Spring Warren's Blog, page 5
May 23, 2011
Red at the Quarter Acre Farm!
We're finally working on what feels like spring time here in Northern California. Cherries are turning, which is perhaps one of two of the most exciting events of they year for me. I love cherries. Unfortunately the long wet months preceding this, and the frosts, and a few other issues have socked my two trees with bacterial canker. AWG, time to trim away some bark and take extra care of the trees. Once the trees have this terrible affliction there is nothing to do but manage it. No cure. First nematodes, and now this. (Nematodes can exacerbate BC….of course they can. sigh)
The chickens have no such problems, they are laying great guns. Ah, my good hens.
Strawberries are also productive. This is the first good strawberry season as I had not allowed the plants to fruit last year (encourage them to put their energy into snaking out that excellent root system I hope they now have).
Ladybugs are prowling the farm keeping the aphids in amazingly low numbers…
…as are my pals the assassin or soldier beetles.
And finally – my other big thrill of the season, red tomatoes…ALREADY! Go cherries, go cherry tomatoes!
Hope you're having a red day in your garden, too.
May 16, 2011
Chicken Coop Extraordinaire!
How do you like them amenities? The Tour de Cluck was amazing (and amazingly the hail and rain held off until the day after the event, Yay!) and I pedaled away from each coop vowing to make my chickens proud. Kalliopi and the Shades deserve the best Coop EVER…
Of course, then the inevitable laziness sets in.
Still, isn't that coop a beauty? (Tim and Karen are the chicken lovers responsible for this hen castle) What you can't see is the automatic water and the automatic door which is on a timer so that Tim and Karen don't even have to get out of bed in the morning to let the squawking chickens (IT'S BEEN LIGHT FOR 2 HOURS -RELEASE US!) into the yard.
Amazing.
I'm going to fix my chickens up with a door like that. As soon as I find my gumption.
May 12, 2011
Fava Beans with Preserved Lemon
Fava season continues! We shelled about 350 pods in very short order (the key? One to-be-diner slices the pods with a paring knife, while the other shells).
This time I paired the fava beans (simmered in water for just about 2 minutes until tender) with olive oil and diced preserved lemon. (You can see I don't de-skin the beans. When you take them from the garden to the table that fast, it really isn't necessary)
I made some home-toasted croutons as well. These are sooooo much better than store-bought as you can toss the cubed bread (left-over ciabatta in this case) with fresh herbs and spice(minced sage, thyme, and a little home-grown red pepper and salt) in olive oil and then toast so the outside of the crouton is crunchy, but the inside is still barely soft.
Toss with salad (that red lettuce is still producing great guns, no matter the 80 degree heat creeping up) and you've got yourself a fresh, light, early summer's meal.
May 9, 2011
Ground Cherries
Just as I was certain I'd done all my planting for the season I found some plants I couldn't say no to. Ground Cherries – and they were at ACE Hardware, of all places. I'd had ground cherries atop a slice of cake in Iceland some years back and loved the sweet tart taste of them. I asked the woman at the counter what in the world these things were that looked like a cross between a cherry and a tomatillo, and tasted like a cross between a sweet tomato and a pineapple. She shrugged, didn't know.
When I figured out what they were I very much wanted to grow them. They are part of the family that tomatillos come from – they grow on a low bush in the same way as tomatillos. You can see the pretty flowers that will grow the ground cherry encased in a papery husk above.
You can make jam from the ground cherries, put them in salads, in pies, eat them out of hand, and, of course, use them for beautiful garnishes. I bought six and plonked them in to be watered by my newly renovated drip hose system. I'll let you know how my ground cherries grow. I think they're going to be a real boon in the farm. I can't have too many sweets growing, you know that.
May 7, 2011
From sprinkling to weeping- that's irrigation talk, btw.
My irrigation system has, to this point, consisted of a series of sprinkling emitters. That has been great except for two things. 1) The sprinklers sprinkle a variable area depending on the water pressure and, it seems: the lunar calendar, what I had for lunch, and the color of shirt the president is wearing that day. And so the sprinklers not only water the plants, but often both sides of the raised beds the plants are in, the sidewalks beside the raised beds, and the mulch all around.
2) The sprinklers get the leaves wet. This encourages disease. Also mildew. I do not need that.
And so I am switching out my teensy sprinklers to teensy weeping hose. So far I am loving the miniature versions of the recycled 5/8″ hose I used to use. With these little hoses now attached to the automatic system, I am much more in control of where the water goes (right there at the genesis of the rooting system). And even when the president goes for the striped shirt and the water pressure is high, the weeping hoses merely put out more water right there at the base of the plant instead of more water where I don't want it.
Weeping hoses, I'm weeping tears of farming joy.
May 6, 2011
Fried Egg Panini
Want to add another element to the wonderful cheeeesy chard panini? Add an egg. Try a roll rather than sliced bread. Use a different type of cheese. For this panini I sauteed the chard with garlic, hot pepper and olive oil in the same pan I cooked the egg (as long as I was going to have to clean the pan any way), grilled buttered sour dough hogie buns on the panini grill until crisp, then layered pepper jack, sauteed chard, and egg for a very popular dinner.
I LOVE this Book Club!
A huge thank you to the BDBC. ( Thats "Big, dumb, book club" …though dumb is completely off the ridiculous scale…and as to big – I forgot to take the picture until several of the big book club members were already out the door. Drat this porous memory!) The Women who make up the club read The Quarter Acre Farm, made the recipes in the book, invited me to the meeting, plied me with wine, and were SO much fun on top of it all! I love bookclubs, I have even most happily phoned in to Book Club meetings. (Got a book club in Alaska, Pennsylvania – give me a number and I'm there!) Yep, book clubs are great, but I have to admit, I especially love the BDBC.
May 4, 2011
Fava beans with artichoke hearts and garlic…on pasta…with tomatoes…and parmesan!
It is fava season, and oh, how I love favas.
It is also artichoke season…and how I love artichokes!
It is also garlic season – and how I love…(I adore eating). Scapes are rising from the heart of the plant, which are delicious, but I'm the biggest fan of the leaves. Slice the leaves into thin strips then cut the strips so that what you have to cook with resembles garlicky smelling green confetti.
What do you do with these veges? Saute the garlic leaves (or minced garlic) in olive oil. Add salt and artichoke hearts trimmed and cut into like sized pieces. Sautee until the hearts have a little color. To this mix add sun dried tomatoes and some water and allow the mix to steam a bit to fully cook the artichoke hearts and give a little tenderness to the tomatoes.
Add the shelled fava beans (which you've boiled for just about 2 minutes or until tender) to the artichoke hearts, garlic, and tomatoes, sautee a bit more.
Toss with cooked pasta of your choice (we are using what our family calls squid arms, but is really cockscombs) and sprinkle with shredded parmesan cheese.
April 29, 2011
The Quarter Acre Farm – On the Air
First stop – Doctor Andy's Poetry…..and Technology show! This was so much fun. I like Radio because with a great host I forget I'm on the radio at all. It felt like it was just me and the good Doctor talking root vegetables, dirt, and chickens.
Second Stop – Capital Public Radio's Insight with Jeffrey Callison – who is another one of those fantastic hosts who made me forget about the dire possibility of seizing up, blanking out, or saying something wildly inappropriate on the air. He instead chatted about all things green, endearing himself to me by admitting that he feels a relationship with the spinach he grows and that it pains him to cut it.
Then, this morning, a huge white truck showed up in our neighborhood with a 25 foot mast, provoking all sorts of interest (Is the news here because Spring finally did keel over from all that weeding?). No. I'm fine, but feel free to pitch in on weeding any time you'd like.
Actually, weeding or no, I'm better than fine, as I spent the morning with these two charming people from Good Day, Sacramento. I was so impressed with them, not only because of their sunny personalities at way too early in the morning, but because neither Scott nor Courtney allowed the ear-splitting honks from the geese phase them one bit. Further, as Scott filmed, Courtney stirred the sh*t…actually bunny berries (rabbit manure) with amazing aplomb, harvested a carrot and enthused over my fava beans. Gotta love Courtney for that.
What's left for this weekend are the two readings/printmaking events. I hope you can all come. Tonight in Davis at the Avid Reader at 7:30, or Sunday at the Avid Reader at the Tower at 4:00. I'd love to see you!
April 27, 2011
I'm proud of my clucky affiliations!
Tour de Cluck: A Bicycle Chicken Coop Crawl
Don't miss Spring Warren's reading at The Avid Reader in Davis on Friday night, 4/29. She is a great friend to Tour de Cluck, a mighty fine writer and an all-around gem of a human being! We're calling it a loosely aligned Chicken Skool event! Sh-h-h…a limited number of coop crawl tickets will be available after the reading!
Reading at the Avid Reader in Davis
Location: ?617 2nd Street
Time: ?7:30PM Friday, April 29th
