FARM GIRL'S CORNER - Swiss chard

  FARM GIRL AND FRIEND

Hi! I'm Farm Girl and I help Uncle Mac around the shed, and out in the garden and things like that. This morning for example, it was a little chilly outside so I helped him warm his dibble before we went outdoors to work. It is amazing what a feller, even an old geezer like Mac, can accomplish with a well warmed dibble!

But what today's Corner is all about is Swiss Chard and why it's such a great veggie to grow!

Everyone looks forward to greens in springtime, they are usually some of the first crops available. Kale, beet and turnip greens, tender spinach, all are wonderful straight from the plot and into the pot. The only problem is, once you have cut them, you have seen the last of them until the fall crop comes in. They will not grow back.

Not so with Swiss Chard. This cousin of the beet will produce tender, buttery leaves and flavorful stalks from late spring through the first hard frost if properly tended.

As with most vegetables chard produces best when the bed is partially prepared during the preceding years fall clean up. Chard produces a broad and deep root system, so when digging the prospective bed, double digging is beneficial. Take the opportunity to add large quantities of compost and other organic matter, chard thrives on loose, well drained soil. Chard is one of those few vegetables that does not require full sun to flourish, six hours daily is adequate.


Two weeks before the final frost date is a fine time to plant, so long as the beds have thawed and drained. Otherwise wait another week or two. Soaking the seeds overnight will shorten germination time, which can occur in 7 to 14 days depending on the weather.

Here at the shed we like to give the chard bed a quick dig, adding sifted compost and then raking it smooth.  We then add a 1 1/2" to 2" layer of sifted compost made by the hot process method which has killed the weed seeds, and rake that smooth as well. Next, wherever we want a chard plant (About 5" from center to center) we scoop out a cup sized divot from the compost layer and fill it with fine, unfertilized potting soil. We plant 3 to 4 chard seeds in each circle of potting soil, just about 1/2" deep, and gently pat the soil flat.

You may be thinking that's a lot of work for a small chard patch but really, it pays off. The potting soil is sterilized, free of weed and other seeds and you therefore know that whatever sprouts in it is chard. The compost layer is likewise 98% free of weed seeds and suppresses the growth of most weeds coming from the dirt layer below. Initial weeding is virtually eliminated, a mulch layer is prepositioned and all the gardener has to do is thin the chard plants to one plant per potting soil circle.

Some outer leaves should be ready to harvest in 40 to 45 days from germination, always leave the smaller, inner leaves and chard will continue to produce in most planting zones right up until the first hard frost.

Chard needs regular watering but should require no nutrients other than the compost already provided, it is a relatively light feeder.

Swiss chard is as delightful to look at as it it tasty on the table, and can be used to add color and eye appeal to the garden. Different colors can be placed in small patches at strategic locations to create an unusual and pleasing effect.

While most traditional chards like Fordhook Giant and Lucullus feature dark green leaves on white stalks, as in the first picture, there are also magenta varieties...

There are golden varieties...

"Bright Lights" mixes all colors of chard together in one packet...

Botanical gardens find Swiss Chard so colorful they sometimes include it in ornamental beds!

But chard is primarily for eating and can be used raw in salads, stir fried, boiled, steamed and prepared many ways using a plethora of recipes. As an extra bonus chard happens to be one of the most nutritional vegetables available, packed with vitamins, minerals and nutrients.

Chard seeds are available in any garden supply store, or from any of the seed companies, or even at your supermarket in the seed rack in the produce section. Why not add this tasty, nutritious, eye pleasing easy to grow green vegetable to your garden plot? You will be glad you did! 

That wraps up today's Farm Girl's Corner; as always, thanks for stopping by!  



URGENT*URGENT*URGENT*URGENT! - Puppy in peril!

SHE WAS ADOPTED, MORNING OF MARCH 22, 2012! HERE IS A REPORT FROM OUR ON SITE REPORTER!

"She was adopted this morning: Anna Lea Wade I am so glad I was able to get Hilda! She is the sweetest puppy! Love her!"

THANKS EVERYBODY - FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE THIS LITTLE DOG WILL HAVE ABOUT 1000 GUARDIAN ANGELS!

See this li'l dawg? Do not blink, because you won't see her much longer. Her time is up at the shelter she is at. The shelter is:

Stokes County Animal Shelter

1999 Sizemore Road.

Germantown, North Carolina

You need a good dog, you know you do. Or you know someone who does. Or you could repost this link and get other people to do so until someone springs this fine wee pup. But act NOW there is no time left!

The sheleter calls her "Hilda Mae" but you can call her anything you like, she'll love you anyway.

Here is the shelters link:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/StokesCountyAnimalShelter

DO NOT WAIT, THIS PUPPY CAN'T!



FARM GIRL'S CORNER - Why bust your onions?

FARM GIRL

Hi! I'm Farm Girl, I help Uncle Mac whenever there is work to be done, out in the garden and around the shed and that kind of thing. But some times he just wants to play! Why just this mornin' he said to me:

"Hey! Farm Girl!"

"Yes Mac?" I said.

"Lets play the farm tool game! I'll be a rake, and you can be a hoe!

"Well that's sounds nice", I said.

What was I thinkin'? It was fixin' to rain but still. Sometimes I wish he'd go stay at Wooly Acres where old goats are always welcome.

But today I'm here to talk about growing onions.

Have onions been problematic for you? You are not alone. There are lots of gardening folks who grow onions when they plant them, but they just seem so much smaller than expected. And that could be because they are simply missing a few essential onioning facts.

Usually I don't plug one particular company here at the Corner but that is more of a guideline than a rule. When someone goes the extra mile, we like to tell you about it!

http://www.dixondalefarms.com/ is one such outfit. They specialize in onions and relatives (like garlic, not their grandmas) and have done so for 100 years. They tell you things about onion culture that are not generally known; things that can help you grow a successful onion patch. 

And they offer a nice selection of onions aiming for success throughout the USA.

If you haven't already bought your onion plants why not click on over to their site and take a look? You have nothing to lose, and alliums to gain!

As always thank you for stopping by at Farm Girls Corner!

(And if you see Uncle Mac tell him where he can put his rake next time it rains!)

WHO'S GOT THE LINKS? We have daisies, Daisy Dukes, a frightful and dangerous bog, Jack the Ripper and more...

Some links are better than others. Some are actually Lynx. But we got 'em for ya, either way!

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Ah the harbingers of spring! The first robin, the first mosquito, the first emmergent buds, the first Jehovah's Witnesses, and that ever popular first thong bikini! The cycle of life renewed and reaffirmed. And what is more life affirming than a burgeoning daisy patch? Almost nothing, is our belief here in the garden shed.

One woman who seems to agree is Glory Lennon, author of the award winning Glory's Garden. She is going to share a fraction of her daisy lore with us right HERE, and also HERE as well! Thank you, Glory!

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A man goes out hiking, hunting, or fishing. He catches his limit, bags his buck, or has an invigorating walk. Or not. But he probably has a good day anyway.

Sometimes, it rains, snows or sleets unexpectedly. Or the man falls into a fast running stream, loses his gun and breaks his arm. A bad day by any measure.

Sometimes, he doesn't come back, and is never seen again. Was it the Wendigo?  A killer grizzly? No, and probably not. But Mike knows what it could have been, and if you are a veteren outdoorsman, so do you. A true tale of horror, that ended better than it might have, from Mike Logan...

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Jack the Rippers dead,
and lying on his bed.
He cut his throat,
with Sunlight Soap.
Jack the Rippers dead!

Not exactly a ringing endorsement for Sunlight Soap, at least not by the standards of modern marketing. It was, however, a charming childrens rhyme that was in vogue
over 120 years ago when it became apparent that Jack had taken up another line of work.

It also proves that one cannot teach old doggerel new tricks.

Who was Jack? No one knows, no one ever will know. Forensics of the day were not up to the task; no one who witnessed Jackie at play up close and personal lived to tell the tale.

What did he do before he joined the big leagues on the night of August 31, 1898? Surely he didn't leap directly from a career of teaching the oboe to pureeing members of Londons' underclass! What were his stats down in the minors?

No one knows that either.

But that doesn't prevent the author of "Jack the Ripper; The early victims" from telling us anyway. And if you are an amateur ripperologist, and the woods (and fog) are full of 'em, you will have to look. It's like a train wreck... 

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And speaking of wrecks its time for a healthy dose of NASCAR lore. Did you know, for example, that Ryan Newman can fart the alphabet? Makes you wonder why he ever bothered with racing.

If you are like the bunch that hangs around the garden shed, you cannot accumulate enough NASCAR lore. And that is why you are going to find this behind the scenes peek at Championship Week in Las Vegas as enthralling as we did. Alexandra Heep is going to tell you all about it, and she is going to do so right HERE!

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Lock up the toll house cookies! Bury the chocolate chippers in the coal celler! Chuck the ginger snaps in the butter churn! 
Raymond Alexander Kukkee is here!

And he brings us - along with an insatiable appetite for cookies - this 24 carrot tale from the other end of the garden. No, not from over there by the parsnips, but from the autumn end of things, from fall in Northern Ontario where fall can turn mighty ugly before you can blink.

Raymond nearly blinked, but he rose to the occasion in the nick of time. Well he tells the story better, so why don't I let him get about it? Click right HERE!

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I don't always buy art, but when I do, I make sure its an original Paret.

I thought I'd go see what lynny was selling these days, there are loads of new things! I was blown away!

Lynn has all kinds of new pieces hanging on the wall, and you should go and check her Etsy shop right now!

The surprising thing, at least to the denizens of the shed, was the reasonable prices, they match the current state of the economy. 

"Dam!" I recall Delacroix saying, "I don't even have to steal mine."

She didn't sound particularly happy about that but that's Delacroix, she is what she is. (Whatever that is!)

So go check out the gallery, then grab a crowbar, open your wallet, beat the moths to death and then treat yourself to a new wall piece! Brighten your day!

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I was sittin' at the card table out in the garden shed, (it was a balmy day for March) when I heard a truck in the driveway. So did the wolves and they leaped upright, going from sound asleep to wide awake and full of mischief in a tenth of a second.

"DOWN!" I suggested.

They are essentially harmless critters, appearance to the contrary notwithstanding, but for some reason they like to mess with the UPS guy. He won't leave the truck.

They are also obedient and both dropped to the floor with audible thumps; Nero  grumbling, Dire sighing deeply as though he were bearing the weight of the entire lupine world on his brawny back. Funny critters, wolves.

I closed the shed door behind me and approached the truck. The window rolled down slightly and a box protruded. I grabbed it.

"Yes!" It was How HOW TO GROW AN EMERGENCY GARDEN" by Becca Badgett and Cheri Majors, long anticipated and here at last! It lives up to all expectations.

How to Grow an Emergency Garden delivers what the title promises; the reader will discover how to garden for a full twelve month cycle. There are great pictures, poems, a little scripture, a lot of know how, and tricks of the trade I had never heard of in a long life of gardening. It is well written as you would expect but if there are two things about this book that jump out at the reader, they are clarity, and brevity of expression.

That is a terrific combination in a "how to" book. No word is wasted, never is the reader in doubt about what he or she is being instructed to do. 

I recommend this book highly to first time gardener and grizzled veteren alike; to find out more, or to place an order, here is the pertinant Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/Grow-EMERGENCY-Garden-Cheri-Majors/dp/1456416979

Act now while there are some in stock!

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WE PROMISE DAISY DUKES, DAISY DUKES IS WHAT WE DELIVER! THANKS FOR JOINING US AT UNCLE MAC'S!

    

FARM GIRLS CORNER - The seediness of Uncle Mac

May 18, 2012

The Quick Start Cabbages and Jersey Wakefields are doing very well indeed and are about due to be muched, we have an inordinate amount of turnips.

Collards, chard, peas and carrots all doing splendidly and as for the first bunch of radishes? We ate 'em already!

Newly planted bell and cubanel peppers took hold despit a few chilly days as have the cucumbers that we transplanted and the zuchinnis have sprouted. Things are well thus far.

But now its time to sow the parsnips. Bleah!

Later all!  

April 14, 2012

Farm Girl again! Back from doing Viking research in Minnesota and rarin' to do some
hoeing!

Our cabbages have been transplanted to their new outdoor bed and we'll wait a few days to see what happens, - the first few days are the major danger zone - and then we'll get you some pictures.

Also, of all the extremely early plantings we did, carrots, collards, turnips, radishes, peas, and two tomato plants (yeah I know) everything is up and doing well except the tomatoes, which are deader than John Wayne Bobbits taproot.

The peas (Burpees Easy-Peasy, I swear, I don't name 'em I just weed 'em) I think we had 100% germination! How about them app er, peas?

We'll keep ya abreast, here on Farm Girls Corner!

March 12, 2012

Hey! Farm Girl checking in with stunning developments on the cabbage front! It seems the Quick Start Cabbage seeds we planted in pots just 4 days ago are already living up to their name. Due to the abysmal photography skills of Leatherface, it may be hard to see but that miniscule white blot under the arrow is, in fact, a cabbage! Break out the spuds and the scorned beef!

                                                                IT REALLY IS A CABBAGE!    

March 8, 2012

Hi! I'm Farm Girl and I can generally be found around the shed or in the garden, helping out with this and that as need be. Why just today Uncle Mac poked his head out of the shed and hollered:

"Farm Girl! Git your butt in here and help me rearrange the hay!"

I just rolled my eyes and said: "Oh sure Mac, like I'm gonna fall for that four times in one week! I graduated Texas A & M you know!"

Besides that darn hay just works its way into everything.

Today I'm here to talk about a new veggie in this years garden. Usually we direct seed cabbages with a long growth period, like Jersey Wakefield, Goliath or Stonehead. We wait until just about two weeks before the nominal last frost date - April 20th - and seed into well prepared soil. This generally works out well and we get large cabbage heads in 90 to 105 days depending on variety. Excessive hot dry spells have been problematic in the past and besides that, July - August is later than most folks want to see their first cabbage.

This year Uncle Mac decided that a little head in a hurry might work out better than the promise of a lot in mid summer. I marvel that he took so long to figure that out.

We chose Quick Start Cabbage, from the Territorrial Seed Company who have been a reliable seed source for us for many years. Quick Start is billed as being ready for the pot in 55 to 60 days, and coming in at an average weight of three pounds is usually enough for most families. 

To get a real jump on the season, we started the cabbages today, March 8th, 2012. General cabbage lore tells us to start the indoor seeds 6 to 8 weeks before the final frost date and if we adhere to April 20 as the average date, we are splitting the difference at 7 weeks.

There is a huge caveat concerning the frost date this year. Winter so far has been the mildest on record in this neck of the woods. There has been just one snow storm, and that on Halloween. There has been next to no frost. Today, for example, the temperature reached 68 f. 

Obviously it is not possible to predict what will happen over the next two months so we'll adhere to traditional timing.

Potting soil (L), sifted compost (R) and pots

We like to use a larger pot than is standard, the cabbages will be in them for several weeks after all. These pots measure 4" x 4" x 4", and we have used them many times, for many plants.

[Note; when re-using pots, alway clean them well before storing for the next season, we use warm water and a little chlorine bleach, followed by a hotwater rinse. Plant diseases can be spread by contaminated pots as well as tools.]

We use a two stage growing medium. The pots are filled halfway with sifted compost from our heap, and then filled to the rim with an unfertilized potting soil. This is not mandatory, but seeds given this kind of a start do seem to prosper!

We plant 3 seeds per pot, 1/4" deep and then gently pat down the soil. When these germinate as we expect them to in 10 to 14 days we will remove all but the healthiest specimen.

Then it is just a question of keeping an eye on the fledgling cabbages, watering and turning them as needed and perhaps exposing them to a gentle breeze from an electric fan by way of an indoor hardening off process. 

Then, if all goes well and the weather and critters cooperate, and if the good folks from Territorial Seeds are correct in their projections, we should be enjoying fresh cabbages just like the one pictured by mid June. We will be updating everyone on their progress along with several other plants that are new to us so stay tuned!

That's about it for today and as always thank you for visiting Farm Girls Corner!

THE CHILDREN'S HOUR, WITH LEATHERFACE

Hi boys and girls and welcome back to the Children's Hour with Leatherface! Last time this old cut-up told you all sorts of things about - can you remember?

Yes! Earthworms!

Well today's topic is once again, those very same little underground burrowers, but rather than tell you about the big ones and little ones, the smelly ones and the incandescent ones, we're going to tell you all about those stalwart little fellows in your very own vegetable garden!

"Oh Nooo Mr. leatherface", you're probably thinking, "not a steady worm diet here on the Childrens Hour?"

No of course not! We are simply providing Part 2 of what would have been a very long post if we had presented it all at once.

(And if you missed Part 1, you can catch up right HERE.)

But you know, a worm diet might not be such a bad thing after all!

Just look at how much fun little Jason and Jennifer are having here, posing for their parents! Wouldn't your Mommy and Daddy be grossed out if you tried a few wrigglies? I bet they would! Almost as much as if they toured Ol' Leathers' meat locker.

But with no further ado, and certainly with no reference to the risky diet with worms, or the exceedingly tedious Diet of Worms, let's dive straight into the compost heap!

It’s a team effort:

The gardener is rarely alone in the garden, even when there is no one else in sight . That’s because there is a large and busy unseen work force just inches away toiling at tasks that help make the garden a success even though said work force has no idea that it is doing so. We refer of course to the lowly and much underrated earthworm, unseen ally of every gardener who ever wielded a hoe.

Earthworms when present in the garden in adequate numbers keep the soil loose by burrowing through it. They eat particles of sand and clay as well as microorganisms and organic matter and excrete what is in effect a highly balanced plant fertilizer. They migrate from the topsoil to the subsoil bringing nutrients closer to the plant roots where they may be easily utilized. Their tunnels create arteries through which air and water can pass. They might almost be gardeners themselves.

How many worms are enough worms?                                         

There is almost no practical upper limit to how many worms a garden can benefit from. One way to find out if there are enough present is to take what Edward C. Smith in his excellent gardening handbook, “The Vegetable Gardeners Bible” refers to as a “worm census”. 
Mr. Smith states that a worm census will be most accurate if performed in the spring or fall, and not in the blazing heat of summer which tends to drive worms in unmulched beds deep. Smith recommends marking a twelve by twelve inch area of garden soil and digging down seven inches or so with a spade. Transfer the soil obtained on to a plywood square or similar surface. Gently separate the soil and count the worms found – small worms count the same as large ones.

Less than ten worms in a sample of that size indicate a problem. 40, 50 or 60 worms indicate a large and lively work force, busily drilling tunnels and creating rich fertilizer. It also indicates that the soil probably has a good PH factor, adequate organic matter and a rich subsurface microbial life. It possesses good “structure”.

What about those tunnels? 

When a worm squirms its way through garden soil it opens up pathways called tunnels which are beneficial for a number of reasons. The tunnels allow air, vital for photosynthesis and overall plant health to penetrate the soil easily and deeply. It opens drains for surface water; soil well worked over by worms can absorb water up to 4 times faster than can moderately compacted and relatively worm free soil. And the tunnels allow roots to penetrate deeply and spread easily, all of which leads to healthy and productive vegetable plants.

Natures own fertilizer: 

Worms like to eat. They like to eat microbes and other subsurface life forms, particles of silt and clay, and decayed organic plant matter otherwise known as compost. As they do so they excrete pellets called castings. These castings make the soil more friable, which allows more space for air and water to penetrate, and as was the case with the tunnels makes it easier for roots to penetrate the soil.

But castings are much more than soil loosening granules. They are a potent, safe to use and highly beneficial plant fertilizer. The tiny pellets the worm leaves behind it have concentrates of nitrogen, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, potash, and magnesium 5 to 11 times more concentrated than the original topsoil possesses.  Moreover, in a single year, given a soil rich with humus or compost, a single worm can produce up to 10 pounds of casts. That is a lot of safe, effective plant nutrient.

If you build it, they will come:

How to get more earthworms into the garden might be an appropriate question at this point. It is simple; work lots of compost into the soil, as deeply as possible, and then mulch the beds. 
The compost gives the worms plenty to eat, thus plenty to excrete, and encourages them to make many more worms. The mulch will keep the surface temperature and moisture level within acceptable ranges for earthworms and keep them near the surface of the garden, where they do their best work.

A nice experiment is to keep informal tabs on the compost heap as it progresses through spring to early summer. Turning after turning the gardener will notice progressively more earthworms, appearing as if by magic, in the compost pile. This is because for an earthworm, compost is a free banquet; they wriggle into it and happily produce more worms, which transfer to the garden as the compost is applied.

Things to avoid are excessive mechanical tilling and concentrated chemical fertilizers, both will kill and drive earthworms away.

The grower is never alone:

It may seem that way to the gardener staking, weeding, trellising and watering without another soul in view, but unseen beneath that top layer of mulch, an army is at work.

Well there, that leaves you with a great deal to digest on the topic of earthworms and the vegetable garden. Thanks as always for stopping by for The Childrens Hour with your pal, Leatherface!

THE SECRET LIVES OF THE MOUND BUILDERS

Ready for a Discovery Channel moment? You have been cynically led astray, because this post is dedicated to Hugle Kultur, which is as everyone knows, the kulturing of hugles.

We knew nothing about this arcane practice here at the Shed, until Raymond Kukkee intoduced us in a round about fashion at his blog site, Incoming BYTES, cleverly disguised as a heap of vegetable nutrients. Hard on the heels of this revelation we discover a link on Wooly Acres that completely explains Huglekultur, and you can go to that link right HERE and learn all about it.

As the captioned drawing above indicates, we intend to construct a form of raised bed, perhaps 4' to 5' tall and about 5' wide on a base of logs using all sorts of debris to fill in the interstices and then top it off with some indifferent soil and then compost. Our bed will be about 20' long and we will try a variety of veggies on it. Below is the space the hugle will occupy...

   
The new bed will end at the top of the picture where you can just make out a horizontal line - a 4" x 4" - in the washed out February sunlight, flanked by a white stake on the right and a very dim stake on the left marking the margins left and right. The closer end will be just about where you might visualize the photographer's feet to be.

The trees casting the shadows will of course, have to go.

And that is essentially that folks, for the moment. Here at the Shed we'll be documenting the progress of the bed, step by step until hopefully we harvest some good things from it. Join us on our journey, and as you do bear in mind that a well kultured hugle is a hugle well kultured. 

Thanks for visiting Uncle Mac's Garden Shed!