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Giant is Right!

May 21st, 2011

I’ve been out cleaning out the raised bed that housed the spinach that I overwintered. The plants started to bolt with the heat that we’ve been having. It seems that overwintered plants have gotten used to the cool weather and bolt at the first sign of heat – so make sure to succession plant to be prepared for this! While cleaning out the bed I came across this leaf on one of the ‘Giant Winter’ Spinach plants.

Now I understand why it’s called GIANT winter spinach – that’s the biggest spinach leaf I’ve ever seen. It’s pretty much a salad unto itself!

Have you ever harvested a giant vegetable in your garden?

Friday Favorite: Homemade Pizza

May 20th, 2011

There’s nothing quite like pulling a fresh homemade pizza out of the oven. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t like pizza from a shop, that’s good in it’s own way. But a pizza made at home just the way you like it is hard to beat. And you don’t have to drive 20 min to pick it up, or pay the $25 either (one of the few bad things about living in a rural area)!

Until earlier this week it had been way too long since I’d made a pizza, many months. We’ve been missing the tangy sourdough crust, spicy tomato sauce, mushrooms, olives, caramelized onions, sun dried tomatoes and some delicious flavorful cheese. The drought is over and we enjoyed a PERFECTLY delicious homemade pizza with leftovers for a few days.
It’s not like we don’t ever eat pizza if we don’t make it at home, we have a standing dinner date every other week with friends for pizza. We spent months purchasing from all the different local shops and critiquing them. Yes we even had a scoring system and when we arrived at our favorite we’ve eaten it ever since.

If I had to choose my favorite pizza topping it would be mushrooms. Not the kind from the can, but real mushrooms, sliced thinly and tossed on top of the cheese. A good Hawaiian pizza comes in close behind made with caramelized pineapple and thinly sliced ham.

What’s your favorite pizza topping?

Better Late than Never

May 19th, 2011

This year spring has been lagging a bit and so have I when it comes to getting all my warm season crops started. According to my seed starting calculator I should have started my zucchini, squash, cucumbers, pumpkins, basil, zinnias, and all kinds of other things about a month ago. And yet my seed starting trays sit empty, my soil blocker lays dormant, and the seeds are still nestled in their packets on the dresser in my dining room table. Why? I’ve been busy, busy, busy.


Sometimes life allows you to start seeds exactly 4 weeks before frost sometimes it doesn’t. A gardener can decide that time spent improving the soil is better than seeding plants. The weather can change your plans as well. Rain will fall just often enough so that the soil never dries enough to start planting when you should. And sometimes gardeners plan to go on vacation right when they shouldn’t, in the middle of summer. Now they must adjust projected harvests around their plans.

Plants are forgiving though, they don’t get impatient. They’ll grow like gangbusters if given the right conditions and will produce beautifully even if you get them planted a few weeks late. Sometimes I think starting things in pots in the house sets them back (I haven’t done any testing but I’d love to some day when I have the time). This year I’ll be direct seeding most of my squash simple because I didn’t have time to plant them indoors a few weeks ago. The corn will go in a little late so it’s not ripe while we’re on vacation. I don’t think they’ll mind at all, and maybe they’ll be better off because of it – we shall see!

How’s your garden going so far this year? Are you getting everything in on time?

Homemade Potting Soil

May 18th, 2011

I grow a lot of things in containers each year and if I bought potting soil I’d spend a small fortune. So I make my own every spring. I also like knowing exactly what’s in it so I don’t have to worry about chemicals and other weirdness.


Mixing up your own potting soil is actually very quick and easy if you keep the ingredients on hand. I always have a stash of peat moss and vermiculite so I can mix up a batch whenever I need it.


I won’t write an entire post explaining how I make my own potting soil. I filmed a video explaining the process. Head on over to the Your Day Blog to watch the video on how to mix up your own potting soil.

Do you grow a lot of plants in containers?

Cover Crops – Not Just for Farmers

May 17th, 2011

Over the past couple years I’ve been experimenting with cover crops in my garden. So far I’ve planted: crimson clover, hairy vetch, winter rye, buckwheat, fall cover crop mix, spring cover crop mix and various other legumes. Cover crops play a variety of roles in your garden. Use them to protect soil during the winter, they prevent erosion while improving it. They can also help control nematodes and mitigate other soil issues. They work beautifully as a suppression crop on a newly made garden keeping the weeds at bay.


Crimson clover is my favorite, it’s a beautiful cover crop. The first time it bloomed in my garden 2 years ago I knew I’d be using it for years to come. It grows quickly, smothers weeds and brings up nutrients for future crops – all this while looking fabulous!


This past winter I experimented with an overwintering cover crop mix. It contained: winter rye, hairy vetch and crimson clover. It started growing last fall and reached a height of about 6 inches. Throughout the winter it went dormant and protected the soil. This spring as soon as it warmed up slightly the rye started growing. Soon enough the vetch joined in and before long it was almost 4 feet tall.

I chopped it down last week as the vetch was just beginning to bloom. Using pruners, I cut it down in 6-8 inch segments and then went to work digging it into the soil. Before long my neighbor came over inquiring if I was wanting to work up the soil.  He’d just purchased a new toy and was itching to use it.  A few minutes he returned with his new tiller and starting working the cover crop into the soil.  Mr Chiots came out and did the rest while I chatted with our neighbor.

I source my cover crop seeds from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. They have a great selection of single crops and mixtures, just about everything you’ll ever need. Here’s a great chart from them to help you chose the right crop for your application (click on the image to view larger, readable version that you can save if you want to).

It’s quite amazing the difference a cover crop will make when it comes to improving the soil. It takes patience because you have to wait for it to grow, buy it’s certainly an inexpensive way to amend large areas of soil. I’m looking forward to trying a few other varieties. I currently have mustard seeds and I’m looking forward to trying a turnip as well. Now that I have a new large garden they’ll come in handy for smothering weeds on the newly cleared land and they’ll improve the soil in the process so it will be ready when it comes time to grow vegetables!

Do you ever use cover crops in your garden?

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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