Friday, September 23, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Strawberries
Because I have no self-control, and because I shop like I am feeding a family of 14, I bought a flat of strawberries at the farmer's market. So, a month or two ago, after dragging home said flat of strawberries, I was left to decide between letting them rot in the refrigerator and writing my thesis, or doing something much more fun and finding something interesting to do with the strawberries. The strawberries won.
After finding a recipe for sugar-free strawberry preserves in the Ball Book (I think), I went to work. I hulled and washed the strawberries, then boiled them half to death while mashing them a bit. It did feel the littlest bit tragic going from this
to this
Next I dissolved a bit of sweetener and gelatin (resuspended in lemon juice; have to do something if you're not using sugar...) in the hot strawberries, boiled that a bit longer, and spooned the mix into small 2 oz. or 4 oz. jelly jars. They cooled overnight at room temp., then went into the fridge. The book said they can be stored in the fridge for about a month, but so far they are still fine and taste mighty delicious. The gelatin does give the preserves a very bizarre texture, but it tastes very fresh (even with all the boiling), so it's hard to care too much.
After finding a recipe for sugar-free strawberry preserves in the Ball Book (I think), I went to work. I hulled and washed the strawberries, then boiled them half to death while mashing them a bit. It did feel the littlest bit tragic going from this
to this
Next I dissolved a bit of sweetener and gelatin (resuspended in lemon juice; have to do something if you're not using sugar...) in the hot strawberries, boiled that a bit longer, and spooned the mix into small 2 oz. or 4 oz. jelly jars. They cooled overnight at room temp., then went into the fridge. The book said they can be stored in the fridge for about a month, but so far they are still fine and taste mighty delicious. The gelatin does give the preserves a very bizarre texture, but it tastes very fresh (even with all the boiling), so it's hard to care too much.
Garlic
E and I mostly ignored our garlic this year. Apart from adding a top-layer of compost earlier this year, we really haven't done anything (even failing to water through the drought). We were thrilled, then, to find that despite our total neglect, our plants produced scapes in mid-May. We promptly snapped them off and brought them home, where they languished in the fridge for a few weeks.
The garlic scapes eventually made their way to garlic scape pesto. After a quick glance here for the recipe I found a reminder to myself to make roasted scape pesto, so tried that with a small portion of the scapes. I was worried it would taste like dried grass, but instead it's almost chocolatey. I think I still prefer the sharper taste of the raw pesto, but the roasted stuff (on the left below) is very good.
As instructed by various instructions written by garlic farmers, we continued to ignore our plants for the next month or so. We expected to harvest the garlic in August, but our plants started to die around May; the hardnecks were mostly dry by mid-June, and the softnecks gave up the ghost by early July. In accordance with the growers' directions, we pulled up the plants when they were mostly dead - still with a few green leaves left - and lo and behold, we had garlic bulbs! Really, this shouldn't be so amazing, but I am constantly impressed when things "work". Admittedly our garlic is very shrimpy, and we could have done much more with watering and weeding, but for next to no effort, we're definitely happy with what we got.
The garlic is curing away under our back porch. In another week (after about 3-4 weeks of drying total), we'll bring it in, clean it up, and store it in our makeshift root cellar.
I'm afraid I have mostly confused which bunch of garlic is which cultivar (I'm so embarrassed by this fact I can't begin to explain why I am revealing it), but I might be able to figure it out.... This is what I remember (so far):
- I harvested three rows on one day, then two rows on another.
- The first three rows harvested were two hardneck (Music and Fireball!) and one softneck (Inchelium Red!).
- The second two rows harvested were all softneck (German Red and Italian Purple!)
- The second row of hardneck had more purple in the bulb than the first (Fireball!).
- There are two bunches or more of each of the three cultivars harvested the first day.
- There is one bunch each of the two cultivars harvested the second day.
- The second batch of harvested garlic is hung under the porch farthest from the house.
Now to draw my little logic chart...
Clearly we need to repeat this experiment in order to clearly compare the different types of garlic. Unfortunately, like potatoes, garlic has to be on a three year rotation. Mumsy and Paw, we are coming for your space!
Next in this bed: bush beans.
The garlic scapes eventually made their way to garlic scape pesto. After a quick glance here for the recipe I found a reminder to myself to make roasted scape pesto, so tried that with a small portion of the scapes. I was worried it would taste like dried grass, but instead it's almost chocolatey. I think I still prefer the sharper taste of the raw pesto, but the roasted stuff (on the left below) is very good.
As instructed by various instructions written by garlic farmers, we continued to ignore our plants for the next month or so. We expected to harvest the garlic in August, but our plants started to die around May; the hardnecks were mostly dry by mid-June, and the softnecks gave up the ghost by early July. In accordance with the growers' directions, we pulled up the plants when they were mostly dead - still with a few green leaves left - and lo and behold, we had garlic bulbs! Really, this shouldn't be so amazing, but I am constantly impressed when things "work". Admittedly our garlic is very shrimpy, and we could have done much more with watering and weeding, but for next to no effort, we're definitely happy with what we got.
The garlic is curing away under our back porch. In another week (after about 3-4 weeks of drying total), we'll bring it in, clean it up, and store it in our makeshift root cellar.
I'm afraid I have mostly confused which bunch of garlic is which cultivar (I'm so embarrassed by this fact I can't begin to explain why I am revealing it), but I might be able to figure it out.... This is what I remember (so far):
- I harvested three rows on one day, then two rows on another.
- The first three rows harvested were two hardneck (Music and Fireball!) and one softneck (Inchelium Red!).
- The second two rows harvested were all softneck (German Red and Italian Purple!)
- The second row of hardneck had more purple in the bulb than the first (Fireball!).
- There are two bunches or more of each of the three cultivars harvested the first day.
- There is one bunch each of the two cultivars harvested the second day.
- The second batch of harvested garlic is hung under the porch farthest from the house.
Now to draw my little logic chart...
Clearly we need to repeat this experiment in order to clearly compare the different types of garlic. Unfortunately, like potatoes, garlic has to be on a three year rotation. Mumsy and Paw, we are coming for your space!
Next in this bed: bush beans.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Chicken care for Mom and Lex (Thanks guys!)
As requested, your chicken care photos and information:
WARNING: DO NOT SHUT THE KITCHEN DOOR OR YOU WILL LOCK YOURSELF OUT.
The chickens need to have food and water checked twice while we're gone. Ideally that would be Tuesday and Friday, but whatever works for you guys... It's best if you can check them out while it's still light out.
The side of the coop is held on with two wing nuts. When I take it off, I usually just lean it up against the frame of the coop and the chickies are discouraged from coming out. (If they do come out - which would be unusual, try to snatch them up from above, rather than from the side. Either way you do it, you might have some chasing ahead of you... They will come back at dusk, worst case scenario.)
The waterer is on the left, held on by two carabiners (to keep it level), and the feeder is on the right. The feeder has a removable top that needs to stay on to prevent the chickens from standing on their food. More food is in the right metal trashcan on the porch. (There is scratch in the trashcan on the left if you'd like to give them some treats. You can just toss it in through the top of the fence. For a super special treat, which would be great, there are bags of hamburger and hotdog rolls in a big black trashbag in the kitchen. You can open up the door on the run or toss them into the run through the coop. A whole bag at once is fine.)
The waterer can get filled from the kitchen sink (a little gross, I know). The top of the waterer twists off and has a not-so-fancy closure (shown in the second picture). I usually hold the waterer down with my foot to put the top back on. But! Whatever you do, don't put your foot 90˚ counterclockwise to the closure thing or your foot will get splashed. (It's usually best to close it up outside.) The waterer is a bit rusty, so it's good if you can rinse out the container prior to filling it back up.
Eggs usually end up in the right corner of the coop closest to the gate (although the idiot Chairman can't get with the game, and seems to drop them almost anywhere). Luckily our chickens aren't broody and there is rarely one actually sitting on the eggs. If there is, just shoo her away -- none of them will peck you, so no worries there. Feel free to keep any eggs you find, or you can put them in a carton and stick them in the fridge.
Other things:
- There are plants in the middle room that probably won't need to get watered but it would be nice if you would peek at them.
- There are seedlings in the basement that will need to get watered. They are on a shelf toward the back of the basement on the right.
- There are transplants in the backyard (on top of the chicken run) that may or may not need to get watered.
- The cats' food is in the basement on the shelf above their bowls (when you walk down the stairs and turn right it will be right in front of you).
- There is water for the cats all over the house: next to the couch (by the kitchen), in the bathroom, and in the basement. I doubt you'll need to fill it up, but I'm sure they'd like it if you freshened it. Then again, none of us are picky.
- If you have time to pet a Pete it would be wonderful. Pet a Garden Cat at your own risk.
- I have held the mail, but there might be a package or two on the porch.
Thanks a million times over for everything!
WARNING: DO NOT SHUT THE KITCHEN DOOR OR YOU WILL LOCK YOURSELF OUT.
The chickens need to have food and water checked twice while we're gone. Ideally that would be Tuesday and Friday, but whatever works for you guys... It's best if you can check them out while it's still light out.
The side of the coop is held on with two wing nuts. When I take it off, I usually just lean it up against the frame of the coop and the chickies are discouraged from coming out. (If they do come out - which would be unusual, try to snatch them up from above, rather than from the side. Either way you do it, you might have some chasing ahead of you... They will come back at dusk, worst case scenario.)
The waterer is on the left, held on by two carabiners (to keep it level), and the feeder is on the right. The feeder has a removable top that needs to stay on to prevent the chickens from standing on their food. More food is in the right metal trashcan on the porch. (There is scratch in the trashcan on the left if you'd like to give them some treats. You can just toss it in through the top of the fence. For a super special treat, which would be great, there are bags of hamburger and hotdog rolls in a big black trashbag in the kitchen. You can open up the door on the run or toss them into the run through the coop. A whole bag at once is fine.)
The waterer can get filled from the kitchen sink (a little gross, I know). The top of the waterer twists off and has a not-so-fancy closure (shown in the second picture). I usually hold the waterer down with my foot to put the top back on. But! Whatever you do, don't put your foot 90˚ counterclockwise to the closure thing or your foot will get splashed. (It's usually best to close it up outside.) The waterer is a bit rusty, so it's good if you can rinse out the container prior to filling it back up.Eggs usually end up in the right corner of the coop closest to the gate (although the idiot Chairman can't get with the game, and seems to drop them almost anywhere). Luckily our chickens aren't broody and there is rarely one actually sitting on the eggs. If there is, just shoo her away -- none of them will peck you, so no worries there. Feel free to keep any eggs you find, or you can put them in a carton and stick them in the fridge.
Other things:
- There are plants in the middle room that probably won't need to get watered but it would be nice if you would peek at them.
- There are seedlings in the basement that will need to get watered. They are on a shelf toward the back of the basement on the right.
- There are transplants in the backyard (on top of the chicken run) that may or may not need to get watered.
- The cats' food is in the basement on the shelf above their bowls (when you walk down the stairs and turn right it will be right in front of you).
- There is water for the cats all over the house: next to the couch (by the kitchen), in the bathroom, and in the basement. I doubt you'll need to fill it up, but I'm sure they'd like it if you freshened it. Then again, none of us are picky.
- If you have time to pet a Pete it would be wonderful. Pet a Garden Cat at your own risk.
- I have held the mail, but there might be a package or two on the porch.
Thanks a million times over for everything!
Saturday, January 22, 2011
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