English Peas- Disappointing Harvest

Harvest hopes dashed!

I'm not sure what I did wrong, but my projected harvest for English peas is way off. I'm averaging one to two peas per pod versus 6-10 peas per pod. The harvest started out well, but has now dwindled down to this. I'm thoroughly disappointed. Even with 99% germination of the seeds, there's no way I'll meet my goal of self sufficiency in this vegetables unless we have a very productive fall crop.

I believe part of the problem was over worked pollinators. When the peas flowered there was direct competition from the peach trees, apple trees, clover, and assorted other things in bloom. I wish I wasn't so allergic to bees. I'd keep a hive or two. Even after four years of being here and eating local honey, I still have to grab my Epi-pen when popped by the local population. It doesn't happen very often, but it does happen once or twice a gardening season.  Epi-pens ain't cheap. If my airway didn't  try to close off with swelling, even when stung on the leg, I would bother, but it does. Anyone with this severe reaction has no business being around bees, but they are a necessary evil for a garden.

The other part of the problem was the seed itself. While I got 99% germination. I'd never planted this variety before. The variety, Lincoln, I usually planted was sold out when I purchased the seed. I had to go with an unknown heritage variety. Needless to say, I won't be buying it again. It had a no star rating. Now, I know why. But at the time, there was no other choice. At least I made up for the cost of the seed...just barely. Lesson learned! 

Meanwhile, the first plantings of Tendergreen bush green beans have flowered and the bees are busy with those. I'm getting ready this week to add compost and plant another three 8' rows more this week. The first plantings of sweet corn that survived the chickens and dogs will be knee high by the 4th of July while the second planting of the 3-sister mounds will be a little over mid shin worth of growth. The dent corn is once again planted in the orchard area.  It is at mid shin level, I'm not worried about it though. It'll catch up and be harvested before the first frost. The black eyed peas, kidney and lima beans, and the squashes have sprouted They look to be strong shoots. I've sowed the pumpkin seeds closest to the far end of the garden from the house. They'll have plenty of room to spread out. 

The cantaloupe and watermelon have been once again trellised to grow vertically once again on the repurposed metal DVD rack Mel picked up at a store closing liquidation sale, No sign of rust in 7 years of use outdoors and its bear to move. More than enough support for two Sugar Baby watermelons and cantaloupes on each 3'x 6' side. It's easy to train the vines up the rack.

I'm still hoping to produce enough to get us by for at least a year. Here. we're crossing our fingers for no more disappointing harvests.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Cooking with Chef Jo: Blackberry Jam Without Seeds in Your Teeth

Jams, jellies, and pickles are most people's entry into the world of home canning. I'm no different. The first thing I made and canned independently of my mother and grandmother was strawberry jam. I was in my first trimester of pregnancy when a girlfriend suggested we go berry picking at a local u-pick farm. The year was 1976 and I've never bought store brought jams and jellies since. Since then, I've made multiple gallons of this food staple every year.

I've harvested wild strawberries for the past month. They have been turned into jars of jams, syrups, pie filling, etc and frozen whole berries. Now, it's wild blackberry's turn. I picked a gallon basket full without even breaking a sweat today. That's saying something because this afternoon's high was 89 degrees. I barely brushed the surface of the blackberries without delving into the thicket.

It's going to be a good year for blackberries this year. I picked the ripest, juiciest berries on this pass picking a coule handfuls of reddish black berries. The reason for picking a few under ripe berries is they have a higher pectin within the blackberries. I can make jam without  adding pectin.

Seedless Wild Blackberry Jam

Makes approx. 4 pint jars

What you'll need

10 cups blackberries
1/4 c water

3 cups sugar*

2 lemon*

Note* You may use a sugar substitute if you wish.
* You may use any high pectin fruit peel and juice as a subsitute.

Putting it all together

• Blend the berries into a puree and water.
• Zest and squeeze the lemons.
• Place in a large heavy bottomed saucepan.
• Bring puree and water to a boil.
• Boil for five minutes and remove from the heat.
• Strain the puree through a fine mesh strainer. 
• Push as much of the pulp through the strainer. Discard the seeds.
• Return puree to the saucepan.
• Heat over medium.
• Add zest and lemon juice to the puree.
• Add the sugar. Stir well until the sugar dissolves. 
• Stir frequently to prevent burning.
• Heat until thermometer reaches 225 degrees.
• Scrap away any foam.
• ladle into clean, hot jars.
• Wipe rim, lid, and ring the jars.
• Water bath can for ten minutes.

In 12-24 hours when the jars have cooled, check the seal, clean outside of the jars 

and store.

Excellent on any baked goods; toast, English muffins, or pancakes.  Enjoy!

 

 

Y'all have a blessed day!

Chef Jo

 

New Adventures in Gardening for Me

I don't know anyone who enjoys pulling weeds. Do you?

In the orchard area, we simply lay down cardboard, rough compost, and straw/hay every fall. We are still conditioning the soil in that area from hard, compacted, clay soil. We sow orchard grass seeds in the spring, and deer forage in the fall. We've tilled it all under once. Each year the weeds we don't want grow less and less as the plants we do want produces more and chokes out the weeds. Our orchard area is 1/4 acre of terraced hillside dropping a total of 300 ft. There's no way I'm hand pilling unwanted weeds there.

My 2020 garden experiment

In our summer garden in front of our house, we are trying something new I saw on YouTube, landscape fabric. I know we've tried it before with little to no success, but we'll be trying a different tactic, as Living Traditions homestead does. To try it out, I bought a heavy duty landscape fabric like they did. It's 4'x50' and much heavier than we've used before. After Dave's grandson tilled the garden, we let the rains settle the soil a bit. We laid two 25' rows of the weed cloth down. We pinned it down about every  8"-12" and overlapped the edges about 6," I burned holes in the fabric every 2' for the transplants to go in. So it looks like this. The black area is the landscape fabric. I'll put 6 cattle panels anchored by T-posts between the two rows of tomatoes to support them. I'll also be putting a drip hose line between the rows and on the outside edges, so 3 lines total.

For the other two rows of Roma tomatoes, I'll do it the same way I always have. If this works, I'll buy more landscape fabric for the other areas of the garden. This should make it easier to work smarter, not harder in the future. None of us are getting any younger. FYI (for your information), I rotate where I plant my vegetables every two years. I planted my tomatoes where my 3 sisters row is in 2018. I planted them a foot apart and that was way too close together so this year I'm giving them 2'. Even after all these years of organic gardening, I'm still trying new things to make it better, There's no absolutely right way to garden. You can read dozens of books but until you get your hands dirty, get out there, and do it, you'll never find what works for you. You take the basic principle, tweak it, and make it your own.

The only bit of bad news is that our last remaining angora died. I believe the same parasite that killed Buddy Baby was the reason. So we are out of the rabbit fiber business. There goes my instantly usuable rabbit poo tea and time release fertilizer. Well, we've got plenty of chicken manure. It'll just have to be composted first.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Cooking with Chef Jo: Storing Herbs and Spices

It's no huge secret when buying herbs and spices that it's cheaper in bulk. Sunday, I wrote about the herbs I harvested. Average lifespan of store bought herbs and spices is six months to a year. For every six months after that it loses flavor or the essential oils within the herb or spice dissipates. Store bought herbs and spices can add up fast in hard earned money. Is it any wonder I grow as many as I can. But even with home grown herbs and spice, I face the same problem, or do I?

That's a big, fat no. How many of you keep your herbs and spices in clear plastic or glass containers? How about next to the stove where you use them most? These are two big no-nos. Heat and light are the biggest reasons for herbs and spices to have short usable life spans. If you read the instructions on the label it says, "store in a cool, dark space." Most people overlook this.

So Jo, how do you store your herbs and spices? With homegrown herbs and spices, it's the same way I'm outlining here.

• I leave them whole until I'm ready to use them.
• I'll grind or chop the herbs in advance by a week, depending on the menu. I'll put them in these cute, little spice jars in a rack.
  
• I'll only pull as much from long term storage to last for a month at a time. During a heavy canning season when I canning meals like chili, spaghetti sauce, or when I make a lot of dry seasonings, etc I pull a pound or more of each.

But how do you preserve them?

• After dehydrating them, I'll package them whole in small to medium (lunch bag size), kraft paper bags. Bought in bulk 1000 for $26. No more than 4 ozs per bag.
  
• On each bag I'll write what it is, weight, and the date (month & year harvested)
• I fold and seal the opening with freezer tape.
  
• Place each bag into a vacuum sealer bag. (I buy big, multiple rolls off ebay)
  
• I'll seal them with my vacuum sealer.
• The vacuum sealed bags are then placed in a used tin container (like what popcorn or snack come in at Christmas).
• Each time I add bags, I'll place it in the bottom of the tin so it's a FIFO (First In First Out) use.
• On the outside of the tin I'll write on a piece of duct tape what's in there and dates (from to) so I always grab the appropriate tin.
• Once the tin is full, I'll duct tape around the lid to further make it air tight and pest proof, and start a new tin.

I've done herbs and spices this way for ten years. Not that I've stored herbs that long. The oldest herbs and spices I've used that I've stored this way has been 5 years without severe flavor or texture impact.

Even when I buy bulk sized packages of herbs and spices (I can't grow everything), I do this too. I can afford to pay the store prices for a few that I buy, because of the majority of herbs that I do grow. Let's face it. I paid for these herbs and spices. I want them to flavor your foods for as long as possible. Processing my herbs and spices this way, is more labor intensive, but it'll save me money in the long run in not having to replace them as often.

Now that makes sense and cents.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Chef Jo

The Rain is Gone. Let the Work Begin!

Crazy weather in reverse now

After the past couple weeks of rain and cooler temperatures, we are having the rises in temperatures into the 80s finally. The weather the past couple years has been nuts. Global warming or whatever is the cause has made it difficult to predict growing wise.

Mel was finally able to make a pass with the weed eater to prepare it for tilling the summer garden. The weather and me has made the planting late this year. Maybe fall and winter will be late coming also, but as I said, it's been hard predicting the weather. As crazy as it sounds, I'll be prepping the fall seeds as soon as I finish planting the summer garden... just in case. I can't afford to lose a single opportunity to grow food.

I've harvested 4 lbs of oregano, 2 lbs of rosemary and 1 lb of sage from the perennial herb beds so far. I gave them a "haircut" this week. That wasn't even cutting it to the ground. I left a foot on each plant to continue to grow! When you think of the cost savings in just oregano, it's mind boggling. A 24 oz jar/ 1.5 lbs) of dried oregano is $24-$27 in the stores. Four pounds of fresh equals two 24 oz containers full after it was dried. All I did was buy six plants ($3.50 each) two years ago.  Sure I watered it some and spread compost around them each fall, but that was about it besides harvesting the stems. By the time of the first frost killing it back (I do the six inch crop cut, and add compost mulch) I'll have harvested six to eight pounds of oregano. That's dried weight and a savings of $90+ for ONE herb. [Rosemary $16 for 24 oz, Sage $17 for 16 oz] Of annual herbs, like basil, I'll have harvested about half that much but every little bit helps. We are self-sufficient in the major herbs we use.

On a side note- I'm using the new Blogger interface for the first time and it's taking me twice as long to do everything. It's quite irritating. It's been over a decade since they've done this, and I've held off not doing it until they gave me no choice. My old, stroke addled mind does not take kindly to changes. 

Today is our youngest daughter's birthday! Happy Birthday, Jennifer! 🎂❤

The English peas have flowered and set fruit. As soon as they fatten up, I'll harvest them. I think I'll freeze them rather than canning them this year. I can always can them later. But it all depends on the harvest, if I can get 80 lbs, I'll consider canning them. Does 80 lbs sound like a lot of peas to you? Well, think about it. If a 15 oz (8 oz drained) can of peas provides a vegetable for two meals, we eat peas twice a week (including soups, stews, and pot pies) times 52 weeks in a year that roughly equals 104- 1/2 lb pint jars or freezer bags for two people for a year.

That's how I do the math to get how much to plant. I've got 60+ pea plants in the ground. Yes, every seed sprouted. I consider myself extremely blessed. I love❤❤ Park Seed Company! All of them had flowers on them. The bees and other pollinators did their job. How do I know? I watched them and counted. I even discounted the flowers by 50%, and still we'll have enough peas.   Is that counting your chickens before they hatch? Maybe, but that's how critical this harvest is for us.

Extra peas were planted against forces of nature (storm damage, bugs, birds, etc.). I try to plan for every contingency. So I planted my peas on 4-8' rows. When I am finished with the peas, I'll pull and chop them up for side dressing for my asparagus patch. Nothing goes to waste on this homestead. Legumes like peas and beans are nitrogen fixers into the soil and asparagus are heavy feeders of nitrogen. It doesn't hurt the parsley planted between the asparagus either.  

My homesteading waste not want not principle takes a lot of research and planning before implementing. It's knowing a combination of companion planting, how plants multiply (by root or self sowing, etc.), and knowing each plant and their life cycle. Most is done prior to planting the first seed. After that, it's just doing it like it is for me now. I still need refreshers from time to time even after thirty years of gardening, so I hit the books. Organic gardening is almost an art form to get the optimum bang for your buck and a healthier you.

"Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Cooking with Chef Jo: Special Tools for Cooking... PFFT!

The Pampered Chef has ruined the art of culinary arts!!! Nowadays, cooks think think they have to run out and buy special tools to do this or that. As a fairly frugal homesteader I ask, "Where's the creativity and learning potential in that? There wasn't and won't always be a store that you can run out to to grab this out that gadget.

I used to say (before my strokes), "Have knives will travel and cook." That's all I ever needed and even though I had a complete set of twenty knives (the best money could buy), I main used three items in that set to create gorgeous and delicious meals: my chef's knife, my paring knife, and my steel. With my paring knife I could intricately cut and carve vegetables and fruits worthy for a king. This is the art of cooking.


When our youngest daughter wanted to be a pastry chef and was entering competitions in high school, I could have spent a fortune on specialty supplies and gadgets. Did I? Nope. We thought outside the "go buy it" box. We used tin foil, plastic wrap, and every day things we had around the house to achieve the look of what she wanted to create. Do you know what? She always took first place and excelled. Whether it was her tiered wedding cake with intricate Asian lilies and roses with lace all made from frosting to her 3' high sculpted tree made out of chocolate with delicate filigree butterflies and flowers made from chocolate covered strawberries.

Is it any wonder that two days after graduating high school she beat out 700 competitors globally for a 4-year apprenticeship at a 5 star resort. She also had full ride scholarships to Johnson & Wales for her four years. Jenn ended up taking the resort apprenticeship because it was close to home and she would get paid too. That experience has served her well over the years. Can't you tell I'm a proud momma? 😄

I had commented on Kristina's "Pioneer Woman at Heart" blog about fair foods about making funnel cakes. It was missing from her list. She responded that she loved French waffles and she'd have to get a tool for that when she went shopping. Screech! My mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother didn't have a tool for making them. I don't even have a tool for that nor want one. It's like my hand crank food mill (a necessary evil), it's a royal pain to clean and has limited uses. If I buy a gadget, it has to have a multitude number of uses to impressed me enough to buy it.

For me, I grab my funnel and a wooden spoon. It does the job, it's easy to clean, and individually has unlimited uses. I use the handle end as a stoper to stop the flow of batter. Simple but effective. If I didn't have it in my odds and ends drawer already, my cost would be about $2 and tax if I went to the Dollar Tree. Now I'm not knocking Kristina. (Love ya, gal 😘) I see it's rampant behavior among home cooks around the world. KISS- Keep it simple & save.

Now, to hold the funnel while you tend to the one cooking, place the funnel in a heavy mug or glass.  Make sure it has a wide base so it won't tip. Or, I simply cut a piece of heavy cardboard a little bit bigger than the bowl I mixed the batter in. I cut a hole in the center of this board so half of the funnel will slide into. If any batter drips no problem, it goes back in the bowl with the rest of the batter. I cover the piece of cardboard with parchment paper or foil.

Having said all of that, on to a fairly standard recipe for funnel cakes.

Funnel Cakes
Makes 8- 6" cakes

What you'll need
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
                                                            Oil for deep-fat frying
                                                            Confectioners' sugar

Putting it all together

• In large bowl, sift flour, sugar,baking powder, and salt together. Make a well in the center of the flour.
• Heat oil to 375 degrees over medium heat.
• In another bowl, beat well- eggs, milk, water, and vanilla.
• Pour milk into the flour and mix until smooth.
• Put the end of a wooden spoon into the funnel and ladle mixture into it.
• Over the hot oil, move the spoon slightly so the batter drops in a steady stream into the oil.
• Move the funnel in a circular fashion so the frying batter looks like a funnel cake. About a 1/3 cup of batter per funnel cake.
• In about 90 seconds, the funnel cake is golden and ready to be flipped. Flip it and cook another 90 seconds.
• Put the funnel cake on a rack or several layers of absorbent material.
• Dust with powdered sugar while hot. 
• Repeat with the rest of the batter.
• Before serving, dust again with powdered sugar.

Eat while warm! These do not keep. They will get soggy. Think of reheated French fries. 😬They do not freeze or reheat well. So only make enough for one sitting. The uncooked batter can be stored in the refrigerator in an air tight container for 48 hours.

Serving suggestions- Mix up a fruit (berry) puree, drizzle chocolate syrup, a dollop of whipped cream and sliced fruit, or ice cream. The possibilities are endless and as varied as taste buds.

Y'all have a blessed day! 

Chef Jo

Rioting in the Street

It wasn't exactly here, but one town over from us. The police were called. They arrived in appropriate riot gear ready to handle the unruly protesters.

The scene was horrific as they confronted the 20 odd head of rioters.

Ten were arrested for...

The arrests include two charges of misdemeanor obstruction, three charges of disorderly conduct, one reckless driving and one pedestrian crossing outside of a crosswalk.  

A 19-year-old man allegedly “acted in a violent and tumultuous manner” toward a Gainesville Police officer “by joining a group of protesters running toward the officer, yelling, ‘He’s by himself. Let’s get him,’” Booth wrote in an email. The officer, Sgt. Kevin Holbrook, was speaking with The Times after much of the crowd had dispersed when the group came toward him. His helmet was flipped off his head and firecrackers were soon thrown in the street.

A 23-year-old man was arrested after being told multiple times to stop running, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

A 33-year-old man was allegedly throwing stuff and being disorderly during a protest, while another 20-year-old man was accused of running from officers and throwing items in the roadway, according to the Sheriff’s Office. (Gainesville Times 6/2/20)

The rest went to McDonald's for a soda or went home.

I'm not making light of the violence nor the initial injustice which caused the current upsurge sweeping the country at large. Even small rural towns are affected too.  For all the arrests made last night, the charges are misdemeanors. Considering what most of us have gone through and still going through because of the lock downs and the Corona virus can't we just get along?

Or as my momma used to say, "Opinions are like butt holes. Everyone has one. Out of respect for other,s try to cover yours by turning the other cheek."