The garden

Well Fall is here, and it seems like it showed up overnight.  The temps have fallen to "absolutely perfect", the monsoon rains have ended, and the humidity is approximately 0%.  The summer certainly was eventful, especially in the garden.

  Some plants had a rough start in the spring because the winds were just nonstop.  The cukes never really did get going too well, but I still managed to make 3 jars of pickles, and two plants look like they might revive a bit for Fall.  At first I thought the beans wouldn't be able to recover from the wind damage, but by late spring and early summer they were going strong and I've harvested more beans than ever before.

  We blanched a whole bunch of them last month, and will probably be able to do a second batch in a few weeks.  I only got a few beets, and the onions (planted nearby) didn't fare so well either- many of them have been rotten.  The monsoons were absolutely intense this year and one half of the garden (where the beets, cukes, and onions are planted) got flooded more than once even though the garden is higher than the surrounding area and has great drainage.  Then there was the hail with the one storm which tore up most of the leaves on the Butternut squash, zucchini, and yellow squash.

  It looks like we'll still have a pretty good harvest of Butternut squash though since the hail came after most of the veggies were big enough to handle it.

  We got a good crop of the zucchini and summer squash earlier in the season and were able to blanch and freeze enough of those to take us through winter.

 By the middle to end of the season though, the plants had just gotten too much water and the roots were rotting.  And of course the squash bugs took advantage of the weakened plants and further damaged them.  A few weeks ago I pulled up the ones that were too far gone, leaving just a few that may recover enough to give us at least a few more veggies.  Luckily tomatoes like rain and can handle some pretty tough conditions.  All the varieties we planted (yellow, pink, and 2 varieties of cherry) have done well, although they are ripening more slowly as the nights turn colder.

 The Bell peppers and mini Bell peppers are doing really well, as are the carrots, so I should be able to make at least one more big batch of my garden fresh pasta sauce (I basically throw in all the fresh veggies and herbs I can harvest and cook it low and slow all day long).

 The Japanese eggplants have just recently started producing, but they seem to be doing well.  I made a mouthwatering eggplant Parmesan the other night ;) 

The herbs and salad garden have fared quite well and I've had fresh salad every night for months now, along with plenty of fresh basil (made tons of pesto!), parsley, chives, scallions, oregano, and rosemary.

 Oh, and for the first time I got several REALLY good cantaloupe.

  Although the season is coming to a close we should have another couple of months before the first frost, so I imagine I'll be harvesting tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, salad, Swiss chard, carrots, and herbs at least until Thanksgiving.  This was my first year gardening in Arizona (I'm originally from Ohio) and while it has it's own unique challenges, I love this place and this was the most successful garden I've had.  Of course I've been saving seeds from everything I can (flowers included), so I won't even have to buy seeds next year.  Right now I'm planning on what to plant in the greenhouse.  I put the garlic in last week and some of it has already sprouted.  It takes hard work, dedication, and lots of sweat (especially when it's 115 degrees!), but nothing beats fresh herbs and veggies, grown organically and nurtured by your own hand. =)

~Michelle of CreativeCritters

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My garden

It's been a rough spring for my vegetable garden, but those plants that survived the cold and wet weather are now thriving in the summer heat.  My cucumbers are doing quite well, loaded with pretty yellow flowers and little baby cucumbers.  I think this is the best year I've had so far for cucumbers.  Most of the plants survived and are now producing vegetables.

 

Eggplants are slow growers, and only about half the plants I started with survived.  The survivors are getting bigger now, and their flowers should start opening in the next few weeks.  Even if this plant didn't produce a delicious vegetable it has beautiful purple flowers and large soft fuzzy leaves.  Like many garden plants, you could grow it for looks alone. ;-)

 

I'm also starting to get tomatoes.  As usual, once the temperature warmed up the tomato plants grew like crazy.  For me there's no such thing as too many tomatoes.  What I don't eat fresh off the vine I turn into tomato sauce which I use in recipes all year long.  When I harvest more tomatoes than I can eat I wash them, place them on a baking tray, and stick them in the freezer until they're firm.  Then I seal them in plastic bags to store.  When I want to make sauce I thaw them out and the peels slip right off .  I think it's the easiest way I've found of preserving tomatoes.

 

The Bell peppers are also growing nicely and will be getting flowers any day now.  These seeds were mixed colors, so I could be harvesting, red, yellow, orange, and purple peppers soon.  I don't care for hot peppers, but I do love a nice crisp sweet Bell pepper.

 

 

And this is the first baby zucchini of the season.  I spotted a few more little ones today, and should have some yellow squash mixed in too.  Most of those plants look pretty good and they all have lots of flowers.  Zucchini and squash plants are usually pretty tough, and one plant can produce many vegetables.  I've got all sorts of delicious recipes for zucchini, and I enjoy it fresh from the garden in a salad.

 

 

And I just harvest some of the garlic I planted early last fall.  Like many bulbs, garlic divides and spreads: each of those little cloves can become an entirely new bulb of garlic.  I started with just a few bulbs several years ago, and this is what I harvested the other day.  And this isn't everything I planted either- I left some of the bulbs to grow larger, and may have another harvest again in the fall.

 

 

And I would have beans right now if the bunny hadn't eaten every single bean plant in the garden!  But it's hard to stay mad at anything this cute.

 

 

So I just fixed the holes in the fence and had a stern talk with the little rascal about not eating my vegetables.  The beans are actually getting leaves again, so I may get a small late season harvest.  

This is always the time of the year when the results of all my hard work in the garden start to show.  These fragile plants I started from tiny seeds are now big, strong, and vibrant.  I'm still amazed that huge plants like tomatoes (mine will be taller than me soon) start from a tiny little seed.  These resilient vegetables have battled harsh weather: rain, wind, hail, and frigid temperatures, insect attacks from bean beetles, cucumber beetles, slugs, and more,  and animals stripping their leaves from the stems.  And yet they continue to grow and most will produce nourishing vegetables until the first frost of fall.  A garden is so much more than just some dirt and plants- it's a life and death struggle, sometimes on a microscopic scale.  I can get lost in the beauty and magic of my garden.  Thanks for stopping in and sharing some of that garden magic! ;-)

-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Kozy Coats make useful season extenders for the garden

It's still pretty cold here, and I know many people won't be planting their tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and other heat loving vegetables until May, or even June.  I like to get a jump on the season by using Kozy Coats, a teepee made of plastic tubes which you fill with water.  The sun heats the water, and the temperature inside the teepee is considerably warmer than the air temperature.  I have a raised beds, which warm faster than the rest of the soil, and I set out my Kozy Coats several weeks before I intend to plant my seedlings.  This allows the soil under the teepees to warm as well.  I bought the green ones quite a few years ago (these were actually called Wall 'O Waters), and aside from a few small punctures (don't use sharp tools around these!), they've held up quite well. You can get replacement tubes though, so that can make them last even longer.   I recently got some of the red ones because the red color is supposed to produce stronger, stockier tomato plants with higher yields.
This is where I'll plant my tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants.

 
And not only has it been a cold Spring so far, it's also been pretty wet.  And although I placed the garden where it gets the most sun, it's also in a low lying area, which means flooding.  That's another reason I built raised beds.  The beds themselves drain well, but the rows between can have a lot of water, making it difficult to work in the garden in Spring.  My solution this year (instead of patiently waiting for the rows to dry out) was to lay down several layers of newspaper topped by some old wooden boards.  Newspaper is good for the garden anyway, and earthworms love it.  Earthworm castings (worm poop) provide fertilizer for the plants and their tunnels help aerate the soil.  Before I rigged up this little walkway the water was up over the top of my shoes, and there was a lot of mud under that.

I'll use my soil thermometer to periodically check the soil temperature under the Kozy Coats, and when it's warm enough (hopefully within a few weeks) I'll plant my little vegetables in their warm coats.  This is what they look like in the house right now.  So far they're doing pretty well.
 
Before long I'll be munching on nice fresh tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, beans, and more fresh from the garden! ;-)
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Starting seeds indoors

It may still be cold and snowy, but now is the time when I start planting my seeds indoors for the garden.  I've been starting seeds indoors for years, and generally have been pretty successful.  I started my lettuce a little earlier than usual this year, but I want to plant it outside sooner than I usually do.  I have row covers for frost protection, so they should be OK if I put them outside in March.  I also started my sweet Bell Pepper and my Eggplant seeds this week.  They take longer to mature and produce vegetables, so I want to get them started as soon as possible.  They won't go outside until May, maybe late April if I have enough Kozy Coats. You fill the tubes with water, which warms in the sun.  The plant stays nice and cozy warm, even when the temperature outside drops.
This year I'm starting some of my seeds using the bottom of paper egg cartons.  I filled each cell with seed starting mix and set the entire thing in a basin af warm water.  The carton and seed starting mix soak up as much water as they need.  Then I put the carton in a dry basin, add the seeds, and cover lightly with more starting mix.  When it needs water I just add water to the basin and it's soaked up as needed.  That way I don't disturb the seeds.
 
Once the roots start to grow through the bottom of the cups it's easy to separate each cup and plant the whole thing in a larger pot.  This way you don't have to disturb the delicate roots.  This year I'm using a spare closet for my plants.  The florescent plant light hangs on the curtain rod and I've set it up so I can use the entire closet to grow my plants.  The lettuce is doing quite well.  I moved it into larger pots after about two week.  I'm using plastic yogurt cups which I washed thoroughly.  It's very important to keep everything clean if you want to keep your seedlings healthy.  Now all the lettuce should be fine until I'm ready to plant it outdoors.  And by the time I do get it outside it should be strong enough to handle the weather.
 
So this is how my garden gets started.  And this really helps me get through the last month or two of winter!  I like to take care of my little plants and enjoy their fresh green colors and scents.  Plus it's SO much cheaper to start your own seeds than it is to buy plants at a nursery.  Buying seeds rather than plants allows me to plant a wider variety of vegetables, without blowing my budget.  Stay tuned to watch my little green seedlings turn into full grown plants full of delicious vegetables! =)
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Gardening Halflings and Gnomes

It all started with a gift for my friend's birthday.  I made her a sculpture of a dwarf standing in front of his lighted mushroom house.  It was so much fun to create, I decided to make another version.  The mushroom house itself is really cool.  I wrapped clay around a glass votive holder for the stem and living area of the mushroom and cut out the door and windows so the light could shine through.  Inside is an electric tea light.


Pretty flowers grow up the stem of the mushroom and around the base of the house.  I decorated the cap of the mushroom with glow in the dark leaves and stars.
 
Then of course there are the main characters of this piece, Gnor the Gnome and Henry the Halfling.  As I was sculpting these two I remembered our neighbor and Grampa exchanging fresh garden vegetables during the summer.  They were good friends and always willing to share whatever they had grown that season.  I still remember Mr. Wednt bringing Gramma bouquets of dill- LOL!  In this sculpture Henry is bringing over a basket of tomatoes, corn, lettuce, and carrots.  The more I look at Henry, the more I see Mr. Wednt in him- he even used to wear a straw gardening hat.  This all came through subconsciously, and I didn't even see the connection until after the piece was finished.  The Gnome and Halfling were inspired by Boris and Dinko Tilov.  I've been doing a lot of the projects in their Sculpting Mythical Creatures in Polymer Clay, and having a great deal of fun with them.  Their characters are always fun and whimsical, and full of personality.  I'm currently working on another project from that book, and should be listing that one in the next week or so (all depending on how complex I make it).
Thanks for stopping by and sharing the creativity!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Fall harvest

Well, it's a cold, wet, and rather miserable day here, but I figured I'd better get out in the garden and harvest the rest of my veggies before we get any dreaded snow (yes, it's actually in the forecast!). I did manage to get another zucchini (I swear those things would keep growing all winter if they could), several mini eggplants, 3 nice butternut squash, a few acorn squash, and even a couple of peppers. Not too bad, considering the groundhog and deer have been helping themselves to the garden. The groundhog seems to be partial to the bottom half of my tomatoes. That's OK though, I don't mind sharing with my furry friends, for the most part. Above is a picture of my veggies, still wet from the drizzle.

While I was out there I also saw a cute wooleybear caterpillar trying to stay dry under the leaves of my basil. Looks like he got hungry and had a little snack while he was there.
I like wooleybears because they're very cute and fuzzy. We have a wooleybear festival around here in September- that's how popular they are. I can't remember exactly how to read their stripes, but they're supposed to be able to predict how bad a winter we're going to have. Hopefully this one will be mild- I hate being stuck in the house for months at a time!
Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Recipe for Eggplant Parm Ravioli

Here's another great "garden fresh" recipe I've discovered. I'll give you the original recipe, then let you know how I tweaked it.

Eggplant Parm Ravioli

3 eggplants (1 1/2 lbs.), peeled and coarsely chopped

6 1/2 T. extra-virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled

Salt and pepper
6 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
12 egg roll wrappers

1. Using food processor, finely chop the eggplant. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 1/2 T. olive oil over medium-high heat. Add 1 clove garlic and cook until golden, 1-2 minutes. Add the eggplant, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and cool for 5 minutes. Stir in the mozzarella and 1/3 cup parmesan.
2. In the same skillet, heat 3 T. olive oil over medium heat. Add the remaining 2 cloves garlic and cook until golden, 1-2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and cook until softened, about 4 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat to low and stir in the basil.
3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, then add the remaining 2 T. of olive oil. Working with 1 at a time, fill each wrapper with 2 rounded T. of the eggplant mixture: moisten the edges with water and fold in half, pressing the edges to seal. Working in 2 batches, cook the ravioli until tender, about 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer 3 ravioli each to 4 shallow bowls. Stir 1 1/2 cups of the pasta cooking water into the tomato sauce and season with salt and pepper; spoon over the ravioli and sprinkle the remaining parmesan on top.

I changed it up a bit by adding some mild Italian sausage, which goes quite nicely with the eggplant and cheeses. I browned the sausage, then added it to the eggplant mixture. I didn't have quite enough eggplant in my garden, (and I had an abundance of zucchini), so I added a peeled, seeded, and chopped zucchini to the eggplant. I also used fresh garden tomatoes instead of grape tomatoes and just cut them into chunks. The garlic and basil were also fresh from the garden. The end result was just delicious. So, if you got veggies in the garden, this is a great way to use them up and make a yummy and satisfying meal. I'll probably try different variations of this in the future, as well. Thanks for reading, and enjoy!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Baked zucchini bites

Well, I don't know about you, but I've harvested tons of zucchini from my garden. While I really like zucchini bread, it does get boring after a while. So I came up with a new recipe for zucchini. I didn't really measure anything, and all the seasonings can be adjusted or substituted as desired. First I take a medium (7"-10") zucchini, wash it, and remove the seeds. I don't peel most of my vegetables because that's where the majority of the vitamins are. I then cut it into 1/2" pieces. Next I dredge it in a mixture of bread (or cracker) crumbs, Parmesan cheese, dried chives, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt. Then I dip it in beaten eggs, and dredge again in the bread crumb mixture. Then I bake it on a foil covered baking sheet sprayed with non stick cooking spray at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until nicely browned. This is absolutely delicious, and completely customizable. Leftovers can be reheated in the oven and taste just as good the next day. I also used this recipe for eggplant, with the same yummy results. I just wanted to share this quick, easy, and delicious recipe with everyone. Please feel free to comment with recipes of your own! I love to cook, and I'm often as creative in the kitchen as I am in the craft room. Thanks for reading!


-Michelle of CreativeCritters

How does my garden grow?

So far, pretty darn good. I started all my vegetables indoors under fluorescent lights early this spring. I got tomato, sweet bell pepper, zucchini, summer squash, yellow beans, cucumber, winter squash, leaf lettuce, and eggplant seeds from Johnny's Select Seeds, and used seed starting mix from them as well. I discovered that the cardboard egg cartons make good seed starting pots, and transplant quite well into a larger pot or the garden. Here's a picture of my "babies" during their hardening off period (slowly increasing the plant's time outdoors to acclimate it to the weather).
I also used paper bathroom cups for some of the seeds, then moved up to plastic yogurt containers as the plants grew. If their roots get too cramped it can stunt their growth.
I'm a totally organic gardener, so I don't use any chemical fertilizers or pesticides. I make my own compost from kitchen and yard waste, as well as newspapers (worms LOVE newspapers). I will apply an organic vegetable fertilizer 2 or 3 times a season, as well as organic slug control. I've had slugs wipe out an entire bed of lettuce in no time. Now I use Escar Go and Sluggo Supreme. They've improved their formulas to include slugs, snails, pill, bugs, and several other pests that would eat up your harvest. The nice thing is that it's completely safe and won't hurt anything but the intended insects.
My veggies have grown by leaps and bounds in the last few weeks. It's finally warmed up a bit and we've gotten rain when we needed it. Here's a picture of my summer squash and my zucchini plants. I've got a few that are about an inch or so long now. And a close up of one of my baby zucchinis.


And then there's my tomato plants. So far, they're looking really good. When I transplanted them into the garden I stripped off the lowest set of leaves, then buried the stem up to the next set of leaves. This way they develop a really strong root system all along the buried stem. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but these plants have really thick stems as well. I planted them inside Wall 'O Waters to keep them warmer and more protected. You fill the plastic sleeves with water, then the sun heats the water during the day and releases the heat to the plants when it cools off. It's a very effective system.

My yellow bush beans are doing well too. I had my couple of beans yesterday, and they were very good. I plant "patches" of beans in different spots around the garden in order to confuse bean beetles. They can really devastate a crop of beans. This way, even if the bugs find one "patch" of beans, there are still several undiscovered (and unmolested) "patches" left for me. I've learned that "bug confusion" really does work. I do a lot of interplanting of vegetables, as well as adding flowers amongst the veggies. I usually have marigolds throughout the garden, as well as a few other varieties of flowers. Here's a picture of my beans. I also have catnip growing in front of them. (The cats really love me!)

Then I have my eggplants. This year I decided to try mini eggplants. Of course a day or 2 after I took these pictures the eggplant's beautiful purple flowers opened up. I'll have to get pictures of those after it stops raining. The flowers are so pretty you could grow them for decoration alone. The whole plant is really very attractive and has soft, velvety leaves. You have to watch out for the thorns around the flower though. I learned that the hard way when I first planted eggplants. I can't wait to see what the veggies look like, not mention how they'll taste.

Now I'm hearing thunder, so it's time to shut the computer off. I'll be sure to take more pictures and keep you up to date on the garden's progress. Hopefully I'll have a nice big harvest. I've been eating my lettuce for months now and it's still doing great. Happy gardening to all!
-Michelle

gardening

Well, it's another lovely spring day in NE Ohio-NOT! It's cold, drizzly, and generally miserable. However, my poor peppers and eggplants are getting too big for their containers and really need to spread their roots, so I figured I'd better get them planted in the garden. Actually, when I first went outside the sun was shining and it was almost comfortable. Halfway through planting the clouds moved in and the rain started. I've lived here long enough to be used to it though, and I know how to protect my newly planted veggies from the vagaries of our unpredictable weather. I use Wall 'O Waters for my tomatoes and cover everything else with milk jugs with the bottoms cut off. Both methods have proved quite successful.
I start all my plants from seed indoors under fluorescent lights. For one thing seeds are a lot cheaper than plants, plus you can find a much larger variety of seeds than you can plants at the nursery. Clean containers and good seed starting mix are very important for successful germination and disease free growth of the seedlings. This year I'm planting tomatoes (cherry, Roma, and yellow), sweet bell peppers (mixed colors), eggplant, yellow bush beans, zucchini, yellow squash, acorn squash, butternut squash, basil, cucumbers, cantaloupe, garlic, chives, and oregano. I make some delicious spaghetti sauce with all my fresh veggies. Plus you can freeze extra tomatoes for use later in the year. Last year I got a food dehydrator very cheap at a garage sale, so I was able to dry my herbs and some of my veggies. I also grow catnip for my fuzzies (and the neighborhood cats as well). Cats go nuts for fresh catnip!
I've been slowly but surely hardening off my veggies to get them used to the changes in temperature, wind, and light that they'll have to deal with outside. I start off putting them in a sheltered location for an hour or so the first few days, then gradually increase their time outdoors, and their exposure to sun and wind. It also makes the plants much stronger. Sometimes I'll have a fan blowing on them when they're indoors. This helps to strengthen their stems. Believe me, it works, especially with tomatoes. So far I've got my basil, peppers, beans, and eggplants planted in the garden. Tomorrow I'll plant my tomatoes. I'll probably wait a few more days to plant my cukes, cantaloupe, and summer squash. They like warmer weather. Plus they've still got a little more room in their current containers, so they'll be OK. It's supposed to get much warmer by the end of the week anyway.
Well, that's my gardening tale for the day. Now I'm off to do some cooking for Gramma. She really appreciates my garden as well. She's always had fresh veggies with her meals. I'll try to keep you all updated on my gardening progress. Hopefully I'll have a good season. Last year wasn't so hot. Bad weather (3 separate hail storms!) and critters (voles and deer mostly) really took a toll on my harvest.