The Herbangardener

Kitchen / Garden / Sanctuary - Urban Homesteading to Nourish Body + Spirit

Tag: DIY (Page 8 of 14)

Vegetable Crop Lists: When to Plant What

April 17, 2011 / / 6 Comments

In this post about how to plan your vegetable garden, I talked about Spring Veggies, Spring “Carryover” veggies, and Summer veggies. A couple days ago, I got an email from Val, who asks: “…Would you mind posting a list or resource for what you define as spring, spring carry-over, and summer vegetables?? THANKS!!”

Sure, Val! Great idea. Since I don’t know of a resource for this info, I’ll post my own list.

I garden in Zone 5/6, in Colorado. Our growing season is about 110 days…our last average Spring frost is mid-May, and our first average Autumn frost is early October. So this list won’t apply to you lucky folks who garden year-round in mild climates. (Don’t know your zone? Enter your zip code at the Arbor Day Hardiness Zone Lookup.)

The following list is based upon my personal experience in my own garden, where I grow almost everything from seeds sown directly into the garden (except tomatoes & peppers, which I start indoors a month or two ahead of time). Often there is overlap between Spring and Summer gardens, but it works out OK because the mature Spring stuff will protect and shade the Summer seedlings for a while. By the time the Summer stuff is up and running, the Spring stuff has been pulled out.

Also, you’ll notice that some veggies are flexible and can be included in more than one category.

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Spring Veggies – Plant in early Spring (usually two months before the last frost…March 15 for me), and harvest before the intense heat of Summer (usually up to a month after the last frost…late June for me). Spring veggies are pretty much in-n-out before the main Summer season.

Arugula/Rocket

Beets/Beetroot

Broad Beans/Fava Beans

Broccoli

Broccoli Raab/Rapini

Collards (can also be a carryover veggie, where you leave it in all Summer)

Green Onions/Scallions (can also be a carryover veggie, where you leave it in all Summer)

Kale (can also be a carryover veggie, where you leave it in all Summer)

Lettuce

Peas

Radishes

Spinach

Swiss Chard/Silverbeet (can also be a carryover veggie, where you leave it in all Summer)

Turnips

Spring Carryover Veggies – Plant in early Spring (usually two months before the last frost…March 15 for me), and leave in the garden all Summer long.

Cabbage

Carrots

Cauliflower

Cilantro

Collards

Dill

Garlic

Green Onions/Scallions

Kale

Onions

Parsley

Potatoes (planted a month before last frost — mid-April in my garden)

Swiss Chard/Silverbeet

Turnips

Summer Veggies – Plant only after the last Spring frost (late May for my Zone 5/6 garden). Leave in the garden all Summer long.

Basil

Beans, all types

Brussels Sprouts (harvest after frost in fall & winter)

Carrots

Celery (probably will want to use seedlings, since starting from seed can be difficult)

Cilantro

Corn

Cucumbers

Dill

Eggplant/Aubergine

Gourds

Melons

Malabar Spinach (Basella rubra)

New Zealand Spinach (Tetagonia)

Okra

Peppers/Capsicum

Pumpkins

Rutabagas

Squash, summer & winter

Soybeans

Tomatoes

Tomatillos

Turnips

Watermelon

Zucchini/Courgette

How To Make Candied Violets

April 11, 2011 / / 3 Comments

Here’s an old fashioned spring project to do! Preserve those ephemeral little violet flowers for use as a garnish (on a coconut cake for Easter would be nice…) or for a lovely treat at any time of year — violets have a wonderful taste and will keep for months once they’ve been candied!

The process is simple, and not too time consuming. You can make this a more delicate project by painting eggwhite onto each flower with a paintbrush, and then dusting with fine sugar, but I think I’d only want to dedicate that kind of time if I were making these for a really special occasion!

Here’s what you’ll need:

Freshly picked violet flowers & leaves (having them very fresh will make the project go faster and prevent frustration!*)

Egg white (not beaten or frothed) (use eggs you trust since it’s raw)

Ordinary white granulated sugar (not powdered sugar)

Here’s what you do:

The flowers should be dry. No need to wash/dry them first — just pick them on a dry day and go for it. Dip each flower into the eggwhite. Give the flower a firm shake to get rid of any excess eggwhite. Hold it over a dish filled with sugar, and spoon the sugar over the flower until all surfaces are coated. Let the flowers dry on wax paper, parchment paper, or on a bed of sugar. (A plain baking sheet works too, but the eggwhite sticks, so you’ll have to carefully loosen the flowers with a metal spatula after they’re mostly dry.)

*The most important thing is to have fresh flowers (and leaves if you’re using them). Don’t pick the flowers, put them in a zip-top bag in the fridge for a few days, and then do the project; the flowers will have lost too much moisture and when you dip them in eggwhite, they’ll collapse. See photo below! Very fresh flowers will hold their shape even after being dipped in eggwhite.

Both have been dipped in eggwhite -- the flower on the left was in plastic in the fridge for a couple days, while the one on the right is fresh from the yard. Fresh is best!

That’s it! When they’re thoroughly dry (give them about 24 hours), store them in an airtight container. Room temperature is OK.

The Perfect Tool For Unclogging Drains

April 1, 2011 / / 3 Comments

We’ve discovered a great tool!

Our shower has been draining very poorly lately. We don’t like Draino because of how very toxic it is, and so F. had the brilliant idea to buy a flexible grabber from the local auto parts store to shove down the drain and grab the gunk. It was $7.50, and took care of the problem in about 10 seconds! No chemicals involved, and the water drains like a charm now!

Look at the gross clog I pulled out!!!

Grossest thing I've encountered in a long time.

Since we always keep a mesh screen over our drain, I’m afraid some of that is from previous tenants — which is something I am NOT going to think about, so let’s move on, shall we…

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Here’s the flexible grabber tool. Sort of like a syringe, you push down on the top, and the little claw comes out the bottom. Of course we tested it first on each other’s fingers…and it has quite a grip!

Flexible grabber claw tool

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Oh and here’s the screen we keep over the drain — an essential preventive measure! We also have one in the kitchen since we don’t have a garbage disposal.

I’ve heard of other preventive methods to keep your drains clear, like using baking soda and vinegar, and also pouring boiling water down the drain each day. Do you have any tricks up your sleeve to share?

Natural, Homemade Deodorant That Actually Works

March 27, 2011 / / 8 Comments

So you don’t want to use the standard grocery store antiperspirant due to its toxic aluminum content, but you’ve tried the health-food-store deodorant and it just doesn’t work — despite its own not-very-natural ingredient list. What to do?

Try this recipe!

I mixed up a batch of this deodorant several months ago and gave it a hardcore test on our hot, muggy trip to Argentina. I was amazed! Never has a deodorant worked this well for me. You still sweat, but it doesn’t smell. Even after being in the same clothes for well over 24 hours of travel down to Buenos Aires, my shirt smelled only of baking soda. My socks were a different story, however…

Coconut Oil Deodorant

1/4 cup coconut oil, at room temperature (not melted)

2 Tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot

2 Tbsp baking soda

essential oils (optional)

In a bowl, with the back of a spoon, mix your cornstarch (or arrowroot — both work equally well) and baking soda (plus any essential oils) into the coconut oil. These ratios are flexible — use more coconut oil if it seems too dry, or more baking soda if it’s too goopy.

This is the consistency I like — still crumbly, but wet enough to easily hold together and get packed into a jar:

Tip: don’t melt your coconut oil to accomplish this task; although it’s easier to mix, the cornstarch and baking soda will sink to the bottom of the container as the deodorant hardens, and the top layer will be coconut oil only — which, by itself, doesn’t work as well at preventing stink.

Scoop into a jar. Store at room temperature. If it’s hot enough in your house that the oil liquefies and the ingredients separate, shake the jar before you use it each time.

To use, scoop some out with your fingers and smear under your arms. I use a generous pea-sized amount for each arm.

Mega Weekend in the Garden!

March 15, 2011 / / 3 Comments

Just finished seed planting! ...What? You can't even see your hand? Me neither.

Well, in what has become a bit too much of a yearly tradition, I finished planting seeds yesterday in the pitch black.

Every year this happens! I get too late of a start, and then I’m outside trying to get it all in the ground…it’s freezing, I’m barefoot, and I’m sowing cabbage seeds by feel because I can hardly see the garden anymore let alone the seeds.

I’m feeling good and satisfied though, because seeding the beds is the culmination of a whole heckuvalotta work: clearing out the raised beds, turning the soil, carting soil around the yard, getting a truckload (1 cubic yard) of compost from a landscape place with my dad, loading it into the wheelbarrow, distributing that into the raised beds and mixing it into the annex pots, digging in the compost, mixing in organic fertilizer, smoothing the beds, and then finally planting the seeds. Shew! I’m bushed, but it was invigorating to be outside moving my body! We were even blessed with *perfect* weather the entire weekend which is no small miracle in the fickle month of March in the Rockies!

I planted lettuce, spinach, radishes, arugula, broccoli raab, beets, onions, garlic, scallions, carrots, cabbage, cilantro, dill, and parsley.

Here are some photos from the weekend:

Getting started: clearing out the beds & turning the soil.

Dug up this very disoriented bumblebee. It's stretching its legs in the picture after taking a good 5 minutes to get its wings flapping again!

Schlepping

Dumping

Mixing

And look at that, I forgot to take an “after” picture in the daylight. Ahh well, you can easily use your imagination because the beds pretty much look like…absolutely nothing. But just wait! In a few months it’ll be a jungle!

Did you have a mega garden weekend? What are you planting?

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