The chilluns are growing

I've been tending to the tomatoes, peppers and broccoli seedlings in our bedroom the past month.  Yes, perhaps I was a bit eager with starting them, but I don't mind watching them grow.  A little taste of spring perhaps.  Spring just can't get here fast enough.  Anyway, the tomatoes are really starting to get bigger so I needed to upgrade them a bit from their original peat pellets into larger pots.  (Makes me think of that book A Fish Out Of Water).  Anyway, I did that this evening outside in shed.  So here they are.

My plan is to have 8 tomato plants this season.  The seeds I used were from several seasons back so I basically tripled up on each variety of them to be sure that I'd get some successful germination of each.

This weekend I will transfer the peppers to larger pots as well.  (I just ran out or I would have done that tonight).

Additionally I ordered a Bluecrop highbush blueberry bush and that came in the mail a few weeks back.  I put that in the ground a couple weeks ago.

I'm really hoping that I have success with it.  I planted a raspberry bush a few years back and it's being growing like a weed, but has yet to give me any fruit.  I'm hoping that the blueberry bush will give me some successes.  I know that I'll have to wait a few years but I don't mind, I enjoy the process.

However, the other day, Matt was out playing with his friends in the backyard.  I guess they didn't see my new planting.  (My bad for not putting something around it).  Needless to say, it has suffered it's first setback, d'oh!

I don't know what to say...I hope that it doesn't stress it out too much.  I'm hoping I can salvage the broken branch.  I put it in a glass of water.  Who knows...maybe it will take root.  I've had successes like that before.

Early Plantings

It's been a tough winter for me for some reason.  Just didn't "like" it.  But I think that towards the end I started to come to terms with it and accept the fact that like the trees, people too need a time of rest and hibernation.  That said, I am still glad spring is close by.  Seeds have been ordered and delivered to my door.  Plans have been made for what I will be planting and my warm season crops that will need transplanting have already been started.

My plans for this year are to try out some new varieties of peppers, and add some new additions to my garden repertoire, that being, sweet potatoes, red potatoes, and broccoli.  Additionally I ordered a blueray highbush blueberry bush that I am excited about.  I am  hoping that with the volunteering that I will be doing with the Chester County Food Bank at Springton Manor this season I will learn much.

Here is what I plan on growing this season:

Veggies:	Herbs:
Spinach	Sage
Lettuce	Rosemary
Arugula	Parsley
Swiss Chard	Oregano
Asparagus	Basil
Soy Bean	Chives
Snow Peas	Cilantro
Peas
Green Beans
Sugar Snap Peas
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Peppers
Sweet Pepper
Red Potatoes
Broccoli

I already started the peppers, broccoli and tomatoes.  I think I made my first mistake already by being too eager and starting the tomato seed too soon.  Hopefully I can keep them going by transferring them into larger and larger pots before getting them in the ground.  As you can see by the photo, they have already germinated, while the peppers are still yet to germinate (the top half of the tray).  They don't go into the ground until May, which is two months out.

Broccoli was a late idea for me, but I figured I give it a try as its something that the boys enjoy (aka tolerate) and I've seen my neighbor grow it successfully.  So I will try out three broccoli plants this season.  The plan for peppers this year is to try out a new variety of hot called Aji, which I fell in love with while in Ecuador.  I will need to see if I can find an Aji recipe to make which we had every night while there which we put on rice, popcorn, soup.  A nice way to spice up things.  In addition to the Aji, other pepper varieties this year are:  Buran, Chervena Chushka, and Tollies Sweet.  I ordered these from the Seed Saver's Exchange.

As for tomatoes, I am taking a risk by sticking with seeds that are 2 and 3 seasons old.  Although, seems like they are germinating just fine.  Focus is Romas for my sauces and then the beefy ones for salads and sandwiches.  Varieties selected are:  Roma, Beefsteak, Beefmaster, Early Girl and Rutgers.  I was reading up on the difference between determinate and indeterminate varieties which was first brought to my attention at a Food Bank meeting.  Roma's and Rutgers are determinates while the Beefsteak, Beefmaster and Early Girls are indeterminate.  Just  knowing this little bit of info will really help me in where to plant them as well as to prune or not to prune!

Next post will be on flower seed plantings.

Chester County Food Bank

I am going to be helping out by doing volunteering work with the Chester County Food Bank.  In September, they came out to Matt's school to put in some raised beds.  The school will be planting and maintaining the beds throughout the growing season.  When the time comes to harvest the vegetables, they will give all the food to the food bank to help those in need in Chester County.  The day that the Food Bank came out to set up the beds, I volunteered to help out with the students and was very interested in what they were doing.  I wanted to get more involved so I contacted them and asked how I can help with other projects.  I am now going to be helping with maintaining 20 raised beds at Springton Manor Farm in Glenmore, PA. 

Today we started building the beds.  We put in 6 of the 20 beds.  These 6 will be double highs.  The remaining 14 will be singles.  This winter we will also be starting a nursery program at the farm.  Here are some pictures of the bed construction project.

Matt helping with staking in the beds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time for a break with a visit to with the goats.

This is the nursery where we will be growing the seeds this winter.

The first 6 beds are done!

We have 14 more to go!  Last season they planted without raised beds and the weeds were a nightmare.

A job well done!

I'm really excited about this project!  To be helping out, giving to the community and to be doing something that I love love love!  I hope to learn a lot this growing season from some really neat people that I've met so far!

Adventures in Asparagus

It's too soon to tell if my new addition of asparagus to the garden will be worth the effort.  A veggie or fruit makes it into my garden when it meets at least one of these three qualifications:

1. At least person (or pet) in the house must like it.
2. It tastes better fresh then when bought in the store.
3. It's just too expensive at the store.

Well asparagus meets #1 and #3 of the above requirements.  It's something that we rarely buy at the store even though Mike and I enjoy it.  It's so hard to get asparagus the size we like it.  Additionally, it's a bit on the pricey side, especially when it's rarely that good when bought from the store.

A friend of mine was telling me about how he purchased some asparagus roots and planted them this season.  Hearing his story really got me curious and so I decided to do research of my own good ol' Junior and Archibald (Veggie Tales peeps will get that).  I ended up purchasing 10 purple asparagus roots.  Purple asparagus are sweeter than the green asparagus.  Additionally, you can eat them raw.  When you cook the purple asparagus, it will turn green (sort of like a lobster turning red when you cook it -- how's that analogy?)

Anyway, they came in the mail and to prepare the soil, I had to dig some pretty deep holes.  At least 12" deep.  I put root in each hole and then only covered them about 2".

I kept them watered and waited to see what would happen.  A week or so later little baby asparagus started to pop out of the ground.  First one, then another, then another.  Pretty soon each of the 10 roots showed promise by producing new growth.  I then filled in the holes a bit more and continued to keep an eye on them.

Several weeks later I have quite a pretty little addition to my garden, if not yet edible.  The asparagus needs a season or two to produce more mature stems.  At the very least, they are pretty.  The good thing about asparagus is it is a perennial and will continue to produce for me.

Right now some of them are producing what looks like little yellow berries.  I read that these will fall to the ground and help spread them.  If it is doing this or not I can't tell as each week passes by, I see a new baby sprout emerge from the ground.  

I put the asparagus in the same raised bed as I plant some of my herbs.  I have to say out of all my raised bed, my asparagus and herb bed looks the best.  I am eager to see how these veggies do this season and next season.

Why I run

A friend of mine had asked me a while back why I like to run.  After thinking about it for a moment, I realized that I wasn't able to answer adequately.  Ever since then I've been trying to find words to describe why I enjoy running.  I mean, running makes me feel good, but why?  Why does it make me feel good?  This was not so easy to answer.  Well two weekends ago I had gone on a 10-mile run and it was then that I was able to formulate an answer to that question.

When I run I feel most at peace.  I love being outside and when I run I feel the most connected to God.  (Although after all these years of doing it, I finally realized that was what I was feeling)  As I run on a trail and pass by the different trees and flowers and grass I take in all the different sights, smells and sounds of nature around me.  The different colors around me in nature as well as the different surprises I see along the way are never the same from run to run.  I think to myself, how can I get bored on a run when there is so much to beauty take in?  God made this for us to enjoy and so often we are speeding by both literally and figuratively.

I hear my breathing and from it's slow, steady rhythm I start to calm my racing thoughts.  I feel so alive and thankful that I have my legs to carry me, my arms to pump in rhythm with my legs, my lungs to breath in the fresh air and my ears and eyes to hear and see all things.  Everything working together perfectly.  On some runs I do a lot of thinking, while on other runs I don't want to think.  But the beauty of it is, I alone, can choose.  These runs are my brief adventures.

I spend time thinking about these wonderful gifts that the Lord has given us to enjoy and I am so thankful for them.  Thank you for this breeze.  Thank you for the river I run next to.  Thank you for the different shades of green that I see.  Thank you for blessing me with such a loving husband.  Thank you for giving us two beautiful boys.  It feels good to be alive.

I took some pictures of this particular run to try and capture some of the things that I see and experience.

This is the entrance to the trail I usually run.  It's a mile in no shade to get to this point.  My first gratitude, to enter the shade of the trees.

It's peaceful to be here.  The shade provided by the trees is a welcome gift.  On the left of the trail is the Brandwine River and I can hear the water flowing as I run along side of it.  I wonder who is faster, me or the flowing water? :)  Picture this same trail on a snowy winter day.

These next two pictures are a thwarted attempt of me exploring beyond.  The trail is going to be extended, but must have JUST been fenced off.  The week prior, I had discovered this and ventured out on the trail a bit.  But alas, it is now closed off...

...so I head up this hill as I saw a mountain biker ride up here.

And I come across this!  Another path that is an entrance to the state park.

After a mile of being under trees it opens up to this.  The photo is deceiving, but this is a HILL.  And up ahead is the dam for Marsh Creek.  On the other side is Marsh Creek Lake.

At the top of the hill and the dam.  Having a look at where I've been.  See the water below?  That's from the dam.

And when I look to the right I am presented with this!  Marsh Creek Lake and some sail boats.  All created by the very dam that I am standing on and just ran up.

And so now on to the "trail running" part of the adventure.  I see at the top of the dam, is a trail.  Obviously used by mountain bikers.  So I continue on with my run, and here are some pictures of the trail I ran on.

I was running around the lake.  And was but a few feet from the water.  Passed a few bikers along the way too.

Do the people in the sail boats see me?

Decisions, decisions..do I take the left path or the right path?

A secret spot in the lake.

This is as far as I went.  I turned around from this point and went back the way I came.  Put on my headphones and listened to some Pearl Jam, Alive.

So this is just one of my runs, my adventures, my time with the Lord, my time to recharge and be better for it.  And this is why I run.

The Tree with 9 Lives

Remember the post back in May about the tree we planted for earth day?  Well the little Silky Dogwood was doing just fine until I started meddling with it.  About a month back I was cutting the grass and I decided to weed around the screen that we put around the tree sapling.  So, I removed the screen and proceeded to trim around it.  As I was doing trimming around it no sooner was I thinking, "I really need to be careful not to wack it", when sure enough - wack!  Little tree sapling was no more.

I was so angry for doing that I yelled and stomped around the yard a bit thinking...what am I going to tell Matt?  This is his tree that he brought home from school for us to plant, and here I am having to fuss with it.  Thoughts started running through my head such as going out to the nursery and replacing it without him knowing to just sticking it back in the ground and seeing what happened rushed through my mind.  After a few minutes of looking at the little tree, I walked away from the scene of the crime with my head hung low.

Finally, I brought the evidence into the house and set it on the kitchen counter.  I was not really sure what I was going to do about it, but I knew I couldn't just throw it away.  After a while, I thought, I'll just put it in a cup of water and set it on the window sill like I do any other cutting.  Who knows, maybe it will hang in there a bit?  I then went back outside and cleaned up the other half of the sapling by cleaning off the tip where it was wacked off.  I watered it and put the cage around it again just pretending that nothing ever happened.

That evening, I realized that I had to tell Matt about the accident.  I told him that maybe we could go out and replace it with the very same type of dogwood.  He responded that this was a "special tree that his teacher bought for him."  Ouch...that hurt.

And so we waited....

About a week or two later, when I was cutting the grass again, I glanced down at the little tree (twig sticking out of the ground) to find that..what?...was there some new growth on it?!  Do my eyes deceive me?  I stopped the mower to take a closer look, and sure enough...one, two, three little buds forcing their way through the remains of the sapling.  A smile came over me and I was glad to tell Matt the news.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, the other half of the sapling remain in the cup on the window sill.  I was expecting leaves to start curling up and dropping one by one, but yet, it never happened.  There is was, perched on the sill looking just as it did the day I attacked it with the trimmer....but wait...was that a new bud starting to grow at the tip?  No...it couldn't be.

A few days later I noticed that the water in the cup was getting low, so I decided to fill it up a bit, after all, if it wasn't giving up, then I sure wasn't going to either.  As I put the cup under the faucet, I noticed what looked like new roots forming at the base of the sapling.  Upon closer inspection, it was indeed 2 or three new roots emerging from it!  I couldn't believe it!  I mean, I can understand the half outside re-growing as it was still alive with it's young root system in place, but sticking a "twig" in a cup of water?  No way!  But sure enough it was still growing.  Here I thought I had killed Matt's Earth Day tree that he had brought home from school only to find that I have created two new trees.  I was and am ecstatic and couldn't wait to tell Matt the news.

So this story has a happy ending and a lesson learned for me as well.   I can't help but think of Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid saying, "tree have strong root".  And this little tree does indeed.

Peas Glorious Peas

It's been far too long since my last post during such a busy growing season!  The lettuce is almost done and we had a better crop than last year.

However for next year I am going to have less arugula and more spinach.  Seeing that I am the only one in the family that likes arugula, devoting 4 squares to it was way too much.  Next year arugula only get's 1 square.

The peas are going crazy.  I will harvest all that I see in one evening, and then come out the next evening to see a whole new crop ready to be picked.  It's like I hadn't even picked any the day before.  And boy they are so sweet and tender.  I think for every 3 pods I pick, I will pop one in my mouth.

Not sure what to make of my raspberry bush.  It was going full force the beginning of spring.  I could almost taste the fresh berries in my mouth.  But now were are in the end of June and they seemed to have just stopped ripening.  I have no idea why this is.  Unless perhaps the bush needs another year to mature as this is only it's first year producing anything.

I harvested my garlic the other day.  And think I might have waited a bit too long to harvest.  It's tough to tell when it's ready as I pulled one out a month ago and it was still on the small side.  Now I pulled out this bunch and they seem on the edge of being "over ready".  I'll have to do some research on the prime time to harvest it.  I think next year I am going to increase my garlic growing so I can give some away to friends.

And finally at the last minute we joined a 2nd CSA called Vollemecke Orchards to get some fresh eggs. 

As much as I want to raise chickens, it just would not be the best thing in our current home.  So co-op eggs will have to do.  While there we picked up fresh ground beef and fresh strawberries and yogurt made from fresh dairy.  The yogurt is unbelievably rich and creamy, like a yummy dessert.  It beats the pants off the store bought yogurts for sure.

Next post will be on the tomatoes and the introduction of a new vegetable to my garden, the asparagus.