Tag Archives: garden

Apr 27 2016

Signs of Spring

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Our spring wreath

Our spring wreath

I love this time of year. Spring is one of my favorite seasons. I feel lucky because I get to experience it twice this year. The first was in Grants Pass when everything there was in full bloom and the second here at home. When my children were pre-school age I used to take them on walks around the block. I would always ask them to look for the signs of spring. They would tell me about the flowers and the leaves on the trees. They would hear the birds singing and see them flying around. They could feel the sun on their face and the warmth in the air. Even though my kids are a little older I still like to walk around and see the signs of spring. It’s been really fun this year because we are in a new area. I have so many little surprises popping up at my house that I didn’t know about. For example the tulips that popped up in the front. I didn’t plant them but I think I like them so much I’m going to add more for next year. Another surprise is the tree in our front side yard. It has these pretty blossoms coming on. I have no clue what kind of tree it is but I’m really enjoying the blossoms. One of my favorite signs of spring is the garlic in our garden. I plant the garlic in the fall and I know it’s planting time when the garlic pops up out of the ground and starts to grow. I can’t wait to get out there and start planting my spring veggies like onion, lettuce, peas, and even getting the beans in the ground. I’m grateful that I have the chance to see all these beautiful things and that I have time to enjoy them. I like to say it makes my soul smile. It just plain makes my world brighter. So take the time to enjoy the signs of spring and give your soul a chance to smile.

The surprise tulips

The surprise tulips

The blossoms on the tree

The blossoms on the tree

Garlic sprouting up

Garlic sprouting up

I even have strawberry blossoms.

I even have strawberry blossoms.

Aug 4 2012

Cabbage

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This year Corey and I planted 4 cabbage plants.  That means we now have 4 cabbages.  A few years ago we made sauerkraut.  I was a little nervous about it at the time but it turned out pretty good.  So this year we have decided to do it again.  As part of cleaning out my fridge (see previous post) I had finally decided to get started on the sauerkraut.  The recipe I have calls for 20lbs of cabbage.  That is a crap load of cabbage.  With our 4 heads we only had 12lbs.  I started shredding and after two I decided that was plenty of sauerkraut for us.  We only need a few jars and it last us a long time.  I used my food processor (thanks again Corey’s mom for that) to shred the cabbage.  Then you salt the cabbage and let it wilt for awhile.  After that put it in the brining bucket.  I had to make some extra brine so my cabbage was covered in liquid.  Then cover with cheese cloth and place something heavy on top to keep the cabbage submerged.  Now all you have to do is wait 3 to 6 weeks.  Yes that is weeks.  Now you see why I was so nervous about making this before.  Everyday you have to skim the foam off the top.  So I guess you’ll see the finished product in 3 to 6 weeks.

Shredding the cabbage

Salted and wilting

My brining bucket

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheese cloth on top and ready to sit for 3-6 weeks

Sep 16 2011

Apples

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Honey Crisp Apples

Apple season is finally here.  We planted this honey crisp apple tree about 5 years ago. This is the first year that we have had a good crop of apples.  We bought the tree bare root.  It was practically a little stick with roots.  After planting it in the fall we didn’t expect blossoms on the tree in the spring but there were.  No apples developed that year.  The next year there were no blossoms at all.  The third time a few blossoms and a couple of wormy apples.  The fourth year we were optimistic but because of a late frost that killed all the blossoms there were no apples.  This year has been good to us.  The tree blossomed and we had an abundance of fruit growth.  My husband was continually out there thinning them.  We have had to put braces up to keep the trees branches from falling and breaking with the weight.   I’ve sprayed it twice to try and keep the worms down.  Although we now see that I needed to either do it earlier or more often.  There are a number of apples with little worm holes in them.  Other than that there haven’t been to many things I’ve had to worry about.  Well that’s not true there is one pest that is causing my apples to disappear. They’re about 15 years old and one of them lives next door.  Yep that’s right it’s the pesky teenager.  For a couple of weeks we have been getting after our kids for eating the apples and leaving the cores in the road.  They denied ever doing it but we knew the apples weren’t eating themselves.  Well today I was cleaning my kitchen and heard a ruckus outside.  I turned around just in time to see three teenage boys eating apples and throwing the core into the street.  That’s right MY APPLES.  This pest wouldn’t be so bad had they come and got my permission but no they just take.  Well I guess I can’t blame them the apples look delicious and if I don’t say so myself are delicious.  It’s hard to pass by without wanting a taste.  I do like to make applesauce and pie filling every year.  Maybe this year I won’t have to beg my neighbors for apples.  I’ve made two apple pies so far and they have been the best apple pies.  Next time I’ll share with you a step by step apple pie recipe.

our little apple tree

 

 

Sep 12 2011

Cantaloupe

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Cantaloupe

If you look at the first post about me starting to blog about the garden there’s a list about what I planted.  You may notice that cantaloupe was not one of them.  When we planted our watermelon we waited and waited and it did nothing so we decided to go get another plant and got a cantaloupe.  I didn’t know that cantaloupe did so well here.  I wish we had bought it instead of wasting time on the watermelon first.  We so far have three cantaloupes and one is almost ready.  They are about the size of a soft ball, smaller than your normal grocery store cantaloupe.  I can’t wait to get my first taste of fresh garden cantaloupe I hear it’s really good.  As for the watermelon we left it in the garden and as soon as the cantaloupe started to take off so did the watermelon.  We now have a watermelon the size of a base ball.  The sad thing is there is definitely not enough time for it to ripen before the first frost.

 

Watermelon on the left in the shade. Cantaloupe on the right

 

Sep 8 2011

Grapes

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Concord Grapes

We planted Concord Grapes 3 years ago and this is the first year we have had grapes.  Grapes usually have one season that they establish themselves and then produce the next.  Why did it take us 3 seasons?  We had an early frost last year that killed all the growth and the plant had to grow back from the roots.  We now know that grapes are very sensitive and need a lot of tender care if you want any grapes.  Last fall we mulched heavily around the vine and coved it in the spring if there was any chance of frost.  We only have 6 clumps of grapes this year but we are happy to just have grapes.  I don’t mind.  I need a juicer first so I can make jelly and juice.  This gives me at least another season to acquire the equipment before a big crop.  We haven’t picked them yet because you’re supposed to wait until the first frost for the sugars to set like you do for apples.  Plus they have just barely started to turn purple.

Sep 6 2011

Pumpkin

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Pumpkin Blossom

Pumkins, are the bane of my gardening skills.  I have tried for many years now to grow pumpkins. I’ve tried many different varieties including the great giant, jack-o-lantern, and now Howden.  I’ve searched the internet to see what I’ve possibly been doing wrong only to hear that pumpkins are really easy to grow. Urrrrgh! So not helping.  All I wanted was at least one sizable pumpkin to carve for Halloween.  Most years the pumpkin plant has barely grown.  Last year I got a soft ball size pumpkin.  This year all plant and no pumpkin.  I know it’s not the area I live in. Friends in my neighborhood grow pumpkins just fine.  One even had nearly 20 pumpkins growing in her garden last year.  I’ve eagerly awaited thinking this year was going to be different.  The plant took off and has been doing great.  Lots of male blossoms but no female blossoms.  We would see the female blossoms start to develop only to see it wither away before it even had a chance to blossom.  Until this morning.  Yes!  I quickly went out there and hand pollinated the blossom to ensure pollination.  It was in the 30s last night and not a lot of bees were buzzing around this morning.  So I took a q-tip and rubbed some pollen from the male blossom and transfered it to the female blossom.  I wonder if it’s too little too late.  It’s already starting to get chilly.  I hope this pumpkin takes and grows big enough for Halloween.  Obviously something I’ll be updating on later.  I do have a great recipe for pumpkin pie filling so maybe I’ll try a sweet pumpkin next year.  Any suggestions on what variety to choose from?

The pumpkin plant taking over my garden

Sep 4 2011

Tomatoes

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Early Girl Tomato

Tomatoes are an essential part of my garden.  I can whole tomatoes, tomato sauce, salsa, and spaghetti sauce.  So I have to have tomatoes growing in my garden.  We planted  8 tomato plants.  Two of the plants are a cherry tomato.  So far my favorite has been the early girl variety.  It’s a smaller tomato but ripens pretty early which is necessary for this climate.  Every year I’m on the search for a new favorite variety.  I would like the tomato to be a little bigger.  I planted 5 varieties.  There are 4 early girls, 1 super fantastic, 1 Sophie’s choice (heirloom), 1 currant cherry tomato, and 1 sungold cherry tomato.

Currant Cherry Tomato

First I’ll discuss the cherry tomatoes.  I plant at least one cherry every year because I like these in salads.   This way I don’t have to use my bigger tomatoes for my salads.  They also produce a lot sooner and you are able to have them during the summer.  I usually plant a sweet 100 cherry tomato.  I thought I would try something different this year.  Wrong idea.  I got the currant cherry tomato.  These are super small and don’t have a lot of flavor.  They are also difficult to pick.  They grow like a currant in big clusters and really close to the center of the plant.  The tomatoes on the bottom of the plant were the first to ripen.  In order to get to them I had to crawl on my hands and knees and stick my hand all the way in the plant to pick.  Even then you couldn’t tell if you were getting the right tomato because they were so closely clumped together.  Many times I would end up picking a green tomato instead of the red one.  So frustrating.  I’ve gotten to the point that I don’t even care if they get picked or not.

The other cherry tomato that I picked is called Sungold. This is a small orange cherry

Sungold Cherry Tomato

tomato.  We love this one.  It is so sweet.  This is the variety that we got a few years ago when we first started gardening and it single handedly convinced my husband that tomatoes aren’t gross. Sophia, my three year old, loves this one and we have to act quickly if we want any before she picks them all.  Definitely one we’ll do again.

The Super Fantastic variety was a mothers day gift from church.  I actually like this one.  It produces a lot of large tomatoes and taste terrific.  The only problem I have with this one is that it splits easily.  I think all the tomatoes that I’ve pulled off of there so far have split.  That’s okay if you’re using it for salsa but not okay for whole tomatoes.  This might be a variety I’ll try again since I do like salsa.

Sophie’s Choice variety I got on a whim.  I was looking for just one more tomato to plant and one that produces early and is larger than the early girl.  Saw this one and got it.  It was a little more expensive because it’s an heirloom tomato but so far it has done great.  The tomatoes are larger and don’t seem to have any splits but they are taking longer to ripen then my other tomatoes.  I just hope they ripen before the first frost in a couple of weeks.

Tomatoes are pretty easy to plant.  They are very frost tender so if you live in a cooler climate like I do you’ll need to have your tarp ready to cover them.  Tomatoes are also very easy to can and great to have in the pantry.  We use our whole tomatoes in soups, stews, casseroles, and even chili.  The key is to find the right variety that works for you.

Aug 17 2011

Huckleberry Muffins

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Huckleberry Muffins

Here is an update on those huckleberries.  One of the things I decided to do was make huckleberry muffins.  I’m surprised that I’ve never had these before.  I like blueberry muffins but they aren’t my favorite.  So it seemed logical to substitute huckleberries instead of blueberries.  These turned out great and I now have a new favorite followed closely by lemon poppyseed.  One thing I don’t like about blueberry muffins is that they are often too sweet for my taste.  The huckleberries solved that problem.  The huckleberry has just the right amount of tartness to off set the sweetness of the muffin.  So if your looking to try something new just take your favorite blueberry muffin recipe and substitute huckleberries.

Doesn't this look so yummy?

....mmmm

 

 

Aug 15 2011

Huckleberries

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Huckleberries

Yummy, yummy it’s huckleberry time.  I don’t grow this in my garden but these tiny berries grow wild in the mountains not too far from our home.  Growing up we used to have a cabin at Warm Lake Idaho. Warm Lake is about 30 miles from Cascade Idaho.  We would spend much of our summers up there and when it was huckleberry season my mom would load us up in the van and we would spend a couple hours at our favorite huckleberry picking spot and pick.  Then we would  be rewarded the next morning with huckleberry pancakes.

We have lived in this area for seven years now and have known that there are huckleberries here but they have eluded us.  If you ask anyone where to pick they never give you a straight answer.  If they have a spot it’s a well guarded secret.  This year we happened upon a nice spot by accident.  Corey was camping with Levi in Kelly Canyon, that is as close as you will get to the location, and they went for a hike.  While on their hike they noticed the huckleberry patch and started picking.  When they came home we had enough for a batch of huckleberry pancakes.  Of course, I made Corey take me to the huckleberry patch and we picked a couple of quarts of them.  I froze them and now we can have huckleberry pancakes for a while.  I might even try some huckleberry muffins.

Aug 13 2011

Raspberries

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Raspberries

Raspberries weren’t something we planned on growing.  Our neighbors behind us have a huge raspberry patch and the birds have spread the seeds into our yard.  So when we moved here instead of pulling them all up we have decided to let them grow in a certain area.  I had never made raspberry jam before and that same year our neighbor let us go over and pick a bunch.  I made raspberry jam and it is now my favorite type of jam.  I can’t go without it.

Our neighbor has now remarried and they pick and sell the raspberries instead of letting us pick them.  So this year we bought some bare root plants and planted our own raspberry patch.  Something you should know about raspberries is it takes a year before you get any raspberries.  They shoot up a cane the first spring and the next year is when they start to produce raspberries.  So this year we didn’t really have enough for jam but luckily I have a wonderful friend who had more than enough and she gave me enough to do three batches of jam.  Thanks Amy.

I have some kind of pest problem not sure what it is.  It’s a bug that likes to make a lot of holes in the leaves.  It hasn’t hurt the production of raspberries but I’m afraid that it might affect the plant. I’ve done a little bit of research and it could be earwigs, Japanese beetles, or some kid of fungus.  I’ve never seen anything actually chomping away at the plant but I have seen earwigs in that area before.  What do you think?