Garden Update

I have been happy overall with my garden this year.  I have plans to expand next year.  I am going to try square foot gardening.

Here is a selection of photos from my garden.

Here is the dill.  As you can see, it went wild!

I harvested the seeds.  I wish I had dried some leaves.  I will have to do that next year.  I like to use that in my homemade dip.  I also dried a lot of basil.

I grew butternut squash, by accident!  The seeds came up from my compost.  When it sprouted, it looked just like the cucumber I had growing in the pot, so I didn’t pull it.

I ended up getting two small squashes from that plant.  They were both the size of my hand.  They each made a nice lunch portion size for myself.  They were delicious!
These are my Purple Beauty Bell Peppers.  I thought they would be sweet, but they taste the same as green bell peppers.  However, I noticed a couple turning red, instead of purple.  I let them stay on branch until they were almost completely red.  I picked them last night and ate them in a salad.  They tasted great, as sweet as red bell peppers should be.  Next year, however, I will be growing red peppers.  We just like them better.

My tomatoes have disappointed me.  I did not know that heirloom tomatoes are known for cracking.  The first few that ripened were so bad I couldn’t eat them.  There seem to be plenty now that aren’t cracked.  I hope they stay that way.  :)  Plus, my attempt to keep away the Tomato Hornworms with my Marigolds has been unsuccessful.  The marigolds didn’t get enough sun, they were too close to the tomatoes.  I have found a few big, fat worms–they make me so mad!

Of course, we had to grow some flowers.  We planted a couple of giant sunflowers for fun.  And a row of zinnias to cut and make arrangements with.  I love the zinnias because they are so easy to take care of and they attract butterflies and hummingbirds.

I harvested plenty of cucumbers and made homemade pickles.  I had an abundance of basil and made lots of pesto.  Click here to see my post on pickled jalapeno peppers. However, I did not know much about cilantro and didn’t get to harvest much before it bolted (flowered).  I do have a second batch growing now, so I hope to harvest before the frost.

When the dill was done producing, I pulled them out and planted carrot seeds in their place.  I was so happy that they sprouted and were thriving and then I discovered that they are not carrots, they are dill!!!  The dill reseeded itself.  So no carrots this year, but more dill.  This time around I will dry the leaves.

I made a second attempt at growing a pumpkin.  This time I planted in a spot that gets more sun and warned my husband not to run over it with the lawn mower!  I planted it around July 1st.  It seemed a bit wilted for a while, so I worked in some bone meal (but now I think it was from the excessive heat).  It is doing great now (see below), but no pumpkins yet.

I did notice some mildew on my pumpkin leaves.  I heard of a natural remedy of 1:9 parts milk to water.  I sprayed the leaves with this mixture and they started looking better, but then we started having a really rainy season, so that’s not helping.

My cucumber vines really slowed down producing so I took them out and planted more seeds.  I was happy to see that the harvest time was short, only 50 days.  So, come October, we’ll be making more pickles.  (Hopefully.  The little sprouts seem to be slow-growing, probably the lack of sun from all this rain.)

I’m thinking of trying out a fall batch of lettuce when I pull the pepper plants out.  And I really want to plant some garlic.  It has to be planted in the fall.  I will probably put it in when I pull the basil out.

Anyway, that’s my update.  I hope it is encouraging to you.  I don’t really know what I’m doing.  I just check out some books from my library, do some research online, ask friends’ advice, and experiment.  You can do it, too!  Just give it a try.

Homemade Pickles

I grew these pickling cucumbers this year specifically to make homemade pickles.  I’ve been making them for a couple years now, but I always bought cucumbers from Conrad’s in the past.  These are so easy to make and SO good for you.  Looking for more ways to get probiotics in your diet?  These are for you.

 

These are naturally fermented pickles.  They will not be canned.  Canning is a way to preserve your garden bounty, but the process of heating will kill all the beneficial enzymes, vitamins, and friendly bacteria.

 

If you’re new to naturally fermented foods, you may be thinking, “Ewww, I don’t want to eat something fermented!”  But lots of food you already enjoy is fermented–vinegar, sauerkraut, kimchi, wine, beer, cheese, yogurt, miso–to name a few.  Even more food was fermented back in the days before canning.  It is a natural way to preserve food.  This is how people back in Bible times kept food from spoiling without refrigerators.  Fermenting actually increases the vitamin content of food.  Eating some fermented food every day aids digestion.

 

I like to use a cross between a recipe from Wild Fermentation and Nourishing Traditions.

 

You will need:

-filtered water

-sea salt (If Celtic, make sure to sterilize, like I mentioned here.)

-dill seeds or fresh dill heads

-mustard seeds (optional)

-few garlic cloves

-cucumbers, either whole, sliced, or cut in spears

-whey (optional)

-glass jars or crock

-something to weigh down and keep the cukes submerged (see photo)

I mix 6 tablespoons of Celtic Sea Salt with 8 cups of filtered water, stir to dissolve.

 

Place a couple cloves peeled garlic in each jar, add seasonings, dill and mustard, if using.  Add cucumbers to the jar.  If you are using whey (this just gives them a little kick-start on fermenting, it’s not essential), add a couple tablespoons to each jar.  Then cover with brine.  If you need to mix up more brine, do so with the above ratio.  You will need enough brine to cover the cucumbers and you will want to leave about an inch of head room.

 

Now for the important part–you need to weigh your cucumbers down so that they stay submerged.  Any part of the cucumber that is above the brine level will rot and have to be thrown out.  If you’re using a big crock, you can use a plate to weigh them down.  I use mason jars (see above picture), so I use little plastic containers filled with dry beans as my weights.

 

You will now leave these cucumbers out at room temperature to ferment.  I do mine for 5 days.  The bigger your cucumbers the longer the ferment.  If you leave your cucumbers whole, it will take longer.  I always slice mine, like you see in the picture.  

 

You will see the liquid turn cloudy (that is good!) and the cucumbers turn from bright green to the darker pickle color.  Cover your container with a cloth to keep flies away.  After they are done fermenting, store in the fridge (with lids on the jars).

 

Now at this point, your germaphobia may be telling you that you can’t leave cucumbers out on the counter for 5 days!  But this is wrong.  Bacteria and mold cannot survive in certain conditions, salt and acid are two of those conditions.  The brine you made is very salty, nothing bad can live in it, that’s why we have to keep the cucumbers in that brine.  If they poke above the liquid, they aren’t protected and will mold and rot.  In the process of fermentation the sugars are turning to acids and that keeps baddies from growing, too.  Good bacteria are multiplying and keeping bad stuff at bay as well.  If you want to learn more, click here.

 

Oddly enough, even though the brine starts out very salty, it changes during fermentation.  These pickles are not too salty.  If your’s taste too salty, let them ferment longer.

 

You will need to check on your pickles every day and skim any mold that is growing on the surface.  It’s not essential to get all of it, just do your best.  Again, I know this sounds weird, but don’t worry, the pickles in the brine are safe.  This is how true kosher pickles are made.  This is how pickles were made in barrels for hundreds of years.  Unfortunately all pickles sold in regular grocery stores are only vinegar-soaked, not truly fermented, and so they don’t have the same health qualities.  In addition, store pickles are then pasteurized/heat sealed, which kills them.  These pickles are a living food and will last for months in your fridge.

 

If you are concerned with how these will taste, you can buy Bubbie’s at Whole Foods (sold in the refrigerator section, next to the cheese and yogurt).  They are made the same way I have detailed.  Bubbie’s are spicier, though.

 

Also, an added bonus–you will have pickled garlic–a wonderful, natural antibiotic.  The garlic takes longer to pickle than the cucumbers.  Typically the garlic is ready when the pickles are all gone.  If the garlic taste like a pickle, you know it’s done.  If it still tastes strong, like garlic, then you know it’s not done and you can just leave it in the jar, in the fridge.  I beat colds and flu with garlic, but it’s much, much easier to eat when it’s pickled!  My kids will eat it, too, and love it!  Occasionally, I will drink some of the pickle brine, too, since it has lots of good stuff, good acids, good bacteria (probiotics), probably some essence of the garlic, etc.

 

These are easy (probably takes me 30 minutes or less), but they require a little patience (you don’t get to eat them for a few days), but it is SO worth it!  Hope you enjoy!

My Green Thumb

 

Cucumbers

 

I have doubted for many years that I have a green thumb, but last year I was pleased with the fruit of my garden, so this year I have expanded.

Dill

I failed a few times in the past, my husband had even banned me from trying a garden again, but last year I decided to try yet again!  I decided I must start small and if I succeeded, I could expand from there.  So I tried just one container with 2 tomato plants and a few basil plants. I used a mixture of potting soil and cotton compost. I had more basil than I knew what to do with and many, many delicious tomatoes.

Jalapeno and Bell Peppers

Since I succeeded, this year expansion was in order. I have heard such good things about mushroom compost and wanted to use it last year, but I waited too late and the stores sold out. This year I bought some and I have to say, I think my plants are liking it better than the cotton compost.

Cilantro

I have six containers this year, one for dill, one for pickling cucumbers, one for basil, one for cilantro, one for tomatoes (with marigolds to keep away the bugs), and one for a bell pepper plant and a jalapeno pepper plant.

Brandywine Heirloom Tomatoes

I planted a pumpkin seed in the yard for fun, but it has died. Perhaps it had something to do with being passed over by the lawn mower! Oh well, we’ll try again next year. We also planted a couple of sunflower seeds for the kids.

Basil

I encountered aphid infestation on my pepper plants a few nights ago. I am going to buy a bar of Kirk’s Coco Castile soap and make this recipe to ward them off. In the meantime, I dabbed some Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds on them. They have died and I’ve only seen a couple since then, but I’m quite sure my dilution was too strong, the leaves have brown blotches on them now. Overall the plants still look healthy, I think they will recover.

Marigolds in with my tomatoes

I will be sure and post my harvest results later in the year.

 

Here is another picture of my cucumbers.  I have strung up some jute twine to some nails in the overhang of my roof so the cucumbers can climb.

Jute Trellis