New obsession: Cheese making.

Those folks who check in on this blog from time to time know two things about me...

A. I am really lazy about blog entries

and

B. I tend to get really cranked up about certain things and will go out of my way to learn all I can about that thing...particularly if the thing involves cooking, gardening, or making art.

My current crank-up is making cheese. Yup. I've now taken a couple classes and feel pretty confident about my ability to craft some mighty fine goat cheese, mozzarella, mascarpone, and fromage blanc.

If I could have the space, I'd get me some goats of my own, but since I don't, I've been dabbling in goat herding classes this summer, and learning what I can about them. They are very sweet animals, and although I'd certainly welcome their little faces here at NashobaGardens, the fact is, I just don't have the space for them.

Soooo...I'm currently searching for goat-share situations in order to be able to find good milk.

I have to say, there is some sort of deeply soulful thing about milking a goat, then immediately crafting some cheese from the still warm offering. NOT to mention that this cheese beats out all other store bought cheese by leaps and bounds when it comes to taste and consistency.

So, I'm pretty into it now...and in fact, have plans to attend a session where crafting hard cheeses is discussed later in the summer. How cool would it be at Solstice to unveil a lovely cheddar you'd made with your own two hands ===and a cow's several udders, that is.

I've always been utterly lactose intolerant, but have to say, raw milk in all its forms has dealt with this issue. I still don't find myself able to drink MILK straight, but the cheeses I've been making from the raw stuff is SO much better, can't say enough about it. I'd make a post about HOW to make this cheese I've been making, but really, after internet searches, there are thousands of folks doing this with far better instructions.

And yeah, that's me, milkin' the goat at one of the classes this summer...this one at Love Apple's goat herding class. Cool, no?

Espaliered Tomato Plants

Wanted to post about the only real experiment this year.

My good friend Keith, an avid gardener friend, had shown me his garden of espalier tomatoes a couple seasons ago.

Last year, I'd thought about doing this, but was so consumed with the idea of grow boxes and soil additives...well, it just never happened.

So, this summer, in my ongoing effort to find the BEST possible tomato growing operation, I tried it out.

As you can see from the photos....it worked pretty darned well! Not only did it allow for a lot of air flow around the plants, it was very easy to pick the little guys when they were ripe. The only alterations I'd made to this would be to lower the cement reinforcing panels closer to the ground. Doing this would have eliminated a whole lot of tying up of vines in the early stages.

It's January, and if you can believe it, I finally ripped out these babies and ate one little last cherry tomato that was clinging for dear life to a blackened vine. Summer is certainly in the past...and fall rolled through wine country like a ghost, barely stopping to crisp leaves and turn the sky that amazing copper blue light.

This year's other new thing...

I decided to build my own raised beds this time out. I know...this is insane...sort of. I am the one with tools in the fam. and so was pretty much on my own on this one. I wanted a dedicated bed for the squash and one for edible flowers. The squash happened, the flowers did not.

The first one is about 6'x8'..and was a bear and a half to move from garage to garden....but it got in there. The second was 5'x5'. And it never got filled with new dirt.

But the larger bed did VERY well for the squash...seven plants in all.

Of course, once again, we put up the giant anti-opossum fence to keep the little twerps out of the beds. I managed to actually have some squash to freeze for future breads and pies and fritters as a result. Yay!

I wish I could say I'd done massive garden time this past summer, but other than the drip system, nothing really huge occurred.

All in all, it was quite the abysmal summer in terms of the production. Eggplant essentially failed in the cold. Basil...ughkkk, I never even made pesto for winter! I'm regretting this now, as we are deep in the heart of January.

SIP, with kind regards to Bruce of Green Roof Growers.

This summer's garden extravaganza began as a means of letting my overused soil rest for the summer.  But what to do about all of the tomatoes that will be missed if the soil is left unplanted?  Could I live without the abundance, the sheer glory of luscious red, green, and striped, or beautiful purple/black goodness?I think not!

So, on a mission was I for some sort of alternative....and I found it through Green Roof Growers.  They have a fab-o web site that delivers good information about crafting your own earth box type of thingy.  I highly recommend them, they are wonderful.

  Follow the link here and you'll end at their site.

The following photos will give you an idea of what to expect in terms of how to's:

materials:

Two five gallon buckets or two 18 gallon rubbermaid tubs.  Procedure is basically the same for both.

A 1/2" drill bit.

A 1" circular drill bit.

A door knob drill bit for the smaller baskets.

A utility knife.

Ridiculous amounts of zip ties.

1" PVC pipe or drinking safe water hose (which I will use for all SIPS next season...PVC, while rigid, is the pits in terms of leaching nastiness into your hard won veggies...) cut to about three feet each.  I will make the pipe longer next year.

Landscape fabric.

Scissors to cut fabric.

Potting MIX, not potting SOIL.  Huge important.

Various organic fertilizers.  I use Cynthia Sandberg's of Love Apple Farm's concoction of potting mixes in the soil.  She is wonderful.  Check her out on line.  If you are ever in Santa Cruz, you have to take a class or, if the farm is open, stop in and scope out her fabulous operation.  I learned more from her in six hours than I've learned in six years elsewhere.  In fact, I'm signed up for two more of her wonderful classes!

Um, yes, back to bizznessss....

I think that covers supplies.  The most expensive things here, assuming you have all drill bits, is the SOIL and FERTILIZERS you intend to put into the mix.  I know the earthbox site will tell you it only needs a strip of fertilizer at the top and dolomite in the soil, but I am here to say, it ain't enough.  I mixed a ton of other goodies into the soil and it's paid off.  The only thing I'm still wrestling with is calcium deficiency.   But our weather here is a drag this summer, so...ah well....

Onward!

This is the operation:  Two large five gallon buckets.  I got mine from Home Depot. I also crafted these same doohickies from two Rubbermaid tubs.

You also need a 1" drill bit.  That's the white thingy.  And a doo

r knob driller bit.  I suppose you'll also need a drill.  Oy....

You also need a pond basket.  For the smaller five gallon numbers, I used two small 3" basket which I picked up at my local very cool hydroponic store.  For the Rubbermaid tubs, I

 used two 5" baskets.  Super easy to locate at HD or any hardware store that sells pool or pond supplies.

So, next step was drilling the living daylights out of one of the bottoms of the buckets.  I used a half inch drill bit for the job.  I'd for sure pick up something that has oodles of power and ability to gnaw through pvc for this one.  

The following photos more or less show the process:

The two large holes were done with the door knob bit and the wee one is with the 1" bit.  The smaller hole will house the tubing for watering.

Now drill the hell out of the bottom with the 1/2" bit.  I set it all up in the garage and made an assembly line.  This will aerate soil later on.  Yay!

So, I drilled some holes around the openings and then zip tied the pond baskets to the bucket.  Worked well.  No problems....just kinda tedious.  Yawn.

Next step.  Grab the other bucket and drill a 1/2" hole about four inches up into the side of the bucket.  This will be your overflow hole.  

Then cut your pipe to be a few inches taller than the bucket.  Some sites will tell you to cut the pipe on an angle to allow for flow of water.  Me, I have no hack saw, ergo, I drilled the PVC with several holes instead.

Next step is to put the pipe through the smaller hole.  I ended up drilling a couple holes next to the sides of the pipe and zip tying, because I cannot get enough of zip ties, the pipe to the inside bucket.  

Plants.  Finally.

Potting mix.   MUST BE MIX.  If potting SOIL is used, it won't wick up through the pond basket.

So, now we come to it:  The planting.  Lord.  Thank heaven. I though it'd never happen!  Put one bucket inside the other....baskets into the largely un-drilled bits.

So, whatcha do here is, you mix up a bit of potting mix with water, then cram it into the baskets.  It should be about the consistency of mud pies.  Yes.  Mud pies.  

Then add more potting mix, and at this point, the bucket should be half full.  I added dolomite here, as well as several other goodies in the fertilizer department, and I watered the dirt.

Next, I filled the bucket with more soil, and dampened it again.  At the top, I placed about a cup and half of slow release 4-6-4 fertilizer on top of the dirt.   

I then cut a length of landscape fabric to go over the top of the dirt, and zip tied, (be still my heart---zip ties!) the fabric to the bucket.  FYI: it takes nine large zip ties to go around the bucket.  I'm just telling you this so that, unlike me, you can avoid having to figure it out each time!

I then cut an X where I wanted the plant to go, pulled the plant out and VOILA!  Planted.  Imagine that!

The final piece looks like this:

or if you are using Rubbermaids, (a process I will not explain..basically the same as the buckets but for inverting the other Rubbermaid and drilling holes in the bottom of the tote....I'm tired.  Give me a break, o.k?)

I will let ya'll know how it all turns out.

I just love a good garden experiment!