Category Archives: Gardening

Transformation

Posted on December 7, 2012 by AnnieRie

In one year. From a freezer full of grocery store items, and a pantry full of processed foods. It was one of my biggest resolutions last year. Start cooking real food. Use up the CSA. Support our local farmers and markets and small businesses as much as possible.

Now, the pantry has more staples and less packaged items. Most of it organic. The two freezers are full, with very few packaged items in them. Today I finally reached the point where the only meat in the freezer is locally sourced. All of it. From the local farms, and from grass fed and/or free range animals. It may cost a bit more, but we have learned to eat smaller portions and make the veggies on the plate more than half the plate.

birthday dinner 011

Dinners like my husband’s birthday meal featured small filets, lots of green and red veggies, and it was truly filling and good for us, as well. Portioning out the meat and fish is the way I do it now.

Yesterday I added this to the freezer. Took us a while to inventory and it definitely filled the freezer in the kitchen.

soup CSA and venison 107

Thirty seven pounds of venison. From the farm across the road. Our neighbor hunts over there, getting meat for us. We have the large garden, and supply them with tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, etc. from our garden in the summer. He bow hunts to keep the doe population under control around here, for us and the other neighbors who farm and garden.

Today the crock pot has a lovely venison chili bubbling away in it. The only non local items in the pot are the organic black beans, the olive oil, spices and herbs. The tomatoes came from my garden. The onions, sweet peppers and jalapeno, all from the CSA.

venison black bean chili

venison black bean chili

I have two weeks left in the CSA, then a break for two and a half months. I will be using my foods from the freezer and hitting the Saturday and Sunday markets at the farms, and in Olney. I still need to get seafood and occasionally I will buy from Boarmans for cuts that I can’t get from the farmers, but I finally have decided to minimize my exposure to meats from animals given hormones and/or antibiotics.

Local farms that will have markets this winter.

Breezy Willow on Saturdays
TLV Tree Farm on Saturdays
Clarks Farm on Saturdays
England Acres on Saturday and Sunday

Olney will have an indoor market at the Sandy Spring Museum, beginning in January. Add them to the current year round markets, in Silver Spring, Tacoma Park and Dupont Circle. All of those are a drive from here, but an occasional visit to DC for Sunday brunch and some goodies is worth it.

I am keeping my local resources page up to date, as much as I can. We are so lucky here in Howard County to have fresh food, eggs, dairy, cheese, ice cream, meats, honey, and lots of local canned and frozen specialties, made by local farmers and local companies. Just because the markets have ended in Howard County doesn’t mean we can’t find sources for the winter.

hocofood@@@

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A Windowsill Full of Sunshine

Posted on November 28, 2012 by AnnieRie

It may be cold and blustery out, but it is so satisfying to pull out the last of the bag ripened tomatoes from the laundry room, where they have been ripening for a month, and line them up on the windowsill. Evoking memories of summer.

I had picked the last of the green tomatoes on October 20th, and put them away to ripen. The little ones ripened first and were used, but these were the last to turn. They sat in a dark cool corner of the laundry room for a month. Closed in a paper bag.

They mostly survived. I had to toss a few of them. They obviously don’t have that fresh from the vine taste, but are much nicer than store bought tomatoes. I will make a pasta dish with these, sauteed and adding some of my pesto I will pull out of the freezer. Back from when I was overloaded with basil and put up containers in the freezer.

Here’s to memories of summer and my garden.

hocofood@@@

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Shirt Sleeve Weather

Posted on November 12, 2012 by AnnieRie

aka Indian Summer

This weekend and today certainly have been those types of days. The high today is supposed to hit 70 degrees. It was a beautiful morning. The maple finally peaked, and I had to record it before the rains come tomorrow and bring down most of the leaves. It is amazing how it turns from green to yellow to red within the span of a week.

the maple today

This morning it was just spectacular, as seen from the driveway coming into the property. And below, this is the closer look from last Tuesday, as it was just really beginning to change.

the maple beginning to turn

We finally got the garage doors cleaned. We were out there in jeans and T shirts. Can not believe how nice it has been.

no more dirt and grime left from Sandy

With how nice it was, we considered lunch outdoors. After all, the patio was sunny and we were repositioning the furniture back where it belongs and returning the place to its pre-storm condition. We could not believe how much trash and junk was blown under and around all the plant beds, but now it is cleaned up. Finally. The bird feeders are all hung. The branches and most of the leaves cleaned up. The only thing left is cutting back the spirea and the spice bush, once we have a few more freeze warnings and they all lose their leaves.

I made us salads using CSA veggies, and we wandered outside to enjoy the warmth of the sun. The salads include one of my favorite ways to serve chicken and swiss. Getting one thick slice of each at Boarman’s. This time I got some honey BBQ chicken breast. Cut it in cubes and serve on top of greens with an apple diced on top.

chef’s salad, my way

Loving the Hakurei turnips and the French breakfast radishes on this salad. Can’t wait to see what goodies the CSA brings this week.

hocofood@@@

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Milkweed in the Meadow

Posted on November 11, 2012 by AnnieRie

It doesn’t take much to make me happy some days. Like wandering out to take pictures and finding this in the newly mowed edge of the meadow out back.

dried split milkweed seed pod

Milkweed. That wonderful host plant for monarch butterflies. The butterflies we rarely see, but they are in our area because I have seen them twice in our meadow. Never when I had my camera though. I did once find one that lost a fight with some predator and was in pieces off the edge of our patio last year.

But, now that I know where we have milkweed, we can watch and look for the larva and the chrysalis. We have rescued, watched, then released many monarchs at the Conservancy. If I get proficient at it, and can safely move the chrysalis to an area where they can be protected, they have a much better chance of making it to adulthood.

Once I found the seed pod in our area, I did a little looking around and found a few dozen pods in an area about 200 square feet.

I harvested the pods to use at the Conservancy for a project. I decided to spread the seeds around even though they weren’t optimum for drying and transplanting. The pods had all been split and the seeds were past their prime.

I did find quite a few milkweed beetles too.

While out looking to see if there were other areas of milkweed, I did have to be careful to avoid the many many piles of deer scat. It looks like the deer have been chowing down on our part of the meadow. My husband gave the meadow the last cutting of the year, so it could regenerate those varieties of ground plants that the deer enjoy. Obviously, they were grazing for a long time.

deer scat all over the meadow

They also like one place in our front yard. We try to watch the ground when walking across the grass to the mailbox. All in all, it was a pleasant day today. The meadow is in its glory, and I love to walk back there, even if I hadn’t found milkweed, it was still a beautiful sight in the fall.

As a bonus, I have a bag of milkweed seed pods to use at the crafts fair in December for the children’s critter craft area.

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The View from the Yard

Posted on November 8, 2012 by AnnieRie

No, not Camden. Dayton. Our yard. Where we have spent countless hours the past week, cleaning up and getting ready for winter. We spent lots of time outside, since our house was so cold. I was going to title this post, Heat, Glorious Heat.

When I came home today from dropping off food, cleaning supplies and clothes at the hocorising household for Mrs. hocorising to take to Jersey, I came home finally to a warm house. The heat pump is fixed. All is right in my world. Some mornings the temps on our first floor were in the 50s, and we were wearing fleece sweaters and/or vests all day. Going outside to work was better than shivering in the kitchen or family room.

So, what did we get to see outside. Mostly, since the leaves are falling, we got to see what trees were down, or coming down, since the canopy is gone and you can see the bare branches. It looks like we still have a fair amount of work to clean up the large pieces, so we don’t lose the trees we want to keep on our property line. You see, we moved out here for the privacy and between last year’s hurricane, this June’s derecho, and Superstorm Sandy, we lost quite a bit of deciduous cover.

sheared off trees of heaven

Some of our better older trees were damaged too. The derecho sheared off trees, while the hurricane uprooted them. We now need to decide what to plant to maintain our property line.

What also is amazing is how many pine cones came down. I have been collecting them for the Conservancy to use at the Natural Crafts Fair for Christmas. The first weekend in December as part of the crafts fair, they set up an area for children to make really adorable gifts using pine cones, acorns, wood, sticks and other natural items. I have a boatload of pine cones. The description from the web site. Put it on your calendar.

HC Conservancy — DEC 1 – Saturday 9 am to 3 pm Natural Holiday Sale and Crafts. Enjoy a lovely Saturday. Browse tables of natural gift items, create critters from seed pods and natural gatherings. Enjoy beautiful music with a cup of tea. Our popular holiday sale with talented local craft vendors, delicious refreshments, and nature critter crafts for the children of all ages. FREE.

Now that the ground cover is gone, and you can see the property line, you can find the old fence posts and barbed wire that delineated the horse pasture from other parts of the original farm. Our house is in the middle of what was the horse pasture. That is why our soil is so good, all that lovely horse manure churned into the soil, turning clay into something lovely.

It is interesting living here. We have fruit trees, hickory trees, berry bushes, mulberry trees, all sorts of ground covers and grasses. I love the meadow every season.

Our crab apples got many of their berries knocked off, but my neighbor’s did OK. Hopefully, that means we will have our resident cedar waxwings hanging around gorging on berries. Like they did last year. They love it here, even if it gets a little windy.

Just another fall week in West County.

hocoblogs@@@

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A Snow Sky

Posted on November 7, 2012 by AnnieRie

After a lovely day yesterday, today we wake to a prediction of snow. Don’t know how much, but whatever we get, it won’t hang around long if the temperatures rise to the 50s and 60s like they are supposed to reach over the weekend.

I gave the ornamental grasses their fall pruning. I have one left to do. Otherwise, they blow all over the property. We also did a massive leaf cleanup during the lovely weather yesterday. The piles sit waiting for our rake and take compost partner to pick up in her truck sometime soon. She hauled away almost this much yesterday. At least our leaves are turning into compost for gardens. Some of it here. Some of it just down the road from us, at our partner’s home.

If you live out here in west county, and don’t get yard waste removal, like us, consider partnering with the county rake and take program to turn your leaves into compost. Our partner has lots of conifers, but not the deciduous trees needed for that brown component for compost. The yard is getting bare of leaves, with the exception of our maple, which is just turning now.

Besides the leaves and the sky, today I found new residents feasting on the suet. It has been a while since we have seen the red breasted nuthatches. Two of them have been here lately, and one was on the far side of the suet while I was taking leaf pictures. The other, in the tree above, was a little harder to photograph.

red breasted nuthatch

Did you know that the nuthatches are the only birds that can travel head first down the side of a tree? This picture is a little blurry, but you get the action.

Now that I have had a coffee break, and downloaded the morning pictures, it’s time to get back out there and cut back the last of the ornamental grasses. I left the largest one for last. But still, all in all, spending the day outdoors enjoying the fall foliage left on the property, is one of the simple pleasures of living out here.

Here’s to the weekend looking as lovely as yesterday. If you get the chance, head outside this weekend to an outdoor event, or to one of the markets. Here’s the Ellicott City calendar.

hocoblogs@@@

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Making Meals Mine

Posted on November 4, 2012 by AnnieRie

Putting my signature on them. Using items I grew or made. Tonight’s dinner reflected that. All three elements included foods from my garden or my freezer.

We wedged dinner between football games and finishing a radio contest, so it was mostly leftovers, but not without my input. The joy of having a garden and of preserving foods lets me add my signature by placing at least one ingredient in each dish from my resources.

The salad. The microgreens from today’s visit to Olney. Topped with my last pineapple tomato from the garden.

I opened up the brown bag in the laundry room today and found a ripe tomato inside. Believe it or not, that bag ripened heirloom had more taste than many store bought tomatoes could ever have. The rest of the tomatoes went back into the bag. If they get close to ripe, there will be a green tomato pasta on the menu soon. I have oodles of pesto.

Speaking of pesto, it made its way onto the top of the focaccia, to add some flavor and even more depth to it. The pesto was made with African blue basil from my garden.

Then, the soup. Potato leek made the other day. Veggie broth as a base. The broth made with CSA veggies and put away in the freezer. The fresh garden touch. Chives from my window boxes that sit on my deck railing. With the freeze warning tonight, they may bite the dust, but they did brighten up the soup.

Sometimes it is the little things that make a meal. For me, it is the satisfaction of including foods from my garden into those basic leftover meals. So worth it.

hocofood@@@

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On a Mission for MicroGreens …

Posted on November 4, 2012 by AnnieRie

… and a turkey order for Thansgiving.

I wanted microgreens. Was sorry that Breezy Willow didn’t make yesterday’s Glenwood Market, as I know they generally have them. It is one of the items I buy from them often. That meant, if I wanted organic, I could hit Roots or go to Olney. Our House Farm sells organic veggies at the Olney market. Today was the last day of the Sunday morning farmer’s market and artisan fair. I got my greens fix and I’m happy.

With the rest of these goodies I will be making salad with dinner tonight. Check out my last heirloom home grown pineapple tomato, bag ripened in the laundry room. It, along with Our House Farm scallions, a hothouse cucumber from another Olney market stall, some sliced mushrooms and the last of the CSA radishes will be a big part of tonight’s dinner.

Dinner tonight will be salad, focaccia and the end of my potato leek soup that I made last week. The mushrooms in the picture were picked up at Boarman’s, where I stopped off to put in my Maple Lawn Farm turkey order. We always order our turkey at Boarman’s and pick it up the day before Thanksgiving. That way we also put in an order for sausage to make dressing, and this year I got some shrimp. You can put together an order and just arrive there and pay. We tried the craziness of getting onto Maple Lawn Farm, and this is way easier.

If you live anywhere in Howard County and want fresh turkey that can’t be beat, Maple Lawn is the place to get it. My turkey before and after, from last year.

my 2011 whole fresh turkey

oven roasted fresh turkey

Now, all I need to do is get going on making my sauerkraut. Hope we get cabbage from the CSA soon. My kraut usually needs at least a week to be the way I like it.

hocofood@@@

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One Year Old

Posted on November 2, 2012 by AnnieRie

Today is the anniversary of launching this blog. I looked back at my first month of blogging to see what I wrote and what I thought I would do with it.

I uploaded wordpress and tried out the software. Used a friend’s sunset pic, and off I went. I wrote mostly about my CSA the first month, and a few random posts. I didn’t know if I wanted to be a food blog …

my “frozen” pizza

… or if I wanted to post about retirement, or the west county where I live. Turns out, I run all over the place, so I suppose I fit most in the category of personal.

Life in retirement in west county keeps us busy, between hobbies, projects, volunteering and traveling just a bit. I settled on being a locavore, locapour, foodie, retiree. Too many interests? I think not. Add to that our birding, and amateur radio, and we keep out of trouble most days.

Life continues out here as we clean up the small mess the storm left behind. This puppy is one of our favorite purchases, as it becomes invaluable to me as a gardener.

the leaf vacuum, branch chipper, my mulching friend

Right now my better half is creating mulch from all the small tree limbs I collected off the property, for me to use to cover the garlic for the winter. The garlic has sprouted, so it needs a warm cover to overwinter. It obviously loved all that moisture the past week and came up with quickly. I noticed it this morning.

organic garlic planted in October

Besides the tree limbs, the mulched leaves turn into compost for us and our rake and take partner.

Also around here at home, the antennas were re-hung yesterday in advance of this weekend’s contest. I will be hitting markets and shopping, and my husband will be calling CQ. He got the 80 meter antenna up yesterday with a little help from me, and is now on all bands but 160 meters. Not bad with wires. The crank up towers should be going up soon, which will get him better directionality once he gets a beam or two in the air.

Obviously we have enough to do and I have enough to write about, just here in Howard County. Let’s see if I can continue to find inspiration and new topics, as well as report on what’s happening. Saturday I will be popping up to Glenwood market, then heading over to the Fairgrounds to check out the Craft Spectacular. Sunday, up to Olney to see how they are going to transition to an indoor market this winter. I want to talk to their organizers.

Out at the Conservancy, we are working on having a one day, market fest, winter style, in January. Who knows? Maybe we can get something going more often here in Howard County. Can’t hurt to look into it. At least, by having a market in Olney this winter at the Sandy Spring Museum, we have some local goodies to buy year round.

Another project I will love to put on my plate. Year round locavore. With lots of friends around here getting interested in supporting our farms, we could do this.

hocoblogs@@@

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The First Fall Clean Up Day

Posted on October 22, 2012 by AnnieRie

At least the first major clean up. We have been puttering around doing little odd jobs, but today it begins in earnest. I have been researching the long term effects of using pine needles to mulch areas of the plant beds in the back of the house. Today I wanted to gather pine needles to create a winter bed over the rhododendrons and the azaleas. This analysis that I found a while back is what prompted me to look into pine needle mulching in certain areas. We certainly have enough pine needles.

carpet of pine needles

The leaves are just starting to come down. Add to that, the grass under the shrubs and around the raspberry bushes needs its final cutting of the year. We use a clear bag method to collect green material, brown material, and pine needles. Then, using the county rake and take program to be matched to a neighbor we divide the bags to use in our compost piles. Getting that right mix of browns and greens. This is our second year doing rake and take. We get enough from our trees to keep many compost piles going. If you want a way to see your leaves put to good use, consider contacting rake and take.

As for the rest of my clean up I went into my neglected garden to start pulling out the tomato cages, and to bag the tomato plants to take deep into the woods to leave them. They do not get into the compost bins, as they can spread disease from year to year. For example, from late blight. I hadn’t been out there for two weeks, and surprise, there were dozens of green tomatoes all over the garden.

I think I will put these away in a paper bag and let them get close to ripening, then make one last batch of green tomato pasta with pesto.

Tonight dinner will be fairly simple. Although we had to resort to plan B. I had intended to pop a chicken in the crockpot to cook while we were working outside. They don’t make them like they used to. The crockpot gave up the ghost. Would not let me program the temperature and turn on.

As soon as you let up on the button, the lights went out. And, you could not advance it to the longer low cooking times. Thankfully, I never gave up my original crockpot from my first apartment thirty some years ago. You know, one of these antiques.

So, I loaded it up with half a chicken in tomato garlic sauce, over collard greens and onions. Let it go, and soon dinner will be ready. This chicken is falling off the bone, and I started it at 10 am, directly from the freezer. The best way to cook chicken.

Now I need to find a good programmable replacement crockpot as ours gets lots of work making soups, stews and chili. This old one is too small to do brisket, or turkey, which we like to make also. I also like the programmable options not found on my original. I am glad I kept it around though, to save the day today. Off to dinner and to watch Monday night football.

hocofood@@@

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