tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8941991144881983162012-01-25T19:14:40.750-08:00my meandering journey toward a more self-sufficient and local-sufficient lifestyle... <br> "sedit qui timuit ne non succederet"littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.comBlogger1911100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-28454355726335543892011-10-23T16:58:00.000-07:002011-10-23T16:58:41.863-07:00

Yesterday I planted three 2'x4' beds of garlic (about 84 cloves) and one bed the same size of shallots.  I mulched them thickly with some straw after planting.  I will remove the straw in the spring when it's time for them to grow above ground.  We haven't had any frosts yet around here but they are forecasting there might be one in a couple days.  So I spent some time yesterday covering all the

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-78134512635277798312011-09-24T17:34:00.000-07:002011-09-24T17:34:20.889-07:00

A couple weeks ago I posted about making sprouted pumpkin seed and date snack bars, and how I wanted to try this with various seeds and fruits in the interest of making grain-free snacks. This time I decided to sprout some raw sesame seeds.  They sprouted for 2 days. Yep, they really did sprout.  They look kind of funny but they actually smelled good. I took a plate full of peaches from a farm

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-47389365261350930452011-09-17T21:02:00.000-07:002011-09-17T21:06:19.497-07:00

It was so cool this morning I actually turned on the heat for awhile.  Not that much different from most of the summer here, but the last few weeks we had a heat wave so it was kind of a shock for it to cool down so quickly. The raspberry harvest has begun in earnest.  The everbearing raspberries seem to love cool weather after a heatwave and will be producing for at least the rest of the month

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-24491852361743003352011-09-10T23:18:00.000-07:002011-09-10T23:27:59.227-07:00

Time for another weekly blog post - which hasn't happened in a couple months... One of the upsides of living in an area rich with agriculture is that a wide variety of local foods are readily available within a short driving distance.  One of the downsides is that for a couple months every summer the air in the valley is thick with dust which covers my car, seeps through my windows, and worst of

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-20149465845059082292011-07-10T12:57:00.000-07:002011-07-10T12:57:59.890-07:00

It has been 4 months since I started the vanilla extract.  It has been hiding away in a kitchen drawer and I shake the jars every now and then.  I decided it was time to strain the extract off of the beans and seeds.  From the 2 quart jars I got 3 pints of strained extract.  (I used muslin inside of a funnel to strain it.)  I found this brand of kombucha that comes in amber glass bottles.  I

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-80262077350927717522011-07-02T16:26:00.000-07:002011-07-02T16:26:23.951-07:00

The ginger plant is getting tall.  The dog wanted his picture taken too.  Never hurts to look cute and try to finagle a treat. My big project this week was getting the laundry room painted.  The walls are a light orange, called "perfect peach", but what the color reminds me of is the orange sherbet swirled with vanilla ice cream we used to eat a lot when I was a kid. (Unfortunately these pictures

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-6418722866149391032011-06-25T14:00:00.000-07:002011-06-25T14:00:56.818-07:00

These first 2 pictures are from over a month ago when I planted some ginger.  I use quite a bit of ginger, and I had some roots that had begun to sprout on the kitchen counter, so I had the thought that perhaps I could grow some myself.  I read several pages about growing ginger in pots - I already knew my climate is too cold for it to survive outside.  As usual when looking things up online,

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-22496699757788459842011-05-28T18:25:00.000-07:002011-05-28T18:25:00.293-07:00

I really enjoy all the different birds that visit my yard, and you can tell spring is really here (despite the un-spring-like weather this year) when birds you haven't seen all winter start showing up.  Male blackheaded grosbeak Eurasian collared dove - according to my bird book these birds do not live in my area, however they have been here for years.  I have these doves and mourning doves in my

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-85451314403495949892011-05-26T21:28:00.000-07:002011-05-26T21:28:53.977-07:00

Today I planted two evergreen blueberries and some comfrey plants.  I weeded and mulched some around the rhubarb and raspberries - there is a lot of weeding left to do.  I didn't take any pictures of what I planted because it was raining so much I didn't want to take the camera outside.  I picked about a pound of rhubarb and cooked up some sauce with ginger and honey for dessert tonight. This

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-48236977564300911732011-05-24T20:23:00.000-07:002011-05-24T20:23:37.573-07:00

I tried a new recipe from Lahey's "My Bread" book - stecca or stick bread.  This whole book is all no-knead bread which is the only kind I can make since my lungs were damaged, but now that I make this kind I can't imagine why I ever made the other kind to begin with.  I made it whole wheat and didn't follow the directions very exactly at all, but yet it turned out pretty good. :)  Awhile ago I

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-46783725244450112382011-05-17T16:14:00.000-07:002011-05-17T16:14:54.790-07:00

First asparagus harvest of the year on Sunday...  Here is to foods that taste even better because you only eat them in season! I have a bunch of other pictures and stuff to post, but I keep not finding time to do it.  So more soon.  For now I will just say that on my way to work a few days ago I saw 2 bald eagles.  Bald eagles are a fairly common sight here in the valley, but I always enjoy

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-15634993268584340862011-05-07T22:06:00.000-07:002011-05-07T22:06:39.031-07:00

Pouring rain today so I once again didn't get any yard or garden work done.  But I had a lot of birds at my feeders and I got a few more good pictures of different varieties the last few days so I will post those soon.But for now I want to post pictures of some migratory birds that I watched this evening.  I heard about the Vaux's swifts being on their annual migration through our valley and that

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-13508748607593343592011-05-05T16:12:00.000-07:002011-05-05T16:12:31.185-07:00

It was overcast all day and rained some in the morning.  Nothing doing in the garden today, so here are a few new pictures I took out the front window today. The red maple is just about done flowering and the leaves are growing.  Doves enjoying a rest in the oak tree.  It just barely starting to leaf out. I put peanuts out today so the bluejays were out in force to fight over them.  This scrub

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-71641758436995143742011-05-04T19:15:00.000-07:002011-05-04T19:15:17.903-07:00

Are among the things I planted last night after work.  I planted the chard, lettuce, radishes, and carrots in some of the front yard raised beds.  I also scared and got scared by a huge garter snake when I was putting my tools away.  I always have a colony of garter snakes in my garden, and although in general snakes scare me I don't mind these because I know they eat the slugs.  Usually I kindof

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-74820571371791118992011-05-03T13:47:00.000-07:002011-05-03T13:47:38.809-07:00

I planted the rest of the potatoes after I got home from work yesterday. I have one row of Russet, one row of Yukon Gold, and a third row that is about 2/3 Red Nordland and 1/3 Russet.  So slowly but surely the garden begins to progress... Here is the view from my front window during my lunch break today. American Goldfinch - they like to eat the nyjer thistle White crowned sparrow - often

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-88232184138835150092011-05-02T17:18:00.000-07:002011-05-02T17:18:00.293-07:00

I usually turn off the heat (I heat my house with a natural gas stove) the first of May and don't turn it back on until October.  I remember that last fall it was a real stretch waiting until October rolled around.  I can't quite recall if I made it or not, but I sure was trying and it was getting so cold so early.  So now it is May again and I would like to turn off the heat as usual, but I am

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-45307019084900963162011-05-01T15:12:00.000-07:002011-05-01T15:12:58.725-07:00

Yesterday evening I planted one wide row of potatoes, some of the Russets.  I put fertilizer, lay out the seed potatoes, then cover with a little soil and compost mix and then cover that all with straw.  I will mound up more straw as the potatoes grow later.  This morning I was coughing a lot, so unfortunately I did overdo yesterday and probably won't feel up to planting more of the potatoes for

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-38346114342809505022011-04-30T14:53:00.000-07:002011-04-30T14:53:37.529-07:00

It was forecast to be dry today (finally!), so I planned to plant the seed potatoes I bought this past week.  When I woke up this morning, I could hear pouring rain, so I saw right away that the forecast had not been quite right. I went ahead after breakfast and got the seed potatoes ready anyway, in case it would clear off later. The ones one the right are Russet.  They were larger so I cut most

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-32984707577456357062011-04-12T16:52:00.000-07:002011-04-12T16:52:45.364-07:00

 Just picked up my local food order for this week.  So, what is in the bag?..... Leeks, swiss chard, butter, cheese, mushrooms, and a super-delicious-smelling bunch of rosemary. I started thinking about all the different things I could make for supper.  Then I remembered, I have leftovers...

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-6089920786187215402011-04-10T14:17:00.000-07:002011-04-10T14:17:05.505-07:00

My flowering quince was going to bloom for the first time last month.  But then a late snow froze onto the bush for a couple days and after that the blooms shriveled up and fell off without ever opening.  So I'll have to wait another year to get my first quince crop.  Then the pear tree began to bloom right before a snow/rain mix and freeze last week, so we'll see if the pears make it through or

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-6434325729332908122011-04-09T16:45:00.000-07:002011-04-09T16:45:16.527-07:00

I bought this embroidery kit at a garage sale a few years back.  I like finding old craft items.  Usually they are made in America and higher quality than some of the newer things you can buy, then for a couple dollars you can benefit from the person who bought the item decades ago and never made time to work on it.  This kit was new in the package, only missing the needle.  I haven't done any

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-22655635687307394852011-03-05T08:40:00.000-08:002011-03-05T08:40:25.429-08:00

Drowning my sorrows? Nope - I'm making vanilla extract! I've been reading online lately about making various kinds of extracts, and it sounds so easy.  Plus many kinds, like citrus or mint, you can make for a fraction of the cost of buying it at the store.  And you get to control the ingredients.Vanilla extract itself isn't going to be cheap to make at home, due to needing to buy the not-cheap

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-5842623868843881892011-01-15T23:00:00.000-08:002011-01-15T23:00:50.636-08:00

Wishful thinking.... BUT, I have daffodils starting to sprout above ground!  I may have February daffodil blooms again like I did last year.

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-54375151453936250412011-01-08T22:14:00.000-08:002011-01-08T22:14:25.499-08:00

As others online have been noting, it's the time of year that the seed catalogs arrive.  I have a lot of seeds left from the last couple years, so I probably won't buy many this year.  But what really tempts me are the catalogs from the nurseries!  When I was a kid my grandpa always called the Penneys and Sears catalogs "wish books" and that is how I feel now about the plant catalogs. It's

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-51163221412634714782010-12-31T22:34:00.000-08:002010-12-31T22:34:34.690-08:00

I meant to include in my earlier post a simple recipe for a delicious and healthy punch that I made these holidays for Christmas Eve and it was so good I made it again tonight.  I got the recipe idea from the blog http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/ All you do is mix one can of pineapple juice, one small can of coconut milk, and one liter of club soda.  That's it - a nice tropical touch

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-33555414263775230372010-12-31T17:56:00.000-08:002010-12-31T17:57:36.815-08:00

Hope everyone has a cozy, happy and safe new years eve... I'm going to be at home munching on healthy(ish) finger foods, watching old black and white scary movies on hulu, cozy by the fire. Here is hoping that 2011 is a good year, full of more happiness than sadness and more joy than pain.  Now go recycle all your 2010 calendars and get out the new ones! :)

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-6623959175107242842010-12-30T14:02:00.000-08:002010-12-30T14:02:27.475-08:00

A winter day's lunch... a couple farm eggs and a mess of homegrown mustard greens scrambled up with some salt and pepper... and don't forget a big cup of coffee... and some fresh fruit (although of course that pineapple's not local!) Nothing to me in the middle of winter (or start of winter) feels more like a spoonful of energy than do greens from the garden.  These are mizuna and mibuna, which

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-91270341240564621512010-12-24T21:25:00.000-08:002010-12-24T21:25:28.689-08:00

"And the Grinch...stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?"  Dr. Seuss

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-91385851670916625582010-12-20T21:14:00.000-08:002010-12-20T21:14:23.777-08:00

I'm not making too many Christmas goodies here - frankly I just don't have the energy and lung capacity to do it and would rather spend the time enjoying the holidays than wearing myself out in the kitchen and then feeling too sick afterward to enjoy it.  (This is a big change from a few years ago, but on the other hand last year at this time I was just struggling to survive and didn't make

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-90164917811746705092010-12-19T22:06:00.000-08:002010-12-20T02:19:30.864-08:00

This site, http://www.soilandhealth.org/ , provides free e-books about gardening, homesteading, and health.  I've just browsed through their list of titles and haven't read any of them yet, but it looks like there is a whole winter's worth of reading in there, and then some. p.s.  Homemade dog food update - my dog is still going crazy over the homemade dog food each night.  Looks like one batch

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-58650477513023909432010-12-15T23:41:00.000-08:002010-12-15T23:41:09.814-08:00

I was inspired by Rhonda at down to earth (blog link in list at right) to try making homemade dog food.  I don't plan to jump right into making all his food right away, but wanted to try it out. A local dairy farm (from which I buy grass fed beef  and butter for myself, and used to buy milk before I found a different source for raw milk) sells 100% beef "pet food".  It's just chunks of beef,

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-81912922566845397142010-11-28T11:23:00.000-08:002010-11-28T11:23:47.829-08:00

Today is the first day of Advent.  After being sick with the bad bug going around here and recovering just in time to get worn out by the holiday, I managed not to get my advent wreath ready in time.  Not to worry, I have lots of candles.  For now I just lit one, a soy candle made by a local crafter, and set it on the ledge between the dining room and kitchen.

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-81578625252973543962010-11-27T12:55:00.000-08:002010-11-27T12:55:34.610-08:00

Had snow for 2 days and several nights of freezing temperatures earlier this week.  Got around 3 inches of snow which is unusual for here, especially this time of year.  Apparently this is on account of La Nina. Before the snow and freeze came in, I harvested the stalks of brussel sprouts and put them in the winter-time walk-in refrigerator (otherwise known as the garage :) ).  Also got the last

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-7830835533290160592010-11-18T19:16:00.000-08:002010-11-18T19:16:41.029-08:00

They are predicting we will get our first cold weather this weekend, perhaps down into the 20s.  If so that will be the first freeze of this fall.  I've got my last harvest of mint for the year drying in the food dryer this evening.  This afternoon there was a hummingbird eating from the few remaining fuschia blooms.  I was surprised to see him there since I hadn't seen them around for quite

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-84274902251278517092010-11-07T15:21:00.000-08:002010-11-07T15:21:26.574-08:00

Today started out sunny, though cool, but now the dark clouds have rolled in and a brief hail storm has turned into pouring rain.  A good afternoon for baking... The no-knead sourdough bread (half whole wheat, half unbleached Bob's red mill white flour) got mixed up late last night to sit for its 12-15 hour raise.  This afternoon it had its second, 1 hour, raise and went into the oven.  My oven

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-20981671037362611242010-11-06T19:14:00.000-07:002010-11-06T19:14:51.225-07:00

I harvested over 50 lb of purple cabbage a couple weeks ago (it's been chilling out in my pantry since then) and want to make sauerkraut out of at least some of it.  I finally got around to get started tonight.  I started with one of the largest heads of cabbage - half of it is pictured above - but still I thought I would use up at least several of them tonight. Here is a kindof blurry phone

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-61508291966201695202010-11-01T18:09:00.000-07:002010-11-01T18:09:57.626-07:00

The kimchi turned out well.  I probably won't put quite as much ginger next time.  I just used the recipe from Nourishing Traditions.  Next time I think I might put fresh hot peppers instead of the dried chili pepper flakes.  Anyway, I took most of it up to my dad and just kept a small jar here to eat. I really need to get my garlic planted.  I meant to do it over the weekend but that didn't

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-48256663124671336582010-10-26T18:10:00.000-07:002010-10-26T18:10:10.865-07:00

Tomatoes roasting by an open fire...  So much rain here I keep picking the tomatoes at the first blush of pink and bringing them inside to the dining room floor to make sure they won't end up just splitting.  My cat uses them as pillows when he lays by the fire.  It's not that they need to be by the fire; it's just that is the floor space I have available in my little house. The kimchi is

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-37213055676835568822010-10-23T11:09:00.000-07:002010-10-23T11:09:51.323-07:00

My time off from blogging has lasted longer than I intended it to.  We haven't had any freezes here yet, but the garden is started to wind down.  The squash bushes and some of the other plants are all suffering from mildew after the week-long pouring rain we had a little while back.  Some of my fall greens are doing well, but others were either drowned out or dug up by birds and/or the little

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-48894738781205620842010-09-03T20:22:00.000-07:002010-09-03T20:22:42.422-07:00

This morning while I was hanging clothes on the line, a little copper-colored butterfly perched on a clothespin right next to me.  It stayed the whole time I was out there.  When I got too close, it would just move to another pin a little further away.  Of course when I finished and came in to get my camera, when I went back out it was gone. I will be offline for the next couple weeks, so I

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-4874318223947989952010-09-02T18:20:00.000-07:002010-09-02T18:20:58.569-07:00

Well, I ate some beets last night, and I am still alive to tell about it. :)  They aren't very strong.  The cooler weather during the fermentation had to do with that I'm sure.  At any rate, they are edible and taste good; they just aren't extremely pickly.  I should have left them out for more days, but wanted to follow the recipe exactly since it was the first time I had used it.  (When I

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-22316342133753792282010-08-31T16:07:00.000-07:002010-08-31T16:07:47.971-07:00

So today is the day to put the beets in the fridge.   (Directions are to ferment at room temp for 3 days.)  I just opened the jar and sniffed.  They smell like pickled beets and I can see some bubbling in the jar though not as much as I expected.  I put the lid back on and put the jar in the fridge.  Will work up my nerve to take a taste soon. :)

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-83085295161855263822010-08-30T20:31:00.000-07:002010-08-30T20:31:54.523-07:00

The local weather expert says we will have good weather through the end of October, later than usual due to La Nina.  Seems that no one told that to the colchicum, which decided to start blooming August 28th.  Then last night into this morning we had a big rain storm, which made it totally feel like fall.  I still hold out hope for warmer weather through Halloween so that my late-planted garden

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-50505836829986098692010-08-26T15:51:00.000-07:002010-08-26T15:51:31.324-07:00

My cucumbers got planted so late they aren't even blooming yet.  If we don't get an early frost I should still get a harvest at some point.  I found a 5 lb bag of pickling cukes from a local farm for $6.25, so I snagged those for a few jars of homemade dill pickles. It's not just a matter of liking homemade pickles better.  It's also that I just can't find the kind of dill pickles I want at the

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-42907090356699450522010-08-17T13:05:00.000-07:002010-08-17T13:06:20.929-07:00

This kohlrabi decided to follow me in from the garden this morning.  I guess I should invite it to dinner. :) The leaves are rather bug-eaten, so I will throw them out and just eat the "bulb".  Kohlrabi is one of those vegetables I didn't know I liked before I started growing it myself.  (Another one is brussel sprouts.)  Some vegetables like those two just taste nasty to me when they come from

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-10679421043787276512010-08-16T10:57:00.000-07:002010-08-16T10:57:49.220-07:00

Despite the late plantings and the odd weather, I am starting to finally get some summer squash: yellow zucchini, giambo, and patty pan.  The patty pan started first and the others are now catching up.  Still only green tomatoes on the plants, but I see one cherry tomato that is starting to turn.  I have been harvesting carrots, kohlrabi, herbs, snow peas, and broccoli.  And there are some

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-11473993135933739172010-08-06T10:38:00.001-07:002010-08-06T10:38:48.853-07:00

I don't usually post links on my blog, but this is a good one for anyone interested in your right to have access to healthy, locally grown food. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/08/05/raids-are-increasing-on-farms-and-private-foodsupply-clubs.aspx

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-35268590948806661122010-08-06T08:03:00.000-07:002010-08-06T08:03:00.108-07:00

One of these things just doesn't belong... And if you aren't humming the tune in your head by now, you didn't grow up watching Sesame Street. This post was brought to you by the letter H and the number 13. :)

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-65585446489037566492010-08-05T08:34:00.000-07:002010-08-05T08:34:00.585-07:00

In April I planted orange, white, purple, and red carrots.  Not all of them grew, due to the weather and perhaps also to my underdeveloped carrot growing skills.  But mostly the weather.  (saturated ground from months of pouring rain - being in a raised bed help a little.) I saw the white carrot popping up out of the ground and getting green shoulders, so I decided to pick it.  I haven't picked

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-46440261752916207072010-08-04T19:33:00.000-07:002010-08-04T19:33:29.551-07:00

A local farmer had onions that started to bolt, so they could not be sold as storage onions. The farmer put the onions on sale; I saw the sale and figured it was time to dehydrate onions for winter use. I bought 10 onions.  My projects are nowhere near as ambitious as they used to be, at least for now.  Chopping 10 onions I can handle right now, on a good day, although just barely.  Although I

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-65427675010468855782010-07-31T13:10:00.000-07:002010-07-31T13:12:39.629-07:00

I've been saving up to buy a big freezer for awhile.  I got it delivered this week, so now I will be able to buy bulk local meat along with freezing extra garden produce and such.  Small businesses are the best, and I made sure to take my business to one when I was ready to buy my freezer.  I got it on a good sale and they delivered it for free, even though my town is about a 20 minute drive from

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-971330116693026432010-07-23T10:54:00.000-07:002010-07-23T10:55:24.834-07:00

A small harvest of flat leaf parsley and basil from the garden.  (Had a larger picking of basil last week - first picking of parsley.) I dried most of this to save for winter.  I store the dried herbs in small brown glass bottles that used to hold vitamins. One of the best things about summer is the almost daily supply of at least one kind of fresh berries. The smaller strawberries in the picture

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-8249770729343406562010-07-17T17:23:00.000-07:002010-07-17T17:23:48.972-07:00

The covering the grass and mulching in the front yard project is about 85% done, thanks mostly to my sister for doing all the heavy work for me.  It still has some more work to go before it's done, and after that I will start working on the side, and then after that to the back yard.  The back yard is a huge project, but that's for another post I think.  The birds love the yard this way, and the

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-43962320671664856332010-07-14T17:20:00.000-07:002010-07-14T17:20:49.507-07:00

I haven't posted for a long time (obviously :) ).  I caught a bad respiratory infection a couple months ago and even after I got over it, it really set me back.  I haven't had the energy to blog or do a lot of other things.  But hopefully now I am about back to where I was before that, so I should be able to post on a fairly regular basis again.Beside my health, the weather was so strange this

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-75711478554821962682010-04-28T06:48:00.000-07:002010-04-28T06:48:00.491-07:00

I think I've posted before about how they started a local food cooperative here in which you can order online from a variety of local farmers, ranchers, dairy, etc. and then once a week you go pick your order up all together at one place.  Here's a peek (above) at my order this week. It's been a real blessing to me to have this option for buying food the last couple months.  With my health

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-84899859104406447422010-04-27T16:19:00.000-07:002010-04-27T16:19:44.250-07:00

Well I haven't got anything more planted since I last posted, except that my sister helped me plant the flowering quince bush last Saturday.  So not too much to report on the garden.Saturday morning I got my first small harvest of peppermint, and dried that in the food dryer.  Hope to end this coming summer with a big stash of mint and chamomile tea for the coming year.  Of course I will use some

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-2278903862304282252010-04-22T16:52:00.000-07:002010-04-22T16:52:07.541-07:00

Supper!  Ok, well, a small part of supper...  Looks like asparagus season is about to get into full swing here... My flowering quince had been dropped off by fedex while I was at work.  The kitty inspected to see if it was good to eat.  (He tried) I am going to plant this in front to replace my yuzu that died last winter.  It was supposed to be hardy to 0F, and it only got down to about 8F during

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-38423447033982988682010-04-21T18:39:00.000-07:002010-04-21T18:44:16.089-07:00

These french breakfast radishes will get a lot bigger than this (the yellow one is a zlata), but I just had to have a few for supper tonight.

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-19223017047034047762010-04-20T11:15:00.000-07:002010-04-20T11:16:58.257-07:00

Nothing doing on the gardening front the last couple days - too wet out. In the meantime, here are some pictures I took last summer of a flour mill that has been turned into a state park here. This is the turbine that used to be down below running the mill.  It is made out of wood, so that when one part broke a replacement could be quickly and easily done. These are some of the devices used to

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-31876570039678346372010-04-17T18:53:00.000-07:002010-04-17T18:53:30.489-07:00

A couple pictures of the most recent bloomers in my yard... I built another 2'x4' raised bed today, and with some help got it installed in the front yard and filled with soil.  I planted it full of cylindra beets.  I love beets and this variety is my favorite due to their shape, so hopefully they do well.  The potatoes and broccoli starts are still sitting around waiting to be planted, so maybe

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-27962676566917629332010-04-15T15:51:00.000-07:002010-04-15T15:51:48.039-07:00

I started some tomato seeds in peat pots last night after work.  Three each of beefsteak, heinz 1439, paquebot roma, and princepe borghese. I will probably buy a few other random tomato plants at the nursery later too - for sure some cherry tomatoes.  On my way home from work today I stopped at the nursery to get seed potatoes and ended up getting some broccoli plants also.  Hopefully I will get

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-27097165001622441922010-04-13T16:57:00.000-07:002010-04-13T16:57:49.360-07:00

I planted carrots this afternoon in a 5'x2' raised bed in the front yard, covered with an insect barrier row cover: red core chantenay,  5-7" red-orange root nelson hybrid, orange Nantes-type, 6-7" root white satin hybrid, 8" white root purple haze hybrid, 10-12" purple skinned roots with orange centers Also thinned the bed of radishes - found almost as many sunflower seedlings as I did radishes

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-18094682565607203082010-04-12T06:46:00.000-07:002010-04-12T06:46:00.427-07:00

Most of my fruits trees and bushes are either in bloom now or fixin' to get there.  Here is the Scarlet Sentinel column apple tree.  I just planted the 4 columnar apple trees a year ago so I haven't had any fruit off them yet, but maybe this year...  The scarlet sentinel is the earliest variety of the four. This one is called North Pole.  It is a later variety.  I'm counting on all the apple

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-88964080210040786782010-04-11T10:45:00.000-07:002010-04-11T10:45:58.835-07:00

The red maple tree is blooming.  The wasps seem to love it.  The red-leaved maple tree blooms first and then leafs out.  It drops its seeds in the fall.  The green-leaved maple leafs out first and then blooms.  It holds its seeds all winter after the leaves are long gone, and then drops its seeds in the spring.  I have scads of little maple trees popping up all over the yard every spring and I

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-11257007355235766432010-04-09T06:35:00.000-07:002010-04-09T06:35:00.490-07:00

I am a big believer in LET THE DANDELIONS GROW!  I have read articles that said dandelions are an important late winter/early spring food for honeybees before much else is blooming.  Some people believe that the honeybee problems stem partly from lack of dandelions and/or herbicides on dandelions.  I don't know for sure about that, but it could make sense.  Fortunately we don't have a bee

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-65987601120979778502010-04-08T13:35:00.000-07:002010-04-08T13:35:18.302-07:00

It has been pouring rain almost every day since I last posted.  The ground is saturated, there is a lot of standing water, and I haven't been able to plant anything for a couple weeks because of that.  I'm afraid many of the seeds I did plant last time on the 27th will have rotted in the ground and will not grow.  So I am behind on my planting schedule, but what else is new? :)  Gardening is

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-41749655018780045782010-03-29T17:35:00.000-07:002010-03-29T17:35:07.457-07:00

I took these pictures Sunday evening.  They are the 2nd bird, which has a green back. It was pouring rain and I took these through the window.  Someday when it's sunny maybe I will get outside to take the pictures and get a better closeup.

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-18772245992393646942010-03-28T13:09:00.000-07:002010-03-28T13:19:13.995-07:00

Been watching the hummingbird show out the front window last evening and today.  There are at least 2 now, but this is the main one. I believe he is a Rufous, although according to the identification website it can be hard to distinguish between a Rufous and an Allens.  There is a picture of him above, sitting in the maple tree, which I took through the window on maximum zoom.  He sits in the

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-83191026064997191962010-03-27T17:08:00.000-07:002010-03-27T17:08:50.872-07:00

Today I planted part of my plot at the community garden with some early season vegetables.  My sister did all the hard work for me, while I directed and stuck seeds in the ground.  I've moved to a larger plot this year, so I will be able to plant more than ever. yay! The plot is 15'x40' with the long side running approximately N/S.  The rows are planted E/W, with the goal of having a lot of short

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-72425052340980284232010-03-26T11:39:00.000-07:002010-03-26T11:39:13.767-07:00

Here it is!  My first successful sourdough no-knead bread fresh out of the oven.  I used this recipe.  The only change I made was to use all whole wheat flour, because I generally don't even keep white flour around and my sourdough starter was made from and has only ever been fed whole wheat.  The website I found for this recipe is great, and there are lots of other good recipes on there that I

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-83360553697956919152010-03-25T10:42:00.000-07:002010-03-25T13:25:38.676-07:00

Try #1 for no-knead sourdough was not a success.  It will be edible, so not total failure I guess, but it is not at all what it should be.  From all the recipes I found online which were conversions of the successful recipe to sourdough, there were 2 main variations.  One type called for 1 cup starter while the other type called for 1/4 cup starter.  I chose the one with 1 cup because the author

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-86790940809645872082010-03-24T11:08:00.000-07:002010-03-24T11:08:47.707-07:00

I used this recipe for no-knead bread, with instant yeast.  It was almost no work and it turned out great.  It was very crusty on the outside, but the inside was fluffier and lighter than any kneaded bread I have ever made.  The bread was baked Sunday afternoon and has now all been eaten, except one end I will use to make croutons. With my being much more into sourdough than commercial yeast,

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-13983661770041470542010-03-20T13:38:00.000-07:002010-03-20T13:38:46.193-07:00

The hummingbird is here every day now.  It is a male Rufous, which isn't the kind I've had here before usually so that is exciting.  Today he came and ate out of the feeder while I was on the ground about 4 feet away.  Of course he moves too fast for me to get a picture yet.  Looks like he is living in the fir trees next door. I planted salad stuff and other greens in two of the 4'x2' raised

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-88717913240205866822010-03-16T18:33:00.000-07:002010-03-16T18:33:02.127-07:00

On Sunday I cleaned and filled the hummingbird feeder.  On Monday the first hummingbird was spotted.  It should be able to eat from the pulmonaria and some of the other early flowers, but hopefully the feeder will keep it around more often.

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-596970591450197252010-03-13T17:14:00.000-08:002010-03-13T17:14:31.817-08:00

Today I planted radishes in one of the 4'x2' raised beds in the front yard.  Zlata is a yellow radish and I planted about 1/3 the bed with that and the rest with french breakfast radish.  I love radishes and will try to do better this year at keeping the rotation down so I always have some ready.  We'll see. I covered the bed with a summer insect barrier to keep the root maggots away.  That's the

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-19331198659097246182010-03-01T07:00:00.000-08:002010-03-01T07:00:06.871-08:00

Since it's the first day of March, here's a look back at all the early flowers I got to enjoy in the month of February due to the unseasonable weather... All of these pictures were taken on February 28.  Bleeding heart in full bloom - below that the grape hyacinths are opening My daffodils started opening the middle of last week.   pulmonaria just starting to bloom The last spring crocus -

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-52445662895009032542010-02-28T13:45:00.000-08:002010-02-28T13:45:06.103-08:00

Yesterday my sister helped me work in the garden and yard for a couple hours again.  It was sunny all day and 60 degrees out, so it felt practically like summer! With the addition of 2 cement blocks and a bunch of leaves and soil, the cement block strawberry bed is now twice as wide.  Once the bed was enlarged we moved the strawberries from the other bed I planted last year into this one.  (The

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-46478509420326877612010-02-23T11:53:00.000-08:002010-02-23T11:53:31.001-08:00

I'm in the middle of reading the book Projects for the Birder's Garden by Fern Bradley.  It talks about what and how different kind of birds like to eat and how you can build different feeders or put out different kinds of foods to attract them.  That's where I got the idea for the peanutbutter/cornmeal mix.  I had some outdated Adams peanut butter from the grocery outlet that I used.  Once the

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-91917883346967291532010-02-20T08:02:00.000-08:002010-02-20T08:04:38.784-08:00

After weeks of pouring rain and soggy saturated ground (thank you El Nino), we have had three days of sun and are in for at least one more today.  Along with that, of course there has also been 3 freezing mornings with light frosts after it had been above freezing for a long time.  The frosts weren't hard enough to hurt the plants that are up early though, so that's good news.  I need to get out

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-51087599539658442442010-02-17T07:00:00.000-08:002010-02-17T07:00:03.403-08:00

 I ordered this garden basket through the mail, along with some seeds for next spring, from Freedom Seeds.Can't wait until it is time to plant the garden.  Except that I didn't get my garden mulched last fall, so now I am going to have to weed.  If I get it mulched soon though, it might be in time to kill the weeds before I am ready to plant.  So I think I will try to mulch this weekend (with

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-45645587514168771782010-02-16T17:19:00.000-08:002010-02-16T17:20:09.000-08:00

I recently read Four-Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman.  I had never read any of his books before.  One thing I really liked about this book were the detailed directions.  I get irritated with books that are full of general ideas without details about how to actually do the thing they are describing.  This one tells how to do things like make a cold frame, a low tunnel, and a high tunnel.  There

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-10920468533522238042010-02-14T19:37:00.000-08:002010-02-14T19:37:10.208-08:00

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day.  Here it was a valentine's day/mardi gras/Oregon's birthday/Daytona 500 party.  And might I add "my" driver came in 2nd in the race! The party dinner included winter squash/pine nut lasagna, pork loin, and gooseberry crisp from the pie filling I froze last summer.  So it was I think worthy of all the many things today was celebrating. :) I've been too

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-42981665474406552272010-02-06T16:28:00.000-08:002010-02-06T16:28:23.186-08:00

 The bleeding heart is already above ground and getting ready to bloom.  Doesn't it know it is just now February! The lenten rose is in full bloom - at least that is a plant that is more on schedule this year. Thanks to my generous sister, I got to pretend for awhile earlier today that I am a gardener who can actually garden right now.  (Instead of one whose damaged lungs swell up and threaten to

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-56312512600958481022010-02-06T08:00:00.000-08:002010-02-06T08:00:04.451-08:00

This is how I have been making my coffee for several years; manual drip through a cone filter in a plastic one cup coffee maker.  I've been looking for a change, due to trying to reduce the amount of plastic that contacts my food.  Especially having plastic in contact with hot food or drinks is something I am trying to eliminate.  I don't drink a lot of coffee, usually one big cup in the morning

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-9317153629324206092010-02-05T10:13:00.000-08:002010-02-05T10:13:46.148-08:00

Hummingbirds hang out in my yard every summer, eating from the fuschias and resting in the grapevines.  I've also been adding more plants for them to my yard each year, just by buying seeds and plants for which the catalog description says they will attract hummingbirds (such as bee balm and salvia).  I recently read the book Attracting Butterflies and Hummingbirds to Your Backyard by Sally Roth,

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-84996898963214112972010-01-31T15:07:00.000-08:002010-01-31T15:07:01.347-08:00

Last summer I had an overabundance of yellow crookneck summer squash.  Not as if that is anything unusual. I ran the food dryer night and day putting the squash away for winter soups.  When not even eating squash every day and drying it every day could keep up with the amount of squash I was harvesting, I ended up putting some in the freezer.  Freezing  fruit and vegetables is usually one of my

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-1203055374196119072010-01-30T19:30:00.000-08:002010-01-30T19:32:50.062-08:00

For Christmas my grandma gave me the book Weed 'Em and Reap by Roger Welsch.  On account of my having fed her wild purslane in her salad when she was visiting last summer.  And on account of her being a fan and friend of the author, it was even autographed. It's a really entertaining and inspirational book, fun for someone like me who ever wanted to find food growing for free in their yard or

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-26323628562698189132010-01-28T15:48:00.000-08:002010-01-28T15:48:56.356-08:00

These are the bean and tomato seeds I got in the mail recently to plant this coming spring. When choosing which 2 bean varieties to request this year, I tried to pick out something more unique but still good for soup.  The beans on the left are Yellow Eye and the ones on the right are Flor de Mayo. The tomatoes are three sauce varieties (2 of which I have grown before from purchased plants) and

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-17108199298912187642010-01-26T17:29:00.000-08:002010-01-26T17:29:21.926-08:00

The fourth and final episode picks up with Hutterite Soup beans. I planted 21 Hutterite Soup seeds and harvested from that 958 good seeds.  So this is a return of about 46 beans per bean planted.  Again this number leaves a lot of room for improvement.  This type of bean is small, about the size of a blackeyed pea, but rounder. Several websites I read describe this bean as cooking quickly to

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-22929663867747217202010-01-24T16:00:00.000-08:002010-01-26T17:31:59.836-08:00

Tiger Eyes are watching you.  Well, actually they can't see you at all.  But don't you enjoy looking at them with their pretty swirled pattern? In this episode we move along to the Tiger Eye beans.  For this type of bean I planted 21 seeds and harvested a total of 336 good seeds.  This is a production ratio of only 16 seeds per bean planted.  So I definitely need to work on growing these in a

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-31351004910759169272010-01-23T11:01:00.000-08:002010-01-23T11:02:37.378-08:00

The bulb flowers here seem to think spring is on its way.  I am not sure if they actually know it will be an early spring or if they are confused by the recent weather.  Either I am in for a lot of early flowers or a bunch of plants that get surprised by a freeze and no flowers.  I hope it's the former. Daffodils in the side yard  hyacinth peaking out of the ground next to the hydrangea

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-32574439986261659132010-01-22T20:42:00.001-08:002010-01-22T21:35:49.087-08:00

When we last left our story, it was the cannellinis who were swimming around in a pot of Minestrone soup. Since those beans have since been ruthlessly eaten, we will now move on to the Jacobs Cattle beans.I got this type of seeds, as well as the ones that will be featured in Episodes III and IV, from Martin on homesteadingtoday.com in his annual "almost free seeds" in January of 2009. Martin is

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-21515023557370937382010-01-21T07:18:00.000-08:002010-01-22T21:36:56.936-08:00

I posted awhile ago showing my soup bean seeds drying in their pods. I grew 4 different types of soup beans, which I am growing to develop a store of seed so that later I can grow them to eat each year.These are cannellini beans. I bought the original small packet of seed from Territorial in 2008. That year I planted a row just a few feet long of these beans. They weren't in a great spot in

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-48985456811454494672010-01-18T22:33:00.000-08:002010-01-18T23:06:25.985-08:00

Last fall I bought a 10 pound bag of cracked filberts from an orchard about 2 miles down the road from my house. (You might call them hazelnuts if you aren't from Oregon.)Anyway here it is months later and the bag was still sitting in a cool part of the house unopened.Today I opened the bag and, as you can see below, they had done a good job of cracking the nut shells with whatever kind of

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-78816354608507320872010-01-18T09:49:00.000-08:002010-01-18T10:13:52.433-08:00

In my side yard where the grapes grow, I also have a maypop vine. Maypop is a type of passionflower. You can see the 3-lobed leaves and flower of my maypop growing over the fuschia at the left of the picture below.The honeybees LOVE the maypop flowers. The hummingbirds like to sit and rest in the shady thicket of the maypop and grape vines, next to "their" fuschias. But until this year I

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-2846867600430054242010-01-17T08:43:00.000-08:002010-01-17T09:17:53.800-08:00

On Thanksgiving my sister cooked the meal at my house, using as much local food as possible. My parents came over here for the day. I spent the whole day resting and feeling miserable, but I got to enjoy the delicious meal she cooked and the company of my family. It really was a great day, and one I will remember for a long time.Free range turkey bought from a farm that is about a half hour

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-68663080155065826942010-01-16T13:53:00.000-08:002010-01-16T14:15:46.244-08:00

I could never have imagined it would take so long to heal from the flu complications I suffered, and I am not anywhere near all better yet. I am still having a lot of problems and am very limited in the amount of physical work I can do. But I am alive and very slowly I am healing, so for now that is enough. In fact, for now that is enough to make me really, really happy, considering what the

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-63337376855834328552009-10-30T09:36:00.000-07:002009-10-30T09:38:01.429-07:00

I have been really sick with that swine flu, but I will be back blogging soon. Just to let everyone know that I have not disappeared forever...

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-36779565371529828982009-10-13T21:17:00.000-07:002009-10-13T21:22:12.143-07:00

There was a small frost Sunday night, but the deep freeze never did materialize like they had predicted. But just as well I was ready for it in case. Now it is pouring rain, and probably will be for the next week. I've been helping nurse an outdoor cat who got badly injured in some sort of fight, so between that, dog obedience training, and work I haven't got anything done on the garden yet

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-894199114488198316.post-58573168527004346432009-10-11T20:58:00.000-07:002009-10-11T21:06:44.445-07:00

I got the outdoor faucets insulated this afternoon. So I should be pretty much ready for the first big freeze that is supposed to happen tonight.Here are some pictures from Saturday: several kinds of soup beans drying on the dining room floor - I will save these to plant next year.flat leaf parsley going into the food dryer...along with regular parsley

littlegreengardengalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09589962343708234410noreply@blogger.com4