Plant and be glad

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Do you ever do something because, why not?

For fun, we planted some gladiolus bulbs in one of the heated tunnels.

Just a small section, maybe 50 feet.

And they seem to think it’s nice enough in there that they’ve started popping up!

If they continue to stay happy, we should have fresh-cut glads starting in March or April. Sure beats their normal July starting date.

Does this mean we’ll plant gladiolus bulbs in the tunnel every winter? Yet to be determined. A lot of farming- just like life – is trying something and analyzing later if it’s worth continuing. Usually, the answer is “no,” or “yes, but we need to tweak abc.” Because it sure is rare for everything to go perfectly the first time around.

Our lemongrass is planted at the very end of this row, past the gladiolus, and past the hazy gomphrena that you see.

A few years ago a customer gifted us with a small lemongrass plant.

Lemongrass likes its warmth and while some people have successfully grown it outside as a perennial in zone 8, it’s really happier in zones 9 and up.

So us zone 7-ers have to do something else.

Many people – including the person who gifted us with the cutting – grow it in a pot. In the summer, it lives outside; in the winter and spring, it lives inside.

Fortunately, we have a fancy dancy heated tunnel and can plop that baby in the ground. No moving it around needed.

And heat requirements aside, lemongrass is so easy to grow. We literally do nothing except harvest it once a year. That’s it! No pruning, no watering, no nothing.

This past week was the one time of year we do anything. And that was harvest it.

It looks kind of sad looking now, not going to lie. But in a few months those leaves will have grown back and it’ll be happy as grass.

That’s the beauty of perennials. You rarely have to do anything except harvest them. And even then, if you forget to harvest the plant won’t freak out on you and die (like cilantro and dill, the finicky things).

Speaking of perennial plants, this week Matt is finalizing the perennial plants we will have for sale this summer. Echinacea, rudbeckia, native iris, astilbe, asters, lavender, butterfly weed, etc. If there’s a particular one you’d like to see, let us know!

Some seasonal inspiration:

 Carrot Apple Bread 

 Apple Walnut Salad 

 Celery Root Soup 

 Potatoes with Mushrooms 

 Brussels Sprouts and Bacon Pesto Pasta 

 

Happy Eating!

Elizabeth

Open Tue-Fri 9-6, Sat 9-5. 

Closed Sunday & Monday.

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