Starting your veggies early

Okay, so much for being optimistic. It has been snowing pretty much ever since I put out the hummingbird feeder so down it came. It is pretty wet snow so not much is sticking but snow just the same. Such is life. I felt pity for the birds so I put out another suet cake because of the snow. Hopefully if there is a rat he is long gone....

I did see a huge black squirrel though and must have been 20 Stellar Jays. I hope they know the gravy train is over once Spring is here. Okay, maybe I will still throw them a few peanuts if I'm outside. I'm a sucker for their pointy heads. They are pretty noisy though.

I went to another seminar at Amsterdam Greenhouse yesterday on starting your veggies early. Quite informative and I bought a couple of patio potato bags to try on the back patio. I always have way too many potatoes to plant since they don't sell half bags and I thought this might be fun. It will be great for those early potatoes as you can open up the sides and steal the tiny tasty potatoes out of them. I guess they can actually be planted now. Okay, maybe not up the mountain where we are but soon.

The other thing that you can plant outside now are peas and of course kale. They said to dig a trench about 12 inches deep for the peas and put in some compost in the bottom. Plant your peas and then cover them up with some soil but don't fill to the top. As they start to grow, keep adding soil. The trench keeps them protected as they are deeper and the plants are stronger by the time they actually get to the top. Makes sense and I think I will try it. My problem is that I only have the weekends and if it rains constantly like it has been it is difficult to get down to the garden. It would be lovely to have a garden outside the back door.  Of course I could start a few things under my grow lights but I might wait a couple of weeks. I'm feeling a bit lazy....

Despite the snow up on the mountain, Spring is coming, I'm sure of it.

Trying to be optimistic!

It is February 17th and I put out my hummingbird feeder. My hubby thinks I'm crazy and I will admit that I probably am. I usually wait until March 15th but I can't wait. I need to be optimistic or I will go crazy. It takes my mind away from all the other things going on right now.

Watching them is one of my favorite things in the world to do and I am so looking forward to seeing these feisty little guys again.

My feeders (I have four) have perches on them so they can rest while they are drinking. I don't put them all out at the same time but I usually just switch them out so there is no waiting. They get rather mad at you if you take the food away even for a few minutes. One of my best moments was when I was carrying the feeder outside and a little guy couldn't wait, landed on the feeder and started drinking as I was holding it. He kept looking at me but still kept drinking while I tried not to move.

The formula is simple 1 part sugar to 4 parts water and boil for a couple of minutes. Let cool and that is it. Never add food coloring and honestly I wouldn't go for those pre-packaged food either. You don't need to do it. If it is hot outside the feeders should be cleaned and changed every 2-3 days. I don't have that problem where we are living now as I am in hummingbird heaven. Last year at peak season I went through 4 cups of sugar water a day. I can't go away on holidays during the summer!

I'm going to revamp the back yard so that there are lots of flowers for them but it all takes time.

Biscotti Rye Bread

Here is a picture of my rye bread. It didn't turn out as great as I had hoped. It ended up looking more like Biscotti than bread. It had a nice flavour but it was so darn flat. Makes quite skinny sandwiches.

I toasted some this morning and had to cut it in half as it was too long, again looks like biscotti. It did taste pretty good with Almond butter though.

Yes, I think putting it in a loaf pan might have helped. Anybody out there have any great rye bread tips?

Happy first family day BC!

It is a bit drizzly outdoors today so the perfect time to stay inside. The little squawking Stellar Jays were making a racket outside (early) so I threw them a few peanuts to keep them quiet. I have been trying to wean them off (good luck with that one) as my hubby says that he thought he saw a rat in the back yard. It was dark though so maybe it was the squirrel. Of course that is enough to scare me and he knows it! He hates the messy peanut shells around the yard.

To take advantage of the lovely day off, I decided to make some bread. A friend from work has made the Rye bread recipe on the back of the Rogers No Additive Rye bread so I thought I would give it a whirl. She said it turned out really well and I figured that this would make up partially for not trying anything new last week.

Years ago I fell in love with Elsie's Rye Bread from the Bakery of the same name on Yew Street in Kitsilano right near the beach. It was heaven and it sold out fast, so when I was down there I would buy as much as I could afford and keep it in the freezer. It was lovely toasted with natural peanut butter. Yum, I can still taste it. Sadly Elsie's is not there anymore replaced by something more trendy I guess but I still miss their bread.

It will be interesting to see how mine turns out.

Rogers Basic Rye Bread

Mix together

• 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 teaspoon of honey
• 1 tbsp yeast

Mix in small bowl and let proof for 10 minutes until foamy

While yeast is proofing mix together the following in a large bowl:

• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp caraway seeds
• 1 3/4 cups warm water
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 cups in additive dark rye flour
• 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Add everything together and start kneading

Place in greased bowl and let rise

It should double it's size

Shape into two loaves and after resting 20 minutes slash the tops, cover and let rise again

I'm not big on giving detailed instructions as they are on the back of the bag. It is pretty easy. You basically knead everything together, put in greased bowl, cover, let it rise, punch it down when it rises, shape into two loaves, rest a few min, make slits in top, cover, let rise again and bake at 375˚ for 40-50 minutes. I'm thinking that perhaps these might have been nicer in two loaf pans instead of free form. Oh well.....

Okay and now while it is rising I'm going to start another mini outdoor greenhouse with Columbine!

Will post a picture later of the finished product and how it compares to Elsie's

Almost Spring

Here in the Wet Coast it felt like spring today. My little plot was pretty much just as I had left it all covered up in leaves. The garlic is coming up a bit. The leaves did their job and the soil looked great underneath.

Surprisingly there was quite a bit of activity out there today. I think everyone is chomping at the bit to get going. I have to content myself with putting lime in the beds for now but it won't be long.

I am kind of falling by the wayside with my try a new recipe a week resolution. My excuse is that I didn't feel that great so I might have to do two next week. I think I would like to try another from a beautiful cookbook that I received for Christmas "What Katie Ate." The design of the book is gorgeous and since Katie is a food photographer and graphic artist the results are quite stunning. I tried a shrimp and sun dried tomato fettuccine dish which was really good. Someone else blogged about a Vietnamese salad which looked interesting so that might be my next venture. She has a website as well where she posts recipes and some of her beautiful photography.

Because I enjoy good food and like making it that is probably why I grow my own food. That and the fact that it is pretty rewarding to watch things grow. I haven't quite decided whether I will grow anything unusual this year, probably not, but I do plan to grow lots more herbs, a different type of kale and some rainbow swiss chard. I'm trying now to flag any recipes that use some of the more unusual vegetables to try when they are ready. My problem is I get so busy and then forget where the recipes are or where I saw them. I definitely want to try working more kale into my diet. It is pretty easy to sneak into things.

Pussy willow at the garden

Shopping for the Garden

Today was my starting seeds indoors seminar at Amsterdam Greenhouses. It lasted about an hour and I did learn a few things. Some things I knew but it was interesting and nice to be in the company of other gardeners. I think the most important thing is not to start things too early or they get leggy. I have made that mistake before! The other is to get your plants accustomed to being outside gradually. I have those wonderful new grow lights that my hubby bought me for Christmas so I'm hoping for success!

There was an air of excitement as people started arriving and you could tell how eager everyone was for spring!

I loved being in the greenhouse and looking at all the rows of plants for the new season.

Some of the containers being planted for the coming season. Hard to believe that in a couple of months they will be gorgeous and probably $50.00. It would be so lovely to have a greenhouse that was heated. A girl can dream!

This was my score for today. In my excitement I bought two packets of cilantro but will return one in two weeks when I go for my second seminar. I bought some really beautiful Dahlia tubers for my backyard garden. I love, love them. They love to be cut and they are so beautiful in the house in summer. My sister grew lovely ones when she had a garden and I hope I can do the same. They were a bit expensive but I will try and keep them for next year too. I also bought some starter mix for growing some seeds as well as a hodge podge of other seeds. I did bring my list so I didn't get totally out of control.

Tomorrow is supposed to be nice so my hubby and I will make a trip to the garden as I want to add some organic lime to it. Except where the potatoes will be of course. I'm curious to see how my garlic is doing. It is so nice to be able to do this stuff early.

Saucy Sunday

Actually this was last weeks dinner. Not really a new recipe but one that is becoming one of my favorites. I got the onion idea from a Bon Appetit recipe. In a dutch oven I took a can of whole tomatoes (I use good Italian ones) and place a couple of cut raw onions. I let this simmer for a while. I also added a splash of red wine. After it has simmered for about half an hour I added my last (sigh) package of frozen roasted tomatoes from the garden as well as two cups of frozen grated zucchini, (also from my garden). To this I added good sized ground beef meatballs. You could mix ground beef with pork sausage as well but I didn't have any on hand. To the ground beef mixture I added some chopped onion, breadcrumbs and some dried oregano. Let simmer again with the lid on until the meatballs are done. Meanwhile I cooked the fettuccine until al dente; drained and added a spash of olive oil and a good tablespoon of pesto.

It was pretty yummy. 

This bird seed bread was awesome too and I was pretty proud of myself. It makes two loaves and is quite easy to make. This was from a great bread website called The Knead for Bread. You will find the recipe there.

Seedy Saturday

After a very frustrating week, it is finally Saturday. I'm trying to keep positive so I decided to try to grow my own seeds... early... really early.

This is an idea from Keven Lee Jacobs website A Garden for the House. I bought six packets of seeds and my thought is that when I have enough milk jugs I would plant them. Having only three so far I decided to plant delphiniums, bee balm and foxglove. The delphinium seeds were very tiny and there sure wasn't many of them. You could hardly see them and I'm estimating maybe 10 seeds. Actually all the seeds were pretty tiny but the other two packets had more in them so I only used about half. I bought McKenzie for the Bee Balm and Delphinium and Mr. Fothergill's for the Foxglove. I would have liked to have bought West Coast seeds but unfortunately Home Depot doesn't carry them. Next weekend when I go to my seed starting seminar I will be sure to get the good stuff at the garden centre.

In the winter I get kind of desperate to grow things. It will be interesting to see if this works.