In A Sling

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Dave @ HappyAcres

It has been an exciting gardening year here. After putting up new fencing and expanding the garden last fall, I was able to grow some vegetables I haven’t grown in a while, as well as try some new varieties. For me trying new things is part of the fun of gardening. And one thing that I was really looking forward to growing was cantaloupe. Actually they are more properly called muskmelons, but most people refer to them as cantaloupe – me included!

At my old place, I used to grow a lot of cantaloupe and watermelon. The soil may not have been the greatest for growing melons, but I had plenty of room and lots of energy to plant a huge garden. These days I seem to have considerably less energy, and thankfully the garden is a big smaller, though still plenty big enough to keep me busy. But we have a nice silty loam soil here that should be great for growing cantaloupes, and both me and my wife love eating them. So I started some seedlings this year and set out plants near the edge of the garden, after enriching the planting hole with some compost and slow release organic fertilizer.

Ambrosia cantaloupe

Ambrosia cantaloupe

My plan this year was to plant the vining things like winter squash and melons around the edge of the garden, where they could take advantage of the sturdy metal fence for support. I had grown winter squash that way before, and it worked out well. But somehow, it never occurred to me that might not be a good idea for the cantaloupe. I had forgotten that most cantaloupes slip right off the vine when they are ripe. Which means, if they are hanging up off the ground and left unsupported, they will fall to the ground and split open just as they ripen. Talk about a big uh-oh! Winter squash usually hangs on to the vine quite nicely as it matures, but not cantaloupe.

neck pumpkin hanging from garden fence

neck pumpkin hanging from garden fence

I thought perhaps I could keep the cantaloupe vines on the ground, but they found the fence and were vining up it before I even realized it. They also latched on to a nearby tomato cage that hadn’t been needed for the tomatoes. That meant I had to support the cantaloupes before they started ripening. Fortunately there are several different ways to do this, and I tried two this year. First I ripped up an old t-shirt and used it to make a sling for the young cantaloupe. The idea is to give the fruit enough support that it won’t fall to the ground when it’s ripe and slips off the vine.

That worked, but I found it was hard to get the shirt tied up to the fencing. So I decided to try the popular method of using nylon hose. Not having any of my own, my wife came to the rescue, and donated some old nylon hosiery for me to use. An article from Texas Gardener explains how to do it.

The trick is to make an expandable sling for the fruit that supports it, while keeping it or the vines from falling down under the weight of the expanding and ripening melon. I cut the hose in pieces about a foot long, then slit them from one end to the other. That made a nice expandable nylon support for the fruit that was easy to tie up to the metal support.

Waltham butternut supported by fence

Waltham Butternut supported by fence

Time will tell if the supports do the trick, but if I tied them securely they should hold on. The first melons I harvested were growing on the ground, and didn’t need any support. We also have quite a few winter squashes that are using the fence for support. Barring any injury or other unusual incident, they should do just fine without additional support.

Kumi Kumi squash

Kumi Kumi squash

Gardening is always an adventure for me, and this year the cantaloupes provided a little drama as well. Will they hold on? Or will they ‘split’ when the t-shirt or hose gives way and the fruit crashes to the ground? Stay tuned to see how this story ends. Hopefully these melons will end up on a plate. Now that will be a real happy ending!

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The Fall Garden, 2013 Edition

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Dave @ HappyAcres

I think I have finally finished planting the fall garden. For the moment, that is. There’s always something else that gets planted in a few days, or weeks. Gardening here is mostly year round, so it’s hard to say where the fall garden ends and the winter garden begins – and so on. Occasionally someone will ask me “is your garden done yet?” I always smile and tell them that the garden is NEVER done yet for me!

Brussels Sprouts plant

Brussels Sprouts plant

The fall garden actually started several months ago, when I started seeds for Brussels Sprouts. The Impact Community Garden folks asked me if we could grow them, and it sounded good to me. They were the first fall vegetable to get planted out, back in early July. They are doing well here, and starting to get tall. They have a long way to go before we see any sprouts though!

row of fall broccoli and kale plants

row of fall broccoli and kale plants

I planted out broccoli, kale and kohlrabi in early August, from seeds I started in late June. Those plants are nicely established already. I am using both shredded paper and straw for mulching. And I’ve already started using the soaker hoses for irrigation. We may have had 9 inches of rain in June, and 5 inches in July, but that doesn’t help these newly set plants one bit! We’ve seen less than one inch so far in August.

young broccoli plant

young broccoli plant

The cabbage plants were set out more recently. I had to wait until a spot was freed up in the row where bush beans were growing. Sometimes I have the fall veggies follow the squash, but this year the squash is still hanging on. I decided to plant garlic in that row, because the squash will definitely be done for by garlic planting time in late October! I am a big fan of succession planting, but sometimes the plan needs to be flexible.

row cover material over bed of carrot seed

row cover material over bed of carrot seed

I wasn’t sure if I would plant carrots for fall, but I had a lot of seed and an empty bed so I went ahead. I used row cover material to keep the soil moist after planting and it worked like a charm again. I first tried this method in spring, after reading about Daphne’s success with it. I sowed the carrot seed in rows about 8 inches apart, then covered the seed with Promix seed starting mix. After that I watered the bed and covered it with Agribon row cover material. The carrots were up in 7 days time. Now it’s time to remove the Agribon and do a little weeding and thinning. Last year we were enjoying the fall carrots from late October through December. I am starting to think that maybe, just maybe, I am finally figuring out how to grow carrots. Now I need to work on my onion growing skills!

carrots sprouting

carrots sprouting

Next door to the carrots I have a bed with radishes and celery planted. The celery has been there for a couple of months, but the radishes were sown just a bit before the carrots. I have China Rose, Red Meat, Green Meat and Minowase Summer Cross planted there. Hopefully they will give us some nice radishes for fall and winter use.

radishes coming up

radishes coming up

On down from those beds I have one cold frame bed planted with kohlrabi and some scallions. You can see a bit of the basil that is still going strong in the bed to the right.

kohlrabi and scallions growing in bed

kohlrabi and scallions growing in bed

Next door I have some lettuce and arugula planted. Much of the arugula is self-sown from where I let it go to seed this spring. I knew some of the seed would fall to the ground before I collected it all, and it looks like I was right. I wish all the fall stuff had been this easy to get going! Hopefully there will be salads in our future. Some of the arugula has already gone on pizza.

bed with lettuce and arugula

bed with lettuce and arugula

I’m adding compost everywhere before planting, and I have lots of it at the moment. While it is definitely great for the plants, it is not weed free! I have quite a few tomato seedlings coming up in some of the beds, in places where tomatoes have not been growing recently. Must be the compost! My compost piles don’t always heat up enough to kill seeds. I avoid putting any weeds with seeds in the compost bins, but tomatoes are fair game. I also have some squash sprouting in some of the plantings. It’s no big deal to weed out tomato and squash sprouts though, compared to some things that show up from other sources.

tomatoes sprouting from compost

tomatoes sprouting from compost

My latest planting was some turnips. I sowed white salad turnips like Hakurei and Oasis as well as some Purple Top White Globe. I planted these in the kitchen garden bed near the house, where garlic was planted earlier. That bed is about 4×30 feet, and we definitely don’t need that many turnips, so I planted the rest of the bed with buckwheat as a cover crop and bee forage. Buckwheat is a great green manure plant, and bees of all kinds absolutely love it, as well as butterflies. It should be blooming in a little over 30 days from sowing. I will till it in before it sets seed, which will be sometime before first frost.

skipper butterfly on buckwheat flowers last fall

skipper butterfly on buckwheat flowers last fall

All that’s left to plant is some cover crops in the main garden, and spinach in one of the cold frame beds. It’s hard to get spinach to germinate outside until the weather gets a little cooler. It’s usually late September or early October before that happens here. But I can sow some cover crops in the main garden as space is available. I’ve got seed for oats and daikon radish in addition to the buckwheat. All of these will winter kill here, but the big radishes will help open up the soil as well as add organic material when they are tilled in next spring. I hope you have enjoyed reading about our fall garden activities, and I’ll be back soon with more happenings from HA!

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A Tale of Two or Three Squashes

Posted on August 19, 2013 by Dave @ HappyAcres

As the gardening season moves ever onward, the winter squashes are now maturing and I am harvesting them when they seem ready, or when the vines die down. This year I am experimenting with several new (to me) varieties, as well as growing my old favorites like Gold Nugget, Cornell’s Bush Delicata, Early Butternut and Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck (aka neck pumpkin).

Gold Nugget squashes

Gold Nugget squashes

The first three have all been harvested, and it was a pretty good year for all. The Gold Nuggets gave us 17 squash from 3 plants, and averaged right at a pound each. These keep fairly well, so we haven’t tried any of them yet. The Early Butternut were a little bigger, averaging 20 ounces each, and I harvested 5 from the single plant. The Bush Delicata was the winner in the yield department of these 3 varieties, producing 15 squash on 3 plants and averaging 21 ounces each. I baked a couple of these last week, and it was nice to have a taste of homegrown winter squash again.

Early Butternut squash

Early Butternut squash

One of the varieties I grew for the first time is Zeppelin Delicata. Zeppelin is a vining type that is supposed to produce squash that get from one to two pounds each, according to various seed companies. I got my seed from Fedco, who state the fruits get one pound each. My two plants vined all over the place, and I have harvested 11 fruits so far that average 10 ounces each. The largest ones are nice sized, weighing about a pound each, but there are quite a few runts that weight 6 or 7 ounces. We haven’t tasted these yet, but unless the flavor is much improved from the Bush Delicata I don’t think I will be growing this one again. In the below photo, that’s the Bush Delicata on the left and Zeppelin on the right.

Cornell

Cornell’s Bush Delicata(L) and Zeppelin Delicata(R)

Another first-timer here is Boston Marrow. My one vine gave me exactly one squash. But oh what a squash it is! Normally I take a Tubtrug to the garden to haul in a bucketful of squash at once, but this one I had to carry all by itself. It weighed in at 16.5 pounds, and while it is the biggest squash I have harvested this year, this heirloom variety can get up to 25 pounds each. I plan on using this one for baking and soups, so I will let it sit for a bit before I cook it up. If it tastes as good as it is supposed to taste, it will be back next year. It was difficult to get a good photo of it on the counter, but the one below has an apple and a peach next to it for scale, plus my hand. The color of the skin is a deep orange color, and the rind is thick and hard.

Boston Marrow winter squash

Boston Marrow winter squash

In past years I have had trouble with mold on some of my stored squashes. So this year I am wiping the outside down with a weak bleach solution before they go into storage. Several extension publications detail how to do this, including this one from Clemson University called: Pumpkins & Winter Squash. I made up a solution using 4 tsp bleach to a gallon of cool water. We will wash the skin of the squashes before cooking. I’m normally not a fan of dousing my homegrown, chemical free veggies with something like chlorine bleach, but in this case it makes sense to me. It’s just a slightly stronger solution than our already chlorinated water. And we use a weak bleach solution to sanitize our food preparation surfaces at the kitchen where I volunteer – which is approved and mandated by the health department. Hopefully this will reduce the mold and spore counts on the squash and help keep the losses down.

Burpee

Burpee’s Ambrosia cantaloupe

Out of the the squash department, but still in the Cucurbit family, we got the first Burpee’s Ambrosia cantaloupe last week. This one weighed a little over four pounds, which is a nice sized melon for this one, though they can get a bit bigger. My father loved this variety of cantaloupe, and since he grew up eating the famed Posey County melons (most of which actually come from Gibson county) that is saying something. After trialing many different varieties over the years, Ambrosia is my favorite cantaloupe, though one called Sugar Queen is pretty tasty also. Neither of these is likely to show up at farmer’s markets or other outlets since they do not ship or travel well. Fortunately, this one only had to travel from the garden to the kitchen, and then on to the plate!

slice of Ambrosia cantaloupe

slice of Ambrosia cantaloupe

Back in the squash department (this time the summer closeout aisle) I still have three of the summer squash plants fruiting. The rest are done for. The pace of harvest has slowed down considerably, which is not a bad thing. The Striata d’Italia zucchini is making a squash every couple of days. And the crookneck Gentry and straightneck Enterprise are seemingly getting a second wind. Powdery mildew is on all the leaves now, and I doubt they will go on much longer. Still, we’ve had summer squash for two solid months now, and the plants have given us over 125 pounds of fruit. We’ve given a lot of it away, which is a part of my ‘clearance’ strategy!

Striata d

Striata d’Italia and Gentry squash

And speaking of clearing, I finally cleared the kitchen counter of tomatoes on Saturday, when I made a big batch of marinara sauce for the freezer. It didn’t last long though, since Sunday morning I hauled in another 16 pounds of paste tomatoes alone. So now they are laid out all over the counter, and in a box on the floor. We will be dealing with them in the next few days.

Tubtrug of goodies from the garden

Tubtrug of goodies from the garden

paste tomatoes hanging out with Boston Marrow squash

paste tomatoes hanging out with Boston Marrow squash

To see what other gardeners are hauling in or clearing out, visit Daphne’s Dandelions, where Daphne hosts the Harvest Monday series. I’ll be back soon with more updates on what’s happening here at HA!

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Vitamix Freezer Tomato Sauce

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Dave @ HappyAcres

Last year our old blender gave out. After much consideration, we decided to get a Vitamix blender as a replacement. We had been reluctant to get one before because of the cost. For the price of one Vitamix, we could get almost get five or six ‘regular’ blenders! But as it turns out, that is one purchase we should have made a long time ago. The Vitamix easily handles tasks our old blender could barely perform, like blending fruit for leathers or apples for applesauce. And it was probably doing heavy duty tasks that caused the old one to burn out anyway.

Vitamix Freezer Tomato Sauce

Vitamix Freezer Tomato Sauce

Since we got it a little over a year ago, the Vitamix has seen a lot of use here for a variety of tasks, from making Green Smoothies and my new favorite Chocolate Zucchini Smoothie to making things like Tomato Leather. Lately I’ve been putting it to use making tomato sauces and ketchup, and it has changed the way I make these summertime preservation recipes.

Juliet tomatoes ready for the Vitamix

Juliet tomatoes ready for the Vitamix

Last year I began experimenting with using the whole tomato, skins and all, to make unseasoned tomato sauce. Now, I know some purists would scoff at using a whole tomato, including seeds and skins, to make sauce. But to be honest, I couldn’t detect any difference in the finished product. And it sure speeds up the whole process if you don’t have to skin the tomatoes first. Plus, the skins add fiber and help thicken the sauce. To start the process, I wash and drain the tomatoes. Then it’s off to the Vitamix for blending. These Juliet plum tomatoes from the above photo went in the blender whole.

Vitamix full of tomatoes

Vitamix full of tomatoes

I process the tomatoes on high speed until they are well blended and any signs of the skins and flesh disappear.  At this point, you have some lovely tomato juice.

tomatoes after blending

tomatoes after blending

Cherry, grape and plum tomatoes can all be used whole to make sauces. For paste type tomatoes, I remove the stem end and cut the tomatoes in halves or quarters, depending on size.

paste tomatoes for sauce

paste tomatoes for sauce

paste tomato with stem end removed

paste tomato with stem end removed

I core any larger tomatoes, and cut out any bad spots. Any and all tomatoes can be used for sauces. I often use a mix of paste and slicing tomatoes. The paste tomatoes (Roma types) have a lower water content and a higher percentage of solids, while the slicing tomatoes usually have a better flavor. Having the Vitamix has enabled me to use whatever homegrown tomatoes I have at the moment.

box of tomatoes for sauce

box of tomatoes for sauce

Once I get all the tomatoes blended up, the juice goes into a large pan or stock pot to cook down. I like to reduce the volume by about half, which usually takes about 1 to 1-1/2 hours and results in a nice thick sauce. This unseasoned sauce can be used in a variety of dishes, from chili to marinara sauce to soups. And there’s no added salt or sugar – just lots of tomato-y goodness! This recipe can be scaled down, or up, as needed.

cooking down the tomato sauce

cooking down the tomato sauce

Unseasoned Tomato  Sauce Print This Recipe Print This Recipe
A Happy Acres original

16 cups tomatoes (about 10 pounds)*

1. Wash tomatoes and drain. Core if necessary. Use firm, sound tomatoes of any size, shape or color.
2. Puree tomatoes in Vitamix blender or other powerful high speed blender until well blended. Pour tomatoes into large sauce pan or stock pan. Repeat until all tomatoes are blended.
3. Cook tomatoes over medium heat until volume is reduced by half, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low as mixture thickens.
4. Fill freezer containers; seal, label and freeze.
5. Makes about 4 pints/8 cups.

Servings: 8

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 102 calories, 10 calories from fat, 1.1g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 28.4mg sodium, 1343.8mg potassium, 22.2g carbohydrates, 6.8g fiber, 14.9g sugar, 5g protein, 56.7mg calcium, <1g saturated fat.

* Adjust up or down as necessary

For more recipes using tomatoes:

  1. Freezer Tomato Sauce
  2. Homemade Tomato Ketchup
  3. Homemade Tomato Paste
  4. Slow-Roasted Tomatoes

 

 

 

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Shelled and Scalloped in August

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Dave @ HappyAcres

Some of you may remember last week when I was talking about summer squashes, especially about how people often have specific preferences for a certain kind. I mentioned how I used to grow pattypan squashes for my mother (and me), and how she liked the White Scalloped squash. In writing that post I wound up jonesing for some scalloped squash, and decided I would grow some next year.

white scalloped squash

white scalloped squash (click on any image to enlarge)

Well, turns out I didn’t have to wait that long to have some to eat. Our friend and fellow gardener Ruth read my post, and offered to share some of her supply of scalloped squash she had grown. How could I refuse an offer like that? I didn’t, and we had some for dinner Saturday night. It was yummy, just like I remembered it. We served it as a side dish for tuna casserole my wife made, and it was real comfort food to me. Thanks again Ruth for sharing! We both liked it so I will be adding it to the 2014 lineup.

Jacob

Jacob’s Cattle bean

This week has found us shelling out many of our dry beans, including Jacob’s Cattle, Rattlesnake and Cherokee Trail of Tears. The Jacob’s Cattle is a bush bean that set on fairly early. I only planted about a 10 foot length of row, and I had no idea how many beans we would get. They’re still drying, but it looks like there will be more than I expected. I will tally them up when they are all dried. There are a few still on the plants, but I would say most have been shelled.

Trail of Tears beans

Trail of Tears beans

The Trail of Tears is just now ready to be shelled. This is my first year growing this one, so I don’t know what to expect from it either. The beans are beautiful, and it looks like we will get enough to make it worth our while growing it too. As a pole bean at least the pods are held up off the ground, but our high humidity outside makes drying difficult. I did a Saturday Spotlight of the Rattlesnake beans, and it looks like they are a great performer here too.

Gold Nugget and Delicata squashes

Gold Nugget and Delicata squashes

I’ve started harvesting some of the winter squashes. Gold Nugget is a fairly early variety, and the squashes were definitely ready. They averaged right at a pound each, and are just the right size to cut in half for two servings. A few of the Delicata squashes were ready also. These will likely be the first ones we eat, since they aren’t good keepers like Butternuts and some of the other winter squashes. Baked Delicata is on the menu for tonight, along with some pole beans, which are still giving us enough to eat on occasionally. It’s been a great year for squash and beans in general.

hot peppers for chili garlic sauce

hot peppers for chili garlic sauce

The peppers have finally started to ripen. I got just enough hot ones to make a batch of my No Rooster Chili Garlic Sauce. This first batch had a couple of big ripe Anaheim peppers, plus a few Cayennetta and Serranos. I used some good tasting and fiery Spanish Roja rocambole garlic in it. It made for some great tasting fresh hot sauce. And it will surely taste better after it ages for a few days. Now I need something to serve it with. I see a baked potato in my future, and maybe some tacos or burritos!

No Rooster Chili Garlic Sauce

No Rooster Chili Garlic Sauce

The blueberries are done for the season, and the blackberries are winding down. It has been a banner year for blueberries. We have enjoyed fresh ones for 9 weeks now, and my wife has harvested 51 pounds of them. The total haul of blackberries is down this year, but we have still harvested a respectable 4 gallons so far. I got rid of some older plants that I had dug up from my old place in 2007 and replanted here, and that cut the totals back a bit. We actually have quite a few blackberries left in the freezer from last year, so that is not a bad thing. I do enjoy having fresh berries for breakfast, and other times too!

blackberries for breakfast

blackberries for breakfast

Tomatoes are still coming in, and we are dealing with them. We have made two batches of Homemade Ketchup, two batches of Freezer Tomato Sauce, plus I have frozen whole tomatoes, made tomato puree, and Slow Roasted Tomatoes. I don’t think it is going to be a great year for tomatoes. I believe that the 9 inches of rain we got in June and 5 inches in July was a bit more than they would have preferred. But we are getting plenty to eat and process, certainly enough to keep us busy.

tomatoes ready for processing

tomatoes ready for processing

You can find out what’s keeping other gardeners busy by visiting Daphne’s Dandelions, where Daphne hosts the Harvest Monday series. I’ll be back soon!

 

 

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