Canning Day

18. August 2010 by admin.

Each August I host a hands-on canning demo day for CSA members. We collect split tomatoes from the plants and can them up in the barn, our impromptu outdoor kitchen right next to the garden.  Now that’s fresh! Here’s Jackie posing with the goods, jars of tomato puree.

The outdoor kitchen stove:

I find it completely satisfying to take split tomatoes from the garden and can a batch of tomato puree for winter use. Its a bit like taking lemons and making lemonade. Sour turns sweet. Split tomatoes or tomato bounty hanging on the vine, you are going to have waste. But add some hard work and you have tomato puree. Wait, its not hard work, but its focused and time-consuming. I’m getting into the zen of canning this month. I think after a few years of it, its an easy process for me. I don’t have to pour over the Ball Book anymore, getting overwhelmed by the choices, the step-by-step details of canning, and the fear paragraphs about germs and botulism. Which, by the way, you can’t taste or see or smell, but enjoy your canning experience, you’ll be fine…

I’ve tried a variety of techniques and products over the past few years, and now I know what I like to do. I like to make tomato puree, a straight tomato base. It can be a soup base. It can simmer longer on the stovetop and become pizza sauce or ketchup. It can be thickened with garlic and onions and other veggies for a pasta sauce or lasagna sauce. I keep it pure and simple when I can it, and then I can add all those goodies later when I’m cooking. Did you know tomatoes are on the edge of acidity? 4.0-4.6, and 4.6 is the limit to safe water-bath canning. Add some lemon juice and you throw it over the edge into higher acidity, where botulism can’t thrive. Add anything else to tomatoes–like herbs and vegetables–and you  could throw it over the other edge, where botulism can survive. So I play it safe, and keep my tomatoes as plain puree. (I know tons of people who add things and continue to live, just sayin’)

I don’t mess around with peeling tomatoes. That process drives me crazy. I quarter them unpeeled, and stew them a bit in a big pot. Then I pour off the water from the tomatoes. This  saves hours of evaporation time during thickening. The stewed, drained-off tomatoes go to Victoria, and come out a bit watery. It takes more simmer time to thicken this way (improved by pouring off the water) but I just saved loads of time and patience by not peeling tomatoes.  So I don’t mind simmer-time. One day I made my puree and left it simmering on the stove (with Phil home to monitor) and I went to yoga. Came home in a couple hours to a nice thick puree ready to can. [Of course, if I don’t have time to thicken it, I’ll can it anyway. It takes more cans and is much more watery, but it’ll still be useful. I’ve also skipped the Victoria and blended the stewed quartered and poured-off tomatoes with skins and all, with an immersion blender. That works too. ]

Meet Victoria (Victoria Mill, that is). She helps us squash tomatoes into juice and puree, spitting out the skins and such.

Elaine and Victoria.

The Super Canner: this baby can fit almost 20 jars at a time. Simply constructed with cinder blocks, a half-barrel (that’s not what its called?) and a blow torch. I need to credit our friends the Horsts at Jehovah-Jireh Farm with this idea. Phil dug a hole to set the blow torch in, the Horsts put an elbow on theirs to shoot it upward, I believe. And they had a sink base. Different ways to do it.

Thirty minutes boiling in Super Canner, and we’re done. Phil’s taking out jars with the Jar Taker Outer. (ok, tongs)

Let those jars rest for a day, so as not to bump them (dare I say…jar them?) before they cool and seal.  Gaze at them. Revel with them. Label them and put them in a pantry or other dark ideally cool-ish space.

Posted in Events, Veggies, On the Farm | 1 Comment »

Bee Goodness

11. August 2010 by admin.

 The bees have been busy, beekeeper Steve keeps an eye on them. He has worked hard this spring and summer to keep our bees happy. Steve is passionate about beekeeping and community education about honeybees. We are eternally grateful, so of course, we feed his family heirloom tomatoes.  Are you an aspiring beekeeper? Take a class with Steve! Phil did. Steve also sells all the supplies, check it out at http://honeybeehabitat.com

The kids are getting geared up to check in on the bees and collect a little honey. We sure didn’t expect a speck of honey, so this is a real treat. We left plenty of full honeycomb in the hive to feed the bees through the winter.

Steve and one of the frameless combs. The bees made their comb without any foundation comb, isn’t it beautiful? That means we can eat the honey right in the comb, my absolute favorite taste sensation of all time.

Look at my brave kids! They are so interested and Steve is so patient.

Jonah gently brushes the bees off the comb we are collecting.

Here is Steve, enjoying some bee-gold in the comb with us, right in the garden. What an incredible treat. Thank you, Steve!

Posted in Family, Animals, On the Farm | 1 Comment »

Garlic

19. July 2010 by admin.

 Aaaah, the garlic is curing. Its all bundled and hanging in the barn to air and dry.

Here’s Donna helping to hang the garlic. I like that she wore overalls for the occasion.

Here’s what its like to eat your lunch in the garlic barn:

Sneak preview

Posted in Veggies, On the Farm, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Loopy Garlic Scapes

1. July 2010 by admin.

Beautiful wonderful delectible healing garlic. I could go on.

I even like how it plants. You plant it in the fall (not in the busy spring planting season) and harvest “between solstice and fourth of July” (in the words of my farmer friend Eric from Country Pleasures Farm). Oh my, how we have harvested. Thank goodness Phil likes to think outside the box and used his plow to dig under the garlic row. We used to pitchfork every bulb! And stab some. He only sliced a few with the plow. After the row is plowed, its collecting and bringing to the barn in the pickup truck. Pitchforks, lay still. Saved Phil’s back and tons of time. The barn chairs are full of garlic bundles instead of concert-goers. Phil says the bundles are not watching a concert, they are awaiting trial. Who shall be hung (in the barn to cure) and buried in the fall? Who shall be eaten alive by CSA members and Common Market shoppers? But I prefer the vision of a spicy concert. Before I send you a photo of the garlic harvest, I need to share the scape photos I took last month.

OK, I love garlic scapes too. They are a fun and loopy byproduct of the garlic plant. Its the seed pod, and since you don’t even grow garlic from its seed (you plant its cloves from the bulb), you can snap off these seed pods. i love that they are edible. They have a garlicy juice that stays on my hands for a day or two. Chop em up and scapes are wonderful in stir-fries or roasted or baked.

Here are some scape models:

Posted in Veggies, On the Farm | 1 Comment »

Tomato Sale Update

10. May 2010 by admin.

Thank you to all who bought plants at our seedling sale last week. A great turnout, I thank you all! Still stocking your garden? Its not too late to buy plants, just let me know and we can set up a time for you to come by.

Posted in Greenhouse | 1 Comment »

Heirloom Seedling Sale is here!

28. April 2010 by admin.

House in the Woods Organic Heirloom Plant Sale

 

One of the most delicious tastes of summer is the heirloom tomato. These old-time varieties are bred for their taste and unique characteristics, unlike hybrids developed for a thick skin to withstand shipment to the grocery store. They are also indeterminate plants which means they flower continuously so you get a longer harvest. Heirloom varieties are bred for backyard gardens with a priority on taste–find out for yourself in your garden.

 

Sale Hours —

MAY 2-8:

Sunday May 2, 10am-5pm

Tuesday-Thursday (May 4th-6th) from 4-7pm

Friday May 7th, 10am-5pm

Saturday May 8th, 10am-5pm

2104 Mt Ephraim Rd, Adamstown, MD 21710
Contact ilene@houseinthewoods.com or 301-607-4048 for directions and appointments off-hours.

 

 

$4 per tomato plant, $3.50 for others, plus 6% sales tax. Ask about other plants for sale. We have another dozen heirloom tomato varieties beyond this list!

 

Bring a box for your plants. Return pots to our mailbox, we’ll re-use them!

May 2-8, 2010. More info–ilene@houseinthewoods.com    301-607-4048

 

REDS AND PINKS————————————

 

 

____ Black Krim–Dark red beefsteak with rich sweet taste from Black Sea of Russia

____ Brandywine–Pinkish red, most popular heirloom originated in 1889. 

____ Cherokee Purple—A favorite, from Tennessee cultivated by the Cherokee Tribe.        Plants loaded with beefsteak tomatoes. Deep red interior flesh, rich, complex flavor.

____ Arkansas Traveler—flavorful perfect rose-pink heirloom, 100 years old from the south. Tolerant of high heat, humidity, drought. Resistant to splitting.

 

UNIQUE COLORS————————————-

 

 

____ Old German—a mild sweet tomato, with red-yellow streaks to skin and flesh.  Low acid, as are most yellow, orange and green tomatoes.

____ Persimmon–Rose-orange like a persimmon, big, sweet. Fruit up to 2 pounds!

Vigorous and prolific plants.

____ Green Zebra–A magic tomato, green with dark green stripes, skin blushes

yellow when ripe. Green salsa or even green sauce! A hit for contrast on a potluck platter. Also have some Cherokee Green.

 

 

PASTES for cooking and saucing————————————————

____ Speckled Roma–Paste tomato, Red with a hint of orange and wavy yellow

streaks, a beauty! And sweet, you’ll want to cut some for the salad too.

____ Purple Calabash—rich red tomato good for saucing. Squatty shape.

____ Orange Banana –another unique paste, this one is orange!

 

CHERRIES————————————————

 

 

____ Matt’s Wild Cherry–Mini red wild cherry tomatoes, prolific. Cute little stems

with six bite-size tomatoes on each. Kids love ‘em!

____ Sungold Cherry–Orange, super sweet mini tomato. A rare exception to our

heirloom rule in our tomato collection, this hybrid is worth it. Our CSA members

eat them all up on the car-ride home.

 

 

PEPPERS and EGGPLANT——————————————————

____ Marconi—heirloom long green bell pepper that ripens to red

____ Purple Beauty—beautiful purple skin, green inside like a regular bell pepper

____ Pimento—Ripens to red quickly, tangy but mild, ideal for cooking or roasting

____ New Ace—a boxy hybrid green bell pepper that ripens quickly to red

____ Jalapeno—the medium-hot salsa pepper, prolific

____ Nadia Italian Eggplant—beautiful shiny standard Italian eggplant

____ Japanese Eggplant—long skinny Asian eggplant, great sliced for cooking.

 

PERENNIAL HERBS—————————————————-

____ Chamomile—beautiful little daisy-like flowers, dry them for tea

____ Sage, Thyme, Oregano—great culinary herbs for any herb garden.

____ Basil and Parsley too–most popular herbs in the garden

Posted in Greenhouse, Heirloom Tomatoes | 1 Comment »

Blizzard 2010 on the farm

11. February 2010 by ilene.

Farm news from Blizzard Peak. The snow sure is beautiful, but there is definitely too much of a good thing here. I am tickled by how many people wrote and asked “How are the cows managing the snow?” They appreciate your concern. If they could speak our language, they would surely complain. But they have an electric heater keeping their water melted, and they have a haybale to eat. They are hardy animals, for sure. The chickens are, well, “cooped up”. I’m sure they miss the fresh air and compost snacks, but they don’t like froze toes, so they stay in mostly. They will come out soon. If you are still worrying about the cows, here is a photo for reassurance:

Now, they would be tucked into the woods during the snow if they wanted extra cover, don’t you think? Still, its not cozy being a cow.

Here is the blizzard casualty for us. Our sweet, ol seedling greenhouse got squished. Here is a photo. Its bent up and ripped down. I am glad Phil did not take my advice to replace the plastic this year. He was repairing it for one more year, before the new plastic treatment. Good move.

So, if you are thinking ahead, you might wonder what our plans are for the seedlings we need to start in a couple weeks. Yikes. Never fear, move on to the next photo.

This is our new hoophouse, right in the garden. It is 30X100 feet, a big thing for us. It was an adventure putting the plastic on this baby, and a hundred thank yous for all their help putting up the plastic go to the Horst Family from Jehovah Jireh Farm

Phil has spent a couple days keeping this big plastic and pipe thing from collapsing too. The plastic is stretched but it is doing OK. We will be able to grow our seedlings in the hoophouse this year.

Enjoy the snow! Eat soup. Be glad you don’t walk on all fours like Sitka here. And may you dig out without much circumstance.

Posted in Greenhouse, Hoophouse, On the Farm | 2 Comments »

What’s for dinner?

17. October 2009 by ilene.

One of my greatest pleasures on the farm is witnessing my children’s experience of the garden. They inhabit the garden with confidence and comfort, as they snack on sorrel leaves, Long Tom tomatoes, and red peppers. Jonah eats cabbages and peppers like apples. Noah has an eye for what’s ready to harvest, some exciting new vegetable to pull from the ground. They are endlessly entertained during CSA harvests, by helping harvesters collect the goods or playing with visiting children or by themselves, filling toy dump trucks with dirt in the open-sided barn. They love CSA pickup days, when members bring their children to experience the farm. Noah takes kids into the garden to snack on cherry tomatoes together and pick flowers. Jonah offers peppers, with a confidence that makes even skeptical children feel more adventurous with garden snacking.

One quiet evening we ventured out to the garden with the mission of “What’s for dinner?” They ran here and there collecting garden prizes–a mix of sorrel, chard and sweet potato greens, bok choi, green beans, and red peppers, and herbs. Phil and I love the sweet potato greens sauteed, the kids prefer raw sorrel. Bok choi is a raw edible spoon for rice (or dip) with the green part as a wrap. Green beans go fast raw or absolutely gobbled down sauteed with garlic and soy sauce. That was a daily sautee for my kids during the season, and they loved when these were not rationed, but “all you want to eat”. I would say “I’m making them until you say stop.” I wish it were that easy to feed my kids vegetables during the off-season. This is a truth with my kids, and likely with many of the kids who are CSA members–When it comes straight from the garden, especially if they help harvest it, and even more especially if they helped grow it, it is a completely different eating experience for them.

 

The boys, trekking home with their garden prizes, to make dinner

 

So busy with this, I haven’t posted in months, but the farm is wrapping up for the season, and I am digging up collected photos to share with you. All summer, I wrote blog posts “in my head” with visual snapshots and all (do other bloggers do this??), but sometimes I actually did document them with a real camera. And its not too late, so the written blog entries may happen as well, coming to you during the cold months as a taste of the summer gone by.

Posted in Veggies, On the Farm, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Heirloom Tomatoes “Not too late” Sale

20. May 2009 by ilene.

Due to popular demand, we have more heirloom tomato plants ready for sale, in many interesting varieties. And plenty of peppers! Here is your chance to add a magic heirloom tomato to your garden collection, sneak in one more, or start that late garden. You are not too late! Tomatoes will be happy to go in the ground now that it is warming up more consistently, and they may give you tomatoes farther into the fall than earlier plantings.  That’s why we grow a second set.

I will update this list of varieties each evening this week.

ORGANIC HEIRLOOM TOMATO SEEDLING SALE–this weekend!
at House in the Woods Farm

Friday May 22–10am-2pm
Saturday May 23–10am-2pm
Sunday May 24–10am-2pm
Other times and days available, just email or call to set up a visit.

 

Go to http://www.houseinthewoods.com for more information about the sale.

 

THANK YOU–Thank you all for a sell-out tomato sale in early May with our first planting of tomatoes. Bring the 4-inch pots back to the sale, or put a bag of them by our mailbox if you are in the neighborhood. We’ll re-use them.  Happy Gardening!

$4 per tomato plant, plus 6% sales tax. Ask about other plants for sale. Return pots to our mailbox and we’ll re-use them!

 
REDS AND PINKS————————————

Black Krim–Dark red beefsteak with rich sweet taste from Black Sea of Russia

Brandywine–Pinkish red, most popular heirloom originated in 1889. 

Purple Calabash—rich red tomato good for saucing. Squatty shape.

 
UNIQUE COLORS————————————-

Valencia-Beautiful round bright orange tomato, mild, fruity sweet like a Valencia orange. From Maine.

Persimmon–Rose-orange like a persimmon, big, sweet. Fruit up to 2 pounds! Vigorous and prolific plants.

Green Zebra–A magic tomato, green with dark green stripes, skin blushes yellow when ripe. Green salsa or even green sauce! A hit for contrast on a potluck platter.

 
PASTES————————————————–

Long Tom–Especially long red paste tomatoes with few seeds and thick walls. Great sauces, good in salads.

Speckled Roma–Paste tomato, Red with a hint of orange and wavy yellow streaks, a beauty!

Black Plum–Russian plum variety, Two-inch elongated plum-shaped dark red fruit. Close to a paste but thinner walls. Sweet and tangy.

 
CHERRIES————————————————

Matt’s Wild Cherry–Mini red wild cherry tomatoes, prolific. Cute little stems with six bite-size tomatoes on each. Kids love ‘em!

Sungold Cherry–Orange, super sweet mini tomato. A rare exception to our heirloom rule in our tomato collection, this hybrid is worth it. Our CSA members eat them all up on the car-ride home.

 
PEPPERS————————————————

Marconi—heirloom long green bell pepper that ripens to red

Purple Beauty—beautiful purple skin, green inside like a regular bell pepper

Biscayne—Mild yellow banana pepper. Prolific

Pimento—Ripens to red faster than bells, tangy but mild, ideal for cooking or           

roasting

Ace—a boxy hybrid green bell pepper that ripens quickly to red

 
PERENNIAL HERBS—————————————————-

Chamomile—beautiful little daisy-like flowers, dry them for tea

Sage and Thyme—great culinary herbs for any herb garden.

 

--

Ilene Freedman

ilene@houseinthewoods.com

www.houseinthewoods.com

Posted in Greenhouse, Heirloom Tomatoes, On the Farm | 2 Comments »

Welcome, little calves

16. May 2009 by ilene.

An exciting week on the farm. We are very inexperienced with livestock birthing. We are learning! Good thing that these cows like to birth on their own, and don’t want our help. You see she is missing from the herd, you go find her, and there she is, with a calf at her feet. The calf is up and walking within an hour. We should have known Dancey was ready to birth too. We had decided she had another week or two to go…(yes, we know the signs of imminent birth, but we ignored them, OK?). She was mooing at us and Katie, and we thought it was all about the fuss with Katie. Everyone was mooing! While we were busy admiring Katie’s calf, Dancey slipped away to the farthest field and gave birth to a sweet little girl named Kaide (rhymes with Sky-day). Note to self: close off the back fields during birthing time. I hope our friend Kate will be honored that a calf shares her name, and that of her daughter, Kaide. I am sure I chose a different spelling, but that’s where the name comes from. Its a Japanese name which means Maple Leaf. My kids have always liked Kaide’s name, so they chose it eagerly for the calf. Noah chose Kate for the first calf, because its Katie’s calf, so of course. Do not explain to him that these are the same names. Because they are not. Here are some photos.

Kate

The boys visit Kate and Katie.

Now both calves are out on the fields with their mamas. Here is Kaide and then one with her mama, Dancey.

Katie and Kate in the woods, keeping cool.

Here is Clover, Dancey’s calf from last year. A year old. A Heifer, Noah says. Clover is used to getting all the attention, so she spent some time licking the salt off our hands and arms.

Noah waters the Kids Snack Garden. Whenever I was busy in the greenhouse, he would select a few plants to transplant into bigger pots, and he collected them in a couple trays for his snack garden. He would watch over them, fuss with them, water them, add to them. Now it was time to plant the spot. Here is Noah watering his plants. Kids will enjoy snacking from the Kids Garden when they come for CSA veggie pickups.

Posted in Animals, On the Farm | 1 Comment »