Durgan's Garden Journal 2008

Natto- Home Making.

2008-12-14T09:52:00.006-05:00

Natto is considered to be a fine human food. Normally it is commercially produced. Deciding to make it at home, this is my method. Natto is fermented whole soy beans, which is very common in Japan.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?BGGIL 14 December 2008 Natto Making at Home

Select about 500 ml of dried soy beans, was thoroughly, boil for ten minutes in water, discard this water, and rinse thoroughly. Place beans in colander and place in pressure cooker. The colander is necessary to prevent the beans from touching the water, and boiling up and clogging the exhaust valve. The beans are cooked by the steam formed. Cook for about 1.5 hours. This insures the beans are soft and well cooked. Mix the spores with molasses, salt, and water at about 60 degrees centigrade and about 200 ml of water, and stir into the cooked soy beans mixing thoroughly. Spread the beans on a tray, not too thick, cover with plastic wrap and punch some holes in the material, and place in the incubator for about 24 hours.

I eat a small bowlful for breakfast daily, along with a dish of cooked rolled oats. Five hundred ml of dried beans is about a weeks supply for one person. Keep in a normal manner in the refrigerator. When making, use hot water and heat to keep the working area as clean as possible to limit the introduction of airborne spores. Maximum spore temperature is 60 degrees C, and the incubator is set to about 40 degrees C.

The incubator is a normal camping thermo box, and the heat is supplied by a drug store heating pad. The process is dead simple, and takes little time and effort. I find the end product very pleasant to ingest. Fermented soy beans, disarm all the detrimental effects about eating whole soy beans, judging by current literature.

Spores are available on the Internet, but much cheaper if you can get them sent from Japan. A small vial is sufficient for making many kilograms of Natto. The vial keeps in a sealed container in the refrigerator for long periods.

Lobster Meal

2008-12-07T16:16:00.002-05:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?NPUAU 7 December 2008 Lobster Meal

Lobster season is now active off the coast of Nova Scotia. The lobster fishermen are getting about $3.00 per pound and lobster retail is $11.99 in my area. In previous years lobster fishermen would get over $5.00 per pound and the price retail was about $9.00. It appears the retailers are ripping people off judging by historical prices. The lower wholesale cost is not being passed on.

It is still a great opportunity to assist the fishermen by having one meal at least of fresh lobster, assuming you like lobster.

Homemade Juice

2008-11-30T12:24:00.002-05:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?IECHR 30 November 2008 Homemade Juice

Produce: carrots, lettuce, cranberries, limes, oranges, melon, pineapple, tomato. This is what was available. The produce is chopped into pieces and blended with sufficient water for drinking. The mixture is blended twice to make homogeneous, then stored in the refrigerator. Four liters last about seven days or less, and stays fresh for this time. A glassful is often taken with meals, and to quench thirst as required. Preparation about 30 minutes.

Shoehorn

2008-11-25T15:09:00.005-05:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?UFLMP 25 November 2008 Shoehorn

Putting soft shoes and rubber boots on without a shoehorn is slightly difficult, and often on soft shoes the heal part gets damaged over time, and the back part of rubber boots get worn due to the friction of the socks wearing the back inside, when inserting and removing the feet. Most shoehorns are too short for convenience, and often too weak in structure to do the job adequately. Here is a shoehorn that is ideal.

This strong, convenient, shoehorn is available from IKEA, a Swedish Company, with retail outlets in Canada.

A Complete Breakfast.

2008-11-23T21:21:00.002-05:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?OXLCK 23 November 2008 A complete Breakfast.

Breakfast consists of rolled oats, cooked in the microwave with water for 3.5 minutes. Two tablespoons of ground flax seed is added with sugar and milk as required. A bowl of previously cooked soy beans supplies some protein. This is my daily breakfast,and it is low in cost, quick and nutritious.

Driving and Removing Support Posts

2008-11-23T11:30:00.002-05:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?LPTMU 23 November 2008 Garden Posts

Various posts are required in a garden. Some are permanent and other are used for the season. Depicted is a simple straightforward method of driving into the ground and also removing. The procedure is also just as applicable to wooden stakes.

Trail GPS

2008-11-22T12:23:00.004-05:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?KUWOM 22 November 2008 Trail GPS

Periodically I go into the bush, searching for mushrooms. There are usually trails, but often one gets carried away and wanders off and getting lost is relatively easy even in a short distance. I always carry a simple magnetic compass for back-up, but this is not adequate in short distances, so I carry a GPS with a spare set of batteries. When entering an area, I mark the beginning and using the GPS it is easy to return to the starting point.

This particular GPS is small, and costs about $100.00 Cdn. Operation is dead simple after a few minutes in learning the various functions.

Real Juice

2008-11-18T20:04:00.002-05:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?POCBQ 17 November 2008 Real Juice

Making juice from available produce, cranberries, pineapple, oranges, limes and muskmelon. This will be about a weeks supply for one person. The texture is decided by the amount of water added when blending. As an exercise compare this to the concoction sold in Supermarkets under the guise of being called juice. Cost about $12.00 Cdn.

Homemade Dog Food

2008-11-17T18:44:00.004-05:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?KWIOI 17 November 2008 Homemade Dog Food

This is what I feed my small, 12 pound, female, four year old, Pomeranian daily. About 6 a.m. Neena is fed a small amount of cooked oats with some milk, then given a bit of brown sugar on the kitchen tile floor as a treat. This is when I eat my breakfast, and this bit of food is more to make me feel good than for Neena.

At about 7 a.m. she is taken for a walk of five km, then she is fed the remainder of her daily ration, which she gobbles down in about one minute. Her toenails are in perfect condition and are never clipped, due to wear in walking.

A bowl of juice, frozen liver, one sardine, one egg yolk is supplied, and she gobbles this up without looking up. The juice may be not-essential, but my view is she may absorb some nutrients from this, and it make me feel good.

After this she is given a small piece of frozen goat stewing meat with bone outside and she gnaws on this for about 10 minutes, which keeps her teeth white and strong. She never swallows the bone. Sometimes lamb is also available so Neena gets one or the other.

She is never given anything commercial which is produced for dogs like "treats", or the other cuddly names.

Periodically, when I eat, she is given a small bit of my food, just for a taste, and I mean small.

Neena keeps her weight of 12 pounds, and is bright, active, and obviously very healthy.

The food selected is readily available in my area, and from my knowledge, she is getting a balanced diet.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?CMVNN Summary: Home Dog Food Preparation.

Snow

2008-11-17T08:57:00.002-05:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?PTNST 17 November 2008 First snow
The first snow of the Winter season-just a light dusting. Garden is now asleep prepared for the onslaught of Winter.

Cereal from Whole Wheat Kernels.

2008-11-11T13:18:00.003-05:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?BLVZI 11 November 2008 Making Cereal from Whole Wheat

Breakfast cereal made from whole wheat kernels utilizing the pressure cooker. The wheat is pressure cooked for one hour, then blended to break the soft kernels apart, and served with milk and sugar to taste. Compare this to packaged puffed wheat as to cost and nutritional benefits. This method may be utilized for any combination of grains.

Pressure Cooker

2008-11-10T18:04:00.005-05:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?OWLRF 10 November 2008 Pressure Cooker

The old Presto Pressure Cooker was replaced. The new one is 8 quarts and the old one still functioning after 30 years was 5 quart. The construction is basically the same, but the new one is polished aluminum, which won't leach aluminum as much as the older type material.

A large percentage of my cooking is done with the pressure cooker. With a bit of practice cooking is quick and food retains more nutrients.

For an insert a colander is utilized with the handles knocked off. All pressure cookers should have an insert to prevent water from touching the material being cooked, and to prevent material from bubbling and clogging the pressure ports. I have several inserts, but see no reason why the fold up type would not work.
Here is what I use. http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?FMXRO
The screen type is ideal for grains, and the larger is my first effort, which is probably better for solid food and beans. It is also easier to clean.

There are several Pressure Cookers on the market, but with ridiculously complicated locking mechanisms, and peculiar ports. Caveat emptor!

Nut Cracking System

2008-11-06T16:58:00.003-05:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?HLZKL 6November 2008 Nut Cracking System

An efficient nut cracking system was devised for walnuts, pecans, and filberts. This simple system utilizes a sleeve to retain the shell and to prevent the hammer from following through and crushing the meat, , an insert to hold the bottom of the nut upright and slightly above the sleeve, and a heavy lock to withstand the smacking with the hammer. The parts may be purchased with a bit of effort and/or made easily by any machine shop.

Small Engines on Outdoor Equipment- Caveat emptor!

2008-10-27T16:13:00.001-04:00

There is a trend by the sales people to specify small engines used on yard equipment in cubic centimeters.The public has been exposed to horsepower, since day one and usually understand what size engine is required to operate the equipment under normal conditions.

CC's and Horsepower are like apples and oranges. CC's are a unit of volume and horsepower is a calculation of work load. You can''t calculate the horsepower, only measure it. Here is the CC to HP ratios of some engines 40, 36, 9.2, 9.6, 24. This is to point out the fallacy by some to associate so many cc be equal to a specified horsepower. Caveat emptor!

There is absolutely no realistic relationship between cubic centimeter and horsepower. Both have their uses but have completely different purposes.

Cubic centimeters (cc) for a road vehicle is fine. A smaller cubic centimeter engine will not have the same acceleration as a larger cubic centimeter engine on identical sized vehicles. Both will function adequately to maintain a suitable road speed.

Now let us look at say a rototiller or snow blower. Within minutes of use due to different conditions encountered, various degrees of power will be required to have adequate operation. A 3.5 Horsepower (HP) device will be straining, whereas a 8.5 HP unit may operate without a difficulty, under the same conditions of operation. Since HP is measured when the engine is in perfect condition, this unit has significant meaning to a buyer, and can be used as a guide as to what size to purchase for any given application.

I suggest the manufacturers and sales people are trying to obscure inferior equipment by utilizing cubic centimeters. Yesterday I was looking at snow blowers, and found the same physical size machines in different stores one at 200cc and the other at 300cc. No mention of horsepower. Having had a snow blower in the past, I know that 10 HP can handle the typical heavy snow storm without difficulty. But a 300 cc and 200 cc unit indicate absolutely nothing useful, uninformative claptrap, since the relationship to HP has no meaning.

Horsepower is meaningful and cc is obscure nonsense. Further to relate cc to HP indicates that the person doing so is not knowledgeable.

It is time consumers started a campaign to get the manufacturers and sales people back on track.

Crosne (Stachys affinis) Main Harvest

2008-10-21T19:22:00.001-04:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?XRGVI 21 October 2008 Crosne (Stachys affinis) Main Harvest
All the Crosne were dug today. The method is depicted in the pictures. The bed was 32 square feet in area, and 18 pounds of tubers were collected. The average size was excellent. Some were cooked in butter in a frying pan at a slow simmer for 15 minutes with pepper as as condiment, and some were eaten raw. No preparation is required other than washing off the dirt. This is an excellent vegetable, and is well worth growing a few plants. The tubers will be packed in peat moss and stored in the shed. It is best to protect from light, since the tubers darken if exposed.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?EPWHC Summary: Crosne growing experience.

Black Walnut Nutcracker

2008-10-19T18:39:00.001-04:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?EKRKO 19 October 2008 Black Walnut Nutcracker
All typical plier compression tools crush the meat, due to lack of control when the shell gives way. After attempting to crack these stone hard black walnuts using compression tools to no satisfactory effect, I decided to experiment utilizing readily available parts from a local farm equipment store. The annotated pictures depict the method, which is highly successful. This method could be utilized for other nuts by simply using the appropriate sized pulley, and collar insert. The Pulley is ideal since it gives a good sturdy base. A distinct advantage is the nut shells don't fly around when smacked with the hammer. Using this method, meat crushing is minimized.The collar insert facilitates removal from the pulley after crushing.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?BRZNS Summary: Walnut Experience.

Walnuts (Juglans nigra L. - black walnut )

2008-10-15T14:06:00.008-04:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?IDYXM 15 October 2008 Walnuts (Juglans nigra L. - black walnut) or American Walnut.
Most people avoid these nuts in the wild due to not knowing how to get at the meat. There is a walnut tree along my walking path, and 220 nuts about 12 pounds were collected from the tree and from the ground below. These nuts were processed and the pictures indicate the process. At this stage of dryness the meat completely fills the nut case, and crackling is almost impossible without complete shattering. As the meat dries the membranes shrink and cracking is facilitated.

I spilled some of the nut washing water on the grass and instantly the earthworms rose to the surface, and have since died. The tree produces a toxin called Juglone, which inhibits growth of many plants. This toxin insures few plants grow around the base of a Juglans nigra L. - black walnut. It is probably prudent to not grow these trees in a backyard garden.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?BAPAP 17 October 2008 (Juglans nigra L. - black walnut) or American Walnut.
A friend informed me about a walnut tree, and I visited and got about 20 lbs. On the way home I saw a tree along the road and got another 20 pounds. The walnuts were processed and the total nuts were 650 about 36 pounds. They will be cured and used this winter for snack food. Total time processing was 3 hours and 20 minutes.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?EKRKO 19 October 2008 Black Walnut Nutcracker
After attempting to crack these stone hard black walnuts using compression tools to no satisfactory effect, I decided to experiment utilizing readily available parts from a local farm equipment store. The annotated pictures depict the method, which is highly successful. This method could be utilized for other nuts by simply using the appropriate sized pulley. The Pulley is ideal since it gives a good sturdy base. A distinct advantage is the nut shells don't fly around when smacked with the hammer. All compression tools crush the meat. Using this method meat crushing is minimized.The collar insert makes removal form the pulley after crushing easy.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?TRXUG 24 October 2008 (Juglans nigra L. - black walnut) Processing
I found another Black Walnut tree today along a side road, and collected 540 nuts from the ground, and processed them. Total time 2 hours and 25 minutes. My handling method is refined slightly.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?BRZNS Summary: Walnut Experience.

Raspberries

2008-10-14T15:08:00.008-04:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?KZPXL 14 October 2008 Late Season Raspberries.
These six plants were obtained from another garden in 2005. The plants are cut to ground level in late Fall, and I get a Fall crop of berries the following year. The berries are slow ripening, and late this year due to cool weather, but the quality and quantity is more than acceptable. A large bowl full has been obtained about every three or four days for the last two weeks.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?PRCXB 23 October 2008 Raspberry Bed Winterized
The raspberry bushes were cut back to ground level. Alternatively, may be cut just below the existing fruit clusters, and new fruit will form the following Summer on these branches, and the new shoots formed will produce a late Fall crop next year. The bed was fertilized with some vegetative compost, and lightly mulched to diffuse rainwater. I only get one crop per season due to my method of pruning. I do this, since I have some ever-bearing raspberry plants further back (only this year's fruit bearing stems are removed), so I don't require the Summer crop, also it is more expedient.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?OHSHT Summary: Raspberry Growing Experience.

Icer's. Snow studded tires for your feet.

2008-10-11T18:20:00.008-04:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?DEHPA 11 October 2008 Icer's. Snow studded tires for your feet.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?JXGZR Almost 12,000 people from Ontario landed in ER after falling on ice.

There are various anti-slip devices for the bottom of shoes. I have tested most, and find the type depicted, only available this year, to be the best by far. The Icer slips on, and stays on most types of footwear. To prevent slipping the studs are uniquely set to prevent slipping in all directions. With icers it is essential that there be studs near the heel to prevent slipping when the forward foot first touches the ground.

Other types of icer's, which are dangerous, are the simple one which is a strap under the front of the shoe with no heel studs-sure injury sooner or later, since the forward, foot, heal slips when first touching the ground. Another dangerous Icer is the spring assembly type (Yaktrac). There is too much surface, which slips on smooth ice, and even on a hard floor.

The type depicted cost $22.50 at Lee Valley, and is Made in the USA, and lasts a full season under normal circumstances. The Icer is sold in many US stores.

Here is the URL of the manufacturer.
http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?MLSDM

If you have icy conditions, don't leave home without a pair.

Elephant ears (Colocasia esculenta) Tubers dug and cooked.

2008-10-09T18:32:00.002-04:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?OFGLW 9 October 2008 Elephant ears (Colocasia esculenta)
Frost has arrived, so the roots were dug today, and now I have to decide how to cook as an experiment. This is my first experience with cooking the roots.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?AQDQH 9 October 2008 Cooking Elephant ears (Colocasia esculenta)
Wash the tubers well, peel them, and boil them until they become tender (20 minutes in a Pressure Cooker). Then bake them in the oven at about 350 F for half an hour to 45 minutes. The first cooking process denatures the oxalate crystals, and the second converts the starch to something digestible.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?BEAQX 10 October 2008 Mature Tuber of Elephant ear or Taro (Colocasia esculenta)
My plant only produced one mature tuber, due to the shortness of the season in Zone 5.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?HOJAV Summary: Elephant ears. Colocasia esculenta

The Pumpkin

2008-10-07T19:43:00.007-04:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?KYLKS 7 October 2008. Utilizing the Pumpkin.

The pumpkin depicted is the Connecticut Field Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo), which is the common pumpkin grown in North America.

Being interested about the use of pumpkins as decorations for Halloween, and then seeing them thrown out, I decided to see just what one could do with this vegetable. Apparently the fruit is contains many nutrients. These picture depict my minor efforts.

When ripe, the pumpkin can be boiled, baked, steamed, or roasted. Cooked in the pressure cooker, the pumpkin is basically steamed in it own juices. The mush can be formulated into many desserts like pie and a various loafs. The seeds and juice were also utilized.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?VQHSW 9 October 2008 Boiling instead of deep frying.
Some of the pumpkin mash was utilized in a simple flour boiled snack. These balls make a simple nutritious snack food as is, or could be flavored with icing sugar for a simple dessert, or a sauce added to eat like pasta.The pumpkin balls have a relatively pleasant neutral flavor, filling, without too many calories, and home made. SFS, fat, sugar, salt is kept to an minimum.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?TECPR Summary: The Pumpkin

Monkshood (Aconitum)

2008-10-05T19:34:00.002-04:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?CGUBA 5 October 2008 Monkshood (Aconitum)
There is one plant in the garden, and it blooms in late Fall. The flower has a bit of an ominous appearance, like a monk peering out. This plant is a perennial.

Planting Horseradish

2008-10-05T15:10:00.002-04:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?RVJLF 5 October 2008 Planting Horseradish
(Armoracia rusticana, syn. Cochlearia armoracia)

Tow horseradish plants were placed in the ground to overwinter. These two plants were started from root shoots on the 19 July 2008 to give the plants a good start.

I was told that the root depth can be limited by placing a board in the bottom of the planting hole, so I am experimenting to see if this makes digging easier next year. I happen to have a few square foot spruce boards so used them.

The hole is about a foot deep with sand in the bottom, then the flat board, then a shovel full of compost, then back filled with good soil mixed with a bit of sand.

I use the small rototiller for mixing soil in the wheelbarrow, when required. It sure beats shoveling and the result is ideal.

Horseradish

2008-10-04T20:54:00.006-04:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?ZGCQF 4 October 2008 Horseradish
(Armoracia rusticana, syn. Cochlearia armoracia)
A horseradish plant was dug today and the roots processed into horseradish condiment. The plant is treated as an annual, since the roots are less fibrous than if treated as a perennial. It takes a bit of effort to dig the root ball. The roots stems are removed from the root ball and processed using a blender mixing the root pieces with white vinegar. This process of blender mixing is best done outdoors, since the fumes can get quite strong, irritating the eyes and mucus membranes. The total weight of the roots ready for processing was 1.5 kg, which produced nine 250 ml jars of horseradish condiment.

When the mixture is exposed to air the condiment changes color from white to a dull gray after repeated opening and closing. In an attempt to limit this action, olive oil was added to the top of one jar to limit exposure when using. Only one jar was treated in this manner to ascertain if the procedure has merit or not, and doesn't interfere with the taste when used. Later it was found this procedure adds a rather pleasant taste to the horseradish.

Since my processing, an alternative method has been found. I will try this next year. Use only enough cold water to enable the food processor or blender to work the horseradish, and allow the mixture to grind into a desired paste, and then allow to sit and gather strength. Only after the desired strength has been achieved should vinegar be introduced into the equation and then very little. Vinegar arrests the enzyme action that causes the heat and preserves your product. The heat is not permanent. It dissipates slowly with time. Horseradish processed in this fashion will be very strong- usually the desired product.

Planting Garlic.

2008-10-03T19:15:00.004-04:00

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?SDAOC 3 October 2008 Planting Garlic

My garlic is hard neck snake garlic. (Allium sativum ophioscorodon Serpent Garlic, Rocambole, porcelain)

The porcelain variety produces a scape (seed tentacle). Porcelain garlic makes a plump bulb with only a few fat cloves (4 to 7). My plants usually produce 5 large cloves, and I have been using the largest bulbs for seed each succeeding year for five years. Porcelains are covered in a very thick outer skin, making them a good choice for storing.

The cloves are planted in October and harvested about 1 of July. Forty eight cloves were planted at six inch centers and the top of the clove placed about three inches below the top soil level.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?WDBJS Summary: Garlic Growing Experience.