All I Can Do Here

Sunday, 28 February 2016

Revamp?

I'm looking at reviving this blog, but haven't quite decided yet. For now, Here's what I've been up to: (aka - me talking to myself about what we've been up to this year, as well as garden plans.)

Fostering Kitties
We started fostering in the spring last year, and have had 19 cats and (mostly) kittens come through our home since then. I love fostering, but I'm very glad to have a break at the moment - having little kittens in the house is a ton of fun, but they're also very messy and need lots of attention. We had cats for the past 4 months straight, so we've taken a break until kitten season gets going here.

Gardening
I had pretty good gardening success last year - about 30lbs of tomatoes, with most still sitting in the freezer waiting to be dealt with.

I'm planning for the garden this year, and have planted onions from seed. I'm very excited to see how that goes. I'm also trying out a technique I read about to get a head start on the season in my cold climate. I'm not sure how it will work this year, since it seems very spring like. I'm waiting for winter to crash down on us and put us through another deep freeze!

I've also condensed my garden. The past two years I've had plots in 3 different places but this year I'll be down to one main plot, and one big plot at a second location. I've expanded my plot at the community garden, and drafted a helper. Big changes are coming on the community garden front this year - double the space means double the planning!

This years planting list (I'll add varietals as I can):

Community Garden Plot
Onions (Walla Wallas, Copra, and Rossa di Milano)
Leeks
Carrots (Nantes, a variety pack of multicolored ones)
Turnips (White Globe Purple Top)
Beets
Garlic (Red Russian, Giant)
Daikon Radishes

Tomatoes (I'll be buying starts as I've had very bad luck starting from seed)
Bush Beans
Pole Beans (Scarlet Runner)
Sugar Snap Peas
Shelling Peas (Lincoln Homesteader)
Lettuce (Mesclun mix, many other varieties)
Swiss Chard (Rainbow)
Spinach
Herbs of many kinds (and a herb spiral!)
Kohlrabi
Sprouting Broccoli
Kale (Dinosaur)

2nd Location
Potatoes (Purple, Russet, Yellow)
Zucchini (Cocozelle, Yellow, Patty Pan)
Spaghetti Squash (Miniature)
Acorn Squash (Table Queen)
Cucumbers (Straight Eight, National Pickling)

I've picked heirloom seeds first, and will do the same with anything I buy as starts, organic as second choice, and I've got very few standard seeds. I do have some seed left from ordering the past two years, but some things were new this year and others I didn't have any seed left. And then I went shopping a bit when the nice weather gave me itchy gardening fingers. I've got quite the collection of seeds right now, and one of the things on my list is organizing them a bit better.

I did go through the original lot before ordering and buying, to prevent duplicates and use up what I've got. We picked out the seeds we definitely wanted for the year, and then wrote out our buying list. I'm very hopeful that the extra buying power of an equal partner will work out into more improvement for the plot. We've got big plans for the garden this year!

The one I'm really hoping to be able to do is a mixed patch of asparagus and strawberries along the back of the plot. I read an article about a year ago about how well strawberries and asparagus grow together, and it got me thinking. Buying asparagus crowns here is expensive, the same for strawberries. I've bought some of both and had about a 50% survival rate through the winter. I think part of this is down to not properly winterizing, and partly due to where I've planted and not having proper preparation of that plot.

So, after reading a bit more on it, I'm hopeful I can get the plants for decent deals (ideally naturalized strawberries that will winter over) and be able to amend the soil and create a wonderful long term resource. I have a few leads on good strawberry and asparagus plants, so I'm also hoping I'll be able to afford putting it in this year.

My pork farmer is also willing to give me a bunch of her rotted manure once the ground has hardened back up after spring thaw! Free manure for my garden will do amazing things.

Ah the joys of trying to become more self sufficient on a budget!

Indoor Gardening
I started propagating succulents last year, so I've got a fair number now that are growing pretty well. I've also got about 4 little spider plants, 2 dracenas, a brand new pothos, and some other miscellaneous little things. Pictures to come.

Buying Local
All our beef and pork for the past year has been locally sourced, organically and humanely raised, and purchased directly from the farmer. I'm extremely proud of that. It's tought o do on a budget sometime,s so having a group of friends and family who are also interested has increased my buying power, and subsidized our portion as well.

After the first two times ordering I realized I was being silly, and added a $10 fee to everyone elses orders. Basically a finders/figure-outers fee. Purchasing local can be hard work, and no one disagreed or made any fuss at all. A few people actually tipped me extra. We ended up getting a $20 discount on 20 lbs of pork, and a $50 discount on 20lbs of beef! Not bad at all.

It gets a bit easier every time we do it, but it is also hard to manage everyone's expectations and communicate what we want to the butcher. I think I've got most of it figured out, but each order goes a bit differently.

Coming up soon, I do have a lead on chickens from the farmer we've been buying pork from. She's amazing and I was ticked off about missing out on her birds last year (the Chicken Fiasco of 2015 will be another post) so we'll definitely be in it this year. She also suggested she might be willing to give a deal on the birds in exchange for some help around her farm!

New Job!
In other news, i got my first real grown up job! I'm not a full time permanent Library Assistant. The job security that this has given me is huge, but I really don't even think it's sunk in yet.

For the past 7 years I've been job searching right around December and January. That's already a stressful time of year, but for me it's been considerably worse because I've been trying to get a better opportunity each year that would give us a leg up. I finally got it. I think, other than finally having health insurance (Massages, chiropractic treatments, physiotherapy appointments, medications being covered! All the health! Yay!) the biggest relief will be in the winter when I'm not stressed out about next year. It's definitely still sinking in.

The security the new job offers will also help me financially (especially having the health benefits, but overall), and that means I'll be able to have more time for my business and hobbies.

General Hobbies Update
I've started making bread again after a long hiatus. I wasn't bored of it, but I was starting to find it more draining and less exciting - especially since I've been eating healthier and watching my home made bread go uneaten was much worse than seeing purchased bread go bad.

But, I'm back on the baking bandwagon!

I haven't been doing much crocheting this winter as I've been so busy with work, my business, and the foster kittens, so nothing exciting on that front. I didn't even manage to finish the blanket I started last winter, and I've only got 10-15 rows left. Embarrassing.

Monday, 26 May 2014

Working hard, and hardly working

I've had a productive few weeks, while still managing to put off way too many things that need to get done. Turns out being injured means you prioritize...but for me that means the things I always put off just keep getting put off for longer and longer.

*sigh* I'm going to have to pull up my socks and just get the darn laundry done! ....Wednesday.

Anyways, catching up.

The community garden plot is coming along really well so far. I've gotten almost all the planting done! So far the plot has (* next to seedlings I started):

-Zucchini*
-Cucumber* (although it may die it was perking up as of the last time I was over there...fingers crossed. I did plant 2 new seeds in hopes that if the original kicked the bucket the new ones would germinate. I could potentially end up with 4 cucumber plants sharing the spot. Yeep!)
-Patti pan squash (a kind of zucchini)*
-Hubbard Squash*
-Sugar Pumpkin*
-3 Bloody Butcher tomatoes*
-2 Black Krim tomatoes*
-1 Cherry tomato*
-1 Lemon Boy tomato (yay free seedlings! :) )
-2 Jalapeno peppers*
-2 Bell peppers* (these seedlings were poor to start and are decidedly behind the two best jalapenos)
-6 Brussel sprouts
-4 Asparagus (which won't be harvest-able for at least a year)
-6 green leaf lettuce (which just would NOT start from seed for me...:( )
-6 bright lights chard (ish...there were definitely a few extra plants in there but I certainly won't be complaining! I LOVE chard!)
-10 corn stalks (very experimental...I'm excited to see if it'll work)
-4 celery (I'm interested to see how these store-bought starts compare to my home seeded survivor. I planted 2 store bought right near my home grown one in my home garden so I can compare)
-Walla walla onion sets (I'm planting a single row all around the perimeter of my garden in homes of dissuading pests...between that and the marigold I still need to get in I'm hoping it'll discourage many of the bugs)
-Yellow onion bulbs
-seeded sprouting broccoli (probably too late, but we'll see Maybe I'll get a late crop)
-seeded lettuce, 2 varieties

Garden pictures!

Corn
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The back of the plot.
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Left to right: Rhubarb (came with the plot, I have two BIG ones), asparagus, hubbard squash, sugar pumpkin, zucchini. The cucumber is sort of in between the rows.
Tomatoes, then peppers.

The whole plot, just after the first bunch of planting (forgive the sad-looking plants, there was more weeding and soil prep than I'd thought so the starts had to sit in the sun while we worked.)
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Artsy shot of the broccoli starts - courtesy of my sister who took the pics
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I still have to seed carrots, radishes, and beets. I'm planning to line the path in the middle of the garden with rows, as a sort of growing border. I'll do either 2-3 carrots/radishes, or 1 beet. Hopefully I'll get that done this weekend coming up. Then all I have left is mulching around the larger plants and down the walkway! Hopefully that will minimize my weeding and also improve the soil for next year.

All in all I'm counting the seed starting adventure as a success!

Notes for next year:

-Plant fewer tomatoes!
-Plant tomatoes later!
-Plant fewer squash - then the ones I plant will have more room under the light and more attention (besides, I prefer zucchini and cucumbers anyways!)

Tuesday, 6 May 2014

Strawberries on sale!

I found an amazing sale on strawberries at the local grocery store, $6 for a flat! Since we're almost out of low-sugar jam, and there's a recipe I've been dying to try for months now I got two flats.

Last night I made strawberry kiwi no-pectin jam. This is a method I used last year as well, and the results are amazing. Super flavorful, not too sweet, and much more natural than other options. It's also really versatile, you can do just about anything with it.

I originally read about it on Erica's blog Northwest Edible, one of my favorite blogs to follow. Specifically, I've loved Erica's can-o-rama posts (totally doing my own can-o-rama this year!). I took the basic method for low sugar, no pectin jam she has, and I have plans to try some of her wet and dry 'zing' ideas later this year.

Strawberry Kiwi Jam

*Note: I did double the recipe, and it lengthens the boiling time needed. You need to boil the fruit until a spoon pulled through the center leaves a trail that slowly fills in. It makes a softer set of jam than you might be used to, but I really prefer it.

2 cups cut strawberries (you can hull yours if you like, I think it's too much of a pain)

1 cup cut kiwis

1 1/4 cup sugar (I used 1 1/2 cups total in my double batch and it tastes perfect. Sweeten it to your own tastes.)

Juice from 1/2 a lemon (for the acidity...do NOT mess with this or it will affect the safety of your finished product. Fresh lemon is the best choice)

Combine your cut fruit and sugar in a bowl, then stir until it's quite syrupy.

Put the fruit mix into a wide saucepan (for more surface area to boil off the moisture quickly), and boil for 8-10 minutes stirring regularly.

As the jam is cooking down have your boiling water bath pot ready. Boil the jars, set the rings aside, and use a smaller pot for the lids. Don't boil your lids, put them in once the water has boiled and the heat is turned down.

To check if the jam is ready there are a few tests you can do; the one I mentioned above with the stirring spoon, a sheet test, or a plate test. See below for more info.

When you're satisfied with the set of your jam remove it from the heat and ladle it into the jars, leaving a 1/4 inch of head space.

Run a knife, or other flat utensil, along the inside of the jar to remove air bubbles, wipe the rim, then lid and band the jars. (My double batch made nearly three pint jars - since you can't process a 'near pint' that one is ours for eating immediately and went right into the fridge.)

Process in the boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Due to our altitude I processed mine for 20, so make sure to check here for your required processing times.

I tested some last night on toast and it was wonderful. I'm looking forward to repeating the process later this week with plain strawberry jam for our cupboard.

Testing the set of your jam

Plate test

The plate test is quite simple. I've used it before with good success.

As your jam is cooking place a small plate in the freezer, by the time you're ready to test your jam the plate should be well chilled.

To test the jam, remove it from the heat (or it will keep cooking as you test and could pass the level of set you want!), spoon a dollop of jam onto the plate. Wait a minute or so, then run your finger through the jam. If it makes a clean line that doesn't re-form you've got a pretty good set. You're ready to jar up the jam.

Sheet test

This is a bit trickier, and requires some practice. As the jam cooks use a spoon to get a dollop of jam. Tilt the spoon and let the jam slowly fall back into the pot. You're looking for it to fall in one smooth sheet, rather than as drips and dribbles.

I have used this method, but it's not as simple as a plate test and can be tricky.

I typically use a mix of the three methods outlines in this post, along with a taste test ;) (clean spoon of course!) to determine when it's at the texture I like. Remember that hot jam from the pot is runnier than it will be once set and cooled, so if you only do the sheet test keep that in mind.

Happy jamming :D

Sunday, 27 April 2014

More seedlings!

It's been a busy week in the seedlings-gardening department!

The last of the seedlings are starting to come up. I'm going to plug the Incredible Seed Company (incredibleseeds.ca) again because all of them are at a 100% germination rate! Not only that, but the seedlings look incredibly vigorous. Overnight they went from barely peeking, to being 2 inches tall, with fully spread first leaves. Craziness.

I hope they stay that healthy, because I'm beginning to worry about my tomatoes. Not that they're looking unhealthy, quite the opposite! I replanted all the tall and gangly-looking seedlings this morning to get them deeper into the pots. A few had very thick root balls, even beginning to be a bit root-bound. Hopefully I've averted a crisis by unpotting them, then planting them deeper in the same pots. I don't have anymore room under lights for bigger pots (except for the very biggest plant) and it's still much too cold outside. Needless to say my fingers are crossed for a very warm spring! Next year I'll plant them later.

Oh well, the good news is that it's only about half the tomato plants that have just taken off, the rest are growing at a more normal rate. I think I figured out why - the timer those lights were on wasn't set to 'timer', so the lights were on 24/7! Now that I've got them back on a more regular schedule I'm hoping they'll settle down a bit.

I'm also beginning to plan ahead for a bigger tomato crop this year. (Although since last year's 'crop' consisted of one big tomato and enough cherry tomatoes I could eat one a day for about 2 weeks that shouldn't be tough, lol). I think the big difference will be determinate vs indeterminate, and where i'm planning on planting them.

I've got plans to get a big load of rotted manure to finally (fingers crossed!) make my front bed an actual viable planting location. Since it's about the perfect place for tomatoes - other than the currently abysmal soil condition - I'm hoping things will do better this year.

In outside garden news there's a few good signs. The rhubarb that I've sadly mistreated the past few years (moving it twice in one year, the year after I transplanted a beat up rootball may have been a bit much) but it's up and looking more vigorous than ever. I'm debating putting a bucket over top of it, to see if I can force some nice big sweet stalks, but I may just leave it to grow this year. I am regretting building out catio (cat-patio) around it though...I wanted that extra foot for the cats to play in, and I didn't want to move the sad rhubarb for a THIRD time...but it'll be awfully awkward to protect it from the cats and then try to harvest it in a 4 foot high enclosure. Picture me constantly battling cats, hitting my head, and wielding a knife. Hmmm....If it does well this year maybe I'll split it and replant half in an easier to harvest location. I'll leave some to grow big for the kitty boys as a great bit of shade.

I've also been given hope by a few little bits of hopeful green. My chives, the ones that have never really taken off, are sprouting! This is the first year they've come up anywhere near this early, and I think they've already got more shoots this year than they had all last summer! Sure, they're small shoots right now, but they're there and that gives me hope for a great chive-season :)

I'm beginning to wonder if I didn't kill the asparagus though. I got a few plants for free (a 'come dig me up' ad on kijiji) and planted them in a sunny spot in the front yard. No shoots yet. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed, but I thought they were supposed to come up nice and early? I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Last thing, I promise ;) its nice and sunny, my cloche is up, I've got black landscape fabric warming another strip of ground...I'm planting today! I'll be putting in radishes, spinach, and Swiss chard. Yay! :D

Overall...I'm SO ready for spring to get here!

Pics:
Green things!

The abused rhubarb

Cloched and covered rows

Sprouts

Seedlings

Jitxu helping with the cloche

Kitty prints - a definite sign of spring

Monday, 21 April 2014

Inspiration comes from predictable places

Tonight, as I flip through my possibly overdue library book (having no fines is seductive), im madly scribbling down recipe after recipe and working hard to convince myself I don't need a trip to the store and 3-4 hours of prep and canning. Its a hard sell.

Something about spring makes me want to DO things. Not useful things like cleaning my messy house, or...mostly that really, but outside things or cooking. I want to feel useful, get dirty, and enjoy the - literal - fruits of my labour.

I've spent the past few weeks feeling cheaply and healing as slowly as seems possible...but tonight I want to ignore my twinging thigh, aching ankle, and unsteady balance and get something done.

With that in mind I got out the library book that has had to wait until I could sit up long enough to take notes and got dinner on.

The smell of something yummy on helps my note taking skills...or something. I'm not picky, I'll take my motivation as it comes.

So, no gardening, but a recipe for yummy easy no-stove chicken. YMMV ;)

1 chopped up chicken (thighs, legs, wings, breasts - reserve carcass for pet food or stock)
1/2 an onion, rough chopped
3 stalks celery, rough chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, crushed (lazily)
Chicken stock 2 cups ish (enough to cover the chicken prices in your Dutch oven or pot)
1 can chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup preserve of your choice (I used grapefruit marmalade)

Cook onion, celery and garlic until they start to soften. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Put in chicken peices, pour on preserves, cover with broth and lid. Cook on med 10 minutes.

Add tomatoes and season as you like. Cook another 30 minutes or until cooked through.

Serve over rice.

I also have gotten my starter going again, finally...although with our oven broken its not working too hard.

Dont keep your starter next to hot pots, jyst so you know. Mine was there long enough for the pic and that's it.

Happy cooking and gardening :)

Makin stuff

Note: this is what I get for blogging from my phone! I thought this had been published weeks ago. Oh well, I guess today will be a two-fer.

As an update (and giveaway of how long ago this SHOULD have gone up) both pickles and mustard became edible this week and are AMAZING. We're half way through the jalapeno-dill jar already.

If I make them again...ok, ok. WHEN I make them again, I'll either use more jalapenos or let them sit longer. They've got great flavor but very little heat, after the last jar they're quite different. Due to being the last jar opened they had been marinating for an extra 3 months or so. Those things had kick!

Anyways, I highly recommend both recipes. Yum!

Enjoy ;)

No gardening update tonight I'm afraid...I've got some pretty big changes coming though so get ready for that next week.

Tonight I did something easy, satisfying, and delicious...in a while.

In both cases it's the second time I've made the recipe, and I tweaked a few things. We shall see how the difference translates to the finished product.

Mustard
A few months ago I stumbled across an article talking about how easy it was to make mustard. I'm all about easy, and since its also much cheaper AND tastier its a win all around.

I went and bought three kinds of mustard seeds; yellow, black and red. I got quite a bit, mostly because the spice market only had fairly large quantities, but I paid less than $20 for enough mustard seeds to easily last the two of us at least a year. Compare that to fancy artisan mustard from the store at $6-8 per tiny jar...yeah. Homemade wins.

I don't even know if I can even call this a recipe...

1 cup mustard seeds (I do a mix, 2/3 cup yellow, 1/3 cup mixed red and black)
1 cup vinegar (I'm using apple cider vinegar this time)
1/2 cup water

Mix everything together in a jar and let it sit, covered, on the counter 24-48 hours.
Blend it (I use my immersion blender, but a normal one would work too)
Add salt to taste.

Seriously easy. And SO good! The trick is that once its blended you leave it to sit on the counter a few more days. Taste it every day and when it's mellowed enough for you put it in the fridge. Last time it took about a week or so for it to mellow enough for me.

We've been putting it on everything and it's way better than store bought.

Pickles
This recipe is for fridge pickles. I tried it for the first time in August last year, because I wanted to make pickles and without a pressure cooker I was limited to fridge pickles...they turned out amazingly and didn't last nearly long enough.

When I saw local mini cukes on sale at the store I knew I'd found a solution to my craving...a long term solution.

This is another crazy easy recipe, but it requires more patience than the mustard recipe.

10 cups water
2 heads garlic
5 cups vinegar
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp pickling (coarse) salt
1 Tbsp each of: yellow mustard seeds, black peppercorns, dill seeds
Fresh dill sprigs

Boil water and peeled garlic 5 minutes
Add vinegar and salt, boil to dissolve salt
Wash 2 lbs cucumbers and halve or quarter lengthwise if desired
Using sanitized jars, divide the whole spices evenly between your jars, then divide the garlic into the jars. (I add a bit of fresh dill to the bottom of the jars to)
Put cucumbers into the jars, pack tightly
Coil a sprig of dill into the top of each jar, using it to wedge the cukes in tightly to prevent floating
Ladle in the brine to cover everything
Optional: add 2-3 slices of jalapeno pepper...dill, jalapeno and garlic pickles are AWESOME, which I know due to experimenting with the first batch.

Cover the jar tops with clean cloths, securing them with elastic, and let sit on the counter 3 days. Refrigerate 3 weeks...eat them all in one day ;)

One of the best things about fridge pickles is once you've eaten all the pickles you can reuse the brine with whatever veggies you want. Awesome.

Enjoy your delicious home made condiments! :)