30 Days In The Gardener's Garden: Day4

Got a late start today, and I really wasn't excited about the heat - forecast for 87* degrees - which is still way warm for early April.  So I kept my garden time pretty short.  I had to get my tomatoes planted!  After a quick 20 minutes of watering, I started making room for tomatoes.  I chopped down the spicy mustard, pak choi, and a couple of romaine lettuces.

(elbow room for my new tomatoes)

Here's one tip that some gardeners miss.  When your plants are done, DON'T rip them out of the ground.  Cut the plant away, then cultivate the roots into the soil.  Why, you may ask?  The roots are pulling nutrients from the soil, and, therefore, are full of nutrients.  I like to bury the old root stump so it can decompose releasing all those nutrients back into the soil.   I also dump a scoop of fresh compost in the hole to expedite the process.

(root stumps packed with rich nutrients)

Since I'm sharing tips, here's one of my favorites.  When planting tomatoes, bury 'em!  Literaly.  You'll notice at the base of a tomato stem some bumps or nodes.  When in contact with soil, these nodes will produce roots.  So, you can double or triple the roots, making a stronger more productive plant.  (This can also work with peppers and eggplant.)

I remove the few lower leaves on my tomato, lay it down into the planting hole (1"-2"inches deep), and cover it up.  The plant (above ground) will grow vertically with no issues.

 (making a cozy bed for tomato)

I planted five tomatoes today, with many more to come (8-12 more) once I make more space (and planting beds).  For the meantime, I took my pile of cuttings and headed across the street to see some new friends.

 (bygone pak choi, chard, mustard, nasturtium, and mint)

With a pile of old veggies for friends like these...

(Bagby Lady Birds!)

You can score a nice batch of these!

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30 Days In The Gardener's Garden: Day2

The good thing about today was that the garden schedule was all scheduled; I spent  most of my garden time in gardens elsewhere, at the Art&Flowers Garden Tour sponsored by the Phoenix Art Museum League.  (Some of my own handiwork was even on display, below)

(xeriscape oasis nestled under a palo verde tree)

(a spectacle of columnar cactuses on display)

One of my favorite features on the tour was this eclectic garden with recycled metal works, an edible garden space, a huge rooster sculpture, and some very shy chickens.

(welcome to Cluckingham Palace!)

The tour showed off some cool houses and amazing gardens. It was nice to meet the homeowners and get some back story on the evolution of each garden.  I also ran into my ol' pal Thomas Park of Xerophytic Design who created an amazing space for one happy resident of the Willo Historic Neighborhood. 

 (Thomas showing off his genius use of materials)

It was an enjoyable day, even with the almost 100* degree heat.  Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

(frontyard bed brimming with goodies!)

All inspired from the garden tour, I had to get outside (after a large iced beverage) and do some stuff.  Most pressing was the need to 'bump-up' my tomato seedlings to full grown plant status.  In the plastic container below (a re-purposed lettuce tub) were 16 little guys waiting to exhale!

(time for some elbow room)

It was a delicate process seperating some of them completely bare-root (don't worry, they will survive).  Tomatoes are great because they are such durable plants.   I also had a batch of tomatillos as well.  They will live in 1gal cans for a couple of weeks as I find new homes for them all.

(graduation day!)

My final effort of the day was harvesting seeds.  Lots and lots of seeds.  Pak choi, kale, spicy mustard, red romaine, arugula, broccolini, and cauliflower.  Best way I've found for collecting seeds is using paper bags.  Let the seed pods on the plant get as large as possible to where you see the bumpy texture of the seed inside.  Cut the stems off the plant, fold them in half, and stuff them into the bag.  The pods will dry and pop open releasing the seeds.

I label the bag with the plant name (pak choi), date harvested (2011APR02), and the source from where I originally acquired the plant or seeds (a Seattle gardener).  These will store in a dry cool place until after summer (about 6months).

(bok choi - bag it and tag it)

Lastly, I took some time to observe; 2 butterflies, 1 nosy carpenter bee, 1 male hummingbird, 3 (now dead) mosquitoes, and 1 surprising new bloom...

(here come the hollyhocks - finally!)

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Monday Menu - Pasta Veggies

A bit of fresh delight for summertime dining.

whole wheat organic pasta (al dente)
pesto (fresh basil from the garden)
sun gold & cherry tomatoes (fresh from the garden)
basil leaves (fresh from the garden)
grated parmesan cheese
balsamic reduction 

 Enjoy!

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Monday Menu - Zuccini "Pasta"

Yummm!  This was a huge surprise!   My wife found this neat spiraliny thingy on the internet, and we ventured to give it a try.  

It Is Awesome!
After a few goofs getting the hang of it, we got the zuccini loaded into the machine and cranked away, producing some nice pasta noodle - but it's all vegetable.  

( add grilled chicken with a light zesty baste)

 We topped off the veggie-pasta with some homemade pesto and fresh picked tomatoes from the garden. 

( final harvest of the season)

From the garden to the table, the whole meal took about 30minutes (including the chicken on the grill).  Bone-apa-tee!
 

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Monday Menu - Chard Salad

Looks like warm weather is finally here to stay (although, it still isn't officially summer - even though it's 110* degrees!).
Time to start clearing out the spring crops and cranking up the compost. But don't pull that chard just yet. It may still have a couple more lives left in it. Like in a salad...

(click on image to enlarge and drool)

My wife created this amazing salad which I just love.
- chopped chard
- cucumber
- tomatoes
- beets (roasted)
- avocado
- feta cheese
- sunflower seeds (or pine nuts)
- light drizzle of vinaigrette

It is de-li-ci-ous! I've now deemed it one of my favorite meals. You could add some baked salmon or grilled over it. But I just like it in a bowl with a big spoon. mmm mmm yummm!

(even LuLu can't resist it. SHOOO!!)

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TOMATOMADNESS!

I had no idea what I'd gotten myself into when we decided to grow our own tomatoes this year.

(sun gold, besser cherry, sweet 100, early girl)

I'm so fond of nature, wildlife, blooms, and lush layers of green, I've always focused on filling the garden with unique combinations of landscape plants growing out of control. The space looks incredible, and over time keeps looking incredibler. But my wife and I figured we'd try our hand at growing our own organic edibles, something I hadn't had much success with in the past (but I had never tried all that hard either). So I acquired some great tomato transplants from my local Permaculture pal Rachel, who had grown them all from seed. They were planted in early February 2010 and we were in for a surprise.
And there are still many more to come...

Salsa, anyone?

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