microfarmer

Garlic and chives

2011-03-25T18:56:00.003-05:00

At the end of harvesting in the fall, I often have scrambled brains, I'm sick of gardening (temporarily) and garden in a daze. Yesterday I was inspecting my garden and realized that I had planted garlic bulbs in the fall! I have selective gardening memory loss. Oh well, glad to have Garlic! Oh, and the oregano is green and the chives are up as well!

Rhubarb is up!

2011-03-25T18:56:00.001-05:00

Super Easy 24-hour Speecy-Spicy Pickled items!

2010-08-15T16:33:00.019-05:00

Just pickled the Speecy-Spicy carrots and greenbeans:

I took a recipe from Eatingwell.com and modified it a few times to come up with this:

2-Cup Canning Jar

Carrots or beans or cucumbers to fill the jar loosely (cut the vegetables into whatever you want your pickle to look like - spears, slices, whatever)

1 Cup Water

1 Cup White Vinegar (the cheap-o cleaning kind)

1 Tbsp Kosher salt

1 Tbsp Sugar

2 Cloves Garlic, chopped in half
1 Jalepeno Pepper, top removed, chopped in half

2 Big sprigs Fresh Dill

1 Tbsp Peppercorns

Blanch the carrots and beans (don't blanch cucumbers) by boiling them in water for two minutes, then taking them out and dunking them quickly into an ice-bath.

Put the carrots beans or cucumbers in the canning jar with
The Garlic, Jalepeno Pepper, Dill and Peppercorns

Bring the Water, Vinegar, Salt and Sugar to a boil, stir to dissolve the sugar and salt

Let it boil for two minutes

Pour (carefully, HOT!), into the canning jar filled with veggies.

Put the top on, throw it in the fridge, test it 24 hours later (or sooner if you can't wait). Tastes best after 24 hours.

In your fridge they can last 30 days (but they won't be around that long). You can use a canning method for homemade pickels so they can be stored at room temperature for up to 1 year at eatingwell.com/go/canning

Peas!

2010-06-13T16:22:00.001-05:00

2010-04-30T11:28:00.000-05:00

Peas!

2010-04-14T07:29:00.001-05:00

2010-03-29T13:42:00.001-05:00

How much to put in each square?

2010-03-27T14:24:00.000-05:00

Plant Spacings in a Square Foot Garden

2010-03-27T09:46:00.001-05:00

Digging in and Setting Up - Square Foot Method

2010-03-24T06:08:00.001-05:00

I visited the local Menards (hardward store) and picked up some hot pink mason's line to start marking out the garden. I'm going to stick closer to Square Foot Gardening principals regarding plant spacing so I want to be more accurate with my seed placement. What is Square Foot Gardening? Mel Bartholomew, the originator of the idea explains it:

"a system of laying out, planting, and maintaining a productive, attractive garden in any amount of space. The garden is based on a grid of 1-foot by 1-foot squares, with single seeds or plants placed in carefully determined spacings." Mel goes on to say, "The square foot system lets you make the most of your garden space to conserve the amount of water, soil conditioners, and labor needed to produce a maximum amount of food in that space. A square foot garden takes only one-fifth the space and work of a conventional single-row garden to produce the same harvest."

Here are a couple of links to some good Square Foot Gardening websites:

Mel Bartholomew's Site:
Square Foot Gardening Foundation

Also one from Tim Beckman from Indianapolis, Indiana:
Tim's Square Foot Garden

Started the Garden

2010-03-21T16:33:00.000-05:00

Today I just turned in the mulched leaves that I mulched into the garden last fall. There was a crazy amount of worms, I'm so excited! I also planted some mesclun lettuce, spinach and romaine lettuce. I might be too early for the romaine, but I'm still trying it.

Here is a link to Early Spring planting ideas.

Coming up: The GreenNet Green and Growing Fair

2010-02-01T14:47:00.003-06:00

GreenNet Green and Growing Fair
April 24th, 2010, 10:00-3:00 at the
Garfield Park Conservatory
300 N. Central Park
Chicago, IL

This is the part I think my kids will like:
(snip)
Kid's Activities in Children's Garden:
Plant a Pizza Garden to Take Home! 11 am to 3 pm

Grow your own pizza by planting ingredients in a take-home container-basil, tomatoes, green peppers, and more! Also, learn about plant parts and define the parts used in pizza.

Pickle Garden

2010-02-01T14:42:00.000-06:00

It's 29 degrees Fahrenheit in Oak Park today but I'm dreaming of warm weather and pickles. What is your favorite pickling cucumber? What is your favorite pickle recipe? I just tasted some (store bought) spicy pickles, delicious!

Seeds are in

2010-01-22T09:17:00.002-06:00

At the Home Depot last night, saw that the seed display was in already. This is my first choice for my 2010 garden! Pickles!!!!!!

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Seeds Obsession Starting

2010-01-18T11:41:00.000-06:00

I'm starting to get some catalogs of seeds and I'm starting to plan out what I want to put in the garden this year. The variety is great but also makes for hard decisions. I'm trying also to figure out how much I want to start from seed, and also what set up I might use for the indoor seed starting. I'm also trying to be super-cheap about this, as I spent quite a bit last year on the raised gardens.

IMG00080-20091114-1014.jpg

2009-11-14T10:15:00.002-06:00

Mulching the leaves directly into the garden beds.

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New for fall

2009-09-15T10:01:00.001-05:00

Cleaned up a few spaces in the garden beds and threw down some peas and lettuce. I'm not too hopeful about the peas but maybe the lettuce will come through.

Back from vacation

2009-08-09T15:59:00.000-05:00

Here is what we pulled after a week away. Unfortunately, the rat-squirrels realized my sweet corn was ready and pillaged most of it. Very sad for us (tear runs down my cheek).
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Cucumbers- fingersized

2009-07-10T08:03:00.000-05:00

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Mid Summer- What to plant?

2009-07-08T14:52:00.003-05:00

This is a quick list from the University of Minnesota Extension office of what might be planted now, in mid-summer. Oak Park is (ever-so-slightly) more temperate than Minnesota, so I think I'll be safe with the frost dates listed. I'm gonna pull up the old lettuce and lay something else in. What should it be?

Topped the Broccoli

2009-07-06T12:58:00.002-05:00

I just cut off the terminal head of my broccoli - new shoots have already developed! See how to do it here at Veggie Harvest.

Corn is hip high and it is the 5th of July!

2009-07-05T18:57:00.001-05:00

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Rutgers tomato

2009-06-26T06:57:00.001-05:00

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Oak Park Urban Gardening

2009-06-17T12:26:00.003-05:00

Oak Park: Cheney Mansion's Head Gardener Charlie Ruedebusch demonstrates how to make a raised garden bed.

And here is another recent article from the Wednesday Journal.

Food Independence Day

2009-06-17T09:43:00.002-05:00

Food Independence Day - Why are you growing your garden?

Also, submit your Kid's Gardening video here for a contest!

Seed Company in Iowa

2009-06-12T10:56:00.002-05:00

Recommendation from another local farmer for Seeds : SeedSavers

Pea pods coming on

2009-06-12T07:43:00.001-05:00

It wasn't very sweet- maybe I picked it too early. It was just a baby pod.

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Prune the tomato plants, part two

2009-06-11T09:16:00.003-05:00

I didn't really follow all of the advice in the earlier post about pruning my plants. I've been reading on a larger debate about whether or not to prune at all, also how much to prune. I'm going to pinch the suckers only as I see fit and maybe top off the plants when I get some good fruit growing. I have flowers now, but the rainy-cold weather isn't helping them.

Prune the tomato plants

2009-06-09T08:52:00.003-05:00

This is how to prune your Tomato plants

From David Epstein and the guy from Johnny's Seeds

Kids gardening and mulching!

2009-06-07T17:52:00.002-05:00

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Late afternoon sun

2009-06-05T20:57:00.001-05:00

Also, my peas have flowers and the raspberries have bees!
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Squirrel Problems

2009-05-30T08:17:00.004-05:00

We have way way way too many squirrels running around our yard. Our plants don't have fruit yet, but I know they will be ravaged by the fluffy rats when they do. How do you protect your veggies? Last year I had an extensive physical barrier complete with a bird-net top. This kept them out, but this year my garden is bigger and not situated as well for the barrier. Home brew sprays? Pepper keeper-outer spray?

Here is one recipe from ehow.com

On a side note, I reapplied the fish emulsion (see blog post here) and neighbor Nancy though we were preparing fish. At least the stink isn't too horrible and goes away in a day or so.

Tomato stakes

2009-05-28T10:58:00.000-05:00

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Peas!

2009-05-27T08:06:00.000-05:00

Ok, pea plants. Going to stake them tomorrow.
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Oak Park Sharing network

2009-05-26T11:50:00.002-05:00

Just read in the Chicago Sun Times about local neighbors pooling their cash on a $1,200 wood chipper. My mother-in-law also has a time-share snow plow on the block. How many other Urban Gardener/Farmer types share tools and equipment for their yard and gardens? I have always bugged neighbor Chris for his rototiller (but I am trying not to rototill any more).

Thinning the corn

2009-05-25T08:51:00.002-05:00

I always hate thinning out plants that actually came up. In this case, I want bigger popcorn stalks so I'll do it. I also planted all of my "survivor" seedlings in a side bed, again, I can't stand to get rid of stuff that I helped to grow.

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Mulch

2009-05-21T08:06:00.003-05:00

I want to mulch the beds now- any opinions on what kind? I'm leaning toward some straw. I sometimes get free mulch from the Village of Oak Park from the "secret" tree trimmer truck dump, but that mulch is pretty woody and it is a pain to load it up into the van.

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3 Sisters corn

2009-05-21T07:45:00.000-05:00

Is up! Now time to plant the pole beans and squash.
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More Rain Barreling

2009-05-20T15:37:00.003-05:00

I can't stand the spigot at the bottom of the rain barrel. The pressure of the water just won't be enough for me. So, instead, I pop off the top of the rain barrel and jam my watering can down in the water. A bit messier, but 10x faster. I'm still looking for rain barrel number two, though my budget is shot for this season.

Longfellow plant sale basil

2009-05-17T08:55:00.003-05:00

Mr. Pod, my boy's last year 3rd grade teacher started a bunch if plants from seed in the classroom. The plant sale is the end product! There are two sweet basil plants on the right side from the sale and one purple in the upper-right hand section. The lame little thing on the lower-right hand section is one I tried to start from seed. We'll see how far that gets.

On a side note, I ran into neighbor Mike and his little girl (alley neighbors) who just started some pumpkin seeds in their garden! Also, neighbor Chris just built a sweet hutch-style protected garden next to his garage (rabbit and other varmint protection). And finally, my ex-patriot friend (Jonathan) in the Great White North just started a garden with the help of his father-in-law. (also, he's gonna be a papa pretty soon).

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Oak Park Gardening in the Chicago Tribune

2009-05-15T13:35:00.002-05:00

The Trib recently ran an article about urban gardening, focusing on Oak Park. (more on Oak Park's efforts here) I like some of the ideas about how to get started (container gardening, etc), but think that some of the advice makes a novice get a bit itchy or worried about doing something wrong. Don't worry, just plant, weed and water and wait.

Italian Garden Bed Plan

2009-05-15T13:11:00.000-05:00

Midwest Garden Bed Plan

2009-05-15T13:10:00.000-05:00

Mexican Bed Garden Plan

2009-05-15T13:09:00.001-05:00

MicroGreens

2009-05-15T13:02:00.001-05:00

Here are some lettuce sprouts, I picked some last night to be microgreens. Yum. I still need to thin this out quite a bit so the lettuce has room to grow. I think maybe one every 3 or 4 inches. Below the greens are onions (walla walla) and garlic, above is oregano (transplanted) and two rosemary plants.

2009-05-15T13:00:00.001-05:00

Here is my girl showing off her part of the garden. You can se we have about 2 feet next to the sidewalk that runs all the way back to the alley. She has Zinnias and Popcorn started.

I'm not the only Microfarmer in Illinois

2009-05-15T07:04:00.001-05:00

There is another microfarmer in Illinois, I'm not alone.

Oak Park Rain Barrels

2009-05-14T15:24:00.003-05:00

There are many decorative rain barrels all over Oak Park recently, and my only comment (and headscratching moment) is "WHY AREN'T THEY HOOKED UP TO A DOWN-SPOUT??" They are supposed to be for catching the rain, but some of them are even positioned under a roof. Are they going to be auctioned off? I'm looking for barrels number two and three! Call me!

Three Sisters Garden

2009-05-13T09:31:00.001-05:00

This is the start (humble start) of my "Three Sisters Garden", an Iroqouis tradition of planting the "three sisters", corn, beans and squash. The idea is to plant the corn, let the beans crawl up the corn and have the squash provide ground cover to the other plants. My take on it involves the string/grid setup, where I have 1-foot squares in the 4x8 garden bed, giving me 32 equal squares (shout out to Boing Boing for a more detailed listing).

More details about the practice and legend at this Three Sisters Site.

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Cool Garden Planner

2009-05-12T21:11:00.000-05:00

I wish I had viewed this site before starting my gardens, but OH WELL. My stuff is already in the ground.

Garden Planner from Gardeners.com

(Mark, are you looking at this? I know you have a bunch of empty boxes all ready to go!)

Shopping at Clover's

2009-05-12T14:01:00.000-05:00

I scoped out a few garden stores (Home Depot, Good Earth Greenhouse, etc) in the area, but my wife kept telling me Clover's was the place to go (the only place she has bought plants lately). Clover's is a seasonal place that sets up a number of Chicagoland parking lot locations and we normally go to the one in Berwyn (near where the Car-Kabob) once stood (sniff). I love their selection and the prices weren't too bad (under 2 bucks for a 4-pack of 3-inch veggies). We found EVERYTHING we wanted, including the yellow pear tomatoes that E and Mar love so much.

Container Gardening

2009-05-12T13:45:00.001-05:00

I was asked this weekend by a cousin about starting some vegetable gardening at her townhouse and found some great information from Texas A&M

I was pretty happy with the information, and the best part is this site doesn't overwhelm with too much useless chatter.

Here Fishy, Fishy (or something smells fishy in here)

2009-05-12T13:13:00.001-05:00

I just bought this FISH EMULSION for the garden. Every book I've been reading has been talking about this and I hope it helps my veggies get fruit and grow large. It is kind of brown and soupy and has pungent odor, but the container said it should be "odorless". Maybe after applying it. Hopefully. It says it is 5-1-1 NPK which is shorthand chemical speak for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, all good things your plants want and need to grow.

And HERE is a link to how Alaska Fish Fertilizer is created.

2009-05-12T13:02:00.001-05:00

Test from crackberry

Watering Setup

2009-05-12T12:56:00.001-05:00

I have two milk crates set up in the middle of the raised garden beds. With our less-than-stellar (crappy) water pressure the spread is about 80 %.

Microfarming

2009-05-12T10:38:00.001-05:00

I'm starting this new blog, forking it off my Oak Park Dad blog. My interest is in posting about my experiences starting a raised bed garden (actually 4 of them) in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. I'm going to post pictures up frequently (hopefully) of the progress of my Oak Park MicroFarm. Neighbor Shawn gave me some of her zucchini plants last night that she started from seed at her house.

I also want to get lots of comments and suggestions for your Urban Garden or Micro Farm!