Purslane, keep it in your garden

This "weed" is thriving in my garden.

Can you spot the purslane?

Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) is a common weed found in Minnesota gardens. I am finding little purslane plants popping up all over my beds right now. I try to keep a few thriving plants for salads. Some say it has a slightly sour, salty taste. I don't think it tastes like much of anything. I eat it for the nutritional benefits. Purslane contains high amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids, the same fatty acid found in fish and flax seeds.

June garden highlights

Volunteer fennel and dill among the lettuce plants.

Peas please.

There are baby cucumbers planted under those poles.

Mustard greens

Crispy romaine lettuce is ready.

As of June 18th, I have a growing supply of peas and lettuce. If anyone would like any lettuce please let me know nila@thebluearth.com . Just keep in mind that you will have to share with the slugs. I think they are particularly bad this year because of the cool start to summer. If it gets worse, I may have to break out the Sluggo.

Leafminers eating away my spinach

Spring gardening always presents challenges, this year for me it is the insect pest- leafminer.

These elusive insects are destroying my baby spinach plants. In addition, something is attacking my bulls blood beet seedlings, I am thinking it is a fungus but it could also be leafminers.

The UC IPM Program has a really good description on their website about possible methods for controlling leafminers on spinach. One of their tips is to encourage the presence of parasitic wasps, who parasitize the larvae? I think (meaning somehow they get their eggs in between the upper and lower leaf surfaces). I need to look in to this claim further. The other recommendation is to use the natural/ organically approved insecticide, neem. Unless the infestation takes over my entire garden, I am not interested in this option.

I plant fennel and dill throughout my garden every year to encourage the presence of parasitic wasps. You only need to plant once because the seeds will spread throughout your garden and produce volunteer plants every year after. It's the best "weed" possible. I selectively let these volunteer plants grow as my natural pest control mechanism. Unfortunately, the parasitic wasps won't show up until my dill and fennel plants flower, meaning that the leafminer infestation will live on. For now they sticking to the spinach, meaning this will be my trap crop. If I removed the spinach, there would be a risk that these little pests would move on to attack my lettuce. So the strategy is to let go of the spinach in order to save the rest of the plants.

Isn't pest management fun!

Grow Up!

Create vertical space in your garden by using a trellis. I found this unique design at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. I like this because it is simple, just some bamboo poles and twine. I am thinking of creating something similar this year for my cucumbers.

Homegrown Minneapolis, get involved!

Homegrown Minneapolis is an initiative to develop recommendations for the City of Minneapolis to improve sales, distribution and consumption of fresh, locally grown foods to positively impact the health, food security, economy and environment of our City and the surrounding region.

Currently seeking comment on their strategic plan for the city of Minneapolis.

In my opinion it is a good start but attempts to replicate some current programs that were originally designed to help foster agricultural development, urban and rural. I am thinking of the massive land grant institution right in our backyard, the University of Minnesota. We need to bring new life to University Extension Programs and Master Gardeners and stop re-inventing the wheel with more government programs. University Extension and it's supporting programs have been bleeding for years as policy makers and university executives deem them irrelevant. This flood of interest in urban agriculture is proof in my mind that we need to bring new life to Extension.

Purple Hyacinth Bean

I planted purple hyacinth bean seeds about 3 weeks ago in a seedling flat and nothing has come up. I am wondering if anyone else has had problems with germination or growing this plant. I am so excited to have one on display on my deck this summer.

Spring is here. Peas are in the ground and the seedling flats are thriving!

Last Wednesday night, April 15th, I planted a variety of peas in one of the raised beds; including, sugar snap peas, shelling peas, giant snow peas, and flowering sweet peas. I am hoping all will be in full bloom and ready to harvest by mid-June.

It is still very dry and I need to rig up some sort of irrigation system ASAP!

I am also hoping to take advantage of this upcoming warm spell and plant some lettuce tomorrow, more details later.

A Rival of Recession Gardens

An article in the NY Times today caught my attention- The Starter Garden, A Novice in Search of Bounty. The author is a first-timer starting a backyard garden in Minneapolis.

We should let him know about Share Your Greens!

Garden tasks for this coming weekend

It sure has been a cold start to spring.  Regardless, I am hoping to get my peas planted next week. Tasks for this week include incorporating finished compost into the raised beds and cleaning up any mess from last fall.  

I am going to plant some flowering sweet pea along with the sugar snap peas this year.  I just love fresh peas. 

Happy Spring! 

I met my deadline! Seeds planted before April 1st.

Whewww I didn't think I was going to make it but the seeds are ready to go!  

This year, with a new baby, everything is behind schedule.  I ordered my seeds two weeks ago from Johnny's, Baker Creek Heirloom, and Burpee.  Here is what I planted in 4 flats yesterday:

- A variety of peppers, including Ace F1 (dependable, I grow it every year), Carmen (a sweet pepper that turns red fast), Ancho San Luis hot, and Romanian red (left-over seed from a few years ago, I have not idea if it will germinate) and a purple hot pepper that is mostly for color in the garden.  This family loves peppers!

- An assortment of Asian eggplant, once again leftovers from a few years ago... germination will be sketchy.  

-Purple hyacinth bean that I plan to grow in one pot on the deck (I know I will have extras!)

- Radicchio, this should be fun and interesting, I have never grown this before. 

- Beets

- Bianca Di Maggio onions

- Red long of tropea onion

- Carentan leeks

Now I just wait and hope for good germination.  

A Victory Garden at the White House, Finally!

From the New York Times:  

Obamas to Plant Vegetable Garden at White House

Spring is almost here and it is time to order seeds people!

Here is the start of what I will be ordering:

1. Hybrid Pepper, Ethnic Sweet Carmen F1 from Johnny's (the best!)
2. Hybrid Pepper, Green to Red Bell Ace F1 from Johnny's (another good one)
3. Cucumber, Specialty Diva from Johnnys (I WILL pickle these this year)
4. Hybrid Cucumber, Asian/Burpless Tasty Jade F1 from Johnny's (so yummy)
5. New varieties of carrots.  I loved growing carrots last year, need to order more seeds but I not sure what variety yet.  
6. More lettuce and spinach.  
7. Rainbow chard
8. Zinnia seeds, I am going to try to move all my flowers to a new bed this spring.  
9. Maybe eggplant.  
10. Maybe edamame.         
11. Maybe green beans (I didn't like the selection at the farmers market last year)              

P.S. I don't bother growing tomato seeds anymore, I just buy the seedlings from the St. Paul Farmers Market.  Same with all my herbs.  

Seeds to share!

It is about that time of year, I always order my seeds at the beginning of March.  This is my current seed collection:

Onion....yeah I kind of went crazy 2 years ago when ordering all these different varieties:

1. He Shi Ko-Bunching (Baker Creek Heirloom, a very nice bright purple scallion- sorry none to share of this one)
   
2. Onion, Bunching Deep Purple from Johnny's 
3. Crimson Forest Bunching (extra to share!)
4. Carentan Leek (extra to share!)
5. Onion, mini red purplette from Johnny's
6. Onion, bunching evergreen hardy white from Johnny's (extra to share!)
7. Onion, red bulb red long of tropea, Johnny's (extra!)
8. Bianca di Maggio onion (extra!)

Lettuce:

1. Romain/Cos Winter Density from Johnny's (love love this lettuce variety, will be ordering more of this one)
   
2. AllStar Gourmet Lettuce Mix from Johnny's
3. Spicy Mesclus Mix
4. Green Butterhead Ermosa MT0 from Johnny's (very lovely, will grow lots more this spring)

Beets

1. Bulls's Blood- really pretty dark red leaves
2. Chioggia (Bassano) a lovely candy stripe beet

Carrots

1. Hybrid Carrot, Early Napoli F1 from Johnny's- carrots did so well in my garden last year.  I recommend them for beginner gardeners.  
2. Hybrid Carrot, Specialty Rainbow F1 from Johnny's- these carrots were so cool, they came in many different colors including white, yellow, and a couple different shades of orange.  

Kale and other greens

1. Dwarf siberian (extra to share!!)
2. American purple top Rutabaga (extra to share!!) 
3. Blue curled scotch (extra!)
4. Kale- Russian red (extra!)
5. Five Color Silverbeet Swiss Chard from Baker Creek Heirloom (almost out need to order more)

Cucumber

1. Cucumber, pickling H-19 little leaf from Johnny's

Radish

1. Easter Egg 
2. Bartender Red Mammoth
3. French Breakfast

Peas- all from Johnny's

1. Peas, Shelling Type Premium from Johnny's
2. Peas, Snap Sugar Ann
3. Peas, Snow/Sugar Oregon Giant

Other

1. Costata romanesco summer squash (don't grow this unless you have room, I have extra seeds)
2. watermelon tendersweet from Baker Creek Heirloom (extra!)

New blog about urban gardening coming soon

This is going to be good.  Details coming soon.