The Coldest Summer Ever

Ok, it may not be the coldest ever... But, it is the end of July and barely reaching the 80's. Honestly, I don't mind the cool temps. I only wish that they were paired with a bit of sun occasionally.

My tomatoes will not ripen, even the ones that have been on the vine, full-sized for at least two weeks (or more).

The other plants are doing well. Lush. Green. Growing.

Tonight, I cut a bunch of stalks off the swiss chard plants. The stems and leaves were all incorporated into a pasta sauce with some other veggies (none from my own garden unfortunately) and chicken sausage. Delish.

Also this evening, I dug up some more of the garlic. The leaves had all but died and I was concerned that the bulbs would be exploding underground. Luckily, they were intact and beautiful. Each variety was braided into a bunch and hung in the garage to cure. Only two more rows to go and the garlic harvest will be complete. I can't wait to start trying each type and discovering which are my favorites. And, only a couple weeks before the bulbs for next year will need to be put into the ground.

It's funny to think that the work for this season is pretty much done. There are a couple last plants under the grow light: broccoli, cauliflower, kale. They will be the last things I harvest, probably later even than the assorted squash slowly working up the trellises. Not to mention the melons and cucumbers that are at all stages of growth.

If only I could get a ripe tomato.

Eek!

Last night, I was super excited when, while checking on the veggies, I saw the purple tops of some turnips poking up through the soil. I pulled up one, then another and another. I ended up with four reasonably sized turnips; one was almost the size of my fist, the rest a bit smaller. They were covered with soil but gorgeous. The bright green leaves so cheery and the purple and white skin smooth under the soil. Ah, dinner...

Then, I rinsed them and noticed some small marks around the root and stem areas...

Then, I cut off the end of the worst marked...

Then, I saw the bugs, the worms, whatever.

What!?!

So, after a good bit of research today, I have discovered that my turnips were infested with cabbage root maggots (at least that's my best guess). The solution? More nematodes. Of course, all this a couple days after I poured the remainder from the milk jug in the fridge onto a patch of lawn.

That leaves me with two options: buy more nematodes and apply them to all of my raised boxes or hope that the worst has passed since the flies should crawl from the ground soon enough (and attack the leaves of everything instead of the root veggies). Decisions.

Oh well for the first big harvest moment of the season... Hopefully I'll have better luck with whatever I pull from the ground next.

Another Year (part two)

I am now 30 years old! Although, that fact may not sink in until someone asks and I have to say it out loud. I did have a great birthday celebration, thanks to my friend, Angi... Definitely a night that I won't forget for a very long time.

And, now back to the regularly scheduled programming...

Today is a perfect June day, sunny, mid 70's, breezy, with the chance of thunderstorms later in the day (of course). It was another perfect morning for a walk though the Mt. Lebanon Farmer's Market. A new vendor appeared today: an Amish farmer selling some produce, meat products and cheese (I got the Goat Farmers cheese after sampling, amazing).

I checked on the veggies this morning. The potato plants have started to flower, the lettuce has started to re-grow (it looks like my bunny fence is working so far) and there were a few deep red strawberries ready to be my morning snack.

There are still some things I need to do as far as building and prep work. I have two more trellises to build and at least one more box... I want to have some more space for extra batches of corn and beans and everything else. I just can't wait till I can start harvesting more things from the boxes. It's especially exciting because all of the plants are so green from the almost daily rain. To see how quickly everything pushes through the loose soil mixture and reaches up and out, it's amazing. The turnips are especially vigorous; I have been pulling off the occasional rouge leaves to leave room for the sun to hit the smaller beet, lettuce and swiss chard plants. Perhaps this week, I'll cook some of them and throw them over pasta with some cheese, instead of depositing them onto the top of the compost pile.

But, for today, I'm just hoping to get that last box built and moved up into the yard (before the rain starts, of course).

Another Year

The farmer's markets, the green, the thunderstorms... It is almost summer, but it still feels like spring. The rain continues, the cool temperatures at night, it's hard to believe that school is letting out and unbearable heat could be right around the corner.

It's been a year since I made the decision to live a less processed life. I've definitely seen some progress but I still have a long way to go.

The Progress:
- I've lost 24 lbs
- I've switched a lot of my household products to naturally based items
- My pantry is full of more organic, less processed foods
- I'm trying to grow more veggies at home, depending less on outside sources for food
- I've been getting more in touch with things that bring me peace: art and yoga

The Long Way Still Ahead:
- I still have about 20-some more pounds I'd like to lose
- I've found myself eating more processed items recently
- My fridge is almost empty, no veggies, nothing fresh, nothing to cook
- I need to find continuity in the things that make me happy, some of which I can't control

But, overall, as I peer out to next week, when I'll turn 30 (aggggghhh!!), I'm pretty content with what I've accomplished. I'm in much better shape, emotionally, physically, etc.

I'm looking forward to see what I can do with the next year.

A Lot of Rain

The rain continues... Days and days of rain, thankfully with small breaks of sunshine, have been and will be here in Pittsburgh. This is good in many ways - No need to water the many seeds (spinach, swiss chard, carrots, lettuce...), newly planted potatoes and already sprouted pea plants. Everything is ridiculously green (except for the dandelions, which are aggravatingly yellow).

The bad thing is that it is nearly impossible to get through any one task before the clouds let loose. I did manage to get one of my trellises built today: 1/2" EMT pipe, placed over 2' rebar and connected with elbow connectors. Nylon netting finishes it off. The amazing thing is that I actually fit the 10' pipes into my Camry (with the window open, but still).

Now, only a couple more boxes to install and several more trellises to build... More seeds to get started, etc.

Sadly, several of my seedlings did not make it through the transition of being planted in the boxes, too much sun. For the next set, I'll try to do a better job of hardening them off (which I always thought was an odd phrase).

So, my newest thoughts on the Square Foot Gardening method is that it is very time consuming to set up. Of course, I did plan about twice as many boxes as the book suggested for one person. But, with one box full of strawberries and so many vine plants to grow, it only made sense to have at least six boxes. So, I'm hoping that the harvest more than makes up for the effort and that next year things go a little faster.

The exciting thing is that the "last frost" date for Pittsburgh is only a couple weeks away. Soon, I should be able to really get going with the bulk of the veggies. I can't wait to see how the tomatoes take to growing up a trellis and how all the rest of the plants grow.

Surprises

Today was one of those days when the sunshine and warmth seem extra special, perhaps because there was snow on the ground yesterday morning. For whatever reason, it made me want to skip yoga and get my hands in the dirt... And, so I did.

I 'installed' my second garden box, except for the grid. I also moved some of my compost pile in an attempt to re-route the deer through my yard. They've already broken one of my grids; so, I'm trying to figure out a way to keep the rest safe.

I felt some extra urgency for getting the boxes up and filled because there was a box waiting on my doorstop tonight: 150 strawberry plants. Why in the world do I always do that to myself? LOL. I actually think it won't be so bad planting them in the boxes. The 'soil' doesn't even require a shovel to dig; I can just move it around with my fingers. Still, 150 plants is a lot and I'll probably end up giving away at least a few of them.

Also, I know that I have some potatoes on the way. Not quite so many of them, but they still need to get into the ground relatively fast.

And, with all the veggies on my mind, it was exciting to read an article today about a weed that grows in my garden (and usually annoys the heck out of me), which is considered a vegetable in other countries. Purslane. I'm actually looking forward to it sprouting up and growing into something I can cook with.

But, beyond the joy of something new to try and taste, it seems really bizarre that we have so much here, that we consider something full of Omega 3's, that other peoples through the world grow and harvest, that is supposed to be rather tasty, to be a weed.

A New Season

Officially, spring is here (and has been for a couple days). The last few weeks have been filled with building new garden bed boxes and grids, buying soil mixture ingredients and trying to figure out the best way to start vegetable seeds indoors.

First, the boxes. I'm experimenting with a new method of gardening this year: Square Foot Gardening. It's one of several intensive gardening techniques I found books about and looks like it may yield enough produce to make up for my lack of investing in a CSA this year. So far, I have one raised box, filled with the soil mixture suggested in the book, topped with a grid and ready for peas to be planted (probably later today).

I have high hopes for this experiment. I keep dreaming of a summer full of meals cooked with items picked right from the ground/vine/etc. It has taken a lot more money and work than I was expecting... But, as someone without a ton of woodworking experience, that may just be part of the learning curve. After realizing how long it took to 'install' that first box, I've changed my plan to build them as needed and give myself a little more time to figure out the best methods for everything.

Besides the peas, I do have several vegetables already started: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, onions and leeks. Unfortunately, I had to get rid of the first batch of the cruciferous plants; they became so tall that they toppled over or became yellow and shriveled. It took me awhile to research the cause of leggy seedlings; I thought it was a over/under watering issue. It was caused by a lack of good light.

So, yesterday, I installed a light fixture, outfitted with a full spectrum fluorescent bulb, under a shelf and propped up my tray of seedlings. Now, I'm hoping for the best. I have another list of seeds to start next week and need to get the process down quick enough so that I have actual plants to put in the ground come the last frost.

Otherwise, my garlic plants are looking strong and healthy, about six inches tall already. I've been thinking about what to do with all the scapes in a couple months. I also ordered some potatoes for planting this year, which will be a first, and a ton of strawberry plants.

I feel like there is so much to be done over the next few weeks... Like yesterday, while pulling up grass where my box was going, I noticed an abundance of grubs. Not good! So, today, I'm hoping to find some good nematodes or something else organic that will lessen their numbers this year.

Luckily, the days are getting long, which makes it easier to do things at night. Still, somehow, I'm worried there might not be enough hours in the days between now and planting.