This year's September garden is a mixture of glorious bounty, and total crop failures. A particularly wet August and September has left the garden much more green and lush than in recent years, yielding more green beans and kale than I can keep up with, and yet that same moisture has meant cracked and diseased tomatoes. I have struggled with pests this year - cucumber beetles and squash bugs have been joined by a new culprit, blister beetles - and I've lost all of my zucchini, winter squash, and cucumber plants (even with multiple sowings), and the blister beetles did a number on my fall beets. Luckily, they've made a valiant comeback, and I should have a nice beet harvest to store in the … [Read more...]
Planning and Planting a Fall Garden
Over the past three years, I've shifted my gardening focus more and more toward planning and planting a fall garden and getting a head start on a spring garden. This is primarily because there is an abundance of fresh produce from July-August available at the Farmer's Market, and to a lesser extent, in our local grocery store. However, the Farmer's Market does not open until May, and closes at the end of October, which means that unless I have been diligently planning and planting a fall garden and preserving food, I will not have access to local, fresh produce for many, many months. If you live in a similar climate, consider planting your own fall garden. For a step-by-step guide to … [Read more...]
How to Hang Onions for Storage
Many years ago, a friend taught me her method of hanging onions for storage. I tried it right away, and was hooked! This is one of the easiest and quickest ways to hang onions, because it only uses a rope, and the onions themselves. What I love most about this method is that you can easily see each and every onion, so you can keep track of any that are rotting. That is much more difficult when your onions are stored several layers deep in a basket! Before hanging, you'll want to make sure your onions are fully cured - I like to lay mine out in a shaded, covered, but well-ventilated location for two weeks or so, until the outer skins are papery and the stalks are fully dry. When you're … [Read more...]
The June Garden and a Homestead Garden Tour
The June Garden is full of promise and rewards. Everything is green, disease and pests have yet to take center stage, and plants are yearning to grow and fruit. My job is to keep up on the weeds (always the weeds!) and harvest daily. It is this time of year when there is enough substance in the garden to begin planning meals around the daily harvest, and the kids and I begin our morning harvest walks. In early June my garden rewards are mesclun mix, beets, new potatoes, mulberries, kale, Chinese cabbage, golden purslane, and the last of the snap peas and lettuce. In another week or so, the broccoli, carrots, and kohlrabi will be ready to harvest. In an effort to smother weeds … [Read more...]
Growing a Salve Garden
If one of your goals is to increase your knowledge of herbs and create simple home remedies, a great starting point is a salve. Growing a salve garden is an easy and inexpensive way to source the herbs that you need for a healing salve. A salve is a healing balm that is typically made with a few simple ingredients: oil infused with healing herbs of your choice, beeswax, and perhaps some essential oils or Vitamin E oil. Many healing plants can be infused to create a salve, and indeed, some common salve additions such as plantain and dandelion are thought of as weeds! Making homemade salve is a great project to do with kids, or with friends, especially when the process starts with growing a … [Read more...]
The May Garden
The May Garden can feel overwhelming, but the rewards are great. My only goal this month has been to stay on top of the madness that is a 2000 + square foot garden. To accomplish this, I have needed to set aside large chunks of gardening time each week, on top of my usual 30 minutes per day. The first half of the month was devoted to planting, while now I'm weeding, mulching with straw, and harvesting. In my zone 5b garden, I'm finally harvesting food enough to create entire side dishes from the garden and meals from our homestead. I'm harvesting kale, salad greens, spinach, Chinese cabbage, garlic scapes, snap peas, strawberries, radishes, herbs, cilantro, and beet greens. In the … [Read more...]
The April Garden
Our April garden can be summed up in two words: Greens and Weeds. With long days, abundant rain, and a few stretches of 70+ degree days, the tiny greens sown in March have grown into tender and delicious salads. And we're still harvesting the spinach and kale that was overwintered under row cover and plastic. The kale, though going to seed, is still remarkably tender, and the flowers are a fantastic source of nectar for honeybees and other pollinators. As for the weeds, they are growing faster than I can possibly ever keep up! Thanks to my cousin and his wife helping me in the garden during a recent visit, and Brian and I doing a "power weeding" session, things are … [Read more...]
Starting Seeds without Electricity
After months of planning and dreaming about our gardens, the longer days of February are a great time to get an early start growing spring and summer vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Often, advice on how to start seeds involves equipment such as heat mats and grow lights. While it’s true that such equipment may lead to more reliable germination and sturdy growth, setting up lights and heat mats may not be feasible for every gardener. The cost of purchasing mats and lights, and running round-the-clock electricity to the equipment can be prohibitive. And homesteaders like us who live off-grid and use solar power for electricity may not generate enough power in the … [Read more...]
Garden Harvesting with Children
One of my favorite daily summer rituals is walking through the garden with my two young children, harvesting vegetables and creating plans for the day's meals. Because gardening with children is a part of our daily life, and the kids are active participants in the planning, growing, and harvesting of our garden, it's not a big leap to eating the produce from our garden. In fact, I credit having a garden with having kids who will eat almost any vegetable - it's just what we do in our family. Harvesting is what gets my children the most excited about gardening, and I've learned over the years how to make garden harvesting with children a fun and productive … [Read more...]
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