Moxie Gardener

Rosemary is known for its haunting fragrance and affinity for flavoring meat.

Students in ancient Greece wore garlands of Rosemary to help them remember when taking exams. Its reputation for strengthening the memory made it the emblem of fidelity for lovers. “Here’s some Rosemary my love, don’t forget me.”

Rosemary is native to the Mediterranean region and grows freely all over southern Europe. Throughout the world it is cultivated as a culinary herb, as well as for cosmetics and medicine.

Classified botanically as Rosmarinus officinalis, its common name is derived from the Greek ros, meaning “dew” and marinus, meaning “sea,” which explains why it’s sometimes called “dew of the sea.”

A tender evergreen shrub, Rosemary will not survive winter outdoors in much of the United States. Fortunately, it’s easy to dig them, pot them up, and overwinter indoors in a bright, south-facing window. Don’t overwater, but don’t allow it to dry out. The gospel of overwintering Rosemary says if it dries out, it’s dead. Learned that the hard way. Here’s a post I wrote last fall when I brought my Rosemary indoors.

Like most other culinary herbs, Rosemary grows in average, unimproved soil, although you do need to provide good drainage. Rosemary is difficult to start from seed. It has very low germination rates and is slow to get growing. Small transplants are widely available. Set out transplants after all danger of frost has past. Rosemary does best in full sun, but it will grow slowly in partial shade.

Plant Rosemary near cabbages and beans to repel moths and beetles.

Burn stems of Rosemary on barbecues to deter flying insects and infuse barbecued meat with its unique flavor. In the Mediterranean area, linens are dried draped over Rosemary bushes so its bug-repelling oils scent the linens.

To make the most flavorful roast chicken ever (so I’ve been told), stuff the cavity with several sprigs each of fresh Rosemary, parsley, and thyme, along with an entire head of garlic. Roast, covered, until chicken is tender.

You’re welcome. 

Seeds for early spring lettuce planted in fall and overwintered.

Success! As you can see by the photo at right, at least some of the greens seeds I planted last fall are germinating. Those in the picture are a mixture of lettuce seeds.

I love it when a plan comes together.

I should be picking baby greens for salads by the first part of May. That is, if the snowstorm we’re expecting this weekend doesn’t do them in. I’ll have to go out and cover them this evening, after they’ve had a chance to do some growing on this sunny, albeit cold, spring day.

So far, no sign of any other seeds I planted last fall—spinach, purple mizuna, arugula, pak choi, radishes, or green onion. There are some small green onions, but those were already up and growing last fall when I covered the garden.

As for the rows of mesclun and radishes I planted in the flower garden on the south side of the house, no activity there, as well as none in the large crock where I planted spinach seeds. Here’s a link to the post I wrote about that.

While I was examining the ground, I saw some ants scurrying around, doing ant things. Not that I’m in love with insects or anything, it’s just another sign of spring I thought I’d share with you.

The gardening season is finally, finally here in Minnesota.

Rock on!

Lettuce seeds are available in many varieties in shades of green or red.

There are few things more refreshing than a salad of sweet, crisp, spring lettuce fresh from the garden. Lettuce is easy to grow and a good crop for the beginning gardener.

Lettuce originates in the areas of the Mediterranean around Turkey, Iran and the Near East. It is still found growing wild all over Europe and in temperate parts of Asia.

The first mention of cultivated lettuce is found in Greek historical records dating to 450 BC. Egyptian tomb paintings depict Cos lettuce as early as 4500 BC.

The botanical name of lettuce is Lactuca sativa, which is Latin for “milk sap,” referring to the milky liquid it exudes when cut.

Lettuce was one of the first crops that I grew with large success. I started seeds in the house, transplanted them outside and ended up with so much lettuce of a dozen varieties that I gave it away to family, friends, and neighbors and still had more than we could eat.

The secret to successfully growing lettuce is fertile soil, adequate moisture, and cool weather.

Start lettuce seeds indoors about three to four weeks before you plan to set outdoors. It is safe to set out lettuce transplants when daytime temperatures in your location stay above freezing. They can handle a little cold weather, but cover if freezing temperatures are expected. You can also direct seed lettuce; for some reason, lettuce that is direct seeded seems better able to handle cold weather than transplants.

Last fall as an experiment I planted several varieties of lettuce seeds to winter over (here’s a link to that post). So far, nothing has come up yet but it’s still early here in Minneapolis.

Plant lettuce seeds in early to mid-spring as soon as the soil is dry enough to work. Sow seeds right next to each other in rows about a foot apart or plant intensively by broadcasting seeds. As the seedlings grow, thin to four to six inches apart.

As soon as the seedlings are about two inches high, you can start to harvest. My method is to thin by pulling the largest plants, pinching off the roots, and eating them for dinner. The smaller plants are left to grow on. If you continue to do this, by the time hot summer weather arrives you will still have small, succulent lettuce plants. Hot weather turns them bitter, but smaller plants seems to stay sweet longer than mature ones.

If you’re planting lettuce transplants, plant them about six inches apart in all directions, or four inches apart in rows that are a foot apart. My method for harvesting transplants is to pick the large outer leaves of each plant. They will continue to grow and produce new leaves, but these larger, more mature plants will turn bitter faster when hot weather arrives than direct seeded lettuce.

For a continuous supply of either baby seedlings or outer leaves of transplants, make succession plantings every week until late spring. In late summer, direct seed again for a fall crop. Plant fall lettuce seeds twice as deep as spring planted seeds to protect them from the heat of late summer. By the time the seedlings are up and growing, cool fall weather will have arrived.

Lettuce and all salad greens are one of my favorite things to grow (and eat). Look for more posts about them throughout the growing season.

Pure white parsnips are the sweetest.

Spring dug parsnips are so sweet and delicious it really is like finding buried treasure in your garden. Parsnips left in the ground over winter and dug as soon as the ground thaws in early spring are much sweeter than fall dug parsnips.

Found growing wild throughout southern Europe, they are thought to be a native of the Mediterranean region. Parsnips have been cultivated since Roman times. During the Middle Ages, German gardeners began to develop the parsnip, increasing both the size of the roots and their sugar content. At that time, parsnip puree was added to cakes, jams, and other confections as a sweetener before sugar cane arrived from the Americas.

Parsnips are a member of the Umbelliferae family, the same family as carrots and parsley. Pastinaca sativa is their Latin name. Parsnips are a hardy biennial that is grown as an annual.

Plant parsnips in rich, slightly heavy soil, although all well drained soils will produce a good crop. Amend or improve the soil the previous fall. Soil that is too rich can cause the roots to fork. Remove any stones or rocks as they can also cause forking. If your soil is on the acid side, add lime to increase its alkalinity.

Parsnips prefer full sun, but will also produce fairly well in light shade.

Plant parsnip seeds in mid to late spring. Because they generally have low to medium germination rates, plant at least three seeds per inch in rows 12 to 18 inches apart. Firm the soil over the seeds. Parsnips take about three weeks to germinate, so plant radish seeds right on top of your parsnip seeds. They will mark the row and by the time the parsnips germinate, the quick growing radishes will be almost ready to pick.

Once the parsnips are two inches high, thin to about 6 to 8 inches apart. Keep the seedlings well watered and remove weeds promptly. If cultivating with a hoe, use care near the plants so you don’t damage the developing roots. Mulch well to keep weeds from growing and to retain soil moisture.

Freezing temperatures cause the starch in parsnips to turn to sugar. You can begin to harvest parsnips in fall after a couple of weeks of near freezing temperatures. Leave the rest in the ground and mulch well before consistent freezing weather sets in. Mark their location with a stick or garden stake. When spring thaws come along, move the mulch aside and carefully dig them up.

Dig parsnips in spring before the tops start to grow or they will become bitter and woody. Leave a few growing to produce seeds. Plant seeds as soon as they mature, and by autumn you’ll have a crop of small to medium parsnips the perfect size for wintering over. Parsnips that have grown too large tend to turn woody and bitter.

Parsnip seeds are notorious for failing to germinate after only one year. If you save your home grown parsnip seeds to plant the following spring, plant about a dozen seeds for every inch of row. From that, enough should germinate to fill in the row at a final spacing of about six inches.

The best way to eat parsnips is roasted, with or without other root vegetables. Simply peel and cut all the vegetables in chunks of approximately the same size. Brush with good quality olive oil and sprinkle with kosher or sea salt and pepper. Roast in a 400 degree oven for a half an hour or until tender.

These are a hit even with people (children!) who don’t like vegetables.