Harvest Monday

Thursday brought a green onion harvest which in turn ended up in Thursday's dinner. The green onions went into Champ mashed potatoes. Also on the plate is boiled beets from the garden and a naturally raised pork chop. The sauce is made with Peeler Hard Cider which was used to deglaze the pan drippings and stiffened with a bit of corn starch.

Here is Saturday's harvest, a bunch of Merlot & Australian Yellowleaf lettuce and two fat radishes. They were combined with a hot house cucumber for a salad. Served along side reheated pizza from Friday night, how special is that!

Sunday I picked the remaining Florence fennel that were growing in the patch. Next week is supposed to bring some pretty chilly weather so I thought I should pick them before it was to late. They did pretty well as a fall crop, about half were a decent size and they certainly are tasty. The one there in my hand was the biggest specimen. I'm not sure but I think Florence fennel does not grow as big as your typical supermarket fennel?

The bigger fennel bulbs all had thick roots like a carrot. I was wondering if they are edible, any ideas?

For Sunday's dinner I made the dish above which contains half of the fennel harvest. The recipe I used was called 'Baked Rigatoni with Italian Sausage and Fennel' and it can be found at the following link. It was really good, the only thing I changed was I omitted the basil (not a fan) and added 1 cup of milk.

Tomato Seed Saving

Here goes my last seed saving installment for this season. If you missed any parts here are the other installments: Bean seed saving and Cucumber seed saving. This post will focus on the tomato seeds I saved this season. Most of my saving was done on varieties that I received in trades early this year with only one being a purchased variety.

Here are all the tomato seeds. They have been drying out on coffee filters since the last of the tomatoes were harvested this fall. Which is slightly neglectful on my part but they will be fine. I have already done a post on tomato seed saving last season so if you are looking for instruction they can be found at the following link.

After drying I place them in coin envelopes that can be picked up at office supply places and label them. To save the best part from last I saved Cherokee Purple from purchased seed, Velvet Red Cherry from seed shared by Dennis, Pork Chop & Pink Berkeley Tie Dye from seed shared by Judy and Purple Calabash from seed shared by Kathy.

*Look for harvest monday bright and early tomorrow.

The Last of the Colour

With the fall weather being so fair many plants have been hanging onto life and some are even still blooming. We have had many frosts this fall but they all seemed to be rather light. It is nice to still have blooms around even if the plants are looking a little worse for ware.

Calibracho (hanging baskets)

Bacopa (hanging baskets)

Primula (it thinks it's spring)

Icicle Pansies

Echinacea, not quite giving up

Chrysanthemum (second floor window box)

Heuchera

Epimedium

'Vancouver Centennial' Geranium (Annual)

Hardy Geranium

Strawberry Foliage

Merlot Lettuce

My Late Garlic

I had hopes of planting a nice mix of garlic this season, particularly some red skinned & hot varieties. Unfortunately I procrastinated to the point that all the mail order garlic is sold out and all the supermarket garlic seems to be from China. So it would appear that I have to make due with what I have this year.

This is all the garlic I saved from this seasons garden for replanting. I'm not sure what variety this is but I picked it up at a local farm in 2008. It produces huge cloves on small heads, about 5 cloves per head. I quite like it so I will have to save more for next seasons planting.

This season I spaced the garlic out a lot more after over crowding them last year. They are placed at a minimum of 4" from each side. I am hoping for larger head this year with the added space.

After planting all the seed I saved I was three cloves short of filling the area so I looked around the garden and found garlic sprouting that I missed harvesting. Out of these two clumps I managed to salvage three cloves that were big enough for replanting.

Here they are in the ground. If I recall correctly these replanted ones are a softneck garlic from the supermarket that I planted last fall. Now I will just play the waiting game and envision 8 big garlic heads next summer. Mental note - Next year order garlic early!

More compost banter

After decommissioning my potato bin into a composter I decided to try composting leaves for the first time. So I have been collecting all the fallen leaves onto the back patio. Last week after about 80% of the leaves had fallen I decided to start the compost'in. I fired up the mulching mower (or should I say fight with the mower for :20 to get it going) with the rear bag attached to chop them all up. As the rear bag filled up I kept dumping it out into the compost bin.

There was enough to fill the bin to the top. I am hoping it shrinks down fast so I have a place for the leaves that are still falling. My plan for these is to keep them watered when it has not rained for a while and turn them about once a month. I am guessing they will be ready for the garden by next fall, hopefully just in time to fill it up again with next falls leaves.

Hard Cider Take Two

You may recall my batch of hard cider, well I used a cider that had potassium sorbate (ie yeast inhibitor) in it and it seems to not be fermenting the best because of it. I should have know, I had read numerous sources saying it will not ferment but I also read a source saying it will. So the contarian in me decided to give it a go. It has been almost two weeks since I have started it and it has yet to move the airlock. I did some exploratory surgery last week and added some more sugar. Well I was stirring the sugar in, the cider smelled great and had loads of C02 bubbles so the stuff is work, I just think it is going to take a while. I got some advise from Red to pitch some aggressive champagne yeast so I am going to give that a try during the secondary fermentation.

With the viability of the first batch coming into question I decided to try a second batch. This time I source unpasteurized Cider with no preservatives in it from Hergott's Cider Mill in Waterloo, ON. Waterloo is the birth place of the Blackberry phone by the way. The Hergott's settled their farm in the early 1800's and have been pressing cider since 1929. After finding them this year we were told they are retiring this year so the possibility of finding unpasteurized cider next year are pretty slim. They are hopeful someone will buy the operation and continue the business though.

Now that we have had our history lesson here is the new batch. For this batch I did not heat the cider at all, I just used it right out of the jug. 7.6l(2 gal) of the cider went into my sterilized 23l(6 gal) carboy with a little brown sugar syrup and coopers brewing yeast that was dehydrated in pure apple juice. I then placed the bung & airlock on and filled the airlock with vodka.

The next morning the airlock was bubbling and a foam layer had formed on top. Success!

Now I have a total of 15l(4 gal) brewing so if both batches make it to bottling I will have 20 wine bottles of the stuff. I really don't drink a lot so I am guessing this is 2-3 years worth. I have heard cider ages really well in the bottle so I may end up with a few vintage bottles.... :-)

*I have quite a few posts in draft and in my head. I am hoping to post daily until everything has been covered so please keep checking in. Post to come are composting leaves, late garlic planting, flowers in the yard and a garden update to name a few. I also did a good amount of canning this year that I never posted about. I am going to group things together so keep an eye out for posts on Jams, Pickles & Relishes and Salsa. I am also currently making sauerkraut and will be doing a post on that. Few, I am tired already!

A Quick, Inexpensive Polytunnel

With my leeks not maturing as fast as I wanted them to I decided to give them some protection so they overwinter. I also needed a bit more covered space for potted perennials that I neglected to plant. I wanted something inexpensive, fast to make and strong enough to withstand a foot of snow at a time. This tunnel is a hybrid version of quick hoops and my own ideas. I put the whole thing together last Sunday afternoon in about an hour. Should I leave out the part when I had to go back to the home center because the bolts I bought were to short, maybe I will keep that part to myself....

Above is all the materials you will need to make the frame, Total cost for these materials was about $17 cdn not including plastic. Materials include:

• (4) 1/2"x10' pvc electrical conduit
• (3) 1"x2"x8' lumber
• (4) 2 1/2" bolts and nuts
• (4) washers

The only other thing you will need is enough plastic or row cover the fit the tunnel. I used plastic I had on hand, I would prefer row cover but I didn't want to wait for an order to arrive.

To build the tunnel start by placing one end of the conduit in the ground 12-18" deep and then bend the other end down placing it 12-18" deep as well. My bed is narrow so I ended up with a tall tunnel but it will also fit a bed 36"-48" wide. Continue placing the conduit, evenly spaced up to 8' long. With all the conduit in, cut one 1x2 to the length of the tunnel and fasten it in place.

Fasten the 1x2 in place by drilling a hole through the conduit into the 1x2. Then place your bolt through the hole and tighten everything in place with the washer & nut.

The top 1x2 will lock all the conduit into each other and will stop snow/rain from pooling on top. Now the only weakness is the tunnel will sway from wind and snow pressure. I solved this problem by cutting the other two 1x2's into stakes that were 12" higher then the tunnel.

These two stakes were then driven into the ground on either end to correspond with the top 1x2 brace. Once firmly in the ground I pre-drilled into the top 1x2 and added two screws to fasten everything together. Now you will have a frame that will survive high winds and heavy accumulations of snow.


With the frame all done I placed the plastic on the frame leaving about 6" extra on each side. I weighted down the plastic with heavy rocks and also buried the back edge with soil to further weight it down. The front edge I want to have easy access to so currently I have just tucked the plastic down. Before the weather turns bad I will be picking up either Greenhouse clips or binder clips to hold the front plastic in place.

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Now for what will be in the tunnel:

Chard. The empty spot behind will be for overwintering potted perennials. Come
spring the perennials will come out and I can use the space to harden off seedlings.

A lone tatsoi, get growing tatsoi!

And the main reason for the tunnel, my late planted leeks. As long as
they overwinter they should be ready for harvest some time next spring.
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After I was done the tunnel I put the barrel greenhouse back in place that I made last winter. I will be transplanting some greens into the barrel soon and place plastic on it after that. I think I may plant some tatsoi in the barrel as well. If we have a warm December they may just grow.

Harvest Monday

Quick harvest Monday today, harvestable produce is getting pretty slim now. It also seems to be hard to get much veg in me this time of year.

Here is what I picked for Sunday's dinner and it also is all that was harvested during the past seven days. In the bowl is a mix of Merlot & Australian Yellowleaf lettuces, in front are Easter Egg & Black Spanish radishes and standing up are two immature Florence fennel bulbs.

With the harvest I made a mixed greens salad w/ black radish & fennel. Also on the plate is a mix of fingerling potatoes grown by a real farmer and a beef fillet steak wrapped in bacon. mmm bacon.

*update on the new tunnel, I started and completed it Sunday afternoon. I took lots of pictures so I will start working on the write up. I should have it up by Tuesday evening I hope.

Another weekend spent burning saudi gold

Bufflehead Ducks, Female
Port Dover, ON


Bufflehead Duck, Male
Port Dover, ON


Mallard, Male
Port Dover, ON


Mallard, Male II
Port Dover, ON


Mossy Weeds
St. Williams Forestry Station
885 Highway 24
St. Williams, ON


Mossy Weeds II
St. Williams Forestry Station
885 Highway 24
St. Williams, ON


Lake Erie
Turkey Point, ON


Apple Orchard
Vittoria, ON


Grand River Pump House
Paris, ON


Grand River Pump House II
Paris, ON

Rail Bridge
Paris, ON

*My next post will be on a new inexpensive poly tunnel. I am hoping to start & finish it tomorrow so the post should be coming in a day or two. Stay Tuned =)