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Seeds in a tray and in the ground

Category: My Front Yard Garden | Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 9:57 pm

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Well last week, 2/18/8, I started two kinds of Spinach, 2 kinds of cabbage and some kale, 5 tray cells of each variety. Some sprouted and others I have reseeded. Today I planted four 14-foot rows of a Sugar Snap peas.

The lettuce in the cold frame continues to grow well. Although one head of lettuce just wilted and died a week or so ago. I can probably begin to harvest at any time but I think I will give them about two more weeks.


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Soil is prepped and seeds are here

Category: My Front Yard Garden | Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 9:55 pm

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Well my soil has been loosened and a couple inches of some real nice compost has been added.

Check this truck load out and guess how much a load of compost like this costs.

Just $12.50 for all of this. There were probably 2 wheelbarrow loads laying on the ground behind the truck when I pulled away because the bucket on the loader was longer then the truck.

So here is the ground prepped


Here is the top coated garden


Closeup of the compost


Here is my Cilantro growing from last years seed drop.


This is what the contents of the cold frame looks like.




AsI mentioned above my seeds arrived today. Tommorow the sugar snap peasgo in the ground and I start a tray of seeds inside.

Seeya,
Uncle Jabba

Last edited: Mon Feb 11, 2008 9:56 pm

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Turning dirt (barefoot) in NC

Category: My Front Yard Garden | Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:17 pm

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Hello All:

Just wanted to post a quick update. It was beautiful here in the North Carolina Piedmont today. In anticipation of my seed order arriving I took the garden fork and loosened about a 1/3 of my garden this morning. It was so warm I was working barefoot, wearing shorts and a tshirt. I love to garden barefoot it just feels so nice to be barefoot in good garden soil. I saw a lot of nice fat worms today. Most had at least one visible One fork full of dirt had three in it.

I also gathered a soil sample and took it into Raleigh today and dropped it off at the NC Ag dept lab. It is amazing to see the volume of orders waiting to be processed. There were mail carts filled with boxes just arrived with the mail, There were even pallets of little boxes. It only took a couple of weeks last year but they were not backed up on the loading dock.

I think I am going to see if a neighbor will let me get him to take me to get a load of compost. There is a landfill that composts the local yard waste. Its really nice looking and pretty inexpensive. I would like to finishing loosing up the soil this week then get a deep layer of compost on top. It will really help to drought proof my garden and minimize my drip irrigation usage this summer.

Seeya,

Uncle Jabba

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2008 Garden is underway

Category: 2008 Garden | Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 1:35 pm

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Hello All:

I just wanted to give a quick update showing the end of 2007's garden has volunteered to provide a 4 season harvest.

I have built a small straw bale cold frame to shelter the lettuce that appeared as volunteers from my lettuce that bolted this summer. I even had some beautiful colors of lettuce in my yard for a while.

The cold frame is just 6 bales covered with plastic. I used some random pieces of lumber that I rolled under the plastic and staple gunned the plastic around it. One end is held in place with tent stakes, no lumber this end. One corner (windy side)is stappled heavily to the garden border timbers. Yesterday I also ran drip irrigation into the bed, weeded and side dressed with organic fertilizer. I should hopefully have lettuce in a month.



















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Fall Garden Planted

Category: My Front Yard Garden | Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 4:51 pm

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It has been a couple weeks since I started planting the fall garden so this update feels late to me. I now have in the ground both golden and Chiogga beets, Purple Haze Carrots, red meat radishes, some pickles I never planted earlier, and all 6 kind of lettuce I bought and the spinach.

Everything but the carrots has sprouted. I have been running the drip irrigation for 10 to 20 minutes every day or so.

The pumpkins are doing great and I am still harvesting more peppers and tomatoes then I can eat. But unfortunately not enough tomatos to can any.

I'll post another update soon to much to do today.

Seeya,

Uncle Jabba


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Pumpkins seeds in the ground

Category: My Front Yard Garden | Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:48 pm

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Well I managed to get the pumpkin seeds in the ground yesterday. They were the biggest priority, they have a 95 day harvest time line. That would put harvest at November 3rd. So we will hope for the best and carve what we can into Jack-o-lanterns.

I spent a couple of hours on the rest of the garden and packed the compost tumbler again. I had emptied it last week onto the base of all of my peppers and tomatoes. So with the grass growing in the garden spots that had been empty since the peas, beets and carrots got done along with the bolting lettuce and the wax beans I have another full load to cook down.

I will finish up prettying up the open space in the garden over the next few days and then begin to plant the fall garden.

I'll post a mater and pepper update soon.

Seeya,

Uncle Jabba

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Fall Garden seeds have arrived

Category: My Front Yard Garden | Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 11:25 pm

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I have been solarizing parts of the garden for a week or so. I know it is not long enough to do much good but some is better then none. I was doing this to help prep for the fall garden.

I just got my seed order from Territorial seed.

I got:
Golden and Chioggia beets
Purple haze carrots
Lettuce: Tom Thumb, Winter density, Little Leprechaun, Valmaine, Italienisher organic & Capistrano
Magic Lantern Pumpkins
Red meat Radishs
Space Spinach

I also received their winter catalog to plan what greens and garlic i will grow this winter.

Seeya,

Uncle Jabba

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Vacuum packed Wax Beans

Category: My Front Yard Garden | Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:43 pm

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I just vacuum packed three one-pound packages of Yellow Wax Beans. I borrowed a FoodSaver Vacuum machine from my cousin and I just love it.

I prepped the beans by first par boiling for 1 minute then into an ice bath and then draining and freezing them on a cookie sheet. This then gave me Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) beans. I believe they have you do this so the vacuum does not crush the food. After that you just put them into the vacuum bags and the machine draws the air out and heat-seals the bag closed.

This was so much easier then the process that I went through to can green beans with my pressure cooker. And after canning like 12 quarts of green beans we did not even like them, they were too much like mushy tin can beans from the store. I really feel that this will give us beans that we will enjoy eating this winter.

Seeya,

Uncle Jabba


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Yellow wax beans...Deep Fried

Category: My Front Yard Garden | Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:17 pm

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Just a quick note to say I picked another 1 3/4 pounds of Yellow wax beans last night and we fried them. We took Tempura batter and fried the beans. That was a yummy dinner they were great. We had had Green Beans cooked like this a few years ago at a restaurant and thought we would give it a try.

I'm prepping today for a fourth of July party. I am getting ready to rub down 4 slabs of spare ribs that will go in the smoker first thing tomorrow morning.

Have a great 4th of July.

Seeya,

Uncle Jabba

PS
In response to Daff:

All that can find me are welcome to have some ribs. and if you can get here tonight I just put this on the smoker for dinner






Last edited: Tue Jul 03, 2007 9:42 pm

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Yellow Wax Bean harvest begins

Category: My Front Yard Garden | Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 4:36 pm

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Hola Y'all:

Just a quick note to show the first big harvest of Wax beans.

Remember those sprouts I posted in the Gallery?

http://www.gardenstew.com/about5877.html
well we are going to eat some tonight.

Well here they are ready to eat. We picked 3 1/4 pounds of them last night and tonight I will take some over to my Grandma's house for dinner.


Pile 'O Beans



Seeya,
Uncle Jabba

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