May Garden Update

Posted on May 24, 2024 by Dave @ HappyAcres

It’s time for another update on the garden here at Happy Acres. I’ve been busy lately working in the vegetable garden, and I would guess about 80% of the spring and summer plantings are complete. Most of the weedy areas have been cleaned up and planted, and it looks a lot different than it did just a couple of weeks ago.

weedy garden in early May

garden in late May

Last week I got all the tomatoes planted, and thanks to more rain afterwards they have already taken off. I cut back on my plantings from last year, but I still planted a lot of them. We should be well supplied if they produce like they did last year.

Juliet tomatoes

This week I got eggplant and peppers planted right next door to the tomatoes. I cut back on those as well, but still managed to set our 8 eggplants and 34 peppers. With more eggplants and peppers in containers, we should be well supplied with those too.

pepper seedling

The bed where I planted brassicas and bush squashes continues to do well, and is growing nicely. I sprayed the brassicas with a Bt and neem oil mix to keep down the caterpillars which had begun to munch on the leaves. That’s the only problem I have seen so far.

bed with brassicas and bush squashes

The squashes are pest-free and should begin blooming soon, while the Kossak Kohlrabis have begun forming the edible bulbs/stems at the base of the plants. The squashes I planted include tried and true varieties like Tempest, Clarimore, Mexicana, Green Machine, Noche and Goldilocks. I’m also trialing a couple of newcomers from Johnny’s Selected Seeds called Kefren and Butterfingers.

Mexicana squash plant

Kossak kohlrabi

This morning I managed to get the pole beans planted – all 43 feet of them! This year I planted all heirloom varieties from Sustainable Mountain Agricultural Center. They have an amazing assortment of heirloom varieties that have been saved and handed down by generations of gardeners, and I have found the quality of their seeds to be outstanding. Before planting I opened up a furrow just big enough to sow the seeds. The backside is already mulched with cardboard, and I will mulch on the front side with cardboard as well later on. I am reusing the trellis from last year, and I while I rotate the other crops I find I can grow legumes in the same spot for several years without any issues.

bed planted with pole beans

Next up in my schedule is the vining squashes, followed by the sweet potatoes. I also have more mulching and weeding to do. It’s a busy time of year in the vegetable garden for sure! I hope you have enjoyed this update on the spring plantings here in late May. I’ll be back soon with more happenings from Happy Acres.

Posted in Gardening | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Harvest Monday May 20, 2024

Posted on May 20, 2024 by Dave @ HappyAcres

It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. We had something new in the harvests last week, which is always welcome this time of year. The spring planted curly kale is ready for harvest, and I cut enough to use in a one-skillet meal I made for dinner one night. The potatoes and chicken pieces were roasted in a cast iron skillet with lemon juice and garlic, and I blanched the kale briefly before adding to the skillet at the end. This is Winterbor kale, which has sized up nicely in the beds behind our greenhouse. I also have Starbor planted which is ready to cut as well.

Winterbor kale

Skillet Lemon Chicken with Potatoes and Kale

And I harvested a new (to us) variety of lettuce last week. Teagan is a new introduction from Row 7 Seeds and it is making nice sized heads. They didn’t color up for me in the greenhouse, which is not unusual, but the leaves were tender and tasty in a salad I made with them. I look forward to growing this one again, and growing it outside where it will get more sunlight.

Teagan lettuce

And another new item is red raspberries! I believe these are Caroline, and I also have yellow fruited ones planted. The canes are loaded with berries coming on, and they should be a real treat for us since we haven’t had them planted for a number of years.

raspberries

The asparagus patch is still putting out a few spears for us, though it is about time to call it quits for the year. I’m also still pulling Forum onions as needed, and there about two dozen of those left in the ground. Meanwhile the spring planted onions are growing fast, and should be ready for harvest as the fall planted ones run out.

asparagus and spring onion

The arugula is still coming on too, this batch a mix of mostly Speedy and Esmee. The two look much alike, though I think Esmee has leaves that are a bit darker while Speedy is a bit bigger. Both were tasty on our Saturday night pizza.

arugula harvest

In non-harvest news, mama bluebird has five eggs in our PVC next box. If my notes are correct, they should begin hatching in a few days. The parents will be busy then feeding the young, and we will enjoy seeing them when we are out and about in the yard.

bluebird eggs

Harvest Monday is a day to show off your harvests, how you are saving your harvest, or how you are using your harvest. If you have a harvest you want to share, add your name and blog link to Mr Linky below. And please check out what everyone is harvesting!


Posted in Harvest Monday | 2 Comments

Harvest Monday May 13, 2024

Posted on May 13, 2024 by Dave @ HappyAcres

It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. The winter planting of lettuce is done for now, and I harvested the last leaves of the Starfighter green leaf variety last week. The spring plantings are ready to cut now, so we should be able to enjoy fresh lettuce for another month or so. I also set out a few plants outside in the bed where the kohlrabi is planted that should be ready in a few weeks.

Starfighter lettuce

And we have certainly been enjoying the homegrown lettuce! It’s been featured in many salads and sandwiches, and I got photos of a couple of them last week. I freeze our leftover homemade bread, and it makes tasty croutons for our salads. We also enjoyed tuna-cado sandwiches last week with lettuce under the tuna/avocado mixture..

salad for lunch

Tunacado sandwich with lettuce

I still have salad greens to go with our salads too. The purple leaf pac choi and Miz America mizuna are especially colorful, and the younger leaves are mild tasting enough to use fresh in salads.

mizuna and pac choi

The asparagus beds are slowing down, but we are still getting a few spears most every day. We have cut 11 pounds so far, and will likely continue harvesting for another week or so. I made Asparagus Mimosa yesterday for lunch, and I am hoping to share that recipe here soon.

Asparagus Mimosa

In the future harvests department, the curly kale plants I set out a few weeks ago have really taken off in the protected environment on the south side of our greenhouse. I planted Starbor and Winterbor, and the leaves are big enough now to begin cutting on them as needed. I interplanted these with onion plants, and they are doing well too.

curly kale plants

And in the far-in-the-future harvest department, pawpaws are setting on the trees in our little mini-orchard. Pawpaws are not self-fertile and must be cross pollinated to set fruit, and I have been helping out the last couple of years by hand pollinating. Insects should be able to do the job when the trees get bigger and have more blossoms. The fruits grow in a cluster, and while some of these will likely drop off it’s still a good sign that pollination did occur. We’ve been getting a few ripe fruits every year, though the raccoons and opossums like them too and often beat us to the ripe ones.

young pawpaw fruits

Pawpaws are the largest edible fruit trees native to North America, and often grow in thickets in the forest understory. The fruits look a bit like a mango and taste more like a banana, though that description doesn’t really do them justice. They generally have big seeds inside, and I’ll share a photo of a ripe one from a few years back. Here’s hoping I get a few like that later this year!

inside of Shenandoah pawpaw

In other news, I potted up the container peppers last week. I have these between the beds behind the greenhouse. I call the area Fort Pepper since I have it protected with netting to keep the deer and other critters from eating the plants. I will overwinter some of these indoors this winter, and others are new varieties I am trialing. I am growing Pot-a-Peno jalapeno for the 4th year now, and this 2021 AAS Winner was bred for growing in containers. I can always count on it to give me the first jalapeno peppers of the year here.

container peppers (aka Fort Pepper)

Harvest Monday is a day to show off your harvests, how you are saving your harvest, or how you are using your harvest. If you have a harvest you want to share, add your name and blog link to Mr Linky below. And please check out what everyone is harvesting!


Posted in Harvest Monday | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Spring Planting Update

Posted on May 9, 2024 by Dave @ HappyAcres

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately working in the vegetable garden. With favorable weather last week, I was able to get the spring brassicas planted. This is a no-dig no-till bed, covered with woven weed barrier fabric. I have had great luck with growing the spring and fall brassicas this way the last couple of years, and I have high hopes that will continue in 2024. Before putting down the fabric, I amended the soil with several bushels of compost and some organic fertilizer. Then I set out 9 broccoli plants, 7 cabbage and 14 of the big Kossak kohlrabis. When these plants were a few weeks old I had transplanted them into 3.5″ pots, which makes for a strong and healthy root system. After planting, the weather turned wet, and we have gotten just over three inches of rain the last few days. That has gotten the plants off to a great start, and they have really taken off as a result.

bed with brassicas

Annual weeds are starting to sprout in the exposed soil though, and I will use shredded paper to mulch the soil to help keep the weeds under control. I am growing Melody mini-broccoli for the first time, and also growing AAS Winner Purple Magic. The rest of the broccoli plants are favorites like Artwork (also an AAS Winner), Jacaranda and Burgundy.

Melody broccoli plant

The Kossak kohlrabi plants are already starting to swell at the base, which is where the bulbous bottom part will form. These usually get well over a pound each, and I space them a foot apart to give them plenty of room. I am reusing the weed barrier from last year, and it is still in good shape.

Kossak kohlrabi plant

The warm weather we’ve been having has helped the soil heat up, and it was warm enough to set out 10 bush squash plants this past weekend at the other end of the bed. They have taken off already too, and I will thin to one plant per spot in a few days.

Starry Night seedlings

In the bed next to the brassicas and squash I have some Forum onions growing and sizing up. I planted sets last fall, and have been pulling some for use as scallions/green onions as needed. That bed will eventually be used to plant sweet potatoes this year, so they will all get pulled in a few weeks.

Forum onions

Next up in my planting schedule is tomatoes, and I have started getting that bed ready. It was very weedy to start with, no doubt as a result of neglect last summer and fall as I recovered from pneumonia. With a little work (okay, a lot!) though it is looking better, and once the soil dries a bit I hope to spread compost and fertilizer and begin planting the tomatoes. It may take a few more years to get rid of the annual weeds and grasses, since I am sure there are plenty of seeds in the soil and they sprout when conditions are favorable.

weedy garden

I have those tomato seedlings growing in 50 cell plug flats, and they have been hardened off and are ready to go in the ground. I’ve cut back a bit from previous years and hope to get all the tomatoes in one bed, though there might be a few that need to go in an overflow area. It’s always hard for me to say “no” to a few new tomatoes each year though!

tomato seedlings

I hope you have enjoyed this update on spring plantings here in early May. I’ll be back soon with more happenings from Happy Acres – including Harvest Monday!

Posted in Gardening | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Harvest Monday May 6, 2024

Posted on May 6, 2024 by Dave @ HappyAcres

It’s time once again for Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. The overwintered planting of lettuce in the greenhouse is about gone, but I cut another giant head of Starfighter last week that weighed over 1.5 pounds. I also began cutting the spring planted varieties, this time Salanova Red Oakleaf and Salanova Green Oakleaf. The red does not color up that much for me in the greenhouse, but the leaves are tender and tasty regardless. We have been enjoying salads often, and they make for a quick and cool meal.

Salanova Red & Green Oak lettuce

Starfighter lettuce

The arugula is still going strong, and I made a cutting last week to go on pizzas which have become a regular bi-weekly thing here. I’ve been using pita bread for the crust, and baking on a hot pizza stone which makes for a thin and crisp base. I make pizza sauce in summer from our tomatoes, then freeze it for use the rest of the year. Pickled Aji Rico and Aji Delight peppers are a favorite topping, and I make several jars of them each year.

arugula

pizza with arugula

pizza after baking

And I made a cutting of various baby greens to go on salads. Tuscan Baby Leaf kale and Mizspoon are always favorites of mine, and the Beka Santoh is good for fresh use as well.

baby greens for salads

It continues to be a great year for asparagus. We have harvested about 10 pounds so far, and have had plenty to eat for ourselves plus some to share with friends. Last week I stir-fried some in olive oil with a few mushrooms, which is another of my favorite treatments for a side dish.

stir-fried asparagus and mushrooms

In non-harvest news, our irises are in full blooming mode now, and we have quite a few varieties planted. One of my favorites is one I brought with me when I moved from the farm to Happy Acres. We call is Eva’s Yellow, since my neighbor Eva in Kentucky had them planted along the fence between our properties. She had moved them from her old place in Alabama, so they have travelled quite a bit! Another one I like was just planted last year, and it’s an orange one called Penny Lane.

Eva’s Yellow iris

Penny Lane iris

Another of my favorites was planted here when we bought the place. We call it Old Burgundy, since it looks like an old-fashioned variety that was popular in gardens back in the day. It’s tall, and a pretty reliable performer for us most every year.

Old Burgundy iris

Harvest Monday is a day to show off your harvests, how you are saving your harvest, or how you are using your harvest. If you have a harvest you want to share, add your name and blog link to Mr Linky below. And please check out what everyone is harvesting!

 


Posted in Harvest Monday | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment