The original plan was to plant lettuce this weekend. Well, about 2 inches of snow got in the way of that!
What's a frustrated gardener to do?
Play with her worm bin! And make a to-do list:
*Plant lettuce
*Weed garlic
*Finish pruning the yellow transparent apple tree.
*Pick up the branches from the apple tree that was cut down.
*Plant more cold weather crops (broccoli, kale, cabbage....)
*Get compost for garden.
*Hope that the sun comes out next weekend!
Hyacinths salvaged from under the apple tree that my brother took down for me this weekend.
It was a tough decision. The tree was very old and full of character and yet over the last 5 years it's produced about 40 edible apples. The other issue is that it was growing up into the power lines. There are, or rather were, two large apple trees in my garden and it's impossible for me to keep up with pruning both. As it came down it was apparent that a lot of the tree was dead or dying. So it was the right decision.
The plan is to plant two small fruit or nut trees in the area where the old tree was. Haven't decided what yet. Maybe a sweet cherry, an Asian plum, or hazelnuts. At this time there are:
*A pear with five varieties grafted on the root stock. I'm espaliering this tree.
*Two European plums.
*A sour cherry.
*An apple ("King").
*Another apple ("Yellow Transparent." ) The other large apple.
*A quince (edible).
Other fruit: grapes, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. All that on a small city lot!
I cheated an bought some lettuce starts to plant. Not felling too guilty about this. The starts come from local companies that sell at the farmer's market and it will give a slightly earlier crop than my start which are still teeny-tiny. I'm going to put them in a planter which will later be used for cucumbers.
Here come the tomatoes! Here's what's coming up:
"Sun Gold," one of the few Hybrid tomato I grow.
"Matt's Wild Cherry"
"Yellow Currant"
"Carmello," the other hybrid. It hasn't sprouted yet. The seed is about 5 years old, so it might not be good anymore. It was the last to sprout last year though.
"Gold Rush Currant," a new variety for me. Hoping it might be as good as "Sun Gold."
"Italian Heirloom," another new one.
"Riesentraube," and another new one.
"Amish Paste," and yes, another new one.
I'll get some "Seattle's Best," from my mom (I hope!) and buy one Brandywine at the Master Gardner's sale (probably).
I did start my tomatoes in peat pots this year, with seed starting medium. Not the best environmental choice, but I just didn't have my act together to do anything else. Next year the plan is to have compost (worm) and to make my own paper pots. I draped a recycled plastic bag over the top of the seeds to keep some humidity in. In years past it would have been plastic wrap or the plastic clam shell container that baked goods come in. The seeds are placed under a florescent light bulb (about a foot away) that lights the kitchen with. It's probably not as fast as a grow light, but it works.
I've been doing some research on Sweet Potatoes (one of my new plants to try growing for the Growing Challenge). I think I'm going to try White Triumph. It's not recommended for northern areas, but none of the white ones were, and that's what I want to try growing.
Rained quite a bit last night and it’s pretty wet out this morning. It’s hard to say whether there will be dry enough weather to get out in the garden. If it does become an indoor day, I'm going to try sprouting some of my emmer seed to make sure it's viable seed.
I did dash out this morning to check on my peas. Yea, they are sprouting! I love how they push themselves up and out of the soil.
The kale (“Laciniato”) and cauliflower (“All the Year Round”) are sprouting too.
Checked my sorrel. It’s just getting big enough to start harvesting.
Looks like the Swiss chard that I wintered over is about to take off too.
The garlic needs to be weeded. I have poppies coming up everywhere. I love poppies so much that it makes it hard to pull the volunteers. Ah well, tough love. I love garlic too!
One variety of rhubarb that I have will be ready to harvest soon too. I’m not sure what variety it is, it came from my grandfather’s garden.
Also on the "to-do" list is bamboo from my mother to put in the ground, along with the one that has been growing in a whiskey barrel. This was a tough decision, but I’ve decided to risk the invasive qualities of bamboo. Why put the bamboo in? Well, it will quickly make a great screen for privacy from the neighbors. This is a clumping variety so it won’t spread super fast. I’m hoping to manage any extra bamboo by harvesting for garden stakes and picking the shoots to eat.
Hmm…I wonder if I could manage the snails the same way? Escargot anyone?
I found a squishy tangerine in the 'fridge. Citrus are one of my "special" foods that I allow myself while trying to eat local. Which made me very sad that one was found a little past peeling and eating.
It could have been juiced and added to a salad dressing, or to a tomato sauce (supper yummy, add it at the last minute), but it was early morning and I wanted to use it while I was thinking about it. So I sliced it up and added it to my tap water.
Very, very tasty!
I thought it would be fun to participate in another challenge, The Growing Challenge. The challenge is to grow at least one food from seed that you've never grown before. Coming up with a vegetable/fruit I haven't grown before is kind of tough. At least one that I know I like.
One thing under consideration is sweet potatoes. I had some from the farmer's market last year that were delicious. If I can figure out what variety they were, and I can find some, I want to grow them! They were white colored, able to grow in Zone 7, maybe Zone 8 (zones for the US). If anyone has a suggestion....
The other thing I really want to try is growing a grain other than corn. One possiblity is Emmer. Emmer is a variety of wheat, also known as Farro. Last year it was being sold at a local farmer's market, so it will grow in my area. It also tasted good. What I'm not so sure about is whether I can get it to grow and whether I can get it into an edible form! I also have some Buckwheat seed. Locally grown seed is being sold at my co-op, so it's worth a try.
The other part of the challenge is to post each week about how the garden is growing. One of my favorite topics!
What was planted this weekend:
Brussels Sprouts
Kale
Cabbage
Sprouting broccoli
Broccoli
Chard
Lettuce
Cauliflower
And tomatoes!
I almost planted a peanut too...found it buried in my container of seed starting mix I"d prepped and left on the porch. Darn lazy dogs aren't doing their job of keeping the squirrels out of the yard!
I took this picture a couple weeks ago on my way to work. The frost was so heavy it almost looked like snow....
There have been a lot of cold nights this year, a lot of frost in the morning. The average temp for February listed on the electricity bill was an average temperature of 35 degrees Fahrenheit. Which means the gas bill was the highest it's been all year. And yet, the gas company has decided to take the budget payment (prorated over the year) down 20 dollars a month due to the average gas usage over the year! Victory dance!
There haven't been any complaints about the house being too cold (other than from Lola the Chihuahua and her sister Maddie when she comes to visit) or frozen pipes.
I think that most of the savings have come from shutting off the door to the laundry room, which also has an exterior door. I've also been careful about turning of the heat before the dogs are let out. Usually when the door opens it triggers the thermostat on the gas fireplace that heats the house. I still think that we can get the gas usage down a bit more during the coldest weather. Luckily it will have to wait for next fall, spring is definitely making an appearance!
Such an incredible day to be out in the garden! The dogs are completely worn out and I am too.
For the most part I dug out the space for the peas and then got the pea seeds planted. This year I'm planting "British Wonder," "Amish Snap,"and "Cascadia." I really love peas so I need a lot to eat fresh, plus some to try freezing. I may also try drying some.
On the agenda for tomorrow is starting tomato, parsley and lettuce seeds.
It just feels really good to know that home grown fruits and vegetables are on their way! Harvesting some sorrel will be the first crop, teeny tiny leaves are forming. Probably will thin and eat some of the garlic too.
Total time gardening: 2 1/2 hours. Total time sitting in the sun with my gardening books: 2 1/2 hours.
Just finished reading Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. It's convinced me even more that eating local, or even better growing my own, is the best option for feeding myself.
Also been looking at Path to Freedom's challenge to eat what is home grown. It's another call to plant a Victory Garden.
What's really been on my mind as I think about what I've been reading, is how I can eat local this time of year. I went to get local carrots at the co-op on Saturday and they were all gone for the year.... I'm down to being able to buy apples, pears, mushrooms, turnips and potatoes. And what I've preserved.
This year has given me a really good sense of how much I need to preserve if I want to be able to eat local year round. I need to be able to pull from what I've stored for choices in January, February, and probably the beginning of March. I'm making plans to can more applesauce and to dry more corn and cherries. I'm thinking about what crops to plant more of so that I can preserve the excess. I probably could have used a few more tomatoes-since my canned supply will need to get me to July.
Here's my breakfast of applesauce (apples from my tree), locally made bread with locally ground flour, honey, and butter I made with local cream. No compromises here- it's all organic too. The next thing I'm reading is In Defense of Food by Pollan. It's another very interesting book.
One of the things that I loved about my house when I moved in was how the light moved through the house.
One of the joys I've discovered by being more conscientious about turning lights off, is how enjoyable the shadows and the sunbeams are when overhead lights aren't on.
One of my celebrations for the month...I've shaved another couple of kilowatts of my electrical usage. Last month I averaged 11.4 a day. I've been working hard on remembering to turn the computer off instead of letting it sleep. I've also been only using the speakers on my computer to listen to music, rather than hooking up to the speakers on the stereo.
And that leads to one of my sacrifices. There is definitely a difference in sound quality. Ah well, the sound quality coming from my neighbors is excellent. Now if I just enjoyed more of their music....
