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BRUSSELS SPROUTS -- Plant some extra Brussels Sprouts so in late fall before
hard winter sets in you can dig up several into 5 gal buckets. Set them in a
cool but not freezing cellar or similar and you can harvest sprouts long after
the garden is frozen.
HORSERADISH FLOWERS -- I just discovered
your website when searching for how to grow and harvest this horseradish that is
taking over my garden. I inherited some plants in a garden plot when I moved
into this house the previous winter. Instead of ignoring it I am now looking
forward to making sauce this fall. My question is do I cut off all these white
flowers that are blooming on it? Someone said that it would direct more of the
plant energy to the roots. -- Sandy from Maryland
As you've no doubt noticed, horseradish can be quite a persistent weed! It's
hard to clean out of a garden but I found that by continually weeding and
pulling the roots out it does wear down after several years. Meantime, it's good
eating. I don't cut the flowers off and have good harvests, though I have read
also that you should. You might try it on half your crop to see if there is a
difference. It's also usually said that one should keep rhubarb flowerstalks cut
and I wondered about that so one year I didn't. The bees LOVED the flowers and
they were pretty and I still had a great rhubarb harvest, as usual. So now I do
it if I feel like it, don't if I don't. But the stalks do get in the way,
something that isn't a problem with the horseradish.
GROWING GRAINS -- I am interested if it is
possible to grow and mill my own alternative grains (sorghum, millet, etc). Is
it possible or worth it?
In our early years on our homestead I tried growing a number of grains for flour
but found that it took a lot of space to grow enough to amount to much, and it
was quite time consuming to thresh out even the easiest grains by hand and to
winnow them clean. Grains in general aren't that hard to grow -- I think we
grew, in addition to wheat -- rye, barley, naked oats, millet (the birds loved
it), amaranth (didn't make it to maturity in our climate but it was beautiful).
But it certainly can be done. For any quantity a good grass scythe is almost a
must, though for small quantities grass shears work. Field corn is by far the
easiest grain for the homestead (if you happen to be in a short season area
Painted Mountain is a very good choice). I'd highly recommend Gene Logsdon's
book -- "Small Scale Grain Raising -- An Organic Guide to Growing, Processing
and using Nutritious Whole Grains for Home Gardeners and Local Farmers" -- which
I see has been reissued (my well worn and falling apart copy is over thirty
years old and still a wonderful resource). It's available from the Countryside
Bookstore and other sources.
SEED SAVING -- It is the gathering of seed
for next year's crop that is presenting me with problems. I find a lack of
sources of information on how to tell when plants are "going to seed" and how to
get the seed from the plant for things like Brussels sprouts, lettuces and other
greens, onions, carrots and others.
I have been saving my own seed for many years and some vegetables
are quite easy while others have more complex needs. The best source of
information I have found on home seed saving, and one I highly recommend, is the
book "Seed to Seed" by Suzanne Ashworth. I wish the book had been around when I
first started! It is a great resource and should get you going the right
direction. Some seed can be grown and saved in a small garden but many of the
crops require more space and plants. It's fun to grow what you can though.
Thankfully, good seed is available from many very good seed companies and is not
very expensive so even if you can't grow your own you can obtain good seed.
CANNING HORSERADISH SAUCE -- Well, I can
safely tell you never, ever can horseradish. I pressure cooked it, big mistake.
I followed directions from a website I found that gave a simple recipe and then
said pressure cook according to pressure cooker's manufacturing direcitons,
which there were none specifically for horseradish. So I did as I would a simple
relish. It made a nasty smelling mess of goo. Had to throw it away. Lost all of
the heat it had and tasted terrible, like rotten radishes. Never again. And yes,
you can pass this on. -- Michael
Thanks for sharing your experience! I think I'll stick to the simpler method I
use. You can also store the roots in a cool spot and make "fresh" batches now
and then. The roots will store longer than the sauce.
SEED SOURCE -- We have 15 or so seed
catalogues, heirloom and otherwise, but we cannot find the lettuce, tomato and
pepper seeds you mention in your article. Could you tell us where you got those
seeds? --Nancy from Canada
Seed companies change their line-up regularly so it's often hard to find a
particular variety -- this is why I save seed of my favorites, though I've found
that there are so many other good varieties available that it's not much of a
problem. Many of the varieties I grow came originally from growers listed in the
Seed Savers Exchange Yearbook and are often not available commercially. I don't
now recall exactly what I mentioned but you might try Kathleen Pluncket-Black's
"Plum Creek Seeds" -- she sells a number of varieties not generally available.
I've also had good luck with Fedco. In the past I've ordered from many of the
companies listed on my Seed Sources page (see above left menu for link) and been
happy with them. I don't order many seeds now since I grow most of my own.
REMOVING MULCH FROM STRAWBERRY PLANTS -- I
had covered my strawberry plants to protect them this winter; when am I supposed
to uncover them? --Debbie
I uncover mine when they start looking like they want to grow in the spring,
gently pulling off and tucking the mulch around the plants. But since we often
get late freezes I'm prepared to cover them back up (with mulch or blankets) if
the temps suddenly drop into the teens or 20s. It depends on the variety, but
most can handle cool temperatures just fine. A really cold one might damage buds
though. Mostly I don't fuss too much with them and I always get berries, but the
varieties I grow put their berries low on the plant where they are more
protected.
PLANTING FLATS -- What
is the bottom of your planter? Plywood? Do you drill holes? Maybe a screen
bottom? --Beverly
What you use to make the bottom of the flats. If it is wood as I assume it
is, is it all one piece such as plywood (which I would think would rot quickly)
or is it several boards that are adjoined??--Bob
Yes, the flats are homemade, and I've used both solid wood and plywood for the
bottoms. I drill maybe 8 holes for drainage but they are as likely to drain out
the edges as out the holes. They both work and do rot out eventually. If the
sides are still good, I just replace the bottoms. I usually put a layer of
newspaper on the bottom before adding the dirt which I think helps them last
longer. Here is a description from the Greenhouse article in the March 2010
issue of "Countryside Magazine":
Flats are easily made of scrap wood of whatever type
is available (not painted or stained with toxic coatings, of course). My basic
flat is about 11" x l6" x 3 1/2" (inside measurement) made of 3/4" boards with
holes drilled in the bottom for drainage. Bottoms set in grooves in the lower
edge of the side pieces are strongest (particularly if you use plywood for your
bottom), but you can also fit the bottom boards flush inside the box or in
rabbets and nail or screw in from the sides. Pine is my favorite and lasts
longer than poplar, but if that is what you have it works fine. Hardwood is OK
too, but it is heavier. Drywall screws work well for fasteners if your wood is
apt to warp but nails are usually quite adequate. The flats can be as plain or
fancy as you want, the plants won’t care. It’s nice to make them a size that
best utilizes the bench space you have. I’ve made smaller and larger flats. But
larger ones (15” x 18” x 5”) filled with dirt are heavy and hard to move around
and haul out to the garden, and smaller ones aren’t quite as useful.
POTATO SEED -- I have been planting certified
seed potatoes in containers for about three years. I have a couple of plants
with some seed-bearing fruit. I would like to try planting these seeds to see
what varieties turn up. How and when do I harvest the seeds? And how do Ikeep
them until next spring when they will be planted? --Jan from
Alaska
It's fairly easy to harvest and save potato seed. Let the seed balls ripen --
they will turn from green to a pale tan or whitish, from hard to soft, not
unlike tomatoes. Mash them up together in a container such as a glass to
ferment. you may have to add a little water since they tend to be quite dry. Let
them ferment about three days, stirring once or twice a day. They will develop a
mold and probably smell (I don't remember on the potato seed but I know tomatoe
seeds fermenting do). The fermenting apparently destroys some possible diseases
and it breaks down the sac around the seed.
The seed is small so you'll need a tea strainer (or a
cloth would do). To clean, fill your glass with water, let the seeds settle,
then pour off the water and remnants on top. Do this as many times as necessary
till you have clean seed. Then strain and spread out on a saucer to dry. This is
the same process as for tomato seed. when the seed is dry, put in an envelope
and store in a cook, dry place. It's nice to keep track of the ancestry -- both
the type potatoe the seed came from and any other varieties grown that year
since potatoes cross pollinate. But even if you only grew one variety, the seed
will likely not come true to the parent. which is one reason it's not done
commercially.
In the spring you need to start your potatoes inside
early just as you would tomatoes. Plant the seedlings outside after danger of
frost, then let them grow. The first year you will probably harvest only tiny
tubers, and each plant will be different. Save the tubers from the most
promising plants (health, yield and taste) and plant them next year just as you
do regular potatos. In another year or two they will be growing regular full
size tubers. If you find a good one, keep growing and saving tubers. If it
continues to be a worthwhile variety, name it and keep it going!
Out of 24 plants I planted two different years, after
many years of selection, I only continued to grow two. They were particularly
free of blight which was great and the somewhat scab resistant which is
important to me. But the taste never came around (they tended to be bitter) and
I finally gave them up. But I'll do it again one of these days -- it was fun and
there is always that possibility of finding a great variety!
CATSKILL STRAWBERRIES -- I'm interested in
planting Catskill strawberries which seem to be a vanishing variety. Our family
legend -- I don't know if we can verify or disprove it -- is that my
grandfather, Fred A. Smith, participated in the creation of this variety at the
Geneva Experiment Station in the late 1920's. Grandfather was superintendent of
the Essex County School of Agriculture in Massachusetts and a graduate (1894) of
the Massachusetts College of Agriculture, now known as UMass. Tim Nourse used to
sell Catskill plants, but I can't find them in his catalog or any others. I
notice that you have grown them recently and wonder where you find the plants.
--Bob from Maine
How interesting! Unfortunately, my source was Morss & Sons, Mass. who retired in
2005 and that was the only source for the older varieties that I know of. He
sent me to Fedco but they, I think , are also looking for a new source for
plants. Hopefully they will come up with someone in the future. I would offer
you runners, but my plants are not disease free and aren't really thriving.
[I later gave up on them as they never did do well].
TOMATO SUPPORTS -- The picture shows some
kind of wood rack over your -- what is the reason for these?
--Dale from West Virginia
 The
wooden racks in the photo are for tomatoes. The variety I grow are
semi-determinate so they don't grow tall enough to need tall poles or stakes,
but they do appreciate something to keep them off the ground in a wet year
(which we often have). though I mulch with hay there is some loss to rot when
the tomatoes are allowed to sprawl on the ground. I've tried many
different solutions and this simple wooden support made from scrap wood has
worked the best. It supports the plants without my having to do anything other
than direct a branch or shoot into place. Becasue of our cold and hsort growing
season, I transplant the tomato plants into cold frames. when the weather warms
up the frames are taken off and the support rack is put on.
QUEEN ANNES LACE FLOWERS -- Is the
Queen Anne`s Lace you speak of the same as the dried version they use in flower
arrangements? I love the smell, and have been trying to find some to grow and
dry for my own use. None of the seed catalogs I get have it listed. Maybe it is
not a good thing to have around. --Ila from central
Idaho
I assume it would be the same though I don't
really know. Queen Anne's Lace is a wild plant but there might likely be a tamed
version that is grown for the cut flower/dried flower trade. But you could just
grow carrot flowers and dry them the same way (they are basically the same
plant) if you can't find wild plants around to harvest seed from. It may be
considered an "invasive plant" in some areas, but if you cut the flowers you
won't have to worry about them reseeding. You could check with your local
cooperative extension office. If you are in zone 4 you shouldn’t have trouble
growing carrot seed (I'm actually in zone 3 -- last frost often middle of June,
first one first to mid September, though individual years vary a lot). They are
a beautiful flower whether called carrots or Queen Anne's Lace, wild or dried.
STRAWBERRY CAGES -- How do you get
in to your chicken wire strawberry cages? --Kay
 The chicken wire is attached to the rebar staples in the middle of the row and
the ends rest loosely on the ground (attached to each other at the edges with
clothespins). When I want to get in there, I just unhook the clothespins and
fold (loopily, not with a crease) the chicken wire back over the center, pulling
it back down when done. It has worked OK but I've decided it would be easier to
have framed wire pieces to work with instead of the loose fencing. One frame
down the center flat, with loose hinged frames on either side maybe that will
set on the ground -- sort of an A-frame without the pointed top. Hopefully it
will be easier to make than it is to describe! I wish you luck with the critters
and the strawberries. A lot of fussing, but they sure are worth it.
[later note -- we ended up making a large cold frame type box with wire instead
of glass "windows", worked real nice for keeping the birds out, not so for the
raccoons. More info and photos in a future article.]
STRAWBERRY BLOSSOMS -- I have had a
strawberry patch for 4 years now and I am still learning it. Can I use the
runners this summer to produce berries for next summer? Or do the runners this
year make for a better crop in 2 years from now? -Jim
It depends -- if the plants are smallish I
generally pick the blossoms off and don't let them set fruit the first year, if
they're larger and hardy looking I let them go ahead and produce berries.
Sometimes if I'm busy I don't do anything at all, just let them fruit when they
feel like it. It all seems to work out OK.
CAT GRASS SAVER -- When I
mentioned in an article my cats lounging in (and flattening) the flat of grass I
plant for them for winter grazing, Dave from Michigan sent his solution which
works great:
He staples a piece of hardware cloth on the top of
the flat; the grass grows up through but when the cats walk and lay down on the
grass the plants are somewhat protected and survive much better. I happened to
have a piece of hardware cloth in a frame (which is usually used on the vent
between greenhouse and house when I want to keep the cats out of the
greenhouse). I set it on the cat-grass-flat and the cats were able to graze at
will but weren't inclined to lounge on it, thereby making the grass (actually
mixed grains) much happier and healthier.
TOMATO RACKS -- Are the tomato
supports in the photo permanent or do they move with your tomatoes?
-- Heather in New Windsor
I do usually plant my tomatoes in the same plot each year but the wooden racks
are portable. I often change my mind about what I want where, plus the tomatoes
start the season in cold frames. When the frosts seem to be over (or the
tomatoes are outgrowing the cold frames) they come off and the rack goes on.
It's a simple affair made of wood we had on hand and suits the semi-determinant
tomatoes I grow. [see photos above]
ROTATING CROPS -- I've always read
that you should rotate crops but in your article you indicate you don't. Why
not? -- Karen
As in so many cases, I think there is some truth to the idea of rotating in some
cases but it got repeated again and again until it became a hard rule for all
with little questioning of why. It's been my experience that insects are very
capable of moving from one row to another to get to their favorites! Nature only
"rotates" occasionally and the trees, plants, bushes generally live a healthy
life, building up their own balanced ecosystems and that is what I strive to
imitate in my garden. There ARE times when I rotate, usually for convenience of
fitting the pieces of my plantings together (I'm always changing something),
sometimes for weed control (putting thickly mulched crops such as potatoes or
tomatoes in a weedy spot to clean up that area), and occasionally for a problem
such as root maggots in carrots. Though I'm not sure location matters as much as
timing. My tomatoes the last few years have died rather early of blight (though
the tomatoes also ripened early because of that so this may not be a "problem"
in my very short season!) so I'm thinking of changing the tomato and bean plots.
Maybe that will help.
The one pest I consistently have is potato bugs, and blight, and after 30
years of growing potatoes, rotating and not, I have to say it makes not any
difference. Some years there are a lot, and some years there are few with no
reason that I can see (though I'm sure they understand it). This year I planted
potatoes in the same spot and had the fewest potato bugs ever. Our neighbor
(next 80 over) also planted in the same potato area and he had more potato bugs
than he'd ever seen before. Gardening is ever changing even if one never changes
what and where you plant.
As always, I fall back on experiment and experience -- my own that is. Rules
are never ever the same for all, but there are enough similarities that it makes
sharing fun and gives one a place to start.
POTATO HARVEST -- I
planted potatoes in my garden and they are growing but when do I
harvest them? -- Mary
Potatoes can be dug to eat whenever they are a size you want to eat them. If you
are careful you can dig around with your hand to pull out a few of the
larger ones and leave the smaller ones to continue growing, usually about the
time the plant is flowering. For storage they are dug after frost in fall after
the plants have died down and the skins on the potatoes have firmed up (can't be
easily rubbed off).
PUMPKIN SEED DRYING -- I'm interested in drying/saving
pumpkin seeds for next years planting. Is this covered in your web site? Unable
to locate it there and wish you might suggest a procedure.
--Tom from Michigan
For squash/pumpkin seeds I just cut the fruit and scoop out the inner pulp when
I'm ready to cook the squash, pick out the seeds and dry them on a plate. They
are one of the easier seeds to harvest. A great book on seed saving is Suzanne
Ashworth's "Seed to Seed" if you want to do more in that area. For summer squash
let the fruit grow to mature size in the garden then hold for at least a few
weeks after frost. I have a half dozen hunker mature zucchini sitting in our
entryway that I need to get the seed out soon and the fruit to the compost pile
(and off the entry floor) before they rot. They make a pretty odd looking
'welcome' to visitors! But since they're not food they tend to get left to last.
CANNING HORSERADISH
SAUCE -- Could you tell me how to can horseradish sauce?
--Donna, and --Cindy
Although you can buy "canned" horseradish sauce in the stores, none of the
preserving books I've seen talk about canning it. Years ago, when I first grew
and grated my own, I asked a long time homesteader and horseradish lover about
canning it and he said you shouldn't because the heat would ruin the flavor. But
it turns out it lasts a long time anyway without canning so that isn't a
problem.
In the fall I dig a bucketful of roots and store them in the root cellar
(any place cool would do). Then I process a batch of sauce (which is mainly
horseradish and vinegar) which fills four or five half-pints, and I keep the
jars in the cool cellar (our equivalent of a refrigerator). That lasts us for 2
to 3 months. When we run out, I do another batch from the stored roots. I've
never had any horseradish sauce spoil so I can say it will last at last 3 months
in cool conditions. A friend stores his in the refrigerator. Neither of us have
tried keeping it any longer. I do find that it mellows as it ages however (which
I like!).
I'm just ready to make the last batch from the stored roots which are
starting to sprout but are still good. That will be the last I'll make until the
fall harvest. You can dig the roots in the summer, too, but I prefer to leave
them to grow until fall.
GARDEN SIZE -- My husband and I are selling
our home in NH and looking for a few acres and a small house in Maine where we
plan to raise as much of our food as possible. I have previously grown, canned
and frozen food for winter consumption, but that was some many years ago and
really wasn't enough to be considered self-sufficient. Is there a simple way to
size a vegetable garden for two people other than actually trying to figure
yield per plant, etc.,? If there is a general rule of thumb, i'd love to hear
it. --Linda, moving from New Hampshire to Maine
I'm afraid I don't have any quick and easy way to plan the size of your garden.
It so much depends on individual likes and dislikes, crops and varieties grown,
weather, environment, etc. Our garden has changed many, many times over the
years, adjusting and adapting to our changing interests, and I'm sure will
continue to change as we do. We've progressed to eating direct as much as
possible out of the garden, or out of the root cellar in the winter, which saves
a lot of time. And I like that. Our meals change as the crops do. One of the
biggest differences over the years in how much I needed to grow, or buy, was how
much one or the other of us was home (or gone -- working out). I raise a lot of
what we eat, but also buy grains and raisins and oil and such. And apples in the
fall when our trees are on their off years. In the early years we bought more
and now we buy less.
A garden seems to naturally grow as you do and you’ll learn what you like to eat
and what you don’t and how much. But no matter how much you plan and organize
nature does what nature does, and each year I find I have more of this, less of
that. We adapt our eating to the harvest and make use of the Food Coop for big
differences (such as the coons getting all the corn, or an unexpected summer
freeze wiping out the tomatoes). The biggest help for me over the years has been
a garden notebook and a food inventory notebook.
COMFREY FLOWERS, LEAVES -- Should I cut the
flower stalks of my comfrey plants (which are growing very well!), and how can I
use the leaves? --Sandy
You don't have to cut the flowers off the plants -- they are quite hardy and you
really don't have to pamper them at all. You can use the leaves for whatever you
want to -- tea, animal feed, healing. Any good herb growing book should give you
more info.
HORSERADISH FLOWERS -- Do I need to cut the
flower stalks on my horseradish plants? --Joe
I never do anything with my horseradish other than harvest the roots (and pull
out errant shoots that would love to take over my garden!). You don't have to
cut the flower stalks (though I don't suppose it hurts if you want to). I often
leave some rhubarb flower stalks, too, as the bees love those flowers (and they
are quite beautiful if you get over the idea that they shouldn't be there). But
then I have more rhubarb than we can eat so I don't mind if the production of
stalks is a little less.
HEIRLOOM PEPPER VARIETIES
I only grew Vinedale a few years as I found another that did better in my garden
(Georgescu -- a vigorous plant, large blocky yellow from NJ CA J), and I didn't
maintain the Vinedale. Meantime, I've tried a number of peppers since as I
continually had some rot in the Geogescu's (but they did well other than that).
I found two that were more reliable here -- Sunshine (large green variable bell
and non-bell with a thinner wall, turns yellow-orange early) (IN BL S '00); and
Red Belgium (earliest, thick walled, mild, light yellow non-bell, smaller plant,
turns bright red) (MI FL J '00). Getting some rot in Sunshine as well, so I've
decided to stick with Red Belgium. I also occasionally grow a hot pepper that
came originally from Johnny's many years ago, since dropped -- Caliente Hot
Pepper. You have reminded me how much I enjoy the "other part" -- experimenting
with varieties, searching out the histories and stories behind them, and the
sharing.
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Copyright
© 2010 by Susan Robishaw
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