Still growing
It has been a couple of weeks since I offered any update, but this does not mean that nothing has been going on in the garden. During this time I have added natural fertilizers to the tomatoes as well as a product designed to further increase the microbrial activity in the soil I have been regularly pinching off the suckers from the tomatos and at the same time been tying them up to the stakes.
Not much in the way of new plantings. I took the remaining onion seeds and scattered them about in a pot in hopes of getting some germination, despite getting none in the garden itself. Unfortunately I greatly reduced my chances of getting onions (other thant he volunteers already in the garden) by knocking the pot over and spilling the potting mix. I gathered it back up as best as possible, and have hoped for the best. I have begun seeing some very small sprouts which I hope are the onions, but until they are large enough to harvest I will not count on them.
After one of the driest Aprils on record we are getting a wonderful rain shower while I type this. The yard and garden both can use it, though I have been supplying additional water to the garden through the use of soaker hoses.
The Squash are coming along nicely for the most part, though one hill seems to be lagging behind the rest. I fear that I did not sufficiently prepare the soil in that hill or in the one that has the cucumbers as they too are not developing as well or as quickly as I would have hoped. When the squash come out to make ready for the fall/winte planting seasons I will be adding a good deal of compost to these hills to improve their soil structure. In a year or two they should be as productive as the rest of the garden.
On the kitchen side of kitchen gardening, I have been using the snow peas from this last winter in an asian inspired fish soup, which also uses the cilantro which is on the way out of the garden. The parsley has been a vital part of my tabouleh and tabouleh inspired salads.
Take a couple of cups of spelt cook until soft (30-40 minutes)
Cut up several handfuls of freshly harvested parsley.
Add several fresh tomatoes diced.
Add black olives, also diced.
Add cucumber diced to the same size.
Add a bit of lemon juice and olive oil.
When the spelt cools, add it and mix everthing well.
I vary the amounts each time, basically doing it by eye so that most everything seems in equal portions, except the black olive, which should be a bit less.
This is the basic recipe, though the original calls for bulgar wheat instead of spelt. I vary this each time. Sometimes I will add mint, from the garden of course. Other times I will make it into a spinach salad by adding lots of fresh spinach along with all of the rest. The flavors all combine well so each time I just experiment and so far I have not been disappointed with any of the results. It is a light but satisfying salad, the spelt adds a texture, a chewiness that adds a sense of heartiness to the salad.
All of the best to all of my gardening friends.
Brian
Not much in the way of new plantings. I took the remaining onion seeds and scattered them about in a pot in hopes of getting some germination, despite getting none in the garden itself. Unfortunately I greatly reduced my chances of getting onions (other thant he volunteers already in the garden) by knocking the pot over and spilling the potting mix. I gathered it back up as best as possible, and have hoped for the best. I have begun seeing some very small sprouts which I hope are the onions, but until they are large enough to harvest I will not count on them.
After one of the driest Aprils on record we are getting a wonderful rain shower while I type this. The yard and garden both can use it, though I have been supplying additional water to the garden through the use of soaker hoses.
The Squash are coming along nicely for the most part, though one hill seems to be lagging behind the rest. I fear that I did not sufficiently prepare the soil in that hill or in the one that has the cucumbers as they too are not developing as well or as quickly as I would have hoped. When the squash come out to make ready for the fall/winte planting seasons I will be adding a good deal of compost to these hills to improve their soil structure. In a year or two they should be as productive as the rest of the garden.
On the kitchen side of kitchen gardening, I have been using the snow peas from this last winter in an asian inspired fish soup, which also uses the cilantro which is on the way out of the garden. The parsley has been a vital part of my tabouleh and tabouleh inspired salads.
Take a couple of cups of spelt cook until soft (30-40 minutes)
Cut up several handfuls of freshly harvested parsley.
Add several fresh tomatoes diced.
Add black olives, also diced.
Add cucumber diced to the same size.
Add a bit of lemon juice and olive oil.
When the spelt cools, add it and mix everthing well.
I vary the amounts each time, basically doing it by eye so that most everything seems in equal portions, except the black olive, which should be a bit less.
This is the basic recipe, though the original calls for bulgar wheat instead of spelt. I vary this each time. Sometimes I will add mint, from the garden of course. Other times I will make it into a spinach salad by adding lots of fresh spinach along with all of the rest. The flavors all combine well so each time I just experiment and so far I have not been disappointed with any of the results. It is a light but satisfying salad, the spelt adds a texture, a chewiness that adds a sense of heartiness to the salad.
All of the best to all of my gardening friends.
Brian
posted by Storm at 9:35 AM
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