Garden Log

[guitarplayer]

@GdP it worked for DW and I with mint, but mint is easy. We also normally put cut basil in water and whilst it doesn’t root, it stays fresh longer. Spring onions and leeks grow quite a lot extra volume.

[Slevin]

First big non-greens harvest of the season. 2 lbs fava/ broad beans. Made about 10 meals worth of veggies, beans themselves were used in a pasta dish along with loads of fava leaves for a beans and greens:


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Then in true ERE fashion used the pods for lentil fritters (not pictured). Should get a good amount more as well.

Oh, and also that half bed of chard in the background were rescues (someone’s chard self seeded and they needed to pull a bunch, so DGF rescued them all and transplanted them here about 1.5 weeks ago. We weren’t sure if they would live or not, but luckily they’re all thriving again!).

A really nice start to what will hopefully turn into a very productive season.

[delay]

First big non-greens harvest of the season.

Thanks for sharing! It must feel great to eat food you've grown yourself. I have to say that the beans in the photo look green to me. Why do you describe them as "non-green" ?

[jacob]

First outdoor harvest was chives. I also picked up some dandelion leafs for the burittos. Instead of battling them, I've decided to embrace them and eat them.

Preparing for sowing, I ran into some horseradish. Since we planted some 10+ years ago, it's slowly been spreading at a rate of maybe 1 foot per year. The root was a thick as my wrist. Never seen that before, but I have not been digging for them either in the past few years. Usually we eat the leaves (toxic unless prepared right). They're the first substantial green to appear and we don't have to do anything.

[Slevin]

Thanks for sharing! It must feel great to eat food you've grown yourself. I have to say that the beans in the photo look green to me. Why do you describe them as "non-green" ?

Haha, yes you are right they are green in color. "Greens" can be used in gardening as shorthand for "leafy greens" and consists of plants like kale, chard, collards, arugula, lettuce, mustard greens. What makes them special is that they both grow very quickly, and do not require much sunlight to actually grow and produce. Thus in places without deep freezes, you can grow them year round (or with a simple greenhouse in colder climates). Favas here can also handle those conditions, which is why I can harvest them in April. But since leafy greens can generally be grown year round, I make a distinction between being able to harvest them and being able to harvest other crops, which tend to be seasonal.

Since we planted some 10+ years ago, it's slowly been spreading at a rate of maybe 1 foot per year. The root was a thick as my wrist. Never seen that before, but I have not been digging for them either in the past few years. Usually we eat the leaves (toxic unless prepared right). They're the first substantial green to appear and we don't have to do anything.

Love it when work you did 10 years ago is still paying dividends. Also, does this mean you've been in Chicago for 10 years now?

[thef0x]

@GdP it worked for DW and I with mint, but mint is easy. We also normally put cut basil in water and whilst it doesn’t root, it stays fresh longer. Spring onions and leeks grow quite a lot extra volume.

Interestingly, I recently threw some homegrown basil into a glass to keep for longer and here it is now!



IME, I probably get 1/4 cuttings to root in just water. I've seen other folks use very diluted hydroponic nutrients to facilitate the process so that could be an avenue worth exploring.

Edit: this basil was grown from seed and the cutting was immediately put into water, so perhaps that might be part of the root growth? Certainly couldn't hurt.

[guitarplayer]

I just checked with DW, she's seen this also actually. Maybe the reasons you mention @thef0x but also, we keep the flat at 15 degrees Celsius these days and Basil is warm loving so maybe this is why we've never seen it roots (plus we normally do it with Basil at use by date from a supermarket).

[thef0x]

@guitarplayer the heat must be it, good catch. I've seen people use rooting hormone but then they dunk the end into water so I'm not sure it matters.. someone with far more experience could convince me otherwise, I've never used rooting hormone (in soil I don't see this being an issue).

\\

My raised bed is a sad sad sight unfortunately. I thought I'd get an early start (seeds going early Feb) and transplanted during a warm patch in March (60s*F) but was punished by rain and a few hail storms. Lesson learned: transplant seedlings into larger pots than red solo cups so I can keep them inside longer without making them root bound / prematurely flowering.

Our strawberries from last year are doing great and I planted sprouted garlic which is also done well but yeah, meh.



What I did keep inside has flourished, fortunately. I've had a successful first attempt at kratky hydroponics for lettuce and the few pepper plants that I did keep inside are looking beautiful (now transplanted). Extended grow photo log post: viewtopic.php?p=288163#p288163



Final harvest and expanded production for +24 more heads. Total harvest was 2.6lbs / 1.18kg.



Varieties from a breeder from reddit (purple haze thai pepper, a horrifyingly spicy chinese variety / Naga source stock) and then a fast-to-ripen bell ideal for northern latitudes (King of the North). Planted them together to hopefully crowd the roots enough to begin flowering earlier than previous years.

We also decided to buy two large blueberries (lame, but limited time and wanted to get them in) and I'm curious to see how they perform in mounded vs raised beds. I think we'll get a good amount of fruit from them this year and I made sure to amend the soil with peat moss to increase acidity. I'll mulch with pine needles at some point as well.





After a huge prune of my two applepear trees, we're seeing a lot of healthy fruit development, so fingers crossed. This year I may have to paper-bag these to ensure my final harvest isn't compromised by pests.



Even decided to experiment with sprouting apple seeds (honeycrisp, boring) and.. success! Threw them in some potting mix in a plastic baggy in the fridge and two months later I have sprouts.

Who knows how this will play out but I'm interested in learning more about apple breeding and this feels like a fun first step in that direction.



Lots to learn still but genuinely enjoying the process.

We'll see if this El Nino year helps with the peppers but I'm not holding my breath.

[SouthernAlchemy]

Nice beans Slevin. I tried growing favas for the first time this year and it looks like I'm going to have a good harvest!

pods for lentil fritters

Please describe or post a picture/basic recipe. Pods look like they are pretty tough, so didn't really think of them as edible, but I guess sugar snap peas and green beans are edible so why not?

[jennypenny]

It's technically past my frost-free date but it's been a cold spring here. My spring plantings (spinach, lettuce, radishes, peas) are slow getting started. For that reason, I also started my summer seedlings late. It feels weird to have only tiny seedlings in mid-April, but I want a full spring crop before I plant the summer stuff. I run the risk of planting out the summer crops in too-hot weather by doing this though. I'm still learning how to ride out the weather and how best to adjust to different weather issues.

We added 16 new Birdies tall beds this year, bringing the total up to 62. We also have four 16' rows set up with cattle panels on cinderblocks and grow bags underneath for beans (not started yet). Three of the new beds are in a still-under-construction bodged hoop house where I'll keep the hot peppers (my newest dog likes to eat from the garden so I need to lock up the hottest peppers).

Currently planted outside (varieties): Radishes (2), spinach (4), lettuce (8), carrots (4) onions (2), peas (4: golden snow, sweet magnolia, oregon giant, super sweet snap), asparagus (have to wait one more year to harvest), strawberries, various herbs (all come back now that we don't get much of a winter anymore, even the rosemary). A late frost may have nipped the blossoms on the fruit trees.


Seedlings (in our refurbed greenhouse that's part of the house)

Tomatoes: Brandys (red, pink, black, yellow), Black Krim (lots, our fav), Pineapple (another fave), Lemon Boy, German Johnson, Striped German, Old German, Tiffen Mennonite, Rose, Prudens Purple, Carbon, Cherokee Purple, Paul Robeson (another fave), Abe Lincoln, Mortgage Lifter, Mushroom, Dr Wyche (first time), Hillbilly, Jersey Devil, Bread and Salt, Oxheart.

Cherry Tomatoes: Supersweet 100, Sun Gold, Indigo Cherry, White Cherry, Chocolate Cherry (these seeds haven't come up so I'm going to start black cherry seeds this weekend).

Sweet Peppers: Cali bells in different colors, cubanelles, Doe, King of the North, Bridge to Paris, Jimmy Nardello, Shishito, Pimentos, Big Jim, Pepperoncini, Sailfish, Olympus. I found some old green machine seeds I might start this weekend since it looks like the peppers won't go in until the beginning of June.

Hot Peppers: Several varieties of Scotch Bonnet, jalapeños and habaneros. I'm also trying tabasco for the first time.

Eggplants: Standards like black beauty and thanos. (Sis promised to turn these into Eggplant Parmesan dishes for the freezer if I grew enough for both of us.)

Cukes and Zukes: I start some inside and direct seed others to stagger production. I mostly do standard cucumbers like marketmore but I might try armenian this year. I love zucchini so I do several different types ... Dunja, Black Beauty, Cocozelle, Zephyr, Golden, Cube of Butter, Eight ball, Safari. (I'm sure I'm forgetting some, I plant a LOT of zucchini.)

Basil: A lot of genovese style as well as cinnamon, lemon, holy, and thai. I do lots of cinnamon and holy basil around the yard to attract pollinators.

Melons: I'm doing some cantaloupe this year, Hale's and Chanterais. I love cantaloupe so fingers crossed.


Random notes:
We are still eating from last year's bounty even though we're getting down near the end ... beans, peas, carrots, various tomato sauces. Onions are long gone. Zucchini and peppers are gone too. And garlic.

I have the seeds to do a cut flower garden but haven't done anything with them yet. We've got some stuff going on and the weather isn't cooperating so I'm trying to focus on the core garden first. Maybe I'll get to them next month.

I also gave up on getting potatoes in the ground this year (again). It's frustrating that I always seem to punt on the potatoes because they are a 'bad' crop climate-wise so I would be making an impact by growing my own. *sigh*

The lack of potatoes is part of the reason I'm considering joining the local CSA again -- a lot of their summer/fall produce is corn, potatoes, pumpkins and watermelon -- none of which I grow. It seems weird to join a CSA when I have such a large garden, but it would help fill some gaps in my own garden and act as a backup.

[Slevin]

Wow, 62 raised beds is a dream amount for us. Is it tough to manage the planting schedule for 2k sqft of raised beds? Are you doing an interplanting sort of succession gardening when some plants meet maturity, or do you wait for full beds to clear before putting in the next batch?

Also, this seems like a heavy amount of food prep at harvest time all summer / fall for all of those crops (trying to freeze 52 meal sized portions of each food). Are you spending a ton of time blanching / prepping for freezing each week, or does it kinda stagger?

[jennypenny]

It's a lot, not gonna lie. I work really hard April - Oct. Still, it's not a full-time job. I do a mix of approaches.

The garden is divided into sections to compartmentalize it and help me wrap my brain around it. I have a zucchini garden, hot pepper area, etc. I love gardens that are cottage-y looking with things planted all over but it's too much for me to keep track of. It ends up interspersed anyway because I plant borage and monarda in all of the beds to draw pollinators, and I stick seedlings and seeds in different spots as plants die off to fill holes all season long. (I love bush beans and carrots for this, also lettuce as fall approaches.)

In the spring, I plant lettuce, spinach, and radishes in the beds that will get peppers and basil come summer. They all come out the same week and I'll plant the seedlings I'm currently growing into the beds. I plant peas on the cattle panels in between where the tomatoes will go. They stay in for a few weeks after I plant the bulk of the summer seedlings to give some shade and wind protection while the seedlings get established. Once they're spent and the other plants are settled, I snip them off at the roots. Basically some things come out together and others are meant to span the seasons.

I have no trouble keeping up with processing the spring crops, but come August I'm swamped. I'm not trying to impress anyone with rows of carefully preserved food, I do what I need to in order to keep up. I generally alternate pickings between blanche and freeze days and cooking days. I can set up a pot of water on my portable induction burner outside and blanche, bag and freeze things all day. The next day I'll work on making gallons of tomato-based sauces. I have days where I bake fruit into cakes and muffins (dozens and dozens of them), and others where I do nothing but clean and chop. I prefer batching tasks so I can get the appropriate tools out (whether giant pots or food processors) and get the most use out of them.

ETA: One thing I do is make sure I put up tons of meals, soups, and sauces, not just ingredients. Part of doing all the work during the summer is so I can take the winter off, which to me includes 'shopping' in my freezer for meals to heat and eat. I make it as easy as possible to get through the winter without any effort on my part. It's why I bake the fruit into pies instead of canning them and trying to figure out something to do with them later. I freeze everything from cookie dough (separated into single cookies like a store-bought package) to homemade pasta and precooked meats. I really lean into the seasonality of it by putting up food when the weather is good and I have the energy/motivation ... and eating all of the food sitting on my ass reading books and watching soccer during the winter. It works for me.

[7Wannabe5]

@jennypenny:

Wow, that's impressive. Do you still have kids at home? Beyond the fact that I theoretically (may have to repossess a property) don't currently own any land, living alone for the first time in my life has seriously collapsed my food production cycle/practice. I think maybe my flavor of frugality was a bit too influenced along the lines of "Cheaper By the Dozen."

[Slevin]

@jp all great info, thank you! That's a really impressive amount of food to grow / process each year, I didn't realize there was even homemade pasta / meats / pies / cookie dough in there too! Also seems like a pro move to use the outside induction burner for processing (and not making a huge mess in the kitchen all day as well). Reminds me that we need to figure out a processing + washing + cooking setup outdoors as well.

[jennypenny]

@slevin -- DS is convinced a portable fillet table would work well for washing up the produce outside. Something like this, or this. It'll fold up for the winter/in bad weather, and could be set up close to where I'm harvesting each day to make things a little easier. I could even get a clip-on umbrella for it to get some shade while I work. So fancy for a honeybodger.