Preservation

Fried Zucchini

One of our favorite ways to eat it, especially when served up with some fresh, homemade ranch.

 

Slice your zucchini in strips (this is one medium-large squash)

 

Mix up flour dredge-this one is about 2 c of flour with a couple T of seasoned salt

 

Heat your oil to 350-375 degrees. Dredge your zucchini in the flour mixture, then in milk, then back in the flour. Then fry until golden and crispy.

Beans!

 

Purple Royalty Beans and Strike Snap Beans.

Turns out the purple ones, though they turn green when cooked, turn your mouth purple when eaten raw. :)

Crushed Tomatoes

Quart after quart of these beauties keep heading down to our basement pantry. I love preserving our own garden goodies!

The Last Week...

We got our new Sleep Number Bed:

 

 

Went to run some errands and ran into a car show:

 

 

 

Finally experienced garlic scapes (my hardneck garlic never "scaped" last year and this was my first year planting a softneck variety. YUM!):

 

Finally found a use for that extra long, extra wide hallway in the basement and a permanent, proper home for my ever growing book collection (putting in the shelves will be a several day task, though, since the home stores keep running out of materials):

 

Me at 6 months. I made this skirt using a combination of tutorials- Here for the tiered skirt formula and Here to adapt it to a maternity skirt (though the band can easily be folded down for use at non-preggo times). Fabric is a clearance buy from Hancocks and the top knit is old stuff I had kept of Grandma Vivian's:

I plan on making several more of these as they are, by far, along with a pair of gaucho pants with a similar style band I picked up at a garage sale, the most comfortable maternity items I own for the lower half. Think I'll do the A-line version today.

I'm Being Stalked

I found this evil creature in my cauliflower. That I purchased from the store. Apparently it isn't enough to plague my poor brassicas all summer long, but the winged beasties must follow me around during the winter, as well.
Pony Gal was thrilled to add another insect to her collection, though, so it all worked out. I guess.

Fall Gardening

These are shots of my flowers, still hanging on mid-November

Mums

Calendula

Liv's Miniature Roses-this is the one from May two years ago

This is the scarecrow we've used for fall decoration every year since Dad and I were married. The dogs gave him a rough time this year, but he keeps hanging on.

Bountiful

How I Spent My Day

Lots of green beans means preserving in our house. I got out the pressure canner my Grandma had given me, got everything rolling, only to find out the gauge was broken. So quickly, I made one recipe's worth of Spicy Pickled Beans (which, if we like, you will see here later. Because it is technically a pickle, I can just hot water bath it) and froze the rest. Most of the fam likes their beans cooked with massive amounts of bacon, butter, salt, garlic and onion, so canning is the way to go. Thinking after the cost of the parts I need for the canner, I am most likely going to end up just buying a new (also more modern) one.

Garden Journaling

One of the most overlooked but most important aspects to growing your own food (and flowers!) is keeping track of what happens from year to year and planning for the next. I have to be honest, it is something I have been kind of slack on in the past, but count my blog as a huge aid now in doing so. I try to keep records of what I plant, when I start it (if it needs started inside), plus pictures of the sprouts for identification (very important for someone who -it never fails-ends up with mixed up seedlings right before their big move outside), when they sprouted, when they leaved, when I moved them out, when I did my direct sowing, where I planted everything, when it blossomed, when it fruited, how well it fruited, pictures of EVERYTHING, any issues with pests and if anything worked to rid them, whether we liked a variety or not, soil amendments, plus our preservation planning is now added in.

It seems like a lot, but just a couple minutes a day should do well. Just pay attention and write it down! You will be so glad you did. I know that I planted a certain variety of lettuce last year we just didn't eat. We didn't like it. So it gets scratched from our list and new varieties come in. I know that four years ago I was planting brassicas on this date outside, but the last three I haven't gotten them out until May, and that the April planted ones did a lot better than my May ones did. This gives me information so that I make a point to really shoot for April plantings (though obviously the weather is my biggest issue with whether this happens or not) and change something I do (fall tilling, which I couldn't last year, or separate raised bed that needs little cultivation and cares not whether it has rained or not for planting) to make sure they see April sun. I could easily forget how things went without my notes.

Another aspect to the journals, though, is also the beauty. This year I made a point of illustrating my plans for the garden. I tried to make them pretty, but with the little time I have, not as pretty as some are able to do. It helps me see quickly what I am doing, make changes as necessary and will be a pleasant addition to my journal. Right now they grace my wall, making my office a reminder of the sunny days to come. Pictures of my produce are handy for when I want to market on the net what we've been doing, but also just in the beauty of food. In the rat race that is the standard American food system, the beauty of homegrown, whole foods is outstanding, especially in heirloom varieties. It gets lost in mass marketed supermarket foods and drive throughs. There is nothing so beautiful as July's bounty caught on (digital) film.

 
One last thought is the heritage that is recorded in such journals. My children can see what we were doing for the growing months by looking at my records. I can put down when they started helping, and also teach them to start their own gardens and journals. My oldest loved drawing pictures of the pea sprouts in her tiny patch last year, and seeing them go from seed to peas. It creates something else we can share in our relationship, also something that they can use as they grow. I get a lot of my motivation for what I do from my time spent with my dad and grandparents as a young girl. Both were big on the homesteading movement in the eighties, and I took all of that with me to use as an adult. One of my favorite pictures is part of my dad's gardening journal-a shot of a huge bounty in the back of his pickup truck, full of color. It is my inspiration every year, and a reminder of how important keeping track of my interactions with our farm is.

Abby, Abby how does your garden grow...

I thought I'd post a bit about my (finally) starting this year's gardening. I will post the outdoors plans sketches later, but for now, these are my seedlings and what has sprouted this week. As soon as I get a set of true leaves on them, I'll transplant them into yogurt cups. (Mama P take note...some of these transplants will be headed your way in late April!)

 Lemon Basil, on 3/21

Giant Pascal Celery, just a few coming up, 3/21

Oregano, 3/21

Monstropolgi Celeriac, 3/21

Chinese Pac Choi, 3/21

Red Acre Cabbage, 3/21

Sweet Italian Basil

Medford Tomato

Thompson Broccoli

Early Snowball Cauliflower

Fenugreek

Violetta Italia Cauliflower

Copenhagen Market Cabbage

Evesham Special Brussels Sprouts

DeCicco Broccoli

All these were started on 3/16, and these pictures are of their progress as of 3/21. Bear with me here-I blog better than I journal, so this will serve as my gardening journal, and you can now snoop :)

Antique and Vintage Seed Catalogs

 So doing something more with this site in the future-decopage? I LOVE these!

It's that time again!

I love this time of year-the promise of new life and springtime are so apparent when it is time to start seeds! Now, in Iowa, really the only thing I am putting in right now are realllllly long season items, like onions. But, a friend of mine, Diana, put up her post on seed starting. A good starter post; here is what I have learned over the years of starting all my plants for personal and in previous CSA use, plus some more recent research as I try to grow some items I usually just bought in the past. I will most likely post some pictures once I get started sowing (in a couple days) and go over some more tips as I am in the midst. 
Some basic thoughts, though:
I have been doing some research lately on seed starting. I have used the jiffy setup for years, but recently found in my search for guajillo seeds that Miracle Gro's organic or orchid potting soils work better than classic seed starting mixes. They retain moisture and have necessary nutrients that many potting mixes lack. Also, peat pots may be plant-able in the garden, but they also wick moisture away from your seedlings, drying them out faster. What I have started using is yogurt cups, after I have started the seeds in flats. I very carefully transplant the seedlings once they have a couple true leaves to the cups and do not water so heavily that they get too wet. Those cups give more than enough space for root development and that extra transplanting step gives me a chance to fix some legginess if it arises in the seedling.
The yogurt cups are reusable, too, and a recycled item, so it cuts my cost. Just wash them well between uses. They work similarly to the little gem planters used by pros. Just carefully dump the plant out when you are ready to plant it, begin careful to not disturb the roots too much.
I have found the best advice in starting seeds is patience. Everybody-even within the same families- have different germination rates. I cannot tell you how many times I have said I was going to throw an attempt out only to have it sprout the next day (maybe it sensed the threat?). Don't be discouraged. Make sure you keep everybody warm enough. I know some people use heating mats. I use a space heater in the general area and a thermomter. I never let the area get below the seventies, and prefer the eighties. I can get anything started-my issue here lately is keep animals and wind away from the starts once they get put outside to harden off :)
Oh greenhouse, where are you!

Meal Plan Monday

Monday: Chiro, coffee pickup, library, Dinner: Sloppy Joes
Tuesday: Cloth Diaper Group/Sale, Thrifting, ICAN if "I CAN" find a sitter to fill the gap from when I leave to when Dad gets home from work Dinner: Biscuits and Gravy
Wednesday: Tacos
Thursday: BLT's
Friday: Chiro, Dinner: Malaysian Curry (we ended up being gone last week and did not end up getting to have this)
Saturday: Free Choice
Sunday: Grill (our beef comes Tuesday, so we are having STEAK! Yum!)

(Picture is one of my chrysanthemums)

Picking Tomatoes

Meal Plan August 17th, 2009

Monday: Chili; chiro visit, fencing in the goat run with Num
Tuesday: Zucchini Parmesan; Reid day visit, canning tomatoes and elderberry juice
Wednesday: Corn Chowder with BLT's; ice cream extravaganza
Thursday: Pizza; hair day with Auntie Andie
Friday: Taco Salads; help Granny C with new house cleaning
Saturday: Either the fair or Being There's Anniversary Party; fair day for mom and dad
Sunday: Somebody is turning 5, so hot dogs and brats are on the menu!; Birthday! Pony Gal is 5!

Picture is a hibiscus Dad's Grandma V hybrid herself, in my garden. I moved it from her house in Des Moines, then to Colfax at our first house, and then here. It is one of my favorite flowers. I will cry if ever it dies. It is now a family heirloom.

Mexican Cocktail Cherry Tomatoes

I have grown these for several years now. They are tiny, and perfect for little ones. Even cherry tomatoes can be too big for babes' mouths. I hate to pick cherry tomatoes, though, so they are also wonderful for the kids to get involved in the garden. I really like this variety, and will most likely stick with it. I will still keep looking at other cherries on the side, but thus far, really like this one est of all I've tried. They are terribly prolific and hardy as well.

Pink Oxheart Tomato

I think this is a plant someone gave to me or I bought on clearance. I am not sure of the specific variety, but I know I am not thrilled with the flavor. It may get better once the heat kicks up some, but for now, I am reserving these for canning. Cooking tends to help the flavor of tomatoes some. My favorites are yet to come-most are still green. Once they pop, I will be in heaven. I will post a pic of them once they are in. As for now, a pink oxheart, the first variety, save the Mexican Cocktail Cherry Tomatoes, which are the size fo peas, so they generally win the race.

Hungarian Hot Wax Pepper

I actually don't like the flavor of these. I wouldn't grow them, save for Papa H who loved them. Unfortunately he wasn't able to stick around to enjoy this year's harvest, so I will most likely freeze a little for use in spicy stews, and barter off the rest. I tried pickling them and wasn't thrilled with the results. What better thing to barter off than what we won't eat anyway, though? These peppers are by far some of the most prolific I have ever grown, and never fail to produce, even though pepper plants and I rarely get along well.