Tomatoe Time

Yes spring has finally has finally come to New Mexico, or rather summer it seems.  It is now plenty warm to put those tomatoes in the ground and with the moon in Leo (a fire/fruit sign) this weekend, all systems go!!

 

If you have ever read this blog you may be aware of my growing obsession with tomato production.  I put up a few tips here last year on transplanting tomatoes.   And then this year I went to a Homegrown New Mexico tomato class and learned a few more tricks.  To add to all this, this year I have been saving all of my eggshells, drying them, crushing them and now I have to magical powder that I plan to put in every hole before I plant.  You see tomatoes often get blossom end rot, and many of my late tomatoes got it last year…

(though I believe it was a watering issue.  You see my irrigation was turned off and I didn’t know it, so by the time I figured it out the plants had been shocked and needed to recover, which they did do, but blossom end rot was s side effect)….But in my reading I found out that blossom end rot is also linked with the plant’s ability to take up calcium…enter egg shells. Lots of readily available calcium for the taking.  So I will sprinkle the magic calcium powder in each hole before planting and we shall see if I can notice a difference.

 

IN any case, happy planting weekend, I know we all have lots to do!!

Salad Days & Dressings

We had a smashing spring day in the sunshine at the Children’s Museum this weekend and I got the blessing of feeding many folks my garden greens.  We talked gardening, making potting soil and building wooden flats and got a few young gardeners started sprouting their first sunflower seeds!!  Nothing quite like that first spring day where it feels like the whole town is out to play.  It was truly nostalgic for me, as about eight years ago I ran the garden there and it is actually where I meet my husband for the first time.  Now we have a little one of our own to bring to play, mingling with our sprouting community of little ones frolicking beneath the very beings my young hands planted so long ago.   Feeling so lucky to have such a great crew to hang with and such a beautiful place to raise our babies up in.  Thanks to the Arts of Nature for providing such a splendid community gathering, Griet, such a delight to see yo manifest your visions.

I also made a few home dressings that I shared, so as promised, here are the recipes for those.

Green Goddess- Voted #1

· ¼ c Tahini

· ¼ c olive oil

· 1 tbl +1 tsp Tamari

· 1 tsp Miso

· 1 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil

· 2 tbl Apple Cider Vinegar

· ½ c water

· 2 cloves garlic or a handful of fresh garlic chives

· 1-2 green onions

Blend all ingredients in a blender/food processor until desired consistency and serve on fresh greens mmamma.

Maple Mustard- Voted #2

1/4 cup Mustard

1/4 cup Maple Syrup

3/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

3/4 cup Olive Oil

1/4 Flax seed Oil

These measurements I just made up so do measure it to you taste.  Shake and serve

Tarragon Yogurt- Voted # 3

2 big handfuls of fresh Tarragon

1 big handful fresh Mint

1 1/2 Yogurt

Salt/Pepper

2 tbsp Lemon Juice

Add more of whatever you wish to get the taste you like. Blend till smooth

Here’s to lots of springing energy and plenty of spring greens!

 

Bountiful Weekend Events for the Garden Loving Family

This weekend has three very sweet community, family friendly events that will inspire both you and your garden.

The first is a Garage/ Moving/ Plant Sale were I will be selling some of my home-grown Heirloom Tomato & Cucumber babies.  They were loving nutured in my greenhouse all these months and will be perfect for planting out in just a couple of weeks when this cold spell passes and the sunny days are here to stay.  Come check it out just 2 blocks south the Farmers Market across from the old Alvord Elementary school. 

Garage/ Moving/ Plant Sale —Saturday April 20th-9am at 546 Alarid Street.
See below for a full list of all the varieties available

 

The next event is over on Acequia Madre St. at Garcia Street books where there will be a book signing of George Ancona’s new Book- “It’s Our Garden”.  The book  features the Acequia Madre Elementary School Garden which has bloomed and grown by the loving hands of a wonderful mother, volunteer, friend and fabulous garden teacher, Sue McDonald.

Saturday April 20th there will be a Book Signing from 2-3pm at Garcia Street books and at 3pm a walk up to Acequia Madre School garden for a tour.

After and good night’s rest, dreaming garden dreams, join us

Sunday at the Santa Fe Children’s Museum between 1 and 4 pm,

for a homestead inspired Earth Day Celebration for all.  It will be an opportunity to bring your questions to local homesteaders &  engage in hands-on activities that are meant to inspire, motivate and support the implementation of sustainable practices of all kind at your own home!!

I will be doing ‘ Grow your own Greens’ demo and tastings among many other wonderful friends who cook with the sun, milk their own goats and use zero waste while raising children!!

Can’t wait to see everybody here, there and everywhere!!

2013 Plant Sale Varieties

Tomatoes

Sugar Sweetie- Botanical Interests- Cherry

65 days from transplanting. Indeterminate.
This delicious organic tomato is well-known for its strong tomato flavor. Large numbers of 3/4″ – 1″ cherry tomatoes are produced in grape-like clusters. Provide support for vigorous vines that easily reach 6 feet long.

Black Krim- Botanical Interests-Tomato Pole

70 days from transplanting. Indeterminate.
This Russian heirloom originated in Krim, a Crimean town on the Black Sea. Baseball-sized fruits weigh 10 – 12 oz. and have reddish-brown flesh filled with an earthy, almost smoky flavor. Fruit sets well in heat and is the most reliable of the black tomatoes, producing even under adverse conditions from summer to fall. Provide support for vines that reach 6 feet or more.

 Cherokee Purple- Plants of the Southwest

80 days from transplanting. Indeterminate.
Cherokee’s rose/purple skin with green shoulders encases red brick colored flesh with just the right level of sweetness. You’ll be harvesting large numbers of 10 to 12 oz. tomatoes from this well-regarded heirloom variety from summer to fall. The flavor has been described as yummy, tasty, wonderful, delicious, heavenly, and unbelievable! Provide support for vigorous vines that reach 6 feet or more.

John Baer- Seed Savers Exchange

aka Boony Best- From the Bonny group of tomatoes that includes Chalk’s Early Jewel. Introduced in 1914 by J. Bolgiano and Son of Baltimore.  Bright red, meaty, smooth fruits with very good flavor.  Once a leading canning variety, also great for fresh eating. Heavy Producer. Indeterminate, 60-80 days from transplant.

Japanese Trifele- Seed Savers Exchange

One of the best Russian black tomatoes. High yields of blemish- free fruits that rarely crack. Rich full flavor, great for canning. The size of a Bartlett pear, weighing 4-5 ounces. Potato leaf foliage. Indeterminate, 70-80 days from transplant.

Pink Brandywine- Bounty Beyond Belief

This is a heirloom beefsteak variety with large pinkish- red tomatoes with a wonderful rich taste and a bit Sweeter and larger than the Red Brandywine.  Indeterminate. Potato- leafed plants produce huge tomatoes often weighing between 1-2 pounds.  These remain one of the best tasting tomatoes available.

Giant Syrian-Seed Savers Exchange 

Received form a SSE Member Charlotte Mullens of West Virginia.  Nice Yields of deep pinkish- red fruits exceeding one pound.  Very Meaty, few seeds, excellent flavor. Indeterminate. 80 days from transplant.

Risentraube-Seed Savers Exchange

Originally from germany. name Translates as “gaint bunches of grapes.” Tntroduced commercially in the U.S. in 1994 by Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. High- Yielding plants. Tasty 1′ fruits are born on large sprays and shaped like beaked plums. Indeterminate, 80 days from transplant.

Chadwick Cherry- Seeds of Change

Introduced by the late horticultural genius Alan Chadwick, this large, mouthwatering cherry tomato has a tangy, sweet flavor. It produces huge yields and is disease resistant making it a popular choice among gardeners. Days to Harvest: 85

Cucumbers

Aremenian- Botanical Interest

65 days. Want to try something new in your garden? This is it! Armenian cucumber with handsome, light green, thin skin is nearly seedless, and more tolerant of heat than most cucumbers. Sometimes called serpent cucumber or yard long, it is actually a variety of melon! A long production period means harvesting right into fall.

Straight Eight- Botanical Interests

63 days. There is nothing more refreshing than a cool cucumber. This older, open pollinated variety is still around because it is simply one of the best! Vigorous vines produce cylindrical, very straight crisp cucumbers about 8″ long. Who can resist a salad of home-grown sliced cucumber, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella dressed with olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper? Yum!

Homemade Pickles- Botanical Interests

55 days. Making pickles at home is easy with Homemade Pickles. This plant has excellent disease resistance, very high yields, and is ready to harvest early. The 4 foot compact vines produce cucumbers for quite a long period; harvest anywhere from 1½” to 5″ long. Perfect interior texture for pickles, but can also be eaten fresh. Excellent container variety.

Space Master- Botanical Interests

62 days. Has your garden ever been overrun by cucumber plants that spread everywhere? Spacemaster is the solution! Its 2′ to 3′ vines make it the ideal choice for small growing areas. It produces large numbers of flavorful, full-sized slicing cucumbers, perfect for snacking, salads, and sandwiches, and even for pickling when harvested small.

Seeds Starting Recap

Last Saturday I gave a public class on Seed Starting at Earth Care community garden.  It went well and was well attended but made me realize a few things…..One was that a little re-cap may be useful,  as people tend to have the same questions and quandaries about starting seeds indoors.

Seed Selection- Save your own, Trade, Share, Swap…If you are to buy seed go for heirlooms, locally appropriate and organic.  If you would like to start your own seed saving collection, open pollinated varieties are what you need.  Avoid hybrids (for seed saving) and GMOs at all cost! Sources I recommend:

Seed Savers Exchange

Native Seed Search

Fedco

High Mowing

Peaceful Valley

to name a few

Containers and Soil- There are of course so many choices, so I encourage you to use what you have and find what you like.  My favorite are wooden flats so here is a link to making your own out of old pallets or new wood.  I also prefer to make my own soil, so here is  link to that, but of course find your method of ease a pleasure.  Just remember for seedlings fluffy and light soil is best- high in peat moss or Coconut fiber.  Once the seedlings the bigger they will need more nutrient rich mix or a rich garden bed and I will write more on that later.

Temperature-  Seedlings need different soil temperatures to germinate.  For example some lettuces can germinate in soil that is 50 degrees and Tomatoes often need 70 degree soil.  Here is a great Vegetable Planting Chart form High Mowing Seeds blog that has great info on soil temp, germination times, spacing and more.   If you are starting your seedlings inside, the soil is probably stable at the temperatures of your house, but if not they are in an unheated greenhouse or cold frame, it is probably much colder.   I simple Soil thermometer, purchase at any nursery, should help you see what your soil temps really are.

Check it morning and evening to see how it changes.  Also check your seed packet to see if it tells you ideal soil temperatures for germination, so you know if you are waiting long enough before starting over.  Remember if you seedlings haven’t come up yet, they are just waiting for the right chemistry, so don’t give up.  Just keep working the elements of warmth, light and water till you see those sprouts.  If you need to you can buy seedling heating mats here.

Light- This seems to be the most tricky for home growers.  Many windows simply don’t get enough DIRECT sunlight.  Choose a south-facing window that gets direct sun ALL day, that is at least 8-10 hours a day.  The more the better.  If your seeds sprouts but then get really long and leggy and look like the are desperately seeking the sun, you probably need to supplement with electric lights.  So many people know so much more about that so google that.

Water- Seeds really only need the right temperatures and moisture to germinate, that is sprouting before photosynthesis.  Once you sow seeds (in a moist sowing mix) you MUST keep them moist at ALL times.  Yep, Always!!!! that means watering many times a day if you need to, especially in a heated house in a south-facing window in the high desert!!!.  A helpful tool may be a spray bottle.  Set it on a fine mist and mist the soil.  If you have children helping this is a great job for them and really can’t be over done.  Once you see puddling on the surface of your soil, stop watering.  A watering can with a fine sprinkle really is necessary,  as big flows of water can wash the seed right out of the soil.  Because the seed is only in the first inch of soil, this is what need to be moist.  Once a plant grows the water needs to go deeper and the plants can be watered less frequently, but int he the beginning, moist always.

Water quality has an effect too.  I use my precious rain water for seedlings and really have noticed a difference from the years I have used our hard well water.  Tap water is ok, but it is best to fill your watering can or a big bucket hours, or days before you water so that the chlorine in the water can evaporate and the water can come up to room temperature.  Cold water can shock plants and of course chlorine can harm them.

Seed Needs- Each seed of course has it’s own temperament.  Some like to be planted deep, some with no soil at all.  Some need fire, freeze or even scaring to crack their seed coats.  They say a generally to plant seeds twice as deep as they are wide.  Seed packets are great source of information, but if you don’t have packets, the High Mowing Vegetable Planting Guide works great to find out all the little special needs of each of your precious seeds.

So there you have it– If you seeds are warm, wet, sunned and in a good growing medium they should come up just fine.  Plants are more like us than we might think.  If you are cold, they probably are, too hot, the might be too.

Now planning your sowing timing and taking care of the babies well so that they thrive and are ready to go outside when the times comes, oh and of course there is seed starting outdoors as well…..but I think I will write more on that later, for now this should get you started if you haven’t jumped in already.  Happy Seed Sowing!

Seed Starting Class

As you may have gleaned from my blog, I like to garden.  I like it so much that is mostly what I write about, and frankly do with most of my time.  I also teach gardening and have in lots of different places from the Children’s Museum, to Elementary Schools, then high schools, and now I even teach it at a college!!  This Saturday I will be teaching a class to the public hosted by Homegrown New Mexico and held at Earth Care Community Garden.

We will cover as much as we possibly can about seed selection, sowing mediums, containers, schedules, technique, and care in 2 hours.  It would be great so see some of you there!  RSVP here.

‘Work is Love Made Visable’

“Work is love made visible” these words of Kahlil Gibran were carved by hand onto a wooden sign that hung on the main lodge of my beloved Vermont summer camp, Farm & Wilderness.  This was a place where teens from all walks of East coast life would come together for 2 months to work the land, swim in the waters and learn to create community together.  As my dad reminded me yesterday, not only have those words been carved into my soul & life purpose, but also the community spirit.  In the years since summer camp I have found myself surrounded with similar earth loving angels actively loving the world & each other through their hands

. They came smiling and laughing, eager to spend the day in the sunshine with me and my tomatoes.

Not only did they work, but they sang, told stories and charmed the baby & us all while doing so.

There were parents, neighbors, old friends and new, this incredible little hard-working crew just breezed in with great blessings and warmed our little home until it sang right along.  In return dad cooked the burgers & freshly picked ‘Lovely Day Farm’ (on our street!!) Asparagus on the grill and we feed them well.  When I sent out the invite I mentioned that I would feed them all but ‘if any one wanted to ‘WOW’ us with desert or beverages they were welcome’ and WOW us they did! Handmade Mojitos and Fresh Pear Pie and Raspberry Tart and homemade yogurt on top!! OH MY!!!

And now the greenhouse is at maximum capacity with 250 tomatoes, all in brand new little pots, the only question now is, where will I put everything else?  Plant sale anyone?

I almost felt guilty having them do all that work for me on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, but then I remembered all the seeds I have sown, beds I have dug, weeds I have pulled out of other people’s gardens and like them, I sang too… so happy to have dirt to put my hands in and a hard task to put my strong body to real use.  As we were working Jaengy jumped in helping with sorting the pots after shying from the crowd for the first hour.

I commented how he is happiest when he has a job to do.  Casey responded, “I think we all are!”  and I thought, ‘Well you are my kind of people!’  So Thank You garden angels with your kind and helpful hands, you have shown me that there should be no guilt in asking for help and that for many of us there is no greater gift than working together to complete the task at hand, to share the load and to enjoy being of use together.

To Be of Use

The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
They seem to become natives of that element,
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half-submerged balls.

I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.

I want to be with people who submerge
in the task, who go into the fields to harvest
and work in a row and pass the bags along,
who are not parlor generals and field deserters
but move in a common rhythm
when the food must come in or the fire be put out.

The work of the world is common as mud.
Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.
But the thing worth doing well done
has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.
Greek amphoras for wine or oil,
Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums
but you know they were made to be used.
The pitcher cries for water to carry
and a person for work that is real.

Marge Piercy

Bellies, Birth and Babies

Spring is in the air and so many babies are just opening brand new eyes to their first spring or are soon to be on their way here.  Such an exciting time for so many of my mama friends, and I have had the privilege of photographing many of them in these past months.  I am still an amateur, but have really taken some photographic leaps lately with a purchase of a new camera, my first new-born shoot and so many beautiful mamas around me willing and excited to have me take their picture.  I just have to share with you their beauty and glory.

Becca pregnant with Paloma January 2013

Jenna & her hubby pregnant with someone we will meet any day now!

Shannon pregnant with her due date in just a week or two

Russel, Nicole & Sequoia who arrived in January

Brenna, Ida & Emmet and inside is Eden, who came last summer

It is such an honor to have these women share themselves with me, allowing their glory to be seen in such a sacred and open time of their lives.  Each one of these women has taught me; the way they cradle there belly’s or smile so deep from within, they have reveled their full beings to me and in doing so they have each shown me how to be a mother.  And even though I now am a mother myself and will be for the rest of my life, I am always learning to stand deeper in my own fullness and glory.  There is nothing quite as inspiring as being welcomed to behold each and every woman, baby & family that braves this courageous task of togetherness, on that sacred birthing day and every day from then on, holding each other on this journey of life.

Happy Early Mother’s Day!

Spring Morning

It is that time of year where the sun streams in from the East just as we rise, illuminating everything just so, that I must grab the camera before I put the kettle on and make breakfast.

The prunings from the Apricot and Peach are pushing blooms in our window sill

Everyone is sprouting up beautifully in the greenhouse.

Jaengy and I are spending a good portion of each morning now playing in the dirt and water & seeds.  Feeling so lucky to have such a playroom for us both.

Struck so deeply by the light of morning, the calm, the beauty… I seek the words but only find pictures to share this glory….But then of course I turn to this and I simply must share.

Morning Poem

Every morning

the world

is created.

Under the orange

Sticks of the sun

the heaped

ashes of the night

turn into leaves again

and fasten themselves to the high branches-

and the ponds appear

like black cloth

on which are painted islands

of summer lilies.

If it is your nature

to be happy

you will swim away along the soft trails

for hours, your imagination

alighting

everywhere.

And if your spirit

carries within it

the thorn

that is heavier than lead-

if it’s all you can do

to keep on trudging-

there is still

somewhere deep within you

a beast shouting that the earth is exactly what it wanted-

each pond with its blazing lilies

is a prayer heard and answered

lavishly, every morning,

whether or not

you have ever dared to be happy,

whether or not

you have ever dared to pray.

-Mary Oliver

The Step by Step of Bed Prep

Ready to getting digging, to break a sweat and work out those winter kinks.  Well I know I am, and bed prep is a great way to get spring started.  Once you read this you may think– ‘Well that it a lot of WORK, do I really need to do all that!!’

The answer is of course no, you can do whatever you and your garden deem fit…There is no-till, there is lasagna gardening, there is digging in cover crop, there are raised beds, and of course rototillers & tractors could to the hard tilling work for you… oh I could go on, but if you do have in-ground beds, and want to get digging….. it goes like this….

First I raked off all the straw that was placed there to mulch the tomatoes that grew here last year.  I removed the tomatoes and left the straw covering the beds all winter– though this is in the hoop house I like to keep my beds covered– Reduces erosion, keeps the soil warmer so it can be worked earlier and keeps in the moisture.

*Before prepping a bed, checking the moisture level is really important– If it is too hard you will be digging rocks, if too wet you will be slopping in the mud, lifting HEAVY wet soil, working you back twice as hard and of course compacting the soil where ever you walk….So always check the moisture level before you start. It should feel cool to the touch, leaving dampness on your skin, but not water…It should crumble in your hand into chunks rather than into dust….If your moisture level is too high, dry it out of course, if too low water it well and plan on digging a couple of days later, even the worst looking soil can be transformed with a little water.

Once the moisture level is just right and the is bed clear, you can get digging.  I began with my Spade to edge the beds, that is cut a line along the bed edge to make sure my bed is nice and straight by just sticking the spade in as far as it will go all the way down each side of the bed.  This gives you a nice border to work within.  Then I use my beloved digging fork, starting at one end and working backwards down the bed, flipping up the soil ad I go.  That way I dig where I step, not vis versa, so the bed is nice a fluffy when I am done.

Next, I add my compost.  This was harvested from my backyard pile that had been resting since last summer.  I was delighted that I got 3 wheel burrows of compost from what looked like a pretty small pile.  It may not be enough for my whole garden, but it was good to note that with our food scraps, leaves and garden waste we can produce about 3 wheel burrows worth of compost per season.  I took my spade and sprinkled it on the bed, about 3/4 inch thick.  I used 1/2 the wheel burrow for a bed measuring 3X20 ft.

Once it was spread I went back with my spade in the same way I passed with my fork and dug and flipped and smacked, incorporating the compost and continuing to break up the chucks.  A big part of what I did that day was in fact break up chunks, but I have to say it felt good!!  I worked up quite a sweat in that hoop house, sure beats the gym!!!Now with smaller chucks I went back over, yes again, with a rake.  This is the zen part. There is still a little smacking of clumps but mostly just smoothing it all out.

The finer you go, the tilth better for your seeds.  And the more even you go the more consistently moistened when watered.  Now this stage seems to be the most appealing for toddlers to step right in the make their mark… So I baby trapped the bed by putting in a few stakes and wrapping with twine about a foot or two high.  This seems to work well for a person of 22 months– though past 2 years they can just hurdle it with ease– I guess I will cross that bridge when we come to it.  There is drip tape already in the hoop house so I just re-laid it.  It won’t be turned on for another month, but having it out gives me nice straight lines to plant along and a sure thing my babies will get the water they need as the season progresses.  Now we Plant!!These are cool season crops started in the greenhouse, ready to have more space!!  I divide them ever so carefully and placed them individually in the ground.

As I transplant I make sure to make holes deep enough for all the roots to rest in without being scrunched, I also make a little moat around each plant to ensure water pools around each and doesn’t run off.  Now we water & wait– though with the warmth in the hoop house it shouldn’t be long now!!

I had to go away for week before posting this– so here is what it looks like a week later!!  We should be eating in no time!!

Seedy Times

I know you all are dusting of those seed packets, or maybe eagerly awaiting a packet just order from those bountiful seed catalogs.  It is such an exciting time of promise and potential…But seeds are big business these days and besides serious issues with GMO’s at the forefront on the news, seed business’ have other dirty secrets.  I thought I would share this article from the NY Times about choosing your seed wisely, it may be one of the most important choices you make in the long run.  There is also a Community Seed Swap coming up in Santa Fe on March 20th hosted by HomeGrown in case you want to get out of the consumer cycle altogether and swap seeds and knowledge instead.