Spring, Glorious Spring

Ok, I'm back. I've pulled myself away from the garden long enough to write a little something. It's been busy around here getting the cool season veggies in the ground and more seedlings started so they will be a decent size for the seedling sale I will be having.  It looks like the  seedling sale will be on Sunday, May 19th. Be sure to mark your calendars.

According to several websites, the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension office and a few years of observation, our last killing frost date in this area is around June 5th. We can also get frost as early as September 22nd (on average). This leaves us with a frost-free growing season of around 109 days. Not a very long vegetable growing season so timing is everything.  Buying and planting your seedlings during the middle of May should be perfect timing (perhalps with a little protection for a couple of weeks).

A few days ago we arrived at spring. Wednesday, March 20th, was the Spring Equinox. The crocus and daffodils were blooming. Tulips were pushing their way up through the earth. Bright yellow forsythia were springing to life and.... it was snowing. Sounds about right for around these parts.

An equinox occurs twice a year (around 20 March and 22 September), and according to Wikipedia, it is when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth's equator. Another meaning of equinox is the date when day and night are the same length.

This blog post will be short and sweet. Just a few words and some photos.

The first Daffodils of spring

Some of the various greens in the covered raised bed

A couple beautiful varieties of lettuce growing nicely in the garden

Newly planted seeds in their hooded grow trays. These seedlings sprout very quickly due to keeping their soil warmed with thermostatically controlled heat mats. Once they germinate, the trays will be moved under the 400 watt T5 full spectrum lamps.

Here are some of the tomato and pepper seedlings under the T5 lamps. 

In a couple of months the little seedlings will be nice, mature plants to be sold at the sale.

I am certain that I will never cease to be both astonished and delighted by the power that is held in a tiny little seed. These capsules of genetic information, holding back their power until, with only a small list of ingredients, mainly sunshine (or a sufficient light source) , water and soil, explode to life.

Lunch I ate on one of the planting days. Freshly picked mixed greens and brown rice pasta with homemade marinara from tomatoes that we canned from last years harvest. There is nothing more rewarding than eating food that you grow yourself!

I had to add a photo of this beautiful Dahlia that was overwintered under a grow lamp. It's in full bloom right now and its flowers are truly amazing.  

 These past few days have been filled with soil block making and seed starting. I think I have around five hundred seedlings started ( and that's only the tomatoes and peppers). I'll be starting the squash, melon, cucumber and basil in the next couple of weeks. I'm thinking it's going to be getting pretty crowded around here real soon. So once again, start preparing your garden beds and don't forget to MARK YOUR CALENDARS for the SEEDLING SALE in mid May. It will be at our home and is sure to be a good time!

Well that's about it for now. A little show and tell of what has been happening around here.

 I'm also working on adding an application to this blog where you can enter your email address. When you do, whenever a new blog entry is posted, it will simply appear in your inbox for your reading enjoyment. I think this will be a great feature especially for those readers who rarely check Facebook or simply don't use it.

Once again, thanks for reading and I hope you are enjoying this beautiful spring.

For Now, It's Kohlrabi

 

 

This week I was planning on writing about seed starting. Sharing a few tips and tricks and posting a few pics of the seedlings I've started. However, after eating an amazing meal at Bowl restaurant last week, that will have to wait. For now, it's kohlrabi.

Bowl is a local restaurant here in the "Biggest Little City", and as the name suggests, there are no plates. They serve the food, bursting with flavor, in bowls. Their concept is simple: to serve delicious comfort food that's homemade, modest and fresh. Food that is good for our well being. Their menu changes according to what is in season and they purchase local, organic ingredients as often as possible. This is my kind of place!

When we entered, we were immediately greeted with a hug and a smile from Mary, who happens to also be one heck of a barista at The Hub Coffee Co. We read through the various menu options which were written on the giant overhead chalkboard. That's when I spotted it. There it was, in bold 288 point type -"Stuffed Kohlrabi".  

 

Larry, the chef at bowl, prepared the little "space cabbages" by stuffing them with sauteed mushrooms and amaranth. He plated a couple of these little gems atop some fresh greens and adorned them with some wonderfully radiant carrot 'jus', each ingredient complementing it's companion fabulously.

Now I had seen these crazy, UFO looking things in the produce section at the Co-op, but I had no idea what they were. How do I prepare them?  What do they taste like? What is that? With all these questions in my head, needless to say, they never made it into the cart.

Kohlrabi is a cool-weather lover that can be planted in early spring in a cold frame or under a mini hoop tunnel. It can also be planted in the open garden a few weeks before the last spring frost. In late summer, a fall crop can be planted once again in the unprotected garden or in a cold frame for a cold season harvest. Kohlrabi is a crazy little veggie from the cabbage family (which also includes broccoli, cauliflower, kale and mustard). It offers the same amazing health benefits as its cousins. Yet kohlrabi is easier to grow than it's relatives and fast maturing, making it ideal for early spring or fall planting. 

White Vienna is probably the most common. It is pale green on the outside, pure white on the inside and best picked when between tennis and baseball sized. It can be planted a few weeks before early frost for a crop that is ready about 45 days after germination, and again late in summer for a fall crop. Other than routine weeding and watering, kohlrabi requires little attention. Purple Vienna is similar in size and culture, takes a few days longer to mature, and has fewer leaves.
 


The edible part of the plant is a rounded stem that sits on top of the ground. It comes in varieties that are dazzling shades of lime green, bright purple, and creamy white. These swollen orbs are harvested young, when the stems are 2 to 3 inches in diameter. The round bulbs can be steamed, stuffed or stir fried; added to soups or sliced and baked. They can also be enjoyed raw and made into coleslaw.

So.... after my delicious introduction to this freaky cabbage family gem at Bowl and discovering how easy they are to grow as both a spring and fall crop, I will gladly welcome these tasty little aliens as they invade the garden this year.


Until next time...