Once it’s here, what are you going to make with it?

If you’re looking for some great ideas for classic rhubarb recipes like stewed rhubarb and rhubarb fool and something new like rhubarb BBQ sauce, come join me at Generation Green on Monday, June 10 for an all out rhubarb extravaganza!

Together we’ll make stewed rhubarb and combine it with some freshly whipped cream for a classic rhubarb fool recipe. We’ll also make a unique and tasty rhubarb barbeque sauce sure to add a special touch to your next BBQ!  You’ll also leave with great tips for freezing your rhubarb so you can enjoy your rhubarb year round.

To participate, register by calling or visiting Generation Green at the Forks (204-808-9848).

Date: Monday, June 10

Time: 6:30 to 8:00 pm

Cost: $20/person

Register today as seating is limited – 204-808-9848

Melanie(5) lovin’ the garden carrots

Carrots also store for a very long time and are great for freezing and dehydrating.  We’re still working on our mix of colourful, frozen carrots from last year.

To lighten up our heavy clay soil, we add as much compost and top soil as we can to give those roots some nice soft soil to grow in.  We made a long 2 foot wide bed of compost and 4 way soil mix.  The bed is slightly raised (1 to 2 inches) from the surrounding area.

To ensure enough moisture for germination, we gave the bed a good watering – even before the seeds were in. Once we had the bed where we wanted it, we sprinkled the carrot seed on top of the bed.  Carrot seed is fairly small, so spacing them according to what the package says can be tricky.  I’ve heard that mixing it with sand may help.  We just pinched a few seeds in our fingers and sprinkled away (the official term for this technique is broadcast seeding).  We’ll definitely have to thin them out later.

After seeding, we covered the seeds with a light layer of compost.  Just a light, thin layer that will help keep the moisture in.  Then we watered the bed and covered the whole thing with a light layer of straw/hay/leaves.  This covering should help keep the bed moist, as long as we keep watering it, that is.

Covering with a layer of straw/hay to keep in moisture.

Then we try to water consistently so that the seeds will germinate and the little seedlings get a good solid start.  By week 2 -3 we start getting lazy and let Mother Nature take over.

It works for us!

For me, it pretty much boils down to this:

Cold Weather Crops 
- plant outdoors 4 weeks before last frost ( in Winnipeg – April 26 or as soon as the soil can be worked after the snow is gone)
leeks
onions
spinach
swiss chard
peas
radishes

Cool Weather Crops 
- plant outdoors 2 weeks before last frost (in Winnipeg – May 15)
carrots
lettuce
parsley
beets
potatoes
broccoli
cauliflower
cabbage

Warm Weather Crops 
- plant after the last frost when soil is warm (in Winnipeg – May 24)
tomatoes
peppers
beans
eggplant
melons
cucumbers
squash
zucchini
pumpkin
corn

If that’s too vague, here are some more in depth approaches to consider for when to plant what.

The Soil Temperature Approach

Here’s a handy soil temperature guide for various vegetable crops from the Weekend Gardener.
To use this approach consider purchasing a soil thermometer ($9.50 at Lee Valley).

The Soil Clumping Approach

• Grab a handful of your garden soil. If you can form it into a ball, the soil is too wet for planting. (Chances are the seeds will rot.) If it crumbles through your fingers, it’s ready for planting.
• Here’s another soil test. Make a ball of soil and drop it. If the ball crumbles, your garden is ready for seeds. If it holds its shape or breaks into two clumps, it’s still too wet for planting.
• You can also step into the garden and then step back and look at the footprint you’ve left in the soil. If it’s shiny, then there’s too much water near the soil’s surface to dig and plant. If it’s dull, then excess water has drained away and it’s time to plant.
• Old farmers had an even easier guideline: When the weeds start to grow in your garden, it’s time to plant your hardy vegetables

What is a Foodie Adventure?

Foodie Adventures combine a relaxing stay in the country with hands-on opportunities to pick and prepare local foods.  Each adventure offers something unique, whether it’s foraging for wild edibles, visiting a prairie orchard, going to the garden to pick fresh herbs, gathering eggs from the chicken coop or baking farm fresh breads, pizzas and pastries.

They’re perfect adventures for families, couples or friends wanting to experience a wee bit of country life while also having plenty of time to rest, relax and enjoy.

The first of my three Foodie Adventures was at Moon Gate Bed and Breakfast just under an hour east of Winnipeg.

Overlooking the Whitemouth River at Moongate B&B

We were greeted by owners Jenny and Michel.  Warm, friendly and inviting just as you’d expect from a couple operating a B&B and Wellness Retreat.  Unexpected, however, was the passion and enthusiasm Michel showed for having converted an old local landmark, the Whiteshell Eggs egg grading station into a beautiful guesthouse with up-cycled and reused items found and lovingly refurbished.  A tour of the house shows a bright, airy, completely new and luxurious interior.  A couple of nights in this place – oh yeah!

Equally impressive was Jenny’s passion for helping people to relax, enjoy and reconnect through retreat experiences that range from exploring nature to hot stone massage to yoga to music festivals to food adventures.   And lucky for us, she had arranged for us to get a little glimpse into two of those experiences.

While some people may have preferred yoga or a massage – I was thrilled that our adventure included fresh sourdough bread with homemade jam and a canoe trip down the Whitemouth.  Seriously – canoeing and fresh, local food – my idea of heaven!

Jenny with “Elma Sourdough”

Moon Gate’s Foodie Adventure is called Foraging and Fast Waters.  For these weekend adventures, Jenny and Michel have teamed up with Shannon a Red Seal Chef from The Spicy Radish in Elma, Manitoba and  Adrian and Patricia of Wild Harmony Canoe Adventures of Seven Sisters Falls.  You’ll go from a guided canoe excursion where you’ll enjoy the local waterways  to foraging for wild edibles (fresh picked blueberries anyone?!) to the kitchen with your private Chef who will guide you through a hands-on culinary experience.  And, based on our glimpse into this adventure, it’s bound to be a memorable, relaxing and delicious experience.

Making blueberry rhubarb jam with Chef Shannon (center)

Canoeing the Whitemouth with Adrian.

Sound like something you might be interested in?  Call or email Jenny and ask about which weekends are still available.

This spring or summer, do something different.  Enjoy the beauty and gifts of the people and places Manitoba has to offer.

Romaine Lettuce Day 10 – Brown Leaves

There’s trouble in the romaine regrowing experiment.  The inside leaves are turning brown.

I suspect my romaine needs more than water and light for optimum health and growth.  I’m not sure if I can beat this brown thing going on, but I’m going to plant this guy in soil to see if a does of all the minerals and nutrients in the soil will turn things around.

Let’s hope for the best.

Between you and me, I didn’t expect much from the celery.  It had been in the crisper a little too long and was pretty limp and yellow.  But I figured why not pop it in some water and see what it does. Here’s what it looked like on Day 1.

Celery Day 1

Well colour me green.  Look how this little guy has perked up and started reaching for the sun in just 5 days.  Not only is there new growth, but the whole thing is green!  Once again, nature impresses.

Celery Day 3

Celery Day 5

Here are the six easy steps I used to get to this point.

1. Eat celery stalks, cutting the stalks at about 1 to 2 inches from the bottom.

2. Place remaining stem in a shallow dish of water (about 1/2 inch).

3. Place on a window sill or under grow lights.

4. Change water in bowl every 1 to 2 days.

5. Watch your celery grow.  Also notice the bottom of your celery stock – you should see roots growing.

NOTE: It took me 10 days to realize that plants need more than just water and light to grow.  So, what used to be 5 steps is now 6 steps.

6. After about 10 -12 days, transplant your celery stock into a pot or directly into your garden.  It will need the nutrients in the soil to continue its growth.

Celery Day 10

Celery with Root Day 10

Here’s the romaine lettuce experiment at Day 3.  Pretty neat, don’t you think?

An earlier version of this post showed 5 steps to regrowing romaine lettuce from its stem – I’ve added one more important step.  Just like any growing being, your romaine lettuce is going to require nutrients to grow into big, flavourful and robust lettuce.  So the final step is to plant your lettuce in soil so that it gets everything it needs to grow, just like any other plant.

If you want to grow your own romaine lettuce from a left over stem, here’s are six easy steps.

1. Eat your purchased lettuce, cutting the leaves at about 1 inch from the bottom.

2. Place remaining stem in a shallow dish of water (about 1/2 inch).

3. Place on a window sill or under grow lights.

4. Change water in bowl every 1 to 2 days.

5. Watch your lettuce grow.  It is truly remarkable how quickly the new shoots start.  You’ll also notice that roots will start to grow on the bottom.

6.  After 7-10 days, your lettuce is going to need nutrients for proper growth.  At this point, plant your lettuce into a container or directly into your garden.  You could also opt for hydroponic lettuce (keeping it in water), but you will need to add nutrients to the water.

Lettuce is a cool weather crop and can tolerate some shade.  It can even tolerate a light frost, so if you’re eager to have something growing in your garden pretty early in the spring, this might be an option to consider.

How cool is that!?

• Can you really regrow romaine lettuce and celery from the stock that you normally toss into the compost?
• Will green onions really reappear if you put the roots in water?

There’s only one way to know for sure – try it and see.

So, in addition to my seedlings which I started the traditional way – from seeds, I now have green onions, a celery stalk and a romaine lettuce stock growing in my basement greenhouse.

The green onions I’ve had for two weeks.  There was only about an inch of green left when I first put them in water.  They have definitely grown and I’ve had the chance to snip some more greens since then.  To prevent them from getting slimy on the bottom, I’ve changed the water a couple of times.  Today, I’ll try putting one onion in the soil to see how that compares to leaving them in water.

The romaine has been sitting for two days, but already you can see the center has grown a wee bit.  This should be interesting!

The celery is the latest addition, I’ll keep you posted on its progress.

Have you tried growing veggies from your fridge?

Well, about that…

The good news is lots of things are growing in my soil mix.

The bad news is, not everything that’s growing is identifiable or desirable.

Last week I found this dude – some sort of squash, I believe.  I’ve also found ground cherries and pigweed growing in my tomatoes and leeks.

Today, I found this fun guy growing in my leeks. Get it, fun guy – fungi.  Oh never mind.  I’m actually a little freaked out.  What’s he doing in my leeks?

After a little googling, it looks like all is not doomed – my family and I and my seedlings are not going to die.  Rich, moist, warm, fertile soil is bound to nurture a few life forms.  Controlling the moisture, adding a fan and maybe even watering with chamomile tea (known to have antifungal properties) should solve this dilemma.

And next year, well maybe it is worth getting a quality starter mix!

Big Stripey tomatoes are coming up.

Here’s a great example of what happens when you have a laissez-faire attitude about using the proper mix for starting seeds. This pot is suppose to be for growing cayenne pepper.  That huge sprout in the middle is NOT a cayenne pepper sprout.  It looks like a cucumber or squash seedling to me (a seed from the compost?).  And, if you look closely there are 3 other tiny things popping up – there’s one up front just popping out (I think that’s the anticipated pepper plant), there’s a green grass like blade on the right (a weed from the garden soil?) and in the very back there’s another little sprout – possibly another cayenne pepper.  Looks like I’m going to have to start weeding already!

The mizuna and mesclun mix are doing very well.  Perhaps I’ll cut a bit for tonight’s salad!

The leeks are coming along nicely.

Seeing all that green when there is so much white outside sure feels good!