Cold Storage

I was very excited when Ken and Mac completed our cold storage room in 2010. They tore down 2 block walls and ripped out an unused shower stall, sink, and toilet to open up a space that would be big enough to hold 2 deep freezers and make shift shelves to hold winter squash, pumpkins, onion, apples, potatoes, and other produce that stores well. In Spring, Fall, and Winter, this room generally stays around 40 degrees which is the perfect temperature for the long term storage of crops. This low temperature also decreases the amount of electricity that the freezers use which is greener for the environment and keeps our electric bills lower. The cold storage room is located between the garage and the lodge, so every time I walk by it, I have the opportunity to admire the non-GMO, non-hybrid heirloom veggies we raised in our vegetable gardens this year.



My favorite crop that we grew for long term storage is the jarrahdale pumpkin. It is a slate, blue-grey pumpkin that weighs 6-10 pounds. Its shape is flat, ribbed, and very decorative. It is a good keeper. As a practical matter, it was very easy to grow, but the vines do require a large amount of garden space. Also, it is very easy to clean out and cook up because the flesh is smooth rather than stringy, and it has a very delicious flesh. These pumpkins are not available at traditional groceries, but they are sometimes available at farmer's markets in Fall.


I admired our jarrahdale pumpkins sitting in our cold storage for the past 4 months instead of eating them, so they were starting to spoil a little. The majority of the inside flesh was fine, but it was definitely time to do something with them.


Ken cut open, seeded, and cubed the pumpkin.



Then, he placed the cubed pumpkin in a large stock pot and cooked it down. We will use the resulting pumpkin puree to make pumpkin soup tomorrow. The rest of the pumpkin puree will be placed in Ziploc bags and put in the freezer. We will use the puree this summer to make pumpkin bread for our guests at The Ponderosa Lodge.

Chicks - Week 8

It's hard to believe it's almost July. This batch of poultry has been out to pasture for four weeks now. I prepared the brooder house for our next round of turkeys, which we will raise for Thanksgiving. At this point in time, I would be planning to butcher Cornish Rocs. The Freedom Ranger Broilers have gained considerable weight, and some could be ready to butcher in a week or so. I plan to butcher all of them by the middle of July, when they are 11 weeks old. They love to forage, much more than Cornish Rocs do, and have eaten a great deal of grass. I'm also impressed with the foraging capabilities of the ducks. Along with the turkeys and the broilers, they are all keeping me busy with moving their fence. I move them to fresh pasture ever other day, now.

Liam loves feeding them every day. He's almost as tall as the 42" fence.

Delicious Red Berries!

Here on the farm, we love strawberries. They have always been my favorite fruit. Jorene loves them. Liam is following in his parents step. Even Hope likes strawberries. So, to have enough for the four of us and our guests, we grow a lot of strawberries. I have two 4' x 10' beds of Junebearers, and started 4 more beds last fall. Next week, I will be planting 3 beds of Everbearers (Ozark Beauty). Did I mention that we love strawberries?

Our two established beds started ripening on Monday. We had been snacking on them the past several days. Friday, it was time to do some serious picking. I picked 12 lbs. of beautiful red berries, leaving the pink ones to pick later this weekend.



What will I do with all of these strawberries? Well, I use some in the fruit salad for our guests at the lodge. Next, I made Strawberry Sorbet.

Strawberry Sorbet

1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
4 cups fresh or thawed frozen strawberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Combine sugar and water in heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until all sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, place in refrigerator and cool completely. Puree strawberries; add lemon juice and sugar water.

Start ice cream maker and pour mixture through hole in lid. Freeze until desired consistency or the unit stops.

4 cups of fresh strawberries, ready to be pureed.

Finished sorbet, ready to freeze.

I also like to freeze whole strawberries for baking later. I pick the best looking berries, wash and remove the stems, and lay them on a cookie sheet. I put them in the freezer until they are hard and won't stick together. Then, the berries can be put in a quart or gallon freezer bag.


Since I had the food processor out, I decided to mix up some batches of Strawberry Ice Cream.

Strawberry Ice Cream

1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup fresh strawberries
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk

Chop the strawberries in a food processor by pulsing a couple of times. This makes nice bite size bits of strawberry. If you want a smoother ice cream, continue pulsing until the fruit is pureed.


Combine sugar, lemon juice, and fruit. Stir until well mixed. Stir in cream and milk.

Start ice cream maker and pour mixture through hole in lid. Freeze until desired consistency or until the unit stops.

A smile on my son's face is all I ask for.

Another Addittion to the Farm

Sunday, we picked up a Red Angus steer to add to our farm. He is a yearling and weighs 615 lbs. I hope he will be around 800 - 900 lbs. by this fall. Like all of the animals on our farm, he will be raised on clean, organic pasture. Other than worming medicine, he will not receive antibiotics, vaccines or synthetic growth supplements.

Chicken Eggs

We love gathering the chicken eggs everyday here on the farm. I love it. Jorene loves it. Liam loves it. Even Hope loves going to the chicken house. It reminds us everyday of our self-reliant life and how healthier our life is by limiting what we buy at the store.

Now that the days have gotten longer and warmer, our egg production is increasing. During the winter, we would usually get 19 - 20 eggs a day. Now I am collecting 22 - 24 eggs a day, and that will increase to about 28 - 30 by summer. The surprise, yesterday, though was a green egg. You can see it on top of the basket, under Hope's nose.

While colored eggs are not uncommon, I cannot identify the chicken who is laying this green egg. I used to have 2 Ameraucanas or Easter Egg Chickens. I thought we had lost both of them last year, one to a predator and one to illness. But, apparently I was wrong. When I look around the hen house, I cannot find a Ameraucana anywhere. So, I don't know who is responsible for this green egg. Strange.

Potatoes in a Bucket

We found this old rusty bucket on a recent walk in the woods. I hated to see it laying in the woods and I thought it would make a great bucket for growing potatoes. For several years, I've grown potatoes in the garden using the straw method. But I thought it would be fun to experiment with growing them in a bucket.


It already had a couple of holes in the bottom, but I drilled more to have adequate drainage. I then put several inches of compost and peat moss.


It's always good to have help around the farm. Liam and Hope helped me put 3 eye pieces of All-Blue, Onaway(White), and Caraway(Red) potatoes in the bucket. We then put about 6 inches of wood shavings over the potatoes. You could also use potting soil or straw. I get the wood shavings for free from a saw mill nearby.

When the plants start to emerge, I'll put cover with more wood shavings to keep the tubers covered. If all goes well, I plan to make red, white, and blue potato chips for Fourth of July.

First Weekend of Spring

We took full advantage of this first weekend of Spring. The weather was beautiful and the snow is almost gone. I cleaned up the two beds I had hoops over for the winter. They were buried in the snow all winter, so the plants in them barely grew. It wasn't worth keeping so few plants, so I pulled the tiny greens up and gave them to a rabbit.

In our seven raised beds, I planted peas (shelling and sugar snap), onions, bunching onions, radishes, turnips, broccoli, cabbage, and beets. I covered all of these beds with row cover to provide some frost protection and insect control. I also made two salad boxes and planted lettuce and asian greens. I didn't get a picture of them yet, but I will soon. I plan to make more a couple more salad boxes this week.

Here is Jorene, Liam and our cat Georgia helping plant some seeds.

Time for a nap. I wonder what this seed will grow up to be?

Jumbo Seed Order

This week, we received our Jumbo Heirloom Collection of seeds from Baker Creek. We ordered this collection of non-GMO, non-hybrid seeds to get started with our garden. We received a plastic 5 gallon bucket full of many different varieties of seeds to grow food for ourselves, our guests at the Ponderosa Lodge, and our friends. It was a great value and a great way to jump start our vegetable garden expansion. We'll grow some of them and save the rest for next year. Our bucket includes the following seeds:



Vegetables
Amaranth, Love Lies Bleeding - Green
Amaranth, Love Lies Bleeding - Red
Asparagus, Mary Washington
Bean, Contender
Bean, Fava, Aquadulce
Bean, Fava, Broad Windsor
Bean, Jacob's Cattle
Bean, Old Homestead (Kentucky Wonder)
Bean, Purple Podded
Bean, Roma
Bean, Scarlet Runner
Beet, Chioggia
Beet, Crosby's Egyptian
Beet, Cylindra
Beet, Mammoth Red Mangel
Broccoli, Calabrese Green Sprouting
Broccoli, Early Purple Sprouting
Broccoli, Rapini
Brussels Sprouts, Long Island Improved
Buckwheat
Cabbage, Cour di Bue
Cabbage, Henderson's Charleston Wakefield
Cabbage, Mammoth Red Rock
Cabbage, Nero Di Toscana
Carrot, Chantenay Red Core
Carrot, Danvers 126 Half Long
Carrot, Shin Kuroda 5"
Carrot, St. Valery
Carrot, Tonda Di Parigi
Cauliflower, Green Macerata
Cauliflower, Snowball Self-Blanching
Cauliflower, Violetta Italia
Celeriac, Giant Prague
Celery, Tendercrisp
Chicory, Castelfranco
Chicory, Grumolo Biondo Golden
Chicory, Italiko Rosso Dandelion
Chicory, Sugar Loaf
Chicory, Witloof Di Bruxelles
Collards, Georgia Southern
Corn, Country Gentleman
Corn, Pencil Cob Dent
Corn, Stowell's Evergreen
Corn, Wade's Giant Indian
Cowpea, Bohemian
Cowpea, California Blackeye
Cucumber Marketmore 76
Cucumber, Beit Alpha
Cucumber, Boothby's Blonde
Cucumber, Delikatesse
Cucumber, Early Russian
Cucumber, Poona Kheera
Cucumber, Sikkim
Cucumber, West India Burr Gherkin
Cucumber, White Wonder
Eggplant, Applegreen
Eggplant, Black Champion
Eggplant, Brazilian Oval Orange
Eggplant, Casper
Eggplant, Long Purple
Eggplant, Ping Tung
Eggplant, Round Mauve
Eggplant, Turkish Orange
Endive, Batavian Full Heart
Endive, De Meaux
Fennel, Di Ferenze
Gourds, Bottle
Gourds, Long Handled Mixed
Gourds, Orange
Gourds, Serpente Di Sicilia
Greens, Arugula
Greens, Corn Salad
Greens, Garden Cress
Greens, Mustard, Southern Giant Curled
Greens, Red Orach
Greens, Salad Burnet
Greens, Wrinkled, Crinkled Cress
Kale, Russian Red
Kohlrabi, Early Purple Vienna
Kohlrabi, Early White Vienna
Leek, Bulgarian Giant
Leek, Carentan
Lettuce, Big Boston
Lettuce, Black Seeded Simpson
Lettuce, Brune d'Hiver
Lettuce, Forellenschluss
Lettuce, Gentilina
Lettuce, Iceberg
Lettuce, Lotto Rossa
Lettuce, Mascara
Lettuce, May Queen
Lettuce, Merviella Des Quatre
Lettuce, Parris Island Cos
Lettuce, Red Romaine
Lettuce, Tom Thumb
Melon, Charentais
Melon, Collective Farm Woman
Melon, Early Hanover
Melon, Early Silver Line
Melon, Green Nutmeg
Melon, Hearts of Gold
Melon, Honey Rock
Melon, Israel Ogen
Melon, Jelly Melon Kiwano
Melon, Jenny Lind
Melon, Metki Dark Green Serpent
Melon, Metki White Serpent
Melon, Minnesota Midget
Melon, Noir De Carmes
Melon, Plum Granny
Melon, Pride of Wisconsin
Melon, Sakata's
Melon, Tigger
Melon, Tip Top
Millet, German Foxtail
Okra, Burgundy
Okra, Clemson Spineless
Okra, Emerald
Okra, Grandfather Kurtz
Okra, Perkins Long Pod
Okra, Star of David
Onion, Bronze d'Amposta
Onion, Crimson Forest Bunching
Onion, Red of Florence
Onion, Tokyo Long White Bunching
Onion, Tropeana Lunga
Onion, Yellow of Parma
Oriental Greens, Big Stem Mustard
Oriental Greens, Chinese Pak Choy
Oriental Greens, Extra Dwarf Pak Choy
Oriental Greens, Jiu Tou Niao Mustard
Oriental Greens, Komatsuma Tendergreen
Oriental Greens, Michihli Cabbage
Oriental Greens, Mizuna
Oriental Greens, Shanghai Green Choy
Oriental Greens, Tatsoi
Oriental Greens, Wong Bok
Parsnip, Harris Model
Parsnip, Hollow Crown
Pea, Alaska
Pea, Golden Sweet
Peas, De Grace
Peas, Little Marvel
Peas, Mammoth Melting Sugar Snow
Peas, Oregon Sugar Pod II
Peas, Sugar Snap
Peas, Tall Telephone
Peas, Wando
Pepper, Black Hungarian
Pepper, California Wonder
Pepper, Cayenne Long Thin
Pepper, Fish
Pepper, Golden Marconi
Pepper, Golden Wonder
Pepper, Hungarian Hot Wax
Pepper, Purple Beauty
Pepper, Red Cheese
Pepper, Red Marconi
Pepper, Red Mini
Pepper, Sante Fe Grande
Pepper, Serrano Tapequino
Pepper, Sweet Red Stuffing
Pepper, Sweet Yellow Stuffing
Pepper, Tom Jalapeno
Pepper, Topepo Rosso
Peppers, India Jwala
Peppers, Lipstick
Quinoa, Kaslala
Radicchio, Rossa Di Verona
Radish, Chinese Green Luobo
Radish, Early Scarlet Globe
Radish, French Breakfast
Radish, German Giant
Radish, Long Scarlett
Radish, Purple Plum
Radish, Rat's Tail
Radish, Round Black Spanish
Radish, White Hailstone
Rhubarb, Victoria
Rutabaga, American Purple Top
Rutabaga, Laurnetian
Salsify, Mammoth Sandwich Island
Scorzonera, Geante Noire de Russie
Sorghum
Sorghum, Black Amber
Soya Bean, Envy
Spinach, Bloomsdale Long Standing
Spinach, Giant Noble
Spinach, Gigante d'Inverno
Spinach, Merlo Nero
Squash, Black Futsu
Squash, Americana Tonda
Squash, Bennings Green Tint Scallop
Squash, Bush Buttercup
Squash, Buttercup
Squash, Butternut Rogosa Violina Gioia
Squash, Connecticut Field Pumpkin
Squash, Costata Romanesco
Squash, Early Golden Crookneck
Squash, Gill's Golden Pippin
Squash, Golden Delicious
Squash, Golden Zucchini
Squash, Jack Be Little
Squash, Jarrahdale
Squash, Lebanese White Bush Marrow
Squash, Lemon
Squash, Long Island Cheese
Squash, New England Sugar Pie
Squash, Patisson Panache Scallop
Squash, Red Kuri
Squash, Striata D Italia
Squash, Sweet Dumpling
Squash, Sweet Meat
Squash, Table Queen
Squash, Table Queen Bush
Squash, Tonde De Nice
Squash, Tondo Scuro Di Piacenza
Squash, Turks Cap
Squash, Vegetable Spaghetti
Squash, White Bush Scallop
Squash, Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin
Squash, Zucchini Black Beauty
Squash, Zucchini Gray
Swiss Chard, Flamingo Pink
Swiss Chard, Fordhook Giant
Swiss Chard, Rainbow
Swiss Chard, Vulcan
Tomatillo, Purple
Tomatillo, Verde
Tomato, Arkansas Traveler
Tomato, Azoychka
Tomato, Beauty King
Tomato, Black Cherry
Tomato, Black Krim
Tomato, Black Prince
Tomato, Brandywine
Tomato, Cosmonaut Volkov
Tomato, Duggin White
Tomato, Egg Yolk
Tomato, Emerald Evergreen
Tomato, Golden Jubilee
Tomato, Golden Sunray
Tomato, Green Grape
Tomato, Green Moldovan
Tomato, Green Pineapple
Tomato, Green Sausage
Tomato, Henderson's Pink Ponderosa
Tomato, Japanese Black Trifele
Tomato, Pineapple
Tomato, Pink Grapefruit
Tomato, Pink Oxheart
Tomato, Plum Lemon
Tomato, Plum Tigris
Tomato, Purple Russian
Tomato, Red Zebra
Tomato, Riesentraube
Tomato, Roma
Tomato, Roman Candle
Tomato, Rutgers
Tomato, Sara Black
Tomato, Seattle's Best
Tomato, Snowberry
Tomato, Striped Cavern
Tomato, Striped Roman
Tomato, Sub-Arctic Plenty
Tomato, Thai Pink Egg
Tomato, Thessaloniki
Tomato, Tigerella
Tomato, White Queen
Tomato, White Wax
Turnip, Navet Des Vertus Marteau
Turnip, Purple Top Milan
Turnips, Shogoin
Watermelon, Astrakhanski
Watermelon, Cream of Saskatchewan
Watermelon, Crimson Sweet
Watermelon, Golden Midget
Watermelon, Peacock Striped
Watermelon, Sugar Baby
Watermelon, Sweet Siberian
Watermelon, Tendergold
Watermelon, White Wonder

Herbs
Anise Hysop
Basil, Dark Opal
Basil, Genovese
Basil, Greek Dwarf
Caraway
Chives
Cilantro
Cilantro, Slo Bott
Dill
Echinacea Purpurea
Lemon Balm
Parsley
Summer Savory
Tarragon, Russian

Berries
Gooseberry, Giant Cape
Ground Cherry
Huckleberry, Chichiquelite
Huckleberry, Garden
Strawberry Spinach
Wild Strawberry
Wonderberry

We were very surprised to see Jacob's Cattle beans, which Ken wanted to grow; Jelly Melon, which Jorene had wanted to grow; and a pink tomato named The Ponderosa Pink.

This weekend, we planted Broccoli (Calabrese Green Sprouting and Rapini), White Hailstone Radish, Shogoin Turnips and Dwarf Bok Choy. This week, I plant to start tomatoes and eggplant indoors, then move them to our cold frame. The tomatoes we want to grow are Beauty King, Brandywine, Golden Jubilee, Green Grape, Henderson's Pink Ponderosa, Cherokee Purple, Seattle's Best, Sub Arctic Plenty, and White Wax. The eggplants are Applegreen, Black Champion, Brazilian Oval Orange, and Round Mauve. I also have to decide what melons, squash and beans to grow. This is going to be a lot of fun!

The New Growing Challenge

I just signed us up for The Growing Challenge, Extreme Edition. The rules are:

• Grow 3 crops from seed this year
• Plant the seeds in 3 new people
• Tell your story
• Make it seed to seed

We are getting ready to start buying our seeds and starting seeds indoors and outdoors in our low tunnels. All of our seeds will be non-hybrid and non-GMO. Look for upcoming posts as we get started.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

One of the things I like to do for us is to make my own laundry detergent. It's really simple, economical, and environmentally friendly. The recipe is easy and the ingredients are few.

1 bar of natural soap, grated, 4 oz.
1 cup of Washing Soda
1 1/2 cups of Borax powder
1 two gallon or larger bucket for storing the detergent


Here are the ingredients, all natural and cheap. You can use unscented or scented natural soap, or you can make your own essential oils from herbs and flowers, (that's another post). The unscented detergent can be hypoallergenic.


Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan with 6 cups of water. Heat until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups of hot water into the bucket. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. Use 1/2 cup per load.


Here is the final mixture, before it has gelled. I made this batch while cooking breakfast this morning, it's that easy and quick. A two gallon batch of laundry detergent costs less than $3.00. We buy our bars of soap for $2.50. The boxes of Borax and Washing Soda each cost less than $3.00 and are enough for many batches of detergent.