Preparing the Garden for 2013

Well we have been insanely busy down here in the Maketewah Valley.  This year my boyfriend and I are working at 3 different garden spots in the neighborhood, with help from some friends too!  It's been rather tough working full time, and spending every free hour of sunlight digging and turning beds!  I’m worn out, but the big projects are done!  Here is a brief overview on what we’ve been doing…..

One of gardens is in a friend’s yard down the block, just a big grassy backyard; perfect for bigger plants that need more water (easy access to a hose).  We dug a few beds out last year, but this year we made them larger and used the cut strips of sod to build up a natural border.  Added compost and leaf mold so they are ready! 

The border will be nice so we can keep building up that soil.  The two long beds in the back grew our corn, beans, gourds and amaranth last summer; but this year I’m trying tobacco! More about that later :)  The huge bed adjacent to the tobacco beds will be full of peppers and okra.  We threw some peas in for now; they should be about done by the time the peppers are going in.

At our house we are starting lots of seeds. 

Everything is doing great!  We have a small hoop house for starting seeds and storing tools.  We set up a heater a couple nights last month when the temperature dropped below freezing, but for the most part the hoop house stayed warm enough.

Here is a look inside….

We put our seedlings in tubs with glass or plastic bags over them to keep everything warm and moist.   Now that the temperature is rising, we remove the covers in the morning otherwise the seedlings will get fried. 

We used these old metal storage containers to hold planters and then wrapped a large trash bag around them at night.

My boyfriend started some basil in these 2 liter bottles.  Just cut them in half, add water and a cotton “wick” and plant.  Seem to be working out so far, and you don’t have to worry about watering.

For this large, floating tobacco tray we just set up scrap wood barriers with glass and plastic on top.; which worked perfectly for starting greens.

Our compost piles....

We have been having beautiful weather here, so we took this opportunity to turn our compost piles.  We have two big piles and two small ones, so we started with the bigger pile.  Fork it up, then turned the adjacent pile into the first pile.  Once we got all the stuff that was still decomposing turned into the first pile; we collected the pure, worm filled compost in plastic tubs and trash cans.

The plan is to let the compost dry out in these tubs over the summer.  The tubs and trash cans are pretty deep so we will have to mix them up so the compost dries evenly.  Drying the compost makes it easier to work with.  Rather than adding a handful of compost mush to your soil, you’re adding dry compost mulch that easily forks into the soil and spreads evenly.

We covered the tubs in plastic bags to keep the rain out, and we will go from there this summer.  We turned the smaller compost piles onto the large pile.  Now we have one huge pile that is close to being done.  The chickens get to scratch around in this pile; turning it up, eating bugs and pooping all over making our compost into gold!  We throw our food scraps in the smaller piles, layering it with yard waste and old hay from the chicken coop.  Another benefit of having our compost organized in various stages of decomposition is that we don’t have to worry about the chickens eating things they shouldn’t out of the food scraps, like egg shells and avocado skins.  Dirty work, but the plants will thank us later!

Winter rye was planted all over last fall as a cover crop. So we turned it all over and added leaf mold and compost to prepare those beds. Took a bit of work, but the soil looks beautiful and ready to go. 

We also rolled all the plastic off our hoop houses, so the garden is ready for spring and summer.  Currently we have peas, onions, greens and lettuces planted.  The fruit trees are blooming, all our perennial herbs are coming back and the seedlings are growing strong.  This year looks very promising! 

 

               

Saving Tomato Seeds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saving tomatoes seeds is easy.  In the past I have just scooped out seed and let them dry and had no major problems.  However the seeds stick together and can easily mold.  So this method below involves fermenting and guarantees that your seeds will be clean and disease free.

 

I like to start saving seeds right after I pick the tomatoes and I’m about to cook with them.  Cut the tomato in half and simply scoop out the seeds into a cup labeled with the tomato variety. 

 

Fill the seed cup half way full of water and wrap plastic over the top. I reused a plastic bag from plastic plates or cups. Poke holes in the plastic for air flow and sit the cup on a windowsill.

 

 

 

Stir the seeds a couple times over the next 3 days. You will see a layer of scum on top of the water and your seed will be on the bottom. Scrape the scum off and strain your seeds out. I used my plastic wrap to strain the seeds then let them air dry on top.

 

 

 

 

 

Once they are completely dried put them in a paper packet and don’t forget to label with the tomato variety and date (we’ve made a few mistakes not labeling correctly!).

Peasant Bread with Fennel and Sea Salt Crust

 

I’ve recently become obsessed with rubbing fennel seeds all over my breads.  I would have never come up with this idea on my own.  A local bakery, Blue Oven, makes amazing breads filled with seeds and herbs, including fennel.  And luckily we have huge fennel plants all over the garden.  This is a picture of one plant flowering, with my boyfriend behind it so you can see how big it is! 

 

 

 

I adapted a recipe from an old bread machine cook book, called Peasant Bread.  I guess because it’s so simple and always turns out pretty good. 

 

First mix:

1 cup bread flour
1 cup white flour
1 ¼ tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp yeast
1 cup water

                                                                             Knead dough for 10 minutes.

Take a baking sheet and sprinkle around your mix of herbs, seeds and sea salt.  Try different combination; for this bread I used fennel, sea salt, dried basil, flax and dill seeds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stretch your dough out slightly into loaf shape, then rub the surface with olive oil and roll it through the seasoning mix.  Let rise for an hour or until it doubles in size.

 

 

Cook at 400° for 20 minutes or so, until golden brown.  I just cooked it on the same baking sheet for a flatter loaf, but use a bread pan for a sandwich loaf.

Chunky Ketchup Sauce

 

I’ve wanted to make ketchup for awhile now and we have so many cherry tomatoes!  We put them in everything; salads, pizzas, sandwiches, wraps, eggs, bread and we still can’t keep up with the garden!  So I went out and collected every ripe cherry tomato we had (mostly Peacevine Cherrys, which have been awesome!), plus all the Casady's Follys.  Also known as psychedelic tomatoes, and while they look beautiful; they just don’t have that juicy, flavorful bite that I love in tomatoes.  But I figured they would still be good in ketchup!

 

I used this recipe as my base, changing it slightly by adding more spices and sugar instead of agave since I didn’t have any.  This ketchup is amazing!  It’s not the super sugary, corn syrup filled ketchup we are used to in the US.  It reminds me of the ketchup in Europe, a more naturally sweet tomato sauce, only it’s chunky because you leave the skins on.  They soften up enough while cooking them, adding extra flavor, texture and nutrients!

 

I learned a good rule of thumb the other day for measuring produce.  1 pound equals 3 medium apples.  I figured I had a little over 2 pounds of tomatoes.  I pulled the stems off the tomatoes and sliced the bigger ones into chucks.  I threw them all in a pan, added enough olive oil to coat them and roasted them until they were tender.

 

I put them through a food processor, blending till smooth and returning the mixture back to the pan. I added:

1 tbsp white sugar

4 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp brown sugar

5 cloves garlic chopped finely

1 tbsp or so dried basil

1 tbsp or so dried oregano

1 tbsp cayenne pepper powder

1 tbsp turmeric

1 tsp cinnamon

Sea salt and pepper

Then cook the sauce over medium heat for half an hour or so, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens up to the consistency you like.  Put it in a Mason jar and store in your refrigerator.  I assume you could process it too, just like you would pasta sauce, but I knew this batch wouldn’t last long enough to need that!

 

 

 

 

With all the work of making homemade ketchup I had to make some fries to go with it.  Making your own fries is so easy, it just takes a while.  I just slice up a couple potatoes into fry shape.  Throw them in a bowl and coat with oil.  Then add spices… I like to add sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne pepper.  My boyfriend is from Maryland, so he always adds Old Bay spices, and here in Cincinnati we add Grippos bbq spice… there are many ways to spice up fries. 

 

Toss your potatoes in the oil and spices, spread them on a baking tray and cook at 400° until they are crispy and golden brown, flipping them occasionally.  When I first went vegetarian I ate way too many fries!  But when you make them yourself with fresh ketchup from the garden, they’re not soo bad :)

Cotton

Growing Cotton

While looking through seed catalogs last winter I stumbled upon a cotton section in the Southern Exposure catalog.  I had never thought about growing cotton before, but as a hard core crafter I really wanted to try it out.  I bought a pack Red Foliated White Cotton; I got 18 plants out of the 20 seeds!  I started the seeds in small trays.  They quickly sprouted up and outgrew the trays. 

This is the size they were when I transplanted them outside in early May. I read that may people plant cotton in groups of 3. As a sort of experiment I put 3 plants in a pot and left them in the hoop house for the spring and summer. This proved to not be so great, because the cotton did not flower and produce as well. I moved the pot outside several weeks ago though and they started to look better.

 

The other 15 plants were planted in the ground at a neighbor’s house. One thing I never realized about cotton is that the flowers are beautiful! Unfortunately I didn’t take a picture early enough, but soon after they reach this height, large white flowers open up, and then they turned a dark red.

 

 

After the flowers finish blooming, this big alien looking bulbs grows. At this stage the plants started drooping a bit from the weight of the bulbs. I tied the groups of 3 plants together with a stake in one side to give them some support. I didn’t want a single precious branch to break!

 

 

Towards the end of the summer the bulb dries up, and opens to reveal puffs of cotton! With my tiny plot of cotton, I am able to collect pods here and there once they open to this level.

 

 

 

Now for the harvest

There were 5 puffs of cotton in each pod, and 5 to 6 seeds in each puff. So I pulled the cotton out and separated all the seeds with my fingers.

 

 

 

This how much cotton I got from only 2 pods, plus I now have about 50 seeds, and 2 really cool looking pod husks (not sure what I will do with them yet!). And there are many more pods that should open up in the next few weeks.

 

I still haven’t decided what I will do with my cotton either. I can’t think of much use for cotton balls, I thought maybe q-tips. I’d like to try spinning it into thread, better yet fabric, but thread seems a bit more doable this year. I’ve been trying to figure out how to make a spinner, so check back soon for more information on that!

Refrigerator Dill Pickles

It’s been a couple weeks since my first try at making pickles and we had 2 more monster cucumbers ready to go.  So I decided to try a slightly more complex pickle recipe from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. 

First I rinsed and rubbed the little spikes off the cucumbers, then sliced and quartered them.   I threw a few Mini Red Bell Peppers and Thai Hot Peppers in too.  I cut the peppers in half, mainly just so I could save those precious seeds! I put all the veggies in a big plastic bowl and set it aside.

I added 2 cups of water, 2 cups white vinegar, 3 tbsp pickling salt, ¼ cup sugar and 2 tbsp pickling mix in a stainless steel pot.  I bought a traditional old world pickling spice from a spice shop, but here is a recipe that's pretty standard.  I brought this mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally until the sugar and salt dissolved.  Then cover the pot and boil for an additional 10 minutes.

 

I poured this liquid over my veggies, covered it with a plastic bag (the recipe recommended wax paper, but I was out of it) and let it sit until it cooled to room temperature.

 

 

 

While cooling I sterilized 4 pint size mason jars and lids by washing them with soap and then boiling in water for a few minutes.  I added about a tbsp of vinegar to the water, because I read somewhere along the way that this helps keep the jars from getting cloudy.  I think it worked!  In each jar I added: 1 ½ tsp dill seeds plus a few dried dill flower heads from the garden, 1 tsp mustard seed, ¼ tsp pepper corns and a large garlic clove chopped in big chunks. 

Once the veggies cooled, I stuffed them into the jars and filled with the pickling mixture leaving ½ inch of space at the top of the jar.  I put the lids on and put them in the refrigerator.  Now we have to wait 3 weeks and the pickles should be good for at least 3 months.  I love pickles!  And my house smells amazing right now form all those spices!

Drying Herbs

Many of our herbs are starting to flower. I wanted to start drying bunches so we can use them all winter long.  Today I harvested a few different types: spicy globe basil, purple shisho, greek oregano, summer savory and some of our hopi red dye amaranth that was knocked over by our gourds!  First I washed all the leaves as best as I could (except for the amaranth, it’s too fragile) and let them dry off.

For hardier herbs like oregano, savory, rosemary, etc you can simply air dry them out of direct sunlight.  Just gather them in bunches from the stems, tie together and hang.  I always have lots of dust, dirt and animal hair in my house so I prefer to be safe and put a brown paper bag around the herb bunches.  I took some scrap fabric strips and tied the herb bunches tightly together. 

 

Then I placed the herbs in brown paper bags, cut a small hole in the bag and inserted the fabric strips through the hole. 

I tied the strips tightly around the outside of the bag, and tied an additional loop with the excess fabric so I could hang the bag. 

Worked out pretty well!  I hung them under a shelf that doesn’t get much sun.

For herbs with delicate, soft leaves like basils or mints you have to dry them quickly.  So you can use a dehydrator, which I do not have, or your oven.  I just spread my basil and shisho out on a cookie sheet, turned my oven to the lowest setting, and checked on the herbs frequently, flipping them over here and there.  It took about 3 hours until they were completely dried.  Then I pulled the leaves off the stems and stored them in air tight containers out of sunlight.

Harvesting Radish Seeds

Yesterday my boyfriends and I spent the day making art and harvesting radish seeds.  We let about a quarter of our radishes go to seed, but I had no idea how many seeds would come off of one little radish!  I also didn’t realize you can eat the little pods that are produced, at least when they are younger and tenderer.  So I will have to try that with the next planting! 

We ended up mixing the seeds from our 2 varieties of radishes, but oh well, they are both small radishes.  Easter Egg Radish, which look like little round eggs, and Cincinnati Market Radish, which we had to try being from Cincinnati and all!  Plus they are long carrot shaped, which was pretty interesting looking and great for pickling. 

Here is what the pods looked like still on the branches.  Basically we just pulled all the pods off and then started breaking them open.  They have a strange foamy texture and break apart really easy with little mess.  So saving radish seeds is super easy!  And now we have enough seed to plant a whole radish forest!  Hopefully we can get a good fall crop in once the weather cools down a little.