Indoor Vegetable Garden Update

Just a quick update on my lettuce, spinach, and red peppers. As you can see by the photos everything seems to be growing well. I have already picked two red peppers and have another one that will be ready in a few days. The  blossom didn't make it and I think that is because of the lack of nutrients in the soil even though I am watering with compost tea.

I will be able to harvest the lettuce leaves in a few days or a week. The spinach needs some more time.

Happy Gardening

Winter Sown Seeds

I recently read a blog about sowing cool weather crop seeds over the winter. From what I read it didn't seem too difficult and resembles a cold frame or mini greenhouse. I would love to have fresh greens waiting to be harvested when the snow melts. Quite intrigued , so I decided to give it a try.

First you need some plastic containers with lids. I am using the containers that my spring mix came in. They are a nice size and have a lid. I also had some starter cells and thought I would use them so transplanting in the spring would be a bit easier. 

You need to cut holes in the bottom of your container for drainage and the top for air circulation. According to the article I read, next spring when the days get warmer, you will need to make these holes larger so your crops don't get too hot. Mark the container with the name of the crop you are growing in it. Easier to do now then when it is full. I marked mine on the top and bottom just in case the weather makes in unable to read next spring.

Fill your containers about half way with good soil and then water.  Make sure your container drains well, otherwise your seeds will rot. Sow your seeds according to the manufacturer. Secure the lid and put outside where you would grow that particular crop. I placed mine in my raised bed where I grow my leafy greens.

There you have it. Hopefully, I will be harvesting leafy greens early next spring. Will post an update then.
For more info and free seeds go to http://www.wintersown.org/

My Compost Tea

What is my compost tea? 

It is just a shovel full of compost (homemade or store bought) placed in a 5 gal bucket filled with water. Stir it so the compost is distributed through the water. You can let it sit for as long or as little as you want before using. I let mine "steep" for at least 2 hours and as long as a week before using on my plants. Nothing fancy but it does the trick.

I used this solution about once a week on my outdoor plants during the growing season and currently on my indoor plants. It is a great way to naturally feed your plants, especially the ones that have been sitting in the same container soil for more than a few months.

Just use it they way you would use water for watering your garden or potted plants.
Happy Gardening

Indoor Vegetable Garden Update

One week ago today I started an indoor vegetable garden. Two peppers, two tomatoes, lettuce and spinach.

Well, the tomatoes were not looking good, I believe the tops that I brought in had late blight. So I decided to dispose of them.

The peppers are doing well. I harvested one medium sized pepper over the weekend and it was quite tasty. I have four more and a new blossom. :) So I will continue to water with compost tea every week and see how this blossom turns out.

The lettuce and spinach are doing well too. They seem to be reaching a bit but are staying green and healthy looking. I will continue to water them with compost tea.  Also, I turn the container every other day to keep the plants from growing to one side or the other.

All in all, not a bad start except for the tomatoes. Maybe I will try to start a few from seeds.

Happy Gardening

Dehydrating Apples

Dehydrating apples is very easy to do if you have a dehydrator. Begin by washing and drying your apples if you intend to leave the skin on. To keep the apples from turning brown you need put them in a bowl with water and one tablespoon of lemon juice. Take a large sharp knife to cut the apples into one quarter inch slices from blossom end to stem end and remove the core. Place them in the lemon water.

After you have the amount needed to fill your dehydrator, lay the slices on your trays in one layer with no overlaps. I have a thermostat on my dehydrator and set it at 140. I let it run overnight for approximately twelve to fourteen hours. You will know that the apples are finished if they snap when broken. If they are bending and not snapping you will need to run the dehydrator a bit longer.

 Store your dehydrated apples in an airtight container to keep them fresh. I have been able to keep mine for several months so far. I love having these apple snacks handy when I need something sweet and crunchy.

Enjoy!

Homemade Applesauce

I picked apples yesterday and decided to make some applesauce with some of them. It is very easy to do and is better then any applesauce you can buy at the grocery store.

First you need to core, peel and slice your apples into a large kettle. I have a handy device that cores, peels and slices apples that I bought from a kitchen store. It is well worth the money unless you like doing all of the work involved. I used about eighteen to twenty apples. This filled my kettle about two thirds full and then I added water to cover the apples about half way. Turn heat to med high and bring to a boil. Once it is boiling turn down to med and simmer for about twenty to thirty minutes depending how full your kettle is.

Once the apples have cooked down I take a potato masher to them until they are all mashed and depending on how runny they are I may cook longer to get to the desired consistency. If you are using ripe apples you do not need sugar but may want to add cinnamon and vanilla for added flavor. I do not add cinnamon or sugar.

In order to preserve you can put applesauce into freezer containers and freeze or you can preserve in mason jars but will need to water bath for storage. I canned my applesauce today because my freezer space is limited.

Clean and sterilize your mason jars and place your rims and lids in hot water but not boiling. Use a canning funnel to fill jars to one quarter inch from top. Wipe any sauce that may be on the edge of jar so you get a good seal. Place lid on jar and hand tighten with rim.

I have a large water bath kettle with a metal rack but you can use a thick bottomed kettle if you make sure it is deep enough to hold the jars, water to fill one inch over the lids and enough space for the boil so it doesn't splash out. Place your jars in first so you will know if your kettle is adequate. Bring to a boil with lid and process fifteen minutes for quart jars and ten minutes for pints. Lift jars from water and let stand overnight until cool. Enjoy!

Automatic Sprouter

I love eating sprouts but I hate all the time and energy it takes to soak and rinse and rinse and drain and so on. So I decided to search for an easier way and found a great product called The Easy Green Auto-Sprouter. All you do is pull it out of the box, set the timer which comes with it, connect the hose, fill the reservoir with water and plug it in.

It comes with 5 trays for sprouting. Sprinkle the seeds in the tray, put the tray in the sprouter and it does all the watering which is set with the timer. These broccoli seeds are starting to sprout after 24 hrs.

These sprouts are only 3 days old but you can harvest them at what ever stage you like. I usually let them go 5 days for broccoli and 3 days for radish. It is fun to experiment with the different stages. You can sprout alfalfa, red clover, sunflower, buckwheat, beans and any other seed you can think of.

You can buy it at Amazon.  A great way to grow year round.  I love it!




Happy Gardening

Harvesting Green Tomatoes

Between low temps in the 30's and two tomato eating golden retrievers, I decided to pull up the tomato plants. To my surprise I had quite a few green tomatoes left and thought I would try my hand at ripening them in newspaper.

I read an article sometime ago about wrapping green tomatoes in newspaper and placing them in a cardboard box. Place the box in a dark, cool spot somewhere. Well, so far I have them on newspaper on the kitchen counter ready for the cardboard box. I'll post an update as soon as I see some changes.

Happy Gardening

Indoor Vegetable Gardening

Outdoor growing season is coming to an end here in south central Pennsylvania. Last night we had our first frost with temps in the low 30's. Fortunately, last week I decided to bring two pepper plants, two tomato starts and some leafy greens indoors to try growing them over the winter. 

My peppers were already in 5 gal buckets.  I used straight compost mixed with some azomite mineral dust that I added to regenerate the soil. They are sitting by a south facing window that gets indirect sunlight until 12pm (blocked by trees) and direct sunlight thru 3pm. This will change when the leaves fall and hopefully will get at least 5 hrs of direct light. The temp inside ranges from 62 at night to 70's in the sun. I have been watering them about once a week but keep an eye on them because of the direct sunlight.

The tomato starts I picked off of the healthiest plants that I had in the garden. Just pinched the tops off and stuck them in the pot with compost and azomite mix. They haven't been faring as well. I think the direct sunlight is too harsh for them so I have been shading them a bit.  I have been watering as needed.

The lettuce and spinach were started in the raised bed a few weeks ago. I transplanted the lettuce and spinach into a window box that I had been using outside. Again, I added some compost and azomite to the existing soil.  I water as needed since these are just seedlings. So far all are doing well.  

If you are able to bring some vegetable plants inside for the winter I encourage you to give it a try. What do we have to lose anyway? If you already have the plant you just need an empty container with a few drainage holes, some good soil and a sunny window!

I will be updating results to keep track of this indoor gardening experience.

Happy Gardening

Tomato Harvest

Today was a good day to harvest and preserve tomatoes.  I picked enough to put away for later in the year.

Easy to do. I boil a pot of water and let the tomatoes soak for a  minute or until the skin breaks. Then I put them and in a bowl of ice cold water so they stop cooking and are easier to handle. Peeling them with a paring knife is much easier now and I can put them in a freezer bag for later use.

Tip for using freezer bag: zip the top shut except for an inch, then gently squeeze the air out before sealing completely. Sort of resembles a vacuum seal. Throw them in the freezer and enjoy them later on in the season.

Happy Gardening

Container Gardening for Sweet Peppers

Welcome to my corner of the garden. I really enjoy the journey my garden takes me on and would like to share some things I have learned along the way.  This is my second year for container and raised bed gardening and I think I am getting closer to the secret of successful container gardening. In this post I would like to share my method of container gardening for sweet peppers.

My containers were acquired from a local restaurant for free. They are the 5 gal size. In mid June I gathered these containers, punched holes in the bottom and filled with a mix of 1/3 compost, 1/3 vermiculite and 1/3 peat moss. This mixture is full of nutrients and is light so the roots don't get too compacted. Peppers like warm weather so I didn't buy my plants too early, mid to late June here in zone 6. I placed them in a southern facing spot in my backyard and let mother nature do her thing. I kept them moist but not too wet. Peppers don't like too much moisture.

Unfortunately, like most gardeners this season, the heat was a bit overwhelming for all of my garden veggies and I noticed that they stopped producing blossoms during this time period. Why? Well, with some research, I learned that the plant can not support new blossoms when it is in distress so it "drops" the blossoms to preserve itself. Kind of neat the way that happens. Anyway, most of us want to keep watering when this happens but that's not going to help a plant that is wilting from the heat. So I decided to cover my container plants with a makeshift canopy of linens and bamboo stakes. Believe it or not, just protecting them from the midday sun helped tremendously.

My plants produced an average of 6-12 peppers over the growing season. Last season I kept them in a plastic hoop house through the fall and was able to pick until mid November. Peppers don't like temperatures below 60 degrees. If you provide a sheltered spot or bring them inside, you could have peppers well into the winter!
   
Happy Gardening