Before we get to this amazing dinner that we enjoyed last night, I thought I would update you on my vegetable garden progress!
Eric and I built the first of two raised beds for the veggie garden. Each bed is 4 feet by 8 feet. We used this step-by-step tutorial for a raised bed.
Our growing season doesn’t officially begin until Victoria Day Weekend (around May 20th), which is when most gardeners deem the risk of frost to be over. Some gardeners will plant before this date and then use a frost cover if there is a warning though.
Things I still need to figure out:
- Where to buy a 100% organic topsoil (do they exist?)
- Read up on Lasagna gardening method
- Build or buy a compost bin- research options/methods
- Make a list of what I will grow
- Read up on companion planting
- Draw a plan/diagram of where I will plant everything in boxes
- How to get rid of my black thumb!!!
Right now I am thinking about planting the following:
- Onions
- Lettuce
- Kale
- Zucchini/Squash
- Garlic
- Peas
- Beets
- Carrots
- Tomatoes
- Peppers
- Cucumber
- Herbs!
- Some type of berry (strawberries or blackberries probably)
What do you experienced gardeners think of this list? Is it too much for a 1st garden? Any tips?
In other news, my Mexican food kick rages on!
As does our cold and snowy weather…
When you can’t get warm, make spicy Mexican food, I say. :)
Oh She Glows
Taco Chili with Nacho Cheeze Sauce
Chili adapted from Skinny Taste
Yield: 7 cups
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion, peeled and diced
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 1 cup dry kidney beans (or 2 cups cooked)
- 1 cup dry black beans (or 2 cups cooked)
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp ground chili powder
- One 5.5 oz can tomato paste
- 1 & 1/4 cup frozen corn kernels
- One 28-oz can diced tomatoes
- 2 tsp homemade taco seasoning (or packaged seasoning, to taste)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh Cilantro
- heaping 1/4 cup Nacho Cheeze Sauce (below)
- To garnish: Nacho cheeze sauce, crushed tortilla chips, and non-dairy cheese
Directions:
1. Cook the beans if necessary. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the onion and garlic in a very large skillet over low-medium heat until translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Stir in the cumin, chili powder, followed by the tomato paste and frozen corn. Cook for a few minutes on low.
3. Add the canned tomatoes and Cilantro and stir well. When the beans are cooked, drain them, rinse, and stir into chili. Slowly add the homemade taco seasoning (or store bought) to taste until desired taste is achieved. Simmer on low-medium heat for about 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, make your cheeze sauce (below).
4. Stir in a heaping 1/4 cup of the Nacho Cheeze Sauce and serve with crumbled tortilla chips, non-dairy cheese (I used Daiya), and Cilantro garnish. Makes 7 cups.
I bought some frozen Cilantro cubes as a more economical way to buy herbs (I hope to grow some in the summer though). I wasn’t overly impressed when I added a couple Cilantro cubes into the skillet. The aroma was not the same! Maybe I didn’t use enough? I can’t wait until I can pluck some from the garden!
Cook your onion and garlic until translucent.
Add in your seasonings, frozen corn, and tomato paste.
Stir in the can of tomatoes and Cilantro.
When the beans are cooked, drain and rinse, and then stir into the chili.
Simmer on low for about 10-15 minutes to allow the flavours to develop.
Meanwhile, make your nacho cheeze sauce!
Oh She Glows
Nacho Cheeze Sauce
Adapted from Ashley.
Yield: 1 cup
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup raw cashews
- 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/4 cup salsa (I used Medium heat)
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder* see note
- Shake red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Directions: In a food processor, add all ingredients and process until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Note: Next time, I would use fresh garlic (1 clove probably) instead of the powder.
Now stir in a heaping 1/4 cup of the cheeze sauce into the chili! It makes the Taco Chili sooo creamy and delicious.
I topped a bed of romaine greens with a huge scoop of the Taco chili and garnished it with a spoonful of cheeze sauce, crumbled tortilla chips, and Daiya cheese. I prefer the cheeze sauce a bit warm so I heated it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds. It doesn’t heat very well though and it got a bit hard on the sides. It was nothing a good stir couldn’t fix though!
The Taco Chili turned out fantastic! A little spicy, a little creamy, and a ton of amazing flavours.
It was husband approved too…Eric gave it two thumbs up. :)
I’m so COLD this morning…need more tea!
{ 163 comments… read them below or add one }
I bought organic soil at Walmart (in the USA). Since the gardening season is still a month away why don’t you start the seeds in pots in the house. That way when it is planting season they will already have a head start. That’s what my family used to do when I was growing up (I grew up in atlantic Canada where it seems to take forever for spring/summer to come! like your weather too I’m sure)
I just planted seeds in pots Sunday actually. I live in California though so it’s warm enough to have them outside. This is my first time planting so I am not sure how it will go. It will be an experiment! :) We don’t have any land to have a real garden, so I am just using pots on our deck for this year. You are lucky to have a big backyard. Hopefully by next year we will too :)
Also, this post has a picture of the soil I bought. I don’t think it said “100%” but it was the only organic choice they had.
http://www.trulysimplebits.com/2011/04/05/a-planting-we-will-go/
(not trying to promote my blog, just wanted to show you what I got for organic :)
Awesome work on the garden boxes!
I’m just waiting for my 1st timer gardening in Alberta books come in the mail so I can start planning out my summer garden!
I never really thought about doing raised beds…what is the benefit??
What I will have to do is figure out how to keep our curious fur-baby out of the garden!
From what I have read a raised garden usually produces a larger yield because the soil is less compacted and more air can travel through the soil. Plant roots need a lot of air down there I guess. They are also great because they are supposed to drain better.
We’re going to put a chicken wire fence around the beds to try to keep out the bunnies and other animals. :)
Cool, thanks for the info!
I may have to get my handy husband to get started on building!
mmm my favorite dish is a big mexican salad and this looks like it would hit all of the same flavor and texture notes!
can’t wait to try it! :)
Hi Angela,
I made something similar on the weekend, as I was in need of some comfort food since it was rainy all day long. It turned out some yummy and the house smelled so good. I love using the crock pot for chilli and other meals. I am not sure if you have one? The crock pot works really well especially when you have a million things around the house that need attending too!
Happy Easter
I do have a crockpot and I debated using it for this dish, but I decided I didnt want to drag it out this time. :)
WOW, that looks so good! Can you save some for me? ;)
This looks so comforting – especially compared to that frost on the ground. I don’t think I could ever get sick of Mexican food!
I only have 5 years of vegetable gardening under my belt in New England. I’ve found it’s helpful to find a plot plan for the garden for your area. It will show you what can and can’t be planted next to each other. And you don’t plant everything at the same time. Lettuce likes cold (already planted ours). And kale likes the fall. Carrots have not been successful. They only get to be about an inch long. I don’t think the season is long enough in the northeast. Or maybe we just weren’t good at that..
Home grown strawberries are the best things ever!! but they only seem to do well after a few years when they really take root. Put them in an area outside of the raised beds because they like to spread and come back every year. You’ll have to be able to net them or the squirrels and birds will get them too!
Sorry for the novel. i love home grown veggies! One more thing – our favorite crop ever is edamame. You’ll have to order the seeds. Edamame likes warm weather so plant in july and you’ll have the best pods by late august. So much better than the frozen stuff!
thanks ellen! Where do you think I could find a plot plan?
We started with a book called the Vegetable Gardeners Bible(http://www.amazon.com/Vegetable-Gardeners-Bible-10th-Anniversary/dp/160342475X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303230593&sr=8-1). I think this book is for growers in northern new england. i’m not sure where you are in canada or if it’s applicable. We’ve also found some more localized plans at our local gardening store. If you have a local store they might have a newsletter that they email. Ours usually announces when to plant different seeds and whether they should be started indoors or outdoors which is really helpful. it can seem overwhelming to figure out when everything needs to be planted.
I found this online: http://www.almanac.com/content/plant-companions-list-ten-common-vegetables which tells you the vegetable friends and foes.
A lot of it is trial and error to see what works in your yard. we already killed the first brussel sprout crop this year because of heavy rains.. but try again we will !! we’ve learned not to plant the whole seed packet at once for this reason. good luck!!
After I posted I found a really helpful thing on the farmers almanac web site – a chart that shows you by location when to plant! My life was just made easier.
I dont know if you have this in canada or if there is a US location close enough:
http://www.almanac.com/gardening/planting-dates/NY/Buffalo
Thank you so much, I really appreciate your help! :)
One (ok two) more thing.. tomatoes do best in the upside down planters. It keeps them off the ground. I’ve heard you can do cukes like that too but we’ve never tried. We usually encourage them to grow up a trellis. And you can now get organic soil and seeds at home depot.. yea! Sorry for taking over your comments this morning!! Have a good day.
Awesome info, Ellen! (Another first time gardener here!)
i think that’s a great list for a first garden! but i’m not sure all of that will fit in just two raised beds – are you doing more or also doing just a tilled section of land for more plants?
you can’t plant certain things next to others, so I’d look up info about each item you want to plant to make sure you have them in the best place. Also, things like strawberries don’t produce very well the first year, but the next two years will be great! you’ll want those in a place that will be easy to rotate plants as they come through the 3 year rotation they naturally have.
i can’t wait for our stuff to start coming in! homegrown fruits and veggies are the best ;)
yea that is what I was wondering about whether I’d have enough room. I’m not sure how many plants to buy for each! ahhh
you can definitely fit quite a bit in those beds – I guess it just depends on how much (of each) you want to grow this first year. I”m excited to see the progress! :)
We just planted our raspberry and blueberry bushes last weekend and we’ll be getting our raised beds built this week (weather permitting!) to plant our strawberries and asparagus.
Another space consideration, specifically for zucchini – these plants grow huge! I made the mistake last year of planting a whole row of zucchini seeds, and they grew to comically huge proportions and basically took over the whole garden, lol. I think you’re supposed to plant them a lot further apart than I did. Trial and error!
The herb garden is my absolute favourite – I love, love, love having my own fresh herbs straight from the garden. Most of them will come back year after year as well. But I would recommend not planting mint in the ground because it’s a spreader and will actually cross-polinate with your other herbs so that everything starts to taste minty! I keep my mint in a pot now.
i really, realllly love sauces made with nutritional yeast! love the flavor and nutritional boost
Oh my gosh…. I just made a very very similar chili the other night and am posting it as my recipe of the week tomorrow. I swear, we are thinking very alike these days!! Mine however, did not have creamy nacho cheeze sauce – it looks so good!! Congrats on your vegetable garden progress! Sounds like you were busy over the weekend. I’m interested to hear more about the Lasagna gardening method! :)
Hooray! I just started my first raised bed garden this year too! (Well, actually I put my husband to work building it) I can’t wait to transfer my seedlings this weekend. I also started my first compost bin last weekend! I got this one, but for half the price at a local big box store:
http://www.amazon.com/Soilsaver-Classic-Composter/dp/B003959G9Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303222689&sr=8-1
So far, I love it!
Angela when we finally have a house where we can garden (we’re in a townhome and digging in the yard is a no-no!) I am coming back to your posts because I so want a big garden one day!
I love the looks of this chili. It is cold here too, so warm foods sound delicious!
That chili looks delicious and perfect for this weird back-and-forth spring weather!
Angela! I’m an avid gardener and have been ever since I was small. (my mom started me young…she has always gardened/grown veggies/canned everything)
Just a year ago I converted my huge kitchen and herb garden into raised beds. Believe me, LASAGNA GARDENING is the WAY to go! I tried a few beds with rich topsoil and a few beds lasagna-way, and trust me, the lasagna beds are Off. The. Hook.
Plus I find it to be very earthfriendly! ANY material that decomposes (except protein and fat) can be used! Newspaper, straw, moldy leaves, peat moss, chopped bark, pine needles, you name it.
I HIGHLY recommend Patricia’s Book (Lasagna Gardening) I ordered it from Amazon and it is worth every penny!
This year ALL my beds will be lasagna style… :)
If you have any questions I would be more than happy to help.
Cheers,
cathy b.
Wow that is great news!!! Thanks so much :)
If you plant any kind of berry plant this year, you probably won’t get results for a year or two. It takes a few years for the plant to mature to produce the berry. My family has strawberry patches, and when one patch is starting to “die” out, my dad will purchase new berry plants and plant them somewhere completely different. Strawberries really like rich organic composted soil, you’ll yield very large berries! Make sure they are covered well with straw in the winter to protect them. I’d definitely read up online/check out books at a library for more information. My family is in Michigan, so similar climate to what you have as well.
Strawberries over blackberries – no prickly bits (though blackberrying is a very fond childhood memory for me) and plenty of frozen strawbs to make summery desserts in the middle of winter! :) I’m kind of limited with veggie planting because of apartment living, but I do a herb box in the summer, with basil, mint, and rosemary – and this year I will make it last through August! (sometimes I forget to water!)
First, build your compost bin. It is much cheaper and there is no reason to spend a bunch of money on one.
I live in the southern US and we have gardens every year. Squash and tomatoes are pretty easy to grow. Kale is easy to grow as well. Peppers grow like weeds, we always have a TON. Another thing that grows pretty good is okra. My dad always says that strawberries are hard to grow and take a ton of water.
Since you live in a rural area I think your biggest problem will be the wildlife using your garden as a salad bar. You’ll have more deer and rabbits than you’ll know what to do with!
haha yup…we’re going to put up a big chicken wire fence to keep the creatures out! Although my neighbour said she has never had one thing taken from her garden (that she knew of), so go figure!
Yay! So glad you liked the nacho cheeze sauce. 2 nights ago we had a verrrry similar meal. :) Delicious + comforting. The gardening bed looks FAB. Jealous!
Hey Angela!
I live in MN and have been gardening for about 5 years….I suggest planting a ton. Seeds are cheap, and its the best destressor! Lettuce is so fun to grow, so abundant. Same with herbs. We let our cilantro go to seed and evey year it spreads. We have a cilantro patch the size of my kitchen, it smells amazing. I would do strawberries for sure. They spread like mad, so if u want a lot, skip the raised beds and plant where they can spread. So excited for you! BTW, my first year garden was the most fruitful, good luck to you!!!
Rachel
Hey Angela!
I live in MN and have been gardening for about 5 years….I suggest planting a ton. Seeds are cheap, and its the best destressor! Lettuce is so fun to grow, so abundant. Same with herbs. We let our cilantro go to seed and evey year it spreads. We have a cilantro patch the size of my kitchen, it smells amazing. I would do strawberries for sure. They spread like mad, so if u want a lot, skip the raised beds and plant where they can spread. So excited for you! BTW, my first year garden was the most fruitful, good luck to you!!!
Rachel
Hey Ange, I will be planting my own garden for the first time, too, this year. I also live in Toronto, so I am looking forward to hear your own tips and progress!
I have a short-list of what I want to grow, and already ruled out garlic because that needed to be planted in the fall. Otherwise, you may also want to consider growing Swiss chard, since I hear that is easy to grow and tastes great! Kohlrabi and arugula are also on our list to try. I have been told to stay away from broccoli and cauliflower since they attract lots of bugs!
Rhubarb is also really easy to grow (it loves shade) but unless you get a plant, it can take a while to grow from seed.
Wow I didnt know that about garlic needing to be planted in the Fall…
You can plant garlic in the spring but you need to plant it early in the spring. Mine went in about 2 weeks ago. Garlic is a slow grower so it needs a lot of time. I also planted my onions at the same time.
Yum, this looks way good. The garden box looks like it is going to be great! If you can fit all those veggies in your box, I say go for it!
I’m super jealous that you have the yard room for that! Right now I’m trying to start a little garden on my balcony. I just started basil and cilantro, and if I can get those to succeed, I may venture out into some smaller, semi-easy veggies that I can do in a large pot.
BTW – once you find a completely organic soil, please do share with us!
I don’t have any experience with gardening, but I totally want to come raid yours! I’m hoping to have a yard that I can garden in by next year (2012, assuming the Mayans were wrong), so I’ll be watching your progress for tips and tricks :)
I was going to make “meat”balls tonight, but they may turn mexican after reading your recipe!
Those cilantro cubes are brilliant – I just bought the basil version at TJ’s.
That sounds like a wonderful first garden! That’s so exciting. Growing your own food is the best feeling ever :-) Good luck and have fun!
Love the frozen cilantro cubes! Never seen them before- very clever! I cannot believe ya’ll still have snow. Boooo! :(
Swoooon! I love mexi food and this looks hearty, healthy, and fantastic.
Could you do a mexi cheese sauce starting with cashews???
Miracle Gro offers an organic garden soil that has 100% organic ingredients and all natural mirco-organisms. Strawberries are a good choice I think because they yield quite a bit of fruit once they get going, but like others have said I wouldn’t expect much out of your first year. Also, I wouldn’t plant them in the raised beds with your vegetables because they spread and multiply, but also because you shouldn’t plant them near tomatoes/peppers because of that verticillium rot. Anyways, that’s my 2 cents! :)
That’s awesome! I’m so jealous- I live in NYC and it’s impossible to have a garden like that. I can’t wait to see your plants grow :)
ahh pressure is on now! hahah
That looks really yummy! Gonna have to add that to my list (LONG list) of things to make.
I would love to plant a veggie garden, but just don’t have the room for one right now. I have had a small one for the last few years where I grew cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, hot peppers and green/red peppers, and various herbs. The cherry tomatoes came out great (larger tomatoes I find get eaten by something before fully ripening). Same with the peppers. My neighbour gave me some raspberry plants a couple of years ago and they have since taken over what little garden space I had so it looks like no more veggie garden for me. I love me some raspberries, but I would like some other stuff too! I live in SW Ontario as well btw.
I have a question for you as well. Is Eric Vegan as well? I am starting to try and omit meat from my diet completely, but hubby (and 3 kids too) would not do the same so I’m having a hard time with meals and making things for them to eat as well as me. Any ideas?
Eric is not vegan, but I would say he reduced his meat consumption by about 80% after watching Food Inc. He also enjoys the vegan meals that I make, so that helps a ton. When he does want meat he usually fires up the BBQ!
I love the idea of the cheeze sauce in the chili – looks delicious!
Looks tasty! I love the idea of salsa in the cheese sauce!
Wow, that looks delicious!
Garden peas are one of my favourite things about summer! And my favourite tomatoes to plant are the Sungold variety – they are so delicious and make summer salads look exciting and fresh with their bright colour. Be cautious with zucchini! I only plant 2 or 3 seeds and still get way more than I need!
I’m lovin’ the Mexican food! Good luck with your garden. My father has a garden and I love getting fresh tomatoes, zucchinis and squash from him. (I would love my own garden but we are in a condo which = no yard)
I’m excited to see your garden progress!
I don’t think that list is too long at all! I went in full throttle and didn’t regret it a bit (and I didn’t have a green thumb when starting!). When you first plant you’ll have your doubts but by August you’ll be wondering why you didn’t start years ago!
I think we’re in the same zone (I’m in upstate NY). I’m not an expert, but just to give you an idea of how I would plant…
Plant your peas now. Mine went in ~1 week ago. They are hardy and can survive a frost. The summer heat will kill them, so put them in early to maximize production and then plant again in August for a fall crop. Plant the lettuce, kale and garlic together to help keep animals out of your greens. Most hate garlic! Plant more garlic in Oct/Nov and you will get spring garlic too (which is bigger). Consider adding leeks to your list and plant those with your carrots. They each repel the other plants pests. Start the leeks inside now to maximize your growing season. Plant basil in between the tomato plants, not only do they taste great together, but they love being planted near each other! Your squash will usually do well anywhere with a lot of sun. I stress a lot of sun because it helps prevent powdery mildew which is a common killer of the squash plants (consider throwing some pumpkins in too, they will climb all over but they are really easy and high producers). I’d plant the cucumbers and squashes apart from each other because if one get’s powdery mildew, it will spread to the other easily. Beets and onions will grow well in any well drained soil. They would be fine in a semi-shady place too. For your peppers, I recommend planting them all close together. I planted mine too far apart last year and they didn’t bear too much fruit. My father plants his so that the mature plants will touch and he has much better luck! I would put your herbs on the outer portions of the planters because some help to deter pests, if you run out of room; these will grow great in pots too. I almost prefer the pots because I bring them inside in the winter and eat fresh herbs all winter, some are even still around the next year to put back outside! Just be sure to pick the flowers off of the herbs to keep them growing, if not they will go to seed and stop producing leaves to eat!
I’m new to growing berries this year, but they are perennials and will come back each year. I’d plant them in a flower bed as opposed to your raised beds (fruitscaping ;) ) to prevent disturbing their roots when you turn your soil to plant again next year.
I hope that isn’t too confusing! Feel free to email me with any questions. I’d be happy to help. If I can’t answer the question, I come from a family of farmers so someone will be able to
Thanks Amanda!!! This is so helpful…printing now :)
I feel a bit overwhelmed about where to place everything. Do you know if there is some sort of diagram I can find?
At my local library I got a copy of the book “Carrots Love Tomatoes” by Louise Riotte. I got the old version (it has a second edition now), but I LOVED the book. They give you a list of plants to plant together and plants to put far away from each other and also detail each plants like and dislikes. There are diagrams at the end of the book for all kinds of gardens (ex. postage stamp gardens, the herb lover’s garden…). It was a great book that I referenced while plotting my garden this year!
Here’s a link to a site that helps with garden layout. Square foot style, but you can design for rows or beds. http://www.gardeners.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-Gardeners-Site/default/Page-KitchenGardenDesigner
It is way too early in the morning for me to be drooling over Mexican ;) But I must! I can’t wait to try your nacho cheeze sauce — hoping my Midwestern, cheese-lovin’ husband finds it a fitting substitute, because I would prefer it to even the organic types he eats… Fingers are crossed! :) Thanks for sharing!
Hi, Angela – I’m a professional gardener in Idaho, and my favorite thing about raised beds is that you can really crowd a large amount of plants into your raised beds, as long as you are committed to watering regularly. Someone else commented on the upside down tomato planters, I’m not a fan and think that a tomato will do the best if you use a metal tomato cage when you plant it in the ground, available at any home and garden store. Tomatoes are good to put in the corners of your bed as they will get fairly tall. If you are interested in berries, I would designate an area in your yard outside of your raised beds. Both strawberries and blackberries will spread. If you have a nice summer, you will get a few strawberries the first year if you plant little starts, but you will not probably see any blackberries the first year.
Bed are also nice because once you get towards the fall and potential freezes overnight, it is easy to cover your entire bed at night with a piece of plastic or an old bedsheet and then remove it in the morning. Great to extend your gardening season!
You will have some failures in the first year while you figure out what will do best in your garden spot, don’t be discouraged, because nothing tastes better than your own veggies, picked and eaten within 24 hours! Good luck!
I agree with the upside down tomato plant. I tried it last year with tomatoes and baby peppers and didn’t like them at all. They didn’t grow well. My tomatoes did great with a large planter and bamboo to grow up!
Thank you Kim!!