Fall Planting

One thing that has always befuddled me about this part of the country is that folks only really plant once during the growing season. Me? I'm doing fall planting.

Me and kale.... note my sophisticated chicken keeper-outter.... old fence FTW!

I planted two kinds of beets, some beans, and kale in the upper garden. I need to find my turnips so I can get those going.

Might as well plant some beans.

The turnips did really really well all last fall and into the winter. I was able to have roasted turnips into January... and they help improve my bad soil. I'm also going to get some cover crops going now and not wait until November like last year.

This guy helped me by providing management and oversight. 

I might try and get some last minute potatoes into the ground just to see what happens. Cant hurt, right?

Happy Wednesday everyone! Are you fall planting?

Updating salad bowls.... and projects around here.

Remember these salad bowls?

They are going full steam ahead.... but are just about over picked. 

I know someone who grows a lot of lettuce and she said you can typically get about 3 clippings before the plants just get over leggy and need to be replaced.

Mostly stems and not leaves.

I was trying to keep them going for longer than that but it seems like these are at their ends. Also this green and red leaf lettuce is starting to look a little heat stroked. So it's time to change them out.

Sprouts!

Good thing I have another tray of seeds started...of romaine which is probably a little more robust. I'm hoping it will hold up to the heat.

Why didn't I just start the lettuce seeds in the planters?

Because the existing leaves would block out their progress. So starting a tray is just easier and more effective. So that is what I was working on... but then it rained and we all had to run into the house.

What else is going on? Lots. I moved the fenceline for the small yard by the Turkey House. Pretty much just the geese are on this side now and I have a "secret" project going on with the Turkey House. It's almost done.

I see dog butts..... all day. Hey you guys, grab those buckets for me!

But in the meantime we didn't need that fence so the "new" area is much larger. Kai and Zander spent about an hour going around and sniffing and peeing on everything. This is not a new area for them - just the fence was moved. It was big fun.

One of the things that we did not do well with this property is have a yard where we could just let the dogs out to do their business. Right now they just walk directly out into the main area of the yard and can go off in all directions. This was not a problem when we just had Good Dogs #1 and #2... but Kai and Zander are a little more adventurous so they need to be escorted... or in a secured yard.

We never created that secured yard. Mostly it's because of the weird layout of this place. There was no easy way to pull our vehicles into the drive,  get out, and walk directly into the house if there was a dog yard enclosing the house. There is not another door to let the dogs out into a place where they are secured.... so it was always just annoying.

I'm working on fixing this. I also learned what a joy it is to have all the dogs underfoot... no, really, I like it. All of us out there together. But I couldn't do this before because the chickens would wander into may work area.. or Kai and Zander would wander off. And since they live up to their reputation as Silent Hunters... I would turn around and they would be gone...and I would hear chickens screaming.

So fencing a new dog yard that does not make it annoying to walk into the house has been a priority.

We are also working on a project in our downstairs. Unfortunately we do not have a cool, old farmhouse.... we have a 1980's split level. It's very annoying and as heaven as our witness we will never, ever have another house where you need to walk up a flight of stairs to get inside. There is no "ground level" main floor.

I think technically the downstairs is a "daylight" basement with a door that goes directly outside. But it is so ineffectively placed that we do not use this door. So it's up the stairs to get out ... or down the stairs to get downstairs.

Our Shine, King of Barncats, did not ruin the carpet...but he would given the chance.

The best thing about this house when we got it was the downstairs. It had a nice, dark green rug in a big open room with the wood stove. However, because we live largely like unsupervised teenagers with a pack of cats *points to The Insane Cat Posse* we have entirely ruined the carpet. What we did not ruin was extra-ruined by the last be rain that we had.

We lost power for a couple hours and so the sump pump stopped working and we got some water in the basement. If you are reading this, and I know that you are, I should have listened to you when you said you got the battery back up sump pump for your house and that we should get one too. We did not. And now the carpet needs to go.

We have, however, decided once and for all that we are not carpet people. We both hate it. Mostly it is just a big trap for all the dirt and mud I drag in, all the dog hair, and probably a lot of cat barf. I would like to just burn it all. And I might.

My Most Excellent Good Dog just wants me to throw the ball. But we are limiting his running.

We would move to all hardwoods (the bamboo hardwood from Lowes.. it's magnificent) except that Dog#1 and Dog#2 are both getting a little older and are having trouble on the slippery floors. So that is not an option for us.

But ripping out the downstairs carpet is.... and so that is what we are working on.

Not much of a farming update but that is what I'm working on. Not too long ago we looked around and said, 'you know, we need to get our act together.'  We've both been working so hard and focused so much on our farm stuff that we let our home stuff go right out the window. We need to get back on track.

Sometimes I'm not sure what to talk about here. I consider my non-farm life pretty much nobody's beezwax... but I also was reminded that I started this blog as a way to record our life events. So right now it's not very farm-y but it's what is going on. Hope that is OK.

And now... I'm going to run outside and change out some old lettuce for some new starts..and then think about what to do with a huge pile of bad carpet.

Happy Friday everyone!

Lovely lettuce lunch!

Finally! For the last several days I've been able to have a salad for lunch - entirely from my salad bowl planters. Look how beautiful!

Just look at that lettuce!

Altho they won't last long... I've really been enjoying the sugar snap peas - both the pods and some of the shoots. The celery is perfect right now, and I'm finally getting some basil. What a joy to have salad back!

In other news... The Loud Bugs are still loud. I've taken to watching really loud movies inside, with the windows closed, and the air conditioning cranked. Town people still don't believe me about how loud it is..... the constant alien noises are super duper annoying.

But The Loud Bugs don't like the cold.  The other morning it was 44* and stunningly beautiful - and silent. Today will be really hot and so they are already loud.

Also, I have completely lost control of the poultry. Starting on Monday I need to whip the troops into shape. There were some bad nests in the hen house, a duck and a hen fighting each over over a nest, and apparently one of the ducks is down on the pond....where she won't last. Once the troops find out you've gone soft it's nothing but work work work to get things sorted back out.

Happy Saturday everyone!

How to make salad bowl planters

We are still a little too wet for me to get all my planting done.. so yesterday I went around and started a bunch of salad bowl planters.

Instead of growing lettuce in the garden I'll plant all the fixings I need for salads in pots or planters. This way I can get started earlier and be that much closer to an over flowing lettuce bucket.

Start with some good potting soil and start adding your fixin's....

 First the celery...

Then some tiny basil that I started in trays...

These onions sets do great!

Green onions do great in planters - just pop a few in where ever you have room. I start these sets and can use them as "green onions" - even tho these are the red varieties.... or let them bulb out. This was one of my easiest and best strategies last year.  You can also just cut the tops off the onions and let the bulbs get bigger - that works too.

I started these seeds in the planter because I just got them the other day.

And why not add some radishes! Have you seen this variety - Easter Egg Blend? They are absolutely lovely. I had in my notes from last year to get some - so I did.

Done! It doesn't look like much but once they are full they are beautiful. And tasty.

So why don't I just start seeds in the planters?  A couple reasons... and all of them meow and hunt rats. Cats. I'm talking about cats. The barn cats think my planters are fantastic .... their own handy little litter boxes! Yep. And ew!  So this early in the season I start everything in trays that I can cover and keep the barn cats out. As it was, yesterday our Shine, King of Barncats, was out there sitting on my trays. I gave him a scolding and sent him on his way.

Also if I start seeds in trays it's just that much easier to bring them inside if it gets too cold or too rainy - and if I need a bit of heat I can more effectively cover the trays then all my planters which are scattered around.

Here is one that I started last week - see how the onions are taking off and the lettuce is moving right along?

But does it work? Yep! Not only are they delicious they are absolutely beautiful have to have the garden.   And no, it's not like everything is done at the same time - the radishes may or may not be ready when the lettuce is ready to be cut.... but it's fun to have everything in one place. I just go around to the different salad planters and get what I need. 

 

Beautiful and tasty! And everything you need for a salad.

Having these little salad planters is really fun and handy. Sometimes it's quicker just to step outside into the kitchen garden to grab a handful of herbs or lettuce then to trudge all the way up to the upper garden where I'll have a bigger salad garden going soon. Anything to make it easier, right?

During the summer I'll just keep these salad planters going. I'll pop out the lettuce after several cuttings and start new ones... and then I'll make sure the basil doesn't go to flower. I just restart whatever I need. I think I had in my notes to get more onion sets to get some started for later towards the fall. I should get some today.

Happy Friday everyone - are you starting your kitchen gardens? Do you make salad bowl planters?

Seed notes and plantings

Is everyone scrambling to get their seeds in? We are moving fast here. Yesterday I waited for it to rain the whole day and nothing..... Drat. So I ended up mowing the grass and it just made me mad. I did not kill the mower so I'm calling it a win.

How about this variety? I bet it tastes like victory. 

New and different varieties... has anyone tried the Polish Lingursas?

Someone asked what seeds I direct sow and which ones I start in trays. Mostly I start just about everything in trays. We have horrific soil and our chickens are worse..... and then add in the regular bird loss. Starting seeds in trays is just easier for me.

I start potatoes, onion sets, and beans directly in the ground and then most everything else - including herbs and lettuce - in trays.  Half the time the stupid jays pillage the beans tho so I'm careful to cover the rows with half rounds of field fence covered with netting or row covers. This also defeats the chickens.

The only problem with the netting is that the snakes will get caught up in them.... and last year I found one of the tweety birds caught in it. It was very sad. So I try to stay away from the finer netting.

But once the seeds get started - or are transplanted - they take off.  I'm not sure what inhibits the sprouting but I've never had that trouble before. I continue to improve the soil but the going is slow.

I think I might have caught a glimpse of one of potatoes peeping up thru the straw yesterday. I'm pretty excited to see things growing.

Someone remind me that beside the potatoes I have a row of "rotten beans." They really aren't rotten. I kept them from last year but didn't do a good job of over wintering them. I just let them dry out, tossed them in a basket, and kept them downstairs. I put them, pods and all, directly in the ground. They are either going to grow or not. We'll see. I have high hopes.

Next to the rotten bean row I planted some dwarf horticulture beans. Maybe. I'm not sure. I should probably learn to label things better. Hey, surprise beans! Why not!?

Today we'll keep up with the garden prep. I did a ton of tilling over the last couple days. I mowed off and then tilled under the winter wheat/ground cover. I'm leaving a patch of turnips planted last year tho because they have gone to bolt and the flowers are making the beez happy.

Happy Saturday everyone! Are you getting your seeds going?

Sunny, 84*, and seed planting!

Yesterday was just like summer. The dogs and I worked outside all day doing garden prep and seed planting. It was glorious. Everyone was happy...... except for Zander who got hot and wanted to go back inside.

Today is more of the same.  I can't wait to get out there! Look at these cheap seeds!

If you think getting a garden going is expensive then, friend, you aren't living right. Cheap and easy - that's how we do it around here.

First, make your own seed starting mix. Toss together peat moss, compost, and a soil lightener like vermiculite. I've used perlite in the past so I'll letcha know how this goes.

I found this huge bag of vermiculite at Meynards. I've never seen it in a big bag before. It was $16.

Next, get a bunch of freebies from Lowes. Do you know you can just walk into the back of the Lowes Garden Center and get free nursery pots and trays? These are really great - they are nice and deep. Perfect for starting seeds.

Then get your seeds! I actually really love the $0.20 ones... or for just $0.59.... or these nice ones from Burpee that I got on sale from Meynards's. Tractor Supply usually has them on sale also. For $2 or $3 you can grow all the tomatoes you can carry.

Then get growing!

I'm heading out again this morning. Happy Tuesday everyone!

So, it rained a little.... and sprouts!

After the last real snow... so we hope... it rained a little. Actually it rained a lot!  We are a big muddy soup now. Yesterday the ducks were hanging out by the new "pond" by the driveway. They thought it was terrific.

Everywhere. This mud soup is everywhere. 

The good news is that my sprouts are doing great! The bad news was that it was not supposed to freeze last nite....I woke up to 26*. I hope my salad is going to be OK.

Potential salad.

Today more sunshine! Allegedly this will be the last cold nite.

Just in case I started another tray of sprouts. I'm hoping for a salad by the end of may

In other news, The Big Man fixed the mower. You know what this means, don't you? Yes, that I will break it again soon. Yipeeeee!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

First planting of potatoes

It sure felt like spring there for a couple days.... we had some terrific weather over the weekend. It was almost like summer. I got some potatoes planted.

So I remember where they are.... just a couple small rows. It's a good start.

There is a rule of thumb around here that you can plant potatoes on the 90th day of the year. I might have rushed a little but I don't think we'll get another huge snow. In fact, I think the ground is warming up nicely.

Almost free potatoes.

This basket of potatoes was from the auction last summer. I figured they were ready to get growing. Can you plant spuds that are sprouting? Yep! But if you are planting this early be sure to mulch them deeply with fresh straw.

The garlic is coming up!

Last year I didn't get the first sprouted potatoes planted until the end-ish of April. When I was at the feed store this weekend I also got some onion starts and bulbs. I didn't get any in the ground but I started several pots of lettuce, peas, and then I popped a few of the onion sprouts into them as well. I can't wait for fresh food. I didn't get fresh salad until the end of May last year - this year I hope to have it a little sooner.

The peach trees are blooming.....

...and so are the pears. 

Really hoping for fruit this year. It's so odd to me that Ohio's fruit is so hit and miss. Our orchard friends only have peaches one out of every three years. Of course they always have apples. Hopefully.

Me, I just have my eye on lettuce and potatoes for now. This weekend we had to buy celery... I have to tell you, I was not happy about buying produce that we eat without cooking. There always seems to be something goofy going on. I'll feel much better when we can just go out to the yard to get our salad.

Happy Monday everyone - are you getting their first of the potatoes in the ground?

Turnips... still turnipin'!

Turnips really are one of my favorite things... especially in the winter. They just keep on keepin' on.

Still beautiful.

These are the turnips I planted late in July. And then didn't thin them very well. They are still going strong even this late (early?).  You would have thought that the cold weather would have killed them by now but nope. We had them for dinner last nite.

Turnips are a terrific cover crop. I'm making these notes so I remember to plant them again - even very late in the season - and to remind myself how long they lasted.

Happy Thursday everyone - do you still have root veg in the ground? How are they doing? Or are you planting for spring?

Not so frozen broccoli

Very very late in the summer I planted a bunch of broccoli just hopping it would mature..it's getting there. But if it goes directly to bolt I'll laugh. What a 'winter' we've been having!

Not-so-frozen broccoli.

Normally anything in the garden would be dead and it would be totally frozen out there. But today it's going to be about 60*. I don't mind telling you that this whole mild winter is working out for me.

This decorative cabbage is stunning. 

One of the things I'm especially excited about is that we have barely used any heating oil or firewood. It may not sound like much but it's nice to have the savings.

The celery is still hanging in there. 

And I'm still able to work outside so I'm perfectly OK with this whole global warming thing.

Happy Friday everyone! Do you still have veg in the garden? How's your mild winter going?

It worked!

Remember when I planted my fall cover crops - entirely too late? Well, it worked! This is a little over a month's worth of growth.

Sprouts!

I can't tell if it is due to the winter hardiness of the seeds or if we've just had  nice mild weater but wow I've got sprouts!

The mix contained buckwheat, Autrian winter pea, hairy vetch, and daikon radish. I think most of these have come up. If I'm lucky enough to have them grow a little more I can let the geese in to graze these sections. They still have plenty to eat but this would be a nice forage for them.

Happy Tuesday everyone! Are your winter cover crops covering?

ps. Thanks to everyone for your purchases from my Cyber Monday 20 for $20 list! I really appreciate it!

Planting cover crops

I need to put in my notes that I planted cover crops in the Upper Garden a couple days ago. As predicted we got a good soaking rain last nite and into this morning. So it was perfect timing.

This is what I planted. 

I've spent a lot of time tilling and improving the soil with lime to get ready for next season. Most importantly, I've been planning my cover crops. Mostly I had winter rye which does really well here. But I was thrilled when I found a mix of buckwheat, Autrian winter pea, hairy vetch, and daikon radish for just $5 at Merit Seed in Amish country.

This is the mix. 

Merit has a terrific shop with extremely helpful folks. You can also order their seeds online. They always have something interesting and if you want a smaller package of seeds they will pack however much you need.

Why cover crops? This is actually a pretty interesting site - but I don't think he maintains it anymore. Basically I'm on a mission to improve my soil no matter what. The theory is that you don't want any bare soil to erode during the winter. And the deeply rooted cover crops will break up the soil and fix your nitrogen. In the spring you just mow off the whole thing, till it under, give it a couple weeks (or more) to break down, and then plant your garden. We'll see how this does.

There are volumes writting on the benefits of cover crops. Check out the Extension Office near you for what will work best in your area. 

Is this a little late for planting? Yep but aside from one almost freezing nite later this week - we are still in a mild pattern. It would have been better to have gotten this all planted earlier in the fall but it was so dry it probably would not have worked. So might as well give it a go. For $5 it's not much of a gamble.  And every little bit helps, right?

Happy Friday everyone! Are you planting cover crops?

70* and smelly... I mean... sunny.

It's a good thing that we don't have smell-o-vision over the intertube. Yesterday was smelly. The smells ranged from stanky meat chickens, the extreme deep litter in the Turkey House, smoldering rodents, and this.....

Garlic.

Yesterday was garlic planting day. It's about a month late but for heaven sakes it was also 70* and sunny. Today will be even warmer. These unseasonable warm days are beautiful - and I'm getting a lot done - but holy tomatoes!

You can read more about planting garlic here. I still can't believe it works but I'm excited for the results. Last year I did not get a lot of garlic planted and most of what came up was inadvertently planted. This year was much more purposeful.

The cloves were huge!

I got some garlic for planting a couple weeks ago when I drove around in Amish country - for a fair price. I just didn't expect it to be so huge. I have high hopes for garlic next summer.

Today is going to be about leaves. I have a billion leaves and my goal is to get them all for mulch to improve my bad soil. My other task is to finish up prepping the Turkey House to move the first group of meat chickens over there. They need more space and a yard to keep their creepy meat chicken rampage under control. I might even try and funnel them into one of the cleared off gardens so they can poop it all up and fertilize it for next year's season.

Happy Wednesday everyone! I mighta glossed over that whole smoldering rodent thing. I'll tell you about it some time. Ew! 

Is anyone else still planting?

This is why you thin your turnips.

I always hate thinning the garden. It feels so wasteful to go thru and hoe out or pick the "extra" sprouts so that each plant has the proper spacing.  It doesn't matter if it's tomatoes, onions, or turnips I just don't like to thin them.

Then this happens.

This is why you thin your turnips. 

Note: sorry for the potato quality pix... it was dark when I brought them in.

Rats. Last nite I went up to the garden get some turnips to add to my roasted veggies. I was dying for roasted veg the way One Viking Girl makes..and eats with mayo. You heard me - with mayo. How weird, right? Nope. It's heavenly. And I have several big patches of turnips so I figured they'd be nice and plump..

But why have all those turnips? Because they are terrific fodder for the pigs, because they are an amazing cover crop, and because they grow in cold weather. So I planted a lot of them in the spent gardens from the summer. There are tons of them.

I thinned some of them but then I made up all kinds of excuses not to finish... too busy, I wanted more greens, got distracted.... I should have finished. 

You can see that the big turnip - which was in the thinned row - got much bigger even tho they were planted at the same time. Much much much bigger. So I need to get out there and do more thinning so I'll have bigger turnips.

We are getting the rain from Hurricane Patricia later on today so if I hurry I can get the rest of the tunips thinned and ready to grow grow grow! 

And it's finally light out enough to see. This whole "getting light at 8am" thing is really wearing me down. Good thing my Chief of Staff, Little Mo, makes sure I get up at our normal time. Nothing like sitting in the dark for 2 hours.... *sighs dramatically*

Happy Tuesday everyone! Did you thin your turnips?

So close and yet so far.

Pretty much everything in the garden is dead... except for the kale. The hard freeze really froze everything so now there's nothing to do but break down the garden and eat a lot of kale.  I forgot to bring in a few things from the garden.... and they didn't make it. They were so close to being ready...and not they are too far gone. The chickens will love them.

This tomato didn't make it. I wish I would have picked these before the big freeze.

Of course, it will now be about 70* for the rest of the week so at least I've have great weather for working outside.

We have plenty of kale. All now conveniently bug free.

My primary goals for this week are to take off all the dead vegetation and start planning the beds for next year. Gardening means that you believe in the future - you are always working with the intention of improving the soil for the next season.

I don't over-think rotational planting, but I do appreciate the strategies involved. I try to do all my planning early and use my favorite resources.  The problem with doing all your planning over the winter or in early spring is that, despite all your notes and pictures, you forget what went where. So I'm getting a handle on it now.

This fall I'm also going to try and do more work to add structure to my main grow garden. I'll be working on putting in paths that make sense.... and doing everything that I can to improve the soil.

There will be a lot of lime application this fall. I also want to make sure I take up all the leaves from our maples and use them as mulch. I say this every year but this time I really mean it.

For the first time I really feel like I have a good handle on the grow gardens.  Much of my time has been trying to carve out useful sections of land, get them cleared, and ready for production. I wish I had more time and better conditions for cover crops .... but we still don't have any rain in the forecast and I think I missed my opportunity. Slowly but surely - that's kind of how things go around here.

Happy Tuesday everyone! What is your fall garden strategy? Are you getting your gardens cleaned up?

Ew!

Things that are gross.....

Ew! The ducks were over joyed for this crunchy snack.

I was not happy at all to find a snail on one of my precious Mountain Gold tomatoes. These are my favorite yellow variety of tomato - they are big and bold and luscious....and very hard to find.

Earlier this summer I finally found the seeds at a commercial grower website. I thought $4.95 was a lot to pay for a pack of seeds. But I got about a billion seeds so I'll never have to buy them again.

I can't wait for the rest of my Mountain Golds to come in - hopefully without snails.

Happy Tuesday everyone - are you raking in the harvest? How's your weather? I gotta get out there - we are going to be hot all week.

So we got a little rain last nite....

So we got a little rain last nite - just before we were supposed to go out and do chores.

Yep. That's a zucchini in that wheelbarrow - bobbin' like a sausage......

Bean sprout!

We needed a little rain because these little Dwarf Horticulture Beans could use a good soaking. I planted these, turnips, and beets up in the furthest grow area on the hill. The hose doesn't really reach up there.

You can always count on turnips to turn up!

Not sure who much I can get done today outside. I have a ton of weeding but I need everything to dry out. The good news is that our humidity is supposed to drop from "The Fire Swamp" to "Three Levels Before Hell." So hopefully it won't be too bad.

The ladies spent the day in the shade.

Yesterday it was so bad that the little roosters kept all the fatty meats in the shade. I swear they were herding them. I'm afraid that all of the barred rock chicks we got from the TSC are roosters. But that's OK.... as we always say, 'when you start to crow, you got to go.' So we'll have rooster day here sometime soon.

It's a big tomato.

In the meantime my march thru summer food continues..... I'm going to pick this big oxheart tomato today. It might be lunch.

Happy Thursday everyone! Did you get a little rain last nite?