No Garden This Year

I've witnessed some expressions of shock when I tell friends I am not planting a vegetable garden this year! The key word here is "vegetable" - I have plenty of gardens outside of the 20' x 40' plot we've dedicated to annual veggies for several years. In fact, I've been working for the last 3 months cleaning up winter leaves and old growth from my "other" gardens! (One reason why I haven't posted here in so long.)

The vegetable garden is not being planted because it is being renourished this year. Since I've been doing year-round gardening for several years, we suspected its nutrients had been depleted and got a soil test done by the cooperative extension service. My 2013 veggie garden was disappointing (for many reasons, but weak soil is likely one). If you are a recent follower to this blog, you can look at the 2011 archives - during that year I posted my vegetable garden activity month-by-month for all 12 months. With stuff planted all the time, it's a challenge to find time for a good work-over. That's why we made the tough decision to keep the vegetable garden empty for a while.

Mushroom compost delivery

So we dumped a 10 ton load of compost from the local mushroom factory on the vegetable garden in December, spreading the mulch to cover the garden area, and then rota-tilled it in. Then I spread buckets of chicken manure, from my friend Susan's gorgeous egg-layers… a great source of nitrogen. Both the mushroom compost and chicken manure are too "hot" and strong until they have time to compost into the existing soil.

Some of Susan's lovely hens who contributed manure!

The next layer was dried leaves from the huge variety of hardwoods I raked off my other gardens, which will compost and decay, adding more nutrients. Once the weather warms up, we'll do a "soil solarization," covering the garden with clear plastic for 30+ days to help kill off blight and other soil-borne pathogens. I am also planning to add some worms and do some "green" manure planting… a crop which will add nitrogen and good stuff back into the soil, instead of depleting its nutrients. Hopefully, this will all result in a great vegetable garden next year.

Meanwhile, my cold frame has produced oodles of kale, lettuce, spinach and parsley through the cold season. Onions and garlic planted in the fall are green and healthy. The wild chickweed was abundant this winter - a great addition to salads and smoothies. My other recent garden activities have included planting a new asparagus bed in my edible front yard, transplanting additional wildflowers to the trailside wildflower garden I started on our "Darla Trail" last year, cleaning/pruning/feeding and other tasks on the many many perennial flowers, herbs, berries, fruit trees, and other plants I have going strong. I love springtime and gardening gives me a great excuse to use some of my "free time" in the beautiful outdoors. Go plant something yourself!

The edible front yard is growing fabulously - strawberries and blueberries are now flowering!

Back-To-School - Gardening School, That Is!

If you live anywhere within travelling distance to Asheville NC and you have an interest in

• organic gardening
• homesteading
• permaculture
• healthy soil
• sustainability
• raising poultry/goats/swine/rabbits
• beekeeping
• herbs
• livestock
• alternative energy
• orchards
• perennials
• and even cooking

...it's not too late!

Sign up now for the Organic Growers School's 21st Annual Spring Conference, March 8 & 9. Two days packed with terrific workshops, hands-on projects, usable information, and excellent instructors. And it's cheap: $45 on Sat, $40 on Sunday. There is also an intensive Poultry course for those who want to attend on Fri, for $45. Courses are offered for beginners, advanced, and even commercial growers.

In addition, there is a seed & plant swap, an ongoing trade show (seed companies, garden suppliers, nurseries) silent auction, hands-on half-day workshops, nutritious food served for lunch/snacks, and lots of networking opportunities with other attendees.

This sounds like an advertisement, but I speak from experience. I attended the conference last year and took workshops on edible wild plants, medicinal herbals, growing garlic, and other interesting topics. I learned great new recipes and tricks in a Gluten-Free baking class. I found the instructors to be knowledgeable and organized, and I got good information from every class I attended. 'Wish I could go again this year, but overnight trips with our puppy are not on the agenda right now!

The Organic Growers School is a very active organization in North Carolina. The conference is held at the University of NC at Asheville. Link for more info:

http://organicgrowersschool.org/annual-spring-conference/

Why is corn so sweet?

Eating on the Wild Side: The Missing Link to Optimum Health is a must-read for anyone interested in eating more nutritiously. Author Jo Robinson has compiled 10 years of research and data from historical documents, scientific journals, nutritional studies, academia, and other referenced sources to present a simple guide to choosing the most nutritious vegetables and fruit as part of our everyday diet.

This book explains how the wild ancestors of today's common fruits and vegetables were far more healthful than our choices today. Natural selectivity and the intervention by hunter-gatherers, farmers, scientists, and big business agriculture have bred nutrients out, often in favor of other qualities. Aren't these supposed to be the most healthy parts of our diets? Modern varieties are less bitter, not so chewy, larger, or in other ways more appealing to the human palate. They ship better and farther, ripen more evenly, or grow to a uniform size, making commercial successes. But science can now measure micro nutrients and analysis shows that these selective interventions have also depleted essential phyto-nutrients (ie. nutritional value in plant substances) from today's popular and most widely grown and marketed fruits and veggies.

Still, there are so many types of fruits and vegetables and so many varieties within each type, that - armed with the knowledge from this book - we can still fill our plates with the most nutritious choices. With each chapter concentrating on one vegetable, Robinson shares info and tips such as:

• how the vegetable or fruit evolved from its wild ancestor plants
• how our mega food industry grows, harvests, ripens, stores and delivers produce
• specific varieties which are the most nutritious and why
• what parts of the veggie or fruit you should eat
• how to select, buy, clean, and store the freshest choices
• the shelf life of phytonutrients
• good alternatives to some of the most "popular" vegetables and fruit
• how to prepare, cut, cook and eat to maintain the most nutrients (some recipes included)

This book is a real eye-opener. Without even considering genetically modified foods (GMOs), Robinson's  accounts of how our crops have been and are currently being mutated, modified, hybridized, and treated are astonishing, and, in some cases, disturbing to me. Check these tidbits:

CORN: 95% of the sweet corn grown today traces back to two mutant strains, one of which occurred when scientists exposed corn seeds to intense radiation during atomic bomb tests in the Marshall Islands in 1946. A geneticist later discovered, rather by accident, that this resulted in an intense "sweetness" to the corn kernel, and crossed it with other corn varieties to create a viable plant.

GRAPES: Since the 1960s, Thompson grapes, the common seedless green grapes sold at supermarkets, have been grown with the spraying of a plant hormone called gibberellic acid, for the sole purpose of elongating the grape and making it 75% larger than normal. Our grapes are "gibbed."

ORANGES, TOMATOES, BANANAS & OTHERS:  Many of our fresh produce selections are picked long before ripening, subjected to gassing in warehouses to make their skins turn the color of ripeness, then sold to us as fresh picked. I've cringed when reading labels on oranges which also confess to "added color."

Read this book (I'm starting through it a second time, taking notes now) and you'll learn things like:

• currants are a healthy alternative to raisins
• red and pink grapefruit are sweeter and nutritionally better than white varieties
• 2000 types of bananas are grown worldwide, but Cavendish is the only one commonly sold in the USA
• more mangoes are eaten daily around the world than apples
• why dried plums are the new prunes
• broccoli needs to be eaten soon after harvest to preserve its cancer-fighting properties
• canned blueberries are better for you than fresh ones

Sweet potatoes I grew in '13 (clockwise): All Purple, Beauregard, and O'Henry

 I just finished the book, and I've been changing my vegetable choices based upon what I've learned from Eating on the Wild Side. I selected the varieties to plant in my new asparagus bed based on Robinson's recommendations. I've tried and enjoyed a new recipe for Garlic Roasted Cabbage. I've developed a delicious black bean soup recipe, made in my pressure cooker, and a yummy recipe for Braised Red Cabbage (I'll share these soon). I'm adding Haas avocados to more dishes - when they are not too expensive! I tried and like dried plums and even chopped some fine to add to my granola, discovering a tasty and nutritious alternative to raisins in future recipes. I am giving more points to the "all purple" sweet potatoes I grew last season, even though they are a bit drier when cooked than the typical orange-fleshed varieties. I understand better why picking your own garden varieties and buying from local farmers markets is so advantageous over buying supermarket produce. Do I prefer eating a pink lady to a granny smith apple? Sure, but my future choices will definitely to be swayed by what I've just read.

Thanks to my "wildside" friend Cathy for recommending this book to me! Put it on your reading list soon, and start getting more health benefits from the fruits and vegetables you eat.

View a video interview with the author, Jo Robinson.

Resolution to Lose Weight?

Fresh fruit is naturally gluten free.

If you've made a New Year's resolution to lose weight, I have a suggestion to help you… just stop eating wheat for one month.

I personally know about 10 people who are "gluten-free," which means they have cut out all products made with wheat, barley, rye. Only one of these acquaintances suffers from the serious gluten-intolerant condition of celiac disease. The others, like me, discovered the beneficial side effects of eliminating wheat and other gluten products from our everyday meals, forever.

Funny thing… all of these 10 people are either at a normal weight or are thin - in these days where obesity is running rampant. This says something, doesn't it? Like me, most of these friends dropped pounds within two months of becoming gluten free, and have had no trouble maintaining the lower weight as a result of their altered diet. Maybe they were at a heathy normal weight already, since they tend to be nutrition-conscious people, but I am convinced their lifestyle diet is a factor also - it is for me.

I'm not one to impose my eating habits on others, but I like to help those who seek assistance. Learning about healthy foods is one of my passions, and I get pleasure out of sharing the knowledge too.

My gluten-free way of eating was especially helpful during the recent holiday season. I know how gluten foods make me feel (gassy, bloated and other negative side effects), and I just have to think about this to motivate myself to pass on the crackers and breads, skip the pasta dishes, and avoid the cakes, cookies, pies, and other desserts. Doing so certainly helps me eliminate loads of refined sugar from my diet too, since most desserts are based on wheat flour. It actually makes me sad to see so many overweight people filling their plates with such foods, since I know that their health is being undermined, and that they would be much healthier and happier with weight loss.

Believe me, you don't go hungry on a gluten-free diet. There are so many good naturally gluten-free foods! I happily used raw veggies and my homemade gluten-free crackers for holiday dips, and I made sure I offered fresh fruits on the dessert table to my holiday guests as an alternative to the tempting baked goodies. I make gluten-free breads and desserts, as well as pasta dishes - many of my favorite recipes are on this blog, particularly my posts over the last 18 months of being gluten-free. Click on "gluten free" or "gluten-free" in the label listing in the right column of this blog to see some of them.

So many times I hear people react to my gluten-free food choices by saying things like "Oh, I could never give up bread" or "I can't deprive myself of spaghetti" or "But you need complex carbs" or "That's too hard - what would I eat?" How about just trying it for one month? If you are like me, you will see and feel positive results in that short time. January is a great time to commit to going gluten-free.

After more than a year of eating gluten-free, I wrote a report about what I learned and how I felt, which links here. In addition, here are a few simple steps to help get started with gluten-free eating:

• Educate yourself about how to avoid gluten, by knowing what to eat and what to avoid. Here's a pretty simple starter list of what you can and cannot eat.
• Read ingredients labels on packages, avoiding wheat, barley, rye, and their flours
• Discover grains you've never tried, like quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth, wild rice, and others
• Try gluten-free pasta, bread, and crackers (read some of my favorites here)
• Cook with non-wheat flours (there are many options, including all-purpose flour mixes which are gluten-free, like my favorite Bob's Red Mill brand).
• You might need to "special order" certain dishes in restaurants, like a chicken salad without the bread or substitute cole slaw for macaroni salad. Most restaurants are happy to help. You'll notice that restaurants are jumping on the Gluten-Free Bandwagon and starting to offer gluten-free options, so read the menus.
• Don't hesitate to say "no thank-you" to foods people offer you, and they likely won't be offended.

All this considered, do your body a favor by trying to stick it out for one entire month. See if it makes a difference to you. If your side effects are positive, and if you convince yourself that you have the will power to make new food choices, perhaps you'll alter your lifestyle diet forever, as I have, knowing that occasional exceptions are ok too, so long as you are not totally gluten intolerant.

There are many easy-read books on the gluten-free lifestyle. Wheat Belly was the book which convinced me to give it a try. Gluten free info floods the internet, with recipe blogs and oodles of tips. Gluten-free and ancient grains are some of the top nutrition trends for 2014, so you'll be hearing more and more about them. The big food giants are fast to jump on the gluten-free bandwagon, and supermarket gluten-free products are multiplying rapidly. Just beware of the entire list of ingredients, since some of these products might have many ingredients you shouldn't be over-eating, as is the case with most processed, pre-packaged foods (sugars, additives, preservatives, artificial ingredients).

Good luck and let me know how you do.

P.S. My New Year's resolution is to paint more this year!!  :-)

My friend Ken's inn, Riverside Bed & Breakfast, offers gourmet gluten-free breakfasts which never skimp on delighting the palate!

Crispy Grain Crackers

Have you ever thought about making your own crackers? It's not too difficult, and you can use your own healthy ingredients (unlike most of those you'll find on the grocery shelves).

Going gluten-free prompted me to try some cracker recipes, and this one is now a favorite of mine. I like to make the dough and freeze it until ready to bake. You can get creative by mixing in various herbs, spices, and other ingredients... invent your own signature crackers! This version calls for cooked brown rice and cooked quinoa, but I've also made the crackers with only brown rice, and they were equally yummy. Next time I might try making these with some black rice!

(Foods in red type are detailed on the "Ingredients" page of this blog.)

Cooked Grain Crackers

INGREDIENTS

• 2 c cooked brown rice
• 2 c cooked quinoa
• 2/3 c raw sesame seeds
• 1/2 c flax seeds, soaked in 1/2 c water for 20 minutes (do not drain)
• 2 T tamari soy sauce
• 1 t salt
• 3 T olive oil
• Optional Add-Ins: dried herbs, finely chopped sundried tomatoes, hot pepper powder, spices, cracked pepper, powdered horseradish, granulated fine onions or garlic, chia seeds, poppy seeds

INSTRUCTIONS
Mix all ingredients - and your choice of "add-in's" - in a food processor to make a dough (add water if too dry). At this point, you can form the dough into two flattened balls or logs and refrigerate or freeze to bake later. Thaw in the refrigerator before proceeding with the steps below.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Using half the dough at a time, lay a flattened dough disk on a piece of baling parchment which fits into a shallow baking pan (I use pizza pans). Top with another sheet of parchment or waxed paper, and roll very thin (1/8"). Peel back and remove the top sheet. Transfer the flattened dough, on the parchment, to the ungreased baking sheet. Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut into cracker size, but don't worry about separating the pieces.

Sprinkle with coarse salt, if desired. Bake 25-35 minutes at 350 degrees, until brown and crisp. The outer edges may brown faster, so you can remove those crackers and continue baking the rest.

Remove to a cooling rack when browned and crisp. If you don't eat these all right away, store overnight in a brown bag to retain crispness. Whenever I've serve them, I haven't had any leftover to worry about! Makes several dozen 2" crackers.

How to Select Garden Seeds

Early spring lettuce, planted from thinning the original seed bed

Seed catalogs are showing up in my mail these days, and it is really tempting to make a big purchase! Just as many of my quilting friends have more fabric than they will ever use, some of us gardeners get overzealous buying seeds. Before you fill out your garden seed order, there are many factors to consider. Here are a few for you to think about:

• Do you want to start some plants from seed indoors, before it's warm enough to plant outside (like tomatoes, peppers, basil, etc.)? If yes, you'll need sunny, warm indoor spaces. You'll need to care for the seedlings, transplanting as they grow, watching for mold, fungus, insects, etc. You'll need to time when to start your plantings to your locale, vegetable by vegetable, and you'll need to "harden off" the plants before they go permanently into the garden soil.
• Would you be better off buying small plants for those warm weather crops from a local nursery? Many vendors now carry heirloom varieties, even big stores like Lowes and Home Depot.
• Are you going to grow organically, and is it important to you that the seeds are also organically produced?
• Will your garden grow only annual plants, or a mix of annuals, reseeding biennials, perennials?
• Do you want to plant a cold weather garden (with cool crops like lettuce, spinach, peas), followed by warm weather veggies after the early ones are harvested, and perhaps even a fall planting of cool crops again?
• Do you want to plant some crops from seeds directly in the garden (beans, carrots)? Some vegetables do not take well to transplanting, so keep this in mind.
• Are you concerned about planting heirlooms vs hybrids? Are you going to save seeds? (if so, you may need to limit the variety of certain vegetables that cross pollinate - read up on seed saving.)
• Do you want a big harvest of one item all at once (good when canning or pickling) or do you want to stagger the harvest over the growing season?
• Do you have room for veggies that need space to spread, like squash, melons, sweet potatoes?
• Do you want to set up strong supports to grow plants vertically, as with trellises needed for pole beans, or would you prefer "bush" and/or dwarf varieties which grow more compactly and without supports? I grow bush beans and midget okra, with no lack of flavor compared with taller varieties.
• Do you want to experiment with new veggies or stick with "tried and true" proven winners? I've tried a few different types of jalapenos, but the old standard is my favorite.
• Do you have a place to store extra seeds, where it is dry and cool?
• Do you have gardening friends, neighbors, local garden clubs, and/or farmers markets which sell or exchange seeds? These choices might be especially well suited for your area, and already ear-marked as favorites by others.
• What gardening zone are you in, and what are the best plants for your location? Dry vs. humid, long hot summer vs. short growing season… all considerations for what veggies and what varieties you select to grow.
• What type of soil is in your garden - clay, sandy, rocky? How does your garden area drain?
• How much sun does your garden location get?
• Do you want to stick to vegetables exclusively, or mix in herbs and/or flowers?
• And, perhaps most important, how much time do you want to spend gardening: prepping the beds, planting, thinning, transplanting, weeding, harvesting, treating for pests and diseases, and preserving? It's quick and easy (and inexpensive) to buy and plant seeds, so it can be very tempting to over-plant. I've seen new gardeners get overwhelmed and frustrated because they can't keep up with the gardening chores after planting loads of seeds, often surrendering to weeds and or pest infestations without getting much harvest.

I grow lots of basil so I can freeze many bags of pesto.

Seminole squash proved resistant to squash bugs.

Have I confused you? My quick recommendation, particularly if this is the first year you are gardening in a certain location, is to start small and keep it simple. Put your energy into making sure your soil is healthy and nourished - get a soil test kit from your local extension office and get the best analysis they offer, then amend the soil as needed. Set up a compost bin and learn how to use it, along with compost tea.

Once that's done, decide what are your favorite veggies and which of those are easy to grow and taste better when homegrown. Also determine what you are going to do with each vegetable crop your harvest - eat everything fresh, OR preserve by canning or freezing or dehydrating or pickling...?

I try to look for varieties of seeds which are recommended and suitable for my area, particularly if I buy from a seed catalog which is selling seeds for a big range of gardening zones. I know my soil is primarily clay, so that might influence the variety or type of veggies I grow (like growing carrots, for example). I look for seeds with resistance to problems I know I have in my garden, like squash bugs or tomato blight. Seminole squash was described as being naturally resistant to squash bugs, and I grew it successful last year. Ask local gardeners who match your gardening style (organic? heirloom seeds? permaculture?) what varieties they like best and have the most success with.

Heirloom chioggia beets grow well, and are tasty and pretty!

Just for fun, I usually try a few new and different crops each gardening year. Last year I tried growing small patches of a few grains - buckwheat, sorghum, oats, and amaranth - with mixed success. Roselle hibiscus was an experiment last season, and it will surely have a place in my garden again next year. I grew two different varieties of beans, and really liked one called Vermont Red Cranberry. However, dried beans are so inexpensive, I probably won't grow them again. One year I tried growing garbanzo beans, but each pod had only one or two beans, so I never bothered with those again.

Have fun planning your garden and let me know your successes and failures!

Cubes of a Different Color

Fresh pureed blackberries, from the Vitamix to the trays

You might have heard of freezing homemade pesto in an ice cube tray; it allows you to thaw and use small portions at a time rather than defrosting a big block. I've expanded on this idea to freeze many of my fruit, vegetable, herb and berry harvests. Of course, I use a set of trays dedicated to freezing food vs. water. Once frozen, the individual cubes are popped out and stored in the freezer in zipper bags. This method combines small portion size, minimized freezer space, convenience for cooking from scratch, and preservation of great flavors.

Freezing my harvests into cubes has additionally proven to be the best way to preserve certain items for off-season use. Cilantro is wonderful fresh, but loses its flavor when dried. It grows best here in the winter months, so I don't have it growing to add fresh when tomatoes are ripening and I make fresh salsa. Freezing makes cilantro available when I want to use it in summertime, with its flavor as close to fresh as I've found (read below how I prepare it to freeze in cubes). Also, putting fresh harvested and cured garlic in a dark, cool place works for short term storing, but, for me, the heads eventually start to sprout or shrivel up. Freezing into cubes preserves it for me to use year-round.

Basically, any juicy produce can be chopped fine or pureed in a food processor and then frozen as cubes. If the food is not liquid enough, I add a small amount of oil or some other liquid which matches what I'm likely to put in a recipe with the pureed item. For example, I chop fresh cilantro and mix it with freshly squeezed lime juice to freeze into cubes, since I'm likely to use the cilantro in salsa or some other Mexi-inspired recipe which includes lime juice.

Jalapenos and olive oil cubes (note the gloves!)

My Vitamix, the super blender I use for smoothies and lots of other food prep, is my kitchen aide when preparing fresh raw berries for freezing into cubes. The Vitamix action is powerful enough to pulverize the the seeds of raspberries and strawberries and create a thick smooth puree, no seeds detectable. Frozen into cubes, these make a great addition to the smoothies when the fresh berries are not in season. For harvests which don't need to be so finely pulverized, I use my food processor to chop the ingredients.

Some of my favorite veggies, herbs and fruits to freeze into cubes include:

• Basil with olive oil (no need to add parmesan cheese and pinenuts/sunflower seeds yet - just add them when you are ready to make and use the basil in a pesto sauce)
• Peeled garlic pureed with olive oil
• Chopped jalapeno with olive oil
• Chopped cilantro with lime juice
• Pureed #berries
• Pureed fresh ginger root
• Chopped lemon balm with lemon juice
• Applesauce (one or two cubes are a nice portion for adding to a cup of plain yogurt)
• Fresh juice and pulp from citrus fruits (when my Florida friends bring some from their trees :-)

I use minced #garlic very frequently, like for my Caesar Salad Dressing and for Scampi. I keep a small jar permanently in the 'fridge, popping a frozen garlic cube into the jar whenever it runs empty.

Let me know your ideas for freezing in #icecube trays!

Pureed garlic in oil on the left, chopped cilantro in lime juice on the right