Seedlings are Progressing

Things are starting to look nice and green in the growing corner in my kitchen.  The seedlings that were planted in February have started to fill out a bit.  The fastest growers are my brassicas.  The first round of broccoli and cabbage starts have sized up quite a bit in the past month and I expect they will be good and ready to move outdoors once the weather warms up a little more.  I have started putting them outside for a couple hours here and there to get them used to the strong sunshine they will be growing in once they are transplanted.

The next biggest seedlings are the peppers.  They do take a long time to get going, but all of the seedlings look pretty happy so far.  It will still be weeks before the weather is even close to warm enough to start the hardening off process with these guys, so they still have plenty of time to size up.

The herbs and celery are still tiny, but they are growing.  They will be going outside around the same time as the peppers, so hopefully they will make a lot more progress by then.

Last but not least are my tomato and tomatillo seedlings.  These guys were planted only a couple of weeks ago, but I expect they will grow quickly.  They have already starting making their first true leaves.  I hope that I can get them outside before they get too big for my growing space in the kitchen.

Spring has Sprung

Everywhere I look signs of spring are peeking out.  From the crocus blooming and the daffodil greens reaching for the sun to the garlic shoots poking out of the garden soil.  There are huge flocks of Sandhill cranes making their noisy stops in the corn fields on their journey north.  Mixed among them are flocks of Canadian geese following the retreat of winter.  Soon the days will be filled with warm sunshine and the nights will lose their chill.

All of these signs mean that it is time to get to work in the garden and clean up the beds for the next growing season.  The chickens have had free run of half the garden this winter and they have done a good job tilling up the garden beds and (hopefully) removing weed seeds and insect pests.  Now that it is getting closer to planting time I will have to move them onto greener pastures so that my garden can grow undisturbed from their voracious beaks.  Moving the chickens is mostly just the task of taking down their electric fence and putting it up in a new location.  Once I have it where I want it I simply bribe them all with whole corn to get them into the new area.

Now begins the hard work of preparing the garden beds for this year's crops.  The first beds that I work on will hold the potatoes and onions.  Once those are done, I want to get other beds ready for early season crops like spinach, lettuce and peas.  The last beds to get worked on will be those that will hold the warm season crops.  These don't have to be ready until early May, but I bet April will be gone in the blink of an eye, so I will do my best to get things done while the weather is favorable.  In a few short months, my yard will become a lush green mess again and I can't wait!

Hatchlings!

Spring has sprung in my back room.  A small pile of chicks now sleep in the warm red glow of their heat lamp.  The first chick hatched early in the morning on the 7th.  By evening I had a total of six new additions to my flock.  I waited until they were all dry and then moved them into the "brooder" which is a good sized aquarium in my spare bedroom.  Here they will grow in the safety of the indoors until they are big enough to handle outdoor living.

These guys will be going outside in four to six weeks.  The timing will depend on how fast their feathers come in and how warm the weather is looking.  So far spring seems to want to take her sweet time in getting here, but we are getting plenty of rain instead of snow which means that the weather is warming.  Once things start to dry out, I expect spring will arrive with a flourish.

The Littlest Leprechaun

Recently a friend of mine sent me a picture of a leprechaun outfit that she wanted me to make for her little boy.  It was almost St. Patrick's Day and she wanted to dress him up like a leprechaun and get some cute pictures.  I looked up the pattern and adjusted it for size and got to work.  The hat and the pants were a good fit, though I may have overestimated the suspenders a bit.

The project was fun and went pretty quick since it only had to be big enough to fit a tiny human.  I find that I really enjoy being able to create something special and unique for the special people in my life.  Special requests always give the projects more purpose and I always learn something new when I try to make something I have never made before.

Stocking up on Stock

This winter has been a quiet one and I have spent some of my days off making batches of stock for my freezer.  I had a few chicken carcasses and a bag of pork bones from a while back that have been in my freezer long enough.  When I have the time I take out a bag or two and throw them in my stock pot and cover the bones with water.  If the bones had not been already cooked, I would roast them in the oven for a while to help release their savory flavor.  I add a couple of chopped up onions, carrots and celery to the pot to add flavor and color to the rich liquid as it simmers.  I also add a couple of cloves of garlic and a few bay leaves to enrich the stock.

Once everything goes into the pot, it is put on the stove to simmer for hours.  Every so often I would stir everything up and add a little water to it so it didn't cook down too far.  Stock can be ready to use after just a few hours of cooking, but I like to let mine cook all day to really loosen up all the nutrients locked away in the bones.  I even add a splash of apple cider vinegar to my stock to further demineralize the bones.  

When I feel the stock has cooked long enough, I strain the whole pot to remove all the bones and vegetable scraps.  If the bones had some meat on them, I would go through and pick off as much of the useable pieces as I could.  I generally find enough to be able to add it to another meal like a pot of soup or a chicken salad sandwich.  The liquid will go into the fridge overnight to cool down. This usually helps the fats to congeal on the top of the pot where I can easily skim them off.  After removing as much of the fat as possible, the stock will go back on the stove to cook for a few more hours to concentrate it a bit.  

A batch of stock generally yields around a gallon for me, give or take a few cups.  How much I make really depends on what I am using to make the stock.  For chicken stock I like to wait until I have two or three carcasses to fill the pot with.  More bones make for stronger flavor.  The pork bones were big enough that I just put all that would fit into the pot.  The result is a rich golden broth that I can use in my home cooked meals.  I usually freeze my stock in two cup batches to make it easy to use when I need it for a quick meal.  I have also canned quarts of stock in the past, but pressure canning is time consuming, so I usually stick to simply freezing it for long term storage.  

I use my stock in many things from cooking rice to making soup.  I have used it to make brine for the thanksgiving turkey and as the liquid when I make a crock pot meal.  It adds flavor and nutrition to everything I use it in and I have even drank it straight when I wasn't feeling well.  It is a very versatile ingredient in any kitchen and it is always nice to have some on hand when you want to make something rich and tasty.

Seedlings and More Planting

The first seedlings of the year have sprouted and many are well on their way to growing the first set of true leaves.  The broccoli and some of the cabbage were the first ones to appear only four days after planting.  They have made the most progress and I thinned them down to only one seedling per pot so they can get a good head start on growing before they go to their permanent place in the garden.  My red cabbage was a complete no show, so in the next round of planting I will probably throw in a few different types of cabbage seeds to take their place.

My peppers had excellent germination rates though they did take about two weeks to make their debut. These were also thinned down to one plant per pot.  They will likely grow more slowly than the broccoli and cabbage and they won't be going outside for at least eight more weeks.  I like my peppers to be nicely established when I transplant them so they transition easily to life in the garden.

The oregano and thyme came up fairly quickly but the cumin is looking like a no show after almost a month.  The celery had poor germination and I only have two healthy looking seedlings from all the seeds I planted.  I may try to replant another round of celery just to round things out, but I think I will have to buy new seed for next year as mine does not seem to be very good any more.

The next round of planting will coincide with the new moon again. It will include my tomatoes, tomatillos, a few basil to replace the cumin, and the replanting of celery and cabbage.  Everything else that will grow in my garden this year will be direct sown outside when the conditions are favorable.  The peas, potatoes, onions and shallots will be some of my earliest crops getting planted outside this spring as the ground begins to warm up.  It won't be long now until things start getting busy in the garden again.

Enjoying the Winter Wonderland

I am getting my first taste of what a real mountain winter is like out here in Colorado.  The past several years have apparently been drought winters as they were generally mild with very little snow.  This year the weather is holding nothing back.  Down in the valley where I live the snow has never been more than a couple inches deep, but the surrounding mountains are covered with feet of the powdery, cold, white stuff.  This weekend I had the treat of exploring the deep snow on the Grand Mesa.  There was a break in the storms that have been rolling through the west over the past several weeks and we had the small victory of blue bird skies and temperatures hovering in the 30's.  It was perfect for a couple hours of breaking trail through a pristine winter wonderland.

 The view of the Bookcliffs from the edge of the Mesa

 Looking down the valley towards Grand Junction.

I couldn't resist making a snow angel in this untouched meadow.  Where I fell back the hole was at least two feet deep.  I have never before traveled through snow this deep!

 My hiking buddy posing for the shot leading to the overlook.

 The view from the overlook was fantastic.

 A blank slate of snow filled this mountain meadow.

How deep was the snow?  Deep enough to bury road signs and taller than the roof of passing vehicles.  It was over my head by several inches in places.  I was very happy that I had snowshoes for a day like today.