Time Flies By

Oh my goodness, where do I begin? I haven't blogged since May 2011!  


We've been ridiculously busy here - the garden had to compete with the completion of my master's thesis in July, our wedding and honeymoon in August, and  much catch up to do when we returned in September - and that's only the beginning!


Here's some highlights from the season:   



We are in the process of getting all our garlic cloves into the ground. We've had a late start planting it this year - we were looking into securing land to plant it ALL (~7000 cloves) this year, but didn't find any. Even though we've sold some of our garlic, given some away, reserved a large stash for eating...there's still 3000+ cloves to stick in the ground this year. So far we've planted 6 raised beds full of it and are still looking for space.

I learned that those pretty white butterflies in the garden are not 'butterflies' but cabbage moths, that turn into nasty green caterpillars that eat everything!!!  All our cabbage and any thick leafy green produce near the cabbage got eaten (broccoli, chard, etc.); and what's still out there is covered with holes!   I learned a tip this year that will be a definite MUST for next year... DILL everywhere! The cabbage moths don't like the smell of it :)

We did well with chard this year which seemed to grow everywhere in our garden where it had previously grown, and where compost was spread - Definitely one of those super foods that are well worth planting - hardy, long harvest season and so good for you!  However, now the cabbage moths seem to be eating up what remains.

Despite the fact that it was a terrible season for growing tomatoes (late start of warmth in the summer), that many of our tomato plants got blight, and some never ripened - we ended up with plenty of tomatoes! I made and froze four bags of spaghetti sauce, sliced up and froze 12 bags of just tomatoes ready to make sauce or soup over the winter; and we had plenty to eat in salads and sandwiches. Another plant that did amazingly well, and always seems to each year, is the tomatillo (in the tomato family), a green sweeter fruit that is great for salsa!  We canned about 20 jars of tomatillo salsa (w/ onions, chillis and garlic all from our garden), and made a great chilli/tomatillo stew one night.

Not a great year for squash - although we have enough to get through the winter season for just us two. We enjoyed squash over the thanksgiving weekend and later, we have an amazing thai curry squash soup recipe we look forward to trying out. Here's this year's largest hubbard squashes:

Lots of teas (red clover, chamomile (below), mint, spearmint, lemon balm...), herbs (oregano, parsley, dill, cilantro, basil...), and saving seeds this year (carrot & artichokes (below), arugula, choy, lettuce, kale...)

Lots of potatoes!

We even had enough apples this year to make apple sauce! (About 12 jars).  Along with, we did 12 jars of pear sauce (pears from my Dad's place).  And made two servings of Asian pear crumble (dessert). 

Plenty of hot peppers for salsa, arugula, anis root, celery, beets, carrots, turnips, water cress, japanese red mustard, leeks, onions (red, Spanish, white, yellow) ...

We enjoyed plenty of eggs over the summer - Jason brought 5 more chickens home from his trip to Alberta in June from his brother's ranch.  However, today they went on a 

'permanent holiday' to our 'winter wonderland' (freezer)... It was just too expensive feeding the mice for the small amount of eggs they were producing - we need to solve the mice issue before getting more in the spring. These birds were fed really good (organic grain), so we know we are getting good roasting (soup stock) birds at a low cost ($5/each to process). All the same, we felt a little guilty about sending the birds 'bye bye'.

Finally, something new we tried this year was growing and harvesting Chickory - a healthy substitute for coffee!  Now that we know what it looks like we can find it and harvest it from the wild (it grows along the highway!), as it takes up too much space in our garden to harvest enough for a pot of 'coffee'. For Chickory you roast the roots for hours, until they get nice and crisp & brown...then you grind them up (using a mortar and pestle). (Or you can buy it already roasted at the health food store for about $5/ small bag.) 

Now We're Talking "Spring"!

Tonight's Salad 

19 fresh ingredients picked just before eating!

Italian Parsley
Sorrel
Chives
Green Onions
Cilantro
Dill
Wasabi (greens)
Swiss chard (bright lights)
Choy (3 types)
Pea leaves (and shoots)
Kale (and Kale flowers)
Lettuce (buttercrunch)
Leeks
Lilac (flowers)
Rose (petals)
Radicio
Arugula
Tarragon
Mint

Mucky May, But the Garden is still on its Way.

Nothing much has changed in regards to this wet and cold weather we have been having, since my last post over a month ago, April 5th.  Although, the yard isn't as mucky now that the grass has grown in.   

I can't believe at this time last year, we had everything in the ground, and were already eating our peas among other treats!  This year, the plants that do well in wet and cooler temperatures are doing fine, but we haven't been able to get the rest planted.  And it hasn't been warm enough for peppers, basil, etc.  We got several seedling trays to stick in the ground, if only the sun would come out and stay around. 

Here's what we have been up to.  

Collecting Nettle to dry for tea. Great detox tea! 

Jason put the plastic on the green house, now just the doors are needed.  The house is still warmer all the same, and is ready for planting.  I love our beautiful archway that Jason created along with, and raised planters on the side for the climbing plants to grow and take over the arch one day.

Our chicken are back to laying now that the daylight has increased and the weather has somewhat warmed. 

Wasabi loves this weather! We are hoping to save seeds this year from the plants (a new learning experience for us). 

Of course the hops has taken off!  Anyone want some for making beer this year?  We harvest way to much to use!  

Sadly, I don't think there will be any fruit this year.  All  our fruit trees blossomed, during that short sunny break we had two weeks ago, then it rained hard, for weeks to follow, knocking off the blossoms.  And I didn't see any bees during that short lived sunny break. :(

The potatoes and peas are looking good. 

The broad beans are taking off. 

Here is our kale, from last year.  We've been eating it since February.  We are letting the one big one (with all the yellow flowers) to go to seed this year. 

 Waiting for the new grass to grow...

The raspberries are filling out. 

This is one of my sad garden stories (below).  My poor lavender bush died!  But weirdest thing, the one next to it survived.  I think I will try a bush or two in the green house this year. 

My sweet peas have come out to say hello (I usually put seeds in the ground during the fall, and they naturally come up in the spring, same with the snap dragons). 

We've made raised beds on our front lawn.  Great way to educate others.  The front of our house is on a busy street (cars, pedestrians, etc.) so we get many viewers.  In one bed is our Grow a Row bed, growing food for the food bank and other agencies in need of fresh local foods, through Food Matters Chilliwack (citizen-led non-profit we volunteer for).  And two beds for our tenants, to learn about growing their own food.  Next weekend we all plant these beds together  (let's hope for sun!)

Now, we are just waiting for the sunshine so we can finish our planting!   Then on to finishing the root cellar. 

Meanwhile, we are helping to create a community garden here in Chilliwack - if anyone lives out this way and is interested in learning more, find Food Matters Chilliwack on Facebook and send a message :)

Rain, Rain Go Away!

Perhaps I spoke too soon about sunshine in my last blog :(  


I just can't believe this soggy weather we've been having for the last two weeks.  Our backyard is a mud rink and Jason's trailer loads of dirt into the backyard have destroyed the lawn (with the truck spinning out).  We can't really get much done in this weather!
   
Before the weather changed to wet and grey... here are some of the projects we were up to:

 

I am so excited.  Jason is building our second green house.  This one is more than twice the size of our makeshift greenhouse built a couple years back. The new greenhouse will be for growing all our tomatoes and peppers :)  All is needed now is a dry day to put the cover over the frame, build a door and some air/circulation flaps.  

 

Before it got wet and cold, I started transplanting our seedling trays into the greenhouse raised beds.

  

Here is a before and after shot of one of the many 'beautification' projects happening around our place, as we prepare our place for a string of summer guests this 2011 (as we are getting married in August).  You can also see (by the picture below) that I have been busy "crafting" for that event too :)   

March in the Garden

Well the sun is finally shining again and spring is definitely in the air! Let's hope those wet and cold days are now behind us.  As I predicted in my earlier post, I thought perhaps we would be in for another cold snap and snow - this was the case.  It didn't really slow us down.  The kale, radiccio, chives, wasabi persevered through it all and we can happily say we are enjoying it all in our salads.

Chives and Wasabi (above). Radiccio (below)

It's been a busy past month in our garden.  The raspberry stalks have been tied. The blueberry bushes have all been trimmed.  These two chores alone probably took over 25 hours. This is something that needs to be done each year around this time: raspberry plants grow new shoots every year, and if you don't train them where to go, they will grow out of control; you need to trim off the dead and diseased branches from the blueberries so the other parts have a better chance to thrive. 


 The seed trays that Jason started weeks are growing steadily and are ready to plant in the ground.   Before we get to that point, we have started making raised beds in the yard.  So the past couple weeks have been a work factory of staining the boards that will be used.  It will be interesting to see how food production will change with raised beds.   There are several reasons why we decided to work on this project this year.  1)  It takes away the need to rot-a-till the soil each year before planting (which is controversial in the first place - while it may help break up the soil for planting, it depreciates the nutrients in the soil (they become exposed and vulnerable to rain, wind, etc.).  2) Raised beds create a more suitable growing environment: more soil, less compact, more drainage for the plants, warmer soil conditions, etc. 3) It helps keep the garden tidy serving as a way to manage the weeds. This is something I will definitely love this year.  4) Having raised beds will help us make better use of the land by concentrating and intensifying our food growth.   Raised beds just seem to be the way to go this year - especially as we work to grow all our own food, and hopefully begin to grow produce to sell this year (to local restaurants, etc). One day. 

We have been busy hauling and shoveling dirt onto areas in the yard that are otherwise muddy and poor soil areas, even for the grass to grow.  Now is the time to do this, so we can get some grass seed down, and the path areas begin to fill-in in time for late spring and summer.   Last year we tried planting only clover in several areas that are designated as pathway areas, because it seemed to be the better choice environmentally: food for the bees, stays short and needs less mowing.  However, the clover completely disappeared when the winter came and is back to being brown and muddy.   So we decided to raise it up a level with soil that drains better (less mud) before seeding it with a grass that will last all year long.

Jason started making a patio area on the front lawn and some small raised beds.  We are hoping to turn the front yard into a little garden oasis as well...


There is always lots to do around here.   When it finally dries up a bit, we can get to the root cellar we didn't finish last year.  Too bad we didn't... the rain got the better of us... and now there is a wall of soil over top of our unfinished concrete wall (from surrounding collapsing walls...even the stairs are washed away).  It will be a chore just to clean up the cellar so we can continue working on it.  A summer job I predict.  


That pretty much sums it up for where we are at.  It's time we started our tomato seedlings and there is a whole of seedlings that need to get in the ground.   We'll keep you posted.  Check out 'spring' in the garden:)

Just Watching our Babies Grow

First Garden Salad of 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!  To celebrate, we gathered our first fruits of 2011 from the garden.  Here is our first 0 mile diet salad of the year with: Kale, Radiccio (leaves), sorrel, leeks, chives, wasabi (leaves), and fresh thyme.

Getting Back to the Garden

Plants are starting to grow outside and indoors :)  The wasabi plants (right above) look like they are off to a good start.   The chives are hoping to make an appearance soon as well (left in picture above).

Can you believe that Jason has already started the seedling trays!   Holy Crapole! The winter sleep was not long enough to recooperate from the dirt 24/7 (on the hands, on the clothing, tracked in the house), from the extra chores and hours added to each day and from the sore muscles and calluses.  But as the saying goes, the early bird catches the worm, and in this case, the early bird gets to start enjoying fresh garden veggies a heck of a lot sooner.  

I'd have to look back on my posts, but I think it was about this time of year that we started the seedlings and planting outside last year.  Still, I think its a bit to wet and ugly to be outside in the mud, but Jason thinks otherwise.  He has already rotatilled a row and planted the broad beans and fava beans and is eyeing a place to put the potatoes in next.  I'm expecting another cold snap for this year so I'm not yet convinced that everything planted (outside) at this point is going to survive.  But what do I know...you can't predict the weather, and you sure can't predict mother nature :)    

So far, Jason has started seedling trays for:  basil, thyme, lavendar, leeks, onions, artichokes, lettuce and asian greens: midwater gai lan, green perl gai lan, jade spring yu choi sum, toi choi pac choi and ching chiang pac choi.   I didn't know there was so many varieties of choi!  One thing I do remember about these plants from last year, is that they are extremely susceptible to those nasty 'flea beetles' (tiny black bugs :(   So you want to take proper care - when you are ready to plant them in the ground, cover them with garden cloth.

All the seedlings are bathing under very bright lights.  One so bright that in fact my hair dryer on the same electrical wiring popped the fuse.  Guess I'll have to find another place to dry my hair until the seedling season is over.  I wonder what the neighbors are thinking with the bright light coming out from the basement and one from the garage....'grow-op'?  Well, they wouldn't be far off...but in our favor, a legal one:)

* * *

 I love to experiment. I am learning that food gardening is nearly a year round activity here on the West Coast.  I've read that onions and leeks are day sensitive plants. Growing leaves from winter solstice to summer solstice, and then growing the bulb of a cooking onion from summer solstice to winter solstice. For every leaf, one layer of flesh in the bulb. Therefore the longer the growing season before June 21st, the more leaves, and then the larger the cooking onion. I planted my onion seed and leek seed on Jan 26th in trays with plain potting soil, and they sprouted about 5 days later. There is not enough sun for a month or two, so grow lights it is. Downstairs (warm) I use banks of CFL bulbs in old washroom fixtures (4 x 20Watt bulbs per fixture, 4 or 6 fixtures) plugged into a power bar with a built in timer for half of it's plugs. I also started some Chinese greens that I purchased from West Coast Seeds. About week later they too sprouted. After about another week I moved them out to the garage where I have my new 1000W metal halide bulb (more efficient than fluorescent bulbs when you get up to that much power usage). The garage is cooler and helps keep the little plants from growing too quickly and getting tall, thin and weak. While I too think it's still too early, I transplanted 3 little sprouts into the greenhouse today, beside the Swiss chard that has been starting to sprout for about 2 weeks now. I was planning on experimenting with a couple of each variety but the soil just felt too cold, compared to the seedling's soil from the comparably warm garage - that light keeps the garage about 2 to 3 degrees warmer than the outdoors. 

I want a soil heating cable. That would definitely help expand the growing season a few more weeks.  I love to try things that my training (school, books, internet research) and my common sense (soil too cold to the touch, no one else plants this early) tell me not too. This is because I want to verify that I'm right, you're right, and that surprises occasionally happen and everyone gets to learn.

The Garden Sleeps

   The garden takes its long winter's nap.  Well, not the Kale - it perseveres right through :)    (December snowfall).