Cottage and Yard

I have unwittingly become someone that is in fashion. That seems odd since I never have been before.
I have unwittingly also been suddenly thrust into a life of luxury. I was never expecting that.

However according to an article in the New York Times I have, without my knowledge, been catapulted into a life of luxury and fashion. I didn’t know I was there until they said that growing your own food is and I quote  “The highest form of luxury …”  and also “… has become fashion.”

What do I do? Where do I hide? Should I fear being found out and besieged by paparazzi?

It’s interesting how you can be doing something for years and be considered just another dirty finger nailed gardener trying to provide food for self and family. Certainly on the lowest end of the fashion spectrum ( muddy worn-out jeans and sweaty tattered tee shirts) And then suddenly be thrust into a life of luxury.  Let me see now, will I luxuriate in turning the compost heap today or perhaps with hoe in hand I might enjoy a sweaty stroll down some row of weedy carrots, kale, or onions. The pleasures that await the gardener and farmer are so numerous as to be able to fill days, weeks, even months on end.

But seriously folks it sure is great to know that people want their food grown closer to home weather they do it themselves or pay to have it done.  And they are finally finding out why we have done it for all these years even when it was not the fashion. It is the luxury of the great taste of “home grown” rather than “shipped in from who knows where” produce.

I have perfected one recipe for fermented soda. I call it SUPER SODA.

It is so simple a child can make it, literally.
No boiling no messy mixing not much of anything.

Here it is.

Using a two-liter soda bottle and a funnel that have been sanitized with a very weak bleach solution and well rinsed.
Fill the bottle 1/3 full of white grape juice.
Fill the next third of the bottle full of water (chlorine free).
With the bottle now 2/3 full of the juice and water mixture add about 1/16 teaspoon of dry bread yeast.
Put the cap on tightly and let stand at room temperature for 24 to 36 hours (until the bottle is rock hard when you squeeze it).
Note: I place the bottle in either the kitchen sink or bathtub while the yeast does its job. Just in case it should burst. None has, as yet, but why take a chance.
Once the bottle is hard refrigerate it to stop the action of the yeast.

And that’s all there is to it.

After serving yourself a glass or two do not immediately re-refrigerate, but leave the bottle out at room temperature until the pressure in the bottle builds back up. That way it will not be flat when you take the next serving.

Of course while the yeast is working at making the soda carbonated with carbon dioxide gas it also creates a small amount of alcohol. I have not measured it but sources indicate that it may between 1/4 and 1/2 percent. This is certainly not enough to have an inebriating effect on anyone consuming this soda.

It also has an earthy yeast smell to it unlike commercial soft drinks. However, as I enjoy its thirst quenching effervescence I do not find the smell offensive. In fact I inhale deeply enjoying what others are missing.

I came across this post in The Deliberate Agrarian Blog concerning a dehydrated salad greens product called Garden Salad Flakes. It is available commercially from Machado Farms. Be sure to read Rick Machado’s comment to the blog post.

Garden Salad Flakes have an amazing score of 2450 ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) units per five gram serving. That’s right, two thousand four hundred and fifty. You can read about what ORAC is here.

I have not delved deeply into it yet but it sounds like something that a lot of can be good for you. Now I don’t grow the same garden greens in the same way that Rick does, nor am I really concerned about obtaining the optimum balance of specific nutrients in exact proportions. I just want to get some of the same sun shinny goodness in the winter that I get in the summer from garden greens. So taking a slipshod shotgun approach that can be taken to some things I just dehydrated a bunch of mixed greens. Maybe I’ll only get 1225 ORAC from my blend but then for what it is costing me I can either use twice as much or just limp along on half a dose. Half a dose being better than none.

Don’t get me wrong I think it’s a great idea. I dehydrate lots of other things, so why not greens.

Why not make some yourself. If your dehydrator is just sitting there idol early in the season crank out some winter time green flakes.

Beer and wine making are among the skills that I have wanted to acquire. But, alas, they seemed complex and required equipment I do not as yet posses so they have remained as projects for the future.

Recently I came across a site concerning fermentation in many forms. The fermentation’s can be made from vegetables, fruits, meats, grains, milk and more. You can see that site here.

The process for making fermented soft drinks or sodas caught my eye and seemed like the simplest way to start into making fermented beverages of my own.

I made a batch of ginger ale, following their process as closely as I could. It was a bit tedious what with the boiling of the chopped ginger root for an hour. And the result was not to my liking.

It tasted like ginger flavored Alka-Seltzer and was not as fizzy. I added some extra sugar and that helped a bit but still not what I wanted.

This did however get me started thinking. The root beer recipe required no hour long boiling, but I had no root beer extract at hand. What I did have was some bottled fruit juice, a blend of cranberry and other juices.

What really had excited me was watching the bread yeast produce its tiny little bubbles of CO2.

So skipping all the boiling I simply added a bit of yeast mixed with a tiny amount of warm water and a pinch of sugar to a 2 liter soda bottle filled one third full of the fruit juice. After sitting for a day the bottle became rock hard from the internal gas pressure.

I opened the bottle which gave off a loud hiss. As I poured off a sample it effervesced and the level of carbonation was much higher than the ginger ale. And it tasted great.

So I am finally on my way, having taken the first step to fermenting beverages. It’s easy. It’s fun. It’s low cost and low tech. I’ll continue to experiment with different variations until I find a few that I am happy with and then push on to beer and wine. Then who knows what will be next.

I guess I live a very sheltered existence and am much too trusting. That has ended today.
Have you ever visited the FDA Import Refusal Reports for OASIS. I stumbled upon it while doing some research on imported garlic. Here is the link to the page that provides a monthly listing of import refusals with the reasons why for the last 12 months. Each month gives a listing of import refusals by country.

But first what is OASIS:
Project Description
OASIS automated the re-engineered business processes the FDA utilizes for making its admissibility determinations to ensure the safety, efficacy and quality of the foreign-origin products for which FDA has regulatory responsibility under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. OASIS enables FDA to handle more efficiently and effectively the burgeoning volume of shipments (now over 12 million/year — up by 50% in since 1999) of imported products, despite decreasing agency resources.

As I looked at the listing for Nov. 07 I noticed that China had a large number of refusals (136) so I clicked on the China link and ran down the list.

As I went down the list I was shocked at the number of refusals listed as FILTHY.

“Reason: FILTHY
Section: 402(a)(3), 801(a)(3); ADULTERATION
Charge: The article appears to consist in whole or in part
of a filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance or be otherwise
unfit for food”.

Then my eyes popped open wide when I saw seven listings, all in a row, for frozen cod. I had just seen some in a store today while shopping. I remarked to my wife that the frozen cod from China was $2.49 a pound while that from Iceland was $7.99. I don’t usually check these things, not really a fish eater, but they had Alaskan salmon on sale for $3.99 a pound and the bin was empty so while a clerk was getting more I checked out the other frozen fish products.

Well, those seven Refusal Reports were all designated as FILTHY.

Why would a frozen fish product be FILTHY? Was it that bad already when it was packed and frozen? Was it that bad because on the long trip over it thawed out and started to rot? What was the condition of the frozen cod in the store today? What condition would it be in once it was removed from it’s vacuum packaging and thawed out?

What else is coming from China and finding it’s way into the food I eat that I am not aware of? I have made it a point to stop buying foods labeled “Made in China” since the toothpaste and pet food problems of the recent past. Now I will be even more diligent.

Have you bought eyeglasses lately? Have you paid the high cost for those purchased through an optometrist’s office? I don’t need designer frames or tinted and decorated lenses. I just want serviceable glasses that help me see better far and near ( yes I’m in the age range that benefits from bifocals.)

I don’t need or get glasses often, only every 7 to 10 years.
The glasses I just got replacements for, although I’ll still use them for gardening and working in my shop, were purchased in 2000. The best price I could get at the time was at Costco. The exam was $39.00 and the bifocal glasses were $88.00. Total bill $127.00 plus tax.

I accidentally sat on them, broken beyond repair, so I got a replacement pair for $83.00 less than two years later. Lucky for me the prescription was still good (they have a two year limit.) If it had been a day over two years they would have required a new exam in order to get replacements ( I guess they don’t trust me to know if I can still see out of my own glasses.)

So now it’s 2007 and I feel my sight has changed enough that I need a new prescription, funny how I was able to figure that out all on my own.

With no Costco within driving distance I opted for the Walmart optical exam. Cost the same, $39.00. And by the way my vision had changed very little.

But now comes the surprise. Frames similar to the ones I got in 2000 are costing at a minimum $84.00 and the bifocal lenses $60.00. That’s $144.00 plus exam $39.00. Total $183.00 plus higher taxes.

So I hit the Internet to see what’s going on.
Professional advice, get an exam every two years get all sort of beneficial coatings on the plastic lenses, anti-glare, anti-scratch, UV blocking. And then there are the designer frames to enhance your appearance and self confidence. I had determined years ago that glasses will not change my appearance to that of a movie star or fashion model and I have all the self confidence I need. I don’t want to get a new mortgage on the house to pay for these glasses. I can still see pretty well without glasses things are just a little fuzzy. I just want something that will take the fuzz off and stay up on my nose.

So I came across Zenni Optical. These people seem to be a bit better attuned to what the cost of two half dollar size pieces of plastic with wire wrapped around them should be.

For $8.00 I can get a pair of cheap frames with single focal lenses in them and for just $17.00 more I can get bifocal lenses. That’s a total of $25.00 plus shipping for a pair of bifocal glasses.

Granted the frames may be of a slightly lower quality than other more expensive ones but I can buy four more replacement pairs if needed for about the same price as I would otherwise pay for a single pair. And if I break them 13 days after my 2 year prescription expires I can get replacements because they don’t require a prescription.

The glasses were ordered over the Internet and received by mail in about two weeks and they work just fine.

More about the specifics, mysteries and, vagaries of buying eyeglasses in the future.

I feel good starting the year with my seed order sent in and the brush pile burned.
Those are the garden related tasks I needed to get done.

The following is what I ordered from the FEDCO seed coop 2008 catalog.
Item  Cat #   Size  Qty  Total        Cultivar
1    710CL       A    1    $1.20    CORAL PEA
2    748LM      A    1    $1.10    LITTLE MARVEL PEA
3    1411BZ    A    1    $0.80    BLACK ZUCCHINI
4    1460TR    A    1    $1.20    TROMBONCINO ZUCCHINI
5    2086MK    A    1    $1.20    MOKUM CARROT
6    2092NL    A    1    $1.20    NELSON CARROT
7    2094SS    A    1    $1.20    SUGARSNAX CARROT
8    2407KO    A    1    $1.60    KING RICHARD LEEK
9    2449NO    A    1    $1.50    NEW YORK EARLY ONION
10   3034PS    A    1    $0.80   GATOR PERPETUAL SPINACH
11    3040RR    A    1    $0.60    RUBY RED RHUBARB CHARD
12    3047RI    A    1    $1.10    ITALIKO ROSSO
13    3102VC    A    1    $0.80    MACHE VERTE de CAMBRAI
14    3158GI     A    1    $0.60    GIGANTE D’ITALIA PARSLEY
15    3166FG    A    1    $0.60    FOREST GREEN  PARSLEY
16    3228MZ    A    1    $1.00    EARLY MIZUNA
17    3306TG    A    1    $1.20    TENDER GREEN BROC
18    3455RC    A    1    $0.60    RED RUSSIAN KALE
19    3485QT    A    1    $0.90    QUARANTINA RAAB
20    4414SB    A    1    $1.00    SWEET BASIL
21    4422MB    A    1    $1.00    MAMMOTH BASIL
22    4507CW    B    1    $2.00    CARAWAY
23    4520DF    A    1    $0.90    DELFINO CILANTRO
24    4536FL     A    1    $1.30    FERNLEAF DILL
25    4556ZF    A    1    $0.90    ZEFA FINO FENNEL
26    4577GC    A    1    $0.90    GARLIC CHIVES
27    4592LV    A    1    $1.00    LOVAGE
28    4657RM    A    1    $1.00    ROSEMARY
29    4669SB    A    1    $0.90    SALAD BURNET

The total cost came to $30.10 ( there is no shipping cost for seed orders of $30.00 or more.)

I still have a significant supply of seeds from the orders I placed over the previous two years.  All but the onions and leeks should be good for at least another year. Onions and leeks are supposed to be viable for only one year.
I planted a few of of each of these from last year’s seeds today to see if they will sprout. If they do I’ll have a few fresh greens for the winter months. I also started a few garlic bulbils just to see if they will sprout. If so, more greens.

The coming weekend days are supposed to be at or above freezing during the day so I can get out in the garage (unheated) and get some project materials (wood) cut to size so that when the colder weather returns I can work on them indoors. The projects include a new towel hanging bar for the bath, a set of shelves for my basement work room, a set of foldable legs to use with a piece of Formica desktop, wood pieces needed to finish installing the insulating panels onto the exterior walls of my basement workroom.

I also need to plan out where to plant what in the garden in order to get some type of rational schedule of crop rotation going. I feel like a less than competent gardener while just standing there in the spring seed in hand trying to remember what was in a particular spot last season and what should now be planted.

I cannot, to this day, comprehend how people can be bored or have nothing to do. I am always way behind on projects that I want to do and I know I will never catch up because there is always something new coming along. Isn’t it great!

Saturday December 1’st. .. decorations going up .. snow coming down.

Boy I can’t believe it’s December already! We are putting up our Christmas decorations as our first real snowfall of the season is coming down. They are forecasting up to a foot of snow overnight and then a couple more inches over the next few days. ‘Tis the season to blow snow or shovel or plow. But I guess that depends on the amount of snow that falls, the area you need to clear, and what equipment you have available. If it’s just an inch or two, especially if it’s that light fluffy kind, I’m inclined to just shovel the drive and the little sidewalk at the back door. If it’s much more than that out comes the snow blower. It’s a small one for this area just 5.5hp but it will clear off a foot of heavy snow with no problem. And I still get plenty of exercise walking up and down the drive behind it. I think tomorrow will be a snow blowing day.

Up here in the upper peninsula of Michigan we are supposed to get a lot of snow but the past three winters, especially the last one that set a record for lack of snow, have not been up to par.
I just hope we get a good amount of snow this year and not enough to make up for that which has been lacking for those past few years.

OK. Now it’s the 2’nd of December and now “today” which used to be yesterday’s “tomorrow” and will soon be tomorrow’s “yesterday” and the snow is on the ground. There is a total of 9 to 10 inches including an inch or so which was already on the ground. The winter season is off to a great start! Spent an hour and a half this morning blowing the driveway clean and making a path to the electric meter for the meter reader along with cleaning up around the edges with a shovel. It was pretty warm about 25F and I dressed as though it was zero so by the time I was done I was sweating like I’d been working in the garden on a sunny summer day. Well almost as much anyway.

OK. Now it’s the 5’th of December. Hey! What happened to the 3’rd and 4’th ? Just missed them I guess. Can’t even remember or want to try to remember what happened. Today, however was a shopping day. Bought groceries and a few supplies for projects around the house, Hopefully almost all will be inside for the next few days because daytime highs will be in the teens. With a few more inches of snow expected tomorrow night. If I had it my way we wouldn’t go shopping again until after Christmas but I think the wife will want to go again sooner. Also went to the dump with a trunk load of recyclables. Paper, jars, cans, plastic, and cardboard, boy it accumulates fast and we don’t buy nearly as much as must people. I have a hard time imagining the amount that the typical family of 4.6 people would accumulate in a couple of months. That is, assuming they didn’t just throw it all into the trash.

Wow the 15’th of December already. I got my first seed catalog from FEDCO SEEDS a few days ago and the one from Baker Seeds just yesterday. My order for FEDCO is almost ready. I hope to get it out in Monday’s mail.

I don’t know if I’ll be ordering anything from any other source for this spring. I Hope to order some trees from St. Lawrence Nurseries Possibly apples plums or pears or a combination. Need to consider the fact that they must survive in at least zone 4 and if possible zone 3 just to be on the safe side.

Since we are expecting our first grandchild at the end of February and they live a long ways away we will probably be gone for possibly two months ( March And April). This is going to put a bit of a cramp in my seed starting next year. If I set everything up ahead of time and just plop the seeds in to get them started on or about the first of May I can get most things started at a reasonable time for setting out in early June.

The only problems are leeks and onions. We enjoyed them so much this year I was planning to start a lot more but those have to be started in late February or early March at the latest.

The rest of the month has flown by and tomorrow will usher in a whole new year.

With a lot of inside and outside projects to be done and the holidays to get through I have neglected the blog.
I put up another set of shelves in the basement as well as a set in the bedroom closet. I’ve continued working on the basement to make it usable in the winter months and improve the insulation even more. When we moved in here one of our early natural gas bills was about $180.00 for one early winter month that was not that cold. Currently the bills are running at about $100.00 a month in much colder weather. It’s amazing what adding adequate insulation and plugging all the cracks and other places that cold air can get in will accomplish.
I’m sure I am approaching a point of diminishing return on the energy efficiency improvements but those additional improvements make much more space more comfortably useful.

I thought I would have my FEDCO seed order out two weeks ago but as it is I just managed to get it out on this the last day of the year.

I had my second annual brush burning fire just last week. Another thing that was behind schedule but finally got done before the end of the year. I wanted to do it like last year when there was just a little snow cover on the ground and it was still rather warm.

Well this year it was in the 20F range and I had to dig a lot of the brush out from under about eight inches of crusty snow. It was an all day job, but now its done. I’m sure I’ll find some scraps of brush left when the snow melts but just a little.

I have finally gone over my entire acre and picked up all the loose brush broken branches and trash that had accumulated during the years prior to my purchasing it.

There is still quite a bit of standing brush, as well as a large patch of brambles and trees needing trimming that I will be attending to.
I am thinking that a couple more years of these annual brush burning sessions will get things caught up to where they should be.

I also finished tearing down some type of bird run and house that was in total disrepair and being over grown by some large pine trees that I am sure were far from it when it was constructed. I managed to salvage a good amount of the chicken wire screening and some of the treated lumber posts but the structure will have to be broken apart and hauled to the dump in the spring.

It is amazing the amount of time and energy needed to undo the things that others before us have done and just left behind in an unusable condition.

I have made a new year’s resolution to do more with the blog in the way of record keeping of my activities and projects plans and do it on a timely basis. I hope I do it.

Well, I just made a batch of soup. Not chicken and not bean. It is what I call freezer soup. When my wife rearranges the freezer and gives me the things she wants to get rid of I make soup.
This time the main items were some old but still usable hunks of pork and a small bag of chicken wing tips, along with a bag of store-bought mixed Italian vegetables and a small bag of broccoli stem pieces along with a smaller one of sautéed sliced garlic. We tried this garlic as a test, we put it into the freezer late this summer, shortly after the harvest.

I also added three nice size onions, a half dozen stalks of celery, a large bowl of brown white and red rice, a small container of mushroom stems left from a dinner earlier this week and a handful of parsley that was beginning to wilt in the fridge.

Since I didn’t think boiling a piece of pork even with a few chicken wings would make a good stock I decided to fry the meat first. I threw it all in a pan and fried it till everything was well browned. This then went into the soup pot with whatever  I could scrape and rinse from the frying pan.

I added the usual, thyme, sage, bay, black pepper, parsley stems and any other vegetable scraps from what I was preparing to go into the finished soup. These things were simmered for about an hour. I then removed the meat from the chicken wing tips (not much) and returned the bones and skin to the pot. I also trimmed the fat from the pieces of pork and returned that to the pot. After another hour of simmering I strained the solids from the liquid stock.

With the stock back in the pot I brought it to a simmer and added the raw vegetables. Then when it returned to a simmer again I added the already cooked and frozen vegetables as well as the meat and rice. Of course I added a bunch more ground black pepper.

After just a few minutes more on the burner it was ready.

Now I can go out into the cold and get a few things done over the next few days and know there is hot soup waiting inside to warm me up.

By the way my wife said it’s the best soup I’ve made yet.

It is that time of year again when the wind gets colder and the threat of snow hangs in the air. Fall isn’t over and winter has not yet begun. Time for bean soup!!!

I keep it simple, as I try to keep the other things in my life.

Here is my recipe.

1 pound navy beans. Sorted rinsed and soaked overnight in 6 cups or more of water.
Discard soaking water
8 cups fresh cold water added to drained beans in a big pot.
1 or 2 fist size smoked ham hocks rinsed off and added to pot.
½ teaspoon dried thyme.( preferably from your own garden) added to pot.
4 bay leaves added to pot.
Bring to a very slow boil (simmer)
Scoop off any of the foam that appears in the first few minutes of boiling.
Allow to simmer for 1 to 1 ½ hours ( I prefer my beans a little on the firm side)

While the above ingredients are simmering prepare the following:
2 large carrots, sliced thin
2 large onions, chopped course
4 or more cloves of garlic, chopped course ( or left whole if there are a lot)
4 stalks of celery with leaves, chopped course.
4 to 6 fresh mushrooms, chopped course (optional)
When the beans reach the texture you prefer lift out the hocks.
Add all the chopped vegetables.
Gently stir in the vegetables and bring back to slow boil.
Add a lot of coarsely ground black pepper (you can start with a half teaspoon)
Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes more. ( Again I prefer my vegetables on the firm side)

While the vegetables are simmering in the beans separate the meat from the bones and skin.
Put the meat scraps back into the pot and turn off the heat.

Now sit back and enjoy a big bowl of bean soup with home made bread, nicely toasted and buttered. After things have cooled down a little ladle what’s left into jars and store in the refrigerator. This usually gives me enough soup so I can have a bowl every day for must of a week .

I made a pot full this morning and had my first bowl full for lunch today. It didn’t seem as cold outside after lunch as it did before.