A Well Deserved Drink

 This is a glass of my home made sweet plum wine.  Not only does it have a beautiful color, but the taste is out of this world.  Plum wine is by far one of my favorite kinds of wine and I am so happy that I know how to make a good batch!  Once it was ready this wine did not last long.  I might have to make a double batch next year since so many of my friends love it too!  

Yard Work In January?

The weather has been up and down this winter and today as I squished my way across the yard I thought I might try to see if I could turn over any beds in the garden since the soil was so soft.  We had been getting a lot of wet snow and rain lately, so the normally hard packed clay soil was very soft and easy to work with.  I was surprised that it wasn't too sticky in the beds and seemed to stay nice and fluffy as I turned it over.

This fall when I turned over a few beds I had made a point of adding organic matter to the beds that would break down over the winter.  The free organic matter that I had on hand this time was bags of leaves that I had collected a few months ago.  I dumped a bag on the bed and spread the leaves out to cover the whole bed.

The next stages involved hoeing the leaves into the soil to mix everything together.  The hoeing also breaks the leaves into smaller bits which helps them decompose faster.

Each pass over the bed mixes the soil with the leaves better and fluffs up the soil.  I usually go over the bed two or three times or until the leaves have been worked deeply into the soil.  The chickens were eager to lend a helping hand while they scratched for snacks.

The final stage is just leveling the beds with a rake.  There are a few more months to go before I will be able to plant  any crops in this bed, but now I will have that much less prep work to do in the garden before I need to get the seeds in the ground.  The leaves will continue to decompose in the soil over the next couple months and will add much needed organic matter to improve the health of my garden soil.  The soil will settle a little bit, but will be ready to go once planting season arrives.

Thinning Broccoli Sprouts

My seedlings are growing quite nicely in the set up in my kitchen.  All of my broccoli has germinated and has taken the task of reaching for sunlight quite seriously.  Since I planted multiple seeds per cell I needed to reduce the numbers so each plant could get off to the best start possible.  This meant that I had to decide which seedling from each grouping gets to have a chance in this years garden.

As you can see the seedlings are very crowded and competition for light has already begun.  Most of the seedlings has also started to grow their first true leaf, so they were at the prime time to thin the tiny plants.

The true leaves are the tiny spear shaped leaves at the center of the plant.  The large heart sharped leaves are the cotyledons, or seed leaves that help the plant get established after it germinates.  In each cell I left the plant that had the sturdiest stem (meaning that it didn't get too leggy reaching for the light).  I also choose the plant that had the largest and most healthy looking true leaf.  I want to select for plants that get off to a strong start so they have the best chance at being strong and healthy in my garden.  Strong and healthy plants should grow the fastest and produce a good crop in as short a time as possible.

After thinning down to one plant in each cell, these seedlings look like they have a bit more room to fill out.  In a few more weeks I expect that I will be transplanting these tiny broccoli into a tray of 3 inch pots.  With any luck I hope to get these out into the garden by the end of march.  I plan on keeping them under the cover of a low hoop house during the chilly period of early spring, but if all goes well, I might have a broccoli crop by the time summer plantings need to go into the ground.

Digging Parsnips During The Thaw

We are having a muddy January here since we have been getting a lot of snow and rain lately and the temps are hovering above freezing in this valley.  This morning the air was thick with fog and the ground was quite spongy underfoot.  I decided to see if I could dig up some parsnips that I had left in the ground last fall.  The shovel sank deeply and easily into the muddy earth and I was rewarded with a handful of lovely parsnips.

I cleaned them up and trimmed their tops and put them into the fridge temporarily.  They will most likely be added to the hearty stew I will be having for dinner this evening.

I am happy that I am still harvesting crops from the earth even in January.  It is handy that they store so well in the cold earth and I can use them as fresh as possible even at this time of the year.  I planted these parsnips around the same time as the cabbage that they shared the bed with.  Apparently growing these two crops together doesn't seem to be detrimental to either crop.  Even though I didn't get huge yields from either crop, I still got a larger variety of food overall, so I think this experiment was a success.  I will likely be tucking parsnips into my beds here and there this year as I plant my garden.  Planting that way will allow me to get a whole other crop from a bed, but the second crop can wait to be harvested until I have time in the off season.  It doesn't take much extra effort to plant the extra crop either, and it may also lessen weed pressure, since it is filling the space that a weed would normally grow.  Seems like a win all the way around.

Surviving Winter Spinach In The Hoophouse

The weather has been pretty cold and miserable the past few weeks, but we had a brief period when things thawed out a bit.  I decided it would be nice to see if there was still anything growing under my low hoop house.  I pulled up one side of the plastic sheeting and was pleasantly surprised to find that the spinach has not only survived under there, but was still growing slowly.

What a nice feeling to see something so vibrant and green in the middle of a cold, muddy, overcast day.  Nothing else under the hoop house had survived, but all the dead plant matter was nothing more than a nice thick mulch around the thriving spinach plants.  I harvested a small bowl of thick, succulent leaves and then tucked the tiny crop back in, so it could continue to grow for another few weeks.

Looks like it's time to have some fresh winter salad straight from the garden again.  I'm thinking that next year I will save my spinach planting for fall again.  I don't have to worry about bolting, and the crop just keeps growing all winter as long as I just trim the leaves.  This is probably my third or forth harvest from this little row.  It isn't much, but it is a welcome reprieve from eating stored food, and nothing beats a salad fresh from the garden in the midst of winter.

Off To A Bright Beginning

Just as I had hoped, my seedling trays are filling in as the various crops send up their first leaves.  The first to sprout were my broccoli.

Goliath is the variety on the right and Atlantic is the variety on the left.  The Goliath sprouts are already stretching up to the top of the plastic covering of the tray.  Once they grow their first true leaf I will thin them down to one plant in each pot.  I have a feeling I will be potting them up into bigger pots in a couple short weeks at the rate they are growing.

The basil were the next sprouts to appear.

So far only five cells haven't sprouted, but I'm hoping they will appear over the next few days.  I hope to have plenty of fresh basil for making pesto in a few months.  My plan is to plant the basil seedlings all over the garden to deter pests and add a little variety to my beds.  I may make succession plantings of this herb to keep a continuous crop in stock.

Keeping Track of the Pantry

This year I am interested in how long my stored food will last me.  I would have liked to record how much total food that I had stored by the end of harvest season, but I didn't.  Guess it shall be a goal for this harvest season.  The good news is that I still have a ton of food left - some of which should last me into spring.  Some crops I really need to plant more of if I want them to last me until the following harvest.  I will do my best to note how I'd like to improve those numbers this year.

My potato harvest is holding up well.  I started out by eating all the blemished ones so the ones that I have left should store well.  They are starting to sprout, but I don't really mind because if I have any left by the time planting season is here, they will become my seed potatoes anyway.  I am storing them in a closet in my unheated back room and have not yet come across any problems with rot.  When it comes time to use them, I simply pick out the ones I want, break off any sprouts, give them a good scrub and chop them up.

My onions and garlic seem to be holding their own also.  I don't have many onions left, but they might get me through another month if I am lucky.

I don't have many heads of garlic left either, but they may be enough to last me until spring.  Last year's crop of garlic was disappointing since I had so many small heads.  I am hoping that this year's crop fares better as I was able to plant a few large heads of locally grown garlic that I picked up from the farmer's market.

My winter squash are keeping well, but I have been disappointed to learn that my chickens are not very fond of eating it.  I was hoping to supplement their diet in the winter by using them as treats from time to time.

The pumpkins were planted especially for them, but the only part they want to eat are the seeds.  I have sliced it up and fed it to them raw and I have baked it in the oven to make it soft for them, but they still barely seem interested.  Maybe I will try different kinds of squash to see if I can find a variety that suits their fancy.

As for my preserves I think I have an over abundance of pickles and peaches, but not nearly enough salsa or tomato sauce.

I only have 12 pints left of all of my varieties of salsa and 13 pints of tomato sauce.  This year I hope to plant more tomatoes and process a lot more tomato based products.  My salsa is always a hit at work, so hopefully I will have enough to bring as treats for a least a couple more months.

As you can see I still have plenty of pickles. I think I am down to 30 quarts or so, which is still plenty for my personal use even after I gave some away for Christmas gifts.

I still have plenty of canned peaches and apricots also, though my store of jams are running low. I have to remember that I have canned peaches when I am craving something sweet after dinner.

As for the wine I brewed last summer, I don't think it will last too much longer.  Of course there will be fewer parties to take bottles to now that the holidays are over, but there really aren't very many bottles left.

Only seven from the original twenty two bottles of plum wine. I only have one large carboy, but I hope to make several batches of wine this summer, so hopefully I will be able to share a good variety this winter.  I want to try a large batch of strawberry wine this spring and then another batch of plum wine this fall.  If I have time in between those fruit harvests this summer I might try some other kind of fruit wine like peach or raspberry.  Sounds like I will need to talk my friends into saving more bottles for me so I can fill them with my yummy home brew!

Ready, Set, Sprout!

I planted my first seeds only a few days ago.  I was pleasantly surprised to discover that only four days after adding them to a handful of soil, they have started to germinate.  This first sprout is a broccoli plant to be.  It was a new variety that I am trying this year called Goliath.  So far it is off to a great start!

The best part of the whole thing is that this particular seedling decided to germinate during a massive blizzard.  Nature's tiny rebellion against winter.  Over the next few weeks the trays will start filling in and so will begin the cycle of life in my garden for a new season.  

Building Up the Sale Collection

It has been a weekend full of fiber work here.  I finished up a couple of hats for holiday gifts and then proceeded to make a couple more hats to add to my sale collection.  I like the way using different combinations of colors makes unique patterns in each hat.  All of these hats used up a few random left over skeins of yarn that I had used in previous projects.

 I like the way this hat looks like it is glowing under a black light.  The dark purple and the magenta really makes the light blue pop. 

This hat used up some really soft yarn that I had left over from making a baby blanket.  So comfy and will keep your head cozy in all kinds of cold weather!

This hat is a lighter version of my usual beanie.  The top is still nice and thick to hold heat in, but the band around the forehead is thinner which allows better ventilation. 

This hat reminds me of peppermint and cotton candy.  I think it finished off both my magenta and light pink skeins and the white ties it all together nicely.  

This hat is a simple beanie that I used a different stitch on.  It is very light and stretchy, yet still very warm.  It is nice to practice using different stitches to see how they affect the overall pattern of a hat.  I like the way this stitch adds elasticity to the hat and may start using in more of my work.

I like the variety that you can get by just using different colors of yarn.  The hats made from leftover yarns are always unique and I enjoy trying different combinations of colors that complement each other.  I don't think that I will ever make the same hat twice!

Backyard Breakfast

2017 has arrived and I am proud to say that I am still eating well from my backyard.  This morning's breakfast included potatoes, onions and garlic that have been stored in the pantry and a sweet pepper fresh from the freezer.  The eggs were just harvested yesterday and were delicious and fresh.  Honestly I don't think I could stomach a store bought egg any more, which makes me all the happier to have my own flock of chickens.  The only thing on my plate that I didn't grow was the bacon, but soon even that will be coming from a farm that is only a ten minute drive from my house.  I don't think it could get any more local than that, and it definitely couldn't taste better!  It was delicious!

Seed Starting Setup

Winter has only just begun, but I am already turning my attentions to the coming Spring.  I am preparing to have home grown seedlings to plant out in my garden when the weather is right and to do that I needed to get some things in order.  First and foremost was setting up the shelves I use for growing my seedlings.  Last year the set up was disorganized and spread out across my living room.  This year I have made the sunny window in my kitchen into my seedling zone.  I set up the shelves next to each other and then proceeded to work out the tangle of cords associated with my grow lights.  I tried to find new bulbs for my existing lights, but was disappointed to be unable to find them at the local hardware store.  I did find some inexpensive LED grow lights that would work, so I added two more lamps to my collection.  In years past I have used recycled 3 inch seed pots from a local nursery, but they took up a lot more space than I had to spare.  This year I was also able to score a couple of professional seed starting trays that would work for me to get things going.  Each tray could start 72 seedlings and only occupy a single shelf.  I think that will work out well as long as I can keep up on potting them up as they grow.  Some seedlings like my broccoli may just get moved outside into a cold frame when they are ready instead up taking up precious space on my seedling shelves.

I use the foil as reflectors to keep as much light pointing at the seedlings as possible.  I want to avoid growing seedlings that are leggy because they didn't get enough light.  As of January second I only have one seed tray planted.  The first crops to go into the dirt were celery, broccoli, sweet bell peppers and basil.  I am hoping to cycle the seedlings to the higher shelves as they outgrow their cells and their low shelf.  If I can stay on top of things, these shelves should start filling out nicely in a month or two.

I decided to keep them in the kitchen because it is one of the sunnier and warmer rooms in the house.  Temperature and humidity play an important role in seed germination.  I generally keep my house fairly cool in the winter, so keeping them in a warm window should help keep things moving along towards the real growing season.  The professional seed trays also come with a light fitting cover to help keep humidity levels right for germinating seeds.  Once things start appearing, the covers will come off to help with air circulation.  I am so excited to think that I will have this year's garden growing in my kitchen in just a few short weeks.

Early Sunrise in the New Year

I was wide awake early this morning and had the distinct pleasure of witnessing a beautiful country sunrise.

 I was intrigued as I watched the scene unfold from dark predawn into a symphony of colors as the sun reached for the edge of the horizon.  The sun lit up the bottoms of the clouds with magenta highlights.

  I quickly hiked to the top of the big hill near my home to capture the moment that the colors reached their peak.

After this moment the darkness began to leave the land and the details of my surroundings began to get clearer.

 The amazing colors that filled the sky only a moment before has quickly began to fade into pastel shades as the sun breached the horizon.

As I walked back to my home I just took in the surrounding valley with the snow covered peaks to the south and the plateau stretching out to the west.  The clouds rolled across the sky ushering in the winter storm that was coming my way.  They hid the high peaks from view and shrouded the top of the plateau in a swirling fog.  I was happy that I got to experience this tiny token of warmth in the midst of a typical cloudy, stormy winter.  

Garden Planning: Figuring Out Planting Dates

Over the past few years gardening, I have been learning all about planting dates.  The weather is different from year to year, so starting things too early can be a bit of a gamble.  The flip side of that is start a crop too late and you might not get a harvest out of it should an early frost come in the fall.  Crops also grow at variable rates depending on the amount of daylight and temperature they are exposed to.  Growing in the mountains poses a unique challenge because during the day the temps can be quite warm and nice, but in the spring and fall, night time temps can plummet which is detrimental to many crops.  Heat loving plants like peppers and tomatoes tend to have a hard time dealing with wild temperature swings and may go dormant if the temps fall too far at night.  Cold loving plants may do well in the spring and fall because they don't mind the temperature dips at night, but during the summer, they don't tolerate the heat of the day well and may bolt if they are too warm for too long.

All of these variables need to be taken into account when planning out a garden.  Another variable that I include when I am planning my planting schedule is the phase of the moon.  I am not typically a hardcore believer in folk lore, but I do believe that the moon phase can influence plant growth.   When you are participating in a natural process like growing plants, I think it is wise to pay attention to the cycles of the earth.  These cycles are what the plants have always taken their cue from and it couldn't hurt to follow their lead.  The idea is that you should plant above ground crops during a waxing moon (getting fuller every day) and you should plant root crops during a waning moon.

This year I am trying a new approach to scheduling my planting dates.  This will be the first year that I am going to track my garden with a monthly planner.  I have kept scattered notes in a notebook in the past, but this is my attempt at being more organized so that I can hopefully be successful in starting a small market garden.  I am still keeping the notebook for crop rotation notes and for mapping out my garden beds, but I want to use the planner to keep myself on track as I attempt to do more succession planting in the garden to make it more productive.  I also plan on tracking germination times for different crops at different times of the year, as well as how long it takes for the crop to reach harvestable size.  I think all of this information will be very useful in the future.

So far in my planner I have mapped out the dates of the full and new moons for each month.  I have also marked the last and first average frost dates for the year.  Those two dates are how I determine when to start seeds, transplant seedlings, or plant crops outside.  Each type of vegetable has it's own set of growing needs and I start seeds keeping in mind how long they will take to grow to a transplantable size.  Some seeds take a long time to germinate and start growing, so those I will be starting the earliest, possibly even this week.  As spring nears I will start the delicate dance of hardening off seedlings - putting them out for a few hours during the day and bringing them in or covering them at night.  Winter has only just begun, but gardening season is just around the corner.  Now is the perfect time to work out the main plans for the coming year.  Of course things will have to get tweaked depending on weather and available time.  Hopefully I will remember to record any hiccups in the planner to help things go even smoother in the future.

The last thing I need to do to be completely ready is to mark down dates for each individual vegetable that I plan on growing.  I want to have a general idea about how many seedlings I will need to plant to fill my garden beds.  I only have a limited number of grow lights, so I will try to start things that I can rotate out quickly in the beginning.  My first round of plantings will most likely involve my brassicas.  I want to try to grow enough broccoli for market as well as for personal use, so I will be starting many seedlings of this variety.  I hope they establish themselves quickly as I want to start hardening them off in the warmer days of late winter.  My goal is to plant them out under plastic low tunnels so I can get an early crop from them.  If I have room I will start some celery seedlings as well.  They won't be able to go out as early as the broccoli, but they take a long time to get big enough for transplanting, so they need to be one of the first to get seeded.

The next groups of vegetables I want to start early would be the peppers and tomatoes.  Those two heat loving crops fare much better if they are fairly good sized by the time they are transplanted.  Last year I started them too close to the last frost date and they just weren't very big when I went to transplant them.  They took a long time to start growing and fruiting, so I hope that by starting them even earlier than usual, that I can get a good head start on the season this year.

Most of my other crops will be direct seeded into the garden later in the season when growing conditions are right.  Things like spinach and peas will still germinate in colder temperatures so they will likely get planted right around the first day of spring if the weather cooperates.  They will be followed by successions of other brassicas, carrots, parsnips and lettuces.  Then some time around the last frost of the spring I will plant out the warm weather successions in the garden.  This will include the cucumbers, squash, beans and corn.  The last frost date also dictates when I can transplant the peppers and tomatoes out in the garden.  I am looking forward to the upcoming growing season and I hope to gain a lot of information about the vegetables that I want to grow for market.