It's been awhile, in large part because our computer is having issues. Sometimes it will log on to the internet, and sometimes it won't. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that sometimes (ok, a lot of the time) the wind is blowing here, so perhaps the connection problems are weather-related. We have considered changing providers, but have not yet. It's easy to keep the same service when it's working.... :)
I have also been thinking about starting the garden, but when the children are still wearing their winter coats to school in the morning, and we have to fire up the woodstove a lot of the time, I am not quite ready to put any seeds/bulbs/starts in the ground yet. That didn't stop me from visiting the Farmers' Market that was held for the first time of the season on Saturday. Unfortunately, I had forgotten about it and got there when most of the people were packing up. There were flowers out, but I am more of a "if I'm going to plant it, I probably want to eat it" person, so I stopped at one stand that was selling vegetable seeds. They were a good price--I asked if they were non-hybrid, but the gentleman there indicated that they were most likely hybrid. There was also a spot on the table for Walla-Walla onion bulbs, but alas, it was empty. I want in the worst (or is it best?) way to be successful growing onions--but have had no edible results from my garden as of yet. Learned something interesting about Walla-Walla onions, though--they are not really storage onions. They need to be eaten within a couple of weeks of harvesting them, I guess. I'll most likely check back this week to see if there are any Walla-Walla onion bulbs (hope that is the right term) to be had, but I also want to get some onions growing that will store well.
Have you started your gardens yet? It seems like here it is always a line to be walked between starting too early and having your plants freeze (or perhaps get snowed on) and not giving the plants long enough to get anywhere because they are planted too late. Ah, well, we'll do our best....
5 comments:
When I run across a great deal on onions I pull out my dehydrator and dry them. The last good sale I ran into they were 50 cents a lb. I bought 15 lbs and dried them. Great for using in my food storage!!
We live in the very deep south, so our garden usually winters over in ground. Some winters we can even grow things like lettuce and spinach without a cold frame, though definitely not this past winter. I have planted most of our summer plants and most have begun to grow. This year, our garden will be very small, since we only moved here 4 months ago and we are dabbling in other things like chickens. I'm planning to rely on the farmer's market for most of our canning/ preserving this year. I posted a garden update this morning on my blog if you are interested. I've been reading your blog for almost a year, but don't think I've left a comment yet. Please forgive me for taking such a long time to say "hi" :)
Being on the other side of the world, I am not getting ready to plant but I am still picking tomatoes. We had so much rain in January when they are supposed to be ready that nothing happened. They exploded in April which happens to be Autumn or Fall and I am getting huge tomatoes. This is the first time I have had success so I am going to try again in six months when we are getting ready for summer. The seasons have changed a lot and we need to change with them.
Erin in Sydney, Australia
SciFiChick--That is fantastic! A dehydrator is near the top of my "to buy" list, but I hadn't thought of doing onions. Thanks for your comment!
Book Lady--It's great that your garden is already growing--no chance of that here, especially since it snowed again this past week. I'm especially jealous about your chickens because they aren't allowed around here, though I hope that they will be someday... I'm definitely going to go check out your blog--thanks for reading, and for taking the time to comment!
Erin--It's interesting that the weather seems to be changing all over--even Idaho rarely gets weather this consistently cold (the woodstove is going right now) this late in the year. That is great about your tomatoes--glad they turned out well. We haven't tried tomatoes because they aren't especially loved in our household, but I'm thinking about trying some this year just because they would be so handy to have. Great to know what's going on on the other side of the world--thanks for your comment!
Thanks again, everyone--I really appreciate your comments!
Starting a garden is such a good idea! I know a lot of people who complain about having it produce too much and then having it all go bad, but start the garden and then learn how to can so you can store stuff for the winter too! It saves so much money in the long run. And I think working in the garden is really relaxing.
Post a Comment