Little October Pumpkin

Unlike most miniature pumpkins, Little October has a soft flesh and skin. Many similar sized pumpkins have a hard skin, similar to gourds. Little October is the tiniest "true pumpkin" It has a very rounded shape, with the stem sitting perky on the top. The fruits grow around 3" or less.


To learn more about different pumpkin, gourd and squash varieties, visit the Iron Oak Farm Pumpkin Page.

Mini Tiger Stripe Pumpkin

This hybrid variety of pumpkin is aptly named. The indent of each white/cream lobe of the pumpkin is darkened with a beautiful orange color. Not only accenting the structural shadows of the pumpkin, but giving it a tiger-like appearance. Mini Tiger Stripe is a decorative, hard shell pumpkin making it the perfect vessel for soup or autumnal dips and spreads. Just slice off the top, and clean out the inside for a natural bowl.

To learn more about different pumpkin, gourd and squash varieties, visit the Iron Oak Farm Pumpkin Page.

Lavender Harvest, Growing and Drying

Lavender is my favorite herb. I fell in love with its scent in my early teens and have yet to grow tired of it. I have tons of lavender scented bath and body products, room sprays, candles even fabric softener around our home. But I'm particular...it has to be true lavender, that sort of musky, herb scent. I love lavender so much that our down stairs bathroom is lavender themed. I have lavender towels, lavender art and many bouquets, swags and wreaths of dried lavender.

I compost my lavender in the spring with composted goat manure and I mulch heavily in the fall. I also cut the entire plant back by a third to stop woodiness and shrub-like tendencies. When a plant gets about 18 inches wide, I divide it.

I simply dig up the root ball and cut the roots it in half with a serrated kitchen knife. Then replant the two halves.

Some of the varieties that we grow are Munstead (the lighter, bluer shade on left ) and Hidcote (The darker more purple-y shade on right) We also grow Phenomenal and Grosso, which is one of the most fragrant lavenders.

I pick lavender with scissors, grabbing a handful of stems and chopping just above the bushy-leafy part of the plant. It reminds me of giving the plant a haircut.

To dry the lavender I cut 5 inch lengths of thin elastic. You can also use rubber bands or hair ties. Anything with an elastic property works well because as the lavender dries, the stems shrink. The elastic will cinch up as the stems become smaller. I've tried tying the stems with twine or string and as the bunches shrink, the stems slip out of the loop and fall on the ground.

After they were tied, I strung a bit of yarn across a corner on our front porch and used clothespins to hang the bunches. Ideally, a less window-y spot would be best, but we don't really have a room like that in our house. These windows aren't really sunny because of the large Hickory and Maple trees we have on the front lawn.

Insect Eggs on Okra?

We started some okra plants this spring. They germinated under the grow light system we have in the backroom. After the plants were about 3 weeks old, I noticed tiny clear balls collecting on the stems and leaf veins of the okra.

They were jelly-like in texture so I assumed some sort of insect had made its way into the house and laied eggs on the okra plants. It was only the okra that was effected. None of the nearby artichokes or pumpkin starts had any eggs.

Never-the=less, I separated the plants and moved them to the covered porch so if something did hatch it wouldn't be loose in our house or effect other seedlings. 

I assumed it had to be an okra-specific insect, the same way vine borers target pumpkin plants or asparagus beetle only congregate on asparagus plants.

After a Google search I was having a hard time identifying any insect that specifically targeted okra. Then someone in a gardening forum mentioned that she had something similar going on with her okra plants and that it turned out to be dried sap balls that the plant naturally excretes.

I changed my search to "okra sap" and found many examples and photographs of the same thing I was experiencing.

Gardening for Bees KBB Post

When picking out seeds for the garden this year, why not add a few that pollinators will love? Drawing pollinators to your yard will help the plants you do grow produce more fruit! Learn more in my Keeping Backyard Bees post below!

Gardening for Bees

My Favorite Seed Trays

We brought in the seed trays from the barn last night.  Time to get them cleaned up and organized for this year's garden.

There are many things you can start seedlings in. Peat pots, news paper, toilet paper rolls, egg shells...pretty much anything that holds a bit of dirt can be used as a pot. There's even the "un-pot" method, where you fill a tray with dirt and use a divider tool to section lines into the soil.

I love these plastic pots, they're the perfect size for starting, not too big (as to take up too much room on the grow shelves) and not too small (where I'd have to transplant). 

If you remove the seedlings carefully when you plant, they can be used year after year. Some of these are over 10 years old and still kicking. 

I also like that I know every year how many plants I can plant. Otherwise I'd go crazy and we'd have more than we know what to do with. I need some sort of figure or boundary to reel me in...(I've learned this from experience.)

Our system of grow shelves consists of three-6 foot shelves with grow lights that hang above. The shelves are also exposed to a large, south facing window in our sun-room. The end goal is to eventually build a green house, but for the time being, this is our system. (For more information about our grow system check out my post Starting Seeds Indoors with Grow Lights)

Each shelf will hold 3 trays. Each tray has 18 pots so that means I can start 162 plants at once. As the season moves forward, some of these trays will be moved outside and I'll start the warmer season plants like pumpkins and cucumbers in additional trays. 

I haven't had to buy a seed tray in a long time because over the years I've collected pots from potted plants that I've purchased seedlings in. Our local nursery uses these sturdy square pots that work wonderful. They also have a recycling bin out front where you can drop off pots that you don't want any more, or pick up things you might need. Last year I found three white hanging baskets that I planted inexpensively for our porch. 

If you do re-use pots from year to year, it's a good idea to clean them between uses. Dump extra potting soil in the compost and rinse the pots clean. I like to give them a dip in water with a little bleach to kill any diseases from the previous year.  

  

Growing Oyster Mushrooms at Home

In this week's video, I show how we grew Oyster Mushrooms in 10 days with the Back to the Roots Organic Oyster Mushroom Growing Kit.

Click the box below to watch. Be sure to like, share and subscribe to our You Tube Channel if you enjoyed this video!

Storing and Organizing Seeds Video

I thought I would share our system for storing seeds from year to year, and how we keep our inventory organized. It makes things easier when it comes time to purchase seeds and seedlings. Also, how to make a little sachet to keep your seeds dry while in storage.  Click Below to watch!

Seed Haul 2016 Video

Zach and I visited our local Bordine's Nursery over the weekend to take advantage of their 50% off seed sale. Here's a video on what we picked up. I also wanted to let you all know that we now have a new You Tube Channel. I was posting the videos on my personal channel, but I thought it was time to give Iron Oak Farm its own space. Be sure to Subscribe and share with your farm loving friends!

New Iron Oak Farm You Tube Channel!

 

Saving Seeds

Even when the earth is brown and dry, when the fruit of the lush green summer is molded and black, the garden still has treasures, and something to give back.

Seed saving for these easy plants is nothing profound. It's simply a matter of picking the dried seed pods, extracting the seeds and storing them in a cool dry place until spring. Above are vine dried Scarlett Runner Beans.

Inside the homely shell is a beautiful black and lavender bean, that can be reconstituted and added to recipes that call for dried beans. I'm saving them for seeds for next year.

I didn't plant a lot of Okra this year, we ran out of bed space and time. What I did plant, got away from me and the okra pods grew large and woody. At that point, they are best left for seed collection.

Some radish seed pods.

Planting Garlic and Other Bulbs

Our bulbs are in for the year. It's always such a hopeful task as we enter into the darkness of winter. It's encouraging to think of the bright and cheerful daffodils and tulips that will emerge next spring.

Planting bulbs is a pretty straight forward process.

Dig a hole or a trench for the bulb to be planted.

A good rule for depth is 3 times the size of the bulb. I tend to do twice the size of the bulb, then add a good layer of compost and/or mulch to the surface.

A bulb planting tool can make it easy to plant individual bulbs. It take a kind of core-sample of the earth out, then pop the bulb in the hole and redistribute the soil. (Ours is pretty old and rusty, but still works like a champ.) 

The bulb should be planted point side up. If the bulb doesn't have an obvious "point" then check for signs of root buds, these should be facing down.

Bulbs do well with a thick layer of compost. It helps fertilize first thing in the spring and it discourages early weeds from taking over the sprouts.

Garlic is also a bulb and is planted in a similar manner.

We dig trenches so the garlic grows in straight rows,

and place the bulbs across the rows evenly before covering with earth and compost.

This year I'm growing two new varieties from Fruition Seeds that I picked up at the Mother Earth News Fair in Wisconsin. 

The first variety is called "Music" it's a large variety often mistaken for Elephant Garlic. It's "sweet and pungent." according to the description.

The second variety is called "Italian Red" it's a hard neck garlic with a mild flavor. 

When I was at the fair, I talked to one of the employees about growing garlic. Ours seems to come back smaller and smaller each year. Her advice was to "Eat the small ones, plant the large ones." This will be my rule going forward.

The Great Peanut Harvest and Artichoke Fail

We grew peanuts this year... in Michigan. I didn't know that was possible until this past spring when I found a started pot of peanuts for sale at a local nursery. I scooped it up as an experiment.

The peanut plant grew, but was overshadowed by an artichoke plant that I also grew as an experiment.

The artichoke, Green Globe (to the right) which is supposed to be suitable for our northern growing season, produced beautiful, large, silver-green leaves, but sadly no artichokes.

Technically the peanuts grew, and produced peanuts, but I don't think we'll be making peanut butter anytime soon. Here is the bounty of our harvest. 2.5 measly peanuts.

Peanuts grow underground and are harvested similar to potatoes. I kept digging and digging to see if I was missing something.

While I'm chalking both up as a FAIL, I'm intrigued by the peanut and artichoke experiment and plan on doing a little research and trying both again next year. If any of you seasoned artichoke and peanut growers have any suggestions I'll take em!

Watermelon Tasting

I know watermelon is supposed to be the quintessential flavor of summer, but with our short growing season, our watermelons always ripen in the fall. This year we grew two varieties of watermelon: Early Moonbeam, and Moon and Stars.

Early Moonbeam is a small watermelon with light green skin and distinct dark green stripes. (or vice versa, depending on how you look at it.) What makes this watermelon interesting is the bright yellow flesh. It looks beautiful cubed and mixed with a pink flesh watermelon.

Flavor: I love tasting different fruits and vegetables! One of the main reasons I grow a garden is to experiment with interesting varieties and oddities that can't be found at the grocery store.While this watermelon is fun to grow and look at, I prefer the flavor and texture of the Moon and Stars watermelon. The Moonbeam variety wasn't as sweet and almost had a hint of a squash-y flavor. It also had a bit of a mushy texture.

The Moon and Stars is a large watermelon. It boasts a dark green flesh with yellow spots and usually one large spot, thus the moon and stars name.

Flavor: The flesh is very sweet and has a solid texture. It holds well in cubes. The black seeds are quite large and easy to separate (and spit!)

Of the two varieties, the moon and stars wins my vote, but I may grow the Moon Bean again next year just for the beauty it lends to a fruit salad.  

3rd Annual Iron Oak Farm Vegetable Growing Contest

Our tomatoes are starting to ripen and the pumpkins are beginning to bulge from their winding vines. It's time for a contest! Click the link to learn more about the rules and how to enter. Vegetable Growing Contest!

For more information about different kinds of pumpkins, visit the Iron Oak Farm Pumpkin Page, a three year collection of heirloom and hybrid pumpkin varieties.  

Cherry Picking

Stacey and I went Cherry picking for the second time last Friday at Spicers, our the local orchard.

We picked sweet cherries the week before...the sour cherries weren't ripe yet.

We both needed more sweet cherries for an amaretto jam recipe that I plan on sharing in the next few posts.

I wanted sour cherries as well for pie fillings and cobblers.

The sweet cherries branches were laden with fruit. They were so full of dark shiny cherries that they looked more like clusters of grapes.

We also got a glimpse of the mechanical cherry pitter.  

 An amazing machine!

We both decided to pit our own cherries, but it was fun to watch.

When we had collected our harvest, we headed back to the house to wash and pit our cherries.

Stacey was a trooper and ended up pitting all the cherries by herself while I readied things for jam making.

I'll soon be sharing all the wonderful things we did with our cherries in coming posts!