A few days ago Ken needed a break. He started a building project; he is taking a very old cart and converting it to a portable chicken coop. I also needed a break from produce work; I love tomatoes and peppers, but I have sorted many this season… So, I headed upstairs to a loom that has about enough warp for one more rug. I was experimenting with two different warps to figure out how …
Greetings from the Garden! This CSA box has tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, peppers, eggplant, onions, garlic, carrots or beets, greens, beans, and basil. Field Notes. Ken has been pulling crops as they become less productive so he can make room for later crops. He got beds ready for fall greens, and will transplant in the next few days. He likes to let the beds rest and then rake any weeds …
It is a great pepper year here! After Ken had started the pepper seed, we had an opportunity to participate in a U W Madison seed trial program, and there were some great peppers in the trials – in addition to our usual excellent varieties. I froze a couple batches of chopped peppers for later use. Then Ken requested I make a red pepper jam. So I checked the internet and found two very similar …
Ken is constantly planting from February through November. This week he pulled out the determinate tomatoes in the garden and some summer squash plants. Then he started mulching and preparing the beds for fall crops – Then Ken ran the wheel hoe through the beds and added compost Finally Ken spread out the compost, and now he will …
It’s that time of year! Each Labor Day Ken announces the pigs have become hogs. Gone are the cute little piglets, and even the gawky, funny adolescents. They still are characters and they are full of energy The pigs get broader and they start to have jowls, and with the longer, cooler nights, they become most serious about their food. These pigs will go to the locker …
Greetings from the Garden! This week’s CSA box has tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, cucumbers, onions, garlic, cabbage, kale, eggplant, carrots or beets, basil and parsley As I write this on Monday, Ken is thinning the fall beets and carrots. They are varieties from a UW vegetable trial program. We have found some new great varieties in greens, tomatoes, and peppers that we would not have tried if we were not participating in the …
As we approach Labor Day, the nights are cooler and longer, and I feel a sadness. That long list of plans from May needs to be revisited with a realistic eye, prioritized, and edited. The perky plants of May and June are large and sprawling; some have even started to die back. Their efforts have gone into making fruit and they have the look of an older woman – just as beautiful as the perky …
Last summer Ken tried something new – he chopped and froze bell peppers. Peppers do not require the blanching that most vegetable do. Previously we dried pepper slices in the dehydrator, and I often used them in things like chili and stews that I cooked for a long, low temperature on the wood cook stove. Frozen peppers do not need to be re hydrated, and can be placed in a dish just before serving to …
Greetings from the Garden! This week’s CSA box has tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, carrots, onions, garlic, eggplant, cabbage, greens, basil, parsley, and cilantro Field Notes. Ken has been harvesting! And he is planting fall crops as well. He has been mulching and composting and preparing the soil where the mobile tunnel will move for late fall and winter. From the Kitchen. I am moving into preserving mode. Last week I made jams and froze ripe …
Ken loves stone fruit like peaches, apricots, cherries, nectarines. They are always on the Environmental Working Groups “Dirty Dozen” list for chemical pesticide residues, so we avoid any thing that is not organically grown. this year while visiting some friends I was able to get a box of organic peaches. And our host who knows Ken loves peaches offered a second box. I came home and set them on the cook stove to watch for …
