Freeze and Rain and rethinking the brownie maker

We are having buckets of rain after 2 days of a freeze. My lettuce had just begun to peek through the soil when the freeze struck; I have covered them with cardboard and hope they are no longer shivering. My indoor seeds have broken through and are being watered by the rain which is pouring in from the slider in the kitchen. This not the watering system I planned. While the soil squares appear to be working, they are not maintaining their shapes and will be hard to transplant into the garden intact. My old system of a series of connected boxes (saved from last year) is much easier and I will use them for tomatoes and maybe some more eggplant and pepper. I am also thinking about planting everything else in the ground directly, which seems to be the easiest way, as long as I can get organic seedlings. I have a couple of local nurseries that I like which are organic and I will supplement with them this season. I am still waiting to hear about a beehive. Once Passover is over, I will start the rest of the seedlings..I don't want trays all over the house because we have tons of guests

Brownies, Marigolds and Chili peppers

So here are the brownies filled with seeds. So far this process was more complicated than filling seed

trays, but after only a few days you can see marigolds starting to bloom. So I will reserve judgment for awhile. I had trouble knowing if the blocks were too moist or not enough, but as long as things grow, it must be OK.

The garlic has been enjoying the 60 degree weather and the chili peppers which wintered inside are enjoying a day in the sun. It will get replanted in the garden in May or June.

I just read the book Plenty and had a book discussion with an environmental group, led by Karen from Sang Lee. It is about a couple who only ate food that came from a 100 mile radius..that meant no flour or oil or anything made with those items. It is a great read, and brought up a debate about local vs organic if you must choose. I just supported my local cheese shop but bought cheese form Spain, Chile and France.

On a less controversial note, Dad and I are planning the outdoor shower we want to build for the summer..yea. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE EVERYONE.

I see some doves

The floods are finally receding and the land is drying out. Huge trees are being cleared, power is being restored and my thoughts are returning  to starting seeds. Today or tomorrow I will learn the art of making soil blocks with my new toy..the soil block maker. Look at Johny's catalog under tools for the video...I think it was nominated for a Tiller Award and its very entertaining. I think you can make brownies the same way. I will keep you posted on my progress.

whoops

dear garden pals..go directly to garden by the sea...I didn't figure out linking yet

Salad mix

I finished tilling all the beds and took the temperature of the ground, which was between 55-60 (according to my yogurt/meat thermometer)...so I took a chance and put in two rows of  salad mix. I'll find out in a month just how crazy and idea this is. I am feeling very eager.

Chickens rule the day

I am multitasking as usual. I am digging chicken soup shit in my garden and cooking chicken shit soup in the kitchen for Passover; I hope I have that straight. We are celebrating a special seder this year for the 6th night of Passover. This is an undercelebrated holiday but is reserved for special family and friends. I have always loved digging. At age 4 I would carry a spoon with me to dig in the cracks of the sidewalk and I would tell my parents' friends that when I grew up, I would be a digger. It took awhile, but I finally achieved the career that I knew would be perfect for me. My garden is almost fully tilled...I needed a break and the soup is smelling wonderful. I have achieved nirvana.

March 4,2010

Hi I am new at this blogging and have just added email notification. If you get this check out the latest real blog called bounty hunting

Bounty hunting

 

Today was the day the snow melted and we decided to clean out the remains of the garden and add the new super moo doo and try our new tiller. We picked our remaining carrots and discovered more hidden brussel sprouts and then tried out the tiller with much success..next step is to do the rest of the garden. More snow is expected this afternoon..must be coming from Colorado.

Jealousy in the garden

After seeing my mom's garden by the sea, and my sister and brother's gardens by the mountains, I, too, want a spectacular garden. Rikesh and I chopped tree limbs and knocked down big shady invaders in the hopes that this season will bring some sun to our darkened little lot. In that case - big plans to build some raised garden beds and share a garden with our neighbors. Here's to hoping! And we plan to use the Pioneer Woman's expert advice to put it all together. In the meantime, we still have our Topsy Turvy planters...

March 2,2010

I just heard of a new great site. It is rareseeds.com and carries all organic and banked seeds. This could be my new favorite. Even planning the garden is a lot of work. I pulled out a dozen carrots today; the ground finally thawed and we will begin to to prepare the soil for planting. Sprouts of garlic from the fall are popping up. Another interesting site to look at is Lasagne Gardening...it describes how to start a garden from scratch.

Feb 16, 2010

I decided to order today anyway while I have time. I am using Johnny's seeds for most of my garden. They have organic and heirloom seeds and you can get them treated or untreated with pesticides if they are not available organic. To start the seeds I ordered a tool that produces little blocks of soil with a hole punched in each block as a way of starting the seeds indoors. One of the plants I wanted was an Adirondack Purple potato, which had already sold out. I can next year I will order earlier. I also ordered signs that can be written on and erased with alcohol to keep things straight when they go in the garden. I ordered a few miscellaneous items from Gardeners.com. Both these companies are easy and friendly to deal with, unlike Cooks.com which I used last year.

Feb. 15, 2010

Went on the gardeners.com web site to use their interactive garden planning tool. It is a free tool that allows you to plan the location of your veggies and it tells you how much of each seed you need to produce the quantity of food you want. That was tricky last year  when I was flush with brussel sprouts. I used the Great Garden Companions  Book by Sally Jean Cunningham to plan the vegetable neighborhoods. My next step will be to order seeds; I think there is no great hurry yet.

Jan. 30,2010

We bought our favorite manure today in Vermont-MooDoo. It seems to help produce mutant size veggies and is all organic.

January 15,2010

Mike has started his master gardening course and it seems we were on track last year with our efforts..that is reassuring to know.

January 5, 2010

It is the start of the new year for my 2cnd garden. The garden is covered with snow and at least 2 dozen carrots are buried beneath leaves under the snow. I am looking forward to picking them when the groubd thaws and am beginning to plan what the new garden will hold this year.