Thursday, March 24, 2011
Huge dandelion root
I pulled up this gigantic dandelion tap root tonight. It looks more like a parsnip or something! It's way bigger than the rest of the roots I harvested combined. These have been roasted, ground up, re-roasted, and boiled with water - hello dandelion root coffee!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Dandelion root harvest!
As an incentive for weeding, I've been saving dandelion roots to make dandelion coffee! Here's tonight's harvest:
In my copy of "A Midwest Gardner's Cookbook" (by Marian K. Towne, Indiana University Press), there's a great recipe for Dandelion Coffee. Here's what it says:
-----------------------------
Dandelion Coffee (Decaf) (p 12, in the Spring section of recipes)
Dig up roots, trim off leaves and stems and any small rootlets. Wash off earth and scrub roots well. Put in warm place to drain and dry.
Cut larger roots in half and into shorter lengths. Spread pieces on shallow roasting tin and bake in hot oven (400F) for 30 minutes until roots are brown and dry throughout. Allow to cool before grinding. Spread grounds on baking sheet and roast for 7 minutes in moderate oven (350F).
To prepare, put 5 to 6 T. of grounds in warm jar or pitcher. Pour on 1 pint boiling water, stir, and let steep for 1 hour. Strain into pan or microwave-safe mug to reheat.
--------------------------------------------
The next recipe is for Dandelion Wine, and begins with "Pick dandelion blossoms in early morning when dew is present, using only perfect, open blossoms." Sounds lovely! Maybe I'll try that when they start blooming...
In my copy of "A Midwest Gardner's Cookbook" (by Marian K. Towne, Indiana University Press), there's a great recipe for Dandelion Coffee. Here's what it says:
-----------------------------
Dandelion Coffee (Decaf) (p 12, in the Spring section of recipes)
Dig up roots, trim off leaves and stems and any small rootlets. Wash off earth and scrub roots well. Put in warm place to drain and dry.
Cut larger roots in half and into shorter lengths. Spread pieces on shallow roasting tin and bake in hot oven (400F) for 30 minutes until roots are brown and dry throughout. Allow to cool before grinding. Spread grounds on baking sheet and roast for 7 minutes in moderate oven (350F).
To prepare, put 5 to 6 T. of grounds in warm jar or pitcher. Pour on 1 pint boiling water, stir, and let steep for 1 hour. Strain into pan or microwave-safe mug to reheat.
--------------------------------------------
The next recipe is for Dandelion Wine, and begins with "Pick dandelion blossoms in early morning when dew is present, using only perfect, open blossoms." Sounds lovely! Maybe I'll try that when they start blooming...
Sunday, March 20, 2011
First planting and chicks video
Spring started tonight!!! Appropriately, I spent a lot of the day outside.
The nice woman raising my baby chicks sent me this video recently. They're young things still, but should be coming home in a couple weeks or so!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQLeK_FdPwc
Today was a beautiful sunny day (after a rainy morning to get all the soil good and wet) for planting. I got all of the onions, garlic, peas, and greens planted (however I still need to get some more spinach and lettuce seeds!).
Putting the yellow onion sets in neat 3" spaced rows and columns:
They're all the right way up, of course.
16x15 (should have done one more row!)
Red onions next:
Garlic in the other corner:
The whole bed planted - a little open space still.
I added 2-3" of homemade potting soil on top of all the bulbs. It's like I was never here...
Building supports for the pea trellis. This fence is going to be way too useful...
Planting 2 rows of peas along the west edge of the long west bed:
See them in the little finger-holes?
In the north half (from L to R), Wylie House Whippoorwill Cowpea, Wylie HouseCorne de Belier Snow Pea, and leftover Sugar Snaps (Burpee) from 2009.
In the south half (from L to R), Red Rosa Farms Snow Peas and Sugar Snap Peas:
Planting the greens.
I planted 4' x 2' of spinach. It won't be enough.
It's just Burpee Spinach. Heirloom to come.
Moving north, planting lettuce next.
Tiny little lettuce seeds!
Yeah, it's just Burpee Lettuce.
Moving north, more greens.
These endives are left over from last year - I never planted them before.
They came in a variety pack of salad greens, and now that I have extra space...
Arugula goes next to the endives. Just a small patch.
Arugula seeds are really pretty!
South half of the peas/greens bed all planted!
Starting into the north half of the greens... more lettuce!
Fancy-name lettuce from the Wylie House seed sale.
Moving north with more lettuce:
Sounds exotic! Spreading it out thin for a greater yield, hopefully.
The last 3-4' on the right will be used for more spinach and speckled trout lettuce and whatever else looks good in the store.
First Spring Sunset!
View of the gardens from the east edge of the yard. This will be much greener (and less cluttered/messy) very soon!
The nice woman raising my baby chicks sent me this video recently. They're young things still, but should be coming home in a couple weeks or so!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQLeK_FdPwc
Today was a beautiful sunny day (after a rainy morning to get all the soil good and wet) for planting. I got all of the onions, garlic, peas, and greens planted (however I still need to get some more spinach and lettuce seeds!).
Putting the yellow onion sets in neat 3" spaced rows and columns:
They're all the right way up, of course.
16x15 (should have done one more row!)
Red onions next:
Garlic in the other corner:
The whole bed planted - a little open space still.
I added 2-3" of homemade potting soil on top of all the bulbs. It's like I was never here...
Building supports for the pea trellis. This fence is going to be way too useful...
Planting 2 rows of peas along the west edge of the long west bed:
See them in the little finger-holes?
In the north half (from L to R), Wylie House Whippoorwill Cowpea, Wylie HouseCorne de Belier Snow Pea, and leftover Sugar Snaps (Burpee) from 2009.
In the south half (from L to R), Red Rosa Farms Snow Peas and Sugar Snap Peas:
Planting the greens.
I planted 4' x 2' of spinach. It won't be enough.
It's just Burpee Spinach. Heirloom to come.
Moving north, planting lettuce next.
Tiny little lettuce seeds!
Yeah, it's just Burpee Lettuce.
Moving north, more greens.
These endives are left over from last year - I never planted them before.
They came in a variety pack of salad greens, and now that I have extra space...
Arugula goes next to the endives. Just a small patch.
Arugula seeds are really pretty!
South half of the peas/greens bed all planted!
Starting into the north half of the greens... more lettuce!
Fancy-name lettuce from the Wylie House seed sale.
Moving north with more lettuce:
Sounds exotic! Spreading it out thin for a greater yield, hopefully.
The last 3-4' on the right will be used for more spinach and speckled trout lettuce and whatever else looks good in the store.
First Spring Sunset!
View of the gardens from the east edge of the yard. This will be much greener (and less cluttered/messy) very soon!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
A Garden Saturday - New Bed Construction
So on this beautiful Saturday, I finished building the new beds for this year, and got most of the dirt ready in them for planting.
First thing in the morning, this was the state of the beds:
Mixing up some homemade potting soil - it's high quality stuff!
Peat in a bucket, mixed with water, into the mixing barrow:
Recipe from the internet.
Bed construction material ready to go:
Wetting the potting soil.
I turned over the composted mulch in the W long bed and scraped a little of the extra soil towards one end.
Preparing the potato beds, E and W.
Cardboard against the ground, and old dirt from the long W bed:
Amended long W bed with ~2" of homemade potting soil. I'll plant peas/greens here and the good soil will make it easier for the seeds to sprout.
E potato bed has enough dirt just from the long E bed.
This will be the garlic and onion bed. I put 1-2" of manure down on top of the cardboard to get started.
As an experiment, the E potato bed has cardboard on its bottom, and the W potato bed has the garden-center-type cloth stuff. We'll see which works better.
Assembled W potato bed:
Mixing up dirt for garlic/onions: usual top soil but with extra sand, peat, and lime.
Adding new dirt to onion/garlic bed, and liming the E potato bed.
Garlic/Onion bed full of dirt. After I plant the sets I will apply ~2" of homemade potting soil.
Re-using the giant pile of potato-crushing dirt for the potato beds this year:
A missed potato from last year! I found 1 purple potato and 1 kennebec. How... lucky?
Last year's potato bed's dirt was plenty to fill up the W potato bed.
I also had some left to put in the tomato bed (on top of 1-2" of manure).
Adding more dirt (just top soil and peat and lime) to tomato bed. Corn/bean bed cardboard still needs to be cut:
Done for the day. Corn/bean and tomato beds still need a little more soil.
Last (second) batch of homemade potting soil. I'll put these on top of the potatoes, garlic, and onions after they're planted.
5 new beds over the weekend! 112 new square feet of garden space (about double what I used to have).
Garage is getting empty as the garden fills up.
I've been putting the seed potatoes out in the sunshine on nice days. Their eyes are sprouting slowly but surely.
Tomorrow I plan to put the potatoes, onions, and garlic in the ground. I will also sow seeds for peas and greens. There will be lots more exciting photos and stories tomorrow!
First thing in the morning, this was the state of the beds:
Mixing up some homemade potting soil - it's high quality stuff!
Peat in a bucket, mixed with water, into the mixing barrow:
Recipe from the internet.
Bed construction material ready to go:
Wetting the potting soil.
I turned over the composted mulch in the W long bed and scraped a little of the extra soil towards one end.
Preparing the potato beds, E and W.
Cardboard against the ground, and old dirt from the long W bed:
Amended long W bed with ~2" of homemade potting soil. I'll plant peas/greens here and the good soil will make it easier for the seeds to sprout.
E potato bed has enough dirt just from the long E bed.
This will be the garlic and onion bed. I put 1-2" of manure down on top of the cardboard to get started.
As an experiment, the E potato bed has cardboard on its bottom, and the W potato bed has the garden-center-type cloth stuff. We'll see which works better.
Assembled W potato bed:
Mixing up dirt for garlic/onions: usual top soil but with extra sand, peat, and lime.
Adding new dirt to onion/garlic bed, and liming the E potato bed.
Garlic/Onion bed full of dirt. After I plant the sets I will apply ~2" of homemade potting soil.
Re-using the giant pile of potato-crushing dirt for the potato beds this year:
A missed potato from last year! I found 1 purple potato and 1 kennebec. How... lucky?
Last year's potato bed's dirt was plenty to fill up the W potato bed.
I also had some left to put in the tomato bed (on top of 1-2" of manure).
Adding more dirt (just top soil and peat and lime) to tomato bed. Corn/bean bed cardboard still needs to be cut:
Done for the day. Corn/bean and tomato beds still need a little more soil.
Last (second) batch of homemade potting soil. I'll put these on top of the potatoes, garlic, and onions after they're planted.
5 new beds over the weekend! 112 new square feet of garden space (about double what I used to have).
Garage is getting empty as the garden fills up.
I've been putting the seed potatoes out in the sunshine on nice days. Their eyes are sprouting slowly but surely.
Tomorrow I plan to put the potatoes, onions, and garlic in the ground. I will also sow seeds for peas and greens. There will be lots more exciting photos and stories tomorrow!
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