Planting time!

I am making all of my new beds using ranch panels that are cut in half along their longest point (16ft) for the sides and the ends are ranch panel quarters. These seem to be the perfect size for my garden.

As you can see in the background, I have a few bags of leaves to chip up yet and have been a bit lazy about getting down to business. I hope to have them all chipped up before May planting comes around.



My cold frame is producing quite nicely as well - at least enough for a nice salad every other day. I replanted some of the cold frame a few weeks ago and there are hundreds of little lettuce plants coming in...I am excited to see the cold frame start paying for itself.



I guess I am just happy to be out in the garden getting my hands dirty again. It is nice to get away from the daily grind...

Back to the Garden...

Well, I gave in to my laziness and haven't blogged for a long time and yet here we are - a new year in the garden and time to start blogging again. Hopefully I can keep it up!

As you can see, I put the peas in a few weeks ago and am just waiting for them to pop up. I used leftover leaf mulch from last year to cover the planted areas. Hopefully it works a nice as it looks!


I planted Salsify and Parsnips in the middle of the pyramids...should be interesting.

Tomorrow I will take some good pics of my other beds...I have a large "cold crop" brewing and I am excited about how the garden is shaping up this year so far!

Roma tomoatoes...*sigh*

Stunted roma tomato plants! I am not sure what the deal is - all of my other tomatoes grow well, but every year my roma tomatoes are puny and don't produce well. I add compost, add mulch, add, test the soil, add, add - all to no avail. It appears that I am cursed...or maybe there is a problem with my soil that only these plants are picking up on. So starting tomight ...I am going to try the whole bloodmeal treatment with one and bonemeal on the other. While I hate using any outside fertilizers (even "organic" ones), I am at my wits end and really want some of these tomatoes before the season is over.

On the bright side, my asparagus beans are producing insane numbers of these monsters. I was starting to worry about them a few weeks ago, as the plants were going insane but the blooms were lacking. Now we are running around trying to keep up. I guess I should be a bit more careful what I pray for (even though it doesn't seem to be helping with the romas).

Garden goodies: Summer squash, green beans, asparagus beans, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, home made pickles, corn

How my garden grows...

So, as a coworker of mine detailed his new flowerbeds and the joys of sod removal, I tried to describe how I would create a new flower bed (using no less than 4 different dry erase markers and much hand waving). Eventually I decided that my severely limited artistic ability, coupled with a 2 doughnut sugar rush - probably decreased my effectiveness in describing my garden in accurate detail.

Soooo, as soon as I got home (well, after my evening nap), I made my way out to an ignored corner of my front yard that I have been planning to put a new flower and herb garden in - but have been procrastinating on actually doing the work (because I am a lazy, lazy gardener). As you can see the grass was a bit on the tall side and hasn't been touched a mower in over a month. So, I stomped it down and called it a few names (yep, I like to talk trash to weeds) and proceeded with my normal routine:

First I threw down four five gallon buckets of coffee filters (I always sort them out of the grounds to use as my first layer). The filters will provide an excellent attractant for the large worms that will quickly move into the area and eat all of the sod - how nice of them!


Next came a healthy layer of newspaper, which I picked up from the local recycling drop off - I carefully sorted out any ad pages and used only the "non slick" pages. In this case I added around 40 pounds for the 8x20 bed.


I then added four five gallon buckets of coffee grounds.... as you can see I spread them on thick (I am never skimpy with the grounds!). I estimate the worms will work their way through the sod and filters around the end of September and I want them to continue to eat their way right through all of my layers of mulch, so the grounds are there to provide them with incentive to chew their way through the paper.

Last I layered on 8-12 inches of grass clippings -they will instantly heat up all layers below and provide a nice water holding mulch cover to speed up the entire process. Of note: the first round of clippings will break down quickly so I will do this all again in late September to provide the winter cover for this bed. In January or February I will top it off with 6 inches of chipped leaves to make my bed a bit easier on the eyes. (Note the time stamps...it took me a little more than 36min to make this bed from start to finish).

I will plant this bed in May and am expecting to find 4-6inches of black loamy humus to tuck my baby plants in.

So, no digging up sod, sweating, or even swearing at emerging blisters! Best of all, this will be a weed free bed, rich in nutrients and ready to produce healthy flowers and herbs for years to come. The only care will be watering and the occasional addition of fresh mulch.

Garden goodies: squash, green beens, cucumbers, tomatoes, asparagus beans, onions, potatoes

Pickles!

Yes, it is that time of year! That time where my hands constantly smell of dill, garlic, onions, and a hint of all spice - jars of dill pickles quickly cover a sizable portion of my counter space and I will look on with drool running down my chin waiting for the day when I can crack open the first batch. So, being the wonderful guy that I am, here is my recipe:

Brine (makes about 3-4 jars) - 2 Quarts of cold water, 1/2 quart of white vinegar, 3/4cup of pickling salt

Per jar:
3 cloves
5 all spice
a pinch of mustard seeds
a pinch of black pepper corns
a pinch of green pepper corns
(more pepper corns if you want more spice)
3 pealed garlic cloves
2 large slices of white or yellow onion (red onion doesn't do to well) or an equal number of shallots
*optional, but recommended* a couple of dried chili peppers (I used garden salsa peppers that I dried from last year) broken into chunks - don't crush them!

Add the pickling cucumbers and a half of a head of dill (that had turned to seed and has no flowers) to each jar. Add brine until almost full. Tap the jar on the counter to get the air out and add brine to fill. Use the self-seal lids (follow instructions on box). Let them sit on the counter until all cloudiness is gone (could take a few weeks). Store in a cool place after they are done. Eat them up fast as they only last ~8months on the shelf at ~60degrees.

Don't forget to eat the pickled onions and crush the garlic into your vinegar and oil salad dressings (adds a bit of good flavor without the overpowering garlic taste)

Garden goodies: Zucchini, 8ball, crookneck, and pattypan squash, tomatoes, cucumbers (pickling and english) kohlrabi

Spraying aphids and my meme

Spray those aphids son!

1) I consider myself a native Montanan - even though I was born in Denver and as a military brat I moved constantly. Montana was the one place over the years that I returned to and could actually call "home" - and strangely...still do.

2) I a proud owner of a wife (let's see if she reads this..), 3 kids, 3 dogs, 3 goats, and 2 guinea fowl. At this time I am not looking to expand - other than maybe by a human kid or 2 in the future.

3) My wife and I were married in Gumbranch, Georgia and lived in Hinesville, GA for the first 4months we were married. We then took the show on the road, moving to Nashville, Houston, and finally our final (hopefully) destination - Boise, Idaho!

4) I work as a computer systems engineer - which means I control everything (buaahahahaha!!)...well at least all of the data and email (which is pretty much everything). I like what I do most days, but on those off days I daydream of buying a farm and coming home to inform my wife "we are going to spend the rest of our lives praying that the crops grow and all the cows come home each night". Usually on my drive home I come to my senses and realize that I like being married and the random hail storm doesn't directly impact my income stream.

5) I have always been a "Go Go Go" kind of guy, but in my garden I can live the "Slow Slow Slow" life - for at least a couple hours a day.

6) Fishing is my other passion. I don't have the opportunity to fish as much as I would like, but those days on the water are the ones that I look forward to all year.

7) I am really bad at this kind of thing, and had a tough time writing it....I am pretty sure that I am not cut out to write about anything other than gardening! :)

More aphids!

Compost!

It was a gorgeous morning in the garden! I spent most of it shoring up the compost around the tomato and pepper plants - I also gave my slug munched potatoes a dose as well - hopefully this perks them up a bit.

The early morning garden time gives me time to ponder some of the great questions of our time...this morning I pondered why my compost doesn't stink! This question has been plaguing me for a while and I it may for years yet to come (unless someone tells me the answer or I stumble upon it by accident). So, here are the ingredients of the compost I am using (as best I can remember):

Leaves
Grass clippings
Newspaper
Cardboard
Random garden plants
Blackberry branches
Cow manure
Horse manure
Guinea fowl manure
Straw
Coffee grounds
Coffee grounds
Tea bags
Egg shells
Kleenex
Paper towels/napkins
Kitchen scraps (lettuce, banana peals, orange peals, etc)

Fish guts

Random dead animals (squirrels, magpies, rock chucks, raccoons, etc)

Even with the large amounts of fish guts and animal materials...no stink! What is the secret? I have no idea...the only thing I can think of is the high quantity of browns that I add. Maybe the smell is absorbed by the leaves or possibly the heat is so high that the green contents are broken down before they have a chance to smell it up. No matter the reason, I will continue to completely ignore the sage advice of the composting experts and add all of these wonderful ''no no'' items...after all they provide that huge nitrogen boost that I am looking for without having to fork over the big bucks for the equivelent in bloodmeal..

Garden goodies: 8-ball squash, potatoes, kohlrabi