Guys! Spring is almost here! In Portland I dare say it’s even come early, bringing the daffodils springing from every sidewalk crack and kissing the tree tops in blush pink buds. It’s intoxicating!
And it also means we’re coming up quick on planting season. Even if you’re not seeing it out your own front window, I assure you it’s coming . . . and soon!
Last year I offered a green alternative to plastic seed pots, with a recycled newspaper version. This year I present a new twist on the same concept – this time using your spent toilet paper rolls!
And once again, it’s just so easy. Like so:
Begin with your TP roll. You’ll need one per plant.
Cut! You’ll want a series of cuts around one edge, maybe 1.5 inches apiece. I did 5-6 cuts per roll.
It’ll look like this.
Fold down the tabs to make a nice flat bottom. No need to fasten or anything fancy – it should stay put on it’s own. Fill with potting soil and proceed with starting your seeds as normal.
When you’re ready to transplant, just unfold the bottom tabs and then cut the cardboard away. So start collecting those TP rolls! (and don’t forget to recycle or compost them once you’re done)
Don’t you love how the green DIY method is also always the most efficient, most practical method? I love that!!
A few days ago I was returning home from running some errands. I pulled my car into the driveway, glanced over towards the stairs, and just about did a double take. “WHAT THE -??!”
The bulbs are coming up. How is this happening already!? Where did the winter go? And didn’t the groundhog just say I had more time??
I know that those of you in the eastern US are getting your fair share of winter right about now (good luck guys!). But other parts of the country – and the northern hemisphere in general – is beginning the beautiful awakening process. Here in the PNW we’re getting amazing, early spring weather, and the sunshine sure is a sight for sore eyes (and vitamin D-deficient bodies!) And of course, I’m realizing it’s already time to start prepping this years garden – so exciting!
Unfortunately for me, my garden will have to be a bit more modest this time around (I am, after all, busy growing something else at the moment). But that doesn’t mean I won’t be farming in my own way. I’m a horticulturist at heart, and that will never change! (plus, I simply could not live without homegrown tomatoes)
In the meantime, I did a lot of leg work last year that all you new gardeners out there may find useful. Here’s a list of links to help you get started:
Are you guys as excited as I am for the coming seasonal shift? Outdoors! Sunshine! Dirt! Fresh veggies!!! So whether it’s an acre in the country or a window box in the city, dig out your trusty trowel guys – it’s farm time!
If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you may recognize that photo up there from my month-long RAW trial back in March. I picked up that strange fruit, labeled as ‘Spiny Melon’ from New Zealand, when I was making some tropical fruit sushi. I just couldn’t resist the way it looked, and I figured it would be sweet inside, like other melons I love.
But cutting it open, this barbed little beast was nothing like what I expected. The inside was very seedy, with a watery flesh that was certainly not sugary. It reminded me of something but I just couldn’t place it, until Damian took one bite and said, “Oh, it’s a cucumber.” Yes! That’s exactly it! The spiny melon is an exotic, wild cucumber.
So just for fun, and because it was March and I was eager for planting season, I decided to take a gamble. I rinsed off a bunch of the seeds, and spread them out on a paper towel (this was back before I stopped using paper towels) to dry. A few weeks later I remembered about them, fashioned some newspaper seed pots, and plunked them into potting soil.
They actually sprouted! So I put them into the ground, right amongst my corn stalks, and they took off. They grew! And grew . . . and grew . . . and overtook the corn, and the butternuts I’d planted alongside, and anything else nearby. They were these creeping curly prickly vines that just covered everything!
But I never saw them flower – all I ever saw was leaves and vines and curly-q crawlers. So in early fall I finally gave up on them. It was winter prep-time anyways. I put on my gloves (the vines were so thorny!) and began pulling up the vines. I’d gotten maybe 3/4 of the way through the bed, when suddenly something caught my eye. This stalk I’d just cut . . . bore a teeny tiny yellow flower!
I dug a little deeper, and lo and behold, what did I find underneath? . . .
Spiny cucumber! I did it!!!
Excitedly, I dug into the remaining vines. To my delight and surprise, I uncovered an entire crop of those funny foreign fruits, imported from the land of the Tuatara and the Kiwi bird.
You can try this too, with anything you bring home from the grocery store! Some of them will be viable, some of them will be sterile. You’ll never know until you plant ‘em. But, you may just end up with your own peculiar little garden, too!
Check out the adorable wee baby spiny! BONZAI!
Question: What does a vegan do with a wonderful set of egg cups?
Answer: Tomato display, of course!
Much to my surprise, my summer crops have lasted well into autumn, and continue to fill my kitchen even today. But things have certainly changed around the ol’ farm, as you can see below.
The grass is dying back and the ground is littered with plum tree leaves. The potato tires have been re-stacked and filled in, to serve as flower planters come spring. The left side bed has been cleared and mulched. The sunflowers are downed and the brush has been tidied. The right side bed hosts the small fall garden. All the clean-up and spring prep is complete, and MAN it feels good to head into winter with a clean slate.
Still, the harvest keeps trickling in! Why just today I plucked a bunch of tomatoes. In November! Granted, they’re not as flavorful as they were a few months back, but they’re homegrown and that alone is good enough for me.
This is what the tomato bed looks like these days, drying out and dying back – but still fighting:
I planted a bunch of pumpkins this year and they started off so strong. But then they just stalled, flowering and re-flowering and re-flowering again, but never producing any fruit. I’m still not quite sure what went wrong, but at least the flowers were pretty:
And then finally one little punkin’ popped out. Poor thing, it’ll never make it now. But look! It’s so cute!
I had all but forgotten about the peppers I started from seed, waaaaay back in early spring. But I was pulling up a beet the other day, and my hand grazed the small stunted bell pepper plant. I’d overlooked them because the green just blends right in with the foliage. But there were actual bells on there! Two baby bells in fact.
And these pretty peppers came in as well – I just picked them today. I’d scavenged the seedlings, half dead, out of the free pile at the nursery. Does anyone know what they are? They remind me of peperoncinis, so I’m thinking of pickling them!
And finally, the actual autumn crops. These have sort of been demolished by feisty chickens scratching for bugs, but I’m still holding out hope. At least you can get an idea of what they looked like a few weeks ago, of what the potential was. *sigh*
The lettuce (with beetlings in the background):
And the kale:
And that’s all I’ve got for now. Honestly, I never expected to be giving garden updates in November, and I’m just delighted its lasting this long.
So what about you dears? Are you still getting your green on?
Look at the size of that sucker!
My backyard just isn’t complete without sunflowers. They cheer up any space they inhabit! If you’re feeling generous (or just lazy), you can leave your sunflowers alone and they’ll act as natural built-in bird feeders for your garden.
But if you’re inclined to save your seeds, either for next years planting or as the delicious edibles that they are, here’s the ins and outs of the task.
Cut the head when it begins to die back. It’s ready when the backside has gone from green to yellow (below).
At first the head will be covered with small yellow buds. Leave it alone it in a dry airy place for a few weeks. When it’s all dried out, you’ll be able to easily brush off the browned buds to reveal the seeds (below).
Pry out the seeds! There’s a ton, so this may take a while . . .
From here you can either store the seeds in a cool dry place to plant next spring, or you can eat them. NOM. You can shed the husks and use the insides in raw form. Or you can toast them, by soaking the seeds (husk and all) overnight in a 1:4 salt water solution, and then oven roasting them at 200º for 3-4 hours.
I love my sunflowers! This year was my biggest yield yet, and I’ll definitely save a few seeds to plant again next season. But most of them are for eatin’. They’re just too wonderful (and nutrient-packed) not to !