Showing posts with label garden2015. Show all posts
Showing posts with label garden2015. Show all posts

Thursday, July 30, 2015

YM Fermentation Week - Sandor Katz

Dance wit' da one who brung us all, Sandor Katz!

In this GREAT video from the New York Times, you get a real feel for the man who was decades ahead from the rest of us as regards fermenting veggies ...and imparting all that wonderful probiotic goodness to foods that might rot in a bad way!

Do you have his book?  I've had it for years and it is considered the bible of fermentation.

This book will take you through the basics to the finer points of the fermented veggies you know ...to some you've never heard of.

They don't call it the bible for nuthin'.

Get it anyway you can.  If there is a food preservation book that is indispensible, this is it.

Sauerkraut is the gateway veggie to blissful preservation and keeping Vitamin C levels up all winter long way out in the country.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

YM Fermentation Week - Kimchi

Here's one I haven't tried to make yet, Korean kimchi, calling it the "sauerkraut of Asia" doesn't begin to describe it.  I've always known that it was important to Korean cuisine but I had no idea how important kimchi is to the culture as well.

Wherever Koreans go, kimchi will follow be it in war or the peace of outer space.

I love the stuff and intend to make up a big test batch.  I love this NYT video, too!

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Watermelons ...then and now!

I hope I can do more of these.  A lot of vegetables have been inbred beyond recognition ...some for better, some for worse.  Examples like this are fascinating at any rate!

Stanchi's watermelon, which was painted sometime between 1645 and 1672, offers a glimpse of a time before breeding changed the fruit forever.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

A Special Request...

...could you snail mail me some seeds?

Yer ol' clod hoppin', dirt gardener, da Yanq had such a disastrous last year.  Not only did I not have any seeds to save ...but I actually swore-off gardening altogether.

If you are a gardener, maybe you can relate.

Anyhoo, I usually get seeds from friends visiting Buenos Aires ...but I told them all "NO" this time around.

Now, I'm having second thoughts.  I'm thinking the weather won't be as wet ...there are ways to get my seeds started earlier ...and I've done some BIG research into organically keeping my destructive ants at bay!

Well, I'm reading my seed catalogs ...and my gardener hormones are up and running.  It's late, though.

Not too many of my friends arrive here in Argentina in time for planting ...the weather from now until October is not exactly tourism weather, if you know what I mean.

Seed companies either won't ship to Argentina (their policy) or our customs house stops commercial shipments and holds them for hostage.

So ...if you've got nothin' better to do
Or ...if you've got lots of heirloom/open-pollinated seeds around the house
Or ...if you could just spread the word

...could you dump some seeds into an envelope and address it to me?

Some might fall out.  Some might get held for ransom.  Some might never even make the boat!

But some will make it through and you will be adding to "saveable" seed bank of Argentina.

A packet of seeds is usually too much for my own purposes ...so I always share with my local Argentine gardeners.  They are usually amazed at the deeliciousness of the old-timey varieties that have gone by the by.

Until last year, I intended to start a seed bank here for old-fashioned vegetables ...local gardeners are interested and the little town near my ranch wants to help.

Anybody who can help me out with seeds this year can follow the progress of this seed bank here at my humble blog ...which will be back to life now that I've deleted my fb account!

If you have a PayPal account, I'll reimburse you instantly.  If you visit Buenos Aires, the homebrewed beer's on me!

If this idea tickles your fancy, drop me an email at yanquimike@gmail.com

...and thanks a million ...and consider yourself a founder of the US-Argentine Heirloom Seedbank.

Yours in the dirt,
Mike

EEESPECIAL thanks to my friend Alan from Snohomish WA for scouting down a pack of rare tomato seeds while on vacation in SPAIN. Wow.  You gotta love that.

Needed: Epazote Seeds

The "bean herb" also good for flavoring beer.  Once established, you can count on it to flourish.  Tiny seeds ...really good to put into an envelope that doesn't leak!  Johnny's is a great source: http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-8203-epazote.aspx

Needed: Rhubarb Seeds

Yep.  Rhubarb can be grown from seed!  There is a word for it in Argentina ...but no one I've met has ever tasted it.  Any and all varieties are welcome.  Could you throw a few in an envelope and address it to the Yanq?  I'll send you pictures!  yanquimike@gmail.com

 Baker Creek is a good source: http://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetables/rhubarb/

Needed: Yarrow Seed

A good vegetable, medicinal, and spice.  Repels bad insects and loved by pollinators.

http://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/herbs/proa.html