Living and Promoting a Sustainable Life
Stop by the Farm this Saturday, May 17 or Sunday, May 18 afternoon from 1:00PM to 4:00PM. We are offering heirloom variety tomatoes and peppers for sale.
These plants have been raised from seed right here at FFF.
Naturally grown.
Watered with rain water.
Interesting varieties such as Chocolate Cherry Tomato, Vintage Wine, Abe Lincoln and more.
Five Feline Farm is in East Central Illinois. Email us if you need directions.
fivefelinefarm (at) gmail (dot) com
Don’t get caught eating slime.
Fresh asparagus is nothing like slimy canned stuff. Not that I’ve ever decided to try the slimy canned stuff. It just never appealed. But fresh, oh my. And to pick a handful, walk straight to the kitchen and have it on the table in under 30 minutes. Well, it just doesn’t get much fresher than that. One of my absolute favorite things is to pick something fresh and go straight to preparation then table. Ok, I know everyone can’t do that, but the next best thing is to buy from a farmer’s market.
Oh, but asparagus picked from your own patch. This delicious vegetable is one of the first in the spring to poke through the ground. It will provide a plethora of delicious meals.
Asparagus is a perennial vegetable that is planted in a row from root crowns. It does take awhile to establish a new asparagus bed. Although this is a bonus in years 3-25, it is a slow wait until your asparagus starts producing.
Buy root crowns from a reputable source. Asparagus comes in male and female although both are not required to produce. The female varieties produce a thinner stalk while the male produces a thicker stalk. Both are delicious and it is a personal preference which style you like.
To plant asparagus, dig a trench 6 inches deep, approximately 12 inches wide and layer in compost down the middle of the trench. Spread the root crowns across this mound of compost and cover with 2 inches of soil. After a couple of weeks, cover with another 2 inches of soil and repeat until the bed is slightly mounded.
Then the wait begins. You will not harvest the first two years from this bed so the plants can invest all of their energy into root systems. The third year you may harvest lightly and after the fourth year you can harvest as needed. Shoots will come up quickly. Monitor frequently through the early spring.
To harvest, cut the spears near ground level or bend gently until it snaps off. We use the bend and snap method.
What to do with that harvest? Try grilled or oven roasted spears. Drizzle spears with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. To grill, place directly on the grill grates, turning frequently until lightly charred but still crisp-tender. When you aren’t grilling, you can roast in 425 oven, Use a shallow pan, toss with the olive oil, salt and pepper, then roast for 15 to 20 minutes, turning once.
If neither of those methods suit you, fresh asparagus is excellent in a quiche, sautéed with scrambled eggs or lightly steamed with a rich hollandaise.
Drop us a comment about your favorite spring vegetable and how you like it prepared.
What can you do to eat just a little bit healthier?
First, buy local whenever possible.
The farmer’s markets will begin soon. Just a bit of planning can have you looking for those growers in your area. Be cautious though. Some farmer’s markets have vendors that truck in vegetables from miles away. Although these people need to make a living too, this is not much different than buying your food at a national grocery store.
Next, learn what vegetables are in season.
When you eat seasonal foods, you do a couple of things for yourself. One is save money. Foods are abundant when they are in season, so the cost is lower. Seasonal plus local equals higher quality. The food has less time between farm and table so it retains more nutrients.
Grow your own.
Ok, everyone can’t grow their own vegetables due to space or time constraints. But maybe you can join in with a friend who has a garden. Check to see if there is a community garden plot available. If those are not options everyone surely has room for a pot of basil or chives on the window sill. Fresh herbs make everything taste better.
At Five Feline Farm we are striving to grow as much of our own food as possible. Keep checking back for updates on what is in season. You may even see a suggestion or two on how to use these garden goodies.
Potatoes purchased at the store are no comparison to a freshly dug one from your own garden plot. But in order to dig in July you have to plant in the spring. But when?
The old wives’ tale says to plant potatoes on Good Friday. Without knowing who these old wives are it is hard to know why they picked this date. Easter is the first Sunday following the full moon after the Spring equinox. Being thus calculated, the date of Good Friday also changes from year to year. The date may vary by four weeks. It is near spring though, so maybe that is why someone picked Good Friday as potato planting day.
Others (such as university extension offices) are teaching to plant potatoes on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17. This is at least a stable date but does not account for the fluctuations in temperature, moisture, etc. There are years when you just can’t get into the garden due to mud in mid-March.
And then there is planting by the moon signs. This indicator is to plant potatoes in the dark of the moon. Any crop that is underground is to be planted when the moon is waning. Above ground crops, for example corn and beans are planted in the light of the moon/when it is waxing.
What about planting each year as the weather dictates? When the soil has warmed and dried enough, the days are starting to warm, nights are still cool. This is the time to plant potatoes.
Consider the last freeze date for your location. Here at Five Feline Farm that is around April 15. Potatoes are a half hardy crop which means they can tolerate some cold but should not be subjected to prolonged freezing temperatures.
So we are about 3 weeks from the last freeze date. As an experiment, one row of potatoes has been planted. The rest of the seed potatoes are ready to plant and waiting for the last forecasted cold spell to pass. At potato harvest, we’ll report on which ones produced best.
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