Backyard Grocery Gardening

Suspending This Blog

2010-11-21T17:56:00.000-08:00

I just don't have time to work on this blog right now.

Hope to get it back up someday. Meanwhile, please peruse the postings here ... lots of information on how I garden and produce food for my family. Believe me, if **I** can do it, so can you!

Thanks... and enjoy!!

Indoor Garden

2010-11-03T04:23:00.000-07:00

I keep meaning to take pix of my indoor garden. Maybe next week. See, in Colorado, it gets cold in the Winter. Brrrr... very cold! (I know, duh!). So we can't continue to grow food outdoors.

About 3 weeks ago, when the daytime weather started getting in the 50's, I brought in all of my potted plants: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, rhubarb, blueberries, asparagus, etc. I put the pots on drainage trays (to avoid messing our carpet!) and set up plant/grow lights.

We're still getting some great looking veggies. Yum! I even planted more seeds for cucumbers, green beans, lettuce, scallions, summer squash and carrots. Good way to get fresh organic veggies during the winter without paying high prices.

Note: since there are (hopefully) no bees indoors to pollinate, if you do this, be sure to take a q-tip and hand-pollinate your veggie flowers. Tomatoes to tomatoes. Zucchini to zucchini. Etc. I use the same q-tip over and over again, leaving right in front of the appropriate pot. That way, I won't cross pollinate.

Just a thought!

Need evergreen vine to hide animal pen

2010-06-25T06:27:00.000-07:00

We plan to build a second chicken and goat pen along a weird perimeter line. Since we're on the top of a hill, it will be seen for miles, so we want a little privacy, and to hide it. Most of it will be a 6' tall fence, but part of it will be a 6' tall goat house and a 4-6' tall chicken coop/house. We might even put an alpaca here. Will do sometime in early Spring 2011 so we have plenty of time to decide.

There will be about a foot of space between the fence and the "houses". Enough space for a vine to grow but not really enough for a person to walk through. Comfortably.

Located on the eastern plains of Colorado, it gets very windy here, and can often have negative 25 degree temperatures with huge snow drifts. Summers bring blazing heat.

The pen will be along the south-east perimeter of the property, so will get much sun (there's really nothing on the other side except the neighbor's lawn).

We're looking for an evergreen vine that will grow up along the fence and goat/chicken houses to hide them, plus provide a cooling effect during the summer, and help keep in warmth in the Winter. Needs to stay green year-round. It can't be poisonous just in case the critters nibble on it. Thorns would be good too, to provide our animals protection from the foxes and other predators in the area. Needs to be drought tolerant because it will be a little difficult to water.

Suggestions?

Possible Change to Blog

2009-11-24T01:03:00.000-08:00

Posted this on my other blogs, but thought I'd post it here too ...

Keeping up with these blogs is very time consuming ... not that I mind, usually! We're getting ready to embark on an intensive homesteading adventure, and may not be able to work on blogs daily.

So... I'm thinking about combining our blogs (cooking, gardening, homesteading, survival, storage, homeschooling, etc.) into one. I would eventually move posts to the new and combined blog.

We have a lot of readers, and I value your opinion. Thoughts?

Meandering Around...

2009-11-23T01:57:00.000-08:00

Not much to do when the indoor garden has been eaten up by beetles (except for the stevia and aloe), and we're soooo close to getting our homestead. Out looking and hoping that the one we want will be available for the price we can afford.

Meanwhile, yes, I've bought seeds! I usually can't stand to wait, so I've placed my orders for veggies. I've made my list of herb seeds to get in December, and the fruit trees, bushes and vines I plan to order in early Spring, after we close on the property and map out where to plant what.

Dreaming. That's what Winter is for.

We'll have enough room for nut trees, and I've noted how many of what kind I want: heartnut, butternut, almond, pecan, walnut (English and black), chestnuts and whatever else I can find to grow in Zone 5.

Then there's the fruit trees: apples, pears, apricots, peaches, nectarines (the Kid doesn't like the puzzy peaches!), plums. And the cherry trees AND bushes. Then there's the elderberry bushes, blueberry, and brambles of raspberry and blackberry.

Oh my... my mouth is watering!

So... have you started thinking about your next year's garden?

To-Do-List for November and December

2009-11-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

November - December:

Why not get started early for next year?

Save seeds from your harvested plants.
Spread manure, rotted sawdust and leaves over the garden and plow them under; you'll be surprised at the difference this organic matter will make in the fertility, physical structure and water-holding capacity of the soil.
Take a soil sample to allow plenty of time to get the report back. Lime applied now will be of more benefit next year than if it is applied in the spring before planting. Always apply Dolomitic limestone in order to get both calcium and magnesium.
Save those leaves and pulled/spent vines and plants for the compost heap.
Take an "inventory." Maybe you had too much of some vegetables and not enough of others - or maybe there were some unnecessary "skips" in the supply. Perhaps some insect, disease or nematode problem got the upper hand. Make a note about favorite varieties. Start planning next year's garden now!
You're wise to order flower and vegetable seeds in December or January, while the supply is plentiful. Review the results of last year's garden and order the more successful varieties.
You may have seeds left over from last year. Check their viability by placing some in damp paper towels and observing the germination percentage. If the percentage is low, order new ones.
Before sending your seed order, draw a map of the garden area and decide the direction and length of the rows, how much row spacing is needed for each vegetable, whether or not to plant on raised beds, and other details. That way, you won't order too many seeds. This same advice applied to the flower garden. Try new cultivars, add more color, change the color scheme, layer the colors by having taller and shorter plants - don't do it the same way year after year.
Once you get your seeds, spend the rest of the cold Winter months making seed tapes. Be sure to label, dry well, place in bags, seal against moisture, and stack flat.
Look around for tools you do not have and hint for these for Christmas presents.

Invasion of Beetles

2009-10-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

I guess we brought in some beetles when we moved the outdoor potted tomatoes and cukes indoors, because SOMEBODY has chomped on everything green and it's dead.

Lesson: don't bring outdoor pots indoors unless you're very sure there are no bugs in them!

Task: once the current blizzard abates, I'll be moving the now-dead plants to the patio, and getting some potting soil to start over. Oh well... that's ok.

Sidenote: I just got my order of seeds in, including those Black Aztec corn seeds, herbs, cukes, squashes, beans and more. I think once I have "clean" potting soil in clean pots, I'll start some carrots, onions, lettuce, beans and cukes. Again. Argh. But still... sounds great when I just think about the foot of snow outside my office window.

Hmmmm..... I love winter!

Corn Harvesting

2009-10-22T15:14:00.001-07:00

Here's a wonderful post from a blog I follow: http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/harvest-corn-from-beginning-to-end/

We couldn't do corn this year because of our move. Very sad because it's absolutely delicious, pulling back the husks and chomping on it before even leaving the corn patch.

I should be receiving our corn seeds for Spring.... bought Black Aztec, since it can be used both as a sweet corn, and after it dries on the stalk, as dried corn for feed and cornmeal, etc. Yum!

Potatoes beget potatoes!

2009-10-19T14:58:00.000-07:00

I posted a notice on my cooking blog (http://www.survival-cooking.com/) about a sale that Safeway is having for potatoes ... 10 pounds for just .99 cents! A regular reader commented about a post she'd made about how just one pound of potatoes can grow into 100 pounds of potatoes. Check it out at: http://preparednesspro.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/100-pounds-of-potatoes-for-a-buck

Since Saturday, we now have 10 bags of potatoes, each with 10 pounds. That's 100 pounds right there for ten dollars. (I actually bought 11 but gave one to mother-in-law.) As I bring out a bag of taters to cook with, I'll look through and put aside any that look like they'll sprout. We'll use the un-sprouting taters over winter. Those that sprouted or look like they'll sprout, we'll quarter, sprout and plant in the Spring.

Good way to utilize my money, don't you think?

Used a whopping 4 potatoes to make crockpot potato soup for dinner. Yum!

Tomato Harvest

2009-10-05T14:36:00.000-07:00

Even tho we had freezing temps last week, my potted tomatoes on the back patio (which faces South) survived. Obviously, it was the heat of the building. I just harvested 1 really big tomato and 2 amish paste tomatoes. Yum!

Wish I knew where my camera was!

Indoor Containers

2009-10-03T06:28:00.001-07:00

We moved, and in doing so, decided which tomato plant to save by placing indoors. We had room for only one, and several smaller pots. After hubby installed two grow-lights, we also brought in (all in pots) 2 strawberries, a zucchini, a bush cucumber, a banana plant, and the aloe-vera.

When we get a chance, we'll use some smaller pots to fill with potting soil and plant seeds for string beans, garden peas, carrots and greens. Yummy for this Winter!

We had cold temperatures this past week, so what was remaining on our back patio froze. That's ok. I'm ready for Winter.

Green Tomatoes

2009-09-18T06:23:00.000-07:00

Since we are hopefully leaving our current home in the next few days, I'm picking tomatoes! While I do have several ripe or almost-ripe tomatoes, I also have quite a few green tomatoes. Can't leave them behind!

I had lots of green un-ripe tomatoes last year, and didn't know what to do with them, so I sliced and dehydrated them. When I wanted some nutrients with a little tartness, I crushed the dried slices into a powder and sprinkled that powder on whatever I was cooking. Good alternative to green tomato chutney or relish or something similar.

Luckily, we planned ahead and potted most of our tomatoes. Picked a big bowl of ripe red and orange tomatoes yesterday. I'm thinking I'll freeze these. Well, after we've eaten a couple! Yum!

The Victory Garden show on PBS

2009-09-02T07:14:00.000-07:00

I wonder ... I love watching gardening shows, but I'm very much into growing edibles much more than non-edibles. And since the Victory Garden concept was created to provide food for people during World War II ... well, here's the entry from :

During World War I, patriots grew "liberty gardens." In World War II, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Claude R. Wickard encouraged householders to plant vegetable gardens wherever they could find space. By 1945 there were said to be 20 million victory gardens producing about 40 percent of all American vegetables in many unused scraps of land. Such sites as the strip between a sidewalk and the street, town squares, and the land around Chicago's Cook County jail were used. The term "victory garden" derives from an English book by that title written by Richard Gardner in 1603.

Anyway... almost every time I turn it on, the show is about shade plants or other non-edible plants. What the hell? If we want to see gardening shows about non-edibles, we'll go to a different gardening show, like P Allen Smith, but come on! Somebody from the Victory Garden pbs show needs to understand that people are having troubles feeding ourselves, and that gardening for food is increasing by leaps and bounds.

Give us more practical information about growing our own food, especially on a very tight budget and in small spaces. Ya hear?

Permaculture Crash Course

2009-09-01T05:03:00.000-07:00

This is a 4-minute vid I found on YouTube but it has great information. Discusses a 4-hour crash course but I don't see the link... anyone? This 4-min vid discusses birds, year-round cherry harvest, artichoke, potatoes, etc.

To-Do-List for September and October

2009-09-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

September - October:

Choose to use this mild weather to plant or transplant the following: beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, collards, lettuce, mustard, onions, radishes, spinach and turnips.
Plant your second planting of fall crops such as collards, turnips, cabbage, mustard and kale.
Save seeds from your favorite plants, especially tomatoes, squashes, eggplant, etc. Let some of the root veggies like carrots go to seed, and collect those.
Refurbish mulch to control weeds, and start adding leaves and other materials for the compost pile. Store your manure under cover to prevent leaching of nutrients.
Water deeply and thoroughly to prevent drought stress. Pay special attention to new transplants.
Harvest mature green peppers and tomatoes before frost gets them -- it may not come until November, but be ready. Preserve 4 for every 5 eaten fresh - or preserve them all!
Harvest herbs and dry them in a cool, dry place.

Picked carrots and squash today!

2009-08-06T18:35:00.000-07:00

When I was watering my garden today, you know, to avoid crispy grass that may turn off a potential buyer (did I mention the contract to sell our house fell through?), I found a massive yellow straightneck squash that I'd somehow overlooked. I picked that one, and one just beside it and am so looking forward to munching them with my family this weekend.

This afternoon we finally got a bit of rain (17 drops, I think, followed 3 hours later by 9 minutes of massive downpour). Afterwards, I checked to make sure the wind hadn't knocked over anything. While I was checking, I picked two carrots. Little orange ones. They weren't supposed to be little, but I hate waiting until they're full grown. Each was about an inch long. But very tender and sweet and yummy.

Sigh.

And I forgot to take a pic before the kid and I munched them down. Sorry.

Companion Planting: Corn

2009-07-25T06:19:00.000-07:00

Here's hoping you already have your corn in the ground, but if not, you can use this info when you plant it the next growing season.

First, remember that corn is wind-pollinated, so plant in blocks instead of rows. I've had success with four rows of 10 each.

Sweet corn likes potatoes, peas, beans, cucumbers, pumpkins and other squash. Peas and beans provide the nitrogen that corn loves and needs so much.

If you plant corn with squash and beans, that's called "Three Sisters". Corn provides shade for the squash and a place for runner/pole beans to climb. Squash shades the ground to keep moisture in, plus the spikey parts of the squash help keep critters (especially raccoons) off the corn. The beans provide the nitrogen for the corn. Together, all three make a great complete-protein meal too (often called "succotash").

Pumpkins and other winding winter squash work well as the "moisture-keeper", but so do melon vines and cucumbers.

Consider planting sunflowers every 4 or 5 rows of corn. This strip of sunflowers will help reduce certain beetles that won't want to cross that strip.

Stay away from planting tomatoes anywhere near corn - the tomato fruitworm and the corn earworm are the same and will make a hasty tasty meal out of both.

I had a lot of earwigs in my cornpatch last year, but I read up on them and they don't eat the plants; they eat the little bugs. We pretty much left them alone, and still had at least 2 ears of corn per stalk.

There are a lot of websites giving detailed information on how to plant Three Sisters. Enjoy!

Companion Planting: Celery

2009-07-23T06:08:00.000-07:00

We grew a LOT of celery last year, especially considering my son and I don't really like celery... Hubby ate it. We didn't have the space this year to grow it, but I'll grow it again next year. I'm pre-diabetic with high blood pressure, and celery is good for a salt-reduced diet. Celery is easy to dehydrate and used in soups, or powdered to add to my special all-vegg powder.

Pic to right taken Aug 10 2008 with my son holding the celery he just harvested. We grew it in that kiddie pool he's standing beside. That's our little Three Sisters (corn, squash, beans, sunflowers) patch in the background.

Celery likes: cabbage, cauliflower, tomatoes and leeks, and kinda likes bush beans.

Good idea to grow the celery in a circle so that the lacy roots can weave together and provide a great little home for earthworms. But be prepared - pull one, pull all!

Companion Planting: Cauliflower

2009-07-22T06:02:00.000-07:00

I love cauliflower but I couldn't grow it this year. Shame too because my kid likes it too. Next year, even in a container, we'll plant some yellow cauliflower - yum!

Anyhoo...

Cauliflower can be bothered by the white cabbage butterfly. Plant celery near cauliflower to repel that butterfly.

Don't plant cauliflower near strawberries or tomatoes - doesn't like either one of them.

Companion Planting: Carrots

2009-07-21T17:53:00.000-07:00

Back to discussing companion planting! Today's topic: carrots.

First, to grow sweet-tasting carrots, you need to make sure your soil has sufficient lime, potash and humus. Don't allow too much nitrogen, and make sure they are shaded by larger plants, like tomatoes.

A problem is the carrot fly. Drive it away with onions, leeks, rosemary, wormwood and sage. Sometimes, black salsify (oyster plant) helps too.

To accomplish this, you could interplant rows of carrots with rows onions. I used wormwood last year and our carrots grew beautifully... orange but also purple, white and red.

Note: always store carrots far from apples so that the carrots won't develop a bitter taste.

Garden Delights

2009-07-09T19:24:00.000-07:00

I've picked about 6 tomatoes so far ... from our "Fourth of July" tomato plant that I bought from a store. Can't remember where. Delicious fresh and red all the way through. Yum.

We have 2 little yellow straightneck squashes that will be ready in another 3 or 4 days. And we have several 3-inch zucchini that still have another week or so.

The parsley (flat leafed and curly) is ever so tasty! I pick a stem or so every time I'm back there watering.

Last year we just through our corn cobs and garden trimmings refuse in a big compost heap, enclosed by three big boards. I had to cover over (to make it purty so we can sell this house!) but in the midst of the flowers that I planted to purti-fy-it, here a cluster of corn plants suddenly bursting out! I'm gonna leave them there just to see what happens. Kinda cool!

Anyway... that's a very quick garden update. Our house goes on the market tomorrow, but we're not ready yet. We have been working very hard, and have even more hard work ahead of us very early tomorrow morning. I'll get back to reading blogs and writing on our blogs as soon as I can breathe again. Bear with me!

Vikki

Strawberry Thief Update

2009-06-25T06:23:00.000-07:00

I gave up. Even with all the packing and stuff to get this house ready to sell, I took a break. I dug up all of those strawberry plants, put them in a planter, and sent them with Hubby to mom-in-law on Sunday. They have planted them in her backyard and have already eaten on that survived last week's massacre.

IF we were to stay here, I would have moved them to the back yard and made the fence (perimeter) more secure from intruders and thieves. Just a quick lock on the gate would have worked.

Strawberry Thief

2009-06-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

Our local vandal has struck again. Here's what happened.

In 2008 we planted several strawberry plants in our front yard, north side of our front porch. As it was the first year, we harvested only about 60-70 berries for the entire summer. When Fall came, Hubby buried them in peat moss, to keep them from freezing and to provide a more acidic atmosphere.

They survived, and began to flourish, pushing up through the peat before even the end of March. We were surprised and thrilled to find strawberries growing and getting ripe last week. The above pic was taken on May 19 2009... see the beautiful white strawberry flowers?! We waited anxiously for Hubby to return home on Friday so we could pick the 20 or so, and split them among the three of us. I even checked them Thursday afternoon and found them well ripened and a beautiful red.

Hubby got home Friday afternoon. After unloading the car and unpacking him, we trumped out to pick the berries, bowl in hand. Not a one! Every one had been taken. No, birds didn't get them. It was obviously a human from the way they were harvested.

Here it is Sunday night and I'm still really ticked about it. I've been waiting since last Fall for homegrown fresh strawberries. Ticked really doesn't describe it.

Letter to President Obama Re: Stimulus for Gardens

2009-06-19T12:46:00.000-07:00

Dear President Obama:

I understand that the government is creating stimulus packages for all sorts of things. The latest example I heard about was a voucher to purchase an energy efficient car.

Have you considered a voucher for home gardeners?

See, for our little family of three, with all three of us on special diets, our grocery bill could be astronomical. Could. IF we actually bought produce at the grocery. But we haven't in the last year. But it's not just produce.

My almost-13-year-old boy, who has a hollow leg but is a very picky eater, has to avoid gluten products (oat, barley, rye, wheat), anything with chemicals or preservatives, cashews, peanuts, soybeans, and can tolerate only organic milk products.

Hubby is lactose intolerant, so his special cheese is much more expensive than regular cheese.

I'm trying to lose weight, but also can't handle gluten products or anything with chemicals. But getting special food for all three of us is expensive, so, as the mom, I make sure they have what they need, and I just take what I can get.

Good news, though. From our garden last year, my son ate a LOT of everything he loves: blueberries, strawberries, lettuce, green beans, many-colored kinds of carrots (red, purple, yellow, and of course, orange), corn, zucchini, yellow crookneck squash and peas. Hubby and I ate those plus lots of tomatoes, peppers, radishes, watermelon, pumpkin, eggplant, okra, cantaloupe, cherries, rhubarb, raspberries, beets, and lots of winter squashes. I dehydrated a lot and we ate them through the Winter, and even have a few winter squashes still to eat.

My point is this, President Obama: growing our garden was expensive to start, but well worth it. We didn't have concerns about contaminants or herbicides on our produce. We had more than enough of many of our items. But it all cost money to start... soil, composter, heirloom seeds, pots, etc. YOU can do something. Encourage people to grow their own "backyard grocery garden" by rewarding people to use their front lawns, backyards, or even their patio or balconey.

Give a subsidy for having chickens, ducks and goats instead of making us microchip and register them. Make a "bank" for heirloom seeds and give them away to all schools and communities who promise to (1) have participants consume the produce, esp the kids and (2) save seeds to "deposit" into the bank after the growing season is over. Give us grants for growing extra produce to give to food banks.

We're moving to a bigger place as soon as we sell this house. We'll have more room for farm animals, bees, bigger crops, fruit and nut trees, berry brambles, and much more. I can control the quality of most of our food that way.

I realize that many people don't want, can't, or don't have the time to garden or grow their own food. That's their choice. But help those of us who do want to and are willing to make the time and expend the energy.

Help the American People.

Thank you.

Note: These pictures were all from our 2008 garden, mostly in containers, except for our small corn patch. Our house sits on a property that is just shy of a quarter of an acre, and we grew most of our produce for the year. It CAN be done. Help us.

Pic 1: Our "Three Sisters" corn path

Pic 2: Our cherry tomatoes

Pic 3: One eggplant

Pic 4: One day's harvest - see the purple carrots? Delicious, sweet and gone within moments.

Pic 5: Another day's harvest - rhubarb with lettuce, our first blueberries, cherries and radishes.

Garden Planner

2009-06-18T19:47:00.000-07:00

I just found this link: http://www.gardeners.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-Gardeners-Site/default/Page-KitchenGardenDesigner - if you haven't started your garden yet, or want help planning next year's, try this on for size. It's loosely based on Square Foot Gardening, which I kinda use myself.

Flies and Mosquitos have a RIGHT to Live!

2009-06-18T06:08:00.001-07:00

...

... NOT!

I can't believe that there is even a discussion about whether or not President Barack Obama should have swatted the fly. I'm thinking... Maybe he should have paused the televised interview with CNBC correspondent John Harwood?

"Excuse me, could someone get over here and remove this fly? I don't CARE if there's a deadline for this interview's completion! This is a living creature that must be taken care of. Much more important than the American Citizens I'm working to help."

As a gardener, I need to take care of pests. Yes, pests. I don't use pesticide or herbicides, but I do pick off the tomato hornworms and squish them. If I don't, I don't have tomatoes to feed my family through the next year. Same with corn. Same with any other critter I find munching on my home-grown food.

IT'S A BUG!

And sorry, but my human family and our pets and livestock are much more important than any little fly.

It appears from PETA's website (http://blog.peta.org/archives/2009/06/obama_and_the_f.php) that they are capitalizing on this controversy to sell some bug catcher thing. What is it made of... plastic? Isn't plastic made from oil? Tsk Tsk Tsk. Naughty PETA.

Get over it! Unbelievable controversy when there are so many more things to think about.

Your Three Sisters Garden

2009-06-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

After posting yesterday about the changes being "considered" for corn crops (vaccines in corn?), I started thinking about my future crops of corn. As you may be aware, we can't grow corn this year because we're putting the house up for sale in a few weeks.

Last year, my first year of real gardening and of Three Sisters gardening, we planted a combination of crops in the corn patch.

(Pic to right was taken on July 7 2008 - looks busy doesn't it? Planted the beans too early and the corn too close together!)

corn - Early and Often Sweet Corn, and a couple of Bloody Butcher and a couple of Blue Hopi - yes, they cross-pollinated and was quite interesting!
beans - pole - Romano and KY Wonder - delicious
squash - we planted too many summer squashes (which don't vine so that was way wrong), a few Mexican X-Top cushaw winter squashes, a Sugar Pie pumpkin, and a couple of spaghetti winter squashes. We didn't save seeds, and to this day, still have a couple of the X-Tops left in the basement.
sunflowers - we grew mammoth and some were short and some were taller than 6 and 7 feet tall! The only thing is the beans didn't want to climb them, and I didn't give them enough space. They need more room than the corn stalks, because the stalks got huge, and the leaves pushed everything out of the way.

(Pic to right is the cornpatch in early September, but pic mostly shows the sunflowers.)

I'm buying the seed now for all of our future corn crops. Also gonna order the bean seed. Considering alternating one kind one year and another kind the next year, then change again.

corn - Bloody Butcher switching to Black Aztec the next year - both can be eaten as corn on the cob but do better dried on the cob for corn meal. I understand the corn stalks can also be harvested before the first frost, completely uprooted, and dried upside down hanging from rafters and used as needed.
bean - KY Wonder did great last year, but I can't find where it makes a good dried white bean. We did dry them but I'm kinda nervous about using. Anyone? Also, we want a second pole bean to alternate to the next year - considering Cherokee Trail of Tears which produces a shiny black bean that is good as a snap bean or dried.
squash - we plan to alternate pumpkin (kind?) with Mexican X-Top cushaw (very long vines with lots of large fruit that stores well and seeds are great toasted) and possibly spaghetti or butternut.
sunflowers - mammoth - only on the perimeter and spaced correctly!

We'll, of course, plant bush beans and summer squashes in other places. Can't imagine not growing soybeans! Plus we'll be planting gourds elsewhere, like bushel basket and birdhouse, for functional use later.

Anyway... ... I'm writing this because I'm curious - are YOU doing a Three Sisters garden this year? If so, what varieties are you growing? Are you concerned about my article yesterday about the GMO modification and vaccine-implanting of corn seed? Are you stocking up on seeds and learning about seed saving?

Vaccines in Corn Crops

2009-06-16T18:12:00.001-07:00

The following link was forwarded to me by a good friend. Read it and then comment if you can. Here's an excerpt from the article:

Edible vaccines, as GMO foods, are in the future as well. Meat and Poultry, a business journal for meat and poultry processors, reports in a May 5, 2009 article , by Bryan Salvage, that researchers at Iowa State University are working on creating a method to install vaccines into corn crops.

"We're trying to figure out which genes from the swine influenza virus to incorporate into corn", stated Hank Harris, a researcher on the project. "If a swine flu virus breaks out, the corn could be shipped to the location to try to vaccinate animals and humans in the area quickly. . . . there is no need for extensive vaccine purification, which can be an expensive process."

This way even corn products, including corn chips and corn syrup, which is ubiquitous in processed foods, can serve as vaccination vehicles for humans while the corn itself is fed to hogs. Starting in 1996, bananas have been considered as a vaccination vehicle for developing countries. Keep in mind that this will be genetically engineered, or GMO (genetically modified organisms), so you won't know where and when it will show up on the food shelves.

Surely I'm reading this wrong? I know that it's already impossible to find corn seed that is 100% free of genetic modification (GMO) but come on!

Read it:
http://www.naturalnews.com/026434_vaccines_vaccination_vaccinations.html

Comments?

Grow Nasturtiums for Beauty and Food

2009-06-09T13:14:00.000-07:00

Nasturtiums are beautiful flowers, strong and spicey in smell and taste. The flowers, leaves and seeds are all edible. Here are a few tips for growing them in your backyard grocery garden:

they needs lots of water

they needs lots of sun

they DON'T need a rich soil

plant near zucchini and other squash to repel the dreaded squash bug

if you plan on consuming any part of the plant, you need to raise it like any other food plant: no pesticides or herbicides

the flowers can also be used as a wound disinfectant

I can't find any nutritional information on these. Does anyone know if the nasturtium seeds have any protein? I would think they do.

Nasturtiums will make a beautiful addition to your herb garden. Or your salad garden!

NOTE: for recipes on eating nasturtium flowers, leaves and seeds, click here: http://www.survival-cooking.com/2009/06/using-nasturtiums-flowers-and-leaves.html

Companion Planting: Broccoli

2009-06-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

Broccoli is a member of the cabbage family, so basically what goes for broccoli also goes for cabbage, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts. These do well when planted with aromatic herbs like:

dill

celery

chamomile

peppermint

rosemary

sage

and vegetables such as...

beets

onions

potatoes

Do NOT plant broccoli near pole beans, strawberries or tomatoes.

Companion Planting: Beets

2009-06-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

I had never grown beets until last year (2008). They did quite nicely, considering I started out clueless. Here's what beets like to be grown near to:

bush beans

onions

kohlrabi

lettuce

cabbage

broccoli

For some reason, beets do NOT like pole/vining beans. Go figure. They also don't like field mustard or charlock.

Our 2009 square foot raised garden bed has a square of beets at the edge, surrounded by lettuce and onions. We already have sprouts!

Companion Planting: Beans

2009-05-31T07:00:00.000-07:00

There are bush beans and pole/vining beans... and sometimes it seems like each bean has its likes and dislikes. Generally speaking, most beans like being planted with:

carrots

cauliflower

beets (for bush beans but NOT for pole beans!)

cucumbers

cabbages

marigolds (helps repel a bean beetle)

summer savory

Last year, we planted soy beans in an 8 x 4 raised bed, with onions in the middle. We learned the hard way that beans do NOT like being planted anywhere near the onion family, which includes garlic, scallions, shallots and chives. The beans survived but we didn't get even an onion seedling! Beans also don't like gladiolas or fennel.

Have you read our article about the three sisters planting? (http://backyardgrocerygardening.blogspot.com/2009/03/planting-three-sisters-way.html) Running (vining) beans grow up the corn stalk, giving them plenty of air and room to grow, making it easier to pick. Beans also fix nitrogen into the ground, which the corn needs. And the beans anchor the corn more firmly, which helps to protect against the wind and a thick growth of beans helps to deter critters.

If you have bush beans to plant with corn, alternate a row of corn with a row of bush beans.

Some bush beans like being planted with a celery plant - one to every 6 or 7 bushes of beans. Some bush beans also like being planted with strawberry plants.

Pole/vining beans don't like kohlrabi or sunflowers. We learned this the hard way because we planted sunflowers in our three sisters bed. Not even one bean plant survived past peeking it's head out of the soil! Pole beans do like radishes, though.

= = =

I know this is a lot to take in. Sometimes you just have to look at what you want to plant, and see what you can fit and where.

Companion Planting: Asparagus

2009-05-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

Companion planting is placing one plant near another to get better results, or making sure one plant grows far away from another because they might cause problems for each other.

If you are starting to plant asparagus now, here's what goes well with it:

parsley

basil

tomatoes

Remember - never cut asparagus spears from the first year, and only a couple in the second and a few more in the third. The fourth year - have at it! As for the foliage, never cut it until the Fall because that provides the nourishment for next year's crop of spears.

I love Spring

2009-05-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

I love Spring ... my favorite season.

Summer is too hot and busy busy busy. Daily watering, harvesting, checking for bugs, canning and dehydrating. Plus there are other chores to do: grass mowing (we have a boy-powered push mower), house cleaning, schoolwork, and more.

Autumn is horrible. The hustle and bustle of the Summer is over, and the cupboards are full. But fields and plots and containers of my favorite green plants turn brown and black, withering, and dying.

Winter is wonderful. Cold. Snowy (if we're lucky). Quiet, but thinking and planning and plotting next year's garden.

... but Spring... ah! It's busy, but not the Summer busy-and-scorching-hot busy. Flowers create delicious future veggies and fruits. Vines begin to wind around boundaries. Ravenging squirrels and other marauders present challenges and hurdles. Weather bears close watching.

Sigh.

I really do love Spring.

We Re-Planted Our Destroyed Raised Bed

2009-05-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

If you've been keeping up with our blog, you know that a certain neighbor vandalized our raised garden beds on Mother's Day. I had it all strung up with yarn, delineating the square feet, to help me keep to my plan. The neighbor tore at the yarn and must have moved the dirt around with his hand or a utensil because it was a mess. On the other raised bed, all of the asparagus roots I had just planted had been dug up, the holes refilled, and the roots carefully placed on top, by the markers. Unbelievable.

The asparagus roots went back into place right away but everything else waited while we figured out a way to booby-trap our backyard gate.

Anyway, I finally got around to replanting everything else. We have three tomatoes: "Mr. Stripey"(a yellow heirloom), "Fourth of July" (the big one in the middle - an early-bearing which already has little green globes on it!), and "Lemon Boy". I planted orange marigolds, parsley and basil around the tomatoes (companion plants - helps keep away bad bugs).

The picture shows some of the bed covered in newspaper. While the radishes are popping up, I wanted to help keep in moisture in the other parts because it's been so very hot recently. I'll take them off when the seeds have taken root, and it will be easier for me to see vandalism. Should be any day now!

Note: It appears that we are still being vandalized but now it's alternating between human and critter. We've set traps and woe to anyone who ignores them!

The Dead Rhubarb is Alive Again!

2009-05-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

Soon after we moved into this house in February 2008, my mother-in-law offered to split one of her rampant rhubarbs to give us one to plant. We did this around March, I think. We brought it home in a cardboard box and Hubby dug a big-ole hole. We placed a tire around it, filled it a little bit with potting soil, and placed in the rhubarb. We added a little more potting soil and gave it a good watering. This rhubarb grew really well, giving off a few stalks that Hubby tried to cook and didn't.

Then mid-Summer, it appeared to be stricken with some kind of insects. The leaves developed huge holes and soon, disappeared. We thought it was dead.

We underestimated it.

This past March (2009), it started showing signs of greening, and, well, look at the picture I took on May 19 2009... it's huge! Can barely see that tire! Time to harvest some of the stalks and dehydrate them.

Raspberries and Strawberries

2009-05-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

In our front yard, we have three tiers by the front porch. To the side of that porch, two of those tiers wrap around. Not a lot of sun gets there, but about 3-5 hours worth. There were tulips there originally, but we planted around them.

Sometime in mid-summer last year (2008), we planted several ever-bearing strawberries ion the bottome part, and two red raspberry plants on the top part. We actually got about 30 strawberries and 20 raspberries before they ended their bearing season.

Now... well, just look at the picture! The raspberries are making new cane with beautiful leaves, and the strawberries have some beautiful white flowers. That means strawberries will be here soon!

At our new homestead, we're planting about 100+ strawberries and at least 20 red raspberry and 20 yellow raspberry plants. Yum!

Hot Banana Pepper Planted

2009-05-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

We read that the color yellow in the front yard gives a great sense of calmness to prospective buyers. Our front yard is weird shaped, being on a corner lot, and has three tiers of raised beds in front of the front porch.

On the top row we HAD planted roses last year but my brown thumb killed them. So 2 weeks ago I planted yellow marigolds on the top tier. I'm hoping they will become bushy in the next few weeks - here's hoping!

The middle tier is a little tricky. Sometimes I need to walk on it to get to the top tier. Right now, it has crocuses, tulips and 5-o'clocks growing (from previous owners). They'll be dead/gone soon. So when that happens, probably in a couple of weeks, I'll sow the middle tier with some kind of vining yellow winter squash, like maybe spaghetti or butternut squash. That will make it green there and provide a few dots of yellow color.

In the bottom bed, I planted a hot banana pepper plant. I don't really care for peppers of any kind, and can't stand the heat of hot peppers, but I'm hoping the beautiful colors of the yellow banana peppers will help us sell the house. If no one comes before the peppers are ready, I guess I'm giving them away! Next week, in this tier, I'll also be planting some yellow crookneck (or straightneck?) summer squash to also provide more yellow and to give us yummy squash to eat!

Now if the weather will just cooperate!

Oh, and my Hubby needs to fix our outdoor water faucet since the workmen at a new neighbor's house killed it during the winter. Money money money!

Columnar Fruit Trees

2009-05-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

We love fruit. Never grown fruit trees before so we thought we'd start with columnar apple, crabapple and peach trees from Stark's Brothers. We have 1 scarlet red, 1 emerald spire, 1 crabapple, and 2 peach.

This first pic was taken June 2008. Ignore the weeds and temporary frames.

They went into the ground in around March last year (2008), leafed out beautifully, and even produced flowers. We had heard that they shouldn't be allowed to fruit the first year, but the day before we were planning to pull off the flowers, a huge wind storm came and blew them away! They stayed green the entire summer, as long as we remembered to water them. Of course, since they were right by the corn patch, it wasn't too terribly hard to remember.

This second pic was taken May 19 2009. Again, ignore the weeds. One tree is kinda hiding behind another in the middle.

During the winter, though, they looked like sticks in the ground. Dead brown wood. But look at them now! I hope they produce fruit before we have to move. Because chances are, we won't be able to successfully transplant them.

Sidenote: These trees are called columnar because they grow up straight, don't branch out and the fruit grows close to the trunk. They don't get very large, so they can be grown in containers, and are easy to pick.

Borage is an Annual?

2009-05-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

I've read all over the place that borage, the herb, is an annual. That it dies back in cold weather, and needs replanting.

So last year (2008), I took several kinds of herb seeds, carefully marked them, and sowed them in peat pellets. Some grew and some didn't. The ones that grew I transplanted (with the markers). The borage is one of those that grew magnificently. Beautiful green, fuzzy leafs.

It started dying in the Fall and we just let it. After all, it's an annual, right?

Wrong. At least, not in our home. Even though we had some snow and some sub-zero temperatures this last Winter, it has decided to live.

I took the above right picture on May 19 2009. It IS borage, right?

Blueberries Survived the Winter

2009-05-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

We started out with 4 blueberry seedlings from a mail order place last summer (2008). We carefully prepared the bed, making the soil acidic with peat moss and other additives. We planted the 4 blueberry, 2 cranberry and 2 lingonberry in the raised bed, and hoped for the best. We watered them and carefully tended them, but by the end of a very scorching summer, only one had survived.

By mid-summer we realized we weren't having any luck with the mail order plants, so we bought 2 blueberry plants from Lowe's. We potted them, tended them, and between the 2 plants, we harvested about 2 cups of blueberries. The most delicious, juicy... stop me!

We brought the 2 blueberries in containers indoors to the family room for the Winter, and hoped they and the one in the raised bed outside would survive. And survive they did... you can see from the pictures that the raised bed plant has decided it wants to live. And the two potted blueberries are already showing wonderful growth.

Aren't they beautiful?

I couldn't resist ... I bought two more blueberry plants the other day and will put them in containers, probably later this week. They already have flowers on them!

Banana Plant in Container

2009-05-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'd been wanting to grow my own bananas for a long time. Two years ago, while we were still living in an apartment, I bought a plant. I potted it, I watered it, and I placed a grow-light near it.

Last year (2008) when we moved to this house and when the weathered warmed, I placed it outside where it grew thicker around the stalk, and new leaves appeared and disappeared quickly. It spent the winter in our family room with other plants and a grow light, often without water though.

But here's the banana plant today. I'll repot it soon to give it more room to stretch out its roots. Hopefully, one day, it will appreciate my new attention to it and will give us bananas!

Asparagus Came Back!

2009-05-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

I don't really care for asparagus but Hubby does, and I do dehydrate it to crush into a powder and add it where I can hide it.

So last year (2008) we purchased 6 bedding plants from a nursery. Not just the roots, the actual plants. We didn't know exactly where to plant them (since they are quite permanent) so we stuck 2 per trash can/bucket. They ferned out great, and even gave out some stalks which we didn't eat (never the first and rarely the second year). In the Fall, we cut them back, and stored them in our family room for the Winter.

Not long ago, we noticed a little green shoot in one of the trash buckets. We placed the three buckets outside, watered them, and waited.

This is a picture of what they look like today! See? You CAN container garden!

The Resurrection of the Blackberries

2009-05-18T14:45:00.000-07:00

Last year I planted 6 blackberry starter plants in our backyard, properly spaced out in preparation for large vines. They did well, but as they were first year plants, didn't bear any fruit. The vines "died" but the thorns stayed.

Tween likes to run back and forth in the backyard. He got really aggrevated with the thorns tearing at him in the Fall, so he broke them all off. When I discovered this, I was furious. He got it with both barrels. I really love blackberries, especially homegrown and pesticide/herbicide free. Sweet. Juicy. Black fingers and stained faces. Pure heaven.

I accepted that we wouldn't have blackberries. And since we need to move as soon as we sell this house, I didn't replant this year. I also didn't pull up the roots to compost; too lazy, I guess.

This past weekend, Hubby and I were weeding the backyard when he exclaimed, "Look at the blackberries!" I walked over, leaned in, and started to pull weeds (one track mind). Prick. Thorn into my finger. As I more carefully pulled the bindweed, I saw what my more-observant husband saw: the blackberry plant there had come back. We examined all 6, and 5 of them were leafing! I pulled away weeds from all 5, and we placed tires around each to make sure the dogs (and yes, the Tween) leaves them alone.

Pic to the above right: one of our resurrected blackberry plants in its protective tire home.

Each of the 5 blackberry plants have at least 10 leaves on them. Perhaps we'll have blackberries before we leave! If not, they might have to be dug up and transported to our new home.

Hmmm... blackberries.

Sabotage in the Garden

2009-05-10T19:24:00.000-07:00

As I posted last night, we finally got around to planting many of our vegetables yesterday, including asparagus. Turns out someone doesn't want us to grow a garden, because they made an effort to enter our fenced backyard without alerting our "guard" puppy or chihuahua, dug up the asparagus roots, refilled the holes, replaced the marker-sticks, and placed the asparagus roots on top of where they had been buried. Obvious vandalism and sabotage.

Once I discovered and calmed down, I replanted them, then got to thinking. I should have looked around for footprints, or checked the other veggie bed. I should have taken pictures before I replanted them.

I'm booby-trapping our gate (fence) tomorrow.

Beware, sabatour!

We planted lettuce today. Finally.

2009-05-09T19:32:00.001-07:00

I've been meaning to plant our square-foot raised-bed garden for weeks now... at least the carrots, onions, spinach and lettuce. One thing after another prevented me. Today I got tired of waiting. We're expecting a storm tonight and some tomorrow, so I grabbed the seed tapes I'd made, some other seeds, my map (plan of the bed), markers and trowel, and hit the backyard.

It was time to follow the plan pictured to the right.

First I had to weed the bed again, as the bindweed had overtaken everything again. Then I had to replace the yarn where the puppy had broken it in his joyful leapings. Then Hubby came out (he was doing weed pulling in the front) and we started with the carrot seed tapes, then moved to the okra, lettuce, beets, swiss chard, etc. I still need to make seed tapes for the spinach and a couple of other lettuces, and some more onions.

(We are making a change to the plan - instead of the 4 different summer squashes, we're planting all 4 squares with the fordhook zucchini squash.)

Then I grabbed the package of asparagus we bought at a local nursery and Hubby helped there too, in the second raised bed where there is already 5 strawberry and one blueberry plant. If it doesn't rain tonight or tomorrow, I'll get out the water hose.

Gee, we really hope the new owners appreciate all of the work we're doing to this place to make it more "marketable". And I really really REALLY hope we can eat at least some of the harvest before we move!

Green Tomatoes Harvest 2008

2009-05-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

This pic was taken in October 2008. It's the big collander of green (unripe) tomatoes we picked the last week in October, after the first frost. They survived (barely) under two blankets and a big piece of plastic. It was too much work to try to save the plants. So we picked these, and I dehydrated them. We did that in the hopes that green (unripe) tomatoes are just as nutritious (or close enough) as the ripe tomatoes.

Green tomato powder has been added to our all-vegg powder (dehydrated vegetables crushed into a powder and added to a variety of dishes - to hide for picky eaters!). The dried green tomatoes aren't very tasty by themselves, but add a zing to dishes.

I didn't know how to make fried green tomatoes or green tomato relish yet. In 2009, probably in the Fall, I'll post recipes for those on http://www.survival-cooking.com/.

Cold Weather Snap

2009-04-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

The people who had this house before us had planted tulips and crocuses (crocii?) in the front tiered beds. What a surprise last Spring! During the Summer, we'd moved the bulbs over so we could tomatoes and beans there, but somehow forgot to move them back. A few weeks ago, we found the beginnings of crocus peek up, and turn a beautiful blue. Last week, the tulips popped up. Hubby called them "Carnival".

We had a weather forecast for Sunday night of rain. We awoke to 4 inches of snow on my car. Unbelievable. However, the snow quickly melted, and the budding flowers (and fruit trees) survived.

The seed tapes for carrots, onions and lettuce/greens are nicely sleeping in their squares in our raised beds. We'll find out soon enough if they died in the late snow.

Gardening to Help Fight the Swine Flu

2009-04-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

We're a family that's worked hard to prepare for almost anything. Here in Colorado, we could have tornadoes, floods, drought, civil unrest, and yes, possibly a swine or bird flu pandemic. Since this 2009 swine flu popped up last week, we've taken a look at our emergency supplies:

water - a gallon per person per day
food - stored items plus a garden getting ready to produce a little
sanitation and hygiene - toilet paper, etc.

Since we're in the midst of preparing to sell our house, we have started putting some of our things in storage (staging the house), and we've begun to misplace some of the more important items.

However, our food storage is intact. We still have pumpkin and other winter squashes in the basement from 2008's harvest. We have most of our dehydrated tomatoes, eggplant, and spinach leftover.

For fresh produce, we started our "root-vue" garden which will soon be producing carrots and microgreens. We've started our seeds for carrots, lettuce/greens, and radishes. Our little tomato, pepper, okra and eggplant seedlings are looking good and should be ready to transplant if this weather ever figures out what to do!

We have quite a few herbs we've grown in the past or purchased - dehydrated and sitting in mason jars. Peppermint to settle stomachs. Echinacea and elderberry for lung health. Goldenseal. Zinc. Vitamins C (strawberries!) and D. Grow the garlic. Step out into the sun for 15 minutes a day (that includes your gardening time!).

Have you started your herb garden yet? Analyzed your seedlings to see what vitamins, minerals and other health benefits you'll be growing? Think about it... eating healthy and fresh produce will be our best way to fight any virus that comes our way.

Are you ready?

Harvest vs Grocery

2009-04-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

I can hardly wait until we can move to a new place where we can finally settle and get produce from our yards.

Meanwhile, we went shopping last week, and after spending a huge amount of money at Sam's on the produce you see in this pic (plus the gluten-free bread for Tween at the health food store), I'm at my wit's end. See, this fruit is what we'll go through in about 2 weeks. The fruit tray was gone within 3 days.

The strawberries we planted last year are starting to peek out from the mulching we hid them under for the winter. The blackberries are dead, thanks for the Tween who hacked at them after being scratched too many time while chasing the puppy. The raspberries died because someone forgot to water them immediately after planting (no guesses, I confess). Our colonnade apple, crabapple and peach trees have leafed, so we might actually get some fruit from them before we move. The banana tree I've been tending for the past 2 years needs to be repotted so I'll do that this Summer - needs more room.

The cantaloupe and honeydew are out of season... August maybe, from our yard if we're still here.

There are miniature avocado trees that I can hardly wait to buy once we get a house with a sunroom - hmmm. And we'll get miniature citrus trees.

The yellow squash (towards the right beside the cantaloupe) won't be ready in our yard till at least mid July.

Will have to experiment with mushrooms - Hubby loves them fried with onions and garlic!

See... if we had space, it would be almost time to start harvesting our fruit, and thus, reducing our grocery bill. I mean, that's the whole point of having a backyard grocery, right?

Tomato Harvest 2008

2009-04-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

Above: Thai Pink Tomatoes - see how they just began to blush?

Above: Cherry Tomatoes - I love this picture. Shows unripe, on-its-way, and ripe. Sweet and juicy - popped in my mouth!

Above: We had to plant most of our tomatoes in pots last year (2008) and need to do so again this year because we'll be (hopefully) moving sometime in the Summer and want our garden to go with us. See how each tomato got a basil and marigold? Great companion planting! We had only one tomato hornworm the whole season!

Above: I love this picture! Shows just one day's harvest: quite a variety of tomatoes (thai pink, black cherry, regular cherry, yellow pear, etc.) and the string beans, yellow straightneck, pickling cucumbers. I loved bringing in the colander (yes, we harvested with a colander!), arranging the produce on a plate and taking a picture. Then preparing dinner. Yum!

= = = =

Considering how we were novice gardeners in 2008, we were so blessed with a terrific crop of tomatoes that year. We had 20 tomato plants, of which 19 of them bore beginning sometime in July (if I remember correctly), and each 5-gallon pot got one (or 2) tomato plants, a basil and a marigold. There were very few bug attacks.

We had several varieties (we got some of our seeds off the rack and others we ordered):

Big Rainbow Striped Tomatoes - a slicer that is mostly orange with green and red faint stripes, very sweet, somewhat thick-fleshed, and the most delicious tomato we've ever tasted. We are definitely growing this again.
Thai Pink Tomatoes - they start off a little white and as they ripen, they turn a light pink, and deepen to a vivid pink. Very juicy. Some people don't like the taste, but Hubby and I are ok with it. Not something we'd grow if we had limited space.
Black Cherry Tomatoes - these were a little larger than a cherry tomato, and are actually purple. Thick flesh and somewhat sweet. We had only 2 plants of these so we mostly ate these freshly picked. We did dehydrate and freeze some.
Red Cherry Tomatoes - had only one of these plants and it gave us about 15-20 red cherry tomatoes every 3 days or so. Sweet.
Roma Tomatoes - although just about everyone knows about these, have to mention. Ours didn't get very big but when they ripened, they were thick and crimson red. Perfect for making some of our favorite dishes. Great dehydrated and frozen. Replacing this with Amish Paste in 2009.
Yellow Pear Tomatoes - I tasted my first yellow pear in 2007 and HAD to grow them in 2008. We had about 6 of these plants, and every one of them bore prolifically. We brought several in the house in October and enjoyed them well into .. well, March we ate the last one! Great for salads, but we also dehydrate and freeze them.
Kellog's Orange Breakfast (paste) and Orange Mama and Yellow Mama - ok, here's the problem. I had started several plants (squash, gourds, tomatoes, etc.) and planted them in mid-Spring, and unfortunately a fox uprooted them all (digging a hole to take a nap in). I saved what I could, but the labels either scattered or faded. So, we had lots of other kinds of tomatoes, including these 3, but we have no idea what was what. We will keep better track this year. It's a good suggestion for you too. Label label label!

We tried to extend our harvest last year with blankets. We got a little bit of additional time but it was too much effort. We had to keep running outside to batten them down. Major wind storms. This year we'll just pick the green ones (there were almost 70 last year!) and make green tomato relish or fried green tomatoes. We dehydrated some but should have done more.

How to Grow Turnips

2009-04-26T04:00:00.000-07:00

I don't care much for turnips but here's a bit of information for your to grow and harvest your own turnip roots and greens:

Description:

The turnip is a biennial which means it grows in one summer, hides a little during the winter, and flowers the next season. It's usually considered an annual, though.

The leafy stems may get 1-2 feet tall and the root (the actual turnip) could get up to a foot in diameter. (We're using the term "root" lightly as it's not an actual root but a swollen part of the stem).

Americans prefer to grow 'Purple Top White Globe' for the roots and 'Seven Top' for the turnip greens, but there are a plethora of varieties to choose from - it depends on what color and taste you prefer.

History:
The turnip has been "gardened" by humans for a long time - some say more than 4,000 years! North America discovered them in the late 1500's.

How to Grow:

In a square foot raised bed, you can plant 9 turnip seeds per square foot - spaced 4 inches apart. Turnips can grow in almost any soil, if it isn't too hard or too wet, but should be near-neutral PH. They need full sun, and a deep watering once a week (otherwise they could bolt prematurely). Very cold tolerant, and can tolerate frost and moderate freezes (down to around 15 degrees F). These are a cool-weather crop, so plant in very early Spring (now is a good time) or in late Summer to mature in the cool Autumn.

Sow turnip seeds thickly. Cover with about 1/4 inch of soil; water well. Germination may happen in less than a week.

IF growing for roots, thin seedlings to 6 inches apart when they are 3-6 inches tall. Eat the seedlings (wash first!) in salads or steam.

Hardiness:

USDA Zones 3-10.

Grow fast and pick young because as the weather warms, the greens (tops) will get bitter and the roots (turnip) will become stringy and woody. Frost improves the flavor.

Harvest:

Greens are ready to harvest in 5-7 weeks - just take a few leaves from each plant so that it will continue to produce more leaves, and will continue to grow the turnip. Harvest roots in another 2-3 weeks. Note: if growing in the Autumn, can leave the turnip in the ground if it doesn't freeze solid.

Usage:

Eat the little seedlings raw in salads or steam like spinach with onions and served with ham.

How to Compost

2009-04-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

What is Composting? It's when one-living things (plants, eggshells, leaves, grass, etc.) decompose to make "healthy dirt" - full of minerals and good things to make plants grow when added to soil. It's also a way to help save the earth: recycle yard and kitchen waste, and reduce what gets put to the curb to taken to landfills. Very necessary when doing container gardening, lasagna gardening, square foot gardening, and more.

You can buy a trash can or plastic composter (like the picture to the right), or just kinda square off an area using wood (like the picture half-way down this posting) or whatever, and toss your composting items in there. No matter what you choose, you HAVE to rotate the compost, keep it moist (not wet, not dry) and take care of it.

What should be Composted? Here's a good alphabetized list:

-Aquarium Plants

-Bird cage or other vegetarian pet wastes

-Bread, stale

-Burned oats, rice, bread, etc.

-Cardboard & cereal boxes (shredded)

-Cereal and chips, stale or soggy

-Coconut fiber

-Coffee grounds

-Corncobs (chop to help decompose)

-Cotton and Cotton Swabs (no plastic)

-Dead bees, flies, mosquitoes, etc.

-Dried flower heads/leftovers from prunings

-Egg shells (rinse)

-Feathers

-Fruit peelings

-Gelatin

-Glue, Elmer’s

-Grass clippings

-Hair, pet or human

-Houseplants, dead

-Kitchen waste: old salad, cheese, greens, fruit, veggies, bread, rice, pasta, etc.

-Leaves

-Lint from dryer, behind refrigerator

-Liquid from canned fruits/veggies, old wine, old beer

-Matches (paper or wood)

-Moss

-Nail clippings (fingernail, toenail, dog nails, etc.)

-Newspapers, shredded

-Nut shells (no salty ones)

-Onion and garlic skins

-Outdated spices or herbs

-Paper napkins, notes, towels, junk mail, tissues, receipts, paper bags

-Pasta, old

-Pencil Shavings

-Pickles

-Pine needles

-Pits, olive/date/cherry/etc

-Popcorn (unpopped or popped)

-Potato peelings or stale potato chips

-Razor trimmings (beard, mustache)

-Rotted vegetables, fruits

-Shells (shrimp, crab, lobster, etc.)

-Soil, from the yard

-Straw, hay, wheat, bark

-Sweepings: Whatever you sweet or dust-mop up or vacuum up

-Tea bags, used

-Toothpicks

-Vegetable peelings

-Watermelon rinds

-Wood chips, ashes, saw-dust

Can Composting be done Inside? Yep. Not everybody has a backyard to compost. No problem... there are other ways to compost in even just your kitchen! We took a plastic gallon milk (or water!) jug, and cut a hole near the top, opposite side of the handle. Place in the fridge. Add things from list above. Then we have two small sealable trash cans just outside our kitchen door that we add potting soil, our scraps from the fridge-jug, and worms when we can find them. Mix it around every 60 days or so. Add to indoor planters after it's become dirt!

There are also actual countertop or other kitchen composters you can buy. Here's a few links:

Happy Composting!

Radish and Melon Harvest 2008

2009-04-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

Just a "taste" of what's to come ...

This is a picture I took on October 9 2008 - the inside of our fridge after a very busy day.

We heard that our first frost was on its way, so we quickly harvested the rest of our radishes (in the small tub towards the top), and our melons. We had a sugar baby watermelon, a few crenshaw muskmelons (cantaloupes), and a few golden watermelons. The 3 tam-dew honeydews are in a drawer, so not pictured.

I don't really care for radishes but Hubby does. We planted several kinds but the Pink Beauty won out. Here's something we didn't know... we forgot about a few radishes so they grew the whole summer. Wow! Super-hot! Possibly could be dehydrated and used as horseradish. We're planning to experiment this year (2009).

As to the melons ... absolutely wonderful! Cool and refreshing, sweet and very delicious. If you still haven't decided what to grow, give these a consideration. The vines didn't get too terribly long, and it took several attempts to figure out how to tell when a golden watermelon is ripe, but it was well worth the regularly watering, training the vines to go where I wanted them to, and the patience!

Seed Starting and Repotting

2009-04-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

I wrote yesterday about starting more seeds for our outdoor 8'x4' square foot raised bed garden. This picture shows the rectangle thingy I used to rehydrate and plant the seeds.

On March 6, I started 6 tomato seeds. Unfortunately 2 didn't germinate so I re-did those. The picture to the right is how they looked on March 21.

Then... I basically forgot about them until Sunday when I noticed two were quite large and one was dying! So Monday I got busy and helped them out.

I took the little peat pellets (with roots hanging out!) and potted them. I had the three larger in 2 pots and 1 rice pudding container (mother/necessity!) and the other three I placed in peat pots. I almost forgot to mark them again (last year - oh, what a mess!).

These are now residing in our east-facing living room window. I made a table out of spare wood and covered it with a waterproof tablecloth. Hubby installed a couple of grow lights (to extend the light from 2 hours of real sun to an additional 6 hours or so). I hope I remember to water them this time! I crave a fresh homegrown tomato almost daily.

Our Raised Bed Plan

2009-04-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of the plan I made of one of our raised beds. Since we're moving, we needed to grow most of veggies in one bed. I did the research, bought the seeds (some of which are for container plants so small), and made the plan. Here it is:

The bed is 8' x 4', and since we grew soybeans and carrots there last year, it already had soil in it. We just added more, with a little compost. On Monday, I hammered in nails every 12 inches on all 4 sides, then hooked them together with a beautiful green yarn. This outlined the square feet in which to place my plants.

Then I started seeds. I had already started my container seeds, but completely forgot about our raised bed! I placed the peat pellets in the long thin container, and once rehydrated, I placed the seeds in them according to the plan to the right. I made the plan so that once the seedlings emerge, I'll know what they are. And if a few weeks go by with no seedling popping out of one, I'll know which seed packet to go to so I can re-seed.

Anyway, our 8' x 4' bed will provide many carrots, lots of greens, some radishes, egplant, okra, peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, parsley (I love this herb!), and some tomatoes. The thinking is that if we sell the house before the end of the growing season, hopefully we get at least some harvest, and if it sells at the end of the harvest season, we'll have lots of fresh healthy produce for our little family. Fresh and for canning.

We also have the container plants, but that's different! They are mobile!

Have you drawn out your plan yet?

Spacing in Square Foot Raised Bed Gardens

2009-04-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

I experimented with square foot gardening in raised beds last year, and really like it! What follows is a summary from Mel Bartholomew's "All New Square Foot Gardening" for when you're planning your garden, plus some input from me:

Asparagus - plant 1 or 4 in one square foot - depends on the type.
Beans (bush) - plant 9 per square foot. Stagger plantings since they are usually all ready to harvest at once.
Beans (pole) - plant 8 per square foot but against support (trellis, fence, etc.) is recommended
Broccoli - plant 1 per square foot because they really need the room. Stagger plantings so that you won't have 4 all ready at once!
Cabbage - plant 1 per square foot. See Broccoli.
Carrot - plant 16 per square foot - sometimes I can get 22+ per square foot, and eat the thinnings - yum!
Cauliflower - plant 1 per square foot. See Broccoli.
Corn - plant 4 per square foot if you aren't doing a Three Sisters. Be sure to plant in blocks to get good wind fertilization.
Cucumber (bush) - plant 2 per square foot.
Cucumber (pole) - plant 4 per square foot, up against something to climb against, like a trellis or fence.
Eggplant - plant 1 per square foot (unless you buy a "container" eggplant which takes up less room - you can do 2 per square foot then).
Greens/Lettuce - 4 per square foot, unless you prefer micro-greens (very young greens shoots), then you can go 16 per square foot.
Melon - 1 per 2 square foot but I prefer to plant them on the edge of a bed and let them roam all over. These can be very long vines, and need lots of space. Never plant in the middle of your raised bed - you'll never find your other plants!
Okra - plant 1 per square foot (unless it's a plant bred for containers, then 2 per square foot will work).
Onion (bunching/scallions) - plant 16 per square foot (never near beans!)
Parsley - plant 4 per square foot.
Pea (sugar snap) - plant 8 per square foot.
Pepper (bell or hot) - plant 1 per square foot.
Potato (white/baking) - plant 4 per square foot (we'll deal with these later!).
Radish - plant 16 per square foot.
Spinach - plant 9 per square foot.
Squash (summer/bush) - plant 1 per square foot (my zucchini last year took up a bit more than a square foot, as did my yellow crookneck).
Squash (winter/vining) - includes pumpkin, butternut, etc. - plant 1 per 2 square feet - see Melon.
Strawberry - plant 4 per square foot.
Swiss Chard - plant 4 per square foot.
Tomato - 1 per square foot - all tomatoes should be caged and supported which will maximize your space

Hope this gets you started!

How to Grow Broccoli

2009-04-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

Broccoli is VERY nutritious and great for you, but can only be grown in the cooler temperatures of Spring and Fall. It does need full sun during those times, though.

Spring Planting-Summer Harvest: Start indoors Mar/Apr or direct-seed in late Apr/May. Harvest in 2-3 months.

Summer Planting-Fall Harvest: Start indoors or direct-seed late May-early June. Harvest in Sept/Oct.

Start seeds 12 weeks before the last Spring frost for your area. Will sprout in approximately 10 days if kept somewhat warm. Move to full sunlight after the sprouts appear. Transplant outdoors about 5 weeks before the last Spring frost.

These fit well in a square food raised garden - plant 1 per square foot, or 12 inches apart. A 2 foot by 2 foot raised bed/box is recommended. Line the inside with a thick stack of black-and-white newspapers, fill with soil and compost, and mark off the four square feet, you can fit four broccoli plants, one per square. As noted above, plant seedlings about 5 weeks before the last Spring frost. Water regularly. Weed weekly and keep mulched, especially in warm weather.

Don't let the head go too long - one day you've got tight buds and the next day they've opened and you can't eat it. It's actually fine to harvest a little early - still very delicious and quite tender!

Cut the main head off at the base near the soil using sharp shears or a serrated knife. Leave as many leaves and foliage as possible. You can also harvest the side-shoots, which are very tender.

Problems: We had a major problem with earwigs the first year we grew this. Also watch out for cutworms, cabbage worms, green worms and root maggots. It is also susceptible to club root.

Rotation: It is best not to plant cole crops (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts) in the same spot year after year, since diseases and insect pests will build up. Rotate crops within your garden.

Note: Since you can't grow these in the Summer (too hot), try this: after harvesting a square, pull out the plant, and sow a 9 bush-beans in the square foot. Harvest the next broccoli, and sow another 9 bush-beans in the square foot. Same with the other two. By the time you're ready to harvest the bush beans, it will be time to transplant into the bed the Fall crop for broccoli.

Although this is a very nutritiou vegetable, we don't grow this very often, as it takes up a lot of space for not much produce. If this is an absolute must for your family, be prepared to allocate the space for them.

How to Grow Beans

2009-04-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

Beans are an excellent source of protein, and should be included in every Backyard Grocery Garden! They are very easy to grow, hard to mess up, and a great learning experience for children. Easy to harvest too... just pull off the pod and munch it down! Be sure to harvest when the pods are small so that the beans will be tender.

There are two kinds of beans: pole (vines) and bush. We grow both. All need full sun, and regular waterings (keep the soil moist). Sow seeds directly into the ground immediately after the last Spring frost. They sprout very quickly (5-10 days). Don't start indoors ahead of time because they don't really transplant very well.

Pic of pole string beans to the right.

Pole beans need support, like corn stalks or along a fence. Most will climb it up but some might need help from you by tying the stalk. These are the beans to grow if you want a steady harvest all Summer long. From seed to first harvest, is 9 weeks. Look for unusual places to plant your bean vines - at the bottom of your porch to climb up the porch railings, with your corn plants, along a tree (how wonderful to pick green beans "off of your tree"!).

Bush beans work well in a square foot raised bed garden - try a 4 foot by 8 foot bed, planting 9 per square foot. This will give you 288 bushes in that bed, providing plenty of beans for your 4-person family. From seed to harvest, is 8 weeks. It will look a little crowded, but if it looks too messy for you, tie up the bush to contain it.... will do just fine.

Soybeans are bush beans (see pic to the right). Watch for the foliage to start turning yellow which means it's almost time to harvest! You have only a few day window to harvest before the beans get a little too tough. Check daily. When most of the foliage is yellow, harvest. We pull up the plant, carefully strip off the pods, and throw the bush into the compost pile.

Black turtle beans (also bush beans) are fun! You can eat the pod and bean when they are still green. But watch for the pods to turn purple and then dried, which indicates that the actual bean inside is turning black. Wait for the pod to completely dry out (but not too long!), bring inside and place in a collander with a cover on it. As the rest of the moisture escapes, the pods will burst open, like popcorn! We learned this the hard way, awaking one morning to little black bean pods all over the dining room table and floor!

For preserving or cooking with beans, check out http://www.survival-cooking.com/.

Permaculture Without Space of Your Own

2009-04-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

So we've talked about having a little "garden" in your living room or on your patio or in your tiny backyard. But there are alternatives if you want even more than you have space for. Here are some possibilities:

Get neighbors or other like-minded people together. Find a good spot of land, and apply for a variance from your city... if the group buys it, you want to use that space for keeping chickens and bees, and run a community garden and/or plant an orchard or berry brambles. Combine your voice and negotiating power, pool finances and distribute responsibilities to ensure long-term success for providing healthy food for your family.
Have room for only a couple of trees? Replace non-food-producing trees with grafted fruit and/or nut trees. There's a "fruit cocktail" tree that grows nectarines, peaches, plums, and apricots. There's also a 5-in-one apple tree and a 5-in-one pear tree. These are generally dwarf trees so they don't take up a lot of space. There are also dwarf nut trees, like filberts and almonds. You could conceivably provide a lot of fruit and nuts for your family on the space of a normal-sized driveway. Starks Bros even has a colonnade group of fruiting trees that look like sticks with fruit growing on them... includes apples/crabapples and something called a rocket peach.
Vines grow upwards: try grapes to provide fresh table fruit, juice and wine to bottle, and vinegar for cooking.

These are just a few suggestions. What do YOU think?

How to Grow Asparagus

2009-04-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

To the right is a picture of the asparagus we started in 2008 from 2 year roots. We used the small trash cans, 2 plants per container, because we weren't sure where to plant them, and weren't sure if we'd be staying in this house. Good thing we did! These asparagus plants are already (April 2009) showing new growth, after spending the Winter indoors.

Asparagus is a great food plant to grow. It's a perennial (will grow back year after year), and provides great nutrition:

This food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Pantothenic Acid, Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc and Selenium, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Vitamin K, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Iron, Phosphorus, Potassium, Copper and Manganese. However, a large portion of the calories in this food come from sugars.

In a square foot raised bed garden, you can grow 2 plants per square foot, with a little room to spare. Space about 6 inches apart. It fits well in a permanent bed laid out against a fence (to avoid it getting mowed down or trampled on throughout the years). Place it where it will get full sun. A raised bed, 2 feet by 8 feet would work well, and will provide room for 32 asparagus plants - more than enough asparagus for a family of 4.

We think it's best to grab some 2-year-old roots to plant from a nursery so you won't have to wait a full three years before your first big harvest.

How to plant:

Start your seeds approximately 12 weeks before the last Spring frost. Soak seeds through the night before. The next day, start seeds in jiffy pellets or peat pots about 1/2 inch deep.
About 6 weeks before the last Spring frost, prepare your planting bed. (1) Prepare the soil by tilling soil 1 1/2 feet down and adding compost ... (and take a chance that the lawn mower will not hurt the asparagus in the long run!). OR (2) Buy wood to make a raised bed (preferred). Lay a half-inch-thick layer of black-and-white newspaper along the bottom. Fill with good soil and compost.
Water the newly prepared soil to moisten. Mark off each square foot (I use a brightly colored yarn and nails).
Three weeks before the last Spring frost, transplant your seedlings - remember, 2 per square, but be sure to space them out to give each one room to breathe and grow. OR transplant the 2-year-old-roots. For roots: move the soil around so that in the spot where you plan to plant each asparagus root, you'll have a mound. Place the asparagus root on top of the mounded soil in the trench (see the picture). Place the long tentacles part in first and spread them out as much as possible. The pointed part of the asparagus root should be facing upward. Place 6 inches of good soil on top (not fresh compost - it may burn the root).
Gently tamp down the soil, well enough to get the air pockets out but not so much to crush the roots/plants.
Water the asparagus patch well. They need a good drink. Be sure to water once a week, and maybe a little more often during the hot days of Summer.
When the foliage turns yellow in the Fall, cut it all down (before the asparagus berries ripen - which will prevent self-seeding with results that aren't great). They will come back in the early Spring, ready for harvesting in the late Spring.
In the first year after planting, you may be tempted to snip your asparagus spears but don't. You need to let it go until at least the 2nd year (some places recommend the 3rd).
In the second year after planting, harvest only a few asparagus spears. Choose the largest, and using a serrated knife or very sharp shears, cut just above the soil.
Harvest when spears are 4-6 inches long. Any longer than that and they will be woody and a little tough.

Enjoy!

Winter Hits Again

2009-04-16T14:45:00.000-07:00

We over-wintered our blueberries, asparagus and some tomatoes inside, and just last week took them to the backyard patio.

The colonnade (miniature) fruit trees (3 apple, 2 peach, 1 crabapple) that we planted last year have blossomed and are a little taller than last year. We supposed to actually get fruit from them this year.

The big crabapple tree in our front yard is just beginning to bud. The one rose bush that survived last year is starting to show green. The first tulip of the year just began to open this morning. And I was hoping to plant more strawberries and carrots and greens this week in the backyard raised bed, but now...

We're expecting snow! Here's what I found at http://www.weather.com/newscenter/stormwatch/?from=hp_news:

Major storm rolls out of the Rockies
Tom Moore, Lead Meteorologists, The Weather Channel
Apr. 16, 2009 5:43 pm ET

A slow-moving storm system will produce copious amounts of rain and snow over the next couple of days.

Thunderstorms have already erupted from eastern Colorado and Nebraska to Texas. A few storms will be severe, capable of large hail, damaging winds, and isolated tornadoes.
Heavy snow continues to fall over parts of the Rockies, especially in southern Wyoming, northeast Utah and Colorado. Already, the higher elevations of the Wasatch have picked up 40 inches of wet snow. Overnight, snow will spread eastward toward the Denver area and the I-25 corridor.

The heaviest snow in Colorado including Denver will likely fall Friday and Friday night, through much of the central Colorado Rockies. Winds will also increase to 25 to 35 mph, with higher gusts.

Snowfall totals from this storm could reach 2 to 3 feet (locally higher) across the higher mountains from northeast Utah, much of western and central Wyoming, and much of Colorado.

Travel will likely be impacted along parts of the Interstate 70, 80, and 25 corridors through this region.

Parts of the Denver metro could pick up 10 to 15 inches snow, with as much as 2 feet or more in the foothills just west and south of Denver.

Over the next few days the storm system will slowly move across the Plains, toward the Mississippi and Lower Ohio Valleys, shifting the rain and thunderstorms eastward.

Meanwhile, heavy rainfall will impact areas from eastern Texas, across the Lower Mississippi River Valley, into the Eastern Tennessee Valley.

Rainfall totals Friday through Sunday, could exceed 6 inches in some areas. Rainfall from the southern Plains to south central Texas will be quite welcome, however.

Parts of eastern Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and eastern Tennessee will may have to endure river flood problems early next week.

Unbelievable. I'm totally speechless. So... even as I type, I'm sending the Tween out to get the blueberry and asparagus plants back inside the house. I hope our colonnade trees survive.

Hail. 2-3 feet of snow.

Unbe-freaking-leavable!

Sharing Seeds

2009-04-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

Just a moment of your time please. People are having a really difficult time right now. Jobs are disappearing, and with it our homes are being foreclosed on. Grocery prices, especially for produce, have been high for months now. We are constantly bombarded with salmonella or e-coli produce scares. Stress levels are high.

You came to this blog because you plan, or hope someday, to plant a garden. You want healthy nutritious and untainted produce for your family. You've bought seeds and made your plans.

Spread the wealth.

Is your neighbor having a tough time of it? Start a couple of tomato seedlings or peppers for them.
Live in an apartment? The packets of seeds are way too big for you to use just by yourself. Make up little packets and leave them in the front lobby for other residents to grow and enjoy.
Post a listing on Craigslist that you have free seeds for tomatoes, beans, or whatever. You'll get a lot of takers, especially this year.

What can you come up with? How can you help "your fellow man" and all that?

Grow Some Peppermint

2009-04-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to something to think about...Candy Canes Fight Germs, Settle Stomachs

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/12/24/candy-canes-germs.html

Guess that enforces our decision to store peppermint tea, candy canes, and peppermint oil as well to grow some. Our main problem is containing the peppermint plant since it's a huge spreader.

But... yummy medicine!

Permaculture Patterns

2009-04-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

From Wikipedia...

The use of patterns both in nature and reusable patterns from other sites is often key to permaculture design. This echoes the Pattern language of Christopher Alexander used in architecture which has been an inspiration for many permaculture designers. All things, even the wind, the waves and the earth on its axis, moving around the Sun, form patterns. In pattern application, permaculture designers are encouraged to develop:

Awareness of the patterns that exist in nature (and how these function)
Application of pattern on sites in order to satisfy specific design needs.

"The application of pattern on a design site involves the designer recognising the shape and potential to fit these patterns or combinations of patterns comfortably onto the landscape" Sampson-Kelly. Branching can be used for the direction of paths, rather than straight paths with square angles. Lobe-like paths of the main path (known as keyhole paths) can be used to minimise waste and compaction of the soil.

It's easy to find examples of patterns in gardens. The British are famous for their patterns. And who hasn't driven by a corn maze, or even gotten lost in one?

Don't be fooled by thinking that patterns will take up too much space, or that making it pretty will make it too fancy. Permaculture is harmony in nature, and the patterns will help gentle your spirit.

Just give it a thought. Vikki

Wonderberries

2009-04-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

Picture from: http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/wonderberry.htm

I noticed seeds for these wonderberries at http://www.rareseeds.com/ (Baker Heirloom) and bought some when I ordered lots of different kinds of seeds in 2007. In 2008 Spring, I thought I'd see what would happen so I put a couple of wonderberry seeds into peat pellets, and they both sprouted. I lost one two weeks later but the second transplanted ok.

It grew VERY slowly, even when I placed that planter outside near the strawberries. I almost forgot about them until late October 2008. I was double-checking the plants to see if any survived, and noticed the wonderberry plant leaves were NOT black from the frost like other ones.

As we relocated the planter to the family room, which was our grow room for the Winter, we noticed it was covered in dark blue, almost black, tiny berries. Of course, I popped one into my mouth, and one into Hubby's. Soooo sweet, and taste almost like a blueberry.

My on-line research was conflicting. Some said the berries are poisonous when eaten raw. Uh, I'm still alive, so it should have read "poisonous when eaten green". Some said the berries were tart when raw. Nuh uh. They were sweet to us. Read on....
= = = = = = =
Here's info from: http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/encyclopaedia!openframeset&frame=Right&Src=/edible.nsf/pages/wonderberries!opendocument

Wonderberries
A Wonderberry bush grows up to 2 feet (60 cm) tall, with leaves about 6 inches (15 cm) long. It has berries just a bit larger than peas, that ripen from green to very dark blue. Wonderberries are somewhat sweet, and certainly far better tasting than Garden Huckleberries, with which the berries are often confused. That being said, and the name notwithstanding, the berries still don't taste of much of anything when eaten fresh out of hand, and are consequently best used in preserves and pies.

Nutrition
Wonderberries are poisonous when green.
= = = = = = =
From: http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/wonderberry.htm
Small, dark purple fruit closely resembling the highly poisonous nightshade. The ripe fruits don't taste like much, but when cooked with sugar, have a pleasant berry flavor that is usually used as a flavoring for pies and desserts.

Description: Very small shrub, usually growing to only 12-24". The wonderberry can fruit at just 3-4" high. Hardiness: XxxSunset Zones: All zones USDA: All zones

Growing Environment: The plants are exceedingly easy to grow and care is similar to the tomato, except that wonderberries tend to be less picky about temperature and water, and generally fruit much faster. Can be grown in full or part sun outdoors, or in a sunny window. Sow seeds directly in the ground during summer, or start inside. Germination is best when soil temperatures are above 70F. Keep the soil damp and repot as needed; wonderberry plants need little attention to flower and fruit. See also: garden huckleberry.

Propagation: By seed. May fruit in just 2-3 months.

Uses: Cooked and used as a flavoring for various desserts. The unripe (green) berries are poisonous.

Native Range: The wonderberry is a man-made cross between Solanum villosum and S. guineense, produced in the early 20th century by renowned plant breeder Luther Burbank. It closely resembles the wild garden huckleberry, and adding to the confusion, this common name is often used to describe the wonderberry as well. However, the flavor of the wonderberry is far superior to that of the garden huckleberry.
= = = = = = =
From: http://rareseeds.com/seeds/Garden-Berries/Wonderberry Wonderberry (Solanum burbankii). 75 days.

Developed by Luther Burbank, tasty small blue-purple fruit, good fresh or cooked. Small plants produce good yields in about 75 days. A historic heirloom that is easy to grow and fun for kids.
= = = = = = =
What our little family has discovered is these wonderberries are tiny, sweet, do well indoors with a grow-light, can do well outdoors with only 4 hours of sun (at least, in the Summer, for sure), and are probably perennial.

Our one little bush didn't produce enough to concern us with preserving (although we hear they make good jam), but it is good enough to produce fresh fruit during the Winter. We tried to keep it alive during the Winter but Tween overwatered it (as he did ALL of our indoor plants in the family room) so we're starting more in pots to move with us. Only needs a small pot - like a small bathroom trash can.

Wondering: does anyone know what nutrition these berries provide? Does anyone else have experience with Wonderberries?

Garlic - Eat the Flower!

2009-04-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

You can do more with garlic that just eat the bulb (the root). The flower is perfectly edible too.

The plant grows to 3 feet tall. Each bulb produces one curled flower stem in the late Spring (assuming you planted the bulb the Autumn before). Once the flower bud forms completely, cut the stem just above the leaves but below the flower portion. The bud and stem have a milder garlic taste than cloves but you can use the flower pretty much the same way you do garlic cloves.

drop the flower into the soup-pot or a sauce to impart a lite garlic taste
stir-fry the bud and stem but remove just before serving.
cut the flower from the stem and dice or julienne the stem for salads
use as a garnish

How have YOU used the garlic flower?

Growing Apples

2009-04-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

Pic to the right: a colonnade apple tree from Starks Bros.

Apples are an all-purpose fruit. Great vitamins and minerals, massive amounts of fiber, pectin in the skin helps make jam out of almost any other fruit, makes great vinegar. If you can possibly fit even a colonnade (basically a stick with apples on it) apple tree in your yard, then do it!

There's an apple for almost any climate, size and space, and need. There are apples that go quickly, and some that keep all winter and into the Spring. There are sooo many varieties... early and late varieties, so you could conceivably eat fresh apples all year round, except maybe during the mid summer when you'll have fresh soft fruit (berries) then anyway!

Ask your neighbors or trusted friends for their favorite varieties and nurseries.

Here are some tips:

When you order your tree(s), have the nursery prune them before sending.
They like plenty of muck and good deep loam. They don't like acid soil so you might have to add some lime. Be sure to get a soil test kit from your local nursery to do the test yourself.
Pick a spot where it will get full sun, have room to spread out, is very well-draining, and is NOT in a frost pocket.
Dig a hole three-times the size of the rootball/root, place in the tree, throw in some lime, and fill with good draining potting soil along with topsoil.
Put on your February gardening to-do-list: Prune apple trees. Ask for specifics from your supplier as certain apple trees need specific pruning, differing from other apple trees. Find an experienced advisor, perhaps from a local nursery. Take notes and do some of it yourself.
Keep the ground below the apple tree free of growing weeds and grass. Mulch heavily with compost, but DON'T use chicken or pigeon manure as it can cause too much growth and not enough apples. When you mow grass, place the cut blades of grass around the tree, to allow them to decompose.
If you don't want to spray (we definitely don't), you will probably be alright. Just watch for infestations and deadwood. Paint affected areas with white lead paint.
Scab is brownish scabs on the apples which is not a good thing. Collect all of the fallen leaves, pruned branches, etc. and burn them each year. Then spray just before the petals look like they're gonna open, and again after the petals drop.
Best thing is to let chickens have the run of the apple orchard. Chances are a few chickens won't provide too much manure to cause too much growth/not enough apples, but they WILL help keep the insect/bug population down.

This is one of the best fruits you can grow yourself and eat daily. Healthy healthy!

Topsy Turvey Tomatoes

2009-04-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

We've been seeing Topsy Turvey hanging tomato gardens all over the place - almost in every gardening catalog and magazine that we see.

Here's a link: http://www.hangingtomato.com/

Does anyone have experience with this contraption? We heard some might have been recalled... what about that? Are they safe? Stable? Really do well in providing tomatoes? What about other vegetables or fruits?

Let us know your thoughts - use the comment section for this posting. Thanks.

What is Permaculture?

2009-04-09T05:00:00.001-07:00

According to Wikipedia...

"Permaculture is an approach to designing human settlements and perennial agricultural systems that mimic the relationships found in the natural ecologies. It was first developed by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren and their associates during the 1970s in a series of publications. The word permaculture is a portmanteau of permanent agriculture, as well as permanent culture.

Permaculture design principles extend from the position that "The only ethical decision is to take responsibility for our own existence and that of our children" (Mollison, 1990). The intent was that, by rapidly training individuals in a core set of design principles, those individuals could design their own environments and build increasingly self-sufficient human settlements — ones that reduce society's reliance on industrial systems of production and distribution that Mollison identified as fundamentally and systematically destroying Earth's ecosystems."

Basically, it's using your land the best way possible... one area, one plant, one animal, etc. ... all complimenting and assisting the others. This is actually, from what I understand, the best way to get the most out of your space. Generally organic. Pesticide- and herbicide-free. And if you like your garden in neat little rows with plenty of space and lawn in between, regular gardening / farming might be a better idea for you.

This is a topic that really interests me so I'll be doing some research and providing articles here as I learn! Meanwhile, if you have experience with permaculture, please feel free to leave a comment to this post as to what's the best or worst part of permaculture, and how much land you have. Thanks! Vikki

A Mobile Container Garden

2009-04-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

Wanna see some pictures from our first year to garden? (2008)

This first picture to the right was part of our garden last year (2008). See the small rectangular tubs? We planted beans in them. We set small indoor trash cans, with peppers and eggplants and okra, in tires to prevent them from toppling over during wind storms. Several tires had potting soil directly into them and they grew beautiful delicious melons and pumpkins. The top right of the pic with the yellow netting (tulle fabric) is a pot with a blutberry plant in it (covered to prevent birds from eating our berries). The raised bed to the right was made from 4' x 8' wood boards, filled with potting soil... we planted soybeans around the edge and carrots in the center. The raised beds for the corn patch is in the upper left corner.

This second pic, to the right, is a picture of the potted tomatoes, taken in Summer 2008, about a month before the pic that follows. We placed the pots on boards so earwigs would have a harder time getting into the pot. It worked. Having a marigold and a basil in each pot also helped, I'm sure.

To the right is a pic of our tomatoes from 2008 Summer. Hmmm... how beautiful and very productive. We got 5-gallon pots and buckets from dollar stores to go with what we already had. We planted way too many tomatoes, and each of the 20 POTS held at least one tomato (sometimes two), a marigold and a basil. Still, even with overcrowding, we had a huge harvest.

To the right is a picture of 6 asparagas plants, about a month after we transplanted them. Three in each "trash can". By the end of Summer, these were so bushy that the little asparagus stems had to fight the foliage for sunlight! These pots have spent the Winter in our famil room, near the grow light, and are now awaiting decent weather so we can place them outside. Hopefully they're still alive after the Winter's hibernation.

Because of the quality of our soil at our current home (sand on top of clay), we grew much of last year's garden in containers., as you can see from above.

Now... because we are moving this Summer, we can't plant directly into the ground - at least, nothing that we want to take with us! So we're using all of our containers and will probably buy more. That way, when we move, we can move our growing plants too.

NOTE: We didn't empty any of the tubs before Winter came. When we thought to check on them (February 2009), we realized the clear tubs we got from Wal-Mart didn't hold up. Could be because of the freezing/hot/freezing weather. Just a thought.

We got the small white trash cans at a nearby dollar store for a couple of dollars each. Be sure to browse around for your own needs.

Soybeans and Corn: Feast or Famine

2009-04-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

We found this article through http://www.survivalblog.com/ - "Bumpy Crop: Farming's Sudden Feasts and Famines: As Grain Prices Rise and Fall and Perhaps Rise Again, Growers Struggle to Navigate a New Age of Volatility and High Costs" (here's the link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123059685167541039.html#project%3DFAMILIES08%26articleTabs%3Darticle)

It got us thinking. We grew corn and soybeans last year, and as novice gardeners, learned a lot but didn't harvest much. Because of our move, we can't plant them in 2009 but for Summer 2010... we intend to plant a LOT more soybeans and corn.

Soybeans: We grew "Envy" - which has fuzzy green leaves, and produces 5-8 pods per bush. And each pod had 3-4 beans inside. They are all ready to harvest at the same time, which makes it easy. Our 12 year old Son had fun uprooting the entire bush and plucking off the pods, then tossing the spent bush into the compost pile. We only planted about 30 bushes, which gave us about 10 servings of beans (well, that actually made it into the freezer - they are so good freshly picked and popped into the mouth). In 2010, we will sow at least 200 seeds - 200 bushes x 7 pods per bush = 1400 pods x 3 beans inside. We'll freeze about a third, and will dehydrate the rest. We already bought the seeds!

Corn: We experimented with three kinds last year: "Hopi Blue", "Bloody Butcher" and "Early and Often Sweet" - yes they cross-pollinated but we expected that. We just wanted the experience of growing and trying the plant via the "Three Sisters" method. Learned a lot. We planted about 70 seeds, and most produced at least 1 cob - some 3-4. For 2010, we decided to plant "Black Aztec" corn - good for eating fresh when still yellow, but as the kernels begin to darken, it's best to leave them on the cob to dry completely, and to store to grind for black corn meal. Two benefits! We'll plant maybe 400-500 seeds so we can have enough for fresh roasting, fresh freezing, and let the rest dry to grind throughout the next year as cornmeal.

So did you read that article? What did you think? Plan on planting your own soybeans and corn this coming year?

Windowsill Planters

2009-04-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

For most people in the Northern Hemisphere, it's time to plant our outdoor garden. Time for that lettuce and broccoli, and starting seedlings indoors for the Summer.

But many people don't have the room for a garden. Maybe you live in an apartment, or rent a room somewhere. That's ok. You can still grow your salads!

Do you have a windowsill that gets any light? If so, measure it and buy a couple of long planters to fit just so. Or a few planter pots. Don't have a windowsill? Get some planters anyway and while you're at it, hop on down to the Home Depot or Wal-Mart to get a grow (plant) lite to fit one of your lamps.
Fill the planter(s) with good potting soil. Make sure you place something underneath to catch the water from when you get over-zealous with the watering.
Do you have any seeds: lettuce, spinach, kale, etc.? What about carrots, radishes, scallions or parsley? If not, post an ad on a local free-cycle yahoo group or ask around with your friends and family. Or order some online.
Plant according to packet directions. Watch, tend and wait. Within 60 days or so, you'll have fresh vegetables or herbs for healthy meals.

Don't be dependent on the grocery store to sell you produce picked from 2 states away, and might possibly be tainted with who-kn0ws-what. Take care of your food needs yourself. Plant an indoor grocery garden! Enjoy!

Growing Pumpkins for Food and Fun

2009-04-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

Pumpkins are just a winter squash, best known for providing food to early Pilgrim settlers, for pumpkin pies at Thanksgiving, as a carriage for beloved Cinderella, and for making Jack-o-Lanterns for Halloween.

Pumpkins will cross-pollinate with other winter squashes. You may get a weird product the first year, but, if you're saving the seeds, you have will definitely have an unpredictable result next year. Better to plant only one type of winter squash, and perhaps a neighbor down the block another and so on - then share the results! If you don't care about cross-pollination, buy new seeds every year and grow as much of everything that you want.

Ask yourself what you want out of the pumpkin:

food (pumpkin pies and turnovers, etc, plus nutritious seeds for roasting)
ground cover for your corn patch
fun (jack-o-lanterns for Halloween or huge pumpkins to win contests)

Then take a look at the many kinds available. Choose one (or two) to satisfy your most urgent needs then figure out if it will work where you live. They are a long season crop, but with a little help, can do ok in Zones 3 or 4 and above.

Sugar Pie Pumpkins: Among the best for baking due to their high sugar content and smooth, even textured flesh. Not a lot of seeds.
Connecticut Field pumpkin is known as being best for Jack O'Lanterns. They have a classic shape and are usually what we find in the store. Grow between 10 and 20 pounds each (sometimes larger) with a bright orange color. Kinda plain tasting or sweet, and too watery for a pie. Good for seeds.
For looks and fun, check out the Baby Boo (white), Munchkin, Spooktacular, Big Max (giant), Cinderella, Lumina, Atlantic Giant (giant), and many others. Ranges from size to color to taste.

Pumpkins needs lots of room to sprawl and crawl along, with about 6 hours of sunlight a day. If your growing season is less than 150 frost-free days, start the seeds indoors in transplantable peat pots, then transfer into garden when weather warms. Or seeds can be sown directly into the garden when Spring rains have tapered off and days reach into low 70's regularly. Most pumpkins need at least 110 to 140 frost-free days. It depends on variety, daylight hours and climate.

If planting as part of the "Three Sisters", plant one pumpkin for every few corn seedlings. This will provide ground cover, keeping moisture in the dirt while the prickly leaves and stems hinder critters like raccoons from stealing the corn.

Otherwise, plant 4-5 seeds, 6-8 inches apart, in a circle on a small hill (about 2-3 feet diameter), surrounded by a little moat to soak in the water, but prevents the seeds from getting water-logged. Cover the seeds with about an inch of soil to prevent the birds from finding them. Water enough to get dirt like a soaked sponge. Be gentle to avoid washing away the seed, or disturbing the little root hairs as they grow. Sprouts will appear 7-14 days. After another week, thin to 2-3 healthy plants per hill (use scissors so that pulling a seedling won't disturb the others' roots).

These are vigorous growers, with vines sometimes 30+ feet long, and several offshoots. When growing giants, pick the biggest couple of fruits, and clip off the rest. For others, allow them to grow as they will. Don't baby them though (moving too much - better to prune to gently guide them where you'd prefer they grow).

Pumpkins are heavy feeders, and would prefer a rich soil to start. Add compost or natural fertilizer at least once through the growing season. You could also use your fish-tank water (without chemicals) to water the pumpkin roots - perfect! GENTLY water the root area only, avoiding getting the leaves wet (to prevent powdery mildew). Turn off the water when it puddles for longer than 3 seconds.

Leave the blossoms alone. Remember, if you pick them for fried/battered squash blossoms (yes, good eating), then you won't get any pumpkins. Bees will pollinate the flowers, or you can use the q-tip method. A fruit will begin to form and grow. Your harvest will depend on temperature, watering, nutrition and quality of seed.

When the fruit is well established, gently move the pumpkin so that the blossom end (opposite of stem end) rests on the ground (you may have to clip some tendrils or get help to avoid breaking the vine or stem). Rearranging the pumpkin will encourage the usual pumpkin shape we're used to. While you're moving it, slip a board underneath it. This will prevent a soggy (then rotting) bottom when you get a hard rain.

Pumpkins will love your lasagna garden (more on that later!), but don't do well in a square foot gardening scenario. They need a lot of room to sprawl and ramble. We once heard of someone who ignored a jack-b-little pumpkin plant, and it ended up crawling across the lawn and up a tree, dangling little bitty pumpkins by early September. Can you imagine the surprise to see the "pumpkin tree"? We've also heard of pumpkins crawling up over sheds and porch railings. Support any heavy fruits with pantyhose.

By late August (in the northern Hemisphere), the days will start to get shorter and the nights colder. Pumpkins will start to change to their ripe color. The vine will start to look aged, with withering vines and rotting leaves. (This is the worst time for a gardener who revels in the glorious green of her garden.)

They are ready to harvest when the color has deepened - orange will look like a typical grocery store pumpkin, like a sunset. Use garden shears, cutting the stem at the vine, to leave as much of the stem intact as possible (minimum 3 inches). Let them cure in the sun for 10 days or so. Cover them at night if there's a danger of frost. Store in a dry cool place (basement, root cellar).

Pumpkins store well for a few months in a cool environment, sometimes until the next Spring. If you don't have access to somewhere cool, you can preserve them by:

making pumpkin puree, canning or freezing
dehydrating pumpkin slices

Butternut squash tastes a lot like pumpkin. It makes a delicious "pumpkin pie", and the shape of the squash could encourage creativity for jack-o-lantern faces.

Growing pumpkins this year? Let us know.

Using Kiddie Pools as Container Gardens

2009-04-04T07:00:00.001-07:00

The picture to the right looks a little weird. Pots, containers, boards, and swimming pools. But they ALL produced a lot of vegetables for us this past Summer (2008).

We gathered two kiddie pools from people who were just throwing them out. We poked holes in the bottom, and covered the bottom and sides with newspaper. In the big blue pool, we added a tire to the center. We added potting soil. In the big blue pool, we planted a broccoli seedling in the middle of the tire, and other cold crop seedlings and carrot seeds around the perimeter.

The smaller white pool to the left got Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce, radishes and various onion seeds. We ate a lot of lettuce until it began to bolt in mid-August.

These were our "cold" crops so we positioned them kinda under a big tree (shade to the right). We used yellow tulle (net fabric on sale from Wal-Mart) to cover to keep bugs and birds out, and set up leftover boards to keep the netting in place.

This worked so well for us, that we plan to do it again. No matter where we go. We have since gathered another 4 kiddie pools, various sizes and colors. Since we're moving this Summer, we can't do this in 2009 (the pools get VERY heavy!) but we will the next time we can!

More on Seed Tapes

2009-04-03T13:49:00.000-07:00

Forgot to mention ... if you don't want to make your own seed tapes, there are many providers. Browse through your local nursery, Home Depot, or even Wal-Mart. I've found them for black-seeded simpson lettuce, carrots, radishes, and more.

Also forgot to mention that on seed tapes that you buy, the germination rate doesn't seem to be very high. We used them for carrots and lettuce last year and about 1 of 5 sprouted on the carrots, and 1 of 10 on the lettuce. Not a good percentage. That's why I started making my own.

Good luck!

How to Make a Seed Tape

2009-04-03T07:00:00.001-07:00

This picture is one of a seed tape I made last year. Onions - white bunching.

It's time to make more seed tapes because we have a lot of carrots to plant!

Why make your own? First, finding exactly the seed you want in a pre-made seed tape is almost impossible. Second, pre-made seed tapes are expensive! And third, it's easier to space the seeds by placing them on a seed tape than doing it in the garden with wind blowing those tiny carrot and herb seeds.

Here's how: Take a somewhat thin square of toilet paper... I usually use 3 squares as they are about 4" per square, so 3 squares x 4" each = 12". This works well when planning a square-foot garden. The pic above has 3 squares for the grouping of onions above. We use Angel Soft, or another really cheap brand. Always use white - you don't want dyes possibly affecting your seeds.

I put an ink-mark where I plan to place the seed. Remember to space them out according to your package unless you plan to transplant. Using washable elmer's glue or a paste made with flour and water, dot it where you want the seed, place the seed, place another sheet of toilet paper on top, and let it dry.

Be sure to write on the seed tape (in ink!) what you've made. Red bunching onion seeds look pretty much like white bunching onion seeds. And if you're planting 5 different carrots like we are this year, you'll need it.

After they are very dried, I store them flat in an oversized baggie.

When you're ready to plant (it's about time for lettuce, radishes and carrots), smooth the surface of the upturned soil where you want the plants to grow, and place the seed tapes on the surface. Cover with enough soil per instructions for the seed (a little more for the bigger seeds, and just barely any for the smaller like carrots). Gently water. Actually, I recommend you use a mister until the seeds have sprouted and have firm roots. It's not very pretty to have water (or rain!) displace the soil to leave the white toilet paper just hanging out there!

Easy!

Root Vue Farm

2009-04-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

We recently came across the "Root Vue Farm" at http://www.mindware.com/ and bought a few of these kits for Christmas presents to ourselves.

We love carrots, and didn't grow nearly enough Summer 2008. Now, we might be moving before our first harvest of outside carrots. And we really prefer them fresh and raw, so growing carrots on a windowsill is a perfect setup for us... ... ... Yum!

Have you ever used this kit? We keep meaning to start these but here it is ... 4 months after we got them and they are still sitting in the box! Maybe this weekend... red carrots, purple carrots, white carrots, and probably regular-ole-orange carrots too! Maybe a couple of scallions/bunching onions too. What an amazing salad!

To-Do-List for April

2009-04-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

Each month, we'll post a reminder list for your garden. Here's April's!
April:

Plant your choices of the following "warm-season" or "frost-tender" crops: beans (snap, pole and lima), cantaloupe, corn (sweet), cucumbers, eggplant, okra, field peas, peppers, squash, tomatoes and watermelon. Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is.
Make sure you plant the corn far away from the tomato plants as the hornworm for one loves the other.
Order your fruit bushes like raspberry and blackberry.
Order your miniature fruit trees like apple, pear and multi-fruit (grafted).
Plant tall-growing crops such as okra, pole beans and corn on the north side of other vegetables to avoid shading. Plant corn in at least four rows x 12 in each row for better pollination.
Make a second planting within two to three weeks of the first planting of snap beans, corn and squash. That way you won't be trying to harvest everything at the same time.
Within three to four weeks of the first planting, plant more lima beans and corn. Remember: for better pollination, plant at least two or more rows.
Be sure to plant enough vegetables for canning and freezing. But be sure to spread out the sowing so that you don't have to harvest all at once (like carrots).
Cultivate to control weeds and grass, to break crusty soil and to provide aeration.
Maintain mulch between rows. Get those weeds early.
For the crops planted earlier, side-dress as described above.
Plant tender herbs.
Remember: Do not work in your garden when the foliage is wet to avoid spreading diseases from one plant to another.

More on Planning a Grocery Garden

2009-03-31T07:00:00.000-07:00

You are reading this article because you need to provide more nutritious and healthy produce for your family. Okay, so it's April and just a little bit late for the planning, but it's better late and never!

Take a look at your seed and gardening catalogs. We love pouring over them, but not just because we love to look at the lovely pictures, and envision harvesting the food and setting our table. We know there's a very real chance that the only food we can afford in the nearby (unfortunately) future, that is healthy and non-contaminated, is what we grow.

So it's time to start asking ourselves (and yourselves) questions:

How much room do you have to plant? Step outside, and look around. Potted tomatoes and peppers might do well along the driveway. That empty spot on the front "lawn" might love an apple or filbert tree. What about windowsills that get 4-8 hours of sunlight in the Summer? Or a corner of your living room where you can place a grow-light? Can you share some space in a neighbor's yard or in a community garden? Look at all of your possibilities.
Are you willing to learn - not just about what to plant, but how to increase a harvest, keep out pests, prevent diseases, PLUS preserving your harvest by canning, dehydating, freezing, and so forth.
Do you have the money? Sure, you MIGHT be able to do a bare-bones garden for almost no money, but can you feed your family on possibilities?
Think about the food groups: starch/grain, vegetables, fruits, calcium, proteins, and fats. Can you provide a good variety in each? Make a list. Figure out how many different plants you can grow to provide enough healthy variety to your diet so you don't get bored with just what you've grown/produced.
What you can't grow, can you provide in bulk? (Wheat, Rice, Salt, Olive Oil, etc)
What about non-edibles, like cotton, bayberry bushes for candle wax, etc.... have you considered them?

Get the family together and talk about this. No, it's not too late to start planning. No matter where in the world you live, you can start a garden at any time. Even inside! So check back here often for solid information, but get going on your backyard grocery!

(Note: we live in the Northern Hemisphere, in Colorado in the United States, so most of our information will be geared to Summer (June, July, August). Refigure it for your location, if necessary.)

Our Seed Order Jan 2009

2009-03-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, we placed our first order of seeds with "Seeds of Change" and they arrived very quickly. Here's what we ordered:

PACK, CORN, SWEET, BLACK AZTEC
S10626 - bought 2 packs at $3.29 = $6.58
From their website (with editing):
Black Aztec Sweet Corn
Grows 4-5 feet
This remarkable variety was introduced in the 1860s by seedsman John Gregory. Classic, vigorous sweet and flour corn produces 8" ears with white kernels during the milk (eating) stage, then a deep blue black when dry. / So, good for roasting fresh, and left to dry on the plant, good for storing to make cornbread or chips. / Planting Depth: 1/2" / Soil Temp. for Germ.: 60-85°F / Days to Germ.: 4-12 / Plant Spacing: 12" / Days to Maturity: 70-95 / Full Sun / Moderate Water / Pack weight 21gms~ 100 seeds

PACK, BEAN, SOYBEAN, EDAMAME SAYAMUSUME
S15907 - bought 2 packs at $3.29 = $6.58
From their website (with editing):
Edamame Sayamusume
Max16-20
"Very productive and flavorful edamame of buttery sweetness on a 16-20" plant. Vivid green pods have three large beans each. A highly nutritious bean that is rich in protein, calcium, potassium, phytoestrogens, and many vitamins. Light pubescence on the pods. / Planting Depth: 1" / Soil Temp. for Germ: 60-80°F / Days to Germ: 7-15 / Plant Spacing: 3-6" / Days to Maturity: 75-85/ Full Sun / Moderate Water / Pack weight 21gms~ 150 seeds

PACK, BEAN, TEPARY, SONORAN GOLD
S10616 - bought 2 packs at $3.29 = $6.58
From their website (with editing):
Sonoran Gold Bush Tepary Bean
2-3 ft.
Native to the Sonoran Desert, this drought-tolerant, golden, dry soup bean was developed by the Papago tribe and has over 30% crude protein. Sow 6 seeds per foot directly in soil in rows 18-36 inches apart when danger of frost has passed. Watering tips. During germination, keep entire seedbed evenly moist. Water infrequently and deeply throughout the season. Harvesting tips. Harvest when pods turn brown and start becoming brittle. Finish drying indoors in a ventilated area. Put dry pods in feed sack or pillow case and jog in place on top of it to separate seeds from pods. / NOTE: These are supposed to produce less gas/flatulence than other beans. Sure are hoping that info is right! / Planting Depth: 1-2"/ Soil Temp. for Germ.: 70°F/ Days to Germ.: 9 / Plant Spacing: 2-4" / Days to Maturity: 80-90 / Full Sun / Less Water / Drought Tolerant / Pack weight 21gms ~ 70 seeds

= = =

I placed the order over the phone - 1-888-762-7333 - man who answered was very nice. Said all three were in stock, and we should have in 3-4 business days. We did.

However, things have changed. Now that we know we can't put the house on the market until June, which means it might not sell until later. We can't plant the corn, and don't have enough tubs to plant the beans. So... we've placed the beans in plastic bags and seal-a-meal'd them. They will definitely keep until our 2010 homestead garden.

Planting the Three Sisters Way

2009-03-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

This first pic is the northside of our Three Sisters patch (2008). Very close to the house. You can see the sunflowers in the back and the corn in the front.

Have you heard of the Three Sisters?

From (http://www.reneesgarden.com/articles/3sisters.html): The Iroquois believe corn, beans and squash are precious gifts from the Great Spirit, each watched over by one of three sisters spirits, called the De-o-ha-ko, or “Our Sustainers". The planting season is marked by ceremonies to honor them, and a festival commemorates the first harvest of “green” corn on the cob.

Native American People used corn as the staple in their diet. Parched corn plus prevented starvation for many days. Corn was boiled, roasted and also ground and used as flour for many dishes. Corn was easy to store by braiding the leaves and hanging upside down from rafters. Husks for used as dolls, masks and mats. Corn stalks could be used as fuel. Keep a watch on the corn, and soon after you see the silks and pollen (which gets everywhere!), watch for the cobs. After a while you'll get the hang of seeing the brown silk tassles, and the feel of the cobs, you'll know when to harvest.

Pumpkins (or other winter squash) provide the ground cover. The pumpkins from even a couple of centuries ago weren't our jack-o-lantern but more of a crookneck. Pumpkins could be stewed or dried to use during the coming winter. Not sure if the seeds were roasted, or just kept for planting the next year.

Fresh young beans were cooked in stews, while the dried beans provided meals later - rehydrated for soups and stews, or ground into flour. Great source of protein when meat was scarced. The vines were braided together and also hung from the rafters. Pole beans, chosen appropriately, will use the corn stalks as a trellis without strangling the stalk. Planting the corn with plenty of room in between will help you find the beans. Once they start flowers, keep careful watch. They will quickly become edible size and ready for eating as cooked "green beans". If you plan to dry the beans, leave them alone until harvesting the corn, to dry on the vine. Still, keep a watch on them so that predators don't steal them or they don't split once they've dried.

Sunflowers have recently been found to do excellently in this arena. They break down the earth with their strong roots, and stretch out to provide a living trellis for the beans. The sunflowers are harvested when the back of the heads turn brown and bend from the weight of the seeds. Cut the stalk near the ground, hang upside down, with paper bags around the head to catch the seeds as they dry. Good for snacks, but also good for grinding into flour, and making sunflower seed oil.

Why companions? The squash/pumpkin provides ground cover to keep moisture in, and the prickles of the leaves and vines prevent predators (like raccoons) from getting to the corn. The corn provides stalks for the beans to climb. The beans fix nitrogen into the soil, which the corn needs. Together, this is companion planting at it's best. PLUS, when you mix corn, squash and beans in your diet, they make a complete protein. Also called succotash, which we don't like, but we do make our own various recipes even tastier!

For our 2008 Three Sisters Patch, here's what we did...

CORN: We started the seeds indoors about 2 weeks before we planned to plant them. We used jiffy pellets then placed them inside jiffy pots so that there would be no problem with transplanting (corn doesn't like transplanting). The corn is planted first, giving it time to grow. Space it out well so that they don't crowd each other. Be sure to pick a corn that has hearty stems that will be needed to support the beans. Plant only one corn to avoid cross-pollination (unless that's what you're going for).

MAMMOTH SUNFLOWERS: We sowed these seeds directly into the ground, about a week after the corn. Be sure to get them at the North side of the corn patch because they will get taller than the corn (depending on the variety you choose). Give them a little more room than the corn.

SQUASH: The winter squash comes next. Don't plant summer squash as they don't vine out. These benefit from starting indoors. Choose something leafy and vining, and something that you like to eat. Pumpkins, Mexican X-Top (cushaw), butternut, spaghetti - they all seem to do well. EXCEPT: choose only one to avoid cross pollination (we planted a lot of different kinds last year and goodness... what a mess). Sow one seed per 4 corn seeds. Be careful not to step on the squash vines because they will get on your paths. The light spiney-ness will help keep critters like raccoons off of your corn. They will NOT keep the birds out!

BEANS: Then comes the beans. Choose a good climbing bean that you like to eat, and hopefully one you can harvest, dry and put up for the Winter. Sow directly into the ground, as these seeds sprout pretty quickly. These beans will wind up the cornstalk. Sometimes they are a little hard to see when harvesting but you just have to be patient and diligent.

Pictures:
This picture (from our Three Sisters garden in 2008) is the corn bed I started inside in flats on Memorial Day - "Early and Often" sweet corn, with string beans and various gourds and squashes.

We planted them outside in these two raised beds (2'x4') on June 08 2008 - plus extra seeds. Covered them with yellow tulle fabric we had bought at a yard sale last year - a whole bolt for $5. The fabric was to make sure no birds stole our seeds. It was very successful.

The next pic is the corn bed about one week later (Jun 17 2008) - unbelievable! Look at the growth!

We added several more Three Sisters raised beds within the next couple of weeks.

Please note that we did sooo many things wrong in 2008. We planted them too close together. We planted them all at the same time. The corn ended up a little stunted because the beans started creeping up before it got established. And we planted too many kinds of squashes. The summer (zucchini and crookneck) rose straight up and pushed away the nearby cornstalks. We got mutants from crossbreeding. It was a mess. But... the corn was sweet and tasty, eaten right there and then, raw. The beans grew fat and strong.

But ... we also didn't protect from weeds enough. While we did get a great harvest from everything, we would have had much more had the bindweed not strangled everything.

We can't raise corn this year (2009) because it can't be moved to our next house, the when we can, we'll make sure to lay down lots of newspaper instead of just one layer. And we'll keep up with the weeding more. Plus we'll space the boxes apart a bit more so that it's not quite a chore to bend over and weed - it's not fun bending over and getting poked in the hind-end with a corn stalk!

Get Your Garden Started

2009-03-28T07:00:00.001-07:00

You've decided to start a garden. You might have a corner of your living room where you can put a few pots under a grow light, or you have a greenhouse, a backyard or even a friend's field. This posting will only cover what will go outside. We'll get to container gardening later.

So... what now?

You can contact your local Cooperative Extension or Master Gardener program to ask questions specific to your region. Locate your County Extension office through this link: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/
You should be aware of your gardening zone. It is important to know your garden zone, because then you will know what plants are well suited for your area. Some zones have changed in the last 16 years -- due to climate change. Take a look at: http://www.arborday.org/media/map_change.cfm to be aware of changes in your area.
You need to know your last and first frost date. There is a very slim chance of freeze outside of the last and first frost dates, but it does happen. Last frost dates would occur in the spring and first frost in the autumn.

Now what?

Decide how much room you have. Start small. If you've never gardened before, you might feel overwhelmed when everything is ready to harvest at once. If you aren't prepared to can or dehydrate 30 bushels of tomatoes in one day, rethink your plan.
Keep in mind that you might want perennial vegetables and fruits. Where on your "land" can you plant berry brambles or asparagus so that you can leave it forever? What about a miniature apple or pear tree? Think about planting all of your fruit trees in one area (like the front yard) which would leave the entire backyard for vegetable gardening.
Grow only those foods you enjoy eating. List your family's favorites: corn, beans, tomatoes, eggplant. If your kids will only eat carrots, give lots of room to several varieties of carrots.
Did you decide what to grow? It's March and you should have bought your seeds by now (early January is best)... but that's ok. Order some today. Make sure they are packed for the current year. When you buy seeds online, you'll find they are usually for the current year. There are many sources. Check out this link.
Gather your gardening equipment. You'll need a good pair of gardening gloves, spade, watering can, a hoe to break up the soil and keep the weeks in check. This is just a basic list.
Prepare your garden area. Make sure it gets full sun nearly all day. Mark where your house (or another structure) casts a shadow in the morning, and again at mid-day and in the evening. Remember that trees that may be bare now will have leaves in the Summer, giving off a big shadow. Are you going to use raised beds because your soil is so bad? Build or buy the raised bed boxes and place them just so. If you're going to use the ground, break up and turn the soil. Add compost or other soil amendments.
Look at the backs of the seed packets, in catalogs and everywhere else you can find growing information. Figure out how much space you need and how much you have. Sow accordingly. For example, lettuce can be grown in a solid mat, but peppers and tomatoes need about 2 feet in between each. Pumpkins need about 4 feet plus lots of room for the vines. Carrots need an inch or two in between, depending on the size of the carrot. You get the drift.
Think outside of the box. There are many places for climbing plants, like beans, cucumbers, and even those tiny pumpkin vines. Train them up the side of your house, along a porch railing, or up a fence. Herbs like parsley can be placed in flower beds. Blueberry bushes can be planted along the driveway. Thorny blackberries against that fence that the neighbor's kids always want to climb over.
Most locations have two main planting seasons: cool (Spring and Fall) and warm (Summer). Cool season crops include broccoli, lettuce, spinach, peas, cauliflower, etc. Warm season crops include cucumbers, beans, corn, squash, melons, peppers, eggplant, okra, etc.
Most plants grow best when seeds are sown directly to the ground: corn, carrots, beans, lettuce, etc. I like to start tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, peppers and tomatoes in pellets and pots indoors. That gives them a headstart, especially for plants that need more time than your season allows. There are lots of kits available to help you out. Just ask at a garden center.
If you aren't ready to start your own seedlings, there are many places you can buy plantlings ready to put into the ground or potting soil: Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe's, any local nursery, a flea market. You might even check Craigslist for seedlings.
Some plants do better when you start them or buy them ready to plant: cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes. Cucumbers and squash kinda don't care - either way is fine. Wait to buy the seedlings until your garden area is prepared, and you have the time to plant them. Try to do it within 3 days. Buy healthy strong-looking seedlings, that stand up straight. No yellow leaves or bug holes.
Rotate! Don't plant all of your carrots all at once. Plant maybe 20 one weekend, then two weekends from then, plant another 10 or 20, and two more weekends another 10 or 20. That will give you a constant supply of fresh carrots. We plant about 5 radishes every 2 weeks - just enough for Hubby to have a few for salads every once in a while. We plant about 20 bunching onions every 2 weeks because we LOVE them for our salads and cooking.
Get your whole family involved. Radishes grow very quickly and almost pop up our of the soil when they are ready. Bean seeds sprout pretty quickly and grow almost measurely daily. Great for children to see. Have the winter squash vines grow starting at each side of a trellis, to meet in the middle, with fruit hanging down. Lean three long sticks together, tie at the top, and plant beans at each stick to grow into a living hideaway teepee. Make a small "corn maze" (pun intended) for your kids to pretend to get lost in.

Don't think of it as a chore. Think of "Backyard Grocery" gardening as...

a way to provide wonderful produce for your family
no e-coli to worry about - it's safe (unless you use the wrong manure and let it splash onto your produce!)
you will fertilize with good organic compost (either you do or buy) so you know your vegetables are getting good vitamins and minerals
producing your own produce is cheaper in the long run than buying at the grocery store
no transportation costs or delays from ground to table
you can eat it freshly picked at it's peak of ripeness
it's good exercise for the whole family

Do you want to take better care of your family? Find a little bit of land (even 12x12 feet will work) and do something with it. Plant "edibles" instead of flowers, or WITH the flowers.

Intro to the Backyard Grocery Gardening Blog

2009-03-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

"During World War I and World War II, the United States government asked its citizens to plant gardens in order to support the war effort. Millions of people planted gardens. In 1943, Americans planted over 20 million Victory Gardens, and the harvest accounted for nearly a third of all the vegetables consumed in the country that year. Emphasis was placed on making gardening a family or community effort -- not a drudgery, but a pastime, and a national duty." From http://www.revivevictorygarden.org/

The picture to the right is our Three Sisters Garden in 2008. Shed, composter and some mini fruit trees in the background.

As a consumer, wife and mother, I got fed up with all of the contaminated produce alerts we got. Can't eat spinach this week. Can't eat grapes that week. Nope - definitely not the strawberries. And now the peanut situation? Argh! I started to watch the PBS show "Victory Garden" in hopes to find more information about food gardening for my family. Boy, was I surprised! The shows that I watched very rarely discusses food gardening. What's up with that? So... I came up with this phrase, "Backyard Grocery" Gardening, in early Summer 2008.

None of us in this family had ever had a real garden (as adults) until 2008 when we bought our first house. I had done indoor container gardening throughout many years, but this was the first time we had space! We went nuts... tomatoes, squashes, corn, pumpkins, eggplant... we grew a LOT. Even planted miniature fruit and nut trees, berry brambles and ivy. We made some mistakes (like our 3-sisters patch needed more space in between plants). The ivy died. The berry brambles got mutilated by an un-thinking child. A stranger cut off our filbert tree. Our cranberry bushes died no matter what we did.

We learned. We ate hearty. The few raspberries, blueberries and strawberries we grew were sweet, warm from the sun, and unbelievably wholesome. We ate zucchini, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn and beans almost daily. We stocked our winter pantry with butternut squashes, Mexican X-Top squashes, pumpkins, and sunflowers. And we're even better than ever.

We had planned to do great here in this house! Then we discovered we aren't allowed to keep bees here. Or chickens. We can have 2 ducks and a pig (huh?) but really nothing else. NOT a great place for a homestead.

However, Hubby's office has transferred to a new location - almost an hour away! It IS closer to Hubby's Mom (MIL) who is getting a little older and needs to be checked in on more often. (Gosh I hope she doesn't read this!). So... in order to cut down on the drive time, be closer to MIL, and to homestead the way we want, we're moving. The house will be put on the market June 2009 and hopefully will sell soon after. Thus, we're planting most of our garden in containers so we can take them with us. We're also planting tomatoes, cantaloupes, and other things in the ground here to help (we pray) sell the house. Who wouldn't want a new house that has a grocery in the backyard?!?

We also write a blog at http://www.survival-cooking.com/ which often posts articles about gardening, but we thought it was time to split the blog again. So... as of today March 28 2009, this blog is active! We'll discuss:

starting seeds
container gardening
square foot gardening
composting
companion plants
planting fruit and nut trees and bushes
raising animals for food

Be sure to follow this blog or bookmark this blog's address so that you can get updates on gardening in today's economy.

Guest posters are always welcome. Please e-mail your article to admin at newviewgroupllc dot com. If we like it, we'll post it!

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Definitions:

I/Me/Vikki: I'll write 99.99% of this blog. I plan the garden, order or purchase the seeds, and basically tend the garden, with the help of VHTS and Hubby. I don't do any of the heavy work because I'm disabled, but I do as much as I can. I'm a very picky eater so eating fresh veggies and fruit is perfect for my tastes. Just wish we had our own chickens and their eggs!
Hubby: We've been married since April 2007. My husband has a full-time outside job so doesn't contribute much in the way of writing for this blog. He is learning how to be a father and husband. His family had a garden when he was young but didn't get much hands-on experience. He too wants to eat more healthy. So he helps me garden: he gets more potting soil when we need it, or drills holes in containers for water seepage. He moves the pots around, works the compost, sets up the watering thingies, and so much more.
VHTS: Very Hungry Tween Son - he turned 12 in 2008 and has a hollow leg. He has a problem with wheat/gluten so we have a strict diet. He loves fresh fruits, and some raw veggies. He has some problems, so is schooled at home. He loves organizing, writing stories, and discussing movies and TV shows (even tho he doesn't watch much TV). He doesn't get an allowance, but does chores like emptying the dishwasher, watering plants, caring for our critters, vacuuming, etc. He also likes to write things for the Kid Whispers blog (http://www.kid-whispers.blogspot.com/) where we also post some of his schoolwork.
MIL: Mother in Law - Hubby's Mom who lives about an hour from us, where we are now.
Chihuahua/Spirit/Dog: In October 2008 we got a chihuahua from the humane society. At 4 years old (at that time) she weighs about 10 pounds, is very stubborn and has many bad habits. Her name was Spirit when we got her, and decided to keep it.
Dal-Rotti-Mute/Sparky/Puppy: On February 16 2009, we got Sparky, who was 10 weeks old at the time. He's a combination of Dalmation-Rottweiler-Alaskan Malamute. He's smart, learns quickly, and even (sometimes) puts his toys away when he's done with them. At 14 1/2 weeks, he weighed 30 pounds! He's going to be huge.

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Check out our other blogs noted at the top of this page!

Blog Starting Soon!

2009-03-25T09:09:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken on August 3 2008

VHTS is standing in front of our young 3-Sisters Patch (corn, squash, beans), and a few mini fruit trees - was just before a major growth spurt.

This blog's posts will begin on March 28 2009... follow and bookmark to come back!