Better Late than never

I have to admit, this spring and summer were rough on my schedule. Among some other things in my life that distracted me from my garden were new responsibilities at work and the completion of my education. That left precious little time for gardening and even less for blogging :-(.

And while I wasn't the best steward of my garden, nature must have known what was going on and decided to take extra special care of me. The beautiful bounty of the garden came through even the little bit of neglect I inflicted upon the garden. The heirloom tomatoes were glorious all the way through. The multi-colored swiss chard has been bountiful and my summer squash ended up the size of king penguins...just amazing. Not to mention beans, potatoes, cucumbers and a host of other vegetables that ripened and provided nourishment for my exhausted body this summer.

As for my soul, when I did have time to tend the garden, it brought such peace and sense of well being, it is hard to describe. Nature and in particular my garden provides such a refuge for the city weary, I want to run up to every city dweller and give them a plant so they can feel just a little of the energy that nature can provide.

Now that summer is waning, and I am about two weeks late in doing it, I headed out to the garden to put in my late summer plantings for late fall and early winter harvest. Carrots, Parsnips, Spinach, Mesculin lettuce and though it is late, I am going to put in a few beet plants. I think with a row cover, I should be able to squeak out a small harvest just in time for Thanksgiving! And in a couple of weeks, it will be time to put the garlic and shallots in the beds to over winter.

This post is short on instruction, I know, but I wanted to send a little bit of garden love and energy that I have recieved into the world to share.

Happy Gardening!

Wonderful Fabulous Asparagus!

Asparagus takes little more than a bit of planning before you plant it...but the rewards are immense! A pinch of weed control, a dash of patience and soon you will enjoy two solid months of deliciousness each spring!

There are a myriad of reasons to grow asparagus, but here are the 5 reasons I chose to make room for asparagus in my garden. 1: if I plant it once, I can enjoy it for 20 years!, 2: I love clean, organic food vs. food that is soaked in chemicals and trucked in from who knows where. 3: I love to entertain in the spring so asparagus = fancy finger food! 4: I know the price of organic asparagus at Whole Foods and finally 5: I can have an excuse to eat more hollandaise sauce!

So let's get started. As soon as the soil is workable in your area, till the area you want to plant asparagus (I was a couple of weeks late this year, but I think I will survive :-). Then dig a trench about 8 inches wide by 12 inches deep and as long as your garden can tolerate and in a place that gets mostly sun. Back fill the trench about 6 inches with a combination of the soil you just dug up, compost (heavy on the compost), peat moss and sand, mound this back fill slightly.

As far as selecting what medium to grow, I am just going to say go with crowns, don't do seeds...they take too long and they are really tempremental. So get crowns and you will have Asparagus at least a year earlier. Splay the roots so when you place the crown in the trench, it lays flat, back fill with more of the soil mixture and water well. Keep the crowns watered and fed well throughout the first year and leave the ferns to grow in the fall. Next year, do not harvest the spears, let them grow and die back. The next year, harvest for 3 weeks only, each year you harvest you can add a week until you are harvesting for 8 weeks.

For each adult in your household, you should grow a dozen crowns, this will provide enough to eat and perhaps freeze a few.

With a little planning and patience, you can grow gorgeous, flavorful asparagus!

Happy Gardening

A Fine Spring Day For Planting

You would think a grey rainy day would be miserable in the garden...but for the avid enthusiast (or completely obsessed garden nut...either title works), it is a prime day for planting. According to the farmers almanac and my gut feel, today put us past the possibility of a hard frost. We have had a remarkably warm spring and I was itching to get the seedlings I have nurtured for the last two months into the ground.

This year's garden is a mix of seedlings nurtured on my sun porch and some that were ordered from the nursery. Since I am focusing more on the special varieties of produce this year, heirloom seeds would be very expensive for the number of plants I plan. Plus, their viability year over year is not what a conventional seed would be. So I ordered some heirloom variety seedlings from a local grower.

This year, I am planting four varieties of tomato; Cherokee purple, Brandywine, an heirloom cherry and Jubilee (yellow). I am also planting two varieties of heirloom cucumber; one that looks like a lemon, and the long seedless english. Of course my garden would not be complete without brussel sprouts, brocoli, squash varieties, beets, eggplant, radish, carrots, chard and spinach.

I will be planting carrot seeds as well as a few other items in a day or so when I decide where to put them.

There is so much to do and so much to write about...the coming weeks should be very exciting in the garden!

Happy Gardening!

Let's Go!

The 2010 Garden is underway!!! Last weekend I started many of the vegetable seeds that will be growing in the garden. If you plan to grow your garden from seed (and I highly recommend it), you need to start your seeds 6-8 weeks before the last predicted frost date. Here in Columbus, I won't plant tender vegetable seedlings until after May 1st and will not direct sow seeds until after Mother's day. Lettuce and some other cold weather crops are an exception, but a rare one. I am using a new product for seed starting...many of you will recall the disaster from last year's product from Burpee...ugh...enough about that...anyway, I purchased a new product from Jiffy at the store closing sales at Smith and Hawken last year...since I will use only two of these trays per year, I should have enough for 5 years!

Starting seeds is easy, it is simply giving the seeds a headstart germinating and growing to a seedling stage before transplanting in the garden.

I separated the two types of crops into the two trays. One tray will be used for "above ground" crops such as squash, peppers, tomatoes and such. The other tray is for root crops such as beets, leeks, carrots, etc. Next, make sure that the peat pods have an opening to insert the seed. Sometimes in manufacturing, the netting covers the entire top, cut that away before planting your seeds.

Next, add water...now prepare yourself...these pods take a lot of water...mine took approximately 1 gallon per tray to be the right consistency for planting...this will take time, adding water a bit at a time until all pods are expanded and ready. When you plant your seeds, make sure the seeds are planted twice their diameter in depth and ensure good soil to seed contact by pressing them in and fluffing over the seed with soil. Next, you should label your seed pods. You can use anything, try re-purposing something. I found an old pack of computer business card sheets with an awful graphic that I have no use for and wrote on the backs of each card what the plant was. These are natural papers and inks so if they break down, they can be composted :-)

Once the seeds are planted, watered and labeld, cover them with the planting lid and keep moist and covered until the seeds germinate and small seedlings emerge. Then the can be kept uncovered in good light and kept moist until they grow enough to be transplanted!

Happy Gardening!!

The Last Hoorah!

Well not technically the LAST one; but probably the last one of this growing season (I may have some suprises...you never know). But as I look out on the light coating of snow that came upon us last night, I had the feeling of finality for the gardening season.

Luckily, I was able to get the shallots planted before the snow. The ground was hard, but with a little work and a little added warmer compost I was able to get the soil friable enough to plant the shallots.

The rich, creamy flavor and texture of French shallots elevate the delicacy of almost any recipe. The shallots are generally grown from sets that are actually little individual bulbs that you plant to yield 10-15 times the number of shallots! Early in the spring, their dark green shoots will poke through the soil within a couple of weeks of the thaw.

This year, since they are pretty much foolproof, I planted French Red Shallots. These are a good shallot for novice growers (and I will always think of myself that way). They are amazingly productive; are easy to peel and dice and have a delicious, intense, spicy flavor. In the summer, when the top greens start to die back; they will yeild shallots roughtly the size of chestnuts with coppery russet skins and purplle pink flesh. Plus, they store really well. They can last up to a year if properly cellared (Dark, Cool, Dry).

I am looking forward to the winter time part of gardening. The planning of next year's garden, the seed catalogues arriving in the next few weeks! I will check in with everyone then!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Gardening!

The Trees are ALIVE!

Well the day has finally come!! The planting of the fruit trees!. Many of you know that I ordered trees from the National Arbor Day Foundation back in August. The trees were ordered as saplings (Dwarf Winesap and Dwarf Lodi); I was told that the trees would arrive sometime in Mid November.

Well wouldn't you know it, they arrived the day after Thanksgiving (not so mid) and I was out of town with my family...grrrrr. But the good news is becuase of the good care and preparation by the folks at the NADF ensured that the trees would be healthy if they sat for a day or so in the packaging. NADF preps the roots by soaking them in a gell that helps seal in moisture to the bare roots, they then wrap the roots in wet shredded paper and then enclose the bundle in plastic bags to seal in the moisture for shipping.

I filled a large bucket with water and unpacked the trees and immediately submerged them for 3.5 hours...allowing the bare roots to be exposed to air even for a few minutes can cause damage in these delicate saplings.

While the trees relaxed in their bath, I dug the holes. I dug about 8 inches down, placing the extricated soil next to the hole. I then took a handful of soil and put it back in the bottom of the hole to create a small mound. This will support the root canopy and ensures there will be no air pockets below the roots. You could use compost to create the mound, but if your soil is of good quality and nutrient content, you will not need to add any ammendments and too much fertilizer is not good for trees.

I then carefully place the trees back in the hole and back fill to near the surface. I add water to compress the soil and moisten the soil. After this, add the remaining soil and water again. I then repeated the process with the other tree. The final step was to stake the tree, mulch around it and add protection from rabbits and squirrels by adding a ventilated sleeve around the trunk.

I will water the trees every few days while the weather cooperates and also water when the winter weather allows (dry winter days with no snow). These trees are very small and will not produce fruit for a few years, but they will eventually be beautiful and bountiful espaliered trees adding fruit and form to the garden!

Happy Gardening!

Late Season Bulb Digger (Finale)

Now that the soil is prepped and you are ready, it is time to tuck your bulbs in the soil and prep them for winter!

Plant your bulbs at twice their height and twice their width if planting single. When creating bulb compositions follow the height rule, but you can then crowd the bulbs into whatever formation you want. I plant mine in concentric circles alternating the bulb type for maximum beauty.

I throw a little compost into the holes before planting to provide nutrients in our terrible clay soil, then cover them with soil, add a bit of water and then cover over with a nice layer of mulch.

To protect your precious bulbs from pests (the dreaded grey squirell here in Columbus), I sprinkle and mix in the mulch some cayenne pepper...this keeps the pesky squirells away from my tender bulbs! You will have to periodically refresh the pepper until it snows and the ground is covered. Also companion planting narcissus bulbs keep the pests away as well!

If you follow these simple steps, you will have a spring bursting with color!

Happy Gardening!