Author: Catherine

Corner trellis

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A nice warm day, perfect for working in the garden. I planted seeds under the corner trellis, where we grow the next succession of greens after the hoophouse gets too hot. Arugula, spinach, escarole, Salanova lettuce, spring raab and Russian red kale.

Under the corner trellis

I also adjusted the row cover so it would be more secure over the row of broccoli. The seedlings look ok, maybe a little worse for wear after being buried in snow and attacked by strong winds.

Broccoli under row cover

Sam refreshed two paths with wood chips, readying the root crops row for planting. And we managed to replace the zippers on the front wall of the hoophouse. The zipper tapes, presumably cotton, had deteriorated and were ripped apart by wind and our zipping. This was a monumental chore, and not finished yet. The wall is laying in a bundle on the living room floor waiting to be reinstalled.

Vegan meatloaf

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We eat a whole-foods plant-based diet. Vegan plus. No meat, no seafood, no dairy, no eggs. No oil or other added fats. I cheat more often than Sam does. I enjoy finding new WFPB recipes. Highly recommended: the Paprika app, where I save all my recipes and make my grocery lists.

Here’s what I made last night (half eaten):

Vegan meatloaf

I’ve never been a huge fan of meatloaf, and in fact I loathed ground beef in any recipe although I ate it occasionally for many years. The texture of this vegan meatloaf was a little disturbing because it reminded me so much of ground beef.

But actually it tasted ok. Bland, but nourishing enough. And useful for sandwiches the next day. It would be better if pulsed less in the food processor to reduce the paste-like quality. And with the recommended barbecue sauce, which we didn’t have.

Here’s the recipe:

https://www.kathysvegankitchen.com/vegan-meatloaf/

I used three portobello mushrooms. I didn’t have red pepper, so I skipped it.

Good Friday snow fall

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A somber day marked by overnight snowfall, power outages, struggle to grocery shop during a pandemic, and a series of beautiful snow squalls.

I had to unearth my broccoli seedlings from burial under row cover flattened by pounds upon pounds of wet heavy snow.

I took too many photos of snow. I can’t resist. More photos on my iPad, will post them later.

Garden this morning
Orchard this morning
Treehouse, snow

Potting and planting

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Seems too early. We’ve always vowed to get a jump on spring and that’s what’s happening. Time on our hands from sheltering in place, I guess.

We potted up approximately 100 tomato, tomatillo and ground cherry seedlings today. I think they will outgrow these containers before ready to plant in the soil which is a worry. But they look nice. We have to move them inside every night and outside every morning.

Potted up

We also planted out a row of broccoli seedlings with a few cauliflower and red cabbage here and there. These are going under row cover. Hope they don’t get too cold! Note the down coat and winter hat Sam is wearing…

Brave little one

A little April snow

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Under the tightening grip of the pandemic, it stays peaceful here. Today a little light snow. Robust tomato sprouts will soon need transplanting.

Inside starts, outside snow. In between, a dried citrus garland from Christmas.
Growing tomatoes
Sun and snow over the hoophouse

Peas etc.

Catherine1 Comment

A big day in gardening at our house. It’s always exciting when we get the peas in the ground. This year they have their own private trellis instead of climbing up the outside of the chicken run. The chickens were not kind to the pea vines last year. We’re planting very early for Maine, but it’s been such a mild winter and the soil was in good shape for planting.

We planted Red Kitten spinach down one side and Winter Lettuce down the other to fill in the bed as the peas climb.

Newly planted peas, spinach, lettuce.

There is also continuing activity in making up soil blocks and caring for seedlings. Tomatoes, tomatillo, ground cherry, broccoli, leeks, shallots, Cippollini onions, cabbage, cauliflower, celery. Started three types of pepper today: King of the North, Jimmy Nardello, and Red Rocket (hot – more on that below).

Small scale soil blocking operation
Broccoli seedlings
New tomato seedlings and peppers getting extra heat under plastic

On the other side of the gardening lifecycle, I decided to process the dried Red Rocket peppers that have been hanging in the kitchen since last fall. First goal was to get some seeds to plant, then I decided to carry on and use the spice grinder to make some home ground cayenne pepper. This enterprise had us coughing most of the afternoon as cayenne particles dispersed everywhere. Sort of like the coronavirus.

Ristreta of sorts with 2019 peppers “Red Rocket”
Pepper seed, skin, and pods

Planning

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We are in the early phase of the Coronavirus SARS-2 pandemic. I’ve noticed that planning is very helpful in addressing anxiety. Garden planning is a chore I don’t enjoy, but it seems to help, so I’ll do some.

Here’s a look back at the past three years of gardening here:

2017 I used an alphabetical coding system.
2018 A larger notebook, but the plan really got overloaded with too much information.
2019 A simpler plan, more organized by row. Tried to improve rotations and plan ahead for succession planting.

I like the row concept from last year. It makes rotation decisions easier and keeps me focused on what we like to eat. I think I will reuse the 2019 approach, but keep the actual planting results on a separate page.

There are actually 10 rows, so here’s a rough beginning for 2020:

  1. Garlic (outside fence)
  2. Flowers (mostly perennials)
  3. Squash (was Three Sisters, but this row felt very cramped and messy last year)
  4. Broccoli / cabbage / cauliflower (all together, require row cover for bugs)
  5. Legumes – Fava beans, green beans, peas
  6. Root crops – parsnips, carrots, beets
  7. Mixed greens
  8. Salad greens
  9. Tomatoes
  10. Fence line bed – miscellaneous. Usually sunflowers, zucchini.

We also have other areas to garden:

  • Corner trellis. Good area for cucumbers and some early greens.
  • Asparagus beds. I usually pop a squash into each one, which has been fun.
  • Hancock Community Garden – will be potatoes this year, maybe onions too. The less needy crops so I don’t have to visit the garden that often.
  • Herb beds in rock wall along path, and basil bed in the old sandbox.
  • Hoophouse – suitable for heat-loving eggplants and peppers in summer.
  • Fruit yard – problematic, will write more later.
  • Orchard / blueberries.

And ! I want to add some hugelkultur beds for wildflowers this year!

Storage crops checkpoint

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I feel like we’re moving into survivalist mode, but it’s also probably just the right time of year to do this. I went through most of last year’s crops that are in storage and evaluated how much we have. As usual, some crops were a big success and others not so much. Note: This is not very scientific!

Carrots.

Stored in refrigerator. Mostly Purple Haze, a variety I really like. Trimmed off their tops and washed off some slime. They are still good eating. About 2-1/2 pounds. There are more in the garden to be dug!

Garlic.

Hung in a net bag in the pantry. 3-1/2 pounds left. Not sprouting yet, but I expect they will soon.

Onion, red.

A great crop, but coming to an end. Sprouting as you can see. Only about 1-1/2 pounds left.

Onion, yellow.

Still have about 7 pounds! These were in Jeff’s basement, then moved into our utility room in an attempt to keep them cooler. Some sprouting.

Parsnips.

Sam dug these out of the garden today now that the soil is unfrozen enough. About 15 pounds! Trimmed and froze some with damaged tops.

Pumpkins and squash.

These were in Jeff’s basement. We lost a lot to rot, but we had a lot to begin with. I’ve been striving to process these for the freezer or to eat them, but I can only do so much with that much squash!

Also have about a half pound of non- photogenic leeks in the fridge.

Not to mention quantities of frozen stuff, mostly squash and green beans. We finished the apples today and coming rapidly to the end of the blueberries.

Complaints:

  • White onions rotted rapidly. I was glad to see this variety was not in the onion medley sold by Fedco this year.
  • Small cabbage heads did not store well. Bought cabbage for sauerkraut from Four Seasons Farm instead. Would love to know his cabbage secrets!
  • Potatoes. We have not figured out how to grow enough potatoes and how to store them properly.