Author Archives: Jim

About Jim

I'm a certified square foot gardening instructor that enjoys teaching others how to grow their own great, healthy, organic food. I also enjoy cooking, biking, playing my guitar, reading, and card magic.

Got leeks?

Leave a reply

leek and potato soupThis is gardening site but the taste of some of the things coming out of the garden just can’t be matched anywhere! This potato leek soup was our dinner tonight, along with fresh harvested corn and toasted baguettes. You can buy all of the things you need to make this at any grocery store, but you cannot come close to what it tastes like with just harvested fresh crops. Potatoes, leeks, and chives-so easy, and so good. In the SFG system, you can sneak by with 9 leaks per square. A traditional row garden will take up 3 linear feet to have the same yield. You can decide which system is better. These are bandit leeks from JSS.[ois skin=”below post”]

This is a summer lettuce!

Leave a reply

cherokee summer lettuce 081516This tastes so awesome! No bitterness at all-a bavarian lettuce variety that grew right through a couple of 100 degree days and most the rest of the days in the mid to high 90’s. There are some very unique advantages to the SFG system, and this shows why. If you can protect your crops and lower the temperatures by 10-15 degrees, you can do anything you want with lettuce. For most folks the hot weather is largely behind us. Maybe southern California with it’s hot month of September is a candidate for this. You really should give it a try. If you’re tired of lettuce failure in the summer months and the bitter taste of the lettuce that remains in late spring, try some of these great summer lettuces.

[ois skin=”below post”]

How to have a great fall/winter garden

4 Replies

harvest greens on 121613 after a 7 degree nightFor those in northern Utah-My first class on the fall/winter garden will be on August 16 starting at 10:00 AM. Class runs for 90 minutes and the price is $40 per person. I will start with an abbreviated course in square foot gardening, but since many feel comfortable with their own gardening styles, that’s all I’ll be covering-just the bare bone basics. There isn’t enough time in the growing year to even worry about some of the advanced techniques. I will then show you 3 or 4 different ways to successfully protect your gardens. If you would like to bring your own 1/2″ galvanized electrical conduit to the class I will bend it for you. As long as your gardens aren’t wider than 4 feet it will be perfect. That way you leave the class with the structures need to cover your crops in our harsh winter conditions. Make sure it’s the 1/2″ EMT. They come in 10 foot lengths and cost about $2.50 each. If you’d like to bring your own PVC conduit, I can cut that as well. I’ll finish the class by talking about the specific crops that do well in the fall and even into the winter if that’s goal. Some of these seeds will be available at the class at $4 per pack. They all do well in cold weather. If you’ve always wanted to harvest fresh salad greens in the middle of winter(as pictured), come on out and learn how to do it. Nothing beats fresh produce out of the gardens at any time, but even more so in the winter. Contact me if you’re interested in attending. Space is limited. Eat like a king/queen this winter.

Leeks

Leave a reply

leeks 080114In this gardening system you can plant 9 leeks in a square. If you were to grow this in a traditional row garden it would take up 3 feet. So many advantages with the SFG method. These are Lexton leeks and the white stems will be about 8″ tall-all done without the “hill” technique. More to come on this later. I was very bummed this week as I was hit by the squash vine borer. It was the first time I’ve ever had it, and I know why. I broke all the rules. When they say don’t plant squashes(and tomatoes and potatoes)in the same place in back-to-back years, they know what they’re talking about. That’s what did it for me and now I just hope I can get some butternut squash out of my gardens by the time the first frost hits. I sprouted a couple of seeds immediately and got them in the garden. I don’t think there is enough warm weather and daylight for me to successfully pull it off. Oh well, lesson learned. But I do have all kinds of things coming up now that are just outrageously delicious.

[ois skin=”below post”]

Time to start thinking “fall”

Leave a reply

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”]