The Plan

First Seed Order

Published January 9th, 2010 in flowers, fruit, garden, seeds, vegetable | 2 Comments »

We’ve placed our first seed order for 2010 from Pinetree Garden Seeds. Take a look at the potential garden.

SMALL SUGAR PUMPKIN (95 days heirloom)
KIWANO HORNED MELON (90 days)
RED BURGUNDY OKRA (55 days)
BEER FRIEND SOY BEAN
ROSE ORACH (heirloom)
TABASCO PEPPER (85 days)
MINNESOTA MIDGET MELON (60 days)
KENTUCKY WONDER BEAN (66 day heirloom)
CYLINDRA BEET (58 days heirloom)
GERMAN GIANT RADISH (37 days heirloom)
CHERRY BRANDY RUDBECKIA
TENDER SWEET (heirloom)
LEMON CUCUMBER (65 days heirloom)
HOMEMADE PICKLES CUCUMBER (54 days)
TURKISH ORANGE EGGPLANT (heirloom)
LAVENDER TOUCH (F1 hybrid 66 days)
PENGUIN GOURD
PEPINO (95 days)
BANANA MELON (80 days heirloom)
FRECKLES LETTUCE (70 days)
SUHYO TK CUCUMBER (65 days)
ORANGE SUN PEPPER (81 days)
PAPRIKA PEPPER (80 days)
CAYENNE-LONG PEPPER (70 days heirloom)
EIGHTBALL ZUCCHINI (F1 hybrid 35 days)
PAPAYA PEAR SQUASH (F1 hybrid 40 days)
CARNIVAL SQUASH (F1 hybrid 85 days)
DELICATA SQUASH (heirloom)
OREGON SPRING TOMATO (68 days)
KELLOGGS BREAKFAST TOMATO (79 days)
WHITE SWAN ECHINACEA
CHIOGGIA BEET (55 days heirloom)
VIRGINIA GOLD TOBACCO
MOULIN ROUGE SUNFLOWER
FANTASIA MIXTURE SUNFLOWER(F1)
STATE FAIR MIX ZINNIA

INT. HOOP HOUSE – DAY

Published October 25th, 2009 in goings on, images, vegetable | No Comments »

Hoophouse interior

Planting greens and other cool weather crops into the hoop house has been on the list of things to do for a couple of weeks now. Now we have six bags of spinach, radish and butterhead lettuce seeded. We’re guessing the bag planting will be fine for these shallow root crops. I did over-plant each bag so heavy thinning will be in order, but the seeds are older and germination might be less than optimal in these cooler conditions. Although it wasn’t cool in the hoop house at all when I was planting. The sun was shining and with only a light wind – probably over 80 degrees. It’s all a big experiment — later we will share some wildly anecdotal conclusions based on our initial results and experiences.

Halloween Come Early

Published September 27th, 2009 in goings on, images, vegetable | No Comments »

It is almost October.

The pumpkin patch has been so satisfying. The borers are a problem, so the vines, as well as a couple of fruits, are decaying, but there are many that will make it to maturity. It’s a race now. Either they will succumb to disease or I will harvest the bright orange globes. Frost is not an option. I will see to that somehow. There are also many gourds planted in the patch. The variety pictured here were the most vigorous producers. Still some birdhouse and egg shaped varieties growing.

Simple Zucchini Soup

Published August 29th, 2009 in goings on, vegetable | No Comments »

They are not waiting for soup, but I am. I was looking for a recipe, anything really, that would use more yellow squash and zucchini. We only planted small varieties, but they still way out produced what we can comfortable consume and give away. People start running the other way when they see me coming with more of these prolific produce.

Soup is easy and can be frozen. This recipe was found here, but I simplified it further – omitting the final milky ingredients (it’s creamy enough). If you follow the link, the author suggests 6 medium zucchs are needed to equal 3 cups of chopped 1 inch cubes. I’m not sure what she might think a medium zucch measures, but it’s way smaller than anything I have around here. I guess I should be picking them earlier, but then I would have even more.

Here’s what I did: 1/4 cup butter to saute 1 medium onion (chopped) and 1 clove of garlic (chopped). Once the onion is looking translucent, add 3 cups of chopped (mine were chopped way smaller than 1 inch) zucchini. I actually used yellow patty-pan squash as it is most plentiful right now. Pour in 1/2 cup of veggie broth or whatever kind you prefer and simmer until the zucchini are soft. Let that cool a bit, puree and reheat to eat, or cool further and freeze.

I think I might try adding some sage and reducing the butter for the next batches tomorrow.

Edamame

Published August 23rd, 2009 in images, vegetable | No Comments »

Contrary to popular belief, I do not speak Japanese, but I do like everything about edamame! The word itself rolls off the tongue – as all Japanese words do with their alternating vowel-consonant, consonant vowel structure. Say it with me: ed-ah-ma-may.

The beans, sweet and meaty, slide from their pods once boiled and salted to perfection. Harvest was a little tiresome – until Anne came out to help. Anne is awesome.

To prepare, I boiled water with about 3 teaspoons of salt. Added the edamame for 3-5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Toss with coarse salt or other seasoning. So simple, so good.