Thursday, October 22, 2009

The Winter Garden



Our summer veggies are waning...just a few tomatoes and some peppers left. Now, it's time to start enjoying our winter gardens!


With biodynamic seeds from Steiner College bookstore, and organic seeds from Smith & Hawken, we have created three beds filled with:


Savoy Lettuce, Spinach, Chard, Beets, Golden Beets, Scallions, Parsley, Romaine Lettuce, Bok Choy, Carrots, Kale, Leeks, Cabbage, Arugula, Fava Beans....


Well, at least those are the seeds that we planted! We'll see what actually comes up. So far, some are doing well, and some have not come up at all. It's tricky here near Sacramento where one day it can reach 100 degrees, and another day be in the 30's at night in Sept. Now that October is here, we are hopeful for cooler temperatures to nurture our baby seedlings! Some creature ate 4 heads of lettuce the other night and left some type of prints around...hmmm, wonder what it was? The raccoons and wild turkeys are known to dig, and we don't see any signs of deer....


The kids help prepare the layers of soil, plant the seeds, weed, and harvest the veggies. We've found some interesting worms and centipedes in the soil! This interesting stick bug was crawling around in the hay...looks just like hay!



Since the lovely greens are not their most favorites to eat, we make "vruit" about every other day. Our vruit ensures that we are all getting the amazing nutrients from the fresh, raw veggies on a regular basis! If we don't have a key ingredient in our own garden, we will purchase biodynamic veggies from Sacramento Waldorf down the street, or organic ones from Trader Joe's or a farmer's market.

Here is our current vruit recipe (quantities vary, depending on what is available). We run everything through our juicer machine, mix with a whisk, and then drink it right away!

* Leaves or bunches of lettuce, chard, beet greens, kale
* Sprigs of parsely
* 1-2 red or golden beets
* 3-4 carrots
* 3-4 apples
* Fresh squeeze 3-5 oranges, or add organic orange juice

Yummy!

We are placing some of our special crystals in the gardens, welcoming the energies of the earth and the fairies to help us out (couldn't hurt, right?...makes for fun stories with the kids). Next on our list is for Mommy to take a Biodynamic gardening classes at the college. We also are learning how to compost!

10 comments:

Beth said...

I'm super impressed with all the hard work you are putting into your winter garden. Actually, the concept of a winter garden is a bit foreign to me! Our winter garden is snow, rain, and mud! Beth

Beth said...

Wonderful! We just planted our winter garden as well. I will have to try your vruit recipe! We have a hard time eating greens here too, but I bet I can get them to drink it!

Grandma said...

Wonderful family garden! I have planted a few winter things too and amended the soil. The strawberries seem to like it and have taken on a new life!

Mama Rose said...

Wow Jennifer...it all sounds like so much fun and looks beautiful! The crystals sound like a lovely touch :D

LillyZoo said...

Very nice winter garden. I was very happy this year with the biodynamic plants in my garden

Mama Ruck said...

You have a very exciting winter garden! I always struggle with a winter garden, but you have given me lots of ideas. The stick bug was a great find!

Simple Mama said...

I had all these grand plans to do a winter garden - but just never quite got around to it. I may still yet plant some lettuce and greens - but boy is it yucky, rainy outside this week. I still need to plant our garlic for next year too.

Lisa said...

Fantastic! I can't wait to see how it turns out. That college class on biodynamics sounds interesting.

lisa

Tammie Lee said...

How wonderful that you can have a winter garden. Ours will be called snow, lots of good water! Looks wonderful.

Mama G @ bigcraftyblog.blogspot.com said...

I was just catching up on your past posts and didn't realize you did the raw thing. My mom lives in Sacramento and didn't realize that she can garden all year. She also eats raw so she was pretty excited!