Six Inches Deep

Harvest time

jordan — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:31:10 +0000

My first bounty, or is it a cornucopia?

I finally feel like a gardener. I’ve always secretly felt that you couldn’t really call yourself a gardener until you had an overflowing basket of stuff you grew. It is still a little early for a garden round up, but I’ve got to say I’m pretty proud so far, granted the bar was set pretty low (anything more than one tomato).

Picked so far:

San Marzanos Ripening on the vine

Roughly 7 lbs of San Marzano Tomatoes
1 lb of Fingerling Potatoes
8 lbs of Purple Potatoes
2 lbs of German Butterball Potatoes
6 lbs of Black Krim tomatoes

It looks like an elf's shoe

3 cucumbers (misshapen but tasty pickles)
3 Jalapenos
1 Baby Bell Pepper
3 Salsa Peppers
4 Rainbow Carrots
3 Chioggia Beets
5 Turnips
10-20 Radishes (leaves used for pesto)
A blueberry
20-30 lbs of Aristocrat Zucchini

The m&ms of the garden

4 bunches of Bright Lights Swiss Chard
4 oz. Envy soybeans
2 oz.Charlevoix Kidney beans
Roughly 10 salads worth of lettuce
3 Onions
and all the herbs I needed (dill, lovage, basil, thyme, chives)

The Hardest Part

jordan — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:31:38 +0000

The hardest part about blogging about you dinner is remembering to take pictures of your dinner. Imagine a rosy hued broth, white chunks of turnip and cod, golden roasted croutons, and a brilliant green drizzle of flavored oil. That’s what we had for dinner last night. This time of year cooking is really fun because you can just abandon recipes and just cook whatever is ready. Last night it was cold and rainy. I wanted soup. I started with Cod (Bethany’s been asking for fish) and went back into the garden and picked the rest. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Follow the link for:

Fisherman’s Summer Soup

Tomato review

jordan — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:18:37 +0000

Well it’s nearing the end of August and I think it is time to review what has gone on with my tomatoes this year. This was a very cool summer. Up until mid August most of the weather was in the 70′s. The 90*+ weather has finally brought the tomatoes into a ripening mood. My thoughts about getting tomatoes by mid July was absurd. The Black Krim are ripening the best. I’d say I get one every other day. It is also beginning to show signs of decline. The San Marzanos are coming along. I pick about three every day and set them on the window sill to finish ripening. I’ve left a few on the bush to finish ripening there. So far I have had some good tomatoes but nothing amazing. The Mortgage Lifter looks like it will be the heavy producer in the raised beds. If any of the ever get ripe. The Green Zebra has had a poor performance this year. I did get one Purple Cherokee, good flavor, but I would have like to see more. I think in need to try more variety to find out which kind I like. Harvest so far 5-10 lbs.

Preserving the harvest

jordan — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:28:30 +0000

The time has come when I need to start looking forward into the cold months of winter. I’m trying to figure out as many ways to preserve what I can from the garden so that I’ll have plenty of variety in those long dark months. So far I have canned some maple syrup, preserved both sour and sweet cherries in brandy, and have more sour cherries, and English peas in the freezer. The problem I’m having is figuring out the best way to store things. Pickle, freeze, dry, can. So many options. Which one is best? Freezing is the easiest, but if the power goes out I’ll lose all of my hard work. Not to mention my freezer is only so big. Canning seems like a chore. I’ll be canning tomatoes at least, but which kinds are the best to can? We’ve borrowed Bethany’s mother’s dehydrator and I’m experimenting with that. So far I’ve only dried green beans and onions, both of which will be going into soups. One thing I won’t have to worry about is squash. The Table Queen is truly ruling over the garden. Like the blob, vines are growing twenty feet in every direction. Tons of tiny little squash in there. I just hope they keep well.

Summer keeps you busy

jordan — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:04:15 +0000

Summer evening on the porch

Okay, well there is a lot to do. Right now I’ve go more zucchini than I know what to do with. So far everyone I’ve told feels the need to tell me the story about neighbors locking their doors for fear of getting zucchini dropped off. Really though. I’ve only got two plants. How much zucchini can you really eat. Every day a few come in. That is not counting the mammoth monsters I’ve deemed not worth the trouble.

In other news, the tomatoes are starting to ripen. A little hot weather is finally coming in and the toms are getting busy. The black krim planted in the old garden is covered in fist sized toms all getting rosey. The San Marzanos are covered in green fruit. The motgage lifter and purple cherokee have a few fruits each. The rest are still catching up. I hope they’ll have time to ripen.

The potatoes in the raised bed have died off. I dug them all up for a couple hand fulls of fingerlings. I’d say I got back about as much as a planted. Not very impressive. The purple potatoes I planted on a whim really came through. Seven pounds of large purple beauties from a few left over spuds I was going to toss. I think maybe next year rather that ordering pedigree spuds from seed savers I’ll just pick up some at the farmer’s market and plant those. I know those will grow in my area. I should probably do the same with tomatoes. Time to look up seed saving info for tomatoes.

I think for next year I’d plant the lettuce more thickly. No point in planting it in rows that you’ll eat in one salad. Just mix the seeds with a little soil and spread it out over a patch of garden. Thin by eating.

Also the soil in the raised beds seems to need some improving. I’ll have to figure that out in the fall. The Trail of tear beans are barely making it back there, but on the side of the garage where they don’t get enough light they are doing great. Go figure.

Next year I think in might like to grow some peas. Maybe find some room for asparagus. Or some bok choi.

Hopping proud

jordan — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:55:18 +0000

Well believe it or not all of my hops have come up. Even the ones which I didn’t think were going to come up. Hiding in the back underneath squash leaves little hop vines are climbing along the ground. I hope they store up enough energy for next year. The rest of my hops are doing great. They are all sending out little side shoots which is where the cones are developed. I went out to check on them today and discovered these.

Mt. Hood wins the race, producing the first cones of the year!

Scandalous Pasta

jordan — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:39:03 +0000

I am haunted by beans. I love the variety. The million different hues, flavors, and wonderful names soaked in history. Easy to grow. Good for the soil. I love beans!

I just don’t really love the flavor. How often do you meet an exciting bean? This back-up cast member usually gets to play a supporting roll staunchly hiding away on the corner of your plate. Such a great garden food must have some sort of culinary pedigree. But alas all I’m found so far are half-hearted attempts to give the bean its due.

Well no more after checking out the website of famed bean champions at Rancho Gordo, I hit upon a great idea. Bean filled ravioli. Okay, so not the stoke a brilliance you were expecting, but let me ask you this, “Have you ever made bean filled ravioli? No? Ha!”

The recipe is actually pretty easy. A little involved, but not hard. The only complicated part is forming the pasta. We used won-ton wrappers that can be found at most grocery stores. Our previous ravioli experiments have come undone in the water so I was looking for something sturdier when I hit upon tortellini. A quick wiki and I discovered not only how to shape them but that the shape has a sordid past. A hotel owner, smitten by the beauty of one of his occupants, was peeking though her key hole, checking to make sure she was comfortable I’m sure. Since the hole was so small all he could see was her navel as she undressed. So bewitched by her innie he ran downstairs and made pasta in the shape of her beautiful button. Only the Italians could make that story some how endearing. Any way here is how to make them.

Wrappers laid out and ready for stuffing

First lay out a few wrappers (no more than six like I did. the wrappers will dry out if left sitting out to long. cover the rest in plastic wrap). Mix an egg with a little water. Brush this mixture along the four edges of the pasta. Place a teaspoon of filling in the center of each sheet.

Folded Tortellini

Next, fold on corner over to the opposite corner. Now carefully press out any air trapped inside. Be careful not to press any of the filling out or you will mess up the seal. Think burping a chipmunk, not squeezing tooth paste. Now press all along the sides to seal the edges.

Shaped Tortellini

Next, working from the bottom of the triangle (along the fold), put your finger under where the filling is. Using the index finger and thumb on your other hand bring the bottom corners together so that they over lap underneath the index finger of your other hand. Glue with a little egg mixture, and press down.

The more you practice the less they look like wizard hats and more like ladies navels.

Finished Tortellini

Here is the recipe for the filling.

Slow Beans Coming

jordan — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:36:46 +0000

Trail of Tears Black Bean shoot doing its thing

Well my first major hurdle of the season has arrived. I’ve planted a large amount of heirloom beans. I plan on them being part of my staple diet through out the winter. I haven’t put too much thought into them. Beans are supposed to be easy to grow right. I mean didn’t everyone grow some in a paper cup in elementary school?

The beans went into the ground. Shot up like firecrackers, and then did nothing. They stopped growing and turned yellow. Not enough fertilizer? No, I’ve got plenty in the bed. They were watered regularly. To make matters even more annoying the beans I planted on a whim by an old trellis on part of the yard have shot up and started climbing in just a few days.

After some consultations with those wiser than me (my father, and Bethany) I came up with two possible problems. I was doing too good of a job watering or there were parasitic nematode in the soil. So I stopped watering as much and bought some marigolds (supposed to kill of nematodes). The result, new green growth, and some are even starting to climb the ropes I provided.

Now all I have to do is keep the deer away. They already eat the tops off of half of my soybean crop. I’m going to make a mixture of garlic and hot chillies to spray on the pants. That won’t keep them from taking a bite, but the won’t take a second.

Did you know I have magic powers?

jordan — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:28:43 +0000

Yep it’s true. I can control things like the weather. Take today for example. Most of the early morning hours have been witness to what I would describe as a biblical deluge. You know, when it rains so hard that you feel the need to stop what you are doing, look out the window, and think “Man, it’s really raining hard.” Well imagine that on and off for about 10 hours. My back yard has water six inches deep in some places.

So what does this have to do with my magical abilities you ask? Well, while the morning hours were busy witnessing the deluge I was busy watching my gutters overflow and thinking, “I really need to clean those out.” So after hours and hours of heavy rain I run out side, grab the heavy ladder (which Bethany’s mother kindly forgot is at our house, and is so heavy I feel like weeping when I think about getting it out), babystep up to the top (a hate heights), and clean out the muck. Here’s the magic part. Dark clouds are looming over head. The wind is blowing. It’s supposed to rain all day today and all day tomorrow. But for the last few hours, not a drop.

If only I could figure out a way to use my powers to benefit all of mankind. It will probably never rain again…

Pictures from around the garden

jordan — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 14:41:47 +0000

Feverfew in bloom

Many of the perennial plants we planted last year have fully returned to life and are doing great. We even have one monster sage plant that was supposed to die off this year.

Apple blossoms to baby apples.

Looks like we will have apples this year. I was worried the tree blossomed too early and the cold got to the flowers. Looks like Mother Nature has better instincts than I.

The potato plants tower over everything

I always thought that radishes were the fastest growing thing in the garden. But these potatoes might have them beat. Two feet tall in less than a month. The ones I planted in early spring are already flowering , about three feet tall, and falling over on themselves.

The transplants have settled in and are starting to grow in earnest. Some of the pepper plants have started to flower, and the tomatoes have lots of new green growth. The Purple Cherokee also has it’s first flower.

Nasturtiums are probably the most inetesting looking thing in the garden

Most of the rest of the seedlings are coming along. The beets did not make it for some reason. According to my notes they should be ready for harvest. I can barely tell where I planted them out there. I put in another few rows the other day. Maybe some warmer weather will help them out. The other failure so far has been the Monopa spinach. It came up, put out tiny little leaves and has done nothing since. Maybe the warmer weather will move these guys along as well. Seeing as how these were supposed to be my cold weather greens I don’t think I’ll be trying these again next year.