Kelli's 2015 Garden Journal

[BucksCountyGirl]

Hello all! I was so happy to see that people seemed to enjoy last year's journal as much as I enjoyed putting it together. So here we go for 2015!

After much (of what we considered) success with our potato experiment last year, we have decided to expand the project for 2015. I will detail our process again next weekend when we plant. We are replanting German Butterballs (because my husband proclaimed them "the best potatoes EVER") from some new seed potatoes from Moose Tubers as well as some control seed potatoes of our own from last year because...SCIENCE! We are also trialing Magic Mollys because they are too gorgeous NOT to plant as you will see from the link. http://www.fedcoseeds.com/moose/search.php?item=7140

We are adding another fig tree (Atreano) to our collection since I am now thoroughly obsessed after last year's Negronne crop

Since I ran out of space in my grow set up after just 45 plants, I purchased starts from chileplants.com for my hot sauce this year. It's my first time with super hots so I am excited (and a little nervous!) I'm growing:
Aji Omicolor (again, because it is AMAZING)
Bhut Jolokia White
Habanero Francisca
Lester William's Red
Aji Limo
Biker Billy Jalapeno (for jumbo poppers)
and I am also trialing Ping Tung Long Eggplants

Below are some pics of my tomato and sweet peppers starts as of Saturday. I got a little punchy toward the end of potting up so my labeling got a little nuts, as you can see I started:
Giant Marconi pepper
Dwarf Chocolate Lightening
Dwarf Sweet Sue (repeat)
Dwarf Rosella Purple (repeat)
Dwarf Lime Green Salad (repeat)
Ambrosia Rose Cherry (experimental high brix variety)
SunGold Cherry (repeat)
Black Cherry (repeat)
Blush Cherry (repeat)
Stupice (repeat)
Coustralee
KBX (repeat)
Berkeley Tie Dye Pink
Eva Purple Ball (repeat)
Hungarian Heart

I hope everyone is having fun ramping up for the season and planning new garden projects. Cheers!

[BucksCountyGirl]

We had a pretty nice weekend for the first time this spring so I was out and about prepping beds and getting our potatoes going for the year.

I was happy to see that my chocolate mint, green onion, chives, Italian Sulmona Garlic, thyme, oregano and lovage survived the winter. I am still waiting to see if my lavender comes back...fingers crossed!

My spring crops are finally showing some growth (except my carrots refuse to sprout ) For spring harvest I put in:
Oregon Giant Snow Peas
Muscade Carrots
Cylindra Beets
White Hailstone Radish
Toy Choi
Cilantro (I'm going to try to salt preserve some this year)
Red Romaine and Blushed Butter Oak Lettuces

So...on to the potato experiment 2.0! This year we are planting German Butter Ball again (both from new purchased seed potatoes as well as sprouted potatoes of our own from last year to see if there is a difference. 2 lbs all together). We are also trailing Magic Molly (1 lb) which is a very very blue potato both in and out.

Our methods are the same as last year. We cut 32 gallon trash cans into 4 slices. On the bottom slice we drilled LOTS of drain holes. We then add our mix which is 2/3rds peat moss and 1/3rd an equal mix of Black Kow and compost.

We did plant our sprouted butterballs a little deeper to accommodate the length of the growth (I don't know if this was a good idea or not...time will tell).

Once the potatoes sprout we will constantly hill them ( no more than 2 inches of growth showing at any time) and add layers of trash can as needed until we reach the top. I will be sure to keep you posted just as I did last year!

Is anyone else trying any fun garden experiments this year?

[Tracydr]

Did you start your lovage in a pot? When did you start it and how long before transplanting?

[efisakov]

Kelli, happy to see you doing your journal again!

[BucksCountyGirl]

Thanks, Ella!

Tracy, I actually purchased a small start from Richters Herbs last year. I planted it out the last week of April. Cheers!

[AZGardener]

Glad to have found this thread. Wouldn't it be cool if many people had a garden journal?!

[BucksCountyGirl]

Originally Posted by AZGardener

Glad to have found this thread. Wouldn't it be cool if many people had a garden journal?!

I certainly agree!

[Reign]

I enjoyed reading your journal last year and am looking forward to reading the 2015 journal. I keep one. I'll give a link when my season gets less not interesting.
This year I'm moving potatoes to bins. My potato digger (husband) is so happy. I'll return to lurker now.

[peppero]

Thanks for sharing with us.

jon

[Vespertino]

Kelli! Great to see a 2015 thread! And I agree with your husband that the german butterball potatoes are THE BEST ever! I was lucky when a vendor (Paffenroth @ NYC Union Sqaure Farmer's Market) started experimenting with potato varieties and began selling them the the local farmers market, but I've since moved to another city and can't find them anywyere. They are truly addicting. I'm considering growing them, but currently don't have the space. Maybe next year, my garden holds more and more as I work on it

[BucksCountyGirl]

Thank you for the support, everyone!

Vespertino, I hear ya. I keep adding new projects every chance I get...I think I may need help

We had absolutely beautiful weather on Saturday, so of course I was out getting my fingers dirty in the garden. I let my plant children enjoy some sun. I am shooting for a plant out date of two weeks from now (weather permitting of course).

I had many "missed" heads of Italian Sulmona garlic sprout from last season. They were really crowding each other out, so I did some thinning. That meager harvest of green garlic sprouts is our first official edible out of the 2015 garden. I buzzed them into a quick green garlic aioli and served them with some steamed asparagus (and maybe a grilled shrimp or two ) for dinner. It is certainly nice to have some of my own produce to work with again! Cheers!

[barefootgardener]

Kelli, I am happy to see you started a 2015 journal! After having a busy, but beautiful weekend, this Monday is cold and chilly. So, I am sitting here for a bit sipping a hot cup of tea, and reading through your wonderful journal. I love that you take and post pictures that reflect and go along with your writings about your daily or weekly garden experiences.

I am also growing german butterball potatoes this year, five # of them. Also growing 5# of purple viking. First year with both varieties.

I am growing a whole flat of cilantro currently and will direct seed more when the time is right. I hope you will keep us updated when you salt preserve your cilantro. I would like to try that method as well.You will be my inspiration!!

Ginny

[BucksCountyGirl]

Wow...thank you, Ginny. That is quite the complement! You will love the GBB, I'm sure. You will have to let us know about those purple vikings!

It was pretty cool and rainy last week so I tried to get my plants hardened as much as the weather would allow. Hopefully this week is more conducive as I need to plant out this weekend.

I wanted to post a few pics of my spring herbs that have come back after our rough winter. It never ceases to amaze me! Also the GBB potatoes I sprouted in my pantry are growing like gangbusters already!

In order of appearance: Lavender (it didn't die after all),Lovage, GBB potatoes (home sprouted), Chocolate mint, Evergreen onions

I just had to harvest some of those beautiful herbs to work with in the kitchen. Below is a shot of them (Green onion, lovage, thyme (from my two year old plant) and some baby arugula. I used them to season some pork cutlets and a spring pea risotto. Peas + lovage = Heaven!

I also harvested some of the cilantro I started in January. I have been running the flat in and out of my garage for months. Haha. I harvested about half the flat and tried the salt curing process I referred to earlier. You add about 1/4 to 1/3 as much salt (in this case pink himalayan) to your portion of chopped herbs and mix well. Then you can either spread this out on a cookie sheet and cover with cheesecloth until dry or, as I did, you can put it in a mason jar in the fridge. You are supposed to give it a good shake every day for about a week. This method is supposed to preserve the fresh flavor better than drying. I will certainly keep you all posted! Cheers!

[ChristinaJo]

I'm coming to your house to eat!!! Looks marvelous!

[efisakov]

Looked so appetizing, Kelli, great pictures too.