PlanterTomato Vegetable Gardening

2011 Holiday Gift Guide for Gardeners

With Thanksgiving behind us, it's time to start thinking about Holiday gifts for friends and family.  Here is my list of holiday gifts for guy and gal gardeners:

Dwarf Citrus Tree

If you've ever visited an orange grove in bloom, I'm sure you will remember the amazing scent produced by citrus trees. Dwarf citrus trees provide the same amazing scent but in a more manageable package and can be planted outdoors in the ground or in pots (indoor or outdoor).  In addition to fragrance, these trees provide delicious edible fruit.  This is honestly one of the nicest gifts you can give because dwarf citrus are easy to care for and provide so much.  Four Winds Growers have a wide variety of citrus including lemons, limes, grapefruit, oranges, kumquats and some exotics such as Yuzu, Etrog, and Buddha's Hand.  Check out the selection available for sale on-line at Four Winds Growers.  Their web site also has a very handy chart that will help you select the right tree for your favorite gardener with information on max height, bloom and fruiting season, and cold tolerance. $20-$40 depending on tree size.

Jasmine Plant

Having fresh cut flowers on the table can brighten up dark winter days.  While cut flowers only last a few days, these Jasmine plants have much greater staying power; Jasmine flowers open over the course of 4 or more weeks.  When in full bloom, Jasmine will fill the air with fragrance. 

You can buy Jasmine from WhiteFlower Farm for $45-65 depending on the arrangement.  Below is a link to their video on how to care for Jasmine. By the way, Whiteflower Farm also sells paper whites, amaryllis and other flowering plants if Jasmine isn't your speed. 

Monet Water Lilie Tee

A beautiful printed tee shirt based on a painting by Claude Monet.  Monet began painting water lilies in 1899 and they became a dominant subject in his subsequent artwork.  This tee can be purchased on-line from the Museum Store at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  It's machine washable and available in a variety of sizes for $50.

 Byzantine Vine Bracelet

Based on a seventh century gold bracelet from Cyprus, this 24K gold overlay reproduction depicts vegetative forms of vines and grapes.  Also for sale from the Museum Store for $150.

Barbour Coat

Barbour is an English company with a tradition of making fine clothing that stretches back to 1894.  They currently manufacture a full line of apparel including hats, sweaters, shirts and pants, and of course the item they are most famous for.... men's and women's sporting coats. Originally designed for hunting and fishing these coats are also great for gardening because they are warm and water resistant.  Traditional barbour coats (what Barbour now calls their Classic Collection) are coated with wax to make them impervious to rain and snow.  Over time the wax will wear down and Barbour allows you to send the coat back to them to have it re-waxed for a small fee. Barbour now makes coats that are more modernly styled and use high-tech fabrics like Gortex if you prefer something more contemporary.  Barbour owners tend to be very enthusiastic and loyal to the brand because of the company's commitment to quality and service.  I've owned a Barbour coat for over 10 years and have never regretted the purchase.  You can buy Barbour coats at Barbour Stores, department stores like Nordstroms and Bloomingdales and specialty stores like Orvis and Sierra Trading Post.  A Barbour coat will set you back about $400. 

The Best BBQ Grill In the World

Really! The Big Green Egg is a ceramic BBQ grill and smoker in one.  It's modelled off of a Japanese design called a komado, Japanese wood grill.  The ceramic acts like a kiln used to fire clay pots so the big green egg can generate temperatures in excess of 600 degrees Fahrenheit if you want cook steaks super fast.  It also is capable of cooking very evenly, so you can make amazing ribs by cooking them for a long period of time at a low temperature (200 degrees Fahrenheit).  The Big Green Egg uses wood based charcoal and you can add hickory, alder, cherry, pecan or whatever other wood chips to enhance the flavor.  I use my Big Green Egg to smoke bacon and have even smoked a turkey for Thanksgiving.  I've owned my grill for close to 10 years and highly recommend this to anyone who love BBQ.  To find a local distributor, go to the Big Green Egg web site.  However, be prepared to lay out some big coin for these grills - several hundred dollars depending on size, but worth every penny.

 

Floral Fragrances From Caswell-Massey

One of the oldest apothecary shops in the US, Caswell-Masey has been selling fine personal care items since the 1750's. The company's scents tend to have a very old fashioned character.  Their simplicity is rather refreshing. 

You can find rose, lily of the valley, gardenia and other floral scents for $30.  For Guys, Caswell-Massey sells a variety of colognes such as "Number Six" a citrus based fragrance worn by George Washington.

 

Mason Bee Box

If you want to ensure good pollination, putting a honey bee hive in your garden is a good idea.  But honey bees are expensive to install and require ongoing care.  If you want to increase pollination in your garden, with a minimum amount of work, put Mason Bees to work for you.  These solitary bees produce no wax and normally make their homes out of mud which they form into tubes.  However, you can encourage them to live in your garden by giving them a nice place to live.  Wooden mason bee houses are said to be better than plastic.  These hand-crafted ones from Etsy cost about $20. 

Felco Pruning Shears

Felco is a precision made pruner from Switzerland.  The blade is as sharp as a scalpel and the handles are very comfortable.  If you should wear through the blades, they are replaceable. This is one of those, "you get what you pay for" items.  These are the best shears you'll ever own and the last pair you'll need to buy.  About $40 for a basic model at Amazon.com. 

Husqvarna Chain Saw

Pronounce "husk-varna," this chain saw is made by a Swedish company that is the worlds largest manufacturer of lawn mowers, chain saws, cultivators and other outdoor equipment.  Husqvarna makes both electric and gas powered saws for consumer and pro applications.  Consumer models generally run for between $200-$300.  If your property is small and your planned use is only occasional, I'd recommend getting an electric model like the 316E.  Electric models tie you to an outlet and don't have the power that a gas powered saw does, but the motors are quieter, emission free, and require less frequent service.  Husqvarna products can be purchased at Tractor Supply, Sears, hardware stores, Amazon.com and from the manufacturer's website.  If you buy a chainsaw, also buy a safety helmet with a screen visor to protect your eyes and a pair of gloves to protect your hands.  Read the owners manual and apply common sense when operating the saw because Hasqvarna doesn't sell replacement fingers.

Vilmorin  Garden Calendar

Les Plantes Potageres (A catalog of vegetables with magnificent illustrations) was published by Vilmorin's in France in 1850.  The book has been reprinted by Taschen and they have also published a calendar containing some of the wonderful illustrations from that book.  A nice gift or stocking stuffer and priced well at $12 from Amazon.com.

Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It By Karen Solomon

I've used quite a number of recipes from this book including the basic pickle recipe and the recipe to cure bacon at home.  If you are new to home food preservation, this is a good place to begin.  You get 75 recipes in the book.  It costs $17 at Amazon.com.  Ms. Solomon has also published a second book, Can It, Bottle It, Smoke It, with an additional 75 recipes including how to make your own corn flakes, press your own tofu, make bagels and how to cure pastrami.  Also $16 from Amazon.com.

Yummy Thanksgiving Side Dish - Roasted Root Vegetables

If you haven't decided what to put next to your Turkey this Thanksgiving, here's a side dish that is easy to prepare and delicious.

Roasted Root Vegetables

Roasting brings out the natural sweetness of the vegetables in this simple side dish.  We use carrots, parsnips and potatoes, but there's no reason you can't add or substitute  other root vegetables such as turnips or kohlrabi.  Of course, you can use vegetables that you've grown in your garden or those purchased from the store or farmers market.

Ingredients (serves 10-12)

• 10 carrots
• 10 parsnips
• 10 fingerling potatoes
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• Thyme, rosemary or sage (This is optional.  Add two or three sprigs of one of these herbs to add a savory note to the dish)

Recipe

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Wash and peel the carrots and parsnips.  Cut into 1/4" slices.
3. Quarter the fingerling potatoes
4. Place the vegetables into a large bowl and drizzle with 1/3 cup olive oil. 
5. Add 4-5  grinds of pepper and a tablespoon of salt.  If you are using herbs, add the sprigs now.
   
6. Mix with your hands so that the vegetables are evenly covered in olive oil.
7. Place into a baking dish(es) and cook 30-45 minutes.  Test with a knife - the vegetables should be tender when a knife is inserted into them. 
   

A happy Thanksgiving to all from PlanterTomato.

Awesome Pumpkin Pie from Galeux D'Eysines

Every Thanksgiving I make a pumpkin pie but my twist on the classic recipe is to substitute a winter squash grown in my garden for the pumpkin in the ingredient list.  In my opinion, a pie made with fresh winter squash leaves pie made with canned pumpkin in the dust.

In prior years, I've used Butternut and Boston Marrow squashes and have been very pleased with the results.  The Butternut produced the sweeter of the two pies and it was also closer in texture to "traditional" pumpkin pie.  If you don't have home-grown squash, you can find Butternut and other suitable varieties at a farmers market or even your local grocery.

Galeux D'Eysines Pumpkin Pie

This year, I'm going to use a winter squash called Brode Galeux D'Eysines.  This heirloom variety dates back to late 19th century France and the name translates to -- embroidered with warts from Eysines (a town in Southern France located just outside of Bordeaux).

As you can see below, it's unusual looking to say the least. (Darn homely in my opinion)  Galeux D'Eysines grow to 10-15 pounds in weight, are pinkish-orange in color, and are characterized by many peanut-shaped "warts" on the skin.  These warts are caused by sugars within the squash and are natural to the variety.  Galeux D'Eysines are famous for their smooth, almost velvety texture and are generally used to make soups.  However, the same characteristics make them excellent for pie.

I tried to do a little research on the Galeux D'Eysines but turned up very little other than the translation of it's name and the fact that this variety is mentioned in Les Plantes Potageres (A catalog of vegetables with magnificent illustrations published by Vilmorin's in France in 1850)

Illustration from Les Plantes Potageres as re-published by Taschen

Pumpkin Pie Recipe

This recipe is taken from AllRecipes.com.  Its very simple to make and the pie is truly wonderful. Just substitute whatever variety of Winter squash you like for the Butternut squash in the ingredient list.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
• 1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground allspice
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• 1 pinch ground ginger
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie shell

Recipe:

1. Place squash in a saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and simmer over medium heat until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, and cool.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. In a blender or food processor, combine butternut squash, brown sugar, cornstarch, egg, milk, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg. Process until smooth. Pour into the unbaked pie shell.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes, or until a table knife comes out clean when inserted in the center.

Growing Galeux D'Eysines

If you would like to grow this unusual heirloom squash, you can buy seeds from a variety of sources including Territorial Seed and Baker Creek. Growing instructions for this variety are similar to that of other Winter squash and pumpkins:

• Sow 1 inch deep and about 3 feet apart.  Like other vining squash, Galeux D'Eysines need a lot of room to grow.
  
• Plant in full sun about 3 weeks after your last frost date.
• Water regularly.
• Seeds germinate in 5-10 days.
• Harvest in 100-120 days.  You'll know the squash is ready when the color of the stem connecting the squash to the rest of the vine turns from green to a tan color.
• Cure in a cool place for 2 weeks prior to using.

Warm wishes to you and your family this Thanskgiving from PlanterTomato.

How to Make Mead - Wine from Honey

Honey wine, known more properly as "mead," is probably the first alcoholic beverage created by humans, predating the now much more popular wine and beer.  While not commonly available as a commercially produced product, mead is very easy to make at home.  In this posting, I'll tell you a little bit about this ancient beverage and give you basic instructions on how to make it.

If you are a bee keeper and have plenty of "free" honey on hand, mead has one other advantage compared to other beverages you can make like beer or grape wine -- mead is incredibly inexpensive to make.  Honey is the only real ingredient, so outside of the initial equipment costs, the only expense to produce a batch of mead for a bee keeper is a few corks, some yeast and yeast nutrients -- These amount to less than $1 per bottle.

Different Types of Mead

Mead in it's simplest form is fermented honey and water.  This is the type of mead I make.  However, there are many different styles of mead produced around the world.  These add other ingredients including various fruits, berries and spices: 

• Acerglyn - Mead made with the addition of maple syrup.
• Braggot - A Welsh mead made with the addition of hops.
• Capsicumel - mead made with hot chili peppers.
• Cyser - mead made with apple juice.
• Metheglyn - mead with the addition of spices including orange peel, ginger and nutmeg.
  
• Myod - a Russian mead made with the addition of berry juice.
• Sima - a Finish mead made with lemons.
  

 Like wine made from grapes, mead can vary dramatically in it's sweetness depending on the amount of sugars that remains in the beverage after fermentation.  Mead can be dry like as Sauvignon Blanc, sweet like a Riesling, or super sweet like a Sauternes, Moscato or other sweet wine.

Mead Ingredients

The least complicated mead is made from just honey and water.    Sweetness in mead is driven primarily by the amount of honey that is initially added to the fermenter.  A good guideline for the amount of honey required to make a five gallon batch of mead is as follows:

• Dry Mead - between 9 to 12 pounds honey
• Off Dry Mead - 13 to 14 pounds of honey
• Semi-Sweet Mead - 15-16 pounds of honey
• Desert Mead - 12 to 22 pounds of honey (Not added all at once)

I'm not a fan of sweet wines, so my batch of mead is being made with just 9 pounds of honey.  This should produce a dry "white" wine with nice floral notes. 

The other ingredients required include:

• Mead yeast
• Yeast nutrients (Fermaid-K, Go-Ferm, Diammonium Phosphate)
• Preservative for sweet meads (Potassium Metabisulphite, Potassium Sorbate)
  

Equipment

The easiest way to get started is to buy a basic wine making kit from a local or on-line wine making store.  These kits normally cost $90-$150 and include everything you need to get started including the primary and secondary fermentation vessels, a corker to insert corks into bottles, siphon tubes, a fermentation lock (more about this below), cleaning equipment etc. If the kit does not include it, I highly recommend adding a hygrometer and test jar to your equipment list ($10).  This device will help you determine when fermentation has ended and also the percentage of alcohol contained in your mead.

Here are some sources you might want to look at for these beginner kits:

Midwest Supplies

Austin Home Brew

MoreWine

Basic Mead Making

The primary ingredient in mead is honey, but the magic is all created by yeast, single celled micro-organisms.  Yeast literally eat the sugar as food but in the process of doing so create alcohol (the stuff we want) as one of the bi-products of this fermentation.

Fermentation is a completely natural process.  If you leave honey water in a bowl on your kitchen counter, wild yeast cells in the environment would be carried to the bowl through the air, land in the bowl, and begin fermenting the honey.

What makes "mead making" different from the above mentioned "natural process" is that mead makers choose a specific yeast strain to do the fermentation based on the desirable characteristics of that strain and exclude wild yeast strains and other bacteria that can alter the flavor, or even ruin, the mead. 

Ten Steps to Making Mead

1. Since you don't want wild yeast or bad bacteria to spoil your mead, clean and sanitize your fermentation equipment.  A good cleaner used in brewing is called PBW. Once clean, sanitize the equipment using Iodophor, an iodine based liquid that kills bacteria and wild yeast.  PBW and Iodophor can be purchased along with your equipment.
2. Decide on the sweetness level you want (see above for the amount of honey required to produce dry to sweet mead) and add water to your honey to create a total of 5 gallons of honey-water.  Start by placing the honey in your primary fermentation vessel and adding 1 gallon of water.  Stir and then add additional water till you reach 5 gallons.  The water in my area is tastes good so I just use tap water.  If you live in an area that doesn't have good tasting water, use bottled water.
   
3. Add the yeast nutrients per your mead recipe.  This is normally a few teaspoons of various nutrients the yeast need to thrive but are not provided by the honey.  It's like giving your yeast a vitamin to supplement their diet.
   
4. Use your hygrometer to measure the amount of sugar in the honey water.  To do this, take a sample of the liquid and place it in the testing jar.  Now place the hygrometer in the jar so that it floats in liquid.  The higher the hygrometer floats, the more sugar there is in the water.  The hygrometer has markings on its side that allow you to measure sugar content precisely.  "Specific Gravity" and "Brix" are two competing standards for measuring sugar content.  I use specific gravity, but either standard works.  (If you are making a dry mead, the Specific Gravity will be around 1.090 while a sweet mead will have a specific gravity of 1.135 or greater.)
   
5. Add yeast to the mixture and then cap your fermenter using a rubber stopper and fermentation lock.  The fermentation lock is a one-way valve that lets carbon dioxide gas out of your fermenter, but doesn't allow wild yeast or bacteria in.   One uses a fermentation lock because, in addition to alcohol, one of the bi-products of fermentation is carbon dioxide.  The fermentation lock allows this gas to escape, but prevents the aforementioned airborne yeast and bacteria from getting inside your fermenter.  There are several styles of fermentation locks, but all work by filling the lock with some water. (see below photo and video showing fermented carbon dioxide escaping through the lock).
6. Within 24 hours you should notice carbon dioxide from fermentation escaping through the fermentation lock.  The first days of fermentation are the most vigorous and is called "primary fermentation."  During the primary fermentation, the yeast population explodes as they consume the sugar in the honey and reproduce. Primary fermentation is over when the specific gravity of the mead falls to about 1.018.  Primary fermentation takes 7-21 days to complete depending on the amount of honey you use, the strain of yeast and the ambient temperature which effects yeast activity.  
   
   
7. Once this vigorous process is complete, the liquid is siphoned out of the first fermentation vessel and into a second vessel where fermentation is completed.  This process separates the mead from dead yeast cells that will have collected in the bottom of the primary fermenter during the vigorous period and begins the process of clarifying the mead (At this point, the mead will appear very cloudy from all the yeast swimming in the liquid)
   
8. The mead is allowed to further ferment for 3-4 weeks during which point it will reach its finished specific gravity: Dry Mead has a final specific gravity of 0.990 to 1.006, Medium 1.006 to 1.015, Sweet 1.012 to 1.020, and desert +1.020. You'll know your mead has finished fermenting when the specific gravity readings you get don't change for three or four days. If you're interested in knowing the alcohol content of your mead, you can use one of many online tools to calculate this value as long as you know the starting and ending specific gravity.  The difference between these numbers represents the amount of sugar that has been converted to alcohol. 
   
9. At this point, certain additives are mixed into the mead depending on the specific recipe and type of mead you are making.  For example, more honey is added to dessert meads, an acid might be used to add better balance the flavor of the mead, and finally, inhibitors (potassium sorbate and potassium metabisulphite) are added to stop the fermentation process and prevent any wild micro-organisms in the mead from taking over while in the bottle.  The inhibitors are important because you don't want fermentation to occur once the mead is bottled.  Further fermentation would cause carbon dioxide to build up within the bottle and could cause them to explode.
10. The final step is to bottle the mead by syphoning it into clean, sanitized wine bottles and corking these with the corking device included in your starter kit.

Like grape wine, mead improves with age but can be consumed immediately.

For more detailed instructions, recipes and information about mead making, check out the following web sites:

• GotMead.com - There's a wealth of information at this site, but it's not always easy to find.  The amount of information can be overwhelming for newcomers.
• TraditionalMead.com - a web site for purists.  No adding berries or spices here, just honey.
  

Beware of Store Bought Honey: Another Reason To Keep Bees

My daughter is a big consumer of honey, using it to sweeten drinks and even to put on hamburgers instead of ketchup, if you can believe it.  Two years ago, I put bee hives in our backyard so I could keep her supplied with her favorite sweetener and as a family hobby. However, a recent article by Food Safety News provides compelling reasons for producing your own honey or buying it at the farmers market.

More Than 75% of Store Bought Brands Flunked the Test

According to tests done by Food Safety News, more than three-fourths of honey brands purchased at grocery and club stores had been ultra-filtered and contained no pollen.  Without pollen, these products do not meet the standard for what is considered honey in the United States.  Filtering out pollen from honey adversely effects both its taste and its nutritional content, but ultra-filtered honey is a tale-tell sign of more concerning problems; specifically, adulterated and contaminated honey.

Adulterated and Contaminated Honey

Most of the honey sold in the United States in now sourced from other countries including China and India.  In order to have a price advantage, some suppliers from these countries have been cutting real honey with cheaper sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup, cane sugar, or one of  13 other illegal sweeteners.  Furthermore, the actual honey from these countries is often contaminated with antibiotics, pesticides and heavy-metals, making them a health hazard. 

The Pollen Connection

Natural honey contains pollen from plants that are local to the place where the bees produced it.  Samples of honey taken from different countries, or even regions within a country, will have different pollen profiles that can be used to identify the place or origin, much in the same way fingerprints can be used to identify individuals.

Suppliers of adulterated or contaminated honey know this.  To prevent adulterated or contaminated honey from being traced back to them, these suppliers ultra-filter it to remove the pollen grains. Since ultra-filtration serves no beneficial purpose, (doesn't improve flavor, perceivable clarity or nutrition of the honey) ultra-filtered honey should be viewed as highly suspicious and a "smoking gun" for potentially adulterated or contaminated honey.

Where to Buy Your Honey

The Food Safety News analysis showed that most supermarkets, drug and club stores carry brands that have been ultra-filtered.  If you buy honey from these retailers you have a 75% chance of getting ultra-filtered honey.

In stark contrast to this, samples taken from farmers markets and "natural" stores such as Trader Joe's, PCC and WholeFoods are likely to be safe - none of the samples tested by Food Safety News from these retailers were ultra-filtered.  My advice to those buying honey is as follows:

1. Your safest option is to buy locally produced honey at a farmers market or from a local bee keeper.
   
2. If you don't have access to a farmers market, buy honey from a natural food grocery store.

Produce Your Own

One final option is to produce your own honey. If you would like to learn more about bee keeping, see some of my other postings on the topic including:

• What Equipment You Need To Keep Bees
• Ten Steps for Installing Bees In A Beehive
• What You Get When You Buy A "Package" of Bees
  

You can be 100% certain that your homemade honey has not been adulterated with other sweeteners or doped with antibiotics.  Assuming you don't live near a toxic waste site, you can be pretty darn sure your own honey will also be free of heavy metals as well. 

In candor, you can't be 100% certain that your honey will not contain some pesticides because bees forage over a range of 6 miles and may collect pollen and nectar from neighboring yards that have been treated.  However, your home-made honey doesn't differ in this respect from honey sold at the farmers market because their bees may also be located in areas that are adjacent to land that has been treated with pesticides.  Unless pesticides are completely banned, this will be a risk for honey regardless of who produces it. 

That said, I feel our suburban neighborhood is still a safer place to keep bees than a foreign country where there are few to no controls on the type and amount of pesticides used.  

Grinding Your Own Flint or Dent Corn

In this posting, I describe the steps you need to grind home grown flint or dent corn and how to calculate your yield in bushels per acre.

Regular readers of this web site know that I've been experimenting with growing grain in my small suburban backyard.  In September, I harvested my first batch of flint corn.  After removing the kernels from the cob, I had about 8.5 pounds of dried corn seed to convert to corn meal.

Removing the Corn From The Cob

Removing corn from the cob without the use of some sort of sheller is impractical, even for very small quantities of corn.  Hand cranked shellers operate by pulling the cob through a set of teeth that separate the corn from the cob.  These devices range in price from about $30 for a plastic model (doesn't look very durable) to over $230 for a top of the line model offered by Pleasant Hill Grain.  While a good-grade metal hand cranked sheller can be purchased for $80, the price was still a bit high for me given the small quantity of corn I needed to shell (About a grocery bag full of dried and de-husked ears) 

Searching for an alternative solution,  I found a simple $8 hand sheller that worked quite well.  To use it, just place the sheller over the top of the ear and twist the device while pushing down.  The rotation of the teeth within the sheller remove the kernels from the cob.  Using this device, I was able to shell all my corn in about 30 minutes.

Grinding Corn

There are many different styles of grain mills at a range of prices.  For those interested in learning more about various grain mills, please see my prior posting, Grain Mills for Grinding Corn & Other Grains. Since our family already owns a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, I decided to purchase the grain mill attachment for that device.  It proved very serviceable and I would recommend this to anyone who both owns a Kitchen Aid and is processing only small amounts of grain.

To operate the grinder, you remove a small cover on the front of the stand mixer and insert the grain attachment.  Then tighten the attachment screw on the side of the mixer to lock the grain mill in place.  You then load grain into the hopper at the top of the grain mill and turn the mixer on to full power. 

An auger within the mill drives the grain against a rotating grinding stone that converts the grain into meal or flour.  The coarseness of the grind is controlled by an knob on the front of the mill that adjusts the gap between the grinding stone and the auger -- the smaller the distance, the finer the grind.  The Kitchen Aid grain mill let you adjust the the grind in 12 increments.

One caveat.... some reviewers of the Kitchen Aid grain attachment on Amazon.com mention that they damaged their stand mixers by trying to grind the grain from a kernel to flour in one pass.  At their suggestion, I ground my grain in two stages; first doing a coarse grinding and then adjusting the grinding wheel to produce meal at my desired final level of coarseness.  I found this system worked and did not seem to over-tax the machine. 

Below is a photo of corn meal ground at level #1 (most course)

Below is another photo showing the second grinding at level #6.  This produced meal that was on average about about the size of grains of sand.

One more thing to note... while I was very happy with the results I got using the Kitchen Aid attachment, I'd like to point out that that it does not produce meal that is anywhere near as consistent as commercially purchased corn meal.  Most of the meal will be the size of sand but some will be as fine as flour. As a result, the mouth-feel of polenta (an Italian dish made from boiled corn meal) made from my home-ground meal was different than that produced by store-bought corn meal.  I actually prefer the results from the Kitchen Aid, but those expecting an eating experience that is identical to store purchased corn meal may be disappointed.

My Corn Yield

I'm very pleased with the results of my first experiment growing flint corn, particularly since I grew an heirloom variety (Longfellow) that dates back to the time of the Pilgrims. Calculated on a yield per acre basis, I got 107 bushels per acre from my little suburban plot.  For perspective, the average yield per acre on farms in top corn producing states like Iowa and Illinois is 157 and 164 bushels respectively according to a 2004 study by Purdue University.  Importantly, these yields are for modern corn varieties, not heirloom ones like the variety I grew. Yield per acre has increased steadily over the last 80 years due to the introduction of modern varieties; in the 1930's, farms in Indiana produced just 30 bushels per acre on average according to the same Purdue study.

Corn Math

If you decide to grow flint or dent corn, here is the math you'll need to calculate your yield on a per acre basis.

• Bushel - this was once a volumetric measure but has since been converted to weight because of the inconsistency between crops like corn, soybeans, and wheat.  A bushel of corn is now standardized at 56 pounds per bushel without cob, and 70 pounds per bushel with the cob.
• Acre - There are 43,560 square feet in an acre.
• First calculate your yield in bushels by dividing the weight in pounds of your shelled corn by 56.
• Next calculate the acreage by dividing your garden space measured in square feet by 43,560 square feet.
• Finally, divide the results of the two previous calculations. (Your yield in bushels divided by your space in acres) The result will be a bushels per acre measure that you can use to compare to commercial and/or historical yields.

Photo: Longfellow Flint Corn