Get Ready for Spring Gardening

Gardening Quote by Helen Hayes

Hi and welcome to the Garden for Eatin' blog.

The folks digging out from the snow and bundling up in coats and boots are ready to see a few signs of spring. This long, cold winter makes us long for the warm sunshine, gentle breezes, and spring flowers. Hang in there, it will be here. 

Grab those seed catalogs and dream of fresh veggies and tasty meals. It may be too early to actually start your seeds, depending on what plant hardiness zone you are in, but you can check out what you have in stock and get what you need ordered now. Also clean out containers and check on your supply of seed starting soil.

Green pepper seedlings.

You don't have to start seeds for your tomato, peppers, lettuce, or cole crops such as cabbage and broccoli, but you will save a few bucks  by starting your own. If you prefer to purchase plants this spring, they will be available at stores. Be sure to pick up healthy ones. Check on the underside of the leaves and stems for bugs, black spots, and yellowing leaves.

Taking some time now assures that you'll be ready to hit the ground running when the sun shines and spring arrives.!

Looking forward to sharing this 2015 gardening season with you!

Please take a minute and leave a comment to tell us what you are planning to grow in your vegetable garden. Do you have a garden plot, containers, raised beds, vertical beds for growing? Thank you.

Be sure to subscribe to the Garden for Eatin' blog for blog post updates. It's going to be a great garden this year!!

Garden Change

Our early spring garden.

This photo was taken on April 19 of our backyard vegetable garden. Things have changed in just a little over 6 weeks. Take a look!

Look how the letuce has grown!! And it is delicious. Big red leaf is Red Derby, Caretaker (head lettuce), green bibb, speckled bibb, and green romaine are the different kinds of lettuces in the plantings.

Strawberries blooming on May 14.

Amazing how just eleven days after taking the picture above, I had berries for breakfast! On May 25, my birthday, my hubby surprised me with strawberries from the garden for my morning cereal. A very special treat since the JUNE-bearing are about two weeks early.  So far my DH has picked nine pounds of the sweet berries...soooooooooo good!

Spring Garden is Planted

Spring garden...Hooray!

In the photo you can see the tulips, the bird bath (which had a chunk of ice in it this morning), the greenhouse to the right side of the photo, and the garden in the background. Please check the right side bar to see how my DH puts up this 10' x 12' structure. He takes it down and stores it in the garage when the plants are all moved out in the spring.

Forsythia, tulips, lilacs and gorgeous flowering trees. It must be spring..Who knew it would arrive four weeks? Amazing weather this year. Our tulips are gorgeous. Usually the deer are munching them off before they get a chance to bloom, but we put netting over the area this fall before we left for Florida.

My DH planted rye last fall in the garden, so with the early warm weather, the rye was very high and thick when we arrived home. He had to wait for it to die before he could plant the garden. At this time though, it's just as well he waited a bit because we are experiencing frosty nights and cool days.

Our spring garden is planted now with onions, beets, peas, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, radishes, and strawberries. The strawberries are in already established beds which wintered over beautifully. They are blooming early, so we covered them when frost was forecast--more frost coming too. Hmmm...our June bearing berries may be May bearing this year. Mmmmmmm....love those berries!

Please check back again as I will be updating you on this year's garden every week, offering gardening tips, garden information, and recipes for your garden produce.

Wishing you all a happy gardening season!

Where is Spring?

Spring attraction!

Still waiting for spring in Michigan, but while we are waiting my DH has added new compost to the garden, transplanted wandering strawberry plants from outside the bed back into the proper location. I see little green sprouts brave enough to show themselves in all the cold weather. Frosty night possible again tonight. Be strong, little plants!! Brrrrrrrrrrr...Onions started in FL and transplanted in MI are not coming up. Too wet and cold he thinks.

I took time to study the poll on why do you garden located on the right side of the page...100% voted for personal satisfaction. I think that is an excellent reason to garden. How satisfying it is to bring a little seed or plant to mature into a delicious morsel to share with the family. I still can't get over this miracle even after gardening for so many years.

Check out the poll and see how the voting turned out whether you participated or not. It is eye-opening to me. I bet there are other reasons to garden. Leave a comment if you have another one. 

Time for the Greenhouse

Spring in Michigan..My DH put the greenhouse up. He is roarin' to get out and garden, but do you see those snowflakes falling in this picture? Oh yes, the snow fell even harder later on Tuesday/Wednesday.

Snow, snow, go away. We want to garden, dig, and play.

The bathroom is now the official growing/holding chamber till the plants are moved to the greenhouse. These are the plants my DH started in FL and yes, we hauled them all the way home in the back of our pick-up truck. They don't look any worse for wear, but really need a good dose of sunlight.

Check out the video to the right of the page on how my DH builds his greenhouse. If you have questions, please ask in the comments.

Dare We Think About Spring?

I know you folks in the North country are not seeing signs of spring buried under all the snow...What a tough winter. (Of course my son-in-law loves it since he picks up extra cash with his snow plowing service.)

In Florida we have had a ton of rain, but the yards are beginning to green up....the weeds are loving it. We still are not reaching the normal average high temps, but low 60's are acceptable. Still cool nights in the 30' and 40's.

My DH started white, red and yellow onions. He planted them in the garden and will dig them up to take north with us for our Michigan garden. He also started green, red, purple, yellow and chocolate pepper plants in packs. (If only we could grow chocolate in our garden!!)

Although the weather may not look like spring will come, it will! Have you been looking at seed catalogues and drawing out your new and improved garden for the winter?? Time to plan and dream.

My Husband's Report on the Garden

A view of the garden. Strawberry plants in the far right with rhubarb behind them.

Cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli plants in foreground.

Lettuce plants growing with a cover of straw under them to keep the soil from the leaves. Easier to clean up after picking.

My DH wrote an email to our gardening friend in Florida detailing the progress of our northern garden. Here is his very complete report....

THEY ARE CALLING FOR SNOW SHOWERS AND TOMORROW NIGHT POSSIBLE FROST. WENT OUT THIS AM AND COVERED THE STRAWBERRIES. THEY ARE ABOUT 50% IN BLOOM. IF FROST HITS THEM, THEY WILL NOT SET BERRIES SO HOPEFULLY I HAVE THEM COVERED ENOUGH.

RADISH, BEETS, CARROTS, ONION, PEAS, A LITTLE CORN AND POTATOES ARE UP. THE CABBAGE AND CAULIFLOWER I STARTED IN FLORIDA IS DOING GREAT. THEY ARE ABOUT A FOOT TALL.

LETTUCE IS DOING GREAT. I HAVE PUT STRAW AROUND THE BOTTOM OF LETTUCE AND IT KEEPS THE DIRT OFF THE LEAVES. WE SHOULD START CUTTING IT BY MID MAY.

I HAVE ALL THE OTHER PLANTS IN THE GREENHOUSE UNDER HEATERS. HATE TO SEE MY ELECTRIC BILL. -- CUCUMBERS, PICKLES, MUSKMELON, WATERMELON, KOHLRABI, PUMPKINS. MORE CABBAGE. CAULIFLOWER, BROCCOLI ANOTHER TYPE OF SWEET CORN. MY OTHER LETTUCE WILL BE READY TO SET OUT IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS.

THE TOMATO PLANTS I STARTED IN FLORIDA ARE ABOUT 16" TALL NOW. I HAVE ABOUT 100 SEED POTATOES STARTED IN THE GRENHOUSE AND 50 GREEN BEAN AND 50 YELLOW BEANS COMING UP IN THE GREENHOUSE.

I HAVE 1# RED ONION SETS, 1# WHITE ONION SETS PLANTED. THEYARE ABOUT 4" TALL FOR GREEN EATING. 60 RED CANDY ONIONS, 60 YELLOW CANDY ONIONS, 35 BIG DADDY ONIONS, 50 WALLA WALLA ONIONS FOR GROWING ON FOR SLICING. HAVE ABOUT THAT MANY LEFT TO PLANT A LITTLE LATER.

Yes, he is into growing onions. It was a pleasure to have onions and potatoes all winter.

This is a very complete report on our progress on the garden in West Michigan. Please leave comments lettting us know your location and an update on your garden. Thanks.

 

Noah's Garden

Our grandson, Noah, is determined to raise vegetables in his garden. Noah's Garden had its birth last summer in July after the family moved to their new home. This spring Grandpa and Noah have plans for this new and improved plot of mostly sandy ground near Lake Michigan.

Grandpa brought a pick up full of compost to amend the soil. Noah, and little brother, Ethan, were excited to see the good soil and wanted to help shovel it out of the back of the truck. But Grandpa only had one shovel.

After spreading the soil around, the gardeners planted radish and carrot seed. In the photo they are planting onion sets.

Noah and his cousin Corbin have been good workers in our garden.The boys have been bitten by the gardening bug after helping Grandpa in his garden the last few years. Gardening is a terrific outlet for all that boyish/girlish energy. It is work, but so satisfying to sit at the table and enjoy eating the rewards with family.

Spring Gardening is Here!

Lettuce ready to go in the garden.

Tomato plants transplanted into 4 inch pots. Whenever these freezing nights moderate, the tomato plants will find a home in the garden. We use gallon milk jugs to protect tender plants from cold weather. 

Garden is ready. We added lots of horse manure last fall. The ground worked up beautifully. The straw is pushed away from the strawberry plants and rhubarb.

Rhubarb plants are near the strawberry plants. Both are looking healthy.