Frozen Bliss

I awoke this morning to silence. I found my way into my warm clothes, boots, hat, coat and mittens quickly. With camera around my neck and garden dog at my side we headed outside to investigate.

It seems while I had spent two days hiding away with a mean stomach bug, my little world outside had been transformed into winter. A blanket of snow covered the garden and I smiled knowing that my garden friends were tucked in while the temperature hovered around 20 degrees.

Apparently it snowed a few inches followed by a light rain or mix because the snow was so crusty that Annie and I could glide along (yes, it was slippery too) without leaving a trace of where we had been. We traversed around the garden snapping photos of interesting sites.

The branches, berries, plumes and seed heads were lightly covered in ice which shimmered and twinkled as the sun came into the garden. A friend of mine (Sue) has always said that a coat of paint can hide a multitude of sins on any wall and I feel it is the same with a blanket of snow on the garden.

The best part of our snow was the silence; again I was struck by the quietness of the world. No cars hurrying by, no dogs barking (I guess everyone put them in since it was cold), no far away interstate noise…only an occasional cracking of the icy crust beneath my feet, a bird alerting her partner there was indeed a few seeds left in the feeder and the click of my camera lens.

When we decided to head back in we (okay, I) grabbed some wood for the stove and went in as quietly as possible. After feeding the stove it morning quota the dog and I made tea and toast (since it was a special occasion garden dog got a couple of cheez-its).

As I glanced out at the bird feeder I saw the tulips on the table that Jodie had brought me a couple of days earlier. While I was out of commission the tulips had gone from bud to beautiful yellow blooms. I looked out at the snow and back at the tulips…winter with the promise of spring, what a grand way to start the day!

Jarrahdale Pumpkin makes a Great Squash Pie

My brother and his family have a farm market in Charlevoix, Michigan. They grow strawberries, raspberries and blackberries that you can pick yourself as well as vegetables, herbs and cut flowers that they sell at their farm market.

This past fall my son was visiting the family ‘up north’ and brought back some pumpkins for decorating. This particular pumpkin was a lovely blue-green with a good looking stem that was a real attraction on the front porch nestled in with the pumpkins from my compost heap (long story).

Before our unusual cold snap in December I put it in the garage for safe keeping while I thought about cooking it. In January I saw this lonely pumpkin sitting in the garage and decided to cook it up. So, I proceeded to just toss the thing whole into the oven rather than taking a chance of cutting off my arm trying to hack through it. I’m guessing it was about 8 lbs or so. I had to take out one rack so it would fit and at the last minute I decided to poke some holes in the top just in case it blew. Have you ever had a baked potato blow up in your oven? Me too and it isn’t pretty and this cucurbit was so big…it could take out the entire oven door!

It took about an hour and a half at 350 degrees before it was tender when tested with a knife. I hauled it out and let it cool. I should have put a tray under it as it bubbled some onto the oven floor (next time). It was so easy to cut in half – like butter. Next I scooped out the seeds and put them into a colander for later. The flesh was deep orange and sweet. This can’t be a pumpkin; it has too much color and flavor I thought to myself. I made a couple of pumpkin pies and divided the rest into quart size bags and sent it on to the freezer. The pies were a hit, everyone raved about them. Later I called my sister-n-law Sue and asked what kind of pumpkin she sent to me.

She confirmed my suspicions, although it is called a Jarrahdale Pumpkin, it is really a winter squash, Cucurbita maxima; an Australian heirloom variety grown for its unique blue-green skin and its deep orange colored flesh, perfect for pies.

I am planting this old fashioned squash who tries to pass for a pumpkin this year in my garden.

Seeds are available at Johnny Select seeds http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-6153-jarrahdale.aspx

Cici’s easy pie crust
In a pie plate combine:
1 cup unbleached flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons Flax seed (whole or ground slightly)
A pinch of sea salt
½ cup oil
Mix with a fork until well blended then add:
¼ cup milk
Mix well then with hands pat out crust to fit pan

To cook a Jarrahdale Pumpkin: Place whole squash in oven, poke some hole in the shoulders. Place cookie sheet under to avoid oven cleanup. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or so – until it is tender. Cool then cut in half, scoop out seeds then scoop out orange flesh. Freeze any leftovers.

Home-grown squash pie
In food processor add:
2 eggs
½ -3/4 cup sugar
Blend then add:
1 ½ - 2 cup jarrahdale pumpkin, cooked
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 ½ cup milk

Blend together and pour into un-baked pie crust
Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, turn down oven to 350 and bake
Additional 45min to 1 hour until knife comes out clean. Enjoy!

Kitchen Garden Success Story

Our friends, Tom and Lucy visited my raised bed kitchen garden this past fall and decided to go home and build one of their own. They located the garden near their driveway in a sunny location that they pass by everyday. Smart logic! This garden will be well tended or at least looked at on a daily basis so weeds, pests, harvest and water needs will never sneak up on them.

Landscape fabric was placed under the raised beds and between the beds to control weeds; a great use for this type of fabric and it will keep these new veggie gardeners from getting discouraged. Weeds also compete for water and nutrients so keeping them at bay makes sense.

They decided to build a hoop house over one of the 4'x8' beds to grow a cool season garden. Another plus to choosing a location that you pass by daily since the hoop house is hand ventilated each sunny day by opening the ends of the plastic. They have been picking greens here and there but yesterday they decided it was time to pick a bunch. That is a beautiful mess of collards, kale and Swiss chard. Tom plans on trying to grow greens and such all winter using the hoop house. Its so crazy it just might work...awesome job Tom and Lucy!!!



A beautiful bouquet of greens in December

Bury me in a Garden

Cousin Heintz and me checking up on the relatives

in Huntwangen, Switzerland

On my second visit to Switzerland my cousin Heinz picked my friend Diane and I up at the airport in Zurich and took us to the little village Hüntwangen, in the canton of Zurich where my Great Great Great Grandparents came from.

I had been there two years earlier with my husband and was anxious to show my friend. Heinz and his brother Peter still own some of the original property where my ancestors lived and farmed.

We stopped in the village and to look at the spot where my relative’s home had once stood before a fire destroyed it. My relatives lived in the customs house. (This village borders Germany). Then we walked to the chalet of my Great Aunt who had recently passed on. The house was for sale – (about $250, 000. U.S. currency). Heintz showed us around outside. The house was a traditional Swiss home with the barn attached and the remains of a small fenced garden on two sides. Heintz found an old pair of wooden skis that he used as a child in the barn. He spent many happy days in this old place with his mother’s family during school breaks and weekends.

We then walked into what appeared to be someone’s home which it was but also a small restaurant where we had some breakfast. Since I speak no Swiss German and my cousin is fluid in English, Heinz proceeded to ask the owner about some of our relatives. Since both of my Grandparents were from here, seems I am more connected to this village than Heinz. We had a good laugh over that and then he said we should go and check on some of my relatives.

He walked us over to a cemetery where the gardeners, yes gardeners were busy weeding and planting out the gravesites with summer annuals. I looked at him funny because he had told me on the last visit we couldn’t visit our ancestors gravesites because after 25 years they dispose of them (compost I guess) and give their spaces to the newly departed. It is because space is such a premium in a small country he explained. When we got there I realized that was the case and these sites were within the last two decades. But as he pointed out as the village was still very small and not many new folks ever moved in that many of them were indeed related to me.

It is interesting to be able to go back and see where your relatives once lived and worked. It gives you of sense of grounding that I can’t really explain; a piece of belonging really.

Heintz explained to me that when a loved one passes on in Switzerland you can put them in a cemetery for 25 years. You must provide finances to pay for the gardener during that 25 year internment or commit to doing it yourself but if you don’t keep it up you will be billed. At the end of 25 years you can have the headstone if you wish or if you are still here to get it.

This past August I was blessed to travel to Switzerland, Germany, Poland and Austria. This time we saw some other cemeteries in Switzerland and in Austria that were gardens and I’ve decided that I want to be buried in a well tended garden covered with herbs! I know I’m going to being living in an eternal garden with the Master Gardener Himself after I take my last breath but it makes me happy to think that my gravesite full of beautiful plants and flowers could bring peace and joy, a reminder of what is to come in heaven to those still on this earth.

These cemeteries are such a contrast to the ones I have visited in the states. No artificial flowers allowed here. They even provide vases and water if you want to pick fresh flowers to place on the gravesite.

Werfenweng, Austria

Salzburg, Austria

Thankful for Kitchen Garden

On Thanksgiving day I picked a huge salad of various greens fresh from my garden. It is so wonderful to skip out the front door to the kitchen garden and be able to have fresh veggies at the end of November.

This kitchen garden is new this year. We started building it in the early spring using various materials. I like to experiment to see what works well so I can share that information with others. I have beds of concrete blocks which might not be the most fashionable but are easy to find and construct into a raised bed, inexpensive, won't rot and I like the fact that I can plant companion perennial herbs and flowers in the blocks themselves without having to take up room in the main planting area.

Pine 2" x 12" boards were used to make 9 beds in the garden. Again easy to find and make into a raised bed using metal L brackets on the inside corners plus an added crosspiece in the center. Inexpensive too, materials for all 9 beds ran right around one hundred bucks. Of course they will decay in three or four years possibly but easy to replace at that time I figured.

This fall we have added more beds, my husbands insists I'm crazy and I must be forgetting we are only two people but that has never stopped me before...besides, I love to share with neighbors and friends. These beds are built out of rough sawn red cedar from a local mill and should last many years without rotting. The lumber costs more than pine but not will not have to be replaced as quickly.

Soil depths are experimental as well. How deep does a raised bed have to be any how? Well, that depends on who you ask I've found out. Everyone has a different opinion from 5 inches to 18 is what I hear is optimal so again I'm going to try differing depths and check it out for myself.

After taking a month off to see other gardens, relatives and friends in Europe at the end of summer I thought perhaps I had missed the widow of opportunity for planting a cool season fall garden. Even though I got a late start it hasn't effected my amount of green veggies I harvest daily.

By constructing two hoop houses, one portable greenhouse, and three cold frames I am amazed how well everything is doing. I hope to have produce all winter here in Middle Tennessee. Since I have no heat options in these temporary structures it will be interesting to see what will survive, what will croak and what will flourish in the coldest stretch of winter.

Currently I am growing brussel sprouts (in and out of protection), broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, broccoli raab, spicy greens, arugula, kohlrabi, swiss chard, corn salad and shallots (no cover), six or so varieties of lettuce, cilantro, spinach, kale and some others that I will remember later.

It is great to know I can stir fry or steam fresh greens make salads for every meal (or whenever I get a hankerin). Best of all it is knowing it is organic...in a time when you see organic vegetables shipped in from China, it is good to know I don't have to wonder where my food is coming from or what has been put on it.

Local is the way to go and growing your own is the best way to ensure that but the next best thing is buying from the local farmers wherever you live.

Because I got a late start this year I bought transplants and then started seeds to keep a continual harvest going. I found my best transplants at Riverbend Nursery of Franklin, TN and great majority of the seeds I planted are from Renee's Garden at http://www.reneesgarden.com/ Renee has wonderful seeds and such a variety of new and fun veggies to grow. Some of the seeds I planted are in packets printed in Swiss German and since I can't read the packages I can't you where they are from...thank goodness for latin plant names!

I am so thankful for my family, friends, and the bountiful harvest from my kitchen garden.

Kitchen Gardening in Pots

Love to garden but don’t have a big yard, or lots of extra time? Pot gardening may be just the ticket for you. It allows you the opportunity to have a beautiful garden in a small area, without having to spend a vacation day or your entire weekend to accomplish! All you need is a few pointers and your own natural creativity to get you on the road to pot gardening.

First you will need a pot. Pot being a relative term for any kind of container that has enough room for potting soil, plants, holes for drainage and can fit somewhere on your porch, deck or patio. Have a blast with this one...go to the antique or junk store, garage sales or even better look through your garage or attic. You will be amazed what you will find to use for planters! I have been known to use old chairs, bird houses, antique bed pans, large funnels, bird baths, old pots and pans, granite dishpans, buckets, baskets and my all time favorite, my sons’ work boots (of course they were size 14 and 15 – who could resist?) Of course conventional clay or lightweight plastic pots are wonderful as well and might be more appropriate for a front entrance.

Most vegetables, herbs and flowers love at least 6 hours of sun each day. For convenience sake locate your containers near the kitchen where you can run and quickly pick or snip fresh produce when you need it. A water source nearby is a good idea saving you time and frustration as you will need to water plants more often in a pot, especially during hot summers. Water as needed...being careful to avoid extremes of dry and wet...usually once in the morning. Form a habit of watering while you drink your morning brew...one more exciting reason to jump out of bed.

It is nice to pick a mixture of plants using various colors, shapes, and textures. . When it comes to design think outside the pot, anything goes. However, if that concept is scary, try the following basic formula:

Vertical interest: Choose a plant that is tall or a trellis for the center of the container, a real show stopper.

Mid-section: Use plants with lots of texture, blooms and foliage, fill it
out!

Bottom fall out: Plants with natural drooping tendencies go around the
edge, cascading down the sides as they grow.

In other words, you will need a thriller, fillers and spillers! Use transplants or plant seeds. The great thing about kitchen pots is that you can start in early spring with cool season veggies when the average daytime temperature is 60 degrees and nights average 40 degrees. As the weather warms to 70 -80 degrees with nights above 50 degrees you can switch to warm season crops. In many areas you can then start cool season veggies again in late summer for fall produce. With a little protection from freezing nights, some may be able to pot garden most of the year.

If your containers are large you can do what I do and recycle some plastic milk jugs, soda bottles and water bottles in the bottom before filling up with soil. This makes the container much easier to move around and less expensive. The roots need about 8 – 12 inches. Use potting soil, or compost or a mixture of top soil, peat moss, potting soil, compost, vermiculite.

Plant what you like to eat and try a few new things just for fun. Try theme gardening by planting a salsa garden with tomato, cilantro, green onions and hot peppers, or an Italian garden with tomato, eggplant, basil, garlic chives, marjoram and oregano.

Keep in mind companion planting; sweet alyssum to house beneficial insects or basil with tomatoes for improved vigor and flavor and to confuse those nasty hornworms. These are just two examples – pick up a copy of my book “The Cracked Pot Herb Book” for more companion ideas.

Here are some plant ideas for your kitchen pots – just to get you thinking…
Warm Season:
Thrillers – Lemon grass, okra, scarlet runner or pole beans on a trellis.
Fillers – Tomatoes, basil, eggplant, peppers, parsley, oregano, chives,
Spillers – thyme, alyssum, pinks, golden oregano

Cool Season:
Thrillers – Peas on a trellis, cilantro
Fillers – Kale, beets, lettuce, radish, chard, broccoli raab, arugula
Spillers, pinks, thyme, parsley

Fertilize if needed when you plant with a slow release variety granular (made for vegetables) for up to three months of worry free growth. Or add composted horse, cow or chicken manure each time you start a new crop. A compost tea can be used as well for a plant “pick-me-up” during the growing season if needed.

Look for vegetable, herbs and flowers developed with container growing in mind.


This year I'm growing plants for my kitchen garden pots from Renee's Garden
container collection -'Pizza My Heart' peppers, 'Super Bush' tomato, 'Little prince'
eggplant, 'Bush Slicer' cucumber and 'Pot of Gold' chard in my container kitchen gardens;
along with 'Window box Mini' small leaf basil, 'Italian Cameo' large leaf basil, 'Junior'
sunflowers and 'Pixie Sunshine' zinnias. All have been well behaved in their respective
pots and very productive. Renee's Garden offers container sized seeds online at http://www.reneesgarden.com/seeds/seeds-hm/collections.htm

Here are some photos of the Kitchen Garden Pots progress thru the year......

MAY KITCHEN GARDEN POTS

JUNE KITCHEN GARDEN POTS






JULY KITCHEN GARDEN POTS

SEPTEMBER KITCHEN GARDEN POTS

NOVEMBER KITCHEN GARDEN POT


Here is a photo example of using recycled plastic bottles and jugs to take up extra space in your large containers.

Pomanders: A Christmas Tradition

Every Autumn I find myself drawn to the lemon and lime section in the produce department. I start imagining the smell of citrus, cloves and cinnamon, which takes my mind on a quick journey down Christmas Lane.

What is a pomander you ask? Good question! According to the dictionary, a pomander is: (noun) a mixture of aromatic substances enclosed in a perforated bag or box and used to scent clothes and linens or formerly carried as a guard against infection; also : a clove-studded orange or apple used for the same purposes.

Now you know, right? Well, in case it still isn’t that clear, let me try to shed even more light on the subject. The history of pomanders goes back to the Middle Ages. Sanitation was not what it is today and people did not bathe as often as we do now. So some clever folks came up with a way to make life more pleasant by combining various herbs and spices to help mask undesirable scents and also by using certain herbs and spices to protect themselves from unwanted infectious viral and bacterial situations. They would wear perforated containers filled with an herb/spice mix, usually in a ball shape on their person; usually close to their noses where it could sweeten the air they breathed.

The Victorians brought pomanders or pomander balls into high fashion, combining practicability with beauty. They expanded on the uses to include household decorations, closet and drawer perfume/insecticide, Christmas ornaments and even wedding bouquets.

The tradition of pomander balls as Christmas ornaments is still in fashion today and a lovely way to add fun and scent to your holiday season. I have made these for years and it is an especially wonderful activity for the whole family. They are easy to make from lemons, limes, tangerines, oranges or apples. My favorites are lemons and limes. You can buy them by the bag full and they are just the right size to hang on the Christmas tree, in a garland, in doorways, mix in the mantle decorations or pile them up (after they are dried) in a rustic bowl with or without potpourri. I have even made mini topiaries with them! You can store them away to use year after year. They take three or so weeks to dry so get busy and make pomanders, start a new tradition with your family and make your home smell oh so festive!

How to Make Pomanders

Ingredients:

* Small to mid sized unblemished fruit – apples, oranges, lemons, limes, tangerines
* Large headed cloves*
* Ground cinnamon, (nutmeg, ginger, ground cloves)*
* Knitting needle, skewer, or nail
* Thimble or masking tape for fingers - optional
* Orrisroot – note: orrisroot is used to act as a preservative and scent enhancer Orrisroot is dried, powdered material from the Iris bulb. Some people are allergic to this so if you are concerned you can skip it or add sandalwood oil as an alternative preserver.
* Ribbons or raffia, tissue paper or paper bags

1. Use knitting needle, skewer or nail to pierce the skin of the fruit. You may want to use a thimble or cover fingers with masking tape. Insert cloves close together but not touching in straight vertical lines or patterns, covering as much of the fruit as possible. Be sure to leave spaces for 1/8” ribbon to run down two sides, crisscross at bottom and come back up opposite side of fruit for hanging purposes if you choose to do so. Otherwise cover entire fruit with cloves.
2. In a glass bowl, combine powdered orrisroot (again you can omit or use sandalwood oil), ground cinnamon and other ground spices if you like – experiment to find which combination you like best. For 6 limes I use approx. ½ cup cinnamon and 8 drops of sandalwood oil. If you add the other ground spices try 1 tablespoon each (including the orrisroot) to the cinnamon mix. Pour spice mix in a zip lock bag. Place the clove-studded fruit in the bag, rolling around until entire fruit is covered with spice mixture.
3. Shake off excess spices, use ribbon or raffia and hang pomander ball on drying rack, doorways (I’ve used the kitchen cabinet knobs or the chains on the ceiling fans!), etc. If you are not going to hang them, then wrap each pomander in tissue or small paper bag (newspaper may work as well) and store in a cool, dry place for about 3 weeks. Be sure to check occasionally. Should one start to mold or rot, toss it out.
4. Display and enjoy your pomanders - Keep in mind this is not rocket science...be flexible and creative!

* You can find large containers of cloves and powdered cinnamon usually at Sams or Costco. Yarrow Acres in downtown Franklin, Tennessee has essential oils. You can order cloves, ground spices, etc. from the San Francisco Herb Co. Email address is http://www.sfherb.com/

For more information on "all things gardening" please check out my "Cracked Pot Gardener" book page at http://www.cindyshapton.com/book.html

Until next time....Make gardening fun or it will become work!!!

A Gift from the Compost Pile - Pumpkins!

Every year it is fun to see what springs up from the compost pile…squash, potatoes, melons, arugula, dill, just about every herb, vegetable and flower has lived in the compost pile at one time or another.

This year pumpkins took a turn and when I returned from Europe I found pumpkin vines had found their way up and over the fence, up and around the cedar trellis in the herb-kitchen garden, over the rosemary and through the tomatoes and basil plants. I arrived just in time to tame the beast before it took over the hops arbor!

It was hard to get upset with Ms. (or Mr. call it what you like this plant has both female and male flowers) Pumpkin plant; after all she did leave several off-spring of the loveliest soft peachie-orange color with a pleasant round fruit that looks like a Sasquatch (squash family?) had lightly trodden on during the last full moon.

What kind are they? Who knows…the original was a bluish green color with a similar shape when I bought it from a local farmer then later tossed it in the compost pile. It would be safe to say that it grew in the field next to some other kind of pumpkins or winter squash since this year is the same shape but a different color.

Pumpkins, gourds and squash all belong to the same plant species (Cucurbita pepo) which means they may cross…not the first year but if you save the seed or in my case allow those seeds to grow the second year in the compost you could get some surprises. Sometimes these changes are good and sometimes a little funky with different shapes, colors or warts.

If you have heard the rumor that anything in the curcurbit family can cross-pollinate including squash, pumpkins, gourds, melons and cucumbers that is just an ‘old wives tale’. We are talking about three different plant species, cucumbers (Cucumis sativus), melons (Cucumis melo) and squash, pumpkins and gourds (Cucurbita pepo). While the bees can carry pollen from flower to flower, the flowers only accept pollen from their own species.

Now, aren’t you glad we had this talk? You can sleep better knowing your cucumbers will never cross with those rascally gourds growing on the same trellis (as in my case) or your zucchini will never run away with your cantaloupe. I am thankful for my gift of pumpkins (12 total) in the compost heap since the baby rabbits I allowed to grow in the bean patch repaid my kindness by eating all my pumpkin plants in the vegetable garden. I think I understand why Mr. McGregor was so upset with Peter Rabbit and his kind!