pics from the farm

Be gone slugs: Great tips on getting ride of slugs in your garden!

This Spring and Summer in the Northwest has been colder and wetter then normal. There has been a battle between the slugs and myself. I have been going out at night with a flash light putting the slugs in buckets. My chickens love this mid night snack! I have been doing much research on trying to come up with that perfect concoction to get ride of them.

Here is what has worked great in my garden this year:

1. After you have your morning coffee, save your coffee grounds, place them in a thick line around your plants. The slugs will not go over the line. When the slugs go over the line the roughness will cut their skin and even better the caffine in the grounds will emediately dehydrate them and they will dye with in minutes!

2. Get yourself some wood chips, Make sure the chips have not been treated with any chemicals. The wood chips are too rough for the slugs to go over.

3. Buy a straw bale and place it around your plants, this method is a double wammy because you can mulch around your garden and you can protect your plants from slugs all in one project. The straw is too rough and the slugs will get stuck on the dry straw when attempting to cross over it.

4. Citrus: leave lemon, orange and grapefruit rinds out overnight near slug prone areas in your garden. Collect them covered i with slugs and trash them.

5. Plant mint or sage around your plants that slugs love such as lettuce.

6. Mix equal parts of vinegar and water in a spray bottle. Spray this mixture on the slugs and snails, NOT ON THE PLANTS, if this concoction is sprayed on your plants, it could kill them

I have had much luck with all of these methods to get ride of the slugs in my garden!

From my garden to your garden . Stay Green
Chapin with Urban Backyard Farming

Awesome Organic make @ home bug and mildew spray for your garden

Make The Garlic Oil Solution

• Soak 3 ounces (85 g) of minced garlic in 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of mineral oil for 24 hours
• Strain out the garlic and add 1 pint (600 ml) of water and 1 teaspoon of liquid dish soap to the remaining liquid
• Mix together well

To Spray Plants

• Mix 1 to 2 tablespoons of the garlic-soap mixture with 1 pint (600 ml) water and spray plants

Planting, harvesting and cooking Swiss Chard

As I work in the garden today planting fall carrots, beets, cauliflower and many more yummy stuff, I have plenty of Swiss chard. Swiss chard can be a hard one. I would like to explain how to grow, harvest and cook with this plant

Planting Swiss chard:
Plant in early April through August.
To have an on-going harvest, plant every 6-8 weeks.
This plant will become large, at that point you can cut it back to about 2-3 inches tall. It will continue to grow even if you have cut it back.

Harvest:
Harvest small young leaves for salads and stir frys.
Larger leaves can be a little bitter but are super in casseroles and soups

Cooking:
You can place chard in any recipe that calls for Spinach or Kale
It is great sautéed, in salads, in veggie enchiladas.

Here are two recipes that I have come up with that my family loves( including my four young kids)

Swiss Chard Pesto

3 cups cut up Swiss chard
1 hand full cilantro
2 cups Parmasian cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix chard, cilantro, nuts, salt and pepper and parmesan cheese in blender. Once everything is blended, slowly blend in olive oil to mixture. Store in refrigerator for up to 7 days or freeze and store up to three months.





Swiss Chard and Spinch Gratin

Ingredients:

2 lb spinach
3/4 cup olive oil
2 lb Swiss chard
2 lb zucchini
Salt o taste
1 cup bread crumbs
1 cup cooked rice
Salt and pepper to taste

Step 1
Wash the spinach well. Remove the coarse stalks. Chop rather finely. Using a skillet , cook spinach in 2 tbspoons olive oil under medium heat until wilted. Drain and put into a large bowl.

Step 2
Wash and chop the Swiss chard. Using the same skillet, cook chard with 2 tbspoons olive oil until wilted. Drain and add to spinach.

Step 3
Wash and trim unpeeled zucchini, add about 4 tablespoons olive oil to the skillet. Sauté the zucchini, tossing until just tender.

Step 4
Add zucchini to spinach and chard, season with salt to taste and mix in the already cooked rice and garlic. Transfer to a well oiled baking dish. Spoon 3-4 tablespoons olive oil over the top.

Step 5
Bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes

Step 6
Beat the eggs well, pour them over the vegetable mixture. Sprinkle the top with bread crumbs.
Return to the oven and bake until the eggs are just set, about 10-15 minutes.

Organics can be expensive, think Seasonal and Local

As a mom of four children, pets,a house I know how fast bills can pile up. As I wall through different grocery stores, day dreaming about buying all this ORGANIC fancy stuff. There were times when I thought to myself well I really should spend all this money on organics for my family but I then come back to reality and remember how much is in my checking account. For a very long time I have believed in local, raw and seasonal. In my mind this is totally do able. No you can not have fresh strawberries in December. My kids and I go to you- pick lots for our blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, apples and pumpkins. We grow everything else. Once a month I bake about 15 loaves of bread and muffins for each month. I can, blanch and freeze and preserve everything in my garden. We make our own soups and vegetable stocks from the garden. I freeze my herbs in ice cube trays to add to soups and different dishes in the winter. There are many ways to safe money and be extremely happy and heathly. I have just started this blog and am excited to share all my well off the wall ways of planting, harvesting and cooking from the garden and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I like sharing it
Chapin with Urban Backyard Farming

Harvesting the summer garden

As much as I love eating from the garden, I also love love preserving this wonderful produce for the winter months. Here is a wonderful coleslaw recipe that can be frozen and then pulled out during the winter months. Try it, you will love it!

Freezer Coleslaw

Ingredients:
1 medium head of cabbage
1 carrot
1 green pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 onion
1 cup vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon celery seeds
2 cups sugar

Directions:
1. Cut cabbage and onions.
2. Mix with salt and let stand for one hour.
3. Mix the vinegar, water, mustard seed, celery seed, and sugar.
4. Bring all of this to a boil and boil for 1 minute.
5. Let cool until Luke warm.
6. Cut up carrot and green pepper and mix with the cabbage.
7. Pour the vinegar mixture over the cabbage, place in containers and freeze.



Enjoy!!!!, Chapin with Urban Backyard Farming
7.

Plant your fall garden

As we are still enjoying the sunny August weather in the Northwest, you need to start planting your fall/winter garden. The reasoning behind this is to allow the plants to get big enough to handle the first frost. The difference between spring/summer plants and fall/winter plants is simply how cold hardy they are. Here is a list of seeds that should be planted in August for a great ongoing Fall/winter harvest:

Swiss Chard
Spinach
Carrots
Radishes
Kale
Cabbage
Beets
Lettuce
Arugula
Peas
Brussel sprouts
Potatoes

I hope this list helps you get going on your fall/winter garden. There is no time like right now to plant up these crops in your garden!