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This covered bridge in Roann, Indiana, was worth a stop!

I have a complicated relationship with my home state, Indiana. Three quarters of the people I love best in all the world live in the Hoosier State, a rather rustic and idyllic childhood was spent running in the woods there, I spent my amazing college years there, and yet I often have mixed feelings when I board a plane bound for IND. Maybe it’s because I’m the polar opposite of the typical Hoosier ideological profile. Maybe it’s because I run into someone I’d rather not see every. single. time. I visit.

So it was even more surprising to me that when I embarked on a long-weekend touring northern Indiana this past July, I encountered not only the best restaurant meal I’ve ever had in the mid-west (one that competes with some of the best meals I’ve had in Europe and in much more cosmopolitan locales in the US), but delicious cider, some nice wines,  charming inns, antique stores, and beautiful vistas that made for three perfect days in Indiana.

Two ladies, two nights, enough luggage to survive the apocalypse.

There is something to be said for going on a road-trip without the kids, with your best pal, an iPod fully loaded with songs best enjoyed while singing right along, no real map to speak of, and an assortment of food, wine, and knitting that looked like it went with a much longer trip. The occasion? Twenty-one amazing, tumultuous (amazingly tumultuous?) years of friendship. Here’s what our itinerary looked like:

Friday
We started the morning the way all good girlie trips should start: with coffee and mani/pedis. If it had been 1993 (a pinnacle year in our lives and our friendship), we probably would have been hung-over and gone to Perkins. My, how times have changed. We headed north out of Indianapolis and stopped in Noblesville for lunch and a little antiquing on the square. Interesting how the town-formerly-known-as-Nobletuckey has gentrified in the last twenty years!

After making fun of ourselves for it taking nearly six hours for us to leave the county, we headed north to Converse, Indiana, to try some wine at Oak Hill Wines. While their quaint tasting room is in a vine-bedecked old carriage house, the first thing we noticed was that the best parking was actually at the gas station next door. The friendly staff walked us through their list of uncomplicated, but drinkable, wines and we were on our way to Wabash.

We stayed at the delightful Charley Creek Inn, whose recent renovations produced gorgeous bathrooms and spacious rooms fitted with beautiful antiques. Dinner in the hotel’s restaurant–a twenties-style piano bar–was good, but breakfast (included in the price of our room) was even better! And at $122 a night for a double queen room, I was more than satisfied with the cleanliness, the beauty of the hotel’s common areas and room, and the friendly service. Wabash is a beautiful town set in one of the hillier sections of otherwise flat northern Indiana, so overall, this was a lovely stop!

Saturday

The itinerary for this expertly-planned trip was dinner on Saturday at Joseph Decuis in Roanoke, Indiana. Corrina knew she could rope me in to a good “farm to fork” experience even if their specialty is Kobe-style Wagyu beef (I almost never eat red meat. In fact, come to think of it, I never eat it unless I’m with Corrina.).

But before we could check into the lovely Joseph Decuis Inn, tour their immaculate farm, or dine in their amazing restaurant, we had to swing south to visit a place that we missed on Friday due to the lackadaisical pace of our journey: McClure’s Orchard.

Not only does this place deliver gorgeous traditional apple dumplings in their appropriately-named Apple Dumpling Inn, but they also have delicious cider. And if you happen to stop by with the children in tow, there are miniature horses, bunnies, goats, and other farm animals to entertain them while you taste cider. Their “Grandpa’s” Cider is Bourbon barrel aged and the sweet smokiness of the Bourbon paired with the mellow tartness of the apples made it one of the best hard ciders I’ve ever tasted. Other ones to watch out for included Spy Candy (made with an heirloom apple called the Northern Spy), their Cyser, and [M]apfelwein.

At last, we arrived in Roanoake. I have to admit that it’s a bit of a creepy place if, like me, you’ve watched one too many horror movies. There is literally music piped onto the tiny quaint main street from one of the many shop-fronts still bedecked with red, white, and blue from Independence Day. I expected zombies to burst out at any minute, but instead, we found the lovely Food Emporium, from which we wandered on to the Inn to check in before our farm tour.

The Inn itself is a comfortable old Victorian with several rooms upstairs and a large shared living area on the main floor. Stocked with board games, movies, and a fridge full of snacks, it’s a beautiful place even if the price tag made it less affordable than Charley Creek.

The farm is just a few miles outside town and is worth a tour if you’re interested in what modern farmers can do to create lovely local sustainable food. We got to preview the squash blossoms that adorned one of our courses, toured the amazing outdoor kitchen that they use for staff parties and other events, and of course, we got to meet the cows. Unlike some other farms I’ve toured, these barns were amazingly clean, virtually odorless, and naturally devoid of flies due to a couple of biological control methods. You could definitely believe that these were happy, humanely-raised cows, which made me feel a little better about what was coming: beef for dinner!

The main course from our 6 (7) course dinner!

It didn’t take long for us to choose the chef’s selection dinner, which included six courses and wine pairings. The only sticker was that they had my favorite food, morels, on the menu, but not on as part of the chef’s dinner. So we made it a seven course dinner, which might have been overkill had we known what was to come. We ate our way through the mushrooms and moved on to roasted baby beets, those squash blossoms we’d seen earlier in the day, succulent salmon, and of course, the beef.

Every single bite was delicious, beautifully presented, and expertly paired with an interesting wine. The staff were present and helpful without interrupting our conversation, which was, as always, non-stop. By dessert, we were thoroughly done (and a little drunk off the healthy pours!), and made them box up the lovely chocolate confection to take back to the Inn with us.

This dinner was undoubtedly a splurge on just about any budget, but worth it for a very special night out!

Sunday

After the indulgences of the previous night, we were in no hurry to head home. Breakfast at the Inn included a lovely quiche from the Emporium as well as scones, fruit, and endless coffee/tea.

We finally dragged ourselves to the car and headed south, stopping at Whyte Horse Winery in Monticello and enjoying the Traminette that they make with grapes grown on the property and a really nice dry berry wine.

Mr. Weenie's. Oh my...

This trip had little bits and pieces of our last twenty years all in one three-day bundle. We lived out of our car. We got lost. We sang. We ate good food. We drank too much booze (but less than we did 20 years ago!). We didn’t sleep enough (but more than we did 20 years ago!). We almost ate lunch at Mr. Weenie’s for lack of a better viable option (luckily, we found something!). We talked. And talked. And talked. And…

Yep, definitely three perfect days!

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Finnish chanterelles (suomenlainen kantarelli) for sale at the market by our house

Despite having added meat back into our diet a few years ago after more than a decade as vegetarians, we still eat meatless meals several times per week. It’s not really a conscious decision, just something that naturally happens when I plan the menu. Still, with the abundance of amazing local poultry & fish available here in Helsinki, I’ve been feeling like my best meals, at least recently, have included meat. That’s why I was so excited to hit one out of the park this past week, and on Meatless Monday no less!

Chanterelles are in season here in Finland, and by that, I mean the market stalls are bursting with these tasty orange mushrooms, and people are out combing the woods for them at every opportunity. So I bought a kilo the other day, and just threw them in to just about everything I was making from vegetable side-dishes to pizza. But I wanted to do something to really showcase them as a main course, and this Chanterelle Tart did the trick.

Ingredients:
1/2 recipe of my pie crust or enough to cover a 9″ pie pan
1 onion, chopped
olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar
sprig of fresh thyme
2 T of white wine, stock, or water, to deglaze pan
2 cloves of garlic
1 lb chanterelles or mixed wild mushrooms
1/2 zucchini
1/2 yellow squash (you could substitute bell peppers, tomatoes, or really any veggie here, just adjust the cooking time accordingly!)
1 250g tub of ricotta cheese
1/4 c cream or sour cream or plain yogurt
2 eggs
4 ounces parmesan cheese
2 T fresh parsley, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 400F (200C). Roll out the pie dough and place in the pie pan. Trim or crimp the edges. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator.
2. Chop the onion and sauté over medium-high heat in enough olive oil to keep the onion from sticking. Once the onions start to soften (but not brown!), turn down the heat to medium-low and add the sprig of thyme, salt & pepper, and the balsamic vinegar. Leave the onions to caramelize for 20-30 minutes, stirring regularly.
3. While the onions are cooking, whip the ricotta cheese with a whisk and stir in one egg, one egg white (reserving the second yolk), the cream, the garlic, parmesan, and the parsley. Stir until smooth and season with salt & pepper. Set aside.
4. Once the onions are done, remove them from the pan and add a little wine or water or stock to deglaze. Add another drizzle of olive oil, increase heat to medium, and sauté the mushrooms and squash (or other vegetables) until they have released their liquid and their liquid has cooked off. If you do not cook the vegetables enough, your tart will not set as nicely, so this is important!!!
5. Remove your pie crust from the fridge and discard the plastic wrap. Stir the vegetables into the ricotta mixture and pour into the pie pan. Glaze the edge of the crust with the reserved egg yolk and then put any remaining egg yolk straight on top of the ricotta mixture and mix in gently with a spatula.
6. Bake for 20 minutes at 400F, then reduce heat to 350F (175C), and bake for another 20-30 minutes until the crust and top have browned nicely and the tart has set.
7. Let cool for 10 minutes or so before serving and serve with a mixed herb salad and vinaigrette.

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Townsendia hookeri - One of the earliest daisy-type wildflowers

Usually, I’d say the wildflower season in this area begins in March. But we’ve had a cool, wet spring, so I think things are getting off to a late start. That’s part of the reason I was delighted to find so many little treasures blooming on my first Rabbit Mountain hike of the season yesterday afternoon. There were definitely some familiar favorites such as Viola nuttallii (Nuttall Violet) and Lomatium orientale (biscuit root), but there was also the earlier blooming of the new chickweeds – Cerastium nutans – and annual blue violet Viola kitaibeliana var. rafinesquei. For those of you who are interested in what’s starting to green up, prickly pear, Artemisia frigida, yucca, currants, and rabbit brush were all beginning to make an appearance. And of course the blue mustard and other early-season weeds are beginning to go mad.

Corydalis aurea - Golden Smoke - blooming yesterday at Rabbit Mountain

The Corydalis took ages, however. The foliage indicates that the plant is in the pea family, but the flowers are tubular like others in the family Scrophulariaceae (like penstemon, for example). After exhausting the possibilities in those two families, we finally stumbled upon Corydalis. I realize that geeking out on botanical classifications may not be your cup of tea and that’s just fine–you can let me do the hard work, and Matt will provide the gorgeous photos as always. I’m going to try to venture to Button Rock (where I would eventually like to teach) this weekend, so expect more photos soon!

Continue reading »]]> In December last year, the first gorgeous, glossy seed magazine arrived in my mailbox. After fleeing to a private spot to drool review it in detail, I started thinking about how we choose where to buy our seeds. If the early bird truly does get the worm, Seeds of Change, sender of that first beautiful catalog, would have gotten my money this year, just as they have the past several years. But this year, I’m choosing my seeds from other sources and perhaps explaining my reasoning will help you make your decisions too.

Greenwashing at its Worst
A few years ago, Seeds of Change switched from paper seed packets to recyclable #1 plastic packets. Their claim was that this was better for the environment because the seed packets took less energy to produce and were recyclable. This, to me, smacks of greenwashing. First, because using virgin plastic may take less energy, but the more likely reason to make the switch would be because it’s cheaper for Seeds of Change, not because it’s better for the environment.

Think about it. Do you know any gardeners who are advanced enough to be starting things from seed who don’t compost? Doubtful. And it takes a lot less energy (i.e. no energy at all) to put a paper seed packet in the compost than it does to use fossil fuel to transport #1 plastic to the recycling center and more fossil fuel to then recycle the plastic.

Ridiculous Shipping Practices
While I can appreciate the huge growth Seeds of Change has seen and how difficult it must be to keep seed in stock with unprecedented demand, I will never understand how a company that says it’s committed to the environment (their site even says they’re working on being carbon neutral!) can justify breaking up my order into so many multiple shipments that I literally received over twenty gigantic envelopes, some with a single seed packet in each.

When questioned, they claimed they were trying to get me the seed as quickly as possible, but in some cases I received multiple individually-packed seed packets on the same day.

Timing is Everything
Again, I can understand how business can boom in unexpected ways, but with seed orders, timing is everything. Sending packets of tomato/peppers seeds in May is not particularly helpful, nor is sending orders of fava beans a full year after they were ordered!

But enough ranting…
I did not intend this post to be a rant against Seeds of Change, but merely an example of some things besides the quality of the seed to consider when choosing a seed company. Truth be told, I have had excellent luck with germination from Seeds of Change, and have likewise felt that their selection and the quality of the varieties they carry are excellent. If they would change some of their packaging and shipping practices, I would be delighted to order from them once again.

Consider the source
Now that I’ve talked about everything but seed quality, let’s dive in. I prefer organic seed, although every packet of seeds I buy is not organic. I believe organic farming practices are more sustainable, and I also prefer that my family’s food supply come from the healthiest, most sustainable sources possible. If you buy seed one year (organic or not) and it comes to you looking funky, doesn’t germinate well, or doesn’t produce strong seedlings, you can safely move on to a different company the following year. But knowing a little bit about the environmental practices of your seed supplier–something that may not be obvious from using the seed you ordered from them–is also a good thing. If your seed is coming from a company owned by Monsanto, you’re supporting not only the seed, but everything else Monsanto does. That may not be what you’re after!

The advantages of ordering local
Here in Boulder County, we’re extremely lucky to have quite a few local seed providers. Buying from local providers not only keeps your dollars in the local economy, and supports small business, but also allows you to reap the benefits from producers who have grown plants in your specific climate.

That’s why this year I bought many of my seeds from Botanical Interests, who, by the way, sent all my seed in one appropriately-sized and compostable package within 10 days of my order. And why I will continue to buy the amazing and unusual varieties of seeds offered by my friends at Abbondanza. Beauty Beyond Belief is also another wonderful Colorado vendor who also has a nice selection of native wildflower and grass mixes.

When local isn’t an option…
Some of the medicinal & tea herbs that I like to grow are not carried by the local vendors, and I do like to expand my selection of heirloom tomatoes and peppers from time to time, so I do sometimes from non-local vendors. The Cook’s Garden, Horizon Herbs, and Irish Eye Garden Seed are ones myself or members of my family have had good luck with. This is by no means an exhaustive list, so lack of mention here should not be taken as a negative endorsement.

Seed Buying is Personal Choice
In the end, seed-buying is a personal choice. If you’re running behind and pick up a few packets of seed from the local big-box store, it’s not the end of the world (although browsing seeds is a great thing to do during dark January days). If you have a favorite local nursery who carries a brand I haven’t mentioned here, but can give share their own knowledge of the quality and suitability of the seed, go for it! Regardless, I hope this post gave you some food for thought as you make seed purchases this season.

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This is a great example of container gardening, taken from Permaculture 4 Renters.

I’ve already talked about growing herbs indoors to beat the winter blues, but I know a lot of gardens in urban landscapes are looking to maximize growing space using containers (no, not that kind of pot!) to garden outside too. Whether you’re planting a few herbs in a sunny windowsill inside or growing a large container garden in your yard, a few tips will help make things easier.

First, selecting your vegetables is key. Not only do you need the right types of vegetables, but the right varieties. Some tomatoes, such as Yellow Pear, Super Sweet 100, or Roma, will grow great in pots. Others need more soil and more room than most pots afford. So look for the words “compact,” “dwarf,” or something about containers when choosing your vegetable varieties. But don’t limit yourself to small vegetables and the odd tomato. You can successfully grow anything from potatoes to watermelons to zucchini in a pot if you have enough space to let them ramble. A friend asked me specifically about growing potatoes in containers, and although I haven’t tried this, I did a little asking around and have heard that the potato condo is the way to go! I may try one of these myself in my garden this year, but I don’t see why you couldn’t put a bottom on the condo, fill it with a little extra dirt, and then follow the same design as the in-ground version!

I tend to grow a lot of heirlooms in my pots, just like I do in my raised beds, so if you’re a beginner or someone who prefers hybrids for disease resistance and ease of care, check out this article on good hybrid varieties for containers. Most of the varieties I specifically mention in this post will be heirlooms.

Second, appropriate spacing is important. When your planting up your pots in May with tiny little seedlings, it’s tempting to throw a second tomato in the pot, or plant a pretty ring of flowers around a larger veggie plant. Resist the urge! This past year, I planted a ring of herbs & hot peppers around the outside of a half barrel with one single Yellow Pear tomato in it and had to transplant the poor light-starved peppers & herbs when the Yellow Pear reached five feet tall and three feet wide (and that width is after staking and pruning!). You have to consider spacing below-ground too. Healthy roots are key to healthy, prolific veggies, so make sure you’re using large enough containers for the vegetables you have selected. Garlic, onions, most annual flowers, herbs, and lettuces can survive in smaller, shallower pots, but to do a zucchini, pepper, tomato, or potato, you’re going to need a large, deep pot. Take a look at Arizona Cooperative Extension’s article on container gardening for a list of veggies and the size pot they require.

The more you water, the more you need to fertilize because watering can flush nutrients out. I recommend a seaweed or fish-based fertilizer but beware if you have pets (or pests, actually) because some fish fertilizers attract them, and they will dig up your seedlings to get at them. Best to experiment with a little fertilizer in a pot filled with dirt for a day or two–if your dog leaves it alone, you’re set. If not, look for a different product, because you’ll need to fertilize about once a month during the growing season.

My final tip is not to forget aesthetics. Container gardens are likely to be closer to your outdoor living space than any other plants, so make them beautiful. While I have a rather depraved obsession with love of tomatoes, they really look nicer with a few flowers, flowering herbs, or contrasting vegetation around them. Try edible flowers such as Lemon Gem Marigolds, violas, calendula, or nasturtiums, multi-colored leafy greens like tatsoi, mustard greens, or red-leafed lettuce, or even beans with unusual colored blooms to add a little splash of beauty to your productive (vegetable) pot garden.

Continue reading »]]> Today is my darling husband’s birthday, so this morning the kids & I baked him a cake. I chose my Grandma’s Fresh Apple Cake recipe in part because I had ingredients on hand and in part because it was one I could adapt so that it used mainly local ingredients. Oh yeah, and also because it’s moist and delicious and one of Matt’s favorites

I’ll give you both the original recipe and the modified so that you can make it how you like, but also so that you can see how easy it is to modify your favorite recipes so that they use local ingredients. Happy Birthday, Love!

Mabel’s Fresh Apple Cake

4 apples, chopped
1 cup sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
1 beaten egg
1/2 c cooking oil
1 c flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Grease an flour a 9×9 pan.
3. Mix dry ingredients.
4. Add apples, oil, and egg.
5. Beat to mix.
6. Add nuts or raisins as desired.
7. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Julie’s Local Apple Cake

6 c sliced, peeled apples
1 c local honey
2 eggs, beaten
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 c olive oil (I think you could easily use local butter here, but I did not)
1 1/2 c fine-milled whole wheat flour
1/2 t soda
1/2 t salt

Follow directions as above. Cooking time will likely increase 5-10 minutes, especially if you’re baking at altitude.

We are lucky enough to have local apples through the winter here in Colorado, although I used some from my frozen stash that I wild-picked here in Lyons this fall (which is why I haven’t specified the varieties because, honestly, I have no idea what they are!!). We also have an abundance of local honey, which I think tastes better than cane sugar anyway. With the switch to whole-wheat flour, I did up the (local) egg quantity just to help the cake rise as much as it normally would with white flour. And I upped the flour quantity a bit to accommodate the honey and the fact that I think I use more apples in mine than Grandma did.

In much of our cooking, switching to local is only possible to a certain extent. We’re never going to have Colorado-grown nutmeg or cinnamon, for example, and local butter is often hard to come by unless I make it myself. And until I get better at getting the water & whey out of my home-made butter, it’s not the greatest for baking. But each ingredient we swap for a local one is grocery dollars funneled into the local economy, fossil fuels conserved, and a step closer to sustainability…

Continue reading »]]> It took me longer than I’d hoped to get this post out. Part of my struggle was that choosing the veggies for your garden is such a personal choice. But a conversation with a friend last night helped me really focus in on how I choose veggies for my garden.

Start with the limiting factors
If you live in Lyons, you can’t grow bananas outdoors, no matter how badly you’d like to. If you live in an apartment, you probably can’t manage an apple tree. If you live in a suburban house, you likely don’t have room enough to grow wheat or barley. So start your veggie planning with identifying your limitations. Last week, I wrote about figuring out how much garden space you have, and how much you need.

Now, we’ll figure out the other limiting factors besides space. First, it’s important to know the length of your growing season. Although each season is different, your county likely records the weather each season and reports it to the government so that they can calculate an average first and last frost date. Here in Lyons, our last frost is typically some time around Mother’s Day, and we can expect our first frost at the end of September or, if we’re lucky, in early October.

If you have no idea when your first and last frost dates are, you can visit the NCDC to find out. Select your state, and a PDF organized by the name of the weather stations in your state will open. Sometimes the names are a little funky, so browse through until you find the one closest to you.

Once you have your average first and last frost dates, you also have a general idea of how many growing days you have. If you live in Zone 4 and north, you may have trouble getting some of the frost-tender, longer-season crops like melons and peppers to produce. If you live in warmer zones, you may have enough time to sneak in a couple of crop successions in a season. Here in Zone 5, I can usually get a crop of peas, garlic, and spring greens out of a bed that will later house summer crops like winter squash, cucumbers, green beans, or strawberries. But more about that later!

What do you like, and what is readily available?
Here’s where it gets personal. There’s no sense in planting a ton of eggplant if no one in your family will eat it (Matt is laughing right now, because I still plant a couple of eggplant every year even though I’m the only one who eats it). Likewise, I find growing something like corn, which is plentiful at the market, takes up a lot of garden space, and is very inexpensive, to be a waste of time. However, my family eats more tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos, and herbs that the normal family and all of these tend to be rather pricey at the market. So we focus our attentions there. So spend some time this week thinking about what you’d like to grow, and start with what your family likes to eat!

Start making that list
OK, so you have a basic idea of what you’d like to grow. You know the length of your growing season, and how much space you have to use for gardening this season. Now it’s time to make a spreadsheet. This can be on paper, or online, whichever works best for you. I usually start with a paper list and then transfer it to the computer so I can sort and calculate. But I’m also a geek .

My spreadsheet has a column for type of vegetable (tomato, pepper, basil, etc.), then for the variety in case I plan to plant more than one type, as I always do with those tomatoes, peppers, and basil. Then I make an estimate of how many plants I need. I have a couple of books that help you estimate this, and the variation of their recommendations reminds us again that this is a personal choice, and also one that is impacted by space, time you want to spend in your garden, and whether you’re trying to feed yourself for a couple of summer meals or the whole year long.

I also calculate the square footage that each plant requires. You can get the spacing information off of the seed packet, or usually even in the garden catalog so that you can calculate this, but here’s an example: I don’t trellis my tomatoes, so I give them 9 square feet (3 feet between plants in each direction – 3 ft x 3 ft = 9 square feet of space). Since you already calculated the square footage of your gardening beds in last week’s exercise, you can pretty easily see if you have room for all of the plants you’re hoping to grow. Don’t fudge here, because if you overplant your beds, you’ll likely end up with more disease problems and the beds will be less productive than if they’re planted at the recommended spacing.

If you need some additional resources to help you with this (and keep in mind, I use a variety of books to help me!), check out the free resources available from the Cooperative Extension in your state. For Coloradoans, here are some that I find useful: Vegetable Planting Guide, Block-Style Layout in Raised Bed Vegetable Gardens, Sample Planting Guide.

OK, that’s a lot to work through for this week. And I haven’t even touched on starting your own seeds, choosing varieties (heirloom vs. hybrid), or any of that. But we can talk about that after you’ve ordered your seeds. Oh, and feel free to ask me questions–the ones I’ve gotten so far have helped me choose topics for this series!

Continue reading »]]> I spent about two days of my time off of work planning next year’s vegetable garden. Yes, I realize it’s early January, but I like to start seeds beginning in February, which means I need to get my seed orders in now! That doesn’t mean, however, that it’s too late for you to get started on your vegetable gardens for this-coming year. In fact, the perfect time to start planning is right now, and I’m going to give you some tips that will help you get started.

First, What Went Wrong Last Year

Last year, a couple of things went wrong with my vegetable gardening plans. First, I tried to go in on a giant seed order with all of my gardening friends. Although I think we saved some money on shipping, and had some fun getting together over the garden catalogs, we placed our order later than I like, it took us forever to divide up the seeds (we split single packets of seed among as many as six of us, which was kind of nightmarish!), and I bought way more seed than I needed because I wanted to try a few plants of everything my friends were trying.

The second major disaster was that one of my friends and I decided to try our hand at larger-scale gardening and rented a 50×50 foot plot from a friend here in town. That’s a lot of space. In fact, that’s about five times as much space as I have in my home garden. And I was not prepared. Again, we got things planted late, had many weed and deer disasters, and in the end, spent more time out there working than the resulting produce warranted.

Tip #1:If you gardened last year, and it didn’t go as well as you’d hoped, spend some time up-front thinking about what went wrong and what you can do about it. It’s easier to address watering issues, weeds, space, and varieties in January before anything’s in the ground than it is in July when you’ve already repeated your mistakes from last year.

How I’m Going to do Better This Year
So this year, I’m going to cut back on garden space by nearly 800 square feet. This means both renting a smaller plot (I’m going for two 10x20s at the community garden this year, I hope!), and creating some more space here at home so that it’s easier to just walk out back and care for things. I’m taking an odd triangle of space that we have in the very back of our yard and turning one section of it into a bed for cutting flowers and the rest of it into a squash/pumpkin/melon patch. It’s a good 150 square feet, so I think it will work well for this purpose and it currently completely unused space in our yard.

Moving the cut flowers to the back patch means I’m going to be able to reclaim one of my raised beds, which has had cut flowers in it the past two seasons, for vegetables. Most of the deer attracting veggies can therefore live here at our house, where hopefully the proximity of other houses and our “guard dog” will keep the deer away (we have had deer tracks in our yard since the fence went up, so this is not a complete guarantee, but it will definitely be more deer proof than the community garden).

Step One – How much space do you have?

Figuring out how much space you have is a two-fold process. Obviously, there are limitations to what you can grow on your own property based not only on the size of your yard, but on how much shade you get, whether animals will be a problem, etc. We have about 800 square feet of garden space in our yard, supplemented by a very large container garden on our patio. As I mentioned, I also supplement this space with a plot at a community garden, which may or may not be an option for you.

So step one is figuring out how much space you have at your home. If you’re new at gardening, definitely start small and build up. There’s nothing more disheartening–and I speak from experience here–than to bite off too much and watch weeds and lack of care eat up all of your hard work. Even if you have an apartment, you can have a small container garden and successfully grown everything from greens and herbs to tomatoes, beans, peppers, and strawberries.

Step two is figuring out if you can handle a bit more space. Do you have an extra bit of grass you can reclaim for a veggie bed? A sandbox that isn’t being used any more? A spot on the patio for a few good-sized pots? If so, measure out that space and figure out an approximate area by multiplying the width by the length. This is easy if the space is square, less so if you’re figuring out the area of round pots or an odd-shaped bed like my new pumpkin patch, which is going to end up being a sort of trapezoid. You don’t have to be exact here, just get a ballpark on the space you have.

If you have the option to add more garden space, a good rule of thumb is 400 square feet of gardening space for a family of four to eat from during the season, or 800 square feet if you’re hoping to preserve some for winter eating. Here’s a link to more information on figuring out how much space you need. The time to sign up for a community garden plot is now, so take a look online and see what your community has to offer.

To give you an idea of space, 800 square feet would be a 20×40 foot vegetable bed, or a combination of smaller beds. As I said, I have about 800 square feet at my house, but quite a bit is taken up with perennial food crops like raspberries, strawberries, herbs, horseradish, and asparagus. So I’m adding the additional 400 square feet at the community plot in an attempt to grow enough food for our family of four, plus enough to put by for the winter.

Tip 2: Spend some time up-front figuring out how much gardening you have time for, and how much you think your family needs. Then check in later in the week for step 2: figuring out how much of each type of vegetable you need.

Continue reading »]]> Today is Blog Action Day and I’m proud to be participating with other bloggers around the world in raising awareness about the topic of climate change. With all the press the upcoming talks in Copenhagen have been getting, doing something tangible about climate change can seem overwhelming, or out of our hands as individuals. It’s not.

Regardless of what is decided on Washington (where cap-and-trade legislation is taking shape) or Copenhagen, there is something that most Americans do three or more times a day, and how they do it has a real impact on their carbon footprint. That’s right folks, eating.

Global food production creates as much carbon as all forms of transportation combined. Think about that. More than cars, planes, boats, trains combined. So in a tangible way, the food we choose at the store (or, better yet, the Farmer’s Market) can either contribute to the problem of Climate Change, or contribute to the solution.

My coverage of last summer’s Cornell University study on this issue summarizes it nicely, so here it is:

Study confirms what we already know: Local is better

Researchers at Cornell University released a study that confirms what we already knew: eating local is better for the planet and better for our health. The study found that the United States food production industry uses almost as much fossil fuels as our entire fleet of automobiles. This seems impossible until you consider that it takes nearly 2,200 calories of fossil fuel to produce and package one can of 1-calorie diet soda (and the average American, according to the study, drinks 600 cans of soda a year). Even a head of lettuce produced in irrigated California takes 4,000 calories to grow, process and ship across the country.

Don’t believe it? You can read the full article on the Cornell study, or keep reading for some of the key findings:

• A vegetarian diet with the same calories as the average American diet requires 33 percent less fossil fuel energy to produce, according to the study.
• The FDA recommends that the average American consume 2,503 calories per day instead of the current average of 3,747 calories per day. The researchers recommend the following practices to reduce calories at maximum benefit to your health and the planet:
  • 40-65 percent reduction in meat, fish, milk, sweeteners, fats and oils
  • 15 percent reduction in grains and starchy roots
  • No reduction in eggs, nuts, vegetables and fruits

With this in mind, I’m feeling better that we’ve tabled our discussion of buying a Prius and chosen to do a year of local eating instead. Sounds like the impact on the planet (and definitely our health) will be greater than making the switch to a hybrid car.

But I also wanted to share this video from the TED series, which has some, pardon the pun, food for thought:

Other resources:

• The Science of 350 – TreeHugger
• In Climate World Series, Time to Call the Bull Pen – Mother Jones
• It isn’t easy drinking green – Fermentarium
• Climate Change – Why Bother? – Crunchy Domestic Goddess
• Climate Change – Life’s little convenience charge – Green Phone Booth

Continue reading »]]> If you read the Boulder Daily Camera, you might have seen a familiar face on today’s front cover. Actually, three familiar faces: myself, Gabriel & Lily. I was interviewed last week about my efforts to cellar onions, garlic, squash, and potatoes over the winter using a system of shelving and lidded bins. Little did I know that I’d get a blurb on the front page pointing to a pretty cool story a few pages later! Take a look to learn more about building your own root cellar. And check out another great article on how to figure out what you need to store for the winter.