Friday, August 24, 2012

August 24th Garden Haul

Just a really quick post to show off the "haul" from today's trip to the garden.  Well, mostly today.  The yellower lemon cucumber on top and one of the eggplants is from a few days ago, but who's keeping track, really?

Everything except the eggplant is from the community beds- every time we visit we do a once-over to see if there are any items ready to go.  The summer squashes (zucchini and yellow squash here) especially, because as you can see even with us doing a once-over every other day, some of them get a bit bigger than is ideal.  We're sure to grab those (since we're never sure if anyone else is even harvesting from that area), and then I go through and find any tomatoes that are BRIGHT RED.  Even with this, there are places where some of the stuff gets overripe.  I don't think very many other people are picking from the public beds. 

Last night I used the haul from a few days ago (which i failed to photograph in full) to make this casserole.  I used 3 good sized yellow squash plus a zucchini.  I seriously can't wait to make it again- I used a blend of extra sharp cheddar and monterey jack cheese, plus whole-wheat Ritz crackers.  The butter in the recipe does make it a bit less healthy than it could be, but you can easily sub that out for something with a lower fat content and it still tastes AMAZING.  I didn't have any onions so I left those out.  It was still so yummy.  A bitch to clean the pan I used, though- I miss my mom's Corningware casserole dishes.  Those were great for this kind of thing.  When I finally get around to having a wedding I'll have to put those on my registry and hope someone loves me ;)

I'm really out of the habit of taking photos- I need to really try to remember.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Montana Green Bush Bean- Fisher Garden Store

My green beans (the bush ones, anyway) are starting to wind down in productivity and I find myself wishing I had planted a lot more, because these are AMAZING.  I just pan-steam them and put some butter on, and they're just wonderful to eat. They're good raw, but a little steam so that they're tender is just the perfect way to eat them, in my opinion.

The germination rate on the seeds from Fisher's Garden Store was also really good- especially when you compare it to the results I'm getting from the seeds I purchased at Walmart, which are not doing as well.  The Burpee ones are especially bad, but even the Seeds of Change brand are not great- I am sure this has to do in part with the fact that Walmart probably doesn't have the best storage procedures for seeds- but it's still disappointing.  Next year I will get a much earlier start on things to ensure I can mail order anything I'm not buying as seedlings.

In the SFG environment, these beans have been productive for a couple weeks- I think that with more space around the plants they might produce a bit longer, but at this point the bottom leaves are dying off quickly and the blooms are slowing down.  Next year, depending on space, I'd like to do short rows of beans planted in 2 week blocks, but that will depend on location.  If I'm in Pea Pods again, I may just opt for pole beans and hope that they're as good as the Montana Green Bush variety.  My Kentucky Wonder pole beans have not produced yet that I can see- though I've seen blossoms so I suspect they should have some pods for me shortly. 

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Zucchini Season has begun in Great Falls

Yes, that's right.  You've probably already heard all the jokes, about things like people locking their doors during Zucchini season to ensure that no "well-meaning" neighbors leave the abundant fruits inside.  Anyone who has grown too much zucchini knows how well this crop tends to do, and how productive it can be.  My small (late planted) plant has not started to produce yet, but there are "public" beds at Pea Pods, and I've picked four good-sized fruits so far, which I plan to turn into Crispy Zucchini Fries.  The picture above is from a private bed belonging to someone who hasn't really been around much in the garden, so it has gotten a bit over-sized.  I'm waiting to see just how large it'll get in the end.

I'm really enjoying having a garden this year.  When I go for long periods without having a garden, I really forget the thrill of watching things grow, seeing the flowers, the fruits, the progression from seed or transplant to productive plant.  I need to be reminded from time to time just why I am so passionate about Horticulture.  I *adore* growing things.  Maybe I'm not the most devoted and zealous gardener -I tend more toward the lazy side of gardening- but there is nothing that compares to the feeling I get when I am just watching the progression of a garden plot.  It excites me.  Plants are just so incredibly amazing!

Above is the most recent picture of my bed- you can see some empty spots.  Some of them have been replanted already, some are blank, and some are waiting to be pulled out.  The peas are probably going to come out fairly soon- they never really got going.  Around August 15th or so I will replant the peas, hopefully to get a fall harvest.  My "Watermelon" radishes are probably going to be pulled out completely soon, that block replanted to lettuce (because it's fairly shaded from the "Big Beef" tomato that is growing like CRAZY beside it), and the radishes replanted where I pulled up my bolting spinach in hopes that I can get a fall crop if I space them more.

In the "rear" of the bed you can see my corn, which is interplanted with pole beans and squash.  I am still not sure how this is going to turn out, but I'm hoping the '3 sisters' experiment will work out in the end.  If not.. I will try something different next year.  I am a perfectionist, and I am trying very hard to learn not to be.  I think vegetable gardening is helpful in that respect because really- you can't go in expecting an exact, perfect result.  The plants will surprise you.


Sunday, July 15, 2012

Harvest is Happening

Obviously for some people, this may seem like a late start, but since our growing season is fairly short here and I (it turns out wisely) waited till the beginning of June to put much of anything in the garden, it's probably not surprising that I'm only just *now* starting to harvest things, a month after some of my more favorably located friends have been harvesting summer squashes.




This is from last week- some spinach and a radish.  I had previously harvested ~10 radishes, but a few were not quite ready to pick so left them in.  I've also been blessed to share in some lettuce and pea harvests from friends at the community garden, since my lettuce and peas have been beset by the fanged menace, bunny rabbits.


There's a "full" view of my garden bed, and you can sort of see the type of setup we have going here at Pea Pods.  It's quite nice, 10'x4' bed in all, and I've packed quite a bit in there.  Unfortunately the VERY hot weather has caused my spinach to bolt (well, my first planting, anyway), rabbits have beset the peas and lettuce, and I made a planning mistake in putting my peppers between the tomatoes and eggplants.  However, these are the things that make gardening a learning process, and one must learn to "let it go" in the garden.

This week I look forward to harvesting some summer squash from the community beds- I peeked at them today and see that there are a few fruits growing that should be ready.  I should also have tomatoes in the next week or two.  Exciting!

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Fisher's Seeds: A Montana Seed Company

One of the things I was fortunate to find earlier this year was Fisher's Seed Company, which is a gardening store/seed company that operates out of Montana.  While they do not produce *all* their own seeds, they do specialize in varieties that do well in the mountains.  They don't have a website, and everything is done through the mail.  I am very happy so far with everything I've ordered from there, which includes:
  • 'Montana Gold' Cantaloupe
  • 'Bloomsdale Long Standing' Spinach
  • 'Vegetable Spaghetti' Squash
  • 'Fisher's Earliest' Sweet Corn
  • 'Dwarf Gray Sugar Snow' Peas
  • 'Montana Green' Bush Bean
  • 'Mammoth Russian' Sunflower
  • 'Jackpot Hybrid' Zucchini
  • 'Prairie Fire' Tomato
  • 'Dwarf Blue Curled' Kale
  • 'Green Goliath' Broccoli
  • 'Lemon' Cucumber
To get a Fisher’s Seeds catalog, send a check or money order for $2 to Fisher’s Seeds, P.O. Box 236, Belgrade, MT 59714 (406-388-6052).

If you send for a catalog this year, you'll be on the mailing list to get a free catalog next January.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

New Home, New Garden, New Start

Well, a lot has passed since I last updated- I had a decent harvest from the SFG, but also had some disappointments. My cucurbits (melons, squash, etc) ended up getting a really bad case of powdery mildew. My rainbow carrot blend turned out amazing- I want to grow that again. The corn didn't pollinate completely (I think maybe it was just too crowded). Then no garden the following year and...

I've moved. To Montana. I won't go into too many details- it was actually kind of a traumatic time for me, but now I'm here in Great Falls and this summer I'm going to have another garden, this time at the local community garden, Pea Pods. It isn't set in stone quite yet but I foresee no problems getting a 10' x 4' SFG plot and I've already started tomato and eggplant seedlings. Thanks to Sprout Robot, I have a pretty decent planting schedule and at some point I'll try to do a quick tutorial on how I've done the plantings.

I've got a Pinterest Board set up for my gardening stuff, so if you want to see what's inspiring me you can peek at it.

Of course my copy of All New Square Foot Gardening is in storage with a lot of my other stuff since I moved, but luckily the local library has a copy that I was able to check out today. I should be able to get most of the planning done before I have to return it, but I can always renew if need be.

Anyway, I know it has been a long while since I've posted, and hopefully I'll be able to keep the blog going for the full season this time around!