Gotta Love Harvest Time

Not everything has gone right this year.  The carrots and turnips got too much water and turned to mush in the ground.  I didn't get the lettuce planned early enough and it bolted on me when the hot weather hit.

But for the most part it's been a great year for the garden.  Not using any pesticides or chemicals of any kind in the garden, I have had bug and disease problems in the past.  Nothing but the usual blister beetles, aphids, squash bugs and tomato caterpillars, but not this year.  Not only totally disease free (as in the past - been pretty lucky) but no bug problems to worry about this year.

The Yukon Golds didn't produce as much as I was hoping, but for the small square I planted I got almost 10lbs of delicious potatoes.  Good size and very tasty.  Will definitely plant more of them next year.

The green beans and bell peppers produced very well as did the herb garden as usual. 


The tomatoes of course went crazy overboard as they usually do. 

 

Harvest season has begon

I noticed the first red flashes of colors from the tomato vines this past weekend.  Thought I'd better check to see what I could harvest from my 1 Acre Farm.

Everything on this table from the aromatic herbs, red tomatoes, brown eggs, yellow onions, green bell peppers, golden globe turnips and even to the colorful flowers came from my 1 Acre Farm.  Or otherwise known as my backyard.

Not bad for a computer guy.....  Delicious food and I know where it came from and how it was grown or raised.  Oh yeah... the chicken came from my yard as well. 

First Harvest of the Season

It's been a busy spring.  I've expanded the vegetable garden this year to include several new beds.  I'm using a modified version of the square foot garden method developed by Mel Bartholomew.  It's a great method of gardening for urban farmers.  It allows for maximum results from minimal space and work.  If you're thinking about any  type of gardening you should check out his methods.  His boos All New Square Foot Gardening, Second Edition can be purchased in hardback or digital format.  It's a great resource.  I highly recommend it.

While still building a few last square foot raised garden beds I noticed the square I planted radishes in.  I lost track of how many days it had been since I planted them.  There's nothing like that joy of the first harvest.

I cleaned and sampled my first harvest.  Juicy, crisp and with that suttle heat radishes have.  Sometimes radishes from the grocery store have more heat that I like.  I'm assuming these are older or have been sitting around for a longer time.  I'll store a few in the chill for a couple days and see how the heat changes.

There are many more still growing to size out in the garden.  Think this is definitely something to think about planting again in early fall.  Seed to my mouth in about 20 days... not bad.

The Colors of Spring

Spring is my favorite time of year here in Kentucky.  Growing up in Buffalo New York spring was slow coming. 

Here in Kentucky it happens pretty fast and way earlier than up north. 

The grass is so green and we get those first bursts of color in March and April.  My daffodils, phlox and lilacs have already come and gone. 

But there is still plenty of color popping up in my 1 acre farm.

 

I also saw my first humming bird.  So out goes the feeders.  We only get a few varieties of humming birds here in Kentucky.  But they are fun to watch and if you provide them with food they will return year after year.

Rufous

Black Chin



Ruby-Throated

National Geographic has a terrific show about these birds.  Here is the link to their web page and a brief video about hummingbirds.
http://natgeotv.com/uk/life-of-hummingbirds
http://natgeotv.com/uk/life-of-hummingbirds/videos/magic-in-the-air

2013 Vegetable List

In addition to raising chickens and planning an aquaponics project I'm expanding the vegetable garden beds this year.  Much to the dismay of the guy who cuts my lawn.  I'm fortunate to have a neighbor who runs a lawn service and gave me a great price on cutting the grass.  This frees my time up for more interesting adventures.  But the more projects I get going the more difficult it makes it for him to cut the grass.  Every action has an opposite and equal reaction.  Thanks Jimmy for making it possible to do the more fun stuff.

This year's vegetable list is :

Tomatoes (7 different kinds)

Potatoes (sweet and golds)
Cabbage
Onions
Radishes
Green Beans
Lettuce (Iceberg)
Bell Peppers (Green, Yellow, Orange, Red)

Butternut Squash

Golden Globe Turnips

Carrots

The herb garden is pretty much the same as last year;

Basil                         Parley

Thyme                      Dill

Oregano                   Rosemary
Sage


The Lettuce, green beans and the bell peppers will be part of the aquaponics project.  Hoping the evenings will warm up enough to move the tilapia out to the raised pond next weekend. It's going down to 38 here this weekend.  I purchased 30 tilapia fingerling's (1-2inch) about a month ago and they have more than doubled in size while living in the 30 gal tank which are their temporary living quarters. 

This will be the first time I've tried turnips and carrots.  Wish me luck.  I'm also planning to build a potato box.  The last time I grew potatoes it was in some old tires.  Worked well, but didnt' look so good in the yard. 

The potato box or stacked tires works on the idea that potatoes are like tomatoes.  Bury the stem and it sends out roots.  As the potato grows you keep building the box higher or stack another tire and fill it with dirt.  The stem turns to root and you get more potatoes.  The tires worked pretty good because they warm up the soil (the black rubber holds in the heat and moisture) and when harvest time comes you just knock over the tires and dig out the potatoes. 

I'm going to build 3 or 4  2ft square boxes and stack them up as the potatos grow and take them down once harvest time is here and hope for as many potatoes as I got with the tires.  I got almost 50 pounds with 4 tires.

The carrots, potato box and pumpkins will be part of the new raised beds going in this weekend if the rain holds off.  Sorry Jimmy, but at least it's a square bed.