A Random Thought on Composting materials

I've been reading a lot lately on how to get compost materials for your compost piles.
Suggestions are asking neighbors and municipalities organizing community piles where you can go get leaves, grass clippings etc.

These are great ideas. However, I want to tell a story as a little warning to make sure you find out the lawn/gardening practices of whomever you may be getting your materials from. I wrote this up some time ago for a newsletter for a CSA I belonged to once... but it's worth retelling:

Years ago (never mind how long :) ) when I was in Middle School my Dad went organic. We lived in the suburbs and pretty much became the laughing stock of the street. There are a lot of interesting story/lessons from back then besides the one I'm telling. (like getting grubs in the lawn and the neighbor with the perfect lawn telling Dad I told you so; only to have a family of skunks come through; eat the grubs and move on. We only had to fill in and reseed the holes they left. But we never had grubs again.)

Dads pride and joy was his compost pile. It was pretty simple; just throw stuff in, cover it under and turn it once in awhile. It made beautiful compost. The worms loved it.

And while we only had a 1/5 of an acre of lawn and gardens there was never enough.

So Dad asked the neighbors if they would bring him their leaves and grass clippings.

The guy with the perfect lawn was amused and said sure: you can have my clippings just come and get them when I put the bags on the street for the garbage men. So Dad went and got them and put them in the compost and turned them in.

Next day he came in at breakfast time, after going out to turn the compost.... I took one look at his face and asked what was wrong? He said... they're dead. All of them. Every single worm in the compost was dead.

Why? Because the neighbor with the perfect lawn used not only weed killer but pesticide on his lawn. It went directly into our compost and killed every single living thing.

So Dad had to dig out, bag up and throw out his compost and moved the pile. He never asked anyone for extra material again.

It was a great lesson for a young gardener (me) to learn (and an old one too) and really pointed out to me why going organic was so important for the long term (that and we were the only known garden on the street that had toads).

So, please, if you use other peoples lawn and garden materials in your compost; find out what they use in their own garden practices; otherwise whatever it is they use will be in your garden too.

This weeks Garden, Studio and Kitchen update

I seem to be running late on everything the last couple weeks. My excuse is getting ready for the trip this weekend. And I'm sticking to it :)

The greenhouse is all planted for the Winter: Mesclun lettuce, Tyee Spinach and a mix of orange, yellow and red Carrots. I transplanted the 3 Celery and 4 of the 8 Artichokes. I left 4 of the latter in the garden as I'm told by a friend in N.VT that sometimes they will over winter outside. And the ones I transplanted didn't seem to like it much. I'm hoping they will revive.

I put a layer compost and composted manure down, seeded and then a shallow layer of chopped straw on the seeds and a couple inches around the plants.

You'll also see in the above picture that there is now a drip irrigation system which is great. I just have to remember to turn it on and off. I'll get a timer set up at some point. I'll have to remove it in a few weeks so it doesn't freeze but for now it makes life easier.

Studio update:
I got 3 8"x10" canvases finished and a fourth drying. The fourth I'm trying out crackle paste and it needs to dry a couple days in this weather. I'll post it when I'm done. Below are the two I did Tuesday and Wednesday. The first is in the previous post to this one.

Both of them I was just "messing around" with color as well as gluing duck cloth torn to fit the canvas; then painted. The first I then glued tissue paper over that and continued to paint and embellish with oil pastels and crumbled gold leaf. Then I varnished it with Satin Varnish which seems a bit shiny to me for Satin.

I'm going to try experimenting with different varnishes now to see.

The second one I like a lot. Done the same as above only I stretched and glued cheese cloth under the tissue paper and then collaged. And instead of varnish I used a faux bees wax acrylic formula over the top. This gives it a very nice, soft look. Much better then the shiny varnish.

Here are the images:

Kitchen update:
Big thing out of the kitchen this week was Coq au Vin. Chicken cooked in wine. I've tried it a few times and not been satisfied but this time it came out great, if I may say so. (others do too :) )
I'll post the recipe sometime I promise. There are a lot of recipes out there: beware the really complicated ones. It's basically chicken cooked in a wine/broth reduction. Here is an image (beans are from The Garden):

All in all a fun week. Again: I'm off until Tuesday. Back to Maine (yay!)

Prodigal Blogger

Kitchen Update:

Chicken Thigh Stew 

(perfect for Winter Weather)

The best thing out of the kitchen this week is an adaption from Jamie Oliver. I make this several times over the Winter months and wish for it in the Summer. I took his suggestion in the book to use chicken thighs rather then rabbit. It's pretty easy:

• Take a dozen chicken thighs (I get naturally raised de-boned but you can use bone in).

• Either two medium onions cut in chunks about 1” or a big handful of boiling onions.

• A cup or so of Shitake mushrooms or any mushrooms if you can't find them. Chopped fine (if people don't like the texture of mushrooms chop them very very fine)

• Olive Oil

• Several sprigs of fresh Rosemary (couple tablespoons if you use dried)

• 4 slices of bacon (he uses a lot more). Chopped into about 1” pieces. You can use less but if you don't use any it will make a difference

• Small package of frozen peas (fresh if you have them!)

• A bottle of dark beer. (the alcohol will burn off. You can skip this but it won't be the same) I use Guinness. Any good English Ale is good too but use what you can or like.

• Chicken broth to cover. (a 16 oz carton is more then enough)

• A large stove top pan: I use a 14" pan with 3" sides. You can use a dutch oven or anything large and deep enough of similar size.

Dredge the chicken in a mixture of flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Sometimes I add dried Savory.

Put them aside.

Saute in a couple tablespoons of the oil; the onion until it “sweats” then add bacon and saute but don't let it get crispy just cooked through. 

Add mushrooms and Rosemary and saute a few minutes until cooked through.

Remove the above from the pan and put on a plate. Add more oil to the pan and in small batches brown both sides of the thighs. Place the cooked ones on a plate then cook the next batch, etc.

Add all the batches of thighs back into the pan.

Add the onion mixture and stir.

Add the beer.

Just barely cover with the broth.

Add the peas.

Cook on the stove top, covered on low, so that it keeps a low simmer; about 45 minutes to an hour or until the liquid is where you like it (not too soupy for me).

He suggested making dumplings for the top and bake the whole thing in the oven until they are done but I make lousy dumplings and they aren't that good for you. So I serve mine over brown rice.

Leftovers can be chopped up and made into a pot pie or pasties or just reheated and served again.

This is perfect for cold stormy weather. It's very warming and comforting.

Maitake Mushroom Kit update:

So far absolutely nothing has happened. In another week or so if this keeps up I'll email them to ask for advice. I've done everything the directions had told me to. I've had people read them for me to make sure I did. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Garden update:

The seed orders are out! I won't list them yet; I'll do that as I plant things. I should be starting some early seeds in March. I can't wait.

Trying to decide if I want to buy a seed starting shelving system or make one. Again. Had one once I made then I gave it away as I didn't think I'd ever use it again. Never assume anything :)

Last year it was a dilemma for me: whether to start plants or just buy them all as I had been for the last few years and so I only started a few of them. I realized this year how important it is to start the plants in the Winter; it helps you to stay positive and look forward to Spring. Keeps one busy and keeps away the Cabin Fever too.

I'll still buy some I think; I don't have that much room. But I'm lucky in I have several local sources for organic plants raised locally. (need I mention the tomato blight of '09 again? hehe)

So by the time the seeds have arrived I'll hopefully have my decision made about the growing shelves.

A belated Happy Imbolc, Candlemas and/or Groundhogs day to you all. We are half way to Spring now!

November 21 2010

Yes: it's been a long time since I've written. Those of you who are on Face Book know that about three weeks ago I found a tick bite with the classic Lyme Disease rash on it and had it confirmed by the doctor. It's been a long, hard three weeks and I'm just starting to feel well enough to function. Not fully mind you but some and enough to start getting about and getting some work done.

Today was the first day I've gotten back out to The Garden. A lot has happened:

~ The two tomato plants that were left in the green house died from freezing. It's still not too cold in there yet but still too cold for tomatoes. Same thing happened to the peppers and the basil. It's the basil I'll miss the most. I have a ton of tomatoes frozen but I'll miss my fresh basil.  I've never had too much luck growing it in the house. I did freeze some though: enough for a few pestos over the coming months.

~ All the leaves on the trees fell overnight all at once; not just in the yard but the whole hollow I live in. Kind of sad. It's still beautiful of course, particularly as the oak leaves are still clinging with a very nice burnt sienna color contrasting the green from the pines and furs mixed with all the gray tones of the trees.

~ So far the main vegetable beds are the same: still lots of kale, leeks and swiss chard. The french sorrel is still growing I noticed so I might actually get some before the snows come. Which btw: could be any time now. We did have our first dusting of snow but just a little but it's been a warm Autumn and that could change suddenly.

Each morning the garden plants have a covering of frost on them. Rather pretty actually in the morning light.

~ As you can see from the picture above one of the main things I did today was tuck the greenhouse bed in for the upcoming Winter.

What you see here are the tops of old garden arbors (lower sections rusted out) that work fantastically for hoops to keep the plastic up. Underneath the plastic is spun polyester cloth; folded over so there are actually two layers. I have smaller hoops near the swiss chard and a fennel plant I'm seeing if I can grow over Winter to keep the cloth from weighing them down: but it's ok for it to rest on the other smaller, emerging plants.

What this does is; the hoop house/ greenhouse brings the climate down about one zone. So instead of zone 5b (ish) I'm zone 6b inside. The plastic over the beds brings it down another zone to 6 ish and the cloth, under the pastic, brings it down hopefully further. Each layer to have over the plants brings the climate down a bit more. How far down I don't know yet and hope to be able to calculate that.

I purchased a min/max thermometer so I can monitor the temperature inside the greenhouse compared to outside throughout the winter.

But I can say that my past few Winters have proven this works very well. Thanks to Helen and Scot Nearing and Elliot Coleman for all their diligent work and books on the subject of winter gardening in New England.


~ The lettuce mix, spinach and arugula that I planted before the fateful encounter with the tick have their second set of leaves and I should have lettuce to eat in a few more weeks or even less.

Today I also planted:
More Lettuce mix
Spinach
Cosmic Purple Carrots
Nantes Carrots
Belle Isle Cress
Te You Flowering Broccoli

The bed is mostly full now so all I have to do is water it when it dries and then harvest during the warm part of the day. (if you try to harvest when it's still frozen inside you'll destroy the plants; you have to wait for the air in the greenhouse to come above freezing then it's safe to touch the plants).

~ I haven't done much cooking in the last few weeks. Something else I plan on getting back into now that I feel a bit more human. I need to get out tomorrow and harvest some more leeks I think and have plans for Cauliflower and Parmesan Soup:

Gently boil in very little water or steam a head of cauliflower; until just tender (don't over cook or it will taste like over cooked cabbage; undercooked is better then over)
Grate some Parmesan Romano cheese. About a cup to a cup and a half. More if you like.
Strain and save the water.
Puree the cauliflower in a food processor, blender or hand mill.
Put it back in the pot and add enough water so that it's thinner but not watery.
About the same consistency as potato and leek soup.
Add the cheese and stir on medium heat until melted into the soup; don't boil it.
Add more cooking water or plain water if you ran out until you get the consistency you like.
Salt and pepper to taste.

I had this the first time at Tratoria Rustica in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. If you are ever in the area you have to go there. Some of the best Tiramisu is there too.

My opinion is you can tell a really good restaurant by their side dishes. The main dish is important of course, but if you wind up raving about the side vegetables as much as the main course you know they have a good chef staff.

October 26, 2010

Garden update: The arugula in the greenhouse is sprouted and the lettuce is just starting. No sign of the spinach yet but that usually takes a bit more time.


Worked on the path some more. Not much is needed in the outside garden right now. Aside from eat the kale, swiss chard and leeks.

Picture above is of red carrots from my garden. The one below this are the beets I used for the Borscht disaster I discuss on Facebook.

Kitchen update: One of the things that makes cooking interesting for me is, for various health reasons, I'm on a low carbohydrate diet. And one of the things I miss a lot is Leek and Potato Soup. 


So.... Last Sunday I thought I'd try making it with Turnips. I'd always been told that in the British Isles before the "New World" brought over potatoes, amongst other goodies... like chocolate... (can't imagine life before chocolate) people used and ate turnips like we do potatoes. Supposedly it was one of my Grandfather's on the English side of the family's favorite veggie.


I've not had many encounters with them actually. I've put them in soup I think back when I was in a CSA and turnips were on that weeks list. (One thing about joining CSA's is you get a lot of exposure to vegetables that you might not explore otherwise).


Looking them up I found that turnips; boiled with no salt, have 5.0609 grams of carbohydrates.
Potatoes cooked the same way have 17.2109.  Seems like good numbers to me.


Now if they tasted good and didn't over power the gentle flavored leeks I was in business.

I've never grown turnips: yet, so I bought one at my green grocers in the Organic department that was about the size of a soft ball.

First I went out and picked about eight leeks: they are skinnier then the ones I usually bought so thought I'd need more. I'd guess it was about 3 cups of chopped leeks.

I chopped up the turnip  and put it in a bowl of water.


Then I chopped up the leeks and a fat clove of garlic, sauteed them over medium flame in a little olive oil and when they were at that "limp" stage (don't let them brown) I put in the turnips and their water. Added a small bit of salt and pepper to taste.


The water just  covered it all and I brought it to a boil. Once it gently boiled for about ten minutes I put a lid on it, turned off the flame (I prefer gas cooking) and took a nap. The latter in an important step :)


When I woke up I put the mix in my food processor and pureed it. You can leave it with some chunks if you want but I like mine smooth. You can use a blender too if that is all you have or one of those hand crank mills for pureeing.

I then took 1/2 of it and froze it; this was about 3 cups. Don't freeze it with the milk in it as it will curdle. 



The other half I added some 2% milk; though you could use 1/2 and 1/2 or cream... warmed it up (don't boil milk; it will go sour). If you want to be fancy you could put some chopped chives or other herbs on top. 


It was not only good but great. I didn't miss it wasn't potatoes at all though I could tell the difference in taste: it was very good in it's own right.

I followed this with a salad and all in all it was a great meal.

Also this week plans are: Kale and white bean soup, stuffed (organic local) cabbage with (local naturally raised) spicy Italian sausage and brown rice; froze half of all that as well. 

One thing I like to do is to try, usually on a Sunday, to make as much food as I can. Not only for the week ahead but to freeze some for up to 6 months or so for nights when it's not convenient or I'm too lazy to do a lot of cooking.  

October 19 2010

That was as far as I got.  A synopsis of the rest of the year to today is:

~ We had a great crop of tomatoes both in the garden and in the greenhouse. There are still some growing in half the green house bed. I'm not sure how long we'll have them before the cold kills them back but they are still thriving. I've already pulled up the outside tomatoes and brought in green ones that wouldn't ripen before the first heavy frost. And I've mulched the bed and put it to "sleep" for the year. Next year that bed will be the lettuce and greens bed. 

The picture above are the tomatoes in the greenhouse.

I have a ton of tomatoes frozen and ready for soup, sautes, bruchetta and whatever else I think up.

~ We had a pretty good bean crop. Mostly green and wax beans but I have some pods of Black Beans and Italian/Americans drying in the greenhouse for soup this winter. Not much but they'll be good. ... I hope. :)

~Peas were ok; a few meals and a lot of munching off the vine. The latter is one reason I don't get a big pea crop. :)

~ The Greens crop was really good this year and I still have a ton of Kale and Swiss Chard (Rainbow) going. I just planted seeds in the greenhouse of a mesclun mix I put together myself, Spinach and some Arugala. There is some Swiss chard still, parsley and basil. And a couple pepper plants near the tomatoes. So lots going on in there still that will survive the cold.

The cement block path project is going slowly but surely. Lots of work to lay down the gravel (on landscape cloth) level it then put the blocks on. I decided to put them down flat after all. Once this is done it will not only look good but make getting around in the garden much easier as well as keep the weeds away from the paths. Did I mention how *long* it takes to do this? :)

As in most gardening years there are successes and failures. My most surprising failure was my zucchini and summer squash. Hardly  had any and had to buy them from the road stand. Almost embarrassing. :)  At least I get to help support the family that has the stand. 

The great success was I grew the biggest Butternut Squashes ever. I can't wait to have them in soup, sauted in olive oil and garlic and of course, pureed for the traditional Thanksgiving Feast next month.

Another success and my first ever with it is my leeks. I planted them by using my dibble and making a hole about 8" deep, 4" apart and placing the baby leeks I'd started in the greenhouse in the spring into the hole one at a time.  The rain and hose water refilled the holes naturally and I didn't have to do any "back filling". I've just this past weekend pulled up about half a dozen to make into leek soup and was delighted with how long the white part is. I'll leave as many as I can to over winter and harvest in the Spring.

Here are some pictures to give some visual insight as to where the garden and greenhouse are at this point. I've written under them to give you some idea as to what you're looking at:

Standing in the doorway end of the greenhouse looking down the bed. First the tomatoes and you can just make out the chard and fennel plants. At the far end is the new seed bed for the salad mix, spinach and arugula.

 One end of the Kale bed. These were planted along the pea fence and are just now coming into their own. Pea fence was moved this past weekend to it's new bed for 2011.

 Looking south down the lower garden beds. First wood fence is where the Tomatoes were grown outside... you can see left over calandula and the first leek bed. In the back is the bean fence where the tomatoes will go next year. Way back is the potting shed.

 You can just see the cement block walk where the peonies are starting to go to sleep for the winter. In the far back is the bed with the other leek bed.

 mmmm. Can't wait. Not quite ready to come in for storage yet. There is still a little green on the stems.

A first for me: French Sorrel. I've found some recipes to try including Sorrel Vichyssoise that I can use my leeks with too. I'll report back. :)

 Food for the eyes. Even this time of year there are still some flowers to feed the soul.