PlanterTomato Vegetable Gardening

Calling All Chicken Owners - Please Take This Quick Survey

I'm writing a posting on who owns chickens and why.  I reached out to the USDA for information on this subject, but they haven't really collected any information on backyard chicken keepers.

If you own chickens, please let me know a little bit about how many you own and why by taking the Backyard Chicken Survey.  It will only take a few minutes and I'd really appreciate your help.  Thanks in advance!

Puntarelle & Italian Sausage Pasta

This is a quick gourmet pasta dish that is a nice change from traditional tomato or cream based pasta dishes.

Earlier this year, a gardening friend visited and brought me some Puntarelle plants for my garden.  Puntarelle is a type of dandelion and a member of the chicory family.  It's easy to grow, very cold tolerant (zone 4) and has an upright growth habit.

The name "Puntarelle" means "little tips" in Italian and Puntarelle in various forms are classic Roman dishes that are eaten from November through February.  While Puntarelle are often eaten as a cooked salad, we used ours to make a pasta dish with Italian sausage.  To make this recipe, you'll need two pots of water and a skillet going at the same time, but the good news is that by juggling between burners, you can prepare the whole dish in about 20 minutes.  That makes it great for evenings when you don't have lots of time to cook and don't want to eat out or do take-out food.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 1 pound of dry linguine, spaghetti, or shaped pasta of your choice.
  
• 4 Italian pork sausages (about 12 ounces) - I use packaged, fully cooked sausages and find they work well and speed cooking time.
  
• 8 ounces of puntarelle leaves
• Olive oil
• Parmesan cheese

Recipe

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil to cook your pasta and a do the same for a second smaller pot ( 4 cups water) in which you will par boil the puntarelle.
2. While the water is coming to a boil, slice the italian sausage into pieces that are about 1/4 inch long and wash the puntarelle leaves.
3. When the puntarelle water has come to a boil, drop the leaves into the pot and par boil for 3 minutes.  This will both cook the puntarelle and also reduce some of the bitterness of the greens.
4. Remove the puntarelle and rinse under cold water.  Pat dry them with a paper towel or dry using a salad spinner.
5. Cut the puntarelle leaves into 1 inch pieces.
6. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan and add the sausage links that you have already cut into 1/4 inch pieces.
7. Cook the sausage over medium heat until they are cooked through and have caramelized on the outside. 
8. Add the puntarelle to the pan of sausages and cook over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes, stirring periodically to prevent burning.  Remove from burner and set aside.
   
9. By now, the pasta water should have come to a full, rolling boil. Add two tablespoons of salt and the pasta to the water and cook per the instructions on the package - generally about 10 minutes.
10. When the pasta is done, drain and transfer it to a large bowl.
11. Add the sausage and puntarelle and some additional olive oil and toss together.
12. Serve immediately.  If you like, add grated parmesan cheese or salt and pepper to taste.
    

Top Ten Vegetables for Fall & Winter Harvests

You can grow and harvest plenty of fresh veggies during the Fall and Winter. Even in coldest parts of the country (zone 4) its possible to grow lots during the "off season" if you provide additional protection such as a double insulated cold frame, tunnel or greenhouse.

Since growing rates are slower in the Winter, it's best to start seeds in the late Summer or early Fall.  However, you can even germinate seeds during the Winter as long as you can protect them and keep the soil temperatures above 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Below are my top choices for Fall and Winter Vegetables.

1. Mache - This is a mild green that has been grown for years in Europe. While many winter greens can be very bitter tasting (Arugula, Chicory, radicchio etc.) mache and several other choices on my list are mild flavored.  This make them excellent choices for those that don't like bitter greens and families with kids.  Pronounced Mah-shh, this is one of my favorite winter greens.  At maturity, mache grows to about 2 inches high in a small, tight rosette.  If you check your seed catalogs you'll find that this vegetable also goes by the names Vit, Corn Salad, and Lambs Lettuce.  Direct sow 1 inch apart and thin to every 2 inches in row 18 inches apart.  Matures in 50 days.  Harvest the entire plant.  Hardy to 8 degrees Fahrenheit. Mache likes full sun.
   
2. Miner's Lettuce - A native of the forests of the Pacific Northwest, this low growing green is mild tasting and full of vitamin C.  It was eaten by miners who travelled west during the gold rush but you don't need to prospect for gold to enjoy this mild tasting green.  This vegetable also goes by the name Claytonia.  Like Mache it is a low growing green that produces quantities of leaves that are shaped like a "spade" from a deck of cards.  Direct sow and thin to 5 inches apart in rows about 1 foot apart.  Matures in 40 days.  You can eat the stems and the leaves, but I prefer just the leaves.  I don't know hardiness information for this plant but it's range includes Alaska so it probably is very tolerant.  Miners lettuce likes partial shade.
   
3. Erba Stella - Also known as Minutina, and Buckshorn Plantain, it is an extra crunchy, mild tasting green that has become one of my favorites.  Direct sow and thin to every 8 inches.  Erba Stella produces long thin leaves that are shaped like a stag's horn. The plant matures in 50 days. Hardy to 15 degrees Fahrenheit.  Erba Stella likes full sun.
   
4. Kale - Kale is a nutritional powerhouse.  If you could grow only one veggie, kale would be the one I would recommend.  While kale is fairly mild in flavor, it is not really a salad veggie and should be cooked by either sauteing or by boiling in a soup.  My favorite varieties are Toscano (also called either Lacinato or Dinosaur kale) and Dwarf Blue Kale.  The latter variety is particularly winter hardy and is a good choice for gardeners in the far north of the U.S.  Direct sow every 6 inches and thin to 1 plant every 12 inches when the plants are 4 inches high.  Separate rows by 12 to 18 inches.  Unlike the prior mentioned veggies, kale will grow to tall so it should be in a tunnel or greenhouse, rather than a cold frame.  Kale matures in about 65 days. Hardy to 8 degrees Fahrenheit. Kale likes full sun to partial shade.
   
5. Broccoli - Broccoli needs to be planted 12-14 weeks before your first frost in order to mature, so check the date for your town before sowing any seeds.  In mild climates it can be grown all year. Start seed in trays and transplant when the plants are 4-6 weeks old. Plant 8 inches apart in rows 18 inches apart.  Broccoli matures in 50-90 days depending on the variety.  Di Ciccio and Waltham 29 are heirloom varieties that are worth considering. Hardy to 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Broccoli likes full sun to partial shade.
   
6. Swiss Chard - A cold tolerant vegetable for soups and other dishes.  Chard leaves are deep green, but the ribs and veins of different varieties come in a rainbow of colors including red, white, pink, and yellow. You can buy several varieties or buy "Bright Lights" from Burpee or other suppliers that mix several varieties in one seed pack.  Chard adds some really lovely color to your dinner table during the dark days of winter.  Direct sow every 4 inches and thin to every 10 inches when the plants are three inches high.  Swiss chard matures in about 60 days.  I like "Bright Lights" and Joy Larkom's Midnight varieties.  As with kale, swiss chard grows to 20 inches so its for greenhouses and tunnels. Hardy to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Plant in full sun to partial shade.
   
   
7. Spinach - Spinach comes in lots of varieties so choose one that works well for your area - ask friends or your local garden center. However, Winter Bloomsdale and Giant Winter are particularly cold tolerant and great choices for northern gardeners.  To plant spinach, direct sow and thin to every 6 inches in rows 18 to 24 inches apart.  Spinach matures in 50 days. Hardy to 8 degrees Fahrenheit.  Plant spinach in full sun. 
   
   
8. Carrots - carrots are used in so many dishes that it would be a shame not to have them in your winter garden. I like Chantenay and Purple Dragon varieties but there are many different shapes and sizes to choose from.  Danvers is a classic winter carrot choice that is particularly good in heavy, clay soils. Royal Chantenay and Atlas are small and good for either raised beds or containers.    Direct sow carrots and thin to 1 to 1 1/2 inches in rows 6 inches apart.  Carrots mature in 70-80 days and can be left in the ground till you want to harvest them. Hardy to 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Plant in full sun.
   
9. Beets- Beets are a good choice for those living in mild climates where beets can be planted in the late Summer and early Fall (when the air temperature is 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit) In the Southern U.S., beets can be grown all Winter long. Direct sow seeds and thin to every 4 inches in rows 1 foot apart.  Some good choices include Chioggia, Cylindra and Detroit.  For a change of pace, try Crapaudine beets, a variety that dates back to the middle ages.  This variety produces small, gnarled roots that are shaped like carrots.  The flavor is very intense.  For those interested in knowing more about this variety check out my previous posting. Hardy to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Grow in full sun to partial shade.
   
10. Arugula - Also called Rocket, this is my wife's favorite green.  It has a sharp, peppery flavor that is an acquired taste for most.  Direct sow and thin to every 8 inches in rows 12-18 inches apart.  Arugula can be harvested young and it will re-grow.  Matures in 20 days for "baby" arugula and 40 days for full sized plants. Hardy to 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Grow in full sun to partial shade.
    

While these didn't make my top 10 list, here are some other veggies that you may want to consider for your fall and winter garden:

• Brussels sprouts- My favorite is Roodnerf but there are many different varieties that have been developed to match the needs of specific locations.  Most of these are hybrids. Hardy to 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
• Cabbage - Savoy cabbage is an excellent variety for cooking, but if you want to make sauerkraut, go with a variety like Krautman or Danish Ballhead. Hardy to 5 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
• Tatsoi - a mild tasting Asian green.
  
• Mizuna - an Asian mustard green.  Varieties vary but can be very strongly flavored and spicy. Hardy to 15 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
• Chicory - Don't let the primary variety name fool you, "Sugar Loaf" chicory is not sweet.  It's a bitter green.
  
• Radicchio - A lovely red bitter green that can be a nice addition to salad.  Hardy to 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
• Salsify - This is a little known root vegetable that actually tastes like oysters.  I grew it last year and have a small amount in the garden again this year.  Salsify is planted in the Spring and harvested in the Fall and Winter.
  
• Endive - A very cold hardy bitter green. Hardy to 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
• Escarole - Another cold hardy bitter that's a little less bitter than some of the other greens on the list. Hardy to 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
• Radish - My favorites are Saxa and French Breakfast.  If you like radishes they are a nice addition to the garden because they grow so quickly.  Radishes mature in just 3-4 weeks.
  
• Scallions - a member of the onion family with small bulbs.  You can eat the bulb and the leaves.
  
• Sorrel - Sorrel's flavor is hard to explain.  It tastes somewhat lemony to me.  Sorrel can be used for soups and sauces.
  

Awesome Apples: Cox's Orange Pippin

In this posting, I report success growing Cox's Orange Pippin apples and provide some tips on how to protect your dwarf fruit trees from squirrels.

Two seasons ago, I did some cursory research on the internet to determine the best apples.  Based on some tantalizing descriptions, I purchased a number of heirloom apple trees and planted them in my garden.  Regular readers may remember a prior posting regarding two potential mistakes I made in selecting these trees and my fear that I would never harvest a single apple.  (Apples In Bloom: Tips for New Fruit Growers)

Fortunately, the fates were good to us, and we harvested our first Cox's Orange Pippin apples this week.  This variety of apple comes from England and it is considered one of the best desert apples on the planet. However, it is notoriously hard to grow, and can produce spotty results...like the "little girl who had a little curl," when Cox's Orange Pippins are good, they are very good and when they are bad, they are horrid.  Well, maybe not horrid, but certainly nothing to get too excited about.

Maybe it is our cool Pacific Northwest evenings, but the Cox's Orange Pippin tree in my garden produced fruit and the apples lived up to their reputation.  Cox's Orange Pippins are beautiful apples with blush color, thin skin, crisp flesh and a delightfully complex flavor.  Adam's Apples, a blog dedicated entirely to apples, describes the Cox's Orange Pippin as follows:

"This is a wonderfully well-balanced apple with a complex bouquet of tastes: cider, a hint of cinnamon and hazelnut, and strong orange and mango notes. The even sweet-tart balance is the perfect backdrop against which these flavors gracefully unfold."

I heartily concur with Adam's description.  These apples leave supermarket apples in the dust and are better than most varieties brought to farmers markets.  

Later this season, I hope to harvest additional heirloom varieties including Ashmead's Kernel, Foxwhelp, Kingston Black and Orleans Reinette.  I let you know more about these in the future.

Tips on Thwarting Squirrels

One thing that frustrates me, is when critter decide to eat up my garden. I wouldn't care if they took some here or there, but squirrels are just gluttons.  They don't just take a share, they take everything.

This Spring my young Blenheim apricot produced some really outstanding fruit.  We enjoyed the first few fruit that ripened, but just as the main crop reached maturity, squirrels swooped in and ate all the remaining fruit in one evening. The bushy tailed devils then stripped a young peach tree of all it's still unripe fruit, denying us even a single fruit from this tree this season.

Looking at the tiny apples that had just formed on my dwarf trees, I feared the worst and moved to protect them. I tried using plastic bird netting, but had difficulty making this work -- I found it nearly impossible to get the netting over the crown of the tree,  the netting tangled up in the wind, and had a tendency to rip up the leaves on the tree.  Internet research suggested that alternative squirrel proofing techniques such as spraying trees with nasty smelling liquids or using plastic models of owls (squirrel predator) were not effective.  

Since my trees are very young and didn't really have lots of fruit on them, I decided to try a different strategy.  Rather than covering the whole tree with bird netting, I opted to cover just the fruit. To do this, I purchased some small nylon mesh bags.  These bags measure 10 x 6 inches and are made of the same plastic material that is used to bag up onions and shallots for sale in the supermarket. (see below) To protect the young apples, I placed these bags over individual clusters of fruit and then tied them off with the little drawstrings at the top of the bag.  

So far, the bags seem to be effective. I suspect that squirrels identify fruit by it's shape and the bags work because they camouflage the apples so they don't look like fruit. Whatever, the mechanism, it seems to be working.  Another nice benefit I've discovered is that any apples that fall off the tree, are caught by the bag so they never hit the ground.

Photo: Foxwhelp apples covered in mesh bags

Obviously, covering individual fruit clusters only makes sense for dwarf trees or relatively young semi-dwarf trees.  As my trees get bigger, I'll have to come up with some other solutions, but for the next season or two, this method should work reasonably well.  

How to Can Tomatoes

In this posting, I'll show you how to can tomatoes using both the hot water bath method and with a pressure canner.  By canning your tomatoes,  you'll be able to enjoy produce from your garden all Winter long.

Two Roads to the Same Destination

The hot water bath and pressure canning method of preserving tomatoes preserve food based on the same preservation principles.  Specifically, the tomatoes are preserved using a combination of heat and acid to kill any bacteria that might cause them to spoil.  The difference between the two methods is really one of equipment and timing.  

From an equipment perspective, the hot water bath method is probably the least fussy since it only requires a large pot and an inexpensive wire rack for the pot that keeps the canning jars from making direct contact with the bottom of the pot.  But canning using hot water bath method takes 40 minutes while using a pressure canner takes only 10.  If you have lots of tomatoes to can, you may want to make the investment in a pressure canner.  For more information about pressure canners, see my post "Preserving Your Harvest By Canning."

Regardless of which method you use, the basic preparation steps are the same.

How To Can Tomatoes (Basic Preparation)

1. Make sure your canning jars are clean and there are no cracks or uneven rims that would prevent them from sealing properly.
2. Wash and rinse the jars and lids in warm soapy water to make they are clean.
3. Place the jars into a stock pot and the lids into a saucepan of simmering water to sanitize them. (Don't boil.  Allow the lids and jars to remain in the simmering water until you are ready to use them)
4. Wash and stem all the tomatoes so they are ready to go.
5. Remove the skin from this batch of tomatoes by blanching --Cut a small "X" into the bottom of each tomato with a sharp knife.  Then drop the tomatoes in boiling water for 1.5 minutes to loosen the skin. Remove the tomatoes from the hot water and cool them to stop the cooking process and make them easier to handle. (Traditionally, blanching is done by placing the tomatoes in an ice water bath but I find that putting them in a colander and running cool tap water over them works just as well.)  Remove the skin.
6. Using your hands, squeeze out some of the juice and seeds from each tomato so that you are left with large chunks.  (I do this over the sink to make clean-up easier)
7. Put the tomato chunks into pint canning jars and add either 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid (you can buy citric acid powder from a canning specialty store or on-line merchant)  The jar should be filled to within 1/2" of the top of the jar.
8. Wipe the lip of the jar with a paper towel so it is free of any tomato juice and cap with a clean lid.
9. Repeat the above procedure until all your tomatoes are in cans and ready to go into the pot or canner.

Using The Pressure Canner

1. Place the jars in your pressure caner and fill so that the water level is about an inch and one-half above the bottom of the canner. (Please note that the amount of water you use for pressure canning is different than that used for the hot water bath method. For pressure canning only a portion of the jar is covered by water)  
2. Place the lid on the canner and clamp down the lid by screwing down the wing nuts that surround the edges of the pot.
3. Turn up your stove to high.  When the water comes to a boil, you'll notice steam coming from the vent on the pressure canner.  Allow the stem to vent for 10 minutes before placing the weight on top of the canner.
4. Cook for 10 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.  (Note: As the steam vents from the canner it will cause the weight to make a chattering noise.  If the stove is too hot, it will cause the weight to chatter constantly.  If it's too low, the weight won't chatter at all.  The proper stove temperature is one where the weight chatters briefly about once every minute. )
   
5. Cook for 10 minutes.
6. Now turn off the heat and let the canner to cool down.  You can speed the process along by removing the weight from the top of the canner.  However, the minute you do this, steam will shoot out of the vent.  To prevent burning yourself, let the canner cool for at least 5 minutes before attempting to remove the weight and then do so with a pair of kitchen tongs so that your hand is not near the vent opening.
7. Allow the canner to continue to cool.  You want the pressure gauge to return to zero before removing the lid.
8. Open the lid and remove the jars from the canner.  Allow them to continue cooling on a dry towel on your counter.
9. After the jars have cooled completely, test the seal by pressing down on the center of each lid.  If the center of the lid is pulled down and does not flex, the cans are properly sealed.

Using the Hot Water Bath Method

1.  Fill your canning pot with water and bring to a simmer.
2. As each jar is filled, place onto the elevated canning rack.
3. After all the jars are on the rack, lower them into the simmering water.  The water level should be about 1 to two inches above the top of the lids. (Please note that the amount of water you use for the hot water bath method is different than that used for pressure canning. For the hot water bath method the cans should be completely under water)  
4. Cover and bring the water to a rolling boil.  For pint sized jars cook for 40 minutes.  (Because boiling temperatures vary by altitude, you should adjust your processing time based on the below chart.  I've provided altitudes for some major U.S. cities but you can check the altitude of your town by doing a Google search.)
5.  Once your tomatoes are processed, turn off the heat and uncover your pot.  Let the cans sit in the water for 5 minutes before removing jars.
6. Remove the jars from your canning pot and allow them to continue cooling on a dry towel on your counter. After the jars have cooled completely, test the seal by pressing down on the center of each lid.  If the center of the lid is pulled down and does not flex, the cans are properly sealed.

 
Chart: Adjustment times for canning tomatoes using the hot water bath method.

Farming with Dynamite

So many uses of dynamite in farming that Dupont put out a brochure. Credit where credit is due... I saw this pamphlet posted on Rootsimple gardening blog and couldn't resist sharing a laugh with you.

This is a real brochure created by Dupont in 1910 describing the many uses of dynamite in farming. While the title and some of the suggested uses are funny enough, my biggest laughs came from reading comments made by others regarding this post.  My favorite was from "Practical Parsimony":

My friend ... told me tales of his childhood. He was born in 1933 and was old enough to remember the Great Depression and WWII. John told me he and the other boys in this town were too poor to afford firecrackers, so they used dynamite instead. Only wealthy children ever got firecrackers. 

I was laughing so hard and telling him it was absurd. And, how did he get dynamite? He said it was sold in various stores, just not grocery stores. Now, I have tears I am laughing so hard, assuring him no one would sell dynamite to a little boy. He assured me that anyone could buy it. Firecrackers were just too expensive! He said no one ever got hurt. But, his mother would not have approved. His father knew. He was only about 7-yrs-old, and he was using dynamite. 

I have to say, I've never really thought about using dynamite for farming, but it's practical applications around home and garden are really endless.  Oh, the wasted years! If I had only thought about dynamite sooner....

• Aphid Control - No messing with insecticidal soap or diatomaceous earth. With dynamite, one application lasts all season.  
• Vegetable Shredder -shred mounds of cabbage for delicious fresh cole slaw.  The only tears you'll cry will be ones of joy.
• Windshield De-Icer - Scrappers just doesn't get to the root of the problem like dynamite does.

If you have any other ideas for using dynamite around the house, please post them so we can all benefit :)

 Better living through chemistry.