Planting time

It was good to have two days of the weekend with perfect gardening weather. Rainy Sundays had become commonplace and we were anxious for a change. We were able to plant all of our vegetables with the exception of several plants that we are holding back waiting for that perfect spot.
Every year we emphasize certain vegetables based on what we need.  Decisions, decisions. For instance, green beans were in abundance in our garden last year but this year we're cutting back mainly due to the amount we still have on hand in the freezer.
Last year we also focused on cucumbers because we had depleted our supply of homemade pickles. We increased the number of plants to 18 and had a great harvest. This year we increased it again to 30 plants. We also started some indoors from seed. Cucumbers can be finicky to grow especially with the type of weather we had in April but we are hoping for another great harvest in our backyard garden.

Mint and more Mint

Planting season has arrived and the abundance of mint is impressive in the backyard garden. 

Using Solo cups, I transplanted several mint plants to share with you. They are in the teacher's lounge waiting for you.

Take one, two or all of them and let me know if you need more. 

If you are hesitant about growing and have a black thumb instead of a green one, here's what you need to do:

1. Find a pot(the bigger the better) and fill it with dirt or potting soil.

2. Dig out an area at least as big as the cup.

3. Remove the plant from the cup and place in the hole. Cover with dirt.

4. Water but don't flood and set the pot in a sunny area. Check it periodically to make sure it doesn't get too dry but seriously this is a low maintenance plant.

Now sit back and watch it grow!

You'll be able to pick leaves for flavoring teas and other drinks within weeks.

The calm before the storm

Not that there is a storm on the horizon but simply another way of saying the way this plot looks now is nothing like it will look in a month, two months or even three months. It's inspiring to watch the transformation.
This is a time where we plan, consistently check temperatures and potential rainfall. Starting early in April, we are officially in one of our favorite times of the year- planting mode.

            

Another use for our jams and jellies

It's the Christmas season and we are baking in the kitchen using our jams and jellies and snacking on our fresh kiwi.
We decided to make thumbprint cookies. Check out the pic below to view how we make them.

The red is Strawberry Fig jam . The green is mint jelly and the yellow is Lemon Marmalade.

Lemons and Peppers finish the season

Is it really the end of November and we're still picking vegetables and fruits? 
Take a look at the abundance of peppers and lemons we picked over Thanksgiving Break.
We froze most of the peppers but the lemons were turned into lemonade concentrate, perfect to freeze and use it this spring. We also stayed with the jelly and jam theme and made lemon marmalade.
This is our first time with lemon marmalade but the first batch is great.

 

Kiwis and Thanksgiving

Do you know what 50 kiwis look like?
Look below and you'll find out.
We picked these yesterday ahead of the frost we had last night.

Kiwis set fruit in their 4th year. These are the product of one four year old tree. Next year we will have 4 more four year old trees.

These are sweet as sugar and will complete the ripening process inside in a few days

Even in the winter, there's always activity in the Backyard Garden!

Zipper peas and Kiwis

Much to our surprise this weekend, we picked and processed 3 more quarts of zipper peas.
They've only had water and care on the weekends, nothing during the week because of our schedules. Looks like we'll be able to pick again this weekend too. 

Here's our first kiwi too. All of them should be ready in the next week. We should have 50 or so in our first year picking.
A side note: Kiwis are easy to grow and can survive the cold weather. Vines grow at a fast pace and start producing fruit in their 4th year of growth. We have 8 vines but only 2 of them are 4 years old. Next year the other six will be in their 4th year, so we're looking forward to a year from now and many more kiwis.