Seed starting

Although the weather has been absolutely depressing, my vegetable and flower seeds that I ordered online have finally arrived. Yay! This year I also treated myself to a worm factory.  It looks interesting.  The worms will ship after the weather warms up a bit; don't want the little red wigglers to catch a cold.  I guess I'll have to keep it in the garage in order to maintain the temp between 40- 80F.  The directions claim it doesn't smell so we'll see.  Anyway, this is what it looked like on my deck while I was inside plotting how to rotate crops in my tiny raised beds.

Enough already!

Cure for S.A.D.  (seasonal affective disorder)

Seed starting really isn't rocket science but if you don't follow certain steps, you could end up some sick looking seedlings or nothing at all.  Some seeds are harder to get going and they may need to be presoaked, prefrozen or 'scratched'.  These are the odd seeds (talking about you - Sweet Annie) but read your seed packet carefully and if you've never tried a certain kind of seed before, do some searching on the internet and learn from everyone else's mistakes. Buying plants is obviously much easier but if you plant a lot and like a lot of variety, starting with seeds is much cheaper and let's you experience plants you typically don't find at your local nursery.
The last frost date for my location is May 15th (I think it's actually earlier but I'll play it safe.) so I started my tomatoes and peppers this week.  It's a little earlier than suggested on the packet but I want to be able to transplant them into larger cow pots (from Gardener's supply) and then keep them in my mini hoop house until the weather is nice and warm for permanent planting.  I'll start some of the herbs and flowers over the next couple of weeks.
I invested in all the supplies (plastic trays and grow lamps) about 5 or 6 years ago.  This was the first year I switched out the light bulbs in my grow lamps although I probably should have done it sooner.  They (I use SunLite brand) are more expansive than your regular fluorescent light bulbs but supposedly have all the necessary wavelengths of light and intensity of light to mimic true sunlight.

Steps for successful seed starting:

Clean with water/bleach

Add just enough water

1. The first rule of seed starting is to use clean planters/trays.I wash my trays out at the end of the season and then before using them again wash them in a water and bleach mixture (9:1 ratio).  Don't rinse with water after you wash them in this mixture, any residue will not harm the plants. Just let them air dry in a clean place.
2. The second step is to buy a decent germinating mix.  One bag (30 qt.) of transplant mix from Gardener's Supply is enough for about 8 trays of seedlings.  They also sell a germinating mix but the transplant mix works just fine and you can use it to transplant your seedlings into larger pots if you want to.
3. Get a large container and pour in the transplant mix and carefully add the water.  Add only a few cups of water at first and mix it into the mix and then let it sit a minute or two.  Go back and add more and mix again.  You want to keep doing this until you are able to grab a handful of the moistened mix, squeeze it and it will hold together.  You don't want to see clumps of wet mix in you container.  If you see that and it looks at all soggy, you've added too much water and you need to readjust with more dry mix.  The amount of water in the mix is kind of important.  Too much and the seeds can rot. 
4. Once the mix is perfectly wetted, you can fill the trays.  Don't pack the mix down.  Leave it a little loose.  I usually just tap the tray a couple of times on the counter to settle the mix into all the little containers.
5. Now you're ready to plant to seeds.  Once you've got one or two seeds in each spot, have covered them up (according to the height suggested in the seed packet), identified them with a marker, you are ready to let them germinate.  I cover the trays with plastic wrap to keep the moisture in and then remove once the seedlings pop up.  You should see a very little bit of condensation (not droplets) on the underside of the plastic wrap. If the mix looks really dry, add water to the bottom of the tray and let the water wick into the mix.  After about an hour drain any remaining water in the tray.



They look like brownies

After about 5 days or so the seedlings start to emerge.  Once they start to show their true leaves, then take a pair of scissors and carefully cut away the extra seedlings to leave only one per hole. They will need the grow light as soon as they sprout.  I keep the light on for about 12-14 hrs. a day.

Tricolor cherry tomatoes are the first to come up.

Kohlrabi, Carrot and Celeriac

I went to visit my parents this weekend and we stopped at the indoor farmer's market in Saratoga Springs.  The place was packed but I walked away with some pretty tasty goods.  I can't resist tasting all the different pickles from the pickle vendor and they had some awesome tasting dills at this market.  I've got to try fermenting pickles this summer.  Anyway, I bought a jar and finished them before I got home on Sunday.  I also saw some nice looking celeriac and kohlrabi.  Just kidding...they aren't very nice looking but I bought some anyway and was able to transform them into a delicious meal.  I made kohlrabi, carrot and celeriac soup and a celeriac slaw with arugula and crackers.  I can't believe how fresh testing and delicious everything came out.  I soup was very light with just a little bit of heat from some smoked habanero peppers that a co-worker gave me.  I was really surprised the way the the celeriac slaw complemented the peppery taste of the arugula perfectly.  It's a combination of flavors I'm definitely going to make again.

Celeriac Slaw with Arugula on crackers

To make the slaw I just grated one and a half celeriac bulbs and mixed with with a dressing made from 5T Vegenaise, 2t Dijon mustard and the juice from one lemon.  That's it!  The soup was almost as easy.

Kohlrabi, Carrot and Celeriac Soup

Here is the recipe for the soup.  You don't need to add the smoked habanero peppers.  I just happened to have them and was playing.  I'm sure you could substitute with a pinch or two of cayenne powder instead or leave it out altogether if you not a fan.

1 large kohlrabi (green or purple), peeled and diced
4 large carrots, peeled and sliced
1/2 celeriac, peeled and diced
8 c water
2 inch of ginger, peeled and diced
1 heaping teaspoon of vegetable broth paste (Better than Bouillon) or something similar
salt and pepper to taste
smoked hot pepper, couple of pinches or to taste

Put all the vegetables and the ginger in a soup pot with the water and vegetable broth paste and bring to a boil.  Continue cooking until the all the vegetables are soft.  Cool it a little and blend with a hand blender or whatever you have until it's completely pureed.  Put it back on the heat and add the salt, black pepper and hot pepper to taste.

I also tried to make some cheesy/smoked habanero kale chips.  They didn't turn out so good and will most likely be going in the garbage.  Two out of three new recipes isn't too bad.

Hot and Sour Soup with Tofu and Snow Peas

I found this recipe at online and wanted to post it.  I love Hot and Sour Soup but have never made it before so I was psyched to see how easy it was.  You can find the recipe here.   I suppose you could omit the tofu if it freaks you out and you don't like it.  Maybe add some mushrooms instead. I followed the recipe as written but added extra diced chilies.

So good with an occasional crunch of the chopped ginger (probably not supposed to be like that but I like ginger),

Meyer's Lemon Marmalade

I was traveling again last week (am getting sick of it) for work and kept thinking about the Meyers lemons that were sitting in my fridge at home. It was a crappy week so thinking of the lemons was a better alternative than thinking about work.  It was one of those weeks when I was wishing I was old enough to retire which makes me angry because I hate the thought of wishing my life away.  I've really got to get working on a business plan where I can be my own boss, make my own hours and do what I love.  Unfortunately I haven't figured out what that is yet.  Anyway....the distraction of the lemons and a marathon viewing of the final series of LOST in the lonely hotel room helped get me through the week.  By the time I got home, I had decided to try and make Meyer's Lemon Marmalade.  I only had about 8 of them but it was enough to make a small batch.  Having never tasted one before I had no clue what the final product might taste like but made it anyway.
I found a recipe which called for a ratio of 1 part chopped up lemons (minus pith and seeds), 1 part water and 1 part sugar.  That seems pretty straight forward so I set to work cleaning the lemons, slicing and chopping them up while separating all the pith and seeds to the side.  The pith and seeds are wrapped up in a cheesecloth to cook with the chopped up lemons. I fastened the end of the tied off cheesecloth to the handle of the pot.  It was long enough so the bag was sitting in the lemons/water mixture but the extra cheesecloth was out of the mix. The pith and seeds contain the extra pectin needed to gel the marmalade. I ended up with 2 cups of the chopped up lemons so I added 2 cups of water and set it on medium high to boil for about 30 minutes.  This was enough to soften the peels.

Sliced and Chopped Lemons

Ends of the lemons, pith and seeds in the cheesecloth

End of first cooking, before squeezing pectin from the bag

After the peels were softened I added a little water to replace the liquid lost during cooking and removed from the heat.  After it had cooled for a few minutes I squeezed the pectin from of the cheesecloth bag into the pot and tossed the bag in the garbage.  I added two cups of sugar and heated on medium high/high for about another 20-30 minutes. (This is a good time to throw your canning jars in the oven at 210F to preheat and sterilize.) The temperature in the pot needs to get up to about 220F which is when the mixture hits the gel stage.  I don't have a candy thermometer but was able to tell that it was ready by testing a drop of the boiling liquid on a cold spoon.  When it's ready, the drop on the spoon will gel a bit and not run off the spoon.  The longer you let it cool, the more you can see that it will gel.
After you hit the gel stage, you are ready to fill the hot canning jars. The tops of the jars should be cleaned and placed into a pan with pre-boiled water. As you fill each canning jar, carefully wipe the rim of the jar and immediately place the top on the jar. Let the jars sit overnight.  You should hear the pop of the tops as they vacuum seal from the heated marmalade.  I ended up with 5 quarter pint jars.  I still haven't tried them but they look pretty.  I'm planning on making orange marmalade next weekend.

Meyer's Lemon Marmalade

Burlap Wreath

Last weekend I made a burlap wreath with the leftover burlap fabric from Christmas (see my burlap stockings under the projects tab).  I found a couple of different tutorials for the basic wreath online and picked one where I didn't have to buy any more materials.  I decorated it with fabric rosettes made from strips of chambray fabric that I cut off of an old shirt.  Here's a picture...

It was pretty easy to make.  I had never made the rosettes before and it took a little practice to figure out how to fold the fabric but once I got the hang of it, it went quickly. The buttons were glued to the center of each flower and I even had enough burlap to make one rosette that I glued on the upper left hand of the wreath.  The wreath itself is made from strips of burlap that are pushed through the back of a wire wreath frame. The little bunches of fabric were then secured against the wire frame with needle and thread.   A glue gun probably would have been quicker.

The strips of fabric were about 5" wide.

After bunching and securing the fabric evenly through the entire wire frame, I picked off all the loose burlap threads so it didn't look too shabby.  I found the tutorial for the rosettes here .  They didn't turn out too bad. 

Upcycled LL Bean shirt

I'm finding that a lot of the projects I do are very country looking.  I'm not sure I know how to do anything else.

Chocolate, Beer and Lace

In January I had to go to Belgium for work and while I was there I got to do a little sightseeing.  Now I'm trying to figure out how I can afford to go back when the weather is nicer and spend more time there. I stayed in Antwerp and did a day trip to Brugges which was so worth it.  Yes, I was in the touristy areas and I bought stupid souvenirs but I had fun.  I came home with tons of chocolate (which I don't even like) and beer glasses from the different kinds of beers I tried.  I guess there is a different beer glass for all the different kinds of beer made in Belgium.  My co-workers were collecting them and at first I didn't want to because it would just be a pain to lug home but my brother texted me and asked me to bring him one back.  I figured if I was getting one I might as well get more and fill up the expanding part of my carry-on.  Kind of dumb since I have no room for them in my kitchen but I'll give them away.

Mannequin Pis bottle opener and corkscrew with Trappist beer

  There were a ton of Chocolate, Beer and Lace shops.  Some more interesting than others.  I took a couple of pictures of the store window displays.  This is probably the least offensive of the pictures.

Chocolates in every shape and size

Sometimes the dumbest things peak my interest.  I had to video this self cleaning toilet that was in the restroom of a restaurant in Antwerp.  See for yourself....

In Brugges we climbed the bell tower which I think was built in 1290.  After I got to the top I started to wonder about the safety of the structure but kept going anyway.  I got some good pictures from the top.  This place would be awesome when it's warm out.

The Bell Tower

View from the top of the tower.

Sint Annaretabel

Canals throughout Brugges

Lace Shops

Antwerp City Hall

Entrance to the Cathedral of our Lady

Blizzard?

We had our first real snowstorm this season and I was anxious to see how the hoop houses over the raised beds would hold up.  They held up to about a foot of snow.   The vegetables are growing very slowly inside but they are still growing.  I planted some spinach, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, lettuce and some other things that I can't remember.  Everything has come up but it's too cold in there for them to really thrive.  They will probably take off in a few more weeks once the weather starts to warm up.

Hoop house hidden under the snow

Unburied but now even more difficult to water

I'm pretty sure that's a ring of drool that looped back up on his nose and got frosted with snow.

Fresh Fruit Juice

The holidays are over and I'm exhausted.  I had both my kids home with their husband, girlfriend and dogs.  My neighbors must think I'm nuts because we had six dogs in the house.  My son has two 8 month old rottweiler/German shepherd puppies and my daughter has an adult mastiff mix. It's a really good thing I have a large fenced-in backyard.  I'm not complaining, it was definitely a lot of fun.
My Mother gave me a juicer for Christmas and I've been trying it out over the holiday break.  I didn't get a chance to cook many vegetarian dishes as all of my guests are meat eaters but everyone likes fresh juice.  I've been juicing whatever I have in the fridge and so far it all tastes very good.  I've been keeping to carrots, apples, oranges, grapefruits, pineapples and clementines.  I want to try something with beets in it but just haven't had the time.  

Oranges, Clementines, Apples and Carrots

All of the fruit made this huge pitcher of juice.  The carrots add a nice orange color .

Tom Yum Soup

I've wanted to make a vegetarian version of this soup for quite some time but every time I went to the local stores I couldn't find all the ingredients.  Last weekend I found them in one of my favorite stores, Healthy Living, in Burlington Vermont.  (My Mother and I took a drive up to the Islands in Lake Champlain to do some leaf peeping, visiting and shopping.)   I'm sure I could have found the ingredients closer to home if I really tried.  Not only did I find the ingredients at Healthy Living but I also found this soup recipe on their website.  I tweaked it a bit and I think I have found a new favorite.  This came out perfect.


Tom Yum Soup



Kaffir Lime Leaves, Galangal and Lemon Grass

 Ingredients
6 cups vegetable broth (I use Better-Than- Bouillon)
1 stalk lemongrass
1 T shredded kaffir lime leaves
1 T minced galangal
1 T minced ginger
1/3 lb. firm tofu, cubed
2 red chilies, de-seeded and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 fresh shitake mushrooms, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 small tomato, chopped
1 can light coconut milk
2 T soy sauce

Directions
Trim the lemongrass stalk by removing the outer hard dried skin.  Cut the stalk in half lengthwise and thinly slice.  Crush the slices with the flat part of a knife to break them up and mash them a bit.
Put the vegetable broth in a large soup pot and add the lemongrass, galangal, ginger, garlic, kaffir lime leaves and red chilies.  Bring to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, until fragrant.
Add the tofu, mushrooms and the green pepper.  Cook for about 5-8 minutes until mushrooms are soft. 
Lower the heat and add the coconut milk, tomato and soy sauce.
That's it.  Taste and adjust if needed. 

Fall Gardens

We visited my daughter a few weeks ago and I left my good camera at her apartment so I really haven't been able to take decent pictures for a couple of weeks.  I now have my camera back and want to post some pictures of my fall garden.  All the tomato plants were pulled last week.  The leaves were getting all spotted and the remaining fruit was sad.  I cleaned up the beds but I still have quite a few eggplants so I left those in the ground hoping they will continue to grow until it frosts.


I counted 13 eggplants on this single plant.

 I planted kale, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, scallions, beets and turnips in the raised beds.   The bugs got the best of me over the summer so I bought some garden fabric hoping that it will help keep them out this fall.  I bought the fabric at Peaceful Valley Farm Supply (see my favorite links).  It's supposed to also protect from a light frost.  My husband helped me put together the high hoops over the beds.


Raised beds covered in garden fabric

 So far the fabric has stayed on the hoops in the rain and even with wind up to 40 mph gusts.  I will switch over to greenhouse plastic at the end of October so I can keep gardening into the winter months. 


Tomato plants are gone.  I planted alfalfa in the raised bed where I had the corn.  You can sort of see the green in the raised bed behind the garden fence.



The peppers are also done but I left them in the ground hoping those on the plants would still continue to grow.  The marigolds all around the peppers are still very pretty.



Roasted Pumpkins

Over the weekend I cooked two of the pumpkins that I picked from our garden.  I washed them, split them in half, scooped out the seeds and roasted them at 400F with about an inch of water in the bottom of the pan.  I then scooped out the pumpkin (discarding the outer peel) and pureed the roasted pumpkin in the food processor.  I had quite a lot so I made a double batch of dog cookies and a double batch of pumpkin muffins (for the humans).

Roasted pumpkins

I found the pumpkin peanut butter dog cookie recipe here.  The dogs seemed very pleased.  Phoebe was so excited she ate her cookie whole.  She's a little piglet and takes eating very seriously.  I also let them taste some of the pumpkin muffins and they loved them too.  I have to admit, they are very tasty.  The pumpkin muffin recipe comes from my Vegan with a Vengeance cookbook and you can find that recipe online here. 



Pumpkin Muffins



Pumpkin peanut butter dog cookies (made with chunky peanut butter)



How to make pasta sauce with fresh tomatoes

I had a lot of tomatoes and didn't feel like peeling and canning them so I decided to make a big pot of pasta sauce.  Making this sauce with a food mill is much easier than boiling/peeling each and every tomato.  Plus you can throw in all those cherry tomatoes that are growing like crazy.  It's an easy way to use them up and not waste them. 
Once you've thoroughly washed and cored all the tomatoes (I don't core the cherry tomatoes), cut them in quarters and heat on medium in a large stock pot.


Don't be afraid to load it up because it will cook down quickly. I think this is about an 6 quart pot.



After about 10 minutes or so the tomatoes will soften. See food mill to the right of the stock pot.



Pass the softened tomatoes through the food mill to remove the seeds and peels.



Put the de-seeded/de-peeled sauce back on the stove to cook.



Heat on medium high until the volume is reduced by about half.



I didn't feel like babysitting this sauce so I transferred it to a crockpot to finish cooking.

Saute 1 large chopped onion, 1 large bell pepper and 4 cloves of minced garlic in about 1-2 T of olive oil and add this to the crockpot with the sauce.  To finish it off, add the following: 2- 4oz cans tomato paste, 1 T basil, 1 T oregano, 2 t thyme, a couple of bay leaves, fresh black pepper and salt to taste.  I left this on low for the day.  It's makes the house smell so good.  You should taste often and adjust the seasonings.  This has a fresher and sweeter taste than a sauce made with canned tomatoes and depending on your tomatoes and your volume you may want to add more or less of the spices.  After about 6 hours or so, it's ready for dinner.  Freeze what you don't plan to eat.



Yum!

 You could add some sauteed vegetables like zucchini, eggplant, etc. or some eggplant meetballs to the sauce but I was in the mood for just regular fresh made pasta sauce.