The snows have melted off, but the clouds are gathering for more rain or possibly snow showers on Monday. We have gotten some prep work done in the garden, and are ready to broadfork the raised beds, apply the Azomite and lay in some compost. First, though, we will need a less windy day.

After the first week, we have some seedlings up! Here are a partial listing of what is up-

Principe Borghese tomato

Matts Red Wild Cherry tomato

Goldman’s Italian-American tomato

Wild Galapagos tomato

Silvery Fir Tree tomato

Pumpkin Tree

Lemon Drop pepper

There are a few more that we are trialing this year, so we can’t say quite yet what they are. After we get some good indication, we will let you in on what might be a new offering in the next year or so!

This video is from March 6,2011.

Enjoy!

Let us know if you have questions, or want something covered in more detail.

Why You and Your Garden Soil Need Minerals

There are many ways to introduce  needed minerals into your garden. One method starts with a soil test and adds or amends several different items or mixtures to get the pH level and major nutrients like N, P and K in appropriate ratios. Another is using multi animal manure compost worked into the soil. Both of these are good beginnings, but do not address the needed trace elements that are limiting factors when not present. They not only increase the garden’s yield, but also plant and soil health. This in turn increases our health, as these trace elements are also limiting factors in our health when not present in sufficient amounts.

For instance, Boron increases calcium uptake, promotes flowering and pollen production and is essential for strong plant growth. It also activates Silicon, which carries all of the other nutrients. Copper is a plant immune system regulator, controls  mold and fungi, is an important chain in photosynthesis and helps increase the plant’s stalk strength. Manganese helps with nitrogen utilization, is a key factor in pollinization and aids in the utilization of energy from the cells for the plant. Zinc improves phosphorus utilization, helps regulate the plant’s growth including leaf size, corn ear size, hastens maturity and contributes to increased weight of fruits and vegetables.

As can be seen, these trace elements play a very important role in the overall production of healthy plants, fruits and vegetables. Properly mineralized soils offer not only better nutrition and health for the plant but pest and disease resistance as well. In corn, once enough copper is in the soil and taken up by the plant, grasshoppers won’t come into the fields, so insect pressure and damage are greatly reduced. Weed pressures decrease, as weeds have been shown by recent research to be indicator species for soil problems. Specific weeds will show up where specific minerals or trace elements are missing from the soils. Tissue tests of the weeds in relation to soil tests taken at the weed roots shows this.  Improvements to the soil will cause weeds to “move” to areas of problem soils. Jay L. Mc Caman has published “Weeds and Why They Grow”, a look at over 800 different weed species and the soils that they grow in. As an example, burdock grows in soils with very high levels of iron and sulfate, very low levels of calcium and manganese. Mineralize the soil, lose the weed!

Insects are another indicator species, preying on weak, diseased and malnourished plants. They prefer lower brix, or plant sugar levels. Vibrant, healthy plants have a higher brix level than stressed or diseased ones. Experience shows that improved soils will decrease insect pressure, as brix levels increase, insects move on. In fact, several studies and practical observations have shown that as soil improvement occurs, insects move out followed by weeds. Then the insects start eating the weeds, as they have lower brix levels than your garden!

Combining these benefits with charcoal accelerates the process in a positive direction. Charcoal acts as a nutrient and trace element sponge, allows the soil food web to build much more organic carbon, living biomass & glomalins (soil glue) in addition to building soil infrastructure. The old adage of  “Feed the Soil Not the Plants” becomes; “Feed, Clothe and House the Soil, utilities included!”

We have chosen AZOMITE because it is easy to apply, safe to use and extremely effective. It is also completely organic or natural, meaning there are no man-made ingredients. It is simply powdered Utah volcanic rock dust that has about 70 minerals and trace elements, nothing more. The recommended application for gardens is 1 pound to 25 square feet of garden. It can also be sprinkled around established plants or trees and watered in.  For “charging” charcoal in the compost pile, I recommend 1 cup per 2 pounds of crushed charcoal, mixed into the compost for 6 months prior to application to the garden. Once again, we have no connection whatsoever with AZOMITE, they don’t even know we are talking about them.

Several studies with several vegetable plants show taller plants, larger diameter branches/stems, larger leaves with earlier fruiting, more prolific production of fruit, longer production and earlier first fruits with mineralized soils. Nutritional analysis of vegetables show higher levels of minerals and trace elements, showing that the soil minerals are more bio-available. More nutrition for plant = more nutrition in veggies = more nutrition for us. Better production in the garden means more veggies, which greatly increases the value of the garden and the value of its produce, especially in today’s market with much higher prices with lower quality produce available. Makes it much easier to grow your own food.

Better soil; bigger, healthier plants and vegetables; earlier, larger yields and better taste, nutrition and health for you- all from a few simple ingredients and preparation of your garden soil. This is the wonder of biological and sustainable agriculture, no matter the size of the “field”. As one farmer put it, “It’s not hard, it’s just different.” It’s a different way to look at gardening, but once some understanding is reached, knowledge and experience gained, it’s much more rewarding on many levels to work with the soil and plants this way, instead of trying to force them to work how we think they should, or want them to. Another benefit to this approach is that the applications last a long time- in the case of charcoal, at least 100-300 years, and the AZOMITE can last 3-5 years in hungry soil, longer in a more balanced one.

As always, please send in your comments and questions!

Next up will be a discussion of compost and the many approaches to building the best compost yet!

This year, we will show you how our garden grows!

Through a series of videos, you can watch how we start seeds, what equipment and techniques we use, and see the growth of our trial garden. We will share our successes as well as the challenges and failures. At this point, we are planning to update this post once a week, so check back often to see the latest. We will post updates on FaceBook as well as our eNewsletter.

The first video is from February 27, 2011.

Enjoy!

Please ask us your questions, or if you want details on something that we cover, please ask about it!

We recently completed our second salad growing bed in our greenhouse, and here’s how we did it!

Greenhouse Salad Container Gardening

We started the salad growing bed so that we would have fresh salad greens during the Fall, Winter and early Spring when the garden wasn’t growing or things were just coming up. We can supplement our diet with fresh, healthy and extremely nutritious greens like lettuce, Swiss Chard, beets and beet tops, carrots, mustards and even some kale if we want to.

The salad bed has it’s own heat cable buried at the bottom of the sand under the growing soil, so the roots stay warm and don’t need external, expensive heat in the greenhouse during the colder seasons. We grew fresh greens almost all winter in one bed, and have expanded into a second bed.

Both beds are 6 ft long, 18 inches wide and 13 inches deep. The material was from a local metal recycling facility and is really heavy corrugated sheet metal. We bought 3/4 inch thick exterior grade plywood, drilled 21 drain holes in the bottom and sealed it with an exterior decking stain. We then screwed the corners of the sheet metal together and inserted the plywood bottom into the bottom slot made by the corrugations, and screwed it to the sheet metal as well.

Heating Cable Installed

Next we put the heating cable in. This is a sealed unit made to heat seed beds that has a built in thermostat. We attached it to the bottom side of 1/4 inch hardware cloth- a heavy metal mesh- to prevent damage to the cable if we needed to dig into the soil. You can see the drain holes in the plywood here.

This is part of the magic that allows us to be able to grow tender greens year round in an unheated greenhouse. Many people don’t realize how little it takes to be able to grow their own fresh green produce year round at their home. They are used to the idea of the Spring through early Fall garden, but that is it. The thought of growing farther into the year, and starting earlier, is new to most people.

However, there is much more time available to grow if you look at things a little unconventionally, and look at ways to manage the temperature and moisture to extend your growing season. Whether it is a weekend project like this, or it is constructing a small row cover from PVC and heavy weight painter’s plastic drop cloth from your local hardware store, you can positively affect your growing season with a little work that will pay you back for several years.

Sand And Soil Going In

After the cable/mesh was laid down, we put about 2-3 inches of sand. The sand acts as a medium of heat exchange to heat the growing soil from the bottom up. It is surprising how little heat is needed to make a real difference. We had several nights at freezing after we started the salad pit growing, with a plastic sheet draped over the top, and the little “saladlings” did just fine. The water trickles down and keeps the sand moist, which acts as a perfect heat conductor to the soil above.

The soil was put in next- about 5-6 inches of good organic potting soil. We saved some time and bought some pre-made potting soil that is certified organic and has mycorrhizae added to it to help the roots develop into the soil better. The mycorrhizae are microscopic fungi that help both the plant get more nutrition out of the soil, as they extend the reach of the root’s micro tendrils into the soil and bring in nutrients that were out of reach of the roots. The plants will grow stronger and have more vigor, production and disease and pest resistance. In return the plants feed a sugar substance to the mycorrhizae. A wonderful symbiotic relationship!

New Salad Bed Ready To Plant

After some gentle watering to get the soil and sand below well moistened but not wet, the salad bed is ready to plant! The new bed is in the foreground, with the established bed in the background. You can see the difference in growth in the first salad bed from this photo as compared to the top photo.

One of the hidden benefits to growing salad greens this way is the lack of dirt in the greens when harvested. There is no wind or rains to push dirt up on the leaves and stems, so the greens only need a light rinse before they are ready to eat. As we don’t use any type of chemicals to grow with, we don’t have to worry about chemical or fertilizer contamination to wash off.

The white box in the foreground is a small hydroponic setup, the blue top is rigid foam with 5 holes in it for the lettuce cups and growing medium, which is rock wool. There is a small aquarium pump in the bottom to recirculate the nutrient solution to the roots. We have grown lettuce indoors in the winter in our small house, so the greenhouse will be an expanded experiment. If if works well, and it should, we might expand this to be a vertical hydroponic rack made from several sections of roof guttering along the North wall, which is straw bale and tires.

This could give us a substantially expanded growing opportunity with very little square foot commitment. We will keep you posted on the progress!

If you don’t have your own greenhouse, a similar container system can be done in a sunny window, in your garage under some lights or even on a back deck. Let your imagination be your guide. If you are interested in the heat cables, post a comment. If there is interest, we may carry them in the near future.

Transforming zucchini from a seed in your garden to a meal on your plate.

We call it ‘zucchini’ here in the Americas, but where the British and French roam, it is known as ‘courgette.’ Technically, it is not a vegetable, but an immature fruit, as it is the swollen ovary of the female zucchini flower. Sounds pretty unappetizing, until you sauté it in a little butter or olive oil with garlic and onion.

How to Grow
Zucchini is one of the easier vegetables to grow; only taking 45- 55 days to grow to maturity. Begin planting after the last frost date or when the temperature is consistently 65 degrees Fahrenheit or above. If your soil is already full of organic materials, you typically do not need to include additional fertilizer to the soil since these are such wonderful natural producers. However, if needed add some fertilizer to help the plants along.

In your gardening bed, make large, flat mounds of soil, spacing them about three feet apart. Into each mound, plant 3 or 4 seeds at least six inches from each other and water generously at least once a week. The idea behind all this spacing is that when the vines grow, they will need room to run; to really stretch out. Once the zucchini seeds have begun to grow, thin them down to only 2 or 3 per mound. Do not thin by pulling the plants by their roots as this can disturb nearby plants. Simply use a scissors and snip the unwanted plants at their base.

You will know when your zucchinis are ready for harvesting when they approach 5 to 6 inches in length. Waiting until the zucchini are too large can result in a tougher outer skin. However, if you discover you missed a few zucchinis which are now overgrown, try using the insides of the plant for a nice zucchini soup.

Keep in mind, if kept unchecked, zucchini will take over your garden. One recommended way to keep this from happening is to eat the large, female flowers on the ends as they blossom. Sure, you could eat them raw, but then you would miss out on a great Italian recipe for fried zucchini blossoms. Simply wash the blossoms gently and then stuff them with herbed ricotta cheese. Next, dredge the blossoms in an eggwash and breadcrumbs mixture. You can use Italian breadcrumbs, plain breadcrumbs or even your own if you are so inclined. Pan fry them in a sauce pan over medium-high heat and let drain on paper towels on a plate. You will end up with a wonderful easy appetizer that would stop Julia Child in her tracks. Some Italians are known to fry the blossoms without any stuffing, and just pan fry them with the egg and breadcrumbs mixture.

Storing
Zucchini can be frozen by cutting them into slices and placing them in containers or sealed freezer bags. Place in the freezer but remember, label and date each bag since the life span is 4 to 6 months. To extend the storage life for up to 12 months, blanch the zucchini for 3 minutes, and then cool completely before freezing.

Food History
While most squashes are considered native to the Americas, the squash we know as ‘zucchini’ has its roots in Italy, and did not become popular in the United States until the 1920’s. The cocozelle zucchini is an Italian variety which cannot be mistaken for its striped pattern of alternating dark and light green lines. This variety makes for a beautiful presentation in a variety of dishes. A simple way to prepare the zucchini is to cut in half length wise and drizzle a few tablespoons of Italian olive oil on top. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. During the last 10 minutes spoon some tomato sauce on top and sprinkle with Romano cheese. Zucchini is ready when the inside is very soft and a fork easily cuts through the inside of the zucchini. Serve while warm.

Nearly every backyard garden includes zucchini – and it is no wonder why. These easy to grow vegetables (or immature fruits) provide a variety of culinary uses from simple appetizers and salads to the staple ingredient in a main meal. No matter how you choose to use them, these green vegetables will give you great eating pleasure throughout the summer months.
This article was contributed by Elizabeth Trementozzi Krause publisher of SimpleItalianCooking.com where she offers free Italian cooking recipes. Elizabeth’s favorite dish is angel hair served in individual pasta bowls with fresh tomato sauce and cheese. She often includes vegetables in her recipes. She currently resides in Virginia with her husband who also grew up in an Italian home. They appreciate Italian culture from love of food to using an Italian espresso maker for a quick shot of espresso.

Here are the recipes, please let us know what you think! Either post a comment here or send us an email.

Restaurant-Style Zuppa Toscana

Based on a popular restaurant starter soup.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (16 ounce) package smoked sausage
• 2 potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 6 slices bacon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 cups kale – washed, dried, and shredded
• 2 tablespoons chicken soup base
• 1 quart water
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

DIRECTIONS

1. 
   Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
   
2. 
   Place sausage links onto a sheet pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until
   done. Cut links in half lengthwise, then cut at an angle into 1/2-inch
   slices.
3. 
   Place onions and bacon slices in a large saucepan and cook over medium
   heat until onions are almost clear. Remove bacon and crumble. Set
   aside. Note- You can saute the kale at this step for extra richness in its flavor!
   
4. 
   Add garlic to the onions and cook an additional 1 minute. Add chicken
   soup base, water, and potatoes, simmer 15 minutes. Note- This is where I prefer to add my kale! Russian kale will take the simmer without losing its texture and flavor.
   
5. 
   Add crumbled bacon, sausage, kale, and cream. Simmer 4 minutes and serve.

Stir-Fried Kale and Broccoli Florets

Good for an unusual side dish. Can be used for a light fall lunch or dinner starter.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 7 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 chile pepper, chopped (optional)
• 1 head fresh broccoli, chopped
• 1 bunch kale, stems removed and chopped
• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, cut in thin strips
• juice of 2 limes
• salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat olive oil in a large wok or skillet over high heat. Stir in garlic and chile pepper; cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in broccoli; cook 1 minute. Add kale, and cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in sun-dried tomatoes. Pour in lime juice, and season with salt to taste. Toss well.

Pork Tenderloin with Steamed Kale

Amazing showcase of pork and kale. For extra flavor, marinate the tenderloin for a couple of hours, up to overnight.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 limes, juiced
• 1 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons dried cilantro
• 1 teaspoon cracked peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 (1 1/2 pound) pork tenderloin
• 1 pound kale, stems removed and leaves coarsely chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a small bowl , whisk olive oil with lime juice. Season with cilantro, garlic salt, and peppercorns. 
   
2. Brush the pork tenderloin with three tablespoons of the lime dressing. Wrap in aluminum foil, and place on in a large baking dish. Roast in preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes, or until a meat thermometer reads 170 degrees.  Note- can be slow grilled on indirect heat on a BBQ if the weather is too hot or you want a smoky flavor!
   
3. While the tenderloin is cooking, place kale in a steamer. Cook for 20 minutes, or until tender. You can saute the kale now for a more intense flavor.
   
4. Slice the pork tenderloin into 1 1/2 inch thick slices. Serve on top of the kale. Whisk the remaining dressing, and drizzle over pork and kale. Make sure to serve the kale under and on the side of the pork, don’t just use it as a garnish! It adds a depth of flavor to the pork.
   

There is some starters for what to do with kale. There are a lot of great bean/sausage/kale recipes that will keep you warm this fall and winter. Please let me know what you think,  and share your experiences.

Happy eating!

We want to share our knowledge and what we learn with you, so we all can progress in this grand adventure together. All too often we find that people don’t have access to good information or knowledge, or that those that have the knowledge can’t or won’t get it out. That is one of the biggest reasons we have started this blog; as an extension of our seed company- Underwood Gardens.

We ask that you join in the conversation- send a comment on the blog,  email us or call us at 888-878-247.  Either Cindy or myself will answer the phone. Really! If we are away from the phone, one of us will call you back! It will be terrible if this is one- sided. We are  expanding the information on the website, but there are a lot of things that  can only be fully explored or appreciated here, on the blog. We have started an email newsletter and Grandma’s Gardening Tips, each one is once a month, so there are 2 emails we send out each month. If you are interested in joining our email list, please visit our website; the link is on the top left of the categories column and is on just about every page. Then you can stay in the loop with the most current events!