Sweet Seedlings.

As we head into  April I decided I should probably take a seedling inventory and decide what other seeds need to be sown. So far, this is what we have and it doesn't include seeds sown and not yet germinated...that's another post : )

Greenhouse:

87 Gypsy Broccoli
75 Blue Wind Broccolli
75 Marathon Broccoli
36 Orange Bell
25 Apple Peppers
25 Sweet Chocolate Bell
19 Orange Sun Bell
14 Karma peppers
33 Cayenne peppers
10 Jalapeno peppers
40 pepperoncini peppers
51 Early Girl tomatoes
48 Cherokee Purple tomatoes
40 Nyagous tomatoes
53 Trophy tomatoes
10 Persimmon tomatoes
18 Granadero
19 Lavender
19 Parsley
51 Nasturtium
18 Oregano
18 Thyme
24 Purple Bell

Grow room:

30 Grape Riesentribe tomatoes
30 Sungold tomatoes
42 Early Girl tomatoes
24 Beefsteak
30 Red Siberian tomatoes
102 Amish Paste tomatoes
24 Sweet 100 Cherry tomatoes
72 Sweet Pea Currant tomatoes
210 combination of red and green cabbage
144 Snowball Self Blanching Cauliflower
72 Belstar Broccoli
60 Waltham Broccoli
48 Jalapeno peppers
24 Georgia Flame peppers
15 Quadrato peppers
37 Thai hot peppers
30 Ancho
42 Serrano
20 Apple Sweet peppers
36 Habanero peppers
36 Lemon hot peppers
50 Pandora Striped Rose Eggplant
80 some cilantro
Lemon Balm
Catnip
Thyme
Sweet green and red basil
Miniature green basil
Marjoram
Borage
Sage
Oregano
Parsley

What's growing on?

Here's a few pics from The Beer Garden grow room. The basil, thyme and oregano are growing well in the beer mugs. We have harvested them many times since starting the seed back in December. The celery (in the last pic near the back) takes the longest to grow. It's recommended that you start celery seed indoors 12 weeks before your last frost date. I started these in February again and they seem to be growing slow but steady. The Nasturtiums are growing like weeds. I had to transplant them after just a couple of weeks. Last week we sowed 511 pepper seeds and countless other herbs that I can't even remember at the moment. Now we are on to the tomatoes. In all, there will be 600+ tomato plants if I can find room for them all in the greenhouse. My goal is to get most of the plants moved into the greenhouse by March 20th. Last year we started up on March 4th but the propane proved to be too expensive when the temps dropped for several weeks. Having the grow room with more lights this year should really help increase production though. If you've been following the blog, you know we definitely need increased production this year. Now, let's just pray for nice warm weather.

Growing and Snowing.

Two weeks ago I took the pups on a walk at Black Bay Park. It was a beautiful sunshiny day and spring was definitely in the air. I was thinking wow,  Punxsutawney Phil finally got it right!  An early spring was sure to arrive. I even spotted a  few blooming buttercups which only reinforced my notion. However, it turns out Phil couldn't have been more wrong. Yep, Old Man Winter made another appearance this past week and if the snow alone wasn't bad enough the temperatures fell down to the single digits. Mother nature is definitely messing with my emotions lately. So, to survive the whole snow ordeal I bought another grow light and started some more seed. (Take that Old Man Winter) The lights are actually a great investment since I will be starting most of the seed indoors and we're trying to hold off on firing up the greenhouse for as long as possible.

Last week I started onion and celery seed and this week I'm starting borage, nasturtiums, and peppers.  The second seeding of thyme and echinacea recently sprouted and the basil, thyme, marjoram, cilantro, oregano and sage (started in December) have been harvested at least 6 times now. Today I repotted the lavender and celery and next I will repot the rest of the herbs to make room for more seed trays. This may require more grow lights : ) So, while spring may not exactly be in "the air" at the moment it's definitely spring-like in my grow room.

Happy growing!






"No winter lasts forever. No spring skips its turn. April is a promise that May is bound to keep. And we know it."...Hal Borland
























The Wish List

The word February is born from the Latin word Februarius meaning to purify. Along those lines, February is also a great time to take inventory and purge the clutter. As you can see from the picture, that is exactly what occurred on Saturday at the Roots CSA (where I will soon work at my dream job) in Dalton Gardens.  To learn more about Roots CSA Click Here  A few of us garden gals got together to tidy up the sheds and make a list of items that we could really use for the 2011 growing season.   Click Here  to view the list. A few things to add to that list are a rototiller, small garden tools, folding tables and organic seed potatoes.  Keep in mind the tools don't necessarily need to be new they just need to be in good working order. Of course, money donations are also welcome and appreciated.

My dream job.

Anyone who knows me can imagine my excitement when I heard that our local Community Supported Agriculture was hiring for a Lead Farmer Click here to read about the CSA  Yes, I totally freaked!!!....I had to get this job. After all this job description was written for me. Of course, there was that little voice in my head saying "You're crazy....you haven't worked on a CSA before... you'll never get the job."  Regardless, I submitted my resume and I interviewed for the position. Then, after waiting for what seemed like forever I finally received the phone call. I almost laughed when I was told that the job was mine if I still wanted it...This is my dream job...Of course I want it!!!  : )

I've always said if I could garden for a living I'd do it in a heartbeat. (Or part of a living anyway). Most  people think I'm strange but I love digging in the dirt. I love planting seeds, nurturing plants and watching them grow. I especially like sharing the garden bounty with friends, family and the local food bank. And I don't even mind weeding. Need I say more? This job seems like a natural fit for me. And, the fact that the community garden is located in the neighborhood where I grew up makes it even more exciting.

So, you might be wondering what exactly a CSA farmer does. Here are just a few things I will be responsible for at the CSA: crop selection/seed selection, planting, helping with the weekly harvesting, managing the irrigation, equipment and tool maintenance, chicken tending, arranging volunteer labor, and community education. I'm sure there are many more duties that will arise but you get the idea.

I must add that I am both very honored but very nervous to take over where former lead farmer, Caleb Goss left off. Let's just say I have a lot to live up to. There are approximately 30 shareholders that depend on receiving a box of 7-9 different vegetables each week for about 16 weeks. This means timing and succession planting are essential to making sure everyone gets a nice variety of vegetables and herbs....no pressure...lol!

I feel extremely blessed to be given the opportunity to do what I love and I look forward to working with some pretty awesome people.

There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling.  ~Mirabel Osler





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Spring Fever!!!

I have a bad case of Spring Fever. I know, it's only January, but I'm not the type of gardener that lets the weather keep me from growing. I simply can't sit around and wait for Spring to get here. (62 days, 5 hours, and 48 minutes...not that I'm counting) Besides, I have a new grow room. Yep, I  upgraded my growing space from the closet to a spare bedroom. My son, Dustin, recently moved out on his own so I decided to turn his bedroom into my plant starting room. It's working great but I will need to add a couple more grow lights soon.

In December I started "a few" herbs and a couple cucumber plants to see how well they would grow indoors and so far, so good. I started Cucino cukes, sweet basil, red basil, cilantro, marjoram, thyme, oregano, lavender, and sage. I usually grow basil and parsley in my windowsill all year round but I wanted to see how much I could actually harvest for drying. I harvested the basil, cilantro, and marjoram several times now but the oregano and thyme are slower growing. That's probably a good thing....sometimes I go overboard when it comes to seeding and then I have a zillion plants to harvest all at once.  : ) 

I hope to gain a couple weeks of grow time with the new set up. The plan is to successively start my herbs, flowers and fussy vegetable plants in the grow room. Some plants are started in February and some in March. Then, near the end of  March, I will fire up the greenhouse and have the cold frames ready. By this time, many of the cole crops will be ready for the cold frames or the garden. The peppers, tomatoes, eggplant and herbs most likely will stay in the greenhouse until the end of May. We will see if the weather cooperates though : )

Happy Growing!!!

Keith's Bent Stick Lager will be ready for New Years Eve

As you know by the earlier post, we have been playing with the carboys again and we whipped out a nice batch of hefeweizen a couple of weeks ago, which was spectacular (my reserve was gone on Christmas Eve). But, we also brewed a European Lager that is intended to be as close to Stella Artois as possible.

Stella was originally brewed in the 1300s as a holiday beer, so it only seemed fitting to bring some to life in Keith's garage this holiday season... plus Keith has one of those beverage coolers that we used to cold ferment the beer, which is the true way to brew an authentic Lager. It was my first time using this method, and so far I am pleased with the results -- with one minor exception.

Look at my last post with the picture of the carboys sitting in the beverage cooler... can you see anything wrong with that picture? Of course, I can see my mistake now, but I missed it completely at the beginning of the fermentation process.

Anyone who understands brewing and proper storage of beer should be able to spot the mistake too. Thankfully, it did not damage the brew too much and there are some people who actually like the added effect that was created.

Anyway, I can't wait to try the finished product, which should be close to done by News Years Eve... we bottled a few in Grolch style bottles to help speed the carbonation... I'll post the pictures of the finished product once it's complete...

Oh, and the name? It is derived from our pseudonyms on the Spokesman Review's Huckleberries Online Blog: Keithincda, Bent, and Stickman...

Here are some pictures on our bottling party yesterday. In the picture above, Stickman is doing the honors of filling the bottles this time.

Let the siphoning begin... 

Capping the 22-ouncers after Stickman filled them up...

Those growler bottles sure hold the beer nicely...

Beering up the Garden a bit...

Sunny tells me its time to balance the blog with a little beer talk now that we are in a dormant season in the garden, so Keith (in Cd'A), Stickman and I got busy with a 20-gallon batch last weekend. We went with a 10-gallon batch of European Lager that we are bottom fermenting in a fridge in Keith's garage for a true Lager. This beer will take longer because it ferments in the 55-58 degree range, where most beers ferment at 65-70 degree range. I think this will be our closest attempt yet a faux Stella Artois...  

The other 10-gallon batch is a German Hefeweizen. This beer should be bottled next weekend, and we should be ready for tasting in Stickman's driveway on Sunday, Dec. 12th. The Lager wont be bottled until at least Christmas weekend. If it is ready by then, we should be able to crack open a few bottles of that beer on New Year's Eve! We'll keep our fingers crossed on that one...

(I'll put up some better pictures once Daisy Girl sends them to me)

And the winners are.....

Here are the results of the great pumpkin weigh-in:

In the family category, we have son-in-law Dan as our 1st place winner. His guess was 162 lbs. Dan, you win $25.00!

Our 2nd place winner (and our youngest winner)  is my great nephew Bradyn. His guess was 172 lbs. Bradyn, you win $10.00!

In our friend's category we have our 1st place winner as the lovely Kerri Thoreson. Her guess was 152 lbs. Kerri, you win the satisfaction of being the closest guess in our friend category : )

Our 2nd place friend winner was Keith Allen. His guess was 167 lbs. Keith, you win the satisfaction of being the 2nd closest guess in our friend's category : )

And the real weight is............. 158 lbs!

Not as big as we had hoped but we doubled in size from last year's pumpkin. I'd say that's not too shabby for our 2nd year of growing them. Next year we will shoot for 200 plus.

Thanks to everyone for participating!!!!

The Weigh In

It has become a fun family tradition to grow giant pumpkins. At the end of the season we have this little contest called "guess the pumpkin weight".  The person closest to the actual weight wins a monetary prize. This year the prize is $25.00 for the closest guess or $30.00 if you are spot on the weight. Last year's largest pumpkin weighed in at 76 lbs which we thought was a decent weight considering we are new at giant pumpkin growing. http://bentsbeergarden.blogspot.com/2009/10/jack-2-before-after.html

I guess we learned some stuff about growing them because this year the pumpkin looks to be at least double the size from last year. For the sake of fairness though, my dad is keeping the pumpkin weight a secret. In order to accurately weigh it he had to drive it through the local landfill scales. This year he placed a "floor" of 150 lbs on the pumpkin because so many guesses were way under the actual weight.

Yes, this is a family game but I consider my blogging friends to be family too....(you just don't get the prize money lol! ) so what's your guess??? Results to be posted on November 12th.