Antonio,Brad and Becky go Picking Vegetables

Becky's grandson Antonio came all the way from Kansas to pick some fresh Kentucky beans, maters and his favorite... eggplant. Kids love eggplant. Click the slide show to see a movie and bigger photos.

Jessie and the Giant Sunflowers

Jessie has been watching her giant sunflowers grow up to the sky. It looks like she would like to climb all the way to the top.

Squash Picking Season

So far Jessie has shown us how to harvest lettuce, water Zucchini and now she has been picking fresh squash. There are a lot of good looking vegetables growing on in the neighborhood. Maybe Jessie's mom Cait will give us some recipes so we all know what to do with the squash.

Becky's Red Tomato June 11th

Becky wrote to tell me that she has a red tomato and didn't even need any spraypaint. I was feeling like a big time gardener with my tomatoes ready to turn but they are certainly behind Becky's mater. My tomato is looking very good but it will be a few more days before it is red and ready to eat. We better ask Becky for some of her garden tips.

Sharing Time: Bok Choy,Swiss Chard, Spinach, etc

The vegetables are growing rapidly with the abundant rain and good care. Cait has been sharing greens, Swiss Chard, lettuce and spinanch with neighbors including Jean. Cait and Martin hosted a neighborhood pot luck supper next to their beautiful garden. After a good meal they distributed some of their extra squash and tomato plants. There should be plenty of squash out there.
A week or so later Keith rode his bike to Becky and Mark's garden to get a 3-4 day supply of spinach for Mary Kay. His spinach crop came in a bit later. June 2nd ..Becky invited us over to share some of her bountiful crop of Bok Choy. Jessie came dressed for the occasion in her ballerina outfit. Janet decided to wait for the next batch of Bok Choy. As I said before, "Good gardens make good neighbors" As you walk by our garden on Cherry Road check on the squash and tomatoes. We may have some extras. One of my tomatoes will definitely be ready by the fourth of July even if I need to find some red spray paint.

Keith getting a mess of fresh Spinach.

Jessie and Cait with a bunch of Bok Choy from Becky.

Good Gardens = Good Neighbors

In the Mending Wall, the poet Robert Frost's neighbor says to him, "Good fences make good neighbors." I thought about that line and decided to try a new one. "Good gardens make good neighbors." Last summer Mary Kay kept on bringing home fresh vegetables shared by good neighbors. I sat in the house and once in a while ventured out to mow the lawn. This spring I decided to join in with the neighbors and raise some vegetables for ourselves. With a bountiful harvest we hope to also be sharing with our neighbors. Already this spring I have visited with more good neighbors than all the previous years combined. I have recorded movies of Cait and Jessie picking lettuce and Becky planting blueberries. I have offer of a trade of Bok Choy for Swiss Chard. Now if I only knew what Bok Choy is. People have told me to come and get volunteer Tommy Toe tomatoes and extra squash plants. The good neighbors are enthused about their yards filling up with vegetables. Yes, "good gardens are making good neighbors" and we are just getting started in late April.

Requests for Plants, seeds, gardening tips, extra plants

Looking for eggplant sets ready to plant .

keithalc06@yahoo.com

Send info on plants to me and also send me requests and I will post them.

If you have extra of any plants let us know. I will post the information here.

Bag Gardening with Doreen

I took Jodie's idea of bag gardening and did a little twist:

I've got some asparagus and strawberry plants to install at the farm, but my ground is not yet ready for them. Unfortunately the plants don't know that and needed to be in soil asap. So I took a couple bags of soil I had on-hand,laid each on the site where these plants will be permanently installed and then followed Jodie's directions on bag gardening.

I followed up with liberally covering each bag garden with some grass clippings (actually I just pulled grass and clover out by hand until l had enough). The decomposing greens will: provide nitrogen to the plants (approximately 5% according to studies), act as a mulch on the soil, and help protect the plastic from harmful UV rays (to help decrease breakdown/leaching). The weight of the bag on the site will help further break down the compost underneath (I hope).

Now, my goal is to either cut away the plastic to allow the plants further growth into the bed underneath or gently remove and transfer each plant to the permanent site at the end of the season .

Thanks to Jodie for bringing this idea to other gardeners!

Also, I tried to find information on the leaching aspect of the bags and didn't have much luck. One site suggested that the plastic leaches lead as it decomposes, but didn't provide useful details. The question would be whether the lead goes into the soil or the plant (neither a great option) and how valid a concern this may be.

I'll let you know how it goes and please share any useful tips you may discover along the way!

Take care --
doreen

Early Harvests

I have already harvested one batch of spinach that I planted in the fall as an experiment. It stayed dormant most of the winter and then began growing in late February. My spinach has already been eaten in an omelette with gouda cheese from Zimmeramn's.
Becky

People Who Will Share Gardening Experience

People who offered to share gardening experience from the re-skilling workshop March 11,2009 and the Spring Kickoff for the Edible Yard Project on March 22, 2009.
Name Phone Email Type of Experience
Sean Clark 985-3591 Anything and everything
Patty and Paul Ponder 859- 925-9033 We have a big farm garden.
Dave Kennedy leafforlife@yahoo.com Organic gardening
Pat Brunner 986-4534 Container gardening
Paul and Pat Smithson 606-985-1267 General vegetable gardening
Hank Pinkerton 859-421-8892 viamedia@att.net Soil improvement,
Fruit and flowering tree pruning
Donna Wellman 859-985-5386 farm@grinningplanet.com Plants, seed, row cover, etc.
Cait McClanahan 859-986-9926 Bed preparation, seed starting
Betty Sarafin 859-985-2817 blsarafin@hotmail.com Gardening
Ann Bajwa 756-3431 Container gardening
Becky Roselli 985-9490 mrroselli@yahoo.com General gardening
Doreen Parsley 986-2379 parsleyd@gmail.com General gardening
Keith Gilbertson keithalc06@yahoo.com General gardening

If you would like to be added to the list email info to keithalc06@yahoo.com

How to Keep Cats out of your Garden

The first morning after I planted spinach a bunch of cat tracks appeared in my seed bed. I rushed to the back yard and got a little section of fence. Since then no cat tracks have appeared. I also read that citrus peels keep the felines at bay. I need to eat some more oranges and lemons. So far no cat tracks have shown up near the orange peels. I also barked at the cat and told him to git!!.

Please send more suggestions that work!

Tomatoes:How Early do you dare put them in the ground?

I took a chance and put out four tomato plants on the day before Good Friday April 9th. Now I will have to watch the weather forecast very carefully until early May. But maybe I will have some ripe maters by the 4th of July. Tell us when you plant your tomatoes and when you get the first ripe ones. Send proof to gardensberea@gmail.com . Keith

Swiss Chard in my Yard

On April 9th I planted some Swiss Chard out in front of my house. I paid $3.00 for 13 plants at Walmart. I will be tracking to see if the investment pays off. Here is some info about Swiss Chard. Keith Gilbertson

Swiss chard is a vegetable that is often overlooked. It is worth a try, however. Colorful and tasty, Swiss chard is full of nutritional goodness. Swiss chard is related to the beet, and comes in a variety of colors. The leafy portion is always a nice green, while the stalk can be white, bright yellow, or a Christmas red. A very colorful salad or vegetable dish can be made using all three colors together. The edible portion is the leaf and stalk. The stalk needs to cook longer than the leaf, so it can be treated as two separate vegetables.
The younger, sweeter leaves can be put raw in salads, providing color, nutrition, and a spinach-like taste. Larger leaves can be chopped and cooked. The leafy portions cook quickly like spinach; the stalks should be chopped into bite-size pieces and can be sautéed or steamed for a longer period of time than the leaves.

Please tell us all about other less known vegetables. Email to gardensberea@gmail.com or keithalc06@yahoo.com Thanks

Garden Tours

We will bring a little camera to your garden and let you give us a video tour. email keithalc06@yahoo.com when you are ready to give a short tour and then I will post it.