3 Month Garden Update

3 Month Garden Update

My oh my has my garden been growing!! My Cherry Tomato plant is over 6 feet tall and growing up my fence.We get about a bowls worth of cherry tomatoes every day. My kids are LOVING it.They are allowed to pick them and eat them anytime they want for a snack. They think it's pretty cool to be able to have a snack anytime they want. They help me pick the tomato fruitworm (caterpillars/inch worms) off every day. There are also a lot of cherry tomatoes, beef steak tomatoes, roma tomatoes growing too. I've been averaging about 1 tomato per day. We had a serious problem with blight in one of my tomato beds and I lost 4 plants from it. I quickly pulled them once I realized what it was and tilled my garden up really good. I also blended up some egg shells and mixed them throughout the soil because I read that could help cure the dirt so I can replant in it. In addition to the blight we deal with these "fruit worms" on a daily basis on all my tomato plants.

My kids enjoy helping me "pick them off" in the mornings and evenings. They won't touch them of course the pull the whole leaf off, but I guess that works!  We are also using an organic tomato pesticide occasionally. Even though it's organic I still don't like the idea of using it. So we continue picking them off one at a time!

I also have several watermelons growing (oh my goodness I never thought a watermelon could be soo small, they're so cute), lemon cucumbers (which you have seen in my past posts), and my bell pepper plants are growing so well.  My largest ones are about 3 ft tall and producing pretty large bell peppers so far. I have some smaller pepper plants in the 10 inch range of height as well. I planted corn about 2 weeks ago and they are already over a foot tall! Fast growing and loving the heat they're getting.

Jess has found 3 green beans on her green bean stalk which surprised me considering it is only about 18 inches tall!! I couldn't believe it had veggies growing on it. I think once this heat dies down some everything will really take off!

Lastly, strawberries, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and blueberries aren't doing as well, still growing (very slowly) but I think the heat as stunted their growth.

This picture is of my tomato "cemetery" from not picking yesterday. How sad! All those wasted tomatoes that we missed out on eating! My tip for today would be don't forget to pick your harvest every day so you don't miss out!

Anyway, keep following my blog, feel free to comment any questions or comments you might have. Thanks for reading :)

Pickled Lemon Cucumber Slices

How to Make Lemon Cucumber Pickles

What to do with all these cucumbers and lemon cucumbers in my garden? When you grow cucumbers or zucchini it seams like you always have such an abundance  and I never am quite sure what to do with it all... now I know! For my cucumbers I am learning the art of pickling! This is new for me, I have never pickled anything before. I got this recipe from my Aunt Roxy who is also an avid canner and am so excited to share it with you. I made one batch of these in the fridge (only requires 3 days of waiting before I can enjoy them!) while I canned the rest of them. The beauty of canning cucumbers (pickles) is you don't need the pressure canner. This project only requires a water bath and 10 minutes of processing. Talk about a quick and easy canning project!


Makes 2 pint jars
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds Lemon  Cucumbers
4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
2 teaspoons dill seed
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, (optional)
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons pickling salt or kosher salt

Equipment
Chefs knife
Cutting board
2 wide-mouth pint jars with lids
Large pot for canning

Instructions
1) Prepare the jars: If you are planning to can your pickles for long-term storage, bring a large pot of water to a boil and sterilize the jars and their lids. If you are planning to make refrigerator pickles, simply washing the jars and lids is fine.

2) Prepare the cucumbers: Wash and dry the cucumbers. Trim away the blossom end of the cucumber, which contains enzymes that can lead to limp pickles. Leave the pickles whole, cut them into spears, or slice them into coins, as preferred.

3) Add the spices to the jars: Divide the garlic, dill seed, and red pepper flakes (if using) between the pint jars: 2 smashed cloves, 1 teaspoon dill seed, and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes per jar.
Pack the pickles into the jars: Pack the pickles into the jars. Trim the ends if they stand more than 1/2 inch below the top of the jar. Pack them in as tightly as you can without smashing the cucumbers.

4) Bring the pickling brine to a boil: Combine the vinegar, water, and salt in a small sauce pan over high heat. Bring to a rolling boil. Pour the brine over the pickles, filling each jar to within 1/2-inch of the top. You may not use all the brine.

5) Remove air bubbles: You can use a non metallic utensil to wipe around the inner edges of the jar, or gently tap the jars against the counter a few times to remove all the air bubbles. Top off with more pickling brine if necessary.

6) Tighten the lids: Place the lids over the jars and screw on the rings until tight.

Processing
1) Place jars into canner with water JUST to the necks of the jars.

2) Bring water to a boil and let boil for 10 minutes **Don't forget to adjust cook time for your altitude or if using a different size jar**

3) Remove jars, set on a dish towel on the kitchen counter, cover with another dish towel & let cool. Check for seal (indented lid), label jars or lids, store in cool dark cellar or cupboard.

4) You can eat them right away, but they taste best after a couple weeks of absorbing flavor!

NOTES: When washing/scrubbing cukes, sort them into piles by size. This really helps make your jars look nicer, if you have uniform sizes (and this impresses the judges too!). And makes for easier packing, too.

Pressure Canning Whole Beans - recipe

If you have ever been interested in wanting to try pressure canning, beans are a good place to start! They are so easy. Buying dry beans is much cheaper than buying canned beans, and by canning them yourself you get the best of both worlds, convenience and money savings!

After you have all of your supplies ready, it's time to get the pinto beans ready. 

Canning BEANS!

1) Wash your bean. Sometimes beans have small rocks in them so I sort them in a colander or strainer, this is a good time to give them a good rinse while your at it.
2) Clean and sterilize your cans and lids.
3) For preparing your beans you have 2 options. 1) Place dry beans or peas in a large pot and cover with water. Soak 12 to 18 hours in a cool place. Then drain. OR you can
2) Cover beans with boiling water in a saucepan. Boil 2 minutes, remove from heat and soak 1 hour. Then drain.
**Then cover beans soaked by either method with fresh water and boil 30 minutes.**4) For pints use 3/4 cup of beans and 1/2 tsp of salt. For quarts use 1 1/4 cups of dry beans and 1 tsp of salt.
5) Fill the rest of the jar with water leaving about 3/4 inch of head space. Wipe the top of your jar with a clean cloth and place the lid & ring on the jars.
6) Process at 10 pounds pressure - Pints 75 minutes and Quarts 90 minutes. (For processing above 1,000 feet altitude adjust your times as necessary). Allow the canner to cool naturally.  

Do not rush the cooling process as beans have protein.  You should never rush a canner to cool quickly especially when canning proteins.

**Stay tuned - next week we will make and can homemade refried beans!**

1 month in - Garden update!

Remember all those little seeds I planted, then transplanted? They are growing well!

Some of my seedlings average heights so far:
Tomatoes 3 inches
Carrots 1-3 inchess
Broccoli 2 inches

The broccoli is not supposed to be growing at all because of the heat outside, but it seems to be doing well so far. I have been keeping the soil wet, and providing partial shade as much as I can to it to help keep it a little cooler.

My 2 starter tomato plants are producing green tomatoes, and a lot of them. They have grown over 2 feet since I planted them!

My blueberries are not yet blossoming, but I haven't researched much on when they blossom in Florida... I might have to do a little research on that soon :)

My 2 cucumber starter plants are doing well, one of them is over 10 inches tall, the other is about 8 inches.  They are also almost long enough to start climbing their trellis.

Our starter strawberries are growing and we have a few red strawberries on them as well! I don't know if they will ever get all the way red because my kids keep picking them all before they have a chance to fully ripen!  I love that my kids are so excited about helping out in the garden, and they run out there often to see if there are any red tomatoes or strawberries ready to be picked.


 

My celery is growing well in the window seal. It is about  inches tall already! I have 2 stalks "re-growing" from the base  (see previous blog on replanting celery). I have it indoors because it doesn't grow well in heat, and is a cold weather vegetable. It is growing great so far in my kitchen window. I have had to aerorate it frequently to avoid mold growing because it is growing indoors it needs a little extra treatment. I water it just enough to keep the soil moist, about every other day.

Vertical Cucumbers

Well a little about cucumbers to start with, they are very easy to grow and are very prolific. They need to be planted in a section of the garden that receives full sun and has an evenly moist, fertile soil. With that, success is almost guaranteed.

Like other summer vine crops, cucumbers are heavy feeders and demand a steady supply of water. Work plenty of organic matter (compost, well-rotted manure) into the soil before planting to help it retain moisture and to provide the nutrients the cucumber plants will need throughout the season. 

I read an article recently about growing vegetables vertically. I really like this idea because it keeps all the produce off the ground and according to research, it dramatically increases yields because the vines receive better air circulation and more sunlight than vines on the ground. I am trying this concept out with cucumbers. 

My grampa helped me make a trellis for them to climb. We decided 5" squares should work well. I'm hoping it will gives the cucumber plant a little more light by having more space, and plenty of room to fall through the holes for growing. (We also made one standing vertical for Jessalynne's green beans to climb and gave it a little extra support). If the cucumbers grow well, I am anxious to try the vertical gardening with some other fruit/vegetables like melon and tomatoes. I read that tomatoes grow really well vertical (or hanging). 

2014 is my garden guinea pig year. My year of trial and error. I am hoping to be successful as a new Floridian, but I know it will likely take a few years to workout all the kinks of what works, and what doesn't. My planting/harvest timing is also going to be a huge experiment this year!

RIP Vegetables (thanks to my son...) LOL

So most people plant their garden and worry about deer eating their plants, squirrels swiping their produce, bugs infesting, maybe even different molds growing... Well I planted my garden knowing I would have a constant and consistent fight with my son. He loves the dirt, and he loves to "help". Here's a funny little story about my son helping me with my garden.

I went out to water my garden the other day, and I found some of my plants were missing! They weren't eaten, or missing parts of the plant. They were literally dug up with a hole left in their place. "What on earth happened to my vegetables!?!?" I asked knowing immediately who the culprit was... Brixton, my 2 1/2 year old. Oh boy! He dug up several of my plants and put them back in the plastic containers we brought them home from the store in... Clever Brick, real clever! Unfortunately, they were not salvageable and didn't make the "re-transplant". I did promptly throw all the old containers out so he wouldn't try to replant any other plants in them again!


RIP banana peppers, tomatoes and marigolds, you will be missed!

Transplanting seeds!

So I finally the last of my beds filled with dirt so I could transplant my little seedlings! I bought these little white garden stakes off amazon (100 for $6) and my girls helped me make tags for all the garden items so we would know what everything was. We just wrote on them with permanent marker. (UPDATE: after a week they started fading drastically). We then picked out our transplant plants that seemed to be "thriving" the best, and planted them in the garden. The kids got to help with the transplanting and watering. I have 2 large garden beds, 2 small garden beds and several pots. I am picking up more buckets/pots today.

What are we growing you ask? Well, as of right now, almost everything is organic. So far we have 2 rows of purple dragon carrots, 2 rows of regular carrots, 1 full tomato plants, 1 cherry tomato plant, 6 bell pepper plants, 1 sweet pepper plant, 2 cucumber plants, 1 watermelon plant, 4 strawberries, 3 broccoli, 1 cauliflower, 1 celery, 11 tomato transplants (roma and beefsteak), 4 green bean, 2 blueberry bushes, 4 marigolds, and 2 citronella plants (hoping to ward off some of our mosquito this summer). It's a pretty good start, right?

Regrowing Celery from your stalk

Here is a fun little gardening project the kids can easily help with. You can use the base of your celery stalk that you would normally throw out or compost, and regrowing more celery from it.  My kids enjoyed watching the roots slowly grow, and adding fresh water to the bowl every day. They checked it every morning to see how big the leaves were getting, then helped me transplant it into the garden.

Start off by cutting the bottom of your bundle of celery, leave maybe 1-2 inches of the "butt" on there. Place it in a bowl of warm water (facing up) in a window seal, or somewhere it can get light. After a few days leaves will start sprouting. The leaves grow very quickly over the first few days, and you will start noticing the roots coming out the bottom as well. I would recommend rotating your dish each day so all angles of the plants are getting sunlight.

Then, you can the celery in your garden, covering everything but the leaves. I am only about 3 weeks in on mine but I read it should take 3 months or so. Then as your celery stalks grow, cut off as much as you need. As long as you leave the root in the ground, your celery will grow back again and again.



Something you might want to know about growing celery successfully. It likes fertile soil, cool temperatures, and constant moisture. It will not tolerate heat and can be hard to transplant.