Thinning the Seedlings
I started these broccoli & cabbage seedlings back on March 2, they germinated quickly. Since most of the seedlings had their first set of true leaves I decided it was time to thin them to the strongest seedling in each cell (I typically seed 2-3 seeds per cell).
When they get to this stage I cut all but the strongest best looking seedling. It’s tough to do, as gardeners we want every plant to succeed; but the truth is that the strongest ones will make the best plants and produce the most in the garden.
I really hate cutting down the little seedlings, but since I use the thinnings for a salad, it makes the process a little more bearable. I also like knowing that I will have the strongest plants for the garden and hopefully I will have a bountiful harvest in a few months because of this small effort now.
What’s your strategy for planting/thinning seedlings?
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What’s It Worth?
What’s your garden worth to you? Roger over at Kitchen Gardeners International wrote a great article yesterday about how much money they saved last year by growing some of their own food. How much was his garden worth last year? $2149.15
I must admit, I didn’t harvest quite as much as I had hoped and I didn’t keep track of all of my harvests. I did weigh most of my tomato harvests and they totaled 105 pounds. Which would have cost me $415 at the grocery store. I also harvested a lot of broccoli in the spring and a ton of lettuce all season long along with some beets, carrots, potatoes, eggplants, and a few other things. I’m going to guess that I probably saved around $750 in grocery costs.
If I count the berries that we foraged for that would add about $300 to my total sending up over $1,000. Oh yes, and I forgot to mention the 116 lbs of organic pears we got for free from my mom. That would probably add in another couple hundred dollars as well putting me close to the $1300 mark.
I did however spend some money getting my gardens ready in the spring, since we added 5 raised beds and had to buy some compost and other supplies, I probably spent about $300 getting my garden ready in the spring. I also spent about $75 on seeds and another $75 on plants, bushes and trees (these will more than pay for themselves in a few years with the fruit they produce).
I also have add that gardening is good exercise so it saves me on a gym membership. Not to mention the time I’m spending getting my exercise is also improving my health by producing healthy vegetables. Considering one of my watering cans weighs 25 pounds when full and I carry 2 of them around all the time watering. If I look at my water barrel chart I carried 11,625 pounds of water around my gardens this past summer, that makes for some big biceps.
I’m sure that this year I’m going to be saving even more since I’m expanding my garden area and I’m going to be able to grow for 3 seasons. I’m excited to be tracking all of my harvests on my new Garden Harvest Spreadsheet. I’m really looking forward to adding a good number to the Garden Harvest Challenge over at Freedom Gardens.
So what about you, what is your garden worth to you? If you didn’t garden last year are you considering starting this year to save money?
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Starting Onions from Seed
I have always had much better luck starting my onions from seed than growing them from sets. Last year, my red onions from seed grew much larger and stored much better than my yellow onions from sets. Many of my set onions failed to do anything at all. Because they do much better and you can get a much great variety, I decided I wanted to grow all of my onions from seed this year. Onions are easy to start from seed, and since you start them 8-10 weeks before frost they’re a great way to cure that gardening itch you get in January.
This year I started 2 flats of red onions in late January and I started 4 flats of onions the day before yesterday (they’re a little late but they should do alright). Everyone has their own method for starting seeds, this is how I do it.
First I start with some soilless mix that I mix up myself and an empty seed flat (I reuse mine from year to year making sure to wash them well between uses). I usually mix some Dr Earth Starter Fertilizer in my starting mix and this has given me great luck with my seedlings.
Soilless mix is often dry and if it contains peat moss it doesn’t moisten evenly unless you use warm water. So usually I warm some water to moisten the trays, I let it cool before I add the seeds.
I sow a few seeds per cell in my flat and then I dust lightly with some more seed starting mix and then mist lightly with water to moisten the top. Then on the covers go waiting for the seeds to germinate. Some seeds like it warm, and onions are one of those, I use an electric blanket on low wrapped around the other flats to warm them (make sure you use plastic so you don’t get your electric blanket wet). Keep an eye out for germinating seeds and then under the grow light they go.
These are both heirloom onions that I got from Baker’s Seeds, I chose them for their keeping abilities. I’m also planting the rest of my Burpee Red Delicious Hybrid seeds for my red onions this year (those are pictured already sprouted above).
Jaune Paille Des Vertus (onion) – Introduced about 1793, this old onion is now hard to find. It is also called Brown Spanish by French seed house Vilmorin; in 1885 they said, “The winter supply of Paris and of a great part of Europe consists chiefly of this variety, which may be often seen hanging up in dwelling-houses in long hanks formed by interlacing and plaiting the withered leaves together.” The roots are flattened and 3″-4″ across, the skin is a brownish yellow and the flesh is flavorful. This antique is known for its keeping qualities that made it a standard in Europe for over 200 years.
Yellow of Parma (onion) – Long-day type–Large, golden onions are oblong-globe shaped. This late onion makes an excellent keeper; a rare and hard-to-find Italian variety.
I’ll keep you posted on how these onions do. I’m looking forward to enjoying these all next winter in my soups and stews.
Do you start onions from seed or you do you prefer sets? Or do you prefer buying them in the supermarket?
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My First Harvest of 2009
On Tuesday afternoon I was able to weigh in my first harvest of 2009 for the Freedom Harvest Challenge over at Freedom Gardens. This year they’re trying to get all the Freedom Gardeners to tally their harvests and shoot for a million pounds of produce. I joined several weeks ago, but I was sad that I wouldn’t be able to contribute anything until later this spring when I have my garden is up and growing again.
If you remember back in September when I planted my spinach, you’ll recall I was hoping for an early spring harvest after mulching my spinach throughout the winter. I put a floating row cover over the spinach in late fall and I’ve been periodically checking it throughout the winter. I decided I would mulch it when it froze.
This was me checking the spinach bed on 12.29.08.
However, the spinach never froze. I checked it last week on the nice warm day we had and the spinach was looking good, so I decided I could harvest some for a salad.
I went out on Tuesday afternoon and pulled up the frosty row cover and harvested from spinach for a salad that evening for supper. So how much was my first harvest of 2009? 4.5 ounces. It’s not going to help much towards the million pound goal, but it’s a start.
We enjoyed 6 salads from our harvest and there’s plenty more out there (along with the mache). There’s nothing quite like enjoying a salad on a frosty February day from your own garden. I even got to enter in into my handy file to keep track of my harvests (which will be done as a template soon and available for download).
Is anyone else harvesting already? How much have you gotten so far in 2009?
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Storing Winter Squash
A while ago Meghan asked me how to store winter squash. I kept meaning to write a post about how I do it, but I kept forgetting (sorry Meghan). It really couldn’t be simpler to keep these lovely veggies around all winter.
I’ve heard that some people store their winter squashes under a bed, others in a pile in the living room. I simply put mine on top of a dresser that acts as a sideboard in my dining room. They are lovely to look at and since they’re in plain sight, I remember to check them often to make sure none of them are going bad.
Different kinds of squash store for different lengths of time. That’s one thing I love about butternuts, they seem to last forever. If you want to learn more about the different kinds of squash, what they taste like and how long they keep check out this site.
Where do you store your winter squash? Any great tips & tricks for the rest of us?
