Vegetable Garden 2014

I have been gardening. And preserving. Basically everything except getting it down in words and pictures. I need more time during the evening when the kids are in bed, the sun is down, and the house is quiet. But, that is when I sleep!

Today, with the help of Cole, the garden was 'mostly' weeded. It was 'mostly' weeded almost 2 weeks ago too. Despite the weeds, my vegetables are growing amazing!

Changes already scheduled for next year:
No leeks.
Plant earlier, make a basic sheet cover for late frost.
Inside planting - transplant sooner.
Spinach and lettuce in containers/pots, not hanging baskets; less seeds per container.
Harvest mint once in June to prevent flowering.

Full view

3 rows of carrots. I had one today, best carrot ever! Need to thin these out.

Tomatoes, and 5 foot tall tomatillos

Jalapeno peppers and bell peppers

Cucumbers

Tomatillo lanterns

Bell peppers

Zucchini

Turnips

Potato flowers

Sweet Potatoes

Pole beans

Pumpkin vine

Bush beans

Tomatoes

Little closer view of whole garden

 

Vegetable Garden

The planning has officially begun!

I have seeds saved from last year to look through, I'll also have to wait for sweet potatoes, potatoes, garlic, and onions to purchase locally. I ordered from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds last year for the first time and had great luck with their product.

Last night's order consisted of the following:
Jujube cherry tomato
German red strawberry tomato
San Juanito tomatillo
Amarillo carrot
Bleu de solaise leek
Purple top white globe turnip
Kuroda long 8 carrot
Butternut rogosa violin "Gioia" squash
Boston pickling cucumber
Rocky top lettuce mix
Ground cherry
Amsterdam prickly seeded spinach
 

Root Recipe

My husband was a little turned off by the smell of turnips but was game for trying them (again). He forgot I mashed them in potatoes last fall! 

I decided to make pan fried roots to go with our dinner and wow did it turn out awesome. So simple if you have the items in your garden, which we did! We'll definitely be making something like it again. I wish I had taken a picture, it was a beautiful side dish.

Ingredients:
2 med-large turnips
2 carrots
1 large onion (used purple)
3 med-large potatoes (used red)
4 tablespoons butter
garlic powder
salt and pepper

1) Peel turnips. (carrots if desired)
2) Cut carrots.
3) Cut onion, and potato in large thin slices.
4) Melt butter in sauce pan.
5) Add veggies and garlic powder. Cover.
6) Fry for 25 minutes (or so), stirring every 5 minutes (or so).
7) Devour!
 

2012 Garden - The Stars of Project 24

My Garden stars the following attractions this year:

CARROTS

(I planted carrots last year but absolutely none grew, this was a pleasant suprise!)

TOMATOES

(I was given a box of tomatoes last fall and saved the seeds. I planted 4 greenhouse plants just in case but now have an overabundance of tomatoes! Looking forward to making spaghetti sauce of some sort.)

Habanero Peppers

(I started these inside and transplanted in mid-July. They have flowers but I'm unsure if they will produce in time for the fall. We've still got time. First time trying peppers in the garden.)

TOMATILLOS

(First time with tomatillos, hoping to make a few jars of salsa.)

MARIGOLDS

(I have read over the years that Marigolds help with certain pests. I normally don't like the flower itself, but enjoy it in my garden.)

HERBS

(Spearmint, Thyme, Basil in the garden. I also have Parsley in a container on the deck.)

ACORN SQUASH

(I love acorn squash, but my husband and son do not. I'll be eating some and making the rest into baby food.)

ZUCCHINI

(We love zucchini so much that when I ran out of room I planted the 2 extra seeds away from the rest near my acorn squash. Didn't want to waste a seed!)

SWEET POTATOES

(Again, my boys do not eat these. I will eat a few, give a few away, but mostly make these into baby food for next spring.)

PUMPKINS

(I saved seeds from last year's 'cooking pumpkin' we bought while at a local pumpkin patch. This was, again, a let's-see-how-it-works-out type situation. Turned out well!)

GREEN BEANS

(Last year I planted 2 packets of seeds, and we got no green beans. So this year I tried again. Seems everything I put in the ground grew! We've harvested 2 gallons so far just off the bush beans. We'll pick the pole beans tomorrow and will have at least the same. Bush beans will have to be harvested again soon too! I'm freezing the beans to use over the winter. Will possibly make some baby food with these when thawed.)

ASPARAGUS

(I was hoping to plant up to 15 asparagus plants. I restrained and bought 2. They were supposed to be ready to produce this year but I only got 2 stalks. I let them grow and will cut them down in the fall in hopes of asparagus next year. Gotta keep trying!)

GARLIC and ONIONS

(I planted fall garlic and onions that have been growing nicely. Haven't been able to harvest as soon as I thought we would but they are going to be a better size than the garlic and onions I planted this spring. Nice to have a little bit of each.)



TURNIPS

(Opps! I planted turnips and had no idea what I was going to do with them... so I'm going to blanch and freeze them with my potatoes and some with carrots for baby food. I will only add a small amount fo the baby food carrots, turnips could make baby gassy!)

POTATOES

(Planted Kenebec and Yukon Gold. Grew well last year, growing well again now that they don't have weeds to compete with!)

Pinterest Tuesday Idea

I love fresh carrots from the garden. When my siblings, cousins and I were younger we would help plant and harvest my grandma's garden. One of my favorite things to do was pick a carrot, 'clean' it on the grass, and eat! Last year I tried to plant carrots. I quickly realized our soil is too heavy (a common problem with my garden).  I planted a row of seeds, and only had one produce, then quickly die...

Over the winter I found a link through Pintrest about growing carrots in pots. This had never even occurred to me before! I have two huge clay pots that were left at he house by the previous owners that I have used for flowers. However, this year they are holding carrot seeds.

One thing I made sure to do was use an organic potting soil and seed starter in the pots. This soil is nice and light so the carrots will stay put but still have a lot of space to grow. I will have to make sure they get watered on a regular basis so the soil does not dry out. So far so good, just waiting for the sprouts!



The 2 large pots hold my carrots, the smaller pot holds spinach. Here, they will get full sun.

2012 Vegetable Garden - Project 24

Today I got to do my first 2012 gardening log in my book. My Aunt Joanne reminded me to keep track of the dates I plant, and what I plant. An idea instilled and practiced by my Grandma (her mama).  My Grandma was a diligent record keeper and logged the weather every day for as far back as we can track. She had gardening journals detailing everything. And while I have this blog, I love nothing more than a good handwritten record to look back on.  So, I've already logged everything (which I'm sure is making Grandma proud) and now its time to blog it!

I've changed my 'garden spreadsheet' a dozen times already and even 'finalized' it five times... opps! I really should know better.  I use growveg.com for my garden template and I love it!


Jeremy tilling the garden.

 The first things to go in the garden were my hanging tomato plants. I'm trying Romas in two hanging baskets to see how they work. I accidentally bought these instead of cherry tomatoes so I figure I might as well try them and see how they work. I'm all about maximizing my space this year.

Second veggie to go in the garden were carrots. I planted carrots in two large terra cotta pots. Our soil is extremely heavy and last year we only had one pop up, and then proceeded to die within days. I read that they would grow well in pots so I'm keeping my fingers crossed this year! The best carrots are fresh from the garden.

Third, I transplanted my tomatoes that had been growing inside for the past month. They are small but have been wilting and crowding each other out this week. The pots I planted them in were too small to begin with, I should have known better. But we planted them anyway and covered each with a 1/2 piece of a 2 liter bottle. This will hopefully keep the fragile little things warm over night and give them a nice little greenhouse during the day. I'll take the covers off in two weeks, when we shouldn't have freezing temps over night any more. I have more to plant when it gets warmer but I wanted a few ready to go asap!

Fourth, I planted potatoes, Yukon Gold. Three rows so far, with room for two more. I didn't plan ahead enough with the one bag I purchased from the greenhouse. Oh darn, will have to make another trip to Nature's Edge next weekend ;)



Rows are east-west.

 Fifth, my mom gave me her extra yellow and purple onions, planted two rows of each. The fall onions are coming up nicely too!



Onions and Garlic are north-south

 Sixth, brought out the small garlic from last year's garden and planted it in two rows. I should have spaced these out a little more but I think they will be fine. The fall garlic are coming up great!



Fall Onion and Garlic

Seventh, turnips. This is my first year growing these so we'll see how it goes! I don't love-love turnips but I do like them in a few different dishes so thought I might as well get them in the garden. 



Turnips and Marigolds are east-west

Eighth, I planted marigolds and alyssum. The alyssum went along the two 'missing' rows of potatoes and along the first row of new onions. These are supposed to be great companion plants for potatoes and garlic/onions. I put a small row of marigolds on both sides of the turnips. I have a lot of each of the flowers left to spread between rows in the garden. I'm hoping it not only helps the soil but boosts the productivity of my veggies.

A couple weeks ago I planted two groupings of asparagus with the hopes of 6-8 more. These were only watered today, nothing exciting.

After planting, everything was watered twice. Then I was done, woohoo! In 2 weeks I will plant the peas, beans, zucchini, transplant my butternut squash and eggplant, and plant extra tomatoes and anything else I find at Nature's Edge next weekend.