Garden Gossip

I Found a Heart Beet today. I'm still Alive!

2007-09-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

You never know just what you'll find when picking veggies. I found a nice heart beet today when getting beets for farmers market.

It's not often there's such a nice heart shaped beet.

Tiger Lily bouquets

2007-07-12T15:35:00.000-07:00

The tiger lilies have been blooming and make lovely flower arrangements along with other wild flowers like the white yarrow in this photo. They add color and are a pretty addition to the veggies I take to the Grand Rapids Farmers Market. You can find more of my framed photos of tiger lily flowers in my Imagekind Tiger Lily gallery.

The tiger lilies are almost done blooming so there won't be many more to take to market. Hopefully the glads will begin blooming before too long.

Tags: Tiger+Lilies,ImageKind,Tiger+Lily,Flowers

The Garden is Growing

2007-07-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

Row covers came off the tomatoes yesterday. Stakes were pounded in and the tomatoes tied up. The vines are nice and healthy with some blossoms. This first picture shows a couple of rows of beets, three rows of kohlrabi, and a row of tomatoes.

Today I was able to pick quite a few bunches of beets for tomorrows farmers market. This next pictures shows a row of shallots, two rows of onions, and more 4 rows of beets. Got a quite a few nice baseball sized walla-walla onions picked too.

This last picture shows a couple rows of glads and some tomato plants.

Will have to make another trip to the garden and see how many kohlrabi are big enough to pick. First I'm gonna go and check the wild blueberry patch, I've heard they are ready.

Preparing for Farmers Market

2007-06-15T19:08:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow starts the season at the Grand Rapids Farmers Market so I spent the day getting ready. There's not a whole lot ready in the garden yet, did find many more radishes than I thought there'd be. Aren't the 'Easter Eggs' pretty?

Picked another batch about the same size as what's on the sorting screen. Ended up with 57 bunches. There was also rhubarb and green onions to pick and bunch.

After getting veggies picked it was time to find all the market supplies etc. I'd put away so they could be found. Ummm, Well.... There was some searching involved. It wasn't to bad really, most things were pretty much where I thought they'd be.

Have the truck all loaded and ready to go except for the cash box, veggies, and cold water. Always gotta have something cool to drink when it's hot out. Now for a good nights rest, then up early and off to market.

Planting Tomatoes

2007-06-01T16:23:00.000-07:00

It was time to get the tomatoes planted, the weather was good, the ground ready, rows covered with plastic, and I found the time. So.... The trailer got loaded up with the needed equipment and tomatoes. There were 75 plus plants in nice shape for putting in the ground. Eight Taxi (a yellow determinate, tennis ball to baseball size) and the rest were New Girl, an improved Early Girl (indeterminate, very uniform fruit of tennis ball to baseball size.)

The garden cart is used for planting. First holes are punched with a bulb planter, tomato plants are set, and then given a drink of water.

Next, hoops are put in place for the row cover.

Looking across the garden with a couple of hoops over a tomato row. The Mississippi river is in the background with trees on the far bank.

The garden after the row covers are up. The three rows in the foreground are onions and shallots. Next are four rows of beets, then two and a half rows of glads. On the other side of the row covers there are two rows of kohlrabi, two more rows of beets, and another row of kohlrabi.

Technorati Tags: planting, tomatoes, beets, onions, shallots, kohlrabi

2007-04-29T07:15:00.000-07:00

Planting onions yesterday got me thinking (Always a dangerous thing!) about veggie art. So.... I checked Imagekind for onion art. Found something that tickled my fancy. Look at what I found!

Tears Print

Now doesn't that want to make you Laugh, or Cry?

Technorati Tags: onion, veggie art, art

Planting Onions

2007-04-29T04:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning was beautiful and the onion plants arrived in the mail. So... I decided to till up a few rows in the garden and get them planted.

I started with the Walla-Wallas, planting them about 4 inches apart in three rows down the center of the raised row.

It was really nice working in the garden with the sun shining, a slight breeze blowing, and the sound of water rushing over the rocks in the Mississippi river.

Using the garden cart is so much easier on the knees and back when planting. Can't remember how many years I went without a garden cart, and after building one and using it, said to myself "Why didn't I build one years ago?"

After getting a batch of plants in they were mulched with straw to help keep moisture and cut down on weeds. If only, all the good stuff grew as well as the weeds. Wouldn't it be nice to have great crops without weeds? Guess, we can dream can't we!

After getting the Walla-Wallas planted and mulched, I started another row with Red Bull onions.

I haven't tried these in years past. Hope they do well. Mostly red onions just haven't gotten as big as I'd like in other years. They haven't sold as well at farmers market either. It seems the big Walla-Wallas have sold the best. Maybe if red onions get big they will sell too. I can hope.

The onions were ordered from Johnny's selected seeds and arrived in great shape with good sized plants in good sized bunches.

I've had good luck with orders from Johnny's and will likely be ordering from them again.

This spring's order also included seeds for New Girl tomatoes, Early Wonder tall top beets, Taxi tomatoes, and Provider beans.

Now that the onions are in, I'm gonna try and get some shallots and galdiolus in. Looks like another nice day, so maybe I'll get some of them in the ground.

Technorati Tags: planting, garden, onions, seeds

Enjoying the Day!

2007-04-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

Who's been sitting in my lawn chair?

It wasn't Goldilocks!

If this nice warm weather keeps up it won't be long and the garden can be tilled and some things planted. The electric fence is turned off and the wires were taken down for winter. I see fresh deer tracks in the dirt so will have to get the wires back up and the wire hot just as soon as things get planted.

Pumpkin Dump Cake

2007-02-18T11:22:00.000-08:00

The local Farmers Market I sell at hires a caterer to come to the market and serve samples of dishes she's made with what's in season. She passes out the recipes along with the samples. Everyone enjoys when she is serving and tasting all the different things she fixes.

This is a great pumpkin recipe she served:

Pumpkin Dump Cake

Ingredients
16 oz. can pumpkin
4 eggs
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
Box of yellow or white cake mix
1 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup melted butter

Instructions
Mix pumpkin, eggs, evaporated milk, and sugar. Put in greased 9 x 13 pan.
Spread evenly. Sprinkle evenly with cake mix. Add chopped nuts and drizzle
with melted butter. Bake 1 hour. May be served with Cool Whip.

Zucchini Baby!

2007-02-12T06:57:00.000-08:00

Last Fall after a day of selling my Garden Goodies at the Farmers Market I found a Zucchini Baby in my truck when packing up to go home. Guess that's what happens when you don't lock your car doors!

One of the other Vendors had some fun painting the face, using corn silk for the hair, and dressing a big Zucchini in Baby clothes. It sure turned out cute.

Ladybug - Ladybug ...

2007-02-08T09:27:00.000-08:00

Keep your daughters out of the garden if you think they're too young to marry! In central Europe, when a ladybird (ladybug in the U.S.) walks across the hand of a young maiden, it's believed that she'll marry within the year. Considered to stand for good luck, if a ladybug touches you, it means you may have a wish. But, if you kill a ladybug, it's said that you'll have bad luck. The lady beetle (as scientists prefer to call them) is one of the friends of your garden. It's favorite food is aphids. The ladybug hybernates all winter and then mates in the spring. They lay their eggs near an aphid colony - which to the ladybug is like moving across the street from McDonalds.

Coccinellidae is the scientific name for this family of beetles. I prefer "ladybugs". Easier to spell and to say.

If your garden is lacking in ladybugs, they can be purchased at most nurseries.

This design as well as other ladybug designs is available on t-shirts as well as items for the home and great as gifts at my shop!

Cranberry-Broccoli Salad Recipe

2007-01-15T12:59:00.000-08:00

This is a great salad filled with lots of good stuff for pot-lucks or anytime.

Cranberry-Broccoli Salad

Ingredients
1/2 head cauliflower
1 bunch broccoli (cut small)
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup dried cranberries (Craisins)
1/2 lb. bacon, fried and crumbled
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup vinegar

Instructions
Combine cauliflower, broccoli, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries (Craisins),
and bacon.
Mix well sugar, oil, and vinegar then pour dressing over salad.

Cute Gardening Tote Bag

2006-12-06T18:55:00.000-08:00

Look at this Cute Gardening Tote Bag. Isn't it Great? It's perfect for the Gardener to keep their Gardening Tools, Gloves, & Stuff in. It'd make a perfect Gift for Your Favorite Gardener.

Gardening Stuff Tote Bag

Technorati Tags: gardening, tote bag

It's Zucchini Season! Lock Your Car Doors!

2006-08-20T11:03:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year, the Zucchini are really growing and lots of gardeners have a surplus of them. If you're not careful and forget to lock your car doors you might find a car full of squash this time of year.

This Zucchini Season Tote Bag is perfect for the Gardener or Farmers Market shopper when the Zucchini are in Season!

Zucchini Season Tote Bag

This fun design is also available on many styles of T-Shirt & much more.

Technorati Tags: zucchini, tote bag, farmers market

Growing GREAT Roses

2006-06-11T19:56:00.000-07:00

I love roses page

My hybrid Tea Roses have been lagging for the past couple of years even though I gave them rose food and amended the soil with peat moss.

This year, it was time to get serious. I had always heard about cow manure but was afraid to use it for fear of the smell. I had heard countless stories from my mom about some neighbor years ago who would use this on her garden and what a stench it would be on a hot summer day! Add to that the stories my hubby told me of
Germany in the summertime when the farmers would use cow manure for their crops.

Fear no more. Soil amendment in this country has come a long way. I purchased a product called Black Kow and used it on the roses. In a short while, I had thicker healthier stems, leaves that had virtually no fungus, and lots and lots of blooms! More blooms than I have had even when I first planted the roses! Now its time to look into Nematodes, for those pesky Japanese beetles, which are back, but that's for next time!

And here is a photo of one of these New Roses

Lincoln Rose Page

Happy Gardening

Nitsupak Nitsupak Art & Photography

Weeds, Weeds, and more Weeds!

2006-06-09T07:07:00.000-07:00

It's that time of Year! The Weeds are growing!

I spent several hours in the garden yesterday getting rid of weeds. No, I didn't get rid of all the Weeds, there's lot's more.

The worst weeds in the garden are... Red Root Pig Weed, Nut Sedge, and Quack Grass. The nut sedge is especially tough to get rid of because it keeps coming back from the nuts if you don't get them out.

Anyway... Here are some great designs for gardeners that know about weeds:

These T-Shirts, Mugs, & more that say "Give a weed an inch and it will take a yard!" If you have a yard or are a gardener you can relate to having weeds take over your yard or garden.

These Head Gardener & Weed Puller - T-shirts, Cap and Sweatshirts are great for anyone that likes to garden. They make great gifts for your favorite gardener.
This great design is from Full Moon Emporium

Technorati Tags: Weeds, Gardening, T-Shirts

Healing Garden

2006-05-23T15:16:00.000-07:00

It's alway exciting when we can think of ways to combine our interests. I love gardening and photography. Going into the garden each morning and taking the time to photograph each flower - or the ones I like the best - gives me such a feeling of satisfaction. I marvel at God's work and the fact that I can enjoy it for years to come.

A few months ago, a dear friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer and had to start chemo treatments. Each morning I'd choose a flower photo that I'd taken - either recently or in the past - and would email it to her. She wrote that she enjoyed them so much and would I continue until she was through with her treatments. I have.

It can be such a feeling of helplessness when someone lives too far away to take a bouquet of fresh flowers or a bowl of chicken soup. Darlene finished her chemo treatments last week, so I gathered all the photos I'd taken and created a "healing garden" album available for her anytime. It's been therapeutic for both of us and so wonderful to be able to still enjoy the flowers long after the real ones have faded away.

I also use the photos of my flowers to create useful and fun items at cafepress.com/bysandra - such as the Peace Rose greeting card - pictured.

Click here to visit our Healing Garden -- I'd like to have our roses meet you.

Technorati Tags: flowers, wellness, roses, friendship

Red Rose After The Rain

2006-05-20T10:07:00.000-07:00

I took this photo of a lovely rose that blossomed on a new rose bush that we have next to our turtle pond. It was after an unanticipated spring shower and it just sparkled! Okay, technically, the rose bush is also actually IN the little turtle encampment we have surrounding the pond. Not just to give the turtles something lovely to look at, but to save it from being eaten by the ground squirrels here, who seem to like red flowers, or at least chewing off the stems of red flowers - LOL.

Anyway, this image is available on everything from apparel to ceramics, and paper goods like greeting cards and blank journals, and more! Choose a few of your favorites and create a gift set - good for any occasion, and particularly nice for gardeners and rose enthusiasts. Click here to wander through the roses!
Technorati Tags: rose, flower, gift idea, garden

The Fiddleheads are coming up!

2006-05-03T15:53:00.000-07:00

It's rained quite a bit the last several days and the fiddleheads are coming up. Found enough this morning to fix a small batch of fresh fiddleheads and chives. Cooked them up in the fry pan with some oil, salt, garlic powder, and a bit of soy sauce. Mmmm.... They tasted good!

Technorati Tags: fiddleheads, chives, cooking

Fiddlehead Soup

2006-04-28T08:42:00.000-07:00

With such nice spring weather I've been antsy to start sampling the fresh greens and goodies. Oh... How good fiddlesoup would taste! Of course I never use a recipe, just take a little of this and a little of that, then put it in the crock pot. Wouldn't you know, pretty soon that pot is full and I was only gonna make a small batch. Oh well! That's life. You can never make a small batch of soup.

Went out yesterday afternoon for a walk to check the fiddleheads. Nope not up yet. Darn it! The asparagus isn't poking through either. The rhubarb is coming along nicely but not ready to pick yet either. Guess I'll just have to continue waiting impatiently for spring greens.

For those of you that use recipes for soup, here's a link to a fiddlehead soup recipe. And if you are wondering what fiddleheads are, here's a good fiddlehead article that tells about the different kinds of ferns you get fiddleheads from.

Technorati Tags: fiddleheads, soup, spring greens

Starting Tomatoes

2006-04-21T10:36:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I dug out the garden seeds and started a bunch of tomatoes. I know for many of you this will seem late to be starting seeds. Well... Here in North Central Minnesota where I've seen frost every month of the year, I've found that starting them much earlier is no benefit.

Mostly I've gone with New Girl tomatoes again. They are 62 days, an indeterminate, and improved Early Girl. They have always produced nice marketable sized fruits. I also did some Sweet Chelsea, another indeterminate, and a large cherry tomato. Another tomato I started is Gold Nugget, a yellow cherry and a determinate.

Here's a cute tomato design I've added to GardenerWares:

You say tomato, I say tomato...wait, what's the problem? These Mugs, T-Shirts, & more with a cute tomato drawing are great for gardeners and chefs. They also make great gifts.
This great design is from Nitwit Creations

Technorati Tags: Tomato, Starting Seeds, Gardening

White Roses and Japanese beetles

2006-04-16T19:21:00.000-07:00

Like many of you, I'm a big fan of white roses, especially the JFK Rose. One of the biggest problems with these wonderful flowers is that they seem to attract Japanese beetles! These pesky little varmits eat away at the flower, the leaves and eventually destroy the plant.

One of my gardening buddies came up with a really neat idea! She didn't want to use the pesticide Seven on the roses, and the beetle traps didn't seem to help. She noticed that these beetles seem to be attracted to white flowers. So she put up a white sheet in her backyard away from the roses. Lo and behold, the beetles gathered on the sheet. The next morning, she came outside and saw all the beetles on the sheet. She picked them off and put them in soapy water. The trick worked. No pesticides, and no more beetles.

Here are some white roses, that will NEVER have beetles and will always be in bloom.

White Roses

Happy Gardening

Nitsupak Art & Photography

Technorati Tags: Japanese Beetles, White Roses, Roses

Flowers, trees and cranberry harvesting

2006-04-14T07:19:00.000-07:00

The natural world is full of colors! Take a look at some of my photography captured on various items -- like these ceramic-tile-covered wooden boxes!

I love to marvel at the strength of tiny flowers bursting through both the earth and piles of leaves!! I especially love seeing the bare trees of winter just soak up the sunshine of spring and then one day exude tiny leaves.

Seeing images of these beautiful and fragile things is one way I am reminded of the wonder of the world.

Commodore@CommodoresLocker.com

Technorati Tags: Flowers, Trees, Cranberries, Gift Boxes

Visualize Whirled Peas

2006-04-14T06:22:00.000-07:00

Easter is a good time for all of us to be thinking of World Peace with everyone getting along and having fun together.

What better way to have fun gardening than planting Peas. What a great Spring veggie.

Now... Wouldn't it be great if everyone, and not just us gardeners could 'Visualize Whirled Peas'? Wouldn't that would make the world a better place?

So... to make the World a better place at this time of year why don't we all try to get everyone to 'Visualize Whiled Peas'!

Visualize Whirled Peas Throw Pillow

Technorati Tags: Whirled Peas, World Peace, garden, Easter

Speaking of Bunnies

2006-04-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

We have a lot of wild cottontail rabbits that live all around our house. Most of them have learned that we've trained the dogs not to catch them, so they don't run very far away anymore when we go outside. Sometimes the dogs kind of run after them for a little bit, but it's only for fun - I think it's the equivalent of a person running through a flock of pidgeons and watching them scatter. Anyway, the other day I had my camera with me, so... wallah! Bunny photos!

Technorati Tags: cottontail, rabbits, photograph