It's Gardening Season - Yay!!!!

[Charity]

I have used this one several times, works really well.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups finely chopped mixed peppers of your choice
1 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar
6 1/2 cups white sugar
3 ounces liquid pectin
DIRECTIONS
In a large, stainless steel saucepan, combine green pepper, white vinegar, and white sugar. Bring to a boil, and cook for 6 minutes, stirring constantly.
Stir in liquid pectin, and continue to boil for 3 more minutes, stirring constantly. Skim off foam with a metal spoon, and remove pan from heat
Ladle jelly into sterilized jars, leaving a 1/2 inch space at the top. Seal, and process in a boiling-water canner for 5 minutes.

[Charity]

The snow hit last night , so gardening is over for the season. Carrots and squash made it to the root cellar just in time. A great batch of herbs has dried nicely, as well as dried pumpkin and squash.
 Barley has been sent off to the miller to be de-husked, gonna try some barley beer with this batch.

[Patty]

Yum!

Where do you live, Charity? I thought you were an Aussie. Must have you confused with someone else.

I am impressed that you grow barley,. I have thought about trying it (mostly for soups) but have not as yet. We have some wheat that will hopefully survive the squirrels, and I admit I do not know how to de-husk the stuff. Any tips?

We grew amaranth this year, and I have enjoyed harvesting the seeds and adding them to all sorts of dishes.

We don't expect snow, but the weather has cooled and I need to get the peppers out soon.

The saffron (crocuses) are blooming, and I should get at least a few micrograms of saffron this year. Woo hoo! 

[Astronuc]

We had our first frost last night, but so far we haven't had snow.  The area 250-300 miles (400-480 km) west of us had about 2 ft (60 cm) of snow yesterday.  Highways were closed, and many people were without electricity.

I guess I'll harvest whatever is left in the garden - still a few habaneros left to pick.

[Charity]

Hi Patty, I'm in northern Michigan, about 120 feet from Lake Michigan. Where we only have 2 seasons...summer and winter.

With the wheat, first you half to thrash it, to remove it from the stalk. Tie a good hand full and wrap a pillow case around it, then simply beat it against a fence. Some of the hull should come free with it. Then spread it out on the cement{or large flat stone} and gently rub it with another stone untill more hull comes off. You won't be able to remove it all.
 Then on a windy day, you half to winnow it...by tossing it up and letting the wind, blow away any bits of hull.
You can grind it in the food processor, of couse the more hull, the nutter the taste of the "whole wheat".

[Patty]

Hi Charity!

Somehow I missed your instructions! Thank you! In fact, we have been doing it "by hand" stalk by stalk, (telling ourselves it's a zen thing) and have a couple cups of kernels that we hope to grind soon. Your method sounds better --- I'll try that.

Astronuc, have you had snow yet? Word is that the Northeast is snowless.

We've had two hard freezes here last two nights, which is unheard of here.

This past year I tried growing late into the season, to see if I could get away with it. I planted popcorn and tomatos on August first. The popcorn is harvested - and I had no problems at all with corn borers, which was nice! I was still getting brandywines off a couple plants last week (made some tomato sauce a few nights ago and had no idea how delicious fresh tomato sauce is, in January!) but the freezes have taken their toll.

Planted peas and garlic last week, after the popcorn came out, and built up my lasagnas. I've mapped out the garden for spring planting - Potatoes and peppers will be the main crops this year.

I'm hoping the rhubarb will return, but probably won't know for a few weeks/months yet.

Any ideas for new things you plan to try this coming year? I'll definitely have to include some of that barley in the plan.....

[Astronuc]

Astronuc, have you had snow yet? Word is that the Northeast is snowless.

Yes - we are still snowless, and we broke an all time high last week - 70°F - which was at least 10°F (5.5°C) warmer than the previous record high.

Two buds on one of my blueberry bushes opened!  They may be killed if we have hard freezes.

We had a warm Jan-Feb about three years ago.  Then in March of that year, we had more normal hard freezes.  Orchards and nut growers lost 50-75% of crops.  Our oak trees had no acorns that season.

We have a storm warning for tonight - freezing rain.

[Patty]

I'm sure you've heard that virtually the entire citrus and avocado crops have been lost here. We're still cold, a week + after the first freezing night, but slowly warming. Personally, we lost an agave, and a banana tree, but they'll come back in a few seasons.

I've temporarily switched gears at the community garden, from growing intensively and using every square inch as it becomes available, to building the soil. So all the annuals are  coming out (a lot was killed by the freeze anyway) and the layers are going down. Straw, coffee grounds, leaves, bunny manure, compost -

-I dug into the underlying soil yesterday. This soil resulted from all the layering I did last year. It was fabulous stuff. I can't wait to plant in it, but 12 inches of layered materials only gave me about 2 inches of fabulous soil, so I'll have to wait for yesterday's additions to at least begin to break down. A few weeks.

Then on the way home I had to stop at the grocery store and as luck would have it they had their seeds out for spring. I hadn't planned to buy seeds (Since I'm trying to build soil right now) but it was too tempting. I bought some "normal" stuff (basil, cucumbers, pole beans) and some new varieties of a few things (purple carrots, a french canteloupe, pasilla chiles) and some new things I've never grown before (quinoa, which looks like a beautiful plant.) I still need to find barley.

So today, if I get my chores done, I get to start planting in seed pots. 

Did you get freezing rain in the end, Astronuc? When's your last frost date?

[Astronuc]

Did you get freezing rain in the end, Astronuc? When's your last frost date?

  The freezing rain was well to the north of us.  About 50,000 people were without power for a day or two or three.

In a normal year, our last frost is officially May 15 (or near Mother's Day) - but then this hasn't been a normal year.  We haven't had a normal year for quite a while now.

[Charity]

The seeds are here in stores too now. I'll start my seeds over the weekend, cold crop anyways, and the summer ones in march.
I have ordered a bunch of worms to help with the compost pile. They should get here by Easter.
Winter has been so gray this year. And yes Patty, oranges are $1.25 each now, so I'll half to switch my addiction to Tangelos!

[Astronuc]

Charity, if you wanted worms, you should have asked.  I have plenty of big ones in our compost pile, but they are deep inside and won't come out until it's warmer. 

I've seen several about 1/4-3/8" in diameter and 6-8 inches long.

It's too early for us to think about starting seeds.  In two months perhaps.

[greenleaf1]

 

So here in Denver we've had a lot of snow (for us) - a couple of feet late December, early Jan.  I finally got my coldframes dug out last weekend.  I'm going to have to rebuild.  The weight of the snow broke the lids and squashed my beautiful lettuce and radishes.   

Anyone ever used those little heating mats to put under flats to start seeds?  Like these:  http://www.charleysgreenhouse.com/index.cfm?page=_a3&cid3=416&cid1=175&cid2=415

[Charity]

Nope, never used them. I start my seeds in a sunny window, that I built a deep shelf on.
Ive started my slow to sprout herbs over the weekend, and next weekend will get some flower seeds going.
  Worms just don't like it here, too much sand. I've only been composting for the past 4 years, so my garden only has a 2 inch layer of good earth, befor the sand starts to creep in. Root crops love it. Grains and gourds really need coaxing to do well.

[Patty]

The blueberries look much better this year. I am beginning to think they will make it after all!  The nectarine is doing well this year too, and the lemon tree we started from seed in 1997 blossomed for the first time. The apricot sapling has about a dozen apricots this year.

We've planted mostly peppers in the community garden this year. Anaheim chilies and bells, both for stuffing.

What are you folks growing? Anything new?

[Astronuc]

Well, my strawberries have ripened starting last week.

My blueberries have set and one bush has ripening fruit already.  I am hoping the others grow larger before ripening.

The blackberries and raspberries have just started to flower.

My wife's lettuce plants are huge, and some are probably ready to bolt.  We just started some tomato plants, and I have some garlic growing.