Compost - never thought there was so much to know(learn)

I mentioned in a previous post about my reading books about gardening and related subjects.  In my side bar, I've listed those that I have read.  The list will grow, as I am reading about three right now, in different parts of the house.  (I mentioned books could be an issue, didn't I?)

Right now, I'm reading "Gardening when it counts" by Steve Solomon.  A very good and thorough book.  If you want a lot of semi-technical knowledge, this will be a good read.

Chapter 7 is all about Compost.  I never knew there was so much to be concerned aobut.  I thought you just take the "brown" and "green" layer them with some dirt and manure and water and BAM! you have compost.

That's what I've done.

But he goes on to talk about what nutrients will be brought to your soil with the compost you make.  If you just use what you have available, it's okay, but to make better compost, you have to put more thought into what you put into your compost pile.  Which does make sense.

If you only have marginal vegetation to add, you will be putting marginal nutrients into your pile.  Kind of like the saying, "Garbage in, garbage out."

Never thought of that in regards to a compost pile.

I am not a scientific person, by any stretch.  So some of the things he talks about, I really don't understand, but what I do understand is that perhaps I need to add some things to my compost pile so that I, or rather, my soil, get the most out of the making of the pile.

Do you have any thoughts to share about this?

I am a Vegetableatarian

Isn't that a cool word?

It's made up by Steve Solomon, from his book "Gardening when it counts".

He says that as he speaks to people, they ask him if he is a vegetarian and he tells them, "no, I am a vegetableatarian."

I'd like to think of myself as a vegetableatarian.  I am learning how to eat more of a varied diet for my health and to do that I need to try more vegetables and so, I have to learn how to GROW more vegetables.

I know they say when you start your garden to grow the things you love to eat, which, I did last year.  But this year I am going to grow some things I've never grown before and have never eaten before.  That excites me.

(again, let me apologize for the pictures. I am trying.)

 

Mache - Corn Salad - This one I want to try because I've heard so many good things about and that it is also a good one to grow during the winter months.

 

Nasturtium - I knew that you could eat flowers, but I didn't know about these and that you could eat the leaves as well.

 

Radish - French Breakfast - Now, we've both eaten radishes before.  You know, those small red and white ones that come in a bag in the grocery store, that are usually HOT.  Neither of us liked them as a kid and besides the stray one in a salad in a restaurant, I don't think we've eaten them on purpose.  But I heard that these French Breakfast radishes are not as HOT and that they grow well in the spring and fall.

 

Golden Purslane - Yes, it's a weed. I wanted to grow this one for a friend who told me about them, but then when I got the package, it says it contains healthy Omega-3 fats and it's rich in antioxidants.

 

Herb Dandelion - Yes, another weed! You use the young leaves in salads, and the older leaves as boiled greens.  The roots can be roasted and used like coffee.  This one I will need to be careful with.  It is a perennial.

 

Carrots - Amarillo - Yes, we've eaten carrots before, but never yellow carrots. They are supposed to be very sweet.

 

Now, can you see why I am excited to be a Vegetableatarian?

My Apology

I have just been made aware that some of you may not have been able to comment to my blog over the past two weeks or so.

I am sorry.  Apparently blogger and IE are having issues and for some reason comments are not allowed to be made.

From what I gather, they are working on the issue and it may mean that I will have to change to a different browser and being that I am not very computer savvy, that may take some time.

I hope that you will continue to read my blog and continue to try to post and that blogger will be able to get this resolved.

Thank you.

I never thought about this

I'm currently reading, "Gardening when it counts - growing food in hard times" by Steve Solomon.

I read this from the book and thought I would share it, as I had never thought about this before, even before my gardening journey began.

Winter's freezing halts the soil's biological process. When the thaw comes, the soil ecology starts up again, but from near zero.  From this cold start, useful soil microorganisms and small soil animals have as good a chance to dominate as do the unwanted ones.  The good guys can be helped out with crop rotation and a bit of compost.

He was talking about how if you live in a place where the ground does not freeze solid to 18 inches or more for a few months, that it may not be possible to grow a garden successfully after the first few years.  That you could still grow a garden there.  He wasn't saying that a garden wouldn't actually grow.  He meant that without crop rotation and the addition of compost that the productivity of the garden would go down.

This is something that I had never thought about.

I know that in the winter it is good to have snow, as it melts slowly into the earth soil it adds needed moisture and nitrogen (I believe, I'll have to look that one up.)

I also know, that in winter, when it's cold, usually germs are killed off by the cold.  At least that is what we've always been lead to believe. 

So this thought about the freezing ground makes sense to me.  It helps to "kill off" the "bad" microorganisms and it gives the "good" ones a starting chance to make the soil good.

It's strange, isn't it?  I don't know about you, but now, as I drive around doing my errands or helping someone with theirs, I look at all the yards.  All the yards around where I live that are so manicured and well taken care of.  Not that there is anything wrong with that.  For the people who live there.  But I've begun to look at all those homes and say within my head, "wouldn't some apple trees look lovely there?" or "That yard gets so much southern exposure, a vegetable garden would get fabulous light there."  And even, "What a nice level yard.  I wish I had that one for my garden."

But, as the title of my blog says, "growing where I am planted", the yard I have is the yard I have and I need to make the best of it, sloping ground and all.

So, I continue to read.  I continue to learn and listen to what other gardeners thoughts are about growing things, especially soil, as ours was neglected for so long.

It is a journey I am on now and I'd love to have you share it with me.  I always love to hear your comments and I hope that you enjoy some tidbit that I care to share.

Dad's garden

My dad was raised on a farm.  While his family did not farm for a living, they raised chickens and my grandfather sold feed, I think I get my soil bug from my father and my grandmother.

Every year, my dad, now nearly 90, has a garden of some sort in his yard.  Every spring he waits until the garden soil is just right and rototills.  It's what knew knows.  It's what he's always done.  His garden always looks beautiful, in the spring. 

 

Then, summer comes, and the hot and humid weather, and as much as he won't admit it, his health gets in the way now and the garden usually goes to "weed", but is still very productive.

I wish I lived closer so that I could go daily to help him with keeping it nicer, but I can't. So, he does his best and I don't say anything but thank you for what ever he shares.  He always plants more than enough, too much, I think, but it's what he does to keep busy and active at 90.

Anyway, this year I am going to ask him if he will let me grow and three foot section to one side to grow storage onions, leeks, and butternut squash, and then in the fall I'd like to put garlic in.

Do you share garden space with anyone?  And how does it work out for you?

Banana Cake

Well, every week, when I get Dear Darlings lunches prepared, I always try to have bananas for him.

Last week, he had five bananas and he wrapped them in his sweatshirt and LEFT THEM IN THE CAR!  Which, thank goodness it was cold and not hot!  But, to say the least, he forgot them until he came home, and it was only three days because of the snow, but they were frozen solid.  So, he felt bad about not eating any and having them freeze, so of course when he brought them in, he thought they shouldn't go to waste, surely they could be made into CAKE!

His grandmother always had baked goods at her house when he was growing up. My mother always had baked goods at her house when she was alive.  I, on the other hand, DO NOT keep baked goods in the house all week, every week because WE EAT THEM!

Remember, there are a lot of things going on here.  We are trying to eat real food.  We are trying to eat healthy food.  Plus, we are trying to cut the fat and cholesterol out of our diets, or at least down a bit.

So, while I don't have his grandmother's recipe for banana cake, I do have a "Fanny Farmer's Baking Book"by Marion Cunningham, that my brother got for me in 1987 for Christmas.  There are lots of good recipes in there that we've enjoyed, so, off the shelf it came.

 

It is called a neighborhood cake, which is neither time-consuming nor expensive to bake.  They aren't fancy.

Banana Cake

Baked in a 9 x 13 cake pan

Use only bananas that are soft and sweet.  This is a moist cake that keeps well for at least four days.

1/2 c vegetable shortening (1/4 c unsweetened applesauce)
1 1/2 c sugar
3 egg, separated (2 egg whites)
1 c mashed bananas-about 3
1/2 c buttermilk
2 c all purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 c chopped walnuts (1/2 c chopped walnuts)
(my changes to the recipe are in italics)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour cake pan.
Cream shortening (applesauce) with sugar and mix until smooth.  Beat in egg yolks. (I just put the egg whites in now), then the mashed banana and buttermilk, and mix well.
Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, add to banana mixture and mix til smooth.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they are stiff but moist.  Plop the beaten whites on top of the batter and begin folding them in.  When the whites are almost incorporated, sprinkle on the nuts, continue folding until blended. (I did not do this part as I only used egg whites and put them in as the eggs.  I like simple and the less bowls the better!)
Spread evenly in prepared pan and bake 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of a cake comes out clean.  Let cool and frost.

Frosted with homemade White Icing

Do I dare tell you that we ate this 9 x 13 cake by Friday evening?  I made it on Thursday.  And then, I made another one on Saturday, and ONLY four of those pieces got packed for lunch.

Now do you see why I don't keep baked goods in the house all week!

Some more before and after

 

Here are some more, just for fun.

 

 

During

 

After

During

After

 

 

After

 

After

Before, During and After

 
I should have thought ahead a bit.  But since I am only just trying to do more photography and better photography, you will have to excuse me.  I did try.

 

Before

 

The above picture was taken at night, before there was really any snow on the ground, just to give you an idea of the lattice fence I have around my garden and how it looks from our deck.  The lattice pieces are 24 inches.

 



 

 

February 12, 2014

 

The above picture was taken the day before the storm, just to show you how much we had at that time.  There had already been two days of snow the week before, and so this was melted down some, but you get the idea.

 

 

 

 

February 15, 2014

And this last picture, above, is after the storm.  I would say that we got about 18 inches on the 14th, on top of the 5 inches that were still there from the week before. THEN, we got another 5 inches on the 15th that are not shown here in this picture, after I had taken it.

I was fortunate that Dear Darlings work told them on the 12th that they would not be open on the 13th, so he came home that evening after working late that night.  He was supposed to be off today as well, but he asked the boss if he could have off Friday instead and he would come in today, the holiday, so that he wouldn't have to travel back and have another long day, just to come home again that night.  They agreed.

I am so lucky and fortunate to have a Dear Darling such as he, that works so hard to provide for us and then comes home and because of snow gets no real rest for the weekend.  We shoveled, snow blowed and had the plow on the quad on Thursday and spent over 4 hours together clearing the snow from our driveway and the lip of the street near it, plus our neighbors driveway across the street, and we helped out our neighbor next door, as we knew his snow blower blew up the storm before and he had not gotten a new one yet.

Then, we did it all over again on Friday evening, as well as help our Darling Boy out over at his house.  He was working 24 hour shifts to help cover for people who couldn't get to work.

Saturday came and we did some more!

I was spoiled having him home for an extended visit.

A book called "The Mini Farming Guide to Vegetable Gardening"

It is written by Brett L. Markham and I got it through inter library loan through my local library.

(I have no affiliation with Brett or with Skyhorse publishing.)

I have only read a few pages of this book and I am already liking it.  I hope no one minds if I share a paragraph or two that have "hit" me.

"When you grow your own vegetables, you can grow them far less expensively than they can be purchased, thereby making it much more feasible to follow our mother's advice.

Another reason why people don't eat enough vegetables, I am sad to say, is because most vegetables you can buy at the supermarket are unappetizing.  Humans have a natural evolutionary desire to consume the most calorie-dense food available in order to avoid starvation.  To a degree, this can explain our preference for snake cakes over rutabagas.  But another important ingredient in that equation is that industrial agriculture has turned what should be a culinary delight into something so tasteless and useless that it can't be consumed in quantity without a dip or sauce to disguise its bland character."

This is so true.

Growing up, my mother only had a few recipes that were served over and over and over again.  We hardly ever tried anything new.

Now, there were always more than one kind of vegetable on the table at any meal, but my mom cooked them to DEATH!!  I am sure I mentioned it before, that I didn't know broccoli or asparagus were supposed to be green and not khaki colored and that they were supposed to have a "bite" to them and not be mushy.

No wonder I was never very adventurous with trying different vegetables.

I know, we all tend to blame our mother's for everything.  And while I'm not actually blaming my mother, it was growing up with my mother in the kitchen that formed my preferences into adulthood about vegetables.

Once we had our Darling Boy, I tried to include as many choices as I could, but now, being the "mother", I know that I didn't expose him to as many choices as I could have.  BUT, I always encouraged him to try new things, no matter where he was or whom he was with.  And, I'm glad to say that he always did and have a very well rounded list of items that he eats and prepares himself.

I think part of why I have gotten the gardening bug so badly is that I do want good, nutritious food.  I want to know where my food came from, how it was grown and how fresh it is.  There is no reason why everyone can't grow something in their yard, and if not in their yard, in containers on their deck.  It really isn't that hard or expensive, and it does not take that much time.  Everyone of us could make such a statement if we grew some of our own food, even if it were just tomatoes and lettuce through the summer.

So many people spend thousands of dollars on landscaping their yards, and having a lawn service, just imagine if they instead spent one tenth of that on growing some of their own salad items?

I know, I'm not saying anything new, I'm just repeating what so many other's have said, I just felt like I needed to say it and share it.

Thank you for listening.

My Baker Seed Order

Earlier in January, I wrote how I purchased a copy of the "Whole Seed Catalog" from  The Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company.

I placed my order on January 14th, and it was here in two days.  It was packaged and sent on the 15th and I received it on the 16th. Shipping for my order was $3.50 and the actual postage on the envelope was $3.08!

I am very impressed with the speed of their service and that they charged for shipping as close to what the cost of actual shipping was. 

I ordered 20 packages of seeds.  Yes, very ambitious, for a first time seed planter.  But, I'm learning, and I want to try everything that I read about.

My Dear Darling wants carrots.  So, I found and ordered several types of carrots.

Our Darling Boy likes yellow beans.  Not wax beans.  Yellow beans.  I know, they are one and the same, but if the package says "yellow" beans, well then, I can say I planted "yellow" beans.

I want peas.  All kinds.  Sugar Snap.  Snow pea.  Regular pea.  I wanted them for eating and partly for improving my soil.

I ordered some Golden Purslane for a gal I work with.  She loves Purslane and this way, I can plant some and give her something that I know she will enjoy.

I also ordered some Ground Cherry to try.  I'm looking for new things and adventure.  What better way than to try an heirloom?

How do you or did you pick what you ordered in seeds this year?

New Year's Crab Dip!

I bet, by now, you think all I do is eat!

 

I am lucky enough to have a Dear Darling who likes to cook, experiment in the kitchen and try things without an actual recipe.

 

New Years eve I was just going to do simple and easy.  I went to our local Wegman's and got some of their already cooked Garlic Shrimp and I was going to make some angel hair pasta and a salad and BAM!, dinners on the table.

 

My Dear Darling had other ideas.

 

"Why don't you go get some crab meat? We'll make some dip."

"Oh, and pick up some spinach while you are there."

"Do we have cream cheese?"

 

So, back out to the store, now the third one that day, to pick up some crab meat.  I've, we've, never made crab dip before, but I always buy Lump crab when I am making crab cakes, so that is what I bought for this dip.



 

 

 

 

Above is the mix, cream cheese, Lump crab, spinach, some chopped onion, some chopped red pepper, shredded mozzarella and I think there is some shredded jack cheese in there as well, and maybe even a tablespoon or two of Hellman's.



 

 



 Next, he put it all into a glass pie plate.  He wanted to put it into a 4 quart casserole dish, but I didn't think it would cook evenly in that.  (My thinking, it's an "expensive" dip to burn)

 Below, is the finished product.  It was wonderful!  It was filling with Corn chips.  It was TOO much for two people and too rich!

 

 

We ate about half of the pie plate and we had no shrimp dinner that night, we were STUFFED!!!  The shrimp dinner became New Years Day dinner and the other half of this we vacuum packed and put into the freezer.

Never be afraid to try something you've never done before or that you don't have a recipe for.  Yes, at times, it can be a gamble, and in this case, an expensive one, if it didn't come out edible, but most often times, you may find a new favorite!

Organic Gardening - The book (s)

 

Since beginning my gardening experience last year, I have purchased a few books and have read ALOT of books that I borrowed from the local public library.

 

My father got me a subscription to "Organic Gardening" magazine, which I thoroughly enjoy and recommend to any new gardener. (no, I have no affiliation with them.)

 

As I have mentioned before, books are a downfall for me, and if I am not careful, they become a problem, so I now try to choose very wisely when I buy them.

 

I bought this book and enjoyed it greatly.  I read it from cover to cover, over the course of several weeks and learned a great many things, and relearned some things that I had forgotten.

 



 

 

This is an old one, written by Samuel Ogden in 1971.  I would imagine that it is out of print now, so you could check your library system to see if they have it or can get it.  Even though it was written in 1971, it is a really good book and a lot of the information in it is still applicable today. This one was actually on the shelves at my local library.

 



As I read each book, I have been trying to record in my "garden journal" anything that I find interesting and helpful, so that I can refer back to it in the future.

Swedish Meatballs

This weekend, I asked Dear Darling what he would like for dinner.  I really struggle with this, as I do like to cook, and I do like to eat, but I HATE figuring out what to fix!

 

So, he said he wanted:

Swedish Meatballs

I have not made them in years, so I went to AllRecipes.com, which is a favorite recipe site of mine, and found the above recipe.

I did follow the making of the meatballs to the T, but I did use more meat with the same amount of spices.  In the past, it's been probably 10 years since I made them, I no longer remember the recipe, I know I did not use allspice or ginger, but I did use nutmeg.

Anyway, I cooked them as directed, but since I have issues with fat content and additives, I used water instead of canned or powdered broth.  They came out of the oven just fabulous!  I used some of that liquid to make "the gravy" and them put them in the crock pot to keep warm until dinner time.

I did forget to purchase egg noodles, so we used angel hair pasta from the pantry and I cooked up some frozen broccoli and dinner was a hit.

I will definitely make them again, just as the recipe is written.

Rice Pudding

Here is the rice pudding recipe I use from allrecipes.com

Creamiest Rice Pudding

They say when you get older that your tastes change.  Well, I've found that to be very true.



 

 

 

My mother will be gone 7 years this month. 

 

I never liked rice pudding when she would make it.  When my oldest brother was alive, she would make it for him, because he loved it, and she did too. 

 



 

After my mother died, one of my godmother's brought over her rice pudding for us to have at the house.  I tried some, and it was love.

 

Now, was it just that I loved "her" recipe for rice pudding?  Was it simply that I was hungry?  Or was I trying to connect with my mother?  I will never really know.

 

After a while, I called my cousin, my godmother's daughter, and asked her if she had her mother's recipe.  She sent it along, via snail mail and when I received it, I thought "I could never make THAT".  It was SO calorie laden and full of fat, my gallbladder would surely object.  Plus the quantity it would make, and I'd be the only one to eat it.

 

So, that recipe when to the bottom of the pile and was forgotten.

 

One day, while surfing through All recipes . com, I decided to look for a rice pudding recipe, and the one above, is the one I found and that I use and love.

 

I do half of what is called for, as I am still the only one who eats it, and I use 2 % milk, and one egg.  I have also tried using one cup of heavy cream and three cups of 2% and that comes out even nicer, if you can afford the calories and the fat.

 

I learned that making rice pudding is a slow process, you have to constantly be getting up to stir it, you can't really do much else, or it will burn, and you have to "look" at what you are doing to be sure the consistency is what you want.

 

When I make this, I let it cool in the refrigerator, and when I eat it, it's usually a meal and I add cinnamon to the top. 

 

 

I now have many memories of my rice pudding.  While it isn't my mothers, or my godmother's, it is the one I use and think of them, and I wanted to share it with you.



The weather has gotten to me!

Sorry I have been away from here for a bit.

The winter cold will do that to me at times.  I just seem to want to hunker down near the wood stove and knit.

Please check back later in the week, the posts will be regular again.

Wishing for spring ( as a new snow fall descends....)