The time for starting seeds is upon us! Not sure what to sow this year? My advice is plant what you already buy on a regular basis from the grocery store. You are more likely to use what you grow and make a dent in your grocery budget. When I lived in Brooklyn, I unloaded our weekly groceries and took an inventory: kale, spinach, butter
Get Busy!
The growing season is not too far around the corner! Witch hazel is already blooming and my flowering quince buds are days away from opening. If we can get a handle on some garden chores now, we’ll be in good shape to maximize the harvest from our homesteads this year. When it comes to growing your own food, here is my short list of what
Impatient Spring
The seeds I planted a few weeks ago are sprouting all over the raised beds. The seedlings all have their first set of leaves, but the “true” leaves are just barely growing in. At this point, it is hard to tell the weeds from the intentional crops. Hopefully another few days of warm sun will get them going enough to tell me what to pull
2011 Vegetable Varieties
It is always fun to see what fellow urban homesteaders have growing in their backyard. After carefully sorting through my many seed packets, I narrowed down the list of what we are growing. Here is a recap of the varieties I am planting this year: Arugula Beets, Early Blood Turnip-rooted (from Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants) Beets, Gourmet Blend (includes golden, Chioggia, Detroit Dark)
2011 Vegetable Garden Plan
We are working with a small space for our garden this year, which is always a fun challenge. I have plans to plant potatoes, summer and winter squash, onions and more in flower beds next to the house. The garden beds are reserved for everything else and I felt like we needed a plan to make sure we maximized that space. I did an inventory
Planting Season Begins
Well, I didn’t get my peas in by President’s Day… but I was damn close! I woke up to a sliver of sunshine outside, stuffed seed packets in my pockets, and made today the first planting day for our new garden. I decided to let my never-ending to-do list just wait while I got some dirt under my nails. The recent winter rains have really
Grassroots Garden Visit
Last week our Plants class visited Grassroots Garden, a local non-profit here in Eugene that grows food for the needy. We did some volunteer work that morning planting carrots in the morning sunshine and learning some interesting things about soil amendments. The garden itself is humming right now, making my own backyard look a little sleepy. They are situated on a couple acres of land
When to Plant
There are a few rule-of-thumb planting dates among the gardening community that we enjoy repeating every year. One is to sow your peas on President’s Day. Another is to plant potatoes on St. Patrick’s Day. These are general rules though which will not apply to you if you happen to live in sunny southern California or frigid Canada. To properly time your planting, it really
Season Race
The race is on to turn my half barren vegetable plot into a success before the season ends. My transplanted tomatoes and peppers are doing very well. Of the seeds I planted, only about half actually survived. Partly that was probably due to a lack of consistent watering, or perhaps it was just related to the rock-hard soil I am trying to cultivate. After spending