2013 Garlic Planting

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Dave @ HappyAcres

I took advantage of dry weather this week to get the garlic planted. I finished yesterday just in time before rain showers moved in. I usually plant garlic here about this time of year, sometime around the end of October to early November. Last year I split the planting into two days, since I had the garlic in two different areas. This year it all went in one wide row in the main garden.

planting spot for garlic (click on any image to enlarge)

planting spot for garlic (click on any image to enlarge)

I decided to grow the garlic where I had sweet potatoes growing earlier this year. That soil was nice and loose, since I had made a raised ridge of soil when I planted the sweet potatoes back in June. I spread a layer of compost over the area ( about 5 bushels worth) and then sprinkled some 3-4-4 organic fertilizer at the rate of about 6 lbs per 100 square feet. I made a shallow pass with the tiller to work the compost and fertilizer in, then raked the area smooth. Now I was ready to try my new garlic planting jig!

garlic cloves ready for planting

garlic cloves ready for planting

But first I had to get the planting stock ready. I never break the cloves apart (aka ‘cracking’ them) until the last minute. Since I plant quite a few different varieties, I count out the number of cloves and put them in a small bowl with a plastic marker to keep everything straight. I try and pick the larger cloves to use for planting stock, which usually means I get them from several different heads of garlic. I don’t soak or peel the cloves before planting.

garlic planting jig on soil

garlic planting jig on soil

To aid in planting, I used a length of twine to mark a straight line down the row. Then I pressed the planting jig down in the soil. When I lifted it up, I was pleased to see 24 perfectly spaced planting holes marked out in a 6 inch by 8 inch grid pattern.

soil marked with holes for planting garlic

soil marked with holes for planting garlic

The two inch long dowels had done a great job of marking the planting holes. And I found that it was easy to use my thin trowel to open up the planting hole and drop in the clove of garlic – pointed side up of course!

planting clove of garlic

planting clove of garlic

Using the jig really helped speed up the planting process. I wound up planting 228 cloves of garlic, and it only took a little over an hour to do it. Later on I’ll plant some of the smaller cloves in another area for green garlic.

For more information on growing and preserving garlic, check out these related posts:

  1. Dehydrating Garlic
  2. Easy Refrigerator Pickled Garlic
  3. Growing Green Garlic
  4. How To Have Fresh Garlic All Year Long
  5. It’s Garlic Planting Time
  6. Homemade Garlic Planting Jig

 

Posted in Gardening | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Kale and Potato Hash

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Dave @ HappyAcres

I can remember making hash when I was still living at home with my parents. In fact, it was probably one of the first things I learned to cook, other than frying an egg or making popcorn. Back then hash involved some combination of beef and potatoes, and was usually a one-dish meal for me. Hash in any form has always been comfort food to me.

Kale and Potato Hash

Kale and Potato Hash

Fast forward more than a few years, and these days my focus is usually more on vegetables and fruit than it is meat. And much of the time, those fruits and veggies are grown right here in my own backyard. But I still crave comfort foods, though now I have a new favorite hash to enjoy eating. Kale and potatoes might seem like an unlikely combination, but they work amazingly well together. I’m thinking this recipe would also work using sweet potatoes, but I haven’t tried it that way – at least not yet.

ingredients for Kale and Potato Hash

ingredients for Kale and Potato Hash

The potatoes need to be cooked ever so slightly for this recipe. My preferred way is to boil them for 15-20 minutes, until you can just barely pierce the skin with a fork. And by all means, leave the skin on. I believe that leftover baked potatoes would also work with this recipe. The potatoes just need to be firm enough that they can be easily grated, and cool enough that you can handle them.

grating potato for hash

grating potato for hash

The kale also needs to be cooked briefly, either by blanching in a small amount of water or by microwaving. Either way you do it, you need to cool the kale quickly to stop it from cooking further, and then chop it up fine.

blanching kale

blanching kale

This hash pairs well with pork, chicken or fish. Or add beans for a meatless main dish. You can omit the horseradish if you aren’t a fan, but it adds a lovely flavor to this dish.


Kale and Potato Hash Print This Recipe Print This Recipe
adapted from an Eating Well recipe

8 cups torn kale leaves, stems removed (about 10-12 ounces of kale before prep)
2 cups shredded red skin potatoes (about 1 lb)
2 clove minced garlic
dash salt
3 Tbs horseradish
2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
paprika for garnish (optional)

1. Remove stems and ribs from kale leaves, then tear into pieces.
2. Blanch kale by microwaving for 3 minutes in a covered bowl, or by cooking on stove top for 3 minutes in a small amount of boiling water. Either way, drain kale and then let cool slightly until you can handle it. Chop kale into fine pieces.
3. Parboil potatoes for 15-20 minutes, until skin can just be pierced easily with a fork (potatoes will not be completely cooked). Cool thoroughly, then grate using medium grater.
4. In mixing bowl, combine kale and potatoes with garlic, salt and horseradish. Mix well.
5. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium high heat, then add kale and potato mixture.
6. Cook for 10-15 minutes until potatoes start to brown, stirring occasionally.

Servings: 4

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 224 calories, 69 calories from fat, 7.9g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 139mg sodium, 1248.5mg potassium, 35.6g carbohydrates, 4.9g fiber, <1g sugar, 7g protein, 197.9mg calcium, 1.1g saturated fat.

Posted in Recipes | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Homemade: Chile Powder

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Dave @ HappyAcres

A few years ago my wife and I took a trip to southern Arizona and New Mexico. We visited friends in Tucson, then drove on our own to see places like Las Cruces and the White Sands National Monument. We also made a trip to Hatch, NM, which calls itself the chile capital of the world. We were there too early in the year to even see peppers growing, but we were able to buy some dried peppers and some tasty chile powder.

Homemade Chile Powder

Homemade Chile Powder

Even though I live many miles away from Hatch, I grow quite a few peppers here myself, and they find their way into a variety of dishes. They come in a variety of sizes, shapes and flavors,  both sweet and hot kinds. Earlier this year I wrote about something I did for the first time, making Homemade Paprika. Today I want to talk about something I’ve done for quite a few years now, making Homemade Chile Powder.

peppers for chile powder

peppers for chile powder

The chile powder I make has only one ingredient: ground dried chiles. Most commercial chili powder you buy has extra ingredients like cumin, garlic powder and oregano. I don’t like to add them to my chile powder, which makes it more versatile in my opinion. That way you get the flavor of the peppers by itself, and if you want the other ingredients you can always add them to a dish too, and in the amounts and proportions that you like.

Anaheim and Biggie Chili peppers ready for drying

Anaheim and Biggie Chili peppers ready for drying

The growers in Hatch plant a number of varieties of New Mexico type peppers, as well as ancho, jalapeno and serrano types. I like to use a mix of mild to medium hot varieties for my chile powder, and my favorites are Anaheim, Biggie Chili, Ancho 211 and Holy Mole. Biggie Chili is a hybrid Anaheim type, and Holy Mole is a 2007 AAS winner that is a hybrid Pasilla type pepper. I’ve also grown Big Jim, College 64L, Numex Joe E. Parker and Numex Sunrise in years past. I usually let the peppers get ripe before drying them, but you can also make a great green chile powder from unripe green peppers.

green chiles for drying

green chiles for drying

Making chile powder is pretty much the same as making paprika. First, the peppers need to be thoroughly dried. I use a dehydrator, but if you live in a dry climate you can also hang the peppers to dry. I don’t recommend oven drying, as it is too easy to wind up cooking the peppers instead of just drying them. I set our dehydrator on 135°F, which is the setting for drying fruits. It generally takes one to two days to dry the peppers using the dehydrator, depending on the thickness of the walls of the peppers. I sometimes remove the seeds before drying the peppers, but you can leave them in if you like. Removing the seeds makes for a little darker color, and if you remove the inner membranes along with the seeds you will reduce the heat level too.

dried chiles ready for grinding into powder

dried chiles ready for grinding into powder

After the peppers are thoroughly dried, you can grind them by hand with a mortar and pestle, or use a spice grinder, food processor or blender. I use a Krups electric herb and coffee grinder, which in our house is dedicated to grinding herbs and spices. To remove any larger bits and pieces after grinding, I sift the powder through a fine-mesh strainer. You can also use it as it is, without sifting.

grinding peppers into powder

grinding peppers into powder

It’s fun to experiment with different varieties of peppers and make your own unique chile powders. Whether you grow your own like I do, or buy fresh or already dried peppers, homemade chile powder is easy to make and full of flavor. I hope you have enjoyed this article on how to make your own homemade chile powder, and I’ll be back soon with more gardening and cooking adventures from Happy Acres.

For more information on drying, growing and using peppers, check out these related articles:

  1. Homemade: Paprika
  2. Drying Peppers
  3. Basic Fermented Hot Sauce
  4. No-Rooster Chili Garlic Sauce
  5. Sriracha-Style Hot Sauce
  6. Smoked Peppers
Posted in Food, Homemade | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Planning to Plant Garlic

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Dave @ HappyAcres

A quick look at the calender tells me it is almost time for garlic planting at Happy Acres. I usually plant garlic here in late October or early November. The last few years I have grown half of our garlic in the main vegetable garden, and the other half in the kitchen garden. This year I decided I would grow all of it in the main garden. I like to rotate the crops so that the same vegetable families don’t grow in one spot year after year. This year I decided that the garlic would grow where the sweet potatoes grew earlier.

To get this area ready for garlic, I decided to make a couple of passes with the tiller to help level the ridge of soil I had made for the sweet potatoes. I also wanted to incorporate some of the straw and newspaper mulch down into the soil to add some organic matter. I did the tilling the day after I dug the sweet potatoes, on October 10th this year. The next step will be to spread a layer of compost and some complete organic fertilizer (like Espoma Garden-tone 3-4-4), then work that in and rake the soil level before planting.

One other thing I wanted to do this year was make a jig to help with spacing and planting the garlic. I envisioned something using dowels attached to a sheet of plywood. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, I did a quick search online for ideas. And what should I find but a great tutorial that Laura from The Modern Victory Garden had written a few years ago. Laura glued a piece of pegboard to a backing board of plywood, then glued in precut dowel pins at the desired spacing. This was exactly the sort of jig I was looking to make. Thanks Laura for writing this handy how-to article!

garlic planting jig

garlic planting jig

back of garlic planting jig

back of garlic planting jig

I had suitable pieces of pegboard and plywood already on hand, so all I needed to buy were some dowel pins and a couple of handles. I want to plant my garlic at a 6 inch by 8 inch spacing this year, so I spaced the dowels accordingly. I used 3/8 inch diameter dowels that were 2 inches long. The dowels will mark the planting holes when the jig is pressed into the soil. My pieces of pegboard and plywood were 2 feet by 4 feet, and I left them that size even though the jig will be a bit heavy. It only took a little over an hour of active time to put the jig together, and I’m happy with how it turned out.

closeup of dowels in jig

closeup of dowels in jig

To use the jig, you press it into the prepared soil and the dowels will make a hole that will mark where the cloves of garlic should be planted. That should speed up my garlic planting considerably. This year I am planting a little over 200 plants, so anything I can do to speed up the process will be appreciated. It will also make the spacing more precise.

garlic and planting jig

garlic and planting jig

One other thing I will be doing this week is getting ready for the first frost. The weather forecast is calling for frosts and possibly a freeze later this week. That means it is time to bring in tropical houseplants, and harvest whatever peppers and tomatoes are out in the garden. We also have to dig sweet potatoes at the Impact Community garden. So it looks like it will be a busy week here for sure!

my wife

my wife’s prize jade plant from our friend Ray

I hope you have enjoyed this update, and I’ll be back soon with more adventures here at Happy Acres.

 

 

Posted in Gardening | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Homemade: Calendula Infused Oil

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Dave @ HappyAcres

A couple of weeks ago I talked about growing and drying one of my favorite garden plants: Calendula. Now I want to continue this little mini-series by talking about how to make a Calendula oil infusion. Simply put, infusion is the process of extracting flavor, color or active compounds from plant materials by steeping them in a liquid solvent like water, oil or alcohol. Making an infusion is much like making a cup of tea, or a pitcher of sun tea. There are several different ways to go about making an infusion.

dried Calendula flowers

dried Calendula flowers

My favorite method is the slow way, usually called cold infusion. Fill a clean glass jar about half way with the dried calendula, then add the oil of your choice (more on that in a minute) until the flowers are completely submerged. Cap the jar with a tight fitting lid, then let the jar sit for about a month. A sunny windowsill is a good spot for it, as the sun will gently heat the oil and coax the active components from the flowers. Every few days, give the jar a good shake to move the flowers around in the oil. You can do this with other dried herbs as well. Lavender is one of my favorites, but I have also infused oils with plantain and stinging nettles for an anti-itch salve, and botanicals such as annatto seed and alkanet root to give natural color to soaps. Herbs and flowers should always be thoroughly dried before infusing in oil, since even a small amount of moisture can result in spoilage or in toxins developing in the oil.

cold infusing calendula

cold infusing calendula

You choice of oils is a matter of personal preference, and the final use should dictate your selection. For soap making I often use olive oil, since it is used in all our soap recipes and also makes a fairly inexpensive choice. You can use a ‘light’ olive oil if you want to avoid a strong olive oil smell. But even though olive oil is great for the skin, it’s a bit greasy for my tastes so I also like to use sweet almond oil for infusions that will ultimately wind up going directly on the skin. Jojoba oil and extra virgin coconut oil are also good oils for infusing.

coffee infusing in oil

coffee infusing in oil

A quicker way to infuse the oil is with a hot infusion. You can easily make an infused oil in one afternoon or evening with one of these methods using heat. If you have a crock-pot, there are two different ways to use it. When I made Coffee Infused Oil earlier this year, I put the oil and coffee grounds directly into a small crock-pot. And when I made annatto and alkanet infused oils a while back, I put the oil and botanicals in individual pint glass jars, then put the jars in a large crock-pot and filled it with hot water. I turned the slow cooker on low and let the jars sit for about 8 hours. Using the jars makes for easy cleanup.

infusing oils using crock-pot

infusing oils using crock-pot

Another method using heat involves using a candle warmer. My wife wrote a tutorial on that a couple of years ago called Infusing Herbs. The candle warmer serves much the same purpose as a crock pot in providing a controlled low level of heat.

straining oil using fine mesh strainer

straining oil using fine mesh strainer

Whichever method you use, after the oil is infused you need to strain out the calendula or other herbs, flowers or botanicals. One way is to set a fine mesh metal strainer over a glass measuring cup or bowl, and pour the oil into that. You can also put a paper coffee filter inside the strainer if you want the oil to be extra clear. My wife likes to put a clean knee high nylon stocking over the jar and use that as a strainer. The stocking can then be washed and reused for later straining operations.

straining oil using nylon hose

straining oil using nylon hose

Once the oil is strained, you should pour it into a jar and label it with the contents and the date it was infused. Be sure and note which oil you used too. Store the oil in a cool dark place, much like you would a cooking oil. Use within a year, and do not use if the oil develops a rancid smell. You can add a few drops of vitamin E to help preserve the oil, and the oils can also be refrigerated to keep them fresh.

Infusing oils with calendula or other herbs is a great way to capture the essence of those flowers and herbs in a jar. I hope you have enjoyed reading about some of the ways you can make your own infusions. I’ll be back in a bit to share a couple of things I like to do with the calendula infused oil.

Posted in Herbs, Homemade | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments