DIY Gardener's Salve

Hey Friends! Happy New Year!!!  So, since some of you asked, I'll tell you how I made my Gardener's Salve. I'll bet if there is one thing we all have in common is how rough our hands can get after working in the garden (unless of course you are smart and wear gloves, in which case we can not be friends) LOL! Kidding, of course. Anyway, here's how I do it. First, I infuse the olive oil (or grapeseed oil, or combo of both) with DRY herbs. If the herbs are fresh there is a chance of spoilage. Add a handful or so of dry herbs and let sit on the counter for at least a week (the longer the better).

If you want to speed up this step, you can add the oil/herb mixture to a double boiler and gently simmer it for about 3 hours. The oil can get a little darker in color after that, depending on herbs used. I used calendula and lavender flowers. Rosemary and lavender would be wonderful, too. Next strain out the floral material:

Add your oil and begin measuring out the other ingredients into double boiler (or a pot in a bigger pot of water if you don't have a double boiler, like me).

I measured out:
1 cup infused oil
1 oz bees wax
2 T. shea butter

Gently melt the solids into the liquids. This goes really fast. After melted, remove from heat and add essential oils, if you wish. I used:
20 drops of Rosemary doTerra EO
20 drops of Peppermint doTerra EO

Pour into clean jars, (I used 3  4oz jars and had a little left over) and let cool.  You can put the lids on or off while cooling, I don't think it matters.

If you have a friend with a baby who uses baby food in glass jars, have her save them for you!

So, there you have it. Easy peasy :)  I made about a dozen jars of this and gave it all away for the holidays! Be sure to save some for yourself!

Cheers ~ Julie

Homemade Pumpkin Pie From Fresh Pumpkin

Did you ever want to try to make a pumpkin pie from a fresh pumpkin but thought it was waaaaay too much work?  Well I grew 2 cute little pumpkins in my garden this year and thought I'd show you how easy it actually is! First, I stuck my two sugar pie pumpkins in the oven WHOLE. Yep, just throw 'em in there, bake at 300 degrees.  I don't know how long they were in there but I watched 2 episodes of Big Bang Theory while sipping chardonnay so, I guess an hour or so. When you can poke them through with a knife, they are done.
Take them out and cool till morning.   Now, there are a lot of recipes online that say to cut raw pumpkin, scrape out innards and bake in a little water. That works too, but I think this is easier.
I ripped cooked pumpkin in half, scooped out stringy stuff and seeds and peeled skin off. This literally took 5 minutes. See how easily the skin peels off???

So, then I took the hunks of pumpkin and threw them into my food processor. A good blender might work.

Blend until smooth...:) I think I added a tiny bit of water to get a nice consistency.

Then add 2 cups of this (I actually had almost 4 cups from 2 small pumpkins (Bonus! Another pie for Christmas will be made with the rest!)

Then you just add pretty much the same ingredients that the Libby's canned stuff calls for:

Whisk or blend all this together and pour into unbaked pie shell. Easy peasy, right???

Warning! Although my pie crust tastes wonderful, it looks like a hot mess. Don't let vanity get a hold of you here, people! I have never had my family or anyone else look a homemade pie in the face and worry if it was cute! Everyone knows your not flippin' Martha Stewart!  Just make sure it tastes amazing and don't look back!! Remember, your gonna cover the darn thing with whipped cream anyway, right?  Bake at 400 f. for about 40 mins till you can stick a knife in the center and it comes out clean. There ya go. Try it, I tell ya. You'll feel a little proud of yourself :)

Oh, btw...Handy tip so your crust doesn't burn. (I forgot this step and mine almost did, but it's fine) Cover the edges with strips of foil. It'll still cook, just won't burn.

By the way, scratch pie crust is really easy, too. If I didn't have a Kitchenaid  mixer I think I'd just call it a day and buy pre-made crust, but if you have one, it's super duper easy. Here's the recipe I use. Got it from Pioneer Woman so, yea, it's good.
2 C. all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 C. vegetable shortening (I know this is gross, but it does make an incredible crust)
1 egg
5 T. cold water
1 T. vinegar (no idea what the heck this does, but I never skip it)
Dump everything into mixer and then (using dough hook) mix just until incorporated. This makes 2 full crusts. You can also press the ball flat in a lg. freezer bag and freeze for later use. Roll it out on a floured board with more flour on top. I put plastic wrap on my counter and after rolling, set pie pan over crust and gently lift by the edges of plastic and flip over. peel plastic off and press into pan. :)

Growing Onions from Seed in Southern California

So, it's almost that time, folks! If you want big, beautiful, sweet onions next summer, you have to plant from seed in early November. (Note, this advice is for zone 10b...other zones have different requirements). So....Here in zone 10 we need to plant "Short Day" onions for best results.  You want to find a Sub-tropical variety, such as Georgia Sweet, Sweet Red, Texas Super Sweet are a few. I went with this variety:

I like to start my seeds about 8 weeks before I'm ready to plant out in the garden. This is for things that don't mind being transplanted out of their little seed starting cups. (I don't do this with carrots or parsnips and a few others).  Anyway, I start them in some fine potting soil and peat moss mixture, or commercial seed starting mix. Don't fertilize yet! They aren't big enough kids to handle that yet.
They can probably stay in those little pots for the whole 8 weeks.  If for some reason they grow fast and you can see roots coming out of the bottom of the pot, you can transplant into bigger pots.  Right now, after about 3 weeks, they look like this:

They look a little wimpy but that's just how onions look. Anyway, they won't need any fertilizer till they are planted in the ground. Sprinkle in a good organic vegetable fertilizer into the trench you  dug, fill with a little more soil, then plant your seedlings. Regular fertilization should continue till mid summer, then you can stop. Also, the shoulders of the onion will begin to emerge. You don't need to cover with more soil. It's normal.  When the plant looks like it's dying and flops over, probably about June, you can harvest!

With any luck, you should have nice, big, juicy onions to enjoy for months!

Some of my fave seed sources are:
http://migardener.com/store/
Luke is the owner/operator of this great website and we love his seeds! Most are $.99!!!
http://www.rareseeds.com/
This guy started this company when he was but a boy.....Really....They are amazing

Anyway~ Peace, Love, and happy gardening! :)
Jules

How to Save Carrot Seeds!!!

Did you know that you can harvest thousands of carrot seeds from ONE carrot and almost never have to buy a pack of carrot seeds again?  Well, you can. Here's how:  First of all, carrots are a BIENNIAL plant, meaning it will flower, then go to seed in it's SECOND year. Meaning, if you leave a carrot in the ground all summer and through the winter (if your climate allows), you will start to see this brilliant display come the following Spring:

 Yeah, that is ONE very excited carrot!  So, this all started in the Spring, and it is now July 11th and it still has some time to go before harvest.  After another month to 6 weeks the flowers will begin to dry and turn brown. They will look like this:

The seeds won't fall to the ground because they stick to the flower head.  When you can pull dry clumps of seeds off with your fingers, it's probably dry. You can then cut the seed head off and put it in a brown paper bag to continue getting completely dry. You can then shake the bag to release the seeds or pull off the tufts of seeds with your fingers. Store your millions of seeds in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.  Happy harvesting!  :)

Why Not Make A Salsa Garden??!!

If you have been thinking about growing a garden this Spring, why not grow what you love to eat? How about a SALSA GARDEN??? All you need is a small piece of ground, with some good compost (you don't have to learn to compost, you can buy it by the bag). You can also grow all of these in pots on a patio! So let's get to it! All you need is a tomato plant. Almost any variety will do.

Onions are a must. You can grow 'em in the ground or in a pot. In California, you must start these in Oct/Nov either from seed or in Spring using the little tiny plants you get in a bundle at the nursery. In CA you can't get big onions from those little mini bulbs in a bag.

Jalapenos or most any other hot pepper will do nicely.

If you like cilantro in it, it's easy peasy to grow in ground or in a pot.

Last but not least, why not grow a dwarf lime tree! Essential for the salsa (and the cervesas).

I'll bring the chips!

Why "When to Plant" Charts Are So Confusing!

Hello Gardener Friends! OK...so I wanted to talk a little about all these "When to plant" charts I've been seeing on the net lately. While they are great guidelines...in my humble opinion, they are just that. GUIDELINES! Depending on your zone, planting times vary HUGELY! For instance, I read one that said that now was the time to start lettuce and broccoli and cabbage, among others. Now, for zones that are up to their necks in snow, maybe zones 6 or 7 and lower, then YES. But in the south, especially here in California, it is the opposite. We start all brassicas in October or November.

I will speak for myself that when I was a new gardener, reading the back of the seed packet that says, "start 1-2 weeks after last frost" always threw me. We don't get any frost. Well, rarely, anyway. I think they take all the zones, and average them out or something. My point is these dates are relative. The Old Farmer's Almanac is a great resource to check out. It's even online and it is specific by zone. Here in zone 10b, the night time temps are finally in the 50's and days are mostly warm. It's about time to plant out your seedlings or plants, if you started indoors under lights, or plants from the nursery. I started my seeds in January under lights! However, my friends in Colorado and in New York, who won't plant out till May, at the earliest, can start seeds indoors now. Think of how big you want your plants to be at the time of planting outdoors.

My point is, check LOCAL sources, nurseries, Farmer's Almanac, etc. for your specific planting times, and don't rely on what other folks are doing in other states. I hope that cleared a little something up for my new gardener friends. Happy planting!

Gardening Term of the Day~ Open Pollinated

Hello! Well, I'll bet you have all heard of "open pollinated" (a.k.a. OP) plants. For those of you who aren't 100% sure what this means, I thought I'd talk about it. OP varieties are seeds that result from pollination by insects, wind, self-pollination (where both male and female flowers are present on the same plant)or other natural forms of pollination.

These are the plants that are great to save seed from because they will be "true to type", meaning they will have the same traits as the parent plant from which it was harvested. However, this is not fool proof! You know mother nature! Both wind and insects will pollinate different plants planted close together. Some will "cross pollinate". And if you are raising plants for seed this will be a factor that can be controlled, but if your a home gardener, it's not a big deal. Squash and pumpkins are notorious for this, but hey, maybe you'll invent something interesting!