Homestead Update

We have a lot going on around the homestead. I always seem to have multiple projects going on at the same time. But, I have one project that needs to be done last week.

This is a teaser on my chicken tractor / tank. A full post will come later. It is turning out really nice. Just not fast enough.

These gals are the reason I need that chicken tractor done now. They are totally ready to get out of this brooder. They jump out all the time and run around the spare bedroom. Just a heads up, if you read that brooding chickens in the house is a bad idea because of the dust they produce, listen carefully to that sage advice. I swear there is a 1/16 of an inch of dust on everything!

The garlic is doing great. These are the soft neck varieties. I am never buying garlic from the store again.

These are the hard neck varieties. Once I harvest them I plan on building a raised berry circle in this spot. But that will have to wait until I harvest these, look for the berry post later in the year. 

Let Us Experiment

 This is a story of finding uses for unwanted items or "trash". My future Grandfather-in-law's neighbor gets large wooden boxes used to ship equipment. I saw one in his driveway on a visit and commented on how I thought they were cool and useful. So unknown to me, Dara's Grandfather Ron asked his neighbor what he did with them. Apparently he just gets rid of them, so Ron asked him to save them for me. I have picked up three so far and more are to come.

 

 I drilled a bunch of holes in the bottom of two of the boxes to use as planters.I am not sure what was shipped in these containers but the wood is not pressure treated and they are well built. I may make one into a sandbox for my nephew.

I laid a layer of newspaper down to keep the soil from clogging up the holes I drilled. I made a mixture of composted manure and peat moss. Normally I put sand in my soil mixes but I don't want sand on what I am growing. I filled the boxes with about two inches of soil.

Dara picked a mix of lettuce seed that does well in the summer heat and mixed them up together. We always have trouble growing lettuce in the main garden. It always gets bitter and goes to bolt too fast. I wanted to see how it does on our deck under our large oak trees. It will get some sun, but mostly it will be in shade and dappled light.

Dara sprinkle the two boxes with the lettuce seed. I put a thin layer of soil on after that and watered it in really good. We plan on eating the lettuce when it is really young so it doesn't have a chance to get bitter in the heat. As soon as we harvest a part of a box we will replant it.

Spring mix is so expensive and lettuce seed is so cheap, we need to find a way to grow our own that is not bitter. We eat a lot of salads so, I hope the lettuce does well in this location. If this doesn't work out, at least the beds will be ready to plant in the fall. I will be able to put some plastic over these to extend the growing season into the winter.

Another use for the boxes. Turned upside down, this box is the perfect size to hold our canoe off the ground. I am sure I will find more uses for these as I get more. I may do an outdoor worm bin that I can harvest in the fall before the freeze comes.

Jerusalem Artichokes

Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) also know as sunchoke, sunroot and earth apple. It is a species of sunflower that produces an edible tuber instead of seed. It is native to North America and was cultivated by native Americans for centuries. This is how the Jerusalem Artichokes looked in August before they flowered. They grew to about 10 feet tall and flowered like crazy. 

I cut the stalks back to about 5 feet after they flowered. From what I have read, I should have cut all the flowers off leaving the stalks and leaves to continue growing the tubers. By cutting the flowers the plant will focus most of its energy into producing tubers. This plant is one of the first in the garden to die back to cold weather. 

It is best to wait until a couple frosts have come before you harvest the tubers. The colder the weather the sweeter the tubers, so they say. I had planned on harvesting them sometime in December, but I never got around to it, then the ground froze. We just had a warm spell, it was in the 60's two days ago, so I thought I should get out and do it. 

There was a casualty in the process. I usually buy the best garden tools I can afford. I thought I had done that with this pitch fork, but I didn't realize the main part of the fork was welded on the the frame in two small spots. I will make sure the next one is constructed better.

So here is the harvest. I think I would have had more if I hadn't cut the stalks back so much. I will just cut back the flowers this season and see if the yield is better.

Here they are cleaned up. Some earth worms got into a few of them. I wonder if I harvested earlier, maybe the worms would have not gotten to so many. I will use the worm eaten ones as my seed crop for this season. They didn't do a lot of damage, mostly just cosmetic. 

So I ended up with about 11.5 pounds of Sunchokes. I put about 4 pounds aside to replant for this season. I originally planted about 1.5 pounds so that is a pretty good return. 

There are many ways to cook them. They are very good raw. We chose to saute them with onions and butter. They can be boiled, mashed, baked or anything you would normally use potatoes with. They have a slight nutty / earthy flavor. Eaten raw they remind me a little bit of water chestnuts. 

I read many warnings about the bodies inability to digest Inulin, a carbohydrate found in the tubers. This leads to some mild to severe cases of flatulence. I believe this quote from 1621 by John Goodyer describes it best:

"which way soever they be dressed and eaten, they stir and cause a filthy loathsome stinking wind within the body, thereby causing the belly to be pained and tormented, and are a meat more fit for swine than men."

I will say I could have powered a small methane generator after eating the amount you see on the plate. I think if you ease into eating them you could build up the gut flora to handle them. I will let you know how the ongoing experiment goes. =)

Garden Update 10-01-12

So this is weird. I planted a hundred or so winter peas and this one came up yellow. It is not over watered or sick, it is very healthy and looks just like all the others except, its bright yellow. I hope I get a harvest before the hard frost comes. I may make row covers over this area if I can do it cheap.

Our first brussel sprouts ever. I have tried to grow them before and have not had any luck. I started these in February indoors. I can't wait to have some sauteed sprouts!

This is our second year wormwood (Artemisia absinthium). This is a beautiful plant that can help deter insects around the garden. It can also be used in doors to repel fleas and moths.

Here is another cabbage. We are having a great year for cabbage. We just need to make sure to eat them when they are ready. I kept letting one get bigger and bigger and then it rotted before I remembered to pick it. 

We are still getting broccoli. In fact, the plants only stopped producing during the heat of the summer when it went to flower. As soon as it cooled off again it started putting on broccoli. I consider broccoli plants a garden staple from early spring to early winter.

Here is the garlic bed I planted a couple weeks ago. I threw hundreds of lettuce seeds in the box after I planted the garlic. I plan on making a cover for this bed so we can harvest the lettuce through early winter.