Old Days Gardening Part II

So then...step one, decide what you/family like. Eating fresh vegetables from your garden--the challenges and the rewards--are great.

Remembering Mr. O.B. Warren, and my mother's comment: Any one can be a...(in the first case it was a 'farmer', and mother's case it was a 'teacher') put together with my comment: Any one can 'diddle' at either of those occupations, but it takes more than diddling at something in order to put the adjective 'excellent' with either title.

My Adorable cousin and I are discussing 'plagues'. "About ten years ago we had a plague of grasshoppers...it kept getting worse for a couple of years. Then we had so many garden pests--they were even destroying my onions! Worms began by eating down the onion stalk and into the bulb...!" I tell her. "I did finally find something to stop the worms in my onions..."

"What was that?"

"Well, I went out and sprinkled diatomaceous earth on them..."

"What is that?!"

"Little sea creatures called diatoms..."

"How did you find out about that? Those...?"

"Well, I read..."

"Oh."

Gardening and gardening answers don't just fall into your lap, usually. We have tried to always use safe, organic solutions to gardening, and new developments (often just old ways of gardening/farming) come along yearly. We attend seminars and courses that help us learn. We try to keep an open mind to new technology, which as I've said is often old gardening, or farming methods just coming around again.

Step two is deciding if you just want fresh, or would you like to put some in the freezer or on the pantry shelf...how much do you want to plant? Many people over plant, and become so discouraged they stop trying at all. Since we live on a farm, I have room to produce sufficient amounts for canning, or freezing. If all else fails and as sometimes happens things get away from me, I can throw it to the pigs, or put it into the compost bin.

Some things work best canned, but items such as corn, rhubarb, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, okra and peppers goes in the freezer. Unless, in the case of okra, peppers, or cauliflower I pickle it.

Potatoes are a 'storage' vegetable, as is onions. There are several other storage vegetables, but I haven't had enough experience at storing some of them. I'm thinking of beets and carrots especially. Our potatoes will usually last most of the winter 'down cellar'. That means if you have a cellar or room with a constant cool temp all winter long you can dig your potatoes, (do not wash them)carefully load them into a potato bin in your cellar or cool room (I'd say about 40 degrees, but I haven't checked on the exact temperature required). As long as they are cool, dry, and dark they should store well. With the beets and carrots, I believe you would store them in sand.

Another note here about fruit. The old varieties of apples were bred for different uses. Most of us have never experienced the old varieties. There were early varieties, all the way through the seasons to harvest the apples. The colors were vast. I'm not sure about a 'white' apple, although I have seen some that were very light, and there was also a 'black' apple--no, no, not rotten. It was that color by design. And flavors! We have lost much of this culture. I don't know as much about other fruits, but I suspect this has happened to them as well. Some are attempting to bring these 'heirloom' varieties back as is 'Seed Savers Exchange' from Decorah, Iowa. I heartily applaud their efforts, but would like to see these varieties more easily available throughout the country to some of us 'backyard' orchardists. Some varieties were for storage apples (maybe other fruits also) that would keep 'down cellar' in barrels packed with sawdust all winter.

Going back to the last post and using beets as an example, putting a good gardening catalog and a good canning-freezing cook book together is almost indispensable to calculate how much/how many. In both cases these things are often not a hard and fast rule. In dealing with life there are times when my mother's old saying, 'figure long, figure wrong' comes home to roost.

The speaker from Abbe Hills Farm is giving us 'clues' on how she runs her 'CSA' (Community Supported Agriculture). "This broccoli variety reads: 48 days from transplant. One year I transplanted my broccoli--it wasn't ready in 48 days. It wasn't ready in 60 days...it was 90 days at least!" Well, you can see how frustrating this can be, but these are 'guesstimates' as I like to term them.

I hate to waste anything. We were taught not to be wasteful with the mother's warning, "Waste not, want not!" Consequently, I try to plan, and as I said, I have the option of preserving the items, giving them away, throwing them to the scavengers (pigs/chickens), or compost heap.

Not everyone can keep pigs or chickens, but if you have a back yard a compost heap is relatively simple. We have taken salvaged pallets to make ours from (no, I don't remember where we came across them, but they were free since the people/company was throwing them away.)

The fellows pounded steel posts where we wanted to put up the pallet then they tied the pallets to them in sections. We have three bins. One for collecting, when it is done collecting, it is set to composting, and we begin to 'collect' in the next bin. We just continue to rotate which one we are using out of. When we still had the animal manure--way before the pallets--we would make a manure pile/kitchen scraps compost heap. It did wonders for the garden.

Now, without a good steady supply of animal manure it is mostly kitchen scraps. Potato/vegetable peelings, coffee grounds, tea leaves, and that sort of stuff are thrown in as well as autumn leaves and occasionally we throw grass clippings into the mix, and once in awhile we add chicken manure. When the container is as full as you want, (it should be at least 3 foot high by 4 foot to ensure that the pile will 'heat up' sufficiently in the middle) cover it with dirt, spray with water, let sit for a month then 'turn' it. Take your pitch fork and 'turn' the conglomeration, mixing it well in order that at some point all of the mixture will spend some time at the center of the mixture where it is 'hot'. You can buy a compost mixer from hardware stores as well. It runs in my mind that it resembles a concrete mixer.

We use this to 'side dress' everything in the garden, around flowers, shrubs--it is a good all-around fertilizer.

I have a friend that has a very small garden, but there is often just her and her husband, so it is enough for them for fresh eating. They have just about everything in their small garden that I have in my large one. She enjoys the gardening and the rewards that she reaps. It is good for the body and the soul, as they say.
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Genesis 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9) And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
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Life in the 'Old Days'~ Part I~

My grandmother made the best of everything. And if you don't believe me...well, you can just ask me, or any of us grandchildren...smile.

I don't know how she made her mulberry pies, but I have a notion she probably mixed some other kind of berry with it. I don't know what it would have been though, because that early in the season there weren't any other 'wild' berries that I can remember. I have tried mulberry pies, but mine always are missing that 'je ne sais quoi'~ that little something that I don't know what...

We picked our mulberries, as I remember it, I do not remember shaking the tree. I've tried 'shaking' the tree, and yes, you do get mulberries. You also get twigs, stems, bugs, worms, and bird...droppings. Ew! George!

The time spent with my Grandparents was fun. Well, as much fun as growing up times can be...with all of our 'growing pains', and what not. They were older, but not really 'old'. There always was something or other going on when I was younger.

One of my older cousins loved raspberry picking. I don't know why. It was always hot, and to pick raspberries you always wore; long heavy blue jeans, long sleeved heavy shirt, and of course a hat, and anything else to keep the insects --as well as snakes-- from off of the body, . We had rattlesnakes in the 'timber' where we went to pick berries.

Sometimes we would go en masse to pick berries, and bring home buckets full of them. Now days we would freeze them, but I don't know/remember exactly what Grandma did with them other than make the most wonderful pies. Maybe she made jelly, but I don't remember.

Then there were the other times when cousin would decide she wanted to pick berries, and I, being the youngest of the bunch, happened to be the only one she could bully into going with her...sigh. Growing pains.

We didn't garden, so our chores and work revolved around inside and outside work. Outside we helped Grandpa feed and water the stock, gather eggs, and field work. We brought in the hay during the summer, and I helped with the 'corn shucking' at harvest time. Although I was in school most of that time of the year, I would help on the week ends. Very seldom did we girls milk the cows, that was Grandpa's chore...

During the summer, we girls would help Grandma with the household chores. In the morning we all pitched in washing the breakfast dishes, sweeping the floors, and preparing the noon meal. After lunch we would quickly wash up the dishes, and as Grandmother would say, "We work first, then we play!"

Out came the Canasta cards and we would play a couple of games of Canasta before time to do evening chores and supper preparation.

Quite a few years ago now, since my Grandfather passed away in 1992, a year or so before his passing he said to me, "We sure did have fun, didn't we?"

Of course I answered him in the affirmative, because it was fun, and we should never expect life to hand us only the good and not some of the other.

In retrospect...I sometimes feel like I'm sitting on the pinnacle of a mountain. Maybe I am, if we call it 'Mount Time'. Those were good times, and --from my vantage point-- yes, Grandpa, we did have fun.

'You see that hill over there?' Grandpa asked me one time. 'We used to have that all in garden.'

It was a good sized piece, well over an acre of ground, maybe as much as three acres. I could not imagine keeping that much garden in shape.

Gardens in the past generations were not just a passing fancy, a hobby, or something done just to keep busy. Without their gardens, homesteaders, and even town dwellers would not have survived, and it certainly made a difference throughout the depression era of the '30's. During World War II they also had the 'Victory Gardens', which meant a lot to those families as well.

As I mentioned, we did not garden, yet, Grandfather would plant some sweet corn along with the field corn, he had a friend that would give us apples and fruit from his 3 acre orchard in trade for Grandpa doing things for him. Often there were tomatoes or other things that came our way from friends or family members. I don't remember Grandma ever canning corn, but she did many jars of 'open kettle' tomatoes. I don't remember ever having a 'canner' either, so that would have limited our ability to preserve food, and there was no such thing as a 'freezer' in my day.

We raised our own beef and every Saturday when we took the laundry in to the laundry mat to do our washing, Grandpa and Grandma would do their grocery shopping at 'Ed and Martha's' grocery and locker where the beef was stored.

Grocery stores back in those days--at least in our neck of the world--were a far cry from today's glitzy grocery centers that you can find everything including the kitchen sink at. I remember when a few years younger standing on "Indian mound" overlooking the valley below, and watching the few twinkling lights from town. And about the same time going into the grocery store and stumping down the few aisles of wood flooring. It was somewhat of a Laura Ingalls, and Little house on the prairie moment in time.

When in Junior High and High school, I had a close friend that her mother had a very large garden. Louise's mother canned and pickled what seemed like a whole store of food. My husband's family never really left the good sense life style of gardening and living close to the land.

Marie would tell of growing up during the '30's. They lived in town, and her father was the barber in Greenfield. Her family utilized one city block for garden and orchard as well as a second area with a barn or shed that they kept a milk cow in. Her mother (Grandma B--for Bricker)was what the Bible would call a 'worthy woman'. She kept her household fed and clothed by the plain old fashioned hard work of keeping her home, and part of that was with canning and preserving their food. Marie would tell that some people of the community would take government assistance (their children seemed to have money to go to the children's matinee) but Marie's parents would not take the government assistance. (They usually didn't have money for the show either...) but they ate well, and did provide for their own. They all learned how to care for a garden, to keep house, how to cook and sew and be independent.

Marvin's family was the same except they were from the farming background. When Marvin and Marie were married Grandma Westphal helped continue Marie's education in wifery. There was more to being a wife than being just a pretty face!

I believe back in those days they just canned and preserved whatever came to their hand. As long as there was a supply of something--they preserved it. Back when I first began homemaking that was what I did as well. Probably for the first fifteen years I followed that routine, but there was a problem. I found that as our household grew I needed a 'better system'. I began by looking at the problem. In the years gone by they had access to a better food supply. Many places, especially farmsteads, had their own orchard and garden area, or at least they had access to local grown fruits and vegetables. The problem was I needed to plan in order that we had sufficient food for a year's worth of eating for our family and whoever happened to 'show up' for the meal...without much aid in the line of outside sources.

In looking through the garden catalogs some of them tell how many feet of row the seeds or plants will cover, and with research a body can find out how much this or that SHOULD supply. Now this begins to be somewhat complicated, but, start by making a list of the foods that can be supplied by your self and that you like. Also start by a realistic appraisal of what you WANT to supply for yourself.

Let's say you only want enough tomatoes for summer consumption, mostly in salads, or for sandwiches. Or perhaps you are hampered by only having a balcony for growing things. There are creative ways to grow at least a few fresh items. We at one time sold systems that had a plastic container about the size of a medium trash can. We had mesh 'stockings' that held approximately 8 cups of growing medium (peat/perlite mixture) that sat down in the larger plastic container. More medium was poured into the plastic container keeping the stockings spaced apart, and there was a plastic lid with holes for the tops of the mesh stockings to stick out. There was also a watering tube in the lid. You would plant your seed into the mesh stocking medium, and this was where it would germinate, grow, and live it's entire life. Since it had the three mesh stockings, you could plant any combo of plants in your container. Tomato, cucumber, pepper...just about anything. A couple of these would/could fit even on a balcony, or several on a patio. Another clever idea that was a part of our growing system was a ? tower for lack of the correct word here. It was a pole type contraption standing about five foot high with approximately 2" diameter holes at regular intervals all the way to the top. The pole/tower sat in a base that had a pump for a watering system, and the center was hollow. In the hollow center went a five foot length of tube containing growing medium (again peat/perlite). When you were ready to plant, because you planted into the medium through the holes, you would take a utility knife, cut an x or a cross into the hole and open up the tube enough to stick your plant into the spot. It was quite pretty with Strawberries, but there were other plants/flowers you could use as well. This is another interesting idea for a small space garden.

If you have never gardened before starting with a ten acre garden is probably not the best idea. Maybe just a few rows, and continue expanding as your expertise and confidence grows. Not only do some catalogs tell how much a certain length of row will supply, but the seed packets themselves often tell how long a row they should sow at a certain rate.

For example in looking at my Twilley catalog, for beets it gives at the beginning of the section: Approx. 1,600 seeds to the oz., Pkt (packet) plants approx. 25' of row, 1 oz. plants approx. 100' of row.... Johnny's Select Seeds catalog has an excellent page (page 2) that tells how much yield to expect as well from the different crops/per row. These are handy guides in order to avoid over/under planting.

In my case for my family I could make a list of things we like: beans, beets, broccoli, (we like brussels sprouts but I haven't had any success with them, so I pass on over them) cabbage, cauliflower, cantaloupes/melons, carrots, corn, cucumbers, egg plant, kohlrabi, lettuce, onions, peas, okra, peppers, pie pumpkins, potato, radish, spinach, squash (summer, zucchini, winter, spaghetti), tomato, and turnip. Most can be preserved, but some such as radishes and lettuce will be only raw, and only grow best at certain times of the year.

Again, using beets for an example, if you want a 100' row (the symbol ' stands for -foot/feet--, the symbol " stands for inches), you would need 1 oz. and could expect approximately 100# (pounds) of roots and 40# of greens. Maybe I should have turned that around~ smile.

With the advent of the internet one could probably google/search and find out how many jars that would make...but a better idea is a good canning/freezing cook book. Mine tells me that 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 # of beets will give me approx. 1 quart. 100# should yield around 30 quarts.

Ecclesiastes 11:1 Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days.

Springtime gardening: Rhubarb

Rhubarb
Rhubarb is a spring plant harvested during the cool of spring. It is a northern plant that needs a period of cool/cold weather, winter temperatures below 40 degrees to break dormancy and stimulate spring growth. Planting should be done in the early spring, rows set 5 to 6 feet apart, and 3 feet apart in the rows. We usually dig a trench, fill it with manure, put a layer of soil on that then the rhubarb roots are planted on the top of this layer. They are planted in the shallow furrow with between 1/4 to 1/3 of the crown surface above the ground. According to the 'book' you do not want 'organic matter' around the roots. Do not bury the crown under the soil. The black crown with the white buds must remain above the soil. These are the flowers and will rot if under ground. Below should be a picture of Mr. LaHaven planting my 'Mother's Day' gift a few years ago. Smile...




At one time there were several thriving spots of rhubarb on this property, but for some reason they just petered out.

One reason may have been the growth of the trees. You don't want your rhubarb in the shade. It likes open, sunny spots. It also likes to be 'used', at least after it is well established. The first year it was planted I left it alone. The second year I may have taken enough for a pie or sauce, but not very much. Last year I harvested a little more, and this year I have made several pies and even put a wee bit in the freezer. It is always a treat for Thanksgiving to have a couple of rhubarb pies along with several apple pies.

According to the instructions, harvest no more than 4 weeks the third season of growth;
about 8 to 10 weeks the fourth season; do not remove more than 1/2 of the developed stalks from any plant at one time. And DO remove the seed stalk or it will set your plant behind. You don't want the energy of the plant going into the seed stalk. The leaves, of course, are poisonous, do not use the leaves...use only the stalk.

In harvesting, I reach down, and as close to the base of the stalk as I can, I gently pull up on the stalk, and hopefully it comes free from the root. If we have had quite a bit of rain the stalk will be crisp, and often if I'm not far enough down it will break off. I don't like it when that happens, but not sure that it harms the plant. It always LOOKS like there is quite a lot of rhubarb, until I cut the leaves off. I wash the stalks off, and check for insect damage. I cut out anything that looks damaged. No matter what the fruit or vegetable (even onions!) there always seems to be a pest for it.

Here are some nutritional facts about rhubarb:
A rhubarb is:

Low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium
High in Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Calcium, Potassium, Manganese and Magnesium

The nutritional value of rhubarb means that it's good for:

Maintaining good general health
Losing weight

Avoid rhubarb if you're interested in:

Gaining weight

Nutritional Values

The following table outlines the basic nutritional values of rhubarb.
Preparation Portion Carbs (g) Fiber (g) Fat (g) Energy (kj)
Raw Rhubarb 100g 1.5 3 0 75
Rhubarb, stewed (with sugar) 1/2 cup (125g) 14.5 2 0 265

Rhubarb also seems to be a cure for constipation, so some caution is in order.

I was looking for a quick recipe for rhubarb crisp, but apparently 'quick' doesn't go with anything I'm looking for...The following recipe is from 'Taste of Home', and it sounds very good, and yes, quick:

Rhubarb Crisp Recipe
Rhubarb Crisp by: Taste of Home Rhubarb Crisp Recipe


I found this recipe in a box of Quaker Oats about 20 years ago. It's quick, and easier to make than pie. It's versatile, too, because you can add strawberries in spring or apples in fall. I usually pop it into the oven shortly before we sit down to eat so it's still warm for dessert!


Rhubarb Crisp Recipe

Prep: 15 min. Bake: 45 min.
Yield: 8 Servings


Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 cups sliced fresh rhubarb or frozen rhubarb, thawed
2 cups sliced peeled apples or sliced strawberries
1 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Vanilla ice cream, optional

Directions

In a large bowl, combine sugar and cornstarch. Add rhubarb and apples or strawberries; toss to coat. Spoon into an 8-in. square baking dish.
In a small bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, butter, flour and cinnamon until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over fruit. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until bubbly and fruit is tender. Serve warm with ice cream if desired. Yield: 8 servings.

Editor's Note: If using frozen rhubarb, measure rhubarb while still frozen, then thaw completely. Drain in a colander, but do not press liquid out.

Nutritional Facts 1 serving (1 cup) equals 320 calories, 12 g fat (7 g saturated fat), 31 mg cholesterol, 124 mg sodium, 52 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 3 g protein.
End of article/recipe~

*I do like rhubarb, and it is a seasonal plant that is also good for you. We also like to take ? maybe five cups of rhubarb (cut into about one inch pieces) cook it in a sauce pan...no I don't use any water in it, but I do put some sugar with it and a lid on it. Start it out on maybe medium heat, it should make its own 'water'. Once it's cooked down into a sauce I stir a box of jello, or gelatine into the sauce and refrigerate...or maybe we just eat it warm on bread and butter like a jam.