Reaching for the Sun

The seedlings have found their stride - Early Bird tomatoes are leading the pack;-) I started moving the tomato seedlings to a larger moss container 1 week ago, and was going to capture my progress in a snapshot to post it along with this blog post. But since they looked so anemic, I decided to wait for them to spring back to life. And, they have:-) So, I decided to move the herbs to larger moss containers today (which look even more anemic) and will wait for them to fill out. Then, I'll capture the healthy assembly in a snapshot and post. I will be thrilled if all of the herbs pull through - dill, cilantro, and parsley can be fussy when growing from seed. But, all good things come to those who wait (and pamper the seedlings). And, just maybe, this snow will melt before I have to move them outside!

Happy Gardening!

Inch by inch, Row by row...

My seeds are beginning to sprout! I'm reminded of a time many years ago, when I first learned the joy of starting seeds in my living room window, and humming this wonderful song by Pete Seeger (link and lyrics posted below).  His lyrics still roam around in my head - even today - as I check on the seedlings.

Enjoy your gardens wherever they may be. And hum Pete's little garden song. I hope it will put a smile on your face and in your heart:-)

Enjoy!

Andrea

http://youtu.be/u90qRE2F7CM

Inch by inch, row by row,
Gonna make this garden grow,
Gonna mulch it deep and low,
Gonna make it fertile ground.
Inch by inch, row by row,
Please bless these seeds I sow.
Please keep them safe below
'Till the rain comes tumblin' down.

Pullin' weeds and pickin' stones
We're all made of dreams and bones,
Need a place to call my own
Cause the time is close at hand.
Grain for grain, sun and rain
I'll find my way in Nature's chain
Tune my body and my brain
To the music of the land.

Plant your rows straight and long,
Season them with prayer and song
Mother Earth will keep you strong
If you give her love and care.
Old crow watching from a tree
Has his hungry eyes on me
In my garden I'm as free
As that feathered thief up there.

Stepping into Spring In my basement

These 'surprise' snowstorms just won't leave New England! After this last one, I became even more itchy for Spring to get here. So I took matters into my own hands, headed down to the basement workroom, got my Burpee seed growing trays out, got my seed packets, and started my first 'seed'lings of the Spring season.  

My husband set me up with a grow light to help the seedlings along and to make sure I had a basement 'environment' suitable for growing.

So, I began the process by adding the starter dirt disks to the tray compartments. Since this is a self-watering system, I also had to saturate a black cloth-like mat with water and lay it in the bottom of the container tray. I then added plastic risers to the trays and set the tray with the starter disks on top of the risers. Next, I poured warm water (a little over a gallon) evenly over the dirt disks to saturate them, and waited about 5 mins for them to expand. I then popped the expanded disks down into each tray compartment with my finger to fill the spaces.

Once all were filled, I setup the 'seedling map' of the tray to document the type of seedlings in each compartment. Since I was only planting a handful of seeds to start (Dill, Cilantro, Italian Parsley, Early Bird tomatoes, and threw in some Marigold seeds for good measure), I chose to plant in tray zones (9+ compartments per seed type).

Once complete, I put the plastic cover on the tray and setup my map as a guide. The plastic cover, water and grow light will provide the seeds with the warmth and moisture they need to germinate.

I'll be watching over these babies daily to make sure there's enough water and warmth.  In a few weeks, I'll start another new tray with more veggies, and (hopefully) move the seeds that germinated to larger containers for Spring plantings. 

Looking forward to positive results!

Happy growing!
Andrea

Freezing Green Beans

What a rainy Labor Day weekend we've had here in New England! It's been a nice warm rain, but has definately posed challenges to the outdoor 'Fall Cleanup' activities we planned. So, we decided to focus on an array of indoor activities - canning and freezing were at the top of my list.

So, we went to a local farm stand. As we were pulling in, the farmer was unloading fresh green beans from his cache. So we grabbed a few lbs of green beans, a few white peaches, and other miscellaneous fresh produce, paid and were on our way.

I had investigated various methods of freezing green beans before our excursion, and was considering the blanching method, when I came upon this website for freezing beans without blanching: http://www.anoregoncottage.com/the-easy-way-to-freeze-green-beans-no-blanching/. There were a number of comments on the site praising this method, so I decided to give it a try using the beans we purchased.

The process was easy and fairly quick. The site indicated that I didn't have to wash the beens first, but I was more comfortable washing them. I let them dry thoroughly overnight, cut them into edible sizes the next morning, and put 2 handfuls into each vacuum-sealable bag. My husband took the air out of each bag, and we dated them and popped them in the freezer. We'll build up a quantity that we can use throughout the winter, bringing a harvest freshness to our meals when winter sets in.

Savings?? Of course we could have saved more money had we grown the beans ourselves, but the status of our garden this year didn't include green beans. Hoping to get there next year.

Try this out for yourselves this year - or next year, and checkout the 'anoregoncottage.com' website. Lots of good tips and techniques you might enjoy:-)

Happy Fall!

Andrea

The Plum Tomato Plant that could;-)

It's been a while since I provided an update to my canning adventures, but all is well. We weren't able to layout the veggie garden of my dreams this year, but we were able to (at least) grow those little scraggly tomato plants that - despite limited nurturing - produced a tasty batch of tomatoes that made a great tomato sauce!

I happened to be watching The Food Network during a very hot afternoon in July when the dogs, cats, birds and humans (including me) were crammed into any space that offered a little air conditioning. Chef Giada De Laurentis happened to be demonstrating a Simple Tomato Sauce recipe that day. The show caught my eye, as I had wanted to learn how to do this, too - a non-canning method for making a great sauce.

After the show, I located the recipe online - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/simple-tomato-sauce-recipe3/index.html - and bookmarked it for use at a later time. During the last two weeks, I began harvesting these little, red tomato gems from those sad-looking plants in my front garden. Regardless of how sad the plants looked, they produced a sweet and tasty harvest of tomatoes! I decided to go back to that bookmark, assemble the ingredients, and give the recipe and tomatoes a spin on my stovetop. I did take some license with the recipe, adding extra cloves of garlic, a nice shot of red wine, a sprinkle of red pepper and a bit of oregano. Also added 6 Italian sausages braised in a touch of olive oil, and cut into 1" sections, then dropped into the sauce for a good 30 minutes.

With fingers crossed, I made pasta and served up dinner with pasta and sauce. My husband walked in the door saying, "Something smells real good! When he took a bite, he had a big smile on his face and said, "Are the our tomatoes?!" The recipe and tomatoes were a hit!

I'm planning to make another few batches once the tomatoes complete their cycle, and will freeze the  sauce so we can enjoy during the fall. Thanks to Giada De Laurentis, I can now make a sauce that I can be proud to serve!

Cheers!

The Garden Begins Again:-)

The cold has finally paused for (hopefully) a long break! I'm now able to plant the ROMA tomato plants and herbs in the garden in preparation for a fall harvest and canning marathon.

Although I was hoping to start all my plantings from seedlings this year, we had too much on our plates (no pun intended) to setup a winter garden in our basement. We're hoping to get a little more time to do this next year.

So, this year we're starting with a limited number of tomato plants, and we'll backfill with the abundance of tomatoes grown by local farmers to reach capacity for our winter canning needs. These plants look good (they're actually a little dry this AM, but just gave them a decent soak till I can get them into the ground later today), and the herbs we're growing should add enough flavor and spice to the mix.

We're hoping to get more sunny, warm days than cloudy and cool ones this year. It will expand our growing season and give us some happy plants!

I hope all of you are getting your hands in the soil...

Andrea

Beginning a New Year of Lettuce

My German Grandfather - my OPA - had a wonderful garden, complete with a Spring bed of lettuce, planted from seed and nurtured through the Spring and Summer seasons beneath a simple cold frame he used from year-to-year. The garden produced - what seemed like - a never-ending supply of lettuce that was crisp, sweet and delicious.

Although I always wished I could produce such a fine garden with the same quality of lettuce and other produce, I've never been able to duplicate his 'green thumb'; but, I did learn a valuable tip from my friend, Mary that has given me the tools and inspiration to get my lettuce growing in my own little garden:

1. Buy lettuce when it's new to the farm stand, and on sale during the early part of the season. 
2. Plant them 6-12" apart in the garden where space is available, or in wide shallow (6-10") potting containers with enriched plant soil from the store or the garden. 
3. Water and watch daily as they grow.
4. Once the lettuce plants have established themselves and start getting more leaves, you can start harvesting their leaves. Choose those leaves on the outside of the plants, pull them off the plant gentl,  and create a small salad. Add your own tomatoes, green onion and celery, as appropriate.

Enjoy your harvest!

Andrea