gardening – Page 3 – Planet B Gardens

montana chick pea stew

Last garden tomatoes of the year are going into my Montana Chick Pea Stew, inspired by the Indian classic, Chana Masala. Most of the ingredients either came from my garden or the farm of someone I know. First I sliced 10 cloves of the fermented garlic I started this summer. I warmed the fermented garlic in olive oil along with a chopped onion over low heat. To the fermented garlic/onion mix I added a tablespoon each of whole cumin seeds, crushed black pepper, sea salt, and ground cumin. Then I stirred in a minced tablespoon or so of fresh ginger and a half dozen dried cayenne chilies from last year’s garden. As those were sweating covered

October 17, 2016

early october snow

Glad I got all my spring garlic planted and mulched in for the winter yesterday…

good salsa from so-so tomatoes

With the early frost a couple weeks ago, I had to pick all my remaining tomatoes while they were still very green. The best way to ripen green tomatoes is keep them in a cardboard box in a cool area — basement, garage, or shop — that stays between 55F-60F degrees. Once the tomatoes just begin to turn color, bring them inside to ripen the rest of the way at room temperature — 70F-75F or so. While this will get you ripened tomatoes, they are nowhere near as good to eat sliced as those sun-ripened on the vine. They do, however, make good salsa. For this batch I peeled the ripe tomatoes and

September 29, 2016

deer winter garden prep

Planned to compost the spent garden plants this weekend anyway…. …might as well have some help since she figured out how to open the garden gate.

ripening green tomatoes

Summer was short in Montana this year. We had a bit of early summer in April, then it got colder again. I still ended up with lots of tomatoes — Cherokee Purple, Black Cherry, Purple Bumble Bee, Solar Flair, and Black Beauty. Few made it beyond green stage, though, before the first frost hit. I made the mistake of trying to ripen the first green few on a sunny windowsill. They did turn color. The ripe flesh was grainy and mushy, though, and not good to eat. For the rest I tried putting them in a cardboard box in the (relatively) chilly shop. The shop stays between 55F and 60F this

September 22, 2016

stringing chili ristras

Seems my chili peppers are ripening late this year. Last year the chilies started turning red in late July/early August. Good news is chilies will ripen off the vine. A great way to save space while they’re ripening is to create a chili ristra. Creating a ristra is easy. Get a sewing needle and sturdy thread (some material other than cotton since cotton may weaken and break over time). You can also use a thin fishing line. Sort your chilies into small, medium, and large sizes. Thread the needle with a string of thread double the estimated length of the ristra you’d like to create, plus 6″ or so. Match the ends

August 27, 2016

male squash blossoms

Two weeks in a row one of my regular farmers’ market customers has been asking me if he could get some squash blossoms. Personally, I’d rather have the whole vegetable and assumed if I harvested the blossoms, I’d have no squash. Not so. I learned squash plants grow male and female blossoms. Totally makes sense, of course — I just never thought about it much. The female blossoms produce the squash vegetable. The male blossoms are important for fertilizing the females. Once the females are producing squash, though, the male’s job is done. Since I have all the squash I can possibly use for the rest of this season already

August 26, 2016

sauerkraut 2nd try

Last time I made sauerkraut in 2014 I covered the jar with a cloth to let it ferment. One of the dicey parts of this method is it can allow in wild spores from the air as it’s fermenting. Sometimes those create mold on top of the mix and add their own flavors. That might be a good thing, or it might make the kraut taste a little funky. It’s still fine to eat. I didn’t care for the flavor last time, though. This year I’m taking a more controlled approach. I’m starting with freshly harvested cabbage from my garden this round. I shredded the cabbage thinly like I did before, and

August 23, 2016

first honey harvest

Honey is in good supply for my two hives that are thriving, so decided to harvest one frame of my Montana forest wildflower honey from the strongest hive. The frame above is one of the foundationless frames I added to the hive. The girls did a beautiful job building it out! As a kid in coastal California my mom sometimes bought us honey in the comb. One taste brought back memories. My bees forage from wildflowers and flowering trees in the surrounding forest — lupine, dandelion, St. John’s wort, purple thistle, and a bunch of other flowering plants I’ve yet to identify. They also gather nectar and pollen from the garden — broccoli flowers, nasturtium,

August 21, 2016