Enjoying Microgreens/Planting Potatoes and Heirloom Tomatoes/Mystery Moth

Once again, thanks to all of my readers.  It's been some time since my last post as I find myself very busy trying to get the yard and garden in shape, not to mention working full time.

Microgreens:

In my post on May 19, 2016,  I wrote about microgreens and how they have become very popular recently.  With the extremely warm weather over the memorial Day weekend, I harvested the first of the greens a few days ago.  They are now about 2 to 4 inches tall which is the optimum height.  In less then 3 weeks from sowing, I was able to harvest them.

Microgreens Ready For Harvest

Enjoying Microgreens as a Salad  Topping

We used them as a salad topping and they are delicious.  The blend I planted is similar to a spicy mesculin, as it contains some lettuce plus a wide variety of other greens including beets, cabbage, kale, etc.  The advantage of growing these greens is you can experiment and customize your own mixture to your liking.


Planting Potatoes:


During the third week of May, I took advantage of the dry conditions and planted potatoes.  This year I am experimenting  with a different variety, the French fingerling La Ratte.  It is similar to the banana fingerling, with a tan sin and a deep yellow flesh.  This variety is very popular among chefs.  I look forward to tasting this variety.

La Ratte Fingerling Seed Potatoes

Planting La Ratte Fingerlings

Potatoes are fairly easy to grow.  As you can see,  the seed potatoes are first cut into pieces that each contain 2 to 3 eyes.  Eyes are simply sprouts, or actually the early beginning of sprouts.  The potatoes are then placed into trenches about 6 inches deep, about 12 inches apart.  I normally space the rows about 2 to 3 feet apart.

The potatoes are then covered with 2 to 3 inches of soil, which will allow them to sprout more quickly then if the trench was completely filled in.  In later posts, I will talk about "hilling", a process of mounding up dirt around the plants that allows adequate space for the new potatoes to grow.

In addition to the La Ratte fingerlings, I also planted Yukon Gold and Burbank Russett potatoes.


Yukon Gold potatoes have finely flaked yellowish-white skin with light yellow flesh. They're bright and slightly sweet, with a smooth, slightly waxy texture and moist flesh. They're best for boiling, baking and making French fries. They'll also stand up well to grilling, pan frying and roasting.

Yukon Gold

The russet Burbank potato is a large potato cultivar with dark brown skin and few eyes. Its flesh is white, dry, and mealy, and it is good for baking, mashing, and french fries. It is a common and popular potato.

Burbank Russett

Planting Heirloom Tomatoes:

Last week I transplanted the heirloom tomatoes I started from seed into the garden.  The plants ended up being very nice as the warm weather over the memorial Day weekend gave them a final boost.  In my post of April 11, 2016, I explained in detail how the plants were started from seed.

Tomatoes Ready to Transplant

Heirloom Tomato

Tomatoes Protected With Cages and Shingles

The tomatoes I am growing this year are the Heirloom Rainbow Blend from Park Seeds, San Marzano (heirloom paste), and a couple of Juliet tomatoes (saladette mini Roma) I purchased while in Vermont for the Memorial Day weekend.

I always use tomato cages on the plants for support and a few wood shingles to protect them from wind.  I will remove the shingles in a few weeks once the plants have adjusted to the transplant process.

Mystery Moth:

About a week ago, I spotted an ornate moth on our deck.  I believe it's a moth as opposed to a butterfly, but I may be wrong.  Below are two photos.  Who can identify this for me?

In my next post, planting peppers, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, and more.  Also, another mystery bird.

Until next time.

Planting Microgreens/Garden Update/Mystery Bird

Welcome back.

After some nice weather in late April which allowed for a good start to the gardening season (April 30, 2016 Post),  May has not brought good weather for the most part.  In fact on the 15th, it was very cold and windy with snow showers.  Yes, snow showers.

Although the weather has been challenging, I have managed to get the garden off to a pretty decent start.

Microgreens

Microgreens, or "vegetable confetti", are becoming increasing popular.  A few seed companies are offering mixtures of these to purchase, including Johnny's Selected Seeds.  First let's explore microgreens.

Microgreens are simply edible greens of a variety of vegetables that are harvested when they are about 2 inches high.  They are not to be confused with sprouts, where the entire plant is consumed.  They add color, texture, and flavor to many foods.  They also have been found to be up to 40 times more nutritious than the mature plants.

There are a large variety of vegetables that can be grown for this purpose, even some herbs and edible flowers.  They are becoming increasing popular in fine restaurants and specialty grocery stores. However, they can be very expensive to buy.

The good news is that they can be grown quite easily, either indoors or outdoors.

So which seeds should you plant?  There are a large number to choose from including lettuces, beets, radishes, cabbage, broccoli, kale, and many more.  So be creative and come up with your own blend. This year is my first attempt, so it should prove to be interesting.

Microgreen mix

I chose endive, broccoli, lettuce, radish, spinach, cauliflower, cabbage, beets, Swiss chard, and kale.  I will provide updates in future posts.  I planted a patch that is roughly 2 feet by 2 feet.

Garden Update

Sprouting Snap Peas

Sweet Onions

American Flag Leeks (Started from Seed March 21, 2016 Post)

Romaine Lettuce Plants (Started Using Winter Sowing)

Sprouting Microgreens

Thus far, the garden is doing well overall.  The progress is always slow and unimpressive at first, but before you know it the garden will be thriving and the photos will look better also.  It won't be long before I can start enjoying the results of my work.

Mystery Bird

This bird has been visiting my feeder lately.  Any guesses?  I welcome your input.  I will be researching myself in the meantime.

Thanks as always for visiting.

Simply Photos - Garden Update

This week, just enjoy some photos of my vegetable plants and garden progress:

Transplanting Tomatoes (April 11, 2016 Post)

Tomatoes in the Greenhouse

Planting Peas

White, Red, Yellow, and Sweet Onions

Shallots

Romaine Lettuce and Red Russian Kale (February 11, 2016 Post)

Thanks as always for visiting.

Starting Heirloom Tomatoes / Bird Photos

Welcome back.  After the mild winter we had with almost no snow, the weather turned sharply colder and snowy in early April.  During the first weekend in April, we had about 8 inches of snow and strong winds, the worst storm of the winter.

Although it just doesn't seem like seed starting time, the calendar says it's time.  In my last post on 3/21/16, I talked about starting onions and leeks from seeds, as well as an update on my Winter Sowing project.  Those plants are progressing nicely, however, it has been difficult to get them outside in my greenhouse because of the winter conditions.  Hopefully this week the weather will break, and they can once again go outside at least during the day.

On April 2, I started heirloom tomato seeds.  Again this year, I used a seed blend from Park Seeds, Rainbow Heirloom Blend. There are an endless number of heirloom tomatoes to try, so I would encourage you to experiment and try new varieties.  However, this blend is a good starting point.

I also planted an heirloom paste tomato, San Marzano.

Rainbow Heirloom Blend (Park Seeds)

This blend contains Aunt Ruby's German Green, Dixie Golden Giant, Black From Tula, Brandywine Red, Big Rainbow, and Cherokee Purple.

Again this year, I used peat pellets to start the seeds:

First, soak the peat pellets.  This will take about 10 minutes for the pellets to fully expand.

Soaking the Peat Pellets

Evenly space the seeds, usually 4 to 5 seeds per pellet.

Tomato Seeds

Finally, cover the seeds with about one quarter inch of potting soil, compact lightly, and moisten using a spray bottle.

Humidity Dome In Place

Place the container in a warm place to enhance germination.  It does not need to be in sunlight for the seeds to germinate.  A consistently warm location is ideal, as opposed to an area such as a windowsill which gets cold at night.

Speaking of cold, a photo of the winter conditions as i was planting the seeds:

Finally, a few more bird photos taken during the last few weeks of Project FeederWatch, which officially ended on April 7th.  I enjoyed participating again this year, as I submitted counts every week except for the last two weeks of the season.

If you are not familiar with Project FeederWatch I have posted many times about this very worthwhile project, including on November 4, 2015.  I would encourage you to participate next season.

Dark-Eyed Junco

Common Grackle

Thanks for reading.  Stayed tuned for the progress of my vegetable plant seedlings and much more.

Starting Vegetables/Winter Sowing Update

In this post I will discuss starting vegetables indoors.  Spring is arriving early hear in the Northeast. The weather over the last few weeks has felt like April.  Spring is officially here, having arrived yesterday, March 20th.  However, this week is starting with a little cold spell with snow showers and strong winds today, reminding us that it still is March.

A few weeks ago, I started some onions and leeks.  These are relatively easy plants to start, mainly since they can be transplanted directly into the garden from the original container they are planted in. When I start tomatoes in a few weeks, they will have to be transplanted into peat pots first before finally be moved to the garden in late May,

As you can see, I use a plastic tray (dome not shown here) with a good quality seed starting soil such as Miracle-Gro.  The trays I used originally came with peat pellets, holding 25 pellets.  In this case, just adding soil works much better when starting onions.  I don't recommend using the very light soils that contain mostly peat moss and vermiculite, which are normally advertised as seed starting mixes. Potting mixes work better in my experience since they are a little heavier which allows them to both absorb and retain moisture better.  Most also already come pre-mixed with plant food.

As you can see, I planted 3 types of onions, sweet Spanish (a large sweet onion), scallions, and an Italian red flat sweet onion, which I have never tried before.

Skipping forward to this week, all the seeds have sprouted and are progressing nicely.  Below are some current photos:

Rossa Di Bassano Onions

Sweet Spanish Onions

Scallions (Front) and American Flag Leeks (Back)

Finally, as promised, an update on winter sowing.  In my post on February 11, 2016, I explained in detail this technique.  Some of the seeds have sprouted, as shown below.  Some also have not, and hopefully will soon once the weather warms up again.  The containers shown below sprouted nicely despite being outside during the brutally cold Valentines Day weekend, when temperatures reach minus 25 degrees, with wind chills as low as minus 37 degrees Fahrenheit.

Romaine Lettuce

Russian Red Kale

As always, thanks for reading.  In my next post, I will talk about starting Heirloom tomatoes indoors, and also Project FeederWatch, which ends in a few weeks.

Hydroponic Gardening/Bird Photos

Welcome back.

In this post I will take a look at hydroponic gardening.

For those of you who may not know, hydroponic gardening involves growing plants without soil, by just using water and nutrients.  This technique has been around for thousands of years, a few examples being the hanging gardens of Babylon and floating gardens of China.

In the United States, research involving hydroponic gardening started around 1950.  Today, hydroponically grown vegetables are available in most supermarkets.  Although they are considered healthy, most hydroponic vegetables re not considered organic since the nutrients uses are chemically refined.

So what are the advantages of this technique?  The main advantage is that the growth rate is 30% to 50% higher than plants grown in soil under the same conditions.  Also, yields are higher.   Why? Simpy put, the nutrients are easier for the plant to absorb.  Also, much less water is used compared to soil gardening, and usually fewer pesticides are needed if any.

Even though no soil is used, this techniques involves using a growing medium to aerate and support the roots.  Various types of mediums are used including hydrocorn and rockwool,  Others include perlite, vermiculite, and sand.

Recently, a small hydroponic system from Miracle-Gro caught my attention, so I decided to give it a try.

Miracle-Gro 3 Cell AeroGarden - Seed Pod Shown

Miracle Gro 3 Cell Aerogarden

This system uses pre-seeded pods that absorb water and nutrients from the reservoir.  It uses a CFL gro light and the height of the light is adjustable up to 10 inches  The growing medium used in the pods is called a "grow sponge".

The model I am using has built in light timer that keeps the light on for 16 hours.  It also has an indicator light to remind you when to add nutrients (every two weeks).  The kit includes a bottle of liquid nutrients.

A selection of pre-seeded pods are available from Miracle-Gro, along with seed pods that allow you to plant your favorite seeds.  The pre-seeded pods include herbs, salad greens, tomatoes, peppers, herbal teas, and even flowers.
  
This is an interesting idea, and will keep you up date on the progress of the Aerogarden.  Below are some photos thus far.  I planted Genovese basil, curley parsley, and a Mighty Mini cherry tomato.  I started the garden on January 30, 2016.

From Left to Right, Basil, Parsley, Cherry Tomato, 2/20/16

Progress a of 3/5/16

As you can see, the growth rate of the plants is impressive.  Not only are they growing fast, they appear very healthy.  The tomato is starting to get buds already.

Stay tuned for further updates.

Finally, a recent bird photo for your enjoyment.

House Finch (Male)

In my next post, I talk about starting onions and leeks indoors.