Blanching and Freezing the Harvest

Peas have been picked, shelled, blanched and now placed in the freezer. It really puts it into perspective on how much work goes into a bag a peas,  most people take for granted running to the store and buying a bag of frozen peas for $ .99 

The work is worth it, and knowing where your food comes from, just makes it that much more tasty!

Transplanting Onion starts

 Life seems to be picking up speed at a rapid rate these days, so much going on with family and work... I sometimes wonder where I will find the time to garden...

My heart finds peace in the garden...I must find the time to make it happen!

This afternoon, I found a little time to get the onion starts out.

I used the new square foot planting boards Troy made.... and I love them!!!!

Setting a straight line and then using the planting board, sure made the job a whole lot easier.

 Approximately 150 Ailsa Craig onions planted down the row.The Singing Heart Surprise starts are doing quite well, I sure hope it's not a weed...Time, will tell!

 I transplanted them into an old wine barrel this afternoon, in order to keep them contained until I can figure out what the heck they are!

What a difference a week makes

With all the rain this past week, most of the snow is finally melting off the garden. It sure is good to see dirt again!

Winters in North Idaho can get pretty long!!

The garden is still soggy during the day and night temps are still dropping below freezing. 

For now, seedlings are still inside under grow lights.

On a happy note... My  Meyer Lemon tree is bouncing back from the brink of death...

It was looking rather sad and loosing all of it's leaves...I couldn't get the Winter care just right and couldn't tell if I was over watering, or under watering.. I finally decided to re-pot, and that has seemed to do the trick. 

The leaves are growing back and blossom buds are forming like gang busters. 

I think I finally have a good watering and feeding schedule figured out.

Peppers and Toms are looking good. I have been keeping a cool draft on them to prevent them from growing to fast and getting spindly while they are growing  in the house. We heat with wood, and the house is nice and toasty.

Rutgers Tomato seed is 2 years old and had a 100 % germination rate

Sicilian Saucer Tomato seed is brand new, took about  4 days longer to germinate, and has had a germination rate of about 80%

Let the gardening begin

I couldn't stand it any more... I just had to dig out the cold frames and to see what was actually going on inside the boxes.

At first glance, nothing really exciting! 

I was surprised to actually see anything growing in them at all. Lack of planning on my part...

This box contained carrots that we never got around to picking... and with no extra care on my part, they were left to defend for themselves against the brutal, frigid temps that we experienced later this season.!

After clearing the old tops away...I noticed that many of the carrots had turned to mush.... there are a few diehards in the bunch, that are determined to survive no matter what! 

The Kale, Broccoli, Lettuce and Spinach happened to be left over seedling starts from last season that had been left to die, unloved, and long forgotten about!

The dirt in the frames was pretty frozen. If I plan to overwinter anything this year, I will need to take measures to amend the soil and mulch heavily with straw.

I am just excited to get the boxes opened up and to get gardening!

Who says you can't garden in the snow

Sunday was absolutely beautiful....what a difference sunshine makes! It feels like forever, since I've seen the sun shine that brightly across my snowed in garden.

I decided it was high time to tromp my way across the back yard and see what has been sleeping beneath the snow.

diggin' in a blanket of snow.

A buried treasure would be found!

Jerusalem artichokes, also called Sun Roots, Sun Chokes, and earth apples.

a modest, 2 lb. harvest that is a welcomed treat!



New Garden Signs

Troy actually got a rain out day this week and we were able to team up and make some fun new signs for the garden. This way he can stop asking me "now what is planted here"? ;-)

There was a reason we hung on to those scraps of maple flooring for 10 years. It took us a while but we finally found a use for them ;-)

We left the signs untreated as we love the weathered grey look...It may take them a little while to grey but in the meantime we will enjoy them as is.

Simple Salad

Life has been pretty crazy around the Maltba house lately with school getting out last week, Soccer practices, games, The Farm chick Show, and Troy working ridiculous hours.

It was a beautiful relief to walk out in the garden and grab the ingredients for our first salad of the Season. Just a simple salad but it was fresh,tasty and delicious and grown by us ;-)