Alli's Garden

Scallions

2011-09-15T08:00:00.003-04:00

"Earth is here so kind, that just tickle her with a hoe and she laughs with a harvest."

~Douglas William Jerrold, about Australia, A Land of Plenty 

I just plucked half a pound of scallions from the balcony. One of them was HUGE... well, huge for a scallion, at least. James caught this picture of me with my prize scallion.

The scallions were promptly chopped and put into another recipe for tomato sauce from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barabara Kingsolver. It's a good book for reading with some great seasonal and canning recipes. We did her "Family Secret Tomato Sauce" and used scallions in place of onions.

Tomato Canning Skill-Share

2011-09-11T17:12:00.018-04:00

We just had our most recent skill-share... Tomato Canning! We went to our local farmer's market and got about 50lbs of tomato seconds. A "second" is any tomato that's been bruised, dented, split, or a few days too old for the farm stand to be able to sell. Often times farmers have lots and lots of these tomatoes at the end of each day, and will give you a very good deal if you ask them. Here we are weighing a portion of our tomatoes (about 10 lbs):

We followed several good canning recipes to make Garden Tomato Salsa, Yellow Tomato and Corn Salsa, Chunky Basil Tomato Sauce, and Roasted Vegetable Pasta Sauce.

A few, simple, but important things to note about canning (as we do it here):

1) We only do hot water bath canning (as opposed to pressure canning). This means that we only process acidic foodstuffs like tomatoes and fruit or make it acidic as we do in pickles and salsas by adding vinegar, lemon juice, etc... It's important to make sure any recipes you are following are for water bath canning (and are acidic enough). If just canning tomatoes, it's a good idea to add 2 tbsp of lemon juice per quart to make sure you have the right acidity... some tomatoes that are hybrids, unripe, or a few days too old might be borderline to being too basic.

2) We peel, skin, core and chop our tomatoes. To peel tomatoes, put whole tomatoes in boiling water for a 30 seconds, then take out and let cool for a minute or two. The skin should come right off. If you have two people doing this, it works great. James will often boil the tomatoes and I skin and chop.

3) Keep your surface areas clean! Have clean, freshly washed jars ready for ladling hot tomato sauce into. You can reuse jar top rings, but the tops you must use fresh each time.

4) What about scary contamination issues? The scary stuff (botulism, etc...) that can contaminate your products and survive boiling water temperatures, cannot handle high acidity. By working with high acidity foods (and processing it correctly) you rule out a lot of the scariest contaminants... isn't that nice? If you want to can low acidity food, you need to use a reliable pressure canner that can get to higher temperatures that boiling water.

5) There are many canning resources out there that will give you a great overview. Here's are two good ones I'd recommend checking out:

The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard

Preserve It! ; Bottled Fruit, Jams and Jellies, Pickles, Cured Meats by Lynda Brown

Here are some pictures from our wonderful evening:

We didn't get a picture of the final dinner or of all the many hands that chopped, sliced and diced, but next time we will. For dinner we had stuffed shells for tasting all the different tomato sauces we'd just made, spicy green beans, bean salad, bread and cheese with ice cream and peach bread for dessert. Such a feast! Summer is such a wonderful time of the year with so many fresh tastes, bright colors and tantalizing smells... It's exciting to preserve a piece of summer in a jar and bring out again come winter. Thank you to all who helped us can tomatoes this year!

Skill Share Dinner - Modular Origami

2011-09-01T15:48:00.000-04:00

Wonderful Skill Share hosted by Desiree Koh. We had a super ambitious agenda for the evening :

1. Sonobe Units (12-unit Octahedron, 30-unit Icosahedron)

2. 6-Unit Omega Star

3. Magic Rose Cube (Valerie Vann) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8EyLFWXV_0

Bonus Challenge: Five Intersecting Tetrahedra - http://mars.wnec.edu/~thull/fit.html (Desiree has not been able to successfully complete this one)

Desiree broke us into teams to try and figure out how some of her finished examples (# 1 and 2 mainly) were made. Armed with only a few sheets of neon paper and our wits, we tried to take them apart and create new ones of our own. It was a brilliant teaching strategy. A few times I looked across the tables and saw everyone's eyebrows knit together in concentration.

By the end of the evening, each of us proudly held up at least one Sonobe 12-unit Octahedron and a 6-Unit Omega Star.

Here are some more pictures from the evening:

... including making and exploding a "butterfly ball!"

Skill Share Dinner - Chinese Dumplings

2011-08-21T17:08:00.012-04:00

Thank you to all who came to such a great evening of dumpling making taught by Lisa Song (with her own recipe!). Note the finished dumpling I'm holding in my hand.

Vegetarian Chinese Dumpling Recipe

Ingredients
** means you probably need to buy from an Asian food store

** shittake mushrooms (usually comes dried)
** dried tiger lily buds

** cloud ear fungus, also known as "black fungus" or wood ears/tree ears
[pictured right: dried version on left, soaked version that's ready to eat on the right. When soaked it expands and becomes soft]

** glass noodles, aka Chinese vermicelli or bean thread noodles (comes packaged as dried)

** dried tofu sticks, aka "fu zhu sticks" (basically it's dried tofu rolled into sheets and scrunched up into logs)

green cabbage
carrots
scrambled eggs
raw egg
** prepared dumpling skins/wrappers (store-bought or homemade). To make your own, combine flour and water into dough. Let sit ~1 hour before using. To prevent having leftover dough or filling, the total volume of the dough should be about equal to total volume of the filling

(To make your own, combine flour and water into dough. Let sit ~1 hour before using. To prevent having leftover dough or filling, the total volume of the dough should be about equal to total volume of the filling).

VOLUMES: it's basically impossible to give exact measurements, but I give some tips in the directions

DIRECTIONS:

24 hours before making dumplings

1. Soak mushrooms and black fungus (to make enough dumplings for 2-4 people: total volume = 1 small bowl after both are soaked through). Cut off the mushroom stalks. Then wash off the dirt.

Several hours before making dumplings

2. Soak tiger lily buds and dried tofu sticks in cold water (or warm water if you do this an hour beforehand).

Just before making dumplings

3. Boil mushrooms and black fungus for 1 minute. Soak in cold water, then drain completely (squeeze out all the water). Boil glass noodles for 1 minute, then place in cold water. Drain once it's cool.

4. Chop/mix the cabbage and carrots in the food processor. Squeeze out the extra water using cheesecloth. Chop/mix everything else (except the raw egg) in the food processor. The total volume should be about equal to the volume of the cabbage/carrot mix.

5. Mix everything together in a large bowl, then beat in raw egg. Add salt, vegetable oil and a dash of sesame oil.

6. Wet the outer edge of the dumpling wrappers before filling. Drop filling in middle of open dumpling wrapper, and fold in half. Look into all the neat ways of folding dumplings!

General tip: try to drain the water out of everything as much as possible. You don't want the filling to end up soupy.

If using meat, get the meat chopped first (before step 3), then beat in raw eggs. Add the other ingredients to this mix and proceed as before.

TO COOK

Boil the dumplings for a few minutes in a pot of water (only for the structurally sound dumplings!). You can also steam or fry them in a little oil. Eat with soy sauce or vinegar.

We enjoyed ours!!!

Skill Share Dinners - Making Mozzarella

2011-08-10T22:37:00.015-04:00

We decided that there are a lot of skills floating around out there, and we wanted to learn them. We also decided we don't get a chance to hang out with friends nearly enough. So we came up with the idea of a skill share dinner. We're hope to have it every other week or so. It can be anything from making yogurt to how to knit to cider/beer brewing to how to make a fantastic apple pie to how to properly cook beans to painting to baking bread.

Our first skillshare dinner was making mozzarella. Yes. We began a bit ambitiously. Tany, one of my amazing coworkers, brought us quite a treat: 2 gallons of raw milk from New Hampshire. We all got to try some.

We used instructions (and supplies such as rennet and citric acid) from the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company. A fantastic source for beginners and the advanced cheesemaker!

Here is Desiree stirring in the citric acid to curdle the milk.

We added rennet, and let it sit 5 minutes. Rennet contains enzymes that break down the lactose in milk so they form curds. It happens fast. Here Lisa is already cutting the curds.

Separating the curds from the whey. More than once we had some cheese-inspired puns: "Check out these curds." "No whey!?!"

Ready to stretch them.

And stretch some more. They are starting to get nice and shiny.

After a quick salt brine bath dip, they're ready for eating on crackers or on pizzas. Notice the crispy cheese edges on that butternut squash, spinach, caramelized onion and blue cheese pizza. "Yummy!" is definitely an understatement here.

Infiltrated

2010-08-15T15:11:00.000-04:00

Yes. That IS a squirrel on our balcony screen door. On the garden side.

We came home the other day to the scene of a crime. A freshly baked loaf of French bread (my first time making French bread... and I was SOOO proud of these loaves) on the floor, dismembered, and in crumbs. A partially eaten peach on the table. A knocked over tupperware that had been chewed to bits and the contents eaten out. Our apartment had officially been infiltrated!

And it wasn't hard to tell who the culprit was. He was right there! Still on the balcony. A little too bold and not scared of us at all! When we stepped outside he jumped up several leaps up onto the screen door, over our hanging tomato and up onto the roof out of reach. The jerk!

And worse... the little guy had found some of our tomatoes. Took a few bites and left one just lying there on the floor. I was devastated, as I am sure you can imagine. We stood gravely over the fallen tomato for a few reflective moments, then got back to making dinner with a renewed decision to find ways to deter the squirrel. James thought for a moment, "Since he eaten from our garden... we could probably say we grew him... would it count towards our weight if we ate him?" We all laughed, though definitely we were feeling enough at a loss of what to do next, that the thought definitely seemed to have some merit. At least for a minute or so.

We've been shutting the screen door (which we've liked to keep open for the cross breeze. He can still jump down, but it's harder for him to get back on the roof if the door's not open. Since the squirrel imvasion, we've kept our eyes and ears peeled for signs or sounds of him. He had the guts to show up again (while we were at home!), and James chased him across the roof with a broom. That seems to done something, and for now, the garden seems to be safe...

A Summer Harvest

2010-08-03T12:31:00.010-04:00

"Almost any garden,  if you see it at just the right moment,  can be confused with paradise." ~ Henry Mitchell

We just recently had our last two peaches. Awh, it was wonderful. We will miss them. There were 43 peaches in all! Can you believe it? From our little tree. Overall, the peaches amounted to just over 6 pounds. There was one day where we harvested 14! They just started falling off the tree... they were SO ripe.

We also harvested the garlic that we had planted around the base of the peach tree. It was small, and hadn't grown that much since we had put it in so late (in the spring instead of late fall). We didn't have any trouble with peach tree borers (which the garlic was supposed to deter), but that also could have been because we were on the third floor balcony in the city. Also, in the picture above, you can see some of our first cherry tomatoes of the season! Fantastic! And many more tomatoes too come...

With all these peaches to harvest, we decided to make a simple peach cobbler. I've included the recipe for the cobbler that James makes so well down below. It's also great with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Peach Cobbler

Peaches (4-6)
Oats (about a cup)
Brown Sugar (1/4 cup)
Butter (1/2 stick)
Pinch of Salt
Flour
Dribble of Molasses (optional)

Cut peaches into slices and line the bottom of a bread pan (4x8). In a separate bowl mix together oats, brown sugar, butter (melted), and salt. Add a bit molasses if you want to the mixture for a deeper flavor. Then add a small handful flour slowly, and continue adding until the mixture resembles bread crumbles. Put the mixture on top of the peaches in the bread pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until peach juices bubble up past the cobbler. Let cool for a few minutes, then enjoy!

Mushrooms

2010-07-21T10:56:00.015-04:00

I have never had so many good ideas day after day as when I worked in the garden. ~John Erskine

The newest experiment! Mushrooms indoors! Blue Oyster, Shiitake, Somona Brown Oyster, and Pom Pom Blanc mushrooms are the plan! James has been very patient... with only an occasional "I don't know about this..." or "Ok, on the coffee table is OK, as long as it isn't growing ON the [wooden] coffee table".

We are light limited at the moment. Our balcony space and all are windows are rather full. So, we wondered what can we grow in indirect light. Especially on our remaining free spaces such as our coffee table, bookshelf, and above our kitchen cabinets? We got the mushrooms in the mail a week ago, and I must admit, one glance and we were both a little skeptical. The mushroom "logs" looked a bit... well, let's just say they didn't exactly boost James' confidence.

Each log has slightly different instructions. The picture below is me washing the shiitake mushrooms, preparing it for a "flush" which is what you call it when a group of mushrooms' bloom. Surprisingly it didn't smell bad at all... it actually smelled like rich soil!

And here's the Blue Oyster mushroom log all set up in a dish of water to keep it humid and prepped for growing mushrooms!

Here are some pictures of what we are going to grow. The photos are from Gourmet Mushrooms (gmushrooms.com) which I'd recommend as a good indoor mushroom kit supplier!

Aren't they great?!

The adventure continues!

Top Picture from:
http://www.oregonlive.com/hg/index.ssf/2010/01/growing_mushrooms_indoors_with.html

Lessons from Last Year

2010-07-17T11:21:00.003-04:00

This is a guest post by James

When I posted to Allison the challenge of growing her weight in food, it was a bit of a whimsical idea. To me it seemed totally impossible, but a fun goal, similar to making helium-filled meringue cookies that float in air: worth working towards for the sake of learning about the mechanics, but not a goal you take too seriously. The more we talked about it, and thought through what it would imply, the more interesting the idea became!

It isn't the first time Allison has gotten a crazy planting idea and with great enthusiasm converted our apartment into a nursery. About 6 months before we got married she decided that it would be fun to grow all of the flowers for our wedding... on the fire escape of our old apartment. Historical photograph:

The fire escape (sadly) didn't provide enough room for all the plants that the bride had in mind, and so showing her usual streak of persistence: shelves went up in front of the window, more pots and seeds came out, and eventually flowers followed. Every windowsill was occupied with plants, on multiple levels. The kitchen floor became 'planting central', or more accurately 'dirt mixing and distribution central' and it at one point became necessary to note that potting soil does not belong in the bedroom!

When we take on a new project, one of our strategies is to check out the relevant section from the public library. I think at some point Alli has taken out just about every 'container gardening' treatise that greater boston has to offer. Several months went by, during which one of my favorite quotes from Allison was "I expect when I get old, little kids will think of me as the 'crazy plant lady'", to which her sister replied "Allison, you already ARE the 'crazy plant lady'!"

When wedding day rolled around, we had learned a lot about keeping a house together, and how many plants we can tolerate in our living quarters before going completely insane. While we did decide in the end to buy the bouquets, we had a fair number of zinnia, impatiens, and other flowers to decorate the chapel - and tons of little seedlings which we decorated and gave away as wedding favors. Add to the other lessons: its not wise to doubt Allison's persistence when it comes to planting things!

So the 'Growing Her Weight in Food' project is actually a modest progression from the previous endeavor, and we are blessed now to have a whole balcony to experiment with. Despite being a little behind on where Alli thought we'd be at this point, the persistent streak is coming out, and I'm sure there will be a creative way of catching up. Hence, another quote from this week: "James, what would think of growing mushrooms... on our coffee table?"

Skepticism (I'm forced to admit) was first in my mind. But then, that wedding experience does suggest that it'll work out ok. I did say at some point something like 'for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, with tomatoes hanging out the windows, and mushrooms on the coffee table...'

The Peach Post

2010-07-10T11:33:00.011-04:00

"I ate a peach fresh from my third floor balcony!" - Allison

You go outside, and you can smell them. They smell sweet, fragrant. Just lovely. They are ready to harvest when the top part of the peach around the stem is soft. I had read this recently from "Backyard Fruits and Berries; Everything You Need to Know About Planting and Growing Fruits and Berries in Your Own Backyard" by Miranda Smith (a book I have really found useful), and told this to a friend who had come by to visit.

"Well, this one feels soft to me," she said. She pointed to a peach I had been eyeing for days for it's particularly beautiful red coloring.

"Wow, you're right. Hey, do you want to eat a peach? Like right now?"

"Sure!"

I picked it. It came off easily. What a lovely peach. It had a particularly deep and beautiful red blush on the side where the sun had hit it day after day for the past several months. I took a knife, and slowly cut it open. The flesh was so soft it practically fell off the peach as the knife cut it. We each picked up slice, and took a bite.

"Wow," we both said at once, eyes widening.

I counted around 41 peaches of various sizes on our tree. The first one we picked weighed 73 grams. Putting our weight up past 13 pounds! Since then we have had 4 more peaches, and they have all been excellent. The only bugs we have really had any problems with have been spider mites which have gotten on some of the peach tree's leaves and turned a few of them slightly yellow. So far all the fruits have been perfect, if not a little smaller than most peaches you might find in the store. But believe me, they make up for size with taste!

Last night we had a peach (as well as 3 strawberries and two blueberries! from the garden) with some rice pudding. I got some giant sunflowers from the farmer's market, and we got a picture of the fresh fruit and the flowers.
I really am enjoying peach season on the balcony.

Pests, Helpers, and Other Solutions

2010-07-06T14:52:00.000-04:00

"There is no gardening without humility. Nature is constantly sending even its oldest scholars to the bottom of the class for some egregious blunder." ~Alfred Austin

So I looked out at my garden the other day. Quiet, serene, leaves rustling in the wind. The peaches were beginning to become ripe and fragrant to the point where you could smell them when you walked outside. Zucchini flowers were coming like tiny banners of bright yellow. The tiny tomato flowers were everywhere like little stars sprinkled throughout the garden. I saw a tiny spider climb up a snap pea plant which was dying back (as they do when the weather gets hot). The spider jumped onto another leaf, and I leaned down to watch it move. Then, without warning, it lunged and grabbed a tiny spider mite and began to devour it. The spider mite had been eating my snap peas. And suddenly I realized this garden was much more than a garden, it was a battleground!

I remember the first time I discovered aphids on one of my plants. I noticed the plant wasn't looking too good, and I wondered why. I remember checking the leaves. Nothing there. I checked the tiny peppers that were just appearing and the new flowers. Still nothing. Hmm... What could be wrong? And suddenly, as I stood back and looked at the whole plant, I realized the stems were COVERED in aphids! There were so many you could hardly see the stem! I couldn't believe I hadn't spotted them before. And this is what tends to happen with pests: If you focus too much on one part of the plant, you might miss the obvious. Since discovering the aphids some time ago, it's happened to me time and time again with different pests until I begin to recognize what to look for. So I'm going to show you what's in my garden, specifically aphids and spider mites, as well as some other common pests and predators to look out for.

And just in case you don't like bugs, a quick word. The bugs I'll mention really aren't THAT bad. The bugs you might see with indoor plants are small, and can often go unnoticed. Up close they look scary, but really they are mostly tiny specs when you see them on plants. They don't go after people, and really are only interested in the plants. So with that...

Aphids

They can be green, white, black, red, brown, yellow, or orange. They go after young leaves and are often found on stems and buds, too. Pesky little things that essentially sink their tiny mouths into the plant tissue and in this way feed. You can rub them off with your fingers or even spray a strong jet of water on them. It will dislodge them, and often control the issue. Ladybugs, spider, lacewings, and several other "good bugs" can often times do the work for you. So planting flowers that attract "good bugs" or even introducing them into your garden (see www.naturescontrol.com for more info) are both good ideas.

You can also make a homemade spray involving rubbing alcohol or some combination of soap, water, garlic, hot pepper, and/or a variety of other ingredients. There are some good recipes for sprays online, and also some similiar commercial non-chemical sprays like "Veggie Pharm". Though a word of caution about sprays. They will kill the pests, but also can kill/discourage your predators. And in the long run, I think you are better off with good predators for long term protection. Though if you have mostly potted plants and lots indoors, you're probably not going to get the predators you need, so the spray may be the best option. Don't use sprays when the sun is shining on your plants... it will fry the leaves!

Spider Mites

Just a picture of a leaf, you say? Well, notice those small pockety, yellow discolorations. That's what spider mite damage looks like. And here's what the little critters look like:

Yep! See those tiny black and tan dots?! Yeah, they don't look like much, but they are pesky little things. They create tiny little "webs" on the underside of plants' leaves, and basically slowly take the life out of the leaf. They don't like moisture, so sometimes a continual misting of the plant may help. Biological controls (similar to that used for aphids) and also soap sprays.

Other Pests
Thrips, scale, mealy bugs, and white fly can often go after indoor plants. If you have lots of warm weather vegetables, you might also have challenges with other pests such as the squash vine borer, cucumber beetle, tomato hornworm, or the cabbage looper. They sound daunting, but really, they can be controlled fairly easily if you practice vigilance, maintain healthy soils and a full ecosystem (with "beneficial insects"), and keep your plants from being too stressed (due to lack of water, nutrient deficiencies, overcrowding, etc...).

If any of you have any thoughts or suggestions on how you've dealt with any of these pests, I'd love to hear it.

And the garden keeps growing!

All in a Day's Work!

2010-06-23T09:45:00.015-04:00

"My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view."
~H. Fred Dale

So we made a harvest one evening. All sorts of things went into it. Two small, but lovely carrots. A wonderfully full scallion. Sugar snap peas, edible flowers, lettuces of many colors, and some dwindling radishes (they really are a cool weather crop). And a whole harvest of potatoes! The potato plants had died back, sadly, too early. They didn't quite like all the rain we'd been getting that entire week I was gone. But we were so excited to see what the harvest might look like... it wasn't actually THAT sad. And, as always, we had plenty of sprouts!

I eyed the potato bag, and put a hand in the bag of soil, expecting it to be packed with small potatoes... I reached farther. I hadn't felt a single potato yet. For a moment, a terrible fear gripped me: what if they hadn't produced at all! Then suddenly I found one. And another. They were deeper down the bag than I had anticipated. Exciting! We pulled up 10 potatoes in all, and all of VARIOUS sizes. A few were really quite "cute".

So that night, our lovely dinner consisted almost entirely of what we had from the garden. We had a lovely salad topped with some added cherries and a few nuts (the only bit not from our garden!). Then we roasted the potatoes with bacon (also not from the garden... ) and some rosemary. The flavors were fantastic. And the salad was quite beautiful.

Altogether we harvested 627 grams or 1.38lbs yesterday! The potatoes were lighter than we were hoping (just over half a pound), but still, it was a good day's harvest, and not much could dampen our excitement. Not to mention our taste buds... I had no idea how fantastic fresh potatoes taste!

In other news:
The peaches look great!

Our melon sprouted!

And my new short-term goal is to reach 34 lbs by the end of July. Seeing as I have a total of just over 11 lbs. It might prove to be quite challenge. But tomatoes should be well on their way! And I have big hopes for August and September with those melons. Go melons, go!

And the garden saga continues!

Did you say 'a melon on your balcony'?

2010-06-16T07:24:00.000-04:00

Did you ever think how a bit of land  shows the character of the owner?   ~Laura Ingalls Wilder

The other day, I got to thinking… "Now really, how are we going grow 134 lbs of food? We’re over 8lbs, and still sprouts are the clear winner in terms of weight! So we did a thought experiment. What might our total harvest look like:

-20lbs of peaches
-20lbs of tomatoes (if we are lucky, and no blight this year…)
-20lbs of potatoes (if our potatoes perk up again after all this rain)
-20lbs of zucchini, radishes, peas, beans, peppers, lettuce, greens, and carrots
-20lbs of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cucumbers… that’s a bit of a stretch!
-14 pounds of sprouts… that’s a LOT of sprouts!

That’s 114 total, and these are NOT conservative estimates of what we could produce. 20lbs of peaches is a LOT of peaches! And we need another 20 lbs from somewhere else to make my weight in food: 134lbs. Somehow, I don't think more sprouts is the answer… So, what’s heavy and can take up vertical space (which we have) rather than horizontal space (which we don’t have)…

Wait for it… wait for it… MELONS!

Now, I know I previously dismissed melons as too difficult to grow on a balcony, but that was before summer arrived, and that was before our thought experiment left us 20lbs short of our goal (at least).

So what are the challenges of melons? Well, they take a LONG time to come to maturity. They are susceptible to a fair number of bugs and diseases. They need a lot of space. If they are too stressed, they won’t produce. And they have 5-10 foot vines!

BUT if you have a big container, and good, rich soil. And you get an early-maturing variety (matures in 70 days versus 95 days). And you have a trellis you can train the vines up. And get small melons that you are willing to have swinging around in the breeze above you. And you are willing to put them in “slings” as they grow older (so they don’t fall off the vine too early due to their own ever-growing weight)… you might have a chance with melons! Not just a chance, but an incredible, fragrant, juicy, cool success! Why not try it?

I mean, I’ve got a peach tree on my balcony! Why not try a small melon variety! No problem, right?

So the one we’ve got is a type called Earlichamp. It’s a muskmelon (cantaloupe), prolific producer, and produces 4-5 lb melons. This plant is a native of East Africa. And in fact, did you know that most melons we call cantaloupes in the US are actually muskmelons? A true cantaloupe is a hard-shelled melon variety in Europe, at least according to the back of my muskmelon seed packet.

Check out this container James made for the melons and some tomato plants. We call the container Big Bertha. I bet you can guess why. The melon gets a full half of the container. It’s just that special.

The garden saga continues…

A Simple Salad

2010-06-07T11:11:00.000-04:00

The kiss of the sun for pardon, 
The song of the birds for mirth, 
One is nearer God's heart in a garden 
Than anywhere else on earth. 
~Dorothy Frances Gurney, "Garden Thoughts" 

I was out of town for the end of May, and when I came back the garden surprised me by how much it had grown. The strawberries were simply lovely and the peaches were like small green golf balls with a gentle red blush. Our lettuces looked lush and read to eat and the snap peas had definitely outgrown their trellises. James had done some planting while I was away, and also had harvested enough strawberries to make strawberry shortcake (73 grams)! Some of our tomato plants were also beginning to flower!

"Let's make a salad!" I said, excitedly, looking at everything growing. We had radishes and a variety of greens and strawberries and snap peas and peppery nasturtium flowers and, as always, sprouts!

Now, just so you get a sense of what weighs what, here's the breakdown of what I weighed (in grams) that morning (not all is shown in the picture above):

strawberries: 25
radishes: 67
flowers: 5
sugar snap peas: 34
lettuce: 69
salad sprouts: 252
purple bell pepper: 57
herbs: 19

We ended up making a salad in the morning and evening with all that we harvested! And check out the weight of the sprouts? Can you believe that? We harvested a total of 528 grams, and just about half of that was sprouts! Our conclusion: if you have to survive on a desert island for some short period of time, sprouts are the way to go.

A quick note on sprouts. We've been using a salad sprout mix... usually a combination of broccoli, alfalfa, lentil, radish, mustard, and clover seeds. (See earlier blog post entitled "Sprouts!" for instructions on how to grow them). We've also been sprouting mung beans. We haven't had much success with larger beans just yet. When the mung bean sprouts are ready (after about 5 days) we blanch them (put them in boiling water for 2-3 minutes), rinse them, then add them to pasta, stir fries, soups, etc...

Here are our salads:

Yummy!

A Tour of the Balcony in Spring

2010-05-17T12:26:00.010-04:00

'Just living is not enough,' said the butterfly.  'One must have sunshine, freedom,  and a little flower.'  
~ Hans Christian Andersen

Slowly a harvest is coming! The young leaves are filling out, and fruits are developing. My tiny peaches are getting a hint of red in them. The garden is looking so different from when I first started. We've already harvested 4 strawberries! Not a LOT, but it's been exciting, and they've tasted so sweet.

I planted a few garlic cloves at the base of my peach tree. The garlic is a companion plant to fruit trees, potentially detering beetle, including the peachtree borer and japanese beetles. Anything that can deter pests, not have a negative effect, and produces more good food is worth a shot! Here's a picture of the balcony so far... notice the little stalks of garlic coming up from under the peach tree!

If you look very closely at this picture, there are some leaves on the balcony floor... something has been "snipping" my plants. I have no idea why a bird might do it, but all the signs point to a bird! The tops of the plants are affected the most, and many "damage" points have several rips or depressions when it appears a beak might be pecking or chomping. I decided that for the good of the strawberries (as they ripen) and my other plants, I must come up with a line of defense... something to repel the birds... And that's when I came up with a brilliant plan.

A snake. Isn't it cute? It's a combination of plastic piping, floral tape, packaging tape (for the stripes), and googly eyes! Terrifying, I know, but it may just save the fruits. Every morning I put it in a different location, so the birds don't get suspicious. It's been out there for two days and so far I've not had trouble with birds. We'll see if it can withstand the test of time... and not fall apart.

In other news the nasturtiums are growing beautifully in our window! We've been harvesting flowers for salads and toppings for french toast or main dishes. The more flowers we pick, the more are encouraged to grow. The colors are beautiful, and making a lovely "curtain" as they climb the window lacings that James made.

To date I've grown 4.6 pounds! 3.41% of my goal. Ok, it's mostly been sprouts, but still I am feeling quite accomplished!

First Fruits

2010-05-12T10:54:00.004-04:00

Let no one think that real gardening is a bucolic and meditative occupation. It is an insatiable passion, like everything else to which a man gives his heart.
~Karel Čapek, The Gardener's Year, 1931 

It's so exciting to see the garden beginning to come alive, and see all the hard work we've put into it beginning to blossom and fruit. Here's are some of our first fruits:

The strawberries

Look at these little strawberries go! I had grand visions the other day of really hefty strawberries growing from our balcony, but the more I thought about it, the more I remembered those 8oz containers they sell in grocery stores... will I be able to fill one of those containers? Hmm... we shall see. How much exactly does a single strawberry weigh? I am suddenly beginning to have my doubts.

The raspberries

We had white flowers, and now check out these amazing little guys! All told, it appears as if we'll have about 2-3 dozen raspberries. Hmm... well, it's not an ENORMOUS amount, but certainly cool to watch them grow!

The blueberries

Check out these little blueberries? Can you see a slight hint of blue? Isn't that amazing! I've never watched blueberries in the wild so closely before, so seeing them grow and mature day by day is quite a treat.

The peaches

I have high hopes for these little peaches. Aren't they cute? I just "thinned" them recently which was very hard to do, but recommended because peach trees are well-known "over-bearers" and can produce more fruit than the branches can actually hold. The fruits will also be a lot smaller and more crowded (potentially inviting in disease) if not thinned properly. Let's hope I did it right.

Rhubarb

Isn't this cool? I know, I know. Rhubarb really isn't a fruit, but this was so exciting to see it come up, I just had to post a picture. We planted the roots' "bulb" recently, and I was convinced it was dead. The roots were limp and almost completely desiccated. I was disheartened and nearly didn't plant them. But what could I loose? I put them in the soil regardless with the strawberries, and check it out! A tiny little rhubarb leaf has popped up! Somehow plants never cease to amaze me.

The adventures continue!

A Bag of Potatoes

2010-05-03T16:45:00.016-04:00

"The man who has planted a garden feels that he has done something for the good of the world." -- Vita Sackville-West

How many types of potatoes would you guess there are in the world? Maybe a few dozen varieties? In the grocery store I've definitely seen red, white and yellow ones. And occasionally they have purple ones. That's right, if you've never had a purple potato that's a dark purple inside and out... you are definitely missing out on the coolest mashed potatoes ever.

Would you believe that there are actually a few thousand varieties of potatoes!? Isn't that incredible?! So many different types and flavors and colors. A great majority of them are in the Andes Mountain region where the potato was first developed.

So, when you are deciding what potatoes to grow, know that there are SEVERAL very interesting options. From potatoes that harvest in as little as 55 days to a potato called the Purple Viking -- a beautiful purple skinned potato with red swirls on the surface and a surprisingly snow-white flesh. Here's a picture.

How would one grow potatoes in their backyard? On their balcony? Well, here's one idea I'm currently using.

First, get a spud -- a potato you are going to plant. If you are getting them at a grocery store, be mindful that the non-organic potatoes have a spray on them that prevents them from sprouting, so buy organic potatoes or ones you know are not sprayed. We got ours from a farmer's market at the end of the year last year, and as the weather's gotten warmer, many of them began sprouting. Here's a picture of a sprouted potato that REALLY wants to be planted.

Notice this potato's size. If it's much bigger than this you may need to cut the potato in half or even in 4ths for very big ones. If this is the case, make sure you let the pieces sit for a day or two in a dry location. This will let the cut (moist) side dry out and prevent it from rotting once you plant it. And BELIEVE me... you don't want to smell a rotting potato. Just trust me.

Now get a bag. We used one of the more durable and water-proof-ish reusable old shopping bags that we own as our potato bag. If the bag you are using does not allow water to pass through it, make some holes at the bottom. Put a thin layer of gravel at the bottom (1 inch-ish) to help with drainage. You don't want to oversaturate a potato plant!! Again, beware a rotting potato...

Fill about 3-4 inches of the bag with soil. Place potatoes on the surface of the soil layer (I planted 3 spuds in this bag), and then cover the potatoes completely with soil. Water well, roll down the edges of the bag and put in a nice sunny location. Be sure to try and keep the soil moist but well drained. Potatoes, like many vegetable plants, require a balance of not-too-dry-but-not-too- wet-or-else. Though potatoes are actually fairly forgiving plants. Awhile ago, I grew some potatoes on a fire escape in a large, old juice container, and (as can happen with plants on fire escapes) I forgot about it. I thought the plant had died and just left it out there for the season. The following spring, I turned out the container to re-use the soil, and shockingly some potatoes rolled out! They lasted all winter! Not very many, mind you, but I was quite impressed the plant had produced despite the harsh conditions of a fire escape.

As the potato plant grows, you'll want to keep mounding soil around it. This encourages the plant to have a taller root system and produce more potatoes. As you mound and need more room, roll the edges of the bag up. If all goes well, by the time the potato plant blooms and dies back (which is when you know it's ready), you'll have a bag full of potatoes!

Happy Potato-ing!

A Tree on the Balcony

2010-04-27T13:37:00.019-04:00

"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in." --Greek proverb

"So you're saying it should bear fruit this year?" I had my hands on my hips and was eyeing a beautiful "Reliance" dwarf peach tree at Mahoney's Garden Center.

"Yes, it should," said one of the workers, nodding.

"Hmm..." I mused, studying the 5 foot tall tree, "We were planning on putting it in a container outside. What size would you recommend?" I asked, eyeing the tree suspiciously.

"The bigger the better. Something at least twice the size of what it's in now." It was in a six gallon bucket.

We'd done our research this time. "Reliance" was a type of peach that was not only cold hardy, but also had some disease resistance. It was self-pollinating (meaning we didn't need a second tree for it to produce fruit like most apples require), and grafted on a dwarf rootstock so it was a compact little thing. "Reliance" peaches are supposed to be tasty and have a firm flesh that's great for eating, freezing, canning, pie-making, cobbler-making, more eating... my mouth was watering.

Last year, during peach season, I went to the farmer's market, and one of the farmers handed me a peach the size of a softball. I needed two hands to hold it.

"Just try it," he said, giving me a nod of encouragement. Even before I took a bite I could smell it... so fragrant and sweet! I took a huge bite, with peach juices going everywhere. Fantastic!

There's really nothing like a fresh peach, ripened straight off the tree. Because peaches (like tomatoes) bruise so easily, they are often very difficult for grocery stores and distribution centers to handle. Often times the peaches are picked well before they're ripe so they will survive transport to various grocery store locations. They ripen just in time for selling and displaying, but often times, it's at the expense of flavor and texture. Many grocery store varieties are even bred to have tougher skins to prevent bruising during transport. James told me he has always been rather disinclined towards peaches because of their leathery skin... I wonder if this is the reason why. With luck, we'll see if homegrown balcony peaches might change his mind. So, all that said, if you're going to pick a fruit tree to grow in your backyard (or third-floor balcony), a peach tree is an excellent choice!

A tree is a responsibility. An investment. A challenge. But it's also such a hopeful thing to plant. When planting choose a big container with plenty of drainage holes (we're using a grey 18 gallon tubberware bucket) with well-drained soil. You'll need to cut or tease apart the roots which will most likely be concentrated, growing in a circle, at the bottom of the pot it came in. Here's me teasing apart the root ball in a smaller bucket before we plant it in the larger one.

I'm trying very hard not to "weigh my peaches before they're grown", but it is exciting to thing how much this hardy tree might produce. I know something tragic might prevent my harvest, and so I am trying not to get my hopes too high. The diseases associated with fruit trees are many and not entirely pleasant (what disease is?), and I must admit it's a tad intimidating just opening a book to the "pests and diseases" section. Just think of the horrible thought of eating an apple and finding a worm in it... that's what I'm up against... a whole host of wormy bugs and fungi and viruses that go after innocent little peach trees. The peachtree borer, for instance, burrows into the tree's trunk and eventually cuts off the tree's circulation, killing it just like that. Or peach leaf curl which cause leaves to get all puckered and reddish and reduce future harvests as the leaves fall off and weaken the tree. Oriental fruit moth, plum curculio, brown rot, perennial canker, and bacterial leaf spot, oh my! Awwhhh!!... can people really grow peaches without using tons of chemicals and expensive sprays?! Well, you can. As Taylor's Guide to Fruits and Berries says, "The trick is vigilance." And if you find a disease-resisitant tree variety, that helps, too.

There are often signs to watch for to know if your tree is in trouble and often ways to deal with it quickly and painlessly, esp. if you catch it early. Like the peach tree borer... if you see sap oozing or sawdust around a freshly dug small hole in the tree trunk, take a straightened out paper clip and poke around in the hole to kill the little borer inside. That's it. You saved your tree. Some pests are harder to get rid of, but keeping an eye on your tree and knowing what to

expect helps things tremendously. And really, if you have a just one healthy, well-watered fruit tree in good soil, it's encouraging to know you don't by any means run the same level of risk or intensity of bugs that big orchards do. Also, if you garden without pesticides/chemicals, you'll also have a whole host of beneficial bugs and fungi on your side ready to help you repel the pests. Even though the fruit tree pests seem scarier or more awful, in the end, they really are no more terrible than the ones that go after vegetables.

By the way, the peach tree has been officially named Peter. Peter the Peach.

Here's a picture of James and Peter. =). James and the Dwarf Peach... perhaps not the best title for a book, but I like it. The adventure continues!

P.S. I bet you're wondering how we got a full peach tree home? We really were contemplating using the subway and bus system... and were all prepared to carry our tree onto the bus with us. Though, in the end we decided to rent a Zipcar and minimize branch/bus/pedestrian interference issues. Definitely the way to go.

Cast of Characters

2010-04-24T10:58:00.000-04:00

There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling. ~Mirabel Osler

So far I have several plants well on their way to becoming food. Here's a tour of some of the plants I have growing so far on my balcony and window spaces.

The lettuces

Notice the speckled lettuce in the front. I think it's quite beautiful. It really is amazing how many different shapes, sizes and colors leafy greens can come in.

The potatoes

I got some small red potatoes from the farmer's market in the fall, and planted several of the ones that have sprouted. These splendid potatoes are growing in one of the more durable reusable shopping bags I've collected over the years.

Basil

This basil has really grown. I'm quite impressed with how quickly it decided to leaf-out, despite all the rain and cloudy days we've been having.

The tomatoes

Here is one of my tomato transplants. I can't wait to get these outside and get them growing. There's still nothing like a fresh homegrown tomato, and I'm very excited with the idea of putting them in salads again!

The blueberries

And here are those pesky little fruits I am trying so hard to grow. The blueberries. One of the plants flowered prematurely, and I'm already on my way to getting 12 blueberries. Yeah, 12 is a bit of a small number, but I am still counting on the other plant to grow bigger and flourish. We shall see. Notice how the white flowers fell away and what was left behind is already swelling and looking ever so slightly "blue". Small, yes, but still, this plant is impressing me. =)

Nasturtiums

Here are the nasturtiums growing on the lattice work in the window that James so skillfully made for me. Just look at them growing! We could probably start harvesting some leaves here and there pretty soon to give a bit of a peppery taste to our salads

The peppers

And here are some rogue purple bell peppers that I began really late last season. And then they began flowering indoors a few months ago, and here they are, still producing... this early in the season! I got all excited the first time I was going to weigh one of these cause I assumed it would be amazing compared to the weight of a bunch of sprouts... well, I forgot peppers are basically full of air. A full 30 grams. I couldn't help but laugh out loud!

Companion Planting

2010-04-09T10:33:00.007-04:00

As a gardener, I'm among those who believe that much of the evidence of God's existence has been planted.

~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com 

Here in Massachusetts the magnolia and cherries trees are blooming in full swing and daffodils are everywhere. The past few days have been surprisingly warm and pleasant... though I am sure the New England weather will hold some surprise for us yet. It tends to do that.

So in my ever-continuing attempts to figure out ways to improve my harvest (and reach my goal of 134 pounds in food!), I've been doing some thinking. Last year I planted a bunch of herbs together on tiered planters. They did amazingly well... that is, most of them. The basil was just incredible, making two large batches of pesto. The rosemary and thyme really did well. So did the chives. But the parsely and mint which I planted right next to each other did terribly! Both of them got stunted, some of the leaves got discolored, and they both got pests... badly. They did not look like healthy plants, by any means! My first thought was perhaps they didn't have enough light (I was growing them on our fire escape). Or maybe the pot was too small. Not enough nutrients? Yet how did the other herbs do so well in the same pots?

That is when I began reading more about companion planting. You've probably heard of the classic "three sisters": corn, beans, and squash. All good companions. The corn provides a stalk for the beans to climb on, the beans provide nitrogen for the heavy nitrogen-feeding corn, and the squash shades the ground at the root of both the corn and bean, by providing a good ground cover and taking advantage of the light at ground level.

And guess what? According to several sources, mint and parsley appear to be enemies! They are bad companions.

If a pair of plants are bad companions or incompatible with each other, there could be several reason for it. Bad companions could be plants that use the same nutrients (so compete and stunt each other's growth), plants that have naturally herbicidal effects on others, plants that attract a disease or bug that kills the other, plants with root structures that compete or strangle the other, etc... None of which you want to have if you can help it! On the other hand, good companion plants can improve growth, flavor, or health of other plants, attract beneficial insects, repel pests, fix nutrients for the other plant into the soil, provide ground cover, etc.. It's probably important to note that companion planting is not an exact science. Meaning, a carefully planned garden might not actually yield more or better tasting produce or protect it from all ills. Yet, then again, it might. Essentially, the most important thing is to observe and see what your plants are doing in your own garden environment, then adjust.

So, I figured that for my tiny 3rd floor apartment garden, it might be a good idea to take note of classic bad and good plant combinations. Cause if it saves me from loosing my parsley/mint harvest, that might be crucial (in the end) for reaching my weight in food! Several dozen grams at the very least! Ok, maybe not crucial, but in a sense, every gram counts here. But just maybe, if all goes well, it might improve my harvest. And that is what my goal is.

Here's a list of a few companions I'm going to try to be aware of for my containers this year (and keep you updated if they work):

Good Companions:
basil and tomatoes
bell or sweet Peppers and green/bundle onions
potatoes and bush beans
cucumbers and dill
onions, spinach, and strawberries

Bad Companions (Do not plant together!):
beans/peas and onions (allium family)
marigolds and beans
dill and carrots
potatoes and cucumbers
sage and onions or cucumbers

In the long run, all these are hard to keep track of! So if worse comes to worse, try something, make note of it to see if it works, and try again. You never know...you might just discover an amazing combination.

There are some fun resources out there for companion planting. Google "companion planting". Look it up online, and check out books from a local library!

Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening by Louis Riotte
Good Neighbors: Companion Planting for Gardeners by Anna Carr
Great Garden Companions by Sally Jean Cunningham
Rodale's Successful Organic Gardening Companion Planting by Susan McClure and Sally Roth

Basic List of Companion Plants -- http://www.companionplanting.net/ListofCompanionPlants.html
More Extensive List of Companion Plants -- http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html

And my balcony garden so far... not much to look at yet, but it will be!

Ramping Up Production

2010-04-05T14:40:00.010-04:00

"In the spring,  at the end of the day,  you should smell like dirt.  " ~Margaret Atwood

This morning I went outside to pick some baby lettuces for a salad for lunch. I brought them tenderly inside and laid them on the scale to see just how hefty my lettuces might be. Let's just say, it was rather humbling. Where "humble" = 12 grams.

Don't think that's too bad? Every gram counts, do you say? Well, let me put it in perspective. It would take just over 5,000 such lettuce harvests to reach my goal. Yea, i know. 5,000. Luckily there are heavier plants growing on my balcony, too...

Just to keep you all updated, that brings me to a total of 479 grams (just over a pound) for a whopping .78% of my goal! Humph. That's not a lot. In fact, at this point, I probably could have lost a pound and come out ahead! Sigh. My growing so far has also really been mostly sprouts. So, doing the math... hmm, I'd need to grow 405 grams (just over a pound) per day for 5 months to make my goal. I do have all year to grow my weight in food, but May, June, July, August, and September are really the growing season for New England, and the months where I can grow the big, heavy things!

By my calculations, I am currently averaging 10-15 grams per day... so basically, I need a 40x increase. Now, that IS a lot. Humph.

And you know what else was humbling!? I went outside later on in the day to check on one of my self-watering containers in which I planted some lettuces, a Tiny Tim tomato, bush peas, snap peas, carrots, etc... and you know what? Something (a bird, I'm guessing, probably looking for worms) just clipped off a bunch of peas, cut off my tomato plant from it's stem, trampled a few seedlings, and left the tops for dead. They didn't even eat the tiny plants they snipped! It was pretty tragic. I was feeling a tad discouraged cause I was really rather proud of this tomato going in so early. And now I have a new issue... the birds (at least i assume they're birds and hopefully not "caterpillars from hell" as James jokingly suggested) have found my seedlings. Not sure what to do about this yet.

Ok! I now have lots of motivation to get going on more planting, especially with all the great cool weather crops for spring planting. Let's get those carrots, radishes, snap peas, bush peas, edible flowers, lettuces, arugula, spinach, and bundle onions going!!! Did you know certain radishes can be harvested in 23-25 days after planting? And they come in all shapes and sizes (see picture). But what do you do with a radish? We now have 25 days to find out! I think we might plan for a radish a day at this point...

In yet another desperate and creative attempt at more plants, we turned to the indoor windows. One idea is vertical space. James helped lace up one of our windows with twine so, if we are lucky, we'll have a snap pea, bean, and nasturtium (edible flowers and leaves) curtain! It'll be a great way to keep the kitchen shaded in the summer, and provide some tasty edibles, too.

The saga continues...

More Cool Plants...

2010-03-29T13:34:00.010-04:00

"You can’t grow everything, but there’s no harm in trying!"
~ quote from http://tinyfarmblog.com/

Here's some more cool varieties of vegetables I am going to be trying. Again, a lot of them are picked to (hopefully!) grow well in containers.

Eight Ball Zucchini

A round and compact zucchini! Not what you normally see in a zucchini, but it's certainly interesting and looks fun to cook with. Just imagine a lovely eightball zucchini stuffed with mushrooms and garlic and parmesan sitting on your plate? Yeah. Amazing.

Spherical Carrots

Here's a picture of the seed packet I got this year! Aren't these amazing?! They don't grow too deep down so they are great for containers. I'm quite excited to try these out.

Nasturtiums

Beautiful and edible flowers and leaves. They have a peppery taste, perfect to mix in with salads. If you plan on growing them, check out all the super cool colors and varieties. There's a climbing variety (T. majus) and a more compact bushy variety (T. minus). I am growing the big climbers cause I want them to trail down over my balcony! That is, if all goes according to plan...

Tiny Tim Tomatoes

The whole plant is only about 12-14 inches tall! It produces lots of cherry tomatoes relatively early (50 days!), too. A nice tomato for container gardening. It's important to remember it's a "determinate", meaning it only produces a certain number of leaves and tomatoes, and after that, it's done for the season. You might find yourself planting another!

Pictures from
Eight ball zucchnni: http://tinyfarmblog.com/,
Nasturtium: http://www.herbcompanion.com/
Tiny Tim Tomato: http://myseedgarden.blogspot.com/

Self-Watering Containers

2010-03-26T14:15:00.003-04:00

"Gardeners, I think, dream bigger dreams than Emperor's." -Mary Cantwell

I have lots of big plans for my balcony this year. Fruits and vegetables and edible flowers, oh my!

And as I think about all the plants I am planning to grow, I know that it could require a lot of water. I also know regular pots tend to dry out very quickly which stresses the plants, in turn making them produce less. I need to get creative. I need to conserve water not only because it's a good practice to get into, but also because it means less work watering for me in the long run. But how? One idea: self-watering containers!

Now you don't need self-watering containers. Good-sized ordinary pots are just great, esp. for plants that like to dry out between waterings like many herbs. Or even for vegetables (like tomatoes) if you are good at keeping them watered on a regular basis. However, for those particularly hot days in the middle of summer, self-watering containers are great for keeping your soil moist and plants happy.

What is a self watering container? A self-watering container is a container that can be watered by filling up a water reservoir at it's base. Plants soak up water from the bottom up, and sometimes, depending on how much water your container can hold and how well you mulch the top, it doesn't have to watered for several days! Now that is nice. I am liking this idea. Self watering container are also great cause they encourage your plants' root systems to grow downwards and thus, be more healthy overall.

The components of a basic self watering container are (a) the main container, (b) plane separating the soil body from the water reservoir, (c) a "foot" or "wick" that draws water up from the water reservoir to the soil body, (d) supports that hold up the plane, (e) a pipe (or opening) used to add water to the water reservoir, (f) soil, and (g) plants.

Self-watering containers are getting popular! So now you can buy them or buy inserts to convert regular containers into self-watering ones. However, these pre-made ones can be more expensive. So if you have some tools lying around (or know a friend with tools) consider making one yourself. I used a drill, an exacto knife, strong scissors, a saw (for cutting PVC pipe for the pipe and supports). It does take some time, but it can be the experience. And you can tailor them to whatever size you like.

Here's just one of the many descriptions you can find online on how to make your own self-watering containers. The pictures in this document give you a good sense of how many different types of containers you can convert into self-watering ones.

http://www.seattleoil.com/Flyers/Earthbox.pdf

Here also are some pictures of some of my attempts at self-watering containers. These are pieces of a self-watering container being assembled...

Here's James helping me make another one. Here we drilled holes in plastic flower pots as to create a soil "foot".

And here are the blueberries in the bedroom! Originally they were each going to get their own container, but we need to conserve space. Sigh. Usually you'll want to use an opaque container so light doesn't get through and cause algae to grow beneath the soil surface. I am planning to cover this container on the outside with cloth or paper. Also, note the mulch! Mulch (can be anything from leaves, straw, pine needles, etc...) or ground covers are a great way to help your plants from drying out and will mean you can water less often.

If you have any thoughts or ideas or questions on self-watering containers, feel free to comment. =)

Update on the blueberries

2010-03-16T17:35:00.008-04:00

"My blueberries are drowning!!!"

Wait? Drowning? They are plants, right? They LIKE water... well, everything in moderation.

We had a crazy storm this past weekend (people in MA were using boats to go down flooded streets), and I temporarily transplanted the blueberries into small pots as I tried to find the best soil and best container to use to plant them (i was thinking I wanted to mostly imitate the raspberry container). Well, I put them outside when it was raining in an EMPTY bucket, and then a day later (and lots of rain), I came back to find their pots well below the water surface! I think this definitely qualifies as nearly drowning these two plants!

So I've been getting to thinking... my balcony is going to be a little tight space-wise coming up pretty soon. I would love to do blueberries, but the more I read the more I am finding they seem to take a lot of space (at least compared to my other compact plant varieties), and I can't plant many other edible plants in the same container with the blueberries. This is mainly cause of the high acidity level of the soil. There just aren't a lot of companion plants for them. Hmm... that combined with blueberries producing best (or sometimes at all) only in their 2nd or 3rd years and beyond... In future I think I would get a more mature (possibly more compact variety) plant from a nursery instead of Home Depot.

So...

I recently came to the hard decision that my blueberries are going to be second priority plants. Tragic, I know. I'm still going to grow them, but they are going to take second place to more productive plants. Basically meaning they will get not the biggest containers and only partial sun in my bedroom - luckily we chose blueberries that can handle partial sun. Sigh... blueberries just sounded so appealing... and so good-looking. James, being the amazing gentleman he is, agreed to the blueberries hanging out in the bedroom just as long as their pots didn't leak onto the floor. Sounds reasonable.

More on the blueberry saga in future posts!

Starting seeds indoors

2010-03-12T15:17:00.009-05:00

"Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders." -- Henry David Thoreau

Sprouting your own seeds seems so simple, yet it brings an enormous sense of accomplishment and pride to me as a gardener. I've known that food comes from seeds my whole life. It seems, well, obvious and kind of boring at first. But when you stop to think that a tiny tomato seed can come to life with just a bit of moisture and the right temperatures... and can pull just the right nutrients out of the ground and air, all the while using sunlight as fuel to built itself up to a million times it's original weight to produce fruits with thousands of new seeds which can do just the same thing - THAT is amazing! While waiting and watching for them to sprout, it's easy to be inspired on a personal level: the idea that "planting a seed" in the right place and at the right time in my life might, with time and care, yield such a harvest! It really is a beautiful thought.

So, as you've probably guessed, I love seeds! And plants... but you knew that bit.

There are several reasons many people choose to start plants from seed:

1) It's cheaper than buying transplants.
2) You can begin them indoors before the weather warms up, and plant an already established seedling/transplant outdoors as soon as the weather warms up
3) there are many more varieties of seeds to choose from than if you choose to buy transplants. Meaning you can get more plant seeds that work well in your climate, in containers, with natural disease/pest resistance, that can tolerate less sun, or are heat/drought tolerant... all sorts of cool traits! Pretty cool, no?
4) You can be bolder about planting... since they are cheaper and you can grow/sprout more of them indoors, you can put them outdoors early, if the weather looks good, and if a frost kills them you can replace them with more; if a frost doesn't kill them, you get an early harvest!
5) You can exchange/give any extra seedlings you grow with your neighbors, and get to know them better at the same time!
6) It's fun!

Starting Seeds

One way I like to start seeds indoors is by using old plastic egg cartons! Though I am intrigued if others have more creative ways of doing it! Here's an example of mine. The top part of the egg carton traps moisture and keeps the air inside humid (note moisture in egg carton tops in second picture). The plants like that. I poke holes in the egg carton bottom for drainage, and use a plate or lid underneath to catch any drips. Fill each pocket with soil or a seed starting mix (I sometimes mix in vermiculite - light, white, fluffy mica rock pieces - with regular soil to make the soil light, airy and good at retaining moisture). Get soil moist. Plant seeds. Keep soil moist (gently water or use a mister so not to disturb/uproot seedlings).

To germinate, many plants need warm temperatures. You can put them in a sunny, insulated windowsill or be creative and find anywhere warm like on top of the refrigerator (usually is warm from trying to keep it's insides cold) or oven (esp. if your stove is older and has a pilot light). In a few days! Wal-la! Sprouts! Transplant to a bigger pot (or to the final destination if the weather is ready) when they have 3-4 leaves.

Another way to sprout is using peat or coir pellets that expand when in water. You plant the seed, keep the pellet moist and humid. Here's some I did recently. I use a lid/cover to keep the air around the pellets humid and moist. Note: Peat pellets sometime contain fungus fly eggs... the name makes them sound terrible, but they are really pretty benign, basically like gnats. And can show up in potting soils, too. The concern is that young ones can/do eat new, tiny plants roots, potentially killing off a few seedlings. One way to make sure you don't have any is to fully saturate/expand the peat pellet in water, then microwave it on high for 1-2 minutes. Let it cool. Then proceed with planting. Be warned! The kitchen may smell quite earthy if you decide to do it this way!

It's important to note that plants such as snap peas, runner beans, and really a lot of climbing plants, in general, do best if planted directly in the soil. They don't transplant well. Great plants for growing ahead of time are tomatoes, peppers, herbs, flowers... check the package of your seeds to see how early they recommend you grow them indoors.

Happy planting!

P.S. I am at .4% of my goal!!! Yay sprouts!
P.P.S. And yes, there's a lot of thinking that still needs to go into what will grow outside on the balcony... more thoughts soon!

Raspberries and Blueberries

2010-03-01T16:33:00.011-05:00

There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments.
~ Janet Kilburn Philli

So we went to Home Depot over the weekend, and I made an impulse purchase. Well, James did agree to it. We bought one raspberry and two blueberry plants! And now I am trying to figure out if that was a good idea. Where exactly am I going to put these plants? "That, dear Alli," I find my saying out loud, "Is a VERY good question!"

So can you grow fruit like that in containers? Turns out (luckily for me) you can! Even raspberries and blueberries? Yes. Phew!

But they do have their associated challenges. Raspberries, I have heard, can actually do fairly well in a container. The plant produces "canes" which pop up, need to be held up (trellis, poles/wires) or somehow tethered. The canes are spiny, prolific, and ought to produce a nice amount of fruit.

Blueberries are much the same, except instead of canes they grow in bushes. "High", "low", and "half-high" (a breed between the two previous ones). High ones can grown 5-8 feet tall as I understand it. Low ones grow 2-4 feet tall, and half high are inbetween there. I think I have half-high ones, though not sure yet. I have no idea how much these fruit bushes might produce in just one year. If a blueberry's acidic soil conditions aren't met, I've heard it might not produce at all... Also, according to some sources, blueberries don't really fully fruit until the 2nd or 3rd year! No!!! Hmm... this might makes things interesting.

Two thoughts come to mind... I need big pots. I need to figure out how to get acidic soil. Hmm...

Several ideas came up as I was researching for adding acidity to soil:

-add elemental sulfur to the soil (which will reduce acidity over time)
-peat moss (pretty acidic, but may not be sustainably harvested)
-add acidic things that will break down over time like tea, pine needles, pine bark, etc..
-use acidic potting soil (which you can buy in the store)

It's then, that I had a bizarre and crazy idea...

I recently learned how to make cheese. Sounds tangential, I know, and challenging, but bare with me. Each time I make mozzarella (which is surprisingly easy and fast... 30-45 minutes to make a batch), it leaves me with just under a gallon of whey (yellow liquid leftover when the curds are removed). I can use it to flavor bread and such, but that's only so much bread I can make. I could just throw it out. But that does seem kind of a waste. Whey has a lot of nutrients (dried whey has a HUGE market from everything from sports drinks to nutrition mixes for babies or the undernourished to fertilizers to animal feed). If you use it to water plants, I have heard that it can raise the acidity of soil so much that it can harm many plants. Well, except for acid-loving ones, right? Blueberries!!!!

My current plan is to water these plants with whey leftover from cheesemaking, and report on the results. If it works, it could be amazing. I think I am going to request a pH meter for my birthday to measure my success.

Here's the raspberry plant so far (in a self-built self-watering container, more on these in a future post).... note the pine needles on top used as a mulch/also to add acidity to the soil. Raspberry plants need acid soil, too, though not as much as blueberries.

Oooh, I love plants!

Sprouts!

2010-02-20T19:27:00.007-05:00

"Wanted! A vegetable that will grow in any climate, will rival meat in nutritive value, will mature in 3 to 5 days, may be planted any day of the year, will require neither soil nor sunshine, will rival tomatoes in vitamin C, will be free of waste in preparation, and can be cooked with little fuel and as quickly as a ... chop." ~Dr. Clive McKay, Nutrition Professor at Cornell University

This past week it has been snowing in Boston with below freezing temperatures at night. Just a tad too cold to start vegetables. Here's a picture of the snow one morning. Beautiful and cold as ever.

And I recently found out that the last spring frost date in Boston is May 3rd!!! That's a long time to wait to be able to use my balcony. So I got to thinking creatively. What can I grow now indoors?

Then I stumbled upon the idea of growing sprouts to help supplement my weight in food! Well, they aren't exactly massively weighty, but still, it'd be something, and I could grow them now before spring begins. But what can you do with sprouts besides put them on sandwiches and sprinkle them on salads? Humph...

As I read more about them, I discovered there are three main types of sprouts:

1) salad sprouts
2) bean sprouts
3) grain sprouts

Salad sprouts (alfalfa, clover, broccoli, radish, etc...) each have different tastes! These are particularly great for the sandwiches and salads and do not survive heat well. So not exactly a hearty cooking vegetable. Bean sprouts, on the other hand, can be cooked or blanched (put in a hot water for a minute or so) and added to stir fries or even baked goods. Google it for more info! Grain sprouts (which I have never tried) can be used as grains early on in sprouting or can be juiced when they become more of a grass. Wheatgrass being the most popular, but others that can be used are rye, barley, and other cereal grains. Who knew?

So how do you make sprouts?

Just get a jar and soak the seeds (you can get sprouting seeds in bulk at some grocery stores and definitely online, too) for several hours until they are swollen (many look twice their normal size). Then drain the water. Keep moist and rinse 2-3 times a day (should take you like 30 seconds... not exactly a rigorous washing). It helps to have a mesh or screen or loose cloth over the jar to drain the water without loosing the seeds. Within a few days, sprouts! Store in the refrigerator to help them last longer.

I used a mason jar and a half of an old tea ball to help with the straining. So far it's working quite well.

How did my first attempt go? 48 grams!!! Wahooo-hooo!!!!

Ok, well, doing percentages, uhmm... well, that is only .08% percent of my goal... but hey, you really do need to start somewhere.

I really can't wait for spring!

So many seeds to choose from!

2010-02-12T18:24:00.007-05:00

One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides. ~W.E. Johns, The Passing Show 

I just ordered my seeds! Now I am just waiting for them to arrive…

I used to think there were only red tomatoes and green green beans, and that carrots only came in the long, pointy, and orange variety. Well, let me let you something: that is not the case! Not by a long shot. Here are a sampling of some of the plants I am hoping on growing this season:

Black Valentine (bean) – it’s a compact stringless bean bush with green beans that have black beans inside! You can eat them fresh, steamed, or wait until the pods dry out and harvest the beans to keep for later. It’s an heirloom introduced back in 1850’s.

Rainbow Cherry Tomato mix – red, pink, green, yellow, brown, orange, and white cherry tomatoes… just wow! Anyone else curious about a white tomato?! Or pink? What a cool salad this is going to make!

Miniature White (cucumber) - Produce small, very flavorful cucumbers that are (as the name suggests) white!

Silver Fir Tree (tomato) - Russian heirloom tomato that has silvery, oddly carrot-shaped leaves and produces an early crop of red 3-4 inch tomatoes.

Things I have found useful when picking plants for containers!

1) make sure the container is deep enough (don't want to limit growth/production)
2) really think about compact varieties of plants (one’s that do well in small spaces) -- a few examples: get determinate tomato varieties (versus indeterminate varieties that need pruning, bigger pots), smaller or shorter root crop varieties (like spherical carrots! and no, I am not making that up!) grow better in containers than long ones, bush peas/beans (versus runner beans/peas)
3) some plants just don't do well in containers or are a lot of work for little yield : big tomatoes, broccoli, artichokes, most squashes, just to name a few...

A few places to get some pretty cool seeds:

Seed Savers Exchange - http://www.seedsavers.org/
Seeds of Change - http://www.seedsofchange.com/
Heirloom Seeds - http://heirloomseeds.com/
Native Seed Search (for southwesterns in particular) - www.nativeseeds.org/
Kokopelli Seed Foundation - http://www.kokopelli-seed-foundation.com/

Planning

2010-02-05T16:57:00.015-05:00

Take thy plastic spade, 
It is thy pencil; take thy seeds, thy plants, 
They are thy colours. 

~William Mason, The English Garden, 1782 

I've told several people so far about my plans for growing my own weight in food, and there are usually two reactions. 1) "It'll be easy! You could probably grow more!" and 2). "But you don't have enough space?" My first reaction was probably closer to the first with a "oh, this will be easy! Just grow some heavy vegetables!" Then, the more I thought about it, the more I remember some of the challenges of container gardening. I mean, what if I get pests that reduce my crops. The weather might be terrible (like last summer with 6 sunny days in June) or I might get stunted vegetables if I grow them in too small a container, again reducing the size of my harvest. Many good heavy vegetables (like most squashes) don't even grow well in containers and take up a lot of valuable space! Harsh winds on the balcony, no bees for pollinating, plants that take up too much room and don't flower or fruit or produce anything edible! What if my potatoes rot with too much rain or my tomatoes don't ripen in time for the frost in the fall and get killed by an early frost?

Ok, all this in mind, here are some pictures of what the balcony DOES look like and a quick sketch of what it MIGHT look like. (Note my super cool FIRST knitted hat!):

Definitely a going to be an adventurous sort of challenge!

"But we don't have a yard..."

2010-01-29T14:45:00.009-05:00

It began just the other day, when my husband dared me to grow my own weight in food.

"But we don't have a yard..."

We are newly weds living in an apartment outside Boston, and we may not have a yard, but we DO have a balcony that faces the south, and five windows that get a moderate amount of light. Actually, it really is six windows, if you count the smallish one above the sink. I've done edible container gardening before, and am familiar with the challenges of growing productive plants in small spaces. But still, I weight 134 pounds. That's a lot of food. I could grow close to that number if I specialized in potatoes grown in several bags on the balcony. Maybe. But the second part of the challenge was we had to grow AND eat what we grew for it to count. I think I'd get pretty tired of potatoes.

I began sketching out ideas. Alright, we definitely eat a fair number of salads. So lots of greens. Humph. This wasn't looking good. Lettuce isn't exactly a hefty vegetable. But if we added carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, snap peas, and radishes... ok, that's better. Home grown sweet strawberries! Just the idea made my mouth water. Small bundle onions, beans, zuchinni, bell peppers. Perhaps even a dwarf fruit tree! You know, perhaps we just ought to grow some potatoes just to be safe.

I don't have much space, so I need to be creative and take advantage of all the light I can. If I start my seeds indoors, I could get a few crops in early. Tiny wires running up to the roof could provide quite a nice trellis for snap peas, beans, edible flowers, and cucumbers. What if I were to use hanging baskets? Stacked planters? Self-watering containers?

Also, I want my garden to not just be edible, but beautiful. There are many types of edible flowers, and many vegetables have beautiful flowers. I just need to find them and arrange them well.

Ah, sounds like an adventure to me.