Harvests are picking up!

Gathering Lunch

Well, obviously that is more than lunch and since I'm grilling for dinner I can see a very satisfying meal in my future! Tomatoes pictured are Black Krim, Cherokee Purple, Constoluto Genovese (my favorite for canning), Green Zebra, Goliath and Mortgage Lifter. There are more on the vines, but they are hidden enough to not be in danger from the birds (who are bedeviling me) if I leave them on to ripen more fully for a day or two.

Mostly I'm canning them. And shockingly, as many as I planted I need to double my planting next year to get truly full canner loads at one shot. For example, the 12 pounds below only came out to 7 pints, never mind quarts. And doing that every 3 or 4 days but not getting 7 quarts isn't very energy efficient.

Nonetheless, I'm very pleased with what is coming so far and the yields just pick up from here!

My harvest from the 27th and 28th made only 7 pints out of 12 pounds of tomatoes

Question for you all on canning tomatoes: I've always heard that Romas do best, but I'm finding they don't have the kind of texture or color or powerful flavor of others. Do you can Romas or do you like others instead?

Pretty and Tasty!

Not much to say today. I'm super busy at work and coming home to be super busy working at home. I'm just itching to know how the weather is treating everyone's garden though.

The way a windowsill should look in summer

Harvest for 20 June...way early!

Uhhh...now what?

At this point I'm lost in the corn growing process. My climbing beans grew faster than the corn so it is a tangled mess in there. The corn is getting the tops but not quite as tall as I am yet. I'm not sure what to do to it now to try to get things to go right now. I suppose I just wait for the experiment to unfold?

A hundred, two hundred...oh, I give up!

My winter bed looking sloppy.

But it has hidden treasures in it. :)

My acorn squash in the winter bed (which is just a small bed in the area near my house that has extended spring and slightly less devastatingly hot conditions in high summer) is producing and the amount this is growing in a day is shocking. The squash get visibly bigger from morning to evening. Weird. This was on the 20th and now it is more than double that size. I've thinned off some to be sure I have space between fruits and a limited number on a plant. I adore acorn squash so I'm drooling over this fall's hearty dishes when the weather cools.

Best to all! I've been reading on my iphone all of your blogs while waiting or between meetings, but commenting is difficult on that thing so just know I'm still with you!

How do I harvest Parsnip seeds?

I left a few parsnips from last year in the ground over winter in order to get seeds from them this year. Now, the time is either here or fast approaching and I've got no clue. I know, sad. But still true. So...help!

Parsnip stalks approximately 6 feet tall

Central Stalk - Are those seeds ready?

Surrounding stalks - still blooming and more flowers coming.

I saw on a short video online here, that this woman waited until the stalks and seeds were all dry and then cut them and shook them in a pillowslip. I probably would have done that. But then I saw other articles that said the home seed saver can get better seeds by babying the seed heads.

Basically, I gather that I should cut the flower heads when they become seeds and dry them indoors and collect them that way. But how do I know when? I mean, is that central head ready to harvest for seed? Do I just leave the others and harvest the heads as they get ready like the central head?

Anyone who knows and can offer advice, I'd be so very appreciative.

And my apologies to you all! I've not kept up with all your posts like I should with the growing season well in force and household projects that can't be put off anymore taking precedence. I'll try to visit you all, the ones I've missed, very soon to see what's up and I'll try to post more often too. :)

Garden update should post tomorrow. Wait till you see....

State of the Garden - 27 to 30 May 2009

Okay, so I'm late. I actually loaded all this up on the 27th but not posting until the 30th. I just get so busy!

But enough of that. Want a tour?

Me Holding a Lettuce...yes, Lettuce, before I stripped the good leaves and composted it.


My Nasturtiums are now over 6 feet long


So many tomatoes, I expect ripe ones by next weekend


Some tomatoes are huge


Purple cauliflower that is ready to harvest today, the 30th (see Mr. Dead Cabbage Worm there to the left?)


My Onions are way taller than last year. This is just below my chest level.


And this is what a patch of onions looks like from above. What a mess!


I'm harvesting peas daily. They are super sweet and yummy.


All my lettuce is huge. Not bolted though. Still tender and sweet. I'm pulling them all now though since it is only a matter of days at this point.


All my squash are blooming nicely. This is marrow.


And here is me while almost mended from Strep (so I look like doodoo) visiting the garden. Note I'm completely covered because of the antibiotics making me burn in the sun. What a dork!


More tomatoes...(this one has 17 tomatoes growing on this little branchlet)


And more tomatoes. This is my Super Fantastic from saved seeds. I think it will be ripe first.


Blueberries coming on (and birds getting more than me!)


My second year parsnips in bloom for seed saving.


Corn and beans.


And a view of the jungle. It doesn't look quite so pretty, just very large.

Things are moving along! When I look back at last year, this is far and away a totally different experience. Tomatoes are several weeks ahead and everything is much, MUCH, bigger than last year. I'm not sure what I did, but the plants are just huge and overly abundant. I actually pruned some of the larger green tomatoes off and had some fried green tomatoes. It just didn't seem right to have 30 tomatoes on one plant so early.

100th Post and One Year of Progress

Sorry all! I've been way busy for the last couple of weeks in the garden, working on the house, taking care of the pets' semi-annual and annual medical needs and even having strep throat (yippee..argh). I promise to get back to the blogs soon. I can't even imagine how much I've missed that you've all posted. The missed recipes alone are enough to make a girl weep!

I tried so hard to find some profound thing to post for my 100th, but all that got me was a 2 week dry period where I couldn't think of a single thing. This is better. :)

A Nice Spring Day at Home

Lavender is Blooming

Peas were blooming and are now being harvested

Garden a couple of weeks ago...just wait till you see the changes!

On May 12th, 17 blossoms on a single branchlet..now 17 tomatoes!

I can't wait to show you all the changes. I'm beginning to think my garden isn't quite normal at this point. I mean, since when do cauliflower get 3.5 feet tall? And lettuce leaves as long as my hand and forearm? And...::gulp:: 17 tomatoes on a single branchlet and all of them growing as big as any other? I'll show pictures. It's a little odd for me.

Do you thin potatoes?

Here are my All Blue potatoes just a couple of weeks or so after they got above ground.


This pot is a 24 inch pot with 2 very small seed potatoes in it. Clearly one of them has sprouted 3 new plants. The rest of my potatoes are in deep 18 inch pots, with 1 big or 2 small potatoes in them.

They are only filled a bit, leaving about a foot of space for me to fill in dirt for the potatoes. My plan is to fill them in as they grow and then use rigid plastic to fill in higher than the top of the pot for max potatoes per pot.

So my question is: Do you thin them when you get more sprouts like this? I can't imagine there is a lot of room for growing nice big juicy potatoes with 4 vines in this pot, 2 yes but more?

What do you think?

Squash Hills - Are These Correct?

For those who followed last year, you may remember that I had some issues with squash hills. I followed the directions for doing such, but every time I watered it seemed a bit more dirt came down. Eventually, roots were getting exposed and I simply couldn't keep those thirsty plants watered enough.

Well, I've looked for pictures, gone back through my books and tried again. Did I do it right?

Each hill is about 18 inches in diameter and a little more than 3 feet apart peak to peak. There are 6 hills and they each have 4 seeds planted around the perimeter of the top. The patch is a rough triangle about 10 feet to a side.

If you see how nice and loamy my soil is, I'm wondering if that very loamy-ness is what is letting the dirt fall down when I water.

So, if this is right, how do I water without undercutting the structure of the hill? Also, how much should I thin. Just to two per hill?

Should I surround the plants with straw and cover the hill with it once they sprout, or maybe right now, and simply water the straw? I didn't do that last year because I read it promotes powdery mildew by keeping things too damp.

I would so much appreciate any good wisdom out there! I need as much squash and zucchini as I can get for drying over the winter.

Weirdest Veggie 2009 - Cannibal Tomato

It seems that every year I hear about another new and weird veggie. Could be weird for its looks. Could be due to history. Could even be the name.

This year is no exception and my personal fave for weirdness is the Cannibal Tomato.

It's actually an eggplant, though it is red or green. It is from Fiji and thereabouts and supposedly, the sauce made from it was used for cannibal meals.

Talk about gross.

Now, I'm no shrinking violet and I do love a weird vegetable. I'm an experimenter by nature. But this one just couldn't make it to my short list.

It wasn't the veggie, it was the idea of it. I mean, wouldn't you instinctively shy a bit from something you know had that history? Could you enjoy it knowing the history or would you get a little gag reflex going when you really thought about it.

It's not quite fair really. Poor eggplant. Picked on for it's history. Shame on me!

Seed Potatoes, A Very Bad Smell and Then...?

Okay, I posted a pic of the opening of the box of my seed potatoes a few days ago here. When I opened it I saw a small wet spot from the top, but it looked okay overall.

Weeeellllll, when I brought out that bad of potatoes it was a hot mess that smelled as only rotten potatoes can. It looked like the Colorado Rose seed potatoes had pretty much disintegrated and spread the nastiness all around.

I managed to clean off and save 3 All Blue seed potatoes, 1 Yellow Finn and no Colorado Rose. There are a couple each of Blue and Yellow that only have rot on a small part of them.

How do I, or can I even, save those?

Now, I only ordered 5 lbs since this was just for first time fun growing, but the idea of losing all my seed potatoes except 4 out of them all is pretty bad.

I've written to their customer service and we'll see what happens. But what I would like to know is: Is that much rot normal? Do you get rotten ones in your seed potato orders? If so, how much and how often? Do you just order more than you need to compensate? And how do you prevent the nasty rot juice from corrupting the others in the box?

Any and all info so I'm not such a total amateur is most welcome. :)

Seed Potatoes are Here! What now?

My seed potato order from Peaceful Valley is in! I ordered 5 lbs of their Red, Yellow and Blue mix just for fun. I've got some Yukon Gold here so these will be a nice flavorful change if I'm successfull. Included are Yellow Finn, Colorado Rose and All Blue.

My original Grand Plan was to build potato boxes like these.

But then I recently saw these Crocus Potato Boxes and fell in love with the concept. I couldn't actually build any for the price these are, but how long would they last? Anyone got any ideas?

I'm hesitant to build yet more things that I'm going to have to load up in a truck in 2 or 3 years and take with the other 13000 lbs of stuff to my final homestead. And with all the other dirt hauling and raised bed building and tree planting this early spring, I'm really dreading putting yet another building project in the queue. Hmm..that sounds perilously close to whining doesn't it?

I may just wind up making a big pile of dirt and straw.

What would you all recommend?

Seed Starting Status and My First 2009 Load of Dirt

Early seed starting is moving right along. I'm set to plant some things as early as the beginning of March (those things calling for planting before last frost) and I've started seeds for those things going in at the end of March. And as of today, even my tomato seeds have been started.

Here is a picture of my final seed starting setup with both Jump Start lights in place. I did find this system in other places and was amazed that the cost was 50-90% more than the place I got it. Gotta love a good deal.

This window is almost south facing, slightly south-southeast really, and I worried that it wouldn't get enough light on the seeds which is why I bought the lights. I may have actually been able to get away with less. As you can see, the seedlings are all leaning forward, towards the window.


While I am using the trays with peat cells for some, what you see below is actually my favorite way to start seeds. The containers are Beneful Ready Meal containers. I re-use them for the home made dog food but had so many last year I gave this a try and found it wonderfully effective.

I simply put 5 dents in the starter mix in the container and start five seeds for bigger items like peppers or tomatoes. For things like leeks and onions, I just sprinkle them on thinly and cover with a bit more soil mix. What makes it great is that I don't waste whole cells for seeds that don't sprout and getting them apart is a breeze. I just wait till I would normally water and pop the whole, slightly dry, hunk of soil and plants out onto the transplant area. Then I douse with water and it separates all by itself. Teasing apart over developed roots can be a bit of trouble, but timing is everything.

Don't the newly sprouted onions look lovely and delicate? I love the smell of them as I'm now thinning out the weak.

And now for my most recent bout of self-punishment via dirt movement. Here is my delivery of 6 cubic yards of topsoil. In the picture below, I've actually already taken off a bit of the back section so it isn't quite as tall as it was.


And here is what it looked like the next day. I did get it all moved on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, despite the hours of misting that made it get ever heavier.

I used this topsoil to create a level area for my 2 new raised beds to go on. So none of this is even garden dirt but rather a base. I'm letting it settle for a couple of weeks before setting up the new beds and then filling them with a further delivery of compost mix.

3 Sisters Method...A Great Way to Garden

Since I posted my tentative layout for this years garden, I've gotten some questions in particular over the 3 Sisters Method of gardening.

I won't usurp the wonderful things you can get from Googling, but I can clear up some of the particular questions.

Yes, it does work with square foot gardening. I've seen some wonderful results and been amazed at how much more efficient it was than either method alone. Combining the orderly nature of SFG and the companion gardening of 3 Sisters is a winner.

For a quick rundown, the 3 sisters method (3SM) is when you plant corn, then when it is six inches high, plant pole beans that use the corn as a trellis. Then, when those sprout, plant squash between the plants to shade the soil. They all work together nicely.

Now, for the biggest question I've gotten. No, spacing isn't set in stone! I went ahead and did some research and found that most of the confusion probably comes from getting multiple answers on the spacing issue. Here are some guidelines that can be made to work for your setup.

1. Corn spacing isn't set in stone at 1 per square foot or 4 per square foot. It is spaced according to the variety. When you see someone using 4 per square foot, they are using it with the short corn NOT tall corn. Likewise with 1 per square it is using very tall and slower varieties.

So check your packet of corn if you are set on a particular variety. Better yet, choose a variety based on what you want the outcome to be. If you're doing like me and trying to go with open pollinated, non-GMO and heirloom varieties, then you are looking at, generally speaking, the wider of the spacing.

I'm using True Gold variety so I'm going to be spacing at 1 per square foot, meaning I'll only get about 16 ears of corn from my 4 x 4 foot plot. That seems very little and it is, but it is a test plot so it is exactly what I need.

2. How many beans can a corn stalk support. Every single tribe seems to have had a slightly different version of 3SM. Some use 2 per, others plant several stalks of corn in a hole and then plant just one bean per risen stalk. The basic method is to planet two beans per stalk and modify that based on the height of your corn variety, the heaviness and vigor of your bean vines and so on. I'm planting big tall corn so I'm planting Chinese Red Noodle Beans and Kentucky Wonder pole beans. Half and half so I can see the effect on the corn.

3. Yes, definitely use Rhizobium Inoculant on your beans! The beans work with corn because they give corn nitrogen from the air and corn are heavy feeders. That will happen faster and with more vigor if you pre-prime the beans with inoculant.

4. What kind of squash and how many? I admit that this is a pure gamble for me because every tribe had their own varieties that they used. I'm going for the long season squash for sure because the last thing you want to do is have to root around the base of your corn and beans every day to find fast maturing summer squash. I'm probably going to do half Waltham Butternut and half Table Queen Acorn squash. They are long keepers necessary for winter storage and long growing season squash that won't need to be mucked about with and endanger my other crops.

5. And finally, how do I plan on keeping it all safe from wind and critters in a raised bed with very loose and rich soil? You are quite right that my rich soil means wind can knock it down easier. So I'm going to leave the hoop frame up! It will mean that most of the corn will be on the inside of the loop and have a bit of bracing that way. Not fool proof but no work involved really. As for critters, I'm going to take a watch and wait attitude. I don't want to put a giant ugly chicken wire box around the whole thing and I do have a lot of stuff planted that should be preferable to critters. Let's see.

So, I hope I answered your questions on the 3 Sisters Method and cleared up a bit of the mud!

Dinner in Winter...Almost Like Summer

During the summer I posted lots of pictures of the results of my initial canning efforts. Jewel-like colors and so beautiful. Of course, I was excited to have done it and feeling very satisfied with the outcome. But how did it really turn out, you might wonder? How many exploded, rotted or otherwise didn't make it? How did stuff taste? Was it really better?

Not a single one went bad...not one jar out of all those dozens and dozens.

But...I'll admit that I was very dubious of eating my own jarred up food. I'd read so often of the dire dangers of doing anything even slightly wrong, that I'd surely die of botulism or at least get seriously ill that I had myself paranoid beyond belief.

It took a serious act of faith to open up the first non-acid food that I'd jarred myself. Tomatoes and things like that, acid foods, I didn't worry about since those aren't potential carriers. And those were delicious like you wouldn't believe. But corn, green beans...things like that?

Before I opened the first ones, I brought them up, examined them with every light on, held them up by just the little lid to be sure they were still in a vacuum, shook them and then held them up again. Listened for the pop when I opened them and then looked at them again.

It smelled just the same as the day I packed it, so fresh and clean. I added the corn to the goulash (sp?) I was making and then stood, paranoid but determined, until it was ready.

Oh my, how delicious it was! It has a texture, almost a crispness, that it does when it is very fresh and on the cob that no store bought version is going to give you.

After that, it was field day with the jars. Now, I still take reasonable precautions and check things like the seal and discoloration, but I do that with stuff I buy in cans too so there is nothing new there.

Currently, I'm starting to run out of things and am ever so sad to see them go.

As a step towards a greater sustainability in my life, I could hardly have done anything better. Growing your own food in season is great, but making it last after the season is the best.

Just think of this: Fresh food gets trucked an unknown distance to a factory where it is processed at high temps using large quantities of water and cleaning solutions, put into cans that use large quantities of metals, paper or plastics (for those single serve things). It is then trucked out, even right to the place it may have grown. Then you drive your car to pick them up at the store and then toss that can and paper right into the garbage, (or recycling if you have it). What a mess for a single can of green beans.

For my jar of green beans: I grow them, enjoying them right from the vine and having extra, I clean them, jar them in glass jars I'll re-use countless times, process them on my energy efficient stove and then open them whenever without going to any store. In fact, the only thing I use is one part of a 2 piece lid that has to be recycled and water. That's it.

You tell me which is the best one for our little green and blue planetary body?

But as I start new seeds for this year, I'm keeping all that in mind and this year, I'll have twice as much to go in the jars!

Heirloom Seeds and Another Grow Light..With Info!

After I posted a picture of my little grow light set up for seed starting, I got some emails asking about it, particularly in terms of price and how it is performing. I did some looking around and did notice that most grow light systems are pretty darn expensive. Bigger ones have the added disadvantage of not being very portable.

So it looks like I got really lucky and now that I've ordered a second one, I'll share the link! The one I got is the Green Thumb Jump Start System. I got it from YardLover.com and the price was only $65, which is about half the price of the same size system everywhere else. (No, I'm not getting a kick back so click away!)

It came with 2 48 inch bulbs of the full spectrum sort also. It is quite sturdy, easy to put together and very user friendly. So, yes, I do recommend it.

As I said, I ordered a second one today. I'll be putting it on that same table right in front of the other one. Then I can fit pretty much my whole seed starting operation on that one table. Pretty nifty, huh.

Seed orders are being made and rolling in now. I got my Baker Creek Heirloom Seed order in and have started quite a few of them just yesterday. Their catalog is just luscious and even their seed packets are adorable and ever so retro. Here are just a few from this order.


I'm thinking that a lot of people will think I'm awfully early with seed starting since I am in Virginia, but I'm not really. Last frost date is March 25th and on top of that, I'm on the tidally influenced river and the climate is moderated some at my house because of that big body of water coming by all day.

Speaking of my seed starting, some of my stuff is coming up and they look so tiny and perfect. My brocolli below.

And here are my spanish and red onions. Yes, I do know there are too many in a cell. I cull them some so the weak should tremble! I actually have pretty good luck with just tearing the cell off and teasing them apart to transplant. At least I did last year.

And even with my very hefty Baker Creek order in, I have loads more coming. I do love variety and I'm slowly switching to open pollinated heirloom varieties. This is what my collection to date looks like. Yes, that is a shoe box..lol.

And just because we haven't seen him in a while, here is Boscoe saying how much he misses everyone after the holidays. It seems he put on a little bit of belly with the holiday bounty!

State of the Garden...15 August 2008

Not many pictures to post yet, but I'll get out amongst the swarms of mosquitoes to get more today or tomorrow. And that brings me to my first update! The mosquitoes are a nightmare right now. The combination of good soil, occasional really hard rains that leave just enough puddlling and my naturalized part of the yard mean it is an ideal breeding ground. And to top it off, I'm a magnet for the little blood suckers! At this point, unless it is the hottest part of the day when they are not active, I wear long sleeves and jeans even in 100+ degree weather while working out there. But it is so worth it!

Just look at one afternoon's worth of pick up. That doesn't include the beans and grape tomatoes either. Just the big ones. For lots of gardeners, this doesn't represent much, but to me this is heaven. All organically grown using a new gardening technique and with having made a few pretty dire mistakes in where I placed a few of the raised beds so I'm happy.


Below is a snap of my butternut squash. While fruit are setting and looking pretty fantastic, there are spots on the leaves that have me confused. What is that? Is that just the effects of having my stucco re-done around the bottom of my house, which created clouds of dust that had to be hosed off every day? Is that a disease? Is it the effect of having placed my squash bed in a place that wound up getting a little less light than they really need?

Right now my tomatoes are going strong on their second flush of fruit, most of them gaining good sizes quickly and leaving me breathlessly waiting for the ripening. I'm particularly excited because the ones fruiting now are my heirlooms, which I had begun to despair of ever setting fruit. My eggplants are loaded and gaining size daily. And the second flush of peppers are set and growing, but too slowly for me. I inspect them like the avid fan I am every single day. See my previous entry if you want to know the two types that have me over the moon this year.

Planting for fall crops is on the schedule for this weekend. Carrots, parsnips and the like are going in as seeds while I'm going to re-start the seeds for the things like cauliflower, cabbage and brussell sprouts. Something I can't identify has nipped off the tender young growth of my previous starts so I'm on the lookout for the brave thief who'll do that right on my own deck! Pole beans are coming as are the bush beans. I think from now on I might stick with pole beans. Not only because of the taste, but because I simply don't see the ripe beans in the bush beans until they get oversized. It is much easier with pole beans.

Squash is still so-so and it is directly related to their position, I'm sure. I'll be moving the squash bed this winter too so they can get more sun during the best of summer. My bad. Which is ironic, I think. Most people have luck with those crops if nothing else and have so much they feed it to chickens. But me, I need hundreds of pounds of the combined crops for making dog food over the winter and can get only enough for fresh eating.

And here I am. Just a snap for my mother...

And for all those breathless Boscoe fans, here is the big man! His leg looks fantastic doesn't it? The hair is growing back and while I do miss his little naked old man butt, I'm sure he is happier with his right cheek well covered. I don't think the scar will be evident at all once it is fully regrown. He is doing exceptionally well and he is chafing at the bit at the enforced rest now. Once he gets moving and warmed up, he has only the slightest of limps, something most wouldn't even recognize as a limp. That is far better than when he came home from my sister's in early June so the surgery looks like a success at this point. He has gone on a short walk to the water this past week because he was so stir crazy and enjoyed himself immensely, marking every tree on the route with glee. But, we do have to be careful. The surgeon made sure I understood that most surgery failures happen from 3 to 8 weeks post surgery because owner's give in to the dog's desire for more activity. So I'm holding steady and giving only minimal surrender to his pleas. Isn't he adorable with his head cocked to the side?