Eat your vegetables...
I am always trying to find a way to save a buck or few. I shop second hand, love the auction, know where to buy the cheapest groceries without using coupons and how to buy name brand without paying full price... I am not usually a brand snob but give me my Dove, Dawn, Downy, Wen and Levi's or rip the heart from my very chest lol. I am also always up for a challenge.
My latest challenge as well as next gardening experiment will be an attempt to grow a vegetable garden through the winter. I will be gardening approximately 100 square foot of garden space with the use of cold frames and plastic covered structures.
I picked up the book Four-Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman which is supposed to be the New England winter gardener's bible. I have surfed the web and ordered my first shipment of seeds. I was amazed by the amount of vegetables that will make it through a good part of the winter or even the whole winter with some protection. I will say that as much as I like Park Seed, Burpee is cheaper and has a larger selection.
My first order of seeds consist of the following:
beets, broccoli, brussel's sprouts, a cabbage blend, *carrots, cauliflower, collard greens, parsnips, *a mix of lettuce mixes, *radishes, peas, *spinach, *turnips, *swiss chard, mustard greens, *parsley, and *leeks. I am going to see how long I can keep basil going.
Future attempts will include:
broccoli rabe, *endive, *kale, *arugula, *kohlrabi, okra, *radicchio, *rutabagas, *sorrel, and *onions.
*grow most of winter season Nov-May
I currently don't have that kind of variety in my culinary life. I haven't even tried a few of the vegetables listed above but I'm always up for trying new foods. Many of the vegetables listed I love but don't usually buy them. I'm American Irish, how can I not love leeks, parsnips, turnips, rutabagas and cabbage?
When the seeds arrive I will start most of them in 6 packs while my summer garden finishes it's production... heck, I haven't even had a home grown tomato yet this summer. I will amend the soil with compost, leaf mould, green sand, lime, and blood meal before transplanting the seedlings later in the season.
For the last 10 years; I have only used natural methods of fertilizing and insect control. I believe in it so much I have dedicated the majority of my yard to a wildlife garden. My garden provides food, shelter, water and a place to raise young for beneficial insects like spiders and pollinators, butterflies, birds and hummingbirds.
I am learning about and planting more perennial fruits, vegetables and herbs in my garden. I am learning how to push the envelope when it comes to my gardening zone. I am becoming more adventuresome when it comes to gardening, I am looking forward into investing into a lemon tree and adding artichokes and horse radish to the garden. I would love an esplanade fruit tree grafted with a few different kinds of fruit on one tree. I may even net one of my crab apple trees from the robins and try my hand at crab apple jelly this winter.
Another trick I am going to learn is how to grow sprouts, and I'm not talking plain old bean sprouts... I'm talking about a mix which includes but isn't limited to alfalfa, broccoli, clover and radish sprouts.
My latest challenge as well as next gardening experiment will be an attempt to grow a vegetable garden through the winter. I will be gardening approximately 100 square foot of garden space with the use of cold frames and plastic covered structures.
I picked up the book Four-Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman which is supposed to be the New England winter gardener's bible. I have surfed the web and ordered my first shipment of seeds. I was amazed by the amount of vegetables that will make it through a good part of the winter or even the whole winter with some protection. I will say that as much as I like Park Seed, Burpee is cheaper and has a larger selection.
My first order of seeds consist of the following:
beets, broccoli, brussel's sprouts, a cabbage blend, *carrots, cauliflower, collard greens, parsnips, *a mix of lettuce mixes, *radishes, peas, *spinach, *turnips, *swiss chard, mustard greens, *parsley, and *leeks. I am going to see how long I can keep basil going.
Future attempts will include:
broccoli rabe, *endive, *kale, *arugula, *kohlrabi, okra, *radicchio, *rutabagas, *sorrel, and *onions.
*grow most of winter season Nov-May
I currently don't have that kind of variety in my culinary life. I haven't even tried a few of the vegetables listed above but I'm always up for trying new foods. Many of the vegetables listed I love but don't usually buy them. I'm American Irish, how can I not love leeks, parsnips, turnips, rutabagas and cabbage?
When the seeds arrive I will start most of them in 6 packs while my summer garden finishes it's production... heck, I haven't even had a home grown tomato yet this summer. I will amend the soil with compost, leaf mould, green sand, lime, and blood meal before transplanting the seedlings later in the season.
For the last 10 years; I have only used natural methods of fertilizing and insect control. I believe in it so much I have dedicated the majority of my yard to a wildlife garden. My garden provides food, shelter, water and a place to raise young for beneficial insects like spiders and pollinators, butterflies, birds and hummingbirds.
I am learning about and planting more perennial fruits, vegetables and herbs in my garden. I am learning how to push the envelope when it comes to my gardening zone. I am becoming more adventuresome when it comes to gardening, I am looking forward into investing into a lemon tree and adding artichokes and horse radish to the garden. I would love an esplanade fruit tree grafted with a few different kinds of fruit on one tree. I may even net one of my crab apple trees from the robins and try my hand at crab apple jelly this winter.
Another trick I am going to learn is how to grow sprouts, and I'm not talking plain old bean sprouts... I'm talking about a mix which includes but isn't limited to alfalfa, broccoli, clover and radish sprouts.
posted by Colleen Ann at 5:32 PM
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