spring is coming

This week: forsythia, magnolias, chionodoxa, and daffodils are beginning to bloom. Lilac leaves are opening. A pair of chickadees is building a nest outside my window. I hear their spring song "dee-dee". I hear "old Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody". The swan pair on the pond is chasing Canada geese and little ring-necked ducks have gone on their migration further north.

my seedling shelves today

My shelves are tucked in the corner of my garage this year. It stays about 60F out there. I think this low temp will be good for the seedlings. I'm thinking they'll grow a bit slower and end up a bit stockier and less leggy than when they were indoors at 70F. We'll see.

Here's the list of what I've planted so far: my 2016 planting list. I'm having more trouble than usual with failed germination this year. It's the old seed. I'm noting the ones that don't come up and throwing out the packages. Mostly it's the ones from back around 2009. (I suppose that's pretty old - I love to save seed.)

cilantro soy pork meatballs (with kale or bok choi)

This is SOOO good I had to share the recipe.

I made it earlier in the winter with bok choy from my winter tunnel. Last night I made it again with kale that I sauteed with garlic and sesame seeds. Last night I also used cilantro fresh picked from my tunnel. That cilantro is amazing! I've never grown such flavorful cilanto with big green leaves. It overwintered very well.

The recipe is partly from Shrinking Singles Pork Meatballs with Ginger Soy here. I'm sure the local pork I used from Pete and Jen's Backyard Birds down the road from me also adds flavor. That, plus lot's of cilantro. I modified the recipe a bit and renamed it for the cilantro. Yumm, I LOVE cilantro.

Meatballs
1 lb ground pork (I used breakfast sausage from a local farm)
2 small eggs (or 1 large one), whisked
4 large cloves minced garlic
2 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 onion, finely chopped
¼ cup cilantro, finely chopped
2 Tbs tamari soy sauce
2 Tbs chia seed
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

Meatball glaze ¼ cup tamari soy sauce
2 tsp minced fresh ginger
2 tsp rice vinegar
1 Tbs honey
2 tsp Sriracha sauce

Bok choy
2 large or 5 small bok choy cut into pieces, about 2 inches
2 large clove minced garlic
1/2 tsp crushed hot chili
1 tsp corn starch mixed with ¼ cup water
2 tsp soy sauce

White rice
Peanut oil for sauteing

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix all meatball ingredients. Make into meatballs, about 1.5 inches. Brown in skillet with peanut or similar high heat oil. Place on baking sheet and cook in oven until done, about 20 minutes.

While the meatballs are cooking, make the glaze. Combine all ingredients. Cook briefly in the meatball skillet, scraping up any browned meat remaining in the pan. Pour sauce over the meatballs and cook them another 5 minutes in the oven.

Saute garlic and chili in peanut oil until beginning to brown. Remove from pan. Saute larger stem pieces of bok choy until beginning to brown then add the green pieces and return sauteed garlic to pan. Add corn starch mixed with water and soy sauce and stir til thickened, adding more water as needed. Serve over white rice. Note: Last night I made "Asian Kale" instead of the Bok Choi in the recipe above. I boiled the kale 3 minutes, then sauteed with chopped garlic and sesame seeds. I added a bit of soy sauce when it was done.

today's harvest

I haven't harvest anything since early January. Today I picked a big handful of curly kale, a nice bunch of cilantro, and some purple mustard leaves. Yeah! Fresh garden greens!

updates are out for Skippy's planting apps

Updates are out for many of our calendar apps, including Skippy's:
Vegetable Planting Calendar
Spring Planting Calendar
Fall Planting Calendar

Of course, if you have these apps, you already know this, because the updates show up automatically at the Apple App Store.

Updates for our Flower & Herb Calendar and the Winter Calendar will be out soon. The update corrects the reminders function so it works with any iOS version.

Note: If any apps freeze after installing an update, just delete the app and reinstall it from the app store. You won't need to pay again.

Happy planting!

seedlings trays

These are the seedling trays I'm using this year.

1. I plant most of my seeds in 2" x 3" thin plastic pots, 24 per tray:

I've planted in plastic 6-packs for many years. I've made 100s of paper pots and I've used peat pots. But these are what I've come to like. I like them better than plastic 6-packs because I can plant fewer seeds of more varieties. Also it's easier to give away one or two pots than to cut apart a 6-pack. They are thin plastic, but I can usually use them about 3 years before they rip apart. My only complaint: too bad they're not compostable.

Growers Solutions 2401: $1.28 per tray
Greenhouse Megastore 2410, $8.00 per 10-pack (almost out of stock now)

2. I'm trying plug cells this year for peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants. I'm using trays with square cells, 128 cells per tray. I'll transplant the plants to deep single pots later, probably mid-April. I like to use 3.5" square, 5" deep pots for transplants:

p85D from Growers Solutions: $69.95 case of 450
Greenhouse Megastore: $69.90 case of 450 (out of stock now)

spring snow photos

Photos from my back yard. Not much snow. It'll be gone by tomorrow I bet.