PLANTED GARDEN TODAY - anybody planting yet?

[Jen4]

Math Ace - I had my 1st fresh beet last year too! We planted around 2795 (give or take acouple) seeds today! I can them too

 

[math ace]

I wish I had time to can. My job just keeps me so busy. I plan on working somewhere else next year - - -so maybe then I will get a chance to do some canning.

 

[LarryPQ]

This last weekend I pulled out the entire batch of "old" carrots. That patch had been carrots 2 years running, so it needs a break. I uncovered the "chicken poo pit", which was right next to the carrot patch. Dug them both out, and mixed them up. I recovered the WHOLE area, and *gasp* did not plant anything. I am so proud of my restriant. I will need to add a bunch of sand--I am not a fan of the hairy carrot.

Ok- I DID put two started melon plants in the middle of the "cooking" area, I hope the melon plants vine enough to "shade" the whole lot. Usually I have terrible luck with watermelons--in this heat only muskmelons and Asian melons survive the summer. Still, a girl can dream!

 

[HerbiLady]

Quote:
I LOVE fresh beets. I had my first fresh beets last year - - - now I plant them every chance I get. I hear the leaves are better than the beets - - but I just didn't have time to try them out this year. I just pulled up the last of my beets.

STRAWBERRIES - - - I have some planted but no fruit. I don't think I am doing something right with them. They aren't dying or looking ill - - they just aren't producing.

There's an heirloom type of beet that you can grow mainly for the greens, although they also do make beet roots but the leaves are absolutely beautiful as well and are really tasty as greens...they're called Bull's Blood Beets and are really easy to find anyplace online. When mine grow a little more I'll take a photo of them for you

 

[HerbiLady]

Quote:
I work full time too (well, 35 hours a week and I. HATE. IT.) and I have a great trick for putting up tomato and spaghetti sauce that is super easy and fast!

I use the plum or paste tomatoes...oblong, kwim? OK...so get a mess of them, enough that when you cut them in half and stand them up on their cut ends they'll fill a 9 x 13 glass baking pan.

Wash, then cut them in half and stand them up on the flat cut ends, touching, in the pan. Pack 'em in there! Then take a few (or as many as you want!) peeled garlic cloves and tuck them in the spaces between the tomatoes and also take fresh basil and oregano sprigs and tuck them in. Drizzle with about 1/4 cup of olive oil (this is a matter of taste and trial and error) and sprinkle with coarse sea salt or kosher salt and pepper. Put them in a 400 degree oven for about an hour.

When they're roasted (they'll be wrinkly and all that) take them out and let them cool. when they're cool enough you can just pinch them out of their skins. Then strip the herbs off their stems, crush up the garlic, mush the tomatoes up if you want (I do all this with my hands right in the pan) and put them in freezer containers.

I'll leave out the herbs and garlic if I just want a good plain tomato sauce. The only down side is that you're going to have seeds but for me, that's not an issue. I always make spaghetti meat sauce with it and I don't notice them. The seeds don't bug me. It's super fast and sooo easy! I love the deeper flavor I get from them by roasting that way too and it makes an awesome pasta sauce!

Oh, and feed the skins to your chickens

But SAVE SOME for your pot bellied kid

Mine loves them!

 

[Jen4]

HerbiLady - We planted Chicago Red Hybrid and Tall Top Early Wonder Beets, trying em out this year.

* yep my chickens get my tomato tops/skins all summer long, I even put em in gallon freezer bags or ice cream buckets and freeze to give them treats in the winter

 

[HerbiLady]

Quote:
That's a really good idea...how come I never think of the easy, simple COOL stuff like that?

I didn't have chickens last year and after awhile, I started feeling bad for dumping out so much tomato skins for Bubby (pot bellied kid in my avatar!) so I just tossed them out...I didn't compost because of the oil. Bubby gets plenty of interesting food all year long (most everything but pork!) but now he's got the chickens for competition so I'll probably not have much to freeze and save for winter. I plan to try to grow some Kale through most of winter under a tunnel for the chickens or visit the cheap veggie and fruit clearance rack at Meijer. Lots of stuff that I might not want to eat but the chickens would be fine with it

I try to grow a lot of open pollinated/heirloom veggies so that's why I chose the Bull's Blood Beets for greens but the dark red leaves are so pretty, they even look nice in a flower bed.

I've not had a lot of luck in my soil with beets...they don't like to germinate well for me and they grow really slow. I started the Bull's Blood indoors and transplanted out this year since I'm not growing them for the beetroot anyway and they're doing OK.

 

[Jen4]

We planted more beets today, sweet corn, squash (butternut, summer, spaghetti), zucchini, eggplant, carrots, green beans, yellow beans, herbs, cucumbers (pickling, straight), lettuces...

 

[vfem]

That is awesome Jen... you know how HUGE your garden is going to be this year? I mean Square feet wise?

I know you are super busy, but have you thought about joining the community garden thread here and on The Easy Garden I started? I need to update it on my blog, but I'm getting there slowly

Basically we are tracking costs, garden size and the amount of food (in weight and cost) we get out of our HOME gardens. Its not about making profit, but seeing what we are saving in money and health from the grocery store. I'm thinking of writing of a small book about the group putting together these numbers from all over the country. I then want to interview everyone, get their sheets about their garden and put it all together!

Here's the thread here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=310050

Here's the thread on TEG:
http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=27660

I think everyone here should really join!

I do love gardening, and even if I lose money... I wouldn't stop! However, I'm hoping this information will motivate more people to try and start. I've heard people tell me its TOO expensive and a lot of work for what they get out of it. I've helped them to change their mind and attitude, and now I want to do that on a grand scale!!!!!!

Thinking of taking the master gardener classes at the extension office in my county!

Anyone want to win my blog's garden giveaway? I'm giving away some gardening water stakes.... you use old 2 liter bottle full of water and stick these babies into your garden. great for when you are going to be away a few days. Shipping is on me, and I pay contest machine to keep people's information private. Everyone who wants to is qualifies. 1 Entry per email address:

http://fromseed.blogspot.com/2010/04/giveaway-garden-watering-spikes.html

 

[Jen4]

vfem - Thank Ya... I sure am feeling all that planin today!

I'll check your stuff out. I really dont know how much we have spent, dh might know. But I do know that by having our gardens it helps us sooooo much, we get to eat things all year long that we dont really have the money to buy and I plan our meals around what I have here. I love it. Also we know where our food comes from, whats in it and we eat so much healthier

I think everyone that could should grow some kind of garden. Yes its alot of hard work but sooooooo worth it. I love it, even when my body cant move, lol. I love looking at all my canned and frozen foods when harvest time is over and thinking WOW we grew all this!

Heres the sizes of our gardens... people have asked me why we grow so much and what so we do with it all... Well theres 6 of us in the family, so we need to grow alot if I'm gonna can/freeze for us. Plus we share with anyone who comes over... we tell em to go pick whatever they want we have plenty

Beet garden is 40 x 27, Big garden is 72 x 70, Corn patch is 27 x 15, Strawberry patch is 11 x 5 (we are gonna add onto it this year), then theres another small garden for Indian corn, cantaloupe and water melon 11 x 5