Early in May, About 2 weeks after putting the hoop house / cold frame in place and putting
some tarps down to warm the ground, we had a few days of really warm weather. We checked
the soil temp and it was 10 or more degrees warmer than the exposed ground under both the
hoop house and the tarps. The theory had worked! The soil temp was around 70F, so we
decided to go ahead with planting some of the more cold-tolerant things as well as the greens
we wanted to shelter under the hoop house.
some tarps down to warm the ground, we had a few days of really warm weather. We checked
the soil temp and it was 10 or more degrees warmer than the exposed ground under both the
hoop house and the tarps. The theory had worked! The soil temp was around 70F, so we
decided to go ahead with planting some of the more cold-tolerant things as well as the greens
we wanted to shelter under the hoop house.
A layer of fresh compost over one of the planting beds
Peas planted by the Trellis
Young Peas
Strawberry Blossoms
The vegetable seedlings did quite well, they seemed to spring up no problem.
Vegetable seedlings
We had a detailed 1’ x 1’ grid laid out with where everything was planned to be located.
Someone actually had the foresight to bring that along when we planted and even handily
enclosed it in a large ziplock bag to keep it clean and legible. Even more remarkable – we
basically followed it! One of the motivations was the hoop house, it is only so big so if we
wanted to fit everything under it that we intended for an early start, we pretty much had to
stick to plan (even using a tape measure rather than eyeballing row widths).
Within just a couple of weeks, with most of the greens under the hoop house, the plants had
established themselves and started to take off.
Someone actually had the foresight to bring that along when we planted and even handily
enclosed it in a large ziplock bag to keep it clean and legible. Even more remarkable – we
basically followed it! One of the motivations was the hoop house, it is only so big so if we
wanted to fit everything under it that we intended for an early start, we pretty much had to
stick to plan (even using a tape measure rather than eyeballing row widths).
Within just a couple of weeks, with most of the greens under the hoop house, the plants had
established themselves and started to take off.
Collards
Ruby Chard
Purple Kale
Spinach
During year 1, we had a lot of slugs in the garden. No idea where they came from, but they
were everywhere and munching on leaves we were growing to eat ourselves. We tried the
beer method. You bury half a can or the bottom of a cup even with the soil surface and pour
beer into it. Apparently, slugs are attracted by the smell of beer, but are terrible swimmers (the
lack of arms and legs do make it rather challenging). They will crawl over, fall into the beer, be
unable to escape, and drown. Drowning in beer is not the worst way to go. The only problem
was we didn’t really find any slugs in our beer traps. Maybe the beer got too diluted with
water, maybe the leaves were just more attractive, but it didn’t work for us. This year, we got
tougher on them. Apparently, the underside of slugs are very tender and sharp things are very
dangerous for them to crawl over. Sharp things like coffee grounds and egg shells – both of
which have some beneficial properties for the soil as well. So we collected coffee grounds by
the bucket full at work and I collected my egg shells. You might think the remaining egg in the
shells would spoil and smell, but it didn’t. I just tossed the shells in a bag and they dried out.
Then I just crushed them up before applying to the garden around leafy things. We’ll see how
this year’s experiment works.
were everywhere and munching on leaves we were growing to eat ourselves. We tried the
beer method. You bury half a can or the bottom of a cup even with the soil surface and pour
beer into it. Apparently, slugs are attracted by the smell of beer, but are terrible swimmers (the
lack of arms and legs do make it rather challenging). They will crawl over, fall into the beer, be
unable to escape, and drown. Drowning in beer is not the worst way to go. The only problem
was we didn’t really find any slugs in our beer traps. Maybe the beer got too diluted with
water, maybe the leaves were just more attractive, but it didn’t work for us. This year, we got
tougher on them. Apparently, the underside of slugs are very tender and sharp things are very
dangerous for them to crawl over. Sharp things like coffee grounds and egg shells – both of
which have some beneficial properties for the soil as well. So we collected coffee grounds by
the bucket full at work and I collected my egg shells. You might think the remaining egg in the
shells would spoil and smell, but it didn’t. I just tossed the shells in a bag and they dried out.
Then I just crushed them up before applying to the garden around leafy things. We’ll see how
this year’s experiment works.
Egg Shells around plants
Based on all the various things we have going, we certainly have a lot of biodiversity in the
garden. Some of it is driven by what people wanted to grow, some was driven by seeds or
plants that we had available to us. There’s a little something for everyone and it will be
interesting which things work out the best – I guess that’s one of the fun things about this kind or project/experiment.
One of the first signs of spring is the blooming of the waffles. I spotted this one in my
neighborhood. If anyone knows where I can buy waffle seeds, please let me know.
garden. Some of it is driven by what people wanted to grow, some was driven by seeds or
plants that we had available to us. There’s a little something for everyone and it will be
interesting which things work out the best – I guess that’s one of the fun things about this kind or project/experiment.
One of the first signs of spring is the blooming of the waffles. I spotted this one in my
neighborhood. If anyone knows where I can buy waffle seeds, please let me know.
Wild Waffle blooming
In blog 2 I shared my Southern Style Greens recipe. In that picture was also a pork loin roast
which pairs well with those greens and is a simple, tasty and healthy protein that can feed a
family or provide leftovers. Once I had fresh herbs around again, I was inspired to make this
Herb Crusted Pork Loin Roast again. This one is stolen pretty directly from Genius Kitchen with only a few minor twists of my own.
which pairs well with those greens and is a simple, tasty and healthy protein that can feed a
family or provide leftovers. Once I had fresh herbs around again, I was inspired to make this
Herb Crusted Pork Loin Roast again. This one is stolen pretty directly from Genius Kitchen with only a few minor twists of my own.
Ingredients:
3-4 garlic cloves
1 shallot (optional)
1c fresh herbs
2 spoonfuls of Dijon or mustard of your choice
olive oil
fresh coarse ground black pepper
~ 1 teaspoon salt
3 -4 lb boneless pork loin
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
You are making a paste to crust the meat. There are all kinds of options, I’m
just making some suggestions based on what I had handy, but use what you have
and dried herbs are an option too. In a small bowl food processor or with a knife
make a paste out of garlic, shallot if you have one – I had an extra last time I made
this so I threw it in and it worked, herbs – rosemary is great for this, I added
oregano and thyme as well, a couple spoons of mustard (pairs well with pork and
adds a little “bite”) and enough olive oil to loosen it up a little.
Score top of loin in diamond pattern, about 1/4" deep.
Salt and pepper outside of pork loin
Line a shallow roasting pan with foil. You can put the roast on a rack if you
have one to allow even heat all around.
Rub mustard herb mixture on sides and top of the pork roast.
Roast at 400 degrees F; first 10 minutes.
Reduce oven temp to 325 degrees F; continue roasting for 1-1/4 to 1-3/4 hours.
I really dislike dry pork – this is a lean cut which makes it more likely to be dry. I
differ a bit from the standard recipe here and recommend a target temp of about
145 F. Carry-over cooking is about 5-10 degrees, So I would remove from the
oven at an internal temp of 135-140F. Remove roast to a platter, and let rest for 15 minutes.
3-4 garlic cloves
1 shallot (optional)
1c fresh herbs
2 spoonfuls of Dijon or mustard of your choice
olive oil
fresh coarse ground black pepper
~ 1 teaspoon salt
3 -4 lb boneless pork loin
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
You are making a paste to crust the meat. There are all kinds of options, I’m
just making some suggestions based on what I had handy, but use what you have
and dried herbs are an option too. In a small bowl food processor or with a knife
make a paste out of garlic, shallot if you have one – I had an extra last time I made
this so I threw it in and it worked, herbs – rosemary is great for this, I added
oregano and thyme as well, a couple spoons of mustard (pairs well with pork and
adds a little “bite”) and enough olive oil to loosen it up a little.
Score top of loin in diamond pattern, about 1/4" deep.
Salt and pepper outside of pork loin
Line a shallow roasting pan with foil. You can put the roast on a rack if you
have one to allow even heat all around.
Rub mustard herb mixture on sides and top of the pork roast.
Roast at 400 degrees F; first 10 minutes.
Reduce oven temp to 325 degrees F; continue roasting for 1-1/4 to 1-3/4 hours.
I really dislike dry pork – this is a lean cut which makes it more likely to be dry. I
differ a bit from the standard recipe here and recommend a target temp of about
145 F. Carry-over cooking is about 5-10 degrees, So I would remove from the
oven at an internal temp of 135-140F. Remove roast to a platter, and let rest for 15 minutes.
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