Cold weather vegetable transplants

Right now I feel very much like we are playing the watch and wait game. I simply have to remember to water my plants every few days. I must admit, my broccoli was looking a little dry. But it's still alive and I'm looking forward to putting everything out in the garden. Well, the cold weather veggies anyway. I need to buy a more water permeable agrabon cover to keep the bugs out. Do you have a preference? I purchased mine locally the last few years but I think this year I'm going to order something online. 

In my life outside of gardening I've been dreaming about building a nice outdoor Aviary for my parrots. I plan on owning a beautiful macaw one day so the Aviary will need to be large enough to  accommodate a larger bird, prevent snakes from getting in, and have plenty of flying space, some shade, and some sunny spots. My birdies need their vitamin D. And when we clean out the Aviary, we can compost everything.

Today's Harvest

We've been shelling peas like mad today. I put these in the freezer on a piece of parchment. Did you knowI Love to Cook at Kitchen Kneads has parchment precut for cookie sheets? My husband went and bought us pizza. Maybe that defies the purpose of gardening which is healthy eating. But it made it possible to get more done. We found out Pizza Plus has a gluten free crust so that was nice. The cheese might do me in. It seems like my milk allergy is getting worse. 

I picked a head of broccoli and some green onions today. I can't wait to eat them! And I pruned the tomato plants too. I got rid of all the leaves and branches touching the ground. They are just reaching the tops of the cages and just starting to bloom. 

I purchased some Slogger brand garden boots with a gift certificate I got for Easter.  I am allergic to soy, palm kernal oil, nuts, wheat, melons, and berries so most candy is out including 99% of chocolate.  So I got a gift certificate to the garden store.  Of course I had to spend a little more than I received to get these but I love them.

I can wear them without socks once in a while because they are thinly lined- like when the wind is blowing the cover of my square foot garden - or I can wear a thin sock and still stay cool enough (I have super duper hot feet - like it makes me sick to my stomach sometimes).  I am super excited about these.  They are even comfy with my big calves.  For someone 5"1' I have really big calves and tiny ankles. Go figure!  

Anyway, my son loved them so much he took his birthday money and bought the little boy's pair in blue with red stars.  Now he's as "cool" as his mom.  I love that he still thinks I'm cool and I'll hold onto that as long as I can.

And I don't know if you can see my blank walls about my kitchen cabinets in the background but I am finally making plans on how to decorate those.  We've only been here 5 years.

Harvest Monday - January 30, 2012

Well it looks like my onion sprouts are doing well.  The celery plant is a little larger but since this is the first time I've grown celery I have no idea what it's supposed to be doing right now.  A nice garden blogger said she starts her celery from seed in January and gets a plentiful harvest the same year.  Next year I'll have to try that.

Remember all that rain? Well, the mountains got plenty of snow.  In just a few days the base at the ski resort doubled.  It's only 54" but that is way better than 21".  To be honest I haven't been skiing since before I had children.  I used to ski weekly during college.  And this time I skied on the same skis my parents gave me when I was 15.  I know you're jealous of my vintage skis, aren't you?  They're even florescent orange underneath.  They scream 1990! The helmet is new.  I need to get a good photo of it.

At least I remembered how to ski.  I was so nervous the first run. It brought back so many wonderful memories.  I am so grateful to have the strength to be back skiing.  

He wasn't nervous at all.  Just excited to be back in the snow.  Usually we go tubing with our children this time of the year but there just isn't enough snow in the valley ... yet. Tyler is a fantastic skier.  

Notice the snow on my black scarf. That wasn't from crashing. That was from a certain someone who sprayed me.  

And our daughter took snowboarding lessons.  She's never been on the mountain before. She had a great time and did wonderfully. I'm super pleased with her ability to snowboard in just a few short hours.

I'm going to try something else to keep my neck warm next time.

Lunch break

In line to get on the lift.

I've gotta have something to do when I'm not GARDENING. 

Can I mention one thing here?  

PLEASE Don't tell someone who has gone through 9 months of chemo and radiation that if they're going to have cancer, Hodgkins Lymphoma is the kind to have. 

Just say, "I'm glad you are doing better" or "you look wonderful for all you've been through" or "Is there anything I can do to help you?".  

HL kills people all the time.  Even stage 1 HL requires 4 months of chemo and 11 radiation treatments. a 3 inch wide tumor that reaches from below your lungs all the way into the middle of your neck isn't the kind to have. But it happened. And I am so grateful for each and every extra day. And there are a lot of cancers that only require surgery and follow up visits.  I know there are a lot more aggressive cancers out there.  I see it everyday with the Cache Valley for Hope cancer foundation.

Cancer is Cancer

Don't minimize the emotional and physical strain it puts on a person's life with a few careless words. Just help them feel loved and appreciated. What are some kind things you would say to a person who needs some encouragement?

OK, off my soap box now!

Spring and getting outside

Can you see the difference in these two photos? I added more punch to the color and increased the contrast. That's something you'll learn in week 1 of my Photo First Aid class. Then I added a photo of clouds to the top so you could actually see them. Yep, that's something you'll learn in my Photo First Aid class in week 4.  

It was a gorgeous Saturday morning and my children were excited to get outside and enjoy the sunshine while Daddy mowed the lawn. The flox is just starting to bloom and I love the colors.  The medium pink starts first.  Then the purple goes next.  After that the brightest pink shows its colors. I've been transplanting some of the sedum around, especially the one with pink blooms.  It's great between the rocks and grows like crazy this time of the year.  Can you see the bottom step? That means that the grass has finally grown to its mature height. It's as tall as the step.  Of course, ignore the big patches the voles took out this year.  I think when it gets hot that they should fill right in again.

Garden therapy - even photos help.

I just love these colors! Although the plant is a bit unruly and you never know how the seeds are going to do each year, these are gorgeous and I am grateful to have them in my garden. Wish I could tell you the name.  My goal this year is to keep better track of what I'm adding in my yard.  Trees hopefully.  It's almost time to make the chicken wire cage for my poor apple tree.  Hopefully the deer didn't kill if off entirely last year. 

As much as I love snow, it's just so nice to get outside and run my hands through the soil.

Gardening Cabinet

Click on any of the images to see them larger.

My mom's neighbor is moving to England.  She joined my mom and our family for Christmas Eve dinner because her husband is already over there.  After stuffing ourselves with snow crab my Dad asked if we could see her house.  It's like a museum with gorgeous pieces from all over the world.  When we walked into her office and I saw this piece I gasped and said, "This is gorgeous!" 

 I immediately envisioned it on my covered back porch filled with my gardening supplies but didn't say anything except, "Where did you find this?" My jaw was hanging open as I looked at it.  She must have decided right then that piece was going to be mine.  My parents showed up Wednesday with it in the back of their pick up truck.  I squealed! The movers were packing her container to ship to England and there just wasn't space.  It's in my garage for now.  I need to build something for the bottom to protect it from the elements if I move it outback.  It will be back against the wall where the wind and snow are not likely to reach it. But for now, I love driving into my garage while staring straight at this beauty.

Can you see the old beadboard in the back?  I know it needs 3 pieces of glass but that's do-able.  

Organization and space for everything

I've had these glass bottles tucked in a cabinet since we moved in.  They just look so much better in a lighter colored space unlike the dark window area in my kitchen.

And this basket it perfect for this space - until I start transplanting stuff.

Cool Hardware

And it's about as shabby chic as it can be.  My husband would never pay for something like this although I really adore the style.  It has it's place and it's the perfect gardening cabinet for me. Every girl needs a great space to work in and I now have mine.  Thanks again Pat! You're a sweetheart.  Travel safe.

Sprouting in my window sill

We planted columbia cabbage, romaine lettuce, and purple kohlrabi on February 1st.

Here are the sprouts on the 11th.

The Kohlrabi wasn't sprouting so I stuck the heating pad under it.

I set it to LOW and it's only on during the day. We now have 8 of 12 sprouted.

And the Romaine Lettuce is coming along.  The Big Daddy Onions are too. I learned a few things about Onions HERE.  Some onions DO NOT STORE WELL.  I've been getting onion sets from Anderson's Seed and Garden.  I usually get a red and a yellow.  Walla Walla and Candy Red.  Last year I decided to try Big Daddy.

The big Daddy Onions are doing really well and so easy to store.  I didn't put them in the best spot of ground so they didn't get very big, but they are tasty and I still have a few left as you can see from the last photo. I decided to try and start them from seed so there is less of a problem with them going to seed this summer.  So far so good.  They seem really hardy.

It's nice to see something sprouting indoors even though it went from 50 back down to the low 20's.

It's February 1st!

Gardening Already??? I know, it's 10 degrees today. I just needed to feel a bit better about this weather.

I'm sure many of you are used to buying seeds in these cute little packets.  That's what I grew up with.  That's what we purchased the other day - a few anyway.  They don't have Genovese Basil at the garden store I love.  I labeled the upper left corner with the month and year.  Many of the seeds we buy are good for a few years. There are guides out there to help you on that.

And then I was introduced to Anderson's Seed and Garden.  They sell seeds in bulk.  I get exactly the number of seeds I need for the length of the row I plan to plant.  And it's less expensive. The nice thing is that they have this nifty planting guide divided up into cold plantings, just before frost, after frost, and fall.  Everything on one sheet. Get your copy here! Print and laminate that puppy. No more trying to keep track of dirt covered seed packages.

Here's my little helper.  The lettuce was the easiest for him to plant.  The round kohlrabi and cabbage seeds got away from him. I've never tried these window sill peat starters.

We are going to try them out on the cabbage and kohlrabi, oh and the romaine lettuce.

I had no idea I could plant lettuce so early.  I like the romaine because the deer don't.

It only needs to be 25 degrees. And I love kohlrabi - no bugs like broccoli.  And it's great in stir fry.  And Mike at Anderson's says the purple is more tender.  We shall see...

 

And here you can see that it's all in the window sill.  We can transplant in about 6 weeks which is when the boxes say to move the starts out. As long as the garden dries out a bit, we can.

I labelled them with painters tape. Nothing fancy.

Don't want to garden this year? It's always a good idea to keep some seeds stored along with your food storage.

Life - made easier

When we put in our sprinkler system we maxed out our timer system at 16.  So the only option for my garden was a hose bib.  That first year was terrible.  I think I wasted way more water than necessary.  

This little contraption by Orbit in Salt Lake is heaven sent.  I designed my drip line and then attached the timer.  This one has a manual setting and an electronic setting.  So, the hose is hooked up to the one on the right.  I leave the one on the left open so I can use my water pail to mix up fertilizer.  I try to just use compost but sometimes a few plants need an extra boost.  This is so handy.  And can I use the term, GREEN?  I waste much less water thanks to the drip line and timer.  I can easily adjust times as I see the need.  I learned my lesson this year - don't place outside until after June 1st or even later.  They will crack and the batteries will leak if they freeze.  

My potatoes are doing quite well.  I guess I could dig up a few for new potatoes for tin foil dinners. I learned a trick for planting these.  Last year I did two rows.  This year I planted on each side of the drip line about 12 inches apart and alternated so they are in a zigzag if you drew lines between them.  One row and twice as many potatoes.  So far, so good.  I learned this technique from square foot gardening.

 Any idea what these are?  Onions going to seed.  Last year one went to seed and I harvested the seeds, planted the seeds, saw them sprout, grow, and placed them in the garden.  Leave one or two plants in the garden to go to seed next year.  My green bunching onions are doing the same thing.  Fewer seeds to buy equals money in my pocket!

And I'm learning to love clematis.  It's time to build a trellis to fill my back wall behind the garage.  These plants are taking off!  Last year I saw one bloom on this plant.  This year there are dozens of 6 inch blooms all over this vine.

Maybe I'll post my before and after pics next.  As in last week and this week.  It's amazing what a little heat will do.  

is it time to make a change?

Just wondering if anyone reads my blog or if it's just google bots or what have you.  If not, I think I'm just going to trade this time in for more time scrapbooking instead of blogging.

My garden facing West.  You can see a part of the back of my house in this photo.  You can kind of tell the garden is on the upper level.  I need to transplant more tomatoes.

My kohlrabi is starting to get bigger.  Soon we'll be having stir fry or eating it with a soybean free ranch dressing.

I know this doesn't look like much, but it's over 60 garlic plants.  I can't wait to see how well they do. I've never grown garlic before.  I'm feeling a little anxious. But they all sprouted so we are off to a good start.  You have to plant garlic in the fall.  Anderson's Seed and Garden has a great selection of different types of garlic.  Some of this is from the grocery store although I heard now they are treating them so they will not sprout.

Green bunching onions with the walls of water in the background.

Romaine Lettuce - you can see such a huge difference from the wimpy leaves that grew indoors and the gorgeous green leaves from outside.  Also, you can see my drip system.  Love it!  Although I learned the hard way to not put my timer on until the 2nd or 3rd week in June.  It cracked one night.  I have a new one - inside until I can trust it to stay warm enough.

wall of water - it's still so cold here - perfect for capturing the warmth of the sun

peas with spinach on the right of each row - need to go buy a trellis for these

Garden - facing East