Transplanting and mulch

The mulch has arrive and the transplanting is nearly done. I have transplanted the zucchini, summer squash, and butternut squash to the garden beds.  All of the bean, bitter melon, and cucumber plants have also made the move to the main garden.

keeping the weeds away with free mulch from the dump

Majority of the plants have settled in nicely and are growing quickly.  However, there were a few fallen soldiers.  The yard beans did not survive the move and more seeds were planted.  The cucumbers have also struggled and may not make it through the weekend. I have planted additional cucumber seeds in the event the current plants do not survive.

The strawberries are doing very well.  I found my first red strawberry today.  I cannot wait to make my first strawberry slushy, yum!

The lettuce mixes are showing their colors while the sweet and Thai basil sprouts reach for the sky.  I foresee lots of pesto in my future.

Victory Garden First!  Last season I planted a seed that would eventually become an eggplant sprout.  The 2011 season was cold and the seed did not sprout until late summer.  The poor little plant did not push out it's first leaves until fall.

The victory garden saw a very warm fall season, which gave the plant time to grow.  A very cold dry winter hit. I dug up the plant and placed it into a pot.  The pot sat under a covered space in my backyard all winter.  Fast forward to 2012 spring.  The plant began sprouting new leaves and growing taller.  So here we are, almost the middle of spring and last season's eggplant sprout is now growing again in the victory garden.  The plant will turn one-year-old in a few months.  What a survivor!

Vertical gardening - the basics

I received a book from my father titled, Vertical Gardening: Grow Up, Not Out, For More Vegetables and Flowers In Much Less Space by Derek Fell. My father had given me the book in the middle of a college semester.  This meant, the book would sit on my bookshelf for a few months while I read and grade student papers.  Once I had a break, I found time to read the book.  I found the book easy to read.  The entire book is organized for a beginner, like myself, who wants to jump from topic to topic while absorbing the information again and again.  I have read the book over 3 times cover to cover and spent a few hours perusing particular chapters and pages.

Vertical gardening is growing your fruit up on netting or any other type of support structure.  You could use a chain link fence to create a vertical garden.  Can you imagine a fence accented with food for you to consume?  Yum!  Simply put, you grow up to save space.  However, Fell would also add that vertical gardening produces more fruit.  Either way, I wanted to try it out.  I was tired of digging holes and moving vines when space was filling up.  I wanted a vertical garden... so how do I start? According to Fell, there are two important starting points when planning a vertical garden:

1. You will need a good location/soil for the plants.
2. You need good support structure for the vertical garden (i.e., netting, trellis, boards, stakes, etc.)

Chapter two discusses the basics and introduced me to lasagna gardening.  Lasagna gardening is an easy way to reuse items and turn hard weed infested ground into soft fertile soil.  I used the lasagna technique when preparing the garden beds in the victory garden.  I first laid down 10-15 layers of newspaper on the bottom of each garden bed.  I hosed down the newspaper a few times while laying down the various layers of newspaper.  Then I filled the bin with browns, greens, browns, greens, etc.  Browns refers to dried leaves and chopped up corn stalks.  Greens are lawn clippings and fresh kitchen scraps typically used for composting.

one layer of newspaper, wet, repeat 15X

add a layer of browns

add a layer of greens, repeat with brown

I filled each garden bed 50% using the lasagna gardening method.  I spread our homemade compost over the layers of "lasagna" and topped off the bed with a bag or two of gardening soil.  I did not fill my garden beds to the top.  I like the boards taller than the seedlings or transplants.  The taller sides break the wind that could snap delicate bean transplants or seedlings.

double layer (back) and single layer (front) garden beds

My effort to build garden beds with recycled materials while enforcing a no dig policy has come to an end.  I was successful in building garden beds out of recycled materials.  My family recently replaced the front yard fence.  We saved the planks from the old fence and used them to construct the sides of the garden beds.  The vertical boards are leftovers from old wood projects or broken furniture.  Additionally, I filled each bed with organic materials found and produced around the house.  However, my no dig policy was short lived when I ran-out of garden bed and lasagna bedding material.  With the need to be green and not consume and purchase more material, I retreated to last season's soil preparation format.  I forked and tilled the soil before the rains came. The soil was still moist and easy to manage. I laid the irrigation and planted corn.  I have enough space in all of the beds built to plant my seedlings in the nursery.  Yeah!

filled with lasagna layers and topped with homemade compost

I have planted the corn (with irrigation).  There are four rows with 20-25 seeds in each row.  The sugar snaps, beets, pak choi, and radish variety are enjoying the cool wet weather.

netting for sugar snaps, blue lake, and royal burgundy beans

VICTORY GARDEN ALERT! VICTORY GARDEN ALERT! The outdoor nursery has been tossed by the notorious Chewy Nho.  Chewy stated, "I was looking for a long lanky fella with a wormy looking face and accidentally tossed the seedlings."  Authorities took pity on Chewy and sent him off with a warning. The seedlings have been replanted and given a drink to calm their roots.

Nursery News 12.3

We have sprouts for every type of veggie and fruit planted.  Here is a complete list of all seeds that have sprouted: big mama tomato, beef steak tomato, grape tomato, cantaloupe, crenshaw melon, watermelon, zucchini, yellow squash, butternut squash, blue lake pole bean, royal burgundy bean, yard bean, scarlet emperor bean, bell peppers, purple beauty bell peppers, Italian eggplant variety, Asian eggplant variety, Thai hot pepper, Kung Pao pepper, ghost pepper, cucumber, beets, radish (variety), pak choi, carrots, brussel sprouts, sweet basil, Thai basil, lettuce variety and sugar snaps.

Re-use cups and containers

I have transplanted many of the seedlings into larger containers.  I am re-using plastic and paper cups for the transplanting process. I want the small sprouts to grown in size.  I noticed some of the plant roots were emerging from the sides of the newspaper pots.  This was a sign that my seedlings needed more room to grow. 

Pak choi, beets, carrots, radish, and brussel sprouts

The sugar snaps are no longer in the nursery.  I allowed the sprouts to harden for four days before transplanting them into the victory garden.  Sugar snaps are cold resistant and should do well in the cool weather.

Sugar snaps with netting

Nursery News 12.2

I see more sprouts emerging from the soft soil. We now have watermelon, purple beauty bell pepper and sugar snaps growing in the nursery.

Sugar Snaps

Nursery News 12.1

Yard Beans and Butternut Squash

Welcome to the Nursery News, your visual connection to the next generation.  Here is the latest update with all things grown by seed in the victory garden.

The seedling to the right still has the hull attached at the top.

What has sprouted: Yard beans, butternut squash, cucumbers, zucchini, grape tomatoes, beef steak tomatoes, big mama tomatoes, watermelon, Crenshaw melon, and lettuce.

Let the 2012 season begin!

A new season is upon us and the victory garden is warming up.  There are a few changes to the victory garden this year.  The first change is the style and layout of the garden. I am invoking a "no dig" policy in the victory garden.  This means that garden beds will be build and used to grow the vegetables and fruit (excluding corn).  The second change relates to the preparation of the soil for the corn and garden beds.  I will be using a lasagna gardening method.  My family and I will use up items around the house for this method (for example, newspaper, cardboard, leaves, old corn stalks and additional compost items).  The lasagna method will help bring a dry weed ridden area of the garden to life. Stay tuned for a complete break down of the process and how it worked for in the victory garden.  Lastly, I will grow every vegetable or fruit in the victory garden by seed.  I say this every year but this year I mean it.  I planted the seeds this past weekend.  I used a pot maker and created small newspaper pots for the seeds and soil.  I also used small ceramic/clay/plastic pots to help protect the more delicate seedlings.  Cross your fingers and wish for big green sprouts.  The more sprouts the bigger and tastier the 2012 harvest will be.

Radish, mustard greens, and jam for winter

Mustard greens

The victory garden had an usually dry and warm winter season.   The warm sun and the dry weather did not stop the mustard greens.  The cool air helped keep the mustard greens tall and lush while keeping the ground moist.  I did not water the winter crops this season.  I wanted to test the winter rains and soil.  The greens loved the solitude and kept on growing.  We could not eat them fast enough and we still have more to harvest.  These greens are great in soup, hot pot, and stir-fry.  I plan on planting many more winter greens next season.

Long crispy Minowase radish

The Monowase radishes grew well too.  I started with seeds and like magic the longest radish reached 17 inches. Most of the time you never know the length of the radish.  In addition the green leafy tops can also be misleading.  Only harvest your radishes when the tops of the radish stick out of the ground and are roughly 1/2 - 1 inch in diameter.  You can then gently pull the radish from the ground and enjoy the crunchy texture and spicy nutty flavor.  Once the radishes in the my victory garden reach a size my family likes, we picked, cleaned, and chopped each one.

marinated radish

My family enjoys marinated vegetables. Dried radishes are fantastic sponges and great for soaking up flavorful marinades.  Here is how my mother and I make this tasty and crunchy side dish.  After 24-48 hours in the dehydrator, radish dry very fast, you will take all of the dry bits and place them into jars/containers.  My mom uses old plastic containers but canning jars will work too.  Fill each container half-way.  This will allow the radish to expand.  Remember radish are like sponges and will expand while soaking up the marinade.  The sauce is what makes the dish.  I suggest trying out a few types of sauces in smaller batches if this is your first experience with marinated radishes.  You can find recipes online or in a variety of cookbooks too.  My family's recipe consists of water, soy sauce, fish sauce, and sugar.  My vegetarian version uses water, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil and brown sugar.  Depending on the taste you want you can add a more or less of each ingredient.  The goal with the marinade is to fill the jar.  You want to give the radish every opportunity to soak up the flavors of the marinade.  Cover the jar and place the filled jar into the fridge.  Within 24 hours you will have a tasty side dish for any breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Thai Dragon Chili Pepper Jelly

Pepper jelly was the favorite item in my holiday bags this year.  I decide to make this batch of pepper jelly using the Thai Dragon Chili peppers from the victory garden.  I have friends and a mother who loves HOT HOT HOT food.  This was my special treat for each of them.  I followed a previously discussed Pepper Jelly recipe but canned the jelly in smaller decorative 6 oz. jars. My previous batches were made in pint and recycled jars.  The small red and white jars were a hit and many of neighbors were pleased with the spicy sweet flavor.

Rest in Compost (RIC): There are always casualties in any garden and the odd winter weather brought a few.  The only item that did not prosper and grow was the Brussels sprouts.  They need lots of water and there was little to no rain this season.  The carrots loved the cold weather too but did not fair well in the dry winter soil.  The lack of water gave the carrots a rubbery texture.  RIC dear Brussels sprouts and carrots, until we meet again.