This and That

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Dave @ HappyAcres

I’ve been busy the last couple of days doing inventory on my seed stores and planning my 2016 seed orders. I store most of my seeds in ziploc bags inside plastic boxes, organized into various groups like brassicas, salad greens, etc. I also have some small ziploc bags and larger plastic vials I use to store seeds I’ve saved. I’m not always so organized in other areas of my life, but when it comes to seeds I have found it pays to have some kind of a system.

seed storage

seed storage

Of course, when you have nosy cats like we do they always want to get involved with any activities. Puddin couldn’t quite figure out whether a seed packet was a toy, or something to eat! In the end she decided to sleep on it, something she does quite well.

Puddin helping with seed inventory

Puddin helping with seed inventory

I’ve been wanting to try my hand at making ginger beer for some time. It’s a fermented ginger drink that is loaded with probiotics and a refreshing way to enjoy the health benefits of ginger root. It’s possible to make an alcoholic ginger beer, but I’m aiming for something that’s mildly fermented and naturally carbonated. You start the process by making a cultured ginger mix (called a ginger bug), created by letting fresh grated ginger root ferment in sugar water until it is bubbly. I’m following instruction in The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Katz, though instructions can also be found in the popular Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. My ginger bug became active after only 48 hours, and you can see the bubbles in the below photo. The next step will be to make the ginger beer itself, once I get some Grolsch type flip-top bottles.

bubbly ginger bug

bubbly ginger bug

In other news, my wife and I enjoyed a recent visit to Hawaii which let us get a little time away plus soak up some warmth and sunshine. I’ve always wanted to hike up Diamond Head, and we did just that one clear, sunny morning. My wife got an image of me at the top with Honolulu and Waikiki Beach far below. The view was well worth the climb, which was actually pretty easy.

me on Diamond Head

me on Diamond Head

You can see another view of the iconic Diamond Head crater (just over my wife’s head) in the below photo, taken by me during an early morning walk on Waikiki beach. My wife did a great writeup on her blog about our Honolulu trip and the back story on why we went there, so I won’t try and repeat it here.

Lynda on Waikiki beach

Lynda on Waikiki beach

I hope you have enjoyed a look at some of the fun I’ve been having lately, both at home and away. I’ll be back next week for Harvest Monday, and I have actually been doing some harvesting here!

 

Posted in Nature, Photography, Travel | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Missing Jonas and Deja Vu

Posted on January 24, 2016 by Dave @ HappyAcres

Once again I am happy to not be shoveling out from a massive winter storm, in this case one called Jonas. The latest named storm passed mostly east of us, leaving Happy Acres with a little snow on the ground but nothing too out of the ordinary for January. I will need to shovel out in front of the greenhouse so I can get in there, but that’s about all the shoveling I plan on doing.

snow from Jason

snow from Jonas

The weather is supposed to warm up in a few days, and most of the snow should melt quickly. I’ll wait until then to open up the cold frames. Even the beehive doesn’t have much snow on it, and hopefully the bees are staying warm inside. They form a cluster this time of year, with the queen in the center so she stays warm. The temps are predicted to be up around 55°F by Saturday, so they may even be out flying then. They probably need to take what is delicately called a cleansing flight, since they do not poop in the hive! The Russian strain of bees we have should handle the cold weather just fine. Even though we didn’t get any honey from the new hive this year, they had plenty of honey stored for themselves for winter. The whole top box was full of honey when I did my last inspection back in October. We never take any honey from the bottom two boxes (deep supers).

bee hive

bee hive

Inside our house, my six year old computer is in need of replacement. I powered it off the other day and the hard drive did NOT want to spin back up. I finally got it going, but that is never a good sign. Before I retired I served as Disaster Recovery Coordinator for many years, so you can rest assured that I have good (and current) backups of all my files! I even have ‘offsite’ backups, in this case residing in my workshop. When I was still working (at an aluminum plant) the auditors required us to have backups in multiple locations, so nearly every day I schlepped mag tapes out to a process control computer room for safekeeping. I usually walked, so it was good exercise, and occasionally the backups came in handy. These days I can fit much of my important stuff on a thumb drive, which is encrypted in case it gets lost or stolen. So I will be shopping for a new PC, which is not a bad thing to do on a cold snowy January day. Considering my years of dealing with various computer problems, you could say it is deja vu all over again!

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Featured Cooking Bean: Christmas Lima

Posted on January 19, 2016 by Dave @ HappyAcres

I am on a mission to cook and eat as many varieties of beans as possible. This is another in a series of my observations about those beans.

Lima beans were a staple in my household when I was growing up. My father was a picky eater, but he loved to eat lima beans. Dad’s favorite was the big Fordhook lima bean, and he preferred his limas to be green and not speckled. My mother and I were a bit more adventurous, and while we both ate limas, they weren’t necessarily our favorite food unless perhaps they were paired with fresh from the cob corn and turned into succotash. Today’s featured bean is the Christmas Lima, and they are most definitely NOT my father’s lima bean!

Christmas Lima beans

Christmas Lima beans

The Christmas Lima is a giant among beans. In the U.S. it’s sometimes called Chestnut Lima, while in Italy they call it Fagioli del Papa (Pope’s Beans). The dried white beans are very large, as you can see in the above photo, and have dark red splashes of color. All lima beans are thought to originally come from Peru, thus the name ‘Lima’ beans. Botanically all lima beans are in the species Phaseolus lunatus, which is different from most garden beans which are P. vulgaris or runner beans which are P. coccineus.

bowl of dry Christmas Lima beans

bowl of dry Christmas Lima beans

In the garden, Christmas Lima beans are pole beans with a vigorous growing habit. And like most other lima beans, they do well in warm weather. The Seed Savers Exchange says they were first cultivated in America around 1840. The beans can be used at both the fresh shell stage, and after they have dried. I have not grown them in my garden, but I would love to give them a try someday.

cooked Christmas Lima beans

cooked Christmas Lima beans

In the kitchen the beans cook up big and plump, and have a creamy interior and rich flavor and texture said to resemble chestnuts. The beans darken after cooking, but retain much of their striking coloration. I really like them in salads, and they hold their shape quite well used like that. In the bean salad in the below photo they are joined by chickpeas and Red Nightfall beans.

Christmas Limas in bean salad

Christmas Limas in bean salad

I also enjoyed them paired with fresh corn in succotash. That was a real summer time treat when fresh local sweet corn was available. Some succotash recipes call for other ingredients like onions or peppers but I like to keep it simple most of the time. The Christmas Lima bean has made it to the Slow Food USA Ark of Taste, where it joins other delicious and distinctive foods.

succotash

succotash

I hope you have enjoyed this review of the Christmas Lima bean. In the U.S. They are available from several sources including Rancho Gordo, North Bay Trading and the Seed Savers Exchange. Seed stock is also available from Baker Creek. More bean tasting continues at Happy Acres, and I will be back with more reviews soon.

Posted in Cooking Beans | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

Planning the 2016 Garden

Posted on January 13, 2016 by Dave @ HappyAcres

For me, part of the fun of gardening is trying new things. This time of year there’s not a lot of actual work to be done in the garden, so I have time to research and plan for the new gardening year. During the main growing season I make notes and keep records about how the garden is doing so I can refer to it later. I also make note of any interesting varieties I may want to try in the future, often getting ideas from other gardeners and bloggers. So now it is time to come up with a list of what I plan to grow in 2016.

2015 harvest of Juliet tomatoes

2015 harvest of Juliet tomatoes

I do love to experiment in the garden, and my list is always long. I’m calling 2016 the Year of the Tomato since I am trying so many new (to me) varieties. From Artisan Seeds I will be growing Blush, Captain Lucky, Green Tiger, Jazz, Lucinda, Marzano Fire, Purple Bumblebee, Spike, Sunrise Bumblebee, Taste, and several unreleased o/p varieties. I am especially excited to be trialing some of the hybrids they are working on. From the University of Florida tomato research program I will be growing Garden Gem and Garden Treasure. Rounding out the new tomatoes will be a couple from Secret Seed Cartel called Champagne and Ron’s Carbon Copy. I’m going to give Maglia Rosa and Spike a try in containers and give them a head start in the greenhouse. My old favorites like Juliet, Golden Rave, Viva Italia, Sun Gold and Black Cherry are also in the plan.

Aji Angelo peppers

Aji Angelo peppers

I’m also trying a number of new peppers this year. Flaming Flare is an F1 hybrid Fresno type pepper that was a 2015 AAS winner. I’ve also got seeds from two sources claiming to be the pepper grown and processed to make the famous Aleppo pepper flakes. Of course while shopping for seeds one thing leads to another, and I wound up getting seeds for two hot Turkish peppers called Urfa and Maras and a sweet Italian pepper called Friggitello. I also plan to try Senorita jalapeno, since the so-called ‘mild’ Tam jalapeno I grew last year was a shy producer and was just as hot as most other jalapenos I have grown. I’ve become a fan of the baccatum peppers and this year I want to add Aji Amarillo, Aji Lemon Drop and Criolla Sella Chili to the plan along with ones I have grown before like Aji Angelo, Aji Golden, Aji Panca, Kaleidoscope and Malawi Piccante. I think I counted 37 peppers on my growout list, and some of them will wind up as container plants if I fill up all the garden slots.

October harvest of pole beans

October harvest of pole beans

After disappointing results with onions the last few years, I have ordered a bundle each of Red Torpedo Tropea and Candy from Dixondale Farms and that will be all I grow. I’m also going to simplify my carrot choices and grow only Mokum and Purple Haze. I want to concentrate on other things this year (like tomatoes and peppers) and I have cut bush dry beans from the list too. I still plan to grow Good Mother Stallard pole beans, but I’m not sure about the Cherokee Trail of Tears beans which have been real shy producers for me here. Definitely coming back are the two ‘greasy’ beans from Sustainable Mountain Agricultural Center I grew last year called Robe Mountain and Lazy Wife Greasy. They will join my old standby pole beans Fortex, Musica, Gold Marie, Rattlesnake and Trionfo Violetta. I also plan on growing tepary beans again this year, and yardlong beans.

baked Bonita sweet potato

baked Bonita sweet potato

Last year I grew the white fleshed sweet potato Bonita for the first time and it was a big hit here. So this year I placed an order with the Sand Hill Preservation Center for the white fleshed Red Japanese and Purple Korean sweet potatoes as well as for Garnet and Golden Sweet. I’m looking forward to finding an alternative to Beauregard which yields well but often produces large and misshapen tubers in my garden. I know, too much sweet potato is a good problem to have but size and shape do matter in the kitchen, as do taste and texture. The purple fleshed Purple is one that will be back for sure.

young Tromboncino squash on the vine

young Tromboncino squash on the vine

I also want to tweak my lineup of winter squash varieties. We love delicata squash, so I am going to grow more of the Bush Delicata and give Honeyboat and Candystick another shot. I also want to give the Butterscotch mini butternut a try, and bring back the bush Early Butternut which has always done well for me. Tromboncino is back on the list too, after being absent a couple of years. I’m pretty happy with my lineup of summer squashes, but I will bring the yellow pattypan Sunburst back. It can join the white scalloped squash that I’ve been growing off and on for so many years. My mother really liked pattypan squash and I learned to like eating it even before I began growing it in my own garden.

white scalloped squash

white scalloped squash

As for brassicas, I’ll grow the same broccoli varieties I grew last year, and most of the same kale, cabbage and kohlrabi varieties. I do want to try a savoy cabbage this year, but I haven’t settled on which one just yet. I’ve grown Deadon and Alcosa in the past, and I would love to hear suggestions from other gardeners if they have a favorite savoy variety to recommend.

I’m sure there will be changes to my list, but this is my current list close to what I plan on growing this year. I’ve already ordered and received a few seeds, and I will work on getting the rest in the next month or so. It won’t be that long before it will be time to start some seeds too!

Asian Greens: Komatsuna Carlton, Mizspoona, Mizuna Kyoto, Pak Choi Mei Qing, Yukina Savoy

Beans (bush): Derby

Beans (pole):  Fortex, Gold Marie, Good Mother Stallard, Lazy Wife Greasy, Musica, Poletschka, Red Noodle, Robe Mountain, Trionfo Violetto

Beans (Tepary): Black, Blue Speckled, Sacaton Brown

Broccoli: Apollo, Bay Meadows, Diplomat, Green Magic, Gypsy, Goliath, Imperial, Packman

Broccoli Raab: Cima di Rapa Quarantino, Sorrento

Cabbage: Chieftain Savoy, Farao, KY Cross, Katarina, Melissa Savoy, Tendersweet

Carrots: Mokum, Purple Haze

Cucumber: Corinto, Diva, Green Fingers, Manny, Summer Dance, Tasty Jade

Eggplant: Dancer, Fairy Tale, Galine, Millionaire, Nadia

Greens: Apollo arugula, Golden Corn Salad, Granon Corn Salad, Speedy arugula

Kale: Baltic Red, Beedy’s Camden, Gulag Stars, Lacinato, Madeley, Prizm, Red Ursa, Sutherland, Western Front, White Russian, Wild Garden Mix

Kohlrabi: Kolibri, Konan, Kossak, Superschmeltz, Winner

Lettuce: Anuenue, Black Seeded Simpson, Cardinale, Hanson, Jester, Oak Leaf, Outstanding, Pele, Radichetta, Red Sails, Sierra, Simpson Elite, Slobolt, Smile, Three Heart, Total Clown, Unicum, Tango, Winter Density

Onion: Candy, Red Torpedo Tropea

Peas: Avalanche, Oregon Sugar Pod 2, Sugar Ann

Pepper(hot): Aji Angelo, Aji Golden, Aji Panca, Aleppo, Anaheim, Ancho 211, Biggie Chili, Cayenneta, Criolla Sella Chili, Czechoslovakian Black, Flaming Flare, Fooled You, Guajillo, Hot Happy Yummy, Holy Mole, Kaleidoscope, Leutschauer Paprika, Malawi Piquante, Maras, Maule’s Red Hot, Ozark Chili, PCR Paprika, Senorita Jalapeno, Thai Bird, Urfa

Pepper (sweet): Big Bertha, Celia Dulce, Cornito Giallo, Corno di Toro Rosso, Dulce Rojo, Early Sunsation, Escamillo, Feher Ozon Paprika, Flavorburst, Friggitello, Goliath Goldrush, Sweet Happy Yummy, Jimmy Nardello’s, Orange Blaze, Stocky Red Roaster, Topepo Rosso

Potato: German Butterball, Kennebec, Red Pontiac

Radish: China Rose, Minowase Summer Cross, Misato Rose, Plum Purple, Shunkyo

Spinach: Gigante Inverno (Giant Winter), Space, Viroflay

Squash(summer): Astia, Clarimore, Enterprise, Gentry, Kumi Kumi, Raven, Romanesco, Spineless Beauty, Striato d’Italia, Sunburst, Tatume, White Scallop

Squash(winter):  Butternut Rugosa, Butterscotch, Cornell’s Bush Delicata, Early Butternut, Gold Nugget, Honey Nut, Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck, Seminole, Sugarloaf, Thai Rai Kaw Tok, Tromba d’Albenga, Violina Rugosa

Sweet Potatoes: Beauregard, Bonita, Garnet, Golden Sweet, Korean Purple, Purple, Red Japanese

Tomatoes: Better Boy, Black Cherry, Blush, Candyland Red, Captain Lucky, Celebrity, Champagne, Chef’s Choice Green, Chef’s Choice Orange, Cherokee Purple, Early Girl, Eva Purple Ball, Golden Rave, Garden Gem, Garden Treasure, Golden Rave, Green Tiger, Health Kick, Jetsetter, Juliet, Lucinda, Maglia Rosa, Marzano Fire, Mexico Midget, Orange Caprese, Orange Jazz, Purple Bumblebee, Rio Grande, Spike, Sun Gold, Sun Sugar, Sunrise Bumblebee, Super Sweet 100, Vinson Watts, Viva Italia

Turnips: Hakurei, Oasis, Mikado, Royal Crown, Tsugaru Scarlet

 

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Variety Spotlight: Seminole Pumpkin

Posted on January 9, 2016 by Dave @ HappyAcres

This is the latest in a series of posts that I’ve done about my favorite varieties of fruits, vegetables and herbs we grow at Happy Acres. To see my other Spotlights, and those from other garden bloggers, visit the Variety Spotlights page.

Everyone knows money doesn’t grow on trees, right? I remember my parents telling me that every time I asked for a raise in my weekly allowance. But what about pumpkins growing on trees? Early explorers to the area we now call Florida were amazed to find squash vines climbing up trees, with the yellow fruits hanging down from limbs high up in the air. The Seminole people native to that area would plant the pumpkin seeds at the base of a tree so the vines would go up the trunk, thus keeping the fruits high and dry off the ground. So yes, pumpkins really do grow on trees!

Seminole pumpkins

Seminole pumpkins

Today’s Spotlight is on an heirloom winter squash that bears the name of the Seminole people who grew it. Seminole is well adapted to the tropical climate of Southern Florida, since it tolerates heat, humidity, insects and diseases quite well. Summers here at Happy Acres aren’t quite that extreme, but it certainly gets hot and humid here. This year it was also wet, with higher than average rainfall during much of the summer months, and Seminole was our best producing winter squash. I didn’t lose a single fruit to rot, which is more than I can say for some of the others I grew. The vines also thrived right on up until the first killing frost, long after most all the other squashes were completely done for.

pair of Seminole pumpkins on the vine

pair of Seminole pumpkins on the vine

Given the fact that they will readily vine up a tree, Seminole pumpkins definitely need a lot of room to ramble. In her book The Compleat Squash, Amy Goldman describes the vigorous vines as “irrepressible,” and based on my experiences the last two years I would have to agree. This year I trained the vines to grow on the fencing that surrounds our main garden area, and they easily vined 15 to 20 feet from where they were planted. The fruits formed up off the ground, and that no doubt helped keep them dry and free from any rotting issues this year. In fact, the Creek word for them, “chassahowitska,” means “hanging pumpkin.”

Seminole winter squash

Seminole winter squash

The fruits start out green, and then as they mature slowly change to a tan color that is typical for the C. moschata squashes. The ones in the above photo turned completely tan after about a month in storage. And speaking of storage, the Seminole pumpkin has been a great keeper for me. The shape of the fruits is variable, with some having a teardrop shape and others being almost completely round.  Most weighed in somewhere between two and three pounds each, with the largest this year weighing a tad over four pounds.

cooked Seminole pumpkin

cooked Seminole pumpkin

In the kitchen, the Seminole pumpkin has a sweet flavor with moist and fragrant orange flesh. Smaller ones can be cut in half and prepared like an acorn squash, scooping out the seeds, then roasting the pumpkin until tender and seasoning with a little butter and cinnamon. Larger ones can be used much like butternut squash, and after cooking the flesh can be used in pies, muffins and soups. I’m looking forward to trying some soon in my Maple Pumpkin Custard. It’s also been listed on the Slow Food USA Ark of Taste, joining other delicious and distinctive foods that are facing extinction.

Seminole pumpkins

Seminole pumpkins

I hope you have enjoyed this spotlight on an heirloom winter squash with an interesting history. Seeds for the Seminole Pumpkin are available in the U.S. from several sources, including Baker Creek, Fedco and the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. I’ll be back soon with another variety.

Posted in Saturday Spotlight | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments