Korean Pepper Paste (GoChujang) Part 1

I decided to make Korean pepper paste today.  I'm sick of buying the stuff and finding out that the store bought pepper paste has MSG or some other unsavory preservative.  I like to know what I'm eating even more so these days since it seems like food sensitivity is on the rise.  I found this recipe on Maangchi but instead of making the whole recipe, I made half.  It still made a ton, more than enough for 2 people. 

Gardening: What I Have Learned + Sketchy Seeds

Gardening has been a real learning experience.  I've learned that I still need to work on my timing when it comes to planting, that bad insects are really bad, that I usually over-water and that most plants can survive with a lot less water.  I've also learned that I can grow lettuce.

I can definitely grow watermelons, and that no matter how abusive you are to Vates (the collard variety I'm growing) they will survive.

Thai Red Curry Soup

The weather has been getting colder and I wanted a spicy, coconutty Thai curry soup for dinner tonight.  This recipe is pretty easy and delicious!

The Weekend: Final Winter Prep + Bachelor Radish Kimchi!

This weekend has been a busy one so far.  Winter is upon us now and the temps. have been dipping in the evenings to somewhere around 35 to 40 degrees for the past couple of nights.  Most of my veggies can withstand a bit of cold but I still wanted to get ready for the freeze.  Earlier on, I had built hoops out of PVC pipes.  They seem to be o.k. but wobbly.  I'm going to see how they do this winter and if it turns out the hoops aren't stable enough, I'll clamp them down to the sides of the beds. The "sand worms" were a total FAIL!!  They tended to leak sand if it rained and weren't heavy enough to hold the plastic sheeting down.  The good thing was that putting up the plastic when I did was premature anyway; it got really warm again, which gave me a chance to rethink the whole plastic situation.  In the meantime, the sand worms that I had made, I've been using to secure my tulle netting.

R.I.P. Orangeglo Watermelons + First Fall Harvest

Yesterday,  I went to check the last watermlon...

My other watermelon had been attacked by some critter and became worm food.  Well, there is a reason why they tell you to keep your melons off the ground because my last watermelon became worm food, too.  :-(  Oh well. It was time to kill the plant anyway.

Weekend Winter Garden Prep, Day 2

I spent the afternoon yesterday continuing the garden prep for the winter.  I had to figure out how to secure plastic sheeting over my hoop tunnels and came up with skinny sand worms, :-)

I just bought nylon utility fabric and stitched them into long tubes.  I bought the cheapest bag of sand from the hardware store and filled them up.  They seem to work pretty well so far.

Bye Amish Paste Tomato Plant

It's cold.  My face is cold, my fingers are cold.  It's cold.  What happened??  It feels like we just went right into winter. I think the first fall frost date is supposed to be around Oct. 31st here, but I think it's coming early!! It got really cold last night so I ended up covering some of my beds to protect them just in case it actually got frosty; and because of the drop in temp, I decided to kill my lone tomato plant today.  Of the three varieties of tomatoes I planted this year, I had one Amish Paste tomato plant that out performed all of the others.  It became this monstrosity that decided to use my Korean pepper plant's cage for added support.

Mind the Chives and Other Weird Garden Things

So if I've ever given you garlic chive seeds or plants, I hope I warned you. :-P  I usually am pretty good about being honest about my garlic chives and their ability to never die! If I didn't warn you, I am deeply sorry!  I will tell you now, please mind your chives!!!

I thought I had contained my chives by growing them in a container and in one of my raised beds, but I was SOOOOO WRONG!

Sunday Breakfast: Lemon Kefir Pancakes

I wanted pancakes this morning.  Buttermilk pancakes.  But I don't keep buttermilk around on the regular.  Then I wanted ricotta pancakes but no ricotta on hand either.  I thought about making my own ricotta, but no whole milk on hand.  I looked in the fridge and there it was, my jar of kefir!

My Not So Relaxing Vacation Week

This past week was my first week off!! A real vacation. OMG! Great, right?  Sleep in, watch a bunch of TV, spend the whole week in pajamas.  Yeah, I suck at vacations. I have a hard time doing nothing.  I think I spent one day sleeping in and being a couch potato but then the rest of the week, I pretty much spent it thinking up stuff to do like preserving herbs. It was "thyme" to dry thyme....

Olla Chicas!

Yesterday was a busy day.  Having a 3 day weekend pushes me into overdrive sometimes.  Besides doing more fall cleaning in the garden, I was drying peppers, putting up seeds that I collected in paper envelopes and making OLLAS!

Fresh from the Garden Meals

It's been rainy all day.  What better way to spend it but eating and cooking....

So what to do with garden tomatoes and the last of the basil?

Finally!! Watermelons!

I've been waiting for 107 days for this!!!  The bottom was my second watermelon.  It actually had a huge split and when I went to cut it open, it just cracked!  I didn't even apply much pressure.  Juice was just oozing everywhere! YUM!!! I guess this is our dessert tonight!!!

Low Ride'n: Low Tunnel Hoop Houses

I decided to try to extend my growing season for the fall by building hoop houses.  Winters here can be unpredictable; sometimes warmer than usual, sometimes a snow storm or two, but I figure hoop houses will extend my growing season long enough for some cool weather crops throughout winter regardless. And of course, I'm on a budget so my DIY hoops needed to be cheap!

Basically for 3, 4 ft. X 4 ft. raised beds, I used 6, half inch diameter X 10 ft. long PVC tubes and one, 1 inch X 10 ft. long tube and 1 hacksaw.  I cut the one inch diameter tube into eight, 6 inch high tubes for the corners of my two lower sided beds and four, 12 inch high tubes for my higher sided bed.  The cut tubes were then buried into the corners of the beds and the 1/2 inch diameter tubes were bent and inserted into the buried tubes.

Fall Garden Clean Up + Felt Pot vs Plastc Pots Update

This morning I started my garden clean up for my fall planting.  It was perfect since we had a storm last night that really soaked the garden. I really want to plan ahead so I don't have to do so much in the spring.  I feel planting now will give me veggies throughout the winter AND get me ahead of the game for spring!!

Boooo...End Rot!!!

This is my third watermelon or I should say was my third watermelon.  I'm so sad.  The poor thing had to be sacrificed for the good of the rest of the crop.

Kimchi + Tomato + Frog + Mulch Weekend

Pickles.  I love pickles- dill, bread & butter, relish- LOVE pickles.  But, I don't know how to make Western pickles because I didn't grow up canning or pickling them.  I do know Korean style pickling! So, what to do with 1 small green cabbage and a couple of cucumbers from the garden?

KIM CHEEEEEEE!

Tuesday Morning Garden Guest

I guess the garden has enough insects.  Hope he sticks around for a spell!

First Real Harvest + Garden Update

The garden has been doing great so far (knock on wood).  In the last several months, I've been harvesting this and that throughout the season ( kale and collards, 1 or 2 cucumbers) but none of my crops have ever ripened all at the same time until this morning!! Today was the first time that I was able to harvest more than 1 or 2 things from the garden....

Kefir: Make it, Drink it!

Months ago, like MONTHS ago, we bought kefir grains...

We've always been yogurt eaters but one day, I couldn't find a brand of yogurt that I wanted to eat.  Now I've made yogurt from scratch but for the boy, the texture just wasn't what he wanted.  Because of the lack of yogurt choices, I went and bought kefir instead. Boy, has it changed our lives!!!

Seeds!!!

I'm a psycho seed hoarder.  I admit it.  My kitchen table is now a seed saving station. Not only am I saving seeds from the plants growing in my garden, I am buying them, too. I LOVE buying seeds!  The growing season isn't anywhere close to ending and I'm already planning for fall and next spring. Psycho.... but I love the whole gardening process.  I really do.  If I could re-live my life and knew what I knew now, I would be a farmer or go into some aspect of horticulture.

I recently bought these from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds....

Viva Pinata Gardening + Update

Years ago, I was totally addicted to Viva Pinata.  I've never been interested in video games and still don't care for them but this particular game was different.  There was no shooting or killing of other people or zombies, you planted a garden and attracted pinata animals and insects.  Then you proceeded to nurture your plants and animals and from the produce you grew or the baby animals you raised you could sell them to make money.  It was fun because when you had the right amount of plants or the right types of plants, you could attract animals, which in turn attracted other animals, etc. etc. I played for a while until the new version came out and pretty much lost interest because I wanted to do it for REAL!  I honestly feel that working with nature is better then working against it and like in Viva Pinata, I really wanted to grow a garden that attracted beneficial insects and animals with the plants I grew.   I know in a previous post, I was thinking of fencing off my garden and I do see the necessity in it (even in Viva Pinata, you can buy fencing materials).  I did have to finally fence off my sunflower and cosmos beds since the baby bunnies were 1) using it as a race track and just running back and forth in it and 2) they LOVED eating my cosmos to the point where there were bald spots in the beds.  I finally had enough and it was time to discipline the bunnies.

Felt Pots vs Plastic Pots

May 2012

So I bought these felt growing pots because 1) They had rave reviews about plants growing bigger and better and leaping over tall buildings. 2) They were fairly cheap 3) I thought they would be great since they fold up so they don't take up a whole lot of space.  Well...... 

Summer Garden Clean Up

This morning I got up super early to beat the heat!  Summer hit us quicker than we all expected this year.  We're in the 90s again this weekend and just stepping out at 7 am this morning, you can feel that it'll be a hot one today.  Thankfully, they're saying it won't be as bad as yesterday, which felt like you were swimming through air.... it was pretty gross. Anyhow, this morning I wanted to do a little clean up in the garden.  Many of my early spring crops except the kale and collards have gone to seed.  My napa cabbage went to seed pretty early in the season, my spinach came next, then the arugula.  Right now, I'm waiting for the arugula seed pods to dry up to collect.  I kind of gave up on the napa.  Besides, I wasn't sure that the napa was a hybrid or not.  The spinach... well, the rabbits kept eating it so I really don't have anything left.  I went ahead and pulled out the left over stubs of the spinach plants and pulled out the napa cabbage plant...

To make remove for this guy....

Brazilian Breakfast Sandwich

Collards.  I really don't get tired of collards but I'm always looking for creative ways to use it.  The garden has been giving me a fresh supply and even well into June when all my other cole crops are bolting, the collards keep producing.

One of my favorite ways is to have it for breakfast!!  Yes, BREAKFAST!! The first time I had collards for breakfast was back in Los Angeles.  Have I mentioned how I miss Los Angeles?  I don't miss the traffic or smog or those crazy Hollywood obsessed people who either live there or visit there, but I miss the weather, the food and most of all my friends.  On Saturdays when there were no plans and I could take a day to relax, the boy and I would go to Cafe Brasil on Venice Blvd. for brunch and have a Brazilian breakfast.

Sunday Dinner: Chorizo Tacos

I had chorizo tacos at a local eatery and they were delicious!  I love me some carnitas but I loved the flavor of the chorizo.  I thought I'd try making them at home.  It's such an easy, quick dinner.

Summer in the Garden

The sugar snap pea LIVES!!!  And it has flowered!!

It's surprising how fast it recovered after the bunny attack.  I was sure it would die like the other two. :-(  The pea seeds that I planted later have sprouted but look puny right now.  I hope they do well.

Bold Bunnies + Mostly Local Salad for Dinner

I'm always amazed that I can grow anything at all.  So far, the best crops have been the collards and kale and even when the baby bunnies nibble on them, I still usually pick 3 to 4 leaves per week of each.

Hello, Summer!!!

Well, we went from 80 degrees to 90 degrees overnight here in the South. I'm just glad we had a little bit of Spring this year.  Sadly, tragedy occurred in the garden yesterday.  This guy...

and his family visited the yard the night before.  It was cute watching the parent rabbit and this baby bunny and his sibling running around our yard, but then, I woke up to find 2 of my sugar snap peas had been taken out!!  They ate just the stems and left the rest of the plant hanging.  Can you believe that?!! I wish I had taken pics of what I woke up to the other day but I was so upset! Here's how the plants look now...

 

I'm down to 1 semi- o.k. sugar snap pea plant.  I'm so sad!! But then I realized while examining the damage that all of this water was oozing out of the chomped stems.  I think the bunnies were thirsty. :-(  I'm still miffed though.

Tomato Experiment + Garden Update

I decided to try these fabric growing pots.  Apparently, they're supposed to be fantastic and allows for ample aeration around the roots of plants, etc. etc.  I thought this would make a great experiment for growing tomatoes.  This year, I'm growing three types of heirloom tomatoes: Amish paste, green zebra and a determinate variety called cream sausage.  I'm growing two of each variety so using tomatoes was perfect. I'm wondering if these grow pots actually make much difference in the health of the plants.  I'm also going to do this with my hot peppers.

Crafty Saturday: Bottle Cap Magnets

I hate waste.  I like to re-purpose.  I really hate this throw away society.  So what do you do when your boy constantly leaves bottle caps all over the place after popping open a beer?  Bottle cap magnets!!

Bunny Update

We had to cut our grass.  It was looking pretty bad but since the baby bunnies were on our property and the bees were still collecting from the clover patches, the boy decided to cut around some of our bigger patches of clovers.

In the Garden this Weekend

It is freak'n hot!! Even this morning when I went out to work in the garden, it already felt like it was 70 degrees.  Anyway, this morning I was doing my insect inspection.  My arugula, collards, kale and napa cabbage are the main vegetables constantly being attacked.  Well, I flipped one of the collard leaves over and this is what I found....

Lacewing eggs!!! I'm very excited!  When I was planning my raised beds, I knew I didn't want to use too many insecticides or other chemicals to protect my plants so I decided to use companion plants in hopes of attracting beneficial insects. I guess it's working.  I've seen a ladybug hanging out in my bee balm, hover flies are constantly hovering around my marigolds and my parsley that is flowering right now. 

Garden Update

So the bunny that's been living in my yard left us a surprise....

It's nice to know that the bunnies feel safe enough in our yard to leave their kid with us, but seriously?  He/she is freak'n cute, though!!

Happy Earth Day!!

Today is rainy, rainy, rainy!!  I love it because for the past week, it's been dry and hot and even with daily deep watering, the plants were looking a bit sad.  Everything seems to be growing alright except for my spinach.  I think I'm going to count them as a loss and replant spinach for the fall.  My kale was recently attacked by cabbage worms but thankfully, I've been able to pull them off before they totally eat all of the plants.  My cucumbers and zucchini just started sprouting and I planted my napa cabbage.  I also got a surprise this morning...

What's sad is that this little bunny used to have a partner in crime but I haven't seen him/her for a while.  I'm suspecting the other bunny may have gotten run over or eaten (we have hawks hanging around). They used to hop over from across the street (we've watched them) and make a bee-line to our yard.  I was going to put up a fence to keep the critters out, but I feel like I can figure out a way to garden harmoniously with the wildlife in the neighborhood.  The birds that we attract seem to be eating the bugs, the rabbit seems to be eating only the weeds and grass, and I've started to see ladybugs and hover flies hanging about.  I think I can do this. 

Happy Earth Day Everyone!!!

So Far, So Good.

Sorry for the absence.  I've been completely absorbed with gardening at the moment.  I almost feel rushed trying to get things into my raised beds before summer-like weather really hits us here.  And it seems like it will hit us REALLY soon!  I think we're supposed to be close to the mid to upper 80s today. Way too hot for April.  I'm really hoping my cool weather veggies don't just wilt and die before I get to eat them.  So some great surprises happened in my gardening misadventures.  Months ago, we had a crazy, windy storm that blew over my greenhouse.  My columbine seeds ended up completely mixed up and all over the place.  I thought I had totally lost these expensive ass seeds but of course, I kept the Ziploc bags with hopes that something would sprout.  Well, it did a month later!! I had a single plant growing but alas it was not to be.  The poor thing just up and died not too long ago BUT I had dumped the rest of the seed starting mix with the columbine seeds in a flat tray and bought another columbine variety to sprinkle onto the mix (I hate to waste good seed starting mix).  Lo and behold.... by the end of March, all of these columbines started to sprout!!

Battle Royale: Me vs Spring!

I spent the weekend battling slugs, spider mites, ants, pollen, squirrels, rabbits and whatever else Mother Nature decided to throw my way. The fight is ON!! It's SOOO ON!!! OMG.... I just noticed that I've been bitten by a mosquito! Grrrrr.... I definitely have a love/hate relationship with Spring. I planted lupines out front and noticed that the seedlings were getting chewed up by slugs. Ants are EVERYWHERE! We have rabbits who apparently live across the street but love to hang out in our backyard at night- I think they know something. And the squirrels are digging up my yard! 'sigh'

This weekend, we were supposed to cut the grass (weeds really) and it rained all weekend. So now, the weeds and crab grass have overgrown (glad I don't have to cut the grass! :-))  But I did have a few happy moments this weekend....

My seedlings are doing really well... except the impatiens.  Can't win them all. This morning, I dumped the rest of the impatiens seeds in the front bed- probably when I got bit by the stupid mosquito.

Spring is Here!!

SPRING!!  It's early but I'm hoping it's sticks around.  My biggest fear is that at the end of this month after I've planted my cool weather veggies, a freak blizzard will hit us- knock on wood! Well, at this point, I just want to enjoy the weather and watch mother nature in action. This past week, we were in the 80s for half of the week and with the warm weather, my yard exploded with plant life almost overnight!

When we first moved in to our current abode, the front of the house was a little drab.  There were a couple of sad looking rose bushes and some trees and lots of weeds! I planted tulips in the fall last year to the right of the house and crossed my fingers.....

How to Eat Lexington, NC BBQ

Step 1:  Bake up some pig skin or cracklin.

Step 2: Put pulled pork on bun.

Mother Nature Wins As Always.

Yesterday, the weather was insanely warm, like 80 degrees warm.  But down here, we all know that if it's warm like that when it shouldn't be, you watch the skies for strange clouds and bad weather approaching.  Yesterday they said we would just get some rain, but OH NO!!  It wasn't just rain, we got wind!!  Lots of gusty, strong WIND!! So last night at around 9:30 pm when the wind had really picked up, I had a moment of panic and ran downstairs and out the door to see that my greenhouse had been blown over. All my newly started seedlings were flipped over every which way, but somehow I had enough sense not to unzip my greenhouse to try to salvage anything. I dragged my greenhouse into my screened porch and prepared to catch whatever I could as they fell out of the greenhouse. I was able to save my kale but my collards, chamomile, and impatiens all ended up on the ground. My columbine had also been disturbed but was still contained in their Ziploc bag for the most part.