tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45101074302242652024-03-19T00:49:57.535-07:00The Metro GardenerMy constantly evolving journey of organic gardening, green living and clean eating all while living in a city apartment.Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-89943827930288926872014-06-15T15:47:00.002-07:002014-06-15T15:47:24.601-07:00The Life and (Possible) Death of My Peas<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This post is going to be extremely picture-heavy so bear with me!<div>
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This has been a great year for my peas, which have grown to a gargantuan size. They're now well over 4 feet tall…. or at least they used to be! I usually use tomato cages as supports for my peas and they're never outgrown the cages, but these plants were head and shoulders above their supports and then we got a windy storm at the end of the week. </div>
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So here is a recap of the peas so far, in case they do not rebound from the damage :(<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip36_UG12vBPJjkpEI2h95u-5d0RPLQNVvOyPnPCzjL1aO0o5S8cR1qkFvKYZZLFuKfF0ltin0ERlaHnBMMl_bMbodRINO_URRh7rGGFo_w2iz0-H3RipEGsw6FzJfwpuMncNdVeRzSw/s1600/IMG_3172.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="pea shoots and flowers blooming" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip36_UG12vBPJjkpEI2h95u-5d0RPLQNVvOyPnPCzjL1aO0o5S8cR1qkFvKYZZLFuKfF0ltin0ERlaHnBMMl_bMbodRINO_URRh7rGGFo_w2iz0-H3RipEGsw6FzJfwpuMncNdVeRzSw/s1600/IMG_3172.jpg" height="640" title="Pea Shoots" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New shoots and a bunch of new flowers</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioVebDgHar1FYF5gUknUvEewHV2U0NMftkt_aieRRa5aMbTD6j9nStCcUpTFxbtCBr16G_F5JexpZ9AKFd6yiYc6NAQASRlT3AbElU-JLLjMyLVyGEcSCaHU7cMCoTQm6f1egd72AunQ/s1600/IMG_3173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioVebDgHar1FYF5gUknUvEewHV2U0NMftkt_aieRRa5aMbTD6j9nStCcUpTFxbtCBr16G_F5JexpZ9AKFd6yiYc6NAQASRlT3AbElU-JLLjMyLVyGEcSCaHU7cMCoTQm6f1egd72AunQ/s1600/IMG_3173.JPG" height="425" title="Tangled Pea Tendrils" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A tangle of tendrils!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrPp5XAb90sIJ-lHNxCeMU-vqDfGtMHy0wb7IoTcxU2O1trKeAeQyrXUYiWAfF-k5VS44MX7rYB09HtXekl7K6cDnVYhxN4lSlwoUVpj4ErrY9pjMJMBn62q7g0lT7hu32ZQSDN_-VpQ/s1600/IMG_3174.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrPp5XAb90sIJ-lHNxCeMU-vqDfGtMHy0wb7IoTcxU2O1trKeAeQyrXUYiWAfF-k5VS44MX7rYB09HtXekl7K6cDnVYhxN4lSlwoUVpj4ErrY9pjMJMBn62q7g0lT7hu32ZQSDN_-VpQ/s1600/IMG_3174.jpg" height="640" title="Pea Pods Growing" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Growing pea pods</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio4vqZ7hWCgOieXVSd2wQGwzApGDV9MuBX95i1aXy5uMc5jKE0fesgOu8zq0KW_0ctkzvfS2jPIauWlR-NZEFbU104kLTqpngyzOyb6hUxoFSKakSzztFjyZtS6u2hjGiIuYYanYhhhg/s1600/IMG_3177.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio4vqZ7hWCgOieXVSd2wQGwzApGDV9MuBX95i1aXy5uMc5jKE0fesgOu8zq0KW_0ctkzvfS2jPIauWlR-NZEFbU104kLTqpngyzOyb6hUxoFSKakSzztFjyZtS6u2hjGiIuYYanYhhhg/s1600/IMG_3177.jpg" height="640" title="Baby Pea Pod Emerging From Flower" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baby Pod!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEZK_7NnPHD2kvAETCID3gDRa-r9ThFXg9njLGZRhABpje1YvhK9Psi4xgT98AsD_vuuj3Qk5aNZTpSd0VgLmM425enUqOEh8oqDy_3mNvaysl-PL9IfSoULlGRVIwg6CeQOUd_MNoMw/s1600/IMG_3179.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEZK_7NnPHD2kvAETCID3gDRa-r9ThFXg9njLGZRhABpje1YvhK9Psi4xgT98AsD_vuuj3Qk5aNZTpSd0VgLmM425enUqOEh8oqDy_3mNvaysl-PL9IfSoULlGRVIwg6CeQOUd_MNoMw/s1600/IMG_3179.jpg" height="640" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More baby pictures :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGbVtZdWhK56nCgLwhbuva95_aKnWMLgoeY6kj6et5CJslkoNzIdonYwk7nCP56riIfHumEneK7WW5HqQ5-lVqtt_P03Xoe-oTIEROzOK_vCqDp3fYcbCknUsMdOcibzjeauY6JYom0w/s1600/IMG_3197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGbVtZdWhK56nCgLwhbuva95_aKnWMLgoeY6kj6et5CJslkoNzIdonYwk7nCP56riIfHumEneK7WW5HqQ5-lVqtt_P03Xoe-oTIEROzOK_vCqDp3fYcbCknUsMdOcibzjeauY6JYom0w/s1600/IMG_3197.JPG" height="425" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The tops are blown straight over!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizqQCaNUiGLvlUtwqA7edN_vyk8zffFdk26c26hTeDPLMAbaSsBrvwoW9J5_izO_-ROzWKIKRxsPWQzW5BqbdrY3DnBFIKLlJB3ZJnGYT62b1cyEVsqAK6qhBgdUv8hgIIzCn8BZj7uw/s1600/IMG_3196.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizqQCaNUiGLvlUtwqA7edN_vyk8zffFdk26c26hTeDPLMAbaSsBrvwoW9J5_izO_-ROzWKIKRxsPWQzW5BqbdrY3DnBFIKLlJB3ZJnGYT62b1cyEVsqAK6qhBgdUv8hgIIzCn8BZj7uw/s1600/IMG_3196.JPG" height="425" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front view of the damage</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGmCz2OIPUzoD2ejCkChDy_qrQmLlo5h6rF0X2VIbZOwmb8_zSMusd501-EokUrEtOjc8nvY9Rzl5GLSmr5aZfvMLI-j6Cj4rp8DYdpFjQt7v2wMYCVAPL1EKwxSrp0izd81Q3sKM7Xg/s1600/IMG_3200.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGmCz2OIPUzoD2ejCkChDy_qrQmLlo5h6rF0X2VIbZOwmb8_zSMusd501-EokUrEtOjc8nvY9Rzl5GLSmr5aZfvMLI-j6Cj4rp8DYdpFjQt7v2wMYCVAPL1EKwxSrp0izd81Q3sKM7Xg/s1600/IMG_3200.JPG" height="425" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My kinda solution to the problem… At least they're off the ground now right?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBhHAwoCO76N1VhOil5M3_548keivETwbPiStOFwiBFgxHa9H6mi3WWtGu2n03zCzgNqbpjVkGp2UAWbSkW0kwBqm0YBAmg7PAcfg1tPAdq0m-CZpX8SIsmS7j3ET1NfITziGZGVZP0g/s1600/IMG_3203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBhHAwoCO76N1VhOil5M3_548keivETwbPiStOFwiBFgxHa9H6mi3WWtGu2n03zCzgNqbpjVkGp2UAWbSkW0kwBqm0YBAmg7PAcfg1tPAdq0m-CZpX8SIsmS7j3ET1NfITziGZGVZP0g/s1600/IMG_3203.JPG" height="425" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the stalks definitely appear to have snapped a bit</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjV_GoJ71jzbHkzUYsI9L57RAAxsfE9yVaOfrtXpamIuJh8v8jWK4dPCLZnl2R1t1oga-3dGd3po66byAVAlcTP0bngD7huwbaZfoyzbnoSSDsDVP1f_jAquBXj7CAfmAdIgVzA3Wh0A/s1600/IMG_3204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjV_GoJ71jzbHkzUYsI9L57RAAxsfE9yVaOfrtXpamIuJh8v8jWK4dPCLZnl2R1t1oga-3dGd3po66byAVAlcTP0bngD7huwbaZfoyzbnoSSDsDVP1f_jAquBXj7CAfmAdIgVzA3Wh0A/s1600/IMG_3204.JPG" height="425" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Or snapped almost entirely off...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPuaovIPA_Sw7hEDrOIu6Z0vyVZ5F9RB0Gg0yL03HeWTQoSnAOusg2npA80ob78qe8VYqmFZI8j53_4O9FFcYKFWET8zolPH0hOVZsTwMSba8cRDNvU2A-Lxfna9kfkdInryB7bknQLQ/s1600/IMG_3205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPuaovIPA_Sw7hEDrOIu6Z0vyVZ5F9RB0Gg0yL03HeWTQoSnAOusg2npA80ob78qe8VYqmFZI8j53_4O9FFcYKFWET8zolPH0hOVZsTwMSba8cRDNvU2A-Lxfna9kfkdInryB7bknQLQ/s1600/IMG_3205.JPG" height="425" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A few only look like they got bent though and that's where my hope comes from!</td></tr>
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<br />Time will tell on these guys. I'm really hoping that at least some of them are okay seeing as I was really looking forward to some home grown peas!</div>
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Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-59227798879847458332014-06-11T17:39:00.002-07:002014-06-11T18:06:32.609-07:00Quick Update<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I stopped by my garden on my way home from work and was astounded at the growth over there! No pictures today as it was raining and I didn't want to risk my camera, but I will put some up tomorrow.<br />
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In the course of 3 days my peas have gone from 1 flower to dozens with tons of side shoots starting to grow. I'm pleased, but surprised - I've never had pea plants get this big in the past! The sugar snap are about 4 feet tall and still growing up. They've long-since dwarfed their supports. I'm going to need something else to stick in them for support this weekend or they may topple!<br />
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All of my recent transplants (peppers, eggplant and tomatoes) are all settling in very nicely. I only seem to be in danger of losing 1 plant (a Wild Cherry tomato plant that is 50/50 on survival at the moment) and I already have a few bell peppers setting fruit.<br />
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The bush beans are starting to get some buds on them which is also great news! In addition, I filled in the few empty spots in the bean patch with my second set of seeds so hopefully I'll be able to have a nice staggered harvest this summer.<br />
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And finally, most of my squash family seeds are sprouting! I have almost 100% germination on my zucchini and cucumbers. The winter squash is also starting to poke their heads out of the ground (pumpkins and spaghetti squash). I'm very hopeful on these guys this year. I've never had amazing success with winter squash because of squash vine borers, but I'm convinced this is my year!<br />
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Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-74769466951023269482014-06-09T18:41:00.001-07:002014-06-09T19:23:10.419-07:00Harvest Monday - Kind Of...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My Harvest Monday is less of an actual harvest and more of a "look how well things are growing" post. It's been a long, cold and slow spring here in Massachusetts and it has definitely delayed things for me unfortunately.<br />
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My (main) garden this year is at my father's house, but I had to do some serious work before planting could happen. As such, the cold exacted an ever greater toll on my planting schedule than it normally would. Additionally, one of the dogs got a bit curious of my seedlings and I lost all but 12 tomato plants. I actually had to go buy pepper and eggplant seedlings for the first time ever!<br />
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This has definitely been an interesting spring, but I think we're finally on the right path now as you can see below!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmbU7XLuGJ7McKJpOmltJXPG7goGrg8sps0czK8zDiigrK5iBcPke0Z1fTB7xW2hqAmHsOXUfC89DwuBXR3Ewf_fbD8QSbdWjAee_jbe1fbJgnIPKlnM8p6DkXJyaOkHqXa9gb19MAkA/s1600/IMG_3158.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmbU7XLuGJ7McKJpOmltJXPG7goGrg8sps0czK8zDiigrK5iBcPke0Z1fTB7xW2hqAmHsOXUfC89DwuBXR3Ewf_fbD8QSbdWjAee_jbe1fbJgnIPKlnM8p6DkXJyaOkHqXa9gb19MAkA/s1600/IMG_3158.JPG" height="425" title="Spring Pea Plants" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Peas are going crazy, but not flowering yet...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2KjZCTkdsEjvsA0Sf6x1pGYbkohulRDuLrdbV-QUT6Yjot6wUeFe3lec87DBJ6Y9ngy0LkC22987wH7QwErYzp9JMHQ5cuMYv9raYWThYBw6_BfMpytIFbkzxjR_-nQ1hL-2u2_UoAg/s1600/IMG_3159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2KjZCTkdsEjvsA0Sf6x1pGYbkohulRDuLrdbV-QUT6Yjot6wUeFe3lec87DBJ6Y9ngy0LkC22987wH7QwErYzp9JMHQ5cuMYv9raYWThYBw6_BfMpytIFbkzxjR_-nQ1hL-2u2_UoAg/s1600/IMG_3159.JPG" height="425" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Beans in the front, followed by Peppers and Eggplant</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgezDL9-lQzmlK2wQif4ufEA5xIUMzO2PGicNpdxv0bCo7lTCl4J1Jg6kqjs65gVyEh-VLnJ077eDrFGmYsFFWBwVO2Dmp8OG5k6IGxW2l70ux7lp20YhBDAbnyEkFKSFg2q7sMcnKK9A/s1600/IMG_3160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgezDL9-lQzmlK2wQif4ufEA5xIUMzO2PGicNpdxv0bCo7lTCl4J1Jg6kqjs65gVyEh-VLnJ077eDrFGmYsFFWBwVO2Dmp8OG5k6IGxW2l70ux7lp20YhBDAbnyEkFKSFg2q7sMcnKK9A/s1600/IMG_3160.JPG" height="425" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The first pea flower! This is on one of my "Sugar Snap" plants.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9MfPiSva-V2oi9ppAYxqzA0e7vAAHALCPnZT40TUCwtSb1TI92_Zv2iw64uA0e-GhXSqoGVXLTfkGIvu_wStpXY-2mXgGUPUwu6ycYiQ_nJbb2Ryr9UAGyLqHkJM920jWR83GyUecaQ/s1600/IMG_3162.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9MfPiSva-V2oi9ppAYxqzA0e7vAAHALCPnZT40TUCwtSb1TI92_Zv2iw64uA0e-GhXSqoGVXLTfkGIvu_wStpXY-2mXgGUPUwu6ycYiQ_nJbb2Ryr9UAGyLqHkJM920jWR83GyUecaQ/s1600/IMG_3162.JPG" height="425" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Flowers on the Bell Peppers</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOL1gn05fNa-UGmVmkal_qjLfjXobBFhoGV0wA1qJsSc9adQ-bBgddjH5g8z3zUkhglIb9tVDg0U9n7PBlRt6ecg23sC69g65UH5V0tJ9zCgAGdMIujzuRyTJ8ifBMoDXR2lBttKQUqQ/s1600/IMG_3163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cucumber Seedling" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOL1gn05fNa-UGmVmkal_qjLfjXobBFhoGV0wA1qJsSc9adQ-bBgddjH5g8z3zUkhglIb9tVDg0U9n7PBlRt6ecg23sC69g65UH5V0tJ9zCgAGdMIujzuRyTJ8ifBMoDXR2lBttKQUqQ/s1600/IMG_3163.JPG" height="425" title="Spacemaster Cucumber Seed Sprouting" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Spacemaster Cucumber sprouting :)</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxx3N76PYhmHrxFU4JrJsf56hV0gOmfrnC46efXA-v1sG2BfDh0ZkNpa_aUS1vH6eEpXC3nOQrt5uxiJmsgsJ14yoaUsdL2ZRdkU2z9j07pQWAgHDaFBbr0-Ik_IWI4Ci0xe9zD-FPUg/s1600/IMG_3164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="First tomato flower of the year!" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxx3N76PYhmHrxFU4JrJsf56hV0gOmfrnC46efXA-v1sG2BfDh0ZkNpa_aUS1vH6eEpXC3nOQrt5uxiJmsgsJ14yoaUsdL2ZRdkU2z9j07pQWAgHDaFBbr0-Ik_IWI4Ci0xe9zD-FPUg/s1600/IMG_3164.JPG" height="425" title="Black Krim Tomato Plant Flowering" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: medium;">
First flower on the tomatoes! </div>
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This is on the Black Krim variety - a new one for me this year.</div>
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Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-51993121944371694402014-03-02T15:05:00.000-08:002014-03-02T15:05:21.407-08:00Seed Starting: Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant and Broccoli<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I finally got around to starting a significant portion of my plants on March 1st. This is much later that I had originally planned, but I was waiting on a seed order that still has not arrived! As a result, I decided to use up all of my old seeds and will have to save the seed I ordered this year for next year.<br />
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Technically the broccoli/cauliflower really should have been started at the beginning of February and the peppers/eggplant in mid February. The tomatoes should be okay, though in the past I always just started them with the peppers/eggplant.<br />
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They're all sitting on a heat mat covered in plastic to keep the humidity up, now we just have to wait for sprouts! </div>
Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-47947705163069553472014-02-19T17:31:00.001-08:002014-02-19T17:34:20.204-08:002014 Seed Order<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My seeds have been ordered! This year's garden will mostly be using old seeds from a couple years back, but I also wanted to supplement in some newer seeds as well. I only ordered new varieties of seed and will attempt to use up all my old seeds this year and then save what I can at the end of the year.<br />
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The shopping cart was:<br />
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<tr><td align="left" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: initial; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51) !important; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 5px !important; padding-left: 10px !important; padding-right: 10px !important; padding-top: 5px !important;" width="350">Description</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: initial; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51) !important; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 5px !important; padding-left: 10px !important; padding-right: 10px !important; padding-top: 5px !important;" width="100">Unit price</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: initial; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51) !important; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 5px !important; padding-left: 10px !important; padding-right: 10px !important; padding-top: 5px !important;" width="50">Qty</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: initial; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51) !important; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 5px !important; padding-left: 10px !important; padding-right: 10px !important; padding-top: 5px !important;" width="80">Amount</td></tr>
<tr style="padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;"><td align="left" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">TIP OFF ROMANESCO CAULIFLOWER</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">$1.95 USD</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">1</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">$1.95 USD</td></tr>
<tr style="padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;"><td align="left" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">MISTICANZA MESCLUN (30 days)</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">$1.75 USD</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">1</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">$1.75 USD</td></tr>
<tr style="padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;"><td align="left" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">HOLLOW CROWN PARSNIP </td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">$1.50 USD</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">1</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">$1.50 USD</td></tr>
<tr style="padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;"><td align="left" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">BIG RED PEPPER (75 days)</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">$1.50 USD</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">1</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">$1.50 USD</td></tr>
<tr style="padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;"><td align="left" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">CUBANELLE PEPPER (65 days)</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">$1.25 USD</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">1</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">$1.25 USD</td></tr>
<tr style="padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;"><td align="left" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">HABANERO HOT PEPPER</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">$1.50 USD</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">1</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">$1.50 USD</td></tr>
<tr style="padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;"><td align="left" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">COCOZELLE SUMMER SQUASH (heirloom)</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">$1.35 USD</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">1</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">$1.35 USD</td></tr>
<tr style="padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;"><td align="left" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">JARRAHDALE SQUASH </td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">$1.35 USD</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">1</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">$1.35 USD</td></tr>
<tr style="padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;"><td align="left" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">TOM WATSON WATERMELON (90 days )</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">$1.25 USD</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">1</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">$1.25 USD</td></tr>
<tr style="padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;"><td align="left" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">COUSTRALEE TOMATO (heirloom)</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">$1.50 USD</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">1</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">$1.50 USD</td></tr>
<tr style="padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;"><td align="left" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">OPALKA TOMATO (83 days)</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">$1.50 USD</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">1</td><td align="right" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px;">$1.50 USD</td></tr>
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I ordered from <a href="http://www.superseeds.com/" target="_blank">Pinetree Garden Seeds</a> located up in Maine. I ordered from them one other year and was very happy with the quality of what they sent. Plus, they have amazingly cool seed envelopes!</div>
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Now comes the hard part… waiting for my order to arrive and then waiting to plant things at the appropriate time. I just want it to be July already!</div>
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Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-47803329155063118762014-02-11T19:08:00.000-08:002014-06-09T19:24:05.014-07:00What I'm Growing - Onions, Sprouts and Leeks<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Yesterday I started my first seeds of the season. I planted some onions, brussels sprouts and leeks. Though I will say I'm not expecting too much, as I decided to try to use up some of my old seed instead of buying a whole new bunch of seed packets in an attempt to keep the costs of restarting the garden to a reasonable amount. So instead of new seed, I sowed thickly and am keeping my fingers crossed!<br />
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<b>Onions - Southport Red Globe</b></div>
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These seeds were supposed to go in my 2012 garden, but I unexpectedly ended up without garden space that year. There is widespread agreement that onion seeds are only good for a year and any that are not used up should be thrown away. However, I say bollocks to that! Mostly because I don't yet need the seedling tray they are currently occupying for anything else. So why not try and see what happens?<br />
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<b>Brussels Sprouts - Long Island Improved</b></div>
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<a href="http://bonnieplants.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/brussels-sprouts-growing-lo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://bonnieplants.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/brussels-sprouts-growing-lo.jpg" height="418" width="640" /></a></div>
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Despite using old seeds (again from the 2012 garden that never came to fruition), this is a new plant for me and of course I am already experimenting! Hopefully, these seeds should be fine. Based on my research most sources estimate a viable life of 3-5 years for sprout seeds.<br />
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It appears that most people only plant sprouts for a fall harvest. But…. I say why not try for both a spring and fall harvest? I'm not expecting the spring harvest to work, but it will certainly be a nice surprise if it does. Plus, it gives me a practice run at growing sprouts before my "real" go at them this fall.<br />
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<b>Leeks - American Flag</b></div>
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This is another new plant in my garden - well, kind of. I started growing these for the 2012 garden, but they were never planted. I'm not quite sure what to expect from these. It looks like opinions tend to vary about the longevity of these seeds. Some places I looked categorized them with the short-lived onion seed, but others gave it a 1-3 year range. I sowed thickly and am hoping that the 3 year range isn't just dreaming!<br />
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<b>What has everyone else started so far? Has anyone had any experiences using old leek and onion seeds?</b><br />
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Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-8602448721776549672014-02-09T19:40:00.002-08:002014-06-09T19:24:12.203-07:00I'm Back!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It has been a couple of years since I last posted here. Mostly because life got busy and in the way of my gardening. I have not had garden space for the past 2 summers due to traveling and then moving to England for 8 months. However, all of that has officially changed!<br />
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This past year I graduated from university, got a grown up job and was able to talk my father into letting me rip up part of his lawn to grow some vegetables. Only condition being that he gets to reap some of the rewards!<br />
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It has been far too long since I've had a garden and as such I probably should take this season slowly. However, I am way too excited to be cautious! I've got the blueprint sorted for the layout and have gone though all of my old seeds to check what is still viable and which need to be tossed out.<br />
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This past week I even made final decisions about what new varieties of veggies I will be growing and will be officially finalizing my seed order shortly.<br />
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It may only be February, but I already can't wait for the summer!<br />
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Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-89636924016995751632011-08-08T11:06:00.000-07:002014-02-09T19:58:06.585-08:00Harvest Mondays<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>Green Oregon Spring and Oxheart Tomatoes with Tam Jalapeños</i></center>
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<i>Ripe Oregon Spring Tomatoes</i></center>
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<i>Pink Oxheart Tomatoes, Cherokee Purple Tomatoes and Tam Jalapeños</i></center>
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<i>All Lined Up!</i></center>
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Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-34104249044197921332011-08-01T07:12:00.000-07:002014-02-09T19:58:30.677-08:00Rural Garden Fence<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A couple of weeks ago I noticed that some of my plants looked like they were getting nibbled by more than bugs. A few days later my mother chased a bunny away from my carrots. So I decided it was time to build a fence! Nothing fancy or expensive of course. My mother finally finished getting her pool fenced in so she gave me the green plastic fencing she had been using to keep the dogs on the patio.<br />
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<i>It's not fancy, but it'll work!</i></center>
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<i>This is Chloe the master escape artist. She "helped" by showing me where the fence needed work.</i></center>
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Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-23790888564074779552011-07-31T07:11:00.000-07:002014-02-09T19:59:22.242-08:00Harvest Pics (Finally!)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've been harvesting from my garden for a couple weeks now, but none of it ever seems to make it into pictures! Part of the issue is that I'm mostly harvesting from the rural garden and then I make dinner for everyone over there, so a lot of the time nothing makes it back to the apartment.<br />
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<i>First Harvest of String Beans: Blue Lake (Green), Pencil Pod (Yellow) and Dragon Langerie (Purple)</i></center>
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<i>First Ripe Tomatoes! 5 oz of Oxheart Pink tomatoes picked July 16th.</i></center>
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<i>1 1/2 pounds of beans. About half of these were sent home with friends.</i></center>
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On a side note, I'm looking to buy a pressure canner and would love some input from others about their favorite brands/sizes before I invest. My price limit is $200, but I'm hoping to spend more like $100-$150.</div>
Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-59579305017390830702011-07-03T07:20:00.000-07:002014-02-09T19:59:53.741-08:00Rural Garden: General Growth<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Monster tomato plants aside, the rest of the rural garden is also showing some excellent growth.<br />
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<i>The Left Garden</i></center>
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<i>Finally a pea harvest!</i></center>
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<i>Lots of buds on my Tam Jalapenos.</i></center>
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<i>Unfortunately my largest broccoli plant now looks like swiss cheese.</i></center>
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I'm pretty happy with all of the good growth, minus the destruction of my broccoli. My squash (butternut, summer and spaghetti), zucchini, pumpkin and cucumber seeds have all sprouted as well. However, next time I will be planting the peas a lot thicker than I did this time.</div>
Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-30581438819801419462011-07-01T07:20:00.000-07:002011-07-01T07:20:39.011-07:00Rural Garden: Tomato Explosion!I'm just back from a trip to the rural garden and all I have to say is WOW. The growth over there is astounding, especially when I compare it to the community garden with its horrible soil.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY3cFaMVkBQnsB4pwqjXWWeGvRX7ZkSxFmqRYtPBKRevjjUKrDwq02kXVpWeJVdVDdX-KwioSxld2xVIAr0A47cTTuEhMyoubpREkLlsP4R2si3TdKAvKOveM0SMMUBsP3BMk1eQWS-g/s1600/DSC09029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY3cFaMVkBQnsB4pwqjXWWeGvRX7ZkSxFmqRYtPBKRevjjUKrDwq02kXVpWeJVdVDdX-KwioSxld2xVIAr0A47cTTuEhMyoubpREkLlsP4R2si3TdKAvKOveM0SMMUBsP3BMk1eQWS-g/s400/DSC09029.JPG" /></a></div><center><i>Tomato Plants, 2 weeks ago</center></i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9MV_XdrvzjtdswIAA7AsA6GHUdq4ptwZOSqKL2Dsk5nu8snxch-3k6KlRdwWwt81C82p1DnV4-wbjn9CUYkd8KmB0Yw0Y6EuHtEJyTL-Z2DPH8CZ8TPx1cmM1XoEwMWw3dhYJ1XDZVA/s1600/DSC09403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9MV_XdrvzjtdswIAA7AsA6GHUdq4ptwZOSqKL2Dsk5nu8snxch-3k6KlRdwWwt81C82p1DnV4-wbjn9CUYkd8KmB0Yw0Y6EuHtEJyTL-Z2DPH8CZ8TPx1cmM1XoEwMWw3dhYJ1XDZVA/s400/DSC09403.JPG" /></a></div><center><i>Tomato Plants, Yesterday</center></i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj44V2t4y452RdVW7P07blTL8Uexkp1zyw5E4IojbX1ILQfXKxul_dir7016bfy57sclKILafjx_A1Gfib1rLJB3DyL9VUu2N-yJVhMA34kwKXATo8hxX5XXKSzU4bFOWPp0C1hYX9ltw/s1600/DSC09414.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj44V2t4y452RdVW7P07blTL8Uexkp1zyw5E4IojbX1ILQfXKxul_dir7016bfy57sclKILafjx_A1Gfib1rLJB3DyL9VUu2N-yJVhMA34kwKXATo8hxX5XXKSzU4bFOWPp0C1hYX9ltw/s400/DSC09414.JPG" /></a></div><center><i>Lots of buds, flowers and about 20 green tomatoes!</center></i><br />
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I'm now even more excited about how many delicious tomatoes I'll be harvesting this year. These plants are just massive! Those stakes have about 5 1/2' above ground. I think they'll soon be towering above their supports if they keep this up.Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-77536420094368184412011-06-26T20:06:00.000-07:002014-02-09T20:00:23.564-08:00Mystery Disease<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I went to the community garden for the first time in about a week and was pleased to see that it's mostly thriving. However, a quick examination of my tomato plants showed that a quarter of them are infected with something. At first I thought it was just dirt splashed on the leaves, but unfortunately it's definitely not dirt. I'm thinking it's either septoria leaf spot or early blight, but I've not seen this before and would love some help figuring out what it is. The affected leaves are mostly on the bottom half of the plants.<br />
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Other than the diseased plants everything is looking pretty good, although I had a ridiculous amount of weeding to do in the right bed. I'm particularly happy with the bean patch and the kale, which have both shown awesome growth and are looking very healthy.<br />
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<i>Before Weeding....</i></center>
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<i>And After!</i></center>
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<i>Donated Kale</i></center>
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<i>The Bean Patch</i></center>
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*Update!* After some help from the people over at gardenwebs and a return visit to the garden I have decided that my mystery disease is indeed early blight. I yanked the 2 plants that were most heavily affected and removed all the infected leaves/branches from the other plants. Now I'm just waiting it out to see how it goes.</div>
Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-34697599313030356792011-06-17T07:51:00.000-07:002014-02-09T20:00:54.488-08:00The Urban Bean Patch<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>The Bean Patch</i></center>
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The soil in the community garden is somewhat depleted and crop rotation of any kind just does not seem to happen, so this year I decided to dedicate half of my plot to beans in an effort to break up the tomato/pepper/eggplant monotony. <br />
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<i>Black Valentine Beans</i></center>
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<i>Envy Soybeans</i></center>
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I ended up planting Slenderette, Blue Lake, Dragon Langerie, Pencil Pod, Black Valentine, Envy Soybeans, Vermont Cranberry and Jacob's Cattle. I also have plans to plant my Black-Eyed Peas the next time I get over to the community plot. I'm very happy with the germination rates of these beans, even with the storms and tornadoes that ravaged my area shortly after planting. But they've survived and seem to be doing just fine!</div>
Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-72612022579014665692011-06-16T07:41:00.000-07:002014-02-09T20:01:11.885-08:00Pizza Night: Wheat Crust with Veggies and Ham<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Normally I'm the one making pizza from scratch, but this time girlfriend decided to help out and made the crust. She followed a recipe from <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Italian-Cooking-Definitive-Encyclopedia-Fabulous/dp/1572155868/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1308233252&sr=8-2">Italian Cooking: The Definitive Encyclopedia of Fabulous Food</a></i> by Capalbo, Whiteman, Wright and Boggiano, which is a great cookbook filled with the basics and information about techniques.<br />
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The main thing I love about pizza (besides how good it tastes!) is the opportunity to use any leftover veggies from the week's shopping (or the garden) before they go bad. So while girlfriend made the crust, I chopped and sauteed peppers and onions to top the pizza. I also chopped up some deli ham that needed to get finished off or it would likely have ended up in the garbage in the next couple days. Then some fresh mozzarella was shredded and some thin slices of fresh parmesean were shaved off the block.<br />
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Here's the recipe for the crust:<br />
<b>Wheat Pizza Crust</b><br />
<i>Ingredients</i><br />
1 1/2 Tbsp Active Dried Yeast<br />
1 Cup Lukewarm Water<br />
Pinch of Sugar<br />
2 Tbsp Olive Oil<br />
1 Tsp Salt<br />
1 1/4 Cups White Flour (We use organic bread flour)<br />
2 Cups Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour<br />
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<i>Directions</i><br />
1. Warm a medium mixing bowl by swirling hot water in it, then drain. Place yeast in the bowl and pour in the warm water and sugar. Mix with a fork and allow to stand until yeast has dispersed and starts to foam (about 5-10 minutes).<br />
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2. Use a wooden spoon to mix in the olive oil, salt and white flour. Then mix in about half of the wheat flour, stirring with the spoon until the dough begins to form a mass and pull away from the sides of the bowl.<br />
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3. Sprinkle some of the remaining dough onto a smooth work surface and knead the dough while working in the remaining flour a little at a time. Knead for 8-10 minutes and then form into a ball.<br />
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4. Lightly oil a mixing bowl, place the dough in the bowl and place a moist kitchen towel on top of the bowl. Leave it in a warm place to rise for 40-50 minutes. When it has doubled in size punch it back down (to release the air) and then knead for 1-2 minutes.<br />
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5. You can divide the dough in two for medium pizzas or leave it for an extra large pizza. Flour a smooth surface and use a rolling pin to roll it to the desired thickness (I usually roll mine out to about 1/4 inch thick). Then place the dough on a lightly oiled pan (We usually skip this and just sprinkle cornmeal on the pan).<br />
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That is the end of the book recipe, but here's how I finish mine up!<br />
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6. Place pan in oven pre-heated to 500 degrees and pre-bake the crust for about 5 minutes.<br />
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7. Remove and top the pizza. Return to oven for 5-10 minutes until cheese is bubbly and lightly browned.<br />
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I was pretty happy with this recipe as it makes a solid chewy, but strong crust. At the end of the cooking time be sure to keep an eye on your oven. Some pizzas only need 5 minutes, whereas others really need the full 10.<br />
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Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-42442690882307269202011-06-11T07:06:00.000-07:002011-06-11T07:06:46.414-07:00Rural Garden UpdateThe rural garden plot is doing great! Unfortunately there have been no updates because whenever I make the trek to my mother's house I seem to always be forgetting my camera. But no more! I was there the other day and finally managed to snap a couple of pics. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAf5Nx14Jdym9ChAr_mPhC63RUclu1FfboDvRtBDegJ4aOV1auipmMUAK6QqGvW1gaGcA54i7E41iqcHh0zkCTFGWNAdLF-st6bqxRUfzibHH-nBZeUxCLqQ3Vys-pN81kYxSAWkKrdA/s1600/DSC08977.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAf5Nx14Jdym9ChAr_mPhC63RUclu1FfboDvRtBDegJ4aOV1auipmMUAK6QqGvW1gaGcA54i7E41iqcHh0zkCTFGWNAdLF-st6bqxRUfzibHH-nBZeUxCLqQ3Vys-pN81kYxSAWkKrdA/s400/DSC08977.JPG" /></a></div><center><i>My tomato babies are looking good!</i></center><br />
The tomatoes were planted about a week and a half ago and seem to be really settling in. However they are looking a little close together. I spaced them at 1.5 feet apart in all directions in a stab at square foot gardening, so we'll see how it goes. I can always pull a few plants if it seems like they're strangling each other. As you can also see, the tree my father refused to move is shading the plants from the morning to early afternoon. Hopefully I'll soon be allowed to move it (depending on my mother's powers of persuasion, because mine failed) and my plants will have fewer shade issues.<br />
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I had just transplanted the peppers and eggplant the day of this picture and hear they're still looking good. The tam plant that you can barely see is one that got a bit stunted so I'm not sure it will make it, but I figured I'd try anyways! I put my 17 year old brother on watering duty for the new transplants and the pumpkin, squash and zucchini seeds I just planted. I got a little overwhelmed with the seed starting and apparently forgot these guys so we'll see how they do direct seeded. *Hopefully* he remembers to water and that I told him not to water so much that there are puddles everywhere...Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-45754105549492896472011-05-30T09:22:00.000-07:002014-02-09T20:01:34.309-08:00Urban Garden Prep<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The community garden has gotten off to a bit of a slow start this year. Things got messed up because a few of the gardeners kept changing their minds as to if they wanted space or not. However things finally got ironed out at the end of last week and I proceeded to spend most of the weekend prepping my plot. After lots of weeding it's actually looking pretty good. I'm planning on getting all my bush beans and overflow tomato, eggplant and peppers into that garden by tomorrow.<br />
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Day 1 of Work:</center>
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Day 2 of work:</center>
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Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-53109912732505576662011-05-06T12:45:00.000-07:002014-02-09T20:02:15.718-08:00The Seedling Experiment - 2011<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This year my seedling experiment revolved around light usage. When I first started my seeds there was plenty of room under the lights for all of them. Until I potted up. After that, only half of my seeds would fit under the lights. I thought about adding lights, but I really had nowhere to put them. Instead of trying to overhaul the makeshift system I had set up, I decided to split the babies and put half in a south-facing window with plans to compare the growth of the two sets when time came to harden them off. Well it's officially hardening off time! They're all on the porch with the windows open and will stay there a few days before I start bringing them to the real outdoors. The plan is to start transplanting them into the rural garden over the next 1-2 weeks since it's a zone warmer than the urban garden. <br />
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<i>Here's the whole gang!</i><br />
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<i>The leggy ladies from the windowsill</i><br />
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<i>These were under the lights, more leaves and shorter stronger stems than the windowsill seedlings</i><br />
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<i>The remainder of the windowsill seedlings have been moved under the lights to join the peppers and eggplant</i><br />
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Now that I've done the whole starting seeds thing once I feel like I can make the investment in a new lighting rig. I didn't want to invest money in something I wouldn't end up using again, but I'm officially hooked on starting seeds. I love seeing something big growing from something so small. Plus there are so many more varieties when you start from seed and it's way less expensive than buying plants!</div>
Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-30925981356962603632011-05-05T11:03:00.000-07:002011-05-05T11:03:19.538-07:00Back Again!It's been a crazy few weeks here. Between Easter, work and finals at school I've had just about zero free time to blog about my garden exploits. Plus, whenever I go to the rural garden I never seem to have a camera with me. However things are doing well there with sprouted peas and growing cauliflower and broccoli. Things on the home front are doing even better. The tomato seedlings are looking awesome. I lost a few after transplanting, but it looks like I'll still end up with at least as many plants as I wanted. The peppers are also doing well with the seedlings growing nicely and lots of new growth on the overwintered bells. The big surprise for me is the eggplant since I've never grown it from seed, but it's doing even better than the peppers.<br />
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Finals are mostly over at the end of this week and I'm planning a rural garden trip Saturday, so there should be some pictures up later this weekend.Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-81957009738104215122011-04-15T11:39:00.000-07:002014-02-09T20:02:36.671-08:00Porch Seedlings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
What's left of my cool season vegetables (plus the Oregon Spring seedlings) are currently living on my enclosed porch. It's south-facing and gets sun all day. I've been cracking the windows during the day to start exposing them to a little wind and started leaving them open during the night a couple of days ago. So far, all seems to be going well!<br />
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<i>I sowed this window box very thickly with spring greens as the seeds were 10 years old, but they seem to still be quite viable!</i></center>
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<i>This is the box post-thinning with lots more space for the largest seedlings to grow.</i></center>
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Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-31054621045943912822011-04-13T11:37:00.000-07:002011-04-15T12:33:45.318-07:00Potting UpMost of the seedlings have their first true leaves so I decided that new homes were in order. I wanted to hopefully separate them out early enough that their root systems weren't completely entangled and wrapping around the bottom of the plant cells. <br />
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<i>Prior to transplanting:</i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGzAvIj3-r_FIY4hnGdIW30oDmlNR8_mexCyWAJQN6h5k21gLulKAAbvf819iHdc1F65nvrGGyfm3V9RLKWrGBII85gURpim3ABPR1B1nX91eEvU1X11RXue0ALZw2H-5tqZQyO-yCAA/s1600/DSC08881.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGzAvIj3-r_FIY4hnGdIW30oDmlNR8_mexCyWAJQN6h5k21gLulKAAbvf819iHdc1F65nvrGGyfm3V9RLKWrGBII85gURpim3ABPR1B1nX91eEvU1X11RXue0ALZw2H-5tqZQyO-yCAA/s400/DSC08881.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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I think I timed it pretty well. Most of the seedlings had good root systems that were just starting to show at the bottom of the soil mix when I took them out of the cells. Most got put into deep plastic cups with holes drilled in the bottom, but some simply got moved into single cells in the interest of space. Between everything, I've got two flats filled with seedlings that are being rotated between the lights and a south-facing window.<br />
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<i>A few days after potting up everything seems to be doing quite well:</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhdmYKS4p7HAS8xJtZYk5UOjD_lpuJWHUrd8gyap3K5atsMFLlNWeSqFNY9sV8sPgp29QvXw8L15ZJuC-eQyxl4carGC5aodz8o0MqdwzigJN_PbygIEB2S8NagwsltNOaEdNC1eUDuw/s1600/DSC08916.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhdmYKS4p7HAS8xJtZYk5UOjD_lpuJWHUrd8gyap3K5atsMFLlNWeSqFNY9sV8sPgp29QvXw8L15ZJuC-eQyxl4carGC5aodz8o0MqdwzigJN_PbygIEB2S8NagwsltNOaEdNC1eUDuw/s400/DSC08916.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfvj5kUBBEVeFV-g9lj5d6EfbmqoyeEOlEZ6tsSC8UxSUMOjItMosA_DWKHO7Gc3HRnV1xP5bjBp31F1oAgvu0BLySs3ajmr3S3nanpuT227nLmI8njniryFi1bNwjHJftzQ-T6QcyeQ/s1600/DSC08919.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfvj5kUBBEVeFV-g9lj5d6EfbmqoyeEOlEZ6tsSC8UxSUMOjItMosA_DWKHO7Gc3HRnV1xP5bjBp31F1oAgvu0BLySs3ajmr3S3nanpuT227nLmI8njniryFi1bNwjHJftzQ-T6QcyeQ/s400/DSC08919.JPG" /></a></div><center><i>These are the early Oregon Spring tomatoes. I hardened them off a bit and then put them on the windowsill in my enclosed porch to test their hardiness. So far they're doing completely fine.</i></center><br />
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In other news, I went out to check on the rural garden on Friday and did some transplanting, although I unfortunately forgot my camera. I thinned out the cells of broccoli, lettuce, chard and cauliflower, taking the most established plant from the cell and moving it to the garden. I moved 3 cauliflower, 12 lettuce, 4 chard, 4 broccoli deccicio and 4 broccoli waltham into the garden and covered all of the cauliflower and half of the broccoli with plastic bottles. I decided to only cover half the broccoli as an experiment to see which do better. If I lose some of the plants it's no big deal because I still have 6 of each variety growing on my porch. <br />
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I planted some spinach seeds last Tuesday and a few were beginning to sprout. Yay! I also planted 4 sq ft of carrots this morning (1 ft each of the Lunar White, Cosmic Purple, Amarillo and Nantes). I sowed them very shallowly, watered and then covered with a layer of hay to hopefully keep the moisture in and encourage germination. I covered the left side of the garden with a tarp and the back half of the right side with a thick layer of hay to help keep the weeds at bay until I plant next month.Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-42366997364504554882011-04-03T12:53:00.000-07:002011-04-03T12:53:00.469-07:00Seedling UpdateI'm sure everyone's getting sick of seedling pictures, but I'm proud of my babies and I need to show them off! This is really the first time I'm doing any major seed starting. Last year I started a hybrid tomato and broccoli, but that's it. I direct seeded beans and squash successfully, but all of my other plants were freebies that were donated by the local <a href="http://www.recworcester.org/UGROW/youthgrow.html">YouthGrow</a> program to all of the community gardens. It's a great organization that gets teens involved with growing their own food. They start plants for the community gardens and plants to go into the large YouthGrow gardens that they help to maintain all summer. While I love free plants, this year my goal was to start all of my plants from seed.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp4tVN-IkO3xTs8-QdxzUmVyyfxJDKGu49I74TUfm0iR-6vi1c1S-_rDIaFTFM_cmbNck33TS0_sNAPEUx7HfHKxlfobU6hRyd0-CwlnwujrdfWFC1gju_XsBoEJJi9nVcdP6YshrbXA/s1600/DSC08851.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp4tVN-IkO3xTs8-QdxzUmVyyfxJDKGu49I74TUfm0iR-6vi1c1S-_rDIaFTFM_cmbNck33TS0_sNAPEUx7HfHKxlfobU6hRyd0-CwlnwujrdfWFC1gju_XsBoEJJi9nVcdP6YshrbXA/s400/DSC08851.JPG" /></a></div><i>Kellogg's Breakfast shared by <a href="http://engineeredgarden.blogspot.com/">EG</a> and Oregon Spring</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji9vcmxh1aNDvfmRMK-ENZsB89lm9xUN3zUqF56MExXawJ0Q7rulqYfH1_ctm5wpk0EPd9R1K-epXtlxDXqwC1_93O1Lz16blFkM_l7uMfaA3Phr_y0XvyCtOpKzmtZNa5IkFFeUvHoQ/s1600/DSC08855.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji9vcmxh1aNDvfmRMK-ENZsB89lm9xUN3zUqF56MExXawJ0Q7rulqYfH1_ctm5wpk0EPd9R1K-epXtlxDXqwC1_93O1Lz16blFkM_l7uMfaA3Phr_y0XvyCtOpKzmtZNa5IkFFeUvHoQ/s400/DSC08855.JPG" /></a></div><i>Black Cherry also from EG</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLWWQOE84A-2SpuqiX_OnAXFmHR5KDradvtTMBLiVR7Ztm3zg6ZmyHJo90ZhP2PcXTZgZc7B-w_ivlvixBrSQ_I2OcivLyCWp_WOe-aKowEIt7utJKpAjL1C1IgjSwDW905Mv7mpRMPg/s1600/DSC08857.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLWWQOE84A-2SpuqiX_OnAXFmHR5KDradvtTMBLiVR7Ztm3zg6ZmyHJo90ZhP2PcXTZgZc7B-w_ivlvixBrSQ_I2OcivLyCWp_WOe-aKowEIt7utJKpAjL1C1IgjSwDW905Mv7mpRMPg/s400/DSC08857.JPG" /></a></div><i>Brandywine and Cherokee Purple from EG</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2tNMxf4VkE85MQA0s1DTdD2sxMvBp62YVUqgt1PaoSVoGmBd-cw8JHPlQsSiFaUBud6NZtKjH7wpD_DRo09GwKrnJtabiAai-nECKSHxWjFXqvqZF1xfssuttL-uAf1HVq1TIoKUOoQ/s1600/DSC08862.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2tNMxf4VkE85MQA0s1DTdD2sxMvBp62YVUqgt1PaoSVoGmBd-cw8JHPlQsSiFaUBud6NZtKjH7wpD_DRo09GwKrnJtabiAai-nECKSHxWjFXqvqZF1xfssuttL-uAf1HVq1TIoKUOoQ/s400/DSC08862.JPG" /></a></div><i>Oxheart Pink and Polish Linguisa</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCoLz6-HZqwwR0AGrjxXMeVvra4OtVDgPczx7lnxcby0Gqs8KdJvXjFHsEScUu7Z2mmFOiqJEF8b0UXB7hDJpKD3WvpyQHmTJPzPXy-rPgjaRvorxiUrnsz3zwXupEJt3ez0n2VuacUQ/s1600/DSC08864.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCoLz6-HZqwwR0AGrjxXMeVvra4OtVDgPczx7lnxcby0Gqs8KdJvXjFHsEScUu7Z2mmFOiqJEF8b0UXB7hDJpKD3WvpyQHmTJPzPXy-rPgjaRvorxiUrnsz3zwXupEJt3ez0n2VuacUQ/s400/DSC08864.JPG" /></a></div><i>Hungarian Hot Wax Pepper that was a freebie with the Tam Jalapenos I got from eBay</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTJ-Q3mqHLo8QdqsqaBP1YhMuiYQytqydNPhNHJYkaeoyV0ngDE0ujMSATdE1wMllmOaPegeZeN_UCHfCgEdTxAcz2CQEekaHn9Qylb-oN97ONfchuBUd5H4IZkelHgrFH98Y8VvnLBQ/s1600/DSC08868.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTJ-Q3mqHLo8QdqsqaBP1YhMuiYQytqydNPhNHJYkaeoyV0ngDE0ujMSATdE1wMllmOaPegeZeN_UCHfCgEdTxAcz2CQEekaHn9Qylb-oN97ONfchuBUd5H4IZkelHgrFH98Y8VvnLBQ/s400/DSC08868.JPG" /></a></div><i>Tam Jalapenos and Organic Black Beauty Eggplant (With some cauliflower mixed in... I accidentally seeded the cauliflower in the wrong 6-pack)</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK4DHGwGCX9Mnpvmx_MxBhf-g7sOXxYDAOilT0Tx-ekh62VInoD95g1rxzqL_qiUMu6phGPn2CgXveV2asHXRHYunyhtdO5_6hv0R2aQOCf4YRESBgwulrdQLY26wzARC3TKXB4g1EMQ/s1600/DSC08874.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK4DHGwGCX9Mnpvmx_MxBhf-g7sOXxYDAOilT0Tx-ekh62VInoD95g1rxzqL_qiUMu6phGPn2CgXveV2asHXRHYunyhtdO5_6hv0R2aQOCf4YRESBgwulrdQLY26wzARC3TKXB4g1EMQ/s400/DSC08874.JPG" /></a></div><i>Early Snowball Cauliflower from EG</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIYmYN0do7g-utZiUn53x6Zc8sc7amx6GrCMkRjcNxRqzVlVWdIDFCSud2h8wdHIPGEu1SryY1H7L0XiykU8ElgrBFgvxLzhtLrhAZv885geyK8yBKrmYzByv7rGIgZLlZcC9VEf2VlQ/s1600/DSC08878.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIYmYN0do7g-utZiUn53x6Zc8sc7amx6GrCMkRjcNxRqzVlVWdIDFCSud2h8wdHIPGEu1SryY1H7L0XiykU8ElgrBFgvxLzhtLrhAZv885geyK8yBKrmYzByv7rGIgZLlZcC9VEf2VlQ/s400/DSC08878.JPG" /></a></div><i>Broccoli Waltham 29 and Organic Broccoli Deccicio</i><br />
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As you can easily see, EG (from <a href="http://engineeredgarden.blogspot.com/">Our Engineered Garden</a>) was extremely generous and gave me lots of seeds to help me out this year. I'm a broke college student and I just can't afford tons and tons of seed unfortunately. However, I'll be saving as much seed as I can this year to start building up my own little seed library. Hopefully I'll have a bunch of fun stuff to trade this winter! <br />
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Some of these guys are starting to get their first set of true leaves, which means I'll soon be potting up! The cauliflower and broccoli will be first, as well as trying to rescue the cauliflower from the eggplant. We'll see how the extraction goes...Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-68771504286758995312011-04-02T12:10:00.000-07:002014-02-09T20:02:55.124-08:00Cloud's Chunky Guacamole<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I absolutely love my guac, which is funny, because growing up you couldn't get me to touch the stuff with a 10' pole. I liked most green vegetables - I even loved my broccoli and zucchini. I would make whole meals out of vegetables if my mother would let me! But avocados? Guacamole? No way! <br />
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However, thanks to <a href="http://moes.com/">"Moe's"</a> (a <a href="http://www.chipotle.com/en-US/Default.aspx?type=default">Chipotle</a>-esque chain that has slowly been expanding into New England), I was formally introduced to guacamole without even realizing it. A friend had a burrito, a <a href="http://moes.com/Menu.php#Burritos">"Homewreaker"</a> if I remember correctly, and it had guac in it. From then on I ordered guacamole on every burrito. However, it took a trip to a locally-owned restaurant to fully convert me to a guacamole-loving fiend. Girlfriend and I ate at <a href="http://www.mezcalcantina.com/">Mezcal</a> (an upscale Mexican-Southwestern fusion restaurant) for our 2 year anniversary. We got one of their "complete meals" for 2 people and it came with freshly-made guacamole and chips. I was skeptical, but tried it. Maybe it was the pitcher of house margaritas, but I was officially hooked on guac!<br />
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Now, I get random cravings for guacamole and tortilla chips. As a result, I've now got a recipe tailored to specifically to my tastes. My winter version is more chunky than creamy due to how expensive avocados are during the winter. For a creamier version, I add a third avocado to the mix.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh24vqOA9T_pffe4oz1gc_bywfyWM2MWwcMa1OetUsXvfXNNR0syN9TyEdhnAFbL_EgGMZQo5Xth0RjEgVWt_jU9GYRvdJ8U_JvHXqLIdUEXJddBUy6M348OhNkz_j1O1wRFJgsyFLspQ/s1600/DSC08802.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh24vqOA9T_pffe4oz1gc_bywfyWM2MWwcMa1OetUsXvfXNNR0syN9TyEdhnAFbL_EgGMZQo5Xth0RjEgVWt_jU9GYRvdJ8U_JvHXqLIdUEXJddBUy6M348OhNkz_j1O1wRFJgsyFLspQ/s400/DSC08802.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<i>Assemble the ingredients</i><br />
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<i>Dice some garlic</i><br />
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<i>Dice some onion</i><br />
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<i>Chop up the tomatoes</i><br />
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<i>Cut up the avocados and scoop out the pulp</i><br />
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<i>Mash the avocados (I like mine completely mashed, but girlfriend likes hers chunky)</i><br />
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<i>Coat the avocado with lime juice</i><br />
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<i>Throw in the seasonings</i><br />
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<i>Fold in the rest of the ingredients</i><br />
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<i>And Voila!</i><br />
</center>
<br />
<br />
<b>Cloud's Chunky Guacamole - Winter Version</b><br />
<i>2 Avocados; Halved, Seeded and Peeled<br />
2 Tomatoes; Seeded and Diced<br />
1/2 Medium Onion; Peeled and Diced<br />
1-2 Cloves Garlic; Minced <br />
1 Lime or Lemon; Juiced (I use whichever's in the fridge)<br />
1/2 Teaspoon Cumin<br />
1/2 Teaspoon Salt<br />
1/2 Teaspoon Chili Powder or Cayenne Pepper<br />
1/2 Tablespoon Cilantro, Chopped</i><br />
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Prepare garlic, onions and tomatoes. Place the avocado in a large bowl and squeeze 1/2 of the lime over it. Mash the avocados using a fork, whisk or potato masher. Mash in the cumin, salt and cayenne. Using a spoon, fold in the onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic. Squeeze the other half of the lime over the mixture and mix it in. Let sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour to allow flavors to meld and then serve.<br />
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*I also love to make this the night before and find that the flavors combine beautifully sitting in the fridge overnight.</div>
Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-85132822185042368182011-04-01T14:41:00.000-07:002011-04-01T14:45:27.670-07:00Mother Nature is Mean.Yay it's April and that means our springtime weather will continue to get sunnier and warmer! But no. Instead, I woke up to a lovely winter wonderland. Which is a gorgeous sight to behold, in winter. This year March came both in and out like a lion and I for one am glad to be rid of it. I just can't take much more of the up and down temperatures and relentless snow! I could do without trying to clean off my SUV too, since, you know, I'm all of 5'3". <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSWUnQhVbCxn9I5JecANP724LRHn9ttZNscU50TceVwgL_Fs8dMXUwcQ5y70RFDlmBJg8aYS7VOciO1bggeJu24s-mdlhKcMZOW13P6amzIHo95jLtpFi5wsT7x7VwxGG_TjsAuTD5Iw/s1600/DSC08847.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSWUnQhVbCxn9I5JecANP724LRHn9ttZNscU50TceVwgL_Fs8dMXUwcQ5y70RFDlmBJg8aYS7VOciO1bggeJu24s-mdlhKcMZOW13P6amzIHo95jLtpFi5wsT7x7VwxGG_TjsAuTD5Iw/s400/DSC08847.JPG" /></a></div><i><center>This is the view from my front porch around 3 pm, after most of the mess had melted. (And that's my truck at the bottom... When my mom wanted a new car 5 years back, I got her old one.)</center></i><br />
I only wish I could have gotten a picture from my drive this morning... Trees cracked and branches everywhere. And everything with a 6 inch-thick "dusting" of snow. But alas, I had to get up, clean off my beast of a car and budget extra time to get to work since no one has any clue of how to drive in the snow.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtzxcUNRb1jyd81iD9D_FLEa44dBIUSYPnB4nzflYnBs8eLXIDNdpu4KQeY3U25syxB5aPI5BXRa2lZN56cDtcMhUpeuNz4Y9StEJK4nB9-1xaGkZ9Le8q3m9j3UqYtxOcHcwhD7nLqw/s1600/Picture+4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="207" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtzxcUNRb1jyd81iD9D_FLEa44dBIUSYPnB4nzflYnBs8eLXIDNdpu4KQeY3U25syxB5aPI5BXRa2lZN56cDtcMhUpeuNz4Y9StEJK4nB9-1xaGkZ9Le8q3m9j3UqYtxOcHcwhD7nLqw/s400/Picture+4.png" /></a></div><i><center>My 5-day Forecast</center></i><br />
Despite the April Fools Day snow, I'm trying to be positive and the 5 day forecast is looking promising at this point! Just waiting to be able to safely plant out my spring veggies at this point... I can't wait for garden-fresh greens!Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510107430224265.post-84036854106404499812011-03-31T12:07:00.000-07:002011-04-01T14:48:36.846-07:00New Seedling Set UpI finally got my lights all set up for my seedlings and I think they'll enjoy the extra light. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Fasyf8j7yAIjwuiRXxxzjOP4MhaxbXFfZRfx7gQWhcLLWErnHCbiDI1rALlytbJ2o1tMuktg_0qf-9nk6efUjcb4z3r_QHRqEnDynpnxf_moLulpbOCCIb7IiXO2vfY2mNpFujIDtQ/s1600/DSC08777.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Fasyf8j7yAIjwuiRXxxzjOP4MhaxbXFfZRfx7gQWhcLLWErnHCbiDI1rALlytbJ2o1tMuktg_0qf-9nk6efUjcb4z3r_QHRqEnDynpnxf_moLulpbOCCIb7IiXO2vfY2mNpFujIDtQ/s400/DSC08777.JPG" /></a></div><i><center>Girlfriend bought me the shelves from Target and the shelf heights are awesomely adjustable. The lights are 24" and one is cool white and the other is warm white as that's what I had in my apartment at the time.</center></i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXR-VjrU19JxzzbJquEwZa5QNJ5OvX9Dkug3t-8ZuAvZsQ6d1eE_TczWPFBcPSVlCpQvPCnvy3pDEQllLTNOFtPBtXRUfhbWoQJn5eZ6pxtbGPSW1gn4KWXZ7fmol5cDut5nuFDcFOQ/s1600/DSC08790.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXR-VjrU19JxzzbJquEwZa5QNJ5OvX9Dkug3t-8ZuAvZsQ6d1eE_TczWPFBcPSVlCpQvPCnvy3pDEQllLTNOFtPBtXRUfhbWoQJn5eZ6pxtbGPSW1gn4KWXZ7fmol5cDut5nuFDcFOQ/s400/DSC08790.JPG" /></a></div><i><center>The babies in their new home under the lights! It's pretty much all tomatoes, peppers and eggplant under here.</center></i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyihIoJpoEvNJ9TZqtylrJ7DuHMhcXArPXspWVvJsT7MvOyn4gHzGrXiis8XagT7feliIAWAEF2H3JHC_XomQYbSqkjjxFBhI6rFJmGeOivVJv7FHtAuZ3mkW2LMgfVBq9n7Ot5hafNw/s1600/DSC08785.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyihIoJpoEvNJ9TZqtylrJ7DuHMhcXArPXspWVvJsT7MvOyn4gHzGrXiis8XagT7feliIAWAEF2H3JHC_XomQYbSqkjjxFBhI6rFJmGeOivVJv7FHtAuZ3mkW2LMgfVBq9n7Ot5hafNw/s400/DSC08785.JPG" /></a></div><i><center>My Orange Sun bell pepper plant is once again producing peppers. After these two grow a bit I'll pick them and pinch back any other blossoms so I can *hopefully* transplant it outside. I hadn't even noticed these two until yesterday when I saw fruit.</center></i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJbcBwf4zMVfrfYIT_JYayi1poEHaod__fchBh19ODd5B4kYjB_zC9HXJFMQtzkw4d2TPV940OhtkKxSRMOsWarj5mRHFNZvbNmNWUOoygR1uA3lwQx2NAiD2oGHjS2aSklEaADgHrA/s1600/DSC08781.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJbcBwf4zMVfrfYIT_JYayi1poEHaod__fchBh19ODd5B4kYjB_zC9HXJFMQtzkw4d2TPV940OhtkKxSRMOsWarj5mRHFNZvbNmNWUOoygR1uA3lwQx2NAiD2oGHjS2aSklEaADgHrA/s400/DSC08781.JPG" /></a></div><i><center>The leeks are doing solidly and seem to be slowly getting thicker at the base.</center></i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBSBY8GTWEA-4TRgF6uY8fnZcc_LcwQHidimnVahVASW1UErSRFM3vJlSJkQBKxmccBzAYBIVRptcTo0B8OYIZKhvLDah274xmTyDRAXXvoVqjUevosJw1nSq94ExepwYOHDqaruijQ/s1600/DSC08788.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBSBY8GTWEA-4TRgF6uY8fnZcc_LcwQHidimnVahVASW1UErSRFM3vJlSJkQBKxmccBzAYBIVRptcTo0B8OYIZKhvLDah274xmTyDRAXXvoVqjUevosJw1nSq94ExepwYOHDqaruijQ/s400/DSC08788.JPG" /></a></div><center><i>The green onions got a little haircut and ended up as an excellent garnish for my salad the other day.</i></center><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMXB8QVQlc4qNZxoMSC4kIwMJsXtOK-_xEr6ZvJCaX8OaDHrd_f34pdKaHw-vD-EQ1A-VD8gbjmJ48dulWpdZxzKuPAxfbpp3PI4MEUui2xnJ50-PXEBS8JZbitVno2bMCBvgNCPtB8Q/s1600/DSC08786.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMXB8QVQlc4qNZxoMSC4kIwMJsXtOK-_xEr6ZvJCaX8OaDHrd_f34pdKaHw-vD-EQ1A-VD8gbjmJ48dulWpdZxzKuPAxfbpp3PI4MEUui2xnJ50-PXEBS8JZbitVno2bMCBvgNCPtB8Q/s400/DSC08786.JPG" /></a></div><i><center>My chives are doing well once again! I've had this plant for about 2 years now and the fact that I didn't kill it was one of the things that made me want to start gardening in the first place.</center></i>Cloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15205590563846562414noreply@blogger.com7