Seed Saving, Ginger and Garlic

This is our first year saving our garden seeds.  We purchased organic and or open pollinated seeds and used some given to us by neighbors.  I was amazed to see that our bush beans (the seeds were burgundy red) have produced speckled white-ish-pink seeds.  We have our tomato seeds soaking in little jars of water to help get the 'slime' off of them.  Peas (bush, sugar snap & sweet) are packaged .. along with a host of other types.  It will be interesting to see what they produce next year.

Last spring I planted a small 'finger' of organic ginger in a small pot with potting soil.  It was kept indoors and produced a two foot palm-leaf looking green shoot.  I watered it once in a while .. and last week dug up the ginger to see what was growing.  It was double in size with several small nubs growing .. and roots.  The biggest portion was broken off and two nubs replanted in the pot.  It tasted amazing added to some cooked apple topping for our French toast this morning.  I will store it in the freezer and use a fine grater as needed.

Last fall I planted Spanish rojo garlic bulbs.  They produced small heads of great tasting hardneck variety, and is a good choice for cold climates.  They are supposed to store well, too.  After reading a blog post at Down To Earth last week about imported garlic from China, it's nice to have our own supply.  If you are concerned about eating healthy AND love garlic, it's a must read article.  If you don't grow your own garlic, buy organic or garlic from California.  I was shocked to read that my large jug of sliced-dehydrated garlic from Costco (McCormick brand) says product of China in fine print on the back.

2011 Garden .. It's A Wrap

Today was the last day harvesting in the garden before we get our first predicted frost.  I was also canning tomato sauce, watching my little grandson and cleaning up from hosting my oldest daughter's baby shower on Sunday.  That left a very slim window of time to pick the last of the raspberries and stash uprooted/re-potted celery, peppers and parsley ... along with potted geraniums and herbs into the garage to deal with in a few days.  Our apples were carefully picked and have been stored wrapped in tissue paper in the cool basement.  It smells wonderful every time I walk into the storage room.

The past few days were peak for autumn colors in the yard.  I even brought in a few boughs of maple leaves to use as 'floral' arrangements for the baby shower.  This year the sweet peas I planted produced an abundance of blooms .. they are one of my favorite flowers to pick and bring indoors.  All of the seed pods were harvested to plant next year.

It really does take many years of practice to have gardening become second nature .. even then there is something new to learn.  I have not gotten up to speed with extending the growing season using protective coverings .. perhaps when hubby retires he will lend a hand and the end of gardening season won't be as demanding (not).

For now, we have more food stored away than any previous years.  It was a lot of work keeping up with canning and freezing.  Who knows, maybe I'll have time to start blogging again :)

Summer .. a fading memory

We had a nice end of summer in the North Woods.  Warm temps allowed some tomatoes and peppers to ripen on the vine.  There were still plenty of green tomatoes to pick and box to ripen in the cool temps of the basement.  Rain has arrived and I've not quite got the garden tucked away for winter.  All of the tomato plants have been pulled.  My goal is to get some of the pepper and herb plants dug up and potted to bring in during the winter.  Gardening in the new raised beds was a good learning experience, provided to our food supply ...  and added a beautiful view from my back windows.  Adding the fine bark around the raised beds cut my weeding down 95% .. well worth the investment.  End of summer work is .. well endless!  I'm glad that autumn has arrived and I can s.l.o.w. down the pace.

Enjoy the day!

Keeping A Food Supply

I'm having a hard time using the veggies I've stored away in the freezer and pantry while it's still summer.  Not wanting to 'run out' of supplies this winter before it even turns cold, this week I'm going to use up ALL of the zucchini from the garden, finish up our lettuce and start picking some more green cabbage.  Sorry corn and green beans .. you'll just have to wait a few more months!

This weekend I made a big batch of beef stock by roasting bare bones cut in two inch pieces in a moderately hot oven (400F) for two hours.  Then simmering with carrots, onions and celery for an hour .. then sticking the whole pot in the oven at 225F overnight.  It makes the richest brown broth for French onion soup and for added flavor to gravies.  I have stored it in the freezer in 3 cup units. 

We are already running low on pickles .. when my kids come home for a visit .. that's the first thing they ask for .. after a hug from mom.

Beef Stock Recipe
Benefits of Broth

Fast Forward Two Years In The Garden

Spring 2009

Spring 2010

Fall 2010

Spring 2011

May 2011

May 2011

July 2011

 A quick trip in pictures watching the garden develop from primitive to ordered.  It has filled out even more beautifully with lots of flowers.  Will post more pics when my computer is fixed.

I'm Nearing The Breaking Point ...

Every summer arrives with it's own workload .. and now that the workload is here, I'm dreaming about cool autumn days .. no lawn care .. no canning .. just lazing about for a few months.  Anyone else at the breaking point?  Here's to taking a break tomorrow and heading to the park, stopping for a cool drink at our favorite coffee house, shopping for school shoes and kicking back for awhile. 

Hoping to See ..

... a sea of red soon.

Yesterday I was watering the garden .. a 'chore' I enjoy doing by hand.  I had hopes of setting up a sprinkler system .. maybe another year .. but for now .. hand watering affords a better look-see at what's doing well and what needs to be pulled out of the garden on a more frequent basis.  And .. I spied a few tomatoes turning red!  So excited as the last two summers we've only had green ones picked just prior to the first frost.  Seems our oh so wet dreary spring has turned into a hot dry summer which has been good for the peppers and tomatoes.

Tomato, Tomato, Tomato

a previous year's harvest at TTGH

I'm eying my 30-40 tomato plants with great anticipation of a bumper crop come harvest time!  They are ALL still green .. but plumping up nicely.  Oh .. and the aroma of tomato leaves as you brush up against the plants .. well .. intoxicating.  Of course, this means a few 'mean' days of kitchen work canning and freezing are in order.  The saving grace of all the hard work done each summer is the anticipation of sitting back and enjoying the changing of the seasons.  Well .. I'm not quite done with summer .. but soon. 

Summer Goodness

... At The Thrifty Garden Home

Yesterday was a 'work hard in the yard' day.  Every so often we need to get control of summer growth .. read weeds .. and take a string trimmer to the landscape.  Every muscle aches and yet feels sort of good after the workout.  My mind is ever 'expanding' the garden space and making mental notes for next year (which should be written down .. and soon .. lest I forget).  The strawberry bed is taking up too much precious ground inside the fenced garden area.  I'm hoping to develop a new home for the plants.  I have my eye on an area to grow corn that gets long hours of sunlight each day.   Soon we should have tomatoes coming out of our ears from the 30 or so plants in our 'square foot garden' area .. it's amazing how tall they can grow if given a chance and a good sturdy trellis.  Every year our garden grows a little bit .. and we become better at tending it.

I love when the birds 'plant' giant sunflowers :)

Hopes for next year (read, 'what failed this year;): 

• Grow more cucumbers (find out what I'm doing wrong .. only one plant survived)
• Plant twice as many green beans (so I don't have to buy any from the farm to can)
• Add more soil to my deeper raised beds .. the sides cast shadows and cause some areas to have stunted growth
• Plant more peas (read .. enough to freeze once they're shelled as most get eaten while I'm working in the garden)
• Plant onions in the old garden .. they failed miserably in the raised beds
• Amend the raised beds to include a little clay for better water retention .. or mulch heavily with straw

A bumper crop of good sized heads of cabbage

Triumphs this year:

•   Green beans
•   Tomatoes (crossing fingers)
•   Raspberries
•   Strawberries
•   Greens
•   Celery
•   Herbs
•   Pumpkins & squash (a triumph because we don't have zucchini coming out of our ears;)
  
•   Peppers (still a work in progress)
•   Cabbage
•   Not a record .. but we have potatoes
•   Assortment of flowers to attract bees .. and the chipmunks didn't eat all of the gladiola bulbs :)

What's thriving (or failing) in your garden?

This And That

in the middle of summer.

The garden is growing leaps and bounds.  Tomatoes are setting fruit .. and huge heads of broccoli have been picked, blanched ... and frozen for winter.  Raspberries are ripening .. and being picked .. though not many are surviving the walk to the kitchen ;)  It's been cool enough for the lettuce to still be producing ... which means LOTS OF SALADS!  I'm noticing the northeast corners of the double stacked raised beds grow lush .. while the southwest ends seem stunted.  Will have to adjust my planting next year to take this into consideration.

We just got back from a mini trip up to Glacier National Park ... arriving only days after the Going To The Sun road opened for the season.  This drive passes across the Continental Divide and opened rather late this year.  (I think the latest ever.) 

It seems the weather tables have turned and the inland northwest has THE best weather across the United States this summer.  Of course, we'll get our payback come winter.  The air conditioner has only been turned on once this summer ... and that was due to humidity .. not excess heat.

I've been enjoying and really using our flour mill of late.  It's become a habit now to grind enough wheat for a day or two.

I also dragged out my pasta roller/cutter after watching an Italian cooking show that featured a recipe with dough made so quickly in the food processor .. then rolled and cut quickly.  For this I am using some of my home ground flour and semolina flour ... a good mix.

The herb garden has been harvested once already with bundles of greens hanging in the garden shed to dry.  My favorite dried herb is thyme.  There should be enough time for another growth spurt and harvest.  Nothing beats fresh herbs in the summer right out the kitchen door.

Now that our daughter, Ann, moved out in May ... we are seeing a savings in electricity and food.  Coffee beans last much longer :)  Speaking of coffee ..we're now roasting beans in a hot air popcorn popper!  It works much better than smoking up the kitchen using a skillet ... and can be done outside.

Glacier National Park

What's growing in your garden ... and happening in your neck of the woods?

Nice Weather

... a bit too cool for tomatoes and peppers.

My tomatoes have blossoms that keep falling off.  I think our chilly summer is the cause.  My pepper plants started from seed last March are slowly getting bigger.  Ever thankful for the bigger plants I purchased and added for insurance.  Not sure about the rest of the country that seems to be sweltering in the heat and humidity .. but would like to have some of the warmth arrive to set the blossoms.  Today I was thankful to see the bees out once again in the backyard.  Seems they were mainly collecting from the spring flowers that are now just blooming in the front yard.  I have lots of clover in the back .. and now the mustard is blooming .. hopefully this will entice the bees enough to notice the tomato plants as well.

What's blooming, withering, or being harvested from your garden?

The Ups and Downs of Raised Garden Beds

I like the new raised garden area.  It is, for the most part, WEED FREE (yes!).  My vole problem has turned out to be a ground squirrel (chipmunk).  Confusing .. I know.  But after studying the destructive habits and telltale signs .. and seeing a chipmunk, he is making holes all over the yard surrounding the garden.  The only direct damage inside the fenced off area are my gladiola bulbs .. half of which have gone missing .. and nice little mounds of soft dirt piled up in each back corner where they were planted below the wood chips.  And to think I scolded my dog while trying to nab the critter last week when she upturned a small woodpile.  I have found one dead (half eaten) vole as well .. that I have credited to the dog.

The downside to the raised beds .. onions are not growing well.  The top inch or so of soil does not retain moisture .. and yet it is damp deep down below the surface.   Next year I shall try filling the beds to the top with more soil so as not to cast shadows from the wooden sides, as this causes uneven plant growth to some extent ... and to apply some hay for moisture retention. 

This week the strawberries have ripened supplying about a quart each day .. enough to eat and make some freezer jam.

A New Garden Favorite

Not a new veggie .. just new to our family.  Kale is growing in abundance in our garden; getting picked sometimes twice a day.  I never knew how good it could taste .. and only associated it with the curly variety used as a food prop to pretty up restaurant plates.  I can think of many uses for this hardy green .. such as used in soups, stir-fries, sauteed  ... and even as a delicious topping on homemade pizza (which we've baked up twice this week).

About ready to be picked are our June strawberries .. they're just turning red and have been covered to keep the birds from having a field day.  Lettuce is growing and filling salad bowls .. along with radishes .. which have only had some success.   Some of our onions are not doing well .. and am not sure why .. could be from planting in the raised beds .. as we've never had problems other than them going missing from voles.  Speaking of the pesky creatures, here is a good link on trapping them   .  Looks easy enough to make the trap devices at home .. and will try it later this week.  So far I haven't noticed too much missing from the garden .. and I know the voles are out there.  Our raised beds lined with hardware cloth seem to be working.

Picture Perfect Weather

Today is a beautiful sunny day in the North Woods.  I'm hoping the temps are warm enough to kick start some growth in the garden.  My rhubarb plants have been producing for a few weeks and it's time to start thinking about preserving some of their yummy goodness.  Perhaps canning some rhubarb sauce this week is in order.  Rhubarb freezes well .. it's great to pull out in the winter to bake up a pie or for stewing.

The leaves are poisonous .. but you can add them to the compost heap without a problem.  Nothing says it's gardening time better than the arrival of rhubarb.

Simmered Rhubarb:

4 cups diced rhubarb stalks
3/4 cup sugar
water to cover

Simmer the rhubarb for a few minutes then cover the pan and let it sit until cool.  This method keeps the rhubarb pieces whole.  For a sweeter version, cook uncovered until tender and liquid has reduced by about 1/3 to 1/2 in volume ..  Rhubarb goes well with strawberries and apples in pies.

Coaxing Some Warmth In The Garden

So far this spring has been a fizzle.  Not to say that I'm disappointed with so many people's lives torn apart from horrific weather in the mid-west and southern parts of the United States and elsewhere around the world ... but our damp, cloudy, rainy cool weather in the Pacific and Inland Northwest has given gardeners a run for their money.  Hubby and I are just about finished with the newly installed raised bed garden; we are adding fine bark on the ground to suppress weeds.  Fencing has been put up around the center section of the garden.  As you can see from the photo, I have some beds sitting outside the fence.  These are my deeper beds with fine wire mesh installed in the bottoms that are a foot deep to be used for root veggies.  Hoops or wire surrounds will eventually be installed to keep the deer and moose from lunching on the plants.  The mesh wire is to keep the pesky voles from stealing whole crops from underground tunnels.  This interior/exterior fence planting has worked for us in the past as it keeps the large animals from attempting to leap over the fence .. and I really didn't want the expense nor view of an 8 foot garden fence.

The white fabric is covering our tomato, pepper and eggplants.  It's breathable and lets in some rain .. but traps heat during our cold spell this spring.  On sunny warm days (which are few) the coverings are peeled back.  A few heirloom tomato plants and peppers have been mingled in with our plants started from seed .. just as an extra measure of success.  This year I have done some companion planting .. and have left room for planting in succession. 

How is your garden growing?

New Raised Beds .. and Family Life

We've been busy at the Thrifty Garden Home with installing our raised beds.  Everything is set for the garden fence to be put up on the already installed fence posts tomorrow.  Family life has taken over gardening plans as our youngest was being checked for leukemia after a scary white blood count during a recent out patient dental visit.  This crisis has passed as he does not have leukemia .. but still wondering why such a low count .. a time of worry has passed .. although always lingering. 

The garden is sprouting .. potatoes are poking through the soil .. raspberry canes are green, the strawberry bed planted a few years ago is beginning bud with berries, asparagus is being picked here and there from a two year old bed, and the chard that managed to survive winter is about ready to be picked.  Most everything has been planted .. except for corn and pumpkins .. We have had nights in the 40's .. and should they drop, I have means to cover the tender plants.  What's growing in your garden?

2011 Square Foot Garden Planting

This is just a reference list for my square foot garden for 2011; my first attempt at this type of gardening.  I found an easy way to mark the garden using ground eggshells.  Just use a pointed stick as you measure your planting grid area and apply a thin line of eggshells as a planting guide.  The grounds last a few days and add calcium into the soil.  This is less work than making a wooden grid.  I will be adding my planting schedule and pictures later.  We have above freezing night time temps this week and the tomatoes, peppers and other plants are hardening off in the shelter of the front porch.  What's up in your garden this week?

Update (May 20, 2011)

To date garden planting

April 24 - broccoli, wala-wala onions, radish, replanted garlic planted last fall, red and Yukon gold potatoes, new asparagus bed
May 3   - bulb onions, sugar snap peas
May 12 - broccoli, bulb onions, celery, kale, parsley, petunias, tomatoes
May 18 - pepper plants (started from seed), eggplant, rosemary, carrots, cabbage plants, yellow crookneck squash, rosemary, broccoli, lettuce, chard, spinach, cilantro, ever-bearing strawberries, butternut squash (plants) cucumbers (plants), nasturtium
May 27 - corn, pumpkins (orange & white), replanted horseradish to a better location, green beans, zucchini, peas, lettuce plants started from seed, Russian kale plants (from seed), sweet peas, broccoli plants (grown  from seed), Danish ball head cabbage plants (grown from seed)
May 29 - cauliflower plants (given to me by a friend), red sweet pepper plant

Stuck In La Nina

We are in a awful weather pattern .. every other day brings rain or snow showers .. it's been like this for several months including ten degrees below normal temperatures.  Our last 60 degree day was in November.  There is a slim chance that Easter Saturday will be hovering around 60 .. but then we slide back into the cooler wet weather pattern.  Makes for little news to blog about.  Just ho-hum going on here.  I am still recovering from the flu (which I imagine was the swine or similar variety).  Although no loner contagious .. and I did visit the doctor .. my strength has not completely returned.

Hubby and I have one last raised bed to set in place and fill with garden soil.  I hope to get the potatoes planted in the next day or so. What's the weather like in your neighborhood?

Coaxing Spring (hurry up already)

Our weather of late has been fickle.  Most of March found rain showers, gray skies, a few snow showers .. and April is only a little bit 'more promising' ... Our teeny tiny dining room plant nursery has expanded and now includes a sturdy new shelf unit sitting in front of one of the many windows.  All of our plants have sprouted .. even the pepper plants after getting a good warm start in the little plastic covered greenhouse rigged with warming beds and a grow light. 

Hubby and I worked on building 10 of 14 raised garden beds last week, some extra deep and outfitted with quarter inch wire mesh underneath and soon to include hoops made from curved electric conduit to support different coverings.  We have them stacked and draped outside on a slope until the actual garden ground is ready.  It will be at least another five weeks or so before we are frost free and can transplant the seedlings. 

Through all of this soggy weather, I picked up a flu virus that ended with acute sinusitis and over two weeks of feeling exhausted.  Saturday I finally broke down and visited the doctor to get some meds and am almost up to feeling 100% better.  The thought of lying on the backyard hammock in the warm summer air sounds like heavenly therapy; can't wait!

Teeny Tiny 'Baby' Nursery

Oh .. so waiting for the final bit of 'white stuff' to melt!  Our yard is snow free for the most part .. except .. for the last little holdout in the veggie garden.

Meanwhile .. I've got the start of my plant nursery set up in the dining room.

This little greenhouse is equipped with a heater .. albeit .. it sits directly over a heater vent in the floor .. and has the use of my heating pad .. and a grow light.

A few things are sprouting .. and my tropical plants seem to LOOOOVE the attention (read warmth and frequent water mists).

Our neighbors have graciously said I could use some of their outdoor greenhouse so I placed my wireless outdoor thermometer inside of it .. and from the comfy of my living room I can check the temp 24/7.

Having been everything green deprived for the past few months .. this little nursery is a JOY!