its victory garden time

ITS VICTORY GARDEN TIME

this weekend when i talked my wife she into driving me to my garden i found these three carrots tucked around and under my small row of lettuce
normally i would have pulled them up washed them off stuck them in my pocket feasting on them as i gardened
when i got to the green stalk part i would usually walk up and feed it to the chickens
not that day
no
i brought those three home
the carrots will be eaten raw or put in a stew or soup
the tops can be saved and used eg to make carrot top pesto
here is the recipe from the austin jbg organics website

we dont want to waste anything

my wife she and i harvested these things from my 400 sq ft garden
sweet peas
onions thank you dixondale onions
garlic
for greens for salads we harvested lettuce spinach curly leaf kale swiss chard amaranth leaves and malibar spinach

we dont have to worry about any of this being contaminated by the coronavirus
we washed our hands well before and after we gardened
when we got all this home we washed it well and placed it in the refrigerator
we have enough greens for a couple weeks of salads

i took a hard look at what i have planted and what i will plant this spring
i only will plant things we can save or freeze and eat as we go
i eliminated my okra and egg plant this year since they dont produce enough to justify the space they take up
maybe ill bring them back next year

these are the things i have grown and have been able to save to eat later

tomatoes
i will increase the numbers i plant
i will plant my sisterinlaws t tomato roma early girl celebrity cherokee purple black krim sweet 100 sungold and others that i find to plant later
our garden was to have a giant plant sale so i will have access to a lot of tomato plants
the excess tomatoes i grow that we dont eat fresh will be frozen in ziplock bags

peppers like bell mild tam jalapeno banana peppers we will eat and freeze the bells and jalapenos also
we are still using some left over jalapenos from last years crop
the bananas we dont freeze as i tend to eat all of them anyway
last year i did pickle some by chopping them up and pickling with onions and jalapenos
we use the frozen bells and jalapenos in our cooking

basil
we use it fresh and my wife she makes basil pesto to freeze for future use

beans
i plant billie beans or peruvan beans named after my mother in law who gets them for me from the local mexican market
i saved seeds from last years crop and will soon plant them again

bush french filet green beans are a thin green bean that tastes good off the vine or cooked
any we dont eat i freeze for future use
we have one bag left from last year

vine french filet green beans
they look just like the bush ones
we freeze them also if they make it out of the garden

christmas lima beans that grow up a vine
these make the best beans that have a natural ham flavor to them
they look like what i use to call big butter beans when cooked
i have 4 quarts from last year still to eat


onions
we have about 200 of these that are bulbing up now
when the tops fall down i will harvest and store in our garage hanging them in my pantyhose onion chimes


garlic
we have about 50 of these
we will dry them and hang them in our garage
which i must add smells like garlic and onions

tatume squash
it is a hot weather squash that grows as a vine
you can pick them small and eat them like a zucchini or let them grow bigger and save them like a winter squash

ive decided not to grow cukes this year
maybe next year

i will intersperse lettuce plants in the shady parts of the garden to grow until the weather gets too hot

later the purslane or portulaca
will pop up in the garden
its treated as a weed here
but its edible and we add it to our salads

we have 3 kales and will let them grow as long as they can
sometimes you can make them last all summer long so we can have kale to eat in our salads and or in a stir fry

we also will grow swiss chard as long as we can
we use the small leaves in our salads

i plan to only use my tools in my garden and will wash my hands before and after i garden
until this pandemic goes away i will remain masked while i garden

i know this produce will be nutritious and organic and covid 19 free

i thought a lot about the victory gardens that people grew during
world war 2
its time we all do our part

i talked to someone who sells nursery plants and seeds and he says they are selling like crazy
we all need to do this

i am also thinking about adding some things on my deck like i grew when i first moved here
maybe some cherry tomatoes lettuce peppers swiss chard kale basil etc

yes
i think its victory garden time here in america

the organicgreen doctor