My winter sowing update

Well, it's spring. The rhubarb is up about 6" and the wind has gone into overdrive. It's still nice, though.

This year I have had the most success ever with winter sowing! I got carrots coming up! Usually when I do this, my success rate is a big, fat zero, so having one thing I planted come up is very nice. :)

I've also stuck my tomato, pepper and broccoli seedlings out under my experimental mini greenhouses and, so far, they are loving it. I popped the lid on the one where the broccoli is for better ventilation because it gets rather hot in there. The other one I leave alone unless it gets to 80F in there. Which it does sometimes. The tomatoes and peppers like it so much better than their box and grow light in the house!


It's hard to get good pictures when trying to hold the tank up at the same time. I need to make a prop for when no children are available. Anyway, these are my tomatoes and peppers. And one squash. This is after two days, no wilting or apparent signs of stress. After about a week, they turned a nice, dark green and are growing well. You can see how happy the grass is under, too.

This is all my winter sowing attempts and my broccoli seedlings from in the house. The long brown box is my carrots. The large round pot with stuff growing is just full of lambs quarters and knotweed, which wasn't planted, but that's what you get when you leave it outside too long in late summer. You can really see the grass circle in this one.

Nasty quack grass

This is, in part, why I hate quack grass.

 That stuff grows runners that grow for several feet and will grow through anything in it's way. It'll totally take over a bed and practically eat anything you have growing there. I frequently find onions and potatoes in this condition and have even found a carrot once.

I've been told that it's planted on purpose as forage but none of my animals eat it. Maybe my growing conditions aren't good enough to make it tasty.

One more use for, or from, plantain

As I believe I've said before, plantain is one of my favorite plants! It's usually considered a weed and is very fond of lawns and any other place it can get enough water. It has medicinal uses. One more thing I like to use it for, it's seeds. There's no sense in wasting a resource and it's easy pickins.

Now, the seeds are small and it would take quite a bit to get a large store of them, but in many places there are large patches of the plant so that would be easy to do. Of course, this doesn't work quite as well in lawns since they are generally mowed and so the plants don't get to make seeds.

The seeds are produced all along a large stem. To harvest, I just pinch the stem in between my thumb and forefinger, with my hand cupped to catch the seeds, and run up the stem to strip the seeds. The narrow leaf variety has less seeds per stem, but the same basic idea. I throw the whole thing my harvest container, usually a jar or large plastic tub from some sort of food. It takes no time at all. When I get back to the house I run the contents of my container through a sieve to help winnow out the hulls. Easy peasy!

The seeds can be used in any way you'd use any other small seed. I usually just use them in soups and breakfast porridges but you could put them in/on bread or anything else. They are super tiny, although they do swell a bit in cooking, at least when cooked in liquids, not sure what they'd do in bread. The hulls can also be used like psyllium husks if desired. I sometimes throw them in soup as well. If I've been very lazy and haven't separated the hulls at all, I've been known to toss the whole mix into soup.

I don't know the exact benefits as far as what vitamins and such are in plantain seeds, but most seeds are quite nutritious so I'm sure these are as well. At the very least, we haven't died yet. :)

How was your garden this year?

While I had a better year than last, it wasn't my best either. I got a lot of beets, some onions, quite a few peppers and a very good pumpkin harvest. Oh, and lettuce this spring was very gung ho! I had tons of that stuff!

I grew three different types of pumpkins,

Elderberries, yum!

Well, we just got back from a vacation to the Oregon/Northern California coast. Despite the smoke, it was awesome! I've forgotten how green and wet it is there! I really miss the nice swimming holes with clean water. Best of all, though, I found some elderberries! I haven't really had any since we moved away from that part of the country. I'm growing some, but they're young and have only just started production.

These ones are sambucus cerulea,

Started but unfinished projects

So, is spring/early summer full of activity for you? In the last week or so I've really been able to get busy with some. Of course, now the place is full of started-but-not-finished projects. While the weather had been nice for a bit, it was still wet enough that I didn't want to much that was out in the pastures so as not leave a bunch of ruts. As for the garden,

Asparagus and spring garden chores

Well, since the weather has been so wonderful this last couple weeks, I've been out in the garden, of course! My biggest project has been working on the asparagus bed. As you can see, it's pretty overgrown, to say the least. Battling the quack grass is a

An attemp at Elderberry cuttings

So it snowed here again the other day. Another cold spell after some rather nice weather. Anyway, it reminded me that I wanted to try starting some cuttings from my elderberry and I had better get to it before the thing started leafing out. So, I ran out and

Dandelion Salve

I love dandelions!

They have got to be one of the most useful plants around, in spite of their reputation. You can eat the whole plant and use it medicinally. This post is about a salve made from the flowers. Yes, the flowers.

Finally! Some warmer weather!

Well, after a little over a month of temps ranging from -28F to 12F, we have had a few days now of the 40s! It's positively spring like out there! And, as usual, I have to do something gardenish. I'm starting a few herbs inside and trying a new (for me) way of starting onions. I am the world's worst onion grower so

Rhubarb Leather

So, lots of rhubarb this year, yeah! I turned some of it into fruit leather since we really, really like that. It's pretty easy, you just cook the rhubarb down to a smooth sauce, season, sweeten and spread to dry. I tend to leave it a little more tart than we like since it gets a bit sweeter as it dehydrates. Just a little bit, though.

Cooked down sauce in the pot.

Spread on the special fruit leather sheets in the dehydrator.

Finished product in the dehydrator.

Peeling off. It's a bit sticky. :)

All wrapped up and ready to go. I keep mine in the freezer.

Asparagus patch in the making

We recently put up a grain bin for a storage building. In the process of moving the bin, one ring was damaged beyond use. Well, at least beyond use as part of the building. So, I decided to use it as a raised bed in my garden. I did my best to straighten the dings, but my best wasn't very good! I don't think it will matter though, beyond aesthetics, for it's intended purpose.

So, now I have an 18 foot diameter, somewhat roundish, 2 foot deep bed that I am going to make into an asparagus bed.

Here it is in place.

Next I put various materials down as a weed barrier. I have a huge quack grass problem here and it's completely taken over the current asparagus bed, as you can see below. Yes, that is actually an asparagus patch.

For weed blocking material, I used what I had laying around, which consisted of some old irrigation tarp, an old, old, ratty quilt that even the dogs wouldn't use and some old OSB and a little bit of cardboard.

You can see it partially done in the pic above. I've since finished the weed block layer and put the contents of three compost bins in here. Most of the compost wasn't finished yet, but I figure it can finish in situ. I am also going to mix in some steer manure and barn cleanings. I figure it will be a year or two before it's composted enough to be usable, but that's ok. I am also adding worms. They should help speed up the process some.

Rhubarb and Rugs

I made the first harvest of rhubarb a couple days ago. 10 lbs! That's a lot of rhubarb! 4 lbs went into a crisp/crumble, the rest went into the freezer. Can't wait til the next harvest, there's jam/sauce, juice and leather to make. If I get enough. :)

And, another rug. I know, I know, but this one is a bit different and turned out beyond my expectations so I'm going to show it off anyway. It made it a whole 3 days before the cat puked on it.

Slow pasture rehab

I am slowly trying to get a rotational grazing system going for my dairy goats. The pasture that they are in is roughly 10 acres and, finances being what they are, this is going to be a slow moving project. For various reasons, I am having to use permanent fencing, which is supposed to be a no no, but that's the way it goes. Anyway, last year I was able to split the pasture in half. I have been throwing all sorts of seeds out there and also dumping the barn leavings and then raking them out thin. Our soil is very sandy and doesn't hold moisture at all so my hope is that the barn leavings will be a sort of mulch to help hold just a little more moisture in the ground.

Naturally, I haven't even come close to getting the whole thing done, but the areas that I have done are showing a big difference. Earlier and thicker growth of the grass.


Here's an area where I dumped part of trailer load of rabbit manure.

You can definitely see a difference in the area that is covered and the area that is not.

 

 

 Especially in this pic above. You can also see some piles of bedding way in the background.

Overall I'm fairly pleased with how this is working out. Is it as good as being able to dump a ton of compost, work it into the soil and plant what I want in this pasture? No. But it's definitely more within my price range! I am going to leave this ungrazed this year, although maybe mowed a couple of times, and work on the fencing for the paddocks in this section. I hope to be able to have at least part of it usable next year. Then I can start on the other half of the pasture. After that, I can get to work on the much larger, much harder to work with cow pasture.

Had my Heart Attack for the Day

I was out digging some potatoes and pulling old corn stalks this morning and nearly grabbed hold of a BIG spider. I think it's a garden spider? It doesn't really look quite like all the other ones I see around, but they are much smaller. I've seen bigger spiders, but have never come anywhere close to grabbing one of those. Spiders don't generally bother me, but almost grabbing hold of this one and the startlement factor just about gave me a heart attack. The kids were all excited, though. :D

 It's in a quart jar, to give you an idea of the size of this spider.

We brought it inside, ooohed and aaahhed, took pics and took it back outside. Hopefully I don't encounter it again whilst harvesting potatoes!

The annual fall stock up

I love fall! Actually, I love all the seasons, but anyway............

Yes, it means cold and snow are right around the corner but it is so nice to smell the crisp mornings (at least after I get over all the frosted plants) and to be able to look on all the supplies put up for winter. A shed full of hay, a shed full of wood (well, almost full), the winter's supply of grain for the animals.

 And, of course, the garden. We had our first frost a couple weeks ago, but it was thankfully patchy and I only lost the pumpkins and melons. The pumpkins were far enough along that they'll finish up nicely even without the vines.

This morning I picked another load of tomatoes, made some salsa, dehydrated another premature pumpkin, distilled some more hydrosol, got some of my potatoes dug, some of the corn pulled and fed to the goats, got some beans picked and shelled, and all before lunch. I love it when a day actually works. :) While it's a bit of work, it's so satisfying to harvest and put produce up.

What are you doing for fall stocking up?

Dried Green Pumpkin Chips

The other day I found one of my bigger Howden pumpkins had been broken off the vine by the dogs. It's a decent sized pumpkin and I didn't want to waste it, but really wasn't sure what to do with a very green pumpkin. I know there is green pumpkin pie, I have read the Little House books, but I didn't want to bake. It's around 100F here and I really try to avoid turning on the oven. So I thought about it for a bit. I know people make chips from zucchini and cucumber and I've wanted to try some but I am apparently the only person in the world who cannot grow zucchini. Who knew? Anyway, green pumpkin is supposed to be very bland, as are those veggies, so I thought I'd give the chip thing a try since I had this thing laying around. I must say, it didn't turn out too bad!

Here's what I started with. Still very green!

 I cut it up and ran it through the food processor.

 I looked at several recipes online and most said to oil the chips, put them in the dehydrator and then sprinkle on the seasoning. I did that with the barbecue flavor, but just put seasonings and everything in the sour cream and onion batch.

 Here's my really stinking old, hand-me-down dehydrator. This thing has bushings or bearing or whatever they're called going out and it squeals like nobody's business, but it still mostly works.

 And here are the finished products. Sour cream and onion (which really tastes more like lots of garlic with a bit of dill) and barbecue flavor. Both are ok in my book and awesome in the kids' books. These two batches were 8 cups of pumpkin and I still have plenty left. I think I am going to try a batch using the Brady Street Seasoning from Penzey's (awesome stuff on popcorn) and then maybe a batch of just the usual seasoning salt that I use. I really like this whole idea, just need to find a seasoning that I really like.

Anyway, if you ever end up with a green pumpkin and don't want to make pie, here's another option.

Distilling Hydrosols

This has been sooo much fun! I love putting together new projects and all the new stuff I learn whilst doing so! This time, I made a still to distill herbs/plants into hydrosols and/or essential oils. I probably could have bought something off ebay cheaper than this, but wouldn't have had near as much fun. :D

I started with two stainless steel stockpots. These aren't the good ones, just thin, pressed sheet metal.

 The bottom pot is where the water to be boiled is to go. I cut a hole in the lid a bit smaller than the bottom of the smaller pot. That black thing is a gasket to help with steam escaping.

 Next I drilled holes in the bottom of the smaller pot (forgot to get a pic) this is the chamber where the plant material will go. That will allow the steam to come up through the plant material instead of being boiled. Different plants seem to have different outcomes on being boiled vs steamed with some doing better with one method and some better by the other. I figured this would allow me to do both as needed. I can put plant material in the bottom pot with the water when needed, no problem.

I used those rubber rings that are in a lot of 5 gal bucket lids for my gaskets. Cut them to length, the ones on the edge of the pot itself area also split down the middle.

Then I added a copper funnel I acquired on ebay and attached a copper fitting to the top. Then another fitting that necks down to 1/2", that's what size the copper tubing for the condenser is.

The condenser coil sits in an old 20 gal plastic tub that I used to use for rabbit water, it already had the hose inlet and outlet doohickies (yes, that's a technical term). And, yes, it's a redneck operation. :)

The bottom pot with water.

The top pot full of catnip.

This lid ended up being cut out, too, since the funnel was exactly the same size as the pot and I couldn't get it to sit right. Using the lid, flipped upside down, allows a platform for the funnel to sit on.

The finished product.

Yes, it is held together with rubber bands. Hey, it works. There's also a couple of those big, black paperclip thingies on there as well. The steam goes up through the plant material and out the top of the funnel into the condenser coil and the condensed fluid comes out into the gallon jar.

It worked very well for a trial run. I do think I should get another 10 feet of copper tubing so I can have more distance between the distiller and the condenser. I didn't even fill the blue tub halfway since I don't have that much confidence in the hoosier standing up to that much weight. I'd like to be able to lower the tub a bit onto something more substantial and fill it all the way. Even better would be to fix up the 2 burner propane stove and do it outside. That would avoid heating the house and allow easier filling and draining of the blue tub. I could hook a hose to the inlet and refill as needed with no trouble.

I also need to do something better for gasket material. My husband says I should try some sort of silicone engine gasket stuff/thing that he uses at work a lot (I forget exactly what it was). Says it'll stand up the heat better.

But still, not too bad! So far today I've made some catnip distillation and am working on some fringed sagebrush (artemisia frigida). It smells very nice in here! I'm hoping the catnip distillate will work just as well as the catnip tincture as a mosquito spray. We'll see.


.Fringed sagebrush ready to go.

A bit of the finished catnip distillate.

I can see that this is going to be way too much fun and I will end up with way too many jars of various distillates laying around the house!


ETA: Here's the sagebrush distillate. You can kinda see the essential oil floating on the top of the water. Not much, but you can see it.

 You can barely see it in the pic, but there is oil floating on the top. You could really see it quite well when looking down in real life.