English Peas, Spring Onions and Roasted Almonds

Just cooked English peas, sautéd spring onions and roasted, salted almonds are a delicious combination of tender sweet, sweet pungent, and crunchy just salty. You can set this side dish next to grilled fish or chicken or mashed potatoes and a roast. It's...

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In The Garden Category Archive

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May Garden in the Northern Hemisphere

Is May the most beautiful month of the year in the northern hemisphere?

Well, it's certainly one of the most beautiful months. The snow and ice are gone and the heat of summer has not yet arrived.

Wild flowers are in bloom everywhere and the garden is either moving towards its spring peak or well underway.

May was the third month of the year until Julius Caeser made it the fifth month. May has always had 31 days.

In ancient Roman, May arrived at a time that was sacred to Flora, the goddess of floweres. The Romans celebrated the first of May with flower-strewn parades. May is believed by some to be named after Maia, the Roman goddess of spring and growth.

In old England the first day of May was celebrated with Maypoles. Children gathered "Mayflowers" or hawthorn blossoms to trim the Maypole, and little girls dressed in their best to win the title May queen.

Mother's Day is celebrated in May. You will find that most birds have built their nests by now, and mother birds are sitting on their eggs awaiting the new arrivals.

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Planting Strawberries

If the idea of serving your own fresh-picked strawberries next summer sounds good, spring is the time to get your strawberries growing.

Strawberries are a perennial plant which means once you’ve got them in the ground you will have them for a two or three years to come.

There are two types of strawberries: June-bearing strawberries produce one crop per year in late spring or early summer, and everbearing or day-neutral strawberries fruit over a long season with harvest peaking in early summer and continuing unevenly through autumn.

Site. Strawberries prefer full sun and temperatures between 60-80ºF (16-27ºC). They grow best in growth zones 3-10. You can grow strawberries in light shade.

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Raised Beds: Making the Kitchen Garden

Consider a raised bed if you live in an area where the soil is rocky or mostly sand or mostly clay. Adding organic matter to your soil is always a good idea and will always help make poor soil better. But sometimes a raised bed is the best solution.

You can choose the soil in your raised bed. You can purchase rich garden soil at the garden center or you can make your own by taking native soil from nearby and amending it with well-rotted manure and compost until it is rich and loamy.

The soil in a raised bed warms more quickly in spring—that’s good in short season and cool coastal regions. A raised bed also can be made tall enough to aid a back tired after years of bending. And the width of a raised bed will allow you to work your vegetable bed from different sides.

A bed width of no more than 4 feet (1.2 m) will allow easy access from each side. You don’t have to worry about soil compaction with a raised bed. All of your gardening is done from the edge. You can bring a chair, stool, or wheelchair to the edge of a raised bed. The more narrow the bed, the easier it is to reach into the bed without having to lean on the soil.

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Spinach Planting

Spinach is well suited for the spring and autumn gardens. It is a cool-weather green that can get its start in soil as chilly as 35ºF (2ºC). Sow spinach in the garden 4 to 6 weeks before the last spring frost date. It’s a fast crop and can be harvested in 35 to 50 days, so is well-suited for planting and harvest in the cool weather of early fall as well.

Spinach can be eaten raw or cooked. The dark green leaves of fresh spinach will add color to a lettuce salad. Spinach can be pan-steamed in the water it is rinsed with.

Site. Spinach grows well in full sun in cool regions or partial shade in warm regions. Spinach is hardy and will withstand moderate frost.

Soil. Spinach prefers moist, humus-rich, fertile soil, thoroughly worked with plenty of organic matter added. Light sandy soils with good drainage are best in regions of high rainfall.

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April Garden in the Northern Hemisphere

April is truly the month of new beginnings in the northern hemisphere. This month you will notice more changes in the garden than any other month of the year. The ice and snow will disappear. The trees will set bud and the first flowers will appear in most parts of the northern regions of the earth.

April is named for Aprilis, the Latin word meaning to open. And so a new season in the garden gets underway everywhere. This month you will see returning birds and soon their young. The first butterflies and bees should be about before the month is over. Only very far to the north will ice and snow still have its grip on the garden by month's end.

The sweet pea and daisy are the special flowers for April, but April is also the month of lilacs, the true harbingers of spring. Almost everywhere in the northern hemisphere this month, gardeners can begin to sow their crops outdoors as soon as the lilacs begin to bloom.

April also is the traditional month in many countries for the celebration of tree planting. Planting trees has long been associated with various religious ceremonies and also as an activity to commemorate the birth of a child. In the United States, many states celebrate Arbor Day during April. When you sow out your first vegetable seeds this month, see if there is room for a new tree in your yard, neighborhood, or nearby park.

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Cabbage Planting

Cabbage matures best in cool weather. Sow cabbage in early spring for an early summer harvest. You can also sow cabbage in late summer for autumn harvest. Cabbage matures in 70 to 120 days.

Green cabbage is an old-time favorite. Red cabbage is often found in salads and excellent cooked and served as a hot vegetable. Savoy cabbage with its crinkly green leaves can be used just like green cabbage but is both more showy and tender.

Cabbage you use right after harvest is called new cabbage. Often cabbage is held in storage for winter use and is called old cabbage.

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Mild Region Kitchen Garden Almanac for March

Spring-like weather has arrived in most of the mild-winter regions of the northern hemisphere from zones 7 through 9. So now is the time to get growing in the kitchen garden.

Your kitchen garden is a place where you can enjoy the garden as both a gardener and a cook. Make your kitchen garden as delightful as any other room in your home. It's a place where you can grow both vegetables, small fruits, herbs, and edible flowers for the pleasure of the table and the simple delight of watching them grow, blossom, and fruit.

As soon as the ground can be worked in your kitchen garden, prepare beds, borders, and vegetable areas. The danger of frost may continue in some areas, but as the weather warms get your garden ready and begin planting.

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March Garden in the Northern Hemisphere

Snow. Blustery and windy. Mild and sunny.

March brings the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Spring for the northern hemisphere will arrive on March 20, the vernal equinox. On this day, the sun rises direcly in the east and sets directly in the west. There will be exactly 12 hours from sunrise to sunset. And in the northern hemisphere, every day will grow just a little bit longer until summer.

March, called Martius, by the Romans was named for Mars, the Roman god of war. March was the first month on the ancient Roman calendar until Julius caesar reivsed the calendar to make March the third month.

March is the month to get busy in the northern garden. Arichokes suckers, garlic cloves, and potatoes should be planted now for harvest in 6 months. In the greenhouse or glasshouse, tomato, eggplant and peppers seeds should be sown this month for planting out in 6 to 8 weeks when the weather has turned warm. Cucumbers, leek, melons, squash, and zucchini should also be sown indoors this month. If you are in a short-summer region, wait until the start of next month to start these seeds.

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March Garden in the Southern Hemisphere

Autumn will arrive in the Southern Hemisphere--Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile--on March 20.

Cool season crops need to be planted as soon as possible: beetroot Brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, endive, leek, parsley, parsnip, potatoes, silverbeet (chard), and Swede (rutabaga). Cool weather crops require warm weather to germinate and begin growth. They will mature in the cool weather of autumn and be ready for harvest in late winter and early spring.

Onions should go into the garden now. Onions are day sensitive plants. They will begin their green growth in early autumn and as the days shorten into winter their shoot growth will slow and the plant will redirect its efforts to bulb formation. If you wait too long to plant onions, they will not be far enough along to establish bulb set when the the shortest days of the year come.

Sugar snap and snow peas can be planted now as well as lettuce and spinach. Get these crops in the ground early this month and you will be able to enjoy some tasty green salads in before winter.

The tomato and corn harvest should reach its peak this month. Pumpkins harvested now should be allowed to "cure" in the sun--allowing their skins to harden. Be sure to harvest pumpkins with some of the stalk still attached so that they do not rot.

Apples and pears are also ready for harvest. Harvest these fruits with a bit of leaf and stem still attached. Remember pears do not ripen on the tree. You need to pick them still firm and allow them to ripen on the kitchen counter. Pears that stay on the tree until they are soft will be mealy or woody inside.

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Mild Region Kitchen Garden Almanac for February

Preparation for spring can get under way in your kitchen garden this month in cool- and mild-winter regions. There may still be snow on the ground in some areas, and freezing weather and the danger of frost can continue into March. But if the weather is turning towards spring, now is the time to ready your garden. In the northern hemisphere, cool- and mild-winter regions include zones 7-9.

Here is a checklist of things to do during February in zones 7-9:

Plan and design. Before planting, sketch a base plan for your kitchen garden. Consider the location of house, garage, shed, fences, walls, and large trees that will cast shadows across the garden. Vegetables require at least 6 hours of sun each day to thrive. Locate your garden near a water source if you live in a region with dry summers.

Seed orders. Order seeds and plants for spring planting now.

Soil preparation. Prepare garden beds as soon as the ground can be worked. Test your soil. Add lime if your soil is too acid. Mow winter cover crops and turn them under if the soil is dry enough to cultivate. Spread compost over beds that you will plant.

Check winter mulch around perennial vegetables, brambles, and fruit trees and add more if needed. Press frost-heaved plants back into the soil.

Continue reading "Mild Region Kitchen Garden Almanac for February" »

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