Starting to think about Root Cellars

In terms of keeping our harvest as long as we can, 

we used to do a lot of freezing.

We experimented with different sized veggies and what would thaw out better.

We learned what froze well and what certainly did not.

One day, a pipe in our basement exploded over our large chest freezer.

That was the end of freezing that year.

We lost so much stuff...it was heartbreaking.

But like most things in life - I chose this sad event to be a learning experience.

How can we save our harvest in other ways?

Last year was an experiment in air drying and preserving.

We have dried some veggies and lots of herbs.

We dried seeds for planting next year.

We put stuff in jars too!

Pickled jalapenos, dill pickles, beans, salsa, wild leeks, 

ramps pesto, strawberry jam, mint jelly and maple syrup.

Ever since the freezer died, I've had my mind focused on root cellars.

The idea of storing things with no electricity.

What a concept!!!

View from the roadside

Across the street from our house there was a lot for sale.

It used to have a small home that fell into disrepair.

The western border of the property has a steep incline.

Built right into the side of the incline is an old rocky root cellar.

I have passed by this structure for a few years now, but decided to take a closer look. 

The above shot looks straight into the cellar, showing both sides and the back.

The structure has long been unused.

It is missing its roof and door.

I imagine what it must have looked like way back when.

Can you see the bright green moss?

It grows off of the sand or mud that was inserted between the rocks.

The above image shows how the original builders of this root cellar used preexisting rock.

See the big one at the bottom of the wall?

I wouldn't want to have moved that one!

See that swirl in the middle?

I imagine there was a piece of wood supporting whatever roof was on this structure.

The sand hardened over time and stayed long after the wood rotted.

I don't think this design is necessarily the best concept for a root cellar.

That being said, someone obviously used it at one time.

Since it is still there (for the most part), I'm going to say the design was very sturdy!

WINTER HOMEWORK:

I'm going to start some research on the best home made root cellars 

so that we too can enjoy zero carbon footprint food storage.

In terms of our home, there are a few places I thought would make good cellars.

Over the last few years...I have been monitoring each area.

Upon further inspection, the temperature and moisture levels fluctuate a little too much for my liking.

Perhaps an exterior food storage option is the way to go?

Only time will tell...

What is your favorite method of storing your food?

Update from the property...

So the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting cooler.

We have been fully engulfed in making way for next years' plans.

In the works:

Making room for a fruit orchard, chicken coop, seed saving and getting the full garden going.

One side of our property provides the shelter of pre existing trees...but we've been discovering that most of the trees we thought we had...are actually dead tree trunks with thousands of vines growing up them.

The result is a bunch of trees that appear to have foliage...tricky mother nature!

Our plans include apple, pear and cherry trees.

I need to research what types are hardier for cool climates.

I need to learn about cross pollination,

some types won't produce if your don't have a couple of more than one type around.

I also drafted next year's water barrel structure.

It still needs the ends evened up with a saw and nailed or screwed together.

Elevating the water barrels will provide nature force to the stream of water from the barrel faucets.

The dead trees we've been removing from the scrobs around the edges of our property became a huge store of kindling and logs for our fireplace.

We're pretty stoked about that...as it is one step towards not caring if the power goes out.

We were given these crates by some guys staying at Desert Lake Resort.

The were elevator guys working in Kingston for a few months.

The crates were actually boxes for shipping their parts for the elevators.

The guys left them for us for burning, but I had other ideas!

Another thing we're waiting on is our potatoes!

I think I forgot to mention our composter experiment.

When we moved we found a bag of potatoes that had started growing.

We threw them in this composter and started filling it with top soil

every now and again.

The top soil is now about 4-5 rows of holes up the barrel!

The idea is that when the tops start to die off, we'll empty the dirt out of the barrel.

Ideally we'll have a big pile of potatoes too!

Perfect for storage this winter!

I'm still toying with some locations for a cold storage at this new house.

I have a couple of candidates but I want to monitor the temp fluctuations throughout the seasons.

I also want to monitor if these locations have any moisture issues.

I had a spot in mind, but the roof over top of it might leak during heavy rains through an air vent.

These are all things I prefer to investigate prior to losing a whole harvest to pests, mold or rot.

I can't think of anything more disappointing.

I've also been saving some seeds too!

So far I've cleaned and dried canteloupe seeds and green onion seed bulbs.

So as the leaves change colour, don't forget to enjoy all that fall has to offer:

-Pumpkins and squashs

-apple cider

-apple pies & crisps

-using nutmeg and cinnamon in your cooking (they taste like fall to me)

-root vegetables, roasted & buttered

-warm wooly sweaters

-thick socks

-cool evening walks in the woods

-the smell of campfires or wood stoves

Down n Dirty with the Carrots

So in a previous post I said all we had going on with the garden at this time of year was broccoli.

This post will prove I was lying....

I totally forgot about the carrots.  Which is what you're supposed to do! 

If you leave a root vegetable in the ground for a few frosts, they turn sweeter.

We discovered this when we grew parnsips in previous years. 

For whatever reason, the parsnips didn't even come up this year!

Carrots are nutritionally awesome.  The website http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/ says "The power and goodness of carrots - Carrots have many important vitamins and minerals. They are rich in antioxidants Beta Carotene, Alpha Carotene, Phytochemicals and Glutathione, Calcium and Potassium, and vitamins A, B1, B2, C, and E, which are also considered antioxidants, protecting as well as nourishing the skin. They contain a form of calcium easily absorbed by the body. Finally they also contain Copper, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Phosphorous. and Sulphur - better than a wonder drug!!"

We asked the boys to come help out with the digging up of the carrots last weekend.

It turned into quite the adventure!

As soon as big brother Noah got digging...Owen was jumping right in. 

He kept yelling, "Get me a shovel!"

Big brother Noah gave Owen instruction on how to properly pull out a carrot without grabbing up only the greens and leaving the rest of the root in the ground.  The sound of surprise in Owen's voice when he produced his first carrot was hilarious.

Turns out we produced some monster carrots this year!

Owen was compulsive...non-stop carrots pulling...

For about 10 minutes...which is a long time for him actually.

Noah kept on working for a few hours, pulling up carrot after carrot.

Each time he thought he had unearthed the biggest carrot of the year...the next one would be even bigger!

This was our total end of season haul.  Orange and purple carrots!

Some of the carrots turned out bigger than my head!!!

Keep in mind that we had already dug up half of the total planting.  We haven't bought store carrots in over two months...

We brushed off the excess dirt and broke the greens off of the top. 

We will keep them this winter in buckets, labelled, filled with moist peat.

Unlike potatoes, root veggies need moisture to stay fresh all winter.

This is something I've only read about.  Its our first year storing food without the use of hydro electricity!

We have a makeshift root cellar in our basement.  The onions kept well down there last year, in wire baskets.  We don't currently have a temperature gauge in the cellar...but that may be something I'll invest in this year.

I'll be doing future posts on root cellars...as they are my new-found obsession!  Storing food without using electricity is amazing to me.  The concept has been around for ages...but for whatever reason root cellars have fallen out of fashion.  I am to bring new awareness of it.  Anyone who owns their own house can do it!

Keep an eye out for a root cellar tutorial...

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!

Eat yer Parsnips!

This is the perfect time of year for parsnips!  I know, I know...parsnips?  Seriously?

I never used to like parsnips...perhaps that was from being force fed the poor roots as a child.  Last year I got a Canadian Gardening issue with an article about growing parsnips and leaving them in the ground after the frost.  As the article suggested, they transformed into a different vegetable altogether. 



digging in the garden for the the last crop of the year....PARSNIPS!





My husband and I were up for an experiment...as most of our gardening has consisted of trial and error guess work.  We purchased the seeds and last year we grew our first crop of parsnips.  We Planted them during the May 24th weekend and left them alone basically until after the first major frost. (ie.  after the first morning we had to scrape the car windows off.)

The result:  amazingly sweet root veggies!  The parsnip has a mild nutty flavour, but they do lack in colour on the plate.  We have tried cooking the parsnip in a variety of ways.  For example, we boiled them and we roasted them.  I sauted them with oil and walnuts and garlic.  I finally decided the best way to eat a parsnip is to sneak it in.  I've hidden the savoury roots in sheppard's pie and squash soup. 

My favorite way to prepare the parsnip (by far) is in my roasted root vegetable dish.  Its made up of sweet potatoes, white potatoes, carrots, parsnips and a coarsely chopped onion.  Toss in oil and a pinch of kosher salt.  Roast at 400 degrees F uncovered for approx 30 min.  Check them half way through and toss, adding more salt if desired.

For storage you can do one of two methods.  Freezing or root cellaring.  A root cellar is something I deperately want to try.  Given the right conditions, I'm told, a parsnip can last in a root cellar until next spring!  The idea of storing food without using any fossil fuels is something I could really become fanatical about (especially after our last hydro bill!!!)

We dig up the parsnip by digging out the area next to the roots and working our way inward.  The parsnip root gets VERY deep, so you don't want to shove your shovel through the mid-section of the vegetable.  we knock off as much soil in the garden, and then again at the outside hose.  I scrub them off in the kitchen sink with the potato scrubber and then to the cutting board!  Peel and chop the root.  I have found that the larger the shunks are, the better for year round roasting.  Last year we chopped some smaller to slip into sheppard's pie....but the result was that they hardened when cooked.  Fill a large freezer bag 1/3 full.  Then flatten out and freeze.  You can add more later on, once the new ones are frozen too....but this method allows for freezer separation....instead of one massive clump of frozen parsnip.