Slowly picking up steam

Q:What do you call an IT professional with a really shoddy weblog?

A: Kory

Previously at least.

I have laid out the framework for a new and improved site that makes use of more capable web tools. Hopefully the end will be a site that contains some good static content (descriptions of finished projects, plant databases, etc.) along with dynamic stuff that I can easily update (hopefully from my phone) as the need arises (the regular blog stuff).

In other news, I just finished most of my seed/tree orders (including but not limited to some russian comfrey plants and a sambucus nigra black elder.)

Miss me?

Its been too long, I know, seems like I was away for a while this time last year too, but with all the politics in the news I thought I'd share two items that have made Michelle Obama my favorite first lady of all time



And coming soon to a Kitchen Stadium near you...the secret ingredient is...Local!

Ideally I'd love to have one of these awesome cloches from breadtopia, keeps the loaf moist during the initial baking without having to use a pan full of water in the oven. Or in my case forgetting that it is a really dumb idea to let a glass pyrex pan heat up in the oven and then pouring water in it as I am about to throw the loaf on the stone. No I don't have pictures, you'll have to use your imaginations.

So minus the pyrex pan how do I keep my loaf humid for the first 30 minutes of baking?
with this.


Its not a perfect solution, but the price is right. Just grab an appropriate diameter pot and throw it over the top. (It gets hot so use mitts when removing)

The results? Better than the tray of water I my opinion.


I've also found that the method I use (whereby I make about 4 pounds of dough, and save it in the fridge until I need to use a pound to make a loaf) keeps the dough too cold to adequately rise in the 45 minutes time suggested in the article I pulled it from. 2 hours in a warm spot gets much better results.

And for those of us stricken with late blight this year there is hope. There are currently 3 tomato varieties listed as resistant, one of which "legend" is open pollinated. Buy now, there may be a run on these seeds come spring.

Well deserved nickname

NY has one of the more famous state nicknames out there, and this weekend we were reminded why. We hopped in the car and drove to Beak and Skiff in Lafayette to pick some apples. 22.5 lbs to be exact. about 15-18lbs of Cortlands for pies, apple crisp, baked apples (my fav) and maybe some sauce. 5 lbs or so of Honeycrisp, my new favorite eating apple. I'm a little disappointed now that I bought the 4 on 1 grafted tree. First of all, in terms of shape, this thing is kind of odd for an apple tree, the way the grafts are placed means I have to train it to an open vase shape instead of a central leader, second, I really wish I could just have those two particular varieties. As it develops I might try to get my hands on a cortland tree and graft a honeycrisp whip to it for pollenation/ fresh apples. Who knows, maybe I'll end up loving the variety from the tree I have.

Its pretty amazing to see the massive rows of productive trees being grown on a family owned operation. And while they are not currently organic, neither are they blind to the reality of where things are headed. I got to see their test organic "orchard" growing under high tunnels this year.

Fantastic Apple Fritters too.

By the way, if anyone has a favorite apple recipe, post it here, I'm game for just about anything (vegetarian).

Random seeds and introversion

Yesterday I came home from work to find about 10 neatly piled sunflower seeds on our front steps. Since they were not chewed all to heck I figure they were not deposited by a squirrel but a fellow gardening neighbor who noticed that absence of sunflowers from our property this year.

I figure its probably one of four other gardeners in the neighborhood, but most likely one of two since I did not see sunflowers anywhere on the other two's yard. Yes, I secretly check out what my neighbors are growing. Not that I sneak in late at night, I just slow down and stare as I pass by. Now I know I could just walk up and talk to them, but if you are wondering why then you clearly don't understand the concept of extreme shyness. I need to get a feel for someone before I just go chitchat, and perhaps someone in a very obtuse or rather ingenious way is doing the same with me. Well, game on, I will plant them.

Well whoever you are...thank you.

This gives me an idea, why not leave a few seeds for some of my favorites in the suspects mailboxes.

I hereby declare today "Give a seed to a stranger day."

Winos

I was at a birthday party yesterday for a friend of mine (who will be teaching me how to make mead as soon as I can get my hands on another 5lbs of local honey).

He opened a bottle of rhubarb wine that had finished. I know what you are thinking...rhubarb? Ok, pour me just a small glass. YES, rhubarb. another glass please.

Rhubarb, its not just for pie.

Something old, something new

First the old, as in old friends. I recently got back in touch with an old college room mate who as fate might have it, has also taken up organic gardening. Coincidence? Something in the wind? I'm glad he's into it, but I can't count him as one of my five, so the score is still at 3/5.

Now the new. The first of the tomatoes are almost ripe. Brandywines. No sign of ripening from the Cherokees or Amish paste, though there are several nice plump specimens of each. I hope they ripen soon, I've spotted early blight...not good. Not good at all. This pattern of horrifically damp summers is not just depressing, it could be a definite problem if it continues long term.

Oh by the way

yep another post on the run. lets get the bad news out of the way.

my garage was broken into by kids...how do I know it was kids? because they took the time to rip the car stereo out and left the thousands of dollars worth of tools sitting in the open.

Germination of the in situ squash and melons has been aggrivatingly poor.


now the good news.

my wife and I celebrated our 7th anniversary this sunday. I cooked her favorite dish. Chicken marsala. Despite being an avowed vegetarian I will handle chicken twice a year. Valentines and our anniversary, with one caveat: It must be free range organic. Pricey but I'd like to think it contributes to the results. And the recipe translates well to mock chicken too. Behold

"Chick'n" "Marsala"

Dredge thawed "quorn naked cutlets" in 1 cup flour 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tsp oregano, 1/4 tsp salt. (I am approximating the measurements, I have made this so many times I just eyeball it now. Secondly, if the cutlets are slightly damp, it helps the flour stick.)

saute in 1Tblsp olive oil/1Tblsp butter on medium heat until both sides are golden. Throw in a cup of sliced crimini mushrooms, naw go ahead and throw in the rest of the crimini mushrooms because they are just that good. Pour in a cup of Marsala wine (white port also works very well) and cover. Lower heat slightly and Simmer for about ten minutes until the wine reduces and thickens a bit. Flip the cutlets once during cooking. If the sauce has not thickened sufficiently, add a scant teaspoon of flour and stir well with a fork to prevent clumps.

then yesterday I finally got to use the morels I found at the grocery store. Granted the joy pales in comparison to finding them in the wild, but I have never cooked with them. I sliced and boiled them in a cup of water in a saucepan for about 30 minutes, then added whole cream, about half a lemon worth of juice, some minced fresh thyme, a little salt and pepper, then let that reduce again by about a third, and added just a touch of flour. This went over angel hair spaghetti Sadly I was the only one who really liked the results but my enthusiasm more than made up for the lack from the rest of the family. My wife said the look and texture reminded her of the infamous dinner scene from Hannibal. Apparently she does not have the stomach for anything resembling brains. The taste though...was out of this world in my less than humble opinion.


In garden news, the potatoes are flowering! Time to start the green beans in the flats! My lemon tree is making more flower buds! The soup beans appear to be doing well, the black eyed peas...not so much.

Thats it. Gotta go. Take care.

Still in the thick of things

Well as can probably be guessed by my extended absence, my work life has eaten my blogging time. But as I have a spare moment right now, I'll try to hit the highlights.

1.)First pound harvested! radishes put me just over the top of 1 pound composed of radishes, lettuce and arugula.

2.) the peas and most of the broccoli are beyond hope. Something ate them, and this time it wasnt the dog. I suspect its the neighborhood cats. They seem to have mowed it to appropriate height. So in went seeds for zucchini, delicata, and waltham squash, as well as french melons, nothing germinated yet.

3.) The situation in the bed out front seems to be improving, though I definitely lost a couple tomato plants, the survivors seem to be bouncing back.

Our daughter had to compose a persuasive paragraph for school on any subject...and completly unprompted she chose:

Gardens vs. Grocery Stores

I think people should have a garden instead of driving to the grocery store. If people make gardens in their backyard they can get their fruits and vegetables from their backyard.
You can buy packets of seeds for 10 cents which would be less expensive than buying produce. Gardens can keep people on a healthy diet. If you have a garden you wouldn't pollute the air as much because you wouldn't put gas in the air. People wouldn't have to pay money for gas. Plants take in carbon dioxide. Gardens look beautiful. When people come over they would be surprised by how much effort you put into it. My dad is growing his garden.

Some of the things I think you should have in your garden are tomatoes, potatoes, strawberries, corn, zucchini, and blueberries.

Needless to say I was beaming when I found out.

In other news, The area behind the bench I have dedicated to native species has borne fruit, or rather its inhabitants have been fruitful. More specifically, baby spiders, thousands of them. Go forth my pretties and feast on beetles and cabbage moths.


Speaking of the area behind the bench, I have a lone, but alive nonetheless ginseng plant coming up.



And speaking of the bench, I give you the view from the bench a.k.a. my favorite spot in the yard, overlooking my second favorite spot in the yard.


This picture was taken about ten days ago, since then the fennel (between the wormood and valerian) is taller than the fence, The valerian has exceeded six feet, the pond has cleared slightly from the lilly pads out competing the algae, and the wormwood threatens to take over the universe.

Playing Catch up

Wow...were to start, things went well at work.

On the stead, 100% of the potatoes have pushed through, I found the bed much easier to work this year, though not as nice as the one thats 4 years old. I can reach into that with my bare hand and get to my wrist with little effort, and come up with a fistfull of worms and chunks of various bits of stuff alive and dead.

I made my first "50 foot" salad last weekend. Arugula, butterhead, and oakleaf lettuce. Very good, nice and tender. On memorial day I grabbed some more arugula, picked up a couple pears and a block of parmisan cheese and made this.


On Monday I transplanted some cukes, nasturtiums, and melons into empty spots in the lettuce patch. Looks like the arugula is done for the season. And something has chewed on 5 of the six broccoli almost to the point of defoliation, but thankfully I found good leaves growing back, so I think they'll be ok. But I found that some of these were ready which made my day. Have you ever seen such gorgeous radishes?


I started corn, black eyed peas and shelling beans.

I noticed something a little disconcerting with the female kiwi vine. Black on the edges of some of the new growth, as shown here.

A search has not turned up any plausible results. I had several shoots coming off last years's growth, so I trimmed this one, and have not seen any others succumb to its fate, but I would like to know what is happening, because it killed a male vine last year. (the replacement however is doing just fine.)

I just realized the other pictures are on other cameras, so I'll save for other posts, but I will leave you with this parting shot, the first and likely last real picture of yours truly that will show up here.



Oh did I mention we had 5 yards of stone delivered for the walkway, and 6 yards of much for the ...um mulching? I did a lot of shoveling. And no my hand is not missing, It was a chilly evening.

Sore back

I did so much work outside this weekend that it all seems like a blur, I couldn't tell you what I got accomplished, but I do remember a few highlights.

1. The outdoor shower is definitely happening. I have 4 posts in the ground and the spot is perfect. Its an otherwise unusable corner of our plot that would get wasted. I just need to scrounge up some pipe and find a basin so I can redirect the wastewater someplace useful.

2. I have baby carrots! Two years ago I droped a 3'x2' box in a corner that I thought would get enough light. Its tucked between the gazebo and the garden wall, but its never been very productive. Last fall on a whim I direct seeded a few things like beets, some chard, arugula and carrots. Nothing really got off the ground so to speak. By snowfall I had a few feathery carrot leaves and a couple baby beet greens. I have for the most part ignored it this season, though I am going to try some podding radishes there. Well oddly enough I found half inch round, 2 inch long carrots growing. Not the (we're really done growing, we just keep well in the soil over the winter...I found one of those in another bed) These all have good live foliage. I'll let them mature where they are (despite the sample being tasty). Hopefully they don't bolt on me. they are cosmic purples by the way. Who'd have thought they could survive a zone 5 winter. On the other hand, if these do by chance have some genetic predisposition to survivng the cold perhaps I should let them bolt and save the seed.

Where to begin...

Lets see...

April 9th 2009: Sara and Jonathan are now officially adopted! After 2 nerve wracking years, countless court hearings, social worker visits, its over. In they eyes of the law (better late than never I suppose) they are our children. We are truly the lucky ones. Two different ages, two different backgrounds, two incredible kids.

I can't stress enough how much need there is out there for foster and adoptive parents. I would be richer than walmart if I had a nickel for each person who has come up to me and said "we thought about doing that." Don't think about it. Do it. If you think to long about it you will find reasons to talk yourself out of it. You may have 5 very good reasons why you shouldn't but there are over 500,000 reasons (children) why you should. Never again will you go to bed wondering if you made a difference.


April 10th 2009: My brother came home from Iraq, safe and sound thank God. As his contractual obligation actually ended almost a year ago, there is little chance of recall.

April 13th 2009: Easter. I had a great conversation with a friend of a friend about gardening. He (on the suggestion of my friend) was curious about gardening. Originally from Spain, this fellow lamented the lack of selection, freshness and availability of "good organic vegetables" in his area. He commented how different it is where his extended family lives and a lack of garden is unusual. If only.

the seedlings are getting bigger but the frost shows up every morning.

boooyah!

They're going to do it! Vegetable gardens are coming back to the whitehouse. And from the sounds of it, for all the right reasons.

Michelle Obama: We want to use it as a point of education, to talk about health and how delicious it is to eat fresh food, and how you can take that food and make it part of a healthy diet. You know, the tomato that's from your garden tastes very different from one that isn't. And peas - what is it like to eat peas in season? So we want the White House to be a place of education and awareness. And hopefully kids will be interested because there are kids living here

The unanswered question is, will it be organic? But given the first family's noted predilection for eating organic wherever possible, serving organic wine at official dinners...I think its pretty much a given.

I bleed green

In several (metaphorical) senses of the term.

I thought I would revisit a little "family" history on today's occasion. What does the Irish Diaspora have to do with gardening and sustainability? Turns out, quite a bit. First a little background.

By 1845 most of the tennant holdings (the majority of irish did not actually own the land they worked on) were less than five acres for 24% and less than 15 for 40%. With much of the land devoted to raising crops simply to pay the rent, the farmers and their families had to feed themselves on what little space remained. (Corned beef was out, not enough pasture land.) Potatoes were caloric and nutritionally dense and space efficient. The inherent cruelty was brought about by a taste for beef that was growing next door in England. Quite simply, to make room for English ranchers, the locals were pushed out of the best grazing and farming areas.

The "great famine" was not the first time that potatoes had failed in ireland, in fact, due to other diseases, there were significant crop losses 24 times between, 1728 and 1844. The potato was far from reliable, but when faces with something unreliable, or watching your family starve, well, you roll the dice.

And in 1845 the dice came up snake eyes. Phytophthora infestans or late blight first manifested in the Americas but due to expanding trade, travel, and lax agricultural inspection, found its way into Europe where it also struck in belgium, but in Ireland, wiped out from what reports estimate a third to a half of the potato crops. The following year was even worse, as losses hit 3/4ths of the crop. Losses receded the following year, but because of the devastation, much of the seed potato stock had been eaten, and fewer fields could be planted.

Early efforts to provide relief from the British were successful, but Prime Minister Robert Peel's efforts raised the ire from laissez faire factions. Peel's successor John Russel created then later abandoned a set of unproductive public works efforts, and parliamentary law basically left the starving tenants the responsibility of the landlords, who in turn evicted them. Aid and relief rules dictated that nothing be distributed to families who held more than a quarter acre. So in effect, if you could grow enough to pay the rent, you had to starve. But if you fed yourself with the crops grown on your meager plot, you got the boot.

When the previously mentioned potato failure occurred in the 1780s, Ireland closed her ports to export, and the other crops that had been grown (to pay the rent) were kept on the island. Food prices dropped during this abundance and famine was averted. However, the landlords and merchants, who would have otherwise sold those commodities at a higher profit applied the golden rule: he who has the gold makes the rules. The lobbied parliment to ensure that this sort of thing didn't happen again. Their success meant that during the majority of the 1840's famine, starving families loaded grain onto wagons bound for the eastern shores, and shipped it off to England. The market had decided, and the Irish were expendable.

Once again history teaches that often, famine comes about not because of a lack of available food, but a lack of ability to pay. So lets all learn from this lesson folks, rotate and diversify your seed stocks, and buy only fairly traded imports.

Our modern taste for cheap coffee is a direct analog to the British desire for cheap beef and Irish grains. You do the math.


On another note, I started the spring crops in the greenhouse..er...sunroom sunday evening. more to follow later.

(a special thanks to the hordes of anonymous contributors at wikipedia for helping me track down some dates and statistics I could not immediately recall)

I had been waiting since the night I saw it...

to post this. Stephen Colbert draws a line in the sand against the idea creeping into society that as long as we can bootstrap ourselves out of this mess, so can the guy next to us. The best way to root out evil? mockery.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

The Word - Rand Illusion

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Political Humor

Rap Battle
NASA Name Contest

we're in this together, so consider yourselves "on notice"

clinical trials

ok, maybe not that official.

YesterdayI started coming down with the flu. How do I know its the flu? I've been sick enough times with it that I can see it coming from a mile away. The pain the the lower back, achy and sensitive skin, low grade fever, chills...general malaise. You get the picture. Anyway, I absolutely could not have picked a worse time to get sick. Tomorrow I go in for LASIK surgery. Given that the flu is a virus, you pretty much have to let your body do the fighting (not like a bacterial infection where you might actually need antibiotics). I have been rather hesitant to try home remedies or herbals I guess for no other reason other than I am a walking granola stereotype as is, and I just figured that would be the last straw. Granted I had tried echinacea in one case, as a preventative, though its hard to say if it was effective. I didn't get sick, but then again I might not have anyway.

But desperate as I was, I did a little research and found a combination that seemed to be recommended for flu. So after work I stopped by the local "hippie shop" as my wife calls it and picked up a bottle of echinacea extract and a bottle of elder extract. Took a dose of each as soon as I got home, and made myself a cup of chamomile tea (which I didn't realize until reading this morning was also medicinally relevant, I just like the taste). I've been taking additional doses at the recommended intervals and I have to admit, I feel about 70% better in less than 24 hours. Well enough in fact that despite going to bed thinking I was dying, I felt I could go to work today. For me that is unheard of. When I get the flu, I am out for days.

Sure this is entirely anecdotal, but it made a believer out of this guy

playing 30 questions

one acre homestead in ohio wants to know more about his readership.

Basic Questions About You
1-What is the biggest goal of your lifestyle?

To be liberated, to achieve that often talked about, never worked towards sense of balance, to finally grab the tiller on this boat and steer my own course.

2-When did you start this lifestyle? Very gently about 5 years ago.

3-What was your main motivation? Fear, I don't know if I truly saw this stuff coming or I am just paranoid and made a lucky guess.

4-Did you have any previous experience in anything you're doing now? Childhood of occasional baking, gardening, carpentry.

5-Does your spouse/signifiacant other (if you have one) share the same ideas? Not exactly, but she's not against it either.

6-Do your friends and family understand and support these choices? What about your kids? I guess you could say "Kinda, sorta" to each.

7-How happy are you with your achievements so far? I wish I was farther along, but so far so good.

8-Are you more of a gardener, homesteader, prepper, health concience, "green"' or a combination of several? I started out a panic-prepper, but now its more of the other categories, I realized the destination wasn't the goal, as bikers say, its the journey that matters.

9-Has this change of lifestyle affected your personality? I would say definitely, its made me more conscious of waste, but also of the potential to change. If its possible, I think I have become simultaneously bitter and optimistic.

10-Has it changed your view of your life before? Not really, I am who I am.

11-What about how you view others that don't understand it or naysay? I can't fault people who make choices based on the data at hand and the lens of their particular worldview, its people who manufacture a web of ideology for convenience or just because they don't want to change that I find annoying. I'd rather focus on dealing with people who are at least receptive.

12-If you could convince someone to live the way you do in ONE sentance, what would you say?

By voluntarily choosing how you will live, you will remember what its like to be truly alive.

Other Questions-

1-How large is your vegetable garden? several areas spread out for about 200 square feet.

2-Do you grow any fruits, and what and how many? we have a smallish blackberry bush, a pair of pawpaw trees that have yet to produce

3-Do you have any animals and what are they? (other than pets) just dogs

4-Do you can/dehydrate/freeze/store your own produce? to some extent, soups and jams

5-Do you work with mainly power tools or hand tools in your gardens and others? (wood cutting, splitting, tiller vs. broadfork etc...) In garden, I work exclusively with hand tools, its small enough that one person can do it in a reasonable amount of time.

6-Do you compost? absolutely

7-Do you recycle? absolutely

8-Do you consider yourself energy consience? (conserving to save $) yes

9-Do you make any of your own household cleaners? no but its been on my mind

10-Do you make your own bread? there is no substitute for warm crusty homemade bread (baked a loaf last night in fact).

11- If in an emergency situation, are you able to not leave home for a week? How about a month? A year?? a week maybe, but no longer.

12-Are you tired of answering questions yet? I can do a few more.

13-If you prep, what do you consider to be your most useful tool/items the phrase "don't panic"

14-Are you able to heat your home without gas or fuel oil? does electricity count?

15-Are you able to cook without gas or electricity? got a grill out back and I know how to use it.

16-Again, if in an emercency situation, could you live in the wild or out of a tent? ( camping,hunt/fish, cook,etc.) I probably could, I used to camp with a very minimum of supplies in H.S. but I haven't done anything like that lately (its been at least ten years, lets put it that way)

17-Have you ever practiced your prep skills? (turning off main power for a day or 2) How did you do? (this can include a power outage due to weather as a test) Not voluntarily, but when it did happen, we did just fine.

18-Do you have the knowledge & skills (plus tools) to hunt and fish for food? I probably could, but my dietary choices do not make it necessary. I considered whether I would voluntarily kill and prep and animal to eat, and decided that since I couldn't stomach the process I had no right to eat the product. In a "lost in the wilderness for weeks" situation I probably could if I had the tools. I did fish a lot as a child.

19-If you don't prep, why not? It would likely drive my family nuts, and put me in a very obsessive mental state.

20-Do you or can you sew your own clothes and make your own bedding? I just made a window shade as a matter of fact.

21-Can you field dress a deer, drink a coffee, smoke a cigarette, make a cell phone call, light a fire, AND answer all of my annoying questions at the same time? lol thanks for playing! I can multitask, but not the same tasks as you.

Finally, HFCS ads we can all get behind!

the first comes courtesy of the folks who brought us King Corn, which is more relevant now than ever.



A funny (sarcastic)spoof:



This guy brings the real facts (my fav):



Joe Biden agrees:



This next one Is a bit longer but perhaps the most informative of all of them




BTW I wish I had the money to pay for a pop up ad that attached itself to videos. The irony is delicious.

What do hfcs ad's and rats have in common?

They are both disease carrying invasive pests. click the image and read the caption below the movie.

In other news...

I took a fistfull of pictures of the vacant space left by the bushes, which my wife accurately characterized as "sad and empty." Not for long though, the holes for footers have been dug and the siding pulled away where the sunroom will fit to the outside wall. I'll take more pics tonight and hopefully remember the memory card tomorrow morning.

Groovy Green found an article on what in my opinion is the perfect stimulus package. Being vegetarian I don't normally espouse metaphors that encourage bird killing, no matter how many times the stone gets reused, but it fits.

Sharon Astyk rounds up 25 crops no one should be without. And if the above stimulus plan gets picked up on, I might actually have room to grow them all.

And lastly, sometimes the things that are the hardest to pick up on are the ones right under your nose. Apparently there is a fairly well established greenie group in Syracuse. I might just leave my shell yet.

by the way, holy February heat wave batman, it hit the 50's here in Syracuse!?

Brain Droppings

First of all thank you to those who dropped a quick word or two on the HFCS mercury issue, and thank you to Jennifer for giving us all the "deep breath, calm-down," moment I think everyone needed. I certainly agree that this is not the apocalypse, but its another darn good reason to keep HFSC out of the fridge, pantry, etc. HFCS is ultimately the symptom of the corn overproduction inherent in our current system. If it werent for the broken ag policy in this nation, HFSC would be as expensive, if not more, than cane sugar.

Also important to remember is two failings of the FDA, first the allowance of the term natural, and second, the tacit allowance of mercury to be in HFCS (even in small amounts) without adequate public notification. I am paraphrasing Jules Dervaes: "The corporations won't do it, the government can't do it." Personally I don't believe the thought bomb that government exists to perpetuate its own excess, and government officials are only concerned with appealing to the highest bidder. I think again we are looking at a structural failing where elected officials must raise obscene amounts of money DAILY in order to fund their re-election just to be competitive. This compromises the integrity of the policy making process to the extent we see today. What do these two things have to do with each other?

I'm not really sure but they both have me thinking today.

And just to keep the pattern of ending on a good note: If this doesn't make you smile, nothing will.