Saturday, March 5, 2011

Going to the Market

This weekend Joe got to go to Grandma's...We had two success poops without prompting...sure we had a few accidents but I am taking what I an get. We also were doing our taxes so we all went...Anyway, the master gardeners from Cornell were at the farmers market this weekend, they were doing seed starting in paper pots, soil testing and just giving out general advice. These ladies were WONDERFUL. They had so much knowledge in their heads that it was astounding, and they were genuinely interested to hear about what we were planning. They tested soil from two of our potential growing spots. Guess what? We have clay in the backyard..not so surprising since our end of Beacon was where bricks came from (huge brick manufacturer right down the road once upon a time) but the pH is great for veg, and the side of the house has not as much clay and will be perfect for our blueberries! The ladies were also able to tell me how to play with the pH to make it ideal and when to start putting things in up here. So word of advice? If you need help with a garden contact your local County Extension office (and be aware it may not be in your county)

So armed with 100 bucks this week I bought:

10 apples
1lb tricolor pasta
1lb spinach pasta
10 oz Japanese style ginger dressing
1.5 lbs portobello mushrooms
1 lb kale
4 sweet potatoes
2 heads garlic
3 onions
3 cukes
1 pint tomatoes
2 loaves oat bread
1 loaf ciabatta (for a potluck)
.25 lbs Toussaint cheese (also for potluck)
4 lamb spring rolls
1 jar of hand cream (for a gift for friend)
1 crochet market bag (because my bag got too small for everything- total impulse)

Lent starts this week!

sunday: baked ziti (made with last week's leftover sauce and in our freezer already)
monday: porkchops and applesauce and greenbeans
tuesday: pancakes and cake (it is Shrove Tuesday after all)
wed: winter veg chili
thursday: leftover chili with meat added in
friday: pizza




1 comment:

Mary said...

My mom got certified as a master gardener a couple of years ago -- it's crazy how much knowledge those people can pack in their heads.

It sounds like your soil situation's similar to ours, too -- we've got a lot of red clay around here (our soil's not much like the "good" black dirt they have in southern Wisconsin/Minnesota). But once you figure out what's suited for it, and if you can get your hands on a tiller & some good manure, it's still pretty workable. :-)