PlanterTomato Vegetable Gardening

Dealing With Powdery Mildew

Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that afflicts a wide range of crops including melons, cucumbers, squash, peas, tomatoes and even wheat. Powdery mildew appears as white spots on leaves and stems and spreads out as the disease progresses.  The disease is particularly prevalent in locations where there is high humidity and moderate temperatures.

Here in the Bay Area of Northern California, we certainly have moderate temperatures, but the area is not particularly high in humidity.  However, the cool nights we experience in this region creates conditions which lead to persistent powdery mildew problems.  Specifically, we get night time temperatures that range between 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit.  This is cool enough for moisture to condense as dew on the plant leaves. I live near a creek, so the moisture level of the air around my garden is particularly conducive to the creation of dew overnight.

Dealing with Powdery Mildew

Powdery mildew is spread when spores from the fungus are transferred from one plant to another by the wind, insects and yes, accidentally by gardeners themselves.  Crop rotation and selection of powdery mildew resistant plant varieties are often recommended as the first step in fighting powdery mildew.  

Plant selection is a reasonable approach to the problem, but it probably means that you will be growing hybrid varieties that have been specifically bred to be resistant to powdery mildew.  If you have your heart set on growing heirlooms, then you'll need to adopt a more aggressive approach to dealing with powdery mildew.  Likewise, crop rotation may work as a strategy for commercial farmers with multiple fields or large planting areas, but for home gardeners the distances between adjacent growing areas probably isn't far enough to be meaningful, so more aggressive strategies are required.

Treatments for Powdery Mildew

There are a  number of treatments that can be used for powdery mildew.  Almost all require re-application every 7-10 days.  

• Sulfur dust - This is a powdered form of sulfur that you shake onto the leaves of infected plants. The sulfur changes the pH on the leaves, making them more acidic and this environment is inhospitable to the fungus.  Sulfur is an approved for organic gardening. Sulfur is best used as a preventative treatment or at the first onset of the disease. One drawback of sulfur dust is that it can't be applied to the underside of leaves which are just as susceptible to powdery mildew as the tops.  If you can find a sulfur treatment in spray form, this would be preferable because you can get at the underside of foliage.
• Copper spray - generally available in concentrated form, this is a blue-ish/green liquid that gets mixed with water and then applied with a sprayer. The copper is toxic to fungi because it interferes with proteins in plant tissues.  However, this toxicity also applies to the plant you are trying to treat so there is some risk that you can also do damage to foliage and fruit.  That said, copper is approved for organic use. As with sulfur, copper is best used as a preventative measure.
• Neem Oil - This is a vegetable oil extracted from a type of fast growing evergreen tree.  The need is added to water and then sprayed on. Neem oil works by smothering the fungus and denying it the moisture it needs to survive.  Neem oil is an organic treatment for fungus.
• Sereneade - This is a bio-fungicide made using a special strain of Bacillus subtillis. This bacteria attacks powdery mildew, puncturing the fungus cells so they dry out and making them more susceptible to other bacteria.  Serenade can be used as a preventative and as a treatment. It can be purchased in a spray bottle or in concentrate. Serenade is approved for organic gardening. For more information on Serenade, check out the below video. 
• Fungicides - There are many on the market but the most common ones contain a chemical called Chlorothalonil.  This chemical interferes with the fungi's metabolic processes and causes it to die. Heavy duty fungicides like Chlorophalonil are very effective but are NOT approved for organic farming. Note: one drawback to chemical fungicides is that fungi can develop resistence to them over time.  For this reason, I prefer to use other control mechanisms before moving to this type of product.
  

Recommendations:

In areas where powdery mildew is a persistent I'd recommend getting the jump on powdery mildew by using a preventative treatment before powdery mildew sets in.  My plan of attack in 2012 is to use Serenade as a preventative treatment every 7 days beginning from the time that the plants are getting their first true leave. If I see any evidence of powdery mildew, I'll move to a weekly treatment regimen of chemically based sprayings, alternating between applications of copper and neem oil.  If the infection persists, I'll hit the plants with Chlorothalonil as a treatment of last resorts.

If you have persistent problems with powdery mildew, let everynone know what you've found effective by posting a comment to this posting.

How to Add A Home Office, Studio, Gym or Other Structure To Your Garden

Renovating a home is a major expense and it can really disrupt your life. Depending on where you live, getting the proper building permit can also be a major headache.  If you would like a little extra space to create a home office, artists studio, hobby room, wood shop, honey house, kid play house or home gym, there are a number of companies that sell kits that allow you to build these structure relatively inexpensively compared to traditional renovation and without many of the hassles.

In many urban and suburban areas, traditional construction requires local government review of plans, permits, inspections etc.  Navigating the process requires some experience and probably is best left in the hands of a professional contractor or architect.  However, most communities will allow you to put a "shed" on your property without permits and inspections.  And this is where the fun begins because a number of companies now sell building kits that qualify as sheds under local zoning rules, but are really beautiful small spaces that look like traditional housing additions.  Here's the scoop....

While the rules will vary from community to community, most communities don't require a permit or inspection if the structure is less than 120 square feet.  In my community in Northern California the rules also stipulate that you not run electricity or water to your shed. (Some communities put restrictions on the number of "habitable" buildings that can be put on a particular piece of land.)  What all this really means is that these sheds aren't really practical as long-term living spaces for guests or elderly relatives but they are great for pretty much every other use you can think of.  You probably could get away with letting house guests stay in one of these sheds for a few days if furnish it with a sleeper sofa.

In my area the weather is so temperate that a structure like this could be used 2 or 3 seasons of the year without heat.  However, I suspect that by adding a kerosene space heater you could make it a habitable space even in the dead of Winter without violating any zoning rules.

If you search the Internet, you can find a number of companies selling shed kits in a variety of styles from traditional to quite modern (see photos below).  Price are generally $70-$100 per square foot based on the ones I've seen ($8-12,000 for a typical small space).  That's pretty cheap when you consider that new construction costs over $200 per square foot in many suburban communities and renovation is generally even more expensive.

If adding a structure to your garden is of interest to you, check out some of these companies:

MetroShed

Shedshop

Modern Shed

Modern Cabana

Top 5 Ideas For Earth Day That Save You Money While Saving The Planet

Here are five things that you can do that will help you save the planet while also improving your garden and putting some cash back in your pocket.

Five Ideas For  Earth Day:

1. Create a Compost Pile & Improve the Yield of Your Garden - Instead of throwing vegetable scraps and yard waste into the garbage, turn these materials into compost. Gardeners benefit from composting because it creates nutrient rich humus that can be used in the to improve the yield of their gardens. Gardeners also save money because they don't need to buy packaged compost or other fertilizers. Composing is good for the environment because it lowers pollution. Materials that are composted don't need to be transported to the dump, so no fossil fuels are used to dispose of them.  Composting also reduces the amount powerful greenhouse gases released into the environment. When organic material is placed in a landfill it gets buried where it can't be exposed to oxygen.  Without oxygen, the materials decomposes anaerobically and produces methane gas.  In contrast, when organic materials are composted at home, they do get exposed to oxygen because the compost pile is turned and because worms and other critters help aerate the soil. Organic matter decomposed in a compost pile does produce carbon dioxide which is also a greenhouse gas, but carbon dioxide is less damaging than methane. Carbon dioxide is only about half as damaging as methane. So given the choice between producing either of these gases, we are better off composting at home than sending organic materials to the dump.  To learn how to build a compost bin, check out my posting How to Build A Compost Bin, and How To Compost.    
2. Reduce Water Consumption & Save on Your Water Bill - There are many ways gardeners can reduce the amount of water they use in their gardens; you can replace hand watering with drip irrigation, use a barrel to catch rainwater, or mulch to reduce evaporation of water applied to your garden. If you buy municipal water, lowering your water consumption also means lowering your water bills. Lower water consumption benefits the environment because less water has to be taken from fresh water sources that are habitats for fish, birds and other critters that need the water as much as we do.  If you would like to create a drip irrigation, check out my prior posting Drip Irrigation Made Easy.  
   
3. Create A Vegetable Garden & Eat Healthier - If you are only doing ornamental gardening, Earth Day is a good opportunity to begin planting edibles.  Vegetables from your own garden are the freshest possible and generally way better than what can be purchased from a grocery store because you can select varieties that are bred for taste, not how well they withstand shipment.  If you are concerned about GMO's, growing your own veggies ensures that the food you eat has not been modified. Starting a vegetable garden also helps the environment because you are sourcing your food locally versus having it transported over long distances that requires the use of fossil fuels.  Growing your own, also means that you can control the soil amendments and pest control products that get applied to your garden and select ones that are low or no impact.  If you need help planning a vegetable garden, check out my prior posts on Free Garden Planning Software, How To Grow Tomatoes In Containers, and Growing Tomatoes in Containers four systems compared part one and part two. 
   
   
   
4. Reduce or Eliminate Harsh Pesticides From Your Garden - If you are using harsh pesticides consider using beneficial insects such as nematodes, lady bugs and lace wings to keep harmful pests at bay or switching to an organic pesticide like those sold by Safer Brand. The best reason to reduce or eliminate harsh pesticide from your garden is that these chemicals have been linked to all sorts of human health problems from brain damage to cancer.  As many of you know, pesticides don't discriminate between the "good guys" and "bad guys." They are just as likely to kill butterflies, bees, birds and beneficial insects like lady bugs and preying mantises as they are to kill aphids, earwigs, and thrips.  The most environmentally friendly pest control is to use beneficial insects such as nematodes to destroy japanese beetles or lace wings to devour aphids.  You can attract beneficial insects by providing good habitat for them, or by purchasing them from your local garden store or from a mail order specialist such as Arbico Organics. Beneficial insect will control but not completely eliminate pests.  The idea is to keep the population of bad bugs in check and to limit the damage they cause. Beneficial insects are the safest and most environmentally safe way to protect your garden but they are also more expensive and results take longer to manifest. If you prefer using a pesticide, use an organic one. Organic pesticides may be safer depending on the product used. Organic pesticides are ones where the active ingredients are derived from a natural sources rather than being synthesized out of chemicals in a lab. But that doesn't necessarily mean that organic pesticides are safe or less toxic to fish, wildlife, beneficial insects or you.  Consider organic pesticides as a step in the right direction.   Photo by Giles San Martin
5. Plant A Tree & Save on Your Energy Bill - Planting a tree  in the right location can save you money on your energy bill.  Deciduous trees can shade your home in the summer and lower your cooling bill. You should plant a deciduous tree (one that loses it leaves in Winter) in a location that will shade the east facing side of your home from 7 to 11 AM and/or the west facing side of your home from 3 to 7 PM. Plant a tree that will reach a mature height of 25 feet about 10-20 feet from the east and west facing sides of your home.  If you live in a place that is particularly cold and windy, you can also plant trees to provide wind protection and save on your heating bill.  You want to plant evergreen trees and shrubs upwind of side of your home you're trying to protect. In addition to saving money on energy bills, planting a tree is positive action you can take to protect the environment this Earth Day.  Trees lower global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide gas in the environment. While all plants can offset global warming to some extent, trees suck up more CO2 because of their size. The best tree varieties to grow are those that do well in your region of the country and require the least amount of maintenance.     

Photo by Bruce Martin

Background on Earth Day

Earth Day was the brainchild of Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson. Nelson witnessed a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California in 1969 and the experience moved him to create a "teach in" on the environment. The first Earth Day event was held the following year on April 22, 1970. It united various groups that had been protesting against water and air pollution, toxic waste dumps, oil spills, loss of environment and animal extinctions.  Over 20 million Americans participated in the first Earth Day, meeting across the country in parks, streets and auditoriums to show support for the environment and advocate for change.  

If you are interested in learning more about Earth Day or attending an Earth Day event this year, check out the Earth Day Network web site.

Happy Earth Day to everyone from PlanterTomato

QR Codes Let's You Adopt A Tree

According to Springwise.com, the Department of Transportation in the District of Columbia is now allowing citizens to adopt a tree.  The program is called Canopy Keepers and uses a novel high-tech approach to sign up gardeners.  As the city plants new trees, it tags them with a QR code. Passersby scan the code with their smart phone and this takes them to a web site where they can sign up to adopt that particular tree.  Canopy Keepers receive a free watering bucket in return for their help watering the tree.

How to Choose The Right Tomato Stakes For Your Garden

In this posting, I cover the pros and cons of various tomato staking systems so you can choose what's best for you.

Wooden or Bamboo Stakes 

These are made of a single piece of bamboo or wood that the gardener drives into the ground with a mallet or sledge hammer.  They can be purchased in 6 to 8 foot lengths. Gardeners also have the option to make their own stakes from aluminum electrical conduit that can be cut to the appropriate height.  As the tomato vine grows, it is attached to the stake using nursery tape, clips or other binding materials.

• Pros -  Cheap (About $1 each for a 7 foot stake). Very easy to store at the end of season.
• Cons - Yields from tomato plants grown on stakes are lower; tomato plants produce numerous vines from that are each capable of producing flowers and fruit.  Stakes can only support one or two vines.  So tomatoes grown using stakes need to be constantly pruned of any additional vines that the plant produces.  With fewer vines, the plant will also produce fewer tomatoes.  In addition to the labor involved with pruning, gardeners need to be vigilant about securing the vine to the stake with nursery tape and clips.  In other words, there's lower labor upfront with cages, but you pay for it later on.

Metal Spiral Stakes

These are metal rods that have been twisted into a spiral.  The spiral allows the gardener to wrap the tomato vine around the stake as the plant grows, following the spiral pattern of the stake. While the "spiral" does provide additional support, these stakes still require nursery tape or other material to securely support the tomato vine as it grows.

• Pros - Similar to straight stakes, spiral stakes are relatively cheap ($5 each) and easy to store at end of season.
• Cons - Difficult to use a mallet to drive these stakes into the ground because of their spiral shape, so they must be pushed in by hand. Generally, only available in short lengths so they are only good for determinate tomato varieties. Require use of nursery tape to hold vines to stake. Some spiral stakes are coated in plastic to prevent the metal from rusting.  Over time the sun light can cause this plastic to crack and then the stake rusts.  This doesn't really effect their usefulness but they are less attractive when rusty.

Store Purchased Tomato Cages

These come in a variety of shapes and sizes.  Some are cylindrical, some square and some cone shaped.  More expensive models can be folded. Cages of this type have wire tines at the bottom.  To set them up, you push the tines into the ground.

• Pros - Easy to set up. Can accommodate multiple vines from each tomato plant. Require less use of nursery tape or clips than stakes. Non-folding models are relatively inexpensive ($3-$10). Folding models are easy to store at the end of the season. 
• Cons - Wire tines can easily be damaged when pushed into the ground.  As a result, most cages are not very durable. Can be difficult to pick fruit on the inside of the cage.  Generally come in small sizes (3 feet tall) so they are only suitable for determinate tomato varieties. Non-folding models are more difficult to store at end of season. Folding models are more convenient but also very expensive (+$20 each). 

Do-It-Yourself Cages

These are cages you make using 6 inch wire mesh designed to reinforce concrete construction projects. You can buy the mesh in rolls or sometimes in panels from stores such as Home Depot or Lowes.  To create the cages, you roll the mesh into a cylinder and then hold the cage together using wire ties. Depending on the material you use, these cages can be either 5 or 7 feet in height.  You can build large cage that will last for years and they will cost only $10 each. (For more information about how to build these cages, see my posting How to Build Tomato Cages: Big, Sturdy & Cheap).  

• Pros - large enough to accommodate indeterminate tomato varieties. Relatively cheap compared to store purchased cages.  Much more durable than store purchased cages because of the mesh is made from stronger material. Can accommodate multiple vines from each tomato plant so yields are good.
• Cons - You need to buy, cut and assemble them.  Don't fold, so they are harder to store at end of season. Will rust (Doesn't impact usefulness but does impact appearance) Can be difficult to harvest fruit on the inside of the cage. Need to anchor cages with an additional metal stake to support the height of the cage.

Electrical Conduit Trellis

This is also a do it yourself project.  You build a long metal frame out of aluminum electrical conduit and then hang wire mesh panels from the conduit. You can make these by cutting either 1/2 inch or 3/4 inch conduit to the height that you want (remember to add 6 inches for the section that will get hammered into the ground).  Then cut a piece of the same material to the length that you want for your trellis. Place a 90 degree elbow fitting on the top of both ends of the conduit that is hammered into the ground.  Now attach the top bar by sliding each end into one of the elbow fittings and tighten the screws on those fittings. Once this is done, you can hang mesh panels from the horizontal section of conduit using zip strips, metal ties or string. In the photo below, you'll see that I constructed mine a little differently because I plan to cover this structure with plastic and use it as a greenhouse during the Winter. In my case, I built a hoop houses and then hung mesh panels from the central beam. Whatever design you choose, tomatoes are then attached to the mesh panels using nursery tape or plastic clips.

• Pros - Tall enough for indeterminate varieties. Panels can be removed at end of season and stored flat. Can accommodate multiple vines from each tomato plant. Easy to harvest tomatoes. Relatively inexpensive when compared to folding tomato cages.
• Cons - Most labor intensive of the options. Makes most sense for gardens that are growing lots of tomatoes in long rows. While mesh trellises can be moved, they are clearly less portable than cages or stakes.

  

Photo: Image of the elbow fitting and connection between a vertical and horizontal piece of conduit used to make a tomato trellis.

Photo: My tunnel house with panels hanging from the central beam.

Cherry Blossom Viewing & Tips for Growing Cherry Trees

Cherry Blossom Festivals In Japan

Cherry blossoms reach their peak in Tokyo and Kyoto this week.  The traditional Japanese practice of viewing flowers, or Hanami, dates back to the Nala period in Japan (approximately 700 AD) when the members of the imperial court would gather to view the flowers, write poetry and feast in the shade of trees in full bloom.  Pretty refined stuff.

"Under the Cherry Trees" by Kunisada 1852

In recent times, Hanami has taken on more of a party hearty character with plenty of sake and beer to aid in the enjoyment of the flowers.  Family and friends stake out places in Japan's parks and gardens hoping to get the best vantage points to enjoy the flowers and set up a picnic. Such gathering are similar in character to American celebrations like Memorial Day or Fourth of July but in Japan they are done on a communcal scale.

In 1991, my wife and I were students in Japan and visited Ueno Park in Tokyo during Hanami. As we walked through the park, a group of drunken students who we didn't know insisted that we join them in their hanami celebration (see below). I suppose, nothing livens up a Hanami party like foreigners that don't speak the language all that well and who don't really know why they've been invited.  It was a bit strange at the time but is now a fond memory of our time in Japan.

One quick cultural side note....Many readers probably know that it is standard Japanese practice to remove your shoes before entering a home or temple. However, this practice extends to many other venues.  In the photo above, you can see how people have placed tarps and cardboard on the floor to make a clean area to sit on during their Hanami celebration.  You'll also note that they have removed their shoes and placed them just outside them outside the seating area. Even tipsy, Japanese exhibit good manners.

Cherry blossoms at Himeji Castle, photo by Quasipalm

Hanami occurs in Japan from late March through early May depending on the year and region with the country.  If you plan to visit that country in the Spring, check out this link on the Japan-Guide.com web site that forecasts when the flowers will be in peak bloom each year in key cities such as Tokyo, Kyoto, Nala, and Sapporo.  

Tips on How to Grow Fruiting Cherry Trees

As far as I can tell, Japanese Hanami parties are conducted under ornamental cherry trees, but cherries that produce fruits also are quite showey when flowering.  My Sweetheart cherry tree was in peak bloom in late March and my Bing cherry went into bloom at the end of last week.

Tips on Growing Cherry Trees In Your Garden

If you would like to put a cherry tree in your garden, here are some tips to help you choose and grow them:

• Hardiness Zones - Cherries grow best in cooler climates. Tart cherry varieties do well in zones 4-6 while sweet cherries grow well in zones 5-7.  Gardeners in warmer climates will find cherries a challenge.  I live in zone 8 and have not had much success so far. I'm giving my trees another year or two.  If they don't produce well, I'll have to throw in the towel and switch them out for another type of fruit.
• Soil - Cherry trees need good drainage.  If you have heavy clay soil like I do, it's probably best to get a dwarf variety and plant it in a large container like a half wine barrel. (FYI, A mature dwarf cherry should produce about 10 quarts of cherries each year. While a full size tree can produce 40 quarts)
• Planting Season - Cherries should be planted in early Spring.  Bare root trees should be ordered in January and February.  You can also buy potted trees from your local nursery later in the season but the selection is likely to be much more limited.
• Cherry Varieties - Cherries come in sweet and tart varieties. The sweet varieties are eaten as fresh fruit while the tart are generally  used for making pies, preserves and juice.  Some common tart varieties include: Montmorency, North Star and English Morello.  Common sweet varieties include: Black Tartarian (dark cherry), Bing (dark cherry), Sweetheart (dark cherry), Stella (dark cherry), Gold (yellow cherry), Ranier (yellow cherry), and Sweet Ann (white cherry). 
• Self-Fertile and Cherries that Require Pollinators - Most sweet cherry varieties require a second cherry tree be planted nearby in order to ensure pollination of the blossoms. Sometimes this tree can be of the same variety, but frequently, cherries that require pollination need to be crossed with a cherry tree of a different variety.  If you are only going to have one of two trees in your garden, it's best to grow varieties that are self pollinated (see list below).  If you have room for a cherry orchard, then you can choose pretty much any veriety you like as long as you pair it with an appropriate pollinator.  You can find a partial list of such pairings at the RainTree Nursery web site. It's also easy to find other pairings by doing a Google search on the name of the variety that interests you plus "pollinator."
• Self-Fertile Cherry Trees: Stella, Lapins, North Star, Sweetheart, and Van are all self fertile sweet cherry varieties. Tart cherry are all self fertile.

You can buy bare root cherry trees from Raintree, Trees of Antiquity and other suppliers.

Happy hanami to all. 乾杯 (Cheers)!

Chef Fabio's Brunch Egg Recipe & Fresh Egg Test

With Easter and Passover just around the corner, eggs are on everyone's mind.  In the below video, chef Fabio shows how to tell if eggs are fresh and then gives his recipe for "Pissed Off Eggs."  You can check out the video to see the test and the recipe.

If you keep chickens at home, the "test" for freshness is pretty irrelevant.  I know my eggs are fresh!  The recipe name is silly and probably just to draw attention.  That said, it looks interesting and worth a try for those who have chickens or just love eggs for brunch.  The recipe includes a generous amount of jalapeno peppers, so it's probably not one the kids will love.

Anyway, happy Passover and Easter to all.

NY Times Reports Chicken Keeping on the Rise

The Dining & Wine section of yesterday's New York Times featured an article on the trend towards keeping chickens in backyard gardens.  If you are interested you can read the article at Straight From the Home Coop.

Eggs to Be Sold In Packages - May 1929

Its now so common to see eggs sold in cardboard cartons that its easy to assume that they were always sold that way.  Below is an article written in May 1929 that shows what I assume to be one of the earliest attempts to sell eggs to consumers in packages.  Note that the cartons are not the ones we are familiar with today. Rather, they are wrappers designed to protect individual eggs that are then placed in boxes that look like wine boxes.

I don't know if these cartons ever really made it to market.  Just a few months after the article was written, the stock market crashed and the U.S. was thrown into the Great Depression.  That might have put a bit of a damper on things. If anyone knows about these cartons, please post  a comment.

Thanks to Modern Mechanix for posting the article.

EGGS TO BE SOLD BY THE PACKAGE

INSTEAD of asking for a dozen eggs, housewives will buy them by the package just like breakfast food if the new method of packing shown above becomes popular. Eggs are individually packed in corrugated cardboard jackets and shipped in cartons which keep their contents practically unbreakable.

 

Scientists Report Breakthrough In Human Genetic Engineering

According to a report today in the journal Axiom, researches at the University of Warburg have reported a major breakthrough in genetic engineering of farmers and farm workers.  A five member team led by Dr. Fritz Gottlieb have successfully modified human genes by implanting them with genes taken from Agrobacterium Sp. CP4. This gene conveys resistance to the herbicide glyphosate (Roundup).

"This is the most important discovery of the last ten years," said Dr. Gottlieb, "factory farms will now be able to spray fields with Roundup without requiring that workers wear protective clothing or leave the fields during sparying."  According to the study, humans modified with the gene can now be drenched with glyphosate without incurring noticeable side effects. This is seen as a major step forward in farm productivity because weeds can be eliminated without the suspension of other farm activities. 

Trials on farms where the humans have been so modified have shown a 15% increase in corn production. Detailed test results are not expected to be released due to confidentiality agreements barring Dr. Gottlieb's team from sharing information with the broader scientific community.

While its too early to come to any conclusions, there appear to be other beneficial effects of genetic engineering of humans.  "Roundup Ready" people are also showing promising signs of resistance to European corn borers, cutworms and flea beetles.  

Reported April 1st 2012.

Identifying Honey Bee Flower Sources By Pollen Color

Honey bees forage for both nectar and pollen.  The nectar is the bees source of energy while the pollen is consumed because it is a source of protein and other nutrients. 

Honey bees gather pollen and in "pollen baskets" on their hind legs that are actually small concave areas surrounded by hair-like bristles called setae.  As the bee forages, pollen grains collect on its head.  The bee then uses its front legs to transfer the pollen to the pollen baskets.  A pollen basket filled with yellow pollen can clearly be seen on the hind leg of the photo shown below.

You may have noticed that the color of the pollen basket varies.  I've seen colors including light yellow, dark yellow, orange and red.  However, depending on the specie of plant from which the bees are collecting the pollen, the pollen basket can appear white or even dark blue. 

If you're curious about the plant species from which your bees are collecting nectar and pollen, its possible to identify them by checking the color of the pollen basket and knowing what species might be in bloom at the time. For example, pollen from pear trees is reddish yellow, while that from borage is blueish grey and pollen from buckwheat is light green. Fortunately, there is such a resource to help you identify pollen color; check out this link to a series of tables organized by plant type and season that's on the Wikipedia.

While we are on the subject, I want to encourage you to be nice to the bees in your area -- plant some flower and trees in your garden that produce lots of pollen and nectar.  For a list of excellent plants for bees, check out my prior posting Best Flowers for Honey Bees.

Free Range Chicken Gardens: An Interview with Jessi Bloom

Last week, I attended the 2012 San Francisco Garden and Flower Show. While at the show, I had the opportunity to interview Jessi Bloom about her new book, Free Range Chicken Gardens, How to Create A Beautiful Chicken-Friendly Yard. Jessi is a talented garden designer whose work emphasizes ecological systems, sustainability and self-sufficiency. Recognition of her work includes awards from the American Horticultural Society, Washington State Department of Ecology and Sunset Magazine.

PlanterTomato (PT): Thank you for meeting with me today and for sharing your knowledge with readers of the PlanterTomato web site.

Jessi Bloom (JB): Thank you for inviting me.

PT: You were a landscape designer and gardener before you began keeping chickens.  How and why did you decide to add chickens to your garden?

JB: Actually, I started both together. I had an interest in gardening and was in school studying horticulture at the time.  I had just purchased my first property and I realized that I didn't have great soil. I thought chickens would be a great source of manure for the garden, so I started my gardening with my chickens simultaneously.

PT: So you came to chickens because you wanted the manure and got eggs as bonus, versus wanting the eggs and getting the manure as bonus.

JB: Yes.  I don't look at eggs as the primary benefit of keeping chickens. It's definitely a nice benefit, but it's not the only reason I have them.

PT: Another thing that's different about the way you keep chickens is that you free range your birds versus keeping them isolated in a coop and run. What are the benefits of free ranging?

JB: First and foremost, you can take advantage of the chicken's manure. That's true whether they are in a coop or free ranged.  However, if you have them locked up all the time, they can't help you with pest control in your garden. One of a chicken's favorite activities is to run around looking for insects and grubs to eat.  If your chickens are cooped up, they can't help you with that chore. 

PT: Ok, so those are great benefits to the gardener.  What are the benefits to the chickens?

JB: If you think about how a chicken would live naturally, they're not cooped up.  They live in jungles and forested lands.  We've put them in cages and made them into egg laying machines. One of the reasons that I let my chickens free range is because I believe in giving them their freedom and allowing them to roam around as they would naturally.

Chickens acclimate very well to a gardens if the garden is designed for that purpose. If your garden is just a lawn with a few shrubs here and there, or just a little patch of perennials or veggies, it's not habitat for chickens, so they are going to eat those plants and cause a lot of problems. One of the reasons my book has done so well is that people didn't realize that you could create chicken habitat. 

PT: As a landscape designer, I assume you have some distinct opinions about the placement of structures and plants in a garden.  Can you share some basic principles about how to construct a good landscape garden and chicken habitat?

JB: Many of the same principles of traditional gardening come into play when designing a chicken garden. You should design your garden with a tree layer, a grass layer, a ground cover layer, etc. etc.  Having all that diversity allows the chickens to have many foraging and shelter options.  

PT: How do you balance between the aesthetics of the garden and the practical considerations required to keep free range chickens?

JB: I always look at aesthetics, but function comes first. When I design a garden for aesthetics, I always start the plan by thinking about the season that has the least amount of interest. I then make sure the garden design includes elements that add interest during that season and then work backwards through the seasons to create a complete design.  For my garden, it's the Winter season because I have six months of bare branches. My garden designs make use of ornamental plants that are very showy. I also try to add plants that have different attributes that create interest throughout the course of the year.

PT: Are there some plants that you think work particularly well, or less well, in a free range environment?

JB: I have a detailed list of plants in my book, but there are some general principles at work.  Certain plants have textures that chickens don't like, so you should avoid them for that reason.  A plant like juniper falls into this group.  Then there are really delicate herbaceous plants such as bleeding heart (dicentra formosa).  This is a perennial ground cover that comes up early in the season and it can be very damaged by chickens scratching  Other categories of plants that I would not recommend adding to the garden would be any plant that is irreplaceable because of its rarity or perhaps because it's special because it was received as a gift. 

PT: Readers of this web site have a strong interest in vegetable gardening. Some of the more popular crops grown include tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and beans.  Is there any particular advice you would give vegetable gardeners who want to free range their birds?

JB: Gardeners have two options.  They can fence chickens out of food gardens entirely, or they can take protective measures for those types of plants.  Let's take tomatoes as an example... Chickens aren't interested in that plant until it's fruiting, so I wait till they are about to ripen and then wrap the plants in bird netting. It takes a little extra time to do this, but if you are going to have free range chickens, it's worth spending the time to protect your crops.

PT: What is your favorite tip for those that keep chickens?

JB: Don't be a chicken hoarder. You don't need thirty chickens in your small backyard. It's critical to balance the number of animals you have versus the space you have. 

PT: You just published a book called Free Range Chicken Gardens. Can you tell us a little about that book?

JB: The heart of the book is about creating chicken habitat. When writing the book, I asked myself what a gardener would want to know about chickens and garden design and focused on that rather than on medical information or information on butchering that can appear in many chicken books.  My book is about plants, design, and ensuring that the garden is created in a way that chickens don't destroy it.

PT: How do you see your book being different than other chicken books on the market?

JB: As far as I know, there aren't many landscape design books out there that cover chickens and most of the chicken books on the market tell readers that chickens and gardens don't mix. My book is just the opposite. I try to encourage and inspire my readers by showing them free range chicken habitats that are also very beautiful gardens. 

PT: If PlanterTomato readers would like to purchase your book, where can they buy it?

JB: It's widely available at on-line bookstores like Amazon and people can buy it directly from me at my blog, GardenFowl.com.  I'll even sign it for them.

PT: Jessi, thanks for joining us today.

JB: Thanks for having me. It's been fun.

Photos shown above are by Kate Baldwin.

Free-Range Chicken Gardens is published by Timber Press.

Best Containers for Starting Seeds

In this last of a series of three postings, I describe the pros and cons of various seed starting containers and make my recommendations.

Clay Pots - In my opinion there really aren't many "pros" to using clay pots. Their heavy, break easily, and are hard to clean at the end of the season.  All hard sided pots, including clay ones can also cause seedlings to become root bound.  Root growth is stopped by the sides of the pot and the roots respond by creating a circular root mass along the pot walls. Gardeners need to tease out the roots from the root ball prior to planting to prevent the seedling from becoming stunted. This is not a big deal, but its a disadvantage of using hard sided pots. On the plus side, clay pots can be re-used each year, but they also need to be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized.  As I mentioned in my prior posting, it's best to plant seedlings in a growing medium that does not contain any micro-organisms that might kill the delicate seedlings.  To ensure that a clay pot is free of such nasties, you need to clean the pot and then dip it in a dilute solution of water and bleach (10% bleach + 90% water) for ten minutes.  Not fun and not very ec0-friendly due to the bleach. For these reasons, I don't recommend clay pots.

Individual Plastic Pots - small plastic pots are light, durable, and are not porous to the air so they retain water well for the seedlings planted in them.  Plastic pots are re-usable so you can get many seasons out of them before having to purchase new ones.  Like clay pots, they need to be cleaned and sanitized at the end of the season to prevent spreading disease and also like clay pots, plants can get root bound if allowed to grow too long in these pots. That said, I think plastic pots are are still one of the best choices available to gardeners. Recommended highly.

Multi-Cell Plug Trays - these are thin-walled plastic containers like the ones that plants are sold in at the garden center.  They are inexpensive and retain water well.  However, they are not particularly durable and don't lend themselves well to re-use in my opinion.  I think many people end up throwing these in the garbage at the end of each year so they make for lots of landfill. Additionally, I sometimes find it difficult to get plants out of these trays, particularly if the plants are young and have not developed very vigorous root systems to hold the soil within the cell.  These are an "OK" choice in my opinion, but I think it's easier to handle individual plastic pots than these multi-cell containers.

Complete Seed Starting Systems  - I used a system sold by Burpee a few years ago called the Ultimate Seed Starting System.  The system includes a bottom tray that acts as a water reservoir, a mat that wicks water upward from the reservoir, a series of multi-cell trays for planting seeds in soilless mix, and a dome to cover the seeds and keep them moist.  I found this system to be incredibly easy to use and did an awesome job of keeping the seeds at just the right level of humidity.  They can be re-used in theory, but I found that in practice that I ended up destroying the containers when attempting to remove seedlings from the little cells (see below photo).  In my opinion, the flimsiness of the plastic is the Achilles heel of the product.  If you use this type of system, you probably need to buy a new one each year (I believe they cost about $20)  However, the system worked so well as a seed starting product that I still would recommend them to others.  You just need to decide how bad you feel about tossing the plastic in the garbage each year. If this doesn't bother you, I would place containers like the Ultimate Seed Starter kit at the top of the recommended list.

Biodegradable Pots - these products are generally made of peat moss that is pressed into a the shape of a pot.  Jiffy pellets are similar but are both pot and soilless mix in one.  These types of containers are lightweight, relatively cheap, and easy to use. In theory the main benefit of these products is that they can be planted directly in the ground - no pot to worry about cleaning the following year and no having to remove the seedling from the container and its attendant inconveniences. Sounds good, but in practice many gardeners have had problems with peat pots. Specifically, the wall of the pot does not degrade quickly enough after transplanting, and the plant becomes root bound and stunted.  Peat pots can be purchased for around $.10-$.20 each so they are not that expensive.  I find the price, convenience and biodegradable nature of these products compelling, so here's what I'd recommend; if you want to use peat pots, tear away the pot walls entirely before transplanting the seedlings into the ground.  That way your plant wont become root bound. Then throw the pot itself into your compost bin.  No pots to wash, no bleach, no plastic in the landfill. Recommended, but only if your remove the walls of the pot prior to planting.

Wooden Seed Boxes - These are generally made of a natural rot resistant type of wood such as redwood or cedar. This type of container is not very common.  You'll need to either build it yourself or buy it from a specialty garden retailer. They are very eco-friendly and reusable, but they are also heavy, expensive, and not really cleanable.  These boxes don't have individual compartments for the seeds so, you need to tease the seedlings apart when removing them from the container. I made some of these last year to give them a try. I wasn't happy with the results and won't be using them this year. Not recommended.

Soil Blocks - I'm going to try these for the first time this year.  A soil block is a pot-less container made only from soil.  You purchase a soil block maker and then make the blocks yourself using your own soil mix.  The soil block maker looks and operates like a cookie cutter. You mix up a batch of potting soil and then push the block maker into the soil.  You then push down on a release mechanism and the block maker pushes out perfectly formed cubes of soil into which you plant seeds.  When you are ready to transplant, you just place the soil block in the ground. Soil block makers seem to have many advantages.  There are no pots to clean or store, no plastic to throw in the garbage, and unlike hard sided pots, plants in plant blocks won't become root bound because when the root of the seedling reach the outer edge of the seed block, they responds by suspending growth, rather than circling the walls of the container. Another advantage of soil block makers is that they are claimed to make it easy to "pot up" the seedlings --  In other words, you can start the seedlings in tiny soil blocks and then transfer the tiny block into the top of a larger soil block if the plant gets too large for the original block.  This is made easy by the fact that larger sized soil block makers are designed with pegs that create an indentation in the top of the soil block into which a smaller block will fit perfectly.  You just pop the smaller block into the larger one (see below) I purchased a set of soil block makers and will be giving them a try this year.  One thing worth mentioning is that soil block makers use a totally different potting medium than any of the containers previously mentioned.  Specifically, the medium needs to be much heaveier than soilless mix in order for the soil block to hold its shape. Online retailers who sell soil block makers also sell soil mixes for these devices, but I think most people will want to mix their own soil rather than pay the shipping cost on a heavy bad of soil.  To make your own soil block mix, you'll need to buy peat moss, vermiculite, garden soil and compost. And there's the rub...the garden soil and compost can harbor some of the nasty micro-organisms that can kill seedlings, so the one potential disadvantage of soil blocks is a greater risk of killing the seedlings due to fungal or other infections.  That said, I'm going to give them a try this year and see what happens.

Ten Steps To Successfully Starting Vegetable Seeds

In my last posting in this series, I shared a free seed starting calculator with you to help you determine when to plant based on the last frost date for your area.  In this posting, I cover the ten steps you should follow to successfully start seeds.

Ten Steps to A Successful Seed Starting Program:

1. Containers - First select a container system for your seedlings. You can buy a variety of commercial products or even start seeds in used egg cartons or yogurt cups.  I've tried a number of systems over the years and would recommend either individual plastic pots filled with soilless potting mix or complete seed starting kits like Burpee's Ultimate Seed Starter.  These containers are relatively cheap, extremely convenient, and almost fool proof. (I'll cover the pros and cons of various seed starting containers in my next posting for those interested.) When you buy your containers, also purchase some plastic trays to set your pots into as well as some clear plastic tray covers. (Below: a photo of a plastic tray and clear cover and also Burpee's Ultimate Growing System that includes a tray, plastic cover, water wicking mat, peat pellets and plastic cell containers)
    
    
2. Potting Medium - Fill the pots about 75% full with a soilless potting mix.  These soilless mixes are made from sphagnum moss, perlite, vermiculite and as the name implies contain no soil.  Soilless mixes are easy to work with an are also sterile.  Yup, sterile.... Don't plant seedlings in either garden soil, or dirt from your back yard.  Traditional soil contains micro-organisms, some of which are good and some of which are bad.  The bad ones can kill delicate seedlings so go with growing mediums that are sterile and free of any such nasties. 
3. Add the seeds - Place a seed into the center of your container.  The general rule of thumb is to plant seeds at a depth that is three times thicker than the seeds. That means that tomato seeds will planted relatively shallow in the container because the seeds are small, but squash seeds will be planted deeper because the seeds are much larger. Place a seed in the center of the pot, tamp it down to ensure good contact, and then cover with more soilless mix to the appropriate depth. 
4. Set Containers Into Trays & Label Them - once the seed is in it's container, place the container into the plastic tray and label it with a wooden or plastic stake. Do this right away so you don't forget what is in each pot.
5. Water- Add some water to the base of the tray and allow it to wick upward into the pots until your potting medium is thoroughly moist. You want to add enough water to soak the pots, but not so much that they are swimming in water. Watering is tricky and depends on your indoor temperature and humidity.  Try to adjust the daily watering amount so that by day's end the soil is still moist but there no visible water left in the bottom of the tray. Seedlings have enough food stored in the seed for the first few days of life, but after that, they need additional nutrients. Soilless mixes may, or may not, include added fertilizer.  If your mix does not contain fertilizer, you'll need to add some to the water that you give your seedlings.  Use a 50% dilution of the normal strength fertilizer until you transplant the seeds.
6. Temperature & Light - To germinate, your seeds need to be kept warm.  Start your seeds indoors in a relatively warm place in your house.  I highly recommend purchasing a seed starting mat.  This mat looks and functions a lot like a heating pad.  You place the mat under the seed trays and plug it into an electric outlet.  The mat keeps  your containers at a temperature that is approximately 70 degrees Fahrenheit - the perfect temperature for germination of a wide range of vegetable seeds. During the first few days of germination, you don't need light. However, once the seedlings emerge they will need to be placed near a window or under a grow light.  Seedlings to get +6 hours of light each day. 
7. Post Germination - At the same time as the seeds emerge from the soil, you should also remove the clear plastic tray cover. This cover is great during germination, but can create too much humidity for the young seedlings and cause them to become infected by fungi. Removing the cover allows air to circulate around the seedlings so they stay healthy.
8. Transitioning to the Garden -  Seedlings emerge with a set of oblong shaped leaves called cotyledon.  All subsequent leaves will be shaped like that of the mature plant.  These latter leaves are called "true" leaves.  You should not attempt to transplant seedlings into the garden until they have 3-4 true leaves, and not before you have taken the next step to "harden" them.  
9. Hardening - This is the process of acclimating the seedlings to an outdoor environment.    Hardening allows seedlings to accommodate themselves more variable conditions of light, humidity and temperature than those inside your house.   To accomplish this, take your seedling trays outside in the morning and let them stay outside for a 3-4 hours on the first day, 4-5 hours on the second day, and 5-6 hours the third day. On day 4, you can transplant the seedling into the garden.
10. Transplanting - Remove the plant from the pot by first tapping the sides and bottom of the pot to loosen the soil. Press on the bottom of the pot and until the plant slides out.  Then gently tease some of the roots from the root ball prior to placing in the ground. 

Starting seeds isn't that hard, but occasionally things don't work out. Don't blame yourself or get frustrated. Even experienced gardeners lose some seedlings each year.  The fix for a partial or total loss is to go to the garden center and buy seedlings that are ready for transplant. 

In my next posting, I'll go into more detail on the pros and cons of various container systems.

San Francisco Flower & Garden Show

If your in the San Francisco Bay Area you can get a jump on Spring by attending the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show.  

The show features a number of ornamental garden exhibits that are sure to inspire you (see some photos below) as well as a full program of interesting seminars that cover all aspects of gardening.  While at the show you can also do a little shopping -- ornamental and edible plants, garden tools, and a wide range of garden related products and services can be purchased from retailers attending the show.

One more thing.....While at the show today, I interviewed Jessi Bloom, a talented landscape designer and author of a new book on creating gardens that are designed to accommodate free range chickens. She is giving a presentation on that subject tomorrow (Friday) at 1:15 PM.  I encourage you to attend if you are thinking about adding chickens to your backyard garden. A transcript of my interview with Jessi will also be posted on the PlanterTomato.com web site next week.

The SF Garden Show began this Wednesday and continues through the week end.  I encourage all Bay Area gardeners to visit the show; you'll have a great time, meet some very nice folks and enter the 2012 gardening season with new ideas on how to improve your garden. Check out their web site for program details and times.  

 

Free Seed Starting Calculator

In this posting, I provide a free, down-loadable Excel spreadsheet that will automatically calculate the date to plant seeds for 45 vegetable types.  All you need to do is enter one bit of information and the spreadsheet does the rest of the work.

We are now getting into seed starting season.  Over the course of the next few postings, I'll share information with you to help you get your garden going.  In this first posting, I'm providing a free resource to my readers that will make determining when to begin planting seeds a snap.

Here's all you need to do:

1. Download the Excel spreadsheet attached to this posting -  Download PlanterTomato Seed Starting Calculator v2
2. In the yellow box, enter the last frost date for your area. The last frost date is the last date that your area is likely to get hit by frost based on historical weather data.  If you don't know your last frost date, you can find it at VictorySeeds.com/Frost.  Click on your state and find a nearby city.  Choose the Spring or Last Frost date and use this in the calculator.
3. Enter this date into the yellow box on the Seed Calculator spreadsheet and it then calculates the planting dates for 45 varieties of vegetables.

The first two columns that are shaded blue show the date that you would start your seeds indoors and the date that you would then transplant the seedlings into your garden.

The third column that is shaded green shows the direct sowing date, or the date that you would plant a seed outdoors in your garden.

Most seeds can be either started indoor and transplanted or directly sown into the garden, so you'll see dates listed for both these options. However, there are some exceptions.  For example, carrots and radishes are almost always sown directly into the garden, so I don't show dates for indoor seed starting.  Likewise, Brussels Spouts are almost always transplanted because their seeds are hard to germinate outdoors, so I don't show a direct sow date for that vegetable.

In my next posting, I'll cover your equipment options for seed starting.

Sample Calculator for a last frost date of 3/1:

Daylight Savings Time

Today we "spring forward" in the U.S., setting our clocks ahead 1 hour. Daylight savings time was instituted to save energy, but according to this article in Organic Gardening Magazine it doesn't.  In fact, the only thing daylight savings time seems to do is to give most Americans one more hour per day to go shopping.  

Not me.  You'll find me in the garden.

Honey Bees: Some Like It Hot

Most bee keepers know that honey bees maintain a hive cluster temperature of 95 degrees Fahrenheit by vibrating their wing muscles to create heat. However, new research shows that they use they use this same mechanism to create a division of labor within the hive.

According to the new finding from Wurzburg University in Germany, honey bee papa warmed to a constant temperature of 95 Fahrenheit become forager bees - the ones that leave the hive to search for nectar and pollen.  Those reared at 93 degrees become the housekeeper bees that stay in the hive to take care of brood etc.  

Apparently, the number of bees assigned to each role is no accident.  The bees actively manage the ratio of foragers to housekeepers to match their needs. Pretty cool.  Check out the full article.

Photo Source: Mail Online

Companion Planting Guide

Companion planting is a practice whereby certain vegetables, herbs and flowers are planted in close proximity to each other because one of the plants is believed to have a beneficial effect on the other, or in some cases a mutually beneficial effect.

A few weeks ago, a reader of this blog contacted me requesting information about companion planting.  I don't have first hand experience with companion planting but did a little research to help this reader. 

Before you run off to re-plan your garden around companion planting principles, I need to tell you that I couldn't find any scientific evidence that companion planting works.  I'm not saying it doesn't work, just that I couldn't find any experiments where companion planting was proven in a rigorously tested scientific experiment. However, there are many gardeners who swear by it and the companion planting pairings based on attracting beneficial insects and soil enhancement seem reasonable to me.

For those interested in in the subject,  I'm posting a link to a very complete companion plant list created by Ute Bohnsack.  Unfortunately, this chart doesn't specify the specific effect of one plant upon the other.  However, here are some of the general reasons plants are said to benefit their companions:

• Pest Deterrence -  certain plants can release chemicals from their roots or flowers that are said to repel insects and thereby provide protection to neighboring crops.  For example, marigolds, mint, chrysanthemums and rue are said to do this and are often planted between crop rows to provide protection against pests such as nematodes, Japanese beetles and other nasties.
• Beneficial Insects - certain plants may attract beneficial insects that will either pollinate food crops or prey upon harmful insects that would eat the food crop.  For example, planting bee balm to attract pollinating bees or corn flower to attract lady bugs.  Companion planting advocates also try to develop habitats that allow toads, snakes and other insect predators to flourish.
  
• Soil Enhancement - for example, using nitrogen fixing legumes to enhance the soil that will benefit a subsequent crop.
• Spacial Interactions - tall, sun-loving plants are grown adjacent to shorter varieties that have partial sun, or lower heat requirements.  Likewise, certain plants can be used as a wind-break to protect more delicate plants.  Famously, corn and beans can be grown together with the beans using the corn stalks as natural trellises.

If you've tried companion planting, let me know if you think it works by posting a comment.

Photo: reverse side of the 2009 native American $1 coin issued by the U.S. Mint.  The scens shows companion planting of the "three sisters" - corn, beans and squash.

Early Signs of Spring

The temperature reached into the mid 60 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday. The bees were very active, some of the fruit trees have been in bloom for a few days now.  I took a stroll through the garden and took some photos of some of the overwintered plants and some new arrivals.

Blenheim apricots are considered the best in the world. Sadly, it is a very fragile fruit, so those living outside of California, where most of the Blenheims are grown, have two options -- buy them as dried fruit, or grow them for yourself.  I'd recommend the latter.

Below is my Baby Crawford peach in bloom. Last year it suffered from peach leaf curl and then the squirrels nipped in and got all the peaches just as they were ripening.  I'm hoping for a better year in 2012.  

The tiny bell shaped flowers of this Chandler blueberry are a pleasure to look at.  The blueberries taste rather nice as well.

I planted several varieties of potatoes in grow bags in October of last year with the hope that the Winter would warm enough that I could get an early batch of potatoes. No such luck, we had a killing frost in January that destroyed all the plants but this one Yukon Gold potato.  I replanted two weeks ago but the new potatoes have not yet poked through the soil. One variety that I'm particlarly excited about is called "Reba." It is said to be an excellent potato for potato chips.  Oh the anticipation....

It's taken a while for them to germinate, but the Thomas Laxton English peas are the first vegetables that I planted in this calendar year (versus overwintered from last year). With any luck, we'll get a good crop for fresh eating.  Below is a photo of one of the peas just emerging from the ground.

We use lots of garlic in our cooking.  One of my favorites is a variety called Purple Glazer. It's considered "mild" as garlics go, but packs plenty of punch for us.  The bulbs planted last year are well on their way to making nice heads.  We'll probably harvest these and the onions (not shown) in June.

Small varieites of carrots can be grown in pots.  I planted these a while ago and now can't remember the variety.  They are likely Romeo but I'm not sure.  My kids love carrots and we plan to grow a new variety called Mokum in the spring.

As an experiment, I planted a rare variety of wheat called Frassineto in the Fall of last year.  This variety of wheat is supposed to make excellent flour for pasta.  This is my first time growing wheat so I don't know if this is good or bad, but it does appear that some of the plants are creating heads already. This seems a bit early to me, but we'll see.

When the weather warms and plants go into bloom, the bees spring to action.  At one point yesterday, here was so much activity that it created a bit of a traffic jam at the entrance to the hive.  I still have my entrance reducer installed, but will likely remove it in the next few weeks.  This will give the bees some more room to get in and out.  With any luck will have a bumper crop of honey in 2012 and this will allow us to make lots of Mead or honey wine.  Love them bees.

A Wi-Fi Sensor Plant Sensor From Switzerland

My wife was kind enough to forward this article to me about a new Wi-Fi plant sensor developed in Switzerland.  You put the sensor unit into a pot or into a garden space and then install an app downloaded from the iTunes store.  If the plant needs more water, light etc. etc., the sensor pushes a message to your smart phone so you can take action.

An interesting idea for sure. I checked it out on the company's website and it costs 120 Euros (about $160).  

So what do you think?  Worth it?  Let me know your opinion and also if you consider yourself a beginner, intermediate or advanced gardener.

Floriani Red Flint Corn

Last summer, I grew a variety of flint corn called Longfellow.  This variety has long, thin ears and produces a low sugar corn used to make tortillas, corn bread and other dishes that require this type of corn.  A reader of this blog, was kind enough to send me another variety of flint corn to try called Floriani Red.  I had an opportunity to do so earlier this week and would like to recommend it for those interested in growing staple crops in their gardens.

Floriani Red is a relatively rare flint corn that originates from the northern part of Italy.  The corn hulls are a beautiful red color and the grain itself is a deep yellow. I used some of the grain sent me to make pollenta, an Italian side dish that is made from medium-t0-fine ground corn that has been cooked with water and butter.  Floriani corn was cultivated in Italy specifically for pollenta so it's no surprise that it worked wonderfully well for this dish.  The Floriani Red has a rich corn taste and the pollenta was more interesting visually because the red hulls end up as little red flakes in the final dish.  (Pollenta made with yellow corn is uniformly yellow)

Corn is the easiest grains to manage because it only needs to be ground, versus other grains such as wheat or oats that need to be threshed (loosening the grain from the chaff) and winnowed (separating the grain from the chaff) before grinding.

For more information about grinding corn, see my prior post on grain mills and on grinding corn.

If you would like to grow Floriani Red corn, you can purchase seeds from Fedco, Heritage Harvest Seed, and several other suppliers.

Special thanks to Kelley who was kind enough to send me this variety to try.

How To Choose Sweet Corn Varieties

In this posting, I'll describe the historical development of sweet corn and describe various the various categories that are available to home vegetable gardeners.

The History of Sweet Corn

Corn has been cultivated in the Americas for somewhere between 8,000-10,000 years.  For most of that history, the corn grown was high in starch and low in sugar. Generally referred to today as "field corn," this type of starchy corn is traditionally used to make a variety of foods such as corn bread, tortillas, tamales, polenta, and hominy. It is also used as fodder for animals. (For more information about these starchy corn varieties, check out my posting on dent and flint corn)

Sweet corn is a naturally occurring mutation of field corn.  A change in just one gene within the corn plant results in an increase of sugar content from 4% in field corn varieties to over 10% in most modern sweet corn.

There is debate among scholars as to when this mutation occurred, but at least some scholars believe that the first sweet corn mutations occurred over 1,000 years ago in the area around Peru and Bolivia.  Research done by Paul Frederick on the growth of the New England Corn Industry suggests that native Americans in the U.S. also cultivated some sweet corn, but it was not a particularly important crop relative to field corn varieties.  Frederic's explanation for this is that native peoples were less interested in growing sweet corn because it is less hardy than field corn and because the sweetness declines rapidly once the corn has reached maturity, thereby eliminating any flavor advantage of sweet corn over field corn.  In other words, from the perspective of flavor, it reverts to the flavor of field corn so quickly that the trade off in hardiness wasn't worth it.

Photo: Mayan Corn God

According, A. T. Erwin who wrote a book about the history of the canned corn industry, sweet corn as we know it today has it's origins in New England.  Erwin believes that sweet corn was introduced into Plymouth, Massachusetts by the Iroquois in 1779.

Diorama of Iroquois growing corn

Various Types Of Sweet Corn

• Sugary Corn - Sugary, or "SU" corn varieties, were the original sweet corns.  These corn varieties currently have sugar content of 9-16%, a major increase versus field corn that has 4% sugar.  SU corn tends to be hardy, but as mentioned above, it losses its sweetness very quickly once the corn has matured or been picked.  As a result, SU corns need to be consumed immediately upon harvest, or preserved by canning or freezing.  One key advantage of SU varieties is that they are able to germinate in cooler soils, so they may be a good choice for you if you are a Northern gardener.  SU varieties also tend to have the tenderest kernels and some folks claim the most authentic corn taste. Common SU varieties include: Silver Queen, Country Gentleman, Golden Bantam and Jubilee.

Silver Queen

• Sugar Enhanced - Sugar Enhanced, or "SE" corn varieties were developed at the University of Illinois during the 1950's. They have an additional gene that expresses sweetness in corn.   These varieties are 14-35% sugar. Importantly, they retain that sweetness for up to 4 days after harvest or maturity.  This makes SE varieties an excellent choice for home gardeners. One downside is that SE varieties are less tender than their SU cousins. Some well known varieties include: Bodacious, Kandy Korn, Maple Sweet, Tuxedo, and Peaches & Cream.

Peaches & Cream

• Super Sweet - Super Sweet, or "SH2" corn was also developed at the University of Illinois in the 1950's.  Super Sweet varieties have massive sugar content -- 28-44% and they tend to retain this sweetness for an extremely long period of time - up to 10 days after maturity or harvest.  Fans of Super Sweet corn will tell you that kernels are crisp, while detractors view SH2 kernels as tough. Common SH2 varieties include: Illini Gold, How Sweet It Is, and Early Xtra Sweet.

Early Xtra Sweet

• Synergistic - "SY" corn is a hybrid cross between SH2 and SE corn varieties that produces some characteristics of both. Specifically, the tenderness and flavor of SE varieties with the increased sugar content and storage capabilities of SH2 corns.  Some examples include: Montauk, BoJangles, Honey Select, and Applause.

Montauk

• Bt and Round Up Ready - These are sweet corn varieties that are genetically modified for use by commercial agriculture. I am listing these here because GMO's, or genetically modified organisms, are a hot topic in the news these days and because there have been reports that Bt corn may soon be available for sale to consumers at Wal-Mart. Genetically modified corn varieties are ones where an additional gene has been introduced to the plant in order to provide it with resistance to pests, pesticides or herbicides.  In the case of Bt corn, genes from the bacteria Bacillius Thuringiensis are introduced to the corn plant in order to make corn toxic to corn borers, a variety of insect that damages corn crops.  Round Up Ready corn is sweet corn that has been modified with the genes from Agrobacterium Sp. CP4. This gene conveys resistance to the herbicide glyphosate (Round Up).  This allows farmers to spray their fields with Round Up to kill weeds while leaving the Round Up Ready corn plants unharmed.  Kinda like the neutron bomb that kills people but leaves the building intact.

Corn Borer

Other Choices

When you shop for sweet corn for your garden, you will be faced with color and maturity choices that cut across all the groups.  So if you only like white or bi-color varieties you will be able to find some that are SU, SE, SH2 or SY.  The same applies to early and main season varieties.

• Maturity - Early season varieties mature in 65-75 days while main season corn takes 75-100 days depending on variety and your climate.
• Color - Sweet corn comes in yellow, white, bi-color and in rare instances other colors such as blue or red.

Cross Pollination Issues

While not specifically related to particular styles of corn, I want to make you aware of this issue as you plan your garden. Corn is pollinated by the action of the wind taking pollen from the tassels of the plant to the silk on the immature ear.  

As a result, corn crops can easily be cross-pollinated by other varieties if they are planted too close.  Such cross pollination can effect the color of the corn (for example, a white corn variety will produce yellow or bi-color kernels) or the flavor and texture of the corn can be negatively impacted (For example, SH2 varieties that are cross pollinated end up very tough and starchy). 

A general rule of thumb is to separate corn varieties by either time or distance.  If you are growing two varieties, select ones that mature at different times - for example a 70 day variety and a 90 day variety. Tassel formation and pollination will occur at different times, reducing the likelihood of cross pollination between the two varieties. Alternatively, plant different varieties in fields that are 250 feet apart. There will be some cross pollination at this distance, but not sufficient to materially impact the crop.  If you want to completely isolate your corn crop, separate fields by at least 700 feet.

Choosing Tomatoes: Heirloom, Hybrid and Open Pollinated Explained

There are thousands of known tomato varieties so it's not surprising that gardeners can be confused by the options that are open to them.  In this posting, I explain the the terminology used in catalogs and seed packs to describe tomatoes so that it's easy for folks to sort through the various choices.

Determinate versus Indeterminate -- All tomatoes are either determinate or indeterminate. Determinate tomatoes grow to a specific height - usually about 4 feet tall - and then stop and they produce their entire crop of tomatoes in a short period of time.  Determinate tomatoes are often good choices for container gardeners because the plants are small and require minimal staking.  Gardeners who want to harvest determinate tomatoes over the course of the summer should plant determinate seeds every two weeks to create a continuous crop.

In contrast, indeterminate tomatoes continue to grow over the course of the entire summer.  As the tomato plant vines, it produces flowers on the new growth and these eventually turn into tomatoes.  That means that an indeterminate tomato will produce as long as the vine is growing. Unlike determinate varieites, there's no need to stagger the planting of indeterminate varieties.  One potential downside is that indeterminate tomatoes will grow much taller than determinate varieties (8 feet or more) so they do require staking.  

The choice between determinate and indeterminate tomatoes really boils down to this.....If you want to plant tomatoes in containers and/or want to harvest all the tomatoes at the same time because you intend to can them, purchase determinate tomato varieties such as: Grushovka, Principe Borghese, Rutgers, San Marzano, or Taxi.  If not, then purchase an indeterminate variety such as: Jetsetter, Brandywine, Amish Paste, Risentraube, or Green Zebra.  You can also plant a mix of both determinate and indeterminate varieties to suit your needs.

Open Pollinated versus Hybrid:  Open pollinated tomatoes are ones where the seeds planted in this generation will produce plants and fruits that are identical to those produced by the preceding generation (the plant's parents). 

Hybrids tomatoes are ones that are created by crossing two different tomato varieties together.  In other words, they are mutts. Seed companies create hybrid varieties because each of the parents has a particular characteristic that is desirable and that they wish to combine into a single plant.  For example, two varieties might be crossed in order to capture the color of one parent and the disease resistance of the other.  While the "child plant" inherits these qualities, the child will not consistently pass these qualities on to the next generation.  And there's the rub.... hybrid varieties may have very desirable qualities, but you can't save the seeds and plant them the following year and get the same results.  You have to buy new hybrid seeds (cross between the original parents) each year. 

If you don't mind buying seeds each year, the distinction between hybrid and open pollinated doesn't matter when choosing varieties for your garden.  If, on the other hand, you want to save seeds, you must choose an open pollinated variety. 

Heirloom versus Non-Heirloom - Heirloom tomatoes are open pollinated varieties that have been grown for a long time.  (For example, the Brandywine tomato was developed in the 1880's.) The exact time frame required to acheive "heirloom status" is debated, with some claiming 100 years old, others 50 years old, and others still setting a date prior to World War II as the cut off point. 

In the last few years, heirloom tomatoes have become the rage among gardeners.  The reasons for this are rather complex and have a much to do with concerns about modern commercial agriculture, genetically modified organisms and big agribusiness companies like Monsanto. Heirloom tomatoes have the reputation for tasting better than hybrids but there really is no reason that this must be true. 

What is more generally true is that hybrid varieties developed for commercial growers were bred for characteristics that made them less perishable and easier to ship.  These characteristics are important to farmers who are interested in transporting crops over long distances.  Unfortunately, commercial hybrid varieties traded off flavor and texture in order to be less perishable and easier to ship.  That's one of the reasons that tomatoes from the supermarket taste so lousy. 

In contrast, hybrid tomatoes sold to backyard gardeners from companies such as Burpee, Tomato Growers Supply, Renee's Seeds and others are not bred for their ability to withstand shipment.  These hybrid varieties can be just as tasty as an heirloom varieties.

Here's my recommendation --  make heirlooms varieties your first choice because it gives you the option to save the seeds and because there really are plenty of good varieties from which to choose.  However, don't be so inflexible that you wont ever consider buying a hybrid variety when there's a good reason to do so.  Such reasons might include disease resistance, suitability for your particular climate, or simply because you want to try a variety that sounds interesting to you.  If you decide you want, or need to grow, only hybrid varieties, go ahead.  The tomato police aren't going to show up at your door.

Season - Tomatoes seed and plant providers often group varieties by when they will start producing tomatoes.  This characteristic cuts across other distinctions such as determinate/indeterminate and hybrid/heirloom. 

• Early Season - start producing tomatoes in about 65 days. Examples include: Stupice, Grushovka, Alaska, and Jetsetter.
• Mid-Season -  start producing in about 75-85 days.  Examples include: Abraham Lincoln, Brandywine, Boxcar Willie, Big Boy, Heinz 1439, Costoluto Genovese, and Rutgers.
  
• Late Season - These tomatoes mature in 85 days or more.  Examples include: Druzba, Amish Paste, and Beefsteak.
  

Intended Use - While any tomato variety can be used in salads, cooking and sandwiches, certain varieties function better than others for specific applications.  When you shop for tomato plants or seeds, varieties with similar culinary characteristics are sometimes grouped together.  This type of classification occurs regardless of whether the variety is determinate or indeterminate, hybrid or open pollinated, heirloom or not.  Some common groupings include:

• Saladette - these are medium sized tomatoes.  When they are quartered they make good sized bites for salads and hence the name.  Typical varieties include: Cosmonaut Volkov, Japanese Black Trifele, Green Zebra, Costuluto Genovese, Stupice, Olivade, and Marianna.
  
• Slicers/Sandwich Tomatoes - these are large tomatoes that are used particularly for sandwiches and hamburgers. They are also sometimes used to make tomato and onion salads by cutting both the tomato and the onion into thin slices and interleaving them to make a pretty salad plate.  Typical slicing varieties include: Beefstake, Brandywine, Kellogg's Breakfast, Cherokee Purple, Big Beef and Porterhouse.
• Tomato Paste/Salsa/Sauce - These tomatoes are meatier and contain less water than other tomato varieties so they work well for salsa, tomato sauce, canning etc.  While not always the case, they are often plum or pear-shaped.  Typical varieties include: San Marzano, Amish Paste, Heinz 1439, Roma, Heidi and Opalka.

Shape - Tomatoes come in a very wide array of shapes and colors.  As with the "Intended Use" category, shape and color groupings cut across distinctions such as determinate/indeterminate, hybrid/open pollinated. 

• Cherry Tomato - small tomatoes 1 inch or less in diameter.  Examples: Black Cherry, Sungold, Supersweet 100.
  
• Grape Tomato - about the same size as a cherry tomato but with an oblong shape.  Examples: Riesentraube, Red Pearl and Sakura.
  
•  Pear Tomato -as small as a cherry tomato but with a pear-shape. Examples: Red Pear, Yellow Pear, and Purple Pear.
  
• Plum Tomato - Oblong shaped tomatoes. Examples: Roma and San Marzano.
• Oxheart Tomato - oblong tomato with a tapered bottom that looks like a heart. Examples: Amish Paste, Bull's Heart, and Shilling Giant.

Colors - Most of us think "red" when we hear the word tomato mentioned.  However, tomatoes come in an amazing array of colors.  If you want to serve tomatoes to guests this summer, you might consider choosing varieties that produce a mix of fruit colors since they make a dazzling salad plate.

• Green Tomato: Green Zebra, Green Doctors, Kiwi.
• Orange Tomato: Orange Icicle, Dr. Wyche's, and Moonglow.
• Pink Tomato: Arkansas Traveler, Caspian Pink, Mortgage Lifter, Pink Oxheart.
• Purple/Black Tomato: Japanese Black Trifele, Black Cherry, Cherokee Purple, and Paul Robeson.
• Red Tomato: Amish Paste, Cosmonaut Volkov, Principe Borghese, Riesentraube, Rutgers, Defiant, Oregon Spring and Thessaloniki.
• Striped Tomato: Green Zebra, Hawaiian Pineapple, and striped Roman.
• White/Pale Yellow Tomato: Snowberry, White Zebra, and Snow White.
• Yellow Tomatoes: Roman Candle, Wapsipinicon Peach, Yellow Riesentraube, Taxi, and Dr. Carolyn.

For those interested, below is a list of tomatoes that I'm growing in my garden this year.

Global Warming Puts 50% of Worlds Wheat Crop at Risk

As regular readers of this blog know, I'm growing a rare heirloom variety of wheat called Frassinetto this year.  This is my first experience growing wheat and so when I see a headline about wheat it catches my eye.

According to researchers at Stanford University in California, it appears that global warming is having a greater impact than expected on yields of wheat.  Using satellite photography, scientists have determined that warmer weather is causing wheat in India to mature too quickly.  The impact of this premature ageing is to reduce both the yield and the quality of the wheat harvested.

So how much wheat is being effected in this way?  As much as 50% of the worlds wheat may be at risk due to warming.

To learn more about this, check out this article published in the New Scientist.

 

Valentine's Day Gift: Stunningly Beautiful Seed Packets

In January, I posted about the Smithsonian Institutions collection of seed packets and showed some of the beautiful seed-packet artwork featured in the collection (mostly from the 1880's-1920's).  Seed packets from most companies today are pretty functional; they show a photo or illustration of the variety on the front and provide growing instructions on the back.  However, there is an exception....

The Hudson Valley Seed Library sells high quality, organic seeds from their farm located in the Hudson Valley of upstate New York.  While there is much to recommend about this company, their seed packets clearly stand out from the rest of the crowd. The company sells a line of vegetable and flower seeds in special, square-shaped seed packets that are illustrated with designs the company has commissioned from various artists.  These "Art Packs" are heirloom seeds and contemporary art all in one packet and they are drop-dead gorgeous!

If your special someone is a gardener, I'd like to suggest giving them a collection of Hudson Valley seeds as a Valentine's Day gift.  I think they will be blown away by the beauty of these seed packets.  I've reproduced a few of these below to give you a sense for the collection.  You can see the whole line, and make purchases from the Hudson Valley Seed Library's web site.  One more thought... you might also want to buy some now and put them away for either Mother's Day or Father's Day.

How and When To Plant Peas

Gardeners across the country are getting ready for spring plantings and one of the first crops to be sown are peas.

Peas have their origin in the Eastern Mediterranean in an area that is modern day Syria.  While grown and eaten since 5,000 BC, it wasn't until the 18th century, when sweet varieties were developed in England, that peas became popular as a fresh vegetable.   How thankful we should be to those English breeders because peas are perhaps the only early vegetable that provides such wonderfully sweet flavor.

Growing Peas

Peas prefer cool weather and germinate once temperatures are above 40 degrees Fahrenheit. For those living in the coastal areas of the Pacific Northwest, that means it's now time to plant peas.  The rule of thumb is to plant peas about 4 weeks prior to your last frost date. A less scientific, but more memorable, rule of thumb is to plant peas on Saint Patrick's day. 

Peas shoud be planted about 2 inches apart and 1 inch deep.  Some gardeners recommend soaking peas in water overnight to increase germination rates.  I've never done this, but you might want to give it a try if germination has been a problem for you in the past.

Although peas will grow in partial shade, the resulting crop won't be very sweet.  It's best to find a sunny location for them.  Given that other sunny crops such as tomatoes and cucmbers are not in the ground at this time, it should not be hard to find such a place in your garden.

It's fine to work some compost into the soil before planting, but it is not necessary to add any fertilizer. Peas get their nitrogen through a symbiotic relationship with a beneficial soil bacteria that is able to extract nitrogen from the environment.  You can add this beneficial bacteria to your soil prior to planting to help your pea crop and various seed catalogs sell this as pea and bean "inoculant."  Burpee sells it under the name "Burpee Booster"

Peas produce larger crop and are easier to harvest when given some support so I highly recommend that you take this step.  I use wire mesh fence panels that and garden stakes, but bamboo "tee-pee" style trellis are also a good choice. Shorter pea varieties, such as Green Arrow and Maestro, can be inter-planted with oats -- the peas climb up the oat stalks in the same way that beans and corn are sometimes paired together.  

Once in the ground, your seeds will germinate in about a week, although it could take as long as 20 days if the temperature and moisture levels are low.  Once germinated, peas will produce a crop in about 70 days.

Pea Varieties:

Peas come in three basic types as follows:

1. Garden Peas - sometimes referred to as "English" peas, these are what most of us think of first when peas are mentioned.  These varieites have stringy, inedible pods and need to be shelled prior to eating.  Dwarf and semi-dwarf varieties grow to be about 2 feet high, while taller varieties reach about 5 feet in height.  This season our family is growing an heirloom variety called Thomas Laxton.  Other good varieties worth considering include: Green Arrow, Wando, Lincoln, Alderman, Alaska and Laxton's Progress #9. Garden peas are a bit of a change of pace for us since we've grown the second type of pea, snap peas, for the last three years.  
2. Snap Peas -  Regular readers of this blog know that I'm a big fan of snap peas because both the peas and the pods are edible.  This means higher yields and lower work because there's no need to shell them.  I think this makes snap peas a particularly good choice for families with young children or those who have the pleasure of grand children since the kids can munch on them without having to deal with the pod. Some good varieties include: Sugar Snap, Cascadia, Sugar Daddy, and Sugar Sprint.
3. Snow Peas - These are varieties that have an edible pod and are consumed when the peas are immature and the pods are flat.  They are often seen in Asian cooking.  Some well known varieties include: Oregon Sugar Pod, Mammoth Melting, and Dwarf Grey Sugar.

Storing Peas:

In my opinion, peas are best enjoyed when fresh, but there they can be stored for later consumption. by drying, canning and freezing.  Frankly, freezing is so easy and the peas stay so sweet when frozen that I find it hard to recommend that you preserve them any other way.  If you are freezing Garden Peas, remove them from the pod and then follow the following simple steps below for all pea varieties:

1. Wash under cool water.
2. Blanche (quick cook) in boiling water for 90 seconds.
3. Remove the peas and then place into a ice water bath to quickly bring down their temperature.
4. Place into freezer bags, or better yet, vacuum bags, and then store in the freezer.

An Interview with Baker Creek Seed's Founder Jere Gettle

Jere Gettle is founder and owner of Baker Creek Seed Company. In this last of a series of interviews conducted at the EcoFarm conference in Pacific Grove, CA, I speak with Jere about his company and about the seed collection.

PlanterTomato:

I'm here today with Jere Gettle of Baker Creek Seeds.  Jere thanks for speaking with me today.

Jere Gettle:

Good to be here.  I sure appreciate you having me.

PlanterTomato:

To begin with, let's talk a little about Baker Creek and how the business got started.

Jere Gettle:

Basically, it started as a hobby in my bedroom.  My parents and grandparents had always gardened and some of my first memories are of the garden , looking at seed catalogs, and planting things. As I grew up, I started noticing varieties disappearing from seed catalogs and that gave me the inspiration to start saving seeds.  And it all happened from there.  Once I started saving seeds, I printed up a little price list and then the catalog and this is now the fourteenth year doing the catalog.

PlanterTomato:

As you think about those fourteen years, what's the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

Jere Gettle:

Probably keeping up the diversity of seeds and finding new varieties. That's the thing I really enjoy...meeting people, finding new things and then getting it back into peoples hands.  Say for example, an elderly Japanese man who has been looking for this certain variety of squash for 50 years and being able to re-introduce it to him.  Or someone in the Blue Ridge Mountains re-introducing them to a local melon variety that they've lost.  Finding things and re-introducing them to their cultures and other cultures, that's what I really enjoy.

PlanterTomato:

Baker Creek offers lots and lots of varieties.  I'm going to put you on the spot here and ask if you remember how many varieties you currently sell.

Jere Gettle:

We currently sell about 1,400.  It's always going up and down a bit but anywhere between 1,350 and 1,450. 

PlanterTomato:

Wow that's quiet a lot.  In that group, or in seeds that you've sold over the years, was there a variety that was particularly surprising to you.

Jere Gettle:

Oh there are so many...Yokohama squash is one that had disappeared for almost 100 years and we found seeds in France from a French seed collector.  It's a very beautiful, flattened, pumpkin-like squash and grey-green.  Unbelievably beautiful and incredibly good eating. It was featured in Mother Earth News recently and other magazines but it's an unusual looking squash it's flattened, wrinkled and warted.  It was part of Japanese culture and American history for 50 years before it disappeared around 1900.  That was one of the varieties we were really excited about but that's just one example.  

PlanterTomato:

I do know from your book that you travel the world looking for new varieties, but I suppose there's a limit to what you can put into the catalog.  How do you decide what goes in the catalog and what comes out?

Jere Gettle:

We don't get rid of anything, we try to rotate through things.  We might not have something in the catalog for a couple of years if we think it's less valuable or if it's less popular for some reason.  But we then re-introduce after a couple more years.  But the most important things, we try to keep every year such as Alibaba or Orange Glow watermelons, Cherokee Purple tomatoes.  Certain things we have to have every year because our customers would have fits if they couldn't get that certain thing. There are other varieties that are marginally important right now, but we feel that in the future they hold potential.  A lot of times, people just haven't discovered how to use them yet. 

PlanterTomato:

I know we're just getting into the 2012 gardening season, so perhaps this is an unfair questions, but I would love to have a peek under the tent.  Are there any new varieties that  you are thinking about for the 2013 gardening season that you think are particularly interesting?

Jere Gettle:

We want to do a lot more with Morning Glories... Japanese Morning Glories in particular.  There are literally hundreds of them and we want to bring some of those back like the giant Imperial Japanese Morning Glories. Another crop we want to do more of is eggplant.  We love eggplant and are getting some really incredible eggplants shipped to us from Syria which we feel is very important since we never know that the situation is going to be and how long they will be growing the old crops. Our goal is to introduce a lot of Syrian and Middle Eastern varieties.  A lot of really cool Syrian stuff is in the picture for next year.

PlanterTomato:

What is your personal favorite heirloom variety?

Jere Gettle:

 That's almost impossible... Alibaba and Orange Glow watermelons are great as far as melons go.  For tomatoes there's Cherokee Purple and Paul Robeson but if I were to pick one it would be Cherokee Purple Tomato. 

PlanterTomato:

OK, well I'm going to have to add that one back in.  I've grown Cherokee Purple in the past, but I switch things around each year and didn't grow it last year.  It is an awesome tomato.

Jere Gettle:

It's  better if you have a hot climate. It tends to be sweeter and richer tasting in Southern climates. Driving along the roadside stands in North Carolina and Tennessee and many of them will have this tomato out and they are really intense tasting in that Southern climate.

PlanterTomato:

Can you give us a few tips to make our gardens more productive?

Jere Gettle:

 Try a diverse variety of things.  Try some new things that you might not be familiar with because a lot of the more unusual crops are good producers.  Other than that, I recommend that you mulch everything really well with straw or other mulches.  We also like to use drip lines.  Putting a drip line down takes some work to install, but once you have it in, you can water your garden automatically or by just turning on the hose. Drip irrigation also keeps water from splashing on the leaves and increasing diseases. You should also add chicken manure or compost or other organic matter to help loosen up the soil. 

PlanterTomato:

You and your wife just came out with a book called the Heirloom Life Gardiner. Can you tell us a little about that?

Jere Gettle:

About two years ago we were thinking about doing a book and we got this call from an agent in New York.  We thought it sounded like a cool idea. We thought about and wanted to cover all aspects of heirloom growing...seed saving, cooking tips, how we garden at Baker Creek, as well as the overall picture of each type of vegetable so that people can learn about the vegetable and how nutritious it is, learn how to grow it, and a little bit of history as well.

PlanterTomato:

If someone wants to get a hold of your book, where can they buy it?

Jere Gettle:

 You can get it through us, you can also get it through most any bookstore. 

PlanterTomato:

I encourage people to go ahead and get the book.  Thank you for speaking with us today.

Jere Gettle:

Well I appreciate it. It's been great to meet you.

Standard Breed Poultry: An Interview with Jim Adkins

In the second interview of this series from the EcoFarm conference, I speak with Jim Adkins of The International Center for Poultry, an organization that educates people about standard poultry breeds and sustainable farming.  Jim has over 30 years experience with poultry, having raised over 50 standard breeds and varieties. He has a license to judge poultry from the American Poultry Association and has judged birds in the United States, Australia and Canada.  In 1992, Jim founded the International Center for Poultry to promote understanding of standard breeds and he teaches workshops on the subject throughout the U.S. and abroad.

PlanterTomato:

Jim thanks for speaking with us today.

Jim Adkins:

Good to be here.

PlanterTomato:

So let's begin by first discussing what you mean by the standard for poultry and why it's important for backyard flock owners.

Jim Adkins:

There's a book called The Standard of Perfection that is published by the American Poultry Association.  The American Poultry Association is the oldest livestock association in the country. It was organized in 1873.  I have one of the earliest editions published in 1897 [Jim points to a copy of the book] and it describes exactly what a Rhode Island Red, Plymouth Rock, Leghorn etc. should look like.  

Photo: Page from the 1938 edition of The Standard of Perfection

PlanterTomato:

Why is that important to the backyard gardener or poultry enthusiast?

Jim Adkins:

When you don't breed by the standard, your going to get a bird that's compromised -- it might be smaller weight, it might not have the carcass quality that it should have because all American breeds are dual purpose for eggs and meat, so the standard keeps poultry where it should be from it's breeding parents.

PlanterTomato:

If I wanted to make sure the birds I was buying for my flock meet the standard of perfection, where would I buy them?

Jim Adkins:

You should go to individual breeders.  I encourage people to stay away from the large hatcheries because they are looking for quantity, not quality. The best thing you can do is go to local breeders. You can find them at local exhibits, the county fair, or you can also check out the Poultry Press which is a monthly publication.  Finally, if you become a member of the American Poultry Association, they send you a yearbook. Breeders who advertise in this yearbook are usually a very reliable source for good standard bred poultry.

PlanterTomato:

Where can I go to learn more about the standard of perfection?

Jim Adkins:

You can order your own copy of the Standard of Perfection from the American Poultry Association web site.  You can also purchase them from us at the International Center for Poultry.  You can also sometimes find them at your local library, 4H, or county extension office.

PlanterTomato:

OK, so let me ask an expert... could you make some breed recommendations for those who are interested in keeping chickens in their backyard primarily for eggs.

Jim Adkins:

The first question you have to ask is whether you want brown eggs or white eggs. If you want white eggs, it's fairly easy -- all the Mediterranean breeds such as Leghorns, Anconas, Andalusians, and Buttercups.  As far as brown egg laying breeds, all of the American breeds such as the Buckeye, Plymouth Rock, Delaware, Chantecler, and the Rhode Island Red.  All of these breeds are dual purpose, they were bred for meat and eggs.  You could use the females for egg laying, and if you had extra males in your flock, you could use them for meat.

PlanterTomato:

Assuming someone just wants to raise chickens for eggs and they want eggs for their family, not to sell, how many chickens should that person get for a family of four?

Jim Adkins:

I would recommend 6-10 hens because not every hen is going to be laying at the same time.  And if all the birds are in production, you will have some extra eggs you can give away to a neighbor. By the way, you don't need to have a rooster to get egg production. 

PlanterTomato:

What general advice would you give to someone new to raising chickens?

Jim Adkins:

Here is a great principle that I teach people attending my workshops...I tell people that their eyes are their best management tool.  You can look at a flock of birds to see how they are acting... are they foraging, are they active, etc.  If the birds are spending lots of time going through their plumage they may have mites.  Generally speaking, your eyes are your best management tool.

PlanterTomato

What are some typical mistakes that newbies make?

Jim Adkins:

Chickens need good feed quality, water quality and air quality.  Make sure that there's plenty of ventilation and also that the chickens have dry litter.

PlanterTomato:

What advice do you have for people keeping chickens in the city or suburbs?

Jim Adkins:

Firstly, make sure that you are within the law. You don't want to get birds and then realize that they are illegal and you can't have them.  Check out your local laws.  Secondly, make friends with your neighbors.  Tell them in advance that you are getting birds.  Some will love it and some will become your enemies.  You want to be careful.

PlanterTomato:

For many backyard chicken keepers, the birds aren't just livestock they are pets.  They may not want to cull the flock and that makes it difficult to add new chickens that are producing eggs.  What strategies would you recommend to introduce new birds to an existing flock?

Jim Adkins:

I would recommend that if you want to start a new flock you should get rid of the old one first.  That's the easiest thing to do.  It's very complicated to introduce new birds because hens can be very territorial and harmful to the new birds. One simple thing you can do is to put a fence down the middle of your coop and keep the new chickens and the old hens separated.  That way they can get used to each other.  Even then, there's going to be some fighting through the fence.  Again, your eyes are your best management tool.  Put them together, see how they act.  You need to accept the fact that there's a pecking order and you should keep an eye on the birds at the top of the pecking order so they don't do any really destructive things to the younger birds. 

PlanterTomato:

If people want to learn more about the International Center for Poultry, what's your web address?

Jim Adkins:

It's www.CenterforPoultry.com.  We do workshops and also there's a hen-house coaching network and other resources on the web site.

PlanterTomato:

Thanks for speaking with us today.

Jim Adkins:

Thank you.

Jim Adkins

Organic Chicken Feed: An Interview with Chris Wagner of Modesto Milling

This week I attended the EcoFarm conference in Pacific Grove, California and had the opportunity to meet with a variety of people who make their living in organic farming.  In this first of a series of three interviews conducted at the conference, I speak with Chris Wagner, head of sales, for Modesto Milling.  Modesto Milling produces a range of organic feed products for cows, pigs, rabbits, chickens and other livestock.

PlanterTomato:  

I'm here at the show today speaking with Chris Wagner of Modesto Milling.  Chris thanks for speaking with me.

Chris Wagner:

Thanks for inviting me.

PlanterTomato:

To start off, why don't you tell us a little about Modesto Milling.

Chris Wagner:

Modesto Milling started in the early 1960's as a co-op for dairymen to make mixed grain for their dairies.  In 1998, the co-op started making organic feed for its members and in 2007 we became a 100% organic mill.

PlanterTomato:

How does a chicken's nutritional requirements change over time?

Chris Wagner:

We start chicks on a product that is 22% protein in order to support the chicks growth. Also it's a crumble product that's designed for small birds. At approximately 4-5 weeks, we move them into a lower protein finisher pellet until they start laying.  At that point, we move to a layer pellet that has 4% calcium to support egg shell strength.

PlanterTomato:

Is there a difference between the food that is given to chickens that are layers versus those that are meat birds?

Chris Wagner:

You can raise them identically, but meat birds are normally just grown out for 6 to 8 weeks, so you don't really use the higher calcium product.

PlanterTomato:

In my local feed store, they sell both pellets and crumbles.  What's the difference between these two product forms? When do you use one versus the other?

Chris Wagner:

We pelletize all our feed, but we will crumble the pellets to make feed for smaller birds.  As the birds get older, maybe 4 or 5 weeks, you can switch to a pellet and that allows for less waste. 

PlanterTomato:

I know Modesto Milling also sells organic scratch because I give it to my chickens.  What role does scratch play in the diet?

Chris Wagner:

Scratch is used to supplement a layer pellet or a broiler finisher pellet.  It's not necessary, but it's whole grains and they enjoy eating it. Scratch also allows you to bond a little more with your chickens.

PlanterTomato:

Where can people find Modesto Milling products?

Chris Wagner:

We encourage people to call us because we enjoy selling directly to both large and small folks who are interested in organic feed.  That's always been our focus, even as a co-op, our dairies tended to be the smallest dairies.

PlanterTomato:

Chris, thanks for speaking with us today.

Chris Wagner:

Thanks for Inviting me.

More About Buying Modesto Milling Products: 

Modesto Milling products can be purchased at select feed stores and on-line. The company is also happy to ship to customers. If you have neighbors who keep chickens, or are part of a 4-H club, you may want to consider creating a "buying group." By banding together, the group can greatly reduce the shipping cost and receive Modesto Milling's direct pricing. Contact Chris Wagner ([email protected]) to discuss which feed and shipping options are best for you.

Chris Wagner of Modesto Milling

Honey Bees: Top Ten Checklist for Spring Beekeeping

In this posting I cover the steps you need to prepare your hives for Spring.  

This weekend the temperature was in the 60's Fahrenheit again and the bees were actively bringing pollen and nectar back to the hive.  I decided it would be a good time to check on the colony and make a decision as to whether or not to add the first honey super.  

I opened both of my hives and the news was very good; both colonies have capped brood in them.  That means that the queens have survived the Winter and are still producing.  One colony was actually still pretty full with honey so I removed a few of the frames and replaced them with new ones which will provide the bees with some additional space for additional. I also replaced one frame in the other hive that had a damaged top bar.  

Last Fall, I noticed that small hive beetle had found their way into both hives. During this first inspection, I found a few surviving beetles, but the numbers are still sufficient low that they can't cause much damage. I prefer to use non-chemical mean to control pests, so I'm using a device called a "Beetle Blaster" to deal with these little devils.

If you are unfamiliar with these devices, Beetle Blasters are small traps that get filled with a little vegetable oil and then are placed between two frames.  There are a series of holes in the top of the trap that are large enough for the beetles to crawl into, but too small for bees. Once beetles enter the trap, they fall into the vegetable oil and perish.  The traps are disposable, so once they get filled you just throw them away and replace them with new traps.  I replaced a few of the old Beetle Blasters in my new ones during this first inspection and made a note to order a few more. (Beetle Blasters can be purchased from suppliers like Dadant for $1.50 each.)

Given that the bees looked like they were in good shape and that daytime temperatures are likely to be in the 60's for the foreseeable future, I decided to put supers on both hive. 

Timing Spring Maintenance:

The rule of thumb for bee keepers is to do your spring maintenance once you've past the first frost date for your area.  Technically, that date is March 30th here in Northern California. However, in our part of the country, tree and flower species begin blooming in January, so I generally do my first inspection of my hives at the end of January or beginning of February if the temperature has been warm enough.

If you are unsure about when to do a first inspection and maintenance in your area, reach out to other bee keepers or post a message to an online message board to find out when other experienced bee keepers in your area are working on their hives.

Check List For Spring:

1. If you are in a colder part of the country, remove any additional insulation you placed on the hive in the Fall.
2. Widen the entrance reducer to allow more traffic in and out of the hive.
3. Do a preliminary inspection to see if there is brood in the brood chamber and to determine if pests or diseases are present.  If so, you'll need to plan the appropriate strategy for dealing with them. 
   
4. If the hive is weak, and there are no brood or eggs present, plan on ordering a replacement package for the hive.
   
5. If your bees are OK but are running low on honey, provide additional food. (In my area this has never been an issue but in colder climates it is more common for this to occur)
   
6. Replace any old combs or broken hardware.
7. Clean the bottom board or any debris or dead bees.
8. Add a super and a queen excluder.
9. Place an order for any new woodenware or hardware you might need.
10. If any of your hives are weak or have died out over the winter, place an order for either a new queen or a new package.
    

For Those Considering Becoming Bee Keepers:

If you are thinking about becoming a bee keeper this year, you need to place an order for your first package of bees in the next few weeks.  The bees will be delivered in April.  In addition, check out my prior posting on the equipment you need to keep bees as you will also need to order your bee boxes and other equipment soon in order to have them arrive in time for the beginning of the season.

Medieval bee apiary illustration

The New Potato Chip Is Made From Kale

In this posting, I provide a delicious alternative to potato chips.  Don't tell the kids, but they are also very healthy.

King Potato Chip

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average American eats about sixty-five pounds of potatoes each year.  About fourteen pounds of these potatoes are used to make potato chips -- or about 4 pounds of chips per person after cooking.

I love potato chips and I'm not going to give up eating them anytime soon.  However, I want to make you aware of a healthier substitute you can easily make at home.  And the really amazing news is that you don't have to give up the yummy, salty crunchy taste to get that extra nutrition.

Enter Kale

Regular readers of this blog, know that I'm a big fan of kale.  This vegetable packs a power-punch when it comes to nutrition.  It's without question the most nutritious veggie you can eat.  If you compare the nutritional information for equal quantities of potatoes and kale, it's clear that kale is the champion; while delivering about the same amount of protein as the potatoes, Kale gives you 70 times more vitamin A and 7 times more vitamin C. 

Recipe for Kale Chips

Kale chips are incredibly easy to make and remarkably delicious.  These chips come out of the oven super thin and crispy.  I strongly encourage you to give them a shot.  Here's a basic recipe and a few variations on the theme:

Ingredients

• 1 head of kale. 
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of sea salt or kosher salt

Basic Recipe:

• Preheat your oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Wash and thoroughly dry the kale.
• Remove the ribs of the kale and cut the leaves into 2 inch pieces (you only use the leafy part in this recipe, no stems)
• Toss the kale pieces, olive oil and salt together in a bowl to coat the kale.
• Place onto a baking sheet and bake until crisp, turning once during the process. (About 20-25 minutes total cook time)

Some Alternative Recipes:

• Spicy Smoky Kale Chips
• Martha Stewart's Sea Salt & Lemon Kale Chips
• Sweet & Salty Kale Chips
  

Hardiness Zones Systems & Plant Selection

In this posting, I cover three systems for determining which plants to grow in your area.

In order to help gardeners determine the right plants for their area, a number of organizations have developed systems that specify the types of plants that can be grown in a given geography.   Here are the most important three systems used in the United States.

USDA Hardiness Zones

The oldest, and most widely adopted system, was created by the United States Department of Agriculture in conjunction with the U.S. National Arboretum in 1960. The USDA Hardiness zone map divides the U.S. into 11 zones based on the average minimum temperature.  This is a reasonable methodology because each plant specie has a temperature threshold below which it can't survive. 

However, the USDA system is not without problems.  The most notable of these is that it groups geographies together that may have the same average minimal temperature, but whose high temperature in Summer can be dramatically different. For example, Coastal Oregon and South Texas are both zone 9 according to the USDA Zone Hardiness map because the minimum average temperature for both regions is in the range of 20-30 degree Fahrenheit.  But these two areas differ dramatically in terms of Summer high temperatures (average high temperatures in Corvallis are around 80 degrees Fahrenheit while they are 95 degrees in San Antonio)

In general, the USDA Map is most accurate for the Eastern half of the US and least accurate for the West.  If you want to know your hardiness zone, here's a link to a web site that will tell you the zone based on your postal zip code.

American Horticultural Society (AHS) Heat Zone Map

This system groups like geographies based on the average high temperatures.  It is most accurate for Southern states such as Florida and Texas but suffers from the same problems as the USDA but in reverse. 

The AHS is trying to establish a system that combines their Heat Map and the USDA methodology to provide a system that specifies which plants will grow in a given geography based on both their cold and heat tolerance.  I like this idea, but I have rarely seen anyone using the AHS system so I'm not sure it will ever be adopted.  If you would like to determine your AHS zone, check out the organizations zip code AHS zone locator.

Sunset Magazine System

Sunset is a lifestyle magazine dedicated to gardening, travel, food and decorating in the Western United States.  Not surprisingly, Sunset and its readership are keenly aware the shortcomings of the USDA Hardiness Zone system for western gardeners.  In response, the magazine developed it's own system for dividing up the country....

"A plant's performance is governed by the total climate: length of growing season, timing and amount of rainfall, winter lows, summer highs, wind, and humidity. Sunset's climate zone maps take all these factors into account"

While not as widely used by the plant industry as the USDA system, Sunset provides a very good on-line tool that will help you both determine your zone and find plants that do well in that zone.

The Best System But Still Far From Perfect

In my opinion, Sunset Magazines method and on-line tool make it the strongest of the available zone classification systems.  In the future, I will try to list both the USDA zone and Sunset zone when I publish information about a given plant on this web site. 

That said, I think I should point out that there's still plenty of room for improvement.  Specifically, Sunset's on-line tool provides data on whole species of plants.  The systems will tell you if roses or tomatoes will grow in your area but, as any gardener knows, there's a wide range of tolerances within each of these species.  For example, certain rose varieties might survive in a moderate climate like Northern California, but only thrive in a places where there are really cold Winters.  Temperate climate gardeners would therefore be better off selecting a variety of rose that does well in warmer climates.  This level of detail is not really contained in Sunset's on-line tool.

I'm optimistic that future gardeners will have access to very detailed information about plant varieties that grow well in their area.  The internet opens the way for gardeners to easily contribute information to that can be broadly shared by everyone.  All that's required is an on-line tool to enter this information and a database to store and retrieve it. I'm positive someone will create such a tool;  it's just a matter of time.

My 2012 Garden Plan - What's In and What's Out

In my last posting, I covered some of the new and interesting vegetable varieties that you might consider adding to your garden.  In this posting, I'll let you know what's going what's being added and dropped to my garden in 2012 and share my 2012 garden plan.

What's In & What's Out

• Long-Fellow Corn is Out- Last year I successfully planted an heirloom variety of flint corn called Longfellow.  This is an heirloom corn that is used to make cornmeal for pollenta, tortillas and other dishes that require low sugar/high starch corn.  This crop was extremely successful for me and I ended up with over 9 pounds of dried kernels that are ready to be ground into meal.  That's enough to carry us for some time at the rate we've been eating it, so in 2012 I'll be using the space that I dedicated to this crop last year to grow a variety of other veggies that require space including Boston Marrow and Galeux D'Eysines winter squashes.  These are wonderful heirlooms that I've grown in the past.  I'm also able to plant a few new varieties.
• Petit Gris De Rennes Melon is In - This is a French heirloom that comes from the town of Rennes.  The name translates to "Little Grey from Rennes" and refers to the melons appearance prior to ripening.  Dating back over 400 years, this melon is considered to be one of the best cantaloupes in the world.  The 2-3 pound melons mature in about 85 days and the variety is reported to be well adapted to cooler climates like we experience in the Pacific Northwest.  If you're interested, you can buy seeds from Sustainable Seed Company.

 

•  Mokum Carrot Is In - Also going into this space is a new variety of carrot for me called Mokum.  This  is a hybrid carrot that matures in about 50 days.  This variety excells for it's crunchiness and sweetness.  The 5-6 inch roots are very brittle and can't be harvested mechanically, so this is one that you have to grow yourself if you want to try it.  You can purchase seeds at Johnny's Selected Seeds, Fedco or Territorial Seed Company.

• Costa Rican Sweet Pepper is Out - The pepper has performed well for me over the past few years but I would like to try an heirloom variety that is good for both fresh eating and preserving.
• Jimmy Nardello Pepper is In - This sweet pepper was brought from Southern Italy to the U.S. by Giussepe Nardello in the 1880's.  It produces large quantities of long thin peppers in 80-90 days that are said to be delicious fresh but heavenly when fried.  You may be aware of an organization called Slow Food; the Jimmy Nardello pepper is on their list of recommended varieties, or "Arc of Taste." Seeds can be purchased from many suppliers including Burpee, Seed Savers Exchange, Territorial Seed, Baker Creek and others.

• Japanese Pickling Eggplant is Out - A very good variety and one that can be used much more broadly than just pickling. (We've grilled it and also used it in egg plant parmesan.)  However, we are looking for a bit of a change, so we decided to grow a different eggplant that also comes to us by way of Japan.
• Kamo Eggplant is In - This heirloom eggplant is a traditional variety of the Kyoto region, or "Kyo Yasai" as it is said in Japanese.  The deeply purple-black 1/2 pound fruits are good for frying and baking.  According to Kitazawa Seed Company, this variety is served in some of the best restaurants in Japan.

Sugar Snap Peas are Out - These peas have edible pods which made them both more productive in-terms of edible quantities and also handier for giving to kids.  They are out this year because the pea-lover in our family has taken to eating the English variety (pods are not edible) from the Farmers Market.

Thomas Laxton Peas are In - This variety has stood the test of time.  It's over 100 years old and still favored by many.  This English Pea reliably produces peas on 3 foot vines in about 65 days.  This will be one of the first things I put into the Garden in 2012.  In Northern California, the climate is temperate enough for me to plant these in February, which means that I can harvest them long-before other veggies like cucumber or tomatoes go into the ground.  My plan is to grow a ton of these for fresh eating and freeze the surplus for later consumption.  You can find seeds for Thomas Laxton Peas at Sustainable Seed, Burpee, Cooks Garden, and others.

• Delikatesse Cucumber Is Out - This is a classic german pickling cucumber.  I plan to grow it again in future years, but want to test more compact cucumber as a container plant.
• PickleBush and Bush Slicer Are In - These hybrid pickle varieties grows on vines that are only 2 feet long.  Both are reported to be resistant to both Powdery Mildew and Mosaic Virus, the former of which is a major problem in my garden.  Since our family loves pickles, I also plan to grow an Heirloom variety called Solly Beiler.  I grew this variety last year and so its on the list to repeat in 2012.  If you are interested, Bush Slicer is sold by Renee's Seeds and Pickle Bush is from Burpee.

Calipso Bean Is In - Calypso doesn't completely replace anything in my garden as I will continue to grow European Soldier beans.  I'm adding Calypso to the list because of it's striking appearance and its reported excellence as a soup and baking bean.  This bush bean grows to about 15" and matures in 70-90 days.  Calypso, also called Yin & Yang because of its black and white coloration, can be purchased from Seed Savers Exchange and Territorial Seed.

• German Giant Radish Is In - German giant replaces some, but not all, of the Saxa Radishes I normally grow each year.  This variety can get to be the size of baseball but are best when eaten an inch in diameter.  It's a mild, red, heirloom variety that matures in 30 days.  It can be purchased from a wide variety of seed suppliers.

• Savoy Cabbage is Out - Savoy is an amazingly good cabbage for braising but it did not do well as a cabbage for Sauerkraut in a trial we did last year.  Since we are much more likely to eat Sauerkraut than braised cabbage, Savoy is getting the boot in 2012.

• Danish Ball Head Cabbage is In - This is an old standby variety that is particularly good for kraut and for cole slaw.  One thing to note if you decide to grow this variety.... It takes a long time to mature - about 125 days versus most other varieties that take 60-100 days depending on the variety.  You can buy Danish Ball Head from Sustainable Seeds.

• Red Orach Is In - We first learned of Orach at our local farmers market.  It's a vegetable that originates from the Alps mountain range in Europe and has a unique and somewhat salty taste that is reminiscent of spinach.  It is a dark maroon color and can be eaten fresh or sauteed.  It does not bolt as easily as spinach and is often grown as a substitute.  The plant matures in 60 days.  Seeds can be purchased from Burpee.

• German Butterball Potato is Out - This is a really good potato that is used for boiling or mashing.  However, I'm growing other potatoes that can be used for the same purposes and need to make a little room for a baking potato.
• Lemhi Russet is In - This is a baking style russet potato developed by in 1981 and is reported to have higher yields that Russet Burbank or Norgold Russet.
  

• Astia Zucchini is In - This patio sized summer zucchini is an addition to the garden next year and will be planted in a container.  The variety is compact enough to grow in a small pot and is offered by Renee's Garden Seed.

• Tomatoes What In & What's Out - 2011 was an absolutely awful year for tomatoes in the San Francisco Bay Area.  We had cold rainy weather for months and many of my neighbors got no tomatoes at all.  Some of our tomatoes were in a greenhouse and so we were able to harvest enough for fresh eating and some canning, but many of the new varieties we were testing in 2011 got nailed by aphids and wilt.  As a result, we had a complete loss on most of the new varieties we had hoped to try last year.  So in 2012, we aren't making any changes versus last year.

• Silver Queen Sweet Corn is Out - Silver queen is a staple corn variety in many gardens and we've planted it for years.  In 2012, we just wanted to change things up a bit and so this long-time favorite is being put on ice for at least a year.

• Bodacious Sweet Corn is In -This is a very popular, late maturing, sugary-enhanced (SE) yellow sweet corn.  It is a good variety for fresh eating and also is supposed to freeze well.  Our family will grow more sweet corn than we can eat fresh and so this later trait is important to us. 

Wasbi Arugula is In - This new variety from Renee's Seed is supposed to taste like wasabi.  It will partially replace Runway Arugula in our garden.

The 2012 Garden List

Below is a complete list of the vegetables and varieties we plan to grow in 2012.  We plant all four seasons, so what's listed below represents plants that will growing in the ground at one time or anther from February through December 2012.

• Arugula - Runway, Wasabi.
• Beans - Calypso, European Soldier, Rollande Fillet, Henderson Baby Lima, Fava.
• Beets - Cylindra, Crapaudine. 
• Broccoli - Di Ciccio.
• Brussels Sprouts - Roodnerf.
• Cabbage - Danish Ballhead.
• Carrot - Parisiane, Mokum, Chantenay.
• Celery -Amsterdam Seasoning.
• Cucumber - Pickle Bush, Solly Bieler, Bush Slicer.
• Chard - Joy Larkum's, Bright Lights.
• Dandelion - Puntarella.
• Eggplant - Kamo.
• Erba Stella.
• Garlic - Purple Glazer, Inchellium Red.
• Hot Peppers - Serrano, Pimiento de Padron.
• Kale - Lacinato, White Kale, Dwarf Blue, Red Russian, Portuguese.
• Lettuce/Greens - Forellenschluss, Buttercrunch, Jericho.
• Mache
• Melons - Charentais, Petit Gris De Rennes.
• Miners Lettuce
• Oats - Hulless.
• Onions - Red Wethersfield, Yellow Rock.
• Pak Choi - Dwarf.
• Peas - Thomas Laxton.
• Potatoes - Maris Piper, Lemhi, Russet, Yellow Finn, Reba.
  
• Radish - German Giant, French Breakfast, Saxa.
• Salsify - Mammoth Sandwich Island.
• Summer Squash - Zucchino Rampicante, Astia.
• Sweet Corn - Bodacious.
• Sweet Pepper - Jimmy Nardello.
• Tomato - Stupice, Snowberry, Japanese Trifele, Paul Robeson, Green Zebra, Costuluto Genovese, Orange Icicle, Camp Joy, Arkansas Traveler, Brandywine Liam's, Brandywine Sudduth's, Wapsipincon Peach, Amish Paste, Bonnie Best.
• Wheat - Frassinetto.
• Winter Squash - Galeux d'Eysines, Boston Marrow, Metro.

If you are growing something this next year that you think is particularly interesting, please leave a comment so we can all learn about it.

Ten Interesting New Vegetable Varieties for 2012

In December and January, the seed catalogs start showing up in my mailbox.  In this posting, I highlight some new varieties that caught my eye as I thumbed through the pages of these various catalogs.  Some are new varieties, some are just new to me, and some are just plain wacky.  Here are ten varieties that might interest you:

• Wasabi Arugula - this variety offered by Renee's Garden Seeds is supposed to have a spicy flavor profile that is similar to wasabi paste that is used to make sushi.  I love hot hit of wasabi and am excited to try this in my garden this year.  In the spirit of fair disclosure I want to let you know that Renee's sent me a sample packet of this variety at no charge.
  

• Amsterdam Seasoning Celery - When I first saw this, I thought it must be an herb that has a flavor that is similar to celery, but when I checked the taxonomic name, it's clear this is a true celery (Apium Graveolens).  What makes this variety unique is that it has a growth habit that is similar to parsley.  There are no thick stems - you eat the leaves and these are reported to have an intense celery flavor.  You can find this variety offered by Renee's Garden Seeds.

• Patio Star Zucchini - half the size of a standard squash plant, this variety was bred specifically to be grown in a container.  If you have a container garden, this compact plant may be the way to add zucchini without having the plants take over the whole patio.  The plant produces full sized zucchini in 50 days and is offered by Territorial Seed Company.
  
  
  
• Rutgers CS Space Select - OK, this one was just so weird I had to mention it.  As part of an experiment during the 1980's, NASA put tomato seeds into space and exposed them to cosmic radiation for 6 years.  I assume NASA tested these upon return to the Earth to determine what impact an extended space flight would have on their germination and growth.  Obviously not much, because the 12 million seeds that had been placed into orbit were subsequently distributed to schools for children to grow in the US and 30 foreign countries.  These seeds offered by Territorial Seed Company are the direct descendants of that experiment.  This tomato is a red slicing variety (2 inch diameter) that is open pollinated and matures in 75 days. Territorial does not specify this, but I believe this is a determinate tomato.  

• Jetsetter VFFNTA Hybrid Tomato - If you're plagued by diseases that kill your tomato plants this short-season hybrid may provide a solution that allows you to grow tomatoes at home.  This is a quick maturing (64 days), red, slicing tomato, but what makes it unique is that it is its outstanding disease resistance -- verticillium wilt, 2 strains of fusarium wilt, nematodes, tobacco mosaic virus and alternaria.  That pretty much covers it.  You can purchase seeds for this indeterminate variety from Tomato Growers Supply Company.

• Princess Larette Potato - A french potato that Burpee claims has a mildly nutty flavor that is similar to chestnuts, hazelnuts and almonds.  Burpee's description of this variety bears a very strong resemblance to a French variety that made a sensation in the US a number of years ago when served by chef super stars Charlie Trotter and Thomas Keller.  That potato was called "La Ratte" and I believe that Burpee is selling the same potato under a name that is more appealing to U.S. consumers. 

• Indigo Rose Tomato - Reddish purple tomatoes, often called "black" tomatoes, have been the rage for the past several years.  I've grown a number of these including Black Krim, Paul Robeson, and Black Cherry and can attest to their excellence.  Indigo Rose is a new introduction that is being sold by both High Mowing Organic Seeds and Johnny's Selected Seeds.  This new variety makes other black tomatoes look pale by comparison.  It really is amazingly black.  The tomato produces 2 inch fruits on indeterminate plants in about 80 days.

• Chinese Green Luobo Radish - Over the past few years, I've seen an unusual variety of radish showing up in farmers markets and also in seed catalogs.  This root vegetable is sold under a variety of names including Watermelon Radish, Chinese Red Meat, Shinrimei, and Rose Heart.  These large, round, radishes are white on the outside with a green top and when you cut into them the center is red.  I grew these several years ago and like them primarily for the beautiful presentation they make on a salad plate.  As I looked through the Baker Creek catalog, I found a similar variety that I find even more visually appealing -- the Chinese Green Luobo.  This cylindrically-shaped heirloom radish is white on the outside with a green top section.  When you cut into the radish, the center is emerald green.

• Black Elephant Tomato - On the other end of the spectrum is perhaps the ugliest tomato I've ever seen.  This Russian heirloom is misshapen, cracked and is brownish-purple in color.  However, it is reported to be quite tasty.  This indeterminate tomato matures in 80 days.  Only Baker Creek could bring this tomato to the US market!

• Lina Sisco's Bird Egg Bean - This is an heirloom bean variety that was brought to Missouri in the 1880's.  It was passed down to Lina Sisco, a founding member of the Seed Saver's Exchange, who donated it to the group in 1975.  This  large, tan shelling bean with maroon markings is now in the Seed Savers Exchange catalog.  Planted in Spring, it will provide heirloom beans in about 85 days. 

If you've seen a new variety that you think is appealing, please post a comment about it so that other readers of this blog can check it out.

Smithsonian Collection of 10,000 Seed Catalogs

Yesterday, I posted on my favorite seed catalogs.  If you'd like to look at see some truly beautiful seed catalog covers from days gone, by check out this link to the collection at the Smithsonian Institution.

The collection contains over 10,000 seed and nursery catalogs from the 1830' through the 1930's.  The Smithsonian site has an on-line tool that lets you browse by plant type (tomatoes, apples, begonias, etc.) or by seed company.

 

Best Vegetable Seed Companies

Traditionally, seed companies mail their new catalogs out in December and January.  This is the time of year that I do my garden plan and place orders for any seed I need for the Spring and Summer. Over the course of the next several posts, I'll let you know what I believe is new or interesting in the 2012 seed catalogs and also share my 2012 garden plan with you. 

To get things rolling, I'm providing a list of twenty of my favorite seed companies from whom I've purchased over the years.  While certainly not an exhaustive list, these are companies that are dependable suppliers and you may want to check them out as you plan your garden.  They are listed below in alphabetical order with links to the company's web site.

• Baker Creek Seed - one of my favorite seed companies because of their incredibly large selection of heirloom open pollinated seeds.  Beware: Baker Creek publishes a glossy catalog full of such gorgeous photographs that you'll want to order more varieties than you have room to plant.
• Botanical Interest - A good selection of high quality seeds.  Botanical Interest is also unique in that each seed packet provides a wealth of information including: growing and harvesting information, pests/diseases, recipes and more.  Botanical Interest seeds can be purchased over the internet and also at select garden stores.
• Bountiful Gardens - Bountiful Gardens is a garden seed and tool supplier that sells organic, open pollinated seeds.  The company is a non-profit, dedicated to supporting a style of sustainable agricultural practice called bio-intensive farming.  Vegetable seeds, plants and tools can also be purchased locally from their sister store Common Ground if you live in the Palo Alto, CA area, and you can learn more about bio-intensive farming at the company's educational website GrowBiointensive.
  
• Burpee - Burpee provides one-stop garden shopping by selling a full line of vegetables, fruits, herbs, and garden tools.  Most of the seeds you'll find here are hybrids, but Burpee is also selling an increasing variety of heirlooms as consumer interest increases in this area. 
• Cook's Garden - Cook's Garden provides a curated seed shopping experience for customers with a high interest in cooking; the company selects a mix of hybrid and heirloom, European and American  varieties they believe are superior in the kitchen. 
• Fedco - This cooperative sells vegetable varieties that are particularly well adapted to the climate in the North East. Their catalog is a B&W PDF download.   The company is solid, but be aware that the shopping experience is poor by today's standards.
• Ferry-Morse - One of the oldest, and I believe the largest, seed providers in the United States.  Ferry-Morse seeds (sold under the FM and Lilly Miller brand names) are widely distributed through garden centers and retailers including Tractor Supply, Wal-Mart, HomeDepot, Lowes, Farm&Fleet and others.  The company sells a broad selection of vegetables but a fairly limited number of varieties within each vegetable type.  Fortunately, they seem to have a good selection of heirlooms, although they are not generally called out as such.
• Four Winds Growers - FourWinds provides a huge range of dwarf citrus trees from the common navel orange to the exotic - Buddha's hand, Yuzu, and Etrog etc.  Potted trees can be found at select nurseries around the United States or can be purchased directly from their on-line store as bare-root trees.
• High Mowing Seed - A nice selection of hybrid and heirloom seeds from this small company in Vermont.  All seeds are organically grown on the company's own farm.
• Italian Seed & Tool - As it's name implies, this company started out as one that specialized in Italian varieties but now carries a wider selection.  If you are looking for a specialty Italian variety of lettuce, fennel, squash etc., this is a good place to look. 
• J.L. Hudson - Like Baker Creek, J.L. Hudson is both a seed company and an evangelist for open pollinated seeds and biodiversity.  The company sells a wide range of heirloom veggies.  Unfortunately, as with Fedco, the shopping experience is not easy.  The "on-line catalog" is simply a list of veggies without photos.  Ordering is by snail mail, email/PayPal. 
• Johnny's Selected Seed- Johnny's is one of my favorite seed companies.  They have a very wide selection of hybrid and open pollinated vegetables, fruit and herbs, tools and supplies.  Their catalog is well illustrated with photos and contains lots of growing information for gardeners.  If you only want to shop with one supplier, Johnny's is the way to go.
• Kitagawa Seed Company- This firm specializes in Asian vegetables and vegetable varieties from Japan, China, Thailand etc.  If you are looking for a special Japanese pickling cucumber, hot Thai pepper, or adzuki beans have a look at Kitagawa.
• Raintree Nursery - Raintree sells a range of heirloom and hybrid fruit and nut trees, berries, and other plants.  The company's selection includes the commonplace (apple trees, strawberries etc.) as well as some very exotic items (Wasabi, thimble-berries, tea plants, jujubes, paw paws etc).  They also sell a good selection of table and wine grapes and ornamental trees.  Raintree sells its fruit trees on a variety of root stocks allowing you to choose a dwarf, semi-dwarf, or full size tree according to your needs.
  
• Renee's Garden Seeds - This company sells a good assortment of vegetable, herbs, and flower seeds that are choosen by the owner, Renee Shepherd.  Ms. Shepherd is notable for being one of the first seed providers to sell fine culinary varieties that had been sourced from around the world.  As with Cook's Garden, Shepherd Seeds are a curated seed experience as all varieties sold need to get Renee's stamp of approval.  Renee's Seeds can be purchased on-line and in select garden centers.
  
• Sandhill Preservation - Sandhill Preservation is seed company run by a husband and wife team that are dedicated to saving heirloom seeds.  They have a wide selection and is one of the places you might want to check if you are looking for a particular variety. Similar to J.L. Hudson and Fedco, the on-line catalog is just text with no photos.  Sandhill also sells heritage poultry if that interests you.
• Seed Savers Exchange - Dedicated to preserving heirlooms and fostering biodiversity, this is both a seed company and a non-profit organization.  Anyone can purchase seeds from the on-line catalog but members get a 10% discount as well as a quarterly magazine published by the organization.  Your membership also supports the organizations efforts to find and preserve heirloom varieties. 
• Sustainable Seed - Like many of the recommended companies on this list, Sustainable Seed sells heirloom open pollinated seeds.  The company has a good selection of vegetables but is distinguished by the fact that it is the only merchant I'm aware of that sells a large selection of heirloom cereal crops for home gardeners such as oats, rye, wheat, barley, corn, spelt, etc. etc.  I'm currently overwintering a rare variety of wheat that is supposed to make heavenly pasta flour.  The seeds for this wheat were purchased from Sustainable Seed.
• Territorial Seed - Territorial seed sells heirloom and hybrid vegetables and specializes in varieties that are good producers in the Pacific Northwest.
• Trees of Antiquity- A very complete selection of heirloom fruit trees on semi-dwarf root stock including apples, apricots, plums, peaches, pomegranates and quince.  If you are looking for a heritage English Apple or the amazingly delicious Baby Crawford peach, Trees of Antiquity will have it.

Wishing All A Happy 2012

With the new year fast approaching, I want to thank all my readers for your interest and comments in 2011. 

Below is a photo of some fresh eggs taken from our coop earlier this morning. We added some new chickens to the flock this summer and we are rewarded today with a New Years Eve treat..... some of the new girls are laying eggs with beautiful greenish-blue shells. So we ring in the new year with delicious, fresh eggs in an array of colors - white, cocoa, dark brown, and now, green.

I wish you all a happy and healthy 2012.  I look forward to sharing much with you in the new year.

Yuzu: Citrus Fruit For Harvest in Winter

A citrus fruit that can be grown in temperate climates and harvested in Winter for holiday recipes.

Yuzu is a citrus fruit that is very popular in Japan.  The fruit looks similar to a tangerine, but is more yellow and the skin is bumpy.   Similar in flavor to a lemon but more delicate, Yuzu was introduced into Japan from China during the Nara period (710-794 AD) and is now a staple in Japanese cooking; Japanese food lovers and cooks will be most familiar with Yuzu as it is the primary ingredient in Ponzu sauce.

Tolerant to 10 Degrees Fahrenheit

Yuzu is unique among citrus fruits because of its extreme cold tolerance.  Unlike other citrus fruits, Yuzu can tolerate cold temperatures as low as ten degrees Fahrenheit.  This means that gardeners in temperate climates (USDA Hardiness Zone 5 and higher) can successfully grow it their garden if they would like to do so.  Yuzu can also be purchased as a dwarf tree and grown in a pot indoors by anyone.  In the garden or inside, Yuzu can be enjoyed year-round:

• Beautiful green foliage 12 months of the year.
• Fragrant flowers in May or June.
• Ripe fruit in December or January.

Growing Yuzu

Depending on where you live, you may be able to purchase Yuzu from your local nursery.  If not, Yuzu can be ordered from FourWinds Citrus Growers and several other suppliers.  One thing to note when searching, the current taxonomic name for this citrus is Citrus ichangensis x C. reticulata but the plant is often sold under it's old taxonomic name Citrus junos.  

As with other citrus, you should grow Yuzu in well drained soil.  In my area, the soil is a miserable clay, so I grow my Yuzu in a SmartPot (a fabric growing bag) that provides great drainage and air circulation to the roots.  Here are basic care instructions:

• Plant in well drained soil.
• Keep soil moist but don't allow the roots to get waterlogged.  The best approach is to provide one deep watering per week (versus many shallow waterings).
• Fertilize with a nitrogen weighted fertilizer -- more "N" in the formula than Phosphorus (P) or Potassium (K).  Apply fertilizer are rates per the manufacturers recommendation.
• Plant or place pot in full sun.  If you use a pot, you can move your tree indoors or to a greenhouse during the Winter to provide additional protection.  This is the only option for gardeners who live in Hardiness Zones 1-4 and is probably also a good option for those living in Zone 5 (the lowest zone where Yuzu can be successfully grown outdoors)

 Yuzu Recipes

If you decide to grow Yuzu, here are some potential uses:

• Candied Yuzu Peel - prepare the same way you would make candied orange peel, but substitute Yuzu.  Since Yuzu is harvested in December/January, this might make a nice treat for the holidays.
• Yuzu Marmalade - just substitute yuzu for orange in Alton Brown's recipe.
• Yuzu Liquor - this is traditionally made by steeping the peel in liquor and then adding back juice at a later point.  The traditional recipe for "Yuzushu" uses 35% alcohol Shochu (Japanese rice liquor) and requires that the liquor be aged for one year.  I have not tried this method of method yet, but I think a faster way to make Yuzu flavored liquor would be to substitute yuzu for lemons in the recipe for Limoncello (made with vodka rather than shochu).  See my prior posting on how to make limoncello for details. 
• Ponzu - A traditional Japanese dipping sauce.

Chicken Lovers Eggnog Recipe

This recipe for "Baltimore Eggnog" comes courtesy of House and Garden Magazine from the 1970's.  It's made better if you are able to include fresh eggs from your own chickens, so I call it Chicken Lovers Eggnog.

This recipe serves 30, so cut down appropriately.

Ingredients:

• 1 dozen fresh eggs (from your own hens is even more special!)
  
• 1 pint brandy
• 1/2 pint light rum
• 1/2 pint peach brandy
• 3 pints milk
• 1 pint heavy cream
• 2 cups superfine sugar (this is sugar that is more fine than regular, but less than confectioners) If you can't find it, use what you can have on hand)
• Nutmeg (will be grated on top of eggnog)
  

Recipe:

1. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until they thickened.
2. Set aside the egg white which you will whip just prior to serving.
3. Slowly, add all the remaining ingredients to the egg  yolk/sugar mixture.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
4. When ready to serve, whip the egg whites until they are stiff (like meringue).  Mix into the rest of the ingredients.
5. Serve in punch glasses and top with grated nutmeg.

Happy Holidays to All From PlanterTomato!

Four Reasons Why You Can't Really Use Homegrown Ingredients to Make Beer

I've been experimenting with growing grain in my suburban backyard.  It's fun to think of growing grain and then converting it to beer. In this posting, I provide information about the ingredients in beer and the four reasons why growing your own ingredients isn't practical.

Basic Beer Brewing

Beer is made from just four basic ingredients: water, yeast, barley and hops.  The later two ingredients can be grown by gardeners and this raises the tantalizing possibility of not only brewing ones own beer, but doing so from home grown ingredients.  Let's look in greater detail at barley and hops....

Hops

In beer production hops are used as a preservative and a flavoring agent, giving beer its classic bitter taste and aroma.  The female flower cluster of the plant humulus lupulus (hops) is harvested and dried.  These flowers are then added to the beer during the brewing process where they release alpha and beta acids.  The alpha acids give beer it's bitter flavor, while the beta acids add aroma.

As a plant, hops are a perennial vine that grow 12-15 feet high.  They are extremely cold hardy and can be successfully grown in zone 3 through 8.   Hops are fast growers and will wrap themselves around trees, telephone poles and anything else in your garden.  So successful are hops that many consider the plant to be invasive. Hops seeds and rhizomes can be purchased from both seed companies such as Jungs Seeds, Raintree Nursery and a number of stores that cater to home-brewers.

I've never grow hops, but fellow gardeners and home brewers who have, often report that while easy to grow, hops are not easy to grow in a way that makes their alpha and beta acids consistent from plant-to-plant or year-to-year.  Herein lies the first problem.

Reason #1 - To make good beer, home brewer needs hops that are consistent with regard to their  alpha and beta acid levels.  This is hard to achieve in a home garden.

I've been referring to hops as if there were only one type of this plant in the world.  The truth is that there are dozens of varieties and each of these differs dramatically in their bitterness and in the aroma that they impart to the beer.  (See the Wikipedia for a list of some common varieties) This highlights the second issue for those interested in growing hops for home brewing...

Reason #2 - Most beer recipes require two or more different varieties of hops.  If you want to drink several types of beers, this means a home grower will need to successfully and consistently grow many hops varieties.  For example, a recipe that simulate Sam Adams Boston Lager requires the addition of Hallertauer and Pearle hops.  A recipe that I have for Bear Republic Racer #5, a craft brew, calls for five different types of hops - Chinook, Cascade, Centennial, Columbus and Amarillo. 

 Barley:

The second major ingredient in beer is barley. Barley provides the sugars that are fermented by yeast into alcohol.  As grain, barley does not possess these sugars and the grain needs to first be malted for use in beer.  In this process, the barley seed is soaked in water so that it begins to germinate and starches within the grain are thereby converted to ferment-able sugar.  Germination is then suspended by air drying so the barley can be used by brewers.  In some cases, the grain is then further processed by roasting.  This malting and roasting the grain contributes importantly to the final color, taste and mouth-feel of the beer.  The longer the grain is roasted, the darker it's color and the stronger it's flavor.  For example, home-brew versions of Guinness Stout use British Crystal Malt (provides a reddish color and carmel sweetness to the beer), Black Patent Malt (has a very sharp flavor and is used to make Porter and Stout style beers) as well as English Pale Malt and in some recipes wheat.

It's certainly possible for gardeners to grow barley.  The issue is really that that beer recipes generally require more than one variety and more than one malting style.

To begin with, there are three major categories of barley  based on the number of seeds at the top of the stalk (two-row, four-row and six-row barley). Two and six row barley are the ones that are most frequently used in brewing.  They differ in the amount of protein they contain and therefore in the taste and mouth-feel of the beers they produce.  European beers are generally made with 2-row barley while American brewers tend to use six-row.  Within these broad groups, there are many different varieties and these differ in their flavor characteristics as well as the ease of which they can be germinated for malting.  Most professional malting companies will use several varieties of barley to try to keep their products uniform.  These grain and malting variations form a highly complex palette from which a brewer can choose to formulate a beer recipe.

Reason #3 - As with hops, if you want to grow your own barley for brewing you'll probably need to grow several varieties, not just one. 

Reason #4 - These grains need to be malted (a complex enough process to begin with) and most beer recipes require between 2 and eight types of malted grain; malting this many styles is probably beyond the scope of what any home gardener/brewer has the capability and time to do.  For perspective, Austin Homebrew, is a company that sells malt grains to home-brewerssells over 56 different varieties of malted grains on their web site.

The Bottom Line

There's a difference between creating a beverage that would be recognized as beer and one that would be enjoyable and worth the effort.  You can grow one type of barley and roast it, and one type of hops and dry it.  From these ingredients it is possible to create beer.

However, to make a beer that would be as good as commercially available beer, you'll need several varieties of malt (barley) and hops.  This is very really just beyond the scope of what can be produced from the home garden and processed at home.

Best Vegetables for Beginner Gardeners - The Top Ten

Beginner vegetable gardeners always ask what they should be growing.  In this posting, I provide guidance on the best choices for beginners.

Naturally, there is no perfect list because the "right" vegetables to grow depends on individual taste preference and the climate where the garden is located.  That notwithstanding, I believe it is possible to come up with a list that will work for most people.  My selections are based on the following criteria:

• Popular - I've focused my list on vegetables that I know are widely enjoyed and can be eaten in quantities that make it worth the effort to grow them.  This meant excluding some veggies that have otherwise desirable characteristics.  For example, radishes are very easy to grow and mature in under 25 days.  They are often recommended for new gardeners, but in all honesty, I think they are a poor selection.  Most people eat radishes in sparing quantities and they are not particularly good for families since most kids find them too bitter.
• Hardy- I've selected vegetables that can successfully be grown by most gardeners.  These are veggies that are temperature and water tolerant and relatively resistant to diseases and pests. They provide easy "wins" for new gardeners and for those that really don't want to spend lots of time in the garden.  
• Worth the Effort -  I've tried to select vegetables where the homegrown version is worth the extra effort versus purchasing them at a farmers market or supermarket.  Let me be clear... almost everything you grow in your garden will be better than store-bought because it will be fresher. However, there's a very big difference between a homegrown tomato and a store-bought one, and the same can't really be said of vegetables like celery or onions.  Likewise, there are some varieties of vegetables that are just not sold in the supermarket -- you're only choice is to grow them for yourself.  In all cases, I've tried to choose particularly interesting varieties within a class of vegetable to maximize the value of growing it at home.
• Quick - I've tried to selected vegetables that mature relatively quickly.  For example, Winter Squash are not on the list because they generally take over 100 days to mature. Again, the idea is to give new gardeners quick results.
• Low Maintenance and space requirements - I've tried to select veggies or varieties that don't require pruning and staking so they are low maintenance.   When possible, I've chosen varieties that also can be grown in containers.
• Heirlooms/Hybrids - Heirloom vegetables are the rage these days, but they are often lower yielding, and less pest/disease resistant than hybrids.  For certain vegetables, hybrids are probably better choices for new gardeners.  My list of recommendations specifies whether the variety is a hybrid or an heirloom.  If you're heart is set on growing only heirlooms, just check the seed catalogs and substitute a variety that's more to your liking for any of the hybrids on the list.

Top Ten Vegetables for New Gardeners (In ranked order):

1. Salad Greens- Lettuces and other salad greens are easy-to-grow, quick maturing and can be planted throughout the Spring, Summer and Fall.  They also provide some of the highest yields per square foot of anything you can grow in your garden.  Most folks like salads and home grown lettuce is high value add versus store-purchased because salad greens are highly perishable. (Store-purchased lettuce, even that sold in nitrogen-flushed bags, loses its nutritional value quickly.)  The easiest way to get a diverse selection of greens is to purchase a mesculin mix.  Companies like Burpee and Johnny's sell various blends of greens with different flavor profiles.  If you want to select individual lettuce varieties consider the following Spring and Fall varieties: Forellenschluss, an heirloom Austrian variety that is particularly cold tolerant, Brune D'hiver a French heirloom that also does well in cool weather.  During the heat of summer, lettuces generally do poorly, so switch to heat tolerant varieties such as Jericho, a hybrid Romaine-style lettuce and Buttercrunch a hybrid butter-head-style lettuce.  Lettuces require full sun.  If you only have partial sun, consider growing Miners Lettuce instead of traditional salad greens.  Miners Lettuce comes from the Pacific Northwest and is crunchy and mild.  It is a favorite in our family with both adults and kids.
   
   
   
2. Tomatoes - Tomatoes are probably the vegetable that are hardest to grow on this list.  I'm ranking them second because they are universally loved and offer the the highest returns on the gardeners effort versus of any vegetable that can be grown.  Determinate tomatoes require the least staking so they are the only ones on this list.  My recommendations include: Stupice a small, red, fast-producing heirloom tomato, Sungold, an orange, hybrid cherry tomato, Rutgers, a small dark red heirloom tomato that good both as a fresh tomato or for canning, and Grushovka an heirloom plum-shaped pink tomato that has excellent flavor. These varieties can be grown in 5 gallon containers and seeds are readily available at garden stores and on the Internet.  Determinate tomatoes produce a crop of tomatoes that ripen all at the same time.  To ensure a continuous harvest, plant every three to four weeks from April through June.  Tomatoes require a minimum of 6 hours direct sunlight.  Plant only if you have a place in your garden that gets full sun.
   
   
   Cucumbers - I like cucumbers for fresh eating and because they are the easiest of all vegetables to preserve (pickles).  My favorite fresh eating cuke is an heirloom variety called Beit Alpha.  The skin on this variety is so thin you don't need to peel it plus it's burp-less and has a good shelf life.  For pickling cucumbers, I like an heirloom German variety called Delikatesse.  Both these cucumbers need to be trellised.  If you don't want the bother of staking, try Picklebush, a hybrid pickling cucumber from Burpee or Bush Slicer a hybrid from Renee's Seeds.         
      
   

1. Potatoes - potatoes are so universally popular, versatile and easy to grow, that I think they should be in everyone's garden.  While shelf life can vary dramatically depending on the variety, most potatoes will easily keep for several months which means that they can be put away for enjoyment at a later date.  Potatoes are a cool season crop that can be grown prior to before other favorites like tomatoes or peppers and potatoes grow very well in pots.  An excellent all purpose potato for frying, mashing and baking is Maris Piper.  This variety from England is the potato that is traditionally used to make fish & chips.  It is not common in the U.S., but it can be purchased mail order from Ronniger Farms.  If you are a baked potato lover, try Russet or Russet Burbank.        
   
   
2. Carrots - Carrots can be planted from early Spring through mid-July and then again in the late summer for a Fall harvest.  I'm particularly fond of an heirloom variety called Red Core Chantenay.  This variety has a fine flavor and grows a root that's 5 to 7 inches in length.  Carrots can also be grown in pots if you choose a stubby, round variety like Atlas or Parisian.  Both of these smaller carrots are heirlooms.      
   
   
   
3. Peppers - Choose hot, sweet or a mix of the two.  Hot peppers are all fairly easy to grow so the choice of variety is really driven more by how hot you want your peppers.  For a mild hot pepper consider Ancho or Poblano.  For a medium hot pepper, I like Serrano peppers and for a burn your mouth off experience go for Habanero. For sweet peppers, I like Costa Rican Sweet, a hybrid variety from Burpee.  Peppers like rich, well drained soil and need warm days and nights to do well.  If you grow hot peppers, these can easily be dried in the sun, your oven or a food dehydrator.     
   
   
   
4. Broccoli - A cool season crop for planting in the Spring or Fall, broccoli is one of America's favorite vegetables.  It occupies a position that's fairly low on my list primarily because it to subject to a wide variety of pests such as caterpillars, grasshoppers, aphids, cabbage root maggot, and slugs.  The best way to control for pests is to place hoops with protective netting over them.  Otherwise, you need to consider some kind of pesticide.  Safer Products makes a variety of pesticides that are low impact on the environment.  If you decide you want to give broccoli a try, a good heirloom variety is Di Cicco. This variety produces a 4 inch main head and a large number of side shoots that will grow more intensely once the main head is harvested.  There are many varieties of hybrid broccoli and the best approach may be to buy them as plants from your local garden center as these will be appropriate for your area.  Alternatively, Belstar is a very adaptable hybrid variety.  You can find seeds for it at Johnny's Selected Seeds or Territorial Seed.   
   
   
5. Fresh Herbs - Fresh herbs really improve the flavor of food and are much less expensive to grow than to purchase from the grocery store.  Herbs are easy to grow and lend themselves well to pots and flower boxes.  The most important consideration when planting herbs in pots is to group herbs with similar sunlight requirements so that you can place your pot in an appropriate location. Full sun herbs include: Anise, Basil, Calendula, Catnip, Cilantro, Dill, Fennel, Lavender, Oregano, Rosemary, Sage, Savory, Tarragon, and Thyme.  Partial sun herbs include: Chamomile, Chervil, Chives, Garlic, Lemon Balm, Marjoram, Mint, and Parsley.     
   
   
6. Summer Squash - Summer squash are can be both prolific and sweet.  The biggest challenge  growing summer squash is that most varieties are susceptible to disease, particularly Powdery Mildew and Mosaic Virus.  Golden Glory from Johnny's Selected seed is a disease resistant yellow squash but needs to be trellised.  If the above mentioned diseases are not a serious problem in your area (ask at your local garden center) choose a more compact variety that doesn't require staking such as Sunburst, a yellow patty-pan, or Raven a compact green zucchini.     
   
7. Green Beans - green beans are also very good producers.  To keep the workload to a minimum, I recommend growing bush varieties since these do not need to be trellised.  Burpee Tenderpod is a good choice as is Blue Lake Bush an heirloom variety.    
   

The Big One That Didn't Make the List and Why

1. Sweet Corn - I don't know a single person that doesn't love fresh sweet corn.  In fact, I would say it's ranks just behind tomatoes in popularity and for reason; when good, it is superbly delicious.  Unfortunately, a number of factors make it a poor crop for beginner gardeners.  The sad truth is that corn has a relatively low yield per square foot compared to other items that can be grown in the garden, so it's a bad investment if the gardener has limited space.  Additionally, corn must be grown in a minimum quantity in order to ensure proper pollination.  Generally speaking, a gardener needs to devote at least 16 square feet of of garden space to corn to ensure that the ears have fully formed kernels.  The problem is that all this corn will reach maturity at exactly the same time.  And corn deteriorates rapidly from superbly sweet to tasteless as sugars within the kernels convert quickly to starch once the ears have reached maturity.  To preserve corn's sweetness, home gardeners need to harvest the corn that can't be eaten by the family in a few days, shuck it, remove the kernels from the cobb, and then blanche and freeze them for future consumption. That's a lot of work. Couple this with the fact that good sweetcorn can now be found at most farmers markets and even the grocery store, and ratio of work required to produce it relative to what can be purchased isn't that great.  Sweet corn is a true delight, but I only recommend growing it to gardeners with some experience under their belts.     
   
   

Honey Bees In Winter

A few fun facts about how bees survive the Winter.

No doubt, you've noticed that there aren't many bees flying around in the Winter.  Most people assume that the bees hibernate over the Winter months and this accounts for their disappearance.  Actually, this is not what's happening. 

Technically, hibernation is a state of inactivity characterized by lower metabolic rate -- slower breathing, lower body temperature etc.  Bees do not undergo hibernation in Winter.  They remain active inside the hive and keep warm by clustering together in a tight ball and vibrating their wing muscles to produce heat.  This keeps the temperature of the bee cluster above 45 degrees Fahrenheit, with the center of the cluster remaining warmest (85 degrees). 

During the cold months, bees feed off of the honey and pollen they've stored during the warm season and this food provides them with the energy needed to keep the hive warm during the cold days of Winter.  During this period, the queen stops laying eggs and the population of the hive drops, leaving a skeleton crew of bees to take care of the queen and form the core of the bee colony in the Spring.

Where Bees Go In Winter:

During these colder months, bees are not visible to us because they are trapped inside the hive. In order to fly, bees need to maintain a relatively high body temperature.  When the air temperature drops below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, they are not able to maintain a sufficient body temperature to fly and are, therefore, confined to the hive and not visible to people.

The below photos taken yesterday (December 2, 2011) illustrates that when the temperature is right, bees will emerge from the hive, even during the dead of Winter.  The temperature in Northern California rose into the mid-60's and this allowed the bees to leave the hive and forage for food.  I'm not sure what's in bloom at this time of the year, but the bees were able to bring back pollen which I could see on their back legs.

Here are some fun facts about Winter bees:

• Temperature when the Winter cluster forms: 57 degrees
• Temperature when worker bess can't fly: 50 degrees
• Temperature when a bee cluster dies: minus 40 degrees
• Amount of stored honey required to keep a hive alive in Winter -40 to 60 pounds depending on the length of the Winter in your area.
• Lifespan of a worker bee in Winter: 140 to 320 days (versus just 15-38 days during the summer when they are active)
• Population of bee colony during the Winter: 20,000-30,000 bees versus a Summer population of 50,000-80,000.

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

Halloween Pumpkins 2011

This was the year of the zombie.  My 2011 pumpkins show a zombie rising from the grave and setting out into the night.

The grave...

And the risen....

For pumpkins carved in previous years, check out my Prior Post on How to Make A Fantastic Halloween Pumpkin.

Many of you know this poem, but it's so perfect for Halloween that I can't resist posting it. Courtesy of Edgar Allan Poe.  Happy Halloween to all my readers from PlanterTomato.

The Raven

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more.'

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
`'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -
This it is, and nothing more,'

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
`Sir,' said I, `or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you' - here I opened wide the door; -
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, `Lenore!'
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, `Lenore!'
Merely this and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
`Surely,' said I, `surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore -
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; -
'Tis the wind and nothing more!'

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door -
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
`Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, `art sure no craven.
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore -
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning - little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door -
Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as `Nevermore.'

But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only,
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered - not a feather then he fluttered -
Till I scarcely more than muttered `Other friends have flown before -
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.'
Then the bird said, `Nevermore.'

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
`Doubtless,' said I, `what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore -
Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore
Of "Never-nevermore."'

But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore -
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking `Nevermore.'

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
`Wretch,' I cried, `thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he has sent thee
Respite - respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! -
Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted -
On this home by horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore -
Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore -
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named Lenore?'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!' I shrieked upstarting -
`Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!