February | 2010 | Going Homestead

Planted Today

February 28, 2010 at 6:57 pm (Gardening, Our Family's Homestead Journey)
Tags: gardenin, planted, seeds, square foot

Here’s what my wife and I planted today, in our small square foot garden in the back yard.

Ailsa Craig Onion, Bloomsdale Spinach, Carnival Blend Carrots, Parsley, Detroit Dark Red Beets, Greek Mini Yevani Basil, Common Oregano, Jolly Jester Marigolds, Grandma Einck’s Dill, Marjoram, Bouquet Dill, Sweet Marjoram (distinct from other variety), Common English Thyme, Common Chives, Cinnamon Basil, English Lavender, & Garden Broadleaf Sage.

Birdwatching…Beginning

February 28, 2010 at 2:09 pm (A Life of Learning, Our Family's Homestead Journey)
Tags: bird, birds, birdwatching, yellowtail

Neither my wife nor I have been birdwatchers…until this morning. She noticed several beautiful birds in the tree outside our kitchen window. We don’t know what type of bird they are. Like I said, we are new to this. Nonetheless, we are interested, and we are becoming birdwatchers. So, here is our first foray. Anyone know what it is?

My wife took the pictures. She was so excited.

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New Seeds Spring 2010 & Garden Prep

February 28, 2010 at 1:59 pm (Gardening, Our Family's Homestead Journey)
Tags: Gardening, planting, seed, seeds

I received both of my seed orders last week. With the exception of my potatoes order, I have everything in now. I’m in planting mode now.

Here’s what I bought to add to my leftovers from last year.

From SeedSaver’s Exchange…

Cinnamon Basil OG
Calypso Beans OG
Listada de Gandia Eggplant OG
British Wonder Pea OG
Anna Swartz Hubbard Squash OG
Ailsa Craig Onion
Grandma Einck’s Dill OG
Napoleon Sweet Pepper OG
Sunberry OG
Sultan’s Green Crescent Bean OG
Purple Pod Pole Bean OG
Sweet Marjoram OG
Galeux d’ Eysines Squash OG
Ireland Creek Annie Bean OG
Bushy Cucumber OG
Aurora Pepper OG
Golden Midget Watermelon OG
Arugula (aka Roquette) OG
Snow Fancy Pickling Cucumber OG
Black Mountain Watermelong OG
Hidatsa Shield Figure Bean OG
Cherokee Trail of Tears Bean OG

From FreedomSeeds…

Ashworth Yellow Sweet Corn OG
Provider Beans OG
Valencia Tomato OG
Brandywine Tomato OG
California Wonder Pepper OG
Eden’s Gem Melon OG
Petit Gris Melon OG
Prize Choy, Pac Choi OG
Double Yield Cucumber OG

I bought a nice little Moleskin-like notebook in which I am tracking, among other things, my seeds and planting schedule. I’m using the Texas A&M Extension recommended planting dates for our area of Texas. We are in an 8A zone. Today is February 28th. That means I need to get the following in the ground within the next day or two. Beets, Spinach, Carrots, Parsley, & Onions. I’ll also start putting my herbs and flowers in the ground this week. They include marjoram, sage, lavender, basil, oregano, dill, chives, thyme, marigolds, echinacea, & sunflowers. This year I again am planting in two different gardens. There is the small one in our backyard, 32 square feet, and the large one at the family acres, ~2900 square feet. I’ll be putting mostly herbs and flowers in at home. The bulk of the veggies and beans will be planting in the larger garden.

We just weeded the small garden. My wife and sons helped. The soil still is loose and rich. No problems there, with one exception. There are some ants living on the corner of each of the 4×4 square foot garden frames. As I growing everything organically, I’m limited in how I can deal with them. My first effort will be boiling water. That does fairly well, but doesn’t always keep them away. I may remove the corner soil, with the ants in it and replace it. Fortunately, they are not fire ants, so I am only a little concerned at this point. Still, I’d rather they be gone.

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Taking Inventory from Fall 2009’s Garden

February 21, 2010 at 4:39 pm (Gardening, Our Family's Homestead Journey)
Tags: end of season, Fall, Gardening, inventory, seeds, Spring

Here’s what I have left over from Fall 2009. (OG=organic), with some comments below.

From FreedomSeeds.org

0 seeds, De Cicco Broccoli OG
0, Cardinale Lettuce OG
0, Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage
0, Reine de Glaces Iceberg Lettuce OG
0, Ashworth Yellow Sweet Corn OG
225, Detroit Dark Red Beets OG
~50, Deer Tongue Lettuce OG
~75, Grandma Admire’s Butterhead Lettuce OG
~100, Red Giant Mustard OG
~60, Red Velvet Leaf Lettuce OG
~100, Forellenschluss Lettuce OG
~220, Bloomsdale Spinach OGF

From SeedSaver’s Exchange

0, Red Russian Kale OG
0, Blue Solaize Leek
0, Lacinto Kale OG
0, Ailsa Craig Onion
0, Cherokee Trail of Tears Beans OG
0, Calypso Beans OG
0, Long Island Improved Brussel Sprouts
0, Early Snowball Cauliflower
0, Agate Soybean OG
26, Good Mother Stallard Beans OG
26, Purple Pod Pole Beans OG
37, Rhubarb Swiss Chard OG
64, Five Color Silverbeet Swiss Chard OG
81, Red Burgandy Okra
~60, Jolly Jester Marigold
250, English Lavender
250, Common Chives OG
250, Purple Top White Globe Turnip

From GreenMama’s Organic Garden Center

0, Blue Lake Pole Bean OG
0, Early Prolific Straightneck Summer Squash OG
0, Contender Bush Bean OG
16, Black Beauty Zucchini Summer Squash OG
18, Marketmore Cucumber OG
~80, Canival Blend Carrot OG
34, Elves Blend Sunflower OG
38, California Wonder Sweet Pepper OG
17, Sugar Snap Peas OG
~200, Cherry Belle Radish OG
~200, Bouquet Dill OG
4, Prairie Coneflower Echinacea OG
32, Ace Bush Tomato OG
~50, Common Oregano OG
~200, Moss Curled Parsley OG
all (unopened packet), Moss Curled Parsley OG
all, Greek Yeveni Mini Basil OG
all, Marjoram OG
all, Mizuna Mustard, Siu Cai, Xiu Cai OG
all, Common English Thyme OG
all, Broadleaf Garden Sage OG

My biggest successes certainly were the beans and the lettuces. The kale and swiss chard came in well too, but they were not as well received by my family. I think the general consensus was that the flavors were too strong. I agree the flavors were strong, but I still like both vegetables. I’d choose swiss chard over kale, though. The beans were prolific enough to give us a fair supply in our freezer, from which we are still occasionally drawing. I mixed all of the varieties together, rather than store them separately. I enjoy the blend of flavors, colors, and shapes. In spite of two snows now, the lettuces I planted still are producing. I now know that I can grow produce year-round here. Wonderful.

Some of my failures for last Fall’s crop were: corn-it didn’t really come up to speak of, carrots-I really like carrots, but I managed to grow only a sparse crop of poor tasting ones, broccoli-another one I was looking forward to, but for lack of attention or poor pollination, it didn’t come in well enough.

The others were a mixed bag. I picked some squash, though only a few. We enjoyed them baked with brown sugar, my favorite way to have squash. I had a varment devour a few of my plants. I didn’t get around to planting a few. Many were not taken care of sufficiently.

However, I went into my Fall planting in a bit of a rush. I got to it late in the season. The soil was only prepped by tilling. I hadn’t done any soil amendments. I have yet to fence in the area. Regular watering last season consisted of relying on the rain. Much of the above is due to the fact that I, for the time being, am doing most of my gardening away from home, as it were. My large plot is on my parents’ land. Here at our house we garden around 20 square feet. So, considering the rough start. I was pleased with the outcome. I expected no more that first season.

Next…on to this Spring. My new seeds have arrived. The snow, hopefully, has done its worst ’til next year.

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