Garden Journal 6/2/09:Harvesting Spring Onions Grown from Purchased Plants

Just Picked Red Candy Apple Onions (and Topaz)

Realization of the Day:
These just might be the prettiest onions I've ever picked.

Back in February, on the recommendation of my friend and gardening hero, Cynthia Sandberg of Love Apple Farm, I ordered 400 leek plants and way too many onion plants (the more you buy, the better the price) from Dixondale Farms in Texas, the oldest and largest onion farm in the U.S.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that up until this year, I had no idea that the size of an onion bulb is dependent upon daylength and temperature, not the size or age of the plants—which probably at least partly explains why over the years I've often ended up with disappointing (albeit tasty) little bulbs.

Because we're sitting right on the borders of Dixondale's 'which varieties are right for you' map, I went ahead and ordered all three types of onions that they offer—Long Day, Intermediate Day, and Short Day—just to see how they fared.

I figured if worst came to worst, some of the varieties wouldn't form bulbs, and we'd have a lot of green onions. Fortunately last year, dozens of you pitched in and offered up your favorite ways to enjoy green onions, so I wasn't worried about what to do with the excess.

As a rule, I don't grow any hybrids in my kitchen garden, but I made an exception with these onion plants—mostly because there were no heirloom Intermediate Day varieties available, which looked to be the most suitable variety for our southern Missouri location. Besides, I reminded myself, the onion sets I usually buy at the feed store are probably hybrid varieties, too. I ordered a total of nine different onion varieties, including some heirlooms.

Red Candy Apple is a new variety that is exclusive to Dixondale Farms, where they've been growing onions since 1913. Here's what they have to say about it:

We have been working on a red intermediate day hybrid that is as sweet as candy—so sweet that you can eat it like an apple. Compared to the Stockton Red, the Red Candy Apple offers improved sizing, better interior color and an intense dark red skin with very mild taste. This red onion's color moves inside as the bulb matures and the interior produces beautiful red rings after curing. Remarkably uniform, this new development also features a high percentage of single centers in its solid, firm bulbs.

In order to have enough onions so that I could harvest some of them during the growing season as green onions, when I planted them in early March I spaced them 2" inches apart instead of the usual 4" apart. But since I put in hundreds of plants, the green onions quickly got away from me. They're now what you'd call large spring onions, which I think are even better—at this size you can enjoy the green tops as well as the young bulbs.


One of My New Favorite Easy Salad Recipes

If you want to store your onions, pull them out of the ground and let them dry in the sun for two days—with the tops of one row of bulbs laid over the bulbs of another to prevent sunscald.

There was no need to dry this beautiful bunch of Red Candy Apples, though, as they went straight from the garden into a batch of this simple and refreshing Garbanzo Bean & Feta Salad (along with some fabulous cilantro—the first I've grown in years!). I haven't tried eating one of these onions like an apple, but they are definitely nice and sweet.

Are there onions in your garden this year? Any favorite varieties, growing tips, or recipes to share? Do tell!

Previous onion posts:
6/7/08: What To Do with 125 Green Onions (Scallions)
6/7/08: Wanted: Your Recipes and Favorite Ways to Use Green Onions
6/12/05: Growing Onions In The Garden
3/16/06: It's Time to Plant Onions!
4/4/06: Operation Onion Complete!
4/26/06: Companion Planting Beets & Lettuce with Onions

More ways to enjoy scallions and spring onions:
Sour Cream & Onion Dip
Savory Cheese & Scallion Scones
Fiesta Cottage Cheese Veggie Dip
Mexican Jumping Bean Slaw
Summer in a Bowl
Colors of Summer Salad
Healthy Swiss Chard Tuna Salad with Kalamata Olives
Swiss Chard Cabbage Salad with Garbanzo Beans and Cottage Cheese
Sprinkled on top of Hot Swiss Chard Artichoke Dip
Three Onion & Three Cheese Pizza

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the heatwave foodie farm blog where they don't always make it into the final photo, but if I'm taking pictures outdoors—or working in the garden—you can usually bet there's a cute four-footed critter somewhere underfoot.

A Question for Gardeners: Can You Identify this Easy to Grow Purple Flowering Perennial Plant?

Sedum Autumn Joy in Back, Volunteer Spiderwort to the Right, Mystery Perennial up Front

In my last post, It's the End of Bloomin' May Already, I mentioned a several-year-old mystery potted perennial in my garden that is not only pretty, but requires no maintenance and will also put up with anything—so who cares if I don't know what it is.

Katherine at Windchimes (who makes elegant fashion jewelry from glass and metal beads—look at these cute little dragonflies!) was curious about it and asked if I would post a picture, which is exactly what I'd been thinking of doing. I realized it might actually be nice to know what this plant is, because then you'd be able to seek out one or two for your own garden. (I wouldn't mind adding a few more, too.) I also figured at least one of you out there would be able to identify it for us.

I have no idea where or when I got this plant, but it was at least a few years ago. It's growing in a round ceramic pot that's about 12 inches across and maybe 10 inches high, and right now is sitting against the front of the greenhouse where it receives several hours of sun a day. I think during previous years I've had it out in full sun. During the winter it lives in the unheated (except for a couple of nights a year) greenhouse with my other potted perennials. When temps dip down into the single digits, I cover it with floating row cover and/or an old bedsheet.



The plant itself is about 14 inches tall right now and is covered with these delicate pale purple blooms which last for quite a while, though I've never paid attention to exactly how long. The leaves always make me think of catnip, which is in the mint family, and—I just went out and checked—they do smell faintly minty.

I have a feeling the plant might get a whole lot bigger if I put it in the ground, as this has been my experience with other potted perennials, despite the fact that I periodically put a layer of compost on top of the soil and fertilize with sheep manure (simple instructions on how to make your own manure tea coming soon!). The only exceptions to this have been my big pots of lemon balm and Sedum Autumn Joy (seen behind the mystery plant), but that's because I've kept them in the same place for so long they simply sent roots out the drain holes of their pots into the soil below, and so technically are growing in the ground.



So do you know what my mystery plant is? Do tell! And if you'd like to solve other garden mysteries—or have one of your own you need help with—check out Fine Gardening's Mystery Plant gallery, a fun and informative place where you can post a photo and have your questions answered.

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the mysterious foodie farm blog where solving plant puzzles is a lot more interesting than weeding, though it doesn't help feed the compost pile like weeding does—unless of course everything you identify turns out to be a noxious weed, which is what happened the other day when I did a little mystery plant identification in a beginning gardening friend's flower bed.

Garden Journal 5/21/09:It's the End of Bloomin' May Already!

Busy, Busy

How did that happen? Of course I'm always asking myself that question. But where does the time go? Weren't we just snowed in a couple of weeks ago?

Last week during an emergency trip to the vet for my 12-1/2 year old beagle, Robin (who is thankfully doing well), one of the women who works there asked how my garden was doing. "Everything that's actually been planted is doing great!" I said cheerfully, and then admitted that I still had at least 150 tomato, tomatillo, pepper, eggplant (many thanks to the 46 of you who shared your experiences and tips growing and eating eggplant!), herb, and other miscellaneous seedlings—not to mention the sweet potatoes sporting 2-foot-long sprouts—still sitting in the greenhouse and desperately wishing they'd been put in the ground several weeks ago. I did feel a little better about my slacking off when it dipped down to 40 degrees a couple of times last week since it would have been a pain to cover them all up from the cold. Or at least that's how I rationalized things.

Of course all these as yet homeless seedlings didn't stop me from picking up two six-packs of locally grown basil plants at the local natural foods store yesterday. At $2.00 each I couldn't resist, especially since I (once again) haven't started any basil seeds myself yet, and I've been dreaming about big batches of pesto lately, probably because my supply in the freezer has been depleted. I bought a dozen purple basil plants a couple of weeks ago, too, since I've discovered it makes even better pesto than the green kind. Now I can't wait to make the first Savory Tomato Pesto Pie of the summer.

You'd think I would have had lots of time to catch up in the garden during our recent eight day power outage, and though I did manage to get some long overdue tasks finally completed (like clearing out the small mountain of sheets and blankets used for winter protection in the greenhouse, turning two compost piles and starting a new one, weeding another raised bed in preparation for planting), at this time of year there's simply too much to be done.

Meanwhile, once again I'm surprised by how many things are already blooming (or finished blooming!) by mid May. The irises are out, and the wonderfully low maintenance Kerria japonica Pleniflora (also called bachelor's buttons—but not to be confused with the popular pink, white, and purple easy-to-grow annual flowers called bachelor's buttons) pictured above has already been flowering for weeks and will continue to do so into autumn. That's my kind of perennial.


Comfrey is Useful, Beautiful, and Will Withstand Being Munched by Sheep

The comfrey (a fabulous, easy to grow medicinal herb I really need to write more about one of these days) is sporting its trademark purple flowers, as is my several-year-old mystery potted perennial that is not only pretty, but will put up with anything so who cares if I don't know what it is.

The lawn is dappled with those little white flowers that always make me think of fairies, and one section of the greenhouse has been taken over by three-foot-tall blooming arugula. Some of the nine varieties of onions I'm growing this year are sending up flower shoots, but I keep pinching them off so they'll be forced to spend their energy on bulb production.

The very first spiderwort flower popped out this morning, and dozens more will continue to do so for weeks. As I've mentioned before, I love spiderwort and think that every garden should have at least a clump or two growing in it. The butterflies go crazy for it.

And maybe best of all, there are various pockets around the farm that are heavy with the deliriously rich scent of wild multiflora roses.

Joe's sister, who is a professional gardener and landscaper in Ohio, told us the other day that she calls this time of year May Madness because all of her clients want their yards planted right now. I immediately glommed onto the phrase. There's so much to do and too much to do—but what's in the ground is doing well, we always eat well, and nearly everywhere you look there are flowers!

So what's blooming in your May Madness garden?

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the flower infested foodie farm blog where when it comes to gardening, we're constantly behind but always optimistic—and have already started making big plans for not only this fall garden but next spring's as well. Enjoy the present but definitely plan for the future!

Every Day is Earth Day in the Kitchen Garden:How Do You Make Yours Even Greener?

I Make Free Plant Markers from Sour Cream & Cottage Cheese Containers

This Earth Day post is a little late (although I did miraculously get one up on time on Farmgirl Fare called Every Day is Earth Day-and I'm Eco-Chic Who Knew?), but every day really is Earth Day if you're a vegetable gardener. Is there any better way to connect yourself to this amazing planet than by getting down on your knees and wallowing around in the dirt and then gobbling up your efforts? Not while you're still down in the dirt, of course—though I do admit to enjoying a nibble here and there when I'm working, especially if there are any cherry tomatoes to be had.

Growing your own food is a great way to 'go green,' but during all of the recent Earth Day hubbub, I started thinking about the many simple ways you can make your garden even greener. Using organic methods to deal with pests, fertilize, and care for the soil is the obvious big one, and that's really important to me.

I think the sometimes extra effort and loss of bounty is worth it, and I'm thrilled that the White House now has an organic vegetable garden and even a honeybee hive on the lawn (thank you, Roger Doiron of Kitchen Gardeners International for your tireless efforts toward making that dream a reality!). Of course the pesticide industry has already complained to Michelle Obama that they're offended by the Organic Garden at the White House. I'm still shaking my head in disbelief.

Not having any garbage pick-up on the farm (you can read more about what that's like here) means that we go out of our way to reduce, reuse, repurpose (don't you just love that word?) and recycle—which often has the added benefit saving money as well. Here's a short list off the top of my head of some of the other simple ways—beyond putting food on the table—that my kitchen garden is extra eco-friendly:

—Fertilize with manure from the sheep, donkeys, and chickens.

—Keep five compost bins full of kitchen and yard waste, though when you have ravenous chickens, the food scraps are usually just eggshells, coffee grounds, and orange peels. Tried composting before with no luck? Don't give up! Amuse and inspire yourself by reading about my early composting trials and tribulations.

—Grow open-pollinated heirloom varieties so I can save seeds for planting the next year. If you save seeds from hybrids, you won't always end up with exactly the same variety, plus I love the idea of growing vegetables that have been around for 150 or more years.

—Mulch, mulch, mulch! This is probably the most important thing I do in the garden. Mulching vegetable beds with something as simple and handy as grass clippings—or even the weeds you just yanked out—keeps more weeds from growing (which saves tons of future weeding time), helps the soil stay cooler during summer, helps keep roots moist after watering, and eventually breaks down into an all natural soil amendment.

—Repurpose unused indoor stuff for outdoor use. Forgotten metal strainers become compost sifters (more on this in a future post), while old bedsheets and blankets are perfect for throwing over plants in cold weather.

—Shop yard sales, flea markets, junk and thrift stores, and even antique malls for garden goodies. The vintage shovels and pitchforks I've amassed over the years not only appeal to my sense of design, but they also work great, were mostly real bargains, and didn't require the outlay of natural resources that manufacturing new ones would have. These are also good places to stock up on old bedsheets and blankets, as well as pretty garden pots.

—Think creatively when it comes to unrecyclable household trash. Cracked plastic buckets that no longer hold water can still carry weeds, rocks, and compost. Rusted (hello, humidity!) baking sheets make handy trays for seedlings and other things, and old metal pots not nice enough to be donated to the thrift store can be used as planters or for carrying soil amendments, compost, etc. Yogurt, sour cream, and cottage cheese #5 plastic containers become weatherproof seedling markers when cut into strips.

Those annoying blue styrofoam containers that fresh mushrooms are sold in make great seed starting containers. (It's almost impossible to find containerless, bulk mushrooms for sale in Missouri, which unfortunately means I probably have about 100 of these stupid things by now.)

—Use things beyond their expected life span. Just because something isn't still 100% perfect doesn't mean you have to toss it out and replace it. Floating row covers are advertised as lasting only a season or two, yet some of mine, which I don't treat all that well, lasted over 10 years (though I have to admit the new stuff I bought last year doesn't seem to be nearly as tough and tear-resistant).

The covering on my homemade greenhouse (which I first used on my greenhouse at Windridge Farm) has lived a dozen years beyond its supposed life expectancy, thanks in part to throwing an inexpensive poly tarp over it during the summers (which also keeps it much cooler inside) and because I don't mind a few rips and tears here and there.

I'm also still using the same black plastic seed starting plugs and trays (some are pictured above) that I bought in bulk in 1995 (including these cheap little containers from a restaurant supply store that each have their own mini-greenhouse snap on lid); when they tear or crack, I simply double them up.

With its broken buckets, peek-a-boo greenhouse covering, and weed-mulched beds, my garden may not be picture perfect, but you can't tell come harvest time. I know there are more things that I'm not remembering because they're so second nature to me by now, but I'll add to this list as I think of them.

In the meantime, how do you make (or hope to make) your garden greener? Please share your eco-friendly thoughts, tips, and ideas with the rest of us!

© 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the frugal foodie farm blog where we've discovered over the years that using less and doing without means you actually end up with more.

Direct Seeding Lettuce in the Garden and How to Thin Lettuce Seedlings: By Picking the First Salad of the Season!

Baby Tom Thumb Lettuce in the Greenhouse

Back on February 20th, I scattered a spot about two feet square with Tom Thumb lettuce seeds leftover from 2008, sprinkled a thin layer of compost over them, and watered well. Because lettuce seeds don't seem to keep well for me, I sowed them more thickly than I normally would. Next to it, I scattered the rest of a packet of 2008 Winter Lettuce Mix in about the same size area.

On the other side of the Tom Thumb I direct seeded a small patch of mache (corn salad), which is one of the most (if not the most) cold tolerant salad greens you can grow. I've had volunteer mache sprout up in the greenhouse in the middle of winter. I figured I was probably pushing my luck planting in the greenhouse in late February, though, because mache doesn't like the heat, and it will quickly warm up to 100 degrees in there when the sun is shining. No matter—the 2008 seeds were a no show anyway. I've ordered more and will try again in the fall, probably sowing half the seeds in the greenhouse and half outside in a raised bed. I adore mache's nutty flavor and delicate rosettes of leaves.

I had much better luck with the lettuce seeds. It was a slow start sprouting (as of the February 28th snowstorm there was no sign of anything coming up yet), but that wasn't surprising given how cold the soil was. A lot of times you're actually better off planting early spring crops like peas a week or two later than you think you should because they'll sprout faster and then catch right up to the earlier planted seeds, which is very good news for gardeners like me who are perpetually behind with everything. This is probably what happened with the lettuce.

As you can see, the Tom Thumb lettuce came up nice and thick, and on April 6th I picked enough tender baby plants to make a small, simple salad. It was wonderful. I'm a sucker for any butterhead variety, and while I've grown this type before, some quick fact checking in my seed catalogs has made me realize that I need to give it a little extra attention this year to find out just what this stuff does when given the space.

Pinetree Garden Seeds (where these seeds are from) says that Tom Thumb (47 days) "actually produces a full butterhead in a relatively short period of time. Six to seven inch heads have firm structure and compact habit. Leaves are dark green and the entire head wil make a large salad for one." This year Pinetree started labeling all of their heirloom varieties, but Tom Thumb isn't marked as one.

The Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog, however, describes Tom Thumb as an heirloom lettuce that dates back to the 1850s and "makes small cabbage-like green heads, only 3" to 4" across." They say it's very tasty and "a winner for classy markets!"

I don't recall the leaves ever being particularly dark green, but maybe I just never paid attention. And now I'm curious about the size. In order for these plants to form those soft butterheads and reach maturity, though, they'll need a lot more space. Instead of thinning out lettuce plants when they've barely sprouted, I wait until they're big enough to eat. Then I pull some of plants up, gently tearing off the roots as I go, which means no dirt in the kitchen and tasty snacks for our foodie chickens—which have been multiplying for spring.

This gives the remaining plants some elbow room, which they quickly grow into. Two days after that first picking I took the photo above, and you can hardly tell we've already started eating the spring lettuce crop. A week later it was time to harvest again.


Great Greens in the Greenhouse, Including an Overwintered Swiss Chard Plant

The Winter Lettuce Mix, also from Pinetree Garden seeds, is to the right of the Tom Thumb in the photo above and is looking pretty good, too. I think we'll thin a little bit of it for tonight's dinner.

Are you enjoying spring salads yet? And have you ever grown Tom Thumb lettuce?

Related posts:
How To Easily Grow Your Own Gourmet Lettuce From Seed
Sublime Salads for Those Short on Time, Space, and Sunlight
On Loving Lettuce & Eating Salad for Breakfast
5/24/06: Mixed Baby Lettuce in the Garden & Eating Local
11/13/06: Petite Rouge Heirloom Lettuce in the Garden
5/8/07: Big Boston Lettuce in the Greenhouse

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the going green foodie farm blog where we're looking forward to hopefully being able to enjoy freshly picked lettuce three times a day in the next month—because overindulging in spring is the only way to survive the hot summer and early fall without any!

Garden Journal 4/12/09: No Bonnets, but Plenty of Blooms

Our One Clump of Tulips Almost Always Blooms for Easter

Want a bigger bouquet?
4/16/06: Easter Greetings to You
4/16/06: Dogfoot Tiptoed Through the Tulips
4/16/06: Time Lapse Tulips
And you'll find lots more flower photos here and here and here.

© 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the flowering foodie farm blog where there are four different types of no maintenance flowers blooming in the yard today (tulips, the last few daffodils, the one small but reliable cluster of grape hyacinths, and my favorite flowering quince) and everything from the greens in the garden to the grass in the fields is loving the light rain that's been steadily falling for hours. It's been a quiet but thoroughly enjoyable Easter here on the farm.

Garden Journal 4/6/09: Don't Count Your Lilacs Until They're Actually Blooming

I'm Not Holding My Breath (or should that be my nose?) for These Beautiful Little Buds

I'm crazy about lilacs, but I know better than to count them before they open up, even if the bushes are loaded with buds. Unfortunately they usually only make it to the full flowering stage every few years here because of our crazy weather—and the fact that our low lying location (as the weather people refer to it) 300 feet down in this little valley means that we have colder temps and later freezes than they do 'up top.' Tonight it's supposed to drop down into the low 20s, and there were light flurries blowing around in the bluster all day.

I don't have a whole lot of hope of these and the dozens of others holding out during tonight's freeze, but you never know. You've gotta be tough to survive here in Missouri.

Do you love lilacs, too?

More about my lilacs:
4/5/06: The Lilacs Are Coming! The Lilacs Are Coming!
4/5/07: Lilacs! (and dozens of your lilac memories and stories)
3/22/08: Leaves on the Lilacs (and lots more lilac memories)

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the budding foodie farm blog where it's always a good year for something colorful out there, and with over 400 flowers blooming at once the other day, it was definitely a banner spring for the always cheerful daffodils.

A Question for Kitchen Gardeners & Fruities:Do You Have a Pear Tree Growing on Your Property?

Pears not perfect? Make my moist and flavorful 100% Whole Grain Ginger Pear Bran Muffins

Talk about a fruitful investment. A healthy pear tree can produce pears for over 100 years, and each year you may get literally hundreds of pounds of sweet and juicy bounty.

Many pear trees require a second tree to act as a pollinizer, though Bartlett pears—which are the nation's leading pear variety—are self-pollinating and don't even require the assistance of bees.

Do you have a pear tree or trees? Please tell us about them! Let us know what kind you have, what age they are, what sort of bounty you get, or whatever you like.

Commercial pears are picked when they're mature but still hard and are then cooled down to slow the ripening process. Hard fruits obviously fare better on their way from orchard to market, but pears actually ripen better off the tree.

Do you pick your pears when they're still hard? How do you like to store them?

Any pear tips or tricks? Things you wish you'd known when you first planted or inherited your tree(s) are especially welcome.

Previous Questions for Kitchen Gardeners & Foodies:
How Big Is Your Garden and How Much Food Does It Provide?
What Kind(s) of Eggplant Do You Like to Grow and Eat?

© FarmgirlFare.com, the fruity foodie farm blog where we've found that bruised and battered overripe pears often taste the best. They're sweet and flavorful, and studies have shown they're full of extra antioxidants when past perfection. Which would technically make the imperfect ones perfect—except for the looks part.

Garden Journal 3/1/09:Early Spring Planting Plans & An Unexpected Delay

This Is A Lot More Snow Than Last Time—and the Garden Looks Even Prettier

Some of you are no doubt tired of hearing about our crazy and unpredictable Missouri weather, but it really does get in the way of gardening. Growing cool season crops is tricky because it stays like this and then warms up fast (like days in the 90s in April). Early and optimistic starts often end up freezing to death. On the other end of the growing season, with temps regularly in the 90s through September, it's often too hot to start fall crops in time to beat the oncoming cold. Not that this has ever stopped me from trying!

Last week my hunky farmguy Joe was clearing out beds (one benefit to neither of our antique tractors wanting to start!) while I direct seeded spinach without a jacket on, and this is the garden today. Yesterday about nine inches of snow fell in less than six hours. That's pretty unusual for us.

After I'd scattered spinach seeds over one entire 4' x 8' bed and sprinkled them with a thin layer of compost, we covered the bed with a sheet of 4 mil clear plastic (which technically isn't clear, but cloudy) in order to help warm the soil and speed up germination. (The other prepped but unplanted beds are covered with black plastic to warm the soil while keeping weed seeds from germinating.) That night a thunderstorm blew in, and it poured for hour, turning the lined spinach bed into a cute little pond. Now this. Joe says it just means we'll have really good seed to soil contact.

On February 20th, I thickly sowed some mache (a cool loving plant also called corn salad), Tom Thumb butter lettuce, and winter lettuce mix seeds leftover from 2008 in the greenhouse. No sign of them sprouting yet, but I'm still hopeful. Most of the greenhouse is full of overwintered Swiss chard that's now flourishing, so there isn't a whole lot of room for planting (not that I'm complaining), but I'm planning to tuck three kinds of beet seeds (also from 2008) and maybe some other stuff in there in the next few days.

Snow isn't a problem in the greenhouse, but Sylvester the cat is. It's a toss up when direct seeding-do I cover the bed with floating row covers and/or sheets to keep him from digging and keep the soil warmer at night, or do I leave them bare so he won't be inclined to curl up and sleep on the cozy covers? Oh, the things we animal loving gardeners have to deal with.


Comfy Cozy Are They? I Hope So.

Last Wednesday and Thursday, we put 400 little leek plants into the now snowed-in mini greenhouse bed above (for more about these handy and inexpensive shelters, see the comments section of this post). It got down into the low teens last night, so at least they were insulated. Tonight it's supposed to be even colder, but today it's sunny and my nice insulation slid off. I'm still deciding how I should keep the plants warm tonight. Leeks don't mind cold weather, but I'm thinking 8 or 10 degrees F might really shock these little babies.

This is the first time I've purchased leek plants. I'll share some photos and write more about the planting process if they survive tonight. I'm just glad I didn't have a chance to put the 600 onion plants I also ordered in the ground yet. This was another first, as I usually plant onion sets. I ordered 10 varieties, 60 plants each, including several types that really aren't suited for our area. I was feeling adventurous—and I guess last spring's super scallion bounty didn't scare me off.

I can't remember if that "In like a lion, out like a lamb" saying is about March or April. I do know that our April will be out like a lamb—in the most literal sense. As someone who detests hot weather, I'm in no hurry for winter to end, but I'm definitely wondering what the rest of this month will be like. I figure I'll just plant when I can (paying attention to the moonsigns if possible) and hope for the best. Of course, I suppose that's what we always do in the garden, no matter what the weather or the season.

Is your garden still covered with snow?

Related posts:
6/12/05: Onions in the Garden
6/16/05: Three Onion and Three Cheese Pizza Recipe
2/20/06: Susan's Super Spinach Soup
3/26/06: It's Time to Plant Onions!
4/2/06: Interplanting Lettuce and Beets with Onions
6/7/08: What To Do with 125 Green Onions?
Book Review: Astrological Gardening:The Ancient Wisdom of Successful Planting & Harvesting by the Stars

© 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the foodie farm blog where a snowy landscape is beautiful to look at but kind of hard to deal with—and now it's time to go get the animals and the garden ready for tonight's arctic blast.

A Question for Kitchen Gardeners and Cooks:What Kind(s) of Eggplant Do You Like To Grow and/or Eat?

No Respect for Raised Beds—Topaz with Some Volunteer Bachelor's Buttons Last May

I'm working on a cookbook all about making the most of your seasonal bounty no matter where it comes from, and I would love your input. I'll be posting random questions here every few days, and all comments are greatly appreciated.

Is it just me, or are eggplants some of the most beautiful vegetables in the garden? I love the look of 'plain old' Black Beauties, but of course there are dozens of other varieties you can grow. Eggplants come in all shapes and sizes—and quite a few colors, too.

The first year I gardened in Missouri I had a bumper crop of eggplant, which is what happens when two dozen plants (what was I thinking?) decide to flourish. The only trouble I had was with hungry flea beetles turning the leaves of the young plants into lace, but although they looked terrible they survived just fine.

I've really slacked off on my eggplant production since then, though. Joe doesn't care for eggplant, and they simply aren't a real priority for me. This year, however, I'm jumping back on the eggplant bandwagon big time, and am going to try growing some interesting heirloom varieties from seed (which I will start in containers and then transplant into the garden once the soil warms up and we're well past our frost date), including these (descriptions from the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog):

Pandora Striped Rose
A great market variety, teardrop-shaped fruit are a lovely lilac-rose color with thin white stripes. Strong, thornless plants give heavy yields; tender and delicious. A real eye catcher.

Turkish Orange
This beautiful heirloom comes from Turkey. The 3" round fruit are best cooked when they are green to light orange. This variety has very sweet and flavorful flesh. It imparts a strong, rich flavor to any dish. The small plants yield well. This variety is great for ethnic markets. Very ornamental looking.

Listada De Gandia
One of the most popular heirloom types, this one has 7"-long fruit that are white, with lovely bright purple stripes. They are so beautiful and have fabulous flavor, with sweet, tender flesh. This excellent variety hails from Spain, a country that is renowned for fine food.

So what are your favorite varieties of eggplant to grown and/or eat? And what do you do with bounty left on the vine that's a little past its prime? Cook, curse, compost?

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the inquiring foodie farm blog where it's quickly becoming obvious that I won't always have appropriate pictures to go with my questions, so when that happens I'll simply post random garden photos (rather than no photos) from my files, like this one of the annoying but cute Topaz relaxing in a raised bed as if she owns it.

A Question for Kitchen Gardeners: How Big Is Your Garden and How Much Food Does It Provide?

Tomatoes, Lemon Basil, Golden Zucchini, Lemon Cucumbers, and Swiss Chard Harvested October 7th

Okay, so I just announced over on Farmgirl Fare that I'm writing a cookbook—and that I need your help. It's a big book all about making the most of your seasonal bounty, whether it comes from your own garden, a CSA subscription, the farmers' market, pick-your-own farms, or is dropped off on your doorstep by an undercover, overburdened neighbor when you're not at home. It's going to be published in spring 2010 and will include canning, freezing, drying, and storing the harvest, along with my favorite ways to savor everything fresh—all using my Less Fuss, More Flavor methods and recipes. Of course there'll be plenty of growing tips and gardening talk, too.

But here's the deal. In order to make the book as well-rounded and helpful as possible, we're including some fruits and vegetables that I don't/can't grow and/or don't have a whole lot of experience with (like okra and rhubarb and figs). I know some of you do, though, and my editor thought it would be fun if I took advantage of this wonderful community of readers I have and solicited your input.

I'll also want to hear about your general experiences in the garden with, well, just about everything. I mean, look how you came to my rescue last spring when I was wondering what to do with those 125 ready-to-pick-right-this-minute scallions. I may even pester you for a favorite recipe or two. Non-gardeners, there will be plenty of questions for you, too!

So what I'm going to do is start posting random questions here, hopefully every day or two. They'll vary from wide open to quite specific, and I'll just toss them out as they come to me. Short replies, longwinded answers, and links to your own blog posts about the subject will all be welcome in the comments section of each post.

I can't wait to hear what you have to say, and I thank you in advance for sharing your knowledge and experience. I know it will make the book better, and I'm also hoping that other In My Kitchen Garden readers will find your replies to these posts helpful.

So on to the first question. I realize it's huge and open ended, but it's something I'm asked a lot by new gardeners who are trying to figure out how much they should plant:

How big is your garden and how much food does it produce?

The big picture, the little details—the more information you want to share the better. A general idea of where your garden is located (state, country, growing zone, etc.) would be helpful, too. You don't have to know specifics regarding bushels of this or pounds of that (though you're welcome to list everything you grow if you like)—even just telling us that your 400 square foot garden keeps your family of four in fresh vegetables for most of the year is helpful. But if you know that if you plant 100 feet of green beans you'll usually end up with up 50 quarts of dilly beans, do tell!

If you've posted a photo of your entire garden (or most of it) on your blog or flickr, you're welcome to include a link to it in your comment.

It's difficult to tell somebody the exact number of plants they need in order to harvest so many pounds of something because your bounty depends so much on location and growing conditions. As I noted in my previous post, Growing Tomatoes: How Many Plants Do You Need? (And What To Do If You End Up With Too Many Tomatoes), my pal Finny gets enough tomatoes to fill up on fresh and can for later from two plants, while a friend of mine here in Missouri puts out 200 plants in order to ensure enough tomatoes for himself and his wife for the year.

Thanks again for your help! I'll hopefully have the next question up in a day or two. If you don't want to miss any of them, consider subscribing to the In My Kitchen Garden RSS feed or signing up to receive each new post via e-mail—you'll find the Feedblitz sign-up box located in the top right corner of the page.

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the homegrown foodie farm blog where we have especially big plans for the garden this year because of the book, and yet are already behind out there because of the book. In the name of research, I'm planning to grow both green and red okra for the first time, and I'm even going to give sugar snap peas another try, despite the terrifying (and not very tasty) first and last experience I had with them years ago.

Garden Question: Using Soil Block Makers When Starting Seeds Indoors—Yay or Nay?

4-Block and 20-Block Soil Block Makers at Johnny's Selected Seeds

So I'm thinking of buying a soil block maker, and I'd love to hear about any experiences you've had with them. Have you ever used a soil block maker? They're also called potting blocks, and I discovered them ages ago in the Johnny's Selected Seeds catalog but never actually ordered one. Then last year I read an interesting article about soil block makers in the special March gardening issue of Martha Stewart Living (which can be found online in its entirety here). When I was re-reading through that issue the other day and came across the soil blocks again, I figured it was a sign that I should finally take the plunge and just go order one already.

So what exactly is a soil block maker and why do gardeners love them? Here's an soil block intro from PottingBlocks.com, which bills itself as "The world's resource for soil block gardening:"

Potting Blocks, also known as soil blocks, are free-standing compressed cubes of potting soil which hold their shape without any container. Potting Blocks are made from a zinc coated stainless steel Soil Block Maker, much like an ejection mold. The block maker metal form is packed into a tub of pre-moistened potting soil and then discharged into nice, firm, blocks with a pre-drilled seed or transplant holes formed right into the top.

Potting Blocks are used for seed starting or germination, and transplanting. They have an amazing success rate due to the volume of soil compressed in the cube. The roots are naturally "air pruned" due to the air barrier of the "container-less" cube. They become the growing medium and the container! They are used for everything; herbs, flowers, vegetables, cuttings, and other transplants.

Potting Blocks have many advantages over traditional potting methods. First, they eliminate transplant shock! The seedling and root system stays intact and protected, a "home away from home". They will not become "'root-bound". They eliminate root circling. They replace plastic pots, trays, inserts,etc. They contain more cubic volume of soil than pots of the same top dimensions. They promote great air circulation. They have a major increase in space utilization than round pots. And, studies in Europe have shown that Potting Block transplants are superior in performance than container-bound transplants.

They sound pretty great, huh? Kind of makes me wonder why I didn't start using them ages ago.



Soil block makers are available in several sizes, from itty bitty to big and pricey commercial versions. I'm thinking of starting with the 2" x 2" 4-block size, which can be used for all sorts of seedlings. If I like how it works, I'll invest in the 3/4" x 3/4" 20-block maker (pictured above) and four soil block maker inserts. Each insert makes a defined 3/4" x 3/4" impression in the 2" soil block, perfectly sized to insert a mini block. How convenient is that?

There are many economical and environmental reasons to use soil blocks when starting seeds, and the only outlay of cash is your initial purchase—unless of course you become a soil block addict and need to acquire one in every size available. Apparently making the soil blocks is a lot of fun.

There are different opinions as to the best kind of 'soil' to use when making blocks (some gardeners use compost, others say you shouldn't ever use compost), but everyone seems to agree that they're a wonderful invention. I'm looking forward to finally jumping on the soil block bandwagon—especially since I'm already behind with my seed starting this year.

Related Links:
Article About Seed Starting with Soil Blocks from Martha Stewart Living
Soil Block Makers at Johnny's Selected Seeds
4-Block Maker at Peddler's Wagon
Jason Beam's PottingBlocks.com
Tips, Tricks, & Techniques on The Soil Blocker Blog
How To Make Your Own Soil Block Maker

So what seeds have you started already? And what did you start them in?

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the germinating foodie farm blog where seeing seeds sprout up—whether in containers or directly in the ground—is definitely one of the most rewarding aspects of gardening. Right after eating your bounty of course.

You Know I Love to Use Sheep Manure in the Garden. . .

But this is a little ridiculous.

Happy Valentine's Day! So what things do love growing in your garden the most? You can read more about using sheep manure as an organic fertilizer in the garden here.

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the garden loving foodie farm blog where most of the hearts I find around the farm are made out of rock, but this one that flung itself into the haycart with the first pitchfork full of manure hay mucked from the barn has got to be the most memorable—and the funniest.

Why I Love Growing Vegetables in Raised Garden Beds: Reason #1

All's Quiet on the Winter Front

I've been wanting to write about raised beds since I started this blog back in 2006. I decided to start growing in raised beds when I moved in with my hunky (and handy!) farmguy Joe nine years ago and had the chance to create another new garden from scratch. I'm so glad I did, and unless I decide to plant an acre of something someday, I doubt I'll ever go back to gardening any other way. I even have raised beds in the greenhouse.

There are many reasons why I love my raised beds, and many of you have been asking me to tell you more about them. But because it's obvious that I'm never going to get around to writing one giant raised bed blog post, I decided I should tackle the reasons one by one instead.

So here goes. This first reason was inspired by the weather we've been having and is all about form and has nothing to do with function, but when you think about it, so does a lot of gardening:

They look beautiful when they're covered with snow.

I'm also looking forward to sharing tips about creating and using raised beds in the upcoming months. Are you a raised bed gardener? Feel free to jump into this new ongoing discussion anytime! And if you've written about raised beds on your own blog, you're welcome to leave a link to the post(s) in a comment below.

More posts about the winter garden:
1/5/07: Things Are Looking Up in the Broccoli Department
2/4/07: Yearning For Yellow & Your Seed Favorites and Failures
9/26/07: How To Grow Your Own Swiss Chard (a wonderful winter vegetable) and Why You Should
3/9/08: Tips For Growing & Using Rosemary Year Round

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the foodie farm blog where the other nice thing about snow on raised beds is that it even makes all the fall cleanup you never got around to doing look good—and it takes away the guilt, because how can you be expected to go out there and pull up dead weeds when you can't even see the ground? Winter can be so handy that way. Of course I probably won't be thinking that when I'm scrambling to get these beds ready for planting lettuce and beets (and hopefully a bunch of other stuff) in March.

2008 Food Blog Awards: The Voting Polls Are Open!

The Well Fed Network's Annual Food Blog Awards are going on now! The judges have announced the finalists in each of the 14 categories, and now it's time for you to vote. I was happy to see that some of my favorite blogs made the cut, including Organic to Be for both Best Food Blog—Group and Best Food Blog—Theme (along with the marvelous Karina's Kitchen).

Andrea's Recipes—home to Grow Your Own, the twice-a-month food blogging event that 'celebrates the foods we grow or raise ourselves and the dishes we make using our homegrown products'—is up for Best Food Blog—Family/Kids.

And of course I'm thrilled that my main blog, Farmgirl Fare, is in the running for Best Food Blog—Rural.

The Food Blog Awards are a great way to discover dozens of delicious new food blogs. You'll find links to all the finalists and can vote in each category here. The voting polls close on Saturday January 24th at 8pm EST. Have fun! Update: Thank you! We won!

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the foodie farm blog where a 55 degree change in temperature in less than 36 hours has me, the animals, and the garden very confused. Enjoying the sunny warmth and the ability to walk outside without having to pile on 9 or 10 pieces of clothing first, but very confused.

Growing Cool Weather Fall Vegetables:How to Harvest & Store Swiss Chard

Before Harvesting: Swiss Chard in the Greenhouse on 12/20/08



After Harvesting: By 1/4/09 the Plants are Already Growing Back

Never pull up a Swiss chard plant if you can help it! This easy to grow wonder green, for which I've become a rather loud champion, should not only be in every garden, but it should also always be there. Blistering heat, freezing cold, wet winter weather, dry summer days—delicious, nutrient-packed Swiss chard puts up with it all and just keeps putting out. Enjoy the young leaves in salads, or use the larger ones in place of spinach in nearly any recipe. The stalks make a delicious and colorful celery substitute.

In addition, Swiss chard is a cut-and-come-again vegetable, which means that one crop can literally supply you with bounty for months. Let some or all of your plants go to seed, and you'll be able to either start a new crop somewhere else or designate a permananent Swiss chard bed where the plants will keep re-seeding on their own. The plants above were direct seeded in early spring of 2008 and show no signs of stopping anytime soon.


Other Side of the Greenhouse Before Harvesting on 12/20/08



And Making a Comeback on 1/4/09

The Swiss chard plants in the two photos above are all volunteers that popped up last spring in the unheated and uncooled greenhouse, supplying me with fresh bounty through the summer despite it being a sweltering 120+ degrees on sunny days, and then into the fall as the thermometer dipped down into the teens. I draped floating row covers and old bedsheets over the plants on cold nights, which offer good protection for the plants but at the same time subjects them to being flattened by Sylvester the cat who likes to sneak into the greenhouse and curl up on them. We have 240 acres full of all sorts of cozy nooks and crannies and yet he insists on flattening my arugula (which is another easy-to-grow green no garden should be without). Good thing he's so cute.

The evening of the winter solstice found me frantically snipping back all of the Swiss chard plants in the greenhouse preparation of that night's forecast of 4 degrees with even colder temperatures the next night. To harvest, I simply grabbed the stems of each plant in my left hand and cut them off a few inches from the base with an inexpensive, large pair of scissors.

This is the same way I pick lettuce (which is also easy to grow) because not only does it leave the plants in the ground, allowing them to grow back, but it's also a lot less messy because you aren't pulling up any dirt. So even if I'm planning to clear out a bed, I still harvest this way and then later go back and rip out the cut bases of plants.


Swiss Chard Goes Beyond Green

I covered the trimmed plants in the greenhouse with sheets and blankets, put an electric space heater in there for the next two nights, and hoped for the best. All I have to do is keep the plants alive for the next month or so, and in February they'll take off and start providing me with baby leaves for salads long before anything else in the garden (except arugula, if I can keep Sylvester away from it) is even remotely ready to harvest.


This Little Sprout of Hope Might Grow Back Into a Monster

Worst comes to worst, the plants freeze to death and all I'm out is the time it took me to cover and uncover them each night. But as you can see, things are already looking quite hopeful. And they'll be looking a lot prettier if ever get around to cleaning up all the dead leaves in the bed. But don't hold your breath. This is when you tell yourself you're not being lazy, you're smothering potential weeds and amending the soil.


Warm Up with a Bowl of Swiss Chard Artichoke Soup

As for the several pounds of bounty I picked on the last day of fall, some of it went straight into a batch of this healthy and flavorful Swiss Chard & Artichoke Soup, which was inspired by my Hot Swiss Chard Artichoke Dip. The rest was put into plastic bags that I placed in a cooler on the covered porch off the kitchen because there wasn't room for them in the fridge. It's been over two weeks, and what's left is still looking fine. Freshly picked greens will last quite a while if kept cool and moist.

So if you haven't already, why not give Swiss chard a try in the garden this year? Even if you don't have a greenhouse, unless you live in the arctic you can probably keep a healthy crop alive for most, if not all, of the year.

Related posts:
How To Grow Your Own Swiss Chard From Seed & Why You Should
Hot Swiss Chard Artichoke Dip (and what else to do with Swiss chard)
Swiss Chard & Artichoke Soup
Healthy Swiss Chard Tuna Salad with Scallions & Kalamata Olives
Swiss Chard Cabbage Salad with Garbanzo Beans & Cottage Cheese

Is there anything growing in your garden right now?

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the foodie farm blog where Farmgirl Susan shares recipes, stories, and photos from her crazy country life on 240 remote Missouri acre—and we're determined to make Swiss chard lovers (and growers!) out of as many people on the planet as we can.