Another Potato Harvest
Jan. 31st, 2011 06:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pinepigs_gardenI put this in my red_trillium journal but want to have the info here too.
I harvested more potatoes today. I dug about 1/4 of the 2nd Red Rascal bag (maybe slightly less) & got 8 potatoes, with about 400 grams, with the biggest 180 grams.
I dug some more of the Urenika out of the large grow bag. I think I've dug about 3 or 4 of the 7 plants that were in there. One plant has a couple tubers still on it at the top. They were small so I've left them there to get a bit bigger. I pulled 8 potatoes out of this set too (I didn't intend to do the same amount out of each bag!), just under 600 grams with the largest being 170 grams (and the 2nd largest being close too).
I realised today (being not really smart in these things sometimes) that the largest potatoes are on the bottom! It makes sense, you put the seed potato in the bottom of the bag and mound soil up as the plant grows. I just never really thought about it!
I made purple mashed potatoes out of the Urenikas. It was TASTY!! YUMMMM! C approved. I haven't had real mashed potatoes in ages, and haven't had mashed potatoes at all in awhile (we do have the packet stuff on hand for our mashed potato needs--great stew thickener!)
The neighbor in #2 has been teasing me, asking when I'm going to open a veggie shop. Today we were talking when I was out feeding the tomatoes. I was telling her about how I use the blood & bone, sheep pellets, fish tank water & worm stuff to feed the plants. She hadn't realised I had the worms.
She came back around a few minutes later with her son, he's about 5? 6? and said he wanted to see the worms. I took the top off and showed him, there was fresh food in the top one and I opened the 2nd one which has completely digested food that I leave in there and scoop bits off every once in awhile for the plants and dug around with the trowel for him to see the worms in that one. I scooped a tiny bit off and put it in the one of the tomato pots, then used the tap to pour out some worm wee into the glass jar that sits there and told him about that, poured some of that into the plant too. :) I picked the one tomato that was just about ripe and gave it to them.
I grew up with a couple of family friends who had a garden, fresh carrots and peas and tomatoes and radishes. I remember how fun it was to plant the seeds, watch things grow. I hope I've inspired him, or at least worked the ground, so to speak, for a future seed to be planted in his mind.
ETA: I've started to experiment with the basic recipe at Artisan Bread in Five Minutes. It's really tasty! :) The basic premise (in case you haven't seen my posts at Red_trillium) is that you throw the ingredients together, stir them, let it rise a couple hours, then refrigerate it. You can store the dough for up to 2 weeks. Any time you're ready you pull some out, let it rest and then bake it. That's it. No kneading. No fuss. It's a sourdough bread and it has a great texture, holds together wonderfully. I make bread often in the machine but the recipe I have is crumbly. It isn't ideal for sandwiches. You can freeze the dough if you can't get through it in 2 weeks.
They call for a pizza stone (or cheap quarry stone from a home improvement store) and a pizza peel, but I've made 2 loaves without these. I used a cast iron fry pan for the first loaf & used their steam method, the crust was really crunchy but I prefer a softer crust so didn't use either for the second loaf & it's fine for me.
If you like fresh bread but the kneading and constant handling of dough is too much for you to deal, this is a good bread to make. It comes together quickly. You do still have rising time (2 hrs), the dough is easiest to handle after refrigeration (at least 30 to 90 minutes), and it has to rest for 40 minutes once you've shaped it. You bake it for 30 minutes.
Check out their videos to see how they shape their bread. I did it with my first loaf and it looked perfect, like something you'd buy in a store. Also, if you have problems with your bread making check the videos for how to measure flour. This is how I measure my wheat (use unbleached wheat, not bleached as this can affect water absorption) but not usually my corn or whole wheat. How you measure can make a difference to how much flour you get in your cup, which can cause problems with your bread (too much/too little flour in the recipe).
red_trillium journal but want to have the info here too.I harvested more potatoes today. I dug about 1/4 of the 2nd Red Rascal bag (maybe slightly less) & got 8 potatoes, with about 400 grams, with the biggest 180 grams.
I dug some more of the Urenika out of the large grow bag. I think I've dug about 3 or 4 of the 7 plants that were in there. One plant has a couple tubers still on it at the top. They were small so I've left them there to get a bit bigger. I pulled 8 potatoes out of this set too (I didn't intend to do the same amount out of each bag!), just under 600 grams with the largest being 170 grams (and the 2nd largest being close too).
I realised today (being not really smart in these things sometimes) that the largest potatoes are on the bottom! It makes sense, you put the seed potato in the bottom of the bag and mound soil up as the plant grows. I just never really thought about it!
I made purple mashed potatoes out of the Urenikas. It was TASTY!! YUMMMM! C approved. I haven't had real mashed potatoes in ages, and haven't had mashed potatoes at all in awhile (we do have the packet stuff on hand for our mashed potato needs--great stew thickener!)
The neighbor in #2 has been teasing me, asking when I'm going to open a veggie shop. Today we were talking when I was out feeding the tomatoes. I was telling her about how I use the blood & bone, sheep pellets, fish tank water & worm stuff to feed the plants. She hadn't realised I had the worms.
She came back around a few minutes later with her son, he's about 5? 6? and said he wanted to see the worms. I took the top off and showed him, there was fresh food in the top one and I opened the 2nd one which has completely digested food that I leave in there and scoop bits off every once in awhile for the plants and dug around with the trowel for him to see the worms in that one. I scooped a tiny bit off and put it in the one of the tomato pots, then used the tap to pour out some worm wee into the glass jar that sits there and told him about that, poured some of that into the plant too. :) I picked the one tomato that was just about ripe and gave it to them.
I grew up with a couple of family friends who had a garden, fresh carrots and peas and tomatoes and radishes. I remember how fun it was to plant the seeds, watch things grow. I hope I've inspired him, or at least worked the ground, so to speak, for a future seed to be planted in his mind.
ETA: I've started to experiment with the basic recipe at Artisan Bread in Five Minutes. It's really tasty! :) The basic premise (in case you haven't seen my posts at Red_trillium) is that you throw the ingredients together, stir them, let it rise a couple hours, then refrigerate it. You can store the dough for up to 2 weeks. Any time you're ready you pull some out, let it rest and then bake it. That's it. No kneading. No fuss. It's a sourdough bread and it has a great texture, holds together wonderfully. I make bread often in the machine but the recipe I have is crumbly. It isn't ideal for sandwiches. You can freeze the dough if you can't get through it in 2 weeks.
They call for a pizza stone (or cheap quarry stone from a home improvement store) and a pizza peel, but I've made 2 loaves without these. I used a cast iron fry pan for the first loaf & used their steam method, the crust was really crunchy but I prefer a softer crust so didn't use either for the second loaf & it's fine for me.
If you like fresh bread but the kneading and constant handling of dough is too much for you to deal, this is a good bread to make. It comes together quickly. You do still have rising time (2 hrs), the dough is easiest to handle after refrigeration (at least 30 to 90 minutes), and it has to rest for 40 minutes once you've shaped it. You bake it for 30 minutes.
Check out their videos to see how they shape their bread. I did it with my first loaf and it looked perfect, like something you'd buy in a store. Also, if you have problems with your bread making check the videos for how to measure flour. This is how I measure my wheat (use unbleached wheat, not bleached as this can affect water absorption) but not usually my corn or whole wheat. How you measure can make a difference to how much flour you get in your cup, which can cause problems with your bread (too much/too little flour in the recipe).