Our Indoor Greenhouse for seedlings.

We upgraded the lighting in a mini indoor greenhouse we built about a month ago.  We had one T5 full spectrum.  We added two more today.  This will give our seedlings all of the light they need to be great plants.  Our indoor greenhouse is made of a steel utility shelf, wrapped in mylar bubble wrap.  Sy was at Pet Smart and they had just received a shipment of fish and the mylar wrap was used to protect them during shipping.  Sy asked if she could have some and they gave her the whole box.  We still have enough to wrap another utility shelf.  We used the years of accumulated unused masking and duct tape we had, to hold it together.

We currently have carrots, spinach, lemon bergamot, pansies, and creeping thyme.  The carrots and spinach plants are going to planted in large pots so we can have fresh indoor grown spinach until the spring crop is seeded outside and comes up.  We are going to try growing our carrots in large pots as well.  we will cut the bottom out of the coconut fiber seed cups, and plant the in a large pot.  The lemon bergamot is a useful herb to have in the garden.  The pansies are edible self seeding flowers that we hope to have as a permanent self sustaining crop in our garden.    The creeping thyme is a blooming ground cover that is xeric and tolerant of being walked upon.  Our plan is to replace the grass in the pathways  and in our sacred circle with the creeping thyme.

We both have garden fever right now and are ready to plant.  It won't be long.

The last day of summer is bringing snow and freezing overnight temps.

I am off work on Sundays and Mondays. I woke up Monday to find out that there was a freeze warning and possible snow coming. We started out for our weekly trip to the farmers market, and it started to rain. We got to the market and there were two vendors sticking it out. We bought some green beans, and peaches from Colorado's western slope. We were also able to get a great price on a case of peaches and cream corn. We have canned this for the winter. We left the market and went to Home Despot to get materials to build a couple of cold frames for the cherry tomatoes, and the bell peppers.

After we got home we worked to get everything we could in. We picked buckets of squash, bell peppers, and cherry tomatoes. After the harvest was in we had to build the cold frames for the cherry tomatoes and bell peppers. We used some 1 x 2 cedar screwed together into a frame. We then covered these with 3.5 mil plastic. Simple and easy to disassemble, store, and reuse for years to come.

The Prickly Pear Melomel is still fermenting nicely. I expect it is going to do so for awhile. But good things come to those who wait. Anyway I hope everyone checks out the pics and has a great day.

W.U.F. Update

It has been awhile since I have done a proper update on the happenings at W.U.F. It has been busy this summer. The garden has been fairly low maintenance. We have had an awesome harvest this year, and we are not even close to having the entire lawn replaced. So far our most prolific crop has been the cherry tomatoes. We have been harvesting 1-2 pounds per day on average. we let it go a few days awhile back. We ended up with five pounds of ripe tomatoes. We added onion from the yard, and jalapenos, roasted hatch chilies, cilantro, and smoked garlic from Sunflower Farmers Market. I put in too much cilantro but it is still good. I have eaten three jars already.

We have also had a good yellow summer squash crop this summer. We have been unable to keep up with it. Our lettuce did well also. We still have some winter squash ripening on the vine and some pumpkins to carve up for Samhain. We have been sharing with family and friends as well as putting some away. We had some corn and will have a ton of red and yellow bell peppers as soon as they ripen. We are hoping to ripen them on the plant, but may have an early frost this year.

I was on vacation last week, and while I was at my moms Sy and I picked 13 1/2 pounds of prickly pears, the fruit of the prickly pear cactus. The juice of said prickly pears is in a fermenter with honey, purified water, organic apple, juice, and wine yeast. The honey is local wildflower honey and is very rich. It should add a nice flavor texture to the prickly pear. This is of course an experimental melomel. A melomel is a honey mead with fruit added in the fermenting process. It is a honey and fruit wine essentially.

Sy and I have also been working on setting up an online shop at Etsy.com. It is an online market place for selling homemade products. Sy will be soon putting up some of her jewelery for sale, and I hope to sell some photographic prints. We are also toying with selling canned goods such as jelly's, dried herbs, and salsa. Every little bit we add brings us a little closer to the lifestyle we want for ourselves.

Prickly Pear Melomel starting the fermentation process.

W.U.F Update 06.29.09

Its been awhile since I posted an update. Look to the post below for a photo update. I have been spending a lot of my online time following and supporting the Iranian revolution, and have let this go. Well here is an update. We have been enjoying some of the fruits of our hard work. We have harvested significant amounts of spinach and lettuce. We have had several bowls of sugar snap peas, and many radishes.

Our potatoes are growing fast, but have yet to flower. We will soon have more yellow summer squash than we will know what to do with. We will soon have bell peppers and cherry tomatoes. Two of the three giant pumpkins I planted have sprouted. We shall see if I can work some magic and get a super giant. I want to either sit in it or put a speaker in it and spook trick or treaters on Halloween. I can't wait.

We have been experimenting with different culinary creations from the garden. One of my new favorite recipes is spinach stuffed mushrooms. We had company for our Midsummer blot and potluck feast. I made 25 to 30 of these stuffed mushrooms. They were gone in less than two minutes. Here is the recipe roughly. Play with it as you will.

Spinach Mozzarella Stuffed Mushrooms

For 25-30 stuffed mushrooms

Spinach 8oz hand picked from the garden.

Spicy Oregano 1 sprig from garden

Rosemary 1 sprig from garden

Garlic 1 tablespoon chopped (we use Christopher Ranch Brand)

Olive Oil for sauteing

Mozzarella shredded start with a couple of ounces

25 to 30 Large mushrooms cleaned

Remove stems from mushrooms and finely chop. Rinse spinach and dry or spin. Finely chop oregano and rosemary. Turn burner on medium high and add olive oil to a skillet. When pan is hot add garlic. Let it cook until it just starts to caramelize its sugars. Add mushroom stems and place spinach on top. Stir and add oregano and parsley. Spinach will cook down very quickly. Put shredded Mozzarella in a medium size bowl. When spinach mix is done add to cheese and stir until mix is evenly distributed in cheese. You want a nice cheesy spinach mix. Let sit for a couple of minutes to maximize meltiness. Stuff spinach cheese mix into mushroom tops. Put over low heat on grill. The inside will melt together and the outside will turn darken slightly. When hot remove from grill and share.

We have also been experimenting with mint in culinary dishes. We sauteed spinach and pineapple mint and put it on a pizza. It was quite good. We add different mints to salad. yesterday we grilled a cinnamon chipotle rubbed top sirloin steak. we then sliced it to put on a salad. The salad base was lettuce and spinach from the garden. We also had pineapple mint and bronze fennel leaf with some sugar snap peas. Added a little jalapeno ranch dressing and .......Hmmmmmmmm!

We also put various mints, pineapple sage or fennel in our water bottles so we can get the flavor all day as we refill them.

I have found that I rather like rhubarb cobbler for breakfast. We have made several rhubarb cobblers already this year. It is time to harvest again and make some more cobbler. We will soon be freezing some rhubarb for use later in the year.

The corn is hip high and we are not quite yet to the fourth of July. The onions and garlic are doing well. The peas are pretty much falling over but are producing nicely. The radishes have been eaten or gone to seed. It is getting hot and the spinach is trying to bolt so it won't be long we will have to wait until fall for more. Our spinach is a biannual heirloom variety that should keep us eating spinach for years to come. The first cherry tomato fruits are still ripening on the vine. The larger varieties are growing but have not yet flowered, but soon I hope.

I hope all are have a good week. Please keep the People of Iran in your thoughts. They are struggling to be free from tyranny and oppression. Take Care--Jeremy

W.U.F. Update 06.09.09

The garden is doing well. We got quite a bit accomplished with Carols help today. The weeding is nearly caught up. I got the remaining tomato seedlings planted today. We now have 35 tomato plants of two varieties in the ground. I also got the long Island Cheese Squash planted. I also finally got the Atlantic Giant pumpkin seeds in the ground. I have wanted to grow a giant pumpkin for years but have never gotten it done. Maybe this is the year. We now also have four or five potato plants poking up out of their mounds of straw.

The corn is about 10 inches high. The onions and garlic are both doing well. The broccoli is producing new heads. The cherry tomatoes have fruit on them. We have harvested approximately five pounds of spinach already with no signs of letting up. I got the pole peas tied up yesterday. Next year I will have the infrastructure in place so I can grow them taller. They laid on the ground for too long and now they have bent stalks. All of the squash are doing well, and we expect to have more squash than we know what to do with soon.

All four of the mints are doing well. We are going to try and make some orange mint vodka and some pineapple mint vodka. We are experimenting with some horehound mint cough syrup with good results so far. The spicy oregano, and the rosemary are doing well. The bronze fennel can be harvested anytime.

We have had blueberries and strawberries. The raspberries are doing well, and we have harvested the rhubarb a couple of times. The rhubarb is ready to harvest again. I can't wait until it is time to get Colorado Western Slope Peaches and make peach rhubarb cobbler.

We also planted marigolds, dianthus, and lobelia between the stones and the mugo pines around the sacred circle. We mulched it with straw. The next step will be to get the grass out of the circle and replace it with creeping thyme.

I will get pics up in the morning. I wanted to do it tonight but ran out of daylight. More to come soon.--Jeremy

W.U.F. Update 05.17.09

I have finally made time to sit down and do a proper update on what's happening at W.U.F.  We fertilized this last week with Gro Rich Garden Fertilizer by Richlawn.  It is a blend of organic organic ingredients formulated with dehydrated poultry waste.  It is produced it Colorado so it is also local for us.  So far we are pleased with it.  It produces new vibrant green growth within two days of application.  If you can find a similar product in your locale, try it.  It seems to work well.

Our cherry tomatoes are starting to flower.  We have harvested rhubarb and made an excellent rhubarb apple cobbler.  We have a few summer squash seedlings up and the broccoli are forming heads now.  The corn is about four inches high.  The onions and garlic are doing well.  We have lettuce and spinach popping out.  Both radish plantings are doing well and are just now forming radishes.  The peas are doing well.  

Just when I was about to give up hope on the carrots and beets and scrape the bed to start over the carrots and beets sprouted.  I also got the potatoes planted last weekend.  We have nine mounds of two varieties.  We are mounding them in straw mulch.  It is an interesting method we found online.  First I mixed compost with the natural soil . Then I set a piece of seed potato cut side down on the soil.  Finally, I covered each "seed" with six inches of mulch.  As the plants get six inches taller than the mulch we will then add more straw to the top of the plant.  Growing potatoes this way apparently allows one to get easily at the new potatoes throughout the season for tasty eating all summer long.

We also have a prolific herb collection started.  The spearmint has been harvested twice and each time comes back stronger.  The pineapple is spreading quickly.  We didn't think the orange mint survived the winter and quit watering it.  It is up and starting to fill its space nicely.  The chocolate mint is doing fine and starting to spread.  The bronze fennel is about eight inches tall and tasty.  The chives have gone to seed.  They are going to get cut back this weekend.  The pineapple sage is doing well and we will begin harvesting it soon.  The spicy oregano is doing well and taste great.  The rosemary is coming along as well.

We have two blueberry bushes planted as well as a blackberry and a golden raspberry.  The blueberry bush has berries as do the strawberry plants.  We hope to get more berries planted soon.

There is still much to do.  Today I am going to plant the rest of the tomatoes and squash.  We also have some various herbs to get planted.  I would also like to get the soak hoses set in place.   Carol has been great helping out.  Especially with the weeding.  My nephew has also been coming over for the last few weeks and helping us dig up yard and keep the weeds down.

W.U.F. 04-19-2009

It looks like today is going to be a beautiful day to work in the garden.  After 36 hours of rain, snow, and wind it will be great to be outside.  The birds have been singing loudly this morning driving the cats nuts.  They went out the door at 5:00 this morning.  What was supposed to be a huge blizzard turned out to be a weird mix of rain, snow, wind, and thunder.  On Friday at work I was pushing water out of the shop blizzard conditions with thunder.  It was quite surreal.

Carol a friend of ours is coming over to work in the garden with us this afternoon.  I have to weed the radishes and stack the bricks from our hidden brick path.  We have some new beds to plant.  We will be getting ready to transplant tomatoes and cabbage before too long.  We also have some pepper plants to transplant as well.  If I have time I am going to clean the rhubarb bed.  We have lived here four and a half years and we have never harvested the rhubarb.  That changes this year.  Next year we may have to separate it.

Thursday before the storm got here, Sy harvested and dried chives.  That is the second chive harvest this year.  Got to get those potatoes growing soon.