Waiting a few more days for the correct moon time, and I'll start the 6 duff fig cuttings to root and as many seeds for cool weather seedlings as I can make room for on a single heat mat and 2 sets of new grow light sticks.
By mid Feb I might be able to put the potatoes that went leggy into a large grow box I need to construct. Something that will allow them 18" of growth and a side to let down for easier harvest. Mostly something the voles can't dig into!! * insert cussing here*
Come March I hope to have plenty of tomatoes & pepper seedlings ready to go out in April.
I look fwd to your garden !! I live vicariously through your sunshine and amazing soil.
Bravo! Couldn’t agree more. We’re still thick with stored squash, garlic, and onions, with dried zucchini, black-eyed peas, and Swiss chard as well. Our farmer’s market runs year-round now, thanks to high tunnels and this crazy weather. Fri night was homemade pizza with chard pesto I froze last fall.
Yum. Probably tunnels might have worked here this year, though there were two tough weeks that would have been a problem. I am growing a lot more onions this year, and I planted a lot of garlic for the first time last fall. What do you do with dried zucchini?
I’ve put it in pasta sauce, though it takes longer than you’d think to rehydrate. I’m planning to try a half-day turn in the crockpot. It’s also just tasty as a dip conveyance, lol.
We had about a week and half of winter in Indiana, and today it feels like spring. The forecast says it will be about 55 on Thursday. That makes me sad, for a few reasons, but one of them is that I really like the snow and the winter. I grew up in Indiana and I feel like we used to have a lot of snow regularly, but haven't had since about 2012 or so.
I think I might do mostly cover crops this year. It is just me doing this at my house and I don't have the energy that you do. I put a lot of pressure on myself the last few years to do a lot in the garden, and last year was hard in the sense that a lot of stuff didn't grow as I was hoping, and slugs got a lot of stuff...probably mostly user error. But I think I'm going to take a bit of a break this year, which makes me conflicted because I feel like this is an urgent, needed thing to do and learn. At the same time I just don't have it in me right now. I'm trying to learn this by myself and it is very overwhelming.
There is growing a lot of food, and then there is buying food other people grow locally, and that is very important too. Not everyone is going to grow a lot of food, and that is fine. Grow only what you can manage, if it is only to grow a few things, or nothing at all, there is no point if you aren't enjoying it. Relocalization is the more urgent concern, and that is about a lot more than growing food.
Slugs are a problem if you mulch right up to the base of the plants especially. I will be mulching more this year, but only around the edges of the beds. As to the lack of winter, I love to x-country ski and I was only able to go about a half dozen times this year.
Thanks for the reminder. It's not that I don't enjoy it, I just wish I had a group of people to do it with, a group of people who also cared about such things, rather than just myself.
I do indeed go to the farmer's market every week. There is even a winter market in a nearby town, so I've been buying from local farmers all winter, so yes that is definitely something.
The first three years I didn't have slugs. Then two falls ago I got a bunch of leaves that people put out and used those. I think that was the cause of all the slugs. I would prefer hay/straw, but I don't really have a source that I know isn't sprayed, and I'm not willing to risk that.
My mom used to garden with several other women, when I was a kid. I'm sure we aren't the only ones thinking about this kind of stuff. My goal this year is to make a lot more connections locally, not just about gardening, those plans forthcoming.
Thank you for the link. I have seen a video of those before. The video of the woman talking about them in the garden was pleasant and interesting. I would totally buy some for my garden, though I suppose I would have to eat them in the fall, as I could not over-winter them this far north. Also, slugs are not an especial problem here, though I might consider renting a local pet duck if I can find one, lol, during colorado potato beetle season.
There really is no making sense anymore, season to season, month to month. But all in all it has been dry for a few years here. My guess, it is a lot their dumb-ass geoengineering trying to "fix" the problem. Like their safe and effective, or gender therapy, they can''t do anything but destroy everything the touch.
Heard Dane Wigington the other night saying that. Funny. I said our snow was practically gone and wake up this morning to all white and snowing on and off all day.
I'm still amazed that you did all that! And to see it in action last July was a fabulous adventure! (Eating some of the produce you grew was also a weeks-long pleasure for the palate and body!)
As far as the weird weather goes, I don't know what to make of it. But my sister has an interesting perspective. She thinks that maybe we have turned the tides on the apocalypse, and that Earth is returning to its normal 70-80 degrees all year long for maximum food production and personal enjoyment.
I really want to try root cellaring cabbage in wet sand for this year (if I can get a good crop), where you pull out the root and stick it in wet sand to preserve the head. Apparently, they last even longer, but I want to try it myself. I can't wait for spring to arrive here!
Interesting, that hadn't occurred to me. That might be a way to overwinter vegetables that need two years to set seed, like carrots and brassica. I'm gonna need a bigger root cellar!
This is the video I watched, but I haven't had a chance to try it. I think that's one of the tricks for harvesting biennial seeds, especially if it gets too cold in your area.
Agreed. I have a cold room, but I'd like a separate root cellar closer to ground temperatures I can overstock. We can get by on meat, potatoes and carrots pretty well if we had to, and there's lots of other things we could store. I mean, we're guaranteed long term inflation anyway, might as well eliminate the majority of the food from the equation, because there's no food insurance...
Down here in God’s country, the Cardinals are out and about, bulbs are coming up and the motorcycles are coming out of their long, 30 day hibernation.
It’s spring.
Talking about rain wed - fri. The bulbs might be coming up on the south side of houses about two and a half months early.
I ordered from Baker's for the first time.
Waiting a few more days for the correct moon time, and I'll start the 6 duff fig cuttings to root and as many seeds for cool weather seedlings as I can make room for on a single heat mat and 2 sets of new grow light sticks.
By mid Feb I might be able to put the potatoes that went leggy into a large grow box I need to construct. Something that will allow them 18" of growth and a side to let down for easier harvest. Mostly something the voles can't dig into!! * insert cussing here*
Come March I hope to have plenty of tomatoes & pepper seedlings ready to go out in April.
I look fwd to your garden !! I live vicariously through your sunshine and amazing soil.
Glad to hear you are expanding your options. The more the better. Eager to hear about progress.
Bravo! Couldn’t agree more. We’re still thick with stored squash, garlic, and onions, with dried zucchini, black-eyed peas, and Swiss chard as well. Our farmer’s market runs year-round now, thanks to high tunnels and this crazy weather. Fri night was homemade pizza with chard pesto I froze last fall.
Yum. Probably tunnels might have worked here this year, though there were two tough weeks that would have been a problem. I am growing a lot more onions this year, and I planted a lot of garlic for the first time last fall. What do you do with dried zucchini?
I’d use dried zucchini for soups
I’ve put it in pasta sauce, though it takes longer than you’d think to rehydrate. I’m planning to try a half-day turn in the crockpot. It’s also just tasty as a dip conveyance, lol.
We had about a week and half of winter in Indiana, and today it feels like spring. The forecast says it will be about 55 on Thursday. That makes me sad, for a few reasons, but one of them is that I really like the snow and the winter. I grew up in Indiana and I feel like we used to have a lot of snow regularly, but haven't had since about 2012 or so.
I think I might do mostly cover crops this year. It is just me doing this at my house and I don't have the energy that you do. I put a lot of pressure on myself the last few years to do a lot in the garden, and last year was hard in the sense that a lot of stuff didn't grow as I was hoping, and slugs got a lot of stuff...probably mostly user error. But I think I'm going to take a bit of a break this year, which makes me conflicted because I feel like this is an urgent, needed thing to do and learn. At the same time I just don't have it in me right now. I'm trying to learn this by myself and it is very overwhelming.
There is growing a lot of food, and then there is buying food other people grow locally, and that is very important too. Not everyone is going to grow a lot of food, and that is fine. Grow only what you can manage, if it is only to grow a few things, or nothing at all, there is no point if you aren't enjoying it. Relocalization is the more urgent concern, and that is about a lot more than growing food.
Slugs are a problem if you mulch right up to the base of the plants especially. I will be mulching more this year, but only around the edges of the beds. As to the lack of winter, I love to x-country ski and I was only able to go about a half dozen times this year.
Thanks for the reminder. It's not that I don't enjoy it, I just wish I had a group of people to do it with, a group of people who also cared about such things, rather than just myself.
I do indeed go to the farmer's market every week. There is even a winter market in a nearby town, so I've been buying from local farmers all winter, so yes that is definitely something.
The first three years I didn't have slugs. Then two falls ago I got a bunch of leaves that people put out and used those. I think that was the cause of all the slugs. I would prefer hay/straw, but I don't really have a source that I know isn't sprayed, and I'm not willing to risk that.
My mom used to garden with several other women, when I was a kid. I'm sure we aren't the only ones thinking about this kind of stuff. My goal this year is to make a lot more connections locally, not just about gardening, those plans forthcoming.
William, I found something today that might interest you. Have you heard of runner ducks?
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/notes-from-the-sticks-ducks-in-a-row/
be sure to watch the third video, of ducks in a garden.
Thank you for the link. I have seen a video of those before. The video of the woman talking about them in the garden was pleasant and interesting. I would totally buy some for my garden, though I suppose I would have to eat them in the fall, as I could not over-winter them this far north. Also, slugs are not an especial problem here, though I might consider renting a local pet duck if I can find one, lol, during colorado potato beetle season.
Good job! We have hardly any snow left. With no snow pack, this could be a very dry and dangerous fire season.
There really is no making sense anymore, season to season, month to month. But all in all it has been dry for a few years here. My guess, it is a lot their dumb-ass geoengineering trying to "fix" the problem. Like their safe and effective, or gender therapy, they can''t do anything but destroy everything the touch.
Heard Dane Wigington the other night saying that. Funny. I said our snow was practically gone and wake up this morning to all white and snowing on and off all day.
I'm still amazed that you did all that! And to see it in action last July was a fabulous adventure! (Eating some of the produce you grew was also a weeks-long pleasure for the palate and body!)
As far as the weird weather goes, I don't know what to make of it. But my sister has an interesting perspective. She thinks that maybe we have turned the tides on the apocalypse, and that Earth is returning to its normal 70-80 degrees all year long for maximum food production and personal enjoyment.
I really want to try root cellaring cabbage in wet sand for this year (if I can get a good crop), where you pull out the root and stick it in wet sand to preserve the head. Apparently, they last even longer, but I want to try it myself. I can't wait for spring to arrive here!
Interesting, that hadn't occurred to me. That might be a way to overwinter vegetables that need two years to set seed, like carrots and brassica. I'm gonna need a bigger root cellar!
This is the video I watched, but I haven't had a chance to try it. I think that's one of the tricks for harvesting biennial seeds, especially if it gets too cold in your area.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjAQX5pxYiI
I could see that as some very important infrastructure to have in place should things degrade long term....
Agreed. I have a cold room, but I'd like a separate root cellar closer to ground temperatures I can overstock. We can get by on meat, potatoes and carrots pretty well if we had to, and there's lots of other things we could store. I mean, we're guaranteed long term inflation anyway, might as well eliminate the majority of the food from the equation, because there's no food insurance...
I just enclosed an area around a basement window. I can open the window depending on the temp outside. I can maintain the temp in there around 40.