Blue Jeans and Cotton Tees

The calendar reads March already and I have a bad case of garden fever! My Mom is back today with an idea that will bring a little green into my home, provide some economical plants for the garden – and will make a great home school project as well! Now that definitely works for me!

Papa and I always experiment with one new item in our garden every year. Several years ago we tried sweet potatoes and they’ve become a “regular”!

The first year we trembled at the price of the purchased plants! Then we found out that we could grow our own plants by “rooting” a store bought sweet potato.

Every year in late February, we purchase a sweet potato or yam from the produce department at our local grocery store.

Then we stick toothpicks into the sides of the potato to hold it up above a container of water -a recycled jar works just fine.

We try to find the top or the part that was connected to the vine. The opposite end should go into the water.

We keep the water level up to the top of container and watch for roots from the part under the water. It won’t be long before we see some sprouts growing on the part above the water.

We let those green sprouts grow to about 3 or 4 inches long before we pinch them off the potato and put them in a container of water. They will make roots.

Once they have made some roots, we plant these in small pots until they can be planted in the garden.

Meanwhile , the potato in the water will keep making new sprouts. One potato should easily give us a dozen plants.

When the soil is warm enough, and all danger of frost is gone, we plant each plant on top of a mound of soil about 6 inches tall. (This gives the potato space to grow without having to dig a foot deep in the fall!) The plant will vine and the vines will root where they touch the soil. To prevent this from happening mulch mounds with newspaper or simply lift the vines often.

You can dig potatoes whenever you “feel” under the vine on top of the mound and discover a potato big enough to eat! We wait until the first frost. (Sweet potatoes will not tolerate a frost!)  We dig them carefully and lay them out to dry. If you have a cool place to store them – they will keep for several months.

In our modern houses without root cellars, sweet potatoes are not the best keepers for eating fresh all winter, but they do freeze well. We try to keep them as long as we can, then freeze the rest.

To cook a sweet potato, scrub it, prick it with fork, and bake in a 350 degree oven until soft when squeezed. Let them cool until you can handle them to peel off the skins.

Place the sweet potatoes in freezer bags or containers, label and freeze. Just thaw and use in your favorite sweet potato recipes.

Or you can cook them in the microwave. Just scrub, prick skin and place in microwave. Bake for 5 min on high and check for softness. Continue baking until they are soft, checking every 3 minutes. Peel and serve or freeze.

Our favorite way to enjoy fresh sweet potatoes is to eat them warm from the oven with Cinnamon/Honey Butter

Cinnamon/Honey Butter:

2 Tablespoons honey
1/2 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

Mix together. This stores well in the refrigerator for several weeks. This is really good on toast and squash, too!

Until next time!

Nana Shirley

It’s official now! We have ordered the garden seeds.

Spring is definitely coming.

After perusing the catalogs, researching the varieties, and studying all the options I have  finally decided to plant <insert dramatic pause with drum roll> the very same things I planted last year!

The only difference is that last year I didn’t start the seeds – they were given to me.

One of the guys my husband works with is big into gardening. He ordered several packets of heirloom seeds and took them into a local nursery to have them started. He specifically told them to start 25 of each kind.

They planted every seed.

Instead of several hundred plants to deal with – he know had several thousand!

He handed out heirloom tomato plants like they were zucchini’s in August!

I will admit that I was not happy when my husband brought home several plants (over 100).

My only experience with heirloom tomatoes was the year I didn’t get to the Amish store soon enough to buy my bedding plants. All they had left was the Brandywine variety.

What a disaster! Have you ever seen a bulbous nose? That’s what those tomatoes looked like. They never really turned a true red – and part of the tomato would rot while the other half was still green.

The texture was funny and they didn’t work well in my spaghetti sauces.

Major tomato fail.

But we planted the heirlooms anyway. At least they were free – and there wasn’t a Brandywine in the bunch!

It was a very wet year – and nobody had a very good tomato crop – but the ones we did get were really nice!

But the real winners were the peppers – both sweet and hot. We had a jalapeno variety that made the absolute best poppers known to man. The kids and I ate them every day for lunch for weeks on end. Seriously. Every day.

I crave them even now as I’m typing.

My husband found out where these seeds came from and last night we finally made out our order at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

I haven’t started plants for at least 10 years – the old house was just too small and cold; last year was just too confusing with trying to move and settle in.

This is the year.

In a few days a packet full of springtime will arrive in my mailbox – tiny little seeds full of potential and hope.

I will plant them, water them, and watch them carefully. All the while dreaming of my beautiful, weed free garden full of luscious healthy produce.

I can just taste those poppers now!

So – how about you? What state is your garden in?

Winter has hit hard here in Iowa. The landscape is white and barren with snow drifts so deep we’ll be driving around them until spring. The garden catalogs are coming and we’re all craving a little color! My mom shares one way to find some…

Our daughter keeps a collection of  Amaryllis bulbs over each year, and she has shared one with me. The blooms are so majestic – which is especially welcome when the winter snow is lingering.

It is like watching creation to see the green leaves sprout from a round brown ball!

To keep your own Amaryllis , clip the blooms when they fade and keep watering it. Clip the stalk back as it browns and plant the bulb in the garden as soon as all danger of frost is past. Keep fertilizing it all summer.

In the fall dig up the bulb and place it in a pail with no soil. Keep it in a cool place and let it dry out for 60 days.

Clip off any foliage before you plant the bulb in a container. Amaryllis like to be crowded, so only put the bottom few inches in the soil in a pot without a drain hole. Water about once a week until you see green emerging, then water as needed.

Place near a window with plenty of light.

The first green will be leaves, but watch for another growth beside the leaves–this is the bud.  You can fertilize at this time, my sister-in-law does, but my daughter does not and they both blossoms.

The leaves and bud stalk can grow up to 30 inches high and will need to be supported with a dowel and a yarn tie. (I’ve even used one of my wooden spoons!)

The bigger bulbs have blossoms. Sometimes you will find some “baby” bulbs growing on the bigger bulb in the garden. We are experimenting with them, but it will take several years before the “babies” are large enough to bloom!

Enjoy!
Nana Shirley

Finally!

After several years without, we have finally harvested our very own sweet corn from the garden!

The weather cooperated.

We were able to finally out- smart the coons.

And our 3 layer fence kept the deer out.

It was late – very late. But that just made it more delicious!

We’ve enjoyed several “all-you-can eat” sweet corn meals and even put a few bags in the freezer.

There’s nothing quite as sweet as the food you grew yourself. All the labor, all the effort, all the waiting pays off as you enjoy bite after luscious bite of corn – butter and salt dripping down your chin.

It’s a good life.

We spent a wonderful weekend on the prairie with Papa Jim and Nana Shirley and enjoyed these Patti pans every morning! There were yummy in our omelets and so cute!

Are you tired of those long green things that remind you of smooth cucumbers? Want something frilly & white for a change? Try the Patti Pan!

Their official name is Early White Bush Scallop Squash. We were introduced to them many years ago when visiting friends on one of our fall Minnesota fishing trips. Finding seeds here in Iowa was a challenge, but they are now a tradition in our Prairie Garden.

You can plant them directly into the garden in hills of 3 to 5 seeds after all danger of frost is past.   In a week you will see the green leaves emerging and a Patti Pan will be ready to eat in 50 days!

They do the vine thing so give them some room.

Patti Pan’s are very mild, low in calories and a good source of Vitamin A. For optimum flavor pick when about 4 to 6 inches in diameter. You can use the bigger ones, but the outside is tough, making it necessary to peel.

We like them sliced and sauteed with onion & green pepper as a side dish for any meal. This year we experimented with some zucchini recipes and found that they were interchangeable.

Next year we will try a yellow variety that we found after the garden was planted!

-Nana Shirley