Living in Season

Taking an eCourse in whole foods from GNOWFLGINS

 

I'm excited to try my first eCourse on learning how to prepare whole foods. Wardeh Harmon, a Whitefish native who now lives in Oregon, is the woman behind the GNOWFLGINS blog (GNOWFLGINS means "God's Natural, Organic, Whole Foods, Grown Locally, In Season") where she talks about getting back food basics, which is the goal of this course.

This is a five week course so it won't be an overwhelming amount of information dumped all at once. I'm looking forward to learning how to use sprouted grains and seeds, plus work on my sourdough technique (which has been a struggle for me lately for some reason - I'm hoping she will help me figure out what I'm doing wrong), and learn how to make kefir! She also has a lesson on how pickling. I'm a fermentation nut so this should be fun. There's always something to learn!

To sign up or take a look at the GNOWFGLINS Fundamentals. If you would like to sign up, the deadline is February 22 because the fun begins on February 23. Hope to see you on the Forums!

Plant a Row for the Hungry in Great Falls

When you're planning your garden for the season it's important to consider what you're going to do with everything. Putting in a veritable Eden seems like a good idea when there's still a blanket of snow on the ground, but it's overwhelming when the zucchini are maturing before your very eyes or you have a bushel of beans to eat. This is the time to develop a backup plan besides dropping it off on your neighbor's porch at night.  

When I sat down with Gayle and Pam at the Great Falls Food Bank yesterday we discussed spreading the word on where gardeners can take their extra produce, as well as encouraging home growers to join the "Plant a Row for the Hungry" campaign, a national program hosted by the Garden Writers Association. Gayle is working on acquiring seeds from different organizations to hand out to gardeners willing to grow for the food bank. At this point in time we're planning on having the Cascade County Extension Office be the central location to pick up seeds (although Wade, our illustrious ag agent, is off basking in the sun somewhere so the decision isn't completely finalized). Anyone in Great Falls can pick up the free seeds, grow the produce, and drop it off at the food bank. The food bank is also more than happy to take the extras from anyone who isn't officially part of the effort.

I'm going to encourage our plot people at the River City Harvest community gardens to join the program, as well. We already plan on having several plots for charitable organizations, but if people designate specific rows I can add those to our harvest list. This way whoever is harvesting will know what they can pick. And Gayle said she can send over her volunteers to pick up the veggies so I'm hoping the process will go much smoother this season.

I told Gayle it would be wonderful if we reached a point where they were saturated with produce, but I think that's going to be a tough goal to meet. If Gayle can't use it, she has plenty of resources such as Meals on Wheels, the Mercy Home, Great Falls Mission and many other food pantries that will. While I'm glad it won't go to waste, it's unsettling that there are so many in need just in our little area. If nothing else, hopefully we can make a small dent.

It's raining seeds

Despite at least 6 inches of snow on the ground and the fact the wretched rodent saw his shadow and predicted 6 more weeks of winter weather, I'm in full blown seed glory.

I enjoyed thirty minutes of peace and quiet the other morning while the boys slept to finish my seed orders. I maintained control with Territorial Seeds and Totally Tomatoes, but got a little click happy with Seeds of Change. Their site is just too gorgeous. I think I have everything I need for various articles I'm planning on writing this year. It's always better to have the photo shoot in the back yard since lighting and other conditions are so variable.

This has also been a productive week as far as setting up connections for the community garden effort. I attended the board meeting at the Salvation Army on Tuesday, the same morning I placed my seed orders. They're considering starting a garden for their family services program since they provide food for so many families in the Great Falls area. It's a fantastic location, and would be a tremendous benefit to local people. I was there to let them know what River City Harvest can do to help, and I think I'm now on the Salvation Army board! Funny how that happens, but I'm happy to do what I can. Hopefully, we'll have a final plan in March so we can move forward as soon as the weather permits. The greatest obstacles are securing water - the city of Great Falls charges $1500 to hook up a meter - and erecting a fence around the lot to discourage vandalism or theft. I'm confident we'll have something growing this year, though.

When I returned home from the board meeting, I was shocked to find a box from Seeds of Change on my porch. My initial thought was "Dang! They're good!" But I quickly realized it was the 100 packages of seeds I requested through their seed donation program for the community garden. Oh, what fun! I've sorted through the seeds to decide which ones need to be started ahead of time, and what we can direct seed. It's a good start to what I believe is going to be a highly productive year.

The wonders of pressure cooking.

Once and awhile I'll work on a story that takes me in a completely different direction. A few weeks ago, I thought it would be grand fun to write a piece on nifty kitchen equipment since a well-stocked kitchen is as important as a good tool shed. If you have the right stuff, life will be much easier.

I interviewed Veronica, the owner of Pizazz, one of my all time favorite shops in Great Falls, who told me pressure cookers are making a comeback. I remembered my great aunt had one because I replaced the rubber gasket for her at a holiday dinner, and Grant tells tales of an entire pork roast shooting through the vent hole when one of those rotten boys hit the cooker while his mom was preparing dinner. He said all of the meat was on the ceiling, and the only thing left in the pan was the bone. Yikes.

With this anecdote in mind, I asked Veronica about their volatile reputation, and she assured me they are practically idiot proof. With three safety features, it would be hard to get a good explosion out of one. I had to have one.

So the slant of the article focused on pressure cooking. Experimentation was necessary! I started off easy with a batch of carrots. I tossed in four or five peeled and chunked carrots with one-half cup of chicken broth. They were done in five minutes. Every time I used it, I was more impressed.

Today, I hit the "wow" zone. I received Lorna Sass' book, Cooking Under Pressure, on Wednesday, and the first thing that caught my eye was the practicality of the recipes. There aren't a bunch of hard to find ingredients, and she explains the techniques in such a style that even a novice can understand.

My first choice was "Boeuf en Daube Provencal" because it was similar to the beef bourguignon that greatly disappointed me a few weeks ago. I cooked the bourguignon for hours, as directed, but the meat was dry. This recipe was simple. I marinated the meat overnight (this is ideal since working in short amounts of time is easier for me) in the wine with some of the spices. When I had a moment this morning, I sauteed an onion for a few minutes in the cooker before adding the wine marinade to reduce it. That entire process took roughly 10 minutes.

Then I dumped in the meat, added four whole carrots, secured the lid, and brought it up to temperature. Once it was rolling, it took 18 minutes followed by a 10 minute cool down to create an absolutely delicious dish. The meat falls apart on your fork. It took a fraction of the time, and the results are far superior than having the oven on for hours.

My only question is why haven't I tried pressure cooking sooner? This opens up a whole new world in the kitchen. Now, on to test something with beans...

Square Foot Gardening

Several weeks ago I had the pleasure of talking with Mel Bartholomew, the author and inventor of Square Foot Gardening. Dad gave me his book when I was about 12 years old, and we often turned on his PBS program when I was over at his place on the weekends. Both of us thought it was pretty impressive of how much Mel could grow so much in such a small area. It caused me to start thinking about gardening in a different way.

During our chat, I was surprised to learn Mel didn't start out in the garden. Actually he was a civil engineer with a successful consulting company. When his business reached the point where the next logical step was to grow, Mel said, "I retired when I was 42. I sold the company, and took up gardening as a  hobby."

He worked in the local community garden for awhile learning the basics from the county agent, but kept questioning why things were done they way they were. Why were the rototilling when they walked behind it, compacting the soil? Why did they plant in single rows with so much wasted space? It inspired him to travel the country asking these questions and looking for a better way. What resulted was a revolutionary way of gardening.

Square foot gardening utilizes every bit of useful space, and it doesn't matter how awful your garden soil might be since you're growing in a raised bed with a specific growing mix. Mel recommends 4 x4 -ft beds since most people can reach in the middle from any side. In his All New Square Foot Gardening, he recommends filling it with a mix of compost, peat and course vermiculite creating the ideal combination.

On top of the box, Mel says to set a solid grid to mark off since foot-square sections. In there you plant a specific number of seeds or plants in amounts of 1,4,9 or 16. For instance, you can plant a single tomato in a square and 16 radishes in another. If this doesn't seem like much, keep in mind you are to pull and reseed or replant as one crop is finished. This means turning over crops many times throughout the season.

Tami, a lady at our community gardens, is doing a wonderful job of growing in her square foot beds. She went by Mel's book to the letter, and it's paying off. She has 5 boxes all together, and it seems to be plenty for her family of four. I interviewed her for the Great Falls Tribune article, too, and she couldn't be happier with the results.

Touring Fort Benton

I'm working on updating the 4th edition of Fodor's Montana/Wyoming travel guide for Great Falls and Central Montana, which meant a trip to Fort Benton was in order to check out a few of the featured locations. Since I haven't left Great Falls since last July, it was a welcomed road trip, especially since it's a town I love, and I want to learn more about its fascinating history.

Friends stayed in Fort Benton a couple of weeks ago, and said a must see what the Missouri Breaks Interpretative Center. They were right. It has a great little exhibit, and a very informative video detailing the story of the region. The staff are great, and more than willing to answer questions.

Morgan kept Sam on his monkey leash, and did an exemplary job of reining him in despite his persistence to crawl over everything. He reminded me of the Saturday Night Live skit with Mike Meyer playing a little kid wearing a helmet and harness attached to a play set in the park. He kept running against the rope trying to get lose. That's my boy. We walked the 3/4 mile down to town to try to wear out the boy, as well as enjoy the stroll along the Missouri, which is pretty muddy due to the recent rains.

Our first stop was the Grand Union. They're doing a fabulous job keeping it as regal looking as its name, and it was a treat to see my roommate, Karen, from the Izaak Walton days. Karen's been a fixture at the Grand Union for nearly a decade, and it's been at least that long since I've seen her.

For lunch, we went across the street to Bob's Riverfront Cafe. Great burger, and loved the fries. This is something coming from someone who usually doesn't eat them, but I had to have a couple more off my plate as we headed out the door. The chocolate shakes are pretty yummy, too. Oh, and banner day for Sam. He learned to drink out of a straw! Grant's pop is no longer safe.

We stopped by the statue of Shep, the faithful collie mix who waited for his owner when they shipped his body away on the train after he died. Bob Scriver made a gorgeous bronze that sits in the park between the Grand Union and the Chamber of Commerce.

There's so much to do in Fort Benton - the Agricultural Museum will tell you more than you may ever want to know about the progression of farming, and there are several cute shops along the main street facing the river. It wasn't busy, which is a shock to someone who's used to the unwashed masses of Glacier National Park during the summer. This is a place to kick back and enjoy the best of Montana.

On the way home, Sam threw a fit since he was deliriously tired, and John fussed for a bit. Finally both quieted down, when Morgan ever-so-quietly said, "You should see what's on your leg." I brushed it off since Hwy 87 is narrow and busy. It was a hornet. I tried to squish it with my Day Planner, without success, and pulled over to try to kill it. It was mortally wounded, but disappeared so we drove the entire way home checked for an injured, angry hornet. Yikes! Never a dull moment.

Jumpin' Grasshoppers!

It's a good time for fishing with all of these grasshoppers lately, but not so great for the garden. They've been munching on my basil so I thought I would share a few ways to get rid of them in this week's PlantersPlace.com blog.

http://www.plantersplace.com/Community/ViewBlog.aspx?BlogId=4

What's Eating your Garden?

On "Cafe Mom" in one of the gardening groups, a lady thinks rabbits are eating her tomatoes, but I have a feeling it's most likely raccoons or skunks. Many times the first step in figuring out what you're dealing with before you put together a plan of action. This is the topic for this week's blog entry on PlantersPlace.com.

http://www.plantersplace.com/Community/ViewBlog.aspx?BlogId=4

Bring in the Good Bugs

One of the most frequently asked questions I am asked concerning keeping control of pests is what to spray. Spraying something is the equivalent of taking an aspirin for a headache, but it can cause more problems than it helps. When you spray - even insecticidial soap - you're killing any beneficial insects as well as the bad ones. This week in my "Pest Patrol" blog on PlantersPlace I touched on a few of the good bugs to have in your garden and how to keep them happy.

http://www.plantersplace.com/Community/ViewBlog.aspx?BlogId=4

Getting a Jump on the Season

  Okay, even I'll admit it's a bit premature in northern climates to start working the soil right now (especially since everything is frozen solid), but it's never too early to start planning.

In the current issue of Grit magazine www.grit.com), I wrote the article, Get Growing Early, on some of my favorite techniques in gaining a jump on the season. I discuss everything from Wall-0-Waters, floating row covers, solar umbrellas and cloches. These tools have saved me more than once from freak spring - and summer- snowstorms, as well as allowed me to plant weeks before it's traditionally "safe." When you're dealing with an abbreviated growing season every day counts.

Many of these techniques are also helpful to reduce problems with insects and marauding deer and rabbits, plus they offer that extra boost of heat during cooling summer nights. And if the sun keeps quiet as many scientists are predicting, we might need a little extra help in the garden to make sure veggies have a warm enough season to mature.