'maters

Growing....

Growing...

Grown!

I have tomatoes in all stages of development. I even have six plants already in the ground. These last four guys need to get into the ground pretty dang soon.  When I put them out to harden off yesterday I had to pinch off what looked like teeny tiny little flowers starting to develop.  I'll pinch off the lower branches and bury them deep this weekend.  With any luck ( and the use of Wall O Water, glass jars filled with water, and a plastic cover) they'll survive, thrive, and I'll have an early harvest of tomatoes in late June!

Look at the legs on that one!

(Don't worry, it got transplanted into a bigger pot yesterday and all that length is buried.)

Spring Showers

The first tulip in my yard has finally popped.  I have dozens around the yard that are budding, but the only one open so far is in a pot.  Hopefully by the weekend the rest will be open.

We have two azaleas in front of our house, but only one is flowering.  The other units next to us don’t have blooms, either.  

Lots is happening in the garden.  I have yet to harvest anything tasty, but we’re getting there.  The first things planted in the garden, radishes, carrots, leeks and beets in the cold frame, are all coming up.  The radishes are getting true leaves and (I hope) starting to beef up.  You can’t see in the picture, but the other three are really coming up too!!  The beets are so cute with their little red stems.  These leeks will eventually have to be transplanted so they can spread and grow, but they’re doing quite well in the cold frame for now.  The weather was nice enough last weekend that I have been leaving the top open. 

 The three kale seedlings I transplanted are thriving in the relatively cool, damp corner.  A few leaves have been munched on, but that’s to be expected I guess. 

The broccoli may be doing a bit better than the kale.  Whether due to more sunshine or just being stronger plants?  Who knows.

Along the back fence, the same place where I failed last year, I have radishes and carrots growing.  Beets, too.  Fingers are crossed as many times as possible that the addition of compost and early planting will let me actually harvest something from here.  The radishes are already up, and I think the beets may be making an appearance any day now.  I only planted half of the plot because it just seemed like so many radishes at the time, but now that I’ve thought about it, I can eat about a bajillion radishes at one seating, so filling the rest of the bed might be a good idea.  Squash will fill the area in June after the carrots and beets are hopefully mature, so I should have plenty of time for another sowing of delicious peppery radishes.

My staggered planting of peas has been an interesting experiment, one I will have to try again.  I planted two varieties of peas from last year on George Washington’s birthday (Feb. 23), and a new variety from Territorial Seeds a few weeks later.  It took longer for the bush peas and the Territorial peas to germinate, but now all three types are about the same height.  I have stapled twine to the fence to give them a trellis once they get a few inches taller, and am hoping for peas to munch on in a few weeks.

The lettuce in front is a mix I got for free from Cedar Grove at the Flower and Garden Show.  I was worried about them for a while, but they have really taken off in the last few days of sunshine.  I’m counting on lettuce, radishes and peas for a spring salad any day now.

Speaking of lettuce, this head of romaine has been growing in this pot since last summer.  It over wintered without wilting at all.  I’m in awe of its staying power.  It’s starting to bolt, and will hopefully produce a ton of seeds.  This guy was so winter hardy that I’ll be planting its offspring all fall for continued harvest over winter.  Fresh garden salad on Christmas, anyone?

My tomatoes have outgrown their home indoors.  I’ve been hardening them off for about 5 days now.  They get to come out to play in the now empty cold frame (used to contain a pot with lettuce seeds which have outgrown it).  They’re too tall to close the lid, but the walls help to keep the wind from battering them.  I haven’t lost any yet, but they’ll be transplanted into the ground in the next day or two and I expect a few die-offs.  They will get a few Wall O Waters and glass bottles filled with water to retain heat through the night, and will be covered with a sheet of plastic as protection against the cold.  This is a big step that has been scaring me for weeks, so I have about 18 other tiny tomatoes started in the house.  Is almost 30 tomatoes overkill?

…. Nah…..

How To: Make a Meal from the Pantry

It started with a desire to make a recipe I saw online, as it usually does.  But I filed it away in my brain as something to make later.  I knew I would have the ingredients on hand so I wasn't worried about hitting the grocery store before making them.

Then I saw another recipe a friend pinned on Pinterest, and the just fit so well together, and I had all of the ingredients on hand for that recipe, too, so I had to do it.

Spicy Black Bean Burgers
Modified From Tasty Kitchen

1 can black beans, rinsed
1/2 onion, cut in wedges
1 red pepper, seeds removed
3 cloves garlic
1 egg
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp Sriracha sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1-2 cups panko bread crumbs
olive oil

Place black beans in a bowl and mash with fork or potato masher.  Set aside.

Place onion, pepper, and garlic on cookie sheet and broil until the lightly brown.  Blend in food processor until a smooth consistency.  Add to black bean mixture.  If there is extra liquid, strain through fine mesh strainer.

Add egg, onion powder, cumin, chili powder, Sriracha, salt and pepper to bean mixture and stir well to combine.  Mixture can be refrigerated at this point for up to two days.  Add enough bread crumbs (~1/2 - 3/4 cup) to make a consistency that will stick together in a patty, but has some bulk to it.  Form into 6 patties, thinner and wider rather than smaller and thicker.  Coat both sides with panko.

Heat olive oil in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Gently place patties in skillet, being careful not to burn yourself on the hot oil.  Cook 5- minutes on each side, or until both sides have a dark crust and are heated through.

Serve on bun with favorite toppings, including something to give it a little crunch, such as romaine lettuce, pickles, or onions.



40-Minute Hamburger Buns
From Taste of Home

2 tbsp active dry yeast
1 cup plus 1 tbsp warm water
1/3 cup vegetable oil or 1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp salt
3 to 3 1/2 cups bread flour

Dissolve yeast in water.  Add oil and sugar and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Add egg, salt, and 3 cups of flour to form a soft dough. 
Knead on floured surface for 3-5 minutes or until smooth and elastic.  Immediately divide into 12 pieces for large rolls, 16 for medium rolls.  Shape into balls and place 3 inches apart on a greased baking sheet (or a silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet). Cover and let rise for 10 minutes.  Heat oven to 425.  Bake for 8-12 minutes, until tops are golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool. Makes 12-16 rolls.

Have I mentioned the newest trick I learned that I'm in love with?  I had a spare spice shaker in the kitchen and I filled it with flour.  Now when I'm kneading I just sprinkle from the shaker onto the surface and get a nice even layer across it instead of spooning a glob on and spreading it too thin with my hand.  Magic!  Also works wonders if my sauce needs to be a little thicker - just add two shakes of flour! More magic!

I took these to dinner at my nephew's house (three months old and he totally rules the roost there now). I made only 4 burger patties instead of six out of the recipe and they were a bit thick, in addition to being really soft in the middle.  Next time I will definitely make them thinner and give them a good crust to add some crunch.  The combination of very soft bun, soft burger, avocado and spinach made for a gummy, if tasty, dinner.

For dessert, I made another recipe that used only things on hand, and could quickly make right before heading out - Two Minute Cookies. Ahh, the wonderful tastes of childhood.  No matter how bad for you they are, or how much sugar there is, they will always be delicious.

Two Minute Cookies
From Mom's Recipe Box

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
2 cups sugar
3 cups oatmeal
3 tbsp cocoa
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

In medium sauce pan, melt butter and add milk and sugar.  Heat to rolling boil and cook for one minute. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients.  Quickly spoon into mounds on parchment or wax paper.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes.  Makes 30-36 depending on size and the cook's share.


PS.  Be careful.  It's a tomato jungle out there.

Dear MG

Dear Master Gardener,

I need your advice.  The tulips you gave me are coming up quite nicely.  No buds yet, but the leaves keep growing despite the attacks from the yard maintenance weedwacker.  As I pulled some weeds from around them this morning, I got to wondering about what could be planted to protect the area once the blossoms die back.  I have all of this poppy seed, and was considering sprinkling some over the area to effectively become ground cover during the summer.  Do you think this will work?

Thanks,
Seeds in Seattle

P.S.  The rest of the new flower bed is coming along.  Sweet peas are just starting to poke up from the corner of the side yard nearest the gate.  So far they are the only thing planted on this side.

The shasta daisies don't look like much right now, but I think they are starting to grow a bit.  There are one or two new leaves unfurling from the center of one plant, so I think the rest will survive.

The day lilies look about how they did when you gave them to me.  No growth, but they haven't turned brown yet, so I'm considering that a good sign.

One of the mums has put on some greenery.  The other one hasn't done anything.  I'm not sure which one is the bronze and which is the deep red.  Hopefully we'll get to find out in a couple months.

Other happenings in the garden include radishes finally sprouting in the cold frame, lettuce seeds sprouting from unprotected soil (I just put a milk carton cloche over about 1/4 of the sprouts to see if it makes a difference), and peas.  All of the peas I planted on George Washington's birthday are starting to come up.  Maybe the old adage really has something to it!

Hello Spring!

(ok, so I cheated and used the picture from last year.... mine aren't open yet!)

Control, Out of

The tomatoes were all starting to get their second or third set of leaves, so I decided to repot them in something a bit bigger.  Then, since I had extra soil out, I started two small applesauce containers of cosmos.  And two larger containers with heirloom tomato seeds I got from the Master Gardener. At this point my kitchen was covered not only with loose dirt, but with pots of dirt that I couldn't just wipe up and throw in the compost bin because they were there intentionally, to grow things.  Bigger things than before. And that, of course, meant I was over capacity of the grow light.

I was pretty well at capacity before I upsized, so I'm not quite sure how I was planning on managing the rest of the spring indoor growing season.

Somewhere in the haze of vermiculite, I apparently decided to upgrade my lighting system.  Before I knew it (a day later) I had purchased the cheapest shop light the Home Depot had, two bulbs, and some chain to hang it down from the ceiling.  This gardening thing might not be cheaper than my CSA after all...

Hopefully my upsized plants will be very happy in their new homes with the new light. 

Due to the weird mold stuff, I decided to cut off the toilet paper roll instead of planting the whole thing together.  There was still some mold under the roll, but it was an amount that I'm much more comfortable with, and I think the tomatoes will be able to handle the stress on the roots.  I planted them up to the seed leaves, so they'll have a little less than two inches of stalk buried to grow roots from, in addition to the old ones. 

Outside I'm gearing up for spring as well.  Technically it's on Tuesday, but I'm not holding my breath on that one here in Seattle.  My new beds have their driftwood border, and I even got some transplants in this week when it wasn't raining too hard (two colors of mums, shasta daisies, and daylillies from the Master Gardener's garden).

This area will get sunflowers, cosmos, zinnias, poppies, snapdragons, and nasturtiums, if I can get any of them to grow from seed.  We'll be hoppin' with bees this summer! That's the hope, at least, so my veggies all get pollinated and I can have nice flower arrangements inside all season.

The side bed will eventually be the home of our runner beans, maybe a zucchini, and more sunflowers.  Can you tell what flower this house likes the best?

Sprouts!

My sprouts are starting to get their first set of true leaves.  I left them for the weekend with no signs of growth, and returned to all of the tomatoes growing hairs on their stems and getting that set of leaves.  Broccoli is just behind, and the kale is a few days back.  I've kept the kale on windowsills instead of under the light and I think it's time to reevaluate.  They go out in a couple weeks (Territorial says after the third set of true leaves) and should be strong enough to survive the cool weather.

I'm a little concerned about the flower situation.  All of the hollyhock didn't fare too well over the weekend.  I'm worried they either have damping off or just got too dried out.  I think I'm paranoid about the damping off.  The zinnias haven't done anything since sprouting in the germination test either. I want all my little guys to survive and thrive!

Basil and thyme are doing their thing in yogurt containers.  I planted them really thick because the seeds were so tiny I couldn't help myself, so they will need thinning before they get to their final destination.  No clue if they will survive if I chop each pot into four... But the good news is that the snapdragons are sprouting! Only about three of them, but that's three more than none, and I'm happy.