Food and Garden.....2014

Yes, you are reading that correctly....that does say 2014.  This would be a contiuntaion of the garden through the summer growing season....

Grapes

Raspberries

only a tiny portion of cherry tomatoes

and of course at the end of the season (which would be almost to thanksgiving)...we have the pumpkin pie.

PIE!!!

Photo Barf of the Garden and Food stuffs

....with new yummy recipe.  ;)

Of course now that the photo barf of Year One with Patoots is done, we get the mini barf of the Food and Garden 2014!

With a really really mild winter and a very warm spring-ish time, we had flowers blooming and bees abuzzing early.





Our spring crop really consisted of alot of arugula that Ed allowed to go to seed last year.  We had a field of it and some "weed" ones scattered around the garden.



Of course, we can't forget our onions and garlic and peas and asparagus......








One can't forget the rhubarb!!!  We had a big harvest of rhubarb this year.  And what do we make with lots of rhubarb?  A whole of of strawberry rhubarb product!!  DUH!  One pie, one crisp, one batch of muffins, and one crisp bars.  Of course, I don't have any photos of the finished products.  Are you silly?  They when in my belly before the thought of taking a photo of it even crossed my mind!  However, the crisp bars are definitely something awesome.  Here's a link to the recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2014/05/strawberry-rhubarb-crisp-bars/

or here's the modified version of Deb Perlman's awesome breakfast...i mean dessert.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp Bars

Yield: 16 small bars, as shown, or 8 large ones; recipe can be doubled and baked in a 9×13-inch baking pan, where they will come out a little thicker

1 cup (80 grams) rolled oats
3/4 cup (95 grams) plus up to 2 tablespoons (15 grams) extra all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (95 grams) light brown sugar
Heaped 1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon cornstarch (optional, but helps firm up the filling)
1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice
1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated sugar, divided
1 cup (125 grams) small-diced rhubarb (from about 1 1/2 medium stalks)
1 cup (155 grams) small-diced strawberries
Powdered sugar, for decoration, if desired

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. For easy removal, line bottom and two sides of 8-by-8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. No need to bother (and no greasing needed) if you plan to serve them right in the pan, as I did.

Place oats, 3/4 cup flour, brown sugar and salt in bottom of baking pan and mix. Pour melted butter over, and stir until clumps form. If the clumps feel soft or look overly damp, add the remaining 2 tablespoons flour. Set aside 1/2 cup of the crumble mixture. Press the rest of the crumb mixture evenly in the bottom of the pan.

Spread half the fruit over the crust. Sprinkle it evenly with cornstarch, then lemon juice, and 1/2 tablespoon of granulated sugar. Spread remaining fruit over this, and top with second 1/2 tablespoon sugar. Scatter reserved crumbs over fruit and bake bars for 30 to 40 minutes (firmer fruits will take longer), until fruit is bubbly and crisp portion is golden and smells toasty and amazing.

Let cool in pan and cut into squares. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. Store leftovers in fridge.

In late March, I started some cherry tomatoes, cherokee purple tomatoes, pickling cucumbers, jalapeño peppers, brussel sprouts, and munstead lavender.  The photos will come later....when they go in the ground and actually survive.  ;)

Now...go and try making the crisp bars...they are awesome!

Too Many Things...

Has it really been almost a year since I last posted?  Geez.  Either I just don't have time or I spend too much time staring at my son.  Well, with that said, I have a prepped a photo barf that I'm not going to stick in this post.  I will, however, stick the link to my offspring's photo barf here.  Soon, I'll get back in the groove of things.....hopefully before the summer travels hit!

Of the Patoots (even here, I'm behind....)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/cragbetty/collections/72157633626980199/

Food and Garden....uh.....yeah....
https://www.flickr.com/photos/cragbetty/sets/72157644272065269/

Outpost Honey

So many thing to talk about and so little time.  First of all, we sold our nuc hive within a day.  That means Anastasia is off to a new home.  Secondly, we've got us some honey.  While Ed's mom and sister were here visiting, they did the first extraction of honey.  From that we got roughly 15 quarts.  Then a week later Ed did another extraction on his own and we got more quarts.  Total honey haul....93 lbs or 31 quarts.  And thus, Outpost Honey is born.

First extraction 6/29/2013

Second extraction 7/2/2013

Outpost Honey

Time to cook everything with honey!

Queens and Swarms

It seems like this is the year that our family of people and bees both grew!  A few days after bring our little Andrew back from the hospital (to be yakked about in another post), our hive (which survived the winter and has been thriving in the early pollen flow) decided that it was too crowded and swarmed.  That pretty much means that Ursula got unceremoniously booted from her throne.  Not to worry, she left with half the bees.  The worrisome part was that they left.  Good thing Ursula wasn’t a really good flier so they ended up on the walking path between our two gardens.  Ed came home one afternoon and saw that there wasn’t a whole lot of activity in the hive.  He took Andrew out for a walk around the garden and saw a big arse pile of bees on the path.

Needless to say, he caught the swarm (basically got Ursala, dumped her in our extra box, and got the colony to follow her).  Now we have two hives.  The daughter hive (the one with Ursala) is doing well.  The parent hive (with the new young queen - Tatiana) has yet to be proven.  However as of yesterday (5/19) Ed said he spotted some eggs.  So, the Tatiana got herself laid and is ready to populate the parent hive.  Throughout this ordeal, we ended getting a new queen (Anastasia), operating under the assumption that the parent hive might be queen less.  This is before Ed spotted brood in the parent hive.  Now we have an extra queen and are building a nucleus box for her.  Eventually, we’ll sell her and her nuc.  We’ll see.  :)

With the hive swarming, we have a lot of pollen and honey that has yet been used.  What’s neat about that is that we can probably take a few of the fully loaded honey frames and extract that.  Ed took one frame and hand extracted the comb and honey.    Half the honey hasn’t been capped so it’s pretty young honey.  Regardless, It’s pretty effing tasty. I can’t wait to taste what the capped honey taste like.

Once the honey flow starts for us….get ready for the Crack Granola production.  :)

the Swarm

First Honey

While We Were Gone

I think the title of this post should really be "Squash Gone Wild"  but that's for another time.  we went on vacation for a little of a week and this is what we came home to.... garden that needed some discipline and harvesting.  the squash has pretty much plowed over the kale and chard.  i have no idea how they are doing under the squash canopy.  oh well?  one big mistake.  i shouldn't of planted the tomatoes so close together.  note to self.....they become big and unruly.  right now about eight unruly tomato plants are unaccessible.  well, lesson learned.  i'm sure there's fruit in there somewhere.  :D

The squash won

and the tomatoes

mind you, my DH is 6'5".  the tomatoes are up to his chest.  what's even more ridiculous is the size of the squash that came off it the squash plants...as big as his forearm.  i think we got some problem with the squash.  either that or genetics is at play and we're giving them too much water.  i dunno.  i think i'm going to buy F1 seeds for next year.  notice the okra in the background.  i guess one can grow southern fare in the north.

some of the bounty with the peppers

                     

of course that's just garden number 2.  the grape garden is a little subdued.  maybe it's because most of the tomatoes and squash went in a little later, or maybe that garden isn't as suitable for monster growth.  who knows.  anyway, we're getting mini grapes and boy do they pack some flavor!  can't wait for more!

     

these are the swenson reds that survived the winter.  they are fruiting nicely.  can't wait until the vines are nice and established!

Summer Catch Up

ahhh....summer is half way through!  where the heck has time gone?  well, with att's screw up on my internet, it gave me time to catch up on some photos and making these post offline.  (that really means just writing this as a word document and then copy and pasting them into the editor from blogger....yes, i'm that technologically savvy.)

so first up on the docket....landscaping.....
we tore out some of the juniper that lined our house (the ones next to the driveway) and put in a few varieties of lavender (munstead, provence, hidcote, and blue cushion (i think)) .  there is hope that the bees will find it.  who knows.  right now the dried flowers smell really really good.

provence lavender

then comes the garden...
the heat really does wonders for growing things.  like unruly winter sqaush plants and a tomato jungle that i should of pruned.  i still need to prune the jungle...i need to find my machete.

              

and the peppers and the okra....

                        

and with all of that growth.....we need some grasshopper control.  these things can eat an entire plant away...
                        

yes, that would be ed....snipping away at the grasshoppers.  apparently it's really effective...

oh....and there's the food part of it.  the canning season has started and is almost under full swing!

Landscaping

yes...it's a never ending endeavor...really.... homeownership.  you want everything just right and yours. well, here it is.  besides the garden plots (it's a given....we must grow food...weird...but true).  ed has decided to extend the patio beyond the hot tub.  it'll make a great patio and a great are for the squirrels to dig and destroy.  for now...we have everything in place except for the pavers.  who knew those things would be pricy and hard to get....hmmm...soon we'll need more lounge chairs....

Summer House

With the rising temperature of summer here in the interior mountain region, ventilation is a must....FOR EVERYONE.  that includes me.  usually a hammock in the shade of the pine trees or a lounger on our deck works...oh wait....i'm talking about the bees...

opening up the entrance, adding an upper entrance, and rigging up a varro mite trap can serve as a way to vent the hive.  hopefully they won't "beard" outside the runway to keep cool.  (bearding is when they hang onto each other and forms something that looks like a beard)

beyond that addition for the summer, the bees are busy doing whatever they are doing....such as going in and out of the hive....and being busy.

now...where's that hammock?

the summer digs

Guys Loves the Toys

ed discovers welding....yup, i said it.  with 1/3 mile of wire, what else are you going to do with it?

ed

working sequence.....

the results...

so now we have lots of tomato cages that are clearly homemade and some artys one that are also homemade.  i think he might just buy a welder....

Raw Tuscan Kale (and Chard) Salad

so...here's what i do with our fresh garden greens!!  so tasty!



Raw Tuscan Kale Salad (with loads of modifications)
from 101cookbooks.com

1 bunch Tuscan kale (for ex: black or lacinato)
2 thin slices country bread, or two handfuls good, homemade coarse breadcrumbs
1/2 garlic clove
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus a pinch
1/4 cup (or small handful) grated pecorino cheese, plus adiitional for garnish
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional for garnish
Freshly squeezed juice of one lemon (scant 1/4 cup or ~50ml)
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Trim the bottom few inches off the kale stems and discard. Slice the kale into 3/4-inch ribbons. You should have 4 to 5 cups. Place the kale in a large bowl.
If using the bread, toast it until golden brown on both sides and dry throughout. Tear into small pieces and pulse in a food processor until the mixture forms coarse crumbs, or crumbs to your liking.
Using a mortar and pestle or a knife, pound or mince the garlic and 1/4 teaspoon of salt into a paste. Transfer the garlic to a small bowl. Add 1/4 cup cheese, 3 tablespoons oil, lemon juice, pinch of salt, pepper flakes, and black pepper and whisk to combine. Pour the dressing over the kale and toss very well (the dressing will be thick and need lots of tossing to coat the leaves).. Let the salad sit for 5 minutes, then serve topped with the bread crumbs, additional cheese, and a drizzle of oil.
my modifications.  i don't add the breadcrumbs or the more traditional ingredient of poached egg.

Summer Has Begun!

and summer has begun!!!  cross your fingers!!!  hopefully we won't get any more summer snow.  with the heat, the garden is starting to take off.  we already had a harvest of kale and chard and we're ready for the second one.  the peas that didn't seem to do anything took off and yielded our first harvest.  the garlic is going strong (in odor and appearance).

a white flower (don't know what it is)

the kale and chard rows

tomato rows

garlic

sugar peas

early tomato

raspberry forest

first pea harvest

second kale and chard harvest

now...what did we do with the kale and chard?  hmmm....