Tag Archives: kale

My newly planted fall square foot garden

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fall garden 091315I’ve finished planting this 4X8′ square foot garden about 10 days ago. I can find seeds emerging in every square and in 6 weeks this will look very similar to my spring gardens. This particular box was planted to feed 4 people for a 6 week block of time. You can see that lettuce will be the first crop to be harvested. At about the same time will be spinach, chard, and mizuna. These are all easy to grow, they come up quickly, and they taste great. I think I’ve added some arugula in there. I found a variety that’s advertised as “much milder” than regular arugula so I’m giving it a try. All these make for a perfect mix-and-match mesclun salad. Add to this the cherry tomatoes that are still very productive and cucumbers and you’ve got something really good.

This weekend I continued planting for the winter garden. Over the course of the next 6 weeks I’ll be done with that. It takes a bit of planning but with the right crops, the right planting dates, and a layer of plastic and floating row cover you can easily enjoy fresh produce and veggies all winter long. At least, that’s the goal. We’ve got a few extra people living with us so we might run out a little earlier than we have in the past. Thats okay, it will be deep into the winter months if/when that happens. [ois skin=”1″]

Planting your fall square foot garden

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kale 090715I’ve been working pretty hard the last 2 weeks in the last effort to plant for fall and winter.  Today I planted 200 carrot seeds which will take us through the spring. Why that many?  Because that’s the amount our family will use though the winter months.  Certified Square Foot Gardening instructors always stress the point that you only grow what you need, what your family eats, and nothing more.

My fall garden is just about all planted now.  I’m waiting on one specialty packet of arugula seeds to finish.  This particular variety grows quickly-like most arugula plants do-but it’s got a milder pepper flavor.  That’s how it’s advertised.  We’ll see if that’s accurate.  In the meantime, I’ve just got a couple of square open for radishes(30 days till harvest), and a couple more for lettuce.  Combined with my huge bounty of cherry tomatoes, chard, spinach, and cucumbers, we are set to have a fantastic fall season of salads.  I’m trying not to boast but nobody can beat the taste of the lettuces I grow.  It’s more than just the varieties, although I think that’s important.  I think the soil is the other very important factor.

All my crops are grown in homemade compost made for free with items coming out of the kitchen and yard.  I have no weeds.  I use no commercial fertilizer.  I have no pests.  I have no use for chemicals of any kind.  Everything is watered just the right amount and harvested at the right time of day.  If you don’t have a garden you’re really missing out on some of the most tasty things in life.  You can beat any farm, CSA, or farmers market by growing lettuce yourself once you learn how.  Last night we had family over for margherita pizza on the grill, cheese bread, and salad.  This particular salad was Paris Cos, pepper jack cheese, homemade croutons, craisins, sunflower seeds, candied walnuts, cucumbers(the best ever!), and my cherry tomatoes(which taste like pure sugar!).  I combined blue cheese and poppy seed for the dressing.  Our guests raved.  So simple.  So good.  Done for pennies.  All from a trip to your garden.

This picture is a kale variety.  I initially ordered winterbor but the seed company was out for the entire year.  The substitute they sent me was starbor, and I’m not sure I’ll grow any other kale variety in the future.  It performed very well with heavy yields and excellent taste.  And it was magic through the hot summer months of July and August[ois skin=”1″]

A summer square foot garden

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summer green onionsWith some advanced planning you can have delicious scallions to go along with your other salad greens.  Scallions, or green onions, that have been just pulled, like everything else, have an exceptional taste compared to what you’re used to from the store.

I like to grow everything from seed.  There’s  several reasons why I do that. First, I know how they have been taken care of.  Proper growing conditions, consistent watering, and a true organic environment are things you don’t know about when purchasing transplants.  Second, the price of seeds vs. transplants.  I can spend $3 on a packet of scallions and I”ll have enough to grow for 2 years.  For that same price you’ll get 15-20 scallions starts.  The satisfaction of being able to start your own crops and then have them go from garden to table is very rewarding.  The third reason is taste.  These homegrown scallions are much milder and sweeter than store bought.  One other advantage is you can use a dibble to plant your newly starts of scallions a lot deeper than you would by just planting 16 seeds per square foot.  This means that the white part of the scallion can be much taller, which is a good thing.  There’s nothing like having a green onion with a white stem thats 6 plus inches tall rather than the 1 inch ones you buy at the store.

In terms of timing, scallions will take 100 days from seed to harvest.  These were started long ago and are ready for harvest.  Right now is the perfect time to sprout scallions for your fall/winter harvest.  The timing will be perfect.  They will be large enough to either harvest or to keep in the ground to last throughout the winter season.  Give them a try, you’ll be glad you did[ois skin=”1″]

Square Foot Gardening-2nd class

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amended square of soilI will be having my second square foot gardening class on April 11th beginning promptly at 11:00 AM and ending at 1:00 PM. This class is conducted as a workshop. We will be doing all the basic things needed to have a successful SFG, along with the advanced techniques as well. Space is limited so if you’re interested in attending, please contact me by email at: jrt2020_2@msn.com. Price for the class is $25 per person.

In addition to the previous information, we will be spending time on how to protect your gardens in spring, summer and fall, vertical gardening, making great compost, and getting the most efficiency as possible out of your gardens. Please bring a pair of gloves.

At the time of this class you’ll see a square foot garden in full bloom. Normally at this time of year your friendly neighborhood gardeners are getting out their rototillers and working soil that is partly frozen and still wet. Come on out to see how easy it is to grow delicious, healthy food. The goal of attending this class is to leave not having to ask anybody else about how to do something in the SFG system because you’re now the newest expert in the neighborhood. There will be a small line of specialty lettuce seeds available for the summer months at $4 per pack. These varieties can’t be bought anywhere in the state of Utah and I promise you’ll be amazed at not only their taste, but also their appearance.

As the spring season comes roaring in, be sure to sign up for my free seasonal newsletter. I won’t over do it-you’ll only get 4 newsletters per year but I discuss many questions that people have and why we do things a certain way that might not make sense. For instance, look at the square in the picture of this post. Notice the deep, dark square of newly amended soil that’s ready to plant. Anything will grow in this mix. You’ll learn how easy it is to make it. After all, if you don’t get the soil right, nothing else really matters[ois skin=”1″]

Time to start thinking “fall”

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fall crop kale 091513It sure is hard to believe summer is almost over. Seems it just got here. In zone 6, it’s time to think about your fall garden. If you’ve had a fun summer and want to put your gardens away for the year that’s great. But you’d be missing out on the best season of all-fall and even winter for those wanting to do just a little more work. Right now is the time to direct seed certain crops that will be ready in late fall-things like kale, carrots, beets, etc. If you’re lucking enough to be in a place where they have brussel sprout plants-now’s the time to put those in. In another few weeks it will be time to plant your entire fall/winter garden. There is little work. And the crops for winter are the absolute best! I have my first fall/winter garden class on August 16th. We’ll spend a minimum amount of time on the SFG system since participants will usually have their favorite gardening methods. For those who want to learn the SFG way-this will cover it. It’s abbreviated because we don’t spend time on things that you can’t do at this time of year-like vertical gardening. But you’ll leave with the basics. Then we are putting together a variety of low tunnels. These enable you to grow all fall and deep into the winter if that’s your goal. I’ll be bending your electrical conduit right here so you leave all set to go. If you’re garden space is big enough you can go right through winter. We’ll talk about protection methods, and then I will be discussing the crops that do best in our zone. I’ll spend additional time on the “dandy dozen” for winter. Also available for purchase will be a small sampling of seed packs at $4 each. Some may be things you’ve never known about but they will have you looking forward to each fall and/or winter season. If you’re local, please let me know if you’d be interested in attending. I’ll have another class in late August.[ois skin=”below post”]