Wow have I been blog absent. Not a record stint, as I’ve had a few since 2005 when I started, but this one’s up there. Sorry about that. Back to regular programming. As it turns out, me bringing my greens to market in Ep 45 has steadily evolved into a bustling little business that Travis and I are having a … Read More
Garden Greens…in January
Here’s something I wasn’t expecting. Back when building and planting cold frames I had written numerous times how I’d like to see a harvest from them in December. I thought that might be bold. I wondered if I’d have to eat my words. Then in early December, as my garden fork bounced off the frozen soil nearby, it slipped easily … Read More
Direct Seeding Cold Frames…in Winter
I seeded a cold frame today. Yes, that’s right, direct seeded in dirt, on November 27th. I saw the 9C coming in the forecast and marked it on my calendar for seeding, just in case the soil under my cold frame lids was workable at all. Even if frozen, I had the furrows prepped, and a bucket of soil stowed … Read More
November Garden Greens
The snow is falling, it’s -3C, with -20C in the forecast later this week. And yes, still harvesting garden veg. Was last year too. Not because I have a greenhouse, hoop houses, or even stuff under cold frames [well.. I do, but not for this stuff]. Just planted cold hardy veg in August and let them tough out the elements. … Read More
Already Late for Next Year’s Seeding, Dang.
This is a first for me. Normally this is a March/April job – prepping soil for the coming year’s planting. My recent adventure at my local organic veg grower reminded me I was a bit behind the ball, as they already had onions, spinach, etc coming up for wintering over. Their little cold-hardy plants will have roots prepped to send … Read More
Cold Frame vs. Direct Sown: June Update
I’ve been meaning to take some shots to illustrate this for a while now: the disparity between cold frame sown root veg [April 1], and direct sown when the soil was ready [early May]. Last year, I had succession planted carrots over a few weeks, and at some point in the summer, they all ended up about the same size … Read More
French Breakfast Radish
Another vegetable is in season locally. I’m not sure why one of the easiest vegetables to grow has eluded me since I started gardening. Hm. Perhaps it in fact is not one of the easiest vegetables to grow? If it gets too much heat, they go woody and overly hot. They need to grow fast and cool. I think. What … Read More
An Evolution in Spring Salad
This is new territory for me. I can’t say I’ve ever had a salad of mache, blanched dandelions, baby red Russian kale, baby arugula – with a splash of mustard greens and mizuna. My previous assumption was that spinach was the first greens of the year. This year, the transplants for the cold frames won the race by a mile. … Read More