Thursday, April 16, 2015
From High Heels to Hay Bales April Gardening Ep 1
Join me in my first video to accompany my blog as I plant out my April garden. Peas, carrots, radishes, onions, beets, and sunflowers!
Saturday, April 4, 2015
What survived the cold, snowy Winter!
I can safely say that all of the snow has finally melted from our property here in the Northeast! A few days ago, it was 60F and I couldn't help but be tempted to go outside and dig in the dirt but I didn't think that the ground was defrosted yet since we had snow showers only 3 days before. Man was I wrong - not only was the top layer of soil defrosted, but I was able to stick my pitch fork 8" down into the soil and give it a good turning over. Exciting as this was, it was nowhere near as exciting as what I came across while turning the beds over.
So way back, at the end of August, I wanted to try second (really third) season veggie growing and knew that I was going to need to construct some sort of a "cold frame" type structure. While I had purchased an inexpensive greenhouse earlier in the year, I intended on using this as more of seed starting house in the Spring and didn't want it to be beaten up by the cold, snowy Winter! So pretty much my gears got grindin' and the idea for this little beauty was born…. an auto-temperature regulated hoop house/cold frame!
So how does it work? Well that little vent closes itself when the temp drops below 40F and then will reopen when the temp reaches 70F again. Isn't she lovely? Isn't she wonderful?!?
So once this was built and ready for the colder temperatures, I had to plan things to grow in it - it was a no brainer, different types of salad greens, for sure! So I planted a few rows of spinach, a few rows of arugula and then in the space where I was able to fit two more rows, I just basically scattered baby lettuce mix all over the place.
I also wanted to try growing things in the "wide open spaces" so I planted a cabbage and some more spinach in a non-protected bed, as well as sowed some garlic and left my broccoli plants that I planted the Spring before, in the ground.
For Christmas, my brother, sister-in-law and nephew bought me a compost tumbler that I had been wanting (lame request for a gift, I know, but it really is such a great gift for a gardener). So my husband and I put it together on Christmas morning and I took it out into the yard, in the freezing cold. As I was walking past my broccoli plants, I couldn't believe my eyes… little baby broccoli heads, here, there, and everywhere - on Christmas morning! I quickly picked them, as fast as I could… I mean HELLO - I was in my Wellies, flannel pi's and a peacoat. I was freezing my knickers off! So I came inside and this is what my harvest looked like. It was truly exciting!
Fast forward a few weeks. Things were growing so nicely in the cold frame, and then it happened….. SNOW! Ordinarily, this wouldn't have been a problem because my greens were protected in the cold frame, but rain came after the snow and my cold frame was frozen solid to the ground - I kid you not. At this point, I didn't freak out too much because I knew once the snow started to melt, I'd be able to pick the greens that were growing inside. Well, I was wrong… it snowed, and snowed, and snowed some more, and eventually my cold frame was completely covered, so much, 1/2 of it collapsed from the weight of the snow. I basically told myself that this was all just going to be a big fat fail since it was such a snowy, cold winter. Those are the chances you take as a gardener, you know?!
Well fast forward to this past week. Like I said before, I went outside to have myself a good dig and I was so excited to find that what I thought the now had destroyed, was still alive and well, well to some degree.
My husband and I started to rake away the Fall leaves from the raised beds (I leave them there so that they can serve as a mulch over the winter). As I was raking… there they were… a bunch of little spinach plants, just as I left them in late Fall!
I immediately reached down and plucked off a leaf and ate it… No, I didn't wash it but what can you do, right?! It's only a little dirt. It tasted amazing and so now I am going to let them grow a little more and slowly use the "cut and come again" method so that it continues to grow (or so I hope).
So we kept on raking and turning the soil over and I came over to the spot where I planted the cabbage and sure enough, under the leaves was a little baby cabbage plant. It hadn't grown much in size since I planted it, but it was surely alive!
I am going to let it do its thing and see if I do, indeed, grow a pretty little head of cabbage!
Next, my husband and I decided that we were going to pick up the cold frame and put it away for the next growing season. When we lifted it up, there were 4 rows of greens that were smashed from the collapsed area, which was a complete bummer but as I looked over to the area that hadn't collapsed, there were salad greens that were untouched, unharmed, and colorful as ever!
With the nice weather coming back and the cold frame off, I am certain that this "cut and come again" lettuce will give me a few good cuttings while I am waiting for my Spring salad planting to get growing!
At this point, I was so excited that I went over to the side yard, where I planted my garlic in the fall and there it was, just as I left it the last time I saw it - little green shoots sticking out of the ground…. even after 4ft of snow and ice were piled on top of it!
I could not believe it!! So basically, this will continue to grow until July, or until the shoots Fall over and die - then it will be ready to dig up.
I keep saying how excited I was/ am, but I really was/ am so excited, I couldn't contain myself. What a nerd! My Spring growing season has started off on a great note and I can't wait for everything to start growing.
So what am I going to be planting in the next few weeks? Sugar snap peas, broccoli, radishes, carrots, cranberry beans (these are the beans I use in my pasta e fagioli ), kale, swiss chard, beets, onions, lettuce, spinach, and possibly turnips, parsnips, and leeks. What are you going to be planting for the Spring?
Before I finish up, I want to just mention my fig tree. So back in the summer, I purchased a fig tree from my local garden center. It was growing nicely, and then all of a sudden, the little bugger just died… all the leaves fell off and that was that. For some weird reason, I never got around to throwing it out. I went to my herb class at Midsummer Farm in Warwick, NY and Barbara and Mark ( the owners) told me not to throw it out and bring it inside for the Winter. Apparently, from what they told me, fig trees are pretty indestructible once they are established (not for one second did I think that my newly purchased tree was at all "established". They went on to tell me about the fig tree in their greenhouse (its a big green house) and how they cut it down to just about 6' one Fall and by the next Fall, the tree was touching the top of the green house again. So, because of their experience, I listened and brought Figaro (yes, I named the damn tree) inside to live for the Winter. One day in December, I took a peek at the tree and thought I was seeing things… well I wasn't, there were little, bitty buds on the tips of some of the branches. I immediately started watering it and here we are today… ITS ALIVE!
Although there hasn't been much growth since I first saw the new buds, there surely are more and more buds appearing each day. Once the frost is finally over, I will set this outside for the Summer and then bring it back indoors for the Winter, after a good pruning, of course. Barbara and Mark sure do know what they are talking about - they really are hard to kill!
So thats pretty much it for now. Sorry I haven't posted in a few weeks - things have been kind of busy. I do post pictures to Instagram more frequently, so feel free to follow me there!
If you are interested, Midsummer Farm is having their Allium and Brassica Pre-Sale on April 25th and 26th from 9am -2pm at the farm (Follow the above link for more info).
Thats all for this time! Be sure to subscribe to my blog so you don't miss a post. I have a lot of great things planned for the upcoming months!
Happy Spring!
Danielle
So way back, at the end of August, I wanted to try second (really third) season veggie growing and knew that I was going to need to construct some sort of a "cold frame" type structure. While I had purchased an inexpensive greenhouse earlier in the year, I intended on using this as more of seed starting house in the Spring and didn't want it to be beaten up by the cold, snowy Winter! So pretty much my gears got grindin' and the idea for this little beauty was born…. an auto-temperature regulated hoop house/cold frame!
So once this was built and ready for the colder temperatures, I had to plan things to grow in it - it was a no brainer, different types of salad greens, for sure! So I planted a few rows of spinach, a few rows of arugula and then in the space where I was able to fit two more rows, I just basically scattered baby lettuce mix all over the place.
I also wanted to try growing things in the "wide open spaces" so I planted a cabbage and some more spinach in a non-protected bed, as well as sowed some garlic and left my broccoli plants that I planted the Spring before, in the ground.
For Christmas, my brother, sister-in-law and nephew bought me a compost tumbler that I had been wanting (lame request for a gift, I know, but it really is such a great gift for a gardener). So my husband and I put it together on Christmas morning and I took it out into the yard, in the freezing cold. As I was walking past my broccoli plants, I couldn't believe my eyes… little baby broccoli heads, here, there, and everywhere - on Christmas morning! I quickly picked them, as fast as I could… I mean HELLO - I was in my Wellies, flannel pi's and a peacoat. I was freezing my knickers off! So I came inside and this is what my harvest looked like. It was truly exciting!
Fast forward a few weeks. Things were growing so nicely in the cold frame, and then it happened….. SNOW! Ordinarily, this wouldn't have been a problem because my greens were protected in the cold frame, but rain came after the snow and my cold frame was frozen solid to the ground - I kid you not. At this point, I didn't freak out too much because I knew once the snow started to melt, I'd be able to pick the greens that were growing inside. Well, I was wrong… it snowed, and snowed, and snowed some more, and eventually my cold frame was completely covered, so much, 1/2 of it collapsed from the weight of the snow. I basically told myself that this was all just going to be a big fat fail since it was such a snowy, cold winter. Those are the chances you take as a gardener, you know?!
Well fast forward to this past week. Like I said before, I went outside to have myself a good dig and I was so excited to find that what I thought the now had destroyed, was still alive and well, well to some degree.
My husband and I started to rake away the Fall leaves from the raised beds (I leave them there so that they can serve as a mulch over the winter). As I was raking… there they were… a bunch of little spinach plants, just as I left them in late Fall!
So we kept on raking and turning the soil over and I came over to the spot where I planted the cabbage and sure enough, under the leaves was a little baby cabbage plant. It hadn't grown much in size since I planted it, but it was surely alive!
Next, my husband and I decided that we were going to pick up the cold frame and put it away for the next growing season. When we lifted it up, there were 4 rows of greens that were smashed from the collapsed area, which was a complete bummer but as I looked over to the area that hadn't collapsed, there were salad greens that were untouched, unharmed, and colorful as ever!
At this point, I was so excited that I went over to the side yard, where I planted my garlic in the fall and there it was, just as I left it the last time I saw it - little green shoots sticking out of the ground…. even after 4ft of snow and ice were piled on top of it!
I keep saying how excited I was/ am, but I really was/ am so excited, I couldn't contain myself. What a nerd! My Spring growing season has started off on a great note and I can't wait for everything to start growing.
So what am I going to be planting in the next few weeks? Sugar snap peas, broccoli, radishes, carrots, cranberry beans (these are the beans I use in my pasta e fagioli ), kale, swiss chard, beets, onions, lettuce, spinach, and possibly turnips, parsnips, and leeks. What are you going to be planting for the Spring?
Before I finish up, I want to just mention my fig tree. So back in the summer, I purchased a fig tree from my local garden center. It was growing nicely, and then all of a sudden, the little bugger just died… all the leaves fell off and that was that. For some weird reason, I never got around to throwing it out. I went to my herb class at Midsummer Farm in Warwick, NY and Barbara and Mark ( the owners) told me not to throw it out and bring it inside for the Winter. Apparently, from what they told me, fig trees are pretty indestructible once they are established (not for one second did I think that my newly purchased tree was at all "established". They went on to tell me about the fig tree in their greenhouse (its a big green house) and how they cut it down to just about 6' one Fall and by the next Fall, the tree was touching the top of the green house again. So, because of their experience, I listened and brought Figaro (yes, I named the damn tree) inside to live for the Winter. One day in December, I took a peek at the tree and thought I was seeing things… well I wasn't, there were little, bitty buds on the tips of some of the branches. I immediately started watering it and here we are today… ITS ALIVE!
So thats pretty much it for now. Sorry I haven't posted in a few weeks - things have been kind of busy. I do post pictures to Instagram more frequently, so feel free to follow me there!
If you are interested, Midsummer Farm is having their Allium and Brassica Pre-Sale on April 25th and 26th from 9am -2pm at the farm (Follow the above link for more info).
Thats all for this time! Be sure to subscribe to my blog so you don't miss a post. I have a lot of great things planned for the upcoming months!
Happy Spring!
Danielle
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