Sunday, December 19, 2010

Under the Snow...

....there's some spinach!


I planted the fall harvest on September 13. It was December 17 when I decided to dig the spinach out from under the snow and use most of the basil left on the basil bush to make a spinach/basil pasta salad. I like knowing that my lunches this week come from the garden!

I also picked a radish . The last time I tried to pick a radish plant there were just roots and no radish bulb. I will check the radishes again in January.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Winter in the Garden

The first big snow in the valley. The fall crop is buried.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Fall Planting Update

On September 13 I planted some radishes, beets and spinach. Before I left on my trip six weeks later, here is what my box and plants looked like:


Things were not quite growing like the first round in May and June. I returned after nine days to see my radishes were bigger and the oats started sprouting.


I pulled a radish plant that looked quite large, but no red radish was attached. I will look again in a few days to see if there is more growth.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Snow!

I am glad I took the green tomatoes off the vine on Friday! We had our first snow in the garden yesterday morning. Clint took the picture----I was busy at meetings in the morning. The west side received the snow---no snow on my grass yet!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Empty Garden

Frost may be coming this weekend, especially on Monday. I decided to remove the pepper and tomato plants yesterday during my lunch break. The garden looks like the picture I took on May 7 (24 weeks ago!).


It is a sad time....I enjoyed my daily breaks from the computer. A fellow gardener told me it is just the cycle of life. We were blessed with a long warmer autumn. I look forward to the spring after a winter of reading and knitting!

One thing that amazed me is how many tomatoes one plant can give me! Here are all the green tomatoes that were hidden in the tomato bush as I slowly took it apart for the compost area.


The plant gave me a bushel of tomatoes!


I will continue to blog. There is still an autumn crop in the box....and I have a friend who is trying a cold frame this winter. I can always dream about the spring!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

The Garden is Smaller

The basil bush is in the house, and the cucumber and zucchini plants are in the compost pile. There is only the tomato bush, pepper plants and the fall harvest. I planted some oats two days ago.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Harvest Party

Scarecrows visited the garden this beautiful fall morning.


Students stopped by to paint pumpkins and see the garden.



I thanked my zucchini plant for all it produced and pulled it out to join the other composting plants. I "sowed some oats" to bring nutrients back to the soil.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Where's the basil??

Fall is in the air....and the garden is beginning to look empty.


I took the basil out about 10 days ago. Here is the basil bush in the garden bed before I took it out.


My friend let me borrow a big planting pot. If anyone was around, they had a good laugh while I struggled to get the basil bush in the pot.


I kept the basil bush outside for a few days before I brought it in. I trimmed and used the basil to make some pesto. Here is the basil bush inside.


I move the basil bush around so that it gets the most sun. It has been in the house for about 5 days. I hope it likes its new home.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Fall Harvest

It's been a week since I posted! It has been a rainy week----but still no frost. I harvested another 24 red tomatoes and 2 peppers on Friday. No frost in the forecast this week----so I hope to visit the garden more often this week.

Here is a picture of the many colors of peppers, tomatoes, and squash from my garden as well as our local farmer.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Welcome October!

In other years the garden may have already experienced a frost. But 2010 we have had record highs in late September/early October (high 80s). This week things will drop by 20 degrees...so it will be interesting to see what this looks like in a week. But today I had my biggest harvest of tomatoes---34!! I am glad that we were patient with our tomatoes and their "curly leaf" problem back in July.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Empty Herb Garden

A few weeks ago I took a picture of the herb garden. Since then we cleaned out a lot of the older herbs and weeds. I have been in contact with someone who will donate some granite. We've been playing with designs. So this is the empty herb garden.


It will be fun to take photos as the herb garden evolves into something more than just dirt.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Harvest Moon

Maybe the harvest moon has helped my tomatoes turn red! Here is what I harvested this morning.


The weather this week is warm during the day and cool nights. Keep the tomatoes coming!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

More surprises!

Just two days later, there are more sprouting plants! The seeds were planted 8 days ago. I hope they get to keep growing so I can have some fresh veggies in a few weeks.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Fall Surprise

In mid-August I tried planting some seeds (beets, radishes and lettuce), and only 2-3 radishes appeared. Last Monday (September 13) I decided to try again with radishes, beets and spinach. It looks like the radishes have appeared in less than a week! Wonder about the spinach and beets......it's been HOT!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Herb Garden

Beautiful plants and vegetables keep growing in the garden. But in one corner is the herb garden.....and we didn't pay attention to it. I am hoping to weed and amend with my fellow gardeners so that next spring we can plant herbs. Maybe next fall we can make herb oils.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Tomatillos

It is a fun word to say---and it is an interesting tomato. We have some in the garden -- and so does my neighbor. Besides being a fun word, it is also an interesting plant. They are known as the "husk tomato" because the tomato grows in a covering. I can't wait to try some in a tasty dish!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Community Garden


Plants grow and people gather in the community garden. The community and the garden have been very, very good to me. Thank you!

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Welcome September!

Wow! September is here....shorter days....beautiful shadows as the sun goes south. Pumpkins are bright orange...zucchini are still arriving in my box; about two a week! I'll be trying more zucchini recipes this weekend.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Zucchini Bread Feast

We had a big rain yesterday, so the group was able to relax and eat zucchini bread I made----as well as some mini mozzarella, tomato and basil caprese.


(Thank you, Clint, for taking the picture...one day we will have to get a picture of you!)

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Four months later....

Maryanne and I planted the spinach and beets on May 7.


Sixteen weeks later, with more planting, watering, weeding, picking and eating, here is the garden.



I am hoping to make it to 5 1/2 months before the first frost.....up to now it's been a fun adventure!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Basil

The basil bush is still growing! Many branches have been shared with others. The picture I took this morning was inspired by a fellow gardener (thank you Clint). The morning light is amazing.


Lunches this week have been a spinach and basil pasta salad with cheese and pine nuts. Here is a link to the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Spinach-Basil-Pasta-Salad/Detail.aspxAnd here is a picture of my salad this afternoon.


I plan to try more recipes with basil.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Leaning Tower of Tomatoes

The tomato plants in the community garden have been "weird" this summer. They have had curly leaves ---- and now my huge plant (that has been leaning for over a month) has lots of green tomatoes for the past week. I hope they start turning red soon!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Gardens of My Friends

My plot in the SLCC community garden has slowed down this week. The tomatoes are all hanging green.....the pepper plant has lots of flowers.....the cucumbers are all small....and the zucchini area starting another round. So here are pictures of my friends' gardens.

Art chose just to plant tomatoes. These are zebra tomatoes. They stay green and are sweet.


Sara has art in her garden.


Teri protects her garden from the deer.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

August Planting

I finally planted small rows of spinach, radishes and lettuce. We will see what happens! These past two months have been a learning experience for me! I will keep you posted if anything grows!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Community Eating

Besides growing all these veggies, it is fun to eat them! I have shared my cold cucumber and beet soup as well as the zucchini salsa with my community garden group. I have made the salsa for the wine tasting group and for a pot luck.

This past weekend I was able to combine some of my garden with a friend's garden pickings. I have LOTS of basil----and my friend only planted tomatoes. So I called him to see if any of the tomatoes were ready---and the answer was yes!


I cut some basil and picked up a baguette and fresh mozzarella cheese. My friend opened the expensive bottle of olive oil from Chef....and below was the creation of all the pieces from our gardens.


The food was delicious....but it was even better sitting on the front porch and sharing it with a friend.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Beauty----and thoughts

Or should I say beautiful thoughts?? Here is a picture of Mother Nature doing her thing!

As for thoughts----I REALLY need to start thinking of my next round of planting. I am getting suggestions from a friend, but I think I will research and make a plan. I will share soon!

Monday, August 2, 2010

Welcome August!

August has arrived...and so did five more tomatoes and 3 more cucumbers! I think things are starting to really grow!

Maryanne and I picked more beets today.

I made some more yummy cold beet and cucumber soup this evening. I also made a zucchini salsa that the garden group can test tomorrow morning. It is fun trying new recipes with all this fresh produce!

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Food for Thought

Lunch today was a yummy tomato (only the second tomato this season!), mozzarella, and fresh basil. And I had to show off the first cucumber from my vine!



Last night I was looking over my hand written journal of thoughts and drawings on the community garden (I got the awesome journal from the SLCC Writing Center). On one of the first pages of the journal I wrote about why I like gardening (which is different than the post on why I want to be in a community garden).

I like to garden because....
  • I like the smell of wet dirt
  • I like the feel of dirt in my hands
  • I like observing the shapes, colors, and textures of the plants and flowers and vegetables
  • I like the smell of basil and lavender and sage
  • I feel connected to the earth
  • the garden is calm
  • the garden lets me know that it is ok to fail and try again
  • in the spring the garden makes me feel awake and alive after winter hibernation
Why do you like to garden?

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Squash Haiku (with pictures)

The flower waited


The bee came by to say hi
(photo by Clint Gardner)


What a big surprise!


(photo by Clint Gardner)

Sunday, July 25, 2010

A cucumber has appeared!

As stated in an earlier post, I have learned a lot of patience with vegetable gardening. I wrote a cucumber haiku about 2 1/2 weeks ago. The little flower was patiently waiting for the bee. The bee finally came to my plot! There is one little cucumber starting to grow. It took a little over 8 weeks for the little cucumber to sprout from the flower. Two months of watering and weeding and talking to the plant. I wonder how many cucumbers will be harvested from this one plant in my plot?

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Eating

The garden is now producing! And now we must eat! I created a cold beet and cucumber soup from my Polish cook book. Yummy! Beets and beet greens from my garden, cucumber from my neighbor's garden, green onion from the local farmer...and I got some radishes and sour cream from the store.....add a little dill and lemon juice...chill in the refrigerator over night....and we had a refreshing treat this morning during the weekly garden gathering. I am serving below. (Thank you, Clint, for taking the picture!)


After eating we harvested some more. Tomorrow is a stir fry at lunch by Ann! Here is what will be part of the stir fry:



Wonder what will be ready in the garden tomorrow??

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Leaves

We always focus on the vegetables... and watering....and weeding. But what about the leaves? Some are big, some are single, some are in threes. Enjoy the leaves of the garden!