My New Raised Beds-Construction

It took a couple of weeks because of the weather and finding the time, but the new raised vegetable beds are finally finished! We had scoped out a site last fall that got a reasonable amount of sun and wouldn’t interfere too much with existing beds, drainage, play space for the kids, etc. Getting full sun on my yard is a bit tricky, but most of the beds will be in full sun mid-summer, and the parts that aren’t, I’ll plant accordingly. After measuring it out, we decided two 4’x6’x8″ beds were the ideal size for the space. Anything more than 4′ wide is too difficult to garden in physically.

I bought corner brackets from Plow and Hearth to simplify the construction of the beds.

Then we went to Home Depot to get lumber. We had planned to use cedar, but they only came in 6″ heights. That just seems too short and doubling was too high and expensive. We researched our options and finally decided on regular pine. While they are not pressure treated, we used them on the other beds and after 3-4 years, they are weathered, but fine. The possibility of eventual rot outweighed the potential toxins in pressure treated wood. To make the job a bit easier, we had Home Depot cut the boards for us for free.

Now the construction began. All the hardware was included in the corner kit, we just had to supply the drill for drilling pilot holes and screwing in all the screw.

One was done!

Only took a couple of hours to build both, and they couldn’t be easier. We lined them up, leveled them and then pushed them into the ground.

Tomorrow–filling the beds.

Starting My Seeds Indoors

This weekend I finally had time to get my seeds and seed starting materials out to get them started indoors. I usually try and plant vegetables like cucumbers and summer squash that I have trouble finding in stores, but I buy my tomatoes and pepper plants from a local nursery who has a great selection.

I hauled out all the seed starter kits I had (see Starting Seeds Indoors), plus I bought some new trays to expand what I can grow. I also bought a great new mini greenhouse to set all the trays on and set it up on the porch. I’m hoping this will work better then the tray tables in front of a bedroom window!

I first started with my APS-24 systems (see Starting Seeds Indoors for more thorough instructions) I like this size for starting vegetables and larger flowers. Be sure to thoroughly wet the capillary mat and pre-moisten the sterile germinating mix used to fill the holes.

Then add the seeds according to directions as to how many per grouping and how deep (you’ll thin them later). Be sure to label them so you know what you’ve planted!

Since I have my new shelf and have space for more trays, I added to my collection of seed starting trays. I bought a couple of different kinds to try, a 72 cell Ultimate Growing System from Burpee to replace my missing APS one, and some smaller Jiffy 12 cell kits.

Both of these use soil pellets that you add water to and they expand. Like the instructions say, warm water does work better. After setting up all three kinds of soil cells, I think I prefer the old fashioned germinating mix that I pack myself. I found the pellets a bit difficult to get to rise evenly and needed to still fluff the mix in the Burpee kit.

I’ll see what I think after everything gets going as to which system I prefer for ease of use, and which holds up better for use year after year. For anyone who noticed the chunk missing from the styrofoam APS system, that was my fault. I’m not sure why I decided it what a good idea to pick up the full tray with one hand to move it. That missing piece would be where my thumb was. Otherwise, I’ve had these for years without any problems. Best to move all these trays with two hands!

Most of the germination instructions say plant inside 4-6 weeks prior to the last frost date. I’m about 3 weeks prior, although I usually wait a couple more weeks until mid-May before putting them in the ground. They should be fine starting this week. Here’s what I planted:

24 cell size:
Cucumber, Marketmore Organic (Botanical Interests)
Summer Squash, Baby Round (Botanical Interests)
Summer Squash, Cubes of Butter (Botanical Interests)
Summer Squash, Patty Pan Scallop Blend (Botanical Interests)
Zucchini, Burpee Hybrid (Burpee)
Marigold, Boy O’ Boy (Burpee)

72 cell size:
Cosmos, Sonata Mix (Burpee)
Marigold, French Favorite (Botanical Interests)

Jiffy pop-ups:
Zinnia Cut and Come Again (Botanical Interests)
Zinnia Fireball Blend (Botanical Interests)

Here’s the finished project. All ready for the sun to shine on it and get everything growing.

Garden Season has Officially Begun!

After quite the long winter, I finally have been able to get out in the garden and get started for the season. Woohoo!! Because it’s a little later than usual, we skipped over the garden clean-up temporarily and worked on preparing the vegetable garden, building 2 new raised beds and seed-starting. Normally, with the last frost date being the end of April, I would have liked to get all this started a couple of weeks ago. But, with the weather as awful as it was, and spring break thrown in, this weekend was better than never.

First off, I prepared the current vegetable bed by adding compost to refresh things a bit. I always seem to have trouble finding it early in the spring (and haven’t started making my own yet), so I bought it last fall and left the bags there for spring. Nice to not have to go searching for it this weekend!

Once I got the compost worked into the soil, the garden was ready to add the cold weather seeds. Hopefully, it’s not too late. Looking at the long range forecast, I think I’m fine.

Today I planted rows of:
Beets (Gourmet Blend Organic)
Carrots (Danvers Organic)
Cabbage (Copenhagen)
Lettuce (Tom Thumb Butterhead)
Lettuce (Red Sails Leafy Organic)
Radish (Cherry Belle Organic)
Spinach (Bloomingdale Organic)
Swiss Chard (Bright Lights)

These seeds were all from Botanical Interests. In another week-10 days, I’ll plant a second row of seeds to try and get 2 harvests before the summer heat hits us.

All seed packets give specific instructions as to how and when to to plant the seeds. Most are planted either 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch deep. The 1/4 inch deep seeds I usually spread according to instructions, then just lightly cover with some dirt sprinkled from my hand. You want just a very light cover of dirt. The seeds planted 1/2 inch deep, I’ll push in about fingertip deep and cover. Then water gently.

Later this week, I’ll share the rest of the weekend’s projects!

I had a nice surprise when I went over to the side of the house to start the vegetable garden. My rhubarb was already up and looks beautiful. Both plants have returned, so now I have a 2 yr old and 3 yr old plant that can both be fully harvested. I think I will have plenty to share, so my friends are going to love me!

Did you get out in your garden this weekend?

Seeds are in the House

After spending quite a bit of time pouring over seed catalogs, I finally sent in my seed orders. I had lots of new seed catalogs come to the house, and some more companies I just visited on-line, making the choices this year really tough.

Ultimately, I went with some Burpee stand by’s and the rest from Botanical Interests. I ordered an assortment of vegetables and flowers. Some of the vegetables I’ve grown before (summer squash, zucchini, lettuce) and others are new to my garden (pattypan squash, beets and cabbage).

I’ve outgrown the raised bed on the side of the house, plus we’ll have new construction next door so I’m not sure what the sun situation for that bed will even be come next year. So we spent a great deal of time watching the sun pattern in the yard last year (full sun is a problem in my yard) and mulling over where we could tolerate more vegetable beds. We finally settled on a new location off the back of the patio for 2 new raised beds. I’ve promised to keep them under control and somehow “pretty” them up. You can imagine them out there under the snow.

I bought new raised bed frames last fall from Plow and Hearth, so I am ready to go after a trip to the lumber store. I’ll let you know how I like the brackets.

Are you ready to start planting?

Freezer Slaw

Back in the fall when I was preparing all the garden goodies for winter storage, my friend Kathy told me about a family favorite, Freezer Slaw. Her family has made this for generations with the extra garden cabbage heads left in the fall. I was a little skeptical about not ending up with a pile of mush from the freezer, but to my pleasant surprise, we’ve been eating the most delicious, crunchy slaw all winter. Here’s Kathy’s family recipe that has been passed down from her grandmother, to her mother, and now to her (and us). Thanks for sharing, Kathy!

Freezer Slaw

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 lg. head cabbage, shredded
1 or 2 carrots, shredded
1 med green pepper, finely diced
2 cup sugar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp mustard seed

Shred and chop the vegetables. Place in a colander to drain while you make the dressing.

In a saucepan place remaining ingredients and boil for 5 minutes, Let cool.

Squeeze out any excess water from cabbage mix and put in a large bowl. Pour on the dressing and stir.

Serve fresh or put in freezer containers for storage (I used quart sized freezer bags). When ready, thaw. It will last a fews days in the fridge after thawing.

We ate it cold from the fridge or warmed slightly after being thawed briefly in the microwave. Either way, Freezer Slaw is a tasty, crunchy and easy side dish from the freezer. Kathy recommends it as a sandwich topping as well.

Enjoy garden fresh food all winter long!

Kathy's Family Freezer Slaw

Recipe type: Salad

Author: Stephi

Delicious slaw that uses garden fresh vegetables and can be frozen for later use.

Ingredients

1 lg. head cabbage, shredded
1 or 2 carrots, shredded
1 med green pepper, finely diced
2 cup sugar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup water
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp mustard seed

Instructions

Place all the shredded and diced vegetables in a colander to drain.
In a saucepan, place remaining ingredients and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
Squeeze out as much remaining water as you can from the cabbage mix and put in a large bowl.
Pour sauce mixture over vegetables and stir.
Serve, or put in freezer containers for storage (I used quart sized freezer bags).
Thaw before serving. It will last a few days in the fridge after thawing.

First Frost Warning is Coming Tonight!

I feel pretty lucky that we’ve squeaked out an extra week or so before the first hard frost has hit the Chicago area. NOAA has issued it’s first freeze watch for the area for tonight, almost a week my after the average date for my area. We might even get some flurries! Chicago is a little difficult to know what will really happen weather-wise at any one spot in the region, since Lake Michigan and other land features create a lot of micro-climates that skew local temperatures and precipitation. You can check out your first frost dates on Dave’s Garden.

Even so, I think tonight will be it for the plants. I went around yesterday and took some last pictures of the flowers and harvested the last of the vegetables in preparation. I’m always a little sad this time of year, when the garden still looks so inviting after having finally recovered from the harsh mid -summer conditions. Yet I know it is only a matter of time till it’s over. It’s like the plants want that last hurrah before going to sleep for the winter, or for the annuals, to go out in a blaze of glory.

Final Garden Harvest–having just been in Charleston, I am going to use those green tomatoes!

The garden is still in bloom

Some of the trees are showing their colors, but not very uniformly or brilliantly. Some are showing the stress of 2 harsh summers and disease, while others haven’t even begun to change.

It’ll be interesting to see what it al looks like tomorrow. I’m torn as to whether I should bring in that beautiful single rosebud to protect it, or see what happens if I leave it.

To Add More Gardens or Not???

I am really in need of a new area for vegetables. For years, I’ve struggled with too many plants in a too small of a place. But, I also don’t have a good spot for adding more vegetable gardens, either due to too much shade or existing plants in the way. So I am contemplating putting 2 new raised beds off the back of the patio in a space that used to house the kids swing set.

View from my patio looking straight out

Right now, this looks out onto half dead red-twig dogwoods that are unfortunately succumbing to some kind of canker. To try and help the dogwoods, we’ve tried to cut back all the old wood, clean up the leaves and last spring did some rejuvenation pruning removing about a third of the branches. No more have died and I’ll do another rejuvenation pruning in the late winter. We’ll see how much longer they last.

But, back to the vegetables. I have been following the sun pattern for most of the summer, and I think this spot will work out. It’s not full sun, but gets good morning and mid-day sun, which is the best I can hope for. I am trying to decide if I should add some trellis work in front to shield it, but in talking to my landscaper, he confirmed my fears that while it will look nice, it will make the area quite shady. Maybe some other kind of less dense fence will work?

So now the question is, can I make this look pretty by adding some flowers, grasses or other interesting features to the area, or will it just turn into another messy vegetable garden? What have you done to “hide” the vegetable garden or do you think they are pretty? I think what my mom has done with her gardens is pretty.

The Garden in Fall: The Bad

It’s the beginning of October and the days are getting shorter, the nights growing colder. While yesterday I posted about the good things in the fall garden, there are also a lot of plants and beds that are really past their prime. Whether it’s overgrown, or the plants need to be trimmed back, or just haven’t aged well, they really detract from the pretty parts of the yard. Here’s some of the plants and spaces that don’t make me smile.

Those beautiful daylilys are really past their prime!

I’m not even sure what happened to these hostas??? Slugs, rabbits, too much sun, water???

Some beds are just not right and need plants moved/and or added. Will be doing that soon!

My vegetable garden is just too small and becomes overgrown every year. But, I think I finally have a plan to expand the garden!

Plants need to be split. Need to get on that, too!

After looking at all this mess, I went to the farmers market and pick up a lovely bunch of gladiolas!

The Garden in Fall: The Good

It’s the beginning of October and the days are getting shorter, the nights growing colder. These are the last gasps for the garden before it settles into the winter hibernation. In some ways, fall gardens can be very pretty. I’m always surprised at the plants that continue to bloom well in to fall, some even looking their best. And of course, there are the things that take all summer to finally show their colors. Here’s some of the plants and areas of my garden that make me smile.

Marigolds

One of my favorite flowers is the marigold. I love the smell (although I might be the only one) and the colors. They always seems to just come alive in the fall and it has always had a place of prominence in my garden. I’m also reminded of a trip to Taos, NM, where I saw the prettiest marigold chains. One year when an early frost was going to wipe out the flowers prematurely, I made one myself that hung beautifully in the kitchen.

(There were also lots of bundles of hot peppers that just looked pretty hanging there)

There’s lots of color in the garden...

And interest…

And vegetables are still coming, as long as we don’t have a frost!

35 Pounds of Tomatoes

No, I didn’t grow that many in my garden. I got a decent harvest this year to keep us in fresh tomatoes for the summer and early fall, but for stocking up for winter, I went to the local Farmers Market. I bought the large, 10 lb box last week and processed those for the freezer, then decided I needed more. Being the savvy consumer that I am, I realized I could get 2.5x as many tomatoes in the half bushel as in the large box for only 25% more. That’s a screaming deal in my book, and they were beautiful red, perfectly ripe roma tomatoes. My first hint of how much work was ahead of me was when I picked up the bag they were in to carry them to the car. A half bushel of tomatoes is really heavy-apparently about 25 lbs.

Over two nights, I made 2 double batches of pasta sauce using America’s Test Kitchen’s (recipe here). Instead of the canned crushed tomatoes, I used 3 cups of lightly pureed, peeled tomatoes. I also found that the texture of the tomatoes was better when pureed in my food processor than in my blender. As I’ve described before, peeling tomatoes is pretty easy, and I think necessary to have a more pleasing sauce texture. (Just personal preference, but I’m not a fan of tough skins floating in my sauce, soups or stews.)

While the tomatoes looked beautiful, my kitchen was a mess!

Once I had the tomatoes peeled, I was ready to make the sauce and chop up the rest for a variety of uses. I left most only roughly chopped to allow for more versatility. I can further chop or puree the frozen tomatoes depending on what I need them for.

I’m pleased with the final number of bags, it didn’t seem like a lot at first, but I think this will last me quite a while. The large bag of while tomatoes was turned into 4 more bags of pasta sauce the next evening. I ran out of garlic so had to have time to run to the store.

And what are tomatoes without some basil?

So in the end, did it save me money over buying canned diced tomatoes and jarred pasta sauce? Maybe, maybe not, but my tomatoes and sauce will definitely have a better, fresher taste, with only those ingredients in them I want. I’m actually looking forward to winter cooking (but maybe not the weather).

Category: Vegetables

My New Raised Beds-Construction

Starting My Seeds Indoors

Garden Season has Officially Begun!

Seeds are in the House