Sunday’s indoor task was to process 14 quarts of soup stock made on Saturday in a water bath.
That was easy because mostly it is about filling jars, waiting for the water to boil, then setting a timer.
That part of the mission was accomplished.
The rest of the day was outdoors where I planted hot peppers (three varieties of Jalapeno, Serrano and Bangkok), put Brandywine tomato seedlings in the ground, and filled in the small number of gaps where first-planted seedlings didn’t take.
I mowed and collected grass clippings for mulch — a two hour project that was repeatedly halted to clear the tube leading to the bags. There were more clogs than usual. Once mulched, I re-arranged the fencing and installed a lightweight high fence around the kale-hot pepper plot to deter deer from jumping the fence. It looks home made, but was no cost and will serve.
A rabbit was munching or resting in the former lettuce patch. It ran for the thicket as I approached.
Despite a tiring day of work, not everything got done as planned.
With zero percent chance of precipitation until 10 p.m., I expect to finish spring planting today.
The plan developed yesterday was modified. Carmen decided there wasn’t enough soil blocking to make it worth a trip to the farm this weekend. It was alright by me. My soil blocking work is almost finished with only winter crops remaining to be started.
Except for processing quarts of soup stock in a water bath, today is planned outside until the work is done.
Turk’s Turban Squash Seedlings
The rain let up yesterday long enough to weed. Encouraged by the condition of the soil, I cleaned space in the plot under the locust tree and planted cucumbers: slicers (Marketmore, Olympian and Poinsett), Diva seedless, and pickling (Northern organic and a hybrid). I designed, built and installed new welded wire vertical cucumber cages to save garden space. It’s an experiment growing cucumbers under the locust tree, but a couple years back I tried it and the morning shade appeared to be good for the plants, protecting them from the intense and long sunny drought conditions we often find in Iowa.
Once finished with cucumbers, another short, heavy rain came through, curtailing additional outside activity for the day.
Plenty of seedlings remain to be planted, given away or composted.
The Weather Channel application serves gardeners with a busy schedule.
The forecast called for rain through the 4 a.m. hour. At 4:22 a.m. the gentle rain we crave is ending.
Garden soil will be too wet for planting, so I’ll switch my soil blocking schedule at the farm for today after a work session in the garage. The change will clear tomorrow for planting.
At least those are the plans.
I bought two 50-foot rolls of 48-inch chicken wire after work at the home, farm and auto supply store for $43.74 or about a third of my yard and garden expenditures this year. Some current fencing needs replaced, but mostly new planting areas need protection from deer. I hope 100 yards is enough.
By setting fence walls in close proximity there is no room for deer to stand if they jump over. This tactic has been successful in the constant dialectic between plant predators and garden hopes. Rabbits have plenty of food outside the garden, so they are less of a threat. Chicken wire keeps them out most of the time.
Planting this weekend includes Brandywine tomato seedlings, hot peppers in one bed and bell peppers in another, Turk’s Turban squash seedlings and cucumbers. Initial planting will be considered finished if I get that done.
Radishes, spring garlic and turnip greens were ready for harvest.
It was the beginning of a day of gardening and cooking as good as takes place anywhere in the world.
The combination of today’s harvest, previous pickings in the ice box and bits and pieces made for a day close to the soil and replete with tasty and nutritious food.
It’s what gardeners live for.
I started a pot of turnip stock made of carrot, onion, celery, bay leaves, chervil and a large bunch of freshly picked and cleaned turnip greens. After bringing it to a boil, I turned down the heat and simmered it for most of the day. It made about a gallon.
After working in the yard and garden all day I came inside, strained the stock and used two cups to make rice for a casserole. I pulled the last bottle of Pinot Noir from the cooler, poured a glass and sipped while cooking our meal.
The casserole included three eggs from a friend’s farm, sauteed onion and spring garlic, along with wilted greens from the farm. I added a quarter cup dried parsley to the ingredients in a large stainless steel bowl, mixed and turned it into a buttered baking dish. I topped the casserole with Parmesan cheese and baked for 30-35 minutes. Once the casserole was in the oven I made small salads with lettuce from the ice box. There was part of a cucumber, carrot, radishes, Vidalia onion, and prepared kidney beans. Dressing was commercial, organic balsamic from the ice box.
To live life one must either cook or quit. As hard as Saturday’s work was, I’m not ready to quit.
Kubichek Plumbing Yard Stick
The priority among the endless yard and garden tasks is getting the rest of spring planting finished.
Chives
I fenced the sprouted green beans, planted basil, and deconstructed last year’s kale patch for this year’s tomatoes. I left the row of peas.
I measured the plot. If the tomato seedlings are 36 inches apart, there is room for 20 without digging up the peas. The ground was full of earthworms when I spaded it.
Needing mulch for the tomatoes, I mowed with the grass catcher. The second cut was less than the first. I piled them where the bell pepper plants will go. When the sun comes up today I’ll finish preparing the soil.
The day was full of work. I caught a tomato cage in the mower and took a half hour to jack the front end up and remove it from around the blade. There was trimming, raking and watering. Temperatures were close to 80 degrees, but it didn’t seem hot.
After dinner it didn’t take long to fold laundry and fall asleep with the feeling it was a day well spent.
Monday morning I moved the last two trays of tomato seedlings outside.
Since February, seedlings crowded around the windows of our bedroom. Now the race is on to get them in the ground.
Ours is a garden designed to keep expenses low and minimize our carbon footprint. I’d prefer a small greenhouse though we didn’t have resources to make one this year.
Seedlings are coming along well. There are way too many of some varieties and once the garden is established, excess will be given away or sold.
Saturday I planted 26 kale plants — three varieties in two rows. This is a money crop for a food to funds project I am working on for Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility. Like many non-profits, our discretionary funds are limited. We hope to convert kale to cash for projects outside grant specific projects. There is never enough of those funds. Not sure how it will go, but I’m doubling kale production from last year which had everyone in my network who wanted it flush with the green and red leaves.
With the early lettuce harvested, the next crops are spring garlic and onions, turnip leaves, radishes and oregano. Once the tomatoes and peppers are in the ground there will be a sigh of relief and the tenor of late spring will turn to summer.
My to-do list was long, the weather sunny and dry, and danger for frost long past.
It was time to focus on planting.
The blustery day took its toll long before everything was erased from the white board.
As readers can see from the diagram, indecision plagued execution of the planting. In the end, I planted more kale than expected (26 plants of three varieties in two rows) and left the rest open. The morning after, I plan to wait until the soil warms a bit and plant a long row of hot peppers (5 varieties, spaced 18 inches in a 19-foot row) and finish with two rows of red beans in this plot. While I planned to work two plots, the wind took my energy before starting the second and the clock timed out.
Saturday Plan
I slept nine hours last night.
Later this morning it’s back to work at the farm. Most seedlings will be outside seasoning while I’m gone as the tray-based numbers diminish and move to the soil.
Life is not only about gardening as much as some days I wish it were.
My solar-powered garden radio pulled in a signal with The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart while I was breaking up the clods of turned soil with a hoe. After my shower, I found this bar-graph version of the overture, which helped me better understand the music.
The fields were too wet for planting this week so farmers took on other projects and came to town.
Partly as a result, sales were up at the home, farm and auto supply store.
One of the highlights of working there is listening to narratives about the projects in which people engage. Customers seek specific hardware to meet practical needs in a turbulent world.
For a lot of customers, coming to town is fun and it rubs off.
This weekend’s project in Big Grove is planting two plots in the garden.
You’d think that with seeds and seedlings in the bedroom since February I’d have more of a layout for the crops. I’m working a 9 by 19 foot plot first, having turned it before the rains and applied compost this morning. A long row of kale will go in for sure. After that, I’m not sure. As I condition the soil with a hoe and rake there’s more time for consideration.
If my plan for growing seedlings was that of an experienced gardener, how I execute the actual space will be the work of an artist. As long as some vegetables are produced, I’ll enjoy gardening while I may.
Leaves of potatoes burst through the surface of the soil revealing robust growth and hope for a crop.
During last night’s inspection I realized why many of us garden — we are born of the soil and all it produces.
Recent rain boosted everything.
I’ve been seasoning seedlings outside and am ready to plant them all. The question is weather and availability. There is slight chance of rain today so the soil should be dry enough to work. I have a couple of hours of daylight when I finish at the home, farm and auto supply store. If all goes well, another plot can be planted with kale, cucumbers and beans tonight.
Suffice it that under my Carhartt overalls, Oracle T-shirt, Dickies socks, Calvin Klein underwear, University Square Industries cap, Rugged Wear ventilated gloves and government-issued army boots my nakedness kept its own sensible and properly hidden vigil.
I worked our small plot of land the whole day. By the end of the shift I was drained with no energy left to drive 30 minutes each way to a political event in Coralville.
Onions Between the Compost and Daylillies
Contrary to the advertisements, I don’t think “nature” intended anything regarding humans wearing clothing to garden. In fact, there is not much “natural” about gardening. We have specific intent as to what will happen in each plot we plant. We cultivate things the same way we do with any aspect of human culture. “Gardening” is a human creation. The idea of taking off clothing to weed thistles borders masochism. The idea of turning soil with a spade and without shoes would be nutty.
Row of Peas
A lot of gardening got done despite the clothing.
Except for driving my car from the garage to an impromptu parking spot on the lawn, and collecting grass clippings for the garden, my direct use of internal combustion engines yesterday was minimal.
I worry a bit about the nuclear reactor generated electricity stored in the batteries for my trimmer, but other than that, it was a low impact day.
The lettuce planted March 2 is ready to harvest. Too closely planted turnip seeds are producing leaves an inch long. They are tender and require thinning if I want any turnip roots from the row. There are some carrots in my sunken containers, but not as many germinated as expected. There is plenty of lettuce for salads and tacos, and the prospect of turnip greens both for salads and a batch of soup stock. Those things are going well in the garden.
Belgian Lettuce
What’s going less well is the spring garlic. After producing in abundance for many years, this year’s crop will be less. I’m not sure why. Too, the extra warm weather is slowing growth of radishes. Hopefully the first row will mature in the next week or so. Both of these crops will be donated for charity sales planned for next weekend — that is, if they produce by then.
Thinking horizontally, and having great hope, I planted broccoli in two rows. Last year brassica oleracea cultivar didn’t produce, despite many efforts to protect the plants. Using a batch of old tomato cages as support, I buried chicken wire about an inch deep in the soil around each seedling. The cages are tall enough to keep deer away while the plants are young, and hopefully the rodents and rabbits won’t find their way through the chicken wire. Once the plants take off, I’ll high-fence the rows. Fingers crossed, since home-grown broccoli is the best and we missed out on it last year.
It took the usual two plus hours for the spring harvest of grass clippings. I cut the lawn short, collect the clippings using the bagging attachment, and piled them up for use in the next week or so. For one of the few time during the growing season, my lawn is shorter than the neighbors — not that I’m paying attention to that. Mulch is critical to minimizing well water use, and grass clippings are free but for the labor of collecting them. Today’s plan is to spread them around.
Garden Viewed from the North
Determined to capture new images, I took some photographs before going inside for the day. Our 0.62 acre lot is not big, but there is a diversity of habitat here. The rodents are free to leave any time they wish, and I attempt symbiosis with deer who have been traveling through our lot for much longer than our home has been here. Here’s a short gallery of some favorite new photos from Saturday.
New Growth on the Blue SpruceBird’s Nest in the Golden Delicious Apple Tree StumpApple Tree After Subzero Weather Pruning
Tomorrow’s 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby serves notice the race is on to finish spring garden planting.
Planting is never completely done.
What I mean is putting seeds in the ground and moving the 10 trays of seedlings from our bedroom to the garden soil by Memorial Day.
The coming weekend will be prime time for planting.
Our warehouse club sent a notice of a fruit and vegetable recall yesterday. Here’s the scary first paragraph the company posted on their web site:
As a precaution, CRF Frozen Foods of Pasco, Washington is expanding its voluntary recall of frozen organic and traditional fruits and vegetables. We are performing this voluntary recall in cooperation with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) because these products have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The organism can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.
We checked all of the noted items in our freezer and there were no recalled items. The recall renewed interest in growing as much of our own food as we can and knowing the farmer on the rest. It is hard to avoid consumer products produced in large quantities, but the Listeria hysteria is a reason to minimize their use. The perfect attitude adjustment going into the garden work weekend.
There is a lot of work to do during the next three weeks. I’ve been reviewing weather forecasts since Monday and it looks like a chance of rain Saturday afternoon, but otherwise, clear.
It will be a rush of digging, raking, planting and mulching. A pivot point toward summer.
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