Come on Spring!

So, it's the end of March, although the weather outside isn't cooperating very much.
I'm starting to get shipments of seeds and bulbs in from all the orders I placed last month.

Here is a summary of our vegetable/herbs/fruit plans this year:

Basil - Bam and Christmas
Beans - Dried varieties, selected from last year's harvest
Beets - Golden
Carrots
Corn - This is a new experiment for us. Growing up, our family never had good luck with corn, but we are going to give it a try with a variety that can be grown in pots!
Dill
Garlic
Gourds
Ground Cherries
Lettuce
Onions
Pepper - Alma Paprika
Pepper - Feher Ozon Paprika
Pepper - Gatherer's Gold
Pepper - Ghost Pepper
Pepper - Italian Pepperocini
Pepper - Hot Lemon
Pepper - Sweet Nikita
Pepper - Big Guy Jalepeno
Pepper - Hot Fish Heirloom
Pepper - Hot Diablito
Pepper - Hot Daddy
Pepper - Hot Poblano
Potato - Masquerade
Radishes
Raspberries - Anne Yellow
Rhubarb
Snap Peas
Strawberries - Need to fill in a few spots
Sweet Potato - Georgia Jet
Swiss Chard
Tomato - Ananas Noire
Tomato - Gill's All Purpose
Tomato - Green Zebra
Tomato - Hillbilly
Tomato - Persimmon
Tomato - Orange Wellington
Tomato - Brandywine Pink
Tomato - Black Krim
Tomato - Razzle Dazzle
Tomato - Mr. Stripey
Tomatillos
Yard Long Purple Noodle Beans - Saved from last year's harvest


Planning on starting the Tomatillos, Ground Cherries, and a few flowers indoors this weekend with a make-shift indoor light/heater system. I'll post pictures after it's set up!

Ice Day

It's been the coldest winter in many years this year.  But today the temps danced around the freezing point, and we got some heavy ice. 

2013 Summary

2013 Harvest
Blueberries: 2 oz
Cucumbers: 9 lb 8 oz
Dried Beans (Multiple Varieties):
Eggs: 20 Dozen
Elderberries: 12 oz
Garlic: 5 lb 10 oz
Garlic - Elephant: 1 lb 2 oz
Grapes: 1 lb
Hops: 1 lb 4 oz
Onions - Purple: 8 lb 4 oz
Onions - Yellow: 7 lb 5 oz
Peaches: 1 lb 10 oz
Peppers: 10 lb
Potatoes: 4 lb
Raspberries/Blackberries: 2 lb 1 oz
Snow Peas: 4 oz
Strawberries: 19 lb 15 oz
Tomatoes: 67 lb 8 oz

2013 Production/Canning
Homebrew Red IPA: 5 gal
Homebrew Dark Mild: 5 gal
Homebrew Black IPA: 5 gal
Fermented Hot Sauce:
Zesty Salsa: 9 pints
Strawberry Jam: 5.5 pints
Peach Salsa: 12 pints
Salsa Verde: 10 pints
Roasted Roma: 9 pints
Tomato Puree: 10 quarts
Spicy Yellow Tomato Jam:
Onion Marmalade:
Caramelized Onion Jam:
Beer Mustard:
Spicy Red Tomato Jam:
Elderberry Jam:
Pear Brown Sugar Cinnamon Jam:
3-bean salad:
Pickled Red Onions:
Pepper Onion Relish:
Mango Peach Hot Sauce:
Pickled Pears: 2 pints
Strawberry Infused Vodka: 1 pint
Strawberry Infused Vinegar: 1 pint
Pear Cinnamon Infused Vodka: 2 quarts
Crab Apple/Pear Infused Vodka: 1 quart
Crab Apple Infused Brandy: 1 pint
Pomegranate Infused Vodka: 1 quart
Limoncello: 1 quart

Flowers from 2013

Summer Pics

Catching Up on 2013 Posts

Statler and Waldorf all grown up!

Overall Garden

Grape Arbor

Tomatoes

Tomatoes roasting for delicious Roasted Roma and Garlic.

A day's worth of hard work

Tomato Puree.

Canned tomatoes and peach salsa.

Delicious Salsa Verde - We are almost all the way through it already (even though I made a double recipe), I guess we'll have to triple the recipe next year!

Apples, Onions, and Cinnamon for the Onion Marmalade.