Patio Plant Progress

Long day of House Hunting! J and I saw 7 houses today, 3 that are in the neighborhood we want to live n and 2 of those we absolutely loved! (Omg, and one of the houses had a DeLorean in the garage! haha! Really! Just like in Back to the Future!) Not going to jinx anything by giving too many details or getting too excited but I'll update you as the process continues! It would be nice to have some land to actually plant my own garden in!

I'm just here to give a little update on my attempt at gardening via patio. After a ton of rain in June (seriously, we had like 4 days with sun all month), and more than usual in July, my plants haven't been doing so hot. They're still alive and I do have a few ripe fruits (the first of which were delicious) which I guess I should take as a positive. Haha. These pics are of the sungold plants.

Somebody is eating my basil. Hard to prevent it since the plant sits on the doorstep is surrounded by bugs since we have a light out there that turns on at sunset and off at sunrise each day. So it has lots of bites but the leaves are still edible. Chives seem to be struggling too. I've been snipping here and there when I want some and they are growing back but with a little less ooomph. My tomatoes have had a lot of bottom leaves turn yellow and get spots. Out of fear of blight, I've been cutting the yellow leaves/stems off as it happens in the hopes that if it's bacterial or viral it won't spread. I know that yellow leaves can sometimes just be from a lack of water, but I don't think that's the case here. Between my 3 plants, I probably have less than 10 pieces of fruit growing right now. I'm hoping they'll start to do better and I'll have a ton of tomatoes at the end of August.
All text and photographs (except where noted otherwise) © 2008, 2009 Food is to love / Andrea Quigley

It's Finally Farmer's Market Season in NH!

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Another reason (besides warm weather, bbq's and vacations) to celebrate this time of year: Farmers Markets are finally open! In NH, most open in late May and late June and run through September and October. It's unfortunate that our growing season isn't longer than it is but the farmers in this state still manage to produce an amazing array of vegetables, fruits, jams, breads, cheeses and other artisanal products! The farmer's market in Milford, NH opens up this weekend on June 20th. They have a new location this year (bummer for me since I used to be able to walk to the old location) and you can find all the details if you are a local here.

I'm psyched to be able to pick up fresh veggies that were grown just a few miles away, instead of having been shipped across thousands of miles (which lowers nutrient content and increases greenhouse emissions and makes me sad). Plus fresh just tastes better. Yes, I'm trying to grow a few things of my own but until I actually own a plot of land worth digging into, farmers' markets are the best way for me to get my fill.

Here are some resources if you're looking for a market near you (US only, sorry!):

For a PDF list of other NH locations and all their details (including days and hours open, contact info etc) click here.

Another great website to search for farmers markets, farm stands and other local products no matter what state you live in is local harvest.

Happy eating!

My Patio Tomato Plants and Herbs

Woohoo, hit Ponemah Farms in Amherst, NH today and picked up a couple of plants for my "patio", ahem, I really mean doorstep! I got 1 patio tomato plant, two sungold cherry tomato plants, chives and a basil plant. I'm no gardener but I attempted to grow a whole bunch of plants on my doorstep the first year I moved in with J and failed miserably. My tomato plants got blight and my habanero plants were infested by Japanese beetles, my thyme and rosemary lasted a long time but eventually were attacked by beetles too (not sure why there were so many beetles that year, it's not like we normally get a ton here!). I was bummed and hadn't tried to grow anything since but I decided that this year was time to try again because there's nothing like a homegrown tomato! Of course, as a renter, I can't really plant in the ground at my complex, so I've got all of them outside on the doorstep. Someday I'll have the room for a big garden!

I'm super psyched about the sungold plants. When I lived in Portsmouth with friends, two of them maintained a small vegetable garden and I remember going out and just picking the juicy orange tomatoes off the vine and eating them like candy. I'm not positive that they were sungold because there are other sweet orange cherry tomatoes out there but either way they were fabulous and I really hope I get a decent amount of fruit from them!

I completely goofed and thought I had some large planters in the closet here (from my last failed attempt) but I must have tossed them because they're nowhere to be found and my sungold plants are stuck in tiny little terra cotta planters until I can pick up some larger ones. Will try to do that this week.

Anyhow, I'll try to post pictures as they grow. Wish me luck!

All text and photographs (except where noted otherwise) © 2008, 2009 Food is to love / Andrea Quigley