Coleslaw

I love coleslaw..even the kind you get in restaurants! However, the kind that I grew up with was made with pineapple, and without vinegar! It adds a great sweetness and soft contrast to the crunch of the cabbage and carrots! Now that I think of it, I am not sure where this recipe came from, but I feel that it is unique enough to call it Saumsiegle Coleslaw, since my family has been making it for as long as I can remember!

Coleslaw made with first Market Prize Cabbage of 2010

Saumsiegle Coleslaw
~1 head of cabbage
~About 3-5 carrots (enough to balance out the amount of cabbage)
~canned pineapple, chunks or 'tidbits' (i tend to buy the rings and cut them to 'tidbit' size)
~miracle whip

Cut cabbage and carrots. Combine in bowl. Drain canned pineapple and dump in bowl. Add miracle whip until ingredients are coated (to your liking). Enjoy!

Harvest Monday: Lots of Garlic

I had a great harvest yesterday! The biggest news, is that after almost 9 months, I harvested my garlic! My pickling cucumbers, sunsugar tomatoes and sungold tomatoes are producing really well. My sugar snap peas are almost exhausted, as the plants are starting to die back. Growing impatient, I picked a few carrots. They were tasty, but all very small. My cabbages are almost all ready, so I picked the largest one...coleslaw is on the menu for this weeks' meals!

I now have 11 heads curing for future use. About six heads had various problems with them, however I am hoping to use a few of their cloves in the near future. Overall, I am very happy with my first garlic harvest. The bulbs averaged about 2" around, pretty close to the size of the original heads of the cloves I planted in November.

Lots of additions!

The past few weeks have brought a lot of additions to my garden, but not to my blog. My most exciting update is that my potatoes are growing! I always have a little uncertainty when planting by seed and wonder, "is anything happening?" I was not sure quite how long it would take for the Bintje potato plants to push through the soil. I anticipated 3-4 weeks, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the first leaves after 2 1/2 weeks!

Bintje Potatoes (planted 4/18) on 5/7 & 5/16

In other news, I added a yellow bistro set so I now have a place to rest my tired feet (and back) and also a place for guests to sit! I am attempting to grow grass so that I have something soft to run my toes through! In addition I now have a blue, triangle shade 'sail' to have provide some sun protection as my garden provides no shade. This design allows me to take it down and put it up easily. I look forward to many mornings, afternoons, and evenings here! Come on over!

Sunday was a BIG planting day! Our last frost day came late this year, as temps dipped back down into the 30s and 40s last week. However, with the beautiful weekend weather, I was anxious to fill the rest of my SFG boxes! I had finished my research and knew which type of vegetable/herb/plant I was going to plant in each square foot! I made most of my purchases at Russell's Garden Center in Wayland, MA. I went there for the first time last year and was blown away by their variety and quantity of vegetable plants! In addition to my garlic and potatoes already planted, I am trying a lot of new things this year: watermelon, eggplant, butternut squash, corn and all new varieties of tomatoes and peppers.

Here is what I planted on Sunday, except for a few sown on 5/11: [s] = seed; [p] = plant

Nasturtium - Fordhook Favorites Mix [s]
Fennel [s]
Basil - Sweet [p]
Lavender - Provence [p]
Bean - Black-seeded Blue Lake Snap Pole Bean (planted 5/11) [s]
Corn - Brocade Sweet; Japanese Hullless Popcorn (planted 5/11) [s]
Cabbage - Market Prize [p]
Squash - Butternut [p]
Eggplant - Hansel [p]
Watermelon - Sugar baby [p]
Cucumber - Diva, Burpless, Northern Picking [p]
Pepper - Carmen, Giant Marconi, Italian Pepperoncini [p]
Tomato- La Roma II, Yellow Pear, First Lady, Green Zebra, Sunsugar, Sungold [p]

Unfortunately, I lost track of which square I was working in and dug up a few beans. I am hoping a few still come up!!

I still actually have 4 squares still unaccounted for and am thinking of getting two more basil plants and two more tomato plants to ensure I have enough for my anticipated canning and pesto-making adventures!

SFG Boxes (5/16/10)

a lizard in the garden overview

Cabbage & Celery Harvest

On Saturday I harvested the last of my red cabbages along with two heads of celery! I was so anxious to try the celery and I have to say that I am very pleased!

Quick celery tip: Did you know that putting celery in tinfoil keeps it fresh and crisp?

Caring & Preparing

I continue to care for my last remaining crops that are still growing...mache, peppers, bush beans, scallions, cabbage and celery.

mache; Mandarin Peppers (unripe)

Here is an updated shot of my plot. I now have two of my 'boxes' covered since we have had many nights in the 30's, frost watches and snow. Unfortunately, I ran out of odds and ends to weigh down the plastic, so the middle box is on its own for now!


In preparation for garlic planting I cleared and created a spot in my recent addition. I still have to order my garlic so I will be limited to what is still in stock. However, I am hoping for a hard-neck variety at least. I have searched Johnny's, Seeds of Change and The Garlic Store. I definitely need to plant soon though-especially if the temps are going to stay below average!


On a final note, I just checked Eliot Coleman's Four Season Harvest out of the library. I hope to have a 'review' soon!

Still growing...

I am excited to have a few things still growing in my garden...

Second round of radishes; revived peppers

Second round of bush beans; my celery experiment

marigolds!!

I also have a few more cabbages and mâche (lamb's lettuce/corn salad)! Unfortunately, cauliflower and melon made it to my "failed" crop list.

Success at FensFest!

The Fenway Garden Society made the right call when deciding to postpone the FensFest until Sunday. We received 3 inches of rain between Friday afternoon and Saturday evening! Thanks to my new rain gauge I will now know how much rain we get!

We had a gorgeous day to celebrate FensFest! With steel drums playing in the background, the grill was hot, the 'white elephant' table was stocked with used treasures, and everyone had the chance to win fabulous raffle prizes! Gardeners, families, friends and passers-by stopped by to wander through the gardens and enjoy the festivities.

I entered one of my Savoy Ace green cabbages in the produce contest! It won "Best Vegetable"!

Success! I was thrilled to win "Best New Gardener" for my section.

Thanks to everyone that came out! I loved showing you around!

Harvest Updates & Big News!

I had two great harvests this week...

8.19 Big cucumbers and lots of Sugar Snap Peas & Sweet 100 tomatoes!

8.16 First Jet Star tomatoes & Mandarin Hybrid pepper*
unfortunately, the pepper looked perfect, but had lots of worms inside-i was very sad!!

Other news...

My Sugar Snap Peas growing sky high!


Cabbage heads are forming!

The Big News....
My garden is growing in a different way!! The small, vacant and overgrown plot next to me is now mine! It was offered to me over the weekend! The FVG can not find someone to take the 'plot.' I gladly accepted it but am still trying to figure out what to do with the space. My initial thoughts...adding another SFG box or creating a shaded area with a chair/table. Here is what the space looks like now...I see lots of weeding in my future...again!!