Category Archives: Growing Vegetables

astia zucchini blossom

Wordless Wednesday: Astia Zucchini

April 17, 2013   Feature, Garden, Growing Vegetables, Vegetable Garden

Share the post "Wordless Wednesday: Astia Zucchini"

astia zucchini blossom

Astia zucchini blossom

Comments & More
Juliet grape tomato

Seed Giveaway

March 30, 2013   Feature, Garden, Give Aways, Growing Vegetables, Vegetable Garden

Share the post "Seed Giveaway"

My birthday is Monday so I’m giving away a present. There are more seeds in the packets than I need so I’m going to share some with a winner (or two).

  • Ministro Slicing cucumbers
  • Applegreen eggplant
  • Sungold Dwarf sunflowers
  • Mammoth Grey Stripe sunflowers
  • Bouquet dill
  • Genovese basil
  • Juliet grape tomatoes
  • Jet Star tomatoes

To enter, comment on this post (not Facebook or Twitter) to tell me what you grow or would like to grow, what you’ll do with one of the vegetables you grow from these seeds, why you don’t garden or…I don’t know…something garden related. I’m not fussy!  You don’t need to register with WordPress to comment. You name and email address are all that’s needed. You’re welcome to include a link to your website if you have one.

I’ll draw two names Monday night and announce the winners.

Good luck!

Juliet grape tomato

Juliet grape tomato

Comments & More

Maine Seed Suppliers

March 24, 2013   Agriculture, Cold Weather Growing, Garden, Growing Vegetables, Vegetable Garden

Share the post "Maine Seed Suppliers"

Originally appeared in Quoddy Tides newspaper.

Maine Seed Suppliers

Are your seed catalogs coming in the mail yet?  Mine are here!  A lot of folks comment on how early catalogs arrive.  After all, the ground is frozen and nobody’s going to be planting a garden for months.  Why do we need catalogs so early?

I start leek and onion seeds in early February. The tomato, eggplant and pepper seeds for the seedlings going into the high tunnels in late April are started in late February.  Farmers and some gardeners need their seeds early.  Ordering early makes it easier to get the varieties you’d like to grow.  I waited too long to order leeks and onions last year.  Who knew there was an onion seed shortage last year? Me! But I didn’t find out until my order came back without those seeds.  The leeks I wanted to grow were sold out and I had to settle for another variety.

Seeds can be ordered from Maine companies.  Most of the seeds sold in the world come from one supplier, Monsanto. There are seed companies that offer seeds they’ve grown in their trial gardens and from growers right here in Maine.

Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Albion is Maine’s largest and best known seed company. Rob Johnson is in the process of selling Johnny’s to his employees. Johnny’s offers seeds, garden tools, books, seed starting supplies and more. They put a lot of time and effort into research and development of new hybrid varieties that suit our climate, taste good and produce well. Their 120 acre farm and trial gardens are open to the public at certain times. I visited their display at the Common Ground Fair in September and enjoyed talking with them.  Mum and Great Grampa John, the people who taught me how to grow vegetables regardless of how much I protested, carried around the Johnny’s catalog until it was dog-eared and worn out.  When I place an order online early in the morning it’s usually in my mailbox the next day.

Fedco Seeds is a co-op located in Clinton. They’ve spent 15 years building relationships with local seed growers. Their catalog is coded to clearly show where they purchased the seed.  The catalog paper is recyclable newsprint but you won’t want to recycle it too soon.  It’s full of information.  It’s hard to beat Fedco’s prices, especially if you place a group order with friends.  Group orders earn discounts based on order total. Don’t expect a quick turn around on your Fedco order.  Ordering is limited to specific times of the year because most of the folks who work at Fedco are at home working on their farms and homesteads.  Don’t wait to order until the last minute. It has always taken at least two weeks to get my order.  You’ll want to keep this in mind and plan accordingly. Fedco offers heirloom, hybrid, open pollinated, organic and eco seeds.  Eco is their label for non-certified organic seeds.

Pinetree Garden Seeds is located in New Gloucester.  This company is a seed supplier.  Pinetree purchases seeds from all around the world.  One section in Pinetree’s catalog is devoted to container gardening, a method of growing that will work well in small yards.  The number of seeds per packet is large enough to supply a home gardener without there being so many you’d have seeds to store for the following year.

Allen, Sterling and Lothrop’s website provides information needed to successfully plant your seeds.  Directions for direct seeding (directly in the garden) and starting seeds inside are given for each seed they offer. The directions include how many seeds you should plant per inch and the correct planting depth. They also include yield amounts such as 28 pounds of beans or 60 pounds of beets (no wonder that basket seems so heavy) per bushel. Allen, Sterling and Lothrop is located in Falmouth. Ordering through their catalog and website is simple.

There are more seed companies in Maine.  You can look for The Maine Potato Lady, Maine Seed Saver Exchange and at your local feed and hardware stores for more seed choices.

Next month I’ll give you suggestions on what to do with the winter squash and rutabagas put away for the winter. Mine will be showing signs of decay by the first of February.

Comments & More
Diplomat broccoli seedlings

Vegetable Seedlings

March 21, 2013   Agriculture, Cold Weather Growing, Garden, Greenhouse, high tunnel, hoop house, Growing Vegetables, Small Farming, Vegetable Garden

Share the post "Vegetable Seedlings"

The seedlings from seeds I started a few weeks ago are ready to be separated and moved to individual containers. These plants will be transplanted into a high tunnel next month with the possible exception of the leeks. They’ll probably go into a low tunnel outdoors. The plants are under grow lights during the day. I turn the lights on when I get up and off before going to bed. I’ll write a How-To as I work with the seedlings this afternoon.

Bush slicer cucumber

Great for containers

Astia zucchini is great for containers and small spaces.

Astia zucchini, small enough for containers and small spaces.

little jade cabbage

Little Jade cabbage from Renee’s Garden

Butterhead lettuce

Butterhead lettuce from Renee’s Seeds

diplomat broccoli

Diplomat broccoli

opalka tomato

Opalka paste tomato

tatsoi kale

Tatsoi on the left, kale with fringed edges on the right

Bleu de Solaize leeks

Bleu de Solaize leeks

Comments & More
snow pea, pea pod, when to plant peas

When to Plant Peas in Zone

March 19, 2013   Agriculture, Cold Weather Growing, Feature, Garden, Growing Vegetables, Vegetable Garden

Share the post "When to Plant Peas in Zone"

When to plant peas in zone….pick a number. Here’s an important rule to remember:

Never (never, seriously) plant anything (anything, I mean it) based on the USDA Hardiness Zone. Ever. Here’s why.

THIS is the information you need.

We’re going to assume for today’s How To that your soil has been prepped and ready to go. Peas are a cool weather crop so they can be planted early. There’s no need to wait until after the average last frost date. You can use a meat thermometer to check the soil temp.

  • Start planting as soon as the soil temp warms to 45* as long as…
  • …as long as the soil is well drained. If you can squeeze water out of the soil or it stays in a ball when you squeeze it, it’s too wet. Wait for it to drain.
  • Plant each seed about 1″ deep and 2″ apart. Don’t fuss with measurements. Peas aren’t that fussy.
snow pea, pea pod, when to plant peas

Snow pea pod with blossom

Don’t worry if there’s snow in the forecast. It don’t usually last long if the soil is already 45*. Multiple nights in the teens* can be hard on peas so I suggest covering them if possible.

I plant my fall peas in early July. The first expected frost is around the middle of September here. Frost won’t hurt them. Peas produce best in cool weather. The summer heat won’t hurt production as long as it’s starting to cool down at night by the time the pods are forming.

Comments & More
seedlings, propagating seeds

Seedlings!

March 8, 2013   Daily Farm Life, Feature, Garden, Greenhouse, high tunnel, hoop house, Growing Vegetables, Vegetable Garden

Share the post "Seedlings!"

Most of the seeds I planted last Sunday are up. The leeks were hold overs from last year because they’re back ordered from Fedco. I’m running out of time so I tried it knowing they probably won’t germinate. Allium seeds lose viability fast. If the fresh seed doesn’t come today I’ll order from Johnny’s and have them Monday or Tuesday.

It’s 24*, windy and only partly sunny at 8:40 am. I look to my left to see the seedlings and remind myself that spring is coming.

seedlings, propagating seeds

These seedlings popped up over night.

Comments & More
1020 tray, seed starting

Seed Starting

March 3, 2013   Agriculture, Cold Weather Growing, Feature, Garden, Greenhouse, high tunnel, hoop house, Growing Vegetables, Small Farming, Vegetable Garden

Share the post "Seed Starting"

I’ve started a few seeds here and there but nothing remarkable. Steve brought in a 3.8 cu ft bale of ProMix for me yesterday (I have an arm in a sling, limited in what I’m supposed to do.) before he left for a snowmobile ride. My plan: fill all of the trays, pots and six packs I’d need, soak them and let them set while I sorted seeds, then get all of the seeds planted before he got home. Then I’d clean up the mess since I’m doing this in the kitchen rather than the roofless greenhouse (Thanks Nemo, you sucked.) and be ready to cook supper when he got home.

My accomplishment was sorted seeds and this:

1020 tray, seed starting

1020 tray. It’s 10″ x 20″ inches.

One 1020 tray with 3/4″ of ProMix and two kinds of seeds. The ProMix, stored in the roofless greenhouse where no heat collects, was frozen solid. The bale is shrink wrapped with heavy plastic making the bale solid. It took two hours for the top of the bale to thaw. I planted Revolution bell peppers and Opalka paste tomatoes and called it good. I retreated to the couch to read. Steve brought the stand in this morning. I put cardboard down as an insulator underneath the heating pad.

High tunnel

The seedlings will be transplanted into one of the high tunnels.

The bale has thawed and ready to be used this morning. Steve is ice fishing on a new pond and I’m playing in the dirt…I mean I’m starting seeds. I have a long list of what I’m starting today but most of them will have only a few seeds. It’s too early to start them for outdoors planting as we’re still three months from the last average frost date. These seedlings will be transplanted into high tunnels in mid to late April, depending on the amount of sun we get and the temperatures.

Here’s the list and a little info on some of the varieties.

Opalka  (paste tomato) and Revolution  (bell pepper) are in one tray. I need more than a few of these plants, and they both benefit from a heating pad. The seedlings don’t look alike so I won’t confuse them. I can’t put two kinds of tomatoes in one tray; I screw up when I’m transplanting to six packs and mix them up every single time if I start them together.  “A butterfly! ummm….what end of the tray did I pluck this from?”

Butterfly Rudbeckia Cappuccino

Photo by Renee’s Garden. Butterfly Rudbeckia Cappuccino.

Unless noted, seeds came from Fedco. For full disclosure, all seeds from Renee’s Garden were sent to me as a media package. They give me seeds, I write about them. I don’t give them my approval just because they were given to me. If I didn’t like them I’d say so.

*Johnny’s Seeds
**Renee’s Garden

  • Bleu De Solaize Leek  A lot of people start them in January or February. I don’t like cutting them back several times before transplanting outdoors. It will be late April or early May before they can be transplanted. I’ll direct seed in a high tunnel later this week and compare production at the end of the season. New to me.
  • Little Jade. Baby Napa cabbage. ** Seeds from last year’s media kit.
  • Diplomat broccoli *
  • De Cicco broccoli (48 days, it will be out of the high tunnel before the hottest summer heat)
  • Kolibri purple kohlrabi
  • Shuko pac choi (A favorite for stir fry)
  • Tatsoi
  • Kale Mix (I’ll start more in the summer for fall transplanting into a high tunnel for the winter)
  • Snow Crown cauliflower. Cauliflower is a little more tender than the other brassicas. It will be fine with the warmth of the tunnel, and will be out in about 50 days before it’s too hot inside. *
  • Rhapsody butterhead lettuce. ** I’ll direct seed leaf lettuces later in the week. **
  • Brush Stroke pansy. Pansies are some of my favorite flowers. I’ll move the seed tray to the high tunnel in a week or so. They prefer cool weather.  New to me.
  • Helen Mount Johnny Jump Up. Also being moved to the tunnel. I’ll randomly plant these around the homestead. They’re self-seeding perennials.
  • Starlight echinacea ** Left from last year. I tried some, like them and used the last of the seed today.
  • Cappuccino rudbeckia. ** Left from last year.
  • Broadleaf Sage
  • Greek Oregano **
  • Lavender Hidcote **
  • Lemon Balm
  • Panorama Red Shades bee balm
  • Bush Slicer cucumber. ** Great in containers. The first cucumbers I picked last year were these, grown in a hanging basket on the back porch.
  • Astia Zucchini ** A bushy plant great for containers and small spaces.
  • Super Bush tomato. **Another container plant. Super Bush survived three frosts last year. The leaves looked terrible in the morning and just fine by noon. Nice slicing tomato, determinate that maxed out at 3′ tall. The stems are thick and strong, needs little staking. I put one dowel in the container.
  • Chianti Rose tomato. ** An heirloom. It’s a big “beef stake” type. It will be grown clipped to twine in the high tunnel. It maxes out at 7′ so I won’t be chasing it to the 13′ peek to drag it back down.  New to me.
  • Stupice tomato. ** Another heirloom. It is early, cold tolerant and great for containers. New to me.
  • Juliet tomato. My garden wouldn’t be complete without Juliet. It’s the first tomato to ripen. Juliet is a grape. It’s excellent eaten alone, dehydrates well, and is my fantastic in sauce. I wish there were a large paste tomato that tasted exactly like Juliet. It’s wild, suckers like crazy and will grow to 20′ long in the high tunnel if I let it. It’s worth the work. I’ll climb the ladder to grab the top and bring it back down to clip to twine.
  • Sunset Mix sweet peppers. ** Heirloom. “…elongated plump peppers are perfect for pizza, salads or roasting.”
  • Early Jalepeno. I’m not a hot-food person…but I’m starting to appreciate it. I can eat a Jalepeno popper now. A few years ago I wouldn’t try one. I like these best when they’re red. The plants branch out and reach 4′ to 5′ tall in the tunnels. I have to stake them to keep them upright.

I didn’t start a lot of seeds today. They fit on two shelves on the plant rack. I’ll start the majority of the seeds on April 1. Direct seeding in the garden depends on the weather. The ground is usually dry enough by late April. Remember, when the package says “as soon as the soil can be worked” you should be planting those seeds. Soil that “can be worked” doesn’t drip water when squeezed in your hand. I’ll talk more about that later, and about seeds I plant while there’s still frost in the ground.

I’m going to give away some of my favorite seeds. I’ll have Juliet tomatoes, Ministro cucumbers (49 days to maturity!) and a few others. Watch for a blog about it later this week.

Comments & More

New in the Garden This Year

February 4, 2013   Cold Weather Growing, Garden, Greenhouse, high tunnel, hoop house, Growing Vegetables, Vegetable Garden

Share the post "New in the Garden This Year"

Nothing improves my mood when an Arctic cold front moves in better than putting together the seed order. I’ve looked at the Fedco Seeds catalog several times in the weeks since it arrived in my mailbox. The first thing I look for when I open the pages is the list of new varieties. Variety keeps the garden interesting. It isn’t often that a new-to-me variety will replace an old-time favorite but it happens now and then.

slicing cucumber

Cucumbers growing up strings in the high tunnel.

With the poultry settled in and enough firewood lugged to last a day, I started marking the catalog with red pen.

First up in the New This Year category is Ministro. It’s a slicing cucumber that made me take a second look. Forty-nine days. 49? That’s three weeks earlier than my go-to slicer, Marketmore. It’s monoecious, meaning it has male and female flowers. It can be grown in the high tunnel without adequate pollination being a concern. Can this get any better? Yes. It’s thin skinned. It will damage easier than Marketmore but it’s a good trade off. I’ll be careful when I put them in the basket. And there’s more. Ministro is hardy. I expect it to tolerate cool fall weather and continue producing into October.

To keep Minstro producing so late in the season I’ll transplant seedlings into the tunnel in July. Cucumbers have a tendency to wear themselves out. If this isn’t a great tasting cucumber I am going to be very disappointed.

Zucchini is one of my favorite veggies on the grill. It’s also a favorite of the chickens, ducks and turkeys. Golden Arrow sounds like it’s going to solve the problem of too many overgrown zucchini going to the birds. This variety grows on an “open” plant; it doesn’t have dense leaf cover to hide the vegetable.

Golden Arrow needs 46 days to maturity. Transplanting seedlings that have their first true leaves will take a week or so off that time.  Plants average 10 zucchini. It lacks the gourd gene that makes zucchini bitter. The only downside I see is a mention of it being susceptible to squash bugs.

Eastern Rise winter squash is on my list. It’s under my 100 days to maturity limit without season extenders needed, and it grows in cool conditions. Flavor develops long after harvest, not until December, but it holds in storage through February according to the description. We eat a lot of winter squash soup. Eastern Rise sounds like it might give butternuts a bit of competition with its nutting flavor.

Bleu de Solaize leeks were on my list of things to grow once before. If I remember right, I killed them by missing the tray when I watered seedlings. I’ve thought about them off and on since and decided this is the year to try again. I’ll start the seeds in early February and transplant them into the north corner of the high tunnel. It’s coolest in that corner. They’re supposed to do well in cool ground. At 110 days to maturity, they’ll need the extra time.  Bleu  de Solaize is a French hairloom with a fat, medium long shank. I’ll start some of the seed later and transplant them to the main garden outdoors with the intention of over wintering under straw. This variety is a good storage leek.

Last on the list from Fedco is Rossa di Milano onion. Redwing is back ordered until later after the time I need to start the seed so I’m trying Rossa. It needs 114 days to reach maturity. It tolerates a cool climate so I’ll transplant the seedlings out as soon as possible.

This is a red onion that is either sweet or medium hot depending on where you read the information. It sounds interesting. It’s shaped like a buttercup squash without a button. The top is flat and is four to five inches across.

 

Tops that don’t fall over should be pushed down. It’s slow to dry so it will probably have to have some time on a wire bench in a high tunnel. Rossa di Milano is a long-term storage onion which is good news as we eat a lot of onions.

 

Now that the cold front has moved out and the temperature is our typical mid-20’s during the day, I’ve put the catalogs away. We’re ice fishing (great fishing) and getting ready to prune the apple trees. I need to snowshoe into the woods to look for an apple tree Steve found last year, and see if it needs work.

Comments & More
boc choi dill seedlings

Fedco Seeds Order 2013

January 28, 2013   Agriculture, Cold Weather Growing, Feature, Garden, Growing Vegetables, Homestead, Putting Food Up, Small Farming, Vegetable Garden, Winter Farming, Winter vegetable production

Share the post "Fedco Seeds Order 2013"

Here’s the 2013 Fedco Seeds order. I order the majority of my seeds from Fedco for several reasons.

  • It’s a cooperative, not a conglomerate
  • Monsanto
  • They buy from/support small seed growers, some of them Fedco staff
  • Maine business: local starts at the beginning, not at the grocery store.
  • Staff is wonderful. And funny. Helpful, informative and are folks who are just like me and maybe you
  • Best prices I’ve ever seen, and I’ve looked at hundreds (some repeats, different years) of catalogs in the last 25 year

I’ll eventually move some of this list into new blog entries. One will be varieties that are new to me, seeds I’ll plant in February and March in the high tunnels, varieties I grow only in high tunnels, and who knows what else might cross my mind.

boc choi dill seedlings

Boc choi and dill seedlings

This isn’t a complete list of everything I’ll grow this year, it’s just the order from Fedco. I’ve ordered from Renee’s Garden (A media kit so I’ll be writing about that order, too.) and will order from Johnny’s (which is not owned by Monsanto). I have some seeds in stock.

204 – Provider Bush Green Bean
265 – Indy Gold Bush Wax Bean
577 – Fleet Bicolor Sweet Corn
680 – Painted Mountain Ornamental Corn
710 – Coral Shell Pea
818 – Oregon Giant Snow Pea
1234 – Cross Country Pickling Cucumber
1302 – Ministro Slicing Cucumber
1407 – Golden Arrow Zucchini
1504 – Saffron Summer Squash
1611 – Zeppelin Delicata Winter Squash
1633 – Eastern Rise Winter Squash
1655 – Blue Hubbard Winter Squash
1672 – Galeux dEysines Winter Squash
1687 – Waltham Butternut Winter Squash
1702 – Wee-B-Little Pumpkin
1710 – Diablo Pumpkin
1713 – Lumina Pumpkin
1716 – Jarrahdale Pumpkin
1718 – Winter Luxury Pumpkin
1719 – New England Pie Pumpkin
1727 – Rouge Vif d’Etampes Pumpkin
1740 – Cheese Pumpkin
2108 – Early Wonder Tall Top Beet
2310 – Harris Model Parsnip
2378 – Purple Top White Globe Turnip
2398 – Laurentian Rutabaga
2425 – Bleu de Solaize Leek
2447 – Whitewing Onion
2490 – Rossa di Milano Onion
2498 – Walla Walla Sweet Spanish Onion
2510 – Space Spinach
2728 – Red Salad Bowl Lettuce
2980 – Lettuce Mix
3220 – Tatsoi
3260 – Shuko Pac Choi
3303 – Tendergreen Broccoli
3338 – Falstaff Brussels Sprouts
3352 – Golden Acre Cabbage
3375 – Ruby Perfection Cabbage
3410 – Snow Crown Cauliflower
3469 – Kale Mix
3471 – Kolibri Kohlrabi
3764 – Early Jalapeno Hot Pepper
3837 – Revolution Sweet Pepper
4135 – Opalka Paste Tomato
4207 – Juliet Tomato
4418 – Genovese Basil
4530 – Bouquet Dill
5152 – Helen Mount Johnny-Jump-Up
5211 – Crackerjack Mix African Marigold
5305 – Brush Strokes Pansy
5355 – Carnation Rose Poppy

Comments & More
2012 USDA Hardiness Zone map

Understanding The USDA Hardiness Zones

January 6, 2013   Agriculture, Feature, Garden, Growing Vegetables, Vegetable Garden

Share the post "Understanding The USDA Hardiness Zones"

Understanding The USDA Hardiness Zones
by Robin Follette

Reprints by permission.

The USDA zones are too often misunderstood. As a result of the misunderstanding, they’re often misused. Let’s clear up the confusion.

The USDA zones break the United States into 11 individual zones. There is a 10° difference in zones. Each zone tells us the annual average coldest temperature in that area. Since the coldest temperature happens in the winter, zones have nothing to do with the crops you grow only in spring, summer or fall.

2012 USDA Hardiness Zone map

Zones don’t tell us when to expect our last spring frost or first fall frost. Those dates vary by several weeks throughout the zones. A colder zone than the one you’re in might have an earlier last frost date, allowing you to plant tender annuals earlier. The other zone has a lower average temperature in the winter but it warms up sooner in the spring.

Zones don’t tell us the length of daylight, the average high temperature, the number of days above a certain temperature, or what can be planted at any given time. We’ve given the USDA zones credit for information they don’t supply.

So when do we need to use zones? If you farm in warmer climates you need to know how much cold a plant must have. You won’t find citrus trees growing here in Maine because it’s too cold in winter. Even if they could survive our cold winters, frost would kill the blossoms in spring. Some fruit trees need a period of dormancy over the winter before they’ll blossom and produce again. If you’re in a zone that doesn’t get cold enough to provide this rest period you’ll have a harder time growing those fruits. The tree will most likely survive but not produce. We’re having this problem with apples in parts of New England this year. Our winter was so mild that many of the trees didn’t blossom this spring. It felt good to have 50° days in January and February but we’re paying the price for it now. Apple production on my farm this year will be disappointing. About half of my trees didn’t blossom at all. My cherry trees didn’t blossom well so there are few cherries on the trees.

If you’re growing perennials in a cold climate you need to know what zone those plants are hardy in, and in which zone you’re located. Perennial vegetables such as asparagus, artichokes and rhubarb are hardy enough to survive winter in some zones but not in others. I grow artichokes as an annual because they won’t survive at -25°F. We need to know what zones perennial herbs are hardy in. Perennial herbs in warmer climates are annuals in the colder climates. When you’re farming in the of warm and cold you can mulch some herbs heavily in the fall and get them through winter. Flower bulbs will survive very cold winters and break dormancy as soon as the soil starts to warm, sometimes before all of the snow is gone. If the same bulbs are planted in a warm zone the plant is likely to have a lot of foliage but poor flowering ability. Flower farmers pay close attention to zones for this reason.

The Zones
There are 11 numbered zones that break down into lettered zones. They start at zone 1 and go to zone 11. Zones 2 through 10 are divided into a and b zones with 5° differences.
1 is Below -50° F
2a is -50° to -45° F
2b is -45° to -40° F
3a is -40° to -35° F
3b is -35° to -30° F
4a is -30° to -25° F
4b is -25° to -20° F
5a is -20° to -15° F
5b is -15° to -10° F
6a is -10° to -5° F
6b is -5° to 0° F
7a is 0° to 5° F
7b is 5° to 10° F
8a is 10° to 15° F
8b is 15° to 20° F
9a is 20° to 25° F
9b is 25° to 30° F
10a is 30° to 35° F
10b is 35° to 40° F
11 is Above 40°F

Microclimates
The USDA zone map doesn’t guarantee a definite average minimum temperature. Microclimates are small areas inside a zone that are a little warmer or cooler than the surrounding area. There are factors to take into consideration. Hills, valleys and windbreaks change the flow of air. A change in air flow can cause warmer or cooler air to be trapped in an area, or move out around that area. Buildings will absorb heat during the day and release it into the evening and night (radiant heat), keeping that small area a little warmer. If you’re unfamiliar with the microclimates in your area you should ask other local growers to share their information.

Comments & More
Revolution Pepper

Growing Peppers

August 24, 2012   Agriculture, Garden, Greenhouse, high tunnel, hoop house, Growing Vegetables

Share the post "Growing Peppers"

One of my favorite foods in the garden is peppers. I don’t favor them because they’re one of my favorite things to eat. It’s just the opposite. When it comes to eating, peppers are okay. They don’t agree with me, something I try to not take personally. I love to grow them. There are so many shapes, flavors, uses, sizes and even colors that they never get boring. They aren’t fussy. Pepper seedlings don’t require drastic hardening off. Hold back a bit on water and move them outside to adapt to sun and breeze. Transplant them into the garden after the danger of frost passes. Peppers are more susceptible to cold early in the season than later, so don’t rush planting. Give them fertile soil, sufficient magnesium and calcium, water deeply once or twice a week, and let them grow.

We often have a killing frost in early September followed by several weeks of warm, frost-free weather. A sheet or other cover over the plants is usually enough to protect the plants from frost.

I always grow Revolution bell peppers. Their thick walls, heft and wide bottoms make them perfect for stuffing and freezing for winter meals. The pepper doesn’t disintegrate before the filling is thoroughly cooked. It’s excellent in salad, salsa and spaghetti sauce. If I’m using a bell pepper rather than a hot variety when I make and can spaghetti sauce, I choose Revolution. It holds its shape during the canning process. On the Scoville Heat Scale, Revolution is a 0. This one is not a hottie.

Revolution Bell Pepper

Revolution Pepper

Revolution requires approximately 72 days to maturity, a short amount of time for a mammoth sized pepper. Revolution is Phytophthora Blight and Bacterial Leaf Spot resistant. Grasshoppers and flea beetles like peppers but don’t seem to want to do enough damage to Revolution to kill the plants if you choose to avoid using pesticide.

Poblano pepper

Poblano

I was reminded last week of the heat some of the peppers I grow can pack. I weeded around and pulled a few Poblano peppers that had blossom end rot. I touched my finger to an open spot on the pepper and touched my finger to my tongue. Hot. Holy cow hot. I finished weeding the Poblanos then moved on to the Jalepenos and Serranos. I brushed a mosquito off my cheek. Instantly, my cheek stung. I hadn’t swatted the mosquito, just a light brush. I quickly realized the stinging sensation was burning. I’d been working with latex gloves to keep my hands from being burned while I worked with over 100 plants. My face didn’t have protection, and it did have a slight sunburn.

I raced back to the house, pulling my gloves off inside out as I ran. I soothed my skin with cool water, rosemary soap to break up the peppers’ oils, and aloe from an ancient plant I keep for such occasions. I will not make that mistake again. According to Scoville, Jalepenos are mild. They rate 2,500 to 8,000 units. I withhold water to my peppers. I want intense flavor for the Mexican recipes the peppers will be used in.

Serrano peppers

Serrano

Marilu Scott, owner of Bank Square Pizza/Mexcetera in Eastport, says it’s working. Marilu grew up learning to cook her authentic Mexican food from her grandmother. She said the Jalepenos are so hot they give her the hiccups. “That’s when something is hot.” I won’t be risking my mouth with the 10,000 to 23,000 unit Serranos I’m growing. I’m happy to grow them for friends but I’m too chicken to even touch my finger to a Serrano for a taste. I’ll base my judgment on my husband’s reaction.

The first of the hot peppers are ready to be picked. There are always a few that are two weeks ahead of the rest. I diced a small Jalepeno and stirred it into potato salad a few days ago. My husband and daughter love hot food so it was safe to not tell them about the pepper and wait for their reaction. It was a big hit. I’m going to try it with mac and cheese soon.

Jalepeno pepper

Jalapeno

We also like Jalepeno poppers. I don’t have a recipe for this one. It’s simple enough to use “this much” and “a little of that” when making poppers. I mix room temperature cream cheese with shredded Monterey cheese and a sprinkle of cumin. Use more shredded than cream cheese. Let the mixture set while you clean the peppers. Slice the tops off and scrape seeds out. Save the tops.

Stuff the peppers with the cheese mixture. If I’m doing a large amount of peppers I use a plastic bag fashioned into a pastry bag. When I’m making enough for one sitting I use a small spoon. “Glue” the cover back on using a bit of the cream cheese. I coat the poppers in bread crumbs before I bake them by dipping them into scrambled egg then rolling in spicy bread crumbs. If the peppers don’t hold the coating well, coat them again.

The seasoned crumbs I buy aren’t as flavorful as we like when we’re eating foods with big tastes so I add garlic and onion powder, a little paprika (another pepper) if I have it on hand, and dried oregano (all to taste).

Place the peppers on a lightly oiled baking sheet, spritz with olive oil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Comments & More
bobcat and jetstar tomatoes

Tomato Reviews

August 21, 2012   Feature, Garden, Greenhouse, high tunnel, hoop house, Growing Vegetables

Share the post "Tomato Reviews"

Tomato season should have some sort of national event. It’s cause for celebration. It takes months to get from the tiny seed to a ripe tomato. Planting, watering, transplanting to larger pots, transplanting into the garden, more water, weeding, staking and tying, pruning. It’s a lot of work. It’s worth it when that first tomato is ripe and ready to pick. This is the only time of year that I’ll eat tomatoes. I’ll wait, sometimes impatiently, for really good tomatoes.

Fedco offered new-to-me varieties this year. They sounded interesting. I’m always looking for something new to try in the garden to keep it interesting. I ordered the seeds and in the spring, transplanted a half dozen of each into the high tunnel.

Bobcat is a new favorite. This F-1 hybrid beef steak variety has a lot going for it. It’s an easy to control determinate that has done very well in the high tunnel. I wasn’t going to plant any tomatoes outside this year but had a few extras and plopped them in the ground. They’re not ripe yet but the sprawling plants are growing well. The tomatoes I’m picking average 8-10 ounces. The tomatoes are ripening evenly. I won’t need six plants next year. This variety, as is typical of determinates, is producing a lot of ripe fruit at once. They’re so prolific that I used them in the stewed tomatoes I made and canned over the weekend. A slice and a half is all you need to cover a sandwich. This is as close to perfect as a tomato can be.

bobcat and jetstar tomatoes

Bobcat and Jetstar tomatoes.

Vilms is an heirloom paste tomato. It’s a little more tart than I like for a paste tomato but still very good. I knew I had more tomatoes ripe than I had time to can over the weekend so I relied on the information I read and left them on the plant. The claims that Vilms holds well are true. Three days later, the tomatoes show no signs of over ripening or stress. A fun aspect of Vilms is its mismatched shapes. Some of the plants are producing pear shaped fruits while others are plum shaped. I thought I’d made a mistake by mixing up seeds of two varieties but that isn’t the case. I went back to read the description. Vilms hasn’t shown any signs of blossom end rot in spite of a very dry July that limited how often I could water without stressing the well.

Luci 2103 is a great F-1 hybrid variety for high tunnels. It lived up to Fedco’s claim of being able to replace Buffalo. The seeds are less expensive than I used to pay for Buffalo. Luci ripens uniformly, has strong stems that do well with clipping to strings, is easy to control to two main stems with pruning and not at all fussy. A few fruits cracked when I overwatered but that was my fault. I don’t think it would have cracked had I been paying more attention to watering and less to talking. I like Luci a lot but I’ll stick with Jet Star.

Casady’s Folly

Casady’s Folly is a huge failure. If I’d started growing heirlooms with this variety I probably would have given up the first year. I’ve already pulled the plants out of the soil and tossed them into the compost bin. Fifty percent of the fruits were small, about an inch long, and all but a few suffered blossom end rot. I’ve never grown a tomato as susceptible to blossom end rot as Casady’s Folly. When they’re full size and whole, they’re a pretty plum-shaped red tomato with yellow wavy stripes. They look appetizing in salad. This variety has thick skin. I don’t mind that quality in a paste tomato since they’re going to be put through a food mill. Unfortunately, the thick skin is tough. During a hot spell, the blossoms dropped, something I don’t often see in tomatoes. The flavor is great but this variety is too fussy to deserve a spot in my garden.

I grew my favorites this year, Jet Star is my all time favorite for a small, found, red, always dependable tomato. I like it better than Early Girl and other “choice” varieties. And Opalka, the paste variety I can’t do without. Opalka peels easily without being dunked in hot water. It’s meaty, has excellent flavor, is a large tomato at 3” x 5” and a heavy producer. If water stressed, it might have a little blossom end rot but that seldom happens.

Juliette is my dependable grape tomato that is excellent in salad and sauce. If it were larger and peeled easily it would replace Opalka as my favorite paste variety.

Tomatoes haven’t been planted in one of the tunnels for the past two years but they’re growing this year. An orange cherry tomato, smaller than most cherry varieties, is blocking a wide path in the tunnel. I stopped stepping over it and started walking on it when it was wider than my legs can reach. Abuse hasn’t slowed this plant. I have little idea of what it might be. I grew Sun Gold for several years but that’s a hybrid variety that wouldn’t grow “true” as a volunteer. The fruits are half the size of Sun Gold. This tomato isn’t prone to cracking. I didn’t plant it, don’t need it and don’t take care of it, yet it’s doing exceptionally well. I water it when I think of it by tossing the hose to it. I’ve over watered many times and not one tomato has cracked. My English shepherd, loves them. She’ll push vines aside to get to ripe tomatoes. It’s the only tomato she eats. I’ll save a few of them this year and plant them on purpose next year. They’re small but they’re very tasty and prolific. I suspect they’re not going to be easy keepers on string so I’ll probably string some and cage others for comparison.

 

 

Comments & More

Cooking with Kale

August 14, 2012   Cooking, Food, Garden, Growing Vegetables, Vegetable Garden

Share the post "Cooking with Kale"

Kale is one of my favorite vegetables to grow and eat. It’s an easy plant that’s great for beginning gardeners, nutritious, versatile and tastes great. Kale is attractive in the garden. Leaves vary from long, flat and thin to wide and ruffled. Shades of red, green and purple add to its appearance.

Redbor

I start seeds in the house in mid-March to have transplants ready at the end of April. Seeds germinate quickly without bottom heat. Kale is cold hardy and can be planted four to six weeks before the average last frost date. I guesstimate when to plant them based on the weather. Heavy rain or spring snow in the first week they’ll be in the ground are cause to keep them in the house. Frost and cold spells give the leaves a sweeter taste. With an early start and hardiness that keeps it producing until the temperatures hit the teens overnight, it’s one of the longest growing plants in my garden.

 

Winterbor

In warmer areas or with protection such as a low tunnel, cold frame or hoop house, kale is a biennial. In spite of that, I start fresh seeds each to be sure I’ll have a good supply all year. I grow Red Russian, Winterbor, Redbor and Lacinato (also known as Nero di Tosca, Tuscan Black and Dinosaur). I start pinching seed stalks off the plants approximately six weeks into the second growing season. I’ve found that flavor starts to decline about midway through the second season and doesn’t improve. The plants’ goal is to make seed and they work hard at doing so. The flowers are pretty and edible.

Lacinato

If you have a fertile spot in the garden with full sun the plants will grow large and bushy. If you can’t spare that spot, kale will grow well in partial sun. It won’t be as productive but it will still do well. It’s not a fussy plant.

Flea beetles and cabbage worms are kale pests. I’ve found that curly/ruffled kales are less likely to be bothered by pests than flat varieties. I like the flat varieties as well as the ruffled so I grow it and deal with the pests by using an organic pesticide containing spinosad.

Kale is full of vitamins. One cup of chopped kale has 206% of the recommended daily amount of Vitamin A, 134% of a day’s Vitamin C, 684% of a day’s Vitamin K and contains thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, Vitamins B6 and B12 and folate. It’s also rich in calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese. A single cup of kale takes care of 5% of our daily fiber needs. All this goodness and only 33 calories per cup is hard to beat.

We were eating less kale in the summer so a lot of it was going to the chickens and turkeys. I add it to salad during the summer but one leaf in a salad for four people is enough. My favorite snack food is potato chips and they aren’t the healthiest choice I can make. I’ve replaced them with kale chips. They’re surprisingly delicious and it’s a great use for a lot of summer time kale.

Kale Chips

Pick one pound of kale as early in the day as possible for best flavor. Wash if necessary, dry completely. Moisture on the leaves will lengthen the amount of time the chips have to be baked.

Cut kale, including tender stems, into bite sized pieces. Coat the chips with three tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake at 350* for 12 to 18 minutes, checking every two minutes starting at the 12 minute mark. The chips are done when they are crisp. Serve hot or cool.

Kale and Potato Soup

1 onion, chopped
8 cups chicken or vegetable stock
8 medium potatoes, scrubbed and diced
6 cloves garlic
1 pound of kale, heavy stems removed, chopped into small pieces

salt and pepper to taste

To add a little zing, I add a half pound of Chorizo or Linguica after browing it in a little olive oil.

Sautee the chopped onion in a tablespoon of olive oil until it is soft but not caramelized. Using the same pot, add the chicken or vegetable stock and minced garlic. Heat to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender. Don’t cover the pot. You want some of the stock to evaporate during the cooking process, creating a more intense flavor.

If you want your soup to be creamy you can transfer it a little at a time to a blender or use an immersion (stick) blender to puree the soup. For a rustic, chunkier soup, remove the potatoes and garlic, mash by hand and stir back into the pot.

Stir the kale and Linguica or Chirizo in and simmer until the kale is tender, approximately five minutes. This soup is best served hot.

 

Comments & More

I’m Not a Farmer Anymore

June 15, 2012   Agriculture, Daily Farm Life, Eat local, Farmers Market, Food, Garden, Growing Vegetables, Homestead, Poultry, Small Farming, Vegetable Garden

Share the post "I’m Not a Farmer Anymore"

An hour on the tractor this morning was a sharp reminder that I’m not a farmer anymore. I loved being a farmer even when farmers were thought of as too stupid to do anything else. Someone told a friend a few years ago that Maine was full of farmers because we’re not very smart people. She’d starve to death if she had to be responsible for her food so while it was an insulting comment, it was also quite hilarious.

Part of what I miss is the short and long-term planning involved in growing vegetables. Choosing varieties is complicated if you’re a market farmer. One year everyone wanted heirloom tomatoes because they read about them in New York Times, but I didn’t have them. I grew a few plants of a bunch of varieties the following year so that we could taste test them. Customers liked some, not others and the consensus was overwhelmingly positive. They wanted lots more heirlooms the following year. I cut back on Early Girl, the round, red, traditional tomato in this area and grew lots of heirlooms. They didn’t want them. Maybe they really did like that Early Girl better. It’s always a guessing game.

Along with what to grow is the puzzle of where to grow everything. Crop rotation is an important part of natural growing. I don’t use petrochemical 10-10-10 fertilizer so I had to keep track of what used a lot of nitrogen (corn) one year so that I could help replace it the following year (legumes). Keeping track of pests from one area to another was a challenge, and I love a challenge.

I miss the busloads of kids who pulled up out front and started asking a million questions before half the kids were off the bus. Pony rides and picnic lunches. Cracking duck, chicken and turkey eggs, no two ever looking alike, was always fun. They learned that an eggs is an egg is an egg is not so overall. A green chicken egg looks like a blue egg, and a blue egg looks like the brown egg, which looks like the green egg…when the shell is gone. But duck eggs don’t look like turkey or chicken eggs when you crack them open. There are visual and textural differences. They pet 600 pound pigs, goats in various sizes, milked goats, learned about herding dogs and different breeds of cattle. They learned about white versus red turkeys and big yellow chickens compared to tiny, fluffy white chickens. When the pre-k and first grade came from Peter Dana Point, a Passamaquoddy school on the reservation two towns over, they same to me. They sang in Passamaquoddy, a language I in no way understand. I didn’t know what they were singing but loved their adorable faces and their little voices singing through big smiles. And then, I knew the song. “E I E I Ooooooo.” I miss the kids.

Sometimes I miss cattle, pigs, goats and horses. And 30 seconds later, I’m over it. I was not cut out for livestock farming. It’s not sad when a tomato plant dies but when you have to put down a beautiful buck that got tetanus in spite of being vaccinated, it’s rough. I never imagined myself reaching into the back end of a goat to turn her tiny unborn babies so that they could be born, but I did it. I miss piglets but not pushy 300 pound pigs. All three of our equines were rescues that we rehabbed. They died here and are buried here on the farm. I found Cola dead, without any sign of what might have been wrong. I spent two days with vets coming to the farm to save our much loved, stubborn as hell, cute and funny pony named Andy. A friend was with me when I checked on him last, waiting for the vet to come out third time and put him down. We stepped away from the barn door, took a few steps and heard him hit the floor. I don’t know that the friend will ever really get over that. If I bring it up now, nine or ten years later, she gets teary. The worst loss was Gia, Kristin’s AQHA mare. I’m not talking about her today, but I will tell her story here eventually.

I don’t miss moose walking through the electric fence during the night and not discovering it until the cows were up the road. I don’t miss mucking stalls during January thaw but I do miss all that manure and straw for the gardens. I don’t miss forcing myself to work when it was 90* and farmers market or a restaurant delivery was coming up the next day. I hate the heat and think I might just die if I have to work when it’s 80*. So many things that were critically important when I was a farmer just don’t matter anymore. I’m a million times more casual about the garden now.

You know what I really miss? The money. You might be amazed at how much money you can gross on an acre of garden using extensive season extension to stretch the growing season.

I’m going to finish planting this afternoon. The garden is small, about a third of an acre (not counting the high tunnels), and it won’t take long. Beans, corn, carrots, zucchini, yellow summer squash and a few other things are left. It’s late to plant but I’m glad I didn’t have to stress over a cold, wet start to month of June.

Comments & More

Self-Seeding Vegetables Bring Yearly Rewards

May 30, 2012   Agriculture, Cold Weather Growing, Garden, Greenhouse, high tunnel, hoop house, Growing Vegetables, Homestead, Outdoors, Vegetable Garden

Share the post "Self-Seeding Vegetables Bring Yearly Rewards"

Originally published in Lancaster Farming on May 26, 2012

 

Self-seeding vegetable seedlings have been a nice surprise in my garden each spring.

Most gardeners who have grown tomatoes have missed one or two during fall clean-up. When that happens, you’ll find a clump of seedlings commonly called “volunteers.” If the volunteer seedlings are offspring from hybrid plants, you won’t get the variety of the parent plant. If you start with heirloom varieties, also known as open-pollinated varieties, and keep them from cross pollinating, your volunteer seedlings will be the same as the parent plant.

This spring I have beautiful red lettuce seedlings in the grass in front of a high tunnel. I don’t know what they are but it’s pretty. I hope they taste good because the lettuce I planted in rows has been eaten by slugs.

Onions, leeks and scallions (alliums) are easy to let reseed. These are biennials that will overwinter, break dormancy in the spring and put their energy into producing seeds. The flowers are beautiful in shades of white, pink and purple. They require little care other than weeding and watering.

The seeds are located in the flowers. When they’re almost dry and ready to collect, bend the stem over a bag or bowl and tap them in. You can sow the seeds in the fall to give the seedlings a head start, or wait until spring.

I let my onions grow where they fall and thin as needed. They do well in the spot they’re growing so I leave them there year after year. Each spring I amend the soil with a high nitrogen fertilizer and let them do their thing.

Beets are another biennial that will self-seed if the beet root survives the winter. I let one or two overwinter in a high tunnel. The plants get big and fall over so they’re in the way. But for a short time, I don’t mind stepping around them. The beets I’m growing become woody when they’re 3 inches in diameter. They’re hardy and germinate while the ground is still cold. They make tasty pickled beets.

Radishes are one of the simplest vegetables to self-seed. The radish root will probably split as the seed stalk begins to grow. Don’t pull the radish, it will be fine. The flowers are small and pretty. They stand out in the garden and attract pollinators. Each pod on the stalk has seeds. The pods are edible and taste a little milder than the root. Leaves are edible, too. They’re great in salads. You can shake shake the seeds onto the ground, pull the spent plant for the compost pile, and the seeds grow. I haven’t found that any of the varieties of radishes I grow need cold stratification.

Pumpkins, zucchini and squash are my favorite self-seeders. It’s fun to watch them grow and figure out what the parents might be and what they’ll look like, how big they’ll be and whether they’ll taste good. If they aren’t worth eating, they’re at least an interesting fall decoration.

Cross pollination occurs between varieties in the same species. It took me weeks of carrying around a cross between a zucchini and a winter squash and asking, “Do you know what this is,” before someone had an answer. Until then I had no idea the two could cross.

Cucumbers will self-seed if you leave them on the vine to ripen. We pick them when they’re long and slender and typically green when we’re going to eat them. If you want to let them self-seed or want to save seeds, let a cucumber grow. It will turn from green to yellow and possibly to orange depending on the variety. This is the third year I have seedlings resulting from the original seeds I planted two years ago.

Carrots are biennials I let self-seed, but it’s a longer process than the other plants I use. The plant resumes growth, sends up the seed stalk, flowers and is pollinated, and the seeds are collected from the flower. I tend to forget about them, my enthusiasm for seed collecting waning later in the season. I’m seldom disappointed when a hybrid reverts back to the parent until it’s a carrot. They’re good, but they’re not as sweet as I like.

If you want quick results, start lettuce now, don’t cut it and let it go to seed. You’ll have seedlings by fall.

Good luck!

Comments & More

Extending Your Homegrown Harvest

May 27, 2012   Agriculture, Cold Weather Growing, Greenhouse, high tunnel, hoop house, Growing Vegetables, Small Farming, Winter vegetable production

Share the post "Extending Your Homegrown Harvest"

Originally published in Lancaster Farming on April 14, 2012

Do you remember spending several days on a project, cutting pictures out of magazines and gluing them to poster board?

You carefully wrote a caption under each picture, trying very hard to not make a mistake so that you didn’t have eraser marks on your poster. There were hours spent pouring over “three sources” for information, and properly citing those sources.

I remember a lot of these projects. By the time I was done, my projects were so big I either struggled to take them on the school bus, or my mom felt a little pity for me and drove me to school.

It’s not like that anymore, unfortunately.

In spite of making a lot of changes in text, there were no eraser marks on my presentation. I served as my own source. I missed the paste and glue, Mum’s old magazines and a pair of scissors, colored pencils and Magic Markers.

I spent several days learning how to use PowerPoint, browsing through folders of my digital photos, taking new photos, resizing said photos, and inserting them into a PowerPoint presentation.

When I finished the 21st century version of cutting and pasting, I had a presentation called “Extend Your Homegrown Harvest — Grow Your Own Veggies February to December.” It was a little bit disappointing. Seven megs of information should require more space than a folder on a thumb drive.

It was worth my time and energy and, in the end, turned out to be a pretty good presentation, if I do say so myself.

Last Saturday I gave my presentation to a fantastic audience at the Bangor Garden Show. I was surprised by the number of people who came to see the show. I have wonderful family and friends who came out to support me and lots of people who were interested in learning how to get a head start on the growing season.

They took notes on the back of my handout and in notebooks they brought with them. One person dozed off while I was speaking, but she was awake and taking notes when I looked in her direction a few minutes later.

I started out with the big stuff — high tunnels — and compared the snow outside Feb. 7 with what it looked like inside with spinach growing, bare ground and beds ready to plant. The additional warmth and lack of snow give overwintering plants a tremendous head start.

We moved on to smaller hoop houses, more appropriate for a backyard garden and much easier to build. You can grow anything in a hoop house that can be grown in a high tunnel. We looked at the “skeleton” of a hoop house made with PVC conduit to see how simple a hoop house can be.

Neighbors joined the ribs to the purlins and ridge pole using wire ties, then wrapped the connection with duct tape to keep the ties from rubbing holes in the greenhouse poly. It’s important that everyone see how simple this really can be.

For those looking for a smaller project because of size, need or zoning restrictions, I brought 10-foot pieces of electrical conduit bent into ribs that are 4 feet and 6 feet wide and no more than 4 feet tall. These sturdy ribs can be stuck into the ground to stand on their own or clamped to the frame of a raised bed for additional stability. A line of these ribs, placed 3 to 4 feet apart, form a low tunnel. Low tunnels are covered by spunbond material or greenhouse film.

I seriously thought about bringing pre-cut boards, brackets, screws and a cordless screwdriver so that I could build the frame for a raised bed. Now that it’s over, I wish I’d done it. It would have been a great way to show everyone how easy season extension can be.

Build the frame, fill it with soil and compost, plant. The soil in a raised bed warms earlier than that in a flat garden. If you add a low tunnel over it, you can extend the season by a month on each end of the growing season.

If you add a cover to a raised bed, you’ll have a cold frame. Cold frames are great for seed starting, overwintering plants, growing in the ground and in pots. Cold frames and raised beds can be any size that suits your needs. I recommend making them no wider than 4 feet, so that you can reach the center of the frame or bed from both sides.

I hope everyone found something useful in the presentation. I certainly learned a lot while putting it together.

Comments & More

Book Review: Small Space Container Gardens

May 21, 2012   Book Review, Garden, Growing Vegetables, Outdoors

Share the post "Book Review: Small Space Container Gardens"

Small-Space Container Gardens By Fern Richardson – Timber Press, Incorporated (2012) – Paperback – 224 pages – ISBN 1604692413. $19.95.

Small-Space Container Gardens by Fern Richardson

Fern Richardson brought her blog, Life on the Balcony, to print. I was interested in this book as a guide while I learn more about growing in containers on my back porch and in new perennial gardens. Living in USDA Hardiness Zone 4b, there are plants I really want to grow but that won’t tolerate the cold winter. I better understand how to use containers for over wintering and which plants I’ll have to store in the cold cellar for winter hibernation. There are a lot of suggestions for containers along with proper placement of both plants when filling containers.

My favorite section is Grow more, Eat more. As a former market farmer, growing food is near and dear to my heart. I was glad to see that Richardson included a lot of information on vegetables and herbs. Edible Vines conveyed the ease of growing food. I was surprised to see Fruit Trees and Shrubs included in this beautiful book. I wouldn’t have thought of apple trees or raspberry canes for small-space growing.

There’s a lot of beautiful photography and it made me want to pick up the book often. The huge font that fills half pages and leaves the remaining half blank was distracting but doesn’t detract from Richardson’s extensive knowledge and love of small-space growing. Overall, the book has been extremely helpful to me.

 

Comments & More

A Spectacular Spring

April 23, 2012   Agriculture, Daily Farm Life, Food, Garden, Greenhouse, high tunnel, hoop house, Growing Vegetables, Homestead, Poultry

Share the post "A Spectacular Spring"

This Cooper's Hawk is trying to kill my chickens.

It’s very cold today, around 34*. The wind has been gusting since last night; it kept me awake much of the night. I’ve carried in firewood twice already and it’s not quite 11 am. That said, it’s been a spectacular spring. We’ve had six or seven days in the 80′s already. The fire danger has been very high because of a lack of rain. We’re 3.67″ below average rainfall. Today’s expected 1″ of rain will help the grass green up and wet down the dry grasses and forest floor. I’m relieved to not have to watch for smoke. A neighbor goes for a ride several times a day so that he can sneak cigarettes; his wife doesn’t know he smokes. He and another neighbor throw their butts out the window. I’m grateful for the rain today, and all that’s to come in the next three days, too.

Steve tilled the first 2/10ths of the garden on April 14 and I started planting the 15th. I now have 450′ of row planted. When I went out to do poultry chores this morning I saw greens that have germinated. The soil is too wet to walk on without causing damage so I didn’t go into the garden to see what it is. I’m guessing it’s a lettuce or turnips.

The tomato plants are ready to be transplanted into the high tunnels but it’s still too cold. They’re here in the house, hanging out under the grow lights if they still fit, or sitting in the bay window if they don’t. Each time the overnight temps have been above 40* in the forecast it’s been short lived. Within a day or two, the forecast changes and 30′s are back in the long-range forecast. This is normal. Our overnight temps are supposed to be around this time of year. I’m more cautious now than I used to be about planting. I’m in less of a rush now that I’m no longer a market farmer.

I’m watching three male grackles eating seed I threw out for them. It’s raining hard. They must be very hungry to stay in this downpour. Rain rolls down their backs as though they are ducks. The female grackles and red winged blackbirds are here now but I haven’t yet seen any cowbirds. The cardinal came back a second day but moved on. I still listen for him and hope that he’s around.

A Cooper’s hawk has been trying to get to the Silkie chickens for four days. The dogs have kept it from coming in too low, and the chickens run for cover as soon as they hear or see it. Three of the Silkies are setting on eggs this morning. They eggs aren’t fertile, we don’t have a rooster. I’m going to move them to the barn this week and once they get settled and stop trying to get back to the greenhouse, will give them turkey eggs. If they hatch only a few of the dozen eggs I hope to give them, I’ll be happy. I don’t need a lot, just enough for Thanksgiving dinner and another for the freezer.

My Lancaster Farming column is due today and I need to get started on the final scene of the novel I’m writing in class ends this week, and I still have three assignments to complete. Good thing it’s raining. It’s easier to stay “ass in seat” and get the writing done when I can’t be out gallivanting across the country side.

Comments & More
Steve started tilling the one-acre garden on April 15, the earliest ever.

Early Planting

April 16, 2012   Agriculture, Daily Farm Life, Food, Garden, Greenhouse, high tunnel, hoop house, Growing Vegetables, Homestead, Poultry

Share the post "Early Planting"

Steve started tilling the one-acre garden on April 15, the earliest ever.

While I have the row markers at hand, here’s a list of what’s going to be planted today. This is the earliest we’ve been able to work dry soil and by far the most seeds I’ve been able to plant in mid April.

Lettuce: Royal Oakleaf, Forellenschluss, Tango, Rouge d’Hiver, Black Seeded Simpson
Spinach: 7-Green that someone gave me to try
Mesculen: Wine Country from Renee’s Seeds
Roots: Laurentian Rutabaga, Purple Top White Globe turnip, Kohlrabi, Eyeballs (Those white salad turnips…I can’t think of the real name. They look like eyeballs when you pull and clean them.) and mixed in to mark rows via early germination, Purple Plum radishes.
Swiss Chard: Bionda Di Lyon and Ruby Red. I had Ford Hook out but put it back. We can’t eat THAT much Swiss chard.
Cilantra: Caribe
Beets: mostly for greens but I’ll pickle some beets, Early Wonder Tall Top
Peas: (talk about going overboard) Coral Shell, Sugar Snap, Alderman Shell, Oregon Giant snow, Cascadia Snap. I put one 8 oz package away for fall seeding and will put 8 oz of Coral Shell away, too.

There’s a stack of seeds to start in pots sitting on my desk. I have to evict the Silkies from the greenhouse and get them settled into the barn before I can move seedlings into the greenhouse. I need my house back. There are so many seedlings in the house that they don’t fit on my racks. I have 16 grow lights going and could use another six. The seedlings have spilled over onto the dining room table and even the dishwasher. Evicting the silkies is on my list for later in the week.

Comments & More

Williams Sonoma: Do Better!

April 12, 2012   Agriculture, Growing Vegetables

Share the post "Williams Sonoma: Do Better!"

Williams Sonoma has a new line of homestead items. They call the line Agrarian. They should have called it “we’re laughing at you.” They don’t know what a freaking USDA Hardiness Zone is or how to use it, and they’re giving advice based on their ignorance lack of knowledge Go here. Choose your zone from their Annual Harvest Calendar ( excuse me but, wft?).

Got your zone? Me too. Let’s take a look. I’m in 4 according to their calendar. According to the Annual Harvest Calendar, my last frost date is April 15. The average annual last frost is May 31 in my area. Not in my zone, in my area. Zones have nothing to do with frost, but even if they did, this calendar of theirs is wrong for a lot of people. According to the chart that goes with this handy dandy potentially plant-killing chart, I can plant beets, broccoli and Brussels sprouts on April 1. I live in northeastern Maine. I usually have snow on frozen ground. Try planting beets in that.

Scrolling down the chart, I see that I can plant carrots, cauliflower and cabbage in the ground (that is frozen and snow covered) in March. Radishes, according to this disgrace, can be planted in the second week of March. I don’t like using the snow blower and I like shoveling snow even less. I can’t afford to heat the garden to warm the soil and melt the frost to plant…radishes.  Seriously. Radishes. As I said earlier, wtf?

The dates in the middle of the planting season are as ridiculous as those in the beginning. According to the chart, the average last frost date is October 15 in zone 4. Our kids sometimes trick or treat in snowsuits. (Seriously, it happens.) The average last frost date in my area (which has nothing to do with zones, remember) is the middle of September, a full month earlier than their chart says. The chart also says I can harvest onions through December 31. When we pick up round white things at the end of December in Maine, we call them snowballs. The ground is frozen at the end of December at my house. I’d be harvesting onions with a pickax if I waited that long. I pull onions in mid to late August, depending on the days to maturity and when the tops are adequately dying back.

It’s bad enough when garden writers tell readers they can determine when to plant  tomatoes by their USDA Hardiness Zone. It’s not fair. They set up gardeners who don’t know better for disappointment when frost kills their freshly planted tender plants. It disgusts me that Williams Sonoma, a name that is trusted and respected by many, passes on damaging incorrect information and makes a lot of money doing it.

Comments & More
« Older posts