stigmastylepistil

Apr 14 2012

cook

Raw fruit and nut bar

I really love to eat Lara Bars and thought it would be fun to try and make some myself. But since I like to soak and sprout nuts, these cherry pie fruit and nut bars that I made are a little different in texture. If you wanted to make them more like the one you can buy, just don’t soak any ingredients. You could also use raw almond butter too, and mix it with the fruit in a food processor.

For my bars I used dried cherries, raw almonds, raw sunflower seeds, and dates. I think it was about 1 unit of almonds, 1.5 units of cherries, .5 units of sunflower seeds, and .5 -.75 units of dates. So, not as sweet as a the Lara Bar, which lists dates as the first ingredient. I used my Champion juicer and my Excalibur dehydrator.

First I soaked the cherries, nuts and seeds overnight. The cherries were pretty hard. I poured off the water. I had some to cherry nut water to drink and it was good!

Then, I added the dates and mixed it all up.

I put the ‘blank screen’ in the juicer so everything put into it comes out the pulp shoot and made the mixture into cherry date almond sun butter which tasted so amazing!

Looks pretty gross but it would have made a great spread in this form.

I had to dehydrate it because I soaked it, so it would keep better. If you chose not to soak it, I think it would form into bars really well, but this method left it a little too buttery. to me the health benefits of soaking are worth the extra steps.

I squished it into the screen covered with the Teflex sheet and scored it into bars with a butter knife. When it held it’s shape, I flipped it onto a screen with out the Teflex.

Then, later, I separated them onto several screens to dry better. I took a long time for them to get to a chewy consistency.

I put one batch in the fridge and one in the freezer and now its ready for my next snack time, hike or backpacking trip.

Tagged almonds, backpacking, camping, cherries, dates, dried fruit, food, raw food

Apr 14 2012

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cook

Raw flax crackers

These are so delicious, and full of enzymes and all kinds of healthy stuff. And, they are really easy to make. It does work best with a fancy food dehydrator, the Excalibur! Also, you need a juicer, too.

The recipe is from this book. Lots of other raw food books have other recipes and they are pretty much the same. Also, in here a raw hazelnut chocolate cream pie with a nut crust. OMMNOMNOM!

The recipe calls for

2 1/2 cups of raw flax seeds, soaked for 8 hours

1 cup carrot juice

1 cup carrot pulp (left over from juicing)

salt and pepper

You can see that I added pumpkin seeds and chia seeds too. The chia makes it really gelatinous. I just use enough water so I won’t have to pour any off when I’m done. You can’t mess it up.

Once the seeds are soaked then you add the juice pulp, juice and seasoning and mix it up with your hands.

Since I’ve been making them for a while I actually skip the juice now and use juice pulp that I have previously frozen from juicing. I want to drink the juice! For this batch I used carrot beet.

Here’s the mix.

The Excalibur dehydrator has these awesome Teflex sheets that you can spread really wet stuff on. Spread the mix in thin layers with your hands on the sheets. Wetting your fingers periodically really helps. Then when its dry enough you can flip the cracker and peel the sheet off.

There is goes. Its done when its dry and crisp.

I got the dehydrator for $100 from someone on craiglist. Totally worth it and a major discount.

All done!

I also add soy sauce and dulse seaweed flakes sometimes. Its become my fav variation. Also, juice pulp that includes ginger, garlic or fresh tumeric root is wonderful too.

Tagged beets, carrots, chia, crackers, dehydrator, flax, juice, pumpkin seeds, raw food

Apr 14 2012

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garden

Starting seeds indoors

I’ve got 103 potential seedlings in these cups. 6 different cherry tomato varieties, 3 different chile types: one tepin type, and two high elevation New Mexico green chile types, a basil mix and eggplant. These are all difficult to grow in the 7,000 ft pine desert, but i have had success under the right conditions. We can see how it goes this year later in the season.

I popped a whole in the bottom of paper cups. I saved all the to-go cups I could and a devoted friend helped. She will be showered with seedlings for her loyalty!

I made a soil mix to try and match what we’ve got going on the in yard. Its rocky clay. We’ve tried to amend it with composted horse poop and our compost pile, but its still pretty rough conditions. My theory is to not make it too easy on them, so they aren’t as shocked when they go in the ground. We’ll see how that goes. I used a succulent potting mix combined with some local topsoil that was delivered for the raised bed for the hoophouse.

These clear plastic tubs were $4.5o. I used popsicle sticks so I can keep the names with the plants once they are in the garden. I’m going to see which varieties do best.

Yum!

These seeds have a pretty high optimal temp for germination, about 85 degrees F for the tomatoes. They’ll grow at lower temps, but I think they just really like to be sure that they aren’t going to be screwed if they come out and its not warm enough for them to survive. I got an electric blanket on clearance and put it under the plastic tubs to keep the seed cups warm. The blanket doesn’t get wet, so it’s safe. I shouldn’t have to run it too long after the plants emerge, but its snowing today, so its pretty slick!

I keep the tops loosely on the plastic tubs so the warmth and moisture will stay in. Its working great.

And there they are, clean and easy, only taking up a little floor space in the bedroom. I can’t contain my excitement. Anyone who comes over, I immediately show them my ‘babies’. They’re all plant people so we all squeal with delight together.

I think that this is a reliable and streamlined approach to getting seeds going. I’ve had years of more rigged set ups and this is what my mistakes have taught me. PLUS>>> Its saves a lot of money compared to buying plants at a nursery and you’ll be able to start seeds that aren’t available there too. Please comment if you have other ideas!

Tagged basil, chiles, eggplant, garden, peppers, plant propagation, seeds, tomatoes

Apr 14 2012

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in mind

Klaus Pichler food waste photo project

Check this out. I found this on NPR’s website. Mr. Pichler’s photos in this series and others are wonderful. Thanks to him! View his work at his site:

http://www.kpic.at/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=45&Itemid=88

Tagged Food waste, industrial food, Klaus Pichler, photography, sustainability

Apr 14 2012

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garden

April winter storm

Seriously! I’m ready for the snow to be done! We didn’t get as much moisture as we needed this winter, so I’m thankful overall for the forest’s sake, but I was under the impression the storm was going to come tomorrow, so I’d have an extra day to get ready. But, there is really no point of being mad about things you can’t change…and its pretty beautiful outside. I have some pretty awesome indoor projects, too, so I can keep myself occupied, and tomorrow maybe a cross country ski is in store for me.

I did prepare for the snow in one way. I find that seeds of cool weather crops do even better emerging from a snow melt around here, and since April snows are not freak storms around here I’ve been able to test it a bunch of springs (or the transition times between our northern AZ seasons ‘winterpsringswinterspring’ and ‘something weird with wind’). We shall see. I planted bok choy, daikon radish, carrots, dwarf siberian kale, spinach and purple orach. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orache I also transplanted red russian kale from the hoophouse outside several days ago. Check out the pics from that day further on down. Oh, and I planted malabar spinach in the kale’s spot in the hoophouse. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basella_alba

Here’s the sad pansy…it could bounce back, right…?

Here it is just a few days ago. I got a little over- excited and the warm weather!

Anyway, I had refried beans, corn grits, lacinato kale thinings and avocado for breakfast and I can face any superficial grief about the possibility of crispy brown pansies with grace and poise. I may even be able to face the merino wool sweater that accidentally made it into the dryer. If its tiny, I just can’t change it, so I’ll have to just relax.

Some kale transplants!

Arugula flowers!

Tiny lettuces coming up in the cracks between walking stones. Thanks for reseeding yourselves!

Baby onions…seeded themselves, too!

Strawberries!

Catnip.

Naking cherry bush.

Lovage! Celery taste. So strong! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovage

More arugula.

Currant bush.

Gooseberry bush.

Obvious spring TULIP! Flashy!

Last fall I transplanted a hundred iris rhizomes from the backyard to the front yard. They are going to go off this year!

Oh, and here’s a bonus pic of the kale harvest before the transplant outside.

Hang on out there little guys! You can do it!

Tagged breakfast, garden, greenhouse, hoop house, kale, Transplanting, weather

Apr 08 2012

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garden

Bok choy flowers

Tagged flowers, garden, greenhouse, hoop house

Apr 07 2012

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garden

Propagating impatiens from cuttings

I have a large impatiens plant growing in a pot in the kitchen. When I got it as a gift from a friend it was massive and a little leggy. I thought that it looked like a annual that I was familiar with. In high school I worked at a nursery selling plants of all kinds and designing and planting flower beds for cute old ladies, so I got to know several annual flowers, but this plant wasn’t flowering when I got it. My friend had told me that this plant has some local folklore. It’s said that houseplants all over town originated from cuttings from one plant that a local bike frame builder had at his house. Fun! Anyway, when it flowered I saw that it was impatiens! That’s how I learned that impatiens propagated well by cutting. Seems like lots of gatherers already knew that once I did a google search.

I love food gardening but flowers are a huge part of bringing in pollinators and just making the space pretty and calming to be in. I don’t know much about the annual flower production industry, but if I can skip the buying step, I imagine I can avoid some nasty fertilizer and over watering with the commercial system… Plus the trucking!!

So, I am going to grow several cutting in water to transplant outside later this spring. On the web I found lots of more complicated methods , but I know that these impatiens already root just fine in water and do fine being transferred into soil later, that’s what I am going to do.

It’s dry here so I’ll give an update later on success as they go outdoors.

Here’s the plant. I don’t have pics of the flowers but they are the classic single flower light pink.

Here’s an example of one that has been growing great in the water.

Here’s right before a make the cut

Here’s a little cutting in the jar

Here are several baby impatiens clones

Tagged annuals, bedding plants, garden, gardening, house plants, impatiens

Apr 04 2012

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forage

Seeking botanical experience

Today I took someone to our beautiful Valley of the Sun to see a doctor. The Disney desert and irrigated tropical landscaping in the manufactured outdoor environment had a lot to offer today as I waited. It was sunny and calm breezy with lots of song birds! I stalked and safaried for a snapshot of a grackle and a hummingbird, but they were shy and playing hard to get. Here are some pics from the foraged retreat right next to the parking lot. I should have rallied the waiting room to join me outside! The appointment was about eyes so i thought I’d try seeing. Just waiting at the doctors office today were moments worth living.

Tagged Desert, garden, landscaping

Mar 30 2012

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cook

Elk stew

Last fall a friend of mine shot an elk. It was a very intense and complex experience for her to say the least. She and friends processed the animal at home.

I’m not really a meat person, but I have added some healthy meat into my diet very occasionally. Our household is pretty vegetarian and dairy free for the most part.

And, this stew was absolutely amazing! I ate the whole pot by myself for a week and didn’t get tired of it. Ingredients were elk stew meat, pearl onions, lacinato kale, sundried tomatoes, celery, carrots, garlic and salt and pepper!