Prevent Damage by Winterizing your Rain Barrel

We love our baby blue rain barrels.  They collect rainfall and we barely had to use city water for the garden this summer.

If you live in a place where winter weather dips below freezing frequently, like Ohio, it's important to winterize plastic rain barrels.  When water freezes and expands, it can crack the plastic walls or spigot joints.

Here's how:

1) Drain the barrel by opening up the spigot.

2) Remove the hose and store it in a garage or basement.

3) Turn rain barrel upside down to prevent winter rain from refilling.

4) Use flexible hose or reattach gutter to direct any winter rain away from your home's foundation.

If you have the space, you can move your barrel into the garage or a sheltered area, but most of us aren't that lucky.

My personal debate is whether to empty and flip them today or wait.  There's a vicious wind storm coming this afternoon that might blow empty barrels around the yard.  Of course the wind is also dropping temperatures, so water in the barrels will potentially freeze and crack them.  What would you do?

Thank you, neighbor Jan, for prompting this post!

Fall Garlic Sprouts Haiku

Snow falls on garlic.

Gardeners learn that fall sprouts

precede best harvest.

An Indoor Gardener I Am Not

Every year the months between November and April are a waiting game: will the indoor plants make it through the winter?

In addition to some non edible plants, this year I potted several herbs growing outdoors in mid November.  My hope is that we can use them in cooking throughout the winter.  In the case of the rosemary, perhaps we can replant it in the ground in the spring.

As much as I love vegetable gardening, I am simply inattentive to indoor plants.  They take up a huge corner of the dining room, yet I forget to water them.  Lil loves to water plants so I asked her to help me remember.  This year Alex is determined to get more lemon fruit so he is paying special attention to that tree.

As early as possible in the spring I will move the lemon tree, avacado, norfolk island pine and others back outside where they can breath fresh air and soak up regular water from rain.  If, of course, they manage to survive my neglect.

Hounds in the Kitchen Gift Guide 2009

The holiday shopping days are upon us.  I put together this list of presents ideal for the locavore, gardener, or cook on your gift list.

If you have the time, please shop locally to support your local economy and small businesses.  If you prefer online shopping, click on the pictures for links.

Local ingredients - visit Local Harvest or your farmer's market to gift a CSA subscription.  Alternatively, put together a basket of local ingredients from your area.

Unique ingredients - Recently the folks at Marx Foods gave me 13 salt samples to review.  A sampler of ingredients (Marx also sells meat, mushroom, and sea vegetable samplers) would be most welcome in a food loving home.  You can also find specialty items at a gourmet grocery stores like Hill's Market or Weiland's in Columbus.

Cast Iron Cookware - Our iron skillet and griddle see an enormous amount of use.  Cooks will appreciate that a gift of cast iron is a gift that lasts generations.  If you are on a budget, cast iron cookware can be found with careful searching at thrift stores.

Food Mill - a manual powered puree maker is perfect for pumpkin, apple, and tomato sauce.  I have found food mills at thrift a few times too.

Stoneware - A pizza stone and stone baking pan are must haves in my opinion.  I recently received stoneware muffin pans and they are wonderful too.  Stoneware heats more evenly than glass or metal and naturally nonstick seasoning forms a perfect crust on baked goods.

Vacuum Sealer - not a must have, but a nice tool for gardeners and those who purchase in bulk.  I recently posted all my thoughts about vacuum sealers.

Plants - Most gardeners I know are plant collectors.   Gift givers could choose a specialty indoor plant (tropical fruit trees like lemon and bay leaf are fun) or gift certificate to a local nursery.

Seeds & Tools - Many seed suppliers are sold out right now but will begin restocking in the spring.  Seeds of Change and Seed Savers Exchange (my favorite suppliers of rare and heirloom seeds) both have gift certificates available.  They also sell quality gardening tools.

Cool Clothes - Columbus local shop Skreened prints your designs (or choose from thousands of independent designs) on American Apparel ethical t-shirts and totes.  They ship worldwide and have an awesome deal  currently of 15% off + $10 giftcard on purchases over $35.  Use code EVERGREEN at checkout.  I'm partial to those friend's shops Earth Flutter and Restaurant Widow.

Earth Friendly Water Bottle  - Gardening and cooking is hard work.  Our store, Baying Hound, sells a wide variety of stainless steel water bottles, carriers, and eco accessories.  Locals get free delivery and the coupon code FREESHIPPING gets free shipping nationwide on orders over $40. You didn't think I could write a gift guide without including Baying Hound, did you?

Donations - Many families are doing away with tangible gifts and replacing them with charitable donations.  If your recipient is of a like mind, consider donating to a food preservation society like Slow Food, organization for ecological farming like Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association, or a community garden.

Happy gift giving this holiday season!

Putting the Straw In Strawberries

Strawberries are named such because gardeners traditionally cover them in straw during the fall.  The straw mulch both prevents weeds from growing in early spring and protect the delicate plants from cleaving through frozen soil. Now is the time to put straw on your beds in central Ohio.  I happened to score some free straw from Giant Eagle the other day (it had been used for a pumpkin display) so I knew it was time for strawberry maintenance.

First, I gently weeded and raked the strawberry bed.  I rearranged some runners.  These will be the young plants next year and I want them to grow in the bed where older plants are dying off.  I found this confused white berry.

Then I covered with a few inches of straw.

In the spring I'll remove some of the straw so as to not smother the berries. Because I have a whole bale of straw, I covered the garlic beds and around perennial herbs too.  Easy mulch!

Preparing for a Spring Garden

It is never too early to prepare for a spring garden.  Whether you are planning your first garden or are an experienced gardener, fall and winter offer time for reflection and forming new habits.

If you are making a new garden or bed, lay out some newspapers or cardboard now in the spot you wish to create the new garden.  They will compost into the earth over the winter and prevent weeds from cropping up.  You can turn them under or build a raised bed right on top in the spring.

Composting is a perfect activity to start in the fall.  Build a simple bin and place it in an out of the way area in your yard.  You could also start up a vermicomposting bin inside.  Keep a bucket on your counter for vegetable scraps and get into the habit of collecting and dumping those in your compost regularly.  Outside bins also need brown matter.  Instead of subscribing to leaf collection, add those to your bin. You will be rewarded with black gold to add to your garden beds in the spring.

Install or maintain a rain barrel.  If you do not have a rain barrel, make plans for getting one.  Our favorite local suppliers are the rain brothers.  A barrel collects free rain water you can use to water your garden.  If you already have a rain barrel, empty it near the first frost and turn it upside down to prevent burst from frozen water.  Fall is a good time to reinforce the stand.

Ask for garden tools, books, and accessories for holiday gifts.  Very shortly I will be publishing a post about best gifts for gardeners and cooks.  I just can't do it before Halloween.  It isn't right to talk about xmas before Halloween.

Read, measure, and plan.  Visit your local library and extension service website to learn about something new.  Measure your existing or perspective garden plot.  Then, plan your spring garden!  Some people like to write lists of what they will plant, others map it out on graph paper.  Plangarden.com is a good resource for making an online printable plan.

If you seek personal advice, I am offering garden consultations.  Email rachelAThoundsinthekitchenDOTcom to schedule an appointment.  Of course I will continue to provide pertinent posts on this blog as well.

Rest. Enjoy the natural seasonal break that cold weather provides.

Make it Yourself: Pesto

'Tis the end of the basil growing season as a deep frost looms tonight. What to do with the all this basil? Make pesto, of course!

Every year at this time we make a huge batch of pesto and freeze it. Frozen pesto is the gem of the freezer. It’s great to bring to dinner with friends, give as gifts, and makes a great lifesaver for late night snacks and those “What am I going to make to dinner?” moments.

Pesto ingredients: • 5 cloves of garlic • 1/4 cup of pine nuts, toasted (optional) • 2 cups of fresh basil leaves • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded (optional, omit to make vegan) • Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste • 1/2 cup olive oil

Food processors make the most even texture, but if you don’t have one or prefer a more rustic approach, you can always use a mortar and pestle or just chop all ingredients and stir together.

In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast pine nuts for 3-5 minutes (until golden brown).

Combine garlic and pine nuts in the food processor and pulse until chopped. Add basil leaves, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Pulse until blended. Slowly pour the olive oil in while the machine is running. Make sure to scrape the sides then pulse again until thoroughly mixed. Taste and re-season with salt and pepper, if needed.

For storage: this pesto is purposefully thick. Load into small jars within an inch of the top. Top off with olive oil to the very top of the jar before putting on the lid—this keeps the pesto underneath green and fresh for freezing.

If you don’t plan to give the pesto as gifts, and want to keep a stash for you and your family, pesto can easily be frozen in ice cube trays. Simply pop out once frozen and store in freezer bags.

When ready to use, simple set out on the counter or in a shallow pool of lukewarm water to thaw. Once thawed, you can keep it in the fridge and use the whole jar, or just take what you need and toss it back in the freezer—just be sure to replace that layer of olive oil on top first.

{Modified from the Freezer to Table class I led with Holly Davis earlier this year at Wild Goose Creative.}

What's Growing: October 10, 2009

It has been a long time since I entered a What's Growing post.  The end of the summer was so busy that I ran out of time to photograph and post on a weekly basis.  I hope to be more disciplined next year not only to share with other Columbus gardeners, but to keep records for myself.

The garden is in a bit of transition now.  Most summer crops were pulled last weekend.  Herbs are still producing.  All the herbs for last week's Kids Cook class came from our garden.

Fall produce is just getting started.  Our lettuces are delayed because birds ate the tops two weeks ago.  I put bird netting on and they are recovering nicely.

Spinach is almost ready to eat.

The second planting of squash is trying to hang in.  There are lots of blossoms but not any fruit yet.  We planted a bit late, so the squash might not end up producing this year.

We could harvest the beet tops now but we will leave them on the plants to produce strong roots.

We are still eating the spring planted kale and new kale seeds are sprouting.

What's growing in your garden?