CauliKraut - Fermented Cauliflower

Howdy Homesteaders!

Busy time and I'm hardly posting anything let alone my own material. That said, being a fan of Fermenting check out the recipe below.



CauliKraut - Fermented Cauliflower

Hardening off Hot Pepper Seedlings,

 Follow this link to a informative article on hardening off and transplanting hot pepper plants. Not just great hardening off info for peppers, the information is useful for hardening off tomatoes, sweet peppers, eggplant, and any seedlings that were sown indoors.


http://www.fieryfoodscentral.com/2014/04/06/part-3-hardening-off-and-transplanting/

Video How To: Make Your Own Eel Tote - On The Water

Video How To: Make Your Own Eel Tote - On The Water: Learn how to make a low-cost and portable eel tote from a short list of easy to find components. Read more →

Propigate roses using a potato

 A simple and mundane potato is a great way to propagate roses. Potatoes contain just the right amount of nutrients and moisture for rose cuttings to develop and grow healthy roots. Note: this method also works for many other wood-stemmed plants.
Find this trick and more at-
http://www.trendingmoms.com/15-quick-and-easy-gardening-hacks/?utm_source=adblade&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=gardeningtricksd1



Photo source: amateurgardening.com

Tonights sky-Arcturus

Hey there homesteaders! Unfortunately the forecast is for an overcast sky for us New Englanders. But nonetheless tonight we can hope see the Big Dipper's handle  leading us Arcturus. Wouldn't it be great if we could catch some vibes from our intelligent friends on the Blue planet orbiting Arcturus.

So here's the deal-

Use the curve in the handle of the Big Dipper to “follow the arc” to the star Arcturus. Then “drive a spike” to the star Spica. Have fun.

 Credit goes to http://earthsky.org/tonight/follow-the-arc-to-arcturus#arc

Sign up to earthsky's email list and  receive very cool heads up notifications of the night sky.
Peace out-

Fertilizer Recipes

 Homemade Fertilizer & Tea Recipes

BANANA PEELS  –  Eating a banana helps replenish lost potassium. Roses love potassium too. Simply throw one or two peels in the hole before planting or bury peels under mulch so they can compost naturally. Get bigger and more blooms. I also use banana peels on my vegetables.

EGG SHELLS  – Wash them first, then crush. Work the shell pieces into the soil near tomatoes and peppers. The calcium helps fend off blossom end rot. Eggshells are 93% calcium carbonate, the same ingredient as lime, a tried and true soil amendment!
  
SEAWEED – Fresh seaweed does not need to be washed before use to remove salt. Asian markets sell dried seaweed. Both fresh and dried versions are considered excellent soil amendments. Seaweed contains trace elements and actually serves as a food source for soil microbes. Chop up a small bucket of seaweed and add it to 5 gallons of water.  Let it sit for 2-3 weeks loosely covered. Use it to drench the soil and foliage. 2 cups work well for a small plant, 4 cups for a medium plants and 6 cups for a large plant. Experiment with amounts. Combine seaweed with other tea fertilizers.

MOLASSES – Using molasses in compost tea supposedly increases microbes and the beneficial bacteria that microbes feed on. If you want to start out with a simple recipe for molasses fertilizer, mix 1-3 tablespoons of molasses into a gallon of water. Water your plants with this concoction and watch them grow bigger and healthier.

GRASS CLIPPINGS – Rich in nitrogen, grass breaks down over time and enhances the soil. Fill a 5 gallon bucket full of grass clippings. You can even add weeds! Weeds soak up nutrients from the soil just as much as grass. Add water to the top of the bucket and let sit for a day or two. Dilute your grass tea by mixing 1 cup of liquid grass into 10 cups of water.

MANURE – With a little effort, you’ll find folks that are giving away composted chicken, horse or cow manure for free. Composted and aged manure is best. Add the composted manure to a small permeable bag made from recycled cloth, e.g., a t-shirt or old towel. Let it steep in the shade for a few days and apply it to your soil to condition it before planting. Bury or discard the used bag. Some people use manure tea to soak bare root roses! 

- above courtesy of homegrownfun.com

EPSOM SALTS

Why: Epsom salts consist of magnesium — critical for seed germination and chlorophyll production — and sulfur — key for protein production and plant growth. A dose of an Epsom salts solution increases fruit and flower production in roses, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and houseplants.

How: Combine 1 tablespoon of Epsom salts to 1 gallon of water. Spray foliage with the solution for best results.

When: Every other week

WOOD ASH

Why: Wood ash not only adds calcium (good for root growth) and potassium (promotes seed and fruit formation) to soil, but it also raises the pH of highly acidic soil, making it friendlier to neutral pH-loving plants, such as most vegetables. (Don’t use it in blueberry gardens, which like acidic soil.)

How: Apply wood ash straight from the fireplace to your garden: Dig in 5 lbs./100 sq. ft. 

Sap season over, seedlings take center stage.

The maple syrup producing season is all but over for 2016 in Connecticut. What a season it was. For some fighting their homeostasis setting saying it was too early to tap in January while others were eagerly awaiting and got in on some early sap runs. Personally I was somewhere in between.

Bailing out before the season ended, I was able to finish with roughly 3 gallons of syrup, which for 14 taps I certainly cannot complain.

With the record breaking temperatures in mid March the gears have swiftly shifted into the 2016 gardening season. I've been cleaning up in the greenhouse making some room on the benches and readying the garden bed for an early sowing of broccoli rabe and swiss chard. My largest seed order for the season has been placed with one of my trusted resources- Harris Seeds out of New York. Always dependable seed stock. Not to "dis" my other sources for this season which include Buckeye Pepper and Burpee. These three one out for this season.

Each season I tend to get super excited whether it's continueing the super hot pepper craze, small gourmet tomatoes for drying, or last year when I got into lacto fermenting cucumbers.

Fermenting Cucumbers for "Half Sours"

With a plethora of picklers, the 1/2 gallon mason jars all filled up with layers of cukes separated by fresh grape leaves and pickling spices. Pretty easy and quite delicious though I have to admit defeat falling short of the perfect pickle.  I'm getting closer.

With my head fogged with the quest for perfecting my skills at growing the hottest incendiary peppers on the planet

2015 mix of some of the world's hottest

Carolina Reapers- currently the world's hottest chile, 

I almost lost sight for my love of the more versatile sweet pepper. Which is what brought me back to Harris, They developed IMO the most dependable green to red bell pepper variety- Lady Bell. She's back in the lineup! My apologies Lady Bell. Also cubanelle and a couple poblano types from other sources.

Maple Syrup Finally!

Looking at the busy schedule, the forecast, and the alignment of the planets all pointed to last night for Greg to finish what he started from Saturday's boil. The aligning of the planets may or may not have been part of the decision to finish the four gallons of sweet maple concentrate down to the finished product.

With all the equipment at hand and the concentrated sap boiling and the digital thermometer reading 214 and holding and holding and holding. It's been a year since I've done the process and forgot just how long it takes to evaporate to the magic 7.1 degrees above boiling water to reach the desired syrup consistency we all try to acheive. The thermometer is set at 218 to alert me that the sap is getting close to becoming syrup. Assuming water is boiling at 212 F the actual temp for syrup would be 219.1 F

In the sugaring and brewing world there are instruments to measure densities. A syrup hydrometer is the tool of choice for this part of the operation. The hydrometer comes calibrated and there are couple of indicating lines to show when the correct brix or density is reached. Brix is sugar content of an aqueous solution. Once the syrup is close, the hydrometer cup is filled with hot syrup, the hydrometer is carefully placed into the cup and it will "float" and a visual check is taken to see where the brix is currently reading on the scale. Once 59 brix is reached, the syrup has reached the correct density.

After about one and half hours the syrup reached the magic point and is bottled. At this point the official and "correct way" would be to filter the hot syrup through a series of filters to remove all the niter or "sugar sand" which is the natural by product of residual minerals that are left behind. I filter along the way while boiling with pre filters which are much thinner than the final felt filter which collect plenty of the niter. Being such a small backyard producer I skip the modern method of filtering and let gravity help me out. From the hot syrup off the burner I directly bottle and allow to cool and then store the bottled syrup away for a while. By letting the syrup rest the minerals settle to the bottom of the container. Once it's time to package the liquid gold I carefully pour off the now crystal clear syrup into a stove top pan and heat to 185 F. This will sterilize the syrup for bottling. Into the decorative bottles and jugs goes the syrup, adding a nice label and wallah- A nice very personal gift of specialty product is ready for the anxious consumer.

Now the cleanup and looking ahead to the next boiling day. Ugg, I keep convincing myself that I love the long hours standing by the evaporater for hours on end in the cold. Can't wait for this Saturday's forecasted high of barely 15 degrees. Oh the joy...

First Boil February 6, 2016

My head filled with checklists, running through the whole process of boiling. Did I forget anything? Paper towels, lighter, buckets, filters, on and on. Everything is in order, phew. Damn, the hose water is frozen up good. Had to wait until mid day for that. Ok, so now the wood pile. Yep the one that's covered in snow. At least my leaky green tarp kept the wood dry for the most part. Clean containers-damn again. I had to get water from the inside to clean up before the sap went in. Yep all 80 gallons.

Filled with firebox with some aged newspaper, twigs all set up nice like a little tepee, some bigger stuff right up to the forearm sized logs. Lit her up closed the door and went to get more wood from the pile. Came back to check and I snuffed the fired out. Choked. Repeat this time with the door open and she was ripping in no time. Something like 8 hours later the boil  was done.

 

Now at least I'm much more prepared for the 2nd boil. Though I still have to clean the pans that have been soaking with mix of water and vinegar. The top edges of the pans are loaded up good with burnt sugar. As the boil goes on the sap becomes more concentrated and with  the rapid boil some sap splashes up and gets cooked onto the pans.

Sap Collecting

The trees have been very generous early on. To date there are 14 taps in and from only three days of sap collecting the trees have given up over 50 gallons. In my book that is a high rate of flow. Now if the sugar percent in the sap is around 2% or 40:1 ratio that should yield over one gallon of finished syrup. That will be nice for a few days work.

The weather is forecasted to gradually get cold towards the middle of February which will probably slow the sap flow down somewhat. After that from the last week in February through the first couple of weeks in March it looks to be ideal throughout the period for good sap flow.

Better stock up on waffles and pancakes mix! Actually maple syrup drizzled over the best vanilla ice cream you can get your hands on is such an amazing treat. I'll post some other ways to use this gold elixir of the north.

Fur and Feather

Weekend homesteading sure would be lonely without some fur and feather companionship. I've been a fan of bird watching since I was a kid in Shelton thanks to my mom. Striped sunflower only was the rule. Nothing but the best. Well since then I've become a family man and homeowner and the birds I feed are on the budget plan. Don't get me wrong, they still get plenty of sunflower seed but now its black oil seed mixed with econo seed and cracked corn to stretch it even further.

Ingredients

Reaching for whatever bucket is close by, and there's usually always one close by (being  homesteaders we're sorta bucket hoarders) in goes a couple of cups of sunflower seed, some econo mix, and some cracked corn.Dig in with my gloved hand and mix it up and wallah-done. I mention the gloved hand because bare handed sure is a cold wake up call after a night in the teens.

Toady's blend

By now the scouts have alerted the troops and the music is filling the morning air with high pitched pleasantries. And it's OK that the resident flock of sparrows anxiously await the feeder to be filled because the cardinals, nuthatches, blue jays, juncos and titmice get their fill to. Ah the bird feeder. Indeed. Always searching for the perfect squirrel proof feeder. It was easy for me. Nothing but the best for mom and l inherited hers from many years ago.

 I strongly recommend putting this feeder on your gift list.Other than having to replace the perch every 2-3 years it's been trouble free for many years. There are thumb nuts (?) that secure an adjustable counter weight.

Just loosen, slide the counter weight until the perfect balance is met between your generosity and enough is enough. I have it set to hold three or so songbirds before the gate starts to come down to block the flow. With the painted steel housing and a perfectly pitched roof the squirrels don't have a chance. The cardinals and blue jays have cleverly figured out that if they stay to the very edge of either side they too can indulge up high instead of being bottom feeders. I mean ground feeders. Sorry for throwin' shade on a couple of the most colorful back yard visitors.

Stay tuned for my next blog about the "fur" and their special place in my heart and garden.

Back for part two.
We always keep a couple of rabbits in the family as pets. currently we have Thor and  Maxine.

Thor

Maxine

Aside from keeping me company while in the yard doing chores these lil' guys provide a good dose of manure for the  gardens. With a nice ratio of N-2.4 P-1.4 K-.6 it  does wonders for the plants.

Anxiously Waiting to tap

Well after reviewing the extended forecasts and talking to a Connecticut sugaring expert I've decide to hold off tapping until late next week because of the expected warm overnight temperatures.



Holding off will give me some more time readying my supplies and maybe just maybe I'll even get to painting a couple of rooms in the house!

Previous years tap hole healing up

.
Identifying via buds

2016 Tree Tapping starting in Connecticut

Crazy winter right? Winter 2016 certainly won't be tagged as typical, that's for sure. Same goes with the upcoming maple season. The above normal temperatures are leading us to start tapping earlier than "normal" this year.

I know of a few CT maple producers already tapping and Sam from Sam & Sons in Shelton already produced some syrup. Based on the 10 day forecast it looks to be favorable to get out there and start setting taps. Take a look at my links for some tips on tapping and producing some syrup for yourselves this season.

Welcome to Greg-the weekend homesteader blog

Welcome to my blog:  Greg-The Weekend Homesteader. I've always had a want, a need to connect to the way things use to be done. To turn the clock back to our grandparents days, or perhaps even further back, the days when we would grow a lot of our own food, and preserve our harvests. A lifestyle that puts me back in touch with the land. Away from the social media, the supermarkets, the rushing around lifestyle.

This blog invites you into my hybrid journey out of the passing lane and into the travel lane, the slower hands on approach. My way of incorporating  homesteading into todays lifestyle.

"You all come back now" while I share my weekend homesteading through the seasons. Next up-

Tapping trees!
Thanks

PS
I will be incorporating my previous blog pages into this Weekend Homesteading  blog!