Here come the tomatoes

"Hiding" zucchini in yummy stuff

Here's a recipe for Zucchini "Apple" Pie. I borrowed the idea for rhubarb zucchini crisp for the potluck.

6 C zucchini (Huge is good, as they are firmer) Peel, cut out seeds, and slice as you would apples. Cover with water and simmer ~15 minutes until tender. Cool and drain well.
Mix together and add to zucchini:
1 1/4 C sugar
1 1/2 C flour
1 1/2 t. cream of tartar
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
Dash of salt and nutmeg.
In a double pie crust, Bake 350 degrees 45-60 minutes.

Beans and Cabbage = Pickles and Sauerkraut

My favorite recipes for pickling beans and for preserving cabbage:

Pickled Dilled Beans (from Joy of Cooking)  Makes approx. 4 pint jars

Pack lengthwise in hot sterile jars, leaving 1/4" headroom:

2# stemmed tender green beans

1/4 t. cayenne pepper

1 clove garlic

1 head dill or 1 1/2 T dill seed (dill can be found growing in various random places in the garden)

Bring to a boil:

2 1/2 C water

2 1/2 C vinegar

1/4 C salt (non iodized)

Pour the mixture over the beans, leaving 1/4" headroom.  Seal the jars and process 15 minutes in a boiling water bath [see pg. 804] for pints.

Sauerkraut 1-4 weeks or more

Equipment:  1 gallon crock or jar, plus weighted plate or other airlock.  Non metallic bowl to mix kraut.

5# cabbage

3 T non iodized salt

Slice or shred cabbage; combine with salt.  Crush and mash it as you pack it tightly into jar.  Work it to force out air pockets and bring brine to the top.  (Brine will be formed as salt brings moisture out of the cabbage.)  Use your hands to firmly massage the cabbage, or a wooden implement to crush it.

Cover with a plate weighted down, or a zip lock bag filled with salt water.  Don't cap it tightly, you want air to escape as the fermentation happens, but not to leave it open to the air.  

Leave it at room temperature to ferment.  Check every day or 2, skimming off mold if it appears.  It should taste tangy in a few days, and stronger with more time.  Store in a cooler place to slow down…may improve for months.  Eventually it will become soft, with less pleasant flavor.

Possible additions:  red cabbage, grated carrots, onions, garlic, seaweed, greens, brussels sprouts, caraway seeds, dill seeds, celery seeds, juniper berries…

Happy preserving,

Carol

Cabbage worm eggs-don't want this in our kale

One reason, besides upward growth, we want to harvest kale using the clean stalk method is to prevent these hidden pockets for things like cabbage worm eggs (above) or aphid habitat.

Perishable plants

Here's the calendar for shipment of our perishable garden plants.  All items should arrive within a week of the ship dates.

• 3 blueberries and 25 asparagus ship from Johnny's on April 6.

• 7 pounds of potatoes ship from GrowOrganic on April 30.

• 50 sweet potatoes ship from Steele on May 3 to 13.

March 30 2015

March 31 2015

 

625 Walla Walla sweet onions were planted today. We use a no-till process where the beds are worked with a Broad Fork and raked flat. We are planting 4 rows of onions across a 30 inch bed. We heard that onion starts might be scarce this year so we are purchasing  and planting early. We will water by hand for a few days and then use our drip system.

 

 

March 28, 2015

March 28, 2015

 

Soil Blocking

·         50 Faro Cabbage

·         50 Napa Cabbage

·         100 Broccoli

Garden work

·         Laid out beds. On the Rusk side of Garden the beds are roughly 25-30 inch with 12-18 inch walking paths. Beds are NOT raised. We laid down spent Hops from Jim Fields to mark the pathways. The hops are intended to suppress weeds and add additional organic material

·         Laid out beds. On the Higher Ground side we are using 30 inch raised beds with 18 inch walk ways as described by J-M Fortier.

·         Peas were direct seeded into the short beds 22 and 23 west of the south greenhouse.

·         Herbs were planted in rows 5a and b

·         Creating a storage area on east end of south greenhouse

 

 

March 21, 2015

March 21, 2015

First spring work day.

Transplanted to South Tunnel
360 lettuce plants
75 Arugula plants
50 spinach plants

Blocked
125 Kale
120 lettuce
100 spinach
75 chard

Other Garden work
Screened Compost
Water garlic
Added battens to tunnels to keep plastic in place
Weeded kids garden
Set up picnic area

First soil blocking today

Julie and Greg set a new record for earliness today by making soil blocks of lettuce, spinach, and arugula.

We welcome Higher Ground residents as new garden members!

• Take a peek at our Goals & FAQ and come visit our shared garden.
• To help us grow, contact one of the garden leadership team: Tom, Perry, Julie, Jen, Chris H., Greg.
• Post questions or comments here and we'll try our best to followup.