Parsnips?

Look what I missed last fall!

 

I love growing garlic.

 

Shrub

Finally doin' it! We got a bottle of Tait Farm Shrub in our house a couple weeks ago and after reading the ingredients list (fruit, sugar, and vinegar) we were thinking, well, gosh, we have that! We are also nearly through our bottle from Tait so it was time to try.

First step: mix fruit and sugar, roughly equal amounts. (I am using our frozen fruits from last summer, can't be as good as fresh, but we are practically pickling it in the end anyway...)

Next step: put in the fridge for two days.

Final step: strain (I pressed the blueberry through a sieve and ran the raspberry and peach through a foley mill) and add apple cider vinegar, equal amount as the berries or the sugar. (Note, if you add 1 c fruit to 1 c sugar, and then 1 c vinegar, you do not get 3 c. Something closer to 2 c shrub, or 1 pint jar. My quantities were a little less.)

Mix 2 T with a glass of seltzer!

Ours turned out a little too vinegarry for my tastes. The raspberry is the best of the bunch. Although dark purple, the blueberry doesn't taste enough like blueberry - it probably should have gone through the foley mill  too.

For more about shrubs see:

http://mobile.drinks.seriouseats.com/2012/08/cocktail-101-complex-shurb-syrups-how-to-add-herbs-to-shrubs.html

http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/ark_product_detail/shrub/

Peas

Yesterday I planted the peas. About 5 feet of shelling peas and 15 feet of sugar snaps. Though it seems late (because of our insanely warm temperatures this week) a scan through my previous years' pea posts says it's not. Mid-April seems to be a fine time for peas to come up, if they are protected from rabbits!

We are at growing degree day 30. In 2011 I noted that the peas emerged around growing degree day 38, but that they had sat in the ground awhile waiting until then. This time they were pre-soaked. Given the forecast this week and the later planting date, I have a better feeling about emergence.

Gotta get the rabbit fence up ASAP.

Seedlings

The cold frame continues to under impress. Everything lives, nothing thrives.

The arugula is just starting to sprout true leaves. Those started on March 10th indoors, and March 15th outdoors seem to be neck and neck. The lettuce started indoors and transplanted is growing well, but they really should be further along by now.

Spinach, lettuce, and chard from a March 29th planting emerged today.

The green onions in the small cold frame, transplanted at about 2 inches high, seem to have accepted the abuse. The lettuce transplants on the other hand, disappeared like their predecessors... Slugs?

Peas are soaking right now and are going out tomorrow.

Last week was winter, flurries still in the air. This week we have forecast highs in the 70's. When are we supposed to grow peas?

 

Progress!

Two beautiful days (finally), and so much to show for it...

An inherited compost tumbler brings our system into better rotation. This was particularly necessary after noticing the resident groundhog chowing down on our bok choy stems out of the open bin. Now we have one tumbler filled with the uncomposted top of the bin, the other holding our active kitchen scraps, the bin emptied onto garden beds (see below) and then refilled with raked up winter yard waste.

The compost went onto the asparagus, rhubarb, sorrel, horseradish, sage, and new tomato beds. That's awesome! Unfortunately, that was all of it so I don't know what I'm putting on the rest of the beds...

We also took down a walnut tree, maybe 30 feet tall. Fortunately it was right next to our shed which served as scaffolding for the enterprise. Getting rid of that tree was a major advancement for the homestead. I had planted Jerusalem artichoke under it because it was the only thing I thought could do well there. But as the tree got bigger and bigger it was getting dangerously close to impacting the vegetable garden. Not cool. It took most of the day, but it's history!

 

Tulips

April 1.