What We're Growing
Monday, May 7, 2018
Planting update 5/7/2018
Tomatoes: sungold because we all love it so much
red cherry tomato because of course
Roma "Paisano" good name and we don't succeed with the big heirlooms (plus our CSA usually keeps us swimming in them) Smaller tomatoes tend to work better for us
Pumpkin: no we don't actually have space, yes we bought one and it's snuggled into a corner of the potato bed. Why not be crazy.
Peppers: planned for one, bought 3
Eggplant: 2 of course. lavendar and dark small, asian style
more alyssium for the front yard
Tomatillos; purple and green. We discovered last year that they really need a partner for cross fertilization purposes. And boy, they were very very productive!!
Herbs: orange thyme, lemon basil, lime basil, purple shiso (the girls wanted and it's so easy to say yes to plants!)
So, the moral is, too much stuff. But it's all fabulous and good and we still have space for some cucumber and maybe a zucchini and probably another tomato and ... something else I'm sure.
Monday, April 30, 2018
Here comes the sun
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Planting update 4/24/2018
Today we planted
1. Artichokes (a purple variety)
2. Lavender. We had bought it as a start and grew it up a bit in a big pot in the backyard
3. Tricolor sage in the girls' bed
I also moved a few volunteer potatoes from the tomato/greens bed back to the potatoe/pea bed. I decided to leave the other volunteers and I'll pull them when I start thinning the greens and we'll have small potatoes for dinner!
To still plant:
Front yard- lovage, white allysium, rosemary
Thursday, April 19, 2018
Kid friendly gardening
I think there are several different ways to conceptualize the idea of kid friendly gardening and try to consider these multiple directions when working on our always evolving backyard.
First, there's kid friendly meaning the kids won't irreparably harm it by being kids. Shrubs seems to be good for this (rosemary and huckleberries have survived soccer balls pretty well).int is annoyingly hardy and my kids pick handfuls all year for their concoctions.
Another definition is that the kids will enjoy it. My girls like picking strong smelling things (mint, lemon balm, fennel) to add to mud pies and even to add to lemonade or water for beverages.
There's also kid friendly that means the kids will like growing it. For us, that means it grows fast. Quick rewards are key! Potatoes sprout quickly (even if it takes a lot longer for actual potatoes for eating). Peas are almost instantaneous and you can eat the pea shoots while waiting for peas. Radish and lettuce sprout quickly and again you can eat the sprouts while thinning them. Nastriuysums sprout fast and also have funny leaves. And the flowers are edible. Plus I think they basically fit all three categories I've discussed as they are especially hardy and also tasty.
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Growing philosophy
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
First taste 2018
Hello, hello?
Here's what I think I'll be writing about:
1. the garden and food plants
2. the chickens insatiable need to eat all of (1)
3. my kids' desires to plant all the things and grow themselves
4. my love of natives, heirlooms, and edibles for backyard gardening
So, thus it begins. Here's to a new adventure!