gardening – Page 2 – Planet B Gardens

garlic scapes

When rocambole or other hardneck garlic varieties start the flowering process, they shoot up a central stalk with a bud. If you want a good-sized bulb of garlic to form rather than the energy of the plant going into producing a flower, you need to harvest that stalk once it starts to curl around. The harvested part is called a “scape,” and it’s delicious. The scape has a mild green garlic flavor, and is great chopped fresh in salads, sauteed in butter, tossed into pasta and stir-fries. Some people like the buds fried in tempura batter like a squash blossom. You can also pickle the scapes if you’d like to

July 9, 2017

flowers everywhere…

Explosion of colors in the garden and surrounding forest right now… Crimson clover planted as a cover crop has temporarily taken over the garden Nasturtium reseeded itself, blossoms are smelling sweet Lupine is carpeting the forest floor Daisies are coming up around the deck Borage is blooming prolifically along with Thai basil Yarrow is coming up here and there Scottish bluebells, too Wild roses are on their way out and the dandelions have already gone…

peas ‘n’ summer squash

First harvest of the year always makes me happy. Nothing tastes like the first sugar snap pea of the season…

midsummer garden

I started seedlings later this year than last. Despite the later start, they seem to have caught up and are all doing well so far: Super Sugar Snap peas Graffiti Purple cauliflower Mammoth Red Rock cabbage Chiogga beets Black Forest kabocha squash Cayenne peppers Gold Star summer squash Flash collard greens Rocambole garlics – Siberian Purple Stripe, Montana Giant, Russian Red Toma Verde tomatillos Waltham 29 broccoli Romaine lettuce Nasturtium, chilies (Hatch, chocolate & orange habanero, Traveler Jalapeno, Christmas Tree), tomatoes (Cherokee Purple, Climstar, Frederik, Kakao, Purple Bumblebee, Black Cherry) are also doing well so far. Dark Star Watermelon and Early Black and Black Beauty Eggplant starts didn’t make it

June 22, 2017

green cherries

The first of the fruit trees I planted last spring have fruit — check out the green cherries…

2017 garden started

Forecast is for a warm and mostly sunny week, so moved some of the more hardy plant starts outside. Started these summer squash seeds a month ago. Mammoth Red cabbage got started mid-March. Also planted Waltham 29 broccoli, Chioggia beets, Kabocha winter squash, Graffiti Purple cauliflower, tomatillos, and sugar snap pea starts. I’ll direct seed carrots, lettuce varieties, Swiss chard, spinach, and sunflowers later today. It’s still a little risky here in the northwest to plant chili and tomato starts outside — that will be a mid-June project. The garden looks so empty this early in the season. It’ll be a jungle by July, though, assuming all grows well. Garlic planted last fall is

May 22, 2017

new cherry blossoms

First cherry blossoms on the first cherry trees I’ve planted. Happy to see they made it through this exceptionally cold, snowy winter!

sunflower greens harvest

Wow — these sunflower greens came up fast. Usually ~12 days start to harvest, this batch was ready for harvest in 7 days. Fingers crossed the batch started yesterday will be ready for this Saturday’s Kalispell Farmers’ Market!

first garlic

First sprouts of Siberian Purple garlic emerging this spring from the few spots in the garden where snow has melted this season. Much of the garden remains covered in snow, though, and the ground temp is still less than 40F. Planting cover crops will have to wait a while longer. Crimson Clover going in once the ground warms up a bit more.

first sign of green

Winter 2016-17 has been a snowfest. It’s mid-March and the forecast is for another foot of snow this week to add to the 4-6’+ of snow already on the ground, depending where you look. Last year this time spring garden prep was already underway. The indoor potted chives on the window sill are a good early indicator spring is around the corner, though. The first couple of flower buds popped up this week!