Kraut for All - All for Kraut!

Call me Mary Jane! (that whole farm-girl thing...)

I made sauerkraut for the first time Thursday... we'll see how it turns out.   : )

I was at Spicer Bros Produce in Oregon City last week and was shocked to see the biggest cabbage ever! I eat cabbage all the time... fresh, sauted, steamed, roasted, there is always both green and red varieties in my frig!

Being a lover of kraut, but never attempting to make it myself, I took the challenge and bought the 15.26lb monstrosity.  I found a recipe on wikihow and started the endeavor.

I purchased a glass crock specifically for this task at World Market ($14.99), with rubber mouth seal and stainless top. The neck is smaller that the body of the crock, which is a bit of an issue but I made it work. I would recommend to buy (if you don't already have) a crock with no 'neck'.

It took me over an hour to slice-and-dice the beast, but we have kraut - should be done in time for Thanksgiving!! Will let you know how it turned out...

PEAS OUT!
~GP

2015 Garden Calendar

They're here!!  They're here!!

The 2015 Garden Calendars have just been delivered and are now for sale at The Wade Creek House. Pick yours up today - they also make great holiday gifts! 

Only $15.00

Calendar sponsored in part by:

Tri County Management, LLC

Tri-County HVAC, Inc

Tina's Healthy Living

The Wade Creek House

Please support these small local businesses 

that support our community!
(click on the name to link to website)

This year, $3.00 from every calendar sold will be donated to the SEED project, helping to fund continued education and outreach at the garden located at Estacada Jr High. 

SEED broke ground during the winter of 2010-2011 at the Estacada Junior High on a lovely pinwheel-shaped garden, using donated funds. The garden was first planted by students on Earth Day 2011.

SEED wrote a successful $2,000 grant to the Whole Foods Kids Foundation to expand and build a second garden at Estacada Junior High. This row crop garden capitalizes on the long-standing partnership between the Estacada Junior High students who volunteer weekly at the Estacada Area Food Bank. In Spring 2014, this garden was built and planted, and is being maintained and harvested by students providing fresh produce that the Food Bank otherwise would have to buy at great expense.

Join us in supporting our local school garden!

For more information about the SEED project, please visit seedestacada.org

Enjoying the Summer harvest & settling in to Fall

This summer seemed to go on forever! The long, hot & dry days made for amazing melon and squash harvests! Some of the sweetest Hermiston watermelons I've ever tasted... I ate about 6 of them.   YUM!!  I tried growing a few melons in my garden this year, but with the lack of rain (and normal irrigation from yours truly), it was a meager harvest. I did get a few which were tasty, but will definitely try again next year with a bit more TLC.  : )

Mini Honeydew, Tigger melon & Sugar Baby watermelon

The rest of my garden did great - tomatoes, corn, chard, garlic, beans even my Rose Finn potatoes, which I mostly neglected, were the biggest I'd ever grown! I'm saving these as seed potatoes for next year.

Tomatoes: Red Romanian heirloom, Pineapple, Indigo Rose,
Purple tomatillio, Walla Walla Sweet onion

I tried something new with potatoes this year - growing them in burlap bags. This is something I will try again next year and see if I can perfect. The idea is good.... I took a burlap coffee bag and folded it down, adding 3" straw to the bottom and 6" of compost then planting a few 'Purple Peruvian' fingerling potatoes. I added finished compost as they grew, until the bag was 1/2 full and left them to do their thing. To harvest, I just lifted the bag and everything fell out the bottom, which had rotted out - quite easy! The potatoes were small and scaly, mostly due to my neglect, but this is pretty slick and will keep trying!

Growing potatoes in burlap bags!

The one disappointment? Moles! This is the first year I have really had an issue with them. I extended my garden to the North this year and planted my carving/cooking pumpkins and tomatillios in the deep compost. The moles had a great time tunneling in the deep beds which in turn left the plants roots starving for water and nutrients. I did get a few small pumpkins, buttercup & patty pan squash.

Patty Pan & Buttercup squash; 'Knucklehead' pumpkin

Up against my greenhouse, I back-filled the 9" drop and planted ornamental gourds. This faces West which was perfect! I planted new (to me) varieties and was pleasantly surprised with the harvest! I am going to dry these little 'Spinning Gourds' - they will be excellent for my "natural ornaments" class at The Wade Creek House next winter!

Counter-clockwise from bottom left: Lil-Pump-Ke-Mon, Orange Cutie,
 Batwings, Spinning Gourds, Gobblin Eggs (center, black), 

PEAS OUT!
~GP