The Garden

Yesterday was productive, Well it was productive in the back garden. Meaning we planted a lot of stuff or re-potted a lot of stuff. We had planted 7 Tomatoes of varying species earlier, I listed them HERE! but we still had quite a few more maybe 15 more plants. Anybody want a Cherry Tomato plant, here in the Kawarthas? I went and bought 3 more storage totes, from that place that sells a bunch of stuff and has tire in their name. A 115 liter tote holds two tomatoes very well we had two from last year so 5 all together now, plus our 3.5gal pails from the grocery store bakery which used to hold frosting (the gross kind). We also planted 4 Cucumbers which will be trellised, 3 or 4 Courgettes, 4 Basil we have 6 more to plant, 3 Nasturtiums. Also sowed 14 Bush green Beans, and 4 Scarlet runner Beans which will also be trellised, Cilantro lots of em, Chamomile hundreds of em.
Our Kale, Spinach and Chard, are all coming along nice. A couple more Chard and Kale seeds have sprouted and been coming along now for about a week. Leaf miners, Leaf Miners, Leaf Miners have already made an entrance into the raised bed. Picking off eggs sucks, they do what their name means, they hatch burrow themselves in the leaves, and eat eat eat, leaving a miners tunnel behind. They look like little bugger maggots. To Remove poke a hole at one end of the tunnel carefully push from the opposite end of the tunnel to the open end, as if you were trying to get air bubbles out of your phones screen protector. Depending on how early you do it, little tiny maggots pop out or how late bigger ones will come out with a little black dot for a head. CRUSH! those little bastards they are very unwanted. So row covers have been implemented over our chard and Spinach they seem to leave the kale alone.


We have been hardening off our Peppers, Aubergines, Watermelons and Delicata Squash.

Pictures will come later it was uncomfortably humid to be fiddling with a camera today or yesterday. Not used to our season yet.

Peace I'll be back.

Hot CoCoa(chocolate)

well this has been sitting in the draft box for about a month sorry.


I will admit it. I love chocolate any form, mainly Dark Chocolate.

When we went to Hillside Festival last summer. There was a food vendor that I was eyeing every time we showed up, left or walked past. It was pretty well at the entrance to the festival. They were making corn flour tortillas on a huge cast iron looking pan, with I'm pretty sure cocoa in the stuff being wrapped up maybe I'm wrong, but they also had Aztec or Mayan Hot Cocoa. Which by the end of three days of walking past I finally had enough. I says to myself "F-this noise, I'm getting some Hot Cocoa, and tacos or burritos what ever those things are" luckily it was like the last 15 mins of the festival and they were just trying to get rid of stuff, and selling it cheap, put in my order and got the hot Cocoa and just about died, it was awesome, warm as in spicy, and hot as in hot chocolate it was marvelous, finished it before my taco or tortilla things were ready, before the security officials were asking us to leave, before they had to do something about it.

Well now it's getting close to it actually being winter and hot chocolate season, I'm ready to start experimenting. first batch. Cocoa powder, powdered sugar, skim milk powder, pinch of salt, cornstarch(why I am not sure but it asks for it), then in my cup I added a pinch of chili powder, that sucked, nothing even close, that really was bad, but I finished it, it tasted more chocolate than chili so it was bearable.

Then added the mix to another cup added a little cinnamon, and Cayenne pepper, wooo I found it, not the same but close enough to tie me over to the next time I find Aztec hot chocolate from someone who knows how to make it.... WARNING watch out how much Cayenne you put in it. Did I ever tell you how intolerant I am to spicy, I love it, it does not like me... but either way hit the gas.
 So I drank it, it was phenom-nom-nom-nomenal, if i don't say so my self.

Will post Recipe in the future once I have perfected the Mayan on Aztec part of it. But for the time being.

Hot Cocoa

1 1/4cp - Cocoa Powder
2 cp      - Powdered Sugar
2 cp      - Skim Milk Powder
1 tbsp   - Corn Starch
1 tsp     -  Salt

sift through ........sifter? to break up any large chunks of powders.
Boil water add 3 to 4 heaping spoonfuls into mug, fill with boiled water half way mix vigorously til mixed add soy, almond, coconut, or more water... enjoy.

Peace

Earth?

What is Earth? Is it a planet in this huge vast area, and no one really knows how big it really is?  They can lie and tell you they do know, but, its all guess work.
We call lots of things Earth, Black Earth, Diatomaceous Earth, Soil is sometimes referred to as Earth, Earthworms, Earth Shelter, Earth Quake.

What is Earth? Dirt? Yes, at least to me it is. I like it and all the things it can do. Support life, Micro organisms, It supports me and my feet, my home, my plants, the animals in which walk on it, the farmers market I go to down the road, my bicycle and car tires, the grass in which my dogs pee and poop on, where my cats can chase mice and bugs and think they are hiding in, The enormous and beautiful trees, the water that sits on it, or goes through it and gets filtered. We can all thank dirt but most of us don't. This is my thanks.

We dig into it, we plant our veggies and flowers into it, sow seeds into it, walk, run, trot on it. Sleep and sit on it, put different types of dirt into our bars of soap, press it into pottery, make buildings out of it. Get it in our hair up our cracks, under our nails, stuck to our feet, packed into our boots and shoe treads, tread it into our houses, sweep it up throw it back outside.

How many times have you looked up at a tree? To see its Large trunks, colour and shape of its leaves, its twists in its branches, texture of its bark.

Now?

How many times have you looked down at the Earth? And seen its jewels and gems, colours and textures.  Whether its arid or saturated, if its hiding treasures just underneath its surface, whether its been compacted to support buildings and roads. Has it been disturbed?  Is some creature running through it like a miniature subway system, or did another creature bury its meal for safe keeping? How many different layers of different types of dirt are beneath you?

Peace, I'm out.

Diggin the Dirt

So yesterday, the little lady and I spent sometime digging in the dirt. Sifting through the compost, after about 4 years of dumping kitchen scraps in there. It was surprisingly really good, fluffy, dark, earthy smells, lots of critters, sow bugs, tons and tons of worms, and other little guys. We pulled out 4 wheel barrow loads spread the first three around our raised garden, tomato pots and flower gardens.

We also dug out one of our potato baskets all the plants have died so we decided it was time. The other basket is still alive but probably ready to be dug out shortly. We use the potato basket method of piling the dirt around the plants in a type of container so we can grow more plants in a smaller area and contain all the bedding (straw, dirt). The potatoes only develop in the first 6 to 12 inches of material same as last year so our baskets don't need to be as tall next year maybe that just means more baskets next year.

our last load being saved to mix into our dirt from the containers on our deck

what was left after our hard work of sifting, This thing was completely full.

our first basket harvest, three large pots are missing due to
baked potatoes last night