I harvested my first 2012 peas yesterday. There were only two, but I see more growing!
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Saturday, January 28, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
More Seed Sowing
I just planted 5 rows of cool season greens this evening, each about 5 feet in length. I planted "Feldsalat" (more on this in a bit), Stardom Mix, Farmer's Market Sweet Greens and Reds, Monet's Garden Mesclun (these three are all from Renee's), and Rainbow Chard (from John Scheepers). Sprinkled among the rows, I planted Golden Beets and Jewel-Toned Beets (also from Renee's), along with Purple Plum Radishes and Red Meat Radishes (ordered recently from Trade Winds Fruit), and Carnival Blend Carrots (from Botanical Interests).
Back to the "Corn Salad"...I found this delicious little cold-loving green on my trip to Germany. They called it Feldsalat; it was served on almost every salad and I noticed it at the local farmers markets in Freiburg labeled with the same name. It had a mild, but refreshing flavor, somewhat sweet with a slight crispness in the stem without being overly crunchy. The leaves look similar to baby spinach, but with longer stems and a leaf texture more like mesclun. It appears to be harvested almost whole, as a very loose head of leaves. According to the packaging (I found it at a garden shop in England, brand name: Sutton's) it is also called Lamb's Lettuce, but my search of the internet suggests that we call it Mache here in the states, courtesy of the French. In any case, I shall be calling it Feldsalat. Also, according to my internet search, it should do well this winter. It seems to love the cold, and still grows right around freezing temperatures (albeit slowly). It supposedly grows slower than lettuce, but I've never been great at growing lettuce in a hurry, so we'll have to see how it goes.
It's been rather cold at night, which will likely slow down germination, but I expect to start seeing radish sprouts and perhaps some lettuce within a week.
I also planted maybe 20 parsnip seeds. I started them soaking yesterday afternoon, and put them out in between the cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage plants. I'm not sure how well they'll do, since the seeds are a couple years old now and there's not going to be a ton of sun between all those larger plants...but many of those plants will be coming out in another month or two, so hopefully the parsnips will germinate and set out some roots in the meantime and then they can have all the sun they want.
Lastly, I set some fava beans up between wet paper towels yesterday afternoon. My plan is to get them out in the garden on Monday, filling in the gaps between the pea and sweet pea vines. I don't have room to plant a whole row of only favas, so the crop will likely be smaller this year, but any fava beans are worthwhile in my opinion.
Back to the "Corn Salad"...I found this delicious little cold-loving green on my trip to Germany. They called it Feldsalat; it was served on almost every salad and I noticed it at the local farmers markets in Freiburg labeled with the same name. It had a mild, but refreshing flavor, somewhat sweet with a slight crispness in the stem without being overly crunchy. The leaves look similar to baby spinach, but with longer stems and a leaf texture more like mesclun. It appears to be harvested almost whole, as a very loose head of leaves. According to the packaging (I found it at a garden shop in England, brand name: Sutton's) it is also called Lamb's Lettuce, but my search of the internet suggests that we call it Mache here in the states, courtesy of the French. In any case, I shall be calling it Feldsalat. Also, according to my internet search, it should do well this winter. It seems to love the cold, and still grows right around freezing temperatures (albeit slowly). It supposedly grows slower than lettuce, but I've never been great at growing lettuce in a hurry, so we'll have to see how it goes.
It's been rather cold at night, which will likely slow down germination, but I expect to start seeing radish sprouts and perhaps some lettuce within a week.
I also planted maybe 20 parsnip seeds. I started them soaking yesterday afternoon, and put them out in between the cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage plants. I'm not sure how well they'll do, since the seeds are a couple years old now and there's not going to be a ton of sun between all those larger plants...but many of those plants will be coming out in another month or two, so hopefully the parsnips will germinate and set out some roots in the meantime and then they can have all the sun they want.
Lastly, I set some fava beans up between wet paper towels yesterday afternoon. My plan is to get them out in the garden on Monday, filling in the gaps between the pea and sweet pea vines. I don't have room to plant a whole row of only favas, so the crop will likely be smaller this year, but any fava beans are worthwhile in my opinion.
Friday, January 20, 2012
The Hatching
My seedlings have started to pop up. The first seed was a Stevia plant on Tuesday, followed by the first tomatoes on Wednesday and Thursday.
two Stevia seedlings
1884 and Sun Gold seedlings
Not sure if the picture does it justice, but this last picture of some Bosque Blue seedlings have cute little purple stems! According to the seed seller, I should select the purplest stems to ensure the bluest tomatoes.
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two Stevia seedlings
1884 and Sun Gold seedlings
Not sure if the picture does it justice, but this last picture of some Bosque Blue seedlings have cute little purple stems! According to the seed seller, I should select the purplest stems to ensure the bluest tomatoes.
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Saturday, January 14, 2012
More about seeds!
Tomato and pepper seeds are sown, along with leeks and a variety of spring herbs such as Parsley, Cilantro, Shiso, Chives and others.
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Friday, January 13, 2012
Cauliflower and Cabbage
Today I harvested some cabbage leaves and sauteed them up with some salt and apple cider vinegaer, served on a La Brea demi baguette with chicken/apple sausage and onions for dinner. The cabbage plants look good, but it looks like it will be awhile yet before they form full heads...so I stole a few leaves from each plant and I hope they don't mind. It was fairly bitter, but it's been quite warm the last couple weeks, so hopefully the heads will be sweeter as we get into February and March, which are typically cooler.
The cauliflower in my garden desperately needs to be harvested and eaten. I think perhaps I'll make something tomorrow or Sunday. This vegan recipe caught my eye. I have no interest in going totally vegan, but Elliott and I could certainly do with less meat and more veg in our diet. I love mushrooms, rosemary, and sweet potatoes, so I don't see how this could be bad.
Over the last few days we've also had a second broccoli harvest and I harvested a few stalks of celery to throw into an oyster stew. The broccoli has been very good, and I was very glad to read that I can expect additional harvests from the plants I harvested from. The celery was full of flavor, even a bit over the top. I'm sure this is due to lack of watering and the heat. It was certainly edible though, and I look forward to making soup stock with it and throwing it into soups, stuffings, and other recipes. Unless it eases up a bit on the taste though, I don't think I'll be snacking on it again soon.
*Update: That recipe for sweet potato and cauliflower mash with mushroom gravy was seriously delicious and extremely filling. Most definitely a make again. I also suspect it freezes well. It was so filling that there are plenty of leftovers!
Cauliflower and sweet potato ready for roasting
Mushroom gravy in progress (if you have and immersion blender or mash by hand, this is only a two pan meal)
Finished product! Wish I'd had a little parsley or chives to garnish with something green, but otherwise it was perfect.
The cauliflower in my garden desperately needs to be harvested and eaten. I think perhaps I'll make something tomorrow or Sunday. This vegan recipe caught my eye. I have no interest in going totally vegan, but Elliott and I could certainly do with less meat and more veg in our diet. I love mushrooms, rosemary, and sweet potatoes, so I don't see how this could be bad.
Over the last few days we've also had a second broccoli harvest and I harvested a few stalks of celery to throw into an oyster stew. The broccoli has been very good, and I was very glad to read that I can expect additional harvests from the plants I harvested from. The celery was full of flavor, even a bit over the top. I'm sure this is due to lack of watering and the heat. It was certainly edible though, and I look forward to making soup stock with it and throwing it into soups, stuffings, and other recipes. Unless it eases up a bit on the taste though, I don't think I'll be snacking on it again soon.
*Update: That recipe for sweet potato and cauliflower mash with mushroom gravy was seriously delicious and extremely filling. Most definitely a make again. I also suspect it freezes well. It was so filling that there are plenty of leftovers!
Cauliflower and sweet potato ready for roasting
Mushroom gravy in progress (if you have and immersion blender or mash by hand, this is only a two pan meal)
Finished product! Wish I'd had a little parsley or chives to garnish with something green, but otherwise it was perfect.
Seeds, seeds, seeds, seeds :)
All my new (mostly tomato) seeds came this week! I stuck mostly to tomato seeds, but bought a few extras that will hopefully feature in this blog over the coming months.
To start, I bought wintergreen seeds. I suspect this was a horrible idea, since I have heard it's hard to start from seed. OH WELL! The seeds need to "stratify" for 60 days...which I took to mean "put them in the fridge for two months." Some websites said I should put them in moist dirt in the fridge. Others said no, that may cause them to rot. I don't know. Anyways, I just put the seed packet in the fridge on Tuesday (January 10th) and in 60 days I will plant half of them and see what happens!
At this point, I'm just waiting to get some tape for my label maker and then I will get my pepper and tomato seeds started!
To start, I bought wintergreen seeds. I suspect this was a horrible idea, since I have heard it's hard to start from seed. OH WELL! The seeds need to "stratify" for 60 days...which I took to mean "put them in the fridge for two months." Some websites said I should put them in moist dirt in the fridge. Others said no, that may cause them to rot. I don't know. Anyways, I just put the seed packet in the fridge on Tuesday (January 10th) and in 60 days I will plant half of them and see what happens!
At this point, I'm just waiting to get some tape for my label maker and then I will get my pepper and tomato seeds started!
Monday, January 9, 2012
Broccoli What!
I grew broccoli!!
First harvest of the season weighed in at 272 grams. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
First harvest of the season weighed in at 272 grams. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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