Being A Green Mama

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Growing Jerusalem Artichokes

Jerusalem artichokes (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Sunchokes Jerusulem Artichokes (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jerusalem artichokes (Helianthus tuberosus), sometimes called sunchokes, have enjoyed a revival in popularity for the past several years as more people look for alternatives to the potato.

Sunchoke tubers can be eaten in many of the same ways that potatoes can, with the exception that the carbohydrates in sunchokes are mostly in the form of inulin, a diabetic-friendly fiber without the dietary restrictions of the potato.

I don't know how the name Jerusalem artichoke got started, this lovely sunflower relative is native to North America and is no relation to the artichoke plant.

As a native North American plant, sunchokes are easily grown. They tolerate drought and a wide variety of soil conditions, just be sure to provide them with full sun and a moderate amount of water.

You can purchase tubers at most nurseries in the early spring. Provide a well-drained soil and be sure not to overwater. Sunchokes, like their sunflower cousins, originated on the Great Plains, and as such are used to an arid grassland habitat.

If you live in a place in which the ground doesn't freeze over during winter, you're in luck - leave your sunchoke tubers right where they are, and feel free to dig them up when you're ready to eat some.

The tubers can stay like this all winter, and any remaining tubers will start a new crop of sunchokes next spring.

If you live in a place where the ground does freeze over, dig out the tubers you plan to eat in advance and store them in a cool, dry place. The rule of thumb is that any tubers smaller than a kernel of popcorn should remain in the ground to produce next year's crop.

A word of caution - sunchokes are very prolific and can over take a garden if you don't keep them in check. So don't be afraid to eat plenty of those tubers, and enjoy!

Will you try growing sunchokes this year?

Monday, April 9, 2012

All Eyes On Indigo

Extract of Indigo plant applied to paper (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Baptisia tinctoria 001 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Indigo dye has been prized by humans for thousands of years. During colonial times in America, small cubes of indigo could be used in place of currency.

There are a few plants referred to as indigo. Knowing the differences between these plants will help you to provide for their very different growing requirements.

Baptisia tinctoria is the false or wild indigo that grows throughout North America. While the rhizome can be soaked in water to produce a blue dye, it is not the famous indigo dye plant - the so-called true indigo (Indigofera tinctoria).

In most parts of North America, false indigo can be found in the wild or in flower gardens. Baptisia thrives in most temperatures (as far north as zone 3) and a wide variety of soil types. The flowers may be yellow, blue, pink or white, but the prepared rhizomes all produce a blue dye.

If you're interested in growing the true indigo, you'd do best to invest in a greenhouse as this plant is native to India and needs positively steamy temperatures to survive. It may grow well in Florida, but won't do well in the rest of the country unless grown under glass either in the home or the greenhouse.

Two alternatives for those interested in growing their own blue dye plant are European Woad (Isatis tinctoria) and Japanese indigo (Polygonum tinctorium), both of which also produce blue dye.

These plants are a happy medium between the super-fussy true indigo and the super-easy false indigo. They need warm temperatures, but it doesn't need to be steamy and the plants can be grown outdoors in much of Norther America, as long as you provide them with plenty of sun, water and fertilizer.

Dye from the Japanese indigo is produced from the leaves, rather than the rhizome, which makes for easier harvesting that can be extended over several weeks if desired.

Have you ever tried growing any of the plants called indigo?

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Sunday, April 8, 2012

Hops - It's Not Just What The Easter Bunny Does

Hopys (Humulus lupulus) Hops The only place I know in the area where wild hops appear every year. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hops (Photo credit: Scout Seventeen)

I am excited to finally be able to grow a plant I have long admired but never had the room for - hops!

Husband is excited too as he wants to start brewing his own beer, with fresh (or freshly dried) hops from our own yard.

I don't drink beer, but I do like to take cheesecloth bags of dried hops and sew them into sleep pillows. The scent of the flowers is hypnotic.

Hops needs plenty of room - during the active growth season (from early May to mid-July) hops can grow as much as a foot per day. By the time the flowers are ready to harvest, you may have a 25 foot long vine.

When selecting a site, be sure that it has plenty of vertical space, direct sunlight for most of the day and easy access to water.

Hops likes a rich, neutral soil so be sure to fertilize the site with plenty of manure or compost.

Hops needs a strong framework on which to grow. You can tie and grow the vines along fences, build a framework or trellises, or use the side of a building strung with heavy-duty twine for support.

At Rainbow's Acre, we're planning to grow hops alongside the wall of the garage (which is oriented to the southwest).

Plant hops rhizomes as early in spring as possible after the last frost. Mulch deeply to retain moisture. When the vine reaches about a foot in length, choose 2-3 of the strongest shoots and start training them up your trellis or framework. Trim back any side shoots to keep the plant strong and healthy.

The flower cones are ready to harvest when they feel papery and light. You may want to wear gloves while harvesting as some people are sensitive to this plant. Cut cones from the stems to avoid damaging these fragile flowers.

Cones can be used fresh or dried. The drying process can take a few days, depending on the method you use. Be sure that the cones are thoroughly dry before storing them though, or you'll end up with a moldy mess.

Would you try growing hop vines?

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Growing Goumi Berries

Gumi1 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Fruits de Goumi (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Goumi (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Have you ever heard of a goumi bush? No, I'm not making that name up - that is the common name for Eleagnus multiflora - another little-known berry that is a nutritional power house.

Goumi berries are a great source of vitamins A and E, and have the highest lycopene content of any food - even higher than the widely touted tomato.

These plants are originally from the far East, but if you live in the northeastern US, you may have seen goumi bushes without realizing it as the plants have naturalized over much of that region.

If you're in need of a lovely yet edible hedge row, consider giving goumi bushes a try. Goumi is a fast-growing bush, reaching heights of 10 feet (for southern cultivars) or 4-6 feet for cultivars hardy as far north as zone 4.

Goumi bushes are particularly useful interplanted with other fruit bushes as goumi is a nitrogen-fixer.

That's right, instead of needing fertilizer, this bush fixes nitrogen in the soil, and any excess will be available to fertilize and potentially increase fruit production in nearby plants.

Plant goumi in most soils, provided that the site is well-drained and receives an adequate amount of sunlight (half-day or more).

Goumi will tolerate drought and even harsh seaside habitats and pollution, making them an excellent edible bush for urban environments. Even better, they are also relatively free of problems from diseases or pests.

Goumi bushes produce lightly fragrant flowers in April or May, followed by juicy, bright red berries in early summer, during the gap-time between strawberries and blackberries.

The berries can be eaten fresh, provided they are fully ripe. Before ripening, the berries taste more sour than sweet., although they can be used in pies, jams and preserves at that point, particularly in any recipe calling for gooseberries.

Goumi berries can also be dried or even pickled - an incredibly unique flavor combining sweet, sour and salt.

Expect up to 25 pounds of fruit from each goumi bush. They are self-fertile, meaning you don't have to plant them in pairs but can grow just one bush if you'd like.

I've never seen goumi berries available commercially. At Rainbow's Acre we plan to grow at least two bushes, not only for health and variety but also so that the berry monsters can get their fix during that gap between strawberry harvest and blackberry/raspberry harvest.

So, are you ready to give growing goumi bushes a try?

F Is For Fenugreek

Fenugreek Leaves is known as Qasuri Methi in urdu, Qasure is a district in Punjab near Lahore. Qasuri Methi is known form its flavor. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

January 31 2008 day 112 - Sprouting fenugreek, and reducing insulin (Photo credit: DeathByBokeh)

Fenugreek seeds. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) is a very versatile, healthful herb, and surely one that should be grown in every kitchen garden.

Traditionally used for weight loss and blood sugar control in the East, fenugreek has gained a lot of attention in the West in recent years by those wishing to use this herb medicinally.

Fenugreek has also traditionally been used for chest complaints, arthritis and to increase milk supply in nursing mothers.

Fenugreek seeds can be used as a spice, particularly in East Indian dishes. The seeds can also be used as a medicinal tea or sprouted on your countertop and grown a couple days for use as a tasty microgreen.

These microgreens can be eaten as is or cooked with meals as an interesting substitute for cilantro or parsley.The leaves of the fully-grown fenugreek plant can be used in the same way.

Fenugreek is incredibly easy to grow. You can buy seed packets at a nursery and get about 50 seeds for a couple bucks. Better still, head to an Indian or Asian grocery and pick up a sack of 500 or more fenugreek seeds for a couple bucks.

Soak the seeds in water overnight, then plant in pots or plots the next morning. Be sure to add some compost as fenugreek likes a more fertile soil than most herbs.

Within days you should see sprouts peeking their heads up and by month's end you'll be snipping off leaves to add to the evening meal or salad.

If you plan to grow the fenugreek for the seeds, stop clipping off any leaves when seed pods start developing as this is when the leaves start tasting bitter. Harvest the long yellow seed pods in mid-Autumn. After drying the pods out, store in a dry, dark space for use throughout the year.

Fenugreek does not take kindly to transplanting, so while I would recommend moving many herbs from the summer garden to a pot on a windowsill for winter, I would not recommend doing that with fenugreek. If you want to grow it on a windowsill indoors, sprout some fresh seed and plant directly in the pot in which it will grow.

At Rainbow's Acre, we're lucky to have a raised-bed kitchen garden plot right outside the kitchen door. This is where we'll be growing our fenugreek and some other herbs and greens that are best used fresh from the garden.

Are you going to give growing fenugreek a try?

Friday, April 6, 2012

Growing Eggplant Is (Almost) Easy

Three varieties of Eggplant (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Italian Eggplants; Melanzane italiane; Italienische Auberginen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Thai eggplants at a market in Guam (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Aubergines from http://www.usda.gov/oc/photo/98c0468.jpg (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Eggplant, aubergine, when I was little I knew them by their Hindi name - baigan. Whatever name you call them by, they're delicious.

Eggplants come in a wide array of sizes, shapes and colors from creamy white to shiny black, purple, red and even pink. It would be easy to grow a rainbow garden using nothing but different varieties of eggplant.

But to tell the truth, eggplants are not that easy to grow. Honestly, they can be downright difficult.

If you happen to live in a warm, humid area with long summers, you'll grow eggplant with ease.

For those that live elsewhere, let's just say you'll have to make some accomodations if you want to be successful.

South Dakota has the blazing summer temperatures that eggplants thrive in, but we lack the humidity. I used to stubbornly try to grow eggplant every summer, only to end up with spindly, weak fruits on plants that bolted.

I realized I had to give in and admit I couldn't meet the high water requirements needed to grow eggplant.

I did not give up though. After doing some research, I found that there are miniature varieties available that do not need nearly as much water as do the full-size fruits.

Mini eggplants only reach about three feet in height, making them perfect for small space, urban or container gardening.

Children love mini-eggplants too, not only because of their kid-friendly size but also because they are nearly seedless and have a skin so tender you don't need to peel them prior to cooking.

One of the most important things to successfully growing eggplants is site selection. Choose a site that gets a lot of sun during the day, is sheltered from winds, and has deep, fertile, well-drained soil.

Raised beds in sunny, sheltered locations are excellent for growing eggplant, provided that you mulch the bed deeply to retain moisture around the roots.

If you live in a less than ideal climate, you have a few options. Either grow eggplant in a greenhouse, in raised beds under floating row covers for the first month, or in black pots (which hold heat better and will raise the temperature of the soil by as much as 10 degrees).

No matter which of these methods you choose, you'll want to start eggplant seeds indoors or buy starts from a nursery. Plant the starts or seedlings outdoors well after the last frost.

As an alternative (especially if you're growing in pots) set the plants outdoors during the day and bring the pots indoors during cooler nights. Eggplants need evenly warm soil in order to thrive.

If you've survived all of this and find yourself with a plant full of baby eggplants, the next difficulty is figuring out when to harvest. Take note of the "days to harvest" listed on your seed packets, count the days out on a calendar and make a notation to start checking the fruits about a week prior.

Harvest too early or too late and the fruit will taste bitter. Generally speaking,the fruits are ready when they reach 4-5 inches in length. If your fruits start looking dull, they're overripe and will taste bitter and be full of seeds.

Eggplants are best eaten fresh, although they can be pickled. If you want to move past eggplant parmesan, try baba ganoush (a delicious eggplant dip), grilled eggplant, or eggplant lightly sauteed with extra virgin olive oil and basil clipped fresh from your garden.

And enjoy! You've earned it.

Have you ever tried growing eggplant?

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Daikon At Your Doorstep

Picture of a pile of Daikon (giant white radish) in a supermarket in Japan. Deutsch: Daikon japanischer Typ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)The first time I met a daikon radish was at a macrobiotic cooking class many years ago.

It was love at first bite - rather than the sharp taste of the salad radishes I was used to, the daikon had a more earthy, tempered and pleasant taste. I was hooked.

I have grown daikon many times since that long ago day, despite having given up my feeble attempts at the macrobiotic lifestyle years ago.

Daikon may not be too widely known in the U.S., but they are one of the most widely grown crops in Japan and other parts of Asia. And with good cause; every part of this delicious vegetable can be used.

The tops can be substituted in recipes calling for greens, steamed, or chopped and added to soup stock. The root can be eaten raw (grated with carrots is particularly tasty), steamed, stir-fried or baked.

Daikon is very easy to grow, and only takes 40-60 days to reach maturity. The roots can grow quite large - up to 18 inches - so be sure to give seedlings more room than you would for salad radishes.

Daikon grow best during the cooler months. For most parts of North America, daikon can be sown twice - one in early spring for a summer harvest and again after the summer heat has cooled for a late fall harvest.

Be sure to harvest daikon roots before the plants set flowers or you'll end up with a nearly-wooden tasting root. Take care when harvesting and go slowly; the roots can be somewhat delicate and brittle.

Daikon is hard to freeze but easy and delicious to pickle. It also dries well. The dried and powdered root can be reconstituted with water to make a tasty winter broth.

You can also preserve daikon with proper root cellaring (best in moist sawdust) or leave the roots in the ground (but you'll need to remove them before the ground freezes over).

The easiest way to preserve the roots is by removing the tops (use them to make soup stock) and putting the roots in the refrigerator, where they will keep for 1-2 months if stored properly.

Have you ever grown daikon? If not, do you plan to give it a try?

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Currants In The Home Garden

Closeup of Black Currant (Ribes nigrum) berries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)I've decided to stick with berries for another day - in honor of my berry monsters. Today I'm going to share about a berry that we love to find growing in the wild - currants!

As hot and dry as the Dakota prairies can be during summer, the adjacent Black Hills are cool and surprisingly moist. Many of our family hikes take us along creeks in the Hills, which also happens to be the habitat in which currants grow best.

Currants are next to impossible to find fresh commercially, and for many years they were outlawed from home gardens due to their role in the spread of white pine blister rust. The ban on growing currants was lifted in 1966, but it's still pretty rare to find home gardeners cultivating this delicious berry.

Currant bushes are fairly tolerant in terms of cultivation, but they must have moist, well-drained, slightly acidic soil or they won't thrive and certainly won't set fruit. They prefer full sun, but will tolerate some shade provided that they're not grown in a chilly depression of land.

Black currants, like other dark berries, are high in antioxidants and vitamin C. Red, white and even pink currant bushes are also available but these tend to be more decorative. Don't get me wrong, these bushes also produce healthy berries, but if you want the biggest health benefits, grow black currants.

In the past, currants enjoyed widespread use in jams, jellies, wines and cordials. Our family's favorite way to eat currants (other than right off the bush during a hike) is dried and added to warm or cold cereals. Dried currants can also be added to baked goods or boiled with apples and other berries for a delicious winter fruit compote.

We're not sure yet if we're going to try to grow currants at Rainbow's Acre. The property is pretty dry and lacking in moist places (unless we create some with swales) plus we are able to gather what our family needs from the wild. It may be something that we consider in the future though.

What about you? Are you interested in growing currant bushes?

Monday, April 2, 2012

B Is For Baby

Blueberry Plant (Photo credit: cagrimmett)B is for baby, and mine is sick. I had planned to write a well-researched post today about broccoli, or maybe bush beans or blueberries. Instead, I've devoted my day to taking care of my youngest, who is down sick with a bad cold.

You see, the best part of being a green mama is well, being a mama.

My baby is my third, and last child. I love them all to bits, but, being the last one, I'm watching this one grow with a bittersweet joy, knowing I'll never have another baby to take care of.

So please forgive my absence, tomorrow I hope to be back to tell you all about carrots, or maybe cardoon. But today, my baby needs me.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Aronia: The Superfood You May Not Know About

Aronia Berries (Photo credit: outdoorPDK)

One of the main goals of Rainbow’s Acre is to grow foods that are yummy enough to appeal to the kids and also provide our family with the greatest health benefits.

Another goal is to grow fruits and vegetables from every color of the rainbow, in keeping with the recommendation by nutritionists that we eat foods in a variety of colors for optimal health.

This month, I’m participating in the A-Z Blogging Challenge. I’m going to spend April blogging about some of the plants we’re planning to grow at Rainbow’s Acre, from Aronia to Zucchini.

Today’s post is about a superfood you’ve probably never heard of – aronia berries. Everyone who is eating blueberries for the health benefits take note – aronia berries score higher on many counts such as ORAC value and flavonoid content, making these fruits one of the best antioxidants on the planet.

Aronia berries contain more quinic acid (the compound that fights UTIs) than cranberries. This little pea-sized berry packs a punch, combining the best of blueberries, cranberries and blackberries in one fruit.

So why aren’t aronia berries more popular? For those who are used to a high sugar diet, this deep purple fruit can taste somewhat tart. If tartness is an issue for you when eating the berries raw, try mixing them with sweeter fruits such as raspberries, blackberries or blueberries.

Or try freezing – this process reduces tannins which in turn naturally sweetens the berries. And speaking of those natural tannins – it is just this property that makes aronia berries a popular additive in juices and wines, particularly grape and apple. The high tannin content improves the color and flavor of the resulting product.

Aronia berries are small and easy to dry - just protect them from birds if you dry the fruits outdoors. The dried berries can be added to hot or cold cereal and enjoyed throughout the year. Or try adding the dried fruits to black or herbal teas.

Aronia (Aronia melancarpa) is an easily grown, low-maintenance, fast growing bush that reaches about six feet in height. The bush tolerates a wide range of conditions and soils, and is very insect and disease resistant. Aronia is native to North America and can be grown in most temperate climates.

The bush produces dainty white flowers in May. Berries mature in the fall.

Each mature bush can produce between 36-38 pounds of fruit per year. To put that into perspective, the average American only eats about eight pounds of berries (of all types) each year.

If you plan to add aronia berries to your diet, one bush might suffice for a family of five. At Rainbow’s Acre we’re going to plant three bushes for our family of five though as we’re all berry monsters.

So, what do you think? Are you ready to give aronia berries a try?