Pictures of the garden

Everything is progressing nicely. Too much to blog about so I will show you in pictures :) Be prepare for lots of green foliage!

Spinach

 Lettuce volunteers

Strawberries

Cilantro

Carrots

Peas

Spinach seedlings

Swiss Chard

Bibb lettuce

Garden Update and Happy Easter!

My garden last summer :)

There is so much going on in the garden, I don't know if I can remember everything. I'll try though. Yesterday, I planted out my bell peppers that I got at Rite Aid. The variety is called California Wonder, which is a popular open pollinated variety. There were 8 to 10 plants so I planted them in my second raised bed. I also have marigolds planted in between the plants to bring some color and I have heard they are a good pest deterrent as well. I also planted my bok choi transplants in the ground. I watered them with a fish emulsion mixture.

Everything I planted in the ground, except for some carrots, arrugula, cilantro, and pumpkins (I planted these on Sunday) are sprouting. I also found that I have bean seedlings from last fall. I let some plants go to seed and they are already coming up. :) Oh how I love mother nature!

My heating mat experiment update:

This is going so well. I was pleasantly surprised at how well this thing works. Within a couple of days, I had sprouting. I already have a banana pepper seedling, another ca wonder pepper, supersweet tomato, little prince eggplant, and more! I've also began pre-germinating my bean, pumpkin, sunflower, cucumber, and squash seeds. To see how I pregerminate my beans, check out this link. It is super easy. I found that if I do that and place them on my heating pad, I'll get sproutage in 2-3 days! Yeah for the heating mat. I'll do a more in depth review once the season has started.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. We did. It was a great day of catching up and of course the adult Easter Egg hunt (my shoes were muddy) :) Can't wait until next year!

Seed Sowing List 03-30-10

Calendula Pacific Beauty (American Seed)
Coleus, rainbow mix (Ferry Morse)
Peruvian Pepper (Seeds of Change)
Sweet Pea, royal mix colors (unknown)
Nasturtium, jewel mixed colors (Bentley Seeds)
Marigold, crackerjack (American Seed)
Lettuce, garden babies butterhead (Renee's Garden)
Onion, white bunching (Bentley Seeds)
Sweet corn, early golden banthan (American Seeds)
Tomato, micro tom (Seedman)
Poached egg plant (Thompson and Morgan)
Lamb's ears (Groco  Seeds)
Eggplant, white bianca (Seedman)

Seed Sowing List 03-29-10

 Picture of lettuce, tomato, and garlic in Spring 2009

Today's seed sowing list is full of herbs,corn, lettuce and flowers:

Herbs:

• Lemon balm (Groco Seeds) 
• Cilantro (American Seed) 
• Sage (Burpee) 
• Oregano (Groco Seeds) 
• Fennel, Florence (Burpee) 
• Dill (trade) 
• Asparagus (trade) 

Lettuce:

• Baby romaine (trade) 

 Flowers:

• Snapdragon first ladies mixed (Sow n Grow)
• Morning Glory giant mixed colors (Sow n Grow) 
• Four o Clocks mix (Burpee) 

Corn:

• Popcorn (my own kitchen) 
• Corn Chinese baby (trade)

Hydrofarm Seedling Heat Mat Mini Review

Tonight I broke down and bought a Hydrofarm Seedling Heat Mat at my local garden store.

It was $24.95 and I had a 15% coupon making it around $21.00. On Amazon, they are around $25.00 dollars as well. I think it's a good deal if it works. I read great reviews on this product and am excited to try it out and provide my own review.

Most of the reviews on Amazon, people said to place a towel underneath the mat to draw heat upwards to your seed trays. I placed the mat on a cookie sheet on the floor, followed with a towel, then the heat mat, and my trays. After a couple of minutes of it plugged in, I could tell it was warm but I expected it to be much hotter than just warm. I placed my eggplant, tomato, and pepper seed trays on top and now we wait and see. The company claims it will raise the rooting area 10-20 degrees over the ambient temperature in the room. Regardless of what it says, I just want to get my tomato, pepper, and eggplant seeds to germinate faster.

This will be my little experiment over the next couple of weeks to see if this product really does work. Wish my luck everyone!

Potting African Violet Suckers

In February, I had written a post about African Violet suckers and I thought it was time to update you on the progress.

The before picture shows the tiny suckers not looking like much. I must admit, I was not hopeful to see these little things survive but this experiment is just a testament to show that anything is worth trying. They were very easy to root. I mean simply easy.

After 3 months, this is what it looks like:

Follow these steps to root African Violet suckers:

What you'll need:

-Small pot

-Moist potting soil or seed starting mix

-African Violet suckers

-A large zipper bag

-1 Straw

1. Gently pry the suckers off the mother plant. You can use anything from a pencil eraser, popsicle stick, or an exacto knife (that's what I used). If you don't know what a sucker looks like, click here for a picture.

2. Put the moistened soil in a small pot. Insert the sucker into the dirt. Make sure there's ample contact between the base of the sucker and the dirt.

3. Put the pot inside the bag and if you need to, insert the straw in the dirt to prevent the bag from resting on top of the suckers. This is important since if the bag touches the suckers, the condensation from the bag will cause the suckers to rot. Put the pot under some bright lights and...

4. The hardest part of this process is: patience. It'll take a couple of weeks for it to take root and a couple more to show signs of leaf growth.

Results:

At two months and a couple of days, here's what the suckers should look like. At this time, you can take the bag off and keep them underneath some strong, indirect light.

After several more months, they should like like a new plant. The picture is of 75 days.

Growing Swiss Chard: the Colorful Spinach Substitute

Last year, I started growing swiss chard for the first time. I only grew several plants because I wasn't for sure if I would like the taste or not. Anywhoo, it grew like crazy and I was able to make one dish with it. I cooked it like spinach, sauteeing it with some olive oil and garlic. After it wilted a little, I added some lemon juice and red pepper flakes. It was a great side dish. Swiss chard is such an easy plant to grow and the varieties are endless. They have a variety called rainbow swiss chard and the colors are amazing. They're a perfect addition to any vegetable garden or a side plant in the front yard. They're a vegetable that I can't live without. What do you guys think about this one?

This year, I was determined to grow continuous crops of swiss chard. The first batch, I started in January. January 1st to be exact. They took a week to sprout and grew like mad. At first they were leggy and spinly but after a couple of weeks, they grew thick stems and strengthened up really well.

Swiss Chard Seedlings at 31 days

I moved them outside in the ground in an area that gets late morning sun, a couple of weeks before my last frost, around February 11th. They looked so puny and defenseless. To protect them from critters like the dreaded slugs and snails, I would cover them with plastic cups for the next two weeks at night and uncover them in the morning before work. It worked. The snails didn't get too much of them and they grew very well.

Swiss Chard Transplanted

So they grew and they grew without too many problems. Not a pest to be found. I'm still crossing my fingers! Here they are a month and a half later, still growing steadily:

Swiss Chard 59 days

And grew they did. I'll probably harvest these soon and make some yummy side dishes.

Swiss Chard 90 days

Here are some pics of the other swiss chard plants I have laying around the garden. I plan on planting them in a spot near my fence that gets regular morning sun. They really enjoy full sun but part sun wouldn't hurt them much.

Happy gardening everyone!

How to Germinate Bean Seeds: A tip

I thought I'd share a little tip I learned this week regarding how to germinate beans. They are the most peskiest seeds I've attempted this season. The story goes as follows: earlier last month, I tried sprouting some top crop beans in a six pack and before they had time to sprout, they rotted in the soil. I was saddened and disheartened.

I almost gave up trying but my coworker was telling me about these interesting purple podded pole beans that have purple pods and when cooked, the thing turns green. It was so intriguing to me. I had to go and find some. I received some seeds from a couple of my garden buddies via seed trades but I also bought a packet of seeds a week ago when I was at Lowes just perusing around and I saw on the Burpee's seed rack that there were some purple colored beans. They're a bush variety called "Sequoia" and they turn green when you cook them! I had to buy them! However, with my past history of unsuccessful attempts at sprouting bean seeds, I was a little weary that this packet of seeds wouldn't sprout and instead rot on me. I had a wondrous epiphany! In 2nd grade, I remember sprouting seeds-in fact bean seeds-in a wet paper towel in a jar. I was so excited that I finally found a way to sprout beans without wasting any seeds.

All you need is a jar or a zip lock baggie and a wet paper towel. Wet the paper towel and lay the seeds you want to sprout on top of the towel. Fold the towel over the seeds a couple of times and insert into plastic baggie. Place on top of a warm place. I use my fridge. Lastly but not least, you wait!
So, I tried this technique with some Italian Pole beans I had. And within 10 days, they've all sprouted. Here's a picture:

Italian Pole Beans Sprouting

Eureka, as those Californians would say! It worked. So a couple of days ago, I attempted putting some of my precious, hard to find Sequioa purple beans in a wet paper towel in a plastic baggie. I also wanted to try some Scarlett Runner beans as well. I hope to have beans all over the place!

Seed Sowing Update

The seeds I planted approximately 2 weeks ago have begun to sprout. I planted bok choi, 4 o clocks, broccoli, carrots (a round variety), spinach, mesclun mix, peas, beets, and more. I cannot remember everything I planted though. I always do this every year. I plant all these things and find out later I cannot recall what I planted. I’ll just wait until they’ve grown enough to distinguish what it is! I hope it’s not weed seeds though. For a great seed starting book, check out All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space!. I love the details and the precise information it provides.

What Vegetables are Good for Freezing? Handling and Storage Ideas

The plan this growing season for me is to can, freeze, preserve, and dehydrate fruits and vegetables we do not consume and have an abundance of (i.e. peak of tomato season where we have lots of tomatoes). This is a big endeavor for me since it will be my first time preserving what I grow. I have gotten a lot of books detailing how to preserve vegetables from your garden. I have been busily reading and noting what techniques to use. A great reference book I would recommend is Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. It details every vegetable you can grow and how to preserve them. It’s an invaluable resource to any gardener who wants to pursue this adventure.
I have read a lot about preserving vegetables by blanching and freezing. Freezing is a great way to lock in nutrients. Blanching is the process of dropping your desired vegetable in boiling water for a set time (typically for 30 seconds to 3 minutes). After blanching, you will take the veggies out and place them in an ice bath consisting of water and ice cubes. After they have cooled, you can freeze them flat on a tray in the freezer before packaging. Since, you’re not completely cooking the vegetables you keep the nutrients and texture of the vegetables. Happy gardening everyone!
What you’ll need to freeze vegetables is simple:

-desired vegetable you want to preserve

-pot

-water

-bowl

-ice water

-bags (sandwhich or freezer) and/or small containers (1 quart)

-freezer

Here’s a chart of vegetables that will do well freezing, when to freeze, and how to handle and store them:

What to Freeze	Time to Freeze	How to Freeze
Berries	Spring to Fall	Wash your produce, air dry and freeze
Broccoli	Spring and Fall	Cut into bite-size pieces, blanch in boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute, cool in ice bath for 2 minutes, drain and freeze
Chard	Spring, Summer, and Fall	Blanch until wilted (several minutes) It will look like wilted spinach. Cool in ice bath, drain, and freeze in small batches
Edamame (soybeans)	Summer to Fall	Simmer pods in salted water for approximately 5 minutes. Cool in ice bath for 2 minutes, drain, and freeze
Peas	Spring to Fall	Blanch in boiling water for a minute. Cool in ice bath for 2 minutes, drain and freeze
Peppers	Summer to Fall	Slice, blanch in boiling water for 1 minute, cool in ice bath for 2 minutes, drain and freeze
Snap beans	Summer to Fall	Blanch in boiling water for a minute. Cool in ice bath for 2 minutes, drain and freeze
Spinach	Spring to Fall	Blanch until wilted (several minutes) Cool in ice bath, drain, and freeze in small batches
Sweet corn	Summer	Cut kernels from cobs, simmer in hot water for 2-3 minutes. Cool in ice bath, drain, and freeze in small batches

Propagating African Violet Suckers

A couple of days ago, I repotted the suckers from my African Violet I got from the Dollar Store almost 8 months ago. They stopped blooming and I kind of forgot about it until I noticed that it was overly crowded! After the suckers grow a little bit, they're much easier to handle. I popped them off with an xacto knife. The following picture is what I believe are suckers.

Here is a picture of the suckers that were removed and potted up in seed starting soil. I hope they root and make me more African Violets.

Here is my African Violet free from all the suckers.