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Friday, April 21, 2017
Earth Day Events
4.21.17 Phenology Report
April 21, 2017 Phenology Report:
So its been a while since I have updated you all on all things Phenological at Alternative Roots Farm, but I assure you that things are changing rapidly! As far as the fruit trees go, the timing of the bloom seems to consistently follow the same schedule, with the apricots already in bloom, the plums blossoms at "white tip" (flowers not open yet) and the apples in the "tight cluster" stage (tight cluster of flower buds but not yet in pink tip). What is important to note at this time of year is that there are not a ton of pollinators around working the flower buds, especially if its cool and wet out - because of this, the apricots this year will rely heavily on the pollination services of small flies and other native pollinators that may be hanging around. Hopefully the flies can help provide us with some apricots this year!
The changes in the wildlife category are crazy right now - the male pheasants or "Roosters" can be heard cackling starting at sunrise and through the day. There has been one bold rooster who has chosen the grove across the road as his stomping grounds, even though we have 2 hunting dogs constantly running around the farm! For some reason he has taken a liking to our chickens and has been caught twice now right next to the chicken run courting the ladies. On another note with our feathered friends, Brooke's favorite bird has returned - the Brown Thrasher! This bird is certainly a bird of the summer, and remains here through fall. The Thrasher is a bird about the size of a blue jay, with a long tail, long and slightly curved bill - to me it's the Road Runner of the north. What's even more unique about this bird is its amazing at mimicking other bird calls - including robins, chickadees, wrens, hawks, crows, grackles, etc...Although loud, this bird is hard to see and spends most of its time on the ground or the tip top of the tree.
In the riverine areas around this part of the state, the spring ephemerals are all leafing out, but not yet all blooming. Some Bloodroot has been seen blooming, but things like Dog Toothed Violet, Dutchmens Breeches (sp), and trout lilly are not there yet.
That is all for now.
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| Our bold pheasant, hanging out by the hens. |
Thursday, April 6, 2017
Greening Up Part I :: In the Greenhouse
The greenhouse is filling up! It is the beginnings of playing tetris with all the flats of gorgeous green seedlings that promise a season of plenty. It starts slow, with onions, shallots, leeks and celery, but we are now in full swing.
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| Small, round brassica seeds that love to roll in all directions. |
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| Broccoli seeds, before being tapped down into the soil. |
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| Beautiful, beautiful celery. |
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| Tomato sprouts!!! |
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| A beautiful flat of bunching onions. |
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| Brassica seedlings, in 3/4" soil blocks. |
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| Rosemary in 2" soil blocks. |
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| Winter Density heirloom lettuce. |
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| Pirat butterhead lettuce |
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| Kohlrabi (many brassicas look like this). |
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| Peppers germinating! |
Next: Greening Up: In the Field (part 2)
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Spring Favorite :: Peas
Mmm, fresh peas picked straight from the vine. This is really one of my favorites during spring (and summer, and fall) harvests. Picking peas can be tedious, but I'll admit it, I like it. I sort of build a meditative pace and I'm pretty quick at it. Shell peas are really my fav, it's just lovely to pop those pods open. Which type is your favorite?
Scroll through for a few recipes.
The main season for peas is spring - early summer, so preserve their freshness by putting some in your freezer for pastas and stir frys all year around. Shell peas may be shucked and frozen. I like to freeze them on a sheet pan, before vacuum sealing them in bags. This is a great activity to do with the kiddos! Snap and snow peas should be blanched before freezing (if this is the only thing keeping you from doing it then skip the step and just use them within 6 months). Use frozen peas within 12 months.
Scroll through for a few recipes.
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| Peas germinating! |
Environmental Rockstar...
Peas are nitrogen "fixers", which means they can take nitrogen from the atmosphere and fix it into the soil, making it available to other plants. So they're good for you and good for the soil!
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| Snow peas on the vine. |
Origins...
There are thought to be four centers of origin, including Central Asia, the Near East, Abyssinia, and the Mediterranean. There is evidence of cultivation along the Thai-Burma border, dating back 12,000 years. Peas were introduced to the Americas soon after the arrival of Columbus.
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| Pea blossoms. |
Health Rockstar...
Peas are a good source of protein and fiber. They are rich in vitamin C, iron, thiamine, folate, phosphorous and potassium. They are also a source of omega-3 and -6, beta-carotene and vitamin E. Peas contain phytonutrients, which are antioxidant and anti-inflammatory.
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| Mammoth Melting snow peas. |
Pro Tips...
Use peas within 2-3 days for best flavor and maximum nutrients.The main season for peas is spring - early summer, so preserve their freshness by putting some in your freezer for pastas and stir frys all year around. Shell peas may be shucked and frozen. I like to freeze them on a sheet pan, before vacuum sealing them in bags. This is a great activity to do with the kiddos! Snap and snow peas should be blanched before freezing (if this is the only thing keeping you from doing it then skip the step and just use them within 6 months). Use frozen peas within 12 months.
Sauteed Sugar Snap Peas
Top and tail the sugar snap peas, pulling off the strings. Slice on the diagonal into ½-inch-thick pieces. Put into a saute pan with a ¼-inch of water, butter and a sprinkling of salt.
Cook until done, about 3 minutes. The water and butter should be emulsified and coat the snap peas, which should be bright green and just tender. Adjust the seasonings and serve—try curry or garlic, or whatever floats your boat.
*You can also toss other items in, such as your onions, kale, radishes, beet greens or spinach in, as well as garlic, garlic scapes and other goodies, such as Swiss chard or shallots.
[Main recipe from Chez Panisse Vegetables]
Sauteed Radishes and Sugar Snap Peas with Dill
Makes 6 servings • To remove strings from fresh peas, just snap off the stem end and pull string lengthwise down each pod.
•½ C thinly sliced shallots (or a onion + 1 clove garlic)
•1 T olive oil
•12 oz sugar snap peas, trimmed, strings removed
•1 T butter
•2 C thinly sliced radishes (about 1 large bunch)
•¼ C orange juice
•1 t dill seeds (omit if you don’t have any)
•1 T chopped fresh dill (or slightly less dried dill)
Melt butter with oil in a large non-stick skillet, over medium heat. Add shallots and sauté until golden, about 5 minutes. Add sugar snap peas, cook for one to two minutes, and radishes sauteing until crisp-tender, about 3 to 4 minutes more. Add orange juice and dill seeds; stir 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in chopped dill. Transfer to a bowl; serve. Credit: Bon Appétit, April 2004
Braised Peas with Spring Onions and Lettuce
• 1 knob of butter
• olive oil
• 1 heaped t flour
• 1 C chicken or vegetable stock
• 6 spring onions, trimmed, outer leaves discarded, and finely sliced
• 14 oz fresh or frozen peas
• 2 little butter lettuces, sliced
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• juice of 1 lemon *about 3 T
• extra virgin olive oil
Slowly heat the butter and a good glug of live oil in a pan. Add the flour and stir around, then slowly pour in the stock. Turn up the heat and add the spring onions, peas and lettuce with a pinch of alt and pepper. Put the lid on and simmer for 5 minutes or until tender. Taste, correct the seasoning and squeeze in a little lemon juice. Serve drizzled with a splash of good oil. It’s fantastic served with a piece of fish.
Credit: Cook with Jaime (Jaime Oliver)
Sesame Snow Peas
•1lb snow peas
•1/4 red bell pepper
•1-1/2 t sesame seeds
•2 t toasted sesame oil
Steam lease until bright & crisp-tender, 1-2 min. Cool under running cold water. Drain & dry. Toss with remaining ingredients.
Friday, March 10, 2017
Phenology Report
Phenology Report 3/7/2017:
Its been 2 weeks since I have written a report and WOW how things can change so fast. The phrase of the week is "Don't like the weather in Minnesota? Wait a couple of minutes, it will change!" Yesterday was a perfect example of this....Coming home from work it was about 65F outside, with a severe thunderstorm warning in effect. At about 1:00AM, while letting the puppy out for his nightly escapade, I was hit in the face with huge snow flakes and the temps around 25F! That is March in southern MN.
These temp changes are somewhat harsh to us, but nature is well adapted and can "weather" these changes with seemingly little concern. For the last two weeks, migratory waterfowl have been holding up on the large wetland east of the farm - giving up both enjoyable evenings seeing hundreds of birds swarming around the area getting ready to settle for the night, while in the mornings I am often greeted with single flocks of geese (snows, blue, Canada, and Lesser Canadians) and swans passing overhead and chirping while I complete the morning chores. I wish every morning were like this! Most of the ice has receded from area lakes and these waterfowl are taking up their usual nesting spots - Brooke noted that the swans are back on Linden Lake looking for the proper muskrat hut to lay their eggs. This is an annual sighting on Linden - and one we always enjoy. One neat thing about Linden that I have always found interesting is that it seems to be a hot spot for Canvasback ducks - they are a rather elusive large duck that not common for the area, or the state for that matter, but we see them every spring and fall on their annual migration.
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| Canvasback ducks |
Last note on our bird friends - the Killdeer have returned! Brooke and I love these upland shorebirds (oxymoron). Seeing their little babies later in the spring can really bring up the spirits if you have a bad day! I mean, who cannot chuckle and little cotton ball looking chicks on stilts chasing after mom and dad down the gravel road. Hahaha:)
On the plant side of things here is what I am seeing: Lilac buds are green and ready to burst. I hope these cool temp swings do not hurt the flowering buds. Nettles are starting to poke up, soon enough we will be collecting the young shoots for the animals as well as drying some for ourselves.
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Photo Update 3.8.17
Some photos around the farm, this week! It's time to get back into our photo update routine. With nice(r) weather and thawing ground we will be getting more active outside. Dear me! You'll need some pics of the greenhouse plants in the next one - things are growing!
Ragnar's favorite place to hang out these days is on top of the cozy, warm chick brooder. He just sits there and watches when I am tending to them. They are growing fast and have their awkward young feathers coming in.
John is gearing up for grafting apple, apricot and plum trees for the farm, as well as teaching a grafting workshop in New Ulm this Saturday. The workshop is tidied up and ready to begin!
The first round of Sponsor-A-Tree signs are finished! We are so grateful for our members' financial support of our growing orchard. For orchard updates check out our Apples page.
Crazy winds have been defining the last week and the first spring storm rolled through on Monday, March 6th. The smell was delicious, but I'll hold on to winter for a bit longer. Normal temps are good for the orchard trees - breaking dormancy early/bud development ahead of schedule always comes with the threat of frost damage.
Things are growing around the farm already - chives above, rhubarb below.
Just around the corner is tree planting on our new land!! John and Larry have been busy harvesting cedars for the apple tree trellis system. Below, John has staked out the tree rows on the new land. (The Quonset hut is ours now too!)
I have been enjoying hard boiled eggs more frequently - good, easy, healthful protein! Look at those beautiful yolks.
That's all for now, thanks for stopping!
Ragnar's favorite place to hang out these days is on top of the cozy, warm chick brooder. He just sits there and watches when I am tending to them. They are growing fast and have their awkward young feathers coming in.
The piglets were weaned this week. One by one we are winning them over and getting them to flop down for belly rubs. Elsa, pictured, is quite happy to to be done nursing.
We have been busy canning shredded chicken and chicken stock/bone broth. Read our blog post From the Pantry :: March for other kitchen shenanigans.
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| Canned chicken and broth. |
The first round of Sponsor-A-Tree signs are finished! We are so grateful for our members' financial support of our growing orchard. For orchard updates check out our Apples page.
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| Signs for our members/farm fans who have sponsored a tree. |
Things are growing around the farm already - chives above, rhubarb below.
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| Rhubarb growth. |
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| Cedar posts for trellising. |
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| Apple tree row staking on our new land. |
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| Hard boilers. |
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
From the Pantry :: March
Fall storage items we are still eating from the pantry:
Winter squash (some are getting wrinkly)
Potatoes (beginning to look a little alien)
Garlic & shallots
Red & yellow onions
Sweet potatoes (bought from another farm)
Summer produce items we are still eating from the freezer:
GreensBroccoli
Shredded zucchini
Peppers
Peas
Various fruit - rhubarb, strawberries
Other items below these, yet to be discovered...
Side Track!
Redefine what you think of as eating seasonally! YOU define the season, if you start preserving for year-round/extended consumption. Part of this may also include redefining what you think these items may look like - octopus sprouting potatoes, wrinkly spuds and squash. YuM.
It's Pantry and Freezer Clean Up Time
With spring and farming season just around the corner we have been putting priority to cleaning up our pantry and freezer. Focusing on prepping items for our busier times. This is the first time we have been so successful at this, during this time of year and it feels great.
Potatoes: Our storage potatoes may indeed last us until the summer's new potatoes come in! With our potato stock we have been making twice baked potatoes with the larger, better looking tubers. Along with these we also continue to freeze portions of mashed potatoes.
Twice bakers and mashers headed to the freezer. This is one way to redefine how we eat seasonally.
Chicken: We put fifteen stew hens in the freezer in November and we have slowly been putting up shredded chicken and stock/bone broth. The chicken, veggies and herbs sit in the crock for a day, before shredding and canning. Then, the bones, skin, etc. goes back in for another day to make bone broth for cooking and using as a healthful drink (which I also put in the dog's food sometimes). I'll add apple cider vinegar to help extract beneficial minerals from the bones and sometimes I toss in a beef marrow bone to increase the benefits. After it's done I strain the broth and pressure can it (then sort out the 48-hr cooked veggies/skin, etc. to throw in the dog food). ;)
Organs: We always get back our pig organs when we harvest and since we aren't super good at eating them they have sort of piled up in the freezer. While one of us likes liver, the other doesn't, so we have resolved to dehydrating these items (if they don't get put into sausage) for dog treats. This is proving a great way to clean up the recesses of the freezer.
Still on the List
Lard: crank out a bunch of rendered lard. (Try making some soap?!?)
Garlic/shallots: freeze some olive oil/garlic balls; ferment some for holistic farm management.
Zucchini: I always freeze too much! I should crank out some breads to stick back in the freezer.
Freezer excavations: what is hiding at the bottom of the freezer? (Usually way too many frozen peppers.)
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| Lard, beautiful lard! |
What's Missing?
It's a great time of year to check in and see what you are missing - what do you need to preserve more of next season? For us, celery. Darn it! Every year we run out. Okay, I'm going for an ice cream bucket full this year! Also, we need a new salsa to put away, one type is not enough. It would also be nice to have some canned beans.What's on your list?
Resources & Other Interesting Things...
Why is organic food so *#@! expensive?? | Ali Partovi | TEDxManhattanBone Broth, Broths an Stock
8 Bits of Plastic You Can Quit Right Now
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