Tag Archives: leeks

The Winter garden, part 3

winter garden of goodies under the coversAnd that’s what underneath. Lots of snow with a lot still to come. Wish I would have planned a little better for the winter. I waited just a tad too long to plant because I was too busy growing for customers. I might have enough to take us through January but that might be about it. Since many of the seed catalogs have arrived I’ve begun to plan for the early spring. Nothing better than sitting inside in the dead of winter with a good seed catalog to look over.

This will be a very short post. I wanted to put something on before the big day got here. With that I wanted to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. I’ll be taking some time off until after the first of the year.[ois skin=”1″]

Square foot garden-low tunnel class coming up

square foot garden low tunnel for the winter monthsYou northern Utah gardeners-if you’re wanting to learn how to have a winter garden or one that gets going 6-8 weeks earlier in the spring, this class is for you. You bring the number of 1/2″ EMT pieces and I’ll bend them for you while you’re here.

These structures are rock solid, mobile, and are much less expensive than traditional greenhouses. You won’t have to worry about some of the problems with permanent greenhouses either-like excessive salt build up-because they’ll be taken down in the spring time. These are sun driven systems only. You won’t be needing any fancy heating or water systems.

If you are interested in attending please contact me. We will begin promptly at 10:00 A.M. and end at 10:30 A.M. No Utah time arrivals please!

Although you will see what my square foot gardens look like, there will be no SFG instruction at this class. Its specifically how to construct a low tunnel only. You can learn more about the class here.

Thinking fall in your square foot garden

cherokee and concept lettuceI say square foot garden but it could be any garden. This is the perfect time to put in your entire fall crop. Everything planted now will be harvested by mid to late October-and you’ll be so glad you attempted to grow during this season. Because it’s been a long summer of pulling weeds, watering, etc. many gardeners think about ending their growing season around the Labor Day weekend. It’s the official end of summer and things are winding down.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact for me, this is coming up on the best time of year to garden. Why? First, most of the pests have headed south or will be soon. Second, the season usually gives us water from Mother Nature so this cuts back on your watering time. Third, all the great crops of spring are now back!

In the next couple of weeks I will be emptying squares and replanting with the following crops: lettuce, spinach, red ace beets(for the greens), arugula, bok choi, carrots(for winter as well), leeks(for winter), swiss chard, radishes, tokyo bekana, and mizuna. Some of these will be harvested at once but others will be left to continue through the winter months. And there’s a whole other bunch of fun crops that can be planted in a few weeks that do best during the winter months. More on that later.

I hope you give the fall garden a try. You’ll find it’s a lot easier and a lot less work than spring and summer gardening. When you harvest your first head of lettuce along with some spinach and swiss chard for an evening salad you’ll be so glad you did[ois skin=”1″]

Winter is getting closer!

Winter is getting closerI woke up three times this week to a light frost on the ground. Winter approaches. There’s still a fair amount of lettuce, leeks, chard, and poc-choi. This will be the last week of actual planting in the main garden area and I’ve only got 10 squares remaining. Those will be filled with spinach, radishes, mizuna, and tatsoi. And it’s just about time to use floating row cover, which gives me a few extra degrees of protection for what’s around the corner. From the picture, what do you think we had for dinner last night? Potatoes, leeks, and chives makes the simplest and best tasting potato/leek soup. Add a Caesar salad with homemade croutons and you’re set. Over the period of the next 6 weeks my blog will be undergoing a make-over. Lots of changes, lots of work but I’m hoping to make it an even better place to visit.

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Got leeks?

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”]