Rhubarb leaves as weed barrier and mulch

The large size of rhubarb leaves makes them easy to place between garden rows or around the base of plants as a weed barrier and mulch.

That's what I discovered when I looked at rhubarb with new eyes after a destructive storm forced my harvest of more stalks than I would typically use at once. What to do with it all? And could the leaves be useful somewhere, other than just in the compost bin? We had a fierce windstorm in my neighborhood this week that brought trees crashing down through roofs and sent debris all over tarnation. My home was spared (this time!) but the wind shredded many plants and outright obliterated the wood chips around our garden boxes. That layer of mulch is gone!

I always love when one garden issue -- in this case, the oversupply of rhubarb -- becomes the solution to other garden problems: replacing mulch and blocking weeds. I overlapped the leaves on the ground between garden boxes. I also put them around the base of strawberry and raspberry plants. The quails are back in my yard with their telltale pits in the soil. Rhubarb leaves are now the rugs those birds can't dig under. 

Increase the effectiveness as a weed barrier by layering the rhubarb leaves and adding new ones as you harvest more stalks. The leaves break down quickly. On the left is a a freshly cut leaf. The one on the right was cut two days before.

When I harvest a rhubarb stalk I hold it in one hand and swing a knife at the leaf base with the other hand like I'm wielding a sword. (Can't imagine where I got that idea!) Easier and way more fun than using a cutting board. 

Off-site gardening: Factors to consider before starting roots away from home

Joining a community garden or using extra space in a friend's yard is a great way to grow crops when you don't have room at your own home. You may also know a business or school willing to loan you an area for the summer. Another option is to do as reader Dave Bentz did and purchase vacant lots in his city to convert to gardens. 

I have done three different gardens away from home: a community garden plot offered to university students; part of my husband's grandma's yard, which we shared with his brother; and, most recently, a section next to our friend's cow pasture in our town. My kids called this the "cow garden". We lived in an apartment for the first two gardens, but raised a home garden at the same time we had space near the cow pasture. 

No matter what kind of off-site garden you pursue, maximize the experience by considering these factors:

1. Time. 

This is the single most important factor. Be realistic with how much time you can devote. Include travel time. We dedicated Mondays to take our children to the cow garden and work together. Without a scheduled commitment it is far too easy to say, "Eh, we'll just get to the garden later." Such was the case with our first off-site garden, the university one. Although I was super excited for the plot, the garden fell by the wayside behind our busy jobs and school, fatigue from my first pregnancy and the fact we had only one car. The garden was too far for me to walk when my husband used the vehicle on his job. Excuses, excuses. 

2. Location. 

Go close! If that's not feasible, find a spot that you pass during your regular commutes and routines so you can keep an eye on the garden beyond your scheduled days to work there. Use the same criteria as you would siting a home garden: Does it get adequate light? Fences, trees or other structures that cast shade should be north of a garden area. Afternoon sun (from the west) is harsher than morning light.

3. Space.

There is a space/time relationship just like there is a location/time connection. The bigger the space, the more time it will require to set up and maintain. If you are using a space larger than your home garden you may need to expand your thinking, too. For example, our first summer at the cow garden we planted veggies as close together as we do at home in their grow boxes. If we had known how ferocious the weeds would become, we would have allowed space between plants for a rototiller. 

4. Water. 

Does the plot have access to water? This is a must in dry climates. Will you pay for water? Is it a sprinkler system, hoses or both? If it is sprinklers, do you have a contact person readily available if something goes wrong with the pipes? (Another reason to check your garden regularly.) One of the biggest contrasts between my home garden and the off-site cow garden (raised simultaneously) was in the watering method. At home I use soaker hoses, drip lines or water plants by hand with a watering can. I seldom get weeds because the ground between plants is not watered. The cow garden's shooting sprinklers, however, watered EVERYTHING. The weeds went wild. The cow garden automatic sprinklers were high on stakes. This overhead water delivery, and the frequency of it, caused more powdery mildew and fungus problems in foliage than I ever had at home. Squash and tomato plants did not fare well, and the tomato skins frequently split.

5. Soil. 

Will it need extensive improvements? If the area has not been used for recent plantings, find out what was there in the past -- old leaky cars could suggest chemical leaching.  It may be worth your while to do a soil test first. At the cow garden, in spring our friend cleaned his barn and spread the manure into the plots. Since the cows had been feasting on weeds, those seeds simply got relocated. The weeds were bionic. 

6. Sharing.  

If you share the space with someone else discuss the division of duties at the beginning of the season. Maybe you work together to till the soil in the whole area and join forces again in fall to clean up. How will you set up traffic areas so that no one's plantings are trampled? Be courteous when planting your crops, remembering that tall ones, like corn, can cast shade or block sprinklers. Pumpkins, squashes and other vine crops will amble well past their boundaries. (There's a reason my kids called it the cow garden!)

Yum, banana squash. Moo.

7. Equipment.

Are tools, hoses and other implements on the property or will you need to bring your own each time you come to your garden? Consider keeping gloves, a spade and a harvest bucket in your trunk so you are ready for impromptu visits.

8. Commitment for the season.

Are you relatively certain the property where you garden won't change hands before the growing season ends? I appreciate that our cow garden friends didn't open up their property for gardening last spring, on the off chance they would need to sell. They didn't want someone to go to all that work without the harvest.

So there you have it. Off-site gardens can supplement your own backyard farm or give opportunities to people who have no space otherwise. I fear my disdain for the cow garden weeds and watering issues came through loud and clear in this post! Still, I am grateful for these new gardening lessons, and to have extra space to produce a harvest like the one above, all picked on a beautiful September morning.


Check out this site for a weekly roundup of ideas from fellow homesteaders.

One man's story of gardening an abandoned lot

A Nebraska man converts abandoned property into training grounds for garden ideas -- and bestows his community with the harvest.

Dave Bentz raises tomatoes, onions, corn, pumpkins, peppers, green beans, watermelons and cucumbers on an Omaha parcel of land he calls Terra Nova Gardens. The plot is 168 feet by 160 feet which includes parking and storage areas. He raises a garden 64 feet by 64 feet; his friend tends one that is 30 feet by 60 feet on the same site. The rest of the plot is a steep bank of trees, which provides a welcome wind break. Terra Nova boasts two feet of rich black topsoil. Neighbors say the garden sits on the former bottom of the Missouri River 100 years ago, before Corps of Engineers changed its course for flood control.

Courtesy of Dave Bentz, http://www.grit.com/blogs/adventures-of-old-nebraska-dave.aspx

Courtesy of Dave Bentz, http://olddavesgarden.blogspot.com

Terra Nova Gardens is where Bentz -- who goes by Nebraska Dave -- experiments with garden methods on a larger scale than the four raised beds for vegetables in his backyard. He loves to nibble on the summer harvest, sure, but his real motive in gardening is simply the joy of growing things, and then getting better at it! He gives most of his produce away, even polling neighbors for crop requests at the start of the season. He also shares the harvest with an area shelter.

Dave pinpointed why he likes to garden. "Is it to save money? Is it to become more self sufficient? Is it to have more healthy food?" he wrote. "Any one of these would be a good reason to garden but after some soul-searching none of these came to the surface. What then drives me to keep expanding my gardens? I just have this deep-rooted desire to till the soil and grow things. It has nothing to do with the harvest or the preserving but the growing and finding better ways to accomplish that. It surprised me to come to that conclusion."

Dave retired six years ago from a 41-year electronics career at the telephone company, and found he wanted to fill his time with more gardening endeavors. About Terra Nova Gardens specifically he said, "Helping others is my main goal in life with gardening as a way to bring a positive presence into a neighborhood eyesore."

He follows this maxim from Lou Erickson: "Gardening takes a lot of water. Most of it in the form of perspiration."

This is certainly the case at Terra Nova Gardens. Before he could wage the war with weeds, Dave first had to remove trees, vines, concrete slabs, even tires and other car parts. After a large initial outlay of time with big projects, Dave now works in the garden about six hours a week. Early spring he starts seeds under fluorescent lights in his basement. He regularly repairs fences, tries to outsmart critters, refines water delivery methods and installs new and improved garden structures. He does nearly all of the work himself, with occasional visits from interested passersby, including an elderly man who brought over his heavy machinery just for the fun of it.

When looking for property for his garden reclamation project, Dave learned his city is willing to let anyone garden on vacant lots without having to purchase the land. However, in such instances the city can decide to take back plots for development at any time. Because he didn't want to lose a garden mid-season, Dave decided to buy the lot. He owns another property, 40 feet by 60 feet, that has been undeveloped for 25 years. This has been site to a wedding and other neighborhood events. He plans to continue this use and add flowers around the edges. This property is about 15 minutes away from his home.

Dave recommends those interested in gardening on vacant areas consult their cities for lists of foreclosed properties.

Below is a Backyard Farming interview with Nebraska Dave:
(The name Nebraska Dave came from when he joined disaster-relief trips with a Baptist group of men who used chainsaws to clear damaged trees after a hurricane. The group also did electrical and dry wall repairs. The other guys were from Kansas; as the lone man from Nebraska the handle stuck.) 


BF: What motivated you to turn abandoned areas into gardens? 

ND: I didn't really start with vacant lot gardening in mind.  I remember being in the garden with Mom at an early prior to school years age but never remember helping her with it. Later in life I had a desire to garden but never had the time or the family interest to make much happen. After retirement six years ago I started gardening in the back yard with one raised bed then two then four.  I went on trips to help with disaster cleanup after tornadoes or hurricanes so I would be gone for a week to ten days at a time.  To keep the garden watered an  automatic watering system was built to keep the garden from drying out. My original garden was in my backyard and consisted of four raised beds. An old 400-gallon horse tank was used to catch rain water to supply my automatic irrigation system.  The watering system has been tweaked every year and has finally come to a place where it just works without intervention all summer long. The garden experience for me is as much about engineering and building as it is about the gardening. 

BF: What is the reaction of neighbors to these gardens?

ND: Ha, neighbors, yeah.  I am always experimenting with brainstorm ideas. So when I dumped a foot deep leaf/grass mixture on the soil by sleuthing through the night before yard waste pickup and carrying away almost 1,000 bags over the month of October, encouragements came like, "If you put that too deep it will catch on fire, don't you know?" or "That will kill the soil by putting that much

on the ground." But when I started covering the pathways between the beds with old apartment tear-out carpet and putting down wood chips .... Well they didn't have any comment on that except for the rolling of the eyes. After four years of gardening now they ask what I'm going to do next. Since I live 

nine miles away the neighborhood has taken up the responsibility of watching over the property and has run off those that aren't supposed to be there.

BF: Tell us about your own garden story, how you learned to love the land. Did your family growing up raise a vegetable garden? If so, what gardening changes have you observed over the years?

ND: Mom always had a garden but I was more interested in the row crop farming side of the farm.  As I moved away from country living and became a city dweller with a career, I dabbled in gardening but just never had the time or family interest in helping or eating any of the produce.  I'd say it was just in my DNA from the beginning to want to grow things.  I can't say that I had a green thumb or any thing like that but I just enjoyed growing things.

Early 70s I discovered "Organic Gardening" and "Mother Earth News" magazines.  I had always been taught to till the soil, plant in rows, hoe out the weeds in gardens.  I started learning about mulch, compost, raised beds, square-foot gardening, no-till gardening and  all sorts of new ideas about gardening.  Terra Nova Gardens has all those ideas rolled up into one garden. It's more experimental than any other garden I've ever tried to have.

BF: What do you see as the benefits of gardening?

ND: The benefits of gardening are as I see it three-fold. There's the obvious of completely natural fresh food.  Then there's the exercise that keeps the body in shape. All the lifting, raking, weed pulling, hoeing, and other activities are better than a fitness center workout. And then there's watching the world wake up as the sun comes up over the horizon in the early morning.  For me there's just nothing more calming than to be in the garden as the birds sing to me.

BF: What is your favorite blunder? (After all, I think the blunders teach more than the successes. Certainly, they're more memorable!)

ND: Ha, yeah, my biggest blunder.  A couple come to mind.  The first was in my 20s and I was taught by my Dad that animal manure was good fertilizer and to spread it on the land in the fall and plow it under in the spring.  So I thought it should work for a garden as well.  If it was good for the garden why not the yard as well.  It so happened in the town I lived at  the time there was a stockyard that had a huge pile of .... well .... stuff they cleaned out of the pens free for the taking. I couldn't believe my great fortune.  I won't say what my wife at that time thought of the idea but she did let me bring some home and spread it on the yard and garden area.  It was well into the cold fall weather so it didn't smell much.  I'm not sure what kind of animals the stuff came from but I do know what they ate before coming to the stockyards. The next spring my yard and garden area was covered with thousands of sprouting tomato plants.

About 10 years after that experience I made another attempt to have a garden. I really liked

those cherry tomatoes so I planted 20 plants. By mid August, I was harvesting five-gallon buckets full of full tomatoes.  

BF: If you could give just one piece of advice to a new gardener, what would it be?

ND: My advice for new gardeners is first to find a good gardener that you like and help him/her for a year or two. Then when a new garden is started make it a small one that can be taken care of very easily. The most important thing about gardening is grow what you like to eat. There's no point in growing something that the gardener or the gardener's family don't like or none of the friends or neighbors like. I have intentionally asked neighbors and friends what they like so I can grow it for them.

Read more about Dave's adventures and tips at blogs in Grit magazine and Old Dave's Garden. (This article, for instance, highlights an interesting project watering with rain gutters.)

These blogs paint Dave as a hard-working, open, practical man who respects the land, but who also doesn't take himself too seriously. Hey, when raccoons ransack his corn he takes pride that it must have been tasty but also dreams of sending those masked diners to a "happy raccoon heaven."

Consider this garden wish from Nebraska Dave:
"May every single seed you plant grow to an abundance of harvest. May the pests get indigestion from your plants and any form of disease or fungus spore die when it crosses your property line." 

That's Dave!

Thanks for sharing your story, Nebraska Dave, and for helping us have a great garden inspiration day.

Another use for parking strip: grape vines

Here is another idea for planting edibles in the narrow piece of land between sidewalk and street: grape vines. (Click here for a post about strawberries in raised beds in the parking strip.)

These homeowners live on a corner lot and have devoted the side yard between their driveway and the neighbor's driveway to grape vines. There are three vines in the parking strip, about four feet apart. Two cedar posts with wires running between them support the grape vines. The strip runs north-south.

On the other side of the sidewalk are four rows of vines running east-west. The vines are spaced around utility equipment and provide a screen from the neighbors' vehicles and also hide trash and compost bins. (Do you even see the bins? There's a pop of green at the back.)

This is the view facing the front, right side of the house: Look for the cedar posts to orient the position of the vines, toward the middle of the photo.

The big, beautiful shade tree is on the northwest corner of the property and will not block light to the vineyard. I applaud such a great use of space!

Gardening up close -- do you have photos to share?

One of the things I love best about gardening is the time spent rubbing shoulders with plants helps me see amazing details I may otherwise overlook. Here are a few of my discoveries this summer.

The majesty of light and water in trapped rainfall on a pea leaf.

Two sleeping bees in a pod: (OK, gaillardia flower)

The energy of a cucumber vine ready to unfurl:

Do you have favorite garden shots you'd love to share? Email them to me at jkhgardener@gmail.com. If you don't already have a word mark on your photo, tell me what you'd like me to add before I post -- so you get all the credit. (Please, your work only.) If you have a website include that information for me to share. Email me by Sept. 30.

Let's inspire each other with the beauty we see!

Considerations when buying discount plants

This is the time of year when many nurseries, home improvement centers and grocery stores unload their stock of plants at discount prices. It can be tempting to fill your cart with types and numbers of plants you normally would not buy, all because the exhilarating price seems right. Or, maybe you leap into a rescue mission thinking you can save the poor little plants no one else wanted. (Come on, admit it, you know you think that sometimes. No? Just me? OK, never mind.)

Here are some things to consider when buying plants at discount prices.

1. The source. My town sports a seasonal greenhouse that starts all its own plants from seed, sells them onsite, and then closes shop mid-summer. The nursery holds a 1/2-price sale at season's end to clear stock. I've always had high quality plants from this greenhouse; their reputation depends on it. Some nurseries have plant guarantees. In contrast, plants decking a grocery store's entrance probably don't matter as much to that retailer's overall business.

2. The reason for the discounts. Are plants on sale because they have been neglected? (Not a good sign.) Or are they surplus stock?

3. Condition of a plant. Often clerks relegate plants to the clearance shelf based on appearance alone. Is a plant just thirsty or near death? If the latter, walk away. If plants look less than ideal do you know what to do to remedy this? For instance, might you recognize that all a marked down purplish tomato plant needs is fertilizer? If so, evaluate what that is worth to you. Plant rehabilitation takes extra care, and your time is money.

If a plant appears in good shape, still take a look at the root ball to confirm plant health. Gently hold the plant in one hand and tip it over to pull the pot away with your other hand. If the roots form a rigid mass that looks like a cork, that's an indication the plant is extremely rootbound and will not transplant well. It was probably dehydrated and formed so many roots in its search for moisture.

Say you've checked and are confident you've stumbled on some healthy plants. Dirt cheap! There's more to consider:

4. Do the plants match the soil, light and water conditions in your yard? No use buying a sun lover if all you have is shade.

5. Do you have a spot available? I was excited to score a $2 bare-root rose bush at the grocery store. But my excitement has turned to embarrassment because this purchase was in May ... and the bush is still in its package in a bucket on my patio! I haven't prepared a spot yet. An inexpensive plant you never release from its pot is no bargain.

6. Closely related, do you have time to get the plants into the ground soon? Or will they, ahem, sit on the patio? Last year I bought a flat of black-eyed Susan flowers at the greenhouse (for half price, of course) then promptly went out of town. Oops.

7. How long is the growing season in your area? Will vegetable starts have time to mature if you plant them late? Will you still get blooms out of annual flowers? Keep in mind that it is harder for plants to get established in the heat of summer than in the milder temperatures of spring. All this takes time and watering attention.

Bottom line: although I joke, thinking you can rescue plants is not a compelling reason to buy them on sale. Robust plants are always a better investment, provided they also match your garden's soil, light and water conditions -- and your time as gardener. When all these factors align, bargain bin plants can be a thrill.

Tell us, have you had any triumphs with discount plants?

Cool as a Lemon Cucumber

Cucumbers seem to be one of those vegetables that always do well for us. In the past we have grown  many varieties with success. This year we might have found a new front runner for coolest cucumber in the garden.
 

Lemon cucumbers with crookneck squash

For the first time we are growing lemon cucumbers and we are big fans. The name comes from their round shape and yellowish color. We can't tell a big difference in flavor from our other favorite variety the double yield. You might wonder why you would want a cucumber that is smaller than others and doesn't taste different. Here are a few reasons we like them.

• They are very prolific. I think we are getting more cucumbers from the lemon cucumber than the double yield.
• They are unique. Not everyone has them. They might be good for those of you that want to sell unique products at farmers markets. It's fun to give them away to neighbors and have them rave about how interesting they are.
• Our kids like to eat them like apples so they are eating more of them.

What new vegetable varieties are you growing this year that we need to try?

~Michael~

Armenian Cucumbers

We all have our tried and true heirloom plants that we like to grow every year, but it is always fun to try new varieties to see if there any we like even more. This year we grew Armenian Cucumbers for the first time and they are amazing.

I quick check on the web will tell you that Armenian Cucumbers (also called snake melon or serpent cucumber) are not really cucumbers. They are actually a member of the muskmelon family. We were pleased to find that our crop tastes just like cucumber. In fact, I don't think you would be able to tell the difference in a blind taste test.

Armenian cucumbers grow up to 3 feet long! From our experience they taste better when picked at about 15 to 20 inches long. Many sources also claim that you won't get cucumber burps from the Armenian variety. We bought ours at our local IFA store which sells heirloom varieties that work well in our area. You can also get them online through on of the heirloom seed purveyors.

What is your favorite cucumber variety?

~Michael~

PVC Drip System Update

This has been a a really good year in the garden so far. We have had some battles with squash bugs that I will blog about in the near future. Other than that, everything seems to be producing.

In a previous article I contemplated setting up a pvc drip system. I actually went through with it and have been very pleased. I wanted a more efficient way of watering the garden that used less water. Most of my information for setting up the system came from my go to website for garden help, the Utah State University extension. This article was my main source of inspiration, and the process is pretty easy to figure out. Here is a picture of the garden in its glory with the pvc pipe running down each row. I have shutoff valves every three rows so I can divert water to specific rows in order to improve water pressure, or to water specific plants.

The drip system seems to work very well. The pipe are hooked right into my hose and I manually turn it on when I want to water.  This system seems to be very efficient. Utah has had one of the hottest summers I remember. Even with the heat, this past month I have only watered each row once a week for 20 minutes and our plants are green and producing well. This system has also cut down on weeds as only specific areas are watered 

As I talk to gardeners in our area, it seems that it is a good year for gardening. How are your backyard farms doing. Let us know in the comments.

~Michael~

Seed Starting With a Rain Gutter

Over the years we have shown you several methods for starting seeds. Jennifer built a great seed starting rack with lights to start her seeds. 

 

Cousin Allen did something similar using a prebuilt rack and fluorescent lights.

 

We planted ours in used plastic cups, yogurt cups, and peat pots and put them in the window.

This year we tried something different. We put all of our seeds in a rain gutter in our windows. It worked great and turned out to be an easy way to bottom water all of the plants at once. Check out the video below to see what it looks like.

What are some of the methods you have used to successfully start your seeds indoors?

~Michael~

Signs of Spring

Signs of Spring - daffodills, crocuses, eggs and ... potatoes?

by Uncle Dale

Last week I frost seeded red clover into the pastures. It was perfect timing because winter gave one last burp on Wednesday with 3 inches of snow which was gone by Thursday. Today, Saturday, the sun greets us with 65 degrees under bright blue skies. The crocuses are blooming with daffodils on the way. This was our first day in the garden this year. I spread compost on the raspberry and blackberry patch and repaired the trellising. I also composted and pruned the kiwi vines. LeAnn cleared last year’s tomato vines off the trellises, weeded the border mums, and planted lettuce in last year's potato patch. She dug up a treasure of a few unfrozen potatoes. Our layers are back to full production after a light production during the winter. Today I got a dozen eggs out of our 14 hens. We have 8 turkeys on order and this week we will order 50 broilers. Spring is just around the corner.     

Planting Schedule By Zone

Veggieharvest.com has a good graph that lets you know when to start your seeds, transplant to your garden, and then harvest.

Find your hardiness zone here by typing in your zip code.
Choose your zone from the list here to find your planting calendar.

We are a zone 6-7 so here is our calendar. Make sure to keep track of when you start each step in your garden journal so you can develop your own specific schedule.

 

~Michael~

No Dig Gardening

I grew up on a potato farm and remember riding in the tractor with my father as he tilled the earth. The smell of freshly plowed dirt still takes me back to my youth. I also gardened with my parents as a child and all of my life we would add compost to our garden and till it in.

A few years ago I started researching no till/no dig methods of gardening and it intrigued me. I thought about the beautiful forests here in the Wasatch mountains and the fact that they never needed to be tilled to get new growth. The no till method seemed natural to me, and my back liked the idea of not having to till or dig up the earth. I started a no till portion of our garden and it has worked really well.

The main feature of the no dig method is found in it's title. The earth is not tilled or dug. Manure, compost, straw, and other organic materials are added directly to the surface. Proponents of the no dig method argue that digging can displace nutrients and compact the soil, harm beneficial microbes and life in the soil, and bring weed seeds to the surface causing more weeds to exist. As always you can also find literature to negate these claims.

I am of the belief that there are a lot of ways to successfully farm and garden. I am not against tilling personally and I still own a tiller for part of my garden. I wanted to mention this method to give people and idea of another method to use to be more self sufficient. If you don't like tilling, digging, and weeding then the no till method might be something for you to try. The videos in this post are done by No Dig Gardening. Their site has great information on the no dig method and the videos are awesome.

What are your thoughts on the no dig method. Have you done it? 

 ~Michael~

Our Favorite Heirlooms

If you use heirloom seeds like we do, it's time to order your seeds. I have started to see heirloom seeds available in the local big box stores the past few years but you can't beat the variety available through your favorite seed catalog. We buy a lot of our seeds from Seed Savers Exchange. If you are new to gardening, or just want to try other varieties, here are some of our favorites. All images are from seedsavers.org.

Beam's Yellow Pear: These small, pear shaped tomatoes are great fresh. Our kids eat them like candy. They also are good in a tomato salad adding color and variety. We have grown these for 4 to 5 years now and we never have issues with them. They are very prolific and your friends will be amazed at their shape and color.

Black Beauty Zucchini : I recommend zucchini to new gardeners as it is really hard not to be successful with them. They are very hardy and two plants give our family more than we can handle. Many zucchini are hard to grow in smaller gardens as their vines tend to spread out, but this variety is bushy and stays compact.. We grew it last year in our flower garden. Great sauteed, pickled, or even as a main ingredient in fritters or bread.

Burpee's Golden Beet : We love beets raw and roasted in our house but we hate stained clothes. These beets have the taste we desire but the nice yellow color doesn't stain. These are good to plant early in the year as beets can withstand colder temperatures. If you play your cards right you can get a spring and a fall harvest from these.
 

Summer Crookneck Squash: Like the Zucchini, if you are a new gardener and your main goal is to have something that actually produces, this is a good bet. They are hardy, grow in many different climates, and you won't believe how many squash you get from one plant. Many types of crookneck spread vines all over but this one is more bushy and compact. These are best picked young, before the warts start to appear.

What are some of the heirloom varieties you like? I would like to try some new ones this year.

~Michael~

Everyone a Farmer

Uncle Dale teaches a course at the University of Maryland titled Farm Management & Sustainable Food Production. He stresses that everyone can be a farmer through backyard farming. One of his students took this to heart and developed an new innovative product. 

It's called a Nourishmat and according to the University of Maryland's College of Agriculture & Natural Resources website it is a "6 feet by 4 feet polypropylene mat with pre-cut holes, labels and a grid telling would-be gardeners exactly what, where, and how far apart to plant. The UV treated polypropylene cuts down on weeds and is outfitted with a drip irrigation system that works by simply plugging in a hose."

You can read more about the ingenious Nourishmat at http://www.nourishmatbeta.com/.

A Garden in your Apartment

Check out the video below from Ted.com. It combines a few of my favorite topics: gardening, self sufficiency, and open source collaboration. Britta Riley was inspired by an article she read by Michael Pollan in which he said that growing even a small amount of our own food is one of the best things we can do for our environment. She decided to learn how to use hydroponics to grow food in her apartment window. 

She created an open source website http://our.windowfarms.org/ where people can invent and test each others ideas in order to find the best methods for window farming. The website provides free instructions on how to create window farms. You can test the systems others invent and play a role in developing window farms. Those that don't want to create their own systems can buy equipment from http://www.windowfarms.com/about-the-company/. The funds are used to fund the open source process. Just another example of how anyone can become more self sufficient.

Have any of you done window or hydroponic gardening? We would love to hear about your experiences.

~Michael~

Food Storage Seeds

Many of you know that we are big fans of heirloom seeds here at Backyard Farming. We were at the store the other day and we saw a can of heirloom seeds that you can put in your food storage. We have seeds that we bought a few years ago in our freezer, but I like the idea of buying them canned. The seeds we saw said tehys are good for 4 years. The nice thing about heirloom seeds is that you can harvest the seeds from your fruits and vegetables and then plant them the next year which gives you a perpetual garden. This is not something you can do with most hybrid varieties. I decided to see what I could find online in regards to similar products and here are a few I found. Backyard Farming not affiliated with any of these sites. Our intention is not to endorse any particular site but instead to give some ideas for what is out there.

Patriot Seed Supply

• 20 varieties of hardy heirloom survival seeds passed down from our forefathers.
• Survival seeds rated for 5+ years of storage at 75F, longer at lower temperatures.
• No hybrids, GMOs, or outdated survival seeds. All harvested seeds are reusable.

 Emergency Essentials

• They allow you to harvest your own seeds, giving you the ability to plant a garden from year to year.
• Seeds have been specially dried to just the right level for long term storage.
• At 65-70°, they will store for up to 4 years.
• Hermetically sealed in E-Z Lock Reusable Triple-Layered Foil Bags.

Preparedness Seeds

•   16 large seed packets sealed in a #10 can.
•   Plants nearly 3/4 acre of Garden.
•   Will keep up to 4 years if stored at 66 to 70 degrees and much longer if kept colder
•   All Non-hybrid, open pollinated varieties

Would you consider adding something like this to your food storage? Have any of you bought something like this in the past and then used the seeds? I would be curious to know how they worked for you.

~Michael~