Garlic Scapes, peas, and a great spring!

Well, the spring has gotten away from me. I've spent more time in the garden,m than on the computer, but it's a rainy day today, so it's a great time to catch up! We've already harvested 36 delicious radishes, and lots of lettuce, mustard greens and spinach, I got 1 great strawberry, but there are lots of green ones on the way. We got our first peas last week, only 30 or 40 pods, but I just grabbed some more, and there should be more still to come. Such a delight in late spring! I also got to trim some garlic scapes. What are garlic scapes you ask? Well, Garlic scapes are a great garlicky treat that come in late spring. They appear as a little curly green shoot that grows out of your garlic that you planted last fall. These wonderful little guys will draw energy from your developing garlic cloves, so you want and need to trim them off, but don't throw them in the compost! These guys are like a fresher, sweeter more mild garlic. Use them just like you would garlic, but about 2-3 times as much as you would full cloves if you want a similar garlic flavor.

Here is a great quick vegan recipe that uses garlic scapes:

Black Beans & Cous Cous

3 tbsp Olive Oil

1 medium onion, chopped

4-8 garlic scapes, chopped

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1/8 tsp black pepper

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp dried basil

3/4 ground coriander

1/4 tsp oregano

1 can black beans

1 - 14oz can diced tomato

1 Cup dry cous cous

1 Cup water

heat oil in a large skillet. Add everything except beans, tomato and cous cous. Saute until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add everything else and cook about 5 minutes.

Of course you can use fresh basil and tomato if you have it, I am not growing basil this year, as I had way too much last year, I just dehydrated it in my food dehydrator which is nothing fancy, but I can make fruit snacks, tofu jerky, and dry my spices, so really it's all I need!

Oops, new habits can be hard to make stick

Well, to be honest, there hasn't been too much activity, a new garden is only really full of anticipation, not veggies...yet! The week after we planted was bone dry, our humidity was around 8-10 degrees, so we had to water really regularly, but then we got some rain & the Rain Barrel got filled. But like the week before the rain, the following 5 days emptied the barrels onto the garden. However, we are back to a "normal" spring, now we are getting rain, or drizzle about 1 every day or 2, so the ground is nice a moist.

The Garlic is going great, and we've got peas popping up, and radish is moving along. Our strawberry bush transplants seem to be taking, and some of the raspberry stems we put in last fall are starting to leaf out! Spinach, carrots and lettuce aren't doing much, and there is a slight battle with weeds, but the beauty with square foot gardening is - Square Foot Weeding! I just have to look at one 12"x12" area and pull the weeds from it, that's not so hard, then repeat...But it makes the job more satisfying and less daunting.

You'll probably hear me talking a lot about Rain Barrels, and there is a reason, They're GREAT! If you don't know what a Rain Barrel is, it's simple a barrel that goes under your downspout from your gutter and captures excess rainwater, so instead of it washing oil and fertilizer into local streams and rivers, you can use it to water your organic garden and not use a lot of water that had lots of energy put into it by making it potable. it takes only the slightest rain to fill the barrels, and the water can be used for days or weeks depending on weather conditions.

We just got some potatoes from Seed Savers, and I'm hoping to put them in the ground this weekend, and there is an organic plant sale at the local Co-op, so this should be an exciting weekend for gardening! Stay Tuned...

Woke up sore

Here is the site of our garden, each week I'll post a picture from this same vantage point so you can see all my successes and learning experiences as this growing season progresses. The area is on the South side of our home, and fenced off on all 4 sides to keep our dog our, and to give us a peaceful rest from the city. We are square foot gardening a la Mel Bartholomew and his Book "Square Foot Gardening". His book is great, you really get a new view of how to garden in a small space while conserving seeds. We are also using James A. Frizzell's book Guide to Minnesota Vegetable Gardening, for a more local look.

Yesterday was Easter Sunday and it was about 55 and sunny, a great day to get some early vegetables in the ground. We planted Lettuce, Kale, Spinach, Mustard Greens, Beets, Radish, carrots, strawberry bushes, Strawberry Blight or Spinach Strawberry, established an Asparagus bed and uncovered the Garlic that was planted last October. We also planted Cilantro and Parsley as well as flowers in pots and hanging baskets.
Most of our seeds were ordered form Seed Savers, but what we couldn't get from them, we picked up at our local Co-op.
As for the Garlic, I purchased some seed stock organic garlic from "The Garlic Lady" last year at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, she gave a nice 30 minute presentation on how to grow garlic, and then had some great Garlic varieties to sell. I got Siberian, Leah and Northern White. This is the picture of what I uncovered after the winter, It is very encouraging to already have things growing!

Turning over the dirt

We just raked and started turning the soil and removing rocks agin this year. Tomorrow we will start our asparugus bed and plant some lettuce.