An Announcement

With the encouragement of a lot of people, I have decided to move my blog over to my very own domain. It's exciting and since I'm not very technical, it took me a while to figure out.

I will still be going over what is going on in my own little humble garden, but people close to me have also been encouraging me to share more of my ideas {because I'm always coming up with them, or running across new ideas}, resources and things that I come across so that others can benefit from the knowledge too. And since food production is very important to me, I thought that was a very good idea!

Since I'm not too technical though I don't think very many of my previous posts will be transferred over to the new blog. I will just keep going from where we were at instead of loading all my old posts over there. But I will still keep this one here in case you ever want to refer back to any of them.

So come on over and check out my new blog at ThePotagerGarden.com .

Quiet Season

Things have been quiet around here. We're working on eating all the canned goodies I worked on last summer. And I should have been planning this years garden but I haven't. I have vague ideas of what I want to do, but nothing specifically planned out yet.

By the way, I figured out why my potatoes were getting all shrivelly and sprouty. I had to re-read my Root Cellaring book in depth to figure out what my problem was. Not enough moisture and people leaving the light on in my storage room. So next year should be better now that I know that!

I should have ordered seeds and now we're in the middle of February and if I was going the seed route I think I should be starting my spring crops but . . . . I've been super busy with some other things. So hang in there with me! I should hopefully be back in full force soon!

Potato Management

My current "root cellar" isn't totally perfected yet. My potatoes are starting to get a little soft and shrivel-ly, and some are even trying to sprout.

I don't think I got them into their nice "cool" spot soon enough after I got them. They stayed in my semi-heated basement {and not my cold storage room} through the end of fall while the temperatures outside were still warm, thus keeping my basement a little warmer too.

I borrowed my nephews outdoor thermometer he made at school to see how cold the basement is currently, and the cold storage room surrounded by cement walls read 32 degrees. I think it might be wrong. I mean, my pipes would be frozen if it was really that cold down there wouldn't they? Maybe the rest of my basement, which is larger and isn't completely surrounded by cement is warmer which is maybe why I don't have frozen pipes? I should test the other rooms maybe.

However, potatoes do like a nice cold 32-40 degrees. So maybe I'm good now. Maybe I've halted their demise.

But I feel like I need to do something with them. I'm trying to decide if I should dehydrate a bunch, or can a bunch of them in my new pressure canner. Probably both. I need to go get my pressure canner tested by my local extension agency first though.

Hmm, what to do, what to do . . . .

Wall Ideas

{via Gardeners Supply Co.}

I really like this! But it says "Great for flowers and succulents in bright light, or ferns and ivies in low light". Hmm, so are we sure I can't grow something edible in there? I mean, besides edible flowers? What about herbs?

And speaking of herbs...

{via R K Alliston}

How cute is this? I love it! And I know I could find a spot for that!

And let's not forget about this Flickr find!

Food Storage Resolutions

Safely Gathered In is doing Food Storage Resolutions {and a giveaway!} so I thought I should make some.

Let's see:

1. Build shelves in the root cellar
2. Get hand grain grinder
3. Cook more with my beans and oatmeal
4. Start my compost pile so my garden will be AWESOME!
5. Learn to use my new pressure canner I got for Christmas!
6. Put up LOTS more garden goodness than last year
7. Figure out a workable inventory system
8. Replace food and clothing in 72 hr kits
9. Finalize garden plans and get some fruit trees planted

How's that for starters?

Cranberry Heaven

Sugared Cranberries and
Cranberry Spice Syrup
Makes 3 cups cranberries

Sweet and tangy sugared cranberries make a surprising addition to candy bowls, your favorite apple pie recipe, cheesecake,baked brie, pancake or ice cream topping.

Ingredients
3 cups sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
6 whole cloves
3 cups water
3 cups fresh cranberries, rinsed
1 cup superfine sugar

Mix sugar, cinnamon sticks and cloves with water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer for 1 minute, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl. Stir in cranberries. Cover and refrigerate for about 8 hours. Drain cranberries. Reserve liquid, strain out cinnamon sticks and cloves and use as a simple syrup to add a holiday touch.

Place superfine sugar in a bowl and gently toss in cranberries, coating evenly. Place cranberries on a baking sheet to dry, about 1 to 2 hours.

Store in an airtight container.

To Can Syrup

Fill jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace and boil in water bath canner for 20 minutes. When serving, if you'd like a thicker syrup, simply add a little cornstarch before heating it up.

~~~

We sprinkled sugared cranberries and poured the cranberry spice syrup on top of our pancake dinner last night. It was absolutely delightful! And if you will be coming to Sunday family dinner this week, these will be featured in our pancake bar. I mean, who doesn't love breakfast for dinner? Especially with something as sinfully delicious as these?

Thanks Whole Foods and USU Extension services
for helping me out on this one!

Dear Santa,

{Crowing Rooster by Hans Droog}

I have been a good girl this year. I'd really like an eglu chicken coop and some cute little hens to lay eggs for me. I asked my cute primary kids at church to tell my husband thats what I wanted for my birthday, but he didn't get me one, so now I'm asking you.

Just a cute chicken coop and two hens. The hens only make soft clucking noises so they won't wake up the neighbors at the break of dawn, and they would be so cute wandering about the yard and ever so useful with their fresh eggs and all. Oh and I wouldn't mind the above painting either. That's all I'm asking. Pretty, pretty please?

Signed,

Becca

My Patio Stairs

Originally I wanted something like this surrounding my patio stairs:

{click to enlarge}

But I found out this past summer that my tall house keeps this area in the shade until it receives afternoon sun starting around 2:00. But then the neighbors trees start giving me late afternoon shade, so they really don't get a ton of direct sunlight. So obviously my sun loving vegetables didn't do very well in this spot.

But it doesn't mean I can't grow edibles there! A quick google search told me I just need to plant different ones this coming year like any of these that do well with less sun and/or shade:

Arugula, cabbage, kale, lettuce, mustard greens, pak choi, parsley, sorrel, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, beets, brussel sprouts, radishes, swiss chard, collards, chives, garlic chives, onions, cardamom, mints, sage, dill, oregano, borage, chamomile, several kinds of thyme, bush beans, blackberry, currants, gooseberry, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, several kinds of pears, hardy kiwi, filbert, hazelnut, and yellowhorn.

Now, which ones do I want to try? Which ones will do best in pots? Hmm, decisions, decisions!

The Salad Garden

Care to go lounge in the garden, soak up the sun and pick your own salad while you're there? I think its a fun idea and I think I have a spot for it too!

{via Country Living UK}

This could be really cute with oh say, a red or yellow {or even teal!} adirondack chair. Or even better, a luxurious chaise? I mean, why not romance the salad garden?

Now my chairs aren't quite so loungey because they belong to my patio set but they are frequently moved around the yard to the west fence to take advantage of afternoon shade, or to the firepit for roasting marshmallows. But I think they might take up a more permanent residence by the west fence and instead of taking out the lawn, I might just do a salad box or two on tables inbetween the chairs instead.

The Basement Grocery Store

It all started with Blast From The Past. The scene where the mom is shopping in the bomb shelter with a grocery cart, like 30 years later! How cool is that? Yeah, I want my own grocery store too!

So I was trying to find some peach crates for my root cellar and came a cross a whole bunch of fun produce department products to make my own little grocery store even cuter!

Washable baskets

Cute deep baskets

Even a real produce stand!

Cute hanging baskets to put on the walls.

Even something like this would be cool!

Or these if you don't have shelf space anymore.

Just put these out nearby on the floor.

Or a real decorative produce cart if you have room!

Or even stands built to hold lots of baskets!

Yeah, there are a lot of products out there to help me design my own cute lil' grocery store!

{via avisbag and Hubert}

Garden Tomatoes in December

Santa Cow wants to show you our tomatoes!

Remember my big box of green tomatoes? Well, we're still eating them! But we're down to the very last ones to ripen. They've kept quite nicely in the garage all this time!

The Possibilities Are Everywhere

This summer I ran across the book Success With Small Food Gardening by Louise Riotte that really opened my eyes about edible landscaping. I now literally see possibilities everywhere!

The book is very inspirational. It illustrates a few plans for several different types of situations including places like mobile homes that I bet most people wouldn't think they could really grow much food at.

Copies of the book are hard to find, but it really is a gem in my library!

Thanksgiving Week Stock Up!

Things you should take advantage of for your food storage this week since they're on sale for the holiday:

• Pumpkins--canned or fresh


• Sweet potatoes/Yams--fresh from the farmer stand if possible for the root cellar, or canned


• Potatoes--fresh from the farmer stand if possible for the root cellar


• Turkey--grab extras if you have room in your freezer, or if you have a pressure canner


• Baking supplies--flour, sugar, chocolate, etc


• Cranberries--fresh to dry them for trail mixes, to throw in salads, and for baked goodies


• Other root veggies like parnsips, turnips, rutabagas etc--fresh from the farmer stand if possible

So if you're just learning what to do with some of these and want to put them in your food storage, then hurry and gather up some recipes online to try out, because heaven forbid we don't want any of you to get bored by eating it the same ol' way each time.

The Root Cellar

{via Mary Jane's Farm}

I have grown up my whole life knowing that I should have a year's supply of food because that's what my church encourages. But I like to eat naturally and for years the basics of food storage stumped me on how to store natural foods. I just kept envisioning shelves lined with green jello and processed junk which I knew I didn't want.

So about four years ago I ran across Root Cellaring and a lightbulb went off! I didn't realize you could store fresh food this way. I mean, it made sense, how else did people eat for centuries during the long hard winter months? I just never thought about it before!

You can store whole grains, beans, rice and even fresh vegetables in a root cellar and eat a natural healthy diet! It is soo cool!

How Soon I Forget

I know I officially declared my canning season over with the last grape juice fiasco, but I looked out my window this weekend and noticed all the leaves had fallen off the grapevine but there were still lots of grape clusters hanging on.

So I trudged out and lo and behold, they were still good grapes! So I picked a box, brought them in and canned more juice!

This time everthing went ok {mostly}--no burnt pan or burnt stove top. This time only a burnt finger which I iced for six hours before going to bed then put a frozen gel pack wrapped around it while I slept and worried if I was going to wake up to a frostbitten finger.

What was I thinking??? Did I mention how awesome I am at canning? Oh how soon I forget!