Annie's Kitchen Garden

January 7, 2010: Garden Plans: In the Beginning; Part IV

2010-01-07T08:26:00.001-08:00

The Kennel Garden

I've told the story of the kennel garden before, but for those who may not have heard about it, here I go once more. Annie and Otto are our two dachshunds. We bought them as ten week old puppies on April 5, 2008, and proceeded from there to make a puppy safe area in our back yard. Our neighbor's fence, hidden from view by a row of tall arborvitae and our garden shed, was falling down. There were too many open spots where curious little pups could escape and be in danger. We felt the best solution was to enclose half our patio with wire fencing to make a play area, and buy a very large chain link kennel that would sit on the lawn next to the patio. We attached the two structures so the pups could easily go from patio to kennel. To make a long story short, those pups would not go in that kennel. It was as though unseen monsters lurked in that structure, and just the thought of going in there sent them into shivering fits. So I donned a long sleeved jacket, with jeans tucked into the tops of socks, and put a shower cap on my head. Armed with the staple gun and a roll of poultry wire, I crawled into that narrow, dirty area between fence and arborvitae, and stapled the chicken wire to the neighbor's rickety fence. It was a nasty job, but somebody had to do it. *grin*

With the fence puppy-proofed, the "kids" had free reign of the back yard, but the kennel was a pain in the backside to mow in and around, as well as being a useless structure, so I decided to move it to the back corner of the yard and incorporate it into the vegetable garden. I removed one side of the chain link to open it to the east garden, and part of another side to open it to the north garden, leaving the rest to use as trellising for climbing plants. The gate can be closed to keep the pups out of the gardens (the north and east gardens are fenced), but to allow me easy access.

The kennel garden 2009

I must admit, the 2009 kennel garden was less than successful. I planted tall peas against the chain link on the east side and pole beans along the west side. I was hoping the beans would provide a bit of shade to keep the peas cool enough to crop for a longer period, but birds decapitated the pea vines and I didn't get more than a handful or two of peas from them. Neither the peas nor the beans wanted to attach themselves to the chain link, so it was a constant battle to keep them climbing up rather than sprawling. I put a bucket, with a determinate tomato, inside the kennel, but it was too cool and shady, I never got a single ripe tomato from it (thank heavens, I had too many tomatoes as it was!).

So what am I going to do differently this year? Well, I'm still planting the pole beans on the west side, but I'll attach some heavy garden twine to the structure to give the vines something to climb. And I'll plant the peas on the east side again, but use a short, bushy variety and protect that area with bird netting. The area between the kennel and the neighboring fence is pretty much unusable, and contains a large arborvitae and an old yellow rose bush, so I think I'll move the old composter back there, where it's handy to the garden. That frees up another planting area where it now sits, behind the garden shed. A cherry tomato will be planted next to a corner post. It's a nice, sunny spot and the tomato can be tied up to the post.

2010 Kennel Garden Plan (click to enlarge)

January 6, 2010: Garden Plans: In the Beginning; Part III

2010-01-06T08:24:00.000-08:00

*Click on photos to enlarge.

The shed garden: Last year, the area on the east side of the garden shed proved to be an excellent place for pots and buckets.

Shed garden 2009

This year I'll keep it almost the same, but plant my cherry tomatoes in the buckets, one or two on each end, and put potted jalapenos in the center. This is an area that is very receptive to a drip irrigation system, being near a water source and not drenched by lawn sprinklers. Last year, the only hot jalapenos I harvested grew here, in a pot. The jalapenos that were in the main garden turned out to be sweeter than the sweet bells, due to the fertile soil and plentiful water. A single strip of drip tubing across the pepper pots in this garden should provide all the water these plants need, and larger emitters can be directed to the tomatoes.

The tomatoes did well in their buckets last year but, unlike the tomatoes around the patio (see photo below), they were not secured to anything. Shortly after the above photo was taken, a windstorm and the weight of the plants caused them to topple over. Even the roots, growing through the large holes in the buckets, couldn't hold them upright. They didn't survive the uprooting. This year I'll secure them by pushing one end of an 8' 1x2 into the the soil, then screwing the other end to the eaves of the shed.

These tomatoes, grown in buckets, were anchored to the eaves of the patio. There were no problems with wind or the weight of the plants, and the 8' secured stakes were also handy for tying up the vines.

Plan for 2010

January 5, 2010: Garden Plans; In the Beginning, Part II

2010-01-05T10:41:00.000-08:00

The north garden plan (click on photo to enlarge).

The north garden already has beds filled with strawberries and raspberries.

The indeterminate tomato bed held tomatoes last year, but it's really the only place I have where I can grow these tall varieties. I feel the next best thing to rotating them into another area, would be to grow them in large buckets of "new" potting soil. That also raises them far enough above ground level to plant something on each side of them. I had planned to plant carrots and onions there, but today I'm leaning more toward bush peas. The pea vines would be pulled early enough that the tomato vines, if they should become too unruly, could overtake that space. Last year I had seven tomato plants in the 4'x8'bed, and they were way too crowded. This year I'll only plant four. Hopefully that will be one each of Kellogg's Breakfast, Brandywine, Cherokee Purple and Market Miracle. All other tomatoes will be grown in (nearly bottomless) buckets, placed in other locations.

The circular squash bed will be devoted to butternut squash. Last year I also grew yellow crookneck and zucchini there, but both suffered from powdery mildew. The butternut stayed green and productive, even though the sprinklers watered it overhead.

The "zucchini tower" is a maybe. Last year I had my tipsy pots, supported by a fencepost, filled with flowers in that spot. For this year, I'm considering two large tipsy pots, each with one zucchini plant. These pots have drip tubing for water, and the lawn sprinklers don't soak them, so maybe they could escape the mildew problem.

The round (brown) barrels will hold the dried beans. They are up against a 6' high fence, to which I can attach something for them to climb, and also are not hit by the lawn sprinklers. Last year, I had melons, nasturtiums and two new blueberry bushes planted there. The melons did fine, but grew over one side of my strawberry bed. The blueberry plants, which didn't look terribly healthy to begin with, died. The nasturtiums grew huge and (to me) rather useless.

The northwest corner of the garden will have sunflowers, maybe the beautiful blue morning glory on the fence behind them, and a mixture of annuals in the front. I have seeds of snapdragons and zinnias as a possibility, or maybe wild flowers.

January 4, 2010: Happy 101 Blog Award

2010-01-04T14:41:00.000-08:00

Kelli, from Animal Friendly Eating blog, has honored me with the Happy 101 Award! Thank you, Kelli!

Here are the rules: List 10 things that make you happy. Try to do at least one of them today, and tag 10 bloggers that brighten your day. For those 10 bloggers who get the award, you must link back to my blog.

10 things that make me happy:

the first ripe tomato (carrot, squash, pea, bean, etc.) of the season
neatly lined up jars of home canned food on my shelves
grandson Kevin helping in the garden/kitchen
cute pictures of granddaughter Alicyn, I miss her so
granddaughter Alicia's phone calls when I'm in AZ, and her overnight visits when I'm home
my dogs, Annie & Otto
playing Hand & Foot (cards) every Tuesday night through the winter
Mr. H, when he's in a good mood
strawberry jam
blogging and reading all the wonderful blogs out there, and corresponding with my gardening, blogging friends

Blogs I nominate: This isn't going to be easy. I find some people don't like these awards, and some people absolutely hate them! More than once I've been publicly chastised on someone's blog for sending along an award, even though I always tell them to please ignore if it's not welcomed. Those occasions have made me a bit gun shy. Myself? I am honored to know someone appreciates me or my blog enough to send me an award! I thank you.

I don't think the following people will chop my head off for awarding them the Happy 101 ;-)
However, don't feel obligated to accept!

Thomas, from A Growing Tradition
Gloria, from A Healthy Gardener
Daphne, from Daphne's Dandelions
Just Jenn, from Gamine's Garden
Erin, from Garden Now, Think Later
Kate, from Gardening Without Skills
Rachel, from GrafixMuse's Garden Spot
Kelly, from How My Garden Grows
Judy, from Judy's Square Foot Garden Blog
Liisa, from Liisa's Garden Journey
EG, from Our Engineered Garden
Shawn Ann, from Shawn Ann's Garden
Stefaneener, from Sicilian Sisters Grow Some Food
Ribbit, from The Corner Yard
KitsapFG, from The Modern "Victory Garden" Blog
Dan, from Urban Veggie Garden Blog

"That's more than ten" you say? I'm feeling generous! Heck, I'd have named a few more, but I don't know how they feel about "awards".

January 4, 2010: Garden Plans; In the Beginning

2010-01-04T11:21:00.001-08:00

I'm getting caught up in the spring fever that seems to be going around these days. So many of you are snowbound, and it's a great time to dream about your 2010 garden and to begin the fun of planning what to plant and where. Even though I have my tiny winter Arizona garden to tend, I still daydream about my main season Washington garden.

The Washington garden has two main sections, the east garden and the north garden. Included in these gardens, where they intersect, is what I call the kennel garden. It is, as its name implies, the former (but never used) dog kennel. It's approximately 8'x13', and provides me with chain link to use for climbing plants, as well as a place to string clothesline for summer clothes drying.

This past week, I've been planning my east garden. Of course, I'm sure I'll be changing my mind, but here is the first draft. As usual, click the photo to enlarge.

I've grouped the beets and spinach into one bed, as I am determined to foil those pesky leaf miners this year. Those are my two susceptible crops, so I'll use a row cover on them.

The lettuce is in a separate bed, as a shade structure of lattice will be used over them as the weather warms. Will the weather ever warm? Brrr, even here in AZ!

Besides the east garden, the kennel garden and the north garden, I also have some smaller areas in the back yard where I grow vegetables. There's the 3'x14' strip on the east side of the garden shed, a 12'x12' area behind the shed, a 4'x12' strip next to the west fence, and a few spots for pots and ground covers around the patio. All these are still in the 2010 planning stage, and I'll post them as they are finished.

I think I've solved the mystery of the kale seedlings growing in a pot in my AZ mini-garden. It's not kale, it's cilantro. Stefaneener sent me the seeds last fall, and one of us mis-labeled them. I'm sure it was me, thinking kale is big so it should have big seeds.

I'll not post a Monday Harvest today. I did have a small harvest this week, a few radishes, a handful of lettuce, an onion or two and one very small tomato, but to publish a photo would be redundant. I could use the same photo week after week!

Looking back at my notes on the Arizona mini-garden, I now see why the spinach is growing well in one section, but not at all in another. The good spinach is from a new packet of seed, the bad is from 2008 seed. There comes a point when it just makes sense to throw old seed away and begin anew.

January 3, 2010: New Growth in the New Year?

2010-01-03T14:39:00.001-08:00

2010, 2010, 2010....that's going to be difficult to remember for at least the next few days!

The days are getting noticeably longer now, and there has actually been some growth going on in the Arizona mini-garden. Not a lot, mind you, but enough to give me some hope we'll have something mature before we leave to go back home.

I've pulled a few radishes from this bed, and thinned out the lettuce a bit. The radishes are sweet and mild, but several of them have root maggot damage, and many of them have large tops but little or no root. They won't go to waste, though. My pet rabbit loves the radish leaves. All of the lettuces were planted at the same time, so it's unusual the sizes of the plants are so varied, even among the same varieties. Everything is still under netting for bird protection.

The kale in this pot is from Stefaneener, of Sicilian Sisters Grow Some Food. They have some true leaves, so will have to be thinned down to one or two in the pot....someday.

These red onions were planted from sets. I'll definitely get a harvest from them, as scallions.

The spinach is growing slowly, but at least it lives. Some came up in another bed and promptly died. Which reminds me, I need to get a photo of them for the next Garden Bloggers Death Day. I know it's nearly impossible to see them, but there are carrots germinating in the center of the container. Very good germination!

Ooooh, do click on this photo to enlarge it! Look at all the tiny carrots, with their feathery little true leaves! I planted these 1" apart on the seed mats, and I'm still going to have to thin out half of them, as I think every single one came up. I'll wait until the tops are large enough to thin and use as bunny food.

The potted Red Romaine, brought down from WA last October, is still providing the rabbit with a handful of greens each week, although it has turned a bit too bitter for using in our salads.

The pansies provide some much needed color to brighten my days.

Gee, Annie.....I'm sorry we woke you up!

December 31, 2009: Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T17:54:00.000-08:00

May the new year bring you joy, happiness, warmth and laughter.

December 30, 2009: Monday Harvest on Wednesday

2009-12-30T18:32:00.000-08:00

It was small, but I did get a harvest last week!

I have pulled a few more radishes (not photographed), which are suddenly showing some size. The flavor is very good, sweet and mild. A couple of them have been attacked by root maggots, but most are pristine.

The carrots and kale in my mini-garden are finally showing some true leaves, the beets (old seed) are germinating poorly. The spinach is OK in the container, but not doing much in the raised bed. Mr. H says he wants to head home mid-February. If so, I'll probably be leaving everything but some lettuce, green onions and radishes to the neighbors.

December 30, 2009: Computer Woes

2009-12-30T09:40:00.000-08:00

I've reformatted and reinstalled on all of my many computers through the years, and on this particular laptop twice in the past, with no problems. This reinstall was going just fine until I discovered the backup had not done the entire C: drive, as it was supposed to do. Remembering I had a previous backup on DVD, I started to access those files and it began installing everything rather than giving me the option to chose what I wanted to install. For some reason, I had a senior moment and , instead of letting it do its thing, I hit the eject button, pulled out the disc, and shut down the computer. That messed up the boot sector and I couldn't reboot from the recovery disc! For the first time ever (I've had computers for about 20 years), I had to take the computer in to a professional. He ended up having to reinstall the operating system, so as of Monday I've been back to square one, reinstalling all my programs and waiting for Microsoft to do all of its updates. On top of all that, these updates have caused me to exceed my allowable bandwidth use, and my ISP (the same guy who repaired my laptop and reinstalled my OS) cut me off! So here I am at the library, finishing my updates and checking in with all of you to let you know why I'm MIA!

One of the things the backup missed was my genealogy information, from 20 years of work. Luckily, it's on my desktop computer back home, so no worry. The other thing missing was my email address book. I requested some of you resend your email addresses, so I had reconstructed it somewhat, but now that's all lost again....so Dan, I need your home mailing address once more! I've found most of the missing email addresses elsewhere in my records, others I can get from your blogs, but I'm missing all correspondence received recently. That will teach me to change my settings and keep messages on the server!

Anyway, the laptop is working great again, Microsoft has almost finished updates, and hopefully my provider will let me back on soon.

Gosh, I sure miss my cable internet!

December 26, 2009: From Christmas Fear to Christmas Cheer

2009-12-26T11:55:00.000-08:00

Little Alicyn, the youngest grandchild, was filled with Christmas fear........

Which soon turned to Christmas curiosity........

And finally to Christmas cheer.

December 24, 2009: Merry Christmas!

2009-12-23T17:46:00.000-08:00

May you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Mr. H bought me an early present, an external hard drive, so I'm going to back up everything and pull the plug on this laptop.....it's time to reformat and reinstall everything, as the old workhorse is running slower and slower, and I'm beginning to think there are more than a few drivers that are corrupt. It's not a job I'm looking forward to. Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well!

December 23, 2009: Oh, What a Mess

2009-12-23T08:29:00.000-08:00

Hmmm.....I'm usually a rather neat person.

So how did my seed box get into such a mess?

It took the better part of an afternoon,

But now I can get the lid on again!

And begin my seed inventory for the 2010 garden.

December 21, 2009: Woo-hoo! A Monday Harvest!

2009-12-20T21:04:00.000-08:00

I really feel terrible that many of my gardening friends are suffering with freezing temperatures and snow drifts. Maybe I shouldn't show them what I picked yesterday....aw heck, I'm going to show them *wicked grin*.

I picked a dinner plate full of Red Romaine, a green onion, a radish and two vine ripened tomatoes, along with a few pansies.

And made Mr H. a delicious, fresh salad for his dinner.

If you did manage to harvest something this week, join in the fun at Daphne's Dandelions, and show us what you have!

December 20, 2009: Do You See What I See?

2009-12-20T13:32:00.003-08:00

I'll betcha somebody's going to have a Monday Harvest post tomorrow!

December 18, 2009: No More "Blahs"!

2009-12-18T08:14:00.000-08:00

I must say, Di over at Voice in the Garden , knows how to lift the old blahs from my shoulders! Last Sunday she offered the gift of a print of one of her lovely paintings to a lucky reader, and I got lucky!

My step-father was a railroad man. I hesitate to call him "stepfather", as he was my "Dad" from the time he married my mother, when I was six years old (my birth father is still living and will celebrate his 92nd birthday this month). Dad and both of his brothers followed their father as second generation railroaders, and a couple of my cousins have made it three generations.

Dad worked for years for Camas Prairie Railroad, which was a short line railroad in northern Idaho jointly owned and operated by Northern Pacific Railway and Union Pacific Railroad. The Camas Prairie Railroad was known as the "railroad on stilts" due to the many wooden trestles. In one five mile stretch, there were more than a dozen trestles. For many years, Dad was a bridge foreman in charge of keeping those trestles in good repair.

Lawyer's Canyon Bridge (above photo *note, this is not Di's painting! Use above link to view the prize) was one such structure on which Dad worked. At the time, it was said to be the second highest railroad bridge in the US at 296 feet high and 1,500 feet long. I actually watched my Dad walk out on a plank that was wedged somehow under the rails near the center of this bridge and jump up and down, just like one would jump on a diving board. This was the same man who fell off the roof of his house while replacing a shingle! His dog, who was raised on the railroad and spent his days by Dad's side as he worked, would not cross a trestle. Instead, he would go down into the canyon and swim the river, then up the other side to cross. My dog, however, would happily trot across the bridge without a second thought, even though he wasn't a "railroad dog". Evidently the height was less formidable to him than the prospect of getting wet.

Dad went on to become a supervisor, and eventually retired from Camas Prairie Railroad.

Thank you, Di, for picking me to receive this lovely print. Your gift will become our family's treasure.

December 17, 2009: I'm Feeling Rather Blah

2009-12-17T17:52:00.000-08:00

OK, I said it all in the previous post, and now I'm just sitting here wondering what on earth I'll write about next! I'm in that gray area between successful harvests and spring planning. I didn't want to plan my 2010 garden yet, as I know I'll change my mind time and time again. That's just the way I am. I'll make and change my plans multiple times, then when it actually comes time to begin planting I'll just do everything haphazardly, on a whim. Let's just say (pretend) I'm the artistic type, and the garden is my canvas.

The little Arizona garden still lives, but grows oh so slowly.

The kale, seed sent to my by Stefaneener, is peeking through. I'm hoping I can grow two of these in the pot, the rest will have to be transplanted elsewhere.

The lettuce is getting true leaves, and is ready to thin out and transplant. I saw one radish that was nearly ready to pull. Most of the radishes have skinny roots rather than fat, edible ones. I'll probably plant a few more in another 2-3 weeks, as the weather gets a bit warmer at night.

Onions are the one thing that are easily grown. The potted ones can be pulled and eaten any time now, and the sets in the container in the back are growing quickly.

I've thinned the little spinach plants to stand 4"-6" apart, so I'm expecting them to put out some good growth soon. Germination in the plastic container was excellent, but there was only room for 8 plants. So far germination of the spinach and beets in the main garden box is spotty. I'm afraid that garden just gets too much shade from the palo verde tree. The carrots have all sprouted, but have shown absolutely no growth in the past month, not even any true leaves.

Ahhhh, but look at this! I'm really close to getting a couple of ripe tomatoes! I think (hope) I've stopped the leaf miner damage. I am using a piece of aluminum foil as "mulch". I'm thinking that should stop the migration from soil to leaf/leaf to soil. It seems to be the answer to ripening the fruits, too. I remembered reading about using shiny foil, as it confuses the insects by reflecting the sky so they don't know which is up or down....I guess it can't hurt to try.

My friend, Esther, bought two tomato plants the same time I did. I drove by her house today to see how hers were growing, and the poor things are dead. I'll have to call her to find out if it was leaf miners, freezing or neglect that killed them. Esther doesn't have a Mr. H to carry her plants out to the sun each morning and into the warm house in the evenings.

Happy tomatoes, even if one has been nearly denuded of leaves, to rid it of miners.

December 12, 2009: The Twelve Months of Gardening

2009-12-10T21:14:00.000-08:00

*Please click on photos to enlarge*

In the first month of '09, my garden gave to me...

The Arizona container garden and salad garden, January 2009

In the second month of '09, my garden gave to me...

In February 2009, my first harvests from the Arizona gardens included one tiny cucumber, along with mixed lettuce and green onions.

In the third month of '09, my garden gave to me...

One last bowl of lettuce and onions from the Arizona garden, and tomato and pepper seedlings to transport north.

And, once we arrived back home, a new beginning for the Washington garden.

In the fourth month of '09, my garden gave to me...

My nice, big Washington garden, and its first salad greens, onions, radishes and pansies.

In the fifth month of '09, my garden gave to me...

May brought more salad fixings, the first of what was to be a wonderfully long harvest of lovely spinach, and the lush growth of potatoes.

In the sixth month of '09, my garden gave to me...

June, my favorite month of the year. The gardens are lush and green, everything is growing well in the perfect weather.

Crops are showing the promise of a large harvest.

And large it is, for the sixth month of gardening!

In the seventh month of '09, my garden gave to me...

July gave such a bountiful harvest that it provided much of the food used to prepare our meals....

I was able to serve "garden dinners" most every night.

And it was time to begin preserving the harvest by canning, freezing or drying the excess produce.

In the eighth month of '09, my garden gave to me...

Undaunted by the August heat, the garden continued to produce beyond my expectations throughout the eight month of gardening.

The abundant harvest of August meant...

A lot of preserving!

In the ninth month of '09, my garden gave to me...

By September I was ready for a bit of vacation from the garden, but that was not to be. My friends, family and neighbors were beginning to shun me, fearful they'd be loaded down with more tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers!

The kitchen work did slow down a bit, as there wasn't as much canning to do. All the peppers were easy to just slice, bag and freeze, and some beans were dried and saved for seed for next year.

In the tenth month of '09, my garden gave to me...

Life......

A smaller harvest...

Then death. When death comes to the Washington garden, it's time to head south for the winter.

I potted up some greens to take along to tide me over until I can get the winter garden planted in Arizona. The gardening season has been good to me. I harvested nearly 1100 pounds of produce and canned more than we'll be able to consume in the next twelve months.

In the eleventh month of '09, my garden gave to me...

The Arizona garden gives me a few salads, and some tomatoes and flowers to attend to.

In the twelfth month of '09, my garden gave to me...

One plate of lettuce, and the hope that spring comes soon.

December 8, 2009: Help! I'm Having Withdrawals!

2009-12-08T11:11:00.000-08:00

Granny, reporting in from the library with an update on the WIFI situation. The RV park, where I was receiving a connection, has pulled the plug. They had planned on putting in a WIFI tower, but so far it only holds a big inflated Santa and no antenna. In the meantime, another company has come in offering broadband service, which was activated on Saturday. By the time I contacted them on Monday, they had already reached their limit and must purchase another (larger) plan. I get an excellent signal, but no connection. It was supposed to be remedied by today, but so far....let's just say I'm not holding my breath.

There really isn't much to tell you about the gardening situation. Our temperature plunged to 25F the other night, but it doesn't look as though I lost anything. But nothing is growing right now, just little sprouts, sitting there looking at me. The leaf miners are still rampant on the tomato plants, even though I've practically denuded them of leaves. Mr. H still watches the temperature and carries them in and out as needed, but I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever get a ripe tomato. If not, it won't be for lack of trying!

We had a much needed rainstorm last night. The desert is terribly dry, it was short more than 4" of rain for the season, so the storm was welcome. The wind, not so much. Luckily we didn't suffer any wind damage, but it got awfully loud.

Thank you to my daughter, Amy, for keeping a link between us. Since this library is only open two days a week, she might have to continue to be my go-between for a while. She can publish comments for me, and she calls me each evening to read what you've written. I miss our interaction, but realize it's only a temporary setback. Now that I have a local libray card and wireless access, I will at least be able to blog weekly.

December 4, 2009: NO INTERNET!

2009-12-04T17:28:00.000-08:00

My mother (a.k.a. Granny) wanted me to let everyone know that she has not forgotten you. She has been without internet for several days now. She will post again as soon as she can get a connection. In the meantime feel free to leave here comments. I will read them to her over the phone. I'm sure she will figure something out soon. As you all know by now, Granny doesn't do well without her internet!

November 30, 2009: Mini-Garden Update

2009-11-30T15:23:00.000-08:00

I've been a bit remiss in my blogging recently, as there really isn't a lot going on right now in my gardening world and my internet connection has been all but non-existent this past week.

The little salad garden is growing, albeit very slowly. The carrots are up, and germination looks to be very good. Some of the spinach has emerged, as have a couple of the twenty-five onions, and enough lettuce seedlings survived the (probable) bird attack that I will have plenty to transplant into the bare spots. I also have some lettuce seedlings growing in vermiculite, so hopefully I can replant the containers that have passed their prime.

My two Patio tomatoes suffered a lot of leaf miner damage, which I first misdiagnosed as bruised and damaged leaves from being mishandled in Lowe's nursery. It became apparent the damage was from leaf miners when I spotted the squiggles from their tunneling, so, scissors in hand, they were soon inspected and all damaged leaves removed to a sealed plastic bag. The larger of the two plants now has 13 tomatoes on it, the smaller one has a lot of blossoms. I have taken to tickling the opened blossoms with my electric toothbrush each day, in hopes of increasing their chances of pollination. Mr. H is still patiently moving the pots out in the mornings and back in at night. When, oh when, will he be rewarded with a ripe tomato?

About a week ago, I was contacted by Chelsea, of Hometown Seeds, with a request for a link to their website to be added to my sidebar. I've never ordered any seeds from them, but I looked over the website and it seems to be a nice family-type business that is just starting up, so I said I'd be happy to help them out. Today in the mail I received a "thank you" from Chelsea, and a sample of some of their seeds. I also found the link wasn't working, so I fixed it. I hope.

Variety pack from Hometown Seeds

I was happy to see Shasta Daisy seeds among the collection. Before I had my main vegetable garden along the east fence, I had Shasta daisies and summer phlox, and they were so pretty! Unfortunately, my neighbor had Bermuda grass, which overtook the flower garden so badly I finally removed all the plants. Now the neighbor has a small garden area along the fence, where she keeps the Bermuda grass under control, so I'd like to reintroduce that strip of land to the daisies and phlox.

My flower garden of the past.

November 25, 2009: Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T14:47:00.000-08:00

Mr. H and I will be having a quiet Thanksgiving celebration at home, with only the two dogs in attendance. I'm roasting a big turkey to serve with dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans, Waldorf salad, crescent rolls and a (store bought!) pumpkin pie. Can you believe I left all my home grown pumpkin puree in the freezer up in Washington? I won't have to cook for a week, we'll have so many leftovers! I'm sure the pups will help, as they love turkey, green beans and sweet potatoes. Annie and I are just going to ignore the calories consumed this week.

I have covered my little AZ salad garden with netting, to keep out birds. It looks as though that was the culprit that was eating the seedlings, so I've replanted the spinach and started some lettuce seedlings in pots to transplant later. I didn't look at my planting guide, relying on memory instead, and dug up the beets thinking that was where I'd planted spinach! Now I have tiny beets sprouting up between the newly planted spinach rows.....that box is going to be a real mess if everything comes up! I can see the carrots today, 16 days after planting the seeds. The first red onion, from sets planted ten days ago, has also sprouted. The two Patio tomato plants are thriving, putting out new growth, new baby tomatoes and more blossoms. They are residing on the south side of the house, in the hot sun, during the day, and Mr. H packs them in each night before the temperature drops below 50F.

Patio tomatoes

Pansies and alyssum in November

Happy Thanksgiving from Granny, Mr. H, Annie and Otto

November 21, 2009: Pay it Forward

2009-11-21T08:33:00.001-08:00

This morning I selected the three Pay it Forward recipients using an ultra-modern scientific method.....

And the winners are.....

!!!TA-DA!!!

Would Maureen, Ribbit and Sue please send their mailing addresses to anniebloom1@gmail.com

Each of you will receive a little gift package from me, and you will be required to Pay it Forward to three others.

And don't hold your breath, girls. I haven't even begun shopping yet!

November 21, 2009: Blog Award!

2009-11-20T10:02:00.000-08:00

Thank you to Kalena Michele at Amira for passing on the Best Blog Award to Annie's Kitchen Garden.

Of course, all these awards come with stipulations which are sometimes difficult to fulfill. This particular award requires me to pick 15 blogs I have recently discovered. I'm afraid I'm so busy reading all of my old favorites and, as you've probably noticed, the garden blogs have slowed considerably for the winter, so I don't have 15 recent ones from which to chose! But thank you again, Kalena Michele. I'll display my award with pride, and pass it on to the two most recent blogs to which I've subscribed.

Gloria Bonde at A Healthy Gardener : Gloria lives in Hot Springs, South Dakota, and she's as enthusiastic as I am when it comes to growing those tomatoes!

The blogger to whom this second award was given finds these awards offensive, so I have removed her blog link from this post. I'm sorry she feels like this, I happen to be very grateful that my readers enjoy my blog enough to reward me with a bit of praise now and then, but I understand many other bloggers don't feel this way.

Gloria and (removed), I honor you with this award. Feel free to accept it or not, and don't feel as though you must adhere to the following guidelines if you would rather not.

Post the award on your blog (including the above picture) along with the name of the person who passed it on to you and link to their blog. Choose 15 blogs which you have recently discovered and you think are great and pass it on to them. Don't forget to leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

November 20, 2009: A Special Day and A Very Special Gift - Pay it Forward

2009-11-20T09:25:00.000-08:00

Today is a special day for me. I'm publishing my 300th post! If I'd known my blog was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of it. *grin*

Yesterday I received a very special gift from Thomas at A Growing Tradition. Since I've never been to New England, Thomas sent a bit of New England to me!

On the brown bag, which is printed with replicas of old advertisements, are chocolate covered Cape Cod Cranberries, A little jug of pure Vermont maple syrup, a bag of Hutchinson's Maple Caramel Corn from New Hampshire, A box of Boston Tea Party English Breakfast Tea, and a potholder imprinted with a recipe for real Boston Baked Beans.

Oh, but that's not all! There was one thing in the package that was so very special, it deserved very special treatment, so I got out the recipe for one of my favorite breads and went to work. Well, it's not really work when I make bread in the food processor!

Dakota Bread
Yield: 1 loaf

1 package active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (105 to 110 degrees)
2 Tablespoons canola oil
1 egg
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/4 cup honey....this was very special honey from Stefaneener
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup rolled oats

Sprinkle yeast in warm water; stir to dissolve.

Combine remaining ingredients in work bowl of food processor. Add yeast. Process until dough forms a ball, check for moisture, adding a bit more flour or water if needed. Process for about 15 seconds, then let rest for 5 minutes. Process for 60 seconds or until dough feels smooth and elastic (mine was slightly soft and almost sticky, perfect when greased by the bowl).

Place dough in a greased bowl, turn to grease all surfaces; cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap. Let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 30 minutes. Punch down dough. Shape into one loaf. Place into a greased loaf pan. Cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size (about 1 hour).

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Hot from the oven...

Mr. H gets both of the heels while they are still warm. I get a nice, thick slice to toast. Have you guessed where I'm going with this?

Hmmmm, what is that in the jar? Why...it must be Thomas' Meyer Lemon Marmalade!

Oh, he's good. Really good. It's perfectly jelled, not too thick, not too thin.

The flavor is heavenly. Sweet, a slight lemon tang, just the tiniest hint of the bitter that makes it marmalade. It's hard to believe this is the first time Thomas has made jam or jelly!

The last bite was as good as the first.

I ended the evening with a cup of hot Boston Tea Party tea, and another reading of Thomas' heart warming blog entry for Wednesday, November 18, 2009, "On Family - Honest Scrap Award". If you haven't yet read it, please do, but be ready to cry. It's a good kind of cry, though.

When I accepted Thomas' offer of a gift, I promised to pay it forward. If you would like to receive a goody bag from Granny, leave a comment on this post to let me know. On Saturday I'll randomly chose by putting your names in a hat and drawing out three. I was going to pick the first three emails sent to me, but I felt there was too much advantage for the eastern time zoners and/or insomniacs ;-)

November 19, 2009: Have You Done Anything Dumb Today?

2009-11-19T19:35:00.000-08:00

Have you done anything really dumb today? I have.

I bought a set of three frying pans the other day and, as I always do with new pans, I used hot water and soap to clean the insides, rinsed, dried and put them away.

I was frying chicken in the largest pan tonight, when I noticed some odd flaking stuff around the burner. I reached under the pan with the fork to pull a piece of whatever it was out.

OMG!

One really should remove the label before one uses the pan. How did I miss it?

My little DustBuster took care of the mess on the stove, but remnants of label are probably forever burned into the bottom of the pan. No amount of scrubbing would remove it.

In other news today, my spinach seedlings have gone the way of the lettuce seedlings. Here yesterday, gone this morning. Oh well, I still have radishes. So far.