A feed of late, Christmas beets. 

Happy Holidays!

Happy Solstice!

The garden is officially put to bed, where there will not be much growth on anything in the cold frame or under row covers until late February or early March. Time to do some major garden planning indoors, with my feet up by the fire. Plans for next year include: expanding the asparagus beds, hopefully planting grape vines, hopefully get another haskap berry bush or two (I've got three already), adding some fruit trees (although we've very little room for them), and building a greenhouse. We had hoped to build a greenhouse this fall, however home renos came first and now there is not much point in tackling the project until the spring.  I have already been scouring seed catalogues and websites to pick out my choices for next year. I saved a lot of seeds this year from my own crops and before you know it, it's going to be February and time to start seeds again. 

Time to get Creative.

These days we still have lots to eat. We are currently enjoying lots of potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, rutabagas, brussel sprouts, broccoli, kale, swiss chard, squashes, parsnips,  green onions, mache, frozen beans, fermented beans, canned beets, green relish, leeks, frozen tomatoes and tomato sauce, spinach, bok choy, thyme, parsley, cilantro and arugula. During the summer months, making dinner is exceptionally easy. Mostly we eat what needs to be harvested, simply prepared, (since fresh veggies taste amazing!), with our protein source. Into the fall and winter months we still have lots to eat, even more so in the early fall around harvest time, and prepare lots of soups, stews, roast dinners and other hearty warm dishes. Instead of eating the same thing over and over, this can be a good time to get creative with what you have. When our ancestors used to grow most of their own food, this could present a problem. I have read about families sustaining themselves on potatoes and other root vegetables for the entire winter. Having a cold frame instantly increases the variety of food you can harvest during the winter months.  While still using only garden vegetables, it's a good time to mix it up and play around with recipes and combinations, in an attempt to prevent boredom.  I made this yesterday for my lunch. 

Spicy Thai Noodles

Cook one package of noodles according to package directions. 

(I used 100% buckwheat, soba noodles, you also could use rice noodles, brown rice noodles or kamut if gluten is tolerated. )

In a small saucepan, warm about 1/4 cup of sesame oil on medium-low heat. Add as much red chili pepper flakes as desired, I do not like things over spicy so my version is fairly mild, adding only about 5 pepper flakes.Remove from heat and  either strain the pepper flakes or leave them in the oil. Whisk in 1 tbsp organic peant butter, 1-2 tsps each of fish sauce, soya sauce, rice wine vinegar and season with fresh ginger and garlic if desired. 

Grate several carrots over the prepared noodles and add several slices of green onion. Pour the prepared sauce over the noodles and vegetables, tossing to coat. 

Garnish with cilantro and serve either warm or cold. Makes a great salad to take to work the following day. I ate this plain at lunch time and added leftover chicken pieces in the evening. Could be served over a bed of greens, sprouts or cilantro. Also, you could add extra vegetables like bok choy or broccoli.  

*Edited to Include: You're going to need to add a tsp. or two of honey to the sauce for the noodles to make this a Thai dish. I'm sure you all are quite savvy in the kitchen and realized this, I just had to confirm. Palm sugar or raw sugar would also work here for balancing flavors. 

My last paperwhite bulbs arranged as a centerpiece for the table, just needs some rose-hips, I'll grab some when I take the dog for a walk this morning. 

Sprouting Sprouts.

One for us, one for our chickens. I've given up on sprouting sprouts in a jar with water since sprouts in soil do just as well, if not better. I wet the soil first, add a thin layer of sprout seeds and ta-da, sprouts. My boyfriend and I will trim these for topping soup, salads, wraps, eggs etc... During the winter months, one naturally turns to more cooked foods, stews, soups, casseroles, topping food with sprouts allows you to add some extra nutrients,(sprouts are quite nutrient rich) and active enzymes. I always grow parsley indoors for the very same reasons. Plus, a nice green garnish looks great on a dish of cooked vegetables. We eat with our eyes at the same time as our mouth. Look for sprouting varieties, this one is an organic mix of lentils, radish, red clover and black mustard. Very tangy!

Compost.

We make really nice compost here with very little work. Here I have finished off this compost pile for the winter.  We started adding to this receptacle in the spring, and we are hoping it will be ready next summer. There is all kinds of kitchen scraps, garden waste, leaves, straw and other organic materials under a layer of leaves, straw and even chicken manure. To 'finish off' the compost, I add a really good layer of brown leaves from the yard, cover that with a few scoops of manure from the manure pile and top with a good layer of straw. Our bins, constructed from pallets, are positioned under a lot of trees, so after the compost is finished, Mother Nature herself adds another layer of leaves on top. The compost is then left alone until early spring time when I can then start to turn the compost frequently, once the weather has warmed up and biological activity increases. The pile has already shrunk down considerably from the time I 'finished' it, as it was to the very top and heaped in the middle. The compost doesn't do too much over the winter months, although if you dug into the middle of the pile you would find it quite warm and somewhat 'active', then quickly starts breaking down again in the spring. There's a large debate as to whether compost needs to be stirred or not, with some claiming it essential and others claiming it detrimental. I truly don't believe it is necessary, I dug into this pile the other day and it was surprisingly soil-like on the inside.  I will stir mine to try and accelerate the process, so I may use my own compost to dress my crops in the late spring/early summer. The chicken manure acts as an accelerant, due to it's very high nitrogen content, which will help the pile break down quicker, however you do not want to use too much. Balancing your nitrogen and carbon content of your compost is key for decomposition, although again there is different perspectives on this, usually a ratio of 3:1, browns (carbon) to greens (nitrogen) is recommended.  Fallen leaves are a great source of carbon and around the time they fall is around the time my compost receives them, although some people will save them year round to add regularly.  During the rest of the year I add other sources of carbon to balance things.  

Moisture content is important for compost, you do not want the pile to be too dry as biological activity will be greatly reduced. The same is true for too much moisture, usually damp to the touch, almost like a wrung out sponge, is best. 

The pallet receptacle behind this one is our current compost pile that we will continue to add to all winter. 

My First X-mas Wreath.

Instead of buying a wreath this year, as I usually do, I decided to get out the shears and make my own. It's far from perfect, although not too bad for a trial run. I know where I went wrong with this one now and can practice on fine tuning the craft while making more for gifts.   I love these reusable bows that keep well from year to year and next year I'd like to make some out of more earth friendly material, like burlap perhaps. We have no shortage of these lovely, large rose hips for decorating the wreaths. I should have made rosehip jelly this year.  

Venison.

My boyfriend had a successful hunting season and now we have a whole deer. Venison is a really nutrient dense meat and it's delicious if cooked properly. Last night we had venison chops over maple-garlic rutabaga puree and then made sausage patties with pork fat, sauted onions, apples, garlic, cinnamon, ginger, mustard powder, nutmeg and cloves. 

We froze them in a single layer, aka Individual Quick Freezing, so we can package them together and they won't stick together. They can then be plucked from the freezer and cooked for breakfast. They turned out really well and since you use the deer burger to make them, which IMO isn't good for too much else, we have a whole pile of these patties. Would make a great accompaniment to holiday breakfasts. 

Here is my recipe for the maple-garlic rutabaga puree. Simply make the recipe as is but use an immersion blender or food processor to puree the mash. 

Maple Mashed Turnips/Rutabagas

4 large turnips or Rutabagas                  1 tsp garlic grated

3 tbsp local maple syrup           2 tbsp butter or oil

1/2 tsp salt                     dash nutmeg or cinnamon

Peel and chop turnips/rutas into small pieces. Place in a saucepan and almost cover with water and boil until tender. Drain saving the water for soup stock if ambitious. Mash with the maple syrup, salt, butter and then sprinkle with nutmeg or cinnamon. Serve nice and warm.

We grew quite a few rutabagas this year since they store and keep really well. After a few frosts now they're extra sweet and tasty. 

Roasted my last pumpkin for pumpkin pudding this weekend. Making a pudding is a cool way to avoid gluten. I don't have a problem with gluten myself nor does my boyfriend, we just don't eat a lot of wheat or other grains. You simply prepare your pie filling, pumpkin in this case, and pour it into a greased baking dish instead of a pie crust and bake as you would your pie. The filling is the best part anyway, if you ask me.