My seeds from Heirloom finally got here today, I was getting antsy!<<<
I will bet you were, with all the talk of people selling out of seeds, it isn’t a surprise.
And any way, I bet you have them all spread out and are looking at the pictures and tasting the result’s already.
I am glad you got your grinder, that will allow you to do so much more, cracked grains for cereals and soups and bread.
Wow, you are going to have a ball.
Take a look at the posts between this one and the one you sent me, several will interest you, the bread related are about 3081 to 3086.
Travel safely and warmly, we will be praying for you and your lovely Lady.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/recipes/carvertomato.html
[part 3.]
[If canning instructions are given, they will be for 1918 and are not safe today...granny]
NO, 54. TOMATO SALAD
Select medium sized tomatoes, one for each person to be served; wash, and dry carefully, cut off the stem end of each, and remove the pulp with care; cut the pulp and one whole tomato in small pieces (do not chop). cut. one onion in dice, and a small stalk of celery in small pieces. Mix the onion, tomatoes and celery together lightly but thoroughly stuff the tomatoes with the mixture, and serve on crisp lettuce leaves with a generous spoonful of mayonnaise dressing heaped on each tomato. This is a delicious salad, and very appetizing in appearance.
NO. 55. TOMATO OMELET
Beat. 4 eggs very lightly, and add 1/4 cup of flour mixed smooth with a little milk, pepper and salt to taste, add one cup of finely chopped tomatoes, either fresh or canned; pour into a hot buttered pan, and fry slowly. When done serve at once on a hot dish.
NO. 56. TOMATOES ON TOAST
To a cup of stewed tomatoes that have been well seasoned with butter, pepper, salt, and a little sugar, add the same quantity of chopped ham, one beaten egg, and a little gravy; boil and spread a generous spoonful on each slice of well browned toast; serve hot.
NO. 57. TOMATO AND CHEESE PATTIES
Moisten a quart of stale bread crumbs with a cupful of stewed tomatoes; add two eggs, one large cupful of grated cheese, a medium sized onion, minced fine, and a piece of butter the size of a walnut; season with salt and pepper; knead thoroughly; add fine bread crumbs until of the right consistency; mould into patties. Dip in beaten egg, then in crumbs, and fry in hot butter until brown; serve hot.
NO. 58. TOMATO CATSUP, NUMBER TWO
Boil 1/2 bushel of ripe tomatoes until they are soft, press through a sieve, and to the juice add one pint of salt, one ounce of cayenne pepper, and a little garlic; mix, and boil until reduced one-half; bottle and seal hot.
NO. 59. TOMATO SALAD, NUMBER TWO
Use:
3 large tomatoes, cut into small pieces
1 cucumber, diced
1 onion, diced
Make a dressing of:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon strong vinegar
1 scant teaspoon salt
Mix the dressing and pour over the salad just before serving.
NO. 60. TOMATO JELLY SALAD
Boil two cups of tomatoes; add a teaspoon of brown sugar, a teaspoon of vinegar, and season to taste; strain; add a teaspoon of gelatin dissolved in a quarter cup of cold water, and turn into small moulds; serve on lettuce leaves with a boiled dressing.
NO. 61. TOMATO NOVELTY SALAD
Take equal parts of ripe tomatoes, sour apples, and celery; cut all into thin shreds; mix thoroughly, and serve with French dressing.
NO. 62. TOMATO BUTTER
Use:
10 pounds of ripe tomatoes, skinned
4 pounds granulated sugar
3 pounds sour apples, sliced fine
1 quart of vinegar
1/4 ounce mace
1/2 ounce ginger
1/4 ounce whole cloves
1 ounce stick of cinnamon
Put spice in a thin bag; put all the ingredients together, and boil until quite thick, stirring frequently to keep from burning.
NO. 63. SAVORY TOMATOES AND RICE
Use:
6 large tomatoes, peeled and sliced
2 large sweet peppers, chopped fine
1 cup cooked rice
4 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Butter a baking dish; put in a layer of tomatoes; sprinkle with sugar, and cover with rice and peppers. Alternate the layers until dish is full, having the tomato on top. Dot with the butter; bake (covered) three-fourths of an hour; uncover and bake for quarter of an hour longer, serve hot.
NO. 64. TOMATO, FIG, AND NUT SALAD
Take :
2 tablespoons blanched peanuts
2 tablespoons hickory nut meats
2 tablespoons pecan meats
1 cup chopped figs
2 tablespoons of minced celery
Chop the nuts very fine; mix in the chopped figs and celery. Remove the stem end of ripe tomatoes, scoop out the centers, drain the pulp, and mix with the nuts; toss all together until well mixed; cover with a cup of mayonnaise dressing. Fill the tomatoes with this mixture; serve on white, crisp cabbage leaves taken from the interior of a head; place the tomatoes in the center of leaves, and garnish with whatever filling is left.
NO. 65. TOMATO PUREE
Use:
2 medium sized potatoes
1 can, or its equivalent of fresh tomatoes
2 tablespoons of butter (heaped) or a cup of left-over gravy, or two cups of chicken or beef stock.
Thicken with a tablespoon of flour mixed smooth with cold water; mix all together; season with salt and pepper to taste; cook one-half hour; serve hot with sippets of toasted bread.
NO. 66. TOMATOES STUFFED WITH HAM
Scoop out the center of large, firm tomatoes; mix the pulp with some finely chopped boiled ham that has been seasoned with prepared mustard; add to this mixture one onion, chopped very fine, some chopped parsley and bread crumbs; put back in shells and bake until tender; serve at once.
NO. 67. TOMATO AND EGG ON TOAST
Fry a few pieces of bacon; remove from fat; dip into flour thick slices of tomatoes that have been seasoned with salt and pepper, and fry in same fat. Have hot buttered toast ready; place slices of tomatoes on each, with a fried egg on top of each slice of tomato. Arrange the slices of bacon around the sides of the dish.
NO. 68. TOMATOES BROILED
Cut firm, well-ripened tomatoes into slices; season, and dip in fine bread crumbs; broil over hot fire; put on a hot platter, and pour over them one cup of white sauce. It may be served on toast if desired.
NO. 69. TOMATOES AND BACON
Toast rounds of bread; sprinkle generously with grated cheese; put a slice of tomato on each round, and two slices of bacon on top of the tomato; bake in quick oven until bacon is crisp.
NO. 70. TOMATO SALAD WITH CREAM
Peel and slice into a salad bowl, tomatoes in rather thick slices; sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a little sugar if desired; chill, and just before serving put over them a generous amount of whipped cream, and sprinkle with chopped olives; serve at once.
NO. 71. TOMATO TIMBALES
Boil two cups of canned or stewed tomatoes and one finely minced onion for five minutes; thicken with a tablespoon of dissolved flour; cool; add three beaten eggs, and fill small buttered moulds; set in a pan of hot water and bake until firm like custard.
NO. 72. TOMATO SAUCE (MEXICAN STYLE)
Take:
1 onion
2 cups tomato juice, with pulp
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon Worchestershire sauce
Chop onion; cook for 5 minutes in butter; add peppers, finely chopped, then add the tomatoes and seasoning. Simmer for 15 minutes; then put in thin slices of whatever meat you wish.
NO. 73. TOMATO WITH CRAB MEAT
Use:
1 can of crab meat
1 lemon (grated)
1 cup bread crumbs
1 glass of sherry
1 cup of tomatoes (stewed)
Mix meat with bread crumbs; add all the other ingredients; turn into a dish, and bake from 15 to 20 minutes.
NO. 74. TOMATO SAUCE WITH SPAGHETTI
Use:
1 can tomatoes, or its equivalent in fresh ones stewed
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon flour
1 pinch of black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
5 tablespoons cheese (chopped fine)
Cook all together for a few minutes. Boil 1/4 package of spaghetti, having water boiling and well salted when it is put in; cook until tender; drain off the water, and pour tomato sauce over the top.
NO. 75. TOMATO BISQUE
Use:
2 cups of tomatoes (boiled 5 minutes)
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons flour (dissolved in milk)
1/4 onion, minced fine
Mix all together and let boil for five minutes; strain and return to the fire; add 3 cups milk, 1/2 cup of cream, 1/4 teaspoon soda, and boil one minute; serve at once.
NO. 76. TOMATO SOUP (ST. JAMES’ STYLE)
Boil 20 minutes 4 cups of tomatoes with one cup of water; strain; add 3/4 cup of cracker dust or fine bread crumbs, a teaspoon of lemon juice, a stalk of celery, salt and pepper to taste; just before serving, add to each cup a teaspoon of lemon juice, a thin slice of orange, and a tablespoon of whipped cream.
NO. 77. TOMATO HASH
Use:
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon meat gravy
1 cup chopped meat of any kind
1/2 cup tender corn, either fresh or canned
Mix thoroughly; fry or bake until brown.
NO. 78. TOMATO, SAUSAGE AND SPAGHETTI
Take:
1 quart rich tomato sauce 1/2 pound spaghetti
1/2 cup hot water
1 pound sausage
If the sausages are in cases, nick them thoroughly; place in a frying pan; cover with boiling water, simmer until done and well browned (about an hour). Break the spaghetti in small pieces, and cook in salted water until done; drain; rinse in cold water; drain again; confine the sausage and spaghetti in the frying pan; add the soup diluted with hot water, and let it stand until boiling-hot; serve at once.
NO. 79. TOMATO ASPIC WITH TONGUE
Take:
4 cups fresh or canned tomato juice
1 cooked tongue
6 cloves
1 small onion
3 tablespoons gelatin
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon beef extract
Simmer together the tomatoes, salt, pepper, onion, and cloves for 20 minutes; add the beef extract and gelatin, which should have been soaked in cold water until soft; wet a mould with cold water, pour in a thin layer of the tomato aspic, and when it is almost set, put in the tongue, which may be whole if nicely trimmed or sliced as desired; add the remaining aspic if the whole tongue is used, or arrange in layers if sliced; continue until all the aspic is used; when firm serve.
NO. 80. TOMATO AND SARDINE SALAD (INDIVIDUAL)
1 medium sized tomato
1 teaspoon chopped sweet pepper or pimiento
1/4 teaspoon sugar
3 sardines
2 olives
1/2 teaspoon chopped onion
2 teaspoons chopped celery or cabbage
2 teaspoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon shredded lettuce
1/2 teaspoon minced parsley
Cover with mayonnaise (additional); peel the tomato; cut off the top and scoop out the center; mix with one of the olives chopped, the onion, sugar, pepper, celery, and mayonnaise; refill the tomato, and set in a nest of shredded lettuce. Place a spoonful of mayonnaise on top, and sprinkle with the minced parsley; surmount with the other olive, and lean three sardines against the tomato to give a tent-like appearance.
NO. 81. TOMATOES WITH PUFF BALLS
Use:
6 tomatoes
1/8 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups water
6 small puff-ball mushrooms
Cut the tomatoes fine, and stew in water 20 minutes; rub through a puree sieve. Add the puff-balls diced, the salt, and the paprika, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the butter, and serve very hot. The puff-balls should be about the size of medium potatoes. All varieties are wholesome and delicious if eaten when the flesh is as white as curd.
NO. 82. TOMATOES STUFFED WITH SHRIMP
Take:
6 medium sized tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon minced parsley
1 can shrimps, halved
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon minced onion
2 tablespoons butter
2 slices bread, crumbed
A few grains of paprika
1/2 teaspoon green pepper, minced
Add a few more dry, buttered bread crumbs. cut off the tops of the tomatoes; scoop out the centers; add the other ingredients except the shrimps. Heat the butter boiling hot; fry the shrimps; then add to the tomatoes; fill the tomatoes with the mixture; dust the tops with the buttered crumbs, and bake 20 minutes in a moderate oven.
NO. 83. TOMATO SURPRISE
Use:
1 large can tomatoes
2 hard-boiled eggs
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Melt the butter and flour, and stir till dark brown; turn in the tomatoes, sugar, salt, and pepper; cook till thick (about 30 minutes). Just before serving, slice the hard-boiled egg over the top.
NO. 84 TOMATO HORS D’OVEUVRES
Remove skins from very small, uniform-sized tomatoes; scoop out centers and fill with Roquefort cheese which has been beaten smooth with a little cream; place on round slices of bread which have been toasted and buttered or fried in deep fat; cover tops of tomatoes with caviar; thrust a sprig of cress in the top of each one; arrange on salad plates covered with small paper doilies; garnish further with cress if desired
NO. 85. TOMATO AND CUCUMBER SALAD
Select firm, ripe tomatoes; cucumbers to make the same number of slices; half the amount of onions; slice and arrange artistically on crisp lettuce leaves; sprinkle minced green sweet peppers over all; chill; when ready to serve pass French or mayonnaise dressing.
NO. 86. TOMATO AND OKRA SOUP
Use:
1 1/2 pints of tomatoes pared and cut fine
1 green pepper chopped fine(seeds removed)
2 quarts water
3 tablespoons salt
1 pint sliced okra
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons rice
3 tablespoons green corn
3 tablespoons minced onion
Put all the ingredients into the soup pot, and cook gently for two hours; then add two tablespoons butter or sweet drippings, and serve. The bones from roast meat or broiled meat adds to its flavor.
NO. 87. DEVILED TOMATOES
Take:
4 large, firm tomatoes cut into thick slices
1 tablespoon mushroom ketchup
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/2 teaspoon onion juice
1 scant tablespoon sugar
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon paprika
Mix all the above ingredients; put two tablespoons cotton cooking oil, butter, or lard into a frying pan, add mixture of seasoning, and when hot put in the tomatoes, and cook until tender; serve hot.
NO. 88. TOMATOES BAKED WITH EGGS
Select firm, ripe tomatoes; peel; cut off the stem end; scoop out the center sufficiently to hold a broken egg-do not break the yolk; season with butter, pepper, and salt; cover with buttered bread crumbs, and bake in a moderate oven until tomatoes are tender.
Serve on rounds of buttered toast with cream sauce.
NO. 89. TOMATOES WITH NOODLES (VERY RICH)
Take 3 pounds of fresh tomatoes (or 1 quart can); peel, season, and cook the same as for tomato sauce.
Noodles. Break two eggs in a bowl; beat, adding a pinch of salt; then work in flour with the hands until the dough is very stiff; turn on board, and work until dough is smooth and shining. Pinch off a piece the size of a hen’s egg, and roll out as thin as paper; cut into very narrow strips with a sharp knife; roll or drop them in as you wish; boil in the tomato sauce until done. If the sauce does not contain sufficient butter add another tablespoon. Cook slowly until done; serve hot. To many tastes the noodles are superior to macaroni or spaghetti.
NO. 90. TOMATO OMELET
Take:
6 eggs well whipped
2 tablespoons flour, mixed until smooth with a little milk, pepper and salt to taste
4 tomatoes peeled and chopped very fine
Stir all together, and fry in butter; serve hot.
NO. 91. TOMATO HUNGARIAN STEW (VERY RICH)
Use:
2 pounds of cheapest cuts of beef cut into small pieces.
1 onion sliced and fried with the meat, in butter or drippings, until the meat begins to turn brown.
Put a layer of the meat in the kettle; cover with a layer of the thinly sliced onion; continue this way, alternating the layers of meat and onion until all the meat has been used; cover with cold water, and gradually bring to the boiling point. Turn in two cups or its equivalent of canned or fresh tomatoes, but do not stir; simmer for two hours, tightly covered; then add some potatoes cut into thick slices or chunks; salt and pepper to taste; cook until meat is tender, and serve hot.
NO. 92. TOMATO SOUFFLE
Stew down to one pint 3 cups of tomatoes; rub through a sieve; sweeten to taste, and add the beaten yolks of 6 eggs and stiffly whipped whites; bake in a hot oven until set; serve as soon as done.
NO. 93. TOMATO HIGDOM
Take:
1 bushel of green tomatoes, chopped fine
1 cup mustard
1/2 cup celery seed
3 pounds sugar
1 1/2 cups salt
12 red peppers, chopped fine
Mix the salt with the. chopped tomatoes; let stand over night; press hard and drain off all the juice possible. Mix all the other ingredients thoroughly; pack in jars, and cover with boiling hot vinegar.
NO. 94. TOMATO CHOWDER (EXTRA FINE)
Use:
1 peck green tomatoes
1 1/2 pints sugar
12 sweet peppers
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 green hot peppers
1 teaspoon celery seed, ground
2 ripe hot peppers
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1 quart salt
1 teaspoon ground allspice
12 onions
1 teaspoon cloves, ground
2 quarts vinegar
3/4 pint grated horse radish
Sprinkle the salt over the chopped tomatoes, peppers, and onions; mix and let stand over night; press out and drain off the water next morning. Mix all the other ingredients thoroughly, and boil for 15 minutes; pack in glass or stone jars; cover with hot vinegar, and seal.
NO. 95. TOMATOES RICED
Take:
1 cup rice
1 tablespoon butter
1 can tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups sour stock or water
Melt the butter in stew kettle; turn in the rice and cook five minutes, stirring all the time; now add the stock, tomatoes and seasoning; boil one-half hour; turn into a baking dish, and bake 25 minutes in a moderate oven; serve hot.
NO. 96. TOMATO POT ROAST
Put roast into a suitable pan; pour over it one cup of boiling water; let remain on the stove until it begins to boil; pour over this a large can of well seasoned tomatoes; bake in a medium oven until done, which will require about three hours.
NO. 97. TOMATOES A LA INDIAN
Cut rounds of bread and saute in butter until brown on both sides; cut ripe, firm tomatoes in thick slices, two for each person; cut into strips a good sized green tomato; dip in boiling water; drop in ice water. Wipe the tomatoes and fry in hot butter; lay a slice of each on each slice of bread; season well, and sprinkle with pepper and cover with another slice of tomato; garnish with the yolks of hardboiled eggs; put through a ricer with a little parsley.
NO. 98. RIPE TOMATO CHUTNEY
Use:
10 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped fine<
6 large green apples, peeled, cored, and chopped fine
3/4 pound of raisins, seeded and chopped
2 red peppers, cored and chopped very fine
3 onions, medium-sized, chopped very fine
1 pound brown sugar
1/2 cup salt
3 pints vinegar
2 tablespoons mustard seed
Place all but the vinegar in an open mouthed jar; scald the vinegar; when cool pour over the mixture. The vinegar must just cover the mixture. If it does not, scald more and add to it. Stir every day for ten days; then set aside in a cool place until needed for use.
NO. 99. SUPERIOR TOMATO PICKLE
Take:
3 quarts green tomatoes, chopped
1 quart ripe tomatoes, chopped fine
3 small bunches of celery, chopped very
1 quart small green cucumbers, chopped
6 medium-sized onions, chopped
1 large ripe cucumber, chopped
4 green peppers, chopped
7 cups vinegar
4 red peppers, chopped
1 teaspoon mustard
1 pound cabbage, chopped
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups brown sugar
teaspoon ground cloves
Chop vegetables; sprinkle with salt, and let stand over night; press out the water, and drain in the morning. Mix all the other ingredients; mix thoroughly; in small jars; cover with vinegar, pack and seal. It spoils rather quickly after opening.
NO. 100. TOMATO SAUCE, (COMMERCIAL STYLE)
Use 1/2 bushel of ripe tomatoes, washed and mashed to a pulp; put in a porcelain lined kettle with 2 tablespoons salt; boil until tender; cool, and mash through a sieve. Take 1/2 gallon of the thin juice; add 2 pounds of sugar, one tablespoon each of whole cloves and black pepper, six blades of mace, a short stick of cinnamon, and a root or two of ginger. Let this boil until well flavored with the other spices; then strain, mix with the other juice, and boil until thick; add 1 quart of apple vinegar; boil 15 minutes; bottle and seal. Ordinary fruit jars may be used. Keep in a cool, dark place. It can be used immediately, but improves with age.
No. 101. GREEN TOMATO PRESERVES (DELICIOUS)
Use:
1 peck green tomatoes
7 pounds sugar
6 lemons, sliced and seeded
Place in preserving kettle; heat slowly without water; allow to simmer all day, taking care not to let it scorch; when it becomes thick and dark in color add the lemons; put hot into jars, and seal. This is truly delicious; try it.
NO. 102. TOMATO MINCE MEAT, NUMBER TWO
Slice up the desired quantity of tomatoes; sprinkle with salt; put in a bag; hang up and allow to drain over night; in the morning take equal weights of tomatoes and sugar, and cook until the tomatoes are thoroughly done; to 7 pounds of the mixture of tomatoes and sugar add 3 pounds of seedless raisins, and mace and cinnamon to taste; cook a short time after adding the seasoning, and put into jars. It will keep without being sealed. It makes delicious pies, more relished by some than ordinary mince-meat.
NO. 103. TOMATO MINCE MEAT, NUMBER THREE
Take:
1 peck green tomatoes, chopped fine
4 pounds brown sugar
1 pound chopped citron
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound of raisins
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 pound currants
1 teaspoon cloves
2 cups chopped suet
1 cup vinegar
Cover the tomatoes with cold water; scald and drain three times (scalding each time 1/2 hour); mix all together; cook until tender; seal in glass jars, and set in a cool, dark place.
NO. 104. TOMATO FRITTERS, NUMBER ONE
Rub a pint of tomatoes through a sieve; thicken with 2 tablespoons of corn starch, and add seasoning. Remove from the fire, and add one egg, yolk; pour into a shallow pan to cool, then cut into rounds; roll in egg-white and bread crumbs, and fry a golden brown in deep fat.
NO. 105. TOMATO FRITTERS, NUMBER TWO
Beat well 1 cup of flour, teaspoon salt, a level teaspoon baking powder, a teaspoon melted butter, 2 egg yolks, and 1/2 cup of milk. Add the beaten whites of eggs and 3 tablespoons of tomato pulp. Fry in deep fat and roll in sugar.
NO. 106. TOMATO FLUFF
Cook one cup of sugar, one cup of strained tomato juice, and the juice of half a lemon to a thick syrup; pour the mixture slowly over the stiffly-beaten white of 1 egg; serve at once or chill as desired.
NO. 107. GREEN TOMATO CREAM (DELICIOUS)
Wash and slice four medium-sized green tomatoes; slice thin one sour apple, and add one onion chopped fine. Put two tablespoons of fat in frying pan and place over fire. When hot scatter in onion and apple, and let fry 5 minutes; then lay on slices of tomatoes that have been sprinkled on either side with flour, salt, and pepper; when brown on both sides pour over two cups of hot sweet milk, and let simmer 5 minutes; serve hot.
NO. 108. GREEN TOMATO PIE, NUMBER ONE
Peel the tomatoes, and with a sharp knife slice very thin; proceed as for apple pie; add one cup sugar into which a teaspoon more or less of flour has been added, according to the juiciness of the tomatoes; dot all over sparingly with lemon; cover with top crust; brush with beaten egg or milk; bind edges with muslin, and bake 40 or 45 minutes. This pie is more savory the day after it is baked.
NO. 109. GREEN TOMATO PIE, NUMBER TWO (VERY RICH)
Slice the tomatoes very thin; sprinkle with lemon juice rather generously; sweeten with brown sugar; dot a tablespoon of butter evenly over the pie; cut some preserved ginger in little bits, and scatter evenly over the pie, also a little chopped lemon peel, and a dusting of cinnamon, after which dredge some flour over the top to keep it from being too juicy, and cover with rich paste. This is said to be a very rich pie.
NO. 110. TOMATO SOUP WITH OATMEAL
Use:
1 cup tomatoes, either fresh or canned
1 cup water
1 small onion, chopped fine
3 tablespoons rolled oats
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 scant tablespoon sugar
A dash of pepper
Put all the ingredients in a sauce pan together; simmer one-half hour; rub through sieve, reheat and serve.
NO. 111. TOMATO PUFFS
Peel and slice well ripened tomatoes; sprinkle with a little salt and pepper; dust liberally with sugar; dip each slice in rich pancake batter (rather thick); fry a rich brown; serve at once.
NO. 112. STEWED TOMATOES, PLAIN
Select the required amount of well ripened tomatoes; peel; remove hard part of the core; stew gently for 40 or 50 minutes; season to taste with salt, pepper, sugar, and 1 tablespoon butter; cook 10 minutes longer (uncovered);
serve at once.
NO. 113. TOMATOES AND BEETS
Cook the beets in boiling water until thoroughly done; slice. Prepare enough ripe tomatoes to make an equal number of slices; arrange all in a suitable dish; sprinkle with salt, sugar, pepper and enough boiling-hot water vinegar to cover them; let stand for one our in a cool place before serving.
NO. 114. TOMATO SALAD (VIENNA STYLE)
Prepare beets the same as for above recipe; for every two slices of beet add one slice of tomato, one slice of cucumber, one small slice of onion; sprinkle each vegetable separately with sugar, pepper, and salt; scald enough vinegar to cover the entire mixture. Pour over the vinegar boiling-hot; let it stand until cold; arrange all artistically in a salad bowl; pour the vinegar over them; chill for 1 hour, and serve. Mayonnaise or French dressing may be used if desired, instead of the vinegar.
NO. 115. TOMATO SOY
Use:
1 large pepper, finely shredded
1 tablespoon black pepper, ground
1/2 peck ripe tomatoes
1/4 cup salt
1 large onion cut in slices
1 teaspoon ground mace
1 tablespoon ground allspice
1/2 pint vinegar
1 tablespoon ground cloves
Boil all together slowly for 1 hour; cool, and bottle for use.
NOTE: In the preparation of this bulletin I have used freely the work of many of the very best culinary experts, rearranging in some instances to suit our particular conditions. From every source taken, I wish to give my sincere thanks.
Reproduced from the publication printed in 1983 for Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site George Washington Carver National Monument by Eastern National Park and Monument Association
http://cecalaveras.ucdavis.edu/figs.htm
Figs in the Home Planting
Figs make a welcome addition to most home fruit plantings. They provide beauty, shade, and fruit.
Site Selection
The planting site is more important with figs than with many other fruits. Close to the south side of a building can be an excellent site because it offers protection from winter winds and has higher winter temperatures than an open site or one on the north side of a building. Figs planted next to buildings should be at least 3 to 4 feet away from the wall. Do not plant figs under existing trees. Although figs do best when planted in full sun, they may grow and fruit satisfactorily if they receive at least eight hours of sunlight daily during the growing season.
Figs grow well in almost any type of soil as long as it drains freely enough to keep water from standing around the roots. Do not plant figs in soil infested with nematodes. Also avoid planting figs near clay sewer pipes or over septic tank drain fields, as the fibrous roots from the fig may block drain lines.
Cultivar Selection
When selecting the fig cultivar (variety) to plant, two things should be considered. First, the cultivar should have some cold tolerance to withstand California’s winter temperatures. However, if the plant is to be grown in a container that can be moved indoors, this is not as great a concern.
Secondly, the intended use of the fruit will affect which cultivars are selected. Many cultivars may be used for jams, canning, drying or eating fresh; however, because of their seediness and texture, some are suitable only for drying and preserving.
Because some areas of California are colder that that for which most figs are adapted, cold injury may occur to all cultivars. Therefore, winter protection should be provided. Frequently, radical shifts from warm to cold periods may cause plant injury at temperatures above those mentioned below. The following cultivars should be considered for planting in California, but with more than 60 cultivars to choose from, there may be others that will do as well if they do not need cross-pollination to set a crop.
Name of Cultivar Description
* Brown Turkey Winter hardy to 10F; long harvest season and will produce fruit even though frozen to the ground the winter before; multiple-use, high-quality fruit that are fine-grained, juicy and sweet.
* Celeste Winter hardy to 0F; short ripening season; fruit and plant are smaller than Brown Turkey; fruit of high quality and good for fresh use and preserving.
* Green Iachia Not as cold hardy as Celeste or Brown Turkey; small plants well suited for container culture; high-quality fruit with excellent flavor; small greenish-yellow fruit not damaged by birds as much as that of other varieties; fruit used fresh or dried.
* Magnolia Winter hardy to 5F; ripening season short; fruit of fair quality for fresh use or drying, but good for preserves.
* Alma Moderate cold hardiness; small plant; medium-size fruit with a sweet flavor and very small seed; suited for both fresh use and preserving.
Plant figs while they are dormant; early spring is the best time. Tops of bare-rooted plants should be cut back about one-half of their original length. Tops of container-grown plants with good root systems need not be cut back. Be sure to inspect the root system of container-grown plants to see if they are potbound. If roots have grown out to the container sides and have curled back, either straighten the roots carefully when planting or cut them back to the point where they turned. If root pruning is needed, be sure to prune the top of the plant back the same as for barerooted figs. Set plants 3 inches deeper than they were in the nursery.
Fruiting Habits
Figs produce a main crop of fruit that ripens in mid to late summer. These fruits are borne at the base of leaves on current season’s growth. Because of this fruiting habit, a crop can be harvested even when plants are killed back to ground level. These main-crop fruits mature beginning with those as the base of the current year’s shoots and progressing toward the tip.
Some cultivars also produce a small crop, called the breba crop, that ripens in early summer. The brebas are borne on the previous year’s growth and are poorer in quality than the main crop. This early crop may often be absent because of winter kill of the shoots.
Fertilization
Figs grow satisfactorily in moderately fertile soils without any additional fertilizer. Fertilizers may be used on plants in soils with low fertility. Apply a fertilizer such as 10-10-10 at a rate of about ½ pound per plant when growth begins in the spring. No other fertilizer should be used unless the bush shows little vegetative growth at all. If this occurs, the spring rate may be applied again in early June.
Winter injury of figs may be directly related to the vigor of the plant. A vigorous, fast-growing plant is more easily killed by winter temperatures. Therefore, any plant with adequate vegetative growth should not be fertilized.
Harvesting
Harvest figs when their necks wilt and fruits droop. If they exude a milky latex, stop picking; they are not ready. When fully ripe they drop from the shoots.
For eating fresh, pick figs as soon as they ripen. They have the best flavor then. For preserving, pick figs a few days before fully ripe. This reduces damage from souring and splitting.
For drying, allow fruit to remain on plant until fully ripe, when it falls at your touch. Because of low water content at this point, very few days of drying are necessary after harvest.
In areas where bird damage is severe, pick fruit early in the morning or use bird netting to prevent damage.
http://www.howtoorganicgarden.com/Berries.htm
Organic berries
Mother natures candy.
I guess I have a sweet tooth, if there is one organic food I like to eat al the time it is berries. Perhaps this is natures reward for treating the earth correctly.
With many people the berry season is a tad bit to short so to start this section out I wanted to let show you an excellent article by Jim that helps extend your growing season.
Note This technique can be used with any outdoor plant.
Extending your Berry growing season.
Today I want to assist many of you who are wondering how to extend your growing season for a few more weeks. For some it may be too late, as in Randolph, Utah, where it was below freezing more than one night in August, but most of the lower elevations in Utah and around the country are still frost-free as I’m writing this column.
How can you deal with the special challenges of living in colder climates? Several difficult weather conditions make successful vegetable gardening an “iffy” proposition, unless you learn how to protect your plants against them. The Mittleider gardening books, available at our organic gardening website , are excellent sources of information on this topic. Let’s discuss briefly what these challenges are, and how you can successfully mitigate their negative effects.
First off, many places have late spring frosts, which keep us from getting started in our gardens - often until mid or late May. Second, many of us have strong winds throughout the growing season that buffet our plants and dry everything out. Third, others of us face the scarcity and cost of water. And finally, we often have early crop-killing frosts, usually followed by several weeks of mild weather that could support continued growth and harvesting.
So how do you handle the shorter growing season with unseasonable frosts, the constant drying winds, and the lack of water? Let’s deal with the wind first, since the solution to that also helps reduce the other problems. To protect your garden’s tender plants, build solid fences or plant trees and shrubs between your garden and the prevailing winds - but put them far enough away that you do not shade your garden! Always remember that growing vegetables need direct sunshine all day long. This means that you also want to place your shade trees so as to leave the garden in full sun.
Some of you grow in container gardens, or raised boxes. When these are subjected to hot winds they are difficult to keep cool and moist. Consider either larger Grow-Boxes - we recommend 18” or 4’ wide and up to 30’ in length - or growing in the regular soil. Remember that Dr. Mittleider promises “a great garden in any soil, in almost any climate.”
Next is watering. You will save ½ or more on your water usage by following these procedures . And it’s amazing how much heat and wind plants can handle if they are properly fed and watered. First, make certain your Grow-Boxes or raised Soil-Beds are accurately leveled, and that Soil-Beds have a 4” ridge around them. Then apply 1” of water right at the soil surface (not by sprinkling!) before your soil becomes the least bit dry - even every day in the heat of summer if needed. This will place the precious water right at the plant roots, and waste none. Finally, automating your watering using ¾” PVC pipes, with 3 tiny #57 holes every 4”, will make watering fast, easy, and efficient.
Extending your growing season is accomplished in two ways. Next February and March we’ll discuss the first, which is how to grow healthy seedlings in a protected environment and transplant them into the garden after the danger of frost is past. The second thing you can do, even right now if frost hasn’t already killed your garden, is to make “Mini-Greenhouses” for covering your plants. By themselves they are good, but with a small heat source they can extend your growing season in both Spring and Fall even more, often by 4-6 weeks. Use PVC pipe, bent in a capital “A” shape, but with a 6” flat top, to fit your bed or box, and covered with 4 or 6 mil greenhouse plastic. This provides some protection against frost at night, and will warm the plants on cold days. Cover the edges with dirt all around when frost threatens, and open up when it gets warm. More details are at www.foodforeveryone.org in the Gardening Techniques and FAQ sections.
Blueberries Blackberries Strawberries Blackberries Rasberries
Elderberry Mulberry
Purchase the digital Books and Manuals.
Additional resources
Cornell guide to growing fruit at your home (Fantastic resource)
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http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/fruit/homefruit.html
Cornell Guide to Growing
Fruit at Home
Search Gardening:
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Home-grown fruit. Nothing tastes better or is more satisfying to cultivate. In simple language and informative graphics, this publication tells you how to grow and harvest the freshest, highest-quality fruit right in your own backyard.
* Download entire publication [1.9 MB .pdf file]
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* Front matter (including maps)
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* For More Information
Last updated 02/17/2009 15:30:30
© Copyright, Department of Horticulture, Cornell University.
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Fruit
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Fruit factsheets - Guide to factsheets at this and other Cornell websites.
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Cornell Guide to Growing Fruit at Home
Cornell Guide to Growing Fruit at Home, click for ordering information
In simple language and informative graphics, tells you how to grow and harvest the freshest, highest-quality fruit right in your own backyard. Includes information on site selection, soil preparation, planting, pruning and training, pest and disease management, as well as how to choose the best varieties. Now available online [1.8M .pdf].
Cornell Classic:
Nut Growing in the Northeast cover - Click for pdf version. Nut Growing in the Northeast Classic 1977 Cornell Cooperative Extension publication from pioneering forest farming advocate, L.H. MacDaniels. [11.5 MB .pdf file] More about ‘Dr. Mac’ and agroforestry at the MacDaniels Nut Grove website. Cornell online resources:
New! Recommended fruit cultivars for home gardens - Best bets for New York gardeners. Berries, grapes, tree fruit, and more.
Cornell Guide to Growing Fruit at Home [1.8M .pdf] - In simple language and informative graphics, tells you how to grow and harvest the freshest, highest-quality fruit right in your own backyard. Includes information on site selection, soil preparation, planting, pruning and training, pest and disease management, as well as how to choose the best varieties.
Berry diagnostic tool - Helps identify insect, disease, and other problems.
Fruits as edible ornamentals - Take advantage of the aesthetic as well as culinary benefits of fruit plants.
Minor Fruits - Under-used trees and shrubs for edible landscaping.
Basic Fruit Tree Pruning - For both young and mature trees, from Rick Reisinger, Cornell Orchards Manager. For more detail, see Training and Pruning Apple Trees.
Cornell Fruit Resources - Targeted primarily for commercial growers, but still loaded with fruit information.
Tree Fruit and Berry Pathology - While targeted for commercial growers, this website has useful factsheets, links and a timely newsletter.
Print publications:
New: Tree Fruit Field Guide to Insect, Mite, and Disease Pests and Natural Enemies of Eastern North America - More than 500 color photos will help you identify insects, mites, and diseases that are causing damage in the orchard, as well as beneficial insects, spiders, and mites that should be preserved.
Minor Fruits in New York State - A ‘classic’ from 1980. For more minor fruit information, see also the Cornell Guide to Growing Fruit at Home and the minor fruits website.
Dayneutral Strawberry Production Guide - Targeted to commercial growers but also of interest to gardeners.
Homemade Wine - 8-page, 1982 primer.
Pest management guideline series includes Pest Management Guide for Control of Wildlife and Pest Management Around the Home.
Best Apples to Buy and Grow Other print publications
Best Apples to Buy and Grow - Published by Brooklyn Botanic Garden in 2005. Includes chapters by Cornell pomology professor Ian Merwin on antique apples and apple cider.
Last updated 02/17/2009 15:30:36
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[I did not see a cost, expect the paper books are at a cost.
granny]
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Tomato Disorders
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http://www.rusticgirls.com/make-your-own-tobacco-pipe.html
[Has many good comments]
How to Make a Classic Wooden Tobacco Pipe
Rustic Home > Fun > Wooden Tobacco Pipe
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Old Fashioned Wooden Tobacco Pipe
Pipe smoking goes back to ancient times, but the first documented evidence for it was during the Dark Ages when the Irish people invented the “dudeen,” which is a short clay pipe. Smoking a pipe has the lowest risk of health problems out of all forms of tobacco products (although we do not encourage anyone to start smoking). Perhaps you would like to make your own old-fashioned tobacco pipe. This article explains how you can.
First, you will need a seasoned limb from a cherry tree, the diameter of which should be the size of your pipe bowl. Cherry is the best type of wood to use for a pipe, but hard maple or plum will also work. Make sure that whatever type of wood you choose has been seasoned for at least two or three months.
Cut a section from a cherry tree limb that is about six inches long. Mark it to the length of the pipe bowl you want plus 1/2 inch to allow for the pipe stem. To mark it with the bark on, simply cut two lines about 1/8 of an inch apart around the entire circumference of the limb and then remove that small strip of bark. Do not saw the bowl from this piece yet, you will need to clamp it so you can drill out the center of the bowl first.
Begin the hole for the bowl with the tip of an ice pick or a knife, being careful to keep it centered. Then select a small diameter bit to drill a pilot hole with. Wrap a small piece of tape around the bit for a depth gauge after measuring against the side how deep you want your bowl to be. Remember not to drill into the 1/2 inch pipe stem portion at the bottom.
Now clamp the section below the bowl into a vice, or use a C-clamp to fasten it to a solid object. Drill the hole as straight as possible, stopping at the tape on the bit. Then use progressively larger bits that are taped at the right depth to enlarge the hole to your satisfaction.
Next, you will need to drill the hole for the pipe stem. After the bowl has been drilled, measure the depth on the outside at the spot where you want the stem. Mark it about 1/4 inch higher than the bottom of the bowl. Start the hole there with an ice pick or the tip of a knife. Then select a small pilot bit. Clamp the section below the bowl and drill it at a 90 degree angle, being careful to stop at the depth of the bowl side. Now enlarge the hole to 5/16 or 3/8 of an inch.
The next step is to saw the bowl carefully out of the section of wood, making sure to leave enough wood below the stem hole for strength. Simply shape it to the type of bowl you would like.
To make a pipe stem, you can use a section of elderberry branch. Since elderberry has a pith that can be easily removed with a wire, it is perfect for a pipe stem. Just choose a branch of the proper length and diameter. Catalpa and Ash are also woods that have a pith and will make good pipe stems.
Simply insert the pipe stem into the stem hole and your old-fashioned tobacco pipe is ready to go. To add to the smoking experience, you can put on your favorite smoking jacket and slippers and relax with a good book or maybe even contemplate a difficult physics problem. - By Jason Earls
Check out our growing tobacco page
Comments
http://www.rusticgirls.com/gardening/composting/trash-barrel-composting.html
Trash Barrel Composting?
Rustic Home > Gardening > Composting > Trash Barrel Composting (08/25/2008)
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Rich, Hardwood Mulch
Yes, it can be done.
I have a small garden that I keep fertile with my compost tumbler and worm farm. This system works pretty well but having recently stumbled upon a fairly large source of free horse manure, I needed a much bigger system to handle this. ( I like to compost manure before i use it to kill weed seeds flush some of the salts inherent in manure and lower the ph). I considered purchasing another tumbler but for the $200 price tag, I figured there has to be a cheaper way.
While on a trip to Goodwill scouting for more worm bins, I found two 30-gallon plastic trash cans for $2 each, and decided it was time to try “trash can composting”. I’d heard of this before. I had considered just creating a large pile of manure in the yard. I do this with some of the manure but I like the idea of a secure system to help manage the flies, animals, and odors emanating from the manure.
Generally speaking 3’x3’x3’ is the minimum size needed for a compost pile to get “hot.” The trash can is about 20 inches wide and three feet tall. A wee bit smaller than needed, it would seem. After worrying that my much smaller worm bin was going to heat up, I now have a much larger trash bin that I was afraid *wouldn’t heat up.
A 30 gallon bin is about 4 cubic feet. The 3x3x3 pile is 27 cubic feet. I’ve gotten hot compost in a bin that holds about 11 cubic feet, but I was thinking 4 cubic feet is pretty small to expect much.
I filled the first trash barrel about half full with a little food waste, and a lot of horse manure. I wet it down a little and let it sit. It didn’t seem to heat up “cook” at all. I added more “green” material and mixed it all up good, adding water until it had about the moisture level of my worm bin. I even added a couple of handfuls of compost from my worm bin, as an “inoculant.” I mixed it up good and then sprinkled a couple cups of soil from the garden over the top.
I checked it the following afternoon, and the pile was definitely hot. I could feel the warmth on my palm from an inch above the top of the pile as well as t through the sides of the trash barrel. I don’t have a thermometer to check, but I know it’s hot enough that if I had worms in there, they’d be either dying or escaping.
I have just a square of cardboard loosely covering the top. This is good for air access, because I don’t have a drill and I was too impatient to get started to wait until a friend could drill holes in it for me. I was hoping that stirred up well, loosely packed, with a loose top, the pile would have enough air to at least get started, and it seems to be working so far. I’ll figure out a way to punch some holes in it within a day or two.
It doesn’t bother me to stir it up by hand. It might be harder with one filled to the brim. I wanted air holes in it, so I drilled 1/4” holes all over the 2nd barrel (about 20) and poured the contents of the first into the second. Now, it really heated up.
I was tired of stirring it so I bought 2 more barrels with locking lids. Now, instead of stirring it, I roll it around the yard every few days.
Horse manure is easy to compost; after 3 weeks the barrel stops heating up and I toss the completed compost into the garden and yard.
Well, it’s been a few months and I now have 4 trash bins stewing compost. I like barrel composting as it’s easy to fill, easy to feel for it heating up and portable.
Tip 1: Make sure you get the kind of can where the lid clamps on somehow, because being able to kick the thing on it’s side and roll it around the yard makes turning the pile so much easier.
Tip 2: Drill about 20 1/4” air holes all over it, top to bottom.
Tip 3: In cans, the water will go to the bottom and stay there, even with some holes in the bottom, making it slimy. Keep the lids on.
Here are some more tips
Next, I’m going to try worm composting with these trash barrels.
http://www.rusticgirls.com/gardening/composting/newbie-compost-tips.html
Newbie Composting Tips
Rustic Home > Gardening > Composting > Newbie Composting Tips (08/28/08) Guest Post
Web www.rusticgirls.com
Rich, Hardwood Mulch
I started composting in February using one garbage can that I drilled holes in. By March I had 2 garbage cans and by May I added a third. I read a lot here on this site before starting. I also read a lot of material from state and local extension services on the web. Here are my notes from my experiences:
1) Shred, tear, rip everything as small as possible. Keep sticks and thick items out unless you like to wait a long time.
2) Mix well often. If you have grass clippings, these must be tossed and turned and mixed or they will layer and make a slimy gooey smelly mess. Paper should be shredded or torn and then crinkled or they will layer and absorb moisture also and not heat up.
3) Have at least 4 or 5 different main ingredients. This not only insures a better mix of nutrients, but if the carbon and nitrogen (greens and browns) are balanced well and turned every 3 or 5 days, then it will get hot quicker and be ready in a matter of weeks instead of months.
4) Biggest reason for failure? Do not over water. Most of the greens have a high moisture content...as much as 95%. In cans, the water will go to the bottom and stay there, even with some holes in the bottom, making it slimy. Keep the lids on.
5) Best sources for getting free ingredients? Coffee houses like Starbucks or those gasoline stations that have coffee. The back woods in my development: Neighbors dump leaves and grass clippings back there. Paper from work and the newspapers that are free or tossed away. Grocery store produce area, they often have a trash can full of aged produce and often by the corn is can full of husks for customers to toss them. Walmart will let you have corn husks! I just take the entire large garbage bag out. Since mid February, I have had 2 cans 3/4 full of rich black crumbly compost. I will have one more in a couple weeks and 2-3 more by fall.
Comments
More tips
Allen:
i have one of those big wooden planters that are wide at the top and tapers towards the bottom. they have slats about 1/4” wide between the boards which is good for air circulation. you can remove the bottom if you like but i didn’t. my pile is heating up as i write this.
My ingredients were straw (different than hay), cow manure, grpeace clippings, kitchen scraps (veggie and fruits pealing and spoiled whole pieces) and a couple of pounds of used coffee grounds from good ole starbucks.I cut or break the larger pieces of veggies down
I am starting lasagna beds and will get some horse barn waste etc. from a coworker who has two horses. like it has already been said don’t overwater. just use a garden watering can and fill it. that should be enough water for the whole pile. bury fruits and veggies within the pile. I mistakenly left some spoiled swiss chard on top one evening and by the morning the critters climbed into the pile and stole them.
Also don’t add too much grpeace clippings without using alot of browns because it will stink. Have you ever leave a big of grpeace clippings for too long and then open the bag? same for your compost. consider sheet composting/lasagna bed.
#0 - Al - 08/28/2008 - 14:24
http://www.rusticgirls.com/food/cooking-tips.html
Here’s a list of ten helpful tips that you can use in your kitchen at home.
1) Store all of your cooking oils in plastic squeeze bottles. This will allow you to control the amount of oil you pour into a pan or pot.
2) Whenever you are cutting a cream pie or ice cream cake, dip the knife you are using in hot water before making each slice. This will prevent any filling from sticking to your knife.
3) You will find that egg whites will whip much quicker if they are at room temperature. You can freeze any left over egg whites in ice cube trays and use them later for any future baking.
4) After removing a roast from the oven, make sure you let it stand for 10 to 15 minutes before you begin slicing it. You will find that the meat will retain its juices and that it’s much easier to work with.
5) Practically all recipes in cookbooks use large eggs. If the size of egg is not indicated in the recipe, it’s safe to assume that you should use a large one. Whenever working with eggs, you will notice that it is much easier to separate them if they are cold.
6) Before squeezing a lemon, lime or orange to extract juice, place the fruit on a flat surface and, pressing down firmly with your hand, roll the fruit back and forth several times. This will yield a greater amount of juice.
7) Heavy cream will whip faster if the mixing bowl, the beaters from you mixer and the heavy cream are cold.
8) Placing a ¼ teaspoon of salt in a pan will prevent any splattering when frying foods.
9) Before draining pasta through a colander, always spray it down with cooking spray. This will eliminate any starchy or sticky residue and make it easier to clean.
10) If you are dealing with a sauce or gravy that is lumpy, place it in a food processor and process for 10 seconds. This will give the sauce or gravy a smooth texture.
http://www.rusticgirls.com/food/pickling-olives.html
Pickle Your Own Olives
Rustic Home > Food > Pickle Olives
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Pickled Olives in Market
Many people are baffled as to how to pickle their own olives. Here is a simple, traditional method of pickling them the Mediterranean way for great tasting olives that you can serve up as a tasty Spanish or Greek style snack. The method involves selecting the olives, washing them then leaving them to ferment. As well as showing you how to do it, we also cover why these steps are necessary.
First of all you need to start with olives that are freshly picked and in good condition. There are three stages in ripeness that you can use for pickling. They are green, ripe green which is a slightly more yellow colour and black which is fully ripe. Black olives are usually not fermented, which is why they have a milder taste than the green ones. Green and ripe green olives produce stronger flavours. For this method, we will use about twenty five pounds (10 kg) of green olives.
A food grade container of around five gallons (20 litres) is used for the pickling process. The olives are traditionally soaked in spring water for several hours to wash them. They are then drained. To prepare the pickling solution you will need about one and a half gallons (7 litres) of spring water at room temperature. Add one and a half pounds (800 grams) of sea salt and about half a pint (300 grams) of vinegar. White wine or cider vinegar is best.
With a sharp knife, make a single deep cut lengthways in each olive to assist the fermentation process then put them in the container with the liquid. Weigh the olives down with a large diameter plate so they are all covered by the liquid. The plate should not fit too tightly in the container so the gasses can escape. It is not critical to exclude oxygen as in the winemaking process, so with this method there is no need to seal the container.
The olives should be fermented at room temperature for up to a month before they can be eaten, but will become more flavoursome and fully mature after three months. They can be tasted any time during fermentation as a way of checking their flavour. The bitter compounds are safe to eat.
The reason for fermenting the olives in this traditional way is to break down the phenolic compounds and the glycoside, oleuropein which are contained in the raw fruit that give them their harsh bitter taste. When these compounds are broken down, lactic acid is produced. This is an excellent natural preservative which will enable the olives to be stored without refrigeration for several months.
Aside from the fiddly, time consuming process of cutting each individual olive, this traditional method of pickling olives is quite straightforward and produces excellent results. The final product can be served with many different herbs and spices, steeped in olive oil or vinegar flavoured with chilli, garlic or lemon juice or stuffed with peppers, cheese or anchovies. By using this traditional and relatively simple method you never need to feel put off pickling your own olives again.
http://www.rusticgirls.com/food/crosne.html
[Photo]
Crosne: Different, Yet Delicious
Rustic Home > Food > Crosne
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Crosnes
The latest delicacy to hit American markets are the strange yet fascinating Chinese artichokes, also known as crosne (pronounced “crones”). These small roots are something of a cross between white radishes and carrots, with a curled, twisted shape and a delightful crunch when eaten raw.
Crosne have been popular in Europe for years, but they’re just now being discovered by American farmers’ markets and organic growers. It’s difficult to harvest and clean crosne, so it’s unlikely that they’ll be grown commercially in America anytime soon.
As a result, crosne can be quite expensive. Twenty dollars for a half pound is quite reasonable, when it comes to crosne, and they can easily fetch more, depending on availability and market conditions. Many small-scale organic growers, and farmers who make their money by selling higher-priced, labor-intensive foods, are beginning to grow crosne. It will no doubt join arrugula, specialty lettuce, and ginger root as high-priced but readily available ingredients in the near future.
Because crosne are so expensive, they are rarely added to dishes such as soups or casseroles, even though they make a pleasing addition to such meals. Instead, crosne are most often eaten raw in salads, where they add a little kick and a little crunch.
If you want to cook your crosne, the best way is to stir-fry them on medium to low heat in a saucepan, with a little olive oil. Add a few sprigs of rosemary, for an intense herbal taste, or a little thyme and oregano to go with chicken marinara. Or, stir fry them lightly in olive oil, then sprinkle with parsley and drizzle with an olive oil and balsamic vinagar vinaigrette just before serving.
However you choose to serve them, enjoy! Crosne are rapidly making their place on the tables of American diners, and with good reason. Their delicate kick and pleasant crunch make them the perfect addition to almost any meal.
Comments
Dug my first Crosne from my Home Garden. Success!
My small plot of 32 square feet has produced perfect Crosne. The main digging takes place in about two weeks.
http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?EPWHC Summary: Crosne growing experience.
#0 - Durgan - 10/20/2008 - 18:02
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Gardening Tips
Rustic Home > Gardening > Gardening Tips
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1. Live in a place for a year, and watch how the sun angles and exposure changes during the seasons.
2. Decide what you want to do in the yard. Do you want let the children play, do you want to sip Chablis and watch the sun set, or party with friends? Think this over carefully. If you want to concrete over the place and dismember old automobiles, you are reading the wrong article, and possibly living in the wrong place.
3. Hang herbs and vegetables from baskets, if rabbits are a problem. If the rabbits in your neighborhood can rappel down from the porch roof, then they are better men than you are, Gunga-Din.
4. Ivy is a plague and an invention of the Devil. So are St. Augustine’s grass, Chinese jasmine and mint, although you can put mint in ice-tea, and mint sauce. (Serve mint sauce with roast lamb.)
5. Mulch is very good, but the free stuff at the city brush-mulching facility is usually full of trash and dirt, which is ok if you need topsoil, too. Cypress mulch is best, but the no-float stuff will float after four inches of rain has fallen on it.
6. Plant invasive stuff on the nastiest, most unpromising soil you have, or with something equally invasive. Let ‘em fight it out.
7. Defunct grocery carts, dead automobiles, and old plumbing fixtures are not acceptable lawn ornaments, but old truck tires turned inside out, painted and planted with seasonal plants, and pink flamingos decorated for Christmas, pulling a sleigh and wearing Santa hats have a certain funky charm. So does a statue of a saint in a bathtub set on end and planted with day-lilies.
8. Grass lawns outside of northern Europe, or the eastern United States are an aberration, high-maintenance and water-thirsty. A wildflower meadow, xerioscape plantings or gravel interspersed with native shrubs would be an acceptable substitute, but green-painted gravel or Astroturf is emphatically not.
9. Given a choice, buy, perennials rather than annuals … unless they self-seed generously.
10. You can acquire nice stone and brick for pathways and flowerbed edges by watching building sites carefully. Chatting up the construction crews when the brick or stonework is nearly finished, and getting permission to take away the broken stone or excess brick when the work is completed will pay off handsomely. Keep a pair of garden gloves in the trunk for occasions like this. Doing this sort of thing is a better reason to own a pickup truck or an SUV than most owners of such usually have.
11. A good source for native stone is wherever they are widening the highway: again, the gloves and the pickup truck come in handy.
12. Look around at what your neighbors are growing. If you don’t see lilacs in South Texas, or cacti in the Pacific Northwest, consider that a clue and plan your own garden accordingly.
13. Whatever the municipality plants in the park, and the highway department puts along the roadsides is guaranteed to be tough, self-sufficient, water-wise and idiot-proof.
14. The varieties of antique rose that were discovered growing on old home-sites and graveyards are similarly tough, self-sufficient, etc. If something looked after itself for 80 years, it shouldn’t have a problem in your garden.
15. I don’t want to waste time fussing over something exotic, high-maintenance and which requires a lot of chemicals. If it can’t cope without a lot of help, you probably shouldn’t bother. Die-hard enthusiasts for out-of-area exotica will disagree, but this is a free country. We are free to select our own perversions.
16. If it’s stupid, but it works, then it isn’t stupid.
17. Consider the views from each window, and arrange something nice to look at from inside the house.
18. Consider growing jasmine, almond verbena, roses or other scented plants where the perfume will drift in through an opened window. Pots of scented geranium placed where you will brush against them as you walk by are another aromatic thrill.
19. Pottery pots breath, but plastic ones don’t dry out so rapidly in mid summer.
20. Don’t disdain big-box store sources like Home Depot, Wal-Mart, et cetera. They carry the commoner plants at a good price, during the season, but they are not set up for long-term care. Buy ‘em the minute they off-load them from the truck.
21. Once you work out a grand plan, and decide on the varieties and colors you want, buy the plants as you see them coming available. Some day, I shall be rich and be able to buy all the plants I need, all at once, but until then it’s a case of a few at a time, fitting into the scheme like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
22. You can’t do it all yourself, all at once. Just pick one little space to improve at a time. By the time you have finished it all, it’s time to go back to the beginning and re-do it.
23. If not planted immediately, re-pot into a larger pot. Having a lot of plants in pots lets you move them around and discover where they work out best. Think of it as moving furniture around.
24. When it’s really hot, the stuff in pots needs to be watered morning AND afternoon.
25. Put all the garden porn.... you know, all those lavishly illustrated books of wonderfully lush, landscaped acres on the grounds of a historic home... on one shelf, for easy inspiration and reference.
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Organic Pest Control Tips
Rustic Home > Gardening >Organic Pest Control Tips (part 1)
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Organic pest control doesn’t mean substituting naturally occurring poisons for synthetic ones and gardening as usual. You need to make two changes in your basic thinking:
- Accept that most insects are non-pests and even helpers, and stop trying to kill every insect you see in your vegetable garden.
- Accept the occasional hole and bite in your produce as a natural part of raising healthy, residue-free food.
Once you have accepted these new ideas you can move on to learning about organic pest control.
11 TOOLS FOR ORGANIC PEST CONTROL-
Simple techniques and products make organic pest control work.
Here’s a brief rundown of the elements needed:
Good Soil Care-
Well-fed and cared-for soil is full of tiny living organisms that feed and care for plant roots. Plants growing in such soil are pest resistant. Test and adjust your soil’s pH to suit your plants. Add abundant quantities of organic matter-such as compost-every year. Till only when needed and never when the soil is wet, and don’t use synthetic fertilizers or herbicides.
Resistant and Suitable Plants-
There are many vegetable varieties that have disease and even pest resistance built right in. Choose resistant plants whenever you have the choice. Purchase plants that grow well in your region and you’ll spend less time fighting problems.
Good Plant Care-
Give every plant exactly what it needs. Thirsty, hungry, over-watered, or overfed plants are stressed plants. Stressed plants are prime candidates for problems.
Eyes-
Use your eyes to spot potential problem situations before they turn into 4-alarm fires. Take a slow walk through your garden twice a week peering under leaves and observing what’s going on. Write down when and what you see to help you predict things next year.
Hands-
Your hands are great pest control tools. Use them for picking off or squashing pests.
Beneficial Bugs-
You can purchase a number of garden helpers to hunt pests for you. Lace wing larvae are great predators of aphids, mites, and other small, soft pests. Lady beetles are great predators, but tend to fly away when released. Predatory wasps or Trichogramma wasps lay their eggs on pest caterpillar eggs so that the pest eggs never get a chance to hatch. To attract wild predatory insects, plant a patch of flowers and herbs such as yarrow, dill, and sweet clover to provide food and cover.
Beneficial nematodes are tiny worm-like creatures that hunt insects in the soil and kill them. They are related to pest nematodes, but are not harmful to plants. Purchase and apply them according to label instructions.
Diseases That Make Pests Sick-
Pests get diseases just the way we do. The best-known example is BT (Bacillus thuringiensis). BT (or BTK) makes only caterpillars sick. Another type of BT (BTSD) makes only Colorado potato beetle larvae sick.
http://www.rusticgirls.com/gardening/growing-strawberries.html
Grow Your Own Strawberries
Rustic Home > Gardening > Growing Strawberries
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Young Strawberry Plant
Fresh strawberries are a delectable summer treat whether eaten right out of the garden, in homemade ice cream, old-fashioned strawberry shortcake, jelly, jam, or other desserts. Berries from the grocery store produce department are no match for growing your own delicious juicy fruits in your own garden. Strawberries are easy to grow and with the right conditions the same plants can produce fruit for up to five years before they need to be replaced.
There are three main types of strawberries plants and many varieties of each type. Which you choose depends on whether you want to eat fresh berries all summer or have a large crop within a short period of time for freezing or canning.
June bearing strawberry varieties will produce one large single crop in the late spring over a period of two to three weeks. The largest berries will be from June-bearing plants. These varieties make many runners that create “daughter” plants where they touch the soil.
Plant individual berry plants in an alternating pattern 18 inches apart with four and a half feet between the rows. This gives the runners room to spread as they wish, but if you give them half a chance they will take over the yard too! Train the runners toward empty spots between the plants and secure the ends to the soil with a small rock so they will root and make daughter plants. Before long, the plants will form a lovely green mat.
In a spaced row system, plants should be placed 18” apart in rows that are three to four feet apart. Spaced rows produce a higher yield and larger berries with fewer disease problems. Guide the daughter plants to spaces between the mother plants so they are about six inches apart and make rows about two feet wide. Cut off any extra runners.
Pinch off any blossoms that appear the first year that you plant June-bearers. This will encourage the plants to grow vigorously and produce more runners. Your payoff comes the next summer when they will be bursting with wonderful strawberries!
Everbearing varieties will produce two or three harvests of fruit throughout the growing season and will produce a full crop the first season. They do not make many runners. Day neutral strawberries will produce throughout the growing season and also offer few runners. Both varieties are good for gardens with limited space or container gardening and produce small flavorful berries. Everbearing and day neutral berries are best planted in groups of two or three plants on hills that are eight inches high and two feet wide. Stagger the hills twelve inches apart. If space is tight, consider planting them in strawberry pots (containers with pockets around the sides), hanging baskets or containers. Remove any runners to allow more crowns and flower stalks to develop and pinch off any blossoms that appear until the first of July. Pinching off some of the blossoms after they begin to form tiny berries will allow the remaining berries to grow larger.
Whichever variety of strawberry you choose, the garden preparation, fertilization, sunlight and watering requirements are the same.
Buy strawberry plants that are not potted to save money and for ease of planting. Check online or mail order catalogs to choose varieties. You may also be able to get free starter plants from a friend or neighbor who has a patch. If they grow June-bearing strawberries they should have plenty of daughter plants to spare!
Strawberries require full sun, no less than six hours a day, and well-drained, sandy soil. More sunlight means more and better quality berries. They will not tolerate drought or standing water. Plant them in the spring as soon as the soil is dry enough to work.
Till and cultivate sod the year before you plant strawberries to eliminate competition from grass. Work in one or two inches of compost or well-rotted manure. Pick a spot that is free from grubs, perennial weeds and disease. Avoid planting strawberries where tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants or peppers have been planted within the last three years. These plants may have infested the soil with verticillium rot which is especially hazardous to strawberry plants. Place your strawberry patch beyond the root zone of large trees so they won’t compete for water and nutrients.
Plant on a cloudy day or in the late afternoon so the sun doesn’t stress the plants. Make a hole large enough that you can spread the roots out. Make a hill in the center of the hole so that the crown of the plant will be at soil level. Spread the roots over the hill and bury them.
Strawberry plants require cool soil to produce the best harvest. Mulch between the rows to keep the soil cool, discourage weeds, and keep the fruit from laying on the soil. Don’t use black plastic as mulch because it will raise the soil temperature. Give the garden and inch or two of water if it hasn’t rained much the previous week.
Once your garden has begun to set fruit, you will need to put a mesh net over the crop to keep birds from helping themselves to your tempting berries, and they always go for the biggest, juiciest ones! As the berries grow, watch for any showing signs of disease or rot and remove them from the garden.
Harvest your strawberries when they turn bright red all over. If you’re not sure if they’re ripe, taste one. It won’t hurt to leave them on the plant an extra day or two; they’ll become more flavorful. Don’t pull them off the stem; strawberries bruise very easily and need gentle handling. Break the stem off above the berry and place (don’t throw!) it into a bowl or basket. They like to hide under the leaves so look carefully to be sure you get them all! Pick berries shortly before you plan to use them and don’t leave them at room temperature for more than a few hours. If you can’t use them right away put the unwashed berries in a bowl loosely covered with plastic wrap in the coldest part of the refrigerator.
After your crop is harvested renovate your strawberry garden to prepare it for the next season. Carefully mow the crowns down to two or three inches. Till or hoe between the rows, mulch and all, and reduce the width of the rows to six to 12 inches wide, thinning plants to six inches apart. Fertilize the plants with a balanced fertilizer (10-10-10) at five pounds per 100 feet of row.
In colder climates, before the temperature drops to 20 degrees, cover the crowns of the plants with several inches of straw or pine needles to protect the leaves from frost. In the spring when the leaves begin to turn yellow gently rakes off the mulch into the space between the rows and fertilize and maintain the plants as in the previous season. A well-maintained strawberry patch may last five years, but if after three or four years the plants or berries begin to diminish in quality or quantity start a new strawberry patch in a new location.- J. E. Davidson
Comments
[Perfect solution, it will bring the produce right in the doggie door.....granny]
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Create Your Own Garden Railroad
Rustic Home > Gardening > Garden Railroad
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Model Train in Garden
Are you a gardening enthusiast fascinated with toy trains? A garden railway, or train garden, cleverly combines these favorite pastimes into amazing sites with which everyone can enjoy. These gardens will actually come to life as the model trains gracefully move about the miniature landscape filled with low-growing plants and realistic buildings.
You don’t have to be an expert to design a garden railway of your own; however, you may want to do some research beforehand to make the task a little easier. There are numerous resources, such as books and magazines, available on the subject. Your local extension office can provide this information as well. You might also consider visiting some garden railways that are located in your area.
Before planning your garden railway design, perform a quick inspection of the designated site to ensure that it is suitable. Since outdoor model trains require a fairly level area, this will be something to bear in mind as you examine your property. Determine whether or not the track will be added to an existing garden or if both will be designed at the same time. Finally, decide just how elaborate you want your garden railway to be. For beginners, less may be more; however, leave yourself enough room in the event you want to add onto it later.
Since your railway will be accommodating a host of plant life, choose an area easily accessible to a water source. Additionally, interesting water features within the design can enhance its appeal. If you have rocks or a slope in your yard, incorporate these into your design for a more natural effect. Since most model locomotives and cars are waterproof, they can be run even when it is raining. The track, too, is made materials such as brass, stainless steel, or aluminum to prevent any rusting. You may, however, want to create a place to store your train.
Some people design their railways to run into their home or outbuilding through a small tunnel. A pet door would be another option. There are many ways to install the track; however, one of the easiest is to float the track in stones or gravel. Dig a shallow trench, about 2 or 3 inches deep, and fill it with crushed stone. Set the track in place, making sure it is level. Backfill with additional stones until flush with ground. By floating the track, it can move freely as summer heat causes the rails to expand and winter cold makes them contract. Another method for installing track is to simply select a material, such as hardwood, to use as the track base. Measure the lengths, including both straight and curved, according to the track’s design and cut the pieces as you lay it. Attach the track to the wooden base with brass nails.
Generally, a single locomotive with three or four pieces of rolling stock (freight or passenger cars) is adequate. G-scale trains are the most popular. Scale is the proportion of the model to the full-size train (1:24 scale). Gauge is the distance between the rails. A G-scale runs on 1-gauge (G-gauge) track. When choosing a train, decide on the type of railroad. For instance, will it accommodate freight or passengers? A small industrial line, with little engines and short cars is ideal for areas with limited space, while a modern mainline requires more room.
There is a variety of ready-to-install track available to choose from and can be purchased in many hobby shops. You can even choose to construct your own; however, this is best left for those who are more knowledgeable in this area. Commercial track comes in sections with set lengths and curves, available in short or longer sections to suit your needs. Sectional track can be easily picked up and put down; however, if you want a more permanent railway, you should consider using flexible track. This type of track can be easily bent to fit nearly any design.
Once you have determined the scale and gauge for your track, decide how your train will be powered. Trains usually operate on a 12V-18V DC power supply, the same as with most garden lighting. The power pack should be located in a dry area and easily accessible to an electrical outlet. Other options for powering your train include those that are battery-powered, radio-controlled, or even real steam locomotives.
After you have finished designing and laying your track, it’s time to place your vegetation and realistic features. Try sticking with natural materials when constructing your miniature landscape. For instance, create mountains made of dirt, rivers made of water, rocks made of stone, etc.
With the use of small annuals and dwarf or low-growing varieties of plants, you can create a realistic train garden. Use plants no more than 2-3 feet tall. Numerous rock garden plants are suitable. Annuals to consider include sweet alyssum, dwarf marigold, thyme, marjoram, creeping rosemary, and creeping zinnia. Low-growing varieties of trees and shrubs that are commonly used include bearberry, creeping juniper, boxwood, and dwarf pines and spruces. The cone and round shapes of dwarf evergreens will also provide winter interest and structure.
Perennials and groundcovers are important elements in this type of garden. They are often used to create miniature prairies as well as for covering slopes and tracksides. Use small-leaved sedum to imitate shrubs. Moss and short perennial grasses are good choices for mimicking grass. Other low-growing perennials can offer interesting foliage and color. For instance, try creeping phlox, baby tears, or hens and chicks. If you are incorporating any houses or other miniature buildings into your scene, keep them weather-resistant by adding a coat of polyurethane.- Nikki Phipps
Comments
garden train layout
I am located in the Northeast part of the US and the area where I live is subject to rain and snow. In a situation as this is it better to secure the track to wood than the crushed rock? It is explained that the crushed rock floats but how do you prevent it from moving in torrential downpours?
#1 - leo soto - 12/10/2007 - 10:06
battery powered train
I read your article with interest. Could you tell me where to look to learn more about powering garden trains with battery-power, radio-controlled, or even steam locomotives. I would like to research and build a train layout at my house. Thanks!
#0 - Jennifer Boyle - 09/09/2007 - 16:00
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Mini Farms
Rustic Home > Gardening > Backyard Farms
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Farm Hen
Do you yearn for a few acres and a self sufficient lifestyle? Well, while you are waiting it out in suburbia, you can still create a productive mini-farm in your own backyard, just by utilizing the space to its best advantage.
First draw up a scale plan of your backyard. Note which areas receive full sun, which partial shade, and which full shade. You may have to change a few things to get the best use from the space. For example, if there is a shed in an area that would be ideal for an orchard, move the shed to an area less inviting to plants.
Study your plan carefully and look for the best sites for the various elements of your mini-farm. You don’t have to have everything, but with careful planning, you can have an orchard, a thriving vegetable garden, an herb patch, a beehive, a chicken coop and a goat for milk. You will have to check local government regulations and the tolerance of your neighbors on the last two.
Mark out the main areas with spray paint, and attend to any tidying up that needs to be done - removing old plants and weeds, digging over the soil and adding soil improvers where necessary.
Locate your orchard in a sunny part of the garden. Fruit trees love the sun and produce their sweetest fruit under its warmth. You orchard won’t have to take up a lot of room if you use the new dwarf trees that are available. Some fruit trees require two trees for germination. Discuss this with your nurseryman, and choose trees best suited to your own area.
To make room for extra trees, you can espalier them against a wall or fence. This simply means planting the tree close to the fence and spreading the growing branches by fastening them against it. Espalier is an old technique that still works very well where backyard space is at a premium.
Fences, trellis and other supports can also be called into good use. If you have the climate for it, plant grape vines in these areas. If it’s too cool, or you don’t want grape vines, plant other productive vines such as runner beans, peas and tiny tomatoes.
Where you want hedging, use bushy lavender and rosemary. You will have a fragrant garden feature and a regular supply for kitchen and home of these very useful herbs.
More herbs can be grown in the spokes of an old wagon wheel filled with soil, or in any small patch that receives at least partial sun. If there is simply no space to spare, grow your herbs in pots on a sunny window sill or lined up at the back of the house.
You need at least two separate vegetable plots, so you can rotate them. Plant leaf vegetables in one plot and root vegetables in the other and change them over after harvest. Putting your vegetable plots in raised beds will make planting and harvesting a lot easier, and improve drainage in heavy soil areas.
A beehive will be productive addition to your garden, especially if you need bees to cross pollinate your fruit trees. A simple backyard beehive is simple to install and doesn’t take up much space. You can order one over the Internet. The Top Bar Hive is designed to keep your bees happy and stress free without a lot of labor and no chemicals. You can purchase a swarm from a bee supply company, and you’re in business.
Keeping chickens may seem daunting, but when you are harvesting your own fresh eggs you will never regret it. Plan your backyard hen coop for an area sheltered from wind and sun, and make sure the coop adequately protects your birds from cold and rain. Your coop needs dry nesting boxes and an impervious floor - meaning that it won’t soak up moisture, so concrete is better than timber or earth. These coops will have netted ``scratch’’ areas so your chickens can enjoy an earth floor as well.
You can buy ready made hen coops online, in a variety of designs suited to your needs. A movable hen coop on wheels might work better for your backyard, especially if you would like to let your chickens out to scratch around the backyard.
You can also find plans online to help you build your own customized hen coop. Once you have the hens’ home in place, buy first year pullets so you can start harvesting eggs as soon as they have settled in. If you want chicks, you will have to check with your local authority about keeping a rooster. Many councils and neighbors don’t mind chickens, but they draw the line at being woken up at dawn by a rooster!
The best breeds for backyard egg production are Dorking, Buckeye, Orpington, Barnevelder, Plymouth Rock and Sussex. These breeds are quiet and docile and make good pets where there are children to consider. Don’t choose a bird that is known to be aggressive or noisy.
Your mini-farm can also produce milk, cream, cheese and yoghurt, as long as local regulations allow. A small goat like the Australian Miniature Goat and other dwarf breeds will not take up much room and will prove an excellent pet although they do not produce as much milk as larger breeds. Of the larger goats, the Saanen and Nubian are pleasant to have around. Goats are generally placid, and easy to look after, as long as they are sensitively handled as kids. Make sure you know the temperament of your goat and never tether it near the washing line! (Yes, they do eat everything).
Operating a mini-farm in your backyard can be an adventure for all the family, and won’t outrage your neighbors if you keep the nuisance factor to a minimum, and share some of your bounty. While you won’t have the bountiful harvests of your dream small holding, you will often have so much produce that you won’t know what else to do with it!- Gail Kavanagh .
http://www.rusticgirls.com/gardening/russian-sage.html
[photo- it is a beautiful plant]
About Russian Sage
Rustic Home > Gardening > Russian Sage
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Russian Sage
From a distance, it looks like a silvery-blue grass. Up close, you might describe it as more of a flower, but this interesting plant is actually defined as a woody sub-shrub, meaning that it has a woody stem like a shrub but not enough wood in the stem to qualify for shrub status. That’s okay, though, because super-hardy Russian sage is tough enough to thumb its nose at conventional labels and forge its own way.
Winner of the 1995 Perennial of the Year award by the Perennial Plant Association, Russian sage is tolerant of alkaline soil, salt and drought and is cold hardy to about 30 degrees below zero. It is deer resistant but will attract bees and is an aromatic member of the mint family, though its scent is of sage.
Left to grow unchecked, the purple-flowered racemes of Russian sage will reach an average of four feet tall and spread to about three feet wide. They are wonderful toward the back of a garden or can be planted in groups to achieve a very grassy, country effect or to help prevent erosion on hillsides. Because of their length and color, they also add a somewhat ethereal flair to cut flower arrangements. Great colors to use with Russian sage include white, yellow and pink. Yellow coreposis, annual baby’s breath or pink daylillies planted in front of Russian Sage will create an airy, delicate look. For a varied texture combination, tall sunflowers or bright pink cannas would make an interesting backdrop as well.
To get started with Russian sage, buy Perovskia hybrids such as ‘Blue Mist,’ ‘Little Spire’ or ‘Blue Spire’ in four-inch pots. There is some confusion about the names of the hybrid mixes, so you’ll want to look for the scientific name P. atriplicifolia on the label. Plant in full sun at least one foot apart from other plants and no deeper into the soil than it was in the pot. Mulch lightly around the stem (but not touching the stem) with organic compost and water it in. You can water it throughout the summer, but if you can’t get to it for a while, it won’t be terribly offended. For the winter garden, allow the dormant, silvery stems to remain in place then cut back to about six inches tall in the early spring. One word of caution though: if you have sensitive skin, you may want to wear gloves when handling Russian sage as there have been a few reports of skin irritation.
Be sure to plant Russian sage in an area of your yard where you can enjoy it for many years to come. Once in place, it will grow into a tall, breezy, silvery-blue bush that will complement most any landscape.
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Gardening Index
Clay Garden Soils Require Special Care
Clay soils, also referred to as “heavy” soils, present special problems for gardeners in
many parts of Calaveras County. If they are very low in organic matter, clay soils lose their
structure and become cloddy and compact if tilled, walked on, or otherwise manipulated when
they are too wet. Once a clay soil is badly compacted, it may take years of careful handling to
restore good structure.
Tillage is commonly the first and most important step in preparing garden soil. Tilling
helps to produce and maintain a good structure for seedling growth and rooting, controlling
weeds, keeping the soil permeable to water, and allowing proper oxygen diffusion. When it
comes to tillage practices, you need to handle clay soils very carefully to produce good results.
When moist, clay soils should be dug with a spading fork rather than with a shovel or spade. As
you turn the soil over, break up the large clods with the side of the fork. The clods that remain
should be exposed to the sun and air. After they have dried and crumbled somewhat, wet them
with a fine spray to soften them, then rake them when they have dried somewhat. The
combination of air-drying, wetting, and raking will break up most of the clods.
Although you cannot make clay soils ideal garden soils, you can improve them by any
treatment which will cause the soil particles to form small granules and crumbs. The best
treatment for this purpose is to incorporate large amounts of organic matter into the soil to
improve soil structure. The improved condition may remain even long after the organic matter
has disappeared.
Animal manures, green plant material, compost and leaf mold are especially good for
improving soil condition. If you decide to use manures, it’s a good idea to first leach the manure
with water to remove excessive salts which may cause plant injury. Materials which decay very
slowly, such as peat moss, straw, sawdust, rice hulls and shredded bark are somewhat less
desirable because they do not aggregate the soil as well. These organic materials, when first
incorporated into the soil, will compete with plants for the available nitrogen, an important plant
nutrient. You should apply some extra nitrogen to the soil when using these materials, especially
if you intend to plant a crop immediately after adding the organic matter.
The slowly decaying materials such as sawdust and bark do not necessarily improve soil
structure immediately. They serve mainly as fillers to increase the percentage of large pores and
to improve soil permeability, or drainage. Large quantities of these materials are generally
required to have value as fillers; as much as one-half by volume of soil could be needed for the
treatment. It may be worth your time, energy and money to add such materials to your garden
soil or to use them in preparing large amounts of potting or bedding mixes. However, if you
only need small amounts of good soil—such as for potted plants—you are probably better off
purchasing soil mixes.
If you use an organic material that decomposes slowly, cover the soil to a depth of about
4 inches. Incorporate this organic matter into the soil to a depth of about 8 inches. Once your
crops are planted, you’ll need to water carefully to avoid excessive wetness below the 8 inch
depth.
Gypsum is often recommended to improve clay soils. However, this amendment is
primarily useful for improving sodic (alkali) soils, which often have poor structure. Gypsum will
not improve a clay soil unless the soil also happens to be sodic. Also, most clay soils in
California already contain sufficient lime. Lime should not be used unless the soil is excessively
acid.
Information for this article was gathered at the UC Vegetable Research Center. Please contact
the Farm Advisor’s office at 754-6477 or http://cecalaveras.ucdavis.edu with your agricultural
questions.
http://cecalaveras.ucdavis.edu/files/37845.pdf
Drying Foods at Home
For thousands of years, people have dried many foods to preserve them for leaner times.
Preserving seasonal foods by drying is still useful and convenient, and it has the added advantage of
conserving storage space. How does drying preserve food?
Basically, sufficient moisture is
removed from a food material to prevent its decay; water content of properly dried food can vary
from 5 percent to 25 percent. In hot, dry climates, food will be reduced in a few days to a moisture
level that preserves them. In any climate, however, you can create satisfactory drying conditions at
a moderate expense by using artificial heat and circulating air over the food.
Blanching
Blanching is the process of heating vegetables sufficiently to inactivate enzymes. Enzymes
are the biological catalysts that facilitate chemical reactions in living tissue. If certain enzymes are
not inactivated, they will cause color and flavor to deteriorate during drying and storage. Blanched
vegetables, when dried, will have better flavor and color than unblanched ones. You may blanch
with hot water or with steam. Water blanching usually results in more leaching of vegetable solids,
but it takes less time than steam blanching under kitchen conditions.
DRYING THE VEGETABLES
Drying in the kitchen oven or in a dehydrator is recommended; however, sun drying may be used
under proper conditions.
In the oven
1. Trays must be at least 1-1/2 inches narrower than the inside of the oven to allow for air
circulation. Allow at least 2-1/2 inches between trays and 3 inches of free space at the top of the
oven. Cheesecloth may be spread over the trays (under the food) to prevent small pieces from
falling between the slats.
2. Load two to four trays with no more than 4 to 6 pounds of prepared vegetables distributed among
them. Vegetable pieces should be in a single layer. More than one kind of vegetable can be dried at
the same time. Strong-smelling vegetables should be dried separately.
3. Place an accurate and easily read thermometer on the top tray toward the back.
4. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees F (71 degrees C), and then add the loaded trays. Prop the door
open at least 4 inches.
5. Place a fan outside the oven in such a position that air is directed through the opening and across
the oven. Change the position of the fan frequently during drying to vary the circulation of air.
6. Maintain the temperature at 140 degrees F (60 degrees C). It takes less heat to keep the
temperature at 140 degrees F as drying progresses, so watch the temperature carefully toward the
end of the drying.
7. Examine the vegetables often, and turn the trays frequently. At the start of the drying process
there is little danger of scorching, but when nearly dry, the product may scorch easily. Even slight
scorching destroys the flavor and may lower the nutritive value, so be careful not to allow the
temperature to rise above 140 degrees F, especially during the latter stage of drying.
In the Sun
Drying in the sun is unpredictable unless temperatures are over 100 Degrees F, and the
relative humidity is low. If the temperature is too low, humidity too high, or both, spoilage (souring
or molding) will occur before drying is achieved. Place the prepared vegetables on clean trays, as
for dehydrator drying, and cover the trays with cheesecloth to guard against insects. The trays
should not be stacked for sun drying. The cheesecloth should be raised above the trays so that it
does not contact the product, but be sure to protect the sides against insects. Such a cover will slow
the drying process. Turn the vegetables once a day to facilitate drying. If the temperature at night is
more than 20 degrees F lower than daytime temperature, place the trays under shelter. It will
probably take 3 to 4 days to complete drying, depending upon particle size, air temperature, and
type of product.
Packaging
Dehydrated vegetables are free from insect infestation when removed from the dehydrator or
oven. However, they are immediately susceptible to contamination and should be packaged as soon
as they are cool. Use dry, scalded, insect-proof containers such as home canning jars with wellfitting
lids. Coffee cans may be used if the dried vegetables are first placed in a plastic bag. The
vegetable should be packed into the container as tightly as possible without crushing. Despite
precautions, sun dried vegetables may be contaminated by insects. Therefore, the packaged dried
vegetables should be placed in the home freezer for 48 hours to kill any possible insects or their
eggs. Containers and storage areas should also be rodent proof.
This article adapted from Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service,
USDA. Please contact the Farm Advisor’s office at cdcalaveras@ucdavis.edu or 754-6477 with
your agricultural questions. Talk to a certified Master Gardener every Wednesday, 10:00-12:00,
754-2880. To speak with a Master Gardener in Tuolumne County, please call 209 533-5696.
http://cecalaveras.ucdavis.edu/files/53732.pdf
Grape Arbors - New Interest in an Old Tradition
Grapes have been a part of the Sierra Foothill’s heritage and tradition for many years.
Many homesteads and landscapes over the foothills still have a grape vine - over the wall, along a back fence, or in the old shade tree.
Arbors Enhance Landscape
Now many people are looking again to the grape vine for beauty, food, enjoyment and pride. Grape arbors serve as accents in the landscape, as a passage way or simply a source of shade in recreational areas and to adorn structures.
The tasty grapes you can pick from your arbor are versatile in their use. You can eat them fresh; process them into juice, jelly or wine, or simply have the fruit on the vine for the delight of children and adults.
A grape arbor can be a family project. Its construction, planting of the grape vines, pruning, harvesting and utilizing the fruit help each member learn more about our environment and nature’s way of growing things. For example, the vine goes through four seasonal cycles. It emerges from rest in the spring, grows rapidly in the summer, fruits in the fall and becomes dormant in the winter.
Young grape vines should be planted on well-drained sandy loam soil in February or March. If a heavy clay is the only type available, compost can be mixed into the planting hole to give the young vine an easier start.
At planting, dormant grapes should be pruned back to two buds. During the second and third year, allow one trunk to develop, with all the side canes pruned off as they develop. A single cane should be selected to grow across the arbor to form the cordon.
Can Grow in Little Space
Grapes can be grown even in very little space. One vine could be used in a cubic yard of soil with a small amount of direct sunlight. A standard arbor could be established in an 8’ x 8’ area. Larger arbors could be developed as desired.
Grapes can be grown on an un-pruned natural arbor or a well pruned maintained arbor.
The natural arbor is permitted to grow randomly, forming a thick mass of canes. There is very little upkeep and the vines produce a dense shade. Since the vines are not pruned annually, there would be significantly fewer grapes produced.
The maintained arbor is covered by vines which are pruned to a two-bud spur-type cordon. Prune vines in February or March to a single cordon. Each spur should be pruned to contain two or three buds. Grapes should be pruned in this manner every year in February or March.
This article adapted from Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, USDA. Please contact Ken Churches at cdcalaveras@ucdavis.edu or (209) 754-6475 with your agricultural questions. To speak with a Certified Master Gardener: Calaveras (209) 754-2880, Tuolumne (209) 533-5696, Amador (209) 223-6837, El Dorado (530) 621-5543.
http://cecalaveras.ucdavis.edu/files/61702.pdf