Planting in February

After days of rain, the Sun finally decided to peak out...It was beautiful and abnormally warm for this time of year.  I took advantage of the weather and planted a few garden goodies, pushing the limits and testing seed hardiness for my growing zone.. 

Who says you can't garden in the Winter?

Radish seeds are amazing. After soaking, these little guys unfolded overnight and begged to be put in the dirt. 

The main garden is still under snow, but the soil in the greenhouse is totally workable.

I also planted a few squares of beets in the greenhouse too.

White Sugar beets were planted in one of the cold frames. The seeds are covered with vermiculite to make it easier to identify seeds from the weeds. There are a few Spinach and lettuce starts in this frame as well, and they should really take off after February 15th.,  when the daylight hours are up to 10 hrs. again.

Melting out

The chives have started to wake up from their Winter's nap, inside the greenhouse...Such a welcoming sign to see the first glimpse of Spring.

I have been keeping the cold frames shoveled out, allowing access thru the Winter...With the rains this week, the snow is melting away from this spot first.

Inside the cold frames...The Mache' has overwintered well and is happily growing along. 

Eager for the snow to leave my garden faster, I shoveled the paths clear.

Eager for the snow to leave my garden faster, I shoveled the paths clear. Only 39 days until SPRING!!!!

Starting Sweet Potato Slips

Do you love Sweet Potatoes as much as we do?

This year we will try and grow sweet Potatoes in our garden. 

We will be growing our own slips using USDA certified Organic Sweet Potatoes that we purchased from Costco.

We've cut the Potatoes in half ...

Placed them in a container of water and put them in a sunny location in the kitchen window and will wait for sprouting and rooting to occur.

I Know Better!

I can't help myself.....It's a seed disorder!

I know better than to go into any Home Improvement, Garden, or Farm and Feed store that is selling seeds this time of year!

Those little colorful packets just draw me in...They can spot this sucker a mile away.

I fall for it

HOOK...LINE...and SINKER!

A few more seeds added to my ever growing  list, shouldn't hurt...right?

By the way....Did you know that you can meet the nicest old men in the seed packet isle ready and willing to talk your ear off about starting petunias and saving carrots in buckets of sand...

Looks like I'm not the only one with Spring Fever!

The Plans

Here is a look at tentative plans using the Grow veg garden Planner for my 2015 vegetable gardens. Planning for early crops, main crops, and winter crops.

The Main Vegetable Garden

. 

The Upper Garden

In order for this garden to work , I will need to get deer fencing installed...Otherwise it is pointless to plant and have it devoured by Deer. 

A low row tunnel is also planned in this garden for a Winter Harvest of Lettuce, Mache, Turnips, Carrots, Beets, and Cabbage.

Raised beds in the Greenhouse 

Greenhouse planting is planned to harvest Peppers, Tomatoes and Butternut Squash for Summer and Carrots and Parsnips for Winter harvest.

Dirt under my nails!

 Dirt under my nails in January.....Priceless!

 Cleaned out the raised beds inside the greenhouse today...

Little starts came out and enjoyed fresh daylight and cool, fresh, air!

It feels so good to be gardening, when there is still snow on the ground.

When to start seeds indoors?

Recently, I found the Johnny's Seed calculator that has a more extensive vegetable and flower seed starting list than what I had been using. 

You just enter your last Spring frost date and the calculator does all the work for you... 

What a time saver!

Check out the link at Johnnys Seed Planting Calculator to customize and adjust the calculator to your own growing zone. 

Trying to keep myself a little more organized this year, I have created a printable chart that includes the vegetables that will be grown in my garden this year. 

Following the planting guidelines from the Johnny's chart I will adjust the exact planting dates according to the Farmers Almanac and personal preference.

Below is an example chart from Johnny's using my average last frost free date of May 15th.

Enter spring frost-free date (include year):				mm/dd/yyyy
Crop	Number of weeks to start seeds before setting-out date	When To start inside			Setting-out date
		From	To	Safe time to set out plants (relative to frost-free date)	From	To
Artichoke	8	20-Mar		on frost-free date	15-May
Basil	6	10-Apr		1 week after	22-May
Beets*	4 to 6	20-Mar	3-Apr	2 weeks before	1-May
Broccoli	4 to 6	20-Mar	3-Apr	2 weeks before	1-May
Cabbage	4 to 6	6-Mar	17-Apr	4 weeks before	17-Apr	15-May
Cauliflower	4 to 6	20-Mar	17-Apr	2 weeks before	1-May	15-May
Celery & celeriac	10 to 12	27-Feb	13-Mar	1 week after	22-May
Collards	4 to 6	6-Mar	20-Mar	4 weeks before	17-Apr
Corn salad/mache	4 to 6	20-Feb	27-Mar	3 to 6 weeks before	3-Apr	24-Apr
Corn*	2 to 4	17-Apr	15-May	0 to 2 weeks after	15-May	29-May
Cucumber	3 to 4	24-Apr	8-May	1 to 2 weeks after	22-May	29-May
Eggplant	8 to 10	20-Mar	10-Apr	2 to 3 weeks after	29-May	5-Jun
Kale	4 to 6	6-Mar	20-Mar	4 weeks before	17-Apr
Kohlrabi*	4 to 6	6-Mar	20-Mar	4 weeks before	17-Apr
Leeks	8 to 10	20-Feb	6-Mar	2 weeks before	1-May
Lettuce	4 to 5	13-Mar	27-Mar	3 to 4 weeks before	17-Apr	24-Apr
Melons	3 to 4	1-May	8-May	2 weeks after	29-May
Mustard*	4 to 6	6-Mar	20-Mar	4 weeks before	17-Apr
Okra*	4 to 6	17-Apr	15-May	2 to 4 weeks after	29-May	12-Jun
Onions	8 to 10	6-Feb	20-Feb	4 weeks before	17-Apr
Parsley	9 to 10	13-Feb	27-Feb	2 to 3 weeks before	24-Apr	1-May
Peas*	3 to 4	20-Feb	13-Mar	6 to 8 weeks before	20-Mar	3-Apr
Peppers	8	3-Apr		2 weeks after	29-May
Pumpkins	3 to 4	1-May	8-May	2 weeks after	29-May
Spinach	4 to 6	20-Feb	27-Mar	3 to 6 weeks before	3-Apr	24-Apr
Squash	3 to 4	1-May	8-May	2 weeks after	29-May
Swiss chard	4 to 6	20-Mar	3-Apr	2 weeks before	1-May
Tomatoes	6 to 8	27-Mar	17-Apr	1 to 2 weeks after	22-May	29-May
Watermelon	3 to 4	1-May	8-May	2 weeks after	29-May

Winter Reading

Catching up on my Winter reading and making plans for the year ahead...

Here's a look at what I'm reading now.

I would love to be harvesting more through the Winter Months...So, it looks like planning is in store. 

Timing is everything!

Winter Gardening is on my list of goals for 2015. I will be adding a row cover this season to extend the harvest.

It's Growing to be a good year!

After cleaning out and organizing my Seed Case, I have come up with a list of seeds that I will be planting in my 2015 garden.

It is so hard not to be sucked into all those tempting seed catalogs in depths of winter...

I have many  Heirloom seeds on hand and will use up what I have, but  to subdue my gardenitus, I've ordered a few new varieties too!

Here's a look at what will be growing in my garden this year...
* new varieties added

Beans 

Calypso

Provider

Blue Lake

Tongue of Fire *

Scarlet Runner

Beet

Chioggia *

Crosby *

    Sugar *
                            

Broccoli

Bellstar

Cabbage

Golden Acre

January King

Carrot

Pusa Asista (Black) *

Pusa Rudhira (Red) *

Tendersweet*

Cucumber

Boston Pickling

Corn

Early Sunglow

Corn Salad-Mache'

                                   D Etampes                               

                           French Delight                        

Kale

Dwarf Blue Curled Scotch

Scarlet Kale *

Leek

American Flag

Summer

Lettuce

Forellenschluss

Four Seasons

Paris Island Romaine

Red Salad Bowl

Tom Thumb

Tomato

Black Krim *

Kellogs Breakfast *

Rutgers

Sicilian Saucer

Sungold

Onion

AilsaCraig

Parsnips

Harris Model

Peas

Alaska

Cascadia

Little Marvel

Pepper

Alma Paprika *

Hungarian

Kalmans Hungarian *

King of the North *

Sweet Banana

Summer Squash

Black Beauty

Winter Squash

Jarrahdale

Flowers

Echinacea- Tiki Torch

Pansy

Nasturtium Whirlybird mix

Marigold Hero Mix

Sunflowers

Zinnia Cherry Queen

Here's to a Prosperous and Fruitful New Year in the garden!

I've had a little time to sit and reflect on the garden and the past year, I find myself overjoyed with the outcome and results of the harvest that we were able achieve in our small home garden. 

Each year is a learning curve!  There has been success and failures along the way, yet I have a hankering to learn so much more. 

Keeping track of produce last year, gave me a real  perspective on harvest totals.

571 lbs of edible produce for the family.....Can you believe that?  

It was a few short years ago that I was gardening in one 4ft.by 4ft. square. Well, things have gotten a whole lot dirtier since then, and the garden has grown some!

So, after giving it some thought....Here's what I would like to achieve in my garden, this year...

• Prune Apple trees and apply Dormant Oil Spray 
• Plan and execute better succession plantings
• Start flower seeds sooner
• Sow seeds for winter harvest....This will be a learning curve.
• Add a new heirloom variety
• Save more seeds
• Add at least one row tunnel for fall and winter 
• Make a worm composting bin
• and get more canning done

Storing the Harvest

 Onions are added to almost every meal cooked  here at the Cedar House.

I wasn't always an onion lover.

I eventually learned to stop picking them off my plate, and acquired a true  love for Alliums.

This year there was an abundant harvest of Ailsa-Craig Heirloom onions in our garden. While these onions are amazing, they are not for long term storage.

You can check out my previous post about the harvest here: onion-harvest 2014

We keep the onions stored in a harvest basket, on the cold, hardwood floor in the kitchen. While we use a lot of onions, we still haven't made our way through the basket. 

Some of the onions are starting to sprout, and some are starting to get soft and squishy...eeww!

So, for today's project...Time to sort onions into Sprouters, Dryers and Keepers.

The Sprouters will be planted in pots for now, and then transplanted in the garden this Spring. 

I have high hopes to save seed from these delicious heirlooms.

The Dryers, were cut and placed in the dehydrator. Drying will take place in the greenhouse to keep the eye burning smell out of the house, until they are dry.

The Keepers are still in good shape and will remain on the farm table for future meals.