Yukon Gold Potatoes

 Purchased from: Fisher Garden Store for $9.95/10 premium seed potatoes
Type: Potato

I was starting to get a bit antsy about whether or not my order had gone through at Fisher's Garden store, but I was happy to see this came in the mail yesterday!  They *did* say they'd mail when it was time to plant, so I guess that means this weekend I need to get down to the community garden and plant these.  Because I've realized that Yukon Gold is apparently not a good variety to use for the
"Potato tower" method, I am instead planting these in one of the Pea Pods community beds.

 The seed potatoes themselves were packed nicely in a paper bag, labelled with contents.  They smell earthy- which isn't surprising, but is a bit of a change from all my 'sterile' seed packets.  Underneath the bag was a pamphlet put out by MSU Cooperative extension that detailed potato illnesses in Montana and ways to keep things like Potato Late Blight from becoming a big issue.  I know if we get hit with Late Blight in the community garden, we're going to really be suffering because it WILL jump to other Nightshades like Tomatoes.

 The pamphlet also emphasized sourcing potatoes from within Montana, which I'm more than happy to do in the first place.  I don't know if there are strict regulations because I didn't dive into it that closely, but I do know that Gurney's won't ship seed potatoes to Montana.  Another nice thing was a little rundown of how to plant potatoes, which I didn't really need, but is definitely nice for a beginner who might not be super comfortable with searching around on the internet.  We all know I am, though, so that's a moot point as well.

Curious as to what the seed potatoes actually looked like?  Well, they look just like small potatoes!  They're meant to be planted whole according to Fisher, but their catalog said that you can cut them in half, you just have to let them cure for a day or two before planting.  Since I only have a 4x4 area to plant them in, I'm going to just plant em whole.  I'm not entirely sure how much of the harvest I'll get my hands on, since they're going in a community-run bed and I'm just going to "adopt" the care of it, but you know what?  As long as I get to taste a few, I think I'll be fine :)

As usual, the experience with Fisher's was great- they always include a quick little hand-written thank-you in the  order, and everything is prompt once it's actually shipped, and I just overall feel really good about supporting a local business, especially one that actually bothers to stock items that are meant for growing here.  I think that's really important, and a little later on I'll be featuring a nursery I know from New York that specializes in cold-hardy fruit trees.  Exciting!

click here to learn about my experience with Fisher's Garden Store and to learn how to get a catalog of your own.

Seedling Progress

I'm not sure if it's apparent here, but the tomatoes are pretty much shot.  I don't know what happened- they look dried out, but given that I watered everything well I'm not sure what the issue is.  The mass of green you see is cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower.

I need to harden these off and get them into the ground under the frost blankets, but I'm procrastinating pretty hardcore because it's such a pain to get into the closet where I'm growing them, and my back is still bothering me.  I do know better- it's not really that smart to spend time procrastinating when it comes to gardening stuff, but I suppose a couple more days before I can get them planted won't hurt me *too* much.

I didn't get to the garden today like I had planned, because I'm just too sore- I am doing core strength exercises and stretching to try and get my back in working order, but we'll see how that works.  Yesterday I went through all my seed packets and marked the square foot spacing on them.  At least I'm feeling semi-productive!

Mammoth Russian Sunflower

Purchased from:  Fisher's Garden Store for $2.50
Type: Sunflower
Growth: TALL

This package of seeds did not even get opened last year- I just did not have a place to grow sunflowers.  This year, though, I do.  Right outside our kitchen door, where there were hollyhocks last year.  The area gets plenty of sun.  Hollyhocks are coming out, sunflowers are going in!

I love sunflowers, though I haven't grown any myself in ages.  At least, none that I got to look at- the ones I grew in Rochester got ripped out before I got back from visiting my fiance one fall.  I have some video of one of the many fields of sunflowers that we ran across when we drove from NY to MT, but it's not very clear, so I'm probably not going to share it on the blog.  I just think Sunflowers are so COOL, though!  Don't you?  The seeds are a bonus, though it's always a race to get to them before birds do.  The coolest thing about sunflowers is that they're an aggregate of many tiny flowers.  Each of those little pokey bits in the middle?  A whole flower in and of itself!  The petals on the outside?  Modified aesexual flowers!  HOW COOL IS THAT?!

Okay, enough nerding out.  I hope these get as big as the package says, because I love tall things.

click here to learn about my experience with Fisher's Garden Store and to learn how to get a catalog of your own.

Montana Green Bean

Purchased from: Fisher's Garden Store for $3.60
Type: Green Bean
Growth: Bush

This, unlike the past few posts, was one of my great successes from last year, and I've talked about it previously.  Seriously.  This green bean is going to be a yearly addition to my garden because it is amazing- and it's really well-suited to Montana, though I imagine, of course, it will do well elsewhere, too.  Homegrown green beans are amazing anyway, but I really enjoy this variety and it was easy to grow and surprisingly productive even after I had determined the plants must be 'on their way out.'  The darned things produced all season!  And I only planted two blocks- I think I could have been happy with an entire bed full of these wonderful beans.  This year I'm definitely planting more.

Beans do pretty well in square foot gardening, but I will say that the bush type do have a bit of an issue with crowding.  This did not seem to affect my harvest at all, but it did make me think that the plants were on their way out when they were still quite productive- which is why I'm glad I did not just rip them up like I initially planned.  If this is something you worry about, you could do only 4 plants per square foot instead of 9- but if you don't care how it looks and you are willing to maul the plants a bit to get to the good stuff, don't sweat it.

These were a perfect example of why Square Foot Gardening is really only suited for small levels of production, though.  It was way harder to get in there and pick the beans than it ever was when I picked beans from my grandfather's rows.

click here to learn about my experience with Fisher's Garden Store and to learn how to get a catalog of your own. 

Lemon Cucumber

Purchased from:  Fisher's Garden Store for $2.25
Type: Cucumber
Growth: Vining

This is another leftover from last year that I didn't have much luck with, mostly because I think my cucumbers ended up being shaded out and were never able to get going.  I'm going to plant some at the house this year as well as at the garden, so hopefully between those two places I will have at least one area that gets enough sun to produce.  There were some of these cucumbers planted in one of the public beds, so it wasn't a complete disaster- that was a pleasant surprise!

"Lemon" cucumbers are called such not because they taste like lemon, but because of their shape and color, which is small, round, and yellow.  They taste just like a regular, mild cucumber- but the shape makes them more fun because the slices are bigger, so if you wanted to do sandwiches or something they could be larger, etc.

I love cucumbers just raw and sliced with a little bit of italian salad dressing.  Sadly, my stomach doesn't love me as much for eating them this way, but if I moderate that, it should be OK.  I'm looking forward to having some of my own homegrown cucumbers this summer to eat raw and possibly make fridge pickles with.

click here to learn about my experience with Fisher's Garden Store and to learn how to get a catalog of your own. 

Jackpot Hybrid Zucchini

Purchased from: Fisher's Garden Store for $2.95
Type: Summer Squash
Growth: Bush

All jokes about locking your doors during zucchini season aside, I love this stuff.  I still have some shredded and frozen from last season, and I didn't even grow my own!  As such, I'm only going to be growing a single bush, but that's going to take up a good chunk of one of my beds, so one is more than enough.

Zucchini (and summer squash in general) is one of those things that I do enjoy eating, but I grow mostly because it is satisfying.  There's not really a way to screw up here- except maybe planting too late, like I did last year.  But in general, summer squash will take off on its own and before you know it, you're having to dive in every day to harvest the fruits before they get too big to eat, and even then you're going to miss one and the next thing you know you have a giant 3-foot zucchini and after you pick that sucker you do like 5 loaves of zucchini bread because despite the name, the main ingredient isn't zucchini, so you always have leftover.

Not that I'm speaking from experience, or anything.  *shifty eyes*

click here to learn about my experience with Fisher's Garden Store and to learn how to get a catalog of your own. 

Green Goliath Broccoli

Purchased From: Fisher's Garden Store for $2.65
Type: Broccoli

Broccoli is my favorite vegetable, and it's also one that I've had no success whatsoever actually getting to grow.  I think I have a block from childhood, because my mother declared that we wouldn't grow it in our garden because it was "difficult."  I've had to overcome a few of those types of things, mostly related to crafts rather than gardening, but I'm determined to someday get broccoli to actually grow.  Maybe this year will be the one?

There's always lots of talk on the broccoli packet about getting a second crop, but I don't really know if we have the kind of weather to allow for that- brassicas in general (broccoli being no exception) enjoy it a bit cooler, and the hot hot summer weather that we get here can be a bit of a downer.  Since our spring and fall aren't really mild and long, that puts another damper on things.  We're one of those climates that people describe as "Almost winter, winter, still winter, and construction."

I have these started in my seed flat, though they're not germinating very quickly.  Hopefully they'll be ready to go by time I get the early plantings in, though!

click here to learn about my experience with Fisher's Garden Store and to learn how to get a catalog of your own. 

Fisher's Earliest Sweet Corn

Purchased From: Fisher's Garden Store for $6.50
Type: Sweet Corn

Yet another leftover from last year.  The thing about Square Foot Gardening?  You don't use nearly the entire package of seeds, and if you don't have a ton of people to share with, you are definitely going to have overlap.  The good news there is that you can usually get 2-3 years out of a packet of seeds.  Each year will have a lower germination rate, as the seeds become less viable, but you generally get a good rate for a couple years in my experience.  The only important thing to do is to keep the seeds someplace dry, cool, and dark.  I've even seen people keep seeds in their own freezer!  Definitely make sure that the packets and seeds themselves are completely dry if you do this though- and put them in an airtight container that won't let any moisture in.  Your mileage may vary with that method, but it can extend viability for some things.

I did not have a lot of luck with this one last year- I think it got a bit of a late start, and it started to form ears when the corn plants were kind of stunted.  I think this may have been due to my attempt at three sisters- this year I won't be doing that.  Just corn.  And I'm going to see if starting earlier under a row cover helps at all.

In general, Corn isn't terribly well-suited to square foot gardening, but I know it's possible to do, since there were a couple people last year who had a decent fruiting.  Since corn is wind-pollinated, it can also be a bit of a hassle when you have so much growing close together to get full pollination.  A vigorous shaking of each plant when the tassles at the top of the plant have formed and silks are starting to peek out of the immature ears can be really helpful for that.

click here to learn about my experience with Fisher's Garden Store and to learn how to get a catalog of your own. 

Dwarf Gray Sugar Snow Peas

Purchased From: Fisher's Garden Store for $2.60
Type: Snow Pea
Growth: Dwarf Vining

So, these are the peas I tried to grow last year.  They did not really work out.  I think I planted them a bit late, and that the bunnies at the community garden decided that the shoots tasted quite nummy.  Because they were getting chewed down to the nibs.  I'm going to plant these midway through April, hopefully an earlier planting will result in a much better result this year.

These are the type of pea that supposedly can self-support, but I'm going to use a small trellis anyway, because I hate the point when the peas start falling over.  Plus I think a trellis will make the pea plants less of a mess, so picking peas will be easier.  I really hope this year works better, because I adore fresh peas.  And it's always so satisfying when something works out rather than not.  I'd hate to have another empty area in my garden this year.  I want the spot to be completely overgrown!

click here to learn about my experience with Fisher's Garden Store and to learn how to get a catalog of your own. 

Finalized Plot Designs for Pea Pods

I've pretty much finalized the layouts for the two plots I am renting at the community garden this year.  Surprisingly, I ended up with even more space than I anticipated, especially after going through the entire long list of items that I was planting this year!  I truly thought I was going to run into space issues, but, nope!  I had more than enough space, and there are only a couple things I am growing here at the house, so that didn't even really save much space. 

I believe I've mentioned it before, but one thing I'm doing for sure is not inter-planting my sweet corn, and I'm going to be growing the spaghetti squash here at the house so that I can really let it go crazy- supposedly it is quite productive, so I'm hoping that turns out to be the case. 

Before I go into more detail, if you're wondering how I did these layouts, I made them in the spreadsheet program in LibreOffice, which is a pretty good free word processing suite.  You could use pretty much any spreadsheet program (Excel counts) to do this, or you could just draw it out in a graphics program or similar.  Or just do it on paper.  I prefer to have it done nicely with text and whatnot on the computer, but your mileage may vary.  Doing it this way also allows me to print it out in a small but readable fashion that I can put in my 5"x7" gardening journal. 

I like being able to put the layouts in my journal as well, because I can tape over them and then be able to use a vis-a-vis marker on them to mark them up and be able to wipe it off if I need to.  This of course means that if I leave the marks on, they come off on the opposite page, but that isn't a huge deal for me.  It is helpful when I need to mark up replants or things that I've already seeded.

The top layout is for the bed I"m going to be doing most of my "early" plantings, which I'll do halfway through April.  I'll be using a row cover on them to keep things from freezing too much.  You might notice that I've put most of the more cold tolerant things in that bed as well- I really hope that getting my peas in earlier this year will result in a better yield, because last year they never really got going, not even as a fall planting.  Judging from the nibble marks on the young shoots, I think that was in part because of the resident bunnies that hung out at the garden, but there were other people who had great luck with peas, so I'm really hoping for better turnout this time.  I'll be planting peas at the house as well.

Anyway, hopefully we'll be back to more scheduled posting next week.  This weekend I need to photograph some of my leftover seed packets from last year so I can do little write-ups like I did on the ones from this year.  I hope you guys enjoy that :)

My Seed-starting Setup

I know it's not terribly fancy or nice looking.  But the only space I have is in my closet, which is just.. Well, unfinished in the extreme.  It's also chilly, but thanks to the warming mat I got (review later), that isn't affecting things at all.  My tomatoes are farthest from the camera, and they have several true leaves, with cabbages and broccoli and cauliflower closer, with fewer leaves.  You can see some bare stems- blame the cat!  I'm not sure if it was my cat, or the new kitten, but one of them got into the closet and nommed things.  I'm using a fluorescent lamp for light, since this is a closet and there's no light. 

Obviously, this is not my ideal situation.  Even in the new house, there aren't a lot of windowed spaces that would serve well for seed starting- we don't even really have a good place for houseplants, as the one window that would serve currently has an exercise bicycle in front of it.  So here you have it- a completely artificially lighted seed-starting station.

Glass Gems Corn

Purchased from:  Native Seeds/SEARCH for $5.95/50 seeds
Type: Flint Corn

I've been on the waiting list for this beauty for over a year, and I was really excited to see that it had come up available this year for purchase- even if the price was a bit steep, at nearly $6 for a mere 50 seeds.  Hell, I'm not even 100% sure that I'm going to have a long enough growing season for this, but I'm sure as hell going to give it a try.

For seed-saving purposes, I am growing this variety only at home to avoid cross-pollination.  The thing to know about corn is that it is a natural outcrosser, so if you have different varieties of corn growing together, you can forget about saving your seed and getting the same thing you planted.  Sometimes this can also affect the actual edible corn that you're able to get, but if 2 varieties are similar enough (i.e. they're both sweet corn or popcorn), it won't matter.  Since I'm growing Fisher's Earliest Sweet Corn as my other variety, I don't dare put them near one another.  Also, I don't want cross-contamination from the community garden, so this one is going to be planted in my front yard.  How gauche!

Also, if it isn't apparent why I purchased this from the seed packet, here's the original picture that started circulating around the internet a couple years ago:

True to the name "Glass Gems," eh?  I'm not the only one who had a garden-gasm over the gorgeous picture, either.  The story of this variety is also incredibly interesting, and can be found on the Seeds Trust website:

"Seedsman Greg Schoen got the seed from Carl Barnes, a part-Cherokee man, now in his 80's, in Oklahoma.  He was Greg's "corn-teacher".   Greg was in the process of moving last year and wanted someone else to store and protect some of his seeds.  He left samples of several corn varieties, including glass gem.  I  grew out a small handful this past summer just to see.  The rest, as they say is history.  I got so excited, I posted a picture on Facebook.  We have never seen anything like this. "

 That photo went viral last year sometime, and I'm just thrilled to be able to grow it this year.  I am going to baby the crap out of these plants- starting early with row covers to keep them warm, etc.  I really hope that our growing season proves conducive to getting some gorgeous ornamental ears as well as some saved seeds.

Parisienne Carrot

Free Gift from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  Available for purchase here for $2.50/800 seeds
Type: Carrot

If I didn't know better, I'd swear that Baker Creek are mind-readers, because this was actually on my short list of carrots to buy.  I ended up only picking one variety to purchase- Cosmic Purple, but I was pleasantly surprised to find this free gift tucked in with my order of bean seeds.

This is a smaller, "stubby" type carrot that is intended to be grown in less carrot-friendly soils.  I don't have too much problem with carrots at the community garden, since we use raised beds and I always do a good job of fluffing up the soil, but these would be very useful for anyone who has a heavier soil, for sure.  As for me, I'm just excited to grow something cutely-shaped and definitely excited to see how they turn out.  I think that thinly slicing a fat little carrot would make for great 'medallions' to put in salad or something, or maybe even to use as little dip-holders in appetizers or something. 

curious about my impressions of Baker Creek?  click here for my original post!

Purple Podded Pole Bean

Purchased from:  Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds for  $2.75/40-60 seeds
Type: Green Bean
Growth: Vine

I kind of like that this one doesn't have a fancy name- it's just a 'Purple-Podded Pole' bean.  There were a few solid purple varieties available and I settled on this one pretty much entirely because one of the reviewers was located in Alaska and had good luck growing it in a raised bed- I figure if they had time for it in Alaska, I should have no issues getting this puppy to grow here in Montana.

The interesting thing about this bean- and from what I can see, other purple beans as well- is that it turns green when cooked.  So you can have a gorgeous addition to your garden, but you won't creep out anyone who has a "thing" about oddly colored foods.  Of course, I would personally be happier if they stayed purple when cooked, but color changing veggies are kind of cool, too.  I am also thinking of pickling beans this year, but we'll see about that.  This is another pole bean, and another one I'll be planting both at home and at the community garden.

curious about my impressions of Baker Creek?  click here for my original post!

Gold Marie Pole Bean

Purchased from:  Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds for $3.00/40-60 seeds
Type: Green Bean
Growth: Vine

It's probably funny and a bit confusing that I call this a "green bean" when it is actually golden-colored, but I use that terminology to mean that I intend to eat the pods whole rather than drying the seeds to use as dry beans.  Some of these beans can do double duty, but I don't generally use dry beans so I'll probably stick mostly to eating them when they are tender, and just save a few pods for next year's seeds.

These beans are supposedly on the larger side, and I love that they are yellow- which will make them easier to harvest as well.  I always have problems with missing beans, peas, and other green podded things that I should be harvesting young- I invariably miss a few, and they end up overripe.  That isn't necessarily the worst thing, but it helps to keep harvesting things like beans as constantly as possible to keep the plants producing for longer periods.

I'm hoping that this year's experiment with pole beans goes better than last year's- I will be just trellising them this time, as opposed to growing them up corn stalks.

curious about my impressions of Baker Creek?  click here for my original post!

Dragon Tongue Bush Bean

Purchased from:  Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds for $2.75/40-60 seeds
Type: Green Bean
Growth: Bush

I ended up putting in a second order from Baker Creek, because I forgot to order green beans.  While the 'Montana Green' bush bean from Fisher's Seeds is fabulous and I am growing that again this year, I also wanted to try something new.  I had trouble narrowing down what I was going to plant, and I may have gone a little overboard (good thing I like green beans!), but I knew this one was going to make the cut, because, well, look at it!  So pretty!

One of the things that keeps gardening interesting for me is definitely planting varieties like this.  I love growing my own food, as well, but if I can have something pretty *and* yummy, why not go for the double whammy?  I have high hopes for this little beauty, and I'm planning on planting some both at home and at Pea Pods.

curious about my impressions of Baker Creek?  click here for my original post!

Ananas D'Amerique a Chair Verte Melon

Source: Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Free Gift.  Buyable here for $3.00/25-50 seeds.
Type: Melon
Growth: Vine

I think that Baker Creek must have assumed I am some kind of melon enthusiast, because in addition to the three types I purchased, they decided to include this free gift for me.  Supposedly famous for being grown in the US by Thomas Jefferson, this one is interesting because the name means something akin to "Green Fleshed Pineapple."  I'm interested to see what this beauty tastes like, assuming I can actually get the melons to full maturity, which is always a question mark in the north.  This one looks to have a fairly short season, but the fact of the matter is that melons generally love the heat, so I may need to take steps to ensure that the soil is warm enough.

I love the coloring and design on this packet and I wonder if they have a variety of free gifts with similar packet designs, or if this design is specific to this type of melon- who knows!  These are the weird thoughts that go through my head.

This melon brings the total I have to try up to 5- I may have a problem.

curious about my impressions of Baker Creek?  click here for my original post!

Golden Sweet Snow Pea

Purchased from:  Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds  for $2.75/100 seeds
Type: Snow Peas
Growth: Vine

I love peas.  It was incredibly difficult to narrow down the varieties to just one, but I wanted to try again with the "Dwarf Grey Sugar" peas from last year (my seedlings were eaten to the roots by munchy bunnies), so I knew I couldn't go overboard.  I finally settled on these yellow snow peas, because snow peas are my favorite, and yellow will make them easy to spot.

The reviews at Baker Creek were also pretty conclusively awesome, so I'm sincerely hoping these do well.  I missed out on a crop of peas last year and I really have my fingers crossed for one this time around.  Did I mention that I love peas?  Especially snow peas.  I love to sautee them with a little butter until they are just tender but still fresh and crispy, and then munch away.  I could seriously make a main dish out of fresh snow peas and fresh green beans all by themselves.  Yum!

curious about my impressions of Baker Creek?  click here for my original post!

Cour Di Bue Cabbage

Purchased From:  Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds for $2.00/300 seeds
Type: Cabbage

Cabbage doesn't seem terribly exciting to most people, and I can't say it's a favorite for square foot gardening because it does take up a bit of space, but this one looks like it will be interesting.  This cabbage has what is known as an "oxheart" shape, which I find very interesting, and is quite an old European heirloom.  I'm not the cabbage-eater in this family, but I took requests and one of the requests was for cabbage.  I will plant a few blocks of this and see how it turns out- if it is a hit, I will do more next year. I'll be starting these indoors in the next couple weeks and I think that they will end up being prime candidates for the sunny basement window.

This is another one I'd love to grow in a cold frame if I can get one built- there is a bit of flowerbed near the side door of our house that I am thinking of tearing out and replacing with a couple cold frames so that we can have easily-accessible winter veggies.  One of my projects in the coming weeks as spring starts to come upon us is to assess the areas we have for growing and see what I might be able to do.  It may end up being beneficial to convert the entire flowerbed on the kitchen side of the house into a kitchen garden.

curious about my impressions of Baker Creek?  click here for my original post!

Ching Chang Bok Choy

Purchased from:  Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds for $2.50/200 seeds
Type: Bok Choy
SFG Spacing:  9 per Square Foot

According to the description of this one, this Bok Choy variety is meant to be harvested when small, so I guess this is technically a "baby" variety.  The name just gets me- it seems a bit stereotypical for a traditionally Asian green, but if the product turns out to be worthwhile, I guess I can handle the slightly off-color name.

The main reason I'm trying this one out is a desire to expand my horizons when it comes to greens both as food and as plants in the garden.  Right now the main ones I consume are pretty much iceberg lettuce and baby spinach.  It just seems like a shame to let all the wonderful different types of greens out there go to waste!  So here goes nothing- I hope this isn't a disappointment.


curious about my impressions of Baker Creek?  click here for my original post!