I did some garden chores today...mixed my latest batch of bokashi into 3 of the self watering containers. I was set to do this Christmas Eve, but it rained, so I had to wait for a reasonably nice day and today was it. I'm down to having one large SWC to put compost in, and I think that will be ready to go in a month or so. Before I need them, definitely.
Project Garlic apears to be doing FINE. I peeked under the mulch and there are still happy looking garlic leaves poking up! I was pretty hopeful when I went and found the SWCs nota giant frozen solid mass. The boxes of mesculun I have outside the bedroom window also look reasonably well, and they are at a bigger risk for freezing, I think. yet they are still growing (very slowly) and look pretty good. If we get and nasty storms, I'll pull them inside, but they may be ready for greens in March.
Today's plan is to plot out when I need to start seeds. And finish out my seed orders. I've gotten catalogs from Burpee, Cook's Garden (a gorgeous one this year!) and Seeds of Change. I am likely NOT going to order from Burpee, but I will order from Cook's and I need to flip through Seeds of Change (the garlic came from there) The plan is to get my orders out by mid January so I am ready to roll in March. I'm not ordering much this time, since I have a lot left over from last year that I can use again.
I've been steadily using up what I out up last summer too. Today it was Jersey blueberries in the pancakes. YUM. I've been amazed by how good the produce I froze last summer tastes....as much of a pain as it was blanching and bagging, I think it was definitely worth the effort to do it. I may go and invest in a Food Saver for next summer since that is supposed to help save freezer space--I don't have much! I will probably venture into canning this summer too...I definitely want to put up some tomatoes, maybe make sauce and salsa for winter...
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Bokashi
I think in fall of 2006--it was shortly after I joined the Yahoo Edible Container List, at any rate, that I started to feel a little funny about the amount of stuff I was putting into the trash, and I quietly wished I had room to compost. I live on the second floor of a house--I rent, so setting up some big project in the yard was out of the question. It didn't occur to me that I COULD pull this off until the Bokashi system was mentioned on the Yahoo list.
This things works PERFECTLY in an apartment enviroment. It is meant for scraps and stuff, but I do put some of my garden waste in to it too. It uses a 5 gallon bucket that you dump your scraps in (and you can even put meat scraps into it, and paper towels, tea bags, all that sort of stuff) and then add a handful of wheat bran that is impregnanted with microbes. Once your bucket is full, you sprinkle in some more wheat bran and keep the bucket closed for 2 weeks (or longer.)
After 2 weeks you have scraps that are pickled. They don't smell GREAT--very vinegary--but its not horrible either. What you are supposed to do at this point is go dig a hole and bury the contents of the bucket, and then wait another 2 weeks and plant away. What I do is dump the bucket into a 55 gallon trash bin, and cover it with dirt from old pots, or bury some directly into the bigger containers I use or tomatoes. I can testify that in 2 weeks, stuff you bury in a trash bin will turn into nice compost. You do want to cut up stuff, because bigger chunks (corn cobs, avacado pits...ask me how I know) don't break down so quickly. Sometimes you get white fluffy mold in the bucket...that's OK.
While the bucket is initially composting, it makes a liquid you can use as plant food, or just dump down the drain. You're supposed to drain the liquid off every 48 hours...I don't do that so often.
You can probably make your own Bokashi buckets--or you can buy them. You can also buy the bran or if you're really hardcore and have space, you can make your own. Arbico Organics has the buckets and bran, but I will warn you, the bran can take WEEKS to arrive so don't wait until you're nearly out to order it. I have 2 buckets which works well for me--it takes me about a month to fill one. I'm emptying one this weekend, actually.
This is a really excellent explanation of how the system works My bucket lives under my kitchen sink, and you'd never know it was there. I use the liquid that come soff the bucket as plant food, as I mentioned--its about 240 ml (4 ounces) to 2 gallons of water. That stuff does smell a little, but it dissipates quickly.
So, the upshot-if you live in an apartment, you can still recycle your organic stuff pretty easily and in a way your landlord won't even know you're doing!
This things works PERFECTLY in an apartment enviroment. It is meant for scraps and stuff, but I do put some of my garden waste in to it too. It uses a 5 gallon bucket that you dump your scraps in (and you can even put meat scraps into it, and paper towels, tea bags, all that sort of stuff) and then add a handful of wheat bran that is impregnanted with microbes. Once your bucket is full, you sprinkle in some more wheat bran and keep the bucket closed for 2 weeks (or longer.)
After 2 weeks you have scraps that are pickled. They don't smell GREAT--very vinegary--but its not horrible either. What you are supposed to do at this point is go dig a hole and bury the contents of the bucket, and then wait another 2 weeks and plant away. What I do is dump the bucket into a 55 gallon trash bin, and cover it with dirt from old pots, or bury some directly into the bigger containers I use or tomatoes. I can testify that in 2 weeks, stuff you bury in a trash bin will turn into nice compost. You do want to cut up stuff, because bigger chunks (corn cobs, avacado pits...ask me how I know) don't break down so quickly. Sometimes you get white fluffy mold in the bucket...that's OK.
While the bucket is initially composting, it makes a liquid you can use as plant food, or just dump down the drain. You're supposed to drain the liquid off every 48 hours...I don't do that so often.
You can probably make your own Bokashi buckets--or you can buy them. You can also buy the bran or if you're really hardcore and have space, you can make your own. Arbico Organics has the buckets and bran, but I will warn you, the bran can take WEEKS to arrive so don't wait until you're nearly out to order it. I have 2 buckets which works well for me--it takes me about a month to fill one. I'm emptying one this weekend, actually.
This is a really excellent explanation of how the system works My bucket lives under my kitchen sink, and you'd never know it was there. I use the liquid that come soff the bucket as plant food, as I mentioned--its about 240 ml (4 ounces) to 2 gallons of water. That stuff does smell a little, but it dissipates quickly.
So, the upshot-if you live in an apartment, you can still recycle your organic stuff pretty easily and in a way your landlord won't even know you're doing!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
This week's bread
Last night/this morning I made wheat bread. I love love love waking up to the smells of baking bread at 5 am! This recipe also comes form the Bread Machine Cookbook. I also recommend NOT using the whole wheat setting if your machine has one, as this gives a longer rise time, and if you're me, you end up with a giant loaf that almost escapes the bread maker!
1 cup water
1/4 cup butter
1 egg (optional--I used it)
2 Tbs sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cup bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
1 1/2 tsp yeast
This is nice and light and really good. I ended with a loaf with a giant muffin top that I had to cut off to store the bread. I'll probably cut this up and use it at dinners.
1 cup water
1/4 cup butter
1 egg (optional--I used it)
2 Tbs sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cup bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
1 1/2 tsp yeast
This is nice and light and really good. I ended with a loaf with a giant muffin top that I had to cut off to store the bread. I'll probably cut this up and use it at dinners.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Plotting and Planning
This weekend brought the season's first nor'easter. It was pretty much over by noon on Sunday here, and was mostly wind and rain. I dealt with it by making my final garden plans for 2008--heck, soon it will be time to start seeds, right?
So, here is what I grew last season, that I plan on repeating:
Leaf lettuce/mesculun
Carrots
Beets
Radishes
Snap peas
Blue/yellow peas
Green/yellow/purple beans
Bell peppers
Cucumbers
Sungold cherry tomato
Sweet 100 cherry tomato
Lemondrop cherry tomato
Watermelon(Sugar Baby)
India Paint Eggplant
Nasturtiums
Plants that are still in pots inside include catnip, anise mint, pineapple mint, chocolate mint, peppermint, and Kentucky Colonel mint (that I may be losing to aphids), chives, parsley, summerlong basil and strawberries. They will go back outside when it warms up again.
What I want to try this year:
Garlic (planted already, and hopefully still ok)
Hot peppers
Spaghetti Squash
Zuchinni
Soy Beans (I like edemame)
Head Lettuce
Large tomato variety--Rutgers
Paste/sauce tomato--New Jersey Giant
Swiss Chard- Rainbow/Bright lights (I have no idea if I like to eat chard or not...I probably will like it, but it is GORGEOUS to look at!)
I am planning on ordering the eggplant as plants from Cook's Garden, and I will order my hot peppers as plants from The Chile Woman. I have not dealt with Chile Woman yet, but she has a zillion kinds of peppers and she was recommended on the edible container group.
I am ordering seed for the spaghetti squash, zuchinni (Black Beauty), soy, and tomatoes from Baker Creek Seeds. A friend introduced me to this catalog and I find their prices really good for seed, and I like their philosophy. The catalog is a stunner, too. They have ALL KINDS of heirloom plants. If this batch of stuff works out, I may try some other things from them in 2009.
I'll need to build some more self watering boxes for the tomatoes, since I only have 4 for tomatoes bow, and it looks like I want to grow 5 tomato plants.
So, here is what I grew last season, that I plan on repeating:
Leaf lettuce/mesculun
Carrots
Beets
Radishes
Snap peas
Blue/yellow peas
Green/yellow/purple beans
Bell peppers
Cucumbers
Sungold cherry tomato
Sweet 100 cherry tomato
Lemondrop cherry tomato
Watermelon(Sugar Baby)
India Paint Eggplant
Nasturtiums
Plants that are still in pots inside include catnip, anise mint, pineapple mint, chocolate mint, peppermint, and Kentucky Colonel mint (that I may be losing to aphids), chives, parsley, summerlong basil and strawberries. They will go back outside when it warms up again.
What I want to try this year:
Garlic (planted already, and hopefully still ok)
Hot peppers
Spaghetti Squash
Zuchinni
Soy Beans (I like edemame)
Head Lettuce
Large tomato variety--Rutgers
Paste/sauce tomato--New Jersey Giant
Swiss Chard- Rainbow/Bright lights (I have no idea if I like to eat chard or not...I probably will like it, but it is GORGEOUS to look at!)
I am planning on ordering the eggplant as plants from Cook's Garden, and I will order my hot peppers as plants from The Chile Woman. I have not dealt with Chile Woman yet, but she has a zillion kinds of peppers and she was recommended on the edible container group.
I am ordering seed for the spaghetti squash, zuchinni (Black Beauty), soy, and tomatoes from Baker Creek Seeds. A friend introduced me to this catalog and I find their prices really good for seed, and I like their philosophy. The catalog is a stunner, too. They have ALL KINDS of heirloom plants. If this batch of stuff works out, I may try some other things from them in 2009.
I'll need to build some more self watering boxes for the tomatoes, since I only have 4 for tomatoes bow, and it looks like I want to grow 5 tomato plants.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
This week's bread
Since it is winter, there is not much to talk about, but I also feel I need to keep posting to keep the ball rolling on this blog. I have a few things I DO want to discuss in greater detail, but I need time to really write those up. So, instead what I though I would do is share a bread recipe each week.
I make bread every week, usually on Monday. I have a bread machine and I love it, so these are all bread machine recipes. I try to make a different bread each week because I like variety. Most of my recipes come from a 1991 cook book called The Bread Machine Cookbook by Donna Rathmell German. That is where this one comes from. It is for Rye Bread:
Medium Loaf--put ingredients in order into your bread machine, or use order specified by manufacturer.
1 cup 2 Tbs water
1 Tbs Vegetable oil
1 1/2 Tbs Honey
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp caraway seeds
1 cup Rye flour
1 3/4 cup bread flour
3 Tbs nonfat dry milk
1 1/2 tsp yeast
This is supposed to be a New York style rye. Its close but not really quite there. I think it might be different if I rolled this out at the end of the dough cycle and made a real loaf out of it, but I'm not sure--the texture is not quite right for "real" rye bread to me.
Anyway. Enjoy.
I make bread every week, usually on Monday. I have a bread machine and I love it, so these are all bread machine recipes. I try to make a different bread each week because I like variety. Most of my recipes come from a 1991 cook book called The Bread Machine Cookbook by Donna Rathmell German. That is where this one comes from. It is for Rye Bread:
Medium Loaf--put ingredients in order into your bread machine, or use order specified by manufacturer.
1 cup 2 Tbs water
1 Tbs Vegetable oil
1 1/2 Tbs Honey
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp caraway seeds
1 cup Rye flour
1 3/4 cup bread flour
3 Tbs nonfat dry milk
1 1/2 tsp yeast
This is supposed to be a New York style rye. Its close but not really quite there. I think it might be different if I rolled this out at the end of the dough cycle and made a real loaf out of it, but I'm not sure--the texture is not quite right for "real" rye bread to me.
Anyway. Enjoy.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Good Timing
...I guess...we got our first real snow today. i did not bring my greens boxes in (I got distracted before leaving for the night) and they are pretty pissed off looking salad greens on my window sill. I also think that my garlic boxes froze--at least the top of the soil is hard. Maybe the roots are OK. Its out of my hands right now!
One of tomorrow's projects will be to put all my seeds away in the freezer until March when I get planting again. Next up will be inventorying what I have and ordering what I need based on my garden plans. Then I need to build more boxes and start the cycle again.
I think next year I am going to try to keep things rolling indoors (greens at least) but I need to research that....
One of tomorrow's projects will be to put all my seeds away in the freezer until March when I get planting again. Next up will be inventorying what I have and ordering what I need based on my garden plans. Then I need to build more boxes and start the cycle again.
I think next year I am going to try to keep things rolling indoors (greens at least) but I need to research that....
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Welcome to December
I finally put my garden to bed today. Well, mostly....I plan on putting some compost into the big boxes once its ready, and that is likey to be around Christmas. I compost household stuff with a couple of Bokashi buckets. It works pretty well. I'll have to write about it later this winter.
The garlic still appears to be doing well! I really hope it doesn't freeze. I packed more leaves around them today since it is going to freezing tonight AND we may have snow. I should probably bring my salad greens in too, though they have toughed out a frost we had already.
Even though it is winter, I have started to plan next year's garden. I started my tomatoes in March last year. If I'd been thinking ahead, I would have started some tomatoes inside for the winter--I am lucky in that I have a sunroom that gets decent light year round. That experiment will need to wait until next fall!
Last year I grew:
Eggplant
Bell pepper
carrots
Basil
Chives
Mint (several varieties)
Salad greens
Beets
Striped tomatoes (did not work out well)
Cherry tomatoes (lemondrop, sungold, and sweet 100...all fabulous)
Nasturtiums
Watermelon
Peas
Cucumbers
beans in three colors!
A lot of this is in my freezer at the moment.
What I want to add in/change:
A large tomato variety
Soybeans (I found seeds and I want to make edemame)
Hot peppers
Spaghetti squash
zuchinni
head lettuce
garlic (in progress)
I think this means Iw ill need to build a few more large self watering boxes. I made a bunch last spring for my tomatoes, and they were a definite improvement over what I had been doing before--I could get away with watering tomatoes oevery other day in the hottest part of summer as opposed to 3 times a day. I used (and modified) instructions found here to create my self watering containers. They were pretty easy once I got rolling. I did not use PCV pipes, but a black flexible pipe that I got at Home Depot for like $4 for 10 feet. That made a lot of boxes. I use segments of hose for my fill tubes. I may change that.
I hang out on a great Yahoo list about growing veggies in containers, called ediblecontainergardens so I will share that now. It is really nice--lots of VERY helpful and fun folks, and it is one of the better organized Internet lists I have been on--the files section is a great index to the discussions!
More later as I decide what I need to order as seed....
The garlic still appears to be doing well! I really hope it doesn't freeze. I packed more leaves around them today since it is going to freezing tonight AND we may have snow. I should probably bring my salad greens in too, though they have toughed out a frost we had already.
Even though it is winter, I have started to plan next year's garden. I started my tomatoes in March last year. If I'd been thinking ahead, I would have started some tomatoes inside for the winter--I am lucky in that I have a sunroom that gets decent light year round. That experiment will need to wait until next fall!
Last year I grew:
Eggplant
Bell pepper
carrots
Basil
Chives
Mint (several varieties)
Salad greens
Beets
Striped tomatoes (did not work out well)
Cherry tomatoes (lemondrop, sungold, and sweet 100...all fabulous)
Nasturtiums
Watermelon
Peas
Cucumbers
beans in three colors!
A lot of this is in my freezer at the moment.
What I want to add in/change:
A large tomato variety
Soybeans (I found seeds and I want to make edemame)
Hot peppers
Spaghetti squash
zuchinni
head lettuce
garlic (in progress)
I think this means Iw ill need to build a few more large self watering boxes. I made a bunch last spring for my tomatoes, and they were a definite improvement over what I had been doing before--I could get away with watering tomatoes oevery other day in the hottest part of summer as opposed to 3 times a day. I used (and modified) instructions found here to create my self watering containers. They were pretty easy once I got rolling. I did not use PCV pipes, but a black flexible pipe that I got at Home Depot for like $4 for 10 feet. That made a lot of boxes. I use segments of hose for my fill tubes. I may change that.
I hang out on a great Yahoo list about growing veggies in containers, called ediblecontainergardens so I will share that now. It is really nice--lots of VERY helpful and fun folks, and it is one of the better organized Internet lists I have been on--the files section is a great index to the discussions!
More later as I decide what I need to order as seed....
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving!
I wanted to wish anyone reading a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you celebrate in whatever way makes you happy. I will be sharing dinner with my SO's family, and I am bringing homemade bread. Nothing in it is locally sourced (yet, no one seems to mill flour here) but it is made by ME!
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Well, this is exciting
I've been despairing a bit of late over The Garlic Experiment. We had frost one night about 10 days after I got the garlic in, and I wasn't sure if my protective fort for the garlic worked or not. I haven't found sprouts yet and I know it should sprout and grow a little before the cold really sets in. Of course, my work schedule also doesn't give me a lot of daylight to check, either.
Well, there are TWO sprouted right now! And my little bunker has proven to be a spot where leaves get hung up as they blow off trees, so no the garlic planters are mulched with leaves as has been recommended. I think I planted 8 cloves, and while 2 out of 8 isn't a great yield, it will likely be plenty for me and maybe more will pop up before we get a hard frost.
Well, there are TWO sprouted right now! And my little bunker has proven to be a spot where leaves get hung up as they blow off trees, so no the garlic planters are mulched with leaves as has been recommended. I think I planted 8 cloves, and while 2 out of 8 isn't a great yield, it will likely be plenty for me and maybe more will pop up before we get a hard frost.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
High Praise to Bobolink Farms!
Sorry to have been away--not much has been going on, so I haven't had much to say. I originally planned to wait and post about this product until I actually had it, but I just had the best customer service experience in some time!
I stumbled across Vernon NJ's Bobolink Farm several weeks ago and signed up for their mailing list. They are a small farm that makes cheese and occasionally has pork, beef and veal available. I got an email advising that beef and pork were available about a week ago...and just listen to this email, doesn't it sound awesome:
"100% Grass-fed Beef Details:
Most feedlot beef is harvested at 18 months, when the animal's growth curve begins to flatten out. Regrettably, much of the grass-fed beef on the market is also "baby beef", lacking the depth of flavor and marbling that a mature animal attains.
This steer, a Jersey-Brown Swiss cross, was 42 months old, and never took anything except his mother's milk, fresh grass, dry hay and salt. The meat is well marbled, with sunny, grassy-yellow fat that informs of a true 100% grass diet and a well-lived life.
The two filets were donated to the Autism Speaks benefit dinner in NYC last month, so there are no porterhouse or t-bone steaks. but we do have rib, loin shell, and loin sirloin steaks, as well as rib roast, cross-rib roast, chuck roast, bottom round, top sirloin and eye round roasts, as well as ground beef, stew beef, etc.
Whey-fed Pork Details
These piggies were born in March, and spent the spring, summer and fall grazing weeds, digging up grubs, drinking Bobolink's cheese whey, eating stale Bobolink bread, bulk levain starter, tablescraps, etc. This year's pigs are cross-bred Old Spot,Tamworth, Large Black and Berkshires, all old British breeds. Tamworth is actually a Bronze Age breed, the same pigs that Julius Caesar discovered in his conquest of Britian. The meat is well marbled, moist, tender, sweet, and delicious!"
I did click the link to look at what was available when I got the mail, and decided that I would order some hamburger, steaks and pork chops later. That was a mistake since when I went back less than 24 hours later there was almost nothing left! So, I did order 5 pounds of burger, and a cheese sample, and next time something is ready I will order immediately.
They only ship on Monday and Tuesday so I was expecting my order this week with the idea that I would make some Sussex County based chili with my tomatoes from the summer...however the order hasn't arrived yet. I checked the tracking today and saw that the cheese has shipped (cheese and meat ship seperately) and I figured I'd call today to find out what happened to my cow.
Well, I didn't have to because this afternoon I got a call from Bobolink Farm! I think I spoke to John, I'm not 100% sure...but they ended up selling that steer in 36 hours and pretty much got overwhelmed, so he was apologetic and made sure it was OK to ship it out this coming Monday to arrive Tuesday. I assured him this was OK...but REALLY, how often do you get this sort of service? Right--you don't! Another reason to go local!
Bobolink Farm also sells cheeses at Farmer's Markets or their Farm Store, and they offer Farm Tours as well...I think once the spring arrives I'll go for a visit and see how they run.
The cheese did arrive today-the sampler I got has 4 varieties. I did snitch a little of the cheddar, and it is creamy and good, and not super sharp. I bet it will be awesome with some bread. And I'll let you know how that chili turns out next week!
I stumbled across Vernon NJ's Bobolink Farm several weeks ago and signed up for their mailing list. They are a small farm that makes cheese and occasionally has pork, beef and veal available. I got an email advising that beef and pork were available about a week ago...and just listen to this email, doesn't it sound awesome:
"100% Grass-fed Beef Details:
Most feedlot beef is harvested at 18 months, when the animal's growth curve begins to flatten out. Regrettably, much of the grass-fed beef on the market is also "baby beef", lacking the depth of flavor and marbling that a mature animal attains.
This steer, a Jersey-Brown Swiss cross, was 42 months old, and never took anything except his mother's milk, fresh grass, dry hay and salt. The meat is well marbled, with sunny, grassy-yellow fat that informs of a true 100% grass diet and a well-lived life.
The two filets were donated to the Autism Speaks benefit dinner in NYC last month, so there are no porterhouse or t-bone steaks. but we do have rib, loin shell, and loin sirloin steaks, as well as rib roast, cross-rib roast, chuck roast, bottom round, top sirloin and eye round roasts, as well as ground beef, stew beef, etc.
Whey-fed Pork Details
These piggies were born in March, and spent the spring, summer and fall grazing weeds, digging up grubs, drinking Bobolink's cheese whey, eating stale Bobolink bread, bulk levain starter, tablescraps, etc. This year's pigs are cross-bred Old Spot,Tamworth, Large Black and Berkshires, all old British breeds. Tamworth is actually a Bronze Age breed, the same pigs that Julius Caesar discovered in his conquest of Britian. The meat is well marbled, moist, tender, sweet, and delicious!"
I did click the link to look at what was available when I got the mail, and decided that I would order some hamburger, steaks and pork chops later. That was a mistake since when I went back less than 24 hours later there was almost nothing left! So, I did order 5 pounds of burger, and a cheese sample, and next time something is ready I will order immediately.
They only ship on Monday and Tuesday so I was expecting my order this week with the idea that I would make some Sussex County based chili with my tomatoes from the summer...however the order hasn't arrived yet. I checked the tracking today and saw that the cheese has shipped (cheese and meat ship seperately) and I figured I'd call today to find out what happened to my cow.
Well, I didn't have to because this afternoon I got a call from Bobolink Farm! I think I spoke to John, I'm not 100% sure...but they ended up selling that steer in 36 hours and pretty much got overwhelmed, so he was apologetic and made sure it was OK to ship it out this coming Monday to arrive Tuesday. I assured him this was OK...but REALLY, how often do you get this sort of service? Right--you don't! Another reason to go local!
Bobolink Farm also sells cheeses at Farmer's Markets or their Farm Store, and they offer Farm Tours as well...I think once the spring arrives I'll go for a visit and see how they run.
The cheese did arrive today-the sampler I got has 4 varieties. I did snitch a little of the cheddar, and it is creamy and good, and not super sharp. I bet it will be awesome with some bread. And I'll let you know how that chili turns out next week!
Monday, October 29, 2007
Garlic and Winter whining
The garlic was planted on Sunday--I photos, but they are not very interesting, so I will spare you. I also took down most of my garden since fall is apparently here. I garden on the rooftop outside my window (I live in a second story apartment) so everything I do is in containers. You need to mulch garlic to convince it to survive the winter. I am hoping that by tucking my garlic boxes within the protective confines of a fort built by my big tomato boxes this will help insulate them. We'll see. If I had a porch that got sun but no heat, I'd try that, but I don't have such a thing.
I didn't have time to truck out to Abma's today so I had to hit the Stop N Shop. I think I have successfully weaned myself off the prepackaged vegetation, but it is frustrating not knowing where stuff comes from...so I spent time looking at labels on the milk and whatnot and picking out things that were at least distributed close by. I suspect this doesn't mean much.
I am beginning to think that winter was not such a great time to get more serious about local feeding. I had all summer, and while I did do some, I didn't do enough. I started to hit my freezer today to help solve the issue, and once my chicken stock thaws (I make stock whenever I make a whole chicken, and this one was definitely a Purdue) I'll be making a soup of roasted garlic and eggplant....the garlic was locally grown, and the eggplant is from my own garden, so that will be better.
I think I will aim for one meal a week that is mostly local for the winter, and try not to stress out over it in the meanwhile. I can get off the supermarket habit when the alternatives are available again...and next summer I will get boatloads of strawberries to enjoy now!
I didn't have time to truck out to Abma's today so I had to hit the Stop N Shop. I think I have successfully weaned myself off the prepackaged vegetation, but it is frustrating not knowing where stuff comes from...so I spent time looking at labels on the milk and whatnot and picking out things that were at least distributed close by. I suspect this doesn't mean much.
I am beginning to think that winter was not such a great time to get more serious about local feeding. I had all summer, and while I did do some, I didn't do enough. I started to hit my freezer today to help solve the issue, and once my chicken stock thaws (I make stock whenever I make a whole chicken, and this one was definitely a Purdue) I'll be making a soup of roasted garlic and eggplant....the garlic was locally grown, and the eggplant is from my own garden, so that will be better.
I think I will aim for one meal a week that is mostly local for the winter, and try not to stress out over it in the meanwhile. I can get off the supermarket habit when the alternatives are available again...and next summer I will get boatloads of strawberries to enjoy now!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Garlic's here!
My garlic bulbs arrived yesterday! They are lovely. My plan is to plant these on Sunday since it is dark AND rainy right now, and I will be busy after work the next two nights, as well as AWOL on Saturday. So Sunday is garlic planting day! I'll make a photo essay out of it.
In the meantime, enjoy these garlic growing links I found while researching this project:
The Garlic Store on How To Grow Garlic
Gardenwebs Contianer Gardening Forum
Enjoy!
In the meantime, enjoy these garlic growing links I found while researching this project:
The Garlic Store on How To Grow Garlic
Gardenwebs Contianer Gardening Forum
Enjoy!
Monday, October 22, 2007
Grocery frustrations
Today, in between various other errands, I had to go buy food. I am sort of fortunate that there are a lot of farmer's markets in the area (though they are winding down now) but I also have a nutso work schedule that doesn't allow me to get to them. Like, weekends are a huge problem for me. But my fridge was mostly bare, and although I have a bunch of things from the garden, I did not have leaf lettuce that was quite ready yet. I ended up driving out to Abma's Farm in Bergan county. Its probably a 12 mile trip or so, and yeah, I wrestled with the whole do I drive 12 miles or go to the Stop N Shop, and I decided that it was better for me to drive 12 miles.
Abma's Farm is a big place, and they have a little farm store where they sell their own produce, as well as stuff from other places. They can tell you immediately WHERE everything comes from, so its OK to ask. They do put "Freshly picked" signs over everything they actually grow. They also have chickens so the eggs and poultry are from the farm. They had a freaking ton of tomatoes, but I am out of freezer space for sauces and have not gone adventuring into canning just yet (maybe next year) I ended up with lettuce, eggs, broccoli, radishes (my radishes this fall are a miserable failure for some reason) and I got NY state apples because I absolutely needed some fruit.
I then got home and harvested what was left of my carrots. Dinner tonight will be some of those with roasted beets and greens (also from the garden) and chicken breast with basil. The chicken breast I got earlier this year at a farmer's market from Hoboken Farms...unfortunately, Hoboken Farms gets their meat from a "USDA facility" meaning that the chicken could be from anywhere. Well, I can't waste it, and its still a dinner mostly from the garden.
I'll blather on about this later, after I've thought more on it (yes, I should have been more organized in starting this project!) but one of the things about the 100 mile diet idea is that it is very flexible, and you can make your own exceptions for things that you can't find locally and can't live without. Spices usually fall in this area. For me, I am looking for locally farmed meat (beef, pork, etc...I am a fairly enthusiastic carnivore even if I don't eat meat every day) and milk and I would LOVE to find a mill for flour (I do bake my own bread) but these seem hard/elusive so far....
Abma's Farm is a big place, and they have a little farm store where they sell their own produce, as well as stuff from other places. They can tell you immediately WHERE everything comes from, so its OK to ask. They do put "Freshly picked" signs over everything they actually grow. They also have chickens so the eggs and poultry are from the farm. They had a freaking ton of tomatoes, but I am out of freezer space for sauces and have not gone adventuring into canning just yet (maybe next year) I ended up with lettuce, eggs, broccoli, radishes (my radishes this fall are a miserable failure for some reason) and I got NY state apples because I absolutely needed some fruit.
I then got home and harvested what was left of my carrots. Dinner tonight will be some of those with roasted beets and greens (also from the garden) and chicken breast with basil. The chicken breast I got earlier this year at a farmer's market from Hoboken Farms...unfortunately, Hoboken Farms gets their meat from a "USDA facility" meaning that the chicken could be from anywhere. Well, I can't waste it, and its still a dinner mostly from the garden.
I'll blather on about this later, after I've thought more on it (yes, I should have been more organized in starting this project!) but one of the things about the 100 mile diet idea is that it is very flexible, and you can make your own exceptions for things that you can't find locally and can't live without. Spices usually fall in this area. For me, I am looking for locally farmed meat (beef, pork, etc...I am a fairly enthusiastic carnivore even if I don't eat meat every day) and milk and I would LOVE to find a mill for flour (I do bake my own bread) but these seem hard/elusive so far....
Friday, October 19, 2007
The current experiment
This year I am going to try and keep my garden rollng as close to year round as possible. I've got salad greens outside the bedroom window, and the last of the main garden is still kicking out tomatoes.
Its also the right time to plant garlic, so I am giving that a whirl. I bought some hardneck garlic cloves from Seeds of Change. Supposedly this type does better in a cooler climate. Hopefully I won't end up with rotten cloves in the dirt, and there will be nice garlic greens this spring.
Its also the right time to plant garlic, so I am giving that a whirl. I bought some hardneck garlic cloves from Seeds of Change. Supposedly this type does better in a cooler climate. Hopefully I won't end up with rotten cloves in the dirt, and there will be nice garlic greens this spring.
The First Post
Greetings to anyone who has stumbled across this blog. I really hope it will become a useful resource for me and anyone else participating.
I've been an on and off gardener for years, and in the summer of 2006 I decided that since I had a new home with decent sunlight, I would give some container gardening a whirl again. Simple stuff. I had moderate success, and then discovered a really nice Yahoo group on container vegetable gardening and got all fired up. The result was not so much a garden as it was a small farm.
I live in the NYC/NJ metro area. I can see the haze of Newark's sodium lights from where I live, and the NYC skyline is not far a way. My second floor apartmenthas a lot of roofspace outside my windows, and this is where my garden is. Happily, my landlord was more amused than furious.
The Yahoo group does tend to be a bit more oriented to social issues than I expected, so from there I was exposed the concepts of the 100 mile diet, reasons to eat locally grown food, and how to preserve what was coming out of the garden. The combination of the recent food safety scares, an apparent yearning to be a farmchick, and a familial tendency to minor levels of revolt and anarchy made me look into this more closely, and while I found a LOT to be had at the many local farmer's markets, I still find myself more reliant on supermarkets than I think I want to be. So I went back to the web, as surely there must be a community of locavores in this area who share secrets on where to get things like locally raised milk or other dairy products...and there doesn't seem to be one. I finally decided I would take it upon myself to start such a resource. Later this weekend I'll publish a list of links I have found useful, and I would like to encourage anyone reading to share what I have missed.
I don't think I am going to get into a lot of politics here, but I do want to talk about gardening and food, share what is working for me on the rooftop, discuss the best ways to keep the garden's bounty over the winter (I am freaking psyched by the sheer number of cherry tomatoes in my freezer) and all that. I dip around in ultra amateur photography too, so be prepared to put up with pictures of eggplant and the like.
So please share out the URL and come be chatty.
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