Spring Starts

Do you already have your spring starts going? The time is nigh, past nigh! I had to fight the urge to start my tomatoes and peppers in December. We planted our brassicas, tomatoes and peppers at the end of February this year.

What is that you ask? A dirt crab? A yeti fur-ball?  A comfrey root? Yes, you were right the third time. It is the Russian bocking 14 comfrey root to be precise. Symphytum x uplandicum for all the plant nerds. This cultivar is sterile, meaning it does not produce through seed. The only way to propagate this variety is through root cutting. It only takes a little bit of root to get a new plant, as many people who have tried to roto-till this plant to death have found out.

I potted up 48 comfrey starts all said and done. I will be giving most of them away to friends this year. I plan on planting about half of these around the property. I have comfrey in 5 spots around the property right now.

Here are some happy little brassica's growing in soil cubes. Here is a post I did on making soil cubes if you want to learn more.

Here are some tomato starts. We have peppers going as well. Hopefully this year we won't have the wet spring we had last year. We couldn't plant out our starts until mid May last year.

Here is the set-up this year. Looks very similar to the last three years. =) I can't wait to get out in the garden this year. We had poor garden performance last year, mostly our fault from neglect. We plan on paying more attention to the annuals this year as well as continuing to establish perennial plants that will produce with very little input. 

Get out and garden this year!

Seedling Update

Every single Jerusalem artichoke and Russian Comfrey that I planted earlier this year has either come up, or is coming up now. 100% success rate, not bad. I hope there is an interest in useful perennial plants in my area. If not I will have a lot of planting to do. If anyone who reads this blog wants some, let me know. I will give you a reader discount. 

Hello! You found my secret message! Words of wisdom: 'Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly' Thomas Jefferson

The indoor plants are doing great. I picked up some clearance plants at the local box store for next to nothing. You should check the back of the outdoor plant section at your local box store. Everyday they put plants they want to get rid of on racks and deeply discount them. I paid a dollar for each of these flats of marigolds. 

With our busy schedules, it is hard to find time to harden off our plants. I wanted to have my brassicas in the ground by now. Depending on the extended forecast, we may try to get a headstart on the season by planting next weekend. Around here, Mother's day is the safe time to plant every year. I want to try to push it up a week. 

Asparagus and Spider Condos

I am so excited to harvest our three year old asparagus patch. For those that do not know; asparagus is planted in late fall / early winter with the first shoots appearing the next spring. Conventional wisdom says you should not harvest asparagus the first two springs to allow the crowns to get well established. I have been very patient with our asparagus patch the last two springs (okay, I ate one or two shoots) but this year, asparagus is on the menu. Our asparagus patch should produce every spring for the next 20 years or so. I plan on putting in two more beds this fall.

History lesson:

Asparagus is pictured in an ancient Egyptian stone carving from 3000 BC as an offering to the gods. The Romans would harvest it in the spring and carry it high into the alps to freeze it. They would keep it there until the feast of Epicurus. Asparagus is known to some as "sparrow-grass". It is a good companion plant for tomatoes. I am going to plant a tomato in the middle of my asparagus bed this year and see if they do well together. 

The peas I planted in early march are finally coming up. I am not having a good germination rate. I believe this is due to a very bad cold snap we had after I planted. I love peas, so I hope I get a good harvest this spring.

This plant is so hardy. I put a spade shovel in the middle of it early this spring and harvested about half of the roots. It doesn't care at all. Russian Comfrey belongs in everyone's garden. It is a dynamic accumulator, bringing hard to reach nutrients to the surface and into your compost. It can also be used as a shredded mulch or side dressing. 

I planted a few thousand white clover seeds a couple weeks ago. They are coming up all over an area where I killed the grass off. I hope they spread everywhere.

Seeking roommate, preferably a fly or other soft bodied insect to share a one bedroom condo with sunroof and large attached deck. Situated in a small community of early spring flowers. Praying mantis need not apply. 

The Homestead Is Waking Up

I have been spending more and more time outside recently. The garden is quiet but, some things are waking up. Walking around the yard with a glass of wine yesterday, I felt the stress of the day to day easing and I realized how good gardening and nature make me feel. 

If you do not garden I suggest giving it a try. Even the most ambitious gardening plans are cheaper than a shrink.

This is a mini greenhouse I made to give the Russian Comfrey and Jerusalem Artichokes a head start. I really want to build a proper greenhouse so I can start gardening even earlier.  

I pulled a few Comfrey starts out to check the growth. They are doing very well. The Jerusalem Artichokes are not coming up yet, but I have no worries they will.

Here is a close up of the a Comfrey start. I wasn't very gentle with mother plant. I just put a spade shovel in the middle of it and stepped down. It is amazing how well this plant splits and grows.

This big brown spot in my yard was put there intentionally. I raked all my fall leaves into a big pile and left them there to kill the grass all winter. I recently raked them off the dead spot so I could plant some white clover. I am trying to get large clover patches established in the yard to harvest for future livestock. 

Here is the garlic bed. They did very well overwintering despite me not mulching them. I can't wait to harvest some scapes soon.

Here is a close up of the garlic. I have 6 heirloom varieties growing, 3 hardneck and 3 softneck. 

The Rosa Rugosa is budding out. I have this rose in multiple locations on the property. I enjoyed the rose hip tea I made last year. I plan on propagating some runners and planting it in more spots this year. 

  

Finally, after trying for two years, I got some rhubarb established. It looks so healthy and vibrant, I can't wait to make some strawberry rhubarb gluten free pie!

Here is our golden raspberry. We only got a few off of the plant last year. This will be the second year and I hope it goes crazy. Golden raspberries are so sweet and plump. I will definitely be propagating this to plant around the property. 

Odds and Ends

It's that time of year again! I don't know what is is but I have always loved growing plants indoors. When I was a kid I used to grow flowers from seeds in flats in my bedroom window. I have stepped up my operation since then.

Here are the first brassica's that came up. We have broccoli, cauliflower, walking stick kale, cabbages and brussel sprouts going indoors. 

Here is the first tomato that popped up. They are doing great now I will post pics of the growth soon.

Here is the insulated dog house I am building in the garage. I will have a full post on the construction and design when I finish it. 

Dara was prepping and planting some raised beds on Sunday. She found these giant carrots still going strong. One of them had a soft top and I am sure both were very woody at this point. They went into the compost, but I think if we plant some carrots in the early fall and mulch the bed really good we could pull carrots out through the snow all winter long. 

I started an entrepreneurial experiment recently. I planted 40 Jerusalem Artichokes and 20 Russian Comfrey starts in one quart containers. We plan on making a sign saying something about "Edible Perennial Plants for sale" and trying to sell these from the property on the weekends. We will see where this goes.

Potato Box

We are growing two different potatoes in stacking cedar boxes.

Here is Patrick placing the 3rd of 4 levels on the potato box. Horseradish, seen in the foreground of this picture, is planted as a companion to the potatoes. This deters beetles and other insects.

The idea is, at the end of the season, you remove the boxes and
potatoes fall out with no digging.

As the potatoes grow up we are covering them with hay. The potatoes grow in the hay while being shaded from the sun by the boxes. We have Russian Comfrey planted in another bed. Once it is established we can harvest the Comfrey and mix it in with the hay. Comfrey breaks down quickly and provides nutrients for the potatoes.