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Old Man Winter

Here in North Eastern Indiana (USDA Zone 5) Old Man Winter has still yet to unleash his seasonal wonders upon us.  Last night we received a preview of things to come, a thin blanket of brilliantly white snow.

Just enough that the ground is covered in white.  Not so thick that it restricted some of taller grass blades from poking through, providing a touch of texture to the otherwise smooth surface.

In the cloud diffused early morning light the leafless skeletons of the deciduous trees stand proudly in the foreground of the otherwise nondescript landscape.  A scene reminiscent of an old 35mm film negative.   Timeless art that only nature can create.  Though unlike any art captured on film, nature’s creation will only last for a few moments before it morphs into something else uniquely of it’s own creation.

Nature is the essence of art and art,  nature.

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Looking to make your own homemade garlic bread or garlic butter for pan grilling shrimp, fish, or veggies?

Here’s a quick and simple recipe to get you cooking…  You are less than four minutes away from a delicious garlic spread…

Ingredients

• - Unsalted Butter- one stick
• - Crushed Oregano (dried)- 1 heaping tsp
• - Extra Virgin Olive Oil- 2 tsp
• - Fresh Garlic (pressed or crushed and diced)- 3-4 cloves
• - Sea Salt and Pepper (to taste)  *- See note

Directions-

In a mixing bowl combine butter, crushed Oregano, olive oil, garlic, salt*, and pepper.  Mix well.

Transfer combined ingredients onto a piece of waxed paper or plastic wrap.  Roll into a log and place in refrigerator to firm up.

Your fresh garlic butter is ready to enjoy!  It’s that quick and simple!

*-If you will be using the butter to saute shrimp or veggies I suggest leaving the salt out of the butter.  The salt content can be better controlled by adding directly to the dish during or after cooking.  If using for garlic bread or as a spread add it while combining other ingredients.

Enjoy!

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After three short months

Just about anything that’s really worth doing needs more than a single step to complete. Most rewarding projects take a little time, require several steps, and a little effort.

Building rich, healthy soil out of seemingly pure clay is no different.

Clay soils will magically convert into fantastic garden beds in no time by following these five steps.

Step 1. BREAK UP THE SOIL. This step is extremely important due to the fact that densely packed clay particles are relatively impervious to water and air. The more you can break up the soil at the beginning, the quicker your clay will convert to rich organic soil during the other steps. Be sure to break up the clay deeper than you intend to plant. Failing to do so may leave you with a clay pan which will hold excess water and drown your plants.

Step 2. ADD ORGANIC MATTER. By organic matter I mean compost, manures, plant matter, wood chips, leaves, etc. This organic matter will be home to the dozens of micro-organisms that will help you to convert your clay to nutrient rich humus. They need a good, healthy and inviting environment in which they can live and work. When it comes to organic matter, the more variety you can add to your soil, the larger micro-organism population it can support.

Step 3. PLANT DYNAMIC ACCUMULATORS and NITROGEN FIXERS. Dynamic Accumulators play several critical roles in soil development. As the name implies, they accumulate nutrients and minerals from deep in the soil, depositing them in their foliage, above the soil, or in their roots. Many dynamic accumulators have long tap roots which also break up and aerate the soils. These benefit both the micro-organisms as well as future plants, which can use their old root paths as fast-pathways deep into the soil. Nitrogen Fixers, on the other hand, extract nitrogen from the air and store them in nodules attached to their roots. This nitrogen can be used by the plants, themselves, and neighboring plants, or can remain in the soil future plants’ use.

Step 4. SHEET MULCH. Sheet Mulching is the practice of layering several varieties of organic matter on top of each other. Layers of grass clippings, wood mulch, leaf matter, manures, etc. will essentially compost in place, feeding the micro-organisms, and thus the soil. Sheet mulching also helps prevent erosion, reduces soil temperatures, and helps retains moisture.

Step 5. KEEP MOIST. The micro-organisms require a moist environment to live and prosper. Keeping the sheet mulched areas moist, but not soaking wet, will help expedite the desired clay to humus conversion.

The rewards for following these five simple steps should become apparent within several weeks. To check your progress, simply pull back some sheet mulch and look at and feel your soil. The soil color will darken from the grayish tan, to a rich black color, and the texture will turn from a hard crumbly, or slimy muddy clay, to a moist, cake-like consistency.

When you see this you will know you have taken the right path, the path to healthy, living soil!

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I’ve been looking for some better garden tools that I could use for an assortment of tasks around the property. Tasks like planting seed, dividing perennials, transplanting plants and root cutting, extracting deep rooted weeds, busting sod and clay clumps, and transplanting grasses, to name just a few.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the Fiskars BigGrip Multi-Purpose Planting Tool. For around $10 The BigGrip offers a lot of versatility. Plus it’s build like a tank! And comes with a Lifetime warranty!

I’ve busted the handles off several hand trowels by over using them- usually by prying with all of my upper body strength. My theory being, if I can put my shoulder into it, the tool, which is an extension of my arm, should be able to handle it.

The BigGrip is the first hand-trowelish tool that I’ve found which can actually hold up to my abuse.

I say trowel-ish, because it’s so much more than a trowel! It has a 6-3/4inch blade that’s partially serrated on one side (for digging and cutting), and a flat for smoother cutting, on the other. The tip is forked for digging out weeds and cutting smaller roots. It also has a large, firm, easy to grip rubber handle with an attached wrist lanyard for awesome control and grip, even when wet.

The shank is a welded + which extends into the handle. It really holds up to a lot of force.

I don’t usually get this excited about a plant tool, but after busting, bending, and cracking the handles off of every other trowel I have owned, I’m ecstatic to have finally found an awesome tool that I can give my all and not worry about it breaking.

It may not be a Japanese Hori Hori Garden Tool, but at less than 1/3rd the price, it’s well worth the money!

The comfrey root cuttings I planted just a few weeks ago have been growing like crazy! I thought that everything’s been going great until what i discovered just a few days …

Something is now snacking on the largest of the comfrey’s mineral rich leaves.

My first guess was bunnies. They seem to enjoy alot of things around our landscape. Maybe it’s squirrels, or gophers, or some other native wildlife that values the nutrient rich leaves.

Well, this morning I caught the culprit!

It’s a big fluffy…. Lacie dog? Who would have thought?!

It didn’t take her long to realize the benefits of this herb. When I first read in the profile for comfrey that it’s often used as livestock feed, I never even considered our sweet little Lacie as livestock.

I wonder if Riley, our other sheltie, would like some. I’ll have to hand feed her a piece and see. She’s not the grazer that Lacie is but if she’s hand (or drop) fed, she’ll give nearly anything a try.

before

Hmmm, what to do with all of this seemingly endless watermelon…  How about making some dehydrated watermelon chips?

I call them chips but they’re more like super-sweet and crispy watermelony candies!

The flavor’s faintly similar to a Jolly Rancher watermelon candy, but without the mouth full of slimy corn syrup goo.

Making the chips was extremely simple-

1.) Slice the watermelon into 1/2inch thick slices and remove any visible seeds (optional).

2.) Load the dehydrator and run it at 135 degrees.

during

3.) After 8-12 hours, turn the chips over

4.) after another 8-12 hours, turn off the dehydrator and let the chips cool.  When first turning off the dehydrator the chips will be dry but still soft and flexible.  After they cool down they will became very brittle and crispy.

5.) Transfer the chips to an air-tight container (avoiding eating them all first!).

6.) Enjoy your homemade, all natural treat!

Oh yeah, and be sure to share some with family and friends.

These were such a wonderful success that I suspect there will be several vacuum sealed bags of watermelon chips in our deep freeze for the long, cold, watermelon-less winter.

after

The time has finally come to reorganize, inventory, and move our ‘Seed Bank’ to a more temperature and humidity controlled environment.  Not only will this help extend the life of our seeds, it will help me know exactly what I have as I prepare to start exchanging seeds.

After emptying the plastic tote that’s held the future (and past) of our gardens, the seeds were sorted by type- greens, legumes, (other) veggies, trees (seeds and pits), and flowers.

Each seed variety was then logged in the yellow legal pad before taking up residence in the wide-mouth mason jars.  The log entries include seed company name (or self-harvested), variety, heirloom status (if applicable), and year packaged/saved.  I’m planning (at a later date) to transfer the data into a spreadsheet- where I can add the traits and characteristics from the packets.

The new mason jar Seed Bank was moved to the extra refrigerator where they will be safe from wide swings in temperature and humidity.

Some of the seeds won’t stay in the fridge for very long.   Some will be used to start our fall garden and others will find new homes elsewhere in the country, exchanged for other peoples’ seeds.

Ever since planting our peach tree earlier this spring I’ve wanted to add a fruit producing cherry to our growing forest garden.

I figured if we would get one this year we would have to wait until the fall clearance sales when we could scour the nursery clearance sales and pick the best of the worst, or possibly a small bare root tree from a mail-order nursery.

Fortunately, I ended up finding a pretty nice, six foot, fully rooted Sweetheart Cherry at our local Menards store. At 25% off, it was a pretty good deal.

After waiting out several 100-degree days, We eventually got the tree in the ground.

The whole planting process took less than 40 minutes, including breaks. A small price to pay for a tree that should provide us with fresh cherries for years to come.

We chose to place our cherry in the same area as our peach tree, establishing this area as our orchard, or garden forest.

We wanted to make sure that the tree will get plently of sunlight, while also serving as a privacy screen- obstructing the view of our neighbor’s house.

We also made sure our location is in easy reach of the watering hose. This will help it get a good start this year and be able to get supplemental waterings during future drought conditions.

Here’s the process I use when planting trees-

Digging the hole-

After choosing the location I mark a 6-8 foot circle around the base of the tree. I cut and remove the sod using a manual edger to cut the circle’s outline (and a smaller circle in the center), then peal up the sod with a shovel.

Once the sod is removed I dig the hole down about 1-1/2 feet, loosening the clay soil that remains around the side and bottom of the hole.

Prepping the tree and hole-

After verifying the hole’s depth will be suffficient for the root ball and several inches of good compacted compost underneath, I remove the tree from the container and loosen and score the outside of the root ball.

To the hole I add six inches of lightly compacted compost to the bottom of the hole, I place the tree, ensuring that the root flair will sit above the finished grade when backfilled and mulched. I then water well.

Once the tree has been plumbed and positioned, I backfill the hole with a mix of homemade compost and native soil, top dress with mulch, and water well, again.

That’s it.

Once the tree is planted I can begin to expand the fruit tree guild.  To help fix nitrogen I plant inoculated bush beans. To help bring nutrients from deep in the soil I plant a comfrey root cutting. By performing a chop and drop of the beans (annually) and comfrey (multiple times per year), and add multiple applications of compost, the trees should be off to a running start.

Time will tell how quickly these trees bear fruit, but I’m trying to give them best start I can- given our tough, clayish soil.  I’m sure they will do great!

Well, it’s been about six weeks since I began the vertical pumpkin experiment. Time for an update.

First, let me mention that since planting the pumpkins I also planted some Vine Peaches. I received a package of these seeds as a ‘free gift’, bundled in a mail-order nursery shipment I received several years ago. This is the first time I’ve planted them.

Vine Peach is a drought tolerant, native fruit which was popular in many Native American cultures. They used to grow wild just a few hundred years ago. The fruit will be the size and color of a peach and should have a mango-like texture and taste.

They can be consumed raw, or better yet, made into pies, preserves, or pickles.

While the pumpkins continue to slowly take their time climbing their tree, they flower huge orange single-day blossoms that eventually close, twist and dry out. There’s no sign of pollination (yet), and the vines haven’t made much progress with their assent.

On the other hand, the vine peaches are really going to town! The vines are growing a few inches per week, quickly climbing and expanding their reach upwards. To help them defy gravity I loosely wrap the vine around the jute twine every few inches of new growth.

Just today I noticed that some of the female blossoms on the vine peach appear to be pollinated. I wish I could say the same for the pumpkins. Time will tell if they eventually get it into gear.

Even if they don’t, I’m enjoying the experiment with the vine peaches. I suspect I’ll have even more enjoyment with some ripened fruit, if I’m so fortunate.

Propagating Blueberries

I absolutely love blueberries!  They are definitely my favorite berry, and probably my favorite fruit- if I had to pick a favorite

For several years, whenever the Michigan blueberries were in season (and on sale), I would stock up.  At the great sale prices I could put pounds of blueberries in the deep freeze for future use and make large batches of blueberry jam (see my previous post for my recipe).

A strange thing happened this year- the ‘in season’ sale never occurred.  Here in late July the price for blueberries, like nearly all other food and commodity products, are still very high.  I believe that this trend of shrinking/disappearing sales and steadily increasing food prices will continue.

Fortunately our blueberry plants provided us with a fair amount berries this season.  However,  there weren’t enough for anything other than fresh eating.

Enter operation blueberry!  My goal for 2012 is to double or possibly triple our home-grown blueberry plant population.  Within a couple of years we should be able to produce enough blueberries for our needs, reducing our dependence on the retail distribution channel.

I’ve considered buying new plants but decided to try propagating our existing plants by rooting some softwood cuttings, first.

To validate the ‘proof of concept’ I’m starting with four cuttings.  Two each of this year’s most productive varieties.

The propagation process I’m using is very simple.

First, cut several four to five inch cuttings from healthy branches.  Remove the lower leaves from the cuttings, dip the cuttings in a rooting hormone, and place the cuttings into a growing medium, being careful not to rub off the root hormone powder.

Place the containers in a sunny location and monitor their progress and moisture content.  I expect to see new leaves within a few weeks.  I’m planning to post an update, when ready.  Hopefully I’ll be showing off our new blueberry patch!

How long do you think it will take for the first set of leaves to appear?