ex gardens

It has been a quiet month here when it comes to gardening. The weather was cold and snowy early in the month, and harvesting was minimal. I was able to cut some curly kale from the greenhouse, which was a mix of Scarlet and Starbor. It has held up well in the cold, and usually does well for me in the winter greenhouse. I lost some of the lettuce I had planted in there, but over a dozen plants survived and should give us leaves in a week or so. curly kale I used the kale and one of our Purple sweet potatoes from storage to make kale and sweet potato hash one night for a side dish. I cooked it in my ancient cast iron skillet that is well-seasoned from years of use! kale and sweet potato hash Earlier in the month I cooked up some ‘fried’ collard greens from the last of the leaves I cut back in January. I sliced the greens into fine shreds and cooked them in olive oil, and seasoned with a bit of salt. The leaves are so flavorful they don’t need more than that to suit my taste buds....

Once again it’s time to begin starting seeds for the garden. This time of year I start all of my seeds indoors using fluorescent lights setup in our basement. It’s way too cold out in the greenhouse, and this year I had to wade through the snow to even get in the greenhouse and bring some potting supplies indoors. Note to self – plan ahead next year! That said, it is unusual for us to have this much snow hang around. The cold is normal, but not the snow. starting seeds I start most of my seeds either in individual 3.5″ plastic pots or in plug flats. For a starting medium I use either a potting mix made for seed starting, or else an organic potting soil that is fine-textured without a lot of big, rough pieces in it. I prefer to use a seed starting mix without added fertilizer so I can add my own as needed. Once the seedlings are a couple of weeks old I will use a weak fish and seaweed fertilizer like Neptune’s Harvest to give them a little food. I like the seaweed fertilizers becaus...