To Plant... Or Not to Plant

According to all the charts, the last frost date for my area is May 5th. So I should be getting ready to plant all the stuff that is recommended to be planted a week or two after the last frost date-- tomatoes, corn, peppers, eggplants, squash and zucchini, melons, basil... I would hope for a buffer zone of a week or two without frost threat between the last frost and the planting date, right?

Well, tomorrow's weather (one week exactly after my charted last frost date of May 5th) the lows are predicted to be in the 30's. The soil temperatures, which I don't measure, but instead judge as I am weeding and breaking up the soil by hand, are still cold. Bean seeds, which I would normally be planting next weekend, would languish in the soil, at best doing nothing and at worst rotting in the cold damp soil.

So, the question: To plant, or not to plant. If I do plant, I risk having to plant again when the plants are frosted or the seeds rot. If I don't plant, I risk the delay of the crop, and, since part of my plan is to feed myself and my husband in large part from my garden, the delay of my food supply.

Onions from Seed

I can still remember the first Farmers' Produce Auction I went to in Mt. Hope, Ohio. The items for sale that most impressed me were the crates of Candy onions. They were big and round and looked pretty as a picture-- too pretty, almost, to be real.

Last year I tried to grow them (from starter plants that came in bunches) in my vegetable garden, with not much luck. My planting was delayed, and the plants had dried up a good bit in the bundle before they were planted. This year I'm going to try to grow them from seed under lights, transplanting them when the soil can be worked.

My last expected frost is May 5th, so the time to seed them indoors is now through February 10th. If your last frost date differs from mine, check out this chart from Johnny's Selected Seeds and plug in your frost date. This will give you a planting timetable specific to your area.

I will plant them in a premoistened soilless seeding mix (I use Metro-Mix® 360 from Sun Gro Horticulture, but other soilless seeding mixes would work as well.) I'll moisten the top layer before I plant, then I'll cover them lightly with soil, press the soil gently to make sure the seed is in good contact with the soil, and water them with a plant mister so that I don't take a chance that the seeds might be dislodged by the water. I'll put them under lights and on a heat mat until they germinate, which may take a week to 10 days. I'll check them daily and water (again with the mister) when the soil begins to dry out.

Happy New Year!

2013. Does this year seem unlucky or lucky to you? Or is it just a number?

After all, the year does not really begin or end. Time and a calendar are boundaries set up by those people who need beginnings and endings, boundaries and borders, to make their lives seem neat and tidy, started and finished, intended and accomplished.

To an Ohio gardener, life is a cycle. December is a rest, not an ending. January and February are a respite (for the garden as well as the gardener), not a beginning. The time when any gardening done is done indoors or truly indoors (in the gardener's mind!) is an important time, too. Planning, dreaming, sorting out the "I wish I could"s from the "I believe I can"s-- these parts of the year are as important as the actual digging, planting, harvesting parts.

It's a time for thinking, planning for the next seasons. And a time for looking forward to the results of efforts we've already made (planting perennials and bulbs, receiving seed orders.) I hope that the anticipation of snowdrops and the memories of daffodils sustain you throughout this snowy month. The earth will reawaken. The sun will shine on your back as you dig in the dirt.

It's coming. Can't you feel it?

Processed vs Real Food

"MSG is used to create fat mice so researchers can study obesity. MSG is an excito-toxin that stimulates your brain to eat uncontrollably. When fed to mice, they pig out and get fat. It is in 80 percent of processed foods and mostly disguised as 'natural flavorings.'" (From the Huff Post.)

Obesity is an epidemic in our country. According to the article "68 percent of Americans are overweight" and   "from 1960 to today obesity rates have risen from 13 percent to 36 percent and soon will reach 42 percent." In order to fight this epidemic we need to eliminate most, if not all, processed foods from our diet. Real food, prepared from its natural state with no added preservatives, is always the better choice.

 Grow your own, cook at home, shop your local Farmer's Market. Eat real food. Simplify your choices and enjoy better health.

Edible Allegheny

If you live in or near the western Pennsylvania area, check out the magazine "Edible Allegheny." It has articles concerning the food scene in the areas around Allegheny County, as well as lists of Farm Markets and Farmers Markets and CSA's in the area, local wineries, and restaurants which source locally-grown food for their menu selections.
And, now and then, the cover is eye candy, like this one which shows some of the King brothers of Freedom Farms.

Love Fresh Strawberry Pie? You Can Grow That!

My strawberry plants are loaded with white blossoms. Each blossom is a potential strawberry. My future looks sweet and rosy, how about yours? No berries in your garden? You can remedy that!

Find a spot in full sun with good, well-drained soil (or improve the soil, or create a raised bed.) Get some strawberry plants from your favorite locally-owned garden center or nursery. Choose a variety that performs well in your area.

You can choose from "June bearing" or "everbearing" types, depending on your eating and preserving habits. If you mainly want strawberries to eat fresh, and want the harvest to last longer, plant "everbearing." (They bear smaller crops over a longer period of time.) If you want to make pies and jams or jellies, then you may want "June bearing" which bear more heavily but for a shorter period of time.

Ask for planting directions from your strawberry source-- they know the best time and methods for planting in your area. Pick off the flowers in the first year and begin to harvest your own juicy sweet strawberries next year. Strawberries? You can grow them!

Keep Cilantro (and Other Herbs?) Fresh Longer

From the blog Vegetable Gardener, an experiment to find the best way to keep cilantro from getting mushy and disgusting before you can use it. It might be worth trying this method with other herbs, too.

Grow your own if you can, and just harvest as much as you need to use at one time, but if you need to rely on farmers markets or the grocery for your herb supply, this may be just the information you're looking for.