But it was great, aside from the fact that income taxes had to be in the mail today.  I was able to get mine done a few weeks ago so the pain is almost gone.

But hey the weather was really great today mid 60’sF. This is the first day while being outside that passing into the cooling shade of a big old evergreen in the late afternoon felt good.

I was able to get a project started that has been nagging at me for more than a couple years now. I was able to put down a length of ground cover cloth covered with a layer of rocks ( collected while tilling my garden beds) along the woods edge near my garage where the burdock is trying to take over. I will not use weed killer so it thought it had the upper hand. I am, however, fighting back by throwing rocks at it, so to speak.
I was not able to complete the project but got a good start and should be able to finish it in a couple more afternoon sessions. I need to let the ground at the bottom of the rock pile thaw so I can get the rest of the rocks up.

The garlic is doing well. I would say that 85% to 90% of the planted cloves have sprouted and are now between 1″ and 3″ tall. The bulbils that were planted at the same time are taking a little longer although a few are already poking out.

And of course the daffodils are coming up nicely.

Don’ really have anything else exciting to say. Just wanted to let you all know it was a beautiful day here.

Sure there has already been a little green growth on the walking onions and the parsley from last season has already been showing signs of renewed growth but they don’t count! It’s the emergence of the rhubarb that puts me into the mood for the upcoming garden season and starts my mouth watering at just the thought of the first rhubarb pie. We ran out of rhubarb from the freezer months ago. The four large plants that I now have producing are just not enough, but never fear I have a fifth smaller plant in waiting to be divided into two and planted in the bed that I prepared for them last fall.

The first year that the rhubarb was planted I just watched the three newly planted crowns grow. One was just a single bud but it survived and thrived. This one I split into three pieces the following spring. This past summer the two larger of them produced nicely along with the two original plants. That third little plant is now large enough to split and will provide two more good sized crowns that will begin producing next year. That will give me six good size producing plants. Hopefully there will be a third piece of the plant left when I divide it so I can replant it and have another plant to split again next year. That will then give me a total of eight plants which should be enough to provide us with rhubarb pies the year round for years to come.

So spring is finally here and the garden work begins in ernest.

If you are not familiar with it you might wonder what you, as a homesteader, would want with an artichoke plant from Jerusalem. Well the truth be known, it does not have its origins any where in the middle east that I know of nor is it in any way related to the Globe artichoke.

It is however one of the few vegetables that is native to North America

While the plant (Helianthus tuberosus) is a member of the sunflower family it does not produce a crop of edible seeds as do the others. This particular plant produces edible tubers. There are several varieties available including “stampede” which, as far as I can tell, is the most widespread and best known. It is the one with which I am most familiar.
More recently the Jerusalem Artichoke has been called by names like “sunroot”, “sunchoke”, “J-choke” “Topinambur” or just plain “choke” which is how I refer to them.

They are somewhat like potatoes, but with some distinct differences.

First: The plant is a perennial and can be grown in permanent beds. It does best in the northern two thirds of the United States but can be grown in the southern third as well. It prefers the long cold winters.

Second: The tubers store their carbohydrates in the form of “inulin” rather than starch. The inulin is converted into fructose in the digestive tract rather than glucose. This makes it more easily tolerated by diabetics.

Third: It is a tough plant to eradicate once it is planted. Any small bit of a tuber with an eye left after harvest has a good chance of becoming a volunteer in the next season. (In order to keep my own plants in check I do two things. First of all, I plant them in beds with sufficient grassy areas around them so that as they try to spread they are kept mowed and thus contained. Secondly, I never, and I mean never, toss any scraps of any roots into the compost which could find its way into other parts of my garden.)
If you decide to peel them instead of just scrubbing them clean bury the scraps in the choke beds, If you toss them into the compost some will surely sprout somewhere.
Also a few of the flowers may develop seeds, but only when pollinated by a different strain growing nearby.
So if you grow more than one strain just cut off the flower buds. Cutting off those flower buds is also supposed to make the plant put more energy into tuber growth for a larger crop.

Fourth: After years of growing in the same place with a modest amount of compost worked in every other year I have had no pest or disease problem whatever. They are pretty much, except for occasional weeding a little watering if the summer is really dry and harvesting, a no worry no work crop.  As far as planting the initial tubers; there are all kinds of best ways to do it but I have found that if you simply get the tubers 4 inches under the ground at about a foot apart in the early spring, then just get out of the way, they will grow.

As far as eating the chokes I like them best when they are raw and seldom cook them other than using them as a water chestnut substitute in a stir fry. I just scrub them clean with a stiff bristled brush and slice them into a salad or just chomp down on them whole.

I am told they should not be harvested until after the first frost which is supposed to make them sweeter but I start eating them when ever They are big enough to be worth digging. For keeping, they can be left in the ground and dug as needed if you can keep the ground from freezing over the winter with a cover of hay bales or the like. Or dig up until the ground freezes and keep in storage for a few months. Then start digging the rest up when the ground thaws in the spring.

Right now I am eating some that I dug about mid November and they are still in good condition. I store mine in plastic bags to retain moisture and at a temperature just above freezing. Spring dug chokes will not keep nearly as long because they are starting to sprout and grow again.

A pound of seed tubers can cost between $5.00 and $10.00 plus shipping, but just starting with just that one pound you can expand your bed significantly after the first season and never need to buy any again, ever.

You can find out a lot more about these great vegetables by searching the web but now you have the basics.

Almost everyone that wants to participate in the homesteading adventure can plant a least a small garden if only in containers on a windowsill. But you might think you have to live in the country and have lots of land and a barn to have critters on the homestead working for you.

I came across a site concerning fermentation (http://wildfermentation.com/).  Fermentations can be made from vegetables, fruits, meats, grains, milk and more. And while I had come looking for information on the preservation of foods like pickles, cabbage, meat and milk by means of fermentation the process for making fermented soft drinks or sodas caught my eye and seemed like a simple way to start making fermented beverages of my own. The fermentation is carried on by tiny micro miniature beasties. In the case of the fermented liquid beverages that I am working with the beasts are yeasts.

The process for making a carbonated drink is not complex. I made a batch of ginger ale, following the process described on the Wild Fermentation web site, however the result was not to my liking especially the strong musty smell that the bread yeast that was used seemed to produce.

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

What really had excited me while making that first batch of ginger ale was watching the bread yeast produce its tiny little bubbles of CO2. I had a herd of millions of yeast beasts corralled in a bottle on my kitchen counter.

So what I did was simply add a bit of yeast and some sugar to a 2-liter soda bottle filled one third full of fruit juice. That should ferment, right? After sitting for a couple days 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 much better but the fruit juice taste was a bit stronger than I thought it should be so I added about an equal amount of water and let it work for another day. This addition of water also makes the resulting drink more economical. Always a consideration to the true homesteader.

I can make a fizzy thirst quenching beverage without the high fructose corn syrup, added preservatives artificial colors and/or flavors that are so prevalent in commercial carbonated soft drinks. I need only use pure fruit juice, real cane sugar, and yeast. And as an added bonus there are no soda cans or bottles that need to be returned for deposits.

So I was finally on my way, having taken the first step to fermenting beverages.
It’s easy.
It’s fun.
It’s low cost.
It’s low tech.

I have perfected two recipes and a common variation that can be applied to each of them. I’m sure there are many other juices that will work and might even be better but these are what I have found so far that will consistantly produce a good batch of beverage.

It is so simple a child can make it, literally.

The first recipe is as follows.
Using a two-liter plastic soda bottle and a funnel that have been sanitized with a very weak bleach solution and then well rinsed:
Insert the funnel into the bottle and then:
Drop in about 1/16 teaspoon of dry yeast. Don’t worry if a little sticks to the funnel it will get rinsed in later.
Add 4 cups full of white grape juice to the bottle.
Put about 1/3 cup more or less to taste of sugar into the funnel.
Add water (chlorine free of course) to the sugar that is stuck in the funnel and wait a few seconds as the sugar dissolves and drops into the bottle
Add additional water for a total of 3 cups.
With the bottle now almost full of the juice, yeast, sugar, and water mixture put the cap on tightly and shake vigorously until the sugar dissolves.
Let stand at room temperature ( the warmer it is the more quickly the yeast will work) for 24 to 36 hours (until the bottle is nearly rock hard when you squeeze it).

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.

Note:
DO NOT use a glass bottle. The 2 and 3 liter plastic soda bottles are designed to contain the pressure of carbonated beverages and present much less danger should one burst. It will still be a big sticky mess but at least you will not have shards of glass to contend with.

The second recipe calls for equal amounts of ingredients except that I use cranberry juice cocktail in place of the white grape juice.

The variation that can be made with either of the above recipes is to add the juice of one half of a lemon to the bottle ( strain out pits and pulp). This gives the resulting beverage a tart tangy taste. And as with the amount of sugar used the amount of lemon juice is a matter of personal preference.

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. This soda, rather than going flat like the store bought kind, given a little time will actually re-carbonate itself.

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.

At this alcohol level it would require you to drink between one and one and a half gallons to get the same amount of alcohol as provided by a 12 ounce bottle of beer.

It also has a slightly 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.

Also, I have stopped using bread yeast. I purchased two different types of wine yeast. They sell for about $1.00 each at beer and wine making supply shops. One is a Red Star brand Montrachet active dry wine yeast 0.5 grams for $.89 and the other a Lalvin EC-1118 wine yeast ( Selected in Champagne region) 0.5 grams for $1.19.

I have only, as yet, tried the Red Star yeast and it works very well.

One last thing.  I have found is that if I am almost finished with a bottle and there is just a little liquid and yeast residue left I can merely add the sugar, water and juice to it and it will take off and go with no additional yeast being added. I have made multiple batches from one initial addition of yeast before I felt it necessary to clean out and re-sanitize the container. Just another way to economize on the production of this super soda.

So check out that site (http://wildfermentation.com/) for information on many more ways to have the micro miniature beasts of fermentation help you out around your homestead.

I placed the order on 12/22/08 ( gotta get it in early because seeds can sell-out )
I received the initial shipment on 01/20/09 ( four of the seeds were on back order )
Received last of back ordered seeds on 02/06/09 ( well ahead of when they will be needed )

Cat Num   Pkt  Qty   Price    Variety
1    208BV    A    1    $1.30    BLACK VALENTINE BEAN*
2    210ST    A    1    $1.30    STRIKE BEAN
3    270GB    A    1    $1.30    GOLDEN BUTTERWAX BEAN*
4    710CL    A    1    $1.30    CORAL PEA
5    760GA    A    1    $1.20    GREEN ARROW PEA*
6    968CS    A    1    $1.60    CREAM OF SASKATCHEWAN WTRMLN*
7    1628BB    A    1    $1.10    BURGESS BUTTERCUP SQUASH*
8    1638BO    A    1    $1.40    BURPEE’S BUTTERBUSH SQUASH*
9    2042SN    A    1    $0.80    SCARLET NANTES CARROT*
10    2058RC    A    1    $0.80    RED CORED CHANTENEY CARROT*
11    2086MK    A    1    $1.30    MOKUM CARROT
12    2092NL    A    1    $1.30    NELSON CARROT
13    2407KO    A    1    $1.60    KING RICHARD LEEK*
14    2408LN    A    1    $2.00    LINCOLN LEEK
15    2411KO    A    1    $1.60    KING SIEG LEEK*
16    2472CP    A    1    $1.40    COPRA ONION
17    2474DO    A    1    $1.40    CLEAR DAWN ONION*
18    2861JO    A    1    $1.10    JERICHO LETTUCE
19    3031FG    A    1    $0.70    FORDHOOK GIANT CHARD*
20    3033AR    A    1    $1.10    ARGENTATA CHARD*
21    3168KR    A    1    $1.00    KRAUSS PARSLEY*
22    3459WO    A    1    $1.40    WHITE RUSSIAN KALE
23    3465BO    A    1    $1.30    BREEDY’S CAMDEN KALE*
24    4517RO    A    1    $1.00    CARIBE CILANTRO*
Since the total cost of the order was over $30.00 shipping was included at no additional charge.
I have ordered some of these in the past but am trying quite a few new ones this year.

Those new ones are marked with an *.
I have a good quantity of seed for the standards that I grow each year from the past couple seasons so I felt I could experiment.  I like to expand my pallet while still having those standards in place in case the new varieties should prove to be less to my liking.

The flats are 1/2 gallon milk cartons laid on the side with the top side removed which gives me a planting area of about 3 1/2 inches by 7 1/2 inches with a soil depth of about 2 inches. I have made a template from one of the cut off sides which has 36 holes in it. I use this template for planting onion and leek seeds. So I am putting in 36 seeds per flat and will hopefully get the corresponding number of plants to be transplanted to garden beds when ready.
The tubes are approximately 3 1/2 inch lengths of paper towel tubes. Each full lenth tube provides three planting tubes. Nine of these tubes fit into a flat.
The pots are large sour cream containers.

So far yesterday and today I have planted:

02/05
One flat 9 tubes Krauss Parsley.
One flat (36) Clear Dawn onions
One flat (36) Copra onions
One flat (36) King Sieg leeks
One flat (36) Lincoln leeks

02/06
One flat 9 tubes Italian parsley.
One flat 9 tubes Forest Green parsley.
One flat 9 tubes Thyme.
Three pots Rosemary, 3 plants per pot

On about the 25th of January I planted two flats
of Walking onion topsets that I’d kept over the winter.
Each flat contains 14 topsets. I don’t expect all of them to germinate.

I have a few more topsets that I’ll put directly into the garden in the spring.

Sure dose not seem like much now that I write it out but with working the planting in between other activities and having to set up a temporary seeding station I guess it’s a good start.

At least I was able to get my hands dirty.

What about Saturday mail delivery? Do you need mail on Saturday? I certainly don’t. It’s more of a pain-in-the-neck than anything. Half the time I forget to go out and get it. And the other half of the time its just junk mail anyway which I can just as easily discard on the following Monday.

What about businesses, would they rather not get mail on a mid week work day or Saturday? Gosh let me conduct a multi millisecond study of my own on that question.
Result: My study indicates that businesses would rather get mail on Tuesday than Saturday.

Let’s take it a step further. Why not have delivery on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. What is there that comes by mail that is so critical that we couldn’t get it a day later anyway as the post office is suggesting is acceptable by eliminating Tuesday deliveries?
I’m thinking ………………….still thinking………………………..and thinking.

I can’t come up with anything.

Wait “day old chicks” sent by Priority Mail!

Wait the delivery time on Priority Mail is 2-3 business days so that would still work.

The entire USPS system would not be shut down for the non-delivery day(s) just the home/business delivery. Mail would be shuttled around from point A to point B as usual. It might just have to wait an extra day to be delivered.

But what happens to all the mail carriers that are now working six days a week. That’s the real problem.  Just stopping Saturday deliveries would reduce their workload by 16.6% and would justify a reduction in pay of the same amount. They would then have a normal weekend too.

For the Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule it might be appropriate to have each of two carriers deliver to each route on delivery days splitting it in half to maintain the same mail volume per carrier. Then by means of retirement and attrition the number of carriers could be slowly reassigned to modified delivery routes which fit their dilivery capacity more closely. My feeling is that the amount of first class mail delivered will become less in the future, “junk mail” whell that is a different story but it certainly does not require First Class delivery treatment..

You can argue that this will put people out of work or at least reduce their income significantly but as prices go higher and higher for sending a letter or card so will there be less and less sent. With all the methods now at our disposal to pay bills and communicate with people electronically I don’t see why anyone would spend almost $.50 to send out a piece of paper unless absolutely necessary.

Another option leaving all else “as is” would be to really raise the rates on “junk mail”. We don’t need it and most of us that receive it don’t want it anyway…that’s why we call it “junk mail” isn’t it?

Let’s end the stupidity of the Saturday delivery of junk mail…….

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.

Originally posted: August 3rd, 2008

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.

Originally posted: July 16th, 2008

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.

Originally posted: June 30th, 2008