Planting in Late Summer for Fall & Spring Harvests

This is the year that I'm going to do it, guys- make the leap and do some serious Fall planting! I think I'm usually tuckered out by the time the end of the summer rolls around. Before I know it, the time to plant for fall has passed me by. Not this year!

I'm been direct seeding Fall veggies in my garden for the past 3 weeks now, and I will finish up the last bit of planting tomorrow. If you're in S.E. Michigan, Northern Ohio, or a place with a similar last frost date (Oct 7th), you still have a few days to hop to it!


Fall Planting list:
Super Sugar Snap Pea
Prize Choy
De Cicco Broccoli
St. Valery Carrot
Grandpa's Admire Lettuce
Winter Density Lettuce
Parade bunching Onion
Rhubarb Red Swiss Chard

I've tried to seed most everything in the new, larger bed (pictured on the left)- it's closest to the side door of our home so if I need to dash out during the winter I'm one or two steps closer, and it already has crazy, thriving Kale there.

I'm planning to put up some quick hoops over the first 8 feet of the bed, enough distance to cover up the Kale, fall onions, and sugar snaps. I might want to do another 8 feet of hoop down at the other end (by the lovely garbage bins), because there are broccoli, a few carrots, and some speckles lettuce down there!

I'll be sure to share pictures of the quick hoops once I get them put together, as well as some guidance and assembly photos. I've been wanting to do serious season extension for a long time, and it will finally happen this year! One step closer to that ideal Badass Garden that's always floating in my mind...

What are you planning on planting this Fall?

What's Up Wednesday

So many goodies are coming out of the garden these days. Lots of carrots, kale, awesome purple onions, potatoes, and great herbs- thyme, rosemary and oregano have been flavoring all our dishes recently.

Look at that harvest!

 I've started to cure the garlic as I harvest it- by hanging it up on the kitchen wall! 

Pretty fun, huh?

First cucumber- Yeah!!!!

 I just love these cucumber flowers 

 Every day I get about 30 ripe black raspberries- delish!

Woohoo!

What's up in your garden this week?

Silent Sunday

Thinning carrots in the garden= baby carrots :)

Sugar Snap peas are starting to bloom

First garlic Scape of the year- woohoo!!

 Happy Sunday, all :)

What's Up Wednesday

The Bloomsdale Spinach I planted from seed in the garden is doing great- 

look how big it got in the past few weeks!

From near to far: Kidney and Provider Bush Beans, Potatoes, Carrots and 

 Leeks, Lettuce, Kale, and Onions! Woo- what a green garden!

Carrots are going wild- I'll need to thin them soon

Genovese, Thai, and Lemon Basils newly transplanted outdoors.

You wouldn't know it from the picture, but this is an Apricot Tree! :) So cute.

What's Up in your Garden this Wednesday?

What's Up Wednesday

Garlic is looking good- nice and tall! In about a month to a month and a half, we'll have garlic scapes!














Little carrot plants are so dang cute. I like the point when they start to get their first fern-like leaves and you remember, "oh yeah- I planted carrots here!"

The first set of Potato plants are coming up as well

Can you tell what this is, besides a terribly out of focus picture of my hand? I had to share- It's a mini, tiny asparagus stalk!!!! I was worried the plants didn't establish, but looks like they're doing well! 

What's Up in your garden today?

What's Up Wednesday

This is what's "up" in my urban garden today!

Monday I transplanted the first of the Valencia onions I grew indoors- they seem to be thriving in the garden, despite the cold temps.

I direct seeded some carrots 2 weeks ago, and they are coming up quite well. So nice to see their little green shoots lining the garden beds in rows.

The mystery spinach I started indoors has taken off well outside too! Anyone have any thoughts on what type it is?

Apple trees are blossoming- so pretty!

The 9 Speckles Lettuces in the garden are getting bigger each day- right now they're about 8 inches across! Lots of delicious salads in our future.

What's Up in your garden today?

Spinach, Carrot & Ginger salad with homemade lemon dressing

This is quite a simple recipe, but it's quite delicious. A great way to make use of that fresh spinach from the farmers' market. The ginger gives it a surprise little zing, and the lemon dressing is light, fresh, and tasty- the perfect compliment. This has been our dinner for the past several nights, and I this continuing to be a trend!

Spinach, Carrot, & Ginger Salad w/ homemade lemon dressing

Ingredients:
3 cups Fresh Spinach, chopped
source: Ferris Farms, Ferris MI
1 small piece Ginger-
source: local food co-op
2 medium Carrots-
source: my root cellar
2 tbsp. Dried cranberries-
source: Michigan-grown from local food co-op



Dressing-
1/2 lemon
source: local food co-op
1 tbsp. Olive Oil
source: local food co-op
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
source: local food co-op
1 sprig Oregano
source: grow lights in basement
1 sprig Thyme
source: grow lights in basement


Directions:

• Take chopped spinach and add to a large salad bowl
• Grate ginger and carrots into small, thin slivers- add to bowl 
• Add cranberries to salad as well
• In a small bowl, squeeze the juice from the lemon
• Add the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, oregano, and thyme into the small bowl with the lemon juice
• Whisk dressing together with fork or a small whisk
• Top salad with dressing, and make sure to distribute dressing evenly

Serve and Enjoy!

Dark Days Challenge- Gingered Carrot Soup

It's delicious. It's simple. It uses carrots, which are one of the few veggies you can still find in abundance in the Winter around here.

Gingered Carrot Soup!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

source: far away, purchased frm local food coop

1/2 cup minced onion

source: Downtown Ypsi Farmers Market

1/4 cup grated ginger
source: far away, purchased frm local food coop
2 cloves of garlic, minced

source: my backyard!

2 cups vegetable or chicken stock

source: purchased from local food coop
4 cups sliced carrots
source: my backyard!

1/2 cup half and half or whole milk

source: Calder's Dairy, 50 miles or less

1/4 teaspoons ground cumin
source: far away, purchased from local food coop

Directions:

Heat oil in a large saucepan, over medium heat.

Add onion, garlic, and ginger, and saute until onion is cooked

Now add chicken/veggie stock and the carrots as well

Cover and simmer until carrots are tender- should be about 30 minutes

Take the soup off of the stove and blend in the food processer

Return soup to pot, and add the half and half/whole milk & the cumin

Season to taste with salt, pepper, etc.

                                                               Serve and Enjoy!

Winter Local Eating in Columbus, OH

I grew up in Worthington, Ohio- a suburb 10 minutes Northwest of Columbus. This weekend, my roommate and I drove down to Columbus for a visit- his girlfriend is at Ohio State and my parents still live in Worthington.

massive carrot harvest! (mom's hands)

Since I was never really an adult in Columbus (except for that crazy, hectic year of grad school), I am not super familiar with where I can "buy local". I wasn't raised "anti-local", or anything like that- my mom loves to garden and always had a veggies garden along with beautiful landscaping that always looks effortless. My dad's side of the family is from Kentucky/West-Virgina and gardened/farmed throughout the years. Enjoying home-grown food is in my blood! It's just that I truly developed interest in supporting local farmers and businesses in the past 5 years, and I've been in Michigan almost all of that time.

Every time I come into Central Ohio, I make a point to stop by the Olde Worthington Farmers Market, one of the few Columbus Farmers' Market I'm familiar with. I hadn't been to a Winter Market in the area, but I assumed that they exist- Columbus is a big city! I did an Google search and stumbled upon a list of all Winter Farmers' Markets in Ohio, and discovered that the Old Worthington Farmers' Market has a Winter Market! SO off we went on Saturday morning to check it out.

Goodies from the market

I didn't need much in the way of groceries, but the Old Worthington Winter Farmers' Market was nice and homey- I'm glad we went!

There seemed to be a fair amount of customers coming in and out, and a nice mix of fresh winter veggies, honey, cheese, meat, breads & baked goods, etc. I came home with some sweet potatoes, a few heads of garlic to replenish my local stash, and a copy of edible Columbus, central-Ohio's edible communities magazine.

veggie seeds for 2012

We also made a pit stop at the Dublin location of Oakland Nurseries, which is an Ohio gardening & nursery business. My mom and I had been pouring over seed catalogues, and were excited to find both Botanical Interest seeds (organic) and Livingston Seed Co. seeds (based in Columbus), so we went ahead and made most of our seed purchases for the 2012 gardening season. Oakland is a great store- I'd recommend checking it out if you're ever in the area.

If you're in Ohio and you're looking for some homegrown goodies in the Winter, check out this list of Winter Markets! Edible Columbus also is a great way to learn about the food hubs in the Columbus-area, and get a better feel for some of the restaurants, businesses, and organizations that work with food, sustainability, and gardening in "Cap City" Ohio.

Giving Market Gardening a Try?

The organization I work for is helping small-scale growers in the area to sell their produce at the Farmers' Market we run by supporting a pilot year of an Ypsilanti-based Market Garden Co-operative.

If you're not familiar, a Market Garden Co-op is a group of smaller growers that would like to sell in a market setting but most likely don't have enough produce to justify having their own stand or stall at the market. Growers can become Members or Sellers, and they basically buy in to the group in order to share a stall space with other small growers. Proceeds from the stall are shared in different ways, and Market Gardeners can pool resources like tables, a tent, chairs, and other infrastructure pieces. The Co-op also shares costs in things like advertising and promotions, so I wouldn't have to have my own business, business name, flyers, etc.

Right now, I am doing one of my favorite things; focusing another Crazed Project! I've mentioned this tendency in recent posts- my love of taking on a potentially out-of-reach project and being obsessed with it until I can make it a reality :) The new project on my mind recently has been growing some produce for the market garden co-op!

I've been thinking about growing carrots for Market, specifically. It seems that we almost never have carrots available at our Farmers' Market, and they're kind of a staple crop- I mean, people eat a lot of carrots, right? I've heard that carrots are hard to grow, or maybe they're just hard to grow in our soil here in S.E. Michigan. I've had a lot of success with growing carrots at home, and I think I'd have to put some work in to grow market-quality carrots, but it could be very possible!

There are several steps I would need to take in order to prepare for selling at Market:

Dragon Carrots- High Mowing Seed Co.

• Select varieties that people would actually like to buy. At first, I was considering all those pretty, colorful types like Dragon Carrots, but maybe those would weird people out? 
• I need to think about who the customers are at the market and what type of quality and product they'd be expecting
• I'm beginning to think that the more "regular" and "grocery store" that the carrots look, the more likely they would be to sell

• Soil improvements would need to be made. Carrots supposedly like sandy soil, which I have. I think I'd need to work the soil some, because carrots are pretty sensitive to rocks and things and will take a turn and end up all crooked if they "hit" something as they're growing.
• While its' not necessary, if I invested in some row cover and quick hoops, which I'd like to have anyway, then I could potentially starting selling earlier in the season and sell them later into the fall as well.

Carrots would also be a good option for me to sell at market because I love them, and they store well. So if I don't sell a lot of them, I will be able to eat them up and store them for my own use without feeling like I "lost" money.

Thoughts? Opinions? Advice?