Winter 2012- seeds

I started some seedlings a couple of weeks ago, and they seem to be doing pretty well even though we don't have access to a greenhouse anymore. I'm growing 4 varieties of onions, leeks, and broccoli so far. I have them in the bay window on the south side of the house with some time outside in the sunshine when it's not too cold or windy out. The natural light is really helping- luckily it's been a warm winter.

This year I ordered most of my seeds from Fedco. I'm also getting some potatoes, shallots, and mushroom plugs from Pinetree. We had a small oak tree break in the October snow storm last year, so I'm going to have Bill cut it into logs and innoculate it with the mushroom plugs.

Last November we planted over 100 garlic cloves, and it's starting to poke above the soil. We also started gathering and spreading some composted goat manure from a local farm so hopefully this year's garden will be very fruitful.

New favorite recipes

I came up with a couple of new recipes recently- one for leek, potato and parsnip soup, the other for black bean cake burritos.

I still have leeks and parsnips from last year's crop- they did really well, and I have them stored in the fridge.

Leek, Parsnip, and Potato Soup

2 cups leeks, sliced

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 cups parsnips, peeled & chopped

3 cups potatoes, diced

Water to cover veggies

Vegetable bouillon

Salt and pepper to taste

Saute leeks in olive oil until soft. Add rest of ingredients and cook until veggies are tender. Remove from heat and blend until smooth. Amounts are approximate. You can alter to taste.

Black Bean Cakes

2 cups cooked black beans

1/2-1 cup cooked short grain brown rice

1/2 chopped onion

1/2 chopped green pepper

1 egg

1/2-1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. chili powder

Mix ingredients in food processor and blend until well mixed.

Saute dollops (spread into patty shape) of black bean mixture in oil until crispy on both sides.

Serve cakes in flour tortilla with baby spinach, cheddar cheese, avacado, salsa, and plain yogurt.

Garlic

The garlic is coming along nicely, and I think we'll have enough for the whole year this time. We just finished last year's garlic so we've had to resort to store-bought. I bought some great seedlings at the local organic farm (Shortt's Farm in Sandy Hook), and put most of them in the ground. Bill got a load of compost today, so I'll put that in the beds and plant the rest of the seedlings tomorrow. And some more lettuce and arugula seeds. Also potatoes.

I made potato leek soup with 3 leeks from last year's garden that came up again. It was a small batch- 3 leeks washed and sliced and sauteed in olive oil for about 10 minutes. Then I added 2 medium potatoes diced, 2 cups water, and a vegetable bouillon cube. Cook unitil potatoes are tender. Remove from heat and blend until smooth.

Spring planting and more

Well, the seedlings in the greenhouse didn't grow- I didn't know the heater wasn't on- so I replanted them a couple of weeks ago. They are now coming up so I should be able to plant most things on time.

I've planted several things in the garden in the last 2 weeks- kale, Swiss chard, peas, lettuce, arugula, and beets. The lettuce and arugula were the first to poke through the dirt. It's been rather cool so far this spring so it's slow going.

We have had our solar panels for a year now, and even with them being covered by snow for 1.5 months this winter, we made more electricity than we used (about $2.50 worth).

Last week I made a yummy bean, potato, and greens soup: 1 cup dried cannellini beans- cover with water, bring to a boil, and simmer until just tender (30-60 minutes). Drain the beans and add to a pot with 1 diced onion (sauted in olive oil until translucent), and cover with water. Cook the beans and onions for a while with a vegetable bouillon cube (I like Rapunzel Veg. bouillon with sea salt) until beans are almost done. Add 2 diced potatoes, and cook until tender. Add more water if necessary. Add chopped greens (kale, swiss chard, beet)- either fresh or frozen and cook for 5-10 minutes. This would be good with homemade croutons too.

Tonight Kai and I had homemade enchiladas for supper with the sauce that I canned last summer (see recipe in the tomato post from last year).
In a pan I cooked (in olive oil) diced onion, frozen corn, grated carrot, frozen chopped spinach, ground cumin, and crumbled tofu for about 15 minutes. I then fill whole wheat tortillas with black beans, veg/tofu filling, and grated cheddar cheese, roll them up, and put them in a glass baking dish with some enchilada sauce on the bottom. When you have enough enchiladas, cover with more sauce and grated cheese on top. Bake at about 360 for 20-30 minutes, until browned. I like them with plain yogurt and avacado on the side.

Last winter I discovered the yumminess of egg salad with curry powder- especially good with our fresh eggs. The ladies are laying like gangbusters now so we usually get 6-7 eggs per day from our 8 hens.

Starting seeds

I started planting seeds this week to grow in Bill's greenhouse at work until the weather is warmer. We still have over a foot of snow on the ground so it will be a while until the soil is ready for planting. I started onions, leeks, shallots, kale, broccoli, and some head lettuce in flats. Next week I'll get some more potting soil and start the peppers, brussels sprouts, Swiss chard, and more kale. In March it will be tomatoes, basil, and melons.

If it's a really warm spring, I'll do some early planting in the garden beds (lettuce, beets, greens, arugula, cilantro). This year we are adding a potato annex in the side yard so I have more room in the main garden for more broccoli and onions. This year I ordered my seeds from Pinetree Gardens, but next year I'll probably go back to ordering from Fedco. I find I'm running out of the smaller amounts of seeds in the Pinetree packages.

Last fall (November) I planted 120 cloves of garlic in our largest garden bed. I wanted to plant extra so we have enough for the whole year and for planting in the fall. Last year's crop wasn't quite big enough to last so we've been careful with our garlic use. The bed has been covered with snow since December- I'm looking forward to seeing the green shoots peeking out of the ground next month. The chickens got into the bed in December before the snow, but I don't think they did much damage. They picked the last of the kale clean though.

Going solar and energy efficient

Earlier this year we had 20 solar panels put on our house. It's a 4.6-5 KW system and so far has covered all of our electricity usage and then some. Connecticut has a solar lease program so we are leasing the panels for 15-20 years for about $80 per month. We didn't have to pay any up front costs, and our payments won't increase so I think it was a great decision. Our electric bills before the panels went up were about $110/month. We use compact fluorescent bulbs, which makes a huge difference in energy usage. We also recently beefed up the insulation in the walls and soffits of our house and still have to do some additions to the insulation in the attic and basement. Hopefully our heating costs will go down a lot too.

Our house is heated with oil as are most of the houses in the northeast. If we had the extra money and were going to stay in this house long-term we would consider a geothermal system for heating, cooling, and hot water. Maybe someday. This house is too big for me to want to stay in it after the kids are on their own, but you never know what will happen. We'll do as much as we can for now without breaking the bank.

Other things that we do to help with energy usage include covering most of the windows with insulated shades or curtains and of course, turning lights and appliances off when not in use.

Chickens

A few weeks ago we were down to 6 lovely ladies- "Bumble" went missing- probably to a fox. We decided to get 3 more so we will have at least a few eggs this winter. We bought 3 sex-linked pullets which are now in quarantine to make sure they aren't carrying something that could infect our flock. Bill even built a special quarantine coop and pen that is somewhat moveable. We'll store it in the shed this winter and use it the next time we get more chickens.



Our history with chickens:
Last summer we acquired 6 laying hens and 6 chicks (a few weeks old). Bill and I built a chicken coop (4'X8') with an enclosed pen. We have a deer fence around the back yard as well, but it's not totally animal proof. After a few weeks, we realized that 2 of the chicks were roosters, and since we live in a neighborhood, we couldn't keep them. Over the past year we have lost 3 birds to predators and one to egg peritonitis. This summer before we went to California for 2 weeks, we enlarged the outdoor pen so that they have a luxuriously large space to wander when we are away. Most of the time they free range in the back yard looking for bugs, taking dust baths, and eating anything we throw in the compost.

My favorite gals are Sheila, a barred rock bantam, and Meredyth, an Americauna. They are some of our older birds and aren't the best layers anymore, but they sure are entertaining. Sheila is the top bird and calls the others into the coop at night. The new birds are rather skittish, but are starting to learn that the treats we provide (fresh corn, yogurt, watermelon, etc.) are good to eat. In a few weeks, we'll put them in the coop at night so that they can wake up with the older birds, and hopefully there won't be any major issues.

The eggs we get are delicious, and I feel much better eating them and feeding them to my family. We love having the ladies, and after the initial effort to get things set up, they're pretty easy to maintain. It helps to have neighbors to help when we go away, but the fresh eggs make them happy too.

Earlier this summer the young hens started laying their eggs under the hostas and other plants around the yard. By the time we realized it one nest had 19 eggs in it! Now we have to do an egg hunt every once in a while if it seems like we're not getting very many eggs.

Later this week I'll start getting the coop cleaned out and ready for winter. I'll also start putting the light on in the mornings so that they will keep laying into the fall.