Garden (Blog) Hiatus???

Hello friends!

I haven’t written in FOREVER.  Well, that’s because Dred Pirate Roberts is dead (but a good dead, I swear).  I guess he’s more “hibernating” than dead.  Today, though, we should chat about pine needles and chemistry.  Chemistry? I know, I hate it too (and I’m getting a PhD in science).

Anywho, last summer we explored the many reasons for blossom end rot.  One of the reasons we get this nasty rot on our peppers and tomatoes is due to a chemical imbalance in the soil (re: too much acid).  There are a few “cures” for acid in the soil… egg shells, Tums, etc.  However, the most effective way to change the pH back to more neutral is by using lime (CaCO3).  This is standard practice in farming.  Here’s the ABC’s of the chemistry.  Things that add ammonium (NH3-) to the soil (re: fertilizer, pine needles) will make the soil more acidic.  How?  Well, the Nitrogen in ammonium and bacteria in the soil convert the NH3- to nitrite and then Nitrate in a process known as Nitrification (shout out to my friend Allian — this was part of her masters thesis!).  Ok, so what happens to all that Hydrogen?  Well, H+ is floating around making the soil all acidic, that’s what!   So, what does the lime do?  Well, the CaCO3 combines with the H+ and turns it into carbon dioxide which raises the pH of the soil back to a more neutral state.  Did I mention that my masters degree is in soil?  For more info on this process (if you’re curious) visit this WSU page: http://www.ncw.wsu.edu/treefruit/soil/lime.htm. CAUTION: too much CO2 in the soil will raise the pH too high.  Do not over lime!  Apparently there are fast acting limes and slower limes.  I think it’s probably a good idea too add slow acting lime to your soil right before the first snow fall and let it work it’s magic during winter.  Of course, I never did this, so I will be trying a little bit of fast acting lime come March!  :) Too much science?  Well, gardening (like most things) is based on science and it’s good to know what’s happening in that soil of ours!  Once we get a handle on what causes problems, we can try to fix them, right!?!

So, I have big news.  Greg and I are engaged!  Thus, baking and gardening have been replaced by wedding planning and the like.  I’m sure you’ll be hearing all about it.

Farmer Ran Out!

Short and Cherry Tomato Sweet

So, I brought some cherry tomatoes from Dread Pirate Roberts over to a friends house.  Her 7 year old who is a bit of a food pill described them as “a flavor explosion in your mouth.”  He also informed me that I should bring small ones and big ones next time.  Yes, Sir!

Farmer Ran

The Miami Pumpkins?

So, every time I plant something new I learn something new.  For instance, did you know that pumpkins started their life green??? I for sure didn’t!  That is, until Greg pointed out the newly fruiting pumpkins in Dread Pirate Roberts!   Since the entirety of my pumpkin experiences have been with harvested or canned pumpkins, I just always assumed they were orange.  Why would they be any other color?  I do not have any picture to upload today, but I promise to be back with some later.  I just had to post my surprise.

So, green and orange… where have I seen this before?  I’m going to start a campaign to officially change the Miami Hurricanes to the Miami Pumpkins.  I mean, if the color fits…. Who’s with me????

In other gardening news, it appears that my new harvest of green peppers are doing much better than the first harvest.  Same plants, same soil, but no blossom end rot!  This is puzzling… seeing as blossom end rot is mostly due to a  lack of calcium in the soil, I wouldn’t expect to see this much improvement.  However, after some pondering on the subject, I seemed to recall that too much nitrogen can hinder calcium uptake.  Well, it could be possible that my soil (that came with 3 months of feed) started getting low on nitrogen towards the end of the summer.  Perhaps the depletion of nitrogen helped the green pepper to flourish more?  WHO KNOWS???? Thoughts????

Happy Farming

Farmer Ran

p.s. Some of you astute collegiate football fans may notice how I ended in blue.  This is because orange and blue is by far the better color combination and Florida school!!! GO GATORS!

It’s like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice…

If you haven’t yet seen the Sorcerer’s Apprentice with Nick Cage… I highly recommend it!  What a fun movie.  That being said, if you’ve seen the Mickey version then that’s good enough to understand what is happening in my garden.  If you haven’t seen either, well, long story short… the Sorcerer’s Apprentice is tasked with cleaning a room.  So, naturally, he uses magic to do so.  Quickly, this turns into a nightmare as brooms start multiplying, water’s flying everywhere… you get the picture.  Ok, so I think that’s how it goes with summer gardens as well!  First, you have nothing.  Then, maybe a tomato or two.  Suddenly you have 500 tomatoes, 1000 jalapeno peppers and it’s getting out of control!  Who can eat or even give away this much produce???!?  What is a Farmer Girl to do?  Freeze things!!!!

According to some friends, salsa freezes nicely.  Plus, you really cannot mess up salsa, can you?  Ok, here’s what I did:

Ingredients:
(From Dread Pirate Roberts):

Tomatoes, Jalapenos, Green Pepper, Parsley

(From the store):

Garlic, onion, salt, pepper, olive oil

1) Chop all ingredients to approx equal chunks and throw into food processor

2) Pulse to desired thickness

3) Add some olive oil, salt and pepper

4) Store in containers and Freeze

Seriously, I think I was done in 15 minutes — and it is delish!!!!

Farmer Ran

Soup’s On!

I had several friends ask me for more details on the Creamy Tomato Basil Soup I previously posted on… so here’s the story through pictures!  The link to the full recipe is in the previous post.  I made some minor modifications (i.e., 1 vidalia and 1 red onion instead of 2 reds, 15-18 Roma tomatoes instead of big tomatoes, blender instead of foodmill), but it’s mostly the same.  So without further ado…

Step 1: Heat olive oil in large pot or dutch oven and chop onions and unpeeled carrots:

1 red onion, 1 vidalia onion, and 2 carrots

Step 2: Saute onions and carrots in heated olive oil until tender and onions are translucent (~ 10 minutes)…. meanwhile, chop tomatoes and basil.

Step 3: Add garlic to pot and saute another minute.  Then, add tomatoes, tomato paste, stock (chicken or vegetable for a vegetarian option), basil, sugar, salt and pepper.  Bring pot to a boil and then simmer for about 30 – 40 minutes!  Don’t forget to mix well!!!

Step 4: After the tomatoes are super tender, take off the heat and add heavy cream.  Mix well.

Step 5: Spoon batches into blender and puree until smooth and creamy!  (I like to do this step twice)

Step 5: EAT!!!!!!!!!!

 Happy Cooking!

Farmer Ran

p.s. The tomatoes and basil were freshly grown by ME!

Take that, Tomato!

So, if you’ve read my post Attack of the Killer Tomato you would notice my complete over abundance of tomatoes!  So, I went ahead and decided to make some creamy tomato basil soup with the fresh tomatoes and basil from my garden.  Of course, I turned to my favorite cook: The Barefoot Contessa (recipe at link) for a delicious easy recipe!  It came out sooooo great and would easily serve 6!

Ok, so I stole this picture from the Food Network... but mine looked just as good!

I made the following changes: 1) 15 roma tomatoes and 2) puree in blender (I have no food mill).  IT WAS AWESOME!  I served it with garlic croutons.  It was creamy, delicious and tasted great with grilled cheddar cheese sandwiches!

I still have a ton of tomatoes so I think I’m going to try sauce next!

Happy Farming!

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!

Does anyone out there remember this cult-classic circa 1970-something?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080391/

Anyway, I kind of feel like I’m living in this movie… minus the killer part.  Ok, so it’s not at all like the movie, but seriously, we are having a tomato explosion (a tomato-plosion!)  We have more romas, cherry, and heirlooms than 2 people can handle and we brought a bunch to friends this weekend!  So, what is one to do with all these beautiful fruit?  Well, make tomato things, that’s what!  I will be attempting to make a fresh, creamy tomato basil soup tonight and of course, there’s always sauce, but any other ideas?  Any secret tomato recipes out there in cyber-land?  Want to share them, pretty please???

Why so Melon-dramatic???

Oh, the melon-drama.  First, I thought I had watermelons.  Then I discovered I’d grown cantaloupes only to conclude the watermelons had died.  (Exhibit A):

See how I'm getting wrinkly... I'm a cantaloupe!!!!!

BUT, As usual, the Dread Pirate Roberts surprises me and today I found… WATERMELONS (exhibit B):

Hello. I am a watermelon.

It seems both seedlings did well, the cantaloupe was just an earlier bloomer!  I think I should have yummy fruit in a few weeks — I can’t wait!!  As for the rest of DPR, well he’s busting with stuff!  Check out my veggie caddy (the squash was grown by a friend… but the rest is from DPR):

Holy Summer Vegetables, Batman!

I guess it’s official.  I can grow things!!! Everything in this basket was a seedling start.  I really think it’s the best way to go and here’s why:

1. You can support your local nursery and buy their seedlings
2. You can see where you planted a seedling as opposed to having to guess where the seeds are
3. There is no thinning needed, just spread them out nicely
4. You do not pull your freshly sprouted seed-start thinking it’s a weed (See #2)
5. It’s faster!!!!!

Well, that being said, I absolutely had to seed-start my pumpkins because I couldn’t find seedlings anywhere.  I definitely won’t be pulling these as weeds (12 days after planting):

That’s all for today.  Tune in next time for our discussion on picking tomatoes:  How red is ripe???

HAPPY FARMING!!!

Farmer Ran

Remembering Jessica Tandy…

Do you remember Jessica Tandy??? I do… and she was fabulous.  With movies like Cocoon, Batteries Not Included and of course, Fried Green Tomatoes.  Today we pay homage to a great actress and great movie.  Today we made, fried green tomatoes.  The southern classic is the perfect dish to prepare if you just cannot wait for a few tomatoes to turn red!  Our version used unripe Romas and was delish!  Sometimes you just need to fry some veggies… its just that good.

On a more reddish note, we picked our first large red heirloom!  It is currently sitting in the windowsill to get extra ripe… I’m hoping to make some Caprese salad with it tomorrow.  I mean, what screams summer more than off the vine tomatoes, fresh grown basil and delicious creamy mozzarella?  It’s the perfect summer dish!

In other news… I recently discovered that those “watermelons” I’ve been going on about are actually CANTALOUPE!  Ooops… I think the cantaloupe took over the watermelon plants… maybe I should have separated them a bit more.  Oh well, I love cantaloupe equally so no hard feelings here!

Well, that’s the latest on the fruit front!  RIP Jessica Tandy — tonight’s appetizer is for you!

Farmer Ran

The Great Pumpkin Caper…

OK, ok, so the title may imply some sort of pumpkin escapades, but really I just planted seeds!  Gotcha (or, in the words of my favorite nerd on “The Big Bang Theory”, BAZINGA!) I went looking for pumpkin seedlings since I didn’t have much luck seed-starting anything this year, but alas it was a lost cause.  I couldn’t find any at the local nursery.  So, I took a chance and planted seeds.  Planting pumpkin seeds is very much like planting cucumbers actually.  You first want to make little hills (I made them medium ant-hill size) and you put your seeds in spacing a few inches apart.  In about 10-12 days, I should have germination.  At this point, I will look for the “healthiest” sprouts and leave only 2-3 seedlings a hill.  According to my seed packet, harvest is approximately 90 days after planting which will put me at mid-October (perfect timing)!

Luckily, we got some much needed rain today so the garden should be getting a nice soaking (always good after a fresh planting).  I would show some pictures, but I don’t feel like standing out in the rain this afternoon.  Plus, who wants to see a mound of dirt anyway??? The variety of pumpkin seeds where Connecticut Field — whatever that means…

Now, the bigger question looms — what to carve when these puppies come in?? I guess I have 88 days to think on this…

Happy Farming!

It’s not easy being green….

First and foremost, the good news: my green peppers seem to be doing a little better.  I’ve been sprinkling with some epsom salts and pulling them a little early.  This means a stronger flavor, but it’s yummy none the less!  The cucumbers and jalepenos are still going strong.  I made some homemade guac last night with the jalepenos, and Greg made poppers on July 4th — YUM!

On the stagnate front: my tomatoes and cayenne are still green (for the most part)!  Other than a handful of cherry tomatoes, I have softball sized heirlooms and long cayenne, but they are green, green, green.  As Kermie knows…. “it’s not easy being green”… TURN RED ALREADY!  I am willing them to turn, but to no avail.  URGH.  Good news is that this is the story all over Blacksburg!  It seems to be a slow growing year… maybe it’s the devastating heat!  Although, tomatoes love warm summer nights so who knows!?!

THIS JUST IN: Dread Pirate Roberts has 3 new crew members on the deck: watermelons!  There are 3 nerf football sized watermelons growing strong!  There’s a picture of the first one on the last post!  Let’s hope I get fruit with my rind.  I have yet to spot a cantaloupe, but the plant is blooming so let’s hope we’ll have some soon.

Next up: Pumpkins!  I need to plant some pumpkins, but I was hoping for the heat to break a little!  I think I’ll spend my weekend turning the empty half of the garden in preparation for the gourds.

Happy Farming!

Pepper Mysteries and Melons!

Well, based on some feedback and Googling, I think I have blossom-end rot on the peppers!  Good news is that this very common — bad news is the lack of consistency on what to do!  It’s a nutrient deficiency so not a disease or critter ~ phew.  I’ve posted some pictures here so you know what to look for if you have a mysterious black “rot” forming on your peppers:

Classic Blossom-End Rot

Here's some blossom-end rot starting

Based on some sage advice, I pulled the fruit off and threw it away — but no need to uproot the whole plant!

On a happier note, I plucked some cherry tomatoes last night!  Take a look:

The first tomatoes of summer!

My heirlooms are still growing huge… but not red yet!
I also have some new friends popping up in Dread Pirate Roberts… check out this baby watermelon:

WATERMELON!!!!!!!!!!!!

And lastly, there has been a lot of talk of my compost pile… here she be:

Composting for Dummies...

Happy Farming!

Green Pepper Rot(?) and Thoughts on Tomatoes

The title says it all and isn’t that a lovely breakfast thought!?!  I noticed that a few of my green peppers had a moldy/fungal/disgusting/gross/ewww it sickened me black rot growing on the side.  What is this?  Is it some sort of disease?  Will it spread?  I checked the rest of my peppers and it seemed to be limited to those few, which promptly got tossed into the compost pile.  Any thoughts?  I need to hit the books (errrrr, Google) ASAP!  This brings me to composting (nice segue, huh?).  What is the deal?  Do I need to cover with soil or no?  Right now it’s just a pile of rotting kitchen scraps laying over a parfait of dirt and more rotting vegetables.  Can you mess up compost?  I’m working hard at doing nothing with the pile — is this a mistake?  HELP!

In other news, I have some red tomatoes!  So far they are only the cherry tomatoes but it’s still pretty exciting.  I need some good cheery tomato and Roma tomato recipes because I have about 10, 000 growing.  What is a girl to do with 10,000 tomatoes?  Anyone out there in blogville have a good homemade tomato sauce or tomato soup recipe?

Check out my recipe page for my latest cake!

Farmer Ran

Delicious – If I do say so myself!

Just a quick note: the cucumbers were delicious (or in the words of my college doppleganger Rachel — “Yum-O”)!

Today, Greg and I (mostly Greg) worked on the “front garden” out in front of the house.  We bought a ton of mulch and we mulched over the gross orange clay we have (anyone from the Piedmont — holla)!  The nice thing about mulch is that not only does it have a lovely pine smell (no need for a car air freshener for a while), but it also prevents weeds!  WOOHOOO… now if only I could mulch my vegetable garden…  Anywho, we (and by we I mean me) relocated the weed like bush we had growing up the front of the house to the side and planted another large hosta out front.  I think those are becoming my most favorite plants.  If you don’t know what one looks like, check some out:

Link to pictures of hostas

Nothing else new in the veggie garden — tomatoes and cayenne are still green despite all my willing of them to turn red!!!

Happy Farming!

WOOHOOO Harvest!

I don’t want to speak too soon, but it appears I may be in summer harvest mode!  For those of you new to gardening like me, I have discovered that you can harvest 1/2 a garden at a time and prep the other half for the next growing season.  For example, the first half of my garden was lettuce, green onions, garlic, etc.  As I was harvesting those early summer crops, I was planting my tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and melons.  When it got too hot, I had to pull out the lettuce and such, but then I got to start harvesting my mid-summer crops.  Now, the lettuce half of the garden is open and ready to be planted next month with late-summer/early-fall crops (gourds and the like).

I’m sure I could have read a book that shared this with me, but I find it was more fun to do it the old fashioned way: just figure it out.  It’s kind of like a new surprise every day!  So, without further ado… I give you, the first of the summer harvest:

Look at those cukes!

And here’s what’s to come:

I cannot wait to make pizza!!!

We're going to have a million cherry tomatoes!

We also have green pepper and cayenne that should be ready within the next week!

Here’s my tips for harvesting:

Cucumbers – pick these when they are as big as you’d see them in the store.  Also, they grow with prickly things (I mean, who knew?) and the prickles should be mostly flush with the cucumber.  (No need for comments about this picture… I know what you’re thinking) Here’s what I’m talking about:

See how the prickly things are nearly flush with the cuke?

Happy Farming!

Cucumbers???

Super short post: I got back from Chicago last night and Greg told me I have two cucumbers ready to be picked!  I cannot wait to see for myself!

Updates to follow with pictures of course!  My garden looks well watered.  I guess I can keep Greg around!

Farmer Ran

On Soil and Cargo Pants

For anyone who knows me well, this question may seem ridiculous coming from someone who got 2 degrees in soil engineering (yes you read that right, you can get a degree in dirt).   Since the entirety of my schooling at the University of Florida revolved around the science of engineering soil, it may come as a surprise that I have NO IDEA what kind of soil is in our yard.  Other than visually observing that 1/2 our yard seems to be a sandy clay and the other 1/2 a clayey sand (and again, yes there is a difference), I know absolutely NOTHING about the acidity, level of organics, etc.  Quite honestly, this is pure laziness given that I work in lab and have access to all the tools to identify and classify my soil.  But quite frankly, who cares?

Gardeners care — that’s who!  I have read scores of books, articles, posts, etc on the importance of garden soil, and when friends have looked at my garden they comment on my soil.  I on the other hand tilled a  spot (well Greg did this actually) and loaded it up with Organic Garden Soil and a composted Humus and Manure mix.  This spring, we turned the garden and loaded it up with more soil/manure.  This did the trick!  Now, did the base soil matter — I have no clue.  Personally, I think you can engineer almost any type of soil you want — and at $1.50/bag, the composted manure (that doesn’t smell) from Lowes did the trick.

Personally, I’m not sure I care what the base soil is… as long as you’ve turned it and loosened it!  I think there are two things more important than soil: full sun and happy thoughts.  Oh, and watering is probably a good idea, too.

Then again, maybe it’s just LUCK.

While we’re on the soil discussion, let’s talk composting.  Again, I’ve read all this literature about the need to turn, screw, mix whatever your compost.  There’s talk of layering with soil for optimization of composting.  Well, this too I think is a load of malarky!  I mean, who has time for that kind of nonsense?  Talking with my friend Jeff, I learned there are two types of composting: active and passive.  I give you two guesses as to what I have embraced!

Check out the recipe page later today for an awesome fish and tartar sauce recipe that we made last night with our home grown herbs (dill, parsley and chives) and onions!

Happy Farming!

Farmer Ran

p.s. Greg just came in asking where someone would buy $200 cargo pants.  I say “Bergdorf” he thinks I made up this store and it doesn’t exist!  LOL He has no idea what kind of shopper I could be if I wanted to!!!!

p.p.s. The proof is in the pudding: http://www.bergdorfgoodman.com/store/catalog/templates/P9.jhtml?itemId=cat255914&parentId=cat263500&masterId=cat000024

When to harvest… that is the question

As a novice garderner, at best (I think the better term here is dabbler, but whatever), a question I often find myself asking is: when to harvest these things?  I mean, they look ready, but how do you know?  Again, being the quality reseracher I try to be, I Googled.  It seems EVERYONE has an opinion on the “best time to harvest” yet NO ONE seems to agree.  For instance, I am growing Cayenne.  Some people are certain it turns red, while others “know absolutely” that some varieties stay green — and it’s better to pluck when green and waxy.

Which brings me to rant two for the day.  Waxy?  What exactly does this mean?  It’s like when I read an icing recipe that says beat until fluffy.  I looked fluffy when I started!  What are these ambiguous adjectives?  I need pictures and details, people!

Oh well, I guess The Dred Pirate Roberts Project is just going to continue on the path of trial and error — it is the best way to learn right?  It is why I planted 2 plants of each vegetable that should yield about 10xs what a two person house can eat right?  And, if all else fails, there’s always the farmers market.

Happy Farming!

Farmer Ran

Blog Title Change

So, I was walking into the lab this morning and this new title just popped into my head! Since I spend most of my farming life confused, puzzled and utterly mind boggled by what people tell me, I thought this was more appropriate.

No worries, though, I’m still a Macy’s Girl through and through.

Farmer Ran

FYI: Edited because clearly I wrote this before I had my coffee… it basically lacked any kind of sense… well, the basic premise is the same!

Some Pictures of My "Baby" Veggies!

One day, my garden parents will slice me open, fill me with cream cheese and fry me because they love some Jalepeno Poppers!

Wooohoooo… I’m an heirloom!

Watch out… I’m prickly! Who knew cucumbers were prickly???

Teehee… it’s like Where’s Waldo? Can you find me??? I’m a baby green bell pepper!

Yet another picture of an heirloom!

Update on the "meter" savings from Town of Blacksburg

Do you remember when I posted about the water “savings” that the Town of Blacksburg offers by buying a special meter and monitoring the water not going to the sewer? Well, savings my right arm! The meter costs $150 or so dollars… we’re spending MAYBE $5/month more in water due the garden. I’m not a PhD student in Environmental Engineering or anything, but I’m pretty sure that the payback period on that meter is 3 years. Oh wait, if we factor in that we only garden for 5 or so months of out of the year, I guess the meter will pay for itself in 6 years or so… Yeah, ok.

Needless to say (but I will anyway) we did not buy the meter!

Happy Farming!

When lettuce goes bad part duex…

After a quick trip to the Crow’s Nest, I discovered that it was not DPR or Farmer Ran at fault in the lettuce fiasco, but rather, Mother Nature. Due to the extraordinarily hot few weeks we had, the lettuce all went to seed and bittered (to be expected, apparently). But there is an upside: the tomatoes are growing like weeds!!! WOOHOOOO!

A note to all you potential suburban farmer girls (or guys): you can replant lettuce at the end of the summer and get a nice healthy fall crop, but the dead of summer means death of lettuce!!!

Until next time…

EEEK — When Lettuce Goes Bad

A word to the wise: Do not eat lettuce that has a flower growing from the center of it! IT WAS SO GROSS… after Googling, I discovered that when lettuce flowers it typically has gone bitter. Lesson learned, so after ripping out half of the lettuce, Dread Pirate Roberts is looking a little lopsided! One half is full of flowering plants (i.e., I’m going to have tomatoes, peppers and melon soon) and the other half is looking weak! I planted some green beans, so hopefully those will take off soon.

What is the key to getting everything harvestable at the same time and keep it that way for 2-3 months???? I’ll think on that some more…

HOLY HUMID

I think summer is officially here. The weekend started with thunderstorms, flash flood warnings and crazy lightening and is ending at about 89 degrees (but it feels like 100 with the humidity)! This could mean great hot summer nights for tomato growth, but dry caky soil!

What to do? Well, the rain barrel got its first run through and since it’s a gravity fed system (as in, it flows from high to low) there is NO PRESSURE! So, after hitting the books (or surfing the web, whatever), I found that other home gardeners use a soaker hose snaked through the garden and let it slowly water all day. I installed that today and watched it slowly trickle out of the holes (sort of like watching paint dry, don’t you think?) . If any of you are curious I can post a video of this process, but I assure you that if you sit outside and stare at your grass looking for growth it may be more action packed. No Oscars will be made on that video short!

Some lessons learned of the day: plan your layout ahead. I just sort of planted as I went and my garden is very confusing! Next year I need to work on labeling and strategery…

Cheers and happy gardening!

Farmer Ran

p.s. I’ve spotted yellow flowers on my tomatoes — the first sign that the fruit is blooming!

Garden Recipe 1

Well, I decided that as part of my garden project, I would post a recipe for each thing I’m growing! Reader be warned: I do not measure things so well, so use your best judgement!

Tonight’s ingredient(s): Fresh Basil, Onions, Thyme and Oregano

The Mission: Delicious Meatloaf

What you’ll need:

1-2 big chunks of basil leaves, thyme and oregano finely chopped

1/2 Onion (any kind you’ve grown) finely chopped

1 lb ground beef (chicken and turkey works well too)

Ketchup (1/4 cup or a “big squeeze”)

Honey Dijon Mustard (a smaller squeeze than the ketchup)

Dried Spices (onion powder, garlic powder, red pepper flakes) to taste — if you like it hot, add more red pepper… really into garlic? Go crazy!

~ 1 to 1-1/2 cups Bread crumbs enough to get the loaf to a “workable” consistency

~ 1/4 cup Crunchy Fried Onions (like the ones for green bean casserole)

1 egg beaten

2 beef bouillon cubes dissolved in 1 cup hot water

salt and pepper to taste

Optional: add 1 cup of cheddar cheese (I omitted this to cut some fat and didn’t miss it!)

Mix it all up and bake in a loaf pan at 350 oF for 1 to 1-1/4 hours until done!

It’s been so long since I’ve blogged… that I’m eating my garden!

Well, it’s planted. Dread Pirate Roberts is full of delicious fruit and veggies and now I must sit back and see if my thumb is green, black, or some sort of khaki color.

Have I told you about the Crow’s Nest, yet? Well, if I have not, it’s AMAZING. The Crow’s Nest is a local nursery full of flowers, shurbs, veggies, fruit, you name it! Not only did I buy 9 tomato plants, 4 cucumber plants, 4 cantaloupe plants and 4 watermelon plants for only $7 (yes, you read that right), but the red leaf lettuce I bought a few weeks ago that was barely a leaf has turned into a downright monster of delicousness!!! If you live in the Blacksburg or greater SW Virginia area… check them out: www.localharvest.org/farms/M7587

Apparently, I grew scallions? Who knew! I just plucked my “white onions” out of the ground because they had begun to flower (and for other novice farmers like myself: flowering = pull em out) and realized they were not large white onions, but actually large scallions! YUMMY!

Tip of the day: label what you plant! OOOPS…

Anywho, since my last planting (see above) I have added tomato cages and DPR is out of room! I think I plucked some “weeds” which were actually onions, but oh well! SUCH IS LIFE! We have soooooo many vegetables growing — I just hope they bloom (wrong verb?) soon. I’m craving some home grown cherry tomatoes! Well, it’s lettuce for now…

Cheers and Good Eating!

Happy Earth Day!

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

So, I anticipated posting “later today” this weekend, but then with Greg’s injury and other things, well… it didn’t happen. Update on Greg’s finger: no surgery needed! Yay! What an ordeal. I think it’s appropriate that today is Earth Day and we can remember how Greg nearly sliced his finger off in the name of sustainability! (And yes… it is that finger…)

Other news on the “rain barrel” front. I recently learned that the Town of Blacksburg is trying to limit “sewer waste” from your house and will actually DEDUCT water used to water plants/gardens/cars since it does not go into the sewer system! HECK YEAH!

The garden is growing splendidly! Lettuce is blooming, onions are doing whatever they do and the carrots are starting to peek through the ground. Since Bonnie plants were buy one get one free in the completely biodegradable peat pots, I went on a pepper shopping spree! Those are doing great! BUT, I found a HUGE ant pile in the garden. What to do? I didn’t want to use pesticides (kills the “organic” nature of my garden)… so I googled.

Got ants? This did the trick:

1) Boil water

2) Drown the suckers in hot boiling water

3) Immediate follow with a bath of apple cider vinegar

4) Rinse and Repeat

Tragedy and Rain Barrels

Well, we had our first casualty of war: Greg cut his finger badly working on the rain barrel. At first, I thought he was being over dramatic, but 2 hours in the ER later, we discovered that he lacerated his tendon and may need surgery! OY

Bright side? He gets to see Dr. Grey on Monday… yep, you heard me right, Dr. Grey. Let’s hope it’s Meredith because Little Grey has been a little annoying lately

A lot has happened since the last post… lettuce, onions, garlic, and carrots have been planted and the cucumbers are going into ground later today! The compost pile has been started and the rain barrel (albeit a little bloodied in battle) has been cleaned and is almost put together!

Stay tuned for an update later today! I will have pictures and share the lessons learned on composting and barrel battle!

And so it begins…

I thought I would share some “before pictures” so you can follow along as I try to grow this garden!

Here he is… I have decided to name him “Dred Pirate Roberts” because I’ll likely “kill it in the morning!” Teehee… Last August we tilled a section of our lawn (and by we — I mean Greg — the machine we rented was fierce and way beyond my control) and thus Dred Pirate Roberts was born. After the grass was removed, I filled the area with a mix of Miracle Gro Organic Soil and a cow manure/hummus mixture (see below). Luckily, this premade mixture does not smell like cow poop!

This weekend, I’m heading out to a local nursery called The Crow’s Nest to get some seedlings! I’ve also planted my herbs in pots (they will take over a garden like weeds if you’re not careful). The chives which spent the winter frozen started thriving without any care!!! The mint seems to be sprouting from last year’s stock as well!

I’ve used Bonnie Plants (http://www.bonnieplants.com/) for my herbs and they grow amazingly! I swear by those seedlings and love their herb/vegetable food. Also, their website is full of great tidbits, recipes, and guides for growing delcious, hearty plants!

That’s it for now!

OOOOPs… Garden Step 1 = FAIL

Whoops… apparently I was supposed to start my veggies in pots about 2 months ago. Ok, that just means I have to go with Plan B: get seedlings from a local nursery! Luckily, my boyfriend’s dad will be here this weekend and he has the greenest thumb in the history of green thumbs (ok, this may be a slight overstatment, but whatever!) and he will help me get started.

In other news, it’s 80 degrees and sunny here in Bleaksburg which is an amazing shift from the dreary, cold weather we’ve been having! I think it snowed nearly every day this winter!

Great tip of the day: plant early indoors… Lesson learned.