Grow Your Own Goji Berries

The picture above is not mine. This is the Wikipedia picture (address below).
Organic health food has taken off in popularity. More and more we see "Organic" labels on the food at the grocery store. We are eating healthier these days in our search for longevity and more energy.

Super foods are coming into focus. One of these so called "super foods" are the goji berries (also called wolfberries), ostensibly from Tibet where monks in the monasteries are known for their long life spans. I am sure this is the result of the book entitled "Lost Horizons" and not necessarilly due to the longer life spans of the residents of Tibet.

Regardless of the reasons for this, people are eating a lot of dried goji berries bought in health food stores. I buy mine from a bulk food store by the gram and have found this to be the cheapest way to buy them.

They will grow anywhere that has a winter. They don't need any special care and will flourish in poor soil and semi dry conditions. They are very easy, although slow, growers. The goji bushes should produce some berries in the third year with full sun and a little care, or so I have read. The goji berry bushes I have were grown from seed this past spring and are only about 3" tall right now. They have another two years to go before I will know for sure how long it takes to produce berries. Even if you do get berries in the third year, there probably won't be a lot of them. Of course, if you are growing them from seed, you can always plant a lot of bushes to have a bigger harvest sooner.

I grew my goji berry bushes from seed this past spring and had a good germination rate. It was an experiment, as I am always looking for interesting and unusual things to grow and trying seeds from many foods purchased.

There is an important piece of information you should have if you are going to try growing goji berries from the dried ones purchased. The berries contain a chemical prohibiting germination, so you have to hydrate the berries, separate and wash the seeds, removing any pulp or juice from the berry. Its a very simple process and I have included directions below to help you.

The hard, dry purchased berries have to be soaked in hot water for a day or two to rehydrate. When the berries are soft and mushy, they are ready.

Slit them open with a knife and you will see the seeds inside. They are very small. I use the knife to scrape the seeds into a fine strainer for washing.

Hold the strainer under warm water and wash the seeds. Use your finger to stir them around in the strainer and remove any big pieces of pulp. Rinse the berries, while stirring around, for a few minutes until you are sure all the juice and most pulp has been removed.

I dump out the clean seeds on a papertowel and spread them out to dry. I let them dry for a week or so then place in an envelope and label.

 

I keep out a few for planting myself and keep the rest for trading or giving to friends with a green thumb. After preparing a tray with soil and wetting it so that it is slightly damp, sprinkle the seeds thinly on the soil. Lightly sprinkle soil over them, but not much. Put in a warm location, keeping the soil slightly damp. It helps to keep it damp if it is covered. You should see the seeds sprouting in 4-6 weeks, or sooner. Mine took about 5-6 weeks to sprout but were in a cool window. As soon as the seeds sprout, move them into a sunny location to grow. Transplant outside when they are 2-3" tall.

They don't need winter stratification to germinate, although they will probably do well wintersowed.

This method can be used for a lot of fruits and vegetables from the grocery store. This is how I save my ground cherry seeds, as well. Some seeds may need a cold winter or scarification to germinate. You will just have to experiment.

You can see more pictures and information about goji berries at the Wikipedia site here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfberry

This is what my goji berrry bushes look like now, after a summer of growing. I planted them in March but they have not had a good summer. They were kept in little pots longer than they should have been and were moved a few times, stepped on and generally mistreated. Your berry bushes will probably be quite a bit bigger and healthier than these after a full summer of growing in the right spot with tender care.

 

Rooting Herbs From the Grocery Store

 

Spring is almost here and we are having spring like weather!! I am busy planning my garden space, old and new, for this coming season. One thing I want to grow this year are a lot of fresh herbs. I do grow thyme, oregano, sage and chives. This year I am going to add several more to this list.

I have seeds for basils, cilantro, rosemary, dill and a few more that I cannot remember at the moment. These things will grow from seed but it is a slow process, especially for the perennials, so I am attempting to root new plants from fresh pieces I purchased at the grocery store for the cost of a package of seeds.

Today I bought rosemary and last week I bought and planted terragon cuttings.

When I look through the packages of fresh herbs at the grocery store, I look for pieces that have tiny bits of root still attached. These will need less time to continue rooting and start growing. I am not sure this is root. It could be a piece of the stem that didn't break away cleanly but I will leave it there, just in case it is a root piece.

I don't know for certain that rosemary stems will root but I will try it anyway. I am not losing anything, as I will still have the pile of leaves that I stripped from the stems. I can continue to cook with those.

The first thing I did was fill a small container with light potting soil. I buy the inexpensive stuff from Walmart for this. It is better for rooting and seeding if you mix it with perlite, but I am not going to at this point. Mainly because I don't have any at the moment.

I use all kinds of containers to plant in. This is the bottom half of a vegetable juice cocktail jug with holes in the bottom. The aluminum foil is to catch the water that runs through when I water it. Dampen the soil with warm water before starting.

I use rooting hormone gel for this. I put a tiny bit in the corner of a throw away plastic thingie (its an industry term ;-). I keep my rooting hormone gel in the fridge. I have read that this gives it a longer life span. I don't know this from my own experience, but, it can't hurt and it doesn't take up much room in the fridge.

Lay out the branches of the fresh herb. Remove all but a few leaves at the top. One piece with long enough for me to make two rooting pieces out of it with a few leaves left at the top of each one. When this is done, recut the bottoms of all except the pieces with a slight root still attached. Leave that alone.

Dip the end of each piece in the bit of rooting hormone. Poke a small hole in the damp soil and insert the end. Fill in the soil around it.

I plant all pieces in one container together. It takes up less room that way and it will be awhile before they are so big that they need a pot of their own. I am hoping they can go into the cold frame, or even the ground, by that time.

These are the terragon cuttings I rooted a few days ago. They wilted at first but seem to be perking up now. I did not cover these with anything but I am going to put a bag over the rosemary to help keep them moist while they root. Put the cuttings in a light place but not in direct sunlight until you see real, new leaf growth.

I am looking forward to using these fresh herbs from my garden this year. I use them to make soap, as well as cook with them. One thing I want to make this year is a lot of pesto! I might also make myself some herbal bath oil, hand lotion and hair rinse.

 

Primulas

 

I love primulas, also called primrose or polyanthus. They are one of my favourite flowers in the garden. One reason I like them so much is because they are so hardy! They stay green under the snow all winter. They bloom in the early spring and late autumn, even in the snow. They can be grown on a windowsill as a houseplant and do very well outside in the shade. They are an excellent shade garden plant that flowers.

Primulas like to be kept slightly moist and do not tolerate drying out completely. They do best in shade and like cool temperatures. A truly northern flower. They like slightly acid, humousy soil. (Is hymousy a word?) Sounds like a good peat bog plant.

I grew my first primulas from seed and had those plants for a decade. I continued to divide them as they grew and spread them around the edge of the flowerbed.

They are very low to the ground and make an excellet edging. You will want to keep them in the front of the bed as they don't get more than about 6-8" tall.

There are a lot of newer varieties of primulas. Some are taller with blooms on a stalk and they come in a rainbow of colours.

I bought these marked down to .25 each at the grocery store. They were almost dead when I brought them home. All they needed was a drink but they are in very light, poor soil so have to be constantly watered. I think I will replant them into potting soil until the ground thaws. Then they will go directly into the shade garden.

 

Grow Your Own Tobacco

 It's so much healthier!

No, I don't smoke. It goes against my constant struggle towards healthier living. There is another member of my household that does smoke, however. I figure, if he has to smoke, he should at least do it in as healthy a manner as possible, without inhaling pesticide residue and other added chemicals and more in keeping with our newer frugal and self sufficient lifestyle. Your own home grown tobacco will have a lot more flavour and less filler. Can you buy organic tobacco? I don't know about that. You can, however, grow it yourself.

Did you know that it is not illegal to grow your own tobacco? In Canada, you can have 15k per year of processed home grown tobacco per household member over the age of 18.

Most people don't grow or process their own because they don't think they have enough garden room or the space needed to dry and cure it. A person could grow and process just a few leaves at a time for personal use.

Tobacco leaves need to air dry completely before storage and use. Some commercial tobacco farms hang the leaves in a big open barn type structure with fans going all the time. It can also be dried outside in the sun. This produces the lowest nicotine and a light flavour. We are going to try this method, as well as air drying it under the veranda.

As each leaf matures on the plant, It is cut off and hung to dry. The leaves at the top are the strongest but a blend of all the leaves is usually used. As each leaf matures, it is picked and hung to dry. You will want to rinse the leaves with the hose before drying, to wash off any dirt, bird poop and soil residue.

The tobacco leaves must be well dried before being used. This is an important stage. Fresh, green tobacco is so high in nicotine and ammonia that is can be dangerous to smoke and it stinks! It stinks while it is drying too! As if cigarette smoke didn't already smell bad enough, as it is.

We plan to grow our own tobacco this year. I have a field all prepared for it and seeds waiting to be started early indoors. They are tiny, tiny seeds so I am going to scatter them on a tray and transplant into small pots as they get bigger. Up here in the north, they need to be started early indoors. If you have flourescent lights, you could probably grow one all year indoors and always have your own tobacco in various stages of growth and drying. They do get very large, however, so you might need a big light!

This will be my first try at growing smoking tobacco. I have grown nicotiana for years, an ornamental tobacco and I love it. Its easy to grow! I have read that any tobacco is easy to grow. Few things eat it. As a matter of fact, you can use tobacco juice to make insecticide.

We do plan to sun dry the tobacco leaves as much as possible. This is faster and produces tobacco with much lower nicotine levels and less ammonia. We also have a large, open garage type buildling where we can hang it from the ceiling to dry and we have an open front veranda the width of our house with a high ceiling where it can hang to dry. I have heard that it smells a lot when it is drying so I don't know about using the veranda, may do it anyway and see how it goes. I also have misgivings about using the garage, as the tractors and motorcycle are in there and I don't want exhaust and diesel fumes in the tobacco smoke. What would be healthier about that? I am going to stick to the sun dried method, at first anyway, and hang them outside to dry like this. They can be completely cured in 30 days in the sun, but you would need 30 days of dry, sunny weather for that. I think I might hang them on a portable thing that I can move to the veranda if it rains, maybe. Its just a thought...

Tobacco gets smoother as it ages and releases toxins as it dries. If you are curing it in a homemade wooden kiln (recommended for home growers) it is ready to use in about six weeks. If air curing out of the sun it will take about a year. The Chinese used to boil their tobacco to cure it. This sounds interesting and I am looking into this method now. Maybe this will work better than sun or air curing or using a kiln. I will probably try various things with a few leaves to see what works best.

There are some simple home made tobacco kiln directions on the net. I would do more research into buildling a tobacco kiln. I am sure there are even less expensive plans out there. We are going to build one after we see how the crop does. Even an expensive kiln has to be cheaper than buying your own tobacco.

After it is dried and aged, you will need to crush it or grind it for use. You will also need the paper and filters to roll your own. You can buy little, inexpensive kits with the paper rolls, filters and a manual cigarette maker thingie (industry term).

This is an exciting new venture for us! I don't know anyone who grows their own tobacco around here. Its just unheard of. I hope it catches on. Here's a thought: maybe we can make a business out of selling tobacco kilns. We could make small, personal kilns, as well as larger ones.

Tobacoo plants are very large and will produce a lot of tobacco leaves in a relatively small area, so it seems to be worth doing if you smoke and are concerned about the added chemicals, toxins and the cost. Time will tell. Anyone can grow their own tobacco, hang it somewhere like a spare room with a fan to dry for a year and use it. I will be saving my own tobacco seed this year and so will have a lot for next year's trading.

Here is another interesting post from another blog on the subject:
Growing your own tobacco at home.

Drying & Processing Herbs

Drying and Processing Herbs

First gather the fresh herbs you want to use. The herbs I use are what I can easily get where I am located. If you have access to others, do your research first, and use those. You are not restricted to just what I use. Be sure the herbs you choose to use are safe for yourself and everyone else before you decide to add them to your salves. 

For my general healing salve, I use plantain, purslane,dandelion, horsetail, yarrow, calendula, lavender, rose, spruce, lemongrass, rosemary, peppermint, clover, feverfew, cayenne, stinging nettle, thyme, oregano, usnea, chamomile. This is the basic salve recipe but there are others I can and have used, i.e. creeping charlie, dead nettle, hen bit, sow thistle. All of these have anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, healing properties. You might want to do an allergy test before using these herbs, just to make sure you aren't making a salve that you react to. Know the herbs you are using. If in doubt, skip it.

I enjoy gathering, drying and working with herbs. It's relaxing to be out in the fresh air and sunshine, gathering. I like the herbal smell they give my house and I find the handling of the fresh herb to be healing, especially for my hands. I try to gather leaves and flowers with long stems or small branches so I can hang them in bunches. I dry small pieces on a paper towel, turning them daily or on a screen. If you can score some large screens and bricks you can make a screen shelf on a covered porch, specifically for drying herbs and seeds. I like to put a layer of window sheers over the screens to catch the tiniest seeds and herb pieces. If this set up is outside, the mice and squirrels will like it too. That's what cats are for..

You can dry herbs quickly in your car on a hot day and your car will smell wonderful. You can dry them in the oven on a very low setting. You can also dry them in the microwave, but I don't recommend it. It only works well if the herbs are half dry to begin with. If you put fresh herbs in the microwave, they will often spark and start a fire. Not recommended! Believe me...it can happen...I know... I think many of the stronger herbs contain too much mineral for the microwave. I prefer to dry them naturally. It takes about two weeks in the home for them to be completely dry. It's important that all ingredients in the salve be completely dry. Even one small drop of moisture of any kind, and the salve will grow mold. 

I use tin ties to tie the bunches of herbs. (No, I didn't put the tin ties in the microwave. lol). I add a scrap of paper as a label. The dried herbs often all look alike, so it's important to label them. I then tie the bunches to a clothes hanger for easier hanging. I have strung wire under the porch roof for hanging, I have hung herbs on lights and lamps, on hooks in the wall, on shelves, on string across the wall, on curtain rods, on ceiling fans, anywhere I can find to hang them.

If you are hanging herbs to dry naturally, you will need to tighten the ties every day for a few days. The herbs will shrink as they dry and fall out. If your floors are clean, and you can get to them before the dogs and cats, I would just hang them up again. I hang herbs high enough to be out of the reach of the cats. Mine love horsetail and anything minty! 

When the herbs are very dry, I crumble and grind in my spice grinder, if they need it. Some are fine enough without grinding. Then they go into glass jars with tight lids. Clean pickle jars work well. Any clean glass jar will be fine. The herbs will keep for a very long time like this. I collect, dry and process them in the growing season, then make the salves in the winter.

Growing Winter Squash & Pumpkins

  

Squash is one of my favourite vegetables from the garden. This also includes the sweet pumpkins, which are in the same family. It is so versatile and so good for you! It can be boiled, baked, sliced for the BBQ, grilled, baked in a pie for dessert and made into delicious soup. It can also be eaten with lots of real butter and a drop of maple syrup for a side vegetable dish.

I took an interest in the various different types of squash this year and planted five different kinds of winter squash. Having grown only hubbard, acorn and buttercup in the past, I was astounded at all the types of winter squash available out there. Some have long growing seasons and may not do well up here, but most of them look like they will produce well enough if started early indoors and given lots of hot, sunny weather. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the hot, sunny weather this year, but I think we will have plenty of squash, nonetheless.

In the actual vegetable garden, I planted hubbard, ambercup (a golden buttercup type), butternut and nutty delicata. I have never grown the nutty delica squash before, but I thought it sounded good. I love nuts and this is suppose to have a “nutty” flavour. It is a relatively new Japanese ebisu hybrid type. I have not previously grown butternut, either, although I have eaten it and seen it in the stores.

I planted acorn squash in the back field on the fence. Only two of those came up but I grew a very large acorn squash plant in the front flowerbed. It was an accidental dropping of the seed in the wrong place, but that bed was new and needed some greenery anyway, so I left it there. 

It took over a large part and is producing extremely well, much better than the same seed grown on the back fence. I think that is due to the extra chicken manure dug into the flower beds. It looked nice there too with the large golden blossoms and huge green leaves. I may consider doing that again next year. Is that what is referred to as a “Potager Garden” – vegetables mixed in with the flowers? I like it. It had four little squash on it until yesterday. I accidentally left the gate open and the chickens got into the front yard. They ate three of the little squash. I managed to cover the other one up with a bucket for the rest of the evening. They had not found it yet. The vegetable garden has a fence around it to keep out the groundhogs that live under the garage, so the chickens cannot get in there.

In my search for squash types, I found one in particular that interested me. It was the Hopi pale gray winter squash. I came across a reference to it as being an especially good “keeper”. These squash are an heirloom variety originally grown by the Hopi indians but have almost dissappeared. When I tried to find a source, I was dissappointed. The Hopi squash are very difficult to acquire. I did manage to get some seeds, in a trade from this year, 2009, for both the Hopi pale gray and the Hopi black squash, to grow for next year. Since they are from more southern regions I will start them very early next spring on a heating source. I am excited about growing these next year to test for the perfect squash and as a source of rare seed.

All of my winter squash plants have small squash growing on them, except for the butternut. The first female butternut flower opened this morning. I hand pollinated it. Even the long seasoned hubbard has small squash growing. We have had exceptionally cool weather this year. I don’t know why there is a difference. 

Perhaps the butternut need more heat? They are all in the same bed and have received the same treatment. I planted the butternut because I read that they were good producers, making a lot of squash on one plant. We will see how it goes…

I am looking for the perfect squash. One that is not stringy, keeps all year and has a fabulous, sweet and nutty taste. Is there such a thing?

Squash like to be grown in very light, loose soil so the roots are well aerated. They are nutrient hogs and like a lot of water, without being waterlogged (see previous sentence). I dug chicken manure into the hills where I planted the squash and I have occasionally fed them with organic commerical transplant fertilizer with a high phosphorus content, that I bought at a garage sale. Avoid using a high nitrogen fertilizer as this causes lots of leaves and few squash.

Squash, pumpkins and gourds are all from the same general family and all depend on bees for their pollination, so a small and dwindling bee population causes a poor harvest. (What will we do when there are no more bees?? ) Last year I had a lot of flowers and very few squash, signalling poor pollination. I am hand pollinating my squash this year and it has made a difference. All of the female flowers that opened were hand pollinated and are now growing small squash. This is exicing and so rewarding! I did that myself! It can be frustrating when the male flowers are plentiful and the female flowers have not opened yet.

Male Squash/Pumpkin Flower

The male flowers open first in the center of the vine. The female flowers are located further along the central vine and on the lateral branches. The male flowers are on taller stalks while the female flowers sit tighter against the branch on a little ball which, if pollinated, will be the growing squash.

 

Female Squash/Pumpkin Flower

To pollinate the female flowers you will need to use a small paintbrush. Just rub the paintbrush against the pollen in the male flower and then paint the pollen onto the center of the female flower. You can also pick the male flower, remove all but the pollen sitck and rub it against the center of the female flower. I prefer to use a paintbrush and leave the male flower growing where it is, to be used again later unless there are plenty of open male flowers.

There are many rare and delicious winter squash out there, yet to be discovered. Some are heirloom varieties that have been grown for centures in North America and have just slowly been replaced with the modern hybrids and genetically modified versions. One of the main reasons for that is the patenting of hybrid and genetically modified (GM) seed. Seeds from vegetables grown from patented seed cannot legally be saved by the grower for the following year. The farmer legally must repurchase these seeds each spring. Natural and heirloom seeds cannot be patented and so, there is no money in selling them. Large seed companies, such as Monsanto, sell only genetically modified and patented seed. The old fashioned heirloom varieties are slowing dissappearing. The gene pool is shrinking and we are losing valuable material. Not necessarily inferior material either!

We really enjoyed the little acorn squash last year, baked with maple syrup, raisins and dried cranberries and I know that hubbard and buttercup both make excellent pies. Some softer skinned buttercup varieties of squash do not keep very long, however, so they need to be cooked and frozen shortly after harvesting. I have read that the delica squash are not good keepers, either, so we will cook and freeze those when they are ready.

I have collected a selection of squash recipes that we have found to be delicious and have made many times. Winter squash and sweet pumpkin are interchangeable in any recipe, since they are the same thing. Pumpkin and squash are both members of the gourd family. No canned pumpkin will ever taste as good as the homegrown vegetable.