More early spring vegetables

*This was supposed to publish on May 5 so reference to any time goes from there. I have started to second seed some of the below, which I'll go over in the next few weeks as the whole vegetable garden goes in.

Along with getting the potatoes in 2 weeks ago, I also put in a bunch of herbs, lettuces & root veggies. I've gone a little overboard with lettuce this year... I have purchased it already started and growing beautifully along with putting in 7 different seeds!!!

I have a row of lettuce in Plot C along with the Arugula, Swiss Chard & Scallions (or spring onions or bunching onions.) I purchased some started Romaine & Buttercrunch at Agway when I got the potatoes. I also purchased some other Red Leaf, Romaine & more Buttercrunch at a local greenhouse to my Mom that I'm going to put in amongst the tomatoes. Lettuce doesn't like heat... at all. The tomatoes will shield it some and keep it cool. Hopefully I can keep it growing a little longer. As lettuce starts to grow I either put grass clippings around it or hay to keep the ground a little cooler. I had gorgeous lettuce going last year that ended in disaster once the Groundhog found a way to get in... it still hurts to think about!

The seeds... for the past few years Mom & I have been growing Rocket Arugula from the company Franchi that I did some peas from. I've had enormous success with it. I usually start some in a planter by the house early. Then I put it in the ground. I cut back and let it keep growing. Last year I had it ALL season. I ended up planting a second row, but the first one kept coming back.
For Swiss Chard: a little tidbit I wasn't aware of in my first 2 years was that Swiss Chard & Spinach aren't compatible. The extent of the scientific side of this for me says that they likely suck the same nutrients out of the ground... if you want to know more you'll have to go look it up!!!! I also can't say that I've had enormous success with the Swiss Chard yet. Trying to figure that out this year. I purchased Bright Lights from John Scheepers. It's a different brand than I've done in hopes that maybe that will help it grow... hey, anything can help!
Next to the Swiss Chard & Arugula I put in a row of spring onions. I split the row between a random seed packet I got last year from Kew Royal Gardens and then a package from John Scheepers called Fukagawa, which is a bunching onion. The extent of the onions is going to be these and leeks. I've done others in the past few years, but I just don't think it's worth the effort when I can get them at the farmers market for cheap. I'd rather use the space for other stuff.

Back to the rest of the seeds of lettuce... most of it is stuff I'm reusing from years past. I did venture from this 'elite' seed place I've gone and purchased 2 packages of Burpee! I couldn't resist... we'll see. I'm sure they'll be fine. I picked red leaf and more romaine... Caesar salad anyone? From Botanical Interests I'm reusing a Mustard Green and Buttercrunch I purchased last last summer. From Franchi I have 2 packages of Mesclun that I'm trying and finally from Plant Harts Seeds I have Oakleaf. I'm sure I'm missing one, but you get the idea... obsessed with the lettuce. The thing about lettuce is that you do need to remember that it takes time to harvest & wash. All worth it in my opinion, but it's work.

The Carrots.... ah! I love them! There is a great article in the current Organic Gardening about planting Scarlet Nantes, a variety I have had huge success with in my heavy soil. I did not order a new pack this year, opting to change it up some, but I have last years pack and may end up putting some in. This year I chose 2 from John Scheepers, both supposedly will do well in my very heavy soil. Yaya, which is similar to the Nantes, and Yellowstone, which seemed to be able grow very easily.  Along with those I'm going to back to another favorite: Cosmic Purple from High Mowing. I love the purple and I've had success with these. Someday I want to expand to add more color. Carrots are fairly easy to grow. I do pay attention to carrot flies and put a deterrent in - rosemary and marigolds work wonders. I've been growing rosemary in the middle of the carrots for a few years and haven't had any problems. The parsley worm can show up, but they're so pretty you hate to do anything. I move them to a different location.

Radishes... I'm reusing these seeds too. They've been in for 2 weeks and they seem to be growing fine so I think I'll just stick with that. I bought a random package of French Breakfast at a garden center about 18 months ago that I'm using - those are really pretty with they're white and pink bulb. The other is Easter Egg II from Renee's Garden. I've been doing these since the beginning and just love them. The colors are fabulous in pink, red, purple & white. Radishes are by and far the easiest thing to grow. My advice is thin them to allow the bulb to grow and make sure you pick them when they're ready b/c they bolt. Keep planting radishes to eat all summer & fall.

Finally the spinach and herbs. I have NOT had success with spinach... well, minimally. It really does like the cold. I'm doing basic Regiment from John Scheepers this year. They say it's pretty easy. I'm paying more attention to my PH to see if that helps. This variety is supposedly bolt resistant, which is a problem I have when it starts to get warm. I'll post on how it's coming along.
For herbs I've put in Cilantro & Dill for now. Dill likes to go in in the cold weather. It's been hit or miss for me with dill. Sometimes I get lots, sometimes none. I'd like to be able to use my own in the pickles and I also just like dill.

As these items start to poke thru the ground and grow I'll post more pictures. The beets are coming in strong for now - let's hope that keeps up! I'm planning a round of fish fertilizer this week. I've never been good at it in the spring, but I'm changing my ways! I did buy an attachment for the hose which will hopefully encourage me to fertilize more. That should make it easier. Water and fertilizing really are the keys! I've been out watering every few days in this dry spring. It's so important to help the seeds germinate. All of this went in about 2 weeks ago so I'll be putting in the second round soon.

Growing Potatoes

Along with the beets, carrots & asparagus I also have a bunch of leafy stuff in and other root veggies. I put my potatoes in fairly early. To me it's just easier to have them in - I think some people wait until May. It's not really a big deal because the sun warms my soil during the day and because they are under ground, they won't get a frost. I started potatoes 3 years ago. I was inspired by my ex-boyfriends parents! They always put them in and I LOVED digging them up and eating them that fresh. I can't say I'm big potato person, but there is nothing like fresh from the ground potatoes! Searching for them is also half the fun. I love having the kids here and letting them see what they can dig up.

I purchase potato 'seeds' from our local Agway. They have a great variety and I haven't had any problems with pests or disease. This year I chose Red Norland - they didn't have the All Red I did last year or the regular Fingerling's. They chose blue Fingerling's, which I'm not that interested in. For the past few years I've done All Blue, but decided not to this year. Along with the Red Norland I chose Yukon Golds, which I did 2 years ago, and Superior, which is an all purpose. I tried to choose potatoes that are mid season, which means they'll be ready in August. The total cost for my 3 rows of potatoes was a whopping $2.11!

Potatoes really are simple to grow. You dig trenches about 6" down and lay the potato seeds in about a foot a part. Oh, to back track... I mostly got small potatoes this year with a couple of 'eyes.' You can also get larger ones and cut them - do it the day before and let them sit to heal some. The 'eyes' are where the stems grow - I'm sure you've had potatoes in your house start to sprout, that's basically what growing potatoes is! But you don't want to use those household potatoes! Make sure you get them from a reputable place. Back to the growing....

 

Once you get the seeds in, fill the trenches back up. On this particular day I got caught in the rain and had to race to get everything in! From here, you just want to water - something I've had to start doing very early this year. My potatoes went in on April 12, I'll probably start to see the leaves pop thru the ground in the next 2 weeks. Once the stems are about 18" high I mound compost to make hills on either side. {I'll post some pictures when we do this - this is one of Keith's jobs!} This helps to shield the potatoes from the sun and keeps the ground cool. The major problem you'll have with potatoes is the Potato Beetle. Early on I'm pretty vigilant about checking the leaves for the little eggs. If you see clusters of eggs just crush them b/t your fingers - or however you choose.  You'll know that potatoes are almost ready when the foliage starts to die back. I've been know to start checking for tubers once I see the flowers going strong - typically around the 4th of July. Side note: last year the tomato hornworm took to eating the foliage of my potatoes b/c I had made the tomatoes uninviting. Most of the foliage had died back at that point so it wasn't a big deal for me, but you want to watch for that too. Those little suckers can do an enormous amount of damage very quickly.

Asparagus!

FINALLY! It's been 3 years of waiting, but the wait is over. We have asparagus to eat!

Asparagus is one of the perennial vegetables. Once you put it in, it's there to stay. Which also means you have to select a spot that you don't mind losing. I chose an outer side of one of the vegetable plots - not along the fence. Why wait 3 years you may ask? Well you have to let it develop and grow strong - that's about as scientific as I'm going to get with it. Here is an article about growing it: http://www.gardeners.com/Growing-Asparagus/7343,default,pg.html I chose Jersey Supreme, which is a new variety. Traditional asparagus was called Mary Washington. You had to dig very deep trenches and wait for a while for it to grow. This newer variety is closer to the surface - you dig a trench about 6-12" vs. 2 feet down. You do still slowly fill the trenches as the asparagus grows in the first year. Here is a picture from the first year, 2010. By June the trenches were full and you just let the asparagus grow without cutting it.

Last year we were able to eat it for about 2 weeks. It wasn't much so we didn't really give it away. You eat the really fat ones and then let it go for the rest of the season. It does take up space as it grows tall and looks like bamboo stalks! So this is our first year of an abundance of asparagus! We can eat it until they start to be thin - I'm told once they're the width of a pencil to stop picking. I picked the first ones on Tuesday April 17. I only cut 3 down that day. I went away for a few days, had more crazy April weather - meaning warm - and came back to an asparagus plot growing crazy!

It's still very early in the season and they're just starting to come up. I think it's safe to say that we'll get our fill of asparagus and we'll be sharing lots! So come one, come all and get your asparagus! I can't wait to eat it.

One last little thing... look at what else I came back to:

Peonies gone crazy! This is a good 3 weeks ahead of any other year. It's a good thing I didn't plan a party in June with the peonies blooming!

Welcome to Turtle Knoll

Welcome to the blog from Turtle Knoll! As mentioned in the "About Me" section, my name is Ashley and I live in a agricultural community in Southern Rhode Island with my wonderful fiancee, Keith. This entry is going to be a little bit about what the intentions of this blog are, the inspirations for it and to get to know me some.

Over the last 10 years my life has completely changed! 10 years ago I worked in finance and had a certain 'idea' of what my life would be. Thankfully for me, that all changed! It hasn't been an easy road, but I couldn't be more delighted to be where I am now. The last 5 years have been building something wonderful, of which I feel incredibly fortunate to have every single day. Keith works crazy hours to build our security and I stay at home making sure our lives are somewhat organized and balanced! I love to cook, garden, craft, read and work on my photography & photo processing. I also like to make sure I see my niece & nephew, Keith's nephews, the rest of our families and friends on a very regular basis.

I am creating this blog as a place for me to document what goes on in our lives! The gardens, what we cook from the gardens and around the year plus whatever else comes in our path. Paper crafting is on another blog: ashleynewbert.typepad.com. 

I have spent the past 4 years restoring gardens that were here, adding my own tastes and building a huge vegetable garden. That is really the driving force behind the blog. I would like a place to keep track of the changing seasons, and the challenges and victories of those seasons. If there is one thing I've learned it's that the garden isn't quite as simple as putting a plant in the ground and watching it grow! I've learned quite a lot about the elements, nature, soil and anything else that can affect my garden. I still have quite a lot to learn. I would like to share some of what I've learned in hopes that others can build on the knowledge and hopefully I inspire!

My main inspiration has been my mother, Lillian. Growing up our yards were always beautiful - full of my Mom's creative touch. Gardens of vibrant colors that were in constant bloom from spring thru fall that made you want to be a part of what she created. I never understood it nor thought I'd be interested in it! I took it all for granted, never appreciating how much she worked at them. But once I was bitten by the bug, a container garden in Newport, RI, it's pretty much spiraled out of control! Now I've created my own little peace of heaven that is several acres of land with perennial gardens, annual gardens, a vegetable garden (that I fear is outgrowing it's 1000 sq foot space!), shrubs and  my new fruit trees.

Mom is also the inspiration for how I cook. The vegetable garden didn't start with my Mom, her father had probably the biggest home vegetable garden I've ever seen. This is how I was taught to cook - with whatever is fresh. And also basically everything is made from scratch. I have never really known a pantry that was full of canned foods - even down to spaghetti sauce. Salad dressing has always been homemade, she makes her dough (I'm slowly learning that!). There were times as a child that I resented these things, wanting american cheese and white bread, but now I appreciate it. This blog is also going to be a place that my Mom and I can compile our recipes as we try new things & develop existing recipes

I hope that this becomes a place that you like to see what is going on, my adventures in this newest season of the garden, and the recipes that we develop and share. On a personal level, Keith & I are embarking on a whole new journey of trying to expand our family. We've decided that adoption is our path so we're working with Adoption RI to hopefully help a child from our state that needs a loving home. We're currently in the throes of endless paperwork and inspections that will hopefully be done in the next few weeks. From there we'll see how it goes! We're very very excited.
A picture of the vegetable garden September 2011: