June 2nd and the garden is finally planted!

I think this is the latest I have ever planted my garden.  I did plant a couple of things 2 weeks ago but the bulk of the planting was done yesterday and today.  As it is, my tomatoes and peppers aren't liking the cool weather and really wish they were back inside.  I hope it warms up soon and they make it.  

 My main garden.  I have Egyptian walking onions, pole beans, fennel, snow peas, beauty heart radishes, carrots, lettuce, beets and mini bell peppers. 

 I have potatoes in my earth boxes on my patio.

 Yummy brussells sprouts! 

 Herbs - basil, parsley, sage, rosemary, marjoram, oregano

 Bell peppers in the lower part of my new raised bed garden - 6 are mixed colors regular bells and 3 are mini bells - we love peppers, can you tell?

 Tomatoes (roma) in the upper part of my new raised bed garden.  They are not happy to be outside in the cold - I hope they perk up and make it.

And back behind the fence is Andy's garden and as usual he has planted cucumbers and watermelon.  We added an A frame this year for the plants to grow up instead of having them all on the ground. 

How about you?  When did you plant your garden this year?  If you are in Minnesota, haven't you just loved this weather?

The 2013 Growing Season has Begun!

I'm so jealous of my friends down south who have already started their gardens!  I am so over this winter and ready to start gardening.  The weather outside is still very wintery and not spring like at all - although it did rain most of the day today.  Even with the rain melting some of the snow, there is still plenty left.  

So I did what every good northerner will do when they can't get outside and garden yet - I started my seedlings inside!  It doesn't look like it will be an early spring, but I will be ready when spring decides to come.  Last year we had an early spring and things just got away from me and I didn't start my own seeds - I didn't want to repeat that this year so I'm starting a little earlier than I normally do. 

I planted tomatoes, bell peppers (mixed colors), mini bell peppers (first time growing these I hope they do well), brussels sprouts, watermelon (this is actually for Andy - he always grows these and this year he picked out a seedless personal size variety), fennel (another first for me - I never knew I liked fennel until a couple of years ago and now I can't get enough of it), and cucumbers (also for Andy - can you believe the little boy that was a preschooler when I started this blog is now a TEENAGER!).

I will probably start more seeds next week or the week after.  I'm happy for now to be started growing!

I even nicely labeled them.  I have the specific variety on the back of the stakes. 

In previous years I have used yogurt cups, egg cartons and such to start my plants.  I think that was part of my problem in getting behind last year was gathering together planting cups and cutting drainage holes in the bottom.  It was a great idea to use them one more time before recycling but honestly, buying square pots is easier - and I got nice plastic covers that fit on top so nicely so I don't have to mess with sheets of plastic on top. 

Have you started your garden yet?  What are you growing?

Damn Rabbits!

I have coexisted with rabbits while gardening for decades. They have always done minimal damage and I never thought too much about them. This year, however, one of them decided to raise her babies in my currant bushes - and use my garden to feed them! I came home from work yesterday to find all of my cauliflower plants looking like this!

Evidently they don't like cabbage, or they were saving it for later - this cabbage sits right beside the cauliflower.

They also started in on my brussels sprouts! They only got about half way through them. The thought of not having brussels sprouts for Thanksgiving motivated me into immediate action.

The garden is now sporting a shiny new fence all around it - take that bunnies!

The rest of the garden is looking good. Look at these nice looking pea pods!

How are your gardens doing?

Loving this May weather!

The Brussels Sprouts are planted!

Fresh cut rhubarb just begging to be made into Rhubarb Crisp. Yum! The first batch of the year is always the best tasting!

Soon there will be strawberries to go with the rhubarb and then I can make Strawberry Rhubarb Pie! I can't wait!

The next batch of veggies is getting used to the weather outside so they can be planted next - broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and a herb pack that I picked up from my CSA today.

How is everyone else's garden coming along? What have you planted? Are you ahead of me? I doubt anyone is further behind than me, but do leave a comment on where you are at with your garden so far this year.

It finally looks like spring!

Pea plants are up and looking healthy!

Brussels Sprouts are outside getting used to the weather before I plant them.

And my beautiful apple tree is in full bloom!

The seedlings are growing

The weather might not be cooperating outside but the garden indoors is growing nicely.

We did have some nice warm days last week, but then it decided to get cold again - it even snowed yesterday morning. The nice thing about snow this time of the year is that it never lasts. It is gone already.

Here is a picture of some of the seedlings - they are still small but they are healthy. Some of them are ready for transplanting to bigger pots already. Egg cartons are great for starting them but they are very tiny and the seedlings outgrow them quickly.

When I lift the egg cartons up, you can see they have a ton of roots growing out of the bottom - that is a sign that it is time to find them something bigger to grow in.

Here are my brussels sprouts replanted. I like to reuse containers rather than buy new ones. Yogurt containers are just the right size.

It has been a very long winter!

I can't remember ever wanting winter to be over as much as I have this year. The snow came early, a lot of it came, and it is still with us! I am sick of winter. I am ready to be out in the garden!

Since that is not a possibility for a couple more months, I will console myself with starting my seeds indoors.

The last couple of years I have had a problem with some of my warmer weather seeds germinating in my cold basement. I decided to invest in a heating pad for some of my seeds. If it works, I may buy another one next year.

Starting my seeds in egg cartons last year worked so well that I decided to do the same this year. I just love getting one more use out of thing that I can't recycle (my recycling company does not take any egg cartons). When the seedlings get a little bigger I will transplant them into bigger pots. I used Eggland's Best cartons and poked a hole in the bottom before filling with dirt.

And here are some of the egg cartons filled with dirt. I cut some of them into 2 sections if I wanted to plant 6 of something instead of 12.

I wrote on Popsicle sticks to mark my plants.

After everything was planted, I watered them well and covered them with plastic. I will remove the plastic once the seeds sprout. I lowered the lights down to just above the plants.

I planted Roma and Golden Rave Tomatoes, Sugar Baby Watermelon, Assorted Sweet Bell Peppers, Hot Peppers, Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli, and Cabbage.

Harvesting Brussels Sprouts in the Snow

Winter came early this year in Minnesota. I purposely hadn't harvested my Brussels sprouts yet because they always taste better after a frost and I really wanted to serve them on Thanksgiving.

Little did I know that by Thanksgiving, they would be covered with snow! I had read that you could still harvest them as long as you cooked them right away (still frozen). I had even heard that they taste better once nature has frozen them. I wasn't about to waste anything as tasty as Brussels Sprouts so it was time to find out.

I had to dig down quite a bit to get to them. The mound where they were wasn't that high so I thought I would just brush the snow away and there they would be, but no, it just couldn't be that simple. They had actually fallen down and were laying flat on the ground and the snow was more like ice and I had to chip away to get to them, but once I got a look at those beauties I knew I had to keep working to free them!

And free them I did. Here they are laying frozen on my kitchen counter.

And here they are all steamed up and ready to eat. They were very tasty indeed. I can't say they were any tastier than before a frost, I really didn't notice a taste difference at all.

So, if your Brussels spouts get caught out in the garden under snow, do not hesitate to harvest and enjoy them.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Where has June gone?

Seriously, can you believe it is almost July? I cannot believe how time keeps slipping away from me.

It has been a strange year for gardening - but don't we say that every year? It is just that the strangeness is different every year. There is never a "perfect" year for gardening - something is always out of whack - that's the way it is with nature. Every year something does great and something doesn't. I don't think I have ever had a garden where everything grew perfectly.

This year the weather has been so variable. We had below average temperatures for much of the spring and early summer and now it is hot - too hot - the garden didn't have time to adjust. We also had very little rain so I haven't been complaining one bit about the last few rainy days.

So, how has my garden been growing since I haven't been updating? Here are a few pics:

The lettuce has been doing great. It loves the cooler weather we were having. It will probably be done pretty soon now that the weather has turned hot.

The potatoes are also doing great. They have started flowering which means there will be new potatoes to dig very soon.

The peppers have just not done well so far this year. They are small and just not growing much. They are heat lovers, so maybe now that it has turned hot, they will start thriving instead of just surviving.

The cauliflower was looking great but the heads have started looking really funky the last couple of days. I suspect it is the sudden heat.

The brocolli is looking really good. It hasn't seemed to mind the heat.

The brussels sprouts are also doing well.

I lost most of my cabbage this spring to the rabbits. The ones that survived (I put a fence around them a little too late) are doing great.

My tomatoes are struggling. They are starting to bounce back. None of my tomatoes look as good as my neighbor's but I'm not too concerned - at least not yet.

The new peach tree is thriving. My son keeps asking when we will have peaches again. Poor impatient child, he just does not understand that this young tree will not produce fruit for some time.

The currant bushes are loaded with berries that are just starting to ripen.

And lastly, Andy's garden. He planted cucumbers, canteloupe and watermelons. The cucumbers and canteloupes are beginning to look really good. His seedless watermelon never came up and the seeded ones just don't seem to be doing much. They are barely growing - I'm not sure if we will see any fruit from them this year. Andy, being the ever hopeful child still thinks the seedless ones might come up yet.

Growing cabbage, brocolli, cauliflower and brussels sprouts

Since they are related and grown in the same fashion, I am going to cover cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts all at once. Kale is also a member of the cabbage family.

I grow a lot of cabbage family plants. One of Dan’s favorite foods is coleslaw and there is nothing like coleslaw made from fresh cabbage that you just picked from the garden. Andy isn’t a fan of cabbage so much but he does like cabbage rolls. Sauerkraut is probably my favorite way to eat the cabbage I grow.

We eat broccoli raw as snacks, in salads, lightly steamed, and in stir fries. Dan juices it. And I freeze extra to eat during the winter. Andy doesn’t like cauliflower (yet) but Dan and I eat it raw as snacks, in salads, lightly steamed and in stir fries. In addition to freezing it, I also preserve it by pickling. Yum.

We are also big fans of Brussels sprouts – although Andy has decided that he no longer likes them. One of my fondest memories is of grocery shopping with Andy when he was about 3 years old and we were in the produce section and he spotted Brussels sprouts and pointed and said “Look Mommy, they have Brussels sprouts, can we buy some? Pleeeeease? There was another lady nearby who did a double take at that. It was so cute – I try and remind him of that when he says he doesn’t like them but he just doesn’t remember it. We mostly eat them lightly steamed and I freeze extras.

Green is the most popular color of cabbage. I like to grow red cabbage, which is actually more of a purple color. There is also white cabbage. Broccoli comes in just the color green (or is there a purple variety also? Might be). Cauliflower comes in white, yellow and purple heads. Brussels sprouts are green or purple.

You want to start cabbage plants indoors (or buy plants). Cabbage family plants can tolerate the cold so you can transplant them earlier than other plants – 2 to 3 weeks before the last frost. Cabbage family plants like cool weather and will bolt (go to seed) quickly when the weather turns hot so you want to get them in your garden early. You can also plant a second crop in late July for a fall harvest.

You will need to harden off your plants before transplanting them. Hardening off is getting the plant used to the new environment where it will be growing. You start by taking them outside for a few hours a day and extend the time they are out to get them used to the elements. If plants aren’t properly hardened off before transplanting, their survival rate is slim.

You want to watch for cabbage worms – they can devastate your crop pretty quickly. You will know if you have them when you start seeing either holes in your cabbage or lots of little white butterflies (cabbage butterflies) hanging around your cabbage family plants.

Another problem you might have with cabbage is splitting – where the whole head splits open. It is caused by it taking in water too fast and the water can’t evaporate through its tightly packed leaves causing it to split. This often happens after a dry spell followed by a lot of rain – you can prevent this by even watering.

You need to tie the leaves over the cauliflower heads to prevent the sun from getting to them. This is called blanching and keeps the head nice and white. Some varieties are self blanching – where the leaves grow tightly around the head, but you may still need to tie them.

You want to pull the bottom leaves off Brussels sprouts – the sprouts will form better if you do.
Harvest cabbage when the heads are the size you desire. Harvest broccoli before the yellow flowers appear. Broccoli will produce side shoots after the main head is cut. Harvest cauliflower when the heads are firm and before they start to loosen. Check them periodically so you can harvest them at just the right time.

Brussels sprouts taste better if you can wait until after the first frost to harvest them. I usually can’t wait and start pulling some off the bottom as soon as they are big enough.

All cabbage family plants are great sources of vitamins A and C, iron, beta carotene, and fiber. They are also a great source of glucosinolates, phytonutrients that remove free radicals from the body by stimulating your body’s own antioxidant systems. They have been shown to help prevent certain cancers. They are also low in calories.

Spring is coming slowly

We've had a couple of nice days with highs in the 50s. Now it is supposed to go back to being colder and rainy. Rain I can handle - that makes the garden grow - as long as it's not snow!


The lettuce hasn't bounced back yet. We'll see what the rain does for it. If it doesn't bounce back, I will just plant more. I also get my first box from the CSA next week so hopefully they will be able to keep me in lettuce (we eat a lot of salads in my house).


The Brocolli is looking great - it likes the cold weather.


I transplanted brussels sprouts yesterday and they look nice.

I am going to start setting my cabbage plants out next.

Pictures of my garden Wednesday, April 23, 2008

The tomato plants are looking very healthy in the basement.


The pepper plants are not looking so good. Most of them are not up.


The cabbage and brocolli look great - the cauliflower and brussells sprouts not so good.


I have this pile of grape vines on the patio table from the fall. What was I thinking? Did I really think I could use them to weave a basket or something? I think they need to go in the compost....


The snow shovels are still by the back door - I think we can safely put them away now.......at least I hope so.


Lilac buds will soon be fragrant flowers! I can't wait - I love lilacs in the spring.


Lillies will soon be up.


The rhubarb is awakening also.


The onions I planted on Sunday.


Andy's garlic project.


Kind of blurry - but some of Andy's garlic A (the old stuff) is actually coming up.


My next big project - I have started digging these shrubs out. I don't like the bushes in the front of the house and the rocks. I want a nice flower bed with mulch.