garden notes.........

Went to my absolute FAVORITE U-Pick place today and got a lot of peaches, carrots and basil that will need to be dealt with. It's early a.m. here so I'll have to post the pics of that after a few hours of sleep.

In the morning, my friend Dawn will come over and help can peaches. In the meantime, I've made several batches of pesto and stashed them in the freezer. As I type this, basil dries up in the dehydrator overnight. I'll use it all winter in casseroles, soups, and salad dressings.

Early yesterday, Max and I dug up our trove of fingerling potatoes. Fingerlings are rather small, irregularly shaped, and elongated. A bit like fingers if you've got a vivid imagination. :) They fetch a costly price in the store as a specialty item. I simply grew them because a friend gave me some starts.

The green beans have finished for the season. Secretly I'm happy. There comes a point when you've seen one too many. For now, I'll be content to make myself weary of the peaches.

And after all these months of waiting, guess what??? Soybeans!! Finally! I'd begun to think they'd never show up. At least once a week some inquisitive person wants to know what that 'green mound' is in my front yard. That, I inform them, is my soybean patch. Minus the soybeans. But now they are growing and I'm quite happy. We may yet have edamame to snack on this winter.

So tune in tomorrow, another spate of pictures is on the way.
Happy Eating,
-E

Myrtlewood leaves as a culinary herb

Those of you who are lucky enough to live in the great state of Oregon have most likely seen a Myrtlewood tree.

Wood from this tree has a lovely grain pattern known as 'fiddling' or 'fiddleback' thus, making it popular for woodworking.

What you probably didn't know is that Myrtlewood leaves can be dried and used as a culinary herb. Years ago, in the Eugene airport gift shop, I saw a tiny bag of 4-6 leaves sold for $2.00. The directions said to use them as you would bay leaves.

Now you know I'm not going to pay money for something that is plentiful and free. So I gathered my own and dried them. I encourage anyone who can get them to do the same. It's a fun and exotic addition to your spice cabinet that will get people talking.

Too much of a good thing?

I love late summer. Fruits and vegetables are so plentiful it's easy to get carried away. Often I find that I've purchased or grown too much of something and don't know what to do with it. Good intentions lead me to believe I really will can all 10 pounds of beans and Pickle three bags of cucumbers in one day. Then I don't. Panic and guilt set in. What to do? Read on......

Triage your projects, so to speak. If you have raspberries, corn and peas to deal with all at once, chances are your in over your head. Sure you wanted to can them all, but that's not look like a reasonable goal right now. If you just can't live without raspberry jam, deal with that first. You'll be glad you did. If your crunched for time after that, try freezing your corn and putting your peas in to the dehydrator. Or the other way around. Whatever works. Below are some specific suggestions:

Peas: These are best frozen. Peas are the one vegetable that even professional chefs tend to use from the freezer. They don't keep long fresh and tend to get mushy when you can them. Alternatively , pop them into your dehydrator. They'll be great for soups later.

Green beans: Can them, freeze them, dehydrate them. Use small tender beans for making 'dilly beans'. Large thick green beans are better for canning as they don't turn to mush as easily.

Corn: Freezing is great, canning is fine, dehydrating is easy and convenient. For something special, try making corn relish.

Tomatoes: Canning or dehydrating is best. Dehydrated tomato slices are delicious snacks, are great in pastas, and go well in salad dressings as well as casseroles.

Zucchini and yellow squash: These are a toughie. They won't taste very good after being frozen and aren't very tempting canned either. But there are some tasty exceptions: try zucchini jam, zucchini pickles, or freeze grated zucchini for cake or breads. Also, dehydrate the slices for use in winter soups.

Carrots: Who doesn't love carrots? They are so versatile! Again, you can freeze them, can them, or dehydrate them for soups. They adapt well to all types of storage.

Blueberries: Freeze for use in pies or baked goods. Blueberries make excellent jam and if you want to try something different, they be dehydrated to use in granola, pancakes, muffins, or just snacking.

Blackberries: My husband's favorite jam is blackberry! Around here they grow wild everywhere. Free Food, yay!! Take advantage and freeze as many as you can to make pies.

Apples: In the fall, I can't seem to make applesauce fast enough to put some away for winter. The kids eat it as fast as I make it. Which is good because it's very healthy and easy to make. For a fantastic snack, dip apple slices in sugar before dehydrating. Or leave the sugar out for healthier eating. Try pureeing apples to make fruit leather in your dehydrator. And finally, make some apple pies ahead of time and freeze them to bake later on.

*When you open your cupboards/freezer and see all the good the good things you've stored for winter it's a very good feeling. Best of luck in your endeavors. If you have questions, email me at edibleoregon@rocketmail.com

-E

Your front yard "gourmet grocery store"

Listen, anyone can grow fresh gourmet veggies. And there is very good reason to do so. Have you looked at the price of snow peas and sugar peas in the grocery store? $4-$6 dollars a pound!!

Here is another compelling reason to 'grow your own': Convenience. It's no secret that I love to cook. And it's frustrating to continually run to the store for every little thing. Especially fresh herbs. You pay $2 for half wilted basil that you only use a portion of . The rest turns black before you find another recipe.

Meal planning also becomes easier. I can stroll out to garden and see what is currently ready to pick and plan accordingly. In early spring it is usually just a green salad with a few fresh herbs tossed in. As the season continues, I can add spinach, radishes, and peas. Soon I'm planning meals around broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, new potatoes, zucchini, and yellow squash.

The sad truth is our economy sucks right now. And our pantry is showing the sign-of-the-times. The end of each month is often quite lean for us.

Yesterday I opened our fridge to look for a veggie for dinner. There was only a sad, old bunch of celery in the crisper. "Not salad again", I thought to myself.

Out to garden I went. And guess what? After 10 minutes of careful fussing and picking, I was able to get enough sugar snap peas to saute' for dinner for a family of six. No driving, no shopping, no money spent.

Tomorrow I'm going to address stumbling blocks to starting your own garden. Most gardening challenges are easily overcome. So do not fear!

Then we'll talk about some simple easy preparations of garden veggies. As side-dishes, soups, and even main meals.

Many friends have commented that we eat well at my house. You can do the same at yours! Stay tuned..........

Mid-season garden update

I absolutely love this time of year. The garden really starts to pay off in June and July. We have more lovely salad greens than I know what to do with. The peas are getting quite prolific, lovely dark green heads of broccoli are appearing. Veggie Paradise!

Something new we tried this year was potatoes and boy was it worth it! 10 Yukon gold starts have yielded more gorgeous spuds than I ever thought possible. They are so large the ground above the plants is crumbling as they burst through. It is so much fun to dig into the ground and find large new-skinned potatoes just lying around like rich women on lawn chairs!

The spinach is all gone now. It got fairly large but bolted too quickly and began to gather powdery mold due to all the rain. I had to run outside and pull it up all at once to save it. In it's place I've planted a multi-colored carrot mix. The package promises purple, white and red carrots. If they really turn out, that is going to look so cool! We have a juicer and I want to drink some purple carrot juice.

Ahhh, soybeans. Such enigmatic little plants. I fear our climate gets too much rain and too little heat for them. But they shyly hold their own. I really have high hopes for them.

Also new this year: exotic radishes. Why radishes? I just don't know. Max likes them, they are easy to grow, and there are some wicked cool varieties available. We planted these monster sized red radishes that looked just like carrots. They were pretty nifty. But check this out, I just planted some variety of Black radishes. And since we are big lovers of Japanese food, Daikon radish has been planted as well. More on that later.

Also new, the herb garden. The unused space just outside the front door under the eaves is our new herb garden location. Up and running are Borage, Cilantro, Sage,Mint, Chamomile, Parsley,Rosemary and Marjoram. The Thyme is dead. What is it about Thyme? It always dies! Is there some Thyme god I need to sacrifice to , to get this stuff to grow?

Newly planted herbs include Lemon Balm, Coriander and, ummmmm..... shoot I forgot. Something else.

On the far end of the herb garden Is a new wooden trellis I added specifically for growing climbing beans. The particular variety we are growing this year are bright red. The pretty vines are winding themselves up the trellis and climbing higher each day. One of the vines has wound itself around a sunflower. Yes, that's right. Sunflower.

All those years I lived in Kansas and never grew the dang things. Now I have three of them in my front yard! It happened because we use our rabbit compost in the garden. The rabbits eat a mix of grain and seeds, i.e. sunflower seeds. A few of them sprouted and I am letting them do their thing out of sheer curiosity.

Also new this year strawberry plants in large flower garden and baby's breath growing around the mailbox. Whew! I'm almost as tired typing this as I was doing all that work. Thank goodness Dante' is such a good helper. :)

The third time is the charm

I just planted my third (and hopefully final) garden. Corn, squash, and tons of beans. Thanks to my friends Leona and Marvin, this one should do very well. The bed is raised which Leona says means you can plant more veggies closer together.

This garden space also features a drip system so we don't need to babysit it much or worry about it drying out.

What was SUPER interesting about Marvin and Leona's garden is that they have two large raised beds with only 1 tomato plant in each bed. Just 1! The rest of the bed is bright orange plastic mulch and they are domed in a clear plastic frame.

Noting that the beds were about 4' by 15' (rough guess), I couldn't help but ask her where the other plants were. " Oh, that one tomato plant will spread out and fill the whole space," Leona assured me. Wow. How is that possible?

But it obviously is possible because Leona is a seasoned gardener and she has done this all before. I can't wait to see how it works out. Just think of the money you could save by not planting a whole fleet of tomato plants!

This week I will try to get out and get pics of the new garden space plus Leona's tomato beds. Until then, take care and God Bless!
-E

Has anyone seen this bird?

Weeks ago when I first planted beans at the community, I knew they would take awhile to come up. So I was patient.

But days went by, then a week, then two weeks. No beans. What could be the problem, I wondered? Finally, I planted them all over again. "These will come up!", I tried to reassure myself.

Another week went by- no beans. Today I took my husband with me to check out the garden. " Have you checked to see if the seeds are in the ground?", he asked.

Honestly, I looked at Phil as though he had sprouted a horn right out of the middle of his forehead. Nevertheless, I grabbed a stick and began digging at the ground. Guess what? NO SEEDS!

It's like the opposite of Jack-and-the-Beanstalk. We have magic disappearing seeds.

Phil thinks the crows might be eating them. I think it's time to bake four- and-twenty-blackbirds into a pie. Dang birds.

BTW,the first person to get that reference and reply back to me wins a Dutch Bros Coffee.

much love,
-E

planting asparagus, making soaps

A couple of weeks ago I did two things:

* Plant asparagus
*Make home made soap

Since my camera was non-compliant I couldn't share the pics, but they are here now.

The soaps:

The star shaped soaps were made by re- batching. We grated up bars of Ivory, added color, milk and wheat germ for softening properties and scent. They look pretty good.

The pink rectangular soaps were created from scratch. They need to cure for another week before we can use them. I will describe the process more in a future post.

















And now the Asparagus:



First off, let me say that baby asparagus are quite cute. They pop right out of the ground looking exactly as you see them in the store, but in miniature. Asparagus shoots are so difficult to see that at first you fear they didn't work out. But they do, and they are cool!

Check out this cutie: The really interesting part of planting asparagus is what they look like when you bring them home.

Asparagus grows from a mass of grey/brown roots. If you saw it in your garden, you'd likely pull it up and toss it out.

You take this mess of 'medusa hair' and plant it in the soil, taking care to keep it moist. And voila', little shoots emerge shyly from the earth.


After a bit more research, I'll print some tips for anyone who wants to grow their own.

with love,
-E

You just can't make this stuff up

Here is a play-by-play of a typical day in our life. It really should be titled, "The Good , The Bad , and The Ugly, (with yours truly playing the part of ugly) but that has already been taken. Read on. You'll laugh, you'll cry, it will become a part of you. Grinning- Ellen.





AM- * emptied the rabbit cages, lined the bottoms with newspaper, and filled both food and water containers. Shoot! We forgot to get more straw for bedding. It will have to be gotten today.

* Fed the dog and the cats. Rex generally fulfills most of his caloric requirements eating the neighbor's cat food. Aphrodite eats the dog's food. What's up with that?

* Friends come over to knit, crochet and talk. We exchange patterns, ideas and life stories.

PM* Dante', Max, Rex and friends pile into the van. We go to the community garden to tend
our plot. Surprise! Over the weekend potatoes have come up. We are jubilant. The
peas, radishes and green onions are tall. What ever happened to the beans, we
wonder? Organic slug repellent is sprinkled, stray calendula from last year's garden is
ruthlessly yanked.

* Rex ate a chocolate Easter bunny we didn't watch carefully in the car. We panic and
take him to the vet. She smiles and says he will be fine as he didn't eat enough to
make him sick.

* Next we head for the stable where we board our horse. The dog
comes along and usually causes trouble by trying to chase a horse. Max searches out
puddles and gets soaked-again.

* The goats need more grain and the girls want to see the cute guy at Milk-E-Way feed
and seed. So we drive 12 miles and buy the grain. The cute guy isn't there today,
which leaves the girls feeling rather deflated.

* We grab sandwiches and sodas at the McKay's. Full bellies make for good spirits.

* At Melissa's house we drop off the goat grain. Our pregnant girls are really fattening
up. Dante' takes some of the goats straw home for the rabbits.

* Home again, home again, jiggety-jig. We drop off Dante's friends and go back to our
house. The dog goes into his kennel, Max goes into the bathtub, and I go into the
kitchen to clean up and start dinner.

* Our cat, Aphrodite has brought a mouse inside. It promptly gets away from her and
is lost somewhere in the living room. Is that it? Did I see it? Paxson moves
furniture, Dante' shrieks, and Aphrodite grows bored. She leaves without retrieving
her prize. This would never have happened in her younger days. I realize she is
beginning to grow old.

* Phil comes home, dinner is over, we all scatter to the far ends of the house. William
helps with dishes. I fold laundry. Phil is working on taxes.

* Bedtime ritual for Max: Brush teeth, wash face, hands and feet. Read a bedtime
story before prayers. I steal a few moments of computer time before doing it all
over again.
Believe it or not, today was relatively quiet.(minus the dog drama) That is our life. It sounds crazy sometimes but it's real. You just can't make this stuff up.

Goodnight and God Bless,
Ellen

ps- I still don't know where the mouse is.

slugs

They eat the garden. Every tender shoot that dares rise above the soil line is chewn upon.( Hmmm, according to my spellchecker, 'chewn' isn't a word. I'm gonna run with it anyway.) Who knew gardening could be such a melodrama?

Slugs are just a fact of life in the pacific northwest. Our rain forest climate makes this area one big slug-growin' petri dish. They aren't typically a problem. Until you decide to actually grow things in your yard. Other than dog and cat poop, of course. I've got a bumper crop of those.

So What are my slug-killing options? Many Oregonians swear by putting beer in little dishes in your garden. The beer attracts the slugs who then drown in it. This little gem of a tip had to come from the old days when women just stayed home and played housewife all day. A few beers and even weed pulling is fun! Or was it conjured up by a couple of guys who thought drunken invertebrates would be a real knee-slapper?

But I had to try it. So I nabbed a cheap can of no brand suds from my 92-year-old grandfather's house and divvied it into custard cups. It worked. Not well enough to keep buying beer for the yard, but it did work.

At the community garden we are only allowed to use organic remedies. They keep a gallon jug of something called "Sluggo" on hand for us to use. It's a great joke to the slugs. The little pellets are sprinkled on top of the ground. Well, that's just fab for the large, above-ground slugs. But guess what I discovered while planting today? Little baby slugs living under the dirt. Holy cow, who knew? I swear they were laughing at me.

Suggestion #3- How about a pellet gun? Next time I spy a slimy critter munching on my would-be salad, it'd be more fun to just shoot it.
-E

It's that time once again

The community garden is open, and our plot is planted. Oh yeah, I told myself to not be in a hurry. Be cool, take my time. Wait in case the weather changes. Let's face it, I'm not a waiting kind of girl.

So our little plot is full of seeds. Peas, onions, lima beans, pole beans, radishes, potatoes- as many as I could get in and not be too over-the-top. Waiting is no longer optional, but mandatory. How long 'til seedlings come up? Will it freeze again?

While waiting for those answers I will be content digging up and planting the garden in the front yard. Tiny packets of lettuces, cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, chard and spinach await their turn for planting. Herbs will occupy the space just outside the front door and make a lovely tea garden.

In mid-April Leona will open her raised garden beds for planting. Her generosity allows a space for squashes and root vegetables. Turnips , carrots, zucchini and more will be planted there.

Our goats grow fatter by the day. Their bellies are near to bursting. Will they make it until May or surprise us and kid in April? There will be sweet new babies and mommas full of milk.

I love spring and the promise of things to come.
-E

Making playdough

A basic recipe:

2 C flour
1 C salt
1 tsp cream of tartar
2 tbsp oil
2 C water
food coloring

Mix all the ingredients except the food coloring into a saucepan and and stir over medium heat until it gathers together and forms a dough. This takes about 5-6 minutes. Cool it and then knead it until it's easy to work with. Separate into balls and add food coloring of your choice.

* I've made this recipe for my kids in the States of Kansas, Virginia, and Oregon. Oregon is the only place it doesn't work so well in. The dough is great for about 1 day and then it gets gooey, even in an airtight container. If you live in an extra-humid environment like ours , you might want to try something else.

Any suggestions?

The coolest fire starter ever!

For all you closet pyros out there, I got this nifty trick from my sis who learned it in girl scouts. Or was it summer camp? Anyway, here it is :

CHEAP, EFFECTIVE FIRESTARTER

* dryer lint
* egg cartons
* paraffin wax

1. stuff the egg carton with lint.
2. melt paraffin and pour over the lint-filled carton.
3. Cut into individual squares.

directions-light one square to start your kindling. Each square burns about 10-15 minutes. By then, your fire will be going strong.


So how cool is that? Maybe I need a hobby but I seriously get stoked over ways to use things we normally throw away. So that's it. If I get any more gems like this one, I will pass them on to you.

Eating well in the middle of winter

As winter has progressed, our shelves of canned goods have dwindled. All the work was worth it, though. Just last night I lacked a little something to spruce up a rather plain chicken dinner. Then I found the last jar of cranberries on a back shelf. It was just what we needed.

All winter we have enjoyed our own blackberry jams, applesauce, pickled beets , squash, and dilly beans. I've used the canned tomatoes and pears. There isn't really much left except some jam and regular pressure canned green beans.

Dante' finds it exciting when I authorize her to go to the basement and bring up some home canned goods. She regards it as 'shopping' at our house.

And I have to say, our homemade jams and pickles have really helped when I've needed a gift for someone but found myself short on cash. I pack a box with canned goodies and Dante' crochets a cute dish cloth to go with it. That little trick has saved my butt more than once.

So here we are in February with supplies running low. Which is fine. We weren't dependent on it. It was just our first experiment in the realm of growing/canning. I have vowed to grow 2-3 times the amount of food this summer than we did last year. It's fun, it keeps us busy and we don't have to eat supermarket veggies from Argentina all winter.

Hurry up, Spring! I want to get down-n-dirty in the garden.

itching to plant,
-EJ

Make your own.............

Laundry soap, dish washer detergent, and all sorts of goodies. This is another easy way to become more self-sufficient, help the environment, and save money. Below is the recipe I first used to make my own laundry detergent:

1 bar of soap (ivory or Fels Naptha are best but I have used just about everything)
1 cup washing soda (I've used regular baking soda to no ill effect)
1 cup borax (found on any store's laundry isle. Look for the name "20 Mule team)

grate the soap, add the soda and borax. Super easy! It only takes 2-3 tablespoons of this to clean a load of laundry.
*Some folks, like my husband, get skin irritation from borax. If this occurs, stop using and try a different recipe without borax like this one from tipnut.com

Recipe #8

2 gallons Water (hot)
1 bar Soap (grated)
2 cups Baking soda (yes baking soda this time–not washing soda)

• Melt grated soap in a saucepan with enough hot water to cover. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring frequently until soap is melted.
• In a large pail, pour 2 gallons hot water. Add melted soap, stir well.
• Then add the baking soda, stir well again.
• Use 1/2 cup per full load, 1 cup per very soiled load.

How about dishwasher detergent that is safer and less "chemical-y" than what your using now?

Basic dishwasher detergent recipe:

What You Need:

• 1 Tablespoon Borax
• 1 Tablespoon baking soda

This is a 'per load' recipe so feel free to make more ahead of time and put it into a container.

*Note: Dishes get cleaner when citric acid is used. You can buy citric acid, or to save time and money , simply empty one packet of lemon kool-aid into the dishwasher with the other ingredients. Only lemon, and only the packet without sugar in them. (use vinegar in your rinse dispenser. It's effective , cheaper, and safer)

Another cool thing about making your own cleaners- you run out of stuff less often. Since I keep a lot of borax, baking soda , and soap around the house, running out doesn't always mean a trip to the store. Just make another batch!

So that is the basic make-your-own rundown. Again a web search will bring you so many options you'll be amazed. Liquid laundry detergent , home made stain remover, and more.

JUST DO IT!! And when you do, for Heaven's sakes would you please tell me about?

love and peace,
-EJ