The Lazy Composter

One of my goals this year is to actually use the compost that we have been creating since we moved here a few years back. Up until now we have just been piling stuff in a big heap where there was a set of three sided bins when we moved here. This is what our current compost situation looks like.

Thank goodness it's tucked away at the back of our property because not only is it useless, it's hideous to look at. It is technically "composting" but very passively. It's only help is the occasional churning by a chicken and which you may detect some tail feather in the left bin. Off tot he side is where we pile branches and bigger items, but this system makes it nearly impossible to turn it and it's location makes it inconvenient to take kitchen scraps out there.

I know even less about composting than I do about gardening so it seems like a good time to make some improvements. Last week I assembled the Soil Saver compost bin that we got recently. Incidentally, I paid half of what the website says it retails for. I picked this one because it seemed simple and inconspicuous and was made of 75% post consumer recycled plastic.

I set it up in between the garden and the chicken coop which are located off the kitchen side of the house. In other words, it's in a very easy location for loading it up. According to the directions, every six inches or so you want to put in a layer of soil or chopped leaves. I didn't want to spare the dirt, but I have a ton of chopped leaves that I raked off my garden. I wanted a place to keep the leaves until I need to put on the next layer so I built a makeshift "bin" out of some wooden stakes and leftover chicken wire. I put it right next to the Soil Saver and if I don't use all the leaves it will just keep composting and make more garden gold.

I was pretty pleased with myself for building this. It took about an hour and I got my hands somewhat scratched up, but at least it wasn't something else I added to the never ending "Honey Do" list. The disadvantage of having a super handy hubby is that you never have to build anything yourself. But right now David needs to get me ready a new chicken coop, a brooder box and a goat shed so I figured I could at least take this on.

So far so good and apparently it gets the chicken seal of approval. Go ahead, take a dump in there, it will only make for better veggies.

I have a garden dream

I can't say it enough - I have no idea what I am doing. I am such a totally amateur gardener and there is an infinite amount to learn. I read some books, do some online research and take my best guess at what might work. This is our third season with our garden and each year I try something new, change or get rid of what didn't work previously and grow more or less of certain things. It's really just a big experiment and even the very helpful folks at the Master Gardener Demonstration Garden over at Cooperative Extension say they are always learning. Some stuff works, lots of stuff doesn't, mother nature hates you or loves you and then the seasons change and it begins all over.

Meatles Monday - Just Wanna Sprout About It!

With the gorgeous weekend weather, I have good reason to believe that we have bid our final farewell to winter. Our garlic is on the grow and I am beginning to prep the garden beds for the season.

Garlic shoots *photo by Josie, age 5

Last fall we chopped leaves by running them over with the lawn mower (which David didn't think would work - It did!) and covered the raised beds with them. I read that this would help to introduce more organic matter into the soil and so far it looks to have done the job. When I raked the leaves off the strawberry bed the soil was dark and rich. I worked the remaining bits of leaves into the dirt and then put the rest in the compost pile.

It is great to get back out into the garden and get my hands dirty. My work here has taken on even greater meaning after our inspiring trip to D Acres yesterday and I can't wait to share that with you.

But for now, let's talk sprouts. Last week was my first venture into growing my own sprouts and we enjoyed them on the ride up to D Acres. Sprouts are another throwback my youth when my mother used to send me sprout sandwiches to school and kids used to moo while I ate. That's OK, I forgive them. They didn't know what they were missing.

I am using a Bioset sprout grower that I got from Johnny's Selected Seeds and I am very impressed with how easy it is and how simply I incorporated it into my daily routine. Basically, you just spread the sprouting seeds (there are special seeds for this, you can order those form Johnny's as well and they are mostly organic) in the trays. Then you stack them up and fill the top tray (white) with water while holding your finger over a small valve on the bottom. You place the watering tray on top of the stack and the water flows down through each level and is collected in the bottom which you then empty out. There are little grooves in each tray that hold onto just the right amount of moisture. I fill the tray twice per day so I probably spend about 2 minutes total on this per day.
My first batch was broccoli sprouts which are nice and spicy, just like me. The package said it would take 2-5 days. There was lots of action during this time, but I harvested them on Day 6. I now have my all time favorite sprouts in there, alfalfa. I added many more seeds this round. I only put about half as much as I could have the first time since I wasn't sure how much space they would take up once "sprouted". I should be dining on these by the end of the week.

From seed to sandwich in 6 days.

There are countless ways to enjoy sprouts. I like them on salads, but my favorite is a sprout sandwich. I love pita bread, but I also use whole wheat. I love it with some grated carrots and some cheddar cheese. For creaminess I either put a little mayo on the bread or some sliced avocado. OK, now I'm drooling. Give it a go and you'll be like "Cold cuts? I don't need no stinking cold cuts!" Try it and then give me sprout!

Growth Spurt

A very exciting day indeed! Today I...

...got my seed order in the mail. I didn't get off my butt to start seedlings this year so this is all my direct sow stuff. I will have a list up of everything I am going to grow, or at least planning to.

...along with the seed order came my Bioset sprout grower. I have converted the children to sprouts and got them off cold cuts for sandwiches. I have always wanted to try this.

...ordered new chicks which will arrive in May. Our current flock of New Hampshire's is near and dear to my heart, but is driving me clucky with the way they peck each other. We selected them for their status as a Heritage breed as well as their cold hardiness, egg production and because they are considered to be "dual purpose". Yes, we will be dining on these when their egg days are over. OK, maybe not Bertha. We have since found out that they are a fairly aggressive breed and we have tried everything to get them to quick eating each others feather, with no progress. It's all very high school.

One Morning Near Maine

To be clear - I am NOT a photographer. It is one of those skills I do hope to gain,

but here are some images from my 7am October world.

 I never knew a warm egg could be the best thing I touch all day. I slip them into my pocket

 and then hold them while I wait for the dogs to "get busy".  When I come inside and lay them in the carton beside their brethren, I count each one and say a silent thank you.

Meet Inferior Chicken. Don't worry, she isn't about to do anything. She just takes a look around and then goes about her day, pooping and eating. She is the only hen without a developed comb and her vent (that's butt hole to non-chicken folks) is puckered up tighter than a cheapskates wallet.

The chard and baby spinach look so sad at this frosty hour, but these greens are remarkably

resilient and by noon they will spring back to life and will be inviting me to come clip them

and turn them into something delicious.

This thin and curvy birch is my favorite tree on our property. It is dead or dying.

 I do not know which. The time will come when it will fall or need to be taken down and  I am already dreaming about what its new life will be.

When I am tired and weary from the daily chores that I have put upon myself by choosing this not-so-simple life, it is these moments that bring me back to the knowing that this is progress. These things are real and tangible connections to how we survive and, with a little luck, thrive.

Good to the last pop

I don't know about the rest of the country, but for New Englanders, this was not a banner garden year. Summer didn't even get started until July and was over by mid-August. The deluge of rain that was the month of June caused my tomatoes to get a fungus, my strawberries to drown and, in general, got everything off to a soggy start. So what successes I did have, I really tried to savor. By far, one of my best crops this year was jalapeno peppers.

In our first garden season, I grew one small, hot pepper plant. I can't recall the variety and I put it in quite late to replace something I had to pull so I only got a few fruits before it quit on me. This year, I decided to put in six jalapeno plants and see how they would do. Little did I know that every one of those would take off and begin to shower me with lovely, green goodies. Supposedly, if you leave them on the plant they will turn red and continue to get hotter, but ours never made it that long and since we are feeding three youngsters with these, we didn't want to trip the oral fire alarm.
Yesterday, I had to finally admit that it is too cold and getting too dark for my spicy babies to produce much more so I harvested the remaining peppers and set about making my last batch of Homemade Jalapeno Poppers. We are huge popper fans and now that we have grown and consumed our own we have sworn off the frozen turds we used to pick up at Sam's Club.
Now that it is October, you may not have access to a quantity of fresh jalapenos that hasn't traveled many miles to get here, but maybe this will wet your appetite and get you thinking about cultivating your own hot beauty patch next year.

* A recipe disclaimer - With the exception of baked goods, I rarely follow a recipe exactly. I usually look at one or two recipes for something and then tweak it to suit my culinary style and limitations. So in the case of the poppers, this is just a guide. Experiment and see what works for you.

Jalapeno Poppers

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
two handfuls shredded cheddar cheese
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp cilantro (fresh chopped is awesome, but dried works fine too)
1 cup flour
5 eggs
a squirt of lime juice
2 cups bread crumbs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
approx 15 -20 fresh jalapenos
vegetable oil for frying
ranch dressing or salsa and sour cream mixed together for dipping

Start by prepping your peppers. Slice of the top and then scoop out the guts. I use a small corer that looks a bit like a peeler. A paring knife would work too. BE CAREFUL not to touch your eyes, pick your nose, etc. until you have washed your hands thoroughly Those pepper innards are hot! After cleaning them, rinse them inside and out to get out even more seeds. A few remaining is fine and will spice it up a bit more.
Next, get your filling ready. Combine the cream cheese, cheddar, cumin and cilantro and mix well.
Now prep your breading station. You'll need three bowls. In the first put the flour. Then beat the eggs and the lime juice together in the second one. Lastly combine the bread crumbs and salt and pepper.
To fill the poppers, slice them in half length wise and then use a knife (I like a small butter knife) to smear filling into each side. Put the halves back together and give them a little press. Go around with your knife and wipe off any filling that has squeezed out. Resist the temptation to cut all the peppers first. I did that and then had a heck of a time matching the halves back up.
Once all the peppers have been filled, you can begin breading. The following process should give you a nice coating that will hold up during frying.
Step 1 Flour
Step 2 Egg
Step 3 Bread crumbs
Step 4 Egg
Step 5 Bread crumbs
Heat about 1-2 inches of oil in a deep sided pan until a few drops of water sprinkled in the oil start to sizzle. Carefully place the poppers into the pan and cook 3-4 minutes or until browned and then turn them over. I like to turn the heat down a bit to give the peppers more time to soften without burning the outside. Remove with a slotted spoon or spatula onto a paper towel to drain. Once all the poppers are cooked, remove them to a plate, serve with dip of your choice and prepare for the WOW factor.

I will really miss these over the winter months. But every successful meal that I produce using the bounty from my garden only makes me want to plan more ways to bring my favorite ingredients to life in my own backyard. Whether you have acres or inches, there is something that you can grow. In patches or pots, maybe jalapenos will be "popping" up for you in the not so distant future.

Good Night Eggplant

Today was one of those exhaustingly satisfying days where you feel like you did everything you were supposed to do. I started the day by getting up early (for a Sunday) and then fixed a supa dupa breakfast. On the menu was waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, scrambled eggs (from our hens with several double yolkers in the mix), sausage, hashbrowns and fried apples from the ones we picked a few weeks ago. After we had sufficiently stuffed ourselves, I posed the question "Imagine how much we could get done if we didn't turn the TV on all day?" oh, and "How about we all work outside all day and then this afternoon we will come in and watch a movie together?" Well, shocker, they all agreed. Hallelujah. Obviously some sort of body snatchers were here in the night, but I am not complaining.

So we got our acts together and headed outside. I hung laundry on the line while David finished up his last few punch list items on the chicken coop - got the timer on the light, buried the electrical line and put in some more vents. This meant that the chickens got let out to free range early since they are not happy ladies when Big Daddy is messing around in their house. I think they feel he is a bear. I might too if I were them. They couldn't have been too upset though because we still got 4 eggs today and hopefully the light will get the rest of their fowl butts in gear. I want to be drowning in eggs. I want to have egg nightmares and start saying "Dear God, make them stop!" David also mentioned that he wants to build another coop next spring and get more chickens. Maybe some meat birds. He may have just been trying to sweet talk me, but it's workin'.

On to the garden where we finally got all the dead tomato plants and the stakes taken out. We harvested my lone pumpkin, of which I am very proud, and cut back the strawberry bed. We also cut down the corn stalks and made them into a decorative bunch for the mailbox post, took out some of the eggplants and peppers that seem to be kaput, thinned some more carrots, tied up the peas a bit more and generally cleaned up all the beds. So now what we still have growing is:

carrots

green peppers

peas

yellow peppers

beets

jalapeno peppers

swiss chard

sage

spinach

oregano

bush beans

onions

radishes

Once everything is in I will take stock and give my summary on what worked and what didn't and what we would like to do for next year. Considering this is only our second season with the garden and it is HUGE and we have no clue what we are doing, I think we have fared pretty well. We have kept ourselves flush with produce all season and learned so much. Plus, we are so happy we decided to put in some fall crops this year. Our first season was long over by now so still having plenty to harvest is really exciting.

Even though I have a bit of a purple thumb (not black, but certainly not green) I love the garden. I love getting my hands in the dirt. I love seeing things progress. I LOVE like a crazy loon how into it the kids get. They loved picking up all the bad tomatoes today and squishing them. They will eat anything if I say it's from the garden. Here's a piece of dog doo. It's from the garden. Yummy! You're the best mom!

So after all the garden action was over, we set out the pallets to begin stacking our cord wood this week. We did a bit more tidying up around the yard and then David played some wiffle ball with the kids. Jesus, Josie kicks some serious butt. I felt bad because Noah only managed to make contact with a few and Jo hit every one. Caroline didn't quite get the concept of swinging the bat BEFORE the ball has passed you by and now rolled into the poopy mud in the chicken coop (swear to God it happened three times before we smartened up and shut the door to the run). Even though we have always told them that everyone has their strengths and challenges and all that, I could tell Noah was a bit distressed. I don't think it really makes a difference to him that when he was Josie's age he could read and she is just starting to learn the letter sounds. Someday it will make sense to him, though. What his purpose is; what his gifts are; what all of us are here to do and why things are the way they are. I suppose none of us knows that. I guess I don't know entirely what path I am on. But I know that when I am traveling on the one from my door to my garden I feel a sense of rightness and truth and connection and pride and that is what keeps me growing.


PS
The movie that everyone agreed upon as a reward for our hard work was "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". TV, yes, but A) It's about a kid waiting in a garden and B) it's a throwback to simpler times and genuine human interaction; a rarity nowadays. Good grief.

Think Groucho Stork

So apparently my pickles are a hit. Yes, the verdict is now in from individuals who are not dependant upon me for all their food needs and I am guilty of good pickling. A definite improvement over last year. The casualties of that war are still sitting on the shelf in the basement. They are like organs in a lab. Discolored and useless, yet oddly fascinating. They were mushy and nasty and now I don't know what to do with them. Do I throw them in the compost and risk bad pickly vibes being passed on to next years crop? I screwed those up since it was both my first time gardening and pickling. You really must pace yourself with these things.
First, you have got to use pickling cucumbers. Then you can not give in to the temptation to let them grow until they are all phallic. Smaller ones remain firmer. I have been saying THAT for years. Then you have to get a good recipe. This year, I opted for a refrigerator pickling process. Upside, I didn't have to fire up the water bath canner which I think might have helped make last years' batch so very raw-hot-dogesque. Downside, the majority of my fridge is taken up by quarts of pickles and I am beginning to feel like I live at Katz' s Deli. Every time I go to get the milk I expect to find some guy in an apron asking me if I want rye or pumpernickel.
You don't have to know how to can to make these. So if you can get your hands on some little cukes you might want to give it a whirl. I use quart canning jars, but you could use any size container and adjust the recipe accordingly.

Refrigerator Pickles (Dill)                                               

In each jar:

2 sprigs of fresh dill

2 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 tbl. mixed pickling spices (found in the spice aisle)
1 bay leaf

Combine in saucepan:
1 cup white vinegar
8 cups water
1/4 cup pickling salt (usually near canning supplies or spices)

pickling cucumbers

Put the dill, garlic, pickling spices and bay leaf in the bottom of each jar. Fill the remaining space with cucumbers. Leave small ones whole and cut larger ones into spears.
Combine the vinegar, water, and pickling salt in a saucepan, bring to a boil, and cool.
Pour the liquid mixture into each jar so that the cucumbers are covered. If you run out of liquid just mix up another batch or half-batch. Put a cover on each jar and refrigerate for about three days before eating. Flavor will get stronger over time. Pickles should last about 3-4 weeks. Keep refrigerated.
I have now pawned off enough picks to get a good read and I think I'm in business. Next year I'll grow the dill and garlic and then I can get really freaky with it. Like some people have a whole extra fridge for beer, maybe I'll have one for pickles. Sweet! No seriously they are dill, though. Sweet pickles are an abomination. But that's another post.