I am consolidating my blogs. If you happened to be following this blog, please follow www.cookslittlekitchen.blogspot.com instead. All post from this blog have been moved there. I will only continue to update that blog from now on.
Sincerely,
Mrs C
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
My Garden
So, two post ago I said to sketch your garden out. Here is my garden to show you what I mean.
This year I am working two garden areas. One is my vegetable garden, which I replant every year, the other is a new permanent garden. (O.K. The dirt patch has been there for like 10 yrs, but I finally got the retaining wall put in and my difficult shade plants figured out so I can plant this year.)
In my permanent garden bed, I drew it and then just wrote in what plants go where. Some I will have to buy/order, some are already there and some will be planted/transplanted this spring.
I have places for elderberry bushes, lilac, various roses, wintergreen, dwarf dogwood, meadowsweet and I still have some open space that I havn't decided yet. I am debating between herb robert, joe pye and figwort.
This has some pretty deep shade, and some moderate shade but nothing that qualifies as 'sun/lightshade' except the front corner which already has elderberry in it. So many choices, so little ground.
In my ever changing vegetable garden, I have one bed which has perennial plants, and the rest are blank. I sectioned it off into square feet (since that's the type of bed I have, if yours is different you can try rows) so that I can determine how many of what plants I will put in. I photo copy my blank garden so that I don't have to re-draw it every year. If you are not using garden beds, don't forget walking space between rows!
I have 6- 4x8 and 3- 2x8 beds. This is not the exact layout, but this is the quantity and sizes of beds I have.
Then I just have to decide how many of which plants to put in.
So this year, my garden will look like this
This year I am working two garden areas. One is my vegetable garden, which I replant every year, the other is a new permanent garden. (O.K. The dirt patch has been there for like 10 yrs, but I finally got the retaining wall put in and my difficult shade plants figured out so I can plant this year.)
In my permanent garden bed, I drew it and then just wrote in what plants go where. Some I will have to buy/order, some are already there and some will be planted/transplanted this spring.
I have places for elderberry bushes, lilac, various roses, wintergreen, dwarf dogwood, meadowsweet and I still have some open space that I havn't decided yet. I am debating between herb robert, joe pye and figwort.
This has some pretty deep shade, and some moderate shade but nothing that qualifies as 'sun/lightshade' except the front corner which already has elderberry in it. So many choices, so little ground.
In my ever changing vegetable garden, I have one bed which has perennial plants, and the rest are blank. I sectioned it off into square feet (since that's the type of bed I have, if yours is different you can try rows) so that I can determine how many of what plants I will put in. I photo copy my blank garden so that I don't have to re-draw it every year. If you are not using garden beds, don't forget walking space between rows!
I have 6- 4x8 and 3- 2x8 beds. This is not the exact layout, but this is the quantity and sizes of beds I have.
Then I just have to decide how many of which plants to put in.
So this year, my garden will look like this
With this layout, I will have the following plants and quantities:
Potato - 16
Zucchini - 2
Yellow Crookneck - 2
Spaghetti Squash - 2
Hubbard - 2
Purple Cherokee Tomato - 4
Roma Tomato - 8
Carrot - 288 (approx)
Beet - 144 (approx)
Cabbage - 6
Brussel Sprout - 3 (experimental)
Pablano Pepper - 2
Bell Pepper - 4
Anaheim - 4
Jalapeno - 4
Habanero - 2
I will also companion plant to help with pest problems:
Nasturtiums - Inter-planted in the Squash
Icicle Radishes - Inter-planted in the Squash
Hyssop - Inter-planted in the Cabbage
Thyme - Inter-planted in the Cabbage
My Perennial herb bed has:
Coriander/Cilantro (Yes. They are the same plant.)
Anise
Chamomile
Echinacea
Chives
Anise Hyssop
Dill
Rhubarb
Lavender
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Food Storage Extender
I consider my garden an extension of my food storage. I feel a well rounded long term food storage is more sustainable than just a few buckets of grains that I am going to grind into flour or cook into soup.
In order for that expectation to be a reality, I have to learn a lot about how to grow, find, and use the fresh produce that is available. I have to focus on learning how to consume or preserve each item while it is in season, as each season is far shorter than our moderns lives and grocery stores lead us to believe.
You really need to get 'back to basics' with this method of feeding your family.
I would encourage you to learn about wild and unusual edibles in your area. Learn to grow a garden. Use only open pollinated and non GMO seeds. Realize that in a time of desperation, whether it is caused by an ailing economy, loss of job or a natural disaster ... you may not have access to your vast storerooms of carefully preserved food. You may not have access to commercially produced products to replenish your storerooms when they run low.
When your storerooms are unavailable or running low and you need to find ways to extend the little food you have and preserve the lives of those you love, knowledge of gardening and gathering wild edibles will be invaluable and irreplaceable in your endeavors.
A few major pointers in gardening.
Get out and do it.
Whether you garden a substantial amount or a few pots on the porch. Do it. There are so many things to learn like when do I put it in the ground, how much water does it need, when is it ripe to pick it, how much does one plant provide, what do the yellow leaves mean .... things that are hard to learn from a book without the reinforcement of the actual experience.
Don't get stuck on "heirloom" and don't be satisfied with grocery store seed packets.
There is a happy medium between buying expensive heirloom and low quality grocery store seed. What you want to search for is OPEN POLLINATION. Heirloom isn't always the best, and what is in your local grocery or gardening center is not the best either. Heirloom is simply old open pollinated plants. It doesn't mean that something newer isn't better. What you want to stay away from is anything that is hybridized in a laboratory or is GMO. Anytime a man thinks he knows more or better than God in creating your food .... stay away. The reason for this is simple, it isn't natural (check this out, or this one) and often does not reproduce true to type from the seed of the produce you eat. You want seed that will reproduce, true to type, year after year after year. Whether you get that from a $1.25 grocery store packet or pay $4.00 on a specialty website it doesn't matter. Just get it. Natural hybridization (crossing two plants in a garden on purpose or selective seed saving for desired characteristics) is just fine once it is stabilized (proven to grow true type). Hybrid is not always bad if it is done naturally. It's how disease and pest resistance is naturally improved (I guess evolutions is real after all !!) in the tasty, wonderful, older varieties of plants.
Start gardening small.
Don't decide tomorrow that you will have a 1/4 acre garden if you have never done it before. Start small so that you don't overwhelm yourself. Grow something that you will eat that is easy ... (beans, cucumbers, tomatoes etc...) and grow something you really want, even if it's a little harder. This way you are excited for the items you really want and you are satisfied with your work because you are almost guaranteed a crop with the easy item. Once you master something, move on to a new product.
Keep it fun and challenging for you.
Every year I like to plant something that I have never grown before. I only plant one or two or 1 square foot ... but in this way I get to try eating new things, learn more about gardening, and increase my gardening confidence. It also helps to keep things fun! The majority of my garden is tomatoes, my staple crop, (lots of work canning) and a few melons (yum!) and cucumbers (more work canning). Boring. So I planted eggplant and celery. The celery bombed ... the eggplant rocked. I will likely try celery again next year in a different spot because now it is a challenge, but will only grow the eggplant again if I enjoy eating it fresh this year.
Good luck and I hope you get out and garden!!
In order for that expectation to be a reality, I have to learn a lot about how to grow, find, and use the fresh produce that is available. I have to focus on learning how to consume or preserve each item while it is in season, as each season is far shorter than our moderns lives and grocery stores lead us to believe.
You really need to get 'back to basics' with this method of feeding your family.
I would encourage you to learn about wild and unusual edibles in your area. Learn to grow a garden. Use only open pollinated and non GMO seeds. Realize that in a time of desperation, whether it is caused by an ailing economy, loss of job or a natural disaster ... you may not have access to your vast storerooms of carefully preserved food. You may not have access to commercially produced products to replenish your storerooms when they run low.
When your storerooms are unavailable or running low and you need to find ways to extend the little food you have and preserve the lives of those you love, knowledge of gardening and gathering wild edibles will be invaluable and irreplaceable in your endeavors.
A few major pointers in gardening.
Get out and do it.
Whether you garden a substantial amount or a few pots on the porch. Do it. There are so many things to learn like when do I put it in the ground, how much water does it need, when is it ripe to pick it, how much does one plant provide, what do the yellow leaves mean .... things that are hard to learn from a book without the reinforcement of the actual experience.
Don't get stuck on "heirloom" and don't be satisfied with grocery store seed packets.
There is a happy medium between buying expensive heirloom and low quality grocery store seed. What you want to search for is OPEN POLLINATION. Heirloom isn't always the best, and what is in your local grocery or gardening center is not the best either. Heirloom is simply old open pollinated plants. It doesn't mean that something newer isn't better. What you want to stay away from is anything that is hybridized in a laboratory or is GMO. Anytime a man thinks he knows more or better than God in creating your food .... stay away. The reason for this is simple, it isn't natural (check this out, or this one) and often does not reproduce true to type from the seed of the produce you eat. You want seed that will reproduce, true to type, year after year after year. Whether you get that from a $1.25 grocery store packet or pay $4.00 on a specialty website it doesn't matter. Just get it. Natural hybridization (crossing two plants in a garden on purpose or selective seed saving for desired characteristics) is just fine once it is stabilized (proven to grow true type). Hybrid is not always bad if it is done naturally. It's how disease and pest resistance is naturally improved (I guess evolutions is real after all !!) in the tasty, wonderful, older varieties of plants.
Start gardening small.
Don't decide tomorrow that you will have a 1/4 acre garden if you have never done it before. Start small so that you don't overwhelm yourself. Grow something that you will eat that is easy ... (beans, cucumbers, tomatoes etc...) and grow something you really want, even if it's a little harder. This way you are excited for the items you really want and you are satisfied with your work because you are almost guaranteed a crop with the easy item. Once you master something, move on to a new product.
Keep it fun and challenging for you.
Every year I like to plant something that I have never grown before. I only plant one or two or 1 square foot ... but in this way I get to try eating new things, learn more about gardening, and increase my gardening confidence. It also helps to keep things fun! The majority of my garden is tomatoes, my staple crop, (lots of work canning) and a few melons (yum!) and cucumbers (more work canning). Boring. So I planted eggplant and celery. The celery bombed ... the eggplant rocked. I will likely try celery again next year in a different spot because now it is a challenge, but will only grow the eggplant again if I enjoy eating it fresh this year.
Good luck and I hope you get out and garden!!
Saturday, January 7, 2012
It's Garden Time !!!
It's January and even though here in Utah we havn't even had REAL snow yet, believe it or not, it is time to start planning the next garden!
The last few months are a necessary break from the garden for me. Some people even garden through those months using cold frames but I prefer the break for now. Maybe next year I will be ambitious and try some sort of season extender.
For now, lets go over the basics of planning our gardens:
Step 1: Sketch your garden to scale on a piece of paper. I prefer graph paper since it helps keep things squared up. This is especially important if it's your first garden or if you recently made changes. The only thing worse than not planning enough plants, is planning too many and they go to waste.
Step 2: Determine which plants you will have this year. Some people prefer to have basically the same garden every year (like my veggie garden) and some people shake it up. It is frustrating to think you are going to have carrots and broccoli and squash and watermelon and pumpkin only to realize come spring that you only have room for a few of those things and not all.
Step 3. Pencil in the locations of each item you will grow. This helps to know how many plants to start or seedling to buy later and it helps keep it in perspective so you don't buy a 6 pack and realize you only have room for 2.
Step 4. Get your starting kits, soil and seeds ready. Inventory left overs from last year and make a list of new ones to buy. Place your internet orders for plants and seeds so that they will arrive at the appropriate time and your favorites are not sold out. Even if you go the grocery store seed route, you need to do this now since seeds will be hitting the shelves very soon.
Step 5. Don't forget you can double up on some areas, by planting an early crop and a late crop. This is best done with plants that tend to bolt or die off during the heat of the summer and short season items like carrots and beets.
This year I plan to grow extras of my plants and sell some to the neighbors. This means I need to be very organized so that I know exactly how many plants I am growing for sale. I always like to have an extra in case of bad luck like stems snapping when the wind catches the almost empty tray I am transplanting from and turns it over or other silly things, but you don't want to buy or grow so many that there is substantial waste.
I will post again soon with suggestions for early/late crops and planting guides for starting your own seedlings.
Happy Garden Planning!
The last few months are a necessary break from the garden for me. Some people even garden through those months using cold frames but I prefer the break for now. Maybe next year I will be ambitious and try some sort of season extender.
For now, lets go over the basics of planning our gardens:
Step 1: Sketch your garden to scale on a piece of paper. I prefer graph paper since it helps keep things squared up. This is especially important if it's your first garden or if you recently made changes. The only thing worse than not planning enough plants, is planning too many and they go to waste.
Step 2: Determine which plants you will have this year. Some people prefer to have basically the same garden every year (like my veggie garden) and some people shake it up. It is frustrating to think you are going to have carrots and broccoli and squash and watermelon and pumpkin only to realize come spring that you only have room for a few of those things and not all.
Step 3. Pencil in the locations of each item you will grow. This helps to know how many plants to start or seedling to buy later and it helps keep it in perspective so you don't buy a 6 pack and realize you only have room for 2.
Step 4. Get your starting kits, soil and seeds ready. Inventory left overs from last year and make a list of new ones to buy. Place your internet orders for plants and seeds so that they will arrive at the appropriate time and your favorites are not sold out. Even if you go the grocery store seed route, you need to do this now since seeds will be hitting the shelves very soon.
Step 5. Don't forget you can double up on some areas, by planting an early crop and a late crop. This is best done with plants that tend to bolt or die off during the heat of the summer and short season items like carrots and beets.
This year I plan to grow extras of my plants and sell some to the neighbors. This means I need to be very organized so that I know exactly how many plants I am growing for sale. I always like to have an extra in case of bad luck like stems snapping when the wind catches the almost empty tray I am transplanting from and turns it over or other silly things, but you don't want to buy or grow so many that there is substantial waste.
I will post again soon with suggestions for early/late crops and planting guides for starting your own seedlings.
Happy Garden Planning!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Dressed for Canning Success
When starting a canning project, the best way to make it a productive and pleasant experience is to be ready for it. Like making dinner is harder in a dirty kitchen with no clean pots and pans .... canning will be as easy as you prepare for it to be.
I can outside most of the time. It is much more pleasant, I can watch the kids play and I don't heat up the house. When I blanch, tomatoes and peaches, I set up like an assembly line.
I set up my camp chef and my table so I can stand or sit in one spot and easily reach the produce to put in the hot water, remove the produce to the cold water, peel into the bucket on the ground and place blanched, peeled produce in my clean pot.
Once this is done, I leave the table up and process my jars of produce. I then set them to cool on a towel on the table. I know people say the wind can break your jars ... and I live in a very windy place ... but in four years of canning this way, I have never broken a jar from the wind. I would say it never hurts to try and if the wind is a problem for you, then simply walk the jars into the house rather than letting them cool outside.
The camp chef can also handle two canners at a time. There's not quite enough room for three, but the middle burner is a good place to put a pot of canning liquid (water or syrup) to stay warm without heating the house!
I can outside most of the time. It is much more pleasant, I can watch the kids play and I don't heat up the house. When I blanch, tomatoes and peaches, I set up like an assembly line.
I set up my camp chef and my table so I can stand or sit in one spot and easily reach the produce to put in the hot water, remove the produce to the cold water, peel into the bucket on the ground and place blanched, peeled produce in my clean pot.
Once this is done, I leave the table up and process my jars of produce. I then set them to cool on a towel on the table. I know people say the wind can break your jars ... and I live in a very windy place ... but in four years of canning this way, I have never broken a jar from the wind. I would say it never hurts to try and if the wind is a problem for you, then simply walk the jars into the house rather than letting them cool outside.
 |
| Sorry for the glare ... can't control the sun! |
The camp chef can also handle two canners at a time. There's not quite enough room for three, but the middle burner is a good place to put a pot of canning liquid (water or syrup) to stay warm without heating the house!
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Corn
We are very blessed. On Saturday I was canning tomatoes. Tomatoes out my ears. In the middle of my first batch, my Mr got a phone call from his son asking if we wanted corn. Apparently there is a farmer, who's kid planted a few acres for FFA and they were going to disc it under now that her project was complete. The corn was free for the taking, as much as we wanted.
I felt my body slump in anticipation of the future fatigue as I said "Of course we want it dear. How long do we have to get it?"
The answer came back, that it was to be plowed tonight. So 30 minutes later (that's how long was left on the tomato batch) my Mr and I headed out for corn. Oh did we get it too.
Looking at the pictures now, and knowing how much there was, it is hard to feel the pictures do it justice. To explain, we got through ONE of the totes, and the box. We put away 3lbs in the dehydrator, 24 lbs in the freezer and 24 pints in the canner.
We didn't finish the corn until Sunday evening. If I never see another kernal of corn again, it would be too soon. We ended up giving away the other tote, and the buckets away in bag fulls to the neighbors.
I am slowly putting all the frozen corn through the dehydrator. I did not have the jar space to can it all and neither did I have the desire to spend that kind of time. I had to get cleaned up so I could go back to work the next day.
It is amazing how little time it took to shuck and clean and cut the corn off the cob. We ended up with about 50 lbs of perserved corn. The frozen/dehydrated corn needed to be blanched, but we did that by the 1lb batch in the steamer basket. The corn in the jars did not require blanching.
Post Update:
I have reconstituted the dehydrated corn and eaten it. I am so excited because I always thought it was only good for soups or casseroles; but it's great to eat as a side dish!!! Reconstitute, add butter, salt and pepper then eat just like fresh corn. Amazing!!
I felt my body slump in anticipation of the future fatigue as I said "Of course we want it dear. How long do we have to get it?"
The answer came back, that it was to be plowed tonight. So 30 minutes later (that's how long was left on the tomato batch) my Mr and I headed out for corn. Oh did we get it too.
Looking at the pictures now, and knowing how much there was, it is hard to feel the pictures do it justice. To explain, we got through ONE of the totes, and the box. We put away 3lbs in the dehydrator, 24 lbs in the freezer and 24 pints in the canner.
We didn't finish the corn until Sunday evening. If I never see another kernal of corn again, it would be too soon. We ended up giving away the other tote, and the buckets away in bag fulls to the neighbors.
I am slowly putting all the frozen corn through the dehydrator. I did not have the jar space to can it all and neither did I have the desire to spend that kind of time. I had to get cleaned up so I could go back to work the next day.
It is amazing how little time it took to shuck and clean and cut the corn off the cob. We ended up with about 50 lbs of perserved corn. The frozen/dehydrated corn needed to be blanched, but we did that by the 1lb batch in the steamer basket. The corn in the jars did not require blanching.
Post Update:
I have reconstituted the dehydrated corn and eaten it. I am so excited because I always thought it was only good for soups or casseroles; but it's great to eat as a side dish!!! Reconstitute, add butter, salt and pepper then eat just like fresh corn. Amazing!!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Canning Tomatoes v. Slicing Tomatoes
I grow mostly roma's. A great canning and paste tomato. I also grow a few slicing/beefsteak tomatoes for the fresh eating. On canning day, they all go into jars. Just to explain the differences between the two types and why you want to grow canning tomatoes for canning and not just grow slicing tomatoes.
If you look at my post on canned tomatoes, I show a lot of pictures demonstrating the process of blanching and peeling. What I didn't show you was the extra steps I had to do for the slicing tomatoes. Due to the shape of the tomato and the shoulders (the rounded part by the stem), I had to core the tomato before I blanched them.
This also demonstrates two other points.
1. A definite need to label what is in the jar. I usually label 'Tom 8-11' but in this case, I didn't want to think the purple or romanesco tomatoes were bad in 6 months because they are a different hue. I labeled them what they are because they are different from what I normally bottle as tomatoes.
2. There is space saving features in using the roma/paste style tomatoes over beef steak. The amount of unused space in the bottom of the jars is far greater in the beefsteak/slicing type tomatoes.
If you look at my post on canned tomatoes, I show a lot of pictures demonstrating the process of blanching and peeling. What I didn't show you was the extra steps I had to do for the slicing tomatoes. Due to the shape of the tomato and the shoulders (the rounded part by the stem), I had to core the tomato before I blanched them.
 |
| The red ones are Pantano Romanesco and the deep red/purple ones are Cherokee Purple. |
Can you see the splits in the shoulders? A common problem in a slicing tomato, they make it harder to peel even after blanching. They act just like a blemish and have to be cut around.
Due to the size of the tomatoes, they have to be halved or fourthed before they can go into the jars.
These two varieties did hold up well, just so much more work.
 |
| Left is Pantano Romanesco, Middle is Roma, Right is Cherokee Purple |
1. A definite need to label what is in the jar. I usually label 'Tom 8-11' but in this case, I didn't want to think the purple or romanesco tomatoes were bad in 6 months because they are a different hue. I labeled them what they are because they are different from what I normally bottle as tomatoes.
2. There is space saving features in using the roma/paste style tomatoes over beef steak. The amount of unused space in the bottom of the jars is far greater in the beefsteak/slicing type tomatoes.
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