All posts by whatthymeisit

Tomato and Basil Time!

May 14, 2013 whatthymeisit Leave a comment

With spring in full force, my thoughts have turned to tomatoes and basil starts as I’ve been trading and selling them. The Kent Community TimeBank has given me an outlet for them where I don’t need to worry about the exchange of money. The truth of the matter is plant starts represent mostly time as they have to be treated like infants so the KCTB seems to be appropriate. The basil has been more popular than I would have ever imagined, so I’ll make an effort next year to produce more.

On 5/12/2013, I attended the Foods Not Lawns Cleveland plant swap. I traded 4 tomato starts (1 Mega Cherry cutting from my AeroGarden and 3 Sweet 100 Cherry starts). In return, I received two Chocolate Cherry tomatoes, two Long Purple eggplants, and a whole bunch of comfrey plants. Comfrey is useful as a nutrient mulch because it accumulates minerals well. Just chop it down a few times a year and put the leaves in your compost or around your heavy feeders (tomatoes, corn, broccoli, etc). Who needs to buy chemical fertilizer? Not this Snarky Gardener.

The AeroGardens have been producing well, giving me Jalapeno peppers, basil, cutting celery, parsley, and tomato cuttings (for starts). The Mega Cherry tomatoes are just getting ripe, and will be eaten seconds after they are ready. I will be saving the seeds from the red pepper to see if I can get them to grow. Practice makes perfect when it comes to seed saving. I tried to save the seeds from a green one, but they never spouted. I should have better luck with the riper Jalapeno.

Jalapeno peppers and Thai basil – 5/7/2013

Of course, with all these starts running around, I planted 6 in late April and early May to get some from under my feet (even with a chance of frost still possible). This chance became reality on 5/13/2013 and 5/14/2013 as temperatures fell into to low 30’s overnight. Overturned pots became makeshift protectors inside the steel fence tomato cages. I did lose one Sweet 100 Cherry tomato plant as the pot I covered it with was too thin and holey. Luckily I have more plants where that came from.

On 5/12/2013, the first of the potato leaves poked their heads out (and were promptly frosted). I’ve been checking on them from time to time, finding a few that turned rotten. I’m not sure if this was caused by using the leaf mulch (it’s pretty wet in places) or the potatoes themselves, but I pulled any that didn’t look good. Fortunately the Snarky Gardener is smart enough to have extra potatoes that he didn’t plant the first time, so those will fill in any open spots.

Potatoes sprouting up from leaf mulch – 5/12/2013

Potatoes coming up by my kale – 5/17/2013

Gardening

A River Digs Through It

May 6, 2013 whatthymeisit Leave a comment

This blog post is pretty much just for me. My dog River, a 5 year old Toy Fox Terrier (named after River Tam in Firefly/Serenity), is a constant garden companion. Half the reason I have the garden fence is to give her a place to roam and play without escaping into the wild. Being a terrier, she loves two things: digging and rodents. Fortunately, there are plenty of both out there. She caught a mouse just last week that was hiding the leaf mulch (poor little guy). I do have to be careful when planting because she will dig stuff up if the soil is fresh (fresh soil = mice in her mind). So I have been trying a technique of planting with just a little digging and letting her finish the hole up. Later, I put the plants in when she’s not present.

Gardening

Spring has sprung!

April 30, 2013 whatthymeisit Leave a comment

After several days of warmer weather (70’s) and rain in the middle of April, my garden finally started jumping up. The spinach I had planted in March under 2-liter bottles have spouted. My Oregon Snow Peas are also popping out of the ground (I thought they were goners with the long cold early spring). But the real surprise was my overwintered Red Russian kale. I even took them off my garden plan as they didn’t look good in late February and early March. With the warm sun and then rain, they have really perked up.

Spinach sprouts among the leaves – 4/13/2013

It also looks like I’ll be collecting Seven Top turnip seeds as they are sending up flowers. I let them go last fall thinking I could eat them this spring but forgot all about whole biannual thing. I had enough greens to eat one meal, but I’ll let the plants use the rest of their strength to make babies.

Seven Top Turnip Greens going to seed – 4/27/2013

On 4/27/2013, I planted the first of my many tomato plants (four Sweet 100 Cherry plants) inside the cages in “Tomato Row”. I’m a little early (or am I?) but the 10-day forecast looked good plus they were getting root bound. I also planted the only mini pepper that grew from the seeds I started (sigh). I have a pepper-producing AeroGarden mini Jalapeno that I may plant outside plus a mystery pepper I received from Amishland Seeds with my Amish Paste tomato seeds. And I have a plant swap with Food Not Lawns Cleveland in a few weeks, so hopefully my pepper population will be increased over this one lonely plant.

Full garden view taken from the south – 4/27/2013

Caged Sweet 100 Cherry Tomatoes and Sugar Snap Peas – 5/4/2013

20130430 — Planted Fenced Backyard Garden Plan- 4/30/2013

In April, I joined the Kent Community TimeBank. The KCTB is an organization that allows for the trading of services between community members using a simple yet cool website. So far I’ve given 2 hours of weeding to one member and received strawberry plants (which I planted in the northwest corner on 4/27) and compost from two other members. The time bank allows me to use my gardening talents in the local community while receiving other valuable services (I’m looking at you, dog groomers, graphic designers, and equipment renters). The best part is I’m getting in better physical shape without those pesky gym memberships.

Strawberry plants a Kent Community TimeBank member delivered on 4/27/2013

Cooking

Sauteed Turnip Greens

April 22, 2013 whatthymeisit Leave a comment

One of the reasons I garden is to provide my family with as much of our own food as possible. There is a certain pride in being able to point to a dish and say “I grew AND cooked that”. It occurred to me that if I wanted to grow entire meals, I would have to go vegan (because there aren’t bacon plants – though I think Monsanto might be working on them). To that end, I’ve collected some recipes from the Internet (and beyond) that I can totally produce from my produce (minus oils, sauces, spices and salt). As the season progresses and I can make dishes and whole meals from my garden, SG will blog about it.

The Snarky Gardener overwintered Seven Top turnip greens and they have really came back like gangbusters (or is it ghostbusters?) this spring. I’m not really a turnip green lover, but they are nutritious and easy to grow. Seven Top turnips are grown just for their greens, as the roots are not really edible (not that I have tried). Of course by letting them go over winter, the first thing they want to do is go to seed (thus the definition of “bi-annual”). I figured these greens would be bitter as plants who bolt tend to get that way. But a trial munch found them to be better than they were last summer as the cool weather must be what they like. So I decided to make sauteed turnip greens with this spring bounty.

Overwintered Seven Top turnip greens – 4/13/2013

Overwintered Seven Top turnip greens (outside the fence on the west side of the garden) – 4/13/2013

I found an online recipe with just a quick search. This one is common and can be used with other greens (spinach, kale, collard). Most turnip green recipes include bacon or salted pork as a component because turnip greens tend to be bitter (supposedly because of their calcium content if you believe the Internet) and bacon makes everything taste better. This recipe is vegan (no pork) but it suggests using balsamic vinegar or soy sauce which do taste good with bitter dishes (went with the vinegar this time). The garlic I used for this did not come from my garden (not ready until July), but it was from the local farmer’s market, so close enough for now.

Recipe:

1. Coat the bottom of a wok or skillet with high-heat vegetable oil (canola or peanut but not olive oil) and heat over medium heat.
2. Peel and mince 2 garlic cloves and saute in the oil until lightly browned.
3. Add ½ lb. turnip greens, rinsed and with the stems removed.
4. Cook greens, turning them gently, until they darken and become limp.
5. Season with salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of either soy sauce or balsamic vinegar.

Freshly picked turnip greens – 4/20/2013

Sauteing garlic in peanut oil – 4/20/2013

Gardening

WinterSown.org part 2

April 16, 2013 whatthymeisit 2 Comments

On 4/10/2013, as I looked down the plastic jug holes, little leaves finally sprouted! From the looks of the leaves and the jug itself (the pink plastic ring on the top), they are kohlrabi and Swiss chard. This wasn’t planted back on 3/22/2013, but one I prepped later on 3/28. You will notice the spray bottle in the picture. It’s my secret weapon (don’t tell anyone) to watering once the jugs are sealed up. The WinterSown.org instructions say to take the duct tape off to water, but that sounded like a lot of work. I just spray water in from the top, thus not disturbing the seeds nor over watering.

Kohlrabi and Swiss chard winter sown on 3/28/2013

Kohlrabi (clover shaped at the top) and Swiss chard seedlings – 4/13/2013

The other jugs are also making progress, though not as much as this first one. The Apiacea (or Umbelliferae) family jug (carrots, cilantro, celery, and chervil) is almost totally barren, but I’m not surprised as these usually takes longer to germinate than others. If you look closely though, you can see a little green at the top of the picture, but since they are all the same family, I’m not sure which plant it is. The Snarky Gardener will taste them later to see who is who. If it tastes like licorice, it’s the chervil. Cilantro and celery are very distinct tasting also.

Snarky Gardener fact: they are known as Umbelliferae because their flowers spread out like little umbrellas (think Queen Anne’s lace).

Carrots, cilantro, celery, and chervil – 4/13/2013

The broccoli, leek, echinacea, and carrot below are still at a standstill, though you can see a few broccoli poking their little heads out at the top of the picture. Seeds from the Brassicaceae family (cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, mustard, kale, radishes, and turnips) tend to sprout pretty quickly, with radishes being one of the first to develop (ready to eat in 3 to 4 weeks).

Broccoli, leek, echinacea, and carrot – 4/13/2013

Gardening

Growing Potatoes with Leaf Mulch

April 11, 2013 whatthymeisit 1 Comment

Over the last year or so, I have read some Internet articles about using leaf mulch in the garden. I had heard that leaf mulch would cause my garden’s pH level to get too acidic but wanted to look into it further. After through research, I determined that this was probably not true, but that even if it was, using lime or wood ash would reverse any pH problems. So, during last summer, I purchased a lawn sweeper for my mower as I have almost 1 acre of lawn and plenty of oak and maple leaves to pick up (and pick up and pick up . . .).

42-inch Lawn Sweeper — Lawn Sweeper from John Deere’s website. The driver is NOT the Snarky Gardener.

This year I decided to use some of this mulch I collected to cover my potatoes, especially after reading a potato mulching article or two. You can see by the pictures that my garden is a sea of leaves. They have been a pain in the butt to move around, especially when they are wet and several feet deep in places. On the plus side, they will make my potato growing a lot easier than last year. All I had to do is place the seed potatoes in the mulch eye side up and cover with leaves. No messy digging or soil involved. And later, as the potato leaves grow up, I will just pile up the more leaves around/under the stems like I did with dirt last year.

Note on 4/19/2013: The severe April winds have blown off the leaves at times, exposing some of the potatoes. I checked one for development and saw roots. I’m not worried as I do know from experience that they will grow anyways (my compost pile potatoes kept putting out vines). I’ll just keep covering them back up, though I might add some dirt to make it a non-issue.

Note on 6/15/2013: Some of the potatoes are several feet high and flowering; others have just started a little. I moved 6 “barely starters” to a different part of the garden (where the spinach was) and buried them under dirt, thinking maybe a change of scenery would help. I replaced these with red seed potatoes purchased at the farmer’s market. We’ll have to see if it’s the potatoes or the site/mulch.

Potatoes planted under leaf mulch – 4/5/2013

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Gardening

Fenced Backyard Garden Update – 3/31/2013

April 5, 2013 whatthymeisit Leave a comment

20130331 — Fenced Backyard Garden as of 3/31/2013

March has been a cold and dry month. I was hoping to have more in place by now, but my houseful of starts means April should be busy. Last weekend did give me the opportunity prep the tomato/pea cages and the pea/corn mounds. The corn mounds are my version of a Three Sisters Garden with early bush peas replacing the pole beans. I could also go with climbing peas but then I would have needed to plant those after the corn had been planting (timing is everything). Also, it’s official – the rosemary is dead as it didn’t overwinter. But I did find rosemary arp at a local garden center, which is supposed to be perennial in Northeast Ohio (fingers crossed for luck).

The Snarky Gardener will be direct sowing in the next week. Included will be kale (Toscano and Red Russian), kohlrabi, Swiss chard, lettuce, and peas (bush and climbing). Leeks, kale, spinach and lavender will be transplanted from hardened off starts.

Snarky Gardener definition:
“Hardening off” means taking your starts outside more and more over time to get them acclimated to the outside world. All the wind, sunshine, and temperature swings take some getting used to for your little ones.

“Tomato Row” with WinterSown milk cartons and 2 liter bottles in the background. 3/31/2013

20130402 — Fenced Backyard Garden Plan for April as of 4/2/2013

Gardening

Steel Fence Tomato and Pea Cages

April 2, 2013 whatthymeisit 1 Comment

The Snarky Gardener spent the weekend raking leaf mulch and digging holes. In preparation for climbing peas and tomatoes, I brought out the tomato cages I “built” last year. Two years ago I purchased 150 feet of 60″ tall steel fencing (to protect my garden from critters). 50′ + 50′ + 20′ + 20′ (50′ X 20′ garden) equaled 140 feet of needed fence with 10 feet leftover. Last year, I had an eureka moment and decided to use the extra as a tomato cage as I hadn’t had much luck with store bought ones. Plus the fencing looked a lot like the pea netting I had seen on the Internet. So I curled the fence around like a giant C, buried it into the ground about 6 inches, put dirt over it to hold it down, and planted peas around it. After it worked so well, I ended up buying another 50 feet and cutting 6 more 4 to 5 foot sections (leaving 20 feet to increase my 50′ X 20′ to 50′ X 30′ this year). Did I mention the SG uses math all the time at his day job?

Homemade tomato and pea cages – 3/31/2013

So this spring I raked open 6 spots (pant, pant, pant) and broke ground on “tomato row”. This area was brand new and untilled, so I had to bring out “Big Blue”, my broadfork purchased from the Valley Oak Tool Company. Weighing in at 18 pounds, it’s a solid piece of equipment and easy to use (though it would have been easier if SG was in better shape). I was thinking of taking pictures or video of me actually using it, but thought the video on the Valley Oak site would do the trick. Next week I’ll be planting climbing snow peas around each cage. Last year none of the experimental peas made it back into the house as I’m a grazer but 6 times as many hopefully means some for everyone else.

Breaking up the soil with my broadfork “Big Blue” – 3/30/2013

Interlocking the top for stability – 3/30/2013

Tomato cages with too much mulch piled up behind them – 3/30/2013

Caged Sweet 100 Cherry Tomato plant and Peas – 5/4/2013

Gardening

WinterSown.org

March 25, 2013 whatthymeisit 3 Comments

Through my Internet wanderings, I ran across a mention of a site where people received free seeds – WinterSown.org. I checked it out and decided to go through the ordering process as I just LOVE (XOXOXOXO) seeds (the more, the merrier). WinterSown has developed and tested a system to start seeds outside without the use of expensive setups or even lights. Just use recycled materials, starting soil, and the great outdoors (here are the instructions for use with a plastic gallon jug).

To order, just follow the instructions on the site, which is basically mail in a printed order form and a self-addressed stamped envelope (aka SASE) with two stamps. With that, they will send you either the seeds of 6 randomly picked plants or 6 tomato seeds that you have chosen. If you donate money via check ($5 minimum), you will get your order doubled (or more with a bigger contribution). I mailed my order for 12 random seeds with a donation of $10 on 3/5/2013. The site said it could be up to 4 weeks to receive the order but found my SASE in my mailbox on 3/21/2013. The whole process reminded me of my youth, as I would wait by the mailbox for something I sent away for from the back of a comic book. Of course sending in a check these days meant I could log in to my bank account every day to see when it was cashed (which of course I did).

Below are the seeds obtained from WinterSown.org

Edibles:
Red Pear Piriform tomatoes
Long Purple Eggplant
Danvers 126 Carrot
Petite Marseillais Pepper (2 packages)
Chervil

Flowers:
Shirley Poppy
Dwarf Toadflax
Large Dahlia Mix
Honeywort
Evening Primrose
Shasta Daisy
Perennial Lupine

The timing of my delivery was perfect as we have been having a very long winter/spring this year in Northeast Ohio with snow on the ground 3/22/2013. Last March we had temperatures in the 80’s and my garden was completely tilled up by April. My understanding of the WinterSown process is the seeds react to natural weather patterns to start when the time is right. With the use of protection and heat capture, the exposed seeds are able to germinate earlier and better than just sowing them in their final growing location. I’m also trying a variation of this method by direct sowing my spinach seeds under 2-liter pop bottles. My house is full of starts, so I’m out of room under the lights.

The WinterSown system is designed for early plants, like broccoli, kale, spinach, lettuce, herbs, wild flowers, and even root vegetables like carrots. I was surprised by seeing carrots on the list as I didn’t think you could transplant those. I’m guessing if you get them out in the garden before they create much of a tap root, you should be good to go. In seasons past, getting them up before the weeds take over has been a Snarky Gardener pet peeve, so this sounds very promising. I’m also starting Purple Top turnips to see if they will transplant.

Below are pictures my WinterSown sowing. As you can see by the last picture, I decided to just place the milk cartons out in my garden.

Note: Here’s the update from 4/16/2013

Gardening

Fenced Back Yard Garden Update – 3/9/2013

March 19, 2013 whatthymeisit Leave a comment

With temperatures in the mid-40’s and bright sun, March 9th turned out to be the first day of 2013 I was able to get into the garden and do some hoeing and planting. The first inch of soil was frozen in spots but otherwise very workable.

First I took care of the garlic that I had wrongly planted back in October (see “Plant Garlic Cloves Not Bulbs“). Then I put in the Jerusalem Artichoke I received from the Food Not Lawns Cleveland seed swap back in January. The back middle of my garden along the northern fence seemed like the best place to bury it. I probably could have spread out the four tubers more, but oh well. (Note: I replanted them a few days later, spreading them out more).

Jerusalem Artichokes mulched with last year’s Brussels Sprouts and broccoli – 3/9/2013

Once the Jerusalem Artichokes were planted, I took on the task of making four east/west crooked rows for the Oregon Sugar Pod II Snow Peas (I suck at straight lines). I’m not sure if I was too early planting them as I read after the fact that they should have soaked in water overnight. So much to learn as a gardener, so many mistakes to make. I also put out my 2-liter bottles to prep the area for spinach. I direct sowed them on 3/14 (12 under the bottles and 6 without as a control group to see if the extra cover helps or hurts).

Planted snow peas (foreground in 4 crooked rows) and Jerusalem Artichokes (to the left in the picture). 2-Liter Bottles are prepped for later spinach planting. The Snarky Gardener is the shadow.

As my starts have matured (but not the Snarky Gardener), I’ve been planting them in whatever cups and pots I can scrounge. Pictured below is broccoli, kale, kohlrabi, spinach, and Swiss chard (which didn’t thrive and had to be eaten – yum). The plastic drawer allows these to be easily pulled into the house when snow and ice threaten to freeze my little friends. Unfortunately I’m not sure which ones are kale and which ones are kohlrabi (or if I even planted kohlrabi). A poor job of documentation when starting related seeds inside means I’ll just have to play it by ear when planting.

After all this, I decided to check up on my herbs after pulling off the leaf mulch. My sage looked OK, with some leaves green and others more gray. The rosemary is in bad shape and I’d be surprised if it comes back. I’ve even taken it off my latest garden plan (I’m a realistic optimist). I heard there’s a type that can overwinter in Ohio – Rosemary Arp. It’s a hybrid that must come from a transplant. It’s either that or the SG will need to “pot up” his rosemary in the fall. On the positive side, the oregano and thyme came back without issue. I think thyme is my favorite herb, as it grows very well and has both culinary and medicinary uses.

Northeastern Ohio Food Gardening