Backyard Gardening

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shaunc
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Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2013 8:10 am

Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by shaunc »

Yesterday I pruned the tomatoes & today I chipped a few weeds. The chillies are looking a bit thirsty, but my wife is doing a few loads of washing today so that should see them through. The weather forecast is predicting rain for tomorrow & the next day so fingers crossed everything will get a good drink. Good luck with whatever you're doing in your yard.
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reddust
Posts: 761
Joined: Thu Nov 14, 2013 7:29 am
Location: Oregon

Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by reddust »

Today I hauled 20, 5 gallon buckets of gravel, my wheelbarrow is broke, and covered the pack area of my barn that had gone all weedy. I put newspaper down first and covered the weed covered area with nice clean gravel. Now that is a really good workout on my back and side muscles, shoulders and stomach muscles. I took off most of my row covers, snow in the forecast tomorrow. The hard frost has done in my cabbage and lettuce. I read in one of my books you can pull cabbage up by it's roots, dig a nice deep ditch, place cabbage head in roots root side down in the ditch, cover with straw and the cabbage will stay fresh all winter. I haven't tried that and I already have lots of fermented cabbage. Some homemade hand milled bread made from our small farmers organic red wheat, Blackberry wine I made, my husband picked the black berries, and some beets, daikon radish, pickles I made with some chick peas. Shaunc, you should see how red my face got hauling all that gravel, best workout ever!
Mind and mental events are concepts, mere postulations within the three realms of samsara Longchenpa .... A link to my Garden, Art and Foodie blog Scratch Living
shaunc
Posts: 883
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2013 8:10 am

Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by shaunc »

Your food looks great, the bread looks especially tempting to me. I hope it was hauling the gravel that got your face red & not too much of the home made wine :D . Where I live black berries grow wild & are on the noxious weed list. The mrs & kids go picking them sometimes down the river. I'm still sweating on rain, fingers crossed. Tonight we're having some zucchini & silver beet I grew with dinner, along with some lamb chops & mashed potatoe from the market.
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reddust
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Location: Oregon

Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by reddust »

Today was clear and freezing cold, no snow like forecasted though! Beautiful day for a walk and harvesting some greens. Making veggie and chicken stew with kelp powder. The iodine helps my body stay warm and is so healing and healthy for my endocrine system. I put iodine in my chickens food as well. I found out when my thyroid, gallbladder, and pancreas had problems I needed more iodine in my system. Chicago added fluoride in their water and most our breads have bromine. Both chemicals will be taken up by an empty thyroid and destroy it if not full of iodine. Also Fukashima is still pumping out huge amounts of radioactivity carried west by wind and sea over to the West Coast of America. So it just makes sense to keep the glands healthy with iodine (from the East Coast). I will buy no West Coast Sea harvests.

Shaunc, my red face was from working. I can't drink no more then 8 ounces without paying for it with a really bad headache. Probably the reason I've never become an addict, side effects are too painful. My husband calls me a cheap date :tongue:

Carrots planted in September are growing well, cabbage heads are slightly frozen, daikon, kale, collards, broccoli leaves and the herb sage.
Mind and mental events are concepts, mere postulations within the three realms of samsara Longchenpa .... A link to my Garden, Art and Foodie blog Scratch Living
shaunc
Posts: 883
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2013 8:10 am

Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by shaunc »

We finally got our rain last night. The grey water from the washing machine helps a lot but it's still not as good as rain. Everything is standing up well, next week I'll probably let the chooks out to help with the weeding & bugs. Unfortunately they seem to be a bit greedy for the silver beet. I don't mind them having a bit of a pick, but they really make pigs of themselves.
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tidathep
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Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by tidathep »

Sawaddee Ka...Reddust/Shaunc,

I just pronounced my Thai-basils dead yesterday...but I'll use beautiful bell-peppers in my hot-sweet-sauce today...and I have a video HOW TO CARVE bell-peppers into flowers for you.....so easy..even I can do it :tongue:

How to carve: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaXnuOn1yHE

Me too, alcohol drinks gave me headache with red-eyes...I never like it.
tidathep
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reddust
Posts: 761
Joined: Thu Nov 14, 2013 7:29 am
Location: Oregon

Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by reddust »

tidathep wrote:Sawaddee Ka...Reddust/Shaunc,

I just pronounced my Thai-basils dead yesterday...but I'll use beautiful bell-peppers in my hot-sweet-sauce today...and I have a video HOW TO CARVE bell-peppers into flowers for you.....so easy..even I can do it :tongue:

How to carve: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaXnuOn1yHE

Me too, alcohol drinks gave me headache with red-eyes...I never like it.
tidathep
Tadathep,

Your basil lasted longer than mine! I did make basil pesto and canned some. Basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, and parmesan cheese. I am making beef and basil rice wrapped in grape leaves for part of dinner tonight, along with squash soup. Everything going into dinner was bought from local farmers within Oregon. I'm a localvore, I try and buy everything made or grown here in Oregon.

Watching the video now!
Ninja.jpg
Ninja is was hatched in April, she is a super friendly, smart, dominate and not aggressive, very friendly with humans. She is a mixed breed, Bantam Cochin and Jersey Giant
Blonde.jpg
Blonde was injured and we brought her back to health, she bonded with us and she is as dumb as a rock but very nice, low end of pecking order Buff Orphington
Dinner.jpg
Canned beef, basil pesto, and grape leaves, making some Dolmas, spiced rice/meat wrapped in grape leaves served with squash soup. The 1/2 pint jar full of red liquid is blackberry wine I sip while I am cooking. That's as much as I can handle without headache!
Mind and mental events are concepts, mere postulations within the three realms of samsara Longchenpa .... A link to my Garden, Art and Foodie blog Scratch Living
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reddust
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Joined: Thu Nov 14, 2013 7:29 am
Location: Oregon

Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by reddust »

Firstsnow1.jpg
Fist snow of the year up in the foothills of the Cascades near Eugene Oregon.
MInasnow1.jpg
Mina's first snow, we ran and played for about an hour. Very good workout for a puppy and her Grandma. My Chickens hatched early spring of 2013 did not want to come out of their coop. Unlike Mina they do not like the snow. Mina has turned into a very good Chicken dog, she even shares her bone with Blonde who is dumb as a rock. Most chickens are smart enough not to peck at a dogs bone lol
Firstsnow3.jpg
Our Creek flowing in the snow
Mind and mental events are concepts, mere postulations within the three realms of samsara Longchenpa .... A link to my Garden, Art and Foodie blog Scratch Living
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reddust
Posts: 761
Joined: Thu Nov 14, 2013 7:29 am
Location: Oregon

Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by reddust »

Normal winter cold within the cycles I've experienced growing up here in Oregon. I remember snow up to 6 feet deep here on the foothills back in the 60s. Scientist were warning of a man made ice-age back then trying to figure out how to make a buck scaring all us common folk. I'm gonna blame this weather on the sun changing magnetic pole alignment instead, happens every 11 years and this cycle of sunspots and other activity is very quiet and mild. Freaking all the scientist out. We've never seen this before say the scientist from what I've read in scientific articles regarding space weather…. blah blah blah :tongue: Hey scientist, maybe you don't know okay? We will find out though, just wait and see….hahaha

Under that blanket of snow is some nice green kale and collards going in my belly tonight. The snow acts as a protective blanket guarding against really hard freezes. The kale and collards are tough though. Eating these greens gives me their hardiness too!
Mind and mental events are concepts, mere postulations within the three realms of samsara Longchenpa .... A link to my Garden, Art and Foodie blog Scratch Living
shaunc
Posts: 883
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2013 8:10 am

Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by shaunc »

I learnt a lesson today, maybe about karma, maybe about equanimity, I'm not really sure, but it doesn't matter that much. Last night we had a visit from a neighbour. She was complaining to us about being broke. I knew the woman was a gambler but I also knew she had kids. So me & her went out to the yard & picked a heap of silver beet, some zucchini's & I gave her some eggs as well. At least I thought her kids would eat. I found out this afternoon that she was down at the local flea-market, selling the veges as well as other odds & ends she had scrounged up around town. At first I got a bit angry about it but then I thought to myself, once I'd given it to her it was her's to do with what she saw fit & just let go of it. Not too long after that another neighbour came to see me, he told me he was leaving town soon & wanted to get rid of his chooks, he has 4 commercial layers & 1 Australorp. Almost an identical set of birds as I have. I asked him how much he wanted for them & he told me he'd just be happy to see them go to a yard where they'd be looked after & he'd also throw in a bag of feed. How much your emotions/luck can change in less than 24 hours. Apart from all that I've just been chipping weeds. I suppose I'll have to buy some Malawash & some liquid wormer before the new girls turn up.
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tidathep
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Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by tidathep »

shaunc wrote: How much your emotions/luck can change in less than 24 hours..
------------
Sawaddee Ka ..Shaunc,

Please imagine...... if you gave great offerings to an ariya-monk or a PaccekaBuddha or a Buddha...how much more benefits would you receive???

Another Day In Paradise : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiUQE5bJKFU

Imagine : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwUGSYDKUxU

I truly love your good deed story :twothumbsup:
tidathep :anjali:
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reddust
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Joined: Thu Nov 14, 2013 7:29 am
Location: Oregon

Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by reddust »

On todays task list, making gluten free cookies and noodles from buckwheat and Okara (Left over fiber from making tofu). I use okara flour in my cookies and only buckwheat for my soba noodles. The hand milling is a wonderful upper body workout. A couple hours of grinding and I make enough flour for 2 people that last about a week. Buckwheat isn't a grain, it's a fruit related to the Rhubarb plant. Before I started eating organic, detoxing and reintroducing good bacteria into my gut I couldn't eat any kind of beans including soya. Now that my gut is healthy and I stay organic I can digest legumes, corn, wheat, and all that stuff that is difficult to digest. I'm having a blast learning how to make everything from scratch. All the ingredients I use are bought local from our organic cooperative and Sundance Organic food and wine store here in Eugene. Okara (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okara_(food)), Buckwheat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckwheat). I can grow buckwheat but I don't have enough land and processing you need space for drying and sorting which I don't have. Buckwheat grows just about anywhere and is a very healthy alternative to gluten type grains if you are sensitive. For proper flour consistency the outer hull needs to be removed, I do that through sifting. When grinding wheat or other gluten grains, I need to grind once, sift, and grind again the what's left over from first sift again. Most flour has to have all the oil and nutrition removed so it will not go rancid. The flour you buy in the store has gone through this process and also has all sorts of chemicals added. (http://realfoodforager.com/why-i-never- ... ial-bread/)
Mind and mental events are concepts, mere postulations within the three realms of samsara Longchenpa .... A link to my Garden, Art and Foodie blog Scratch Living
shaunc
Posts: 883
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2013 8:10 am

Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by shaunc »

Wow Reddust, you're certainly dedicated. How self sufficient are you in terms of food, my guess would be at least 75%. My garden is really only a hobby maybe at best it supplements 20% of our food.
shaunc
Posts: 883
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2013 8:10 am

Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by shaunc »

tidathep wrote:
shaunc wrote: How much your emotions/luck can change in less than 24 hours..
------------
Sawaddee Ka ..Shaunc,

Please imagine...... if you gave great offerings to an ariya-monk or a PaccekaBuddha or a Buddha...how much more benefits would you receive???

Another Day In Paradise : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiUQE5bJKFU

Imagine : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwUGSYDKUxU

I truly love your good deed story :twothumbsup:
tidathep :anjali:
Yeah. Thanks Tidathep. The other thing that occurred to me is that it probably shows a lack of wisdom in me. Something else for me to work on/meditate on.
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reddust
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Location: Oregon

Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by reddust »

shaunc wrote:Wow Reddust, you're certainly dedicated. How self sufficient are you in terms of food, my guess would be at least 75%. My garden is really only a hobby maybe at best it supplements 20% of our food.
This projects goal was to see if I could grow enough food to feed a family of four all year, I am on my 3rd year and I'm not there yet, but by next year I think I could do it!

Thank you, I can live on what I grow here but I would have no fat except from eggs and chickens, no sugar/carbohydrates except for the veggies, squash, potatoes, and fruit I grow, no tea or coffee, no grains for breads. My husband would kill me if he didn't get his coffee with sugar and cookies in the mornings lol…. I make cookies with a ton of protein from Okara, the left over pulp from making tofu. Most of the oil I use is from butter I get from the milk we buy from a small farm a couple miles from my house. In Oregon you can have up to 3 cows and sell their milk without the government getting all into your business. Some states its illegal to sell your own milk…crazy! I researched historical sickness from bad milk before it was pasteurized and most illness were from large dairy processing plants/farms that fed their cows really bad rotten food and housing for the cows was horribly cramped and dirty. Very little milk born illnesses were generated from small dairy operations. I would love to get a couple goats for milk, cheese, butter and some beehives. If we stay here next year that's on my project list. We still haven't figured out if we will stay in Oregon or move to the Netherlands my husbands home country. Personally I would love to live somewhere warm like Spain…but I dunno if that will work because of the job market.

I buy all my grains, legumes, sugar, and oil bulk to last us six months without shopping. I save a ton of money! (I hate money and shopping, very big aversion there) I don't have to go shopping all winter long except when my husband gets cravings for processed snack foods. I can't eat that stuff because of my fibromylagia but he can without getting sick. Most of the time he eats organic and local like me.

You can store grain/beans/sugar, dry goods like this for years without the whole food source going bad.
Mind and mental events are concepts, mere postulations within the three realms of samsara Longchenpa .... A link to my Garden, Art and Foodie blog Scratch Living
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reddust
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Location: Oregon

Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by reddust »

The gluten free cookies turned out perfectly. I don't usually follow recipes so I would have to sit down and write out what I am doing as I make the cookies. I used butter and organic cane sugar with a couple tablespoons of molasses instead of brown sugar. I didn't use stevia and I added hazelnuts and walnuts as well. I substituted a cup of buckwheat flour for dried and stone ground Okara (soya bean pulp) for added protein. Plus I make a lot of tofu, I share half the pulp with my chickens the other half goes into making cookies and soups. I increased the recipe by 5 because I like making large portions and freezing them so I don't have to cook for awhile.
Glutenfree cookies.jpg
http://www.cookingalamel.com/2013/09/bu ... luten.html
Snow2013-5.jpg
Record setting cold here, but only for the last 25 years. We have pioneer houses with doors in the attic because in the past the snow would fall so deep the only way out to care for livestock was through the steep of the roof!
Chick&heatlamp.jpg
This last February Cuckoo Maran chicks. I am really looking forward to hatching season this early spring!
Mind and mental events are concepts, mere postulations within the three realms of samsara Longchenpa .... A link to my Garden, Art and Foodie blog Scratch Living
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reddust
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Location: Oregon

Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by reddust »

Cochin3.jpg
One of my standard Cochins had a huge frozen turd stuck around her vent and couldn't poop. It seems I am always dealing with poop! Got the scissors out and cut off the feathers and poop around her vent. She was like, "Bawk Bawk" :jawdrop: "What are you doing?" Cold weather, feathers and sticky poop don't go well together. Chickens have a large vocabulary dealing with body and feather position, eye movement, and sound. Chickens are no way like humans even though they can show affection per their chicken ways. I have many hens and a few roosters that will come up and groom me while I sit with them. This is the chickens way of saying I like you. When you pick a female hen up they always think you going to act like a rooster lol….it's like they are saying, this behavior does not compute, why are you not mating with me? My dominate roosters loathe being picked up but will deal with it, they act so insulted. "I am the rooster I do the jumping on not the other way around!" The submissive roosters always are much more tolerant and can be friendly when touched or picked up.
Mind and mental events are concepts, mere postulations within the three realms of samsara Longchenpa .... A link to my Garden, Art and Foodie blog Scratch Living
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tidathep
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Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by tidathep »

Sawaddee Ka..Reddust/Shaunc,

1 of my best neighbors, Myrta, she inherited a 23 acres ranch from her parents in Texas..2 hours drive from her house. Her husband is a head department of veterinary Texas A&M Univ. They both love to stay at the ranch on weekends...they said that there was nothing like to lie down..looking at stars/moon in the wild country.

Do you feel the same???
tidathep :thinking:
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reddust
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Joined: Thu Nov 14, 2013 7:29 am
Location: Oregon

Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by reddust »

tidathep wrote:Sawaddee Ka..Reddust/Shaunc,

1 of my best neighbors, Myrta, she inherited a 23 acres ranch from her parents in Texas..2 hours drive from her house. Her husband is a head department of veterinary Texas A&M Univ. They both love to stay at the ranch on weekends...they said that there was nothing like to lie down..looking at stars/moon in the wild country.

Do you feel the same???
tidathep :thinking:
Tedathep yes we do, I camp out sometimes up in the mountains to get a wider eye view of our star covered heavens. But yes I sit in my backyard, we have no light pollution here and watch the heavens from dusk until dark in the summer time. I think sitting in the darkness is very good for the eyes. Now in days we have lights on 24/7, I don't know if that is good for our endocrine (hormonal) system. So I sit in the darkness in the evenings for at least an hour and meditate with my eyes open. I miss your posting when you are gone more than a couple days. I needed to tell you I appreciate you and what you post here on this Dharma site.

Much metta,
Lisa

EDIT: Funny story, Malcolm taught me how to meditate with my eyes open when he visited our Sangha in Chicago. I had always meditated with eyes closed per Vipassana taught by SN Goenka. I didn't know there was other ways to meditate. I was sitting there in the Dharma hall we used and he shouted at me, "Open your Eyes," when I was all nice and relaxed with my eyes closed. I swear I jumped 3 feet off my cushion …. I got to meet the nature of my mind up close and personal, best shout ever! I almost peed my pants…hahah :applause: Now every time I think of Malcolm, the same guy that posts here, I feel like jumping and running away :tongue: (just kidding, sort of)
Mind and mental events are concepts, mere postulations within the three realms of samsara Longchenpa .... A link to my Garden, Art and Foodie blog Scratch Living
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reddust
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Location: Oregon

Re: Backyard Gardening

Post by reddust »

Soba noodle, handmilled stone ground buckwheat with a little red wheat flour for toughness and stretch. Pure buckwheat noodle for me is very brittle so I have to use a little wheat flour. Recipe is here, I used hot tap water instead of cold water, seems to help give stretch to the noodle so it won't break. After boiling the noodles I drain and dump the cooked noodle in cold water before using the noodle for dinner.
http://www.yummly.com/recipe/external/H ... tch-364678

I buy organic locally grown buckwheat in 50lb bags from my organic cooperative. Saves me a ton of money.
Mind and mental events are concepts, mere postulations within the three realms of samsara Longchenpa .... A link to my Garden, Art and Foodie blog Scratch Living
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