Have You Planted Your Garden This Year?
Finally ……. The cold weather is behind us! I don’t know about you but, this winter, I heard more complaining than ever before.
It seemed as if everyone I know was, impatiently, waiting for the crisp scent of new growth that comes with spring.
It took Poo and I about two weekends to get our seeds into the ground but, alas, its done and we are starting to see the seedlings sprout up.
One of my bonus daughters had sent us a catalog of heirloom seeds . This company carries one of the largest selections of seeds from the 19th century, including European and Asian varieties.
Not exactly seeds you can pick up at your local hardware store. 🙂
We hoped to start our seedlings inside, before the last frost, but we waited too long so we forged ahead using the direct sow method.
We’re seeing growth with some of what we planted but it’s still a waiting game with others.
There were a few plants that we decided were not worth starting from seed and purchased those from our local store, like tomatoes and hot peppers.
Tomatoes are a must every year.
I grew up eating my Dad’s homemade spaghetti sauce every Sunday. That was his day to cook.
He never used a recipe.
His formula for homemade spaghetti was as follows:
- canned tomatoes
- ground beef
- spices
- onion
- garlic
- anything else from the fridge that needed to be used up before it spoiled
No measuring.
He would spend several hours in the afternoon tending to the sauce and, by dinner time, spaghetti was what was on our plate!
Almost every Sunday.
I think, as a result of this weekly tradition, many of my siblings make “a mean spaghetti sauce,” without a recipe as well. I don’t know if mine would be considered as good as theirs but, I also make it.
Canned tomatoes worked fine when we were growing up and it was economical for a family of ten but, fresh homegrown tomatoes straight from the garden ……… well, you just can’t beat that!
And, homemade spaghetti sauce freezes so well.
My tomato plants this year are:
- Better Boy
- Big beef
- Beefmaster
Hot peppers are also mandatory. Every year.
I love jalapeños. I don’t put them on everything but I do love them on pizza and use them in my homemade soups and salsa. I also use them to make hot pepper jelly.
I’m very excited about this years’ crop. I have 4 varieties in the ground, three of which are red in color.
Normally I make green hot pepper jelly and I fully anticipate that I will be making a red jelly this year!
Sounds Christmas-see, right?
I planted 13 small pepper plants:
- Four Serrano – red in color
- Four Jalapeno – green
- Four Hot Portugal – red
- One Hot Red Cherry – red
We also planted the following from the heirloom seed catalog:
- Peas
- Leeks
- Zucchini
- Eggplant Mitoya
- Ground Cherry Aunt Molly
- Bean Chinese Red Noodle.
I really hope the Chinese Beans do well as I bought a similar variety last year at the farmers market and they were, not only gorgeous in color, but tasted exceptional.
Just like the purple variety shown in the picture, the beans I planted will also grow to around 18″ long. Oh my!
The Aunt Molly Cherry is also a crop I am juiced up about. In pioneer times, ground cherries were one of the first fruits planted. The sweet citrus flavor was appreciated for the use in jams, preserves, pies and sauces.
Yes ……. I’m thinking cherry jelly.
I can’t wait to try some of these new crops. I pray they don’t disappoint!
“We might think we are nurturing our garden, but of course it’s our garden that is really nurturing us.” – Jenny Uglow
xoxo, Katy