From Dirt To Dinner :: Rhubarb!

From Dirt to Dinner is back with a *mostly* local meal. the happy springy ingredient of choice this week is RHUBARB! click on over to my friend and DTD partner Beth's blog and see what she came up with. it's sure to be awesome and tasty!

so, it's not easy eating only local foods. i had to go to 3 different places to find the local rhubarb that i thought would be a cinch to get. that's ok, though, the farmer's markets are back now, so i'm all about getting everything i need there. luckily for me, i have a few markets to choose from! i love where i live. . .

this meal was a big hit, i'm happy to say. ok, the kids didn't love the radishes, but what can you do? "mommy, these are like......like.....SPICY!" but they are so beautiful. even though i knew it was a long shot, i had to get them just because of how much i enjoyed looking at them. and of course, i ate them, nearly all of them myself. that's alright.

so, we have here chicken apple sausages, boston lettuce wedges with radishes and ranch dressing and for dessert RHUBARB fool. awesome.

he tried. he really tried to like the radishes. i think he thought they were as lovely as i did. but only for looking at.

i was surprised to see the lettuce wedges (or tacos as we called them) went down easily. they were confused about how to eat them until i said, "eat it like taco!" oohhhhh! this is especially lovely because neither will eat much salad, so hey, we'll eat lettuce tacos instead. good by me.

onto The Fool. again, i turned to The River Cottage Family Cookbook for this one. i love love love this book. yes. can't say it enough.

so, what you do is get an orange and juice it. put the juice in a pot. add a couple tablespoons of superfine sugar. next add about 5-6 rhubarb stalks cut into inch long pieces. cook it down until it starts to mush up, but there are still some chunks floating around in there. you don't want baby food. let that cool to room temp. then fridge it til cold. next get about 2/3 of a cup of heavy cream and whip it all to crazy. add a bit of superfine sugar to taste. finally, either layer the 2 of them parfait style or just mix it all up! YUM!

when thinking about this meal, i couldn't help but want to sort of tally it up, see how i did on the local food scale. how close to home did i get. how many ingredients were local vs. not?

here's how it shakes down. . .

found locally:

purple radishes - 1.7 miles

boston lettuce - 1.7 miles

rhubarb - 10.3 miles

heavy cream - .5 miles (we have a dairy farm right down the street. we often pass by and wave to the "girls."

chicken apple sausages - 70 miles

not bad, right!?

decidedly not local:

superfine sugar

orange

ranch dressing

you have to do what you have to do... a little citrus, a little sugar, a little Newman. i will, before this season is over i will do some completely local meals, top to bottom.

next friday we'll be doing a little chat about bread making and then on june 4th it's PEAS. peas of all kinds! so now it's your turn! join us in the venture won't you!! the more the merrier. for the "rules" of play go here.

From Dirt To Dinner :: The Tomato Interview, Part 2

did you read part one? did you love it? i know i did. i find beth's approach to be unintimidating. casual and knowledgeable. which is what i need! thanks again beth! and please join us this friday for our Local Meal including RHUBARB! play along, won't you? (find the FAQ's here.)

back to the interview.....

4. Varieties :: Are there certain varieties that are easier to grow than others? are cherry easier than beefsteak? I've grown heirlooms for the past 3 years and am now wondering---are they harder to grow? Is that why I feel like I have a black thumb? or is a tomato a tomato in terms of how to grow it?

Sweetie, I don't know if what I'm about to tell you is going to make you feel huge relief or huge frustration:) Heirlooms are generally harder to grow. Here's why:
Heirlooms are the real deal - they are the original strain of plant from years and years ago that has been passed down through the generations; it hasn't been changed or altered, but rather, preserved for its amazing qualities of taste, loveliness, uniqueness, what-have-you.

Hybrid tomatoes, the other type, have essentially been bred for commercial purposes. The strains of one type of plant have been crossed with another to give it traits that would make it easier to grow, look better in a store (a uniform red tomato as opposed to, say, a striped Green Zebra), and travel better. As a result, these tomatoes are more resistant to diseases and pests and are sometimes more prolific in production.

BUT, they don't have the flav-ah of an heirloom - flavor is not really part of the mix in the hybridizing process. Also, know that you can save the seeds from an heirloom tomato for use the following year, and those seeds will produce the exact same type of tomato from year to year to year, just as those before us have done for generations. If you save the seeds from a hybrid you're going to get something different, if anything at all.

That said, even a hybrid tomato you grew yourself is going to taste far better than that bought from a store. It still has that straight from the plant flavor we are all looking for when we decide to grow our own tomatoes. And it might provide you with more in the way of production.

I think if you've had some bad luck with tomatoes in the past it might be worth trying some of each - an heirloom or two so that you are growing something really special and divine, and a hybrid or two to ensure you get a harvest of some sort in the event that the heirlooms have problems. Take advantage of the good qualities of both.


5. Sunlight :: how much sun do they need? Can I grow them indoors if I have a super sunny spot?

Tomatoes need at least 6 or more hours of sun a day. There's no negotiation on that if you want them to produce properly. There are what are referred to as "outdoor" and "indoor" tomatoes, but indoor really means inside a greenhouse, not a house-house. I don't know that you could create the right environment inside a home. The 6+ hours of sunlight would be hard...they need good air circulation...I just don't know.


6. And finally the most vexing topic for me. pruning. I know about suckers. I know I'm supposed to remove them, which I have done. but am I supposed to prune other parts of the plant? I feel like I have never given the plants enough space, possibly. they get huge! i feel like i get more plant than I do fruit. OR I get lots of fruit that doesn't ripen or when it does, it's not tasty, but mealy instead. am I supposed to limit the amount of branches and/or fruit so that what I do allow to grow gets more of the plant's energy?

Ok, pruning. pinch the suckers. You already know that. You also want to have just one main growing stem, so pinch off to keep that limited too. Also, if your plant gets to be too big and you want it to stop growing in size you can pinch off the growing tip (the part at the top of your main stem). Then it will stop getting bigger and focus instead on fruit. You can also do the latter if you sense the season coming to a close, ie. frost is coming, and you want the plant to focus its energy on its last fruit.

What you are describing though - a large plant with not a lot of fruit - is most likely not a pruning issue as much as it is one of fertilizing. Tomatoes are heavy feeders, and even more so if you have them in containers. And they can be tricky. In the beginning, they need quite a bit of nitrogen in order to produce strong stems and leaves, but it can't be too, too much. I think I just read in Organic Gardening that too much Nitrogen early on makes the plant essentially spend all its energy on those stems and leaves, so that it then doesn't produce as much fruit.

So you want to provide your tomatoes with a good amount of Nitrogen in the beginning. This would be the first number in the ratio on a bag of fertilizer, by the way. So if you were looking at an organic fertilizer that said 5-3-3, that means it is higher in Nitrogen...N-P-K; Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium. In general, these correspond to the growth of the following - Leaves-Roots-Fruits - and in that order, always. N-P-K. Leaves-roots-fruits.

Soooo...you can now see why in the beginning when you want to encourage leaf and stem growth you'll need to feed with something more rich in Nitrogen, but apparently not too much. And then you can probably deduce that if what you want is to encourage fruit growth on your plant, you want to up that last number, the Potassium. In Grow Great Grub, Gayla Trail says that once those flowers start to show up, you want to cut back on your Nitrogen and start adding Potassium every two weeks. There are lots of tomato specific fertilizers on the market, including many organic ones. I think you'll find that these are slightly more rich in Potassium because we want those fruits.

Ok, the mealiness is caused by the same thing as the cracking (number two) - too much water when fruit is ripening.

Based on what you have told me, I have a theory about your past problems with tomatoes. You've mentioned the cracking and the mealiness. I also feel like you've mentioned before, perhaps in an email, something about plants having limp or yellowed leaves. This is generally a sign of a lack of Nitrogen, but I know from serious personal experience that those limp discolored leaves can look an awful lot like a plant that needs water. Maybe it looked that way to you too, and maybe it made you over-water a bit, causing those problems with the fruit.

So my advice to you, Dear Kate, is that for this year maybe you try to feed a little more (nitrogen early, potassium later) and water a little less. And I have thus completed the Tome of the Tom-ato. And I'm quite certain you are the only one still reading...if you even still are!

From Dirt To Dinner :: The Tomato Interview, Part 1

i could not be any more pleased about this week's From Dirt To Dinner installment. (**want to know more about this local eating celebration, visit beth's blog for the FAQ's and then join us!**) my partner in food for this little event, beth is not only a fabulous mom and a great writer and blogger, but she's got a very green thumb. certainly much greener than mine! when i *have* attempted to grow things, it's always been tomatoes and herbs or tomatoes and zucchini. or tomatoes and flowers. you get the idea. problem is, i've never had a ton of success. i keep trying because, clearly i love the tomato. i gorge myself in summer and then don't touch them again until the next summer. (we all know the grocery store tomatoes in winter are not even worthy of being called tomatoes.)

so, as part of this Dirt To Dinner experiment, we thought we'd interview each other on things we would like to know more about. i'm so glad i did. because beth has given me the most helpful tidbits i have ever read on the subject of tomato growing! and here, for you is part one of her helpful advice! read and enjoy. (and then go buy some plants, pots and soil and grow on!)

oh! and thanks, beth! you rock.

ON TOMATO GROWING, especially as it pertains to growing in containers

1. Seeds vs. Plants :: Is there any reason why doing one vs. the other will yield better results? Is it just more cost effective to use seeds?

Ok, some plants don't like to be transplanted. That means they don't want their seeds to be sewn in one place only to eventually be moved to another; they want to be "direct sewn," seeds sewn only in the spot where they are ultimately going to live. Tomatoes ARE NOT like this though. As a whole, tomatoes are just fine with being transplanted as seedlings to their ultimate location. That's why it's easy to find tomato seedlings when the growing season comes. These are seedlings that have been started early indoors in order to get a jump start on the growing season in order to ensure that they produce fruit before season's end. Most tomato seedlings you get and transplant will produce just as well as those you have grown from seed.

What is cost effective for you, though, will in large part be determined by what you want to grow and how you are set up. Starting seeds yourself takes some work and can be a bit costly if you aren't set up for it. You have to have a LOT of sunlight to start seeds, and depending on how long your season is you'll probably need to have that light available indoors - that means a greenhouse, grow lights and rigging, or possibly a window if you have one that gets, like 8 hours of sun a day. Not likely. You also need to start them in a medium specific for seed starting, which you'd have to make or buy. And not all seeds germinate - it's a little tricky - so you end up using more seeds than will ultimately be grown.

Now, is it worth it to start your own tomato seeds? Well, how many tomatoes are you planning to grow? As you know, they get pretty big, so what do you really have space for? Are we talking about 4 plants, or are we talking about a row of 10-20? And also, of the number you can grow, how many varieties do you want to include? There are so many great ones, I seldom hear of anyone that wants to grow just one kind. And you might want to do some cherries, some for canning purposes, some larger ones, some of different colors, etc.

I ask because you're gonna have to buy either a seedling (let's say roughly $2/seedling) or a pack of seeds (again, let's say roughly $2/seed packet) for every variety you want to grow. So if you want to grow say, 5 plants, all of different types, you'll spend about $10 either way. But if you do it with seeds you'd have to also get the materials necessary for starting seeds, and you'd lose seeds in germination. Plus the actual work of seed starting. If you bought 5 different tomato seedlings you'd still spend $10, but you'd have the benefit of picking seedlings that look good and have obviously survived the germination process - you'd be starting with plants that are already healthy and ready to go.

If, however, you want to grow several of one variety it might be much more worthwhile and cost effective to use seeds, assuming you have a location in which you can start them. But really, if we are talking about this season, you are limited to seedlings because I think you'd have wanted to start seeds a while back.

I personally went with seedlings this year because I wanted to grow heirlooms (more on heirlooms below) and am doing nearly as many varieties as I am plants. I only have so much space where tomatoes will fit, both in containers or outside, and I really wanted to try lots of different kinds. So of my 5-8 plants I'm doing I think . . . 6 different kinds.

2. Pots vs. Garden :: I've found that cherry tomatoes do better in pots (rather than the bigger tomatoes), but there have been times where i think they look great and then all of a sudden they start to split. There will just be a big long crack in it---what's that about? What am i doing wrong? Is it related to the pot?

Each type of tomato plant is different. Some varieties can be done in either a pot or outdoors, some prefer one or the other. Usually when you are reading about a type of tomato, either on the seed packet or seedling tag, it will tell you if it is a variety that can be done in a container. And then, of course, some have "container" in the name, and these are tomatoes that have been bred specifically to do well in pots.

A lot of these varieties that do well in the containers happen to be cherry types. The splitting you are talking about is not a correlation with the container itself as much as it is a problem people often see with cherry tomatoes in general. The splitting has to do with water - either too much water or a sporadic water supply. The split occurs, I believe and have read, when too much water has gone into the tomato and the skin cannot grow fast enough to keep up, so the little guys pop...or get stretch marks:) They are still fine to eat as long as the crack hasn't attracted bugs or bacteria, but certainly they're not as cute.

Try to keep the water supply even - you want moist soil, but not too wet, and not long periods of dryness followed by lots of water; try to be consistent. And maybe make sure you're pot/container is draining properly.

3. About pots :: Should i use terra cotta or plastic? I feel inherently against plastic, but I know some people really prefer them, but i'm not sure why. Do you have a preference?

This is a hard one. Like you, I'm inherently against plastic, especially when it comes to substances that will have contact with my food. But there are a few reasons why one might prefer it to terra cotta. The biggest 'pro' of plastic is that it keeps your plant mobile because it's so much lighter. These containers, if you're using ones that are big enough, are pretty darn heavy once filled with soil and stakes and tomatoes. If, for some reason, you needed to move your plant (like there is going to be a severe drop in temperature outside/a frost and you needed to move it in for a few nights, or you decided the spot you have it in is not getting enough sun so you want to try another) then it would still be possible to transfer your pot somewhere if it is made of plastic. If you put all that stuff in a huge terra cotta planter though, that really ain't gonna happen.

And then there's the simple problem of cost. Those terra cotta planters are just really, really expensive! They're too expensive for me, unfortunately. And I think it's safe to say that many people who are trying to grow some of their food might be doing so, at least in part, to save some bucks. I grappled with this issue again this year because I really wanted to get away from the plastic, but standing there and looking at the price tags (in several gardening supply stores, by the way) I couldn't rationalize spending that much on a pot, not even when I told myself it would be an "investment" and so forth. For the cost of one huge terra cotta pot, I can get several, I don't even know how many plastic ones. Oh, and I can get them home easily too:)

I can tell you that I don't think your tomatoes care from what material the pot is made. So it comes down to your own preference, your own budget, etc. I can also tell you that what I have found so far is that the pots, according to their number on the bottom, are made of the "safer" plastic, as opposed to the "bad" plastic types.

FROM DIRT TO DINNER to come:

sunday may 16, part two of The Tomato Interview

friday may 21, local meal featuring rhubarb!

the baby update

i feel compelled to document our experience observing this little robin family. every day we watch mama or maybe papa bird out there looking for worms and things. it's so lovely to have them in our yard so much. they start to feel like one of the family.

we were most excited to come back after a weekend away to see that they have grown! so, now, when mama comes along to feed (or someone they THINK is mama) when they stick their little heads up, we can see them! they have gotten quite tall, in fact.

i can't express how special we feel to be a part of this process in some small way. i know, that in a larger sense, it's no big deal. life happens. birds do this every spring. and so do so many creatures. but there is something about feeling a connection to it, that is so heart-warming.

it got me thinking. i have no talked about my own little baby birds in a long time. i used to blog solely about them and what goes on in our little home. then i went the way of the food blog and now i'm trying to bring it all together. in the process i have lost parent readers as well as foodie blog readers. and myself, as well, as a blogger. but i plod along trying to find my way. wishing i had more time to devote here. however, being mama is job one!

today we had the pleasure of celebrating bb's SIXTH birthday at school. he is a summer birthday, so we always celebrate at the end of the year. it was a true delight to be there. among his friends and his teachers we have found such warmth and love. it's just awesome. the Waldorf school birthday celebration is unforgettable. the candles, the silks, the crowns and cake. the applesauce we all made. the quiet. the verses and stories. so special. and to think, i get to do it all again with his sister when she goes! yay!

From Dirt To Dinner :: Asparagus!

i'm super excited to be writing the first From Dirt To Dinner post! you might notice (if there is anyone out there!) the button in the sidebar.

in short it's a little project that beth (of Total Mom Haircut) and i have cooked up in order to, sort of, push ourselves to a higher level of dedication to eating local foods. luckily for each of us we have access to farmer's market and CSA farms in our area. not to mention really great co-op markets and friends with gardens. i feel blessed to be here in western mass. with so many opportunities to eat fresh foods. it's awesome.

for info on how to join us, and more about what this project is, please click the button and head over to beth's awesome blog. we would love love love to have others joining in this little experiment of ours.

so.

yes.

asparagus.

i decided to make Asparagus Fritters. a recipe i found in one of my favorite cookbooks; The River Cottage Family Cookbook. and funny timing--it was a gift i received last year for mother's day. read all about it here. i shant rant again!

the recipe called for mushrooms and spinach, but i chose to use the awesome and locally grown asparagus rather than spinach. i blanched them first.

i was psyched to find these bad boys at our co-op market. i knew they got mushrooms from a local source, in fact i could have visited the farm myself, but couldn't remember the name of it. something about a moon. but, the co-op had 'em and they don't always, so that was a score. local shiitakes! chopped them up small.

after that it is just a bit of flour, egg and cornstarch. salt and pepper and fry them in some good organic sunflower oil. mmmm!

for the rest of the meal we decided to bake some bread. now, this is where i got a bit tripped up on the localness of the meal. i think, in my head, i confused "local" with "homemade." there is no ingredient in this bread that is locally produced. but it the bread was made at my home. nothing more local than that. still. . . i don't think it qualifies. . . does it? either way, it's made with organic ingredients and lots of love. so, that has to count for something. but this has made me think a lot about the topic of local food. what is local? some say it's as simple as the food coming from a source within 100 miles of your home. but, i'm not so sure i can get wheat around here. so, okay. i have some homework to do!

the bread recipe comes from the fabulous amanda at Soulemama. it's called WHO bread and i did it "acoustic style." recipe here.with our fritters we enjoyed some scrambled eggs. these little beauties came from a co-worker of hubby's. she has chickens. i have major chicken envy. look at these! aren't they so lovely!?

behold, the fritters. they were a little doughy. i fully ignored one of the directions that would have led to less doughy fritters. now i know why they say to let the batter drip off of the slotted spoon. next time! but, these were a success because my kids ATE ASPARAGUS for the first time. no, no, of course i have served it before. but this time they ATE it. and LIKED it. so, while i admit, i could have chosen a preparation that featured the veg more, i chose this because i thought i might have a chance with the kids. score one for mama.
my daugher's plate.

we also added some applesauce---made last fall with apples we picked (locally, of course). been in the freezer! nice!
our next meal will be posted on may 21st. the ingredient :: RHUBARB! stay tuned. or better yet, join in!

oh, and look here NEXT friday for an interview with beth on how to grow tomatoes. cause she rocks the green thumb. bring it, beth!

babies!

we were so happy to go outside yesterday and discover that those little blue eggs have cracked and fallen away and new life has emerged. imagine the feeling on their skin of the air and sunshine and mama's feathers! so sweet.

we could hear the tiny little peep peep peeping, but because of where the nest is, sorta wedged in there, we couldn't see anyone. not until they get a liiiiiitle bigger. so, i sneaked my camera in there as best i could and took a few shots. i didn't want to use the flash, of course, so the pics are a bit blurry. but that's ok. look how lovely they are? i can't wait to watch them grow and

maybe even get to witness them leaving the nest. how cool would that be?

yesterday evening we watched mama bird hopping in the grass with a worm in her mouth, checking us out. eventually, she went up to the nest to feed the babes. we felt so honored to be so close to them. a total treat.

project no. 1 done!

went to a baby shower yesterday. got a new baby in the family coming next month! how cool is that? not only is there a new life, a new person to get to know, but i get to make baby stuff! sweet deal, i say.

so, i wasted no time in getting to a project from The Book. it was the perfect thing--a bib!

goes nicely with the hat and onesie that was already in the works. i did it a bit different than martha prescribed, and it was trickier than i had hoped, but i ended up happy with the results.
now the question is....what next martha, what next?