agriculture

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No spring yet…

March 19, 2017 Weekly Updates

Well, I proclaimed March 15 the start of planting season, but March 15 has come and gone and there is nothing new in the garden. Instead, we’re still melting out from an unusually heavy late winter dumping of snow. With most of the garden beds still under several inches of icy snow, putting in spring seeds and seedlings just isn’t an option. Even after everything melts, it will still take a while for the ground to dry up enough to prepare it for planting without causing clumping and other damage to soil structure. It seems like this is always the way with mild winters- I watch the moderate temperatures all winter...

Shelling beans

November 23, 2016 In the Kitchen, Other recipes

In the true homesteading spirit, I made sure to harvest every last bean off of the plants when I pulled the string beans a few weeks ago. I had mainly left the plants in the garden that long in order to allow the beans to grow big enough to produce seed for next year’s garden. However, not all of the beans on the plant had become viable seed by the time frost hit and the plants had to be pulled, so I was able to set aside a giant bag to use as soup beans instead. Whereas string beans are harvested when the pods are nearly flat and the beans inside have...

Sweeter things

November 14, 2016 Weekly Updates

With less than two weeks to go before Thanksgiving, it’s starting to both feel and look like fall in the garden. This past Friday, I finally made the call to pull out the pepper plants as temperatures were forecast to drop into the upper 20s for the weekend. Peppers and the plants they grow on cannot survive in freezing conditions, which cause their cells to burst. However, I was able to protect them from the earlier light frosts by keeping the plants shielded under a layer of floating row cover and adding on a heavy tarp on particularly cold nights. Both help keep the heat in, preventing the covered area from experiencing as...

Rain and critters

October 1, 2016 Weekly Updates

Well there’s nothing better than waking up on a rainy morning to find that your entire tomato trellis has collapsed sideways onto the peppers and eggplant! So instead of getting to enjoy the relaxing morning of sitting inside and drinking cocoa that I had imagined while lying in bed and listening to the rain, Mike and I got to don our rain gear, stick Caleb into his stroller under the front porch, and try to pull thirty feet of sopping wet tomato plants back to a vertical position. I will be the first to admit blame here- as you know, the first section of tomato trellis collapsed on itself a couple of...

Harvest season

September 6, 2016 Weekly Updates

It’s been tough keeping up with the garden work recently after getting sick twice in a week and a half. I didn’t even know that was possible! Even though the weather has cooled down significantly, meaning that growth and ripening have slowed some as well, this is also the time of year that both warm- and cool-season crops are coming in strong, hence our association with fall as harvest season. So even with slightly less summer crops to harvest, we’re still getting more than enough to eat, donate, and save for the winter.  With the cooling temperatures, however, it’s officially the end (or near end) to canning for the season. We have been...

A week away

July 31, 2016 In the Kitchen, Other recipes, Tips & Tools, Weekly Updates

Caleb and I took a short break this week, heading down to D.C. to visit my parents. Mike stayed home, so was able to take care of the garden, although with a week of successive heavy rain and thunderstorms, keeping things watered wasn’t much of an issue! At this point in the season, gardens become somewhat like pets, unable to be left alone for long without someone to take care of them. Most summer crops require harvesting multiple times a week to enable the plant to continue producing successfully, as opposed to concentrating its energy on going to seed. In terms of how often to harvest, here are the general guidelines I follow for...

Flea beetles

July 28, 2016 Pests, Tips & Tools

Flea beetles are one of those challenging pests that can quickly wreak havoc on crops and are also very difficult to eradicate once present. These tiny insects with their shiny black exoskeleton will jump away as soon as you get nearby, hence the name flea beetle. They go after many crops, but seem to particularly love arugula, the leaves of young eggplant, and the greens on turnips. The tiny holes they create in crops’ leaves are unsightly and can also diminish the plant’s ability to undergo photosynthesis, thereby decreasing growth and overall health. Once flea beetles have arrived, it can be quite challenging to get rid of them. When I was growing...

Cabbage worms

July 18, 2016 Pests, Tips & Tools

Cabbage worms are one of the most common garden pests in this region and, in a bad year, can easily decimate crops in a short time if not kept under control. Cabbage worms target crops in the brassica family, also known as cole crops. These include kale, cabbage, broccoli, collards, arugula, and mustard greens, among others. You’ve probably noticed the white butterfly adult form of these pests flying around from spring through fall. The eggs these butterflies  lay on brassica plants will hatch into the small green, velvety-looking worms which can grow to a plump 2+ inches as they munch on the leaves of the plant. A sure sign that you...

Pickling Zucchini

July 15, 2016 Canning, In the Kitchen, Weekly Updates

Unexpectedly, Wednesday turned into a solid day of rain- perfect for the garden and also a perfect opportunity for me to get some preserving done! In the morning, before the rain set in, I was able do several hours of work in the garden itself- prepping a bed for the next planting of fall carrots, further trellising the tomatoes and peppers, and harvesting lots of beans and zucchini. Because I’m caring for my one-year-old son as well as for the garden, my days are largely structured around his nap schedule. While my son is exceptionally good at occupying himself, there are certain things that are just easier or much safer to do when he’s...

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