Strawberry Hunting

As I mentioned previously, we have had a lot of rain.  My informal rain gauge is a 5 gallon bucket from Lowes Home Improvement Center.  I just leave the bucket sitting out in an open area of the yard.  Open area means, no tree branches overhead.  Every day, when I go outside, I check to see how much rain has fallen since I looked the day before.  Nearly every day, for the last month and a half, I have emptied 1/2" to 1" of water out of the bucket!  That is quite a bit of rain!

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Also, I mentioned previously that the rain has really made the garden grow.  This has done a great job for the vegetables.  It has also contributed to the lush green growth of the weeds!  As you can see from the next picture, the weeds have taken over!  One can hardly tell the difference between the radishes, lettuce and the weeds in this bed!

As I was gazing at this mess, I noticed something red in amongst the weeds of one of the raised beds.  

Oh. My. Gosh.  

Could it be true?  Might it be a strawberry at last?  Yes!  Hidden down in the weeds I found a large strawberry with two others developing next to it!  

Last year, with high hopes and big plans, I set out 50 strawberry plants in two 8' x 4' raised beds.  They really did not do very well.  Alot of them just died.  I had grown strawberries successfully in Texas, Washington, Idaho and Nevada.  I wondered if maybe there was some secret to growing them in Vermont!!  

Over the winter even more of them died.  I speculated that I should have mulched them to protect them from the severe cold.  

This Spring I found that the ones that survived were the new starts that had sprouted from runners which the mother plants had sent out into the bark-mulched garden paths.  

I transplanted all of those wanderers (about twenty plants) back into one 8' x 4' bed.  They seemed to do well, and quite clearly the rain has done wonders for those strawberry plants. 

Further hunting rewarded me with one dozen of the beauties!  Oh Yum!  What a treat.... one dozen organically grown, freshly picked, super sweet strawberries!

Have a nice day!

Sauteed Radish Greens and Roots

As promised, here is the recipe

for Sauteed Radish Greens and Roots

Wash the radishes really well removing all the soil from the roots and leaves.

Cut off and discard the root ends and the part of the plant where the stems attach to the roots.  Slice the roots and the leaves.

Slice one clove of garlic and sautee the garlic in olive oil until it is barely golden brown.

Add the sliced radish roots and stir fry briefly until you see the slices begin to become transparent. It only takes about 30 seconds or so.  Add the leaves and stir fry just until the greens are slightly wilted.  

Serve immediately.  Salt to taste and/or add Bragg's Liquid Aminos for seasoning.  

Enjoy... It is delicious!

Have a great day!

Radishes and Rain

If I could characterize the last half of May and the month of June... I would use two words... Radishes and Rain!  

We have had a lot of rain!  It seems as if we have had only five or six days of sunshine for a month and a half!  The rainfall has really helped the garden to grow.  I have not had to use any supplemental water from the household water supply to keep everything going.  

The Cherry Belle radishes are doing great!  

I have had enough radishes to eat them out of hand, sliced in salads, sliced in vinegar and even tried them stir fried after reading of such a thing from another gardener, Mark Ridsdill Smith, who blogs about growing vegetables on his small balcony while residing in London, England.  He also has a facebook page which I encourage you to check out.  It is called "Vertical Veg".  Mark recommended using the early thinnings of radishes by lightly sauteeing them for greens!

I stir fried the greens and the sliced roots with garlic and they were delicious!  For those who are interested, I will post pictures of this recipe in the very next blog.

Have a great day!

Indigo Rose Tomatoes are Up!

Garden update May 5 through May 11

We had some rain and the garden plants as well as the weeds loved it!  Every thing grew!  I was very excited to see that the Indigo Rose and Early Girl tomato seeds that I had planted on May 3 had only taken six days to come up!  

 

German Giant Radishes (below) came up this week too!

So did the Reflect Spinach!

...And the Mesclun Mix lettuce as well as the Cherry Belle Radishes!

 

There is a large green plant that has come up next to the radish seedlings.  You can see it in the above picture, and in the close-up picture below.  It almost obscures the Cherry Belle Radish row label.  

I almost pulled it out, but then I noticed that it resembles one of the lettuce plants I had in that raised bed last year!  I am not certain.  Could it be that it sprouted from an underground stem/root which survived the sub-zero temperatures we had last winter?  I am not certain.  I will watch it and see how it grows.

Super-Sprint Snap Peas are doing well!

Cherry Belle Radishes are getting closer to being ready to pull!

Strawberries I planted last year are blooming!

 

And last, but not least, here is milkweed!.....  A common weed that many people rip out of their gardens. The milkweed was here when I moved here, and it returns every year.  While I don't encourage it to take over the entire garden, I keep it in a few places because it is the foodplant for the Monarch Butterfly caterpillars.  

In 2011 and in 2012 female Monarch Butterflies oviposited onto the leaves of the milkweed plants in this garden.  I so enjoy watching the caterpillars grow over the summer.  They eat only milkweed and so, depend on the plant, doing no harm to other plants in the garden.  

It is so much fun to watch the caterpillars become chrysalises in the summer and then eclose, becoming butterflies in the late Summer/early Fall.  After they become butterflies they usually hang out in the yard for a few hours before they begin their long southern migration to central Mexico where they spend the winter.

Monarch butterfly numbers are in decline and I want to give them any chance I can to survive.  

There is a free app that I have on my phone, called 'Journey North', where one can report sightings of the Monarch Butterfly whenever seen.  Journey North tracks both the Spring and Fall migrations of the Monarch Butterflies.  It was developed to enable school children and the general public to become citizen scientists in reporting valuable data about this amazing butterfly!

Stay tuned!

Incorporating Compost, Planting Indigo Rose Tomato, German Giant Radish, Cherry Belle Radish and Mesclun Mix Lettuce

Incorporating Compost

I was getting ready to plant some seeds and noticed that the soil level in one of the garden beds had sunk down about 2" over the winter.  The soil was nice and fluffy and I could have planted there after I pulled the weeds, but I saw that I still had quite a bit of compost left and decided to incorporate it into that garden bed.

Below, is a picture of the finished compost.  It looks like wonderful soil.  It always amazes me when I think that just last year it was a pile of leaves, vegetable trimmings from the kitchen and a little bit of soil layered in .  Almost nothing was recognizable from the kitchen waste!  Banana peels, onion skins, orange peels, corn cobs... all had become soil.  I spied an avocado seed, picked it up and easily crushed it!  The compost also had plenty of earthworms in it!  Yay!

 If you look closely you may be able to identify avocado seed, peanut shell, eggshell, corn cob and avocado skin in the compost!

I dug an 8' long trench in one side of the bed, piling the soil up onto the other side of the bed, and then laid the finished compost into the trench.  Then I raked the soil back over the top of the compost and used the shovel to turn it all over a bit... mixing the compost in with the soil. 

Below, is a picture showing the compost and soil being mixed together in the trench.  The blade of the shovel is at the lower right portion of the picture.  You may see avocado skin, peanut shell and eggshell also! 

 I dug a second trench in the other side of the bed and piled the soil from that trench on top of the area I had just finished.  I laid in more compost into that trench and repeated the process like the first side of the garden bed.

Then I raked it all smooth and it was ready to plant! 

 I planted Cherry Belle radish, German Giant radish, Mesclun Mix lettuce, Reflect Spinach and Detroit Red beets.  I followed the instructions on the seed package with the planting depth and row spacing.  

Then I labeled each row with the name of the vegetable and the date planted.

I have never planted German Giant radishes before!  The Pinetree Garden Seeds 2013 seed catalog description says, that it is an heirloom variety from Germany.  "It retains its high quality from the size of a marble to the size of a cue ball (or larger).  It does not get woody or spongy, and rarely splits, handling drought-like conditions well.  Scarlet skin and white flesh is crisp and mild at any size."    I can't wait!!!


Two days later I realized that I should have had the tomato, pepper and squash seeds started indoors.  So I got busy with that!

Planting Early Girl and Indigo Rose tomato, Coyame Jalapeno pepper, Horn of Plenty yellow crookneck squash and Sweet Mama winter squash.  

I used a seed starting soil mix purchased from the local home improvement store and some peat pots that I found at the dollar store.  I put the soil in the peat pots and followed the directions on the seed packet for depth of planting.  

I labeled each pot, placed them in a tray and watered them with a fine mist, soaking them all the way through.  Then I set the tray in the sunshine.  Since the outdoor temperatures are still in the 40's at night, I bring the tray into the house every evening, and set it in an area that is warmer than the rest of the house.  I take it back out every morning when I am sure that it will be warm and sunny.  Tomato seeds will sprout in slightly cool soil, but pepper seeds are more finicky.  Peppers really need the warmth in order to sprout and grow well. 

Update on Super Sprint Snap Peas, Cherry Belle Radishes and Rhubarb...

We have had a ten days of warm and dry weather! I have watered the garden twice and sometimes three times each day.  Once in the early morning and once in the early evening, with an optional watering at noon.  The warm temperatures and watering has really caused the seedling to grow.  

 Here is an update picture of the Super Sprint Snap Peas.

 An update picture of the Cherry Belle Radishes showing their first true leaves.

 An update picture of the rhubarb, which has really shot up!

And a picture underneath the rhubarb leaves showing the different growing heads. 

 I could divide this one rhubarb plant into five or six plants this fall!  

Stay tuned!

And.... They're Up! - April 27

And.... They're Up! - April 27

Finally... the radishes and peas are coming up!  I just kept checking the raised beds every morning and evening.  We have had a few rain showers, but nothing significant.  The soil was very dry so I had to get the garden hose out of winter storage and hook it up to the faucet.  I began to give those little seeds a drink every day... once in the morning and once in the evening.  It paid off.  The radishes and peas are up!

Here are radish seedlings (above).  

If you are new to gardening, it kind of makes sense to notice what these newly sprouted plants look like.  When they first come out of the ground they do not look like a miniature version of the ready-to-eat plant!  When I first started gardening, I would conscientiously go out to the garden with the intention of plucking weeds that were coming up.  However, sometime weed seedlings look very much like vegetable crop seedlings. So, developing an awareness of what the seedlings look like is important!


Below is a pea seedling.

 We have an entire week of sunshine and warmer temperatures predicted!  Happy gardening!

Cleaned out Rest of Garden Beds and Raspberry Bed - April 25

I cleaned out the rest of the garden beds and the raspberry bed. That means, I pulled all the grass and weeds and raked the seed beds smooth so that they are ready for planting.   

In the above photograph, you can see the row labels of peas and radishes. The labels look like little white headstones poking up above the side of the raised bed. I interplanted the peas and radishes among the tulips and Sedum spectabile. The tulips will be gone before the peas are ready to pick and the radishes will be ready to pull before the Sedum gets so tall that it would shade the radishes.


In the raspberry bed (below), I carefully used my fingers like a rake removing all the leaves which remained from last Fall.
  
It is important to be aware that new little raspberry plants sprouting up from the root are very tender and easily knocked off.  

I am disappointed that only four of the raspberry plants which I planted last year made it through the winter.  The ones that are left are the hardy ones, I am sure.  No weak-sauce raspberry plants will survive in this garden!!!

Below is a closeup of the developing leaves on a raspberry cane.

Have a nice day!

Time to Plant - April 16, and Hide and Seek with Rhubarb!

Time to Plant - April 16, and Hide and Seek with Rhubarb!

When I went to check on the pea seeds I saw that they had soaked up all the water and had expanded to double their size!  Some of the peas had fallen out onto the kitchen counter.  I scooped them into another bowl and added more water just in case they hadn't absorbed enough!

After breakfast, I drained the water from the bowl and then sprinkled in some legume seed inoculant. This inoculant contains Rhizobium bacteria which converts nitrogen from the air into a useable form for legume seeds (such at beans and peas).  This gives the legumes the ability to provide their own organic fertilizer!!!

The inoculant looks like black dirt.  


Next I made a furrow in the soil about 1" deep.  The package indicated that the seed should be planted 1" deep and 2" apart.  

In the picture above, you can see the pea seeds placed in the furrow... 2" apart.


The seed package also indicated that rows of peas should be spaced 12" to 18" apart. In the picture below, you can see the furrows in that arrangement. 

Next, I lightly covered the pea seeds with soil and then made sure that I labeled the row.  See picture below.

Next, I planted Cherry Belle radishes.  Reading the instructions on the package, I planted the radish seeds about 1" apart in a furrow 1/2" deep.  See the picture below.

Some of the seeds rolled out of my hand a little bit quicker and ended up being planted a bit closer than 1" apart.  More like 1/2" apart!  That's OK.  When it is time to thin them, we will eat the thinnings!

I covered the seeds lightly with some fine soil and labeled the rows.

I also planted Bright Lights Swiss Chard, following the instructions on the seed packet.


With the rain clouds moving in, I decided to wrap things up for the day by looking for the rhubarb.  

Rhubarb is a perennial plant that dies back in the winter and then regrows in the Spring and Summer.  I always place some distinctive rocks around the rhubarb plants because the first time I planted rhubarb, I did not do that.  The following Spring, there was absolutely no evidence of the rhubarb!  I  was living in Grand Coulee, Washington at the time and my wonderful neighbor, Madeleine, helped me to find the elusive plants!  Ever since then, I have delighted in the hide and seek that the rhubarb plays with me!

I went over to the area where I remember the rhubarb plants to be and located the rocks which I had placed next to the plants.  I had to get down on my hands and knees, but I found the rhubarb plants coming up in between last autumn's  fallen leaves (and a dandelion).  There it is... white and pink buds with just developing chartreuse colored leaves... barely coming up from the ground.  And it has multiplied!  Now there are at least two of the plants!  Great news!  Even more rhubarb for rhubarb pie!    

Preparing to plant peas... April 15

Preparing to Plant Peas...    April 15

I went out to the garden and the soil seems ready to plant.  After that snowfall it took several days before the ground was thawed out again!  I decided that I would plant the peas tomorrow, so before I retired for the evening, I put the pea seeds to soak.  

The reason that I do this is because the seeds will absorb quite a bit of moisture and that will help to start the germination process.  

First I put the seeds in a small bowl.  It is best to use a bowl that will hold the pea seeds with plenty of room for expansion.  

Here's a closeup of the pea seeds.  You can see how shriveled they appear.

Next I added water almost to the top.  I am leaving them overnight and will plant them in the morning.