In the coming months, I'll be sharing my gardening journey and how it helps fuel my Patchwork Kitchen. During the summer and fall seasons, I participate in a CSA share from Fuller's Overlook Farm and frequent various farmers' markets. It's very important to me that the produce my family cooks with is of the highest quality. It doesn't make sense to buy produce that's not at its best. We put a lot of thought and love into all of our recipes, which is why I wanted to share my gardening journey with you. I want to show what goes into our kitchen, inside and out.

Not everything in my garden is meant for the kitchen, as I also enjoy growing flowers and, this may seem a bit unconventional, moss. However, even non-edible plants like flowers and moss can have their benefits. For example, the flowers I choose to grow are usually local or native to Northeastern Pennsylvania. This helps attract pollinators that aid in the success of my vegetable garden.

At the end of winter, I start some seeds indoors, such as tomatoes, peppers, and even cucumbers this year. But there are certain things I sow in the ground, such as potatoes, onions, carrots, corn, and some winter squash. Every year, I like to try growing something new in my garden. This year, I'm excited to see how my oyster mushroom crop turns out. Whether it's a crop I've grown in the past or something new, every gardening season is a glorious adventure. It can be filled with triumphs and tribulations, but no matter what, it's still very rewarding. Every season I learn something new and become a more confident gardener.

So I would like to invite you on my gardening journey and encourage you to check back every Saturday for my weekly garden updates. I will share my successes as well as my failures so that we can grow together, and I can show a realistic view into my beautiful gardening world.

First week: Welcome to The Patchwork Garden

For the first two weeks of my garden journey, I've been busy preparing my vegetable beds and sowing seeds both indoors and outdoors. I started preparing my vegetable beds, sowing certain varieties outdoors, as well as moving my started seedlings into bigger pots. But that’s not the only excitement happening around the yard. My perennial creeping phlox has graced me with their beautiful lilac-colored blooms, and my Scotch Moss is springing back to life after their winter nap. As the days get longer, the garden will become brighter and more beautiful each day.

In my first vegetable bed, I planted seed potatoes for the first time, and within a week, started seeing the first signs of thriving potato plants. Poking out of the straw mulch, tiny little sprouts are starting to emerge. I was very surprised to see the potatoes sprouting so quickly, but this is probably due to me starting the potatoes myself. I can’t wait to see at the end of the growing season to see my first potato harvest, fingers crossed. However, potatoes aren’t the only things sown in this bed. I also planted peas, beans, carrots, and onions, but there hasn’t been any activity as of yet, but I anticipate the arrival of more sprouts in the coming weeks.

My second vegetable bed is located in a much shadier patch in my back garden. Currently, I have broccoli sprouts that I started inside. They had a rough beginning as the squirrels thought they had a free broccoli buffet. Some got dug up, some got nibbled on, but all in all, they are hanging in there, especially since I fought back with a liberal sprinkling of cayenne pepper. They seem to have taken root in their new surroundings and seem even stronger since the squirrel-ageddon. Only time will tell if I actually get broccoli, since I've never grown it before. But it has been on my garden bucket list for quite some time and I found a broccoli variety that seemed interesting, so I said, what the heck, I'm going to try broccoli! As I said, time will only tell if I'm successful, but I wish my little sprouts the best of luck.

I also sowed some chamomile, dill, and buttercrunch lettuce seeds in this bed. Hopefully, in the coming weeks, they will be great roommates for the little broccoli.

My last bed that I prepared was not for vegetables, but for mushrooms, specifically Blue Oyster Mushrooms. This is a first for me as I have never tried to grow my own mushrooms. I picked this specific type of mushroom because it seemed to be the easiest to grow and is for beginner mushroom growers. I'm hopeful that within a month, I'll start to see little mushroom pins growing in their straw bed

Now that we have the beds all squared away, there were a few surprises that were discovered as well. I had a few plants come back that were unsuccessful last year. I had chives sprout where I sowed seeds last year but had zero success. It’s crazy that I can grow a vegetable but I can’t seem to grow a chive, which is basically grass, but that’s life. In addition to the mystery chive, I also found a strawberry sprout. Last year, I planted a strawberry plant that shot out runners and other strawberry sprouts everywhere. When I say everywhere, I mean everywhere. The strawberry plants were literally growing out of the rock bed, and that’s where I found this little sprout, growing out of the rocks. Unfortunately for this little sprout, I’m going to try to move it in the coming days because where it’s growing is going to be a new bed to plant tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. To say the least, this little plant is in the way, and I want to see if it’s going to thrive later in the season, so I must move it. Now, will it die? Possibly, but that’s unfortunately a risk I’m going to have to take. Hopefully, next week I will have good news on the little sprout’s well-being.

As you can see, I had a very busy and eventful time setting up my garden. Every week, this little garden will grow and develop. I encourage you to join me on my gardening journeys and see my hopeful harvests throughout the season.

The Patchwork Kitchen Garden

Poor Man’s Honey (Dandelion Syrup)

Luscious Lemon Curd