February 2013

     Howdy to anyone interested in growing food in your backyard!  This year I am shooting for an incredible amount of food to come from my own home.  I'm also trying to do it in the least expensive way possible.  Yesterday I planted over 100 pre-germinated seeds in small peat/seed mix pots, mainly consisting of tomatoes (Cherokee Purple, Yellow and Red Brandywine, and Ace), "Tasty Green" Japanese cucumbers, "Charentais" cantaloupe melons, and "Snack Seed" sunflowers.  Pre-germinating isn't always necessary, but I like to do it to ensure a better yield out of the small peat pots.  (Usually only half to 2/3 of the seeds germinate out of the seed packet.)  I've attached a picture of my rustic seed starting rack-three lights, and a seed flat heater I move around.  I'll periodically post pictures of the progress.  And there is no way that I can use all of these plants even if only half of them make it, so anyone who wants a plant, let me know.  (They should be ready for transplanting the second week of April.)
     Each day, a couple times a day, I spray the pots with a sprayer containing a mix of water and sea kelp.  The sea kelp gives micronutrients to the seedlings and also helps prevent rot.  The temp in the garage stays around 55, which is perfect for seed germination.
     In addition to the seedlings, outside in the garden we planted beets and carrots.  We haven't had great luck with them thanks to slugs and birds, so this year I planted them in our nicer raised bed next to our built in BBQ.  Once they harvest (hopefully!) I will experiment this year with a combo of flowers and lettuces.  This area stays pretty shaded, so lettuces should do OK there, and the flowers will likely be edible ones-calendula and nasturtiums, and maybe an herb or two.
     It's also fruit tree spraying time to prevent brown rot and peach leaf curl.  This is simple and organic, just a horticultural oil that smothers the over-wintering fungus.  The amount of cold we have had this year has been great, and while we could use much more rain, the cold thus far should result in great yields on all the trees, especially the stone fruit.
      We were on top of the planting season this year and got our fava beans in early.  Right now we are able to eat fava leaves, which are like tender spinach, absolutely delicious.  The beans are a remarkable plant: inoculating the soil, fixating nitrogen into the ground, providing tilth for the worms, and providing food now and later with the absolutely succulent beans.  In April, the remaining plant will get chopped up and tilled lightly into the ground for "green fertilizer" for the tomato crops.
    Here's my recipe for your fava bean leaves (or spinach or arugula):  Shred one cup of greens, wash, set aside.  Finely mince two cloves of garlic, set aside.  Dice 1/2 small jar of roasted red peppers, set aside.  Dice 6 thin slices of pancetta, set aside.
     Next, start water to cook 2 servings of pasta (I use about 1/3 of a box of orichette pasta.)  After water boils, put in pinch of salt; add pasta.  As pasta is cooking, heat small sauce pan, then once heated, add 2 tbs. olive oil.  Let oil glisten, then add pancetta, cook for a few minutes, add in garlic, cook lightly for one minute, then add greens and saute about 2 minutes.  Finally add a pinch of crushed red pepper, then add roasted red pepper.  Let heat.  Drain pasta, and return to empty pasta pan, pour in vegetables, toss and enjoy with a twist of parmesan or dried jack cheese.  Each serving (about 2) has about 300 calories.

From top to bottom:
Fava beans; seeds starting, a true violet (edible) and the pruned Santa Rosa plum, Strawberry peach and Asian pear trees.
Off to the garden with you!