GARDEN in a BAG

Here is everything you need to grow a SOUP GARDEN. Garden in a pot, a plot, a box, a bag, a row, a bed It doesnt matter what you use. Just plant these seeds in a sunny spot, water, and they will grow. Your GARDEN in a BAG includes: A recipe for Beef Stew The seeds to grow the ingredients for that recipe: Potato (Red Pontiac) Carrot (Scarlet Nantes) Celery (Utah Tall) Onion (Candy) Garlic (California Late) Leek (American Flag) Thyme (English) Parsley (Italian) And detailed planting instructions to help you have a successful garden Happy Gardening!

BEEF STEW
6 slices bacon 1-2 lb stew meat (beef, lamb or goat leave bone in for more flavor) cut up 1 tsp salt tsp ground black pepper 1 large clove garlic, minced 2 medium onions, diced 4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed 4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced 1 inch 2 stalks celery, sliced inch 2 leeks, white portion only, thinly sliced 1 tbsp fresh thyme, snipped 1 quart lamb stock 1 c pearl barley 2 tbsp fresh parsley, snipped Cook bacon. Remove from pan and drain. Coat meat with salt and pepper. Brown meat in bacon grease, set aside. Saut onion and garlic until translucent. In crock pot, add meat, onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots, celery, leeks, thyme and stock. Cook on high for about 8 hours or until meat falls off bones. Add barley 1 hour before done (add earlier if a thicker stew is desired). Add parsley, stirring gently. Serve.

POTATOES
PLANTING Suggested planting dates Feb.15-Apr.1 *There are two ways to plant potatoes. You can plant the seed potatoes directly in the ground or chit them in which you encouraging the seed potatoes to sprout before planting. Chitting takes about 6 weeks to be ready to be planted, so plan accordingly. If chitting, stand the tubers with the blunt end up (typically the potato will have more eyes on the blunt end) in trays or egg cartons, with plenty of natural light. When the shoots are to 1 inch long, the potatoes are ready to be planted. If planting directly into the garden, two days before planting, cut the seed potatoes into pieces, so that each piece has two to three buds or eyes. Cutting the seed potatoes and letting the cut pieces dry for about two days reduces the risk of rotting. Work carefully if the eyes have already grown into sprouts. Allow the cut pieces to dry in a well-ventilated room. Prepare the planting bed by loosening the soil to at least 10 inches deep. Thoroughly mix in a layer of compost or rotted leaves, along with a half-ration of alfalfa meal, soybean meal or another high-nitrogen organic fertilizer (follow label directions). Do not use manure because it is correlated with an increase in rough patches on spud skins. Plant the pieces 12 inches apart in 4-inch deep furrows; cover the seed pieces with 2 inches of soil. Fill in the furrows after the first sprouts emerge. CARE Potatoes form tubers above the seed potato as the plant grows. When stems reach 6-8 inches tall, draw soil up and around plants, covering half of lower stems. Repeat the process every two to three weeks until the mound is about 12-18 inches high. Potatoes exposed to sunlight turn green, which causes the flesh to taste bitter. Keeping tubers covered prevents greening. Potatoes can also be grown in straw by placing straw around the stems instead of soil. This method yields potatoes that you dont have to dig, but simply fish out of the straw. If you use the straw method, be sure to keep your straw layer consistent throughout the growing season. It will most likely break down and need to be topped off during the course of growing the potatoes. Maximum tuber formation occurs when soil temperature is 60 to 70 F but stops when soil temperature hits 80 F. Mulching soil with straw or other organic matter can help reduce soil temperature. Research has shown that maintaining a 6-inch-thick straw layer around potatoes keeps soil temperatures 10 degrees lower. Potatoes are sensitive to drought. Keep plants consistently moist, especially when plants flower and right after, since this is the peak time when tubers are forming. When foliage turns yellow and dies back, discontinue watering to allow the tubers to "mature" for a week or two before harvesting. Black or hollow centers in potatoes are often caused by over-watering. Irregular watering causes irregular shaped or knobby potatoes. HARVESTING You can harvest new potatoes usually about two to three weeks after plants flower. Potato plants die back as they finish making their crop and the tubers are fully formed. Harvest all potatoes when the foliage starts to yellow and wither. If the growing season has been rainy, wait a few days for soil to dry. Its easier to dig potatoes in dry soil. Youll find tubers 4 to 6 inches below the soil surface. Use a shovel or digging or spading fork, inserting the tool 6 to 10 inches away from the plant stem. Loosen and pry up soil gently, looking and feeling around for tubers. Gently knock or brush off dirt. Dont wash them if you plan to store them but allow them to cure in a dark, humid space for two weeks.

CARROTS
PLANTING Suggested planting dates Feb.15-Mar.1(spring) or Aug.1-Aug.15 (fall) Prepare the planting bed by loosening the soil to at least 12 inches deep. Thoroughly mix in a 1inch layer of mature compost or a half-inch layer of vermicompost (carrots love what earthworms leave behind). Sow seeds about a deep and 2 inches apart, in rows spaced at least 10 inches apart; carrots do well in double or triple rows. Carrots are slow to germinate (1 to 3 weeks), and often germinate unevenly over a period of several weeks. To speed germination, water lightly daily. Thin seedlings to 4 apart before plants are 2 inches tall. CARE Mulch to keep soil cool, conserve moisture and to keep exposed "shoulders" from turning green and bitter. Another option is to hill soil over the shoulders. Proper watering can make the difference between good production and poor production. Carrots need at least 1 inch of water from rainfall or irrigation each week during the growing season. Always soak the soil thoroughly when watering. This helps to promote good root development. HARVESTING Carrots are ready to harvest about 65 days after planting. Pull or dig spring-sown carrots when roots reach mature size and show rich color. Taste improves as carrots mature, but do not leave mature carrots in warm soil any longer than necessary (many critters like carrots). Summer-sown carrots that mature in cool fall soil can be left in the ground longer, but should be dug before the ground freezes to preserve their quality. Remove tops to prevent moisture loss, rinse clean, and store in a refrigerator or cold root cellar.

CELERY
PLANTING Suggested planting dates Feb.15-Mar.1 Prepare the planting bed by digging in a 1-inch layer of rich compost and a high-nitrogen organic fertilizer, such as dried poultry manure, and water well. Sow celery seed to inch deep, 6 to 10 inches apart in rows spaced 24 inches apart. CARE Celery requires constant moisture. If possible, allow space between rows for a shallow trench that can be flooded with water in dry weather. The best crops come in rainy years. Lack of water will slow growth, cause stalks to become stringy, and encourage plants to send up flower stalks. Celery also benefits from frequent drenches with a liquid organic fertilizer. Before hot weather comes, mulch between plants with grass clippings or another organic mulch to keep the soil cool and moist. To encourage stalk celery to develop a pale, mild-flavored heart, use an elastic hair scrunchie or strips of soft cloth to secure the stalks into a bunch after the plants have been growing in the garden for 8-10 weeks. Blanch celery to enhance its sweet flavor and whiten stalks. Celery that is not blanched can be bitter tasting. Blanching is achieved by covering the stalks with soil, mulch up to the top of the stalks or wrapping them with cardboard to protect them from the sun, which encourages them to produce chlorophyll and turn green. Blanch celery up to 10 to 14 days before harvesting. Celery that sits too long after blanching will become pithy and may rot. HARVESTING Celery is ready to harvest about 100 days after planting. Cut high, 1 to 2 inches from the ground, when harvesting celery hearts. A new stalk (and sometimes two or three) will sprout from the stump left behind.

ONIONS
PLANTING Suggested planting dates Jan.1-Mar.31 Prepare the planting bed by incorporating 2-inch layer of rich compost and raking the soil to a fine tilth. Choose a dry day to sow onion seed when the soil is moist but not too wet, then plant the seed very thinly into drills inch deep. Carefully cover the onion seed with soil and gently water in. Depending on the soil temperature, germination can take between 10 to 20 days. Once the new seedlings have begun to push through the soil, they can be thinned out to between 1 and 2 inches apart (transplanting seedlings to another part of the garden). After a couple more weeks these can be further thinned out to one plant to every 4-6 inches. CARE Water and nutrients are an important part of onion growing. The soil surface should be evenly moist. Give onion plants at least 1 inch of water a week. If its too dry and plants are grown under stress, the bulbs will be smaller and have a stronger flavor. Onions naturally push toward the surface as they form bulbs, and it is best if the tops of the bulbs are allowed to bask in dry sun. Stop watering your onions when they reach the desired size and the tops have begun to fall over. Harvest them when most of the tops are down. HARVESTING You can harvest young onions just a few weeks after planting if you want to use them as spring onions or scallions. There is no perfect size, just pull when they are big enough to suit you. For full-sized bulbs, let onions grow and mature. They are ready to harvest when the bulbs are big and the tops begin to turn yellow and fall over, about 85 days after planting. Once the tops fall over, pull them up, shake off the soil, and lay them out to cure with the tops still attached. Any warm, airy location is a good place to do this; you can even sling them over a fence as long as they arent rained upon. Bulbs must stay dry and have good air circulation. As the onions cure, the roots will shrivel and the necks above the bulbs will slowly dry a natural process that helps to seal the top of the bulb, making the onions less likely to rot. When fully cured (about 2 weeks) the onionskin should be papery and the roots dry. Clip off tops and roots, and lightly brush off loose soil before storing.

GARLIC
PLANTING Suggested planting dates Sep.15-Nov.10 *Garlic can be planted in early spring although it is usually best to plant garlic in the fall. Garlic likes to sprout roots and grow leaves in the fall and feed and develop for a little while before the cold winter temperatures force it to curtail its growth and rest until the warmer weather comes. It uses this time to establish its root system so it can survive the winter and be ready to explode with growth in the spring before the weather turns hot. Hot weather forces garlic to bolt; that is, to mature. But since garlic does not produce seed, it reproduces by forming as many cloves as its genetics allow and growing them as big as it can before the summer heat kills the leaves. The idea is to keep the ground cool as long as you can so the garlic will bulb up good before warm temperatures force maturity. If it matures before the bulb has grown large, you will have small garlic. Prepare the planting bed by loosening the soil, incorporating 2-inch layer of rich compost and raking the soil to a fine tilth. Wait until just before planting to break bulbs into cloves. Poke the cloves into the ground 3-4 inches deep and 6-8 inches apart, with their pointed ends up. Cover the planted area with 3-4 inches of organic mulch, such as shredded leaves, grass clippings or wheat straw. CARE Water regularly until cloves are well filled and bulbs are the desired size. Examine bulbs regularly as harvest date approaches for presence and condition of the scales surrounding the bulb. Stop watering when there are 2-3 matured scales surrounding the bulb (around the first of July). If irrigated too long, these scales will deteriorate one at a time until there are none, causing bulbs to shatter at harvest. Garlic should not be irrigated once the tops begin to fall and become dry. HARVESTING Garlic is ready to harvest about 100 days after planting. From early summer to midsummer, watch plants closely and pull them when about one-third of the leaves appear pale and withered. Use a digging fork to loosen the soil before pulling the plants. Handle the newly pulled bulbs delicately to avoid bruising them. Lay the whole plants out to dry in a warm, airy spot that is protected from rain and direct sun. Outdoor curing is not recommended where morning dew can keep it too damp. After a week or so, brush off soil from the bulbs with your hands, and use pruning shears to clip roots to half an inch long. Wait another week before trimming and/or braiding into clusters. Do not remove the papery outer wrappers, as these inhibit sprouting and protect the cloves from rotting.

LEEKS
PLANTING Suggested planting dates Feb.15-Jun.30 Prepare the planting bed by loosening the soil and mixing in a 1-inch layer of rich compost. Make narrow trench 6 to 8 inches deep and plant seeds inch deep, 4 inches apart. Water well. As the leeks begin to grow, pull the soil up to the base of the first green leaf then thin to 8 inches apart as the seedlings reach the size of scallions, transplanting seedlings to another part of the garden. CARE After planting, mulch the bed with straw, grass clippings, or some other organic material to help soil retain moisture. Water leeks as needed to keep moist until plants are established. After that, plants require an inch of water a week, either through rainfall or irrigation. Inconsistent moisture yields tough stems, stronger taste and pithier texture. Soak newly sprouted leeks with a liquid fertilizer. Continue fertilizing plants with liquid fertilizer every week or so during the growing season. Leeks grow slowly for the first 2 or 3 months. To produce a succulent white stem, leeks must be blanchedthat is covered or hidden from the sun. As leeks grow, gradually fill in trenches and then hill soil around stems to 3 or 4 inches. HARVESTING Leeks are ready to harvest about 85 days after planting. You can start pulling leeks from the ground just about any time. Typically, youd let them get least 1 inch or larger in diameter for the big white stems, but you can dig young ones to eat like scallions. A quality leek should have a firm, white shaft more than 3 inches long. Swelling at the base, called bulbing is undesirable. Unlike their onion and shallot cousins, leek tops do not die back as the crop matures. The top growth, called the flag, should be dark blue green. Harvest leeks by either gently twisting and pulling them from the earth or digging and lifting them. Trim the leaves to a more manageable length at harvest, if desired. Wash the stems thoroughly to remove soil and grit that may have collected between the leaves.

HERBS (PARSLEY, THYME)

PLANTING Suggested planting dates Feb.15-Apr.15 *Herbs are best in their own garden. The closer you can locate this to the kitchen the better when you want a sprig of mint or couple of herbs for a "rainy day stew," you'll find you just won't want to bother getting in the herbs if they're located too far away. Herb seeds need warm temperatures to germinate. Plant indoor and transplant or wait until after last frost in spring to plant outdoors. Prepare the planting bed by digging in a 1-inch layer of rich compost and water well. Sow seed inch deep, 4 to 6 inches apart. Keep the soil moist until seedlings appear (anywhere from1 to 6 weeks depending on the herb). Parsley can take longer to germinate, but will do so quicker if the seeds are soaked in warm water for up to 24 hours prior to planting. After seedlings reach 23 inches tall, thin seedlings to 6 to 12 apart. CARE Most herbs require very little attention in that they need watering only in dry conditions and dont like much fertilizer. Do not add fertilizer to herbs. If too many nutrients are in the soil, herbs will grow leggy and tend to produce more stems then leaves. The soil should be well draining, but you do not want to allow the plants to dry out completely between watering. It is better to water deeply once a week as opposed to more frequent shallow watering. Deep watering helps establish strong roots and makes the plant more drought resistant. A light mulch (2-3 inches) of shredded leaves or grass clippings will help retain moisture and keep weeds to a minimum. HARVESTING Herbs are perennial and, once established, can typically be harvested throughout the season. Begin harvesting just before flowers bloom for the finest flavor. Pick any flowers as soon as they appear, otherwise the plant will stop growing and the leaves will turn bitter. Frequent trimming helps keep plants bushy. Stop clipping about a month before the first frost of fall to make sure that new growth is not too tender going into the cool weather and cover with mulch to protect from winter damage. Harvest herbs first thing in the morning, after the dew has dried, because the sun warms up the leaves and they lose some of their oils that give both the smell and taste. For leafy stalk-like herbs (parsley), cut off the stalks close to the ground, beginning with the outside stalks. New growth will be encouraged throughout the growing season if pruned in this fashion. If just the tops are cut off and the leaf stalks remain, the plant will be less productive. For bushy herbs (thyme) pinch the leaves from the tips of the stems, so that the plant will keep branching and making more leaves. After harvesting, do not wash the leaves or the aromatic oils will be lost.