Dehydrating lemon slices/January wreath

My neighbor has a Meyer lemon tree. It's on a strip of land between our two driveways. It certainly belongs to her, but she allows me to freely harvest from my side of the tree, which is terrific. (By the way, I learned a lot about trees and the law in one of my classes last term; if your fruit tree hangs over into a neighbor's yard, that fruit still belongs to you and you can claim it. However, if you want to be a nice neighbor, you'll let them have it. :) ) I always make a batch of lemon curd and lemon bars. I always juice several dozen and then freeze that juice to have on hand through the year. Tom tends to make a batch of limoncello. And then I usually make a quart jar of preserved lemons, which I keep in the fridge, and then those are used for roasting chicken or sometimes fish, though preserved lemons are exceedingly salty (that's how they are preserved, in salt). 

This year, Tom bought me an Excalibur food dehydrator for my birthday, so I decided to dry lemon slices instead of making preserved lemons. I imagine these will be much more versatile, as I can take a few out every time I roast fish or chicken, or want a hit of acid in a soup. A slice can also be added to a water bottle, or to a cup of tea. They can be reconstituted and chopped up to be added to vinaigrette. There are dozens of ways these can be used.

My dehydrator has nine trays. I filled those with about 40 sliced lemons, which made about 6 quarts of dried slices, enough for me and some to give away. I set the temperature at 135 and ran the machine for 12 hours, which yielded perfectly dry slices.

And they look so pretty in the jar.

Before I juice the next batch for the freezer, I think I will remove all the zest first, and then put it in the dehydrator. This way I will have dried zest to use all season and I'll never have to buy lemons.

By the way, Meyer lemons are usually only available from December through May, while Eureka or Lisbon lemons are generally available all year long and are what you find in your grocery store. Meyer lemons are sweeter, thin-skinned, smaller, and darker than regular lemons, and have a sort of floral scent to them which is simply heavenly.  There's a nice post on Kitchn that explains how to tell the difference, with pictures. 

As always, I'd prefer to use what's available seasonally and preserve what I can for the time that fruit/veg is NOT in season, so this dehydrator is going to help me do that in myriad ways.

I'm enjoying having some time off from school to manage these winter kitchen projects. I also re-decorated my homemade wreath for January - it was fun tramping through a local open space to find the different berries. This is a mix of olive, cotoneaster, toyon, and pyracantha.

I'm thinking of all of you who live anywhere but the West coast, and wondering how you're managing your frigid weather. We finally have some rain, which is desperately needed, but our daytime temperatures in the 50's certainly feel balmy compared to what you're dealing with. I'm hoping that humans and animals are managing ok. Please check in and let us know how it's going in the comments.

Ring Out, Wild Bells

The holiday decorations are packed away for another year, the house cleaned, the olives brining, and the sauerkraut... well, krauting. It feels great to "ring out, wild bells, and let him die" and welcome a new year.

“Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind
For those that here we see no more:
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times’
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.””

— Alfred Lord Tennyson

Despite the lack of rain, the garden is humming along. I've got seed trays of kale, chard, rhubarb, purple carrots, and more cabbage in the greenhouse. The wheat is beautiful, thick and green, and with the clover growing beneath it, completely covering the raised beds. It's about 18" tall now. Isn't this the stuff people blend and drink in shot glasses? I imagine a ruminant would like the looks of this wheatgrass.

The bulbs don't seem to care if it's still winter. The solstice is past, and something in them says it's time to grow, grow, grow. Spring is different in Northern California. It starts early. I noticed the first batch of new bees coming out to take the air, and orient themselves to home, on this first day of the year. So the queen is laying again.

We have lots of lettuce and spinach growing at the moment. The Brussels sprouts tried their hardest to form heads, but something kept eating the leaves whole (my guess is squirrels) and then the aphids recognized an opportunity and moved in. So I pulled those out, gave them to the chickens, and direct sowed more kale and chard seeds in that bed. The cauliflower is having a second life and looking good, and the broccoli is producing side heads right now. We picked all the ripe cabbage to make into sauerkraut.

The peas succumbed to frost, but I've got more starting in several other places. The garlic and shallots are doing exactly what they are supposed to. After severely pruning all the woody perennials such as sage and agastache, I sowed all my spring wildflower seeds directly into the pollinator gardens. I'll have to keep them moist, since there has been no rain. I'm hoping for a real wildflower show this year.

There have been lots of interesting birds to look at lately, including a large golden eagle in my neighbor's oak tree. I miss the summer bumblebees and butterflies, but the birdsong has been glorious every morning, and I'm enjoying watching the hummingbirds at the feeder. 

We have several projects in the works. I'm planning the layout of the summer garden, though it will go in late this year, and have received all the seeds I need for the season. I've ordered 75 strawberry crowns (four different varieties) to plant in hanging gutters, more on that project at a later time. My dad got me some carving tools for Christmas, and I'm learning to whittle; I want to make serving spoons from some of the branches I've pruned off our larger trees this winter. Tom tried his hand at rough puff pastry today and the results look promising. Lemons are in season, and we've our annual limoncello to make, as well as enough preserved lemons and lemon juice to last us the year. So we are keeping busy here at Poppy Corners. Everyone goes back to school and work tomorrow, except me. I don't start again until the 22nd!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Solstice

I am always so glad when we reach the solstice, as it helps me to look forward to the coming of warmth and light. 

We remain cold and dry. The sun arrives to the yard at about 10 in the morning, and I can feel everything breathe in. No rain is in sight.

The drip system is running and I am emptying the rain barrels. There are always birds at the water fountain, as eager as we are for some moisture. 

The olives have been harvested, split, and are leaching in water that is changed daily. In a couple of weeks, I'll brine them. Cabbage will be turned into sauerkraut in the coming weeks.

The squirrels are eating everything. I'm not planting wheat again next winter. I'm going back to vegetables in beds, with row cover. Not only does that keep the plants warm, it also keeps the critters out. Sparrows eat the clover seed as soon as I plant it; then they eat the sprouts with they germinate. I'm basically feeding the neighborhood creatures this winter with the garden. Oh well.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. We have a lot of fun things planned, so I'll take a short vacation from writing and be back again in the New Year. In January, we can start talking about planning the spring and summer garden. Warm wishes to all of you, and blessings for a happy Christmas!

Determining the Amount of Carbon Sequestered by your Trees

This past semester, I took an Arboriculture class, and it was great - I learned SO much. As part of the class, we had to pick a tree we felt had some structural or health issues and write a report on it. It was a cumulative project; we had to know how to measure the health of the tree, how to do risk assessments, how to calculate value if the tree was to be replaced, etc., all of which sounds fairly simple but each step sort of builds on the one before. It was fascinating. I chose the valley oak in the photo above, for my project. 

The benefits of trees, particularly in an urban setting, are obvious and numerous: Trees save energy because they provide shade, they intercept stormwater and hold it on the property, they increase property value, and they provide benefits for local wildlife. There are many studies, both recent and ongoing, that show trees can improve the actual physical health of humans. They can intercept allergens and filter air, for instance, helping with breathing and air quality. Mental health and trees is also being studied. It's hard to quantify, but they can improve mental outlook and provide a very real sense of solidity and peace. Trees are also beautiful, a value hard to measure, but one we wouldn't want to live without. 

Another unseen way trees improve our environments is by sequestering CO2, which they use for making food through photosynthesis. Then they take those foods and store them deep in their root systems, in the soil. This kind of storage of carbon, or sequestration, is very important to the health of our planet. I won't go into the 'why' here, but if you're interested, see this article by the USGS, which explains it nicely.

It's rather interesting to take the trees on your property and determine how much carbon they are sequestering every year. There are several ways to do this. The industry standard is a tool called CUFR, which is provided by the US Forest Service.  They have an excel spreadsheet which will do this calculation for you. I had a little trouble with this interface, so I went searching for another way. I found another online calculator which is good if you have a common (not unusual) tree, called National Tree Benefit Calculator. You simply enter your zip code, then choose the kind of tree you have, and enter the diameter of the tree. 

***A word on diameter: This is a trunk measurement you take at breast height, about 4.5 feet up from the soil. It's called 'DBH' or 'diameter at breast height.' You'll see this in all the calculations; it's an important measurement and helps us to know the age of the tree. And remember (I needed a refresher course myself), diameter is the length across one side of the tree trunk; radius would be half that; circumference would be the length all the way around. (Hey you math people, stop giggling.) So for diameter, just take your tape measure or yardstick or ruler out to the tree and estimate about four and a half feet up from the soil, and then just put your ruler up to the trunk and see how wide it is. 

For those of you with multiple tree trunks at breast height, you'll need to do a different calculation (I'm thinking of your Coast Live Oak, Mom and Dad): please see this nifty explanation by the City of Portland. This also explains how to measure if your tree is on a slope.***

The Tree Calculator website is interesting, because it gives more data than just CO2. When you put in your info and it does the calculation, first you will see a pie chart overview; if you go to each tab above that, it will tell you more about each single factor. For instance, when I put in my oak tree, and I then hit the CO2 tab above the pie chart, it reminds me that "most car owners of an average car drive 12k miles generating about 11k pounds of CO2 every year." That's very helpful in context. According to them, my oak is sequestering 660 pounds of carbon per year, but I'm putting a much larger amount into the atmosphere by driving my car. I would need 20 oaks of this size to make up for the emissions from my car. 

So you start to see why trees can be very important even in unseen ways.

in full leaf, in September, a beautiful canopy

For my project, I wanted to actually DO my own calculation, so I found a research paper which explains how. For this calculation you will need to know the DBH and the approximate height of the tree, which can be difficult to estimate. I usually try to look at buildings near by, as one story is usually about 10 feet. I estimated my oak to be about 50 feet tall. 

Click on the box below to get a printable of how to do this calculation. It looks daunting but please don't let that dissuade you - I am the least mathematical person in the world and I was able to do it. It explains the 'why' of every step, but unless you really want to know that, you can just skip down to the bottom of each paragraph to learn how to do the next calculation.

With this process, I determined that my oak sequesters 488 pounds of carbon per year, a bit less than the online calculator said. I think this is because the physical calculation only takes into account the age and size of the tree, whereas the online calculator takes into account the type of species and where it grows, which is important for several reasons. Certain species sequester more carbon - generally trees that grow slower are the ones who store the most. (Side note - slow growing trees are also stronger and live longer.) Plus how the tree is adapted to your climate is important, hence the reason you put in your zip code for the online calculator. If the tree is native to your area, it's naturally going to grow better and store more carbon. For instance, you've already heard the details about my oak tree, which is native here and well-adapted to this climate. However I have a large southern magnolia on the property (Magnolia grandiflora) - it's not quite as large, but it is significantly older than the oak. When I put that tree into the online calculator, I find it's only storing 180 pounds of carbon per year. I would be willing to bet that a similarly sized magnolia in Georgia would be sequestering much more carbon than it is here in California. It's also interesting to see the difference between these two trees when looking at the other factors: the oak is intercepting and storing much more rainwater (very important here in our dry climate), it's doing a better job of cleaning my air, and it raises my property value quite a bit more than the magnolia. I didn't plant either one of these trees, but it sure helps me decide which one I'd rather have going into the future on this property.

This would be a fun exercise to do with kids, leading naturally into a conversation about how the trees on your property are improving it. It's also worthwhile to spend some time observing the tree and how the wild creatures use it (I spent so much time watching the songbirds in my oak that it made me realize what a value it is to them, not just to us). You can discuss how the tree increases habitat for many different creatures, providing food for some, shelter for others. You can discuss how the tree shades the house, decreasing the need for air conditioning. If the tree is native, you can read up on how the native peoples would have used it hundreds of years ago. You could take the leaves and make some art with them.  

But even if you don't have kids, it's worthwhile information to know and absorb. We often pay little mind to the trees on our property, unless there is a problem with them. This helps us appreciate what they are doing, in seen and unseen ways, to improve our immediate and greater environment, every day. 

Making a Simple, Free-Form Christmas Wreath

I've learned quite a lot about pruning this semester, and so I am slowly pruning all of my smaller trees, including the Chinese pistache (Pistachia chinensis). We have four of them, and they are in a location that is great, soil-and-climate-wise, but the space is a little too small. I underestimated their mature size, though they don't get all that large - 30 feet tall, with a similar spread. A nice compact tree, really. But I have four of them in a narrow space, and they are now quite crowded. Rather than remove them and start again with a smaller species, I thought I'd try to work it out by reducing several of the large branches and the leader. I think they will respond well to the pruning and be just fine, but honestly, I should have chosen different trees for this space. Live and learn.

Anyway, this pruning is providing me with a lot of wood for both garden and home uses. The larger pieces will be sawed into lengths suitable for the outdoor firepit; they will stay in a pile against the fence as they season and dry, and meanwhile be habitat for all sorts of creatures (I'm still trying to attract snakes!). However, the thin, flexible branches looked just right for making a wreath.

I think the last time I made a wreath I was ten years old and it was a family project. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. But I just couldn't let this wood go to waste, and the cost was very minimal. This was a low-stakes project. I just had to buy 22-gauge floral wire, which is only a couple of bucks. Some wire clippers scavenged from Tom's tool bench, and I was ready to go. I also had greenery left from trimming the bottom of the Christmas tree, plus some beautiful branches from the yard. I had to cut these blueberry, huckleberry, and manzanita branches for a class presentation, and they are so beautiful that we've been enjoying them in a bouquet inside for several days. I thought I might add them to the wreath, but as it happened, I liked the look of just plain pine greenery and decided to leave those branches in their mason jar. But, you could add anything you want. Toyon berries, or whole lemons, or narcissus in those tiny plastic jars of water - practically anything could be tucked into this wreath. And in fact, I intend to change out the greenery with the seasons, or perhaps every month, if I'm really motivated. This wood frame that I wove should last for years. 

I just bent the branches into the shapes I wanted, and then wired them in place together. I made a sort of long, thin oval, but you could do a perfect circle if you prefer. I imagine it might be determined by your branches and their natural shape and flexibility. I added branches, about four thick on every side, securing them with the floral wire, until I felt the frame was secure. Then, I worked with the pine branches, adding them in, and hiding the floral wire with the next branch of greenery.

It took less than an hour to complete, and I love its free-form, wispy look. You could make a more formal wreath by tucking in all the spare ends, or you could make it really thick; frankly your only limit is the available materials, and your imagination. 

I'll try to remember to post pictures every time I change out the greenery on this wreath. I think in January, I will try to make a wreath completely full of different berries found on my walks, and maybe some acacia blooms.