I gotta start up this blog.

Good Morning !!   2014 is going to be a spectacular year for our garden, I can just feel it !  I'm not going to lie, 2013 was a pretty good year too but THIS year is gonna be great.  This is gayle and my third season gardening together and we're really getting the crop rotation thing down.  We're putting the peas where nightshades were to add nitrogen to the soil, lettuces and leafy greens are going where the eggplant was (goosefoot follow nightshades) and tomatoes are following beans, beans are following root crops. I found the Farmers Almanac  (book and website) very helpful in figuring out crop rotation, companion planting, planting by the moon phase : / and exactly which dates to plant which crop.  Sometimes the tried and true Almanac wins out over new fangled gardening books and fancy web sites.   Here's  a map of the proposed plan. It's a work in progress but it's gonna look something like this. Thought ?

Granola

Nothing make me happier than when I'm creating something. Anything. Growing something, knitting something, sewing something, cooking, taking a photograph, developing a new idea, nurturing someone else's idea....really, anything.

So here's my new granola recipe I've been working on. 

2 cups regular raw oats
1/2 cup sliced raw, unsalted almonds
1/2 cup or so of unsweetened coconut chips or flakes ... or however they come for you
1T wheat germ or flax meal

Mix it up & sprinkle as much or little cinnamon and/or nutmeg as you like

Microwave 1/4 cup honey + 1 tsp vanilla so it's thin enough to mix well into the dry mixture....like 10-15 seconds.  (I try to use local honey to assist in the building up of tolerance to local pollen during allergy season.)

Mix wet & dry ingredients together and spread out on either parchment or a silpat mat on a cookie sheet.

Bake at 200 for an hour, turning and mixing half way thru. At the end of the hour I turn the oven off and let it cool in the oven, the granola gets just THAT much more golden and dry.

I mix in dried fruit, but you don't have to.  Enjoy !!

Update ...

I've been very delinquent in my postings .. here's an update.  

Things are GROWING !!

And scene.

 Just kidding ..... Just before Memorial Day I went to Ossining to visit the 4x8 plot that my good and long time friend Gayle has graciously lent me for the summer. 

I cleaned it up, and planted 6 very tiny, premmie tomato plants and the herb sisters, Rosemary, Oregano & Baby Parsley.

 They're in there, I promise.

During the first week of June I returned to the plot to find that the premmie tomato plants hadn't survived. They were just too small to brave the elements......lucky for me, I had backups. AND while I was visiting my parents over Memorial Day weekend Mother passed along to me her left over leeks, cucumbers & ONE LUFFA plant. Get this - Luffa is a squash !!  Mother has decided she wants to attempt to grow luffa. I'm super excited !

Luffa

Baby Parsley

Cucumbers

     

 Purple Cherokee Tomato 2.0  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leeks

Gayle's home is in a town called Ossining, directly on the Hudson River (in the winter months she has the most amazing view of the river and Palisades) so there can be a bit of wind and possibly cooler temperatures. This time I created a very make shift greenhouse around the tomato seedlings by wrapping the tomato cage in plastic wrap. My thinking was that the plants would be protected a bit from the elements and stay warm & cozy. So far so good.

Survival of the Fittest

Here's something funny. 

I happened upon the kitchen window the other day and found Louie taking a .... rest ? 

(Can you see that? She's laying in the half empty cardboard seedling tray.) 

 Imagine a little black kitty turning over onto her back .... taking a BIG stretch .... with her legs pushing toward the window screen and arching into a back twist with a huge YAWN !!! 

Then imagine cardboard giving way and Louie flipping off the window sill 

and

 the seedlings

also

flipping to the floor.

 Dirt went everywhere.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH !! 

Everybody survived.

Sister Parsley

 

  I was running errands this morning before work. Trader Joe's, gas up the car, pick up the laundry, unpack bags of theatre stuff from the car. As I was unpacking I found this pack of seeds. Apparently, I purchased these seeds when I was purchasing the items needed for the transplant.  I forgot about them. These poor, poor seeds were lost & lonely in one of my many canvas shopping bags.

Its 11:10 am. Now that I've rediscovered these seeds I MUST do something with them immediately....right? (I get distracted easily.)  I have to walk out the door in 25 minutes to make my train to work and I still have make my sandwich for lunch.

GO !

I have nothing to plant the seeds in. All of my smaller, spare flowerpots have a closed bottom, no drainage holes and I have no time to bring out the drill.  *sigh* What's a girl to do? I found this plastic water bottle in the recycling.

"Great ! I'll cut it in half and poke holes in the bottom. That will work".

Nope - that didn't work.  I was afraid I was going to cut myself with gigantic knife I had chosen to poke the holes with. 

"WAIT ! There's a big hole in the TOP of the bottle .... Well, it's a bit too big BUT,  What if I screw the cap on just enough so the water still leaks out"? 

 

"AND what if I invert the top half of the bottle into the bottom half of the bottle so the water drains out and there is a vessel for the excess water to be collected". 

Sometimes I'm pretty smart. 

Out came the left over seed starter soil and I planted the seeds in the inverted top half of the bottle.

 

Rosemary, Oregano, meet your baby sister, Parsley.

 BTW - I made my train with time to spare and my sandwich was delicious.

TA DA !

The Transplant Team

When I first planted the seeds, I was fully expecting nothing to happen. Did I rinse & dry the seeds correctly?  Did they somehow die in the cupboard?  Or maybe the cheap Christmas Tree Shop seed starter kit was faulty ? I just didn't know. SO I loaded up the little seed cups with 2-3 seeds instead of the ONE. cuz .... who knows ? & why not ? Well, as I've now learned, my process worked correctly, every seed took and birthed a seedling.  (I'm still shaking my head in disbelief.) 

 Now, we call in the transplant team.

Ah, life in an apartment. Yes, that is the kitchen sink & yes, that is a Daffy's bag laid out to catch the excess water & dirt. For all you non-New Yorkers, Daffy's is an amazing and my most FAVORITE  discount clothing store. I check into 2 separate location on my way to work just to see what new and exciting. It's like a TJ Maxx , also one of my favorites. 

I digress. 

Shout out to the folks at Sprainbrook Nursery  www.sprainbrook.com. The store & supplies were beautiful & plentiful.  I bought more seed started mix, 6 larger 6 cup cardboard pallets and 2 black plastic trays to catch the water.  I carefully & surgically separated out ONE seedling from each starter cup at a time. I tried to choose the "largest & strongest" seeding and carefully, delicately placed the chosen one.  One in each of the new 36 larger cardboard cups. 

The cheep Christmas Tree Shop starter kit did not hold up well, it all tore apart and was very weak from watering. I do not give it a good review.

What do I do with the left overs? 

The Choosen Ones 

They are being watched over by their protector, Louie.  

So far, so good, the cat hasn't eaten or trampled the seedlings.

But there's still time.

Life is Beautiful !

 

Life happened this week and I've been a bit distracted. I'm furiously working on the next post.  I know you're all WAITING with baited breath to read about those seedlings !!

Here's a photo I took a few weeks ago in the Community Garden on 48th St to tide you over.