BaltimoreDIY

Baby Chicks Video Update

2012-02-20T14:21:00.001-08:00

Baby Chicks

2012-02-18T06:46:00.001-08:00

Baby chicks! A few more photos coming soon :)

Purchase Bulk Food & Support Boone Street!

2012-02-06T19:05:00.000-08:00

Now announcing the Boone Street Garden February fundraiser! Full ordering instructions can be found on the Order Bulk Food link at the top of the page.

This month, you can place an order through us for foods delivered from Frankferd Farms, an organic foods distributor. You will pre-pay us and we will place a group order to be delivered at the end of February. We would love it if you want to add an extra amount on to your order total as a donation to the Boone Street Garden.

The instructions for placing an order are described in detail below. The food will be delivered to my house in Remington, and we will have a pickup day in early March.

Frankferd Farms offers organic beverages, snacks, bulk grains, canned foods, dry beans, dried fruit, and more. I am planning on stocking up on lots of flour for bread baking, oats for oatmeal and my newfound oatmeal muffin addiction, jugs of Dr. Braggs live culture apple cider vinegar, and beans.

Wednesday, February 22nd is the deadline to place your order. I will then send out a final spreadsheet with everyone's order, and you will have until Monday the 27th to confirm that your order is correct. The order will be placed on Tuesday, February 28th and should arrive in early March. It will be delivered to my house in Remington. I will email everyone with the pickup information when I send the final confirmation spreadsheet.

Please email me at baltimorediy@gmail.com if you have any questions!

Milling Sorghum

2012-02-03T14:06:00.000-08:00

Photo is from a past foodmaking experiment with "bouza" an ancient form of beer making.

This Thursday, 2/9, I hope to mill the sorghum we grew at the Boone Street Garden this year as a fun experiment. My friend Nick will be taking video which I plan on posting to the blog, so stay tuned!

My friend Steve was kind enough to lend me the use of his flour mill (pictured above). Before the grains are ground they need to be threshed and winnowed. In addition to showing the process of harvesting and grinding the grain, I will also be talking a little bit about sorghum as a crop and why we decided to grow it.

The video posted below shows a pretty simple DIY thresher, which separates the wheat grains from the stalk. I was going to build the thresher in the video, but to be honest, we only grew about twenty sorghum plants and I can probably just separate the grains by hand and save myself the trouble of building the thresher.

After the grains are separated from the stalk, the next step is to separate the dry outer husk from the seeds. This process is called winnowing. The simplest way is to use the wind to whisk away the light husks from the heavy seeds. Modern methods use a fan, although you can also toss the seeds up and down in the air to get the wind to carry away the husks.

This video has a basic overview of the threshing and winnowing process. I can't wait until I have time to sit down and look at all of the related videos. There are many different methods for the threshing and winnowing process.

I was originally going to do the sorghum milling as a workshop, but we are organizing a bulk food sale as our February urban homesteading workshop/fundraiser and I am not sure I have the energy to organize a workshop for this Thursday. We will see... I am currently deciding on the location, which is going to either be the kitchen at 2640 or a food maker friend's kitchen. If you would be interested in attending the workshop, feel free to email me at baltimorediy@gmail.com.

I have some reading up/video watching to do to learn about the process myself!

Memories of Last Summer & Getting Ready to Grow!

2012-01-27T15:23:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, it's been somewhat quiet here on BaltimoreDIY, but there's been a lot of planning going on behind the scenes.

I've posted a photo of last summer's block party to remind me of all the work we got done last year to boost my spirits and get ready for this year. See below for some more memories of last summer! And of course, you can always click on the "Boone Street" link at the top of the page for a full chronological review of the farm and lessons we learned.

Cheryl, our farm assistant Baba, and neighborhood friend Big Willie getting things done while the sorghum grew tall...

Big Willie always asks us if we have tomatoes (even in December) and calls me Tinkerbelle.... we recently found out that he started a drama troupe at his church so we hope to have some public theater at the garden this summer!

Cheryl and I hoped to cut all this tall grass to use as straw for mulch or hay for animal feed, but we couldn't find a good scythe so we had to mow it eventually. We did cut some of it by hand with scissors but that wasn't really sustainable.

Ferb taking a photo while his brother Brian is apparently sneaking up on me as I'm getting my caffeine on! See the photo below to see Ferb among the squash...

Ferb and the squash..

This year we plan on keeping track of the hours the neighborhood kids help us out at the farm so they can earn their "service learning hours" which will help them as they are applying to get in to Baltimore City's various high schools.

Here's all the urban homesteading fun going on this weekend!

By the way, I seriously recommend checking out the CGRN calendar if you are looking for exciting events in Baltimore related to sustainability.

Saturday

"Greening University": a medley of awesome community organizations are coming together to host workshops about starting community gardens, soil, landscaping for a healthy Chesapeake Bay, working with community associations, and more. I'll keep you all posted on the great information I learn.

After the Greening University, Cheryl and I have to sit down and purchase our seeds for the year! We also plan to set up our seedling station, since we better get rolling on planting those lettuce, cabbage, bok choy seedlings and more. We'll also buy some peas, radishes, carrots, beets, and perennial herbs.. and this is just for spring/fall planting! Summer plants are a whole other deal.

The Baltimore Foodmakers are hosting a potluck with the theme of "root vegetables" on Saturday evening.

Sunday

I already posted about the Urban Food Access talk taking place at 10:30 at the Baltimore Ethical Society.

I hope to attend, although Chicken Man and I have to stretch the rabbit skins that have been soaking in a solution of aluminum sulfate, sea salt, and water over the last two weeks, so maybe I should do that instead... I've also got some personal stuff to attend to and plan to do house chores and the like.

Coming Up

Stay tuned for more blog updates and new links across the top of the page, and our February urban homestead workshop will be announced soon!

Here is a PDF link to an upcoming farmer training class I will be taking this spring along with some fellow Baltimore City urban growers. I actually already attended this class in 2010 but feel like I could use a refresher, especially now that I am specifically working on Boone Street.

And now I will leave you all with a final photo memory of the farmer training class that I took in the past, seeing all these sprouts makes me excited and a little nervous for the growing season to come:

Urban Food Access Talk: This Sunday 1/29

2012-01-23T14:27:00.001-08:00

Produce Contest, originally uploaded by baltimoreDIY.

Re-posted from the Baltimore Ethical Society website:

In Baltimore, the food system comes up short for many city residents – corner stores are common; supermarkets are scarce; diet-related diseases are on the rise; and healthy, affordable foods can be hard to find. We will discuss some of the factors that have led to this situation and share examples of how local faith communities are working to bring about a more just, healthy food system for those most in need.

Sun, Jan 29, 2012, 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Baltimore Ethical Society, 306 W. Franklin St, Baltimore, MD 21201-4517

“Urban Food Access in Baltimore”

by Angela Smith Project Director, Baltimore Food & Faith

Speaker bio: Angela Smith directs the Baltimore Food & Faith Project with the Center for a Livable Future’s Eating for the Future at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She has an MA in environmental studies from Brown University, where she studied religious-environmental organizations and their efforts to promote an environmental ethic among “people in the pews.” She worked on an organic community-supported agriculture farm in Baltimore County and continues to grow food at the Druid Hill Park garden of the City Farms Program, operated by the Horticulture Division of the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks. Smith is a trained master gardener/composter in Baltimore City and enjoys volunteering at community gardens, school gardens, and for other greening projects in her neighborhood.

Seeds (Part 2: Sprouts)

2012-01-17T10:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I posted about seeds in the most literal sense of the word, as gardeners all across the region begin purchasing seeds and setting up next year's planting schedule.

But seeds aren't just for planting! Winter is a great time for making all sorts of delicious foods with seeds.

Today we will talk about sprouting.

Special thanks to the Kitchn for this gorgeous photo and instructions for making your own alfalfa sprouts.

Click on the link to view their article and learn how to sprout away! The instructions work for making any sort of sprouts, from tiny alfalfa sprouts to spicy radish sprouts to big fat mung bean sprouts.

When produce is low in seasonal availability, sprouts are the absolute easiest and freshest way to garden indoors. All you need are seeds, a little water, and a jar! It couldn't be easier. Pop the sprouts onto a hummus or cream cheese sandwich, serve as a healthy side dish with a bit of dressing, or even drop some in soup.

I just started a batch of mung bean sprouts this morning and hope to make this soup recipe as posted in "Quick and Easy Korean Cooking" by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee, which is one of my favorite go-to cooking books for light and relatively simple meals. Here's a link to the Amazon page if you want more information:

The soup drew my attention because it's light and healthy, and it makes use exclusively of pantry items like dried fish, seeds, and flavorings that store well over the winter. Even the green onions are seasonal, since any organic onions stored in your cold cellar or pantry have started sprouting green tops by now, which you can cut and add to the soup!

If the idea of anchovy stock turns you off, you could always substitute any other kind of broth. UPDATE: made some anchovy stock last night and it was really bitter tasting. Found out that many Koreans cut the head and intestines out of the anchovy to get rid of that off taste.

Great info on making anchovy stock here: http://www.maangchi.com/ingredients/dried-anchovies-myulchi

Bean Sprout Soup

1/2 cup dried anchovies
3 quarts water
8 ounces sprouts*
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp Korean chile powder**
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
2 green onions chopped

*The recipe lists soybean sprouts, but I plan to substitute with mung bean
** I also don't have time to get Korean chile powder, so I plan on tossing in a dried chile or two from the peppers we grew at Boone Street garden this year. It's not traditional, but I use what I got!

Put the anchovies and water in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5-7 minutes. Strain and discard the anchovies. You now have anchovy stock. This step can be done ahead of time.

Rinse and drain the sprouts. Traditionally, the root ends are trimmed from the sprouts. You can leave off this step if you prefer, although the texture will be improved.

Bring the anchovy stock to a boil, if it's not hot already. Add the sprouts, garlic, chile powder, and sesame oil and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add the salt and green onions and let cook for about a minute more. Add salt if needed.

Serve in individual bowls with any rice dish. (I might use noodles instead of rice!) You could also drop in a beaten egg, chopped tofu or meat, and anything else you please to make this soup a little bit heartier.

Enjoy!

Seeds (Pt. 1)

2012-01-16T09:30:00.000-08:00

Ah, January!

It's been wonderful taking some time to breathe from the frantic pace of day to day chores of the gardening season, to take time and reflect on last year, and plan for this year.

In the Mid-Atlantic region, now is the time to brew a cup of tea, relax, crack open some favorite seed catalogs, and make a planting guide for next year.

Interesting fact: in areas where the weather is hot and sunny year round, winter is actually prime growing season, and the hot, dry summer months are a good time for those folks to take a garden break.

The Maryland Extension is a fabulous resource for tips and tricks on starting plants from seed, from lights and growing medium to hardening off your tender seedlings before planting them outdoors.

Here are the seed catalogs I will be checking out this year:

Bakers Creek Heirloom Seeds (pictured above): gorgeous photos of heirloom varieties of all types of food crops. It's a pleasurable read and you will never look at boring, conventional supermarket varieties of food the same way again!

Southern Exposure Seeds: also an heirloom seed company, Southern Exposure emphasizes seeds that are adapted to the Mid-Atlantic region.

Horizon Herbs: an incredible resource for herb growers, whether you want to start your own medicinal tea garden, attract local pollinators, or simply read up and learn more about various types of herbs and their properties.

Also, the Washington Gardener has asked that I share a link about their annual seed exchange, which will take place January 28th in Maryland and February 4th in VA. You can learn more and RSVP here.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a post about different uses for seeds during winter months!

Boone Street Brunch Bake Sale

2012-01-03T14:04:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone who came out and visited the Boone Street Garden brunch bake sale on New Year's Day!

It was so wonderful getting to see friends and having delicious treats on a nice warm day. Thanks to everyone for the support, and we earned $135 in profit which will certainly go to use in the Boone Street Garden budget.

Here are a few photos from my friend Jon. What a pretty day! The weather was great. We had peach-apple pie filled muffins, oatmeal-serviceberry mini muffins, sausage-egg-kale-black bean bites, a box of coffee, and the bloody marys. All items were made available on a donation basis.

Billy from the Free Farm also took more photos of the make-your-own bloody mary bar so those will be posted soon. One of the visitors said she had always dreamed of doing a make-your-own bloody mary bar so now she could cross it off her list!

Here you can see our lovely neighborhood, Remington (where I live, it's not where the Boone Street Garden is located.)

Various pickles for the bloody-mary garnishes and for people to take in exchange for donation: pickled okra, pickled banana peppers, chili oil, sweet and sour zucchini relish, and pickled green tomatoes and roasted peppers. The cherry tomatoes to the far left have been soaking in vodka, which is another great way to store your summer produce and makes a great bloody mary garnish!

I plan on posting the steps soon for making the bloody marys for any of you who want to host your own party.

Happy New Year everyone!

Come Grab Some Homegrown Bloody Marys & Muffins for a New Year's Day Fundraiser!

2011-12-30T09:35:00.000-08:00

I've been looking around at the jars of canned tomato juice, pickled okra, and pickled peppers that were preserved from the Boone Street Garden harvest this year, and realized that we grew the perfect bloody mary ingredients!

So of course I naturally am making last minute plans for a New Year's Day brunch goodies fundraiser.

Items I hope to have available:

- Bloody Marys garnished with our pickled okra and peppers
- Muffins (including some with the serviceberries I canned this year)
- Egg, sausage, and kale bites for my gluten-free friends
- Hopefully herb tea and coffee for those of you who don't want any hair of the dog! (I still have to find a thermos to keep any drinks warm)

Mmm homegrown bloody mary supplies...

Of course the eggs will be from our own chickens, and the kale from the Boone Street hoop house as well!

I will set up the table at the Remington garden since the market we had in August was so successful, and because I will only have to roll out of bed and bring all the goods around the corner.

I think 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. is a good brunch time, so I will bring my knitting and yummies and will be hanging out at the garden if you want to come visit, donate to Boone Street, and grab some delicious brunch! I just checked the weather and it looks like it will be a really nice day, almost 60 degrees.

The garden is located on 28th street, between Remington Ave. and Huntingdon Ave. Look for the parking lot next to the Sav-It liquor store, I will be in the parking lot.

Happy New Year everyone, and I hope to see you Sunday around brunch time!

Brooklyn Homesteader

2011-12-27T11:39:00.000-08:00

I love good homesteading friends!

Over the holiday weekend I had the opportunity to meet up with the Brooklyn Homesteader, a NYC based urban homesteader who actually hales from right here in Baltimore! Our paths crossed over the internet (the urban homesteading blog community ain't too gigantic!) and I found out that she has family here and would be visiting over the holidays. It was great fun meeting up for some delicious rye old fashioned drinks and hanging out by a fire.

I love sitting at bars screaming about the mothering habits of our doe rabbits and successful urban homesteading classes. At one point another friend remarked that our conversation sounded like complete gibberish! I can't help it though, I just love talking about this stuff, and it is always wonderful meeting people who love to talk shop with me.

You can friend Brooklyn Homesteader on Facebook or check out her website for information about upcoming classes and living the homegrown life in NYC.

All these winter conversations are definitely exciting as we look towards our Boone Street Garden plans for spring.

Happy Winter!

2011-12-26T16:07:00.000-08:00

Happy Winter Holidays Everyone!

What sorts of homegrown projects do you have in store for winter?

Here in Baltimore, we've been cleaning up the garden, building lasagna beds, making herb teas and soups, baking bread, and finally cracking open those canned goods.

In this photo you can see one of my favorite tips for a healthy, fresh snack of root vegetables: turnips!

Wikipedia has lots of great turnip facts, from old school tilling practices and livestock feed with turnips, to turnip lanterns, to Turkish juices made with purple carrots and turnips.

Cut up slices of radish or turnip and store them in lightly salted water to ensure that they stay crisp. They are a perfect instant snack. I like to nibble a few slices here or there to balance out all the grilled cheese, cocoa, and other favorite cold weather treats.

Speaking of treats, the chickens have been enjoying the clover, raggedy greens, and grass sprouts we've been pulling from inside the Boone Street Garden hoop house. One of the best parts about having animals is getting a double use out of the weeds we pull. Bawk!

Winter bunny update: the female and male Rex rabbits have been separated. Chicken Man decked out a former chicken coop that was given to us as friends, which we had been using as for hay storage. I love the teal color.

Check it out: it's a double decker!

The bunnies figured out the stairs pretty quickly:

Wheee! The bunnies also love cardboard boxes! They like napping in them and chewing them. Good thing I pick up a steady supply from my office. Between nabbing cardboard for the bunnies and to hold down the weeds at the garden, we are always on the lookout for nice brown paper cardboard boxes.

Of course, Chicken Man is reminding me not to get too attached to the bunnies.

For now, I'm just loving watching them and using their copious piles of black gold to build nice rich garden beds for spring.

Baltimore Free Farm Fundraiser

2011-12-13T08:14:00.000-08:00

Join the Baltimore Free Farm this Saturday, December 17th for a fancy fundraising dinner, complete with fresh geese and duck, homebrewed cider and beer, stuffed peppers and mushrooms, and more!

There will also be live music, an awards ceremony to celebrate those who have helped the Free Farm grow, and a preview of their upcoming documentary.

There are a lot of different urban farms sprouting up around Baltimore City, and the Free Farm has a particularly unique model. The mission statement on their website lists the many different projects they are brewing (including literally brewing!) such as: making preserves, running an event space, hosting many volunteer workshops, freshwater aquaculture, and building renovations. Even their farm looks unique, as it is the only garden I have seen in Baltimore that is terraced into a hillside.

All of their many projects are really inspiring and it's great to have them in the Baltimore urban farming community.

And of course, the event will be held at 2640, which is another awesome community space that hosts so many fantastic events to support alternative culture in Baltimore.

I have another holiday event to attend that night, but I'm kind of hoping I can make this dinner, I'll have to figure out my schedule quick before the event fills up to capacity!

Morning Glory Muffins & Canning Applesauce

2011-12-08T14:09:00.001-08:00

Right now one of my favorite things to make are the Morning Glory Muffins from King Arthur Flour.

Chock full of nuts, raisins, shredded coconut, carrot, apple, walnut, and various seeds, they are a hearty and yummy treat for breakfast or snack. Scroll down for the recipe!

I have the "King Arthur's Baker's Companion Cookbook" which has the recipe, but for some reason I don't think the book I have includes the 1/4 cup of orange juice included on the website recipe. I make my muffins without it and they turn out fine. The mix will be quite dense and thick. Also, I only get 9 muffins out of the recipe, even though it says it makes a dozen. So make two batches!

You can change up the recipe, adding different kinds of dried fruits and seeds. I added flax seeds instead of sunflower seeds, and I'm sure pumpkin or sesame seeds would be great too. It's kind of a 'everything but the kitchen sink' type of muffin!

A delicious low-fat alternative is to replace some of the oil with applesauce. Speaking of which, now is the time to buy apple 'seconds' at the farmer's market!

These are the apples that might have a few dings and soft spots, but are overall still good for baking. Just wash, peel, and cut out the bad bits. You can get POUNDS of apples for just a few dollars.

Applesauce is also a really great beginner canning recipe since you can make it in a waterbath, and it's a food will get eaten (rather than endless jars of jams and pickles, which are great but mostly in small quantities.) The National Center for Home Food Preservation has applesauce canning instructions here.

Canning advice: longtime BaltimoreDIY readers may remember a post in which I explain why it's important to make sure your jars full of applesauce are hot before you put them into the hot water bath!

Morning Glory Muffin Recipe

posted from the King Arthur Flour website

1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) raisins
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) King Arthur whole wheat flour, traditional or white whole wheat
1 cup (7 1/2 ounces) brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups (7 ounces) carrots, peeled and grated
1 large tart apple, peeled, cored, and grated
1/2 cup (1 1/2 ounces) sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup (2 ounces) chopped walnuts
1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) sunflower seeds or wheat germ, optional
3 large eggs
2/3 cup (4 5/8 ounces) vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup (2 ounces) orange juice

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin, or line it with papers and spray the insides of the papers.

To make the muffins: In a small bowl, cover the raisins with hot water, and set them aside to soak while you assemble the rest of the recipe. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, spices, and salt. Stir in the carrots, apple, coconut, nuts, and sunflower seeds or wheat germ, if using. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and orange juice. Add to the flour mixture, and stir until evenly moistened. Drain the raisins and stir them in. Divide the batter among the wells of the prepared pan (they'll be full almost to the top; that's OK).

To bake the muffins: Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, until nicely domed and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes in their pan on a rack, then turn out of pans to finish cooling.

The Hoop House Plastic Is On!

2011-12-01T12:18:00.001-08:00

The hoop house plastic is up! And as you can see from the state of my glasses, it's already pretty steamy in there.

The lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, and radish seedlings are going to start shooting up like crazy!

Happily, we recently found out that there is a program just around the corner from us on Greenmount Ave. that teaches young men construction skills. It's called Project Craft. One of the things they do is build hoophouses! We truly couldn't have put the finishing touches on the hoop house without their help. Thanks guys!

We're going to have to take the row cover off now that it's so warm in there! Two rows planted, one more to go. It would be great to put in some daikon seeds, turnip, green onions, carrots, and beets.

All of the volunteers hard at work: yay! And this is only a small part of a much larger crew that came to help out.

Thanks to Cheryl and all of the volunteers, the Boone Street hoop house came in on time and on budget: we built this for almost exactly $1000! Special thanks to Parks and People and two very wonderful private donors who helped us fund this project. We are getting lots of excited comments from neighbors who have seen this project come to fruition.

SPIN Farming

2011-11-30T11:46:00.001-08:00

One of my main concerns with urban farming is that it seems difficult to earn enough money raising food crops on a very small plot of land.

SPIN (Small Plot Intensive) farming says it has the answer!

The method works by dense crop plantings and by arranging harvests according to growth rates and profit margins. It does require a lot of planning to figure out your crop placement and rotations, how to fertilize, etc. You can visit their website for a more in depth explanation: http://spinfarming.com/

Their website claims that ""its precise revenue targeting formulas and organic-based techniques make it possible to gross $50,000+ from a half- acre." Whoa! The above video shows a newbie farmer from Canada who says he made it happen. He is now farming and earning a living, recycling city waste into compost, and growing food that doesn't require gallons of petroleum. Exciting stuff. Of course, the farmer still works 60 hour weeks during peak season, but that's just the way of farming. It's a lifestyle, not just a living.

Aargh, just as the winter comes and I'm ready to relax, now I want to start experimenting with this new method of farming!

Hoop House Update!

2011-11-28T12:52:00.001-08:00

The Boone Street hoop house is nearly complete!

Special thanks to all of the volunteers who came out and helped us pound stakes into the ground, bend metal EMT poles, tie fishing line, drill the wooden frame together, and help us get transplants into our new rows. We couldn't have done this without your help.

We have three rows inside the hoop house. Two of the rows are planted and covered with row cover, which is a fabric netting that holds in heat as the temperature begins to drop. The third row still needs to be covered in compost and transplanted.

What's growing in there? We have white cabbage, red cabbage, lettuce, radishes, cauliflower, and a few beets and carrots. Scroll down to see the few other plants growing around the garden in late November!

If you're curious about the dimensions, the hoop house is about 90 feet long, 11 feet wide, and 8 feet tall. It cost us just under $1000 to build.

We've been getting a very positive response from neighbors as they've watched the hoop house come together.

The many neighborhood kids have been visiting on the regular still, they love filling buckets with dirt or wood chips and helping us fill out the rows inside the hoop house. They also like digging holes to plant trees and flower bulbs. Fort building and searching for worms are also popular kid activities!

Sometimes it can get a bit chaotic with all of the kids but in the end it's been a lot of fun having them at the garden. Plus I've been getting better at learning how to positively discipline. The biggest thing I've learned is staying calm and firm when disciplining so that the atmosphere doesn't get heated. We've got a mix of kids who visit, from four year olds to twelve year olds.

There are a few other plants still growing:

An oregano plant, with a few carrot seeds that somehow got mixed in-

Garlic bulbs planted, which we hope to continue planting through December:

Forage radish, part of a cover crop mix of forage radish, hairy vetch, and something else which I can't remember. Cover crop are plants which grow during the colder late fall and either die in winter or are tilled into the soil in early spring. They are used to increase organic material in the soil, and will also help hold back the crab grass which is constantly coming back to take over our cultivated rows.

And that's the late November garden update!

Special thanks to Cheryl, who really did the bulk of building this hoop house. I helped get materials, did a little bit of building, and some other garden management so Cheryl could focus on the hoop house. She is an inspiration!

Feel free to contact me if you'd like to come out for a visit, volunteer, or otherwise support the Boone Street Garden.

Lard Crust Apple Pie

2011-11-22T13:41:00.001-08:00

Just in time for Thanksgiving, I finally get another BaltimoreDIY foodmaking post up!

And what better food to post at this time of year than Apple Pie.

Mini apple pies, that is! I made these pies for the weekly Sunday get-together Chicken Man and I attend. It's a potluck at which forks and plates are a rarity, so any food needs to be easily eaten out of hand. Hence, the mini pies! I also made some dumpling style by wrapping a square of dough around a bit of filling.

This is not just any potluck, it's generally a BBQ, fire pit, decadence of all kinds kind of potluck. It's the kind of potluck where this past summer we had a party called "Hog Fest", and roasted a 110 lb. pig from a local farm.

At the end of the potluck, you can bet I scooped up the giant frame with the skin, fat, bones, and all and put it into a deep freezer that Chicken Man and I bought especially for the occasion. Pork stock and lard for all!

I've made about two giant batches of pork stock so far, and the cups of lard I scooped off the top of the cold broth were perfect for this November apple pie.

Just one of the many jars of lard we rendered after making stock:

Most people freak out at the idea of eating lard, but according to Wikipedia, it actually has less saturated fat than butter (although higher fat overall). In any case, I won't be baking biscuits with this stuff every day, but if you're making pie crust anyway, you might as well go all out. Plus it was a great way to re-use the leftover hog scraps!

Lard Pie Crust Recipe

2 cups white flour
2/3 cup lard chopped into small bits
1/2 tsp sea salt
about 1/3 cup ice water

I recommend beginning with frozen lard so that the fat doesn't melt while you are mixing the dough.

Mix the lard bits, salt, and flour together until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. You can use a pastry cutter, two forks, or your hands. (If the heat from your hands makes the fat start to melt, pop the bowl back into the freezer for a few minutes!)

Slowly add a few tablespoons of ice water to the mix at a time, tossing gently with a spoon to moisten evenly. The crumbs should start forming bigger lumps. Add just enough ice water for the dough to be evenly moist, and press together into a ball.

Wrap the ball of dough with saran wrap and place to chill in the fridge for at least half an hour.

Dough can also be frozen at this stage for easier pie baking when you are pressed for time. This dough would also work great for quiches, tarts, crostatas, and other yummy pastry filled with delicious things!

I have to say that I always feel the need to run to a Bikram Yoga class after Sundays, but it sure it worth it.

Yum.

Molting Chicken

2011-11-22T13:38:00.000-08:00

Did you know that chickens molt?

When the weather gets cold, the chickens drop their summertime feathers and grow a nice winter coat. Most of our chickens looked a little scraggly for a while, but this one Araucana got the worst of it. She was inside being broody for much of October so I guess her molting was a little behind schedule.

Now she's half naked, and spends most of her time running around or cowering up on their sleeping ledge to get away from the other chickens who like to peck at any weird looking anomaly on another chicken!

Her feathers will grow in soon and she'll be fine, don't worry!

You can see how pathetic she looks compared to this other Araucana...

I think she could win the Backyard Chickens "Worst Chicken Molt Pictures" contest though!

Rex Bunny Update

2011-11-22T13:30:00.001-08:00

It's been a while since I gave an update on the backyard animals, so here's a recent photo of the baby Rex rabbits, born in late August. It's fun to go out in the mornings to feed them and get a face full of bunnies!

We will probably have to separate them soon as they get too big to share one cage, and the males and females will have to be separated.

Truth be told, I haven't been posting much about the bunnies because I've finally decided that I'm not a big supporter of the urban homesteading trend to raise rabbits as livestock for meat and fur.

Raising rabbits makes good sense if you have easy access to free rabbit food. They are quiet, their meat is very lean and a rare commodity which makes them easier to sell, plus you get fur in addition to meat. If you really wanted to make a go of economically supporting yourself by raising your own food, rabbits would be a great choice.

But darn it, they are just so cute.

I just can't do it. I know it's hypocritical, but for some reason the chickens didn't bother me, the ducks slightly bothered me, and I just can't do the rabbits. Lesson learned in this urban homesteading experiment.

Women Farmer Meetup

2011-11-18T12:12:00.001-08:00

Last night there was a potluck for Baltimore-area women farmers. The meet-up was really inspiring, a little bit nerve-wracking, but definitely the thing I needed to snap me out of this winter hibernation mode I've been feeling lately.

There was a range of farming experience among us, from desk jockeys like me (hence me feeling a little nerve-wracked at my lack of formal training or even farm internship experience!) to women working at various non-profit urban farms in the area, to at least four ladies who started farms on their own.

That's right, one young woman grew enough food to feed a 40 person CSA all on her own, on rented land in Calvert County. Whoa!

Of course, even the 40 person CSA and selling to restaurants on the side only netted her about $4000. That's for an entire growing season, with twelve hour days of hard labor, and little time to see family or friends because the farm always needs attention. We talked a lot about this dilemma.

Can farming be a sustainable path?

There are farmers out there making it work. Interns and volunteers provide essential assistance, and are welcome company for solo farmers. At Boone Street I can't say thank you enough to all of the volunteers who helped us build the hoop house, weed, pick up trash, and mow.

Direct to consumer CSAs and restaurant marketing provide a solid customer base, and many farms seem to earn enough through this path to get by.

I mentioned that it would be great for farmers to partner directly with a restaurant so they could reap more of the profits earned from food sales. In my experience, value-added foods are great for stretching farm profits, but there is no way a farmer has enough time to make hand-made foods on top of growing the produce themselves.

Small scale farming is tough, and we talked about what we see down the road.

The ones who earned a few thousand dollars through successful CSAs plan on trying it again next year, but the long term plans are still to be worked out. The ones who struggled with their land or had other issues with their farms are figuring things out, looking for new land or volunteering at other farms. Those of us at city non-profit or volunteer farms like Boone Street will keep going however we can, and hopefully we will learn as we go how small scale farming and gardening can be brought back into cities. Each year brings new lessons.

We talked about loneliness for the solo farmers, the empowering feeling of making decisions and seeing things grow, the importance of support systems, and how it's nice to have winter to regroup.

The meet-up gave me some food for thought about my own motivations and future plans.

I wouldn't call myself a farmer. I don't know if I have the desire or dedication required for the job. My personal plan for next year is to do as much work to support Boone Street as I can, because it's been so great having neighbors stop by the garden and get excited about the growing plants, and to have that fresh food available in a neighborhood dominated by fast food.

But I think my personal goal and main focus needs to be simpler: to grow enough cheap, pesticide-free, amazingly fresh, non-conventional produce as I can to eat all year round and share with friends and family.

It will always be a bit of a struggle to maintain a healthy balance, doing all the work necessary to grow and make your own food on top of a full time job, but I think that's the path for me.

After meeting with all of these amazing women and seeing their own dedication and hard work, I won't feel like as much of a weirdo when I'm canning at 1 a.m. in the morning any more. I'll just remember all of my farming lady friends, and know they'd understand.

And now for some exciting news!

I just found out moments ago that Boone Street was awarded a grant for next year, so we can now afford a refrigerator for storing produce, market supplies, and even a small stipend so we can give away free samples of produce at our market.

Now all we've got to do is figure out how to balance earning a livable wage and growing food!

The good thing is, we've got a support system to help us figure that out and keep us inspired while we do it.

Boone Street Garden Hoop House

2011-10-26T12:34:00.000-07:00

UPDATE (10/31): We are still building the hoop house and would love volunteers! We are also putting in flower bulbs, mulching, and doing other fall garden maintenance. Next volunteer days are:

Tuesday, November 1st
Thursday, November 3rd

We will be at the garden from 2-6 so you are welcome to come any time between then!

To find us, drive on Greenmount until you hit 21st street. Go one block east to Boone Street (if you hit Barclay Street you went the wrong way). Turn left and you will see us! We are located on Boone Street between 21st and 22nd Street.

You are welcome to email me if you prefer a phone number to call if you get lost: baltimorediy@gmail.com
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The hoop house at Boone Street Garden is coming together! Just in time too, as potential frost and/or snow is being predicted for this weekend. We better move fast so the plants don't freeze!

A hoop house is a lot of work for your average gardener, but an essential for a farm. The plastic covered structure holds in heat and extends the growing season. If you're trying to grow produce for sale, that extra two months of growing season is a lot of extra profit.

We plan on growing lettuce, chard, cabbage, cauliflower, beets, carrots, and radishes in the hoop house.

The ground stakes are in and the majority of the hoops are bent and mounted. Special thanks to our friends Samantha, Marianne, Andrew, Joey, Asher, Cindy, Lowell, Will, and Nick for lending a hand, we couldn't have gone this far on the project without you.

Pictured here is one of our regular garden visitors, Nukka, shown here with an out-of-focus slug. The photo was taken with my cell phone, I can't wait to get my camera fixed and have "real" photos of the hoop house up soon.

Thanks to Samantha, scroll down to see photos of the hoop house being built last Saturday!

We will be putting up 400 feet of wood as a frame around the structure, and also mounting 400 feet of fishing line which will help support the plastic that will eventually cover the hoop house.

Yay for my friend Samantha who volunteered with us last Saturday and took some photos of the hoop house being built. Here they are!

Myself, Cheryl, and Chicken-Man putting up the first hoop

Completed first stage: the ground stakes in the ground

To save money, we bought straight pipes (electrical conduit, aka EMT) and bent them on this wooden jig that our friends made. Having a network of friends who have built these things before is essential. Yay, skill and tool sharing!

DIY Gift Basket

2011-10-21T10:47:00.000-07:00

We couldn't have started the Boone Street Garden without the help of our neighbors.

Yesterday we dropped off a thank you basket to Mr. Lenzie of L & J Construction, who in April graciously donated the use of his trucks to deliver many cubic yards of compost to the garden. On Mr. Lenzie's right is Ms. Sandra Coles of the Greater Greenmount Community Association, another organization which has been so extremely supportive of the garden. And SPECIAL thanks is due to Mr. Lowell Larsson also of the GGCA for all of his help and for taking these photos.

I've been doing a lot of gardening and food related DIY tutorials on the blog these days, but giving this thank you basket is a great opportunity to do a tutorial on making your own gift basket.

Not only does making your own save money, it also allows you to personalize the gift for the receiver!

The colorful assortment in the basket:

- aloe plant
- edible herbal bouquet
- sweet & spicy okra pickles
- chili oil
- chili vinegar
- peppers

And of course, a nice thank you letter to tell Mr. Lenzie how much his delivery helped us and what's been going on at the garden since April. I also included a few recipe tips on how he might want to use the chili oil and chili vinegar.

Tutorial on making your own basket is below the photo!

Make Your Own! :: DIY Gift Basket

1. The Basket

Thrift stores are an excellent place to pick up nice looking wicker baskets. This basket was from the thrift store on North Avenue and cost less than $2. Or use a pail, homemade tote bag, or other creative recycled container.

2. The Filling

The bottom of this basket was filled with shredded colored paper to add dimension to the basket. It helps to have a paper shredder and nicely colored paper around. Alternatives might be bits of yarn or fabric scraps.

3. The Plant

Houseplants are always cheery and make great universal gifts.

Aloe is a really easy houseplant to propagate. The plant continually sends off shoots that can be plucked out and plopped into a new pot of sandy soil for an endless supply of new plants! Information on aloe propagation was posted earlier on BaltimoreDIY here.

African violets and spider plants are also notoriously easy plants to propagate. Simply take an African violet leaf or a plantlet that is emerging off the main spider plant and place it in water to root. More information on houseplant propagation can be found here.

4. The Goodies

The possibilities of homemade things in jars to include are endless!

- The Punk Domestics website lists all sorts of fabulous recipes for everything from hot sauce to jams to flavored mustards to homemade cola syrup.

- Make your own herbal tea blend. Mint, fennel, sage, certain types of basil, and many other kinds of herbs grow prolifically over the summer. Right now in late October is the perfect time to trim your overgrown herbs and hang to dry in a cool dark place for herbal teas. If you haven't grown your own, ask a gardening friend and they may have enough to share!

- Buy sugar or salt, essential oils, and a light oil such as jojoba in bulk from a natural food store to make your own exfoliating scrub.

- Dry soup mix or cookie mix in a jar

Of course, you can always tailor the gifts inside depending on who the recipient will be. What are some of your favorite items to include?

Raccoon Attack!

2011-10-19T09:38:00.000-07:00

At 5:30 this morning, we heard a noise.

The chickens were squawking and there was a frantic, rustling sound. "It's probably two dogs fighting," said Chicken-Man. Or maybe it was the rats I thought, which you can sometimes hear fighting/effin' or doing other weird rat things under the ivy at the vacant house next door.

But the noises continued, and the chickens were really going nuts. We had to flick on the back porch light to see what it was.

Yep. A BIG ASS RACCOON. Somehow the chickens had escaped the run (they probably flew over the low fence in their panic), and the raccoon had a hold of one of the big white Orpingtons.

Chicken-Man grabbed a BB gun to scare the thing off. I mostly stared out through the back door saying "Oh my god." Not out of fear so much, but mostly shocked at being so close to a raccoon and the weirdness of fending it off in the middle of the city at 5:30 in the morning.

Chicken-Man got the raccoon twice with the BB, which mostly just scared it off. Boy that thing was chubby! Like a little bear. It would have been pretty cute if it wasn't eating the comb off of one of the chickens.

(These are internet pictures by the way, my camera is on the fritz and anyway the nightime combined with the light of the back porch would have made for a terrible photo of the scene.)

So yeah, anyone who thinks nature never wastes and is always a perfect circle hasn't seen a raccoon maim a chicken just for the choicest bits. (We've also talked to farmers who have owls and hawks that eat just the chicken heads for their nutritious brains and then leave the rest since it's too heavy to carry).

We had to take the chicken down due to it's injuries. It was all pretty surreal and the chicken was very wounded so it had to be done. There was still one Rhode Island Red cowering somewhere in the yard, we searched for her and I still have no idea where she was hiding.

She came out the next morning when I went out to feed and water everyone. Once she heard the sound of the other chickens crunching on the stale Cheez Balls we give them as treats she came right out. I made sure to give them some straw which they love to scratch around in and they seemed to being doing o.k.

Looks like we'll have to start closing the hen house door at night! Geez.

Urban adventures!

Michelle Gienow's Mushroom Foraging!

2011-10-17T11:29:00.000-07:00

Mushroom foraging is not for the faint of heart.

Hunting and gathering can be a fun experiment most of the time. Nibble some sour wood sorrel, or make a fire with sticks and dry moss and leaves, and feel like you could survive come hell or high water! Mushroom foraging though is a science not to be taken lightly. It requires extensive knowledge of mushroom identification through location, color, spore prints, comparison to deadly look-a-likes, and more.

Baltimore City Paper readers may recently have read an article ("Shroomin'") by local forager, foodmaker, and writer Michelle Gienow about the excitement and perils of mushroom hunting.

Last Saturday I and some other lucky foodmakers had the opportunity to take a mushroom foraging class with Michelle. She will be planning more foraging classes in the future, so stay tuned!

We started out the day by looking at mushroom encyclopedias and talking about the different varieties of mushroom, how to ID them, and more. Then we went on an exploration of our own through the woods to search for mushrooms ourselves.

We even found two maitake (aka 'hen of the woods') mushrooms at the base of an oak tree!

Bob holding up the mushroom for scale. A link on the American Cancer Society website talks about studies on the health benefits of maitake mushrooms and this interesting tidbit:

The Japanese word "maitake" means "dancing mushroom" because people in ancient times were said to dance for joy when they found these mushrooms, which were literally worth their weight in silver.

O.k. well Bob's expression is more pensive than "dancing for joy" but you can bet this was a cool find and we were all quite excited.

At the end of class we brought some of our unidentified finds back to the table and looked through the books some more to see if we could do some ID.

All in all it was a wonderful class and Michelle is a great teacher. I will definitely keep you all posted if she has any upcoming classes.

Speaking of classes, my camera seems to be on the fritz but happily some of the Baltimore Homing Pigeon Class attendees took some photos from this past Sunday's workshop and I hope to have pictures posted soon. Allen told me that he really enjoyed teaching the class and a great time was had by all. When else do you get to release a flock of pigeons into the air with a group of strangers on a Sunday?! Workshop classes always are fun adventures.

Hope you all enjoyed the lovely weather this past weekend and had some adventures yourselves!

p.s. And if you're looking for more blog posts about Baltimore foraging, you might want to check out the April 2010 post about the Foodmakers foraging potluck. At some point I'd love to get back to Jerusalem Mill and visit Flying Plow farm.