Food Fun

After picking up some yum yums from the farm market yesterday and raiding our basil (the only successful crop in the garden this year) we decided to make some pizza dough and have a build-your-own-pizza fun night...



yum.

Chillin

We've got three young squirrels that live in one of our pecan trees in the back yard. Rather than fighting with them, I gave them a section of the wild garden bed to create wallows in so they can keep cool. They took over our fern too.

How close can I get? - Goddess Dressing

My name is Amanda and I am an Annie's Goddess Dressing addict. Jason will wake up and find me drinking it straight from the bottle in the middle of the night...which would be fine except it's REALLY expensive and REALLY REALLY high in fat. I enjoy preparing food...especially if I add the challenge of also making it gluten free, lighter, healthier or vegan. Since this dressing is already vegan, my goals were to make it lighter and, thereby, healthier.

I found some recipes where people used tofu to replace the weight that the fats had, but they would always preface: "It's not quite like the real thing, but...". I'm aiming for 'as close as possible". So, instead of using tofu, I opted to use chia seed gel in place of the oil and a some of the tahini. Chia is an AMAZING salad dressing base that is incredibly nutritious. Here is the recipe:

• 1/3 cup tahini

• 2 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar

• 1/2 cup water

• 1 tablespoon of chia seeds

• 1/4 cup of unsweetend almond/soy/coconut milk (OR 2 tablespoons of low-fat Veganaise & 2 tablespoons of water - added 3/8/12)
  

• 5 small green onions, chopped (white and green parts)

• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce or Bragg Liquid Aminos

• 2-3 fresh garlic cloves (I used 3 because I like the extra bite)

• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds (not critical)

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  
  

I use a Magic Bullet for this recipe – it's the perfect size for small batches of dressing and I can keep the dressing in the container I blended it in. That being said, a blender or food processor will also do the job.

1. Start off by putting the water and chia seed in the receptacle. Put a lid on and shake the seeds up to prevent clumps. Let sit for 20 minutes. (the longer you let it sit before blending the seeds, the thicker the liquid will become)
2. after the chia seeds and water sets up into a gel, blend for about 30 seconds
3. Add the remaining ingredients and blend for another 30 seconds...do not over blend.

It will initially be runny, but after an hour in the fridge, the chia gel will thicken back up.

Wicking Beds

I've heard people who come to visit Oklahoma say that we seem a bit schizophrenic...it's because of the weather. A common local saying is: "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute". Which is usually true...but we are in the midst of the worst drought and heatwave in Oklahoma history. Jason recently bought me enough soaker hoses to fill all of our garden beds...partly to save on water and partly because it's just TOO HOT water for an hour every night and partly because our city has banned watering during daylight hours. That means I get up before dawn (no thank you) or contend with the mosquitoes after sunset. The garden is doing okay. It's been an average of 103 degrees for the last month...and it's only rained (for an hour) twice. It would have been nice to be able to collect that water where it counts. Enter: Water Wicking Garden Beds. They are built using the same philosophy as a self watering pot but on a huge scale. You can either put water in it or store rain water that falls into the bed:

.............................................(image found at: http://www.urbanfoodgarden.org)

Below is a great Youtube video that records the whole process:

...and I found a how-to with basic specs on building a wicking bed here

Too bad it's too hot to actually make one. It looks like our cinder-block composter and the greenhouse frame will have to wait until September.

How Close Can I Get?

Jason and I recently went up to Vermont to visit my father and family. We ate A LOT of cheese while we were there...if you are a cheese lover, Vermont is the cheese Mecca  you should travel to at least once in your life. My sister, Haley, had recently become an ethical vegan...so she just looked at the cheese longingly. She might love cheese as much as I do, but I thought 'If she can do it, I can try' and when I got home I bought a pack of Daiya cheese. I ate it like Charlie ate his chocolate bar...man, that cheese is expensive. So I decided to search online for a vegan cheddar cheese recipe. I found one that had a long string of "YUMEEEEE" comments, so I decided to give it a try. The flavor, when melted, is AMAZING and the texture is indistinguishable from real melted cheese, except for the tiny chunks of cashews that the food processor couldn't blend. (post note: if you soak the cashews in boiling water for 20 minutes - not offsetting the water called for in the recipe - it will cream amazingly)

I don't think I will ever become a total vegan...I prefer to apply the 80/20 ratio. This will keep me from going on a cheese binge that will require a colonic when I'm done. Enough of that...here's the recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/vegan-sharp-cheddar-cheese-130826

I'm in Trouble

I think Jason is going to hide the dehydrator at some point... I've been dehydrating EVERYTHING I can get my hands on. We may need to remodel the kitchen to accommodate all the jars of dried pretties.

Lunch with a friend

I had lunch with my friend Whitney yesterday. I brought over all that I could harvest from my own garden and put it together with yummies from her garden...

We had an exceptional lunch and goodie swap... on the menu: veggie packed tuna salad sanwiches and blueberry kombucha tea.

She shared what she knew about Kombucha and I shared what I knew about chia (the sauce on top of the sandwiches was a veganaise/chunky mustard/chia seed spread {yum}.


I will be posting more about Kombucha and chia in upcoming posts...so stay tuned. I'll post more after Memorial weekend.

Multiple Defenses

I just returned from the farmer's market with a lovely little gem of wisdom. Plant collars work pretty well but aren't a surefire defense against cutworms if you put it on with a cutworm sleeping at the base of the plant, which is what happened to another plant last night. I discovered that cutworms cut down a plant by circling the base. If you put a toothpick or scewer at the base of the plant, it can't fully circle it! Problem solved...now I need to find out what is stripping the leaves off my pepper plants.

Lipstick and Rouge

Our neighbor, Dock, gave us this chair last year. I am enamoured with the aging process of things that rust and get round with time. However, rust has a way of making things fall apart. Rustoleum to the rescue!


I was afraid to sit in this chair in clean clothes, but now it's my favorite seat in the garden.

Garden Tea

Last summer, during a dry spell, the plants' main water source was city water. Although they were grateful for some moisture, they didn't look too healthy - with all the chlorine and hard water stuff...especially the rhododendrons. Lately, I've been researching compost tea which gave me a great idea. The instructions state: if you are going to use city water, set it out for 24 hours to let the able chemicals evaporate - like chlorine.

There was a small pale of water that was brown due to the leaf litter steeping in it for a few days. Instead of throwing it out, I watered a nearby plant with it. It seemed to REALLY like this brew...so I found a bucket and filled it with water and leaf litter to set out overnight. Every morning I'll give the herbs and veggies a cupful of water...they have responded amazingly well!

Not only am I conserving the amount of water I give them, I'm giving them a mild nutritional boost every morning...like a power drink. (post note: the mosquitos REALLY love the tea too, so put a wet towel or a screen over the bucket so you don't have to share your yard with blood suckers)

Simple Solutions.....

...that make me feel silly for not thinking of them sooner.

Last year, I went to war with what I finally discovered to be a cut worm. This is a completely illogical creature as it only cuts off stems. It does not eat anything...it just enjoys destroying property. Like this:

So I called Mike McGrath from "You Bet Your Garden" on NPR and he suggested 'plant collars', which is a can or plastic bottle with the top and bottom cut off and buried halfway in the ground around tender, young plants. I have been having friends save bottles for me and I've tediously repeated this 'plant collar' process on dozens of my vegetable transplants.

This morning I was planting new lemon and spicy globe basils to replace the ones that were stripped (because I DID NOT put collars around them) and I decided to used some of the little plastic pots that have been piling up under my garden bench. As I was cutting off the bottom, I glanced over at the new plants to realize that I would be taking the plants out of one plastic pot and stuffing them into another - damaging the roots in the process - and it occurred to me: "why not just cut the bottom out of the pot it's in and bury that one?" Duh.

A cut worm barrier needs to be a minimum of about 2 inches above the surface and two inches below. After I cut the bottom out, I gently pressed the plant down a bit:

After planting it, I sprinkled a couple of tablespoons of pre-minced bottled garlic around the outside and spritzed the plants with the soap/baking soda/olive oil soap spray (last spring blog entry) with a bit of fish emulsion mixed in for good measure. I will keep you posted on how that works.

The collars reduce the amount of water it can soak in from the surrounding soil, so it is important to mulch with well crunched up leaves inside the collar (making sure you don't create a cutworm bridge) and often check the inside soil for dampness. Once the plant matures, you can cut the collar off with a pair of shears. Another option I read about is to affix two Popsicle sticks around a stem with twine. I'll try that out and keep you posted ~

A trellis for our Tomato Tree

Jason and I found a HUGE young tomato plant at the Cleveland County Farm Market today. As I was carrying it around, people came up and asked "What kind of tree is that?". I've been learning about how to prune tomatoes to create a thick bushy plant and felt like this would be a great one to prune. Jason wasn't too keen on the idea and our tomato cages were not big (or pretty) enough to cage this beauty in so I told him I wouldn't prune it if he made me a trellis tower...so he did :)

Serendipity

Jason and I went out to a little town near Lake Eufala - Checotah - to do a sign installation. I've been through this town many times and never saw the town until today. While Jason went to work, I decided to walk around the neighborhood and check out the front and backyard gardens scattered around. One garden really pulled me in...I stood at the fence for quite a few moments soaking in the roses and vegetables and statuettes and other bobbles and ornaments decorating this back yard. An older man turned the corner from a hidden part of the yard and saw me gawking at his space...he invited me in to take a look AND BOY WAS IT AWESOME.

I followed him around, asking "what's this?", "what's that?", "what does this do?", "what's that for?" He was so gracious and come to find out he is a master rosarian who is (or was) president of the Tulsa Rose Society. After 20 minutes or so of him showing me around, Jason pulled up to the yard and joined in on the tour. Other than rose gardening, Troy (that's his name) had quite a vegetable garden...here is what I found so exciting...all of the vegetables were covered in these jars:

These are gallon size glass pickle jars that he cut the bottoms out of. Once he planted the seeds, he put the jars on top to create a micro climate. He was taking all of the jars off today, now that the last cold spell is behind us. I don't know if you can tell how big the tomato plants are in the picture, but they are twice as big as they would be - even if they were started in a greenhouse at the same time!

I CAN'T WAIT TO GET AHOLD OF SOME JARS AND TRY THIS OUT!!!

Green house

I have been trying to post for a month and could not find the time! So, I will be retroactively filling in the gap between here and the February post. The biggest upgrade so far this spring is the addition of our greenhouse...this will be a lengthy process and may not be complete until it's time to take the plants in for the fall, but it is already becoming a functional staging and storing area for spring gardening. We bought a metal greenhouse frame last fall, but recently decided to create a wooden frame around it to hold windows and the awesome door we found at the Cleveland County Habitat for Humanity Re-store when we went to pick up the two pallets of re-purposed bricks....here is the inspiration: The greenhouse will be attached to the east side of our workshop in front of a window that is near the workshops gas furnace so we can easily warm the plants during the super cold nights. The north side will have no windows (which will help keep the brunt of the winter wind from getting in) and will, instead, have hangers for 'shovels and rakes and other implements of destruction' (name that movie). The south side will hold a very open screen door that lets in ALOT of light with a clear plastic insert for the colder months. The east side will have a bank of four windows that we will be scouring The Restore for and the ceiling will be framed in corrugated plastic sheeting. Enough of the explanation...here's our progress:

It was so hot Saturday before last that we decided to start the digging after sunset...

The next day we put in and leveled the gravel and sand, then laid the landscape fabric...

We started laying the bricks last Saturday night...

and finished on Sunday afternoon...

by Sunday evening, we had the inner frame set up and all the pots, soil and amendments set up in their new spaces....

Next up is the stem wall and frame :)

First Toad

It's started warming up enough to begin clearing some of the leaves out of the beds. I lifted up an overturned pot in one of the shady beds and found what looks like Jim Jimminy (Jason's toad) hanging out under there. Last year we didn't see any toads till mid April, but I wasn't digging around quite as much.

We planted a variety of little bulbs all over the property last fall....they've all started popping up through the dead leaves.

Lovely.

Adding a bit of Reality

I spent the day refining my Vision. Jason likes seeing examples...so do I.

Dreaming

This morning was the first spring shower. Between that, the sporadic warm weather days and a shock of blooming bulbs, I'm itching to get outside and dig in the dirt....instead, I drew up my plan with my handy dandy computer drawing tablet. It was almost as fun (without the backache tomorrow)

New Renovations

Okay, so it's been a while....I've actually been chastised for the length of time that has lapsed between this post and the last. In my defense, it has been very busy for the inhabitants of the Wellstead....lots of work and play.

The first phase was getting our new room ready...we turned the garage into our master bedroom with a spacious laundry room/closet.

Jason and I have been promising the kiddos their own rooms by Christmas, which didn't exactly work out, but over the holidays, we began renovations and I am glad to say we are finally at a (momentary) resting point.


(ignore the messy bed)

The next step was turning our old room into Tillie's new room:


I can't tell you how much FUN I had getting her room together. The big reveal is tonight :)

Once we can see the floor in their current room, we will give Jesse a makeover for his room too. One step at a time (breathe).

It's HOT

This is a six foot tall marigold. If anyone can tell me how it is possible that a marigold can get that tall without fertilizers, please fill me in.

Okay. It is HOT and the garden is crispy. The hearty things are surviving and should thrive next year...Since I'm still new at this I don't know what is an easy plant and what is a diva plant. The diva plants are dying. I don't have time for them.

We are turning the extra room (once a garage) into our bedroom so Jesse and Tillie can have their own rooms. Hopefully this process will be complete by Christmas time. I'll keep you posted.

ROCKS!!!

Jason just scored me a ton of rocks...the kind that all the structures are made of in Medicine Park!!!! Now the wild little shady nook is looking a bit more cultivated. Not too much, though.

Memorial Weekend

Last year the irises and blackberries were the only bright spot in this weedy grass patch. I'm surprised that it took us until January to figure out that it could be something more. Well last night my husband said that he couldn't believe that I ever believed that I had a black thumb. I did. Apparently it took the two of us to be able to create something so weird and wonderful. It has very little rhyme or reason...but it is lovely. And alive.

We had our first back yard party with about thirty of our closest friends and family over at different points. Jason and I sodded the back yard with fescue a couple of weeks before which REALLY added to the growing loveliness of the space. We scattered tiki torches and paper lanterns around the hammock and dining areas and Jason put up a mist tent in the way-in-back, next to the home made game of 'washers'. I held all the babies while Jason manned the grill. It was the BEST first backyard party I could have imagined.

When I was a single woman renting a garage apartment, I dreamed of the day that I was a happily married homeowner and our back yard was our paradise. I can finally mark that one off my list :)

Spring Weather

Oklahoma got hit with some crazy tornado weather yesterday. Jason and I stood outside and watched a mass of funnel clouds poking in and out of the storm just south of our city. The wind was INSANE...so I was amazed that the garden was spared. At around sunset we drove around the countryside to glimpse some destruction...we found a crumpled car resting upside down on the side of the road and some felled trees.

Okies are an odd lot. We get curious and social after destructive weather. The countryside was teaming with lookie-loos and all of the drive-in restaurants were packed.

New Weapon

The irises, peonies, garlic and day lillies that Helen planted years ago are in full bloom...which makes my half eaten baby garden look much nicer. Last week I got to chat with Mike McGrath - of You Bet Your Garden - about my basil and marigold dilemma...as well as a certain spot in my garden that kills everything I plant. He suggested that in the 'death zone' I cut both ends off a metal or plastic can and bury half of it below ground and half above ground. It could be a cut worm. Well it's been over 24 hours and the newest plant is still very much alive...which is longer than any of the other poor plants lasted.

I also received a secret all natural plant nursery insect repellent recipe. Here it is:

1 gallon of water

5 tablespoons of BLUE dawn soap

5 tablespoons of baking soda

5 tablespoons of olive oil

I sprayed all of the plants that have been having bug issues yesterday evening and everything seems to be doing no worse. That's good enough for me...for now.

It's WAR

Something has been butchering the basil and marigolds...it took me a while to formulate a theory on why a creature would be chopping the leaves and flowers off my repeller plants and I've decided that it's probably the robins who are taking out the plants that repel the bugs that the robins like to eat. So I bought more basil and this GIGANTIC marigold (and a pack of smaller ones) and rubbed garlic all over the leaves and stems of everything that's been disturbed. Then I threw torn up garlic chunks in the bed that has been getting the brunt of the damage...it's the one that the dog can't get to.

We'll see.

Spring Rain

A weekend of rain is really bringing the flowers out.

Sitting Back

The garden is planted and almost everything seems happy...a few plants are being chomped on but a little soapy water seems to be doing the trick for the most part. It's too early for weeding so most of my time in the garden is spent laying in the hammock and soaking everything in until the mosquitos drive me away.

Fun in the Workshop

After weeks of gardening, the workshop had become a disaster. At long last the workshop was clean and we decided to make use of it...so while Jason was building a bird house, I decided to break into the bag of clay I bought last fall but realized I needed a specific tool to be able to pound the air bubbles out. So Jason and I made a wedging board out of stuff lying around: an old canvas that I cut from the frame; a guitar string from Jason's old guitar; and a peice of MDF that I had attempted to make art out of; and a few other impliments. While I was working on our first toad abode Jason finished the woodpeckers' new home...now all we have to do is hang it 15 feet up in a tree.

The Ultimate Companion Garden

This is what I aspire to...but with my touch. Who knew that a vegetable garden could be so beautiful.

Experiment Update

My experiment on growing used green onions and fancy lettuce from the grocery store has been successful after 12 days. The onions are at their original length and the lettuce has grown by about 30%! The next step will be a taste test.

On another note, it looks like all my little green babies have made it through the night...and the moth is still hanging out on the porch. We've got one more chilly night (fingers crossed) before the nighttime weather stays in the 50's and 60's.

I'm That Gardener

...that gardener. Dammit. I just went out and covered up most of the plants with pots or mulch because a good ole Okie howling spring freeze is blowing through tonight...and, of course, it will be 70 degrees tomorrow.

And so it begins with the neurotic maintenance. I really should have listened to the "don't plant before April 15th" gem of wisdom for Oklahoma gardeners. Next year.

New Momma

I finished planting our vegetable-herb-flower garden yesterday evening...three hours before it started hailing. I was sitting inside trying to talk myself out of being one of those gardeners who runs out to cover everything up. I felt a little twisted up. I had a taste of the dark side of gardening...the truly obsessive side that wants to keep all the tender little babies unscathed.

After it was over, I went outside (to take the pot cover off the ONE plant I new would not make it) to check out the damage. It wasn't bad. On my way back inside, I noticed a toad taking a dip in our little pond!

This morning, Jason called us all outside to look at this beautiful (and very cold) moth.

Hopefully it will have flown away when I get home.