Happy Thanksgiving

Turkey Fresh from the Oven

Brined Turkey done this way.

Braised Turnips

Turnips from Bill Dorman after final harvesting from the Harvest 4-Health garden.

Green Beans

Green Beans blanched, seasoned and then warmed in olive oil and garlic.

Mashed Potatoes

Standard mashed potatoes - I leave the skins on.

Stuffing

Cooked in the bird.  Sorry, food safety folks.

Cranberry Sauce

Whole berry, of course.  Thanks, Ocean Spray.

Garden Salad

Garden salad - lettuce from Martin's, Yummy peppers, onions (from the garden), and radishes (again, from Martins)

Ready to Dig in

Hyacinth would be so proud!

I Musta been Hungry

But there's still room for dessert!

Butternut Squash Pie



Butternut Squash Pie - Two Ways

Two butternut squash pie recipes.  One.  Two.  Squash from the Victory Garden.  Thanks, Donna and Darl! Whipped cream and May strawberries from the freezer.

Stock for Future Yumminess

Life is good.  Nap time.

UPDATE: Friday, 11/25/11

Chef Salad 

Lettuce, green beans, onions, yummy peppers, turkey, swiss and cheddar cheese, really local eggs, and repurposed stuffing as croutons.

MG's in the News

Peace Garden in Shippensburg
Picture by Jill Hudock

Franklin County Master Gardener Jill Hudock sent me a link to a news story noting that Shippensburg's Peace Garden won a 2011 Community Greening Award from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.  This is the same organization that sponsors the spectacular Philadelphia Flower Show every spring.



From their web site:

The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society recognizes greening and beautification efforts throughout the region that have benefitted communities.

The Community Greening Award acknowledges the efforts of those who improve their main streets, public parks, train stations, churches, schoolyards, libraries, traffic islands, etc.

The linked news article by George Weigel describes the Peace Garden this way:

The Peace Garden began taking on its current form in 1999 when Master Gardeners Jill Hudock and Sally Boice volunteered to design and plant it.

The garden now features a wooden bridge, vine-covered arbors, benches, a wide variety of flowering trees, shrubs, perennials and groundcovers and a “Gandhi Stone” that reads: “We must be the change that we wish to see in the world."

It’s especially nice – and peaceful – in the spring when the many trees and bulbs are in bloom.

Jill sent me some pictures of the garden in spring.

Peace Garden - Spring 2011
Picture by Jill Hudock

Peace Garden - Spring 2011
Picture by Jill Hudock

Peace Garden - Spring 2011 Picture by Jill Hudock

Peace Garden - Spring 2011 Picture by Jill Hudock

Retired MG Sally Boice (Phillips), MG Roy Burkepile, MG Jill Hudock, and Jill's neighbor Tim Hess Picture by Jim Boice

From Jill's email, "We are very happy we received this award and it's due to Master Gardening that this garden has flourished. Today the garden will host the 4th wedding, that I know about! The public has embraced this garden in many ways, with many personal stories. One never knows what a seed will accomplish."
 
Indeed.  Congratulations to all involved.
 
Back in 2007, The Falling Spring Nursing Home Garden also won a Community Greening Award.

Franklin County MG Videos - Part 2 - Preparing Gardens for Winter

In the second installment of the Public Opinion TV collaboration, Master Gardeners Denise Lucas and Laurie Collins talk about putting the perennial garden and pollinator garden to bed for the winter.

Franklin County MG Videos - Part 1 - Fall Gardening with Kathy Engle

Franklin County Master Gardeners have teamed with The Chambersburg Public Opinion to provide periodic content about consumer horticulture via video.  Back in October, Amber South from the Public Opinion taped this segment at MG Kathy Engle's award winning garden.  Here's Kathy's Colorful Fall Gardening Series from 2010.  And her Mum's The Word post.

Last Friday, November 4th, Denise Lucas and Laurie Collins were filmed here at our Demonstration Gardens - Denise at the Perennial Demonstration Garden, and Laurie at the Pollinator Friendly Demonstration Garden. - providing tips for putting those gardens to bed for the winter.  I'll embed that video when it becomes available.

You can view all the videos, including Kathy's, that the Public Opinion has created here.

After Snow Harvesting

Cabbage, Paprika, Cayenne, and Yummy Peppers

I didn’t get home in time on Friday, 10/28/11 to do much last minute harvesting before the snow came, so I was surprised to find viable peppers and cabbage in reasonably good condition after the snow melted  and I got to check out the veggie garden.

Hinkelhatz and More Paprika Peppers

Parsnips - Freshly Dug and Rinsed

I also dug some parsnip roots. Doris Goldman gave me some parsnip seeds that we planted for the John Brown House effort in 2009. I had a few left over and planted them in the Spring of 2009, but only had a few sprout. I ignored them until those same few plants flowered the following year (Parsnips are biennial) and produced prodigious amounts of seed, which I used to plant a full row this year. I dug my first roots this weekend, and wasn't sure how to prepare them.  I chose this recipe from Martha Stewart, because it seemed the simplest.

Parsnip Fries

1.Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Peel 2 1/2 pounds medium parsnips; cut as directed above.

2.On two large rimmed baking sheets, toss parsnips with oil; season with coarse salt and ground pepper. Spread in a single layer.

3.Roast until tender and golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating baking sheets and tossing parsnips halfway through baking time.

Trimmed, Cut, and Awaiting Cooking

Dried, Coated in Olive Oil, and Seasoned with Salt, Pepper, and Some Cayenne Pepper from the 2010 Harvest

Roasted, or Oven Fried

I really liked them - sorta like a sweeter french fry.

Cabbage, Peppers, and Onions for a Salad

I also finally got around to trimming the onions and moving them from the garage in preparation for transfer to the root cellar.  I finished the last of the sweet ones, which don't store very well a couple of weeks ago.

Onions - Red Zeppelin, Big Daddy, and Multipliers

The ones starting to sprout are the multiplier perennial onions.  Will use them up first.  Yum.

Pumpkin and Snake Gourd

I expected the pumpkins and gourds to have survived, of course.  Weird snake gourd has no culinary interest.  Just weird.  Missed Halloween, because of the snow, but they'll remain on display through Thanksgiving.

Storing Tender Bulbs

MG Mary Crooks Dahlias

The newscolumn this week has an item about storing tender bulbs.  Here's an excerpt:

The term "tender bulb" refers to plants which have fleshy storage structures (bulbs, corms, tubers, and roots) which are killed by our cold winters if not brought indoors. Special protection, such as digging and bringing the fleshy storage structure into a warmer area for storage through the winter months is required.

MG Mary Crooks Dahlias

I dug my tender bulbs this weekend: cannas, glads, and dahlias. So did Mary Crooks. Her dahlias look much better’n mine, so I used her pictures. Here are some fact sheets describing how to store them for the winter. For Dahlias, from Colorado State University:

Place the tubers upside down in a dry airy space for about two weeks. This allows moisture to drain out of stems. The tubers need to be completely dry before they are stored for the winter. Next store the tubers in trays of dry sand or peat moss in a cool, dry cellar or storage area at about 40 to 45 degrees F. Never store at a much higher temperature, as dahlia tubers will dry out and shrivel rapidly.

Another method of storing includes placing tubers in a heavy-grade, black plastic bag without additional packing material. Then seal the bag. This will prevent the tubers from dehydrating. Keep the tubers in a frost-free area. The danger exists, however, that they will sweat and rot.

Inspect the tubers every few weeks during the winter to check for disease or shriveling. Cut off any diseased parts and, if the tubers have shriveled, place them in a bucket of water overnight to plump them up. Allow them to dry thoroughly before returning them to storage.

Glads and Canna's from Eckhart Garden

For Gladioli, from the University of Missouri:

After digging, wash off soil that adheres to the corm and roots. Cut the tops to within one-half inch of the corm. Corms can be left outdoors in the sun for a day or two if the temperatures are mild, and then spread out in a light, airy place to cure. They are cured to get the surplus moisture out of the husks and corms as quickly as possible to prevent storage rots. After two to three weeks of drying, remove the old corm from the base. Sort the corms and cormels according to size. The small cormels can be saved and planted the following year, but remember it will take two to three years to produce a blooming-size corm from them.

Storing

Corms should be stored during the winter at a temperature of 35 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit in a well-ventilated area. Airy containers such as loose-weave baskets, mesh bags or old nylon stockings make good containers that may be hung out of the way.

For Cannas, from the University of New Hampshire:

For winter storage they are treated much the same as dahlias. The rhizomes are dug after the frost kills the tops, they are dried in the sun for a day, clinging dirt is gently removed, and they are stored in a cool, moderately dry place (between 40 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit). Cannas should be packed in dry vermiculite, peat moss or rice/peanut/buckwheat/cocoa hulls.

One of the things I learned recently reading the University of Maryland's Growit Eatit blog, is that dahlia tubers are edible.  There's even a grower, food historian, and Mother Earth News Contributing Editor breeding cultivars that produce tubers that taste good.

If you have any procedures of your own to add, use the comments section.

UPDATE: 11/7/11 5:10 p.m. - Erica Smith of the Growit Eatit Blog shares her experience eating dahlia tubers.

Sweet Potato - Ipomoea batatas

Ornamental Sweetpotato, Ipomoea batatas 'Marguerite'

The news column this week has a segment about harvesting, curing, and storing sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas - part of the morning glory family), whether they’re the ones we grow for food, or the ones we grow for show. Believe it or not, given my preferences for growing edibles, I’m more familiar with growing the ornamental ones than the edible ones. I added ‘Tricolor’ this year to the chartreuse ‘Marguerite’ and dark ‘Blackie’ cultivars I've grown in the past as spillers in my container arrangements. I’ve also seen them grown as sprawling ground covers, spreading over a bank in home landscapes. Each year, new cultivars of the ornamental ones arrive with different colored leaves or shapes.



Ornamental Sweetpotato Ipomoea batatas 'Blackie'

You probably noticed a few of them in the containers around the Extension Office this year. New varieties trialed this year at Landisville (scroll down to the Ipomoea pictures at the link) include two from the ‘Sweet Caroline’ series developed by North Carolina State University: ‘Bewitched Improved’ and ‘Raven’. Check out the ‘Sweetheart Red’ and ‘Sweet Caroline Red’, ‘…Bronze’, and ‘…Light Green’ trialed by Cornell in Ithaca, NY. There are 14 varieties from the ‘Sweet Caroline’ series alone.

It's not only the color but the leaf shape and plant habit that makes the Sweet Caroline series so popular. And we've gotten more creative with the names -- "Bewitched" and the Sweet Caroline Sweetheart color series have followed the 2002 releases. The border series is next, and there are flowering and several variegated varieties in the pipeline.

The twist to this particular story is that the breeding program went against the conventional wisdom that you don't bring in "wild" varieties.

"They're part of the morning glory family," Yencho said. "And the morning glory is a prolific bloomer. What we've done is selectively breed a wide range of sweet potato varieties and then we selected them in such a way as to produce a great variation in color and shape of the leaf. So, in this project we were more interested in developing pretty foliage, not pretty storage roots, which is what people typically think of when they think of sweet potatoes.


 "Typically, what happens is that when you breed plants you don't bring in less adapted varieties, unless you really need them because they tend to cause the whole thing to collapse. Just the opposite has happened with ornamental sweet potato vines. The wild varieties have given us the range and the beauty of the plant that we see in the Sweet Caroline series. And, we've been able to take some of the lessons learned on the ornamental side over to the food-crop varieties."

Compared with the food-crop varieties, the ornamental ones are pretty expensive. Donna paid about $9 or $10 for 25 slips for the Victory Garden this year, while I paid about $2.50 for each one for my containers, about 6 times as much per plant. Still not very much, since I only planted four, but since becoming a Master Gardener, I’ve become more and more curious about the science of Horticulture and propagation methods. Plus I'm cheap (tho' I prefer the word "thrifty").

Ornamental Sweetpotato 'Tricolor'

I even tried, unsuccessfully, last year to produce a tomato/potato graft, just to see if I could do it. Took pictures and everything, anticipating a blog post on the subject.  It didn’t work out too well, probably because of the heat and drought of last year (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it) but I’m sure I'll try again in the future. Just 'cuz. At any rate, I’ve also been unsuccessful saving the roots of the ornamental sweet potatoes for propagating the following spring. Probably because I didn’t cure them properly, and I stored them with the dahlias, glads, and cannas, which have different humidity requirements while in storage.

Rescued Roots, Curing

So, I’m going to try again this year. Here are the ones I rescued from the compost bins at the Extension Office, my containers, and one food variety saved from the Victory Garden class. They’ve been cured, individually wrapped in newspaper, and are now stored in my basement. Come March, I’ll try to revive them and create my own slips. Any extras will be offered for the plant sale (assuming I’m successful). It’s not too late for you to give it a try, even after all that early snow we got this weekend, but you better do it now, since storage ability can be affected if exposed too long at temperatures below 50 degrees. Dig in the earth or container, looking for the large, fleshy roots. Cure them at 85 – 90 degrees for 10 days, or 70 – 75 degrees for 2 or 3 weeks. Wrap in newspaper and store in a cool (55-60 degrees), dark place, like an unheated basement, or closet.

By the way, I used to think they were tubers, like white potatoes, but they’re not. Tubers are fleshy storage underground stems. Sweet potatoes are fleshy storage underground roots. Here’s a good fact sheet explaining the differences among the various underground plant storage mechanisms – bulb, corm, tuber, rhizome, fleshy root, etc.

A final note. Sweet potatoes are not yams. Yams (Dioscorea spp.) are a different genus and species altogether (see fact sheets here and here), and are rarely, if ever, sold for food in the U.S., and we probably wouldn’t like them, if they were. They are a major nutrient source for people in Africa, however. The orange sweet potato that is a staple for Thanksgiving is commonly, but mistakenly called a yam (although if you look closely, you’ll notice that the word ‘sweet potato’ is somewhere on the labeling package, per USDA regulation).

The term  "Yam" was introduced to differentiate a new variety of sweet potato that was orange-fleshed, and moister when cooked than the then standard white and comparatively drier variety. It’s purely a very successful marketing ploy to rebrand a product. So when you watch a cooking show, or follow a recipe that calls for yams but goes on to say that sweet potatoes can be substituted if you can’t find yams, you can now smile knowingly.

UPDATE: 11/2/11 - The University of Georgia trialed several ornamental varieties in 2011.  Start here and see the results for 16 different cultivars.

UPDATE 2:  11/3/11 - Some nutritional information and sweet potato recipes from the Washington Post.

Tamarillo Jam

Awaiting Harvest

When I researched Tamarillo, or Tree Tomato (Cyphomandra betacea) for this post, and later, to put a fact sheet together for the plant sale, when I started about 16 plants from seed, I came across this simple recipe for Tamarillo jam, and made a mental note to try it the next time I had enough fruit to harvest.



Ready to Pick

Washed and Ready to be Peeled

The recipe calls for 3/4 cup sugar, and 1 teaspoon lemon juice, for every cup of peeled and chopped fruit. Peeling was easy enough, using the same process as is used to peel the skins of tomatoes or peaches - drop them in boiling water for a minute or so, move to an ice bath, then peel off the skin.

Pulp Strained with Sugar Added

I then cooked them down with an apple to add some natural pectins, strained it through a foley mill, added the sugar and cooked for 50 minutes or so, until it gelled.

Six 1/2 Pints for the Pantry^

Pretty good results.  I plan to offer it, along with the black raspberry and strawberry jams I made when I serve breakfast for guests at the B&B. I expect it to be a conversation starter, as well.

We Need Homes

I have 5 left from the ones that didn't sell at the plant sale and garden tour.

Enjoying the Leftovers

The birds enjoyed the seeds and stuff that I emptied from the foley mill.

Monkshood - Aconitum napellus

I noticed this blooming in the shade garden this weekend. I purchased it at the plant sale back in May, but didn’t know a whole lot about it – just that it was in the shade section. Monkshood, or Aconitum napellus is also known as Helmet Flower, Friar’s Helmet, Venus’ Chariot, or Wolfsbane. It prefers semi-shade but will tolerate full sun. My shade garden is mostly full shade, so I’m not sure how well it will do there, long-term, but it seems to be fine for now, and, obviously, did bloom this year.

One of the more interesting things about it, is its toxicity. All parts of the plant are poisonous, especially the roots, seeds, and new leaves. Legend has it that Livia, wife of Emperor Augustus, used it, along with other deadly compounds, to eliminate political enemies (mostly relatives) that stood in the way of her son, Tiberius, to become Emperor after the death of Augustus. [Update 10/19: Jump to the 4:30 mark of this YouTube from the excellent BBC series I' Claudius for a delightfully evil discussion of plant poisons.]  It also rates a chapter in Amy Stewart’s book, Wicked Plants.

In Greek mythology, deadly aconite sprang from the spit of the three-headed hound Cerberus as Hercules dragged it out of Hades. Legend has it that it got another of its common names, wolfsbane, because ancient Greek hunters used it as a bait and arrow poison to hunt wolves. Its reputation as a witch’s potion from the Middle Ages earned it a starring role in the Harry Potter series, where Professor Snape brews it to assist Remus Lupin in his transformation to a werewolf.

According to Wikipedia, there are 9 subspecies of A. napellus, all originating in Europe, and that plants native to Asia and North America formerly listed as A. napellus are now regarded as separate species. Regardless of origin, it has naturalized in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of North America.

It appears on many Extension lists of deer-resistant plants (deer are not dumb), as well as plant lists poisonous to livestock.



I think it’s kinda purty, and will look for more at next year's sale.

They Flew the Coop - Guineas Part 11

And then there were five.  I've been holding off posting about this, in the hope that there would be good news, but it's been a week with no change, so it's time to report it.

Last Tuesday, September 25th, when I returned home from the monthly Master Gardener meeting, I was informed that the keets had not returned to roost.  It was around 9:15 p.m.  I left the light on and the door to the coop open until midnight, checking hourly to see if they'd come home.  Closed the door at midnight for predator protection for the chickens.

The next day, we spotted a group of five in the neighbor's yard.  We rounded them up and got them back to the coop, and spent the next hour or so looking for the rest.  Nothing.

So, the rasp is down to five.

Feeling a little sad ...

Crapemyrtle - Lagerstroemia indica




Lagerstroemia indica - courtesy of Vanderbilt University

 Adams County Master Gardener Carolyn Black wrote a very good article recently about Crepe or Crape Myrtles.  Here's an excerpt:

Crepe myrtles are native to the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Northern Australia and parts of Oceania. The common crepe myrtle from China and Korea was introduced circa 1790 to Charleston, South Carolina by the French botanist Andre Michaux. Two hundred years of cultivation has resulted in a huge number of cultivars of widely varying characteristics.

The lovely crepe myrtle even has Biblical notoriety in Isaiah 55: 13 - "Instead of the thorn bush will grow the pine tree; and instead of briers the myrtle will grow."

After blooming, crepe myrtles develop distinctive seed heads, then the leaves fall toward the end of autumn, leaving the colorful, exfoliating bark to showcase during the winter.

Click on the link to read the whole thing.  The website is a joint effort with Adams County, PA Master Gardeners, and Frederick County, MD Master Gardeners. You can click on the link to the right to check in with them regularly.  It's the last link in the sidebar under "Other Blogs".

Here's Virginia Tech's Fact Sheet that has the basics on Lagerstroemia, and a more detailed one on proper pruning techniques, with one section on preventing "Crape Murder."

Crepe Myrtle taken 9/18/11

I have a very old one at home that was on the property when we moved here in 1997 and there are two specimens in the wildlife area.  Jane and crew potted up some seedlings between raindrops yesterday, so there will be some for the plant sale next year.


UPDATE: 10/14/11 - Here's a picture taken on the Fall Garden Tour last month.  I think it's the one at my place but not completely sure.  I copied this from the Franklin County Master Gardener Facebook page where there is a new album up with 55 pictures from the Fall Garden Tour.  From any facebook page, search "Franklin County Master Gardeners PA" and you'll find us.  I believe these pictures were taken by MG Jerry Lewis.

Harvest 4-Health

Harvest 4-Health is a Penn State Extension initiative to bring together multiple disciplines within Extension on a focused effort at the local level to teach the newest generation about growing their own, fresh, nutritious food by planning, planting, maintaining, and harvesting produce from their own vegetable gardens. Here in Franklin County, PA, we teamed with an after school and summer program, KLAS (Kids Learning After School), and key administrative, grounds and teaching staff at the Thaddeus Stevens Elementary School in Chambersburg, PA.

KLAS is a year-round after school program for grades 1-6 (ages 6-12) consisting of 60 students usually broken into 3 groups of 20. School year runs mid September through mid May, with a summer term from mid June to the end of July.  The cycle starts over again in mid September.

These 60 students have been the recipients of hands-on learning about what it takes to create a garden bed and grow your own vegetables, as well as a weekly curriculum in basic botany, soil science, pest and disease management, and healthy cooking and eating.

We staked out a 40x40 area in early April, 2011, conducted a soil test and created six 5x10 raised beds (each group has two raised beds to manage) later in the month.

In early May, we filled the raised beds, planted seeds and plants ranging from 4-H strawberries, herbs, root crops, summer squash and cucumbers, potatoes, peppers and tomatoes. The vegetable plants were donated from Master Gardener starts, excess trial garden starts, and the historic gardening effort sponsored by Franklin County Master Gardeners and Renfrew Institute’s Four-Square Garden Project.

The local newspaper, the Chambersburg Public Opinion, covered planting day. An excerpt:

Students in the Kids Learning After School program at Stevens Elementary are receiving first-hand experience with planting a vegetable garden, literally from the ground up.

The extension office, 4-H, and a group of Master Gardeners came together to provide this part of the program. Gardeners built a series of six raised flower beds to go behind the elementary school.

Penn State calls the effort Harvest 4-Health and it's a means to teach children healthy eating habits.
On Wednesday, Master Gardener Bill Dorman helped students plant potatoes, parsley, cabbage, strawberries, tomatoes, cauliflower, zucchini and marigolds in the bed. He gave gardening tips along the way.

KLAS is an after-school program provided by Title I funds at Stevens. It features students from Stevens and Ben Chambers Elementary.

In June, we battled groundhogs, losing most of the radishes, beans, carrots, and parsley to their nibbling, which forced us to build a fence in July to reduce the impact of their predations.

We started harvesting squash and potatoes at the end of the month. Final harvest and garden clean up took place at the end of September.

The effort has been lead by Barbara Aldrich, 4-H Educator, ably assisted by 4-H Summer Assistant Jaclyn Upperman, 4-H volunteers Jesse Reichard and Patrick Hurd, Dairy Educator Logan Hurst , and Master Gardener volunteers Ray Eckhart, Bill Dorman, Karen Latsbaugh, George Fries, Darl Hospelhorn, and Anne Finucane. School administrators, including principal Richard J. Bonitz and Buildings and Grounds Supervisor, Jeff Roseberry have been very supportive, providing water access, mulch for pathways, etc. Dale Wolfson, Program Director for KLAS has provided logistical and $500 funding support, to go with another $500 funding from the Franklin County 4-H and Master Gardener programs. Tanya Nitterhouse, neighbor and benefactor has also contributed toward the effort.

Penn State Extension Educators of Franklin County Ray Eckhart (Pesticide and Master Gardener), Mary Ann Oyler (Health and Nutrition), George Hurd (Environment), Alex Surcica (Horticulture and Pollination), Jennifer Bratthauar (Agronomy and Soil Science) and Barbara Aldrich (4-H) are providing classroom education in addition to the hands-on learning which reinforces it.

This has been a total team effort on the part of Penn State Extension, Franklin County, its volunteers, the neighborhood community, the school, and the KLAS operation. We hope to be able to replicate its success elsewhere in 2012.

Wish us luck.