Beds and bulbs

Busy school vacation !  Even though we still have snow outside the two major projects were accomplished.

The first one was to turn a bed for tomatoes.  I did this with shovel in hand and patience in taking the 20 + rocks that came out after trying the turn the soil over.  I had some rye grass growing in Vinnie's garden, I pulled it and dumped in this new tomato plot. Also, I added bark mulch from a dead tree that its at the edge of the plot.  I covered the whole plot with the soil that I was turning and later I scattered a half a bail of hay all over the bed, so that it will suppress any weeds that would like to grow in the new fresh soil.

The second project was to make a new bed for peas, away from the rest of the garden so that it doesn't shade other plants. Last year the peas covered most of the afternoon sun from tomatoes, carrots and other  plants. This year the bed is set back and it is a U-shaped plot in which you can enter from one side and collect fruit from the inside as well as the outside.

Started carrots and beets indoors last weekend. In the seed packets you will read that it is NOT recommended to transplant carrots, but I figured out a way to successfully transplanted and that is that you have to wait until the seedlings have 2 or more true leaves to move them to the garden. As for beets, I usually do the same thing. Make sure that the beds are turned and loose for these two veggies.

Trimmed the branches of the 3 apple trees growing by our house.  Every year you are supposed to cut the leading branch which forces the tree to focus on lateral branch growth.  I cut the old canes of the raspberries all the way to the base of the plant, make sure you don't cut the old-new growth canes, since those are the ones setting fruit this year. You can tell the canes that are dead from the ones that are still going to come out of dormancy by the color and flexibility of the canes.

Cut the dead kale plants at the base and left the beds undisturbed.  That way the roots decompose with the help of worms. This winter was too harsh and long and the kale plants did not make it back.

Wild ramps are starting to come out. Also called wild onions, they are used just like scallions in cooking.  Last year I moved some of the plants to different locations thru out the garden and they are growing beautifully.

The goats are also enjoying their new location by the garden.  We are keeping them in with a flexible solar powered fence.  They get twice as much sun as they did at their old home and they have plenty of space to lay down and eat all kinds of vegetation.

February Check In

This past week I walked in and saw at our local food Coop, the Upper Valley Food Coop, the wire tall stand that has the seeds for the upcoming season from High mowing seeds.  I got so excited just thinking of the food I will grow this year. 


I will definitely make the following adjustments while dreaming about spring:


1. I will not be lazy about double digging the soil before planting carrots. The way you do is that you take a shovel and remove (blade's length) one layer of soil and then you remove a second layer after that. Then you put the soil back in the row, but now it is loose so that the carrots have a place to grow down, otherwise you end up with short, stocky carrots, which still taste good but not big enough sometimes for winter storage. 


2. I will not plant tomatoes too close to each other.  I found out that after 5 years of our garden being worked on, the soil is very rich and the spread of each tomato plant was very wide, this had an effect on the leaves, which resulted in my plants getting the blight. Also, I will have to say that "caging" the tomatoes is the easiest way to trellis the plants if you are not a farmer.


3. I will not germinate a whole packet of kale seeds.  Our whole garden was taken up by these guys, it looked as though I had trufulla trees societies in the garden. However, I did dry a lot of it (which is excellent in rice) and has provided some winter snack for the goats as well. In addition, the kale was host of the cabbage moth, which makes me hesitant to grow Brocolli, Brussel Sprouts and Cabagge this year. Regardless, I think I will give it a try. 


4. I will remove more of the raspberry plants that are growing at the edge of the garden.  I think the garden needs more aeration since our garden is in the middle of the forest. So that certain fungus doesn't have the moisture it needs to live in some plants like tomatoes, potatoes and squashes. It all depends on the weather too. Last summer had sunny and damp days.


5. Plant the onion sets in the sunniest spots of the garden. 


6. Plant leafy greens in rows not in a scatter way.  That makes it easier to pick and more desirable to eat.  Last year I randomly scatter the seeds of arugula and other mustards and just enjoyed their presence in that plot rather than picking the leaves to eat. 


7. Protect the raspberry canes, blueberry bushes and apple trees from deer and goats. Last year, I was so excited after I pruned the raspberry canes. Later that week, we had deer come in and give the canes a second cut.  I was upset, but it also got me thinking that maybe the deer know that if they prune the canes then the plants will grow more in the season.  It was just a thought since they didn't eat the canes. Now, this winter, we might have a dead apple tree in the spring...Our goats ate the bark off one of the apples trees in the front of the cabin. They didn't make a ring all around the trees' trunk, which I hope gives the apple tree a chance to heal and grow this year. Otherwise, we have to get another young sampling for that spot. 


8. More beds in the garden. There are a lot of potential spots for new beds this year, which I am sure will involve tree removal, rock removal and compost addition.


9. Designate a better area for the herb garden.  A pleasing and ornamentally organized array of herbs and flowers. It has to be closer to the cabin and I have to be better at collecting and preserving these essential plants. 


10. Don't wait too long to pick the last of the root crops.  I kept procrastinating about digging the last planting of beets.  Winter came in swiftly and frost made it impossible to dig them out.  Eventually, I dug them out one night when the temperatures were above 32 F. I had to dig them with my bare fingers and it was very painful.  I brought them in the basement, took the leaves out and let them acclimate to room temperature. After a couple of days, the beets were moldy and soft.  I estimated, it lost probably 5-7 pounds.


So, there is a lot to think about the garden these days.  It is never too early to plan for your food and my suggestion is that you start with a simple list of veggies that you would like to grow and definitely plan your beds ahead. I am a visual person, so I like to draw the garden and label plants.


More soon...

Crazy for berries

What a summer? Last week was mild heat almost like fall and this week is so hot, humid and hazy. But the tomatoes, basil and peppers like it !

Berries !

We have blueberries, strawberries and red raspberries.

All of them require different treatments to yield a descent amount of fruit.

For example,

Strawberries need to be rotated in the garden, they need to be thinned out and every 3 years, you should get a new set of strawberries. Oh, and most importantly if you live in the woods like us, it pays off to protect them from chipmunks and squirrels. They would eat even the unripe ones with a tiny speck of red in them...

Also, keep in mind that all the berries prefer an acidic soil, so mulch heavy with pine needles in the spring or when you have access to pine needles.

Air circulation is another factor to keep plants happy. If the plants are too close together, then they are more susceptible to disease. Our strawberries got these black and red blotches on the leaves and I figured it was because they were too close together. Another reason to leave them plenty of space, is size of fruit ! The more space per plant, the more energy goes into the fruit for that particular plant.

Blueberries are easy to grow and maintain. There are two types low bush and high bush. We have high bush and they are about 5 + years old. You have to prune them in the spring. Leaving only the highest branches at a time. Mulch with pine needles and compost, they have very superficial roots, so keep the area around the plant weed free. Birds love the berries, but so far, we have a good harvest this year.

Raspberries are tricky. Depends on the variety, and if they are summer or fall bearing raspberries, then you trim them differently. We have both varieties and in October of last year, we were still eating raspberries. Trimming can happen in the fall or spring. In the spring, you will notice the canes, called primocanes, that grew last year and those are the ones that will give you fruit from summer bearing raspberries. Also, the fall bearing canes, will give you fruit in primocanes and floricanes (last years canes, that now bear flowers). For both, cut any dead canes and you can tell by the color of the canes and any suckers (which are small useless canes that sprout near the main canes). You want to use garden shears and cut as low to the ground as possible, so that the plant grows new canes that are stronger and bigger for next year's harvest for summer bearing plants or for this year's harvest in fall bearing plants. You want to keep the plants lined up in a row and trellis them too, otherwise, they will conquer your free garden space!

I trellis ours by putting a strong bar/stick on either end of the row of plants and run wire from either side of the row connecting it to the end sticks. One wire goes about 2 ft of ground and next wire goes 5 ft from ground, both are running parallel to the ground and then, attach the canes to the wires with twist off pieces of wire. These set up will help you support the plants when they are heavy with fruit.

They need air circulation to prevent leaves from dying and disease.

Freezing berries will be my recommendation to make smoothies in winter, pancake sauces or fruit leathers!