Monday, April 26, 2010
Gardens
Spring has come again and gardening season is starting up. I've just direct seeded some cilantro and chervil on the herb front. Vegetable wise I've got red radishes and snow peas in. I also put in some Buttercrunch lettuce and Red Russian Kale. We have a late frost date here in Troy so I'm going to wait a while for some of the sexier vegetables. Anybody else growing anything?
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hey nick,
ReplyDeleteive got some herbs in..basil and parsley...along with some others. Our vineyard manager put in a garden by the lake so I am planning to put in onions, garlic, arugula, kale, radishes and cabbage? I am also going to look into growing potatoes but what I can't figure out is if you can cut the potato into parts and then plant it so that you can do more or if you have to plant the whole thing, maybe you know? We are also going to do hops since they grow so easily. Victor made a dark chocolatey/coffee stout that was baller. Ari was here with her brother this weekend and we had fun and jumped in the lake! you should come up if you ever get a chance, I'd like to come to troy eventually but its hard for me to take days off right now. Have you ever been to Letchworth? Victor and I wanted to do a camping trip/hike there sometime soon if you wanna come with us. ALso, lauren is coming here this weekend and we are camping out if you wanted to come do that as well. Anyways, let me know about the spuds, miss ya!
i can't think of anything sexier than chervil.
ReplyDeleteHey Jenna, good to hear from you. Generally with potatoes you cut them in half, and then let them sprout, but you could even do quarters if the potatoes are big enough. You don't have to let them sprout before you plant them, but it generally leads to more vigorous plants and is a good idea. Once they've grown about 12 inches (maybe higher) high you can "hill" them, which basically means burying them with dirt. Hilling potatoes encourages them to produce more potatoes since they'll only grow under the ground. An interesting thing with potatoes is that with every year you get away from the original the less nutritious the potatoes you get. The farmers I know generally go for about 3 years before replacing they're potato stock, so that's worth considering. There's all kinds of information online about potatoes, but that should get you on your way.
ReplyDeleteI've been a traveling fool the past month or so, so I'm cooling my jets for the next few weeks before contemplating any other trips, but Geneva is definitely on my list. An old friend and her mom are doing the Musselman in July and I was considering going out to cheer them on, but I'm not set on that yet. I'll be in touch though. Miss ya too, have a great spring!
I like chervil, and I read in a book that if you smoke it it gives a high roughly equivalent to pot, so after that I just had to plant it.
ReplyDeleteMan i tried to track down that chervil tip online to no avail. Was that in McKenna's book? Anyhow at the ol home place on long island we're planting in the next week or so, we already got tomato starts inside and leafy greens started, and the winter's kale is still goin. Also our strawberries are flowering - they've been goin strong a few years now (bert doesn't go in for plasticulture) so this year should be a nice one.
ReplyDeleteI read it in a John McPhee essay about an anonymous chef. It was kind of an offhanded comment by the chef about other uses for various herbs. I forget what the essay was called but it was in a collection called "Giving Good Weight," which I highly recommend. I'll let you know how the chervil thing works out.
ReplyDeleteCherry tomato harvest is probably this week here. Also a few odd pepper varieties I'd have to look up to name. Advantage: Texas.
ReplyDeleteWe have some peppers and tomatoes Deirdra started at work but we don't get much light on our little semi-subterranean patio so we'll see how that goes. We have some herb seeds too somewhere around here, maybe basil? We have to bring in some soil for planting in pots cuz being in the middle of the city it's probably not too great.
ReplyDeleteMostly flowers right now cuz they're hard to kill.
i just can't resist making a "growing a boner" joke any longer
ReplyDeleteOh man Peter just as I was typing "I'm growing a boner" I looked up and saw your post. Damnit.
ReplyDelete