June 19th: Food Preservation "Know-How"

If you are like me, you are getting to the point in the season where the reality of having an abundance of home-grown vegetables is starting to really kick in. Meaning: you are going to have to DO something with all of these veggies. Now cooking has never really been my forte, and after a year spent living in a university dorm my skills are limited to microwavable items and all things non-perishable. And freezing, canning, etc.? Now that is really out of my league.

I think that this mindset is true for many of us, regardless of our experience in the kitchen. My grandparents’ generation had it down—vegetable gardens supplied a family the whole year, not just for a few short summer months, and home-made goods (jams, jellies, etc.) were a staple. And in these times it is so important that we reclaim these skills, not just because it is another step in being self-sufficient, but simply because the quality of home-grown goods is unmatched. Just think back over the many tasteless tomatoes and bitter strawberries you have purchased in the off-season, picked out of a sparse selection of less-than-quality fruits available at a 24-hour grocery. There has to be a better way.

And this Friday, June 19th, you can learn the alternative. The Clinton County Extension Homemakers present: Food Preservation “Know-How.” Here they will cover the basic techniques of pressure canning, food safety, freezing techniques, and jam and jelly preparation. These demonstrations, held repeatedly throughout the day, will be supplemented by kitchen-tested recipes and confidence-building written instructions. Canner lids will be tested as well.
The event will be held in the Ohio State Extension Community Room on 111 S. Nelson Ave. in Wilmington. It is only $2.00 per person for the entire day.

And at $2.00 per person, you really can’t afford to miss out. Because to be informed and self-sufficient is priceless.

Hope to see you there!

Demo Garden Planted!

The Demo garden has transformed from a grassy patch of grass in the veterans memorial area of the park to a growing garden! The Banana Split Festival marked the kick off of the J.W. Williams Memorial Park Demonstration garden.

The garden is split into four 6’ x 6’ blocks to allow for easy rotation in the future. In bed 1 we have planted an assortment of beans, with a few melons, nasturtiums, cucumbers and squash thrown in.

Bed 2 holds garlic, turnips, radishes, carrots, salsify, kohlrabi, onions, and a variety of herbs.

Bed 3 awaits planting until the seed arrives, but will be sown in Buckwheat for the purpose of being plowed back into the soil as a green manure.

Bed 4 contains a variety of tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and eggplant, as well as some sunflowers, nasturtiums, and marigolds that will provide even more beauty to our plot in the weeks to come. Maybe the marigolds and nasturtiums will also help deter some pests, as has been described in previous posts…

The raised bed (bed 2) has been planted using the square foot gardening technique. I was pretty amazed to see how many plants could fit into the bed when using the square foot technique! I cannot wait to see how they do as the summer progresses. I have almost always grown vegetables in straight rows, but the demonstration garden’s mix of square foot design, rows, and free form arrangements reminded me that plants don’t mind not growing in rows. Gardening is quite a creative endeavor.

Now that the garden is planted and starting to really take off, my mind is turning from garden logistics to wondering how this garden can be used as a demonstration. We are hoping that this blog will help us get the word out about the garden, and the banner hanging on the garden fence will hopefully attract the attention of people passing by.

ECC will also be forming educational programs about gardening, food, and nutrition throughout the summer. While these programs will be aimed at the younger generation, we welcome kids of all ages to participate.

If you are interested contact me at mashmore@energizecc.com.

Beets: A Versatile Vegetable

So I must admit that despite my Garden Center upbringing and vegetarian lifestyle, it wasn’t until an afternoon working the ECC booth at the Banana Split Festival that I actually tasted a beet. Random, I know. As we sat around the table Taylor began to hand off raw veggies he had recently harvested from the garden; he had a selection of turnips, beets (even beet tops), and fruit covered in a delicious basil pesto (also made fresh using herbs from the Denver Memorial Garden, recipe to follow). And it was surprisingly good!

I have to confess I was skeptical. I remember when my dad first started in on his Superfood health kick and began bringing home a random assortment of obscure foods from each grocery store excursion; the pomegranate juice, almonds, and flax seed were just a start, soon he had progressed to raw vegetables that neither my mom nor I had any clue how to cook. And this led to the raw beets. My father, at the time, knew only four recipes, and none of them included beets. So he simply ate them raw, and by this I mean he walked around holding them by the leafy tops and munching off the bulb.

My Dad, Phil Swindler, with fresh beets from our Garden

I have since learned that there is some real value to my dad’s actions, which at the time I considered absurd. Beets are in fact a “superfood,” meaning simply that they are high in fiber, antioxidants, and other “phytochemicals” (non-nutritive plant chemicals in plants that can prevent cancerous changes in cells and other forms of disease). And you can eat, literally, the whole plant. The leafy tops can be cut anytime (limit one to two snips per plant however), and chopped up for salads, sandwiches, etc. The tops are best when they are tender (which is before the root is ready to be pulled).The actual root can be pulled at about the time that it is the size of a ping-pong ball (this is about its half size, and the time when it is its most tender). If you are not sure how large it is, simply uncover the top with your finger (they grow relatively close to the surface). The roots, high in iron and B vitamins, can be baked, boiled, steamed, or eaten raw.

Leafy Beet Tops

Beets are incredibly easy to grow as well. They don’t transplant well so you will grow them from seed. Because they are a compound seed you can expect two to three shoots from each seed (meaning that you may eventually have to “thin” the plant). Simply plant the presoaked seed about ½ inch deep (your first planting can be as early as 2-4 weeks before the last spring frost). To keep up a continuous supply simply plant a new plot/square every three weeks. From seed to harvest it is about 8 weeks. They can be grown in the summer and fall as well (if possible, avoid the hottest part of summer around the middle to the end of July).

And, as promised, here is a quick and easy basil pesto recipe to start you off. Simply wash and cut up a selection of fresh beets, turnips, etc. and cover in this delicious topping (recipe taken from Simply Recipes: click HERE for full article).

Fresh Basil Pesto Recipe
Ingredients
• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
• 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Special equipment needed: A food processor
Method
1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.
2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Makes 1 cup.

Enjoy! And of course, you can always eat them raw like Dad!

Turnips, spinach, et al.

There's nothing like enjoying fresh greens and vegetables, and it has been quite enjoyable so far. Out of the square foot so far has come a sizable yield of lettuce, spinach, turnips, green onions, and beets. With that some basic toppings, traditional to experimental salads (pesto ranch is awesome), and some attempts at new recipes for veggies typically not grown in my backyard.

Some freshly picked turnips.

The purple top turnips came out really nice, and since there was a significant amount of spinach to consume, we decided to try a combo recipe. I found this spinach/turnip recipe on recipes.lovetoknow.com . It's pretty basic, but really delicious and high recommended.

The simple list of ingredients:

• ½ pounds spinach, washed
  
• 5 turnips, peeled, sliced
  
• ½ cup cream, boiled
  
• 2 tablespoons butter
  
• Seasonings to taste
  

Instructions

1. Boil separately the spinach and turnips in salted water for about 20 minutes.
   
2. Drain off water.
   
3. Mix together.
   
4. Add the cream, butter and seasonings.
   
5. Mix well with a fork, and let cook together for about 2 minutes.
   
6. Then serve.

That recipe can be found by clicking HERE . Explore other recipes as there are tons of different ways to mix, match, and prepare the foods you grow.

Purple-top Turnip

The Heat of Summer Approaching

The past couple of weeks have been very busy in the home garden—the start of summer plantings; the harvesting of the spring veggies; and the battle with weeds and pests.

It's safe to say that we will have an enough tomatoes and quite an excess of hot peppers—which isn't a problem for us, and will provide spicy meals for months to come. Just in a day we planted: 14 poblano peppers (called ancho when dried); 4 hot lemon peppers; 2 golden summer peppers; 2 habinero peppers; 2 jalapeno peppers; 3 red beauty's; 2 of the "world hottest,” which I'm assuming to be the Bhut Jolokia.

Jalapenos ; habaneros ; and bell peppers 

On the tomato side we added 7 beefsteak tomatoes to our dozen 4th of July tomatoes, which we planted a couple weeks earlier.

Like many of those to whom Kelsey referred in her previous article , I too plant Marigolds for their nematode-repellent-power. I planted six Marigolds in various, or as I might say, strategic spots throughout the garden. Besides their potential deterring factor, I think Marigolds, along with other flowers, provide a nice touch to the garden, and recommend planting for aesthetics as well.

Poblano (Ancho) Peppers ; Marigolds; and Beefsteaks 

VHS Tapes: the new Scarecrow?

Another great question this week:

Dear Kelsey,

Thank you for your Garden Blog--such a great idea. I plan to check it often. My question--how do you protect corn seedlings from critters? I planted some seeds and they actually sprouted. A few days later, all the little sprouts were lying flat in the dirt and little holes had been dug exactly where the seeds were planted--I suspect squirrels. I would like to plant some more seeds, but want to protect them. Any thoughts?

Thanks again for your help,
Heather

First of all: the best advice I can give you is to plant twice as much. It may be squirrels that are digging up your seed, but it may also be birds. We have seen it many times before—birds will even dig up pepper plants just to pick at them. They don't eat the seed or the plant, they just dig it up (spiteful, I know). There aren't a lot of ways that you can protect seedlings from birds, usually we just have to replant. As my Uncle Gerry says, there is safety in numbers. Plan on having a few taken by the birds/squirrels/etc. and make sure that you will still have what you need if this is the case.

Because your corn seeds should germinate in as little as four days (meaning you will see the small seedlings you mentioned before), it will not put you behind in your gardening to replace what hasn't germinated. Even if it is 10-12 days after planting, just pop in more seeds.

But, there is another option, if you are up for it. You can protect your vegetables AND put those old VHS tapes to good use. I know that in the ECC garden we have surrounded the vegetables with video cassette tape, held up off the ground by stakes. The sound that the film makes as the wind blows is similar to that of a humming bird and can be disturbing to potential critters; also, the tape is reflective and will be startling to any incoming birds (because a bird’s brain is dominated by sensory perception even slight reflection/movement can be overwhelming). Traditionally people have used the tape from cassettes, but VHS tape—because it is thicker—is more effective.

I have also read that aluminum pie plates can be used! String them up in surrounding trees or from tall stakes; again, the movement and reflection will disturb the birds. They will, however, begin to ignore stationary objects (like scarecrows), so make sure there is sound/movement.

As always, let us know if you have any success!

Marigolds: Do they keep the critters away?

A question came to me the other day, and I wanted to share it with you all:

Hello Kelsey,

Love your blog on Energize Clinton County!!

I have a garden question - I've heard that marigolds help keep insects from vegetable garden plants. Really?

Thanks,
Kim
Sardinia, OH

Okay, so this is a really good question. Good, but tricky. Every year we have customers that come in to buy marigolds, specifically to keep insects/rabbit/deer away from their vegetable garden. They come year after year, always requesting a flat of this age-old, yet pungent, plant.

The evidence that these plants ward off insects isn’t firm, however. French marigolds (the variety commonly sold) are said to release a nematode repellent into the soil. Nematodes, worm-like creatures, destroy plant root-systems. There is research suggesting that certain species find the compound released by marigolds to be toxic. And in this respect, having marigolds can be helpful.

I also spoke with Tony Nye at the OSU Extension Office in Clinton County and was told that marigolds may be useful for keeping beetles away from bean plants. However, there is not a lot of evidence saying that marigolds are effective for other insects. Aphids, for example, are sometimes even attracted to marigolds. (Tony Nye did, however, mention another plant, Nasturtiums, that is said to deter not only beetles, but aphids and squash bugs as well.)

In regard to marigolds, I would say that their scent is a distinguishing characteristic. Many say that their odor disguises the scent of vegetables, either confusing insects or preventing them (and possibly rabbits/deer) from perusing around your garden.

Honestly though, despite conflicting evidence, marigolds are a cheap experiment. They are inexpensive (we are now selling them at Swindlers for only 49 cents apiece), hardy, and easy to find. We are trying them out in the ECC vegetable garden, and will have a better idea of their effectiveness as the season continues. My advice, try them out. No promises, but they certainly are cheap and easy. And as always, let us know if you have any success!

Some sites I found helpful while researching this question:
http://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/4695/meet-the-magnificent-marigold
(Fellow blogger, appears to be a well-researched post)
http://www.aces.edu/dept/extcomm/specialty/marigolds.html
(Alabama Cooperative Extension System—article written by horticulture student and associate)