The Waiting Game

I have my seeds ordered. I have my beds built. What I don't have is warm weather and adequate dirt. There is plenty of time to get the dirt, but I would like to know it is out there and ready for the seeds and transplants. Still one can only devote so much time to such activities when the new baby adds responsibility to an already maxed out schedule. I suppose not being all together ready is better. I will just have to relax and let the matter rest for a while. Still I have not been totally idle.

As you can see I have the beginnings of a nice, neat garden spot. The lumber was harvested from an old swing set in the backyard. It was there when we moved in, in rather rough shape, and since our little one will be too small for such a contraption for years to come, I had my way with the wood. It was free, falling directly in that cheap category, and semi right angles make everything neater. I say semi right angles because I used 10+ year old weather warped wood. Still it is good enough for my ambitions and looks nice to boot. Inside the beds are leaves. I will add in dirt as soon as I have some. This really should have been done in the fall, but there are only so many hours in the week.

On a natural note, I caught this one sneaking bird seed from under the feeders and trying to figure out just how he could get into said feeder. As long as he eats the birds' food and not mine, all is well. When walnut dropping time comes it will be interesting to see just how many I can sneak from him. Hardly fair I suppose but after all, there are plenty of squirrels. Isn't he cute?

Back to the yard, among other things.

Well it's a new year and even though my garden is as dormant as the blog as been of late, there is still much to do and even more to talk about doing. I am trying to piece the backyard together as time allows. So far I have planted a few long term items that will hopefully and literally bear fruit.

First off, one of the trees in the back yard was an apple. It looks very mature, probably over ten years old. However it wouldn't put out fruit by itself. Apple trees need pollinators, other apple trees, so I planted four other apple trees, a Golden Delicious, two Fujis and a Granny Smith. I am hoping that the new ones will flower and pollinate the older one giving us fruit. I will admit I did not do my homework on that, nor on what varieties grow best in the area. The latter being a very important consideration when spending money on expensive plants and expecting them to pay off. I just got so excited!

Luckily the other fruit bearing plants I put in the yard were freebies. I dug wild blackberry roots at my parents and put them along the little fence of the future herb/flower garden. Wild blackberries taste so much better than farm raised, and this is a truly local plant as it grows naturally along fence rows and in thickets in the region.


Last from my wife's parents I planted three purple plum trees. They have a couple in their back yard that have shot out roots into the wood pile nearby. Not being mowed every growing season like the shoots popping up in the yard, has allowed them to get big enough to keep, and my in-laws were happy to have them out of their hair. I planted these on the other side of the drive from the house so that any roots would be well away from beds and the foundation.


Also, at the local University I have begun a research type situation with a vegetable gardening class. I will help put together labs, and research pest preventative measures that gardeners in this part of the country might be able to apply to their own backyards. I will be looking at green methods as much as possible, like companion planting, as my own personal objective while we go through the motions on how to start and maintain a garden spot.

More backyard improvements are on the way in the weeks to come...

Steppin Out

Well, we made the move. Hence the overly long absence from postings. We just bought our first little slice of real estate, outside the city. I admit, it is not exactly what we wanted, but for us, and for now, it will do. It's quite a nice place after all. Instead of acres of land to farm, we have just the one. Not bad I suppose, especially considering the schedule that keeps things like blogging, gardening, and taking photos of gardening for blogs, just what they are; hobbies. So, let's get to it.

Here is the back yard, with which I am allowed free range to do with as I please as long as it is neat, and doesn't cost much money. The neat part, I can handle, and the money part I can too, despite the obvious restrictions.

This image faces South, South-East, which means that the back yard will be relatively shady. Not ideal for gardening, but the shade should be mostly during the late afternoon, and if next summer is anything like this last one, my plants will thank the trees for the relief. The backyard is bordered by two fence rows which border two fields respectively. The trees along the fence are very typical for this part of the world. They are predominantly Eastern Red Cedar and Hackberry. They account for 80% of the treeline. The rest are a combination of the following: Black Cherry and Sassafras. Not a bad combo for wildlife I suppose. On the east side of the lot there are two trees that, as a gardener, I must take notice of: Black Walnut. Black Walnut is a valued tree for the lumber and the nuts. However, the tree produces a natural herbicide. That's right, a natural one called: Juglone. This is nothing new, most seasoned gardeners know not to plant tomatoes under Black Walnuts.


Fortunately, since these trees border one entire side of my garden, covering nearly 500 square feet of space both above (leaves) and below (roots) the soil, and since I love harvesting and enjoying the walnuts, there are plenty of plants resistant to juglone. Nevertheless, I must plan accordingly.

The other major feature of the garden spot is the limestone. This is still Middle Tennessee, and anyone who lives around here knows that if there is one thing we have ample amounts it's limestone. Unfortunately the rock is nearly useless. It has a high clay content, so it makes poor construction material for buildings. To be honest it is really only good for one thing: gravel. It also reduces the water holding capacity of the soil dramatically and impedes digging, planting, etc etc. I can't readily remove them since they typically come in sizes ranging from Volkswagens to counties...

Still, the lot is quiet, and we are on the very edge of farmland so wildlife is often present. Hmm, maybe I will be visited by them as well. At least I saw a hawk yesterday, hopefully he'll keep the rodents at bay.

A stew from the old world.

Those that know me know I am big into Western Civ and food. Unfortunately I eat more than I read and instead of my old world knowledge growing, my waist does.

With the cooler temps in town I've been hankering for some root veggies. However, I wanted to put a theme to the meal, and in the interest of health I had hoped to reduce calorie intake as well. Stew, at least in my house was either one of two things; Veggie, with such worldly ingredients such as corn, okra, tomatoes and potatoes, or Beef, which generally had potatoes and carrots along with the meat. Both of these are very fine and quite traditional meals. I shun them not. However, they do contain some food from the new world.

In fact, it has long interested me how many foods our European ancestors snatched from the Americas and claimed as their own. For example, the Italians and all their culinary glory, are nothing more than food usurpers. Tomatoes, are a South American native, and are about as Italian as the eggplant which is from India or noodles, aka pasta, which are Chinese... Shall I go on? Still to be fair, I'm an Irishman by heritage and us Irish are know for potatoes. Which were first cultivated in the mountains around the Bolivia/Peru region. In other words the Irish have a bit of false foods as well.

Where was I?

Ah yes, with all these foods from the new world, along with peppers, sweet potatoes, corn, squash, both summer and winter, it's hard to understand just what Europe ate up until they sailed into the West. What does that leave? More than you may think, but take away just the two big boys, tomatoes and potatoes and you've got one hungry continent, from Madrid to Moscow and all places in between. I keep getting distracted. Grains, greens and roots. That's about it. It is with the roots that I am concerned with today. Most originate in what used to be Persia, the Iran region today. From there they moved into Europe over time.

Without further adieu, the ingredients: rutabaga, turnips, carrots, and parsnips. Now I left out a couple of others you may think about. Beets, the other major root, and onions and garlic. I used the latter two, but these are bulbs, not roots. Again, distraction.


Ingredient list:
2 sausages of your choice
1 rutabaga
2 carrots
2 parsnips
1 onion
2 celery stalks
a handful of mushrooms
salt, pepper and herbs.

Heat a heavy pot over medium heat and remove casings from sausage and cook until thoroughly browned. Really let these get brown.
While this cooks, peel and dice all those veggies.
Once the sausage is done, drain thoroughly and add veggies to the pot. Let them cook for a few minutes and then add the meat, salt, herbs, and enough water to cover.
Bring to boil and then reduce to simmer away for an hour or two.
Easily serves 4.

Pretty simple, yeah? The herbs are your choice, I used tarragon, a pinch of thyme and a bit of rosemary. The sausage is optional as well, I used brats. Also, note that I did not mention the turnips, or the garlic. I did make a garlic paste and threw that in, but I personally couldn't tell I used any. The turnips, I left out because I thought they would taste too similarly to the rutabaga.

After eating on this stew for a couple days, I was ready for something different. I roasted the turnips, with mushrooms, red onion, and whole garlic cloves, as well as parsnips and carrots. This method produced a much better flavor than just the boiling method, but that is no surprise. I will roast everything next time before putting the stew together. However, the difference between the turnips and the rutabagas was quite pronounced. I know this because left overs from both the stew and the roasted veggies were combined into one, delightful meal.

No potatoes, old school... I think these roots are lower in calories than the potatoes, which are tubers, or stems, not roots. Hmm, I'd better check that.