Harvest Monday: March 16, 2015 (and Making Ramp Butter)

 

This is my submission for Daphne's Dandelions weekly Harvest Monday where you can share your recent harvests or what you might be doing with past harvests.

In my case, I've only just started some veggie seeds so I definitely have some time to go before I'll have anything fresh to harvest (especially since it snowed again today ... ugh!).  But I am still working through what's left of last year's stores.

Twice previously this winter I pulled a bag of greens out of the freezer thinking it was swiss chard (due to my obvious inability to label things).  But it was ramps (wild leeks) so I just put the bag back in the freezer.  And then I did the same thing again this weekend so thought I'd better just do something with them - so I made ramp butter.

The ramps were given to me by a friend last spring (I suspect we are at least 6 weeks away from getting fresh ones this year). I had so many last year that the leftovers had been lightly braised then frozen.  After thawing them out, I squeezed out as much liquid as I could then placed them in a dry pan on low heat to extract any remaining liquid (or at least as much as I could get out).

I took 2.5 ounces (about 1/2 cup) and processed them in a food processor.  I then stirred them into 1 pound of unsalted butter along with 1 Tbsp of freshly grated lemon zest and a pinch or two of kosher salt.

Most of the mixture was wrapped in plastic wrapping to form logs - these can be stored in the freezer and easily pulled out and sliced whenever I want to add a bit of extra flavour to a dish. This will be great for starting off fried eggs or potatoes.  It can be used to top just about any vegetable or spread on toast or biscuits.  And it will be a delicious finish to a risotto or pasta dish.

Three large logs of ramp butter were put in the freezer for later use.  I kept some aside and ate it with some of the last fingerling (and one russian blue) potatoes from the fall harvest.  The few potatoes I have left now will be used as seed potatoes for this year.

Tomatoes and Peppers Started

I've been away this past week in the Dominican Republic (a few pictures on my last post for Wordless Wednesday).  It was -25 celsius when I left ... but arrived back Tuesday night to a balmy 5 degrees!  The greenhouse vents opened up as it was so hot inside!!  I have to admit that the open vent was a pretty awesome sight!  I later went inside to check things out and it was really warm - the original thermometer broke so I just need to get another one to see what it's really like in there before I do anything.

I booked the trip about a month ago so I knew I had to wait to get some seeds started.  I was really hoping to get an early start this year, in particular, to take advantage of the new greenhouse.  Oh well, it' still a bit of an average time to get going for me.

I usually store my seeds (in the cool dark basement) by plant family or other general groupings.  This helps me decide what I need to order or what I already have enough of.  But they get a bit mixed up ... for example, since I plan my garden around what I like to eat, I usually put the kale with the greens instead of the brassicas group because it's more intuitive when I plan my seed orders.

Then once my seed orders are all in, I split them out into planting method.  As shown in my recent post of my 2015 garden plans, this year I have three splits - starting indoor, starting in the greenhouse (new this year!) and direct sow outside.

I'm starting with the indoor seedlings ... first up are usually onions but I'm still getting organized for those.  So today I got on the tomatoes and peppers.  I have a bit of a short growing season so starting tomatoes and peppers inside is a must.

I always use a heat mat with a Jiffy greenhouse - the "greenhouse" is just a plastic base and lid that sit on top of the heat mat.   And I use peat pellets.

 
Just add warm water and they expand into little potting containers.  

After they have expanded (picture above is only halfway), I tear the wrapping to make sure there is plenty of space.  Into each go two to three seeds. Today I started the following (each row is six pellets):

Row 1: Park Seeds Heirloom Rainbow Blend (according to the website, this includes Aunt Ruby's German Green, Dixie Golden Giant, Black from Tula, Brandywine Red, Big Rainbow, and Cherokee Purple) - new pack bought in 2014
Row 2: Park Seeds Heirloom Rainbow Blend
Row 3: Park Seeds Heirloom Rainbow Blend
Row 4: Park Seeds Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes - leftovers from 2014
Row 5: West Coast Seeds Ancho Peppers - leftovers from 2014
Row 6: Stokes Super Red Pimento Peppers - leftovers from 2014
Row 7: Greta's Organic Seeds Cowhorn Peppers - new this year
Row 8: Greta's Organic Seeds Franks Sweet Peppers - new this year
Row 9: William Dam Seeds Ace Hybrid - leftovers from 2014 (very few seeds left - I didn't really need to use the whole row, but it's just easier to track that way)
Row 10: William Dam Seeds San Marzano Tomatoes - leftovers from 2012
Row 11: William Dam Seeds Jalapeno Raam - leftovers from 2012
Row 12: William Dam Seeds Jalapeno M Strain - leftovers from 2012

The heat mat greenhouse will sit away from the solarium windows as it gets too hot when the sun is shining.  But when they are large enough, I'll transplant them and move the seedlings into the brighter light here (after I get these plants moved out of the way).

I still have a few more peppers to get started so I'll work on that tomorrow along with the onion seeds and some herbs.

I'm very happy to finally get the season truly kicked off!

Wordless Wednesday: March 11, 2015