4 Year Anniversary and Giveaway!

October 18th 2010

That was the date of my very first blog post.

It has been 4 years now...and I still love blogging.

Since then, so much has changed...

We moved to the woods.

We dove head first into foraging.

We started raising chickens!

I now host foraging walks.

Our son Owen loves most veggies...but loves eating weeds more.

And yet, one thing stays the same.

I still love to grow food and make delicious meals.

In honour of my 4 year blogging anniversary

I would love you to have some very valuable reading materials!!!

Check it out:

I have 3 copies of this amazing book (good for home owners AND apartment renters):

I have 1 copy of my gardening bible:
Already given to my dear friend Melissa Alena!

I have 1 copy of this incredibly readable guide to off grid living!!!

I am almost done this book...its so humourous and informative.

I'm having a hard time putting it down!

Be the first one to leave a comment in the comments section or my facebook page or group...
Let me know which is your favorite Small Purse, Big Garden post and I will reward you with a new book!
***also let me know which book you prefer***

In the meantime, here is a selection of some of my first posts...

Here I ramble about my family connection to gardening.

Here is a recipe for Moose Stew and the benefits of eating wild meats!

Here we experiment with Dandelion Coffee and explore settler life.

Susanna Moody likes her coffee..

Here is my post where I hypothesize that Carrot Cake is actually GOOD for you!

Enjoy!

Cam & Michelle Mather

There are many reasons why I would want to feature Cam & Michelle Mather on  my blog.  They are wild about gardening, they live off the grid, they operate a zero carbon publishing business...

...and they are amazing people.

I first met Cam & Michelle when I worked at the Land O Lakes Tourist Association (LOLTA).  I was asked to attend a meeting with the publisher of the Tourist guide.  The meeting was held at their home, as that is also where they run their business.  It was an amazing morning of coversation over Michelle's homemade muffins and tea, mixed with wood stove smells.  They are wonderful hosts and have a wealth of knowledge.  These folks moved from their urban environs to a place much more removed. 

They live in between Parham and Tamworth (45min north of Kingston) on a property filled with trees, ponds, rocks and wildlife they call "Sunflower Farm".  Depending on the time of year you visit, you'll know exactly why they do.  They have spent the last 25 years reducing their impact on the planet and work hard to share their knowledge through their books, DVDs, websites and workshops.  Sunflower Fam is also entirely powered by the sun and the wind.

I asked Michelle if I could pick her brain about living in the country and living off the land.  (not off the grid...that warrants a whole other interview!) 

Describe where you live.

Michelle:  14 kms east of Tamworth on 150 acres of trees and ponds

Describe how you live.

We are self-employed, earning our living with a hodge podge of activities such as publishing books, writing articles, offering workshops, selling garlic and vegetables, etc. etc. etc.

Something that really intrigues me...how far away is your closest neighbour?

4 kms to the east of us

What is your favorite thing about living out in the country?

The peace & quiet.

Whats the least favorite thing?

The distance to things when we really need to go places.

Do you ever forage on your property?  (If so, what?)

The only thing we forage is blackberries. We don’t trust ourselves to identify unsafe mushrooms and haven’t really found anything else.

(I'd love to have a peak around your place!!!)

 Give me a brief history of your property:

In 1886 this property was deeded by Queen Victoria to the original owners. The house was built in 1888. We know an elderly man who was born in this house and he comes for a visit every summer.

What were your reasons for chosing the property?

We loved it. We loved the house, the land, the location and the price!

Do you feel more like pioneers or farmers (neither or both)? 

We feel like pioneers in terms of living off the electrical grid.

 Now tell me about that garden!  How big IS it?

About ½ acre.

So, what do you do with all that food?

We eat it, we freeze it, we sell it and we give it away. Last summer for the very first time we set up a stand in Tamworth on Saturday mornings to sell our excess. This year we are going to run a CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) where members will purchase a share of our bounty for a set price and receive a basket of food once a week during the growing season.

What is the weirdest thing you've ever grown?

Peanuts! And okra!

What is your favorite thing to grow?

I LOVE growing strawberries because they are one of my favourite things in the whole world…. There’s nothing like picking a strawberry, warmed by the sun, and popping it right into your mouth! I also love growing lettuce and tomatoes and all of the ingredients of a salad. I love being able to walk into my garden, grab the ingredients of a salad and making it and enjoying it.

(That's one of my favorite things too!)

What is it that makes you so excited about gardening?

One of the best things about growing our own food is knowing that we are doing so organically. We are so spoiled with such good quality produce over the summer months that it is very hard to buy anything at the grocery store during the off-season.

Who has taught you the most about gardening? (your gardening guru)

Without a doubt, my father was my gardening guru. In fact Cam dedicated his gardening book “The All You Can Eat Gardening Handbook” to my father since he was such a huge influence on both of us!

It's nice to see that kind of knowledge passing down through generations!

I've mentioned it before that your All You Can Eat book is one of my all-time favorites.  (but it's worth mentioning again!)

Not only does Cam & Michelle run a publishing business, they also advertise their bed & breakfast ( http://www.cammather.com/off-grid-retreat/off-grid-retreat/accommodations ) at Sunflower Farm using as much of their own produce as possible, they offer seminars on independant and sustainable living (  http://www.cammather.com/off-grid-retreat/upcoming-workshops-at-sunflower-farm )

They also recently finished a new book called "Little House Off the Grid" (available on Amazon.com)

In amongst all that, Cam manages to publish a blog of his own hilarious brand of excitement.

http://www.cammather.com/blog

I truly thank Michelle Mather from the bottom of my heart for sharing with me.

I look forward to seeing your adventures at Sunflower Farm and attending Cam's local workshops.

Artichoke Pesto Pasta...

One of the wonderful things you can do with the pesto recipe I included in my herb post is make it!

I crave pesto every now and again.  This time I wanted to change it up a little bit and all it took was one can of whole artichoke hearts!  Pesto itself is already cheap and if you can find a can of artichokes for a decent price, this meal will go a long way.

Artichokes are amazing things that I'm told can grow in Canada.  You have to take them indoors in the winters though which can provide a problem.  Its a lot of work for the average gardener.  We planted artichokes last year, but tended to forget about them.  They didn't get a lot of attention, but we left them outdoors in the ground and placed buckets over top of them until its warmer.  Fingers crossed, they will survive.  Artichokes take 2-3 years before you can harvest the "fruits"  wqhich are actually their flower blossums.  You can let them go to flower and they are a beautiful additional to your flower garden.  Who could resist picking them though????

According to Cam Mather's book The All You Can Eat Gardening Handbook "artichokes are an excellent source of the B vitamins, including Thiamin (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Niacin (B3), B5, B6,  and Folate (B9).  They are also high in vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorous.

Basically, they are healthy and wholesome!!!

I added a whole can of artichokes (halved and then quartered) and sauteed them in the pesto for about 10min on med-high heat.  The artichokes took on the flavour of the oil and the garlic pretty quickly.

Its not the most colourful meal, but its packed with flavour and nutritional goodness.

So all you need to make this dish is to prepare the pasta to your taste and add the heated artichoke mixture to the warm, drained noodles.  Toss and serve!

All it took for the sauce was a couple of heaping tablespoons of prepared pesto and a 1 can of whole artichokes, quartered.  It was like the ultimate in fast food!

(I made it again this week with cheese tortellini and it was even more AWESOME!!!)

See my previous post on herbs for the easy pesto recipe you can make and store!

What's your go-to-easy-to-make recipe?

Planning your garden....part 2

Its almost too much to bear....waiting on spring to finally arrive....waiting for the last of the dirty snow to leave this earth....and wanting to put shovel to dirt...

I thought I would share something I implimented last year...after attending an Intro to Gardening seminar with key note speaker Cam Mather!  (I promise I will probably have a couple of posts that don't mention the Mathers...some day...haha)  He showed the group how to plan your garden using a map of sorts...

This is something I have never done, but after doing it for a season, it proved to be a real learning experience.

I drew a very rough idea of our main garden patch.  Then added in the things that are fixed, such as rocks, logs and fencing (and our asparagus which doesn't move from year to year).  See image below for a bird's eye view of last years main garden patch.



Cam suggests you keep the map taped to a piece of cardboard with 2 pencils attached to the board
with string (that way when you're in the garden, the chances of losing it are far less). 



I make sure to mark my path way through the garden to our compost bins (this path changes every year).  I mark where the large container planters go.  At the bottom, I list which plants I want to grow, as a reference.  When I find a good spot for them, I cross them off the list.  That way I am sure to have room for everything I want.  Nothing gets left out!

My husband always laughs at me, because I space everything out WAY TOO MUCH.  In my defense, I try to envision what the plants looked like last year....how tall, how wide they became at the peak of their growth.  I try to alleviate crowding as much as I can, naturally.  What is it they say?  Quality not quantity. 

South of the asparagus you can see a path way that trails off this map.  I do have a second map that goes with this plan....its what Ches and I affectionately call the "pepper fence".  We plants single stalk things there like eggplant, peppers and everything else that doesn't get viney.  Sort of a knee high divider between our property and the neighbours without the need for proper (view-disrupting) fencing.  The pepper fence includes more than just peppers...its home to the plants we have never grown before as well.  I may not know how they will perform in our soil...but after one successful season, I integrate them into the main patch depening on their sun and growth requirements. 




The Pepper Fence (now with more than just peppers!)




I take into account that the sun rises from the asparagus side and glides over the garden throughout the morning....and there is a metal shed on the right hand side.  The cherry tomatoes have a tendancy to take over everything when we plant them in the soil...so we put them in large containers and place them next to the metal shed.  The heat absorbed by the metal acts like an insulator.  The tomatoes just love it.  Everything on the left hand side of the map is planted directly into the ground and doesn't grow much taller than 1.5 ft, mostly our root veggies.  Everything on the right hand side of the map is grown using tomato cages (like our peas) or on trellises (or is it trelli?  hmmmm) and tend to be viney. 

I tried including as much info about the planting as I could fit into the map.  I tracked which row was planted when, so that I knew approximately when I could harvest them (according to the seed package predictions).  Its also agreat reference for when to plant things the following season.  When everything is a small wee sprout...it also helps to remind you what you planted and where!  Remember I stagger my planted rows, meaning I plant one row, then 2 weeks later I plant another row of the same veggie.  That's a sure-fire way to avoid being swamped with 25 lbs of carrots all at once.  When you have limited time to prepare or store these yummy treats, you'll want to maximize every second you have.  The only draw back I've found to the staggering method is this:  when your gut instinct tells you to fill your garden up on May 24th weekend...you'll have to exercise some restraint.  Patience is definitely a virtue in this case. 

The mapping method also gives you a chance to look at last years garden in the winter time and see what changes you might want to make depending on the success or failure of each plant type from the previous season.

Our cukes didn't do so well last year...so I will definitely be finding a new place to grow them this year.  That's ok though.  Like everything in life, gardening is a learning experience and this mapping method gives you a perfect opportunity to reflect on lessons learned.

Make a map of your own this year!  See if this method works for you...

This year's mapping experiment?  Varieties!

We'll be trying to list which varieties we're planting...hoping that if we keep track, we just may select wiser the following season.  Check back in 2012 to see if what we discovered! 

Wee baby taters....

We are finally getting around to planting!  I know its been a while since I made a true gardening post...but I was getting around to it.  It seems that spring fever has hit every one in the house...our cat Buster has been tormented by the return of the spring birds.  Noah and Owen seem particularily spastic these days.  And Chester...he looked at me the other day and said "hummph....I wanna grow some stuff."

So of course I obliged!  We discovered some of our potatoes were starting to grow eyes.  I was instantly transported back to preschool days and the thought occured to me to grow some potato plants!  It was definitely in my mind to grow potatoes this year.  We've never done it.  I'm not entirely sure why!  After reading Cam Mather's book the All-You-Can-Eat Gardening handbook, I discovered that it truly is a wonder food!  The UN declared the potato as THE food that can be grown in almost any condition on almost every continent.  It's packed with nutrients...so much so that Chris Voigt just completed his own personal challenge 20 POTATOES A DAY for 60 days!  You can check out his adventure at his website...

http://www.20potatoesaday.com/

Its a funny site that definitely delivers the nutritional goods.  Well worth a visit for those of you who need an excuse or two to eat way more potatoes.  It even features 21 different potato recipes.

In the meantime, I thought I would share with you what we did with our eyed potatoes.



baby tater plants - March 18-2011

Simply put, these are just wrinkly taters from the bag, stuck with toothpicks and set into mason jars with water.  Remember day care days?  or preschool experiments?  Same thing...only we're going to plant these suckers and hopefully have a great crop of taters!  We'll also start some more in a few weeks....that way we aren't flooded with potatoes...faster than we can eat them!  Tha'ts called staggering your crop.

We'll be checking back in with these little guys soon enough....they've already grown quite a bit since I took this picture!  Ches also brought home some baby red potatoes...so we'll try to get them going as well.

Next post:  Starting the peppers....

And the winners are....

Its my readers lucky day! I just happen to have TWO copies of this fantastic gardening book...
So Jenn and Teresa are both winners!!!

Please send me your email addresses...so we can exchange mailing info.

Thanks again for participating in this contest and my blog!

The Contest Arrives!

If you've been reading my blog entries, you may already know about my love for the Mathers and this amazing gardening book.  I really can't say enough about this book.  So that's why I'm giving my readers a chance to win a copy of their very own!!! 

I had struggled in the past to find a complete gardening book that addressed a few things that I consider relevant.  For example, gardening in MY zone...not how to grow ornamental grasses in Victoria BC.  Also, I had difficulties finding a gardening book that didn't speak in scientific terms rather than plain old english.  If you are a novice gardener or if you consider yourself an expert...this book can still shed some light on things.

It features:  how to capture rain water and use it in your garden efficiently, a little history and how-to on root cellars or storing food without using ANY hydro electricity, it discusses gardening in an urban environment as well as living off the grid in the country, how to read a seed catalogue, it offers a variety of vegetables that can be grown right here in Ontario, and a lot of humour along the way.

The best part about this book is that Cam and Michelle Mather have been there and done that.  Whatever the issue may be, they have the experience and expertise to back up their information.  If they don't know about it, they probably have a neighbour who does!  They really do revel in the community aspects of gardening, sharing your information and your crops.  They even include some recipes!

So here's the catch....in order to win your very own copy of this amazing gardening book...all you have to do is answer the following question in the comments section of this post.  I will contact you about your mailing information if you are the lucky winner!

"What is your funniest gardening story?"

It could be something that happened whilst gardening, something unexpected that happened with a crop, something you learned and made you laugh.  Use your imagination and it just may pay off!

Winner to be posted by February 4th, 2011

Carrot Cake is actually good for you?

So forgetting the fact that my recipe contains 1 whole cup of refined white sugar....and nevermind that I like my carrot cake to have a 50% ratio of cake to icing content...I am convinced that carrot cake is good for you!

Allow me please to elaborate...

I recently ran into an article on bewellbuzz.com and it reported that we should definitely increase our intake of certain spices.  So I did some research on my own regarding the spices included in my favorite dessert. 

Nutmeg:  increases blood circulation and stimulates nerve cells, eases digestion
Cinnamon: one of the world's oldest spices, used for regulating blood sugar levels, very high in antioxidant qualities
Cloves:  stimulates the throat chakra (in Ayurvedic medicine), strengthens the thyroid gland.
Allspice: relieves indigestion and gas

Although not a spice, I include walnuts in my cake...partly because of the protein...but also because:

Walnuts: are one of the only plant based sources of healthy omega 3 fatty acids, cleanses the liver.

To top it all off, I used the last of this year's carrots from our garden...adding the the healthful, natural feel to this cake.

I was actually amazed that carrots can be stored in a root cellar, in wet sand, for most of the winter!  I discovered that nugget of information whilst reading my favorite gardening book "The All You Can Eat Gardening Handbook" by Cam Mather.  He has a root cellar and has been root cellaring for a few years now.  I am facinated by the idea of storing food without using hydro electricity!  It is my intent to try a root cellar experiment next year...but that would involve cleaning a section of the basement...which is a bigger task that you'd think!

So I'll include my dreamy carrot cake recipe that I am borrowing from the quintessential "Joy of Cooking" cookbook.  Including the cream cheese frosting recipe...merry christmas!

Carrot Cake

preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 12 x 9 inch pan.

I do everything in the food processor....so begin by adding:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

blend until mixed thoroughly

add 3/4 cup of vegetable oil
3 large eggs

blend thoroughly

add 1 1/2 cup grated carrot
1 cup golden raisins
handful of walnut pieces

blend slightly until ingredients are mixed throughout

scrape into greased pan and bake for 30-35 min

allow to cool on stovetop and then you can prepare icing

Cream Cheese Icing

Again using the food processor, add 8 oz cream cheese (cold), 2 cups of icing sugar and 5 tbsp room temp butter or marg. 
This recipe calls for 2 tsp of vanilla, but I use about 2 TBSPs of vanilla....i do love my vanilla!
Blend above ingredients and spread on cake.

ENJOY!

Tomato Basil Soup from Scratch

Here is another edition of Freezer Food!

So Campbell's Soup sells tomato soup for $0.75 these days...and although I can't compete with that pirce...I can feel good knowing that I can control the amount of sodium and sugar in my family's food as well as making a meal that has virtually no carbon footprint!  If we had a wood stove, this recipe would have an even smaller foodprint. 

For storage, we take our best tomatoes and cut a cross in the bottom skin (instead of peeling them fresh).  Add them to a large freezer bag and there you go!  Another storage trick I thought I'd try this year was from the Mathers.  Pick fresh basil place in  a food processor.  Add garlic too.  Now add a 1/2 cup to a small freezer bag and press thin.  Freeze.  Now when you want to add basil and garlic to a meal, you just snap off what you want.  Easy!

Read below for my step by step tomato soup from scratch recipe!

We pulled out the frozen tomatoes at around 10am.
We let them simmer, covered, on very low for a long time. 
After the tomatoes have turned to mush, you can add the frozen basil garlic combo and desired salt.  I also added a pinch of white sugar to combat a bit of the bitterness from our tomatoes.
Press soup through a strainer to get rid of excess seeds and skin.
Parmesan cheese is a suggested topping.

I served them with home made biscuits.  (the heart shape is optional....but fun!  Can't you feel the love?)

Ready for lunch!



left: basil garlic frozen in baggie, middle: home made biscuits, right: mater soup!



Prepping the Ground pt 3

Prepping the Ground pt 3

I have had the distinct pleasure of knowing the Mathers.  Cam and Michelle are truly inspirational when it comes to all things gardening.  They have a combined gardening knowledge that astounds.  It is because of them that our garden this year was exceptional and far less trial and error.

Last May, I was able to attend a seminar that Cam was hosting at Burt's Greenhouses in Odessa.  It was a fantastic overview on how to start, maintain and relish your garden.  Cam is a garden fanatic of sorts and his enthusiasm is contagious.  He also happened to have his new book available after the seminar.  Lucky me I was able to snag one...but if you have someone who's a gardener on your Christmas list...feel free to pick one or two of them up here:

http://www.amazon.ca/All-You-Can-Gardening-Handbook/dp/0981013228

It is without a doubt the only gardening book I've ever read cover to cover....its that readable!

Manure

Now, about that manure.  It is in the aforementioned book that I discovered the true value of manure.  We are finally at a point in our lives (my husband and I) that we were able to grow asparagus.  It takes about 3 years before you can  harvest the asparagus after its planted.  A very kindly neighbour of ours (Thanks again Mrs Goodberry!) showed up one afternoon with a basket full of new asparagus seedlings.  I had no idea how to grow asparagus.  My family had been through 4 years of moving once a year.  The garden selections were strickly annuals.   


It was in Cam Mather's book that I discovered that you have to "do your part" as he says.  Yes, asparagus is the gift that keeps on giving, but you should assist it when you can.  Manure is the best way to boost your asparagus...as it has been traditionally grown in it for centuries.

The absolute best time of year to buy manure (unless you are in a rural area and can get some from nearby farms) is late summer or fall.  Garden centers will be wanting to get rid of this garden gold.  We picked up the stack shown above for only $1.99 a bag.  How's that for 'small purse'?  We choose a mix of sheep and cow.  There's no real reason, mind you, just personal preference.  If we had chickens at the house, my husband would skip buying manure and just shovel out the coop. 

Reading Cam Mather's book, I learned that you add manure in the spring to give the plant roots plenty of minerals and nitrogen to grow.  The result?  A very tall hedge of asparagus.  The lesson learned?  I wouldn't have planted the asparagus on the side that blocks all of the morning sun...but I was thrilled that the manure had such an effect!