tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72757323205207490852024-03-13T08:52:32.297-04:00BA Farm BlogAprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.comBlogger84125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-58913753220681260662011-12-05T00:48:00.003-05:002012-05-29T17:57:09.108-04:00The New Bafarm BlogSince this past year I have started planting at a new location, I figured that I would start up a new blog. I will still be keeping this blog up, but I will be posting to the new blog now instead of this one.<br />
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I sill have a lot of pictures and info to add to the new blog. I have many many photos to add to the Photos Page, and I will also be adding a page with pictures and info about many of the different vegetable varieties we grow.<br />
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So here is the link to the new blog:<span id="formatbar_Buttons" style="display: block;"><span class=" down" id="formatbar_CreateLink" style="display: block;" title="Link"><img alt="Link" border="0" class="gl_link" src="img/blank.gif" /></span></span><br />
<a href="http://realveggiesfarm.blogspot.com/">http://realveggiesfarm.blogspot.com/</a>Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-73075914078612269982011-08-25T13:30:00.005-04:002011-08-25T13:58:17.272-04:00Lots of Okra<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jNdAmezodHw/TlaIT9auXPI/AAAAAAAAAro/vDjb_iCWdiU/s1600/P8252271a.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 344px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jNdAmezodHw/TlaIT9auXPI/AAAAAAAAAro/vDjb_iCWdiU/s400/P8252271a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644849059441040626" border="0" /></a>
<br />This year the one crop that has done extremely well has been my okra. The plants are huge and beautiful and have been quite productive. So since it is doing so well I figured I would do a post about okra and provide a couple of recipes for how I like to cook it. Many people do not like okra because of the fact that it can be slimy, but that all depends on how you cook it. Here are two of my favorite ways to cook okra.
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >Okra Patties</span>
<br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Ingredients:</span>
<br />3 cups vegetable oil for frying
<br />1 pound okra, finely chopped
<br />1 cup finely chopped onion
<br />1 teaspoon salt
<br />1/4 teaspoon pepper
<br />1/2 cup water
<br />1 egg
<br />1/2 cup all-purpose flour
<br />1 teaspoon baking powder
<br />1/2 cup cornmeal
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<br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Directions:</span>
<br />Heat 1 inch of oil in a large skillet to 375 degrees or cook on a medium heat.
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<br />In a large bowl, mix together the okra, onion, salt, pepper, water, and egg. Combine the flour, baking powder and cornmeal; and stir that into the okra mixture.
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<br />Carefully drop spoonfuls of the okra batter into the hot oil, and fry on each side until golden, about 2 minutes per side. Remove with a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels.
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<br />Note: You can also use some yellow squash or zucchini instead of okra. (3/4 pound okra, and 1/4 pound summer squash/zucchini)
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >Okra Rice</span>
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Ingredients:</span>
<br />1 pound bacon
<br />1 large onion, chopped
<br />3 cups sliced okra
<br />1 cup blended tomatoes
<br />1/2 cup chicken stock
<br />1 cup uncooked rice
<br />1 1/2 cups water
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Directions:</span>
<br />Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain grease and set aside for later use. Crumble bacon and set aside.
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<br />In the same skillet, saute onion in a small amount of reserved bacon grease over medium high heat until tender, about 3 minutes. Add crumbled bacon, sliced okra, blended tomatoes, and chicken stock. Reduce heat and simmer until okra is tender and falling apart, about 15 minutes. Stir in rice and water. Cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until fluffy.
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<br />Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-57039783036188830562011-07-03T23:57:00.001-04:002011-07-03T23:59:02.501-04:00Happy 4th of July!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dwz3LWOImfY/ThE6bxdTBOI/AAAAAAAAArg/600Z55mJB-s/s1600/HappyJuly4th.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 315px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dwz3LWOImfY/ThE6bxdTBOI/AAAAAAAAArg/600Z55mJB-s/s400/HappyJuly4th.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625341658369557730" border="0" /></a>Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-12252385419784893082011-06-30T22:20:00.011-04:002011-07-01T02:37:46.542-04:00More PicuturesFrom far away everything does not look like much but up close I am finally noticing things beginning to grow. It is definitely about time. Here are some of the pictures that I took today.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YLPfr6mfT5Y/Tg0whbeyXCI/AAAAAAAAAqg/wd7u-R28ekM/s1600/DSCN3550.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YLPfr6mfT5Y/Tg0whbeyXCI/AAAAAAAAAqg/wd7u-R28ekM/s400/DSCN3550.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624204860526320674" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Red and some White Kohlrabi</span><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aCzg7sjHhsM/Tg0xyCCkVrI/AAAAAAAAAqo/Uw4beWT1Nf4/s1600/DSCN3555.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aCzg7sjHhsM/Tg0xyCCkVrI/AAAAAAAAAqo/Uw4beWT1Nf4/s400/DSCN3555.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624206245266478770" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">A very beautiful orange Swiss Chard</span><br />Sadly this beautiful thing will probably most likely be gone tomorrow, since everyday more and more of my swiss chard keep getting eaten by either the rabbits or the deer or both.<br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CLarLgpTGF8/Tg0y76Kw-kI/AAAAAAAAAqw/FpRYaO7R7cY/s1600/DSCN3559.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CLarLgpTGF8/Tg0y76Kw-kI/AAAAAAAAAqw/FpRYaO7R7cY/s400/DSCN3559.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624207514463697474" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Red Russian Kale to the right, and to the left some still smaller Dwarf Blue Scotch Curled Kale</span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6RouZXNartM/Tg00MYYUtII/AAAAAAAAAq4/TmRmft4FrWY/s1600/DSCN3560.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6RouZXNartM/Tg00MYYUtII/AAAAAAAAAq4/TmRmft4FrWY/s400/DSCN3560.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624208896963163266" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Sadly one of my better looking basils, variety of which i forgot to figure out</span><br />My basils really took all the water issues and soil problems hard but are just now starting to move along, so at least there is hope.<br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6hHk1BwcogM/Tg01aZdBA-I/AAAAAAAAArA/16y1y-PqiNM/s1600/DSCN3563.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6hHk1BwcogM/Tg01aZdBA-I/AAAAAAAAArA/16y1y-PqiNM/s400/DSCN3563.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624210237281076194" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">A few rows of sad looking beans, four varieties yellow, green, purple, and striped varieties.</span><br />Hopefully they will start looking better now that they are no longer sitting in water.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bHe8c4tnUZE/Tg045ltoa4I/AAAAAAAAArI/dz3wAgPnSd4/s1600/DSCN3565.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bHe8c4tnUZE/Tg045ltoa4I/AAAAAAAAArI/dz3wAgPnSd4/s400/DSCN3565.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624214071682820994" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Some still small but finally growing rows of bell and sweet peppers</span><br /><br /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9X4Kk9UsAFg/Tg046BxpB6I/AAAAAAAAArQ/OmBwznCQAgs/s1600/DSCN3569.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9X4Kk9UsAFg/Tg046BxpB6I/AAAAAAAAArQ/OmBwznCQAgs/s400/DSCN3569.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624214079215830946" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">One of many rows of once again small but finally growing zucchini and summer squash</span><br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6KrG6L5nAeE/Tg047qXkHcI/AAAAAAAAArY/vDK42Wb4hLc/s1600/DSCN3571.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6KrG6L5nAeE/Tg047qXkHcI/AAAAAAAAArY/vDK42Wb4hLc/s400/DSCN3571.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624214107292179906" border="0" /></a>Sadly this is one of my larger tomatoes, but as long as is can keep form raining the tomatoes will finally begin to grow and are looking better now. That being said, the bad news is we will not have any tomatoes for a little while now, but the good news is that we should eventually get tomatoes, which after the start of this year will make me very happy.<br /></div>Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-78798255682644344462011-06-28T22:34:00.003-04:002011-06-28T23:36:55.947-04:00My Soil Problem TheoryOk, so this year I have really been struggling with some major soil issues. Basically a nitrogen and phosphorus deficiency. So lately I have been doing a lot of reading about soil. So I came across a problem called nitrogen tie up, which basically occurs when organic matter decays and breaks down rapidly, in which it basically has to utilize the nitrogen in the soil causing the nitrogen to be unavailable to the plants. I read that this also happens with phosphorus and a few other minerals. I believe that since we have gotten so much rain it has caused the organic matter in the soil to break down much more rapidly than it would in a normal year. Since this is the first year that this soil is being planted in in a long time and some areas had a lot of grass, so there is a lot of organic matter that would be breaking down. I have also noticed that the areas that had the most grass when I was planting are also the areas that are the most affected. So I have started fertilizing with a liquid fish fertilizer that can be soaked in through the plants leaves hoping that it will give the plants a quick boost, which I am hoping will be enough to get them going until the whole organic matter break down process is done, and then the nitrogen and phosphorus should once again become available to the plants.<br /><br />That being said everything is way behind, but I know I am not alone, many others are having similar issues. I was talking to someone the other day who is way behind due to the fact that their soil Ph was way off, which they have never had a problem with before, really I think they should probably test their soil nutrients also because they may have some issues there too. It seems as I look at peoples gardens they are either growing really really well or not growing at all. I think this year for most it is either a hit or miss, either you got lucky and have a great growing location and conditions or really unlucky like me. <br /><br />I am still not sure what I am going to be doing about this weeks market at Valley City. I think I am going to have to wait till the day before to really make up my mind if I will be going or not. Right now things are just too unpredictable. My greens are just now starting to look pretty good and I really should have enough of them to be able to sell for this week, except today I noticed that some deer came by and ate about a whole 10 ft. section of some beautiful swiss chard pretty much to the ground, so if they liked it enough to come back for some more, and maybe even bring some friends I could really be in trouble.Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-30022773748053645312011-06-22T16:56:00.007-04:002011-06-22T22:46:29.990-04:00Pictures and UpdateOk, so these pictures don't look like much, but that is because there is not much to look at. Everything is way behind where it should be this time of the year. But hopefully things will be improving very soon. Of coarse we started off with all of almost continuous rain which pushed planting way back. Then about 2 weeks after planted had started I began to realize that things were just not growing like they should, and many plants were showing signs of soil deficiencies, I did a soil test and discovered the soil was very much depleted of nitrogen and phosphorus, not good. After finding out how bad this soil was I had really wished I would have sent in a soil sample (or even just tested it myself) before I had began planting. Anyhow, it is too late to worry about it. I fertilized everything and plan to fertilize again either tomorrow or Friday, depending on when the weather allows me. After the first time I fertilized I did see some improvements and hope to see lots of improvements after I fertilize again. And I have already been thinking about how to improve the soil for next year with manure and organic matter and possibly cover crop.<br /><br />I am going to have to take some better, up close pictures of things once the get growing really well. But for now I just wanted to post some pictures, so these will have to do.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R3ye6FhB0sQ/TgKfEsuMCVI/AAAAAAAAAqQ/gGWPc_eWU3A/s1600/DSCN3526.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R3ye6FhB0sQ/TgKfEsuMCVI/AAAAAAAAAqQ/gGWPc_eWU3A/s400/DSCN3526.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621230187984980306" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vBSCkd8mPbc/TgJaJHzFSNI/AAAAAAAAAqI/hBp4Jcl4pgA/s1600/DSCN3513.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vBSCkd8mPbc/TgJaJHzFSNI/AAAAAAAAAqI/hBp4Jcl4pgA/s400/DSCN3513.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621154397670426834" border="0" /></a>If you look closely you can just barely see some scallions up front and row of greens (kale, swiss chard, kohlrabi, and collards) behind them.<br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vSCycgM-GOI/TgJYmSQyzJI/AAAAAAAAAqA/f7WaTs1wfXI/s1600/DSCN3497.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vSCycgM-GOI/TgJYmSQyzJI/AAAAAAAAAqA/f7WaTs1wfXI/s400/DSCN3497.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621152699672349842" border="0" /></a>Rows of beans and to the left some sweet peppers.<br />This picture is about a week old so everything is bigger now, I will have to get a new better picture soon.<br /></div><br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br />The Valley City Farmers Market should actually be starting this Saturday June 25th. Unfortunately as of today it does not look like we will be attending it. I hate missing a market day but we just do not have much to make it worth attending. I am thinking and really hoping that we should be able to attend the next market, and I will be sure to let everyone know.<br /><br />What a terrible year, unable to attend a June 25th farmers market day because we just do not have anything to sell, so sad.Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-34012633935731633012011-06-20T20:55:00.006-04:002011-07-04T00:01:52.781-04:00What you eat is very important to your health!I have not posted in quite a while and I do have a lot that I have to post about. Since most of my main season crops are now in the ground and it has started raining again (makes it a little difficult to get anything done outside), I will have some free time now to get some posting in. Anyhow I figured that I will make this first post about something very important that I have been meaning to post about for a while now.<br /><br />About a year ago now my best friend (I have known her since we were kids) started having a number of health issues. One of the more serious was she was having major muscle pain and tightening in of her muscles. It got so bad at one point that she was having a hard time getting out of bed in the morning and even putting on her socks would take her forever to accomplish since she her muscles were so tight she was unable to reach her feet. She was also having severe stomach problems in which it seemed as if everything she would eat upset her stomach. She also began to rapidly loose weight and most of her muscle mass. The list of problems went on and on.<br /><br />So to make a long story short (for now at least, I am sure I will be posting more about this in the future). After quite some time she was diagnosed with a muscle disorder, which I believe is called dermatomyositis (an auto immune issue) and if that is not right it is something similar. Anyhow just before she was diagnosed we found some interesting information online about some people who had similar problems, to what she was having, and were able to return to good health by changing their diet. Anyhow over the past several months she has switched her diet many times and went to many different doctors. Until she found the doctor that she has been going to now, he is down in Columbus, so it is a drive but I think she would definitely agree that it has been well worth the drive. She has come a long way since she started going to him, she has been slowly gaining back the weight she lost, can now put on her socks again with out a huge struggle and her stomach is now beginning to heal itself. I am not sure what her doctors name is but as soon as I get the information form her, I will have to post it.<br /><br />Ok, so after all that, on to the importance of what you eat. Basically all her issues come down to the fact that she has a gluten allergy that she has probably had her whole life, which was ignored and got way out of control, thus damaging her stomach and getting her whole body out of wack. Certain types of gluten in excess can be a very bad thing for a lot people and I believe that there are a lot of people out there overdosing on things like fast food (those hamburgers contain lots of fillers that just are not good for you) who are damaging their stomachs, many of which even know it and just deny it. I know people who eat fast food every day and complain about how their stomach bothers them all the time, you think they would realize why. It is what you are eating that is bothering your stomach and it is not something that should be ignored.<br /><br />Since watching my friend go through what she did, It has made me think a lot more about what I am eating, I know it has not only changed her way of thinking about food, but I am sure it has also changed the way the the people around her think about food, I know it has for me.<br /><br />My friend is now working on a blog of her own about everything that she has been trough, so that she can hopefully help other people out there with similar health issues. As soon as she is finished with her blog I will be sure to post the link here.<br /><br />Anyhow, I have much more to talk about within the next couple of days and will have to post again tomorrow. I still have to let everyone know about how everything that is planted is growing, maybe complain again about this terrible weather that we have had so far this year. Also I have to talk about some exciting purchases that I made today, a food mill and a really awesome little meat grinder/mincer/pasta maker, I think it is the coolest little thing. It does not look like much but after trying it out it seems to work surprisingly well for a little thing, and best of all it was really cheap!Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-69776642807379482432011-04-19T21:00:00.003-04:002011-04-19T21:10:11.570-04:00No More Rain Please<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n69Gw7f9CUA/Ta4wPSYpeUI/AAAAAAAAAp0/3wjvIeyZytI/s1600/P4191698a.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 302px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n69Gw7f9CUA/Ta4wPSYpeUI/AAAAAAAAAp0/3wjvIeyZytI/s400/P4191698a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597464426059495746" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Sadly the area pictured above is actually where my lettuce needs to get planted. A little wet wouldn't you say? I am really starting to wonder if I am ever going to be able to get my lettuce seeds planted. It better stop raining before the end of the month so I can get them seeds in the ground without worrying about the seeds rotting or washing away. Of coarse first of all it has to dry out enough to be able to get tilled.<br /></div>Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-64814622346598311062011-04-18T20:17:00.005-04:002011-04-19T21:00:07.204-04:00What's Growing In The HoophouseWow it has been a really long time since my last post! No worries, I am still here, and hard at work. Here is a quick update on how things are growing in the hoophouse.<br /><br />Right now in the hoophouse, I have a bunch of different varieties of lettuces, baby swiss chard, and baby beet greens (once they are thinned will eventually grow to full size beets). I do still have a hand full of full size swiss chard plants that were actually planted last spring.<br /><br />Sadly today I had to pull out all my kale and a few other things, since they were beginning to go to seed. But do not worry within the next couple of days I will be replanting the kale and also planting mustard greens and possibly a few other types of greens.<br /><br />Tomorrow I plan to take pictures of inside the hoophouse, and will also probably do some picking and thin the beets.<br /><br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br />Now if only it would stop raining it would make it a little bit easier to be able to get things planted outside. It would also help with being able to till everything.Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-9854616596431581682011-01-06T13:24:00.004-05:002011-01-06T13:54:54.793-05:00My Christmas GiftsDon't worry everyone I have not fallen off the face of the earth, yet anyhow. December is always a really crazy month, and I usually do not post much during that month, but apparently this year I decided I was not going to post anything at all. So now I guess I have to make up for it.<br /><br />Anyhow on to my Christmas gifts. I got two things this year that I have wanted for a while and could really use, but have never actually purchased myself. One is a halogen light, which I am so excited about. In the past I have used a bunch of other forms of lighting to help me get some extra work and picking done at night. But nothing ever really seemed to be bright enough. So I have really been wanting to get a halogen light since they are so much brighter than anything else I have used before. I am not sure why I have not just bought one myself before, after all they are not that expensive, and are far worth the investment. But it does not matter because I now have one and know it will for sure come in handy. I did not get to take a picture of my halogen light because it is currently out in the hoophouse, since I just came in to take a break from working out there. And since I am taking a break I did not feel like going out there to get a picture of it.<br /><br />My second Christmas gift that I got which I am very excited about is a really nice big dehydrator. I usually dehydrate a lot of vegetables and have always wanted a nice big dehydrator that can dehydrate tomatoes faster than 4 or 5 days with a lot of rotating.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TSYMMLZmAPI/AAAAAAAAApY/efuAg5wvq7E/s1600/P1060307.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TSYMMLZmAPI/AAAAAAAAApY/efuAg5wvq7E/s400/P1060307.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559144193393557746" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">My New Dehydrator</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I have always wanted to dehydrate vegetables and herbs to sell. I just have never been able to dry enough in my old dehydrator with no fan or temperature settings to be able to sell. I can also very easily dry my homemade noodle in it much easier than my old one.<br /><br />There are so many things that can be dried in this dehydrator! On the top of the dehydrator there a bunch of things listed with their drying temperatures, which include: Herbs, Living Foods (not exactly sure I want to know what living foods are, but I can assure you I will not be drying anything living in my dehydrator), Raising Bread, Making Yogurt, Vegetables, Fruits/Fruit Rolls, Meats/Fish, and Jerky. I can hardly wait to really get to use it and see how quickly I can dry things that would take me forever before.<br /><br /><br /></div></div>Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-39455841829612491842010-11-26T21:39:00.009-05:002010-11-26T22:17:28.064-05:00BA Farm ThanksgivingI am very proud to say that everything that was part of our Thanksgiving diner was grown by us, except for the turkey. Here is what we had:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TPBxz4W52VI/AAAAAAAAAoM/knmIrQWJzRQ/s1600/DSCN2794.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TPBxz4W52VI/AAAAAAAAAoM/knmIrQWJzRQ/s200/DSCN2794.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544056277408799058" border="0" /></a>Pumpkin Bread Stuffing<br />(I made my stuffing a little different this year I will post exactly how I made it soon)<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TPBxzt87O9I/AAAAAAAAAoE/MAxyh_sFiv4/s1600/DSCN2796.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TPBxzt87O9I/AAAAAAAAAoE/MAxyh_sFiv4/s200/DSCN2796.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544056274615483346" border="0" /></a>Yukon Gold Potatoes<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TPBx0ZZRjII/AAAAAAAAAoU/ImUbkmmJnZk/s1600/DSCN2797.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TPBx0ZZRjII/AAAAAAAAAoU/ImUbkmmJnZk/s200/DSCN2797.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544056286277110914" border="0" /></a>Our Frozen Bi-color Sweet Corn<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TPBx0pN-FII/AAAAAAAAAoc/VErA3IaWDq4/s1600/DSCN2801.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TPBx0pN-FII/AAAAAAAAAoc/VErA3IaWDq4/s200/DSCN2801.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544056290524664962" border="0" /></a>Our Frozen Green and Yellow Beans<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TPBx070STBI/AAAAAAAAAok/soj21lQw-Zg/s1600/DSCN2810.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TPBx070STBI/AAAAAAAAAok/soj21lQw-Zg/s200/DSCN2810.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544056295517211666" border="0" /></a>Mixed Colors Candy Carrots<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TPBzguLI21I/AAAAAAAAAos/ZavYO5lVBL8/s1600/DSCN2820.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TPBzguLI21I/AAAAAAAAAos/ZavYO5lVBL8/s200/DSCN2820.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544058147280837458" border="0" /></a>Butternut Squash and Apples<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TPBzhdVAP4I/AAAAAAAAAo0/R6AmBOs036Y/s1600/DSCN2822.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TPBzhdVAP4I/AAAAAAAAAo0/R6AmBOs036Y/s200/DSCN2822.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544058159938682754" border="0" /></a>Beets<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TPB0vlEcefI/AAAAAAAAAo8/6gdD__N3obw/s1600/DSCN2823.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TPB0vlEcefI/AAAAAAAAAo8/6gdD__N3obw/s400/DSCN2823.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544059502046509554" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Even our centerpiece was grown by us. I made it using a one of our pumpkins (as a candle holder), and everything else I cut from outside. I love making centerpieces, and can not wait to start making my Christmas center pieces out of our many different varieties of pine trees that we have everywhere.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TPB2oCu3BdI/AAAAAAAAApE/l9DDdaYGIV4/s1600/DSCN2806.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TPB2oCu3BdI/AAAAAAAAApE/l9DDdaYGIV4/s400/DSCN2806.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544061571593340370" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">I hope everyone had a very wonderful</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Happy Thanksgiving!<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /></span></span></div></div></div>Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-45726473689839493232010-11-20T15:19:00.001-05:002010-11-20T15:59:51.215-05:00Anyone interested in a CSA?We have been thinking about starting up a CSA for the past couple of years now, but I think next year just may be the year that we actually start offering CSA shares. I have not yet got all the details together yet, but it will probably run beginning of June (possibly sooner) through early/mid October. I may even have a fall/winter share available. I am not sure what size I plan to make the shares, but they will probably not be extremely large shares, will probably be average size. I have been debating about the size and have not decided exactly how much they will be yet.<br /><br />So, let me know if you would be may be interested in receiving more information once we decide how much a share will be, when it will start, for how many weeks it will run, and other information about our upcoming CSA!Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-12695092794408121652010-11-15T22:32:00.011-05:002010-11-15T23:45:32.696-05:00Greens in the hoophouseAlthough everything in the hoophouse is not quite as big as I would like it to be at this time, I am still happy that they are at the size they are. What do I have growing in there you may wonder? Well I have 3 different varieties of kale, swiss chard (different colors), dwarf pak choi, peppergrass, collards, and more.<br /><br />Here are some pictures of the different varieties of kale. They are not full size but are instead at baby size which is perfect for salads and eating without any need of cooking.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TOH95qhdmXI/AAAAAAAAAnE/YLYiqp2X7AU/s1600/PB159821.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TOH95qhdmXI/AAAAAAAAAnE/YLYiqp2X7AU/s400/PB159821.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539988183751432562" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Baby Red Russian Kale</span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TOH-QM3kyuI/AAAAAAAAAnM/6afNSEefHRc/s1600/PB159824.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TOH-QM3kyuI/AAAAAAAAAnM/6afNSEefHRc/s400/PB159824.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539988570928106210" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Baby Dinosaur Kale<br /><br /></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TOH-xAvR_OI/AAAAAAAAAnc/_fHf4n_ASZU/s1600/PB159823.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TOH-xAvR_OI/AAAAAAAAAnc/_fHf4n_ASZU/s400/PB159823.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539989134607776994" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Baby Extra Dwarf Blue Scotch Kale</span><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TOH-wlp641I/AAAAAAAAAnU/JHEgd7quFH0/s1600/PB159822.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TOH-wlp641I/AAAAAAAAAnU/JHEgd7quFH0/s400/PB159822.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539989127337534290" border="0" /></a>Baby Collard Greens<br /><br /><br />Can you guess what this next picture is?<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TOIDUDNGoTI/AAAAAAAAAnk/thYMg-I5Obk/s1600/PB159817.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TOIDUDNGoTI/AAAAAAAAAnk/thYMg-I5Obk/s320/PB159817.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539994134611665202" border="0" /></a>This is actually a picture of tons and tons of very cute little Extra Dwarf Pac Choi. Believe it or not this is actually the size that they are suppose to get when ready to pick. Although I have not yet cooked with them this year, every time I go into the hoophouse I grab myself one of these cute little things and pop it in my mouth. They sure do have a lot of flavor for such little things. I am actually very impressed with how they are doing and taste during this cold weather. I will definitely have to grow many more varieties of pac choi next year for fall. I have grown this variety before in the spring, but if you do not harvest it right away it will go to seed, even if it is not super hot out yet. But now in the fall these little guys have been picking size for at least a couple of weeks already and show now sign of going to seed.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TOIDUkSi6SI/AAAAAAAAAns/IEQOpr7jMmk/s1600/PB159818.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TOIDUkSi6SI/AAAAAAAAAns/IEQOpr7jMmk/s320/PB159818.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539994143492860194" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Extra Dwarf Pac Choi</span><br />Aren't they cute?<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TOIGNmlaX8I/AAAAAAAAAn0/H2BdGcy58t8/s1600/PB159829.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TOIGNmlaX8I/AAAAAAAAAn0/H2BdGcy58t8/s320/PB159829.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539997322384662466" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Some Baby Swiss Chard</span><br />I also have other colors growing in the hoophouse also but did not take any pictures of them.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TOIG0GlxTcI/AAAAAAAAAn8/byGV072J8lU/s1600/PB159826.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TOIG0GlxTcI/AAAAAAAAAn8/byGV072J8lU/s320/PB159826.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539997983811128770" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Peppercress</span><br />Peppercress has a very mild spicy flavor, no where near a strong as arugula or even mustard greens. Great to add a little bit of different flavor to a salad.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br />I wish my lettuce would get growing, but I have little hope that I will be picking lettuce this year, although you never know. If it does not get any larger, I am worried it will all be wasted. If only I had gotten it in the ground just a week sooner. I probably could be eating a nice salad with lettuce right now. Oh well, that is what I get for getting behind. I just may have to wait until spring, we will see what happens.<br /><br />The problem with growing in the fall is not just the temps but the shortage of day light or sunlight at all. When the days start getting shorter the plants slow down. The trick is to get everything to full size before it gets too cold, because when it gets real cold the plants just kind of go dormant and just sit there. You can still harvest them but they will not grow right back like they would during warmer weather. <br /><br />Speaking of the winter gets me thinking of something I have to add to my to do list. That is get the hoophouse more ready for winter by adding more supports inside the hoophouse. Since this will be our first winter with our large hoop house I am not sure how much snow it can handle. I hope it survives. If if does survive I will have to post directions for how we built it, but I want to see just how tough it is first. One thing I know for sure is it is going to be exhausting going out there all the time to brush off the snow, something tells me I am going to have to make my way out there every hour or at least every couple of hours during bad snowstorms. Lets hope we do not have a bad winter. Funny because I was just saying the other day that I hope we get a really bad snowstorm so I can test out my truck (this will be my first winter with my truck). Great I am going to be sorry for making that wish, when I do not have any time to drive my truck around in the snow since I will be in my hoop house brushing off snow, trying not to get buried alive!<br /><br /><br /></div></div>Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-55302026416803316642010-10-27T19:29:00.007-04:002010-10-27T20:08:26.739-04:00Radishes, Radishes, Radishes<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TMi4WpRJoiI/AAAAAAAAAmc/xNzIx-LR6Os/s1600/PA279726a.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 317px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TMi4WpRJoiI/AAAAAAAAAmc/xNzIx-LR6Os/s400/PA279726a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532874841399075362" border="0" /></a><br />I have lots and lots of radishes right now that are ready to harvest.<br />So here are the varieties of radishes that I have right now.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TMi48_eP_-I/AAAAAAAAAm0/F8iT2e2rup4/s1600/PA279731a.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 185px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TMi48_eP_-I/AAAAAAAAAm0/F8iT2e2rup4/s200/PA279731a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532875500194627554" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Saxa II Radishes</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I think that these are my favorite regular red radishes. They are a very gorgeous red color. The reason why I got the seeds for these radishes is because they are suppose to mature earlier than other radish varieties, and they were the first to mature out of all the varieties. <br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TMi49TwQQQI/AAAAAAAAAm8/YuZzPFUclEw/s1600/PA279732a.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 196px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TMi49TwQQQI/AAAAAAAAAm8/YuZzPFUclEw/s200/PA279732a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532875505638850818" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Crimson Giant Radishes</span><br />I do not think this variety is at its full size yet, at least it better not be at full size yet. They are suppose to be giant radishes, but they are actually the smallest out of all my radishes. Obviously they must take longer to reach maturity than other varieties.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TMi486cOJwI/AAAAAAAAAms/KlZWsZhKL9M/s1600/PA279730a.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 186px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TMi486cOJwI/AAAAAAAAAms/KlZWsZhKL9M/s200/PA279730a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532875498843940610" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Sparkler Radishes</span><br />These are cute little radishes with similar coloration as the French Breakfast<br />Radishes, except instead of being long they are round.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TMi48anZTvI/AAAAAAAAAmk/8l42CwCXUdc/s1600/PA279728a.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 168px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TMi48anZTvI/AAAAAAAAAmk/8l42CwCXUdc/s200/PA279728a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532875490300874482" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">French Breakfast Radishes</span><br />I grew these radishes last year and sold them at Valley City Farmers Market, and everyone really seemed to love them. They can still get a little larger yet, but are already really tasty right now at this size.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><br />Now all I need is for my lettuce in the hoop house to be ready for harvest so i can have some beautiful salads with my lettuce, greens, and radishes!<br /></div></div>Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-48028845118949957812010-10-26T18:52:00.006-04:002010-10-26T21:40:58.110-04:00Homemade PastaI recently bought some homemade pasta, and it was way better than store bought. So of course it got me thinking, the ingredients were so simple, flour and eggs. I had to make my own. So I did, and of coarse I could not just make plain old pasta. The first kind that I made was garlic pasta, and this past weekend I made a lemon balm pasta.<br /><br />The lemon balm really did make the pasta very beautiful. Once it was cooked it lost a lot of the lemony taste though. Next time I make this pasta or any kind of herb pasta, I plan on making the noodles a little thinner, they should not need to be cooked as long and then hopefully will keep more of its flavor.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TMd62NsGh0I/AAAAAAAAAmE/RUx7Reyx6qw/s1600/PA249688a.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TMd62NsGh0I/AAAAAAAAAmE/RUx7Reyx6qw/s400/PA249688a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532525739054106434" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Homemade Lemon Balm Pasta</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I also plan to make beet pasta, possibly some type of tomato pasta, a pepper pasta, swiss chard pasta, a kale pasta once my kale is ready to harvest, a mustard green pasta, and maybe even a carrot pasta. I wish I had some fresh basil right now to use in a pasta. I could just imagine a pasta made out of both purple basil and regular green basil, what a beautiful pasta that would be. Although if I make a swiss chard pasta that should be colorful also with both the green and red leaves.<br /><br />I think the next type of pasta that I make will be made with mustard greens. I am just so curious as to what that would taste like. Will be sure to let everyone know how they all turn out.<br /><br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br />Everything in the hoop house is starting to come along pretty good now. I am hoping to be able to begin harvesting as soon as next week, if not it should be the week after. I should have been picking everything awhile ago now, if I would have actually planted everything when I was suppose to, oh well. I will have to post some pictures very soon.<br /><br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TMeA7WvV5eI/AAAAAAAAAmM/mr_4OA2uHUo/s1600/PA269720.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TMeA7WvV5eI/AAAAAAAAAmM/mr_4OA2uHUo/s400/PA269720.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532532424452728290" border="0" /></a><br />I tried to take a picture of a very amazing sun set, and since my camera does not take the greatest pictures at night (or if it does I have no idea how to take one) the picture ended up looking kind of wild. Yes the sky was very orange, but not quite as orange as it appears in the picture, but still it kind of a cool picture.<br /></div></div>Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-30178202330398422092010-10-14T21:02:00.005-04:002010-10-14T21:57:10.968-04:00Valley City Farmers Market has come to an end for 2010Last week was sadly our last week to sell at Valley City. Since it is getting colder out now all of our warm weather crops are now coming to an end. I have been picking the last of many things the past couple of days, before we get a frost and everything comes to an end.<br /><br />Soon now it will be time to start my planing for next year. Although I have not started to pick out the actual varieties, I have started to think about what I would like to grown and what I probably will not be growing next year.<br /><br />I will be growing most of the same cherry tomato varieties that I did this year and will probably try some new varieties also. I also plan to try many new varieties of larger slicing tomatoes. I will be growing the Striped Cavern Stuffing Tomato again and may even grow another variety of stuffing tomato such as a yellow stuffer.<br /><br />As far as peppers go I will probably grow most of the same varieties as I this year plus some new ones.<br /><br />I should also have a lot of beans next year since I am planning on planting almost one entire garden area with beans to add some nitrogen to the soil.<br /><br />Of course I will be growing all my different colored carrots, plus I plan to have other different varieties available also.<br /><br />This year we have lots of acorn and butternut squash, but next year I will be trying a bunch of different varieties of winter squash, many different colors, sizes and shapes.<br /><br />These are just some of my plans for next year. When I have decided what varieties of everything I am going to grow, I will be sure to post it here and update my list on the website. I also have lots and lots of pictures and information to add to my website, and will probably start doing that very soon. I just have not had the time to update my website during the summer, but will have a lot more time during the winter (winter, that word made me cringe).Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-90135002635081128682010-09-30T21:09:00.002-04:002010-09-30T21:31:54.606-04:00Farmers Market Season EndingIt looks like this Saturday is going to be the last market day of this year. If the weather permits I am hoping to set up our roadside stand after the market. I am also hoping to set up the roadside stand on Saturdays once Valley City Farmers Market is over. I will be sure to post here when I plan to have the stand set up so check back before stopping by. Also once the market is over I will continue to update the availability list to the right (and on our website), so if there is anything that you would be interested in, you can send me an email or give me a call, and you can pick up your produce on days other than when we have our roadside stand set up.<br /><br />Since the growing season is going to be slowing down soon, planning for next year will be beginning very soon. So let us know if there is something you would like to see us grow next year. We love growing new and unusual things, and are always open to suggestions.<br /><br />So let us know what you would like us to grow next year.Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-20829859132252759302010-08-30T10:53:00.009-04:002010-08-30T15:54:44.372-04:00Farmers Market PicturesOk so I just realized that it has been a long time since my last blog post. It has been kind of busy lately. So I just thought that I would post some pictures from Saturdays farmers market in Valley City.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/THwAyHAzb4I/AAAAAAAAAlY/3-nlLc_lw0k/s1600/DSCN2185.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/THwAyHAzb4I/AAAAAAAAAlY/3-nlLc_lw0k/s400/DSCN2185.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511280904870522754" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/THwAfas9_UI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/gkdmZgHI62E/s1600/DSCN2181.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/THwAfas9_UI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/gkdmZgHI62E/s400/DSCN2181.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511280583738522946" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes</span><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/THwAIlPeUQI/AAAAAAAAAlI/70BeXRnE0Fw/s1600/DSCN2180.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/THwAIlPeUQI/AAAAAAAAAlI/70BeXRnE0Fw/s400/DSCN2180.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511280191430611202" border="0" /></a><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/THv_4N3haMI/AAAAAAAAAlA/pa8w5pkjSLw/s1600/DSCN2179.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/THv_4N3haMI/AAAAAAAAAlA/pa8w5pkjSLw/s400/DSCN2179.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511279910278228162" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/THv_ioZKxeI/AAAAAAAAAk4/GPzdU7OZcOw/s1600/DSCN2178.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/THv_ioZKxeI/AAAAAAAAAk4/GPzdU7OZcOw/s400/DSCN2178.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511279539441550818" border="0" /></a>A bunch of round zucchini and some other things.<br /><br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/THvIgOzHhiI/AAAAAAAAAkw/AObbrm-coPI/s1600/DSCN2188market.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 285px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/THvIgOzHhiI/AAAAAAAAAkw/AObbrm-coPI/s400/DSCN2188market.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511219025071801890" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/THwBFEl0McI/AAAAAAAAAlg/x94NvczIQfw/s1600/DSCN2192.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/THwBFEl0McI/AAAAAAAAAlg/x94NvczIQfw/s400/DSCN2192.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511281230637969858" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Since we had so much left after market we decided to set up our roadside stand.</span><br /></div>Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-84630658608944600202010-08-07T01:13:00.007-04:002011-08-20T03:48:12.400-04:00Zucchini Bread is Finally Here!Today's market will be the first market this year that I will have zucchini bread available. It is a lot later than normal, but that is because we are just now starting to harvest zucchini. Every year at the start of the market we have people asking for our zucchini bread, so everyone should be happy to here it is finally available.
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<br />I just thought I would tell everyone exactly where I got my recipe for the zucchini bread from. It is actually my grandmothers recipe. I can remember eating this bread when I was a kid and I always loved it! I actually never made it myself till after my grandmother passed away. I was going through her recipes and I came across the recipe, just thinking about it brought back memories from my childhood, I had to make it. I just wish my grandmother could see how popular her zucchini bread has become.
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TFz03X5h36I/AAAAAAAAAkY/Jlj-Xo1FUyo/s1600/P8069286.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TFz03X5h36I/AAAAAAAAAkY/Jlj-Xo1FUyo/s320/P8069286.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502542076885196706" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Zucchini Bread in the oven</span>
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<br /><div style="text-align: left;">Believe it or not the zucchini bread is just now in the oven as I am typing this. I rarely ever start making it before midnight on Friday night. I am just to busy before that picking and getting market things together. I have even made it in the past about 4 hours before market.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TFz1Zxe45SI/AAAAAAAAAkg/AlTJBNOLBGc/s1600/P8069291.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TFz1Zxe45SI/AAAAAAAAAkg/AlTJBNOLBGc/s320/P8069291.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502542667868333346" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Zucchini Bread just out of the oven</span>
<br /></div>Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-30825490996373810582010-08-04T22:24:00.004-04:002010-08-04T23:13:38.687-04:00How Things Are GrowingWell I just thought that I would let everyone know exactly how things are going here at BA Farm. We had a great start to the year with our lettuce mixes, which made me excited for the rest of the season to come. I but quickly became disappointed, as the weather this year made things difficult, slowed down a lot of our vegetables. Even though our vegetables did not like the weather the weeds did (not good).<br /><br />We ended up tilling under our first planting of zucchini and summer squash, since it never really grew very much. It killed me to see it go, as I had planted some unusual varieties that I was very excited about. Luckily we planted some common zucchini and yellow squash at a friends property, which is were the above, header photo was taken (I will tell more about the property in another post, and will post more pictures). I think the reason why the zucchini did so well was because it was planted around a month later than we normally plant our zucchini.<br /><br />Our peppers had a rough start and are finally starting to produce, but still not anywhere close to like they should be by now. They were previously dropping blossoms like crazy, and are still loosing a bunch of blossoms, although I have been seeing more and more that are actually developing into peppers.<br /><br />My tomato plants look beautiful, even thought they are way behind and a few plants are finally just now getting tomatoes that are starting to change color. The only problem is I seem to have misplaced the paper that I had written down what varieties were planted where, and I can not find it anywhere. So I can not tell you what exactly is going to be available when, very very frustrating. I hope I can find it soon, actually let me rephrase that, I BETTER find that soon.<br /><br />On the positive note my herbs are doing really well, although they do not seem to be selling, for some reason. So that means everyone needs to come to the market and buy some herbs:)<br /><br />The carrots are also doing very well, and I am hoping to finally pull some not this Saturday but next Saturday (and maybe some for Strongsville Farmers Market, more about that in another post also). The only problem is there is a rabbit that knows how and were to get over our fence and into our garden (have seen him do it) and he has been munching on our carrot tops, and that needs to stop. <br /><br />Anyhow to sum things up we have been having a bit of a rough time this summer, but things seem to be finally getting a little better, and are finally coming along.Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-33594937824433269232010-07-19T22:06:00.006-04:002010-07-19T23:24:21.629-04:00Colored Carrots!<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TEUVrU6JnXI/AAAAAAAAAkA/ZgqvHKG-m7I/s1600/P7199022a.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 208px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TEUVrU6JnXI/AAAAAAAAAkA/ZgqvHKG-m7I/s320/P7199022a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495822754366725490" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Baby Colored Carrots</span><br /><br /></div>So today I decided I would weed the carrot beds. I really have not looked closely at them since the last time I weeded them, and I was very happy to see how much they have grown since then. They still have a way to go but are getting there. I should have orange bunches, white bunches, purple bunches, and mixed bunches of yellow, red, orange, purple, and white. I am hoping that we will have some available sometime around either early or mid August.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">There are many interesting facts about colored carrots, here are some of them:</span><br /><br />~ Just one full size carrot will fulfill your daily quotient of the essential vitamin A.<br /><br />~ Each color of carrot has a different health benefit of its own:<br /><br /> *<span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Orange carrots</span> - contain beta carotene pigments - essential for well-being, healthy eyes<br /> *<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Red carrots</span> - contain lycopene pigments - believed to guard against heart disease and cancers<br /> *<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">Yellow carrots</span> - contain xanthophylls pigments - support good eye health, fight aginst macular degeneration, may prevent lung and other cancers, and reduce the risk of hardening of the arteries<br /> *<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">White carrots</span> - lack pigments - but contain substances called phytomchemicals - can protect against disease<br /> *<span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);">Purple carrots</span> - contain anthocyanins pigments - act as powerful antioxidants, can prevent heart disease by slowing blood clotting and are good anti inflammatory agents<br /><br />~ Colored carrots may be new to some people but purple and yellow carrots were actually eaten more than 1,000 years ago.<br /><br />~ In fact orange carrots are actually the "mutant" carrot, carrots were originally purple and yellow.<br /><br />~ Carrots are a member of the parsley family, along with dill, caraway, cumin, chervil, coriander, fennel, anise, parsley, parsnip, and celery.<br /><br />~ There are so many different carrot varieties that there is actually a variety for every letter of the alphabet.<br /><br />~ Carrots could be used as a bio fuel, you would need approximately 6,000 carrots to drive one mile. (That is a lot of carrots, sounds to me like the idea needs some work).Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-32213008198524205462010-07-17T05:32:00.007-04:002010-07-17T05:59:55.730-04:00Some New Veggies For This YearSince I was sitting here early this morning with not much to do since we are not going to market, I figured I would take the time to post some pictures of a couple of new vegetables we grew this year, that we should have available very soon.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TEF5ZPOzCDI/AAAAAAAAAjg/FAPeYJxkleY/s1600/P7168921.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TEF5ZPOzCDI/AAAAAAAAAjg/FAPeYJxkleY/s400/P7168921.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494806494861002802" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Jimmy Nardello Italian Sweet Pepper</span><br /><br />Yes that's right this is not a hot pepper but actually a sweet pepper. And I think it is one of the sweetest sweet peppers I have ever tasted. It is great for just snacking on. I had a hard time controling myself from eating all of the ones that I picked right away. I wanted to save some of them for a stir fry, but instead I think I am going to use them for my vegetable pancakes this morning. These peppers have a very mild pepper taste and can be eaten seeds and all, just take a bite!<br /><br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TEF713kjY-I/AAAAAAAAAjo/Na-S1qxyP9o/s1600/P7168923.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TEF713kjY-I/AAAAAAAAAjo/Na-S1qxyP9o/s400/P7168923.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494809185749263330" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Dragon Tongue Beans</span><br /><br />This is another one that I am really excited about. They are Dragon Tongue Beans, and they have got to be the tastiest, juiciest beans I have ever tasted. Well, raw that is I have not actually tasted them cooked yet, but will be soon. I only grew a small area of these since it was my first time growing them. But I am going to be putting in another seed order for the spring, for some things that I ran out of, and will for sure be ordering more of these. Should be able to get some more plantings in once I get the seeds. <br /><br />These beans can also be used for shelling as dried beans. In fact if I have a large area where one of my summer crops have failed (which it looks like I will) I may plant a bunch of these for drying.<br /><br />The only down side to these beautiful beans is they loose their purple color when cooked, which is ok because they still end up a beautiful yellow which is still different than the common green.<br /><br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br />Well I do have more pictures to share but I think that is going to be all for now.<br /></div>Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-73413443418039076192010-07-14T22:26:00.004-04:002010-07-14T22:48:25.978-04:00About the Header PhotoDo you know what this is a picture of? It is actually a type of cherry tomato, in a way, actually I am not sure exactly what kind of tomato it is considered. This tomato is like a whole bunch of cherry tomatoes fused together, that are suppose to easily pull apart without a problem. I was so excited to see these tomatoes start to develop, this is the first time I have grown this variety, and I think it is going to be pretty cool.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A little bit about the Reisetomate Tomato</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Also called "Traveler Tomato" ("reise" is German for "travel" or "journey") for the ability to tear it apart a piece at a time, with no need for a knife. This type of tomato traces its roots to Central America where the native people would carry traveler tomatoes on trips, to eat as they walked. Bright red tomatoes taste-well, rather sour, strong and acid. The perfect tomato for those who love raw lemons, but who cares? They are still far-out and groovy.</span><br />-From Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds Catalog<br /><br />Bad part is these tomatoes, and all my tomatoes, are really far behind. The weather has had a big impact on almost all of our warm weather crops. Well, that is the way it goes, sometimes you win, sometimes you loose, but better late than never, right? <br /><br />That being said, the new header picture pretty much sums up what is going on here at BA Farm. Things are coming along, but are way behind.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TD5yLzykasI/AAAAAAAAAjY/KxWcxoD-QjA/s1600/P7148888.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TD5yLzykasI/AAAAAAAAAjY/KxWcxoD-QjA/s320/P7148888.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493954142645021378" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Reisetomate Tomato</span><br /><br /><br /></div>Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-76168121458478874822010-07-06T22:43:00.007-04:002010-07-06T23:32:35.554-04:00Basil VarietiesI am very excited about all the different varieties of basil I have available this year. The varieties are: Sweet Basil, Lemon Basil, Licorice Basil, Cinnamon Basil, Opal Basil, and Blue Spice Basil.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TDPvbQGxlbI/AAAAAAAAAiw/O5b5Ygaoqy4/s1600/P7018804SweetBasil.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 273px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TDPvbQGxlbI/AAAAAAAAAiw/O5b5Ygaoqy4/s320/P7018804SweetBasil.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490995622153655730" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Sweet Basil</span><br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TDPvOATSp-I/AAAAAAAAAiY/BPV_8VUBg0M/s1600/P7018800LemonBasil.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 281px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TDPvOATSp-I/AAAAAAAAAiY/BPV_8VUBg0M/s320/P7018800LemonBasil.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490995394572888034" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Lemon Basil</span><br />I just made chicken and pasta with this basil an also some lemon balm. It was wonderful. I will be posting the recipe very soon.<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TDPvOgI6UxI/AAAAAAAAAig/aGhJoC5vf5g/s1600/P7018802LicoriceBasil.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 284px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TDPvOgI6UxI/AAAAAAAAAig/aGhJoC5vf5g/s320/P7018802LicoriceBasil.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490995403119285010" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Licorice Basil</span><br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TDPvNlRoMDI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/tToXDekJIGY/s1600/P7018798CinnamonBasil.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 278px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TDPvNlRoMDI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/tToXDekJIGY/s320/P7018798CinnamonBasil.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490995387318153266" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Cinnamon Basil</span><br />Looks very very similar to Licorice Basil, in fact I apologize to anyone ahead of time just in case I mix up the two when tagging them in the bunches. My sense of smell is not the greatest to I have a hard time telling the two apart.<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TDPvO--d0CI/AAAAAAAAAio/JCMU_t4tuZM/s1600/P7018803OpalBasil.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 280px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TDPvO--d0CI/AAAAAAAAAio/JCMU_t4tuZM/s320/P7018803OpalBasil.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490995411396972578" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Opal Basil</span><br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TDPvNYg6rSI/AAAAAAAAAiI/naMbnVpbxNo/s1600/P7018796BlueSpiceBasil.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 272px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TDPvNYg6rSI/AAAAAAAAAiI/naMbnVpbxNo/s320/P7018796BlueSpiceBasil.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490995383892618530" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Blue Spice Basil</span><br />I have not gotten a chance to cook with this one at all yet, but it smells really beautiful. I think it is my favorite smelling basil.<br /><br /><br />The above varieties of basil will be available in bunches.<br />I have one more variety of basil that I also grew this year called Pistou Basil. It is a very small, very cute basil that is perfect for pinching off individual leaves and throwing them in a salad or cooking in your favorite dish. These basils are sold in pots.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TDPy7kW9wLI/AAAAAAAAAi4/Y0t_uvfDG_s/s1600/P7018753a.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 287px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TDPy7kW9wLI/AAAAAAAAAi4/Y0t_uvfDG_s/s320/P7018753a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490999475880968370" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Pistou Basil</span><br /><br />While looking up some information on basils I came across a really good site with a lot, and I mean a lot of information on what must be every type of basil that there is. I would love to grow them all, of coarse that would take a very long time, but there are definitely a bunch of different kinds that I would like to try next year. The site is: <a href="http://ramonasbasilgarden.com/basil-list/">romanasbasilgarden.com/basil-list</a><br /></div>Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7275732320520749085.post-63947431606425123682010-07-06T22:23:00.004-04:002010-07-06T22:42:30.800-04:00Micro Greens Coming Soon<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TDPoQ52LPoI/AAAAAAAAAiA/mBcfFsfejXQ/s1600/P7068839.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TDPoQ52LPoI/AAAAAAAAAiA/mBcfFsfejXQ/s400/P7068839.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490987747798367874" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Micro Greens</span></span><br /></div><br />I have been meaning to start a bunch of micro greens for some time now, but have not gotten to it. Well yesterday I finally started a bunch of them. I am hoping to have them ready for this Saturdays market for in my salad mixes and for selling in the containers they are grown in.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TDPoQW8qTpI/AAAAAAAAAh4/VtIdKZ32bl4/s1600/P7068835.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TDPoQW8qTpI/AAAAAAAAAh4/VtIdKZ32bl4/s400/P7068835.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490987738430328466" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Arugula Micro Greens Just Sprouting<br /><br /></span></div><br />I stared many different varieties for in my spicy salad mix such as: broccoli, radishes, a large red mustard, and arugula. I also started two types of onions, one red and one white. Last week I did not have any greens for in my Greens and Lettuce Salad Mix, since my hoop house has now become too hot for the greens. Well this Saturday I should have the Greens and Lettuce Salad Mix available again thanks to my micro greens, since I planted collards and three types of kale. I think I will be starting some swiss chard soon also for in the mix. I also started some Sweet Basil, which will be a good addition to my Herb and Lettuce Salad Mix.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TDPoPsFdUUI/AAAAAAAAAhw/mZ-mBqi9P-I/s1600/P7068837.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Q7ZZJoMP_i8/TDPoPsFdUUI/AAAAAAAAAhw/mZ-mBqi9P-I/s400/P7068837.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490987726924501314" border="0" /></a>Radish Micro Greens Just Sprouting<br /><br /></div><br />I also started a mix of arugula, radishes, mustards, and broccoli in the same container, that I should have available for sale, in the container, as a spicy micro green mix.Aprilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030818926252867599noreply@blogger.com0