Showing posts with label Gardening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gardening. Show all posts

Friday, October 30, 2009

The Garden 2009

Again this year, the Coo-op Community Garden in Norwich VT, gave us the opportunity to develop our inside gardeners. The lack of space at home was not a problem to cultivate our own veggies and flowers in that place, as you can see above the flower came from a seed, turning out in a cute Teddy Bear Sunflower, it was a birthday present from my friend Mimi Pearson, what a surprise! I called the photo "Running with the wind".

Sunflowers from our garden in Norwich, Vermont

SUMMARY

FEBRUARY, MARCH, APRIL
Nice thing to start the plants from seed. Above, you can see the tomato seedlings growing indoor, when outside the temperature reached -26ºC. Unfortunately, when I transplated the tomato seedlings, some of them died because an unexpected frost... but some of my hot pepper seedlings survived!


JUNE, JULY - The Agricultural Disaster in New England?



Everything was fine until an unwanted fungus spread out to every garden in the area, it is called Late Blight which attacks tomatoes, potatoes plants and weeds. It was something devastating in the Northeast of the country. LB had not beeing seen since around 100 years. 97% of my fellow gardeners lost all their tomatoes. Michael and I lost all of our tomato crop (24). I read several articles about this symptom, like this one but I needed a local help, our garden coordinator was away at thime. I spread the word in the garden about what I was told.

A prevailing atmosphere of uncertainty was among everyone in the garden. My first contact was Cooperative of Extension of New Hampshire asking for help, I received a prompt and an appropriate answer!
The advise was pulling out all the affected plants and throw them out in the garbage bin, not in the compost pile. It was a hard time for Michael and myself I just coudn't believe all our effort that we did at the beginning bringing compost from a farm horses in Hartland, VT where Mrs Polly Smith was so generous with us donating the compost; we did several trips driving our tiny blue Elantra Hyundai car... all almost for nothing.

Michael pulling out the tomato plant.
Regarding our potato crop the plant were cut, while the tuber were left underground, it was not the same, but it was a challenge. I was dissapointed to see an empty garden. We tried to save the green tomates, we got a huge bucket of them, but after some days at home all of them turned awfully brown.

AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER - After the Storm

Fresh radishes ready to be eaten!

My favorite crop: ONIONS

I kept going with my major enthusiasm after this sudden storm. Then, there was a time for the first harvest of radishes, arugula, lettuce, Swiss chard, hot peppers, flowers. Between onions my favorite hot pepper! This has its own story. When I transplanted the seedling, I broke part of its root! I just got mad with myself... after an hour, the seddling looked so weak... I touched and talked to it saying what a fool I was... the next day for my surprise this tiny pepper plant looked alive and ready to go.. so, it survived! THANKS, I said. Since then I called it "El Malimuerto vivo" (something that the dead is alive)

Another surprise in the garden. Of course, gardening is also a kind of experiment. So, I planted the seed from this decorative gourd and look what I got.


GIFTS OF THE NATURE IN THE GARDEN WHILE GROWING THE VEGGIES

Cute nest of birds located between weeds in the plot of my neighbor Jerome, who is nearby my garden.

Some days after a rainy day, I was cleanning up the garden from weeds (I heard it is easier to pull them out when the soil is wet), then I found this innocent and quite toad in between my onion crop!


And finally, this bicolor spider was looking at me while I was harvesting peas :)


LOOKING FOR ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO GARDEN IN OTHER PLACE

"CANILLAS COMMUNITY GARDEN" In LEBANON, NH

Starting the garden with raised beds. The CCG started late (June) but with so much energy!
Celebrating and sharing our first harvest.
The Canillas Community Garden group

Patty McGovern (right) is who is leading this project very well! I love to work with her and her team. In the center is Helen Brody and Rebeca Perkins (left). Behind, Normi, a friend. It is a nice team!!

COMMUNITY GARDEN - NORWICH, VERMONT

It is September and everything is growing fast, peas, onions, corn... It is a privilege to have a pleasant summer here.. everything grows fast. The flowers give their best to the environment: color, beauty, scent, happyness...


Here the first zucchinis. I was told that I can eat their flowers which I tried them with garlic and oil in a pan... Guess what! Delicious!

Cleaning the space, feeding the plants are our priority to have success with healthy and delicious harvest. When I sowed this tiny Chamolille seeds, almost invisible I couldn't imagine what will come later!...Then looking at these plants, their shape with flowers, it is something wonderful!
We cannot stop the harvest!

Onion, onions, onions, potatoes and flowers

Before ends the season, we had a Harvest Potluck with all the gardeners. I prepared a Peruvian spicy sauce with fingerling potatoes (see below photo in the red dish)Dominica Borg our gardener fellow, cutting blueberry cake.


Enjoy Michael!

The below coliflower was my huge challenge... I saw it growing step by step until it turned like a tender cotton.

Then it ended up cooked in this delicious dish "Escabeche de Coliflor" a Peruvian dish.

Eating what we grew up in the garden this "Escabeche de Pollo" with carrots, onion, parsley, hot pepper, coliflower, peas, green beans. The recipe has chicken.
ENDING THE GARDEN SEASON

The kale is a strong plant. In the middle of october after several critical cold nights, the kale is still up.

Before, this was the kale seedling among a path of green been seeds that I planted for companion.
The kale harvest was a lot! We need to buy a freezer. The plan is to enjoy the frozen kale in delicious green soup from Portugal... I cannot wait!! Michael at home having difficulties cleaning up the kale, because we got a lot!

That was our wonderful time in the garden. With expectations, dissapointings, challenges but with lots of perseverance and care.. All these were the ways to do gardening. We love to see butterflies, bees, birds enjoying our plan... and of course, eating our organic veggies.


Videos that I recorded before we pulled out our tomato plants due to the Late Blight.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Oh! Fall, Nice Potatoes

What a such nice experience having the fall season in this part of the country. Each year there is a spectacular colorful scenario with the leaves (red, terra, orange, intense green), you would be here to know what I am talking about.
Red leaf in Windor, Vermont
My garden is still surprising me! I never imagined to harvest potatoes as I did some days ago! Looking at them as hidden treasures underground, it is quite nice experience.
That reminds me Perú, by being the protagonist since 8 thousand years when its ancestors had done researchments on a place called Maras in Cusco to control or discover the differentes climates over platforms (andenes) planting potato seeds or coca. They had discovered for over three  thousands varieties of these ancient tubers.

The United Nations - UN has declared 2008 as "Year of the Potato".  Thus, on May 31, 2008, Peru has celebrated the "National Day of the Potato" with its motto 'Treasure from Peru, Food for the World, en many Peruvian places there were fairs where Andean peasants and neighborhood from the urban places displayed several posibilities to cook this popular tuber.Now at home, we will have this sensation to eat potatoes "de la chacra a la olla" (popular expression that means "from the garden to the pot". Mmmmm.... Baked potatoes with cheese, milk, some butter... I wanna try it! Let me know if you need the recipe :)
White and pink potatoes ready to cook!

Friday, August 8, 2008

At the End of the Summer - More Harvest!

Harvesting time! It is time for picking sunflowers and zinnias, too! This cute flower, shown above, was grown by seed. Several bees are flying around the flowers, they are looking for nectar, that make me so happy. So, I need to think twice before I cut flowers for our dinning table or leave them for the bees. Actually, I am one of those who love sharing, so the agreement was to cut quarter of the flowers for home and the rest for these hard workers bees, queens of the honey!
The whiteness of these "Baby's Breath" flowers has a radiant sensation. A bunch of those mixed with some colorful flowers will look like white sparkles! We got a lot of these flowers in our garden which I decided to share with my gardener partners in Norwich, VT.
What a pleasant sensation doing the harvest of the things that you have raised. The 70% of vegetables and 99% of flowers were grew from direct seeds in the soil, fed with organic compost following the rules of our community garden. I am proud of these vegetables (see picture above)... Swiss chard, leeks, basil, tomatoes, hot pepper, lettuce, carrots, you could not imagine how nice and fresh scent I smelt that day.
Last Monday, when Michael was back home from Germany, I made this basket with vegetables in as a welcome gift. Unique from our garden! and beside a bottle of Chilean wine "Santa Rita".
Few days ago, we went to a blueberrie farm, "Super Acres" in Lyme, NH. The system is interesting. it is a kind of self service without owners or other people to assist you around the field. There are only some banners for customer orientation. At the end of the picking the customer weighs the blueberries using a scale, then the money should be put in the mail box. How easy, don't you think? Michael and I picked 25 pounds (11 kg). There was not room in our freezer but I am glad I asked for help in a local church to keep some pounds in its big freezer. Now we have plenty of blueberries, raspberries and strawberries for the entire next winter!

A CURIOUS CASE
When I pulled out this couple of carrots they looked embraced each other. I am guessing, maybe it was because I sow the seeds too close. Well, they made my day a nice one looking this unusual 'embrace'. Now, they are well cooked in a delicious soup.