 |
|
Organic Gardening |
Fall/Winter News |
|
It's been a little busy here on the farmstead
and the farm. Soybeans have been coming off and some corn has been
picked. My son-in-law has been out late and up early doing the best
he can to get as much done as possible during the rain. The soybean
crop was very good and corn is looking pretty
good--at least what's been picked. He wasn't able to get into
the fields today so he spent the day working on the corn-picker
header. Now what in the world does this have to do with us
gardeners? TOOLS my good man/woman, tools. Big or small,
they all need service and maintenance. From the biggest
12-row corn picker to the little garden spade.
I only have one more pre-winter chore to do, and that's a final mowing of the yard. Hopefully that will happen in the next week. Weather permitting, of course. I always mulch my last couple of mowings of the yard. No special technical reason. I just feel it creates a better layer of mulch for next spring's growth. Someone out there may disagree. I know people who cut the grass low and use the clippings in their compost pile. That's good for them, mulching is good for me. The key is don't waste one of Mother Nature's most valuable products. Oh yes, tools that what I was supposed to be talking about. What do I do this time of year? Well, it's quite simple, you see. It's called clean and protect. First, I gather all the small hand tools and give them a good washing with the hose and sometimes a wire brush. It's important to get off ALL the dirt. If you don't, the protective coating won't adhere to the tool and rust can set in. So get out the elbow grease and scrub until you see bright and shiny metal. Now when that is completed and the tool is dry you must decide if you are going to paint or just put a protective coat of oil or silicone on it. Being and old guy, I just like the oil. I get an old thick rag; towels Grandma throws out are very good. Soak it with some motor oil and with great vigor and enthusiasm oil the heck out of the tool. I have already prepared a place for the tool. Just be certain you have taken care to protect underneath the tool. If you did it properly, you may just have some oil drops. Now with one tool down and several more to go, I suggest you go to the kitchen. If you are lucky maybe Grandma has baked a couple dozen cookies and made a pot of coffee. Take a break, eat a warm cookie or two or three fresh from the over. Drink a good cup of coffee and go for the next tool. It may take you a while, but doggone it, Grandma doesn't bake them cookies to just look at! 
|
Winter Gardening |
| Gardening can be productive even in the winter time....one just has to be
a little creative. A little creative and dressed warmly. Tools need cleaned
and painted, pots need cleaned and stored and you can even work a little on the
ol' compost heap.
I recycle most everything that is bio-degradable in my compost heap. Now, I admit it is a little easier for me to do this because I live in the county. My neighbor has a couple of horses and I have a couple of rabbits. Here's the way I work my compost heap in the winter time. First, I throw no food stuff away. If you don't like to eat leftovers, they can go to the compost heap. I have a garbage disposal that seldom gets used. All non-edible food goes in to a small sealed container in the utility room. Actually, it is simply an empty cat-litter pan. It's plastic and has a lid that seals well so there is no odor or attempt by said cat to investigate. Depending on my mood and the weather conditions and how full the bucket is, it usually gets dumped on Sunday, my day off. Of course it gets dumped on the compost heap. I mentioned my neighbor has horses. Now with this you have to be a little careful. A horse does not digest small seeds well. If your neighbor is feeding his/her horses hay with a lot of weeds in it, you may not want to use those horses' droppings on your compost heap. You will be planting and fertilizing weed seeds in one easy step. You will also make a lot of work for yourself in the spring. The composting cycle will break down many of the weed seeds but not all of them. You will have to decide. Fortunately my neighbor feeds good-quality Timothy hay and I have had few problems. I layer the horse droppings with other compost additives throughout the year. The fresher the droppings, the better they give off heat, which helps break down the compost quicker and better. You can also make a droppings brew for your garden or compost heap. I will explain that in a later article. My rabbits supply my favorite additive to my compost heap. They produce on a steady basis. We all know rabbits produce baby rabbits rapidly and that's not all they produce rapidly. The small pellets break down quickly which is good. They also can be added directly to the garden in the very early spring. Spring rains will break them down much faster than the larger horse droppings--should you spread them directly to the garden. My rabbits are slightly spoiled because they get left-overs from the garden and seldom have access to weeds. Make sure if you feed any of your animals garden left-overs that they are not rotten or rotting. Bad vegetables will make an animal sick just like they would with a human. Have you ever tried to give a rabbit a tablespoon of Milk of Magnesia for his upset stomach?! If you choose to save the left-overs and compost them during the winter, you will still need to turn your compost pile over on occasion. Getting all bundled up and trundling outside and turning the compost heap is good exercise too. Usually enough snow will fall to keep it somewhat moist. If not, in the early spring you can feel free to get out the old garden hose early and give it a shot of water. You're going to have to get that hose (and yourself) out sooner or later! Yes, it may be cold outside but gardening doesn't have to stop just because the snow and temperatures fall. |
Labor Day |
|
What to do on Labor Day? The obvious answer is for one to labor. Is it not?
Today was an excellent day to begin making the grape juice I will use this winter.
Not too hot, not too humid and with a little breeze. As with most of my garden projects,
I start off with chemical-free soil. Some would call it organic.
I just call it chemical-free. The term organic means different things to
different people so chemical-free pretty much means what it says.
I started out about 7 years ago with my project to grow healthy chemical-free vegetables for my family to consume. I had for many years been reading about organic foods and over the period of several years decided that was the way for me to go. If you want to be truly organic you can go to the extra effort; I just wanted to grow healthy foods for my family-- therefore the term chemical-free. Even the soil has to be free of chemicals for a specific length of time for anything grown to be called organic. Being a little on the impatient side, I wanted to get started right away. Our land has laid fallow for approximately 4 years before we bought it so I felt it would be fairly safe. I hadn't used any chemicals on the land, so in my belief it is pretty natural and chemical-free. I began by planting an organically grown grape vine near my patio. This was basically because my grandson liked grapes and this way mom would let him come stay with grandpa who would give him grapes instead of cookies. I was fortunate that my soil was well-suited for a grape vine, and in a couple of years I found myself pruning my vine more and more. It was affectionately dubbed grapevine gone wild. So now we have chemical-free soil and an organic grapevine. Now on to the chore at hand: winter's grape juice. It is a fairly simple process. First, pick your grapes. Fairly easy. I know people who use rubber gloves. I don't. I like to go to work with grape-stained hands and tell everyone how hard I worked over the holiday.
Second, separate your grapes from the vines. I really haven't figured out a good way to do this other than the old-fashioned way of using your hands. I put the grapes in one bowl and the leaves and stems in a second. The leaves and stems wind up in my compost heap. Third--now this is where it gets complicated.
Those old Lucy episodes are still funny, even after 60 years. Anyway, back to our project. Fourth, which ever way you use, you must cook the mashed grapes. Put them in a large pot or pan and let them simmer while you smell the aroma of fresh grapes. Stir occasionally. Do this for about 10 to 15 minutes but never let the pan come to a complete boil. Stir and simmer. Fifth, strain and drain. Using a deep bowl, crock pot or something that will hold all of your cooked grapes, tightly place cheesecloth over the top. Be certain to push the middle of the cheesecloth down so your cooked grapes go toward the middle of your vessel and not the outside. Place the vessel on a large shallow tray or as I do place it in the sink. Be very careful with the simmering grape pot....it is HOT. Slowly pour your simmered grape mixture into the cheesecloth strainer. This is why you need to make sure the cheesecloth is securely fastened around the pot or bowl. Place in the refrigerator and allow this to drain overnight. The next day, remove the cheesecloth and sample your freshly made, chemical-free grape juice. If it is too strong, you can cut it by adding some water. I use distilled water; as I have found out, sometimes spring water doesn't necessarily come from a spring! Now your grape juice is complete. You can freeze it in plastic bags, ice-cube trays, or if you've only made a little, make a toast and drink it up. Here's to your health! |
Winter Gardening |
| Gardening can be productive even in the winter time....one just has to be
a little creative. A little creative and dressed warmly. Tools need cleaned
and painted, pots need cleaned and stored and you can even work a little on the
ol' compost heap.
I recycle most everything that is bio-degradable in my compost heap. Now, I admit it is a little easier for me to do this because I live in the county. My neighbor has a couple of horses and I have a couple of rabbits. Here's the way I work my compost heap in the winter time. First, I throw no food stuff away. If you don't like to eat leftovers, they can go to the compost heap. I have a garbage disposal that seldom gets used. All non-edible food goes in to a small sealed container in the utility room. Actually, it is simply an empty cat-litter pan. It's plastic and has a lid that seals well so there is no odor or attempt by said cat to investigate. Depending on my mood and the weather conditions and how full the bucket is, it usually gets dumped on Sunday, my day off. Of course it gets dumped on the compost heap. I mentioned my neighbor has horses. Now with this you have to be a little careful. A horse does not digest small seeds well. If your neighbor is feeding his/her horses hay with a lot of weeds in it, you may not want to use those horses' droppings on your compost heap. You will be planting and fertilizing weed seeds in one easy step. You will also make a lot of work for yourself in the spring. The composting cycle will break down many of the weed seeds but not all of them. You will have to decide. Fortunately my neighbor feeds good-quality Timothy hay and I have had few problems. I layer the horse droppings with other compost additives throughout the year. The fresher the droppings, the better they give off heat, which helps break down the compost quicker and better. You can also make a droppings brew for your garden or compost heap. I will explain that in a later article. My rabbits supply my favorite additive to my compost heap. They produce on a steady basis. We all know rabbits produce baby rabbits rapidly and that's not all they produce rapidly. The small pellets break down quickly which is good. They also can be added directly to the garden in the very early spring. Spring rains will break them down much faster than the larger horse droppings--should you spread them directly to the garden. My rabbits are slightly spoiled because they get left-overs from the garden and seldom have access to weeds. Make sure if you feed any of your animals garden left-overs that they are not rotten or rotting. Bad vegetables will make an animal sick just like they would with a human. Have you ever tried to give a rabbit a tablespoon of Milk of Magnesia for his upset stomach?! If you choose to save the left-overs and compost them during the winter, you will still need to turn your compost pile over on occasion. Getting all bundled up and trundling outside and turning the compost heap is good exercise too. Usually enough snow will fall to keep it somewhat moist. If not, in the early spring you can feel free to get out the old garden hose early and give it a shot of water. You're going to have to get that hose (and yourself) out sooner or later! Yes, it may be cold outside but gardening doesn't have to stop just because the snow and temperatures fall. |
| Home | Spices | Other Stuff | Healthy Choices | About Us | Contact Us | Links |