dip down into the 50's and become chilly and wet... The heat lets the warm-weather plants flourish, while the cold is good for the cold-weather plants still in the garden. Everything seems very happy! I am seeing lots of peas and peppers and even a butternut squash flower! The brussels sprouts look like they are recovering as well. Surprise surprise- the lettuce seeds I put in the ground with toilet paper DIY seed tape nearly a month ago are actually taking off too, and not bolting. Have a look!

I take a lot of photos of the peas, they are just so pretty. How does your garden grow?

I'm back! And the garden is quite fantastic!

2011-06-08T18:59:00.001-04:00

The garden has exploded with life in this heatwave. Even the peas have grown and flowered- finally! It feels like I went away for a weekend (and then didn't go in the back yard for a week) and BAM, things are there, they're edible, they are BIG! Well, not as big as they can get, but bigger than last I remember. I'm really psyched for this summer- there are so many goodies (and surprises) in my garden right now! I owe you some pictures, I believe. After uploading these photos and posting (and enjoying the AC in this 95 degree heat) I'm going back outside to harvest- I'll post that if it's substantial! Okay! With no further adieu, please enjoy my photo update!

Edamame

Rosemary

Tomatillo

Onion bed

Artichoke

Butternut squash being trained to go up the fence.

I mistakenly planted two zucchini among the cucumbers. they looked so similar!

Favas.

What a huge pea stem!

My dad's garden:

Cabbage

I'm working hard!

Frantic Planting!

2011-05-26T08:28:00.001-04:00

WOW how the weather has changed. At first it was cold, wet and more wet. Suddenly overnight it's hot, humid, and sometimes wet, sometimes sunny (I've already had a couple of sunburns this spring). I have been frantically working in the garden here and there, and it is finally all planted! I have sown all my beans including soy beans, shell beans and green beans.I finally transplanted the too-huge peppers and all of my tomatoes. I transplanted basil (which is being eaten by some bug... darn) and a few squash plants (crookneck and zucchini) and a pumpkin plant. Originally I wasn't going to have any squash but my dad's garden is still out of commission due to flooding, and I probably have the space? I have many peppers, basil, tomatoes and herbs waiting the day they will finally stretch their roots in the ground at my dad's garden... soon, I hope. I sprinkled some herbs at random spots in the garden so that will be a fun sunrise when they come up. Still nothing to harvest, peas are large but flowerless so far, the broccoli is growing fast, and there are a few small bok choi and swiss chard plants but I'm waiting until the last possible minute to give them time to grow to a substantial amount of food.

Photos to come soon. My regular camera is not feeling well and my phone is out of reach (read: I'm lazy). Basically, if you can picture a large flat space full of hay with tiny little green things poking out of the hay, that is my garden right now!
From here forward I may only be posting photos intermittently. I'm finally starting to plan my dream wedding, and that will be taking up what little free time I have! :)

Long time no garden

2011-05-15T13:34:00.001-04:00

The title isn't completely true, I actually have been gardening. My dad's plot is a mud pit that is untouchable at the moment. My heart is broken because the peas, broccoli and cauliflower all drowned. The few leeks I put in there are okay as well as the cabbage (above flood zone), and the raspberry bush is fine. Thankfully my plot is well drained and dandy. Everything planted out so far seems to be happy. I planted half of the tomatoes in my garden because they were looking desperate and I plan on putting the rest in very soon.

Hold on a bit, I need a moment... Note to self: **** LABEL EACH AND EVERY PLANT *****

If you can't guess, I failed to label each tomato (and pepper) thinking a "cluster" labeling system would save me time and materials. This means that the tomato plants I have put in my garden are a grab-bag. I literally have no idea which ones are which, except for the Stupice tomatoes, which have a very distinctive leaf shape.Gardening fail. Well, at least I'll have fun guessing come harvest!

The peppers are indoors and getting large- in fact, they're getting flowers. They look very happy though so I am not going to mess around with them until it gets warm enough to transplant outside. I sowed some flowers outside and indoors, and I also sowed warm weather plants such as squash, pumpkins and cucumbers. The garden fence is up and it looks great, now all it needs is some plants that are bigger than a seedling! The artichokes are the biggest thing in there at the moment.

Another heart-breaking thing on my mind: I haven't even been able to plant potatoes! Some of them are rotting since I bought them nearly a month ago thinking I could get them into the ground at dads. All this water is killing his garden. I just hope this wetness will end up being a great thing and we'll have a great summer like last year. I do think that the trees are enjoying the wet, because (much like this past fall) I feel like all the flowers are more vibrant than previous years. Or maybe I'm looking harder, it's tough to tell.

In other plant news, I visited the Albany Tulip Fesitval site. I didn't actually go to the festival, but visiting the next weekend was fine by me. Much less crowded and the flowers were just as stunning!

Now prepare yourself for an onslaught of tulip photos. I can scroll through these pics all day and night, they are just so magnificent! I am absolutely getting bulbs so I can have this kind of beauty in MY yard next spring. Tulips make my heart melt!

Tomato 911

2011-04-23T16:28:00.000-04:00

Call the plant ambulance, this is an emergency! I made the grave mistake of forgetting to separate out my tomatoes from the single flat they were in to more spacious places, and now half of my tomatoes are strong and tall and the other half are tall but sparse, cork-screwed, itty bitty or impossibly thin. Most of them can't stand up straight either since they were leaning on each other and never strengthened their stems. Now I know for next time. I have a special care unit where most of my most desperate tomatoes are now.

Oops.

Big Oops.

Everything else is happy (but big... can June be sooner?)

The tomato Special Care Unit.

Peppers and celery.

Happy, crowded, but not suffering peppers.

A suffering pepper. What is this?! Pepper mange-albinism?

Need to cut these soon.

Welcome to the jungle.

Things are happening- now with pictures!

2011-04-15T19:19:00.001-04:00

Finally, the greenhouse! Guest appearance by Giant Garden boulders.

Fire thing and purple flowers.

Peppers, and short celery at the back.

Small tomatoes and peppers.

More peppers.

Very tall tomatoes.

Basil, herbs, swiss chard and bok choy at the back.

Potatoes! Reds, yukon and fingerling.

Inside the house, the broccoli (left) is droopy due to lack of water. Whoops.

Robins thought pulling the tarp away from the garden was just delightful and filled up on worms.

"Stop taking pictures you creep!"

New fencing coming soon.

Things are happening!

2011-04-13T18:38:00.000-04:00

Lots of garden news, not so much time to report. The greenhouse is up and in working order (sans doors) but nothing is planted inside yet. It even survived the thunderstorms and insanely gusty winds this past Monday- I was such a worry wort and kept going outside in the rain to check it. My dad and I rototilled and raked up beds (I mostly did that, ow my back) in both our gardens, and I sowed peas outside in both gardens (no sign of them yet). Raspberries are in dad's garden now too! The cole crops, leeks and onions are spending time in a door-less greenhouse now, and they seem to really like it. I also bought potato and onion sets. Fingerling, yukon and reds for potatoes, and walla walla, white and red onions.
I also sowed more tomatoes and peppers indoors since not all of the seeds germinated a month ago, and I wanted extras just in case. Now that the cole crops and onions/leeks are out of the seed shelves it freed up a lot of room.

This weekend I'll transplant in both gardens: Leeks, broccoli, cauliflower cabbage and brussels sprouts.
I'll sow the potato and onion sets as well.
I'm making seed tape at some point this week that will have carrots, radishes, many types of lettuce, kale and other greens, and herbs. Basically everything is going in next weekend except the hot-weather plants like peppers, tomatoes, melons, beans, cukes, squash etc. Might try the favas and see if they can tolerate the weather, but I wont hold my breath.

In other news, I'm looking into getting a Masters in Public Health. So excited!

Mini Greenhouse/Hoop House Part II

2011-04-03T18:42:00.000-04:00

Half finished, in all it's glory. This project was more of a heartache and headache than I ever expected. Five hours of pain and anger and frustration yesterday and five MORE of the same today... and this is what I get. I can't even go into the crazyness that happened, except to say that I now have a better concept of how much tension PVC connectors can take, and that thorough planning and checking and re-checking is a must with a project this size. Through the grace of the gardening gods I was finally able to erect it without pieces snapping and flying fifty feet away (or getting wacked in the face by an errant, wobbling pvc pipe)... It only took six trips to two different hardware stores. By the end I was so fed up I was ranting and raving that I would finish this DAMN thing whether it cost me a thousand dollars or a body part, and that's about the time I drove to the hardware store a half hour away to get five, yes five, pvc connectors. Worth it? Oh yes.
Did I mention I smashed the same finger twice, with a hammer? Yeah, I can't feel it anymore. It's purple.

Let's just hope that putting the plastic on (after all this rain we're about to get) will be a thousand times easier and painless than building the structure.

In other news, all three of the gardens are tilled up and ready to go thanks to my dad and my step-mom's mother who let us borrow their rotiller.

Photo Update

2011-04-01T18:55:00.000-04:00

Broccoli

Cabbage (back) and cauliflower (front)

Brussels Sprouts

Artichokes

Peppers

Tomatoes (front) and peppers (back)

Tomatoes

The Ecomposter!

Pallets being pulled apart

Adam cutting PVC for my greenhouse. He's so awesome.

Mini Greenhouse/Hoop House

2011-03-30T20:28:00.003-04:00

New project: Hoop House/Greenhouse. I've been dreaming of building my own hoop house or greenhouse for a half a year now, but it was the beautiful DIY hoop house in Thomas's A Growing Tradition blog that really concreted the idea for me. The calculations have been made. The plan has been drawn. The materials have been purchased (about 80 bucks).

My landlords were nice enough to donate some wood pallets and I am going to scrounge the wood from them to build doors, among other gardening-related things (like a potting workstation!). Also, the soil is almost dry and very soft- perfect for tilling, which is something I really want to do this weekend (as well as build the hoop house).
On top of that, I am ~~90%~~ completely finished building the Ecomposter. MAN this thing is cool. And it only took me 3 hours to build! I'm excited to throw some crap in it and give it a whirl! ETA: It's sitting in my yard empty and it looks quite menacing.

But... dun dun dun... with this ridiculous storm on it's way, my weekend gardening plans are ruined.
Hopefully on the other side of ~~the rainbow~~ this storm it will be true,actual, bonafide spring in which I can till and build and sow and prance merrily about my property like a garden nymph.

Now for something completely different...

Adam's Comment Of The Week:
Me- "Woah, did you notice that our neighbor's chickens got a heat lamp? (pointing towards ominous red glow in chicken coop)"
Adam- "Nah, that's just their evil souls."

Sprouting: Tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos

2011-03-29T17:48:00.000-04:00

All of my tomatoes, peppers and tomatillos are sprouting! The cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and brussels look great and are growing very large leaves. All's well with the artichokes, onions and leeks too. It's very green in my garden hidey-hole. I'm planning on breaking more ground in my garden (and my dad's) this weekend with a rototiller, and maybe get some peas into the ground!

Spring!

2011-03-20T19:33:00.002-04:00

Spring is here! It's never felt so amazing. And I have been buuuusy!

Some pretty tiny flower popping up in my yard everywhere.

I re-potted the artichokes and herbs into roomier pots, I also sowed celery, tomatillos, tomatoes and peppers. Also today I spend a few hours double digging a small part of my garden, but wow my back is killing me now. Time to rent a rototiller.

Leeks hiding.

Cauliflower, I think.

Possibly cabbage.

Onions!

Seed sowing.

My favorite tool- a quite heavy spoon I use to fill the pots, and the twisty handle is used to stamp down the soil.

No more snow, in my yard at least.

Before.

After.

Almost forgot to show off my brussels sprout sprouts. Oh how I make myself laugh.

Pot hoarder, I admit it. The bench with the bow is my birthday present from Adam! He build me a garden bench!!

It's my birthday, I can plant if I want to.

2011-03-17T17:43:00.000-04:00

But I'm not.

The temperature is nearly 70F and almost all the snow is melted. I could plant peas... I almost actually should. Considering today is the "traditional" day to plant peas (I don't know where I read that or if I made it up). But I can't. Birthday celebrations are going to last all weekend, then a full work week awaits me before I'm off on a trip to Long Island the following weekend. One of these warm days I'll till the garden soil, put up the fences, and get something in the ground. Just not today.

Drat, Cats!

2011-03-12T19:44:00.002-05:00

I love my cats, I truly do. I've always thought of myself a dog person, until I met these cats. Currently we don't have a dog in our lives but hope to adopt this spring, that is, if the cats approve. However, they seem to be getting in the way of my gardening this year...

Wendy (black and white) and Ray (the spooner) looking innocent.

First, they like to "help". Ray will often wander through when I'm planting seeds or potting things. And because he is blind (and large), that means he usually wanders directly into things and helps me make a mess. Wendy watches from afar, or vies for my attention by going (pardon my language) apeshit and running around like a lunatic, as if knocking everything down and freaking me out will get me to pet her.

Then... someone started to nibble on my leeks. I just found out yesterday. My leeks were looking very sad and droopy and oddly short or broken. In retrospect they were the leeks facing out on the lower shelf within reach of a nibbling kitty, but I thought I was over watering or they were ill or something. That is, until today, they were looking rather... eaten. Tooth marks, pieces of leeks on the floor, general mayhem that does not happen when plants are over-watered. Who was the culprit?! I didn't know. Ray loves his supervised outside time and he really loves eating grass, but I couldn't blame him without knowing.

The trouble he gets into is usually minor, and hilarious.

Then I left the house, came back, and suddenly it all was clear. Ray left his calling sign right next to the leeks, and managed to take another nibble. He has a favorite hand-made plush toy that he carries in his mouth all the time, or whenever he finds it again. That toy was left at the scene of the crime. I wouldn't put it past Wendy to frame him, but even though we think of Wendy as being calculated and conniving, she probably isn't that clever (or is that what she wants us to think?)

After all, she does try to prevent me from slandering her on my blogs.

I barricaded my seedlings with cardboard to prevent him from wandering in and destroying things, and I did check to make sure he was okay since I hear that leeks are poisonous to cats and dogs. He didn't eat much but did damage a small section of leeks, and I don't think they'll recover from it.

Drat.

While we're on the subject of cats... yeah, I have more pictures. Enjoy! :)

Though blind, he was still able to locate leftover food and make a mess.

Wendy has always had that "what of it" look.

When cats are super comfortable and napping we call it being "splarged out". Ray, splarged out on the bed.

Wendy, also splarged out.

"I will enact my revenge by vomiting where you walk"

He eventually fell asleep in the middle. I couldn't tell if he was being indecisive or blind.

His eyes are craaazy!

"What of it?"

Tell me about your pets! Do they "help" you garden too?

Not Nearly Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-09T17:48:00.000-05:00

Leeks right after hair-cut.

Leeks days later, all straight and growing very fast!

Full House

Broccoli, or cabbage, or cauliflower. They all look the same to me.

Brussels sprouts!

Onions.

Herbs at the front with artichokes peeking up in the back.

Windowsill herbs waiting for a warmer, sunnier day!

Sprouting Sunday, Rain and Stuff

2011-03-06T11:25:00.003-05:00

Today is Sprouting AND Sowing Sunday. The onions I planted, all but the red onions, have sprouted. I don't know what the deal is with the red onions, but both Red Wing and the Burgundy have sprouted only one or two, while the other onions are coming up in droves.

I gave the leeks another hair cut. I left for two days to find they're touching the lights again! Man, they grow fast.
Today I'm also sowing broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels's sprouts. In a few weeks I'll be sowing my favorites, tomatoes and peppers! In between now in then though... is my 24th birthday! Wow, time is sure flying.
Coincidentally I found out a few days about that you traditionally plant peas outside on March 17th (my birthday), but I suspect the ground will either be sopping wet or still covered in snow. It sure is a wet spring.

To top it off, I'm a little worried about the work I made for myself. I'm in charge of both my two garden and my dad's garden (about 1500 square feet total) and I am rapidly running out of shelf space for starting seeds. If I add one more light, I still think I'll be short. The last things to sow are about 50 tomatoes and 50 peppers (as well as 70 basil plants). Well, I just don't know if I have the space. My house is just not suited to let seedlings sit near a window, we get almost no direct sun, but I'm gonna have to kick something out to make room. Most likely the leeks and/or onions, since they are taking up a whole lot of space, so I'll have to figure out how tolerant the seedlings are to lower light.

Here's to digging yourself too deep (in the garden)!

More Photos

2011-02-27T13:02:00.004-05:00

Now I truly understand why I have a ton of baby photos of myself, but as I grew older the photos thinned out. It's the same with gardeners who photograph their plants... when they're older, the novelty wears off! :)

Revitalized herbs, back from the brink.

Tiny rosemary.

Leek Roots.

When is it time to give leeks a cut? They're getting too big and brushing the lights (luckily not getting burned). I can't make the lights go any higher!

eta: They received a haircut. I read that if they start to fall over (like they are) and are over 3" they need one. The trimmings were just like green onions, delicious!
eta again: I'm happy to report (more for my own sake) that after the trim all the leeks are now standing straight up reaching for the light. Perfect! I was worried about some of them.

First Failure

2011-02-27T12:42:00.001-05:00

This last snow storm (14 inches or so) left me stranded from Thursday to Saturday at my gramma's house. It was a fun snow-in, I love my gram and her house is gorgeous, huge, and there is a THEATER there, but I left my seedlings to fend for themselves. Adam didn't know any better, so when he watered them he didn't realize that when they are laying down like that they're not "resting", and therefor didn't water them enough. I came home to this devastation! The oregano and thyme suffered, but the parsley and rosemary were happy. Most of the seedlings sprung back after some heavy water treatment, but I had to cut a few cells out that were very dead. Luckily my leeks were perfectly happy, if I lost them it would be more devastating than if I lost these herbs. They were just an experiment, and I plan on gifting them when they are bigger. It's surprising how you can bring back a plant that looks like that to perfect health!

Crossing my fingers that this is the first and last failure of the season. I'm going to have to teach Adam what healthy versus dying seedlings look like just in case he needs to care for them for a few days!

Sown: Onions

2011-02-26T15:51:00.000-05:00

Today I sowed a few different types of onions for the two gardens. Red Wing, Calibra, Red Burgundy and Walla Walla. A common theme is emerging: Sow seeds during snow storms. I like the way that sounds!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-16T07:12:00.001-05:00

Late Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-12T14:09:00.003-05:00

Fatality!

Growing Timelapse

2011-02-12T14:02:00.000-05:00

When I lived in a dorm at college, I started a few plants on my bed in front of the giant window a few weeks before going home for the summer. I set up my laptop in front of them to capture them growing, time-lapse style. I only wish I did it longer! Maybe I'll try again this year? They move quite a bit when reaching for the sun, especially the corn seedlings. You can even spot some soil lifting on the left side as seedlings push their way up. This is a loop of a very short video, I think it was taken over 5 hours.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-02T14:19:00.000-05:00

Early Spring

2011-02-02T10:32:00.001-05:00

Groundhogs day has brought good news: an early spring. I feel like the last many years have always been "6 more weeks of winter". With all this snow outside, I don't know how seriously I can take this early spring business...

Sprouting Sunday

2011-01-30T13:59:00.001-05:00

Instead of posting every day something starts to sprout, I'm going to (try to) post on "Sprouting Sunday" what has sprouted over the week! I'm in love with the idea of Harvest Mondays and Wordless Wednesdays, so I thought I'd start a special day.

Sprouted:
1/28- Thyme, Oregano
1/30- Artichokes, Leeks, Rosemary

Sown: Leeks and Artichokes

2011-01-25T16:29:00.002-05:00

I needed some happy time so I decided to sow leeks and artichokes after work today. I also have sown some thyme, oregano, chives, parsley and rosemary just for fun. I already have to bring back a shop light- I've changed the bulbs but it seems like the light itself flickers after being on for only 10 minutes. Arg!

Artichokes!!

The new set-up, with loads more room.

I AM UNREASONABLY ORGANIZED. Pay me and I'll totally organize your shit too!

Happy and warm.

I have a lot of random baskets around the house, and this one is perfect for harvesting!

True to the Plant Hardiness Zone

2011-01-23T23:34:00.007-05:00

Tonight, for the first time this winter (that I've noticed) it's going to get down to -24F. That's the lower limit of my estimated zone, 4b. Oh, goody (sarcasm).

Here's to hoping it'll reach the extreme opposite this summer. I could use some horrible, too-hot, can't-cool-down, sticky-icky days right now.

Edited to add: It's the next morning of Jan 24. The temp reliably reached down to around -24F last night, or possibly lower since I didn't get up to check (brr). Currently it's -20F at 8am. My car wont start, but the lucky thing is the school district where I work has been closed due to the extreme cold. In an unlucky twist, Adam's car quit a half mile of town and the poor man had to walk back home. He does not recommend it.

Impromptu day off!

It was SO COLD that the Personal Weather Station (PWS) that I use for my weather data here in Greenwich actually BROKE between 7:10am and 7:55am, note the dew point at 99.9F. It continued to decrease in temperature until it reached -129F (the average night-time temperature of the moon). Then it shut off for 30 minutes. It started back up with a low of -27F. WOW. Even weather-proofed weather reading devices can't handle it.

More seeds?!

2011-01-22T18:39:00.000-05:00

Black Turtle Dry Beans
Calypso Dry Beans
Calibra White Long-day Onion
Red Wing Long-day Onion
and Italian White Sunflower

Aaah.

Seeds on the way

2011-01-17T21:34:00.002-05:00

I have two orders of seeds coming from Baker's Creek and Seeds of Change. I was reading the book The Vegetable Gardener's Bible and it gave me a few ideas of things to include in my garden this year. Also in my order is speckled field peas and spring triticale to grow and compost. I have a lot of leaves and paper but not enough green to start composting immediately!

Veggies soon to be added to my seed list:

Edamame soy beans
Mache (corn salad)
Red Orach
Crookneck squash, Early Golden Summer
Rouge Vif D' Etampes Pumpkin
Canton Bok Pak Choy (baby variety)
Tomatillo Verde
Lettuce, Little Gem (head, I think)
Arugula

Counting the days until I'm harvesting like mad and not obsessively updating my blog.

Garden Musings: Okra in the North East

2011-01-17T21:04:00.003-05:00

I was surprised to hear recently that growing okra where I am is "useless". Supposedly it doesn't do well in New England. Well, this is news to me! Last season I grew about 7 plants and I harvested more okra than I knew what to do with. Granted, the plants didn't produce more than 4 pods each (I was exasperated with them by September so I pulled out the still-producing plants), but even so, having never eaten okra before, I was at a loss with my harvest. It was even growing in the garden in my back yard- the one that does not get full sun by any means. Maybe it was unnaturally hot last year, or I was just lucky?

I'm attempting another small patch of okra in my garden this season. Maybe I'll stick a plant in my dad's garden too, for good measure.

How did your okra grow?

My first Harvest Monday... sorta

2011-01-17T14:41:00.002-05:00

It's January here in New England, and it's about 10F outside. There is nothing growing around here, not even a potted house plant. I didn't have enough foresight to plant anything for the fall/winter season back at the end of last summer so my garden is just a heap of leaves and snow. I have nothing to show off for Harvest Monday and probably wont until April or May. And sadly I just used up the last few servings of tomato sauce and tomato soup from my harvest this summer! So, even though I signed up for Harvest Monday at Daphne's Dandelions, I had a brain fart and forgot I had nothing to show. Oops! What a disappointment...

Here's some pictures of last year's harvests. Please forgive me.

A haul from my friend's parent's AMAZINGLY huge garden.

Almost tomato sauce.

My dad harvesting tomatoes as a youngster!

Making Paper Cups

2011-01-12T12:06:00.000-05:00

I've been snowed in from work today. This is the benefit of working for a pre-school! Telling the kids to all wear their pj's inside out and backwards must have worked... Last night we got probably five inches on top of the five or so we already had. Then we have six to ten projected for today. Oh boy!

Sitting on the floor next to the radiator I made paper pots, close to 200 of them. My newspaper pot maker is so awesome, before I got this I was using a peanutbutter jar. Maybe I can track one down that is slightly bigger. The pots this one makes are a good size for starting but I end up transplanting my tomatoes and peppers into bigger pots before putting them outside. Hmm.

Reminiscing of 2010

2011-01-11T20:09:00.006-05:00

This past season was unexpectedly good for nearly everyone, I hear. Let's think good thoughts for 2011!

Building Projects

2010-12-31T14:18:00.001-05:00

I was at Lowes (or maybe it was Home Depot?) the other day picking up some liquid fertilizer for my seedlings, and of course was drawn to the huge rack of gardening magazines. I picked up one called The Vegetable Gardener's Book of Building Projects. This was the best 18 bucks I've spent so far! This book has both the arbor I so dearly want AND adirondack-style chairs! Those two things are harder to build than, say, the super easy bench, but they are two things I wont have to shell out a ton of money for in the future. Who doesn't love Adirondack chairs?

I bookmarked a few things that seemed easy enough. I hope to try to build them in the spring.

A small sifter, just a box with some wire mesh.
A circle plant support made from tomato stakes and wire.
A "handy house". Adam made fun of the name! It looks like a bird house on a pole but it actually has a door to store small hand tools and garden things. I want to make one for both mine and my dads garden, so handy!
A potting bench. Not like the fancy one on my wish list, just a table with a small storage area below it. Easier to build and still very functional, I'd use it as an outdoor table either in or next to my garden. I always need a surface to put things on.
A berry box/harvest box. Just a cute little square box with a handle! I really need something to carry when I harvest, I end up with an armload of stuff dropping everywhere.

I'm going to be busy this spring!

Ecomposter

2010-12-30T11:40:00.006-05:00

I just ordered the Green Ecomposter (with the spider base) off Woot.com (only the best deals site for cool stuff, next to Steep and Cheap, which is for outdoor-item deals. Camping and hiking, etc).

Am I allowed to say "bad-ass"?

I read quite a few reviews before ultimately deciding that 115 bucks for the thing (including shipping) was a steal, it is going for close to $300 on amazon.com right now, and looks like it usually is $350. There is no existing compost pile in my yard at the moment, the small one I had going in the tree line has since been covered by the giant tree-top that fell into our yard during a wind storm. That was the final act, earlier in the year it had been struck by lightening (I was in the house, it was terrifying). The "maintenance guy" our landlords know cut it up and covered our entire tree line with giant logs!

Sad tree, soon to be sad wood pile covering my compost.

And that is how I justify buying something that looks like the death-star for composting.

Things I have noted in the reviews about this composter:

It takes hours to put together, literally. This thing comes in a FLAT BOX full of pieces. That's right, building a cool-looking sphere, that ends up being too big to get out of a conventional doorway, is made up of something like 500 parts, most of which are nails or rivets. This sounds like a job for Adam.
It's huge, like I said above, so it has to be either assembled outside or the two halves have to be taken outside to be put together. Supposedly it will not fit through a doorway!
It looks cool and will have people questioning "what in the name of yard sculptures is that?"
It works, and it's fun to roll around the yard. The spider base comes with coasters which you're supposed to use to roll the ball on, but I've read that when it's filled to capacity (capacity is only halfway) it is HEAVY and hard to roll. So it also comes with a low-to-the-ground base that you can just roll the ball off and have a go around the yard. Rolling is key to aerate and combine the compost, of course.

I can't wait to get it. I'll add a real review come spring when I build up the courage to build it.

1/17/11: It's here! It's huge! How long do I have to wait to put it together? Too long...

3/27/2011: The thing is built. It only took me three hours and was quite simple once you got in the groove with placing and pounding in rivets. Like a billion of them. I'm happy I purchased it! It's MUCH bigger than I imagined.

Seed Starting Setup

2010-12-29T15:16:00.005-05:00

I'm ridiculously anxious to start seeds for this spring- truthfully I'm anxious to do a lot of things that I have to wait for. Patients is a virtue, a really boring virtue. I'll be able to start the artichokes at the end of January (2011, can't you believe that? Feels futuristic). By February I can start the leeks and onions, and in March I finally get to start the good ones: peppers and tomatoes. They are my favorite, and are just so gosh darn cute when they're babies aren't they? Then they get old and start talking back...
Anyway.

Because of my extreme impatience, I finished my seed starting lair yesterday. We have this little square bar in our living room that is the perfect nook to fit my two metal shelves and lights. The illumination from the shop lights will be a little much, so I fashioned a black tarp cover that can be extended to the floor. It's going to get so toasty in there! I'll have to find a fan for circulation.
Here are photos of the little lair. It's awesome, kind of like the forts I used to build as a kid. I can just hide down there and hang out with the seedlings. I'm so proud of my grow operation! Okay, that sounds like drug talk. People poke fun of my grow shelves but it's only vegetables, I promise.

Go to Seed Starting to read more technical stuff about my seed starting setup and plan.

Empty Christmas wrapping tubes serve as a way to roll up the tarp all nice and neat.

So toasty!

Three shelves with about 45" (in length) of grow space each.
The shelves can fit six 1020 seed flats.

One light was suspended with a piece of wood across the bar, makes a nice little tent!

Covered completely.

Planning the Gardens

2010-12-28T10:02:00.003-05:00

As I previously mentioned, the three garden plots I will be using this coming year total a little more than 1500 square feet, so I really had to be on the ball with planning or else most of that would have gone to waste. Dad's garden alone is 880 square feet, while my two smaller gardens total about 650 sq. feet. I have it planned down to the exact number of plants per square foot, which is how I was able to count up the minimum number of plants I need to start indoors (see seed starting dates). Believe it or not, it wasn't too difficult to plan and only took me a few hours.

After fooling around with a few different ways of planning, I decided going by each square foot is the easiest. I then used information online about square foot gardening to write down how many plants per foot (and for larger vegetables, how many plants per 4 square feet, like tomatoes, up to 16 square feet, for zucchini).
This is how it turned out. Skip this next section if you're not planning on using my method, it's just technical gardening jargon.

Per 1 square foot:
4 beans (bush, less if trellised pole), 1 broccoli, 1 Brussels sprout, 1 cabbage (regular sized, not giant), 16 carrots, 1 cauliflower, 2 celery, 2 cucumber (less if trellised), 1 pepper, 6 leeks, 9 onions, 2 potatoes, 16 arugula, 2 basil, 1 chive, 9 dill, 2 kale, 4 head lettuce, 2 fennel, 16 leaf lettuce, 1 okra, 2 parsley, 1 oregano, 8 peas, 1 rosemary bush, 1 sage bush, 2 chard, 9 spinach, 2 thyme.
Each tomato, vining squash (winter) and artichoke plant needs 4 square feet (a square plot 2 feet on all sides), planted smack dab in the middle.

A single zucchini plant, because these fellas have the potential of getting ENORMOUS, needs 16 square feet, or a box 4 feet on all sides (or a round plot about 3 feet in diameter). My zucchinis don't ever get that huge because of the lack of sun, but at dads house they may... still, I'm cheating and squeezing three or more zucchinis in a plot only 20 square feet big.

Before that, I divided up my gardens into manageable plots with plenty of walking room. I did a little math and made sure I had a 2ft wide path in most gardens (in my smallest plot I have a few paths that are only 1 foot). Quite a bit of my gardens are paths, but I still have a ton of planting space. I like to keep out of the planting space to keep the soil airy and not packed down, so I need kneeling room. To see how each garden is broken up, with diagrams, go to The Gardens page.

After each individual plot in the garden was measured out, I decided what plot should hold what type of plant, used the guide for how many plants per square foot, and went crazy!

In the end I had a bunch of paper plots with vegetables written on each square foot. Voila!

Square foot references for vegetables.

Organizing and planning.

2010-12-27T20:26:00.001-05:00

Is there a better way to spend a blizzard-y snowed-in day than to plan a garden? Nah.

Using square-inch grid paper I downloaded from the internet, I managed to plan all 1500-something feet of gardens, foot by foot and plant by plant. They're going to look amazing. Lack of organization in previous years has left random areas in my garden empty, which is so sad and wasteful. Hopefully my new and improved garden planning will change that!

I don't have to buy many seeds for the spring, I have a whole photo box full of them. That's another thing, I bought a cute box meant for photographs and divided it into three slots for three rows of seeds!

Seed Orders

2010-12-27T13:12:00.000-05:00

I just ordered my dad a huge haul of seeds from Home Harvest Seeds. (He didn't want a Christmas present so I put a bow on the purchase order)
I was looking for seeds that were inexpensive and hardy, but not necessarily non-GMO heirloom varieties like I enjoy growing. I didn't want to go the Burpee route (something about that company...) so I found HHS which sells discounted Ferry-Morse seeds. As a trial garden I didn't want to use my more expensive heirloom seeds, I have no idea how the soil is or how all that sun will affect the plants.I may still fill the gaps with my heirloom varieties.
My dad specifically requested cauliflower and spaghetti squash, two vegetables I may not have otherwise grown. The grape tomatoes are for my dad and step mom, they don't like regular tomatoes, and the romas (which will be the majority) are for tomato soup and sauce! I've never grown Cherokee Purples before, and I wanted a nice early tomato so I got Early Girl. My first and last Early Girl tomato plant was STOLEN at college last year, it was potted and sitting innocently on my porch. I'm still sore about it.

The list:
Broccoli- De Cicco
Cabbage- Copenhagen Market Early
Cabbage- Garden Leader Green Monster
Cauliflower- Early Snowball
Cucumber- Armenian Yard Long
Cucumber- Boston Pickling
Leek- American Flag
Onion- Evergreen Bunching
Onion- Red Burgundy
Onion- Walla Walla
Pepper- Jalapeno
Pepper- California Wonder
Pepper- Sweet Banana
Squash- Waltham Butternut
Squash- Small Wonder Hybrid (spaghetti squash)
Squash- Black Beauty (zucchini)
Tomato- Early Girl
Tomato- Jelly Bean (grape)
Tomato- Italian Choice Roma
Tomato- Cherokee Purple
Green bean- Bush, Blue Lake
Pea- Wando

I have potatoes left to get, which I'll pick up at a gardening center closer to the spring.

Autumn Ideas

2010-11-11T10:22:00.000-05:00

It's early November and I'm already itching to start seeds. Unfortunately I have to get through four more months of cold and bitter winter before I can even think about that! Planning the garden is satisfying enough, for now. I've expanded my humble plot of 16x10 feet to something more like 16x30 feet. The new section is covered with a black tarp to kill the grass underneath and make it easier to rototill in the spring, while the existing garden is covered with a thick layer of leaves. I also have a shaded plot closer to the house which is about 12x14. I haven't decided yet, but it will either be flowers, early spring vegetables, shade-loving summer vegetables, or a combination.

One thing I have for next year that I didn't in previous years: my dad's yard! His entire yard gets non-stop sun from dawn to dusk, he practically lives in a giant field. Since my yard gets an estimated 8 hours of sun a day on the longest day of the year, I figured if I grow sun-loving plants at his house I can use my garden as more of an experiment to see which vegetables fair better. The negatives of a garden with so much sun is that spring vegetables and lettuce will be unhappy and hard to grow, and watering it daily to keep it moist will be tough. I suspect sun-damage and heat-damage as well. His plot is 22x40- HUGE! He has plenty of room to grow melons and squash, things I can't fit in my yard in any quantity. I also want to try my hand at potatoes. My dad suggested against corn even though we would have lots of room, everyone around here grows sweet corn and is dying to get rid of it come summer.

I really miss summer.