Archive for the ‘garden’ Tag
Mud and rain! Is mud and rain actually any better than snow and ice? I’m beginning to believe there’s no damn difference. They’re both annoying and require special clothing; parka and gloves v. raincoat and galoshes.
It’s nice to see that the ice and snow are completely gone but the reason is this steady rain we’re dealing with now and for the next two weeks. That’s assuming the weather forecasters are correct and of course they never get it wrong.
I had a lot of plans for garden preparation this week and I refuse to be confounded by this weather. Although my luck hasn’t been all that good so far this Spring. My lawn tractor remains idle because I can’t find someone to repair it without forcing me to take out a mortgage. This little bit of minor repair work will cost me almost half of what I originally paid for the damn thing. It’s getting bad when a lawn tractor becomes a disposable item.
Last week I ordered a pallet of dirt from Lowe’s and of course it was delivered today during the rain storm. Fortunately it was 75 bags of palletized dirt which was at least somewhat waterproof. My garden frames needed some replenishment since I updated portions of them and made them a few inches deeper.
After checking the forecast for the next few weeks I was forced into getting busy immediately to add that new dirt to the garden. I removed the bags from the pallet and threw the required number into those frames that needed filling. It was an absolute mess. It rained off and on the entire time and turned the yard into a bog.
I slogged my way through the wet and mud for a couple of hours and managed to get the dirt where it needed to be. At the end of the day I was exhausted, muddy, chilled, and really wet. After some cleanup and a lot of raking the job was completed and I immediately hit the showers.
Stage-1 of the garden prep was rebuilding the frames and Step-2 was refilling those frames. Next comes Step-3 where I rototill the soil to loosen it up and then place garden fabric over the dirt to eliminate those god awful weeds that make gardening suck. Step-4 is the installation of the sprinkler system which is really a necessity. Step-5 is the purchase, planting, and fertilizing of the plants. After that it’s time to sit back and watch things grow until late summer when Step-6 begins. Step-6 is harvesting the crop, Step-7 is canning, and Step-8 is cleaning out the frames once again and composting the soil in preparation for next year.
Who said gardening wasn’t fun.
My bout with Spring Fever continues at a clip. It happens like this every year and every year I tell myself I’ll keep things under control. I’m afraid this will be the year that convinces me I don’t have a prayer of keeping things under control. I will probably continue to overwork and overspend like I do every Spring.
Yesterday the sun came out, the air was warm, and I was fired up after a few cups of ever-so-strong coffee. It was time to get out the old jeans and boots and get down and dirty in the garden. As I do every Spring I begin my chores in my herb garden. Pulling out those dead plants that didn’t survive the Winter, cleaning up debris, and preparing the soil for replanting. It appears that my normal winter losses were much less this year than in the past. Having that three feet of snow cover for most of the winter offered the plants a great deal of protection.
It felt good to be outside working and after a couple of hours I had a huge amount of dead plants and debris to dispose of. I had lunch and then decided to just keep on going. I use cold frames in the Spring to start a lot of plants to help increase the length of the short growing season. I’ve discovered over the last few years that certain plants like jalapeños will produce almost twice as much due in a large part to those three extra weeks spent in the cold frames.
‘This one lasted five years but is now on it’s way to the bonfire.’
One of my older cold frames was badly damaged by the heavy snow this year. It was crushed under the weight of the snow which completely shattered the glass cover. I was forced to remove it from the garden and discard it. Then it was off to Lowe’s to purchase some pressure treated lumber and hardware so I could begin construction of a new cold frame.
‘The required hole was dug and I was ready for installation.’
An hour later I had the cold frame completed and installed and with just a little landscaping and digging to finish the job. I was pleased with the results and I look forward to at least a minimum of five years of use.
“Ready for the plants.’
Another hour of cleaning the other parts of the garden and I was getting tired. It was time to take a hot shower, pour myself a brandy, and relax on the deck. The cat and I got seriously lazy awaiting the arrival of my better-half from work.
It was a great start for 2015 but a lot of work remains to be done. I’m really looking forward to getting the garden preparation completed and to begin planting. If today was was any indication I know one thing for certain, I’m going to be more than a little sore in the morning.
I may need to restock my Tylenol supply very soon.
I really do like the Fall of the year. It ends a rather busy season that I also enjoy but at times it’s a relief to see it end. The better-half and I finally decided to call it a day with the garden. We began the process of pulling up the plants and removing the fabric from the frames. Then delivering those plants to the compost pile for use as fertilizer two years from now.
The last cherry tomatoes were collected, the remaining cucumbers were picked and should keep us in salads for another week or so. I’ll miss them as I always do once the snow fly’s and because I’m not all that crazy about veggies shipped into the county from south of the border somewhere. Thanks for nothing Walmart.
The remaining jalapeño peppers have been left whole, cleaned and canned for use in the future. They should still retain some crispness since they were only cooked long enough to kill the bacteria on their skins.
Some of the cayenne peppers made their way to the dehydrator and will be dried and ground into a fine powder. A number were also strung on thin copper wires for displaying in the kitchen. They make for an attractive curiosity once they start turning into that bright beautiful red color.
The only things remaining in the garden are the herbs. In a week or so just before the first frost I intend to further harvest a quantity of oregano, sage, parsley, rosemary, basil, and tarragon. Once dried they’ll be used to replace older herbs we have in storage. I’ve discovered that if they’re stored in air tight containers they remain useable for up to two years. Once they’ve lost their fragrance and flavor they need to be discarded and replaced.
I feel a little guilty wanting to see the garden end after all of the time and effort we’ve put into it but at the same time I can’t wait for it to be over so I can kick back and relax for a while. I see Winter as the time I require to rest, recharge my batteries and begin the process of planning an even better garden next year. I’m already considering building a small greenhouse, a larger cold frame, and even some sort of in-ground irrigation system. For me half the fun of having a garden is the process of improving it each year and experimenting with new plants we’ve never grown before.
Our Winters here in Maine can seem endless if your not occupying yourself sufficiently. Snow shoveling and snow blowing will only get you so far.
Today’s my day to brag a little. We finished the last of the canning yesterday which means that within the next three weeks I’ll begin to close down the garden for this year. I have to say it’s been a great gardening summer with more enough rain to keep the plants happy and a level of production at least 30% better than last year. This first list is the approximate amounts of veggies we harvested over the last three months.
- 10 – pounds of cherry tomatoes
- 6 – pounds of jalapeños
- 2 -pounds of cayenne peppers
- 6 – pounds of snap peas
- 4 – pounds of black beans
- 30 – pounds of zucchini
- 2 – pounds of kohlrabies
- 50 – pounds of cucumbers
- 4 – pounds of Beets
- 5 – pounds of radishes
- Two additional plantings of lettuce.
- Two additional plantings of snap peas.
- One additional planting of radishes
We then took most of them and processed them into the following list of usable foods for the winter months.
- 10 – pints of hot mustard dill pickles
- 15 – pints of pickled zucchini
- 12 – pints of pickled jalapeños
- 8 – pints of pickled veggie mix
- 24 – pints of hot B&B pickles
- 1 – pint of pickled jalapeño/habaneros
- 13 – quarts of roasted corn/black bean salsa
- 9 – half pints of radish relish
- 18 – large loaves of zucchini bread
- 5 – quarts of pickled kimchi
- 12 – quarts of chili for freezing
- 4 – pounds of kale, frozen
This last list are the herbs I harvested during the Summer to help refill our stocks for winter. We use a great deal of them in every meal we make and we also supply to to family and friends when requested. They’re extremely easy to grow and dry and taste great.
- 1 – quart jar of dried oregano
- 1 – quart jar of dried parsley
- 1 – pint jar of dried habaneros
- 2 – quarts of dried chives
- 1 – quart of dried garlic chives
- 1 – pint jar of dried jalapeños
- 2 – quarts of dried kale
- 9 – pounds of dried sunflower seeds
- 1 – quart of dried Cilantro
- 1 – quart of dried Basil
All of this was from a 350 square foot garden.
Gardening is not as easy as most people think but the rewards make it well worth the effort. My better-half and I really want to know what we’re putting into our bodies. While it’s almost impossible to do that 100% these days, it gives us a little more peace of mind than the average person. Along with gardening we’ve become two of the biggest pain-in-the-butt label readers anywhere. It’s something everyone should learn to do because it’s enlightening and at times a little scary.
The better-half has a few batches of jam to prepare in the next few weeks but there’s no rush. All the necessary berries are in the freezer and can be used at any time. I always look forward to the blackberry jam made from the berries we picked, there’s nothing better.
As the summer continues to wind down we’re slowly preparing for the end of the garden and this years growing season. We still have a few tasks that need to be completed before I take it down for the last time. We have what seems to be an endless supply of cherry tomatoes this year which we’ll be eating steadily until the first frost. My better-half has taken steps to can a few quarts of those tomatoes and they’ll be delicious during the upcoming Maine winter. Even though they’re canned they taste better than those hot house selections available in the food stores.
This is the first year we’ve grown black beans and I have to say they grow fast and in great numbers. We spent a hour yesterday shucking the beans and delivering them to the dehydrator. We can store them for a longer period of time once they’ve been sufficiently dried.
We also planted three varieties of kale which are in need of processing in some fashion. Earlier in the summer we blanched a quantity which went directly into the freezer. I harvested what I thought was a large quantity of kale leaves yesterday thinking I would dehydrate them and store them in jars much like dried parsley. Then they could be used in soups or sprinkled on almost any food as a flavor enhancer. I really do love the smell and taste of kale and look forward to using it as often as possible. Unfortunately once dried and crushed my large pile of leaves turned into a single quart jar full.
‘Picked’
‘Blanched’
‘Iced’
‘Finished Product’
I’ve been maintaining a fairly accurate record of what our garden has produced thus far and I’ll be posting that list within a week or so. I feel the need to brag a little because this garden has produced more than we could ever have hoped for.
As you can see the concord grape wine has taken one more step towards final bottling. It looks and smells wonderful and I managed to sneak a taste and it was excellent. A few more weeks and this batch will be finished and bottled.
My better-half has announced a day-off today so we’ve planned an outside workday at home. Believe it or not Fall is just a few weeks away and we’ll be starting the process of closing down the garden soon. If we do a little each week then it won’t be such a challenge.
I really was in denial about Summer being over until yesterday. We were driving around enjoying the nice day when horror of horrors I noticed a few trees whose leaves have begun to turn red. I was a little surprised but a few days before I’d also noticed a large flock of birds gathering in a wooded area near our home. Both signs of an impending season change.
I guess it’s time to plan the work for today. Job #1: Cut the grass. That’ll have to wait until afternoon when the grass has dried somewhat. All the rain we’ve been receiving of late makes cutting in the morning impossible.
This morning will entail us working in the least favorite job we have. If you’ve ever seen the movie Apocalypse Now, you’ll remember that famous quote of Robert Duvall’s, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." Here in Maine during this time of the year we have a quote of our own, "We love the smell of compost in the morning." If you’ve never had the opportunity to work in compost you don’t know what you’ve been missing. There’s nothing that says Fall like standing knee deep in a large pile of decomposing vegetable matter that oddly smells like an outhouse. If on a hot, sticky and humid day you took a rotten egg, wrapped it in a smelly old sock, then wrapped it in a really nasty pair of old filthy underwear, and rubbed it under your nose, you’d understand. That will be our morning today.
‘Piles 1, 2 and 3”
Pile 1 will be used for the garden in 2015. Pile 2 will be used in two weeks. Pile 3 will be used 2016.
A compost pile is crucial to keeping your garden happy and healthy. It replaces many of the nutrients needed to grow vegetables and they must be replaced every year. Unfortunately there are certain things a compost piles needs. It needs vegetable matter, water, heat, and stirring. Stirring is just taking the pile and turning it over with a pitchfork to allow more air to get into the mix and to help grow the bacteria that accelerates the decomposition process. That being said the reality is that it smells bad, really bad. After working in it today I’ll be smelling that smell for a day or so. It’s gross and more than a little disgusting. A typical day in the life of most farmers and part-time gardeners like us.
‘A big moist and steamy pile.’
I need to get to work soon but I wanted to tell you about my fun yesterday. Each year we do a large amount of canning but we always like to try new recipes we’ve found or created. Yesterday I made for the first time a batch of hot Radish Relish. It takes a few pounds of radishes, vinegar, habaneros, sugar, salt, and a few other spices. The result as you can see is a beautiful and savory red relish that will be great on burgers, hotdogs and can add a little zing to your tacos as well. Sometimes these experimental things fail miserably but not this one. I look forward to making it many more times in the future.
‘Start’
‘Finish’
‘This is From a Nearby Neighbors Farm’
I’ve been enjoying my downtime since the departure of my better-half for her trip to Ocean City. The downside to her leaving is the fact that I’ve been stuck with some of her watering chores. She has at least a hundred plants surrounding the house, on the deck, and even in the house. I find having three plants six feet high in the living room very interesting. It’s like living in a jungle and that jungle needs watering all too often. God help me if these plants aren’t all healthy and happy upon her return. There could be bloodshed.
My second chore involved the babysitting of her daughters dogs. I need to drop in at their house everyday around noon to let the little buggers out for a pee break and a romp around the yard. I really don’t mind it all that much because I actually like most pets more than I like most people.
‘Good Eating’
Once her chores have been handled I can then move on to my list. Fortunately my list is flexible and if I choose not to complete anything on it no one would give a damn anyway. My list includes the garden that is continuing to produce ridiculous amounts of veggies. I’ve been trying to keep ahead of it by canning a few things each week but I’m quickly falling behind. Here’s a list of what we’ve canned so far and believe me I’m ready to call it a day anytime.
10 – pints of hot mustard dill pickles
6 – pints of pickled zucchini
12 – pints of pickled jalapeños
1 – quart of pickled veggie mix
6 – pints of pickled veggie mix
10 – pints of hot B&B pickles
I still need to make two large batches of salsa and a huge batch of chili. The salsa will be canned to the tune of twenty quarts or forty pints. The chili will be frozen in twelve one quart containers and that should give us enough for most of the winter.
‘This is Kick Your Ass Chili’
‘This is Double Kick Your Ass Salsa’
Once the better-half returns from her final trip of the summer we’ll get down to some serious work for a few weeks. It’ll be a huge relief to get the garden processed and into storage. If the results so far are any indication, we’ll surpass any expectations we had for a garden as small as ours. I’ve already started planning for next summer with the addition of a small greenhouse and an irrigation system that will use our water more efficiently. That will allow us to grow a few additional items in a more controlled atmosphere with less bug problems and better water control.
Back to the fun.
I’ve been so busy of late I decided to take today off. My only task this morning was to can another ten jars of Bread & Butter pickles. The garden is producing ridiculous numbers of cucumbers, zucchini’s, and beans, making it a little difficult to keep up.
‘Before’
‘After’
I really hope to get a little reading done over the next few days. Last weekend we visited a local fair at St. Matthews church in Limerick, ME. This is an event that we try never to miss. It’s a three day event and draws quite a crowd from southern Maine. It consists of a huge flea market where you can still find a treasure or two for a very low price. Over the years I’ve found quite a few jewels and this year was no different. I found two stainless steel stock pots in like new condition without a mark on then for $15.00. If I tried to buy them at a retail store it would have been more like $50.00.
There were crowds of people everywhere but as always the biggest crowd was in the book tent. Tens of thousands of books, sorted on tables, and being rummaged through by hundreds of people. I normally am able to buy enough books to keep me reading for most of the Winter for less than $20.00. It’s hardback books for a buck and paperbacks for $.50 each. I bought so many I had two make two trips to the car to unload the bag. I may be a big fan of the Ereader’s but at these prices I’ll take a step back to reading actual books anytime. I still like the feel of the book in my hands and turning each page manually. An Ereader is more convenient to be sure but old habits are hard to break.
‘My Winter Stash’
Another thing I look forward to are the french fries. I’ve been on a no-carb diet for almost a year but there are certain occasions that demand that I eat some greasy, salty, and crunchy fries. I pigged out and with the help of my better-half, her daughter and her husband, and the grandson, we totally destroyed a giant box of fries along with half a bottle of ketchup. It was sinfully delicious.
The grandson who is just now starting to speak spent most of his time near the tent where they sell used children’s toys. He was drawn to a hot looking plastic Camaro with flashing red lights and shiny decals. That should keep him occupied for a week or so making it an excellent investment.
They offer some minor gambling with a chuck-a-luck wheel, a greenhouse selling plants, and a host of other food booths. The odd clown or two doing face painting for the kids and a huge barbecue cooking area loaded with roasting beef and chicken. The aroma is almost overwhelming. I like all of it except for those clowns that always seem to roaming around the grounds and showing up right next to me. After all these years they still creep me out.
‘Yikes!’
The better-half, the daughter, and the grandson are leaving on a road trip tomorrow heading south to Delaware and then on to Ocean City, Maryland. They’ll be meeting up some of her family members for a few beach days and a night or two on the Boardwalk. I guess I can expect another silly baseball hat and T-shirt to add to my collection. That also means a week off from everything on my better-half’s Honey-Do list. I’ll be able to read a few books, relax on the deck with the cat, and clear my head a little.
It should be a good week for us all.
I know it’s a little early in the year but with the garden filling up with cucumbers it was time to get busy. Last night I gathered all of the equipment together in preparation for canning. I cleaned jars, gathered lids and rings, pots and pans, and updated my experimental pickle recipe. We normally make hot Bread & Butter pickles and a lot of them. I’ve made dill pickles in the past but never was really happy with the results. My approach to things has always been to identify a problem and then fix it and this new recipe for Hot Mustard Dill Pickles is the fix.
I took my normal kosher dill recipe and jacked it up with a number of additional ingredients and spices. The end result will be pickles that are extremely hot, canned in a liquid containing dry mustard, curry, habanero powder, and a handful of other minor ingredients. I soaked the cukes in canning Lime overnight which should help keep them crispy once their canned.
Yesterday afternoon we picked the cucumbers, zucchini’s, and jalapeño’s from the garden along with some herbs. I’d be making my mustard pickles and my better-half would be making her new experimental recipe for hot pickled zucchini or as she calls it Hot Zucchini Pickles. She’s trying to come up with a few solutions for processing and storing of the large number of zucchini’s we’re expecting. She’s always made a lot of zucchini breads but we can only eat so much of that.
We work well as a team and set up an assembly line in the kitchen. I sliced the cukes, the habaneros, and a few jalapeños and set them aside. She prepared her zucchini, and jalapeños, and we were ready to rock and roll. She was responsible for packing the jars and I then added the brine, capped the jars and placed them into the water bath. It took a couple of hours of work but we rolled along like a well oiled machine.
After all was said and done we had ten pint jars of the mustard pickles and six additional pints of pickled zucchini. The jars sealed properly and will be ready for labeling tomorrow. Unfortunately we have to wait a month or so before we can taste the finished product. The veggies need time to absorb the flavor from the brine and the heat from the hot peppers. We can’t wait to try them and will keep our fingers crossed for the anticipated good results.
“The Finished Product”
It’s raining like hell this morning so I decided to spend this time in bed enjoying the sounds and smells of the day. I like walking in the rain almost as much as I enjoy listening to it but not today. Today is going to be a computer day for me because I have a number of things that need to be accomplished.
In my last posting I made an attempt to create some discussion with my list of ten questions. While a good number of people visited and read the posting the response to my request for their answers apparently fell on deaf ears. Not one single response was disappointing as hell but not totally unexpected. At least I tried to wake up a few brain cells out there and just so you know, I will try again.
Today is the day I begin learning how to use the new software package I recently purchased. Adobe Photoshop Elements 12 & Adobe Premiere Elements 12 has been purchased and installed and await my full attention for the next six hours or so. I’m also awaiting the arrival from Amazon of a 400 page User’s Manual I was forced to buy because those cheap bastards at Adobe don’t feel that including a Users Manual is cost effective. Both of the programs are massive and without a manual you might never ever know all of the bells and whistles they contains. I’m praying that the manual arrives today or tomorrow so I can spend the next few days experimenting with the software. I need to get up to speed as quickly as possible because I have projects that will be much easier to complete once I’ve gotten a little hands-on experience.
This week another of my goals is to begin preparations for my first canning class of 2014. A number of my better-half’s friends are interested in learning how the process works so they can eventually can their own pickles. With so many requests I decided to do a class that would take care of them all at once. I’m just a week or so away from canning my first batch of pickles this year so I’ve invited a group of them to get together, watch me do a batch, take appropriate notes, and return home to attempt to do some of their own. I’ve tried to convince them that canning is a simple process but they appear very skeptical. I also make myself available 24/7 for emergency telephone calls when the occasional mishap arises. I’ve done a few one-on-ones in the past which were very successful so this should be a breeze.
I’ve been cleaning and preparing jars for a few weeks because it’s going to get very busy very quickly and I need to keep ahead of things. I’m estimating we’ll be canning 40-60 pints of hot Bread & Butter pickles, 20 pints of hot Mustard Dills, and 15-20 pints of hot Kosher Dills. Add in another 30-50 half pints of assorted jellies, jams, and relishes and you can see that we’ll be canning our asses off for six weeks or so. If I do say so myself, we make some damn good pickles, a truly excellent variety of jams, and the relishes can speak for themselves. Many of the folks who request our pickles return the jars for a refill and as you can see I have them everywhere.
Fun, fun, and more fun.
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