Well 2010 was a bit of a bust for me. I ended up jamming my back up big time, 3 herniated discs and a few minor operations later I am back, well sort of. Feeling better, weaning myself of some painkiller meds with spirits up I am looking to the spring and renewal. Not only for myself but also for my family, veggies, small stock, boat, and community. During my multi-month back injury affair I watched the entire Summer and Fall pass me by only with winter left. So whats there to do in a garden during winter one would ask? Lots and lots. The soil quality degrades during each growing season, plants in general are takers not givers ( legumes feed the soil while they grow with by releasing some nitrogen back to the soil ), so its up to you to figure out how to set the stage to return free nitrogen, etc to the soil.
You could dump chemical fertilizers in to balance, but I would recommend that. Chemical fertilizers do not break down efficiently and often end up in the watershed and then in our drinking water... There are easier cheaper better ways to inject the required elements back into your soil that the plants use up. POOP is the best, and it doesn’t really matter what the source is as long as it has composed nicely. In my case my veggie beds needed some poop, actually a lot, more than my hens could produce. Lucky for us we live in the country so a quick scan of craigslist and I had a mountain of steaming free nitrogen in my driveway, horse manure about 10 yards total. Delivered up the street from a stable that doesn’t use any hormones or other chemicals in its operations (its good to know where your poop comes from!). It was ripe indeed and I thought for sure that the pile of poop would merit at least one or two comments from my local neighbors, but there were none. Be sure to tarp your poop! It’s very important that when you get a ripe pile that you compose the urea and kill of fly larva. The internal temp gets amazingly hot up to 120+ degrees. It basically cooks itself and after a few weeks the urea smell becomes sweet and straw like. Then it’s ready for depositing into your garden.
I am big on the whole layered veggie beds, every season I just layer green manure (leaves, clippings, hay etc), animal manure and some soil on top. Its important to understand that plant roots desire the spaces between particulate material in your soil. If it too compact they cannot eat or drink efficiently. You can till or rip your soil but it often unnecessary. Large commercial operations must rip their fields because they become compacted by all the vehicles and people trampling over them. Here in the central valley of California the soil is referred to as China Lome a combination of organic materials deposited over the millennia by oceans, rivers and seas. Its good stuff unlike the clay laden soils in other parts of California.
My next big adventure will be a worm farm…yep a big old pile of worms….
Between now and then here is a repeat from last year its my Hoppin John recipe…you must eat it today for good luck….
Hoppin’ John. This dish’s origins are humble; The dish is believed to have originated in Haiti among those unfortunate souls who had been stolen from Africa to work the plantations of the Americas. They used what they had on hand, often the lesser cuts of meat, and those items that could be scrounged up in the surroundings. What the dish looked like 400 years ago and what it looks like today probably have changed little. The two primary ingredients are beans and salt pork. In addition to this you can add the trinity (onion, celery, and peppers). Okra, leeks, etc could be added as well. The reason you make Hoppin’ John is that in the South it is believed to bring you good luck in the new year. That is enough for me to have it on my table; recipe;
4 tbls olive oil
1 leek slivered
1 heart of a celery plant (use the inner stalks and be sure to include the leafy bits at the top)
2 carrots diced
2 ham hocks or tasso ham
1 bay leaf
1lbs black eyed peas, soaked overnight and drained ( you can also use northern white, or other beans on hand)
Enough chicken stock to cover hocks and beans
Couple cloves of garlic
Aromatics, thyme, rosemary, oregano etc.
In a large stock pot add the olive oil bring up heat to medium, add garlic, leeks, carrot, celery. Sauté for about 5 minutes until the leeks become translucent. Toss in your aromatics, ham hocks or tasso ham, add bay leaf. Pour chicken stock in and put burner on low. You will slowly cook this until the meat falls off the hocks, or until the tasso falls apart and the beans are soft. Remove all the hocks pick the enable bit out of them and discard the bones and gristle. Return the meat to beans and you are good to go. You can sever it with a little crystal hot pepper sauce or on its own…enjoy.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Joe’s Saturday Meatballs
2/6/10
Well I have spent that past couple days working my day job then in the evenings stooped over working on my boat. To say it mildly the epoxy fumes got to me last night through my respirator and I have a ringing headache this morning. Its literally like I have a hangover but worse. So at some point today I will need to run over and pick up a new respirator so I may resume boat building. In the meantime I figured I would type up for all of you how to properly produce a real Italian meatball.
Now in Italy a meatball would never hit the same plate as pasta. However in the early days of Italian immigration into the United States there was a big shift away from tradition and today in the States meatballs are always accompanied atop pasta.
My heritage is in the North of Italy, just east of Genoa in a small mountain side village called Paggi. This town is on the confluence of Liguria and Tuscany. The coastal influence is there indeed, but so it the traditions of the Italian countryside. The town overlooks the Ligurian sea, my great-grandfathers house still stands slightly up the hill from the small church in great disrepair. The last time I visited this place was in 2000 I look out at the expansive view and realized that my great grandfather must have been pretty hungry to leave such a beautiful place. He traveled a very far way indeed for the hope of some space and a place of his own. This was in 1898 and he was 19 years old, he made his way west with his brother. The passed through Ellis Island and worked their way west with the intention of obtaining the free land being given away in California. A few years after they hit New York the brothers working a large acreage along the Tuolumne River in what is now Modesto. Once they were settled they sent letters home for women which were soon to follow.
I know a little about my great-grandmother, from all accounts a modern woman for her time. She had been married to another man in Italy and bore a son by him, she divorce that man because he abused her and sent her availability to my great grandfather. She and her son from the first marriage along with another woman for my great uncle traveled out west. There they settled raised families and were prosperous.
When I make food I commune with my ancestors, I think about what they did, and the risks they took to come to America. These meatballs I hope would live up to their personal expectations..And if there were here with me now, I would serve them as the meat course to the dinner, far away from my pasta. But feel free to sever them as you see fit.
List of what you will need…
3 cups of stale day old Italian bread crumbs coarsely ground (remove crust then grind up, roughly 5 slices)
1 cup of milk
1 lbs ground beef (not lean, fat=flavor)
1lbs ground pork
½ ibs ground veal
5 garlic cloves minced
3 cups graded imported parmigiano-reggiano cheese (don’t be cheap here get good cheese, grate yourself don’t get that abortion they call pregrated cheese. )
2 eggs
Teaspoon salt
Teaspoon white pepper
2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg (get whole seeds and grate them do get pregrated)
½ cup freshly chopped Italian parsley
3 teaspoons freshly chopped oregano or thyme…your pick
In a large bowl, place the bread crumbs and milk. Allow this to sit for about 20-30 minutes, then add remaining ingredients and mix well with your hands until all the ingredients are well incorporated.
Place a large deep braising pan over medium heat, allow the pan to come up to heat before you add some high quality extra virgin olive oil to it. Shape the meat balls one at a time and begin adding them to the braising pan. Make a concentric circle of meatballs until all the meatballs have been added. Meatballs will shrink a bit in the cooking process. A good sized ball is a bit larger than a golf ball. Keep and eye on the heat, you don’t want to burn what you are working so hard to product. Lower the heat as needed to prevent problems. Once you get them all in the braising pan, place them in an oven under the broiler on medium heat. Keep and eye on them they will begin browning in 5-10 minutes and shedding some fats and liquids. Don’t burn them, once they get a nice golden color pull the pan out and turn the ball over then place them back under the broiler and brown up the other side. They will shed a little more weight in this process, pull the pan out and discard this liquid.
Sauce
Normally I make a clean tomato sauce to go over these. Get a high quality can of whole tomatoes don’t skimp here, buy Italian manufactured tomatoes or get the Cento brand. They are a New Jersey based company but offer a high quality product. Take out each whole tomato and crush it in your hand over the meatballs, basically you are just breaking them up to assist in the cooking process. Beware you will get squirted. I usally just jam my hand in the can and give the tomatoes little Joe’s job so to speak. This keeps you from getting tomato juice in the eye. Then pour the whole mess juice and all over the meat balls. Add about a cup of good dry white wine and 3 cups of good beef stock or veal stock (preferable to beef stock but you will most likely need to make this yourself. I usually add some fresh basil to this and let the whole thing sit atop the stove over the lowest flame for about an hour. Low and slow is the name of the game here. You can also toss the pan back in the over at 300 degrees. Either way you will have a winning meal for your family.
Oh and here is one more bonus for you…
Fresh pasta recipe
1 lbs white flour
4 eggs
Salt
Olive oil
On a board mound the flour and make a well at the top. Crack the four eggs and add them into the well. Sprinkle the salt over this and pour a couple tablespoons of olive oil in the well. With your hands break the eggs and begin incorporating the flour into the center. This is a messy gooy process and is the traditional way to make fresh pasta.
But the hell with tradition if you have a big old kitchen aid mixer like I do….then you can cheat. Put the flour, eggs, salt and oil into the mixing bowl with the bread hook attachment. Turn on low speed and sit back and let the mixer do the work. You are looking for a well incorporated end result. The mixer may not be able to do this for you and you will have to get your hands in there to process the dough to completion. You are looking for a nice (not wet or sticky) consistence. When you have this place the dough on a well floured surface. You can roll it out with a rolling pin by hand which takes forever. Or you can go spend $40 an get a pasta machine or attachment for the kitchen aid. If you don’t have those plan on an afternoon of messing around rolling pasta…When I am in the mood and not hung over from epoxy the “by hand” deal sounds better than it does to me now. Pics to follow…
Well I have spent that past couple days working my day job then in the evenings stooped over working on my boat. To say it mildly the epoxy fumes got to me last night through my respirator and I have a ringing headache this morning. Its literally like I have a hangover but worse. So at some point today I will need to run over and pick up a new respirator so I may resume boat building. In the meantime I figured I would type up for all of you how to properly produce a real Italian meatball.
Now in Italy a meatball would never hit the same plate as pasta. However in the early days of Italian immigration into the United States there was a big shift away from tradition and today in the States meatballs are always accompanied atop pasta.
My heritage is in the North of Italy, just east of Genoa in a small mountain side village called Paggi. This town is on the confluence of Liguria and Tuscany. The coastal influence is there indeed, but so it the traditions of the Italian countryside. The town overlooks the Ligurian sea, my great-grandfathers house still stands slightly up the hill from the small church in great disrepair. The last time I visited this place was in 2000 I look out at the expansive view and realized that my great grandfather must have been pretty hungry to leave such a beautiful place. He traveled a very far way indeed for the hope of some space and a place of his own. This was in 1898 and he was 19 years old, he made his way west with his brother. The passed through Ellis Island and worked their way west with the intention of obtaining the free land being given away in California. A few years after they hit New York the brothers working a large acreage along the Tuolumne River in what is now Modesto. Once they were settled they sent letters home for women which were soon to follow.
I know a little about my great-grandmother, from all accounts a modern woman for her time. She had been married to another man in Italy and bore a son by him, she divorce that man because he abused her and sent her availability to my great grandfather. She and her son from the first marriage along with another woman for my great uncle traveled out west. There they settled raised families and were prosperous.
When I make food I commune with my ancestors, I think about what they did, and the risks they took to come to America. These meatballs I hope would live up to their personal expectations..And if there were here with me now, I would serve them as the meat course to the dinner, far away from my pasta. But feel free to sever them as you see fit.
List of what you will need…
3 cups of stale day old Italian bread crumbs coarsely ground (remove crust then grind up, roughly 5 slices)
1 cup of milk
1 lbs ground beef (not lean, fat=flavor)
1lbs ground pork
½ ibs ground veal
5 garlic cloves minced
3 cups graded imported parmigiano-reggiano cheese (don’t be cheap here get good cheese, grate yourself don’t get that abortion they call pregrated cheese. )
2 eggs
Teaspoon salt
Teaspoon white pepper
2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg (get whole seeds and grate them do get pregrated)
½ cup freshly chopped Italian parsley
3 teaspoons freshly chopped oregano or thyme…your pick
In a large bowl, place the bread crumbs and milk. Allow this to sit for about 20-30 minutes, then add remaining ingredients and mix well with your hands until all the ingredients are well incorporated.
Place a large deep braising pan over medium heat, allow the pan to come up to heat before you add some high quality extra virgin olive oil to it. Shape the meat balls one at a time and begin adding them to the braising pan. Make a concentric circle of meatballs until all the meatballs have been added. Meatballs will shrink a bit in the cooking process. A good sized ball is a bit larger than a golf ball. Keep and eye on the heat, you don’t want to burn what you are working so hard to product. Lower the heat as needed to prevent problems. Once you get them all in the braising pan, place them in an oven under the broiler on medium heat. Keep and eye on them they will begin browning in 5-10 minutes and shedding some fats and liquids. Don’t burn them, once they get a nice golden color pull the pan out and turn the ball over then place them back under the broiler and brown up the other side. They will shed a little more weight in this process, pull the pan out and discard this liquid.
Sauce
Normally I make a clean tomato sauce to go over these. Get a high quality can of whole tomatoes don’t skimp here, buy Italian manufactured tomatoes or get the Cento brand. They are a New Jersey based company but offer a high quality product. Take out each whole tomato and crush it in your hand over the meatballs, basically you are just breaking them up to assist in the cooking process. Beware you will get squirted. I usally just jam my hand in the can and give the tomatoes little Joe’s job so to speak. This keeps you from getting tomato juice in the eye. Then pour the whole mess juice and all over the meat balls. Add about a cup of good dry white wine and 3 cups of good beef stock or veal stock (preferable to beef stock but you will most likely need to make this yourself. I usually add some fresh basil to this and let the whole thing sit atop the stove over the lowest flame for about an hour. Low and slow is the name of the game here. You can also toss the pan back in the over at 300 degrees. Either way you will have a winning meal for your family.
Oh and here is one more bonus for you…
Fresh pasta recipe
1 lbs white flour
4 eggs
Salt
Olive oil
On a board mound the flour and make a well at the top. Crack the four eggs and add them into the well. Sprinkle the salt over this and pour a couple tablespoons of olive oil in the well. With your hands break the eggs and begin incorporating the flour into the center. This is a messy gooy process and is the traditional way to make fresh pasta.
But the hell with tradition if you have a big old kitchen aid mixer like I do….then you can cheat. Put the flour, eggs, salt and oil into the mixing bowl with the bread hook attachment. Turn on low speed and sit back and let the mixer do the work. You are looking for a well incorporated end result. The mixer may not be able to do this for you and you will have to get your hands in there to process the dough to completion. You are looking for a nice (not wet or sticky) consistence. When you have this place the dough on a well floured surface. You can roll it out with a rolling pin by hand which takes forever. Or you can go spend $40 an get a pasta machine or attachment for the kitchen aid. If you don’t have those plan on an afternoon of messing around rolling pasta…When I am in the mood and not hung over from epoxy the “by hand” deal sounds better than it does to me now. Pics to follow…
Thursday, January 28, 2010
poutine
Poutine
1/28/10
Tonight for dinner I am making poutine in honor of my wife’s French Canadian ancestry. The funny part is she never knew what poutine was until I told her. Regardless I feel we commune with our ancestors through food. That is why cuisine of Italian, Irish and Spanish origin so frequent my table. The recipes for me are a way to reflect upon those family members we have lost and the times I eat the same dish with them. Other dishes simply are my education regarding a geographic region in which a long dead relative originated from. For example my great grandmother and grandfather were from Andalucía Spain. I never met them, they were long sense dead by the time I came around but I commune with them through my research on Andalucian cooking. Some recipes survive through the generations long before my great grandparents, and perhaps their lineage as well. Food binds us together and takes us back through time if you allow it too.
Poutine for those not in the know, and if you have never heard of it that is completely normal, it is a specialty of Quebec Canada, specifically from Montreal. A simple dish of pomme frits with gravy and cheese curd. The translation of poutine means “dirty mess” which it looks like from afar, but it certainly is not a mess to the palette especially if you are drunk or cold or both. Poutine comes is several variations from the base dish, frys, gravy, curd. To this base a whole assortment of mixed items can be added. Tonight on mine I will add a variety of pork products, some ground pork, some tasso ham, some bacon. But I am just on a hog rally tonight and want to use up my excessive supply of recently cured pork products. Basically anything beyond that simple base that sounds good to you is far game, but use caution on the gravy. Homemade gravy is key to this dish, don’t fuck around with canned or powered abortions please…do it right or don’t do it at all.
The best part of Poutine is that it fills you up and warms you up. And I am both hungry and cold today. California has been gray and wet for days there was some sun today but it did not warm the soul so I am hoping Poutine will do the trick for me….will post a pic later. Until next time..Chao..
1/28/10
Tonight for dinner I am making poutine in honor of my wife’s French Canadian ancestry. The funny part is she never knew what poutine was until I told her. Regardless I feel we commune with our ancestors through food. That is why cuisine of Italian, Irish and Spanish origin so frequent my table. The recipes for me are a way to reflect upon those family members we have lost and the times I eat the same dish with them. Other dishes simply are my education regarding a geographic region in which a long dead relative originated from. For example my great grandmother and grandfather were from Andalucía Spain. I never met them, they were long sense dead by the time I came around but I commune with them through my research on Andalucian cooking. Some recipes survive through the generations long before my great grandparents, and perhaps their lineage as well. Food binds us together and takes us back through time if you allow it too.
Poutine for those not in the know, and if you have never heard of it that is completely normal, it is a specialty of Quebec Canada, specifically from Montreal. A simple dish of pomme frits with gravy and cheese curd. The translation of poutine means “dirty mess” which it looks like from afar, but it certainly is not a mess to the palette especially if you are drunk or cold or both. Poutine comes is several variations from the base dish, frys, gravy, curd. To this base a whole assortment of mixed items can be added. Tonight on mine I will add a variety of pork products, some ground pork, some tasso ham, some bacon. But I am just on a hog rally tonight and want to use up my excessive supply of recently cured pork products. Basically anything beyond that simple base that sounds good to you is far game, but use caution on the gravy. Homemade gravy is key to this dish, don’t fuck around with canned or powered abortions please…do it right or don’t do it at all.
The best part of Poutine is that it fills you up and warms you up. And I am both hungry and cold today. California has been gray and wet for days there was some sun today but it did not warm the soul so I am hoping Poutine will do the trick for me….will post a pic later. Until next time..Chao..
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Rain and Chickens
January 26th, 2010
It has been raining off and on daily now for about 10 days here in Northern California. We definitely needed the rain and its good that a nice snowpack is building in the Sierras. The rough part has been the confinement indoors which definitely dampers my mood. With this confinement also has come the common cold, both of my children now have the sniffles. The one bright spot has been watching our vegetable seedlings grow. The plant stand has become a great area of fascination for the kids, I find them constantly peering into the seed start trays and provided commentary on the day to day changes of their progress. This alone is a great reason for you to start your veggies from seed if you have children.
The focus this year is a bit different from the past couple spring season here on the old farm. We purposely passed on the hatching and rearing of more fowl. Currently we have 15 chickens (all hens) which supply us with an excessive amount of eggs over the course of the year. On average most young hens will produce .5 eggs a day over the course of a year. During the spring and summer their laying activities will increase. So some quick math 7.5 x 365 = 2737.5 eggs a year, or 200 a month. Adult birds also require a lot of augmentation to their diets throughout the year. You have to grain them in the winter and the notion that a free range bird requires no additional nutritional requirements beyond grass is totally ludicrous. My feed bill throughout the year for the hens runs about $30 a month in the fall/winter and about $15 in the spring and summer months. So chickens are by no means economical. But they are great additions to ones home or farm. They are hysterical to watch, great for children to raise and understand the mechanics of life from.
There are also many pit falls to raising chicks or keeping your adult flock healthy. The concept of a small run for a flock is totally flawed. Confined spaces breed disease so its imperative to keep the roost clean and provide a large pasture setting for your flock. They do need free range space to be healthy, that stands for whether you have a couple hens or a flock. This space needs to be fenced and safe. Everyone loves chicken in nature, from your neighbors dogs (our neighbor’s dogs have killed 5 of our hens over the years) to foxes, skunks, raccoons, yots etc. You also need to make sure you keep your birds away from any poisons and fertilizers you may have laying around. They will eat just about anything, and possibly die from it. I lost 4 hens that flew over my fence into the veggie garden. I had a troublesome gopher and decided to bait it. They dug down into the gopher mound and consumed the bait I had just laid for him. Did I mention they are smart? They saw the poison pellets and thought “food”, well needless to say it was the last meal they ever ate.
Oh and any notions you got from watching Martha Stuart about letting your chickens run wild in your veggie garden…Chickens will decimate your veggie garden in a blink of an eye. They love to eat greens and any fruits you may have growing in your veggie beds. So make sure to keep your birds well fenced and away from your vegetable garden. If you don’t you will learn quickly that you should have.
But having young chicks around the place this season has been a bit of a sore spot for the kids. We did have a tremendous amount of fun the last couple years in the spring raising chicks. We learned a lot too. They learned about life and death quickly. The first year we were a bit green to the needs of baby chicks. Young birds are susceptible to a whole host of diseases. Many of which pass from hen to egg to chick, others can be spread via water or food. The first year I purchased 25 pullets from a hatchery. My first mistake was ordering the first part of the year. Hatcheries send day old pullets via airmail to your local US Postal Depot. Unfortunately that year it was unseasonably cold. The normal shipping process is to pack several chicks into a 4 section cardboard box. The thinking is that each of the 4 sections would hold up to 8 chicks each. The day old chicks would huddle together for warmth and have enough energy stored up internally to make the trip of up to 3 days in that little box. Well let me be the first to tell you the mortality factor this shipping process is high. Expect a death rate upon arrival of at least 5% to 10%. In my case we didn’t receive a call from the postal depot until late in the day. I made the mistake of telling the kids I was running out to fetch chicks. To my horror when I opened the box at the depot, 8 of the little guys were DOA. Either crushed by other chicks or could not get into the center of the pile to stay warm enough during the trip.
I nursed the remaining chicks back to health over the next couple weeks. Doesn’t matter how much of a tough guy you are either, you bond to the little shits quickly. So it was rough a few weeks into the game when I read on a couple back yard poultry sites that you should give chicks some greens from time to time including grass. Well let me tell right now, don’t feed them anything but sterile water and crumbles until they are at least 18 weeks old. I gave my first year chicks some grass off our lawn as suggested by a couple sites. Then spent the next couple weeks watching them die off one at a time for a horrible little poultry disease similar to Encephalitis. It pretty much nuked the part of their brains that allowed them motor control. A couple recovered a bit but have not been thrifty, eg poor egg layers. So out of 25, 8 were DOA, then I lost another 6 to that disease. The remaining 11 birds were fine until the neighbors dogs eat a couple. So we ended up getting a handful of chicks last year. Then we had a neighbor toss a hen over the fence that wasn’t ours to begin with so now we are at 15 birds.
Moral of the story, just go down and buy chicks from your local Tractor Supply or other feed and grain store. You will want pullet and not straight run if at all possible. Roosters will eventually get to aggressive to handle. The one I kept from my initial run, even through hand reared eventually attacked my 4 year old daughter. She went up to hand feed her favorite hen and he saw my daughter as a treat to the flock and attacked her. Scratcher her pretty good in the face and back, needless to say he was dead by sundown and in a pot of coq au vin shortly thereafter. You don’t need a rooster unless you plan on breeding birds. So save your kids the trauma of getting attacked and dispatch any young roosters you may get in your chicks. Trust me it’s the right thing to do. Be sure to eat him as well. They really are yummy if cooked low and slow.
It has been raining off and on daily now for about 10 days here in Northern California. We definitely needed the rain and its good that a nice snowpack is building in the Sierras. The rough part has been the confinement indoors which definitely dampers my mood. With this confinement also has come the common cold, both of my children now have the sniffles. The one bright spot has been watching our vegetable seedlings grow. The plant stand has become a great area of fascination for the kids, I find them constantly peering into the seed start trays and provided commentary on the day to day changes of their progress. This alone is a great reason for you to start your veggies from seed if you have children.
The focus this year is a bit different from the past couple spring season here on the old farm. We purposely passed on the hatching and rearing of more fowl. Currently we have 15 chickens (all hens) which supply us with an excessive amount of eggs over the course of the year. On average most young hens will produce .5 eggs a day over the course of a year. During the spring and summer their laying activities will increase. So some quick math 7.5 x 365 = 2737.5 eggs a year, or 200 a month. Adult birds also require a lot of augmentation to their diets throughout the year. You have to grain them in the winter and the notion that a free range bird requires no additional nutritional requirements beyond grass is totally ludicrous. My feed bill throughout the year for the hens runs about $30 a month in the fall/winter and about $15 in the spring and summer months. So chickens are by no means economical. But they are great additions to ones home or farm. They are hysterical to watch, great for children to raise and understand the mechanics of life from.
There are also many pit falls to raising chicks or keeping your adult flock healthy. The concept of a small run for a flock is totally flawed. Confined spaces breed disease so its imperative to keep the roost clean and provide a large pasture setting for your flock. They do need free range space to be healthy, that stands for whether you have a couple hens or a flock. This space needs to be fenced and safe. Everyone loves chicken in nature, from your neighbors dogs (our neighbor’s dogs have killed 5 of our hens over the years) to foxes, skunks, raccoons, yots etc. You also need to make sure you keep your birds away from any poisons and fertilizers you may have laying around. They will eat just about anything, and possibly die from it. I lost 4 hens that flew over my fence into the veggie garden. I had a troublesome gopher and decided to bait it. They dug down into the gopher mound and consumed the bait I had just laid for him. Did I mention they are smart? They saw the poison pellets and thought “food”, well needless to say it was the last meal they ever ate.
Oh and any notions you got from watching Martha Stuart about letting your chickens run wild in your veggie garden…Chickens will decimate your veggie garden in a blink of an eye. They love to eat greens and any fruits you may have growing in your veggie beds. So make sure to keep your birds well fenced and away from your vegetable garden. If you don’t you will learn quickly that you should have.
But having young chicks around the place this season has been a bit of a sore spot for the kids. We did have a tremendous amount of fun the last couple years in the spring raising chicks. We learned a lot too. They learned about life and death quickly. The first year we were a bit green to the needs of baby chicks. Young birds are susceptible to a whole host of diseases. Many of which pass from hen to egg to chick, others can be spread via water or food. The first year I purchased 25 pullets from a hatchery. My first mistake was ordering the first part of the year. Hatcheries send day old pullets via airmail to your local US Postal Depot. Unfortunately that year it was unseasonably cold. The normal shipping process is to pack several chicks into a 4 section cardboard box. The thinking is that each of the 4 sections would hold up to 8 chicks each. The day old chicks would huddle together for warmth and have enough energy stored up internally to make the trip of up to 3 days in that little box. Well let me be the first to tell you the mortality factor this shipping process is high. Expect a death rate upon arrival of at least 5% to 10%. In my case we didn’t receive a call from the postal depot until late in the day. I made the mistake of telling the kids I was running out to fetch chicks. To my horror when I opened the box at the depot, 8 of the little guys were DOA. Either crushed by other chicks or could not get into the center of the pile to stay warm enough during the trip.
I nursed the remaining chicks back to health over the next couple weeks. Doesn’t matter how much of a tough guy you are either, you bond to the little shits quickly. So it was rough a few weeks into the game when I read on a couple back yard poultry sites that you should give chicks some greens from time to time including grass. Well let me tell right now, don’t feed them anything but sterile water and crumbles until they are at least 18 weeks old. I gave my first year chicks some grass off our lawn as suggested by a couple sites. Then spent the next couple weeks watching them die off one at a time for a horrible little poultry disease similar to Encephalitis. It pretty much nuked the part of their brains that allowed them motor control. A couple recovered a bit but have not been thrifty, eg poor egg layers. So out of 25, 8 were DOA, then I lost another 6 to that disease. The remaining 11 birds were fine until the neighbors dogs eat a couple. So we ended up getting a handful of chicks last year. Then we had a neighbor toss a hen over the fence that wasn’t ours to begin with so now we are at 15 birds.
Moral of the story, just go down and buy chicks from your local Tractor Supply or other feed and grain store. You will want pullet and not straight run if at all possible. Roosters will eventually get to aggressive to handle. The one I kept from my initial run, even through hand reared eventually attacked my 4 year old daughter. She went up to hand feed her favorite hen and he saw my daughter as a treat to the flock and attacked her. Scratcher her pretty good in the face and back, needless to say he was dead by sundown and in a pot of coq au vin shortly thereafter. You don’t need a rooster unless you plan on breeding birds. So save your kids the trauma of getting attacked and dispatch any young roosters you may get in your chicks. Trust me it’s the right thing to do. Be sure to eat him as well. They really are yummy if cooked low and slow.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
January 14th 2010
Only in America…A beef Tenderloin, some Chili and Chinese
Well I have been remiss on posting consistently over the holidays and now that they are over I will work on being a little more consistent in these posts. If there is any kind of following to these crazy posts I would like to hear from you and what you like or dislike. Obviously I do this for your benefit more than anything else. I know how to do a lot of things and most of them pretty well. If I have an affliction its definitely the Jeffersonian complex. I read all the time and cant sit still ever. If you can create it I have at least tried it once. From welding steel into sculpture, painting, writing, construction, cooking, building computers, servers, networks etc. My belief is when you stop moving you die, doesn’t matter how much you exercise, believe in god, love your family, work, hate, love, etc. You have to keep moving and keep that muscle in your head active. Limit your exposure to all technology that is being thrown at you and get out there, outside, off the beaten path in the weather, in the sun. It is how we are meant to live.
Enough preaching on my part but I do encourage you all to get out and live life as it motivates you.
So on to food. Saturday I pulled out a beef tenderloin and gave it a nice rub of toasted coriander and black pepper corns. Both were milled down in a coffee grinder after I toasted them on the stove top to bring out the aromas. Roughly 3 tablespoons of each. Ground until they are a nice powder. Once it was to the consistency I was looking for I tied my roast and rubbed her down. Then put the whole thing in a non-reactive container with a little garlic and some aromatics, thyme, rosemary, unfiltered olive oil I pressed myself and red pepper flakes. This whole deal went into the fridge overnight. One hour before I wanted to roast it I pulled it out to rest at room temp. Just before tossing it in the oven I rubbed a couple tablespoons of Kosher salt all over it. Adding the salt at the last moment ensures you will not draw all the moisture out of the meat. Always practice this when marinating and you will find the meat you cook is moister and better tasting.
I tossed the loin in a 500 degree F oven for 20 minutes then reduced the temp to 350 degrees F until the internal temp reached 130 degrees F. This is medium rate, 120 degrees is bleeding. 140 is too overcooked for me to comment on.
For this loin I made a tomatoe confit. Simple recipe, add several tablespoons of a high quality olive oil to a pan over medium heat. Add a full head of peeled garlic cloves. Saute over medium heat for 10-15 minutes but do not under any circumstances burn the garlic. If you do toss it all out and start over. Once the garlic is nice and golden add aromatics, your choice, but be sure they are fresh. Just picked from your garden if possible but if the best you can come by is the store then you should be alright. Saute for a minute or two then add about 1 quart of peel drained tomatoes, and a cup of sweet white wine, Madera, marsala etc. Whatever floats you boat in the sweet wine arena. Cook the whole mess down for about an hour. Until the garlic is soft, then break up the garlic and tomatoes a bit with a wooden spoon. Turn the heat off season to taste with salt and pepper. Then toss one more cup of the wine you chose to it. Allow to cool and serve as a side to your loin.
I am big on Yorkshire pudding. Its always good with roast meat and gives you something to do with the pan drippings. Kids love it and so do I. Recipe is super easy. In a medium bowl add a half cup of milk and a half cup of beer, to one cup flour and two eggs. Beat the whole mess well with a pinch of salt. Add one shot of single malt whiskey. Let the batter rest for one hour. Find yourself a cupcake pan and to it add a bit of pan drippings to each depression in the pan. Pure your batter mixture on top of this until it fills the void about half way. Put the pan in a 400 degree oven and immediately turn the oven down to 350 degrees F. Keep an eye on them they should be golden brown in about 2o minutes. Serve immediately.
As a side server a nice green and make a good salad with some type of fungal cheese, blue, stilton etc. For a winter meal its just heaven.
You will have left over meat and then the question is what to do with it. Beef loin is really versatile. You can whip up all kinds of thing with the leftovers. With mine I decided a round of chili was in order. I just felt a deep craving for it. So the hell with it I make chili with a the leftovers of a $30 piece of meat. Chili is supper easy to make and I put beans in mine because I am not a Texan and never want to be one.
Tonight I felt like Chinese food and made, dim sum for dinner. I don’t really care they is totally unacceptable in Chinese society it seemed the right thing to do this even. I also whipped up some other items. But I am way to sleepy to write about them now….More later.
Well I have been remiss on posting consistently over the holidays and now that they are over I will work on being a little more consistent in these posts. If there is any kind of following to these crazy posts I would like to hear from you and what you like or dislike. Obviously I do this for your benefit more than anything else. I know how to do a lot of things and most of them pretty well. If I have an affliction its definitely the Jeffersonian complex. I read all the time and cant sit still ever. If you can create it I have at least tried it once. From welding steel into sculpture, painting, writing, construction, cooking, building computers, servers, networks etc. My belief is when you stop moving you die, doesn’t matter how much you exercise, believe in god, love your family, work, hate, love, etc. You have to keep moving and keep that muscle in your head active. Limit your exposure to all technology that is being thrown at you and get out there, outside, off the beaten path in the weather, in the sun. It is how we are meant to live.
Enough preaching on my part but I do encourage you all to get out and live life as it motivates you.
So on to food. Saturday I pulled out a beef tenderloin and gave it a nice rub of toasted coriander and black pepper corns. Both were milled down in a coffee grinder after I toasted them on the stove top to bring out the aromas. Roughly 3 tablespoons of each. Ground until they are a nice powder. Once it was to the consistency I was looking for I tied my roast and rubbed her down. Then put the whole thing in a non-reactive container with a little garlic and some aromatics, thyme, rosemary, unfiltered olive oil I pressed myself and red pepper flakes. This whole deal went into the fridge overnight. One hour before I wanted to roast it I pulled it out to rest at room temp. Just before tossing it in the oven I rubbed a couple tablespoons of Kosher salt all over it. Adding the salt at the last moment ensures you will not draw all the moisture out of the meat. Always practice this when marinating and you will find the meat you cook is moister and better tasting.
I tossed the loin in a 500 degree F oven for 20 minutes then reduced the temp to 350 degrees F until the internal temp reached 130 degrees F. This is medium rate, 120 degrees is bleeding. 140 is too overcooked for me to comment on.
For this loin I made a tomatoe confit. Simple recipe, add several tablespoons of a high quality olive oil to a pan over medium heat. Add a full head of peeled garlic cloves. Saute over medium heat for 10-15 minutes but do not under any circumstances burn the garlic. If you do toss it all out and start over. Once the garlic is nice and golden add aromatics, your choice, but be sure they are fresh. Just picked from your garden if possible but if the best you can come by is the store then you should be alright. Saute for a minute or two then add about 1 quart of peel drained tomatoes, and a cup of sweet white wine, Madera, marsala etc. Whatever floats you boat in the sweet wine arena. Cook the whole mess down for about an hour. Until the garlic is soft, then break up the garlic and tomatoes a bit with a wooden spoon. Turn the heat off season to taste with salt and pepper. Then toss one more cup of the wine you chose to it. Allow to cool and serve as a side to your loin.
I am big on Yorkshire pudding. Its always good with roast meat and gives you something to do with the pan drippings. Kids love it and so do I. Recipe is super easy. In a medium bowl add a half cup of milk and a half cup of beer, to one cup flour and two eggs. Beat the whole mess well with a pinch of salt. Add one shot of single malt whiskey. Let the batter rest for one hour. Find yourself a cupcake pan and to it add a bit of pan drippings to each depression in the pan. Pure your batter mixture on top of this until it fills the void about half way. Put the pan in a 400 degree oven and immediately turn the oven down to 350 degrees F. Keep an eye on them they should be golden brown in about 2o minutes. Serve immediately.
As a side server a nice green and make a good salad with some type of fungal cheese, blue, stilton etc. For a winter meal its just heaven.
You will have left over meat and then the question is what to do with it. Beef loin is really versatile. You can whip up all kinds of thing with the leftovers. With mine I decided a round of chili was in order. I just felt a deep craving for it. So the hell with it I make chili with a the leftovers of a $30 piece of meat. Chili is supper easy to make and I put beans in mine because I am not a Texan and never want to be one.
Tonight I felt like Chinese food and made, dim sum for dinner. I don’t really care they is totally unacceptable in Chinese society it seemed the right thing to do this even. I also whipped up some other items. But I am way to sleepy to write about them now….More later.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Another Cold Weekend , Dreams of Summer Veggies
January 10, 2010
A bit on food,
Its yet another unseasonably cold weekend here in California. A big storm is on its way and should drop another inch of water and mostly likely several feet of snow to the Sierras. That should blow out the bone chilling layer of Tule fog that has gripped the central valley now for the better part of the week. The fog has helped the waterfowl hunting and with that assistance I was able to bag a few geese last week. These birds were slowing rendered down with a piece of smoked pork belly and after salting will become a most succulent rielette. Rielettes is an old world charcuterie preparation most likely stemming from some thrifty French butcher. Basically you can take the trimmings of your pork bellies if you are processing bacon and render them down with a bit of veal stock, a leek, and some aromatics (thyme, rosemary, sage, pepper corns, whole garlic cloves, etc.). The whole thing is slowing cook either on top of the stove on the lowest gas mark or in the oven in at the lowest oven setting. What you are after is a very slow gentile boil. In 4 to 6 hours the meat will basically be falling apart in a soup of rendered pork fat and broth. I should note that it is good to flash boil the meat you intend to use by pouring cold water over the meat and bringing the whole batch up to a quick boil. Then you pour off this dirty water which will have become clouded up with impurities and blood. This will help the end produce be cleaner and fresher tasting. It will also suck out some of that pond bottom flavor from waterfowl that seems to turn off so many people. Once you draw off the impurities you can add the leek, aromatics, and broth just so it covers the meat by a few inches.
After the long slow cooking process let the whole mixture cool, then put in a no reactive container and place in the frig for an overnight rest in the flavorful broth. This also allows the fats to rise to the top of the container. The next day you scrape off the fat layer and render it down and strain it though cheese cloth. You will use the fat to seal off you ramekins. The meat you will pull out and either shred with a fork or if you have a kitchenaid mixture place the meat in there with the paddle attachment and blend it for a couple minutes adding some salt as it works. Rielettes is served cold or at room temperature so its ok to over season a bit. You can also add some additional spices at this point. For the straight pork version I use mace, coriander, white pepper and a little all spice. For waterfowl (duck, goose) I use nutmeg, coriander, black pepper and add the addition of dried fruit such as apricots, cranberries, or currents. You can also spike the whole concoction with you favorite booze at this point for some added complexity. Be sure to add a little of the gelatin and some of the purified fat as you mix. You are after a smooth paste not to dry or wet. Be sure to taste the mixture as you work when you are stratified in the texture and flavor load it up in ramekins and pour the clarified pork fat over the top. Allow these to cool in your fridge. They will be most excellent if left alone for a few days in the fridge. These will keep under the fat for several weeks. Normally they don’t make it that long in my house as I eat them up as does my family. They are best served cold or a room temperature with a nice warm piece of toasted bread and a bit of homemade mustard.
Garden Prep
I also spent today prepping for my spring garden. The seeds I ordered arrived earlier in the week and I spent significant time pouring over my exceptionally large collection of heirloom seeds. They needed some organization and this took some time to catalog them all by type, season, etc. I also build a shelving unit I picked up at the hardware store, its five shelves were serve as my nursery for my seed starts. The shelves are made of wood and under each shelf I placed eye hooks and suspended a set of fluorescent lights. I used a bit of chain to hold each fixture. This way I can raise and lower them as required by the plants as they grow. I also purchased a security light timer which I can preset to ensure the light requirements of young seedlings (at least 12 hours a day with a period of darkness). Starting your own plants from seed takes some preplanning but is exceptionally economical. Not to mention you can grow heirloom varietals that your local warehouse superstore or most nurseries just don’t have. You also can grow ethic heirloom species you just cant find other than at your local ethic food restaurants. Crazy stuff too like Culantro which is similar to cilantro but much more flavorful.
My favorite seed suppliers are as follows; (these have consistently supplied me with seeds that germinate every time)
Johnny Seeds http://www.johnnyseeds.com/
Gourmet Seeds International www.gourmetseed.com
Between the two you will find every kind of seed you are looking for. The other fun one to check out that I have yet to order from is the Seed Man http://www.seedman.com/
He has crazy stuff like tobacco, bananas, papayas etc. I have yet to order from him but may pick up some stuff later on this summer. Most of his crazy stuff is tropical so I would not buy it now unless you have a heated greenhouse.
A bit on food,
Its yet another unseasonably cold weekend here in California. A big storm is on its way and should drop another inch of water and mostly likely several feet of snow to the Sierras. That should blow out the bone chilling layer of Tule fog that has gripped the central valley now for the better part of the week. The fog has helped the waterfowl hunting and with that assistance I was able to bag a few geese last week. These birds were slowing rendered down with a piece of smoked pork belly and after salting will become a most succulent rielette. Rielettes is an old world charcuterie preparation most likely stemming from some thrifty French butcher. Basically you can take the trimmings of your pork bellies if you are processing bacon and render them down with a bit of veal stock, a leek, and some aromatics (thyme, rosemary, sage, pepper corns, whole garlic cloves, etc.). The whole thing is slowing cook either on top of the stove on the lowest gas mark or in the oven in at the lowest oven setting. What you are after is a very slow gentile boil. In 4 to 6 hours the meat will basically be falling apart in a soup of rendered pork fat and broth. I should note that it is good to flash boil the meat you intend to use by pouring cold water over the meat and bringing the whole batch up to a quick boil. Then you pour off this dirty water which will have become clouded up with impurities and blood. This will help the end produce be cleaner and fresher tasting. It will also suck out some of that pond bottom flavor from waterfowl that seems to turn off so many people. Once you draw off the impurities you can add the leek, aromatics, and broth just so it covers the meat by a few inches.
After the long slow cooking process let the whole mixture cool, then put in a no reactive container and place in the frig for an overnight rest in the flavorful broth. This also allows the fats to rise to the top of the container. The next day you scrape off the fat layer and render it down and strain it though cheese cloth. You will use the fat to seal off you ramekins. The meat you will pull out and either shred with a fork or if you have a kitchenaid mixture place the meat in there with the paddle attachment and blend it for a couple minutes adding some salt as it works. Rielettes is served cold or at room temperature so its ok to over season a bit. You can also add some additional spices at this point. For the straight pork version I use mace, coriander, white pepper and a little all spice. For waterfowl (duck, goose) I use nutmeg, coriander, black pepper and add the addition of dried fruit such as apricots, cranberries, or currents. You can also spike the whole concoction with you favorite booze at this point for some added complexity. Be sure to add a little of the gelatin and some of the purified fat as you mix. You are after a smooth paste not to dry or wet. Be sure to taste the mixture as you work when you are stratified in the texture and flavor load it up in ramekins and pour the clarified pork fat over the top. Allow these to cool in your fridge. They will be most excellent if left alone for a few days in the fridge. These will keep under the fat for several weeks. Normally they don’t make it that long in my house as I eat them up as does my family. They are best served cold or a room temperature with a nice warm piece of toasted bread and a bit of homemade mustard.
Garden Prep
I also spent today prepping for my spring garden. The seeds I ordered arrived earlier in the week and I spent significant time pouring over my exceptionally large collection of heirloom seeds. They needed some organization and this took some time to catalog them all by type, season, etc. I also build a shelving unit I picked up at the hardware store, its five shelves were serve as my nursery for my seed starts. The shelves are made of wood and under each shelf I placed eye hooks and suspended a set of fluorescent lights. I used a bit of chain to hold each fixture. This way I can raise and lower them as required by the plants as they grow. I also purchased a security light timer which I can preset to ensure the light requirements of young seedlings (at least 12 hours a day with a period of darkness). Starting your own plants from seed takes some preplanning but is exceptionally economical. Not to mention you can grow heirloom varietals that your local warehouse superstore or most nurseries just don’t have. You also can grow ethic heirloom species you just cant find other than at your local ethic food restaurants. Crazy stuff too like Culantro which is similar to cilantro but much more flavorful.
My favorite seed suppliers are as follows; (these have consistently supplied me with seeds that germinate every time)
Johnny Seeds http://www.johnnyseeds.com/
Gourmet Seeds International www.gourmetseed.com
Between the two you will find every kind of seed you are looking for. The other fun one to check out that I have yet to order from is the Seed Man http://www.seedman.com/
He has crazy stuff like tobacco, bananas, papayas etc. I have yet to order from him but may pick up some stuff later on this summer. Most of his crazy stuff is tropical so I would not buy it now unless you have a heated greenhouse.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Cold Days of Winter...
January 3, 2010
Well the pneumonia pretty much has me confined to bed today, which I cant tell you how much I hate being confined to bed. That said about all the adventure I could undertake today was to place my seed order for my spring and summer garden. Here is what I got to augment my already large collection of seed in my seed catalog.
Bean, Asparagus - Red Noodle
Bean Asparagus - Mosaic
Asparagus Bean un Metro (Bacello)
Amaranth All Red Leaf
Tomato Black Pear
Pole Bean Stortino Di Trento
Pole Bean Supermarconi (Romano)
Cilantro Slo-Bolting
Lovage ORGANIC
Chives
Garlic Chives, Ping Giant
Lemon Grass
Tarragon
Beet, Bull's Blood ORGANIC
Beet Chioggia ORGANIC
Cucumber Paris Pickling
Cucumber Hokus
Onion Piatta d'Italia
Cipollini Onion Bianco Di Maggio
Cipollini Onion Borrettana
Deluxe Spring Radish Mix
Basil, Violetto ( Dark Opal ) ORGANIC
Basil Napoletano Bolloso
Basil, Lettuce Leaf Toscano
Basil Thai
Basil Lemon
Golden Mushroom
Poplar Mushroom
The particular item I need more urgently than the rest were peas. Last year I got them in the ground too late and we had a mini heat wave in April which all but stunted the plants to the point where the harvest was about a ¼ of what it should have been. So I am eager to get some peas in the raised beds as early as possible this year. I will also experiment a little and create mini coldframes out of half of my raised beds this year. Each of my raised beds is 5 feet wide and 35 feet long and 12 inches high. When I constructed these beds I placed a double layer of chicken wire down first, followed by several inches of heavy mulch, fresh hay, then a nice bedding soil. This Fall I have been depositing all the leaf material I mow up with my tractor on top of each of the fallow beds. In addition I have a nice pile of compost on the west end of the veggie beds. My plan is to eventually partition off this area into another raised bed specifically designated for potatoes. Oh and a word to the wise, never buy potato starts from seed vendors, nurseries or home improvement shops. Just buy some potatoes at your local grocery store, place in a paper sack and put in a dark place. In a few weeks the spuds you have chosen will have started to grow on their own. Cut up the spuds leaving a few eyes on each piece, let the cut pieces set overnight to dry a bit then plant in well composed soil. As they grow up through the compost continue to add layers of soil. The potato plants will create tons of spuds in each layer of compost. More on that in a later post.
Well the pneumonia pretty much has me confined to bed today, which I cant tell you how much I hate being confined to bed. That said about all the adventure I could undertake today was to place my seed order for my spring and summer garden. Here is what I got to augment my already large collection of seed in my seed catalog.
Bean, Asparagus - Red Noodle
Bean Asparagus - Mosaic
Asparagus Bean un Metro (Bacello)
Amaranth All Red Leaf
Tomato Black Pear
Pole Bean Stortino Di Trento
Pole Bean Supermarconi (Romano)
Cilantro Slo-Bolting
Lovage ORGANIC
Chives
Garlic Chives, Ping Giant
Lemon Grass
Tarragon
Beet, Bull's Blood ORGANIC
Beet Chioggia ORGANIC
Cucumber Paris Pickling
Cucumber Hokus
Onion Piatta d'Italia
Cipollini Onion Bianco Di Maggio
Cipollini Onion Borrettana
Deluxe Spring Radish Mix
Basil, Violetto ( Dark Opal ) ORGANIC
Basil Napoletano Bolloso
Basil, Lettuce Leaf Toscano
Basil Thai
Basil Lemon
Golden Mushroom
Poplar Mushroom
The particular item I need more urgently than the rest were peas. Last year I got them in the ground too late and we had a mini heat wave in April which all but stunted the plants to the point where the harvest was about a ¼ of what it should have been. So I am eager to get some peas in the raised beds as early as possible this year. I will also experiment a little and create mini coldframes out of half of my raised beds this year. Each of my raised beds is 5 feet wide and 35 feet long and 12 inches high. When I constructed these beds I placed a double layer of chicken wire down first, followed by several inches of heavy mulch, fresh hay, then a nice bedding soil. This Fall I have been depositing all the leaf material I mow up with my tractor on top of each of the fallow beds. In addition I have a nice pile of compost on the west end of the veggie beds. My plan is to eventually partition off this area into another raised bed specifically designated for potatoes. Oh and a word to the wise, never buy potato starts from seed vendors, nurseries or home improvement shops. Just buy some potatoes at your local grocery store, place in a paper sack and put in a dark place. In a few weeks the spuds you have chosen will have started to grow on their own. Cut up the spuds leaving a few eyes on each piece, let the cut pieces set overnight to dry a bit then plant in well composed soil. As they grow up through the compost continue to add layers of soil. The potato plants will create tons of spuds in each layer of compost. More on that in a later post.
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