Harvesting Summer Squash

Yesterday we began harvesting our first tromboccini squash. Harvesting summer squash can sometimes be tricky because there always seems to be a few that get overlooked and grow to baseball bat size overnight. Harvesting Tromboccini is no exception. Yesterday I harvested 6 nice size tromboccini squash and today I noticed another one in the garden that was larger than any of the others I harvested yesterday. Tromboccini is a very long heirloom summer squash that grows in a curled shape and looks like a trombone. I thought my kids would get a kick out of the novelty of the squash. What I wasn't prepared for, however, was the sprawling vines of the plant. It truly grows more like a winter squash plant than a bushing zucchini or yellow squash. It's a good thing I left quite a bit of room for them, but they are invading everything around them!You can see that a few of the squash were growing through my fence along the garden. Again, I didn't know that the plant was vining, so this surprised me, but I have a pretty vertical garden already so it's no big deal!

My sister-in-law shared an incredible zucchini pickle recipe with me. I didn't think I would enjoy those pickles and was quite shocked by how delicious they were. I plan to make some of those pickles after I harvest more summer squash. I'll post the recipe separately.

I love this time of year.....the quandary of which produce to serve for each meal....such dilemmas!

CSA Workshare

I participate in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Workshare program. It's not because I have a lot of free time or need any more vegetables than I already grow. I participate in the CSA workshare to learn. I have learned about vegetables I have never grown before. I have learned better succession planting management. I have learned how to better utilize the space in my garden to grow more veggies in a small space. I have learned SOOO MUCH!!!

Last week I helped harvest a beautiful bunch of heirloom carrots.....Atomic Reds, Whites, and Oranges. You can see the harvest here. If you are interested in gardening I can't think of a better place to start....learn from the pros by working for them and then put that knowledge to work for yourself. If you are not interested in gardening, then consider buying a membership in a CSA. You will get to taste foods that are fresh, usually grown using organic growing methods at the peak of ripeness, delicious and cannot compare to store purchased produce. You are also helping support a local farmer which helps the economy on a local level, as well as minimizing the "carbon footprint" that most food (shipped thousands of miles) requires.

Take a look at my CSA at Circle M Farms and then check out a CSA near you!

Fresh Cabbage for Coleslaw

We just harvested our first fresh cabbage for coleslaw. It's fourth of July and we are going to a picnic. I can't think of a nicer way to celebrate than eating fresh coleslaw. I usually only use recipes as guides and I rarely measure so I will tell you how I make my most requested recipe. I use about 1 cup of miracle whip (mayonnaise works too, but you have to up the amounts of vinegar and sugar), 3/4 - 1 cup of milk, 1 T of vinegar, 2 T sugar (or to taste...I like it a little more sweet), 1 pound of shredded cabbage with a little grated carrot for color. When you use fresh cabbage for coleslaw, you may not need to add so much milk because the fresh cabbage has more juice in it. If you have a few hours before you serve, then add less milk initially and add more if you need it later. This variety is the Early Jersey Wakefield variety. I love growing this cabbage in the spring. I plan to grow the Brunswick and another variety for fall. I'd better get those seeds started!

Winter Squash

Spring has definitely made its way to Wisconsin and that's wonderful! A friend of mine planted many early spring garden vegetables last weekend, but my ground was still frozen solid. This week still took our evening temps downs into the 20s, so the ground still hasn't thawed too much, but I have many seeds underway in the house and even moved 8 flats of seeds outdoors into my little cold frames by the garden.

I will be starting my tomatoes very soon so that is very exciting....they are my favorite veggie. I also now have to decide what I will plant in terms of winter squash. I got a little carried away this year when I discovered the Bakers Creek Heirloom Seeds Company. They carry so many heirlooms I'd never heard of before that I had to get several varieties and I had already placed my order to Fedco and Seed Savers. I will list the varieties I have.

I had some Delicata seeds left from last year.

From Seed Savers:
American Tonda
Gutaemalan Blue

From Fedco:
Blue Hubbard
Burpee Butterbush Butternut
Squisito Spaghetti

From Baker's Creek:
Shishigatani (or Toonas Makino)
Sweet Dumpling
Kamo Kamo
Vegetable Spaghetti
Pomme D'or
Thelma Sanders Sweet Potato
Musquee de Provence
Australian Butter
Galeux d'Eysines

I know that in order to be able to save seeds from this year's planting that I will either have to only choose a few varieties and plant them far apart or else I will have to do some hand pollinating (that's what I will most likely do). Plus I have the added benefit of helping a few other gardeners and we can use one variety in their garden and then we will have pure seed to save.

Keep coming spring!!!

How to Start Seeds under Grow Lights

March is FINALLY here. In Wisconsin March is the beginning of starting seeds under grow lights. Today I moved all the stuff out of my storage area and set up my grow lights for my seed starting. For two months I have to find another place to put my extra stuff so I can set up the growing area (it's a good excuse to weed things out of storage as well).

So far I have started many new herbs, celeriac, celery, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, and onions. By the time I am ready to start the peppers, tomatoes, gourds, and other crops this first batch will be going in the ground.

I have always used regular fluorescent lights in the inexpensive shop light fixtures you can get for about $5 at home improvement stores. I know experts recommend that you replace the bulbs every year, but I don't do this and I've never had a problem getting my plants off to a great start.

I always use Jiffy potting soil and cut expenses in the area of planting containers. Often I cut off milk jugs and use the bottom to start seedlings. Then I take the best seedlings to transplant into small containers (like yogurt cups or homemade paper pots). I also start seeds in the little starting packs that fit nicely inside a liner pan. If you are careful you can save these each year and reuse. Be sure to wash them well and it is a good idea to use a little bleach to disinfect them.

I water the seeds well, then cover with saran wrap. When the seeds begin to sprout I remove the wrap and make sure to water from the bottom (some plants will dampen off if the soil is wet at the base of the plant....yes....this has happened to me, so I know from experience....water from below).

Place the lights as close to the soil as you can and adjust slightly higher as needed when the plants grow. It is important to keep the lights close to the plants! That's really all there is to starting seeds inside. Sometimes I also start a few flats of seeds by a window. I haven't had any trouble doing that, but the plants do tend to get leggier than if they are under grow lights.

Yippee, spring is almost here!

I'm Crazy About Heirloom Tomatoes

Now I know I'm crazy. I went through my seeds this past weekend to start getting organized because it is time to get planting. I went to the garden center yesterday to get my jiffy potting mix and some trays for starting. I planted 3 kind of heirloom onions, celeriac, and cutting celery. In two more weeks I'll have lots more to sow and in a month my basement will be overflowing with seedlings.

About the tomatoes however......I have been collecting seed from my favorite tomatoes, Rose, and Federle for several years. This year I wanted to try other varieties as well, so I ordered more seeds from Fedco, Baker's Creek, Seed Savers, and I got a lot of free seeds from Wintersown.org. Now that I have compiled everything I ordered I see I must have been nuts. Have you ever gone grocery shopping while you were hungry? You know what happens. You buy too much! That is what has happened to me.

I have 27 different heirloom tomato varieties. Now 27 plants is more than most even think to plant in their garden, so having that many varieties is pretty crazy. But we love tomatoes and I usually put in at least 40-60 plants in a normal year. Because we have 7 mouths to feed we need more than an average amount of food to get us through the winter, but this year I am trying to grow almost ALL our food. So with tomatoes that means enough for spaghetti sauce, tomato soup, chili, beef stew, ketchup, juice, and more for an entire year. I will probably plant 100 plants. I guess if I end up with too much the kids can sell the extras at the local farmer's market near us.

Here are the varieties besides the Rose and Federle that I am going to plant.
From Baker's Creek:

• Rev. Morrow's Long Keeper (plant in June and harvest later - keeps through December)
• Aunt Ruby's German Cherry
• Dad's Sunset
• Ananas Noire
• German Red Strawberry
• Millionaire
• Paul Robeson (very excited about this one)
• Hawaiian Pineapple
• Riesentraube
• Carbon (excited about this one too)
• Orange Fleshed Purple Smudge (can't wait to see and taste this!)

From Seed Savers Exchange:

• Black Sea Man (PL)
• Wisconsin 55

From Fedco:

• Cherokee Purple
• PineappleAunt Ruby's German Green

From Wintersown:

• Green Sausage
• Chocolate Cherry
• Speckled Siberian
• Black Cherry
• Tumbling Tom
• Tennessee Britches

From P and P Seed Co:

• Phil's Fantastic (supposed to be very large!!!)

Heirlooms from the local feed store:

• Red Cherry Large
• Red Oxheart
• Brandywine Pink (PL)

Out of all these seeds, the only plants I need to really worry about cross pollinating are the Brandywine Pink, Black Sea Man, and the Rose. Each of those plants is a potato leaf (PL) variety which means that the stigma sticks out of the anther cone. In regular leaf tomato plants the stigma does not stick out of the anther cone so cross pollinating does not readily happen. There is a lot of conflicting information regarding tomatoes and cross pollinating, but one article that I like can be found here.

Based on my own experience growing tomatoes for over 20 years I really haven't encountered any crossing between regular leaf varieties, only potato leaf varieties. So I will follow the seed saving idea of bagging with tulle that I have on hand for the seed I plan to save. I will probably bag the regular leaf varieties that I deem desirable enough to replant again next year just to make sure the seed is pure, but I don't really think it is necessary.

Okay, now you know I'm nuts about gardening, nuts about tomatoes, and just plain nuts. But I'm excited to try these tomatoes!