Side Yard Eats

This is a photo of the herb patch that sits outside of our kitchen door. It is my favorite part of our garden - it is so easy to grow herbs. I had no idea. And it is rewarding to step outside and snip something to flavor dinner. We are still using basil that we dried last summer.
We purchased most of our plants at the Botanical Conservatory plant sale in May, but they have plants for sale year-round at the Conservatory. Give them a call to see what they have available. I have also picked up herb plants at Schmucker's Produce Market (12815 Doty Road- 46774)

More people saying no to high food prices

While researching rain barrels online lately I came across yet another article describing a family that decided to rip out a huge portion of yard to garden in reaction to high food prices. The Wall Street Journal blog post is a couple weeks old now, but the sentiment is completely salient. More and more people are discovering gardening, and for more and more reasons.

As first-year gardeners, we've already made a lot of mistakes with our three raised beds. We started far too late for many things. But this week our family rejoiced over spinach, bronze lettuce, a new crown of broccoli, three green cherry tomatoes, a tiny patty pan squash, three lil green peppers, bean blossoms, and sweet peas. We knew it would probably happen, and yet it is still amazing and slightly surprising. We sit back and laugh in wonder at how it all works, and creep back out to see what has changed by the end of the day. Our eldest child is convinced that her singing is helping, a la one of her favorite stories, The Giant Carrot. (There isn't room for her to dance like the character Isabelle). And who's to say? Even with our late start, things seem to be going well enough, so the singing might be just the thing.

3-2-1- compost!

Today's a day we've been working toward for quite some time-- we built our compost bin! The neighbors, who have been studying gardening topics with us for quite some time, helped us put it in. We're really excited and are looking forward to using our leftovers in a new way as much as we're eagerly anticipating the rich, black soil we'll get for our Garden Experiment.

Square foot gardening

Bought the wood for square foot garden beds this weekend, and posts and poultry wire for a compost heap today. Now we're looking for someone who has a sledgehammer so we can get those posts down into the dirt. Anybody?

Seed starting stuff

Today a friend sent me home with:

• two boxes of seed starting supplies on loan
  
• a personal walk-through
  
• a book to figure it all out
  
• and a vow of support should I need it

Other friends were going on vacation to a Bountiful Gardens store location, and will pick up our seeds while they're there. This gardening thing is beginning to feel real... except for we haven't DONE anything yet!

Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply

Yet another amazing organic growing catalog-- this one from the fine folks at Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply is on my nightstand. I've enjoyed it a great deal, and am happy to pass it on to anyone who might wish to see it next...

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

I just got a lovely, glossy catalog from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. I have pored through it to my heart's content now, and am happy to pass it on to the next planner. Any takers?

More yogurt lids, please!

OK, I already turned in my offer for a free subscription to Organic Gardening, but have two lids for the Organic Gardening offer if anyone needs them. If not, I'd appreciate ANY Stonyfield Farms yogurt lids because now the first 250 customers who turn in 25 lids to Stonyfield Farms dairy or soy yogurts can get a free autographed copy of Stirring it Up: How to Make Money and Save the World. I want to read that book, but wouldn't argue about a free copy-- I'd even donate it to the library once we're all finished with it!

Thanks, all!

Garden dreams

One of my favorite parts of crafting is looking through the books and figuring out what I want to make next. Turns out that once the kids are sweetly sleeping, another enjoyable wintry evening pastime is a stack of seed catalogs and a cup of tea.

I am still trying to learn what grows best in our zone, and I still don't know the last frost date in our area so I don't know when to begin planting indoors. There's so much to find out for the novice gardener! This doesn't stop me from imagining my way through garden catalogs, though. Reading them is so deliciously exciting and full of promise. Dreaming lacks all the pests, weeds, and heartache of an actual garden. It makes me want to write for these seed companies, with the obvious drawback that I don't really know beans about gardening. Regardless, look what I've found that seems interesting so far, and click the links to see pictures:

• Amish Paste Tomato : Lycopersicon lycoprtsicum, Heirloom indeterminate, 5-7 oz. fruits, Tender annual. This large, meaty heirloom was discovered in Wisconsin although it hails from the Pennsylvania Amish. It has a superior taste, brilliant with a nice balance of sweet and acid. Excellent fresh or in sauces.
• Calabrese Broccoli: Brassica oleracea, Heirloom, 18-28 in. 3-6 in. Hardy Annual. Brought to the US by Italian immigrants at the turn of the century, this is a great broccoli for the home garden. Dark green plant with a blue-green head. Plant remains productive after harvest of the head, continuing to produce many side shoots until frost. For fresh use and freezing.
• Cal Wonder Sweet Bell Pepper: Capiscum annuum, Heirloom, 18-24" Tender Annual. The archetypical bell pepper-tender, sweet and juicy without a trace of pungency. Dark green 3-4 in. peppers ripen to bright crimson. Large, blocky, lobed fruit with thick walls on vigorous upright plants.
• Cannellini Soup Half-Runner Bean: Phaseolus vulgaris, Rare - Heirloom, 3-4 ft. Tender Annual. This classic Italian bean is perfect for minestrone and was first grown in this country in the 1820s. Large, white, kidney-shaped beans have a nutty flavor and make delicious italian-style baked beans. A productive semi-runner plant that grows well even in cool weather.
• Dinosaur (Lacinato Blue) Kale: Brassica oleracea, Heirloom, 2-3 ft. Hardy Biennial. Fondly known as "Dino Kale," the leaves of this extremely winter-hardy variety become sweeter after a hard frost. Delicious and tender when stir-fried or steamed.
• Lemon Cucumber: Cucumis sativus, Heirloom, 3-4 in. Tender Annual. Dating back to the 1890s, these oval to round yellow cukes are juicy and sweet. Thin, tender skins and succulent white flesh make them a joy to eat whole-like an apple-right from the garden. Great for slicing or pickling.
• Red Oak Leaf Lettuce: Lactuca sativa, Heirloom, 12-16 in. Hardy Annual. Stunning oak-shaped leaves mature to a deep burgundy. Somewhat heat resistant but exceptionally vigorous in cooler weather.
• San Marzano Paste Tomato: Lycopersicon esculentum, Heirloom, 3" Fruits, Tender Annual. A classic Italian heirloom paste tomato with a slightly hourglass shape. Later season than other paste types, providing an extended harvest for saucing until the first hard frost. Flavorful cooking tomato. Needs trellising.
• Small Sugar Pumpkin: Cucurbita pepo, Heirloom, 5-8 lbs. This heirloom from the 1800s is a classic for its high-quality stringless, sweet flesh which makes scrumptious pies. Lightly ribbed, orange fruits are perfect for smaller gardens and make great little jack-o-lanterns. Easy to grow.
• St. Valery Carrot: Daucus carota var. sativus, Heirloom, 8-10 in. Hardy Biennial. French heirloom with sweet, tender flesh. This carrot to has a high amount of free arginine, a protein building amino acid.
• Tendergreen Bush Bean: Phaseolus vulgaris, Heirloom, 16-20 in., 5-6 in. pods, Tender Annual. A green, round-podded, stringless and tasty bush bean with slight flecks of purple. A very heavy yielder over a short period, even during hot weather. A great mainstay for the home garden.
• Tom Thumb Lettuce: Lactuca sativa, Heirloom, 3-5 in. Hardy Annual. Introduced by at least 1853, this is a tiny little butterhead perfect for small gardens or those who like the elegance of exquisitely formed small plants. About the size of an apple, it is ideal for serving whole as an individual salad.
• Viroflay Spinach: Spinacea oleracea, Heirloom, 2 ft. Hardy Annual. In 1885, Vimorin called this variety "Epinard Monstreux de Viroflay"---The Monster spinach of Veroflay! Extremely vigorous plants bear 10 inch leaves.
• Yellow Pear Cherry Tomato: Lycopersicon esculentum, Heirloom, 1 oz. Tender Annual. From the late 1800s with very low acid and a mild, sweet flavor. Produces clusters of 1-2 inch fruits all summer long. Excellent for salads, pickling and preserving. Resistant to alternaria stem canker disease.
  

The above list is still a work in progress. I don't know if they're the right ones. And it still doesn't include basil or peas (oh, fresh peas...). Someday I'd like to have strawberries, and maybe even grapes as well. But for now, I'd best stick with a stack of library books and a cup of tea.

Green thumb, green thumb, quite contrary-- will your garden grow?

I have never really had a garden before. I get Spring Fever like everyone else, and when my nostrils are assaulted by the earthy smells of the garden section in the hardware store or supercenter, I usually succumb and buy a handful of things I don't know beans about and let them naturally peter out in my backyard due to lack of knowhow and personal stamina. Last year after looking at Sunflower Houses with our DDs, we planted sunflowers three distinct times only to have them fail successively due to cutworms, then pesky squirrels.

However, after having read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I am inspired to try again. The biggest thing a year of volunteering at Salomon Farm last year gave me was an idea of how much I don't know; nonetheless, I think we're going to try raised beds this time a la All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew. If we can come up with the funds for the lumber, the compost, vermiculite, and the peat (and the heirloom seeds!) and we're very, very lucky, we may still come out roughly even-- health benefits aside.

Aside: The book recommends going to construction sites and asking for unneeded, untreated 2 x 6's. Anybody know where those might be found locally? Not me! Also, I need to set up compost in my backyard. This setup requires mixed mature compost. I could use advice in this area as well. Anybody with tips might consider posting!

Regardless of the outcome, we've been learning a lot at home about reading, math, and science through our renewed interest in gardening-- not to mention the bold realizations about where food actually comes from! Even if I end up eating crow (figuratively!), I'll count this as a win.

Baking bread and living locally

I was poking around on Mother Earth News looking for ideas when I found an article from the latest issue about easy, no-knead crusty bread. It looked yummy enough (and simple enough!) that I think I'm actually going to try it once I get a handful of cornmeal into the house.

Once I noticed that the article was written by a sustainable agriculture consultant and passionate organic gardener, Googled him. Interestingly enough, Roger Doiron is s a free-lance writer and public speaker specializing in sustainable cuisine. He's been featured in Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Organic Gardening magazine, Mother Earth News, and Saveur. He also is the founder and director of Kitchen Gardeners International, or KGI which, to quote the site, is "a Maine-based nonprofit network of over 4000 individuals from 80 countries who are taking a (dirty) hands-on approach to “relocalizing” the food supply." Not only is the thought inspiring, the site is pretty nifty, too. I love the idea of gPods, and now feel like reading Robert D. Putnam's Bowling Alone because of the reference.

Reading myself green?

I have now saved four foil lids from 32 oz. containers of Stonyfield Farm yogurt, and can send in for a free subscription to Organic Gardening. If you'd like to get on the informal routing list for this periodical, please leave a comment below or just let me know. The last person with it can pass it on or recycle it.