‘Tom Thumb’ is an heirloom shelling pea that grows only 4 to 6 inches tall. Developed in the late 18th century, this super dwarf variety was originally bred for cold frame production. Its short stature makes it perfectly suited for growing under glass and the variety is said to be particularly cold tolerant. I’ve been wanting to grow ‘Tom Thumb’ for several years, so when I spotted a packet of it at the grocery store of all places, I snapped it up!

I sowed the entire packet into a rectangular wooden window box on March 21. The seeds germinated quickly and evenly and the little plants started flowering this week! I can’t wait to try the peas. I’m expecting 3 or 4 pods per plant!

Garden design is not my strong point. I can grow vegetables like crazy, but deciding how to layout a garden keeps me up at night. Luckily I have some very talented friends who helped give me design ideas for our new space. Lorene suggested that I use galvanized water troughs for raised planters to add visual interest and height. I’m so glad that I followed her advice! The troughs look great and they match the farmyard look of our chicken coop. Before I bought the troughs I called pretty much every single feed store in the Puget Sound Region. Reber Ranch Supply in Kent had the best selection of troughs (they come in a surprising number of sizes) and the best price. The oval troughs were $113 and the round one was $134.

The first step to turning a trough into a planter is to drill holes in the bottom so water can drain out. Prevent getting metal bits into your soil by setting the trough upside down on a drop cloth or tarp before you start drilling. To drill the holes, Jon used a 1/2 inch drill bit that is designed to drill through metal. He also experimented with punching holes through the bottom using a metal stake and a heavy hammer and found that method to be quite effective, too. Either way, it’s an arm workout drilling the holes!

Drill a grid pattern into the bottom of the trough and don’t skimp on the number of holes. The last thing you want is soggy soil in your new planter.

Once the holes are drilled set your planter where you’d like it to go permanently. Make sure that you place the seam side of the planter to the back and also level it before you fill it with soil. We forgot to do both and had to scoop soil out of the first container so we could spin it around and level it—such a pain! It didn’t even occur to me to fill the bottom 1/3 of the trough with rocks or soda cans or something to take up space. I just filled each one up with soil to within about 2 1/2 inches of the top. The soil has settled quite a bit, so if I was doing this again, I’d probably fill the troughs to within 1 inch of the rim.

The soil in the troughs is slightly warmer than the soil in our in ground beds. I have lettuce and peas planted in them now, but I’m going to plant eggplants and I’ll replace the lettuce with basil after I harvest. There has been some concern about zinc from galvanized bins leaching into the soil. After a lot of research, I decided that I felt safe growing food in the containers. I’m planning on keeping the soil at a neutral pH, which helps prevent zinc leaching, and I am going to have my soil tested every year to be sure.

Ta da! After nearly two months of work I can finally show off our new garden. In March we ripped out a a huge section of horrible weedy grass and a truly hideous pea gravel path. I wanted more veggie space, but the real impetus for undertaking this project was I just couldn’t stand having such an unslightly view from our bedroom window one second longer.

The construction phase got off to a great start, but then we ran into a huge problem: our yard sloped a lot more than we realized. The soil on the the North side of our new path was about 8 inches higher than on the South. It quickly became clear that our weekend project was going to be a bit more work.

After debating the pros and cons of various kinds of retaining walls we decided to install a gabion, which is basically a wire mesh box filled with rocks (or, in our case, broken concrete). We still need to cap the gabion, but are really happy with how it turned out.

After the gabion was in place we had to level out the new terraced gardening area, build raised beds, and plant! The galvanized bins have worked out quite well, everything grows fast in their well-drained, warm soil. The in-ground beds are also thriving, but I’m going to install hoop houses over three of them to protect my peppers and squash from the miserable weather we’ve been having. In the back bed by the chicken coop I planted sunflowers and bush beans and am planning on planting zinnias and cosmos, too. I’m also planting nasturtiums and other flowers on the edge of the beds because I’m not crazy about how wood-chippy the paths look.

Our strawberry patch is in a narrow berm that runs alongside Jon’s pull-up bars (we’ve already had 10 strawberries!). I’m also going to grow my tomatoes along the fence by the workout area because it gets lots of sun and is very sheltered and warm. Like all good things this new garden has been a collaboration. I got the idea to use galvanized bins from my friend Lorene, generous Robin gave me a new tree and loaned us tools, and we got tons of help ripping out grass, breaking concrete, and building beds from our friends, family, and neighbors (thanks Mari, Andrew, San San, Gersh, Ace, and Buffe!).  I’ll continue to share pictures so you can see how the space evolves over the summer. Tomorrow I’ll post-step-by-step instructions for transforming a water trough into a raised bed and I’ll share where I got my troughs and discuss the safety of gardening in a galvanized container.

Whew. I swear, I blinked and May was nearly over. I almost let the Tigress Can Jam May deadline slip past me! I know it is the 11th hour, but I’d like to say that for the record I just made an excellent Rhubarb and Ginger Chutney. Unfortunately, it is now too dark to take a picture of the final product. But don’t worry! You can expect some snapshots of my first ever chutney next week.

In addition to eating lots of chutney with cheese and crackers this weekend, I’m hoping to get my tomatoes and peppers in the ground and plant some of the seeds that are piled up in my office. Every time I open the door the seed packets shout “Plant Us Already! It is warm enough!” If I don’t make time for some gardening soon, I’m afraid that I will have a revolt on my hands. Happy Weekend!

I love the idea of a garden mobile. I would drive it around wherever I went and when people asked me about the plants growing on top of my car, I would hand them a little card with a salad garden plan on it. I’d tell them all about my favorite vegetable garden resources. Then, I’d whip a pair of scissors out of my pocket and snip off a handful of herbs and give them a bouquet garni right then and there.

I understand this is not entirely practical. But it would be fun. I think it might even inspire a few people to start gardens. For sure it would get them to talk about gardens. And that, I think, is the next best thing.

If you like the idea of mobile gardens, you should definitely check out the BACSACs at A + R Store. These French-designed containers come in a number of sizes and styles and are made from a super sturdy, UV resistant material that is permeable. They are totally cool and would be an excellent choice for renters, because you could just pick your garden up and take it with you on moving day!

It’s been an exciting couple of days over here at DigginFood! First, on Sunday, my 10 “Indispensable Plants” were profiled by Valerie Easton in the Seattle Times Sunday Magazine. It was such fun putting together my list of plants.

Not surprisingly, most of my favorite plants are edibles, but I threw in a few ornamentals, too. Val did the nicest write up and Whitney Strensrud created absolutely lovely illustrations of each plant. You can read the article and see all of the beautiful illustrations, right here.

Also, I was incredibly flattered to learn just this morning that I won the Mouse and Trowel Award for Best Blog About Growing Food. Wow! I’d like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who voted for DigginFood. I love gathering together ideas for this blog, but I never really know what happens once I’ve sent my words and pictures out into the world. I’m very happy that they are apparently landing in your gardens and kitchens and that they are helpful! Thank you so much for the award!

One of the best reasons to grow vegetables is you get to eat food that almost no one else has access to. Arugula blossoms. Green coriander seed. Fennel pollen. Garlic scapes. Foods that are so special and delicate that they never find their way into a grocery store and only show up sometimes at the farmer’s market. I thought I had sampled almost all of these little gourmet extras, but it turns out I had a fabulous crop growing in my garden and I didn’t even realize it: fava greens. I always grow favas for their delicious beans, but a student in my Kitchen Garden Series class told me he makes pesto with his fava bean greens. I immediately went home and sampled a leaf.

Hello! The greens are fabulous. Big, succulent, and with a faint fava-y flavor.

I couldn’t wait to try cooking with the greens. Since my favas haven’t flowered yet, I decided to be prudent and only snipped off one pair of leaves from each plant. This yielded one packed cup of greens. Not nearly enough for pesto, but plenty for an extra special lunch.

I hurried into the kitchen, tossed a couple of slices of olive bread under the broiler to toast and wilted the greens in just a bit of oil. Then I rubbed the toast with garlic, drizzled it with my favorite olive oil, and layered on a thick slice of ricotta salata cheese, the fava greens, and slices of warm boiled egg. I ate the toasts on my porch in the sun. It was perfect.

Garlic Toasts with Wilted Fava Greens, Ricotta Salata, and Hard Boiled Egg

I used rosemary olive bread for the toasts and eggs from our chickens. Very fresh eggs are difficult to peel, so I always try to hard boil eggs that are at least a week old.

What you’ll need:

2 eggs

1 packed cup of fava greens

1 tsp olive oil, plus more for drizzling

2 thick slices of good bread

1 clove garlic, peeled

Ricotta salata cheese

Directions

Place the eggs in a medium saucepan and fill it with cool water (the eggs should be covered by about an inch of water). Bring the water to boil over high heat. Begin watching the pan carefully when little bubbles begin rising up. As soon as the first big bubble breaks on the surface, set a timer for one minute. When the timer buzzes, remove the pan from the heat and let the eggs sit for exactly one more minute. Then drain off the hot water and run the eggs under cold water until they are cool enough to handle. Peel immediately. The eggs will have perfectly cooked whites and yolks that have just barely solidified at their core. (This timing was developed in my kitchen, which is at sea level. You may need to add more time if cooking at a higher elevation.)

Meanwhile, rinse the fava greens in cool water. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the wet fava greens into the pan and toss until they are just wilted (30 seconds or less).

Toast the bread lightly. Rub the garlic clove over the surface of the toasts and then drizzle with olive oil. Top each piece of toast with a thick slice of ricotta salata cheese, fava greens, and slices of hard boiled egg. Sprinkle kosher salt and freshly ground pepper over the eggs. Serve immediately.

A lot of people don’t like radishes, which is so sad. They are really one of the great under appreciated vegetables. I think they get a bad rap because the ones at the store are so often old, pithy, and spicy. Sometimes they even have a rubbery texture.

Homegrown radishes are an entirely different story. They are delightfully crunchy and have a mild flavor as long as you keep them consistently moist and pull them young—just after their shoulders pop up out of the soil. I love to harvest the roots, rinse them off, dip their tips in salt and pop them in my mouth. The French often serve thinly sliced radishes on a piece of buttered, crusty baguette. If you don’t like radishes, try them that way. You just might change your mind! Trust me on this.

I always sow radish seed thickly because I love to thin out the spicy sprouts and add them to a cheese sandwich or salad. The seeds germinate in just a couple of days and the roots are ready in just over a month (or less when the soil is warm). The greens have a velcro-like texture when raw, but they are chock full of vitamins and delicious cooked. I twist off the tops and cook them just as I would arugula or spinach (they are especially good in eggs). Chickens also don’t mind a snack of radish tops.

I sow radishes every two or three weeks in bare spots around the garden. Radishes come in a huge range of colors including black, watermelon (white on the outside, red on the inside), pink, purple, white, and of course, red. I have some ‘French Breakfast’ radishes in the garden right now. Unlike most garden radishes, they have cylindrical red roots with white tips. Such a fun alternative to regular red! Radishes send up a seed stalk in warm weather. The short seed pods have a spicy flavor and taste wonderful stir-fried with chervil. In fall, if you allow a few radishes to go to seed, they will often self-sow and grow in spring!

Our chicken, Inky, laid a teensy, tiny brown egg that is flecked with chocolate brown. The baby egg, as I’ve taken to calling it, is about one-quarter the size of her normal eggs, which are brown, but not speckled. I have no idea why this happened. She is eating the same food, drinking the same water, nothing has changed.

She’s back to laying normal size eggs. Apparently the baby egg was a one off.

Sometimes for fun I toss a few violas into  my lunchtime salad. Not because they taste particularly good, but because they make me smile. Violas just look so happy. I think if you listened closely you just might hear them giggle, which is why I love them. That and they catch dew in the most delightful way.

The easiest way to add more space to your garden is to trellis beans, squash, cucumbers, melons, and peas. Taking advantage of vertical space in the garden frees up a lot of real estate to grow other crops. I pack a ton of food in a small space by using several different kinds of trellises. I’ve written about most of them in the past, but I thought I’d gather them together all in one place so you can pick and choose the best ones for your garden.

Fence Trellis

This trellis is simply welded wire mesh stapled to a fence. I’ve grown beans, peas, butternut squash, and ‘Trombetta’ squash up the trellis. It’s a great way to utilize a fence. Just be sure to choose a fence that faces west or south.

Cucumber Trellis

I repurposed one of those flimsy wire tomato cages into a cucumber trellis. It easily supported the lightweight cucumber vines and ended up looking like a little cucumber mountain! Definitely a better use for those cages—they are too small and weak for supporting tomatoes. You can see this trellis from another angle in the photo above. I also planted vining nasturtiums around the base of the trellis and trained them up it. They looked really pretty intertwined with the cucumbers.

Super Sturdy Squash Trellis

I love this squash trellis! You can grow 6 to 8 squash plants up it, which saves an enormous amount of space. Plus it looks totally awesome, especially if you get the rungs level (adding on a third rung at the bottom helps give the little plants a leg up).  The photo at the top of the post shows this trellis covered in several butternut squash plants. I grew ‘Erbette’ Swiss chard in front of the trellis, but I think zinnias would add a nice punch of color.

Squash and Cucumber Ramp

This little ramp makes it easy to train cucumbers or summer squash like ‘Trombetta’ to cascade over the side of terraced gardens or high raised beds.

Bamboo Trellises

I also build tons of bamboo trellises. This one made an appearance in our old P-Patch plot. To make bamboo teepees prettier I like to embellish their bottoms with curved bamboo stakes. I run a piece of twine from the top of each curved stake to the top of the trellis to increase the climbing area.