Garden Inventory

I suppose this post is more for me to use as a reference/log than anyone else....but perhaps other people may actually be interested in all the colorful things I am growing up here in Fairbanks! I've decided to make a list of everything I grew from seed this year and direct seeded in my garden so that I can come back in the Fall to this post and note which ones did amazingly well and which ones failed. It will also be useful for me to refer to next Spring when I begin the whole seed-starting process again.

Since I will be transplanting most of the vegetables into the raised beds tomorrow, I took a photo of the inventory after bringing the plants back inside from their last day of hardening off. In Fairbanks, June 1st is the last frost date, yet I have always planted out earlier because I use plastic row covers over hoops. This year it is just exceptionally warm so I am not concerned at all, but it is nice to have the row covers handy in cases of nasty hail and possible frost.


March 20th - Started Seeds:
Brandywine Tomatoes
Peacevine Cherry Tomatoes
Cosmonaut Volkov Tomatoes
Ida Gold Tomatoes
Applegreen Eggplant
Early Jalepeño Pepper
Hungarian Hot Wax Pepper
Long Red Narrow Cayenne Pepper
Parsley
Rosemary
Lavender

April 20th - Started Seeds:
Catskill Brussel Sprouts
Snow Crown Cauliflower
Tendergreen Broccoli
Windsor Broccoli
Red Russian Kale
Smooth "Even Star" Kale/Collards
Golden Acre Cabbage
Red Mammoth Cabbage
Perfection Savoy Cabbage
Red Rumple Lettuce
Olga Romaine
Table Queen Acorn Squash
Sunflowers

May 2nd - Started Seeds
National Pickling Cucumber
Five Color Silverbeet Swiss Chard
Arugula
Mammoth Sweet Peas
Nasturtiums
Costata Romanesca Zucchini
Patty Pan Pumpkin

May 20th-21st
Started Seeds:
Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce
Buttercrunch Lettuce

Sowed in Garden:
Sugar Snap Peas - sprouted May 26th
Green Arrow Shelling Peas - sprouted May 26th
Potatoes (All Blue, Yukon Gold, French Fingerling,
and Swedish Peanut) - started sprouting June 9th
Onions - sprouted May 28th
Red Meat Radish - sprouted May 24th
French Breakfast Radish - sprouted May 24th
Provider Bush Beans - sprouted June 4th (could start inside for better results)
Bull's Blood Beets - sprouted May 28th
Golden Detroit Beets - sprouted May 28th
Early Wonder Tall Top Beets - sprouted May 28th
Scarlet Nantes Carrots - Sprouted June 2nd
Cosmic Purple Carrots - sprouted June 1st
Rainbow Mix Carrots - Sprouted June 2nd
Laurentian Rutabagas- sprouted May 27th
Gold Ball Turnips - sprouted May 26th

May 26th
Sowed in Garden:
Mustard Mesclun Mix - sprouted June 1st
Organic Greens Mix - sprouted June 1st
Dill
Extra Nasturtium and Sweet Peas seeds

Transplanted to Garden:
All Brassicas
All Lettuce
All herbs

Entire Garden is planted except squashes.

May 28th: Cool and Rainy Weather for a few days.
Only 46 degrees this morning!
Transplanted and moved the (10) tomatoes, (9) peppers, and (3) eggplant into the greenhouse.

June 1st:
Transplanted (2) Costata Romanesca Zucchini to garden.
Started seeds: Arugula, Tom Thumb Bibb lettuce
Transplanted (6) cucumbers to the greenhouse.

June 2nd:
Transplanted (2) Table Queen Acorn Squash to garden.
Transplanted Scarlet Runner Beans to garden.

Garden is completely planted! Yay!

The Word on Cheese

I am still pinching myself....an entire magazine devoted to CHEESE? Really? There are other people out there just as obsessed with cheese as I am? Culture is America's first consumer cheese magazine.

The excellent thing is that they have only been publishing the magazine since December 2008 (2 issues so far) so I feel like I have not been missing out over the years. I can rest assured that I probably found out as soon as possible, living up in the interior of Alaska! SO, I now am of course wondering what delicious delectable cheeses one could learn about while reading this magazine. What else is in this magazine? I am curious. It brings to mind another recent find of mine that I would love to get my hands on as well: Meatpaper. Truly, there are just too many magazines that I desire subscriptions to so I have to stop finding these goodies.

Vermicomposting

We added some red wigglers to our household this week!

Vermicomposting is a method of composting and during this process, red worms convert your organic waste into a usable, natural fertilizer.

On Monday, at work, I signed up for a free worm composting workshop (only 45 min long) and I actually came home from it with my own tote complete with red wigglers, dirt and shredded newspaper. I was delighted! I haven't decided yet if I need to order more worms or if the dozen the instructor gave me will multiply fast enough that I won't need to add to them at all. Depending on their production in the next month, I may add another pound to the mix. Since worms are hermaphroditic, each worm can have up to 12 baby worms a month! Wow. Anyway, I am looking forward to having my own worm castings for the garden next Spring.

Loaded with beneficial bacteria, all natural, non-burning, and odor-free, worm poop is truly a miracle of nature. A single worm produces its weight in casting a day! In the meantime, I am feeding my little worms baked and crushed eggshells from our own chickens and one cup of tiny vegetable scraps per week. They seem to be happy and mind their own business in their little dark home. The cats (Oscar and Oliver) and dog (Canute) don't notice the worms at all and I hope it stays that way.
If you are interested in starting your own vermicomposting bin, here is a great straightforward website that I found.

Ode to Marshmallow Fluff

I have long had an obsession for Marshmallow Fluff.
Perhaps this obsession with Fluff began in the cafeteria at school growing up in Connecticut as I passed by the mounds of Fluffernutter sandwiches that I was not supposed to eat because they were deemed an unsuitable lunch option by my parents. I am pretty sure that every so often on "brown bag lunch" day, which was the one day I did not bring my own lunch to school, I would grab a bag that contained a Fluffernutter sandwich...oh the joy I felt as I took a big, sweet, sinful, indulgent bite of marshmallowy fluffy goodness and felt a humongous smile spread across my face as I nodded with tasty approval.


There is something about the pure white fluffy spread that just brought so much comfort to me at that age. I am sure I would still find delight in a Fluffernutter sandwich to this day. Yes yes, although Marshmallow Fluff is certainly not going to add vitamins and minerals but rather sweetness to one's meal, we cannot pick on it too much because it still has its original 4 ingredients (Corn Syrup, Sugar Syrup, Dried Egg Whites and Vanillin) rather than a list of 30 unrecognizable chemical ingredients. Since 1917, this classic has not changed a bit.

So this brings me to my inspiration for this post. One of my favorite magazines, Gastronomica, sends me monthly email updates and just yesterday I received notification about a forum on Marshmallow Fluff! I think it is just EXCELLENT that Gastronomica is holding a forum in NYC about this classic food item. If I lived anywhere near NYC, I would definitely be attending the event. I am looking forward to reading the article in their Spring issue that is dedicated to Fluff. Like many New England natives, I have a soft spot for Fluff (it's made in Massachusetts, after all). Sure, it's antithetical to almost all food principles by which I cook and eat, but how can you not appreciate something called Fluff?

Edible Type

A couple of months ago a friend and fellow letterpress artist from ASU sent me a link to this delightful company's site: Typolade. I figure it is better late than never to post about this exciting discovery! A set of movable type in chocolate is like a dream to me. The website does have English text as well so it is worth reading about their product.

While searching online for more edible letters, their stories and their history, I discovered chocolate letters available from Peters Imports. I have not figured out what size the letters are but my favorite is of course the handsome "H"!

The story behind these chocolate letters is as follows: "At many Dutch Sinterklaas Eve parties (December 4th), the very last surprise in Sinterklaas' special burlap sack, is chocolate initials, the first letter of each person's name. There will be one for each person—the first given to the youngest child, then on up to the oldest person present." The tasty treats may be found in shoes, left by Sinterklaas as he makes his rounds checking on children.
Letters became associated with Sinterklaas in the 19th century, when a sheet was used to cover St. Nicholas presents. A bread dough letter, placed on top of the sheet, identified where a child’s gifts were located. During the 1800s advances in cocoa bean processing led to the production of chocolate bars. Chocolate letters were first manufactured around 1900, though they didn’t become readily available until the 1950s. Almond pastry and sausage letters are made by bakers and butchers.

A custom of edible letters goes back to Germanic times when, at birth, children were given a rune letter, made of bread—as a symbol of good fortune. Convent schools in the Middle Ages used bread letters to teach the alphabet. When the letter was learned and could be written well, a pupil could eat up the bread letter. D

uring the 16th and 17th centuries pastry letters were captured in Dutch Masters’ still-life paintings. I have long been fascinated by these Dutch still-life paintings and they make the top of my list for favorite historical paintings.

If you've been following my blog or know me well, you are aware of my love of cheese. In honor of that, I cannot help but share another Dutch still-life painting with you...of cheese!