Gardening with the Seasons

by GrannyDalgas, posted in Uncategorized

4th Question –  

-How does your gardening/food growing/storage change throughout the seasons?

 

Gardening is a pleasurable way to adapt to the seasons of the year, and of the stages of life by being in the elements of nature amongst growing things. As soon as the winter holidays are past, gardeners start to prepare for the spring. I browse several catalogs and by February have placed or received an order of seeds. This year I chose Territorial Seeds. It is an investment, and sometimes an extravagance, but specialty seed buying is something I treat myself to. The reward of growing beautiful and delicious food is well worth the money, time and effort. Once the deepest cold of winter is over, I plant in the greenhouse, seeds of the brassicas first, and follow up with each type of plant as it’s hardiness allows. When the snow is all melted, onions can go in the garden as well as spinach and asian greens. Snowpeas and Sugarpod peas are also planted directly in the garden. I vary the location of the plants in the garden from year to year. Early in the spring I use a plastic covered cold frame in the garden for overwintering kale, chard, and for hardening off lettuce and some of the young plants before I expose them without any covering. This time of year (April and May ) is very busy planting and moving plants in and out of the greenhouse. My neighbor and I share the space of the greenhouse, and consult with each other on various questions we might have. I value her advice, and more meticulous methods. I have a much more random style.

 

If I kept a journal, I could tell you week by week the changes that occur in the garden throughout the growing season. I will just say that there is continual planting, harvesting, caretaking, and adapting to the plants needs. Disappointment and the frustration of failure are learning experiences, and outweighed by the surprises and delights of successul outcomes. I love the sweetness of young lettuce and the intense flavor of basil and garlic, mashed together with good olive oil and parmesan. Fresh picked tomatoes, onions, peppers and cilantro makes for such delicious salsas. Seeing a child relish the flavor of homegrown broccoli is so rewarding. A mature and healthy cabbage is spectacular. Summer is my favorite time of year.

 

In late summer, we are harvesting and canning, in addtion to eating really well. Last year we set up a kitchen outdoors so that I could boil away and enjoy being in the open air. I tend to find new ways to improve the way I prepare and store the harvest. Last year, I had so many tomatoes, that if I simply canned them, I would have more than I needed of straight jars of tomatoes. I decided to slow roast the peeled tomatoes on trays in the oven and then to can them as an intensely flavored sauce. I freeze roasted eggplant, and peppers. We smoke both hot and semi-hot varieties of peppers. We also smoke fish, and I hope someday to be able to say I caught it too, but we have not added fishing to our summer pleasures yet. I look forward to being able to.

Last year, I harvested the dill seed heads as they reached the perfect stage of development and to froze them in bags so that I could have them fresh for the pickled beans I make every year.

As I mentioned earlier, in the peak of summer, when the outdoor temperature is 80 and above, the temperature inside the greenhouse reaches 200 or more. Early in the morning I harvest and prepare cherries, apricots, plums, apples or other fruits for drying on screens. It is much more efficient than using a dehydrator, and seems to produce a more consistent texture of dried fruit.

 

Before the fall is over, if I don’t miss the opportunity, (as I did last fall ) I plant garlic. I have grown both hardneck and softneck varieties, and done well with both. Before the first frost, we bring the potted geraniums, rosemary and other cold sensitve plants that we want to save for the next year into the greenhouse.

 

We use surface irrigaion lines that we take up in the fall. We clean up the spent plants, rake the leaves from the yard and cover the garden soil.

 

Throughout the year, we enjoy the foods that we have canned, dried, smoked and frozen. I have been making fruitcakes for my friends and family for over 30 years using home dried fruit, often locally grown nuts if I can find them. I use discretion in who I give them to, choosing only people who claim that they really LIKE fruitcakes! 

Spring Ambition!

by GrannyDalgas, posted in Uncategorized

Here’s the third question… I do sound like I am bragging a little about my garden… 😕

-What foods do you primarily grow yourself (produce and beyond)? 

 

We regularly grow sugarpod and snap peas, lettuce, kale, spinach, chard, onions, broccoli, cabbage, various asian greens, tomatoes, basil, carrots, beans, potatoes, beets, eggplant, peppers, summer and winter squash, strawberries, pumpkins and melons We grow herbs of various sorts, including mint, thyme, rosemary, oregano, dill, sorrel, and tarragon. Most years we grow garlic, but this year I got behind and did not make the fall planting I usually have. I have been unsuccessful in growing asparagus and just tilled in the spot we had tried to get a patch growing. Instead we will be expanding the brassica selection to include cauliflower, and brussel sprouts. We have an old apricot tree as well as an aging Italian plum tree. We have a 5 year old Black Arkansas apple tree and a young peach tree. 

2nd Question

by GrannyDalgas, posted in Uncategorized

 

So tomorrow I will meet with Ron, the photographer with the little magazine for which these questions and answers were written.  We worked all weekend tidying up the yard, and there is still more to be done! I  hope he is good at capturing a pretty picture from a less than perfect reality!

 

-Could you please provide a little background about your gardening experience and philosophy?

 

We began our first garden together even before our marriage. Every year, regardless of our circumstances which in our youth were often transient, we would plant with the spring. I found the bounty of the Northwest a wonderful compliment to my early attempts at cooking from scratch. One of the convincing features of settling in Entiat, was the access to irrigation water, the light soil, and the long summer days which all contribute to luscious plant growth. In gardening, as in most things, there is always more to learn, and I will never consider myself having fully mastered the craft. I learn through trial and error, through reading and from others’ examples. Gardening is almost an instinctual compulsion. It is nourishing and satisfying to the soul as well as the body. I attempt to pass on the simple things I have learned about growing plants and am so happy to see my children and grandchildren growing and harvesting food from their own gardens now. At the library, I sometimes use the platform of Storytime to promote gardening to the very young children and moms who visit. Just this week I gave lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts and cauliflower plants away to the families who attended after a set of spring stories including Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit. Conversation at the library often gravitates to the topic of gardening, and food.

 

 

I have been composting for many years. Previously, I used an inexpensive large black plastic composter. A few years back, Gary built me a three stage wooden compost system. I toss all of our kitchen vegetable waste, coffee grounds from local bakeries or coffee vendors, yard and garden waste into the first stage box. From there, over time the pile gets moved first to the second stage box, and then finally to the third. I screen the finished compost if I am using it in pots. Otherwise it goes directly into the garden. Composting is an inexact science but almost always successful endeavor. A sign of success is a wealth of worms! I have in the past gone to great lengths to wheelbarrow home the neighbor’s fallen leaves or grass clippings, or to drag heavy plastic bags of grocery store discarded produce through the aisles for my compost. As time and opportunity allow, the compost pile is either very well nourished or somewhat neglected.

 

Since you asked….

by GrannyDalgas, posted in Life Stories

A while ago … last spring, a friend of Aunt Ruth’s who is a local journalist asked if she might interview me for a little magazine that is published here in North Central Washington. I was honored, but not surprised, as Ruth told me she had made the suggestion. I feel less than qualified for being the subject of any news story, but I did follow up the questions she sent me with answers.  The summer passed, and nothing came of it – but just recently the photographer for that same magazine has asked if he could come over to take some pictures. Oh no! I made my garden sound so much better than it is. especially this year! The plants are in decline, the weeds have taken over, and I spent too much time playing around when I should have been working!! Anyway, it is happening and I will make a mad dash to clean up before the photos are taken. In the meanwhile, I thought I would post the Q and A’s from last spring here.  I will post one question and answer at a time.

QUESTIONS:

-Could you tell me a little about yourself (professional background, lifestyle, etc…Ruth shared with me a bit about your house remodel, composting, and greenhouse projects but I’d love to hear more about these!)

I have lived in Entiat, WA for a little over 30 years. We moved here from Oregon where I met my husband, Gary while we were both students at Oregon State University. I was studying Forestry and he was enrolled in the Engineering department. Circumstances intervened, and our lives strayed from the paths we may have taken if we had continued in our chosen majors. I am now the mother of 4 grown children and grandmother of 4 little ones. I have worked for North Central Regional Library for almost 24 years and have been the librarian for the Entiat Branch for the last 20. Gary is a 30 plus year Union Carpenter and Construction Superintendent. We have much in common including a love of the outdoors, a zest for adventure, and a fondness of working with our hands. We both see value in saving and restoring salvageable materials. We have confidence in our ability to make changes to seemingly hopeless projects with a commitment to hard work and time. I am a self- taught home cook, food canner, soymilk and tofu maker, pickler, sauerkraut maker, fish and pepper smoker, breadmaker, kombucha and most recently beer brewer .

In respect to our home projects, we live in a house that has been through many transformations. It may be interesting note that this house was moved at least once, if not twice to its current location. It was one of those homes that traveled up the hill during the time that Entiat was relocated when Rocky Reach Dam was built. Prior to when they placed it in its current location, a basement foundation was poured. The quality of that foundation was one of the impressive features that Gary liked about the home. A person would have needed special vision to appreciate much else about the house. Dillapidated as it was , since it was big and affordable, and we had four children, we made the commitment to purchase and renovate. During the years that we have lived here, every wall, window, door, floor has been replaced. The remodeled house design was dictated by practicality , which I feel has turned out to be beautiful. Many of the windows, and doors are salvaged discards from construction jobs, as well as many of the cabinets and carpets. The feature I most love is the hardwood maple flooring throughout the front room and main floor bedrooms. It is the old gym floor that was removed from the Entiat School during its remodel back in the mid-90’s.. I like to think of the many basketball games played on these boards, some of which we attended when my own kids were little.

The majority of the structure of our greenhouse is also salvage material. The windows are from the demolition on a Chelan school building project. They sat in our yard for years prior to when we found the time and resources to put them to good use. Now the greenhouse has allowed me to start almost all of my plants for the garden early in the season, to grow extra plants for friends and other family members and to overwinter potted plants. In the last few years we discovered that the intense heat and protected environment of the greenhouse serves as a perfect fruit dehydrator.

Probably the most exciting thing happening currently ( other than being fairly recent grandparents ) in our lives is our project on a cabin and piece of property we now own 11 ½ miles up the Entiat River Road. We purchased this place about 10 years ago. It was love at first sight, despite the gargantuan effort that it would and is taking to clean up and bring our vision to fruition. But that is another story and it is ongoing. 

“when in doubt, do the right thing”

by GrannyDalgas, posted in Good Advice, Health and Happiness, Love and Family

As I organize papers from the past, a task slowly taken, I find stories, letters, drawings, and momentos that make me realize what a fortunate life I have lead. Thankfulness for the precious wisdom passed down from those no longer on this earth is the emotion that I recently uncovered. In November of 1997, Ben had written to Grandpa Fred regarding his career, and likely as part of a school assignment. What follows is Gpa’s response. I hope it gives you encouragement, confidence, and reinforcement of your work.

“Dear Benjamin,

Thank you for your E-mail. As you know, I have been retired for five years. I retired on October 30, 1992. Since I have held a number of jobs during my working career, I will write chiefly about my last one with the Federal Aviation Administration.”

(Grandpa then goes on to list the various duties of his job, and the training required for it, and the pros and cons of the job. Ben’s questions must have included one on advice, and here is Grandpa’s response.)

The most important factor is to enter a field that has a great attraction for you. To be happy in your work, do what you want to do. If you work just to make money, your work will be drudgery.

After you are in the job, try to increase your competence to perform that job in every way possible.

Work hard. Do the very best that you possibly can in performing the job, evey if it means working overtime without an expectation of extra pay or rewards. …

Have integrity. In other words, “when in doubt, do the right thing”. At times, this is difficult, because it may seem that taking the “right” course of action is not in your best interests. In the final analysis, however, being a person of integrity will be recognized by other people, both on and off the job, and will pay off in both material and non-material ways.

Have a happy personality. Be out-going and friendly.

Always strive for perfection. Of course, it is impossible to achieve that, but try to come as close to it as you can. In the Federal Aviation, we had a “Zero-Defects” program. No one completely achieved all of the objectives of the program, but we all tried to come as close to it as humanly possible.

(and then Ben asks Grandpa about his “dream job”)

For as long as I can remember, I wanted to fly. How I was able to achieve that goal was a combination of striving, fate, and pure blind luck. At age twenty-two, I had been farming for five years. I was pretty well reconciled to a future of farming. Then, on December 7, 1941, the United States got into World War II and very soon I was classsified as 1-A by my draft board. Well, I wasn’t going to wait around to be drafted, so I enlisted in the Army Air Corps, (the original Air Force) That is what started it all. I began to see my dreams realized, and the continued to be realized until I retired from the FAA on Octber 31, 1992, at age seventy-four. In short, I wanted to fly, and I got to do it ‘IN SPADES.”

Well, Ben, that’s a very brief account of my working ( it really wasn’t work to me ) careet. I hope you can use my story.
Love,
G.P. Fred

Making Do and Hanging On

by GrannyDalgas, posted in Books and Reading, Gardening Secrets, Health and Happiness, Love and Family

The end of February, 2009 and I can almost smell the garden when I go out the door.  The weather hasn’t stabilized yet, and we could even get snow again tonight, but little greens are growing both in the homemade greenhouse and in the recently constructed coldframe.  I haven’t gone outside yet this morning to check on the baby greens,  but I feel that a little chill won’t hurt them as long as they are under the protection of their covers.  There is something corollary about  the hardening off  of plants, and  the hardships of life that gives strength to the individual.  

cover of book Making Do and Hanging On, by Bruce Foxworthy

I have been reading the book  “”Making Do and Hanging On,” with the subtitle “Growing Up in the Apple Country Through the Great Depression”, by Bruce Foxworthy.  I feel honored to learn about the challenges that the generation that grew up during the 30’s  has to share with us.  The history of Entiat is very young, and Mr. Foxworthy’s family epitomized the kind of people  that lived by principles of hard work and honesty that living in a beautiful but harsh environment required.  I can say that I have met no more friendly and giving people than those from that generation, and from this valley.  As we and our children’s generation are entering our  own hard times ahead, I hope that we can thrive and come out even stronger than before.  In a way, (as I was telling Ruthie last night) I am kind of looking forward to a  Depression.  

You are all invited to attend a program at the Entiat Public Library (or the Entiat Grange if need be)  featuring Bruce Foxworthy on Tuesday, April 14th at 7:00 PM.  He stopped by the library the other day to donate a book to the branch and we arranged a date for him to speak.  The next week, Tuesday, April 21st at 7:00 PM we are hosting Carl Allen who performs Woody Guthrie songs of the Depression era, as well as the song Roll On, Columbia – Washington’s State  Song.

Below River People

by GrannyDalgas, posted in 1

In the old old days, there was a town down at the bottom of a hill.  The townsfolk who lived there loved their little homes, their stores and their theater.  There was a barber shop and a beauty shop, a gas station and a market. The children played near the banks of the river, and sometimes took a ferry across it.  The ferry man would charge only a nickel to go from one side to the other.  Up on the hill there were acres and acres of orchard land where the red and golden sweet and crispy apples grew.  LIfe was happy, children grew and the weather changed from day to day.  All was content until the day of the flood.

That was the day that changed the world.  There had been plenty of warning.  It was decided that the little town would go under.  Many of the people planned to go up above on  the hills. Every day for months the people saw one house, then another travelling up the road.  People would say, “There goes the mayor’s house!” or ” I saw the old Albin place going uphill today!” Homes became  empty lots, and the little town lost many of the places that were fond to those townsfolk. In spite of the news of the  coming flood, there were some who wanted to stay in the homes they had built.  They thought that life could continue, albeit a little differently below water.  Hadn’t they heard of the great cities of the deep? If Atlantis could thrive, why not a little town?  There was arguing, and debating and even amongst families,  one decided to stay and one to leave.  Little Lily was from one of those families. Her brothers wanted to be with the above river people on higher ground.   “We can grow apples still, Lily. We will do just fine.” One even said he would go even further and live upriver. “I will buy a horse and find where all the lost  mountain trails lead to. Do you want to go with me, Lily?”  But Little Lily just wanted to live where she always had, in the house her father built down by the shore.  And so she stayed.

She had prepared in body and spirit. First, she learned to swim for great distances underwater. Little by little, her lungs increased in size. She could hold her breath for minutes, then hours, then days.  As she swam, she discovered caves under the water where there had once been other homes. And in those caves were tools, and drawings.  The caves were dry in places and were filled with unusual kinds of creatures. They weren’t really obviously animals or plants, but kind of like coral mushrooms. They were similar to mushrooms in the way they had a stalk and a bulbous top, but more like coral in the way they were brittle and beautifully colored.  Lily wondered if they might be good to eat. She tasted one little one, and it was  crunchy, sweet and tart but salty with a taste similar to something like pickled berries. She felt a little burst of energy , and decided it wouldn’t hurt to try another. She found them very tasty, and but the most amazing thing was she found that she could swim faster and stronger after having eaten a few  these underwater morsels.

On she swam, deeper into the cave she had entered.  Now she noticed great limestone stalactites, and stalagmites that reminded her of the pillars and chandeliers one might see in a great palace or cathedral. Deeper and deeper she swam toward a kind of phosphorescent green light that she saw shining in the distance.

Picking Plums

by GrannyDalgas, posted in Gardening Secrets, Health and Happiness, In the Kitchen, Love and Family

Picking Plums

Don’t you love the way he gracefully picks the plums from the tree? The trick to growing a good Italian Plum tree is so simple. Plant one or find one where it happens to be, and when the season arrives, pick the fruit. The birds will eat a few, but happily, bugs don’t seem to like them very much. We have found that the fruit is most easily preserved by drying it. A simple commercial dryer works great. This year we are experimenting with putting sliced fruit in the greenhouse on a piece of screening. On a hot day, the temperature in the greenhouse gets up above 120 degrees. The texture of the finished dried fruit is nicer than in the electric dryer.  Later in the year I will use the fruit in fruitcakes and breads, or just as a snack with nuts. I’m interested in more ways to use it. Sometimes I wish I had a cook living with us so I could just grow the garden and fruit trees, harvest and preserve the produce  and someone else would make delicious meals or treats with it.  Anyone interested??

Pops said he knows just what it feels like to be pregnant when he wears the pickin basket.  I appreciate that he tries to imagine what it must feel like.

What can a mother say?

by GrannyDalgas, posted in Art and Beauty, Books and Reading, Health and Happiness, Love and Family

Ruth Mary Nelson, K.U. Graduation, 1940

My mama was and is a beautiful shining star.  This mother’s day I want to once again share her wisdom with you, my children and loved ones.  I feel a great joy in sensing that she is aware of her beautiful grandchildren and now little great grandchildren.   These words have been directed just as truly to you as to each of us.  The best I can give you is written here.

“My darling children,

If anything should happen to me there are a few things I should like to suggest you think about.

First, you can never know how very greatly God has favored me in giving me not one but five of the most lovely and talented children I have ever seen. I feel very humble and yet very honored that He should consider me the one worthy of being your Mother.  Always honor Him and know that the answer to every problem you may have is to be found in the Bible if you read it wanting to accept His word for what you should do rather than your own.

Try to make all your decisions on information you can assemble and then of your own free will decide the best course of action.  Dream and spend some time alone – reassembling your thoughts, verify your ideals, and establish the best method of achieving what you want of life.

I have great confidence in all of you. You must love others but be self sufficient and able to carry on alone, should the need arise.  Remember – God says, “Lo, I am with you always” You must be able to adjust to any and all situations.

Have compassion for all who are less strong than you – give them some of your strength. Use your talents fully.

Believe that everything works for good if you believe in God. Don’t dwell on sentimentality or reminiscing – it isn’t healthy. Be realistic – if you find it difficult – look to helping little children and you will soon forget anything but the present.

Let the search for beauty and excellence be your goal – in whatever field you putsue. See beauty in nature, in people- don’t let anger or hate corrupt you or make you ugly.

Fear nothing – yet use judgement. Live fully in order to be understanding of others and thereby enjoy their company and help them with their problems.

Try to exercise every day in the sun – a healthy body is most important to success.

Do not be tempted by others to smoke, drink or participate in other vices. Popularity with such persons or groups is only fleeting and cannot injure anyone but yourself.

You have been very ‘spcially endowed, but know that there is an obligation attached to the awarding of your talents. You must use them for good purpose. I am very proud of all of your present accomplishments.

I ask only that God take care of you and that you will know He is ever near and that I, your Mother, love you all as much as is humanly possible.

Love each other, help each other – and remember I would kiss each of you goodnight if I were with you tonight.

Your Mama”