As is my usual custom on sunny days I went out and looked at the garden. Though I don't want to disturb muddy soil, I am considering shoveling the raised bed box and an area to start the spring crops....
and also the asparagus bed.-
Yes, I have a patience problem! (I said that even before you got the accusatory thought through you head.)
We're also planning on what to plant. I want to focus this year on things that can be preserved easily into the winter. Such as root vegetables and items that can be canned: such as beans, tomatoes products and pickle worthy products. I suddenly hear these peoples voices-
 |
| Portlandia episode: We Can Pickle That |
I am happy to share that I am STILL cooking with tomatoes from last years garden. It is extra work at the time but has been worth it to have those summer garden tomatoes for meals throughout the winter (I use mine instead of store bought canned crushed tomatoes and also to make tomato soup).
I am still working on perfecting my sweet potato growing operation here in the north east. It is very doable, Victory Garden does it all the time.... maybe it's that regal sounding intro music they like. Sweet potatoes like warm soil (typically about 120 days of warm soil) so I attempt to speed up the soil warming by mounding up the dirt and covering it with a black tarp in the beginning of the season. Tarp has to be taken up shortly after vines are in so they can put down additional roots.
Short season varieties have done best for me. The past few years I have been planting this lovely heirloom variety that was graciously shared with me by the Seaton family in Tennessee. These potatoes have been passed down through many generations in their family. They yield huge tubers and LOTS of vines and greenery (did you know that sweet potato leaves are edible).
My kids like digging for them, it's like an easter egg hunt. We even enrolled a friend.
The Seaton's heirloom variety is different from what you find in the stores and, do I even need to say it, taste much better. There's a lot of special things about an plant variety passed down through the years; specifically the history and the care it takes to keep it going. Makes them more special to me. I think I will name them the Seaton Sweets. :) I was able to grow some slips (seedlings grown from a tuber) from last year's crop, I hope they will make it to planting season.
I promised last summer I would make a post about biochar, what it is and how to make it. This is one of Jonathan's things he is proud of. He claims it is why we get such good tomatoes, maybe he is right. I will try and make a post on that still.
A few other notes from last year's garden.
Little man is looking forward to picking off potato bug larvas this year, well at least give them a guilty stare.... if only looks could kill.
Little lady will enjoy playing in the dirt again I am sure.
Looking forward to seeing more pigtails, BOTH kinds-
I'm also looking forward to doing more pickling and food preserving experiments. Lime pickles, an old recipe from my grandma (who I miss), was a hit this year.
One of Jonathan's friends gave me a quick lesson on how his grandmother cans tomato/pasta sauce, the way they did in the Old Country. Old Country is Italy for those not sure, old country to me is something sung by Waylon Jennings or David Allan Coe. Oh, the things I am learning.
Enough daydreaming for now, I am getting both tired and excited just thinking of it all.
No comments:
Post a Comment