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!)

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.

Pinterest Addict (I could quit anytime, I just don't want to!)

Hello, my name is Shannon, I'm addicted to Pinterest.
Wow, it felt good to get that off my chest!

Months and months ago I joined Pinterest, completely unaware of the wrath of pinning and scrolling that was about to be unleashed. I know quite a few people who are uninterested in the whole thing, a few that use it for fun, and a few people like me who pin, and pin, and pin, and pin. It would take me years to make or do my pins, I'd gain 100 pounds if I cooked everything on my 'Bite Me' board, and it would cost me thousands of dollars buying the clothes and other useful(less) things I find amazing and intriguing enough to pin.  I've even gotten to the point where I've gone through and deleted a few of my pins because they aren't up to my current (pin)interests.

The greatest part of Pinterest though, is the amazing amount of gardening ideas I have been able to gather (aka hoard, aka pin). There are so many that I'm going to try to feature one per week, starting today!  There have been ideas that I would have never-in-a-million-years thought of. Also, some ideas that I thought would be great, but never had the instructions to go along with my idea. 

If you're on Pinterest, click here for My Garden board.

Tuesday Pinterest Idea:

Container Potatoes and Vertical Gardening Potatoes

I knew of the idea of using raised beds for potatoes. But these two ideas really made me believe in vertical potato growing and small space gardening.  Last year I planted potatoes and they grew well, but small

Idea 1: Layer soil and mulch with potato seeds in a barrel or large container. Treat like you normally would growing any potatoes and at the end of the summer dump out the container for fresh potatoes!



http://www.motherearthnews.com/



Idea 2: Using chicken wire, or similar product, make a square or circle using stakes. Add a layer of mulch/soil to the structure with the option of adding straw along the sides, which helps to keep everything in.  As you add more mulch/soil, start layering with potato seeds or sprouts. Keeping the straw along the whole structure will help keep in moisture as well as the mulch/soil and potatoes.  At the end of the summer, remove the wire and harvest your potatoes!



http://urbanfarmerseward.posterous.com/potato-towers-and-living-fence-posts



http://www.hillgardens.com/potatoes.htm

Please visit the links attached to the photos to get all the details on how to build a structure.

All three are great websites and have other great information.

I'll post my photos and how I put mine together within the month (or less).

Time for Potatoes!

I finally worked up the courage to dig up a potato. Then four. Then ten. Then I decided to just dig up one row! It worked out better this way. I planted the potatoes too close together to begin with, so each time I dug up one plants worth of potatoes I ended up with the next plant and so on.  I finished the row with a full bucket (beach bucket size), super excited!





Garden Fresh!

We won't have time to eat them right away so I do what I always do, blanch and freeze! I don't have all of the equipment needed or canning yet, but that's okay with the potatoes.  We eat a lot of mashed potatoes in the winter so this will be perfect. I didn't make much from this first row: 2 bags, 1/2 full (1/2 gallon).

Directions:

1) Bring large pot of water to a rapid boil.



 

2) Cut potatoes in desired size.

3) Add potatoes to boiling water. Wait for water to start boiling again; boil for about 3-4 minutes.

4) Drain potatoes.

5) Immediately put potatoes in ice water, let soak for 2-3 minutes.

6) Lay potatoes on paper or cloth towel. Pat dry.

7) Bag em and tag em! Always write the date on frozen produce, never know how long something can get stuck in the freezer!



Done!

My idea for next time would be to add fresh herbs to the bag just before freezing. Less to worry about when I go to use them in a few months!





Garden Happenings

So not including the zucchini wilt, I had a great night exploring the vegetable garden and one of the flower gardens. I don't get out there every night so when I do I'm out for a while fixing, weeding, pruning and peeking at everything.  I was happy with almost everything and even brought in some lettuce and onions for the next couple days. The lettuce leaves are smallish but perfect for my lunch sandwiches.

Grape vine in flower garden. These vines are so heavy they needed extra twine. Last year we didn't even realize this was a vine plant it was so small. I cut it back in the fall and here is what we got!

Two plants worth of these to look at tonight ~ Beautiful

I am not sure what these little guys are but they are so bright against all of the green in the yard, love it!

Large potted Roma tomato plants (3)

I tied these back from the metal rings, they were leaning against it too much.

Smaller tomato plant, Roma.

Peppers. Not sure how these will end up. Something was eating them when they were very small. We'll just have to wait and see I guess.

So very excited about the potatoes!

Lettuce. Slowly thinning it. This was my first year planting lettuce so they are a little too close but tastes amazing.

Nightly harvest!

Crab apples. We only have 6... darn deer at all of the lower buds!