Really Beginning to Reap What We Sow

We were away for a long weekend... Wednesday through Sunday at Marshall and Leslie's house in Atlanta, GA.  Rouse the Spouse and and his dad, Noah, attended the Hinman Dental Convention.  Wow, things do change quickly this time of year!

The asparagus spears are shooting up.  The beets and sugar snaps are growing nicely.  The radishes need a good thinning, which I accomplished this afternoon.  Noah, my father-in-law, gave me some brussel sprouts.  I planted them midst the new cabbage plants in the cruciferous bed.

The turnips have bolted beyond hope.  Today, I trimmed off the mini flower heads.  I'll toss them into a stir fry.  I tossed the rest of the plants into the chicken yard.  I sowed kale seeds in their place.

I cut the largest of the autumn kale and mustard greens and will cook them tomorrow.

The spinach needs to be cut this week.  What will it be?  Cream of spinach soup?  Spinach souffle?  Or maybe just some straight-up spinach wilted in the pan?

I harvested 2 heads of cabbage this afternoon - my first full-sized heads of cabbage ever!  These plants survived the winter and headed up very nicely.  I sliced up one head and cooked it with potatoes and carrots in some homemade vegetable broth.

The cabbage was noticeably fresh. It almost looked like a head of lettuce - very green and moist. Served with a side of sausage patties from (local) Winfield Farms, it made for a delicious supper.

Buy a Cock and Pullet

Good advice!  We need a Dominique rooster to watch over the flock and to contribute to the continuation of the  (very) local species.  Country Farm and Home Supply, our local feed and seed store,  has babies available.  This afternoon, I bought a one-week old Dominique cock - plus a pullet to keep him company!

Cock = An adult male chicken; a rooster.
Pullet = A young domestic hen, usually less than one year old.

The Green Scene

The autumn greens are showing their age.  We've been eating baby spinach, lettuce, kale, etc throughout the winter.  Now the leaves are getting some size on them.  It'll be nice not to have to cut so many leaves to fill the pot!  The arugula is bolting like mad.  This must be related to the length of day, as the daytime temps haven't been all that warm yet.  The turnip greens are starting to bolt as well.  The flower heads look like miniature broccoli.  We'll eat them stir-fried with the greens.

The mesclin mix wintered over remarkably well.  Much of the black seeded lettuce survived the season, too, but its leaves are just a tad bitter.  I'm expecting the new growth to be deliciously sweet, but we'll have to see.  In the meantime, I planted more arugula, more black seeded lettuce, and more spinach this afternoon.  It's impossible to have too many spring greens!

I'm excited about getting my first full-sized cabbages.  They were planted in the fall, survived the winter, and are thriving.  The cabbage heads are increasing in size and are solid and beautiful.  No bugs to ruin them this time of year. 

I planted Black Krim heirloom tomato seeds last Sunday in little peat pots, and some sweet basil today.  I'm really looking forward to a homegrown tomato and some fresh pesto... the tastes of summer!

Reinforcement for Obsessive Behavior

Anticipation runs high once the garden is in, the sun is shining, and the rain is falling.  I feel compelled to check the garden daily to see if anything is growing yet.  Crazy, right?  But guess what... those radishes I planted on Wednesday?  They've already popped through the dirt!

Bad Chickens!

I happened to look out the window as I posted that last entry and saw two of my hens IN THE GARDEN SPACE! I threw on Rouse's raincoat (it was handy) and flew out there to chase them out. They had already done some serious nibbling on my baby broccoli plants. They may be happy chickens... but right now they're bad chickens in my book!

Andrew is Good Company in the Garden

Andrew is on spring break this week and arrived home from Asheville this afternoon.  It was nice to have company in the garden while I did my chores.  It was a gray afternoon, with little spits and spats of rain here and there while we worked and chatted.

He and I sowed four 12' rows of Detroit Dark Red Beets.  This is a popular variety, and one that I planted last year.  The roots are extremely sweet and perfectly round, measuring 3" across, with deep red skin and dark red flesh.  With color that intense you know they've got to be good for you!

When I first began dreaming and making plans for the garden I knew I wanted to grow beets because I love eating the roots.  But after enjoying a successful crop last year I realized that I would grow beets for the tops alone!  Beet roots boast folacin, vitamin C and fiber, but the real nutritional treasure lies in the green tops: they're packed with beta carotene, calcium and iron.  As the plants grow, I gradually thin them out, using the baby greens in fresh salads or tossed into a stir fry or pot of soup.  As the beet tops get larger and the plants are properly spaced, I pick the greens for cooking.  It's OK to cut up to 1/3 of the foliage from a beet plant at any time to use as salad or cooked greens without jeopardizing the development of the underground root.  My mouth is watering in anticipation of roasted beets, Harvard beets, pickled beets, beet salad....  maybe even something crazy like beet mousse!  Will keep you posted on that.  Expected maturation time is 59 days.

I put 16 Premium Crop Broccoli plants in the ground.  They should produce nice, broad heads, 8" across.  Expected maturation time is 58 - 65 days.  I added 4 Stonehead Cabbage plants to the four plants that wintered over.  This variety produces nearly round, blue-green heads that mature in 50 - 70 days.

I'll be sowing new patches of greens as the fall crop is spent.  Other than that, the spring garden is in.  All but one bed - the new one Rouse just built - is filled up!
It started to sprinkle in earnest just as I finished the planting.  I let the hens out into the yard while Andrew collected 8 eggs.  Tonight we'll eat Happy Chicken Egg quiche loaded with fresh-cut spinach from the garden with mushrooms and cheese from the Chatham Marketplace.

Garden Activity Picking Up!

So much to get done in the garden!  Rain was predicted for today and I had students scheduled, starting at 11:00am throughout the afternoon, so I got an early start.  I ate breakfast with Rouse the Spouse - a lush bowlful of cooked oats loaded with peanut butter, slivered almonds, and blueberries with a hint of brown sugar - and headed out to the garden after he left for the office.  It was already sprinkling, but I was serious about getting my garden chores completed this morning.  I put on my raincoat!  The sprinkles came and went, never really interfering with the task at hand.

First, the snap peas.  I'm way late compared to last year.  According to my records, in 2009 I planted the sugar snaps on February 7!  I could've had them in the ground this year a couple of weekends ago, but I was waiting for back-ordered Sugar Ann Snap Pea seeds.  Turns out they arrived in the mail on Monday.  I counted out the number I needed to plant and got them soaking in water on Tuesday.  They plumped up nicely within 24 hours and, as of this morning, are tucked into the ground in two neat rows.

Next, the potatoes. I worked up a sweat making two "lazy beds"!  The lazy part comes later, when the potatoes are ready to be harvested. Each raised bed contains three rows of potates. I placed the seed potato chunks (sectioned and drying since Friday morning), cut side down, about 4" apart, pressing them firmly into the soil. I then covered them with a thick layer of leaf mulch. One bed is full of Purple Vikings, the other consists of one-third Red Pontiacs and two-thirds Yukon Golds.

The beauty of the lazy bed is that potatoes don't have to be "dug" out of the earth.  The tubers form very shallowly in the surface layer of soil under the thick layer of mulch.  Young potatoes should be ready to eat in 8 weeks.

Yippee!  The first row of radishes are up!  Since the entire row of radishes will mature together, I planted a second row to extend the radish harvest.

Asparagus is in the Ground!

I've been away for the weekend ... a little beach "get away" with the girls.  Long walks in the salty air, good food, lots of laughs, plenty of time for projects and books, plus company that can't be beat.  Look at these gorgeous girls!  What would I do without my women friends?

And what a gorgeous weekend it was... at the beach AND in Pittsboro.  It was the perfect weekend to get into the garden.  As luck would have it, my seed potatoes and asparagus plants arrived in Thursday's mail.  I left for the beach late Friday morning.  So before I left, I took time to cut the seed potatoes into sections, making sure each piece had at least one or two eyes and giving them time to air dry at room temperature for several days (two to four days is recommended) in preparation for planting upon my return.

The asparagus was another matter.  The bed was ready.  The plants were ready.  Rouse the Spouse stepped up to the plate and did the dirty work while I was away.  I had purchased 2-year crowns, hoping for a little head start on this long-term project.

The three varieties - 10 plants each of Mary Washington Improved, Jersey Knight Hybrid, and Jersey King Hybrid - came with nice long roots.  As instructed, Rouse prepared trenches, 8 inches deep.  He spread the crowns over the dirt and covered them with 2 inches of soil.  This spring we are to gradually fill each trench with soil as the plants grow.  The directions say if planting in the fall, fill the trench in completely.  What's the difference?  Enquiring minds want to know!