where i've been...

... just popping in to say hello here! i know i've let thursdays here at tend go silent over the past weeks, but i've been a bit preoccupied. we welcomed our son, ethan sidney, into our lives on august 5! in the weeks before his birth, and since, i've had to let my garden go a bit wild. it's all i can do to keep it watered (especially during this crazy late summer heat wave). luckily, ethan seems to enjoy helping me water the tomatoes :) i'm grateful to have some wonderful neighbors at my community garden who have kept my plot mostly weeded. even still, i'm mostly calling this year's garden a wash, and i'm already looking forward to next summer. though, i suppose i'll have an almost-toddler on my hands at that point...

any tips on gardening with babies and small children? xo

late june blooms

after the long winter, practically non-existent spring, and incredible amount of rain and storms we've been having i feel like i can safely say that summer has finally arrived. and my garden knows it. things are blooming all over the place and today i thought i'd share with you some of my favorite blooms from the gardens at my house...

very pink roses

valerian, kept getting knocked over by my dog, so it's now in a protective tomato cage. it is resilient!

yarrow

clematis and window boxes of pansies, allysum, and dusty miller

mystery cherry tomatoes (from my csa)

borage, on their last blooms already!

chamomile, growing in the cracks of my brick pavers. i planted a LOT of chamomile this year. can't wait for tea!

 

 

what's blooming in your garden these days?

rhubarb ginger syrup

over the past few years, rhubarb has become one of my true favorites. of course i love the flavor. but the fact that it is perennial and requires little to no maintenance ranks it high on my list as well. both of the homes i've lived in in minnesota have come with their very own (and very large) rhubarb plants...our current home has two! but most of all what i love is that rhubarb is the first plant to be ready for harvest from the garden. especially after this year's very extended winter. those bright red stalks and huge elephant ear leaves are such a welcome sight in my garden, and my kitchen.

i have tried many delicious rhubarb recipes, but one of my favorites is rhubarb syrup. i like to use it to make rhubarb sodas (which is especially exciting this year, given my limited refreshing beverage options!). this year, i modified my recipe a bit with some ginger, and replaced the sugar with honey since we have such an abundance from our backyard bees.

enjoy!

rhubarb ginger syrup
(adapted from culinate)
(makes about 2.5 cups of syrup)

1.5 cups chopped rhubarb
a few big slices of ginger
3/4 cup honey
1.5 cups water

add all ingredients to a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. cook for 15-20 minutes (until the syrup turns pink) and strain out rhubarb and ginger pieces. i don't like my soda too sweet so i only add about 1 tbl or so to a glass of sparkling water but you can decide how you like it. you'll notice that once it's diluted, it doesn't look pink anymore. oh well, it's still delicious! this will keep in the fridge for a few weeks. be sure to shake the jar of syrup before each use as the honey will settle. you can also can the syrup, processing as you would for jam. (i've done this before and it is so amazing to enjoy rhubarb soda in the dead of winter!)

front yard garden: year two

last summer, one of my big goals was to expand our front yard garden. (i wrote about our plans, with some before photos, here. and then a first look here.) specifically to dig up the grass on one side of the small hill in front of our house and plant a perennial herb and flower garden (the other side of the hill already had a garden planted when we moved in). and so, dig and plant we did last memorial day weekend. i thought i'd post a few photos of how the garden is doing in it's second year.

most of the perennials i planted last year came back this year, with the exception of anise hyssop, poppies, and lavender. i was a little bummed about those, but i've added a few more in their places so far this year, and i'll be filling in the rest of the empty spaces with annuals (i have a lot of marigolds!) and maybe some late season sale perennials. even though perennials can be expensive, i always buy them when they're smallest and just know that it'll take a few years for them to grow to a fuller size. they are so worth the investment!

this garden is definitely part shade (which is probably why those perennials didn't come back...they needed a sunnier spot?). it's right under a big tree but gets really nice morning light since we are right across the street from a park and there's nothing blocking the light coming from the east. here are some of the plants that are doing well there: borage, french sorrel, columbine, and chives and garlic chives. so far this year, i've added some tickseed and cushion spurge bonfire. i also planted some rogue strawberries that popped up in my backyard vegetable bed...we'll see how those guys do!

so how about you all? how are any new garden spaces that you planted last year doing? any plans for new gardens this year? we'd love to hear.

late spring happenings: up north edition

after natalie's post yesterday i am once again in shock about the vast difference between the seasons down in arkansas and up here in minnesota! we are just barely scratching the surface of spring here. here's a bit of what's happening up here these days...

over the weekend, i finally cleared out all of last year's remains from my community garden plot. jared and i added some compost and turned the soil (well, he did that part...i've been banned from shoveling duty this year!) and i weeded the plots, dug up the ever expanding garlic chives that i plan to gift to friends and neighbors and transplant into my home gardens, and continued on my annual quest to corral the strawberries back into their designated areas.

back at home, i cleared off the leaf mulch from my perennial gardens and began planting some flowers. i didn't really get around to starting any flower seeds early this year (except for marigolds), so to satisfy my impatience and excitement over spring's belated arrival, i picked up some pansies, alyssum, and dusty miller (we love that name!) at my local garden store to pretty up the front of our house. we brought home another clematis to accompany the one we planted last year. my mother-in-law says they do best in pairs (or more) so we'll see how it turns out.

i also planted a few more pots of flowers with seeds that my friend mary sent me (zinnia and morning glory) and used the extra pansies, etc. to start planting my garage wall garden.

on the vegetable front...the kale starts that i was so generously gifted by a neighbor did not survive the neighborhood squirrels, so i'm starting over with direct seeding. in the next week or so i'll be planting seeds for cucumbers, summer and winter squash, chard, and dry beans. i'm also beginning to harden off my  tomato seedlings that have been growing like mad in the basement.

even though it sounds like a lot (and is!) i am intentionally trying to simplify my garden this year. with the new addition to our family coming in early august, i know my time and energy (and physical ability to bend over, ha!) will be limited. but i just can't stop myself! so...get ready for loads of flowers and herbs in addition to the slightly limited veggies i'm planting...

a bit of spring

after all that snow and endless winter (it is snowing again now, ahem), we had a few glorious spring days this past weekend and i did not squander that time. saturday afternoon, we held our annual community garden spring clean up. even though there wasn't much to clean up (we usually use this time to weed the paths between plots and, well, there just aren't any weeds yet!), it was great to be outside and reconnect with my gardening neighbors. one of the new gardeners even gifted me some of his excess kale starts when i mentioned that i never got around to starting my kale seeds indoors. i wrote a few years ago (a very long post) about why i love community gardening so much and continue to participate even though i now have enough space at my home for my gardens.

monday evening, i began clearing off the leaf mulch blankets that had been keeping my gardens warm and protected from the cold and snow over the winter. since i knew there was more cold weather in the forecast for this week, i didn't get very far, but it felt good to get my hands in the dirt. i also prepared one of my raised beds for planting by adding about 10 gallons of homemade compost and turning the soil. i got those kale starts right in the ground (although, some hungry squirrel seems to have been snacking on the leaves this week!).

even though spring is still just beginning here, i'm so glad i snagged the chance to get my hands dirty and be outside. such a necessary reprieve from this very long winter. hope you all get some planting or at least time outside this weekend!

dehydrated kale smoothies

well friends, still not much in the way of spring updates here in minneapolis. currently we are being barraged with more and more snow...but i'll stop with the depressing weather reports already! in fact, i did discover some perennials trying their hardest to peek out from under the bits of remaining snow and their thick winter blanket of leaf mulch. so far i've spotted some borage, french sorrel, garlic chives, tulips, and just the teeniest bit of rhubarb showing their defiance against this cruel joke of a spring we're having.

but onward, right? this is essentially a post that i never got around to writing and sharing here last summer, so i'm revisiting it now. i'm talking about dehydrated kale. while natalie's post of her first harvest of greens left my mouth watering, i know i'm months away from that bounty here (i haven't even started my kale seeds yet! for shame!) so i'm savoring my dehydrated kale from last season.

maybe some of you, even those kale enthusiasts out there (of which i'm sure there are many) are thinking dehydrated kale? i thought the same thing until last summer when i was drowning in my abundant kale harvest and was looking for some other ways to preserve it all in addition to the standard blanching and freezing that i've always done. i was chatting with the master gardeners at my local farmers market (a wonderful resource that i'd highly recommend seeking out for any and all gardening questions if you have them in your area) and one of them suggested dehydrating. i could easily rehydrate later to put in soups, stews, smoothies and more. which is exactly what i've been doing all winter long.

first, a few tips on dehydrating kale.

• cut out the stems since they hold much more moisture than the leaves and it will not dehydrate evenly if you try to do it all together (you can compost the stems, or i used them in vegetable juices!).
• once you've removed the stems, chop the leaves into small pieces, but don't worry about the pieces being too big; you can crumble them into smaller flakes once they're dehydrated.
• i used a dehydrator (set at 125 degrees for about 9 hours) but you could also use your oven on a very low temp if you don't have one (sorry, i don't have experience dehydrating in an oven, but i'm sure you can find tips on this on the internet)
• once the leaves are fully dehydrated, crumble them into whatever size flakes you want (you could even grind them into a powder!) and store in a glass jar or other container until you're ready to use them.

and now...for the delicious smoothie! you could pretty much just add a handful of these flakes to whatever your favorite smoothie recipe is (you can really barely taste the kale so don't worry about messing with the flavor), but here's what i did. one other quick note: we don't buy a lot of juice in our house, so i usually just use whatever i have on hand. in this case, it was a mixed berry, but really orange, apple, or even mango would be delicious too!

banana blueberry kale smoothie
makes two 1.5 cup smoothies

1 ripe banana
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup frozen peaches
1/4 cup dehydrated kale flakes
1 cup mixed berry juice
1/2 cup oat milk (or whatever nondairy/dairy milk you have on hand. plain yogurt would work too)

put all ingredients in a blender and go to town! enjoy your smoothie and dream of summer.

ps: i HATE plastic and would normally not be using these straws, but someone gifted us a big bag of them, so we work our way through them slowly. once they're gone, i'd really like to get a couple of these.

basement seed starting and medicinal herbs

with a snow storm in the forecast for the next 24 hours, i'm still struggling with believing that it is in fact spring. we did have some warm moments over the weekend during which i promptly headed outside to re-pot some houseplants. getting my hands in the dirt for the first time in many months felt so good. monday evening, i got my act together and set up my seed starting area in our basement. i wrote in detail two years ago about how i created this setup here.

i haven't gotten all of my seeds in soil just yet, but so far here's what i've planted:
tomatoes: ace bush, brandywine, big rainbow, yellow pear, sungold, matt's wild cherry
peppers: early jalapeno, hot mix
basil variety
african crackerjack marigold
lovage

i still have to plant kale, chard, calendula, zinnias, amaranth, clary sage, feverfew, chamomile, and more (i'm sure! i'm still on the lookout for some cherokee purple tomato seeds...).

this year, like last year, i will be planting more medicinal herbs and plants to use for dyes. some of the new medicinal herbs i'll be planting this year include lovage, clary sage, and feverfew. i've grown feverfew from plants before, but they didn't survive my front yard and i'd like to try again as it can be really helpful for migraines. these are a few of my favorite books on medicinal herbs. that i use for a reference.

what new plants are you trying this year? any suggestions for medicinals or dye plants?

spring planning

hi all! i want to echo the other ladies who have posted so far this week and say how excited i am to be back for another season here at [tend]. i'm so happy to welcome abby to our crew, and am grateful to heather for her two years of posts, and the amazing new banner she created for us!

like shari in vermont, here in minneapolis, we are just barely thawed out from our snowy winter and nothing is blooming yet! but the days are getting warmer and longer and i've been planning my garden for this year. i'm a little bit behind this year, but i've just taken my annual seed inventory, started a fresh new garden journal for this year, and made my list of what i'll be planting.

last year, we signed up for a csa for the first time to supplement the food we grow in our gardens. it was so amazing to have all of those beautiful veggies delivered each week! at the beginning of the season, i wasn't sure exactly what we'd be getting in our weekly boxes, so i just planted my garden as usual. after one year of the csa, i know now what vegetables we receive a lot of, and what we don't get at all and i'm using that knowledge to plan my garden. for example, i'm not planting any green beans this year! last year, i had more than enough from the csa to eat and can a few batches of dilly green beans. surprisingly, we hardly received any zucchini or summer squash, so i think i'll plant one of each of those this year.

i've never been very good at saving seeds (maybe this year will be the year i start!) so after i take my inventory of old seeds that i am going to plant, i make a list of seeds to buy. i've found that seeds can stay viable for at least four years, so don't discount those old seed packets- you can still use them! i'll be headed to the garden store this weekend to fulfill my list, and i'm sure i'll find a whole bunch of other interesting seeds that i want to try this year. i'm planning to get some of my early seedlings started this weekend to keep under grow lights in my basement for the next six weeks. i'll be sure to report back on what i planted and how they're growing!

i've had the same garden spaces for the past few years, so i mostly have a good idea of what i can fit in. i always end up with many extra seedlings that i pawn off on delighted friends, neighbors, and coworkers. it might be more efficient to draw up an actual plan for my garden each year (i've done this in the past) but somehow, the haphazard approach of planting a bunch of seedlings and fitting them in where i can seems to fit my gardening style best.

so...what are you planning on planting this year? how do you plan your garden each year?

preserving cherry tomatoes

i have been fortunate to find myself overrun with cherry tomatoes this year. i planted three varieties: sungold, matt's wild, and yellow pear. i also received one peacevine plant from our csa farm. between multiple plants of each of those varieties, we've had quite the bounty this year and no matter how delicious these babies are to just pop in our mouths each trip through the kitchen, we couldn't keep up.

not wanting to let them go the way of the composter, i decided to slow roast and freeze them last week. you can also freeze cherry (or full-sized) tomatoes whole and raw, but i decided to go the slow roasting route. i just halved them and spread them on a baking sheet. i drizzled the tomatoes with olive oil, salt, thyme, and oregano (you can use any seasonings you like). i cooked them at 300 degrees for 2 hours. once cooked, they cooled pretty quickly and i packed them into jars. i didn't measure how many i had to begin with, but i ended up with 3 half-pint jars for the freezer. i know these will come in handy to throw in soups, stews, lasagnas, sauces, or more over the winter. keep in mind, you can do the same with full sized tomatoes.

i got this idea from this post from food in jars. marisa has some other great ideas there for preserving small tomatoes.

how have you been preserving your harvest these days?

drying herbs

 

since we seem to be on a bit of an herb theme here, i thought i'd share a few thoughts about drying herbs. when summer is high and the herbs are exploding, i can never keep up. so i dry them, for the colder months when i'm dreaming of fresh herbs on everything from scrambled eggs to salad dressings to cool ice water.

 

before you dry your herbs, be sure to rinse them or brush them off to remove any dirt or tiny critters. i dry my herbs in two main ways. the first is in hanging bunches. this works for things that get tall, like lemon balm, peppermint, and oregano (which is what is pictured here). i tie them up with twine and tape them to the door frame. hooks also work well. just make sure there is enough air flowing around them so that they can dry completely.

 

for smaller herbs, rose petals, lavender, chamomile, red clover (pictured here), i use an old window screen on my dining room table. ideally, i should probably prop this up on something to increase air circulation, but it still works.

once everything is dry, i crumble up the big leaves and store everything in jars for later use. i shared my favorite herbal tea recipe here a few years ago (it's still my standby, and is delicious iced as well). i also use my dried herbs to make infused oils, my favorite shampoo, bath soaks, and obviously for cooking as well. what are your favorite herbs to dry?

garden happenings

these are the good days in the garden. when i've finally gotten everything planted (except for that failed radish patch i need to replace, and that last empty spot in my community garden to fill) and the bounty is starting to flow.

flowers are blooming (all that lavender, calendula, and volunteer chamomile that i've been snipping and drying), raspberries are ripening on the stalks, garlic has been de-scaped, kale leaves are growing larger by the day, and little green cherry tomatoes are bursting onto the plants.

it's a beautiful time in my garden these days. how about yours?

front yard garden update

people, we did it!

there is definitely a long way to go with our front yard garden, but the big project, the one that was my biggest garden goal of all for this season, has been accomplished! last weekend, on our extra day off for memorial day, jared and i spent the better part of the day digging up the grass on this hill in front of our house (this is what it looked like just a few short weeks ago!). i used some bricks that we had inherited with our garage to create a makeshift terrace, and then spent the rest of last week and this past weekend putting in some of the plants that i'd bought at that plant sale about a month ago (boy were they happy to get in the ground and out of their little tiny pots!). the plants from the sale that i used here were: poppies, anise hyssop, violas/johnny jump ups, french sorrel, various columbines, and a lavender. i also transplanted a bunch of plants from elsewhere in our yard, including borage, yarrow, chives and garlic chives, and phlox. i filled in the rest of the empty spaces with kale, chard, amaranth, and the small bare patch at the bottom has some assorted wildflower seeds planted there (i'll put mulch over it once the seeds have sprouted). i used 7" gutter spikes to secure some of the bricks in place (hey, i am married to someone with a degree in physics afterall!). some of the plants that i put in this garden say they need full sun and this is definitely a part sun spot. i put the ones i was worried about (poppies, lavender, anise hyssop, and phlox) in the sunnier spot, along the steps, and everything else might just be a bit smaller than it would in full sun. but i think they'll all do fine. i'm a  bit worried about how this will all hold up when we get a big rain...will all my mulch and dirt wash away? but i know that once the plants get rooted in over the next few months, it will hold the soil in place much better.

i know everything looks a bit bare now, but most of what i planted here are perennials and they'll fill out over the next few years. and this is something i keep trying to remind myself. i have time. we don't plan to move from this house for a very long time, if ever, and i take comfort in knowing that i don't have to overhaul the entire yard and garden space this year. i try to set realistic goals for myself (notice that we also got those rain barrels installed too? garden goal #1...check!) each year and make progress little by little, while still working towards making our outdoor home a beautiful, productive, healthy, and delicious space for us to enjoy. i try to remind myself of the time i have when i get overwhelmed about all of the garden spaces around our house that i'd like to improve or change. little by little. i have already made so many adjustments and changes over the past two and half years and i know that each season will bring more projects.

while the big hurdle of the front yard is completed (for now) i do want to keep working on the other beds up front here. mostly, i'd like to remove many of the hostas. i pretty much pawn them off on anyone who will accept them, and i think later in the summer, when perennials start to go on big sale, i'll find some more plants to replace them with and send an email to the citywide gardening list-serv that i'm part of for people to come take the hostas off my hands. i know i'll get a good response.

so, what do you think? i'd love to hear your thoughts