I recently ordered some greenhouse tape. It is UV resistant and heat resistant. I am very excited and hope that this will fix the problems I have had with my greenhouse roof.
I need a few holes to repair (holes made on purpose, but need to be patched) and I need to tape the two sheets or plastic together.
Last fall I used packing tape, and actually that worked pretty well. Held up till about 2 months ago. Than it came loose. So I bought some cheap duct tape and used that, I figured it would work better, but, it can't stand the heat. I guess 130ºF heat melts and glue, and once it melts it is useless. So, that didn't really work. I was really getting disappointed with it.
I did some research and came across a web site that sells greenhouse supplies. I bought the two rolls, a little pricey, but, if it works than I think it will be good.
I ordered a few books off Amazon, also along with the books I got some stevia seeds. I'll probably get some sort of pot for them, so that I can bring it inside during the winter. I got a book on making the most efficient apple cider grinder and press, and a book about growing herbs and other things for brewing beer. I'm excited about those.
I finished the rock wall for my herb garden. Probably a couple tons I would guess of rocks. Actually practically broke our wheel barrow doing it. I might need to look into buying a new one. I'll see what I can do to repair it.
Now I just have to figure out where I am getting the dirt to fill my herb garden with. I might buy some top soil from Lowes, I don't know. I would get the cheap stuff, a dollar or two per cubic foot. I have some compost up here that would work for some of it.
Anyway. I need to pick some cucumbers today. I got up at 6am and hand weeded the corn up by the fence that is (the corn) in an L shape around the summer lettuce. It was enjoyably cool this morning, 68º. Tonight it is suppose to get down to 70º and tomorrow night 65º. So, it looks like Friday night will be good. We have a whole house fan that we use to suck in the air from out side into our house. Which on hot days like these, you need someone like me to get up early before the sun and turn on the fan to cool the house before 8am.
Too much work to do, too little time. I just have to remember who is taking care of things, and working out everything for my good.
God Bless!
English Vintner
Thursday, 8 July 2010
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
Ordering
I've ordered a few things recently. The latest was the order from Johnny's Seeds. I ordered the following from them: 1 oz Allstar Gourmet Lettuce Mix (leaf lettuce), 1 piacket of Spinach seeds, 1 lb Hairy Vetch OG, 1/2lb Fava Beans, 5lb Winter Rye OG, Chickling Vetch OG 1lb, Gold Flower Packet, a colored watermelon that was on sale, almost two dollars off.
Most of the seeds are ones that I don't have and want to plant for the fall garden, or through the winter in the greenhouse. I have radishes, and I think rutabagas, carrots, and a few other things I want to grow over winter. I am hoping to grow lettuce through the winter and fall. So far we have not gone a week where there was not at least some lettuce growing in the garden. I have some really good summer head lettuce that is growing, I have it growing in a block, and then have corn growing in an L around it, providing more shade. Speaking of lettuce I am starting to get the seeds from my Romaine lettuce that I let go to seed. Hoping to grow some of that this fall/winter. The hard thing is that all the flowers don't open at the same time. So, I have to cut them and dry them when most of the flowers have seeds.
I'm going real big on the cover crops this year. The chickling vetch is said to fix nitrogen in 45 days. So, I will probably put some of that in some of the bare spots real soon, to keep down weeds, and if I start too late it might not work as well.
The hairy vetch is doing basically the same thing as chickling vetch, but takes longer. I ordered some of it because it is a little more winter hardy. I'll probably sow some of it with the rye grass.
The rye grass, as some of you know I did that last year. Pretty cheap, EXTREME winter hardy (surviving temps. down in the teens) and what more could I ask for? :) It is not leguminous, in that it does not fix nitrogen, but it keeps erosion down and is a green manure, meaning I plow it in in the spring, sow it in in the later summer/fall.
The Fava beans will be fixing nitrogen too, but they are not really for that, more for eating, but I am starting them off in the fall so that they get a good quick start in the spring. Especially since the beans rotted last year.
I am really excited about the green manures. I don't know how much manure I can get next year, but with good crop rotation and growing leguminous green manures I should be able to keep up the nitrogen level in my soil!
I finally got my rototiller working. For a while it wasn't, I wasn't sure what was wrong, but I sorta figured out how to start it and it worked. I am very grateful.
Well, I guess that is about all. Busy day ahead.
English Vintner
P.S. Anyone want to help fund my missions trip to Haiti this August? I need $800, and any more will go to the church in Haiti. Please pray, even if you cannot give. Pray for wisdom in the planning, packing, and that I would not get sick while in Haiti. And that God would use this to further my walk with Him!
God Bless!
Most of the seeds are ones that I don't have and want to plant for the fall garden, or through the winter in the greenhouse. I have radishes, and I think rutabagas, carrots, and a few other things I want to grow over winter. I am hoping to grow lettuce through the winter and fall. So far we have not gone a week where there was not at least some lettuce growing in the garden. I have some really good summer head lettuce that is growing, I have it growing in a block, and then have corn growing in an L around it, providing more shade. Speaking of lettuce I am starting to get the seeds from my Romaine lettuce that I let go to seed. Hoping to grow some of that this fall/winter. The hard thing is that all the flowers don't open at the same time. So, I have to cut them and dry them when most of the flowers have seeds.
I'm going real big on the cover crops this year. The chickling vetch is said to fix nitrogen in 45 days. So, I will probably put some of that in some of the bare spots real soon, to keep down weeds, and if I start too late it might not work as well.
The hairy vetch is doing basically the same thing as chickling vetch, but takes longer. I ordered some of it because it is a little more winter hardy. I'll probably sow some of it with the rye grass.
The rye grass, as some of you know I did that last year. Pretty cheap, EXTREME winter hardy (surviving temps. down in the teens) and what more could I ask for? :) It is not leguminous, in that it does not fix nitrogen, but it keeps erosion down and is a green manure, meaning I plow it in in the spring, sow it in in the later summer/fall.
The Fava beans will be fixing nitrogen too, but they are not really for that, more for eating, but I am starting them off in the fall so that they get a good quick start in the spring. Especially since the beans rotted last year.
I am really excited about the green manures. I don't know how much manure I can get next year, but with good crop rotation and growing leguminous green manures I should be able to keep up the nitrogen level in my soil!
I finally got my rototiller working. For a while it wasn't, I wasn't sure what was wrong, but I sorta figured out how to start it and it worked. I am very grateful.
Well, I guess that is about all. Busy day ahead.
English Vintner
P.S. Anyone want to help fund my missions trip to Haiti this August? I need $800, and any more will go to the church in Haiti. Please pray, even if you cannot give. Pray for wisdom in the planning, packing, and that I would not get sick while in Haiti. And that God would use this to further my walk with Him!
God Bless!
Monday, 5 July 2010
Carrot Bread
I just made some carrot bread. I will post the recipe, I took it off the web, but modified it a bit. I'm claiming it as mine, but, the author of the original is CL, so thank you CL.
Why did I make carrot bread? I woke up at 6:00 went down to the garden to do some work, I love working early morning hours. You are the only one up. Its just you and nature, or you maybe better said, you and God. You get to spend some quite time talking to him. I love the bird calls, the dew, I like to take it all in. Plus, seeing the sunrise is always a great way to make my day!
Anyway, so I was down in the garden. One of the first things I did was turn the compost. I layed down some branches at the bottom to provide a little more air at the bottom. Then I put some of the compost I had just turned on Saturday (it was a little steamy!) on to the pile to add some almost ready compost to help this pile. I than put some comfrey leaves on it and put the whole pile on it. The bottom was actually doing quite well, but the top was some what dry. I mixed it in layers with fresh grass clippings I had raked up earlier (the grass was cut saturday). So, I have that one turned, I will probably continue to add to it, but now I have a new pile. After that I did some hand weeding. I really do enjoy hand weeding, especially in my garden. I have things in blocks not in rows, making it easier to weed by hand. You only do a few sections at a time. So I weeded the carrots, beets, and leeks. I than wanted to check on my carrots that I had planted back in March/April. I pulled up one I had transplanted and thought it was the funniest looking carrot I had every seen. It was sorta like a ball at first, and then it had 4 small carrot roots coming off from it. I then pulled up another and found it had carrot root fly maggots in it. I pulled up another and found the same. So, I lifted all my carrots, 3 out of all of them (15-20 small carrots) didn't have the root fly maggots.
I was able to salvage most of them, cutting off the top where the maggot was in. I was now worried about the parsnips, so I dug up a smallish one. It was doing great and no maggots! It was about half an inch diameter and 5-6 inches long. I was very excited.
My watermelons are doing well, my biggest are about 3 inches diameter. They are small red sugar baby, so they will only get a to four or five pounds. Next year I am thinking about doing 3 kinds of watermelon.
So, thats about all. I picked four more cucumbers today. I think I have picked at least 30 this year. I hope to get at least that many from the vines. And at least that many from the cucumbers just sprouting now (I planted more). A lot of my squash is going wild. Every day growing about 4 inches.
My garden still seems to be a bed and breakfast for the deer. But they haven't done a lot of damage. Just a leaf here and there. I saw three of them today while weeding.
I am hoping to get some cedar logs and stumps for a herb garden I am working on up here today. Maybe I can get my younger siblings to come with me for a trek in the woods.
God bless! Have a merry fourth (I know it was yesterday, but some are celebrating it today) of July!
English Vintner
p.s. Almost forgot the recipe. :) Tell me if you try it!
Carrot Bread From the Kitchen of Zachariah English
2 eggs
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. oil
1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice, 1/4 tsp grape fruit extract
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
zest from one orange
1 c. grated carrots
1/3 c. raisins
1/3-1/2 c. crushed pineapple
Mix eggs, sugar, oil, and extracts together. In separate bowl mix flour, soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, zest. Combine the two, stirring just until mixed. Fold in carrots and raisins. Pour half of the batter into greased 9x5 pan. Mix together 2TBS of cream cheese with 1TBS milk and heat to soften, once warm add a little flour. Spread this mixture on top of the batter, pour the rest of the batter over top. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on it and dot with walnuts.
Bake at 350º until well browned, 40 min to and hour. Makes one loaf, or a dozen small muffins. If making into muffins reduce the baking time to about 12-15 minutes.
Why did I make carrot bread? I woke up at 6:00 went down to the garden to do some work, I love working early morning hours. You are the only one up. Its just you and nature, or you maybe better said, you and God. You get to spend some quite time talking to him. I love the bird calls, the dew, I like to take it all in. Plus, seeing the sunrise is always a great way to make my day!
Anyway, so I was down in the garden. One of the first things I did was turn the compost. I layed down some branches at the bottom to provide a little more air at the bottom. Then I put some of the compost I had just turned on Saturday (it was a little steamy!) on to the pile to add some almost ready compost to help this pile. I than put some comfrey leaves on it and put the whole pile on it. The bottom was actually doing quite well, but the top was some what dry. I mixed it in layers with fresh grass clippings I had raked up earlier (the grass was cut saturday). So, I have that one turned, I will probably continue to add to it, but now I have a new pile. After that I did some hand weeding. I really do enjoy hand weeding, especially in my garden. I have things in blocks not in rows, making it easier to weed by hand. You only do a few sections at a time. So I weeded the carrots, beets, and leeks. I than wanted to check on my carrots that I had planted back in March/April. I pulled up one I had transplanted and thought it was the funniest looking carrot I had every seen. It was sorta like a ball at first, and then it had 4 small carrot roots coming off from it. I then pulled up another and found it had carrot root fly maggots in it. I pulled up another and found the same. So, I lifted all my carrots, 3 out of all of them (15-20 small carrots) didn't have the root fly maggots.
I was able to salvage most of them, cutting off the top where the maggot was in. I was now worried about the parsnips, so I dug up a smallish one. It was doing great and no maggots! It was about half an inch diameter and 5-6 inches long. I was very excited.
My watermelons are doing well, my biggest are about 3 inches diameter. They are small red sugar baby, so they will only get a to four or five pounds. Next year I am thinking about doing 3 kinds of watermelon.
So, thats about all. I picked four more cucumbers today. I think I have picked at least 30 this year. I hope to get at least that many from the vines. And at least that many from the cucumbers just sprouting now (I planted more). A lot of my squash is going wild. Every day growing about 4 inches.
My garden still seems to be a bed and breakfast for the deer. But they haven't done a lot of damage. Just a leaf here and there. I saw three of them today while weeding.
I am hoping to get some cedar logs and stumps for a herb garden I am working on up here today. Maybe I can get my younger siblings to come with me for a trek in the woods.
God bless! Have a merry fourth (I know it was yesterday, but some are celebrating it today) of July!
English Vintner
p.s. Almost forgot the recipe. :) Tell me if you try it!
Carrot Bread From the Kitchen of Zachariah English
2 eggs
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. oil
1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice, 1/4 tsp grape fruit extract
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
zest from one orange
1 c. grated carrots
1/3 c. raisins
1/3-1/2 c. crushed pineapple
Mix eggs, sugar, oil, and extracts together. In separate bowl mix flour, soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, zest. Combine the two, stirring just until mixed. Fold in carrots and raisins. Pour half of the batter into greased 9x5 pan. Mix together 2TBS of cream cheese with 1TBS milk and heat to soften, once warm add a little flour. Spread this mixture on top of the batter, pour the rest of the batter over top. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on it and dot with walnuts.
Bake at 350º until well browned, 40 min to and hour. Makes one loaf, or a dozen small muffins. If making into muffins reduce the baking time to about 12-15 minutes.
Saturday, 3 July 2010
Artisan Bread
I have been making Artisan Bread lately. My definition is simple ingredients, usually but not always crisp crunchy crust, and usually fancy looking.
The real definition is bread made by hand, at home.
What I really like to do is do a preferment, type method, usually overnight. So, I mix up usually all the dry ingredients, minus most of the flour and anything liquid besides water or milk.
So I mix up usually 2 cups of water with 3 cups of flour, and about a tablespoon of yeast, 2 tsp. of salt, and a little sugar for the yeast to eat.
Than, in the morning I mix in the rest of the flour, and or egg or oil and and kneed it. Though lately I have been using a method to get the crust crispy which means I leave the dough somewhat sticky. After I let it rise once I shape it into loaves put them on the pan and let them rise, than right before I put them in the oven I brush them with egg or milk if I want it, and or make slashes on the top.
I usually have a pan of water in the oven while it is warming. I than bake the bread usually at 400ºF or higher, for a crispier crust. For the last 5 minutes I turn the oven off and get the moist air out of the oven, I take the bread off the stone and directly on the rack. After 5 minutes I take it out and let it cool completely.
Now, on to gardening and other.
Last night I made some artisan pizza dough and it was really good! Than we went to Pops in the Park. We played Rook while we listened to the concert.
I got up at 5:40 this morning. Read my bible and prayed, came down, made a cup of coffee and went down to the garden. I did a lot of weeding and picked a few blackberries for breakfast. :) I turned the compost pile, turning the middle compost pile onto the right stack.
I finally came up at 8:00am and got a bowl of granola. I got some water and went back down. I weeded for another hour. Came up, had devotions with the family and figured out what I needed to do.
Since then I harvested three zucchini , three cucumbers, and some oregano.
I made a dog food and water bowl thing. Not sure how to explain it, but I made basically a box that is rectangular, the top has to holes where the dishes sit down in. I put the dog food down beneath and the two bowls on top. It is great, and was fun to make.
I made some more bread today, I made some yesterday also for lunch. I'm into making bread a lot arn't I? :)
Anyway, not sure what else is planned for the agenda. Hopefully do some more gardening work, and pick some blacberries. Mix up some sticky bun dough. And some other jazz. :)
Have fun everybody, and a blessed Lord's day tomorrow!
Cheers!
English Vintner
The real definition is bread made by hand, at home.
What I really like to do is do a preferment, type method, usually overnight. So, I mix up usually all the dry ingredients, minus most of the flour and anything liquid besides water or milk.
So I mix up usually 2 cups of water with 3 cups of flour, and about a tablespoon of yeast, 2 tsp. of salt, and a little sugar for the yeast to eat.
Than, in the morning I mix in the rest of the flour, and or egg or oil and and kneed it. Though lately I have been using a method to get the crust crispy which means I leave the dough somewhat sticky. After I let it rise once I shape it into loaves put them on the pan and let them rise, than right before I put them in the oven I brush them with egg or milk if I want it, and or make slashes on the top.
I usually have a pan of water in the oven while it is warming. I than bake the bread usually at 400ºF or higher, for a crispier crust. For the last 5 minutes I turn the oven off and get the moist air out of the oven, I take the bread off the stone and directly on the rack. After 5 minutes I take it out and let it cool completely.
Now, on to gardening and other.
Last night I made some artisan pizza dough and it was really good! Than we went to Pops in the Park. We played Rook while we listened to the concert.
I got up at 5:40 this morning. Read my bible and prayed, came down, made a cup of coffee and went down to the garden. I did a lot of weeding and picked a few blackberries for breakfast. :) I turned the compost pile, turning the middle compost pile onto the right stack.
I finally came up at 8:00am and got a bowl of granola. I got some water and went back down. I weeded for another hour. Came up, had devotions with the family and figured out what I needed to do.
Since then I harvested three zucchini , three cucumbers, and some oregano.
I made a dog food and water bowl thing. Not sure how to explain it, but I made basically a box that is rectangular, the top has to holes where the dishes sit down in. I put the dog food down beneath and the two bowls on top. It is great, and was fun to make.
I made some more bread today, I made some yesterday also for lunch. I'm into making bread a lot arn't I? :)
Anyway, not sure what else is planned for the agenda. Hopefully do some more gardening work, and pick some blacberries. Mix up some sticky bun dough. And some other jazz. :)
Have fun everybody, and a blessed Lord's day tomorrow!
Cheers!
English Vintner
Friday, 25 June 2010
Garden Update
Well, it has been a little while, since I last posted. But here I am again. Sitting down, eating a fresh blackberry muffin just minutes from the pan. You might be wondering where I got the blackberries, and I would respond and tell you. Up past the fence on our property along the bank of the highway we have wild blackberries. The canes are by the hundreds, and so are the berries! I think we have been picking for the last week or two. We either go in the early morning or evening, to beastly hot to do in the day time. I think I have picked a total of 1.5 gallons (translate it into cups). The others in my family have picked probably about equal to it.
So, we have gotten a good number of berries, and all for free! It has been great, I only wish we had known about this sooner. But, we didn't have a garden down by the fence to draw us near. Also, my cousin and I did a lot of clearing out near the blackberries, we cut down a lot of tall trees (I'm surprised no police man was driving by and stopped us! yipes! :). It probably helped produce this years berries even better, though I would have welcomed the shade!
Two days ago I got together 10 cups of blackberries. I was going to make blackberry jelly. Why? Because I have never made jelly, and I thought it would be fun, mostly. So, I cooked them up, mashed them, and than put it all in cheese cloth I have and let it drip. I let it drip from sometime in the afternoon, to the next morning, yesterday morning. I than poured the juice into a pot and boiled it. I boiled it until the temp. was 8-10ºF higher than the boiling temp. of water. So, at that point (it took a lot of boiling for 3 cups of juice!) I took it off the stove and ladled it into one pint jar, and than the rest into another pint jar, about 3/4 a cup. I put a canning lid on the full pint and put that away. The other I just left uncovered into the fridge. Mean while, with the pulp from the blackberries I put into another pot, added some dried grapefruit peel, a little lemon juice, and some sugar, and some juice we had. Cooked that up, when it was real hot I spooned it into our apple sauce 'maker'. I put it through that and that took out most of the seeds, or else made them small enough that you cannot taste them as well. So, I was able to blackberry jam and jelly out of it! I thought it was sweet! And because I used enough sour blackberries I didn't need pectin. Now, the jelly in the canning jar actually looks more syrupy than the jelly in the fridge, so we will see if that is syrup or jelly. But the stuff in the fridge really set up just like jelly! Just blackberries and sugar!
Anyway. Garden.
My zucchini are doing great. The first ones seem to be peaking in production, so I am glad that I have six more close behind them bearing fruit. I also have round zucchini I got from a friend, and that should be starting to flower in a couple weeks. So, hopefully I will be set with zucchini for the season. My beans are doing well. I pick enough for a meal every day or two. Though, my production is probably at about peak from the ones that are bearing beans. But I have pole beans that are flowering now. I went to Lowes yesterday and picked up two packets of green beans, radishes, and cucumbers. I think in a week or two my cucumbers will be peaking, so I want more cucumbers. So, I planted another plot of green beans. Mostly one whole packet, about 90 beans. And probably in a week or two I will plant the other packet. They say 60 days till harvest, but I am finding that hard to believe, 60? I mean, I guess they are pole beans.
I planted more cucumbers, not using up even a fourth of them. I hope to keep planting every week or two for the next couple.
Next year I plan to start my beans earlier, and I know which ones I want to do. My shelling beans are about ready to pick.
I have 3 acorn squash on one vine! I have been able to monitor more of the vines we planted with all the blackberry picking. I would say about half made it, half or less. Mostly lack of water is the reason why they didn't make it. Next year I want to do the same, except maybe add tomatoes to it. So that I will have tomatoes and squash and such up by the blackberries.
Tomatoes, none ripe yet, though I probably have over 30 green ones! Thanks to my cousin and a friend at church! I have never really intentionally planted tomatoes. They either came up from the compost, or I picked up a plant at Burger King. I get one almost every year! :) Right by the dumpster, a tomatoe seed sprouted! :)
Corn. The biggest stuff is 2-3 feet high. I have three plots of it, and the stuff that is in full sun is the smallest, partly because it was planted last, partly it needs watering and mulching more than I have given it.
I harvested most of my leaf lettuce last night for supper. I am surprised it has lasted this long. Though, with it being small, and mostly in the shade, thanks to the zucchini, I think that helped a lot.
My parsnips and onions are HUGE! Both are getting near 24 inches tall! My carrots are doing well also. Most of my brassica is bolting. :( All except the cabbage I think. So, I need to compost all that. Next year if I could get most of it out about a month earlier, even 3 weeks, I think it would be enough. Though, we had a pretty warm spring early on, even though we had a severe winter. We had a harsh winter that was fairly short, and a hot spring.
I am selling cucumbers, 10lbs of zucchini, and beans to a friend today! So, that is cool.
Well, I guess that is about all. I could go one, but I think I need to eat breakfast with my siblings and get the day started! :)
English Vintner
So, we have gotten a good number of berries, and all for free! It has been great, I only wish we had known about this sooner. But, we didn't have a garden down by the fence to draw us near. Also, my cousin and I did a lot of clearing out near the blackberries, we cut down a lot of tall trees (I'm surprised no police man was driving by and stopped us! yipes! :). It probably helped produce this years berries even better, though I would have welcomed the shade!
Two days ago I got together 10 cups of blackberries. I was going to make blackberry jelly. Why? Because I have never made jelly, and I thought it would be fun, mostly. So, I cooked them up, mashed them, and than put it all in cheese cloth I have and let it drip. I let it drip from sometime in the afternoon, to the next morning, yesterday morning. I than poured the juice into a pot and boiled it. I boiled it until the temp. was 8-10ºF higher than the boiling temp. of water. So, at that point (it took a lot of boiling for 3 cups of juice!) I took it off the stove and ladled it into one pint jar, and than the rest into another pint jar, about 3/4 a cup. I put a canning lid on the full pint and put that away. The other I just left uncovered into the fridge. Mean while, with the pulp from the blackberries I put into another pot, added some dried grapefruit peel, a little lemon juice, and some sugar, and some juice we had. Cooked that up, when it was real hot I spooned it into our apple sauce 'maker'. I put it through that and that took out most of the seeds, or else made them small enough that you cannot taste them as well. So, I was able to blackberry jam and jelly out of it! I thought it was sweet! And because I used enough sour blackberries I didn't need pectin. Now, the jelly in the canning jar actually looks more syrupy than the jelly in the fridge, so we will see if that is syrup or jelly. But the stuff in the fridge really set up just like jelly! Just blackberries and sugar!
Anyway. Garden.
My zucchini are doing great. The first ones seem to be peaking in production, so I am glad that I have six more close behind them bearing fruit. I also have round zucchini I got from a friend, and that should be starting to flower in a couple weeks. So, hopefully I will be set with zucchini for the season. My beans are doing well. I pick enough for a meal every day or two. Though, my production is probably at about peak from the ones that are bearing beans. But I have pole beans that are flowering now. I went to Lowes yesterday and picked up two packets of green beans, radishes, and cucumbers. I think in a week or two my cucumbers will be peaking, so I want more cucumbers. So, I planted another plot of green beans. Mostly one whole packet, about 90 beans. And probably in a week or two I will plant the other packet. They say 60 days till harvest, but I am finding that hard to believe, 60? I mean, I guess they are pole beans.
I planted more cucumbers, not using up even a fourth of them. I hope to keep planting every week or two for the next couple.
Next year I plan to start my beans earlier, and I know which ones I want to do. My shelling beans are about ready to pick.
I have 3 acorn squash on one vine! I have been able to monitor more of the vines we planted with all the blackberry picking. I would say about half made it, half or less. Mostly lack of water is the reason why they didn't make it. Next year I want to do the same, except maybe add tomatoes to it. So that I will have tomatoes and squash and such up by the blackberries.
Tomatoes, none ripe yet, though I probably have over 30 green ones! Thanks to my cousin and a friend at church! I have never really intentionally planted tomatoes. They either came up from the compost, or I picked up a plant at Burger King. I get one almost every year! :) Right by the dumpster, a tomatoe seed sprouted! :)
Corn. The biggest stuff is 2-3 feet high. I have three plots of it, and the stuff that is in full sun is the smallest, partly because it was planted last, partly it needs watering and mulching more than I have given it.
I harvested most of my leaf lettuce last night for supper. I am surprised it has lasted this long. Though, with it being small, and mostly in the shade, thanks to the zucchini, I think that helped a lot.
My parsnips and onions are HUGE! Both are getting near 24 inches tall! My carrots are doing well also. Most of my brassica is bolting. :( All except the cabbage I think. So, I need to compost all that. Next year if I could get most of it out about a month earlier, even 3 weeks, I think it would be enough. Though, we had a pretty warm spring early on, even though we had a severe winter. We had a harsh winter that was fairly short, and a hot spring.
I am selling cucumbers, 10lbs of zucchini, and beans to a friend today! So, that is cool.
Well, I guess that is about all. I could go one, but I think I need to eat breakfast with my siblings and get the day started! :)
English Vintner
Monday, 21 June 2010
Gardening
I harvested 4 cucumbers early this morning. I then cleared away the weeds (I have my cucs growing on the property fence behind my greenhouse) and hoed it, keeping it cleared of weeds.
Maybe it is because I don't have to do much hoeing that I enjoy it so much. I really enjoy hoeing around plants and such. But, the method I use doesn't really offer me a whole lot of space to hoe because I plant my plants close enough together that all the weeding is done by hand because a hoe won't fit inbetween the plants.
Later this afternoon, around 3pm I went back out. I planted the rest of my corn that I had. I am planning on doing the three sisters, except it will be two sisters cause I don't have beans to plant with the corn. So, it will be corn in mounds and squash growing around. I planted most of the corn in mounds in one terrace, and than I did one row of it on the next terrace up. Mostly because it will provide some shade, and look nice. I think I have enough other corn to keep us going. :) If I get half of what I plant it will be plenty. I think I have planted 500 corn stalks. About 200-250 were planted in a 2x20ft row behind the strawberries. And than I planted some where the lettuce was. And than I planted a small patch in one of the terraces we made, and than another spot. So, I have it in four different places. I think the first ones will be ready to eat mid August, and than I planted the other ones a week later, 2 weeks later, and than 4-5 weeks later. So, we will be getting corn late into the year.
I planted some summer lettuce when I planted some of the corn, and that is coming up. I still have some leaf lettuce left, it seems to be doing alright. It is on the other side of the zucchini, so it gets a fair amount of shade.
I watered the corn I planted. I than ate two black raspberries, it was my reward for gardening. It was the first time I had ever had a black raspberry, I like them. :)
I mounded some of the potatoes I planted. I have them planted in a square and sectioned off into four sections. Two of the sections have quite a few potatoes, the other two are not doing so well. I wonder if a lot of them rotted in the ground? Anyway, I mounded it with compost and leaves. I hope to get to the other section soon as well.
I did a lot of weeding, mostly in the potato plot and around paths.
Well, I can't remember what else I did, though, I did cut some oregano. Maybe we will go blackberry picking this evening!
Till next time!
English Vintner
Maybe it is because I don't have to do much hoeing that I enjoy it so much. I really enjoy hoeing around plants and such. But, the method I use doesn't really offer me a whole lot of space to hoe because I plant my plants close enough together that all the weeding is done by hand because a hoe won't fit inbetween the plants.
Later this afternoon, around 3pm I went back out. I planted the rest of my corn that I had. I am planning on doing the three sisters, except it will be two sisters cause I don't have beans to plant with the corn. So, it will be corn in mounds and squash growing around. I planted most of the corn in mounds in one terrace, and than I did one row of it on the next terrace up. Mostly because it will provide some shade, and look nice. I think I have enough other corn to keep us going. :) If I get half of what I plant it will be plenty. I think I have planted 500 corn stalks. About 200-250 were planted in a 2x20ft row behind the strawberries. And than I planted some where the lettuce was. And than I planted a small patch in one of the terraces we made, and than another spot. So, I have it in four different places. I think the first ones will be ready to eat mid August, and than I planted the other ones a week later, 2 weeks later, and than 4-5 weeks later. So, we will be getting corn late into the year.
I planted some summer lettuce when I planted some of the corn, and that is coming up. I still have some leaf lettuce left, it seems to be doing alright. It is on the other side of the zucchini, so it gets a fair amount of shade.
I watered the corn I planted. I than ate two black raspberries, it was my reward for gardening. It was the first time I had ever had a black raspberry, I like them. :)
I mounded some of the potatoes I planted. I have them planted in a square and sectioned off into four sections. Two of the sections have quite a few potatoes, the other two are not doing so well. I wonder if a lot of them rotted in the ground? Anyway, I mounded it with compost and leaves. I hope to get to the other section soon as well.
I did a lot of weeding, mostly in the potato plot and around paths.
Well, I can't remember what else I did, though, I did cut some oregano. Maybe we will go blackberry picking this evening!
Till next time!
English Vintner
Thursday, 17 June 2010
Blackberries
I went out to the garden, to check on all the vines we planted up past the fence on our property. A lot of the vines were doing well. A saw a few good watermelon vines, they probably need help with weeds though. I got distracted and picked about 1 1/2 cups of blackberries, growing wild. I left hundreds more, and hope to maybe go out with siblings tomorrow morning.
I probably need to harvest a couple more cucumbers. I didn't get down to the garden until it was too late in the morning, and all the zucchini flowers were closed. They open early in the morning, and close in the heat. I would guess 6 hours maybe they are open?
I have two more raspberries that will be ripe in two days. And than probably a few dozen red ones later, and than a dozen black raspberries. For some reason the yellow raspberry canes I got, they bore fruit, but than the flowers/fruit shriveled up. So, probably it would have born fruit, but the trasnplanting disturbed the roots and so it couldn't keep up with the fruit. My guess anyway.
I should harvest a few zucchinis tomorrow. Beans soon too. I need to freeze the ones I have I guess, if we are not going to use them soon. I have figured out what kind of beans I want to save for next year. I grew mainly 3 different kinds. I grew bush bean that were suppose to be eaten like green beans I think, but they are big and fat and kinda weird for eating like green beans. But, I grew two kinds of green beans and I really like those better. So I will save some of the seed for next year. I have planted all my bean seeds for the year. Some of the ones I plant should be flowering in a few weeks, hopefully tiding me over to August or later.
I still need to put in an order for seeds, but some changes have gone on that will make me change up what I am buying.
Anyway, time to go!
English Vintner
I probably need to harvest a couple more cucumbers. I didn't get down to the garden until it was too late in the morning, and all the zucchini flowers were closed. They open early in the morning, and close in the heat. I would guess 6 hours maybe they are open?
I have two more raspberries that will be ripe in two days. And than probably a few dozen red ones later, and than a dozen black raspberries. For some reason the yellow raspberry canes I got, they bore fruit, but than the flowers/fruit shriveled up. So, probably it would have born fruit, but the trasnplanting disturbed the roots and so it couldn't keep up with the fruit. My guess anyway.
I should harvest a few zucchinis tomorrow. Beans soon too. I need to freeze the ones I have I guess, if we are not going to use them soon. I have figured out what kind of beans I want to save for next year. I grew mainly 3 different kinds. I grew bush bean that were suppose to be eaten like green beans I think, but they are big and fat and kinda weird for eating like green beans. But, I grew two kinds of green beans and I really like those better. So I will save some of the seed for next year. I have planted all my bean seeds for the year. Some of the ones I plant should be flowering in a few weeks, hopefully tiding me over to August or later.
I still need to put in an order for seeds, but some changes have gone on that will make me change up what I am buying.
Anyway, time to go!
English Vintner
Monday, 14 June 2010
Cucumber
I harvested my first cucumber today! I have two more that are getting close, and a whole bunch of little ones. I hope to get a good crop of them this year! I hoed around them, and than mulched them with compost.
My onions are doing great, tall and thick stems! My parsnips are doing well also, very bushy tops! I should have another zucchini crop coming in soon.
I had my first raspberry yesterday, and should be getting a few more soon.
I don't know if i will get any black currants this year. I was looking at the berries and they seem to be drying up, and molding. I don't know if they didn't get pollinated, or what.
Anyway, I should get a harvest next year.
Time to go.
English Vintner
My onions are doing great, tall and thick stems! My parsnips are doing well also, very bushy tops! I should have another zucchini crop coming in soon.
I had my first raspberry yesterday, and should be getting a few more soon.
I don't know if i will get any black currants this year. I was looking at the berries and they seem to be drying up, and molding. I don't know if they didn't get pollinated, or what.
Anyway, I should get a harvest next year.
Time to go.
English Vintner
Saturday, 12 June 2010
Quick Garden Update
The garden continues to grow! :) My dad and I were able to fix the greenhouse yesterday. It was 100º+F up inside the roof of the greenhouse, sweat was pouring off both of us. We got it fixed, using ductape, before we had used packing tape, but that just doesn't stick to things like ductape. I am looking at trying to make a 'shed' out of the north west corner of it. Replace the side with wood and maybe shingles, make a roof of some sort to block the sun, and maybe a slightly raised floor. Before I was thinking of a greenhouse I was thinking of building a small shed down in the middle of the garden.
I checked on my cucumbers, they are doing great, I have two small cukes! The onions are doing well, most are 12+inches high. I mulched the onions in the top terrace with compost, over the hay mulch, so I shouldn't have very many weeds at all in the onions. My carrots are doing quite well. My zucchini took a short break, they tend to go through days when they produce a lot of female flowers and than in a week I have tons of zucchini, and than it backs off. But I have 6 more zucchini plants that are now producing flowers, so I should have zucchini for a good 2 more months at least. And than just 2 weeks ago with my younger brother and sister we planted some round zucchini. So, I think as far as zucchini goes we should have plenty. :)
My brassica is doing quite well. Cabbage starting to head up, cauliflower and broccoli heads are getting big! It is exciting! Reminds me, it is about time to start planting brassica for this fall and winter. I harvested the mustard I planted 4 weeks and composted it all. It attracts the most bugs, so it wasn't that great for eating, but it is great for the compost. My rutabaga are doing well, I harvested one yesterday to see how well they were doing, it was about as big as a small childs fist. I don't know if the hot weather coming up is going to do much for them, but I would like to harvest them when they are as big as a mans fist, or bigger, we will see.
The peas all died while I was at the BWS Conference. So, I finally got around today to pulling up all the weeds and the withered vines. I actually found one pea that tasted alright. It makes sense that the gardener is the one who gets to eat the last one. :)
I got up at 7:30am went down to the garden, harvested some beans. I think I am getting an idea for what kind of beans I want to grow next year. I picked a few purple bush beans two days ago, but I am letting the rest all go to seed for next year. I started out with 9 seeds two years ago, this year 18 plants. Hopefully I can get about 30-40 seeds this year. And get a bigger crop for next year for eating. Its kinda fun to be saving the seed from year to year. The beans I am growing for shelling are getting quite big!
My tomatoes are doing well. I have a few that are defficient in something. I think probably magnesium, which I can amend by adding epsom salts around the plants. Either that or calcium is what they are defficient in. But, I should have tomatoes in less than a month and they should go quite late. I am hoping that I can make a lot of sauce with them and freeze them.
My garlic is not doing as well as I would like. It had been doing quite well, but now it isn't doing as well and the weeds are getting to them. I wonder if it was all the rain we had recently. I've heard too much water can be bad for them. That would be a bummer. I hope to do as much garlic this fall.
My potatoes are doing well, definitley need mulching, or earthing up of some sort. I have lettuce still. I hope it doesn't get killed with the hot weather we are getting in the next few days. I am hoping I can harvest most of it for Tuesday when we have a big party for a friend. Mostly leaf lettuce, a little bit of summer head lettuce that is small.
I am mulching with my compost that is mostly finished. It resembles manure with some mostly composted leaves. I figure it is either going to turn into compost in the pile and than I add it to the garden, or when it is mostly composted I add it and it decomposes the rest on the garden and acts as a mulch.
My celery is doing pretty well. Probably about time to transplant. It's about 6" high. I have probably 12-20 'hearts/heads' of celery. Not as much as I would have wanted, but a pretty good amount.
My hop plant is 10' tall. And growing inches every day. Over when I was gone it grew nearly 3ft tall. It is amazing! I definitly need to get something taller, or work something out with the string attachment. I have a few ideas on it.
My basil is growing well. I have some that is 8" tall. After looking at my cousins garden I realize how much better his soil is than mine, as far as nutrients. But, I am working on that, after all, this is my first year. So, hopefully by next year it will be starting to get there. I wish I had a pickup truck to haul manure in.
I am considering starting over with my strawberries. This is the third time they have gotten eaten, and the bed is quite over grown. So, I am thinking about this fall putting in strawberries in another bed, and building a chicken wire cover for the bed. And turning the strawberry bed into two deep beds. I could always use the space. :)
I am hopeing to make a batch of mimosa wine soon. Maybe today, if I get some white grape juice. I don't know when the best time to pick the flowers is, though I would assume morning, before too hot.
Well, that was longer than I thought it would be, but it feels good to write about it. So, I will now be signing off, I need to go make some root beer, see if it can be ready for the party on Tuesday. ; )
English Vintner
I checked on my cucumbers, they are doing great, I have two small cukes! The onions are doing well, most are 12+inches high. I mulched the onions in the top terrace with compost, over the hay mulch, so I shouldn't have very many weeds at all in the onions. My carrots are doing quite well. My zucchini took a short break, they tend to go through days when they produce a lot of female flowers and than in a week I have tons of zucchini, and than it backs off. But I have 6 more zucchini plants that are now producing flowers, so I should have zucchini for a good 2 more months at least. And than just 2 weeks ago with my younger brother and sister we planted some round zucchini. So, I think as far as zucchini goes we should have plenty. :)
My brassica is doing quite well. Cabbage starting to head up, cauliflower and broccoli heads are getting big! It is exciting! Reminds me, it is about time to start planting brassica for this fall and winter. I harvested the mustard I planted 4 weeks and composted it all. It attracts the most bugs, so it wasn't that great for eating, but it is great for the compost. My rutabaga are doing well, I harvested one yesterday to see how well they were doing, it was about as big as a small childs fist. I don't know if the hot weather coming up is going to do much for them, but I would like to harvest them when they are as big as a mans fist, or bigger, we will see.
The peas all died while I was at the BWS Conference. So, I finally got around today to pulling up all the weeds and the withered vines. I actually found one pea that tasted alright. It makes sense that the gardener is the one who gets to eat the last one. :)
I got up at 7:30am went down to the garden, harvested some beans. I think I am getting an idea for what kind of beans I want to grow next year. I picked a few purple bush beans two days ago, but I am letting the rest all go to seed for next year. I started out with 9 seeds two years ago, this year 18 plants. Hopefully I can get about 30-40 seeds this year. And get a bigger crop for next year for eating. Its kinda fun to be saving the seed from year to year. The beans I am growing for shelling are getting quite big!
My tomatoes are doing well. I have a few that are defficient in something. I think probably magnesium, which I can amend by adding epsom salts around the plants. Either that or calcium is what they are defficient in. But, I should have tomatoes in less than a month and they should go quite late. I am hoping that I can make a lot of sauce with them and freeze them.
My garlic is not doing as well as I would like. It had been doing quite well, but now it isn't doing as well and the weeds are getting to them. I wonder if it was all the rain we had recently. I've heard too much water can be bad for them. That would be a bummer. I hope to do as much garlic this fall.
My potatoes are doing well, definitley need mulching, or earthing up of some sort. I have lettuce still. I hope it doesn't get killed with the hot weather we are getting in the next few days. I am hoping I can harvest most of it for Tuesday when we have a big party for a friend. Mostly leaf lettuce, a little bit of summer head lettuce that is small.
I am mulching with my compost that is mostly finished. It resembles manure with some mostly composted leaves. I figure it is either going to turn into compost in the pile and than I add it to the garden, or when it is mostly composted I add it and it decomposes the rest on the garden and acts as a mulch.
My celery is doing pretty well. Probably about time to transplant. It's about 6" high. I have probably 12-20 'hearts/heads' of celery. Not as much as I would have wanted, but a pretty good amount.
My hop plant is 10' tall. And growing inches every day. Over when I was gone it grew nearly 3ft tall. It is amazing! I definitly need to get something taller, or work something out with the string attachment. I have a few ideas on it.
My basil is growing well. I have some that is 8" tall. After looking at my cousins garden I realize how much better his soil is than mine, as far as nutrients. But, I am working on that, after all, this is my first year. So, hopefully by next year it will be starting to get there. I wish I had a pickup truck to haul manure in.
I am considering starting over with my strawberries. This is the third time they have gotten eaten, and the bed is quite over grown. So, I am thinking about this fall putting in strawberries in another bed, and building a chicken wire cover for the bed. And turning the strawberry bed into two deep beds. I could always use the space. :)
I am hopeing to make a batch of mimosa wine soon. Maybe today, if I get some white grape juice. I don't know when the best time to pick the flowers is, though I would assume morning, before too hot.
Well, that was longer than I thought it would be, but it feels good to write about it. So, I will now be signing off, I need to go make some root beer, see if it can be ready for the party on Tuesday. ; )
English Vintner
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
Home again
Well, I am home again. My cousin and I went to bed Sunday night at 11:30 and woke up at 5:40. We walked around their property and looked at soil. We wanted to till up some space to plant corn and other stuff, but the ground ended up being too wet.
So, we went back to the house and did some hoeing and some planting. Planted beans and tomatoes. Finally went inside to see what everyone was doing. Than Uncle Tim, Casey, Isaiah, Emma?, Jether, Lynnea, Londa and I got in Uncle Tim's truck and drove down to their mailbox and picked up wood from a tree that had fallen. We collected it and drove back up. Dumped it. Than we picked peaches off of their peach tree, the ones that are rotten. Than we talked about stuff and had fun hanging out, and went back to the house. Where between two trees was strung a metal pipe, and running through it was a rope. So we had fun racing to see who could climb the tree, go across the pole and back the fastest. Finally we went in and ate lunch. After lunch, finally we left. We stopped by the shed and picked up carpenter bee traps and Casey gave me some ginseng (thank you Casey!) plants.
We got on the road and headed over to Uncle Dan's. We got to his house a little before 4pm. We hung out for a while and around 5pm we headed down to their camp site by the creek out back. We got a fire started and talked until all the people were down and the food was down at the camp site.
We had fun, the food was hot dogs, corn bread salad, and smores. Everything was high fructose corn syrup free! I was surprized they were able to get stuff without it in it.
We left their house at 8:38pm. Isaiah drove and talked, and I tried to stay awake. Around 11pm Papa and I switched places and I was in the front seat. I think Isaiah was probably the only one who didn't fall asleep at one time. I kept my self awake by first, taking a drink of ice water and spewing it down my chest! :) Second, by slaping my face. Third, by eating an apple. But, by about 1:13am I couldn't last any longer (I had been up since 5:40am) and went to sleep for about 22 minutes. And than I was half asleep and half awake till we got home.
WHen I got home I harvested a zucchini that was growing right outside the house.
I got up this morning at 9:27am and went down to the garden. Everything was SO big! Including the weeds! Good thing I mulched before I left! :) I harvest 3 more zucchini, bigger than they should have been.
I found a deer came last night or the night before and ate some bitter lettuce, a few tops of beans, and trampled all over my beds. :) I wasn't too sad, it didn't do much. My greenhouse is in very bad shape right now. I am hoping that Thursday maybe I can get it fixed. Basically I am having trouble keeping three pieces of plastic on my roof. I am going to try ducktape this time, in the past I used packing tape.
So, that is where I am. At home again. But, this afternoon we leave to go camping. We will stay until Thursday morning I think the plan is. So, I need to go roast some coffee and help pack!
English Vintner
So, we went back to the house and did some hoeing and some planting. Planted beans and tomatoes. Finally went inside to see what everyone was doing. Than Uncle Tim, Casey, Isaiah, Emma?, Jether, Lynnea, Londa and I got in Uncle Tim's truck and drove down to their mailbox and picked up wood from a tree that had fallen. We collected it and drove back up. Dumped it. Than we picked peaches off of their peach tree, the ones that are rotten. Than we talked about stuff and had fun hanging out, and went back to the house. Where between two trees was strung a metal pipe, and running through it was a rope. So we had fun racing to see who could climb the tree, go across the pole and back the fastest. Finally we went in and ate lunch. After lunch, finally we left. We stopped by the shed and picked up carpenter bee traps and Casey gave me some ginseng (thank you Casey!) plants.
We got on the road and headed over to Uncle Dan's. We got to his house a little before 4pm. We hung out for a while and around 5pm we headed down to their camp site by the creek out back. We got a fire started and talked until all the people were down and the food was down at the camp site.
We had fun, the food was hot dogs, corn bread salad, and smores. Everything was high fructose corn syrup free! I was surprized they were able to get stuff without it in it.
We left their house at 8:38pm. Isaiah drove and talked, and I tried to stay awake. Around 11pm Papa and I switched places and I was in the front seat. I think Isaiah was probably the only one who didn't fall asleep at one time. I kept my self awake by first, taking a drink of ice water and spewing it down my chest! :) Second, by slaping my face. Third, by eating an apple. But, by about 1:13am I couldn't last any longer (I had been up since 5:40am) and went to sleep for about 22 minutes. And than I was half asleep and half awake till we got home.
WHen I got home I harvested a zucchini that was growing right outside the house.
I got up this morning at 9:27am and went down to the garden. Everything was SO big! Including the weeds! Good thing I mulched before I left! :) I harvest 3 more zucchini, bigger than they should have been.
I found a deer came last night or the night before and ate some bitter lettuce, a few tops of beans, and trampled all over my beds. :) I wasn't too sad, it didn't do much. My greenhouse is in very bad shape right now. I am hoping that Thursday maybe I can get it fixed. Basically I am having trouble keeping three pieces of plastic on my roof. I am going to try ducktape this time, in the past I used packing tape.
So, that is where I am. At home again. But, this afternoon we leave to go camping. We will stay until Thursday morning I think the plan is. So, I need to go roast some coffee and help pack!
English Vintner
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