The Year Ahead

I've got some big plans for this year and I thought I'd share them. My garden last year was basically nonexistent (for multiple reasons), but I think (I hope) I've got things figured out this year. Last spring, I lost most of my seedlings when my tiny greenhouse was blown over in a storm...a tragedy that was multiplied by missing the harvest on most of the plants I did actually get in the ground. I did a lot of traveling last spring and summer...not conducive to having a garden! In fact, you can see the aftermath of one of my trips here:

Yikes...

One big success from last year was that I discovered a service called Chipdrop. They connect you with arborists working in your area. I had a mountain the size of two VW buses (!!!) of freshly chipped cherry chips dropped on my driveway in August. Those wood chips mulched every bed on our property several inches deep with a ton leftover. My sweet husband decided took the initiative to use the chips that were left to build me a new (gigantic) bed at the back of the yard. I'm slowly filling it with perennials of both the edible and ornamental variety.

Understanding my goal-oriented nature, I sat down a couple weeks ago and wrote out a few for this year. I've even already accomplished a few of them! Here they are:

• Enlarge existing raised beds to 4'x8' (I've already done this, but they were 4'x4'...pictures will be forthcoming!)
• Build an arch trellis between the two most northern beds for beans, butternut squash, etc.
• Plant blueberries. I tried this last year and both bushes died from drought during one of my trips. New bushes have been ordered, so I'm halfway there on this one.
• Plant a dwarf fruit tree that is self-pollinating in the new bed at the back of the yard. I've chosen to plant (and have already ordered) a pie cherry called a Northstar Dwarf. I'm hoping it will arrive this week!
• Plant an asparagus bed. This has already been done.
• Transplant Japanese Maple to new bed at the back of the yard. This is done!
• Move the rhubarb to a place where it is less likely to be stepped on.
• Keep good notes on the garden. I've started this, so I just have to keep it up!

And here's the biggie: May-December (and earlier/later if I can manage it), I want to purchase no produce from the grocery store. 

Now, between the garden and our CSA share, this should mostly be no problem. But the only fruit our CSA farm does is strawberries, and my fruit trees and bushes are a few years away from fruiting. I'll have rhubarb from my own garden, and have plans to purchase extra strawberries from the CSA farm for canning and freezing, but that leaves out a lot. My plan is to purchase fruit in bulk from farmers while it's in season. I'll do the same thing with corn since our CSA farm doesn't grown corn, and I would rather keep the garden space for other things.

This last goal in particular is going to take some work on my part. I'm going to be busy canning, pickling, freezing, and drying in order to have enough to last, hopefully, through the winter. However, I know the difference in nutrition and flavor will be my payoff. I might even have a reduced grocery bill!

A small bit of harvesting

Well, I got a handful of turnips from the garden today. Nothing really to write home about, but it is enough to make a batch of chicken soup, so I won't write it off as a total loss, but this goes back to my lack of balance in trying to get the garden started this year while still in school. I neglected to water the seeds regularly after I planted them, so many did not germinate.

On the other hand, I'm excited to report that I've gotten my first tomatoes from the garden! A couple ripe reds and a couple of green tomatoes that I had to pull early because they were dragging the vine down and touching the ground, which I understand can lead to disease. Here's a picture of my tomato bounty (so far).

Bringing in the Bounty

Before I get into the title topic, I thought I'd share this picture, taken about 7 o'clock this morning. I love foggy mornings!

So onto the topic at hand....this is what I pulled out of the garden this morning.

Yes....that colander is as wide as my kitchen sink. There actually are also some jalapenos and bell peppers under all those green beans. Oh, and then there was the turnip that's the size of my hand.

Granted, I have small hands, but that's a pretty big turnip!

So, anyone have some good recipes that use lots of green beans? I've actually already frozen about a half gallon of them so far!

LOTS of Basil!

I know my basil plants haven't looked huge and out of hand in pictures, but trust me, they were......were being the operative word here.

I've used basil in tomato sauce and in a few other dishes, but I needed something that would use a lot of basil all at once. So yesterday evening, I got busy looking up pesto recipes. It was pretty straightforward. Every recipe I looked at was pretty similar: lots of basil, olive oil, garlic, parmesan cheese, pine nuts, maybe some salt and pepper or other optional ingredients. Research done, I pulled out my food processor and got to work.

Here is a picture of one of the basil plants. The other was fairly similar in size. Obviously, it was starting to bolt.

I got my kitchen scissors to work and soon had a sink full on basil!

This picture was actually taken after I was about half way through the process (and thought to myself "Hey! You really should be taking pictures of this for your blog!!"...Oops...). There was twice this much when I started.

I decided to forgo the pine nuts in my pesto (the idea of eating something that smells like Pine-sol really just doesn't do it for me), but at the end, I really didn't miss them. I used all the basil leaves, olive oil, garlic, parmesan, and a little bit of salt and pepper. As the world's worst recipe writer, I didn't measure anything. Oh well. It's pretty easy to adjust the flavors so you get exactly what you want. I tasted it a couple times through the process to make sure everything was right. This is what I ended up with. Yes, a sink full of basil really does condense itself down to a small-ish tupperware container!

First Tomato of the Year!

Woohoo!! My first tomato of the year is forming! It's still green...definitely not ready to eat yet, but I'm looking forward to many, many more of these.

Also, on the subject of tomatoes....anyone know what those creepy crawly things are that photo-bombed in the picture above? I have no idea what they are, but I'm guessing they're up to no good.

Also, look at the pretty hosta blooms! It's treating us to two bloom stalks this year, with waaaayyyy more flowers than last year.

I'd Like Some Peas Please

Sorry...yet another corny blog title (I just can't seem to help myself!).

I noticed yesterday that I had some peas ripe and ready for the picking. Here's what they looked like...

 

Just look at all those pretty green peas! Here's a few more shots for you.

 So I grabbed a bowl and started picking. Here's what I ended up with.

I suppose it doesn't look like much, but it was enough for the hubby and I to both have some at dinner (they were very, sweet and tender) and there were a bunch more that I didn't pick so they would get a little bit bigger as well as a bunch more blossoms that promise even more peas to come!

Recipe: Lemon Balm Syrup

A few days ago, I mentioned that I wanted to experiment with lemon balm in cocktails, so I got busy making lemon balm syrup. This was super easy to make and could be used to sweeten and flavor tea, punch, or could go in club soda for a refreshing lemony drink. My husband has decided that it's tasty with vodka, club soda and a slice of lemon.

Just to give you an idea, the syrup came out tasting like lemon heads candy! Who knew?

Without further ado, here is the recipe I used (it came from The Joy of Cooking):

2 cups sugar
1 cup water
a couple large-ish cuttings of lemon balm (still on the stem), washed and patted dry

Combine the sugar and water in a pot over low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved (this part can take a while). Add the lemon balm, cover, and let steep for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, fish out the lemon balm and let cool before putting in a container (I use a glass jar, but wish I had something with a pour spout). Keep it in the fridge.

See? How easy is that? Do you have any great recipes for drink flavorings? Care to share?

New Addition: I'm Feeling Balmy

When my friend Jessica showed up at my door Monday night with a large bucket of lemon balm, I was ecstatic! She and her husband have a large vegetable garden and the lemon balm was taking over one of their garden boxes, so they passed some of it along to me! Here is a picture of it in its new home...

I've never grown lemon balm, but I knew it is in the mint family, so I decided to keep it in a pot to avoid the take-over situation Jessica ended up with. It has a lovely lemony/minty fragrance and I knew that it is edible. However, I wasn't sure what lemon balm is used for, so I did a little bit of research. Here's what I found:

1. Lemon balm is an herb in the mint family (already said this). This means it will grow EVERYWHERE and invade an entire bed if planted in the ground. I've even heard stories of mint growing UNDER driveways and coming up on the other side! That said, it should be contained.
2. Lemon balm is often used as a flavoring for ice cream (this sounds amazing) and tea. I'm also thinking of infusing a simple syrup with it. I think it would be stunning in a cocktail!
3. You can rub it on your skin for natural mosquito repellant!
4. It is self-sowing.
5. It attracts bees.
6.  Greek folklore recommended lemon balm as a cure for poisonings and mad dog bites (random fact of the day).

If you want to read more on lemon balm, here is the Wikipedia article I found. It has quite a bit of interesting information. There is also an interesting chapter on lemon balm in Herbs Demystified by Holly Phaneuf. You can pick up your own copy, or you can probably also find it at your local library.

Update from the Container Garden

I know, I know.....I promised to finish the garden update, but in the interest of not creating the longest blog post ever, I decided to split it into three sections: flower garden, container garden, and vegetable garden.

SO.....without further ado, here is the latest on the container garden....

I can't remember if I've gotten to show this guy off before now. This was Jacob's (my husband) St. Patty's day pick: a shamrock. I wasn't sure how long it would last, but it seems to be thriving.

Since it was so warm for so long (most of March was in the 80's here), I took the ranunculus (the one in front) out of the greenhouse. There are a few more hanging out on my newly painted plant shelf. Behind that is something called an orchid lily, which I am really excited to see bloom. My voice teacher and his wife gave me this from a division of theirs. Apparently, it blooms in an arch like an orchid, only the flowers are lilies! How cool is that?!

Ok, let's talk about the one on the top of the shelf....I knew that nasturtium were effective as natural "bug traps", but I was really unprepared for just how effective they really are....see how the leaves are mostly chewed off? None of the other plants have been touched....not even the tulip in the same pot!

This one's a baby. I decided it would probably be ok to go ahead and transplant some of the dill seedlings that were in the greenhouse. I may have to bring it inside later this week though...they were talking about frost on the news today.

I was starting to get a little worried about this rosemary plant. I had overwintered it and it was looking pretty anemic for a while, but it seems to be greening up nicely with some sunshine and warmer temperatures.

And lastly, the strawberry plant is starting to make berries!

Green Beans in the Ground

Ok, I know my average last frost date is technically not till April 15, and I may regret this later, but I just planted some of my green beans. I used a bush type (Blue Lake 274) so that I don't have to put up another trellis (I've already got one by the peas). This way, I can use the space inside the arc where the peas are planted efficiently.

As fast as beans grow, hopefully I'll have some bean sprouts soon!

With this consistently unseasonably warm weather, have you planted anything that you normally would wait to plant until later in the year?

Swiss Chard by the Bundle

Last weekend, we had a cookout with our neighbors and I cut about half of the four food row of swiss chard that was growing in the garden to make chard chips. They were a huge hit (even with the few kids that were present) and I figured it would take the chard a while to grow back, right?

WRONG

I took this picture yesterday, just one week after cutting half of the chard down, it's all back.

So now, I have a question for you....what on earth do I do with all this chard??? (Besides making more chard chips)

Dinner tonight: sausage casserole with homegrown jalapenos

This is a popular dish around my house: sausage casserole. My hubby loves anything to do with the word "sausage", so it's kind of a winner by default, but that's ok right? Here is my recipe....and please don't get to mad at me.....I don't measure anything when I cook (unless I'm baking), so this is really just a list of ingredients except for the sauce.

Combine in a casserole dish:
Smoked sausage or kielbasa, sliced into bite-sized pieces
Cooked rice (I usually do one serving....whatever that measurement is)
Fresh (or in this case, frozen) diced jalapenos, to taste.
Celery seed
Salt and pepper

For the sauce:
Make a rue using 4 tbsp butter and 4 tbsp flour. Cook on low until the taste of raw flour is gone...just a minute or two once the butter is melted. Add 1 cup milk and 1 cup broth (I generally use chicken broth, but any kind will work). Cook on low, stirring frequently until thickened and then pour over the mixture in the casserole dish. Top with cheese and breadcrumbs and bake at 350 until the cheese is melted and the casserole is bubbling at the edges.

Tip: Assemble the casserole a few hours, or even a full day ahead of baking. This allows the flavors to really mix together and makes for an even tastier casserole!

Red Leaved Perilla

I decided to try a grand experiment this year. Well, maybe not so grand, but hopefully an interesting one. I decided to grow perilla in my garden.

This is an herb used in a lot of different Asian cuisines. I'm not sure exactly what it is going to taste like (it was suggested that I soak one of the seeds in water and then drink the water to get a sense of the flavor), but I hear tell they go great with tomatoes. I've planted a few seeds in a container, so we'll see what happens!

Speaking of containers, I think I'm going to have to find some way of making markers to show what I've put where. I've got enough stuff going now that I can mostly remember, but I'd rather be on the safe side and avoid my strawberries planted in the same spot I had sowed a ton of swiss chard seed (no strawberries for me).

Do you use markers in your garden? How do you remember what was planted where?

More Composty Goodness and Some Planting

Another tub of compost showed up at my house on Saturday courtesy of my lovely friends who say they currently have WAY too much of it.

Not sure what I'm going to do with all of it yet (though I'm sure I'll find something!), but I put some of it to work as mulch around my baby blueberry. First though, I had to drag it up the hill to the back of the yard where the garden is. I've definitely had my exercise for the day!

In other news, I got my nasturtiums and peas planted! My next door neighbor stuck two tomato cages in the garden yesterday, so I decided to use those as a trellis for the peas to climb. I'll have to build another one that spans the end of the raised bed later, but for now, I feel like this is a good start.

My nasturtiums went in as a companion to the tulips I potted a few weeks ago, and also in a colorful coffee can I had saved to use as a container, and poked some drainage holes in. Maybe a little strange, but it works, right?

Blueberries and Tulips

I think I mentioned a while back that I ordered a dwarf blueberry bush called "Sunshine Blue" from Park Seed Co. Well, it arrived this morning and when my husband brought the box in the house looking confused, I got really excited. We went to Home Depot to get some potting soil and I went to work!

Here is what the bush looked like when I pulled it out of the box. I was expecting a bare root transplant, but I think this was probably easier to work with.

I already had a large container from an ornamental banana tree that outgrew its welcome. I took that up the hill to the garden area where it will get plenty of sunshine and filled it with potting soil.

Then I placed the baby blueberry, filled the pot the rest of the way and watered it well to settle the soil.

I'd say it was a success! Here is another picture...

While we were at Home Depot getting soil, my husband spotted the blooming flowers. We ended up walking out with a lot more than we'd planned! But he continually surprises me with the things he points at and says "Ooohh I like that! We should get some of those!" We left with some white and purple violas (I'm going to have to retake my pictures of those....will post tomorrow!) and some dramatic red tulips.

Do you ever buy flowers on a whim? What is growing in your garden?

Victory Gardens

I just saw an interesting article on Apartment Therapy. Apparently the University of California Cooperative Extension is offering classes on how to grow a Victory Garden.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, "Victory Garden" came up during World War II and was an initiative created to encourage families to grow food at their private residences, in public gardens, and any other spot they could find in order to reduce the strain on the food supply that was focused on feeding hungry troops. You can read about the full (well, the Wikipedia) history here.

The public community gardens in Boston's Fenway Park (the actual park....not the baseball field) started as a victory garden and is still active today. I actually used to walk by them every day on my way to school when I was at college in Boston!

A few years ago, my father gave my mother a victory garden kit from Botanical Interests and my mother spent the next year creating vegetable beds and learning to grow everything that came in her kit. She blogs about her adventures at the Carolina Victory Garden. She gets to feed her family fresh produce on a regular basis while reducing her grocery bill.

So what's the point of all this? As our economy is recovering and many of us are still struggling to make ends meet, doesn't it make sense to grow some of our food ourselves? Do you consider vegetable gardening a major part of green living, since the food we produce ourselves requires little to no fuel in shipping, trips to the grocery store, etc? Do we have a responsibility to become as self-sufficient as possible? What do you think of the Victory Garden initiative?

You can read the full article from Apartment Therapy here.

Last Year's Swiss Chard

I think I mentioned this a few days ago, but the swiss chard that I planted last year is still producing! I know it's a cold weather crop, and our winter here in Nashville has been extremely mild, so I guess it just never got cold enough to kill it. Here is a picture I took yesterday.

The picture only shows a little bit of the chard (it's growing down the whole end of the raised bed....about four feet).

Usually I use the chard to make chard chips in the oven, but in light of how much chard I currently have, I think I'll be looking for a recipe that uses a LOT of chard. Any suggestions?