Busy, busy

February harvest tally:
34 lbs. of fresh fruits and veggies
20  eggs

2013 total:
68 lbs. of fresh fruits and veggies
47 eggs

We live on a 1/10th acre lot and rent a 20x20 foot community garden plot.

 

 

 

Root of the matter

Root veggies ready to be roasted.

My new favorite winter time dish; roasted root veggies. So easy, so colorful, so healthy, so many choices! Simply peel and chop your root veggies into bite sized pieces. Toss with about 1/4 cup olive oil and 1 tsp sea salt for a 9x13 pan full of veggies. Roast at 350F for about 25 minutes, stirring once, until fork tender. That's it. Don't stack the veggies too deep, they'll get more golden brown if more surface area is exposed.

Quick, name all the varieties of root veggies you have eaten this month. Stuck on carrots and potatoes? Try some new veggies and see how you like them. Go for a variety of colors to add a cheerful punch to your dinner. I also sometimes add some technically-not root veggies like celery and butternut squash, but the majority are the underground winter keepers that are relatively inexpensive and nutritious.

Choose from the common carrots, potatoes, and onions, then add lesser used parsnips, turnips, beets, and sweet potatoes. You may get really exotic and try rutabaga, you know, those weird looking things in the grocery store that you've never actually seen anyone buy. Be adventurous! Give the cashier in the grocery store a challenge! Try some roots!

What veggie do you root for? What is your favorite?

Off to a good start

Broccoli starts

We have a bumper crop of oranges this year, but they're not as sweet as in the past. Maybe because of a cooler winter? We are hoping the cooler winter was good for our stone fruits. Our peaches, pear, apricot, and plums should benefit. We have broccoli, savoy cabbage, cauliflower, and beets planted. I just put in some spinach seeds. We have a little volunteer fennel party in one corner of our community garden plot. I wish I liked fennel.

January harvest tally:
34 lbs. of fresh fruits and veggies
27  eggs

2013 total:
34 lbs. of fresh fruits and veggies
27 eggs

We live on a 1/10th acre lot and rent a 20x20 foot community garden plot.

Still here!

The world didn't end (again) and we are still here! We have a bumper citrus crop and are gearing up for the early spring plantings. We've enjoyed lettuce and herbs this winter. I don't bother weighing these lightweights, but they sure are tasty. Our egg production took a hit for a sad reason. One night a gang of raccoons entered the chicken coop and dragged out a full-size buff Orpington. We heard the commotion and ran out to find her still alive but suffering. The raccoons had ripped out her tongue. We tried to calm her but she was obviously in pain and wouldn't be able to recover. My husband quickly killed her. We are very sad to have lost Buttercup. Of course she was the friendliest chicken. We always lock up our chickens at night, but this happened at 7 p.m. We are now very diligent to lock them up as soon as the sun sets, which is about 5 p.m. this time of year. Next summer the remaining two hens will go to live at my family's farm and we will replace them with 3 new pullets. We had to buy eggs for the first time in about 5 years due to the loss of Buttercup combined with the natural production loss due to the winter season and age of the hens.

November harvest tally:
23 lbs. of fresh fruits and veggies
25  eggs

December harvest tally:
16 lbs. of fresh fruits and veggies
11 eggs

2012 total:
524 lbs. of fresh fruits and veggies
587 eggs

We live on a 1/10th acre lot and rent a 20x20 foot community garden plot.

bar graph 2011, 2012

Total lbs: 524

tally catch up

The most precious (and expensive) item we've ever produced arrived 7 weeks early in September. Weighing in at 5 lbs. 2 oz. baby boy is healthy, happy and growing like a weed. Or a zuchinni. You look away for a moment, and suddenly it's huge. We are cherishing these baby months and putting the gardening on a back burner. Nevertheless, we were still able to keep track of what nature gave us even with a few months of neglect.

August harvest tally:
70 lbs. of fresh fruits and veggies
45  eggs

September harvest tally:
132 lbs. of fresh fruits and veggies
48 eggs

October harvest tally:
39 lbs. of fresh fruits and veggies
41 eggs

2012 total so far:
485 lbs. of fresh fruits and veggies
551 eggs

We live on a 1/10th acre lot and rent a 20x20 foot community garden plot.

Where's the beef?

Well, now it is in our freezer. This year we were very excited and fortunate to buy one of Uncle Steve's steers. We learned a lot about the whole process and what it takes to get a hamburger to our table from the field. We split the meat with 2 siblings and a friend of mine took the fat to make soap. Our grass fed beef is delicious and lean. We are excited to try different cuts that we don't usually buy, and learning new cooking techniques such as braising. In general, grass-fed beef is leaner and the cow older than industrial raised beef, so the meat should be cooked slower and at a lower temperature. This cooking guide has been very helpful so we don't ruin this excellent meat.

Here is another helpful guide to figuring out how many pounds of meat you'll actually get from a live cow, and how much space that meat will take up in your freezer (1 cubic foot can hold about 35 lbs.)

General article about grass or pasture fed beef and other meats.

The butcher at Springville Meat was excellent to work with, answered all our questions, and walked us through the process of the decisions we needed to make such as how we wanted our steaks cut and how lean to make the hamburger.

Overall, it was a great experience and we have enough beef to last us a very long time.

Back home, we are enjoying the must-have summer veggies; corn on the cob, tomatoes, and zuchinni. It wouldn't be summer without them. Add a nice steak and you've got summer on a plate.

July harvest tally:
69 lbs. of fresh fruits and veggies
53 eggs

2012 total so far:
244 lbs. of fresh fruits and veggies
417 eggs

We live on a 1/10th acre lot and rent a 20x20 foot community garden plot.

This post is part of http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-august-3rd/