Un-Spring.

The weather outside has been frightful! COLD! We have been cozy inside, busily crafting and making, drinking warm lemonade, baking things. Trying to keep warm and energize ourselves even in the face of dark wet days and freezing temps.

I am behind on garden planting because it has been so freakishly cold. I broke down and transplanted out a few flats that just couldn't stay in their small trays any longer. That cleared more lighting space for some extra flats of greens. If it is going to be this cold outside, then I am going to garden INside.


We have several trays of microgreens and lettuces about ready to harvest. They have grown under the grow lights for a few weeks. This includes mixes of spinach, arugula, chard, mustard, endive, mizuna, mache, radicchio, red leaf, beets, radish and a few other extras. They are fantastic tossed with fresh sprouts and a home made ginger sesame dressing. YUM.


I also have many trays of things I started which I usually direct sow but with the temps am holding off on (I tried some things, but no germination). If I get a few weeks inside I can have a head start when it finally warms up!


The tomatoes and peppers are getting bigger and today I potted them up - soon they will be window sitters too and make way for cucumber, melon and squash flats.


Trays of herbs are growing - and 30 or so seedlings from the trays that couldn't go outside had a change of plans and have now been potted and reside on my windowsills, to live until the sunshine and warmth come. It is nice to have fresh herbs - they are not huge yet, but big enough to snip leaves for dinner.


I plan to keep starting trays of greens every week. If predictions are right we will have an unusually cold May too - and I will have fresh herbs and home grown salads anyway. So there, spring. Or whatever you call yourself (insert loud raspberry).


.

growing.

It starts so innocently. A few flats, a calendar, a few shop lights. But sure enough, soon the need to have green growing things expands and you have ... more!


More...Sprouts. Wheatgrass. Pea Shoots. Microgreens. Seed trays full.


Spray bottles of water for misting, canning jars with a kelp water mixture.


It is all good and very reassuring. All that life, all those bits of green.


Yes, spring is coming!


What are you growing?

.

planting towards spring.

Oh March. I both love and dread seed starting. 10-12 weeks of hope and soil and light and care. I love the thought of what is to come, the life that springs up from tiny seeds, the smell of it all. I dread...I am not sure. The thought I might fail (no matter how many years I've been doing this). That they need care just as I want to run shrieking outside not to return until summer peaks with humidity and mosquitoes. But it isn't so much to ask when we get so much in return.


There is something about doing it yourself. There is that feeling you got when you were flipping pages in that pile of seed catalogs while a blizzard raged outside that makes you NEED to do it. To fulfill that dream and promise glimpsed when scribbling furiously into that notebook in January. And it is so much more satisfying on some primal level to pick a tomato from a plant grown from seed compared to something bought at the market in May. I don't know why, but it just is.


So, it starts. I have a hard time pacing myself. When I sit down in March with snow on the ground and I have a big stack of trays, a box of seeds and a huge bag of soil I want to PLANT IT ALL NOW! But seed starting requires continuous, um, control. I must start the right plants each week from now until June. It is wonderful to see it all grow. And it is so obvious in its progress - it is like a calendar of life building to spring and beyond. You may not see signs of spring outside, but you are banking on it coming, and soon.


I have my seed packets organized by start date in my little box. I have each packet marked with what week to start, and when to plant out. I have my lights hanging and I have my notebooks full of crazy ideas. I have two little boys who could care less about the yield or varieties but sure love to dig and water and poke the soil and help and watch it all grow.



When we started our first trays this week G said to me "Mom, it is like we are making spring come by planting inside when it is still winter!" I think he is right.

.

seeds!

Oh February, are you still here? What a week. I have a little boy who still has an ear infection that just won't go away (I know, it never ends! Poor guy). So I've been doing lots of snuggling, caretaking, and being quiet at home with my guys. In between elderberry lemonade, warm packs and mountains of library books, my seeds have arrived. I love posting my big list of what we are growing each year to the blog so I can go back (10, 09)and compare years and have a record of it, and also so I can hear what works for you, what new things you are trying, and get that whole garden energy spring is coming juju rolling!

**seeds 2011**

Some of these seeds are left in my 'stock' from previous years, some are new to the garden this year. The list is what we are growing for 2011, with all new seeds/varieties for '11 marked as **.

Before you think I sound crazy with this big list as I write often about how small our yard is, I don't plant a ton of anything. Most of these plants we plant only a FEW, spread out throughout the shaped beds. We also plant in quick growing things near the slow growers, so that we get multiple harvests from the same space. I also use a lot of containers on deck & porch and grow almost all culinary herbs in pots. I also grow UP as much as possible! This is all very do-able in a small space. Some items are specifically to repel pests, and some are to attract beneficials as companion plants. Some things are literally strewn as I go, wherever I find an empty spot or have just picked an opening - like greens and radishes. It all works together in the end, and it looks nice too!


beans:
bush beans: bush blue lake
pole beans: purple podded pole, blue lake
drying beans: good mother stallard
**Dragon Tongue
**Envy Edamame

beets: (for garden planting as well as microgreens)
detroit dark red
jewel toned (red, gold, candy stripe)
**albino beet

cabbage:
ruby perfection

carrots:
**Chantenay Red Core
**Tonda di Parigi

cucumbers:
crystal apple
**Parisian Pickling

fruit (from seed):
ground cherry
wonderberry

kohlrabi:
azur star

melons:
minnesota midget
Pride of Wisconsin
**Sweet Siberian Melon

onions (to eat & as repellent):
evergreen long white bunching
yellow of parma (late)
yellow borettana chipollini (early)
**red baron bunching
**Red Welsh

peas: (for garden planting as well as microgreens)
oregon sugar pod II
de grace snow & snap
tom thumb dwarf
**Blue Podded Blauwschokkers

peppers:
beaver dam (hot)
healthy pepper (sweet)
**albino bullnose pepper

potatoes: to come (grow bags)

radish:
long scarlet
purple plum
red meat
helios
Cincinnati market


greens: (for garden planting as well as microgreens)
giant japanese red mustard
bloomsdale long standing spinach
mizuna
swiss chard - lucullus
swiss chard - bright lights
swiss chard - flamingo pink
lacinato italian kale
wrinkled crinkled cress
garden cress
siamese dragon stir fry mix
pepper cress
**Ornamental Fringed Mix Kale
**belle isle cress

lettuce: (for garden planting as well as microgreens)
mesclun
red wing lettuce mix
rocky top lettuce mix
heritage lettuce mix
green oak leaf
farmers market lettuce blend

summer squash:
lemon squash
summer scallop trio (patty pan)

tomatoes:
lime green salad
window box roma
tommy toe
**Bison
**Red House Freestanding
**Isis Candy Cherry

winter squash:
early butternut
fordhook acorn
(winter squash didn't do so hot last 2 years in our tiny space, planting only a few this year)

general veg:
white egg turnip
purple of sicily cauliflower
early purple sprouting broccoli
**tendercrisp celery


culinary & 'other' herbs:
cilantro
oregano
common thyme
florence fennel
giant italian parsley
sweet marjoram
lettuce leaf basil
red reuben basil
genovese basil
**lime basil
kerala red amaranth
feverfew
tooth ache plant
yarrow
fenugreek
greek mullein
**Anise Hyssop
**German Chamomile
**Dill Bouquet
**Bergamot

flowers:
**frosted salmon poppies
mammoth sunflower
**italian white sunflower
**butterfly weed
**resina calendula

in ground::
golden raspberries
red raspberries
strawberries
white currants
chives
lemon balm
borage
lovage
rhubarb
mix prairie flowers for rain garden
chocolate mint
lilacs


Also New This Year::
fruit/veg (on list this year to plant, bare root or young tree )
**2 columnar apple (golden sentinel, northpole)
**1 dwarf cherry tree (blackgold)
**1 dwarf peach tree (reliance)
**1 cultivated elderberry
**pink thornless gooseberry
**sweet purple asparagus (might do this next year)
and, thinking of grapes or hardy kiwi for arbor

So my big change is more medicinal herbs and fruit bushes/trees...things that stay year to year and don't require as much day to day care. All of the trees will be dwarf or columnar so they will fit in our small space and not cast too much shade. I'll be doing more things in pots again - to get more sun and heat on my peppers, tomatoes, culinary herbs, etc. And we will be designing a few more ways to grow things UP so I don't have to bend over, and so they don't take as much room. More on all that later, as we plot and plan. We hopefully will have some big changes in the shape and bed spaces, the deck, and other infrastructure details too. Can't wait!

What are you trying this year that is new (for you)? What are you most excited about planting?


.

garden dreams.

We have had a rough week full of asthma attacks, ear infections/rupture, urgent care and a little guy who still feels just terrible. Those rare quiet moments I have had with a sick boy trying to sleep on my lap and a bigger boy tucked under an arm reading a book, I have been sneaking peeks at my garden notebook and flipping through all of the garden inspiration I have checked out from the library. I'm a little behind, I feel, although I greedily look forward to some time in the upcoming weeks to catch up on it all after all this, this.


I have been re-working the garden plan a bit. My back can't handle as much labor intensive work, and so I'm adding more things that can just be. More fruiting bushes, columnar fruit trees, more culinary and medicinal herbs, more cutting flowers, and some fun 'room like' nooks for the boys.


Of course I know I'll still plant a ridiculous amount of veggies, but I'm doing more in pots again, and will be trying to train/tie/grow things straight UP so there is better air flow, light and easier access for me without crawling around.


We have been sorting through all of the seeds we still have, going through my notes of what worked and didn't work in our small space last year, and finalizing the seed starting schedules for everything (must start soon! eek!) to come.


On the one hand I'm excited to look forward to another garden season and these great changes, but I'm also a bit wiped out after the past few weeks of sick boys and gardening seems like a lot of work to this tired mom - I will admit thoughts of just planting all marigolds have crossed my mind. ;) I know that will fade as my asthma boy gets his health back and we'll be ready to roll on this seasons garden...and I'll be excitedly looking forward to it all again!


I'm hoping to share my list of what we are growing again this year. It is nice to always have it to see and compare and hear what everyone else is growing....so, soon!


As I sketch and finalize and think about the garden, I love going through the photos from previous summers. They are inspiring and full of heat and light, and they remind me of what I liked and wanted to tweak. Of course in February they are also eye candy, and a sure sign that spring will indeed arrive.



.

dream time.

It is dark, cold and gray outside - but I've been dreaming. Dreaming about the garden. This time of year is for planning and plotting and reading and dreaming.


I sit with notebooks, seed catalogs, books and magazines. I peruse with a morning cup of tea in hand, at night when everyone is in bed (but me), or whenever I have a few minutes.


I catalog the seeds I still have. Look at notes of what worked/didn't work last year. Plan how to expand growing area in our tiny full yard. Sketch trellises, tripods, containers, vertical lines, and raised beds.


I make lists of what seeds to buy. Think about seed starting calendars and timelines - about cold frames, water barrels, rain gardens and herbs. I read about bed rotations and companion planting.


And while it is dark, gray and cold outside, I envision the lush green, the vines, the soil. I remember the hot summer nights watering, picking and weeding. I remember the bees, the praying mantises, the birds.


I wonder how I can fit in more flowers, more herbs, more color, more fragrance, and still grow more food (in so little space!). I remember little hands helping me plant, dig, water, harvest.


I think about the baskets of juicy tomatoes we had last summer. Colanders full of herbs, vegetables and fruit. I want to try new varieties, new flavors, new textures, new colors.

So while it may be a dark, gray and cold mid-winters day, there is a bit of my summer garden right here in my head.


What are you doing different this year in your garden? Expanding? Trying new things? What is inspiring you right now?

lots and lots of seedlings.

Living in Wisconsin, we have a later last frost date than many of you probably do. But even with our cool wet spring, I have a lot of garden work to do! We have been starting all of our seeds on schedule and have many flats started so far. In addition to the seedlings below, I also have a tray of mesclun greens grown only under lights for 30 days, fully grown and ready to eat! Yum.


Seeds started so far (many more to come):

peppers: sweet chocolate, patio red marconi, tequila sunrise
swiss chard: five color silverbeet
purple tomatillo
tomatoes: orange fleshed purple smudge, brandywine pink, green zebra, riesentraube
cabbage: early jersey wakefield
fruit: ground cherry, wonderberrry ,
greens: tah tsai mustard, mesclun, lacinato kale
kohlrabi: azur star
other spinach type greens: red malabar spinach (asian vine 'spinach'), strawberry spinach
herbs: lovage, parsley, basil, shisho, stevia

I have multiple light setups - partly because my basement has only one outlet, but also because I like to use natural light when I can to help the seedlings grow strong and healthy. The basement setup has two long shop lights and a large heating mat. That is where I start the seeds. Once I get the true leaves, I move them upstairs to our window setup. That is an open wood shelving unit setup in front of a window, with shop lights hung from the top of each shelf. That gets a lot of natural sunlight in addition to the tubes. From there, as the plants are ready to be planted out, I will transfer them onto my back deck to harden off before going into the garden.

I am growing a lot of seedlings this year because it is our first year planting in a community garden as well as our yard - and in addition to those two gardening spaces, I am also starting seeds for our kids garden plot! That is a lot more than I have grown at one time before - but so far everything is going great. I think being organized has helped me keep track of when to start, when to plant, and how many of each to grow based on square feet needed per plant! Now I just hope that all of my grids and plans and sketches work out as we transplant! :)


Since our community garden is not open for spring planting, I am using our yard garden areas for all spring goodies, such as carrots, radishes, peas, cabbage, greens, and anything that goes out before last frost. All of these areas will be re-planted with different fruits and vegetables as the season progresses and the spring veggies are done! I also have garlic, chives, and several types of herbs in ground from last year which will be coming in soon, in addition to the red currants and raspberries which are already budding or showing some green.

With my back out, I have had a wobbly two+ weeks where I could not get up and down the stairs as often to check and water my seedlings. My lovely husband patiently let me describe how to check if water is needed, when to remove covers, when to turn on or off lights...and while I am more mobile now, I am still not able to do much of the yard prep since I am unable to lift or bend much (I have an MRI next week - wish me luck). I am sure I'll be up on my feet and ready to dig once we get closer to last frost in early May. And with my two happy mini-gardeners and a willing husband, we will be good to go for our early spring plantings over the next week or two! Ahhhhh. Love it.

seed catalogs.

I swear I could do this all day. Every day. Anyone else just LOVE reading those seed catalogs?

But of course there is so much to distract me (in a good way) from them -


Sweet little boys who have big plans each day.

Beautiful flowers blooming in the sunny window.


And then there is the baking...

But the boys will also sit with me and we'll go through the seed catalogs together. Reading those unusual names, seeing those which are rare heirlooms and reading their story, dreaming and planning what we can plant where, looking for those with the shortest grow time for our northern climate....too much fun. A loves the funky blob covered squash and G loves the longest most purple beans. Both want a bean teepee, and have hopes for the popcorn succeeding this year.

This year we are expanding our garden again. Planting more containers. Converting more of our tiny lawn to food. And we hope we are also expanding into a community plot. We have found something not too far away, and are crossing our fingers it will all work out and give us a few hundred square feet of solid growing space. What a luxury. We also have plans to get a second plot there to create a special kids garden (more on that soon)!

So, lots to plan. The three of us will be creating our watercolor and marker garden layouts and finishing our plans to get everything narrowed down to a final list. My eyes are bigger than my space (as usual), but figuring it all out and deciding on what interesting new things to grow and where to put them is the fun part!