This is a flat of radish, kale, and pak choy microgreens.  

 

They get harvested by the cut-and-come again method.  I grab a handful of the leafy tops and cut the stems.  Then in a week or so they grow back, and we do it again.  

 

This flat has been living outside, except on the really cold nights, but they don’t mind the thirties.  When it gets cold to stay, we will bring them in and put them under the lights, and have microgreens all winter, just from this one flat.

 

Pretty cool, huh?

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

Good thing I’m better at gardening than embedding pictures into my blog.  I wanted the two pictures side by side, but after 15 minutes of alterations, I gave up.  Anyway, you get the idea.

 

 

I thought I would share a little gardening secret.

 

We save our eggshells, rinse and dry them, then grind them up in an old coffee grinder.  Of course, we need to wear a good filtration mask because the particles are small and sharp.  Don’t want to breathe in that.

 

Anyway, the reason we do all that is to add calcium to our soil.  The tiny particles break down faster than big chunks of eggshell (which can take years.)  This way, we add it to the soil, and the plants can utilize it almost immediately.  

 

Plants need calcium in their “veins” to facilitate the uptake of nutrients, just like we need calcium in our bloodstream to promote optimum health.  Commercial fertilizers only provide nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.  So for good soil health we need to add a few other ingredients, and calcium is a big one.

 

Calcium is available as a nutrient for plants, in bone meal, lime, and some other organic sources.  But why BUY calcium when we have it right here?  Call me “Cheap-le-stiltskin” if you like, but I love using what we have.

 

Oh, yeah…we have noticed better gardens since we started adding eggshells to our soil, which is the point.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

We read our weather report just in time to get in all the peppers and eggplants.  This is part of that harvest.  

 

My next big project is to get out into the garden and pull out all those eggplant and pepper plants.  The basil and marigolds are all dead too.  It makes me sad to see them, so I will put them on the trash pile and let them turn into compost.  

 

But, don’t worry, all is not lost:  the broccoli, kales and cabbages are loving the cooler weather.  They can stay.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Yep, it’s that time of year again.  Time to change the clocks back to Eastern Standard Time.  

 

But I bet you already knew that.

 

 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

When our Hickory trees drop their leaves we will have more mulch than we can shake a stick at.  And best of all, there are 4 big trees like this one near the garden.  They all fall right into the garden.  

 

They are a little problematic so close to the garden because they cast a bunch of shade.  But we work around that ok.  We just plant shade lovers in the shady spots:  you know, lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach, and beans.  The rest of the garden gets plenty of sun, so it creates a nice balance for ALL our crops.  

 

It looks like the Hickories will be dropping soon.  Everything else is just about done.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

A few years ago, Sheri sent us hot cherry peppers that she grew in her garden.  We saved the seeds and have been planting them ever since.  Jon likes them because they are hot peppers.  I like them because when they turn red in the fall they look like red ornaments on a Christmas tree.

 

That’s how they looked before those cold nights.  Love it.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

We planted our garlic last Sunday when the moon was in the third quarter in the sign of Taurus:  perfect for planting root crops.  We planted three rows:  one row with 40 cloves, and two rows with 50 cloves each.  That way, we will have enough garlic to last the year for cooking, and enough left over to plant next year.  

 

If you notice, we don’t buy mulch.  It is provided abundantly by our maple and hickory trees.  

 

Our only dilemma this year so far has been the lack of rain since early September.  So we had to hand carry water down to the garden.  That’s ok, it will be worth the trouble in the end.  

 

I’ll show you the garlic again when it comes up in the spring.  And of course I will show you the harvest in July.

 

 

HAPPY  GARDENING!!!

 

I’m here to show you proof of a REAL butterfly lover!!!  She knows that these caterpillars will grow up to be Black Swallowtail butterflies.  And we all love Black Swallowtails.  

 

My friend sent me this picture of her parsley “feeding ground.”  She has this parsley plant that she let the caterpillars have.  I count eight caterpillars, and there are probably more.  I hope the parsley holds out til they’re finished feeding.  

 

You are a real sport, Linda, to let them have it all.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I’m ready, because I dress up like a ladybug every year.

 

You wouldn’t think that ladybugs are scary, but if you live around here, you know that they invade your house, and never go away.  I’m not a scary ladybug;  but just the thought of ladybugs scares some people to death.  

 

Henry, I’m speaking of YOU!!!

 

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

 

This is my wild Mullein in a pot.  

 

A few weeks ago, I cut off the terminal flower spike, and it responded by growing new flower buds at EVERY leaf axil.  All up and down the stem there are new flowers growing!!!  And they smell so sweet.

 

Next time I get a Mullein plant I’m going to top it, right from the beginning.  This is beautiful!!!

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!