Kitchen Gardening: Garden Fever Has Begun!
The sap is running. It's not spring yet. This is midwinter for most of us (except for Simply Belinda and a very few others who visit here) but it's in the deep cold that many trees and some plants begin to stir under the snow, rain, sleet, grey, or whatever other weather you are most likely complaining about right now.* In my area the most notable trees to show signs of life when the threat of a cold snap is still a real possibility are the lilacs. Right now their leaves are budding on the stems.
Roses, being rather reckless plants, are also budding out right now but it isn't remotely safe for them to shoot tender growth out this far before the spring. Yet I find their wild desire to get down with the business of growing charming, like your favorite train-wreck aunt who drinks cocktails all day and is the life of the party even though you all know she's going to crash and burn because no liver can take that much abuse...and you love her just the way she is because we all love to see people live without rules. This one is an antique rose that bounced right back after being transplanted in the brutal heat of summer.If anyone ever tells you roses are finicky delicate plants they are lying to you. They are only difficult to grow if you are trying to maintain show quality foliage with no hint of powdery mildew or black spot. Good soil management and feeding schedules will keep those two famous rose problems in check. Roses want to live. More than any other plant I've ever grown I've found roses more willing and able to rise from their own ashes again and again. (I know that they are much more difficult to grow in extreme climates and people living in those climates are the only ones who have a right to call roses "difficult".)
It's still pretty cold out there but there are ladybugs everywhere! I love them. Not because they're cute. Their larvae are vicious hungry aphid eaters. They don't look cute at all. They look like tiny alligators. I love these guys for the hard work they do in my garden. 
(I will admit to enjoying the fact that they are polka dotted.)
I want this to be the year I kill my lawn. I plan to do it ruthlessly and hideously with a thick layer of cardboard over every surface of it. I refuse to mow a lawn again. So I need to get cracking on this really soon before the grasses start to grow. I probably don't have to remind anyone that grass has super-powers that are hard to fight here in Oregon. It can grow several inches in one day. If you don't believe me I invite you to come watch it in two weeks.
I'm thinking about what I want to concentrate my planting efforts on this year. I know I want more beans. Lots more beans. I want cucumbers that do well. Both slicing and pickling. I want an acre of tomatoes. I want lettuce. I want more carrots. I want- ASPARAGUS DAMMIT!!!!- it's been an unsuccessful ambition of mine for about 5 years running.
(The reason I can't let go of the idea of asparagus is that I have an ever so slight tendency to plan my garden around apocalyptic circumstances in which fresh food might not be available unless you grow it yourself...early spring is the harshest time to find fresh food and asparagus starts coming up in spring. Though to be honest I have to admit that here in Oregon it doesn't really show up until mid to late spring which would be too late if you were starving in early spring. Asparagus living in California shows up early because otherwise it gets too hot to prosper.)
That was a parenthetical worthy of Gertrude Stein's approval. (If only she weren't dead.)
Potatoes. Organic potatoes are a must. One of the most sensitive plants to pests for commercial growers and therefore one of the most heavily sprayed, they retain more toxins than many other vegetables. If you buy only one vegetable organic, make it your potatoes.
I must grow many potatoes. And fava beans. Fava beans are wonderful fresh (the only way I like them). Peas! Oh...fresh peas on pasta! Fresh peas eaten right off the vine! A bowl of fresh peas boiled lightly and touched with butter, salt, and pepper...
(Ooops. Pardon the obvious salivation.)
I want to know what all of you are going to plant this year. C'mon- tell me all about it!!
I want this to be the year I kill my lawn. I plan to do it ruthlessly and hideously with a thick layer of cardboard over every surface of it. I refuse to mow a lawn again. So I need to get cracking on this really soon before the grasses start to grow. I probably don't have to remind anyone that grass has super-powers that are hard to fight here in Oregon. It can grow several inches in one day. If you don't believe me I invite you to come watch it in two weeks.
I'm thinking about what I want to concentrate my planting efforts on this year. I know I want more beans. Lots more beans. I want cucumbers that do well. Both slicing and pickling. I want an acre of tomatoes. I want lettuce. I want more carrots. I want- ASPARAGUS DAMMIT!!!!- it's been an unsuccessful ambition of mine for about 5 years running.
(The reason I can't let go of the idea of asparagus is that I have an ever so slight tendency to plan my garden around apocalyptic circumstances in which fresh food might not be available unless you grow it yourself...early spring is the harshest time to find fresh food and asparagus starts coming up in spring. Though to be honest I have to admit that here in Oregon it doesn't really show up until mid to late spring which would be too late if you were starving in early spring. Asparagus living in California shows up early because otherwise it gets too hot to prosper.)
That was a parenthetical worthy of Gertrude Stein's approval. (If only she weren't dead.)
Potatoes. Organic potatoes are a must. One of the most sensitive plants to pests for commercial growers and therefore one of the most heavily sprayed, they retain more toxins than many other vegetables. If you buy only one vegetable organic, make it your potatoes.
I must grow many potatoes. And fava beans. Fava beans are wonderful fresh (the only way I like them). Peas! Oh...fresh peas on pasta! Fresh peas eaten right off the vine! A bowl of fresh peas boiled lightly and touched with butter, salt, and pepper...
(Ooops. Pardon the obvious salivation.)
I want to know what all of you are going to plant this year. C'mon- tell me all about it!!
*Except for Kathy, of course. You know I'm not complaining about you complaining because I do the same thing in the summer. It's alright. If you want to hug it out- that's cool- just let me grab a beer first....**
**It's only 3:29 as I write this. I'm not really grabbing a beer right now. But if you really want to hug this whole weather thing out I'm going to need fortifications.
**It's only 3:29 as I write this. I'm not really grabbing a beer right now. But if you really want to hug this whole weather thing out I'm going to need fortifications.
Comments (6)
Potatoes, strawberries come out all over the place, cucumbers (blonde), peas, lettuce of some kind, tomatoes, carrots including purple which you have to eat raw or they will turn "normal" if cooked, beets (will try golden again) and more and more. I think I will try to do some squash this year like acorn maybe. I might be a rebel and grow it in the front yard. :)
Posted by amy | January 30, 2010 8:15 AM
Posted on January 30, 2010 08:15
Ha! Go get that beer and settle in. I'm still mourning the lack of snow we've seen this winter but there is a turning of spirit in me and I am feeling the garden energy swirling in my head. There's a phrase that goes something like this..."a gardener's garden is forever changing." and this is where my head is right now. Bringing the chickens into our lives and watching how they move about and destroy everything has shown us that we have to move the garden fence again and give them their own yard separate from the garden. They dug up all of my organic potatoes and really, everything but my tomatoes so re-grouping is in order. However, it's not just the chickens causing the change because I ordered several fruit trees that will require a thorough and well thought out plan. After several years of wanting to do this I finally ordered the dwarf apple trees for espaliering, along with peach, cherry, fig and blueberry. I'm doing the same thing with the front yard too...no more grass. Hopefully just food and herbs will be out there and maybe a few old bricks to walk on.
Posted by Kathy | January 30, 2010 8:40 AM
Posted on January 30, 2010 08:40
I can't WAIT until I live in a place where I have my own outdoor gardening space. That's definitely a priority for the next place we live. I will grow onions, potatoes, garlic, winter squash, chard, and shell beans, for sure. Ohhhh the anticipation.
P.S. I'm sure you probably DO know this, but you know that asparagus takes about 3 years to really get to the point where you can harvest and eat it right? My parents tried valiantly to grow a patch at their house but between the wait time and the deer, they ended up letting it go. Other great spring veggies (which you also probably know) are ramps, spring onions, and rhubarb. Maybe even pea shoots?
Posted by EmmaC | January 30, 2010 10:11 AM
Posted on January 30, 2010 10:11
I just love that time of year. It's the time of year for plotting, planning and dreaming without all those pesky constraints of time, energy and water.
Kind Regards
Belinda
Posted by simply.belinda | January 30, 2010 8:03 PM
Posted on January 30, 2010 20:03
i'm eagerly awaiting spring this year, because my winter plants died (too cold). :(
i'm planning to have tomatoes, cucs, bell pepper, summer squash, zucchini, lettuce [if it's not too hot], and beans.
Posted by Jade | January 31, 2010 11:04 AM
Posted on January 31, 2010 11:04
All my winter "greens" died in the cold snap, except two kale plants, and they were the victims of flying hen attacks; my chickens flew over their fence to eat the kale. The hen-yard will be moved to the other side of the yard, and somehow I need to enclose the top, so they don't fly out and eat the baby plants this spring.
This year I am going to focus on learning to grow salad greens and asian cooking greens - that is what I tend to buy the most of. Of course I will grow some tomato plants, and peas n beans... I long for an asparagus bed. I need to figure out how to keep the squirrels and jays from eating my plant babies also...some critter dug up half of the garlic that I planted and ate it!
Posted by alison | January 31, 2010 10:00 PM
Posted on January 31, 2010 22:00