Attack of the 50 foot Kimchi!

the past week had been a perfect storm of stress and challenge. The old me wouldn't have survived it. Thankful for what I have been given we press forward and all is well again. I had a necessary bike ride through the woods nearby where I discovered a patch of blackberries ripening, and an abundance of burdock. I made mental notes so I can find this spot again, though I don't doubt there are more like it in the area. It was nice. Reminded me of how far I have come, even a year ago I would have just said ouch when one of the canes scraped my shin, I wouldn't have thought to take a closer look to find the berries a little deeper in the patch, and I sure as heck wouldn't have thought "hey, I can use those for food!" when I noticed the burdock, if I would have even noticed at all.

but that is just the beginning. Change it seems is a pervasive thing, The cabbage's time had come, so out goes the cabbage, in goes the corn and beans. And what to do with a vegetable that I have in abundance and am the only one who currently enjoys...store it.Recalling another fond childhood memory I found an answer. Kimchi, for the uninitiated is a fermented cabbage dish (only significantly spicier), and the national dish of Korea. In fact there are as many recipes for it as there are families in Korea, and twice as many available online. I picked something simple that contained as many ingredients as I can get superlocal (backyard) and with the exception of pickling salt and ginger, all of it was grown by yours truly.

So here it is in stage one, the cabbage portion sitting overnight in brine.


the bowls on top are not there for any esoteric reasons, just weight to keep the plate and therefore the cabbage below it, submerged in the water. I of course do not have any taste testing to report as this is a dish that takes time...more than a week in fact. So this will be a to be continued while two quart jars of shredded vegetables get stinky.

...and a happy 100th post to me!

FINALLY! and further proof

At long last the broccoli has begun to flower! The head is about the size of a quarter at this point, but should get at least 8 inches, (actually this particular variety will get even bigger than that.



And we briefly had to visit walmart in search of bedroom furniture for our daughter, thankfully we found nothing worth buying and left empty handed, but if you want proof as to the quality of work when you buy from the lowest bidder and your merch is handled by the abused everyman.



Each of the boxes were for bikes and were clearly labeled on multiple sides, do not lay flat. My guess is the package is assembled in such a way that laying flat and stacking like this will cause the frame to lay against the wheels, and likely warp them.

Lowest prices guaranteed, but at what cost?

beansprouts and brain droppings

The bush beans have begun to sprout up in earnest now, tonight I start corn, and hopefully harvest the cabbage to start the kimchi. I bought a shopping cart full of canning supplies the other night, and my wife, who is often my mainstream "reality checker" and voice of moderation, didn't even blink. This weekend we are going strawberry picking with some friends, and then...canning party. Over at PTF there is a news roundup that is rather gloomy to say the least, but it actually had the opposite effect on me (maybe its just my contrarian nature). I realized something. Everyone has a tipping point. I have a bit more of a hair trigger than most when it comes to concerns about the future, but barring instances of sociopathy, eventually when things get bad enough, even stubborn people change.

What about situations where your fate is tied to others who may be sympathetic but not as shall we say ready to make a 180 degree change. A casual observer might remark that my wife and I are polar opposites. Not true at all, we share the same values and goals, we simply prioritize differently. Having that outside perspective to hold a mirror to my own is an incredible asset. I would wager that our relationship might be analogous to society at large. In the end I believe to my core that there is more common ground out there than the media and powermad politicos will allow us to see.
In the end all we need is the right motivation. Maybe I'm being overly sensitive to this but I have rarely seen in my brief 30 years the kind of inspiring motivation that I think is so desperately needed. GreenBean hits home, and after talking to my wife who has spent several years now teaching children with special needs, or in impoverished areas was expounding on the difficulty of reaching children and families who do not have their basic needs met. Her talk about Maslow's heirarchy got me thinking. For the longest time the green movement has been using the same tactics essentially as those who would endorse an "everything's fine" approach to the status quo. Appeals to deficiency primarily at the basest levels. Food, safety, health, protection, employment, and yes even status. When we offer alternatives to the current system they appear merely as competing opinions. Its the reason so many people have taken one of two approaches to politics, cynicism: they're all evil so why bother to worry about anyone but myself, and compartmentalization: my political beliefs have no effect on any other aspect of my life. What the "green movement" needs to do is to make the old appeals obsolete. Sustainable living can bring food security, employment, nutrition, and ultimately safety, but those are perhaps the least rare to obtain. Most conventional philosophy can self rationalize themselves into the belief that their method of living can provide those things. Sustainable societies can bring something to the table that the others can't. Sustainable society can transform humanity from a thought pattern of competition and conquest, to one of cooperation and creativity. Sustainable societies empower, conventional societies exploit. Everything is connected whether we see them or not, if we continue to use the same appeals we will be doomed to the same cycles of failure.

Appeals to the lowest levels, while essential to start the ball rolling so to speak cannot keep it going. To be truly effective, the method and the message must be sustainable. Any conversation which starts at the lowest level of needs must end at the highest, and then we will truly display the advantage to our alternative.

Recommended Viewing

The last few weeks I have been drawn to documentaries for some reason...I can't really say I didn't find any of them useless (I would make a terrible critic).

The story of Stuff Download it from the site, its free, and the best 20 minutes a person could spend staring at a computer screen. Be warned though I caught myself looking around the room occasionally thinking how far I have yet to go.

The True Cost of Food very short, very good treatise by the same people who did the Story of Stuff.

Supersize Me The movie that put Morgan Spurlock on the map. Ranges from humorous, to horrific. I like to think that I have the high ground being vegetarian, but while I was watching I realized that if the experiment had revolved around some other junk food I would have probably sobbed through the whole thing.

What would Jesus Buy Another Spurlock masterpiece. This one actually did have me shedding a tear at the end. Given that I have some strange fascination with televangelists I loved the Rev. Billy's schtick. The climax at Disney had my heart racing while I was waiting for them to start their event. The part that really got me was the montage of people together for Christmas dinner, I wont blow it but the contrasts in the scenes had me hook line and sinker.

The World According to Monsanto. Shocking and terrifying. Had me biting mad in about 15 minutes. The revolving door effect was revolting. This one left me feeling despondent so plan to watch it before you do something empowering so you don't mope around for days feeling hopeless.

The Future of Food I'm not a Grateful Dead fan, but this was helmed by Jerry Garcia's wife. I'm about 30 minutes into it, some of it is a rehash of The World According to Monsanto, but there is definitely new information in it as well. I'm going out on a limb and giving it a thumbs up before I even finish it.

"Why we Fight" This one I saw at community viewing, a real eye opener about how deeply entangled the defense industry, congress, and the media are. Having numerous family and friends in the military it hit very close to home for me.

Who Killed the Electric Car Yet another expose of coverups corporate malfeasance and public indifference. Pretty much solidified my belief that if change is to come, we can't wait for someone else to bring it.

On my short list for coming attractions are "Jesus Camp" "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy" and "Bowling for Columbine" Yes. I haven't seen bowling yet.

Anyone have suggestions of things I should put on the list?

pooly lit and out of focus

I thought you'd never ask

An heirloom cherry tomato plant which seems to be doing rather well. (and my first attempt at container gardening btw.)


As you can see the little bitty buds have turned into some serious pawpaw leaves.


..
The coneflower (echinacea) getting ready to flower




The valerian you may remember from my office pictures in its permanent home, after some initial dieback it is doing rather well near the weeping cherry.



It appears I will have a bumper crop of swiss chard seed, anyone want to trade?

This is the caribe potatoes flowering. Soon my pretties, soon you will make creamy delicious tubers, and then...then we feast! muahahahahah



the kiwi vine after I headed back all but the strongest shoot. Now the plant will be putting all of its energy into making this one climb. And if the current rate of growth is any indication, It ought to reach the top before fall. This one is the female vine, the male vine is being lazy right now, only about 3 inches of growth.



My wife loves petunias, practically to the exclusion of all other plant life...kidding. Anywho I cant take credit for this one, its her work. There are petunias in there, a vinca I think, and some kind of ornamental grass. Bottom line, I can't eat it...Looks nice though doesn't it?



STAY AWAY FROM MY SQUASH! This here is the ultimate in IPM, although with a massive carbon footprint...actually a massive footprint period.

Absinthe anyone? In a matter of about a week this little wormwood plant went from being barely able to fill a one gallon pot to tripling in size. Looks great, the foliage filled in nicely.



And lastly, my attempt to suppress weeds with a rapidly growing, tight planting appears to be moderately successful. That is flax, and you can see where the grass stops right at its edge. A few strays have crept in, but the spot (which is larger than this little corner) has stayed pretty clear. And yes I need to do something about where the cedar chip path meets the edge, we just havent decided what to do with it.

Declaration of independence

I don't know why I missed this one, maybe I'm weary of collecting virtual merit badges, but after watching "The world according to monsanto" and starting "The future of food" yesterday, the idea of independence has become more important to me. Independence is not something we do by default anymore, we are a people dependent, even addicted to a variety of things. Breaking dependency must be a conscious effort.

In keeping with that ethos I have decided to make a discipline out of a hobby and join Sharon Astyk's Independence Days Challenge

Today I planted: More beets and chard, and picked up some muskmelon seed from ferry-morse, having a hard time with the transplants so I figured I'd try a different variety, after all that is what genetic diversity is for, if one variety doesn't thrive in your area there are still hundreds of others.

Planned: got a used motorcycle for the sum of zero dollars from my brother in law, its an eyesore at the moment and my wife is not thrilled, but I plan to convert to plug in electric.

I Learned: (or am in the process of learning to properly prune the kiwi vines.) There is an abundance of info about arbor training grapes, not so much with kiwi. I prefer lots of sources to confirm my info (especially if its on the net) but I'll have to be content with a few relatively consistent ones.

Thanks for the encouragement by the way in the previous post. It never clicked how important it is for me to experiment. I was so fixated on getting some big poundage numbers this year that I forgot something. We are not dependent on my garden right now, I have the luxury of experimentation. A few extra pounds of produce this year will not be as important as observation and experience in years to come.

Theory and Practice: coloring outside the lines

I don't know about any of you, but I was never happy with the drawings in the coloring books unless I had added some extras, its just my nature, I have to add something. Couple in my aforementioned and oft repeated tendency to worry, and it means I can't stick to a garden plan I know was not specifically designed for my spot. So here it is, my decision to go off the map, specifically the garden map in "How to grow...".

Its not that I haven't been happy with the results thus far, its just that there are some timing considerations. Mainly the schedule of some of the successions. My "growing season" (as traditionally defined) is shorter than what is perscribed in the book, and I thought that by picking the earliest varieties I could rush some of the successions. Despite the advertisement of some seed packets not every variety of seed is on target for the number of days to maturity. In the future (and thats what this is all about isn't it?) I'm going to start some spring plantings earlier (beets, broccoli, and heck I'll even try transplanting carrots again).

So back to the here and now. What to do? I have an open spot where the radishes were, the lettuce is starting to get bitter, the cabbage is almost ready (kimchi here I come). That leaves broccoli, peas, carrots, and onions with what I estimate is a good bit of time left. Now according to the plan, I am supposed to follow this crop with a block of early corn and a block of bush beans. One of the sections of the book describes intercropping exactly those two plants so I had planed on one large mixed block. After perusing some sources I was able to confirm that with the exception of onions, the rest of the stragglers are indifferent to corn and beans (some being actually on good terms). Since the onions don't get along well with beans I'll start with corn in that area. The result will be two groups of corn and beans, one going in soon, and one in a couple weeks when the others are done. The corn seedlings wont immediately shade out the stragglers, and having two groups of corn means we stretch the harvest. And when the first of the corn comes out it will give shade for the lettuce and spinach which is going to follow it before winter.

As for the other bed (zone 2 I think I called it) a longer season corn is going to follow the potatoes...which have already started to flower. Potatoes get along well with corn and beans so I am going to thin them a few weeks after they stop flowering and use the earlies for salt potatoes, then give the remaining ones the space to grow larger tubers, though not too much longer. Corn and beans go in sparsely in the holes, and I dont want to dig too late and disturb the corn's roots, nor do I want the spuds competing with the corn. After the spuds come out I haven't decided if I want to fill with more corn and beans or something else. Its a popcorn variety and despite the fact that green beans are probably the number one consumed vegetable in the household and I do intend to can a good deal of them, the variety I am using is known for being prolific.

So there we have it, I'd like to hear some thoughts from people. If someone feels I'm making a huge mistake here, please, stop me.

Answers and more questions

Well I figured out what is eating the lettuce and cabbage, slugs. No sweat, I'll just set out a beer and let them drink themselves to death. (A duck is out of the question right now). Something else has been far more destructive though, chewing the tops off of the bottle gourd seedlings, sunflower stalks, defoliating the amaranth, cutting the pea vines. There have been frequent cat sightings, so I'm inclined to believe thats the culprit. Some of the victims have been up in the walled in island in the middle of the yard. Its about a 2 foot climb, I doubt rabbits could do it. I may camp outside some night, and if its the one I think it is, it will get leashed to my neighbor's front porch with a stay out of my garden note. Or I'll just call animal control and put signs up in the neighborhood telling them where to find it.

Surprises Blooms and miscellany

Well as predicted, first the flowers then the pea pods (I know what a daring amount of foresight) They are still young and could be eaten whole, I am tempted to take a nibble now, but I prefer the plump sweet gems inside, so I'll wait.


The potato forest (actually its only about 40 square feet, but it looks impressive from this angle doesn't it.)


Blurry as it is this one deserves inclusion for one reason. I never planted it, in fact I haven't grown strawberries in 3 years. It is growing in the raspberry patch and I mistook it for such until I got a closer look at the flowers one day. Where it came from I don't know but this is probably the most unlikely and welcome "volunteer" I have encountered. Sure there may only be a couple berries but I take it more as a sign from someone somewhere that this whole project is moving in the right direction.



Speaking of raspberries...I got a couple canes from a friend when he moved into his new house and they were taking over the property. I had no idea that raspberries were biennial so I mowed every year. Well after actually taking the time to read about them (after I mowed them again). They are biennials. First comes the primocane straight up from the ground, then next year the floricanes branch out and fruit the second year. Well I thought I had ruined my chances this year but apparently there was a bit of a stump left on one and it fruited!


The first nasturtium flower of the year about a day after its prime, and a minute before I ate it.



My salad bowl as I like to call it. Lettuce up front, a second crop of radishes and carrots, some pole beans for the trellis (third generation kentucky wonders, the first seed I ever saved) and a lone cucumber survivor. We had a freakinsh swing of weather from cold to hot and dry right around the time they were transplanted and the other one succumbed to the nasty conditions.


The garden as it stands now. (You can actually see the tomato plants next to the potatoes now, they took about a week to get used to that spot but they are rolling now.)



Lavender starting to bloom (a tad earlier than I remember from last year)




Yes fennel does bolt, and it looks like this


Feverfew that lives between the lavender bush is starting to flower (and I didn't get a picture, but I picked about half a cup of chamomile flowers and the plants are still covered. Not bad for only 3 plants)

vigorous indeed

hot and wet are the only two words I would use to describe the weather right now. When the temps hit 95 and it rains daily over the weekend you tend to stay inside. But my morning trip yielded a peek at the hidden world of cucumber beetle copulation. Sorry to be a coitus interruptus but "Not in my backyard." I shoulda got a picture before I eradicated, but I didn't want to miss a chance to kill.

The weather really helped growth, the bolting chard is taller than me (6') now GO TO SEED ALREADY!

Chamomile is rockin like a hurricane.

Anybody got any good tea recipes?

Foreground:potatoes, midground: peas, background: raspberry primocanes


And now for the reason for the title Back on the 27th of my I planted the kiwi vines as of this morning, new growth is over 8 inches.



The pawpaw which budded not long ago is doing well too.



obviously the purple coneflower growing around it is doing well too (of course that is almost unkillable)

Question

First a picture of the sage which finally decided to flower.


now my question: Does fennel bolt? I Have two plants and it looks like both of them are doing just that! I thought it could be grown as a perennial.

Early crops

Well it would appear the early crops of cabbage, peas, onions, lettuce, radishes, and beets are fast approaching harvest time...or at least I think they are. I have picked some lettuce and radishes already, and I have grown peas before, but the others I am guessing at. According to the Jeavons book, I should start the beans and early corn for transplant in about two weeks. I'm guessing I should go by feel on this one as I think we are probably going to be a tad later than that. I'm not really concerned about getting the same crops back in the ground in time before a frost after that because I will be using tunnels come late fall. (Introduced to me courtesy of another book: Four Season Gardening which is definitely a gem).
Anyway, here is the garden as it stands today.

And by the way the paw paw showed its first bud yesterday! I bought two varieties, "sunflower" and "wells" this one is the wells. I have no other reference for bare root trees except for the DOA ones we got for free on arbor day a couple years back, but I'm impressed that they didn't take long to break dormancy and make me nervous for two long. heh.

Second Verse, Same as the First

Part of eating seasonally, or locally, or whatever is dealing with the repeats nature has to offer. We did so gleefully last night with another mix of lettuce topped with a few paper thin radish slices (flexing the knife skills). Anyhow, after about 1 week the stump of leaf lettuce is coming back strong, and oddly enough, the tom thumb head lettuce stump which I had left for dead in the ground is sprouting little baby leaves. I didn't think head lettuce would do that. Is this kind of like coppicing a tree?


Ya learn something new everyday right? In other news the peas are flowering with a vengeance, the potato plant have leafed out like wildfire, almost touching each other now, and the tomato transplants seem to be holding their own.