Ready for Spring

We have talked a little bit about eating real food, getting kids to eat vegetables, and the new things I am trying in the kitchen to eat well and stay in the budget.  I tried lactofermenting salsa earlier, but I must have done something wrong, because I never saw bubbles and then the top seemed to get moldy.  I got a little discouraged on that front.  I do expect to try it again with salsa and pickles this summer.

But for now I am satisfied with bringing a little of the outside into my kitchen.  I read about never ending celery and onions, so I thought I would try it.  Basically the idea is that you cut the roots off of spring onions and celery and place them in water until they start to grow roots.  I haven't bought any green onions yet, so I have been trying it with bulb onions, leeks, and celery.  And it seems to be going pretty well.  Check it out.

Celery:

I had two celery bunches from the store.  I pulled off all the outer stalks and kept the inner ones that were white and leafy.  The photo on the right is from the day I put it in the jar of water.  The photo on the left was taken on the same day, but it had been in the water for about a week.  Look how green it is. In the third celery photo I have planted both of the celery plants in dirt.  The plant on the right in the bottom picture is the same one as the one on the right in the top photo.  Look how much leafier and greener it is.  I do not think I have ever bought celery this green.  But both of these plants were bought at the grocery store.  It really makes me wonder how long it takes from when they are uprooted until they get to the store. Or if there is something else that happens to make the celery white.  Do people prefer white celery?

Leeks:

The first day after I cut the stalk off.

Same leek, same day, different view.

Here it is about 10 days later.

Here is it now, after 3 weeks.

Here it is with a second leek.

Onions:
The onions are not working as well.  To be fair, I haven't read anything that said it would work with bulb onions.  But I tried anyway.  One onion was already growing in the pantry and too squishy to use so I put it in water.  Then I have put the root end of the bulb onions that I am cooking with in water probably eight times.  Two of them have grown roots.  One of those two got moldy before I put it in dirt

Onion with roots and green growth

Squishy onion in water

Here they are planted.  I'm still wondering if they will survive.

Herbs:
I also planted a pot of herbs to put on my windowsill.

Seed growth after 1 week, two green sprouts.  They are hard to see here.

Seed growth now, after 3 weeks.

Veggies:

I am on a very limited budget, so I am trying to get as much food to plant for spring and summer harvest without a lot of up front cost.  I purchased some seeds from Seeds of Change at Walmart.  I also had some lettuce seeds from Baker Heirloom Seeds.  So I started some lettuce, broccoli, spinach, and spring onions in egg cartons.  I really don't know much about starting seeds, so I am a little worried that the lettuce might be leggy.

Now we have 4 inches of snow on the ground and the kids are all out of school, but I am itching for spring so I can get these plants in the ground and start some direct sown seeds.  I also really like Smart Gardener because it gives me a plan for planting and tells me what to do when as far as planting, fertilizing, and watering.  And I am going to need as much help as I can get.