April and May Harvest Totals

April and May Harvest Totals

• Beet Greens: 12 g
• Camellia Sinensis: 146 g
• Chamomile: 1 g
• Dandelion Flowers: 14 g
• Dandelion Greens: 200 g
• Green Garlic: 13 g
• Pea Shoots: 9 g
• Rosemary: 16 g
• Tarragon: 12 g
• Wild Asparagus: 2618 g
• Wild Yarrow: 65 g

TOTAL: 3.106 kg

This year featured a very cold, slow start to spring, so I think that is one of the main differences between this year's harvest and last year's.  For example, I picked nearly twice the amount of asparagus last year at this time.  I was hoping that my herb garden would fare better over the cold winter, but even my mint plants died!  I'm starting most things again this year, so the herb harvests are quite small.  I also could have done a bit better on the dandelion flowers, but life is busy and I only managed to gather a small handful to infuse in oil for a salve.  What green garlic I harvested was purely accidental.  It seems that I somehow had some volunteer plants (I'm not sure how this would work with garlic - perhaps there were some smaller ones I forgot about that overwintered and continued growing?), and rather than let them mature in the odd places they were popping up I chose to pick them green.  I also know that I definitely had garlic scapes by this time last year, and yet here we are halfway through June and I haven't seen any sign of them!  If I'm seeing these types of yields in my small garden, I can only imagine what it must be like for the farmers in the area.  I hope they are able to be resourceful and find creative ways to make up for what must be a slow financial start for them.  Get out to your local markets and support the farmers!  I'm sure they need it this spring especially!

Garden Update

Spring is here, but the growth is coming along sluggishly.  The other day on an otherwise dreary afternoon I looked up from some garden chores and this enormous, glorious rainbow was suddenly stretching across the valley!  I tried fussing with filters and contrast and whatnot to try to give you all an idea of how tremendously beautiful it was, but this is not even half as beautiful as it actually looked.

This year I have a new garden "helper" in Little Forager.  There he is helping me dig in the raised beds with his own shovel.  All those little round things are nasturtium seed pods.  I have no idea if they are actually going to grow again, but it would be nice to have those again!  They are so beautiful and are also useful edibles!  I always love it when something is beautiful, beneficial to pollinators, and tasty for me!

Here is my seed starting setup this year.  It hasn't been all that long since I took this photo, and already the seedlings are HUGE!  This year I had the idea to keep the plastic cover on (normally I have the door down and zipped up as well) partially to keep Little Forager out, and partially to capture any heat that might come off the light bulbs.  I wasn't thinking there would be all that much heat generated from them, but it has seriously made a huge difference!  Since I don't have a heat mat, I normally get really bad germination with anything that needs a little heat to get going, but this solved that problem entirely.  I will be doing it this way every year now.

As you can see I probably over planted for my actual needs, but I am used to having poor germination rates, and also carelessness claiming the lives of many of my seedlings so I always over plant.  This year everything is going really well (so far - fingers crossed!) so I might need to have a plant sale or something to deal with my extra seedlings!  Everything is looking super healthy, and I am really excited about that!

We also tackled some outside chores.  Little Forager loves "sweeping".  There is still so much clutter left over from not really tidying up the garden before winter hit!  We'll get to it.  You can really see in this photo how slowly things are starting to grow.  It won't be long now though!

Gardening Goals for 2017

As part of my garden planning this year I wrote out a few goals for the coming season.  I've done this before, but I always kept them to myself.  When no one knows your goals it is easy to ignore them and not work as hard as you would if there was someone keeping you accountable.  This year I decided to share my gardening and foraging goals here as a way of doing that.  Some things were very successful for me last year.  For example: I managed to grow and forage a minimum of 5 kilos of food for my family each month last year.  I also gave myself a lot of grace as it was my first season gardening with a baby.  This year I plan to work harder and continue my quest to provide as much food as I can by myself, and hopefully rely less and less on the grocery store.

Are you making goals for yourself this season?  Please share them in the comments!  I would love to be inspired by some of the things you want to tackle and to be able to encourage each other during all the hard work that is ahead!

1. TOMATOES

I think this is on my list every season, but I do feel that each time I make an effort I learn more and get a better result.  So far my best tomato harvest has been 3.5 kilos of green ones at the end of last season!  This year I am really focused on getting the tomatoes started on time, and really hoping that the weather cooperates (it didn't last summer) for the perfect tomato season!

2. PEPPERS FOR DRYING

This goal has been on my radar before, but again it is something that I haven't really had any success with.  I love using paprika in cooking, so I would dearly love to grow my own peppers to dry and make my own!  I am excited to give this another shot this year.

3. DRY BEANS

I usually grow a few types of beans in my garden, and have at least a decent success, but I really want to grow enough dry beans this year that I don't have to buy any.  This may not be possible with the space that I have available, but I am going to do my best!

4. HOOP HOUSES/COLD FRAMES/POLYTUNNELS

A big part of my plan this year includes using as many season extending tricks as I can.  The light I get is basically the bare minimum required for growing fruits and vegetables, so anything I can do to get things in the ground early is a huge help.

5. GRAINS

We planted a few of the raise beds with winter wheat this past fall, and I had a decent success letting buckwheat go to seed last year and grinding it for flour, so I would like to continue experimenting with small scale grain planting.  With the space we have I am not ever going to get an amazing harvest, but anything that reduces my dependency on the supermarket is a good thing. 

6. GROW (AND EAT) MORE LEAFY GREENS

I usually plant some salad greens because I feel like I am supposed to, but I never really make much of an effort.  Usually it bolts before I pick any since we don't tend to eat a lot of salads.  Beet greens have been the best for us since even if we don't use the greens we will for sure use the roots.  Along with everyone else I feel like I should be eating more kale (especially since I actually like it!) and chard, and other dark leafy things that are full of vitamins and fibre.  Now that I have a Vitamix, I can make green smoothies that are actually smooth, and not sludge filled with stringy bits. 

7. SAVE MORE SEEDS

This has been a priority for me for the past few years, and I have had some - albeit limited - success.  Some things (I'm looking at you, promiscuous melons, corn, and squash) will probably never work out for me in this little garden of mine, but there are other things that do work.  I think beans, peas, and tomatoes should be possible.  I also did well with my buckwheat last season.  I don't think I'll ever be able to completely accomplish the dream of never having to buy seed, but at least I can take some steps in that direction.  I also make it a priority to support those suppliers that do make an effort to grow heritage and open pollinated varieties.

8. BEEF UP THE HERB GARDEN

We put in a few beds dedicated to various herbs last year, and now that it is established I want to make it really healthy and strong this year.  I think this might be one of the areas where I could possibly accomplish my #10 goal.  I will probably also be adding a few more herbs this year.

9. TRY SOMETHING NEW

I have my eye on a few new things this year.  I'm thinking sorghum (to render into syrup), and maybe strawberry spinach.

10. GROW ENOUGH TO GIVE

Every summer it seems like everyone around me is blessed with abundance.  We are too, but in the garden I am still learning and so I haven't reaped any bumper crops as of yet.  In the late summer it seems like almost every Sunday in the foyer at church there is a big box of tomatoes, zucchini, plums, or apples with a sign saying 'please take some'!  I would like to be one of the contributors next year, since I have been blessed many times by others' generosity.

2016 In Photos

Grow Write Guild No. 8 - The Essence of Summer

To me the plant that best encapsulates summer is one I recently had to say goodbye to - tomatoes.  Each year I am getting better at growing them, but I seem to make some pretty big mistakes every time I try to grow them.  This year I started my seeds about a month later than I should have, and it really showed in the final product.

These four tiny yellow tomatoes were some of the five that actually ripened on the vine.  (If you look closely you can see the tiny bite mark from where Little Forager taste tested one.)  The rest I picked early since every night threatens to frost and I don't have enough blankets or sheets to cover the tender summer vines.  

I was pretty sad while I pulled up the plants since they were looking like some of the best I had ever grown.  If I had started them on time I would have had so much fruit!  Next year I am determined that I will get a better start on my tomato plants.  This year as it is I managed to get just over 3 kilograms of unripe fruit that thankfully I had an interesting pie recipe to try them in.  I love everything about growing tomatoes.  Their flowers are adorable, and their fruit is delicious.  One of my favourite things to do in the garden is to brush the foliage and enjoy the entrancing smell wafting through the summer air. 

I was surprised to find this tiny volunteer tomato (pictured below) that came up from my compost pile and actually started to form some tomatoes!  None of them ripened in time, but I was still surprised to see them.  This area is so perfect for growing tomatoes that you don't even have to actually plant them yourself for them to grow.  My friend even had one volunteer in a crack in her driveway!