How does your garden grow? - An update on what's growing on in my garden!

It has been weeks since I've blogged, and I can't really say why. Things have certainly been hopping around here, and lots of learning has been going on with chickens and gardens and kids and, well, life in general. But, the sun was shining today and I got to spend some time in the garden, and I got bit by the writing bug while I was out there. So I thought I'd share what's growing on in the garden right now!

Well, this isn't exactly outside in the garden, but it is the only thing I have growing in my indoor "greenhouse" right now. (AKA: unused bathtub. Which, in my opinion, is the *perfect* place to put an indoor growing area!)
These are sweet potatoes that I am attempting to grow "slips" from. Did you know sweet potatoes aren't planted the same as potatoes? Turns out they are more related to the Morning Glory flower than 'taters! (Who knew?!)
Supposedly, if I keep these in water for a couple weeks I'll have very pretty vines growing off of them, that I can then pop off and continue to grow in a glass of water before planting outside when the weather is nice and warm!

I've only had these in for three or four days, and the shoots are starting already!!

These are the blueberry bushes I got at Costco ~ I'm happy to see them growing.
 

Sorry about the side-ways picture (darn thing won't let me flip it), but I wanted to show you the Romaine lettuce I've been growing IN WATER for several weeks now. There are four crowns here, and just like you see on Pinterest, the center leaves have continued to grow and are now big enough for me to harvest some for a tasty salad if I so choose. I imagine I'll put these in the ground next week, but I really don't have to ~ they're growing fine as they are & I feel like I'm getting double portions out of the lettuce I paid for at the store!

 

 Well, things aren't ALL fun-and-games around here, and I felt like I should fess-up and show you the failures as well as the successes... These are the third (Yes, 3rd!) set of seedlings I've tried to grow of broccoli and cabbage.
I tried them inside under the lamps in this special tray that has a watering pad underneath to keep them moist, so it wasn't a water issue. But then they grew tall and spindly and fell over like this, so I added a fan, which I read online would help with that. Nope. That set I tried to put outside in my greenhouse and on an unusually sunny day a couple weeks ago they all fried. Now, this third set, again started under lamps and with a fan, I've set outside and they just aren't doing much. I don't hold out much hope, and I'll probably keep an eye out for broccoli and cabbage starters at the local nursery.

This is one of three celery that I started from stumps of celery I'd bought from the store and grew in water for a while and transferred outside a couple weeks back. They are doing great, and I'm very hopeful I'll be harvesting plenty of stalks this summer! Thanks again, Pinterest.

Sugar snap peas, anyone?! Yes, please, and thank you!!

Rhubarb! One I grew and the other from my generous neighbor. Really excited about these, but I need to find them a permanent home since they are perennial.

Speaking of perennial vegetables! My asparagus is coming up!!!! :D I couldn't be more excited! This is like free food that just keeps coming back again and again every year. Love it. (Although, I won't be able to EAT any of these for the next couple years...)

Potato towers! Yep, Pinterest, again. ;) I have read many blogs and websites about how people do their towers - some do dirt, some all compost, others all hay. So, I decided to do a mix of all of that! ha-ha. There are three different varieties of potatoes in here - white, russet and Yukon. Some are seed potatoes and others are from the store. I've had people swear by both methods. Some are cut down to two eyes, some are whole. Again, I've received varying advice. SO, this is ultimately an experiment and hopefully I'll be able to gauge what is successful for how I want to do it in the future.

Raspberry canes my generous neighbor gave me. (one bunch is red, the others are golden) They are waiting for their new home along a split rail fence my husband is building next weekend.

These are my shelling peas. They are much shorter than the sugar snaps and I'm not sure why. I'm assuming it has to do with the different variety, or the fact that there was a bunch of grass growing up around them and trying to choke them out before I weeded today... (oops!)

These three rows are: walla walla onions I bought as starters (put them in these last few days), sweet onions I bought as bulbs (put in the ground about 3 weeks ago and they are 2-3" tall), and garlic bulbs (I put in shortly after the peas in late-February or early-March that are several inches tall now). I wish this photo would have come out better so you could see how tall the garlic is.

 

These are my sad, dilapidated herbs I would love some advice on... I have thyme, sage and oregano (with some stray crocus flowers jutting up through the thyme) and I don't know how to tame them. I thought they'd need to be cut-back at the end of summer, so I hacked away at them. That didn't seem to do much for them. Any advice anyone can give me...? Do they need to be pruned at all? They seem big to me!



This is the mint I am happy to see is returning. The sticks are the branches from the end of last year's growing season. I guess this year I know I can cut them all the way down to the dirt-line and they'll grow back. I would love to put this in the ground, but I hear it will take over the area you put it in, so I need somewhere to plant it that I don't mind it taking over...

 

Well, that's all for now!

Thanks for checking in on what's growing on in my garden right now. I'm very excited that our last frost date is next week because I'll be putting much more in the garden very soon!

Growing a Green Thumb - Starting with Herbs

Herb gardens are a great place to start when wanting to go green! (As in, growing a green thumb.) They can be done outdoors in the ground, or in pots on your patio or smaller pots indoors making them a versatile choice. They are also a great motivator toward growing your own food when you can taste the benefits at meal time!

I'd suggest starting from plants instead of seeds ~ starting herbs from seed is most often more difficult and not worth the hassle when you can pick up perfectly good starter plants from the local nursery for about the same price as a packet of seeds. Just look for plants that have a thick base stem coming up out of the dirt, and obviously looks healthy - not yellow, wilted, or broken. Usually Home Depot, Lowe's, Fred Meyer or even your grocery store will have herbs for sale like this during the summer in 4" pots that you can pick up for $3-5. (Not sure what equivalent stores there are out East.) The 4-inch size is perfect for the window-sill.

The next step is deciding what herbs to grow. When I began growing herbs I thought I should just grab one of each willy-nilly-style and ended up with things that had names I couldn't pronounce and smells I wasn't sure I wanted in my food! I suggest starting with herbs that are familiar to you and that you know you will eat. Of course, the Italian trifecta of basil, oregano, and thyme are very popular, as are sage and rosemary.

Basil is my favorite herb, and I think the easiest to grow. I love basil and will definitely be picking up a few plants as soon as I see them on the shelves at the local nursery. The thing to know about basil, though, is that it will eventually die-off and you buy new plants each year. You can keep it going quite long if you continue to pick leaves off of it, though, because that promotes new growth. Just pick off the largest leaves, leaving the rest to continue growing. Repeat every week or two. Just buy more plants if you think you'll use a lot. You don't want to strip the plant of all of its leaves - it will take too much energy to grow that many at a time and might be the end of your yummy plant.

Oregano is another that is pretty easy, but whereas basil is soft through the stem Oregano becomes woody and is like a small bush. It can get pretty big if it has room to grow, so you can put it in a 12" pot on your porch and have a nice little topiary-looking plant that you can take clippings from for your Italian-flavored dishes.

Thyme is very a similar type of plant to Oregano. Sage I have always found odd because the leaves are a little fuzzy and, like Rosemary, it really has a particular flavor and therefor is only used for certain types of dishes. I rarely cook with Sage or Rosemary, so it probably isn't worth my time to grow them. Rosemary is very woody and will grow into large bushes, like Oregano.

(Crocus growing up in my thyme right now...)

Obviously, it depends on the area you live as to what will survive outside, but plants can always be put outside during the summer and brought indoors during the cold months.

The next step is starting your own salad garden... I'll blog on that next time!!

Today I'll leave you with a simple recipe for Bruschetta, which is my favorite way of enjoying fresh Basil!

BRUSCHETTA:

Ingredients:
- Fresh Basil leaves
- Olive oil
- Minced or chopped garlic
- Tomatoes
- Salt

Directions:
- Stack basil leaves on top of each other, then roll lengthwise into a tight little roll (think cigar). Slice thinly starting at the end. The result is wonderful little ribbons of basil and the whole lot is cut up in 30-seconds!
- Chop the freshest tomatoes and garlic you can find and throw them into the bowl with the basil.
- Drizzle olive oil over the whole lot of it, salt it good, and let it sit to meld all the flavors.
- Pile into crisp or grilled bread slices... heaven.

*I didn't include any amounts because I really think this recipe depends on taste, so eyeball it and experiment for what you prefer.