Gardener to Farmer

Planting Beets, Lettuce and Organic Fertilizer

Last weekend, my neighbor Liz and I worked in the garden. It had to be 80 degrees... unseasonably warm for Portland. We spent the time seeding and transplanting beets and lettuce, as well as tending to our burgeoning crop of dandelions.

We loved the sunshine. Our Broccoli Rabe did not...it had the kind of countenance a plant gets right before it starts to bolt. I haven't even harvested any yet this year, so I topped the bed with a row cover for shade and made sure it was well watered. I can only hope for the best.

This guy is not Broccoli Rabe...this is green cauliflower. Green cauliflower is essentially a broccoli and cauliflower hybrid. Both are members of the Brassica family and are notoriously promiscuous, resulting in all kinds of (non-gmo) hybrids like this one. I believe this type is Romanesco, the kind that has the spiny, sticky-upy kind of bumps on the top. It really is a site to behold!

Both Liz and I noticed how large our seedlings had grown and how wonderfully healthy and relatively pest free they were. I mean, the Romanesco looked fantastic and these Hubbard Squash are staging a take over in the greenhouse!

And, after mulling it over, I think I know why. This year, I tried a new product. It is an organic liquid fertilizer produced by Alice's Garden. I used it the first time after the seedlings had their first set of true leaves, then once more in the greenhouse, then twice more since setting them out almost two months ago now.

I don't know that I could be any more impressed with a product if I tried. It contains all kinds of nutrients, minerals and microbes...liquid gold, errr, brown. Sadly, I was unsuccessful in figuring out where I could buy it...so I have sent an email in asking for more information...

Now, let me tell you that I received these as samples to trial...and let me also tell you that if I don't think a product is worth reviewing I won't. But this stuff is really amazing...it reminds me of the effect that Rhizogen has on my production. The reason that is so amazingly successful is the addition of Micorrhyzal fungi. This fungus gives plants greater access to nutrients in the soil.

And, in case you haven't heard, next week is the debut of my new podcast Good Enough Gardening! My co-host, the divine Amanda Thomsen (of Kiss My Aster)  and I will be chatting about all kinds of slightly crazy gardening goodness! Stop by our blog and leave us a comment...let us know what you think of our first show!

A Beet by Any Other Name Would Taste as Sweet

Listen,I dig beets...no pun intended...for some reason, I just really love them. It hasn't always been so...My first contact with beets as a child was some weird pickled beet that looked like the cranberry sauce you buy in the can and eat at Thanksgiving. I actually really like cranberry in the can at Thanksgiving...but it has to be the one that stays solid and you cut it into these crancircles and add it to the mass on your plate...but I digress...

And while I like crancircles, I DO NOT like beet circles (not to be confused with crop circles), So, it was a real surprise to me when, as an adult, I tried beets again...this time fresh beets...Wow! It was wonderful! An earthy, semi-sweet, sometimes crunchy, sometimes velvety texture...great cold or hot...are you kidding me? What's not to love? Here are the first beet seedlings in the garden...

And here they are just a few days later...the ground is finally warming up enough for the garden to start growing in a major way...
Aren't they beautiful? I can't imagine what could be better than a dish with tender, young beets...I like to think of myself as a tender, young beet...although I am sure others think of me as a somewhat toughened veggie with a tendency to stain things...nice.

Anyhoo, I am ending this post with a new feature...I am going to start including my favorite methods for preparing the veggies and fruits I feature in my blog. Sometimes it will be a recipe, other times, as in this case, it will be a method.

I love roasted beets. Now some people will just put the beet in some foil, add olive oil, salt and pepper and roast whole. When the beet is cooked through, you can rub the skin off with the foil and viola, ready to eat beet!

I prefer to peel and cube the beets, place them on a cooking sheet, add olive oil, salt and pepper (sometimes thyme) and roast at about 375...how long depends on the tenderness of the beet. Don't over cook!

Many people complain about the staining properties of beets. If you use a plastic cutting board and don't wear good clothes, you will be fine. It comes off of your hands in a couple of washes...a small price to pay for such fabulousness...you can also use the golden beets, which don't really stain and are mild and sweet...

Are there any other beet lovers out there? Tell me I am not alone in my devotion to this unassuming root vegetable...