How's your garden growing....

Raised beds full of herbs, & veggies.

 I've received some questions regarding just what can one grow in our area.  When we first broken ground, we had that hard, red clay to work with; adding lots of organic matter has made a world of difference.  Some of our garden produce still do best in raised beds, to help with drainage.

Aside from your standard annuals in the garden, perennials are half the fun.  So below I've listed various plants we grow as well as some quirks I found to help some more particular plants flourish.

Pretty much carefree perennials...
Asparagus,
Rhubarb,
Horseradish,
Jerusalem artichokes/sun-chokes,
Walking onions,
Multiplying onions,

Berry Patch and vineyard:
Blackberry,
Blueberry,
Raspberry,
Gooseberry*1,
Strawberry,

Red and White currants*2,
Cranberry*3,
Various grape varieties, 

Broken hose spraying the peas, beans, squashes, tomato, etc.,

Winter Hardy Herbs:
Crocus(saffron)*4,
Rosemary(Arp)
Oregano,
Parsely,
Thyme(German, English, Variegated, Lavender, Lemon)
Chamomile,
Comfrey,
Bee balm,
Bergamot,
Sage,
Chives(Garlic, Standard)
Tarragon,
Mint(Chocolate, Swiss, Moroccan, Mojito)

Banty hen with her Turkey brood

Planted in the ground but need protection at 15F and below....
Russian Pomegranate
Prickly Pear Cactus


My greenhouse potted plants....
Mandarin Orange
Persian Lime
Meyer Lemon
Kumquat
Lemon Verbena
Stevia
Marjoram


Some experimental plants I'm growing...
Salmonberry
Nanking/sand cherry

Almond fruit growing.

In the Orchard...
Almonds(sensitive to early frosts)
Walnuts,
Chestnut,
Pecan,
Hazelnut,
Hickory,
Pawpaw, 
Apples,
Peach,
Pear(Asian & European)
Plum,
Cherry(tart & sweet),
Jujube,
Flying Dragon Orange(hardy to 0F),
Fig,

Inside my greenhouse, aka chick room.

*1, &2: Prefers afternoon shade and moist soil.
*3:  Prefers peat well mixed throughout the soil, and is really annoying to keep weed free.  Needs light layer of straw over winter.
*4: Prefers a raised bed with some sand added.

Goat Milk Hard Cheese

HARD AGED GOAT CHEESE

4 gal Goat Milk
½ cup fresh cultured goat milk yogurt/active cultured store bought yogurt (or ½ tea DVI Thermophilic culture)
1 tsp rennet

Warm milk to 90F add culture ripen 20 min.  Dilute rennet in ¼ cup of water add to cultured milk stir well.  Allow milk to coagulate 45 min maintain temp at 90F.  Cut curd into ½ cubes Hold at 90F for 40 min stir gently to prevent matting.  Take 30 min to raise the temp to 120F hold for 30 min stir gently to prevent matting
Drain and press.  5lbs 1 hr Flip and redress
10lbs 1 hr Flip and redress
20lbs 2 hrs Flip and redress
20lbs 12 hrs. Put cheese in brine solution for 24 hours to 3 days
Air dry at room temp for up to 1 week
Wrap lightly and ripen in the refrigerator 8 months

Tools, it's about the tools....

Basic Cheesepress...

To make hard cheeses one can go rustic, or high tech.  I prefer to wing it in the middle.  A cheesecloth(tied stilton style) full of curds placed on top of a wooden board, with a sterile weight serves as a good first step.  Over time though, I yearned for something easier, safer, and efficient. 

I looked up various styles of cheesepresses and settled on replicating one of 1800s origin.  It's the standard lever style, with a pin to hook the weights upon.  It cost me about $50 to make myself several years ago, I imagine with inflation, plus with personal choice of wood and finish, one could still make a cheesepress for under $75.  I finished it with a butcher's block wax.  I gave enough space for the cheesemolds to be pressed in the whey or drain freely depending on type of cheese I am aiming for at the time.

In the picture is a standard hard cheesemold, flat bottom, with a follower, and makes up to a ten pound wheel of cheese.

So in the picture below is the diagram.  I bolted each leg of the main body, and lever stand on the base board, the bolts are inset so they lay flat on the bottom.  I would say that is the hardest part.  The lever was the easiest, it is mostly bolts, lots of holes to adjust as the cheese is pressed, and also on the lever arm to adjust for amount of pressure desired.

Click for larger view of diagram.

It's important to make sure that the lever is perpendicular to the cheese or you will end up with a tilty cheese. Still edible, but not as much eye appeal.

Happy cheesepressing!

What will I kill next?

Fresh from the garden...

It's that time of year again.  Spring is in the air, kids jumping about, the daffodils are blooming, and catalogs start rolling in.

I swore this year would be different.  This year, I will allow myself to be tempted.  Well, just a peek.  Flipping through those catalogs.  Just thinking of all those plants I could grow, or not.  Then just the idea pops in, what next, what weird plant can I grow, but most likely kill next.

Some plants are great, grow well, but then the berries or edible plant matter is something, well akin to dirt.  I would have to be half starved to eat.  Then there are the exotics that I used to love to grow in a more temperate region, and when I was childless.  But nowadays, I prefer to keep my plant babies more independent, no coddling.  So that cuts out all orchids or plants from zone 9 or higher.

Then some plants are a surprise, I heard they are impossible to grow in this zone, but just the right soil preparation or windbreak, or what not particular to that plant and it not only grows but thrives(like my cranberry bog).

So I'm off pondering what next, maybe apricot, or new herb...?

So here's what's growing now....
Under veggies, we have salads, kale, radishes(french and daikon), a few varieties of garlic, and onions, turnips, parsnips, carrots, chard, peas, and various brassica.

Perennial herbs are rosemary(arp), oregano, sage, various thyme plants, savory, mints(spear, Moroccon, Swiss, chocolate), parsley, bay, & cilantro.  It's still too cold for to break dormancy on my chives, tarrogon, bergamot, and other herbs.

Now if only I can keep our kitten from playing in our freshly planted beds, things will be good.   Don't let her girlish good looks fool you, in the garden she's a dirt rolling, digging, carrot-top eating heathen!

Fresh from the garden....

Freshly picked from the garden, we might have produced more if not for curious chicks pecking at the flowers.

On the left is a Meyer lemon, on the right a Persian lime.

Hurried mom's cheesemaking...

Okay, so you have a crying baby clinging to your leg, another child needs help defeating Bowser for the 10th time in his Super Mario Brother game...you have milk, and want to make cheese...what are your options!

Well, there are many actually!  Easy enough to make while bouncing the baby in one arm, and stirring your curds in another!

But first you need some basic supplies....
>Yogurt or buttermilk cultures, either a frozen icecube, or prepackaged single use packets are great in a pinch.
>Thick bottom pot,
>A thermos, or warm place,
So now, what to make...Yogurt, Chevre, Fromage Blanc, Paneer, more buttermilk, basically those soft cheeses, great for fresh eating, low muss, types. 

For recipes, I like to refer to one of my cheesemaking books, each one has it's strong points, from Ricki's cheesemaking book, 200 Easy Homemade cheese recipes, to Mary J. Toth's book, each is great in it's own right.  For online recipes, I recommend cheesemaking.org
Happy cheesemaking!

Mud, rain, and more mud....

 

 

Kids playing in the dry areas

It's been a mild winter!   I'm glad the kidding happened in the coldest part of the season.  Although inconvenient, the bugs, worms and what have you are at their lowest levels, ensuring a fast growth rate with the kids.  The kids just tend to be hardier overall as well.

The garden is just covered in weeds, and the duck is just having a party with all the puddles everywhere.

I for one, I think my kids will agree with me though, that we are ready to have some drying sunshine.  This was a day for DH to put in some more raised beds in the garden though.  Next weekend will be another barn scraping day, with all this rain, the sheep will go out rain or shine, but the goats, are my barn babies, and I have black gold to scrap out for the garden!

Stay dry everyone!