Tag: local food

In the Kitchen Garden

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date May 22, 2016

Radishes, spring garlic and turnip greens were ready for harvest.

It was the beginning of a day of gardening and cooking as good as takes place anywhere in the world.

The combination of today’s harvest, previous pickings in the ice box and bits and pieces made for a day close to the soil and replete with tasty and nutritious food.

It’s what gardeners live for.

I started a pot of turnip stock made of carrot, onion, celery, bay leaves, chervil and a large bunch of freshly picked and cleaned turnip greens. After bringing it to a boil, I turned down the heat and simmered it for most of the day. It made about a gallon.

After working in the yard and garden all day I came inside, strained the stock and used two cups to make rice for a casserole. I pulled the last bottle of Pinot Noir from the cooler, poured a glass and sipped while cooking our meal.

The casserole included three eggs from a friend’s farm, sauteed onion and spring garlic, along with wilted greens from the farm. I added a quarter cup dried parsley to the ingredients in a large stainless steel bowl, mixed and turned it into a buttered baking dish. I topped the casserole with Parmesan cheese and baked for 30-35 minutes. Once the casserole was in the oven I made small salads with lettuce from the ice box. There was part of a cucumber, carrot, radishes, Vidalia onion, and prepared kidney beans. Dressing was commercial, organic balsamic from the ice box.

To live life one must either cook or quit. As hard as Saturday’s work was, I’m not ready to quit.

The priority among the endless yard and garden tasks is getting the rest of spring planting finished.

I fenced the sprouted green beans, planted basil, and deconstructed last year’s kale patch for this year’s tomatoes. I left the row of peas.

I measured the plot. If the tomato seedlings are 36 inches apart, there is room for 20 without digging up the peas. The ground was full of earthworms when I spaded it.

Needing mulch for the tomatoes, I mowed with the grass catcher. The second cut was less than the first. I piled them where the bell pepper plants will go. When the sun comes up today I’ll finish preparing the soil.

The day was full of work. I caught a tomato cage in the mower and took a half hour to jack the front end up and remove it from around the blade. There was trimming, raking and watering. Temperatures were close to 80 degrees, but it didn’t seem hot.

After dinner it didn’t take long to fold laundry and fall asleep with the feeling it was a day well spent.

Tags cooking, Kitchen Garden, local food

Moving Plants Outside

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date May 17, 2016

Monday morning I moved the last two trays of tomato seedlings outside.

Since February, seedlings crowded around the windows of our bedroom. Now the race is on to get them in the ground.

Ours is a garden designed to keep expenses low and minimize our carbon footprint. I’d prefer a small greenhouse though we didn’t have resources to make one this year.

Seedlings are coming along well. There are way too many of some varieties and once the garden is established, excess will be given away or sold.

Saturday I planted 26 kale plants — three varieties in two rows. This is a money crop for a food to funds project I am working on for Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility. Like many non-profits, our discretionary funds are limited. We hope to convert kale to cash for projects outside grant specific projects. There is never enough of those funds. Not sure how it will go, but I’m doubling kale production from last year which had everyone in my network who wanted it flush with the green and red leaves.

With the early lettuce harvested, the next crops are spring garlic and onions, turnip leaves, radishes and oregano. Once the tomatoes and peppers are in the ground there will be a sigh of relief and the tenor of late spring will turn to summer.

Tags Kitchen Garden, local food, Sustainability

Kitchen Garden

A Blustery Day with Lettuce

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date May 15, 2016

Holy cats it was windy yesterday!

My to-do list was long, the weather sunny and dry, and danger for frost long past.

It was time to focus on planting.

The blustery day took its toll long before everything was erased from the white board.

As readers can see from the diagram, indecision plagued execution of the planting. In the end, I planted more kale than expected (26 plants of three varieties in two rows) and left the rest open. The morning after, I plan to wait until the soil warms a bit and plant a long row of hot peppers (5 varieties, spaced 18 inches in a 19-foot row) and finish with two rows of red beans in this plot. While I planned to work two plots, the wind took my energy before starting the second and the clock timed out.

I slept nine hours last night.

Later this morning it’s back to work at the farm. Most seedlings will be outside seasoning while I’m gone as the tray-based numbers diminish and move to the soil.

Life is not only about gardening as much as some days I wish it were.

My solar-powered garden radio pulled in a signal with The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart while I was breaking up the clods of turned soil with a hoe. After my shower, I found this bar-graph version of the overture, which helped me better understand the music.

Tags Kitchen Garden, lettuce, local food

Kitchen Garden

Le Weekend de la Plantation

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date May 14, 2016

The fields were too wet for planting this week so farmers took on other projects and came to town.

Partly as a result, sales were up at the home, farm and auto supply store.

One of the highlights of working there is listening to narratives about the projects in which people engage. Customers seek specific hardware to meet practical needs in a turbulent world.

For a lot of customers, coming to town is fun and it rubs off.

This weekend’s project in Big Grove is planting two plots in the garden.

You’d think that with seeds and seedlings in the bedroom since February I’d have more of a layout for the crops. I’m working a 9 by 19 foot plot first, having turned it before the rains and applied compost this morning. A long row of kale will go in for sure. After that, I’m not sure. As I condition the soil with a hoe and rake there’s more time for consideration.

If my plan for growing seedlings was that of an experienced gardener, how I execute the actual space will be the work of an artist. As long as some vegetables are produced, I’ll enjoy gardening while I may.

Note to self: get the weeds suppressed today.

Tags Kitchen Garden, local food

Kitchen Garden

After Rain

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date May 12, 2016

Leaves of potatoes burst through the surface of the soil revealing robust growth and hope for a crop.

During last night’s inspection I realized why many of us garden — we are born of the soil and all it produces.

Recent rain boosted everything.

I’ve been seasoning seedlings outside and am ready to plant them all. The question is weather and availability. There is slight chance of rain today so the soil should be dry enough to work. I have a couple of hours of daylight when I finish at the home, farm and auto supply store. If all goes well, another plot can be planted with kale, cucumbers and beans tonight.

One hopes things go well.

Tags Kitchen Garden, local food, Sustainability

Kitchen Garden

Turnip Leaves and Lettuce

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date May 8, 2016

I got naked as I get in the yard on World Naked Gardening Day.

Suffice it that under my Carhartt overalls, Oracle T-shirt, Dickies socks, Calvin Klein underwear, University Square Industries cap, Rugged Wear ventilated gloves and government-issued army boots my nakedness kept its own sensible and properly hidden vigil.

I worked our small plot of land the whole day. By the end of the shift I was drained with no energy left to drive 30 minutes each way to a political event in Coralville.

Onions Between the Composter and Daylillies — Onions Between the Compost and Daylillies

Contrary to the advertisements, I don’t think “nature” intended anything regarding humans wearing clothing to garden. In fact, there is not much “natural” about gardening. We have specific intent as to what will happen in each plot we plant. We cultivate things the same way we do with any aspect of human culture. “Gardening” is a human creation. The idea of taking off clothing to weed thistles borders masochism. The idea of turning soil with a spade and without shoes would be nutty.

A lot of gardening got done despite the clothing.

Except for driving my car from the garage to an impromptu parking spot on the lawn, and collecting grass clippings for the garden, my direct use of internal combustion engines yesterday was minimal.

I worry a bit about the nuclear reactor generated electricity stored in the batteries for my trimmer, but other than that, it was a low impact day.

The lettuce planted March 2 is ready to harvest. Too closely planted turnip seeds are producing leaves an inch long. They are tender and require thinning if I want any turnip roots from the row. There are some carrots in my sunken containers, but not as many germinated as expected. There is plenty of lettuce for salads and tacos, and the prospect of turnip greens both for salads and a batch of soup stock. Those things are going well in the garden.

What’s going less well is the spring garlic. After producing in abundance for many years, this year’s crop will be less. I’m not sure why. Too, the extra warm weather is slowing growth of radishes. Hopefully the first row will mature in the next week or so. Both of these crops will be donated for charity sales planned for next weekend — that is, if they produce by then.

Thinking horizontally, and having great hope, I planted broccoli in two rows. Last year brassica oleracea cultivar didn’t produce, despite many efforts to protect the plants. Using a batch of old tomato cages as support, I buried chicken wire about an inch deep in the soil around each seedling. The cages are tall enough to keep deer away while the plants are young, and hopefully the rodents and rabbits won’t find their way through the chicken wire. Once the plants take off, I’ll high-fence the rows. Fingers crossed, since home-grown broccoli is the best and we missed out on it last year.

It took the usual two plus hours for the spring harvest of grass clippings. I cut the lawn short, collect the clippings using the bagging attachment, and piled them up for use in the next week or so. For one of the few time during the growing season, my lawn is shorter than the neighbors — not that I’m paying attention to that. Mulch is critical to minimizing well water use, and grass clippings are free but for the labor of collecting them. Today’s plan is to spread them around.

Determined to capture new images, I took some photographs before going inside for the day. Our 0.62 acre lot is not big, but there is a diversity of habitat here. The rodents are free to leave any time they wish, and I attempt symbiosis with deer who have been traveling through our lot for much longer than our home has been here. Here’s a short gallery of some favorite new photos from Saturday.

Bird's Next in the Golden Delicious Apple Tree Stump — Bird’s Nest in the Golden Delicious Apple Tree Stump

Apple Tree After Subzero Weather Pruning

Tags Kitchen Garden, local food

Kitchen Garden

Pivot Point in the Garden

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date May 6, 2016

Tomorrow’s 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby serves notice the race is on to finish spring garden planting.

Planting is never completely done.

What I mean is putting seeds in the ground and moving the 10 trays of seedlings from our bedroom to the garden soil by Memorial Day.

The coming weekend will be prime time for planting.

Our warehouse club sent a notice of a fruit and vegetable recall yesterday. Here’s the scary first paragraph the company posted on their web site:

As a precaution, CRF Frozen Foods of Pasco, Washington is expanding its voluntary recall of frozen organic and traditional fruits and vegetables. We are performing this voluntary recall in cooperation with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) because these products have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The organism can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

We checked all of the noted items in our freezer and there were no recalled items. The recall renewed interest in growing as much of our own food as we can and knowing the farmer on the rest. It is hard to avoid consumer products produced in large quantities, but the Listeria hysteria is a reason to minimize their use. The perfect attitude adjustment going into the garden work weekend.

There is a lot of work to do during the next three weeks. I’ve been reviewing weather forecasts since Monday and it looks like a chance of rain Saturday afternoon, but otherwise, clear.

It will be a rush of digging, raking, planting and mulching. A pivot point toward summer.

Tags Kitchen Garden, local food, Sustainability

Living in Society

Politics Takes A Holiday

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date April 28, 2016

The Bernie Sanders campaign is laying off hundreds of staff members, indicating either he is planning to throw in the towel after California, or that he won’t be placing people currently on his staff in local political organizations for the fall campaign. Maybe both.

The presidential nominating party may not be over, but most of the guests have left and the hosts have begun cleaning up the mess, getting ready for a return to normalcy, which in Iowa means organizing for the June 7 primary elections where there are contested races, and the fall campaign beginning after the Labor Day weekend.

Political campaigns will work through the summer, and there is a filing period in August, but each year, regular people engage in the election cycle later and closer to the election. For folks like me, politics takes a holiday after the primary elections until the fall campaign. We have lives to live.

I’ve written about the county supervisors race which has been reduced to a series of special interest forums in Iowa City and Coralville, along with fund raisers and whatever else each campaign sees fit to do.

I missed the first forum last night. Bottom line was I couldn’t afford the $5 in gasoline and an hour of driving on a work night. Stephen Gruber-Miller covered the forum for the Iowa City Press Citizen and here’s a link to his article. They say people in the county seat can access video of the event on their local cable television channel, but the service does not include Big Grove Township.

My trouble with picking three candidates for supervisor is besides the incumbents, I don’t share a view of the county with any of them. My relationship with the county seat is tenuous at best, although I likely benefit from the economic engine that is the University of Iowa. I’ll pick one of the two business people for my third vote and see what decision the urban centers make for me. No need to decide until late in the race, early June most likely.

The other primary election that matters is for U.S. Senate and I support State Senator Rob Hogg over three other candidates.

Politicization of our lives has become a detriment to living, so the compulsion I felt toward campaigns during the George W. Bush years is in remission. I work on issues, but like with the climate crisis, they represent human values and shame on those who politicize them or frame them in the false paradigm that is conservative vs. progressive. People like billionaire Tom Steyer is who I have in mind, but it applies equally to all of the billionaire class members.

Steyer Quote

My summer will be eking out a living on the margins of society, hopefully making enough money to live on, reducing debt, and finding joy in simple pleasures. We don’t need politics for that.

Tags climate change, environment, local food, politics, Sustainability, worklife

Kitchen Garden

Kale in Sunlight

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date April 24, 2016

Yesterday was a spring day as good as it gets. I took advantage of it and worked outside.

The kale seedlings have been slow-developing, so I put them in direct sunlight. The day’s growth was noticeable. I transplanted the scarlet variety into bigger pots to give them room to grow. They were laggards of the three varieties and best liked in my distribution network. Indoor bedroom germination has never been optimal, but a few hours in sunlight made a difference. More seedling sunning is planned today.

Yesterday’s garden work included planting three kinds of onions, basil seeds, Easter egg radishes, leaf spinach and arugula. I’m moving on to conditioning the soil for everything else.

A sign of the times, I planted the last seeds in pots: zucchini to get a head start for early May transplanting. It won’t be long before the danger of frost is past and everything can go into the ground.

Something is growing in the carrot planters, but I’m not sure it is carrots. Will wait until the leaves show what they are.

The first cut of lawn is the best. The unevenness of early growth gets smoothed over to produce a transient, semi-manicured look. There is a lot of trim work to do, with minor clean-up. The clippings fell where they may providing mulch for the expected long and dry spell. I’m first to admit I don’t care for lawn mowing. The restrictive covenants require me to do it about twice a month.

The apple trees won’t have a good year. Two of them have zero blooms and the Red Delicious has only a couple dozen. The pear tree should bear fruit based on the abundance of blooms. There were plenty of pollinators flying around, including a bumblebee trying to fly up my pants leg.

I gave some excess onion sets to a neighbor and she reciprocated with some “walking onions.” They were ready to eat, but I stuck them in the ground next to one of the composters.

There is always more to do in a garden. We are thankful for each day of clement weather and sunlight.

Tags kale, Kitchen Garden, local food, Sustainability

Environment Kitchen Garden

Warp and Weft of a Garden

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date April 20, 2016

Farming is more than putting plow to furrow. It is a multitude of experiences, evaluations and decisions made over time.

The same is true for gardeners. Each garden, each plot, has its own micro environment and climate. Not only sun and rain, but wind, topography and history play a role.

This year a friend changed rented land for her community supported agriculture project and stories about her struggles are going around the local food community. The new soil hasn’t been worked for organic vegetables, and is recovering from row cropping. I believe — everyone is confident — she will persevere through the change. Yet it will be a setback in a business that operates on thin margins and more physical labor than mechanization. It’s when the going gets tough that farmers get going.

Over the last 23 years my Big Grove garden expanded from a single plot to six, and I’m looking at adding more. That doesn’t count the five fruit trees which have been a source of produce for a number of years. Yesterday the pear tree burst out in full bloom.

I mistakenly planted a locust tree in one of the garden plots. It has grow to maturity, providing shade for two plots at the same time the frequency and severity of drought has increased. Shade serves to protect cucumbers, herbs and greens from constant, intense sunlight in the absence of precipitation. It took me a while to realize what’s going on and leverage it. Now I couldn’t imaging growing without it.

There are a hundred small things like the benefits of a locust tree that converge in the plots of my garden. When I think of retirement — more often now than previously — I can’t imaging life far from a garden and the diverse intricacies of what sustains me and enables vegetables to grow.

My garden and I are the same warp and weft of life that sustains us all.

Tags environment, farming, Kitchen Garden, local food, Sustainability