How Does Your Garden Grow?

Well enough to keep me from working on my other projects right now.

School is almost out and I've been super busy trying to get things done that will be harder once the kiddos are home.  Between that, a spring cold that knocked me on my rear for several days, and garden chores, I've honestly not had the time, or the inclination to sit down and write a blog entry.  

However, today the skies are darkening, threatening rain, keeping me inside and blog guilt has gotten to me.  So, here's an update on my garden.

As a reminder, here's my garden  in mid April.  

And here it is on May 9th.

And here it is today.

The first produce from the garden came from this tiny little 1'x 2' rectangle planted with assorted Greens.  I harvest just the outer leaves as they mature, leaving the inner leaves to grow.  So far, we've gotten about half a dozen family sized salads from it.  

Since it's really starting to warm up here I know it's days are numbered.  I'm planning for Cucumbers to follow the Greens.  So, I pulled up enough of the Greens to  make way for the seeds and cut the rest of the greens to soil level.  Apparently, not all of them are ready to call it quits and I may get one last harvest.

Spinach is the second thing the garden has yielded.  I've gotten 2 good harvests out of it so far.  Like the other greens, it want's to bolt and is trying to send up flower stalks, which I've been pinching off.  

Since it's days are also numbered, I went ahead and planted Bush Beans between the existing plants.  I figure the Spinach leaves will act as a canopy to shade the soil and keep it from dying out too quickly giving the seeds a better chance to sprout.

  

To extend the greens harvest, I have two other small sections in the garden, that will be ready to harvest this week.  I also decided to start a couple of pots which will live on our cooler and more shaded porch in the hopes of getting a much later harvest.

Another thing I've done is to plant Soybeans between my Sunflowers, now that the Sunflowers are about 4 ft tall.  I'm growing a Mammoth variety that should reach 12 ft.  As they grow taller, I'll strip off the lowest leaves to allow sun to reach the soy beans in what would otherwise be wasted space.  

How is your garden growing?

I'd love to know.

Leave me a comment and let me know what your growing, and how it's doing.  

Do you have any super clever tips or tricks?

If so, share those in a comment too.

Adventures in Gardening - Pt. 4 From Grassy Spot to Garden Plot a.k.a "Can you dig it?"

Perfect Grassy Spot - check
 Soil Test - check
Following the Rules for Gardening with Clay - check

For weeks we dug off an on as time and weather permitted.  We took the garden section by section.  Digging the clay, amending the soil, breaking up clods and tossing the worst clay chunks aside.  My little guy had a blast digging into the soil with gloved hands and his tiny little guy sized shovel to mix in the compost and break up the chunks of clay.    

Once a section was prepared it was planted and watered. We made use of the bricks and pavers, left by the previous owner, to create a border and pathways.  In the center, we created a mulched path edged with brick to provide a knee friendly work area.  

Everything was coming together so well, and I thought to myself:
  
"Nice!  But......."  

" if I extend the garden another 4 feet off of the closest paver path, it would look even better and we'd gain 24 ft of planting area."
"Yep, I'm sure I can knock out that last section in an hour or so."

 With Hubby and the kids otherwise engaged, I started digging.  Minutes later, I hit a little snag.

3 coaxial looking cables ran across my newest garden section.  buried at a depth that varied from 1"- 6" beneath the sod.  One end disappeared beneath the fence and into our neighbors yard ominously pointing toward the corner of their house, the other end pointed to a distant utility pole.  

Theory 1:  That's my neighbors cable line.  
(I like them, better safe than sorry.)

I put down my shovel and picked up my phone.  The next few days saw a parade of utility trucks and technicians with their brightly colored spray paint cans.  Each utility marked their lines and a week after the digging had stopped the verdict was official.  

Theory 1 was busted!  

No one had a clue what these lines were for, or why they were there.  ATT didn't claim them.  Our WOW/Knology/Cable technician said "Yep! They look like cable lines, but they don't feed your house or your neighbors.  The only way to tell is to cut into them, and I'm not comfortable doing that."  He also said that distant utility pole they seem to go to is too far away to provide a strong enough signal for either house if they were connected.

Technician: "Just try to work around it."

Me to myself:  "Seriously?!  That's all you've got? I've been twiddling my thumbs for a week for this?"
(Shaking head thinking about the wasted week when I could have been digging.)

Then it rained and my little hole became a little pool. 
Sigh........ 

While I waited for things to dry out, I worked on some other projects including one involving power tools and wood stain, which I might show you someday.  While working, I  came up with another theory about the cables.

 Theory 2:  Garden Gnomes are stealing cable from the neighbors.

(hmm....  now that I'm typing that something else occurs to me.  Perhaps I need better ventilation for those projects involving wood stain.)

Eventually, the ground dried up and I was able to "work around the cables" to finish the garden plot, put up a trellis, and get the last section planted.

I can't wait to see what it looks like all grown up!

Adventures in Gardening - Pt. 3 Four Rules for Gardening with Clay

Remember this picture from our soil test?

See the mason jar of orange-brown liquid in the back? 

 That's our soil sample mixed with distilled water, shaken and left to sit for about an  hour.  Over a month later it looks about the same.  The soil particles still haven't settled completely.  This is pretty common with clay soils.  

For those of you not experience with the red clay soil found in North Alabama,  it is special stuff.  

• It stains clothing well enough to be used as a dye.  
• Holds on to water and minerals well.
• It's pretty good for making bricks.  
• Slightly purer deposits can also be used to make pottery (granted according to my potter friend Wendy the pots are quite fragile).  

In general, it's pretty useful stuff.  But as gardening goes, it's a pain in the tooshkuss! 

 Many home gardeners around here avoid working with the stuff all together.  Instead, the build raised beds that they fill with truck loads of commercial or home mixed "garden soil."  That can get pricey fast, but if you have money to burn, it's a fine choice.  

We have 3 kids.
 (translation:  we have no money to burn)
We are on a budget, and I'm trying to do this as cheap as possible.  That means, working with what I have and following the rules for gardening with clay.

  Rule #1  Never dig wet!  
Ignore this rule and you'll end up with huge heavy inseparable clods that dry as hard as brick.

Rule #2  Don't dig dry!
If you dig when it is completely dry, the ground is already hard as a brick and if you can manage to get your tools into the ground, you'll have hours of back breaking work ahead of you.   

So when the heck should you dig?
  About 1-4 days after a good soaking rain in the Fall is about right.

You have to find a sweet spot of soil moisture when it's wet enough to dig, but dry enough that the clods can be broken apart by hand or with tools.  The first season you work the soil, expect to spend extra time breaking up clods, and know you will end up with some pieces that won't break up at all and will dry into pebble or rock sized bricks.  These are usually the bits with a higher clay content.  You'll know them because you can knead them in your hands like putty.  I try to pull these out by hand now or later when it's time to plant.  I've also used these "super clay" bits in the past as chinking/mortar in brick borders.

What's that you say?  It's not Fall.  

You're right, it's spring!  So there is an added challenge of trying to time this "sweet spot of soil moisture" in between the frequent torrential downpours, tornado watches, and schizophrenic temperature fluctuations of a North Alabama Spring.  Not an easy task, but not impossible.  
   

Rule #3  Amend! Amend! Amend!
By nature, clay is sticky, prone to compaction and slow to drain.  So slow in fact that this 6" deep hole in the garden, where we started digging and had to stop (more on that later), is still filled with water nearly a day after the rain stopped.

 The fix for all of clay's problems is to add as much organic material, like compost, as you can.  Add more each year, and over time, you'll end up with some pretty awesome stuff.  We bought compost this this year, but are starting a compost pile for next year's garden.

Rule #4  Keep Out!
Once the soil is amended,  your little tootsies should never touch it again.  When you step on soil, it gets compacted and the plant's roots have a harder time growing.  Clay compacts easily enough without you walking on it, and you can't have strong plants without strong roots.  So incorporate paths to work from into the garden design and stay out of the growing area.

Up Next:  Pt 4 - From Grassy Spot to Garden Plot

Adventures in Gardening - Pt. 2 Soil Test

With the location decided, hubby took on the chore of ripping up the sod to reveal our wonderful (if you want to make bricks) Alabama red clay.  

  While he did the grunt work, I did a soil test. 

PH -on the acid side of neutral.

Nitrogen- non-existant.

Phosphorus- plenty

Potash- good enough

This soil is better than the soil at our old house which in addition to being the same lovely clay was more acidic and had an assortment of construction debris, tree roots, and rocks.

Up Next:  Rules for Gardening with Clay 

Adventures in Gardening - Pt. 1

I mentioned in a previous post that I'd tell you later about my adventures in gardening.  Well, it's later!

We've been in this house nearly a year and a half now, without really changing or adding anything new to the existing landscape.  That whole time, I've been itching to get my hands in some dirt and plant something.  

This year, as Spring was first trying to spring, I felt the overwhelming need to scratch that itch, but how?  
Flowers?  Herbs?  Vegetables? 

Then, it was obvious. We enjoyed the fresh veggies from our fall CSA so much last fall, but at an average of $40 a week, it wasn't cheap.  

"What if we plant our own veggie garden?"  
 At the old house we had an herb garden, and occasionally grew beans and tomatoes there.  But that was for fun, this would be for food.  
"Could we actually do it?"
 "It would so much work and we'd have to invest some money.  But not as much as a full or even half share of our CSA. " 
"It might be fun."

I got the hubby and kids on board, and it was settled.  I just had to pick the spot and make a plan.

This is the spot we chose. It's our only open bit of fence and runs along the ENE edge of our lot.  

The fence prevents the garden from getting the early morning's sun, but somewhere around 10:00, the sun starts peeking over the top.  From then until dusk, the spot is bathed in full unfiltered sunlight. 
   
The ground here has a very slight slope which should help with drainage, and we never use this part of the yard for anything, but it is close enough to our house, water hose, and gardening tools to make it convenient.  It's also easily viewed from the back of the house and driveway so every time we come and go we'll be reminded to tend it. 

Up Next:
Adventures in Gardening Pt. 2 - Soil Test

Birhouse Gourds - also for the birds

Last year, I planted bird house gourds along our only open section of fence, and aside from scattering some wild flower seed, it was the only bit of planting I did.  

Apparently, they liked the location.  They grew beautifully climbing along the fence with such vigor that my neighbor told me her husband thought that we'd planted Kudzu on the fence.  After assuring her that the vines were not Kudzu, but rather Birdhouse gourds, she was relieved.  Not wanting to be a bad neighbor, I would sneak into their yard when they weren't home to coax the vines back on our side, and cut back the pesky bits that didn't want to cooperate.  

By fall,I had about 10 nice sized gourds which I set aside to dry.  My inexperience with the drying process led to a few issues with moldy gourds that had to be tossed, so by Winter, I was down to 6.  The first sunny days of spring, I scrubbed the gourds clean and cut holes in them with a hole saw.   Most fared well, but one broke, giving me a nice opportunity to turn it into a scoop for potting mix.

Next, I painted the gourds with white exterior paint to reflect the hot summer sun so baby birds don't cook. 

On a whim, I decorated 3 of them.  I'm not sure they'll attract any birds, but at least they're nice to look at.

 

This is for the birds!

 Actually it's from the birds.  Barn swallows to be precise.  They have arrived and bring gifts.

Last Spring, we were excited to see that 2 pairs of Barn Swallows built nests under our front porch.  We watched as they came and went marveling at their mid air performances each night as they decimated the local insect population.   When the babies hatched, we were overjoyed to know we'd have a front row seat to watch them grow.   

It was going to be great!

Then it got real!

The poop started piling up.  I'm not talking about little piles either.  You could wash a good cup sized pile of the stuff off the porch in the morning, and by evening, it would magically return only bigger and smellier.  

In addition to copious amounts of poop, the new brood also turned the moms and dads into dive bombing lunatics, which was a big problem since these little kamikazes built right above the front door to our house.  As they saw it, people on the porch was a declaration of war, and they would defend their newly claimed territory at all costs.

Not wanting to disturb this "miracle of life" (no matter how annoying it had become) and legally unable to do so since these guys are protected around here, we surrendered.  

We used the back door and braved hosing off the porch only enough to keep the health department at bay.

After the babies flew away for good, we removed the nests and didn't give it another thought.  Until the warmer weather brought the familiar song of barn swallows back to the front porch. 

This year, we are initiating a two pronged passive aggressive attack.

1. Make the old site less attractive.

2. Provide an alternative site nearby.

From what I've read, we should really wash the old mud off and spray the area with a light food safe oil, but we haven't gotten to it yet. 

My oldest son and I build this nesting box over the weekend using this plan. We also build a second, but haven't put it up yet, and may try this plan as well. The new "nesting box" is just a few yards from the old one, but hangs over the garden side of the porch so piles of poop won't be a nuisance.   If they accept the new site, we may still have to fend off kamikaze attacks, but it'll be an improvement.  If they don't accept it, perhaps another species will move in.  

Only time will tell.

It's Spring, It's Spring! What a wonderful thing!

I am loving the warmer temperatures and sprinkling of sunny days we've been having.  

**Present morning excluded of course since we're having thunderstorms and general yuckiness.**

I've been outside more and at my computer less, so I've blogged zip in the last month.  But that doesn't mean I've been idle.  On the contrary, I've done plenty.

We inherited a fabulously landscaped yard from the previous owners of this house.  

The front of the house has Lireope lining the path, with Azaleas and Lilac to brighten things in the Spring, plus Lilies and other perennials for summer color.  A prolific Clematis climbs the porch railing putting on a show all season with Knock-Out-Roses and Barberry bushes in supporting roles.  There is also a mature Japanese Maple, a Crepe Myrtle, and countless Nandina.  

In the back, more Crepe Myrtles dance along the fence with enormous, as in could swallow a man and his horse whole, stands of Pampas grass as their partners.   We also have garden Phlox, Hostas, Jackson vine, Jasmine vines, a Dogwood, Birch, several Forsythia and Butterfly Bushes, lots of Lantana and my favorite, a Winter flowering Cherry tree.  

There are many more plants and trees out there that I could name, but I think you get the point.  

It's gorgeous and most of the year it's maintenance free, aside from cutting the grass.  

But in late winter/early spring everything needs attention and lots of it, and this year, being the glutton for punishment that I am, I've decided to add a veggie plot into the mix.  

I'll share that adventure later, but for now, I'm going to enjoy taking a break on this rainy yucky day knowing that soon my gardens will be literally bursting with the fruits and flowers of our hard work and my neglected blog (which I have not forgotten).

What's in the CSA box? Fall Week 5

 

This week we received:

2 bunches of carrots, 1 bunch of radishes, 2 bunches of beets, 2 purple kohlrabi,  3 sweet potatoes, 1 bunch of arugula, 1 bunch of red lettuce, 1 bunch of swiss chard, several turnips with the tops removed, 2 tomatoes, and 1 very large head of cabbage

Plus freebies:

extra turnips and cauliflower

What's in the CSA box? Fall Week 4

This week we received:

2 bunches of carrots, a bunch of radishes, a bunch of beets, 2 bunches of salad turnips, 2 bunches of arugula, 3 sweet potatoes, 1 onion, 1 butternut squash, 3 kohlrabi, and a small head of cabbage

Plus freebies:

extra radishes

As usual, I wasted no time turning the radish tops into radish pesto.  The radish bottoms got some special treatment this week and have been reincarnated as radish pickles. 

These turned out to be so pretty.  I took a standard ratio for vinegar to water to sugar to salt, that I found across several recipes.  Then did my own thing with the spices, adding turmeric to get more of an orange color.  

They look nice, but how do they taste?  

Well, lets just say there is a reason I'm not including my recipe modifications here.  They are o.k., but not great.  

In my opinion, my pickled radishes taste better than their raw unaltered counterparts, but they need something added or left out.  I'm not exactly sure which.  Back to the drawing board for me.  

Good thing I have a crisper full of radishes.

Update: 11/16/13

I tried these again today and while I still don't love them, they are much better than they were.  I'm hoping they will improve with age.  Cloves.  I really wish they had more of a clove taste.

What's in the CSA box? Fall Week 3

This is about a week behind due to having house guests and a miserable cold which has left me voiceless the last 4 days.

However, I couldn't forget to post a pick of week 3's CSA goodies from Doe Run Farm.

This week we received   2 bunches of carrots, 1 bunch of radishes, a bunch of beets, 2 bunches of turnips, a bunch of Swiss chard, 2 sweet potatoes, 1 onion, 1 acorn squash, 2 bunches of arugula, 

plus freebies:

eggplant

What's in the CSA box? Week 2

Last week's CSA box from Doe Run Farms was amazing, and almost all of my food experiments turned out well.  So I've been looking forward to this week's box and secretly hoping for one vegetable in particular.  

Do you see them?

CARROTS!
Who hooo!  We got 2 lovely, super sweet, and crunchy bunches of
CARROTS!

Also in the box:

2 bok choy, 2 kohlrabi (without their tops this time), 2 bunches of radishes, 2 bunches of turnips, 2 bunches of beets, 1 pepper, kale 

plus freebies:

 extra peppers and eggplant

After cleaning and prepping my veggies for storage, the very first thing I made was more of the lovely radish leaf pesto that we all loved so much last week.  It is made with radish leaf, olive oil, garlic, almonds, lemon zest and Parmesan cheese.  

You can find the complete recipe at Chocolate and Zuchinni.

Radish Pesto is amazing on bread.  It also adds a nice spark to pasta sauce, which complimented the eggplant Parmesan I made from the before mentioned eggplants beautifully.

IT'S FALL!

Whoo hoo!

This has always been my favorite time of the year and to honor the soon to be changing leaves, I've altered the look of The Elusive Bobbin.  I've also changed my banner.  I can't say how long they will be this way, but I think I like it for now. 

On a side note, do you remember the owl baby shower cake I made for a friend?   Well the little egg hatched Monday afternoon, and I had the great pleasure of holding little Miss Samantha today.  She and mom are doing fabulous.  

Welcome to the world little one.

What's in the CSA box? week 1

I am so excited!

We just joined Doe Run Farms CSA.  For those of you not in the know,

CSA =  Consumer Supported Agriculture

It works by the us, the consumer, purchasing a "share" in advance of the harvest.  In exchange for our money, we get about half a bushel of farm fresh produce delivered once a week, for a specified number of weeks, to a drop site near our home.  

This is what our first week's box included:

2 pak choy (might be bok choy), 7 beets, 4 radishes, 3 kohlrabi, 2 red bell peppers, 1 tomato, one onion, 2 sweet potatoes, 2 bunches of arugula, plus freebies (eggplants and  banana peppers)

So far (in 3 days), I've used 1 1/2 of the choys and the radish bottoms to make my first ever kim chi.  I used the radish tops to make a pesto that is out of this world.  We've also managed to do away with the tomato, eggplant, and banana pepper (in a ratatouille), half of the beet greens (in a brown rice casserole) and one bunch of arugula in an omelet. 

The Finches Fly the Coop

I just stumbled upon these pictures from last year's finches.  These were taken the day they flew out of the nest and left us.

Finches at 8 and 11 days

O.K. to be honest, these days are give or take a day since I don't know exactly when these little guys hatched.  Oh, and please forgive me if these images aren't the best.  The nest is about 6 ft off the ground and in an awkward position.  If I stand tippy-toe, I can just see the heads of these guys peaking over the top of the nest.  Since I don't want to disturb the area any more than necessary, I am taking these shots as quickly as I can holding the camera above my head, pointing into the nest, and shooting blindly.  All that considered, I think they turn out pretty good.

Day 8

In these pictures, and previous pictures as well, I find it fascinating that you can actually see what they have been eating/been fed through the thin skin in their neck.  We have a bird feeder very close to this nest which has assorted seeds.  It's obvious to me that mom has been feeding from them from it.  At this point 5 chicks are still visible.

7-8 days

7-8 days

Day 11

Starting to get some true feathers now.  I took these pics this morning after a night of rain.  Look at all the poo around the edges.  I have heard this is typical behavior for house finches.  However, it makes me want to keep my distance.  I can clearly make out 4 birdies, not sure if we've lost one, or if it is hiding in the jumble of feathers.

10-11 days

10-11 days

Finches at 5-6 days

Took these the over the weekend.  See what a nice nest box a satellite mounting bracket can make.

 What cuties!  

Still lots of nondescript 

grey fluff in there, can 

you see all 5 heads?

Hubby hath proclaimed this fellow shall be named "Peanut"

Good Morning Peanut!

Signs of Spring

 Last weekend my oldest son was super excited because he found a bird nest in the bracket that connects the TV dish to the house.  Carefully peeking inside, we saw 5 bluish speckled eggs.  Two days later, I went back to see if I could get a picture of the eggs, but mother nature had other plans.

This is what I found in the nest.

2 days later, they're a bit fluffier

This is the fellow who flew away from the nest as I walked up.  He watched me the whole time.  I believe it is a house finch.

Another picture of the mom or dad taken while it was visiting our bird feeder. 

A Wee Yeasty Beasty

Meet Henry, a.k.a. George.  This is my sour dough starter I've had for a couple of years now, but he's been around much longer.  He's actually a descendant of Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail sourdough starter.  You can learn more about Carl, his starter and his friends here:

 http://carlsfriends.net/

Henry/George was sleeping in the garage fridge when we lost power.  Since a friend had asked for a start of the guy, I figured the power outage was the perfect time to wake him up.  He's looking pretty lively now!  Just in time to make some pita bread to go with our Greek extravaganza tonight.