In the 2011 Garden

Despite the below-average-temperature today, I'm getting ready to start my 2011 garden. I'm finalizing the planting plan and will start my first seeds (onions, kale & kohlrabi) early next week.  Here's what my 2011 garden has in store:

Nightshades
Eggplant (Early Black Egg)
Eggplant (Ping Tung Long)
Tomato (Sungold)
Tomato (Black Cherry)
Tomato (Eva Purple Ball)
Tomato (Amy's Sugar Gem)
Tomato (Siberian)
Ground Cherry (Cossack Pineapple)
Sweet Pepper (Tequila Sunrise)
Hot Pepper (Cherry...need to still buy this)

Gourds
Winter Squash (Delicata Zeppelin)
Summer Squash (Dark Green Zucchini)
Pickling Cucumber (Edmonson)
maybe another kind of pickling cucumber

Lettuces & Legumes
Pole Bean (McCaslan)
Pole Bean (Louisiana Purple Pod)
Bush Bean (Fin de Bagnol)
Bush Bean (Provider)
Lettuce (Deer Tongue)
Lettuce (Red Velvet)
Swiss Chard
Corn Mache
Kale
Mustard Greens

Root Vegetables
Onion (Yellow Borettana)
Potato (need to get this)
Kohlrabi
Turnips
Carrots

Annual Herbs & Flowers
Borage
Purple Opal Basil
Thai Basil
Sweet Basil
Cilantro
Nasturtiums
Marigolds

And, I'm starting all of this from seed. My grow lights are certainly going to be working overtime this year!  I'm slightly concerned about not having enough room for everything under the grow light (well, everything that is not direct-sown), but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I'm also a little concerned as I'm growing a ton of stuff I've never tried before (onions, potatoes, winter squash, beans!, borage, lettuce, turnips), but that just keeps me on my toes, right?!?

Note: I will be keeping track on the money spent on the garden this year. I got a bunch of seeds for Christmas this year. The approximate total for these, plus the Sungold & Black Cherry seeds I bought, are $32.

Houseplants: A Reminder of Warmer Days Ahead

Currently, the ground is frozen here in Arlington. Thus one has 2 options: Be content with dreaming about next year's garden or get your hands dirty inside.  I choose the latter option. Nothing cheers up the indoors like a bit of living green things around too.  Now, some claim that certain plants clean the air. I am not able to either confirm or deny these claims. Instead, for me, they brighten my day--especially in the winter months--and any air-cleaning effect is just a bonus.

Here are the plants that call my house their home:

African violets.  Now, Mabel featured in my previous blog post, has since died.  I accidentally left her in our unheated porch during a hard freeze.  Poor girl.  However, I have since replaced her with 3 other African violets: Priscilla, Duchess and Violet.  What is lovely about African violets is that they bloom year-round and have a wide variety of petal colors, petal shapes, leaf colors, etc.


Pothos. Yes, these are the ubiquitous office plants. And they are ubiquitous for good reason too...doing well under very low light conditions and infrequent watering make these suckers tough to kill. However, if you look around hard, you can find cultivars with unusual leaves. Best of both worlds!


Bonsai. I don't really groom my ficus bonsai (his name is Newton) like I should. Instead I enjoy have a little tree in my house.



Pilea glauca & Dwarf Philodendron. Remember my post on landscaping inside?  As I predicted the Centarium scilloides died (probably too dry and was crowded out by the aggressive Pilea glauca), but the rest of the planting is thriving in a location with virtually no light--artificial or otherwise.

Gerbera daisy. My husband got this for me probably around October and it is amazingly still blooming!



Plants I'm considering:

Dwarf citrus. The hiccup here is that I'm not sure I get enough sun indoors to ever get fruit.

Scented geraniums. These aren't actually geraniums...they are part of the Pelagornium genus. Importantly, these can be used to make flavored simple syrups or tea (actual geraniums are poisonous). I'm thinking about acquiring a rose scented one. Sandy Mush Nursery in North Carolina has an impressive selection, but locally DeBaggio's selection isn't too bad.

Lichen. I killed a beautiful terrarium purchased from Etsy and would love to try another one.

Winter Farmer's Markets: Still Full of Awesome

I've sporadically been visiting the Falls Church Farmer's Market on Saturdays.  While it's currently less than half it's spring and summer size, there is still lots of local yum to be found. For me, the most exciting has been the pickle purveyor.  He must just come in the winter, as he was there last winter (but not spring, summer or fall) too.  You can choose between kosher dills, half sours, sours, full sour and something non-cucumber.  A few weeks ago I scored some amazing sauerkraut (that I cooked with a local pork roast from Valentine's, roughly following this recipe); this week he had pickled beets.  I also noticed someone that had non-fermented cucumber pickles and some other home-canned goods (maybe pickled?) like carrots and green beans.  There are still some produce vendors and of course the meat, dairy and baked goods vendors.

There is certainly more gourmet, prepared food to be had as well, even from the produce vendors. And, perhaps because of this, there are many samples to be had. Sausage, soup, pickles, oh my!

Thus, while it probably isn't possible to get all your grocery needs from the farmer's market in the winter, there are plenty of reasons to go.

2011 Garden Resolutions

Well, that's another year gone.  In the span of 12 months, I quit my job, expanded our dining room, birthed a baby and (with ample help of my husband) completed 2 large yard projects: smothering grass on half the yard and re-doing our raised beds.  It's been a busy year.  And I expect 2011 will be just as productive.

I resolve to:
1. Plant a greater diversity of edibles.  Typically, I plant nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants), assorted herbs and ground cherries.  Last year I added in garlic, cucumbers and summer squash.  This year I plan to do proper crop rotation and add in: green beans, onions, lettuce, winter squash, potatoes and new-to-me herbs like borage.  I'm hoping to put in a grape vine or two as well.

2. Incorporate more native plants.  Santa got me Armitage's Native Plants for North American Gardens for Christmas and I was kind of surprised how many native plants I already have, but with a now grass-less patch in the front yard and a newly cleared backyard, lots of planting will be happening in 2011.

3. Be better about turning the compost.  I kind of resolve to do this every year & then get lazy, though.

4. And, not strictly about gardening but rather the results of edible gardening, I hope to do a lot more pickling and will, of course, continue the Local Eating Challenge.

Fun "Reading" for the Winter Months

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season!  The seed catalogs are starting to arrive, but I've decided to begin my winter reading with the end result of edible gardening.

Santa was kind to me this year, getting me all the cookbooks off my wishlist: Jamie's Food Revolution, The Joy of Pickling, Nigella Kitchen and Vegetarian Planet.  I've spent some quality time with these books all curled up on the couch and marking which recipes I want to try first.

Jamie's Food Revolution is particularly awesome for the entire chapters on Indian curries and Asian stir-fries, in addition to amazing ideas for ground beef (ground beef Wellington anyone?!). The recipes are simple and rely on the freshness and quality of the ingredients so I think this cookbook will get more of a workout during the growing season.  However, there are some curries that can be adapted to winter vegetables that I'm looking forward to trying.

The Joy of Pickling just makes my mouth water as a lover of all things vinegary and salty.  Besides the usual suspects of cucumber pickles, pickled dilly beans and pickled okra, there are interesting surprises like pickled grapes (both sweet and sour recipes), pickles infused with Thai or Indian flavors and lots of chutneys.  I wish I would have bought this book in the summer so that I could be enjoying some of these pickles right now.  I've already got a long list of recipes to try out as soon as the produce becomes available from my garden or the farmer's market.

Nigella Kitchen, for me, is less about the vegetable recipes and more about the carnivorous ones...especially the quick meals. I'm planning to try out several of these as soon as I get some Korean chili paste.

And, finally, I've already posted a recipe from library-borrowed Vegetarian Planet, but now I have a copy of my very own.  Certainly, it will provide me lots of idea with what to do with produce in the spring and summer, but there are several recipes suitable for winter that I can't wait to try.

Putting Up: Pear Ginger Marmalade

I'm starting to think that what I should have done was freeze things like tomatoes, blueberries and such and save the canning for winter when the extra heat from the stove is welcome and I'm looking for things to do indoors.  Live and learn.

I spent Black Friday (um, yeah, this post is a little late) canning Pear Ginger Marmalade (from the *awesome* Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving) and Apple Cider Cardamom Butter with the help of my mom and grandmother.  We avoided the insanity of shopping, spent some quality time together and created some delicious spreads that make a simple toasted baguette a gourmet breakfast.  I've been hoarding jam since my first batch of Strawberry Balsamic Black Pepper Jam.  I'm thinking that the neighbors will be receiving a jar of jam and a bag of homemade granola sometime soon.

This recipe is not only seasonal, but versatile.  Sure, you can enjoy or bread or any other baked good, but it would also make a bowl of vanilla ice cream (just warm the jam up first) or a fat slice of brie a bit more special.  Enjoy.

Pear Ginger Marmalade (makes 4 half-pint jars)
3 limes or 2 lemons (Note: I doubled the recipe and used a mix of lemons & limes.  I found the lemons infinitely easier to peel and the peel seemed to soften up better when cooking)
8 c thinning sliced, cored and peeled ripe pears (I sliced them long-ways, but in future batches, I would make shorter slices as the longer ones can make eating awkward)
4 c granulated sugar (I've heard to not use off-brand sugar as it's often not real cane sugar and that can affect jell.  In recipes without pectin, I stay cautious and shell out for Domino or other real cane sugar)
3 tbsp chopped crystallized ginger
1.25 c water

Directions
1. Peel limes/lemons being careful not to get too much pith.  Cut peel into very thin strips and set aside.

2. In another container, juice into large non-reactive container, add in pears, sugar and ginger.  Toss to combine well.  Cover and set at room temperature for an hour.

3. Prepare jars & lids.

4. In small saucepan, add water and peel.  Bring to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes.  The peel should be tender and most of the water should be reduced.

5. Bring pear mixtures to a full boil for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.  If desired, use immersion blender for a few pulses to puree some of the pears.  Add peel and boil until mixture reaches gel stage, about 5 minutes (Note: Mine did not reach gel stage after 5 minutes.  It took more like 20 and that was still iffy.  However, once it cooled, it was perfect).

6. Ladle into hot jars, remove air bubbles, wipe down rim and put on lids.  Process in boiling water for 10 minutes.  Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and test seal.

New Vegetable Garden!

There were a few problems with my raised beds.  First and foremost, being 3' wide and against a fence made it incredibly difficult to plant, harvest and weed.  A secondary issue was that the placement became awkward when we did a small addition last year.  And, finally, a tertiary issue was that they weren't maximizing the precious direct sunlight that side of the yard receives.

Hence, the new design:


The "arms" reaching out are to grab the sunlight that floods the center of the yard later in the day.  A wider bed just going down the center wouldn't work as there wouldn't be enough room to walk around it with a wheel barrel.  I learned my lesson last time: Don't neglect to plan for maintenance!  In total, this bed not only utilizes available light more, but also the shape of the yard...I've got 102 sqft to plant annual vegetables and fruits.

In addition to growing food, I wanted a space where we could spread out a blanket and enjoy the sun in private.  As this is the only side of our yard behind a fence that gets sun, the garden needed to be able to accommodate.  I also have formally divided the space into separate beds.  In the former design, I had a rough idea where one bed ended/began, but plants would always creep over.  Kind of defeats the point!  Each bed (represented by different colors above) is at least 24 square feet because that's what I need for my nightshade family vegetables.  The very top and bottom beds are for flowers and blueberries, respectively.  I still plan to tuck in marigolds and nasturtiums into the garden, but the flower bed will have some perennial flowers (to be determined!) to further attract pollinators and beneficials.  I think I'll also add Japanese parsley, parsley and maybe eventually perennial onions to the bed too.  We shall see.

Needless to say, I'm beyond excited at this new layout.  We're still in the construction stage as a baby tends to make tasks take a little longer, but the goal is to have the beds build (already done) and filled with the growing mix (still in progress) in the next week or so.  We'll still need to do things like some minor grading and covering the area in mulch, but that won't be too bad.