How to Mulch Your Garden

I look forward to gardening season every year! I love having a garden and having fresh vegetables right outside my door.

We start our seeds indoors to transplant them later into our garden when the weather is warmer.

When the weather is warmer, we start outside with soil prep and then get our vegetable transplants planted and direct seeding sown.

As Spring continues we enjoy watching our seeds sprout and our plants grow.

The garden starts out with all the plants in nice rows. Then mid summer hits so do the weeds! Lots and lots of weeds.

Mulching helps suppress weeds.

Less weeds in the garden, less disease, more harvest.

It prevents soil erosion.

Mulching moderates soil temperature changes.

Organic mulches break down over time, adding nutrients and enriching your soil.

A well mulched garden will save you hours of weeding. A good layer of mulch between rows and plants will shade the soil preventing sunlight to reach the weed seeds to germinate and grow. The mulching also helps the soil withhold moisture underneath.

Types of Mulch for the Garden

Straw: We like to use straw in our garden for mulch. We bale our own straw, so it is more available to us, but it is our favorite mulch to use. It is easy to put down throughout the garden. It doesn't compact, breaks down slowly, and last for a long time. You can find mulch at your local farm store or from a local farmer.

Pine Straw: Pine straw is the pine needles that fall from the trees 

Leaves: Shredded leaves

Grass Clippings: Gather up grass clippings from your yard and put down in the walkways and around your plants in the garden. 

Landscape Fabric: There are a lot of different kids of landscape fabric to choose from. Lay down a strip of the landscape fabric material between each row or lay down a strip and plant your vegetable plants within the landscape fabric.

How to Mulch in the Garden

- Start by covering the walking rows with the mulch. It's so much easier not having to maintain the unplanted area of your garden. Place about 4 inches of mulch down. 

- Then mulch around the plants in the garden. Do this to keep the weed seeds from germinating and growing within your vegetable plants growing rows. Layer about 2 to 3 inches of mulch around the plants if using an organic type mulch. 

- Keep the mulched area clean, should any weeds get through the mulch. 

When the soil is covered with mulch, very few weed seeds are able to germinate. 

Weeding can definitely be time consuming and although mulching takes a bit of time in the beginning, it will save you so much time later in the season when the weeds are growing the most.

Starting Seeds Indoors

Growing your own plants from seeds is a great way to save money on your garden. Grow your own seeds indoors early in the year so they are ready to be planted when the weather is warm enough.
Starting seeds indoors is a great way to extend the growing season.

Warm season vegetables like tomatoes and peppers and cool season vegetables do well with being started early and transplanted later into the garden.

When To Start Seeds Indoors and Picking Your Seeds

First step is deciding what seeds you would like to grow for the vegetables you would like in your garden. You can find seed packets at most general stores. Also be sure to check out your local garden center, where you can find seeds in the packet, but also in bulk. You might also buy seeds from some seed catalog companies. We grow a large amount of vegetables in our garden, so we always buy in bulk from some seed companies. 

Seeds need to be started early enough to be a good size when transplanting. You should start seeds indoors generally between 6 to 8 weeks before the average frost date. You'll want to read each of the seed packets to see what it says for when to plant seeds indoors for each type of seeds you'd like to grow. 

Some seeds are fast growers and others take a little longer. Fast seeds may only take a few weeks to grow large enough to transplant into the garden, while others are slower to germinate and takes the seeds longer to grown. 

Every growing zone has different seed starting dates based on the average first frost. On the back of the seed packets, will tell how many weeks ahead of the first frost date to sow the seeds. 

Indoor Seeds Starting Supplies

There are several seed starting supplies and equipment around, but the basics are seed planting trays, a good quality soil mix or peat pellets.

You can use eco-friendly pots that can be planted right in the ground at the time of transplanting or plastic cell trays, where you will remove the soil cube with the seedling in it to plant.

I like to use the peat pellets. They are available already in a peat pellet kit or you can buy them in bulk and put them in the tray yourself. Then add water over the tray for the pellets to absorb and they will expand and be ready to plant in. Water them in the trays and watch your seeds grow.

But any growing container will do just fine.

In addition to the essentials needed for starting seeds indoors, you might also want to get glow lights, a heat mat, and fertilizer. But these are not needed.

Location and Temperature

Seeds like warm temperatures to grow. This is why if you want to start them ahead of time, indoors works well. Warmer temperatures trigger the seeds that it is time to start growing and they will germinate and grow better than in colder temperatures. If you have a dark basement, seeds can still grow there with the proper equipment, like grow lights and a heat mat. 

How to Plant a Seed

- Fill your seed trays with a seed starting soil mix. Make sure the soil is loose and not packed in. If using peat pellets soak to get them so they expand and will be ready for planting. 

- Its convenient when sowing seeds to have the seeds from one vegetable in one hand and use the other hand for the actual planting.

- Make a hole in the soil first and gently press the seed into the soil to the correct planting depth. A good rule of them for planting depth is twice the side of the seed. 

- Gently cover each seed with soil and pack it down lightly to ensure the seed is covered. 

- Be sure to label what seeds you planted. I like to use popsicle sticks for an easy way to label.

My son helped with the labeling :)

- Water the seeds by putting water in the tray and it will be soaked up by the soil. Also use a spray bottle and mist the tops of the seed trays. If you want you can cover the seed trays with plastic wrap or the clear lid that comes with some of the kits. This will retain moisture and create a greenhouse effect and hold in some of the heat. Once the seeds have sprouted, you don't need to cover them any longer. 

-Keep the soil moist but not overly wet. 

-If the seedlings are growing near a window, occasionally you will need to turn the trays so the plants are exposed to sunlight on all sides and don't only grow and lean in one direction - toward the window.

-  About a week before you plan to transplant the seedlings outside in your garden, you will need to harden them off. Hardening off is a term used in gardening for getting seedlings used to the outside. To do this, start by placing the seed trays outside for a couple hours each day. Increase the amount closer to the time of planting and eventually leaving them out all day.

- Transfer your seedlings and plant them into your garden. 

Seed starting is a fun early season gardening project. It takes a little time but has huge rewards with leading to a bountiful harvest.

Sunflower Fields

Driving past acres and acres of farm fields, there is so much beauty growing in our countryside. But when I come up on a field or a patch of full sunflowers it is truly breathtaking! I love the sight!

We grow a variety of crops on our farm, but this year I wanted to grow a good size patch of all sunflowers!

I wanted to plant them later than usual, so they would be ready in the early fall season! I'm so glad we did! I have loved looking down our little hill at my small patch of beautiful sunflowers!

They are bright and cheery and sure to brighten one's day! I love the golden glow in the fall sunset against the beautiful blooms!

Plus they have been really fun to photograph! I thought I'd share a little of the beauty!

Tips for Growing Lettuce

Whether you're a seasoned gardener or a beginning gardener, lettuce should be grown in your garden. Fresh cut lettuce straight from the garden is perfect for a fresh salad!

Different varieties of Bibb lettuce

Lettuce is super easy to grow! It takes up little space and has a fast maturity rate from seed to harvest.

Lettuce can be grown for many weeks in the cooler weather months in Spring and Fall. Or continue to grow it in the Summer months by planting a heat tolerant lettuce.

Muslin Mix Leaf Lettuce 

Here are some easy basic tips for growing lettuce.

- Planting Times. In the Spring lettuce seed can be planted as early as about a month before the last frost, if the soil is warm enough to work. In the Summer months, plant a heat tolerant variety. For Fall months, plant lettuce seed about 4 to 6 weeks before the last frost. Lettuce likes temperatures from 45 to 80 degrees depending the variety. If it is too warm for the lettuce, it will bolt and will taste bitter. So be sure to plant a heat tolerant lettuce if wanting to grow it in the Summer months. 

- Location. Lettuce grows fastest when planted in full sun. It will tolerate partial shade also. Plant some onions, tomatoes, kale, and carrots along with lettuce in a pot and have a nice container garden as well!

- Moisture. Plant lettuce in a moist and well drained environment. For the most tender leaves, water regularly during dry weather. When watering heads of lettuce, water at the ground instead of overhead to prevent water from being trapped in the head and create bad areas in the lettuce head. 

- Types of Lettuce. There are several types of lettuce. 

.Leaf lettuce  - which is ready to eat any size. Simply cut the leaves and enjoy. Leaf lettuce is called "cut and come again" vegetable, as you harvest the leaves by cutting them off and then more will grow. You can cut baby leaves for the most tender salads, or cut them when they are bigger. 

.Romaine lettuce - when this lettuce is full size it forms and a clump of upright leaves. 

.Bibb lettuce - or butterhead is another name. This type of lettuce forms a loose head that can be picked any time, but for it to be full size, it will be about 6 inches in diameter. 

.Iceberg lettuce  - forms a head of lettuce. Cut lettuce off at ground level when harvesting. 

- Seeding/Planting. Direct sow lettuce seed in the ground. As it grows be sure to watch out for any weeks that may come up and pull them from preventing to grow. Work up the ground where you want to plant your lettuce. Sow the lettuce seed by simply sprinkling it over the area. Lightly brush the top of the soil to cover the seed. 

Lettuce seed can also be planted in to pots as starts and transplanted later as it has grown bigger. 

Create a kitchen garden by planting lettuce, onion sets, radishes, spinach, and kale together in a container and create a container garden. 

- End of Season. If it gets too hot for the lettuce plant it will start to bolt and go to seed. If this is just starting to happen you can harvest the leaves and store in the refrigerator and it will take away some of the bitterness. If the lettuce plant has bolted too far, simply pull up the plant, as it will be bitter to eat.

There's nothing better than a fresh homegrown salad! Be sure to plant some lettuce in your garden!

What are Heirloom Tomatoes?

Heirloom tomatoes! You may have heard of them and even eaten them a few times. You might grow them in your garden, or even buy them at the farmers market/grocery store. August is a prime month for fresh homegrown tomatoes (although often times gardeners' tomatoes are ready sooner) One of my favorite vegetables to look forward to in the garden are the tomatoes, all different kinds. Let's talk a little about heirloom tomatoes in this post, one of my favorite edible parts of summer!

So what does heirloom mean for heirloom tomatoes?
For heirloom tomatoes the word heirloom refers to the tomato seeds that have been harvested from certain varieties and passed down for generations because of their favorable and desirable characteristics and qualities.

How are they grown?
Heirloom tomatoes are grown the same way as any other tomato. Here are some pictures of green heirloom tomatoes just a few weeks before they will start turning colors.

Why do people want specifically heirloom tomatoes?
Heirloom tomatoes have not be changed for traits such as shelf life, color, and size/uniformity like the average tomato you see more often. Heirloom tomatoes have more of what people call and "ugly" look to them with different coloring, deep cracks, and bumps.

Where can you buy heirloom tomatoes?
You can find heirloom tomatoes at most farmers markets. A lot of farms that offer a CSA membership might add heirloom tomatoes to their weekly shares as well. Since they are becoming more popular, they are more readily available in several grocery stores as well.

Heirloom tomatoes are great to enjoy just as you would any other type of tomato. Be sure to try out some recipes specifically using heirloom tomatoes as well.

What is Kohlrabi?

Kohlrabi!! It's a little different than your commonly known vegetables that you are more familiar with. Although it is not as commonly known, it is one of our favorite vegetables we look forward to every gardening season.

How is it grown?
Kohlrabi is an easy cool weather vegetable to grow. It is easily grown from seed and has a short growing time til harvesting, which makes it a great vegetable to grow all season long! It grows either light green or purple varieties and is harvested around tennis ball to softball size for it to be crisp and tender. Any larger than that can result in split and woody kohlrabi. The bulb grows above ground and size can easily be seen for harvesting.

So what is kohlrabi? This is the first big question we get at the farmers market when it comes to kohlrabi.

Kohlrabi is part of the cabbage family. so it has the sweet but somewhat peppery flavor. Generally we eat just the bulb part growing close to the ground, but the whole kohlrabi plant is edible. The skin of the kohlrabi has a rubbery texture similar to broccoli and cauliflower stems and can be a light green or purple color. When eating, you peel the skin off and eat the white center of the kohlrabi. Which is a pleasantly crunchy texture.

I haven't seen kohlrabi much in our local grocery stores, but it can easily be found at your local farmers markets during the growing season.

When selecting kohlrabi to buy, you want the bulk part to be firm and solid. We pick them and find that we like them best when they are about the size of a softball. You may find them with the stems on or already taken off. When storing kohlrabi, remove the stems and they will store nicely in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator for a week or so.

Now for the second big question when it comes to kohlrabi....how do you eat it?

Kohlrabi is pretty great eaten raw, which is how my family enjoys it the majority of the time! We just recently have tried using it in a few recipes. When eaten raw, it has a cabbage-y broccoli like flavor with a hint of sweet and peppery. It has a crisp texture and great to snack on. We LOVE just peeling it and slicing it thin and snacking on it.

For cooking with kohlrabi, we have sliced it into pieces and added it to our crock pot meal of sausage, potatoes, and green beans. It soaked up the flavor and was delicious! We have also added it to stir fry. We had a customer at the market share with us that she has cut it up real fine and added it to her meatloaf. Another customer has shredded it and added it to her homemade coleslaw.

Kohlrabi is a great versatile vegetable to enjoy in the raw form as a snack, to use as a filler in other meals, or to enhance it in any side dish to any meal.

Have you ever cooked with kohlrabi? How do you enjoy eating it?