Notes for improvement

Food Preservation Techniques 

While I have only tried a few Preservation methods I am interested in food and the processes it under goes in order to make it last longer.  I have a garden, I have two gardens actually.  One is in the backyard and one I keep on the front balcony.  The balcony holds all of my houseplants, An herb-garden, and a late blooming tomatoes patch. “Green tomatoes are well worth harvesting. Those in the light green stage will ripen, providing good eating long after the vines have been killed by frosts.” (Garden Way Associates 23)  In the backyard I grow tomatoes, peppers, Scallions, Rhubarb, and pretty flowers.  The backyard garden produces more tomatoes than the porch garden.  I think this is mainly to do with them getting more sun, and being in the earth as opposed to in pots.

Last year for the first time I planted Thyme and Parsley in the outdoor garden.  They flourished.  By the end of summer they were both big and beautiful.  I decided to harvest, and store the leaves in ways that would allow me to use them in all my winter dishes.  Just the thought of this plan made me very happy, I felt successful.  I had grown it.  I had cooked it.  Now I would preserve it.

There are two categories of preservation techniques:  The traditional techniques and the industrial techniques.  The traditional techniques consist of:  Dehydrating, Chilling, Freezing, Salting, Sugar, Marinating, Lye, Can & bottling, Jellifying, Smoking Jugging, Fermentation and Pits & Trenches.  “The aim of Preserving is to slow down the activity of microorganisms and enzymes or destroy them altogether; they cannot survive in acidic or dry conditions, in high concentrations of salt and sugar, in alcohol, or in high temperatures.” (Steel 16)  The industrial techniques consist of:  Hurdle technology, “Hurdle technology is used in industrialized as well as in developing countries for the gentle but effective preservation of foods.” (Leistner)  Sterilization, Vacuum wrapping, Imitation food, adding of Antibiotics, Electroporation, Modified atmosphere, No thermal plasma, High-pressure preservation, and Bio-preservation.

To preserve the parsley I used two methods, freezing and refrigeration.  My technique was to wrap the freshly cut branches in plastic wrap and place into the freezer.  This was not very successful.  When I tried to the use it, all I got after thawing was a shriveled mess.  So I ended up using it sparingly and always as iced crystals.  “The freezing process does affect their texture, so they are best frozen in oil or water for ease of use.” (Steel 32)  To preserve the Thyme I used drying and refrigeration.  Drying;  I preserved thyme by hanging it out to dry in my pantry.  This was very successful.  My technique was to make small neat bundles of the freshly cut branches and wrap string around the stem portions.  “Dehydration is one of the oldest-known methods of food preservation, probably because it is so simple and extremely effective:” (Steel 124)   My refrigeration technique for both plants was the same.  I stuffed wads of the freshly cut plants into zip-lock bags.  These I placed in the fridge, and used often while they were still fresh.

The Porch Garden's production was also beautiful and plenty.  The potted herbs, I decided to preserve by keeping alive, smelled so good.  My technique was to place the various herbs in the sunniest  windows and nurture them on plant food, water and good conversation.  This was not totally unsuccessful.  But that is another story, for another time. 

Works Cited

Building & Using Your Root Cellar. United States: Garden Way Associates, Inc., 1978.

Leistner, L. “Basic aspects of food preservation by hurdle technology” International

            Journal of food Microbiology. 2000 Apr 10; 55(1-3): 181-6.

            http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10791741

Steel, Susannah. Get Started Preserving. New York, NY: Dorling Kindersley, 2013.

Dragons! We have wild pumpkins.

Once in a vegetable garden far away there lived a young group of plants called the companions.  Better friends than Corn, Zucchini, Lettuce, Basil, Chives, Tomatoes, old man Rhubarb and the lover-ly Marigold were never before seen.  Certainly not in this garden.

One day wild dragons came.  Even Gardener didn’t know how they had got there but they stayed and started taking over the garden.

The plants all felt threatened by the beasts.  They were afraid the dragons would wrap their long shinny green tentacles around them and squeeze the life right out of them.

The dragons were rumored to be aggressive wild things who would strangle any unsuspecting plant in their path.

 

The plants of the garden could not grow fast enough to move out of the way of the oncoming dragons.  Something had to be done.  

Basil stepped up and suggested that the companions get in line and go to war. 

So with the help of the good giant known only as Gardener, they were able to turn the dragons aside. 

Corn and his family cheered the longest.

The Zucchini family cheered the shortest.

Tomatoes and the rest of the plants were just happy it was over.

A garden party was held all the ladies and gentlemen of the land were invited to a feast that seemed not to end.

Soon after the great dragon war, the companions settled back into their daily routine of growing and dreaming of the thing called harvest that Gardener talked so sweetly about.

The vegetable garden

tredways.org

The sun went off to war and won?  Outside the sky looks blue and the sun is shining again.  It has been raining for five days straight.  The sun battled hard yesterday and lost.  At times, the rain is slow and steady.  Then it drizzles and when you think it is over, it pours.  Almost beautiful, how God is babysitting my gardens for me.  My second floor neighbors have bought a new house and will be moving soon.  They have asked, I said yes.  I will take over their outdoor gardens.  The botanical garden is in the far corner of the property.  I will not go to it until after they leave Gloria is sentimental.  Wayne is her opposite.  The takeover of his vegetable patch has been almost immediate.  The vegetable garden is a fenced in area roughly 20ft by 20ft.  He has tilled the soil for me with his machine and I have wasted no time in planting my vegetables and fruit.  I am here at the kitchen window looking out at it again.  With my forehead pressed against this window, I have the power to shoo birds with my mind.  The corn, tomatoes, boxwood basil, marigolds, Garlic, lettuce, zucchini squash, bell peppers and spinach are all still in place.  The outdoor vegetable garden is mine and I am happy with it.

As is usual these days whenever I look out at the vegetable garden my mind runs on earthworms.  They are the bees of the underground, under there working?  The big day came when my seedlings were an inch high.  We started early.  My three four year-old helpers and me went out and into the garden.  I sweated and shaped perfectly straight rows and gutters.  They discovered life.  The earthworm family, Father Mother little son and teen-age daughter.  What a perfect opportunity it was for me to lecture on the nature of farming and the important role of the earthworm.  The panic came shortly after they realized that the worm family was bigger than their families.  That a member of the worm family, although hard at work growing plants from below, could quite literally pop up at any moment.  After that came all the screams and the jumping.  Upstairs, washed up and reassured, we looked out the window and down at our work.  I had sculpted three equally spaced rows and gutters, in which we had planted the corn still sitting in their egg box planters spaced twelve inches apart.  The rest of the plot looked like we had set the hogs out to sun.  Is it any wonder the earthworms came out to play?  What a mess.

Earthworms are big and beautiful, god’s original farmers preparing the soil making it easy for the roots of plants and vegetables.  They should have their own blog.

The captivating Paeonia Lactiflora or love at first sight

Wikimedia Commons

I recently met a Chinese Peony while out shopping.  It happened on a nice day in the gardening area of our favorite store.  We were shopping for seeds, from my special list called the living list.  I got lavender, spinach, corn and some mixed flowers.  We entered the super Walmart store through the gardening section.  This is normal for my family.  Racks and racks of seeds so plentiful, how many different types of corn is there?  This business of mine the selecting of seeds, the living list, where lavender is necessary for sight and for smell and spinach goes so well with rice.  Corn is my welcomed guest.  Present at every occasion of the summer.

My sister called me across the room away from the many types of same things and introduced me to Paeonia Lactiflora, saying.  Smell her perfume.  Look at her flowers.  What lovely curvy leaves.  Her flowers were a soft white, kissed with a suggestion of pink.  Each one the size of a standard cup cake.  With two stems twisted, candy stripe like, around stabilizing sticks 3/4 of an inch in diameter she stood four feet tall.  This picturesque flora was like a sweet-scented dream come true to my nose.  I could not leave the peony’s side.  I even introduced her to a total stranger.  Who walked away and left me to feel stranger.  Weird or not resistance was futile.  Paeonia Lactiflora and her twin sister now live with me.  When I pass a Peony in bloom, it will always be while inhaling with my mouth open.

Changing the sheets or Replacing sweet comfort with careless luxury.

tp-trading.co.uk

Spring is here.  Summer is coming and I am glad that winter has left.  It is getting hot and turning green outside.  My big blankets are starting to keep me too warm.  Last night I stripped my bed of the fluffy green winter sheets, the ones that make me feel as if wrapped in a cocoon of sweet comfort.  I dressed my bed for the summer in regular cotton sheets the color of sand with circle patterns big and small.  When I looked down at the bed that I had just made a feeling of gratitude took me to my knees.  Mine are Blissful prayers.  As I lay in bed smiling and thinking about why I was feeling so happy the only thing that came to mind is the change in seasons.

 

Green has not always been my favorite color, so the symptoms of the deficiency surprised me.  In the springtime, I feel a great sense of hope, like an expectant mother.  Every morning I get out of bed, look out of my window, and smile at the subtle changes.  By the time summer arrives, I am fierce and full of energy, like the big strong baobab tree, I find myself gloriously centered.  Than the leaves begin to turn, signaling the end of summer.

Disappointment comes at me in full force, autumn in all her beauty has come.  A compelling urge to dress myself in all these colors consumes me.  I daydream of commissioning a beautiful autumn colored winter coat.  My thoughts and conversations are of the coming season “will we be having a calm or bitter winter this year?”.  In the winter, I experience a sadness that I medicate by doing nice things for myself, like spiking my morning coffee.  The entire season I spend eating homemade cakes and pies.  Thank God for Christmas.  Rugs and throws in every room and cheerful music on the radio.  Winter is spent waiting, waiting for spring to come again, waiting for the green.

The Porch Garden

fineartamerica.com

I have always been attracted to flowers and greenery even as a child.  It was not long before I realized that if I was having bad days and I went through the greenhouse section of a store, I would perk right up.  All the flowers and plants there had the simple effect of making me smile; the scents helped me to breathe when I didn’t even know that I was holding my breath.  Being among plants feed my soul.  My senses of touch, smell, sight, taste just come alive. Now I only go to green houses in the winter and in the summer I keep a porch garden.

Spring has just began, and it is time to get work started on the porch garden.  Last year the garden was home to plumb tomatoes and big beef tomatoes.  They were so delicious.  All of my house plants found themselves outside.  Rosemary and her friends Sage, Oregano, Mint and Sweet-basil made life in the little garden on the porch wonderful and fragrant.  The children learned to name, recognize and care for all the plants that lived there.

My sister Jacky our family chef cooked lots of special foods with the materials from our garden.  We had the daily pleasure of walking out to the porch-garden/Sanctuary for coffee or just to pick 3 sprigs of mint to add to a jug of lemonade at dinner time.  This was incredible for us because we lived on the third floor.  When the frost came in it was miserable and a bit depressing knowing we would soon be inside for the winter.  The frost damaged some plants and the apartment could not support the herbs so we ended up losing those as well.  Our apartment was just too small and dark.

We moved last November and even though our new place is bigger we are still on the third floor.  Here I feel like a rich woman when I sit in my empty living room and survey the square footage.  Blossoms, foliage and more Plant life are my big plan.  In the spring time I will have greenery, in the summertime too and Greenery in the fall and if I have my way in this house with all these windows and space, I will have a green and white winter.  Imagine that, happiness in the winter.

The new porch is large, 7 feet wide and 16 feet long, it has great potential.  We have a lot of work to do before this new porch can be called “The garden”.  The last tenants where not kind to the place.  They kept a dog on the porch, but did not keep him well.  When we moved in here it was cold, and now that it is getting warm it has also become the time to clean away the smell of dog and the mess.  The first thing we will need to do is empty the area and clean it with a scrub brush and lots of soap and water.  There is outdoor carpeting, the green grass stuff, the new landlord said it is in good condition.  The cleaning will tell.  This is an exciting time, I have to remember to save more egg containers for the tomato seeds and get potting soil for all the new slips I have been taking from the house plants.