it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

Not everybody remembers the Mr. Rogers theme but it really is a beautiful day in Minnesota today.  It is 11 degrees outside (above zero) the sun is shining and there is no real wind.  Just lovely.  I am not a football fan and not hosting or attending any football gatherings so while everyone else is focused on the superbowl I have time to catch up on things.  I just spent  an hour in the greenhouse watering and have a few pictures to share.

This is Tokyo bekana, a mild chinese cabbage:

here is another picture:

These plants are finally starting to get some size on them.  The ones that were in the middle of the room were growing faster than these which were kind of stuck at a small size when they were closer to the glass.  Something, either my efforts spent moving the tables a week ago or the fact that the days are getting a little longer, is allowing these guys to take off.

This is a green variety of romaine:

These are collards:

And this is golden frill which will add a little spicy zing to salads when it gets just a little bigger:

One of my blogging goals was to do a new cookbook review every month and then every month following to do a recipe from the cookbook so yesterday when Caitlin was at the farm we did a recipe from the January cookbook review.  The January cookbook is a candy cookbook and the review can be found here.  The recipe that we made was an English toffee.  It was our first time making toffee and it turned out great.

The recipe is here.  It was a great day baking with Cait. 

I finished the February cookbook review and that post is here.  The February cookbook is a 'church cookbook' style cookbook that I purchased at the college bookstore on a visit to Caitlin while she was in college at Kansas State.  I have a whole list of recipes selected from that cookbook to try over the next year so look for the first one in March along with another candy recipe and the March cookbook review.  The cookbook reviews can be found on another place that I blog called A Dozen For Dinner and there is a link to the right side of this blog. 

Not much progress has been made on the garden goals since mother nature has the final say on most of those projects.  I have been working on the awning for the farmstand but there has not been enough progress yet to post a picture.  Another nice sunny day where it is warm enough to work in an unheated shed without mittens is needed.  The design has been determined now it is just to see if it will work.  Fingers crossed!

Many of the garden goals were structural things that cannot be accomplished until spring.  We have accomplished some garden 'stuff' though.  Nikole ordered the seeds from Johnny's and they have arrived.  Last year for the first time we saved seeds from our heirloom tomatoes.  When we started making our lists for our seed order we decided to see if our saved seed was viable while there was still time to order some if it was a failed attempt.  I planted nine cells of each of three varieties and they grew.  Some cells grew more than one plant so it might have been two seeds stuck together or planter error on my part but we did not order seeds for these varieties and decided to keep them under lights iu the house until it is done being below zero outside and then they will be moved to the greenhouse and potted up in to larger containers.  It will be a good chance to see if we can get a jump on the season.  here are a tomato seedlings:

The cherry tomato-Matt's Wild Cherry

The paste--speckled roman

The brandywine

These tomato seeds were planted three weeks ago. 

And then for Nikole who is dreaming of Italy and who stated that she just couldn't wait until summer for basil we have these little seedlings started.  Only an inch high but they will grow:

It is a little early to be starting garden plants but I am making a spreadsheet so I know when i need to be starting different plants to get the timing right for planting outdoors.  I am also getting a start on my garden plan for what to plant where and my early spring to do list. 

And then on the no progress yet list:

I am trying to start some sweet potatoes by suspending  a cut end in water hoping that they will get roots and then slips--nothing yet.

Asparagus seeds--I planted a few not wanting to risk the whole package.  They apparently can take a few weeks to germinate and ours have been planted now since January 23 so I have not given up hope yet.  I did a little reading after planting the first seeds and I planted another group after soaking the seeds in water for a couple of hours first.  We will see if that makes a difference. Those were planted on the 31st.

I think while the rest of the world is watching football tonight I will be checking my garden pins on pinterest.  :)

Christmas salad

A few photos from the greenhouse.  It will be salad by Christmas.  Not everything will be big enough to eat by them but some of it will!

allstar salad mix

allstar salad mix

Mizuna

Pac Choi

a greenhouse evening

It was still cloudy and wet out today so there was not much to be done outside.  All of a sudden parts of the lawn are looking shaggy and there soil is too wet for any gardening activities.  It was a good time to put in a little time with the seedlings.  I have a bunch of seeds that were planted late in April, maybe two weeks ago that will be transplanted into the corn field when it is warmer out.  They are only a couple weeks old but already the roots are growing out the bottom of the seed cells so it is time to get them in a bigger pot.  When I seeded the cells for the melons and squashes I seeded some as singles and some with two or three seeds in a pot.  The singles will be planted in rows and the multiples will be planted in hills.  The multiples were the most crowded and so they were transplanted from a 2 inch cell to a red solo cup.  Here are the rows of transplanted cups.  the smaller white cups in the middle are the brandywine and big beef tomatoes.  The acorn squashes are in the front and the Pumpkins are in the back and the squashes--zucchini, yellow and butternut are in the two rows behind the tomatoes.

Here are more tomatoes, Amish paste on the right and Matt's wild cherry on the left.

Here are a few more seedlings the left box is the inpatiens, they are not growing.   The large round and square containers are the asparagus, the small white cups are Swiss chard and the front box is mostly cucumbers.

Here are the marigolds

And another the greens from the sampler:

Some are starting to try to go to seed but I have been picking the seed heads.  They are tasty.  Much of the kale has been moved outside.  I am hoping that is not a mistake,  It seems a little windy.  The kale in the bigger planters are sitting outside.  One of the gutter planters has been transplanted into the garden.  They never got very big in the confined space in the gutters,  I am curious as to whether or not they will get bigger with lots of room for their roots to spread out.

I started an inventory of the seedlings that are doing well and hopefully will be ready for transplanting in two to three weeks into the gardens.  I think we may have some extras to share.

Last year we got an earlier start on tomatoes.  We started them in two batches the earliest ones intended for pots and the later planting intended to go into the ground.  By the time we had gotten to our last frost date the tomatoes were starting to flower.  We are not gong to be nearly that ready this year. I have started planting some of the tomatoes into big pots.  These will make the trip to the twin cities for Nikole's garden and yard.  Two brandywines:

And a big beef:

There will be more to come over the next few days.

greens sampler--a taste test

Two weeks ago I posted some pictures of the greens from the greens sampler.  Today I did some tasting, measured some of the biggest leaves and had a salad.  Originally twelve varieties of greens were planted.  Today's tasting and salad involved the largest of the greens.  Each of the greens is pictured on a square plate that measures eleven inches on each side.

Bilko

Tokyo Bekana

Tatsoi

Joi Choi

Top Bunch Collards

Golden Frills (top) and Mizuma (bottom)

All of the lettuces were good and most of the ones with round shaped leaves kind of tasted similar, none were spicy, the Golden Frills had a cabbage like flavor with a little bite to it.

Here is a picture of the finished salad...mixed lettuces, tuna, water chestnuts and craisons topped with a little homemade balsamic vinaigrette.