The Joys of Eating in Season Series: Part two, Zucchini

The season for fresh veggies is definitely upon us! So much so that I can’t even keep up in my garden! I have an entire counter full of Zucchini. This summer favorite is almost surely in abundance in home gardens as well as a popular favorite at farmers markets. Tasty, nutritious and versatile, this summer Grand Slam has got it all. I have been hard at work trying to preserve some of its summer savvy as well. I done everything from blanching and freeing for soups, to dehydrating as chips, shredding for bread and grilling and freezing for a quick steam in the cold of winter.

It this part two of this series I hope you too will be inspired to preserve some of this seasons abundance as well as try some of these tasty recipes I have found and or created this year. Enjoy!

For a little healthy sweet tooth action, try these!

Zucchini and Blueberry Muffins

·      1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini (about 1/2 of one large zucchini)

·      1/2 cup applesauce

·      1/4 cup old fashioned oats

·      1/2 cup white flour

·      3/4 cup whole wheat flour

·      1 egg

·      1/4 cup white sugar, plus

·      1/8 cup white sugar

·      1/8 cup brown sugar

·      2 teaspoons lemon juice or 2 teaspoons lemon zest

·      1/2 teaspoon baking powder

·      1/2 teaspoon baking soda

·      1/2 teaspoon salt

·      1 teaspoon cinnamon

·      1 dash vanilla

·      1/3 cup blueberries

Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and grease a muffin pan with pam.

2. Combine zucchini, applesauce, oats, flours, egg, sugar, and lemon juice in a bowl (use a spatula to mix, it will make things easier).

3.
Let this mixture sit for about 15 minutes.

4.In the meantime, mix together the baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

5.Fold this into the first mixture.

6.
Stir in blueberries and add a dash of vanilla.

1.    Scoop the batter into muffin pan and sprinkle with cinnamon.

2.    Bake for approximately 25 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean).

*You can also double the recipe and still make only twelve, to make larger, heartier muffins.

Nutritional Facts for Zucchini-Blueberry Muffins

Serving Size: 1 (59 g)

Servings Per Recipe: 12

Amount Per Serving

% Daily Value

Calories 103.5

Calories from Fat 7

Total Fat 0.7 g

Saturated Fat 0.1 g

Cholesterol 17.6 mg

Sodium 176.3 mg

Total Carbohydrate 22.5 g

Dietary Fiber 1.7 g

Sugars 9.2 g

      Protein 2.6 g

Visit Food.com’s website to see this and more recipes: http://www.food.com/recipe/zucchini-blueberry-muffins-183345#ixzz1XCewQku1

I saw these on a link on facebook, haven’t tried them yet so let me know what you think! Zucchini Fritters: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/zucchini_fritters/

And last but not least….Tacos! Yup, you heard me right, TACOS! These tacos were a delicious and healthy lunch I whipped up today for myself. I will defiantly make them again.

Portabella, Bak Choy and shredded zucchini tacos

½ Portabella mushroom, sliced

½ cup bak choy, stems removed

½ cup shredded zucchini

1 clove garlic, mince

olive oil spray

2 corn tortillas, heated in skillet

½ cup heated refried beans

Sauté mushroom in olive oil spray until browned, 5 minutes. Add Bak Choy and cover with more olive oil spray. Cook, tossing frequently a few minutes. Add shredded zucchini and garlic. Cook until bak choy is softened, 2 min. Spread refried beans on tortillas and top with veggie mixture, Enjoy!

The Joys of Eating in Season Series

Blueberries!

As 6AM rolled around I was excited to hop out of bed this morning! I jumped in my car and drove the 11 miles to the town of Corning, CA, my hometown, to do something totally new to me…pick Blueberries! A few days ago a sign appeared on the corner of Houghton and South Avenue that boldly announced, “u-pick Blueberries”.  I was elated to see such a novel proposition in Corning. When my sister called last night to invite me to go with her this AM I was thrilled! We arrived at the site not having any idea what was in store for us except for a few helpful hints from some relatives who had been going daily to pick there. One, go EARLY! Less people and the berries are firmer as is the case with most harvesting. Two, pick from underneath the plants where the berries are bigger, juicier and firmer.

We grabbed ourselves a bucket, which we informed we should fill up for $5. They are easy to pick with no thorns unlike our other summer favorite, Blackberries! My sister and I have made a yearly ritual of picking blackberries from my property here in Vina for which we make an incredible blackberry apricot jam. YUM!

After we heaped out buckets we paid up to the very nice lady in charge and headed home with our blueberry bounty in hand. I was able to layer 4 cookie sheets for freezing, fill up a normal sized clamshell and make smoothies for my family for $5! That’s amazing!

I probably don’t need to mention the benefits of eating fresh blueberries but I will anyways just for giggles. The antioxidant content is VERY high, and even more so from a right-off-the-bush berry! They are great from curbing those “sweet” craving and wont fill your blood with all those nasty sugars like high fructose corn syrup ( the Bain of our existence, buts that a whole other article!) and refined white sugar.

As I sit here drinking my smoothie I am elated to know I am supporting farmers in their pursuit of supplying the community with healthy and delicious food. It is becoming increasingly harder for small family owned farms such as this one to survive. With the government under pressure to subsidize soybeans, rice, wheat and cotton, these small fruit and veggie farmers get no support. Jack Hedin in an article in the New York Times weaves an interesting story about the woes of these farmers in this article http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/01/opinion/01hedin.html.

Fresh Blueberry Smoothies

The following is the recipe I used this morning to create these delicious smoothies I am drinking as I write this.

Fresh Blueberry Smoothies

Make a whole pitcher.

1-2 cups blueberries

½ cup Frozen blackberries (optional)

1 cup of yogurt, any flavor, but I chose Tillamook’s Blackberry Pomegranate.

Ice to top of pitcher and fill with milk

Blend until smooth and enjoy! It makes a very subtle beverage with a beautiful color!

Eating in season is easy here in Northern California with something ripe for the picking 365 days of the year! Please let me know if you find any other great u-pick places! I’m hooked!

The art of listening (and reading)

A friend of mine just submitted a post to her blog http://mealsandsteals.blogspot.com  that made me think. actually, it made me listen and think. So in response to her prose, I write this….LISTEN. It really does go a long way. My husband tells me I don’t listen sometimes and he is SO right. There are so many beautiful sounds in this world that get muffled with the high paced life we live. I many have, from time to time, given the impression that living it the country on this farm is all peaches and cream. Which would be wonderful, but, it is incorrect. However, if I listen to Lindsey, the above mentioned blog author, I could change some of that chaos in to calm if I practiced listening in the moment.

In my garden I have found that there is a peace that exists. I get a sense of calm and relaxation from simply visiting it. I find a bed and observe what is happening there whether it be the tips of potato vines just peeking through the soil, or new baby plants and flowers emerging where the water is plentiful and I did not dead head the prior season.  I hear the birds and the lizards move and chirp and watch me watch them. These things are reminders that life goes on. Always moving and changing, life is an adventure that can so easily be taken for granted. No matter what your religious beliefs, the garden speaks of so many tiny miracles in every second of it’s existence.

I often tell people how I am surprised every single time my seedlings emerge. I have been growing from seed for years and the wonder of a plant emerging from that tiny DNA laden speck is amazing.  It is that resurrection of wonder that drives life. Babies see it. They are awed at the most mundane sight to us adults. They see and hear so much that we have forgotten to appreciate. My little guy reminds my not to lose touch with the little things we see and hear each day.

Today is a good day to remember that, as I am getting ready to head out to shoot a wedding. There is so much that could be missed if you don’t keep in touch with what is around you at every moment. Weddings are beautiful and amazing examples of the full circle of life and the value of really listening to the universe that surrounds you. 

Don't Worry BEE happy, Part 3, The Aftermath

Part 3: The Aftermath

The bee keeper was very careful to assure the bees were moved safely from their happy home to a new nice white box, their new happy home. He commented that they were the most docile he had ever encountered. This may not have been such a good thing, as during subsequent check ups they weren’t found up to much of anything productive. They had let their brood (baby bees) die, weren’t doing much comb building and he didn’t see sign of the queen at all!

In attempts to rectify the situation he brought out another hive to do a combine. He attempted to combine them together so that the bees from the house would have a queen and get to stepping!

Another week pasted as we watched and waited to see if the combine took. When he examined them he found that there was in a queen in the box from the house bees after all and separated them again.  

They have been sucking down the sugar water that I have been filling up for them every few days and one hive seems to be much more active than the other. I’m not sure what this means at this point but they are still eating the syrup so there’s still hope in my mind.

Don't Worry, BEE Happy: Part two: The Extraction.

Since I was unable to attend the extraction, I have posted this slide show to detail thr process. A picture is better than a thousand words, right?

Don't worry, BEE Happy!

I have long wanted to join the ranks of the beekeepers. With all the gardens, flowers, blossoming trees and garden veggies that need the little flyers for pollination out here, I knew they would be happy out here on the ranch.  I have done a little research about them but haven’t taken the leap to start me an apiary. However, as I often find is the case out here, they choose us! Early this Spring I was weed eating on the North side of our house, a pretty low traffic area, and discovered to my surprise bees were frequenting a hole in the side of the house where my husbands grandpa had installed the hot water line for the bath tub many years ago. At the time I thought, “this weed eater is going to make them mad, I should steer clear” and did so.  Later that evening, suddenly realized the ramifications of what I had witnessed and I nearly shouted at Eric, “there are bees in the side of the house!”  My son’s wall is directly on the other side of this area so our first thought was to check his room. There were four or five bees in the window, which I quickly caught and removed.

We had to make a run to town for errands so off we went with the intentions of checking out this scenario when we returned. By the time we got back, there were nearly four dozen in his room! When we moved his bed away from the wall we discovered they were making their entrance through an uncovered electrical socket. Apparently because of it’s proximity to the wall a conventional cover would not fit it and no one had yet to see a reason to do the additional fabrication to construct one. Now was the time! As my husband set to fabricating, I set to catching and releasing all of the curious bees and exporting them back outside.  Once the cover was installed and caulked we had now more tiny visitors. 

However, we still had bees making a home in the side of our house. So in traditional me style I set to researching bee removal, bee equipment and bee supplies. It only made me more confused. It was then that the bee sleuth was born. My senses became fine tuned to white boxes, bee keeping periphrasis and beekeepers vehicles. I did spot a convoy of beekeepers trucks one day after picking up my oldest from attempted flag them down for advice, to no avail. 

Luckily, on another trip to town I spotted a vehicle with what appeared to be white boxes in the back! I quickly pulled over and approached the beekeeper that was suited up with smoker in hand. As it turns out he showed interest in helping us remove them. He said he would get together some boxes and come out that weekend. I work only 8-10 weekends a year as a wedding and portrait photographer and this weekend happened to be one of them. To Be Continued.

Look for Part two: The Extraction. Coming Soon. 

Putting my farm fresh eggs to use!

My Easy Quiche

I made one of my favorite recipes last night for a dear friend's visit. Years ago she and I spent many a night in the Kitchen cooking up a quiche on a whim and have thus, established a strange tradition between up. I have been making this version of my own design for many years and find it easy and satisfying. I have tried a million flavor combinations and all have been pretty tasty so be creative and find out what is your favorite. Here are the basics:

Erin's Easy Quiche

1-cup Veggies-Steamed broccoli, asparagus, zucchini, are my favorites. or mix it up! Just make sure its cooked because it only warms in the quiche.

1 cup diced meat-Ham, bacon, sausage work well. Again make sure it cooked.

1 pie crust (your preferred recipe, box or mix. I use Krustez pie crust in the box you just add water to and roll out).

1 Dozen Eggs

1/2-3/4 cup milk

1/2 block cream cheese-Softened

1/2 cube softened butter

2 cup cheese mix. I use swiss, chedder, mozzerella, jack, whatever is on hand or sound best with my veggie of choice.

1/2 cup three cheese blend. I get the green lid version with Parmesan, Asiago, and Rumiano cheese.

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Cook/steam your meat and veggie of choice meanwhile, prepare pie crust and place in pie plate. Mix eggs, milk, three cheese blend, softened cream cheese and butter together until mixed. Add cooked veggies, meat and salt and pepper to taste (although it not recommended to actually taste the raw egg concoction!) and stir until mixed. Pour into Crust and cover crust with a bit of tin foil to avoid the edges burning while it cooks. Place quiche on center rack of the over and set time for 30 minutes. At 30 minutes check it's progress. Cook time will vary between ovens and quiches so set for every 10 minutes after that so you make sure it doesn't over cook. I test it by taping the top with a utensil, when it feels firm and doesn't jiggle, it's ready. Remove from over and let cool 5 minutes before serving. Quiche will be very puffy when removed from the oven but will often settle as it cools. Enjoy!

3 keys to my organic garden

When I first started gardening organically I was armed only with books and magazines that swore it was not only possible but beneficial to garden with out chemicals and pesticides. As a gardener for many years using what it thought were the conveniences of chemicals it was hard to convince even myself that this was even remotely possible. However, now that I have been hard at it for the last 6 years I feel like I have a pretty good handle on what I believe to be the 3 keys to organic gardening.

Attracting beneficials:

I have found this to be my favorite thing about organic gardening because it give me a perfectly legitimate excuse to justify buying flowers that don't produce veggies that we can consume. The right ones, however, do attract the "good" bugs that an organic garden SO needs. It is common knowledge that lady bugs are good for the garden but the why of it is not always clear to everyone. Lady bugs are very effective "bad" bug predators. Aphids are the most well know example of their favorite "soup de Jour". They also LOVE dill weed and are attracted by it right into the garden to set up shop. Hence, plant dill, attract lady bugs who dine on aphids, no problem! The best explanation I have come across was in the book "Animal , Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver. So check it out if you want to know more about the ins and outs. Among my favorite beneficial attractants are Lavender, Cosmos, Blanket flower, Rudbekia, and Mumms. 

Companion planting:

I run a very loose ship when it comes to my garden. Plants just appear! Arugula pops up at will, sunflowers from the first year of the garden visit every year, tomatoes volunteer from last years seed, Hopi red Dye Amaranth peeks through weeds in the bed to announce its presence, just to name a few. But I find myself grabbing my companion planting reference every year at this time to remind me of all the little details of what plays nice together. I have "Carrots love Tomatoes" just one of many garden references written by Louise Riotte. She details the intricate web of planting crops together to maximize the plant health, production and vigor.
I would also lump crop rotation in with this section because it is so critical to avoiding diseases and insect issues that not rotating your crops can cause. I follow simple crop rotation rule of planting nothing from the same families in the same area as the previous year for 1-3 years. An example, avoid planting cucumbers where your watermelons were last year, same family and same nutrients being depleted from the soil. Same goes with Brassicas, or cole crops ( cabbages, lettuce, broccoli, etc) and legumes. 

Last but not least:

MULCH! The use of mulch for weed suppression is paramount if you don't want to spend countless hours pulling weeds out of beds that have been fallow. I know this because every year I don't get to it fast enough and BANG! Weeds everywhere. I recommend mulching twice a year to keep on top of it. Once it starts to get warm slap on a layer and again when the weather gets cold. This is where your compost comes in handy. Keeping a compost pile/heap/barrel can save you time, money and energy if you use the black gold right out of your own pile each year. Just remember to keep it moist to promote breakdown and keep feeding it. And speaking of moisture...lets talk about your watering system. You may be wondering how watering fits in with mulch, well, here goes! Water is critical to plant life and can be made so much more effective with the use of, you guessed it, MULCH! Each plant has its own watering needs and desires and for the healthiest plants these needs should be met. The tomato is a classic example of specific need for a plant because it does NOT like over head watering. They prefer to be watered at their roots. 

I bring in plants to attract butterflies too!

Cabbages growing where peppers were last year. 

The bees just love this sage in my herb area made from repurposing old culverts into planters.

This was my quick over view of some handy tips for organic beginners. I will detail all of these subjects over time so stay tuned and feel free to make additional comments and references as need. 

Fruit leather inspiration!

It dawned on me today while I munched on a tasty fruit leather strip I bought in a bulk pack at Costco that we should make our own! I have been attempting to empty the freezer of all its contents via creative diners, meals and smoothies for the last month and I have a HUGE amount of blackberries and strawberries from last years crop staring at me every time I open the door. So...Forrest, my oldest son at 8 years of age and I are going to attempt strawberry and blackberry fruit leather. Below is the recipe I choose out of a million to make our tasty treats. Looks simple enough...let's see! I have a feeling that this will be one of many fruit leather making sessions since my boys LOVE them. We do have some pears on the trees this year and we have high hopes that the apple tree will produce this year. Not to mention Pomegranate in November after our annual pomegranate jelly/syrup party. Let me know if you are interested in attending this year, its growing and growing!

Fruit Leather Recipe

Ingredients:  

•               Strawberries

•               Water

•               Lemon juice 

•               Sugar (if needed)

**4 cups of fruit yield about one sheet of fruit leather

Directions:

1.            Preheat the oven to the lowest setting or 120 degrees...the lowest my oven would go was 170 degrees.

2.            Rinse the berries and cut of the green tops.  Cut the berries into quarters if they are large berries.

3.            If the berries are sweet you will not need to add much sugar, but if they are tart you will need to add a bit more.

4.            Place the berries in a covered saucepan on medium heat.  Pour in 1/2 c. water for every 4 cups of fruit.  Bring the berries to a simmer and let them cook down for 10-15 minutes until the fruit is soft.

5.            Use a potato masher to mash the fruit that is left in the pan until fairly smooth.  (Or wait for the mixture to cool a bit and put it in your food processor or blender.)  If you kiddos are sensetive to the seeds, you could strain the mixture through cheesecloth to remove the strawberry seeds.

6.            Add sugar 1 tsp. at a time until desired sweetness and lemon juice to taste  I added 1/2 c. sugar and the juice from 1/2 of a lemon to give it some real zing.

7.            Simmer fruit until sugar is completely disolved and the mixture has thickened (about 5 or 10 minutes more).

1.             

 8.   Spray a baking sheet lightly with cooking spray and line a baking sheet with plastic wrap. Pour the strawberry mixture onto the lined baking sheet until it is about 1/8 of an inch thick or so.

            9.  Bake in the low temperature oven for as long as it takes for the puree to dry out (between 8 and 12 hours) and not be sticky to the touch...ours took 6.5 hours since it was at a higher temp.

          10.  Let the fruit leather cool.  Then as you take the leather up, tightly roll it, plastic wrap and all as you would do cinnamon rolls.

           11.  Then cut the leather into desired widths.

           12.  Store the homemade "fruit roll ups" in airtight containers or plastic baggies.

Full circle organic gardening

Welcome to my blog. My mother has been telling for years to write a book about the funny farm we live on. So this is me following her advice, in blog form! My husband and I and our two Kids live on a 60 acre ranch in Northern California. No where near the "California" that made the zip code 90210 famous in the 90's. On the contrary, we live in the sticks! We are just far enough our here that we have to drive to town and plan out groceries in advance to avoid disasters like no onions on Fajita night!

This area was historically covered in wild grape vines. For which parts still are. This is where the full circle idea started. Our ideal for our little niche is to create an atmosphere that is definitely country and ALL GREEN! We currently house chickens for eggs and meat, goats weed mowers and Lots of plants! We are surrounded by cattle fields which make for very interesting stories from time to time! We would like to bring all full circle and create an area where biodiversity reins supreme!

So, my plan for this blog is to journal the best and the worst times, the silly and the CRAZY and all the ups and downs of trying to breathe new life into an old cattle ranch. I hope to include recipes from the past and present and any helpful hints about gardening that I can! Please contact me for any garden help, if i don't know the answer I will find it!