Planting the garden

Today I spent quite a while in the garden planting. I planted Optimum Corn, space miser zucchini, lemon cucumbers, romaine lettuce, summertime lettuce, and crook neck squash. I transplanted the celery into the south square foot garden and put the shade cloth over it. It's really in need of the shade right now while its getting established. I also spent some time texting back and forth with my sister who is gardening in a row garden for the first time. She needed to know how far apart to plant onions. Where to plant things - I always plant my tallest items on the east since my rows run north and south. I'm just glad she is willing to ask questions - it makes for a better crop and then she won't have to waste as much time with trial and error, cause I know I did. What are your gardening questions?

Learn about Romaine and Summertime lettuce from Anderson's Seed & Garden

This is the Romaine Lettuce Plato II.  I purchased the seeds at Anderson's Seed and Garden last year.  As you can see, the seeds are still doing well and had no problem sprouting.  I think after I harvest the spring crop I am going to try the Outback Romaine - it grows taller and is exceptionally heat tolerant.  Nothing like fresh lettuce with grilled hamburgers, especially when you're allergic to wheat and can't enjoy a hamburger bun. 

More about Romaine Lettuce Plato II from Anderson's Seed & Garden:

This popular Romaine has upright growth reaching 10 inches tall with large, thick, medium green, slightly rumpled leaves with creamy white centers. Tender, crisp, and sweet flavored. It is tolerant to many lettuce diseases and is slow bolting. Approximately 65 days to maturity.

This is the Summertime Lettuce.  I purchased the seeds from Andersons.

More about Summertime Lettuce from Andersons:

Summertime head lettuce is an excellent choice for cultivation in warm to hot climates. Here in Cache Valley it can be treated like loose leaf lettuce. This sure heading iceberg variety produces medium-sized, firm heads in about 75 days from direct seeding. Heads are medium green, with a short core. Summertime has demonstrated very slow bolting under high temperatures, and shows good resistance to rib discoloration and tip burn. 

Here is one of my many jalapenos transplants.  I have learned that peppers take a long time to sprout and need a heat mat.  I use an old heating pad.  To get the Serranos to sprout I actually had to turn it up on high.  Serranos take the longest. If you are going to start your own - plant January 1st.  I started the bell peppers and jalapenos the same time.  They really don't need to start until February 1st.  They can't go outside until all danger of frost has past unless you plan on covering them. 

Here's more about Jalapenos from Andersons: 

An improved, medium maturity Jalapeno type with blunt-ended, dark green fruit, ripening to red. The upright medium sized plants produce excellent yields of very hot peppers and provide very good foliage cover for them. A popular type for certain markets.  80 – 110 days to harvest.

My heirloom tomatoes are starting to sprout

My summertime lettuce is looking good.  I can't wait to see what it will look like in a few weeks when I can finally put them outside in the covered square foot garden.  The snow was just starting to melt and we got 2 more inches last night.  I'm not convinced it will be an early spring unless the ice melts on the reservoir before my son's birthday.

 I thinned the bok choy down to 2 plants.  It survived a trip to the elementary school in the hands of my littlest.  When he reads for 20 minutes he gets to fill out the Read Around the World folder.  Each continent and a couple of the oceans are represented.  There are 15 twenty minute sections for each. After that is completed they write down 5 facts and draw 4 pictures to go with the facts.  Then he gets to create something to represent that continent or ocean and present it with 5 facts about the subject.  

We were talking about the bok choy and how it originated in Asia and he got all excited and asked to bring it for his report.  He printed off a list of facts about bok choy and shared it with his class.  For each report he gets something and then at the end of the year he gets ice cream and all the toppings that go with each continent or ocean.  Daddy has volunteered to help that day!

Back to my plants: My blue Kale has sprouted and will be thinned soon.

And last of all, my heirloom tomatoes are starting to sprout.  When I save the seeds myself, I'm always a little worried.  But they always sprout.  The 5" peat pots are holding up well too. 

Well, Mambo has been sitting quietly on my shoulder for quite a while.  I think she needs some flight training.  She loves it! So here we go...

Indoor Garden Upgrades

So this year I decided to ditch the old plastic trays you can buy at the garden center. You know? The kind that flats of flowers come in.  Holding eighteen 3" pots filled with soil and water was fine on the tables but move them an inch and they break.  

So as you can see I upgraded to something a little more indestructible.  They have a 10 year warranty but I don't really care.  What mattered was they were about the right depth and heights and width and all 3 of those containers fit between the ladder game. And I like the clear look.  

A look in the first one shows a little container of green onions.  1 pot of bok choy, a whole bunch of celery in peat pots, 2 bell peppers, many jalapenos, and Serranos too. I'm leaning towards Salsa this year. Last year it was all about the tomato sauce (I made homemade spaghetti with 2 quarts of tomato sauce tonight and it was delicious - lasagna will be made from the left over sauce later this week).

This tray is full of cold weather veggies and items for the covered square foot garden. Summertime Lettuce, Romaine Lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, kale, and swiss chard. 

I must admit that I've NEVER eaten chard or kale - I'm only growing them for my parrots.  Oh ya, PARROTS, with an S.  Yes.  And they are super fun! We've had Kiwi, a yellow sided green cheek, since last April.  Today we purchased Mambo, a green cheek. She is not quite a year old and was living with the cutest family but her owner is moving. Today we got Mambo to jump on command, step up when asked and without biting, and target train to learn the clicker and get a treat.  Someone held her all afternoon and Kiwi even showed off his basketball skills while she watched intently. The best part was the end of the day when she let me scratch her head and neck and fell asleep in my hands. 

And last of all I have the 5" peat pots with the heirloom tomatoes.  2 are early girls but the rest are either cherokee purple or pink brandywine. I saved the seeds from the pink brandywine and they grew well last year so I'm using them again.  Best flavor ever!

June 2, 2012 Garden Harvest

First of all I transplanted all of the Genovese Basil to the garden.  There are 14 in the row garden. I placed them between the tomatoes.  It's supposed to help ward off tomato horn worms.  It worked last year in the square foot garden. We'll see how it goes this year.  I started the basil from seed. 

I also brought the pepper plants outside to sit on the porch and start to harden them off before transplanting.  Serrano, Jalapeno, and Bell. I started them from seed as well (except for 4 of the Serrano).  The Jalapenos did the best.  They sure are pretty and dark green.  Grow lights are wonderful! They are in the shade today but they'll get a little sun in the morning an then back to shade.  

I harvested a few strawberries.  We have a tiny patch and it looks like the voles are back.  I bated around the big square foot garden and need to get more.  It's an organic variety but it works amazingly well.  

And my husband, daughter, and son all loved them.  My husband even encouraged me to buy more and grow a bigger patch.  I wish I remembered which type they were but my mom gave them to me and I have no idea. 

This is Summer Time lettuce that I spread on my plate and added a little LiteHouse Ranch (soy free). And this is the first time growing Summer Time.  It's a head lettuce and it handles the summer heat very well.  It is delicious and pretty.  I can't have wheat (hives) so I use a bed of lettuce instead of a bun with my burgers.

And the Correnta Spinach looks yummy.  Can't wait to eat some of that tonight.

Gardening in the spring

I'm going to be teaching gardening to the Relief Society ladies at church on the 10th.  Any of your best gardening tips would be great - especially cutting costs when gardening. Link me to your posts in a comment or leave a comment here.

I've tried to kill off my basil a number of times already.  There was the time it was on the deck and it reached 80 degrees and well, imagine what the dark brown deck must have been.  They started to will and dry out.  I ran them inside to the air conditioning and gave them a cool drink of water.  

Then I left them out overnight when it got down to 34 degrees.  So I brought them in to warm up and gave them a warm drink of water.  My mom taught me that if I left them out and it got too cold you must bring them in before the sun hits them.  You might be able to save a few by letting them warm slowly.  

If the sun hits them they are goners.

Isn't it interesting the difference a few items in your garden can make?

For example, the row cover.  I purchased it and cut it and sewed it and added string through the ends so I could tighten it and tie it off on the ends.  I put it on my square foot garden nearest my master bedroom.  I have great spinach this year.  The large one I started indoors.  The smaller by seed.  Much easier to start off outside!

And all of my romaine is alive and most look really good after transplanting.  Some are smaller but they are all outside looking beautiful and I'm happy about that. 

And the dutch cabbages are all doing really well. 

And this Michihili chinese cabbage is doing great.  I had to pull 2 that went to seed.  I'm going to plant the seeds directly in the square foot garden with the cover and see how they do. 

My carrots are looking good. I thinned them after this photo. It's easier for me to thin them when they are tiny and don't quite look like a carrot.

And my big daddy onions are doing well.  I made a Tri-Tip roast this week and added in a bunch I had sliced and frozen from last year.  I will be making french onion soup with the beef stock and onions along with my Udi's gluten free bread as the crouton.

This is my Summertime lettuce.  It's starting to form a head.  My son informed me he thought it was a weed and was going to pull it out.  I'm so glad he didn't.

And my baby bok choy is looking nice as well. 

And out and away from the square foot garden I have my peas in my row garden.  

The nice thing about having the ball valves on each line of the drip line is that I can just water my onions and peas and garlic right now without watering the rest which means fewer weeds and less compacting of the soil before planting the rest of my garden.  It's a cold wet day today or I would be outside killing Bind Weed for sure. (It looks like morning glory) You can see a few sprouts next to the peas. It's also about time to thin the peas.

Our last frost date in May 16th but we usually get a good hail storm the first or second week in June.  I plant my pumpkin seeds on May 16th and have always had great success.  Corn can go in the same time. But things like pepper plants don't go out until the 3rd week in June.  Tomatoes go out but are covered.  Most are doing well.  Only one looks a little stressed out.  Squash, Zucchini and green beans get planted June 1st.

Garden update

My friend April - she is one of the smartest people in the world.  She started a magazine all on her own. Her oldest just got a perfect score on his ACT.  And April is also the best stay at home mom I know.  She was getting ready to grind some wheat yesterday when the neighbor said to her son, "WHAT is that?" To which her youngest son replied,  

"It's like a super hero cape - but for girls."

 If that doesn't give you a whole new appreciation for motherhood, I don't know what will. 

My morning started off in the fog.  I decided to go running anyway (I attract accidents and so I get nervous about anything that would impair visibility).  There was just enough visibility to make me feel like I would survive the run.  I saw my neighbor Babette out running too.  She was on her way home and I still hadn't reached my half way point. The fog started to burn off as I reached the top of the hill near my home.  I  love it when it looks like clouds. I can honestly say I never thought I'd ever run.  EVER! But I'm really enjoying myself.

And when I returned home I decided to work on the square foot garden.  I had to cut a piece off the 10x12 row cover and make it 8x14.  I also cut some of the extra pieces of the black pipe I used for the hoops and made clips.  

I planted Correnta Spinach and Little Finger Carrots today in this little garden.  During the week I transplanted 81 Big Daddy Onions, 4 Dutch Cabbage, and 5 Chinese Cabbage (Michihili) into this garden too. 

You can see my youngest in the background here. All 12 jalapenos are sprouting. 

All 4 Summertime Lettuce are doing well.  They'll go outside soon.  I decided to try and see if the spinach would sprout better in the 3" pots rather than the small window peat starters.  3"peat pots win!

If you look closely in the middle of the peat pot on the right you can see the first of the bell pepper sprouts.  I really hope that all of them sprout.  I love bell peppers. 2 cayenne peppers are just starting to sprout as well.

These are my Baby Bok Choy starts. Once they get a few more leaves I can harden them off.  I am hoping these crazy Utah springtimes don't send them bolting to seed.  My parents lived in Korea (my Dad is a medivac pilot) for a while and we love Asian greens. 

And my Utah Celery plants are looking pretty.  I can hardly wait to see if I can get these to grow once I move them outside.  Any tips?

All of my heirloom tomatoes are growing well. I can't believe that in 6 weeks they will be going outside and into the walls of water.  A couple I go to church with has this cool idea for using bolt cutters to turn cattle panels into the best tomato cages - perfect for indeterminate heirlooms that seem to grow super tall. Cattle panels are about $25 and you can make 3 cages from 1 panel.  I will definitely be making 3 - hopefully 6. And they store flat. Extra cool. 

And as you can see, these are getting out of control.  I may just have to break a piece off and start them over from a cutting or they might be too leggy.  I've never started heirlooms from seed I collected and I was worried about how long they'd take to sprout and grow but I can't bear to just toss them out.

All the bulbs and lilies seem to be poking out of the ground.  I am most excited about the purple Alliums.  Those on the west side of the house are really looking good. 

I also planted 18 basil plants this year to mix in between the tomato plants. I hear it helps deter those pesky tomato horn worms - we'll see.  

And then later today I planted 8 Early Girl tomatoes. If the ground would dry out a little I could get my garden tilled and plant all the peas - the bird on the mountain melted oh so long ago.

Cell phone pictures - sorry!

Harvest Monday - March 19, 2012

On Tuesday we went to the grocery store, not the one we typically go to. And there was fresh chicken breast for sale at 1.47/lb in 40 lb cases.  We purchased two cases. 

So far I've canned 

21 quarts of chicken breast 

AND

6 jars of chicken stock

 from the trimmings.  I also have a stock pot in the fridge just waiting to be skimmed and canned. I put 7 lbs of chicken in freezer bags and put them in the deep freeze.  And I have about a dozen pints of chicken breast I need to finish up.  I love having a pressure canner and I love canning my own chicken at a fraction of the cost.  What will we use all this chicken for over the next year - chicken salad sandwiches, chicken enchiladas, hawaiian haystacks, and I could go on and on. And the chicken stock is great for chicken noodle soup, and a million other things like making a low fat gluten free condensed creamy chicken soup (I'm allergic to wheat).

Here's our landscape plan.  I asked for plants that they'd find around homes in Park City Utah.  Uhm, they really didn't know what they were doing.  But the bones are good.  So I have been busy making changes and having fun.

Can you see the green line?  Just click on it to see it larger if you need. I am going to add a low wall by stacking flat rock.  That corner set up isn't going to work.  I'm just starting the leg work - measuring, finding how much sand I'll need.  How much the rock with cost. ETC

 I've started some Summertime Lettuce.

 My red beef steak tomato plant is doing well.

 I started some spinach in 3" pots.  It like the extra space for the roots.  NOTE TO SELF: Plant spinach in 3" peat pots if you want success.

 Because they don't seem to be doing very well in the small jump start containers.

 The baby bok choy is looking good. I think I should have started it a few weeks earlier.  Live and learn. The ice on the lake is already gone - the earliest in 5 years by weeks. I can always put it in the shade.

And here are the other heirloom tomato starts in 6" pots -

Cherokee Purple

Pink Brandywine

Red Beefsteak

The celery is looking great.

Red beef steak I need to separate the one and put it in another pot.

And the pink brandywine with it's potato like leaves. I can hardly wait to munch on these most delicious tomatoes.

It snowed 3" last night.  But it will be 67 degrees Friday. Nice! And I've taken up walking.  I go between 2 miles and 3 miles a day except not on Sunday. But today I choose the elliptical because the road is so icy.  See ya!

Check out Daphne's Dandelions