Tag: broccoli

2021 March Gardening Update Zone 6A

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Starting my garden is always something I get super excited for and plan for months. If you would like to see my last post about what I planned to do in the garden this year, you can check it out here. I have only made a few alterations at this point, so that post is still mostly accurate. I’ve also gone through and made a calendar of when to start seeds, when to plant things outside, and when to pull plants for the next crop to come in. I live in zone 6A, so March is about as early as I can start planting.

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I guess the first thing I’ll do is go through my timeline a bit. The first thing I did this year was start growing a sweet potato. I bought an organic sweet potato at the store about three weeks ago, covered it half way with water and now have is half submerged on the top of a mason jar. Within about 10 days, roots began to grow, and now at about 20 days, I’m beginning to get my first sprout off the top. I would like to get at least 6 slips, but I’d be even happier with 9 to 10. Sweet potatoes get planted after all my chance of frost is gone, so I still have until early June for more growth.

Next, I started some broccoli seeds. I kept them moist, and within 2 days, most of my seeds had sprouted. I started my broccoli seeds about 2 weeks ago, and they should be ready to transplant out the first weekend of April. These seedlings are now about 1 inch tall and are starting to form their fist set of true leaves.

This weekend was very busy. Friday we bought four 2″ by 10″ by 8′ to make another raised bed. With that we bought six 2″ by 2″ by 8′ boards to make two trellis, six bags of Black Kow Manure, and one 3 cubic foot bag of peat moss. Saturday morning we assembled the raised bed, and went to get 7 full wheelbarrow loads of dirt. We filled the bed half way with dirt before we dug a trench to bury hay down the length of the bed. We then covered the hay, added a bit more dirt, then added half the manure and peat moss and mixed the top layer all together leaving the hay untouched.

The hay we pulled from the covering the garlic and is used as a way to help regulate moisture in the bed and hopefully help keep it from drying out too much. Once the bed was filled and mixed, we added the remaining manure and peat moss to the remaining dirt. We also had some chicken waste and bedding, so we mixed it all together in the bed of a truck before filling the wheelbarrow and then filling the fabric pots. That was the last thing we did in the garden on Saturday.

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Sunday, I planted some daffodils in the garden along the garage, and I added some mulch to the tulips I planted near my old raised beds. I’m glad to see they were coming up. I planted a horseradish crown in the fabric pot by itself, and I checked my garlic. I was very very happy to see that all my garlic did come up and that two cloves even split so I should be getting about 37 cloves of garlic this summer! After that, I checked my potatoes, and I planted 4 rows of peas. I then made two trellis out of 2″ by 2″ boards and attached them to the bed between each set of pea plants.

What’s left for March? Still lots! Today I will be going out to add some spinach in between the peas and soon to be broccoli. Next weekend, I should get to plant my potatoes. I have 13 potatoes that should be good enough to plant, so I will be planting them between 3 fabric pots. At that time, I will also be able to start my peppers and tomato plants. I also only have about a week to figure out how I’m going to make the trellis roping. I’m going to be looking for some 100% cotton string/yarn, then I need to decide between nails, brad nails, screws, staples, etc. for attaching the string.

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Overall my plans haven’t changed too much. We decided to place the new bed to be towards the front of the peach tree, and we decided on only one bed instead of two. The larger beds are a bit harder to work around, but I also didn’t want to have to play with spacing two beds and limiting lumber use is also important to me. Also, we decided to do only one fabric pot of sweet potatoes and three for normal potatoes. I wasn’t expecting so many potatoes to be good to plant, but we eat them enough that we found it justified to plant as many potatoes as we have. We’ll also try planting some sweet potatoes in the ground and see how that goes. Finally, I also managed to get my hands on a good large chunk of horseradish root I found on Etsy from Daylilynursery.

For those wondering, that means I now have three types of garlic: Chesnok Red-Purple Stripe, Amish Rocamble, and Inchelium Red (softneck). I started eighteen Waltham 29 broccoli seeds. I planted a bareroot horseradish root. I planted thirty-four Golden Sweet Pea seeds. And today, I’ll be planting 1-2 rows of American spinach.

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Garden Planning 2021

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I’ve been planning my 2021 garden since fall and have altered the plans several times. It’s important to keep a record of your plans, and I so far have 5 sketches for my 2021 garden dating back to September. This year will be my second year with a garden, and I’m planning for a 3 season garden. This means I have plans for all seasons, Spring, Summer, and Fall, and plans on what goes well together and what will go in once one stops producing. With this planning also comes many decisions. I have decided to start everything from seeds except what doesn’t use seed. I have also decided to use two new small raised beds and to use two more fabric pots than last year, however since I flipped the beds this fall, I only have one of the five bags I need filled. I’ll also be figuring out how to fill them early this spring. The soil is very compact here and not very fertile. We do have a compost bin, but it is much too small to be a hot pile, so though there is some dirt at the bottom, it will take a very very long time before I’ll get any significant compost from it.

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The Plans

As I mentioned these plans have changed and evolved over time. The first things I did when planning my garden were to make a list of all the vegetables we eat a lot of and we feel would be a fun challenge for the next year. I also sketched out a layout for the garden. Then I began to place the plants I really wanted into the sketch accounting for plant spacing. Then, when you get to your last few plants you have to make the decision of what you want to plant this year. Take into account, how much you currently have stored, how often you eat it, and if you will have the means to store certain vegetables over an extended period of time.

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Once your vegetables are picked, you can tweak your plans over the span of a few weeks. However, when you finally are set on what you plan to grow, be sure to order seeds! Seeds are in a higher demand than normal and it could take a while to get seeds or for them to come back in stock. Beyond that, it will just be deciding when you can plant things, and what can be planted once one plant is ready to be pulled. For example, I already have my garlic in the ground and it came up before the hard freeze came, so I know that will be planted until late July when it will be time to harvest. After that, I will plant beets. I denoted that by a “/” on my sketch. I have several other plants I will be doing that with, I plant to plant Peas, once it gets warm, pull the peas and plant green beans, then come August/September, I’ll be able to plant a second planting of peas. I’ll be doing the same thing with my second new bed, but with two plantings of broccoli and one planting of cabbage. I also Plant to plant potatoes once the ground is warm, and once they are harvested, I will be planting Spinach in the fall. I am in zone 6A, so my timeline will likely be different than yours, however I hope you were able to get some helpful information.

Some possible questions you may have, I’ll try and answer before hand, but feel free to ask any questions you might have down in the comments. I’ll just hop into it. The circles not within a rectangle/square are my fabric pots. I plan to plant one with horseradish, two with sweet potatoes, and two with potatoes and spinach. The rectangles on the left side of the page are 4ft x 8ft beds that are 12 inches deep. These are the beds I started with last year. The square beds on the right of the page will be 4 ft x 4 ft beds, though they have not been constructed yet. There is also a possibility for another 4 ft x 8 ft bed for onions, but that will only happen if the cost of lumber comes down significantly before May. Most people in my area have a consensus not to plant anything in the ground before Memorial Day, however, plants like peas and broccoli are very cold hardy, so their spring planting will probably go into the ground beginning to mid-May. The picture above of dates and veggies underneath will be the days I will have to start my plants inside. For them, I will probably be starting them at the end of the time frame, just so they don’t get too big, if I do have to wait until mid- or late May before planting. What else… I will be planting two rows of tomatoes, and I’ll be doing one variety per row. I will also be planting both banana peppers and bell peppers in my pepper row. I have tons on Marigold seeds, so I’ll be starting them in every flower bed around my house, and I also learned to get them in the ground super early, or they won’t sprout. I learned the same with dill last year.

That’s all I can think to clarify. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to comment below! Thanks for reading!

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Venison Vegetable Teriyaki

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Teriyaki is a great Asian sauce that is both sweet and savory. Like American Barbecue, Asian Teriyaki can either be a wet sauce or a cooking style, and in this case, I made and used the sauce style. I diced up extra vegetables I had, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery, peppers, and onions, to use as my vegetables in this dish. I also sliced venison for my meat, but slicing a steak or two will accomplish the same thing. I served this dish over rice. This recipe made 5-6 adult sized servings.

Venison Vegetable Teriyaki Recipe CardDownload
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What You Will Need

  • 3 Cups Cooked White Rice
  • 2 Tbsp Oil
  • 2-3 Cups Diced/Sliced Veggies
  • 1 lb Sliced Beef/Venison
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2 Tbsp Corn Starch
  • 1 cup beef broth
  • 4 Tbsp Brown Sugar
  • 2 tsp Garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp Ground Ginger
  • 1 tsp Mustard powder
  • 1 Tbsp Vinegar
  • Wok
  • Small Bowl

Directions

  1. Heat wok over medium heat, add oil and veggies. Add additional water as needed until all veggies are tender. In side bowl, mix together broth and corn starch. Once smooth, add soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, mustard, and vinegar, mix until smooth. Add meat and cook for 6-8 minutes, or until fully cooked.

2. Once cooked, add sauce and cook until sauce is thickened. Plate rice, then place teriyaki mixture over top.

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Vegetable Venison Soup

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Vegetable venison soup is a vegetable soup with some meat to make it a hearty meal. This soup is not a side dish, but the center of a meal. Healthy and tasty, this recipe is a great use of any leftover veggies you may have. When I made this soup, I used venison slices. Though the venison tasted fantastic, it was hard to eat in bigger slices, but dice into bite-sized pieced before cooking or before transferring to the soup. Otherwise, this soup tastes more of vegetables and less of meat making the dish a light and filling meal. This recipe made 5 adult sized portions.

Vegetable Venison Soup Recipe CardDownload
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What You Will Need

  • 1 Tbsp Butter/Oil
  • 1/2 Cup Diced Celery
  • 1/2 Cup Diced Carrot
  • 1/2 Cup Diced Onion
  • 1 1/2 Cup Diced Potatoes
  • 5 Beef Bouillon Cubes, or equivalent
  • 1 1/2 Cup Cut Broccoli
  • 1 1/2 Cup Cut Cauliflower
  • 1/2 Cup Diced Bell Pepper
  • 1 lb. Diced Venison
  • 2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce, to Taste
  • Large Dutch Oven
  • Large Frying Pan
  • Cutting Board and knife

Directions

1. Start by placing the dutch oven over medium heat. Add oil, celery, carrots, and onion. Cook for 5 minutes stirring often. Add 5 Cups water and all bouillon cubes. Add Potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, and peppers. Simmer for 10 minutes then remove from heat.

2. Set frying pan over medium high heat. Once pan is hot, add venison. Stir frequently and cook for 5 minutes until everything is fully cooked. De-glaze pan with 1 cup of water then add meat and water to vegetable soup base. Return to a boil and cook until potatoes are tender and everything is hot. Add worcestershire sauce to taste, then plate and serve.

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Veggie Platter Prep

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You can use any container you have for this veggie platter. These veggies are a good choice because not only do these colors look great together, but these veggies have a good variety of flavors that would be good with a variety of dips, or even just ranch! For this platter, I bought normal cherry tomatoes and pre-sliced carrot chips. This just made sense for me. You could get a mix of cherry tomatoes to get a variety in colors, but the cost wasn’t worth it for this platter. I also bought carrot chips for a different shape on my platter and for easy prep. If you have a mandolin you can cut your own chips, but you can also just buy the already sliced chips. Other than that, it just took a bit of prep for the rest. A nice cutting board is necessary for this and a sharp paring knife will help a lot with cutting the two head veggies. Celery is a great garnish if you want more color on your plate, and Yellow peppers are preference to add more color and a milder flavor than red or green peppers. Using the veggies below, your veggie platter will serve about 15 as an appetizer or side dish.

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What You Will Need

  • 1/2 lb. Broccoli Head
  • 1 Head Cauliflower
  • 2 Yellow Bell Peppers
  • 1 Container Cherry Tomatoes
  • 1 Bag Carrot Chips
  • 1 Bag of Celery
  • 1 Large Bowl
  • Vinegar
  • Large Baking Sheet Lined with Paper Towels
  • Small Strainer

Directions

Preparing Celery

To prepare your celery, Remove large outer stalks and place in sink. Rinse thoroughly with cold water making sure to remove any dirt on the white tail end of the stalk. Transfer to a cutting board. Cut off the leaves just below the knuckle. Save all celery trimmings in a resealable container for vegetable stalk/soup. Reserve a large top for garnish under cauliflower. Cut off about 1/2 inch to 1 inch from the bottom. Then divide the remaining stalk into equal sections about 2 inches long. Continue this until you reach the fine stalks at the center of the celery, then save them also for a stock. Rinse your celery in cool water before transferring to baking sheet to dry.

Preparing Cauliflower

To prepare your Cauliflower, rinse under cold water then transfer to cutting board. First, you’ll want to remove any leaves from the bottom of the head. Then, begin cutting off florets and transferring to bowl of cold water. Once all cut, divide large florets to smaller pieces. Place florets on baking sheet to dry. Save the stem for stock.

Preparing Tomatoes and Carrot Chips

Place tomatoes and carrot chips in small strainer individually. Rinse your tomatoes and carrot chips. Place in containers to dry.

Preparing Bell Peppers

To prepare peppers, rinse the outside of the peppers thoroughly with water. Cut around the outside of the pepper to get 4 slices of pepper. Clean out any seeds and cutting any inside veins. Once cleaned out, slice the peppers into strips. Rinse in cold water then place on baking sheet to dry.

Preparing Broccoli

Follow the same steps at Cauliflower, however broccoli needs a double rinse. To do that, you’ll want to fill your bowl with 1/2 cup vinegar and fill the remaining space with cold water. Place your florets in the vinegar water for 5 minutes, before dividing into smaller pieces as needed, then you’ll want to do a final rinse before setting to dry. Once again save your stem! You can peel the tough outside and use the soft inside in other recipes.

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