Living and Promoting a Sustainable Life
Do you find yourself wasting too much food? We are working on reducing the waste here on Five Feline Farm.
On today’s episode we discuss a few of the ways we are reducing food waste, from cutting out damaged parts of tomatoes to compost.
At Five Feline Farm, we grow as many of our own vegetables as possible, the most beautiful of those veggies go to the farmer’s market and we use the less than perfect for our meals.
Until next time….
Everyone is telling you how to choose your food these days. Diets abound, but this is a quick primer on a few of the terms involved in food choices and our take on each one.
Scientists have genetically modified some of our food crops to enhance production.
The genes of some plants have been altered in the lab by inserting a gene from a different plant. The most common example is corn and soybeans altered to tolerate the weed killer Roundup. But did you know that canola oil now has an altered fatty acid composition due to genetic modifications?
Organic food has a special designation and oversight. There are strict standards that must be adhered to if one is going to label a food organic. This also comes at a cost. Organic food producers must meet these regulations and pay fees to label their food organic.
Organic simply means nothing artificial has been done to the seed, plant, soil, water, or fertilizer.
This is what we do at Five Feline Farm. We use non GMO seed. There are only natural (read compost) amendments to the soil. Any pesticides are house-made from natural ingredients.
We’re ok with misshapen fruits and vegetables.
Although not organic, we think it’s pretty close.
This term has come into vogue in the past few years. The most basic definition is to consume only whole foods that would have been recognized by the generation before World War II. Foods that are not processed from an unrelated substance with ingredients that can be read and pronounced by a middle schooler.
Prior to WW II and the dawn of the information age, life moved at a slower pace. Families took time to come together over a meal and share their day. People in rural areas grew a lot of their own food, “putting it up” or “putting it by” to get through the cold winter months. City folks shopped at local grocers. Large multi-line stores were non-existent.
People ate local food in that era. Perishable foods would not make the long journey across country or continents. Anything that was shipped a distance was cost prohibitive for the average consumer.
We are into modern retro-food.
Yes, it’s a new term we made up. Taking advantage of new cooking techniques and the occasional long distance food, most of what we eat is local. Whole foods that Grandma would know. Nothing we can’t pronounce.
We grow and preserve as much as possible here on the Farm. What we do buy gets a thorough label examination. Looking for ingredients we can pronounce or resembles a food more than a lab ingredient. The fewer ingredients the better.
We aren’t perfect in this effort. But each meal and each purchase is an opportunity to make a good decision. In the end we feel better, physically and emotionally.
Join us in this effort to make better food decisions. Take one meal, one food, one day. Whatever works for you.
Eat a whole food. Read labels.
Make one food choice that is closer to the way Grandma used to eat.
Shop local.
Send us a message through email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and let us know what good food decision you made today.
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.
If you enjoyed this post, give us a shout out on any of our social media sites: Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. We love to hear from our followers.
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:
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.
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.
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.