width=”549″ height=”412″ /> Saturday we had a rare occurrence here in the Pacific Northwest, this large ball of warm gas, which in some areas they refer to as the sun made an appearance. It raised the temperature so much I had to take the cover off my winter garden so I decided to do a little weeding and take some pictures. The Chinese cabbage (bok choy) is looking great…
width=”549″ height=”412″ /> The weather is starting to get colder (yesterday woke up to 37F) but still in safe ranges for my winter garden which is doing great. An abundance of Kale and arugula and chard and bok choy are getting pretty close to harvest. Broccoli is taking its time like it should. I also planted some chives, onions which I started from seeds several week ago. I have…
width=”550″ height=”412″ /> I normally get burned out over the spring/fall and don’t do much for the fall/winter season. This year I decided I want to have a nice selection of winter veggies so I am going all out and start my winter garden. In the garden now are kale, broccoli, bok choy, carrots, spinach, romaine lettuce, arugula (one of the most profitable vegetables), bunching onions, garlic, and leeks. …
Every time I have a discussion with a beginner gardener, this is the most common question. Typically the answer involves figuring out your last frost date then doing some backwards math when to start your seeds or purchase your plants from your local nursery. The problem with this is there is an assumption of the rate at which temperatures will increase after this no frost date. It doesn’t really…
Just to show our level of rain in the Pacific Northwest, I must have misplaced a couple of garlic cloves when I was braiding my garlic last summer since I noticed 4 garlic plants growing in the gravel next to my driveway. Even with the less than ideal “soil” they were growing in they have some decent looking root structure. Provided my garden has a no plant left behind…
I normally hang my garlic off my bike to allow it to cure and store to use over the winter, but given the large amount of garlic I have grown and I have gotten into better shape and am actually using my bike, I decided to attempt to create a pretty garlic braid. After spending a 10-15 minutes checking on the internet on the various knots and techniques to…
I like to use garlic powder for making my own BBQ rubs and in cooking where I am too lazy to cut up some fresh garlic. Whenever I go to buy garlic powder at the grocery store I normally end up convincing myself to get 11 ounces of garlic salt at $3.99 versus the $7.49 for a 9 ounce container of garlic powder. Though this not what I really…
I decided to take the day off to catch up on some things at home and as I ended up outside of course I went right to the garden. We have seen a few warm days here in the Northwest and in my area we haven’t dipped under 40 degrees at night so seemed like a good time to plant a few of my tomatoes spending their time this…
I either forgot to harvest a couple bulbs of garlic, or the mild winter we had in the Northwest may have allowed the garlic I planted last fall to slowly develop some bulbs. Thinking the first option is more likely, but did present me with a problem of some very tightly grouped garlic. Fortunately the solution to this problem was very simple. I pulled up the garlic bunches and…
Big moment this week, I was able to make salsa entirely from ingredients. I normally don’t use cherry/grape tomatoes for salsa but my Early Girls are not that early this year and have not quite turned red. CVG Garden Salsa Recipe 2-3 tomatoes (or 12-15 cherry/grape tomatoes) 2 cloves garlic 1 small onion green onion 5 sprigs of cilantro tablespoon vinegar 1 jalapeno pepper (seeded) sugar Directions: Coarsely chop…
Your mission, should you decide to accept it is to infiltrate a local farmers market to gain intelligence to help aid your personal garden. Sure, the farmers market is a great place to find some fresh food you can’t or didn’t have time/space to grow in your garden. It is also a great place to get seeds/starts for your garden. It is also a great resource to figure out…
Well I wasn’t planning on growing potatoes this year but looks like I have a couple of volunteers from last year. This could turn out to be a fortunately accident since they are currently growing under my onions and garlic. If they happen to stay low enough might actually get two decent crops in the same square footage. Any predictions?