Gardening Knowledge

As many gardeners will tell you they all learned what they know from somewhere.  Be it family, trial and error, or a book.  Me?  I'll take door number 4 please.  Door 4 would be all 3 plus internet.  All my garden blog friends have taught me a lot.  Just reading their posts of how they did something sometimes gets me to think outside the box.  Or maybe I stopped by Carol's May Dreams Gardens blog and read a post about Basketball and it just made me smile and think about my garden in a different way.

Or I see my sister's blog My Side of Life has a new post and read it and wonder if I could make that meal and how when spring comes I need to remember to plant that veggie.

There are so many other blogs I could mention it would just be better to have you look at my reading list.  It's long.  Regardless of what I am reading it inspires me or encourages me.  Like this book I saw in A.C. Moore a few weeks ago.

I ordered it online to get it at a better price and have only read the first few chapters.  The basics.  Things I should already know but well turns out I actually did know some but not the importance of them.  I have mentioned here before about using layouts.  Making a picture of your garden and labeling.  I even scanned in a example of one of my layout log sheets.  Turns out this is a really good practice.  Something that in one way or another just about every gardener already does.  She goes on to explain how to go about doing this but also says that everyone will have their own way.  She saves hers so that in following years she can look back, smack herself on the head when she realized she tried that before and just forgot.

So to all who have helped me learn how to garden I offer my thanks.  To those who learn from my garden I truly hope you can learn something.  Gardening is fun and thats how is should be.  If gardening ever becomes a chore....well I'm not sure what to do then....other than say maybe you have too much?

I wish everyone a wonderful day and hope the snow here continues to melt....I found my baby Rose of Sharon Trees yesterday....I just hope they live....they are still mostly buried.

Mint the magical herb- The uses

So earlier we talked about growing, harvesting, and storing your mint.  Now lets talk about some of the reasons to grow mint and how to use it.

Uses for Mint in the Garden:


We already talked about the variety called Pennyroyal and it's mosquito repeling ability.  It is the strongest of all the the mints in smells but that doesn't mean the others don't have their own special garden powers.  Just plan ol' ordinary mint is used as a repellant for these pests:
Ants
Aphids
Cabbage Looper (Mostly just the Spearmint variety)
Fleas (Pennyroyal)
Flea Beetle
Fly (Pennyroyal)
Mosquitoes (Pennyroyal)
Squash Bug
White Cabbage Moth

Plant Mint with these plants to get a better yeild:
Beans
Broccoli
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Chinese Cabbage
Collards
Tomato
Roses (pennyroyal)

So you see Mint is very useful.  It's handy that it is a wonderful smelling plant as well.

Mint in the Kitchen and Medicine cabinet:


Most people hear mint and think candy-canes, peppermint patties, stuff from the kitchen.  Although yes it is good for that it also has some other uses when eaten.

Medicinal uses:
Digestive Aid
Cold
Flu (morning sickness too)
Stimulant (kinda like coffee)

So other than physically cooking with it how else can this wonder herb help these ailments?  Sachet, Jelly's, Candies, and my personal favorite....

MINT TEA!

And man does it taste good.   So good I have pictures and instructions to make a nice glass of hot or cold mint tea.  Perfect for that cold you are trying to fight off as winter has arrived.

Ingredients:
Boiling water - 6 cups
Dried Mint leaves - 1-2 Tbps
A tea diffuser

To start get that water going in the tea pot.  It's easiest also to have a separate container to actually brew the tea in.  Gather your dried mint.  I put them on a plate so that I could crush them to release the oils.

A good close up of the mint...partially crushed

This is your diffuser.  Once you have the mint crushed put them in this.  This is then placed into your container and boiling water is poured over it.

Aiden guy wanted to help me by wiggling the container to help mix it up.  It is best to leave the diffuser in the water for about 10 min.  I put the lid on to help keep the heat in.

Beleive it or not the mint turned the water to a more tea looking color.  The trick to this part is two fold.  If you are just going to drink the tea at this point flavor to your liking.  Add more water if too minty.  Add honey.  What every you like.  If you want to use it to help clear up the sinuses I would use more mint and less water.  This way the smell is stronger.  In this case you may just want to inhale the vapors.  Although drinking the tea while still hot will do this as well.  If you prefer your tea cold.  As some ice.  It's perfect for the summer.

So as your days are getting colder and the colds are getting stronger, go get some of that dried mint and make some hot tea.....or make some hot chocolate just use minty hot water.....

Until next time.  Have a wonderful Holiday.

Mint the magical herb

A popular herb for making candies, mint has many more uses than just playing with your taste-bud's.  This versatile herb has medicinal purposes as well as the culinary.  But something else most don't know is how important this wonderful smelling plant is in the garden..

So lets learn a little about Mint

Growing Mint:


There are many different varieties of mint, and they all have one big thing in common.  They are very invasive.  Now hold on thats not a bad thing....ok it can be but it can be controlled.  Mint is a wonderful container plant.  Check out this Pennyroyal plant:

A little wild and everywhere but....this plant in particular you want in a container and a container everywhere you may be.  Pennyroyal is a VERY strong scented herb.  (WARNING - PENNYROYAL IS NOT EDIBLE)  So strong scented in fact it is commonly used in aromatherapy.  But it true claim to fame is it mosquito repellent capabilities.  Yup those pesky bugs we deal with in the summer time hate this plant.  So although not grown for cooking....a very valuable plant.

Mint in general like I said is invasive.  You can plant in containers or in the ground.  If in the garden though you may want to plant it in a container that you also put into the ground.  Mint can also grow very very fast...so watch out.  They are also very hardy.  You may think they are dead....but keep watering and you would be surprised as to what may just come back.  Mint is also a perennial herb...yup thats right it keeps coming back.

Harvesting Mint:




Now for my favorite part of having mint growing in the garden.  You get up one morning and go to tend to your plants and instead of this:

A small tame mint plant you find this:

Mint over taking it's place.

Is this bad?  Goodness no....it just means you get to harvest.  Since it is morning get out those sharp herb cutters we call scissors and cut.  Now if you really want go ahead and cut all the way down to the dirt.  But I find (and it's recommended) that if you cut down to the last 2 sets of leaves on the stem...it stays bushy and will provide you will a lot more harvests.  Some people say not to harvest until you see blooms forming.  But I am impatient and have found no problem with harvesting before there is even a sign of a bud.  Course if you want seeds you have to let it go.  

In the morning the smell and the mint oil's are at their peak-est.  Meaning when you cut the stem you will smell it...and your fingers will for a while too.....hmmmmmm mint.

Harvested Mint leaves:

So now you have some fresh cut stems.  What to do now? Well if you want you can use some now.  You can put the stems into a cup of water and enjoy their fresh smell for up to a week.  Or you can always dry them..

Just look at those freshly cut mint stems.

There are 2 ways that you can dry them.  One is to gather these herbs by the base of the stem and tie them together.

Pretty much like this.  I like to use twist ties.

After that place them into a paper bag and hang in a cool dry place.  Make sure if you have more herbs drying you lable your bags with what and when.  Can get confusing.


Or if this just doesn't sound like something you want to do you can do my favorite way of drying them...is keeping them loose and putting them in laundry bags.....

Like these -  They are great for allowing air to flow around the herbs.  Making them dry more even and sometimes a little faster.  Also you can tell when they are done easier.  With out disturbing them as much.

Word of caution - Please make sure that you lable some how so you know what herbs are in what bag and when you put them there.  I know from experiance that oregano and mint look a lot alike when they are dry.  I put a # on each bag and then in a special notebook I write what I put in that #'d bag and when.  The when isn't always necessary unless you like to keep track of how often you harvest.  But it can also help you to know when to start checking to see if they are done or not.  Usually it takes about a week.  I hang mine in the laundry room.  It gets the least amount of sun, heat from furnace, and far less traffic.  Yes the dryer does add some heat to the air but it doesn't seem to effect them.

Once they are dry store them in an air tight container.  Glass is best.  I like to use the small Jelly canning jars.  They are seethru and hold a lot.  When you go to store them just the leaves.  The stems are not really edible.  A good way to tell if they are ready to store is if you run your fingers down the stem the leaves fall off.

Next:  Using your dried mint.

Bloom Day December 15th, 2010

A little late on my post for this as it is now the 17th but I have pictures of what I found blooming in my garden on Bloom day.

My African Violets were pretty in bloom and still are.  Well 2 out of the 3 are.  The other one is done blooming for a little bit.  Course I need to trim the older blooms but well I will get there. 

I hope you all had a good day.  Here is a link to other gardeners participating in Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.  Lots of pretty flowers.  Enjoy

Trees, Leaves, and Mulch

As fall truly begins to settle here in NY there are things that can still be done to your living garden and lawn.  Did you know that you can plant tree's now?  Saplings are best as they already have some roots and planting now or begining of spring is best as they have time before the major weather changes to set their roots.  This past May we ordered some trees from the Arbor Day foundation and planted them with pride.  Unfortunatly some just didn't make it.  Most with in a month had leaves...or some other sign that the stick we planted was trully a tree sapling.  In talking to the guys at Arbor Day turnes out that maybe something was wrong with those and they said they would send new ones come fall.  And so they did.

Here in a bucket of water are the new saplings that were mailed to us. 

So after a day or so of soaking in water it was out to the yard for some diging and planting.  These guys may not look like much now but beleive it or not they are alive.

Here in the middle of the cage is a stick that is a Sargent Crabapple Tree.  No leaves, no buds, nothing but a stick.  This is back in May.

But here just 2 weeks later up close you can see that it is starting to get some leaves. 

Here 5 months after planting the leaves are following suit with all the other trees and changing color and falling off.  The tree didn't get taller but the leaves got to look almost full size. 






It has been a very interesting 5 months watching the trees grow.  None seemed to get any taller but like the Crabapple the ones that lived had leaves.   Different shapes, sizes, and even color. 

Since it is now fall and I have replacement trees to plant....or rather did as they already are planted) to find a place to plant we had to clear away fallen leaves.  Did you know that leaves are natures way to provide mulch and compost for the following spring?

Yup if you were to leave a layer of leaves on the ground anything under will have a few extra days of warmer soil..allowing for roots to set.  But come spring time most if not all will actually be gone.  Disinigrated into the soil providing some natural nutrient rich compost.  Course this doesn't mean that you should just leave the leaves all over the lawn....but in the garden...sure leave some. 

I wouldn't go out of my way to put some their unless you are planting for spring now...but just let nature take it's course.  Have you ever wondered why your gardens always have tons of leaves?  Well I think it is for a reason...to aid the spring and summber plants by providing protection and compost.

Knowing this after we planted our new trees a few days ago we pilled some leaves up around the trunk.  Attempting to give these tender little guys as much help as I can.

Leaves as mulch or just plain mulch is actually a very usefull and smart thing for all kinds of gardens.  Leaves may look bad so most would chose mulch.  But did you know that mulch around your fruit and veggie plants is important?  I didn't.  I do now.  A lot of garden centers will also have colored mulch.  White to help reflect the sunlight back onto the plants.  Black to absorb the heat of the sun for release at night.  Red to aid in the ripening of veggies like Tomatoes.

Now this is not to say that you can't grow veggies with out mulch but it can help with your success.

So help the planet and plant a tree or 2.  Leave some leaves in the garden this year and see if it helps come spring.  Add some color to the garden by way of mulch and see if that helps.  Try something new.

Updates from the Greenhouse

Today was the first snow fall of the season.  Nothing stuck.  It was barely enough to even say it snowed but....infact it did...kinda.

So this year was the first time I have ever tried to grow anything that can be eaten.  Until reacently I had a huge black thumb.  I couldn't keep anything alive unless it was planted outside....and sometimes not even then.  But something changed.  With my Greenhouse I have come to trully enjoy gardening and found out that I do have a bit of a green thumb...it just takes patience. 
Anyways I have been turning on a small heater on the greenhouse floor every night and it seems to keep the over all temp above 40.  Now I was smart and the heater is on the floor....heating up the dirt and so on...as heat rises I put the guage near the top....this way I know that above the plants it is staying over freezing.  So far it seems to have worked.  The damage was already done for the tomato plants but with luck they can hold on long enough to rippen the fruits on the plant.  So here are some visuals of what is now going on.

After some pruning to remove the dead branches and a few tomatoes gone bad this is what Bob looked like.  I tried to cut as much back as I could so that what was left would have a chance.

Here is one of his tomatoes.  Still small but looks good.  Can't wait for them to start turning.....I do hope that they still will.

And like her counter part Bobbet here got a good pruning as well.  She had a lot less to cut off except for the top.  But again I wanted to give the tomatoes on her the best chance they have of maturing

A really cool picture that almost includes all her tomatoes.  Most are indeed still to small like the others but with some luck and a few more not quite so cold days maybe they will finally mature.






The pepper plants on the other hand have needed no trimming.  I belive part of this is due to their location.  They are along the north wall...which is right up against my house....and they are about a foot away from the west wall.  The tomatoes are all along the south wall.  They get the colder windows.  Not sure if this is the reason or not but thats what I think.  The top few leaves on the tallest of the pepper plants have begun to crisp but the peppers themselves still seem to be growing.

I stood on my tippie toes to get this pick from over the peppers.  They weren't supposed to be this close together but somehow they are.  But they don't seem to mind.   The ones that are the tallest seem to be having the most problem with crispyness in the leaves....but other than that all seems to be ok.

Something I have found out that unlike tomatoes peppers don't have a universal shape.  Granted in the store they all pretty much look the same...and most of mine are but how they get that way is not the same.  This guy here is long and skinny...but I have others that are short and fat. 

While my son and I were checking out the plants a few weeks ago this little pepper fell off.  Total length is less than 2".  But it was cool to look at.

Although small they packed quite a punch.  They tasted very good.  These are the first of the peppers that were actually picked.  I could have waited longer but I really wanted to try them.

Here is one of those 2 peppers that were harvested.  You may have to enlarge the picture but if you look close you can see black dots...nope not bugs...the seeds.  Proof that I guess I should have waited longer to harvest.  But something that I learned about peppers is that the seeds are  not mature untill the pepper is ripe.  Now here is the kicker a pepper isn't ripe till it is red...much like a tomato.  So did I harvest too soon?  Well no actually.  To get a Green Pepper I have to harvest before they turn yellow and then red.  Could I have waited another week or so?  Absolutly it would have been bigger. 

This year gardening has been full of surprises.  Things I didn't think would grow did...and some didn't.  Others well lets just say I have learned a lot.  I don't regret anything that I have done as next time I will know better.  I will learn from my mistakes. 

Gardening has be educational in my house.  The kids are learning how things grow...the most basic circle of life.  Shannon was most interested in harvesting the plants and then the seeds.  She now loves salad all because I grew some lettuce and she just had to try....after she helped me harvest and cut it up.  Aiden has learned that not everything can be touched.  Sometimes peppers fall if you touch them.  But he has also seen tiny plants become large ones and then watched them develop.  Infact he was the one that told me a tomato was turning different colors.  Just a simple observation but he knew that it ment something else was going on with the plant.

I will try to update on the garden's as often as things change....hopefully it's another harvest.

Beans - The life cycle

The fragile begining of the Bean's life. Starting them inside in a mini Greenhouse.  Seeing the little green stems come to life and rise from the dirt.  A very cool begining.  This is just 4 days after sowing.

The Beans are quick to germinate and very quick to show true leaves.  This is 11 days after sowing.  Just a short week after the first sprouts were seen.










Here we have them in the ground in the Greenhouse.  They are doing very well.  This is 2 weeks after sprouting started.  Just one week after true leaves were shown. Day 19 over all.








Nearly 5 weeks have gone by and now there are little white flowers all over the place.  The begining of the fruiting has begun.  Over all this is happening on day 53.








The flowers are still blooming and forming.  Some like this one is being pushed off by the Bean.  Such a tiny little pod.  Very skinny as well.  This is just a mear 5 days after the first flowers started to appear.  Over all we are looking at day 57.







They are starting to fatten up.  This is actually almost 3 weeks after they started to appear.  The coloring is starting to change as well.  Hard to tell at first but you can see that the fatter pods apear to be darker as well. At day 76 they are ready to Harvest....or at least the fat ones are. 







The first harvest.  May not look like much but there is plenty more that will be ready soon.  In fact so that we could have them for a meal I took the harvest each day in immediatly froze them.  Once there was enough for my family I cooked them.  They still tasted fresh and good. 








Signs that the beans are nearing the end of their life.  The leaves started to turn yellow brown like this about a week after my first harvest.  Day 83 over all.  As the next 2 weeks went on I harvested what I could when it was ready.  Eventually though the leaves all started turning and it was time to put the plants to rest.





They gave me a great run.  I got enough for 2 good meals (even some left over still frozen)  Tips for following years is to plant less at one time but plant at multiple times.  The average time from sow to harvest is 55 days.  I was a little over that but hey...I still got to harvest.

Herbs in the Garden and kitchen

To begin to have your own home grown fresh herbs there are a few things you should know.
1) What herbs you want to grow
2) How and when to harvest them
3) How to store them once harvested
4) How to use them.

Simple steps sure...but so very important. Some herbs can be harvested often some can't. Some have edible flowers others don't. It is good to know before you even prepare the soil and buy the seeds the basic in's and out's of Herbs.

These little beauty's I bought just for my herbs. They have slits to aid in removing the leaves. They come apart for easy cleaning or even to use to chop up the herbs a little. The scissors are laying on a mesh back like you would use for delicates in your laundry. These are great bags to dry your herbs in. In fact it is all I use....they allow for great air flow but keep them contained. I have them hanging in my laundry room.

Some herbs though are best dried in a brown paper bag though so be sure to read up on them first.

Now to store my herbs I chose these small canning jars. I wanted to be able to see the herbs but be able to store them well. So far all the herbs that I have grown and harvested I dried them and put into their own jar.



To harvest most herbs you just simply need to snip the stem. If you are using them fresh like say Parsley or Dill then just snip the leaves. If you are going to dry them I have found it best to snip the stem.



Drying your herbs:

Make sure you have a fairly cool and dry place to hang them. Some can be hung just as themselfs in a bunch. Most I have are like that but I prefer the mesh zipper laundry bags so that as they are drying if the leaves fall off I don't loose em. The drying process can take a few days up to a few weeks. It depends on the weather, where you are hanging them, and well it depends on how they feel.



So how do you know if they are dry? Actually it is pretty easy to tell. Can you break the stem? Not bend it...break it. if so then they are ready. Still not sure? Well try using 2 fingers to slide down the stem past some leaves. If the leaves fall off then you are good to go. If not give it another day or 2.



Once you know they are truly dry I like to use a paper plate to de stem the leaves. WARNING these leaves have a mind of their own and will go everywhere.....a big paper plate it best.



For some herbs like mint just remove the leaves and then place in a sealable jar. Try not to crush the leaves to much. When you use these to cook you crush them at that time and the flavor is stronger. Basil can go either way. I crush some and I don't others. Just depends on how I feel that day.



To take the leaves off you can use just your fingers as they fall right off or you can use scissors like the ones I got. They do work good but sometimes it is just much faster to use your hands.



Here is my Mint all dried, and off the stem. Some is crushed...just a natural part of being in a jar and more put on top. But it's no big deal as it still packs a powerful punch of flavor and smell when used.

More herb and veggie post to come soon....keep a look out for them.

Important things to know and understand Part 2

Most people understand that when starting a garden of any kind there is a certain amount of patience that is needed. The seeds won't sprout over night (usually). The flower won't open the day the bloom appears either. But something else I have learned this past week is that there are other cases where patience in the garden is important. Once again I had to move one of my tomato plants and it appeared to be dying. One to many transplants. But before I got around to pulling the very wilted and dying plant I noticed that it seemed to be coming back to life. A little pruning and care and it's back.

I have expecially noticed this with herbs. As long as you leave the bottom set of leaves when you harvest sure enough they grow back....and sometimes ever bigger and faster than before. Mint is a good one to describe cause you can cut that one back to the ground and new life will begin to grow with in days.

Does your Mint look like it died? Cut as much back as you can...leave a few little spikes above the dirt give it some watering....and wait.

For a new gardener like me waiting is the hardest part. I see the corn....but it's not ready to pick yet. I see the blooms and know that most likely the veggie or fruit will come from that.....but how?

It is very true. Good things do come to those who wait.

Important things to know and understand Part 1

When it comes to gardening it is very important that you know your first and last frost dates. It all depends on where you are. Every location has what is called a zone. Knowing what zone you are in is very important for many reasons.
Here is a typical map of the USA with the different zones on it.As you can see it isn't as simple as locate your state and you'll find your zone. Some states have up to 3 different zones in it. Some maps can also show for example zone 6, 6a, and 6b. Not to worry when looking at seeds you are zone 6.

Now for the reasons for the zones. Frost dates have a lot to do with how the zones are figured out....as is the topography of the area. Take Florida...most of that is zone 9 but there are a few spots that are 10 and 8. Some for their location on the globe and some also becasue of how the land it's self is. I have found that this site http://cdo.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/climatenormals/climatenormals.pl?directive=prod_select2&prodtype=CLIM2001&subrnum%20to%20Freeze/Frost%20Data%20from%20the%20U.S.%20Climate%20Normals is pretty good at determining the zone you are. Pick your state from the drop down menu and then find your city....sometimes you have to chose the closest one too you. But it tells you a whole lot of information. Including the number of days in each period. For example I live in Hopewell Junction...a small town, so the closest location on the list for me was Poughkeepsie. The list tells me that on average I will have 116 frost free days a year. Some years more some less. Knowing this number and the first and last frost dates allows me to plan the garden. If a plant is going to take longer than 116 days from sow to harvest then I know to start them inside.

Some maps are very specific about the hardiness zone to include the a and b of most zones. Others are not. Some will tell you one number and another site may say another number. Most seed packets tell you a range of zones they grow well in. So that is very helpfull if you can't find a consistant zone. Again for my location I have seen 5b-7... but most say 6.

Knowing the dates is important but knowing the zone is a little more important. And honestly sometimes eaiser to deal with. You know what month winter starts and usually ends sometimes that is enough information to know when to start planting.

Another site I have found very helpfull for me is the Burpee site http://www.burpee.com/.
Not only can you order seeds but if you customize with your zip code there are articles and other tools that can be used. I found out that second season veggies should be planted now. Or at least started inside then planted. They are a great source of information on each seed they carry.

Until next time I wish you call a wonderful day. Remember the more you know the more you can grow.

Growth Over time - The Pea

Given that I had to search the internet to find pictures of what each of my plants would look like at different stages I thought I would add a section here for each plant that I grow....from seed-harvest and beyond if possible. Growth Over time will be part of the Title and the lable.

So to the life of the Pea:

In the begining there is a seed. Either saved from previous years, given by a friend, or in my case bought from a store. The important part about this is chosing the kind of Pea you want. There are many and some will do better in your zone than others. Sometimes experimenting isn't a bad idea either though. The variety that I got on the package said 2' tall vines that need no support. Well that was wrong...they did....but besides that there is a lot of information on the back of seed packets so be sure to look. For this kind it said 63 days to harvest. This number is suppost to be from sowing to harvest not transplant to harvest...Mine? 66 day..not too bad if you ask me. Pretty darn close. So here are pictures of the plants at different stages/times. Hope this helps


Day 4Day 7Day 12Day 13 After transplanted into GreenhouseDay 24Day 28 Showing signs of needing supportDay 49Day 58 Buds have started to appearDay 66. Harvesting ready podsDay 69. After a few days of harvesting a few pods a day it looks as though they are starting to die off.

There are still flowers forming and a few pods still growing so I may get more out of them yet.

I hope that this is helpful to others