Seed Starting and Planting 2014

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Dave @ HappyAcres

It’s probably about time for an update on my seed starting activities this year, for those who are interested in such things. I kicked off the season back in early February, starting seeds for parsley, cilantro, arugula, spinach, lettuce and kale. A couple of week later I started some seeds for Asian greens (mizuna, komatsuna and tatsoi), broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi and chard plus a bit more kale. At this point all those things have been transplanted into larger containers and some have even been planted out (spinach and lettuce) in the greenhouse and cold frame beds. The rest are still under lights or hanging out on the greenhouse shelves.

cabbage seedling at 3 weeks

cabbage seedling at 3 weeks

In early March (3/3 to be exact) I started seeds for peppers and eggplant in a 200-cell plug flat, which is my favorite way to start large numbers of seeds. To be sure, I don’t need 200 pepper and eggplant seedlings for my own use but some of these plants will go to the Impact Community Garden plus some will go to friends. Of course not all the seeds will sprout either, though so far a good percentage of them have come up. I set this plug flat on a heating mat kept on 24 hours a day, under fluorescent lights kept on around 16 hours a day.

200 cell plug tray

200 cell plug flat

Pepper and eggplant seeds both like a lot of heat to germinate, and I usually get great results with this setup. The germination times do vary wildly though. The first pepper seeds were up in about 6 days (Anaheim), with the last one showing signs of life at 13 days (Ancho 211). Sometimes pepper seeds will take even longer to break their dormancy. The eggplant seeds all came up in 7-9 days. Without the heating mat, germination times and rates for these heat-lovers is pretty spotty, at least it is in our chilly basement where I have my fluorescent lights set up.

peppers germinating in plug tray

peppers germinating in plug flat

After that, I started seeds for things like petunias, more arugula and lettuce, celery, some leaf amaranth, and finally another 200-cell plug flat of tomato seeds. How do I know all these specific dates I started everything? The answer is easy: I keep records, these days in a spreadsheet. The information is invaluable to me in keeping track of the garden. I use a spreadsheet because I like the tabular format and the ability to view it on my computer, but paper and pencil records work well too. I recently found some notes about my 1981 garden that were stuck in an old book. It was fun to see what I was growing way back when!

tomatoes germinating

tomatoes germinating

I refer to my Seed starting and Planting Schedule to know when to start everything. I’ve developed this schedule based on my own observations and experiences over the years, with some input from the local experts. I am thinking this year I will be running a bit behind last year in getting things planted outside, due to the weather. Right now the ground is too wet to work, and more sleet, freezing rain and snow is coming down. Winter just doesn’t want to quit! But eventually it will moderate, and I plan on having plants ready to go as soon as weather permits.

sleet from yesterday

sleet from yesterday

That’s a look at one of my big projects right about now – seed starting. It keeps me busy, but I do enjoy it. Of course after a couple more months of babysitting lots of seedlings, I’ll be ready for something else! I hope you enjoyed this update, and thanks for stopping by the virtual home of Happy Acres.

Posted in Gardening | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Spinach Pie

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Dave @ HappyAcres

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, here’s a recipe for something green. And speaking of green, it’s also about time for fresh homegrown spinach around here. I never used to eat spinach when I was growing up, mainly because it usually came from a can. Actually, I still don’t care for it canned but frozen spinach is another story entirely. And this recipe is one of my favorite things to do with frozen spinach, especially homegrown spinach from our garden.

Spinach Pie made from frozen spinach

Spinach Pie made from homegrown frozen spinach

Though this recipe calls for frozen spinach, you can easily use fresh spinach if you cook it first. You can microwave it, steam it, or blanch it briefly, until the leaves are just wilted. Let it cool, then squeeze out the excess moisture. Depending on the spinach (baby or mature), around 12-16 oz fresh spinach should give you enough to make 1-1/2 cups cooked. This recipe is very forgiving, so a little more or less spinach will not make a lot of difference!

ingredients for Spinach Pie

ingredients for Spinach Pie

Whether you use frozen or fresh, the spinach should be chopped to make for easier eating. A quick chop into bite-size pieces will do the trick.

chopping the spinach

chopping the spinach

This is my wife’s recipe, and she can’t remember where it came from originally. Her well-worn copy was typed on an index card, and she’s been making it for years. It’s not exactly a quiche, and not exactly a tarte. She just calls it a Spinach Pie, and that’s good enough for me! Served with a side salad, it makes a great meatless meal, and it tastes even better the next day.

Spinach Pie fresh from the oven

Spinach Pie fresh from the oven

For a little extra flavor, use feta cheese to replace some or all of the mozzarella, and cut back on the added salt. Ricotta cheese can also be used instead of the cottage cheese.

 

Spinach Pie Print This Recipe Print This Recipe spinachpie
A Happy Acres original

1 pie crust (we used frozen, ready to bake)
1 10 oz pkg frozen spinach, thawed and chopped (about 1-1/2 cups)
1 tsp olive oil
1/2  cup chopped onion
1/2 cup diced mushrooms
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, plus 2 tbsp for top of pie
1 cup nonfat cottage cheese
2 tbsp horseradish or to taste
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Saute onions and mushrooms in olive oil until soft. Add spinach, cook until heated. throughout and any liquid has evaporated. Remove to mixing bowl and let cool thoroughly.
3. Combine beaten eggs, cheeses, horseradish, garlic, salt and pepper in large bowl. Add spinach mixture, stir until well combined.
4. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp of mozzarella evenly over top.
5. Bake for 30 minutes until lightly browned on top and set in middle. Let cool before cutting and serving.

Servings: 4

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 332 calories, 165 calories from fat, 18.6g total fat, 124.1mg cholesterol, 744.5mg sodium, 324.1mg potassium, 22.5g carbohydrates, 2.2g fiber, 6.3g sugar, 18.9g protein, 295.7mg calcium, 5.2g saturated fat.

Posted in Recipes | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Springing Forward, Again

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Dave @ HappyAcres

I don’t want to be premature, but it’s starting to look a little like spring around here. Last week we still had snow and ice on the ground. Now it’s almost all gone, and things are popping up all over. I didn’t have to look too hard to find tulip and narcissus leaves pushing up out of the ground. If that’s not a sign that spring is coming soon, I don’t know what is!

tulips peeking out of the ground

tulips peeking out of the ground

It’s a busy time of year for me, with seed starting activities going full blast. Last week I got pepper and eggplant seeds going, plus a few early tomatoes, and this week I will sow the rest of the tomato seeds. Kale, broccoli, cabbage and kohlrabi are already transplanted and looking good, while I have planted some of the lettuce, spinach and arugula. I always plant some of the Black Seeded Simpson and/or Simpson Elite lettuce in early spring so we can have it for salads, especially Wilted Lettuce Salad which is one of my favorites. I also planted a bit of Red Sails lettuce in the greenhouse beds. These plants are about a month old so they will be ready to harvest in no time.

Black Seeded Simpson lettuce plant

Black Seeded Simpson lettuce plant

I use my mini salad boxes in the greenhouse for a little extra growing space. I have one planted with arugula, half of it the wild kind and the rest of it my regular HA arugula mix. Both of these are from saved seeds. We love our arugula here, and it will be nice to have it available again after the cold winter pretty much stopped it from growing and wiped out about half of the plants. I’m also trying a couple of new kinds this year, one called Wasabi which is a spicy tasting wild type and one called Tuscan which is not surprisingly an Italian variety. If we like these I will try and save seeds from them too. I just sowed these two a few days ago, so they are not quite ready to set out. For those of you who got arugula seed from me awhile back, the below photo shows both kinds (wild on the left).

arugula in mini salad box

arugula in mini salad box

Another of the salad boxes is planted with some Golden Corn Salad. I got the seed for this tasty mache from Michelle, who so generously shared them with me last year. I am hoping to get this to go to seed so I can keep it going. The leaves are a bit longer and thinner than most mache, and they definitely have a golden yellow color compared to the green leaves of other corn salad. I am looking forward to having some of this in the salad bowl soon. I got these started a little late last year, and while they survived the winter in the greenhouse they are just now sizing up.

Golden Corn Salad

Golden Corn Salad

Another green looking good in the greenhouse is the Verde da Taglio chard. It overwintered there nicely, and after giving us some early leaves I am hoping it will flower so I can save seed from it. It has been growing in the greenhouse since last April. I did a Saturday Spotlight last year on this mild-tasting chard.

Verde da Taglio chard

Verde da Taglio chard

Yesterday I finished cleaning up the greenhouse beds, and did some planting of spinach and lettuce. The overwintered spinach is looking good, and leaves are big enough to harvest. The plants in the below photo are Amsterdam Prickly Seeded spinach, which is an heirloom o/p variety that Thomas Jefferson grew in the early nineteenth century. The sturdy leaves look like they will be best used for cooking, but we will see how they look when they grow a bit more. This one might be a good candidate for a Saturday Spotlight once we do some harvesting and tasting. I’ve got it growing in a cold frame too, along with my old standby Giant Winter.

Amsterdam Prickly Seeded Spinach

Amsterdam Prickly Seeded Spinach

And speaking of cold frames, next on my list of chores will be to do some planting in the cold frame beds. I think I will tackle that later today. Frankly, I can’t think of any better way to spend my birthday than to get my hands dirty out in the garden! Since it’s my wife’s week to cook, she is fixing a special treat for my dinner tonight – lamb chops. She’s not a fan, so I will have them all to myself. Yum!

Posted in Gardening | 3 Comments

Multi-Grain Seeded Dinner Rolls

Posted on March 8, 2014 by Dave @ HappyAcres

Who doesn’t like a warm, fresh from the oven dinner roll? And I’m not talking about the pale, doughy brown-and-serve dinner rolls of my youth, either. Or the blah lukewarm things they give you in some restaurants. No, I’m talking about a roll with substance, one with character, and one with whole-grain nutritional tastiness.

seededdinnerrolls2

Multi-Grain Seeded Dinner Rolls

For me, these rolls do the trick. They are just the ticket to accompany a meal for guests or a treat to go with a simple lunch salad for one (or two). And they freeze so well, there’s no reason not to enjoy them anytime you like. Just take one from the freezer, pop it in the microwave and in a few seconds you’ve got a steaming hot roll that tastes almost as good as the day you baked it.

rolls proofing on parchment paper

rolls proofing on parchment paper

This recipe is a variation of my versatile Whole Grain Bread recipe. It features white whole wheat for a mild flavor, plus thick rolled oats. Millet, sunflower and sesame seeds also go inside to add some crunch. Right before baking, you brush on an egg white and water wash and add a mix of seeds on the outside.

rolls baking on pizza stone

rolls baking on pizza stone

A little bit of sourdough starter adds a lot of flavor, but if you don’t have any you can substitute some yogurt for a similar effect. Proofing the rolls on a sheet of parchment paper makes it easier to slide them onto a hot pizza stone. If you don’t want to use the pizza stone, just proof them on a baking sheet and slide it in the preheated oven instead.

dinner rolls cooling on wire rack

dinner rolls cooling on wire rack

Using the dough cycle of the bread machine makes an easy job of these rolls. You can have them on the table in about three hours from start to finish, with maybe 20 minutes of active time. For a hard, crackly crust I use a steam treatment in the oven, but you can skip it if you want a softer roll. Use your choice of seeds or nuts on the inside and outside – they’re all good in these rolls!

seededdinnerrolls2

Multi-Grain Seeded Dinner Rolls Print This Recipe Print This Recipe
A Happy Acres original

1 cup bread flour (about 4.25 ounces, plus additional as needed)
2 cups white or traditional whole wheat flour (8 oz)
2 tbsp vital wheat gluten
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup thick rolled oats
1/4 cup millet
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp sunflower seeds (raw, unsalted)
1.5 tsp instant yeast
1-1/4 cups warm water (10 oz)
2 tbsp honey (or agave syrup)
1/2 cup sourdough starter (fed or unfed)*
1 egg white, beaten with 1 tbsp water
2 Tbsp seed mix (sesame, sunflower, poppy, millet, caraway, fennel, flax, charnushka, etc)

* you can substitute 1/3 cup of yogurt for the sourdough starter

1. Combine all dry ingredients in mixing bowl; mix well.
2. Add sourdough starter and honey to water; stir until well mixed and starter is dissolved.
3. Place all ingredients in bread machine and start dough cycle. Add additional flour if necessary to form dough, but avoid adding too much flour. Wetter is better when it comes to rolls.
4. When cycle is complete, remove dough to floured surface or silicone baking mat. Punch down to remove any air bubbles. Divide into 12 pieces.
5. Shape dough into balls, space evenly on parchment paper.
6. Cover with foil or plastic wrap and allow dough to rise until doubled, about 45-60 minutes.
7. Near end of rising time, place pizza stone or tiles in oven and preheat to 425°F for 30 minutes.
8. Before baking, brush tops of rolls with egg white and water mix. Sprinkle with seeds.
9. Slide parchment paper onto pizza stone, using inverted baking pan or cookie sheet.* Bake in 425°F oven for 15-20 minutes, until rolls are browned.
10. Remove from oven, cool on wire rack until thoroughly cooled. Freeze any leftovers for up to a month.

* If using steam treatment, pour 1 cup hot water in preheated oven-proof metal pan placed on bottom rack of oven.

Servings: 12

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 182 calories, 22 calories from fat, 2.6g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 201.6mg sodium, 151.1mg potassium, 33.9g carbohydrates, 4.3g fiber, 3.1g sugar, 7.4g protein, 43.5mg calcium,

Posted in Baking, Recipes | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Monday Recap: Marching In

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Dave @ HappyAcres

It’s hard to believe it’s already March. It’s a month punctuated here by two birthdays (mine and Ace’s), plus a LOT of seed starting activities. But I also found time last week for some baking. After coming up with a rye sandwich loaf I like, it was time to experiment with some rye dinner rolls. I made a couple of batches several months ago, but I wanted to try some other recipes.

Dark Rye Potato Rolls

Dark Rye Potato Rolls

The rolls in the above photo are a spinoff from King Arthur’s Potato-Onion Rye Rolls. I want to tweak the recipe some more, but they are pretty tasty as I made them. They are soft, not sweet, and lightly flavored with caraway seeds. I didn’t like the onions in other rye rolls I made, so I cut way back on this batch. Next time I think I will just leave them out. Without the onions, I may have to call them something like Dark Rye Dinner Rolls. Most of the dark color comes from a little cocoa I put in the dough. I made these dinner roll size but you could make them bigger and use them for buns.

40% Rye Bread

40% Rye Bread

Next up was a sourdough rye bread I have been wanting to try for some time. It’s a take on Jeffrey Hamelman’s 40% Caraway Rye recipe from Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes. All the rye flour (40% of the total) gets an overnight sourdough treatment before joining with the unbleached wheat flour. I mixed this one up in the bread machine, and did the final rise in a 9″ cane brotform. After slashing, I baked it on the pizza stone with a steam treatment in the oven. It had a great flavor and a crackly crust, and I believe I will be making this one again. Next time I will try the stand mixer for kneading. The sticky dough was hard to get out of the bread machine.

baked Gold Nugget squash

baked Gold Nugget squash

Other baking this week involved vegetables. After the lovely Gold Nugget squash was finished with its photo session for the Saturday Spotlight, it got baked for dinner. It was yummy, and after almost 7 months in storage it was still firm and sweet. We always miss this squash when it is gone, and all we have left now is a couple of smaller ones.

baked purple and orange sweet potatoes

baked purple and orange sweet potatoes

I also baked some Beauregard and Carla’s Purple sweet potatoes. They are so pretty when cooked together. In the above photo it almost looks like roasted beets and carrots, but trust me, they are sweet potatoes! I made Rosemary Roasted Sweet Potatoes with them. I used rosemary from a potted plant, because the two plants outside the kitchen door are in pretty bad shape after the winter weather. I am thinking I will have to replant them. Rosemary is easy to grow in containers though, so I usually overwinter several of them for cooking use then.

cooked Good Mother Stallard beans

cooked Good Mother Stallard beans

Pasta e Fagioli

Pasta e Fagioli

For the last year or so my wife and I have taken turns cooking. We each do two week shifts where one cooks and the other does dishes and kitchen cleanup. I did most of the cooking for several years, and since my wife was losing her cooking skills we came up with the idea of sharing. The rules aren’t hard and fast though, and we both still help with the other ones duties. My wife decided to make Pasta e Fagioli yesterday, and I helped by cooking up some of the 2013 harvest of Good Mother Stallard beans. I know they aren’t Italian, but they are a great soup bean and they held up well in the Pasta Fagioli.

soap made with alkanet infused oil

soap made with alkanet infused oil

I am excited about how our two latest soaps turned out. One was colored with alkanet infused oil, and the other with madder root oil. The alkanet colored one was a tad deeper in color than I expected. I’m not sure the photo does it justice, but it is a deep purple color – almost black. I’ll have to share the recipe for this one soon. I am loving the looks of it for sure!

parsley seedling

parsley seedling

I have started seeds so far for lettuce, spinach, kale, parsley, Swiss chard, cabbage, broccoli, kohlrabi, tatsoi, komatsuna and cilantro. Some of the plants are ready for the greenhouse, but they will have to wait a few days for the latest arctic weather to pass. Right now they are better off staying inside under the fluorescent lights where it is a bit warmer. The last winter storm left the greenhouse door iced shut, so we will see. Next up in the seed starting rotation are peppers, eggplant and tomatoes. I plan to get them going in the next week or two. I am hoping that spring will be here eventually, and when it does I want to be ready with plants!

Red Ursa Kale seedlings

Red Ursa Kale seedlings

I hope you enjoyed a peek at what’s going on here in early March, and a look at what we are doing with some of our 2013 harvests. To see what others are harvesting or cooking up, visit Daphne’s Dandelions where Daphne hosts the Harvest Monday series.

Posted in Baking, Food, Gardening | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments