Green Thumb

The other day I was reading about some of the ways that animals are raised for the market. Did you know that you can see a cloud of manure dust over the feedlot? The animals breathe in this dust and often fall ill which causes them to need antibiotics and to be generally less healthy than their grass fed counterparts.

The difference in quality can even be seen in eggs. I buy eggs from two old ladies at the Farmer’s market in Richmond and they have deep orange-yellow yolks, clear whites and firm shells. The taste of these eggs is also superior to those that I occasionally buy at the grocery.

Of course the ladies that I buy eggs from work very hard for not much profit. Too often the consumer finds it too much “trouble” to visit a Farmer’s Market (even one that is downtown like Richmond’s). Buying Local is a great concept but most people find it much more convenient to run to the grocery and buy confinement raised, innoculated, irradiated foods with less flavor and nutrition than to support the small farmer who raises crops with respect for creation.

Sadly this attitude of convenience may eventually be responsible for the demise of the American Family Farm. Think about this the next time you “run to the grocery” .

Last week OH stopped by our favorite orchard and bought several bushels of apples…

This weekend we started canning them….

Now I know that some of you will think that it would be much easier for me to buy spiced apple rings and applesauce at the grocery store – and you would be right.

The difference is that I know that the nutritional value of the foods I make is much higher when I make them than when they are processed and preserved in a large factory. Then too the flavor of the things I make is better – and its the flavor I want- not just a bunch of sugar to cover up the fact that the apples used had the flavor and consistency of styrofoam!

The apples we used for apple rings (actually we made slices cause it’s a bit easier) were avintage variety called Shockly. Small very firm fruits with a sharp tart taste that make excellent firm spiced and canned apple slices. We did 28 pints last night and another 7 pints of apple pickles. I’m not kidding there really is such a thing and I’ll post the recipe in a couple of days.

One of my favorite sights of fall is pumpkins and squashes piled up at the farm stands. I often buy a number of squashes and then have to figure out what to do with them!

Fortunately they will keep for several weeks (or even months) if stored in a cool dry place. I stack them in my back bedroom (which I keep closed off to save on heating bills) and check on them occasionally to make sure they are still good.

From time to time I will try a new recipe out and thought I would post a couple of those in case you also are afflicted with an attraction to winter squash!

Roasted Winter Squash

This works well for almost any winter squash but I particularly like to use Acorn and Butternut….

Cut the squash into halves or quarters lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and pulp. Lightly prick the flesh with a fork and sprinkle with pepper. Place the pieces flesh side down in a pan with about a 1/4 inch of water and bake at 350 until the flesh is soft (20-30 minutes).

Serve with butter.

Chicken and Squash:

Butternut Squash
Medium Onion
Chicken leg quarters
Sliced mushrooms
Sliced black olives

This is an easy one dish recipe that takes about 15 minutes to prepare.

Slice a butternut squash about 1/2 thick and place in the bottom of a baking pan. You should have one layer of squash in the pan. Next slice an onion and layer it over the squash. Then place Chicken leg quarters on top of the onions, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cover with mushrooms and black olives.

Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes or until juices run clear.

Serves 1-8 depending on the size of the pan and number of pieces of chicken used.

I have a bug sitting on my desk…..one of the other teachers brought it in for indentification…. It’s about 1.5 inches long, light brown with wings folded to the body and two digging claws. Rather an impressive looking bug really.

Southern Mole Crickets are particularly destructive to lawns in the South. Most of the destruction is caused by their tunneling after other insects, unlike some of their cousins they are mostly carnivorous.

Control methods include: introducing benificial insects such as wasps which hunt the crickets, applying grub controlling products in the spring, and regular feeding and mowing of lawns.

In rural areas the insects may also be controlled by allowing hens to roam the yard as the southern mole cricket spends a significant amount of its time on the surface.

As with most pests regular inspection and treatment of problem areas is the best form of control.

I stopped at the local farmer’s market the other day and was amazed by the variety of fall vegetables available……I’ve been trying to make my eating habits reflect the kinds of foods that are available locally and was able to get the following fresh vegetables:

Winter squash: three different kinds of acorn type squashes, pumpkins, and butternut squash

Sweet potatoes: a particulary good variety called Hernadez which I will cure and store for the winter

Onions: yellow ones which again I will store for the winter

Beets: Not everyone’s favorite food but with cold weather I’ll make a pot of Borsht and eat off it all week…..

Turnips: which I use like potatoes and also in a number of Irish dishes….

There were also lots of greens which I didn’t get as I have about 40 pounds of frozen kale in storage at the moment!

Eating seasonally makes my diet interesting as I have to develop/learn new recipes to use those foods which I’m not familiar with.

Of course as I recently got a copy of the Rodale Natural Foods Cookbook at a sale I’m sure I’ll have lots of recipes to try!

So once again I have moved and once again I have no place for a garden! This time I am in a little Potomac River town for the school year, renting a small place with no real place to plant anything. I’ll have a few houseplants this winter I guess – some herbs for the kitchen and perhaps some African Violets if I can get some slips from my mother.

The good news is that I am getting married in December and once the school year is over will probably be moving to the western part of the state where we will be able to have a real garden and eventually even a small farm!

In the meanwhile I’ll continue to post about agricultural and gardening topics…

The Gardening Girl.