The Compost Bin

A while back I made a commitment to participate in The Growing Challenge. The deal was that all participants would grow at least one fruit or vegetable from seed, that they've never grown before. Growing something new is never a problem for me. I'm always trying something different from way back in the hardly ever read pages of the seed catalogs. Nope the hard part for me would be posting about it.

Most of my posts are done off the top of my head at the last minute when I should be on my way to work or late at night when I'm half asleep. Actually keeping track of something and planning posts around that something might be hard for me.

But let's give it a shot anyway. Here's my update. I finally got my seeds in the ground. WooHoo! You may be thinking, hmmm, not very impressive and you're right. When I was wandering around the way back in the hardly ever read pages of the seed catalogs, I picked Beetberry, Chioggia Beets and German Chamomile. But since I picked those three, I got a bit distracted and started growing Pak Choi and Swiss Chard. I've never grown them before either, in fact I've never even eaten Swiss Chard before but saw a great pasta recipe for it and bought the seeds anyway.

With my attention going to these late winter greens as well as the broccoli rabe, red onions, arugala and blue potatoes that I always plant in the spring, my Growing Challenge seeds just kind of sat around.

But in a better late than never moment, I planted the Beets and the Beetberry this weekend. Don't ask me about the Chamoile. I think I lost it in my disaster of a garage. There will be a post is December about how I was getting the Christmas decorations out and I found my chamoile seeds.

Last frost in my area of New Jersey is usually between May 15th and May 30th. So these early spring seeds may have been planted too late but let's see what happens. And if nothing happens, I'll just change my Growing Challenge picks to the Pak Choi and the Swiss Chard, which are doing quite well by the way.

This is a Growing Challenge update to report that I have nothing to report. It's still too soon for me to start any seeds so I'm just sitting tight and waiting. I'll probably start some peas this week but they aren't one of my Growing Challenge seeds so that doesn't count.

I did manage to clean out and re-organize my laundry room though. In previous years, I would start all of my seeds in the basement. But as of November, my basement is now a finished space with carpeting that we turned into a playroom for the kids. So it's no longer a great place for little containers filled with dirt.

That means that I had to move my operation into the laundry room. And so I had to box up and move stuff into the attic in order to fit the shelves in there.

I usually start all of my seeds in March, so I'll have a real update coming soon.

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm taking part in The Growing Challenge. So the first thing I need to do is pick something that I've never grown before and get some seeds. This isn't a big stretch for me because I start almost all of my vegetables from seed every year. And I also like to try growing things I've never grown before. So it won't really be too different than what I normally do each spring but I'm definitely going to enjoy reading about everyone's adventures growing a new fruit or vegetable from seed.



I plan on growing Chioggia Beets, German Chamomile and Beetberry. Here's what the catalog says about each:

Chioggia Beets - Cut open the root and get an internal peppermint stick. This is an improved selection that originally came from Italy in the 1800s . A very popular fresh market choice. Light green tops with light red exterior on the roots make this beet very distinctive.

German Chamomile - A delight for your eyes, taste buds, and overall well being. Its fragrant, delicate, miniature, daisy-like flowers dance on lacy foliage. Known to be used medicinally for hundreds of years, the flower buds when dried can make a wonderfully soothing tea calms the nerves, upset stomachs, promote digestion. A companion plant, it can enhance the growth of cucumbers, onions and most other herbs.

Beetberry - A truly unique plant also known as "Strawberry Spinach." Sprawling plants are grown primarily as a nutritious green for salads and braising while the pleasantly sweet but fairly bland berries provide a fun accent to salads. Loves cool weather but also tolerates heat.

I came across an interesting blogging meme the other day. No, it's not another 8 Random Things About Me or 10 Reasons Why I Like Monkeys or any of the other ridiculous things making their way around the blogosphere. It's actually something related to gardening. I saw it first at InTheGardenOnline. Colleen posted about how she was going to start growing Lemon Cucumbers and Sage. How is that a fun new blogging meme you ask? Well let me tell you.

She's growing them as part of the The Growing Challenge. The Growing Challenge was thought up by Melinda at Elements in Time as a way to get people growing more of their our own food. With a looming recession in the US and the high price of fuel driving up the cost of everything it's a great way to save some money and try something new. It's also a way to get people to eat more local food and that of course is great for the environment. Think of the airplane and truck fuel that would be saved if they didn't have to fly those pineapples to your neighborhood in the middle of winter.

As I read the details on her blog, I was sold. Here's the rules:

1. For this challenge, you must grow one additional type of fruit or vegetable than you did last year, and grow it from seed. If you’ve never grown anything, well, grow one thing! Or if you’ve never grown beans or carrots or lettuce or strawberries, try one of those.... And if you don’t have a garden, you can grow it in a pot or on a window sill. The goal is to push ourselves to grow a little more food than we have before.

2. If rule #1 is not enough of a challenge for you, you may make your own rules. For example, I’m going to grow two fruits and three veggies more than I did last year.

3. You must post about gardening once each week. This could be a post about researching different plants, ordering seeds, buying pots, digging beds, planting the seeds, pruning, adding compost, all the way to preparing a meal that includes the food you grew. **Please include “Growing Challenge” or at least “growing” in the name of the post so I can find it easily.**

4. Every Monday I will go to every participant’s website and check out what you’ve written, and write a summary on this blog. This will be a great way to see what everyone is up to and learn from one another. If you don’t have a blog, you can email me a blurb about your gardening progress.

5. Let me know in the comment section of the first Growing Challenge post (click here) if you’re joining in the fun!

Since I try to grow something new every year, this challenge is right up my alley. I haven't finished ordering my seeds yet but I already have a few new things that I'd like to try. Now where did I put my seed catalogs?