It doesn't get much better than this...

These are the ingredients from last nights dinner:

Coho (Silver) Salmon I pulled straight from the ocean 2 days prior,
Turnip, Broccoli, Garden Peas, Radishes and Summer Squash, all fresh from my garden, mixed with a little olive oil and herbs from the herb garden.

I grilled the whole thing, and served it with some Basmati Rice.

My son thinks I'm the best cook in the whole world!

Harvesting the garden...

I can't believe that we are eating out of the garden already!  Last night, we ate our first head of Broccoli with dinner!  Broccoli is so yummy when its fresh from the garden!

Lily and I decided to do some more harvesting today... Lettuce, Turnip, Radishes, Lemon Balm and Cucumber for lunch, and more Broccoli for the freezer.

The tomato plants have all set fruit, and some of them are getting rather large already.  The squash has the biggest blossoms I have ever seen, and the little squashes are dark green and beautiful!  I'll follow up with some more pictures soon!

Weary of Winter

Its that time of year again.  The days are getting longer, the sun feels warmer, the weather starts to warm up... then you wake up the next morning and its -10F and you are knocked right back into reality.  This is February, in Alaska.  Spring is NOT just around the corner, although it is only about 2.5 months away now.

My mind is already on my garden.  I'm thinking about what I will be growing, where everything is going to be planted, how will the greenhouse be set up this year etc.  I have several things that I am sure will be in the garden, but I always try to plant one or two things I have never grown before.  Its not always a success, but its fun!  And that's a big part of having a garden, the fun of it!

What will I be growing for sure this year?

Tomato
Cucumber
Broccoli
Beans
Snap Pea
Summer Squash
Cabbage
Turnip
Lettuce
Radish
Kale
Carrot

Any suggestions from my readers for the "Something New" column?  What's your favorite "fun" plant to grow in the garden?

1st Broccoli Harvest

I'm so excited to harvest my first head of Broccoli today.  Again, this is a first ever, not just first this year! 

I made sure to leave the side shoots untouched so that they can continue to grow.  This will be a chicken and broccoli stir-fry, and most of the rest will go in the freezer once it is harvested.  I think I need to grow much more next year, as I can see that this won't last long.  My son is drooling over the raw flower as I type! 

Already thinking about next years garden...

So, with the exception of a few plants, this years garden has been a real failure for me. I need to start thinking about next years garden and what I will (and won't) plant in it. I'll start out with a list of what grew and what didn't.

Grew Well:

Snap Peas
Cucumber
Onion
Strawberries
Rhubarb

Didn't Work Out:

Beans
Zucchini
Broccoli
Carrots
Radishes
Spinach
Kale
Cabbage
Eggplant
Peppers
Tomato
Beets



I have to start by asking myself how much of the failure could have been prevented? I need much better soil in the raised beds, that would make a difference all the way around. I neglected my garden for 2 weeks during the beginning of the hottest part of the summer. This was due to Lily being born, but it was neglect all the same.


So, what am I definitely NOT growing again next year? Eggplant, Peppers and Beets for sure.

What am I definitely GROWING again next year? Snap Peas, Cucumber, Onion, Strawberries and Rhubarb, for sure, obviously. But what am I not willing to give up on quite yet? Cabbage, for one. I love cabbage, I cook with it all the time, and Alaska is know for its ability to grow prize winning cabbages, which tells me that I am just doing something wrong. I also know that even if I say I am not going to, I will end up with at least 2 tomato plants again next year. I think I will try Zucchini again as well, as this is just something I really want to have an abundance of in the fall. I think that next year I just need to scale it down a bit, and try to focus on a few so-far-unaccessable-to-me vegetables, and a few tried and true favorites. I will not give up, and sooner or later I will have an amazing vegetable garden every year to feed my family!

Time flys...

Hard to believe that Lily is almost a month old already! I've severely neglected my blog! Here is a quick garden update...

The broccoli and spinach bolted, due to the 85F+ temperatures. The cabbage hasn't grown at all in the last month. The peas are blooming and the beans are doing well, as are the carrots. The radishes have met a similar fate as the cabbages. Cucumbers and zucchini are looking good, and I have 1 tomato. The peppers are covered in aphids and the eggplant seems to be a wasted effort. The onions, beets and strawberries are looking good, and the rhubarb is ready to harvest again! This crazy weather has just messed with the garden too much this year, but next year will hopefully be more productive! I'll post some more pictures next time!

Garden Happenings...

Here's some photos of the progression of the garden so far...

Mixed Radishes

Wild Raspberries

Sitka Roses (behind them is where my Rock Garden will eventually live)

Lots of Cabbages!!!

Snap Peas

Broccoli

Zucchini

Rhubarb

Spinach

Kale

This is not everything in the garden, obviously, but gives a pretty good representation of how things are doing.... And remember, its only June 4th, and this is Alaska... I have no complaints so far!

Plants in the garden!!!

I planted the cabbage and the broccoli today! I'm so proud of myself! It is definitely time to plant the remainder of the vegetables, so that is my goal for the weekend... to get everything in the ground. (With the exception of the spinach and the kale which will stay in their little flats until they are the right size to be transplanted.) It feels good to be accomplishing so much, being as uncomfortably pregnant as I am at the moment. I just went out to check on my little garden, and I have to say I feel a certain tenderness towards those little plants. I raised them from the tiniest seeds and they are going to give back so much more than I put into them. Its truly a humbling thing, when you think about it!

Here's a few pictures of today's progress...

Happy little herb garden


Cabbages... think I'll supplement with a few Red Cabbage as well


Lots of Broccoli


Zucchini going into the ground tomorrow!!!

The cabbage and broccoli, obviously, have weed fabric covering their beds. This is primarily for 2 reasons... 1) These two beds were positively overrun with weeds last year, so hopefully this will kill the problem, and 2) I am hoping that the weed fabric will hold in some moisture and heat, enabling the plants to do their very best. I will be covering the fabric with mulch, once I am sure that the plants are thriving, and once I am sure there will be no more plants going into those beds. I think I will be adding 4 Red Cabbage plants to the cabbage bed, but I don't know that for sure at this time. The bed the zucchini is going into has weed fabric as well, but this is just for the warming factor, as weeds weren't really a problem in that one last year. Its sure going to be a busy weekend!!!