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Poppy Corners Farm

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Walnut Creek, California
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Poppy Corners Farm

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The Weekly List/the Grapefruit Spoon Trick

September 1, 2019 Elizabeth Boegel
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With Tom’s job (always busy, but more lately it seems, he’s rarely home before 8 in the evening) and my classes this term (which include chemistry and statistics and are, frankly, causing me no small amount of stress), and then of course our lovely Japanese exchange student staying with us for nine days, and the start of school for the kids and all that entails including after school activities, plus the outside-of-school activities beginning again, plus Adam got a job (at a French bakery! making pastries and breads!), plus all the social stuff for both kids…. well, let’s just say it’s been a busy couple of weeks. Tom and I make a list every week of everything that needs doing in the garden; we start recording things Monday, and as the week grows the list grows, and then on the weekends we race to get it all done, and oh yeah, maybe do something fun like take a walk or go to a movie or, like, get some sushi.

Not this weekend. It’s been full-bore from Friday afternoon (I got going early) and will continue into tomorrow. Our bubbler fountain, the water source for thousands of bees and hundreds of birds and who knows what else, started acting weird. About every five years Tom takes it apart, mostly, and makes sure everything is running smoothly. But this time he decided to really take it down to the hole we dug for the pond liner, and found all kinds of things worn out and misshapen and eroded. So, he’s buying a bunch of replacement stuff (it’s lasted 15 years, so not bad) and putting it all back together again, but better. He’s taking lots of pictures and he’ll be writing about it tomorrow I think, because we’ve had so many people ask how we built that thing. Now we’ll have real data to show you so you can build one too, if you like.

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Meanwhile I’ve been getting all sorts of things done. I dehydrated Hungarian peppers and made paprika. I dehydrated chili peppers and started the annual jar of chili flakes. I picked every ripe cherry tomato off the vines and Tom made tomato sauce for the freezer, along with our dinner last night. I picked every ripe sweet bell pepper and am roasting them up for the freezer, as well as providing some for our dinner tonight. Tom picked all the ripe cucumbers and made several jars of pickles. I planted more lettuce and planted some snap peas in with the edamame that I planted last week. I planted some perennials in some bare spots in our pollinator gardens - Verbena ‘de la Mina’ and coreopsis and helianthum and salvia. I scattered more annual seed. I potted up all of the seedlings in the greenhouse; they include cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, and beets. I reseeded cilantro for the hundredth time (or maybe it just seems that way). I cleared out a bunch of dead stuff and added it to my compost pile, as well as some leaves my mother was kind enough to collect from her garden and bring over (thanks Mom!). I turned the pile, too. I put a piece of cardboard under every squash and pumpkin so that they won’t get rotten in the dirt, or eaten from below. I fertilized all the container plants. I hacked back the passionflower vine that is taking over our garden, one innocent tendril at a time.

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Tomorrow, more of the same. I’m going to rake up magnolia leaves and add them to the compost pile, and save some for next Friday when I pick up more fruit/veg pulp. I’m gonna help Tom get the fountain running again. The kids are going to make whoopie pies (a Boegel favorite). I’d like to cut more herbs for drying and I need to pick beans.

seeding jalapeños is so simple now!

seeding jalapeños is so simple now!

I need to tell you about the Grapefruit Spoon Trick. The other day, I was watching some guy on YouTube getting his peppers ready for stuffing and baking; he was using a grapefruit spoon to take out the seeds and ribs. I immediately paused and went to order grapefruit spoons on Amazon. I’ve never needed one before - I’m the only person in the house who likes grapefruit and I just peel them and eat them like oranges. But lemme tell you - the spoon is PERFECT for the peppers, especially those little hot ones that have a million seeds that I don’t want to touch with my hands. You must try it!

I imagine all of you are having similar busy weekends. Some of you might be changing your gardens over to the winter incarnations. In which case, I salute you, that’s a hard weekend’s work! It’ll be my turn soon enough!

Happy September, everyone!

Tags projects, vegetable garden, cooking, preserving
2 Comments

August cooking Part 2: Tomato Galette

August 30, 2019 Elizabeth Boegel
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First of all, I must apologize for the darkness of the picture above. Tom gets home from work about 8 pm and it’s already dark by the time we are eating dinner! (winter is coming….)

Here is a great way to use up ripe beefsteak tomatoes. This recipe is from Bon Appetit - I changed it slightly - and also next time I want to roll the crust thinner and use more tomatoes. I might even cook the tomatoes down like I do for a fresh pomodoro sauce - just let them release water that way instead of the way the original recipe has you do it. Also I would add basil. Also it was too salty done the original way. However - still delicious! Who doesn’t like pie for dinner? And this is so much easier than a pie! I love making galettes with sweet fruit, but this savory application is also delicious. I could use this crust for so many things - roasted peppers and shallots come to mind. If you like summer squash, you could do a saute of zucchini for the filling. This would also work well with winter squashes and brown butter and sage. You can switch out the parmesan to some other kind of cheese, too - or ricotta. Ricotta would have been good in this one and would have added some creaminess. Clearly we all need to experiment in savory applications of galette and report back.

“Tomato Galette:
(this is the original recipe and next to it I have put my own changes, but see above for other ideas and changes)

2 C all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting if you need it (I like to roll out dough between two sheets of parchment paper, because I don’t like floury crusts)
2-1/4 t kosher salt, divided
1-1/2 sticks (or 3/4 C) chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 T apple cider vinegar
1-1/2 lb heirloom tomatoes, sliced 1/4” thick (or you could use whatever tomatoes you have on hand, but the fresher the better!)
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4 oz. firm cheese (such as cheddar, gouda, asiago), finely grated (about 1-1/2 C) (I used parmesan and only about a half cup)
1 large egg, beaten to blend
salt and pepper
lemon zest from 1/2 a lemon (I skipped this)
1 T finely chopped chives (I skipped this)

Pulse flour and 1-1/4 t salt in a food processor to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining.
Transfer mixture to a large bowl; drizzle with vinegar and 1/4 C ice water. Mix with a fork, adding more water as needed, until shaggy dough just comes together. Turn out on a work surface and lightly knead until no dry spots remain (do not overwork). (I did it all in the food processor.)
Pat into disc and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill at least two hours.
Preheat oven to 400. Gently toss tomatoes, garlic, and 1 t salt in large bowl. Let sit 5 minutes to release some liquid, drain and transfer to paper towels. (I drained longer since my tomatoes were fresher and juicier. Next time, as noted, I think I’ll cook them down a bit with the garlic and some basil and then drain.)
Unwrap dough and roll out onto a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper (no flour for me, and two sheets of paper), to a 14” round about 1/8” thick. Transfer parchment with dough to a baking sheet. Scatter cheese over dough, leaving 1-1/2” border. Arrange tomatoes and garlic over cheese. Bring edges of dough up and over filling, overlapping as needed, to create about a 1-1/2” border; brush dough with egg. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Chill in freezer 10 minutes. (I skipped this step because it was already late and noticed no problems)
Bake galette, rotating once, until crust is golden brown, about 55-65 minutes. Sprinkle with lemon zest and chives. (I skipped that part)”
— Bon Appetit
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We had some beautiful ‘pineapple’ tomatoes to use in this recipe, along with the other favorites I’ve already mentioned.

Do you like galettes? Do you make them frequently? Any recipes or tweaks you’d like to share?

Tags seasonal recipes, cooking, tomatoes
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Vegetable/fruit pulp in the Compost

August 27, 2019 Elizabeth Boegel
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A while ago I wrote about how I’m getting four, free, 5-gallon buckets of pressed fruit/vegetable pulp every week from Urban Remedy, a company that makes juices and salads. The pulp is quite wet, even though it’s been pressed for juice, and I have been asking for their ‘green’ pulp, which is a mixture of cucumbers, greens, and things like zucchini. I’ve been adding it to the compost pile in the chicken run for a few weeks now, and here are my findings.

First of all, the chickens don’t like the pulp that much - I mean, they pick at it, but they don’t go mad for it. However, they LOVE the exponential increase of bugs. They just stand there waiting while I turn it or knock the pile down, and then they go to town, as seen in the picture above. The new creature I’m seeing the most of is (I think) black soldier fly larvae. They are common compost and detritus eaters. The adults are excellent pollinators. The maggots are a high-protein, high-calcium livestock snack. Also, the larvae can really churn through compost, helping it to break down faster.

These are black soldier fly maggots

These are black soldier fly maggots

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This cutie is called a ‘Friendly Cockroach’ - don’t worry, it’s not a pest like the big German or American ones are. This little guy is Mediterranean. The chickens find them delicious too. And when I turn the pile, there are so many tiny crawly things, the whole mass moves. It’s crazy. I’ve never seen so much life in my compost pile.

So all that is good! But, on the negative side, the pile is going to need more management from me in future. This big weekly dump of ‘green’ matter (i.e. rich in fertility) is doing a lot to ‘activate’ my pile, but efficient composting needs balance, i.e. carbon, to offset all that fertility. How do I know the pile needs more carbon? It smells like rot, the classic sign that it needs a good healthy dose of carbon to offset all that good green stuff. Unfortunately, I just don’t have a stockpile of carbon. I’ve been adding wood chips and sawdust from the chicken coop and run, along with coffee chaff, but that doesn’t seem to be doing the trick. I really need a bunch of straw or dried leaves. Soon, the leaves will begin to fall, and that will help - but meanwhile I need to rake out a bunch of magnolia leaves or something and mix them in the compost pile.

Also, the temperature of the pile is low, at 94-98 degrees. I really need it up in the 120-130 range. Carbon will help with that too, as well as more turning and mixing to allow the pile to aerate and receive more oxygen.

I do think the pile is shrinking faster than usual. I’ll let you know if I’m able to actually produce MORE compost with these additions, and how I’ve solved the carbon problem.

Tags compost, insects, chickens
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Dester Tomato

August 22, 2019 Elizabeth Boegel
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See the biggest tomatoes up there? Those gorgeous pink ones? Those are the variety Dester.

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These are huge, pink beefsteak tomatoes. I’ve grown them in years past and never had much luck with them. But this year, wowsa! They are really stealing the show.

Here’s the blurb from Seed Savers: “Winner of SSE’s 2011 Tomato Tasting and runner-up in 2012. Donated to SSE by Missouri farmer Larry Pierce, who received his seeds from an Amish woman in Seymour, Missouri. She originally got her seeds from a doctor she worked for whose family had brought the seeds with them from Germany. Luscious pink beefsteaks weighing up to one pound. Indeterminate, 70-80 days from transplant.”

The reviews of this tomato are interesting. Folks have had good years and bad years with this one, although one woman said it’s her go-to tomato for best production every year. It seems to be disease resistant and hardy. Mine fruited once the temperatures got a little cooler and that wasn’t until early August, but it’s continued pumping out fruit even with higher temperatures since then.

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Since it’s done so well this year, it’s earned a place in next year’s garden.

My posts have been shorter lately because we’ve had a Japanese exchange student staying with us. Our daughter is deeply into the Japanese language and culture, and when offered the opportunity to host a student, she jumped at it. It’s been a very interesting and fun experience. I was nervous because our home is so small (and with only one bathroom), but it’s all worked out fine. Nagisa is with us until Sunday, and then it’s back to Tokyo and her senior year of high school. We will miss her!

Adding to the time crunch is the fact that I started my semester this past Monday. I’m taking some classes that are very challenging for me (Statistics, Chemistry) and I’m quite anxious about my workload this term. However, I’m trying to approach them as I would any class, with an open mind and a willingness to learn something new. I’ve signed up for math tutoring just in case things start to kick my ass a little bit, so I’m feeling pretty secure…. for now anyway.

Stay tuned for a post regarding what I’ve noticed in the compost pile since I’ve been getting that fruit pulp every Friday. I’m waiting for some cooler weather to turn it over and really explore, but I’m suspecting that activity has increased!

Meanwhile, have any of you grown Dester tomatoes? If so, I’d love to know what kind of results you’ve been getting.

Tags tomatoes, vegetable garden
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August cooking: Preserved Peppers and Pimento Cheese

August 18, 2019 Elizabeth Boegel
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With our recent heat, the peppers have started coming in. While the majority of the sweet peppers get eaten fresh, with excess going to the freezer (either just cut into strips, or roasted first), the rest need to be processed in some way (with the occasional hot pepper getting sliced into salads, etc).

I grew and made all my own paprika last year; the quality was so superior to anything I could buy in the store that I decided to do it every year. So today I am dehydrating paprika peppers for the plain variety. When I have a few more come in, I’ll smoke them, then dehydrate. I also dehydrate cayenne for my own ground spice, and make chili powder using all of the above as well as some other ingredients. I also make our own sriracha every year.

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Tom is making pickled hot peppers today as well; these are then canned using the water-bath method and available through the next year for use in all kinds of things. Tom and Adam are particularly fond of any kind of pickle. I prefer the fermented kind and used a new recipe this year which I like a lot, substituting our own apple cider vinegar for the distilled kind. You can find that recipe HERE.

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I also experimented making my own pimento cheese today. Last year I was reminded of this southern delicacy and decided to grow pimentos precisely for the purpose of making it. I spent a good deal of time researching different recipes; it seems that every town in the south has its own regional spin. I finally went with a recipe from Sean Brock, author of the southern cookbook Heritage. I liked it because it included pickles and brine, of which we always have quite a lot (see note above). I tweaked it a little, using homemade sriracha rather than generic hot sauce, pickled sour cucumbers rather than ramps or bread ‘n butter, eliminating both ground peppers and the sugar. I also processed it in the food processor after mixing it by hand and not liking the lumpy texture. And, well, I’d say it’s okay. I’ll eat it in sandwiches this week (I have to brown bag it M-Th) or as a dip for veg, but I want to make it differently next time. I want it thicker, not so runny (too much brine). It is also a little too salty (depends on your pickles, I guess). I definitely want the ratio of peppers to cheese to be higher - it should be mostly pepper, in my opinion.

This recipe included both sharp cheddar and cream cheese. I’m wondering if I used cultured cream cheese and no cheddar cheese, if I’d like it better. Maybe I’d just prefer a sort of roasted pepper cream cheese thing. But then, is that even pimento cheese?

So I’d like to ask you guys, how do you make it? I know we have some southerners on here (Linda, I’m looking at you!). I grew up in MD, ostensibly the south, and yet I never had this as a youth.

Here’s an interesting article about why pimento cheese is considered a southern dish, even though it turns out that it was born in New York City. I like the suggestion at the end to bake it with sausage (and maybe bread crumbs) as a sort of casserole. What do you think?

Tags peppers, vegetable garden, preserving, cooking
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