Organic Garden - Winter
GARDEN BABIES IN THE BASEMENT
My garden babies are coming up. This is fun, but it does have its downside. First of all, the whole house smells like the organic fish spray that I spray on my seedlings. It is a wonderful fertilizer-but the smell is intense! You know, the kind of smell present at a lake when there a lot of dead fish on the shore. I buy it from Gardens Alive.
Secondly, I am VERY CROWDED. Our old farmhouse is not large and the basement where the baby plants are growing under the grow-lights is cramped and crowded. Its not full size, but houses the washer/dryer, two freezers, two water heaters, the furnace, a wood stove w/wood and a whelping pen for the mamma Pyrs. Throw in seven-hanging light assemblies and fifty-flats of setouts and it is really cramped. I need more room to work. High up on my "want list" is a BIG, year around, greenhouse. Meanwhile, I will make do with the space available.
I always plant enough seed to produce setouts for our garden, plus extras to sell. The demand is greater than the plants that are available. I do not like to disappoint folks. This year, I am taking orders to hold plants. Call or email if you want to be put on the list. I will let you know when they are ready to be picked up.
These sales offset my garden expenses and people are glad to get the healthy heirloom plants. I sell tomatoes and peppers plants - plus the herbs. I have grown extra basils, dill, parsley, marjoram, thyme, chives for to sell. Some of the most popular are the Lemon and lime basil! There are also a licorice and cinnamon basils.
A picture is worth 1000 words. I really love doing this and it shows!
DIRTY FINGER NAILS
WHAT THIS COUNTRY NEEDS IS CLEANER MINDS AND DIRTIER FINGERNAILS. - Mark Twain
Winter is wearing long and I am ready for the fresh sunshine of spring. Yesterday, I ignored the cold and bleakness and spent quality time with my seed catalogs.
I ordered the old and faithful seeds, plus an assortment of new things that I have never grown before. It helps pass the time to plan ahead and "get ready".
Today, I planted another "salad tray" under gro-lights in the basement. We are able to grow our own organic greens and enjoy fresh salads all winter long. I am also picking red Kale and cabbage leaves to add to the salads. The parsley is coming up now and that will go in soon. Parsley takes a long time to germinate and the seed must be soaked overnight before planting.
My fingernails are dirty from working with the potting soil. It feels good!
GREENHOUSE
Considering that six-foot snowdrifts bank the greenhouse and I need a ski pole to safely maneuver the distance from the back door to the greenhouse, the effort is worthwhile in January! Inside, there are hanging bunches of herbs, buckets filled with sunflower seeds, and two cats, who have set up residence for the winter. It is also almost 40degrees because the sun has been beating on the plastic roof and warming things up all morning.
The reason for the trip is to take some of the sunflower seed out to the New Zealand rabbits. The sunflower heads were cut off with a machete knife last fall and safely stored in the green house for the winter. The seeds are from Black Russian Giant Sunflowers. The sunflower seeds provide the rabbits with the needed oil and protein to make thick beautiful fur and to get them ready for breeding in February.
I will also fill the bird feeder while I am at it. The blue jays really love sunflower seeds.
The sheep have followed me and will be rewarded with several pails of dried beans-still on the vines the beans have been stored in the green house too-as winter treats for the sheep and the chickens.
January is too early for green house activity. However, a quick trip out to get some treats for the animals is a very pleasant way to break up a morning spent inside. My two favorite cats, "Spike" and "Falaphl" have been spending the winter in there. I put old cushions in several plant trays for them last fall. They look pretty cute, all curled up and snoozing. They do get up for daily trips to the barn for feeding and scratching.
The green house serves as a drying house for my hanging herbs over the winter. I hang then in big bunches from the ceiling and bring then into the kitchen when I want to make something. Last week, it was peppermint tea time. I cut down several bunches of peppermint-hauled them into the kitchen-ground them up in my blender-and enjoyed a hot cup of peppermint tea with a spoonful of honey. The rest is stored in quart jars in the pantry. I especially like the Chocolate mint.
SURVIVAL
January-for all of you that have asked-at Milk and Honey Farm is a season of new beginnings-a time to plan and prepare. The holidays are over and all the company has gone home. The sheep are all bred and will have their lambs in April. Two of our Great Pyrenees dogs will have their puppies in March. It is a perfect time to get ready for the next GARDEN! There is a great deal of personal satisfaction in this when it is minus 20 degrees and we have six foot snow drifts in the back yard!
The first step is to inventory the heirloom seeds that were carefully dried and put away last fall. Sarah enjoys reading all the seed catalogs that arrive in January and orders new seed. Each year the garden gets bigger-and new beds are planned. Since we grow herds and flowers and well as vegetables, research is important and very necessary.
The seeds are ordered from several different companies-Pinetree Garden Seeds www. superseeds.com is one our favorites. New items that are to be planted this year are melons from Alaska, New Zealand Spinach, Goldbar summer squash and Romano pole beans from Italy----all from Pinetree Garden Seed Company.
While waiting for the seeds to arrive, we clean up our "nursery", otherwise known as the basement. Wall to wall florescent light bulbs are replaced and hung-the extension cords and timers are located and set in place, and the flats are filled with potting soil. By the middle of February, there will be over l00 flats of vegetables , herbs and flowers all getting a head start in our basement. Here they will grow until the big move out to the Hoop House green house in April.
Instead of an after the holidays seasonal "let down", January has become the best time to anticipate next summers garden. The basement is a cheerful place filled with little green things and bright lights. The smell of earth is strong and pleasant on a cold winter's day. The daily routine of misting the seedlings and adjusting the lights breaks up winter's boredom.
To all our friends and family who have been wondering as to how we survive January in Minnesota, this is how we do it. It is very, very, good!
I GROW MY PLANTS FROM SEED BECAUSE
- I save a LOT of money.
- By picking out the seed to grow, I can get the best there is. We use only heir loon seeds that have not been treated with anything!
- Home grown plants are free of shipping stress that nursery plants go through in transport.
- Seed catalogs carry hundreds of varieties of seed. This lets me experiment with all kinds of different and unusual plants and I find this interesting. Nurseries only carry a few varieties of each plant.
- I plant seeds for my own use and also raise extra plants to sell. This pays for the cost of my garden supplies.
- It provides me with entertainment and education on cold sub zero winter days in Minnesota.
- It is FUN ! ! ! ! !