Edible gardens

[Woody girl]

I grow ginger root in a pot... BUT left it outside a couple of weeks ago and we had a cold night. It's a sorry mess now will have to start again. Got some new root the other day for my pickled pumpkins there is a nice bit left, so that's a job for tomorrow. Such a silly error but easy to do if you forget to check the weather forecast! Peppers don't do too well or I'd grow them. Don't like chilli so that's not a problem. John,sounds like you have a good supply of goodies too.

 

[Woody girl]

How do you all preserve the foods which are excess to your immediate needs?
I can understand making stuff like hot sauce, plum sauce, marmalades & chutneys.

I'm trying to dry everything this winter, sort of paleo First Nations style, even if I have to buy the fruit like apples.

Well as per the pumpkin fun we had the other day. I make jam,fruit leather chutneys and pickles. Then I dry apples and other fruits. There is the freezer plus bottled fruit. Salt beans or make leather britches. Dry beans seeds that are deliberately not picked for this reason. Good in stews as extra protein and also next year's seed. Thats all I have time for.. gotta have woods time and motorcycle time!

 

[John Fenna]

Acorns? You make your own erzats coffee?

Yup - I have made that - and it is pretty good, more coffee-like than dandelion coffee - and also acorn patties/biscuits ... OK but not great...
Most of our produce gets used fresh or as jams or as wines, though a lot is frozen or dried - we do not have a large garden (and some of that is turned over to flowers and grass) so the haul is not huge!
Foraging is mainly for walking snacks or wine

 

[Woody girl]

How do you prepare the acorns John? I've not tried as I believe it is a lot of work
I have a wonderful tree yard away from home . Seems a shame not to utilise it. I have made oakleaf wine with the young leaves in the spring.

 

[Janne]

A mix of acorns (roughly crushed and soaked, then dried and roasted) roasted dandelion roots and Cikoria roots is very tasty.
Dad used to make it, he drank it all through WW2, and developed a taste for it.

Dandelions are a wonderful resource.
Roots as above, flowers for wine, young leaves ( preferably bleached under a flowerpot) into salad.

The stem makes a nice whistle, plus you can flick the just finished flower on your friends.

 

[Woody girl]

Yes my dad used to drink that camp coffee which I believe is made with chicory . Don't drink coffee myself. I do make dandelion wine and the whistle. Freaks the neighbours dog out hee hee .

 

[Janne]

Camp I know well, used to drink it myself when I still drank sugared coffee.

I think you can buy an instant cikoria ‘coffee’ called Ricore in UK, possibly in health shops?
It is nice, but it is mixed with instant coffee. There is a pure instant cikoria beverage buy I do not remember the name. Used to buy it in Germany.

 

[John Fenna]

Acorn coffee
Lightly boil your acorns - it makes them easier to peel - then dry, roast and grind them, before using the powder as ground coffee. I like the rather bitter taste.

Patties/biscuits
Boil and peel your acorns then mash them or grind them. Rinse well in fresh water to remove tannins them shape them and fry or toast them

 

[Woody girl]

Thanks it seems simpler than i thought. I have a small coffee grinder I never use so I might try using that to grind them. Do the acorns need to be Green ones? Went for a bimble today to see if there were any left under the oak but only found about four rather brown ones. I realise it's a bit late realy to get anything acornwise. But I shall know for next year.

 

[Mr Morris777]

Hi!
great to read
I replaced everything with edible!
Hazelnut, Cherries, Chestnut, Pear, Blackberries, Redcurrent, Raspberrie, Apples, Blueberrie, Walnut, Fig, Almond,Thornless blackberrie, Grapes, Nectarine, Quince pear
no spraying, no chemical manure (kills soil fungi and bacteria which feeds the plans and shrubs/trees)
just 30 cm mulching (good in those dry summers)
Awesome to produce EKO/Bio dynamic food, it is so tasty and alot of fun.
Also the quality and food content (minerals, vitamins) are getting less and less in supermarked food (agro industry)

maybe not this year, but this video is pure traceble fact front to back

 

[Erbswurst]

Currently I travel to much around to grow Vegetables, but I have a large garden in Berlin with apple trees, nuts and berries and so on. They look after themselves and the animals can eat the fruits and enjoy the little wilderness in the middle of Berlin.

I have a lot of different birds there, hedgehog, racoon, fox, mice and rats, neighbours cats, amphibians and lizards.

It's a small paradise.

 

[Woody girl]

I must admit between climate change and brexit I have been working towards being as self sufficient in food as possible. It's not easy so I've also upped my game on foraging and food preservation. Some of my pals think I'm nuts but then joke they will know where to come if the worst happens cheeky blighters! I tell th no chance am I supporting you, get out there and look for yourself. So they say yes we'd like to learn. I arrange a foraging trip to teach them and they cancelled at last moment cos they want to go to a party. Shows how much they realy believe the necessity to provide food for themselves . I feel sorry for them. Supermarkets are their food source.
In my mind permaculture should be taught in schools from day one untill they leave. It seems to be quite fashionable to teach it in junior school but then it all stops as soon as they go to senior school .
A levels are not a great deal of good without knowing how to feed yourself without tesco and pizza hut! The last video will be looked on by some as typical American scaremongering but it contains the truth. It's a scary prospect and easy to turn your back and ignore the uncomfortable truth.
I've been a permaculturist and environmental campaigner for over 40 yrs and we've been telling about the waiting disaster of climate change all that time and been ignored and pooh poohed. Now even our young kids see what a mess we have made and are rightfully angry. It's their future we have messed with.
Someone said to me a while back I'm not bothered I'll be dead by then. What a selfish######d.! I asked them what about your kids and grandkids? They said well that's their problem!
I've come across this attitude again and again. It's not a one off.
Makes me really sad but I'll not give up. Extinction rebellion rally attendance planned for a couple of weeks time. If there is one in your area please support it and join in. Support your kids if they want to take Fridays off school to protest at the young persons climate change rallies . As one kid put it. What's the point of a levels if there is no world left for me to live in. No wander kids mental health is a problem nowadays. Her words are all it should take to galvanise everybody into action. The zombies are already here walking our streets daily. They haunt Starbucks and Macdonalds.

 

[Mr Morris777]

I must admit between climate change and brexit I have been working towards being as self sufficient in food as possible. It's not easy so I've also upped my game on foraging and food preservation. Some of my pals think I'm nuts but then joke they will know where to come if the worst happens cheeky blighters! I tell th no chance am I supporting you, get out there and look for yourself. So they say yes we'd like to learn. I arrange a foraging trip to teach them and they cancelled at last moment cos they want to go to a party. Shows how much they realy believe the necessity to provide food for themselves . I feel sorry for them. Supermarkets are their food source.
In my mind permaculture should be taught in schools from day one untill they leave. It seems to be quite fashionable to teach it in junior school but then it all stops as soon as they go to senior school .
A levels are not a great deal of good without knowing how to feed yourself without tesco and pizza hut! The last video will be looked on by some as typical American scaremongering but it contains the truth. It's a scary prospect and easy to turn your back and ignore the uncomfortable truth.
I've been a permaculturist and environmental campaigner for over 40 yrs and we've been telling about the waiting disaster of climate change all that time and been ignored and pooh poohed. Now even our young kids see what a mess we have made and are rightfully angry. It's their future we have messed with.
Someone said to me a while back I'm not bothered I'll be dead by then. What a selfish######d.! I asked them what about your kids and grandkids? They said well that's their problem!
I've come across this attitude again and again. It's not a one off.
Makes me really sad but I'll not give up. Extinction rebellion rally attendance planned for a couple of weeks time. If there is one in your area please support it and join in. Support your kids if they want to take Fridays off school to protest at the young persons climate change rallies . As one kid put it. What's the point of a levels if there is no world left for me to live in. No wander kids mental health is a problem nowadays. Her words are all it should take to galvanise everybody into action. The zombies are already here walking our streets daily. They haunt Starbucks and Macdonalds.

@Woody girl
big hug! Added to follow list. You care, so do I, 20+ years Nature Conservationalist (struggle with ignorance and successes with the implementations) and Permaculturist (lately). Bushcraft made me rethink resourses even more and more.
As said there is no time and place in this Northern Western civilized world without really hard struggles (we live at peace, we can find information and education everwhere) to be Indifferent or mock the people warming for the coming Storm. We live by the Creations Eternal Law or we are Pounded to Dust collectively by Nature.
A collective wackening up is needes and collective action. Going to self sufficiency and Permaculture incl crafs, bushcraft and village crafts is a more satisfying life, cheaper, less debt and stress.
More hard work, but we are meant for that for ages and ages. Honoring our grand grand fathers and children to come.

If I wanted to take it easy and live a baby boomer lifestyle I would have taken an other career and would not be posting here.

I also like more lofty subjects, but this nice forum is full of that (which is good). I can only be sincere and speak clear. No room for chit chat on this topic.

I will be here now and then only btw.

 

[Woody girl]

So now spring is a cummin , what are this year's planting plans?
I have a huge pile of seeds, but I lost my cheap plastic grow house in the storms ( my fault too eager to get going and to lazy to protect it better) so I'm looking at a solar dome to replace it. Much more expensive but better built so in the long run better value for money.
Root crops beetroot parsnip and carrot to go Inot a small loft water tank as a raised bed.
Beans runner and broad in one bed with shallots grown between the beans
Salad crops in the other bed. Consisting of pick and come again lettuce wild rocket salad onions radishes and possibly if there is any room left a few other things.
Peas will grow in the small 1 metre square area.
I'm also doing micro greens on the windowsills. Cress radish peas mung bean and fenugreek with sprouted chicken peas too in a jar.
Baby toms in hanging baskets and potatoes in tesco shopping bags.
What are your plans this year?

 

[Robson Valley]

Have you got a sunny afternoon wall? Windows are irrelevant. Plant a grape vine. As it goes up, you can plant small things below it.
My 2 oldest grape vines were planted in 2001. They thrive on neglect, never sprayed for anything, watered every couple of summers.

I keep (!) them pruned back to cover the west side of my house. That's 14' tall to the roof and 40' wide.
When it gets over +35C in the shade, I get 7-10C relief in my kitchen which is in shade!
I have lots more of them planted elsewhere.
I pick fresh young leaves for dolmades since the leaves taste like grapes.

From the prunings each spring, I can start maybe 100 new grape vines to sell.
Got another plant where you can sell the junk trimmings?
I have a nice family that pick the harvest each fall. They barter onions, carrots and potatoes for my grapes.
Best yield ever was 2013 = 30kg/vine.

Everybody needs a grape vine or two. The husbandry is very simple, no rocket science required.

This is from Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, mid October. Too lazy to go outside, my guest climbed into
my kitchen sink, took off the screen to get grapes for lunch.

 

[Clayze]

Forgive me if this a silly question, do different varieties of acorns produce various levels of tannins?

 

[Woody girl]

Forgive me if this a silly question, do different varieties of acorns produce various levels of tannins?

The answer is yes. The British varietys quercus roba and penduncular are pretty much alike but if you want sweet acorns then you want to be looking out for a cork oak. Saying that they are still bitter and In need of leeching same as for the more bitter varieties. I don't think you need worry about the kind of oak realy. As long as they are prepared properly all varieties can be used.

 

[Clayze]

Thank you very much! A thorough leeching it shall be then come autumn.

 

[Robson Valley]

Have you got any hazelnuts, cultivars of Corylus cornuta? No tannin puzzle to solve.
That is native to our river valleys here but the commercial varieties have vastly better yield.

 

[Clayze]

We certainly do have hazelnuts. The problem is picking them when ripe. It gets very competitive with the squirrel population...the squirrels being supreme champions in my experience