Friday, June 7, 2013

Strawberry Popcorn

For the first time in our gardening life, last year we grew corn. We enjoyed it so much that this year we carved out a new 15x10 foot corn patch. Thanks Robin for sending us seeds and getting us interested! We tried one variety called strawberry popcorn (pictured below).

We did a little reading about storage and learned that they can spoil and/or dry out over time. So we kept the kernels on their cobs in a sealed glass jar in the fridge and sprayed them with a little water to keep things moist. It worked like a charm. Even though the kernels were almost a year old every single one popped!  This popped corn, by comparison to grocery store varieties, was very small. It was also very crunchy and sweet -a very rewarding bedtime snack for the boys!

Strawberry Popcorn Kernels

Popped Strawberry Corn
Happy gardening, healthy living to you!

Monday, June 3, 2013

Harvest Monday

We came back from vacation last night, and boy did we return to a big harvest. Thank you Avery. You did a stellar job keeping the garden and harvesting things while we were away!

We've started gathering sugar snap peas. The strawberries are coming in strong, but they are very small. We're going to tear the bed up and replant this fall. We have more lettuce than we know what to do with. Before we went on vacation our boys were selling it to anyone who was interested. They'll try their hand again at selling more tomorrow. Anybody interested in organic baby green/red/romaine leaf lettuce? They're 3 dollars for twelve ounces. It's a steal! Sorry we don't deliver.

12 oz bags of lettuce for sale!
9 lbs of tiny strawberries. Belle's planning to make jam.

Over the last couple of weeks we've harvested the following weight totals:

Lettuce 3 lb 2 oz
Peas 9 oz
Spinach 2 lb 7 oz
Strawberries 21 lb 9 oz

What's growing in your garden today?

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Tatsoi delights! And freezing bok choi results.

Tonight we harvested tatsoi, or as it is also called, Chinese cabbage, and even mustard spinach.  It's very high in vitamin A, and of all things kind of fatty too.  We have absolutely no experience with it. Out of the 8 or so heads we harvested, we kept 3 for fresh salads and the rest went into the freezer.

Now concerning the bok choi freezer test. Belle concluded that blanching is not necessary. It only makes the choi more mushy. Even so, after her freeze-it-and-see test the choi is (though not perfectly, but at least adequately)  firm enough to use in stir fry and especially soup.

Happy gardening, happy harvests!

C. James helping chop and freeze Tatsoi for winter cooking.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

We're digging the Bok Choi!

It's our first year growing BokChoi, and it's going great! We harvested tons of it today. Belle is doing a freezing bok choi test today. She's going to blanch, freeze and then thaw some leaves to see how they do.

If they freeze well she'll chop and freeze the rest for stir fry.

If the freeze not so well she'll chop and freeze the rest for soup.

If they freeze terribly she'll blend and freeze the rest for smoothies.

It's a win, win, win situation.

Oh and yes, we're going to thoroughly enjoy as many fresh dishes as we possibly can. I know you would too!


Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Brassica Rapas, Brassica Yummies!

Brassica rapa is a fancy way to describe Asian greens like bok choi, turnips and savoy.   We're in the initial stages now of more regular harvests, and yes, you got it right, it's all about Asian greens. We're fairly new at growing rapa plants, but we love it. They seem to grow much faster than the conventional brassicas like broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage and they are very tender, mild and easy to cook and eat.

Check out that stack of bok Choi. The calendar behind it is at least 12 inches square! Belle used some of them along with  baby bok choi (not pictured) to make stir fry last night. She also did a little research on bok choi and discovered that it is a better source of calcium than milk! Who knew?





Happy gardening!

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Winter Garlic Sprouts

I was playing in the snow with the boys this morning and saw the garlic sprouts poking out of the snow... an encouraging sign of spring!

Friday, February 15, 2013

Planting Brassica Seeds and Other Early Season Veggies


This week and last week we finally got around to planting seeds. We're late! We used soil blocks again. This is our second year using blocks. We have no plans to go back to containers!

Making soil blocks is plenty of extra work in the beginning, but caring for the growing plants and transplanting them to the garden is a breeze! Root bind, and the corollary problem, weather shock was not a problem last year. Our plants were also very healthy last year; we attribute that to the added amounts of soil nutrients packed into the compressed blocks.  We expect the same to be true again this season.

We usea simple formula of 30% garden soil, 30% composted soil, 30% peat moss or coir and 10% sand.


We made 500 blocks.

Here's what we planted:
Onions                         200 blocks
Leeks                            50 blocks
Broccoli                         50 blocks
Green Cabbage              35 blocks
Cauliflower                     25 blocks
Celery                            25 blocks
Red Cabbage                 25 blocks
Brussels Sprouts            10 blocks
Pac Choi                        10 blocks
Baby Choi                      10 blocks
Tatsoi                             10 blocks
Turnip                             10 blocks
Kale                                 5 blocks

Happy gardening this coming season!
                                


Saturday, January 26, 2013

Saving Seeds and Buying Seeds


We are behind now! We should have ordered seeds 3 weeks ago. Part of the problem is life -just getting the best of us. The other part is that we're working with a new seed inventory system, one we began just last year. So we're working out the kinks. Using it has taken us a little extra time early in the ordering season, but we can already tell how much it will pay off in the long run. Two benefits are already obvious to us. One, we're going to save money by ordering seeds efficiently, and two, we'll go into the gardening season with a very good sense of what we will grow throughout the year.

Seed saving is one great thing we began last year. We entered into this exciting new world with big eyes! And then we came through the season somewhat humbly, but at the same time it has been very satisfying. All told, we successfully saved 5 varieties of garlic, Viroflay Giant Spinach (seeds from Dave), Lunga Violetta Di Ferenza (seeds from Robin that she brought home from Italy) and one mystery tomato variety (though there was risk of cross pollination with this one) . It's a very gratifying feeling to be able to save a few seeds for the next season. We hope to get better and better at this through the years

Check out our seed inventory for the 2013 season.You'll see we're not sure about what variety of carrots, beans or celery to grow in our region. Do you have a recommendation?



Genus species Variety Location Source Direct Sow 2012 order guide


































Allium cepa



















Onion Borrettana Cipollini
Fedco
have














Onion New York Early
Fedco
have














Onion Red Delicious Hybrid


have














Onion Rossa Lunga di Tropea
Fedco
have














Onion Walla-Walla
Fedco
have














Allium porrum



















Leek Bleu de Solaize


order



































Allium sativum 



















Garlic Aglio Rosso main Spring GA Fall 2012 have














Garlic Khabar main Spring GA Fall 2012 have














Garlic Siberian main Spring GA Fall 2012 have














Garlic Silver White main Spring GA Fall 2012 have














Garlic St. Helens main Spring GA Fall 2012 have



































Apium Graveolens



















Celery ?


order



































Beta Vulgaris



















Beet Ruby Queen
Mike TG
have/order more













Swiss Chard Rainbow
Robin
have



































Brassica oleracea



















Broccoli Waltham 29 
Mike TG
have/order more













Brussels Sprouts  Catskills


have














Cabbage Late Flat Dutch
Mike TG
have














Cabbage Red Acre
Robin
have/order more













Cauliflower All Year Around
Robin
have














Cauliflower Snow Y Improved
Mike TG
have














Kale Dwarfed Siberian
Mike TG
have



































Brassica rapa



















Pac Choi Prize Choy
Fedco
have














Baby Choi Baby Choi
Robin
have














Tatsoi Yukina Savoy
Dave
have














Turnip Early Purple Milan
MikeTG
have



































Capsicum annuum



















Pepper Horizon Orange
Sara/SGA
have














Pepper Large Hot Cherry


have














Pepper Jalepeno
Robin
have














Pepper Serrano
Robin
have














Pepper Pepperoncini
Robin
have














Pepper Marconi


order



































Citrullus lanatus



















Watermelon Congo
Mike TG
have














Watermelon Crimson Sweet
Fedco
have














Watermelon Sangria Hybrid
Park
have



































Cucumis melo



















Honeydew Courier Hybrid 
Burpee
have














Melon Whopper Hybrid
Burpee
order



































Cucumis sativus



















Cucumber Pickling variety


order














Cucumber Spacemaster Bush


have



































Cucurbita pepo



















Pumpkin Conneticut Field
Mike TG
have














Squash Vegetable Spaghetti
Mike TG
have














Squash Waltham 29 Butternut
Fedco
have














Squash Cocozelle
Mike TG
have



































Carrot ?


order



































Fragaria ananassa Strawberry June Berry

Season 6




































Lactuca sativa  



















Lettuce Flashy Trout Back
Dave
have














Lettuce Little Gem


order














Lettuce Radicchio
Heirloom
have














Lettuce Quattrostagioni
Robin Italy
have














Lettuce Red Sails


order














Romaine Paris Island 


order



































Pisum sativum



















Pea Mayfair Shell 
Fedco
have














Pea Sugar Snap
Mike TG
have



































Phaseolus vulgaris



















Bean ?


order



































Physalis philadelphica Tomatillo
Burpee
have



































Raphanus sativus



















Radish Diacon
Malay Kadazan have














Radish China Rose
Mike TG
have



































Solanum lycopersicum


















Tomato Cherokee Purple


order














Tomato Black Cherry
Robin
have














Tomato Kelloggs Breakfast


order














Tomato Pineapple


order














Tomato Reigart Plum (Roma)
Robin
have














Tomato Riesentraube Grape


order














Tomato San Marzano
Sara/SGA
have














Tomato Sun Gold Hybrid
Burpee
have/order  more


































Solanum melongena



















Eggplant Lunga Di Ferenza
Karen
have














Eggplant Rosa Bianca
Robin
order



































Solanum tuberosum



















Potato Desiree
SeedSE
order














Potato German Butterball Tramp SeedSE
order














Potato Purple Viking Tramp SeedSE
order














Potato Yukon Gold Tramp SeedSE
order



































Spinacia oleracea



















Spinach Viroflay Giant
SGA
have



































Zea Mays








































Popcorn Strawberry main Robin
order














Popcorn Japanese White Hulless Robin
have














Popcorn Silver White


order














Popcorn Argent


order














Monday, January 7, 2013

Back in the Picture Business!

I simply re-sized them in my computer files and located the re-sized pictures in Picasa. Now we're back in business. At least I'm hoping so!

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Wendell Berry on "Household Husbandry"

I'm still struggling to find the best solution to this picture posting problem I'm having. Everyone's advice has been helpful, but it seems I can do one of two things. I can either size each picture individually, or delete them. I don't have time to size them, and I don't want to delete them. I know I'll figure something out eventually.


For now, I offer this picture-less post of a quote describing household husbandry from my favorite author, Wendell Berry. The last line is especially penetrating.

...they (households in the 30's) practiced household husbandry. They raised gardens, fattened meat hogs, milked cows, kept flocks of chickens and other poultry... These households were places of production, at least some of the times operating at a net economic gain. The idea of  "consumption" was alien to them. I am not talking about the practices of exceptional families, but about what was ordinarily done on virtually all farms."
Sanitation and the Small Farm (1971) in, "Bringing it to the Table: On Farm and Food" (Counterpoint, Berkley 2009) This book was a Christmas gift from Belle. Thanks babe!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Hooray for the Year and Hmmm for the Next

We've been denied picture posts by Google. Apparently we've reached our maximum storage amount. Have you encountered this? I don't really know how to move forward with the blog. Do you all pay the nominal fee?


In other news. This has been our best gardening year! We're enjoying regular home grown meals complete with meat, starches and vegetables. We grew more than 1200 pounds of produce, raised 60 meat chickens, kept our fridge constantly stocked with eggs and had several rabbit meals too. We even  had several meals with green leaf salads and homemade breads (We're following Our Happy Acres as closely as we can to get that part done!). Leeks and carrots are overwintering in the garden. Unfortunately for our lettuce, all the cold frame glass was broken this summer. Still we have some lettuce!We're not rich so plexiglass is not an option, but for this year we have used leftover plastic and Christmas lights. The warm weather helps.We'll have at least two or three more salads before it gets too cold.

I'm sad to say our potato stores are sprouting early. To bad, we do so want to become independent with potatoes and garlic and spinach and... at least the garlic is a start. It's in the ground! And we have saved spinach seeds. Any recommendations on the potatoes? Purple Viking is an amazing variety, but hasn't upheld in storage. Yukon Gold is delicious, but we're not sure it will be viable in the spring for planting. Desiree will probably hold so that we can plant it next spring, but it's not an impressive variety.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Harvest Monday

For this Harvest Monday we have fall broccoli and a bag of mystery veggies! For the Broccoli, we harvested 8 lbs and 4 ounces. We're very glad to have a winter stock.


The big one!
We harvested the broccoli 2 weeks ago. But tonight, after work and after getting the kids down and after, after, after we checked the weather and the  forecast says we're going to have a hard freeze. So Belle and I against all creaturely comforts (Yes I'm talking about that glass of wine we left behind on the counter) traipsed out into the garden in the dark and cut down the cabbage and the cauliflower plants. That's what's in the bags! You'll have to wait until "Harvest Monday" next week to see what we got.
The mystery bags: cauliflower and cabbage, yet to be weighed and processed.


Stop by Daphne's Dandelions and see what other gardeners are harvesting around the world.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard

 I don't have a recipe to share this week. Belle's already at work, and she's the cook! So I'll share the cupboard in pictures for Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard. I hope you enjoy.
Squash. 

Potatoes, garlic, organic wheat berries in the celer.

homemade wine and spaghetti squash

More wine for 2013 and 2014

More potatoes.

Canned tomatoes, tomato juice, jalapenos, salsa Verde, and other stuff.

Frozen vegetables: beans, beets, roasted peppers, kale,diced onions, peaches, melons and other stuff.

Frozen meat: home grown chicken on top, grass fed beef on the bottom.
All we need to do now is cook it and bring it to the table. I'll do the dishes. I promise!


Monday, October 22, 2012

Harvest Monday

On Saturday I spent a couple hours in the garden winterizing. I broke down the watering system, garden-forked the soil, dug up a wandering 3 and a half pound sweet potato, broadcast cover crops (buckwheat and oats), and planted several rows of garlic.  No kidding it was 3 and half pounds! I had no idea sweet potatoes could get this big. And that's not the strange thing. The strange this is that I missed it the first time I dug them up.

So that's what we have this week for Harvest Monday. And here's a picture. Be sure to visit Daphne's Dandelions to what other gardeners around the world are harvesting this time of year.
I'm fixing the date on this camera right now!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard

This week and next we're hosting Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard. We'll miss Robin, but she and "The Italian" are having some much deserved rest and relaxation! We thought it would be fun, first to share something that Belle made for the winter cupboard, and then finish with one of the ways we're enjoying it as the cool winter season comes in.

Garden Vegetable Juice Blend (foodiewithfamily.com)
 
Sorry about the old camera date.


24 pounds tomatoes
1 pound carrots, scrubbed and diced
1 head celery, scrubbed and diced
1 cup diced onions
1 large bunch parsley (stems on)
1 tablespoon sea salt
lemon juice

Wash and core tomatoes. Cut toms into small sized pieces. Add cut tomatoes one cup at a time to stock pot over medium heat. Lightly break it up with a large spoon or potato masher.Continue adding tomatoes and breaking them up after each addition until all the tomatoes are in the pot. Add the carrots, celery onion and parsley to the pot and stir to combine. Raise heat to medium high and bring to a boil, stirring frequently to prevent scorching and sticking. Lower heat and simmer for about 35 minutes, or until carrots and celery are mostly tender.

Position a strainer over a large bowl or another large stockpot. Ladle the vegetables and their juice into the strainer. Return the strained liquid to the stockpot. Juice the remaining vegetables(or process in a food processor or food mill). Strain over the stockpot to remove seeds and peels. If using salt, stir in now.

Heat juice to 190 degrees. DO NOT LET BOIL. Hold at temperature for 5 minutes.

Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to each pint jar and 2 tablespoons to each quart jar. Ladle the hot juice into the jars leaving 1/4 headspace.

Process.

Bloody Mary
1 jigger vodka
4 oz vegetable juice
salt and pepper to taste
dash of hot sauce
(Belle made homemade hot sauce this summer using Dave's recipe. Thanks Dave!)
Dave used red peppers. We used a mystery hot yellow pepper.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Harvest Monday

We've been so busy with a new schedule because Belle went back to work. Blogging has had to take a back seat lately. It's not just blogging that we're behind on. Our cold frames should be full of lettuce plants, the garlic should be planted and the cover crops should be green and lush. None of that is done. We had our first hard frost last week, but I'm not giving up. We do have lettuce in the "spring garden" next to the kitchen. We're overwintering lots of carrots and a few leeks and the potato patch has a good cover crop of beans and peas. We still have lots of fall broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower to harvest. It's turning out to be a very busy, but good year!

This week's Harvest Monday covers 3 weeks.These 3 weeks were the last 3 of the strong gardening season for our area. Last week we had our first heavy frost.

We finished our tomatoes 3 weeks ago. This is the last of them. (Please ignore the date on the pictures. I keep meaning to change that!)
Belgium Beauty! Our favorite beefstake this year.

Maybe 5 pounds that will become tomato sauce and tomato juice.
 We also picked and pulled our peppers. This was what we got.
Since we picked these, they've turned red in our window. We also found a stray sweet potato. and a few tomatoes are hiding below.
Lots of jalapenos!
To our surprise, we uncovered another watermelon and some cantaloupe.
The more yellow fruit is a yellow squash we found hiding in the weeds, I mean in the garden.

Belle found this hiding in our fall broccoli patch! It's probably 8 pounds.
Last but not least, we picked at least 10 more pounds of beans. Our freezer is packed with them. The boys love them. The garden is happy about the cover crop. We're good to go!

Sorry no weight totals. We reached our goal and have gotten lazy with the scale. How sad is that?

Happy gardening everyone!