16 June 2013, by gj
It’s not unusual these days to hear or read the stories of everyday people just wanting to grow food in the front of their houses, rather than lawns. What used to be herald as ‘Victory Gardens’ now has become a subversive, almost revolutionary act.
Things are tight financially for many of us, and let’s face it, our food supply is suspect. What if the best place to grow happens to be out front, heaven forbid, where everyone can see it?
These small town battles are going on not only all over our beautiful Land of the Free, but also in Canada, Australia, and who know where else.
Our front yard in mid-June is already feeding us.
Can you grow food in your front yard?
How about a few patio tomatoes on your deck?
Is a pear tree or an orange tree allowed where you live?
How about taking all the grass out, and building raised beds?
If this is something you would like to do, but think you cannot, think again. Anything worth having is worth working for, and that certainly includes the Freedom to use your property to grow fresh food.
Here’s what you can do:
1. Check your local ordinances first, it just may be you can do this already.
2. Talk to your neighbors and friends in your area. Are they interested as well? Would they be interested if you showed them how in your yard first? Are they at least willing to let you try? See if you can gather names before you approach your local HOA or locality officials.
3. Prepare your argument. Stamping your foot won’t get you anywhere. Explain to them the idea that you will be keeping pesticides such as Round-up out of the local environment, pesticides that will find their way into the local water system. Tell them how a living garden such as an edible one will attract beneficial insects to the neighborhood, as well as other insects that further attract birds. Tell them how it will benefit the community when neighbors are sharing tips and tomatoes, how the kids will get off their video games to help with the harvest, and how they will be promoting a ‘Greener’ neighborhood.
4. Get the stories of others. Check out what has happened in other areas. Orlando, Fla., Canada,West Des Moines, Iowa and in Ferguson, Mo.
5. Get help if you need to. Gardeners are a great bunch of people, and many have taken to emails and blogs in support of fellow gardeners that were being held back. If this happens to you, let us know. We have your back.
6. Don’t give up. The main difference between success and failure is persistence.
The color of Freedom.
Sometimes Freedom isn’t just handed to you, sometimes it has to be ‘grown’. Stand up for your freedom to grow your own food!
This post is part of a collaborative effort on the behalf of gardeners around the world. For more posts on gardening, just click the pic below.
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16 June 2013, by gj
“When a client comes to you for counseling,” the psychology professor said, “they often know what the problem is and how to solve it.”
“Well if they know that,” I asked, “why would they seek counseling?”
“Because they don’t know that they know.” he responded.
This was a lesson well taken many years ago, and no matter what line of work you are in, one that can be used for life.
“My stomach has been bothering me a lot,” a coworker complained to me recently.
“All the time?” I asked.
“No only after I eat.”
“Every time you eat?”
“No, only after I eat something greasy.”
She knew the problem, once she thought about it; after that, the solution was simple.
Leave them alone, they’ll be fine.
The same thing can be true in the garden. We often hear
“I don’t know what’s wrong with my tomatoes. I’ve been watering them everyday, but…”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with my eggplant. I fertilize it every few days and it looks great, but no fruit.”
and
“I don’t know what’s wrong with my peppers. I keep pinching them back but they’re not getting bushy.”
Here’s the thing- other than pests or disease, if there is something wrong with your plants, look at what you are doing.
Most plant problems come from too much attention, not too little.
Back off a bit.
Just waiting on the warm weather.
Give them a chance to let you know what they need.
Realize that what works for one gardener may not work for you, and even what worked last year may not work this season
Your plants’ goals are to survive and reproduce.
Left alone, they have a good chance of doing this.
I know, I know… it can be difficult to let them be, especially the time of year before they start producing, it may be hard to not smother them with love.
Believe me, I understand.
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15 June 2013, by gj
A handy tool to have whenever you are starting a new garden bed, a soil sifter helps you easily remove a lot of stones, twigs, and anything else that might be unwanted in the area.
They also work well for rinsing and separating seeds you are saving.
Yet I have never seen one in the stores.
Easily handmade.
Perhaps it is because they are so easy to make.
All you need is some wood, a few nails, galvanized screening and a staple gun.
The most basic requirements are met.
The simplest way to make one is to cut 4 pieces of wood, 2 of any size you want, and nail them together to form a frame. The cut the screening and staple it to the wood.
Simple yet useful.
You can make it more durable by adding an outer frame, but this isn’t necessary.
Additional framing for a more finished look.
The size you want depends on the job you will use it for. Our smallest one is good for re-potting plants and cleaning out the used soil.
We also have another one that fits neatly in the sink. It has a much smaller screening so we use this one for separating seeds.
Smaller screening for a different job.
The largest just fits on top of the wheelbarrow, and can take a shovel of soil at a time.
Sturdier than it looks.
We also have a 100 year old professional soil sifter that belonged to my great uncle.
That one holds memories.
100 years old and still working well.
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14 June 2013, by gj
Potatoes to the left, an assortment roadside.
Already a month has gone by, Dear Journal, since we wrote to tell you how the garden is doing. In spite of unseasonably cold weather and excess rain, things are growing well.
Pushing the season has been successful for the tomatoes and beans. We are happy to say the beans already have flowers, it won’t be long now.
Green and Dry Beans
We left no stone unturned, or, well, cinder block unplanted that is.
No sense wasting space!
Beans in cinder blocks.
There are a few plants new to the gardens this year:
Hummus anyone?
Chickpeas
A Southern treat, if we get some heat.
Cowpeas
Ready to move indoors this fall for a continuous harvest.
Wheat Grass
For healthier juicing.
Purslane
We finally have a head of broccoli forming-
Broccoli
at the same time the corn is up.
As strange as the weather has been, this garden gargoyle proved to be even stranger.
Click the pic to see what’s in his mouth.
Well, it’s back out to do some weeding, because you know they are growing well, too.
See you in a few Dear Journal!
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11 June 2013, by gj
What do you do with a case of sweet onions from Texas?
Anything you want! 
We received this wonderful gift from Mr. and Mrs. Jones, jr. and were quite excited to try it, especially the ‘onion cooker’ that was in the box.
Sure enough the little plastic onion shaped device cooks a whole onion in the microwave in a manner of minutes. These onions are uber-sweet, and needed a recipe worthy of their flavor. Hmmm…
So we cooked a few peeled onions; when they were cool we sliced them in half and hollowed them out into bowls by pushing from the narrower ends.
In the meantime we sauteed some veggies, adding fresh grated ginger and carrot to the pot as well.
When they were just about ready, we tossed in tofu marinated with Asian seasonings, specifically a little Teriyaki sauce, sesame oil, and some dry wasabi powder.
Some thin slices of eggplant were pan seared, and stuffed with Feta cheese and rolled.
Everything was placed in the onion, which was heated back up in the microwave.
To top it all off, we used a little warm bechamel sauce and added a fresh garlic scape, just for show.
We could say “Voila!“, but that’s neither Asian nor Texan.
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9 June 2013, by gj
Making your own flavored vinegars not only saves money, but it gives you the control over the flavor combinations and uses.
Pretty much anything edible can be used, but the most common additions are herbs and fruits. Chive blossom vinegar, pictured here, gives a wonderful light taste to a white vinegar.
Here’s what to do:
1. Use clean, food safe jars.
2. Use clean, fresh, unbruised herbs and fruit. You can also use fruit peels and edible flowers.
3. Heat the vinegar if you like, or just add to the jar and place in the sun. Our general rule is if it can mold, like fruits, we heat it first.
4. Let cool, or remove from sunlight when it is warm. Refrigerate fruit vinegars, place herb infusions in a cool, dark place.
5. The longer it sits, the stronger the flavor gets. Generally give them a few weeks.
6. Strain and keep in a cool place. You can also water bath can if you are making a big batch.
Use as you would any vinegar. This picture is of a vinegar with fresh orange peels, it can be used in cooking or as a cleanser.
Mandolin and I were discussing other ways to enjoy them earlier this morning.
“The chive vinegar would be good for poached eggs” he said.
“How about jalapeno vinegar for poached eggs?” asked I.
“Ooh, yeah, that would be good too. That would be really good in lentil soup,” he continued, “It would help bind all the flavors together.”
I love it when he talks cooking like that.
“How are you going to use the fruit vinegars,” he asked, “other than on salads?”
“I think I’ll make a simple syrup and use them as a glaze. Maybe a raspberry glaze on a pear dish.”
“That sounds really good” he said, and smiled.
Maybe we both like talking about cooking.
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8 June 2013, by gj
“A weed is a plant that has mastered every skill except how to grow in rows.” ~Doug Larson
You’ve planted your seeds, and patiently waited.
Now things are spouting, how exciting!
Carrots
But hold on… is that a carrot or something else?
Doug Larson was almost right; but even a weed can grow in rows if you have put mulch in between them.
So are there any indicators to tell which is what you want and which isn’t?
Corn
Why, yes:
1. Rows still are the most obvious of course. Especially if you haven’t mulched yet. Then again, if you have been using a trowel or hoe in between rows, you are back in the same predicament.
Beans with seed pods attached.
2. Is there a seed casing attached? Many veggies, when they first poke through the soil, will still show evidence of the seed you planted. Larger seeds are the most obvious, such as beans and squash. Still, look carefully and you may even see a tinier seed still attached to a sprout.
Okra
3. Is it only growing where you planted it? Not counting volunteer plants, is what you are looking at confined to the area you would expect? If what looks like a pea or a pepper is in a number of areas of your garden, it’s most likely weeds.
Peas
4. Does it have more than one set of leaves? Give it a chance to grow it’s second set, or ‘true’ set of leaves before you write it off or pull it out. Many plants, both veggies and weeds, look so similar at first you cannot tell them apart. Keep in mind that they are often related. Did you know that carrots and parsnips are also related to dill, parsley and Queen Anne’s Lace?
Parsnips, mostly.
5. Experience really is the best teacher. Take notes, make drawings or save photos. After a while you will know what to look for; well, at least you will have a better idea.
There are many seasoned gardeners who occasionally neglect to pull a weed, thinking it’s a veggie… or worse, just the opposite.
Cucumbers
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7 June 2013, by gj
Every gardener seems to find it difficult to successfully grow something.
Here the problem child has been cauliflower.
Baby cauliflower forming.
Cauliflower is my favorite veggie, Broccoli is Mandolin’s.
And cauliflower should grow just like broccoli, right?
If I didn’t know better, I would think Mandolin was sabotaging the plants. Three years in a row I bought beautiful seedlings at the local farm & garden in late May. The broccoli always did well, the cauliflower bolted.
To be honest I gave up, and haven’t grown cauliflower in years.
Last winter, while sorting through the gardening supplies, I think I found one of the problems.
I came upon some old plant markers, the kind you get when you buy seedlings. The ones for cauliflower were labeled ‘Late Variety’. This means they were meant to mature in the fall, not the summer.
Duh! As it is, cauliflower cannot take the heat as well as broccoli can, which is the other problem.
So this year seeds were started indoors and they are doing great, almost ready to form heads.
Planted too late and bolting.
So what else does cauliflower like?
1. To be started indoors 4-6 weeks before being transplanted early in the spring about a month before the last frost. They can also be started indoors 6 weeks before the first fall frost, or direct seeded mid-summer for a fall harvest.
2. To be kept well watered.
3. Lots of good compost.
4. To be given a side dressing of compost and fertilizer at least once during the growing season.
5. To have the heads covered by tying their leaves over it. This ‘blanches’ the head white. Self-blanching varieties grow leaves that do this for you.
6. Mulch to help keep them cooler in warm weather.
Other than that just let them go, keeping an eye on the head. Harvest before it begins to bolt.
I didn’t have a good picture of cauliflower from past plantings, so my friend Cheryl sent me one of hers:
Blanching beautifully.
Enjoy Cheryl’s posts on her blog The Intrepid Gardener.
Botanical name: Brassica oleracea cultivar: Botrytis
Days to Maturity: 60 days or so after transplanting.
Spacing: 18 inches
Yield: One head per seedling.
Harvest: Slice the whole head to remove.
Storage: Store fresh in cold holding, freeze, dehydrate, pickle or pressure can.
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4 June 2013, by gj
Heaven knows where it started, but bloggers, Facebookers, Pinheads and more are sharing information on regrowing vegetables from their scraps.
Some of these we Joneses already knew about, and for many years. Horseradish, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and garlic have been in the gardens for a long time. One we knew but never tried is ginger.
Others, such as celery, leeks and romaine lettuce came as a surprise.
So we decided to check it out and see if it is true.
Here are some of the results:
Who knows what’s below?
The ginger is doing well, in spite of taking a hit during an unusual cold snap. After growing it for a year, it’ll be interesting to see the results.
At least it’s sooner than a pineapple.
The mini veggie garden.
We also started leeks, celery and romaine lettuce bottoms in water. Changing the water every few days keeps it fresh and full of nutrients the plants need.
So far, so good.
After 2 weeks we were impressed with the new growth.
Romaine, yes. Iceberg? Probably not.
The romaine lettuce is doing great. I have heard some people say they have been able to get multiple plantings from just one plant. I must say that would be pretty neat.
But will it grow the best part?
The leek is also coming along. Since what you eat is the white bottom portion, we’ll keep an eye on this one. If it shows any evidence of a bulb, we’ll ‘hill’ some soil around it to encourage more white.
Now on many of these posts and shares, carrots are mentioned.
The truth is you cannot get a carrot from scraps; you see, even mis-information gets shared.
Wait for the greens to grow.
What you can get are seeds, something we in the north don’t normally see.
This is something I learned as a kid. Hollow out a carrot top and fill it with water. Add more water as needed. It will sprout and eventually bloom.
So for old time sakes I started one and it’s in the kitchen window. When I get some string, I will hang it up there like the one that used to hang in my bedroom almost 50 years ago…
Before I knew that the pretty flowers could give me something to plant.
So can you grow vegetables from scraps?
Yep, some at least. All in all this has been fun to try, and we’ll post more info as we get it.
If nothing else, we’ll have a little free food as well as an activity to do with our grandson.
Update 6/13/13: the carrot shriveled up. This was at least partly my fault for neglecting it. I know this works having done it before, so am going to try and wait until I have a nice large organic carrot form our garden. Perhaps that will make the difference.
You Can Grow That! is a monthly collaborative effort by gardeners around the world to encourage and help others learn to grow.
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2 June 2013, by gj
How mature did you think you were at age 16?
And at age 21 you realized NOW you were really mature?
How mature does a 30 year old think a 21 year old is?
Likewise, is a beet mature when you can harvest the beet, or when you can start eating the greens?
Is a tomato mature when it produces that first bud or when you can pick a ripe fruit?
according to the DTM, these beets are mature
Some questions I can’t answer, but here’s what I can share:
1. Days to Maturity, or DTM, is calculated for plants that are started indoors from the time you transplant them outdoors. Take Broccoli as an example. If the seed packet instructions indicate to start seeds indoors 6 weeks before the last spring frost, and the DTM is 55 days, it means that 55 days from transplanting outside is the approximate time you should start seeing a head on your broccoli plant.
2. DTM for direct seeding is from the time the seedling emerges from the soil. This can happen in just a few days for some veggies like peas and beans, or can take 3 weeks and more for others. So in the case of broccoli, if the seed packet does not give you the DTM for direct seeding, add on a few weeks. Not the entire 6 weeks from starting indoors, though; only about 3 weeks. Here’s why:
3. When you transplant any veggie, you lose some development time. Again looking at broccoli, when you put it in the garden you set it back a few weeks. If you have ever transplanted a plant you probably have noticed that they kind of sit there for a while, before they take off. They may even look like they are suffering. This is known as Transplant Shock.
are they mature now?
4. The same veggie will have different DTM for different varieties. If you look through any seed catalog you may find upwards of 3 weeks different DTM for the same veggie. This is important if you are timing your veggie in regards to heat or frost, if you are succession planting, and if your growing season is limited.
5. The weather changes everything. All the charts and lists go out the window if there is more or less rainfall, unusual highs or lows, etc. DTM numbers are based on how the plants perform on the average, and often under greenhouse conditions. How soon a plant will mature in your garden will be different than what will happen in ours.
DTM range 60 to 90 days
So use the DTM’s as a guideline, and keep notes if you want to get more accurate numbers for your own garden.
Isn’t that part of the fun of gardening after all?
Vegetable Days To Maturity
More about Transplant Shock.
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