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.

SPRING CLEANING

This was last fall preparing the beds for winter.

I would like to say I am cleaning in the house but alas garden time is here and the house will be here when cold winter is here and the garden won't. I am cleaning in the garden.

Actually we did a humongous job of cleaning last fall, which has turned out to be a major advantage so far. We have been building raised beds due to our clay composition soil that seems to eat good dirt for lunch. We clean all garden debris off the beds and proceeded to add amendments that would be needed this year.

The amendments we use are peat moss, dried manure (we still have a nice pile of sheep manure in an old shed), and broken down wood chips (sometimes we also use the leaves we vacuum up with the mower.) We mix them into the dirt with our small tiller.

We own a Mantis. We recommend a Mantis. This is our second one. The first one we bought from an auction. It went bad after a couple of years and we found out mantis had a trade in program for old machines. We traded ours in and got a "new" reconditioned one from the company. I know we have used this machine for at least 5 years. It is a real work horse. It is so light weight even I can handle it. My only problem, I've never been able to pull start any gasoline engine. So if I want to use it I have to plan for someone to be around, or plan to use it in the morning and have my Hunny start it as he leaves to go to work. the only thing I find it does not to an admirable job on is unbroken soil. If it is packed dirt it just bounces around on top.

This was another reason we started making raised beds. The soil stays so nice, requiring less tractor work. We have tried raised beds where the dirt is mounded up. They work the same but the dirt has a tendency to to drift away by the end of the year. Mulching didn't seem to make a difference.

Back to the Fall preparation of the beds. Last fall I mowed the pasture next to the garden with the riding mower. The next day after the grass dried I vacumned it up and made a huge hay stack on the side of the garden. After we amended the beds and raked them smooth we covered each bed with a comforter of the dried grass. the grass was mounded as much as the bed would hold with out sliding off. That usually was about 8 inches thick.

Hunny worried we would be harboring insects from 2008. I stated my case that I thought being we removed all the debris that the problem went into the compost pile. (all noxious weeds and squash waste were cardboard boxed and thrown into the trash didn't want to multiply either).

Spring delight: I removed the grass pile from the first bed. The dirt under the cover was light and fluffy, just about the same consistency I left it in November. The grass had prevented the heavy rains and snow melt from soaking the soil (the grass wasn't even soaked.) I put the hoe into the soil and was able to make a trough down the middle of the bed and plant my spring onion sets. There was no spring weeds (the henbit and chickweed run rampant on any open ground durning the winter). The grass that was removed from the beds will be composted.

I will update this with a picture of the undressed bed. So far it is a labor we will repeat at the end of this year. The bed was warm and ready for planting. Will keep you posted on the progress or the "distress" caused by the winter coverings.

Happy gardening, Sheepish

COOKING FROM YOUR GARDEN

Cooking from your garden can be a year round occasion. (even if you live in a climate with freezes.) I am very fortunate to have a green house with a smaller green house we keep heated in the cold winter. (We found it never needed heat after the sun was up.) We still haven't found a way to heat it efficiently during the night hours.) Inside the small green house I put sage and rosemary this year. It survived quite admirably. Anytime I have tried to grow them indoors they do not respond well, they die before a couple of months go by. 

I also planted chives inside the large green house. I thought they would make it all winter...NOT...but they did start growing again a whole month in advance of the out door ones.. It is definitely something I will do next year. I will also try my tarragon in the green house next fall. Yes, it will probably die back but it will probably be up sooner. (the tarragon is coming up outside right now.)

I have been using the fresh sage in the green house to make the following bread. Today I made a grilled cheese with the bread and in between the slices of cheese I spread sage pesto. Yes it was made from the sage in the green house. It was very yummy.

One change I made in the recipe below, this time I bake it in a loaf pan that was 13 X 4 1/2 X 2 1/2. I put it into a 400 degree oven and turned it down to 375 immediately. I baked it for 30 minutes. The crust was so tender and the graining in the bread so fine and moist.

This recipe comes from a cookbook published in 1974 by the Culinary Arts Institute (Chicago). It is "The American Family Cookbook".  This is a yeast bread that adds to its appeal by being super easy to make.

"Old Fashioned Herb Bread"

One package dry yeast (I have the bulk bakers dry instant yeast and I use 1 1/2 Tablespoons) If you bake a lot or a little the yeast comes in 1 lb. vacuumed packed packages from Sam's Club (Costco and other places probably have it too.) When you open the package pour it into a canning jar and screw a lid on it and place in the door of the refrigerator. I have had a package last more than a year. It is a big savings over the individual packets or the jar sold at the grocery store.

1.  1/4 cup warm water + 1 teaspoon sugar stirred in(the original recipe doesn't add the sugar but I have found the yeast is more responsive when you do). Sprinkle the yeast on the warm water and stir in. Set aside to proof. For those who are new to yeast baking, proofing gives the yeast a chance to grow and bubble up before you add it to your recipe. BTW, if it doesn't bubble up, you have yeast that is no longer alive. Pour out the mix and start over with a new packet. (It takes about 10 minutes for the yeast to grow and double if it is set in a warm location.)

2.  While the yeast is proofing do the following:

3/4 cup whole milk heated very hot in the microwave. (the recipe says scald, but in this day and age of pasteurized milk it is unnecessary)

3. Place 3 tablespoons butter in the mixing bowl, with 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (if you use salted butter only add 1 1/4 teaspoons salt). For new bakers, do not leave out the salt. Salt is necessary to control the growth of the yeast.

Pour the very hot milk over the above and mix until everything is dissolved and incorporated.

4. You will be using a total of 3 to 3 1/2 cups of flour. All purpose flour works but bread flour works even better. (Every since I started using bread flour I have had a more consistent finished product.) Stir 1 cup of flour into the milk mixture. Mix well.

5.  Beat 1 large egg in a cup. (the egg should be room temperature.)

Chop fresh sage very fine use 3 Tablespoons. (Dry sage from the store works well too, use 2 teaspoons ). You need 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg. Stir these ingredients into your beaten egg.

6.  If your milk mixture has cooled to about 115 degrees or very warm to the hands (Not hot you'll cook the egg), beat in the egg mixture into your milk mixture.

7. When well incorporated add your bubbling yeast. Mix well and start adding the last 2 cups of flour. You will have a very sticky dough (unless you live in a real arid part of the country where your flour is naturally drier right out of the bag.

8. Sprinkle the last 1/2 cup flour on your table or board. Brush the major amount over to the side leaving a heavy film on the table. Scrape your dough out of the bowl onto the flour. Start kneading the dough in the flour adding a coating on the ball if it is too sticky to work with. This is a very soft dough and you do not want to work it till it is a firm dough. If you add too much flour you will have a very dense loaf.

9. Place a tablespoon of oil in the bottom of a large bowl. Roll it around till the sides are coated. Put your dough ball in the bowl and then turn it over, you will have greased the ball to keep it from drying out. I cover my bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to double in bulk. (It seems to take longer to double than most yeast doughs.)

10. While your dough is rising you can do clean up duty and grease the pan you will bake it in. I have used a large ceramic baker (looks like a soufflé' dish) I grease it with Crisco and then sprinkle corn meal on the bottom. Yes I know what they say about saturated and trans fats. But I have tried Pam, olive oil and other forms of fats and have had very unsatisfactory results with the bread sticking.

I have used the 9 inch pie pan the recipe suggests. It makes a low round loaf. I prefer the higher loaf of the ceramic baker. It looks like a chef's hat when finished. I also have used loaf pans. Makes a great sandwich loaf but doesn't have the flair of the pie pan or the ceramic baker when served.

This last time I made the bread I used some glazed flower pots I have that were made for cooking. (only use flower pots you know do not have clay that contains lead.) I don't know if you could foil line some pots and make them safe to bake in or not. Anyway, the results were fantastic. It made 4 (4 inch) pots. Each resulting "roll" that easily serves two or you can if you are really hungry eat one by yourself.

11. When the dough has doubled, punch it down and let it rest in the bowl 10 minutes. Then take it out and give it a quick knead and shape into a round ball. Place in the middle of the container you will be baking it in and let it rise till double in bulk. When you see it is near completion of rising, preheat your oven to 400 F degrees.

At this time you can take a beaten egg white and brush the surface of the dough and sprinkle it with caraway seeds. (This is totally unnecessary but if you are serving to company is a nice touch.) If you are not using the seeds then it is unnecessary to brush the dough with egg white.

12. Place in the 400 degree oven for 10 minutes and then lower the heat to 350. (the recipe book says 375 but I have found this is too hot in my oven.) bake 25 minutes more. This loaf is very dark on the crust.

Note: the book says you can add 1 teaspoon of caraway seeds to the dough when you add the sage. I never have tried this. I imagine you could use other herbs instead of the sage but why this is so fantastic.

This bread served with homemade tomato  soup  

WOW...BTW...tomato soup home made is just about as easy as opening a can of the canned kind...and so much more satisfying.

A GREEN HOUSE BEAUTY

I had to stop in and show you what greeted me in the greenhouse this week. This is the bloom from a plant called "Devils Backbone". It is a succulent that has little plantlets develop on the edges of the leaves. They drop off and grow just about anywhere. I have a few plants that were really ragged from being left outside too long this fall. They nearly died because of the cold. I brought them in and almost threw them out (I have young ones that I can get new plants off of). They were put in the corner of the small heated green house and have been totally ignored. Needless to say they will not be a plant that is on the back burner this year.

AUTOMATED TEMP CONTROL

I am the automated temp control in our greenhouse. Sometimes I wonder if we shouldn't invest in an automated system. I have to run down to the green house at least three times in the day. That should be a literal statement. The exercise would do me good. It is an 1/8 of a mile to the garden. Downhill is not bad, but the slope coming back is at least a 45 degree one. When you get the last 200 feet it changes to almost a 60 degree slope. Quite a workout, a stair master is not needed here. Yesterday the day was overcast and never got above 35 degrees. It started with 20 degrees. The wind was gusting in a knock you over wind. The humidity was high. It felt like your flesh was being ripped from your face. The green house was kept closed all day and it never went above 55. The small inner green house (it was kept closed too), which at night the heaters keep around 55-6o, never got above 60 degrees. The heaters were off but there was no heat gain from the sun. The only thing that happened was it did loose any heat. Today is a totally different situation. The low this morning at 6 am was 5 degrees. At 8 it reached 10 degrees. This is always at least 10 degrees below what ever the Chesterfield Area temperatures are. Down at the garden it is another 5 degrees cooler. The green house when it is that cold has at least 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch of ice on the inside of the plastic. It's from the condensation of the humidity in the green house. As I mentioned in earlier post the green house floor never freezes. Two inches above the floor the air can be anywhere from 18 degrees and higher. This morning it was 24 in the main green house. The sun is shinning brightly, by 9 o'clock it was 85 degrees in the main green house and 100 in the small green house. One of the space heaters does not have a thermostat on it had continued to heat the house. With the sun shining the heat was compounded. I opened the window and door in the small green house, turned on the window fan. I turned on the main green house's inside circulatory fans and opened the back door 6 inches. I went to do the farm chores and checked the temps after I finished. The main green house stayed at 85 degrees and the small green house had dropped to 85 degrees from 100 in 7 minutes. I will check it in an hour and do some watering of the beds. I need to get them nice and moist for when we transplant the lettuce to them in 2-4 weeks. Two hours had past when I got back down to the green house. The main green house with the back door open was 85 degrees. The inner green house with the door, and window open (the window fan on) had reduced to 74 degrees. The window is located about 10 feet from the back door. The fan has a strong enough pull to pull the cool air into the smaller house. the houses should be fine until late afternoon when the sun drops behind the hill to the west. I need to go down just before this and close everything up. The temps quickly drop to with in ten degrees of the outside temps.

Spring Has Sprung

Spring has sprung, at least here at Valley View Farm. That is the name of our farmette. The Lettuce seeds I planted on Valentines were up in two days. The same with the seeds planted the 15. The packages said we would have a 7-10 day wait. This is not the first year that happened either. It happened the last two years. My deduction is if you give them a really nice warm damp spot they will sprout. The Styrofoam ice chest with the yogurt makers live up to our expectations every time. There were 3 varieties, of the 10 I planted, that have not sprouted yet. A Buttercrunch from 2006. Focea, a Green butterhead from Johnnies 2007. Valdor, a butterhead from Bountiful Gardens 2007. I see a couple of sprouts so I have faith the rest will come up (If they don't I will replant later 7 days are up with a different variety.) A hint for New gardeners, when your seeds sprout, if you use a peat vermiculite starting mix, Transplant them when they get true leaves. Watering them with some manure tea at this time really helps to give them a vigorous start. Peat and vermiculite do not have any nutrients to help the plants grow. The plants are drawing their sustenance from the seed coat. Even though spring is inside our house, it is a very cold 10 degrees outside the house. The green house is down the hill about 1/8 of a mile. In this valley the temps are another 5-10 degrees below what I have up here at the house. There is a bright sun out so I need to head to the green house to adjust the heaters. It will already be 70 degrees or more in there with this sun.

THE SWEET ONES

This is the raised bed of our 2008 sweet potatoes. The previous years we have made raised beds that are not permanent ones. It seems the dirt just keeps washing away, we decided to make a permanent box to hold it in. In our Valley we have yellow clay. Two inches down it is solid clay and when water hits it it turns liquid and when the sun comes out it bakes it as if it is a piece of pottery in an oven. This was the day they were planted out.

We pott culture our sweet potato plants when we receive them.  It seems to give them a head start to grow some newleaves before putting in the garden.

This is after they have been growing for about 3 weeks.

This last picture is the Bed at about 6 weeks.

Sweet potatoes at our house are a luxury item that should be simple to grow but seem to attract pests. Pest not in the insect family but in the mammalian family. When we raised sheep it was a likely hood that at least three times in a season the sheep would get in the garden and mow them flat. We would bemoan the fact every time. The sad fact is if people would close the gate behind them securely the sheep wouldn't get in. After the sheep left 3 years ago we breathed a sigh of relief that we wouldn't have to contend with that problem anymore.
 

How wrong we were. Our neighbors started invading the garden. At times we wondered if we had been blaming the sheep for what the neighbors did. Deer absolutely love sweet potatoes. We spent the summer learning to outwit the deer. We now have 8-10 foot fencing around the gardens. (It is not unsightly). We used 10 ft, 1 inch conduit every 8 feet around the garden. This is all you see. We tied netting, which is used to bale hay, on the poles. It is four foot wide and we made two courses high and wove, where they meet, together with baling twine. Is the old adage, you can fix anything if you have baling twine and duck tape. After totally fencing the upper garden we found the deer had been stumped, Hurrah!
 

We surveyed the garden before we left it in the evening, everything seemed to be in order.
 

The next morning I took a stroll through the garden to check what needed to be watered and if mulch was needed. I walked around the west end of the Hobbit house and gasp. My raised bed of sweet potatoes was devastated, it was mowed down to 6 inches high. I searched for evidence the deer had compromised the fence. There was nothing. Not a deer print to be seen. What in the world could have done that. Two days latter I spied the culprit, a ground hog. He had to be 35 lbs. He was enormous. He was waddling across the drive leaving the garden, hanging from his mouth was a sweet potato leaf.
 

Last summer the monster destroyed the patch 3 times. We tried to live trap him. He was so large the trap for raccoons was too small. He was able to steal the bait, spring the trap and back out the side his rump was holding open.

 

I suppose by now you were wondering when we were getting around to "The art of raising Sweets".

You can buy your starts from a seed company. They will be guaranteed to be virus free. But I have found you can't taste the pages. You don't have any idea what the description will taste like. So last year I started raising my own starts. I bought sweets and tasted them and when I found one that was the shape, all the ones in the pile the same general size, and if they were sweet, dark orange and dry fleshed, that's the ones I went back and bought 2 of. Last year I only bought one and only retrieved about a dozen slips from it. So this year I bought two.

 

This week is about 3 weeks too early to start the sweet potatoes but they have little teensie leaves peeking out. I retrieved an older rectangle aluminum cake pan from the pantry. It had sides about two inches high. I filled it 3/4 full of clean sand box sand. (it is a finer sand than plain old sand). I made two troughs in the sand and placed the potatoes in the troughs. I proceeded to gently pour water on the sand until there was a 1/4 inch of water glistening on the surface. Every morning I re-add water.

When your slips start growing and get at least 3 substantial leaves on each slip, (the books say twist them off. ) I give them a twist with the assistance of the point of a sharp paring knife inserted in the flesh under where they are growing from. Then I plant each slip in their own 3 inch pot, till they develop nice roots. They are placed under grow lights and kept at 60-70 degree temp. Sweets do not like to get chilled. When they are well filled out and graduate to the next size pot, if the green house is keeping a temp at night above 45 degrees I will move them out to the green house. They can't be planted out till the night time temps outside are warm. In our Valley that can be well into the first of June.
 

Will keep you posted on the When the slips start developing. The last picture above I didn't mention was taken the night before the ground hog devastated the bed.

For more blogs by me, visit at:

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com

A blog mostly about quilting,

but cooking, poetry, prose and a little gardening,

New blog, tutorial on how to make 5 panel Boxer Shorts.

New Blog about dolls.

http://glosgarden.blogspot.com/

Not a garden blog.

There are articles which have nothing to do

with creating or gardening.

There are blogs on the new born baby kittens

we found and mothered.

It is a blog where I voice my opinions which will always be environmentally friendly.

As always, any pictures or writings are my own.

Credit has been given to contributions not my own.

Please do not use without permission.

VALENTINES DAY: PLANT SEEDS OF LOVE

This is a seed starting blog.  The information begins the 6th paragraph down. 

 

I have been ask more times this past week, than I want to count; "What are you going to do for Valentines day? Or what Do you want for Valentines?" Romance has always happened around nature for Hunny and I. Bird watching, Hiking, camping, gardening, and of course cooking. Our most romantic times have been the unexpected ones when we have been physically exhausted from a day of endeavors.

 

 

If you bring me chocolate covered strawberries, I am not impressed but to see a package of strawberry plants thrills me no end. (We prefer our chocolate dark and unadulterated) In this economy the thought of going out and spending money for a dinner with an exorbitant price tag floors me. Technically the idea of getting overdressed for the occasion and then the long drive to and from the place leaves me cold...and knocks the romance out of the occasion. (It seems the meal served is not what it is purported to be.)

 

 

Friday night I retrieved a leg of Lamb out of the freezer. It was left to thaw (wrapped) in the kitchen sink. Saturday morning I deboned it. This is an arduous task. Not one that I enjoy. If it had been purchased, the butcher could have done the dirty work. It wasn't, it is one of our farm raised lambs.

 

 

The reason I debone the leg is to make a butterflied leg of lamb. It's preparation is one learned from a Julia Child cook book. After all the hard preparation work the finishing is a breeze. You run to the green house for enough rosemary to make about 3 TBS when the leaves are stripped from the stems. Chop them on the fine side. Put 3 large cloves of garlic through a garlic press and mix with the Rosemary. I tweak her recipe a little, I add more of some of the ingredients. Place the herbs in a gallon plastic bag and add 2 TBS lemon juice, 3 TBS olive oil, 2 TBS soy sauce, and mix well. Place your lamb in the bag and squeeze the marinade around it. Store in the refrigerator and turn every hour. (this step can be done the day before.)

 

 

The Lamb will be served with garlic mashed potatoes. We are not fond of dirty mashed potatoes so these will be peeled. Lamb says spring. Spring isn't quite here so it is into the freezer I head for asparagus harvested last spring. One hour before you are to cook your lamb, remove it from the fridge. This allows the meat to come to room temp. Forty minutes before the lamb is to be served preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prepare the broiler pan (spray with a cooking spray). Put marinated lamb, skin side up on the pan. Arrange the lumpy meat as much as you can the same thickness. (I use a meat pounder on the huge muscles before I put it in the plastic bag. It helps a little.) Put lamb in the oven, immediately turning the temp down to 375F. Cook for 20-25 minutes. I do 25 for medium rare. When the timer rings remove the lamb from the oven. Set the rack for broiler use. Set the temp on Broil (leave the door ajar). While the broiler is preheating, Baste the top of the lamb with 1 TBS Olive oil. Place under the broiler for 3-4 minutes to brown. When finished set on the side for 15 minutes before carving. While the meat is resting you can use the pan juices to make a wonderful gravy .

 

This was a Blog on Seed Starting which I haven't even addressed yet. That is what we spent Valentine's afternoon doing. Seed starting is a fairly rudimentary proposition at our house. We use recycled take out containers for propagation chambers. Ones with domed lids are the best. We also use the plastic trays from cookies and cover them with plastic wrap (don't use the multi-pack trays it is hard to extract seedlings from them). Another hint; Plant varieties that are the same in each tray I.E. lettuces with lettuces. Make sure all varieties have the same maturation times, you disturb the roots of the adjoining rows when one type sprouts before another one and you try to remove them.

 

For starting seeds you can purchase a seed starting mix but we usually mix our own if we can't be sure of the contents of the mix. We use a mix of 3/4 peat and 1/4 vermiculite. When you open your mix bag or mix your own you need to moisten it. DON'T dump cold water in it. The peat in the mixture will just float around on top of the water, not absorbing it. We heat the water very hot in the microwave. (Hot water from the tap can have copper leached from the pipes in it).  When the water is heated the peat absorbs it immediately.  Stir until it is absorbed.  I usually prepare my potting medium the day before  I need it so it can cool down. 

 

We put at least 1 inch to 1 1/2 inches in the container depending on how deep the container is.  After planting we place them in our fancy propagation chamber.

 

 

Fancy propagation chamber directions:

We use Styrofoam cooler. Inside you will find a yogurt maker. Remember the ones that were the rage in the 70's (I find them for a dollar or less at the resale store). They are put in the bottom of the cooler and a piece of heavy cardboard with slots cut in it(for heat circulation) is placed over the "maker" for a shelf. We place the small take out containers on this. A word of caution. Test your homemade propagation chamber to make sure the temps stay under 80 degrees. If the heat is higher than this you need to open the lid a scosh.  Different seeds have a different preference for sprouting temps.

 

When seed starting beware that some seeds need light and moisture to germinate. There are books, but the net is perfect to look up the requirements for the seed you are planting. Remember different varieties of the same plant may have different needs. I.E. some lettuces require light and some require being covered with 1/4 in. of medium.

 

 

Lettuces we planted:

Prizehead lettuce, a wonderful loose leaf lettuce. It is lime green inside, blooming to a beautiful burgundy on the tips. It stays sweet far longer than most varieties we've tried. It seems to have a longer storage in the refrigerator. Flavor, If you are looking for a lettuce with taste, this is one you will want to try. It is a large leaved lettuce with a mildly frilly edge. We purchased our seed from Shumway.

 

Revolution, This is an extremely dark red lettuce with a heavy fleshed frilly edged leaf. We thought it would be great when the heat came on but not! It turned bitter with the first hot day. We are trying it again planting it earlier to try to miss the hot days. It's flavor is not sweet but not bland either. Nice addition to a salad, definitely a treat for the eye. I recommend planting this one for accent in the flower garden even if you don't eat it. When it bolts it is a gorgeous 1 1/2 ft tower of deep red burgundy, verging on black red. We purchased our seed from Thompson and Morgan seed company.

 

 

Tropicana, a new variety for us purchased from Johnny's Seeds.


Green Ice, This is an old time lettuce which doesn't have a good shelf life so it is not usually grown for commercial production. It has a fragile leaf, but a taste that makes up for it's fragility. The leaf is frillier than most but not as frilly as a Lolla rossa type. It is a large leafed type which makes it great for sandwiches and lining trays for a party. Purchased from Shumway. I will be starting more lettuces today.

 

 

The photo is Cimmeron lettuce, a reddish cos type lettuce that could be considered a miniature vegetable. It's maximum growth is about 8 inches at most. These are just ready to transplant to the garden. They are about 4 weeks old.

 

 

On Valentines day Hunny and I did what we love most, gardening.

 

 

 



For more blogs by me, visit at:

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com

 A blog mostly about quilting,

but cooking, poetry, prose and a little gardening,

New blog, tutorial on how to make 5 panel Boxer Shorts.

New Blog about dolls.

http://glosgarden.blogspot.com/

Not a garden blog.

There are articles which have nothing to do

with creating or gardening.

There are blogs on the new born baby kittens

we found and mothered.

It is a blog where I voice my opinions which will always be environmentally friendly.

As always, any pictures or writings are my own.

Credit has been given to contributions not my own.

Please do not use without permission.