My home made sieve and the sifting process.

I read that you should run your soil through a sieve to prepare the seed bed. I bought a three foot long piece of hardware cloth "1/4 inch holes", and then with roofing nails nailed it to the two by fours. Then with last years soil I tried to run it through the screen. This part was really tedious, mainly because the soil was wet and really didn't go through very freely. I had a nice pair of rubber gloves and worked it back and forth with my hands. You can see what didn't pass through. The soil that did was really nice, and should work well for the real small seeds I want to plant. This part was real tedious and time consuming. After I was about half done filling over the manure with 4-5 inches of dirt, I had to give up and used the unsieved soil, which will work fine, I suspect down the road a bit. 

Hotbed, Insulation, and Horse Manure.

I lined the pit with one inch polystyrene foam board, to keep the heat from escaping. Then as you can see I began to back fill it with the manure. As I went I watered it real well with a sprinkling can and packed it tight with my feet. I kind of wish I had put the foam underneath as well. Maybe next year. 

My Hotbed Pit

This is the pit that I dug last fall. In January I piled it full of manure

, and then this Tuesday the 22nd as you can see here, I emptied it to begin the process. I'm not really sure it's deep enough and I think next year I might dig out another six inches or so. This is where I grew my tomatoes last year.

Experimental Garden Cloches

Real glass cloches are so expensive. I saw some today for about $25.00 each, so I am experimenting with some different plastic containers I picked up at Walmart. The white tubs were only $1.50. I don't think much is going on inside of them. It seems the limiting factor with plants is soil temperature. Until it reaches plus 50 degrees not much growth is going to happen.

Raised beds using sand bags.

I have some beds that end on a sharp slope, and I wanted to give them a more definite end. A while back I was in the Honduras and saw them using sand bags to make huge raised beds ten feet high or more on one end. I thought it was a pretty good idea. I think these including sand cost about $1.25 each. The sand bags come with strings to tie them off.

Getting my Garden Hot Bed ready- Fresh Horse Manure

I want to have a manure powered Hot Bed to start my seed in this spring. I dug out a twelve foot by 4 foot bed. It is dug down about two feet. I then filled it in with about three cubic yards of horse manure. I think its supposed to simmer there this winter, until about the 20th of February. Then I am going to sieve the soil through about a 1/4 inch screen. Before you fill in with four inches of earth, you are supposed to fluff up the manure, then wet and pack it down. My goal is to start all my own plants and not have to buy any this year. I have rounded up some storm window sash to use over the top of it.

Winter Sowing- This is my first attempt at this.

This is my first attempt at what on the internet is called "Winter Sowing". The idea is that you put about four inches of potting soil in containers. You have to punch holes in the lids and bottoms, then water them well and sow your seeds. Then when the weather warms to suit the seeds they will decide when they want to sprout. I like the concept for a number of reasons, you can plant the seeds when there is no rush. Also it gives you a back up to what ever system you use to start seeds in the spring. Plants are so expensive to buy, that any way to generate your own plants will save a lot of money. I spent $2.50 on containers. $2.15 on soil, and $4.00 for an ice pick.  The lids are taped down with clear packing tape. I planted today the following: Large leaf Basil, Perennial Flower mix, Kohlrabi Gigante, Cauliflower Di Sicilia Violetto, Celeriac Giant Prague, Swiss Chard Bright Lights, Celery Pascal Green, Calabrese Broccoli, and Snowball Cauliflower. 

Ganet Yam/Sweet Potato Planted December 27th.

I bought one of these at the grocery store today. I was careful to buy an organic one, the others are treated with a chemical to keep them from sprouting. I you submerge half of it in water it will sprout, and by May I will have all the slips I need to plant in the garden. I think I saw somebody selling slips for two dollars a piece recently.

Evergreen Bunching Onions-December 20th Planting

With the bunching onions, you can cut off about an inch on the end and trim the roots back. Then you can plant this nub and it will regenerate itself. I planted about 20 of these nubs today. And I picked about 20 nice green onions yesterday. This year I planted some seeds in March, and then randomly  set them out in a bed. They are really foolproof little plants. The only thing I did was weed them all year. Next year I want to plant them in rows in trenches and mound them up to blanch them as they grow. I think the idea is to plant them in deep trenches, because the white edible part can really be lengthened by burying them.

Radish Harvest

We planted these Radishes the first two weeks of September. I was gone and couldn't pick them in November. This Monday the 4th of December

, we picked 10 bags of them. The white icicle and the Easter Egg Radishes did the best. The Easter Egg had nice size and were very uniformly round and have nice colors red, white and purple. I didn't take any pictures of them washed and cleaned, my hands were to wet and cold.

Last picking for Bright LightsSwiss Chard

I think by far Swiss Chard is the prettiest plant in a Vegetable Garden. Two days later it is 18 degrees so it got wiped out. I take Turkey sausage and brown it in water and Olive Oil. Then I cut the Swiss Chard down into pieces, and beginto cook it. While it is cooking I put about 1/4 cup of peanut butter, some salt and pepper, Soy Sauce and two table Spoons of fermented fish sauce in for flavoring. Then I like to eat it over rice. It's quite yummy.

Calcots- Forcing Onions

These are the onions I planted in September. The winter won't hurt them at all. I have at least 60 bulbs growing. Each one will produce 5 green onions. Early, sweet giant and robust. They will start growing in February and be ready for harvest in April.

Grey Griselle French Shallots

This picture was taken December 4th. These are the Shallots I planted late in October. They got a good start and will up and growing in February. Im not planning on mulching them. I had some leaves over them but they blew off.

Planting Sugar Snap Peas-December 4th

I noticed a few years ago that some Sugar Snap Peas came up voluntarily and got a big head start on the ones I planted. I think they were sprouting in February. So my experiment here, is planting the seeds intentionally the 4th of December. If they survive, I'll get a real early jump on the season. If not I'm out 50 cents worth of seeds. The ground was frozen and I had to poke little holes with a stick. I had a young helper.

Planting Tulips-Hugelkultur Style-

I bought 25 Tulip Bulbs called Darwin Hybrid. I tried to lay them out equidistant, and then shoved them down several inches. They should be buried deeper, so I put several inches of fresh horse manure over the top and another several inches of chopped leaves over the manure. That way it shouldn't draw flies and smell. I sprayed some water to top it off, hoping that then the wind won't blow away the leaves. Now it can rest and we'll see what happens in the spring.

Hugelkultur - Good use for old firewood-Preparing to plant Tulips

I am kind of intrigued by the idea of Hugelkultur. I am getting ready to plant some Tulips, and a friend gave me some old firewood. I dug a pit, stacked the wood and replaced the soil over the top. The wood is supposed to act as a sponge for water, and nutrients as it decomposes. It should work well in a Tulip bed, because you don't have to till it every year. The whole project took about an hour. It was much easier than what I was afraid of.                                                                          

Planting Grey Griselle French Shallots-Allium Oschanini- Red Janice Garlic

I planted my Garlic and Shallots on Saturday the 22nd of October. You can see in the pictures I lay them out about six inches apart, and then I push them about an inch into the soil.I think I planted about ten bulbs last year and increased them to 50 this year. The soil is rich with organic material and I double dug it and fluffed it up. It is setting on top of about ten inches of horse manure. I am growing a variety of garlic called Red Janice, which I believe is a soft neck. I live in zone 5 and didnt lose any of the shallots in the winter last year, and I think we hit minus 20F . I see a lot of interest on my website with the shallots and garlic, and wish to say that they appear quite foolproof. The shallots sprouted last fall in November, and all the plants were growing and sprouting in February as soon as the snow melted. Last year I didn't mulch them, but this year I put about 8 inches of Oak leaves on top for a mulch, just in case it would get real cold without a snow cover. I planted about 50 Shallot bulbs, and 70 of the garlic. If anyone has questions please leave me a comment.

Fall Mustard Greens

These greens are doing well. I can start picking them any time now. They are about 6  weeks old.

Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter Tomatoes. October 21st

I have my plants up against a garage on the South side. There are still some nice ones coming, I hope they will produce another ten days or so. It got down to the low 30's last night, so we'll see.

Radishes

I have hundreds of radishes coming along that I planted September 18th. The leaves are developing, but there is no sign of anything edible yet. I am pretty scecptical of the dates such as 22 or 30 day radishes that they are as advertised as, I don't know where or under what conditions they would grow so quickly. I think there is still time for them to develop. I'm hoping maybe the middle of November.

Egyptian Onions- Walking Onions-Topsetting Onions

I planted a few bulbs a year ago, and have this stand now. I picked the bulbs they produced and plan to pickle them. In March and April or February if the ground isn't frozen they are good to eat as green Onions. Any other time of the year they are way to hot.

Winter Spinach

This is Bloomsdales Long Standing Winter Spinach. It was planted about the 15th of September. It will grow a little bit more this year yet, and the take off again in early march. This is the way to successfully plant and harvest Spinach in the Midwest.

Swiss Chard October 21st

I planted these Swiss chard plants from seed last March directly in the soil. I think the variety is Bright Lights. They were the first thing to germinate last spring, and are still going strong. They have been harvested repeatedly, and keep coming back. I don't think the groundhogs or insects like them.

October 21st Fall Garden Overview

I have almost all of the beds worked up , double dug and sitting on about ten inches of horse manure. In this picture there are  Strawberries, Swiss chard, Bloomsdales Winter Spinach, various small type radishes, Walking Onions, and Mustard Greens. I have also taken chopped leaves and placed them in my walkways. This way in wet weather my shoes won't get muddy. Even though we've had virtually no rain for weeks, I have very good moisture levels down about an inch in the soil.

Calcots- Spanish style green onions.

I planted these Calcots about September 5th. I think I planted about 75 bulbs, and about half are coming up already. So its been about 6 weeks. Even if they don't all sprout this year it doesn't matter, they will start very early next spring. The only thing I have to do is mound them up as they grow to blanch them. Each bulb will produce about six scallions.

Radiator Charlies Mortgage Lifter. Picked october 8th.

I planted 4 or five varietys last spring, but really the only ones that did any good are the Radiator Charlies. They have very good size and flavor, when they are ripe they are a nice pink almost red color.It was very hot here this summer and I think the fruit didn't set very well. Here at the end they have really come on strong. Most of these were picked about 6 or 7 feet off the ground. Look how clean and shiney they are.They have never been any where near the ground.

Planting Calcots- Spanish Green Onions

I planted about 75 onions, about setember 5th. They are buried about four inches deep. Each bulb will produce about 5 or 6 green onions next spring. They will be ready to harvest in April. I planted each bulb about 6 inches apart. If you look online there is quite a bit of information how to cook and make special sauces for them. In Spain they have big Calcot Onion festivals.

Calcots

Be sure you cut the top off, and not the root end.

Calcots- Forcing onions

I planted my calcots about September 5th. I bought a few bags of onions at the grocery store. I think its a good idea to use as nice and big ones as you can find. You cut the tops off and bury them in a trench about four inches deep. They will sprout in about 5 weeks, as they grow you keep backfilling dirt around them. In march they will start to grow and you will have the nicest green onions you have ever seen.

Getting ready to plant radishes.Double Digging, Trench composting, Horse manure.

I am experimenting with hot beds. I am filling the trenches with about twelve inches of horse manure. I am curious if it will raise the bed temperature and speed germination. I dig a trench and work up the sub soil with a potato fork. Then I filled the trenches with the horse manure. Everything is covered with 6-8 inches of top soil.

Fall Radishes. Double dug raised beds using trench composting.

This week I planted French Breakfast, White Icicle, Crimson Giant, Easter Egg and Cherry Belle Radishes. The beds are sitting on twelve inches of horse manure. I am curious if the beds will heat up and produce later in the year. The burlap is to help with germination. I have been watering by hand because it is very dry and about 30% humidity. This bed was planted the 22nd of September.