Tag Archives: Gardening

Jan12

Growing Citrus Trees (and a couple recipes)

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Today I ventured into new turf…growing citrus! My kids and I planted the Meyer lemon tree that I got for Christmas. I must say that playing in the dirt is wonderful in January! Perhaps this is how I maintain my sanity in the dead of winter…that and obsessing over seed catalogs… Anyhow, they thought it was super cool that we will grow our own lemons. 🙂

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I saw recently (don’t ask me where, but it stuck in my mind) that someone was harvesting 100 lemons over the course of a year from one of these trees. Anyone with experiences with these plants…please comment! I would love to know how they have done.

During the colder months, we will maintain it in the house (hopefully :-)) and once it warms up enough, we will put it out in the yard.

We got this “one year old tree” from Four Winds Growers. I did ask the post office to call me when it came so it wouldn’t sit out in the cold, and it was just perfect when we got it. Fast shipping, great service, beautiful tree. 🙂 If all goes well, I would like to add a lime tree and a blood orange tree to the collection at some point.

They send really good planting instructions along with the tree. One recommendation though…the planting directions call for planting it in a mix of Perlite or cedar chips, with unfertilized soil (1/3 Perlite:2/3 soil). The soil did prove a little challenging to find in January but I was able to find it at a larger Super Walmart. The Perlite was found easily enough at a local hardware store. They also recommend a Vitamin B1 rooting complex for the first few waterings, which I ordered from Star Nursery. I also decided to get a new 5 gallon pot – I didn’t want to contaminate the tree with any possible fungus or disease from a previously used pot. In spite of the fact that my plant has sat in it’s wrappings for the past two weeks, it still looks great and has new growth, as you can see from the picture.

On that note…I figured I would add links to a couple of my favorite recipes involving lemon:
Tom’s Medicine Chest Smoothie (from the Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen Cookbook – I use varying greens)

Our Nourishing Roots GAPS-friendly lemonade

I have never tried this one but I will be…it has me intrigued! Pickle Me Too’s Preserved Indian Hot Lemons…

This post was shared at Butter Believer’s Sunday School; Prairie Homestead’s Homestead Barn Hop; The Better Mom’s Monday’s Link Up; Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesday; Cooking Traditional Foods Traditional Tuesdays; Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s Real Food Wednesdays; GNOWFGLINS Simple Lives Thursday; The Nourishing Gourmet’s Pennywise Platter; Food Renegade’s Fight Back Fridays;

Oct27

Planting Garlic

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Last weekend, my oldest daughter and I conducted a rookie gardening operation…planting garlic.  She was my photographer for much of this post. 🙂

In early September, I ordered my garlic at Seed Savers Exchange.  It was delivered at the beginning of October.  I am not sure of availability from other companies but it appears that Seed Savers are sold out for the season.  So…for planning for next year…think ahead!  According to their Garlic Planting Guide, garlic should be planted between September 15 and November 30.  The optimal planting time is right after the first light frost.  I was a little late on that one…but hopefully it won’t matter in the end.  It hasn’t gotten that cold yet.

I ordered Georgian Crystal, Siberian, German Extra Hardy and Erik’s German White varieties.  If all goes as planned, I should end up with about fifty garlic bulbs next spring.

We dug trenches that were about 3-4″ deep and 6″ apart.  I kept the garlic by the parsnips, which I am also attempting to overwinter.

We broke up the individual cloves…

We planted the cloves about 6-8″ apart “pointy end” up…

Cover the bulbs with about 2″ of soil…

I put markers on my rows so I remember what I planted…

The directions state to mulch with about 6″ of straw, hay, grass clippings, etc.  We used leaves, since they are in abundance.  We did more than that, but it will settle over time.

Other garlic planting tips from Seed Savers Exchange:

**The cloves may begin to sprout through the mulch in 4-8 weeks, depending on variety and the weather.  Do not be concerned.  The plants will survive.

**Garlic will begin to emerge in early spring.  One or two foliar applications of fertilizer are a good idea before May 15.  Do not fertilize after May 15, as it may harm your garlic.

**Garlic needs about 1″ of water per week during the growing season (my thoughts are that this means..after all the snow is gone 🙂  If I’m wrong, please let me know!)  Stop watering after June 1, this allows for better bulb formation and ease of harvest.

**Keep your garlic weeded, especially early in the season.

**Scapes are the curly center steps that may form as garlic matures.  Cut or break them off after they are 10″ long – they will inhibit bulb growth if allowed to remain.  Garlic scapes can be eaten in soups and stir fries, roasted, pickled or turned into pesto.

**Harvest after leaf die back begins and there are still five green leaves remaining on the plant – sometime in June or early July depending upon the year and your climate.  Do not wait too long, or the bulbs will begin to separate in the ground.

**Dig the garlic carefully, do not pull the stalk or it will separate from the bulb.  Gently brush most of the dirt off – do not wash.  Be careful not to bang the garlic bulbs against each other or a hard object or they will bruise.  Remove from the sun immediately.

**Tie in a bundle of 6-10 and hang in a shaded, dry, well-ventilated shed or garage.  Leave hanging for 4-6 weeks.  After thoroughly drying, trim off the roots and cut the stalks off about 1 1/2″ above the bulb.  Store in net bags, old onion bags work well.  (I saved the nice green ones shown that came with my garlic bulbs for this purpose.)  For optimum storage, hang in an area with 45-55% humidity and a temperature of 50-70 degrees.  Do not refrigerate.

**At all stages handle your garlic carefully as IT IS ALIVE. 🙂  Bruise it and it will not store long.

**Hold back your nicest bulbs for replanting again in the fall.
Good luck!!!
This post was shared at Butter Believer’s Sunday School Blog Carnival; The Healthy Home Economist’s Monday Mania; The Better Mom’s Mondays Link Up; Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesdays; Cooking Traditional Foods Traditional Tuesdays; Like a Mustard Seed’s Living Green Tuesdays; Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s Real Food Wednesdays; Frugally Sustainable’s Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways; The Nourishing Gourmet’s Pennywise Platter; GNOWFGLINS Simple Lives Thursdays; Real Food Freaks Freaky Friday; Too Many Jars in My Kitchen’s Fill Those Jars Friday; 21st Century Housewife’s Hearth and Soul Blog Hop; Fresh Eggs Daily Farm Girl Friday Blog Fest; The Liberated Kitchen’s GAPS Friendly Fridays; Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday;

Sep8

Salsa Verde (GAPS/SCD/GF)

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We got hooked on salsa verde awhile back…became particularly big fans of the Xochitl brand (Iif you haven’t had their corn chips and can…you should!  It’s the only food I really miss on GAPS!).  At $5.99 a jar…keeping up the addiction got a little steep.  🙂  So…last summer I started making my own.

Working with tomatillos is a little bit of a process…but it’s so worth it.  This year, I planted three tomatillo plants and have harvested a TON.  Last weekend, we made a double batch of this recipe adapted from one in a back issue of Organic Gardening magazine:

Salsa Verde (GAPS/SCD/GF):

5 pounds of tomatillos, husked and halved

2 onions, quartered

3 cloves of garlic

1 1/2 T. sea salt

1 habanero chile pepper, seeded (***BEWARE!  Just chopping this made me have a coughing fit!  Always wear plastic gloves when cutting hot peppers to preserve your hands and anything they touch for the next several hours!)

4 Anaheim peppers, seeded

2-4 Jalapeno peppers, seeded (depending on personal preference)

2 green peppers, seeded

2 T. fresh cilantro

Juice of one lime

I had some good help with picking the tomatillos…

And removing the husks…even got Grandpa into the act there…

And then I was on my own… 🙂

My easy-peasy semi-lazy woman’s way of tweaking this great recipe:  Rinse the sticky film off the tomatillos.  I decided not to roast them (because I was also in the midst of making sauerkraut and pickles and that just seemed like a lot of work), and ran everything through the food processor in shifts until it was well chopped and mixed.  I cooked it in a large stock pot on the stove until boiling, and simmered about 20 minutes – stirring every few minutes (this may be overkill, but I’ve been the victim of burnt salsa before!).

Ladle salsa into hot sanitized jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Check for air bubbles, wipe the rims clean and put on lids and rings.  Process in boiling water bath for 15 minutes.  If you haven’t canned before, be sure that the middle of the lid has a “depression” instead of a raised appearance when it’s done.  If it doesn’t, either reprocess the jars in a boiling water bath, or stick in fridge for more immediate use.  If everything has sealed like it should, let them sit out for about a day before removing the rings and storing them.

And if anyone is wondering, this salsa does have a slight kick but it will not burn the hair off your head or anything wild like that. 🙂  It has a medium heat.  If you want it hotter, add another habanero or two…we are not that brave…

Disclaimer:  My kitchen was VERY VERY BUSY on the day I made these and that last picture reflects it…please ignore the mess in the background!!!

This post was shared at Butter Believer’s Sunday School; The Morris Tribe’s Homesteader Blog Carnival; Simply Made Home’s Make  a Move Monday; The Healthy Home Economist’s Monday Mania; Living with Food Allergies and Celiac Disease Made from Scratch Monday; The Prairie Homesteader’s Homestead Barn Hop; Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesdays; Simply Sugar and Gluten Free Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays; Cooking Traditional Foods Traditional Tuesdays; Like a Mustard Seed’s Living Green Tuesdays; The Tasty Alternative’s Allergy Free Wednesdays; Frugally Sustainable’s Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways; Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s Real Food Wednesdays; GNOWFGLINS Simple Lives Thursday; The Nourishing Gourmet’s Pennywise Platter; Real Food Freaks Freaky Friday; Too Many Jars in My Kitchen’s Fill Those Jars Friday; Vegetarian Mamma’s Gluten Free Fridays; The 21st Century Housewife’s Gallery of Favorites;