January 4, 2009

spring planting time line for 2009

Here’s a start on my planting schedule. I linked to it on my sidebar. I’ll add to and revise this as I get time. Order seeds. Set up plant table and lights. Collect seed trays and potting soil.March 5-10: Sow kale, broccoli and lettuce seed indoors.March 15: Sow pepper seed indoors.March 20: Sow seed in home garden for peas.March 28: Sow half of tomato seed indoors.April 1: Sow fava beans in community plot.April 20-30: Transplant pepper and tomato seedlings to larger pots indoors. Sow seed in home garden for more…

January 4, 2009

more on the International Year of the Potato

Here’s a very nice video on the Year of the Potato pointed out to me by Patrick. Some interesting points from the video: – 4,500 potato varieties are native to Peru. The shapes, size and colors of the native potatoes are a revelation. The names, too. – More than 80 per cent of these are now preserved in a gene bank in Lima – Some of these varieties may be several thousand years old and they are being hand down from generation to generation by the Andean farmers…. – Potatoes…

January 2, 2009

my seed potato order

I didn’t know 2008 was the UN year of the Potato. The International Year of the Potato has raised awareness of the potato’s fundamental importance as a staple food of humanity. But it also had a very practical aim: to promote development of sustainable potato-based systems that enhance the well-being of producers and consumers and help realize the potato’s full potential as a “food of the future” Ah yes, a “food of the future”. I was thinking the same. But in a less global sense. I’d like to expand my…

December 31, 2008

reflections – on the last day of the year

On this very snowy Dec 31st, I’ve put together a composite of my favorite garden (and Skippy) photos from the past year. It’s been a fantastic year. I’ve been looking back at all that’s happened in my gardens. We put an awful lot of work into my community garden plot – the fence and gate, the removal of 10 giant stumps and several big rocks, mowing the community garden paths most of the summer, as well as general planting, tending and harvesting. I had a lot of help from my…

December 31, 2008

a year of aerial garden photos

my home garden: my community garden plot:

December 30, 2008

most comment-able

To come up with a list of my best posts of the year, I looked at how many comments they got. The comments are usually the best part of my blog anyway. As usual, the “best” (24 comments!) is about Skippy. Here’s the list: Tomato Seeds February 9, 2008 – 17 commentsTo Add Ads or Not To Add Ads February 22, 2008 – 12 commentsWhats Wrong With my Onions? April 9, 2008 – 13 commentsIts Plot Assignment Day April 12, 2008 – 15 commentsNew Idea March 20, 2008 – 21…

December 29, 2008

my best and worst crops of 2008

Best:radishbeetssummer squashpotatoesfava beans Worst:parsnipssoybeanstomatoespeaswatermelon Watermelon: I planted seeds I saved from a beautiful CSA melon. It looked like a nice Sugar Baby. My plants were wimpy scrawny vines and two melons were pretty but only grew to about 2 inches diameter. I posted some embarrassing watermelon photos. Maybe I shouldn’t have saved the seeds, maybe my soil wasn’t rich enough, maybe I transplanted out to early …. Peas: I planted my peas nice and early (March 18th). The early spring weather was perfect for them. They sprouted well and looked…

December 28, 2008

my best photos of the year

The end of the year is a good time to review and reminisce. I’ll put together a few things – probably a list of the best and worst crops from my 2008 vegetable garden, my best photos, a composite of my favorite photos, my most viewed and my favorite post(s). Here are my most popular 2008 photos: The garden photos have mouse-overs. From the top, these photos received the following number of views: 504, 451, 437, 333, 313, 306, 300 and 232. And here’s my all time most popular photo…

December 27, 2008

a gift from my mom

My mother gave me an old copy of The Oxford Book of Food Plants, published in 1969. (She found it at a library book sale for $1.) I love the old drawings of vegetables. The ones above are the squashes. They look like the Delicata that I just collected seeds from. garden gifts

December 27, 2008

gathering and giving seeds

Gathering: I saved the seeds from a sweet Butternut squash we ate at our Christmas dinner. Nice big seeds – the squash was from our local CSA farm. It feels good to be gathering the beginnings of my next garden. I’ve collected five or six types of seeds by now. I’m still gathering my list of seeds to order. Giving: I gave my sister (who lives in CA) seeds for Christmas, though I think her box arrived late (I hope it has arrived by now). Cucumber, red lettuce mix, purple…

weeks and counting until my last spring frost