garden

Pumpkin Scones

/ makingofahome / 1 Comment

As promised yesterday, here is the recipe for the pumpkin scones I made on “Seed Starting Day.”

Mix together the following ingredients in a large bowl:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons sugar

4 tablespoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Using a pastry cutter, add 1/3 cup cold butter cut into small pieces.  Make a well in the center of the mixture and set aside.

Next mix the following ingredients in a medium bowl:

2 eggs

½ cup heavy cream

¾ cup pumpkin puree (In the fall my husband halves pie pumpkins and scrapes out all of the seeds.  He then roasts the pumpkin halves on the grill until soft.  I then scoop out the meat of the pumpkin, run it through the food processor, and freeze it for later use in recipes.  This is what I used for this recipe.)

Add egg mixture to dry mixture all at once.  Then stir with a fork until just moistened.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and flatten into a circle.  Then cut the dough into wedges.  Separate the wedges as much as possible.

Brush the  wedges with a bit of additional pumpkin puree and sprinkle with additional cinnamon and sugar.

Bake at 400 degrees for 12-14 minutes.  Serve warm.  Enjoy!

2012 Seed Starting Day

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Ever since we started our garden three summers ago, the third weekend in February marked our “Seed Starting Day” for the year’s garden.  This past Saturday marked this occasion and a wonderful day was had by all.  As I said last week, I was feeling the need to get in the soil and grow something, so I was very happy to see that day pop up on our calendar!

We normally start the morning off with some sort of yummy breakfast, made with products from last year’s harvest.  This year I made pumpkin scones, and they were delicious!  (This recipe to follow in a post later this week.)

Then the girls drew pictures of what they thought would happen to the seeds once they were planted.

Here is my five year old daughter’s drawing.  She said, “This is a picture of a pot, with the plant marker and a few sprouts coming up.  The sun and rain are coming down on the sprouts.”  Such the gardening expert!

This is the drawing my two year old completed.  She said, “This is a plant with a rainbow.” She is on her way to garden expert status very, very soon I’m sure.

This year for our seed starting mix, we took a five gallon bucket and filled it up half way with compost from last summer.  We then mixed in one small package of coir (coconut husk fiber), which helps to retain moisture much like a peat mixture does.

We mixed away until we had a nice ground mixture, perfect for seed starting.

Then my husband and girls got busy planting tomato seeds (Amish Paste, Martino’s Roma, Speckled Roman, and Italian Heirloom…all my favorite tomatoes to make tomato sauce with in August), basil seeds and Butterfly Weed seeds.  The girls were really able to contribute to the effort this year and it was awe inspiring to see those little hands working the earth, and instinctively knowing how to plant these small seeds so that they will later grow to provide us with a bounty of vegetables.

We keep our seeds in our craft room in our basement.  My husband hooks up fluorescent shop lights that can be moved up as the plants grow.  He also hooks the lights up to a timer so that the plants can get 14-16 hours of light per day.  We also put an oscillating floor fan in there with the seeds to help prevent mold or fungus from growing on the surface of the soil.

A Bit of Spring

/ makingofahome / 4 Comments

This morning I feel a bit remiss because as I peer out my kitchen window I find a fairly hefty amount of snow fell overnight.  The garden that was showings signs of early spring just yesterday is now covered with a thick layer of snow and the earth is hardened once again by the cold temperatures.  Even though we have had a very mild winter, the need to delve into the soil and plant something is seeping into my veins.

I often find myself feeling this way on these cold February mornings and I think today I have come up with a temporary solution for my need to plant something, anything.

The girls and I grab a few Mason jars and go to work.  We will sprout some seeds this morning!  You can purchase sprouting seeds at just about any garden center and all it takes are those seeds, cheese cloth, a Mason jar and water.

Simply follow the directions on the back of the seed package and in about 4 days you will have lovely little sprouts to add to salads, stir fries or smoothies.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend filled with fun and family!  Enjoy!

Inspiration

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Last week in my post about our Red Wigglers, I mentioned that we purchased our most recent batch from Growing Power, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Growing Power is truly one of the most amazing places I have been in my lifetime, and it is no wonder why there were only a few people on our tour who were even from the Midwest. People travel from all over the globe to visit founder Will Allen’s urban garden, situated in a food desert on the north side of Milwaukee. If anyone reading this post is ever in the area you must, must, must stop by for a tour.

For my birthday, my husband told me that my present was going to be a family trip to Growing Power. Now that is my kind of present! Love it!

I’m not sure what exactly I was anticipating going into this trip, but Growing Power far exceeded every single one of my expectations! Not only were there thousands upon thousands of plants being grown in this facility, there were mushrooms, fish, chickens, turkeys, bees and goats. Solar cells and cisterns. It was unbelievable.

And what is more amazing than all of this is their outreach programs. Growing Power sells their food at a store front food stand, sources their food to local restaurants, collects waste from local breweries and coffee houses for use in their compost bins, and they have unbelievable youth education programs. One man on our tour was there with his three young children and he was from Milwaukee. He told my husband and I that Growing Power even does a CSA-type food drop off for many of the local schools. He said that on Mondays parents can turn in a sheet if they want a box of food on Friday, and then on Friday the students are sent home with their box filled with vegetables from Growing Power and a new order form for the following week. I was floored.

Why can’t every community do something of this nature? All children deserve to have their bodies nourished with this healthy food. All children deserve amazing educational opportunities like the ones that Growing Power offers to youth of their community. I believe with every fiber of my being that something like this is possible in every city in our nation. Growing Power reaffirmed my belief that this is actually possible. I am truly inspired.