QUEST FOR THE PERFECT TOMATO

This is a blog about how we changed our tomato planting methods this year.  The pictures will show you what we are doing.  Hopefully this will be the start of something new for us.  It is said necessity is the mother of invention.  Not having enough uncontaminated soil to fill our raised beds led us to this possible solution. 

We are organic and rotate crops.  We have gone to raised beds because we are tired of fighting the heavy clay content of our soil.  It seems the clay ate the dirt we had "cultivated" during the winter.  We decided to contain it.  Yes, we still have disappearing dirt dilemma, but it is not of the proportion of the previous years. 

For years we have searched for the best method to raising the perfect tomatoes.  We have found barring the deer who aren't supposed to eat nightshade plants (they do),  groundhogs who devour them the minute they show color, opossums that take a bite to test it and decide they don't like it, birds pecking at the cocktail tomatoes sipping their juices,  there really isn't one way that is perfect.  Every tomato variety seems to have its own preferences.

We have tried mulching and letting the vines run rampant.  We have also staked and tied each plant.  Everyone who has gardened has bought and tried  those cone shape cages.  We went through them twice.  The second time they were larger and heavier gauge wire and we were told not subject to the weld joints breaking.  NOT...they succumb to the same faults their little sisters have.  We have been very lucky, on two occasions we have been gifted wire cages made from woven welded fence wire.  The first ones I wish I had more of.  They are 30 inches in diameter and 5 feet high.  They have been G-d sends when we plant "Delicious" and "Jelly Bean" tomatoes ("Big Momma" tomatoes can use them too).  These varieties seem to grow as if they were on steroids.  The "Jelly Beans" topped 8 feet last year.   We had to use a step ladder to pick them.  BTW...they also continue to produce on the lower branches.

HOW WE ARE PLANTING TOMATOES IN 2010

Amend your soil before planting.  This year it became a necessity for us.  We had minimum soil to fill our raised beds.  I am very fortunate to have a supply of broken down wood chips (they have been breaking down for three years).  I till the few inches of soil in the bed then add the following.  The amounts are for beds 30 inches wide and in increments of 8 feet (the measurement are for 8 feet).  Two 40 lb kitty litter pails (KLP) of chips, two KLP of dried manure (we used to raise sheep), one KLP of boiled rice hulls, two KLP of peat moss (our soil mix tends to be too well drained so we need extra organic mater).  We are the proud owners of our third "Mantis" tiller.  It is fabulous piece of machinery for working our raised beds.  After tilling thoroughly, rake the bed smooth, water deeply and let the bed sit overnight.  The next morning water again deeply.  This will get the peat and other dry materials saturated.  Wait till evening to plant your bed.  Dig all your holes, then proceed to plant.  The picture to the left is an Evergreen tomato plant removed from the pot.

After removing the plant (Which you watered well earlier in the day...I soak the plant in a bucket of water to remove any air pockets the morning before I plant)  I prepare the plant for its stay in the ground.   All branches that will be below ground will be snipped off.  The root ball, if it is root bound, will be broken up at the base so the roots will grow out from the plant, not continue on their trip around the pot...becoming more and more root bound.

When we plant the trimmed tomato plant we add a handful of Epsom salts and bone meal.  Both boost the plants ability to withstand the onslaught of blossom end rot. Make sure you mix the salts and the meal with dirt before adding to the hole.  You don't want them coming in direct contact with your root mass, it might burn them.

This is several plants ready to be vitamized and hilled.  We have our garden Kitty " Dawn" and puppy dog "honey" supervising. 

This is the bed completely planted with the plants, each hilled to keep them steady for working on the rest of the planting.  Notice, each of the plants have had even more of their lower branches removed, hilling up to the top two or three leaves.  The object is to bury the base of the plant with dirt to the level of the raised bed's side-boards.

We use a hoe (or sometimes just our hands) to pull the amended dirt from the sides of the bed.  We go down to the hard pan earth.  We bring the dirt up to fill the area between and around the plants.  We end up making a "mountain" down the center of the bed.  The idea came from pot culturing tomatoes.  They don't need a huge amount of soil to produce, so it stands to reason neither do garden grown ones.

This is the bed totally hilled.  The shovel is a full size shovel.  It is set there to show you the depth of the sides.  It is now ready to be mulched.

We are packing the troughs on each side, tight with old straw.  Yes, I know people say straw adds weeds to the garden.  It does, but they are so easy to pull.  The idea came from thinking about building with straw bales and their insulating factor.  These beds are 8 inches deep.  We figured not only would it insulate, but it would allow the area to drain as well as keeping the moisture in the bed.

The bed with side mulching completed.

Now that your sides are securely supported you can water the tomatoes in.  I soak the bed thoroughly.  I neglected to say:  in between each plant I make a little trough in the top ridge of the dirt.  It helps to direct the water into the middle of the "mountain", otherwise the water has a tendency to run down the sides of the dirt "mountain".

After you finish watering in the tomatoes continue mulching the entire surface.

Now is the time you want to cage and stake your tomatoes.  Do not wait untill they start growing (which is always instantaneous, especially if it rains that evening).  They will get too big to put on the cages.  We put a "T" post at each end of the bed and another in the middle.  We then feed long boards or conduit through the cages.  We join the boards with a binding of baling twine.  After which we go back to each cage and tie where the board goes through the cage.  The purpose of this is two fold:  we don't have to stake each cage; when we get big winds and the cages are filled with the leaves and tomatoes they don't go over in the direction the prevailing winds are pushing them.

This is a closeup of the tied cages.  You'll have to excuse the untidy weedy beds in the background.  We hadn't gotten to them yet when this picture was taken.  The bed on the left where the soaker hose is stacked is now in peppers and the bed with the white plastic on it has "Big Momma" tomatoes in it.

This is where my pictures run out.  We will take a picture of tomatoes filling the cages and post later this week.  So far this is working very well.  We are having one of the hottest summers in St. Louis in a long time.  The dirt is staying moist under the mulch.  The plants are growing and producing (we are waiting for our first ripe tomatoes on some plants).  We have had tomatoes to eat from our Juliets, Golden Raves, and Jelly beans.  We haven't had any slicers yet, but we are very patient. 

Oh, BTW we have picked our first tomato horn worm off this past week. 

The chickens relished him.

THE TAMING OF THE "SHREW"

This weekend the weather was fabulous in St. louis.  My main endeavor was to clean the green house of all the weeds that have grown over the winter.  I am a person that has to take a break every once in a while when doing heavy work.  Not a break to stop working, but a break to another job to give me perspective.  I took a look-see around the dormant garden that is showing tiny green of the perrineals besides the winter weeds (mainly chickweed, henbit and a nettle). 

   

I also wondered when I should trim the roses and there next to them was my next project.  The buddlea.  It was a huge mess.  I started working on it before I realized I should have taken a picture.  This picture is after I had trimmed off half of the tops so I could get in and decide how much I should do.

I have never cared much for this butterfly bush.  It is called "Pink Delight".  I have had others and this one does not have the smell or the dense blossoms the others have.  I have noticed it is not as full with blooms as the other varities I have had.

                                    

This is the Bush after I trimmed it.  I don't know if I did it correctly or not.  When I trimmed I noticed the center is dieing out.  I left quite a bit of growth because if we get a hard freeze in the next month it might freeze it back some.  Out side of its planting box is a new shoot coming up from the roots.  If this weather keeps up I will be able to dig it without damage around St. Patricks day.  The following pictures are are of visitors to the bush.

                                    

A swallowtail butterfly

A Humming bird moth.  Not the things we like to reproduce but they are sure beautiful.

An excellent article about them can be found here

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/hummingbird_moth.htm

A hornet

This is how the bush looks all summer.  No amount of dead heading increases the bloom.  The blooms on this variety do not seem to last as long as the others.  When this one is gone it will not be replaced in my main garden.  The discovered shoot will be planted by the gate.

SPRING PROGNOSTICATORS

I love lions in my yard,

I think they are just dandy,

Growing in nooks and crannies,

Even where it's sandy.

Their antics make me smile,

 Popping up where least expected,

They do aggravate that man of mine,

He roars, when the lawn he's neglected.

Fashioning with their blooms,

A necklace, when I was small,

Moments so pleasurable,

A memory I recall.

Years have passed, I am grown,

Every year I do remember,

The blossoms that delighted me,

From March to Novemeber.

My life is filled with sunshine,

Each spring when the lions return,

They are the prognosticators,

Of the warm weather I do yearn.

BONES OF THE GARDEN

Our garden lies silent and serene,

Beds are barren, no longer green,

Hiding under the ice and snow,

Chickweed and henbit are rampant, I know.

The hay barn, very old and gray,

Looks somber in the light of day,

The snow covered mulch mound,

Like a beaver den on the ground. 

The scaffolding, normally covered in vines,

Looks so lonely at this time,

There will be no children hiding in there,

No happy sounds in the garden to hear.

Wind chimes sound hollow and cold,

Bringing images of gnomes of old,

Birds are quiet, no laughter in their voice,

This weather gives them no other choice.

My well of wishes is empty today,

I'll fill it with geraniums on a sunny spring day,

Smile to myself remembering this day,

"I'm glad winter's gone", I'll say.

The standing stone sits lonely and bare,

Normally covered with the plants growing there.

No birds visiting, perching on his top,

No Kittens crouched, ready to hop,

On unsuspecting little crawly things,

Which warm weather and sunshine bring,

Waiting for toads and lizards hiding there,

No kittens, in the sun, grooming with care.

The blackberries fenced to keep out the deer,

The snow covered ground keeps roots warm, never fear,

Last year, heavily burdened branches,

Invited the marauders, increasing their chances,

Of scoring a free meal,

With berries hanging in reach, to steal.

Our green house silently waits,

For us to open the garden gate,

Inviting everyone to see the plants within,

Bringing the owners a satisfied grin.

DIARY OF A DAY

Last night it snowed and we dodged a bullet.  We were on the southern edge of the massive storm system that is travelling across the midwest and heading to the east.  It will be dumping lot on the coast.  We had at least 3 inches of rain that was followed by a couple hours of slush...the stuff that fell looked just like a frozen slushy drink.  Then it was capped by 2 inchs of wet snow.  It would have made great snowmen except for the fact the sun came out very strong.  Our green house was 90 degrees by 10:30 AM.

These pictures were not here 2 hours later.

Today Hunny did me a favor.  He took all the pea and bean seed and prepared them for proofing.  to proof seeds you take a piece of paper towel moisten it and take 10 seeds out of the packet.  you fold them up in the toweling and place in a plastic bag and lable the bag so you know which is what.  Then you put them in a propagation chamber.

After three days we will open each package and check to see if any sprouting has started.  Then we will check every day.  Recording what we find.  The seeds will be given two weeks to grow.  The percentage of viability will be how many of the 10 seeds sprout in the 14 days.  We will record on each package the percentage, it will tell me how close together I will need to plant the seeds based on how viable they are.

Today we also washed up planting boxes.  I am using the plastic trays that you get when you buy chocolate covered graham crackers.  They will be filled tomorrow with planting medium and planted with lettuce.  each tray will be labled and covered with plastic wrap.  It will then be place under the dome of a sheet cake tray  (the large rectangle cake tray).  Then we will set it in a sunny window till they start to sprout.  When they sprout the plastic wrap comes off and they live under the dome, until transplanting at about 2 weeks

The following I took from another blog I posted at the beginning of the year. It was part of a seed starting blog.

Our propagation chamber is nothing fancy and it serves a variety of purposes. To build your own you will need the following:

Styrofoam ice chest

Heating Pad or an old working yogurt maker

Easy to read Thermometer

Piece of card board

serrated knife

something like the bottoms of egg cartons or something of that height.

CONSTRUCTION: We have found the same heat source works in a large cooler (ours is 28"x 16" x 17") but we also have those that are 12x12x18. In the bottom corner of the cooler make a hole just large enough for the plug of your heat source to slide through. If you have chosen your old yogurt maker you will only need the bottom half not the lid. Place it in the center of your cooler on the bottom. Now cut the card board (the serrated knife is good for this) to fit on top of the yogurt maker.(it should just barely slip into the cooler and rest on top of the maker.) You want the card board to be a shelf above your heat source. 

Now remove the card board and make a series of one inch holes in the cardboard. make them far enough apart that they will support the weight of the trays you will be sitting on top of it. If you have chosen a heating pad you will need something to support the cardboard about 2 inches above the pad. (I have used egg cartons without their tops for this.). Your chamber is finished.

Put your thermometer in side and turn on your heating source and find out what temp your propagation chamber keeps. We found sometimes we have to crack the lid. Now you need to scrounge for take-out plastic containers with clear raised tops. The 2 inch deep ones are great, allows for starting medium and a little sprouting room (sometimes they sprout in the middle of the night..lol) rectangle ones are preferable to round ones...you can put more in your cooler.  You can also use containers that don't have lids by covering them with plastic wrap.  BTW...you can stack them inside the cooler...but remember everyday twice a day to reverse who is on top and whose on the bottom so they get the same amount of heat. Keep your thermometer inside and check it first thing in the morning to make sure your cooler isn't accumulating too much heat. I didn't say this was a low maintenance project. (If you are adept I imagine you could fix this with a thermostat to turn off and on the heat and keep it at the perfect temp.

We have had 20 years of success with our homemade box, I hope this works as well for you.

GARLIC: ENOUGH TO KEEP THE VAMPIRES AWAY

This is another recipe to take away the winter blues while you peruse the seed catalogues.  Garlic is also something alot of people raise (Not us, the last few years, it has been too wet; even in raised beds we have had it rot.  Hopefully this fall we can put some in and have it survive.).  Till then I have to purchase mine. 


I haven't found many things I eat that don't improve with the addition of garlic. 

Think about it;  mashed potatoes with garlic, fresh garlic minced and saute'd with

Broccoli, green beans with bacon and minced garlic, and the list goes on. 
One day looking through my stacks of cookbooks I came across this recipe for a peasants soup. 
It had a goodly amount of garlic (3/4 cup) and a small amount of other veggies. 
I fixed it and was impressed but all the time I am thinking what can I do to make this my own. 

Garlic soup is like Chicken broth, it is satisfying when you feel bad.  It is also satisfying if you are on a diet and have the urge for something filling and slimming.  It freezes excellently.  In my experimenting with the original recipe I have found a myriad of ways to make it.  This is also an extremely cheap soup to make.  Except for the garlic (which can be bought cheaper at the stores like Sam's and Cosco's), the rest of the ingredients are items we have in our pantries at all times.

GARLIC SOUP

INGREDIENTS:

2 LBS Potatoes, peeled and quartered or eighth'd (if large). any variety will do. 

(Original recipe called for 1 1/2 lbs.)

4 Carrots (I use large carrots), washed not peeled, cut into 2 inch lengths. Ends trimmed off.

(Original recipe called for 2) 

1 cup garlic cloves (approximately 3 heads). Peel by smashing with a knife. 

Leave the cloves whole do not mince or chop. (Original recipe called for 3/4 cup)

2 TBLS "fat", Oil (do not use olive oil), or butter, 

I have never used bacon drippings but I bet it would be great.

2 quarts "Liquid", water, chicken stock, beef stock, vegetable stock

EQUIPEMENT NEEDED

Soup pot with lid (at least 4 quarts)

Wide blade butcher knife for smashing garlic

Paring knfe for cutting the ends off the garlic and carrots,

and cutting potatoes and carrots in chunks

Vegetable peeler for peeling potatoes

Blender, processer, or sieve(foley mill), an immersion blender

Holey ladle

1.  The first thing you do is work on the garlic.  Peel it and get it ready.  Melt your butter in a soup pot (no smaller than 4 quarts).  Saute' the garlic till golden, do not make it dark you will ruin the flavor of the soup.  BTW DO NOT ADD ANY SALT .

2.  When the garlic is golden pour in the two quarts of liquid.  Each different stock changes the flavor of the finished product but all are good, even plain water.

3.  While the liquid and garlic are coming to a boil prepare your vegetables adding them to the pot of liquid.  Bring all to a boil and turn down to a simmer.  Cover and slow simmer for one hour. 

4.  At this point you can wait another hour and let it cool on the back of the stove (when it cools down it is easier to process). 

5.  Use what ever means you have for puree'ing the pot of soup.  When you have the entire pot pureed if you want return the contents to the pot and reheat to serving temperature adding salt to taste.  The original called for adding a cup of cream at this point.  To me it is an unnesessary step and doesn't add to the flavor of the soup. 

At this point I divide mine into containers the size we use.  I do not salt till serving.  This soup served with herb bread 

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com/search/label/COOKING%3A%20BREAD%20BAKING 

and a salad is the perfect lunch.  Serve it in a mug and it is the perfect snack in the afternoon.  When it is made with chicken broth you get the doupble whammy of the garlic and the chicken soup to keep away the cold and flu.  With the addition of the extra carrots you are getting extra vitamin "A". 

This soup looks and feels like cream soups.  And is much easier to make.

HINT: DONOT MAKE THIS AT NIGHT WHEN

PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP

(It wakes up taste buds.  I am salivating just thinking about the smell. 

I made this at my mother's one night when I couldn't sleep. 

The next morning she said the smell kept her awake all night, making her hungry.)

CUCUMBERS: WHEN THEY AREN'T COOL

I didn't know whether to include this article in this blog or my other blog, http://www.gloriouscreations.blogspot.com/ . 

I post recipes on both blogs.  The final decission

came down to our need for thoughts of spring and perusing the garden catalogs. 

It is cold and dreary with off and on rains in the St. Louis area.  Even my house feels damp.  Today I am organizing seeds, seeing which ones I want to use and making sure I have enough of those.  My mind is also thinking what to have for supper.  I am for sure going to have soup.  I'll break my arm patting myself on the back right now, I make really good soups.  Just ask me..lol.

 I ran to the fridge to see what was there that needed to be used up.  When I make un-planned soups I usually make them from what ever veggies are on their way to crossing over.  There on the shelf were two of those long hot house cucumbers.  They had gotten their ends froze from being on the wrong shelf.

Just recently I heard about cucumber bisque.  This is a soup served cold. I didn't think I was in the mood for a cold soup on a day like today.  I have cooked with cucumbers before, the resulting dish was excellent.  I decided to make a hot cucumber soup for tonight.

I cleaned the cukes, throwing the bad parts in the compost bucket.  Reached in the veggie bin, there was a bunch of celery that would be over the hill in the next week.  On the shelf was a plastic container that had accumulated the halves of onions I didn't need in other dishes.  A peek in the freezer revealed a bag of frozen peas that had about 10 ounces left in it.

I proceeded to assemble my soup.  I can't wait till supper to serve it.  My taste sample made me want to eat all I had prepared.

INGREDIENTS 

BASIC SOUP:

1 cup 1/4" diced celery

1 cup 1/4" diced onion (don't use red onion)

1 cup 1/4" cucumber (no seeds if you use regular cucumbers, do not peel)

Kosher salt

2 TBLS butter (you can use an oil with no flavor if you like)

1 can Swanson's chicken broth (Or home made with salt)

10 oz Frozen peas

BEFORE SERVING:

1 TBLS Butter

1/2 cup fine diced celery

1/2 hot house cucumber cut in 3/8" dice (do not peel)

Lemon Thyme (dried, rubbed, afterall it's winter right now)

Salt to taste

EQUIPEMENT

Heavy stainless pan (I used a 5 qt dutch oven)

heat proof rubber spatula

knives to slice and dice

blender

BASIC SOUP:

1.  In 2 TBLS Butter saute'  diced onions, celery, and cucumber (sprinkle with about 1/4 teas salt)  in your stainless pan till the oinion is soft and translucent.  Do not brown.

2.  Pour your can of broth in the pan and turn up the heat and simmer covered for about 3 minutes.  Turn off the heat and leave it for about 3 minutes. 

3.  Pour into your hot broth the package of frozen peas.  Stir until the peas are defrosted. (do not apply more heat or cook in any way)

4.  Have your blender ready and put the contents of your stainless steel pan in the blender bowl.  (You can use a food processor too)  If your blender is not large enough do it, blend in small batches.  You want the contents thoroughly pureed. 

BEFORE SERVING:

Preheat your creamed soup bowls in a 200 degree oven (Or microwave them filled with hot water till the bowl is hot)

1.  Use your cleaned stainless steel pan, Saute' the fine diced celery till aldente', add the diced cucumber and and saute' till tender.  (you can cover the pan and finish them.) 

2.  When the veggies are saute'd add the pureed soup (being mine was stored in the fridge all afternoon I brought the soup back up to serving temp in the microwave.  I didn't want to sorch it in the pan or cook away the fresh taste.)  Add salt and lemon thyme to your taste.  I didn't add the lemon thyme I was in a hurry and forgot. 

The soup was very thick.  I could have added at least another 8 ounces of broth.  BTW...If you want vegitarian I would say add plain water and some salt.  I wouldn't add Veggie broth because it would add too many other vegetable flavors and muddy the flavor of the soup. 

With the addition of the other 8 ounces of broth; this amount of soup could serve 4 easily.

The flavor of the soup was outstanding.  Very spring and green tasting. I imagine the soup could be made with green zucchini too.  It was thick and satisfied my taste buds making them think they had indulged in cream soup.  In my other blog is a recipe for herb bread that would compliment this soup.  If you want to make it decadent, add a dollup of sour cream.

While eating the soup I thought a nice addition  to the basic soup would be a cooked potato blended in and a diced cooked potato added before serving. Crisp bacon bits might be good too.

If you try this quickie soup I hope it is as enjoyable for you as it was for us.  I will be posting my garlic soup recipe later this week. It's a fast to make soup too. It goes great with the herb bread.  In fact all the soups seam to be attracted to Herb, LOL.

COOKING WITH A SWEET HARVEST

If you enjoy sweets and have never grown them, please indulge enough room in a corner of your garden.  Enough room so they can sprawl where they want.  Have a great pile of friable dirt that is mostly compost.  The deeper your pile the better your sweets and the larger and more perfect your sweets.  This year proved water is a sweet potatoes best friend,  but I imagine if we had not had them in a raised bed it would have been detrimental to their health, probably causing root rot and lots of other funguses and things I can't even imagine. Well drained and consistent moisture is the key.  When sweets are first planted we make sure they have adequate mulch but they don't need it replenished as they grow because they grow a mat of leaves that does a surpurlative job. (unless you have critters that lunch on the plants. lol)

This is our four sweet potato plants when they were about 3 weeks in the ground.  They had no idea they were to be ravaged three times in their lives.  Twice by the ground hogs and once by our deer population. They are in a raised bed that is approximately 20 inches deep filled with compost. the other plants in the bed are ancho chillies which did fantastic paired with them.  We only had to keep the vines from growing up into the cages.  Everyday, as I perused the garden, I made sure to stop and re-arrange the vines, extracting them from their new found home. 

We only raised four plants because we did not have an area ready for them.  This year we raised our own plants from the sweet potatoes we saved from last year.  Last years potatoes were from a potato we bought at the store that was exactly the consitency, color and flavor we loved.  We have no idea the variety.  The sign at the store was just a generic "Sweet potatoes 89 cents pound" (Catalogs can't provide taste test.)  Raising the starts was very easy and a lot of fun. 

This is the recouperated potatoes after they had been eaten to the ground by a family of groundhogs. Notice how big the pepper plants are.  A couple of months have gone by.  The cage contains my lone eggplant (hunny doesn't like eggplant).  We put it in a screen cage to hopefully deter the flea beetle.  We are organic and  always looking for a natural pest preventative.  BTW..aluminum screen does not keep the flea beetles away.  The base of the screens goes into the dirt to keep bugs from going under.

This is some of the  harvest from only one of the plants, there were other tubers  on this plant too.  They were similar to the tuber in the back of the picture.  The coin is a dime.  Those four plants had over 10 lbs apiece under the ground.  The largest potato is 16" long X 11" radius, approximately 3 1/2" in diameter.  It weighs 2 lbs 12 ounces now.  It lost 4 oz in storage.   We have saved out two tubers from this harvest for growing our starts. 

Last night we had a hunger for sweet potatoes.  I thought what can I do to make them different and fun.  There is the normal candied sweet potatoes, and of course a fabulous baked potatoes, but I had the urge for something different. 

Being there is just the two of us I pulled out a corning ware 1 3/4 quart covered casserole.  Retrieved 4 tubers that were about 8 oz each.  I have had a lot of trouble with sweets turning black immediately after they are peeled.  I decided lemon juice works for other things maybe it will work for the sweets. I put about 1/4 cup of jarred lemon juice in a bowl (no fresh lemons on hand, but I can't think this would make a difference in the final product).  I proceeded to slice the tubers in 3/8 inch slices, peeling the slice as I went.  Tossed the slices in the lemon juice.  When all the slices were prepared I decided to leave the juice in the bowl with them.  Next I tossed them with 1 1/2 TBLS of flour.  Anytime I have made the candied sweets the syrup on them just doesn't stick the way I like.  So I figured this might work.  Next I tossed the potatoes with 3/4 cup, loosely filled not packed, light brown sugar.  Sitting on the table was a bowl of apricots I had reconstituted for breakfast.  I thought, I wonder, and added 16 apricots to the potatoes.  With  a final tossing I put the mixture in the corningware dish and topped the sweets with a 1/2 stick of butter cut in pats and scattered over the surface.  Put on the lid and baked in the oven till the potatoes were done and the syrup thickened.  The flour worked perfect.  The syrup was very perfectly thickened and the lemon added the right zing.  The apricots complemented the sweets well.BTW, the lemon juice kept the black away .

I rate this dish as one of the more delicious ones that have popped into my mind.  Outside it was -16 in my valley yesterday (January 10, 2010) and it was very satisfying knowing I didn't have to run to the store to buy the potatoes. (St. Louis at the airport had a -6)

DON'T BELIEVE THOSE SEED PACKETS

BUILDING A PROPAGATION CHAMBER

This is the beginning of the New Year. A fantastic year it is to be. After all the date is 2010. Doesn't it even have an exciting sound. It is the beginning of a new decade. Our New year's eve practice is to sit and peruse the seed catalogues. We need bibs because of the drooling we do. Especially the plants that we know we can't possibly grow due to climatic conditions. We have started our own seeds for years.

Starting seeds is not Rocket Science. There is tons of info available on the Internet or in books or on the back of the seed packets. Beware of taking for gospel the info from any one source, read everything, and talk to everyone, then make a decision on what might work for you.

The reason I say, don't trust the seed packets, is because I have never had the info on the back of them turn out to be right for me. For instance, on the lettuce packet it says 7-10 days germination. We always have fresh seed germinate in less than three days in a controlled propagation chamber. Maybe if it was outdoors it might take that long. We always start ours indoors because our weather is so inconsistent we would not have a good germination rate (usually it is too wet to cultivate at the time we need to plant lettuce).

We have been told 80% percent germination is good. Planting indoors we have had what seems to be 100% germination. The other thing to not trust is the guidelines for the growth habits of your plants. Good organic soil seems to add inches to the projected size. Also don't be afraid to transplant a seedling which seems to be falling behind to a different location. It is said, "location, location, location." We have found that so true.

This week we will spend the snowy Thursday deciding what we need to buy and what seeds will still be worth saving if they will germinate for us. My Hunny will test all our peas and beans. He will put them in wet paper towels and into our propagation chamber.

Our propagation chamber is nothing fancy and it serves a variety of purposes (I have used it to make yogurt).

To build your own you will need the following. Styrofoam ice chest Heating Pad or an old working yogurt maker, Easy to read Thermometer,  Piece of card board, serrated knife something like the bottoms of egg cartons or something of that height.

CONSTRUCTION: We have found the same heat source works in a large cooler (ours is 28"x 16" x 17") but we also have those that are 12x12x18. In the bottom corner of the cooler make a hole just large enough for the plug of your heat source to slide through. If you have chosen your old yogurt maker you will only need the bottom half not the lid. Place it in the center of your cooler on the bottom. Now cut the card board (the serrated knife is good for this) to fit on top of the yogurt maker.(it should just barely slip into the cooler and rest on top of the maker.) Now remove the card board and make a series of one inch holes in the cardboard. make them far enough apart that they will support the weight of the trays you will be sitting on top of it. If you have chosen a heating pad you will need something to support the cardboard about 2 inches above the pad. (I have used egg cartons without their tops for this. I have also used cardboard strips).

Your chamber is finished. Now put your thermometer in side and turn on your heating source and find out what temp your propagation chamber keeps. We found sometimes we have to crack the lid. Now you need to scrounge for take-out plastic containers with clear raised tops. The 2 inch deep ones are great, allows for starting medium and a little sprouting room (sometimes they sprout in the middle of the night.) Rectangle ones are preferable to round ones...you can put more in your cooler. BTW...you can stack them inside the cooler...but remember everyday twice a day to reverse who is on top and who's on the bottom, so they get the same amount of heat.  Keep your thermometer inside and check it first thing in the morning to make sure your cooler isn't accumulating too much heat. I didn't say this was a low maintenance project. (If you are adept I imagine you could fix this with a thermostat to turn off and on the heat and keep it at the perfect temp.

We have had 20 years of success with our homemade box, hope this works as well for you.

CHIVES MAKE A STATEMENT

Chives, a member of the onion family, are continuous givers of pleasure and food. They are a delight to the palette as well as to the eye. I continually try to influence the visitors to my garden to try a lot not just a few groups.

Chives take almost no care. They crowd out weeds. The tight knit clumps discourage infiltration. I say discourage because a grass seed or other weed seed can sneak in. As you are taking a walk-about in your garden you need to be vigilant, pull them when they are tiny before they establish a root mass which becomes inextricably entangled in the chive's roots. Chives are not very picky about their soil conditions. I have planted them in everything from pure clay to Florida's sandy soil (?).

The ones you see here are planted in composted manure. It is several kinds of mixed manures with their bedding. I didn't know if it would work. The area is a waste land area along side the curve in the road. Even though our drive forms the triangle shaped area , and it runs across the front of our property, it belongs to the county. They never take care of it and it was overgrown with weeds and lots of poison ivy.

Many years ago we tried unsuccessfully to improve the area. We became tired of replanting and grubbing out the weeds. We had to continually replant because people would stop and dig up our plants. The gate cannot be seen from the house or garden. In the past two years a subdivision has been built on the farm land across from us. We figured we'd try again. thinking we'd have better luck with the increase of traffic stopping the thefts.

This is the view after we cleaned the area and applied an eight inch layer of the manure compost. I had not given any thought as to what would be appropriate to plant there. The manure is still very hot. It is only composted for two weeks. We figured if nothing would grow, then the weeds wouldn't either. So problem solved, we wouldn't need to plant or mow or weed eat.

This was in April when the rains were coming almost everyday. I was hoping the "mulch" would be leached of its excess nitrogen and be a safe environment for plants. The night after spreading the "mulch" we had a thunder-buster of a rain. It took the fluff out of the bed making it about 4 inches high. It rained off and on for the next two weeks. We had time to plan what to plant. Our choice was made easy and fast. We have been doing lots of renovating in the garden adding new raised beds (new in the sense that they are in a new location. Most of our beds are made of recycled lumber.) I needed to move a nursery row of lambs ears and a long row of chives that were where the new beds needed to be. I couldn't throw such nice plants in the compost pile!

"Light bulb", If you are considering digging them up and composting them, why not give them a chance down at the gate in the manure. thinking that if they didn't grow I wouldn't be out anything because I was going to throw them away. They didn't just grow, they thrived. By this picture you can tell these were not small plants. The only problem we noted from the first was the stuff was to dry and porous. the water went right through. for almost a month I was carrying water to the gate in my "little red rooster" (that is what I call our motorized golf cart type "truck" that cannot be used on roadways.)

This is the area in June. As you can see things seem to be thriving. I have extended the area with more compost to the other side of the fence. The only thing I have planted there is more lambs ear. The shade is too dense. The lambs ear doesn't seem to mind. I have been trying hostas. The deer are leaving them alone (too much traffic).

The only problem we are having is the porousness of the medium. As it breaks down and the roots dig in deeper we should have to water less.

I have since planted mums and geraniums. They seem to be adjusting well. They receive only 1/3 of a day sun in the morning. I also planted 2 lilac bushes. The one is 3/4 day sun, in gravely soil under the compost. It was doing poorly but it has since come up from the roots and looks wonderful. I hope it puts on a growth spurt with the fall rains. The other one only gets about 1/2 day sun and it doesn't seem to be growing. It is in better dirt, but the tree is probably sapping some of its nutrients, and probably the water.

Back to the chives. They were just trimmed back for the second time. They had that late summer droop, and the long hot summer had dimmed their normal bright green color. The cooler weather in September should perk them right up.

Please consider useing chives for more than a gastronomic delight.