Indoor Kitchen Gardening

Indoor Kitchen Gardening: Turn Your Home Into a Year-round Vegetable Garden - Microgreens - Sprouts - Herbs - Mushrooms - Tomatoes, Peppers & More by Elizabeth Millard

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Book makes me wish for a bigger house! I think I am definitely trying microgreens. I've discovered some of my veggies inside failed because of lack of wind - need to use fans. I now have radish, carrot and chard seeds to plant this weekend!



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Growng Food in a Short Season

Growing Food in a Short Season: Sustainable, Organic Cold-Climate Gardening by Melanie J. Watts




Good tips on sustainable and organic gardening, more toward farm setting with chickens and sheep. Also, makes NJ seem like the tropics - the parts about the 2 month growing season not that practical.



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I guess spring is here

Roses and a Question?

I was worried about the rose bush - it had a lot of damage when the roof was re-done and I had to prune it back a LOT.  There are still a couple of dead canes I have to get to, but I'm leaving well enough alone for now.

I bought this plant because it looked almost succulent and I thought it would look good as a trailer with my portulacas, but they weren't labeled and the guy in the garden center didn't know what they were.  They now have these bright pink flowers on them... any ideas of what they are??

 

Eggpants and Peppers

I'm posting twice today because with all the pictures I didn't want a super long post.



My favorite three eggplants here.  The front two are Kermits, the right with Rose basil, the left with Lime Basil.  I'm probably going to have flowers on these two by Memorial Day!!!  In the back left, potted in it's big pot last week is Caspar with Cinnamon Bouquet Basil.

I currently only have three peppers in their big pot.  Mini Chocolate Bell,  Mini Red Bell and Mini Yellow Bell got potted about a week ago.  (I pick the flower buds off until they are potted in their big pots, so the roots grow in better)  yesterday they had new buds that I left and today the bloomed!!



The Ancho hybrid, Cubanelle and Marconi Golden are going to need bigger pots soon, they are getting too top heavy in their intermediate pots, probably the beginning of next week when I start leaving the tomatoes outside at night. (running out of room inside at night- as well as room on the balcony floor - need to be able to hang soon!)



Most of the other peppers are slower late season peppers, so will be happy for a bit longer.

Tomato Tuesday??

This is Early Wonder with Greek Dwarf Basil.  I'm calling her WOnder Woman because she's going to take down my father in law and my mom ...just saying...



Two of my favorite hanging basket tomatoes (they haven't gotten their basil buddies yet)  On the left is the Coyote (really tiny maybe 1/2 in diameter) cherries that ripen golden yellow and are sweeter than eating a jelly bean!  Starts ripening mid season and keeps making more of the tiny drops of wonderful!  On the right is Sweet Million, an improved hybrid of the popular Sweet 100's.  3/4 to 1 in diameter red cherries.



Here's a second Coyote that I'm going to experiment with caging to see how it does vs hanging.  It's paired with Italian Large Leaf Basil.



Here's my yellow pear, it is in a hanging basket, it's paired with Thai Lemon Basil.

The hanging baskets aren't hanging yet, because being on a balcony I cable strap the basket's to the pole I have going around because there is more wind up here than at ground level.  Until the night temps get warmer consistently I keep bringing them in at night.  This week Micro-Tom and Black Sea Man will get pots, the rest will stay in their mid point pots until I can put them out in the coir baskets.





 

We interupt knitting updates for a special bulletin!

I have been working on my rainbow shawl - it's slow going - and I have knocked my little tray with hundreds of beads on the floor more than once... I may have spent more time crawling around fetching beads than actually knitting - so no update pictures at this time.

What I do have to tell you about - is the only thing that makes me not totally want to cry when winter is over.  The only good thing about summer - is my veggie garden!  I don't grow "normal" veggies - the kind you can find at all the farm stands/ farmer's markets and even the grocery store.  I don't grow veggies to save money (I'm pretty sure they are the most expensive anywhere but Alaska if you add it up)  I really believe there is nothing tastier than a tomato still warm from the sun fresh off the vine.   Chiliplants.com is actually located in "central"  --- nope can't say that - sorry C! -- south Jersey and you can go to their greenhouses to buy plants in person (it's actually the only current way to get at their huge assortment of basils and their tomatillos)  Curt and I drove down there on the day they opened for the season.  It's just over an hour from here.  They open at 10am - we were there at 10:06am and we got the LAST PARKING SPACE!!!!  The greenhouses were packed with people like me that wanted to get their "babies" home!!  I really had to go early - last year they sold out of coyotes before I could get one!!

I have some favorites.   Kermit is a hybrid eggplant.  It's about a 2" round globe.  There is no bitter, it ripens green early in the season (listed at 60-70 days).  Sliced, grilled with a splash of olive oil and balsamic - warm is super yummy and melty creamy - cold is a great addition to a salad.  I use them also in a lot of Asian inspired sesame and ginger dishes. I also like to bread them and make eggplant parm sliders.

Casper is another of my favorites- a more "standard" oblong eggplant shape - it's mid season (80 days) about 4-6" long and white as a ghost!!

 I recently found that, while I know that tomatoes and basil and marigolds make great companion planting - basil planted with/near eggplant keeps aphids away.  My eggplants aren't usually that far from my tomatoes and basil, that may be why I never had an aphid issue - but this year I decided to put basil right in the pots with the eggplants!



The two Kermits are at the top of the picture.  The bottom tomato is an Early Wonder.  Most of my tomatoes went from the little seedling pot to a 3" pot on Monday - they will then probably go in a 6" pot a few weeks before going outside for good.  Each of the 3 times I transplant - I pick off all but the top 2 or 3 stems and put the stem in deeper to get a better root system.  (investing in roots early - while my plants do look smaller to my father in law and mom at first - means once they are outside all day in the sunshine they grow big and bushy much faster and I end up with earlier more prolific plants than either of those two get)  My early wonder was already about 7" tall in the seedling pot- and since it has been designated the plant that will kick the old peoples asses-- it got trimmed and buried deep in the big pot straight away.  (don't think I'm mean - my mom and father in law are retired, they live at a significantly lower elevation than I do--there is a definite climate band change where 287 intersects 80 -- the spring flowers I showed you on Tuesday?  Theirs were in full bloom on Easter.  they are at least 2 1/2 weeks ahead of me - they should be able to beat me - they never have -- the "competition" gets them plotting early - and out digging etc-- I think it keeps them young)











And before you think otherwise - no those pots aren't staying outside.  If it's over 60 before I leave the house they will go out to sit in the sun - and then I bring them in at dinnertime.  If it isn't 60 when I leave - I just open the screen door and let them bask in the sun while inside.  (if we get a cold day where it isn't 50 I'll leave the screen door closed) 

Sadly Spring has Sprung

I guess with all the snow at the tail end of winter - instead of my early spring flowers blooming one ast a time everything up to the daff's have bloomed!




Usually it's the reticular (no idea how to spell that - but they are my early spring favorites - little tiny irises the whole plant is maybe 4-5 inches tall!) irises and snowdrops, followed by crocuses, then daffodils then hyacinths finally tulips.


Don't you love these???



Did have a bunch of salt burns from all the salt that got thrown around to melt the winter's ice.. sigh...  not sure how to remedy that

Making the Most of Your Allotment

 OOOPS. I seem to have screwed up and this didn't publish yesterday... smh... sorry.



This is a British gardening book.  Clearly, British "allotments" are significantly bigger than the plots on community gardens around here (seriously, around here - neither a greenhouse nor a shed are going to fit!)  That being said, I would recommend any home gardener to read this book. Soil/site prep,  amending the soil, cover crops, crop rotation (3 or 4 year plans) are covered in the first half of the book.  Then it goes into picking out what you're going to grow, what to plant when, what needs early starting inside or in a cold frame/green house (some of this may need to be edited if you don't live in Britain - but the timelines seem similar to what we would do in NJ).  There is also good suggestions on timeline efficiency - early crops to grow around late crops - the late crops don't get big and bushy before the early crops are harvested  as well as quick fall crops you can put in after your major summer crop is done (one huge advantage to this is less open soil = less weeds!)  The book also goes over ways to deal with pests, which bugs and animals are actually helping you out without resorting to industrial strength Raid.  Composting also gets a section - both kitchen and spent plant composting and brown/leaf composting. 

One last note - the photos are phenomenal!! 

A girl's thoughts turn to...

We've had a cold a snowy several weeks in NJ (not like Boston though!)  I don't mind the cold - it was 3 degrees when I left the house this morning and I put on a zip up sweatshirt my friend Grace gave me with a sheep on it, fingerless gloves and my Devil's scarf - which is mostly open air.  I'm kind of getting tired of people feeling the need to inform me it's winter and asking me about the location of my coat... um my closet???  If I was uncomfortable, I'd put something else on.. seriously I'm not a moron, I do understand that if I feel cold, I need to put something more or different on.  I have a lot of hair - and I just don't have a good hat face - so my head is ok.  Sometimes if I'm going to be outside for a longer period and it's windy, I'll put a headband on to keep my ears warm.  When I walked Carl out to his truck (no coat, sweatshirt was in my locker) I got comments of do you know what the temperature is? and you'll freeze  to death.. Um I don't care about the actual number, and in 10 minutes it's highly unlikely I'll even get mild hypothermia.  I told Jim (groot) that love would keep me warm... he went grumbling off.... 

As much as I like winter, and truly enjoy making the people around me somehow feel colder because of my apparel, I find it great fun when my garden catalogs start arriving in the mail.  Right now, covered in snow, the possibilities are infinite... ok some things won't grow here... the possibilities are huge!  For me, the two things that makes summer bearable are going to racetracks and watching the cars, and having the perfect just picked tomato, pepper or other veggies.

My favorite place to order from is chiliplants.com , they have over 500 varieties of pepper plants (sweet, mild, all the way up to scorpion and ghost peppers) 180 different tomato plants and 65 different egg plants.  I order most of the plants either for pickup - or some years I have them shipped (it's amazing how they pack the plants for safe travels!) but I like going to the nursery - its about an hour away from my house, because they have a ton of different basils and tomatillos that aren't available on order yet.  I haven't been really successful with the tomatillos yet, but love all the different basils!

 The striped Tioga is an eggplant!!  While the leaves of the plant look like eggplant leaves, the plant is tall - and the fruit grows in bunches, they are about 3" long.  Toss with some salt and olive oil - put on a grill until the skins start splitting, then sprinkle with balamic...omg.. I'm getting hungry!

Kermit is another favorite, nd not just because in my brain it's named after the frog.  About a 2" globe - it's very versatile, since it's Thailand - I tend to cook it with sesame and ginger dishes - another grills well. Kermit also ripens relatively early in the season, so I can get my fork in early!

Cloud nine has become one of my favorite for eggplant parms..it seems to be less bitter than the purple eggplants.. and it's cute!

 
I'm adding this Rotundo Bianco to the mix this year - It's an Italian heirloom variety.

Tomatoes coming soon - it takes me longer to figure out peppers!


All the pictures are from the chiliplants.com website and belong solely to them.
 

Mom's Greenhouse

For Christmas I bought my mom a temporary, seasonal greenhouse that she can use in the spring to put her plants out when it isn't warm enough yet to have them outside, or to start her seeds whatever.  This is mostly because she and my father in law have this thing where they want to beat me to the first ripe tomato.  Never happens.  Maybe later this spring I'll let you in on my winning secret.  It's pretty simple really - and just requires knowing how to keep the plants happy.

They are dead set determined because, from a zonal point of view they SHOULD beat me by about 2 weeks at least.  I live at a higher altitude and it is usually 5-8 degrees cooler here than where they live.  My father in law SHOULD beat my mom by about a week. (that's about 50-50 at this point.)  Here is an example.  My father in law's daffodils are in full bloom right now.  My mom's daffs are just about to bloom the buds are just about right there.



Meanwhile at my house, the reticulated irises are blooming, but the crocuses are just coming out of their buds - bud stalks aren't even fully up on my daffs.





Back to the greenhouse.  I bought one for each  my mom and my father in law - telling them I was trying to help them out - it won't their issues are farther down than when they start their plants.  My mom just turned 80 last month, and was never mechanically inclined, so buying her a greenhouse meant putting it together every spring, but Curt is the good son-in-law so he doesn't mind.  So he spent his morning off building a greenhouse.





Of course this now puts some pressure on my father in law, because he feels "behind".  Hee hee hee. Yes, I'm kind of being mean, but you know "old people" need something to piss them off enough every morning to get out of bed and get moving!!!

Montauk Daisies = Fall

So when the montauk Daisies bloom I know it is officially fall.  I love them they are such happy daisies and they bloom well past Thanksgiving!  ALso mums are a classic fall bloom.





And yet my summer daisies are still blooming!

Still feel like crap...

and I'm trying to get well enough to survive race weekend (yes folks - NASCAR and ARCA are at Pocono Speedway - woot)  So a short post tonight.  I guess next week I will finish documenting the different plants in my garden.  BUT tonight I am posting about the fruits of my labors (hee hee hee) as in several of my plants are already bearing yummies!


grape tomatoes.... angie is keeping an eye on these



tiny tomatillo


 
trust me there was no good angle to take this relleno


hot banana pepper







tiny baby cucumbers- still have the flowers attached!


tomatillos - be a while for salsa - put down the chips!
 

My New Plants!

Today I'll show you my eggplants and tomatillos.



First meet Kermit.  I was a bit concerned that maybe I damaged the plant when taking it out of the container, because it was all wilted for a couple days.  But it's been picking up, and I think with some TLC (almost wrote TLV- only my NASCAR  friends would understand)   Kermit is a hybrid eggplant out of Thailand.  It's supposed to be an early season eggplant - it is a round -2.5in, green and white  fruit.



Next is my Striped Tioga Eggplant.  It is a mid-season teardrop shaped eggplant.  I'm not 100% sure where it's from.  When ripe it will be 3-4 in long by 1-1.5 in wide ( yes I prefer the smaller eggplant varieties not the regular purple one you see most often in the grocery store)  And get this - it will be orange with green stripes - how much fun is that??



The nursery had tomatillo plants - which I was not prepared to see.  They didn't have them listed in the quick reference guides they had.  SO I randomly picked two Zuni Tomatillo's.  Then after I got them home, I realized I had no idea how to grow them.  So after a bit of research I discovered that they basically thrive under the same conditions as tomato plants, but don't want to be crowded and like to have some air flow around them.  I can do tomatoes so it should be ok.  They are native of New Mexico - named for the Zuni tribe that comes from the region.  They bear small cherry sized fruit that are supposed to be quite tasty.  They are indeterminate, so they continue to grow ( up to 4' tall and 3'wide) and bear fruit all season.  They have very delicate , yellow flowers ( same color but different shape than a tomatoes flower) 





Apparently they are pretty happy as they have little baby tomatillo's already.  Angie is already planning salsa- but I think she'll need more than 2.




Tomorrow, you'll get to meet the tomatoes, and it will probably take a couple days to show you all the peppers ( I just love peppers!)

 

A how to - hanging tomatoes

I'm in kind of a funk right now.  Only knit 8 rows on my sock at lunches all week, haven't touched Robin since last weekend.  Yes I have lost my knitting mojo.  I'm not doing Sharon's next KAL.  Two reasons - first - it's colorwork.  I can do colorwork.  I've done projects with intarsia, with entrelac, fair isle and stranding.  I just really don't enjoy doing it.  And I really don't wear it much.  I'm more of a texture and pattern through stitches kind of knitter.  Second I may possibly finish the second robin by the end of  this new KAL and maybe I'll be ready for KAL 5.  I kinda knew from previous experience, that once I fell behind finishing was going to be rough.  And that's where my knitting mojo went.  I want to finish so I'm not going to cast on something new.  And none of my other wip's or ufo's are looking good.  So tonight I am going toknit on robin for at least an hour.

Since I have no knitting to show you, and people have asked how I do my hanging tomato baskets, today will be a how to post.

How to plant your own hanging tomato basket.

Step 1.  If you have never done this before, get a metal hanging basket lined with coco-fiber (coir)  make sure there is a circle on the bottom not x's or floral shapes - you need to get the tomato through there.  If you have baskets from previous years, buy new liners.  The old liner can harbor, mold, fungus, disease etc.  In prior years I used pre-formed liners, but like an idiot, this year I bought the wrong size and then  the store was sold out of the correct size.  So I was forced to use these liners.





2. The biggest issue with this type of liner is forming it to the basket.  If you were just planting flowers on top, you could fill it with potting soil and that would help work it into shape.  So, once you get pot and liner, work the liner into the pot and make an x shape cut into the bottom of the liner.

 Don't worry if it seems large, the plant and the soil will keep it closed.

3. Choose your tomato plants.  I try for slightly willowy plants over stocky ones, and you want to choose younger rather than more mature plants.  i don't think it would be a huge issue with a more mature plant, but working the rootball will be more difficult and having the roots messed with may cause stress and shock your plant.  This is the plant I planted yesterday. It is a sweeet 100, I also did a grape tomato as well.




4.  Take the plant out of the pot and squish the rootball into an oblong, footballish shape.



(that frayed cuff is attached to an equally frayed, "holey" sweatshirt I won't give up from Tony's 1999 rookie season)

5.  Work the rootball up ( some books/mags tell you to put the plant through - but I never can do that without roughing up the leaves too much)  into the hole, it will push the points of the X up into the basket.  Once the rootball is in the basket, the points go back down to secure the stem.  DOn't worry about excess soil on the outside - it will wash away after a watering or 2.





6. Fill basket with well draining light potting soil.  I mix moisture control ( yes well draining and holding moisture at the same time is a tall order) potting soil by miracle  grow, mixed with 25-33% miracle grow perlite.  Be very careful at first to get the soil evenly around the roots.  Then fill to just over 1/2 way.

7.  Get some basil - these 2 pots have sweet basil, others will have lemon basil, thai basil etc.  But use what you like to eat.

plant the basil in the basket and fill with more soil.

8. Hang water and (sigh) wait.

You Should Work with Things

You are a very hands on sort of person. You like doing physical work and moving around. It would kill you to be at a desk job all day. You don't like to sit still for too long. You are very energetic, and you get bored if you aren't able to channel your hyperactivity. You are good at mastering difficult tasks. You have excellent eye hand coordination, and you are quite graceful.

What Should You Work With?

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