Garden Plans

I've been thinking, and planning about my garden.

I plan on concentrating a little more, and I plan on doing more 'staple' crops you might say. I plan on devoting at least 1/3 of my space (right now, calculated up to 1500 square feet) to potatoes and sweet potatoes. Of that third I plan on doing about 2/3s potatoes, and 1/3 sweet potatoes.

I plan for root crops to do: carrots, parsnips, rutabaga, radishes, and beets (mostly carrots, parsnips, and rutabaga)
For brassica: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, chinese cabbage, and maybe kohlrabi. (I plan on doing 50sq ft cabbage, 25sq ft broccoli and cauliflower)
Misc stuff: tomatoes, peppers, melons, squash, cucumbers (I'll probably do less tomatoes, and concentrate on those few) For winter squash I plan on planting again above the fence, but using the Whizbang Winter Squash Secret.

So, I've drawn up a few plans for next year (I am doing a rotation of crops, not the same crop grown on the same space twice in a row).

I planted 24 more garlic cloves today. Along with 60 leeks. Next week I plan on planting my shallot bulbs, and more leeks and garlic. If I had onions I would plant them also.

Right now the plan is to get bees sometime in probably March or April, also about the same time I plan on getting chickens. It sounds like I will be quite busy this Spring. Though, bees, after the first week only need check up ones or twice a week. Chickens are going to be a little more time consuming especially at the beginning. If I get them early April I should be getting eggs before the end of summer.

Well, that is part of the plans for my garden, along with an update on what I planted. I am sure I will have more to post on plans for the garden.

See ya!

English Vintner

Apple Boards

Three years ago I thought up the idea for an apple board. And for the last three years it has served us well. We usually get 10-20 bushels and turn that into cider, apple sauce, and frozen apples. With all that cutting it sure helps to have an Apple Board!

The apple board measures 20 inches by 8 inches, with a raise of 2 inches in back. It has a 3 inch hole in the center which serves two purposes. If you are cutting up apples for apple sauce into a pot, or a bucket for cider, all you do is put the Apple Board over it, halve and quarter, and drop through the hole, saving lots of time. The second purpose it serves is as a place to put the apple before you have a chance to cut into it. For a big apple you put the apple into the hole, chop down half way into it, bring it out and chop down, all in on stroke.

The groove at the bottom of the board catches stray seeds, stems, and also collects juice from the apples, keeping your counter more clean.

If you are like our family having one of these is going to make chopping apples more fun, and save you time. If you are not satisfied with it I offer a full guarantee of the product.

An optional addition is to have something wood burned onto it, a name or initials. I also do custom orders if you want something else done to it, or if you have a specific kind of wood that you me to use.

These make great gifts if you have family or friends who do a lot with apples. And apples is not the only thing Apple Boards are used for, I'm sure you could find it to serve great for cutting up vegetables for soup over a pot.

For pricing email me at: english3zachariah@gmail.com (omit the 3 inbetween english and zachariah).

Cheers, for my favorite season, Autumn!
English Vintner

First Frost?

Right now it looks like our first possible frost is October 21. The weather forecast says right now (could easily change) that it will be a low of 34ºF, which means close to 32ºF where we are. But, 32ºF is a pretty light frost, and most of what I have growing can probably take a light frost.

I have pole beans that are growing for seed. Peas that are for eating. Raspberries that are continuing to produce several a day! Kale, brussels sprouts, some other brassica, cauliflower or broccoli. Some mustard (for compost bulk), basil! I need to get my basil in. I need to pot up a few plants and bring them inside.

I have not gotten my money from the fair, and have not ordered the plastic for the greenhouse yet.

I'm gonna try to make some more cider today. Hopefully with more help this time.

See ya! Have a great day!

English Vintner

Cider (hard cider)

Cider, or as the americans would call it, hard cider (the British call it just cider, remember America had a prohibition on alcohol that ended only 70 years ago) is easy to make. It is usually bottled in beer bottles, clear or brown, usually clear. More often than not in the big commercial companies they force carbonate with co2 rather than let natural carbonation take place. This is because naturaly co2 makes sediment

(My computer just made me delete the rest of what I had written, about 4 times as much as I just wrote.)

I'm pretty mad about it. I'm gonna summarize and say I started some hard cider. It should make an ABV of 6.3%.

Cheers,
English Vintner

Seed Saving/Apple Pressing

Zinnias, my first memory of them is growing them along the border of the garden we had (yup, my mom had a garden during the mid 90's up until 2001, when her family was too much to have a garden also, since I was not old enough to do much). We grew them I remember two years, but probably almost every year. They are beautiful flowers. Two years ago was when I got growing fever. I was into growing everything edible, no flowers or anything like that that you can't eat. Well, after doing quite a bit of research I am realizing that nature does best in harmony. So, it is best to have a good amount of herbs, flowers and fruits and vegetables growing together. So that nature takes it's course in the bees coming will be attracted to the flowers and herbs and such and provide shelter and care for them during the winter with hedges.

So, this year I planted zinnias. I also planted a few day lilies and some other flowers. I planted only about 20 seeds. From them I probably got several hundred blooms. At any given time I had dozens of blooms, orange, red, and pink. They bloomed constantly (and still are) since they came up. Well, I got the idea to save the seed. I mean, how cool is that? I think more people should be doing that, saving seed from year to year of certain vegetables, flowers and herbs. I'm hoping to get basil seeds from some of my plants set aside for the purpose. So, today I picked zinnia heads, several dozen, and hope to pick many more. Maybe I could sell some? Mail a few through the mail? I am germinating some right now, to make sure the seed is viable.

Cider. Well, I was getting a little discouraged about it. My disposal isn't working to well for me. I did remember seeing a video of someone crushing apples with a 2x4. In fact, Herrick mentions it in his Whizbang cider book also. It is definitely the cheapest, but fairly manual labor if you are doing gallons and gallons. So, today I decided to give it a try. I had the wine press from Kevin and Powell, and I didn't want to go through the whole week without using it. So, I swept out the front of the garage real well. Set up the press, scrubbed a 5gal. bucket, got a 2x4. I then boil half a gallon or so of water. Brought it down and sanitized everything. The bucket, press basket, everything, I wanted to keep this clean. It feels good to keep things nice and sanitized with boiling water like that.

Once I had everything ready I got down my apple cutting board (have I told you about that? I should have an article on it, and maybe you will buy one eh?) cut up the apples into halves and quarters depending on how big the apples were. Some of the apples are smaller than golf balls! Some are bigger than my fist. I did about 4 inches of apples, then got the 2x4 and started crushing them. It is surprisingly easy. And it does a good job within minutes. You can't do too many at a time in the bucket, or it won't crush them very well. Also, it leaves the apple chunks rather large, so to minimize waste, we are cooking up the apple pomace and making apple sauce with it. It won't have as much flavor, but still yield a good amount. Once we run in through the apple sauce maker the pulp from that will go into the compost. So, out of those apples I cut up, less than half a bushel, I got 1 3/4 gallons of apple cider, and a full pot of apple pieces for apple sauce, and than compost.

The cider pressed this way tastes better than cider made from a juicer. A juicer leaves it pulpier. It doesn't press it, it sorta grinds it into juice. This cider is like the stuff you buy, clear and smooth tasting. So, if you have access to a press, let me encourage you to get a 2x4 and make a few gallons! You will be impressed.

English Vintner

It is COLD

It is very cold. Though, now that I think about it, it did this last year, or was it two years ago. Beginning of October first two weeks were quite cold, almost freezing. Then, it warmed up, and we had some good weather until about Thanksgiving.

However, I am not complaining, because it will keep the apples better longer. Do you know how long apples will last at 32ºF? They will last almost the whole year. That is the temperature that outlets keep the apples at, before shipping to stores every couple weeks throughout the year. At 32ºF the apple is just above its freezing point. Water freezes at 32ºF, but the sugar content in apples keeps it from freezing at 32ºF. Apples ripen twice as fast at 40ºF as they do at 32ºF. They ripen twice as fast at 50ºF as they do at 40ºF, so you see, I'm glad it got down to 33ºF here last night.

The apple grinder is taking longer then I would have liked it too (I guess that is what happens when you have a million projects you are doing, focusing on one leaves the others hanging). I don't think the disposal I have is going to work. First off, I don't think it is stainless steel, and I see rust and nasty stuff all over the interior. Second, it has a hole in the bottom chamber. So, I'm not sure yet where to get the next one. I think I can make a couple bucks selling all the copper that was in the motor, and I might find a use for this garbage disposal. Hey! Maybe I could hook it up to chop up food scraps into small pieces for my compost pile? To get it going real hot? Hmmmm....now there is a good idea! Anyway, I think I can make some money from the copper on the motor, and find uses for the disposal. However, I need another disposal for the apple grinder.

I would like to get some cloth to day for the cheeses for the cider grinder. Also if I could get my dad to hook up my motor that would be nice too. I'll probably call around the Restore locations and see which one has a garbage disposal. I might post on freecycle again, I don't know though. I've been keeping up with craig's list and they don't really have them.

My garden could use some help. Maybe planting some cover crops (likely story that one) and finish sifting my compost so that I can turn my compost pile.

Anyway, that is what things are at right now.

English Vintner

Been at it again

I finally had my small fire down at the garden yesterday. I've been wanting to for a while, but it was too warm, and too dry. Partly I want to get rid of the wood in my garden (sticks and jazz) and I want the ashes. I want to make soap, but first I want to make lye. I think certain hardwood ashes are the best for making lye right? Beech or something are fairly good?

I have almost sifted all of my finished compost. I did another wheel barrow load yesterday. I have another wheel barrow load at least left. Then, I can turn my compost pile! I probably need to do that soon so that it can start working again before it gets too cold. I'll probably put some comfrey near the bottom and throughout the pile to keep it going strong. Maybe this winter I will spread it out of the garden, I'll see how it is.

Work on the apple grinder is coming along. I am hoping Wednesday I can pick up material, sheer nylon cloth, and hook up my motor and maybe disposal. I am hoping by Friday to have my grinder working. But, I'll probably use my friends press for grapes since I don't have time to make the press in time. My press if much more efficient especially for apples, and the way I'm doing it, but I think his will work. My press is not going to be as easy to transport. But it will do a good job when it is done. I wish we had cooler weather right now to keep the apples longer. Next year I wouldn't mind getting an extra 10 bushels to make into cider. That would be my senior year of high school. Of course, if I go to Johnson and Wales, than the next two Autumns I might be here and be able to get apples and press them. When I move out I will probably leave the grinder and press here until I get a house. Then we can make it an annual thing for me to get together with my other siblings in the area and my parents and make cider for everyone! Ahh...dreaming....

Well, I think I'd better go. I have some chemistry to do before this afternoon. So, I will leave you now.


English Vintner

Persimmons

I'll try to keep this short (partly for my sake).

Persimmons are something that you may have tasted once in your life, and decided that their are some fruits worth eating, but persimmons are definitely not. I like many have experienced the mouth puckering sensation of eating a raw persimmon that had that stringent taste. After that, I wasn't sure how people could eat them.

Well, I recently found out that most people who eat persimmons eat them in the form of persimmon pudding. Which, depends on the recipe. Some range from a pie like dish to a cake.

Persimmon season is finally here in NC. Last year I noticed that I had a persimmon tree, right above my garden. It is about 10 inches in diameter up to 2ft, and then splits into two 5" sections. They are about 25-30 ft tall. Persimmon trees do very well in just about any soil. I've read that they don't do well to transplant, so transplant as young as possible. They grow all over the place, the kind I have are grown wild all the way from Florida to Texas.

Well, today I picked 7 persimmons and yesterday I had picked some. So today I cooked the persimmons (for fear they would go rotten another day) up with some lemon juice (to keep the color better), and put it through a apple sauce maker. What I have is a very good tasting pulp! Which I will probably make into Persimmon Pudding.

Did you know, there is folklore, that you can split a persimmon seed open and tell what the winter is going to look like? It will either look like a fork, spoon, or knife. And each one means a different thing. I split one open and it looked like a knife. I had forgotten what a knife meant. Look up about the folklore about it, you will find it interesting. If it proves correct I have my own theories on why it would work. Like the crop circle in England that showed a disaster would happen in 3-6 or 9 months. 9 Months later Haiti earthquake happened. The shape of the crop circle was in the shape of the area around Haiti. For more info on it look up crop circles (make sure you find a reliable source, ask me if you are not sure, I've done some research on it) about Haiti earthquake.

Well, I guess it is getting longer than I intended it to. So I'd better go before it gets longer.

English Vintner

Garlic

I love warm, dry sunny days, with cool evenings. Here in North Carolina we are beginning to experience Autumn. We had our last day of 90ºF something a week ago, followed by rain. Earlier this summer, July, we had tons of rain. We hardly went a week without an inch or two. However, August comes rolling along and the rain dries up. I think we got about two inches from August until last week when we got I think a total of five inches at least, over a period of four days. The rain very much needed, and with it it brought cool weather. Last night it got down to 46ºF, quite chilly. The humidity is not bad at all during the day, though I can tell that it is not too dry, because the dew is quite heavy.

I am looking forward to my garden, when I have cleared out what needs to be cleared, and planted cover crops. I am actually getting quite a few peppers, four or so a week, along with tomatoes. I’ve been making salsa with the bell peppers. Next year I plan to do only one or two sweet pepper plants and do quite a few hot pepper plants.

Today I finally got around to planting garlic. We were at Sam’s and I for under $4, bought 2lbs of garlic (a dozen or more bulbs). I took off the skin, and broke them up into cloves. I then sorted them into, bad (too small for planting, so we will use them to cook with), medium, and large. I ended up with about 70 garlic cloves or medium and large, so a fair number of garlic. I then planted them in accordance to Herrick Kimball (Whizbang Apple Cider Grinder and Press), who grows 1200 annually and makes and sells garlic powder. I planted them about 3 inches deep in the soft soil that I had eradicated the weeds from. The soil up close to the fence is fairly sandy, quite pliable, I really like it. I then used a stick I had carved, to make the holes, roughly four to five inches apart. I did them in rows of four, three. However, before I put the garlic into the holes I tore off strips of comfrey to use as fertilizer (great stuff!). I then covered up the garlic with compost firming it down. I planted 115 or so in one patch. I have another 30 left and will plant close by. The next thing to do is get some straw to mulch it with. I have hay, but I don’t think that is as effective as straw in keeping weeds down (that is the main reason for the mulch). The mulch will also act as an insulator, keep the ground not quite as cold. I hope to get a good crop of garlic next fall. I planted the garlic up by the fence and I plan on doing most of my onion family up by the fence also, to discourage the deer from coming any farther into the garden. They did the most damage in the first few beds right by the fence.

Today I also made a compost sifter. After spending hours and hours reading on Herrick Kimball’s blog and getting many ideas for many things, I decided I needed a compost sifter. It is after all, something rather simple and is very good if you don’t want your compost full of rocks, sticks and kitchen knives. I built a frame (I really just slopped it together) threw together some 1x5” boards and 1x7”. The frame is approximately 16x22” or so. On the bottom of the sifter I nailed down 3/8” screen. For a starting seeds you probably want something slightly smaller than that, but for any other need in the garden the 3/8”s will do fine, eliminating clumps of leaves, grass, and clods of dirt. It easily sifts two shovel fulls at a time. Much more and it doesn’t sift very well, takes longer. I had to do some modifications to it after I tried it out this morning. I had to add handles for shaking it with. I had some 1x3” that was 50” long, I had two of them. So I nailed them to the long side of the sifter and I was set to go. I placed the handles on the wheel barrow, threw in a couple shovel fulls of compost, and sifted away. I could have easily done a full wheel barrow in less than 10 minutes faster if it was totally dry. I would recommend you make a compost sifter if you do not have one, it is free as long as you have some scrap wood and screen around. The tools are a hammer and nails. You might want to reenforce it with screws, but nails will do fine.

News on my apple grinder. I finally got an offer on freecycle for a disposal, right before I was going to call around to all the Restore locations and find which one had disposals. Before than I had been to Lowes to pick up bolts, nuts, and washers for the grinder. Now I all I have to do is put together the frame, wire the motor and hook up the disposal. I would hope to have it up and running by the end of this week.

Well, I guess I should go now. Sorry I don’t have more pictures. I have not been able to find my camera, and thus cannot take pictures of my garden, but can only supply pictures I find on the web.

English Vintner

Whizbang Winter Squash Secret

This is taken from Herrick Kimball's blog, Whizbang Gardening. Essays on gardening on his homestead. Growing garlic (1,200 bulbs annually), compost sifting, and much more.

The secret to growing good winter squash is here. The trick is using a post hole digger, and digging a hole, to a depth of 18-24 inches. Into this hole compost is put in. Layering between dirt and compost until level with ground. Than soak it, after it has gone down from the liquid add more layers of dirt and compost until level. Now plant 4 squash seeds. Over this place some hoops to make clotche. Place over the hoops some fabric to keep the bugs out, but sunlight and rain in. To keep it down put the side of a tire over it.

When it is big enough you can take the fabric and tire side off. The plant should be big enough that any insect damage will not harm it severely. This is a great way to start off plants healthy without insects without having to use poison.

To read a better version of it, go here. I can't wait to try this next year!
http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2008/03/my-whizbang-squash-planting-secret.html


English Vintner