Sprouts

During the heat wave we had in March, I had a sudden rush that I was behind the game with my garden. I wasn't but thank goodness for the push to get going.

My sprouts have been struggling though, we've been switching back and forth in the weather so that I cannot always get sufficient light on them. Last year was the first year I seriously tried seed trays and I have not yet purchased grow lights. I may have to make an investment next year. For now I'm taking advantage of all the windows in my dining room and just how much light is in that room. Even still, some of my sprouts are leggy, especially the tomatoes. Last year they produced despite being leggy although it was a rough season for tomatoes in general. The tomatoes last year didn't get very big but I'm not sure if that was from the weather or my leggy starter plants.

Some of this years sprouts are looking good though, especially the eggplant, leeks, cilantro, parsley and sweet banana peppers. I can't wait for the weather to consistently warm up so that I can get them outside in the ground so that they can have the better lighting from the sun.

Long overdue!

Ok so I've been busy, to be honest that's an understatement!

So to catch up, I started seeds indoors this year to save money and over a couple weeks in March I started:
- Leeks
- Celery
- Parsley
- Summer Savory
- Roma Tomatoes
- Beefsteak Tomatoes
- Tomatillo's
- Eggplant
- Romaine
- Basil
- Marigolds
- Patty-pan squash
- Mammoth Sunflowers rota
and
- some annuals for the flower bed

Note to self: The squash and sunflowers do NOT need to be started early. Everything else should be started EARLIER!

I doubled the garden this year with a lot of help from the hubby, and as a result I've concluded that I need rotatiller. I've made out fine hand turning the soil up to now but oh my, that's a lot of soil now.

As of this morning the last of the beds was prepped and seeded. The garden as it stands now is:

Darn did done it again!

Well I did it again.... waited too long to harvest.

Last night we had an unexpected snow. It was only supposed to be rain according to the forecast but after supper I looked out and realized there was a good inch of sloppy wet white stuff out there. We ended up getting a couple inches but today the sun is out and it's melting fast!

I've decided to let it melt a day and then go see what I can salvage of the carrots, beets, kale and leek. I'm sure the carrots, beets and leek are fine, but I'm not sure I'll get any beet greens or kale. We'll see tomorrow.

One of these days I'll learn. LOL!

Halloween and still gardening

So far the fall has been kind and even though there have been some chillier nights lately the garden is still going strong. I harvested the eggplant and the parsley this week because the temps were supposed to get down to freezing and I didn't want to lose them. There's still kale, beets, carrots, leeks and some of the hardier herbs in the garden to keep us going for awhile yet though.

Now I play the gambling game of when to harvest the last of the garden. The 10 day forecast is all over the place. I think I'll be ok though without finishing the garden off yet. Last year when I played this game I lost. The temps dropped for several days during a time when I was extremely busy and couldn't get out to the garden so the ground froze with the veggies in it. I'm not doing that again this November.

My goal is to harvest the last of the garden over the next two weeks. That way I should be able to prep the soil some before winter. We'll see how well I manage my time though....

Leeks, Leeks and more leeks

I love leeks, they are a delicious accompaniment to many dishes so last year I tried to grow them from seed that I planted directly into my garden bed, no luck! So this year I bought a few packs of the starter plants and whalla! Leeks, Leeks and more leeks!

One thing I did not do is pile the soil up around the leek as it grew, but somehow even through my neglect, I still have a mess of lovely leeks. I've pulled a few this year to use in various dishes but I still have many left. From what I've read, the leeks are good through frost so I'm planning to leave the full harvest until well into November and deal with them just before the ground starts to freeze. Of course I'll be harvesting what I need as I need it, and we'll see how much is left in November.

For now I've been making spinach and leek fritatta's  and I plan to make a large pot of potato and leek soup to freeze. I'm going to have to find some more recipes though or some way to keep them for later use after I harvest them. Sounds like they'll keep for a couple weeks in the fridge... maybe I'll just have to make a lot of meals with leek this fall/early winter.