The Zucchini Bat

This is what happens when you don't keep up with them. We were there last Thursday; then the car broke down and we didn't get there again until tonight. The 16-inch-long, 3 1/2lb 'bat' was the same size as the smaller one 5 days ago. These are off the same plant.

Also, just for fun I've added a page called "Harvest 2011." I'm keeping track of the harvest, plus the prices (commercial and organic) with a running total at the top. It's interesting to see the numbers, and know we'll benefit all year from the garden. Anything not eaten fresh will be put up for winter - that's why we have a 40-foot row of tomatoes!

Our Garden - Pictures!

Photos from 6/20:

South-east corner, above. Left to right: Chard, butternut squash on trellis, green beans, snacking tomatoes, onions.

Northeast corner, above. Left to right: Tomatoes, onions, carrots behind the onions, cucumbers, cabbage behind them; fresh tilled spot with beets behind.

North-west corner, above. Left to right: Various peppers , a zucchini in between bare spots, a bare 1/3 row in front of the carrots, then the canning tomatoes.

Snacking tomatoes - we have one each of Sungold, Tangerine, Sugar Baby, German Striped, and another red slicing tomato. These are just for eating fresh; the canning tomatoes are Big Bog to be pressure-canned this year. Everything is organic! The mulches are straw and wood chip; pine mulch is next. This is a learning year =)

Getting the Garden Started

Note: Original post was attempted on April 18. I wanted to add pictures. I just got the pictures in the computer. Please forgive the delay, and enjoy the post, yes?

We're starting with this:


The first day, we went out and edged the plot, raked it well, and removed any weeds or roots we found. The second day, we weeded and then hoed and raked the beds - removing weeds and then chopping any roots we missed. We're calling it 'preventive weeding' - anything that we get now, is less weeding we do later! Since we go in the evening, anything on the top after Day 1 or Day spent the day withering in the sun - it's mid-70's here both days.

We got compliments while we were working - and I found it neat that a younger couple might do the preventive weeding after seeing us do it, while the older couple with the plot next to ours commented they'd done it yesterday.

Day 3 we planted what we have and watered it. We'll keep going back nightly to water and weed to keep up on things. I still have to order herbs, and find potatoes to plant. (note: never found them, too late in my area)

A good start:

Farmer's Market as Training

I use the Farmer's market as training. All this fresh, local food. I don't even have to grow it. But, how on earth do you cook some of these things? Eggplant? - well, purple is a cool color, but, um, ya - weird food. Zucchini? No idea.

So, I buy a couple here and there of the different things. An eggplant in the fridge until I'm no longer afraid to cook the weird thing. Squash, over and over, till I'm forced to learn new things it can do. Keep the tomato drippings - if they came off tomatoes that yummy, they should be good for something! - Ah, yes, broth for winter's soups.

After doing this for two years, I know not to plant eggplant in our sunny garden, since we don't eat it yet. Summer squash will get planted, and I'll learn more ways to cook and store it. Sungold tomatoes? German Striped slicers? Yum! Cabbage, too, so that I can put up homemade sauerkraut - it's the only kind I can eat. Green beans get a double row, because they'll end up dried or canned in the pantry.

Right now? It's Egg Season (spring). I have 5 dozen eggs in the fridge - yes, five! - so I'm training on how to serve them all! And quiche would be good but isn't on the menu (because of the dairy in it). Hmm... Perhaps I ought to start baking...

Planning a From-Scratch Pantry

By which I mean a pantry stocked (to whatever extent) with food you can use to make homemade meals, snacks, and deserts. I’ll also discuss planning what you need to can and dry for your pantry.

Getting Started

• Track current usage
  What are you eating? Is it from scratch? If not, do you have a recipe? What ingredients do you need?
  

• Frequently made recipes
  What do you like to eat? You should keep ingredients for a batch or two of family favorites in the pantry. I'd keep enough for 2 of each meal, in case you don't get to the store to restock before you want it again.
  
  
• Create a sample one-month menu/ grocery list.
  
  Example: pet supplies. I know we need about 18lbs cat food, 2 14-lb bags of litter, and about 4 bags of treats. I can get everything in one trip – and since it’s to the large pet store, that makes it a time-saver as well. This will last two months (sometimes more) for our two cats.
  
  Example: Vegetables. During winter, I like to serve a can of veggies with dinner. So, 5 nights x 14oz cans = (5 nights x 30 weeks) in pints (16oz each) = 150 pints of assorted veggies, add 10% for extra coverage - 145. I’ll take that and round it off so that I run full batches of 8 pints – so, 144 pints of assorted vegetables is what I’ll need, if I can everything myself. Note that this doesn't allow for fresh veggies, which is always preferred. I'm still learning how to estimate what we need, so the first few times/years it will be a learning process.
  
  Example: I’ve had to change from getting groceries weekly, to monthly. I knew the change was coming and kept track of what we use each week, and used that to estimate what we’ll need for the month. I mentioned the cat supplies and veggies above; I also know that I like serve meals in a pattern – two nights are leftovers, one night based on beef, one night meatless, three or four nights based on chicken. Times that by four and I know what to buy for the month. When sales come I do make exceptions and stock up as much as our small freezer will let me.
  
  
• Expand the list to cover 12 months, allowing for seasonal variations - lighter foods in summer's heat, more soups and savory meals to fight back winter's cold.
  
  
• Make your own convenience foods.
  
  Example: I cook much more chili in the winter. I have other recipes I only make in winter, or fall, because they suit the weather. Chili is easy to make; a few rounds of 7 quarts each should be plenty for the winter. I like chili-mac for lunches sometimes, so I may also can some half-pints for that. This is also something where I can make a canner full, and then make more when that runs out.
  
  Example: Healthy quick meals can be prepped by making and canning soups, chilis, and meatballs. Home-canned meat can be used as a basis for quick meals, and increase your use of local pastured beef – for me, this is seasonal, with spring being the hardest time to get any. Also, if your freezer is full you could can the sale meats.
  

Drying Foods

• Benefits: Food dried in season retains nutrients and flavor throughout the winter, and takes up a fraction of the storage space. This is especially nice when you have limited storage space. Some foods also take less of your time to store this way.
  
  Example:Tomatoes and greens can be rinsed, patted dry, and sliced quickly before placing in the dehydrator. Then, you just take out the dried food when it's ready.
  
  
• Soups (as well as other recipes) can be made ahead in dried form, rehydrated & cooked. I have at least two recipes I’m going to try –I will dehydrate all ingredients, package them together, and see how they come out after simply putting the dry mix in the slow-cooker with water or broth. If it works (I believe it will), I‘ll have wonderful, homemade, dinners for the times I forget to thaw food or plan ahead. Those are the days where I’m drinking my coffee before work and go “Eek! What are we eating tonight?” Dump things in slow cooker, add broth or water, turn on. Come home, stir well, serve. That sounds nice, yes? You can also look for "Gift in a Jar" or "Dinner in a Jar" type recipes, and use these the same way.
  
  
• Unique candies – candied and dried fruits & fruit leathers. We made candied watermelon rinds one summer. Delicious!
  

Applesauce, compared

This post was started last fall, when we got that 120lbs of apples. I thought it was posted until recently; it seemed appropriate to post it during (or at least near) the current apple season.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mott's Unsweetened Organics, 8oz:
100 cal, 28 carb, 0 protein, 2 fiber, 0 Vitamin A, 2.4mg Vitamin C, 0 Calcium, 200mg potassium.

My home-canned applesauce, via recipe entered into CalorieCount:
236 cal, 63 carb, 1.2 protein, 10.9 fiber, 245 IU Vitamin A, 21mg Vitamin C, 28mg Calcium, 485mg potassium.

I'm not sure what the canning process might change here, but just off this... wow.

Late Tomatoes

One of my farmers planted a late crop of tomatoes, and I'm canning some for the winter. All of my help comes from books and the internet, so it can get interesting.

I bought 55lbs on Wednesday. I have lost about 10 lbs of tomatoes from waiting too long, and nearly had a ginormous mess on my hands.

The weekend's goal was some whole tomatoes, and the remainder in diced tomatoes. I let the food tell me the amounts; it just depends on the condition of the food. I have learned to core the tomatoes before skinning them - they maintain their shape better. Also, if one or two have split skins the rest should be about ready. It's better to think "loosen the skin" rather than "split the skin." The learning process means I have tomato juice to freeze - I've heard that freezing it means the water will rise to the top, making it so there is less to boil down later. If I could remember the rest of that piece of information, I'd be doing even better!

I canned whole tomatoes on Saturday, diced ones on Sunday. One day's experience cut my time spent in half.

Final Totals:

• 10 lbs of waste
• 11 pints of whole tomatoes from roughly 18lbs of small tomatoes
• 9 pints of diced tomatoes plus one in the freezer (it wasn't quite full)
• a pot of tomato - soup? sauce? - in the freezer. I already reduced it by half, and will see if I can make it into tomato soup for one night's dinner.
  
• enough tomatoes to make tomato & macaroni for lunch today =)
  

Independance Days 3.3.2010

The Independance Days Challenge has restarted for the new year. Here's my first week's report:

1. Plant something: Sweet basil, indoors. I need to remember to start sprouting those commercial potatoes, or find some organic ones; I can’t plant enough to order seed potatoes so I plan on using slips. Root vegetables, herbs, and greens get along alright out there so that's what I plan on growing.

So far, it looks like the parsley and chives on the balcony have survived the winter.

2. Harvest something: nothing

3. Preserved something: nothing, but making plans and gathering recipes. We could use more home-canned convenience foods. I ordered another book, and visited Creative Canning for ideas.

4. Waste not: Eating of leftovers. Old dining set went to thrift and we bought a new one that’s far more useful for us. Old computers were scavenged for parts and now await a trip to the recycling. Also I created printable inventory sheets, to help with grocery shopping but also with what we preserve and when we eat it, since I plan on dating & keeping them.

6. Build community: ordering meat & eggs from a farmer that attends the local farm market during the summer, and makes drop-offs during the winter. All meat & eggs are purchased this way now.

7. Eat the food: chocolate cake with strawberry and raspberry preserves from last fall. Heavenly. Beef stew, home canned. Apple pie and applesauce. Dried fruit snacks. Starting to remember all the peppers I dried, and cook with them.

An Apple a Day.....

I've just finished working my way through all the apples we picked. We got 20 pints unsweetened applesauce from the Fujis - they didn't need anything added to make delicious sauce! The Granny Smiths were used for dried apples slices and canned apple pie filling, plus apple crisp for desert a few nights. Dehydrating apples make the house smell wonderful.

And even after all this time, I have 6 apples to keep for eating fresh. Yum.

Trying to peel the apple in one curl sounds like taking things to a small extreme. After peeling 30lbs of apples, I've noticed it actually makes a lot of sense - I'm less likely to cut myself, I loose less apple flesh with the peel, and the apple looks better when I'm done. Plus it's just fun to try!

Final results:

3 apple pies

dozen fresh apple snacks

18 pints Fuji applesauce, unsweetened

8 liters dried apple slices (estimate, might be 9)

13 Qts. Apple Pie Filling

4 Pts. Apple Pie Filling

4 Qts. Apple Slices in medium syrup

Independance Day - Nov. 29

It's been a quiet week. Thanksgiving was about half local, half easy food. Still had piles, even for just the two of us.

1. Plant something – nothing.

2. Harvest something – Nothing.

3. Preserve something – Drying brussels sprouts, lemon slices, shredded cabbage, turnip greens.

4. Reduce waste – Regular recycling and eating of leftovers. Still playing heater-chicken; days have been in 50-60'F range.

5. Preparation and Storage –Does decluttering count?

6. Build Community Food Systems – nothing

7. Eat the Food – Apple pie, roast chicken, pumpkin pie, turnip greens with bacon, mashed potatoes & rutabagas that I remember from childhood.

8. Crafting – Cross-stitch, arguing with sock yarn again. I mean, working on knitting socks :)

A Good Day's Work

Independance Day - Nov. 15

1. Plant something – nothing.

2. Harvest something – Nothing.

3. Preserve something – Dried turnip greens, tomatoes, and lots of apples.

4. Reduce waste – Regular recycling and eating of leftovers. Still playing heater-chicken.

5. Preparation and Storage – Bought more canning jars, because I ran out. Bought 3-liter sealing glass jars for storage of dry items.

6. Build Community Food Systems – Farmer's market had to close (the nor'easter was coming) but I managed to get there early enough. Two coworkers came with me for the first time. Yay!

7. Eat the Food – Apple brown betty. Brussels sprouts with Kielbasa and red onion (yum!). Stuffed cabbage leaves. Lettuce-and-tomato sandwiches. Regular eating from pantry. Using the farmer market as primary store.

8. Crafting – Finished 2 items from sewing bag (repairs). Did some work on niece's purse - nearly done!.

Harvest Bowl

(click for desktop size)

Storage Comparision: Turnips

The turnips on top are local, organic ones from the farmers market.

The ones on the bottom are from the local grocer - bought a week after the others. All are kept in the same place.

I'll take the fresher, smaller ones, thank you...

A Learning Year

This is my first year storing local food for the winter. We should be OK on strawberry jams & jellies -there are about 2 dozen in the pantry, plus the raspberry jam. I've canned 12 pints applesauce, and have the same to do again, plus 40lbs of granny smith apples to dry & can. We have home-canned chicken & beef broth, beef stew, Hobbit Stew, and bread & butter pickles.

A lot of food has been dried: tomatoes, potatoes, turnips, turnip greens, bananas, watermelon, peppers, celery - if I can dry it I'm trying it! We have a box of winter squash stored as well.

I plan on learning to make sourdough bread, and keep the starter going.

I'm still putting up, for as long as the local market is open. I'm not sure how long our stores will last, but it's a learning year.

for a full pantry list, scroll all the way down the page

Apple Harvest

118 pounds of Granny Smith and Fuji apples from a local orchard

Independance Day - Nov. 8

1. Plant something – nothing.

2. Harvest something – Nothing.

3. Preserve something – Dried turnip roots, turnip greens, tomatoes, and broccoli flowers & stems. Canned 12 pints of local, homemade applesauce :)

4. Reduce waste – Regular recycling and eating of leftovers. Still playing heater-chicken. Discovered 'waste heat' from canning can heat our living room.

5. Preparation and Storage – bought 2 more trays for the dehydrator.

6. Build Community Food Systems – went to local apple orchard with DD, picked & bought 115lbs of apples for canning & drying. Also went to farmers market.

7. Eat the Food – Regular eating from pantry. Using the farmer market as primary store.

8. Crafting – Nothing; I've been in the kitchen!

Cooking Turnip Greens

I made these because my fiance likes them, and I feel very bad giving him canned greens when I make so much else from scratch.

Greens are also a great source of nutrients, easy to grow, and inexpensive. They are a cool-weather crop, and so may help extend your growing season.

Here is the recipe I tried:

Turnip greens
3 slices bacon
water

1. Put bacon in a medium pot, and fill pot half-way with water. Bring to boil, and boil for about 20 minutes.
2. While bacon is boiling, rinse turnip greens well. I removed most of the stems and sliced them into roughly 1-inch strips.
3. Add greens to pot. Cook until they are as tender as you would like. Scoop out greens, draining water from them, and serve
4. If you dice the bacon you can serve them together. I didn't do this; they're back in the fridge with the little we didn't eat.

We both enjoyed this and I plan on cooking it again soon. The greens are tender without being 'cooked into submission,' and the seasoning from the local bacon was wonderful.

Independance Day - Nov 2

1. Plant something – nothing.

2. Harvest something – Nothing.

3. Preserve something – Still have local turnips that need drying. Dried some tomatoes from the farmer's market before they could go bad, and ate the rest.

4. Reduce waste – Regular recycling and eating of leftovers. Still playing heater-chicken.

5. Preparation and Storage –bought a total of 3 5# bags of flour, stocking for winter. It's been a rough harvest season I think. To get more I'll need another place to put it. Also worked on our 60-second plan.

6. Build Community Food Systems – went to farmers market. Bought tomatoes for a coworker. At the grocers I tried to buy 'local' foods as well - their definition is within 6 hours by truck, so about 300 miles? Better than 2,000!

7. Eat the Food – Regular eating from pantry. Using the farmer market as primary store. Getting brave, trying to cook turnip greens for DFH who loves them - new recipe for me! DFH loved them, and I enjoyed them as well. I can't touch the canned stuff so I wasn't sure I would eat these. Fresh broccoli for dinner. Eating egg salad sandwiches for lunch - eggs are local, lunch meat isn't. Made french toast for dinner, to eat older bread. Daughter was delighted!

8. Crafting – I made half of niece's gift - a crocheted and felted flower-purse. I have one side ready, and need to crochet the other half.

Farmers Mini-Market

This week's market was very nearly rained out. Overnight rain, market canceled, market un-canceled at the request of a vendor (yay!). So what you see, is all one organic vendor this week:

Clockwise from top left corner: Turnip greens, broccoli, radish greens attached to the radishes on the other side; green beans, turnips, 3 bags of tomatoes.

Yum.