Hugelkultur Garden Beds

love this!  what a great way to clear up the property of old wood and make a raised bed.  

http://www.homesteadintheholler.com/blog/hugelkultur-garden-beds/

longing for green

Outside it’s cloudy and cold with no warm up in the days ahead according to our local weather folks. We’re talking sub-zero nights. We're ready to hunker down and stay indoors for the next few days.

I feel as if if I've been neglecting my blog and I hate that. I have lots to talk about but seem to not be focused well on organizing my thoughts and actually sitting down and writing something. I have been feeling run down and lacking in ambition recently. I think it’s the cold and lack of sunlight. January is my worst month. I know this. I start getting cabin fever, can’t seem to get focused and feel discontent. I keep having visions of and the yearning for summer and green. (sigh) So.........

I planned the spring garden the other day. At least what we will plant. The plan is to keep it simpler this year with fewer and the most reliable varieties. Still, it will be a good sized garden, just with more of what I know will thrive. Again, primarily planting tomatoes, beans, peppers and squash. This year we may add corn and definitely potatoes. I’ll be ordering seeds within the next two weeks.

So I think it will go something like this:

* signifies a new variety we’ll be trying this year.

Tomatoes:

Brandywine for fresh eating. The good old fashioned true tomato flavor of these heirloom beefsteak tomatoes cannot be beat.

Amish Paste for canning, sauces, salsas, ketchup. I have had better luck and bigger crops with this paste tomato than any other plum tomato I’ve ever planted.

Cherokee Purple for juice, canning and fresh eating. These do very well with high yields. They are sweet and juicy, especially good for juice making. They’re great for fresh eating as well.

Peppers:

Tam Jalapeño for salsas and fresh eating s well as freezing and preserving. We love homemade poppers with cream cheese and bacon. They are awesome. This type of Jalapeño is milder than others.

*Pepperoncini for pickling.

*Buran, a sweet pepper that is said to be nearly sweet green as it is when it turns red. These will be for summer eating, stuffing, freezing and for in my sweet relish.

Beans & Beets:

Blue Lake bush beans for fresh eating, canning, freezing. These have proven successful for us and to be higher yielding than some varieties we’ve tried. We love ‘em!

*Cylindra beets are my choice this year for easy peeling and slicing. They grow in cylindrical shape rather than round. These come highly recommended by Fanny, our Amish friend. I can them, but have frozen them as well. Beets freeze extremely well and taste like fresh. Just thaw and eat if like me, you enjoy cold beets. Yum, my mouth is watering now. I do love beets!

Squash:

Waltham Butternut, my all time favorite. It’s a great keeper and meatier than Acorn IMO. I like to cook some up for in the freezer, too, just for convenience.

Zucchini is just a summer mainstay. We eat tons of it fresh throughout the summer. I admit I have a weakness for breaded fried zucchini dipped in ranch dressing. OMG, why am I torturing myself this way?! I freeze zucchini plus it’ the main ingredient in my sweet relishes. I also use it for making into pickle chunks and slices. I don’t even bother with cukes anymore.

Summer squash is a definite as well because we just love the flavor. I think it’s just a bit more flavorful than zucchini. It’s Coop’s favorite.

Along with these we’ll plant potatoes as mentioned, probably two varieties. I’m considering planting some corn this year since I’m limiting varieties and may have the room for a few rows. And of course, onions, lettuce and some herbs. I imagine by the time I send the order in something more may be added to the list. :)

the big and the small of it

This Brandywine weighed in at 1 pound 11 ounces.

Don't these look like miniature watermelons?
They are Mexican Sour Gherkins and appropriately named as they have a real tartness tasting almost as if they were already pickled. When ripened they fall off the vine.
A unique addition to fresh salads and so darn cute!

Recently canned tomatoes here and another 14 quart canned today.
These ones are seasoned with herbs.

Sunday pickins from the garden...

I'll be canning again tomorrow but I'll be posting soon about our day trip this past Saturday to Serpent Mound.

a little garden tour

The Brandywines are coming along and just now a few are beginning to ripen. The plant to the right is taller than me. I'm 5'3".

The Amish paste have been coming on gradually and as they are I have been drying them. They are growing in clusters like grapes. Lots coming on for canning!

The Cherokee Purple were the first to ripen so we have been enjoying those a lot. There will most definitely be no shortage of tomatoes around here!

The Hungarian peppers are doing great as usual. However this year my other peppers (sweet and hot) have had problems with the blossoms and leaves falling off and little if any fruit production. Others I have spoken with have had similar problems, so the weather may factor in a lot.

The Marglobe tomatoes are coming along nicely, also.

Bush Queen Acorn squash.
I usually plant Butternut, but Coop likes acorn the best so this year we decided to go with that variety as well as a few unique varieties such as Guatemalan Blue and Potimaron. These Bush Queen really do grow in nice bush like formation.

The volunteer polyheaded sunflowers grew to over 10" this year!

There's definitely a lot more going on than what I've shown here, but wanted to share with you some features from the main garden.

How Our Garden Grows

Looking down the length of our main garden

Hungarian Hot Pepper

Cherokee Purple Tomato

South end of main garden - Cherokee Purple tomatoes, green beans (minus what the deer ate), peas, acorn squash, spinach, snow peas, Brandywine tomatoes. A little section on the far right of the brandywines is home to green onions, ground cherries and sunflowers. On the north end (sorry no pic) we have zucchini, golden peppers, green peppers, Hungarian hots, jalapeños, hot block peppers and Amish paste tomatoes.

Ground Cherries

Brandywine

garden talk-the growing challenge

Fresh, ripe, juicy tomatoes are just about my favorite thing from the garden. For big, luscious slicing tomatoes to eat fresh I love Brandywine the best. Who doesn’t? They have the old fashioned flavor I remember from childhood. Rarely a summer meal is served without a plate full of Brandywine slices or wedges being set on the table.

This spring I will be trying a couple new varieties from rareseeds. I thought it would be fun to grow some truly unique tomatoes. For instance White Tomesol and Green Sausage.

Another summer favorite of ours is squash. This spring’s newest addition to the garden in the summer squash realm will be Lemon Squash, a the shape, size and color of, you guessed, a lemon!

Last season we raised Swiss chard and beets. This year I’ve decided instead of taking up garden space planting chard I will add more rows of beets. Beets serve a duel purpose. Not only do we get to eat the root, (yum!) but the tops are just as tasty as chard. I really can’t tell much, if any difference, which makes sense as chard is a member of the beet family.

That’s my weekly post in relation to the growing challenge. More garden talk to come in the weeks ahead.

homemade croutons for pennies

We were able to get part of the seed planted in our garden this evening after the weather cooled. The green beans, beets, eggplant and some straw flowers got planted! Tomorrow we'll get the plants out and hopefully the squash and cucumber seeds planted. The spinach, chard, romaine and radishes are coming up nicely. Again we are planting under a waxing moon for increased abundance.

***

Everytime we have salad I wish I had croûtons, but I refuse to buy them. The frugality in me, for one reason, ya know? The cost is high plus most, if not all (aside from maybe organic croûtons), have either high fructose corn syrup and/or MSG, both bad. Same story with bread crumbs. So, since I always make my own bread crumbs, I decided to try my hand at making my own croûtons this morning since I'd purchased some day old French bread for pennies the other day. I checked online to find a recipe that would give me the correct baking temperature. However, I found the suggested temps ranging from 225 to 425. So, I ended up through trial using a medium heat of 350. All I did was....

Drizzle olive oil over slices of bread then season with onion salt and oregano. (You can use your own choice of herbs of course) After cubing the bread I placed the pieces single layer on pizza stones to bake about 15-20 minutes at 350 F.
Here is the result.

Note, you'll want to check on these to make sure they don't become overly brown, but you'll want to make sure they are really dry so they will keep well.

Aren't I the lucky one?

The other day my nephew showed up at my house bearing gifts! What a surprise to receive all these flowers! Two hanging planters like the one pictured (that frame the front porch entrance quite perfectly), plus the mega planter and two hibiscus shown on the bistro set on the front porch.



Rich is a professional horticulturist and works as a main grower for a nursery. He knows I love pinks and purples, so he certainly kept that in mind when choosing flowers for me. :) I have to say I was totally in awe and appreciation to be the recipient of so many flowers. I've never received so many flowers in my life and especially from someone other than my husband, lol! They sure will dress up the front porch and patio! I am most certainly feeling blessed by this! Thanks Rich and more hugs...aren't I the lucky one?

The peonies are up and bulbous, soon to bloom as the shiny black ants nibble away at their buds. The Maple tree out back near the old Locust stump has managed to save itself as it has transformed from a measly, sickly tree with sparse and tiny leaves to a full, green shelter of shade. I like to think it is happy now that we are here and that maybe that our presence has contributed to its dramatic turn around.

The new peach and pear trees have been planted, the zinnias are popping up in front of the porch as is the calendula and the half dozen sunflowers I have started in pots. Yesterday and today have both been extremely warm days, so I brought the tomato and pepper plants to the outdoors now, feeling as if the chance of frost is past or nearly so. I think they will grow stronger and faster now that they are outside.

This afternoon, in between loads of laundry I pulled my lawn chair up under the big Maple, arranged a small side table, filled a cup with coffee and took a book and my basket of crochet outside. I have begun a new project in greens and am nearly finished reading ‘Zen and The Art of Knitting’ by Bernadette Murphy, a gift from a good friend. It isn’t a big book, in fact just the opposite. It would be a rather quick read except for the fact it isn’t that kind of book. I realized when I began reading it, it was the kind of book that one reads in small increments, savoring the wisdom and philosophical stories a little at a time. I have enjoyed it thoroughly and highly recommend it.

As I sat with my crochet today, thinking on the trees and their significance the tears welled up and my heart ached. The landowner informed us yesterday that the old giant Black Walnut that sits in the ravine behind the house will be taken down. I understood the need to remove the smaller Walnuts close to the house. Their acidic nature is poisonous to other plant life such as the fruit trees and vegetables. But the Granddaddy tree is far from the yard and his absence will create not only an empty spot in the ravine, (and my heart) but take away the only old growth in the wooded area not to mention a generous amount of oxygen production. The fact that he is a living thing and there is no real need for his removal is tough to swallow. He is huge, the size of three trees, the kind of tree you could build a real tree house in. The thought of this grand trees absence causes my heart to ache but I have little right to oppose the landowner. However I cannot help feel sad at the prospect of destroying what seems sacred. Perhaps intentions may change.

Today started out with a power outage, resulting in my inability to shower, wash dishes, do laundry, in fact do little else but crochet. It has been one of those days when I have felt more philosophical than ambitious…a day that has been slow, quiet and given me the opportunity to consider the sacredness in everything. Unexpected occurrences (like a power outage) that are beyond ones control are often opportunities, allowing one to shift gears and make of it what you will.

greens in the ground & ducks running round

Coop (my hubby) got the garden space looking so nice. Tonight I planted 7 rows of greens and radishes to start with. The tomato and pepper plants I started from seed are doing well and growing hearty. They have about a month to go before planting. I have enough going I will likely have to sell if not give the extras away. I've started three organic varieties; Beefsteak, Brandywine and San Marzano plum style for sauces and salsas.

Now that the weather has warmed and Spring has really sprung, I am getting so anxious for fresh veggies. I could practically live off tomatoes in the summer time. Yum! Not to mention summer squash, green beans, etc. Looking forward to a productive garden and lots of canned goods to put away for the winter.

The ducks (from left to right, Bruce Almighty, Thelma and Louise) are so much fun now that they are free ranging. We'll direct them to the creek tomorrow so they know where the fun is. These three are Muscovy ducks from South America. They're totally unrelated to the North American ducks and different in many ways. They fly, which is what gives them their meaty large breasts, they have talons and can climb fences and perch. They love to perch. They have the weird red flesh around their faces, especially prominent in the males.

When we got them we kept them penned for a couple weeks. We just used an old dog house for their shelter and fenced in a small pen around that. Since they can fly and climb, it was necessary to put some netting of some sort over the top of their pen. We just used some old plastic snow fencing we had on hand and that worked great. We tarped one end so they would have a shady place to sit and added a roost for them by running a narrow board through the holes of two cement blocks, one on each end. They were hesitant to leave their space the first day we opened the gate. Finally Coop shooed them out. They require little if any feed when free ranging because they will eat plants, bugs, etc. Which reminds me, we better get that fencing for the garden by the time to greens come up!

We decided on this breed (and got them free, love that freecycle!) because they are virtually maintenance free, smart and supposed to be the best ducks for eating you can find. Ok, so I'm not going to eat these three, but when the hens start laying we do plan on raising a few for the table freezer. They are very low in fat and have a lot of white meat. I've read that they taste like veal, so we shall see.