Organic Gardening in St. Louis

Free Vermicomposting Demonstration July 16

2009-07-13T20:07:00.003-05:00

Join me this Thursday 6:30 p.m. at the Whole Foods in Town and Country (Woods Mill and Clayton, same shopping center as Target) for a free vermicomposting demonstration.

Vermicomposting, or composting with worms, is a convenient way to get wonderful compost for your garden even if you don't have a lot of space. When done right, there is no smell and no mess, so you can even keep a worm bin in your kitchen without anyone knowing (my own mother didn't know I had one until my brother ratted me out!).

I'll be there with a couple of my worm bins, and will show you how to start your own bin, how to maintain it, and how to harvest the castings when they're ready.

The St. Louis Organic Garden Club is a consumer/gardener-oriented offshoot of the Missouri Organic Association. Find our "St. Louis Organic Garden Club" page on Facebook for more information.

Frog in swimming pool

2009-07-03T07:35:00.006-05:00

One of my backyard visitors this year is what appears to be a juvenile bullfrog. I read that, although they live near ponds or other bodies of water, they can hop as much as six miles in a week when they travel from pond to pond. They go on the move during warm, rainy weather (like we had just before the frog showed up in my pool), and they look for smaller bodies of water during their travels.

As I mentioned, the frog showed up in my pool, and that can be problematic. I've read about a lot of people who have had to fish dead frogs out of the pool or skimmer, not because the chlorinated water is bad for them, but because they couldn't get out and they drowned. There are even special floats that can be purchased just to be used as "frog stairs" out of the pool.

We have several Solar Sun Rings in our pool, which the frog treats like giant lily pads. When I first found him, I kept fishing him out, but it appears he's in no danger of being trapped since he can easily move on and off the rings, which can float near enough to the edge for him to jump out.

Frogs are carnivorous, and as such, are a good addition to an organic garden since they eat insects. According to Wikipedia, bull frogs will eat just about anything else they can fit down their throat, including rodents and other frogs, so if you deliberately build a pond and stock it with tadpoles, don't mix bullfrogs with other frogs or you'll just end up with a bunch of really fat bullfrogs.

I don't have a pond in my yard, so I filled a couple of shallow, black plastic tub with rain water and set them in a shady part of my yard, where plenty of ground cover will hide Jeremiah from the occasional hawk and/or other creature that might find him tasty. When we want to swim or clean the pool, we fish him out and plop him in the tubs, and occasionally I find him hiding in one of his own accord.

I figure he won't stick around long, since I don't really have a permanent water fixture (other than a pool) for him to stay in, and we don't have a ready supply of lady frogs for him to chill with. But I've been enjoying his visit!

Wormzilla

2009-05-31T22:00:00.005-05:00

Whenever I work out in the yard, I usually take a camera. You never know what you'll find! I have a couple of very large Devil's Backbone (a/k/a Redbird Cactus) plants that came with us from Texas 2.5 years ago, and the poor things have been in the same pots since then (I'm really terrible with houseplants!). When transplanting one into a larger pot today, I found a worm as long as my hand!

It's not unusual for me to find worms in houseplants. Back in Texas, we had a couple of really good potting soils to choose from. Rabbit Hill Farm had a wonderful potting mix, which often carried worm cocoons because of the worm castings, and Lady Bug Brand also had good potting mix. But it's been more than three years since those poor plants have had an infusion of new soil. Hats off to the giant worm for surviving that type of neglect!

Ikea Hack: Stylish Vermicompost Bin for a Small Space

2009-04-11T08:39:00.014-05:00

I was driving through Chicago a couple weekends ago, when my car had trouble. It kept pulling toward a big blue and yellow building full of wonderful Scandinavian delights, and then it just stopped. Well, what was I to do? I had to go inside.

Inspiration hit when I saw the Trofast line of storage furniture. We just remodeled our kitchen last fall (yeah, we still haven't had a back-splash installed but I'm getting there, I swear!): the cabinets were painted gray, and we're using red and orange as our accent colors. The white storage furniture with red bins was another worm bin waiting to happen!

I don't like most of the commercial worm bins out there, for a number of reasons. When looking for a suitable container for a new bin, I look for the following:

Depth. This is perhaps the most important, since I want to make sure I can cover food scraps with a thin layer of coir or shredded newspapers. You also need to add some ventilation, so it has to be deep enough to accommodate some screened vent holes, but not so deep that it gets no air. Somewhere between 8 and 12 inches is about right.
Volume. The bin should be big enough to accommodate the amount of kitchen scraps you expect to generate. If you cook a lot, you're going to need a bigger bin than someone who goes out to eat most of the time.
A lid. You need to cover the worm bin, not only to keep the worms in, but to keep it from drying out.
Looks. I keep my bin in the kitchen where it's most useful, so I don't want something that looks like a worm bin. If you can vermicompost without anyone knowing, you're doing it right.

To prepare the bin, step one is to drill some vent holes and cover with screen. I tried something different this time, by adhering the screen with silicone caulking instead of with staples like I did last time. The staples from my old bin, though starting to rust, are still intact. But because the staples don't provide a seal, worms crawl under the screen, and sometimes they even escape out the vent hole.

If you do use silicone, let it cure for at least a week before filling up your bin. I don't know if it was a reaction with the plastic of the bin or just an old tube of sealant, but that stuff stayed sticky for a long time.

Next, I added about an inch of coir to the bottom of the bin. If I were creating a bin for the first time, I would have added 3 or 4 inches of coir, but since I was transferring material from another bin I didn't need a lot of bedding. I buy the bricks, which are sold at several feed stores and garden centers around here, and add water to expand them. I don't put any drain holes in the bottom of the bin. The coir is there to keep the bottom from getting too soggy and to provide some material the worms can crawl through, and I've found that as long as you don't overdo the watering, drain holes are unnecessary.

After the coir, I added kitchen scraps that I had saved for this project, along with some partially composted stuff I wanted to move from my old bin.

Then I covered it all with a thin layer of shredded newspaper. The newspaper makes good bedding for the worms, and it also helps to regulate moisture, just like mulch in your garden.

I wetted down the newspaper, then after a thorough inspection by the cat my bin was ready to go. This particular Trofast unit is three bins high, so I used two of the bins for vermicompost, and I use the top bin to hold some extra newspaper and a garden trowel.

Every week or so, thoroughly mix the material in your worm bin with a trowel. This keeps it aerated and incorporates any additional scraps that you've thrown on top during the week. It also lets you asses the health of your bin. If there are any unpleasant, rotten odors, then the bed is too wet: add some more shredded newspaper. If the bin is too dry, add some more water.

Let the bin dry out a bit before harvesting. You don't want it to be dry enough to kill your worms, but if it's too wet and muddy it's almost impossible to do anything with. I haven't found a good way to harvest vermicompost other than picking the worms out by hand (I do wear gloves, not because I'm opposed to touching worm castings, but because I hate to get dirt under my fingernails), and putting it through a screen.

If you have a larger bin like my Rubbermaid one, you can push all the stuff to one side and just add scraps to one half of the bin. Many of the worms will eventually congregate on the new side, but you'll still find plenty in the finished material as well. For my new two-bin system, I plan to just stop adding scraps to one bin several weeks before harvest.

Stacking Vermicompost Bins -- A Critique

2009-04-11T07:50:00.004-05:00

My preferences for worm bins run contrary to much of what is on the market right now. If you search for a home vermicomposting system, you'll more likely than not come upon one of the continuous-flow type systems: the kind with stacking trays with vented bottoms. They're supposed to make harvesting the vermicompost easy: start with material in the lower bin, then when that is full add to the next level, etc. The worms supposedly finish the lower bin, then crawl up to the next layer for the fresh material, leaving black gold in the lower bin.

In my house, however, an expensive stacking vermicompost system is nothing more than messy, fruit fly-infested vermicide on the grandest scale. Why?

The bins are too shallow: they dry out easily. Worms can handle too much water, but not enough is deadly.
However, if you keep the bins moist enough, then any fruit fly within miles is immediately alerted to the brand new, multi-level condo created (they think, if fruit flies think) just for them. Again, the shallowness of the layers is the issue: you can't properly cover anything you put in.
The worms don't cooperate, either. In my kitchen, the worms were just as likely to move to a lower layer than to a higher one. I was forever fishing live and drowned worms from the water-collection layer at the bottom of the unit. And a "finished" layer was still as full of worms as an unfinished one.
Talk about a mess! Each layer has a grid on the bottom. When you lift up a layer, either to check on the worms or to harvest, you have a box with worms hanging out the bottom, and dirt all over. Where do you put it? You can't set it down, or you'll smash all the worms in transit from one layer to the other. So any time a layer was lifted, it became a two-person operation: one to hold the top box mid-air, and the other to work with the material below.
And finally, the bins, in addition to being too shallow, were just to small to handle fruit and vegetable scraps for a couple who eats a lot of fruits and vegetables.

Does this mean you shouldn't vermicompost? Absolutely not! It's actually much easier, cheaper, and less messy than the expensive worm towers would lead you to believe. I just created a new vermicompost bin (will post pic right after this), but the old cheap bin I made from a Rubbermaid container is still the best bin I've ever used.

Pathogens in Commercial Compost

2009-03-28T09:26:00.006-05:00

Interesting article in the the Franklin County, Maine Bulldog about compost made at huge commercial facilities. It's not one of those "organic guys are crazy and look how dangerous it is to do stuff without chemicals" articles, but is well-written.

It seems that for commercial composting facilities, size does matter, and smaller is better. At some point, the piles are too large to properly turn, and pathogens like E. Coli, and fecal coliform bacteria are not killed.

http://www.dailybulldog.com/db/?p=1791

What's an organic gardener to do? Make your own! In a backyard pile, you can control what is used: the pathogens mentioned in the article are more likely to occur when animal products like manure are used. You can also monitor the pile to ensure it heats up properly even if you do use manures.

Missouri Organic Association 2009 Conference

2009-02-21T13:07:00.015-06:00

The conference is today, and turnout is great! The conference has two tracks: "Experienced and Veteran Farmers," and "Prospective and Beginning Farmers." There were so many participants in the "Prospective" track that they had to switch rooms to accommodate everyone, and the organizers were worried they would run out of food at lunchtime (but there's plenty!).

The MOA Conference is an information-sharing opportunity that is all about the business of organic farming. Regardless of the experience level of the grower, he or she is bound to find priceless contacts, both for mentoring and for buying/selling. The information is useful and informative even for those of us who don't grow commercially.

The programs I've attended so far have all been first class: I'm always impressed by how many high-quality speakers MOA can pull in for their conference. Here's who I heard today:

Lane McConnell, Marketing Specialist for MO Dept. of Agriculture speaking on "Programs for Prospective and Beginning Farmers". Many people are probably not aware of all the help available for people who want to get started in farming: marketing and promotional materials, business counseling, grants, and more. Also mentioned were the Agrotourism program and the Grow Native! program.

Stan Cook joined Lane to talk about the Missouri Agricultural and Small Business Development Authority (MASBDA), and the different loans and grants that are available.

Dean Wilson from the MU Extension talked about the "Grow your farm" program, a course in Jefferson County that teaches prospective farmers how to write a Farm Plan (a/k/a a "business plan" for your farm).

Dr. Kamalendu Paul from Lincoln University told us about the history of the agricultural extension in Missouri, and touched on the history of land grant colleges in general. He then shared future plans for the Innovative Small Farmers’ Outreach Program, which kicks off this spring.

Linda Hezel, from Growing Growers in Kansas City, talked about this innovative program that teams up prospective growers with host farmers in the region.

Molly Rockamann gave an overview of EarthDance FARMS, an organization she founded with Colleen Wilson to to grow and inspire local FARMS – Food, Art, Relationships, & Music, Sustainably.

Sue Baird, MOA's incoming president, gave an overview of organic certification for crops. She delineated the different types of organic products, different certification categories, steps to certification, what's included in an organic system plan, and common errors made during the certification process.

The first session this afternoon had different speakers give a very brief talk about marketing organic goods:

Nancy Birch from All Star Trading talking about grains and feed ingredients
Randy Wood, Missouri Farmers Union on farm-to-school and farm-to-childcare programs
Walt Gregory, Midwest Organic Farmers Coop talking about coops (interesting story about the "Seasonal Salad" product)
Lane McConnell talking about farmers' markets
Krista Durlas from Whole Foods in Town & Country (Krista is also the co-leader of our Organic Garden Club), and Brendon Kline & Jason from the Whole Foods in Kansas City about opportunities for farmers to produce for Whole Foods
Michael Milster from St. Louis University: latest ACF survey says fastest growing trend among chefs is local and organic; if you're growing for restaurants, there is definitely a healthy market; also they need local organic produce for the Fresh Gatherings Cafe at SLU
Ed Pilla at Spudmaster: they have a lot of dehydration space if anyone has a need to rent space; they use GMO-free potatoes with high specific gravity and decent fry color

Our last session of the day was Improving Compacted and Waterlogged Soils, by Dr. Bob Kremer, a Microbiologist from the USDA Agricultural Research Services. He started with some definitions (bulk density, compaction, waterlogged, infiltration, and surface runoff). Bottom line to manage soil in anticipation of heavy rainfall:

Anticipate based on weather; don’t incorporate organic residue immediately before predicted major rainfall events
Maintain cover crops when field is out of production crop
Use grass waterways or buffer strips
Minimum tillage techniques to prevent surface sealing, encourage aggregation, microbial activity
Build up and maintain soil organic matter

Grow it in place (cover crops)

Add compost or manure

Integrate livestock

Seedlings from Missouri Department of Conservation

2009-01-19T16:30:00.003-06:00

Check out the list of seedlings that are sold by the George O. White State Forest Nursery. Orders for the tree and shrub seedlings are taken online or by fax through mid-April (you will be billed for your selections), and shipped in May.

Seedlings are very reasonably priced, sold in "bundles" that range from $4 to $28. Of particular interest to the backyard gardener are the "special bundles", described on the Mo Dept. of Conservation site as follows:

For areas where a variety of seedlings are needed, in smaller quantities, four special bundles are available.

* The Conservation Bundle is recommended for people who want to add a mix of trees and shrubs to their property.
* The Wildlife Cover Bundle will improve habitat and food sources for a number of Missouri wildlife species.
* The Extra-Large Nut Tree Bundle is made up of pecan and walnut that are larger than our normal stock size.
* The Quail Cover Bundle provides plants for quail food and cover.

The contents of these special bundles are preselected by the nursery, and no substitutes can be made. See the online order form or PDF order form for bundle contents.

Download the descriptions and order form from http://www.mdc.mo.gov/forest/nursery/seedling/

Organic Garden Club Meeting TONIGHT Jan. 8

2009-01-08T06:48:00.002-06:00

Tonight is the first meeting of our local consumer branch of the Missouri Organic Association. We will be screening a film about the Mueller Farm in Ferguson.

Whether you are a novice with a couple of potted plants, or an expert with a huge garden, join us at the Whole Foods in Town & Country at 6:30 pm: all are welcome! We are hard at work organizing speakers for future meetings on subjects like organic gardening basics, lawn care, seed starting, composting, and lots more.

Reserve your spot at the Whole Foods website or stop by the store. We are asking $5 admission to help get the club off the ground.

St. Louis Organic Garden Club Details

2008-12-26T16:51:00.002-06:00

Thursday, January 8

Missouri Organic Association's Organic Garden Club 6:30 - 8:00 pm, $5
Whole Foods, SW Corner of Clayton and Woods Mill, Town and Country, MO

With Molly Rockamann of EarthDance Farms Everyone is welcome to join the inaugural monthly meeting of St. Louis's first organic garden club! This time, Molly Rockamann will help us get inspired for spring in the dead of winter, answer questions about growing organically, and screen Connoisseur of Fine Foods, the short film about the Mueller Organic Farm in Florissant. Join us for a great conversation and a chance to win a raffle prize.

Molly Rockamann has a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Eckerd College and a Postgraduate Diploma in Development Studies from the University of the South Pacific. After graduating from the Center for AgroEcology & Sustainable Food Systems at UC-Santa Cruz in 2005 with a certificate in ecological horticulture, Rockamann worked with small farmers in Fiji and Ghana, as well as with food activist and author Anna Lappe on the Eat Grub! Tour of 2006. Molly is a St. Louis native, and the co-founder of EarthDance, a new organization dedicated to celebrating the culture in agri[culture]. Founded in 2008 to grow and inspire local FARMS - Food, Art, Relationships, & Music, Sustainably!, the EarthDance Organic Farming Apprenticeship program will begin on the historic Mueller Farm in early 2009.

Interested folks can register by stopping by Whole Foods in Town and Country, or calling the Customer Service Desk at 636-527-1160 or online at http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/townandcountry/storecalendar.php

Organic Garden Club Forming Jan. 8

2008-12-14T10:55:00.003-06:00

I'm excited to be able to report that an Organic Garden Club is forming here in St. Louis County. This club will be an offshoot of the Missouri Organic Association, an organization here in Missouri with a mission to bring together growers, consumers, gardeners, and other advocates of organic methods.

Our first meeting will be on January 8 at the Whole Foods in Town & Country. I believe it starts at 7 pm but we're firming up the details (reservations will be required since our meeting space is small) and I'll post them as soon as I have them.

Our first speaker will be Molly Rockamann, co-founder of EarthDance, an organization dedicated to supporting and encouraging local farms. Molly will show a short film documenting the historic Mueller Farm, a tiny organic farm just in our backyard, with city limits of Ferguson, MO.

Future talks will include tips on beginning organic gardening, seed-starting, and more!

Take care of the birds

2008-11-23T20:02:00.005-06:00

Birds are an important part of an organic garden. If you have made a commitment to not use chemical sprays to kill bugs, then you can no doubt appreciate the birds that eat insects in your garden. Not only do they provide a valuable service, but the birds are enjoyable to watch and listen to (especially if you have indoor cats!).

It may seem that feeding birdseed would make birds less likely to eat insects, but in reality what you're doing is providing an inviting place for the birds to live. A steady supply of seed will encourage them to nest in your yard because food is plentiful, and most of the birds that are attracted to your feeder eat at least some insects as part of their diet.

If you have large windows in your house, bird strikes may be a big issue. Often the reflection in the window looks like more sky, and when birds fly into the window full force they can get badly hurt, even killed.

Bird splat on one of the back doors

Some birds, like sparrows, are more prone to fly into your windows in spring when they're nesting and feeling particularly territorial. They see their reflection in the window and try to protect their little place in the world.

However, I've had a particularly bad time with doves hitting our windows this fall. I think it has more to do with the position of the sun and the lack of leaves on the trees than anything else: due to the reflections they just plain don't see the glass and think they're flying into blue sky. We have a couple feeders in the tree outside our kitchen window (Cat TV), and as a result we have a LOT of doves.

It got so bad last weekend -- 5 strikes before noon last Saturday -- that we ended up putting large masking tape X's on the kitchen windows in hopes that the tape would break up the reflection and keep them from flying into the windows. Masking tape does work moderately well. After applying the tape, we had one or two doves hit the window over the last week but not nearly at the rate they did before. So this weekend we went looking for a more appealing solution: something tmore effective while at the same time better looking (I'm just glad the kitchen faces the back yard!).

We ended up at WalMart, looking for those tacky beaded curtains. You know, the kind that, back in the old days, used to signal that something very naughty hid just beyond the doorway. I've seen them back in stores in the last couple of years, as pre-teens continue their worship of all things 70's.

We didn't find any beaded curtains (thank goodness, we were spared putting up anything in the color "princess purple" outside our house!), but the lady at the craft department pointed us to some by-the-yard gold garland that had become popular with people taking belly dance lessons (go figure!), but were now on clearance for $1/yard. So we decided to make our own.

I strung a few lengths of the garland on a wire, making a knot above each length to keep them spaced at about 10" apart. I purposely left the length a bit long, so the ends would drag on the ground. Although these will still move a bit in the wind, I want them to be heavy enough to more-or-less stay put.

Here's a photo of the finished project. I hope that the shiny disks will draw the birds' attention long enough for them to figure out there is a house there. If it works, I may try making some more bird-strike-avoiders out of beads.

What type of berry is this?

2008-11-23T19:51:00.003-06:00

For some reason, I thought it was a serviceberry, but I read they fruit pretty early, and the birds will normally get them before the people can.

Ours still have some fruit on the trees, and they make a real mess when they fall on the sidewalk. I don't remember when they began fruiting, sometime mid to late summer I think.

We have two of these trees, multi-trunked and ~15 feet tall.

Praying Mantis on the Back Door

2008-11-23T19:28:00.003-06:00

I was going through my camera pics and found this one from early October.

Quebec herbicide ban violates NAFTA, pesticide maker alleges

2008-10-23T18:11:00.001-05:00

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/10/22/quebec-pesticide.html?ref=rss
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Fuzzy caterpillar

2008-10-04T15:50:00.003-05:00

Had to do a plant walk before heading out shopping and found this guy. Will need to look him up later.

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I just looked it up. He's a Wooley Bear Caterpillar, that will turn into an Isabella Moth (Pyrrharctia isabella).

African Blue Basil

2008-09-21T15:42:00.006-05:00

As was the case last year, our African Blue Basil plant is attracting a crazy number of bees again this summer. Unlike last year, though, we haven't seen a whole lot of honey bees. We've mostly had bumblebees this year, and most of the summer it's been the really big ones. At any given time there are at least half a dozen on the one plant. For a week or so, we also saw some smaller bumblebees, about 1/2 the size of the current residents. I'm not sure if they're a different species or if they're a younger version of the big ones.

UPDATE: I've been looking all over the web trying to figure out what kind of bumblebees we have, and just figured out they're not bumblebees at all: they're carpenter bees. Bumblebees have fuzzy butts, while carpenter bees have a smooth and hairless back-end, like my photo. I knew we had carpenter bees by our deck this spring, but I didn't put two and two together. The web pages I've found indicate that the carpenter bee is a good pollinator, and they do bore into wood as their name suggests. However, they don't usually do serious damage unless generations of them stick around the same location.

Japanese Maples

2008-09-21T15:36:00.002-05:00

We planted a couple more Japanese maples that have been in pots for most of the summer. The red one, 'Bloodgood,' was a housewarming present when we moved in two years ago, and it's been in the ground for awhile.

The one on the left is 'Sango Kaku,' and the small one on the right is an 'Orido-Nishiki' that Doug bought on Ebay.

Eggplant

2008-09-21T15:03:00.006-05:00

I planted a couple of eggplants about a month ago. Today I harvested my first mini-eggplant. I suppose I should have let it get a little bigger but I wanted to get it before something else did! There are several more blooms on the plants so hopefully I'll get some more.

I also got a couple small zucchinis -- they definitely aren't growing as fast now that the weather has turned cooler. I only got a handful of beans -- some of them are plain old bush beans and some are scarlet runner beans. I keep finding little onions that I missed when digging up earlier, and I even found some potatoes that I missed when harvesting several weeks ago. This should make a nice little stir fry.

Here are blooms from the scarlet runner bean (along with little beanlets!) and my bush beans.

Mulching with hay

2008-09-21T14:36:00.005-05:00

I managed to get in several hours in the garden today, and got a lot accomplished. I took lots of pictures so will post a couple different items.

This summer we're trying something different: mulching with straw instead of hardwood mulch or the composted leaves we get from the city pickup mulch pile. It's not the best looking when it's just been put down, but after a few rains it'll looks fine.

Why straw? It seems to be more economical than the hardwood mulch we get in bags at the big box store: one bale will cover as much area as probably 4-5 bags of mulch. We pay a bit too much right now because we don't have a pickup truck. That means we only can get 4 bales in the back of Doug's car, and we end up buying it at a feed store for about $5/bale. If you have a truck and can get enough to make the drive worthwhile, you can find farmers selling straw on Craig's List for as little as $2/bale.

It's not quite as economical as the leaf mulch we get in University City in the spring, but I think it's cleaner. The free mulch comes from leaves the city picks up curbside and piles up to compost all winter. However, I've found enough garbage in that mulch -- pull tabs from cans, plastic bags and other assorted plastic items, cigarette package wrappers, etc. -- that it really makes me wonder exactly what all I am adding to my yard. And who really knows what people spray on their trees.

Here's a view of the same garden area from the driveway. You can't really see the mulch until you're right up by the fence so I don't have to worry about what the neighbors think. :)

Turkey!

2008-09-20T09:41:00.003-05:00

When driving home from work I avoid the highway because it's pretty clogged up that time of day. Winding through one of the suburban neighborhoods on my way home the other day, I had to wait for a turkey to cross the road. Seriously!

I held up traffic a bit as I stopped my car in the middle of the road to snap some pics.

Fairy Ring

2008-08-08T08:51:00.006-05:00

There's a fairy ring growing between my neighbor's driveway and mine. It gets more mushrooms as time passes but I thought I'd get a photo while I'm thinking of it.

Here's a better view, taken after a different rainstorm. Note how lush the grass is in the middle. As the fungus grows, it dies out in the center and decays, feeding the soil.

Dog Vomit Fungus

2008-08-03T12:02:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was a busy day for my camera. While (unsuccessfully) chasing the snake the first time we saw it, I came across some weird-looking fungus that I've seen in my yard before. Since I had the camera for the snake chase, I went ahead and snapped some pics.

This fungus isn't a mushroom, but a slime mold. The name, though disgusting, is very descriptive (I didn't make it up!). More information can be found here, here,and here.

Black Rat Snake

2008-08-03T10:26:00.010-05:00

One of my rules of blogging is to never post something that I'd be afraid for my parents, friends, or employers to see. I'm about to break that rule.

My mother doesn't yet know about this blog. It's bad enough that my little brother ratted me out about the worms in my kitchen. I showed them to my father last time they visited and he thinks it's cool, but I knew it would just ekel my mother. I'm afraid if she sees this photo she'll never come to visit again.

We've seen him before, but this time we got a better look since he was right outside our back door, and I think it's a Black Rat Snake rather than a Black Racer Snake. The main differences are: the Rat Snake is chunkier, shiner, slower, and less aggressive than the Racer. I believe the definitive proof would be if we could see the coloring on his underside, but I don't think either Doug or I are going to ask him to show us.

Zucchini recipes

2008-08-03T09:06:00.010-05:00

I spent about 3 hours cooking last night: two types of zucchini bread, and stuffed zucchini rounds. Everything was experimental, and not everything turned out the way I had hoped (the low-fat raspberry-zucchini bread was particularly disappointing so I won't post a recipe for it). The garlic cheese zucchini bread, however, was excellent! I messed around with a recipe I found here, and it was so easy I didn't even need a mixer.

Garlic Cheese Zucchini Bread

2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup grated zucchini
1 tablespoon grated onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

Beat together the eggs, buttermilk, sugar, and butter. Mix in the salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix in the flour until it's moist (don't over-mix).

Stir the garlic and onion into the zucchini, then fold the zucchini mixture into the batter. Stir in the cheese.

Pour into two 4 x 8 loaf pans, and bake at 350 for ~45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. The top will still be pale, or just slightly golden.

Stuffed zucchini rounds

My next experiment was another stuffed zucchini. I usually make a loose stuffing, browning some meat & onions, then adding to a grain of some sort (brown rice, bulgar, couscous, quinoa or whatever's on hand). This time I decided to go for more of a solid, meatloaf-type filling, and to cut the zucchini into rounds instead of lengthwise to make serving easier.

Consider this more of an idea than a recipe; I can't remember what all I used to spice it. As an afterthought, I added a garlic spice mix that I received in my last Fair Share, and I didn't catch that the mix's top ingredient was salt. Because I had already done some seasoning, the result was way too salty.

1/2 to a whole large zucchini (depending on size)
1 pound ground buffalo (or ground beef)
1 medium onion
1 green pepper
olive oil
chicken broth
1-2 cups cups cooked quinoa, rice, or bulgar
1 egg
1 packet unflavored gelatin
seasoning to taste (use what you would for a meatloaf)
shredded cheddar

From a large zucchini, cut several ~2 inch rounds. Scoop out the center (save what you scoop out), place in a pan with a little chicken broth in the bottom, and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until the flesh is soft (not soggy).

Prepare the gelatin per package directions just prior to mixing the stuffing. If you prepare it too far in advance it'll be set up already, but you want it to be liquid.

Sautee the onion and pepper in a little olive oil. Dice the zucchini that was scooped from the rounds, along with any leftover zucchini that wasn't cut into rounds. Sautee with the onion/pepper mix. When stuffing a zucchini, I go ahead and sautee any squash that I have left. If it looks like too much, add to any leftover grain with a little cheese and some seasonings and cook it along with the stuffed zucchini.

Mix the raw ground meat, grains, seasoning, and sauteed vegetables in a large bowl. Add the egg, and add about 3 tablespoons of the prepared gelatin, which will keep the stuffing from drying out while cooking. Stuff the hollowed-out parts of the squash rounds, and form into a semi-circle on top.

Bake at 375 until a meat thermometer inserted into the stuffing reads 155. Start checking temperature after about 40 minutes. If the tops start to look dry, then cover loosely with foil.