Archive for March, 2009

Great homestead garden vegetable

Sunday, March 15th, 2009

The Jerusalem Artichoke is a vegetable that many may not be familiar with, however I think it can be of great value on any homestead. I have grown it for years. In years gone by it was usually available in limited quantities in many grocery stores and markets in the fall. I have not seen it anywhere in recent years. So I think the general public is becoming less and less aware that it even exists.

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.

Posted in Food, Garden | 1 Comment »

Homestead critters on your counter top.

Sunday, March 1st, 2009

To me homesteading is simply about doing more for yourself with what you have rather than depending on others to do it for you.

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.

Posted in Food | 2 Comments »