Fresh Snow Peas

I decided to plant less snow peas this year since I always had too many in the past years. I also planted them in a smaller patch of area for easier picking. Instead of growing a lot on the arbor or designated an entire wine barrel, I just gave half of a vegetable beds for snow peas this year.

 

I planted the seedlings back in March. For the past week, I have been picking fresh snow peas about every other day. Sometimes I put them in soup and sometimes I sauté them in olive oil. They are super fresh and slightly sweet.

Speed Gardening

Snow pea flower

Last week I thought that I had no snow pea flowers, but I was wrong. There are many flowers, so hopefully I will have some home grown snow peas soon. I spent just about 30 minutes in the garden planting some more seedlings, pulling some weeds, and checking on the fruit trees. Last year I worked in the garden as if I had all the time in the world, and I did. Now that I have a full time job, all I have is about 2 hours of daylight during the week. I have no time to waste when I get home from the office.

Apple blossom

Both apple and cherry trees are now covered with flowers. The peach tree has a bunch of tiny peaches already. As I passed by the strawberry cages that I made last year, I thought I would see whether the strawberry plants grew back. As I removed the cages and started pulling out the weeds, I saw something red. There was one single ripe strawberry and several flowers. I am so excited! I removed the cage so the strawberry plants have more room to grow. This year I have Kelsey, and she does chase after squirrels. Perhaps the squirrels won't be able to steal strawberries off the ground now that Kelsey is guarding the garden. We will see.

One single strawberry!

Beans and Peas

Green bean seedlings

We had a lot more rain and some serious thunder storms since my last blog entry; however, today felt like summer. I was eager to get all of my seedlings into the ground as soon as possible before they scorch in the heat. At the end of last month I started a new full time career, so my gardening time is now extremely limited. After I got home from work today, I quickly transplanted the green beans. I didn't plants as many as I did last year because I just couldn't eat all the beans last year.

Snow peas

I also planted 3 pumpkin seedlings. The snow peas have grown a lot but still no flowers yet. 

Green beans are now planted next to the trellis

Planting Snow Peas

I am having a late start on planting this year, and spring seems to be coming early. During the weekend I stopped by American Soil and Stones to get more soil for the vegetable beds. I normally get Ultra Potting Mix or Ultra Bedding Mix, and they are $9 and $8.75 a bag. I decided to look at their price list carefully to see whether they have cheaper mixes. I was surprised to see that they also have "Local Hero Veggie Garden" at $6.50 per bag.  It contains several kinds of compost and chicken manure. That sounded perfect. I got a few bags and even mixed in some Dusty's poop as I filled up my veggie beds.

I wanted to get the snow peas into the ground but I had to figure out where and what they can climb. I have planted them next to the the arbor in the past, but I want to save the arbor for passion fruit. Last year I planted the snow peas in a wine barrel all the way in the back of the farm. I don't want to do that this year because I want to keep all the vegetables in one area for easier access. Besides, I might want to put in another fruit tree at the spot where the wine barrel is. So, I decided to use a piece of left over material from the arbor to make a 5-foot-tall trellis for the snow peas. I know snow peas usually grow much taller, but I can't get to the peas high up anyway. There's no reason to create more work for myself.

It happened to be a very windy day today, so this trellis got blown over several times as I tried to stabilize it. At the end, it stood its ground regardless how hard the wind blew. Now I know it will be safe for the season. It's not the most beautiful thing I have ever put together, but it is functional, sturdy and didn't cost me anything. I can't wait for the snow peas to start climbing on it!

Fast Growing Snow Peas

Snow pea seedlings

Earlier this month I planted some seeds. Before the month is over, the snow peas are clearly the winner in growth. Mizuna takes second place, and green onions take last place. Onion do grow slow by nature but they get big. It's amazing how a tiny seed grows into a big onion. Last week, it almost felt like summer but this week is back to windy rainy winter weather. The plants are going to be so confused! I am confused!

Mizuna seedlings

The warm weather in the past 2 weeks have triggered many cherry trees into early bloom. The pink pedals are all over the streets. My peach and Asian pear trees are both growing new buds. I still need to prune the peach tree. I need to do that as soon as possible. There is a 50% chance of rain tomorrow. This is the perfect weather for grafting.

Asian pear buds

Snow Peas and Shiitake Mushrooms for Dinner

I apologize for the lag on my blog this month. It's been extremely difficult to concentrate on anything with the triple crisis taking place in Japan. My deep connection with Japan makes it even more heartbreaking for me to think of all the lives that were lost and how the survivors are going to overcome this disaster. Being in the Bay Area, we are no stranger of earthquakes. People sometimes ask me what I would do in the case of a big earthquake. I tell them that I would just run to my farm. It would be safe from being buried by fallen objects, and there's food to eat. However, in the case of a tsunami, the only way to survive is to outrun the ocean. It destroys everything in its way including vegetation. In an event of a tsunami aftermath, there would be nothing left to eat even if you had a farm.

It's been raining on a regular basis for the past 3 weeks. I have been turning the irrigation system on and off so frequently that I can't remember whether it's on or off right now. It looks like more rain is coming this weekend. Due to the rain, everything is green and thriving on the farm. The snow peas are started to grow faster now. I have already picked a bunch of them.

The mushroom blocks that I brought back from Far West Fungi Farm in mid-October last year are still popping out Shiitake mushrooms due to the regular rain. There were some oyster mushrooms, too, but the slugs seem to like them more than Shiitake. I picked the mushrooms to cook with the snow peas. It's a good combination.

This mushroom is growing on the bottom of the block, so it got squished

Flowers, Seeds, and Cooking Dinosaur Kale

Snow pea flower

It's been raining on a regular basis for the last few weeks in the Bay Area. I have taken every chance I got in between the rain to check on the plants and take a few pictures. The snow peas are flowering and some pea pods are growing.

I often leave some leafy vegetables to flower for the bees and the seeds. I am still learning different seeds and how to collect them. Speaking of seeds, this Friday, March 4, 2011, from 7 - 9 PM, is the Bay Area Seed Interchange Library's 12th Annual Seed Swap at the Ecology Center at 2530 San Pablo Ave and Dwight Way on the SW corner of the intersection in Berkeley. Please see Ecology Center's event calendar for details on cost if you are interested in going.

dinosaur kale

I have one big plant of dinosaur kale. One seed got mixed in with my spinach seeds last year. While all the spinach from last year are long gone, the kale has kept on growing and thriving. Now it is flowering. I just recently found out it is commonly called "dinosaur" kale. It's a fitting name for its appearance. I had no idea how to cook it, and honestly, it didn't look all that appetizing although I was sure this dark green leafy vegetable has to be highly nutritious.

My opportunity came when I brought home the leftover Szechwan spicy boiled fish fillet from China Village Restaurant. By the way, that dish is excellent if you are into tongue numbing super spicy Chinese food. What I brought home was mostly that garlicky super spicy sauce, and I thought, why not cook a bunch dinosaur kale leaves in it? 

It was so good, and I am not sure how I did it but I ate it all - kale and all the sauce. Just typing it makes my face start to perspire and mouth water. The lesson here is that if you are not sure how to cook something, cook it in some leftover sauce/broth that you love.

calla lilies

All the calla lilies are blooming in the front and back gardens. They come back every year and are a sure sign of spring that's just around the corner.

I have made several jars of pickled daikon. There are more daikons and some of them have started to flower. I am not sure whether the flowers will produce seeds. I will find out after the flowers die off.

Daikon flowers

What Are Thrving in the Winter

Blueberry blossoms

Lately it's been really cold around here. The temperature has been around 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). Although it doesn't snow in my area, it can get quite windy from the bay. All of my sweet basils turned black from the first winter frost.

I planted 2 blueberry plants over a year ago. They never flowered nor produced any berry. One of them seemed to have died off. I was surprised to find this surviving blueberry to be blooming (photo above). Perhaps I will get a few blueberries this year.

I planted some snow peas right before Thanksgiving. Snow Peas are winter crop so I expected them to do okay in the cold. They also took quite a beating from the down pour rain a couple weeks ago.

My friend John gave me a daikon from his urban farm over a year ago. He had quite a successful growing daikons (white radish), so I figured that I would give it a try this year.  In October, I planted my daikon seedlings one evening in the dark. They have grown quite rapidly. My veggie bed is a bit shallow, so I don't expect them to get too big. I like to cook miso soup with daikon. You can make salad or pickles with it, but right now I need something to warm me up!

Planting Snow Peas

Remember those snow pea seeds I collected back in June? It was then I first started blogging. Now more than 100 blog entries later, I have planted some of those seeds before leaving for Mendocino Woodlands Camp and left them on my new propagation table. I covered the potted seeds with a tray (shown in photo below) to prevent birds and squirrels from eating the seeds.

One morning I forgot to put the tray back down after checking on them. That night I found holes in the soil of cell packs. Some seeds were stolen. I planted a couple more 6-cell packs just in case. In just a couple weeks, the seeds have turned into seedlings. I cleared out the dried up green bean stalks in the the half wine barrel, collected seeds for next summer, and planted the snow pea seedlings into the barrel. This year I am trying something new with planting the snow peas. In the past, I always planted them next to the arbor. This year I am planting them in the wine barrel with a home made cage in the center for the snow peas to climb on. I think this may make picking the peas easier since I can go around the cage and pick them from all directions. We will see in a few months.