Spring Garden Planning!

Winter still has an iron grip here. There's still a few feet of white stuff on the ground.

It's been quite the season, we haven't had a winter like this for at least thirty years! It's snowed almost every week. We got nailed with a horrific Ice Storm in December that had us in the dark for four days. All in all, a lousy winter...

But thoughts are now turning to warmer days, and greener things!

  

Things are going to be fun this year. I've been granted the use of a large outdoor terrace-style balcony at a relative's place. Far bigger than any space I currently have access too. I'll be purchasing half a dozen large pots, and maybe a few smaller ones, and filling them with the best soil mix I can get my hands on.

On the list this year is as follows: Dill, Thyme, Parsley, and Lemon Basil for the Herbs (most of which I'll air dry to store for winter). Homesteader Peas and Golden Wax Beans (which have been awesome in the past). Bantam Corn (for the first time ever)! Swiss Chard (which I love like crazy). Both Green and Yellow Zucchini. And for fun, Birdhouse Gourds! I also might pick up some Kale seedlings when the Garden Centers start selling the cell packs, and depending on how many of the huge pots I have ready once things are truly warm and threats of frosts have passed.

Anyway, that's the plan right now. Here's hoping everything goes as I hope, but we know how gardening can be... one big unpredictable adventure. *laughs*

Butternut Squash Soup! (Just in time for Autumn)

Oh jeeze... I've sort of been neglecting this poor blog lately. Things here have been very busy and I had no choice but to take a break! But I'm back (sort of)!

And in honor of the soon-to-come Changing of the Seasons.... I give you, my Butternut Squash Soup Recipe!

I'm no gourmet cook, I can admit that. But I know what I like, and the recipe is SUPER flexible! So here goes! (This can give you two to four bowls of soup depending on how thick/thin you like your soup.)

Ingredients:

-One small to medium sized Butternut Squash (about three to five pounds).
-One small Onion (whichever kind you prefer).
-One large Carrot.
-Three Cups of Chicken stock.
-Milk/Cream
-Olive Oil.
-Sea Salt
-Pepper
-Nutmeg
-Cinnamon
-Garlic powder

Directions:

Cube up the squash, and cut up the onion and carrots. Put some olive oil in the bottom of your pot and bring your stove top up to a heat sufficient enough to saute the onions. Once the onions are caramelized to your liking (or not, depending on your tastes), toss in the carrots and squash! If you like a deeper flavor, let the squash caramelize a bit too. Once things start softening up, pour in the chicken stock (should be enough to just cover the squash, carrots, and onions). Let it all simmer lightly until everything is fork tender. Then strain out the veggies (save the stock!), and toss 'em in a food processor or blender (or you can do it by hand with a big spoon in a large bowl), blend/process/mash until smooth (or not, if you like some texture). Pour the stock and veggies back into the pot together, and stir in however much salt and pepper you like, a pinch of garlic power, nutmeg and cinnamon to taste (I did about half a teaspoon of cinnamon, and about a half tablespoon of nutmeg for mine but I love both... so it's up to you how much you add).  Then add however much milk or cream you desire to get the texture you're looking for (I used about a cup of milk). Bam! You're done!

It's that easy! Super flexible, and FAST (only takes an hour or so to make). And I personally think it tastes great. :)

Golden Wax Beans.... Indoors???

Golden Wax Beans!

I am SO surprised! I didn't think the beans would produce indoors, given how small the flowers are, and how difficult they are to hand pollinate! But the vines are covered in developing pods now (not to mention flowers).

I'm so pleased! Now to see if they actually mature and are edible.

Tragedy on the Windowsill...

Unfortunately one of the pots of basil fell to it's doom this morning. :(

Thankfully, the pot that fell was the one not doing that well, so I still have the one flourishing pot remaining. I've been harvesting the basil one snip here, one snip there, for the past week or two from that pot. Storing the snipped tips in the fridge (in a ziplock bag) until they can be used or dried. It's so much fun watching something grow from a seed to something that ends up in your fridge!

I lost the rosemary last month as well. It did really well for a while, then suddenly died and dried up. So no rosemary this year (unless I buy a plant at a nursery or something). I'm thinking of replacing it with some Lemon Thyme if I can find any. It's my absolute favorite herb of them all. It's just hard to predict who'll have it from one year to the next.

Oh well. That's the way gardening goes. Ya win some, ya loose some.

The Surviving Basil

Oh, and in other news. The Golden Wax Beans I planted two months ago are growing well. Three out of five beans sprouted (actually it was four out of five but one was all weird and I pulled it out). When it starts flowering, I'll hand pollinate and see what happens. :)

Golden Wax Beans!

Lastly, I recently picked up an old Oil Lamp for FREE at a garage sale. It's got no glass on top, needs a new wick, needs a bit of a scrub, but otherwise looks to be in great shape. There are at least five "antique" shops across from where I live, as well as stores that sell lamp oil, so I'm sure I'll be able to replace the glass easy enough. So exciting!

First Oil Lamp!

Book Review: The Backyard Homestead (Edited by Carleen Madigan)

Here's my brief review of  The Backyard Homestead.

Few of us will ever attain our ultimate goal of living on 50+ acres, it's just fact. Between rising land prices, bigger acreages being subdivided into smaller lots, and a plain old lack of inventory, many of us will end up on acreage much smaller in size than many of us would probably like. And this book may just be for those of us who end up in such a position. Or, those of us who frankly, end up staying/being stuck in the city or suburbs with tiny properties.

Basically this book shows how much can be produced on land as small as a quarter of an acre! Which is great, especially for "Urban" homesteading.

It goes into everything from vegetables, grain, fruit and nut trees, to poultry, goats, rabbits and even cattle. What I really like is how it shows how to do everything from trimming fruit trees, to making cheese. A little of everything is covered in this book. It's pretty well written, and straight-forward. Has enough drawn diagrams to keep you interested, and get the point across.

I would have liked to have seen more colored images, or even photos. And more covering the vast varieties of livestock like breeds of chickens, ducks, and rabbits would have been nice. Seems like many were omitted, perhaps to fill the companion book "The Backyard Homestead: Guide to Raising Farm Animals" (which I haven't read yet).

Otherwise, it's a nice book. Overall, I'm giving it a B+.

Feel free to pick it up if you're new to homesteading, or want ideas what to do with your urban or suburban property. It may be a bit too "basic" for experienced homesteaders, but for people just getting into it, it'd be a good addition to the library.

Two Tails (of Basil).

The Basil is continuing to do well. Though interestingly enough I've found there's a stark contrast between the pot growing in the living room, and the pot in my bedroom. I sowed two pots, just in case one failed for some reason, I'd have a back-up.

The plants in the bedroom (the one photographed the most) are larger, fuller, and generally look better. The ones in the living room are smaller, leggier, and fewer sprouts matured to this point. I'm thinking it's because early on in their growth, their soil was disturbed accidentally, and many died off and the survivors were stunted due to stress. It'll be interesting to see if they ever catch up to the other group in the bedroom at any point. Or if they'll remain small and leggy...

Beware the Garlic Mustard!!!

Such an innocuous looking little plant isn't it?

What is it?
Truth is, it's a deadly invader. It's called Garlic Mustard, and it was brought over from Europe when North America was colonized. It was grown as a herb by settlers, but quickly naturalized and started spreading. It's a bi-annual, meaning it sprouts and grows one year, then flowers the next before dying. It's roots kill native good bacteria in the soil that native plants need to survive. The leaves shade and choke out native plants like Trilliums, and even baby trees. They spread like wildfire, creating thousands of seeds that are viable up to FIVE YEARS after the parent plant is gone. Native animals do NOT eat it, at all! You CANNOT compost it once it's flowered because it will go to seed even after being pulled from the ground, and the heat of the compost pile will not destroy the viability of the seeds.

How can you tell if the weed in the garden is Garlic Mustard?
The leaves are very distinct, and it has a slight garlic smell when you crush a leaf between your fingers. Here's a good youtube video about it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSYZA979odU

So what can you do?
Pull it out in early spring before it bolts, then:

A)Eat it yourself.
B)Burn it. (Though I have heard it can make the smoke smell nasty.)
C)Feed it to your Chickens! (I have friends who's chickens love the stuff!)

Just get rid of it! Before it turns your garden/property/land, into a wasteland lacking bio-diversity....