Unruly Teenage Tomatoes and the Potato Party

Is this a sign that we planted our precious tomato seedlings a bit too early?

These plants have grown so big, that they began falling over last week. If you look carefully, you'll see we had to rig a twine and tape system to hold them up against the window, along with wooden-skewer stilts tied to some of the stems to help hold them!

In the back of my mind, I often compare seedlings to children. You spend so much time nurturing them in their little nurseries during the late winter, like newborns. You fuss over them, worry about them, rejoice when they grow strong and tall, and lose sleep when they are having difficulties. Eventually the young plants you raised will be transplanted out in the world, where it will be up to them to prove productive and happy.

Well, if the analogy is applied to our tomatoes, they are teenagers--albeit late teens--who have outstayed their welcome home. They should have been out in the world on their own weeks ago. I will not kick them out, because the weather is still bitter at night (waiting for the 'magic' plant date of Mother's Day). But wow. They are entirely too big to still be at home. We thought about getting out to the garden and setting up a cover system with pvc piping and plastic, but money is tight as well as time. We are going to hold out. When it comes time to transplant them, we'll have to dig deep to provide some support to those long, long stems. I know that last year when it came time to transplant outside, our tomatoes were only about a third this tall. Another interesting development that these teenage behemoths are boasting? They are attempting to make tomatoes already! Look at one of the blooms I found.

In other Little Harvest news, we have decided to plant potatoes. This week we had a potato planting party!

There are so many great ideas for planting potatoes in small spaces. The trick is to keep covering them with soil or compost or rotting leaves/straw (whatever organic material you have on hand, basically) as they grow.  The same holds true whether planting in the ground or in a container. In order to keep burying the growing potatoes, you want to plant them at the bottom of something large. I have been on the lookout for the perfect large container for a few months. I wanted a washtub-style container, or whiskey barrel. Some old tires would have been great (stacking and filling with soil as the potatoes grow). But this giant white plastic pot will hopefully do the trick. I found it by chance at the dollar store at a deep discount, since it has a small crack at the top, which I knew would not effect our potato growing plans at all.

We have not purchased seed potatoes. I have already talked to a seasoned gardener in my family who has told me I MUST buy seed potatoes. Well, we had a bag of organic potatoes that were no longer fit for making lunch, and the sprouts coming out of them seemed to be begging to be put somewhere that they could keep growing. I have a stubborn streak, and being told I must do something a certain way only invites my effort to try a different (and cheaper) way!

Before heading outdoors, the kids and I examined the sprouty potatoes. "Gross" and "Weird" and "Scary" were the words I heard most as they touched and looked at the potatoes. I encouraged words like "Awesome" and "Amazing!" How amazing is it that these old potatoes want to grow into new ones?

We cut two of the sprouts off one of the potatoes, leaving some potato flesh with it. We put the rest of the potatoes in the cold garage, thinking we might find more places to plant them later. We then headed out (on a VERY windy day, mind you) and collected some compost. Oh, that rich, wonderful homemade soil! We marveled at the fact that each one of us remembered putting vegetable peelings, straw, and other old stuff, and here it was, transformed at the bottom of our compost ball.

You can see our unruly tomatoes hanging out in the window behind us!

About to blow away in the wind!!!

As I mentioned above, just a small amount of soil in the bottom of the pot will do. Place the potato bits in, sprouts faced up to the sky, and cover the sprouts with a thin layer of soil. As the sprouts grow through, add soil over the growing plant, leaving just a couple of green leaves poking out into the sun. In this way, the potato plant will grow up into the soil and create many roots. Lots of roots will eventually grow lots of potatoes!

We have high hopes for our new venture. If this proves successful, I'll be on the lookout for suitable containers for more potato growing!

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

When I first read the title of this recipe I was a little grossed out. I like cottage cheese, but I don't love it, and trying to imagine a pancake with cottage cheese was hard to do. My whole family really, really loves cottage cheese, which is why I was drawn to this recipe in the first place. I finally tried it, and WOW. These are some amazing little protein-packed pancakes. They remind me of thick crepes, so they go perfectly with fresh berries. There is absolutely no 'cottage cheese' flavor, so no need to be grossed out by the name!This is a recipe I will be making many many times.

Note: I use my cookie scoop to make silver-dollar sized pancakes. I don't recommend trying to make big pancakes, because they are a little tricky to flip. Keep them small and you won't have a problem.

Cottage Cheese Pancakes (weelicious.com)

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons honey or agave
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• butter, oil or oil spray
• 
  

Preparation

1. 1. Place the first 4 ingredients in a bowl and whisk.
2. 2. In a separate bowl whisk the dry ingredients.
3. 3. Pour the dry mixture into the wet mixture and stir until just combined.
4. 4. Heat a large sauté pan or griddle over medium heat, lightly coat with oil or butter and pour about 1 tbsp of the mixture onto the griddle for each pancake.
5. 5. Cook for 2 minutes on each side or until pancakes are set and golden.
6. 6. Serve.
7. *To Freeze: Let pancakes come to room temperature, place in a ziploc bag, label and freeze up to 3 months.

Blinded By The Light

Our makeshift growlight, that is!

Noah the mini-gardener

Yes, I know. I've boasted for 2 growing seasons now that I don't need a growlight. That by rotating my precious seedlings from windowsill to windowsill throughout the day to catch maximum sunlight, my seedlings have done just fine. But the sun has decided to absolutely disappear for much of the time the past few weeks, and it's been bad news for my baby Amish Paste tomatoes. They began to droop, bend over, and in general look very, very sick.

very sad and droopy baby tomato

I panicked. My first ER action was to dose them with some fish emulsion, diluted (1 t. in about 4 cups of water). After watching them for over a day and seeing that didn't give them a magic boost, I transplanted them all into larger spaces, in case their roots were not getting enough room to breathe.

before: tiny, messy homes

after: bigger and cleaner-looking rooms..ahhhhh

Start a gardening hobby and say goodbye to perfectly manicured nails

I gave them a day in their new, larger homes and still saw little improvement. It hit me, in a sudden 'lightbulb' moment, that the sunlight had not been strong at all for days.

I don't have the cash to plunk out on some special growlight system (I'm saving pennies for other precious items, like a soaker hose). I thought to myself, 'hey, I've got this florescent fixture over the kitchen sink...I wonder if it would help? I mean, how different is a regular florescent light from a special growlight available for substantial bucks at the garden center?'

After a quick search in the garage, I came up with a setup that would get my plants close to the light source. 2 five gallon buckets (which, incidentally, still smelled of the apples I stored in them during apple picking season--I had to stop for a moment to breathe in that wonderful nostalgia), a shelf borrowed from one of our toyshelves in the toyroom, and my seed container (appropriate use for that, or what!).  I also found an empty food container of the right size to boost the seedlings up just a big more--right up to the light.

This setup has worked wonders. Within one day under the lights, our plants grew noticeably,  and they looked happier and healthier. They have reached up toward those florescent photons like their little lives depended on it. The closer I can get those babies to the light the better--in fact I read it's okay to let the leaves actually touch the light. The less effort the leaves have to make to get to the light, the more energy they can put into growing thicker instead of upwards.

I been putting the plants in the windowsills any day that we have strong sunlight, but those days have been very far and few between. So, they spend a lot of time under our little growlight system. I've had to remove the extra container by now, and soon will have to lower the plants even more, because they are growing so big.

Although it's taken some getting used to, working around the baby tomatoes is not a big deal. I spend a lot of time at the kitchen sink, so I'm getting to know each plant by heart, at my eye level. The light has always been a little too bright for me, and at just the right angle that my eyes hurt a bit when standing at that sink, but if it's helping the plants survive, I've got new tolerance for it. Leaving it on for the plants has been a challenge--I'm one of those mamas who seems to be constantly turning off unneeded lights left on by someone. I have to stop myself as I reach to turn out that kitchen sink light...it is now serving a very good purpose! And, I didn't have to go out and spend any more money that I don't have on this gardening adventure.

Baby tomatoes keep me company while washing unending piles of dishes

Take a peek at how wonderful our tomatoes look now, after bigger pots, a little fish emulsion, and a week under our growlight:

Warm Up Your Evening with a Winter Pizza

I can't think of a more appropriate winter pizza than this one! Sweet potatoes from storage, and kale from the cold frame...ingredients readily available in the middle of this long, cold season. Also, the flavor is amazing!
I was skeptical at first--kale? Sweet potatoes? Trust me, get over the doubt and try it at least once if you like either of those ingredients one bit. I'm going out on a limb and assuming you love red onions...because everybody HAS to love red onions. Right?

I found the recipe over at twopeasandtheirpod.com. Below is their exact recipe, but I altered it a bit when I made it. Though I made a full batch of dough, I used about a third of it on this pizza. Since I was only using a portion of the dough for a smaller pizza, most of the ingredients needed cut down. Also, I sprinkled dried rosemary on top instead of fresh.

Sweet Potato Kale Pizza with Rosemary & Red Onion

Yield: 1 pizza

Cook Time: 10-15 minutes

ingredients:

Your favorite pizza dough-we used this pizza dough recipe
1 large sweet potato, thinly sliced, about 1/4 inch thick
1/2 red onion, sliced
1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil, divided
Salt and pepper, for seasoning potato slices and onion
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups chopped kale
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon, freshly chopped rosemary

directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the sweet potato slices and red onion slices in a bow and toss with 1/2 tablespoon of the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Place on a large baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are soft and tender. Make sure you turn them once during the 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool while you prepare the pizza dough.

2. Turn the oven to 500 degrees F or as high as your oven will go. If you have a pizza stone, place the pizza stone in the oven to get hot. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pizza dough, using a rolling pin. Roll it out to about 3/8 of an inch. Place the pizza dough on a pizza peel or pan that has been generously coated with corn meal. Lightly brush the dough with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. In a small bowl, toss the kale with balsamic vinegar. Top the pizza dough with mozzarella cheese, sweet potato slices, kale, red onion slices, and fresh rosemary.

3. Place the pizza in the oven-directly on the pizza stone, if using one, or on the oven rack. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until pizza crust is golden and cheese is melted. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes before slicing. Slice and serve warm.

Baby Tomatoes and Hope

One of my goals right now is to become more and more separate from industrial food. Growing lots of tomatoes seems to be one of the easiest ways to start. I used to think of tomatoes and wonder how people could eat so many of them. People who grew them in their gardens would give them away by the bags-full. I thought..just how many salads and sandwiches can I eat to use all of these before they get mushy (which happens so very quickly)? I never realized the possibility of preserving them until I tried it and saw for myself how easy it is. (If mom reads this, she may have a thing or two to say to me, namely, "Oh come on, where were you while I canned all those tomatoes every summer?" Answer: Somewhere far away from the kitchen.)

What things do I buy routinely that I could be putting up from my own tomato plants? Tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, whole tomatoes, roasted and pureed tomatoes...ketchup, even! I obtained a food mill last summer and the ease of making sauce increased ten-fold. So far I've done nothing more than freeze the sauce and diced tomatoes in freezer containers, but canning is next on the list of attainable goals. We use a LOT of canned tomatoes in our family, not to mention all the ketchup we go through. If we could provide the majority of our own tomatoes to last the whole year, not just in those glorious pick-them-straight-from-the-vine-and-die-of-happiness summer days, I think that would be an amazing step in the right direction.

Here are some pics of our growing tomato seedlings. They are started from seed that I got from rareseeds.com. A heritage variety called Amish Paste. The claim is that they produce well and that they make excellent sauce, so here's to hoping!

Also! This is our 3rd garden season starting our seeds without a growlight. Countless gardening sites assume that success will only come with growlights, but if I can do without, why not? I have big windowsills to hold the trays, and by rotating the seedlings throughout the day to catch as much sunlight as possible, they seem to do okay. In one of the following pics you'll see that on very cold days, I put a space heater (on lowest setting) under the window to keep the babies from getting frostbite. ;)

Big Orange Kitty watching over the babies

Small boy daydreaming next to the nursery

It's always hard to do...but it must be done. Culling the weakest sprouts so the hardiest one will grow into an amazing plant.

A little extra warmth on those frigid February/March mornings.

They eat up the sun and fill me with hope.

6,000 lbs of Food on 1/10th Acre

If you are insanely interested in urban homesteading like I am, you must watch this! I had briefly read about the Dervaes family before, but seeing this video amazed me. Not only are they growing huge amounts of food on very little land (enough to feed themselves and sell a bunch to local chefs), you'll also see at about 5:30 in the video that they use very little electricity (solar powered), and bio-diesel (fry oil recycled from local restaurants). Off the grid, and growing their own food, all within a crowded urban environment. These are skills that will help us ease out of the cheap energy era. The more we know and learn from families like this, the better. Watch and be inspired!

No-Bake Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

This recipe is handy because it's so quick. It is more like a sweet treat..kind of like a rice crispy treat..but it will do when Noah's begging for a granola bar and ingredients and time are running low!

I'm a firm believer that having a hand in making your own snacks
makes them taste even better!

No-Bake Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
(originally found at LaurensLatest.com)

Ingredients:

1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. honey
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
2 c. quick cooking oats
1 c. crispy rice cereal
1/2 t. vanilla
2 T. mini chocolate chips

In a large bowl, stir oats and rice cereal together. Set aside. In a small pot, melt butter, honey and brown sugar together over medium high heat until it comes to a bubble. Reduce the heat and cook 2 minutes. Pour in vanilla and stir. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well to moisten all ingredients. Pour into lightly greased small jelly roll pan {about 12x8x1} and press out to be about 3/4 inch in thickness. {If your pan isn't small enough, pack the mixture into one side. You really want to press them down so they stick together.} Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and press down lightly. Cool on a countertop to room temperature for two hours or until the chocolate chips are set before cutting into bars. Wrap in parchment or plastic wrap and store at room temperature.

Recipe Notes: If your granola bars don't seem to be staying together when you cut them, you may have not boiled the mixture long enough...you want it to make it just past the softball stage. OR you made them too thin or you didn't pack them in tight enough. Stick them in the fridge for 20 minutes and that should help keep them together. {Be sure not to keep them in there too long or else they'll become super hard!} The next time you make them, try boiling for an extra 15 seconds or so.

Happy Valentine's Day to me!

I got a lovely stash of candy and a funny card from my husband (thanks baby), but my favorite Valentine was the one that came in the mailbox--my seed order arrived today!

Chunky Monkey Pancakes

These are a 'treat' pancake that I only make occasionally. They get devoured! I'm afraid if I make them too often, our other 'plainer' pancake recipes would get revolted against!

Chunky Monkey Pancakes
Amy (amylz)
All Recipes Servings: 9

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup skim milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large banana, diced
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped pecans
cooking spray

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set bowl aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the skim milk, melted butter, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients, being careful not to over mix the batter. Gently fold in the banana, chocolate chips, and nuts. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

Noah devouring his Chunky Monkey...which is sweet enough that we don't even need syrup!