Farm Life Archives - Page 12 of 18

Butter

Enjoy this repost from 3 years ago. It is just as true today as it was then.

I love butter. Smooth, silky, creamy butter. There is nothing like it to transform pan sauce into a glistening, slightly thick, lip-smackingly rich perfection.

The butter in our house can be found in not one, not two, but three locations.

Butter on the Counter

Softened butter occupies a place of honor on the counter. Kept fresh in a butter keeper, ready to spread at a moment’s notice.

Butter in the Fridge

There are packages of butter awaiting use in the refrigerator, stick by glorious stick.

Butter in the Freezer

And there is always butter in the freezer. Usually purchased 16 or 20 pounds at a time. Butter stores perfectly well in the freezer. I can’t chance running out.

I preserve herbs in butter, making logs of rich herb butter to freeze. Later sliced and added to everything one can imagine. See how that process works in Making Herb Butter.

Oh, I know what you’re thinking.

“Her arteries are so clogged with all that butter fat, there’s no oxygen to her brain.”

“Bet her blood flows thick as frozen butter.”

“Cholesterol must be off the chart.”

The low-fat movement is surely having a stroke about now.

Yes, I use a lot of butter. Along with all the other full fat ingredients.

I’ve stopped using canola oil, shortening, corn oil, butter substitutes, reduced fat milk and cheese. In my opinion these options are not healthy, whole food. Many are GMO laden or composed of unrecognizable ingredients. These are not the food that my grandparents knew and used. I have stocked my kitchen with organic coconut oil, avocado oil, extra virgin olive oil, full fat milk and cheese.

And butter. Lots and lots of creamy butter.

By the way, my cholesterol is down.

Garlic Scapes

Did you know garlic plants provide much more than just the part that is commonly available in grocery stores? It’s true. There is more to this fragrant plant than what comes in the papery bulb.

What Are Garlic Scapes?

Garlic scapes are the tender end of the shoot in hard neck garlic varieties. As the plant grows in springtime, it sends up a shoot that is tender at first and later turns into a flower with bulbils. Those tiny bits of the flower are also edible, but the scape is the newly forming flower with it’s white end and the first 5-6 inches of tender shoot.

When To Harvest.

When the shoot has a whitish end that looks like a bloom is starting to form, the scape is ready. The green part may be curled back on itself forming a curly que at the very top of the garlic plant. Snap off the shoot approximately 4-6 inches below the tip just as you would asparagus. The plant will snap off at it’s tender point.

How To Use.

Now that you have these spring delicacies, it’s time to use them in the kitchen. Scapes taste like garlic. The flavor is lighter than garlic cloves but still clearly garlic. One option is to dice and stir into any dish where you would normally use garlic. Scapes may be sautéed as is and eaten as a vegetable. You can chop it for a garnish on lettuce salad, use to flavor pasta salad, fry with potatoes or use in any dish where garlic will add a complementary flavor.

As an added bonus, snapping off the scapes will divert the plant’s energy into bulb development. So not only does the gardener get a fresh taste of garlic in the spring, the fall harvest will be improved.

If you grow your own garlic, give scapes a try. If you don’t and are in the Charleston area, stop by the 18th Street Farmer’s Market this Saturday and pick up some from us.

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Planting Tomatoes

Our last two posts discussed choosing determinate or indeterminate and the benefits of heirloom varieties. Now you have chosen your tomato plants and it is time to get them in the ground. If you haven’t read those yet, click here and here.

Or is it?

To ensure the best chance of success follow the following steps:

Harden Off

The first thing to ensure success is the process of “hardening off”. This technique helps acclimate your plant to the world of weather outside. All tomatoes grown in Central Illinois are started by seed early in the year inside a greenhouse or other indoor setting. In these controlled environments, the plant does not have an opportunity to adapt to blowing wind or pounding rain.

Wait until the daytime temperatures are above 60º, then set the plants still in their pots in a semi protected but outdoor area for a short period of time each day. At first, the plant’s adjustment may make you think the plants have wilted or are not going to survive. Trust that they will perk up overnight and be ready for their next excursion outdoors. Increase the time outside daily. During this time, limit watering to bare minimums. The goal is to strengthen the plants but keep them alive.

After a week or so of this increasing exposure to the outdoor weather and when the soil temperature is above 50º at 4 inches (or threat of frost has passed), your tomatoes are ready for the garden or patio pot.

Prepare the Planting Bed

Tomatoes need calcium to protect against blossom end rot. Crushed egg shells work perfectly. Save approximately one egg shell for every tomato plant. When ready to plant, crush the eggshells and add a pinch of epsom salts for each egg shell. The epsom salts add magnesium and sulfur to the soil as a fertilizer and support healthy plant growth.

When ready to plant, dig a hole slightly wider than the pot the tomato is in and twice as deep for each plant. Divide the eggshell mixture among each hole and add water. Allow the water to absorb into the soil to dissolve the epsom salts and you are ready to plant.

Plant Deep

For the best strength and success, bury tomato plant to the first set of leaves. This may feel unusually deep but tomato stalks will grow roots all along the stalk and increase the ability of the plant to take up soil nutrients. Most tomato plants will require some type of staking or cage to ensure they remain upright and the fruit stays off the ground. It is best to add this now while the plant is small instead of struggling to contain a large unruly plant.

That’s it. Ensure adequate water if it does not rain and in about 6 weeks, you will be picking your own fresh, ripe tomatoes.

Stay tuned to our social media for progress on our garden and post pictures of your own. Five Feline Farm is on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Why Heirloom Tomatoes?

Heirloom varieties are all the rage, but are they really better?

Last week’s post discussed how the differences between determinate and indeterminate tomato plants. But what if you aren’t planting your own? How do you decide which type to choose?

We prefer heirloom varieties.

First what is an heirloom tomato?

You may also see these referred to as “heritage” or “old time” tomatoes. These are the types that have been around for a very long time, as far back as the Aztecs and Incas. These are the varieties your grandparents would know and raise in their garden. Seeds from heirlooms can be saved to plant the next season and will produce tomatoes consistent with the variety. Non-heirloom or hybrid tomatoes will not produce from saved seeds.

Heirloom tomatoes are typically not those perfect globes found in mass market stores. They also have a shorter shelf life.

Flavor.

When we started the farm and began growing tomatoes, we conducted a taste test. We included a hybrid beefsteak tomato because of all the hype around those big red slicing tomato types like Better Boy. We lined up a slice from each with the variety name hidden and tasted. We quickly found our favorites. While the Better Boy had tomato flavor, it paled in comparison to the others. Our favorites were the German, which is a yellow tomato with a red stripes and Brandywine. These were bursting with full tomato flavor. We haven’t grown a hybrid since.

Your best bet to ensure a fresh, delicious, full-flavored tomato is to either grow your own or buy at a local farmer’s market.

Five Feline Farm will be at the 18^th Street Farmer’s Market all summer with tomatoes in season as well as other fresh produce. Stop by and see us.