Garlic Scapes

Hard neck garlic varieties produce a central stalk which grows straight up and forms one or two loops. The garlic top is called a scape and contains a bulge where bulbils form. If you want all the plant's energy to go into producing a large bulb, snip the scape off after it has formed one loop. If you want to use the bulbils to propagate more garlic, leave them in place until harvest time and dry them separately from the bulbs.

As you We harvest the garlic scapes and use them in stir fries and pesto, as a pizza topping, or pickle them for a tasty appetizer.  They are a true delicacy.

As stated by Garlic Farm, garlic requires fairly even soil moisture during the growing season with no additional moisture during the last three weeks.  Adding mulch is one way to maintain even moisture in the soil.  Not enough moisture results in an insufficient sized bulb. Over watering results in garlic that does not cure or store well.  As you harvest your scapes, leave a couple on each bed - when they stand up straight, that is a sign that it is time to stop watering.

In the meantime, feast well!

Making Aloe Vera Cream with Arnica

Ingredients
1 cup aloe vera gel
1 tsp lanolin
1 tsp vitamin E oil
1/3 cup coconut oil/butter
3/4 oz. beeswax
3/4 cup arnica oil
1 tbsp honey
Essential oil of choice, optional

Directions
- Extract gel from aloe plant by cutting open leaf and scraping gel out with butter knife. Set aside.
- Put coconut oil/butter, beeswax, arnica oil, and honey in a double boiler.
- Heat on medium-low until melted.

- Mix with wooden spoon.

- Add aloe vera mixture and essential oil (if desired) and stir until well combined.

- Pour cream fluid into small glass jars.  Work quickly since the mixture will cool rapidly.

- Store cream in a cool, dry place.

Freezing Rhubarb

I have always rushed to use rhubarb in pies or crisps to be sure it doesn't go to waste.  Admittedly, we get a little tired of it.  I recently discovered that it can be frozen.  To do so...

Select tender, crisp stalks.  Remove the leaves and woody ends.  Wash the rhubarb, cut into 1-inch lengths, and prepare by either of the following methods:

Dry Pack
Pack rhubarb into plastic freezer containers.  Seal, label and freeze.

Sugar Pack
Mix 1 part sugar to 4 parts rhubarb.  Let stand until sugar has dissolved.  Pack rhubarb into freezer containers.  Seal, label and freeze. 

Syrup Pack
Prepare a heavy syrup by combining 4.5 cups of sugar with 4.5 cups of water, and pour over rhubarb.  Pack rhubarb into freezer containers.  Seal, label and freeze.

Stewed
Stew or steam rhubarb.  Sweeten to taste.  Cool.  Pack in freezer container, seal, label and freeze.

Tic Tac Toe

Cymone and I were taking some time to catch up on the banks of the Methow River.  She asked if we could play Tic Tac Toe.  I suppose we could have drawn the board in the sand, but we thought it would be fun to take our creation home.  This is what we came up with, a simple combination of sticks and river rocks.

Making Graham Crackers

Ingredients:
2 1/2 c plus 2 tbsp flour
1 c dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp kosher salt
7 tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/3 c honey
5 tbsp milk
2 tbsp pure vanilla extract

Topping ingredients, optional

3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:
- To make the dough, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade or in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Pulse or mix on low. Add the butter and pulse on and off on and off, or mix on low, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together honey, milk, and vanilla extract.
- Add wet mixture to dry mixture and mix on low until dough just forms.
- Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap and dust it lightly with flour, then turn the dough out onto it and pat it into until it's approx 1 inch thick. Wrap and chill until firm, 1-2 hours.
- Prepare the topping by combining the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.  Set aside.
- Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator.
- Sprinkle flour onto your work surface and roll the dough until about 1/8 inch thick.
- Trim the edges of the rectangle to 4 inches wide.
- Cut the strip into squares to crackers.
- Place the crackers on baking sheets and sprinkle with the topping (the recipe calls for parchment paper, but I haven't needed to use it).
- Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes in the fridge or 15 to 20 minutes in the freezer. Repeat with the second half of dough.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake for 15 mins, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating the sheets halfway through to ensure even baking.

Adapted from Nancy Silverton's Pastries in 101 Cookbooks.

Mint Jelly

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh mint leaves, stripped from stems
1/4 cup water
2 3/4 cups sugar
1 qt apple juice or cider
1 package pectin

Directions:
- Bring water and sugar to a boil.
- Pour boiling mixture over mint leaves and let sit for (at least) one hour.
- Add apple juice/cider and pectin.  Bring to a boil once again.
- Skim off mint leaves.  I like to throw them in a food processor and return to the jelly mixture.

- Pour hot mixture immediately into hot, sterilized jars, topping off at 1/4 inch.  Remove air bubbles.  Wipe jar rims. Cover with metal lids, and screw on bands.

- Process in a boiling water bath for 5 mins.

Nootka Roses

Nootka roses (Rosa Nutkana) are beginning to bud and bloom. It's a perfect time to harvest the buds.  They tend to grow on the edge of forests and alongside the river.

Traditional use of this wild, native rose was as food, medicine and building material. The hips were cooked and given to children with diarrhea. A tonic tea was made from the leaves, petals, branches and inner bark. The leaves were used as a paste for bee stings. In addition, the roots were boiled and combined with those of the Western Red Cedar and gooseberry to make fishnets.

Each year I harvest the buds to make an attractive garnish for soup or on a dessert platter. Trim off the bitter white base before using.  I also use them to make crafts with Cymone.

In the fall, we use the vitamin-filled rose hips to prepare a wintertime syrup to fight colds. I will post more on that when the time approaches.

Be sure not to over-harvest. Leave ample fruit for reseeding and wildlife food.

Making Schwarzbier

This is completely a foreign language to me, but here is the recipe for Schwarzbier, a recipe Derek tackled last night.

- Steep a grain bag up to the point of boiling.  Grain bag: 1/4Lb Special B, 1/2Lb Smoked GB820.

- After boil, add liquid malt extract.  6# Dark liquid malt extract.

- Boil again, and then add hops, boiling for 60 mins.

- After boiling, add 2oz Scaz hops (60 mins).  Add 1oz Scaz (30 mins).  Add 2oz Cascade (finishing).

- After the wort has cooked to sufficient temperature, pitch Safale dry Ale yeast.

OG = 44 (68F)

An Abundance of Greens

Generally we would have peas flourishing in our garden by now.  This has been such a long, wet spring, and it's definitely having an effect on our produce.  We have more than enough greens and herbs.  Hopefully everything else is taking this valuable time to establish hearty roots for the upcoming hot summer.

Spanish Moss Balls

I am certainly no lichen expert.  I actually know very little about it.  However, I do enjoy making things with it.  I like Spanish moss in particular since it tends to be long and whispy.  Wikipedia states that "Spanish moss is an epiphite which absorbs nutrients (especially calcium) and water from the air and rainfall. (It) is colloquially known as 'air plant'...Spanish moss has been used for various purposes, including building insulation, mulch, packing material, mattress stuffing, and fiber.  In the early 1900's it was used commercially in the padding of car seats..."

To make Spanish moss balls, simply collect the moss as you meander beneath trees, wrap it around your fingers and continue to wrap in alternate directions until each ball is well rounded and the desired size.  They make fun balls for kids to juggle, funky Christmas tree ornaments, or unique home decor.

Our Bees Swarmed

Unfortunately, our bees swarmed from one of our hives today.  It seems that there are many theories but there's no obvious science behind the "why".  Our bees have ample room and plenty of surrounding food.  The brood combs are in pristine condition.  Our hives are in a calm, sunny location.  Perhaps the queen is sub-standard.  We aren't sure.  Tonight, Derek got up in the tree where the bees swarmed and tried to sweep them into a hive box.  We'll see tomorrow if his efforts were successful.

The Swarm

Lobstering

My parents work hard to live off the land and sea. They nurture a large garden and spend ample time in the water to fish, collect oysters, and catch lobster. The following is a narrative from my father about lobstering:

Massachusetts family lobster permits allow up to ten lobster pots. I have seven and find that plenty. I put them in the water in late April and take them out in October. I use a kayak to access our boat. Most years we get somewhere between 130 and 180 lobsters in the season. We use fish heads and carcasses as bait. The lobsters wander into the trap, proceed up a ramp into the chamber where the bait is, and are unable to find their way back out. I check the pots about every other day, mainly because you can't leave two lobsters in a confined space for very long. One will eat the other. I pull them out of the pots and put rubber bands on their claws. Getting pinched by one of those claws is not a fun experience. The lobsters can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Normally we invite neighbors if we get a mess of them, and if not, we eat the little legs and the chest meat, freezing the tails and claws for when we have guests or family visiting. It's a great way to get exercise in a beautiful place.

Hiving a Natural Swarm

Our master beekeeper friend Hanz came to check out our natural bee swarm.  He arrived decked out in his bee suit with ladder and hive box at the ready.  He placed the hive box in the tree (one of the frames had the scent of honey comb) and tied it in place.  Hanz brushed some bees into the hive and left them alone overnight.  By the following evening, the bees had adopted the hive box as their new home.

Making Kahlua

There are many recipes out there for Kahlua.  It's fun to experiment with each of them and decide which contains the most flavor and how to create a liqueur that is sweet but not too syrupy.  Play with white versus brown sugar or honey.  Try adding rum.  No matter how much you play with the ingredients, I think the trick is using actual vanilla beans instead of vanilla flavoring.  Homemade Kahlua makes a terrific gift.

Ingredients:
2 cups instant coffee (or brew your favorite coffee, but be sure it's thick!)
3 cups white sugar
3 cups honey
1 quart water
1 quart vodka
2 vanilla beans, split down the middle

Directions:
- Bring water to a boil.  Remove from the heat and add instant coffee, sugar and honey.  Let dissolve.
- Cool.
- Add vodka.
- Add vanilla beans.
- Pour mixture into jars.  Seal and place in a dark place for (at least) 30 days.
- Enjoy!

Homemade Clay

Ingredients:
4 cups flour
1 cup salt
1.5 cups water
Food coloring (optional)

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).  Mix ingredients together and knead for 5 minutes (more if using food coloring).  You can divide dough and add drops of food coloring to separate balls.  Place unused clay into sealed plastic bags and use within a day of mixing.
- Place finished, molded pieces on a cookie sheet and bake for 1 hour (until hard).

A Natural Bee Swarm

Derek and I were working in the garden this afternoon, when Derek looked up and saw a swarm of bees.  He called me over to see it.  In the natural environment, bees experience a period of reckless growth in the spring that is limited only by the flow of food resources.  However, the goal of this reckless growth is colony level reproduction and ultimately results in a process of colony fission, or splitting, which is also called swarming.  The hive produces a new queen(s) and one of the queens will leave the hive, and some of the bees will accompany her in this "swarm".  If you are raising bees you don't want a swarm, but in the natural environment it's a cool process to see as we did today.  Dances With Bees, Tales From The Hive is a fantastic documentary about bees.

Vegetable Beef Minestrone

Ashley Lodato made this delectable, hearty soup, stocked with vegetables, pasta and organic beef.  It is definitely worth a try!

Ingredients:
2 slices bacon
1/2 Lb ground beef
2 carrots, chopped
1 cup corn
1 cup kale, chopped
1 cup spinach, chopped
1 cup zuccini, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 (14.5 oz) can stewed tomatoes
1 (10.5 oz) can vegetable stock
1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained
2 oz rotini
Parmesan, grated
Fresh basil, chopped

Directions:
- In a large saucepan, cook bacon and ground beef until well done, break up th ebeeg as it cooks.  Drain grease and add carrots, garlic, onion, zuccini, and celery.  Season with the bay leaf, basil, rosemary and red pepper flakes.  Cook for approximately 5 mins (until onions are translucent).  Stir in tomatoes, kale, spinach and stock.

- Simmer for approximately 20 mins then add chickpeas and rotini.  Cook covered, about 10 mins or until rotini is al dente.

- Garnish with parmesan and fresh basil.

New Baby Chicks

Each of our 13 hens is laying about one egg per day, but they're not yet brooding. Just in case they don't brood this year, we decided to buy 8 chicks to be sure we have new layers this winter. They're one week old and extremely comical. The three of us spend too much time peering into their box, laughing as they peep and peck, stretch, and fall asleep face first, beaks poking directly into the floor. Raising chicks is far more labor intensive when we have to do it ourselves, but it does give us the benefit of having more physical contact with them.

Peanut Butter Dog Treats

Our dog Sa'be takes treats that are placed on his nose, waits until he's given the "go ahead", flips them up and catches them in his mouth.  These peanut butter dog treats are quick to make and dogs will do just about anything for them.

Ingredients:3 cups emmer flour (any kind of wheat flour will do)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup water
2 Tbsp bacon grease (or any kind of oil)

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F)

- Combine peanut butter, bacon grease and water until smooth

- Add flour, one cup at a time.  Continue to stir until dough forms and flour is absorbed by moist ingredients.

- Roll out onto surface (no additional flour necessary).

- Cut dough into shapes, transfer to ungreased cookie sheet, and bake for 20 mins or until lightly browned.