Cubit's Organic Living

We Love Free Shipping

admin — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:41:43 +0000

So excited to announce that Cubit’s will be offering free shipping on all orders of rare , heirloom and organics seeds from our etsy shop right through until the end of spring! That’s free shipping in North America until June 20th, 2012. So swing on by and place your spring seed order while our stock levels are high.

Easy Instructions to Grow Organic Potatoes in Containers

admin — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 19:49:57 +0000

I’ve talked about growing potatoes here before and recently was invited to write about the topic for Kaia magazine. It’s the first time I’ve had anything I’ve written published in print so check out pages 40-43 as well as the other excellent gardening and eco-friendly articles.

Last year’s potato post was the most popular post ever but this article has clearer instructions than the ones I’ve published before. Planting is still a few weeks off here, but I’ve just placed a giant order with Eagle Creek Farms that we’ll plant here in the city in the garden bathtub and up at the farm this summer as well. This year we’ll be growing a variety of different coloured and shaped potatoes as well as early, mid and late season varieties and I hope you’ll join me in growing spuds this spring.

Potatoes are not the first thing that comes to mind for most people when they think of container gardening but they really are the perfect candidate. Potatoes love growing vertically, can take up a great deal of space, and are susceptible to pests and soil contaminates. Simply planting them in a container rather than your garden beds helps maximize your yield while reducing potential problems.

Potatoes are really so easy and satisfying to grow that you’ll wonder why you didn’t start sooner.

1. Pick and Prepare a Container

Almost any vessel will do with the criteria being: well draining, non-toxic, with a preference for a tall rather than squat shape.

In our own garden we have tried a variety of containers.

For years we grew them in an old garbage can with extra holes drilled into the bottom, food grade buckets again with added holes, large terra cotta pots, repurposed wooden crates, in grow bags, and my favorite, an antique claw footbath tub with a layer of stones and brick at the bottom to ensure adequate drainage.

Once you have chosen your container give it a good scrub and add any extra holes it needs, as adequate drainage is probably the most important factor in a healthy harvest.

2. Choose Seed Potatoes

The best part about growing your potatoes is the variety you can choose from. Potatoes come in a spectrum of colors including yellow, red, purple and blue and many different shapes such as fingerlings.

You may be able to find seed potatoes at your local nursery, gardening event, or organic co-op. It’s also very easy to order them online and some great sources of seed potato are listed at the end of this article.

If you’d rather just use potatoes from the grocery store you can with a few specifications. These tubers should be organic, as some grocery store potatoes have been treated so they won’t grow eyes. Look for potatoes that are showing signs of sprouting and chose new potatoes over ones from last fall that have been treated for long-term storage. Gently wash them; being careful not to scrub off those eyes, as that’s where the shoots are going to grow.

This year our selections include Russian Blue, Rose Finn Apple Fingerlings, Alaska Sweetheart and a bag of organic red potatoes that sprouted by accident.

3. Cut & Cure

Once you have your potatoes you’ll need to chit them, which is just getting them to sprout eyes. Putting them in a paper bag or egg carton for a few days should do the trick.

Potatoes can be planted whole or cut up. It’s a matter of personal preference. I cut mine in half. Make sure there is at least one eye per piece and then leave them in a dark spot for the cut to heal over night.

4. Plant

Start by filling your container with just a few inches of soil and compost and place your potato pieces on top of the soil. Loosely cover them with another 6 inches of soil and then water.

Potatoes need at least 6 hours of sun per day and will thrive with more. I have normally tucked them away somewhere sort of cool and find they fill a less than perfect corner of the garden.

Potatoes are excellent companion plants to beans, cabbage and corn and are better off growing quite a distance from sunflowers, tomatoes, raspberries and squash.

5. Water & Add More Soil

As they grow, loosely add more soil around the plants. For every 6 inches or growth or every two weeks add a shovel full or so.

Be sure to keep the soil moist and not to allow the soil to dry out.

6. Harvest

After anywhere from 2-4 months, depending if you planted an early, mid or late season variety the leaves will turn brown and die. Nothing’s wrong, this is how you know its time to harvest! Use your hands if possible or a pitchfork. A trowel can really wreck the tender new potatoes, cutting into their skins. Feel free to dump the entire pot over on the patio.

Planting, growing and harvesting potatoes are all excellent activities for kids. It’s really hard to mess it up and digging for them at the end of the season is like a little treasury hunt making a great activity to show where our food comes from.

7. Eat!

Everyone loves potatoes, especially fresh from the garden. We especially like them on pizza with leeks; they’re excellent in soup, as a simple side dish or in a perfect summer potato salad.

So there you have it: a quick and dirty way to put delicious organic produce from the garden on your family’s table.

Scrappy Apple Cider Vinegar from Scratch

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:26:47 +0000

Back in the fall when we were pressing cider we also starting another fermenting project and it might be my favourite project yet.

When you press 8 bushels of apples you are left with a ton of pulp. While we composted about half of it we decided to turn the rest into apple cider vinegar.

After leaving the scraps in a closed tub for two days we transferred them to a carboy.

You can do this on a much smaller scale, one jar or crock at a time. We just had so much waste so we went big. Probably too big.

Once your vessel is full of apple, add a little sugar. The amount does not seem to be important, it’s just to kick start the fermentation. Next fill the container with water to cover all the scraps. If you are using a crock, you can weigh down the floating apples with a plate as seen here on 17aparts tutorial and here in a Somona Garden’s post.

Cover the opening with cheese cloth to keep dirt out but to allow wild yeasts to help out.

After a week or so, strain out the apple scraps. We switched to a much smaller and more manageable container size at this point since we started out too big. This picture shows how it immediately started forming a new yeast mother.

We added an airlock at this point, but you can keep using cheese cloth. I tucked it away in the basement and then waited another 6 weeks. Now we have the best vinegar I’ve ever tasted. We bottled it up and have been using it for everything, marinades, salad dressing, cleaning the house, washing my hair. It’s great and quite possibly the most useful stuff we’ve ever made.

We’re Growing!

admin — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:27:30 +0000

Oh poor neglected blog, poor neglected house, and dog, and oh everything really. We’re working on so many many things and it’s been hard to keep up. This time of year we pack seeds by the millions, we thresh seeds, we print and fold packages, we write descriptions, sort hundred of photographs of tomatoes, kick off marketing campaigns and it’s all very very busy.

This year things are a little more challenging, as I’m suffering from what I call why-do-they-call-it-morning-sickness-when-it-lasts-all-day-long-sickness? That’s right. Sometime at the end of this summer we should have a second baby. While I’m a totally healthy low risk pregnancy sort of person, the first little bit is well, dreadful. Temporary, but dreadful.

Well enough of this! The last few days have been better, the worst is over, and it’s time to get on top of things. So while January was a total write off, February is my new year and I’m getting organized. I have lots of posts written for the next few weeks, lots of local events planed, lots of new seeds, a farm to dream about and a garden to plan, hey! I might even make dinner.

Cubit’s Cold Morning Carrot, Zucchini and Raisin Muffins

admin — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:10:29 +0000

I am really not a morning person. I am grumpy, sleepy and move very slowly while trying to let various animals out and get breakfast into Rebecca who insists on being fed before I get coffee. I find it all especially hard when it is still dark out. That’s where muffins come in. You can make them on Sunday afternoon and have at least a few mornings of breakfast started. Makes these cold dark mornings just a little bit more manageable.

3 eggs

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon honey

3/4 cup sunflower oil (or another light cooking oil like grapeseed or canola)

1 small zucchini grated

2 large carrot grated

1 cup raisins

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 350. Line or grease 24 muffin cups.

Whisk eggs, sugar and honey together.

Add the oil, then vanilla, and then the grated zucchini and carrots along with the raisins.

Combine your dry ingredients in another bowl.

Whisk the flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and oats together.

Combine the dry ingredients and wet ingredients together slowly.

Divide the mixture evenly into your greased or lined muffin tins.

Bake 18-20 minutes at 350.

Remove from tins and cool on wire racks.

These are so good. Sometimes I throw half a cup of finely chopped walnuts for extra goodness. Enjoy!

Have had a few questions about the napkins. Ryan put these awesome apple napkins in my stocking this christmas, they’re from JAQSstudio on etsy.

project365: week fifty two December 24th, 2011 – December 31st, 2011

admin — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:42:13 +0000

December 24th, 2011 Ryan and Rebecca making sugar cookies on Christmas Eve.

December 35th, 2011 Christmas was adorable this year.

December 26th, 2011 Cousins decorating gingerbread houses.

December 27th, 2011 Kale salad is the opposite of gravy.

December 28th, 2011 Spot and Rebecca have some down time with the ipad.

December 29th, 2011 Hmmm, don’t think we were supposed to let the press fill up with snow.

December 30th, 2011 The tree is down!

December 31st, 2011 I can’t think of a better way to end the year than with Zucchini Carrot muffins.

Raw Kale Beet Carrot and Pomegranate Salad Recipe

admin — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:23:27 +0000

This seasonal combination of raw kale, beet, carrot and some pomegranate seeds is a great start to the new year and antidote to the excess of the holiday season.

After 3 turkey dinners and a truly obscene amount of baking and chocolate I need some green leafy vegetables in my life stat.

For the Salad

2 carrots

3 beets

a bunch of kale

half a pomegranate’s seeds

2 avocados

Grate your raw carrots and beets. I cut off the ends and use the food processor but you could grate them by hand.

Tear kale into bit sized pieces. Now for the fun part; massaging your kale with avocado. This is what makes this salad so delicious. With clean hands take two avocados and much them into the torn up kale covering each piece.

Combine the avocado massaged kale with the beets, carrots and pomegranate seeds. Toss as evenly as possible.

Dressing

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 scant teaspoon of salt

Pour on your dressing and toss again. Delicious and a nice break from the gravy train.

Merry Christmas!

admin — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 09:00:43 +0000

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project365: week fifty one December 17th, 2011 – December 23rd, 2011

admin — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 02:22:03 +0000

December 17th, 2011 Time to decorate the tree. Rebecca is officially into Christmas.

December 18th, 2011 Finally bottled the apple scrap vinegar we made with the scraps from pressing cider. Amazing!

December 20th, 2011 Abandoned grain elevator in Pontypool Ontario on our way to Ottawa.

December 21st, 2011 Cousins and Dinosaurs. Caged.

December 21st, 2011 A quiet moment during our Christmas visiting.

December 22nd, 2011 Icy drive home to Toronto.

December 23rd, 2011 Pre-preschool-party pomegranate.

project365: week fifty December 10th, 2011 – December 16th, 2011

admin — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 04:30:37 +0000

December 10th, 2011 Rebecca reads a book about fruit with one of my parent‘s cats looking in.

December 11th, 2011 Good morning! Waking up at Grammy’s house where we hid from renovations.
December 12th, 2011 Every loaf a miracle.
December 13th, 2011 Rebecca adopts a dog from ikea following a very long doctor appointment.
December 14th, 2011 She is really very obsessed with cooking. It is almost helpful but also very messy.
December 15th, 2011 Rebecca making pizza with the new rolling pin from cattails studios. It is as lovely as it looks.
December 16th, 2011 Every toddler dinner party (10 little people under 3 ate here tonight) should start with a row of different coloured onions on their way to become chilli.