If we ever get summer this year ...

Wow, it has been a cold and wet Spring so far. One week of lovely weather, where my seedlings could finally go outside, and now here they are again indoors as it gets down to 0 overnight. It would be nice if Summer would finally arrive. That looks to be this week (fingers crossed)!

But the seedlings are doing well and that week in the warmer weather outdoors helped. The tomatoes are large and the stems are strong even if they are bending over a little. That is quite common, sometimes people put a stick in the pot to tie them straight but I don’t bother. When you plant tomatoes out into the garden, you want to plant them quite deeply anyways, much deeper than they are in the pot. It encourages them to grow stronger root systems as they can grow roots all along the buried stem. I plant them deep enough that only one or two sets of leaves are still showing above ground, so if they bend over a bit in the pot, it doesn’t matter in the end because that part of the stem will be underground eventually anyways.The seedlings are back outside, as of today, to prepare for planting.

One more of the pepper varieties has grown properly, so I will have one chili pepper and one sweet pepper this summer. I’m glad I have another, but am still disappointed. The peppers whose seeds didn’t germinate well were commercially bought, and I will be looking for a different seed source next year. To have such poor germination, and across several varieties, doesn’t speak well.

The onions are still small but growing. Only about half of them went outside that week, but they actually perked up a lot, and the stems got stronger. Once the weather warms again, they will all go outside and hopefully I can rescue the onion seedlings even if they will be getting a late start!

Squash and Cabbage seedlings are already planted out into the garden, as were the pea seeds and they seem to be surviving the dip in temperatures. Potatoes were planted as well. Peas are already coming up! Half the tomatoes are planted as well - they sulked in the unexpected cold but are starting to perk up a bit. I really need to get to the square of the garden where the carrots and onions go, weed it, and get them in the ground ... those are behind. Then the cucumbers,  which are huge and clearly need to get out of their pot and into the ground, and the rest of the tomatoes and peppers.

Then I’ll have to move back to weeding the flower gardens. It always amazes me that weeds can flower and go to seed before you can barely even get out into the garden in the Spring. It makes it very difficult to keep up with. I always start with the vegetable gardens because they need to be planted early, but then the flower gardens need to be tended and I’ll be playing catch-up. With the hard, freezing cold winter we had, there is a lot of die-back and a lot of plants that didn’t make it, so there will be quite a bit of clean-up and moving things around this year ... unfortunately.

Seedlings

The seedlings for the year are coming up nicely. I am most impressed with the cabbage and squashes so far, they look really healthy and strong. The tomatoes look good, although they could really benefit from some sunlight (real sunlight) and a light wind blowing them around (to make the stems stronger). Today was the first day that it was warm enough to set them outside in some light shade for a couple hours - it was above seasonal temperatures here, people were wearing tshirts and some were even wearing shorts. It will cool off over the rest of the week but I think I'll try to get them outside for a couple hours each day to start acclimating them. They are getting too tall for the grow lights anyways!

Disappointing so far have been the onions, and the peppers. One pepper came up well, all seedlings sprouted, and is strong and healthy. The others are weak and poor germination, and I'm not sure why. They got the same soil and same treatment as the other pepper, and all the tomatoes, which are all doing fine. Perhaps it was bad seed, some old seed? Some seeds I got in a trade, others I purchased fresh this year, so I'm not sure. I'm going to plant some more and see how they do. Its getting late in the year to be planting peppers from seed but I have so few that I really need to try something.

The onions are disappointing from a different perspective. I like growing onions from seed, you can choose the variety, and sets are very vague (white onion, spanish onion, is about the extent of the varietal information). Onions from seed aren't supposed to be too hard either, just need to be started quite early. But mine never quite work out the way I plan. They sprout, but they are so skinny (even under strong grow lights) that they end up lying down instead of growing sturdier stalks, and then eventually wilt and die away. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong but I'm going to be looking at some "internet research", as my sister kids me, to figure it out. They are alive, but not very strong or healthy looking. Certainly nowhere near ready to be planted, and they should be getting close to garden planting now. This is the second year in a row and I need to figure this out!

But so far so good on everything else. Potatoes are cut and waiting to sprout a little, and then they will get planted into the garden too. Snow cover over the garden is gone (finally, after such a long and tough winter) so it is almost time for potatoes, onions (if they make it), cabbage, peas, carrots perhaps (direct sown).

Next up, starting some flower seeds. Once some of the herbs and early veggies are moved outside, I'll have space under the grow lights for some flowers. Sunflowers, marigolds (for the tomato patch), I'm going to try a couple asters, hollyhocks and columbines this year as well to add to the flower gardens. I'd really like to try and get a good hollyhock patch growing. They are bi-annuals so they only bloom every second year. Most varieties are, at least, some of the newer ones can bloom annually. But with the bi-annuals, you have to have some in their first year (growing year) and some in their second year (blooming year) to have flowers each year. They will re-seed themselves, although I always scatter seeds to help them along because they struggle in the mulch of the garden. I have a couple hollyhocks, but I'd like to try to develop that into a couple nice patches that can pretty much take care of themselves. They are so beautiful and tall, and bloom for such a long time in the summer.

Seed Starting

It seems to early in the year to be thinking of starting seeds, and the winter is still raging outside with snow banks taller than I am and no sign of stopping just yet. I can barely see the garden gate (it is buried that deep in snow) let alone the garden, but it is the very beginning of seed starting time up here in my Zone 5 garden.

This is the weekend when we start the earliest seeds, to give them enough time to germinate and grow strong enough to go outside at the last frost date. Mostly, this is the weekend to start onions. I also usually start Parsley at the same time as well.

Unfortunately my onion seeds haven't arrived yet, but will be here shortly, so I am preparing to plant them as soon as they get here. You have to grow "new" onion seeds every year because, unlike some other vegetables, onion seeds don't last very long. You can either grow  from the ones you collected the year before or you can buy new every year. I haven't had the patience yet to let some onions stay in the garden a second year until they go to seed, therefore I buy new seeds each year. This year I ordered "Ailsa Craig" from Heritage Harvest Seed and "Australian Brown" from Baker Creek Seeds. "Ailsa Craig" is supposed to be quite large and mild, a yellow skinned Spanish type onion, better suited to eating fresh rather than storing. "Australian Brown", on the other hand, is a great storage onion with a stronger flavour and gets good reviews for consistent performance in heavy clay soil. I'm excited about both!

I have also narrowed down my list and planned the vegetable garden. I'll be trying corn for the first time, which is exciting. I hope the racoons don't discover it!

Parsley "Giant of Italy"
Cilantro "Slo Bolt"
Basil "Corsican"
Dill "Dukat"
Summer Savory
Mint: Orange Mint, Spearmint, Apple Mint,  Chocolate Mint
Oregano
Rosemary
Chives
Thyme
Lemon Thyme
Celery "Tendercrisp"
Summer Squash "Ronde de Nice"
Summer Squash "Costata Romanesco"
Winter Squash "Boston Marrow"
Cabbage "Red Express"
Cabbage "Early Jersey Wakefield"
Cucumber "Japanese Long"
Carrot "Amarillo"
Carrot "Nantes Coreless"
Onion "Australian Brown"
Onion "Ailsa Craig"
Garlic
Bean (bush) "Piros Feher" (shelly)
Bean (bush) "Ireland Creek Annie" (dry)
Bean (pole) "Amish Gnuttle" (dry)
Bean (pole) "Good Mother Stallard" (dry)
Corn (sweet) "Simonet"
Pepper (chili) "Alma"
Pepper (chili) "Black Hungarian"
Pepper (chili) "Pasilla Bajio"
Pepper (sweet) "Marconi red"
Pepper (sweet) "Jimmy Nardello"
Pepper (sweet) "Sweet Chocolate Bell"

Tomatoes - this year's colours of choice, to narrow down options, are white and black:
Amazon Chocolate
Black Ethiopian
Black Krim
Black from Tula
Paul Robeson
Brad's Black Heart
Bedouin
Nyagous
Noire de Cosseboef
Japanese Black Trifele
Carbon
Sara Black
White Wonder
White Queen
Great White
(also one of White Beauty, Snowball, or Cherokee Chocolate)
and the paste variety Cuore di Bue

So, the onion seeds will get planted when they arrive and next up will be the Peppers (both Sweet and Chili) somewhere around the second week of March. Hopefully it will look and feel more like Spring then!

Well, I sheepishly realize that I haven't posted in a while ... it was not my greatest summer. Between the weather, which made gardening difficult and tomatoes nigh on impossible, and the weeding (the only thing that grew without problems in the garden this year were the multitudes of weeds), I was kept very busy. With a non-spray garden, weeding is taking up more and more time every year, especially thistles and the dandelions which blow in from everywhere. I weed a patch, move on to another, and by the time I finish the second (a day or so later), the first is full of weeds again. A never-ending process, or at least it was this past summer.

The flower garden looked a little ragged by the end of the year, as I concentrated more of my efforts on the vegetables patches, but aside from the tomatoes which were poor due to the crazy summer weather we had, I ended up with a pretty good harvest.

The beans, especially were quite productive, so we were kept in shelling beans for the second half of the summer, and lots of dried beans to save for the winter months. The squash was INCREDIBLY productive this year, even more so than usual. I completely ran out of interesting recipes for squash and had to google some. I'll post a couple at some point, as I'm sure they will be quite helpful for other people who end up with too many squash all within the space of several weeks. I will be planning for fewer squash plants next year.

I just ordered my seed potatoes for next summer. I was disappointed this past year, as we got record amounts of rainfall within a couple weeks in early summer, and one entire batch of potatoes drowned. Not only died, but actually drowned. The garden couldn't drain fast enough because there was just so much water. Flooding everywhere, cities and streets, and in my potato patch as well. I'm hoping optimistically more less rain this year, a more normal amount at least, and am trying two new varieties. Last year I grew Irish Cobbler (which tastes great, keeps really well, and is fairly productive - good for mashed potatoes) and Seglinde (beautiful potato, lovely taste, thin skin - great for roasting whole, or quartering for soups, casseroles, because you don't need to peel it). I liked them both but wanted to try something new, so I'll be expecting German Butterball and Sangre. The variety that drowned last summer was the specialty one Nicola, which is supposed to have a very low glycemic index (good for people watching their carb intake like diabetics). I'll see if I can find that one again, I bought it locally last year.

As far as canning and preserving, I did "put up" several recipes, most tried and true one but a couple new attempts:
 Sour Cherry Lime Rickey Jam (new)
Raspberry Lime Jam
Dill Pickles
Pickled Roasted Red Peppers (new and delicious!)
-and-
Frozen:
Garlic Scape Pesto
GMO-free corn, "creamed"
Salsa
-also-
all the dried herbs (Parsley, Basil, Rosemary, Oregano, Thyme), dried Chili Powder, dried Beans.

We ate a lot fresh from the garden, and I didn't get enough tomatoes to can, only to eat fresh and use. Hopefully next year will be better. I'm just starting to think about planning for next summer, which varieties I want to grow, which colour tomatoes we're going to try, how to reorganize certain areas, what worked well and what I want to change or add... it is still early but come mid-March, it will be time to start Onion and Pepper seeds!


 

Spring Trees in bloom

Just a couple photos today of our trees - The Magnolia tree is a real show-stopper for the week that it blooms every year. Doesn't last long, but puts on a spectacular show.

The cherry trees have had it tough the past couple years, with late frosts and huge storms stripping most of the blossoms away, we've had almost no cherries. This looks to be a good year so far though, it is laden with blossoms.

And here they both are together ... what an incredible sight!

Cabbage, Cucumbers, and Squash, Oh My!

So, about a week and a half ago, more seeds were sown ... April 8 (approx 4 weeks before outdoor planting day) is the time for the Cucumbers, Squash (both summer/zucchini and winter), Potatoes, and Cabbage. Also, if you want to start your lettuce and spinach inside before transplanting outdoors, this is the week. I usually just direct-seed mine outside in a couple weeks, when I do carrots and transplant the onions outdoors. Also, I am not starting potatoes yet ... they go directly outdoors too but with this winter of ours that refuses to let go (they are calling for another storm that might even bring some snow in the next couple days), I am going to hold off a little on the potatoes until the weather stabilizes. This is also the week that I start my sunflowers indoors.

So, let’s see ... what was sown?

Cucumber “Japanese Long” – this is supposed to be a burpless variety that closely resembles the type of cucumbers you buy in a store, and they don’t get bitter easily. I’ve never grown it before, but we shall see. It is an heirloom and I really hope it is tasty, I’m looking for a new cucumber variety.

Cucumber “National Pickling” – I’ve grown this heirloom before, and makes a great pickle at the end of the summer.

Zuccini “Black Beauty” – Compact plant and these look the most like the small green zucchini you find in the grocery store although tastier. Heirloom as well, and really versatile for using in the kitchen. One of our favourites!

Summer Squash “Costata Romanesco” – new to me this year, this is an heirloom Roman Zuccini. It is ribbed so the edges are scalloped when sliced and is supposed to have great flavour.

Winter Squash – “Boston Marrow” – orange-red hubbard-shaped winter squash, it is supposed to be dry and fine-grained. I am new to this one as well, but really looking forward to it. Apparently it makes a fantastic pumpkin pie, and great flavour, which is why I chose to try it this year.

Cabbage “Red Express” – we started eating more cabbage last summer. It is very healthy, lasts a good long while, and can be used in a variety of ways (soup, cabbage rolls, coleslaw, etc). I decided to try two this year, but I’ve never grown any sort of cabbage before so ... we’ll see how it goes... Red express is specifically bred for Canada and northern States, is compact and the heads are split-resistant (sounds like that should be important). This is the red variety, and is supposed to grow and mature quite quickly.

Cabbage “Early Jersey Wakefield” – Another early producer, this heirloom is green and supposed to be sweet with great flavour.

Sunflowers – “Starburst Blaze”, “Taiyo”, “Velvet Queen”, “Vanilla Ice”, “Henry Wilde”, “Terra Cotta”

And then I also had to re-seed a couple tomatoes. I only planted several seeds of each and there were a few varieties where none germinated, or maybe one did but it was growing slowly and weakly, so I wanted to plant a couple more just in case.

Really starting to look forward to the summer, getting outside and getting planting! Next post will probably be potatoes. Also, I had to mail order the seed potatoes this year, and haven’t received them yet. Hopefully in the next couple days. Crossing my fingers for Spring to really arrive, for good...

Tomato Time

I am very behind in posting this, but tomatoes are planted and seeds are germinating ... they were planted 7 weeks before our estimated frost-free date of May 9^th, and on traditional tomato planting day. My great-grandmother started tomato seeds on March 15^th (so I’m told), my grandmother starts her tomato seeds on March 15^th (as do her friends), and in the years when my mother starts tomatoes, she does so on March 15^th. Who am I to go against tradition? So there it was, March 15^th, and it was Tomato Time. I received a phone call from my grandmother later that night just to make sure that I was on track!

This year, I am focusing mainly on the yellow – gold – orange family of tomatoes, including several paste tomatoes as well. Growing as many of these colours as I have space for, to try to narrow down which are our favourite varieties for the future.

The seeds are sown, the dice is cast, the varieties are as follows:

Jaune Flamee

Persimmon

Summer Cider

Coastal Pride Orange

Hawaiian Pineapple

Amana Orange

Kellog’s Breakfast

Azoychka

Calli Orange

Coyote

Woodle Orange

Earl of Edgecombe

Barnyard

Cherokee Gold

Brandywine Yellow

Livingston’s Golden Queen

Dr. Wyche

Aunt Gertie’s Gold

Moonglow

Orange Strawberry

Orange Minsk

Paste:

Pirkstine Orange

Cuore di Bue

Lurley’s Paste

 

Along with the tomatoes, it is also the time to sow the annual summer herbs like Basil, Dill, Cilantro, and Summer Savory. I chose Corsican Basil, Slo-Bolt Cilantro, Dill Dukat, and Summer Savory seeds that I received in a trade from someone. Looking forward to trying all the new varieties.

No photos yet, but once they are start sprouting and growing, I’ll post a couple. Hope everyone else got a good start on their tomato seeds by now!

There Will Be Onions

It is that time of year again - time to THINK SEEDS.

Here in our chilly northern Zone 5, it is time to start the earliest seeds of the year – Onions. Actually, they should have been started a week or two ago, but I was unprepared and running behind. Oops! Onions, Celery and perennial herbs like Parsley are the earliest seeds that are started each year, usually in late February. They need a long time to mature.

Today, on my “seed starting calendar”, it is actually time to start Peppers. I use a frost-free date of May 9 even though I only start “hardening them off” then or leaving them outside, because let’s face it, there is always a late and unplanned frost. I usually don’t plant into the garden until a couple weeks after that. Today is 8 weeks before my May 9^th frost-free date, so it is Pepper time. Since I am running behind, I did all of them together:

Onion “Australian Brown”

Onion “Candy”

Onion “Sturon”

Onion “Ailsa Craig”

Spring Bunching Onion “White Lisbon”

Celery “Tendercrisp”

Parsley “Giant of Italy”

Pepper “Purple Beauty”

Pepper “Giant Aconcagua”

Pepper “Mini Chocolate Bell”

Pepper “Jimmy Nardello”

Chili Pepper “Guajillo”

Chili Pepper “Anaheim”

Chili Pepper “Chimayo”

Most of these are new to me this year, different varieties I am trying out. I was unaware when I bought them that “Candy” Onion seeds are Monsanto-owned, so while I’ll be growing them this year (I don’t want to waste them), I doubt I’ll be growing them again ... my first year growing onions from seed, but we go through more onions in a year than any other vegetable so it is well worth the effort, I think. I’ve gone with a good variety of colours and storage ability, so there are some like “Ailsa Craig” which will be our fresh-eating onions as they don’t store well, and other like “Australian Brown” and “Sturon” which last almost until the next harvest (or so I hear). I planted every seed in each packet because unlike most other seeds, Onion seeds have a very short shelf-life and are apparently only good for 1 year.

I’m giving Celery another go as well. I tried once, with a seedling I bought from a nursery, and it was small and puny, as well as bitter. But my Italian grandmother used to grow parsley in an even more northern region of the country than I do now, and she used them for soup all the time. Since I’m making my own vegetable stocks now to freeze, I am trying Celery again to see if I can manage it this time!

Heirloom Parsley intrigues me. I’ve always grow Italian flat-leaf that I’ve bought from a nursery but I like the idea of growing my own (possibly not having to re-grow it every year, although I’m not sure if it can handle being perennial this far north). Also, I liked the description – ‘large leaves, great flavour, perfect for sauces’.

The Peppers are a real treat this year. I sowed seeds for “Giant Aconcagua” last year with seeds I got in a trade, but none germinated so I’m trying again this year, with commercial seeds. Trying “Mini Chocolate Bell” for the first time, sounds wonderful and I do want a pepper with a bell shape for making stuffed peppers etc. “Jimmy Nardello” is a variety I’ve been waiting to try for a long time. It is an old Italian heirloom that is apparently perfect for frying, and an old Italian custom to have onions and peppers frying together on the stove ... I might be even more excited about the Chili Peppers for this summer though. “Anaheim” is pretty standard, and not too hot, and I wanted one of those! “Chimayo” is good for salsas, and also a good choice to dry into a chili powder which I want to make this summer. “Guajillo” is still mild for a chili pepper, but the hottest I am growing this year. Perhaps for the pickled chilis? We’ll see how they taste!

I used a simple seed-starting bagged soil – organic – and specifically for starting seeds so there is no fertilizer in it yet. Onions are planted in longer, thin containers (I used Wendy’s salad containers, and other food delivery containers) because they are not planted very deep. Celery and Parsley in round pots, also planted very shallow (they are much smaller seeds). The Peppers I planted in my usual way, only filling the pots halfway with soil. Once the seedling emerge and begin to grow, I will fill the pot with soil covering the stem and thus promoting more root growth. I find this easier than transplanting several times ... this way I usually only have to transplant once. They are sitting out on the table (I have no heat mat) in large Tupperware containers (from Walmart) so they don’t leak all over my table. I love these containers – they fit 4 rows of square pots perfectly, are easy to carry around or move, are waterproof and easy to clean, have lids if necessary, stack when storing throughout the summer/fall/winter and the lights I have rest perfectly on the sides for when the seedling are still small. Without a heat mat, it will probably take 1-2 weeks to start seeing seedling pop out of the soil. I’ll be watching to make sure the soil doesn’t dry out too much, but also that it doesn’t start getting mouldy or anything from too much dampness. Once the seedlings emerge, I’ll start turning on the growth lights and we go from there.

No photos today ... they are only empty pots right now after all ... I’ll take some when the seedlings come out.

Next week: Tomato Time!! Expected planting date: March 15^th