I'm BACK, Baby!

After a long blogging hiatus, I have returned!

I know that my gardening friends have probably grown tired of my vintage-only winter blog posts, so I have some excellent news: last weekend was the first official gardening event of the 2012 season (hurray!). Thanks to an enormous effort on my husband's part, we got the finished compost moved and tilled into the new back garden - all done in between the rain/snow showers - and the peas and fava beans planted. I also planted some blue vervain and black cumin seeds in the herb garden, as well as dug up/divided/replanted the comfrey and valerian, and dug up the numerous clary sage starts (note to self: never allow this to go to seed AGAIN) and replanted them around the periphery of the garden. We bought some garlic starts at our local grange co-op and planted these in the strawberry bed as well.

Unfortunately, the new garden area is directly adjacent to the chicken pasture. Within hours of planting starts into the garden, the chickens were already digging and eating them! Now, I love free range chicken eggs, but I cannot allow the chickens to destroy my food source! So, for now, I have surrounded my plant starts with circles of fencing. When my peas and favas emerge, I plan to vigorously wing-clip all of the "roamers" in the chicken flock so that they can't fly out. It may sound mean, but wing-clipping does not hurt the birds, and they have a large run with plenty to eat (they get all of the poultry grain they can eat, as well as a large daily bowl of kitchen and garden scraps, along with whatever bugs they can find). If it's a choice between limiting the freedom of 4 chickens (out of a flock of 20) and my garden, sorry, but I choose my garden!

In other news, the kale, leeks, and onions have germinated in the seed trays in the greenhouse. Next, I will be germinating the year's tomatoes! Yippee! This year, I am going to be growing only Joya de Oaxaca and the deliciously dark heirloom, Carbon.

Late Summer Harvest

Is it just me, or was there a touch of Fall in the air this morning? Perhaps it's just my imagination, but I felt that this morning, with its cool breeze and brief cloud cover, felt more like fall weather than late August.

After an interesting summer, we are finally beginning to enjoy a late season tomato and bean harvest. My 2nd patch of heirloom Dragon's Tongue bush beans are finally ready, and picking a mere 2 rows filled a 5 quart plastic bucket! I have sectioned off the best plants for seed saving, but that still leaves quite a few "eating beans" plants. The bugs have not begun hitting this crop yet, so all of the beans were pristine and lovely. I munched on beans as I worked, making the chickens and turkeys (whose pastures adjoin the garden) very jealous.

The Orange Fleshed Purple Smudge Tomatoes are ripening, and though their color is visually fascinating (they are supposedly the only domesticated tomato with a true purple pigment), their flavor is far better suited to sauce making than fresh eating.

A Walk Around the Farm...

I took my camera out this morning to see the sights...

An heirloom Dragon's Tongue bush bean reaches up to greet the morning sun! This little seedling is growing in the "new" pasture garden. Germination rate on my bean seeds: 6 days!!! Looking forward to that enormous mid-September harvest!

Noticed that the garlic was flowering...

I love the smell that the fields and fields of wild chamomile flowers make as you walk through them! And who can be sad with such cheery flower company anyway?

Oh, you thought I was exaggerating about the 'fields and fields' comment? Here's one small section of wild chamomile field...

Citrine (one of our Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats) came up to the fence to say hello!

The Indian Runner ducks were having a BLAST playing in their blue plastic pool! It's a bit like having living rubber duckies!

For those who have never seen parsnips (or, for that matter, carrots/lettuce/kale/etc) go to seed, welcome to my jungle! I hope you like parsnips...I'm going to be giving seeds away at this rate!

(Nearly) Summer in the Garden...

Summer is (officially) nearly here, and we are busy-busy-busy on the farm! Soap-making has begun full force, and we just finished up our latest batch of "Creamsicle" soap on Tuesday.

It has to sit in its TOP SECRET SOAP BOX for two days before it can be removed from its mold (yes, we use a 5 quart ice cream tub as a mold...and you know what? It works GREAT!) and allowed to open-air cure for two weeks. At that point it is no longer caustic and can be used. This latest batch is scented with Sweet Dark Orange, Peppermint, Vanilla, and Balsam Peru essential oils, and also contained Vitamin E, powdered marshmallow root, and cocoa butter for extra moisturizing.

We have been harvesting buckets (literally!) of artichokes, and using them as pizza toppings (the chickens also greatly enjoy the leftover parts).

The warm weather has meant that the tomatoes and peppers are finally beginning to take off - about time too! Here is my seed crop area for Congo peppers, Ping Tung Eggplant, Litchi "Tomatoes," and Orange-Fleshed Purple Smudge & Joya de Oaxaca Tomatoes.

We have begun our first seed harvest by bringing about half of the chive pods in to finish drying. The easiest way to harvest (dry) chive seeds are to put the seed heads in a paper bag and shake thoroughly.

Everything has begun blooming, including the mullein! Soon it will be time to get my spoon out and start scooping flowers for use in wintertime cough syrups! *grin*

The honeysuckle is in full fragrant bloom across the property, but nowhere more so than outside of the Duchesse de Portland guest room window!

The figs are growing very large on our tree, and I can almost taste those succulent fruits...waiting for them to ripen is torturous!

A New Low

This morning has dawned a breezy and bitterly cold 17 degrees out. I knew it was going to be frigid when our heater kicked on last night right as we went to bed and ran alllllllll night long. It was set at 58 degrees. Normally, I build a fire in the (new) living room woodstove, and that keeps the house roasty toasty all night. However, yesterday, Ryan and I were both so exhausted that I didn't have enough energy to chop firewood (and start a fire) in both stoves. So I opted to just use the basement wood stove in our bedroom. A choice I now regret a bit...ah well. I feel so sorry for the donkey-sicles outside! I know that they are fat and fuzzy and have shelters they can go into at night and snuggle with one another to keep warm, but still! In 17 degrees that only gets you so far...I made sure to tell Ryan to give all of the outdoor animals extra hay rations last night though, so at least they would have some additional food to make up for it. I don't worry about the llamas - their coats are absolutely amazing feats of engineering, and keep them warm and dry even in the worst weather! But the poor donkeys...

Yesterday, Ryan and Gramps (in one of his more lucid days) used the tractor to get a large portion of Marci & Dixie's pasture scraped out and deposited on the compost pile (which has been steaming beautifully now that we are able to regularly turn it). Then they headed over to the 2nd Garden pasture and did some rearranging of poo over my prime spring planting sections. They didn't get around to rototilling it into the soil, but still, that was quite a bit accomplished! Ryan estimated that, even after cleaning out the entire donkey pasture TWICE, we still don't have enough manure to cover more than a 1/3 of the 2nd Garden. So, we are going to have to use a large part of the compost pile (which unfortunately means less compost for the Pasture Garden). However, we have been amending the Pasture Garden soil for 3 years now, and (while it's still a long way from not needing any additional nutrients) it's in better shape than the 2nd Garden (whose soil has NEVER been amended). Plus, I planted an large amount of beans amongst my flour corn last year, so that nitrogen will help with this year's crop in the Pasture Garden.

It's amazing to me how much LARGER the 2nd Garden pasture seems now that that horrid old shelter (shack?) has been removed! Granted, we still need to rent a dumpster and dispose of all of the pieces currently stacked along the fence line, but it's amazing how much more spacious it feels in there! I can't wait to get started with the spring planting in there!! Only two more weeks, and then I can get my purple heirloom fava beans, pole peas, and bush peas in the ground!

I noticed yesterday that one of my Violet de Provence artichoke seeds had sprouted in Tray #1. It seems awfully early for one of them (normally artichoke seeds take something like 14 days to germinate), but I'm not complaining! The Early Snowball Cauliflower seeds have also begun germinating, as have the Goldenrod seeds (collected from my own plants in the new formal herb garden last year).

Yesterday, I began work on the strawberry patch - clearing out dead leaves, and thinning the plants. Last year, they were so happy and prolific that they shaded each other out, and we didn't get very many strawberries out of the denser section of the patch. So my job this winter is to thin the patch out, and I am going to replant the runners and extras into a section in the 2nd Garden. I don't think Ryan agrees with me, but I think it's terribly wasteful to just throw the extra plants in the garbage when we can utilize them elsewhere. If there is one thing gardening has taught me, it's Do Not Waste! EVERYTHING gets used.

Apothecary Inn's Multi-Purpose Tomato Sauce Recipe!

Even though this early fall weather has me in a bit of a funk (I hate saying goodbye to my veggie garden for the year!), it also marks the beginning of the true harvest season: squash, tomatoes, peppers, corn, etc. I have been slowly bringing in an ear or two of Oaxacan Green Dent Corn. While most of the crop is not ripe yet, there have been a few ears ready for picking. The "ripe" kernels range in hues from yellow to blue, and grow even more colorful as they dry! I plan to grind them up and make a delicious green cornmeal! Considering that I planted a roughly 40 foot by 15 foot patch of this corn (and each plant has an average of 1-2 ears on it), I should be doing pretty well by the time everything is said and done! I was a bit disappointed with my squash harvest this year (and don't even get me started on the melons!), but the Oregon Heirloom variety "Sweet Meat" did an outstanding job. I have about 10+ specimens of it sitting in my field, and each one weighs an average of 15-30 lbs. I think we'll still be doing okay on squash this winter! The Delicata squash also produced quite well, though production began later than the Sweet Meat. My shelling beans - namely the Cherokee Trail of Tears beans - have been drying on the vine, and I have been slowly bringing them inside, shelling them, and drying the beans. I have a small seed bean pile going, and a larger eating pile going!

We have been canning a great deal of pasta sauce off of our garden harvest, as we are big carb consumers during the winter months. Pasta sauce is a wintertime staple in the Garrett household! Here is our recipe for it:

Tomato Sauce:

20+ pounds of heirloom tomatoes
10 Egyptian Walking Onions
2 medium (or 1 very large) zucchini
2+ lbs of bush beans
2+ lbs of carrots
1 pimento pepper
3 jalapenos
1 young chile negro
1 bell pepper
3 cloves crushed garlic
2 heaping double-handfuls of assorted fresh basil
6 sprigs of thyme (pick the leaves off and discard the stems)
2 large sprigs oregano (pick the leaves off and discard the stems)
1/4 cup fennel seeds (garden fresh is best - pound seeds in a mortar and pestle to release flavoring!)
1 bottle red wine (pick something you enjoy drinking, so you can have a glass while you cook!)
Generous dollop of olive oil
small sprinkling of cayenne pepper flakes

Chop up all ingredients and put into a large stock pot. Fill pot with water until it just covers all ingredients. Put on the stove and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and leave to slow cook all day. We oftentimes cook our sauce over a couple of days, turning the stove off at night and covering the pot with a lid, and then resuming the simmer the next day. When everything has cooked down and the sauce is THICK, remove from heat. Pour into canning jars. We pressure can our jars, but use whatever method you are most comfortable/familiar with!

WANTED: SUMMER

Last seen in August 2009. If you have any information as to Summer's whereabouts, please contact us immediately!!

After about a week of "normal" summer weather, it has turned unseasonably cool here the past two nights. Yesterday was 38 degrees when I awoke, and this morning it was 36 degrees! Where has summer gone?! My garden plants do not know what to make of this crazy up-down weather pattern, and my tomatoes and melons are most definitely NOT happy. I am terrified that, after all of my hard work, the harvest this year is going to be awful. Sigh. Fingers are crossed for good luck.

My sneaking suspicion was confirmed last night after a quick jaunt into the wood lot: I have a patch of mullein growing wild on my property. This past winter, while gathering firewood, I noticed a patch of plants that I thought looked an awful lot like mullein, but did not feel 100% confident in my identification skills at that point in time. However, one of these fuzzy-leaved beauties was in full bloom yesterday, and it's rather difficult to mistake a flowering mullein plant for much else. I was elated (and also slightly annoyed with myself for PURCHASING mullein seeds this past spring to grow in my herb garden)! Now I have access to a lovely source of mullein this year! Mullein is a biennial, so the my plant babies (grown from seed this year) will not flower and produce seed until next year. Ergo, with the discovery of the wild flowering mullein patch, I will have access to a ready seed source this year (not to mention a plethora of leaves for medicinal uses!). Yippee! Plus, there is something so majestic about a (5 foot tall!) mullein in full bloom. I have to admit that I stood in front of the plant for a good minute or two, just drinking in its beauty. After the hectic quality of the day, there was something so peaceful about this collection of plants in the late afternoon dappled forest light. I felt...at peace...in probably the first time in a while.

It makes me happy to know that my knowledge of wild plants has been expanding this year. I am trying to learn to identify "useful" weeds (such as yellow dock). I love that I can now look over my pastures and, instead of seeing a jumble of unnamed/unknown weeds, actually identify certain plants out of the bunch! Mentors are found in the oddest assortments, and my knowledge has been learned from both books and hands-on teaching. Thank you to all who have imparted their knowledge to me, even if it was a fleeting sentence of wisdom.

I Am Robot Queen of the Seedling Things!

It's official: I have my first cinnamon (tree) sprout! I planted 10 seeds roughly 3 weeks ago, and this morning I discovered my first seedling! I feel all-powerful now! *grin* I have always told myself that if I could grow cinnamon then I could grow just about anything! My final step to achieving this will be if my yellow gentian seeds germinate this spring. Should that occur, I think I may squeal with glee. Yellow Gentian is notoriously hard to grow from seed, but it is also the most sought-after of all of the bitters herbs. I have planted my gentian seeds in outdoor nursery flats (along with my Burning Bush, Arrowleaf Balsamroot, and Compass Plant), in order to give them the necessary cold stratification that they require for germination. I have heard that cinnamon seeds can be difficult to germinate due to a low natural viability. I have no idea if this is true or not, but I DO know that they require very high temperatures to germinate. Thankfully, with my grow lights and heat mats, I was able to provide this. And thank you also to Horizon Herbs for the opportunity to try my hand at germinating cinnamon seeds!!

I finished my spring herb seed order for the 2010 gardening year. Ryan and I have nearly completed my formal herb garden. We have begun moving loads of rock for the 4th and final raised bed; I have just about finished spreading layer upon layer of mulch in the walkways (it's a constant battle to smother the weeds); and my family has helped me to plant 3 of 4 fig trees over the center marker that is Jugi's grave (which forms the core of the garden - I feel that is fitting tribute for my beloved "Foo"). Last year, I planted some of the raised beds with madder, licorice, bloodroot, comfrey, valerian, arnica, skullcap, mexican tarragon, echinacea, four varieties of sages, chives, lavendar, several different mints, epazote, angelica, feverfew, horehound, lemon balm, elecampane, and more! My new additions for the herb garden this year include:

Agrimony, Anise, Betany, Borage, Burdock, Moldavian Dragon's Head, Gravel Root, Wormwood, Blue Vervain, Baical Skullcap, Evening Primrose, Mexican Marigold, Yellow Dock, Grindelia, Passionflower, Costmary, Yerba Mansa, Goldenrod, Astragalus, Yarrow, and Stinging Nettles. Of course I always plant the normal annuals too: Basils, Calendula, Coriander, etc.

With the new garden additions, I tried to focus heavily on herbs that had a reputation for helping with problems relating to chronic coughs and infections of the urinary tract, which certain members of this family are prone to suffering from. The nice thing about planning your own medicinal herb garden is that you can tailor it to suit your own family's needs! For more information on the medicinal properties of many of my herbs, I recommend reading Michael Moore's book, "Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West."

In the meantime, I already have a spare guest room FULL of seed germination trays just brimming with sprouts (and some established plants)! They are merely waiting until March when I will begin transplanting them outdoors. Currently contained in the "Green Room" are: Hibiscus (which is actually going to end up being a houseplant), Mbuluki (another houseplant), Brandywine tomatoes, a variety of basils (this batch is really for winter culinary use, but if they make it until spring then I will plant them outside), agrimony, marshmallow, heimia, Cinnamon (another houseplant during the winter anyway), Maravilla, Boneset, Empress Tree, Yacon, Desert Willow, Chaste Tree, Echinacea Purpurea, Yerba del Lobo, Clary Sage, Garden Sage, Licorice, Greek Oregano, Thyme, Italian Parsley, Greek Mullein, Centaury, Mexican Tarragon (I plan to grow a great deal of this because I LOVE cooking with it!), San Pedro cactus/Pitaya Cactus/Dragon Fruit Cactus/Peruvian Torch Cactus (all houseplants), Agave, and more!

I also visited a friend's vineyard yesterday and collected many many chardonnay grape cuttings, so today I am in the process of potting them all up. Ryan pruned our own wine & table grapes this past weekend, and there is another huge pile of cuttings waiting for me to plant them. So many projects! The grape cuttings that I started LAST winter are now ready for transplanting. I have been putting them along the fence lines in the formal herb garden - I figured that this was an excellent way to cover an ugly fence AND provide delicious fruit during the year! I noticed with my year-old grape cuttings that I had terrible success on the batches I potted WITHOUT rooting hormone. On the batches where rooting hormone was used, I had a very high (70%+) success rate. However, overall, the grape cuttings that I planted in the ground had a 100% success rate, and had the best and LARGEST establishments of roots. If I had the space, I would plant ALL of my grape cuttings in the ground, and then dig them up the following winter. This seems to be the best road to success. Unfortunately, not possessing the space for planting 300 grape cuttings in the ground, I am limited mainly to gallon pots. I try to place between 12 and 18 grape cuttings per pot, as grapes seem to be social plants who do better when housed in large numbers.