Search Results for: blog the early spring vegetable harvest

Surviving Spring Break

Day One of spring break and the living is easy. Day Two of spring break and the excitement of being out of school is still fresh. Day Three of spring break and the Easter sugar high is waning. Day Seven of spring break and mommy is ready to carpool… solo. Where are you on the spring break scale? My daughter’s Catholic elementary school breaks for nearly two weeks around the Easter holiday. This is great if you are traveling to Hawaii; not so much if you are stuck home for the entire school recess. If you are looking to preserve … Continue reading →

Easy to Grow Vegetables Part 2

Growing a vegetable garden doesn’t have to be arduous, especially if you start out with the easiest vegetables you can possibly grow. Try a couple of different varieties of some of the plants to see which ones wind up being your favorites. Yesterday, I posted the first part of this list. Now, here is part 2 with five additional easy to grow vegetable plants. Beets You can plant your beet seeds directly into the soil from spring through late summer. Neglected beets tend to get thick and woody, so harvest them early before that happens. Onions Onions are fun for … Continue reading →

Easy to Grow Vegetables

If you are new to vegetable gardening or if you want to introduce kids to this wonderful pastime, why not start simple with the vegetable plants that are the easiest to grow? Most vegetables require a lot of sun, about six to eight hours a day, so first identify a sunny spot in your yard where you will do your planting. A raised bed is nice but not necessary. Tomatoes I think tomatoes were the very first vegetable I ever attempted to grow. You can purchase them as seedlings, which makes planting them a snap. Wait until the danger of … Continue reading →

The Early Spring Vegetable Harvest

The seeds in my fridge are aching to get out and into the ground. In fact, the swiss chard and beets that overwintered in my yard are already growing. It’s been an El Nino winter here on the Northwest coast of North America, and it’s fairly warm. If you’re aching to get into the garden already, what early spring crops can you start to plant in the next couple of months? Fava or broad beans are an excellent cover crop and they make a good early spring crop as well. They will thrive in the cool weather and falter in … Continue reading →

Early Spring Vegetables that Kids Love to Grow

While my daughter has a garden, our food growing tends to occur in our communal vegetable garden. As I ordered seeds for a new year, she decided that she might want to try growing some vegetables in her own garden. What are some ideal early spring crops for kids? Radishes are an early crop, and in many places they can be planted as soon as the ground is unfrozen. Make a simple cold frame with some clear plastic or plexiglass to warm up the ground a bit, just in case there is a late frost. I love the Easter Egg … Continue reading →

Easy, Peasy: Growing Peas

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The pea: it’s a staple in soups, where it has the tendency to form a thick sludge on the bottom of your pot when you’re not looking. But oh, the taste of the fresh-picked pea in the summer. There’s really nothing better. How can you get that taste for yourself? Grow your own, of course! Luckily, the pea is quite simple to grow. It’s somewhat shade tolerant. Peas love my partial shade garden, which is a good thing because most other fruits and vegetables really don’t like it very much. If you have full sun, plant early. It grows early … Continue reading →

Dicing Up Dinner

Meal preparation can be tricky with a baby. My baby takes up a lot of my mental capacity. Some days, the last thing I want to do is think about what to make for lunch or supper, especially when I want my meals to be healthy. My baby makes grocery shopping more complicated. If she’s in a good mood, it can be a fun experience. I get to get out of the house, and my baby gets to see and hear interesting new things. However, if my baby is fussy, it’s a whole different story. Even after I decide what … Continue reading →

Preschool Nature Activities for Valentine’s Day

Are you looking for crafts to do with your preschooler this weekend? How about a Valentine’s Day nature craft? Love is certainly in the air … and growing in the ground, and…ok, forgive the puns and on with the crafts! Clay is always lovely for preschoolers to work with. It encourages the development of small muscles in the hands, and it’s just plain creative too. Make a pair of love birds out of clay or use heart-shaped cookie cutters to make clay pendants. Make a Valentine’s Day wreath! If you are in a place that has coniferous trees, these are … Continue reading →

Grow Your Own Carrots

If you want to save money, try growing your own food. It is a great frugal practice that will help you save on your grocery bill. If you have never grown your own food before, you can try your hand at carrots. They are pretty easy to grow and can be harvested as needed. Carrots are also very nutritious and can be used in a variety of dishes or just eaten raw. One of the great things about carrots is that you can harvest them as you need them. There is no need to pull your carrots all at once. … Continue reading →

Winter Gardening

We just got pounded by a major winter storm that dumped more than a foot of snow on our front lawn. It certainly dashed our hopes of an early spring. But, it did nothing to dampen the spirits of our neighbor who spent about 20 minutes today telling me all about the delicious herbs and vegetables she was growing in her year-round garden (this as we both shoveled paths from the sidewalk to our respective front doors.) Honestly, it never dawned on me to relocate my outdoor plants indoors. The idea of digging up, potting plants, and hoping they flourish … Continue reading →