Square garden foot in the City

Living in the city you might think you can’t have a vegetable garden.  Think again.  As long as you can water and provide light/sun you can have a bountiful garden in a very small space.  How about that six foot by 8 foot balcony, you could grow four tomato plants, four pepper plants, fourteen lettuce, two cucumber or zucchini, fourteen scallions, fourteen carrots or radishes and even about 50lbs of potatoes and still have enough room to lounge.

We are talking about square foot planting, with the exception of potatoes, which need a two square foot space.  Below is the list of how much can fit in a 12”x 12” planter.

• Bok Choy 9
• Broccoli 1
• Brussel Sprouts 1
• Butterhead Lettuce 4
• Carrots 14
• Collard Greens 1
• Cucumbers 1
• Kale 1
• Lettuce mixed 14
• Peppers 1
• Radishes 13
• Romaine lettuce 4
• Scallions 14
• Spinach 4
• Swiss Chard 9
• Tomatoes 1
• Zucchini 1

Some tips:
Do not try to plant more than one plant per container if it calls for just one.  These need room for their roots and they tend to grow tall, but you might want to consider companion planting.  Add scallions to the lettuce, peppers and tomatoes.  Scallions help control pests and require very little space.  Also remember those that require pollination to develop or set fruit by keeping those containers of tomatoes together or the peppers together, it will help in propagation.

With the potatoes they require height so with a 24”x 24” container that is about 24” high, plant your starter eyes in about 6” of dirt.  Once the plants get about 6” above the dirt pour more dirt in just leaving a few of the top leaves exposed.  The buried leaves will die but potatoes will grow in their place.  It takes on an average 90 days till harvest for potatoes and they will keep in the bin through the winter so you can harvest as needed.

All about the Carbonic Acid

The magical bumper cleaner, or nail dissolver, or tooth eater.  Did you ever wonder why Coke can clean the rust off a bumper (and not dissolve it) or dissolve a nail in a few days......why not just make the nail shinny like the bumper?

Not going to argue on the health issues of drinking Soda or Pop, as we called it where I grew up.  Anything other that raw vegetables, in excess can cause health issues.  For most of us we like a nice cold coke on a hot summer day, or maybe a glass of root beer with a scoop of ice cream.  It is all about moderation and to be honest no one will get me to stop enjoying a ice cold Pepsi or Coke every once in a while but here is the science as to why it is a myth

That fact you can cook and clean with Coke is relatively meaningless from a safety standpoint: you can use a wide array of common household substances (including water) for the same purposes; that fact alone doesn't necessarily make them dangerous to ingest.

Nearly all carbonated soft drinks contain carbonic acid, which is moderately useful for tasks such as removing stains and dissolving rust deposits (although plain soda water is much better for some of these purposes than Coca-Cola or other soft drinks, as it doesn't leave a sticky sugar residue behind). Carbonic acid is relatively weak, however, and people have been drinking carbonated water for many years with no detrimental effects.

The rest of the claims offered here are specious. Coca-Cola does contain small amounts of citric acid and phosphoric acid; however, all the insinuations about the dangers these acids might pose to people who drink Coca-Cola ignore a simple concept familiar to any first-year chemistry student: concentration. Coca-Cola contains less citric acid than does orange juice, and the concentration of phosphoric acid in Coke is far too small (a mere 11 to 13 grams per gallon of syrup, or about 0.20 to 0.30 per cent of the total formula) to dissolve a steak, a tooth, or a nail overnight. (Much of the item will dissolve eventually, but after a day or two you'll still have most of the tooth, a whole nail, and one very soggy T-bone.) By comparison, the gastric acid in your stomach's digestive fluids is much stronger than any of the acids found in Coca-Cola.

Excerpts from WebMD, Snopes, and my college chem class.

As the worm turns....

While Zombie Di and I were in the kitchen chatting, she decided to clean out some old food, as many of you know we compost if not in our outside compost pile we have our vermicompost (worms) in the family room.

Di announced that she had some treats for the worms, as she dropped some grapes in our counter bin.  With out missing a beat I replied, ohhh grapes.  They love those strawberries and grapes.  After a second it generated a few chuckles that in fact I know what foods our worms prefer over others...Di commented what is going to happen once we have the chicken......I guess we will find out what their favorite foods are as well.

Have a great day everyone.. ;)

Home distillation or as I call it....potatoes grow on a farm so this must still be farming!

Home distillation
Originally By Tony Ackland

Using Potatoes

For those of you interested in making authentic Vodka or Schnapps from potato, the following emails from David Reid should be of interest. The problem with potatoes (as all starchy vegetables) is the need to first break down the starch into basic sugars so that the yeast can use them. This is done by using enzymes, either via malted grains or from a packet.
...there are probably better instructions and details in books on Schnapps of which in English there is a real dearth of. I would imagine there are some very good books available in German. What I have described is basically the process for saccharifying barley which applies to all grains as long as sufficient enzymes are added and the starch chains are not too long or complex. Barley has by far the highest % of natural amalase (diastase) enzymes plus a very high starch content of a fairly simple nature which is more readily broken down than most grains hence its widespread use and popularity from the ancient Summerians and Egyptians to the current day.

The advantage of potatoes over most grains is the amount of starch that can be produced per acre (up to 80 tons per hectare with the world record being about 120 ton. Note wet weight not actual starch content although this is generally 80% + of its dry weight). Its disadvantage is the lack of enzymes which must be added (until 40 or 50 years ago not fully understood). I believe the only one that can equal potatoes is cassava (tapioca) but you need a tropical climate to grow it. Traditionally these have been processed at lower temperatures and left soaking for quite a reasonable time, basically to give the enzymes time to do their job and to save energy I would imagine.

I suspect the reason Simons first attempt failed was largely because of insufficient amalase enzymes. Temperature possibly also had a small bearing.

I would imagine there is not that much difference in basic processing of schnapps and vodka both being identical in the initial processing although I have not done a lot of reading on the matter.

To get this better we really need to know the proper composition of potatoe starch and its liquifaction and saccharification temps. Somewhere I have some general details on these last two especially liquifaction but to date do not have accurate details on starch composition. I believe the Danes have done quite a bit of work and research on this aspect (composition).

Potatoes are harder than most people think and you need a bit of experience to get them right. Books make it sound so easy because they tend to simplify the process and take for granted that you have a full understanding and experience of all the steps involved quite often leaving out some of the elementary steps. Most of us need to fully understand the basics first before we really begin to learn. I have not tried potatoes yet myself but know this from my reading, broad experience of other aspects, and experience with other forms of starch.

What you will probably need to do is what is called a Stepped Infusion Mash. This is where you start the saccharification process at a low temperature and then move it up in steps, halting for a certain time period at each step to give each enzyme time to break down as much as they can at each stage. If you have made beer in the past using an all-grain mash you will understand the process.

To get a feeling for it and to understand the process better try the following:
Cook your potatoes so they are still stiff - about 12- 15 minutes at reasonable heat. Up to 20 minutes at low heat. Note they should still be a bit under-cooked, definitely not soft, mushy, or floury.
Add coarsely milled barley (particles mostly about 1/16 to 3/32" in size. Definitely not too fine.). Use malted Ale barley or standard malted barley rather than Lager barley as it is definitely higher in enzymes and enzymatic action. Note you need sprouted malted barley not spray-dried malt which is normally on a maltodextrin base and has had most of the enzymes destroyed or inactivated because of the excessive heat used in the drying process.
Cover with sufficient water and bring to 113 F (45 C). Hold 15 minutes stirring regularly.
Bring up to 133 F (56 C). Hold 15 minutes etc.
Bring up to 149 F (65 C). Hold 15 minutes stirring constantly.
Bring up to 158 F (70 C). Hold 15 minutes stirring constantly. All up this makes 60 minutes which should suffice for a small batch. Some batches will take longer especially bigger batches. Most of the liquifaction and saccharification occurs in steps 5 & 6 rather than 3 & 4. If you want to alter this reduce 3 & 4 to 10 minutes and increase 5 & 6 to 20 minutes or longer where required.
Once virtually all the starch is liquefied and broken down to simple sugars to halt the enzymatic process raise the temp to 176 F (80 C) (Mashing Out) and then drop it back as quickly as possible to between 140 F (60 C) and 122 F (50 C) so the sugars don't get scorched or burnt.
Cool down further to 75 F (24 C), establish an SG of 1060 (min) to 1080 (max = ideal) and begin fermentation.
If you muck around with the basic formula doing several batches, altering the temperature and times a small amount each time you will quickly get a feel for it and learn far more than you can learn initially out of books or I can spell out for you.

I suggest you start with 3 or 4 kg of potatoes and 1/2 kg of barley each time so you have plenty of enzymes together with a very large pot so it doesn't boil over. Once you have got this basic process under control and gained a bit of experience I can help you further with advice and help with enzymes. Also once you have the experience and understand fully what you are doing with the right selection of enzymes you can reduce this 4 to 5 steps down to 2 or 3 steps and save a lot of energy and time producing virtually the same result.

At first for the small amount produced it hardly seems worthwhile but you will be amazed at how quickly you have control of the process with a bit of experience. Learn this process properly now and it will save you a lot of time later.

The most important enzymes are Alpha amylase, Gluco amylase and to minor extent Beta amylase. Beta has largely been replaced by Gluco. The other important factor is temperature with each of these working best (most active) at certain temperatures. Alpha works best at higher temperatures normally chopping the starch into smaller blocks whereas Gluco and Beta work from the ends. Temperatures required of the process are therefore dependent on makeup and complexity of the starch.

As mentioned without knowing the exact composition of the potato starch I cannot advise exactly the necessary temps and times. The setup I have given you is basically for barley but should work quite satisfactory with potatoes because of the range of temperatures involved.

What I am saying here applies to barley as well as individual enzymes. The heat of cooking the potatoes will start the process. For all I know it may help to throw a handful of barley in with the potatoes when you begin cooking. Keep good notes of amounts, times, and temps and if you have much better success compared to the last time or another batch you should be quickly able to repeat it. By doing this you will quickly get a good idea of what is required. Keep me up to date with how you get on.

Be aware that enzymes are protein and bio-catalyst and like other proteins consist of long chains of amino acids held together by peptide chains. They are present in all living cells where they perform a vital function by controlling the metabolic processes and hence the breakdown of food into simpler compounds eg. Amylases break down starch into simple sugars. As bio-catalyst by their mere presence and without being consumed in the process they can speed up chemical processes that would otherwise run very slowly being released at the end of the process to begin it all again if required. In theory this can go on forever but in practice they have a limited stability and over a period of time they lose their activity because of variables particularly temperature changes and are not useable again. In practice therefore be very wary of quickly changing and wildly fluctuating temperatures.

Good luck
Teemu writes ...
Making vodka from potatoes

Two good reasons for using potatoes:
1. Traditionally vodka is made of grain or potatoes to achieve the smooth & soft aroma; witch is typical to commercial European vodkas.
2. In Finland 1kg of sugar costs about 1,9e, 25kg sack of (feed) potatoes from local Agri-Market costs 2e...

The recipe, which may lead to prosecute:
20-25kg potatoes
1kg of barley, malted and gristed
50-100g of good (Turbo/Prestige/Partymann...) yeast (hydrated)
Some fresh water

Equipment needed:
30 litre beer fermenter
A large (30-50litre) kettle (I use a milk can...)
A meat grinder (for mashing the potatoes)
A large scoop or a "wash paddle"
A hotplate with a thermostat

1. Clean all the dirt from the potatoes, (don't bother to peel them)
2. Put the potatoes in to kettle and cover them with water, bring to boil. Cook until the first ones break down -this should take about 1hr. In meanwhile hydrate the yeast and mix 1kg malt and 2 litre of water (if you use homemade malt, don't dry them -it weakens the mysterious "amylathic power").
3. Pour the water out from the kettle (use mittens, be careful). Mash the potatoes in the grinder while they are hot. (If done right the mash looks like thick porridge.)
4. Put the mash to kettle (and adjust the hotplates temperature to 60C). Add 1/3 of the hydrated malt to the kettle and stir well. Wait until the temperature has dropped to 65C. Add the rest of the hydrated malt and stir in well. Let sit there for about 2 hours. Stir often. (If done right the wash should have turned flowing.)
5. Turn the hotplate off. Put the kettle in somewhere cool. When the temperature has dropped down to 25C pour to fermenter and add yeast (no nutrients needed). First carbon dioxide bubbles should rise after couple of hours; main fermenting takes about two days, ready for distilling in four days -if you have done everything as written. Result will be 7-12vol%, depending the starch level of potatoes.

This is how I do it. There are many different ways too-but there are always four steps.
1. Softening the cellular walls.
2. Mashing the potatoes.
In industrial scale steps one and two are usually done by using the HENZE-kettle, witch is basically a direct-steam heated pressure cooker (pressure is up to 8atm and the cooking time about 40min).
3. Converting the starch to maltose.
4. Fermenting.
Notice that there are only those 2L of water added to mash, no more are required because the potatoes contains ¾ of water.

P.S. If the wash is done right you should be able to distill it with a still that has an inner heating element -I have a 2kW inner (silver plated) heating element in mine.

When I asked if he needed to filter the wash before distilling it, Teemu replied .. No, no filtering required, but if want to be really sure strain trough a kitchen sive (hole size about 2mm) to get rid off the peaces of malt. The reason why grain washes burn onto the element is that they contain a lots of cellulose (like porridge). [Dry grain (rye) contains up to 40% of cellulose.] Potato wash wich is mashed well and fermented dry contains such a tiny amount of cellulose (like soup), so that it won't burn onto the element! (Fresh potatoes contains only about 14% of cellulose.) You can see this in practice -- typical ready grain wash is thick stuff like (milk) cocoa, ready potato wash is flowing like coffee. Just keep sure that the potatoes are mashed enough small bits (>0.1mm) before adding the malt.

More scientific explanation why the potato washes don't burn on to the element:

Potato vs. Grain           Water                    Proteins                   Fats        Starch  Cellulose Oats 12% 13% 7% 60% 12% Barley 12% 11% 2% 63% 12% Rye 12% 12% 2% 62% 12% Wheat 12% 11% 1.50% 64% 11% Potatoes 75% 1.50% 0.10% 14% 1%

Now if we calculate the water and the starch as element-friendly materials and others as un-element-friendly materials we found that the grains contain ca. 26% of un-element-friendly materials (non fermenting, burnable, low heat transfer rate...), when potatoes contains only ca. 2.6% of un-element-friendly materials! In practice this means that there is only about half a kilo of un-element-friendly materials in 25l batch of potato wash, but in 25l of grain wort the number can be as high as 1.5kilos! Other reason why the potato mash doesn't burn onto the element is convectional floating; the viscosity of fermented potato mash is enough near of water to create the enough rapid convectional floating.
Dane writes ...
potatoes work really well, It is the enzymes in the barley malt that convert the starch in the corn, Potaoes are almost entirely starch, and water. I use 20lb of 'taters with 5 gal of water, cook for an hour+ mash them all up well, so it's a rumnny, thin mush. Add a couple spoon fulls of acid blend. Add 2 lb of 6 row malt at 150 deg. maintain temp and stir for several hours. let cool add another couple spoons of acid, and nutrient. Add about 1 lb or 2 of pure sugar for some added kick. Use Ec-1118 and wait a week It makes a really good spirit after 2 distillations and a little polishing
Potato Mash

Here's one recommended by Andrew, from Eastern Europe. Combine all ingredients and leave until fermented, should take approx. 2 weeks
21 Litres of water.
7 kg of sugar.
175 grams of yeast.
3 small (125 mL) packets of tomato paste/concentrate.
0.5 litres of natural plain yoghurt
1.6 kg raw grated potatoes.
Wal writes ...
If you do not have too many potatoes, you can make a potato and sugar mash, as suggested in a Russian samogon site. This would be a good way to get an idea of the effect of potatoes on taste. In the Russian language site there is no mention of adding malted grain to convert the starch to sugars, which could be a problem, unless the potatoes they use have sprouted so much that most of the starch has already been converted! It is recommended to use about 5% malted grain for potatoes as otatoes have about 20% fermentable material, the rest being water.

Potato and Sugar Mash
4 kg potatoes
200 g crushed malted barley
4 kg sugar
20 L water
Yeast
Peel and cook the potatoes in a minimum of water. Mash. When cooled to 65C, add crushed malted grain and leave for 90 minutes for conversion. Combine mashed potatoes, sugar and water, add yeast and ferment.

There is one Russian samogon recipe that combines potatoes and oats, which could also give a good Irish poitin mash, as oats and potatoes are common Irish ingredients. Although it suggests crushed oats, rolled oats would be more convenient. No malted grain is mentioned, but the addition of up to 1 kg of crushed malted grain would be useful. Here is my modified version of the recipe:

Potato and Oats Mash
5 kg potatoes
4 kg rolled oats
1 kg crushed malted grain
20 L water (5 US gals.)
Yeast
Grate the potatoes. Add some boiling water to grated potatoes and rolled oats mixture. Allow to cool to 65C and add crushed malted grain. Allow 11/2 hours for the conversion. Place mixture in a fermenter, adding additional water to make 20 l. Add yeast and ferment.

Whether potatoes were used to make poitin is debatable, due to the lack of information except for oral stories. Malted barley was the original ingredient for poitin/poteen (unaged whisky), but later other unmalted grains, treacle, sugar were used due to availability and cost factors. Recently even sugar beet pulp is used!

A method of producing spirits from potatoes was developed in 1669, but commercially potatoes began to be used for distilling alcohol sometime after 1820.

Lex Kraaijveld (http://www.celticmalts.com/edge.htm) has a couple of references to the use of potatoes in Scotland and the British island colony of St Helena.
From June 1, 2002 - "Evidence for this in Scotland comes from the goldmine of information, the 'Statistical Account', compiled and published in the late 18th century. Besides barley and bere, potatoes are mentioned several times as a product from which a spirit is distilled. The quality of potato spirit was not considered very high. Rev. Joseph Macintyre, of the parish of Glenorchay & Inishail in Argyll, writes: 'Some distill a fiery and harsh spirit from potatoes.' and the writer of the Aberdeen parish report agrees. 'Potatoes are less fit for distillation than barley; the spirit produced is much fouler'.....Rev. Alexander Small writes in his report of the Lowland parish of Kilconquhar: 'Potatoes were scarcely known in this country 40 years ago; they now afford the poor half their sustenance, and generally appear at the tables of the rich; they are well known to be very proper food for horses and other animals, and are sometimes distilled into whisky.'

From February 1, 2003 - "St Helena is a small island in the middle of the Atlantic. In the late 17th and early 18th century, distillation of 'arack' from potatoes was a common activity....In the St Helena records it is written in 1717: 'The miserable devastation formely made by distilling Arack from Potatoes is too sencibly felt now by ever one in the place....." The population of St Helena is of mixed ethnic origin but it is recorded that 'Irish cottagers' grew potatoes there. (Five Views of the Island of St Helena, Lieut. W. Innnes Pocock, 1815)
So it seems quite probable that in Ireland, poitin (whisky's illicit sister) was also made from potatoes, although due to taste, I suspect that barley would have been the preferred traditional source.

This article can be found here:
http://homedistiller.org/fruit/wash-fruit/pot

2014's Zombie Jac's Turkey Pick for Thanksgiving - Habanero-Brined Amish Turkey

Our pick Thanksgiving Day Turkey and in the theme of Zombie Jac and all that is Habanero.  Courtesy of DarkRye.com.

Habanero-Brined Amish Turkey
Serves 14–16

Ingredients:

8½ quarts of water
3¼ cups salt for brine, plus more for roasting the turkey
3 teaspoons pink curing salt 
½ cup sugar
1 cup maple syrup
10 dried habanero peppers
10 dried chipotle peppers
20 cloves crushed garlic
Savory fall spices, such as star anise, juniper, allspice, clove and bay leaf
6 ounces of each herb: bruised thyme, rosemary and sage, divided
12½ quarts of ice
1 (18–20 lb) turkey (Amish Heritage turkeys are ideal)
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
6 carrots, chopped into ½-inch cubes
1 bunch celery, chopped into ½-inch pieces
2 yellow onions, chopped into ½-inch cubes
2 cups white wine
 CHEF’S NOTE: Pink curing salt contains sodium nitrite and is used for curing meats, so be careful to avoid contact with skin.

Turkey Brine:

Combine the water, salt, sugar, maple syrup, peppers, garlic, fall spices and 1⁄3 of the herbs in a large pot and bring to a boil; then simmer for about 10 minutes. Pour the brine into a 5-gallon container with ice to cool. Once the brine is at room temperature, immerse the turkey and cover. If you don’t have a 5-gallon container, use a smaller one and flip the turkey after 6 hours. Place the turkey in a cool environment for 12 to 14 hours.

Roasting the Turkey:

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Remove the turkey from the brine and dry the skin. Season inside and out with salt and pepper. Combine the carrots, celery and onions to make a mirepoix, and stuff the turkey with ½ of it, along with another 1⁄3 of the herbs. Use the remaining mirepoix and the remaining herbs to cover the bottom of the roasting pan. 

Place the turkey in the pan and roast for an hour, adding a splash of white wine occasionally to prevent burning the bottom of the pan. After the turkey cooks for an hour, lower the temperature to 375°F. In 2 to 3 hours, the turkey should be done. If the skin hasn't turned crispy and golden brown, blast the oven on high for a few minutes until skin is crisp. Allow bird to rest for an hour or longer before serving.

CHEF’S NOTE: If the skin starts browning too quickly, cover the turkey with aluminum foil and remove foil for the last hour of cooking.


http://www.darkrye.com/content/habanero-brined-amish-turkey

City Council says no vegetable garden in front yard...cause they can! Or can they?

In what appears to be an increase of municipalities taking a stand on urban farming are demanding no front yard vegetables.  While not one municipality can justify a public health concern or public safety concern and seem to simply be banning the practice, just because.  Just because some officials have said "we want front yards to be standards".  Cookie cutter yards but yet in one municipality in Florida they allow yard gnomes, plastic flamingos and fruit and nut trees.  Not everyone there has one or all of those items.

In Oak Park, Michigan, a cash strapped suburb of Detroit, the village is willing to press charges, go to trial because one home owner wanted to make best use of her front yard after a sewer repair.

Don't think our fair city is not among those who escape the scrutiny.  Rumblings have been going on for the past four years to ban, curb planting, non ornamental plantings from front yards and even set a ban on our beloved chicken raising, something a lot of Troy residents value highly.

Home owner association are notorious for dictating how one should display their front yard or what is an allowable activity on your own property.  In two recent cases the HOA's have gone as far as foreclosing on a home owner who had "ornamental" hot peppers in their front yard and refused to remove them and the other was for a home owner who turned a 25x100 side lot into a vegetable garden that was visible from the road, a clause in the HOA's agreement.  I will post up the links to these cases shortly.

Personally I see this as a blatant invasion of Constitutional Rights, and when we are all dealing with income shortages, concerns over quality of food and even availability of quality foods, growing should be an option for every American as it was during WWI and WWII, oh yeah has everyone forgotten about that.  Read some of the articles below, I think you will see the ridiculousness of our governments and how they overstep their bounds, without reason.

Woman Faces Jail Time For Growing Vegetable Garden in Her Own Front Lawn

Oak Park, MI
Julie Bass faces the prospect of going to jail for what she's growing in her front yard.

The illegal growth is tomatoes. And zucchinis, peppers and other edible and what normally would be legal plants.

The officials in Bass' hometown of Oak Park, Mich., have charged her with growing "vegetable garden in front yard space." If convicted, she could spend up to 93 days in jail.

Bass said that the criminal charge "blew my mind." "Sometimes we laugh because it seems so silly and sometimes we cry because it's so pathetic. A lot of times it does not seem real," she told ABCNews.com.

Bass has insisted on a jury trial and a pre-trial hearing is set for July 26. If the case goes to court Bass' attorney Solomon Radner does not believe that a jury will convict his client of a crime.

"Michelle Obama plants vegetables on White House front lawn. I don't think the jury is going to think that it's suitable for the White House, but it's not suitable for Oak Park," said Radner.

The first lady's office, which is encouraging growing fresh vegetables to help fight childhood obesity, declined to comment on the Oak Park vegetable case.

Bass got the idea to plant a garden in front yard after it was torn up over a busted sewage pipe.

"There were piles of dirt outside and we knew we had to do something," Bass said. "We looked into putting in sod but it was shockingly expensive, so we starting looking into other books to do something a little more cost effective. We found pictures in a bunch of different library books of garden beds. It was perfect and we had a blank canvas."

But Oak Park, MI official say front yard vegetable garden is a crime: Read More

Miami Shores, Fl -

For 17 years, Hermine Ricketts and her husband Tom Carroll used their front yard to grow food for their own personal consumption.  And for 17 years, nobody had a problem with it . . . until now.  In May 2013, the village of Miami Shores, Fla., amended its zoning ordinances to explicitly prohibit front-yard vegetable gardens.  Only vegetables are banned—trees, fruit and garden gnomes are just fine.

A few days later, the Village’s code enforcement department served Hermine and Tom with a notice informing them they were in violation of the front-yard vegetable ban.  The department threatened them with fines of $50 per day if they did not destroy their beautiful garden.  Unable to bear the cost of such hefty fines, Hermine and Tom had no option but to surrender to the government’s demands and uproot the garden.

The battle, however, is far from over.  Hermine and Tom are part of a nationwide movement of small-scale food producers and consumers who are tired of the government making their food choices for them—of government dictating what foods they can grow, raise and eat.  On November 19, 2013, they joined with the Institute for Justice to challenge Miami Shores’ senseless front-yard vegetable garden ban.  Their case aims to vindicate the right of all Americans to peacefully use their own property to support their own families.

Hermine and Tom’s fundamental right to put their property to peaceful, productive use is guaranteed by the Florida Constitution’s Basic Rights Clause, which protects the right of all Floridians “to acquire, possess, and protect property.”[13]  The Florida Supreme Court has held that under any “common sense reading” of the clause, “the phrase ‘acquire, possess, and protect property’ . . . includes the incidents of property ownership:  the ‘[c]ollection of rights to use and enjoy property.’”[14]  Any such collection of rights naturally includes the right to use property to provide for the basic necessities of life.  Indeed, the right to procure and consume nutritious food has been considered part and parcel of the celebrated American “‘right to pursue one’s happiness.’”[15]
Hermine and Tom’s right to maintain their garden enjoys protection in another provision of the Florida Constitution, as well—one intended to protect citizens against arbitrary intrusions by the government into private matters.   Florida is one of only a handful of states to explicitly protect the right of privacy in its constitution.[16]  In 1980, the state amended its constitution to provide that “[e]very natural person has the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into the person’s private life.”[17]  While Florida’s Supreme Court is yet to squarely address the issue, other courts interpreting similar privacy clauses have held they protect the right to engage in harmless activities in one’s own home, including consuming the foods of one’s choice.[18]

Another case in Orlando Fl.  A battle in the Front Yard.  

JASON HELVENSTON was at work on his second crop, spreading compost to fertilize the carrots, bok choy, kale and dozens of other vegetables he grows organically on his property in Orlando, Fla., when the trouble began.

Mr. Helvenston spent last Super Bowl Sunday planting the garden outside his 1940s cottage, in a neighborhood of modest houses close to downtown. Orlando’s growing season is nearly year-round, and Mr. Helvenston, a self-employed sustainability consultant for the building trade, said he saw the garden as “a budget thing” — a money-saving supplement to the chicken coop he and his wife, Jennifer, installed a few months later behind their house.

Since his backyard doesn't get much sun, Mr. Helvenston ripped out the lawn in his front yard and put the 25-by-25-foot, micro-irrigated plot there. The unorthodox landscaping went largely unnoticed for months, perhaps because he lives on a dead-end street next to Interstate 4.

Then, in September, Pedro Padin, who lives in Puerto Rico but owns the rental property next door, visited with his wife and cast a displeasing eye on his neighbor’s front yard. “All the houses are pretty much kept neat,” Mr. Padin said, “but his house looks like a farm.”

Mr. Padin contacted the city, which cited the Helvenstons for violating section 60.207 of Orlando’s Land Development Code (failure to maintain ground cover on property) and set a deadline of Nov. 7 to comply.

Read on for more here - http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/20/garden/gardeners-fight-with-neighbors-and-city-hall-over-their-lawns.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Des Moines Considers a home garden ban from 2012

The Des Moines Register did not include the lawn-loving resident’s name in their Feb. 7 report, nor has the Des Moines City Council made any decisions on whether or not a ban should be imposed on front yard gardens. The Council is expected to consider the issue in coming weeks.

However, some Council members, such as Kevin Trevillyan, are reluctant to establish a ban on front yard food production because they view the move as limiting homeowners’ property rights. Trevillyan told the Register, “I struggle with where do you draw the line on property owner rights that say here’s what you can and can’t do on your own property?”

This isn’t the first time front yard gardening in Des Moines has come under scrutiny — last fall, a City code enforcement subcommittee drafted an ordinance to ban front yard fruit and vegetable production after a different resident found these plants to be visually unappealing. Growing corn in front yards was at the center of this particular debate. Mayor Steve Gaer recommended bringing the ordinance to a meeting so all Council members could weigh in.

Garden advocates counter that front yard food production is often necessary when backyards are shaded by homes and trees, which can often be the case in older, established neighborhoods such as exist in West Des Moines. Additionally, they argue that lettuces, pea trellises and flowering vegetable plants are indeed as appealing to look at as approved ornamental lawn plants.

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/nature-and-environment/illegal-front-yard-vegetable-gardens-zb01302zrob.aspx#ixzz3Gt0BQChq

FINDING AND KEEPING YOUR CSA MEMBERS

You might have heard the term CSA, but what does that have to do with farming? Well everything for the small farm. CSA, community supported agriculture, is in a sense a buy in for residents to assure good quality, locally grown and easily accessible fruits, vegetables, eggs or even fish. But from the farmers view it is an unnerving prospect because every year you can loose as much as 55% of their

Shareholder bags ready to be picked up.
Photo by Carla Snyder

shareholders. That is a large chunk of a business to loose. You might be wondering who are the shareholders? Shareholders are those in the community that purchase that small farm's, urban farm's product. How can a farm survive if you have to spend your off season planning how to recoup that lost business when you should be planning for your first plantings. Read on - this little article from the Cornell Small Farms Program:

http://smallfarms.cornell.edu/2014/10/06/finding-and-keeping-your-csa-members/

Tempura Japanese Maple Leaves Recipe!

Was having a joking conversation with someone over one of my other (ad)ventures, Salvage and Deconstruction and they sent me this link for fried maple leaves as a jest to re-purpose all the falling maple leaves this fall...then surprisingly enough I found this recipe for Tempura Japanese Red Maple Leaves.

1. Clean Japanese red maple leaves with a wet towel
2. Make tempura batter:
2.1. Beat 1 egg in a bowl
2.2. Add 1 cup ice water
2.3. Add 1 cup sifted all purpose flour
2.4. Mix Lightly (Be careful not to over mix)
3. Heat vegetable oil in a deep pan to 350 F degrees
4. Lightly dip one side of a Japanese maple leaf in the batter
5. Immediately fry them until brown
6. Drain tempura on a rack
7. Enjoy

Some great photos of the treats:
Fried Japanese Maple Leaves

No help for farmers, but a boom to farmers markets

Here we are looking at the upcoming signing of the farm bill and it's focus on Food Hubs....that meaning Farmers Markets. While the markets are a huge resource in getting organic and what some deem as local grown it does not address the real sources that need development, small local farms and urban growing opportunities.

Lets put it this way, the cost for a small farm to get product to these farmers markets often exceeds what they make on a typical Saturday or weekend. If small farms were set up in urban areas then transportation costs would be negated because of close proximity to those markets. Not only would it reduce overhead for the farms, it potentially would open up job opportunities since many small farms do hire anywhere from 5 to 20 people to work the facility. They also could create educational and entrepreneurial opportunities in creating actual working urban farms on vacant city lots, increasing the tax base for municipalities for lots that currently sit dormant and unproductive.

Current questions are being raised in the City of Troy.  A small post industrial city in eastern NY, on the shores of the Hudson River.  The local farmers market is poised to receive a financial boost with a new development that would present them a permanent home in the City. Kirchhoff Properties has applied for a grant to award the farmers market a permanent home with this new development, that is already shrouded it nondescript designs, salesman double talk and public promises of good use of a public space for private development.  According to the farm bill Kirchhoff potentially could apply for upwards of $25 million in financial rewards from the USDA, because they would have provided subsidies to the current farmers market, but none of that money from the USDA, goes directly to the farmers market.  Again we look at that city and of the 80 something properties for sale by the city more than 75% of those are vacant lots.  Wasted opportunities.

U.S.D.A. to Start Program to Support Local and Organic Farming?

Food movement forgets one important element

Remember the song mothers don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys?  Well now farmers are singing the same tune, "Don't let your children grow up to be farmers".  In an adverse cultural change in the current food movement there is one important piece that is being overlooked, the farmer.  Crunched in between slim margins, farmers markets, Big Farms and making a living wage, almost 98% of all family farms are operating in the red, often only propped up by government subsidies to keep them afloat, but still barely making ends meet.  Dealing with the norms of life, health care, education and the mortgage and taxes, most are struggling and often living below the poverty level.

While our approach at Zombie Jac's is not farming, it has led to the concept of farming as part of the overall business model, to be considered.  Our focus is food product creation and the concept of farming comes from the need to make a quality product featuring local produce in the product as well as keeping cost at bay.  On average it takes us about 1 lb. of FRESH habanero peppers for the base of our habanero hot sauce to create 15 5 oz bottles.  Habaneros are grown only in a few areas of the US and Mexico commercially and typically you can only order habanero powder or dried habaneros and in our product the end quality suffers not to mention that same 1 lb. of habaneros can cost as much as $30 to $80 to get in New York.  Right there that would require us to sell the sauce for almost $20 a bottle just to break even (once we get the product to market).  On the flip side I can grow almost 10lbs. of habaneros in New York for about $30 or less depending on if I plant seedlings or start from seed.  That already starts to make dollars and sense!

Read the following article and see what the farmers are really saying about the hype and look at the realization of what and were the real damage and dangers are.

Happy gardening, farming and eating!

Don't Let your Children grow up to be farmers.

From left, Josiah Venter, Noah Patrone-Werdiger and Toby Fischer remove rocks at Ro-Jo Farms in Bethany, Conn. CreditLili Holzer-Glier for The New York Times

Could your state ban seed libraries?

After reading several articles and doing some leg work it seems there is a very big issue of the legality of seed libraries.  Early last year I had a short discussion with a local growing and sustainability advocate and friend, Abby.  We discussed a long list of topics one being the possibility of utilizing our local libraries wasted cabinet space with building a seed library, using local grown plants, heirlooms and other excess seeds from other residents to generate stock.  Not a bad idea for an economically disadvantaged city of 50,000 who for the most part are progressive thinking.

Since that time I have been researching on the possibilities of starting this concept then I come across some legal issues, then this article that really sums up the problem we are potentially encountering.  I won’t go as far as the author and say there is agri-terrorism involved or acknowledge it is real, but there is a real problem with hybridization and mono-permaculture farming that does place the food sources at jeopardy.

Read these two articles and we will get to the technical stuff next

Department of Ag Cracks down on Seed Libraries

The Simpson Seed Library before its opening this past April. Credit: Rebecca Swanger

Setting the record straight on the legality of seed libraries

The problem with the many commercially available seeds at your garden center is hybridization.  Often the seeds are single generational varieties that will grow once and future seeds will be either sterile and not produce fruit or not even produce a viable plant.  Heirloom species come with their own inherent problems such as the inability to handle infestation or prone to blight or other fungal problems, most can be remedied by using companion planting. 

While I find the department of ag’s argument weak at best, it could be a possibility that agri-terrorism is a real threat on a national level, not a local one.  Would their methodology not be to taint wide spread commercially available seed products?  Or is it more effective to taint packets of 100 seeds?

These seed banks are put together by residents and neighbors wanting to utilize this type of service and harvesting seeds from plants can be difficult and time consuming.  Most of us who do save generational seeds (especially for all those lovely hot peppers we grow) it is a skill and has its risks.  Again that would be just having seeds that do not produce.  The thought that they would be poisonous plant seeds is ridiculous since when I harvest zucchini or cucumber seeds the worst possible thing that can happen is I mix up the two.  If I happen to mix up a carrot or a Queen Ann’s lace, well they are both edible, the same family but obviously the root will be different.  The fact that the seeds are not sold from the bank or library should right there be exempt from the state or feds regulations.

All in all this is another step of ridiculousness of government overreach; they will allow open genetic modification of plant stock but not allow a seed library.  I say keep trading and keep saving those seeds.

Happy gardening, farming and eating!

Cedar mulch – Friend or Foe?

There has been discussion of the use of Cedar mulch and can it be dangerous to the plants?  Really that depends on many variables but lets look at some of the known issues, the process it inhibits and some alternatives.

Sensitivity -Some people may be sensitive to the cedar fragrance, and they may find that it exacerbates allergy symptoms through either contact or smell.

Decomposition - Cedar will draw away nitrogen from the soil.  Typically only a problem when mulch is tilled into the soil.  Some argue this is a myth but for any of us who have used cedar extensively can attest that shredded cedar mulch decomposes quickly and requires it to be removed each year for fresh much.  An option is add it to a compost pile the year prior and let it begin to decay and if your compost is ready add it to the soil your planting in.  Make sure to take a pH reading of the compost before using it and compare it to the soil your planting in.

Acidic soil types - Cedar and pine mulches can add acid to the soil.  If you already have a low pH level cedar mulch can cause a problem.  You may want to add wood ash or lime to the soil if amending with cedar mulch.

Wet areas - low beds or wet spots can create an addition issue, but when adding mulch to it the problems grow significantly by promoting root rot.

Young plants - Cedar has been found to be toxic to young plants and seedlings.  Make sure if wanting to use cedar it is not in sawdust form or do not use on plants that have very shallow root systems such as celery or asparagus.

Beneficial bugs - The biggest benefit to cedar is it naturally repels insects.  But not just those pesky ones but also ladybugs and mantis, the ones we want around our plants.

So what is happening it the soil and the hubbub about Nitrogen.  We often use words inaccurately and using Nitrogen as it is, is one of those.  During natural decomposition you have organic material and to break down it needs oxygen, water and bacteria.  The oxygen and water start the process of decay, but decay is not enough.  Plants do not have mouths so they need to have their food is a water soluble form.

The decaying is a mixture of organic material, oxygen and water this process is called nitrification and creates Nitrites.  Once it reaches 72-78 degrees the bacteria move in and look for the Nitrites.  It is theses Nitrites the bacteria need to create Nitrates.  Nitrates are what the plant needs.

Back to the Cedar, this process takes longer, a lot longer and with natural inhibitors already in the wood it takes more for the process to take hold often directing the bacteria away from materials already needing to be converted and the essential oils in Cedar have been shown to kill these bacteria.  So now we need to amend the soil and we find ourselves in the catch 22.

So what can you do?  Cedar mulch is fine to use but on the balance of nature, sustainability and conservation you might want to avoid shredded cedar mulch except for trees, and hedges and perennial gardens based on items discussed if you want to use cedar in your vegetables choose cedar bark or chunk type mulches and be sure that no coloring has been added.  Many cedar mulches have a red dye added to give them a red appearance, cedar is actually an off orange, tan to brown color.

Remove the cedar before planting the next season and compost.  Replace with fresh mulch each year. Also water the ground heavily prior to placing mulch down.  After the mulch is down it will take up to 10x's more water to get it down to the roots of the plants.

Another option is to lay strips of ground fabric between plants, about 6" away from the base of the plants and place most of the mulch along those strips, keeping a thin layer near the plants.  Square foot planting will also reduce water consumption because the plant leaves will assist in keeping the soil at the right temperature and maintain water levels.  A good example would be zucchini.  A plant that requires to be planted in full sun but the leaves are often so large they shield the ground.  These large leaves serve multiple functions, photosynthesis and providing proper soil protection for the things the plant needs.  The sun is for the flowers, once set and pollinated it has done its job and now produces the fruit.  Mulch is not a huge help here.

If you are like me and love raised beds mulch may not be much of a help.  Often mulch will keep soil too wet and root rot will be a big problem.  My suggestion here is use leaves.  If you have a leaf shredder save a pile from the fall and use that as mulch.  It retains the same amount of water as the mulch, and it restricts weed growth.

No matter what you choose, keep in mind what you place in your gardens can always benefit or hinder your garden and each season needs to be addressed each year.  Meaning more rain less mulch or less rain more mulch, also keep an eye on where you get your mulch.  In recent years there have been reports of  lead in mulch coming from China and India as well as Canada, it is always a good idea to read the label or visit your local garden center, many of which sell locally produced mulch products and often cost far less than a per bag from a chain store, unless you only need to do a small area.  A cubic yard of mulch (about a ton) usually cost me about $35.

Happy gardening, farming and eating!

Green Groups acting as shadow agencies of municipalities?

Here is where "Green Groups" cross the line.  We are not talking about citizens action groups or community based "green groups".  Read on and maybe you have experienced something similar from Conservancies or Environmental boards. We would love to hear your stories.

Does Green Group Cross the Line With Inspection at Virginia Farm?

Prevent Listeria, use plant based compost, not manure

Another benefit to composting is the prevention of Listeria.  Most cases originate from the use of animal manure as a fertilizer.

A little bit about Listeria:
Listeriosis (Listeria) is found in soil and water.

1. Vegetables can become contaminated from the soil or from manure used as fertilizer.
2. Animals can carry the bacteria and can contaminate meats and dairy products.
3, Processed foods, such as soft cheeses and cold cuts, can be contaminated after processing.
4. Unpasteurized (raw) milk or foods made from unpasteurized milk can be contaminated.

For most healthy people Listeria causes very little problems other than typical stomach issues such as fever, muscle aches, and sometimes nausea or diarrhea. If infection spreads to the nervous system, symptoms such as headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, or convulsions can occur.

Listeriosis affects mainly pregnant women, newborns, the elderly, and adults with impaired immune systems. Healthy adults and children sometimes are infected with L. monocytogenes, but they rarely become seriously ill. Babies can be born with listeriosis if their mothers eat contaminated food during pregnancy.

What can you do:

You can prevent listeriosis by practicing safe food handling (adapted from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

Shop safely. Bag raw meat, poultry, or fish separately from other food items. Drive home immediately after finishing your shopping so that you can store all foods properly.

Prepare foods safely. Wash your hands before and after handling food. Also wash them after using the bathroom or changing diapers. Wash fresh fruits and vegetables by rinsing them well with running water. If possible, use two cutting boards—one for fresh produce and the other for raw meat, poultry, and seafood. You can also wash your knives and cutting boards in the dishwasher to disinfect them.
Store foods safely. Cook, refrigerate, or freeze meat, poultry, eggs, fish, and ready-to-eat foods within 2 hours. Make sure your refrigerator is set at 40°F (4°C) or colder. But listeria can grow in the refrigerator, so clean up any spills in your refrigerator, especially juices from hot dogs, raw meat, or poultry.

Cook foods safely. Use a clean meat thermometer to determine whether foods are cooked to a safe temperature. Reheat leftovers to at least 165°F (74°C). Do not eat undercooked hamburger, and be aware of the risk of food poisoning from raw fish (including sushi), clams, and oysters.

Serve foods safely. Keep cooked hot foods hot [140°F (60°C) or above] and cold foods cold [40°F (4°C) or below].

Follow labels on food packaging. Food packaging labels provide information about when to use the food and how to store it. Reading food labels and following safety instructions will reduce your chance of becoming ill with food poisoning.

When in doubt, throw it out. If you are not sure whether a food is safe, don't eat it. Reheating food that is contaminated will not make it safe. Don't taste suspicious food. It may smell and look fine but still may not be safe to eat.

If you are pregnant:

Do not eat hot dogs, luncheon meats, or deli meats, unless they are reheated until steaming hot.

Do not eat soft cheeses unless the label states they are made from pasteurized milk. Common cheeses typically made with unpasteurized milk—such as feta, Brie, Camembert, blue-veined cheeses, and Mexican-style cheeses such as "queso blanco fresco"—can cause listeriosis. You can have hard cheeses and semisoft cheeses such as mozzarella along with pasteurized processed cheese slices and spreads, cream cheese, and cottage cheese.

Do not eat refrigerated pâté or meat spreads. But you can eat these foods if they are canned.

Do not eat refrigerated smoked seafood unless it is an ingredient in a cooked dish such as a casserole. Examples of refrigerated smoked seafood include salmon, trout, whitefish, cod, tuna, and mackerel. You may eat canned fish such as salmon and tuna or shelf-stable smoked seafood.

Do not drink raw (unpasteurized) milk or eat foods that contain unpasteurized milk.

Avoid eating salads made in a store, such as ham, chicken, egg, tuna, or seafood salads.

Companion Planting

Here are a handful of favorite plants for discouraging pests in the vegetable garden to jump-start your companion planting endeavors.

1. Basil
Among the most popular partnerships, basil and tomatoes go hand-in-hand—both on the plate and in the garden. Basil is said to repel whiteflies, spider mites and aphids on tomatoes. Planting basil around young tomato plants can confuse adult hornworm moths, preventing them from finding the plants and laying their eggs.

2. Dill
Dill helps deter squash bugs, so plant it among your squash plants to keep your crop safe. It also helps repel adult cabbageworms when planted among cabbage and other cole crops. The heavily scented leaves of dill may repel other insects, as well, or simply mask the scent of the host plant.

3. Nasturtiums
Many gardeners find success planting nasturtiums among cucumber vines to repel the cucumber beetles that feed on cucumber leaves and flowers, and transmit bacterial wilt. Some gardeners also report that vining nasturtium varieties help deter squash bugs when planted among winter squash.

4. Onions
The bold odor of onions may actually repel pests or confuse them by masking the fragrance of their preferred host plants. Either way, onions in the cucumber patch can scare off cucumber beetles, and planting them between carrot rows repels adult carrot root maggot flies. Circling a row of onions around tomato plants is also said to help repel sap-sucking aphids.

5. Garlic
The scent of this aromatic is said to repel aphids in the lettuce patch, as well as send Japanese beetles packing when planted around blueberries, roses, raspberries and other susceptible crops. Garlic plants are also used to keep spider mites away from phlox and other vulnerable perennials.

6. Tomatoes
With strongly scented foliage of their own, many gardeners use tomatoes to protect their cabbage and broccoli crop from diamond back moth larvae. The adult moths are less likely to lay eggs on cole crops planted between and beneath tomato plants.

7. Catnip (Nepeta spp.)
Plant this perennial member of the mint family between rows of plants susceptible to flea beetle damage, such as radish and eggplants, as the adult beetles are repelled by the fragrance.

8. Calamint
Another member of the mint family, this perennial is reportedly quite adept at deterring cabbageworms, cabbage loopers and diamondback moth larvae on cole crops. Plant a few calamint plants near these crops, but be careful to deadhead the flowers before they drop seed to prevent it from taking over the garden.

9. Tansy
Some gardeners use this herb to keep Japanese beetles at bay, planting it among brambles, roses and other plants favored by adult Japanese beetles. Tansy's strong scent is said to either deter them directly or make it difficult for the beetles to hone in on their host plant.

10. Marigolds
Tall marigold varieties, such as African marigolds (Tagetes erecta), are used by some gardeners to deter tomato and tobacco hornworms. When planted in between tomato plants, they are thought to confuse the adult hornworm moths and keep them at bay.

11. Borage
Used by gardeners for centuries to discourage hornworms on tomatoes and cabbageworms on cole crops, borage is a beautiful addition to the garden. Easily grown from seed, this herb can be readily grown around susceptible plants. It's also great at supporting Honey bees and other pollinators.

12. Lavender
When grown among lettuce and other leaf crops, the heavily scented leaves of lavender dissuade both whiteflies and aphids.

13. Parsley
Planting parsley in the asparagus bed may send asparagus beetles packing, particularly early in the season when the spears are just emerging.

14. Castor Oil Plant
Although it should be grown with care (all parts—especially the beans—are extremely poisonous to humans and animals when ingested), the castor oil plant is proven to keep moles and voles at bay. Planted around the perimeter of the garden, it keeps voles from moving in. Some commercial mole and vole repellents are even made from the castor oil plant because it works so well.

Read the full Article
http://www.hobbyfarms.com/crops-and-gardening/14-plants-to-repel-beetles-and-other-garden-pests.aspx

Spicy Fudge S’mores

8 regular size graham crackers, broken in 1/2

8 marshmallows

Zombie Jac’s Hot Fudge Sauce (see directions below)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Lay 1/2 of the graham crackers on a cookie sheet. Place marshmallows on crackers.

Bake until the marshmallows are golden brown, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with the remaining graham crackers, pressing lightly to make a sandwich. Drizzle Spiced Fudge Sauce over top and serve immediately, while still warm.  For a special treat replace graham crackers with waffle pretzels.

Zombie Jac’s Hot Fudge Sauce:

1/8 -1 tsp Zombie Jac Habanero Sauce (You can substitute equivalent amount of ground fresh Habanero Peppers), depending on how much heat you want.

1 cup sugar

2 tbsp flour

1/3 cup cocoa

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup milk

2 tbsp butter

• If using fresh Habanero peppers: remove the seeds and ribs from the peppers and place them into a small food processor or coffee grinder.  Process till smooth. (Good idea to wear gloves)
• Measure Zombie Jac’s Habanero sauce out to ⅛ tsp – 1 tsp, depending on how much heat you want.
• In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa, cinnamon, and sauce. 
• Stir to remove any lumps.  Add milk and stir. 
• Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.
• Boil until sauce has reached desired consistency, sauce will thicken a bit as it cools. 
• Remove from heat and stir in butter until melted.

Remaining sauce can be refrigerated in a sealed, microwave safe container.  Just heat up to use again.  Excellent on different fruits, desserts and ice cream.

Time to consider the winter

I know after the last winter most of the US had the last thing on your mind is upcoming cold.  And yes it is right around the corner...Right now we are enjoying the tomatoes and peppers but within the next two months we will start to unwind to fall harvest and then winter.  Now is the perfect time to plan for the cold and get ready to extend your growing season, possibly well into the winter.

No money for a greenhouse, consider a hoop house.  They are pretty inexpensive and reusable or maybe a DIY coldframe (we will cover that in a few days).  Here is a video from Howl in Lowell.  The community garden sets up hoop houses and in the Northeast they can be extremely helpful when a regular greenhouse is not available, to extend the growing season or start growing a little earlier.

Got some tips and trick you would like to share post away!  Hope you enjoy and of course -

Happy gardening, farming and eating!

Remediation to urban soils

Zombie Jac's Tip of the week:

Remediation to urban soils.

While the growth of Urban Farming and Urban Gardening (there is a difference) is booming now a days there should be a strong concern over the quality of the soil when doing ground planting.  Contamination of urban lots is common and often without proper remediation can lead to exposure to lead, mercury, zinc, arsenic, chromium, copper, dioxins and cadmium.

A soil contaminant is an element or chemical present in the soil at a level that could possibly pose health risks. In a few areas of the country, element levels may be naturally high. In many cases, human activities have increased the soil levels of many elements and chemicals and also spread them out more widely. Lead, cadmium, arsenic, zinc, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are contaminants commonly found in any urban environment. In addition, other contaminants can also be found in areas near former commercial or industrial properties. Table 1 lists sources of contamination that are commonly found on sites with a commercial or industrial history, such as where we are in Troy, NY.

So what can you do?  First see about getting your soil tested.  Cornell Cooperative Extension can provide testing as well as many garden centers provide soil testing.  Once you get a definitive answer on what is in your soil then you can go forward with a solid plan.

Remediation can be a significant undertaking and without proper testing you could also expose yourself to toxins just by allowing them to become airborne, for this reason if you suspect contamination we always recommend raised beds with a good weed barrier.  Other benefits to raised beds are high density growing, water conservation and weed control.  One of the most prevalent contaminants in urban environments is lead (Pb), but do to the fact that lead is not soluble (capable of being dissolved) exposure through most vegetables is minimal with the exceptions of root vegetables.  Exposure is more common through dirt dust, working the soil.  But lead is relatively simple to deal with.  The most common is compost.  A good quality, even home made compost can help remediate lead as well as many other contaminants through bonding.

Another option is separate planting.  Grow food in containers, raised beds while remediation through planting items like clover, ash plant, sunflowers, spinach and Indian mustard are considered hyperaccumulators and have the ability to take up soluble metals into their roots there by removing the contaminants up to 100 fold greater than other plants.  Typically harvested at the end of the growing season then have soil retested.

Care should be taken when ever considering urban growing but the benefits of urban growing far outweigh the risks when there are so many options to alleviate those risks.

Happy Gardening, farming and eating!

Orange Chili Marmalade

After making our Blueberry Habanero Jam I started thinking what other jams could use a dose of Habanero holiness?  Here it is......


Makes about 8 (8 oz) half pints

Chili peppers intensify the citrus flavor and add zest to this unique marmalade. Use it to add sparkle to cheese trays or serve as a condiment with coconut-battered shrimp. And don't forget toast - it makes the traditional something special.
You will need:

2 1/4 lbs oranges (unpeeled), seeded and thinly sliced
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
6 cups water
3 dried habenero chili peppers (or 6 dried Colorado or New Mexico chili peppers)
9 cups granulated sugar
8 (8 oz) half pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands
Directions:

1.) COMBINE oranges, lemon zest and juice and water in a large, deep stainless steel saucepan, Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, for 40 minutes. Add chili peppers, partially cover and boil gently, stirring occasionally, until fruit is very soft, about 30 minutes. Remove and discard chili peppers.
2.) PREPARE boiling water canner. Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Set bands aside.
3.) BRING mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Maintaining boil, gradually stir in sugar. Boil hard, stirring occasionally, until mixture reaches gel stage, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and test gel. If gel stage has been reached, skim off foam.
4.) LADLE hot marmalade into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band and adjust until fit is fingertip tight.
5.) PROCESS filled jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.

Original recipe can be found here.

Take the good and bad for what it is...

Well all is not well in the Northeast here.  OF course with all bad news is good news so the good news is we have started clearing out the vacant home we purchased and glad to say most of the trash is gone.  Now on to the demo once the power company drops the power lines.

As for the bad news, these sub zero temps have taken their toll on the outdoor system.  Water pump is frozen and beds froze over.  The kale is on the way out the door due to the lack of water flow.  Aerator is running but not enough to keep the ice from forming.

Inside we are doing fine except the vast amount of gnats that have appeared.  They were setting up shop in the vermicompost bin but I think we have that under control now.  Used a little rosemary/clove spray and added screening to the vents.  The spray we applied all over the burlap and laid that back over the dirt and that seemed to kill them off.  Changed out the CFL lights for a florescent 6500k bulb on the large growbed, not sure how that will work but there is only one mustard spinach growing and it is well established.  I had noticed that after 6 months the CFL's were starting to fail, not able to start or developing coating cracks.  Well below their rated hours of use.  Not comfortable with the possibility of a mercury leak in the growbeds so I am watching this closely.

Taking these setbacks for what they are, a friend and fellow composter, sustainability supporter introduced me to someone who is working on a methane digester for energy and we may look to see about incorporating that and testing with our aquaponics.  Although energy is not the largest problem for me heat is.  One major key to aquaponics is maintaining water temps at 70 degrees, one for the fish and two for the bacteria that create the nitrates from the waste the plants need to grow.  Solar is good but inconsistent in the NE with winter sun being a rare treat, but with a growing compost pile, you have both heat generated as well as methane that can be converted into energy to create heat.  Hopefully we will get to meet up soon and see if this is all feasible on our property, to at least test and maybe even convert to a much larger community level.

Here is a little article from Mother Earth News on making a home methane digester...Remember spring is just around the corner.