one potato, two potato, 100 potatoes more!

Yes, it has been an exceptionally long silence, but I have a feeling it's over now. I think I'll start off slowly so I don't hurt myself or chase anyone away, a simple post about a monster.

  During our terrible fall storm of 2010 this last weekend (boy, was that over exaggerated or what!) T and I were out in the garden putting it to bed for winter. Taking down the bean tepee and bean fencing, pulling the spent squash, pumpkin, and cauliflower plants (the goats were happy to get the treat). Digging up our potatoes was a really fun. We planted them mid May this year because we had moved into a new house and that's when we got the garden going. I would normally plant them in March or even February if the weather was right, but our garden was ready in May and I didn't want to lose my seed potatoes (they wouldn't make till next year). All I was hoping for was to increase the 22 seed potatoes to a few more for next year. We cut the plants back on 16 hills and waited a week for the skins to toughen a bit so they store better, we dug a surprising amount of potatoes, now I know a 5 gallon bucket is no world record, but I was certainly surprised. And then we dug the funniest monster of a potato I have ever seen (it reminds me of some kind of crystal in the way it has grown, don't you think?). Most of these are Rose Finn Fingerling with a few Ozette Fingerling here and there. I switched to the Rose Finns after growing Ozettes for a while. The Ozettes are a little dry and hard to clean because of all their eyes, the Rose Finns are a little more creamy and don't have as deep of eyes to hold the dirt. They both store well. After digging potatoes we replanted garlic in the space. I can't wait for homegrown garlic. Well, here's to the start of  a great winter garden!

table top jungle

What a difference I couple of weeks makes. I was feeling stressed about not having the garden ready to plant yet so I relived it with some improvised seed starting. Even though we still have stacks of boxes and our living room looks like a storage locker, that all can wait (yes I know I sound a bit nuts), but the summer garden calls the shots in this house. The boxes are not going to sprout in a week when the weather gets sunny, although it does seem like they are multiplying, but my beets and cauliflower will. Before I could get into the garden I started some seeds on a table by the window so I wouldn't be too far behind. Zucchini, winter squash, crookneck squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, tomatillos and basil and dill. It's really easy to start seed on the table, you need to remember squash and cucumbers do not like to have their roots disturbed, so that's why I used the peat pots, you plant the seedling and pot in the ground together. There is no need to spend the money on those pots for other seeds. I use the large trays with small individual seed cells year after year for herbs, cold crops, and anything that isn't too sensitive. A window will start your seeds just fine (assuming your house is warm enough, 65-70 degrees), you may find your plants getting "leggy" long and skinny. Most of the time they grow out of it, if they don't they will not be able to hold up the weight of their own fruit. They best thing for indoor starts is a grow light. Keep the light an inch above the plants, as the plants grow move the light up. The small, standing, shelf green houses are great, inexpensive and for most people plenty of room for all the starts you want. I bought my tomatoes this year, I bought small plants, you usually get three for $2ish, I replanted them into larger pots and put them in the window (it's too early here to put them out). Remember when repotting tomatoes and tomatillos to pull off the bottom leaves and plant as far up the stem as you can, leaving three or four leaves on the top. It will help make strong thick stalks. In two weeks you have a whole garden that cost a lot less then buying all those starts, not to mention family and friends love the left overs! Did you catch the little garden helper in the pics? My boys are excellent garden helper, we will see if I say the same when all the garden goodies disappear before making it to the table.

P.S when using basil off a grown plant snip a whole stalk off, cut the stem right above the bud above the dirt. Your plant will spout many more stalks off this cutting. If you your plant starting to go to seed (flower columns coming off the top) snip these off.

Great Idea

You never know where each day or weekend is going to take you. You make your plans and to do lists, but if you're anything like us, you rarely stick to them. We are always flying by the seat of our pants, where ever the wind blows!

On Friday evening we cut the garden space and berry beds out of the lawn with a sod cutter, which worked great by the way! Anyway, Saturday morning we had a surprise visit from a couple of friends and after feeding them and chatting a bit about what to do with all that sod someone had an epiphany. Who am I kidding, I'm not going to be modest in the least, that incredibly creative idea came from yours truly (only I was half joking when I said it). I was teasing when I said lets make a play house for the boys out of it. Boy, did that get the ball rolling, the ideas just came pouring out (not just mine anymore). After we make a house, let make the three section compost bin I've always wanted (thanks Alan!) and then lets make the goat shelter out of sod and... Now I don't think we have enough sod to cover all those project, but doesn't it all sound cool. As we cut, hauled and stared to build the boys' play house someone said " you know, this is just what the settlers did" minus the gas powered sod cutter, the truck to haul the sod and the rebar to hold it up. We did have lots of sod, dirt and help,which I am sure is the way the settlers did it, thanks guys!

You know I just love the idea more and more, a living structure could be so much more beautiful and inconspicuous in our backyard. By no means are we finished yet so we will have to let you know how it all turns out (keep your fingers crossed). Here's to shelters growing every bit!

From Grass to Garden

It may not be garden yet, but it is much closer to pouring out fresh lettuce, tasty zucchini and juicy cucumbers this summer. Some might say we have our priorities skewed since we are still living amongst towers of boxes, but it's so exciting to be almost ready to have my own garden at my very own house. I have done lots of gardening, but never in my own garden where I call the shots (or at least I think that's how it's going to work). While speaking with one of our neighbors and talking about gardening, she suggest a sod cutter because the our entire yard is grass. So on Friday night Ty rented a sod cutter and Voila! we have a start to our garden. I know, it's not ready to sow any seeds yet, but at least we can see where it's going to be.

To get the most out of the rental fee we also cut out our blueberry patch and flower beds. We have a whole lot of sod. I wonder what were going to do with it?

The sod cutter makes the activity of sod cutting manageable, don't get me wrong it is still a chore (just look at all the work Ty is going through), but doing it by hand with a shovel would be out of the question, believe me I tried and last about 5 minutes. This cutter cuts about a 12 inch row, you can get up to 18 inches I don't think it makes it any faster. After you cut all you do is roll it up into a roll you can't lift (now what do I do with it?). The trick is cutting straight so you minimize the little slivers of grass that are still attached to the ground, you have to remove these with a shovel. We did find out that you should steer clear of wet areas for sod cutters don't come in 4wheel drive and are darn heavy. The whole thing worked well and made life a little easier, of course easy for me to say you don't see me in any of the pictures do you.

plant labels

It is just amazing how one day can be lusciously beautiful weather and the next turns to torrential down pours all day. I had the garden all ready to plant corn, the ground was tilled the rows were marked and hoed, all I need to do was soak the corn, plant it and watch it grow, but the rain beat me to it. Now I have to wait for another window of opportunity to get it in the ground. We did manage to find an opening in the rain , all though very brief, to get out, blow some bubbles and hope that summer is really on her way.

A fellow gardener and I were discussing plant tags, plastic or wood? I label seeds I have planted in the greenhouse or plants in pots, but I don't put the labels in the garden. I usually can remember what went where or I draw a map. As long as no one else tries to do any gardening it's not usually a problem. For my tags I like to cut up plastic milk jugs to make my plant labels, but since we don't drink milk out of plastic jugs at home we have to acquire them some where else (family members).

You can buy the plastic tags at a store (they work great), but who wants to spend the money. This is just the place for my motto "I can make that", I don't like using plastic that much, but I figure I am adhering to one of the three "R's", REUSE!. I always use both sides of the tag and recycle the plastic when I am done.Many gardeners do like to put labels in the garden though (it makes sense doesn't it). I do understand that if you put plant labels in the garden you wouldn't want the plastic tags everywhere because you would have to pick them up at the end of the year (hunt for the plastic tag game), so cardboard tags will work for the season (the do get lost easy), or those large craft tongue depressors work great, they're wide to give you plenty of room to write those long plant names.

The wood and the cardboard will just grind up with a pass of the tiller or mulch into the soil when you put you garden to bed for the season. (Of course that's not grass you see growing in my garden rows, you must be imagining things)

We did had a little fun earlier this year making decorative garden signs. My mother is the artist who panted plants pics on Fir rounds that Ty cut from the back pasture and stakes he split from some fire wood. TY then screwed the round to the stake (nailing it will split the wood), then he sanded the surface of the round just a little to make it easier to paint. After it was painted we then sprayed a sealant on it to protect it from the weather. I think they turned out really neat and would make a fun project for older kids. Now if we can only keep the dogs from pulling them out and chewing them up.

Well off to re-pot tomatoes. Remember, "someone made it, why not you".

lovely lilly

Just imagine a valley of these, can't you just smell it. I wish I could bottle it and save it to smell anytime I wanted because these special little flowers don't last long enough. I find it frustrating and a little sad that floral fragrances never smell quite the same when they come out of a bottle. I love Lilly of the Vally with it's sweet little bells tinkling in the breeze and that beautiful aroma wafting through the air, there great to put by a gate or walk way to smell as you pass by and any cute little thing that doesn't mind the shade is a good thing ( was that too Martha?).
I wanted to share a great web site that my sis showed me. It is a conglomerate of crafty tidbits from talented bloggers like many of us. You find all sorts of great things you would love to make and just don't have the time, ahh dare to dream http://craftgossip.com, check it out.

got brain food?

I keep reading snippets here and there about brain foods and lucky for us one of the tastiest is the blueberry (I am not personally a fan of oysters, but their good brain food too), but our blueberry row at home needed some help. I had a little encouragement from a friend recently and by encouragement I mean she came over with a shovel and a pick-up truck full of cedar sawdust and started hacking into the blueberry row (I couldn't let her do it all by herself). You see we have neglected it over a few years and it was starting to look like part of the lawn with blueberry bushes as weeds. Well, we fixed that by pulling up the grass and then adding cedar sawdust throughout the row. Blueberries love acidic soil and cedar is just that, it also turns out that weeds don't love acidic soil and take longer to come back, it is a win win kind of situation. We are devising a net system next so when the plants actually start producing those tiny brain boosters we can keep the birds from getting them (we wouldn't want them to get any smarter than they already are!). By the way, blueberries are not too tough to take cutting of and propagate your self. A heat pad, perlite mix and a rooting hormone and in a few months you should have small blueberry bushes. Hardwood cutting are the easiest to root, but soft wood will work.
Another grow your own food to smarten you up (as if you not already, I mean you are growing your own food how much smarter can you get) Kale, Chard, Collards, almost all leafy dark green veggies are intelligence builders and they are so easy to grow and there are some great recipes out there, so I guess there are no excuses.

Happy Windy Cinco de Mayo

April showers bring wind storms to blow down May flowers? I can't remember any day (let alone in May) the we have had such strong sustained winds all night and day, it is very strange and is not conducive to gardening in any way(unless in the greenhouse).
Our first farmers markets of the season started this last weekend. A kind and good hearted friend of mine has a stand and lets us share with them since I really don't have enough product to fill my own tent. Maybe when the peas and other garden goodies come out I might, it does make it a little easy on yourself if you can share babysitting the stand with someone (I haven't took my turns yet but I will). Anyway, she is doing two markets per weekend, a larger market on Saturday and a smaller more informal one on Sunday that doesn't last as long. Had I had been more prepared I might have more crafts to sell, but right now it is mostly starts that I had too many of in the greenhouse. My goal is to make enough money to pay for this years seed and potting soil. On a side note I wanted to share my favorite potting soil with everyone, it is a great mix of soil, sand, perlite and many other tid bits, it is just great for seed starting, I don't use a special seed starting mix anymore.
Back to farmers market items, I wanted to add to our very small medicinal herb garden this year so I started lots of Blue Anise Hyssop, Yarrow, Echinacea, and some other goodies. I took the extras and some extra Dill, Hollyhock, Heirloom tomatoes, some Lavender I propagated last year, some extra cabbage starts and rhubarb stalks. We are not at our total goal at the end of two markets but it is that much closer.
People were interested in the starts, but were really looking for Tarragon, Rhubarb plants and other veggie starts. So while at the nursery I went on a Tarragon seed hunt, last year I looked for the plant and found out that the plants don't come out into the stores until a little later in the season (around May) maybe because their are not supposed to be hardy (although mine made it through the winter outside just fine). What I found out on my seed hunt is... you can only find Russian and not the traditional French Tarragon in seed because the French will not go to seed. I am not sure of the flavor or characteristic differences between the two, but we will find out in a few weeks since I bought the Russian seeds to start. I did earlier this season propagate my French Tarragon by pulling a few plants apart and making sure they had some root left and they are doing good. Well, gotta run, don't forget to have a cold one (what ever it is just as long as it's cold) for Cinco de Mayo

Hooray!

Hooray! I actually got somethings accomplished today, you know beyond the usual taking care of the kids, making meals blah blah blah (you know, I really love doing it). I managed to rototille most of the garden in between lunch, naps and diaper changes. I put some Swiss chard seeds into the ground that had been soaking for two+ days (two days too long) , I cut the flower stalks off the rhubarb. A good thing to do before they open so the rhubarb will put its energy onto growing the edible stalks, not reproducing, you will have better rhubarb all summer long. I consolidated some random cardoon plants into a singe row and I hacked down the way too tall grass clumps (more like mountains) around the blueberries, fruit trees and raspberries. I would have loved to get some work done in the greenhouse but it was a little too crowded in there with all the other work going on. I am talking about all the wasps making themselves at home (more like three homes). We are having a terrible time trying to get them out since we are not too interested in bombing them (and all our veggie starts). Ty tried smoking them out tonight, we will see if that works. They did leave and we hung a bar of soap in the openings (that are only open on warm days), we read it deters wasps. I can only hope any of this will help because they are putting me way behind schedule. We tried a homemade trap out of a modified two liter pop bottle, but we came up empty handed (or empty bottle really). First mice now wasps in the greenhouse, I guess I can't blame them I know I really love to be in there. I'll check tomorrow and let you know how it goes. Lets hope the plants in the greenhouse grow and not the wasp nests. Ta Ta for now.

another beautiful day

Pinch me, I must be dreaming. Not one, not two, but three glorious, sunny days to spend in the garden (in April!). And what do I have to show for those days? Note nearly as much as I would like. It is easy to feel discouraged when you look at all there is to do, I keep looking at the box full of seed packets waiting to be planted, but if you take the time to look around at what you have already done it just might lift your spirit. 

The rhubarb has just taken off with these few days of warm

 weather and I can't wait till it's ready to pick, we make an awesome dessert with shortbread crust, rhubarb custard filling and meringue topping (it's not too complicated, really) and I love to make rhubarb raspberry jam from berries we froze last year, can't seem to grow enough rhubarb. 

The first half of the peas are up and growing and the buds are out on the fruit trees in the orchard. The asparagus in the green house looks great. I am particularly proud of it since it is seed saved from our asparagus patch.

My heirloom tomato forest seems to be happy (lets see if I can keep it that way). The potato hills, more like potato mountains (we got a little carried away), haven't sprouted yet, but at least they are there and mostly planted. 

By they way in case you were wondering how the preschool silent auction went, it was a hit. We could have used a lot more people to attend but as it way we made close to $1000 for our little preschool, it think the bake sale was the biggest hit. Thanks everybody! Well, can't waste (I mean spend) any more time inside on this computer, I must go out into the sun and get my vitamin D for the next month. Happy growing!

Got Milk?

  I know how cliche of me, I meant got goat milk? Over the weekend we tried our first taste of Flash's (the goat) milk. It was great, creamy and smooth and without even a hint of goaty flavor. Ty has always been really excited to consume our goat's milk and while I really like the idea when it actually came time to put it to my lips I was a bit hesitant (at least I did try it, Ty wouldn't even try my breast milk when Isaac was born). I was afraid the goat milk would have a heavy taste like many of the goat cheeses have, you know the one 

(or maybe you don't) that flavor that tastes just like the goat smells, which isn't terrible I just don't want it in my morning latte. As it was, Ty did make a latte with it, don't expect goat's milk to be coming to your local coffee shop anytime soon, apparently it doesn't foam even one little bubble (but tastes great).

  It might not foam because goats milk contains smaller fat lipids than cow's milk, that's why people who are intolerant or allergic (like Ty) to cow's milk can often have goat dairy without trouble. We started Isaac on goat dairy before he ever had cow's milk and he likes it better now that he can choose. It would be wonderful if goat's milk was more readily available to everyone, I know of many groceries that carry it but not most of the mainstream ones. Next come yogurt, wish us luck!

Tonight is our first garden group meeting. 

Marianna (a good friend of mine from high school) and I wanted to talk with and help out others interested in gardening to feed the family. We weren't sure if there would be any interest so I put an add out on craigslist to get a sense for others' with the same interests and Bam! Wouldn't you know it, there are a whole lot of people who want to talk about all sorts of thing; seed starting, gardening, preserving and everything else you can do to support your families hunger from the backyard. many people who were having trouble with getting the gardens to flourish and have a harvest you can feed the family with through the winter. I hope with the variety of gardening talents we have coming everyone can get their questions answered and we can all make some new friends. I made banana bread for tonight and the preschool snack (two hungry groups with one baking session), can't beat that). 

I didn't have a lemon, so this time I added orange zest

and a couple of tablespoons of fresh juice and of course lots of nutmeg. Can't you just smell this bread. Well I should go and outline some topics for tonight and hopefully help others to grow some great food.