Tag Archives: carrots

Dinner tonight

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twe evening dinner salanova, butter chard, carrots 061813Everything is coming up like mad right now with our 90+ degree weather. I went out and pulled some carrots(minicor), some butter chard, and some lettuce. And the lettuce didn’t cost me $3.00 a head at the fancy stores. You can grow this for pennies and you’ll never, ever beat the taste of freshly harvested lettuce. I rinsed, cleaned and dried it, then made us a tasty Caesars salad. I usually have a batch of Caesars salad dressing made up in the refrigerator. For those who love Caesars but end up being disappointed by the store-bought dressings, you ought to buy my ebook. Although the book is about square foot gardening, it’s got a great recipe in there for Caesars salad dressing. It’s a shortcut version-one that you’re not slaving over when guests arrive. It’s made ahead of time, and it’s very good. You can add as much anchovy paste as you want, or you don’t have to add any. You won’t go anywhere that you’re not asked for the recipe. Oh yes-the things that the lettuce, carrots, and chard are resting on? Whelatgrass. I hate the stuff, but I grow it for a few people who love it. I’m telling you, square foot gardening is the easiest way to go.

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More experimenting

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sprouted carrotscarrot boxI’m having so much fun this year and it’s just beginning. I hope you’re not getting tired of these pictures of sprouting seeds because it’s been a great experiment for me. This is what I’ve got going. I only have 148 square feet in our yard. I grow veggies and produce for 5 people that lasts almost the entire year. You’ve got to plan it out, but it’s got to be a lot easier using a SFG than it might be for a single row garden/farmer. The process of sprouting truly means you have no thinning at all because you’re planting only those seeds that you know will continue to grow-those that have sprouted. Well, I just realized that I’m a little behind for my carrots to come out at the right time. I’ve got several squares planted outside in the gardens right now, but none have broken ground. I’ve got to get going! With our weather it’s usually about 3 weeks or so before carrots break ground in these temperatures. I got to thinking-could I speed it up a bit?  Can you sprout carrot seeds?  These sprouted in 3 days instead of 3 weeks, so I think I successfully shaved off 2+ weeks of time. I then had some leftover wood that I hastily put together for my carrot box. These will be grown in my garage starting tonight and they will pass up what’s planted in the garden. Nifty little trick. This particular variety is Mokum-an absolutely delicious carrot from Johnny’s that’s short and early.

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The smells of summer

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In a few short weeks we’ll all miss the smell of freshly snipped basil on our hands.  Right now my time is taken up with pretty much harvesting-and having a hard time keeping up with some of the things.  Keep harvesting those pole beans while they’re still a decent size.  If you don’t, you’ll end up with these pithy tasting beans, which you’ll end up throwing away.  By keeping them harvested, the plant knows it needs to still produce more.  If you stop harvesting, the plant believes it’s time to start shutting down for the season.  Keep the top of your basil plants pinched off.  I also end up cutting off any brown or yellowing leaves on all my squash plants.  Keep your lettuce well watered and shaded.  In about another 2 weeks it’s time to put in your fall-Labor Day gardens.  That’s for those who want to get one more harvest out of the season.  It’s the best time to do it.  All the things you grew so well in the spring can successfully be planted again-without the snails and slugs.  I’ve still been planting squares of lettuce-right through the summer-so that we have some available to enjoy with the other salad fixings from the garden.  Maybe start thinking of your compost right now.  You should have a bunch ready to go on Labor Day.  If not, you’ll need to start hunting around for places that carry a good quality compost.  I’ve already mentioned what I believe is the best commercial compost available in a previous post.  If you’ve made no compost, this is the stuff you want to buy.  I can’t believe summer is almost over but it’s time to think about either extending the season or shutting down the gardens for the remainder of the year.  Keep in mind that in many areas where the first frost hits, there is usually another 4-6 weeks of cooler weather to still plant for those who still want to.

The looks of summer

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It’s sure been a great year in the square foot gardens.  We’ve had 64 ears of corn in a 4X4 box.  We’re just now getting a lot of Roma and other types of tomatoes.  The lettuce and radishes have and continue to grow and do very well-even in the heat of summer.  That’s a little tougher to do and I’ve talked about how to do that in previous posts.  The squashes, cucumbers and herbs are all doing good.  And, with only 150 square feet of garden space I’m able to not only grow this produce for our family but also 4 other people.  They have gladly paid me for it-$125 for a 6 week period.  Sure it’s a way to make extra money, but the real fun of it is that you get to see the look on people’s faces when they get that newly harvested box of organic produce that you were able to grow.  I actually think I’ve saved them a few bucks along the way because I have ended up delivering the items.  The price is the same as you would find at places like Whole Foods, but the items they’re receiving has been delivered within 2 hours of harvest.  It’s a very easy thing to do on a Saturday morning.  This picture shows just a small sampling of things that I pulled the other day.  Zucchini, carrots, green and yellow beans, basil, and Swiss chard.  Right now it’s hard to keep up with all the beans.  What do you do with all of them anyway?  That will be a topic in a new ebook that I will be working on in the near future-harvesting and storage.  Don’t forget to try and plant all those fall crops if you can.  If you plan it right, you’ll have some great and tasty things back there when all of your friendly neighbor gardeners are done for the year.  And you can do it so easily with no pests around to speak of at this time of year.[ois skin=”below post”]

Square foot garden clean up

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I  saw on the weather report that we were due for our first major snow storm.  The gardens were pretty much put away for the winter, but there was 2 that were not.  I pulled a couple squares of carrots which you can easily see on the dirt, but there are more in the black basket.  I think I learned one thing about carrots this year.  Our family has always loved the thumbelina variety.  They look and taste great.  But, it is a lot of work to get those types of carrots ready to eat.  They are hard to peel because they are so small.  They sure look nice though, and I guess that was the initial reason why I started to grow them.  I think from here on out I will be just growing the standard varieties.  They taste just as good, and they aren’t near as hard to prepare.  I was able to finish these 2 beds in enough time before the snow hit.  I pulled up some gladiola bulbs that I have had for years, divided them, and then replanted these in a different part of the garden for next year.  These are my favorite perennial flowers to have in the garden.  With my soil now amended with leaves, compost, and shredded twigs and branches, I am ready to plant next year.  I still have 1-4X4 box growing greens which I will probably post about next.  It sure has been a fun year….  [ois skin=”below post”]