Garden Status Update

No, my garden is not on Facebook. But here is what's up as of 3/24:

Indoor seeds: Almost all of the tomatoes are doing well and have their first set of true leaves except for my San Marzanos (10 year old seeds - I guess they are finally dead). Despite my best efforts at labeling, I have two sets of seeds marked "Great White", one of which is thriving profusely and the other which has no hints of seedlings whatsoever. This will be an adventure. The peppers and eggplant are coming up more slowly and the tomatillos are not up yet at all. The rest of the seeds are so-so. The Bea fennel, celeriac, parsley and shiso are not up yet. The others are producing, even the mystery seed. The next step will be to leave one strong seedling in each cell of the tomato and pepper packs. The others will stay as-is since they were sown in plastic grape tomato containers and will get planted earlier than the others.

Outdoor seeds: None of the herb seeds in my Earth Boxes came up. Either it's not warm enough in the greenhouse or they all rotted from being constantly wet and cold. We'll have to see about that one.

This weekend I started some cold weather seeds in the greenhouse to get a jump on the planting season. These are, for the most part, normally sown outside directly in the soil in April.

Box #1: Spinach - Baby's Leaf, Mustard Greens - Florida Broadleaf, Escarole - Eros, Kale - Lacinato, Purslane - Golden, Mibuna - Early

Box #2: Turnip - Golden Ball, Beet - Chioggia & Touchstone Gold & Cylindra, Parsnip - Hollow Crown, Swiss Chard - Bright Lights

Soaked seeds were planted along the fence among the grapes, about 24 feet each of the Burpeeana Early and Super Sugar Snap. Sweet peas were planted in pots and in the rose bed.

General maintenance:
Weeded the pea bed. Started to lay cardboard out for garden bed paths (to be later topped with straw).

To Do:
Finish weeding raised beds in lower part of garden. Continue to lay out cardboard and keep an eye out for straw for sale. Rebuild collapsed asparagus bed. Start artichoke and parsley seeds. Thin tomato seedlings and feed with fish emulsion. Fertilize asparagus, blueberries, hydrangea, rhodes.

Peas Interrupted

What is WITH this weather. Normally, I am getting my peas into the ground now. Today my ground is covered with sleet and ice and generally unpleasant forms of precipitation. And although I have read that you can just push aside that snow and plant your peas anyway, I'm not doing it. Why? Because the ground beneath is full of sleeping weeds that I didn't get to yet during the balmy weather at the beginning of the month. I am sure, based on past experience, that I will accidentally pull up peas if I weed after the fact. Also, it's damn cold out there, and I'm not that dedicated to the cause. I have another plan.

Instead, I am going to start my peas between wet paper towels placed in plastic bags, all 3rd grade earth science style. I've noticed that this somehow gives me multiple weeks jump in pea production. I believe this is because I am not good at keeping peas consistently watered, and therefore it takes them at least three weeks to come up when they go right into the ground. But if I sprout them first a little indoor, I can see their little heads peeking up through the soil within a week.

This year, I'm planting only two edible pea types - one snap pea (Super Sugar Snap) and one shelling (Burpeeana Early). I usually plant too many types, never label them properly, and never know when to pick them. I'm going to grow these in the grape beds so i can trellis them up bamboo poles while stabilizing the poles with the grapevine wire.

While I have peas on the brain, I'm also soaking some very adorable sweet peas. Contrary to what their name implies, these guys are not edible, and may even be poisonous. The flowers are beautiful though and good for cutting. I'm trying three kinds: "Color Palette Cupid" - 8" tall and destined to be a spring centerpiece on my patio table. "Explorer Mix" - 2.5 feet tall and meant for my giant deck planter. "April in Paris" - 8 feet tall. I think these will hang out in the same bed with my perfume rose.

Regardless of my hesitation, snow or no snow, those peas have to get in the ground this weekend. My pea planting schedule will not be interrupted!

Seed Starting: Heirloom vs. Hybrid vs. Wacky

"I don't have time!" I said to myself. "I have too much other shit to do!" I declared. "I'll just have to buy actual plants this year." Decision made.

But then I found myself again at Home Depot for a bag of dirt. Sixty dollars later I am carrying out an infant, a bag of dirt, and a pile of seeds. (Note: infants not for sale at Home Depot)

First, a lesson in seed terminology. Second, my list of seeds started this week including an explanation of the bizarro ones.

Heirloom vs. Hybrid Seeds
The above terms used for plants and seeds describe how a plant has come into the world. Heirloom plants are older varieties whose seeds have been saved and passed down over time. The plants are "open pollinated" and seeds from an heirloom vegetable will produce plants that have the same properties as the parent. In the case of tomatoes, heirloom plants also might be "determinate" which means that they grow to only a certain height and their fruits ripen all at once. "Indeterminate" varieties grow more like vines, and the fruits ripen in succession and produce all season long. All the heirlooms I grow are indeterminate, which means we have a fabulous time ever year figuring out the best way to support them while they grow. But more on our trellising adventures later in the season.

On the other hand, hybrid plants are intentionally produced by cross pollinating two different varieties of plants in hopes of developing a version with specific qualities of both parent plants. Seeds from a hybrid plant will not produce the same exact plant as the original. Hybrid plants are often bred for convenience (small plant sizes, disease resistance, fruits that package well and don't bruise) rather than flavor, which is why I usually go heavy on the heirlooms. However, I do think that a hybrid home grown tomato is better than what you can get in the store, so my "Beaverlodge" tomato variety is an early hybrid that I can usually get to produce in early July.

My Heirlooms:

• Pepper - Corno di Toro
• Tomato - Polish Linguisa
• Tomato - Great White
• Tomato - Purple Calabash
• Tomato - Yellow Perfection
• Tomato - San Marzano
• Tomato - Sugar Snack

My Hybrids:

• Tomato - Beaverlodge
• Eggplant - Little Prince

My Wacky Stuff (Another note: "wacky" is not a seed type. I just don't know what these things are and am figuring that you don't either):

• Root Parsley "Hamburg" and Celeriac/Root Celery - We're big fans of root vegetables here. Big. And there are way more interesting root vegetables than carrots. These two are delicious, and add a fun twist to mashed potatoes or a roasted veggie platter. They both taste like their edible foliage, but are milder. In these varieties, the roots are the stars.  
• Tomatillo - Fundamental to salsa verde, tomatillos are a Mexican food staple and a member of the same plant family as tomatoes. One plant produces like crazy, but I can never stop myself from planting two of them.
• Broccoli "Romanesco" - I suck at growing broccoli so I don't have high hopes for this. I might grow it in the greenhouse to try to avoid the inevitable cabbageworm attack. If it does actually grow, it will produce a whole head of lime green, pointy florets that look similar to Madonna's cone bra in her Blonde Ambition tour.
• Shiso, Green - I've never grown this and am not sure I've even seen it in real life. Shiso is a traditional Japanese cooking herb with aromatic cinnamon-flavored leaves. Also comes in purple. If it works, we might see some fancy new recipes coming from Tommy-San.
• Malabar Spinach "Red Stem" - Another newcomer to my garden. This is a tropical vine that grows in the heat of summer, and is described as spinach-like. I love the idea of a spinachish plant for summer, so we're trying this.
• Epazote - Herb native to South America and used in Mexican food, especially bean dishes. This has the potential to be a rotten weed in these parts, so grow in a pot and watch for volunteer baby plants in your garden beds. I haven't had a chance to cook with this, but it's supposed to help bean related digestive problems. Here's to hoping.
• Cavolo Broccolo Spigariello, called "leaf broccoli" - I got these seeds in the Christmas Tree Shop of all places. It attracted me because the whole rack of seed was all in Italian and I couldn't identify the plant in the picture. Google tells me that this has little broccoli heads but is really grown for the leaf and harvests like kale. It's a cut and come again plant that will grow all season. Let's see if it works.
• Fennel, Bulbing "Trieste" - Tom is totally obsessed with fennel bulbs for cooking and insists we grow as much of this as possible. We never use all that we grow. I used to think that was fine because the plant would flower and go to seed, but seeds never seemed to appear. It turned out that some fennel varieties are grown for seed and others for the bulb, but there are no varieties that do both. If you know of one, dear reader, please inform me! In the meantime, we will be growing the "Trieste" variety for seed, and also the ......
• Fennel, Seed "Bea" - ..... and this one for seed. I named it "Bea" after a sweet gal named Bea Kunz, owner of Sage Hill Farms, who graciously sent me this seed. I can't wait to grow it and harvest my own! If I get a good enough crop, maybe I will take a page from the book of Bea, and share my harvest.
• Mystery Seed - This is thanks to my excellent labeling skills. What is it? Who knows. It could be a kind of basil. Or maybe columbine. As of now, it is planted, and we will just see what develops.

Thanks for reading, and we'll see you next week!

Laura

It's the Year Of the Heirloom Grain!

What has two thumbs, crazy eyes, and an unrealistic sense of time restrictions ? This gal! It's nearly spring again, and I'm nearly out of my mind with excitement for garden prep. And just like every year, I begin with a burst of high enthusiasm and enormous destined-to-fail plans. This year's grand schemes are listed numerically below. Commentary by the lunatic that takes over my logic and reasoning abilities every spring follows.

1.) I will blog every week, even if it's just a paragraph to log what I've done. [This one is totally doable because I have so much spare time! I'm sure my disabled 9 year old and newborn infant will magically become completely self-sufficient every Sunday evening at the exact moment I sit down at my computer! No problem! And I'll even still find time to shower!!]

2.) I will fertilize all vegetables and perennials according to their individual specifications and requirement. [I don't know anything about fertilizing beyond randomly throwing compost on plants when I remember to. As long as you put a plant in dirt, it should grow - right?  But this year I'm going to be totally organized! I'm going to N-P-K the shit out of this place, and these plants won't know what hit them! They will be happy and healthy and wildly productive, and I will be the best gardener ever. EVER!!!]

3.) I will plant and grow my own heirloom wheat and make homemade bread out of it. [OK! Even my enthusiastic looney-toon self knows that this is just batshit crazy. But why not? Why shouldn't I try? I'm almost forty, and not getting any younger. The time to do weird shit is now, and I believe this goal qualifies.]

Go ahead, laugh. I certainly am. I, too, observe myself with a detached bemusement, having seen myself pull this stunt time and time again. But I fully embrace the silliness and hope of March while preemptively forgiving myself for not following through. I'm sure someone/everyone has said this better, but if we don't have hope, what do we have? And who knows - one of these years, I just might go ahead and kick some ass, just as I intended. Better stay tuned to see if 2013 is that year.

And so to fulfill goal #1 for the week -

Accomplished this week:

• Started herb seeds in the greenhouse in Earth Boxes. Box #1, all basils: Genovese, Sweet, Lemon, Greek, Lime & Dark Opal. Box #2: Cilantro, Chervil, Summer Savory, Watercress.
• Cut back grapes.
• Ordered specialty seeds: Lacinato Kale, Imperial Star Artichoke, Red Garnet Amaranth, Red Head Quinoa.

To-do:

• Start indoor seeds, especially tomatoes and peppers.
• Prune roses
• Finish garden and perennial bed clean up.
• Fertilize asparagus, blueberries & hydrangea.
• Rebuild collapsed raised beds (hear that, Tommy?)

Goals number two and three require more research so more on those later. I would include a picture of the current state of disrepair of the vegetable beds but the baby is crying. Yep, this is totally going to work just fine!

Laura