Warbler recovering from a window collision.

Warbler recovering from a window Warbler recovering from a window collision. , originally uploaded by Campobello Island.

Poor little guy hit the glass in my garden door and then sat on my deck for about a half hour recovering. I laid on the floor and talked to him and took pictures. Eventually he flew away so I guess he is alright but he must have a bad headache.

A little more progress

A little more progress, originally uploaded by Campobello Island.

Beautiful day for working outside today. I got one side of the roof shingled and after I took this picture I tore down the scaffolding and built it back up again on the other side of the coop so whenever the next good day arrives I'm ready to shingle the other side and the peak.

Spring is bursting out all over.

Spring is bursting out all over - Horse Chestnut, originally uploaded by Campobello Island.

Spring is in the air and you can see the changes almost daily. Tree buds are at the bursting point and the spring flowers are at their peak.

Carrot Harvest

Carrot Harvest, originally uploaded by Campobello Island.

Continuing on with the fall harvest from my Square Foot Garden yesterday I harvested the remaining carrots sliced them, steam blanched them and they are in the freezer ready for several winter meals. Next on the agenda will be the Brussels Sprouts and Kale and the last thing will be the cabbages turned into sauerkraut.

Indoor Vegetable Growing Contest

One of my YouTube contacts is running a contest to see who can grow the best vegetables indoors and I've been having some fun with it. The contest ends October 31st and so far I have posted these three videos, showing my efforts.

Recorded August 4, 2010



Recorded September 1, 2010




Recorded September 20, 2010




Recorded September 30, 2010




Recorded October 15, 2010

Last SFG Update for summer 2010 beets, carrots, brussels sprouts, cabbage and rutabaga.

The last of my weekly updates for this year from the square foot garden. I will continue to do an occasional video from the garden through out the fall, as I harvest some of the late crops and preserve them for winter use.

Cooking on my homemade Hobo Stove

My latest fascination has been Hobo Stoves. Lots of videos on YouTube showing how to make them so of course I had to give it a try. In St. Stephen this morning and had Breakfast at Carmen's Diner I asked the waitress if they ever had anything come in large cans and within a few minutes she was back with a large can that used to have diced tomatoes in it. So I was off to the races. Shortly after I got back home I had made my first Hobo Stove and was busy cooking dinner on it.

September 6, 2010 SFG Update Beets,Tomatoes,Brussels Sprouts and Free Seed

A short look around the garden lots of tomatoes, cucumbers, small beets and the Brussels Sprouts and getting bigger everyday. Three varieties of free seed if you are interested just send me a PM with your postal address and I will drop them in the post for you.




Not sure if I've ever grown a Tomato before that you only needed one slice for a sandwich, variety Big Beef, tasty too.

Square Foot Garden Update August 31, 2010

Just a short update from the garden to show how much the Brussels Sprouts have grown in the week since I stopped their vertical growth, a look at some hot peppers and time to harvest those French Beans.

Making Lactic Acid Fermented Pickles in the Picklemeister

A short video of the nine day process in the making of Lactic Acid Fermented Pickles in the Picklemeister. A very simple and easy process resulting in the best pickles I've ever tasted.

The latest from the garden, free seed and preparing fall crops.

I've pruned the Brussels Sprouts fingers crossed that I will see sprouts developing soon. Removing dead pea vines and some advice on saving the free nitrogen in the soil. A look at the compost building up. At last vine ripened tomatoes in the greenhouse. Free seed Ground Cherry and Buckbee's New Heirloom Tomato, for anyone who would like to have some.

The weekly Square Foot Update and some of the early bounty of the harvest

The garden is at it's peak for this year many things I've been very pleased with and a few that I won't plant again at least not the varieties that I grew this year. All in all it has been a great summer for the vegetable garden and the harvest is increasing everyday.

Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins

Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins, originally uploaded by Campobello Island.

From the Joy of Baking website - Very Good

Buttermilk Berry Muffins: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Position rack in center of oven. Butter or spray with a non stick cooking spray 12 - 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 inch muffin cups. Set aside.

In a large measuring cup or bowl whisk together the egg, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla extract.

In another large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking
powder, baking soda, salt, and orange zest. Gently fold in the berries. With a rubber spatula fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are combined. Do not over mix the batter or tough muffins will result.

Fill each muffin cup almost full of batter, using two spoons or an ice cream scoop. Place in the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 5 minutes before removing from pan. Dust with powdered sugar.

Makes 12 regular sized muffins or 6 jumbo muffins.

Note: If using frozen berries you may have to bake the muffins a little longer than the stated time. Also, if making jumbo sized muffins, again, you may have to bake the muffins a little longer.

Adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly Best Food Cookbook

Buttermilk Berry Muffins:

2 1/2 cups (325 grams) all-purpose flour

3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Zest of one orange or lemon

1 large egg, lightly beaten

3/4 cup (180 ml) buttermilk

2/3 cup (160 ml) safflower or canola oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 to 2 cups fresh or frozen berries (blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries)

Read more: www.joyofbaking.com/muffins/ButtermilkBerryMuffins.html#i...



www.joyofbaking.com/muffins/ButtermilkBerryMuffins.html

The Harvest continues

It's a wonderful time of year in the garden, getting more food out of it everyday. Just in the past week I had enough cucumbers to make pickles, I've harvested the Garlic,discovered that I have lovely large straight carrots, dried the blue podded peas for winter use and had my first fresh fennel.

Lacto Fermented Dill Pickles

I decided to try my luck at making traditional Lacto Fermented Dill Pickles in my new pickle crock. I got the method from the Wild Fermentation website.

Timeframe: 1-4 weeks

Special Equipment:

* Ceramic crock or food-grade plastic bucket
* Plate that fits inside crock or bucket
* 1-gallon/4-liter jug filled with water, or other weight
* Cloth cover

Ingredients (for 1 gallon/4 liters):

* 3 to 4 pounds/1.5 to 2 kilograms unwaxed
* cucumbers (small to medium size)
* 3⁄8 cup (6 tablespoons)/90 milliliters sea salt
* 3 to 4 heads fresh flowering dill, or 3 to 4
* tablespoons/45 to 60 milliliters of any form of
* dill (fresh or dried leaf or seeds)
* 2 to 3 heads garlic, peeled
* 1 handful fresh grape, cherry, oak, and/or
* horseradish leaves (if available)
* 1 pinch black peppercorns

Process:

1. Rinse cucumbers, taking care to not bruise them, and making sure their blossoms are removed. Scrape off any remains at the blossom end. If you’re using cucumbers that aren’t fresh off the vine that day, soak them for a couple of hours in very cold water to freshen them.
2. Dissolve sea salt in ½gallon (2 liters) of water to create brine solution. Stir until salt is thoroughly dissolved.
3. 3. Clean the crock, then place at the bottom of it dill, garlic, fresh grape leaves, and a pinch of black peppercorns.
4. Place cucumbers in the crock.
5. Pour brine over the cucumbers,place the (clean) plate over them, then weigh it down with a jug filled with water or a boiled rock. If the brine doesn’t cover the weighed-down plate, add more brine mixed at the same ratio of just under 1 tablespoon of salt to each cup of water.
6. Cover the crock with a cloth to keep out dust and flies and store it in a cool place.
7. Check the crock every day. Skim any mold from the surface, but don’t worry if you can’t get it all. If there’s mold, be sure to rinse the plate and weight. Taste the pickles after a few days.
8. Enjoy the pickles as they continue to ferment. Continue to check the crock every day.
9. Eventually, after one to four weeks (depending on the temperature), the pickles will be fully sour. Continue to enjoy them, moving them to the fridge to slow down fermentation.

After only 24 hours the salt has removed enough water from the cucumbers that my boiled rock has sunk below the brine.



August 10, 2010: Today is day number 3 and there is something happening there is foam from fermentation bubbles on the surface and the brine has darkened so I can no longer see the pickles or the plate. I tasted the brine and there is a nice dill flavor.

Weekly Garden Update

I'm starting to get enough produce from the garden that I can freeze some. So far zucchini, peas and beans. The blue podded peas are all filled out and I hope to pick them soon and dry them for winter soups. I was surprised to read in my copy of, Preserving the Harvest, that they should be blanched for three minutes in steam before drying them just the same as you would do if you were freezing them. Lots of mystery squash on the vine from the seed packet labeled, Fun with Winter Squash, the latest one that I discovered yesterday looks like Acorn squash, maybe a yellow variety. (Not shown in the video.)

Scones baked in my Solar Oven

Trying out my new toy, doing a comparison of Scones backed in my gas oven and ones baked in my new Solar Oven. Just a very inexpensive $22.98 light weight Solar Over called Sun Chef which I bought from Pine Creek Enterprises.

If you know what the mystery squash and tomato are leave a comment.

Squash are starting to appear on the vines of my heirloom fun with winter squash plants but I not sure what they are, at least not all of them so if you can identify them please leave a comment. The same goes for the mystery tomato in the the garden center it was just labeled Heirloom, I've never had a tomato shaped quite like it before so if you can identify it I would appreciate it. Getting more produce from the garden almost on a daily basis today I had my first cucumber from the greenhouse and more peas from the garden.

Getting produce daily from the square foot garden

It's a wonderful time of year when the garden starts to yeild enough that I'm eating fresh produce on a daily basis. No sign of a ripe tomato yet but that is quite normal for this area I'm usually well into August before I get my first tomato. Some of the ones in the greenhouse are reaching full size though so it shouldn't be much longer.

July 13, 2010 Weekly Square Foot Garden Update

The garden is progressing nicely and seems to be really enjoying this fine summer weather that we have had lately. I've had an unwanted visitor in the garden digging up my potatoes and I suspect it is a raccoon. I've left him a little surprise for his next visit. I had several pairs of robins nest on the property earlier this spring and I enjoyed talking to them as they fed their young and taught them to fly. I wasn't aware that they nest twice in the same season until this week when I discovered two new nests in the gardens.

Green tomatoes in the greenhouse.



Greenhouse cucumber Carmen starting to produce.