I have a secret to admit... Until this year I had never tested my soil.  I just operated under the notion that as long as I rotated my crops from year to year, I didn't have to bother with testing my soil.  However, it is a necessary step that I think had I bothered to take years ago, I may have saved myself some headaches.  Let me tell you a little bit about the importance of soil testing.

Planting a garden without first testing your soil is like baking a cake without making sure your oven is preheated.  It is a lack of preparation that does, in fact, affect the outcomes.

With as much effort as most of us put into our gardens yearly, we want to make every effort to be sure that all of those hours of tilling, hoeing, and little drops of sweat that go into the yield we hope to get from the soil.

This year was going to be different, I finally decided to take that little extra step to give my garden the best chance possible.  So, I started by ordering a simple soil testing kit from Amazon, this is the exact one I chose... (affiliate link included)

It wasn't as difficult as I imagined and the kit has enough to use it 40 times.  I simply took a few scoops of soil from various locations in my 48 x 25 foot garden plot and followed the directions.  I promise it wasn't as daunting as I had feared for so many years.

So here is what I learned.  My potatoes likely haven't been doing so well the last few years because my soil PH was not ideal for potatoes.  This is a simple fix by adding some limestone to the area I will be planting my beautiful Amethyst potatoes in this year.  I may well have been having problems with my tomatoes and cucumbers as a result of low nitrogen levels which I needed to treat. 

Do you see, there was so much information just waiting to be uncovered and I had been missing it.  No amount of blood sweat and tears was going to make the plants do better without some of the basics being addressed from the beginning.  Okay, so this year we are going to give the plants the best chance at flourishing, something we all want, yes?

Here is the other thing, if you are like me, and you avoid any chemicals on your garden it is imperative to have the healthiest plants possible because unhealthy plants are even more susceptable to diseases and pests that end up being an organic gardener's worst nightmare.

Hopefully, this year armed with the knowledge of the basics, I will be able to maintain the best possible soil for growing a variety of the beautiful plants I hope to see brimming over the borders of the garden this summer. 

It is worth it, if you are going to garden, take the one extra step and learn about the importance of soil testing before planting this year.

Now that is out of the way, we got the cold weather crops started in the garden, and of course I have helpers...

After a long gardening season and hopefully a bountiful harvest it is almost sad to see the fall approach with its cooler evenings and occasional nippy mornings.  What does often happen this time of year is that previously stunted herbs begin to be revitalized and you may find yourself swimming in Basil, Oregano, Rosemary and some of the more hearty herbs. 
​
                I don’t know about you but I often am mentally “finished” with the preservation process by this time and I have a tendency to feel slightly overwhelmed with more tasks on my plate than hours in the day.  However, never wanting to waste a beautiful harvest of herbs here is a fast and super simple way to preserve the hearty and savory herbs you may well use for cooking all winter.

I am not kidding when I tell you that this method literally takes 5 minutes of your time so even the busiest of us can manage it.  And yes, it really does work just as I explain it though I too was skeptical the first time I tried it.
​
1.  Harvest your hearty herbs
2. Wash and pat dry
3.  Tear and stuff herbs into the molds (notice I did it backwards in the photos which led to some overflow)
4. Fill your containers (mini muffin molds or ice cube trays work fantastically) with Olive oil covering the herbs
5. Freeze for 24 hours
6. Viola!  You have success.  You can either remove the cubes and place in a freezer bag or you can leave in your container until you need to use them.

A word of caution, once frozen these will thaw quickly so if you are removing them to put into a freezer bag do so quickly.  You can then use these in your sautés, sauces, soups and savory dishes.  Anything that requires herbs and olive oil.  My favorite recipe is here: Tomato Basil Chicken

Though fresh is always best, this is a fantastic alternative in the winter months to use up that fresh herbal goodness!
 

I love to garden, if you have read much on my blog you know that this is a passion of mine, I have even joked about the "gardener's manicure" that I often sport as a result.  I was recently contacted by a company who had a product I found intriguing, the Honey Badger Garden Glove.  Just look at these things, I mean I was instantly curious.  I spoke at length with the owner of the company regarding their marketing strategy of having a select few gardening bloggers try out the product and offer an honest review.  I was game.  

​The owner was very knowledgeable about gardening, the challenges a gardener faces and just how easily most common garden gloves wear out.  (Yes, I have a number of pairs with holes in the fingers that I have sadly had to toss over the years.)  He was happy to chat with me at length about his product and his desire to offer a solution to gardeners such as myself.  

There, it was a product that intrigued me, the owner was kind and knowledgeable, I'm all in for a trial.

I will also admit that the fact it was named after a crazy elusive mammal digging fiend with a likeness to the comic book character Wolverine did not hurt one bit.

I received my trial pair of gloves in the mail as promised and I couldn't wait to get them on.  They were femininely pink for making me feel so primal, I loved it.  The gloves fit very nicely, snug even without being uncomfortable.  I was worried that they would make my hands hot and sweaty because of the slick coating but even after an hour in the hot sun, they did not.  

So, lets head outside and put these beauties to the test...

It was a hot and sunny day but the gloves did not make my hands sweaty or uncomfortable despite their snug fit.

First up, digging for potatoes.  I have to say that this was infinately easier with the assistance of a mammal like pair of claws.  The dirt easily yielded at my fingertips (I mean claws) and I was able to dig up the tubers with no problem.

The gloves come with claw tips on the right hand, the left hand or both depending on your personal preference.  I am right hand dominant so these were great for digging, however when it came to weed pulling I found that it wasn't as easy to get used to pulling with the clawed glove, it may be that this would just take practice or I would need a left hand dominant claw for digging and that would free up my right hand for the weed pulling.

The gloves kept my hands clean, pricker free when pulling up thistle, and aided me in being able to nix the usual hand tools for light gardening and weeding.  I love that my lengthier nails were not at all strained because when digging with the claws there is a bit of comfort room allowed for us ladies.

My 13 year old daughter was just as curious and she had to accompany me to the garden for a trial as well.  Her assessment?  "Mom, these things are COOL!"  I actually had a willing participatory weed assistant at my side.  She reveled in the digging capability of her claw-like finger tips (as did I when it was my turn) and we aptly concluded that primally speaking, these gloves definitely made a mundane task such as garden maintenance much more fun!

So for overall rating:

* * * * * Five Stars for the sheer coolness factor of the gloves
* * * * * Five Stars for comfort and ease of use
* * * * * Five Stars for protection of hands

I cannot yet rate the durability as I haven't washed these gloves yet nor have I had an entire gardening season to put them to the test but they appear very promising on all other fronts so I would give these an Incidental Farmgirl Thumbs Up!

Want to order your first pair?  

This blog post may contain affiliate links that cost you nothing but help me maintain this site for your sheer enjoyment.

I have a yearly battle with a specific pest (well more than one but for this post we will chat about my nemesis).  This thing has tortured me since I quit using any form of synthetic pest control about 12 years ago. (back when I became more educated about what I was doing to my food by using Sevin dust and the like).  I’m here to say, there are some days I miss that perfect produce. My neighbor has perfect zucchini in abundance, when I asked him how he gets so much and why my pests don’t plague him (I was waiting for a sage answer that I could really dig my teeth into) he said, I just sprinkle Sevin on the plants…UGGGHHH!

Okay, so what is the pest?  It took me a few years to identify, I thought it was more an environmental problem I was dealing with when one day my Zucchini would be bountifully producing and vigorously growing and then seemingly overnight it would yellow, droop and fall over dead.  Have you ever had that happen? It is quite disheartening because I for one, LOVE my zucchini!  After a few years of this happening (I think I must be slow to catch on) I realized it was not some kind of soil borne problem causing the plants to die but rather, a nasty little creature that liked Zucchini and Yellow squash (as well as all gourd plants, pumpkins and squash) even more than I did.  THE SQUASH VINE BORER.  This is a nasty pest that is the larvae of a flying insect.  Some say that you can get rid of the problem by picking off the flying creature at daylight or dusk, I have never had much luck with this.

​I hate this nasty little creature.  I always find him a bit too late.The tell tale signs are when you look at the base of your zucchini or squash plant and it has a yellow sawdusty kind of look to it.  Those little granules are actually worm castings…eww, not the good kind.  This little worm burrows up inside the base of your plant and hollows it out eating until it is full and very fat.  I have on countless occasions slit the stem of a plant with an exacto knife in an effort to remove said nasty worm and decimate him, sometimes the plants live, sometimes they don’t but it is always a gratifying experience to squish that little bugger.

This year is no different, I only got to enjoy about 2-3 large Zucchini before the nasty worms invaded, I split the stem and killed them but the plants are still struggling.  I usually just use some succession planting so I already have my new up and coming Zucchini plants growing but it is still a battle.  Many people will tell you to use a "floating row cover" however what you may not know is that this method is pretty effective.  The problem is that you cannot use the floating row cover when your plant is flowering or the bees cannot pollinate your plant, that is a whole 'nother problem!

So what do the eggs look like and where can you find them?  Ideally I should have been in the garden daily checking the undersides of the leaves, this is where you will find colonies of the little worm eggs.  I just rip off the small sections of the leaves where I find the eggs, if you have lots of Squash and Zucchini plants you have A LOT of work on your hands.  The sad part is that the little eggs are kinda pretty and look like little gems on the underside of the leaves, but oh the damage they do!

So if you see any of these telltale signs and you, like me are an organically minded gardener, better get busy, that Squash Vine Borer is NOT your friend!  

If you have any tried and true methods that have helped you, please do share.  I have not had luck with Diatomaceous earth, crop rotation, or even soap shields but if there is something else out there, please do let me know!

It began by my daily walkabout in the garden, just checking things out but not planning on doing any heavy duty work, best laid plans.  I bent down to check on what I thought was a beautiful and large green bean, I was right, and next to that another, and another, and another.  This is usually glorious news, except that I was hosting 8 out of town guests that included 6 children in addition to my own 5 children and the guests were here for an extended stay, who has time for canning with all that going on?

I do know enough about gardening to know that I would waste  a lot of food if I didn't do something though, so I began picking, and picking, and picking.  When it was all said and done I had filled 2 of these 5 gallon buckets of fresh picked and beautiful green beans, that was almost 30 lbs worth when I weighed it all out.

What's a girl to do?  I put the kids to work snapping and snapping. (child labor at its finest!)

Once the beans were all snapped I certainly did not have room in the fridge for them, I mean like I said, 8 out of town guests added to our brood of 7 is 15 people and cooking for that many leaves little to no refrigerator space!  I decided that the fastest and easiest way to proceed was to blanch the beans (kills any bacteria) and freeze them in quart bags (pints are just too small for us!).

So how does one do this feat?  It is literally so simple.  I prefer my canned beans, but when in a pinch I don't want to loose fresh produce so freezing will work and will usually last without incident in a deep freeze (not your regular freezer) for 6-9 months without a problem.

When snapping beans you simply snap off the end where the bean grew to the plant, you can snap the tail off too but it is not necessary.  Then snap the bean into bite sized pieces, usually 3-4 per bean.

Once all of your beans are snapped you need to blanch them.  This is a process that kills bacteria and stops the food enzymes from further deteriorating food.  Blanching is a simple process where you boil the beans for 3 minutes an then plunge them into a sink full of ice water to stop the cooking process.  The beans will turn the most brilliant shade of jade green you have ever seen and they are VERY tasty at this point.  You now have beans ready to be safely and tastily stored in your deep freeze.

Be sure to use freezer bags, yes they are more expensive but they are thicker and well worth using to avoid freezer burn on your well preserved harvest!  

Aren't they beautiful?  That's 18 quarts of green beans to have this winter, yum!

Cilantro...I love it.  It is fantastic in salsas, paired with chicken, in salads, it is fresh and delicious.  I am aware that this is one of those herbs that creates a strong reaction in people, they love it or they hate it, not too many in between.  My love for it probably came from the time I spent living in Mexico and drowning in fabulous cuisine peppered with this culinary delight.  Regardless, you should be growing this herb because the little known fact of the matter is, it is the only one I am aware of that is a dual purpose herb.

What do I mean by "dual-purpose"?  This herb is one that is a 2 in 1 delight.  When the plant first emerges and begins its journey into true leaf existence it is called Cilantro.  Pungent and flavorful it is a member of the parsley family but is called different things depending on the point in the life cycle you harvest it. It becomes Coriander later in the cycle, another well known culinary delight.

It is originally native to the Mediterranean you will also find it in Thai and Chinese cuisine as well as Hispanic and Indian dishes.  Interestingly enough this herb is so well known that they are even mentioned in the Bible. Ancient Romans used the herb to preserve meat and it can also be steeped as a tea.  Cilantro is said to have stomach soothing properties that when consumed in large quantities, offers a significant source of Vitamins A and C.

Okay, so back to the dual purpose idea, when the plant is new and relatively low to the ground (6-8 inches in height) it is the delicious cilantro.  However, what happens is that it will "bolt" in the heat of the summer.  This means that it goes to flower as the plant prepares to change to its seed form, a self propagating wonder.  Once the stalks rise well above 12-18 inches the plant leaves change to a more carrot top looking spindly type and they begin to flower.

From this point the cilantro begins to take on a very bitter taste and is not, at least in my book, edible any longer.  The plant will continue to dry out and the little flower buds will change to hard, round, brown seeds.  This is Coriander.  A spice used in cooking as well either whole or ground.  The beauty of it all is that you can either harvest the coriander for your culinary use or save it for planting again next year.  

​
NOTE: Wherever you plant this herb it is likely to perform like a perennial, meaning because it self seeds it will come back year after year.  Even the most diligent gardener is usually unable to harvest EVERY seed that drops to the ground so you again have the dual purpose advantage of a re-seeding plant as well as a second herb to use, Coriander.

Okay so not really jewel encrusted spuds but a beautiful shade of purple in this Blue Aidorondack variety none the less.  I have grown these ever since tasting them for the first time during a co-op buy from friends a few years back, they are delicious and unique.  They have a sweeter taste than a regular potato but not as sweet as a sweet potato.  They hold their hue even after cooking and make fantastic olive oil and rosemary garlic fries.  

I recently had to order some more seed potatoes (these are hard to find) as my batch from last year was lost in the earth due to the intensely wet summer we had.  I lost all of my root vegetables in fact, they just turned to mush in the ground.  I have a penchant for the Blue Aidorondack variety though there are other purple hued potatoes on the market.

When spuds arrive you will usually get what really just looks like whole potatoes.  It was so tempting not to eat them, but for the growth and betterment, they must be planted.  It is estimated that for each seed potato piece that you plant, you can gain 10 pounds of new potatoes from just that one seed.

What is a "seed?"  Well, when you let a potato sit too long it starts to sprout "eyes" when left in a cool, dark place these eyes will pop and start growing vine-y type of shoots.  This is a good thing because for each "eye" that is essentially your "seed."  If a potato is covered with eyes, you cut it up and plant each piece as a seed effectively gaining up to 10 or more pounds of yield per cut piece. (usually at least 2-3 per well sprouted spud).

Once you cut your spuds in such a manner as to assure that you have at least 2 "eyes" per piece you need to let them air dry for about 24 hours.  You can see how my potatoes are a bit "wet."  This drying time does help in the retardation of mold, due be sure they are in a well ventilated area though.

Once your time is up, you can plant. There are so many methods to planting potatoes, and everyone will tell you their method is best.  These potatoes are no exception.  I have had tremendous success planting these directly in well worked ground, but, in a wet year you will loose them all as root crops rot in the ground when it is too wet for too long. 

This year I am using a grow sack, you can just as easily use a plastic storage tub with some drainage holes drilled into the bottom, or even a plastic trashcan with drainage holes.  

Simply fill your container with a healthy grow medium (I bought a bag of composted cow manure for $5, and no, there is NO odor to it at  all).  Start by filling your container only about 1/2 to 3/4 full as you will add more dirt/compost after the shoots of green start to show up.

Now put your potatoes, cut side down, in your soil.  Spread them out and then cover with another layer of dirt.  Water generously and wait until you start to see green sprouts shooting up.  When you see the green sprouts/leaves, bury them with another layer of dirt.  By doing this you are encouraging another layer of spuds to form.  

Kids love to help with planting potatoes and because they are not fragile or of small seed, it is an easy task.

You will know that it is time to check on and dig your potatoes when, nearing the end of summer your green leafy vines start to yellow and die back.  At this point you can gently dig down with your hands and feel for the spuds, if you feel fully formed spuds/potatoes, just lay down a tarp and dump out your container to collect the potatoes.

You need to let the potatoes "cure" for a few days in a cool, dry place.  This will allow for better and longer storage time.  After that, enjoy your bounty!

** Note** I purchased my seed potatoes from Pinetree Garden Seeds this year, their customer service is top notch and they have beautiful catalogs for free as well.
​

Growing the rubies of June is one luxury I have not afforded our farm yet.  I have always been so busy with my vegetable garden and raspberry patches that strawberries were always that, “ill wait till next year” list.  Finally the time has come, I’m on it this year and here to share the adventure along the way.
For the beginnings of my strawberry growing adventure I decided to pick an unused spot in the yard that wasn’t very beautiful, and make a raised bed, here’s how to join me in this adventure…
 
Purchase 3 of the following:

 4 x 8 untreated pine boards. 

You REALLY need to use untreated pine as the treated lumber has arsenic in it, you don’t want that in your strawberry pie!
The finished box is 4 x 8 so you use 2 of the 8 foot boards as sides, and cut one of the boards in halvsies for the ends.  Finish off with some corner supports and screws and your frame is done!

You may be blessed with flat ground, I am not.  Use a level to be sure because the “eyeballing” method can definitely fool you.  I found that I had to dig down about 3 inches into the soil on one end to get a level bed.

Once the bed is in use a heavy layer of newspaper (6-8 pages thick or more if you like- you can even use cardboard as I did in he picture) in the bottom to prevent the upspring of lovely broadleaf weeds or crabgrass.  This will also breakdown nicely and encourage fish bait to frequent your raised bed thus leaving their rich castings off behind.
​

If your berry plants arrive and it is still very cold out you can buy some time by laying down a layer of straw over the berries to protect them until the days and nights get a bit warmer.  In the end of the growing season before overwintering this is what you will do anyway.  Note, that strawberries spread by use of “runners” that go underground and pop up a few inches over from the “mother” plant.  

​Step back and admire your work, wait for the warm sun to do her job, water as needed and bide time until you can bite into that first big, red, juicy berry.

No, I'm not an amateur gardener.  In fact, I have been gardening seriously for over 15 years, so my point is, I should have known better.  Read on and learn from my gardening mistake so you don't make the same one too.  This one almost cost me my whole seed starting extravaganza.

It all started in mid February.  A friend of mine and I had the bright idea that this year we would start seedlings, not only for our own gardens but also to sell to the public.  The dollar signs were swimming in my head as I thought of all the beautiful seedlings growing strong and tall, ours would be bigger than most of course because we were starting so early, so of course people would want to buy them, and likely pay premium for a larger plant.

This is where my folly started.  I have shared my seedling mix before, I use 4 parts potting soil to 1 part vermiculite and 1 part pearlite. This has always worked for me before, I'm guessing that I have just gotten lucky.  This is not a bad ratio, but my mistake came in that I was trying to figure out how to save as much money as possible to increase profits for sales...enter in the dollar store.  Don't ask me what part of buying my potting soil at the Dollar store was a good idea because in hindsight, I do see the folly of my ways.  However, I have had luck doing this in the past so I just followed suit of my old ways.  This year was the year I learned a valuable lesson.  I bought "bad" soil.  I don't really know what was wrong with it, maybe not enough nutrients, maybe someone careless along the packaging route spilled something foreign into it, your guess is as good as mine but the results were nearly catastrophic to my business and personal garden plan.

I had all my seedlings planted, they all looked great and were germinating.  I sent the flats to my friend's greenhouse for some cozy growing time away from mama and then that is where things changed.  It was not my friend's greenhouse, nope, it was not over or under watering, nope.  It was just that the flats that I had planted from one particular bag of soil were failing.  They started out well, but at the crucial point when your tomato seedling goes from 2 "leaves" to "true leaves" mine just gave up.  Not only did they give up but they started to dry out and yellow up.  My friend called me with the somber news.  I knew it wasn't the conditions because the subsequent flats that I was growing from the second bag of Dollar store dirt in the greenouse were doing fine...but I am sure it was something to do with that one bag of dirt.  The tragedy is that one bag of dirt affected over 100 of my seedlings, tomatoes to peppers, they all looked like the dying remnants of a genocidal attack.

What is a farmgirl to do?  I ran to the nearest gardening center and spent a PREMIUM price for a bag of the richest, blackest, most expensive bag of starter mix I could find.  I replanted everything. (enter in sad face here).  As I look at my friend's seedlings that were planted the same week as mine, they are up to 4-6 leaves, mine are stunted and may never recover.  The new seeds have yet to germinate so I am left with only the ones from a subsequent bag of soil which are cabbages and some more peppers, time to start the tomatoes all over again... if you are a gardener you know that this is heartbreaking.  Though not akin to loosing a child, you almost feel parental about your seedlings after so much love and tender care is poured into them.  (enter in playing of TAPS)

I will be doing things differently from now on.  I had always taken shortcuts (and I am so very budget conscious) but this area is one I will not be skimping on any longer.  My friend got a tip from a largescale garden center and I will be using her seed starting mix next year (40lbs for $35 but that should last me 2-3 years in all seriousness) and if it means that I can avoid these tragedies, I think it worthwhile.

With all the information out there about hybrid and GMO seeds it can be hard to muddle through the mire about what is actually best.  I am here to offer you a breakdown of the different types of seeds and why, most of the time (there are a few exceptions) an open pollinated heirloom variety is by far your best choice.

OPEN POLLINATED: a seed of this variety is one that is pollinated by natural means (birds, bees, insects, etc) 

HYBRID: This is seed produced by a carefully controlled pollination of two different varieties of seed or species of seed that has been crossed by human intervention. This method has been around since the 1920's and is not the same as GMO seed production.

GMO:  Not to be confused with hybridization, GMO (genetically modified organism) seed is seed that has been modified in such a manner as could NEVER occur in nature.  

Okay, now that I have shared all of that information let me just show you what surprised me and made me happy yesterday.  I went out to the garden with the intention of planting some spinach, lettuce and kale (all cold weather crops) in this beautifully warm spring weather we have been having.  I was bending down to weed my lettuce bed when I saw this...

As spring is starting to sneak and peek around here I am getting ready for planting season.  This will be the 3rd year that I have planted cabbage from seed and I am always amazed at just how well this crop does even when planted outside as tiny as the plants you see in the picture.  I have found that sometimes I even have to put flag markers up when I plant these little ones outdoors in the ground because they are so small, you can hardly see them, but they keep on chugging towards becoming thick round heads of cabbage.

Cabbage is a pretty hardy plant and it does well enough in the cold that dipping temperatures don't phase it too much.  As long as I am able to keep the cabbage worms from turning my heads of beautiful cabbage into Swiss cheese remnants, I have enjoyed a bounty every single year that I have planted these from seed. This year I am opting for some floating row covers to keep those nasty little cabbage worms that I have to hand pick off, far far away.

This is a cost saving venture as well.  Usually a head of cabbage runs around $2 at my local store.  However, I am able to plant 20-30 heads for the cost of a packet of seeds and some dirt (seeds $2 and my tried and true dirt mix $8 for enough to plant all my seedling crops for the entire growing season- not just the cabbage).  That breaks down into a huge savings in my book.  Also, when harvesting cabbages, if wrapped in newspaper and kept in a cool dark location (basement anyone?) they can last for months upon months in cold storage and still be just as good.  A great way to make your own saurkraut as well!

If you've missed my previous posts on my 4-1-1 potting soil mix I use, the mix is 4 parts soil, 1 part vermiculite and 1 part pearlite.  You can purchase all of these items at your local Walmart, Lowes or Home Depot.  The pearlite and vermiculite that I purchase are always more than enough for several hundred seeds that I start for the year and there is usually some left over to start next growing season as well.

When I run out of seed cells for planting I just opt for styrofoam cups from my local dollar store. Be sure to poke holes in the bottom though so you can have adequate drainage.  I also write on the cups with a sharpie noting the date that I planted them.  

​It's really that simple, get on out there and get planting!

     I mean by this is that if you are new to gardening, start small.  Don't till up your entire yard and plant every variety of plant you might have an interest in all at once.  I'll say it again, start small.  Start with just a few varieties of different plants.  Maybe a breed or two of tomatoes, a few squash, zucchini, cucumbers and the like.  Gardeners who start too large often end up frustrated because their big dreams of bountiful harvests turn into a tangled web of weeds and diseased plants that are a waste.

      All too many well meaning gardeners have started out with good intentions but only to be disappointed because their garden location was not well planned.  Study your environment, study the shadows during your growing season. ​ Study your soil, is the spot where you will be gardening too wet when it rains?  Does it receive long shadows during the early and latter parts of the day? The best garden location is one that is in full sun from early in the morning until late in the evening with no long shadows being cast over the location.

     Many a new gardener knows that seeds and plants need water.  However, newbies often fail to realize that you can actually over water your plants as well as under water them.  Over watering your plants causes them to begin yellowing as they beg for mercy from the flood.  Under watering and they scream for liquid nourishment like a desert lost wanderer.  A good rule of thumb is to stick your finger in the soil near one of your plants, if the soil is muddy and slimy wet, no more water.  If the soil is dry, brittle and crumbly, more water is needed.

    Laugh if you must but I created some of what I am sure were the most interesting veggies my first year or two gardening.  I unknowingly planted my squash right next to my pumpkins. Right along side that were what were supposed to be birdhouse gourds.  What many a new gardener doesn't realize is that bees will travel from one flowering plant to the next causing cross-pollination, some species of plants will cross with one and other which, though producing interesting offspring, often results in unedible veggies.  Think of what might happen if a dog and cat could breed with one and other...a cadog? Yep, pretty much what happens in the garden.  Word to the wise, don't plant squash and pumpkins anywhere near each other, and do a quick google search if you are concerned that some of your plants may be closely related enough to cross pollinate.

     I still use my grandmother's advice, plant on Mother's day, not before.  I also think that more than a week after Mother's day is too late.  The reason I say that is because while your neighbors are harvesting their beautiful Beefsteak and Better boy tomatoes you will still be staring at small seedlings that haven't even flowered yet.  Tomatoes love the heat of summer, but not as seedlings and they have to have plenty of growing time to be able to set fruit.  Some other varieties like bush and pole beans can be planted later in the season (I often plant green beans both on Mother's day weekend as well as a second planting in July for a September harvest) but if you put out your longer maturity rate plants at the same time, you will be disappointed.
​

      If there is one thing that you will notice when you garden, its that weeds can go from non-existent to overpopulated in 24 hours after a good drenching rain.  You need to keep an eye on your garden.  All too many will plant a garden and walk away until they think that they should harvest, you cannot do this.  It is kin to getting a new puppy and walking away only to return months later and expecting it to be housebroken and well mannered.  When you garden you need to at least walk by your garden every other day to check on things, when you notice the weeds springing up, pull them when they are small, it is so much easier that way.  I love to get out in the garden just after a fresh storm has come though because the weeds nearly jump out of the soil with barely a tug when the soil is drenched.

     Not only do seed packages talk about thinning but they also give you a good start by telling you how far apart to put your treasured plants.  If you purchase plants there should be a little plastic stick inside with the name of the plant breed as well as basic instructions for planting (pay attention to the distance apart).  If you plant your seeds or seedlings too close together they cannot properly develop their root systems and they will not thrive.  Overcrowding can also cause issues with air circulation, when there isn't proper air circulation disease can set in on even the most well cared for garden.

    Back to those instructions again.  If you are planting from seed it is a really good idea to follow the directions on the seed packet.  A general rule of thumb is that the larger the seed, the deeper you plant, however, by deep I don't mean very deep.  A carrot seed for example is one of the tiniest seeds found in most gardens, it barely needs to have dirt sprinkled over the top of it.  A bean seed usually goes down into it's home approx 3/4 to 1" depending on the variety, so you see, not too deep.  What happens is that if the seed is planted too shallow it can wash or blow away.  If it is too deep then it will exhaust itself trying to reach the break into the environment and often it will just die.

     I am referring here to either raised beds or container gardening.  I can't tell you the number of bonehead pins I have seen on pinterest about creating a beautiful raised garden box by putting sides and a bottom on it...no drainage holes.  Let me tell you that this would be a pretty bad idea.  (sidenote, I think the pins about raised bed gardening with a mesh weed control or wire on the bottom are stupid too, how will the beneficial earth worms be attracted to your raised beds if you do that?) Plants need drainage, if you are doing some container gardening be sure that your container has drainage holes or we go back to mistake #3 where I discussed plants begging for refuge from the flood

    This is important for the following year.  What I mean is with any level of success most gardeners find that they are greatly benefited by getting their hands dirty and they become "bitten by the bug," a further desire to cultivate begins to grow and they want to do it all again next year.  However, you need to keep track of where you plant your species.  You do this so that the following year you can rotate your crops, not planting the same thing in the same location year after year.  The reason for this is that different plants rob your soil of different nutrients so rotating them keeps the soil from being depleted.  In addition to soil nutrient depletion you need to rotate to reduce soil pathogens.  If your tomatoes wound up with blossom end rot, you certainly don't want to put them back in the exact same spot again next year, rotate things around, plus it keeps things interesting!


   Don't let this list intimidate you, if you are a new gardener, just use some common sense and ask friends or family who garden, other then the mistakes mentioned there really is no right or wrong way to garden, you can ask 10 gardeners how to grow a tomato and I guarentee you will get 10 totally different answers, and they will likely all work.  Happy gardening!

You've been reading for awhile and you have finally decided that your garden will have some rich compost this year.  But wait, you want a BIG garden and you don't yet have enough compost to mix into the soil, and since we are gardening organically around here, I know you don't want chemical fertilizers on that garden.  So, how do you stretch that black gold that comes from the deep parts of the compost pile?  

You make tea.

Yes, you read that right, you aren't going to drink it so no worries.  However, it will help you spread the nutrients all around your garden with minimal compost.  I run out of that black gold every year because I continuously make my garden bigger.  Plants really do flourish and are so much larger in size and production when treated with compost, so here is the winning answer.

Here's what you need:

5 Gallon Bucket (Lowes for $3.99)
Some type of Stick to stir
Water
A couple hearty shovel fulls of aged Compost

STEP#1:

Fill your bucket about 1/3 full of aged compost (not fresh stuff, but the beautiful black gold at the bottom of the pile)  If you don't have aged compost, ask a friend, or start your own compost pile so you can do this step next year! Here's how I do it.

STEP#2:  

Fill your bucket the rest of the way with water.  If you want you can also add things like Fish Emulstion or Powdered Seaweed, or even just some unsulphered molasses. This will make your tea a more balanced organic fertilizer.

STEP#3:

Stir every few hours and let sit 24-48 hours or until you get some bubblies and a sort of yeasty kinda smell sets in.  If you want, leave your tea for longer and it will be an even more concentrated form for your plants.

STEP#4: 

Use an old Tshirt and pour the tea through it into another bucket to strain out your solids, these can be put back into the compost pile.  Dilute your remaining tea in a 10:1 ratio for use on new plants.

STEP#5:  

Use this as a root drench on your plants, this can also be put into a squirt bottle for use as a foiler spray.

HERE is a great tutorial with pictures.

Have you ever used Compost Tea?  What tips would you share?

 Mid February and it is that time again.  I had to go through my stash of saved seeds from the last few years and figure out what to get started, and what I may need to replenish.  It was disheartening to realize that with the horribly wet conditions we had last summer I will have to replace quite a few of the breeds I had in my seed storage because the plants did not produce so there was no good seed to save.  My good old standby tomato breed that I make all my sauces from was still available to me through the last few years of seed saving, so that is where I will start.  

So, why the desire to try again with tomatoes?  I just denounced that a few posts ago since growing tomato seeds without a greenhouse is about one of the most difficult gardening tasks I have tried.  Well, I made a friend who invited me to use a small space in her greenhouse to grow my tomatoes.  I was thrilled!  I wanted to share my potting ratio and my starts, a few more pics in the coming weeks to share the progress too!  Here is where I start, I use a plain old potting soil, a bag of vermiculite and a bag of perlite.   These were mediums suggested to me a few years ago when I was so frustrated with the soil compaction that was occurring in my seed cells.

I am using a 4-1-1 ratio of 4 parts potting soil, 1 part perlite and 1 part vermiculite.  I also bleached out my seed cell containers from last year as this will kill any pathogens or bacteria left over from previous plantings.

​Here is the mix and I just swirl around by hand. (I am using an old lego tub but any plastic container would work)

I filled up the seed cells, being careful not to compact the soil, and then added 2 seeds per cell.  I do this as insurance in case one of the seeds doesn't germinate, but I do admit that it is hard to pull the less healthy looking of the two seedlings if both emerge.

I have starts here for 50 amish past tomato plants.  These are seeds that I originally purchased 3 years ago and have just been keeping the seeds from year to year to have in the garden.  This is why I am so in favor of heirloom variety non-GMO seeds.  With hybrid and GMO seeds, you cannot save seed from the plant and get the same plant.  I figure this way I just need to save the seeds from year to year but don't have to purchase all my seeds all over again every year, this is a tremendous cost savings for me.

So, now it is the waiting game.  I expect to see little seedlings emerging in the next 7 days.  I will put these in my friend's greenhouse when I get the emergence and we shall see if I have solved the tomato problem!

It is officially here, the season in which every time I open my mailbox there is a new seed catalog boasting the jewel toned colors of summer produce.  I love these little gems.  I love perusing the pages and imagining baskets overflowing with rainbow colors of farm fresh, organically grown produce.  Every year I wish I had a budget large enough and a plot fertilized and cultivated enough to grow it all. Until that day though, I simply salivate over the offerings.

So, why am I even thinking of vegetables this time of year?  I think for a few reasons, one being the unseasonably warm weather that my area has been having (I was line drying clothing on the 1st of February in 55 degree weather!) The other being the wisdom I learned from an older gardener a few years ago.  She said, "February is the time to start your tomatoes."  Seriously?  I always wondered why plant sales in May had such gargantuan offerings of the tomato plant, offerings that towered over my spindly, wimpy little homegrown from seed ones.  This was the trick, she started them long before I did and hers were wildly bigger, heartier, and healthier than mine.  I do have to share that through trial and error over the last 2 years, I did start growing my seeds indoors.  I have this insatiable desire sometimes to get to the most very basic elements of something and do it myself! (I realize I must sound like a toddler here).  Why would I go spend money on plants when I could just "do it myself" from the seeds I saved after last year's harvest?  Well, that I did, and I have chronicled my gardening ventures here on my blog, even through failed attempts and frozen seedlings.  I have come to a profound realization that is hard for me to admit...without a good greenhouse, it is hard to start tomato plants really early.  I said it.  I feel like I am admitting defeat as I really fantasize over the scads of tomato plants that I can grow from seed, but alas, they end up far too leggy, spindly, and awkward when I inevitably leave them out too long while "hardening" them off in the spring, only to have to start over from scratch again.  That being said, the admitting defeat part, I think until that glorious day when I can purchase a real greenhouse, complete with a door, vents and a way to heat, I will simply go back to purchasing whole tomato plants.  At least I gave it a girl scout try!

As for all the other plants...I will continue to grow my cabbage, carrots, peepers, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, pumpkins, Delicata, green beans, pintos, and all the others from seed, but oh you tomato, you win, I will buy plants of your form.  

I have pictured above the plant catalogs that are my favorites.  I love these because most carry the old heirloom variety of plants, most are organically grown and GMO free.  You can also buy some hybrids, and sometimes I do as long as they are non-GMO.  However, if you are newer to gardening just be aware that hybrid seeds, though usually heartier and sometimes more pest resistant, cannot be saved as seed.  A hybrid seed will not produce another plant true to the form of the one you saved from.  So, when I buy hybrid seeds it is usually just for a fun accoutrament to my produce plan, I do not buy hybrids for my main crops (as those I still save seed from year to year).

You can go to any of the websites for the catalogs above and request a catalog, and I suggest that you do, maybe you too will be salivating as I do, in February, dreaming of the first crops to come!

Territorial Seeds
Annie's Heirloom Seeds
Johnny's Seed Catalog
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
Seed Saver's Exchange (PRETTIEST CATALOG BY FAR!)

And here is an article by Mother Earth News Magazine on the 22 best seed catalogs.

I use my own kitchen compost on my garden and this often leads to some interesting finds.  What I mean is that when you compost you sometimes end up with some interesting things that begin growing in your garden from seeds that were composted out of your kitchen.  I had just such an experience this year.

I planted some very neat and tidy rows of peas followed by some rows of carrots and then cabbage.  However, there were some interesting plants that popped up in between the rows.  My choice was either to pull them up, because they were not part of the neat tidy rows, or replant them and let them flourish somewhere in the garden.  I have a really hard time intentionally killing food bearing plants, I don't know why but I do...it just seems like such a waste.

I opted to move the plants and then make them work in the garden.  However, I was unsure what they were to be.  You see, cucumber, squash, zucchini, pumpkins, watermelon and cantalope all pretty much look the same when they start so I had no idea what I was growing.

I had 4 volunteers like this and what I ended up with was 1 cantalope and 2 pumpkins as well as 1 that may end up being a new weird hybrid as I think there was some cross pollination that occurred.

See what I would have missed out on if I would have pulled these volunteers up?

We are calling them our Pumpkin trees!

The garden has not faired well this summer with all the rain.  In fact, when I look back at last year's produce records I was hauling 20+ pounds of produce out of my garden by this point, not this year...  My sweet peas did really well but they never make it into the house in abundance for shelling because my children use the rows of peas as their go-to snack when they are out doors.  Between the peas and the random raspberries they always have a healthy snack on hands and even visiting children get curious about the pods that my children readily break open and pop little globes of goodness from, so much so that the visitors will often sit down right along side my kiddos and happily munch away.

Sadly though the time of the peas is done so we headed out to pull up the withered plants, harvest the "too big" pods where the pea "seeds" for our next planting were, and make room for bush beans as I planted those right away in the same spot that we just pulled the peas from.

we even had help from our resident farm cat, Odie.

My littlest one even came to "help" though he was more interested in still trying to eat the peas then pick them to save for planting.

Finally the pea-row demolition was completed and we took the pods in to dry for a few more days (did I mention the rain???)  After drying the pods on a cooling rack that I sent on a cookie sheet (don't make the mistake of putting damp pods directly on a cookie sheet like I did with my first round...they will rot when you do that!)

We then shelled out the peas and let those air dry a few more days and viola!  I have my next planting!  I am going to try for one more round of planting this year in hopes that we can get some peas to save this fall, peas like cooler temps so I will likely try to plant these in September and see what transpires.

The garden is now fully functional and starting to produce!  I have harvested some lettuce, spinach, cilantro, chives, raspberries, a miniscule amount of blueberries (like 4) and an abundance of sweet peas.  I am also starting to have to deal with the garden pests that come with organic (chemical free) gardening.  While I visit friends and neighbors who have these beautiful weed free, bug free gardens thanks to Sevin dust, commercial fertilizer sprays and the like I have to relish in the hodge podge jungle that sometimes invades my gardening space and relish in the fact that I am feeding my family with chemical free, as close to nature as God intended produce.  Oh, and bonus is we can eat straight from the garden without having to worry about washing the produce! 

This is currently one of my nemisis, the potato beetle larvae.  Someone forgot to tell these guys that these are tomatoes, not potatoes.  Seriously.  Last year they nearly decimated my potato crop and when I didn't plant the potatoes in the same location they have now gone after my tomatoes....arrrrgh!  So, here is the way I deal with them, are your ready?  This is pretty complex...I hand pick and squish them. one by one.  yup, it's tedious.

My other main pest right now is the cabbage worm, he makes short work of my cabbage heads turning them to swiss cheese looking masses.  I hand pick him too, however I kept reading about using a "floating row cover" to deter the white chaotic butterflies that lay the worm eggs in the cabbage.  I never did order the stuff so hubby rigged up a redneck floating row cover for me out of an old roll of window screen that was in the barn.  That guy can be pretty ingenious sometimes!  Here it is, I will keep you posted if it works as well as the organic gardening magazines tout.

The berries I have on the other hand seem to be doing very well and so far have not had any pests.  I have to say that I have never in my life tasted raspberries as sweet or good as the ones that are homegrown.  My aunt has some as well and hers are just the same as mine, so sweet and not at all like the ones from the grocery...simply delish!

Last but not least, a few of these green tomatoes that promise the abundance to come.  I think I ended up with almost 60 tomato plants this year...mmmmm.

Yes, you read that right.  You can garden with nothing more than dirt, newspaper, and seeds.  Seriously...it IS that simple.  I do recommend poles and strings added to this configuration as I will do this when the seeds germinate and my plants start to grow but for now, I will show you how simple it is to feed your family fresh produce from your yard.

Disclaimer...this is no ordinary dirt, though you could use ordinary dirt just fine.  

I use compost because my plants grow about 2-3 times healthier this way.  Before you let this scare you off if you are not already a gardener compost can be as simple as a small pile in the corner of your yard where you put your kitchen food scraps (think whole foods only like egg shells, banana peels, veggie waste, etc) and then you pile on leaves as you clean up your yard, grass clippings if your yard is not treated with weed killer, etc.  There are so many different recipes for the perfect compost but I am here to tell you I do not adhere to any of them.  I simply pile on what I have in no particular order, turn it over with a shovel 3-4 times a year and viola!  The most rich, black dirt you will ever use!!! (you know when the compost is done and ready because it doesn't smell like anything but fresh dirt) this process does take about 8-12 months so just be thinking for next year and use dirt if that is what you have.


So, as you see it is just dirt, newspaper and bean seeds (oh and a shovel for those of you who are in to technicalities).

Next, select the spot in your yard where you want your bean rows.  I made mine wide enough apart that we can still fit the riding mower between them.  Beans take up space and since I have planted SOOO much this year (and still need to plant way more) I opted for this simple means to give me more room.  I have planted my beans this way for the last 3 years and have had wildly successful harvests.  

When you have your spot picked out leave the newspaper folded and about 3-5 pages thick. Then you simply overlap it into a strip in the yard.

When you have your newspaper strips ready you then just lay the dirt on top of them.  The newspaper will kill the grass underneath while encouraging earth worms to come up from the soil as it breaks down.  The dirt is obviously for planting in and if you want to really top it off to look nice you can use woodchips on top of the dirt for a more "finished" look.  At the end of the season (provided you did not use the wood chips too) you just pull down the poles we will put up later and by next year the grass will pretty much cover over the spot you had the beans allowing you to do your crop rotation by moving the rows to another spot in your yard if you choose.  Simple, right?

Then you just lay your bean seeds in a row (yes I plant mine VERY close together) and go back and cover them with a sprinkling of dirt so that they are approximately 1/4" deep in the dirt.  Or you can poke them in which is what my 3 y/o likes to do.

So here is the finished product.  I will add 4 ft tall posts at the end of each row and add string between them when the plants start to grow so they have something to climb.  I also will be planting rows like this again in 2-3 more weeks so that I don't have all the beans coming ready to harvest at one time (succession planting).  I will post more pics as soon as I have germinated seeds and the plants emerge!

While I do not like all the rain that comes with spring I do love the intensity of the colors that are a product of all this rain.  I went outside searching for signs of spring and the colors are just so vibrant and amazing this time of year.  I imagine that green cannot get any greener and one day in Heaven I imagine that all the colors may be like this, but even more amazing...all the time!  

So here it is...a few signs that I know this cold bitter weather is on its way out at least until next year.

I love my hostas.  I especially love the ones that are green with white edging, they always come up last (picture on left).  I love that they stay beautifullly green and lush all summer (well as long as the free-range hens don't decide to make salad out of them).

My chives are sprouting!  We just made hamburgers yesterday and I clipped a tuft to mix in with the burgers...yum!

My raspberry bushes are starting to spread and grow.  My 3 y/o saw this and immediately asked where the red bees (red berries) were at!  He remembers picking some for a fresh snack every day last summer.

Yes, I have started the garden.  So far I have a small amount of lettuce coming up, spinach is planted as is cilantro, basil and as you see above...sugar snap peas.  I began using the "Back to Eden" method of gardening last year and it worked so wonderfully that I plan on continuing it.  Want to learn more? HERE is the link to a free video.  It is basically the idea of using wood chips (not chemical laden mulch) to control weeds and keep moisture in your garden.  I had the most amazing garden last year that was also much less weedy then ever and a joy to work in.