Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Keeping Garden Records

This is the drawing of our garden from Plangarden.


My husband has always been a garden record keeper on all the seeds and plants he buys for the garden.  This year he discovered the Plangarden software. It allows him to keep track of when he starts seeds indoors, transplants, and harvests. This information is very handy for next year’s planning of the garden. The drawing he originally made of the garden has undergone much tweaking and re-vamping. It is a continuous process throughout the season. I hope you can read the drawing as it looks today. If you have a question about our garden, please ask in the comments section.

 For information on Plangarden, click on the photo on the right side of the page.


Saturday, June 18, 2011

Watering Your Garden



With all the storms and floods this season, we can hardly imagine a dry time. But you know there will be times when the plants need thorough watering this year by you, the gardeners. Here are a few tips on the best watering practices.

When planning your garden, be sure a water source is nearby. You do not want to fill then drag buckets of water around the garden.

Morning is the best time of day to water. This gives the leaves time to dry. Wet leaves are prone to disease. It also allows some extra strength for the plants to endure the heat of the sun and dry air during the day. Do not water during the middle of the day because water will evaporate. If you have to water in the evening, then do it as early as possible.

Water the soil around the plant instead of spraying from above. Water on the leaves can lead to a perfect habitat for fungal disease.( Early and late blight is a definite possibility in some areas of the country experiencing so much water from the storms and flooding this spring. ( See my post on late blight.).

Water deeply rather than watering a little bit each time.. When watering the soil thoroughly the roots will grow deeper into the soil offering a good anchor and opportunity for slurping up the nutrients. You will not have to water as often. If you have a container garden, be sure to always check before watering by sticking your finger into the soil. It should be moist at least up to your first knuckle.

Notice the white PVC pipes. Spaghetti-like tubes radiate from the pipe and directed toward a plant for direct watering.

If you have a large garden, you may already have added a watering system such as drip irrigation. The water flows through a pipe with holes or soaker hose and directly seeps around the plants. Simply turn on the faucet and let the water run. No more holding onto the end of the hose. Go have your iced tea in the shade, come back, and the watering will be done!




Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Savoring Strawberries


Today my DH brought in twelve pounds of beautiful, ripe June bearing strawberries from our patch on the east end of the garden. Our grandsons are here today, so we quickly dispatched about 10 lbs in hungry tummies! No, not really. The 10-year old said that was the best breakfast he ever had…angel food cake and strawberries.

Gardening Tip:  To save your berries from hungry birds, place netting over the plants.

The bounty from this morning's harvest--3 pails of strawberries, lettuce, and first cabbage.
In the poll on why you garden many of you voted for the enjoyment. Gardeners receive many blessings from gardening…the wonder of a growing plant, the fun of digging in the dirt, the nurturing, and finally the product. But I think sharing your fruit or vegetable with friends and neighbors is a worthwhile reward too. Seeing our grandsons’ faces light up with that first, delightful bite of strawberries is worth all the labor in the garden.

Friday, June 3, 2011

FREE Recipe Collection for You

Hello Gardeners!

I am so excited to offer you this FREE collection of recipes from The Garden of Eatin' blog and a few new ones too. You know how I bring you recipes to try during the season, so I decided to put them together in this collection. I also included some of my own photos to accompany the recipes.

You may be wondering who is Gloria Hart? You'll have to email me for the e-book collection to find out!
Please email me at janetglaser@yahoo.com and I will send you the collection. Or you can go to Ginger Simpson's Dishin' It Out blog to meet Gloria who has all the info on this collection. J Q Rose is my pen name. Have fun with this post!

I hope these recipes will make a great addition to your family meals.

If you have a favorite recipe, please send it in. I can use it on the blog and it may be included in next year's collection.

Thanks so much for reading this garden blog. The recipe collection is my appreciation gift to you. Please leave a comment or question at any time.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Potato Plants are Taking Off in the Garden

I was amazed when my DH showed me the difference between the potato plants he still had in a pack and the potatoes in the garden. Just look at this!


Compare the size of the potato plants in the garden and those in the pack!

Both of these plants were started from seed on April 24. The seedlings were planted in the garden  on May 22. Just look at what that great soil and space did to grow these potato plants to this size. This is an excellent lesson on the importance of your plants having room to grow, isn't it?

This also demonstrates how garden soil really makes a top performing plant. This is one of my pet peeves..gardeners who plant beautiful plants taking care to water and weed, but do not worry about what kind of soil is available for the roots. Adding amendments to your soil with manure and compost can make such a difference in your gardening success.







Our potato patch this year has four varieties....good ole Red Pontiac, Austrian fingerlings (a new one for us), Yukon Gold, and German Butter. I love the golden potatoes because when you prepare it for dinner,  it looks like you have a LOT of butter on the potato when you really don't. Mmm..so good.

Can't wait to dig those taters!