Garden Futures

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Dave @ HappyAcres

I’ve talked before about how I consider planting a garden to be a form of investment. By investing time plus planting material like seeds, roots, plants and trees, the gardener is creating what I like to call a ‘futures market’. But instead of speculating on market gyrations, or hedging against price movements, those of us who garden are helping to make our own future harvests of edible goodies.

Gwang Yang persimmons

future Gwang Yang persimmons

I can think of some of our perennial plantings that give us so much for our modest investment. Like asparagus, for instance. We planted two 30 foot rows in 2007, and another one in 2008, and this year we were rewarded with almost 30 pounds of asparagus spears. With any luck this patch will continue to produce for many more years to come.

some of the 2013 asparagus (from April)

some of the 2013 asparagus (from April)

And then there’s the blueberries, finally coming into their own this year. We planted five bushes in 2007 to go with three we already had. This year, we have harvested 45 pounds of them so far, which is quite a return on our initial investment!

first blueberries of 2013 (from June)

first blueberries of 2013 (from June)

Chandler blueberries in July

Chandler blueberries in July

Blackberries are another fruit that always does well for us. Last year we harvested 35 pounds of them. They are just now ripening here this year, but the plants are loaded and it looks like it will be another good year for them. This year we will have two new varieties to taste, Natchez and Ouachita, along with our favorite Apache.

Apache blackberries ready for harvest

Apache blackberries ready for harvest in July

But the annual vegetable plantings can’t be overlooked either. For the modest investment of a pack of seeds, so much food can be harvested. This year I am growing the Boston Marrow winter squash. One big one has already set on, and others are coming on now. If only this one huge one ripens, I will have gotten my money back on the seeds.

young Boston Marrow squash

young Boston Marrow squash

Other winter squashes hold the promise of future harvests too. Like the Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck Squash (aka neck pumpkin) in the below photo. This is the fourth year I have grown this variety, and it has performed well for us every year. It looks like the one below will have a nice long neck, which is one of the features of this variety. I see pumpkin pies and pumpkin bread in my future for sure!

future neck pumpkin

future neck pumpkin

I am growing Waltham Butternut this year too. It is setting on fruit now, and promises sweet tasting, orange-fleshed future meals for us!

Waltham Butternut squash

Waltham Butternut squash

Gold Nugget is another dependable winter squash here. My wife and I love these sweet tasting squashes that are just the right size for the two of us to share.

Gold Nugget squash

Gold Nugget squash

A newcomer to our squash futures program this year is the Amish Pie pumpkin. It’s the first time I have grown this one, and the first time I have grown anything called ‘pie pumpkin’ in a long time. It gets rave reviews from gardeners, and I hope in the future I will be raving about it too.

young Amish Pie pumpkin

young Amish Pie pumpkin

I invested in a Thanksgiving harvest this past week when I planted some Brussels Sprouts. They take a long time to mature, so it may well be Thanksgiving before I harvest any of them. But they are pretty hardy, and I can also remember enjoying them on New Years Day in years past. This year I am trying Diablo and Gustus, since my long time favorite variety Oliver is no longer available.

Brussels Sprouts seedling

Brussels Sprouts seedling

I see plenty of potatoes in my future. I dug some of the Russian Banana fingerlings this week. Some of them got roasted with garlic for dinner last night. I am definitely seeing a return on my investment of the seed potatoes I bought.

Russian Banana fingerling potatoes

Russian Banana fingerling potatoes

And looking at the basil patch, I see pesto futures! The bunch in the below photo went on a pizza we had for lunch yesterday.

basil for pizza

basil for pizza

I’ll close with a vegetable I invested in back in March, when I sowed the seed for these eggplants in the below photo. These are Hansel and Fairy tale, and hold the promise of many more eggplants in the days to come. These got grilled for dinner last night.

first eggplants of 2013

first eggplants of 2013

We continue to haul in lots of beans, cucumbers and summer squashes. Those crops have more than paid for themselves this year, and we have been sharing them with friends and neighbors as well as donating them to local organizations. To see what other gardeners are harvesting, or dreaming of harvesting, visit Daphne’s Dandelions, where Daphne hosts the Harvest Monday series.

 

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Whole Grain Bread

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Dave @ HappyAcres

I love nice hearty breads that have whole grains and seeds in them. I have tried several recipes over the years, but didn’t find one that I really liked that much. So, I developed my own recipe. It’s designed to be flexible and allow for a choice of different grains, nuts and seeds to be used, depending on the mood of the baker and the ultimate use for the bread. I also wanted it to have a high percentage of whole grains, plus be tasty and easy to make. Sometimes I get new recipes figured out quickly, but I worked on this one for quite a while before I got it where I was comfortable enough to share it with others.

Split Top loaf of Whole Grain Bread

Split Top loaf of Whole Grain Bread

I’ve made this bread using a wide variety of grains, including uncooked grains like cracked wheat, rolled oats, millet, oat bran, corn meal and a 5 grain rolled cereal. I’ve used several different seeds and nuts, including white and black sesame, sunflower, poppy, and pumpkin seeds as well as walnuts. And I’ve used cooked grains like black or brown rice and quinoa. They’re all good in this bread! Even cocoa nibs work. One recent variation included raisins and chopped walnuts, with a little cinnamon added to the dough. It was a winner too, and it was lovely when toasted.

black rice and millet in dough

black rice and millet in dough

Whole Grain bread with black rice and millet

Whole Grain bread with black rice and millet

This recipe makes a little over two pounds of dough. For a sandwich loaf I bake it in a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan, but it also works well when proofed in a brotform. I have also used my French bread pan to make baguettes. It is a versatile recipe, to say the least. Which is exactly what I was wanting when I set out to create it!

Whole Grain Bread topped with millet and sesame seeds

Whole Grain Bread topped with millet and sesame seeds

Whole Grain seeded baguette

Whole Grain seeded baguette

The below photos shows the dough proofing in a 10 inch brotform, and then after slashing it with a scallop pattern before baking.

dough proofing in 10 inch brotform

dough proofing in 10 inch brotform

dough slashed in scallop pattern and ready for the oven

dough slashed in scallop pattern and ready for the oven

I baked this particular loaf on a pre-heated pizza stone, and used a steam treatment to get a nice hard crust. The finished loaf was both lovely and tasty, if I do say so myself.

Whole Grain boule with scallop scoring

Whole Grain boule with scallop scoring

This recipes uses both yeast and a sourdough starter. If made with a whole grain sourdough starter like I use, this bread winds up containing around 70% whole grains. The sourdough starter not only adds to the taste and leavening power of the bread, but also make it stay fresh longer.

Using a bread machine’s dough cycle is the easiest way to do the kneading and bulk fermenting for this bread. Alternately, I sometimes use my Kitchenaid stand mixer for the kneading and then let the dough rise in a bowl on the counter. This bread usually gets a good oven spring for me, so carefully slashing of the dough just before you put it in the oven will help to keep it from splitting or ‘blowing out’ in unwanted places. For a softer crust, you can brush the top with a little melted butter after baking.

Whole Grain bread with oats, millet, sunflower seeds and walnuts

Whole Grain bread with oats, millet, sunflower seeds and walnuts


Whole Grain BreadPrint This Recipe Print This Recipe
A Happy Acres creation

1 cup bread flour (about 4.25 ounces, plus additional as needed)
2 cups whole wheat flour (8 oz)
2 tbsp vital wheat gluten
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats and millet*
2 tsp instant yeast
1-1/4 cups lukewarm water (10 oz)
2 tbsp honey
1/2 cup recently fed sourdough starter

* use any mix of grains, seeds and nuts to equal 2/3 cup total

Mixing Instructions:

1. Combine all dry ingredients in mixing bowl; mix well.
2. Add sourdough starter and honey to water; stir until well mixed.

Bread Machine Instructions:

1. If using bread machine, place wet and dry mixes in machine and start dough cycle. Add additional flour if necessary. When cycle is complete, proceed to shaping and final proofing instructions.

Stand Mixer Instructions:

1. Add wet mixed ingredients to dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Stir until well combined. Cover and let sit for 20 minutes (autolyse period).
2. Knead using dough hook for 8-10 minutes, using 2nd lowest speed of mixer (for a Kitchenaid). Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of additional bread flour as necessary to keep dough from being sticky.
3. Place dough in greased bowl, and cover and let rise for 45-90 minutes, until dough has doubled.

Shaping and Final Proofing instructions:

1. Remove dough to floured surface or silicone baking mat. Punch down to remove any air bubbles. Form into desired shape.
2. Proof in 9″ x 5″ loaf pan, baguette pan, brotform or other container, until dough has doubled.
3. Right before baking, slash loaf with sharp knife or bread knife to prevent from splitting.

Baking Instructions:

1. Bake in 425°F oven 30-35 minutes, or until done. Temperature in center should register 180° for a soft, sandwich type loaf, or 200°F for a crusty loaf.
2. Remove from oven, cool on wire rack until thoroughly cooled before slicing (if you can wait that long!)

Servings: 16

Nutrition Facts (if made with millet and rolled oats for grains)
Nutrition (per serving): 128 calories, 7 calories from fat, <1g total fat, 0mg
cholesterol, 147.6mg sodium, 101.2mg potassium, 26g carbohydrates, 3.1g
fiber, 2.3g sugar, 5.1g protein, 10.8mg calcium, <1g saturated fat.

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Squashed and Beaned

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Dave @ HappyAcres

The summer vegetable garden appears to have kicked into overdrive. I am spending a lot of time either harvesting or processing squash and beans. Which is not a bad thing at all! It is time consuming though, and other gardening chores (like weeding) are getting put on the back burner while I deal with the bounty from the garden. It looks like it’s going to be a great year for squash and beans, due in part to ample rains and moderate temperatures.

harvest of Tatume squash

harvest of Tatume squash

I freeze both summer squash and snap beans. I usually slice the yellow squash and zucchini into 1/4 inch slices, then blanch for 3 minutes. After cooling, it’s on to a pizza pan that is lined with wax paper. I try and keep the slices in a single layer, which makes them freeze separately. Then it’s on to the freezer. After they are frozen, I will put them in a big ziploc bag. I also sometimes freeze shredded squash, which I don’t blanch.

frozen zucchini slices

frozen zucchini slices

The snap beans get blanched also, then frozen in meal size portions in ziploc bags. Right now I have Helda, Musica and Marvel of Venice pole beans producing nicely, and Fortex is just starting to bear as Rattlesnake is starting to bloom. In the bush beans, Purple Queen is winding down as Rocdor and Derby hit their peak. Normally the bush beans start bearing before the pole beans, but this year they are coming on together. Which means they are keeping me busy! There’s almost 6 pounds of beans in the below photo, and that was from one day.

harvest of snap beans

harvest of snap beans

And keeping my wife busy are the blueberries. This has been a banner year for them, and she does the harvesting. As of yesterday we have harvested over 33 pounds of them, which equates to about 21 quarts. We have hauled in more pounds of blueberries this year than we did asparagus! Based on previous years, and the looks of the bushes, I am guessing there will be blueberries to harvest for about two more weeks.

some of the blueberry harvest

some of the blueberry harvest

My wife and I both have them for breakfast pretty much every day. I like to add them to muesli, and them drizzle a little of our honey on top. What a way to start my day!

muesli topped with blueberries and honey

muesli topped with blueberries and honey

They also topped some whole grain French toast I made one morning. What we don’t eat gets frozen for later use.

blueberries on French toast

blueberries on French toast

I have been harvesting other things as needed. Like some Red Tropea onions. They seem to be doing well this year, and handling our rainy conditions.

Red Tropea onions

Red Tropea onions

And I pulled a couple of Yaya carrots for a lunch salad we had. It looks like they have sized up nicely.

Yaya carrots

Yaya carrots

I dug up three hills of the French Fingerling potatoes last week, and found a little bit more than four pounds of really nice red skinned, yellow fleshed new potatoes. This is my first time growing this particular variety, and it looks like a winner so far. The potatoes are pretty good sized for a fingerling type. In fact, the seed pieces were so big I had to cut them into thirds and fourths. I bought some of these same fingerlings at the grocery last winter, and they were on ‘sale’ for $3.99/pound. So my first harvest of them has more than paid for the seed stock, and I still have seven more hills to dig! Some of these got cooked up with snap beans, and I am looking forward to roasting some in the oven as well. And, they would be great for potato salad.

French Fingerling potatoes

French Fingerling potatoes

Another first for our garden was the Purple Beauty peppers. These were the first of any bell peppers to come on this year, though I do have some Anaheims and Serranos already. These peppers are so dark they are almost black!

Purple Beauty peppers

Purple Beauty peppers

I’m getting lots of the Tatume squash now. That’s it in the first photo, and each one on the cutting board averages about 1 pound each. Tatume is a dual use squash that can be used when young as a summer squash, or left to mature as a winter squash. I like to use it when young, much like I would a zucchini. They seem to have a bit less moisture than most zucchini, which makes them good grilled or fried. I grilled some the other night, sprinkled with a little seasoned salt before cooking. The shape of them also makes them good for stuffing. I will have more to say about Tatume in an upcoming Saturday Spotlight.

grilling slices of Tatume squash

grilling slices of Tatume squash

I took another cutting last week from our rhubarb plants. This is the second cutting this year, and there was about 40 ounces of it after I trimmed off the leaves and ends. This is the Green Victoria variety. I have some Canada Red I planted this year, and hopefully it will be joining the harvests in future years.

harvest of rhubarb

harvest of rhubarb

I made part of this rhubarb into a dessert, adding some of our cherries from the freezer. I need to share that recipe someday too. I use the same basic recipe with apples, or cherries. I’m not sure whether to call it a ‘crisp’ or a ‘crumble’. But then I have an Amish cookbook that just calls a dessert like this a ‘goodie’! The topping is whole wheat flour, butter and brown sugar. Whatever you call it, my wife and I certainly enjoyed eating it. I can’t wait to try more dishes with rhubarb.

Rhubarb & Cherry Crumble

Rhubarb & Cherry Crisp

I hope you have enjoyed seeing some of the harvests we have been hauling in here in early July. To see more harvests, visit Daphne’s Dandelions, where Daphne hosts the Harvest Monday series.

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Saturday Spotlight: Kossak Kohlrabi

Posted on July 6, 2013 by Dave @ HappyAcres

I am usually leery when I read claims about ‘giant’ vegetables. So when I first heard about a giant kohlrabi that could grow to 10 inches in diameter, I didn’t exactly rush to plant it. But last year when I saw that Johnny’s Selected Seeds had an F1 variety of Kohlrabi called Kossak listed, I became slightly less skeptical. I have found that Johnny’s is not prone to overly hyping its seed offerings. So I decided to give it a try last spring, and I was pleasantly surprised by how well it did.

Kossak growing

Kossak growing

Most kohlrabi are best harvested when they are tennis ball or baseball sized. They usually start to get woody if they are much bigger than that. But Kossak kohlrabi can grow to 8 inches or more in diameter and still stay tender, though mine usually top out around 5 to 6 inches wide. That is still a big kohlrabi! It does take about 8 to 10 weeks after setting out transplants for it to size up. Of course, it can be eaten earlier, when the kohlrabi are smaller in size, but still bigger than most other varieties.

harvest of Kossak kohnrabi

harvest of Kossak kohlrabi

For the biggest kohlrabi, the plants should be thinned to around 12 inches apart. Or if setting out transplants, plant them that far apart. I set mine about 8 inches apart. The seven kohlrabi in the above photo weighed in at 14 pounds after trimming off the leaves. The largest one weight a whopping 2 pounds and 10 ounces (1.2 kg)! And these large kohlrabi are still nice and tender, without being the least stringy or woody.

softball sized Kossak kohlrabi

softball sized Kossak kohlrabi

The slugs have been eating on everything this year, and the kohlrabi is no exception. Despite considerable feasting on the skins and leaves of the kohlrabi, the damage is superficial and didn’t stop the kohlrabi from sizing up nicely. And the skin gets peeled away before using anyhow.

Kossak is great for making Asian Kohlrabi Slaw

Kossak is great for making Asian Kohlrabi Slaw

Kossak has performed well for me the last two years. I have been planting it in spring, which is when kohlrabi usually does best for me here. I just now started more seeds to grow some for a fall harvest. We will see how it does. In the meantime, we have plenty of kohlrabi to enjoy from the spring planting!

sliced Kossak kohlrabi

sliced Kossak kohlrabi

I hope you have enjoyed this spotlight on a somewhat unusual variety of a vegetable that isn’t exactly well known. To find other great varieties, visit Suburban Tomato where Liz hosts the Saturday Spotlight series. I’ll be back soon with another variety.

To see my other Saturday Spotlights, visit the Variety Spotlights page.

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Digging the Garlic

Posted on July 3, 2013 by Dave @ HappyAcres

In the last few days I have been digging up all the garlic bulbs, in between almost daily rain showers. I started with the ‘early’ to mature varieties, like the Asiatic and Turban types (Uzbek, Shilla, Red Janice and Maiskij). The first thing I noticed was that the garlic was not liking the wet soil conditions. We had right at 9 inches of rain here in June, with much of it coming in the second half of the month. This was in sharp contrast to last year, when we had less than 2 inches in June.

Red Janice bulb losing its wrapper skin

Red Janice bulb losing its wrapper skin

Many of the outer wrappers of skin were just melting away in the wet soil, instead of drying out like they should. While garlic certainly likes a nice amount of moisture when it is sizing up in early spring, it does not like that much rain when it is trying to dry out before harvest! Some of the stalks were even trying to rot away, and I saw slugs crawling up more than one. I kept hoping the rains would stop, but in my experience hope is never a good gardening strategy so I finally gave up on the soil drying out in time for the garlic to mature like it would prefer. It was time to dig it up before it rotted in the ground.

garlic hanging in basement to dry

garlic hanging in basement to dry

I hang my garlic up in the basement to dry. Ideally you should cure it in a warm, dry place with air moving. The basement is the best place we have, all things considered. We have a dehumidifier down there, so it’s not a bad place to dry things. And it is warm, since the previous owners saw fit to put only one measly little heating and cooling register down there, no doubt because in another bit of madness they located the furnace and central air unit far away in the attic! But I digress. I will leave the garlic hanging for two or three weeks, until it has dried thoroughly. Then I will trim off the tops and roots, and weigh it for my records.

Pennsylvania Dutch porcelain garlic

Pennsylvania Dutch porcelain garlic

In general the garlic harvest looks pretty good so far. Some of the bulbs won’t keep very well, but most look to be in pretty good shape. I plan on making some pickled garlic with the worst of the bulbs. A couple of new varieties I planted last fall seem to have done well in their first year growing here. Pennsylvania Dutch is a porcelain type I am trying to see if it keeps better than Music, which I did not replant last year. And Russian Red is a popular rocambole type that joined the lineup. It made huge bulbs, and I am anxious to see how it tastes and keeps. Both of these came from the folks at We Grow Garlic, where I have gotten some lovely garlic stock in the last couple of years. They have an astonishing assortment of garlic varieties for sale.

this Lorz Italian bulb looks good

this Lorz Italian bulb looks good

I’ll be back when the garlic has cured for a proper recap on the 2013 harvest. I still have a few more bulbs to dig, and I hope to finish that tomorrow. By the looks of things, I’m sure we will have plenty of garlic to enjoy in the months to come!

 

 

 

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