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Tucked in for Winter

Last weekend, we were hit with the first “pre-winter storm” of consequence and when it was finished, the yard was buried under roughly 10 inches of snow. It’s stuck around all week and shows no sign of disappearing before Christmas. If anything, we’re supposed to get a few more inches before Santa’s arrival. I’m mostly relieved. Anything I didn’t get done out there by now will just have to wait until Spring, more or less. There are still a couple projects I have to do out there:

• I still plan to get at least one last meal of kale though I’ll have to excavate a bit through the snow. That’s the part that will take 20 minutes. Perhaps it’ll be a good side dish for Christmas Day when we have our one big piece of beef for the year (a standing rib roast) served with home-made horseradish.

• I will prune a bit on the apple tree. This task has been itching at me all year. I’m pretty sure I can make the tree happier in its surrounding but I didn’t really want to nip at it while there was still sap in its veins. The first tree I pruned was the overgrown apple in my folk’s backyard. The tree was tall; the day was cold and I had no ladder. I had a good sharp saw though. I ended up with enough wood to smoke a turkey breast. I won’t get anywhere near that many branches from this little sapling but I think 20 minutes of pruning can help coax it into making a few more apples next year for us (or for the birds!)

• I really should adjust the tension on the raspberry trellis. A few years back I made a raspberry trellis to support the brambles of our black raspberries. I used some leftover 4 by 4 to make two ends that sort of look like telephone poles and I strung clothes line between them. They’re quite handsome, if I do say so myself and very useful. It’s just that over the years the clothes line has gotten a bit loose. Cinching it up should take about 20 minutes. Then again… maybe that can wait ’til spring too.

I really can’t think of much more that I *have* to do outside.

But just because the 20 Minute Garden is tucked in for winter, it doesn’t mean that the 20 Minute Gardeners have nothing to do. We just get to move our base of operations inside and instead of iced tea, we’ll drink hot tea with honey.

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By 20 Minute Jim – December 19, 2007

Last Plant Standing: Kale

Slowly, over a very long time, I’ve grown to love kale.

We first planted it because Jim kept saying “It’s so good for you!” He already liked kale. Our most common way to serve kale in those days was stir-fried. It’s so fast and easy.

Stir-fried Kale

Wash, chop and let dry 10 or 12 leaves of kale (It will significantly shrink in the cooking process, so better to over-prepare). Mince a clove of garlic. Add a tablespoon of oil to a large pan or wok. Once the oil is hot, sauté the garlic for one minute. Then add the chopped kale. Stir-fry to coat the leaves in oil. After 3 or 4 minutes, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of soy sauce to the pan and continue to stir. Turn off the heat and cover. Let the kale steam for a few minutes before serving.

Another big plus to growing kale is that it’s a beautiful plant. It stands tall in the garden bed and adds texture and color variation. We’ve planted several varieties in the last few years, including purple kale. It’s especially lovely in the garden and it cooks up green!

Gardening rumor has it that kale tastes even better after the first frost. I’ve come to agree with that philosophy. It’s also utterly amazing to me that our kale is still standing and we are still harvesting– even in the second week of December.

Kale and Smoked Turkey

Use either smoked turkey wings or smoked turkey legs, available in the grocery store. You may not have seen them, if you haven’t looked for them, but most stores do carry them. (We’ve also used smoked ham hocks but I know that’s not everyone’s cup of tea.)

Put the smoked turkey into a large pot. Cover them with broth. (You can instead use water, about a quart or so.) Bring to a boil and add one chopped onion and 2 minced cloves of garlic. Partially cover and simmer for one hour.

Then add 2 pounds of washed and chopped kale. Simmer the pot for another hour. Take out the wings or legs and cool briefly so you can then remove the meat and return it to the pot.

Serve kale in bowls with some pieces of turkey and some of the liquid. We always have fresh hot corn bread as well. It’s a favorite winter meal of ours.

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By 20 Minute Jan – December 14, 2007

A Nifty Trick for Gathering Leaves

I forget this trick every year, it seems. But I remembered in time for the last leaf raking of the year. The first thing you should know is that we collect and keep our leaves as mulch. (There are assets and liabilities to using leaves as mulch but they’re best discussed elsewhere.) I think the trouble comes because I keep thinking about leaves with the old fashioned mindset as something to throw away. What this means is that I usually end up collecting them in trash cans and then lugging the trash cans to the garden bed. This is difficult physical work, both the bending over to lift the leaves into the cans as well as carrying the leaf-full cans.

But if you’re going to spread the leaves immediately on your garden beds, then there’s no need to use a trash can at all. Use a tarp. Rake the leaves into a pile as usual, then rake them onto the tarp. Roll the tarp up like a big burrito and it’s ready to move. It’s easiest if you’ve got a partner to grab the other end but as long as there isn’t much wind, you can just pull the tarp along behind you.

We left raking the final batch of leaves until tonight, until the final moments of daylight for that matter. But using a tarp for collection helped us finish up in very short order. Just in time too. About an hour after sundown, a gentle snow started to fall.

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By 20 Minute Jim – November 25, 2007

Barn Razing

Just a little over a year ago, this is how the re-birth of our garden began, that is, with destruction. We had this wonderful old carriage barn that had a dirt floor that was damp year round, sagging timbers and a gentle lean that increased year by year. We decided to make the painful choice of taking it down ourselves so we could salvage as much of the cool weathered barn wood as possible. This is a movie we made of the last few moments of that task.

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By 20 Minute Jim – November 24, 2007

Fun with Straw

Upon getting in the backseat of our Honda Civic just the other day, a friend inquired, “What’s with the straw?” He must have noticed the bit and pieces stuck to the blue seats.

I explained the situation. Jim and I had gone to the Dexter Mill to purchase straw for fall mulching in the garden. I swore that two bales would fit in the trunk of the car, even though it is a small car. Jim thought only one would. We bought two. When we drove around to the shed to pick up the straw, it became immediately obvious that Jim was right: only one would fit in the trunk. The other was transported home in the backseat of the car.

Some people might be in a hurry to get the stray straw threads out of the backseat of their car, but I think it adds a certain country character.

straw1.jpgThe real fun with the straw began in the garden. A thick layer of straw on the round center bed will begin to breakdown over the winter and add more organic matter into our soil. When we first spread the straw out, it was bright and golden. This view doesn’t quite capture the shiny factor. On a sunny day, the sun really bounced off the fresh straw. Even on cloudy days, the change in the landscape is striking.

Two bales really don’t cover much. Luckily we scored 5 more bales left over from my brother’s hayride. Fortunately for our car and backseat passengers, he delivered it.

And more fun was had. We were able to cover most of the remaining beds.

We even had some helpers. straw2.jpg

straw3.jpg Our littlest helper discovered that straw, like just everything else, tastes good.

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By 20 Minute Jan – November 10, 2007