seed starting.

Last year, almost all the gardening I did was from plants. I knew this year I wanted to try starting most of my garden from seeds and if that didn't work, use plants as a last resort. Not only are seeds cheaper, they are obviously the most natural way to start a garden with your own effort. And they are, not so obvious to my ambitious side, really hard when you are a beginner.

Last month I read The Seed Starter's Handbook. Honestly, I wish I would have picked it up a week or two sooner because I felt a little behind when I started my seeds. It's a great guidebook for what to start when and basic information on how the process works. I still have a million questions and will probably re-read this book every year.

I purchased a shelf unit and some clamp on grow lights from Home Depot and set up shop in the spare bedroom. It gives me lots of room - three shelves worth! - to start plants and when it's nice outside, I just let them sit in the sunshine for the day. I started kale, kohl rabi and turnips first and I need to do some research on what I did wrong. I ended up with some plants that I could put in the ground but they are pretty leggy and have weak root systems. I'm not sure if it's over/under watering, not enough natural sunlight, under/over fertilizing or the soil. I need to read up on it.
I started eggplant, dill, tomatoes and peppers next and those are looking really good as plants...even better than my cold weather plants. I am trying to get them outside and used to the sun as much as possible but it's been so overcast and cold lately that it's been a little difficult. Crazy that in two weeks it will be warm enough that I'll be able to put them in the ground!
I started some herbs (basil, oregano, sage, etc) this weekend and some more tomatoes. I feel a bit behind on my herbs but I'm not sure how quickly anything will grow once it heats up so maybe I am okay. I need to get some cucumbers started this week and hope they hold up with being transplanted...I hear they are a bit finicky with being relocated.

I'm still so new that I'm not sure the timing of everything, what should be transplanted, what should not be transplanted, etc. I'm just trying to go into this with the attitude that I will probably kill some things and that's okay...better luck next year. Maybe. Hopefully.

supper 3/13.

So, daylight savings time is currently sucking the energy right out of us around here. Before that could happen, we had this weekend, which was full of projects. I planted a BUNCH of things - I'll put up details in my next post - went to the farmer's market, cleaned the house and finally cooked a fresh meal.
It's pretty sad how long I have gone without proper grocery shopping which for me is the start of bad, bad eating habits. I'll go all day and realize I had a slice of bread with peanut butter and SweetTarts. Disgusting. I'm hoping it was just a winter thing...really, really hoping considering these terrible choices and lack of proper food led to a 15 lb weight gain. Yikes.

On Sunday, we had some buddies over because that's what we do every Sunday and I love it. Seriously...stop on by anytime. Mark purchased some chicken for him and our friend Shaun but they got so distracted with fantasy baseball, they hadn't started doing anything with it by the time everything else I had made was done so I offered to cook it. I haven't cooked meat in almost five years and it is gross. I became a vegetarian because meat was too expensive and I hated beef and I thought I could live without everything else. I tried it as a new year's resolution and never missed it. Except Chicken McNuggets and the two cheeseburger meal at McDonald's...I know, disgusting, but I'm just trying to be honest.
Anyway, cutting chicken really is the grossest. Mad props to carnivores everywhere because I can't stomach it anymore.
Mark purchased some Panko crumbs awhile back because he wants to make some fried onion/potato thing so I knew we had those. I melted butter and mixed it with lemon juice and dijon mustard in a bowl. After cutting the chicken, I dipped the slices in there and then dipped them in the Panko with some fresh herbs and parmesan and baked the chicken at 425 for 15 minutes. The guys said it tasted great so I would definitely cook it if you are a meat eater looking for a quick meal. I made a sauce out of mayo, dijon mustard, a little soy sauce and a little sesame oil to dip the chicken in and that was really good. I may use that for potatoes in the future.

I also cooked some brown rice in my rice cooker with vegetable stock, garlic infused olive oil and fresh herbs from the window. I chopped up some shittake mushrooms I got from Delvin Farms at the market on Saturday - they were huge! - and baked them with olive oil and garlic for about 15 minutes, stirring a few times part way through.

I put them and sauteed spinach on top of the rice with some lightly toasted slivered almonds, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.

Finally, I grated three turnips and made this Spring Turnip Frittata from this month's Eating Well. I didn't have any broccoli raab but I would like to try it again when it appears at the farmer's market. I added goat cheese to the mix and it was really, really good.

Everything on the plate (I ran out of spinach for the picture) was sort of the same color, which I try not to do, but otherwise it was a very good meal and most important of all, made me excited for fresh food over the next few months! It's spring on Sunday so it won't be long...I'm really going to miss my SweetTarts, though.

sour celery.

I planted some rhubarb and asparagus a few weeks ago. Since I am very new onto the gardening scene, I had no idea what these looked like when you planted them.

They both came as a dried root in a bag - 3 to a package for rhubarb and 8 for the asparagus. (I'm down to 7, though, because I lost one while planting) The rhubarb was pretty easy to figure out - there was a shoot/point that I correctly assumed was to go face up. The same on the asparagus - I planted the spindly root pieces face down with the point facing up...I had to call Anthony to get confirmation that I was on the right track.
That, I am learning, is the hardest part of being an amateur gardener. People who have been doing this for years rely almost entirely on instinct. People like me who completely missed the period of their lives (growing up on a farm...sheesh) when they could have learned this stuff hands on, have to rely on books, practice and step-by-step website instructions. I'm sure an experienced gardener would find it humorous to see me outside double checking the instructions on the back of a package to make sure I have every detail correct. I'm still convincing myself I will get to where I'm running on "guts" someday.

Anyway, the rhubarb is starting to turn red at the point. This is a rated 'G' blog but I'm not gonna lie...it is very suggesting seeing a plant poke its way out of the ground. If you think I'm crazy for thinking that, read Michael Pollan's Second Nature. He has a hard time looking at some flowers without seeing lady parts.

It's hard to see from the picture but the small part that is turning red used to be brown two week ago and dried up. It's starting to form some color, which means it has now come to life. Pretty subtle in general but very exciting if you are looking for it. And if you want to eat a LOT of rhubarb this summer.

Some of you have probably only had rhubarb paired with strawberries in dessert and you are missing out. In Iowa, rhubarb grows everywhere - ditches, lawns, along the road, in fields - literally all over the place and it can get HUGE. When we were kids, if we saw rhubarb growing, we would just tear off a stalk and munch as we went along our way. I learned very recently that the leafy part and the roots are extremely toxic so you have to be careful to only eat the stalk.
I knew I wanted to plant rhubarb when I went to the grocery store a few years ago and paid an obscene price for a few stalks. It's a weed! When I go home, my dad has bags of it in the fridge! It's not a delicacy! At the farmer's market last summer, a lady was charging $5 for THREE STALKS! What?!?
Moving on from that tirade...
When I brought some (overpriced) rhubarb home, both Mark and my roommate at the time were really curious since none had tried it before. I took a bite like it was celery and they both followed suit. Except they spit theirs out immediately and looked at me with total disgust. Rhubarb, for others like them that don't know, is REALLY sour. It's like eating a red mulberry, for those that have done that. It's usually made in desserts because the sugar pairs down the extreme sourness of it. I think after that episode the only way I'm going to get people to try and love it is in dessert form. My mom makes the best rhubarb bars and paired with ice cream, they are delicious. They don't have strawberries in them so you can still taste some of the subtle sourness come through. I'll make some this summer for most of you but I'm hoping I can convert at least one person with strong taste buds to become a rhurbarb lover in it's natural state.

under the shade tree.

Things are starting to grow! Well, really they have been for awhile but I'm just now taking note. This is the time of year when I get really excited about all the outdoor things I can now do and in a few weeks it will quickly turn to me being overwhelmed/exhausted.

One of my favorite backyard spots is under the shade tree along my fence. I purchased a super cheap - and super durable/cute - bench from a salvage place near my house a few years ago and I love the shady spot. I really never sit under there but it's nice to know I COULD if I wanted to.

This is what the area looked like last year in the end of May:

This is what it looks like now:

This was the first attempt I ever did a few years back at "landscaping" and there are definitely a few things I would change. For example, I LOVE some of the groundcover in front - the Creeping Jenny especially - but some of it is getting tall with large gaps. I do love how in the spring it's SO green under there - especially with the pots - but I am going to sprinkle in some color this year. I bought some perennial bulbs that I'm going to plant this weekend but they have to be dug up every year so I'll probably just keep them in the pots. I'm going to have morning glories grow up a lattice on the right side of the tree which I'm excited about - my first experiment with vines!

I also planted tulips around the front edge last fall and they are getting HUGE:

No flowers yet though. In the front yard there is one daffodil that has come out to the world:

This is really why I have come to enjoy gardening so much. I have always loved being outside but observing nature, watching things grow, seeing seasons change...it's all very happy and exciting to me. Probably because it's so rhythmic and yet unique every time. I'm already wondering if that daffodil will be the first one to come up next year..and what tulip is going to appear first and what color will it be.

Yep. Nerd.

(almost) spring

I did a terrible job at keeping up with this after a certain point last year but I figure it all evens out since no one reads this anyway. For the 1-2 people that may be interested, I am sorry. For myself I am the most sorry as this will be the easiest way - I think - of keeping up with all the plant chaos that surrounds me. Didn't think nature was chaotic? Try controlling it.

So much is going on and I hope to update this weekend with pictures, projects, etc.
I'm going to post a few updates on the current state of the backyard...welcome back, plants! It was a very long winter.