One of the hardest things about leaving our old (way too small) house was leaving the garden. But we split and collected transplants of several things that could be worked in April, and thought they would be happy enough in pots until they can go in ground. For a full greenhouse of seedlings, we searched for a community garden plot near the new home so we could plant in ground right away, even as the new house had to wait for grading and driveway and landscaping before we could plant a single thing. I was so thrilled to find an organic community garden just 2 miles from home. We reserved our plot when we were still packing boxes at the old house. We went on weekends to hand till and weed and prep before we even moved. In the early days we didn't know anything about the new garden. The people, the soil, the weeds, the sun, the animals. We just knew we needed a plot since we would not have any garden beds until who knows when. The new house had come together so suddenly that every seedling already started was planned for the old house. I had flats and flats of plants which were primarily for part sun, dense rich soil, and high moisture - we had worked so long on the old garden to get the soil to produce so heavily in a small space. We planted anyway. We discovered early on that the new soil was dense and compact. Not very high in nitrogen. And the weeds!!! The first month or two we went to the community garden the weeds were the conversation starters. Every person would stop, introduce themselves, and talk about the weeds. Last year they almost gave up. Last year they did give up. The weeds and thistles explained all of the interesting contraptions in other plots, the haybales, the large sheets of plastic, and the expensive raised beds. We re-worked half of the plot to cover it in weed barrier and added as much compost as we could. As things came in very yellow, people would stop to chat and tell us all about how this used to be a pond bed, then corn fields, and then just grass and weeds. About the river. About the deer whose tracks we found in all of the holes torn into the weed barrier. As things were tweaked and supplemented and new things planted, people would stop to chat about different plants and ask what is this, what is that. Gardeners at the next plot over would sit and weed and chat while we watered. We weeded the paths, added more mulch, filled out our sheets for garden hours. We found a turtle nest in the compost and another gardener got a marker while we found a plot marker and string to rope it off so nobody would dig there. Everyone has avoided that spot since then, and the turtle eggs are carefully covered back up after any rain. For months there were spots with stakes and neon pink tape to protect the killdeer nests that were nestled in along the paths. As the garden has grown we have kept weeding and watering. And every time we are there someone stops to chat. About those purple tomatoes. About how big the squash are. In that time we have organized some tools, re-wrapped hoses, weeded and mulched the paths some more, there has been a shed built, a vegetable washing station was installed, people have weeded and watered plots for people out of town or with health problems. Every time we are there, someone comes up with another gardener we have not met yet, and introduces them. The garden has young families, kids, dinks, chefs, retirees, school groups, volunteer groups, and the local food pantry has raised beds. We are next to a bike path so often cyclists will stop and walk over, read the signs, and walk through the gardens. Sometimes people stop in cars or RVs and walk through, asking questions, chatting about what we are growing. They are from Illinois or Iowa, and are curious. There will be a picnic for the garden, and I donated a book for a raffle - and a lovely lady came by to the house to pick it up. She has now come over to the plot to chat every time we are there. And we talked about all of the great recipes in the local cookbook and the chefs that created them (she knows most of them). Every time we go to the garden (2-3 times per week) there are many people there. It is never empty. And it is always friendly. There are hellos and compliments and chat about the weather. There are those who know each other well now who heckle each other loudly in good humor over who has the most weeds, or who has the biggest tomatoes. We may not have met the people way over on the other far corner yet. But I assure you they have waved and yelled hi on their way down their path. This new town we live in is pretty much a suburb of Madison. But it is tucked off on its own a bit and so it has a small town feel. 10,000 people live here. And people are friendly. We have had a community garden before. But it just wasn't a community. I have realized over the past few months that is what this new garden plot is. It is a community. It is our community that we will now be a part of for years to come. Our new house has 3 times the yard size, and we will have room for many integrated plantings, fruiting bushes, canes and trees. But I am now certain that we will keep this community garden plot. Because it is a community garden. And this is our community.
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This is the time of year when we all have a lot of veggie scraps. Peels, ends, stems, and stalks. Before you compost those perfectly fresh scraps, think about making fresh veggie stock. It is a great way to use all of the healthy fresh ends and peels and pieces. The stock can then be used for making everything from soups and stews to casseroles or even used as the pasta/rice/grains water. By using scaps, you are saving a lot of usable food from the garbage bin or compost pile and turning it into liquid nutrients for the whole family. The easiest way to make fresh vegetable stock is to save all of your kitchen scraps as you meal prep throughout the week and store them in a jar or bag in the fridge until you are ready to use (or the freezer if not using within a few days). I tend to prep all of our CSA box on Wednesdays along with community garden picks from Tuesday, so that everything is ready to use for the rest of the week. I can easily fill a whole pot with stems, peels, and ends every Wednesday from June to November. Veggies that are good for stock making include onion ends, scallion bits, carrot skins and tops, celery bottoms, beet greens, pea pods, swiss chard stalks, green bean tips, zucchini peels and ends, and all stems from herbs like parsley, thyme, sage, savory, rosemary, or basil. Skip the stronger cruciferous veggies, as they can add an unpleasant aroma to stock (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts). I use kale stems just fine though. The key is to use fresh scraps - nothing bad or moldy - your stock will taste like what you put in it. So fill a 3-4 quart stockpot with your leftover veggies and herbs. Add a bay leaf or two, a few peppercorns, a teaspoon or so of pickling spices (coriander, cumin, dill, clove), and 2-3 cloves of garlic. I also like a little dried chili pepper. If you have a lot of only one type of veggie, add a carrot, a stalk or two of celery, and an onion. Fill with enough water to cover the veggies/herbs (don't worry if you have a few stalks sticking out, it will cook down). Bring just to a gentle simmer on medium (not a hard boil), reduce heat, and simmer on low for 1-2 hours. Strain all of the stock to remove vegetables, herbs, and spices. Pour the liquid into sterilized canning jars or freezer jars. Let them cool to room temperature first, and then freeze immediately or store in the fridge if you will be using within a week or two. Makes approximately 2 quarts/2 litres. Of course you can save chicken bones and make chicken stock too. I find that with all of the garden and CSA bounty my husband and I eat a lot of vegan meals in the summer. The boys have a lot of poultry since there are mammal meat and dairy allergies in the house, but there is only so much bird a girl can take (and I love summer bounty!). So for me, having fresh vegetable stock which can be used for cooking anything and everything is so convenient and really adds great flavor to everything. This veggie stock + the vegetable bouillon I make is a great base staple for just about any recipe. So don't toss the scraps! Make veggie stock! In late April, we moved from the far side of our city to a small outlying town on the far opposite side of our metro area. We moved from one green built home to another, but the landscape couldn't be more different for moving only 19 miles. We moved from a 1536 square foot home on a lot that was under 3000 square feet (including driveway, sidewalks, etc.). We moved to a bit larger home (better suits our work at home/homeschooling/kids moving closer to teens) with the total lot size more than three times the size of our last home. Our square footage is still less than "average", but after living in such a small space for so long, it feels huge to us. A big part of the change though really is the landscape. The views are amazing. We are atop a hill and surrounded by fields on 3 sides. The birds swoop and sing. The grasses and wildflowers sway in the breeze. The storms roll through and we can see rain from dozens of miles away. The lightning! At night it is quiet and the moon and stars are so so clear. The sunsets are stunning. It is a great feeling to move from the bottom of a hill where neighbors walking by would wave at us through the windows to a panorama of rolling hills, swaying grasses and wildflowers, distant silos, and so much quiet. I stand outside every single night looking at that sky. We open windows wide at night and peer through our telescope to see moon, stars, and even birds landing on thistles far across a field. We were waiting for our base landscaping grass to establish before we started working on our new permaculture beds and plantings. I am happy we had time to sit here and feel the winds, see how much sun we get, and observe the wildlife. It will help us create a more balanced garden for this environment. And now I also know that we need a place to lay down and look at the stars. .
In this house, we love making our own beverages. We make infused water, shrubs, syrups, switchels, and teas. My husband even roasts his own coffee beans. I drink a lot of water, but having a variety of beverages is nice - so many flavors! Every summer I find myself making this blend of juniper, ginger, sage, and lime. This combination is tangy, sweet, and earthy. Very different, and *very* good.
My husband spent some time as a child in Germany, and so grew up on a little bit of syrup or fruit juice in a glass topped with seltzer water. These days we have a soda stream. We make all of our own syrups, but the little machine is a great fast way to fizz our own filtered water and use it to make drinks. This drink syrup is a base. You make the syrup, store it in the fridge, and when you want a drink, you make it right then. It is very easy. You simply add some ice to a glass, add a few tablespoons of the drink base (to taste), and top with seltzer water. It is cold, fizzy, and flavorful. DIY soda! And all homemade. Delicious! {Try making a cocktail version using syrup, gin, and seltzer!} DIY Soda: Juniper-Sage SyrupPrint |{wholly rooted}Make your own syrup base and then use for homemade sodas. Add a little of the syrup base to a glass with ice, pour in seltzer water or club soda to fill, and enjoy! {ingredients}
Make sure you crush the juniper berries a little to release their flavor. Making your own drink syrup is very quick and easy, and homemade sodas taste fantastic! {{Juniper berries are the seed cone produced by juniper. When dried they have a fresh green piney aroma and flavor. Juniper berries are used a lot in scandinavian and european cuisine to flavor meats and fermented veggies - and juniper berries are the main flavor in gin. You can find dried juniper berries in the spices or dried herb section of most grocery stores. Online they can be found at places like iherb, Williams-Sonoma, Mountain Rose Herbs, Penzeys Spices, etc. }} Long ago I found a recipe for bouillon in the River Cottage Preserves Handbook. A lightbulb went off, and I have been making my own version of veggie bouillon ever since. By blending all of the freshest herbs and vegetables in peak summer and preserving them with salt, you save that crisp fresh flavor which is fantastic in winter when making soups and stews. When you think of bouillon you probably imagine a hard dry cube - but this is more of a thick paste. You use it like you use a cube though, by stirring a spoonful into your recipe when making soups, broth, stews, or even pasta. This is very salty as bouillon should be, and the salt is what preserves the green vibrant flavors – a little goes a long way. I call my version garden bouillon because I use many things found in my garden. I like to make several batches over the summer so that I have enough to last all winter. Keep a jar in the fridge for using now, and freeze the rest. This has a high level of salt so it will never freeze quite solid, so you can still spoon out some even fresh from the freezer. I like to freeze in 1 cup jars so that I can pull one out at a time throughout the year. A food processor is the best tool for the job. Homemade Garden BouillonPrint |{wholly rooted}The nice thing about homemade bouillon is that you use what YOU have in your garden. Just think about what flavors go well together. I love adding extras like kale, purslane, nasturtiums (leaves, flowers, capers), coriander heads going to seed, celery root, leeks, and anything else in season at the time that adds a nice punch of flavor plus lots of great vitamins and minerals. I always start with the base aromatics of onion, garlic, carrot, and celery, and then add additional flavors from there. So make your own combo - the main thing to remember is to have a 4:1 ratio of herb/veggies to salt. So for every 400 grams of herbs/veggies/flowers, use approximately 100 grams of good quality sea salt. {ingredients}
This is approximately 780+/- grams of veg/herb, so I blended in just under 200 grams of good quality celtic sea salt. I will make a few more batches as the summer goes along, using what I have fresh and in season. This is a great way to preserve the fresh, vibrant summer flavors, to use long into the winter! I've been absent here for quite awhile. While I have been busily working on and contributing to Tend Magazine, I have been more quiet here and about our daily life. To be honest, the past year+ has been tough on us, as we went from specialist to specialist for my oldest son - hoping to finally find out what has been making him so sick. For years and years he has had all of these symptoms that are not explained by his severe food allergies. And of course every annual check-up he had never coincided with a time that he had an episode so nobody knew what I was talking about - until last spring. So we trekked from endocrinologist to gastroenterologist to immunologist to gastroenterologist to autonomic nervous system specialist and back. Last October we had a lucky hit when an allergist ran a test he has never seen a positive for - and it came back positive. That helped get us referred to Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, and in April we visited Mayo for four days for more tests. And we got answers. My 12 year old was diagnosed with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) which explains so, so much. So we have been head down driving forward with this for so long, and now we are coming out of the laser focus into the reality of managing things for him day to day. And in the midst of all of this, I was diagnosed with more than one autoimmune disease. I am aware the stress of all of the severe food allergies and health stuff that has been going on with my son has contributed to my own health, no matter how organic and healthy I eat. I laughed when I was told to eliminate stress - any food allergy parent knows it all requires 24/7 attention and diligence. But we pulled our family even closer together, tightened our focus on reducing exposure to A's allergies and triggers in his daily life, and have been managing this all as we go, enjoying life and yes, thriving. And I find myself here now in July of 2015. !?!?! We moved into a beautiful new green built home two months ago. We still live in the Madison area, just in a small outlying town atop a hill with views of rolling hills, fields, and prairie grasses as far as the eyes can see. We have more space, more light, more quiet. We have a community garden plot in our new town. We have an art space with giant windows in the basement. We have room to create an apartment downstairs for my sons as they get older. We have a brand new (very large!!!) yard and garden to start from scratch. We have new small towns to visit, trails to wander, and country roads to explore, windows down and music blasting. We are working with the specialists at Mayo to learn everything we need to know to help my son feel better - we have seen some improvement for him already - and we will continue to work on figuring it out and tweaking our life. And while I've been gardening, cooking, writing, photographing, and creating, it has been more confined to Instagram and Tend Magazine - but as we get into our new home, our new town, our new routines, and our new normal, I'm feeling like sharing more again, so I think it is time to return to this space. Here is to a fantastic second half of 2015. xo + "I'd made it this far and refused to give up because all my life I had always finished the race." -Louis Zamperini + |
denise cusackI am a certified aromatherapist, clinical herbalist, permaculture designer, organic gardener, plant conservationist, photographer, writer, designer, artist, nature lover, health justice activist, whole foods maker, and mother of two young adults in south central Wisconsin. Categories
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