weeding

oh weeding. the bane of every gardener's existence (am i right?). yesterday i dedicated a good three hours to weeding our existing front garden (looks a lot better than the last time you saw it, right?). i figured i'd better get that one under control before i start a whole new garden space. i have some kind of aggressive, spreading weed that has a very complex root system underneath the soil and i just can't seem to get ahead of it. i do my best to pull up the roots, but it's hard! during the hours i was working on this space, i alternated from feeling meditative and calm, to overwhelmed that i would never get all these weeds out, and as soon as i did, they'd just grow back anyways.

i'm definitely not anti-weed, as i'm not concerned about having a pristine looking garden space at all. really the only reason i'm concerned about the weeds is when they start choking out the plants that i want to thrive. weeding out this space made me realize how much space is still available to be filled in, so i'm hoping to transplant some things from my backyard garden areas (which are overcrowded) to the front here. maybe having less open space will deter the weeds? i'm also planning to put down a good amount of mulch.

so what to do you do about weeds? my go-to tools are just a trowel and a hand cultivator. what tools are your favorites? do you use weed-blocking landscaping fabric? i'm not a big fan, but that's just my preference. i'm open to any and all advice and experience you have!

oh boy, kohlrabi

This week I got a roll of film developed and a few shots are from late winter/very early spring, such as the one of the seed starts above. And I thought gosh, that seems so long ago. Everything was still brown outside then! Plus those kohlrabi and broccoli starts have grown so much since then, and that was encouraging, to see how far they've come.

While they're not ready to harvest yet, there's a couple ways we really enjoyed preparing them last year, raw and cooked. They're a good snack cut into matchsticks and dipped in a little dressing. Several times I also made a kohlrabi and beet salad. We also like to stir fry chopped kohlrabi with onion, garlic, and bok choy and serve it over rice. Spring is yummy.

first harvest::rhubarb

over the weekend i enjoyed my first garden harvest of this year...rhubarb. all of these beautiful red stalks made their way over to my sister-in-law's house on saturday and were turned into a beautiful crisp and a beautiful galette in celebration of my newest nephew's baptism.  i was happy to contribute this fruit from my garden (and i know i will have many more rhubarb harvests over this season). rhubarb was a food that i had never even tasted six years ago, before i moved to minnesota and i am sad that i spent so much of my life missing out on this delicious early spring beauty!  since moving here, though, i've more than made up for my decades without rhubarb.

two years ago, i posted a list of rhubarb recipes that i've tried, here (along with a recipe for rhubarb orange compote).  this year, i'd like to try some rhubarb vanilla ice cream. what's your favorite thing to do with rhubarb? and what has your first harvest been so far this year?

catnip insect repellent

i am pretty sensitive to insect bites and tend to swell easily.

yesterday when i was working in the garden i got bit by something close to my eye and now look like i was involved in a serious boxing match.
since i am not willing to hide inside all summer long i thought i would do a little research about making my own insect repellent.

i was excited to find a recipe made from a few simple ingredients including catnip which is something i have quite a bit of growing in my garden.
although it may have to be applied more regularly, it is claimed that catnip (nepeta) is more effective than deet. 

there are a few different methods of making the repellent, all of which don't require much time or materials.

to make an oil-based infusion of the plant, gather catnip leaves and stems and finely chop. fill a clean jar with the chopped greens and cover with olive oil. cap jar tightly and shake to bring air bubbles to the top. then fill completely with the oil. let sit in a cool dark place for six weeks to infuse.

an alcohol-based infusion is what i decided to try. i like the idea of spraying something cool and light onto my skin on hot summer days.

gather the catnip leaves and stems, chop and fill a jar with the greens. use 100-proof vodka to fill the jar. cap jar tightly and set aside for six weeks. after straining the alcohol from the plant, you will now have a tincture. fill a small spritzer bottle halfway with the tincture. top the rest of the bottle with water.

you will need to re-apply the catnip repellent, whichever form you choose, about every 30 minutes to maintain optimal effectiveness.

the most simple method of all is to simply take a sprig of catnip and crush it in your hands, releasing the oils and scent.



tuck it into your shirt pocket, hat, around the neckline of your clothes and other places that are exposed. You can also rub the plant directly onto your skin.

here's to keeping the bugs away!

Naturalizing

penstemon

One thing I love about having a garden are the surprises, the fun surprises. Not the aphid kind, which we had earlier this spring, probably as a result of a mild winter, but anyway. I mean the surprise of finding volunteer plants or plants that have reseeded themselves. At the end of a growing season, we tend to allow plants go to seed. This creates food for birds and then in the spring we find little plants popping up, that we didn't have to put there. They have naturalized. This spring there are a number of young penstemon plants popping up around the large mother plant. Likely we will let them get a little bigger and transplant them. Since plants often naturalize in places where we may not want them to stay, we have to edit. The african daisies are a plant that we always have to do this with, because they are such profuse seeders.

This spring we've also noticed marigolds and parsley popping up, which we will also relocate. Hollyhocks also weave their way in among our vegetables. Last year we transplanted some but they didn't fare well. So this year we will leave them where they are, in among lettuce rows and next to the tulips, and so forth. Such is our natural garden, and we like it that way.

What is popping up in your garden?

penstemon at left

quick meals from the garden

i am often asked how our family has the time to eat so well & on top of it all- eat the food we have grown. it is simple, really. fresh food doesn't take that much time. it only takes planning, a cutting board & a knife. maybe a pot of water if you're feeling fancy.

the lunch above was prepared on my lunch break. my husband made a big bowl of chicken salad this weekend & i purchased vegetables from the farmers' market. i added some salad greens & edible flowers from our garden to the mix. i even had time to sit down & read an article while enjoying my meal before heading back to work.

along with a simple salad, here are a few ideas for quick healthy meals at home or on the go:

- boiled broccoli & asparagus. boil until it is to your liking. add a squeeze of lemon or some freshly grated parmesan cheese.

- fried egg on top of seasonal greens

- prepare roasted root vegetables the night before. enjoy cold with a scoop of couscous or warm up in the oven.

- kale chips. crank the oven on 400 degrees. tear leaves & mix with a bit of olive oil, minced garlic & salt. place on baking sheet for 10 minutes.

enjoy!

another front yard project

like amy, i have a semi-neglected front yard. in my case, it's because our back yard gets much more sun, so i've focused more of our efforts there. when we moved into our house two and a half years ago, there were already some decent garden spaces carved out, but it's clear that the previous owners and i have different gardening styles! in our front yard, there are two beds just in front of the house that are mostly a variety of hostas, and some red-colored landscaping rock that i cannot stand. i vow that this year will be the year i finally clear it out! i'm not a big fan of the hostas either and am slowly replacing them with other plants. i've planted a lot of tulip bulbs there as well, so it's really pretty in the early spring.

closer to the sidewalk, our house is on a very small hill, so there is one garden bed on one side of the steps up from the street. i've spent the past two summers slowly replacing the hostas in this space and adding some perennial flowers and herbs (st. john's wort, chives, feverfew, and echinacea). i also seem to be in a losing battle with an aggressive spreading weed that is trying to take over the garden (any ideas what that is? or suggestions on how to fight it? i've tried ripping it up by the roots, but it just keeps coming back!)

my big project for this year is to dig up the other side of this small hill. it's partial shade, so that limits my planting options, but i'm confident that i can fill it up without too much trouble. because it's on a hill, i'll need to do some kind of minor terracing to prevent erosion (there were some attempts at this on the other side, but it's not done very well. i'm working on improving that as well). i'll probably just use some bricks that we have in our garage.

i have some plants in my overgrown backyard that i plan to move to this space: rhubarb (we have a rogue one growing in our raspberry patch!), borage, comfrey, bleeding hearts, yarrow, and a few grasses. any other suggestions for a partially shady hilly spot? bonus points if they're medicinal or can be used for dyes :)

i'm really excited to add this new space and spruce up the front of our house. and i love that amy is working on a similar project and we can check up on each other's progress as the summer moves forward.