Tomatoes

While I was sick, I tried to use my "feel good" times effectively and worked on getting some more of my seeds started. (I had a horrible cough "thing" going on. Yuk!) I now have all our tomato seeds started for this year and all have been quick to sprout. I am running out of grow light space, which is more of an issue of no where to hang them, and I need to solve this quickly or I could end up having problems because of it. I have had plenty of radiator space though and it's been cold. Anything requiring heat to sprout is set on the radiators, or near them, and usually sprouts very very quickly--as in just a matter of days. 7 to 9 days to sprout---no way! their up in 4.
I am trying something new by planting the tomatoes in dixie cups this year. Not that the dixie cups are new--I have used those before for seed starting--but how I planted the seeds in the cups. I only filled the cups about 1/4 of the way up with soil and then planted the seeds. As the plants have grown up in the cup, we first thinned, then added more soil. Most haven't made it to the top yet but they seem to do fine---a bit leggy since they were so far down in the cup but it works with the idea of "potting and re potting". Only this way---I don't have to move them to a bigger cup/pot yet but I get the benefit of encouraging roots along the stem. I will see if I think they end up same, better, different than the way I normally would start them. Maybe just more convenient rather than better. Or maybe no difference at all. Hopefully they will have many roots more quickly. We will see.
I also have a picture up at the top of this post of my artichokes in the paper pots. Here is a picture of them two weeks ago, so you can see how much they have grown. I have been using a 50/50 mix of bagged seed starter mix and worm castings. I love this mix. I will stick with it since it seems to hold moisture very nicely. I find that even the regular bagged seed starting mixes have just a bit to much peat for me. I think they dry out a little too quickly and get hard. Everyone who has started seeds knows how hard it is to re wet dried peat mixes. The worm castings seem to keep the mix a tiny bit moister and easier to re wet. Even if I make my own (which I have done for soil blocking) I will incorporate the worm castings from now on---I just really really like it.
Out of the 30 seeds for the artichokes that I started I only had 12 finally sprout. The un sprouted are still down on a heat mat ---but I think I am just about ready to throw them in the compost pile. I am not sure if it was me, the seeds or the technique or maybe all three. I had 8 sprout fairly quickly but then the rest were stragglers. The last one sprouted about 1 week ago----which is the reason why I haven't just chucked the whole batch yet. Now that I actually have some up for this year that will more than likely set buds/fruit, I will start the rest this spring (remembering to soak them this time) when I can just set them outside and let nature do it's thing with them. We will see how they sprout then.
I did want to have about 20 of them so 8 more would be nice---but no big deal if I don't get them. I can always take side shoots off the current plants next year and get my other 8 that I wanted.

Well, I know everyone has ordered seeds already BUT if anyone wants a free package of "Rose" tomato seeds--described here---please email me with your address and I will send it to you. I debated whether or not to keep them but really I have plenty and they were a freebie with my order. I thought about starting a few just to try them---but again, I really don't need more.
Currently this year we have planted these varieties of tomatoes:

Purple Russian
Egg
Japanese Black Trifele
Pink Accordion
Granny Cantrell German
German Lunch Box
Weeping Charley
Dad's Barber Paste
Homestead 24
Purple Calabash
Carol Chyko's Big Paste
Great White

All of these seeds are from either Baker Creek or TomatoFest. All have sprouted well and I of course have many left over. I would like to eventually start all the seeds in my packages to grow and sell in the early spring but we just don't have the room this year to do that. Next year I believe we will be a bit more organized and have less remodel supplies and hay stored in areas where they aren't suppose to be. That in turn will re-free up room for my seed "stuff".

Everyone have a great day--we're about a month from the "official" start of spring.

SmallMeadow Farm Icelandic sheep, Irish Dexters and heritage chickens

Paper pots in use

Here are some of the paper pots I posted about previously. I did end up using exactly two staples per pot since I made them so thick with newspaper that they wanted to "sproing" open before I could get the soil in place. So two well placed staples helped them out a bit. If they weren't so thick they wouldn't have needed the staples. Without the staples though---I would have needed at least three hands to keep them closed and fill them with soil at the same time.
Those are my artichokes in the pots. Out of thirty seeds planted on Jan 12th I have 9 that have sprouted. I have never grown artichokes before---ever. So considering I didn't know to soak them (I seem to miss that on most seeds!) and that artichokes supposedly have a low/slow germination I guess I would say I am doing O.K. Just O.K. I did have one sprout on Friday---so they are still working at it. Hopefully I will get at least 15. More would be better.
I find artichokes to be fascinating. I love them in eggs, salads and other dishes. I have never eaten one fresh before, always canned, so I look forward to having my own to experiment with. I am sure as with all things: fresh is better than canned. I think though that I might have trouble picking them to eat because the flowers are gorgeous looking. I might be compelled to let them go on to bloom just to look at their very fascinating flowers. Maybe after I start using them I won't care if they don't get to finish blooming or miss seeing the large purple flowers. I have to admit they are much more interesting looking than say---lettuce or broccoli flowers ---so therefore more enticing to allow to go on to bloom.
I hope with a good mulch they will stay alive through this next winter. I planted "violette" and "green globe" and with the slow seed sprouting I would prefer to not have to do it again. Supposedly green globe will last here with only a small amount of protection. I don't know about violette --we shall see. Other people I read about seem to have good luck with them. Maybe I will be one of them too.

Now, I am going to have to start collecting all the recipes with artichokes I have never tried because of the expense of buying them in the stores. This summer I should have my own "crop" of arty chokes!

Micro Farming Revisited

Last week I "reviewed" a book entitled Micro Farming, which I recommended to read about small farms and success on small acreage. Today while looking for some information (some grain suppliers) I followed my way through to these very interesting places.
First I started at the ovencrafters.net grain suppliers page: grain suppliers
Which took me to here: Field of Plenty--bioneer web site: www.bioneers.org . This is small excerpt of a book by the author telling why he wrote his book Field of Plenty (which I have never read) He touches on a number of small "micro farms". I got to this site since I was trying to find Jennifer Green and her heirloom grains.
That article sited in the very first paragraph this small farm as a prime example of success--- Fairview Gardens:

"Fairview Gardens is a twelve acre organic farm near suburban Santa Barbara surrounded by housing developments, urban sprawl and highways. This self sufficient farm which employs 15 people and grosses over 350,000 annually, produces over 100 fruits, vegetables, eggs, milk, free range chicken, goats and other animals for over 500 families. In 1994 it was bought by a non profit and put into public trust to remain as a working organic farm and educational center called The Center for Urban Agriculture." (excerpted from a different source than the author of Field of Plenty)


The farm also has a book written about it entitled: On Good Land: The Autobiography of an Urban Farm by Micheal Ableman. I think I will try and read this.

Now when I see things like that---it makes it easier to believe that at some point I might be able to be somewhat food self sufficient. Obviously I need to put just a bit more time into it than I have previously :-)

Asparagus Seeds

Today I bought the seeds to start my asparagus bed. I know most people buy crowns but I was determined to try a variety that is not so commonly grown anymore--something different. We have had asparagus beds at previous houses, but for some reason haven't started one since we lived here. Probably because of all the other things we have been doing but that is another post. Since I recently decided that next year I would like to try and produce all the vegetables and much of the fruit we eat, it was time to get serious about the asparagus. It takes 3 years to really be able to start harvesting asparagus spears from the crowns---though you can take a very light harvest in the second year depending on how well they have done. That basically means that I won't be harvesting this asparagus bed until the spring after there is a new President. Ack--so long.
I really like open pollinated and heirloom varieties of seeds so I set out on a search to see what types of heirloom asparagus I could find. Not many I found out. Most that are listed in old journals and plant lists seem to be long gone now, or else they are just very very hard to find. There were a number I would have liked to try but finally settled on the french heirloom variety --Precoce d'Argenteuil -- both because it interested me AND because it was one of the few I could find seeds of. I ordered the seeds from Bakers Creek Heirloom Seeds (link in post) and now will wait impatiently for them to get here. I am excited to start them from seed since I have always purchased crowns previously. They say it is very easy to start asparagus from seed---no 6 month sprout rate or anything like that---which is nice to know since some things can be notoriously difficult to grow from seed. I am not the best seed sprouter so that is a factor I consider when deciding what new things to try. (I have never yet gotten any Agapanthus seeds to sprout for me)
Precoce d'Argenteuil is still widely grown in France as a variety suited for blanching before it is picked. The French supposedly favor a blanched (covered while it grows so that it stays white) asparagus. I personally have never had white asparagus which supposedly has a different/milder flavor than regular grown ie: green asparagus. Some like it and some don't--however it is obviously I will have to wait about....ummm... 3 years to find out.
The discussion of color leads me to the second variety I will purchase and grow---this time as two year old crowns--"Purple Passion". I love fruits/vegetables that are a different color than they are "suppose" to be. People now seem to be more aware of the fact that vegetables don't always come in standard colors-- but it is fun to surprise people periodically with a reddish purple broccoli or purple asparagus or even a red carrot. I really look forward to harvesting both varieties. At least this one will be ready sooner than the other :-) One last variety that I might try eventually---another heirloom variety--is Conover's Colossal Asparagus sold by Bountiful Gardens. Though I would imagine by the time my original two varieties get going-- I will have plenty of asparagus to eat fresh, can, give away and hopefully sell.
One other great thing about asparagus---it looks beautiful during the summer time. I love looking at it since it is so exotic---almost like some Caribbean plant came to vacation in my yard.

Rareseeds.com --- Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Bountifulgardens.org -- Bountiful Gardens