Selecting Blue, Red and White Potatoes for the Home Vegetable Garden

It happened again.  I haven’t ordered my potatoes and it is late March which means places are selling out!

Potatoes have gotten a bad reputation because they are made into processed foods like french fries and chips then packaged into crinkly bags and marketed heavily.  However, if you are cooking at home roasting, baking, grilling and boiling are all healthy ways to enjoy a potato.  There is lots of good nutrition in a potato, don't be fooled!

The five pounds of 'Adirondack Blue' potatoes I bought from Johnny's Selected Seeds. I was excited to get them and a little apprehensive because I had never grown potatoes before.

Last year I bought five pounds of ‘Adirondack Blue’ seed potatoes.  We had a nice harvest and we ate our lovely potatoes until they ran out in the beginning of November.  This year I am determined to grow even more; two times more so we will have more for the winter.

As I work towards feeding my family locally year-round, we will be eating fewer grains and relying on winter squash, pumpkins, potatoes and sweet potatoes for the starchy components of our meals.  I estimate we eat five pounds of potatoes a week; roughly a half pound of potatoes per adult per day.  Yes, that seems like a lot of potatoes.  If I wanted to have enough to store for nine months (September through May), we would have to grow 126 pounds of potatoes (assuming we lose none to spoilage or low yields).

*** Warning Math Ahead ***

According to Ohio State Extension, "A good yield would be 150 to 175 pounds of usable potatoes from 100 feet of row" or about 1.5-1.75 pound per foot of row.   For standard size potatoes one pound of seed potatoes are needed for every ten feet of row; approximately 1/10th a pound per foot of row.  (Fingerling and specialty potatoes are usually more.)  Now I am going to do some math.  

Here's how to figure out how much potato you should grow, how much garden space you will need, and how much seed potato to buy:

How many potatoes should you grow to feed your family through the winter?  

(number of pounds potatoes eaten in a week) * 36 weeks = number of pounds you should grow

5 pounds of potatoes a week * 36 weeks = 126 pounds of potatoes 

How many feet of row should you plant of potatoes?  

(The number of pounds you should grow) / 1.625 pounds per foot of row = number of feet of row you should plant

126 pound of potatoes / 1.625 pounds per foot of row = 77 feet of row needed

How many pounds of seed potato do you need to buy?

(The number of feet of row you should plant) / 10 = number of pounds of seed potato needed

77 feet of row / 10 = 7.7 pounds of seed potatoes needed  

Where to shop for seed potatoes?  

To get the interesting and organically grown varieties, I look online.

1.          Johnny’s Selected Seeds (JSS)
2.          Seed Savers Exchange (SSE)
3.          The Maine Potato Lady (MPL)
4.          High Mowing Seeds (HMS)

The 'Adirondack Blue' potatoes fried up nicely for breakfast with some avocado, egg and salsa.  #yummy

I consider my options.  I know I want a blue or red potato.  The seed companies who sell the ‘Blue Adirondack’ variety I grew last year are sold out, I consider what’s in stock (as of 2/24/2015).

Blue or Red Colored Flesh Potatoes

• ‘Red Adirondack’ the red version of my aforementioned blue, early set and good storage (JSS)
• ‘All Blue’ respectable yields, stores well (MPL, HMS)
• ‘Magic Molly’ a deep blue waxy fingerling (JSS, MPL)
• ‘Papa Caco’ Peruvian fingerling potato with pink flesh, roasting (MPL)

I would also like a good all around white potato that stores well.

Good All Around White Potatoes:

• ‘German Butterball’ noted for its taste as well as long storage, late-season (SSE, HMS)
• ‘Kennebeck’ good all around potato coming from a strong bread for resistance to lots of potato problems, mid-season (JSS, MPL)
• ‘Yukon Gold’ excellent yield, great keeper, slightly dry flesh, early-season (JSS, SSE, MPL, HMS)
• ‘Russet’ excellent flavor, long storage (there are several different varieties)
• ‘Purple Viking’ early blue skin, white flesh variety with excellent yields (HMS, SSE)

As I make my choices, I am also looking for an early and a late season potato so that I have some available to eat in the summer through fall and then some to store for winter and hopefully into the spring. 

I will probably regret how many seed potatoes I ordered when I have to dig all the extra bed space this spring, but I am excited to try new varieties and see how storing large quantities of potatoes goes. 

Here's my little patch of potatoes from last year in early June. I had two rows each 10 feet long.

In the end, I ordered four varieties in two purchases; one from Johnny's Select Seeds and one from High Mowing Seeds:

‘Red Adirondack’ 5 pounds - The red version of my aforementioned blue, early set and good storage   

‘All Blue’ 2.5 pounds - Respectable yields, stores well 

‘German Butterball’ 2.5 pounds - noted for its taste as well as long storage, late-season  

‘Kennebeck’ 5 pounds - good all around potato, bred for resistance to lots of potato problems, mid-season

I also ordered some sweet potatoes.  I've never grown those before.  I got the only variety that was still available from Johnny's or High Mowing, one called 'Beauregard'.  

What potatoes will you be growing this year and where do you buy them?  

Internship Plans: Three Farm Summer

Packing shares at Hawkin's Family Farm.  I've helped with the CSA since the fall of 2011. 

There are three family farms less than ten miles from our house: RiverRidge Farm, Hawkins Family Farm and Joy Field Farm.  Over the three years we have lived here in northwest Indiana their meat, eggs and produce have made their way into our pantry and onto our table.

They are a friendly bunch of farmers. Whenever I get the chance I corner them with my pressing garden questions including but not limited to: how they store root crops for winter, build their soil and extend the growing season. 

There are many commonalities between these farms beyond their location.  All three are family farms with strong faith, and deep ties to their community.  I have a reading list that will take me years to finish from their recommendations.

They are scholarly agrarians.  Not quite in the way the professors we hang out with are scholarly.  Professors tend to be interested in how to teach a foundation of information for their specialization.  These local food producers are seeking knowledge for practical application: How can we protect the environment through local food production?  How do we feed our community body and soul?  How does working the land put people in greater connection with nature and god?  How do we get good quality food to the people most at risk for food insecurity in our community?  

Last summer I was sitting out on Hawkin's Farm enjoying a pizza from their brick oven, hanging out with family and friends, when I saw a trio over at a neighboring picnic table.  I put together what I knew about each of them and realized two of them worked with Joyfield Farm and the other worked over at RiverRidge Farm.  I imagined them sharing gardening tales and discussing the merits of different harvesting techniques.  One of the things I miss most about working at public gardens is talking plants.  My kids are great, but their agriculture conversation could use some work.  The little group of farm girls made me smile.

Nathan at RiverRidge Farm shows his mixed lettuce growing under row covers at his 5-acre family farm. This photo is from the first time I met him on a farm tour in March 2012.  

I didn't think about it too much at the time, but later when I saw a Help Wanted sign at one of the farm stores, I considered I could get some first hand experience too.  Somewhere along the way that evolved into maybe I could work one summer at each farm.  The more I thought about it, the more I like it.  But I also realized taking three summers to learn when I could be using that time to earn money for the other things a family needs and wants didn't seem practical. I mentally condensed my three summers into just one. Then over the winter, I folded in the goal of feeding my family locally produced or home grown food for a whole year.   (Here's the goal setting blog post.)

In early March I drafted a letter proposing I work one day a week at each farm in exchange for food for 12-weeks over the summer.  A couple weeks later, I visited with each farm and found all of them very willing and even excited about the idea.  We talked about how they could best use me and the potential things I could learn and I put together a schedule.

It's going to happen!  It's going to be a three farm summer.  I will get to learn by doing, observing and experiencing what it takes to make a living on a diversified, organic, family farm.  Part of my plan is to share the experience here on this blog (and on social media using #3FarmSummer).  I will start working the last week of May and go through mid-August 2015.

In April, I'm going to write a little about each farm as I understand them now.  I'm curious to see how my views change as I get to know them better and gain first hand experience working on these farms.

It's going to be an exciting #3farmsummer!  

Annual Vegetable Garden Plans for 2015

When we bought our house in 2012, I was excited about the big side yard in full sun.  The next year we cut in three beds for our vegetable garden totally 264 square feet of bed space.  This year with the goal of feeding our family locally we are adding a fourth bed and extending the existing beds to give ourselves 480 square feet.  I'm so excited to have almost doubled our annual vegetable space.

Above is last year's vegetable garden.  To expand we are adding eight feet to each of the three existing beds and adding a fourth bed over on the right.

Jeff measured the beds out Sunday afternoon so we are ready to cut the sod.  In the brief time when both babes were napping Monday I managed to cut the edges of two of the extended beds using a flat shovel.  I had just started pulling up sod chunks when Sunny woke up.  

While I was working with my shovel the neighbors across the way were using a small tractor to level and spread manure on part of their yard.  Machines are faster, they are also expensive and require fuel.  I had to give myself at little pep talk while I worked, "Hand tools will work just fine; and if we keep plugging our little garden plot will get finished same as theirs."  

The 'Kennebec' and 'Red Adirondack' potatoes arrived in the mail from Johnny's Selected Seeds on Saturday.  (Read how I selected my potatoes in this blog post.)  With the seed potatoes sitting in the mudroom sprouting their eyes, now there is an urgency to getting the garden expansion finished.  And I want to have the veggie garden completely started by the time my farm internship starts the last week of May.  

I did plant the 'Kennebec' potatoes on Easter Sunday.  JuneBug, two and a half years old,  helped plant the "tatoes".  I dug the holes and she put the seed potato in and covered it up with her little trowel.  She told me they would be yummy and she would "eat them all up."  

When I sat down to do the garden plan a week or so ago, I realized even with the garden expansion I won't have room for all the vegetables I am planning to grow.  I have a couple options here:  

1. Make the garden even bigger
2. Plant less
3. Plant some of the veggies in the perennial flower bed.  

Right now, I think planting less and putting some of the lettuce mix and other greens in the flower beds makes the most sense.  There might also be a fourth option, succession planting.  I do some succession planting now, but there could be more.  Maybe I'll learn more about that from the farms.  

After sitting down with my garden map I have decided I do not have enough room to grow sweet potatoes.  I just called Johnny's and canceled my order.  I'm a little sad, but also relieved.  Everything else I wanted to grow now fits in the garden.  This will be the year of the potato for us!

Here's the plan:  

Bed 1:

• 'All Blue' Potatoes
• 'Adirondack Red' Potatoes

Bed 2: 

• 'Dukat' Dill
• 'Kennebec' Potatoes
• Garlic (from RiverRidge Farm)
• 'Candy' Onions
• 'Zeppelin' Onions
• Basil 'Genovese'

Bed 3: 

• 'Harmony' Cucumber
• 'Travoli' Spaghetti Squash
• 'Metro' Butternut Squash

Bed 4:

• 'Piasano' San Marzano type paste tomatoes
• 'Tiren' San Marzano type paste tomatoes
• 'Jasper' Red cherry tomato
• 'Five Star' Red grape tomato
• 'Sun Gold' Yellow cherry tomato
• 'German Butterball' Potato
• 'Calypso' Cilantro
• 'Renegade' Spinach
• 'Rhubarb Red' Swiss Chard

Now to finish digging out the expansion and additional bed. 

Three Farm Summer: Hawkins Family Farm

Bringing in the fresh picked vegetables for the CSA shares at Hawkins Family Farm. 

Hawkins is a diversified family farm a couple miles south and east of North Manchester, Indiana.  The red brick farm house is flanked by the pizza oven, farm store, high tunnel green house, vegetable gardens, pasture and barn.

Most days when I turn off the county road and bump down the gravel lane to the farm store, I look to see if the hen house been rotated and if the sides of the movable green houses are rolled up to let air through, usually there is more than one person to greet with a wave.

Hawkin's has two movable, unheated, high tunnel houses to extend the growing season.  

This spring there are more folks around then in years previous.  When I drive in, it seems there isn't an obvious place to park.  I don't want to block the garage; in front of the pizza oven is already full, so I choose the least obtrusive place in front of the barn, trying to leave enough space for another car, truck or tractor to get through.

The farm store is self serve.  Up until this year, the store shared space in the prep kitchen.  This year the building, which also has a workshop type space, has been extended to create more work area and a little room as a dedicated store.  The store is a refrigerator with eggs, cheese and lard, a chest freezer of poultry, and a second standing freezer of pork and beef, as well as, honey and syrup on a narrow shelf.   Everything but the syrup is a product of the farm.

A view from a section of the garden back to the barn and the cattle.  Row covers are used for frost and insect protection. 

Part of what makes Hawkins an exciting farm, is how many different things are happening all with the intention of rejuvenating the land while producing wholesome food for the community.  Jeff and Zach Hawkins (father and son) are actively trying out new ideas.  I should ask them how they classify their farm - diversified family farm is how I am billing them.

The CSA is integral to the farm.  The Hawkins have been selling CSA (community supported agriculture) shares where a family commits to buying a season worth of vegetables and/or meat.  Each share holder receives a weekly bag of the harvest.  They have a pickup location on the farm, as well as, four neighboring town locations.  They also sell meat, eggs and produce to local restaurants and coffee shops.

Sausage pizza from our very first trip to Hawkin's Farm back in 2011.  

During the summer months, when school is out, the farm hosts Fridays on the Farm.  People come from far but mostly near to buy their locally sourced, brick oven pizza and gather on the lawn of the farm house for a picnic.  The cars park along the lane and often when the weather is nicest, a Sold Out sign will be hung at the end of the drive.

When we first started going to pizza on the farm, we didn't know anyone.  Now we spread our blanket on the grass connecting it to a raft of friends' blankets.  We pass side dishes and ask if anyone remembered to bring a bottle opener.  Fern, who was two years old last summer, insisted on seeing the pigs and turkeys before we gathered our things to head home.  We are looking forward to June 5th when pizza season starts again.

From the end of the first full season I helped on the farm. That's me on the far right.

The past couple of years I have worked on the farm in exchange for a half veggie share.   Early this spring I asked if I could work in exchange for a full share including meat.  We agreed I would work 12 weeks over the summer helping pack shares, working in the garden and making lunch once a week for the farm crew.  I am looking forward to learning more about the day to day operations, see how they use a new walking tractor and how they have expanded from last year.

Hawkins Family Farm is one of the three farms I will be working for the summer 2015.  I will profile the other two farms in the coming blog posts.  To read more about what I am up to here is the introductory post:  Internship Plans: Three Farm Summer

First Weeks of My Three Farm Internship

My body is so tired and sunburned!  I have completed the first weeks of my self-built internship here in northeast Indiana.  Each week I put in a full day at Joy Field Farm, RiverRidge Farm and Hawkins Family Farm, plus making lunch for the Hawkins Farm workers on Fridays.  And although I put on sunscreen and think of myself as physically active, what with carrying around two kids, I was in sorry shape by the end of the week.

These last nights I have been laying down tired of body, but my mind is not ready to sleep. It is spinning with thoughts.  These thoughts are not a cohesive story, but I don't want to lose any of these beginning observations so I'm just going to plunk them down with subheadings and hopefully revisit them with more depth at a later time.

A row of weeded chard at Joy Field Farm.

There is More Than One Way to Weed and Mulch

Or perhaps every farm has its own weeding philosophy.

At Joy Field consideration is given to volunteer seedlings.  A knowledge of seedlings, wild edibles, and annual flowers is required.  I have learned that Sweet Annie is indeed sweet smelling, and stinging nettles do indeed sting.  The Kindys choose to leave many flowers and volunteer edibles between and in the rows.

Leaf mold and straw are used as mulch to hold in moisture and keep the plants warm.  Long straw is used for potatoes, tomatoes and okra, broken (short) straw for onions and leaf mold for the walk ways.  The Kindys always mulch after a nice soaking rain to lock in as much moisture in as possible.  

At Hawkins Farm the rows are long, 100 feet I'm guessing, and weeding is done by hand nearest the seedlings and with a hula hoe or wire weeder for the farther areas, large swaths are done with a walking tractor.  This year they are not putting straw around the potatoes, opting for row covers for the early season instead.

At RiverRidge Farm plastic is often used as a mulch to create a barrier for soil born disease and to suppress weeds and insects, almost all crops are on drip irrigation.    Planting and harvesting are the primary order of the day and weeding commences when those jobs are done.  On the two days I have worked so far, we harvested until 2:00 pm or so then weeded from mid-afternoon until quitting time at 5:00.  I have also seen straw around the potatoes at this farm.

Go Barefoot, Bleed a Little, Permanent Dirt 

Jeff Hawkins said at lunch that he bleeds a little every week.  It was only mentioned in passing, but I understand what he means.  Farming is physical labor.  I have bruises I don't remember getting and scratches from unknown sources.  I try to remember my gloves, especially for weeding but I constantly have dirt under my nails and on the pad of my thumb and forefinger.

The safety manager in me cringes at the thought of working barefoot.  However, I have seen folks at all three farms working with all their piggies out.  In most cases, where folks are working barefoot there is little risk, no machinery being used, no hoes or other sharp implements being used at foot level.  There is the risk of metal ground cloth staples, irrigation, broken glass and/or sharp rocks at each place.

I find my feet are too tender to spend all day barefoot.  I have chosen a middle ground.  In the morning, when we harvest lettuce at RiverRidge, I prefer bare feet.  The space between rows is as narrow as a balance beam; shoes seem awkward and blundering.  The carefully cultivated texture of the soil seems damaged more by the sole of a shoe then my foot alone.  Plus my feet experience what the roots of the plants do.    I feel more intimately connected and a part of the garden when I walk the soft rows, warm straw and dewy grass.

Sample as You Work

Taste the herbs, munch on the greens, pluck a snow pea, eat fresh from the garden to know your crops.

One of many large compost piles at Joy Field Farm. 

Building Quality Soil

I hope to learn more about this, but each farm is dedicated to soil improvement.  All of them use cover crops.  

RiverRidge Farm also uses liquids like compost tea and fish emulsion.  I can tell where the fish emulsion has been freshly applied, it smells like the fish house at a lake. It's a friendly smell.  

Hawkins Farm uses animal rotation with the pigs, cows and chicken who add manure to the soil while eating up the weeds and weed seeds.  

Joy Field Farm builds huge walled compost piles designed to hold moisture.  The finished compost is added to the rows before planting.  They also bring in leaves from town to use as mulch that break down adding organic matter to the soil.

Cattle at Hawkins Family Farm

Animals are Integral to the Farm

My knowledge lies mostly with the plants as I have a background in horticulture. It is neat to see the roll cows, chickens and pigs have in keeping a farm and its farmers healthy.  Hawkins have the most land and also the most extensive use of animals.  They use chicken tractors to pasture their meat chickens which I have learned are called pullets.   The turkey, geese and ducks are rotated through the gardens along with a movable hen house, and pastured cows and pigs.  Electric fences make rotation possible.  The animals do a fair job of eating down weeds and their seeds, as well as, consuming the scraps from the kitchen and harvesting.

Joy Field and RiverRidge Farms both have laying hens in permanent structures. The girls get grain feed in addition to lots of beet tops, weeds, lettuce thinnings and whatever else makes its way out of the garden.   

Farm Lunch - Asparagus Quiche at Hawkins Farm

Give Thanks Before You Eat

I have had the pleasure of eating lunch at each farm.  Each place has its own tradition.  At RiverRidge they speak a prayer over the food offering thanks for the people and nourishment brought together.  At Joyfield they join hands and someone says the first line of a hymn and then together they sing the chorus.  And at Hawkins Farm; Jeff a Lutheran Pastor, creates a rhyme of thanks for the day, reminding those gathered to be present and mindful of the good food, work and folks.   I like the ceremony and the intentional pause to reflect a prayer brings to the meal.

Take Care of Your Neighbors

The first day of my internship, Memorial Day, the Fingerles who are RiverRidge Farm were in a terrible car accident.  Both parents and seven of the eight children were driving home in the van when a car in the opposite lane hit the guard rail and ricocheted into them.  A third vehicle traveling behind them crashed into the wreck hitting the passenger side of their vehicle sending it into the ditch.

Thankfully, no one died and there were no broken bones.   However, three people from the accident, including two of the Fingerles were life-flighted to nearby hospitals.  Word was passed to a prayer line and through social media and soon the entire community, including the other two farms I'm working with, had word.

I wasn't scheduled to start with RiverRidge until the coming Thursday.  I was worried I would be in the way, and that they wouldn't have time to train the new girl with all the chaos that follows something like that. Luckily, they employ a neighbor who was there to show me the ropes and together we worked a long day restocking the farm store.  I was glad to be of service.

It was humbling to see their community rally around them.  Their nine year old daughter came out and talked with us while we were harvesting radishes.  She listed off all the prepared food that had been brought by and spoke with amazement that she didn't have to help with the dishes as the family had been eating off disposable plates another thoughtful neighbor had given.  A steady stream of friends and extended family came by through out the day and each found someway to lighten the load: pushing the lawn mower, sitting with the younger children, folding the laundry.   There is  grace in the act of helping a friend, and also in the act of accepting help.

I will continue writing as I can this summer to share my experiences on the farms.  To find other posts about this experience on the blog and social media search 3farmsummer (#3farmsummer).  

Friday Farm Lunches - Summer Seasonal Recipes

One of my favorite parts of the week has become making lunch for the Hawkins Farm crew on Fridays.  I do my best to use produce and meat from their farm, filling in the gaps with goodies from Joy Field and RiverRidge Farms, the cracks that are left are filled in with dairy and grains from the local bulk food store run by a family in town.  It's as local as I know how to make it.  

For my own records, and because folks ask for the recipes, I am writing up a little blog post with photos of the lunches and links to the recipes.

Asparagus Cream Cheese Quiche from FoyUpdate.blogspot.com

Friday, May 29, 2015

Quiche: I used the quiche Lorraine recipe from Cook's Illustrated.  I did change up the fillings.  There was a leek and goat cheese, an asparagus and cream cheese and lastly a sun-dried tomato, goat cheese and spinach.

Quick Collards: Blanch 2 pounds of kale for 7 minutes, dunk them in a cold water bath until cool to the touch, use your hands to wring them out, rough chop, sautee to coat with 3 tablespoons lard, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes.  Add a 1/2 cup chicken stock, cover and cook until tender, 5 minutes or so.  Then serve, pass with lemon wedges.

Cucumber slices: the first of the season from RiverRidge Farm.

Rhubarb crisp (passed with cream): 

Topping

½ cup flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup rolled oats

½ cup melted butter

Filling

4 cups rhubarb, cut into 1" pieces

½ cup sugar

¼ cup flour

½ t cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Combine rhubarb, sugar, flour and cinnamon and put into 8" x 8" x 2" glass baking dish.

Combine flour, brown sugar, rolled oats and melted butter and sprinkle over the rhubarb mixture.

Bake 35 minutes.

Friday, June 5, 2015

Zach Hawkins preparing a pizza at Hawkins Family Farm

Pizza from Hawkins Farm (secret recipe (which means I don't know it))

Lettuce Salad with radishes, cucumber and hard boiled eggs, accompanied by Creamy Pesto Dressing

Salad: Butter lettuce, radishes, cucumbers, hard boiled egg

Creamy Pesto Dressing from SavorySweetLife.com

Pesto recipe from this blog

Dark Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

2 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 cup butter (2 stick)
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 t vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 cup old fashion rolled oats
Preheat the oven to 375° F.
Mix the flour salt and baking soda.
Heat the butter in microwave until it softens, then mix in the sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Add in the dry mix then fold in the oats and chocolate. Bake for 9-11 minutes.

Friday, June 12, 2015

Lunch with the Hawkins Family Farm crew

Shredded Chicken - Boiled 3 small chickens from frozen then took off the meat and used the bones and some carrots, onions and bay leaf to make stock.  

Polenta and Roasted Veggies: spring onions, summer squash, radishes via this recipe from my blog

Spinach Au Gratin from Ina Garten, The FoodNetwork - might have to become a Thanksgiving recipe, it was seriously good.  Also, I couldn't find Gruyere so I used extra sharp cheddar cheese.  

Macerated Strawberries with Vanilla Ice-cream and Oatmeal Cookies

Macerated Strawberries with vanilla ice-cream and an oatmeal cookie

Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup butter
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
2 cups flour
1 t cinnamon
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup nuts, chopped
Preheat the oven to 375° F.
Mix the butter and sugars until smooth; add in the eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix the flower, cinnamon, baking soda and salt, then combine it with the butter mixture. Fold in the oats and nuts.
Ball and place on baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes.

Friday, June 19, 2015

Roasted Chicken with Rhubarb Sauce, roasted broccoli and sauteed snap peas

Roasted Chicken Stuffed with Garlic Scapes and Grapefruit

Sweet Onion Rhubarb Sauce from EatingWell.com - This was a huge hit, everyone loved it!

Roasted Broccoli from Alton Brown

Snap Peas Sauteed in Butter

Garlic-Scape Compound Buttered Bread - A tasty way to keep your scapes longer, put them in butter.  Garlic scapes uncooked are pretty hot, like spicy hot.  I buttered the bread and then wrapped it in tinfoil so it could heat up and cook for the last 15 minutes in the oven at the end of baking the lasagna.  I have also used the compound butter on top of boiled new potatoes, so good!

1/3 part salted butter, softened to room temperature 

1/3 part shredded Parmesan Cheese

1/3 part chopped garlic scapes 

Olive Oil 

In a food processor or blender add butter, cheese and garlic scapes, drizzle in olive oil as needed to get the mixture to blend.  Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.   

Chocolate Beet Cake from Joy the Baker - more of a novelty than an amazing dessert.  If you try this recipe, becareful not to over bake and dry out the cake.  It's honestly better the second and third day, so don't be shy of making this ahead.  

Friday, June 26, 2015

Vegetarian Lasagna with Lettuce Salad, Creamy Italian Dressing, Garlic Scape Bread and Hot Milk Cupcakes

Vegetarian Lasagna

preheat 350⁰F
½ cup Onion, diced
2 cups Carrots, grated
½ lb. Mushrooms, sliced
1 T olive oil
24 oz. spaghetti sauce
6 oz. tomato paste
1 small can sliced olives drained
1 lb. fresh spinach
2 layers raw lasagna noodles
16. oz. cottage cheese
2 cups Monterey jack cheese sliced
Top with Parmesan cheese.
Sauté onion, carrot, and mushrooms in olive oil until soft. Add spaghetti sauce, tomato paste, and olives simmer for 10-15 min. Layer in 9 x 12 or 10x13 pan.
1/3 vegetable sauce
noodles
1/2 cheese
1/2 spinach
1/3 vegetable sauce
noodles
1/2 cheese
1/2 spinach
1/3 vegetable sauce
Top with Parmesan cheese, cover, and bake at 350ºF for 1 hour, 15 minutes. Remove from oven, uncover, and let stand for 5 minutes.

Bread with Garlic Scape Compound Butter (see previous week's lunch for recipe)

Romaine Lettuce Salad with shredded carrots, thin sliced red onions and diced tomatoes

Creamy Italian Dressing from Ree Drummond - an excellent easy dressing

Hot Milk Cake

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 t vanilla extract

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

2 ¼ t baking powder

1 ¼ cups milk

10 T butter, cubed

Preheat 350°F

In a large bowl, beat eggs on high speed for 5 minutes or until thick and lemon-colored. Gradually add sugar, beating until mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder; gradually add to batter; beat at low speed until smooth.

In a small saucepan, heat milk and butter just until butter is melted. Gradually add to batter; beat just until combined.

Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan.

So that's what I have made the first five weeks for this summer!  

Putting By the Harvest

I put an extra quilt on the bed last week and even turned on the furnace one morning when we woke up to the house at fifty degrees.  But we are still keeping watch for frost, waiting for winter to arrive.  I have crested the ridge of putting food by and find the downward slope leaves enough time to write.

The canned goods in the basement pantry as of the beginning of October 2015

It was a wet spring, which caused flooding at some farms near by.  Our quarter acre with the house and garden are raised above the street level, a side effect of the house preexisting the road.  The garden only benefited from the constant moisture.

We more than doubled the size of the home garden by extending our three existing beds and adding a fourth.  Most of the added space was planted with potatoes.  It might be fair to refer to this year as The Year of the Potato.

Here's what the garden looked like full swing in August.  Next year I'll have to get out the step ladder when taking photos so you can see more detail.

Our home vegetable garden in August

If it hadn't been for the cutworms we would have easily had one of the best harvests I've ever grown. However, I was determined to get my plants in the ground before I started working on the farms for the summer and so we planted all the tomatoes on May 15th.  And then replanted them over and over again for the next couple weeks as critters cut them off at their base over and over again.  With the help of my lovely online community I learned that getting the tomatoes in the ground early put them in the path of the cutworms who do their cutting for a couple weeks before they pupate into uninspiring, drab moths.  Once I fashioned a bunch of yogurt containers to make collars around the seedlings, we had an effective barrier, and finally our tomatoes got growing.  However, by then we were farther behind then if we had waited to plant until June.

We still harvested quite a few tomatoes.  From the ten San Marzano type paste tomato plants, we yielded perhaps a bushel (45-50 pounds), part of which are currently stewing on my stove.  I tried a new kind of grape tomato called 'Five Star'.  They were quite expensive and quite disappointing in both yield and flavor.  I will be sticking to the heirloom 'Jasper' instead which I grew for the second year and produced lots of tasty, tiny cherry tomatoes.  The ones we didn't eat fresh were dehydrated and frozen for future use as sun dried tomatoes.  For Jeff, I also grew four 'Sun Gold' cherry tomato plants which are delicious, but suffered for their late start and they never really got going so the yield was low.  We also had some kind of blight going on.

San Marzanos looking a little blighted in late summer 2015

I knew I wasn't growing as many tomatoes as I wanted to put up, so over the last couple weeks I procured another two bushels of paste tomatoes and turned them into pizza sauce and enchilada sauce.  I would still like to make some Kingsolver sauce, assuming I can get another bushel from one of the farms.  That and some apples for apple sauce and I will be done putting up food for the fall.

I didn't try any new preserving recipes this year, rather I did all of recipes I have liked in the past.  I filled all my quart jars.  There are enough empty pints left to get by.  My only innovation was making raspberry/strawberry/blueberry jam.  I didn't mean to make it.  I was trying to half a recipe for raspberry jam, when I dumped a whole recipe worth of pectin into the pot of bubbling fruit.  So I dug around in the freezer and found a partial bag of last year's strawberries and some blueberries we picked in Michigan this summer.  The Rasp-Straw-Blue Berry jam turned out better than expected.

Bean teepee of 'Asian Red Noodle Beans' and purple hyacinth beans

Both the refrigerator and chest freezer have been rearranged several times to make room for the zip-lock bags of pesto, bell peppers, green beans, red noodle beans, zucchini and dried tomatoes.

'Adirondack Red' and 'German Butterball' potato harvest

We have boxes of potatoes in the garage, probably in excess of 200 pounds.  I am enjoying having a pretty variety to cook.  I grew 'All Blue', 'Adirondack Red', 'German Butterball' and 'Kennebeck'.



This weekend I brought in the winter squash.  I grew butternut and spaghetti squash.  I'll be curious to see how long it takes us to eat them all.  If you follow me on FaceBook or Instagram you probably saw the boxes stored in our guest bedroom.

I regret not having room for sweet potatoes in the garden this year.  If 200 pounds of potatoes proves to be too much, I will be changing some of the garden square footage from potatoes to sweet potatoes next year.

And that's something I didn't hadn't fully grasp until just now.  I can write down how many pounds and quarts of each vegetable I put by, but I won't know if that was a good amount for our family until next spring.  This is the first year I may have grown more than our family can eat.  Or maybe we will have some of the harvest rot in storage before we can eat them.  That's my worst nightmare; do all the work of planting, tending, harvesting, storing and then have it go bad.

This creates a whole new dilemma.  I'm not sure how to store crops like potatoes, winter squash, onions and garlic for a long time.  In the past, we have always eaten the dry storage produce by Christmas.   I have been asking around and it seems like a root cellar would be great idea, but we don't have one.  I will have to make do with a detached garage, a warm basement and a guest bedroom that could be unheated.  I have fantasies about sectioning off the old coal shoot in the basement to make a cold storage room.  I feel like a serious gardener now that dreams include building a root cellar.

For my future self and those of you interested, I am going to end this post with a spread sheet of our harvests since we started gardening at this house (2012-2015).

Click to see enlarge

It's been a busy growing year and I'm excited to try going even bigger next year.  

Morning Green Juice & Using Your MIXER As a Juicer

This. Is. Excellent. Stuff.

I've been ingesting many that eco-friendly many advantages these days. Which enable it to We permit you to throughout using a small secret? I am utilizing the KitchenAid mixing machine along with attachments intended for juicing.


Of course, I've truly transformed the mixing machine in a masticating juicer. We have No longer area within my home intended for one more countertops product, well, i figured out methods to effectively start using a existing counter-top product in place of a different juicer. I might sooner or later retrieve the mom's big Champion juicer or even buy a small top quality juicer, however for now i am happy with that set up. I am going to show you steps to make it under.

We actually got any hiatus through juicing the other day because I needed surgery biopsy to help reject a few issues. I am thus HAPPY to help survey how the biopsies had been harmless plus the health issues I've been suffering from have got almost nothing regarding an exceptionally intimidating examination. (Thank you to definitely folks who have been praying in my opinion along with keeping me in your head. ) It turned out a bit tense for a while, contemplating it can be. I am getting back to ingesting that eco-friendly fruit juice that 7 days seeing that I am regaining, when relocating a bit sluggish.

In the event you read this web site with regularity, you might have noticed that I've been missing only a few weeks. You could have also noticed that issues slowed up the previous couple of weeks, and this I've truly stated health issues in the publish or even a couple of. What I am suffering from could possibly be due to this continuing along with serious active Epstein Barr disease (mono) I've been diagnosed with : this terrifying health issues involving the overdue young adults coming back to help mouthful me through getting too run down along with anxious. It could actually in addition have been brought on by simply something most of us have not figured out still, however regardless, I am greening it up these days.

I am DEFINITELY NOT stopping the precious sugars, ovum along with other acidic food items at this stage however WE ARE doing green veggies first along with any devices step in collection behind them, thank you very much. We already, including most of you, try to eat greater than the average American. Almost certainly even better compared to the above-average American. YET I've been examining lots these days with regards to alkaline along with acidic food items along with recognized in which although We ended up being feeding on well, We weren't feeding on additional alkaline when compared with acidic on most days to weeks.

With a pal's recommendation, We selected any duplicate involving Nuts Alluring Eating plan. Even though We never benefit from the profanity liberally lacing this webpages with this guide (I read an array of transgression along with lawful thrillers that could consist of like terms, however the children know mature publications with the nightstand are usually off-limits : I prefer, however, to retain any referrals along with cookbook out while not having to retain it out of the examining children's reach), We have learned a reasonable amount around the alkaline diet. I've truly recently been taking pleasure in this Alkaline Siblings blog site.

I've been examining exactly how illness incorporates a trickier moment surviving in a good alkaline entire body, along with began thinking that doing the diet additional alkaline combined with additional sleep along with brand-new methods to redouble the anxiety could be key to getting above all of this along with back to typical. It may be any sluggish practice, however no less than it will be a task from the proper direction.

Consequently, from the morning I am trying to take in fresh-squeezed fruit throughout warm water very first thing. And then, trying to take in solely fruit juice till meal. Pertaining to meal, I am feeding on a massive remarkable greens. And then I am going to try to eat whatever I want intended for supper providing We contain a few green veggies. I am also popping my own, personal seedlings along with including these to every thing. The family is usually loving it, along with I am definitely not currently being sarcastic. It can be superb! (I'll deal with seedlings throughout one more publish. ) Plainly get hungry among food, We make it possible for me goody with a few raw walnuts or even additional alkaline goody, along with perhaps any mouthful or even a couple of involving incredibly dark chocolate.

Plainly "cheat, inches We never sweating it because We never ponder over it cheating, along with We never think of this as an eating plan. I am simply being confident that We get adequate involving the green veggies for most involving the days to weeks : and it's really not thay hard to perform in the event you fruit juice all of them or even produce a smoothie every day and still have a massive greens from meal. Although you may solely would that weekly, which may become outside of effortless, you much better away when compared with definitely not doing it most!

My own a . m . eco-friendly fruit juice formula is usually prompted by simply some fruit juice tested recipes in which Kris Carr provides throughout Nuts Alluring Eating plan, however I've truly accomplished my own, personal point with this particular to manufacture a fruit juice that may be delightfully exhilarating to help the tastes. Previous to that, the thought of "green" fruit juice ended up being juiced berries with a certain amount of spinach and/or kale. Besides a few fruit, there is not any berries in this fruit juice and it's really delectable! I have found in which in my opinion, fruit is usually key in setting up a legitimate "green" fruit juice delectable in my experience. This provides excellent tang which i really like.


Planned ready moment: 5-10 units; Planned juicing moment: 10-15 units, according to your current juicer (some are usually faster)
This formula provides you with with regards to 9 oz . involving fruit juice when using the mixing machine juicing technique.
(Printable Recipe)
1 normal cucumber (organic so that you can keep your peel with : peel it should it be not)
only two handfuls clean spinach
only two stalks kale
1 little carrot (scrubbed & peeled when necessary)
1 / 2 of an entire fruit : peel, seed along with most

Cut cucumber, carrot along with fruit straight into smaller sized items. You won't need to process this spinach or even kale.

Position items straight into feeding conduit a few each time along with go on feeding till every thing is usually converted into pulp or even fruit juice. When essential, give this pulp back again as a result of a couple of times to help acquire a lot more fruit juice.

Put and/or stress fruit juice straight into a glass and luxuriate in!

You might be this KitchenAid mixing machine technique, you will want the foodstuff grinder addition plus the berries & vegetable strainer addition. We already received the foodstuff grinder thus solely was required to choose the berries & vegetable strainer. We observed that they are sold jointly, however We charged all of them and it's really less costly to purchase all of them on their own. I needed been eyeing that set up along with questioning with regards to juicing about it for a while. We noticed that many people published that they had been using it to help fruit juice throughout testimonials : even intended for juicing grasses : well, i thought I would test it out for. This functions!

Again, including We mentioned preceding, sooner or later I might retrieve this Champion juicer I am at this time saving intended for the mother or even buy a smaller sized top quality juicer however for at this point that functions in my opinion. It might take a bit for a longer time that way, however it is more than worth it in my opinion not to ever have got one more counter-top product using area We don't need to sacrifice.

Placement any pan to collect fruit juice underneath the spout in the berries & vegetable strainer addition bit along with one more pan to help catch this pulp.

You will be pushing this veggies or even berries straight into that conduit towards the top:

The actual pulp first falling to the pan will be substantial along with there exists lots of fruit juice still left from it.

Operate it as a result of again.


Operate it once or twice additional, and you'll scarcely have got virtually any still left:


Today, you'll see any better pulp being subtracted from this sleeve towards the top, in which the auger is usually pushing it as a result of:


A small amount of this will probably fall into this fruit juice pan, however you can easily stress it out with similar to that strainer while you pour it straight into your current a glass. In the event you see lots decreasing to the pan, take hold of it along with don it this dish to help give through the conduit. While you are concluded juicing the more expensive pulp, scrape that better pulp away along with stick it from the conduit to help fruit juice it. You get Lots of fruit juice out of this.

One more idea: I am undecided exactly how plainly I could describe that without having you trying it on your own, however you may notice that this auger does not reach right towards back again in the conduit till vegetable items are usually pushing this planting season back again. In the event you start so that this items drop on this auger and provide it an opportunity to push this planting season right back again at the rear of this conduit, then will placed additional items throughout (don't jam this conduit, though) next the items will be forced ahead along with won't get caught up at the rear of. Even if they carry out get caught up at the rear of, it is not a massive offer and they're going to uncover the exit. Somewhat something We learned.

Today you will be concluded! Pertaining to clean-up, We realize that any material food tester or even kabob stay is advantageous to help push to the idea in the auger, which will have a very small veg pulp caught up in that room. We also really like this Avent package clean to decontaminate out every space along with cranny along with rinse the miscroscopic pockets. We have a mature model of that clean, however I am if it turns out that newer just one is just as great.

The best liquid in which many advantages!

Will you fruit juice? The definition of your best veggies to help fruit juice? I am simply starting out : I've been experimenting with several flavoring mixtures along with decide to reveal additional fruit juice tested recipes every so often. What juicer would you make use of? I am wondering to discover when any of you with additional juicers will receive a various volume using this identical formula. You need to let me.