Creating a New Normal

Creating a New Normal

[A well-reasoned, and -written defense of fundamental liberty. -DCS]

By Liz Reitzig on Nourishing Liberty.com  2 January 2014

Joel Salatin and Liz Reitzig

“On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, “Is it safe?” Expediency asks the question, “Is it politic?” And Vanity asks the question, “Is it popular?” But Conscience asks the question “Is it right?” And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must do it because it is right.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, March 31, 1968, less than a week before he was assassinated.

Dr. King spoke these words in protestation of war, but they are equally applicable to any moral dilemma. Dr. King strove to bring peace to people torn by abuse. Today our family farmers face a similar pattern of arbitrary and unnecessary assault. Read more on nourishingliberty.com

January Garden Tasks

January is time to plant garlic, onion, and shallot bulbs.

It's time also to prune roses. By the way, if you have plants that have been damaged by frost (like our kiwi vines), do not prune off the damaged parts. They may be ugly, but they'll help protect the rest of the plant from further frost damage.

Rake your lawn and/or your neighbors' lawns for leaves for your compost pile.

Once all the leaves have fallen from your fruit trees, you can prune them. While you are pruning your deciduous trees you can also trim your conifers.

Purchase and plant bare-root roses, fruit trees, vines, and veggies. Camellias and  Azaleas, too. 

Spray your roses and deciduous trees with a dormant spray.

Order seeds and supplies from seed catalogs (more on that in the next post).

Making Turkey Stock

Once you remove all the meat from your Thanksgiving turkey (this is easier when while the turkey is still warm), put the bones on to simmer right away to make stock to use in soups and sauces for the rest of the holidays and after. It may help keep you and your family from getting the winter colds and flu that always come around.

Homemade stock offers three nutritional benefits that are in readily digestible form:

1. Minerals calcium, magnesium, silicon, sulphur and phosporous and critical trace minerals.

2. Gelatin which is good for many tissues of the body -- cartilage, bones, joints, skin, digestive tract, and muscles including the heart. Gelatin also boosts immunity. The majority of our immune system is located in our gut, and gelatin soothes and heals the intestinal mucosa.

3. Glucosamine and chondroitin sulphates, good for joint maintenance.

Making turkey stock is very easy. Put the carcass in a large pot (1-2 gallons) and cover with water. Add 1/4 cup of vinegar (this will help to release minerals from the bones and cartilage). Bring to a boil over medium to high heat. Reduce to medium to low heat and simmer for 24-48 hours. Skim off any foam that forms on the surface while simmering. After 24-48 hours, allow the stock to cool and strain out the bones. You'll have a gallon or two of yummy stock.

Easy, healthful, and tasty.

Time to Plant Garlic, Onions, and ... Strawberries

In our Southern California garden, this week (the first week in November) is the time to plant garlic, onions, and strawberries for best results in the spring and summer. (See what else to plant in November.)

These three garden favorites may not seem to go together, but when it comes to planting time, they are a perfect match. We're not talking about companion planting--the idea that some plants do better when planted near certain other plants (Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening by Louise Riotte is the book to read if you want to know all about it.). We're talking about timing.

Research and testing at the University of California Agricultural Extension show that "strawberries planted between November 1 and 10 get winter chill at the precise moment in their growing schedule to trigger fruit production rather than foliage" (Pat Welsh's Southern California Gardening: A Month-by-Month Guide, pg. 285).

It doesn't pay to order strawberries from catalogs. Strawberries are a regional crop. Just a few miles north of here, different varieties of strawberries flourish that would languish here and vice versa. Plant runners from your own strawberry patch or purchase plants (bare root if possible) that are adapted to your area.  We're planting "Sequoia" this week. The varieties available in local nurseries will be successful in your area.

This is the perfect time to plant onion seeds because onions are sensitive to day length and to temperature--in a word, they are photothermoperiodic. (Your sesquipedalian for today. Unless of course you are hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobic!)

Each variety of onion is stimulated to begin bulb growth and slow top growth when the hours of daylight reach a certain length--a number which varies greatly, depending on the variety. Long-day onions do well in northern latitudes, while short-day onions, do well in the south. According to long-time onion grower Dixondale Farms "The short-day varieties start the bulbing process when daylight length reaches 10-12 hours. They take approximately 110 days to mature in the south and just 75 days in the north. The earlier you plant them, the larger they get, but they won't get very big in the northern states."

We're planting "Yellow Granex" onion seeds this week. Other short-day varieties that do well here in Southern California: "Grano," "Crystal Wax," "Red Creole," and any of the "Texas" varieties. (Check out Burpee's Short-Day Onion Collection .) There are also intermediate day-length onions that if planted here in February will make bulbs in the summer. (Try "San Felipe.")

We're planting lettuce, too!

We're also planting garlic now. Plant individual cloves about 4 inches apart and 2 inches deep with the points upward in soil rich with humus. You can purchase globes of garlic at the nursery or in the produce section of the supermarket.

November in the Garden

Plant garlic, shallots, cabbages, kale, onions, peas, fava beans, broccoli, carrots, turnips, beets, spinach and other cool-weather greens.

Plant strawberries!

Make successive plantings of fast growing greens: cilantro, lettuce, and chervil.

Pull up tomato plants, roots and all, leave the green fruit. Hang whole vines in a protected place and pick fruits as they ripen.   

Harvest Brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, turnips, collards, and kale after frost sweetens their flavor.

Watch out for frost! Cover crops with floating row covers to protect them if the weatherman says the overnight lows will be in the low 40's or colder. If a freeze is predicted soak the ground before you put the covers on.

October in the Garden

As the weather begins to cool here in Southern California, it's time to plant fall and early spring crops.

Sow seeds:

• fava beans
• beets
• celery
• chard
• chives
• garlic
• kale
• kohlrabi
• leeks
• lettuce 
• romaine
• bibb
• buttercrunch 
• onions
• green
• long-day 
• parsley
• peas
• radishes
• spinach
• shallots

Transplant:

• artichokes
• asparagus
• broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• cabbage
• cauliflower
• strawberries

Harvest:

• horseradish
• Macadamia nuts  (those fallen to the ground)
• Squash

Spaghetti Squash

Have you heard about spaghetti squash? We are growing some this year for the first time. One of the reasons we hadn't grown it before is that we tend to resist things offered as "substitutes" for other things. Spaghetti squash, as the name suggests has been promoted as a substitute for pasta. It is not a substitute. It is an alternative. For this reason, according to one seed company website, the name "spaghetti squash" is confusing or misleading, so this squash has been renamed to "vegetable spaghetti." We're pretty sure this is not an improvement. "Spaghetti" (the presumably confusing part) is still in the name, and now we can't tell what kind of "vegetable" it is from the name. Seems more confusing now than before.

However, spaghetti squash is tasty, buttery sweet, though it doesn't overpower with squashiness the sauce or whatever it is you are serving over it. We've had ours under a tomato meat sauce (as for spaghetti) and under chili. It is also good plain, topped with butter and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Spaghetti squash is easy to cook: bake, boil, slow-cook, or microwave, your choice. However, spaghetti squash can be difficult to cut. Cutting one of these raw requires a sharp knife and some strength along with agility (keep your fingers out of the way!). Fortunately, it can be cooked whole.

Cutting first: The advantages to cutting the squash in half (lengthwise) before cooking are that it cooks faster, and you can save the seeds to plant or you can roast them (all squash seeds can be roasted and eaten like pumpkin seeds). The disadvantage to cutting the squash before cooking is the effort in cutting through the thick rind and scraping out the seeds and pulp. Bake in the oven rind side up at 375 F for a half our or so, or in the microwave for 6 to 8 minutes (let stand for a few minutes after), or boil for 20 minutes or so. Put it in the slow-cooker with a cup of water or so for 2-3 hours on high, 6-8 hours on low. Regardless of method, you'll know when it's done when it yields easily to a fork. Separate the strands with a fork.

Leaving it whole: The advantage here is that it is easier. Just pierce the rind with a sharp knife in a couple of places and its ready to cook. If you don't pierce it, you may have a squash bomb on your hands when the steam builds up inside. This is especially the case when using the microwave (we don't own one). It does however take longer to cook and you'll need to be careful not to get burned as you cut the squash and scrape out the seeds and pulp. Bake at 375 F for about an hour. Microwave for 10 to 12 minutes and let stand for at least 5 minutes afterward to allow the steam inside to finish cooking it. Boil for a half an hour or so. Put it in the slow-cooker with a cup of water or so for 2-3 hours on high, 6-8 hours on low. Again, regardless of method, you'll know when it's done when it yields easily to a fork. Allow to cool slightly and cut it open lengthwise and scrape out the seeds and pulp. You might want to use an oven mitt or two. Separate the strands with a fork.

Some have suggested that when the whole-baked squash is hot, cutting it around the middle rather than lengthwise may facilitate scraping out the seeds and separating the strands. We haven't tried this, and we don't plan to. It seems to us that reaching down into a very hot, enclosed area is more conducive to burns than working along side a hot, open area. Also, the halves are more stable on the counter when cut lengthwise.

Spaghetti squash will keep for up to six months if stored between 50 to 60 degrees. Buy them in season when they are least expensive, or if you have lots of space, grow your own. Choose squash without any breaks or other blemishes in the skin. Put them in the coolest (temperature wise) room in your house. If you don't have a place in your home that stays between 50 and 60 degrees through the winter, don't worry, the squash will keep at room temperature for several weeks.