Jer's GardenBlog

Is It Evolution?

2008-08-05T11:55:00.001-07:00

While you were distracted watching cats tackle babies on YouTube, Jer's GardenBlog wrapped itself up in a cocoon. The minutes flew by and a stirring began within the imaginary white shroud. Now, though Jer's Gardenblog is no more, if you like butterflies, you're certain to like Garden Nirvana.

What I mean to say by all this is, update your links.

Some Food

2008-08-03T14:14:00.000-07:00

As I'm on my way out the door, here are a few extra pictures I thought I would post today. This salad was almost entirely home grown, including lettuce, green onions, carrots, cucumbers, and nasturtium flowers.

I found one tiny beet that I had missed in my previous beet harvest. Dwight was probably distracting me. I found the little chopped up beet bits pleasing.

And I'm off!

Snapshots: Purple Tomatillo Plant

2008-08-02T22:28:00.000-07:00

Edibles: Ancho Grande (Poblano)

2008-08-02T09:32:00.000-07:00

Edibles: Peruvian Purple Chile

2008-07-31T09:41:00.000-07:00

Edibles: Nasturtium (with Guest)

2008-07-29T16:50:00.000-07:00

The Nasturtium's leaves and flowers are both edible, imparting a peppery taste to salads or other dishes. Recently, Lindsay and I decorated some burritos with flowers from these plants. We didn't eat the Japanese Beetle.

Edibles: Mini Red Bell Pepper & Sunlight

2008-07-28T10:12:00.000-07:00

Snapshots: Leaf Veins Part 2

2008-07-26T18:37:00.000-07:00

Garden Log - Fruiting Vegetables

2008-07-25T09:04:00.000-07:00

We've had a lot of sun and rain over the past few weeks, which has been great for the garden. It's been exciting seeing everything grow for the first time, and I'm particularly enjoying watching the fruit form on some of the plants.

Shortly before this picture was taken, I purged my beds of most of my brassicas. Cabbage moths were just eating them up. The mostly empty area seen in Raised Bed #1, here, formerly contained broccoli, cabbage, and kohlrabi. Of all my brassicas, the only kind I left was red cabbage. I haven't seen any caterpillars on these cabbages, probably because the more regular, green brassicas provide camouflage for the caterpillars, while the red cabbage does not. In the future, I intent to plant my brassicas together under netting to prevent the moths from getting to them.

This tiny King of the North pepper plant was the first to start producing peppers. A larger plant I have of the same variety has now surpassed this little guy in production.

Have I mentioned yet that I really like these Peruvian Purple Chile plants from Seeds of Change? They have purplish leaves to go with their purple flowers and the deep purple fruits. The peppers supposedly turn red when ripe. I'll be saving at least one of these plants as a houseplant for the winter.

Near the peppers in Raised Bed #2 is my lone Purple Tomatillo plant. It's huge and has been flowering for awhile, and is now producing some very cool fruit that look like little lanterns.

Of the three varieties of cucumber that I planted, these pickling cukes are the farthest along. The many yellow flowers growing on them hold the future promise of many delicious, homemade pickles.

My tomato plants in this bed are just starting to fruit, and the corn is beginning to form as well. Much of this bed, however, belongs to the zucchini plants.

I was shocked when I saw the zucchini in the second of these pictures. How did it get so big without my seeing it? Then I looked at some of the younger ones. It's really interesting how these form right out of the stalk at the base of the flower. I should plant more squash. Here's a full shot of the plant, crowding out my poor corn.

I have one more picture to share. This one shows one of the three mini red bell pepper plants that I have in pots. I'm a huge pepper fan, so I'm looking forward to these.

There has been a lot of growth so far during the summer months. I've been harvesting lettuce for some time now. I've had an abundance, and have therefor been able to share with friends and family, and also to bring some to Food Gatherers. I've been harvesting bunching onions, snap beans, and nasturtium flowers and leaves as well. Now I'm really looking forward to the maturation of all these fruit-vegetables that I've shown in this post, and also to this same time next year, when I expect to be noticably farther along.

This past week, I've planted some of the root crops that I've been a bit remiss with. Carrots, radishes, and bunching onions went into the spaces vacated by brassicas and lettuce, and I put in some garden cress and corn salad as well.

That's it for today. I've got a back-log of pretty pictures, which I'd like to post a steady stream of, one per day. I've also installed a new, small garden where some dieing bushes had been. The rain garden is still almost-but-not-quite complete, and I hope to put a post up about that in the near future as well.

Edibles: NuMex Twilight

2008-07-25T08:54:00.000-07:00

This plant is a trooper. It lived inside this past winter and was beset by mealybugs. They were there for quite awhile before I finally managed to get rid of them. Then the poor plant was infested with aphids. They had eaten most of the leaves before it warmed up enough to bring the plant outside. Now it's my leading chile producer. This picture was taken a couple weeks back and some of the peppers are beginning to turn to their next shade, which appears to be white.

Edibles: My First Tomato

2008-07-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

This little tomato did most of its growing while the tiny plant was still inside of a pop-bottle container. It's beating out all my other tomato plants. The fruit of the Furry Yellow Hog Tomato is supposed to be striped with white and yellow or green (as well as ping-pong ball sized and covered in peach fuzz), so I don't know where these reddish hues are coming from. We'll see.

Pollen and Petals: Black Eyed Susan

2008-07-23T20:45:00.000-07:00

Consistent updates, coming soon!

Snapshots: Fennel Leaves

2008-06-29T03:35:00.000-07:00

Pollen and Petals: Lemon Tree Buds

2008-06-27T19:03:00.001-07:00

I don't know what this guy is doing. This dwarf meyer lemon tree was a birthday gift to me last January. It was shipped to me, and I was told it may lose many of its leaves due to shipment/transport shock. It did. It hasn't gotten them back. When the Spring began, it grew flower buds all over the branches that dropped their leaves. The flowers came but the leaves didn't follow. It's been outside since late May, and now it's flowering again. Leaves? Who needs'em.

(Well, technically this plant ought to need'em. We'll see where this goes.)

Snapshots: Leaf Veins

2008-06-25T09:44:00.000-07:00

A Little of What's New

2008-06-24T14:28:00.000-07:00

I was glancing back over some of my old posts and, seeing some pictures from my last garden log update, it hit me how much has changed. Of course, I already knew that from the feeling of hauling all those compost bags around, but it was nice to actually see in the pictures.

I really enjoy going out every day and watching my garden, seeing how things have changed from one day to the next. I expect a lot from it, always looking for consistent new growth. Sometimes it feels like things are going too slowly. That's why it's nice to have this garden log. So that I can look back and see just how much has happened in a short time, at what hasn't happened since I last stopped to watch.

The last garden log update had a photo with one completed but empty raised bed. There are now three such beds built and planted. In Raised Bed #2, I have some greens I bought as starts, as well as a number of seed-grown plants. There are two kinds of hot peppers, two kinds of sweet peppers, basil, sunflowers, cucumbers, and beans. There is also a purple tomatillo plant. It's the only tomatillo seedling I had that made it, but it's also my largest plant right now. Here's a shot of the half of that bed without the mature greens, followed by a close-up of the greens.

In the other new bed, Raised Bed #3 (I'm kind of looking forward to naming the gardens), There are two kinds of tomatoes, basil, peas, beans, sweet peppers, nasturtiums, two kinds of corn, and zucchini plants growing. Here's a nice, if relatively unrevealing shot of that bed. The many tiny seedlings are courtesy of my cottonwood trees that were kind enough to seed my entire back yard.

Another big change can be seen in the herb garden. In my last post with pictures, it was just starting to come back in. Now it is overgrown and in need of serious harvesting. I want to tackle the winter savory, bottom middle, first. I would like to put cuttings in the food processor with water, and then freeze the solution into mini ice cube trays. I could then pop them into a plastic bag and have frozen herb nuggets ready whenever I need them.

I've also been working on a container garden. I like the flexibility of such a garden, and the possibility of splitting it up and putting certain plants where they are needed. This may be to act as a companion plant, as my carefully potted mint is now supposedly discouraging cabbage moths from some of my cabbage. Pots from the container garden can also just fill an empty space, as they do here...

The pot by itself on the left has some transplanted bronze fennel seedlings from last year's fennel that re-seeded. Of the three on the right, the green one has two bush beans and two cowpeas, the white one has a mini red bell pepper plant, and the large one has two different cherry tomatoes, some lemon basil, and one more bush bean plant. Here's another shot of them, cause I wanna...

And that's it for now!

Pollen and Petals (Back!)

2008-06-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

Due to an unfortunate hard drive failure, I don't have any trip pictures to share. Nevertheless, a lot has happened in the last month and a half. To kick things off, here's a shot of the rose bush I inherited when I moved in here, freshly weeded and trellised.

See You Soon

2008-05-03T21:46:00.001-07:00

Once again, I've been working so much that there hasn't been time to update. A lot has gotten done (thanks so much to Andrew, Kristy, and Lindsay for their help today), but I'll have to wait to talk about that. After a brief night's rest I'm heading to Chiapas, Mexico, for a little over two weeks. I'm sure I'll have lots to write about when I get back. Until then...

Snapshots

2008-04-28T18:34:00.000-07:00

Pollen and Petals

2008-04-27T05:57:00.000-07:00

These rapini flowers are relentless. You cut them off (and eat them) and the next day they've got a bunch more. I haven't had time to keep up with them lately, so I've just been enjoying their little yellow blooms.

Raise It Up

2008-04-23T20:56:00.000-07:00

Here's my first raised bed. It's not perfect, but it's the first thing I've ever built and I'm pretty happy with how it came out. The side boards are cedar and the posts and supports are treated pine (once again courtesy of my friend, Dan.) Hopefully I'll have three more of these 4'x8' beds built and planted in by the time I leave for Mexico.

I'm going to run fencing, the same kind I used for the trellis, from the high posts down to somewhere around the mid-point of the beds. I'll grow cucumbers and the like up the fencing, and plant lettuce and other shade-lovers in the space beneath.

The hose is pointing to one of my Little Giant blueberries, planted in front of the bed. It's much more towards the 'little' than it is the 'giant' side at the moment, but I'm looking forward to the 15 pounds of berries it's supposed to ultimately produce each season!

Pollen and Petals

2008-04-23T17:10:00.000-07:00

These are some of the first flower buds of the season from a geranium that's one of my favorite houseplants. I rescued it from rather unfavorable circumstances last year and it still gave me loads of beautiful pink flowers. It's done very well over the winter and I'm expecting it to really produce this spring and summer.

Garden Log - April 20, 2008

2008-04-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

I feel lucky for my relative lack of soreness, because I've been putting in some heavy hours (and heavy compost, and heavy mulch) these past few days. It's just been so nice out. The buds on just about everything have swelled up and opened. In fact, this little lemon tree that Lindsay got me for my birthday has begun to flower. Shortly after the shipping and transplant it dropped 80% of its leaves. Just recently it grew buds all over and now it's flowering. I'm glad to see it's not doing as badly as its looked like these past few months.

Here's another plant in a pot. I've been thinking about getting a bay tree for awhile, so I nabbed this guy when I saw him at the farmer's market. Thanks Renaissance Acres!

Now I've been all over the yard, but let's kick it off with that south wall garden. Today, with help from Kristy, I got my trellis set up and planted some White Niagra Grapes from Downtown. Grapes, trellis and all cost me about $20-25, with the posts courtesy of my friend Dan. Kristy also planted some of my rapini in this bed for me.

And here's a close-up of the grapes and their trellis. This shot was taken in the evening, so the lighting isn't ideal.

Switching poles, here is a shot of an impromptu garden I put in on the north side of my house. This was grass and dirt and debris up until yesterday. Now it's home to some woodland strawberries, a wintergreen plant, and one red, one purple, and one white trillium. I got the trillium from another vendor at the farmer's market who cultivates it. I'm hoping it will spread heartily and I can transplant some into the woods behind my house. I'm also expecting the wintergreen and strawberries to fill out. Again, I managed this garden pretty cheaply with $24 of edging and quite a bit of mulch.

Here are my new fruit trees. I planted three Gumi trees (more on these in a future post) on the west side of the house, and two Ussuri plums on the north side, near the road.

Moving back to gardens, I've saved the best for last. This is my new deck garden, also a bit impromptu. I rescued the logs that I edged it with from across the street after a tree service came to tidy things up over there. Here's an early shot of it, after installing the edging.

And here it is today. I've moved some of its original contents around and added some new things as well. For reference, here are some photos from last year.

The rocks wedged beneath the log are mostly from my lawn, under the sod. The yarrow was moved over from the side and the rapini went in today. In the middle of the rapini is an American Black currant. The frame has a little clematis I put in last year. Also, you can't quite see it in this photo, but I got the log to kind of ride out of the soil. I'm really happy with how this edging turned out.

And on this side I've put in a cup plant and a "rattlesnake master." I plan to fill in the empty space soon.

So that's it for now. I plan to build my raised beds early this week.

Garden Log - April 18, 2008

2008-04-17T22:56:00.000-07:00

The end of the semester and the beginning of everything has kept me busy. Too busy to post, it would seem, however tonight's insomnia presents me with an opportunity. A lot's been going on, but here's a look at what I've got pictures of at the moment.

First off, here's a shot of last year's herb garden. It contains fennel (looks dead but presumably re-seeded?), sage, savory, oregano, and two kinds of thyme. With the exception of the fennel, it looks like it over-wintered quite well to me.

Here's a shot of my two 3'x8' in-ground beds. One contains garlic planted late last fall and the other has some chard and rapini transplants from inside. This is the same chard seen in previous posts. That latter bed has a number of things I planted by seed, none of which has come up just yet.

Last week I received a big order of fruit and berry trees and bushes from Oikos and I've been working on getting them in the ground. Most of these I put into a new garden on the south side of my house. When the snow melted it was all grass there. Here's a shot taken after some prep-work.

And after a little more work, here it is with plums, quinces, strawberries, and a currant bush. The timber part of the edging I brought home from work, intended as firewood, last fall. One of them is actually partly burnt. The two logs are from the woods that abut my property.

And here are some close-ups. First, one of two Nana Beach Plum bushes. These are supposed to bloom nicely so I put them closest to my deck.

There are four strawberry plants around the window well, two Alpines and two "Berries Galore."

Next up are the lemony quinces, one of two shown below.

And finally, a currant bush. I've got another of these I plan to put in elsewhere, after some sleep.

And right near the currant and the quinces, a bit of crowberry. This is a groundcover that should spread, not getting any taller than its current size. It is supposed to "produce sweet acidic purple black berries available year round [...] They were and still are used by Eskimo where they are used to make pies and mixed with other berries to make jelly."

I've done more than this and have a lot going on inside as well, but I'll call it a post for now.

To Plate

2008-04-02T07:52:00.000-07:00

Last week Lindsay and I made our first dish using substantial amounts of homegrown produce. I wanted to do something nice with the chard I had harvested, and the recipe we settled on was from Vegweb, simply called Millet with Red Swiss Chard Leaves and Carrots. Before I go on with the details, I'd like to mention that I'm using this post for Grow Your Own, a monthly food blogging event hosted over at Andrea's Recipes.

Now, it so happens that I'm a pretty big fan of millet (and carrots), so this looked like a good recipe to me. I decided to modify it a little, because I didn't believe the millet would cook through properly as described. As it turns out, I didn't modify it quite enough. Millet, in my experience, is best prepared at a little less than a 1:3 ratio of grain to water, cooked covered for 30 minutes, and then left to stand slightly uncovered for around 10 more minutes. If I try this recipe again, I will probably cook the millet through separately before mixing with the vegetables. Speaking of the vegetables, though I didn't grow these I just had to include a picture of the onion and carrots.

Pretty, no? Anyhow, everything seemed like it was going quite well. For soup broth, I used a cup of Trader Joe's Carrot and Ginger soup and added a cup of water as well. I thought this would complement the ingredients well, but again I think I would do things differently. The dish ended up being a bit bland to my taste. I think a saltier broth would have provided better contrast within the dish when all is said and done.

I cooked the millet separately for about 15 minutes before adding the vegetables and cooking for another 15 minutes. The millet didn't seem like it was done, so I continued to add water and simmer for awhile. I would say another full cup of water was added to the dish during this time.

Unfortunately the millet just didn't quite finish cooking. We didn't want to leave it on any longer because we were afraid the chard and onions would just turn to mush.

I'll probably try this dish again, but first cook the millet through and let it sit a bit before later mixing it with the vegetables. I'll also use a different broth, with hopes that this will minimize the need for Braggs and nutritional yeast, which we ended up using this time around. I do like the combinations in this dish, as well as the fact that it uses the entire chard leaf, including the stem.

For anyone who hasn't tried millet yet but is interested, I encourage you to do so. Around these parts you can pick it up at the Peoples Food Coop and probably at other places as well. I regularly enjoy cooking this with soup broth instead of water to give it a richer flavor.

Edibles

2008-04-01T07:43:00.000-07:00

Edibles

2008-03-27T07:06:00.000-07:00

My first multicrop, Garden Cress and White Hailstone Radishes.

Swiss Chard, Rapini: Harvest and Reflections

2008-03-26T11:31:00.000-07:00

My grow shelves were beginning to feel a little cramped. My chard was getting too tall, and I didn't have any room to raise the lights higher. Besides for this, my rapini, having been unattended for a couple of days, was also pushing its spatial limits. What to do? Harvest!

I'd already taken a few chard leaves for a salad last week, but these were mostly unharvested plants. I transferred them into the Earthbox clone on March 2, but had planted them previously in flats. Part of me wanted to wait until they grew to the size of those I saw at Plum Market. Part of me realized that was silliness. It was this latter part of me that held the scissors.

What's left behind still looks rather happy and healthy, so I assume there will be further harvestable growth. Despite the still somewhat full appearance of my planter, I made out with a fair bit of chard:

So what do I think about growing chard indoors under lights? Well why don't I reflect on that for you...

REFLECTIONS: Swiss Chard

When I read that chard roots can go six feet deep, I knew I hadn't made the optimum choice for an indoor crop. Nevertheless, I'm quite happy with how it has gone. Despite the limited root space, all of the plants are producing well. In addition to this, they're just beautiful. The leaves range from green to plum in color, even within a single plant. Some are bright and shiny green, some are a solid, beautiful purple color, and most of them fall somewhere in between, sporting green to purple leaves with red veins.

Even the small ones are on the bitter side when eaten raw, and I'm not a big fan of bitter. I've never cooked with chard, so I think I'll be scouring the web for some good recipes to help me figure out what to do with my bounty. If any passing reader has a nice chard recipe they'd like to share, I'd love to see it in the comments.

I don't know the exact planting date for these plants, but I'd guess they spent around six weeks in a flat before beign transferred to the self-watering container (in which they really took off). I'd say these plants are therefor around two and a half months old. The seeds were a 59 day variety, but considering their excessive time spent in flats, they seemed to mature indoors at about the normal rate, though not mostly to the projected height of 2 feet.

I will definitely be planting more chard outside this spring. They're a really beautiful edible plant. I'm less likely to grow it indoors, but if I do, it will be the colors of the plant that persuades me.

REFLECTIONS: Rapini

Boy was this an interesting plant. I got the seeds for this from a lot on eBay awhile back. The pack that had my rapini was labeled "Sprouting Broccoli", but they're certainly not that. Rapini, also known as Broccoli Rabe or Broccoli Raab, among other things, is a less common cousin of standard broccoli.

Rapini is fast growing and most of the plant is edible, two nice features for indoor growing. Clipping off the first cluster of flower buds and it's stalk will result in a bevy of side shoots. Once the shoots start to come up, they come up fast, often growing right up into the light fixture. For this reason, they require frequent harvesting. Because many of the flower clusters are relatively small in size, I suggest either having a good number of plants from which you can harvest large amounts frequently, or a lesser number of plants with frequent harvests and short-term storage, until enough of the buds have been collected.

The buds are best before the flowers emerge, but remain edible for a while after. The stalks are supposed to be edible, but I have yet to successfully enjoy them. I find that they grow tough rather quickly. I'd like to try some of these after blanching them.

The leaves are also edible and, while slightly bitter, provide a brocolli-like taste, as do the buds and (presumably) the stalks.

This may be a plant worth growing indoors, thanks to its quick growth and large degree of edibility. I will surely be planting it in the garden this spring.

Garden Log - March 22 and 25, 2008

2008-03-25T15:13:00.000-07:00

A lot has been going on in here lately, including a lot of new seeds planted for transplant in late May. I thought it was about time to get some new photos up.

I decided the pea plants were growing too fast to stay downstairs on the grow shelves. I've replanted them into a couple good-sized pots. One will stay here in the kitchen and the second is going to Lindsay's house.

My tarragon seedlings also have a new home in the kitchen. Here's one of the three pots.

I harvested half of my garden cress growing in the bonsai container for a salad last week. In the empty half I planted White Hailstone Radishes and more cress. This shot was taken 3 days after planting. It occurs to me that this is my first intercropping. I'm going to look into the compatibility of these two crops, as I think they'd make an excellent planting project for children.

And here's a shot of my leading chile pepper, an "Ancho Grande", which I received as a free bonus packet from Baker Creek. Anchos are dried pablanos, so I assume this is a large variety of that kind of chile.

The okra is coming along somewhat slowly, but it is a very attractive seedling.

Finally, my yellow hog tomatoes are coming along quite well. The whole of the plants are rather furry, to go along with the promised fruits.

Houseleaves

2008-03-25T13:35:00.000-07:00

Pollen and Petals

2008-03-23T08:01:00.000-07:00

Houseleaves

2008-03-22T06:45:00.000-07:00

Wild Lives

2008-03-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

This little guy was walking around my backyard eating seed I put out for the squirrels (an offering to appease them and distract them from my bird feeder). Possums are nocturnal, so it was surprising seeing one around noon. He let me get pretty close, so he was either rabid or quite hungry.

So, what do you think? Do you see the resemblance?

Pollen and Petals

2008-03-18T10:26:00.000-07:00

Pollen and Petals

2008-03-17T11:43:00.000-07:00

Leaf Lessons

2008-03-15T17:23:00.000-07:00

To Plate

2008-03-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

A frozen pizza from Trader Joes topped with store-bought garlic and home-grown radishes, rapini, and basil.

Last Night - This Morning

2008-03-14T15:17:00.000-07:00

Last night we had burritos for dinner. Here are the home-grown fillings...

This morning I saw spring peaking through the ice and snow in the form of Mache Vit.

Garden Log - March 12, 2008

2008-03-13T13:17:00.000-07:00

These pictures were all taken yesterday evening. The little seedlings are all coming along well. One of the Okras died, but the other is thriving. I'll probably split the tomatoes up into separate containers soon.

I really like these pea plants. They're growing so quickly, I might have to pot them up in some larger containers before it's time for them to go outside. They're supposed to be a bush variety, so hopefully this will work out.

The onion that sprouted in the kitchen has perked up quite a bit.

These rapini are in need of harvesting. I keep meaning to make myself a salad, but just haven't gotten to it.

This tray, which is actually the second one I planted in, is doing real well. The chard is looking great, but I'm not going to be able to grow it as big indoors as out. I recently read that chard roots go as deep as 6 feet, which obviously isn't going to happen in here. Radishes are coming along well through the middle of the container.

I've gotten a lot of Cherry Belle Radishes out of this container. The rapini hasn't quite developed yet, but I'll be eating a lot of it when it does.

I'll have some more in depth thoughts on everything up soon.

Edibles

2008-03-13T09:56:00.000-07:00

Edibles

2008-03-12T17:27:00.000-07:00

I've got a few posts brewing, so check back tomorrow and in the next few days for a Garden Log update, some reflections on my experiences so far, and my plans for this growing season.

Edibles

2008-03-10T12:39:00.001-07:00

Garden Log - March 7, 2008

2008-03-07T17:18:00.001-08:00

The Okra in the first shot is a little hard to make out, but I wanted to include it because it's rather unusual looking. It has white stalks with black tips.

What do you do with onions that sprout before you can eat'em? I plant'em and harvest the "green onions" that grow out of them ('em). You can cut and cut again as long as they grow back.

Houseleaves

2008-03-06T07:08:00.000-08:00

Following one of the most hectic mornings I can remember having, some nice pictures. I love leaves...

Garden Log (Number 2:) - March 5, 2008

2008-03-05T18:09:00.000-08:00

Boy, I can't even go a day without something growing. Here are a few more introductions...

This first little guy just sprouted today. This was from a bonus seed pack I got with my last order. It's called Furry Yellow Hog Tomato, and is supposed to produce furry, ping-pong ball sized, white and yellow or green striped fruit. Since I took the photo, the other two seeds of I planted also came up.

And there's these little fellows, Garden Cress planted in a Bonsai container. They're living in my kitchen by a South-facing window.

Today was my first "harvest". Some radishes that went to Sarah at Downtown Home and Garden.

And here's a row of basil plants growing near the cress. These were started in a couple pop bottle containers and more recently transferred and thinned. Two varieties are represented here: Licorice and Lime Basil. A Kalanchoe I'm rooting is also making a cameo appearance.

Yum.

Hello to You & Garden Log - March 5, 2008

2008-03-05T09:07:00.000-08:00

Gardening is pretty new to me. In fact, my first gardening experience was just this past spring and summer. Prior to that, I hadn't even had a houseplant. Since then, I've put many hours into learning about how to grow things, both through reading and first-hand experience. I've got some grand plans for this growing season.

Currently, besides for a jungle of houseplants, I'm growing edible plants in my basement under fluorescent lights. I've been keeping a log of what I do and how the plants are coming along on my computer, just for personal reference, and now I'm going to do so on this blog as well. Besides for pictures, I will do my best to share my impressions, thoughts, and knowledge, all as it comes to me.

Without further ado, here's my March 5 update. These pictures were all taken late last night. I will provide some information on these plants today, with perhaps some more in-depth examinations in future posts.

You can see some earlier pictures of this first plant in previous posts. I got the seeds some time ago in a lot on eBay. They were labeled "Sprouting Broccoli", but that is not what they are. My current guess is that they're Rapini, also known as Broccoli Raab/Rabe. I have a number of these plants growing, but so far just one has come to flower. As seen in the previous post, that flower-stalk was removed (and eaten, yum!) so as to promote side shoots. As you can see, there are now two healthy side shoots, and probably some other smaller ones as well.

I had two things sprout today: Russian Tarragon and Little Marvel Garden Peas, both from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. The peas are a dwarf bush type. I don't yet know how practical they will be as an indoor plant, or if I will end up transplanting them outdoors.

On my shelves, I have two Earthbox clones from the Gardening Supply Company. In the first I have some Rhubard Chard transplants (seeded in flats, then in home-made pop bottle containers, and now transplanted into their third container), as well as a couple of the Rapini(?)s.

In the second Earthbox clone I've got Cherry Belle Radishes growing intermixed with more of the Rapini(?). I've had one of the radishes and will probably harvest a number of them later today.

The following are Geranium seedlings. I have a Geranium that came from the Botanical Gardens, which I'm rather taken with, so I'm looking forward to these guys. Their discoloration around the edges of the leaves leads me to believe they're over-watered at this point. It's probably time for them to move out of the pop bottle into some starter pots.

And, finally, Lindsay's Daisy. She tells me these are her favorite flower. This one was left at my house after moving around from place to place and dealing with the winter air. I've been trying to get it to re-flower for her, and it looks like it soon will. What you see now in the pictures is very different from when I started taking care of it. It has a whole new set of leaves, with the old ones cut off, that actually look somewhat different from before. It's also sending up flower-stalks, and so I should be able to post some pictures of Lindsay's new daisies before too long.

So keep an eye on this page if it interests you, it should have a significant update at least once a week. You can watch my plants grow along with me.

First Harvest

2008-03-04T12:36:00.000-08:00

The first florets from what I now believe to be Rapini. The taste somehow reminded me of Passover. As with broccoli, removing the first flower stalk prompts the plant to send out side shoots.

Flowering Food

2008-02-28T10:28:00.000-08:00

As far as I know, you're supposed to harvest broccoli before it flowers. This one was too quick though, or maybe I just wasn't prepared.

Houseleaves

2008-02-24T21:42:00.000-08:00

Herbal Profile: Wild Carrot (Queen Anne's Lace)

2007-08-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

The more I garden, the more interested I become in the useful properties of the plants I see. As a way to organize the information that I find, as well as to share it with whomever may be interested, I'm going to do periodic herbal profiles of plants detailing their culinary, medicinal, and other uses.

Wild Carrot, Queen Anne's Lace
Daucus carota

Queen Anne's Lace is native to Europe and Southwest Asia. It was brought over to the United States during early colonization and now can be found throughout most of the continent. Its seeds are spread by the wind and the plant is quite prolific and difficult to eradicate.

Quick Facts:

In Britain, it is commonly known as Bird's Nest.
The common carrot that we eat was domesticated from this wild species.
The tiny red or black flower in the middle of the cluster is sterile. Its purpose is unknown but may have to do with pollination.

Important: Queen Anne's Lace bears some resemblance to several poisonous plants, including a few varieties of hemlock. To make sure you've got the correct plant, look for a hairy stalk and a carroty smell when a part of the plant is crushed (especially the roots).

Culinary: The root of the wild carrot is edible, particularly when young. Recipes for Queen Anne's Lace Jelly and Wild Carrot Cake (as well as a method of making paper from the roots) can be found here.

Medicinal: The Wild Carrot has been used as a contraceptive, somewhat in the style of the morning after pill, for over 2000 years. The flowers and seeds can be consumed by themselves, or made into a tincture or tea. Detailed information can be found here.

According to Alternative Nature, "A medicinal infusion is used in the treatment of various complaints including digestive disorders, (soothes the digestive tract), kidney and bladder diseases and in the treatment of dropsy, it supports the liver, stimulates the flow of urine and the removal of waste by the kidneys. A wonderfully cleansing medicinal herb, an infusion of the leaves has been used to counter cystitis and kidney stone formation, and to diminish stones that have already formed. The seeds can be used as a settling carminative agent for the relief of flatulence and colic."

A Positive Review :)

2007-08-01T18:35:00.001-07:00

Farmer's Market Flowers

2007-08-01T15:05:00.000-07:00

An impromptu trip to the Farmer's Market with Linzie, new housemate Andrew, and his delightful girl, Emily, resulted in some new flower purchases. Two pots of Yarrow, two of Foxglove, and three Dwarf Sunflowers, all for $25!

I put the three Sunflowers all in one big pot on the deck. The Yarrow and the Foxglove went in right around it. Here's the sunflowers, note the cute Teddy Bear Sunflower in the middle. :)

The pre-shots:

And the flowers. The bell-like flowers are the Foxglove, and the smaller flowers are the Yarrow. As with the rocks used for the herb garden, the rocks in this garden were liberated from the parking lot of Raf's studio building when they were landscaping and turning them up:

Seedling!

2007-08-01T14:36:00.000-07:00

After so much gardening, I thought it was time to start making a garden log. Or...a garden blog!

These past few days I've been getting at least a little done each day and it's been very satisfying. Here's some recent work I've done, beginning with some homemade edging for my herb garden:

Some weeding on the side of the house. More has since been done and the roses there seem like they're doing well:

And a very cool grasshopper/locust guy I found: