New Fencing and Garden Expansion

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Dave @ HappyAcres

At long last, we have new fencing around the main vegetable garden. This is a project some time in the making, since the original plastic mesh deer fencing was only supposed to be there for a ‘couple’ of years when I put it up, and that was five years ago! The new fencing should last for a long time, and might even outlast me. It should also provide a sturdy deterrent to the deer, groundhogs, rabbits, raccoons, opossums and any other critters that would likely feed on the garden goodies if they were left unprotected.

wide view of new fencing (click on any image to enlarge)

The fencing material itself is six foot tall galvanized welded wire, with a 2″ by 4″ opening. It is what many people use for fencing a dog pen. The corner posts are treated 4x4s, sunk in the ground two feet and filled in with concrete. They are braced and reinforced with more 4x4s to keep them from leaning. It is safe to say the wooden posts are not going anywhere. In between the wooden posts we used 8 foot metal t-posts, also driven two feet in the ground.

old fence was in bad shape

I had a contractor do the above work of setting all the posts and putting up the fencing. He had to deal with ground that slopes every which way, and he did a great job. That left me with cleaning up the old fencing, which was on the inside of the new fencing, and putting up poultry netting around the bottom part of the fencing. The 2″x4″ opening is big enough to let small rabbits through, so the chicken wire will serve to keep them from squeezing inside and feasting on the veggie buffet. I secured it to the main fencing using plastic tie wraps.

garden site is on a steep slope in spots

For a gate we chose a ready-made one that is designed for use with chain link fencing. It’s 4 feet wide and 6 feet tall, which should be plenty wide enough to get in and out with a wheelbarrow full of compost or one headed for the compost pile with garden waste. Since the gate will be subjected to the stress of frequent opening and closing, it made sense to get a heavy duty one made of metal tubing instead of making one ourselves with wooden framing. I fashioned a little flap of flexible plastic mesh material around the bottom to keep rabbits from squeezing in there. We used a similar treatment on the gate at the Impact Community Garden and it has worked great for us there.

ready made garden gate

One other chore I’m doing now is mulching around the perimeter of the fencing with cardboard. I am picking up boxes from the kitchen where I volunteer, breaking them down and flattening them out before laying them on the ground. They will help keep the weeds down on the outside of the fence. I may do the same on the inside too.

cardboard used to mulch perimeter of fencing

I expanded the garden significantly with this project. The old garden was about 30×40 feet, and the new one is 44×48 feet. This increases the available space from about 1200 square feet to around 2100. This will allow me to stop growing some things in the unprotected kitchen garden area, plus have room to grow additional crops. The old garden area was more of a trapezoid shape due to my poor layout, and the new one is a nicely squared off rectangle. This will surely make planting a bit easier as well.

closeup of garden gate showing flexible material

I also plan on orienting my rows and beds in a north/south direction, instead of east/west like they have been. I think that makes more sense given the way that water flows down the hill to the garden site. That way the rows and beds will serve to slow the runoff. I plan on having one long raised bed on the ‘up’ side of the garden, which will also serve to block the runoff. Right now I have 3 beds that are 4×8 feet each. I should be able to make one long bed at least 4×40 feet. I typically use these beds for crops that stay in the ground for a long time, like garlic and overwintered greens. It’s also a nice spot for early planted things like onions, broccoli and cabbage.

The new fence has already received it’s official blessing from the resident bluebirds. They were visiting here yesterday, and checking out the fence. I saw a bug in the mouth of one of them, so it must provide a good vantage point for their food hunting activities. Which of course means less bugs in the garden, so it’s a win-win situation for me and the birds!

bluebirds perched on new fencing

As soon as the ground can be worked next year I’ll begin breaking up the new ground and amending the soil. I also have a few sapling trees to dig up, which we do a lot since we have a mulberry tree in the back yard and the birds are forever dropping seeds all over the place. I’m looking forward to putting the extra garden space to use in 2013, and I’m working up the garden plans already. 2012 is almost gone, and it will be time for planting spring vegetables before you know it!

 

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December Harvests

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Dave @ HappyAcres

Around this time of year people often ask me “is your garden done for yet?” I always tell them no, because gardening is a year round thing here at HA. And with winters that seem to be getting milder each passing year, with a little planning it’s pretty easy to have fresh food from the garden available year round. This past week is a good example of the kind of harvests we are getting here this year in December.

sack of turnips for food pantry (click on any image to enlarge)

I pulled up some more turnips for donating to the food pantry this week. This fall I planted one unused bed with some turnip seed, mostly the Purple Top variety. I didn’t do a great job of thinning the seedlings, but I still got over 20 pounds of turnips and greens from this little planting (so far). I harvested 10 pounds and took them in Tuesday to donate, and they were gone in about an hour or so. One gentleman took one of the small ones and ate it raw, just like an apple. It was neat that I got to talk to a few of the folks that were taking them home, though they didn’t know who donated the turnips. I’ll be doing this again next year for sure. Every year we have gardeners bringing in turnips by the bucketful, and they are always appreciated.

Salad Bowl lettuce

I got some nice Salad Bowl lettuce from one of the cold frames. It was used on some Turkey Chipotle Tacos we had this week. My wife made the filling with leftover Thanksgiving turkey and we stuck it in the freezer for use later. I cooked up a batch of black beans in the pressure cooker to go with them, and it made for a great meal.

Turkey Chipotle Tacos with Salad Bowl lettuce

I also got some lovely arugula from the same cold frame. This was some that volunteered from a spring planting that I had let go to seed. Of course I missed harvesting some of the seed, so I had a thick carpet of arugula seedlings in that bed all summer. I let them grow, and planted lettuce amongst them this fall even as I kept on pulling the arugula and using it. I think this is the last of the arugula in that bed, but there may be more sprouting next spring. Which is not a bad thing if you like arugula. We used this bunch on some pizza. I just love arugula on a pizza! I have more planted in the greenhouse, both in a bed and in a salad box. Did I mention we love arugula?

arugula for pizza

Another harvest this week was some Asian greens from the greenhouse. This was a mix of Maruba Santoh, Purple Rapa Pop Mix mustard, and Joi Choi pak choi. The Maruba Santoh is a hard to classify green, growing and tasting much like Fun Jen or Tokyo Bekana, but the leaves are smooth instead of frilly. It’s good raw, but also works when briefly cooked. The Purple Rapa Pop Mix is a new addition to our garden, but a good one. The plants in the greenhouse didn’t get as purple as the ones we planted at the Impact Community Garden, but they were tender and tasty. I’ll be growing this one again. As an added bonus, both it and the Maruba Santoh produce edible flower sprouts in spring.

leaves from Maruba Santoh (L) and Purple Rapa Pop mustard (R)

I usually favor the green stem pak chois like Shanghai and Mei Qing, but I decided to grow some Joi Choi this winter for a change. I do love the mild white stalks on this variety, and since it grows mostly upright it is a good choice for intensive plantings. The aphids seem to bother it a bit less than some of the green and yellow leafed vegetables, which is another plus. Aphids can sometimes be an issue in the winter greenhouse or cold frames, and this year is no exception.

Joi Choi pak choi

I chopped up the mix of Asian greens and stir-fried them along with some mushrooms and sliced garlic. They cooked down in a couple of minutes, and I added a splash of soy and a little sesame oil for seasoning. This is my favorite treatment for Asian greens, and it’s quick and easy to prepare.

Stir-fried Asian greens

Another treat this week was some Lacinato kale I harvested to make into Kale Chips. So far this kale is still going strong, and actually looking better than the Beedy’s Camden. The Lacinato survived the winter last year, and I have high hopes it will do as well this winter. So far, so good on that count. If it does survive then I will try and save seed from it next spring. We do love kale chips, and these went well with some curried chicken salad we had for lunch yesterday.

Lacinato kale

I pulled a few more carrots this week too from the kitchen garden. I roasted some with sweet potatoes for a Christmas luncheon with friends, and cooked a few more by themselves for a side dish one night. These fall carrots are so sweet, you’d think they had sugar added to them, but they don’t need it. I also used some of them in the Pasta e Fagioli I fixed this week. We will sure miss these fall planted carrots when they all are gone!

carrots went in Pasta e Fagioli

That’s a look at what we’ve been harvesting here this December. And you can see we still have a nice assortment of fresh food to choose from as we near the end of 2012. For a look at what other gardeners from around the world are harvesting, visit Daphne’s Dandelions, host of Harvest Mondays.

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Photo Friday: Holiday Bloomers and an Early Christmas

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Dave @ HappyAcres

Right on schedule, my Thanksgiving/Christmas cacti are putting on their annual show. I keep them in a sunny window in my office, where I can enjoy them on a daily basis. I have one red one that I’ve had for several years. It was just called “Red Christmas Cactus” when I bought it. It’s a dependable bloomer despite it’s humble pedigree.

‘Red Christmas Cactus’ (click on any image to enlarge)

This pinkish one is called ‘Cristen’. The blooms are large, and it’s reliable and early too.

Schlumbergera ‘Christen’

‘Christmas Flame’ has golden yellow blooms.

Schlumbergera ‘Christmas Flame’

 

I have an unnamed white one that I must have gotten along with the red one. The blossoms on it are definitely smaller than the others, but it’s still a pretty Christmas cactus.

‘White Christmas Cactus’

My wife and I don’t do usually much for each other for Christmas. This year she made me a new camera strap to replace the old one she made for my birthday last year. She sewed it together using pieces from some old black jeans of mine, and some fabric we got in Hawaii earlier this year. The red material has a petroglyph motif, and fits in with all the petroglyphs we visited on our trip. It’s beautiful and functional, and the fact that she made it for me makes it extra special. Am I a lucky guy, or what?

handmade camera strap

She got herself a new iPad for Christmas. She got it early so she could get familiar with it before she takes it along on a big trip we have planned next year. We’re going to Australia, and she decided it would be great to do some e-reading while we’re gone. Plus it would be nice to have some contact with the rest of the world too. We should be able to use wi-fi services while we’re Down Under to check up on things back home.

For my Christmas I got myself something I’ve wanted to get for a long time – a Ukulele! But please don’t think I’ll be singing Tiptoe Thru The Tulips anytime soon. I’ve played guitar for years, and I was surprised at how fast I was able to pick up the uke and start playing. But compared to a guitar, it’s sooooo tiny! It has an amazingly big sound for such a little instrument though. The body is made from some lovely Golden Acacia wood.

all I want for Christmas is a ukulele

I hope you all have enjoyed a peek at some of the Christmas happenings here at HA. And Happy Friday to you all!

 

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Pasta e Fagioli: Italian Comfort Food

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Dave @ HappyAcres

Ask a dozen people what they call ‘comfort food’, and you’ll likely get a dozen answers. Maybe for some it’s chicken noodle soup, and for others it’s meatloaf. Or maybe it’s macaroni and cheese, like my mom used to make it, crusty on top and with lots of stringy cheddar cheese. My wife might even think of fried chicken. But for many people with an Italian heritage, nothing says comfort like a bowl of Paste e Fagioli. And I have to say I can’t argue with that one bit.

Pasta e Fagioli

Literally, Pasta e Fagioli is Italian for pasta and beans. Every region of Italy has a different idea on how to make this simple traditional food. For some it’s a meatless dish, combining beans and pasta with some aromatic vegetables in a broth. Other versions have beef or pork in them. Some only use a little pancetta bacon. And different beans and pasta are used too, depending on the preferences of the cook or what’s available. Some versions are thick, while others are thinner with more broth. There are countless ways to combine the common denominators of pasta and beans, and it’s all good, I say! Give me a bowl of Pasta e Fagioli and some good crusty bread and I’m a happy camper.

ingredients for Paste e Fagioli

I’ve made this dish lots of different ways, with and without meat, and with white beans, red beans, borlotto beans, or with combinations of more than one bean. All of them were comfort food to me. I love to start by simmering some meaty soup bones until the meat is tender, then adding the rest of the ingredients to the meat and broth. But I don’t always have the luxury of time, or meaty soup bones, so this version comes together in no time with ground round for meat and canned broth and beans. If you have some homemade broth on hand, by all means use it, whether its made from chicken, beef or vegetarian. And experiment with the ingredients and make it your very own comfort food!


Paste e Fagioli Print This Recipe Print This Recipe
(Happy Acres style)

1 lb ground round
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped onions
3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
14.5 oz tomatoes
4 cups beef or chicken broth, low sodium (or homemade)
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
2 15 oz cans cannelini beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup pasta, ditalini or other small shape

1. Brown ground round in large sauce pan then drain off grease.
2. Add olive oil to pan; saute celery, carrots and onions until onions are transparent.
3. Add garlic and tomatoes. Break up tomatoes with spoon. Add broth, beef, herbs and drained beans.
4. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
5. Add pasta, cook until pasta is just done.

Servings: 6

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 347 calories, 101 calories from fat, 11.1g total fat, 49.1mg cholesterol, 773.3mg sodium, 1145.6mg potassium, 35.3g carbohydrates, 7.6g fiber, 7.3g sugar, 27.3g protein, 114.3mg calcium, 3.6g saturated fat.

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Stars of the Garden in 2012

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Dave @ HappyAcres

Every year I like to do a review of some of the year’s best performers in the garden. With most of 2012 behind us, I think now is a good time to spotlight some of the stars of 2012, as well as some of the also-rans. So let’s start on a positive note with a vegetable that has sometimes been problematic around here.

I wanted to make 2012 the Year of the Carrot, after a dismal showing last year. And I think I’ve succeeded. We’ve pretty much had all the carrots we wanted for most of the spring, summer and fall. Yaya and Mokum have done extremely well for us. And the Kyoto Red I planted this fall has been a nice addition too. Carrots are still one of the more difficult crops I grow, but they are getting easier. I think as long as I pay close attention during the long germination period, and keep them well weeded, they will continue to be stars here. We still have a few carrots growing here in December, as I try and push the season as far as I can.

Carrots starred in 2012 (click on any image to enlarge)

A surprise star here this year was celery. I had only half-heartedly tried to grow it in the past, since it has a reputation for being temperamental and finicky. This year I grew the hybrid variety Tango, and records show I started the seed indoors in early March and planted it outside in early May. We had stalks for use in the kitchen from early summer on, and several plants are still hanging on here in early December. We don’t eat a lot of celery, but it is great for seasoning in a lot of dishes. I froze some for use in soups this winter. I’ll be growing it again next year for sure.

Tango celery

A repeat star performer here this year is the heirloom Jimmy Nardello pepper. Giuseppe and Angela Nardiello brought a few seeds of the family’s favorite pepper when  they immigrated to America from southern Italy in 1887. Their son Jimmy kept the strain of peppers going, and donated some to the Seed Saver’s Exchange before he died in 1983. And I for one am glad he did! This pepper has made it’s way onto the Slow Food USA’s Ark of Taste. And I’ve put it on my own Ark List. It’s safe to say it will be back in 2013, and beyond.

Jimmy Nardello pepper

An outstanding newcomer in 2012 was the Cayennetta cayenne pepper, a 2012 AAS winner. I grew this one in a container, since it was bred with this in mind. And it was spectacular, putting on lots of peppers which wound up starring in several of my hot sauce creations, including the No-Rooster Chili Garlic Sauce and my Basic Fermented Hot Sauce. I will be growing this one again for sure! Most of the hot peppers did well this year, including our own Hot Happy Yummy, El Jefe Jalapeno, Ancho 211, Serrano Del Sol and Thai Bird. You can see most of those in the below photo, along with a few sweet peppers.

assortment of hot peppers in 2012

And speaking of garlic, after several years of growing numerous varieties of garlic, a few have managed to climb their way to the head of the pack. Nootka Rose is a long-keeping silverskin variety with a great taste both raw and cooked. Lorz Italian is another dependable performer with great taste and high yields. Ajo Rojo won the ‘most improved’ award in the garlic trials, and it keeps as long as Nootka Rose, if not longer. It is great tasting too. Simonetti is another artichoke type like Lorz Italian that did great here in it’s first year. Newcomer Rossa di Sulmona, a creole type like Ajo Rjo, also did well. And while Music had great yields, it has once again proven to be a poor keeper here. It was in such bad shape at planting time that I decided it wasn’t worth planting when there were so many better keeping varieties.

Aglio Rossa di Sulmona creole garlic

2012 was not a great year for tomatoes, but most of our old standards did well anyway. Jetsetter and Eva Purple Ball gave us plenty of slicers for fresh eating and for processing. Juliet, Golden Rave, Black Cherry and Golden Sweet all gave us plenty for dehydrating and slow roasting. And Sun Gold gave us lots of tasty orange cherry tomatoes for snacking and salads. For paste tomatoes, Viva Italia, Rio Grande and Health Kick did well, Amish Paste and Big Mama were so-so. We had plenty for our use, but not nearly as many as we got in 2011. Our favorite heirloom slicer, Cherokee Purple, didn’t give us quite as many tomatoes this year either, but what we had were outstanding. Newcomer Vinson Watts was a shy producer, but made very tasty fruits. I saved seed from the best one, and it will be back next year for another shot.

Cherokee Purple tomatoes

The Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck (aka neck pumpkin) and Gold Nugget led the pack in winter squashes. These two varieties alone gave us almost 50 pounds from 4 plants. Newcomers Boston Marrow and Kumi Kumi both bit the dust before setting a single squash. I’ll give them another shot next year. Early Butternut and Small Wonder spaghetti squash also performed great for us, as usual. The Mexican heirloom Tatume is another great performer here, doing double duty as both summer and winter squash, though I think it tastes better when picked young and treated like zucchini. All told we hauled in over 100 pounds of winter squashes this year, and that has kept us well supplied so far.

Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck Squash

It was a good year for green beans too, with bush beans Purple Queen and yellow Rocdor giving us lots to eat and freeze this spring, and Derby providing green pods for both spring and fall. The pole beans came on in early summer after the bush beans and Fortex, Helda and Musica did quite well. The dry Borlotto beans were a real disappointment. I got about 1/4 cup of dried beans, which is probably less than I planted! I hope to try more dry beans in 2013, but Borlotto won’t be one of them. Cherokee Trail of Tears, Jacon’s Cattle and Good Mother Stallard are on my short list of drying beans to try next year, and I will be researching others to grow.

assortment of pole beans

If 2012 turned out to be the Year of the Carrot, it most definitely was NOT the Year of the Cucumber. It was more like Year of No Cucumbers! My normally productive early greenhouse crop succumbed to higher than usual spring temperatures which kept them from setting fruit, and my outside vines kept getting eaten by deer. I’ll try the greenhouse crop again, and the outside crop will have a spot inside the main garden fence in 2013, which is getting replaced so it truly keeps the critters OUT!

Onions were mostly a bust here too in 2012, with the exception of the Red Tropea variety. I’ll try again in 2013, and hopefully the growing conditions will be more favorable. I did not give them enough water this year while they were sizing up, and the results were not pretty!

Red Tropea onions curing

I had at least one rabbit that seemed to spend the summer inside the ‘fenced’ main garden. I was unable to entice it to go in my Havahart trap either. Instead, it seemed to prefer eating the sweet potato vines and other garden delicacies. Sweet potato production suffered, which is not surprising. We managed to haul in 35 pounds of them anyhow, which will keep us supplied, but we will have to ration them a bit. Irish potatoes did great this year, with Yukon Gold, Russian Banana and Red Norland all doing well. The new garden should give me more room for growing this staple and tasty vegetable in years to come.

2012 sweet potatoes

Another winner here in the fall were the Oriental persimmons. We got a total of 15 of them this year. Normally, a crop than can be counted so precisely might not be considered a success, but these trees are still quite small and a bounty like this bodes well for the future. We have Ichy Ki Kei Jiro and Gwang Yang trees planted, and both are pucker-free non-astringent types that can be eaten when still firm. I am still looking to plant an astringent Oriental type like Hachiya to round out our collection. These persimmons are rarely planted commercially in area, or by home gardeners either, and that is a shame. Ours have been trouble free so far, and have paid for themselves already.

Gwang Yang persimmons

I’m sure I have left something out in this recap, but those are the memorable vegetable and fruit stories of 2012 that come to mind. I hope you have enjoyed reading about them, and I hope you find your own garden superstars for 2013 and beyond!

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