Pickled Green Tomatoes

A couple weeks ago, Carlos and I played our first show at the new Farmers Market of the Ozarks in Springfield. It was a very rainy day amongst many new farmer friends. After the show, we got a big basket of donations from many generous farmers. In the basket was 5 juicy, slightly sour green tomatoes. We fried one, baked one into a casserole, and the rest I decided to pickle this morning. :) 

 

Supplies & Ingredients

two green tomatoes

two cloves garlic

three parsley stems

four chive leaves

1/4 onion (last minute decision, not pictured above)

freshly ground pepper

heaping tablespoon sea salt

apple cider vinegar

olive oil

water

knife, cutting board, quart mason jar

Slice and chop the ingredients. Since the jar will sit and maturate for a couple of weeks, it's not necessary to chop things very small. The ingredients will all absorb one another. Many people even like keeping their tomatoes whole.

 

When I pickle things, I always like to do it in layers. This is how I did it - tomatoes, pepper, herbs, tomatoes, pepper, herbs. It's like a pickle casserole in a jar! 

After all the ingredients are layered in the jar, I mix my pickling juice. I normally abstain from using specific measurements, but instead use a general method. In this case, here is my method:

A heaping tablespoon (ish) of sea salt per quart jar of pickles.

I fill my jars with 1/3 vinegar to 2/3 water leaving room at the top.

 Since I still had loads of room after adding my pickling juice, I decided to add onions! Yuuuummy. :) I threw them in the jar and shook it up. Shake SHAKE Shake

To ensure that unwanted bacterias don't penetrate the jar, I top it off with olive oil and make sure everything is completely submerged. 

... And that's all there is to it!!!

You can use this recipe to pickle many vegetables, even fruits!

Gardens can grow anywhere!!!

{Gardening in Branson, Missouri}

I am very inspired to share with everyone the progress of our garden here in Branson, Missouri... Yes, I'm back in Branson with my loving life partner Carlos! We arrived a couple weeks ago from San Diego and are living with my parents in their little Bee Creek apartment. I haven't seen too many bees yet, but that's what they call it. :) Our space is limited here, but we intend to use every inch of space we can to grow many diverse plants including enough produce to stuff ourselves this summer and fall!

The first step to starting a garden in our apartment complex was talking to maintenance guys and the gals in the office. My dad took care of that business, since he and my mom are the ones on the lease. It's great to have a good relationship with these people and be open about your intentions and the general day to day of the place you are living so you can help eachother and develop a sense of community. My dad was already on good terms with Hugh, the head maintenance guy. When he spoke with the office, the ladies there said as long as it's cool with Hugh, it's cool with them and we just have to keep it neat. Hugh doesn't do the landscaping himself, but he hires the people that do. Next my dad talked to Hugh about it and he told him he doesn't mind at all, as long as the maintenance and landscaping folks don't have to work on it and we handle all the plants ourselves. His other criteria was that we keep it weeded and nice looking. Easy peasy! We got the okay so I came out last year and got started.

We are living in the Missouri Ozarks and they are quite hilly and rocky. They call this topography "karst", topsoil that sits on layers of limestone. It's a very beautiful place, incredibly scenic, green, and teaming with life. The problem lies with the present day methods that industry uses in developing land - they blow off the hilltops to create a flat surface to build on, quick and easy. So all of the topsoil is gone and you're left with rock to plant your crops in. It makes for a very difficult soil to dig in. Lucky for me, I haven't been into digging for years! This saved me from many aches and pains I'm sure. I much prefer building up the soil rather than altering what is already there. Some folks call this "no-till gardening" or "lasagna gardening," referring to laying compost or manure and newspaper, cardboard, etc. Others refer to as "raised beds". Refer to this post for more detailed directions: http://ddtheadventurer.blogspot.com/2010/07/raised-no-till-garden.html

My friend Stephen and I took his truck to a horse ranch in the country and picked up a truckload of manure for a few bucks and got to work. We borrowed a wheelbarrow from a neighbor and hauled the manure from his truck in the parking to the corner of the building we live in and set up our garden bed! The next day I lined it with beautiful limestone rocks from the side of the hill and voila!

 

Most of the plants pictured here are the leftovers and volunteers from last year. There are three landscaping plants that were there already, the bush by the window and two chunks of grass. I am tempted to remove them and use them as mulch, but in keeping that good relationship with the apartment folks I haven't done it yet. :) In the front there is a massive clump of spearmint that I planted last spring from a tiny started and it got wild. Next to the mint is a big parsley that is going to seed, also planted last spring. There are lettuces that I planted last fall and they made it through the winter and are taking off now in the spring. That's a lettuce in the bottom left corner too! In the back left is our carrot and radish section, just planted seeds a week ago and seeing random sprouts.. not sure what they are yet. 

 Last year Carlos and I spent three weeks on a farm in the tiny town of Foil, Missouri. It's a few hours northeast of us in Branson, the closest populated town with stores and such is Ava. If you ever make it to Ava, check out the local drugstore - they sell a scoop of ice cream for 5 cents! No joke. The farm we stayed at is our friend Pearl's little homestead, a beautiful place where we learned lots about native plants, simple gardening techniques, milking goats, and slaughtering chickens! It was incredible. We left with some native Elderberry bushes and Wild Cherry trees and when we got back to Branson we stuck them all in our garden to overwinter. Now that it's Spring they are taking off and must be moved somewhere before the grow huge and take over. We are leaving this one Elderberry bush, pictured left. The rest of these amazing plants are being moved to their new home in the forest.

Wild Cherry Tree with our Winter Wheat and Rye Grass

This is our patio garden! :) The hanging planters were given to us by our upstairs neighbor Susan. She's such a sweetheart. She also gave us that tiny little wooden chair in the bottom right corner. It's holding our pot of oregano, with two brand new baby sprouts!

Left: Chives and Mint; Right: Cress; Center: More Mint

Lots of BABIES!! Tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, kale, etc...

Flowers - A California Poppy, Blue Hyssop, and Dwarf Morning Glory and Kale on the left

Little Basil Sprouts! I love the curvy leaves, so cute.

I decided to set up a second garden bed since we have so much growing and there was plenty of space next to the first bed. This time we didn't have a truck to pick up manure and my mom wasn't keen on the idea of throwing poo in the back of her trailblazer...

So we talked mom into letting us put the manure in bucket and trash cans and transported it that way!

The buckets for poo!

Woodland Nicotiana, a ceremonial smoking tobacco with beautiful flowers.

Aztec Marigolds - they're LOVING this hot Spring

It's amazing how many plants we can fit onto a patio and just the corner of our apartment building. Hopefully we can find a place for everyone when it's time to transplant! I'm sure we can make it happen. I will make updates as the season progresses.

Happy planting!!!

Love. Peace. Growth. 

Ecocide - part 1

I have been reading and thinking, pondering and scheming... nothing new. What has got my heart tied in a knot, my brain flip flopping all around is a long tale, the story of civilization. From it's birth in Mespotamia 7000 years ago, it rages on but faster and dirtier than ever. Thinking "green" is not enough to turn this sad story around, an end to civilization and an abrupt end to all fossil fuel use seems to me the only answer. Outrageous to even think of it, I know, but what's more important - a healthy economy or a liveable planet? I'll take the latter. Two hundred species go extinct every day, using a cloth bag to throw my farm bought, organic produce in won't bring them back. Of course a healthy diet without pesticide poisoning is important, but it's not enough to change the state of the world. THe government wants to run everyone in this country to cities so the destruction of our landbase goes unnoticed. They're doing a damn good job at it. I recently saw a film called Gasland that presented some grave details about the natural gas industry. This apparent "clean" fossil fuel deserves a blog all it's own but let me just say that they are pumping some very deadly, toxic chemicals into the ground seeping into the groundwater of many peoples wherever natural gas is being drilled. These people have cancer, irreversible brain damage, flammable water that obviously should not be used for anyone.. and many of them aren't even aware. It's absolutely horendous.

Some say that violence is not the answer, that we must kill with kindness. While we are sending thoughts of love to every CEO in the country, they are making millions of dollars while murdering people, animals, and land all over the world. This is violence. This is genocide. I will not stand by and witness genocide without fighting to stop it. This is a call to action. I don't know what to do yet, but the answer will come to me and while I wait, I hope everyone else opens their eyes and admits that what is going on is murder. The corporations and governments are the murderers, but we are watching is happen.

Moon Cycle Farming

I have officially begun experimenting with gardening by the moon cycle. All I know is what I have read, but I understand that basics of it pretty well. The moon has a gravitational pull on the planet's water. When I was a kid I learned about the ocean tides in relation to the moon, but until recently I never thought about the effect of the moon on the groundwater and the rest of the water on earth.

What I have learned so far...

New Moon:
A time to maintain the garden. State of rest. Growth of plants is steady and stable. Plant damage is repaired. Time to cultivate, harvest, transplant, prune, till, add necessary ammendments.

WAXING - a time of increasing moonlight
From New Moon to Second 1/4 Moon:
Plant leafy crops and all gymnosperms - plants with seeds exposed on outer portion (greens, corn).
From Second 1/4 to Full Moon:
Plant angiosperms - plants with seeds enclosed in an ovary (beans, eggplant, squash).

Full Moon:
Do no planting. It is the apex of the above ground planting cycle. Seeds planted during waxing moon should be sprouting. A time of balanced growth and period when plants establish themselves. Soil preparation and ammendments can be done during this time. Harvesting is best done during full moon. Herbs and veggies are at peak flavor and nutrition.

WANING - a time of decreasing moonlight
From Full Moon to Third 1/4 Moon:
Gravitational effects drain moisture down through soil. Plant biennials, perennials, bulbs, root plants, trees, and shrubs.
Third 1/4 Moon to New Moon:
Garden Maintenance! Cultivate soil, weed, and remove unwanted plants. Prune. No planting. Timber cut during this time dries out better. Best time to weed because the weed seeds and roots will have a harder time reaching water.

If anyone has any information to add this, please do! I'm a beginner and have much learning to do.

Greyhound Bus

Today I'm going home! That's San Diego these days. I've been away for the past 3 months, hitch hiking up the coast of California into Oregon, then I took the bus to Texas and came to Missouri with my parents. I'm so ready to go back to San Diego and settle into a place for the winter, probably longer. Nothing excites me more right now than thinking about the garden that I started with my friends in Vista. It was nothing but a big flattened out piece of dirt with no top soil, and we have slowly been adding compost, manure, and straw to build up the soil so we can grow on it. When I left, we didn't have much besides herbs, succulents, and a few strawberries and spinach. Last I talked to my buddy Ricky, things are going really well there! So great to hear. A chicken coop was in the works when I left, so there could very well be chickens pecking around by now! All I want to do is find a place to camp nearby, wake up every morning to some raw breakfast, and bike over to the garden to work with my SD family. Nothing sounds better.

I'll be getting on the Greyhound bus at 1:45pm today, arriving in San Diego at 5:45am Wednesday... that's a long ass bus ride, but I'm ready for it! Brought a bunch of granola, bananas, whole grain graham crackers, organic peanut butter, and plenty of agua. It's a beautiful trip through the desert of the southwest, one of my favourite places. Bon voyage!