AWESOME idea for urban ag!

http://www.core77.com/blog/architecture/an_empty_lot_becomes_a_riverpark_farm_in_nyc_20795.asp

Would love to run with this idea, but need irrigation... hmmm.

Making Up!!

OK, so maybe we went a bit overboard on the U-pick cherries this year. Last year we missed the season all together, as their season is only a three or so week window. So this year.... two flats! What does one do with two flat of tart cherries? Well there are the yummy cherry pie(s), Danish Cherry Sauce, cherry jam, and the repeat of the Brandied Cherries (one set tweaked a bit). Oh! and just eat them out of hand, of course.

We like going to the U-pick for a couple of reasons. First, it a nice drive up to the farm! We're lucky to have a good cluster of U-pick farms within an hour radius of our home. Second, while it's great to be able to find just enough ripe produce to pick out of our own small garden for dinner, we love the challenge of the bumper crop. Part enjoy-it-now-'cuz-it-won't-last, part putting-up-now-to-enjoy-later.

The recipes for the cherry jam and Dutch Cherry Sauce can be found in the highly recommended The Complete Book of Home Preserving by Ball.

The recipe for the pie is under lock and key with my wife, but the Sun Cooked Brandied Cherries (tweaked version - original is from the Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning by the Gardeners and Farmers of Terre Vivante) is this: Take a one-quart canning jar and pack with cherries (not crushing). Pour 1/2 cup of turbinado sugar (Sugar in the Raw), and 1/2 cup of brandy into the jar. Zest an orange with a vegetable peeler to get two substantial pieces and slide those along the side of the jar. Put a couple more cherries on the top (yes, they will be poking out of the jar :) ) and place the lid on the jar. Go ahead and write the date on the lid and place the jar in the sun for one month, agitating the jar every once in awhile to make sure the sugar dissolves. Enjoy! The original recipe cherries were a hit for Manhattans.

Infusion!

Children of all ages in our neighborhood know that if you pick a honeysuckle flower and pull the pistil through the trumpet that you'll be presented with a sweet dew drop at the base of the trumpet that is heaven on the tongue. The honeysuckle vines are blooming!

I employed my daughter to pick as many flowers as she could and place them in a mason jar. It was a great way of keeping her occupied and controlling and invasive vine at the same time! Anyways I had plans for the flowers:




HONEYSUCKLE INFUSED VODKA

1.) Take an empty mason jar and fill with honeysuckle flowers, taking care to remove the green base of each of the flowers. Slightly tamp the flowers to put more flowers in the jar.
2.) Take a nice vodka and fill the jar. Place the lid on the top of the jar and let sit for two days.
3.) Strain the vodka by placing cheesecloth over the jar and securing it with a lid ring. Invert over another mason jar to transfer the infused vodka and strain out the flowers.
4.) Refridgerate - will probably last about a month before the floral notes start to fade.
5.) Mix 2 to 3 ounces of infused vodka over ice and add tonic to your liking.
6.) Enjoy!

Busy, busy, busy...

Trying to keep up with the happenings of the home front! We've got a good showing of peas, carrots, lettuce, strawberries, yard long beans, soy beans, spinach, onions, potatoes, and dill. In containers we've put tomatoes, holy mole peppers, various basil, and nursing the rosemary the over wintered to hopefully a better form...

Running on Two Cylinders

So the Green Fair at the church was a success. The community plot for growing food for local food banks (Healthy Food for Healthy Families) received good interest and people have signed up for week long responsibilities for weeding, watering and harvesting. We were also able to construct a second compost bin for the church, and have had some interest in a smaller version :) If others are interested let me know!

My wife is getting on me regarding sticking to topic... I tend to dwell into details. Here's the various front status: The Home Front - raspberries have been pruned mid-Feb. to encourage growth and dead canes have been pulled. Lettuce has been planted in ground and in cells (though the in-ground hasn't sprouted and the cells have) carrots have also ben planted. Tomatoes, mystery squash and spinach have been started indoors, and we have also invest in a baker's rack on the screened porch to move the seed starting outside.

On the church plots: prep work in turning over the soil has been worked on for the personal plot - as it had more weeds. An inherited clump of onion family plants have been divided and replanted in the prepped soil. The HF4HF plot has been expanded with additional soil area being turned over and the previous year's garlic has been weeded (you can see it to the left of the compost bins above).

Again probably focusing on details, but there's alot of work still yet to be done!

Placing Seeds

So... the Cherokee Purple tomatoes doesn't look promising. The Red Currant, Pineapple and Romas have pretty much all sprouted. The Super 100's were in a coating and are taking a bit longer, maybe.

We did start what we're referring to as the mystery seeds. My daughter has a habit of keeping seeds in order to plant and she doesn't label them. Hmpf! Well those sprouted and were in danger of lifting the lid within a week!! Looks to be a squash of some sort. In about 75-80 days we'll probably know.

This last weekend we repotted the peat pots into 4" pots and placed them in the cold frame on the back porch and brought in some of the others to set over the heat pad. MAGIC!

On the other front - our church is having a Green Fair and my wife and I are participating. She'll be drumming up volunteers for the community plot and I'll be giving a demo on the compost bin by constructing a second one for the community plot. Others will be showing how to make your own reusable bags, mindful eating, productive landscapes (I've been placed as a resource there too, thanks Jeanette! ;), hopefully communicating which plants are started in the church greenhouse, and getting people to sign-up for a grounds work-a-nanny day. Should be fun.

The starting of the seeds!

So we might be a bit behind Jeanette, but we finally started some of the ordered seeds. The cold frame has spinach, butter lettuce, parsley, dill, and trying coneflower - but it still might be a bit cold for coneflower? We also have heated seed starter that we'll try to start our tomato plants in. Stay tuned - there may be tomato plants to adopt!