Ten Days

Again I need to find time to make updates on the blog (my written journal is a little more updated). What a difference 10 days can make...here are a few pictures of the garden ten days apart from May 5 and May 16. I know, today is the 21 - so I'm still behind!

[Below] The daffodils have bloomed and now there are seed pods standing in the place of flowers. I never knew how interesting these pods looked.


[Below] You can click to get a little bit larger images...most tulips have been bright and are now fading. Other plants are getting larger to take their place later in the summer.


[Below] On the 5th, peas were just poking up above the soil...not much to see.


[Below] Just over a week later they are very visible. It won't be long before they start putting on a lot more height.


[Below] New raspberry plants are sending up some shoots and starting to fill out some canes from last year...


[Below] A few days of sun and the leaves are really filling out the plants. I am looking forward to harvesting some berries this year.


[Below] Two varieties of rhubarb were just filling out on the 5th...


[Below] Now they are starting to bulk up some stems...won't be long for a harvest.


[Below] Okay this pair is a bit different. These are lettuce seedlings that were direct sown.

[Above: A spinach seedling in the lower left, pea shoots, mixed leaf lettuces, and a few scattered radishes.]

[Below] Here are plants that have been transplanted rather than direct seeded. The lettuce can be harvested now.

[Above: There is butterhead and green ice lettuce, curled kale, kohlrabi, and clover in this picture.]

Ten days can hold quite a bit of growth and activity in a garden!

More Edibles

(Common Evening-Primrose)

Spring is coming along well here....I have a couple of updates waiting, starting with this one. In a previous post, I mentioned my research into "wild edibles" in our yard starting with the common day-lily. I have now had the chance to try a few more from the list. It's really been interesting so far...and so many can be found well before the first domestic vegetables.

As you may tell from the top image, the main focus this time was the common evening-primrose. The old image below is the day-lily bed...you can spot the old evening primrose stalks in the front.

(Bed with primrose stalks and day-lily shoots)

Photos from last year show the mature plants.


The plant of interest is the early spring specimen. From my trusty field guide, I find that the young leaves can be used in salads or as a cooked green. As the description said - they are a bit peppery. They were not really bitter for me used fresh. The leaves are hairy, so the texture is a bit different.

(Common Evening-Primrose Top)

Another edible part is the cooked first-year roots...it is said the fall and early spring are the best times to harvest as they can become "quite peppery". I tried the cooked root, plain but it really was strong. It would likely be improved by using it as part of a dish and following the procedure of using 2-3 changes of water (I didn't want to go through the trouble - but should have for a better experience).

(Common Evening-Primrose Root)

So a little summary based on the guide book and an online article:

Early Spring: Tender leaves, cooked or in salad
Early Spring: First year roots, cooked
Summer-Fall: Flowers
Fall: Seeds, crack and add to baking
Late Fall: First year roots, cooked
(Peppery flavor can be reduced by using multiple changes of water in cooking.)

I have been making some Spring salads with various greens. Here is a common plantain. The young leaves (Early Spring) are used in salads or cooked. Older leaves will get stringy -- you can see the fibers in the leaf veins. They don't seem too invasive and are also medicinal for cuts and stings. Here is a nice YouTube video by "Eat the Weeds" Green Deane.

(Common Plantain)

It seems most people are familiar with dandelions. I have been mixing in some of the greens in salads as well. I notice that plants that grow in shadier places have much less bitter leaves. Dandelions have quite a list of edible uses: Salad leaves in Early Spring, Flower buds (like the one below) can be boiled or pickled, Flowers Spring to Late Summer can be cooked as fritters or used to make wine, and Early Spring and Fall roots can be roasted and used like coffee. (Dandelion Video: He can't get them to grow in his yard!)

(Dandelion Rosette)

There are much better sources of this information than here, but since this is what I am learning in the garden I will write about it. It seems that weeding can now be harvesting :-)

PS: While I am linking videos, here is the day-lily video.

Another Bee!

Home from work on Friday, I was surprised to find a bumblebee in the day-lily shoots. The garden really is coming to life. I even got some gardening tasks done this weekend, including the layout of some new vegetable beds.

I don't know if this was the bee from the other day...but it looked very comfortable inside this crocus bed...


It really did not seem to have plans to vacate anytime soon.


The bulbs are starting to put on some nice shows...


There is still a lot of bulb potential to keep me happy until the spring plants pop up.



If the temperatures cooperate next week I should get a bit of planting done...yey!

Crocus and Bee

(bee and crocus)

I am so happy! We have crocuses blooming and the first bee of the season....Time to get the bee house out/made. I decided to take a tour of the yard now that all the snow is gone and found this surprise. The first crocus bloom was actually on April 9th, which seems fairly average here. But the pictures with the bee are so much better!


(bee and crocus)

Finally we have a few days in the 60s F. Many shoots can be spotted like this hyacinth.

(hyacinth)

Chives are starting to shoot up as well.

(chives)

We added rhubarb to our garden last year...here is a shoot just starting to rise above the leaves.

(rhubarb sprouting)

Our only flowers right now are the crocuses. This is a new addition last fall. I like the effect of the purple striping.

(purple painted crocus)

Here are more purple with some pure white as well...

(purple and white crocus)

Here's the first group that started to bloom - on the west side of the house. I think next year the new additions (above) on the south side might take over the honor.

(light yellow crocus)

I have been reading up on that resources we might have right in our yard. I already knew a few things like dandelions are available, but here is the first prize for a "wild edible" this year: day-lily shoots.

(garden bed with common day-lily shoots)

[Please note aka disclaimer, eating things - especially wild plants is at your own risk. Be sure to correctly identify the plants. Also, individuals can have reactions to plants others can safely eat, so go easy at first.]

I have read in many sources that day-lilies are edible. After checking the blooms from last year (4th of July) it looks like ours are the common day-lily Hemerocallis fulva. I guess a typical urban yard fits the profile of a waste ground or disturbed land. According to my Peterson Field Guild there are many stages at which this plant can be used:

Early Spring: Small, tender shoots in salads
Early Spring: Small shoots cooked like asparagus
Early Spring: Young tubers in salad or cooked like corn
Summer: Buds as green beans or fritters
Summer: Flowers as fritters and seasoning
Fall: Older tubers can be cooked like corn


(harvested day-lily shoot and tuber part)

I have to say, the raw tubers and shoots were not bad at all and quite mild. I prefer the salad option to the cooked. I can't wait to try out the flowers...for now the next edible may be dandelion greens...

April and Spring

April is here and Spring is showing some signs of arrival. We have had a wet winter, heavy snow in spring, record river levels, and below average temperatures. Even though the yard is snowier and wetter than last year, things don't seem to be too far behind.

Above is a photo of ladybugs in the south foundation bed -- it was actually taken March 20. It is interesting to see this bed come to life first...the beetles are the first moving insect of the garden! I really must make better use of this early bed with its heat.

No outdoor seeding yet, things are way too wet still. I will try to transplant some lettuce this year and see if we get salads sooner than direct sowing. If that works, then I will repeat again.

(lettuce seedlings, 7 days old on 4/5/2009)

Cool-season transplants are growing nicely...

(early cool-season seedlings on 4/5/2009)

Some are chomping at the bit to be put out. I may start some hardening off so they can go in as soon as the garden is ready. I see some round swiss chard leaves, and the kohlrabi and kale are hard to tell apart at this point (kale is on the end).

(closer view of seedlings on 4/5/2009)

But, as you see - that last 12 inches of snow is holding on still. That is probably good though as the river levels are still falling (they will rise again come this weekend maybe). I do know it is spring...robins are singing, staying in the trees - what is up with all that white?

(snow from late March storm 4/5/2009)

This is the first vegetable showing its green. Walking onions I planted last year. I am hoping they will take off in their second season. I think I will be happy with this perennial giving a yearly supply.

(walking onions 4/5/2009)

In the south bed, day-lilies are sprouting nicely. They are a bit water-logged this spring, but about as tall as last year.

(day-lily in southern bed 4/5/2009)

I think this some kind of crocus I planted last fall. Either way it was planted last fall and it is coming up now.

(bulb in southern bed 4/5/2009)

I'm getting excited to get out and plant and see what is coming back under the snow!

Records

It was about time I got myself a little journal to keep some of our garden records in. Got the book, now I need to make sure I keep writing in it - though the blog last year has helped. Much to do with record keeping now as the spring season approaches....

I have sown some seeds to get a start on cool season crops. Things like kale, broccoli and cabbage will go in the ground as soon as they can, which is usually mid-April. I even updated my planting records! Also I am settling on where to put all of our crops this year, you can look at the current plans on the records page.


We got our last order of seeds in last week from Pinetree Garden Seeds. They have some smaller sized packets for our smaller garden. I was really excited to get some Alpine Strawberry seeds. Those went in the freezer to be cold treated so that I can get them started in spring. Now we are only waiting on two crops for the garden - Sunchokes that will arrive in April from Jung Seeds and Potatoes I have yet to purchase.


It's been an interesting last week for weather. As I mentioned, last Tuesday (3/10) we had a blizzard with a total of 10 inches of blowing snow. This wasn't as bad as our December Blizzard, but it buried the car deeper.


After the blizzard blew through, in came the cold air... -17F in the early hours of last Thursday (3/12). That was over 30F below the average for this time of year. I guess to make up for the cold and snow, we were served with a heat wave of +47F on Sunday and Monday. Wonderfully warm days above average...but that lead to huge melt-off. The water had no where to go but our back door. Luckily the ground slopes more to the side of the house, so the water went around the house and down the street. Now we have been glad to get a couple of days back below freezing just to slow the melt some and give the water a chance to settle. It won't last too long as predictions are for warmer temps over the weekend, which might take care of the rest of the snow.

Enough of the crazy March weather...I'm off to find a sunny and dry blog to read.