A backdoor in my raised bed.

There's a den entrance in the middle of my raised bed. The garden supervisor found it. This explains why my basil has been repeatedly uprooted. I don't know who it belongs to yet: mole, vole, groundhog or rabbit. I've only seen rabbits in the yard so far.

Good thing I'm digging out more beds.

Digging Dirt

Well, the digging begins and what I am finding below the grass is not encouraging. 

Tree roots galore and hundreds (thousands) of stones, small and large. This is gonna be a chore. Pacing is key. Fortunately I have a few plants in a raised bed already. Part of the bed took a hit overnight from some raccoon shenanigans but I can replant. Plenty of time.

This is the section of the yard I am digging out for now, leaving the other side for the fire pit and grape arbor. Every shovel full is pure elbow grease. Gonna need a lot of amendment I'm afraid. It'll be fun to see how much food a small parcel like this can produce.

Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Everywhere Tomatoes

On shelves, on floors, in windows and under grow lights. This is just a small selection of what is all over my kitchen.

And this is where they are supposed to go. I haven't had the time to dig out the new plot and the seedlings are begging to be planted out. They keep out growing their pots.

In my utter overwhelm, a certain person, who shall remain nameless, decided to assist me and repotted three dozen tomato plants (Yes, I have that many. I make a lot of sauce, salsa and gazpacho.)

Unfortunately... I neglected to pass on my secret organizational system and all the varieties were intermingled. I now have no idea which plants are Black Russians, Yellow Pears or San Marzanos. Gonna be a crap shoot this season.  It's funny how every season your garden gets away from you at some point. Usually it's at harvest for me. Seldom at commencement.

Growing Potatoes in Bags

This is a potato planter (14 X 20 inches) with a velcro side flap that opens to allow to you pick a few new potatoes at a time so you don't have to harvest your whole crop at once.  To plant, you roll down the sides, add about eight inches of soil to the bottom. Plant three or four potatoes and cover with soil. As the leaves grow, you unfurl the bag a bit at a time and add more soil until fully extended.

The planter has side handles to easily reposition the planter as needed. These are reusable bags and perfect for the small garden (like mine).  The material is very similar to a tarpaulin. It has drip holes in the bottom. Potato planters can also be fashioned from wood with a sliding side door at the bottom to achieve the same aim.

I have planted French fingerlings in this bag. Great for BBQing. I love fresh potatoes from the garden. Teaming with vitamins and ever so delicious. They are a whole food. I already have Russets dug into my community garden plot and purple skinned Russians in another bed, but I want more (always more organic veggies) and this is a solution for me since I am somewhat strapped for land. Too much deck, not enough soil. Veggie and fruit planters will have to populate the deck at my new home this season until I can take the wrecking bar to at least part of the structure. Here is the deck awaiting its fate.

Already strawberries are growing in terra cotta pots and from a Topsy Turvy hanger that was gifted to me.

I wish my property had more land, but there are always compromises. I opted for proximity to hiking trails and waterfront in lieu of more land for now, knowing I could rent a community garden plot and enjoy the weekly farmer's market in my area. Lifestyle, lifestyle, lifestyle.

Catnip, Herbs and Early Veggies

Lots to do setting up a new garden and starting from scratch. I dug up herbs from my previous garden, transplanted them and added a few new ones from an organic supplier. The herb section is slowly starting to fill in. This year, so far, I have winter savory, sorrel, English thyme, rosemary, mint, curly and Italian parsely, chives,  marjoram and more. I don't think I'm putting in another sage. The last one took over a huge section of the garden. I dried tons of it and find I use it infrequently.

I do always plant some catnip for my kitty though. She enjoys the garden just as much as I do. Catnip is hardy and will come back year after year. Pick it frequently and it will keep producing. 

Here is the first leek of the season. I braised it for a quick side dish.

The flavor was surprisingly strong.

And look who is peeking out from the soil. The first potato leaves. And so it begins... happiness.

Vertical Gardens

I was at a garden show recently gathering ideas on vertical gardening. I have a spanking new circular saw which I intend to put to good use... lord help me, I better watch some YouTube videos on preventing kickback.

Anyway, this project looks totally doable and it's quite attractive. Cedar will be my choice for wood. You never want to use treated wood for vegetables, and doubtless my plantings will be all veg.

Planting Begins

Got a late start on seedlings this year, but happily finally got about twelve dozen peat pots going.

So far I've seeded mesclun greens, three types of tomatoes (Black Krim, Marzano and Yellow Pear), beets, turnips, ground cherries, spinach, snap peas, parsley, basil and cilantro. All my seeds were Non GMO (non genetically modified), organic and heirloom. Very happy about that!

Today I took it outside and planted one bed of Russian Blue potatoes using seed potatoes from last season's crop.

It may just look like a patch of dirt to some, but to me it looks like the fixins for summer BBQs.

Silver Maple Syrup

I've been off the blog grid for months. You know how it is, life conspires. Goals and plans get rearranged. I came to terms with the reality that my little - "one day I'll have a hobby farm" dream was still years away. So I moved yet again and have a much smaller garden now, but also, a new community garden plot. Community gardens are awesome in so many ways. The word, "community," is the operative word. 

My new home has three silver maples, which I decided to tap for syrup, just for fun. Silver maple syrup is lighter and more mellow than that from the robust sugar maple.

The syrup is light and delicious and SWEET, and gets gobbled up right from the pot before any can be used for pancakes. This sugaring off operation is so tiny it is being done (with great trepidation) in the kitchen with the exhaust fan running. You wouldn't want to reduce sap in great amounts inside your home because your walls and ceiling would be crusted over with sugar residue from the evaporation process. Hence the exterior sugar shack.

~~~ AMENDED~~~

After a comment from a reader I decided to amend this post to show how much sap it took to get a few tablespoons of syrup. This first pic is the amount of sap I get daily from just one of the trees.  A full pot. Here it is a full boil.

Here it is at the midpoint of boiling down. You can see the amber sugars starting to form on the side of the pot.

Almost done. It's thickening fast. Have to watch or it'll burn (like my first batch.) Heartbreaker.

And here's the final result of what's left from that full pot of sap.

Not much, but it's 100% pure goodness. This batch strangely tasted nothing like maple syrup. It was exactly like honey. Still delicious. And gone in seconds.

Ode To Putting Up

I love Greg Brown's music so much. Enjoy this, fellow canners.

Canned Goods.

Pickled Cauliflower

Cauliflower spoils so quickly we seldom get a whole head finished before we tire of it and it starts to brown, so in the spirit of frugality I've started pickling half of every head, and it is so easy to do. 

I was thrilled to find Andrea Chesman's Golden Spiced Pickled Cauliflower recipe in her wonderful book, The Pickled Pantry. She uses turmeric, a spice I utilize a lot when cooking cauliflower. It's on Page 97 for those who want to give it try. Use the "look inside" feature at Amazon.com to navigate to the page for the recipe. (I adjusted the recipe slightly and you can too if you want to put your own spin on things. Just use her recipe as the base.)

The Pickled Pantry on Amazon

If you prepare a bottle this week they'll be ready in time for your Thanksgiving table. It takes 6 weeks for the pickles to fully develop their flavor.

Pickles have really come back into fashion and I am filling my larder with a wonderful variety for the winter. What are you pickling this season?

Seizing the Dream

Ever thought of becoming an organic farmer? These folks did something about it.

To Make A Farm

Click on the link to watch the documentary about suburbanites turned farmers.

I Brake For Farm Stands

You can make a pretty good homemade carrot soup with just a few carrots, an onion, chicken stock and some grated ginger. I also added zest of an orange in this batch for an extra kick.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Yes, it's carrot season and the farm stands are packed with plump, juicy, sweet carrots. I cannot resist a roadside farm stand, and feel great about supporting farmers.

I recently bought 3/4 quart of Maple syrup from a business at $23. A week later I drove past a small farmhouse selling their own syrup and picked up a full quart for $17.  Quite a savings, and the flavor was far superior! It was so delicious that I slurped it up by the spoonful. There is nothing like maple syrup. Nothing!

But the best part of that second transaction was hearing all about the product. The farm wife's eyes brightened as she told me she had made maple syrup since she was a child and "loved it. Just loved it." She and her husband tapped 120 trees on their land and this batch came from a rather modest "three day boil." It was a small crop due to last year's mild winter.

The woman predicted a more "normal winter" this season. "The caterpillars are changing color," she told me, and her father always said, "Watch the caterpillars, they'll tell ya what's in store." Apparently she saw a caterpillar that week that was almost white. Get out the Uggs.

Further down the road I collected some Cherokee Chocolate tomatoes. It's a very popular tomato with celebrity chefs these days and was also a favorite of the grower's. I mentioned that I'd never grown a chocolate before and was told to save some of the seeds from these and I'd have them in my garden next year. Don't you just love farmers?

Here is one of the Cherokee Chocolates next to a beefsteak from my own garden. Very exotic.

Icelandic Horses

Isn't this stallion a beauty? He's one of several Icelandic horses on the eco-farm I'm staying at.

A beautiful 125 acre property rife with reindeer, wandering guinea fowl, beehives, apple orchards and so much more.

It's a nice place to land after a day at the scandinavian spa.

Shhh, people relaxing.

Everyone needs some R&R now and then.

Off to the sauna.

Life is good.

Quick Pancakes

I'm a big believer in the improv method of cooking. I follow recipes to the letter when preserving food for food safety reasons, but when it comes to everyday meals, having an attitude of spontaneity means you will cook more often and enjoy fresher fare. 

Cast perfection to the wind and enter the joyful land of culinary freedom.

Pancakes are one of my regular wing-it meals. You need a bowl and a fork (or a whisk). Eggs, milk and flour. Badaboom. Sure, you can add a pinch of salt, baking powder, some sugar or melted butter, but you don't need to. 

You can make super yummy pancakes with milk, flour and an egg. Ingredients you normally have on hand. Add a teaspoon or two of baking powder and the pancakes will rise to become fluffy, but there's nothing wrong with flat denser cakes. They're more cosmopolitan, in fact. I adore them.

If you have an apple or other fruit in the house, you can toss that in too, but you don't need to. Mine have wild blueberries today.

I never, ever measure anymore, and honestly, you don't have to either. Anyone can toss together pancakes in under a minute and have them in the pan and on the table in five.

What to do:

Add a healthy scoop of flour, one egg and start stirring milk into your bowl. Get the batter to the consistency you like. Thick or thin, there is no perfect consistency. Boom, you have pancake batter. (Add baking powder to make them rise to fluffy stature.)

Put in too much milk? Call them Swedish pancakes. Thick batter? Thin it with a little more milk, or go for the big thick man-cakes. You can add a pinch of baking powder or salt if you like, let the batter rest, etc. but I'm all for whip-it-up, fry-it and get it onto the plates. Less stressful that way, which means, you'll make them more often.

No maple syrup on hand? Thin the batter, call them crepes, smear with butter, dust with sugar or give them a squirt of lemon juice. Yum.

Anybody can make pancakes. A hot pan greased with butter will accept your improvised batter and deliver a comforting breakfast or late night dessert.

So go forth readers, and make your cakes. Thick, thin, fruited, plain or buttermilk. It's a delicious way to start the day and there's only a one bowl, one skillet, cleanup to contend with.

Wild Blueberries

Here they are in all their tiny silver-blue untameable fabulousness. The flavor of wild blueberries is subtly explosive. An oxymoron, I know, but quite fitting. I swear you can taste the antioxidants. They have double the dose of cultivated blueberries.

Half the size of their bloated cousins, wild blueberries freeze well and bake an awesome pie with a tighter filling. Less watery. These little gems are a super fruit loaded with phytochemicals that fight aging. Look kids, no Botox!

Yes, great things do come in small packages. I can so relate to that.

Filling the Shelves

Much of the harvest was eaten fresh this season, but there has been a bit to put up for winter storage.  I'm slowly filling the shelves. My goal is to eat far less imported produce and fruit this coming winter. Food safety continues to be an issue due to poor inspections, mass produced GMOs and pesticides used in conventional farming. See this year's dirty dozen.

If you grow your own food in your own home-composted soil and preserve it yourself, you know exactly what you're setting on the table daily. What I lack in variety I can always buy in bulk at organic farmers' stands to bring home and preserve... and wild blueberries are in season! It's a ton of work, granted, but truly worth it.

I've been drying and freezing my herbs for years as well. I keep my old spice bottles and refill them with my own garden's herbs. Saves a bundle and drying herbs is the easiest way to start preserving food because they are a cinch to grow and store. All you need to do is wash, hang by stems to dry and then store in your containers.

Conversely, wash and dry off the fresh herbs and freeze fresh in a ziplock for months (be sure to remove all the air, you can use a straw to do this). You can also preserve some in oil. There's nothing like grabbing summer herbs from the freezer to dress up a salad or winter stew.

Fall Crocus

The fall crocus are up. There's no denying it now. The seasonal baton has been passed.

The light is changing too. The butternut squash can sense it.

Tomatoes are dashing to the finish line. I'm hoping the small green San Marzano volunteers I discovered only this morning can hang in there.

The raspberries seem totally unconcerned however. I harvested an enormous bowl this evening and there are plenty more waiting in the wings to ripen.

It's been a great year for herbs. Sage, thyme and marjoram especially. For some reason I didn't plant basil, tomatillos or Brussels sprouts. Don't ask me why. Divided attention, I suppose. Is it too late for brassicas? With the aid of a hoop house I may be able to extend the season months longer.

The nights are getting much cooler. I'm considering installing Christmas lights powered by a solar panel inside the main hoop house. Hoping for a 7-10 degree rise in temperature. Every little bit helps. Especially for the tomatoes. The challenge is to keep the lights from making contact with the plants or the plastic. Heat rises, so lower placement is best.