Sorrel or clover – another goodie in my garden?

It’s mid-March and I’m itching to start in my garden but the weather conditions are just not practical – not even for cool-weather crops like peas, ruccola, and spinach. Even with a high-bed and containers which normally warm up faster than regular beds, were I to plant now, the seed may rot either before springing or just after (dampen-off) due to its current wet and cold condition – neither of which I can bear!

Today is reportedly the last 0°C night and the forecast indicates consistent steadily increasing temperatures, so this Saturday I anticipate getting some crops started.  As I impatiently wait, I’ve been doing some research and reading. I find it beneficial to go through previously read info, to refresh or remind myself of a method/concept that might have been forgotten. Often times, I come across something new, which was the case today.

Clumps of clover grow all over my garden and for the large part, I leave them alone.  I recognised them from seeing them in my home town of Nassau as a child, and that was that – they were neither decidely dangerous or beneficial (although, I have read they can be signs of high nitrogen levels in the ground), so I let them be. However, I just discovered (via various sources) that the plant I identified as clover, might in fact be wood sorrel.  That changes the ballgame!

Wood sorrel is a pretty useful plant and if I’m right, I’m pretty psyched to have free access to this gem.  Turns out, wood sorrel is edible, is high in Vitamin C, and is regarded as a ‘thirst-quencher’. Not sure if I might consume what I have, but extending my knowledge of my garden and plants in general is pretty cool!

Here’s the original post complete with pictures showing the difference between the two plants: Sorrel or clover | Abraham’s Blog Should curiousity take over, a quick search will provide more sources than you’ll know what to do with!

40 and in Full Swing!

I’ve been really bad at posting for awhile now. Honestly, there was so much going on, that I was actually enjoying my life and failed to write about it. But now, I’ve settled into my new phase and while still enjoying it immensely, it’s no longer so chaotic and I’m inspired about my direction in life.

My last post was about getting a new job, going on vacation for the first time in awhile, and feeling empowered. Since then, I’ve been with my company for about 1.5 years, created a successful professional impression with my colleagues, and made friends.

My personal life is also bringing me joy. Hubs and I flew my mom in for a visit last summer – that’s going to have to be a post in it’s self! I had so much fun as my mom was here and I loved showing her my new city.  As the weather warms up, I’m starting to think, ‘How possible is it get her back here again this summer?’

Hubs & I also went on vacation to The Canary Islands with friends & it was to die for! Black sand, amazing seafood, ridiculously beautiful environment, and the feeling of freedom. That’ll also be another post.  We spent quite a bit of time with them this year and it’s been nice to develop friendships. Actually, instead of packing for a ski vacation I’m about to go on with them tomorrow, I got the drive to finally post again. So sweet & short, here’s a quick montage of life up to now.

Talk to you soon…

Mom and I on our way to Prague.

Hubs, my mom, and good friends enjoying the view from above the ‘Dachstein’

Our breakfast view in Teneriffa, Canary Islands.

My first viewing/tasting of sun-ripened figs (Teneriffa).

Experiencing the uniqueness of black sand – so very different from the white and pink sand beaches I know from home.

Attending the Bonbon Ball once again!

All ready to celebrate my 40th!

Oma celebrating her 80th (joint birthday party) and showing us how a Waltz is done!

Eating, drinking, talking, laughing, and dancing into the night!

The perfect compliment to a ‘Heurigen’-themed Birthday Party! The accordian and…

A lively evening was had by all!

‘die Glocken’!

Golden Oyster Mushrooms Pasta (Gelber Seitling) – Yum!!!

Hubs recently started experiementing in the garden, ‘planting’ a wooden stump impregnated with mushroom spores.  As it won’t produce until about August, a friend presented him with a few easy-to-cultivate, pre-impregnated mediums (straw, hay??) in plastic bags.

I’ve never heard of these before but apparently, they’re well-known enough for there to be established businesses around this subject.  If you’d like to try it out yourself, I’d definitely suggest PilzZucht (in Austria) and for the USA or Bahamas, a Google search should be very rewarding.

Initially, I experienced a mixture of curiousity and dismay – the latter because they were to be raised indoors.  As in, in my living quarters!!  If you’re confused by my reaction – please note that my only experience with living mushrooms were those that tried to cultivate in poorly-maintained bathrooms and quickly met their demise with bleach.  Maybe it’s a Bahamian thing because to my limited knowledge, we don’t cultivate mushrooms for any purpose.

Still, wanting to support my husband, I acquiesced and  helped create the perfect spot for it – under the kitchen window with indirect sunlight.  Receiving a misting of water, twice a day, their growth was definitely noticeable upon waking and returning home – incredible.

Sunday

Tuesday

Thursday

Friday

To further prepare this novice, on an evening out to dinner, Hubs ordered the mushrooms as appetizers.  OMG, they were delicious!!  I was definitely onboard!

Within 7 days, there were ready for harvest and that task was left to me alone as he was out-of-town.  My wonderful neighbor came over and harvested a few for her family – these things are prodigious!  And noticing that she hadn’t exploded, collapsed, or reacted in any weird ways upon touching the creepy things – I, too, collected a few for a simple, ridiculously easy, not to mention a gastronomically delightful pasta dinner.

Golden Oyster Mushroom (Gelber Seitling) Pasta (click pictures for recipe)

Ingredients: Shallot, Garlic, Tomatoes, Mushrooms, Salt, Pepper, Marjoran (use a small amt of Oregano as a substitute), Olive Oil.

Wash & drain mushrooms (don’t let them sit in water). Chop & sauteé Shallots in Olive oil over medium-low heat until translucent. Add quartered Tomatoes and cook for 3 mins. Incorporate halved Golden Yellow Mushrooms, Garlic, & Spices/Herbs and sauteè until fragrant.

Combine sauteéd mixture with cooked pasta, top with choice of garnishes. I chose fresh baby Basil & freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Review:  Unlike other mushrooms I’ve eaten, these have a light flavor, none of the heaviness or earthiness sometimes associated with mushrooms.  The texture has bite – that is, there’s something to chew but it’s not as ‘meaty’ as a Portobello.  The serving was for one and weirdly, I didn’t feel overly-full or bloated after dining and remained sate – I have no desire to eat anymore for tonight.

Golden Oyster Mushrooms are definitely a keeper and will remain (gasp!!) in my kitchen. I dislike how upon reaching a certain size they’re start to spray a fine misting of spores into the air – I can live without that in my kitchen.  However, I do love how quickly they grow, harvest, clean (really, a quick rinse is all that’s needed), and cook.  They’re so mindblowingly, crazily delicious and so satisfying!  Nothing’s missing – texture, flavor, full satiation, color, and vitamins/minerals – I’m a convert and fan!

I’d really love to hear from other’s who’ve grown &/or created culinary masterpieces with these jewels.  Until next time….

Malhzeit!

The Taste and Scent of Summer

This weekend was AWESOME!  I got to enjoy one of my favorite late spring/early summer activities with one of my favorite persons – Hub’s Oma.

Nothing holds the taste and scent of summer more intensely as strawberries and no berry tastes and smells quite as good as those harvested in the right season.  But what about the rest of the year?  The choice is to buy frozen berries, imported greenhouse berries, or as I do, collect as many of the seasonal berry as needed and preserve them to carry us through the year.  Here’s how I save mine:

Two & half kilos of fresh, self-picked strawberries; the plastic container became a gift for friends who’d invited us to a BBQ later that day.

Should’ve been done shortly after picking but I had a BBQ to attend. 2.5 kilos seperated between perfect and slightly too ripe/bruised.

Hulling is easy with the right tool – a simple straw.

See; it perfectly removes the hull.

Washed, dried, hulled, & powdered with 1/2 cup of sugar.

Packed in a single layer in a zip-closure, freezer bag; these will keep for about a year with no lose of color, minor softening, but still in form with great texture. I use these for topping cheesecake and ice-cream.

The not-so-perfect berries are blended with sugar and lime to taste.

This is what I mean by a not-so-perfect berry; slightly bruised. It would turn to mush if frozen with sugar as the others were.

Blend until smooth and bottle in clean jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headroom (liquids expand when freezing). The more concentrated the flavors, the better, as this syrup will be used in both non- and alcoholic drinks. Should keep for about a year in the freezer…if it lasts that long!

Planning next year’s garden while enjoying the taste of summer – a strawberry spritzer: 1/4 glass of syrup, 1/4 glass of white wine, & the rest filled with cold sparkling water. Prost!

In garden news, the weather’s been practically perfect – cloudless, blue skies filled with blazing yellow sun; hot, humid temperatures; followed by cooling, drenching rains.  Everything responded accordingly – lush, thick, fast growth; innumerous blossoms, and the beginning of the fruiting.  Have a look-see:

I’ve been watching this little fellow (& his siblings) for weeks. They seemed to concregate by the plants with the aphids but weren’t eating my plants so I left them alone.

Then I noticed many of these on my Nasturtium (Kapuznerkressen) but no more of the little larvea…

Could it be? Has my garden been saved?

In any event, the Nasturtium doesn’t seem to be bothered, it even flowered.

Basil’s coming along pretty well.

About time to harvest the micro-greens experiement; seems to have worked, the tree’s shade & enough water in the tray keeps them from wilting.

The tomatoes and peas are making a jungle of my highbed…I’m probably going to have spacing problems yet again this year.

Cocktail tomatoes are on the way.

Green Zebras are also developing.

Both the Snowpeas and my Garden peas are heavy with fruit…now the wait.

Gold Rush zucchinis are plentiful

Apparently the temparatures are finally perfect for the Sunburst as it too begins to bring forth fruit.

My cucumber is also slowly growing tall and big enough to securely bear fruit.

I noticed a thickening of one of my Purple Haze carrot’s stalk…

and today I noticed the beginning of a flower stalk. What will it look like? Will the carrot still be edible?

The Sternjasmin is in full bloom, gorgeous, elegant, and heady in its rich scent.

Letting Nature Take It’s Course

Tomorrow is the first of June and the beginning of summer!  The moments of preparation and care will now bring forth fruit and hopefully lots of it on a consistent basis.

Still, everything’s not as easy as it seems.  Last weekend, we experienced 3 days of rain, for which I was happy to receive.  Rainwater’s the best of for plants; but, 3 days of wet might have been too much for the poor things.  Rapid growth was followed by pests and mildew.  A year ago, I’d have been out spraying and what not, this year I’m letting nature take it’s course.  It’ll be interesting to see what happens but so far, my garden has turned into a hunting ground for insects and birds.

First of the peas…

and the first female zucchini blossom!

A great amount of growth…

and the carrots are always happy in moist soil.

Infact, everything’s looking pretty good…

an ever-increasing pea-forest…

tomatoes threatening to create their own forest as well…

Tree and flowers all seem happy.

Micro-greens are coming along…

and finally the morning glory is starting to stretch.

Sweet pepper raised from seed finally set.

Last attempt to outsmart the snails that continue to eat my poor baby flowers.

Then starts the troubles…mildewing of the zucchini leaves…

caterpillars intending to fatten themselves on everything green…

aphids everywhere!

Nonetheless, balance is everything – wasps to the rescue against the caterpillars!

Harvests are more than enough for Hubs & I…

providing herbs…

and beauty.

Pfingstrosen

Prior to receiving a large garbage bag full of roots with the instructions to plant them in sun at the same depth at which they were previously planted; I’d never payed any attention to peonies.  Oh yeah, in Austria they’re called Pfingstrosen and they bloom just about the time of Pentacost (Pfingsten) which we’re currently celebrating.

Honestly, I don’t know much about them but I’m really happy to have them.  They’re huge, elegant, and they smell AMAZING – a little bit like Jasmine and Rose combined.  Mine are, according my experience, medium in scent – my entire bedroom is perfumed; however, I’ve had flowers upstairs that I could smell from the frontdoor (which I would base as strong-scented).

Here’s what I’ve learned in the year that I’ve had these plants:

• Peonies originate in Asia.  The peony is named after the Greek medical student Paeon who was saved from the wrath of his teacher Asclepius (Greek god of medicine & healing) by Zeus by turning him into the flower.
• there seems to be four growing types: woodland, intersectional, herbacious, and tree.  Mine are intersectional & a hybrid – meaning they’ve been bred to resist one thing or the other and to form their flowers in a certain way, the blooms tend to hang, & the leaves will stay green throughout the summer, die back in fall, & require trimming for the winter.  During the winter, the plant spreads it’s roots further and in the spring, as occurred this spring, they take over another 6 inches of my garden – more for me!
• They come in a variety of colors – from the palest white to the deepest purplish-black – and shapes – from single to a bomb (mine can either be defined as a ‘Hundred Proliferate’ or ‘Crown’ shape; still working on classifying which hybrid it is).
• like Rhubarb, they will return each spring (one of the first out of the ground), require very little care if they’ve been properly set, should be planted in fall, need to be divided every 5 yrs or so for optimum health, and will provide pleasure for generations.
• they like full sun – mine are receiving about 8 hrs per day in the spring, perhaps 10hrs in summer but they are planted next to a western hedge (no afternoon sun).  This means that they tend to reach for the remaining afteroon sun and grow out eatward instead of up.  This happens to a lot of my plants as the ideal spot has been given to the highbed.
• in general, propagation occurs by root division. The flowers do produce seeds but the resulting flower will often not be identical to the original flower/plant due to hybridation.
• peony flowers tend to be visited by ants – no worries, they’re just collecting sap, let them be.  It’s normal.  They do fall victum to a few viruses and diseases but mine have been lucky so far.
• the flowers make amazing cut flowers that last a long time – the hanging version like mine are usually trimmed short on their stems and floated in a bowl of water. I’ve noticed that upon trimming the just opened blooms (they should be trimmed when still closed) and arranging them in their vase, the blooms spread all the way open and were just divine.  Some are defined as dinner-plate blossoms given the breadth of the spread; perhaps I’ll try floating a new blossom in a bowl of water in a few weeks.

For more Information on Peonies: http://peonysenvy.com/peonycare.html

I’m fascinated with this wonderful plant/flower & observing it as it continues to settle into it’s new home and develop.  And I’m really enjoying the amazingly fresh perfume they grace my home with.

These elegant blooms elevate my boudoir, visually and olfactory, to the realm of royalty!

Peony blooms are ready to open.

Peonies fill out in record time; they’re always in a race to flower first.

Peonies also making an appearance.

The Peonies also survived.

 

Spring Always Seems To Fly By

The last month and a half just sped by and although I haven’t posted, I did document.  Most things have been a success so far but a few casualties did occur.  I’m still in awe of how quickly everything’s grown and that the seeds I started actually became plants.  It’s just so cool!

April

The seedlings just needed to go outside; there was no place to really support their healthy growth, so I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

Zucchini & melon seedlings still stretching.

Chard & sweet pepper seedlings

New additions – Fuchsia (a hanging and an upright version).

Calla lily

Taking a risk popping the zucchini and melons out so early, but they need light! Hope the black plastic will keep them warm.

Bougainvillea coming back to life.

Crocus adding a little color to the garden

Peonies also making an appearance.

Chard seedings – two from last year and two new ones.

Last year’s spinach and rucola.

Newly planted radishes

Newly sprouted carrots.

Peas sprouting

Rhubarb spreading

New additions – bleeding heart and lemongrass

Fuchsia’s are out

Gift from my neighbor – Nelken

Bärlauch (Wild garlic) – love this thing!

Hibiscus…will it make it?

Early May

Between the quickly warming days and the generally warmer micro-climate of my garden, we got some early harvests.  Honestly, the best we’ve ever had!  I’m definitely going to overwinter our spinach and rucola again next year.  I’ll attempt it again with the chard and artichoke (if they survive this summer) but with a nice bedding of mulch.  Last year’s artichoke rotted due to excess moisture & freezing; while the chard went to seed.

Spinach harvest is ridic this year!

Apparently over-wintering them works pretty well.

First harvest of the radishes (I started slicing before I remembered to snap a photo.)

Rucola gone to seed – only got two harvests before it started shooting.

Things are filling out.

Bougianvillea

Yup, that’s the zucchini & melon plants; that black plastic really holds heat in!

After a trim, the lemongrass came back with a vengeance.

Chive flowers are delicious!

Peonies fill out in record time; they’re always in a race to flower first.

New addition – Lily-of-the-valley. Such an elegant and dangerous plant – I love it!

Peas

Chard

New additions – lettuce seedlings.

Gooseberries

New addition – Morning Glory

New addition – Artichoke. Last year’s did not make it; trying again.

Rhubarb

Wild garlic will not flower this year because those pesky, slimy snails ate them! 😦

Calla lily has bloomed already; crazy!

New attempt to use these clay pots that dry everything out.

Lavender (this one flowers pink)

Mittagsblume

Wild thyme (also flowers pink)

Irish moss, flowers white.

Mid May

There’s something about spring that makes me go a little crazy.  As soon as things warm up and a little green shows, I’m off – tucking new plants in every cranny I can.  Once again, I overcrowded (despite my SFG planning).  Succumbing to desire & despair that my own wouldn’t sprout (old seeds), I bought lettuce seedlings.  A pallet of what I assumed were 6, turned out to be 12 and without thought, I popped them all in one square foot – bad!!  Oh well, we’ll have to eat them as they grow.

This zucchini flower greeted me early one morning when I went to turn on the drip system before work. I can’t believe that it’s flowering already! All signs seem go for a great harvest this year.

The rhubarb is turning into a monster; blocking all the sun from the artichoke. Something must be done.

Saturday’s harvest consisted of about 6 stalks; those things are bigger than my head! Yay!

Austria has a period just between spring and summer called Eisheilige where the temps will drop unexpectedly. This weekend was the end of that period, so the plastic came off and the plants are free to roam.

Zucchini sending out a second flower.

Cucumber preparing to climb.

Honeymelon looking for a little support.

Pattypan zucchini has been seperated from his twin and mulched; it’s also putting out buds.

Last year’s lavender has buds that are about to bloom.

Chives are still blooming and the lemongrass seems pretty content.

Bougainvillea still taking its time, once the temps climb, I’m anticipating that it will take off!

Peony blooms are ready to open.

Lily-of-the-valley are mulched and shaded by the peonies, just the way it likes it.

These lettuces have been through it all; overcrowded, moved into sun and nearly dried out, attacked by snails & slugs. Moving them to a shaded spot has worked wonders.

Jasmine turned red and all the spring flowers have gone to sleep.

Jasmine putting out new leaf and flower buds.

Peas

High-bed is mulched & watering system is in. Spinach is giving it’s last performance; got to figure out what I should put there.

This is why folks plant radishes and carrots together; the carrots take so long to sprout and are so small, you’d forget where they are and think they’re a weed.

The first carrots I planted are really pretty but nowhere near ready.

A totally overcrowded salad selection.

My newest experiment – micro-greens. Once the summer really gets here, the lettuces & spinach will bolt, radishes become corky. By harvesting them young (after the first true leaves appear), we can keep on enjoying them.

Three varieties of tomatoes – Green Zebra, German Gold, and Gelbe Dattelwein.

Snails/slugs ate 4 of my 6 Chrysantheums. I popped 4 more in hoping they’d grow quickly in the warmer weather we’re experiencing now.

The artichoke finally has room to breath.

Gooseberries galore!

Morning Glory coming along. That bug next to it is a scarab that has the most beautiful emerald green color and a horrible habit of flying directly at my face. Oh it also lays it’s eggs in the dirt, where the larvea eat (hopefully) decaying items – but most likely, the roots of plants. Just one more pest to contend with!

Can you believe this tree! The Japanese Variegated Willow is beautiful but man can this thing spread!

I have flowers! The hanging Fuchsia had alreay bloomed, just waiting on the upright to join the party.

Who knew snails/slugs ate Edelweiss; thankfully, they leave the Nelke in peace.

The Bleeding Heart has flowered three times already and it’s winter-hard: yay!

Calla lily on the left was grown in my office, while the one on the right grew in the garden; the difference in health and happiness of the plant is so obvious. Poor thing is paler, limper, and more dependent than his brother. Think I’ll keep him home with me.

Most exciting news ever: my Peace Lily (3 years old) is flowering! It now resides in the Hibiscus pot (it died) and seems very happy in it’s shaded location under the tree.

Micro-green attempt: Basil and Cress. In the small pots are Celery seeds and a Glockenpaprika attempt.

My pink Lavender got a mulch bed because it’s in a clay pot, in direct heat, and overshadowed by the roof (no dripping rain). I’m hoping these precautions will provide a happy environment for it to grow and bloom; but I’m thinking this pot be too small.

Mittagsblume blooming!

Wild thyme is wildin’ out! 😀

Sternmoos is so cute with it’s tiny white flowers.

Another Week, A Million Lessons!

If it was possible to do everything wrong….I did! First, let it be known…I fell into raising plants from seedlings…seriously, I had no idea what I was doing, was resistant (see last post), and the results speak for themselves. The poor plants suffered and died.  I, on the other hand learned the meaning behind the term ‘Damping Off‘.  Remember I mentioned a mold on my plants; well that’s a fungus that’s killing my babies.  There’s no cure for it & once one has it, it spreads like wildfire through the air… they all ended in the trash.

That white stuff on the pods is one the fungi that kills plants – jointly known as ‘Damping Off’.

A bleach bath for the containers, watering systems, everything that I would be using again, and again we try.  Knowing I was behind schedule and that the spring plants could stand an early planting, I started with the summer squashes & melons.  Within a couple days, the zucchinis and melon sprouted. Granted the previous weekend was wonderful, so great that I brought all the plants outside to enjoy the sun and the unusually warm temperatures…in the hopes that the bright light would wake a few of them up from their winter sleep and just do everyone a world of good.

The over-wintered Hibiscus,

and Bouganvillea…pray for them. Technically, they were supposed to go dormant over the winter, they look dead to me.

Here’s a few other shots of the garden waking up and enjoying the wonderful spring day. Last Fall, I decided I wanted to do something with this area of the garden.  It’s cool, stays damp, won’t grow a proper covering of grass in the corners, and is difficult to mow – we decided on Winter – early Summer bulbs.

This cool, damp corner of the garden that’s no longer lonely for the ‘Sternjasmin’.

Snowdrops (English) or ‘Schneeglocken’ – saw a garden full of these in Switzerland (inspiring!!!)

‘Gartenkrokus’

Here’s how the rest are getting on…

I’m glad Hub’s pruned our tree before he left because the buds are starting to pop.

The Bayleaf survived the winter…

as did the Rhubarb. I know I shouldn’t worry about this plant, but I do!

The Peonies also survived.

As I was prunning the Sage, I noticed a lone ladybug…but where there’s one…!

Looks like the Gooseberries made it as well and are ready to take on Spring!

New additions – new Chives

and Lemongrass – gotta keep this away from the cats…seems they love this stuff!

And a full-view.

This area used to be the Herb Garden but due to the tree shading it out…I’m going to put flowers in there.

The current state of the left side of the garden

Current state of the right side; the empty pot will hold this year’s zucchini, cucumber, and melon (wish me luck!).

Now back to adventures in raising plants from seed.

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If you’re starting from seed; here’s a bit of info I found that helped (after the fact) that may save you from the trauma of losing your babies and having to start again like I did.

And finally, one of the biggest sacrifices ever!  This lily was purchased on Thursday for a friend’s birthday party (it was on Saturday evening).  I housed it in my office/closet and everyday, upon waking up and also upon returning home, its scent would permeate the entire apartment – it’s sooooo lovely.  I was really tempted to keep it but decided if I’m meant to have one, when I go back to the store, one’ll be there waiting on me.  Trust when I say, this is better than any airfreshner!

This Week in A Bahamian in Austria’s Garden…

Just a quick update on how things are progressing thus far:

• I’ve been emotionally distancing myself from the seedlings in an attempt to dampen the affect of the inevitable. There’s a reason folks have all that prep stuff!
• The neighborhood cats seem to be winning the battle but I’m getting closer and closer to ignoring Hubs and putting straw on the highbed.  He hates the look of it but I hate having to dig up cat poo!
• The temps have dipped again, which is why only the true spring plants have been started.  I’ve still to cut back the tree and the sage but it’s really cold outside and I’d only rush (and mess up) the job; better to wait until a warmer day.

One week of growth and two of the Rainbow Chard have already died with another deciding between life and death. There’s also a bit of fungus on the top of each of the pods and I’m not sure why – I haven’t kept it overly moist. Surprisingly the Sweet Chocolate (Paprika, far right row) have already unexpectedly sprouted. Perhaps their sprouting and the fungus are linked – holding area too warm?

My Calla Lilies over-wintered in my pantry and had already sprouted when I checked on them this week. After a summer of growth, the initial bulb had created several other bulbs (their method of reproduction) and all of them had several ‘eyes’ (sprouting areas). Even the tiniest of them (in the little green pot) had an eye and I just had to plant it – how cute will that look in my bedroom! The Amaryllis’ flowers (pot on the windowsill on the right) have spent themselves and now the leaves seem to be growing to gather strength over the summer before their Fall nap.

Until next time!

Getting Started

A few weeks ago, a fellow blogger asked if I’d started on the spring garden as yet, which given our cold, gray skies, hadn’t even been given a thought.  The organic gardening stores hadn’t started hawking their wares yet – normally my cue to get started.  Then my neighbor awesomely presented me with a massive amount of seeds for my birthday, which I am now obligated to successfully bring to fruition.

I know a few folks that start their seeds indoors in the late winter but all the information ever shared with me on the subject indicates a rather tedious, involved, and expensive process requiring lots of space.  There are discussions about grow lights, essential-nutrients, grow cells, and basements have been remodelled into growing facilities.  It’s enough trying to find space to over-winter my non-hardy plants so I just figured, “forget that – leave that to the professionals and just buy the seedlings!  There’s no space to house all that and I’m not investing in grow lights!”

So how am I going to successfully bring those gifted seeds to fruition?   By applying small scale processes.  First, I layed out a plan of what our spring garden and summer garden should provide, re-read my books on Square Foot Gardening (SFG) and adapted my plan to available space based on the plants we’d like to have and how much growing time we’re likely to be blessed with (i.e. the amount of weeks between the last and first frost dates).  Some of the plants will be direct sown into their spots (i.e. carrots, radishes, peas) while others will be started indoors and then transplanted based on the last frost date (i.e. leafy greens, tomatoes, zucchini); some will be succession planted and others will be fixed.

SFG principles eradicate the need to start dozens of one plant and requiring a huge amount of space to house them until their ready for transfer.  I simply look up how much can be planted in a square foot (i.e. 16 carrots, 8 pea plants, 1 tomato plant), determine the amount of plants required based on production level and then I double the amount of seeds I start to allow for choosing the strongest for transplanting.  So we’d only need one each of a massive producers like cucumber or zucchini; thus, I’ll plant two seeds of each and only transplant the healthiest later.  Also, since I’m staggering the planting dates, all of the seeds aren’t being planted the same time requiring a basement laboratory.

All that having been said – I’m late!  Last frost date for my area is March 11 – 20 and my Sweet Chocolate Paprika (sweet pepper) should’ve been started 7 weeks prior as it needs 19 weeks til harvest.  Oh well, we’ll do the best we can.

Our garden roughly 4 weeks ago. Under that thick blanket are Spinach, Rucola, and Rainbow Chard – all winter hardy!

These peat pellets are going to be my seed starting medium.

The seeds that I need to get started today; three are cool weather (spring) crops and the other is a summer crop preparation.

The pellets after soaking in water for about 10 minutes. The light crumbly nature allows the young seedlings to easily send out roots and shoots. When ready to transplant, the entire pellet will be planted to avoid disturbing the roots.

These Swiss Chard seeds always astound me!

Finished product: seeds are planted in their individual pellets and labelled.

This glasshouse was purchased last summer from Ikea & it’s perfect!

All assembled in less than 5 minutes.

Housing the Rainbow Chard that sprouted in 5 days on our sunny, upstairs balcony.

After 3 hours, the highbed is ready for planting. Twigs provide the SFG-style spacing that I need to prevent overcrowding.

‘Purple Haze’ carrot seeds; only 16 per square and I picked and portioned each of these tiny seeds out.

The radish seeds were much easier – 16 of those per square as well.

Spring plants all in – two varieties of peas with their supports (8 p/square), Rucola, Spinach (9 p/square), and Rainbow Chard (4/square) that had overwintered in the highbed, and the newly planted carrots & radishes.

Can’t forget the cat-defenses – bamboo skewers and a new product strewn over the lower right square that I’m trying.

Katzen-Schreck promises to keep the neighborhood terrors from using my highbed as a litter – active ingredient: Lavender oil. We’ll see how that works.

A badly root-bound Lemon Thyme to replace the one I neglected last year. The bottom of the pot had to be cut away to get it out.

My orchid bloomed this winter. The process was astounding and amazing to watch; I’ll have to record it next time.

A new addition: Amaryllis – produces the biggest, most breathtaking blooms.

My first plant in Austria, Peacelily, has not graced me with a bloom since I bought her. However, she has grown a lot – been repotted, filled out the new pot; so maybe this year she’ll have enough energy to produce flowers.

If you’ve been playing around with the idea of starting a garden or getting an allotment, I would love to encourage you to do so – it’s SOOOO much fun and is one of the best parts of my day!  Pam (another fellow blogger) posted a great 5 step checklist on the subject; maybe it’ll help in your decision-making process!