Would You Eat Them With A Fox?

After too long....

2011-09-18T21:39:00.006-04:00

Well.....it has been a terribly long time since my last post. With my wife (Jen) posting on her blog, it has motivated me to at least apologize to the blogging world that I have gone away. Hopefully this will be longer term.

First, Bodhin. My third child, nothing but smiles. He is energetic, joyful and makes me smile each and every day. People have all warned me about having a third; the stress, non-stop horror that it can become. To those people.....breath.

Second....the garden.....a miserable disaster this year. Tomatoes: the squirrels are well fed. The blackberries? The deer. The Cherries....the birds and deer. Salad went to seed too early, weeds overtook the peppers. Cucumbers....very few straight, 50 lbs of pickling. More on this as I start to blog more. I overstepped my bounds with the confidence of god.....guess I was dyslexic because I now feel a little like a beaten dog.

Vegan Rice Pudding

1 cup Long Grain Rice
1/2 cup Sugar
2.5 cups Rice Milk
2.5 cups Almond Milk
pinch of Nutmeg
1 Vanilla Bean - scraped
1 Cinnamon Stick
1/2 cup Raisins (Optional)

Combine all ingredients into one pot. Slowly simmer the pot for 45 minutes. DO NOT BOIL. Once it has thickened sufficiently, remove from heat, remove Vanilla Bran and Cinnamon Stick and stir in raisins. Serve Warm.

Food Harvested:
5 lbs. Zuc,

Things Planted:
Nothing

Seeds Saved:
Castor Bean

Preserved/Cooked:
Chicken Soup
Vegan Rice Pudding

Things to Remember:
Breath

Been a Long Time....

2010-11-26T18:27:00.006-05:00

Life has spun out of control...many good things and some not so good. On the good side....on October 22, 2010 my wife and I welcomed Bodhin James into the world. At 9lbs 7oz and 22", he is loved, kissed and embraced every day. On the not so good side is the adjusting to the new rhythms of life with a 3rd child.

Thanksgiving was great and the recipes are what prompted me to write tonight.

Sweet Potato Souffle

3-4 lbs Sweet Potatoes
2/3 cup of brown sugar
6 Tbsp Melted Butter
1 cup of evaporated milk (I used Rice Milk and it works as well)
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup marshmallows
1 cup pecans

Peel, cube and roast the sweet potatoes in teh oven on a sheet pan at 400 for about 45 minutes or until they are soft (I coat with oil). When done, cool slightly, then in a large container, mash to a smooth consistency. Add sugar, spices, milk and butter and mix completely. Add eggs and combine. Fold into a 9x13 casserole dish and cook at 350 for 35 minutes. While it is cooking, combine the marshmallows and pecans. Once 25 mintues pass, put the mixture on top of the casserole and cook for the last few minutes unitl the marshmallows are melted and starting to brown. Serve hot.

And yet one last Thanksgiving Recipe

Sausage Apple Cranberry Stuffing

3 cups leeks, sliced finely (about 3 large leeks)

1.5lbs Sausage (out of casing)
3 large Granny Smith Apples (peeled, cored and diced)
2 cups celery (sliced)
2 cups dried cranberries (rehydrated in boioing water for 10 mintues)
4 Tbsp Butter
1 cup parsley (chopped)
3 Tbsp Rosemary (fresh, chopped)
3 Tbsp Sage (fresh, chopped)
2 Tbsp Poultry Seasoning
6 cups bread crumbs (large pieces)
4 cups Chicken Stock

In a large skillet, cook the sausage breaking up the larger pieces with the back of the spoon. When cooked, remove with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel. To the pan, add the butter, apples, leeks and celery and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add in Rosemary and Sage and combine, remove from heat and add to sausage. Add drained, re-hydrated cranberries and mix. Add in breadcrumbs and start adding chicken stock 1 cup at a time. The mixture should be damp but not dripping

Seed Starting Time Again

2010-03-12T07:08:00.007-05:00

All of my seeds finally arrived and yet again I bought too many!!! This year I decided to expand into starting more herbs which led me to buying from three different places - Seed Savers Exchange, Southern Exposure and Baker's Creek. Each year it seems that I need more and more space. I am going to go with 6 different types of tomatoes (16 plants), green arrow peas, bush string beans, I am bringing back the squash and zucchini, 1 sweet corn, 1 ornamental corn and 1 sweet corn, 6 type of lettuce, swiss chard, leeks, beets, peppers, cucumbers, butternut squash, 4 types of garlic, asparagus and 3 types of carrots. I am definitely going to regrow Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry as well as a new unusual cousin of the tomato - the Litchi Tomato. Supposedly it will grow in a pod and when the pod opens, it will reveal a small red cherry tomato ready for picking. Whats so unusually is it looks like a tomato plant with long thorns and the fruit has lingering hints of cherry......cannot wait for this one.....

We got hit with another snow storm one week after my last post. It dumped another 18 inches for an overall pretty snowy Feb. With a blanket of snow, it felt sort of weird trying to gear up for starting my seeds. Finally, once the weather hit 50 degrees (1 day after the snow) I realized I had to get going. This year, the kids started to tag along. With Jen being pregnant, I am trying to take the kids as much as possible to give her a break. For seed starting, it means Jackson and Charlotte needing to buy their own seed starting kits, seeds and soil. For my stuff, Jack helped fill the 200 peat starter pots with soil and I laid out the seeds. As always, covered them with the lids and sit back and wait. This year, the salad germinated first, followed by the chard and then beets.

Different this year are the herbs and heirloom perennials I am trying to start from seed. We are trying to start Borage, Lemon Bee Balm, German Chamomile, Peppermint, Lovage, Fennel and Dill. With 90% of the seeds now germinated or about to break the surface, I need to start thinking tomatoes and peppers. From a tomato perspective, I will have about 6 varieties equalling about 50-60 plants. The only varieties that I am sure of are Brandywine, Big Rainbow, Stupice, Dr Wyches, Mexican Midget, Charlies Mortgage Lifter, Wisconsin 55 and Nebraska Wedding. Peppers are a whole different story - I have hod zero, zilch, nada success with peppers here in planifield. If they grow, they produce little and what is produced doesn't last long enough to turn ripe.

Soon, very soon I will start digging outside - the garden is going to be rearranged a little, a pergola will be going up in April, bees are coming in May and I am going to Maui!!!

Food Harvested:
None

Things Planted:
Seeds Started - Greens, herbs, leeks, ....

Seeds Saved:
None

Preserved/Cooked:
Not too much

Things to Remember:
I can't remember

Snow...Snow...Snow...

2010-02-20T07:20:00.006-05:00

And who said sleigh riding isn't fun!!! So far, February has been packed with snow. Over the course of a week, we had two storms that piled up about 18" of snow for us. Although it is quite a bit of snow, 20 minutes south of us got over 2 feet and friends of ours in VA - over 3 feet. Although as I get older and now not looking to unfavorably at the snow, my kids are slowing changing that. Even with them still being on the young side, they are starting to build snow men, sleigh ride and just enjoy the snow like I should.

This is some fun between both snow storms

This video is after the all the snow

As the days are getting longer, I am starting to think more and more about the spring to-do lists. With Jen expecting our third, the plans need to be put into action which is much different than my philosophy of talking about it for 6 months before doing it The pergola needs to be build, foundation patched, house paint touched up, bee area built, 30 foot back bed retaining wall built and planted, garden gate built - and this is the only the outdoor stuff - - - -

Food Harvested:
None

Things Planted:
None

Seeds Saved:
None

Preserved/Cooked:
Apple Sauce - bucket and buckets of it
Roasted Red Pepper Soup
Spiced Carrot Soup
Cream of Mushroom Soup

Things to Remember:

Sweet and Savory Together

2010-01-20T07:55:00.005-05:00

Quick post today to make sure I get this recipe down....it was a huge hit and I will make it again and again..

Spiced Carrot and Lemongrass Soup

5 c. carrots, peeled and chopped coarsely
1 c. leek, white part only, chopped coarsely or
1 c. onion
1 c. celery, chopped coarsely
2 oz. fresh ginger
1 stalk lemongrass
1 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. curry powder
1 pinch cinnamon
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsps. vegetable oil
6 c. chicken stock or water
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

In a medium pot, heat 2 tbsps. oil. Saute leek, carrots, and celery until translucent. Add garlic, curry powder, cinnamon, and ginger and saute for a few more minutes. Add stock or water. Bring to a boil. Add honey, lemongrass, salt, and pepper and simmer until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat and transfer soup to blender. Puree until smooth, straining through a large sieve if necessary. Add lemon juice, taste and seasoning with salt and pepper as needed.

Food Harvested:
None

Things Planted:
None

Seeds Saved:
Black Eyed Susans

Preserved/Cooked:
Pizza - Every Week
Yogurt - 1/2 Gallon every week
Spiced Carrot and Lemongrass Soup

Things to Remember:
Its too cold to think.

What's Next?

2010-01-09T18:11:00.013-05:00

With winter half over and spring 8 weeks away, its time to think about finishing up the projects from last year...particularly the patio!! All the brick is down, all of the new planting beds are built. All that is left is to patch the foundation, re-paint, build a pergola and finally plant the new beds. If all goes as planned, we are looking to have this all finished in the first of second week of March, just in time for the kids birthdays. Is it perfect, no - but it was a great experience and although I wish it didn't take as long as it did, there is a great sense of satisfaction in how it looks. I cannot wait until it is all complete.

For the rest of the outdoor projects still to be finished:

I now have 10 yards of dirt (excavated from the patio area) lining the back fence. The goal is to build a small stone retaining wall and make this a 30 foot planting bed
I have to level an area by May in the back corner of the yard and replant for the purpose of my new beehive. I saved some cement squares and about 1/2 yard of stone dust to help combat weeds that I will be reluctant to pull in the summer with 50,000 bees flying around me.
I also still have to rebuild the gate and an arbor for my garden area. This is a project from 2008 that keeps not getting done. The new puppy loves laying in the garden which is fine for now....once plants are in there, I don't think I will be as OK with it.

Each and every month, Jen and I go through finances and we inevitably look at the biggest ticket item ... food. At about $1,200 a month for a family of 4, we are starting to look for ways to spend less without sacrificing what we believe in. We try to eat as organically as we can; where we can't, we avoid HFCS and food dyes. This means Trader Joe's for most everything with an occasional visit to Whole Foods. A Local butcher carries mostly organic proteins and we visit farmer markets in the summertime. Each time we talk, the more we realize that we should cook more like our ancestors - meals from scratch. Will this impact our food budget? I guess only time will tell...

3 basic recipes that I need to make more...

Pasta Dough

3 cups bread flour (all purpose if you do not have)
3 eggs + a 4th yolk
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp Olive Oil

Put all flour, sugar and sale in a pile and make a well in the center. Place the eggs and yolk in the well. Lightly scramble the eggs and begin to pull in the flour little by little. Once all flour is incorporated (it will look messy)scrape it all together into a ball.. Knead for a few minutes to work the gluten. When done, form into a ball, wrap in plastic and let sit for 30 minutes to allow the gluten to relax before you use. If you put in the fridge for use at a later time, let it sit out for 30 minutes before you use it to allow it to come back to room temp.

Pizza Dough

2-1/2 cups of bread flour (or all purpose flour)
1 package (2.5 ounces) of active yeast
1-1/4 cups of luke warm water
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp olive oil

In 1/4 cup of warm water, add the dry active yeast and a pinch of sugar; mix well with a fork. Let sit for 10 minutes. If the the mixture has not foamed at all, the yeast is not good and you should start over with new yeast. In a large mixing bowl, put all dry ingredients. Add all wet and mix well with one hand. It will be very sticky for he first few minutes. Take your time and mix until a ball forms. At this time, remove from the bowl, clean and dry your hands and start to knead the dough for a few minutes until it is all consistent and easily forms a ball (if using a mixer with a dough hook, let hook work the dough for 5-7 minutes in place of kneading). Coat the ball with a little olive oil, place back in bowl and cover with a rag. Let sit for 1.5 hours until it doubles in size. Punch down and let sit for 10-15 minutes before using.

Apple Pie Crust

For a double crust:

2-1/2 cups flour (all purpose)
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp
sugar
1 stick of cold butter
2-6 tbsp cold water

For me, the best result is in a food processor. Put in all dry ingredients and pulse for a minute or two. Cut butter into 10-12 pieces and add pulsing between each addition. Once all butter is added, begin to process as you add 1 tbsp of water at a time. Before you reach 6 tbsp, the dough will begin to look like thousand of teeny tiny balls. Stop, add no more water, and dump out onto your counter. mound and mold into a ball, divide it into two equal parts. If it is still too crumbly at this stage, work 1 tbsp of water in by hand. Make two discs, cover with plastic wrap and put in fridge for 30 minutes. Let it rest at room temperature for 5 minutes before you roll out.

Food Harvested:
None

Things Planted:
None

Seeds Saved:
None

Preserved/Cooked:
Yogurt
Bread
Mozzarella
Pizza!!!

Things to Remember:
Too Much...

Winter Again...

2010-01-02T07:17:00.008-05:00

I guess I have become dormant poster....once every six months. I need to get a kick in it and start posting more regularly. So many things have happened since September but the most obvious would be the antique brick patio. We decided that we needed to remove the 40 year old wooden deck and in its place, I spent 4 weeks putting in a 480 sq. ft. two tier brick patio. The design enabled me to create 3 more planting beds for perennials and things of the such, added unique stair elements for quick access to my garden and overall just added character. Additionally, I was able to brick the walkway in my garden with the left over material which should help combat the ever loosing weed problem I have been experiencing. All I have left to do in the spring is to patch the foundation of the house, paint what is not exposed, erect a pergola over a portion of the patio and plant!!! Second picture it shows a portion of the overall patio ready for the bricks to be set. Some of the retaining walls that were built and off to the right the lower 12'x13' patio which will be covered with the pergola.

One of the last things planted in October was the garlic. This year I went overboard; 4 varieties, 120 head of garlic in a space that is too small. Last years was a mediocre harvest of 60 bulbs but had more to do with the varieties planted. The softnecks had little flavor and the hardnecks didn't grow to my expectation but characteristic of the variety planted. This year, I opted for the stronger flavored, bigger hardneck varieties that should explode. Now it is only hoping and wishing that they survive the winter

Spring planning is just starting. All of my seed catalogs are starting to come in and I will be making some minor changes this coming year. Nothing is set in stone yet but I will be cutting back from 38 tomato plants to about 16. I will be putting corn (popcorn variety) in somewhere, adding a potato planting plot and re-introducing zucchini to the yard. As always, 98% will be started from seeds this year with the majority of them coming from Seed Savers Exchange. In February I will start the salad greens, April the tomatoes and peppers and May brings the zucchini, sunflowers, squash, watermelon and gourds. I will direct seed peas in March, string beans in May and corn in June. Again, it will be another busy year with nothing but anticipation for what we can eat from the garden!!!

Food Harvested:
None

Things Planted:
Garlic in October

Seeds Saved:
hulled Radish Seeds and Pole Bean Seeds

Preserved/Cooked:
Home Made Pasta and Roasted Red Pepper Ravioli
Made Mozzarella Cheese

Things to Remember:1. Need to build bew garden gate
2. New Garden Arbor
3. First is the back corner planitng and arrangement
4. Then its building the pergola
5. Then plainting the back patio area...

Summer's Conclusion......

2009-09-08T08:49:00.014-04:00

Wow, it has been a long time for me in posting....I guess the purpose to blogging to to actually write something. With so much happening this summer and Jen feeling better from her last summer illness, time has disappeared and I put this blog in the background. I missed writing in it so here I start...again...

Things outside have been going relatively well. Although the summer is coming to a close, I still have plans of which is a huge patio project. We had a deer problem this year but it seems to have subsided; why I am not sure but at least some of my plants can survive now...I suspect, due to my ADHD, it will take some time for me to re-find my groove here and keep things up to date.

Tomatoes oh glorious tomatoes.....holy crap do I have a lot. Last year the kids ate them right off the vine and I barely had any left over every day from 12 plants. This year, in delirium, I convinced myself I needed 38 plants, some of which reached 12 foot tall!! Even with record spring cool temperatures and rainfall, I am hauling in 5-7 lbs of tomatoes a day; that is after Jack and Charlotte eat their fill from the garden. I managed 13 different varieties and again, Jen's favorite is Marglobe. There are some good ones this year that are new to me but I think the only one I would replant is the Italian Heirloom. It produced huge fruit (+1lb), a lot of it and it was the earliest to ripen. Next year, I think I will go with either 24 or 30 plants....

We have made some great things with all of the tomatoes...fried eggs, cheese and tomatoes on fresh spinach...tomato and mayo on toast.... homemade tomato soup.....even oven roasted tomatoes over fresh salmon in a balsamic reduction.

As for what my spring plans were, I did manage to put in 10 thornless blackberry plants. I chose Chester and Triple Crown varieties for the overlapping seasons. Although they are small this year with no fruit, I expect that next year there will be a decent yield as long as the deer keep away. I purchased both a 3.5' peach tree (Redhaven) and 4' cherry tree (Danube). Within 24 hours, both got mauled by deer which was the first sign of trouble. I managed to fence the peach in time but the cherry is really suffering. I will see if I can prune it back to health but I am not optimistic on that one. As a last second addition, I also put in 10 rhizomes of asparagus. They look rather weak but I guess that is to be expected as I have to wait 3 seasons before I can harvest anything.

Losses are not a great but still a disappointment. Deer managed to destroy 90% of my string beans and all of my beets. Funny that they did not touch my carrots. They got the first crop of Swiss Chard and managed to kill off the last of the snap peas. They took the Blackberries to the ground twice; thank someone that they are resilient plants. Overall, this is small in terms of the damage they can do.

Lastly for this post (kids are getting restless) is the pick-you-own apple farm. As we did last year, Jen and I took the kids for some picking. It started with over 30lbs of blueberries (of which I made 12 1/2 pints of jam) and 32 lbs of Honeycrisp apples.

The apples have made 4 apples pies thus far and as I am typing, I am taking 20lbs to make and can some apple sauce :) Will let you know how this turns out.....

Food Harvested:
Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes

Things Planted:
Sunflower Seeds
Peach Tree
Cherry Tree (may not make it)
Blackberries (10 of them)

Seeds Saved:
White Coneflower (Echinacea)

Preserved/Cooked:
Apple Pie
Apple Sauce

Things to Remember:
1. 30 tomato plants, not 38
2. Less number of grape tomatoes

Purely Garden

2009-05-10T07:54:00.014-04:00

Too much rain!! We have had almost 2 weeks of solid rain without a break. Friday it finally stopped and I assessed the damage to my seedlings and garden. All sustained the weather rather well with the exception of the tomatoes!! Seems that they have all yellowed quite a bit and some have developed some fungal spots (Septoria I believe). I immediately isolated the spotted ones and have been monitoring the rest. I am hoping to see if the yellowing will subside with some organic fertilizer and a good drying out. As for the fertilizer, I will use some organic worm castings or possibly fish emulsion.

I did however manage to plant out 30 tomatoes. I chose the best looking plants and set them in my garden (extra defence to help isolate from the spotting plants). I am going to play with spacing to see what works best in a tight space. I have 7 rows 36" apart and 4 plants per row 18" apart. I also potted up two early tomatoes. Today I plan to pot up about 8 more plants.

I set up the bean trellis yesterday right behind where I seeded the carrots and beets. I put in a 5 foot x 15 foot trellis and set close to 50 bean seeds. My pea trellis is doing well and those plants are close to 8" tall now. The carrot and beets look as if they just germinated so there will be more to come on that front. The interesting thing will be the squash plants. I started 2 types of acorn, 1 butternut and 1 yellow squash along with 3 types of watermelon. I have no idea as of yet where these will go but I guess that is have of the fun.

In response to a comment on the PotMaker - This is a really cool tool that certainly has its place in my seed starting endeavours. It also certainly does not work in other areas. First, the pots are great and stable as long as you use two sheets of newspaper instead of just one. This makes them a little more rigid and they don't collapse as you water the seedlings. It worked great for my basil, peppers and salad plugs. It however did not do so well for my tomatoes and Swiss Chard. These plants grow too quickly and needed to be transplanted quicker. You can find the potmaker for sale in many catalogs now and I am starting to see it in some stores. I got mine from Seeds of Change for ~$15.00. I have also seen it in Jung's and Gardener's Suppply's catalog. Here is a simple visual on how to use it.

Cut paper strips about 10" x 3.5" (I prefer newspaper as I can plant them directly into the ground and they breakdown very, very quickly. The ink is also soy based so it is not adding anything bad to the soil
Wrap around the PotMaker, fold the edges down cupping the bottom
Press into the base
Done!

Food Harvested:
Salad - YEAH!!
My first French Breakfast Radish

Things Planted:
2 Types of Carrots
2 Types of Beets
Spinach
French Climbing String Beans
Dwarf Grey Sugar Peas
29 Tomato Plants (10 Varieties so far)
Lemon Basil
Peppers

Seeds Saved:
None yet this season

Preserved/Cooked:
Chocolate Cake

Things to Remember:

Drowning in Tomato Plants

2009-04-11T08:28:00.009-04:00

Been some time since I have posted, seems that life has become a little more crazy than normal. The garden has a good start but the spring weather is a little late in coming. This year it seems that every night goes to near freezing and the days don't make it much past 50. Although this seems like good conditions for spring plantings, it is making it difficult to get my summer seedlings outside to harden off. Outside already are close to 100 loose leaf salad seedlings and about 20 Swiss chard plants. I also seeded 3 types of radishes and dwarf sugar peas which all just showed signs of germination yesterday. This weekend I am planning on seeding 2 type of beets, 2 types of carrots and 1 type of spinach. With limited space, I am going to have to plant much less than would really like to go with.

As for the summer plant, I guess I went a little overboard - I started close to 75 pepper plants, 10 basil plants and over 125 tomato plants. Although this sounds a little crazy, I am expecting to give more than 75% of this to friends and family; I already gave out about 20 tomatoes to some master gardeners. Some of the 20 varieties of tomatoes are White Currant, Ernie's Plump, Opalka, Green Sausage, Hartman's Gooseberry to only name a few. Some of the ones I am really excited for are Riesentaube and Ildi, both grape tomato varieties and the only repeat variety from last year are Jen's favorite - Marglobe. I am going to try for close to 30 plants on my property this year.

Still to start indoors are the watermelon (have to choose between 3 types), yellow squash, acorn squash (2 types), and butternut squash. These should be started in the next 2-3 weeks for an outdoor plant date of sometime between May 15th and June 1st. By this time, I will also direct seed some string beans, cucumbers and corn; yes corn.....I am going to try 2 heirloom varieties of corn - 1 for popcorn and one for blue eating corn. The blue corn is called Blue Jade and can be kept in a container. It is suppose to be really tasty and wild to look at. I am still trying to figure out where everything is going but as I am now seeing, I will figure it out when it needs to be planted.

The garlic planted in the spring is now about 10" tall. I miscalculated the amount because I have what appears to be 50 head that has come up. In June-July I will dig it all up and get the bed ready for the fall planting of more. I just found some Garlic braiding websites so that should be fun to try. I also ordered 8 blackberry plants for fence. They are coming in 4" pots and will take some time to grow but we should have a small picking season next year. The blueberries will have to wait for more money and time but at least I have something started. The figs are a different story, different problem and deserving of its own post next time....

Food Harvested:
None

Things Planted:
Salad - 6 types of SSE Heirloom
Radish Seeds (3 types)
Dwarf Sugar Pea Seeds

Seeds Saved:
White Texas Cone Flower

Preserved/Cooked:
Homemade Chocolate and Butterscotch Pudding

Things to Remember:
1. Get vines from Taylor Park for the Arbor into the garden
2. Cukes against Barbara's fence
3. String beans against Woody's fence

Salads and Whales

2009-03-07T08:26:00.008-05:00

I cannot believe it is March again....in just a matter of weeks, flowers, trees and most importantly, my garden will be moving along. I have been quite busy mostly with seed starting in my basement. Last years success with the small patch of salad greens is being expanded this year. Rather than direct sowing the seeds outdoors, I decided to give them a good head start indoors and at this point, it looks like that will pay off. I had 100% germination of over 128 seeds for 7 varieties of lettuce and Swiss Chard. Although we just had a few inches of snow last weekend, I hope to have the garden ready in the next 2-3 weeks and the lettuces transplanted

The figs scionwood is sitting in my furnace room in moist plastic bags. I am hoping that over the next 2-3 months, I can force some root and leaf growth. As I mentioned in my last post, I have over 15 different scionwood pieces from 5 different varieties of figs. If they all take, I will have to find homes for many of them....I already have a home for one....I also ordered 3 more varieties from University of California-Davis which I am still waiting for as well. Those should be here by end of march.

Trying to figure out where everything is going has not been fully worked out yet. I guess I will take it one planting cycle at a time. The first cycle (lettuce, peas, radishes and possibly beets) have been decided. I am germinating more peppers and tomatoes this week although I don't know where they are all going to go. Carrots and possibly the beets are still up in the air and due to lack of funds, I have no idea if I can afford to get the blueberries and blackberries for this year.

I have purchased the 4x6 lumber for the border of the lower bed. With other plans on financial hold like the deck, basement and various other things, I think I will have enough time to set the lower bed and finally rebuild the arbor-entry into the garden. I keep trying to tell myself a little at a time but it is going against the grain for me. This will stack up to building a new garden bed for carrots and beets, finishing the garlic bed his spring, framing the lower bed with the lumber, building 2 or 3 new trellis', finding a new place to plant the corn/squash and planting the blueberries and blackberries.

On a personal note - this drives Jen crazy because there are at least a dozen project in the house that are 90% complete that I have yet to devote my time to finishing and I am dreaming of diving into yet another garden project. I guess my past actions would support a definite lack of follow-through on my part.....or I just done care on finishing the second coat of paint, final sanding the Spackle and complete the basement demo....personally, I do care...it doesn't always show up in normal ways....

On a completely different note, Jackson and I went to Mystic Connecticut overnight and ended up at the aquarium up there. Jack could not contain himself with the sharks and stingrays but my personal favorite was the 6 Beluga Whales they have. They are incredible graceful, gentle and HUGE!! Although the picture is not that great, they are so white it is almost breathtaking

Food Harvested:
None

Things Planted:
Started Salads, Peppers and now the first of the tomatoes indoors
Seeds Saved:
None

Preserved/Cooked:
Sauteed Butternut Squash and Onions

Things to Remember:

None

Seeds and Figs and Seeds.....

2009-02-14T07:18:00.015-05:00

All of seeds I ordered from SSE came this past week which was perfect timing. At the same time, the SSE yearbook and finally the scionwood for the 5 varieties of fig trees came. It is a bit overwhelming when you long for something garden-like in the middle of January and all of a sudden, in February, all preperation and planning hits the ground at a hundred miles an hour; seed germination, plot planning, new creations, longer to do lists, fixing things that broke last year, etc....
This year, I am going to try to bud 5 types of fig trees which is a relatively straight forward process. Damp paper towel, a zip lock bag and a warm place for about 3-4 weeks. The idea is to force root growth, with or without leaf growth. Once roots form, transplanting into a small pot for a few months and then outside by middle to late summer. I will post some picture on progress later in the month.

With March 17th being my start date for frost tolerant stuff, I needed to start seeds this week. I got all the components finally for the seed starting shelves. The last pieces were the chain to hang the lights and the shelving itself. I opted for a 6-shelf 72" x 48" x 18" chrome wire unit from Home Depot. Although I thought the 18" would be too narrow, once set up with 2 shop lights per shelf, it ended being the perfect size.

With so much emphasis on being eco-friendly in all of this, I seemed to have mis-lead myself in seeds starting. Working in the Sharing Garden with the Master Gardeners last weekend, we set cool crop seeds in plastic trays. When I asked Larry about being more earth conscious, his response surprised me, the plastic trays were over 7 years old because he re-uses them from year to year. I don't know why I never considered re-use but for seed plugs prior to transplanting into the potmaker pots, it give you great flexibility and control on planting patterns once they go in the garden. This was a problem for me last year....the throw-and-pray direct sowing method I used last year didn't do so well, things were overcrowded.

I ended buying (2) 72-cell seed starting trays for my cool crops. I am still trying to perfect things but I set the seeds on Wed. To keep them warn, I had to put them on top of my fish tank light By Thurs, I had 80% germination, Friday 90% germination and this morning, I would say 98% germination. Tomorrow AM, these seedlings go under the lights for 12-18 hours a day for about 2 weeks at which time I will transplant to potmaker pots.

Food Harvested:
None

Things Planted:
Oh Boy....7 type of lettuce being sprouted
Budding fig trees

Seeds Saved:
None

Preserved/Cooked:
Chocolate Cake

Things to Remember:
1. More narrow walkway in the garden this year
2. Remove the roses and put more garden there :)

Too Many Seeds

2009-01-30T08:06:00.003-05:00

Well....I place my seed order yesterday.....seems that I think I live on 20 acres. I am not sure where it is all going to go so I guess Jen and I will have to be creative. These all should arrive in the next 4-6 days so I should be right on time to start the tomatoes and peppers the 2nd week of Feb in the basement...

Not much in the blogging mood so I will keep this short for now.

Radish, Early Scarlet Globe , Packet 250 seeds
Radish, French Breakfast , Packet 250 seeds
Chard, Five Color Silverbeet OG, 1,000 seeds
Pepper, Nepalese Bell , Packet 25 seeds
Pea, Dwarf Gray Sugar , Packet 100 seeds
Huckleberry, Garden OG, Packet 50 seeds
Beet, Bull's Blood , Packet 100 seeds
Beet, Detroit Dark Red , Packet 100 seeds
Carrot, Dragon , Packet 250 seeds
Carrot, Scarlet Nantes , Packet 250 seeds
Collection, Heirloom Lettuce
Bean, Climbing French , Packet 50 seeds
Corn, Blue Jade/Blue Baby , Packet 25 seeds
Prairie, Butterflyweed , Packet 50 seeds
Flower, Bee's Friend , Packet 1,000 seeds
Flower, Bunny Tails , Packet 250 seeds
Flower, Job's Tears OG, Packet 25 seeds
Flower, Great Quaking Grass , Packet 250 seeds
Sunberry OG, Packet 50 seeds
Tomato, Riesentraube , Packet 50 seeds
Tomato, Red Fig OG, Packet 25 seeds
Tomato, Opalka , Packet 50 seeds
Tomato, Purple Russian , Packet 50 seeds
Tomato, Hartman's Yellow Gooseberry OG, Packet 25 seeds
Tomato, Green Sausage , Packet 50 seeds
Tomato, Giant Syrian , Packet 50 seeds
Tomato, Dr. Wyche's Yellow , Packet 50 seeds
Tomato, Crnkovic Yugoslavian , Packet 25 seeds
Squash, Thelma Sanders OG, Packet 25 seeds
Flower, Platinum Blue , Packet 25 seeds
Tomato, Italian Heirloom , Packet 50 seeds
Tomato, Silvery Fir Tree OG, Packet 25 seeds

Food Harvested:
None

Things Planted:
None

Seeds Saved:
None

Preserved/Cooked:
Mustard Encrusted Leg of Lamb

Things to Remember:
To Keep Warm

Origami and Seed Starting and a Cold Winter....

2009-01-17T07:28:00.014-05:00

I guess it has to do with the weather, thinking about smoking (or not smoking in my case) and the fact that I do like it but I have become a little obsessed with folding paper as of lately. I picked up a book on Polyhedron Origami which outlined how to make over 70 different shapes. Although these shapes seem complicated and are borderline overwhelming, they are actually made up of a single folded flat shape.....50, 60 or 70 of them, but one flat shape none the less. This one was 60 shapes which took about 4 nights to fold and then almost 4 hours to put it all together. The putting together part was not easy but was fun and satisfying once together. If this is a sign of getting bored, I don't mind it, it is very focusing and relaxing....time seems to move quickly.

Trying to get ready for the spring has started to become a bit overwhelming. Not that any of the tasks with the garden are particularly large or hard to manage, it is the time and money that is making me a little crazed. Seeds need to be bought in the next 2 weeks, the sowing set-up built and running in 3 weeks, tomatoes, peppers and everything else germinating in 4 weeks, etc.... This combined with the 30 projects we have planned for outside it is easy to either become frozen with the overwhelmingness of everything or so disjointed that nothing gets started. I do know that the removal of the deck is the #1 thing for the spring closely followed by lots of fruit trees/shrubs and the garden. At this point, I cannot be any more specific or I will be frozen.

Trying to create a seed sowing station as sustainably as possible is hard in terms of thinking out of the box. Jen is much better with ideas like this which much of the time I quickly (and wrongly) dismiss. Trying to build something that is either re-usable from year to year or prevents something from going to a landfill is easier to talk about than to implement. The set-up is a 4' storage shelf (still have to find this), eight 4' 2-bulb T12 fluorescent lights (this was from Craigslist, $70 used instead of $500 new) and seed starting pots (picture to right, $12). The Potmaker is a cool tool that uses recycled newspaper to make the pots that you can sow seeds or put transplants in. The 3 pots pictured took me all of 1 minute to make in total...I picked this up from Seeds of Change for about $12. The trays to hold the pots will probably be the same nursery trays that you get with flats of flowers. These all usually go into the garbage when you plant your annuals and I will be able to reuse these from year to year. I figure the whole set-up will come together in the next two weeks (I hope).

It is cold here.....as predicted, we are in an extreme cold spell for New Jersey. For the last few days, it has been in the high teens and much lower with the wind-chill. This morning my thermometer read below zero. Everywhere I read about Garlic, it tells you not to worry, cold or no-cold, the garlic will be fine - I am not so calmed by this. Jack and Charlotte don't seem to mind the cold, I guess I didn't either as a kid. They have a whole routine in bundling up and play just as hard, I think it is Jen and I whom are getting old as we keep asking them "are you sure you want to go out....its REALLY cold out".

Food Harvested:
None

Things Planted:
None

Seeds Saved:
Red Crepe Myrtle (Jen actually saved these)

Marigold (Orange)

Preserved/Cooked:
Lentil Soup (which Jen did not like)

Things to Remember:
1. Order the seeds in Feb to start sowing by Valentine's Day
2. Have to get 3 sturdy logs for Trellis into Garden.
3. Need 3 4x6's to finish lower bed border
4. Have to move Apple Tree to pot until Deck is done.

Maggie's Garden

2009-01-01T07:44:00.009-05:00

When Jen and I got our first pets, Maggie was a timid, scared Shepard/Collie mix who was scared of her own shadow and didn't know how to bark. Since we lived in an apartment, walks included cars backfiring, people hitting their horns, kids screaming, etc... everything to make Maggie shiver from first step to last. Over the next few years, Maggie worked her way into our hearts, heads and souls in such a way that when she became sick last month, we were devastated. We both just sit and cry thinking of how different, how hollow our house is without her. Although there are other dogs and people have different relationships with their animals, Maggie was our first girl...now and forever.... Jen and I, unconsciously, agreed that if we ever owned a homestead, it would be Maggie's Farm; what I realize now is that my garden always has been and will always be Maggie's Garden.
_________________________________________________________________

I am having a hard time switching topics....I hope the line above helps....

Seed Catalogs are in full swing as I now get about 10-15 different catalogs to look through. Some of my favorites are the organic catalogs. There are a few others but these seem to be where I concentrate my time. There is good diversity of varieties and each have unique offerings which at a minimum make it an interesting read. Some of the best catalogs so far are

As we are making choices on different varieties, I am trying to figure out an inexpensive way to set up a seed starting "station" in our basement. With money a big factor, I am looking into simple fluorescent (T12 or T8 preferable) from Home Depot or Lowes. These would not provide optimal light but would suffice with time spent adjusting light heights as the seedlings grow. A solution like this would run about $100 for every 4 feet.

More preferable would be a horticulture specific light (T5) from Sunlight Supply for instance The spectrum and intensity can be varied so much so that I would load up more seedlings under the lights, not be as concerned with light heights and they run more cool/efficient. These would run about $350 for every 4 feet but I would almost double the width of plants that I could stack in the 4 feet.

As a tentative plan, I am going to have the light station set up my mid to late January to start Peppers and Tomatoes by the 1st week of Feb. I will add a few annuals in the beginning of march. I still plan on winter sow'ing probable 30 containers (10" homemade greenhouses) worth of perennials like I did last year.

Cream of Curried Chicken Soup

2 lbs of Chicken Breast (on the bone)
2 Cups cooked rice (preferable brown)
1/2 Gallon Chicken Stock
2 Medium Size Onions (chopped)
2 Cloves Garlic (minced)
2 Carrots (chopped)
2 Stalks of Celery (chopped)
3 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp Curry
1 Tbsp Paprika
2 tsp Cumin Seeds
2 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tsp Ginger Powder
1 dash Cayenne Pepper
2 Tbsp Flour

Start by cooking the chicken in the oven until done. Cool to room temperature and with your hands, pick the meat off the bone creating small pieces to be added to the soup later. While the chicken is cooking, cook the rice according to the directions on the package on the stove top. In a small bowl or cup, add all spices and mix together.

Once rice and chicken are done, melt the butter in a large soup pot. once hot, add all dry spices and stir for a few moments to allow the oils to be released. Add the garlic and onion and saute for 2 minutes. Add carrots and celery and saute for an additional 5-7 minutes or until everything starts to caramelize and the onions are translucent. Add the flour and stir for another 2 minutes. Add the stock, bring to a rapid boil and then reduce heat to simmer for approximately 20 minutes. With an emulsion blender, blend 80% of the stock, enough to leave little pieces of carrots, onions and celery but not enough to purify. Add chicken and rice and bring back to a slow boil for 2 minutes. Serve hot or is great the next day.

NOTE: The rice will absorb water the next time reheated so it will become chowder-like

Food Harvested:
None

Things Planted:
None

Seeds Saved:
Sweet Shrub
More Daylilies
More Chaste Tree

Preserved/Cooked:
Cream of Curried Chicken Soup
Healthy Mac and Cheese

Things to Remember:
1. Get as many containers as possible to pot up plants
2. Look into Wolf berries as well for the spring
3. If we do the arbor, put up to grape vines with it....

Oh the Weather Outside is Delightful....

2008-12-23T07:20:00.008-05:00

In celebrating Christmas this past Sunday with my family, Jack and Charlotte got two very cool sleds from their grandmother (mi madre). They are large enough for two people per sled and seemed to be very streamlined, so much so, Jen was itching for an excuse to go try them. When a 2 and 4 year old ask to go sledding now, how can you say no? Well, I could have but Jen said yes so started the 20 minute process of bundling up like an overstuffed turkey and across the street to the park we went. The little hill right into the park is not steep at all in our terms but huge for the kids....Jen went by herself first and laughed the entire way down......to our surprise, everything was a sheet of ice and these sleds just kept going and going and going.

After about 20 minutes and a few runs each, Jen spied a larger hill and set off on a test of her will :) Not really waiting for the camera or us, she jumped on solo, screamed all the way down and traveled for almost 2 full minutes before the sled came to a stop about 200 yards away. With the sounds of giggling, the kids wanted to try it as well.

With Christmas Eve coming up in 2 days and the festivities of the next two weeks, not much has happened with the garden. Weather is not conducive and time is not available. What I can and have been doing is looking through the new seed catalogs that started arriving. SSE and Baker's Creek are two of my favorite catalogs and I am making seed lists like I am planting 10 acres. Here are some things I do know about my garden planning:

10-15 varieties of Tomatoes:
I am going to have to crowd them into the upper garden area. I know I can get 10 or so in there....15 may pose a challenge....I will have to come up with a different idea than cages to keep them at bay.

Garlic and Potatoes:
The garlic is already in the side bed and will be ready come June. Behind it and to the left of the chaste tree, I will plant 3 or 4 varieties of potatoes.

Squash and Watermelon:
I have Butternut seeds that I will put in the ivy along the driveway, I will also probably put a pumpkin or two in there as well. I will try the watermelon in the back corner of the yard where the grasses are now and possibly up with the garlic and potatoes training it to be a bed border. I am going to try 2 varieties of watermelon I think. The yellow squash will go where the apple tree is right now once the tree is moved.

Peppers:
Jen likes some of the hotter varieties that are ornamental. We will probably plant those in the front bed to accent the house. I would also like to plant poblanos there as well. I will try the bell and sweet chocolate again, just not sure where to put then

Peas and String Beans:
I am going to build two trellis' between us and Barbara where I planted the watermelon last year. A ten foot trellis should be enough for both.

Lettuce, Asparagus, Spinach and Swiss Chard:
All of these are going to go into the smaller side bed. This will all be new to me in terms of growing but should be fun. Asparagus will take 3 years before I harvest so that is nothing more than a lesson in what I don't have; patience.

Beets, Carrots, Radishes and everything else:
I am still trying to figure out the best place for these.....I could use another bed but for now, I think I will find a home in the old watermelon patch. The only problem will be the weeds.

Food Harvested:
None

Things Planted:
None

Seeds Saved:
Chaste Tree
Sweet Shrub

Preserved/Cooked:
Spicy Mac and Cheese

Things to Remember:
1. build arbor with tree limbs
2. Plant peppers in front bed
3. plant potatoes behind garlic
4. Asparagus and lettuce in along Barbara's fence

December Ramblings....

2008-12-13T08:28:00.012-05:00

With the weather turning much colder and my garden being pretty much done for the this season, I am a little lax about blogging but even worse, I convince myself that since I have nothing growing , I don't need to post. To have this not be the case, so starts the rambling...

For Halloween, Jack and Charlotte were Great "Mommy and Daddy" Horned Owls. Keeping with the theme, in early November, Jen and I took them to the Raptor Trust in the Great Swamp. It is as quick self guided tour that takes about 30-45 minutes and as you can see from the pictures, you can walk right up to the enclosures and see most of the birds (raptors) they are rehabbing. Jack and Charlotte still talk about Great Horned Owls and I seem to have a liking for them as well.

I am now in my third month of the Master Gardener program through Rutgers Cooperative Extension. Although I am very excited and I am learning, my thirst is not being satisfied. They touch topics at a surface level and I want to go much, much deeper. I struggle because I am excited for the program and what it does but I want more. With that being the only negative point I can think of, there is a lot that is good about the program as well. Much more on the pros later. Our overall class is 30 people, mostly retired or stay-at-home moms. I am among the youngest and based on the 80 people that attended the Holiday Party, I would venture to say I am by far the youngest overall. The classes themselves are not timed in such a way to make it conducive to young professionals participating.

As for the Holiday Party, it was up to the new class to throw the party. We worked on a theme of "For Ever Green" emphasizing the green aspect to the party. We purchased disposable tableware from World Centric and although it was a little more expensive that standard plastics, it was 100% plant based and will completely biodegrade in a compost pile within 1 year. I donated 80 packets of seeds that I have saved, traded and collected. I folded tiny Origami envelops to put he seeds in and it seemed to be a hit. Overall the party was a great success albeit a little cheesy.

My apple addiction has subsided as the season is over for apple-picking. At its peak, I HAD to have one....and preferable an outstanding one for after dinner. It was so bad at one point that I would hide my favorites from the kids so I could have them all to myself. In the height of this, I was eating 4-5 apples a night. In trying to find out what I liked and didn't, I absolutely had to try every variety of apple I could get my hands on. This went as far as buying bags of single apples and asking the checkout clerks for pen and paper so I could label what was in what bag. For the most part, I have a definitive set of favorites and a set of apples I will never try again but in the spirit of the list that I started here earlier, I am continuing it. I am up to 15 different varieties

Honey Crisp
Cameo
Jonagored
Winesap
Pink Lady
Fuji
Pinova
Golden Delicious
Braeburn
Gala
Granny Smith (slightly tart)
Red Delicious
Ida Red
Rome (Red)
Macintosh

Food Harvested:
None

Things Planted:
None

Seeds Saved:
Chaste Tree

Preserved/Cooked:
Snickerdoodle Cookies

Things to Remember:
Too Much

Thanksgiving Dinner...

2008-11-29T08:16:00.005-05:00

It has been a while since I last posted as life have become a little chaotic. It is amazing to me how little time I can find to do this but now that I am sitting here, I wonder why I don't find the time. Over the last month, the weather has gotten much colder and there has been very little happening outdoors but lots of exciting stuff inside!!

Thanksgiving dinner went well. We had Tiffany, Sandy, Ellie and Alex over for an early dinner. It was the first time I cooked for Thansgiving (even a turkey actually) and with the exception of 1 or 2 items, we managed a relatively preservative free dinner. Actually, I wasn't really thinking about that during the planning process; it wasn't until I had resorted to buying bread cubes did I realize how non-preservative dinner was to be. Dinner was all new recipes for me:

Organic, Free Range 15lb Turkey (John's Meat Market)
Sausage, Apple, Cranberry Leek Stuffing
Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes
Twice baked, Brown Sugar and Pecan Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Oven Roasted Beets with Rosemary, Garlic and Thyme
Garlic and Onion Sauteed Swiss Chard (with Beet Greens)
Cranberry, Ginger and Apple Chutney

For dessert, I made a recipe that I think Jen will force me to make every day.....Shoo Fly Pie. If you like Molasses, this is the recipe for you. It is extremely rich and heavy but absolutely delicious!! Although there are a lot of directions below, it is quick and simple to make.

Shoo Fly Pie

Pastry :

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small chunks
2 tablespoons ice water, plus more if needed

Filling:

1 cup un-sulphured molasses or Pennsylvania Dutch Table Syrup
3/4 cup hot water
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs , lightly beaten
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Crumb Topping:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Whipped cream, for serving

Directions
To make the pastry: Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and mix with a pastry blender or your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in the ice water and work it in to bind the dough until it holds together without being too wet or sticky. Squeeze a small amount together, if it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Sprinkle the counter and a rolling pin lightly with flour. Roll the dough out into a 10-inch circle; transfer the dough to the pie plate. Press the dough firmly into the bottom and sides so it fits tightly. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the filling: In medium-size mixing bowl, combine the molasses and water; stir in baking soda, eggs, and spices.

To make the crumb topping: With a pastry blender, mix together the flour, brown sugar, and butter, until it is the texture of coarse crumbs. To Assemble:Take 1/2 cup of the crumb mixture and put it in the bottom of the pie shell, pour in the molasses filling, and scatter the remaining crumbs on top. Bake for 30 minutes, until the filling jiggles slightly and the top is firm. Let cool to room temperature before cutting

The garden is done for this year. I do have some more beets in the ground but I think I am going to let them stay to see if they go to seed next year. To prep for the winter, I did not plant Rye or any other cover crop as I wanted to but I was able to put a layer of mulched leaves down. In the early spring, I will turn those into the soil and probably add another bag of peat. I still have the bean trellis up and will probably leave it until spring as well just out of plain laziness.

Now Jen and I are in the talking stages about what to plant and where for next year. I have used this blog to really talk through some ideas and I keep coming back to the same ones (blueberries, blackberries, apple trees, fig trees). Seems that the more I talk, the farther away spring seems to be :)

Food Harvested:
Last of the beets

Things Planted:
spring bulbs

Seeds Saved:
Orange (for Jack)
Chaste Tree (Not sure if it is ready yet, need to research more)

Preserved/Cooked:
lots and lots (Thanksgiving Dinner)

Things to Remember:
1. Need to lay down weed barrier in mature lilac beds
2. You never can know too much

Apple Heirarchy and the $3 Head of Garlic

2008-10-26T07:19:00.017-04:00

Funny how things change with time, I always hated apples, could barely stand eating apple pie growing up. Now as my kids eat halves of everything they grab, pick-your own farms and general love for things that have a taste, I have started eating "the other half", apples included. (As I am typing, I am realizing that I think the only varieties my father bought were McIntosh and Red Delicious, my least favorite!!!) Now, I have a new sense of urgency to eat as may varieties as possible and find the best tasting ones possible (I guess I am trying to make up for lost time). In our trip to the Catskills, Jen and I found a great market stand in Stanford where they had 6-7 locally picked varieties. Trying 3 of these, I now am forced to write down my list so I can remember.

Honey Crisp
Cameo
Jonagored
WineSap
Golden Delicious
Gala
Red Delicious
Ida Red
Macintosh

The Goldens came over for Plainfield Iron Chef 2 last night and it was our turn to cook. The secret ingredient: Tomato. Of course with all my tomatoes being ripped out last weekend, Charlotte and I made our way to the farmers' market in Scotch Plains. Really small as compared to the Summit market but it sufficed. 10 lbs of tomatoes (the season's last), 1 lb poblano peppers, Ida Red Apples, some potatoes and lots of fun looking around. The markets (both SP and Summit) are all done for the season next week which will be sad; Jen and I really have become accustomed to shopping for most of our produce and some proteins weekly there.

To make sure the garlic was in the ground on time, I had to finish preparing the bed from last week. When you look at it from a larger perspective, it starts to sound not worth it for garlic. To explain:

2 days to rip out the invasive Orange Blossom bush that had more roots than its untamed top growth.
1 day to edge the bed, turn over the soil, remove the rocks and start to build a rock border
1 day to add 3.3 cu. ft. of peat and 6 bags of mushroom compost ($40), turn it in and rake out/break up the large rock like clumps
1 day to plant 30-40 cloves of garlic, cover with 1 bale of straw and 6 bags of cedar mulch ($35)

So, for $70 (excluding having to buy a new shovel to replace the one that broke during the process and ~35 heads of expected garlic, it comes out to about $2 per head, $3 a head if I include labor; I could buy it for $1 per head at the farmers market, oh well.

Tomato Chutney

1 - White Onion, chopped
4-5 Red Tomatoes (large), rough chopped
1 Poblano Pepper, Seeded and rough chopped
3 Tbsp Ginger, raw and diced
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Paprika
1 Tsp Mustard Seed
1 Tsp Cumin Seed
2 Bay Leaves
2 tsp Turmeric
2-3 Tbsp Flour

In large covered pan, heat oil until hot. Add all spices and allow to meld for 1 minute until aromatic. Then add everything else except flour. Stir well for first 2 minutes then cover for 5 minutes. Uncover, stir, add flour, cover and let cook over medium heat for another 5 minutes. Turn heat off, uncover, stir and let sit to cool. Can be served at room temperature, hot or cold. I prefer room temperature

Food Harvested:
Green Tomatoes
Green Peppers

Things Planted:
The rest of the garlic (30-40 cloves
Mums
Tulip, Daffodil, Iris bulbs

Seeds Saved:
None..Chaste will be ready soon

Preserved/Cooked:
Fried Green Tomatoes (Jen)
Tomato Chutney (Medium Heat)
Pumpkin Pie

Things to Remember:
1. Don't walk on the garlic
2. Plant Watermelon in Ivy patch
3. Plant pumpkin along side and back fence
4. 4-4x4's for gate arbor, 4 - 4x6's for bottom bed border

Rings around the Moon.

2008-10-18T08:21:00.009-04:00

With the nights getting cooler and temperatures dropping in general, we are seeing lots of neat changes; the leaves, the yard and even in the sky. This past Monday night, we went outside to take a look at an enormous ring around the moon. Pretty intense sight and I tried my best to get a picture of it. It ends up that this
ring is a relatively common and is the result of the moonlight being refracted by upper atmospheric ice crystals. These ice crystals dissipate quickly so the rings are often only seen for a short period of time.

With a good stretch of cold nights, the garden is 90% finished for this year. I will have to start ripping out the tomato plants and pepper plants. We've harvested almost 90% of the edible radishes; with Jen's comments that they are starting to get "woody", the rest will come out as well. The only thing left will be the beets and I plan to let them go for another month or so. Once the bottom bed is cleared, I can start building the second retaining wall and replacing the broken garden gate and fence. I am still undecided on replacing the gate with a gate and arbor combination. I guess I will make that decision when I have the time to start it and the money to pay for it. It should only cost about $100 in lumber for everything.

Magnolia Tree Seed Pod (found by Jen)

I received my Seed Savers Exchange seed garlic this week. I am going to try to plant three varieties for our use but also to re-list them in the SSE 2009 yearbook. I have not a clue of what I am doing nor the best place to plant it so this is going to be one big experiment. I hope to have it in the ground this weekend. One potential place for it would be the new planting bed I am getting ready in my front side yard. I would also like to put potatoes, peppers and radishes in this bed in the spring. The only hurdle is that I need about 3 hours to finish getting the bed ready (removing the grass, adding peat and manure, top dressing it with mulch) and I am not feeling it today.

There has been a continuation of the indoor things that are happening to prepare us for winter as well as just finishing up the small started-but-unfinished projects around the house. The list of things started to get a little crazy as you can see from the picture (that is just Sunday's list). Seems that the little things sure add up quick and they also make a mess of vacation; I need a vacation from my vacation. Needless to say, 90% of the work is done, small polishing things left to finish up and we are settled in ready for the winter.

Food Harvested:
Radishes

Things Planted:
Garlic
Transplanted grasses

Seeds Saved:
Daylillies
Jen saved Magnolia...very odd looking.

Preserved/Cooked:
Whole Chicken
Repeat of the lamb shanks

Things to Remember:
1. Tomato seeds to be started inside in Feb
2. Peppers to be started with Tomatoes
3. Peppers will need small cages or support
4. Garlic to be planted in up front bed with potatoes and radishes

The First Frost

2008-10-08T09:12:00.009-04:00

It has been a few busy weeks with not much time or energy (mostly energy) to post. I keep telling myself that I need to find the time but that is usually while I am crawling into bed at night. It seems that as more and more needs to get done in every day life, the things that help keep me in touch with myself and present with my family are usually the things that disappear first (like posting here).

Seems that we all have been taking a break from the garden and yard lately. Jack is playing soccer for the first time, Jen is trying to go back to mobile meals (hopefully), days have started getting shorty and chillier, blah, blah, blah... We did manage to go apple picking again. With honeycrisp being closer to finished, the main apples were macintosh and something else. They mentioned that the honeycrisps were still available, just not as sharp tasting; much more mellow. At the end of the day, we had almost 2 bushels and brought home 35 more lbs. 15lbs went to more apple sauce (which is already eaten), we made an apple crisp and the rest for snacks.

With weather getting cooler, my thoughts have drifted to the things I want to grow next year. It is amazing to me how often and how easily my mind can drift. I have found a wealth of information on Seed Saver's and Gardenweb forums and I am ready to dive into really building a garden all around me, sort of like an edible landscape. I am looking at adding:

6 blueberries to add to the 3 I already have
5 thornless blackberries, all single canes so it will be a year or two until fruit
4 fig trees from cutting so 2 years to fruit
transplant the 3 remaining apples from the spring to their final locations
add a honycrisp apple (our absolute, hands down favorite)
possibly adding two grapes if we do the patio and pergola like we plan to
a new side yard planting bed for radishes, potatoes, garlic and other edibles

As for the backyard plans, we decided to hold off and revamp the patio plans. Because of price, we need to reconsider the plans in terms of size and style and we agreed that this will have to wait until the spring. Building a 900 sq.. ft. dry set stone patio with a 200 sq.ft. pergola will take money time and patience as well as be VERY permanent.

We have been focusing more on the small things inside lately. Jen and I notoriously let the little things slide until enough of them pile up and become a really big thing. We vowed (again) to not let this happen again and we (Jen) have a list of things we need to address. Top of the list and the oldest thing is the electrical wiring in the 3rd bed room. Although this was relatively easy, John peaked into the basement ceiling at what we uncovered after removing the acoustic tile ceiling and he wants to bring someone else in to look at the wiring nightmare. Not good. Painting, windows, patching walls, fixing some appliances, rewiring the stereo, organizing the clothes in the closet, switching out all closets, making the bigger bedroom the upstairs living room, adding a wall unit, getting the car inspected, replacing window panes, etc... the list is a lot of little things.

Food Harvested:
The last of the tomatoes and Sultan Peas
Orange Peppers
More and More Radishes

Things Planted:
Actually, removed an invasive Orange Blossom Bush

Seeds Saved:
Day lily seed pods
Last of the watermelon seeds
Sultan's Crescent bean

Magnolia Tree seeds (jen's first attempt which she promptly planted)

Sunflower seeds (from the sunflower project flowers)

Preserved/Cooked:
Nothing new...
15 lbs more of apples for apple sauce

Things to Remember:
Too tired to remember

2008-09-18T12:37:00.019-04:00

The fall planting experiment is turning out better than expected. Jen and I are getting a few radishes every day and the Beets are growing well now that the nights are getting cooler. Although Jen is thinning, it still remains an issue. She proposed a different planting method rather than just spreading the seeds. Also to plant the seeds a little deeper than just surface sowing. Some of the radishes are starting bolt and I am considering letting them so I can save some seeds for next year.

I am patiently waiting for the 3 varieties of garlic I requested from the SSE yearbook. They should show up in the next two weeks and based on the cool nights (60-65), I will have to get them in the ground ASAP. I will put some in where the existing Cukes are and I still have to figure out where to put the rest. I am considering the front bed once I remove the ornamental grasses that are crowding everything else out.

Thinking ahead to next spring, I am considering planting many more fruit bearing shrubs and trees. The four heirloom apples have all come back from the deer feast and should be stable enough to move out of the holding bed to their permanent spots by April. By then, these will be 1 year old grafted trees and will take about 2-3 more years to bear fruit. Because of planting space limitations and my want for many other plantings, I am considering giving 1 or 2 to neighbors so they can still pollinate one another.

With Jen working later than normal this week, I spent some time with the Seed Saver's Yearbook and found a member who offers figs (I cannot believe that there are over 300 varieties listed!!). I will probably get 3-4 fig trees and I finally found an online nursery where I can get 5-6 thorn-less blackberries. Jen and I have also been toying with the idea of building a rather large pergola and if we move in that direction, I would like to plant Reliance Grapes to climb and offer natural shade during the summer. One concern with the grapes are the bees and dropping fruit. As a back-up plan, I am trying to figure out if I could build a grape trellis across the back of my yard but I think I may be getting carried away; I have limited space and I am planning as if I have an acre to work with.

Easy Carrot Cake

2 Cups shredded carrots
2 Cups Sugar
2 Cups Flour
4 Eggs
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp Cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Mix together all the wet ingredients. Mix together all the dry ingredients. Mix together the wet and dry ingredients. Put into a pre-greased 10x10 or 9x13 pan. Cook for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean. While it cooks, make the icing.

8oz Cream Cheese - room temperature
1/2 stick melted butter
1 box confectioners sugar
Vanilla to taste (I use 1/2 tsp)

Cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add sugar little by little until all incorporated and smooth. Add vanilla until taste is right.

Food Harvested:
Tomatoes (mostly Cherries, Italian Market Wonders and Mortgage Lifters

Things Planted:
Peach and Nectarine Pits (Squirrels are loving it)

Seeds Saved:
Black Krim Tomato
Wilson's Sweet Watermelon (again)
Sultan's Golden Crescent Pea

Preserved/Cooked:
Homemade Roasted Red Pepper Ravioli (Locally made cheese)

Things to Remember:
1. Jen mentioned different seed planting for the radishes - like seed tape to space better
2. Begin bottom bed border (4x6s) and build new arbor and gate - need to cut back lilac and level the entry way
3. Moving any established bushes need cooler weather but before the first frost.

Apples Abound

2008-09-16T07:48:00.015-04:00

With apple season starting, Jack and I went to a local pick-your-own farm on Sunday. One of the first apples to pick happened to be my favorite, Honeycrisp. Jack was so excited he could barely contain himself. He needed to sample every piece of fruit he grabbed which left about half the apples we brought home with teethmarks
(which is why applesauce was invented, I suppose). I always assumed that pick-your-own would be cheaper than buying in a store and I guess it is when buying small quantities but excitement overtook us and when Jack and I finished 15 minutes of picking, we filled a bushel. 1 bushel=20lbs x $2.50/lb = $50. In addition to this, we walked over the nectarines and picked 15lbs of some of the largest most delicious nectarines I have ever tasted. All done, we had over 35 lbs of fruit at the low price of $74.

Fearing the apples rotting before we could eat all of them, I decided to make and can apple sauce. Not really knowing what I was doing, I pulled a recipe from my canning book and Charlotte and I started . Next time I think I wont peel and core them as the food mill will take care of removing the skin and pits.

Apple Sauce

Apples - peeled, cored and chopped (about 8-10 lbs)
1/4 cup sugar
4 tsp Cinnamon

With a minimal amount of water, we cooked the apples for 20-30 minutes and then ran them through a food mill. Once we had apple sauce, we added 1/4 cup sugar and 4 tsp Cinnamon and brought back to a boil. After canning and processing, we had about 5 pints and 3 half pints of apple sauce.

Determining the ripeness of watermelons is more magic than science as I am finding out. First melon was underripe due to my over zealousness. Now that I am too cautious, two small melons went ripe and rotted on the vine. In checking the pigtails opposite the melons, they were still green and alive so out goes that trick in determining ripeness. In fear of losing the last large melon, I inspected it with a critical eye and noticed pitting on the rind. The pigtail just started to turn brown but was still mostly green. Although I wasn't sure, I picked to to prevent the pitting from getting worse. As a dessert to the lamb dinner, Jen and I cut the melon and it was ripe!!! Although it was not deep red as expected, it was extremely sweet, so much so that I ate 1/4 of the melon. This leaves me 1 more softball size melon on the vine.

As for garden itself as the fall starts, I finally did manage to build the retaining wall for the upper bed. 6 - 8 foot 4x6's and 16-12"galvanized spikes later with two helpers, the wall was in and the walkway was leveled. Jack and Charlotte took turns with my hammer and drove the spikes in. Jack gave me pointers on how to shovel the dirt and Charlotte ate all the ripe tomatoes she could find. Now, with the top bed done, I need 3 more 4x6s to build the edge of the bottom bed which will have to wait until the tomatoes are done. In addition to this, the old fence and gate broke yesterday so I will need to rebuild that as well.

With a few days of very cool nights and wet days, the tomatoes went into ripening overdrive and the cherry tomatoes started splitting. 3 plants have given up all of their fruit and what fruit is left is still small. The only exception is the cherry tomatoes. They seem to still be as loaded with fruit as they were in the spring. Radishes are beng picked almost daily and the beets are growing well. The golden beets however are still strugglingwth maybe 10% germination.

Slow Braised Lamb Shanks

2 lamb shanks - cut to bone at base of shank
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion
4 celery stalks , rough chopped
4 carrots - unpeeled, rough chopped
1 Tbsp tomato paste ( i used one peeled, seeded garden tomato)
3-4 sprigs rosemary
1 head garlic, top cut off
3-4 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup red wine or sweet wine ( I used sherry)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In either a roasting pan or dutch oven, heat oil until hot. Mix flout, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper and dredge shanks to coat well. Braise shanks in pot/pan on all sides for 3-4 minutes. Remove from pot and set aside. Add onions, celery and carrots. Cook for 2-3 minutes stirring to ensure they don't brown or burn. Add back the shanks settling them in one layer ( if possible). Add chicken stock, wine, garlic, rosemary and tomato paste to cover 3/4 of the lamb. Bring to a boil, stir, cover and place in the oven for 4 hours. Every hour, turn the lamb and ensure there is enough liquid, if needed, add more stock.

Once done, remove lamb to plate and cover with foil to keep hot. strain liquid to remove all veggies, and heat liquid thickening to coat spoon for the gravy. Thickening can be done by blending some veggies or using flour whisking briskly as the liquid is returned to a boil.

I also pick through the veggies to pull out the carrots to serve as the vegetable. They are "stewed" and full of flavor. Serve with garlic mashed potatoes (garlic reserved from the pot).

Food Harvested:
Wilson's Sweet Watermelon
Radishes (red globe and white icicle)
Tomatoes (all types)

Things Planted:
None

Seeds Saved:
Wilson's Sweet Watermelon

Preserved/Cooked:
Canned Apple Sauce
Braised Lamb Shanks (from local farmers market)

Things to Remember:
1. Build new fence and gate into garden area
2. Ready cucmber area for SSE garlic planting
3. Devise way to walk in upper bed
4. Find organic solution to powdery mildew

Fairy Houses at the Beach

2008-09-06T21:01:00.022-04:00

With all of us being on vacation for most of the past week, not much happened in the garden itself. I keep looking and seeing different ideas to rearrange and rebuild the garden but at this point, they will only be ideas. As for the beach, Jen went with the kids a day earlier so I could get a full 24 hours of work on the house done. I managed to paint the living room, build a lattice barrier so the dogs don't cool off in mud and dirt and I re-caulked the bathroom. Now that I write this it does not sound like much but the hours flew by. This was my first night away from the kids since Jen gave birth and one would think that a quiet peaceful night would be welcomed. In actuality, I had a hard time sleeping and come morning I missed the usual AM banter for chocolate milk and "lets play".

There were 11 of us at the beach this year including Jack and Charlotte's cousins; Luke and Noah. Each and every year, the family goes to Lavalette NJ to mark the end of the summer and that was no different. What was different as well as being evident was the ways in which Jen and I have gravitated in terms of lifestyle, choices and children. These differences in Jen and I is what motivates us to go to the farmer's market to buy locally, plant an organic garden, look to conserve and reuse rather than replace. Simple things like composting and recycling on one end to Consensual Living, Co-Sleeping and Attachment Parenting on the other end.

All in all, the kids played every day loving the beach and the water. Charlotte was fascinated with picking up EVERY shell she came across while Jackson just played; digging, running, making sand castles.....If I were asked to sum up the vacation in a sentence or two, I would be Jen helping both kids build fairy houses. This consumed much of an afternoon and that night as well as the next day conversation was around the likely hood o the fairy houses will still be standing and not washed away by the tides. When we packed up on Friday afternoon, the kids were shot and Charlotte slept for the hour ride home. Jackson zoned on nothing and played with new stickers from Maga (Grandma Laura). Come bed time, they were fast asleep within minutes.

Coming back to an unattended garden is fun, exciting and overwhelming all wrapped together. Even though I was only gone for three days, it looked like I never weeded, picked a thing all summer and let the dogs play in middle of the plants. I quickly noted all of the chores I have neglected and immediately remembered all of the projects I wanted to accomplish with my vacation. On the other hand, I picked about 10lbs of ripe tomatoes, Sultan's Peas, and a large stalk of Basil. The cucumber all have died on the vine but the fall planting are doing wonderful. I got my first fist full of radishes and the Chioga Beets are doing well. There are a few very small sprouts for the carrots but the golden beets are non-existent.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

4-6 Red Bell Peppers
1 large White Onion sliced
4 cloves of Garlic - chopped
1 Tbsp Marjoram
2 Tbsp Sweet Paprika
4 cups Chicken Stock
1 cup day old Italian bread, processes to almost bread crumb consistency
Salt and Pepper to taste

Turn oven to 500 degrees and place peppers (whole) on a cookie sheet onto a high rack. Turn peppers frequently. The peppers should become black and burned on all sides. Take out and place onto foil sealed into a pouch or in a container closed loosely for 10-15 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Once cooled, skin, cut, core and clean peppers retaining any juices that are produced.

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Place Onions, garlic and enough olive oil to coast onto a sheet pan. Add Salt, Pepper Paprika and Marjoram and toss to coat. Place in middle of oven for 20-30 minutes, toss often and cook until golden.

In a food processor, place all the peppers and onion mixture with any retained juices (can be done directly in the soup pot if you have a emulsion blender). Pure to a smooth consistency (add a little Chicken Stock if needed). Add 2 cups chicken stock and re-puree, then the next 2 cups. Once all is processed, place in a large soup pot and gently simmer on the stove. Add slat and pepper to taste. Served hot or cold (gazpacho like).

Food Harvested:
Tomatoes - first Yellow Ponderosa's
Radishes, both varieties
Sultan Crescent Peas
Things Planted:
None

Seeds Saved:
None

Preserved/Cooked:
Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Things to Remember:
1. Plant Brussel Sprouts 3 months prior ot the first frost - 24" apart
2. Move tomatoes to higher in the garden - 5 rows of 3 plants per row
3. Plant Garlic in front raised bed
4. Plant Hungarian Pepper as decoration throughout front

The Origami of Baseball

2008-09-02T07:39:00.010-04:00

On an off topic for this blog, I took Jackson to his first baseball game. With the Somerset Patriots minor league stadium only 20 minutes from the house, seats 10 rows behind the 1st base dugout and it being a cool summer night, Jack and I headed out. We usually have to talk things up with him to build the excitement but this was different. We left early, went to dinner and when we drove up to the stadium with complete and total anticipation to watch a "hitter".

The excitement and joy of eating stadium food, buying his first baseball hat from a game and eating popcorn was too much. He enjoyed it too. Once the game started, I realized that he was holding his breath for every pitch and with every hit. In between pitches, he talked about "bad" pitches and "good" hits. He was amazed at the foul balls that left the stadium and wondered why the "hitters" didn't run to first base. At the top of the third inning, an hour past his bed time, he asked if we could go because he was really tired.

Although I did not get a picture, Jack wanted to go to sleep with his hat on. It took him all of three minutes to fall asleep and when we checked on him, his hat was right next to his head. The next morning, he came down in his underwear, shirt (as always) and wearing his new cap. A week later, we are still hearing little references to the game.

Quiting smoking has its definite drawbacks, the constant urges, moods and most of all, the lack of things to do to keep your mind off the fact that you are not smoking - even when you have more projects half started than you know what to do with. Each and every time I quit, my patience seems to disappear for a week or so, I become angry, short and a real ass. The worst part of the this process is the kids who witness my anger and do not understand....and I quit every other week or so which makes it hard on everyone including myself.

To keep my time occupied for this quitting time, I picked up some Origami paper and decided to give it a shot; nothing else to do and it keeps me from pissing off the house. I have always had an interest in it but more like a distant interest such as rebuilding a car engine or becoming a vet...sounds great, looks like fun... Although it may sound a little obscure to others, I am really enjoying it and I want to learn more. In doing some research on the Internet on different patterns, I came across an article on an Origami Master and his website. Looking at his work is inspiring.

Roasted Beet Sandwich

For the beets:

1 bunch beets - sliced about 1/4 inch thick
1 Shallot - chopped
2 Clove garlic - minced
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 Tbsp Rosemary

For the Cheese and Greens:

1 bunch Chard - Stemmed
1 bunch Beet Greens - Stemmed
1 Shallot - chopped
2 Clove garlic - minced
1/2 Tbsp butter
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Load day old Italian Bread

First, Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix the beets, Olive Oil, Rosemary, Garlic and Shallots in a bowl and let sit for 1 hour. Arrange in 1 layer on a baking pan and roast in the oven until soft and tender (about 20 minutes). Rotate and flip as required to ensure all beets are roasting evenly. Once done, pull out and cut beets into strips

While beets are roasting, heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet for about 1 minute. Add all greens and let sit for 2 minutes. Turn all greens as they begin to wilt and allow to cook under medium flame for about 4-5 minutes. Beet greens and chard are generally bitter and the more you cook, he less bitter they become. Once done, remove to a bowl and splash with Balsamic Vinegar turn to coat.

Take goat cheese (room temperature is better) and mix the dill into the cheese. Cut the bread into slices and brush with left over oil from the beets. Place in oven for 1 minute until toasted. To build the sandwiches, spread generously the herb goat cheese, place greens on and place a generous amount of beet pieces. This can be served warm or cold, I prefer warm.

Food Harvested:
Tomatoes
Lemon Cukes

Things Planted:
None

Seeds Saved:
Lemon Cukes
Purple Cherokee Tomato
Black Krim Tomato

Preserved/Cooked:
Canned:
- Yellow Peach Halves
Made:
- Roasted Beet Sandwich with sauteed chard and herb goat cheese
- Flounder baked with shallots and garlic
- Carrot Cake

Things to Remember:
Nothing I can think of today

Not So Ripe....

2008-08-29T08:01:00.012-04:00

Jen and I have been going to the Summit farmers market for a few weeks now and one of my favorite stands brought watermelons this past Sunday. Knowing that I have not the slightest idea on figuring out when mine would be ripe, I decided to ask the stand. It was real interesting to see everyone at the stand shrug then default to the owner. When the question reached him, his initial reaction was a slight chuckle. He did tell me that 90% of the time, the tendril (pigtail) that is opposite of where the melon attaches will start to shrivel and die. When this starts, the melon should be picked within a few days. I was so excited that when I got home my curiosity got the best of me and I cut open the biggest watermelon in the patch...Much to my chagrin, the result was an under ripe, only slighty pinkish flesh. The kids tried a slice despite our warnings and made funny faces before spitting out the whole bite.
I guess I need to have patience with the last two melons.

With the nights uncharacteristically cool through the end of August, some of my tomatoes do not seem as happy as I would like to see them. Jackson and Charlotte seem to not mind as they tramp into the garden with me to pick about 5lbs a day now. Still tops on Charlotte's list is the yellow cherry and although Jack keeps pointing to them all as his favorite, I think if push came to shove, he would side with the yellow cherries as well. Jen has settled on the Marglobe for hers and I can't fault her. It is medium red in color and slightly smaller than a tennis ball.

Most of the radishes have sprouted. The coolness is however working well for the new seedlings. We should be able to start harvesting within the next two to three weeks. As for the beets and carrots, the Chioga have seem to germinate the fastest and closest to 100% whereas the carrots and golden beets still seem to be struggling to germinate. In the spring I was concerned that it was something I had done wrong but now, I am leaning more toward a seed issue. Next year I think I am going to expand my fall plantings to include chard and spinach. Early success here has made me want to plant more and more next fall.

Food Harvested:
All tomato varieties except the Golden Ponderosa
Round 4 of the sultan pea
Unripe watermelon #1

Things Planted:
none

Seeds Saved:
Marglobe Tomato
Purple Cherokee Tomato

Preserved/Cooked:
None

Things to Remember:
1. Next fall, plant more of a fall crop
2. Replace left over carrot and golden beet seeds due to poor germination
3. Teach Charlotte what ripe vs. green tomatoes are
4. Keep away from Orange Queen Tomatoes, although small and pretty, not much flavor for me.
5. Fence off watermelon area from deer.

Tomatoes Galore

2008-08-22T19:57:00.013-04:00

Tomatoes are starting to come in now. Seems that they are about 2-3 weeks behind most other people's plants. I think I need to not winter SOW the seeds but start them indoors in Feb. and let them get some size before I transplant. The plant sizes are now mostly slowing down in growth and topping off at about 7 or 8 feet for most of them. So far, the best tasting tomato has been the Marglobe and Purple Cherokee. The Black Krim was good but a little bland, the black cherries were not as sweet as I would have wished but the yellow cherries are a huge hit with the kids. Although Jen is not much of a fan of Cherries, I will grow them for the kids every year, maybe even two plants. Their appetite for tomatoes is insatiable.

The radishes sprouted (both white icicle and red globe) and I also just noticed the Chioga Beets starting as well. Nothing for the carrots or the golden beets. With the Chioga starting as quickly as they did, I am not so quick to blame myself for doing something wrong. Once the garden starts to finish up, I think I have decided to buy some 4x4's and build up the upper bed to better define the walkway. Eventually I can do the same to the bottom bed and have a fully defined walkway where I can lay weed barrier and nice stone. I have to make sure Sam the Scarecrow is OK with it first though.

Jen and I discovered the Summit Farmer's Market which is 10x better than Scotch Plains and Westfield. There are about 10 vendors including fresh seafood, local beef /lamb/poulty, local cheese and the kids favorite, a pickle vendor. This past Sunday was our second time going and we managed to plan meals relatively well. We ate two local meals where nothing came from out of the state (except butter, sea salt, butter and olive oil). We have been eating a lot of red beets, chard and fresh eggs all from here.

Oven Baked Sea Scallops:

1lb Sea Scallops (about 12-15 scallops)
4 Tbsp melted butter
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 large shallots, chopped
2 pinches ground nutmeg
dash of salt
1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan Cheese (optional)
Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Clean, dry and place scallops in a bowl. Add melted butter, garlic, salt and nutmeg and scallops and mix. Place in baking dish arranging to one layer. In a separate bowl, mix breadcrumbs, cheese (optional) and enough oil to see it START to clump (about 4 Tbsp). Pour evenly over the scallops and place dish in the oven for 45 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are browned.

Food Harvested:
Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes
Lemon Cukes

Things Planted:
Nothing

Preserved/Cooked:
Carrot Cake
String Bean Salad
Local Sea Scallops

Seeds Saved:
Nick's Yellow Cherry Tomato
Black Cherry Tomato

Things to Remember:
1. Use 4x4 to clean up the edges of the garden
2. DO not plant so heavily on the cukes
3. Move the tomatoes to the higher part of the bed
4. Tomatoes need more spacing

Smile

2008-08-13T07:08:00.008-04:00

Today is an office day which has been happening less and less frequently as of lately. With not much time, I want to jot a few things down. First, I am loving Jen's pictures more and more. The tomato reminds me of someone smiling. I have lots more to show but don't have much time to load them right now.

For next year, I have read lots of different ideas with lots of pros and cons. As for layering of newspapers for the purpose of controlling weeds on walkways in the garden, although the ink may now be soy based and the paper made without harmful chemicals, many newspaper companies add a chemical over spray to speed up the ink drying time. Using Straw for the same purpose, you need to make sure the straw was not contaminated with chemicals or treated post growing with pesticides. The more and more I read, the more and more I wonder where all of this is going. Now even the organic growers are hesitant to call be state recognized as organic with the extreme price of certification and for me, organic is losing meaning with the governments ever expanding definitions on what is classified as organic.

Food Harvested:
Cherry Tomatoes
One Marglobe Tomato

Things Planted:
None

Preserved/Cooked:
Summit Market Tomato Seeds fermenting
Set aside Lemon Cukes and Black Beauty Zuch to preserve seeds.

Things to Remember:
1. Move all trellis to a different area and plant less seeds
2. Build 4x4 borders to keep things neat

Scarecrow Sam

2008-08-10T08:04:00.011-04:00

With Jen wanting a clothes line for the last few years and no real place to put a temporary one, I finally went to Home Depot for the 4x4's and pulleys for a permanent one. Charlotte and I spent about an hour getting different things and when we got home, Jack came running to the gate to tell me that I had to go pick something in the garden. To my surprise, Jack led me by the hand and introduced me to Sam the Firefighting Scarecrow. I think he will be a recurring permanent fixture in the garden. I particularly like the fire boots, fire hat, pearls and silver necklaces. He however did scare the bejesus out of me when later I was digging, bumped into him as I caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of my eye; I really though it was someone in the garden with me!!

Tomatoes are starting to come in. Got our first Marglobe which the kids promptly split for lunch and a Black Krim. The Cherry Tomatoes are starting to come in regularly and Jen decided to try her hand at photography.....Next Year I want to try some different staking methods without cages. The cages became too much and were way too small. Most of the plants especially the Black Cherry and Nick's Yellow Cherry are approaching 8 feet tall and the Mortgage Lifter and Italian Market Wonder need much more support as they are prolific producers so far.

Fall planting from my understanding should happen about 6 weeks prior to the first frost. Since that would be now, I returned that upper half of the garden, flattened out the rows, removed all weeds and planted more like a square foot gardening method. I replanted the rest of the Icicle Radishes, heirloom carrots, golden beets as well as picking up chioga beets and organic red globe radishes. This will be my first attempt at fall cropping and square foot gardening methods so we'll see.

Last weekend Jen was not feeling great again. She decided to man-up and we took the kids peach picking. It is the beginning of the season in NJ so the only peaches ready were donut peaches. These are small but packed with flavor. Jack and Charlotte managed to pick just over 10 lbs in less than 30 minutes. Since they were not 100% ripe, into a paper bag they went for 2 days. The end result, I am sick of peaches but I managed to cook a peach pie that Jen and the kids loved.

Peach Pie

Pie Dough - enough for a top and bottom
5 cups skinned and sliced peaches
2 Tblsn Lemon Juice
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tblsn butter

In a bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Toss the peaches with the lemon juice to coat then with the dry ingredients. Turn into a pie crust. Break butter into bits placing on top. Cover with second pie crust and place little slits to allow steam to escape. Place into a 450 deg. preheated oven for 10 minutes then reduce heat to 350. Cook for 40-45 minutes or until bubbling. Let cool completely before serving.

New format for me stealing some ideas from other blogs I follow. To help me when I go back to older posts and as a reminder:

Food Harvested:
Cherry Tomatoes, Sultan Beans, Last of the Squash

Things Planted:
Golden Beets, Chioga Beets, Icicle Radishes, Red Globe Radishes, St Viceroy Carrots

Things Preserved/Cooked:
Peach Pie

Seeds Saved:
Yellow Yarrow, Harbinger Peas

Things to Remember:
1. Thinning of all things is required. I did not believe in this in the spring and I got very few small carrots, radishes and beets.
2. Prepare for larger tomato plants than your 3 foot cages will support.
3. Weed, Weed, Weed. Letting it go will allow it to overtake your garden
4. Start seeds for Toms and Peppers earlier - like January indoors.

One Tomato, Two Tomato, Three Tomato, Four

2008-08-03T07:35:00.020-04:00

This past week we had a good amount of rain and many of the tomatoes were not doing well. All of the cages are 3-4 foot tall and most of the plants are starting to top 6 feet tall. Their weight and the small cages meant I had to make a trip to Home Depot to get stakes and spend an hour taming all of the bent and broken branches. There are still a few places I need to re-stake. I did however manage to get the seasons first four cherry tomatoes. 2 Black Cherry and 2 Yellow Cherry. Jen ate all 4 and the yellows seem to be her preference to this point. In the next week or so, there will be easily close to 50 tomatoes ready. For next year, I will definitely need more space and taller, more sturdy cages. Specifically, Mortgage Lifter, Black Cherry, Yellow Cherry, Black Krim, Italian Market Wonder, Marglobe and Violet Miclado all will need 6 foot cages.

The cukes are really starting to produce, I am getting about 3 or 4 picking cukes every other day now and the lemon cukes are just starting to take off. My only problem is that there are slicing varieties in there that are growing but not producing. I guess time will tell. As for the watermelons, I now officially have 4 small ones. One about the size of a quarter, one a golf ball, one a baseball and one a softball. I guess I need to figure out how long to let them grow, when will the be ripe, how to pick them.....I guess I have a few weeks yet to figure this all out.

Planting will start again this week. I need to clear much of the grass from the rows that are no longer producing and I am going to take a different approach for fall planting. I will try to no-till and use a version of the square foot planting method. I have not really decided on anything as of yet so all is subject to change. I am going to replant some more beets, carrots and radishes for the fall. The grass continues to be a problem and although I may be only keeping it at bay and not solving the issue, I am fine with that at this point. Most of the suggestions given have involved chemicals and pretty aggressive containment methods none of which I am comfortable with.

Last Wed was the talk at the library for Slow Food. Margret Noon was the speaker and although the format and presentation was not that great, the topic was intoxicating. I never thought I would call myself someone who cared where his food came from. To me as a kid, a garden was fun and the food it produced was no more than a bonus to what you get from a store. The more and more we read about eating local, being conscious of where your food is from and the benefits of local eating to your local farms, community and more so yourself, I think we we sold ourselves before we got there and decided that will end up becoming members of the North New Jersey Chapter.

Fun Canning

2008-07-27T09:54:00.012-04:00

Jen has finally backed down to 20mg of Prednisone but her symptoms are coming back. On top of that, the side effects of the meds are not being too nice. It feels like we are right back to where we were 5 weeks ago.

We ended up back at the Hillview Farms for round three of blueberry picking. With Jen not feeling well and me on a mission to have enough berries to can, we were focused and determined and in the end, successful. It is truly amazing how much blueberries kids can eat!

Trip #1: 5 lbs
Trip #2: 7.5lbs
Trip #3: 6.5lbs

After some time reading and waiting for the mason jars, I finally decided to try making my own blueberry preserves. It took more time than I realized but all said and done, we now have 10 1/2 pints of hopefully tasty preserves. Not having all of the right utensils, I made do with two large soup pots for the water bath. I first started with one but the recipe I used yielded more jars than would fit in one water bath.

Blueberry Preserves
(makes 1-8oz jar for every cup of berries)

10 Cups fresh blueberries
5 cups Sugar

Mix blueberries and sugar in a large stainless steel pot and let sit for 15-20 minutes. Slowly bring to a rolling boil stirring constantly. After 15 minutes, turn heat off and use a chilled spoon to check gelling. If OK, then can, if not, boil another 5 minutes.

Watermelon plants are starting to take off. It is hard to see if there are any small watermelons yet and I suspect rabbits are ensuring there are none. Zucchinis are still growing too quickly to pick or use. It is amazing to me because there is only 2 plants.

Its Not Really About the Carrots....

2008-07-22T19:09:00.015-04:00

I tried carrots and beets for the first time and I did not have great germination. The carrots are heirloom from France and the beets are golden. Reading on a few different news groups I was happy to read that Golden Beets generally germinate poorly....that made me happy....isn't that sad?

As for the carrots, I companion planted with white icicle radishes and I think in my want to have too much, I never thinned any of its resulting in poor carrot germination and too many radishes that had all lead growth and little root development. From what I can understand, overcrowding and not thinning creates competition for light so they put their energy into reaching for the sky and not in their roots.

As a result, I have few carrots and what I do have I needed to thin. So I decided to pull one hoping that would be enough. I know it wont but I can hope for now. To my surprise, I feel like I just birthed a 9 ton rhino....I grew an orange carrot....too small to do anything with but it looks like a carrot!!!

String Bean and Red Onion Salad

3 lbs String Beans
1 red onion halved, sliced thin
Olive Oil to coat
2 Tbsn Rosemary

Blanch the string beans in salted boiling water for no more than 3 minutes. Drain, add thinly sliced onions, olive oil and rosemary. Toss well to coat. Refrigerate until dinner.

Cuke are still doing well and I finally got a lemon cuke. These are about 2x the size of a golf ball and look like a pale lemon. They are tasty though. Jen and I ate one and there are two more ready to go

After some time, I finally picked up the stuff needed for canning. I am excited and being sort of dorky about it. I bought the Ball Book of Canning and the Joy of Pickling. I am going to try my hand at pickles and blueberry preserves. We did this once before but is was a half cocked try about 7 years ago with raspberries but it didn't turn out too good. Hopefully this go around will be different.

It has been so hot here this week and with Jen still feeling the same, out came as many indoor things to do as we could manage. We have had many babysitters over the last two weeks and anything creative is welcome. Jen finally got her MRI results and they were all clear (thank goodness!!) but there still is no answer to the dizziness. Hopefully as she comes off the Prednisone, it will gradually improve.

Flight of the Bumblebee

2008-07-18T19:36:00.016-04:00

With Dr Cohn calling on Jen's cell phone, I had to take work calls from outside to make sure I had signal strength. The two Chaste Trees are in the midst of blooming and looking closely, there are thousands and thousands of large bumblebees. I was completely in awe. Jen signed up for the The Great Sunflower this spring which counts the number of honey bees so I was interested how many were here......I could not find any....there were well over 100 bumblebees before I started to lose count. It was pretty cool to watch though.....a little nerve racking to get close enough with my digital camera though.

Last few days have been a blur, Jen is still the same and Dr Cohn ordered a brain MRI with no contrast yesterday. After calling 4 places, we had three appointments one of which was the same day. Laura came to babysit so I could go and while in the waiting room, the MRI machine broke. So today we went at 11:15, got the films, drove them over to Dr Cohn and by 3:30, had semi good news. With his untrained eye, his interpretation was that there was nothing out of the ordinary, abnormal or anything grabbing his attention. He will wait until Tuesday's report shows up form the Radiologist, but he seemed to have a good sense and feeling: all clear. Jen's blood work was normal as well....at least the absolute worst is ruled out but still no answers.

After the kids went to sleep, I headed out to the garden. With all the crap lately, I have not spent much time out there. Jen picked two zucchini well over 24 inches, I found two more and inspecting them tonight, I will have three more in the next few days. The squash do not set as much fruit but they grow just as quick.

After watering everything and rooting around, I noticed that there were a huge number of Sultan Peas ripe. I have only picked one or two to date but today I got a good bowl full and left plenty on the vine. The vine itself is well over 7 feet tall as it is starting to come back down the far side. These are sweet and the vines are fun. Now I have to actually cook them :)

The cukes are growing just as crazy but so far I only have picking cukes. Jack doesn't mind as he ate 4 for dinner last night. i just ordered picking stuff and mason jars so hopefully I can try my hand at pickles by next week. I still have not seen any lemon or slicing cukes and I feel like I should have

Just a closing picture of Jen and Charlotte walking up the blueberries. Last Saturday was about 5.5lbs that lasted until Tuesday. We went back on Wed at lunchtime and picked another 7.5lbs. I promised Jen that we would grow our own blueberry patch one day.

Blueberry Picking

2008-07-13T09:40:00.020-04:00

Well, yesterday was blueberry picking. We tried a new place much closer to home, Hillview Farms in Gillette. With Jen still feeling the same, I was hoping being so close to home would make it easier. Didn't start out too well as Jen felt pretty bad but by the time we got there, her medicine kicked in.

We picked up our baskets and walk across the street to the "bobbing heads". Sounded a little funny. We walked through some planted rows (about an acre's worth) and I was completely amazed, 6'-7' tall blueberry bushes, rows and rows....each row probably 500' long.

Although there was complete excitement on Jack and Charlotte's part, there was a calm that sort of came over us, a distinct mission at hand. Charlotte ate every berry that she picked over the hour or so of picking, Jack needed to fill up his pail entirely by taking mine, Jen had the determination and patience to pick only the very ripest, roundest and largest of the millions of berries around us and I was just plain happy, something about being outside picking right from the bush has had more and more of a draw for me than ever before.

I am probably going to register for Margret Noon's library talk on Slow Food.org. I did quite a bit of research and is seems to be focused on local, sustainability, etc... concepts that I am feeling more and more strongly about. There is so much to know, so much out there, and even with what Jen and I already know, I feel like we are in the dark.

The garden overall is going well. the Sultan Beans are now ripe and I picked the first few, the picking cukes are now starting as well, 3-4 every other day. No Slicing or lemon cukes though. Zuc's and Squash have take off and I now need to figure out how to freeze, store, cook more than I care to admit. Knowing that there would be a lot per plant, I only planted two of each but it seems these 4 plants are producing more than any other plant I have ever had or seen.

Tomatoes are growing well. As are the beets. I picked my first beet and I now think I can pick all of them as I wish. Since these are root crops, I will leave them in the ground until I am ready to use them. I am thinking about a recipe that Cheryl mentioned, Roasted Fennel and Beets. Sounds good.....need to try that. There are many more green tomatoes but none turning. My only problem is one of the Black cherry plants next to the house is skyrocketing in size to almost 7', wilting and I had to stake it today.

Cooking Chard

2008-07-07T21:53:00.002-04:00

Jen is sick today again with her vertigo, babysitter until 1:30, me and the kids the rest of the day. Although I wish I could help Jen more than I am, I am excited to have so much alone time with the kids. Today was a hard day, I was short and not too understanding but I think I managed.

This is the second week with picking up Tiffany and Sandy's CSA share. Seems mostly green and 600 per year seems like a lot up front so I want to see what they get each week. This week was Dill, Parsley, Basil, Rainbow Chard, Lettuce, Cukes, Squash, etc...

Never using Chard before, I tried a quick recipe and it was great!

Sauteed Chard

3 Cloves Chopped Garlic
2 Tbspn Olive Oil
1 Tbspn Butter
Chard, de-ribbed, cut into 1" ribbons

With butter and Oil heated, saute garlic for 2-3 minutes. Add chard into an even layer and let sit for 4 minutes. Turn over and let sit for 4 minutes. Mix and cook for another 4 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Garden is growing quick after 3 days of rain, especially the watermelon and cukes. I picked 4 or 5 pickling cukes but have not seen any of the other two varieties. There are about 10-15 new green tomatoes and several large Zucs. The watermelon is growing up to 1 foot a day now.

Rainy Day

2008-07-05T17:12:00.002-04:00

Trying to quit smoking for the 100th time this year. Jen is still a little sick and it is raining out so just had a frustrating morning. Ended up in the garage with both Jack and Charlotte starting to refinish a coffee table so Jen can have it double as a sand tray for her work.

Sometimes it is amazing to me, just losing focus on the crap of the day while doing something you enjoy with your kids can fill up your cup. Jack and I sanded with 6o grit to remove all the old finish. Sort of detailed work because the legs are all turned but it ended up being fun

Charlotte is not as into things like that, her patience is not too long. She joined us for a few minutes then went off to play with the bikes, then back to us, then with the dogs, then back t0 us, then with the cat......she is so Jen.

As for the garden, the first tomato is getting bigger everyday but it is split in the bottom. I am waiting to see if it heals itself or if I need to take it off. I hope it will be fine. Other than that, I have 6 little Black Cherry tomatoes and all the other plants now have flowers.

The Sultan Peas are just starting to come out and I have about 100 cucumber flowers with 3 or 4 really small cucumbers. I have picked about 5 or 6 zucchini and one yellow squash

I am starting to look into a pickle recipe and I am thinking about blueberry picking every day now....blueberries are in season and I cannot wait for the kids to turn blue....

2008-07-01T08:44:00.000-04:00

Went for a quick walk through the garden this morning. Seems that the Black Beauty Zucchini and the Squash plants are much, much larger than any other squash I have planted before. Next year, I need to give them much more space.

Peppers also need to be started indoors much earlier, they are not a big as they should be and still no flowers. Hopefully soon.

As I have posted on both GardenWeb and SeedSavers forums, I need to think about a different way of gardening. I have too much grass growing up through everything and it is starting to take over many of the beds. Lasagna type of layering with a no-till option may be the way to go. Need to do some more research.

The Sultan beans have hundreds of beautiful flowers and the vines are well over 6' now. Should not be too much longer until we have some beans. Since these are heirloom and not offered much, I may try to save some seeds for next year if they are good.

2008-06-29T20:35:00.000-04:00

Today I noticed my first tomato. I have been trying to give it a go at an organic garden and at the request of my family, I am starting to take the time to write things down. I feel a little strange starting with a blog but at least I am typing something.

Back to the tomato. Overall, I have 14 tomato plants none of which are the same variety. My first tomato is on the Mortgage Lifter and it has me excited.

Later as I took my camera outside to take pictures of all my plants, I noticed some very small maters on the Black Cherry as well. As fo the rest of the garden, I have Golden Cresent Beans, pickling/lemon/slicing cucumbers, Harbinger Peas, zucchini, yellow squash, 4 types of bell peppers, golden beats, mesculin salad, heirloom broc, watermelon, 4 heirloom apples trees and spinach.

Spinach went to seed as it got too hot to quick....did not turn out too well. Salad was wonderful but with the heat, the eating was short lived. My kids are loving the peas and the cukes/toms/beans are a few days away from being ready. Squash and Zuc were picked for the first time yesterday.

Kids are asleep, Jennifer is being creative....enough for now...