Spring Garden

I finished planting my spring garden last week. Back in January, while the weather was still cool, I planted a few things (carrots, peppers, tomatoes, lettuce) and then the weather started getting warmer so I planted some more (zucchini, squash, cucumbers, more tomatoes and peppers).   I still have a lot of questions, but I'm learning a lot about gardening.  Every season my garden does better, but I wish I could figure out how to get more.  For example, my peas grew tall, but I only got enough peas to snack on every few days.  I've never had enough tomatoes to can or beans to can.  My next step is to figure out how to make my plants produce more. 

Garden Update

I am pleased at how well my garden has been doing this season.  I've gotten several green peppers, some cucumbers, a pumpkin, radishes, beans, some herbs, and a few carrots.

We had a couple of nights of frost and I covered my plants, but the frost still got through and killed my bean plants, tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers.  Thankfully everything else is doing well. 

Corbin found one teeny-tiny pumpkin on the plant after the frost killed the vine.  He picked it and carved a mini-pumpkin.



Fall Garden 2011

I began planting my fall garden today.  I started by mixing compost into my boxes.  I had to use store bought because my compost wasn't ready yet.  (I haven't been good about mixing it.)  Next I added new twine to make my square foot boxes.  Then I had to make a plan of what I wanted where.  That is a hard part for me.  I don't know the best places for plants and what should be grown close to what.  Sometimes when things are full grown I wish I'd planted them differently (like too many tomato plants too close together isn't good) but I can never think about that stuff when I'm planning.  Then I planted what was ready to plant for now.  I planted broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes (just to try--I think I actually need to wait until December), beans (even though I should have planted them last month), some herbs, cabbage, and carrots.  And I had some pepper plants left over that I'm going to leave in to see how they do and a huge basil plant.  I also planted some pumpkin seeds last month, but they probably got in too late.  I have to wait until October to plant the rest of it--it's still too hot. 

I had some good helpers out there with me, too.  Corbin and Dyllan helped with the compost and the twine and Corbin and Ephram helped with the planting.  Faythe helped a little by spraying the bugs.  Braedi tried, but said it was too hot, so she played inside with Faythe. 

I love the way my garden looks right after I plant--so neat.

Zucchini Cake

After my recent post about so much zucchini my grandma Garrett came to my rescue with some yummy recipes.  We decided to make one for cooking class. 

Spicy Pineapple Zucchini Cake
3 eggs
1 c. oil (I used 1/2 c. oil and 1/2 c. applesauce)
2 c. sugar (I used 1 c. sugar)
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. chopped zucchini
1 c. crushed, drained pineapple
3 c. flour
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 c. chopped nuts (I omitted)
1 c. currants or raisins
Beat together eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla until thick and foamy.  Fold in zucchini and pineapple.  Combine dry ingredients, and stir into mixture.  Add nuts and raisins.  Pu in 2 greased and floured loaf tins.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  (I used a 9x13 cake pan and decreased the time to 30 minutes.)

Because we already had a treat for Ephram's birthday, we took the cake to my parent's house before going to the train park and shared it with everyone there.  I added a cream cheese frosting to the cake which was a bad idea.  It should have been left plain. 

Another Garden Update

My garden is looking so good. And I think the trick is that I am giving it enough water. My mother in law taught me that I should be giving each square about a 12 second spray of water. It takes me a long time to water each day, but it is worth it to see all the green leaves and to have yummy tomatoes, squash and zucchini. I'm still waiting for carrots, beans, and melons. Yeah! A successful season of gardening.

Garden Update

The kids and I spent the afternoon working in the garden. We picked weeds, cleaned up the yard around the garden and even picked some radishes. The kids as excited as to be able to pick produce from our garden. There are a few things I like about gardening. I love how neat the beds look right after planting. I love when things start sprouting (especially beans). And I love when things start producing. The radishes are a little spicy, but they'll be good in a salad or a salsa. I can't wait for tomatoes and beans!

Spring Garden

I finally got my garden planted. According to my info from UofA I'm a little late, but hopefully it will be OK.

We have a compost tumbler in our back yard and are daily putting fruit and veggie remains into it. Last season I made a horribly expensive "sieve" for it. (I can't think of what to call it, but it's basically a frame with chicken wire stapled to the bottom of it to let all the small stuff through so the big stuff can go back in a finish decomposing. It was horribly expensive because of how I bought the wood--too long of a story and too embarrassing.) This is a picture from the fall of 2010, but it's just to give you an idea of what it looks like.
This time around the compost was a little more "composted" so I was able to just scoop stuff out with my trowel and put compost in each individual square. Then I planted seeds and plants. I'm always optimistic, and hope that "this time" my garden will be successful. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother, but one of these times I have to do something right. Besides I know there will be a time when will live off what we plant. It's better for me to figure it out now than later. I planted beans, cucumbers, peas, tomatoes, peppers, yellow and green squash, watermelon and cantaloupe, carrots, radishes, flowers and some herbs. I even planted something that I've never planted before--lavender. I loved how it smelled and I'm excited for it. Cross your fingers and wish me luck!