Project Updates

Garden

I've started some late summer/fall vegetables:  broccoli, green and red cabbage, brussels sprouts, and cauliflower.  The fall is fabulous here in the high desert.  The weather stays nice and warm during the days until late November.  With some row covers as protection from moderate frost, these vegetables should grow throughout the fall. 

Broccoli and Cabbage Seedlings

 Last year I had no success with wintering over onions in the garden, and minimal success with garlic, though the onions I planted in the spring have done well.  I'm hesitating about whether or not I should try another fall planting or just wait until the spring.

I'm waging war with the squirrels in the garden.  I would have had zucchini, summer squash, and cucumbers two weeks ago if the squirrels hadn't eaten them as soon as they were an inch or so long.  They've also been eating the flowers, buds, and immature leaves.   I've re-purposed the chicken wire row covers I used to protect my emerging green bean and spinach plants, into enclosures that I used to surround the squash plants.  At first I just wrapped them around the sides but the squirrels went over the tops so I had to bend the wire to completely enclose the plants.  Now, they've taken to digging underneath the wire to access the plants.  Grrrrrrrr.

Partially devoured cucumber plants.  They've been eaten down even further since I took this photo.  The blurriness in the photo is caused by the mesh I used to surround and protect the plants, to no avail. 

 I understand that they're hungry.  Even with the new monsoon rains, there's not much in the way of edible vegetation for the squirrels to eat.  I've also read that squirrels will eat garden vegetables as a way of accessing water when there's not much water around.  But damn, it's frustrating to be watching the baby squash and cucumbers grow, and to anticipate eating them, only to go out in the morning and find that they've been half-eaten by critters.  They have also eaten one of my pepper plants, all of the sprouting corn, sunflowers, morning glories, and zinnias. 

The garden, when we moved in, was surrounded by a four foot fence that keeps out things like rabbits.  There aren't any deer close to the house, for which I'm very thankful.  But a four-foot fence does not keep out squirrels.  And there are also several trees that hang over the garden in several spots.   The trees are useful; they provide partial shade from the scorching radiation of the mid-day sun.  But they provide an easy access bridge into the garden for squirrels.

The other day I went to the hardware store in search of some wire mesh to use to make cages for  my squash and cucumber plants.  The squirrels haven't yet started in on the tomato plants but they will, so I also want to make cages for them.  I talked to two men who had no idea what I meant when I asked about the mesh that is used for laying concrete and for making plant cages. One man thought I meant re-bar and eventually sold me mesh that turned out to be the equivalent of chicken wire when we drove around to pick it up.  I returned that, and then went on a tour of the outdoor lumber yard with another worker until we located what I was looking for:  it's called re-mesh. 

It was expensive (about $100 for a 150 foot roll) but I figure it's a once in a life-time investment.  I also bought some bird mesh to wrap around the outside of the cages I'm going to make with the wire.  In all my gardening years up until now, I've just periodically bought simple wooden stakes or flimsy cages to support my tomato plants, and haven't had to cover my squash plants.  The stakes and wire cages were never really adequate; the stakes rot after a few years and the cages are too flimsy, and neither protects against varmints.

After I got home I realized that none of the wire cutters I own are adequate to cut through the gauge of the wire I had purchased.  So yesterday, I made another trip to the hardware store to buy bolt cutters.  I bought some with long handles; I figured this will require me to use less force in closing the blade around the wire.  Still, I was skeptical that I'd be able to cut through the wire.  But when I got home I gave them a test-drive and they cut through the wire like butter.  It does require quite a bit of work to just open and close the jaws of the cutters,  though.  That's today's task: actually making some cages while there's still something left of my squash and tomato plants.

Also, I've finally started a database to record what I've planted, dates of planting, and notes about successes and failures.  I've been meaning to do this for a long time...I had been entering planting date information in a special Google calendar I created just for gardening, but that's not optimal since I'd have to go back through the calendar month by month to look at the information, and it didn't include notes or variety information. 

Constructing a Horno

One of the two options we have for starting our own homestead (we currently rent this one) is to buy land and build our own house over time, as funds allow.  The other is to take on a mortgage and buy land with a house already on it.  If we pursue the buy land/build option, I'd like to build a small house, using some combination of cob and straw bale.

I have this long-standing idea of myself that's not entirely accurate: I take on projects and then never have the motivation to finish them.  I don't know where this self-perception came from; I do remember believing it when I was a young as six or seven.  I think it may have come from being told by my mother that I was a Gemini and that as a Gemini I would have certain characteristics, such as starting lots of projects and never finishing them.  I don't believe in astrology now and when I think logically about my personal history I know that it's just not an accurate description of me.  For example, I completed Master's and PhD degree programs while raising a child under the age of seven and working half-time.  But the self-perception lingers and I fight against it constantly. Sometimes the self-doubt is paralyzing to the point that I have difficulty initiating projects that I know (logically) that I'm perfectly capable of carrying out. 


Currently, this self-doubt expresses itself in the form of doubts I have about my capacity to build a house.  To fight this and show myself that I do have this capacity, I decided I want to build a horno, a traditional, adobe-style earth oven used by pueblo Indians and Spanish Colonists, which would require me to exercise some of the self-direction or discipline needed to build a cob house, as well as to develop some of the skills and knowledge needed.

A horno, picture courtesy of Wikipedia

Note:  El Camino Real Heritage Center has some good images and descriptions of the process of horno building, as well as pictures of one in use. 

So, first step, I needed to get a wheel-barrow.  I really don't like how many of these homesteading projects require me to buy new things.  Yes, for some things it's possible to find used stuff or barter, but many other things need to be bought new, like this wheelbarrow.  I've had a wheelbarrow before, but it was a cheap-o small version that got a flat tire (and it would have cost just as much to replace the wheelbarrow as the wheel...), so I left it behind when I moved.   I hate going out generally unless it's to explore a new place and I really hate stores, so a trip to the hardware store required a serious effort of will.  But now I have a new, rugged wheelbarrow.

Then yesterday I started to do a soil test.  To build a horno or a cob house, it's necessary to have soil for building that is composed of the right proportions of clay to silt to sand.  There's a big pile of soil up behind our house from where they excavated for the concrete cisterns and I'm hoping we can use that.  It would mean we would be moving the soil downhill (less work), and it's close to where I want to build the horno.

My soil composition test jar

 So I filled an old tomato sauce jar half-full with soil from the pile and then close to the top with water. I gave it a good shaking, and then I let it sit for a few hours so the components of the soil would settle into different layers, depending on their weight.

After about five hours, the soil had separated.  The proportions looked about right.  Here's a cool page with illustrations and information about ideal proportions: http://weblife.org/cob/cob_043.html.

I decided to do a longer test so I shook my jar again and let it sit over night.  The results are confusing.  Now there only seem to be two layers:  water and sand/silt.  The clay level is no longer visible.  Maybe it's overkill, but today I'm going to start with a fresh jar of soil from the same location and let it sit for a few hours.  I may also do another jar using soil from out behind our pasture.  That location would be less convenient as a source for materials to make the horno because we'd have to haul the soil up the hill, but the horno won't take tons of soil so it's not a major job.  I'm curious whether the soil there will have a higher proportion of clay.

What I'm Reading

 I ordered a new book:   Growing Food in a Hotter, Drier Land:  Lessons from Desert Farmers on Adapting to Climate Uncertainty by Gary Paul Nabhan, which was recommended through an article in the Seedsavers Exchange Newsletter. I'm only about twenty pages in so far but I'm really enjoying it and finding it useful.  The title pretty much gives away the focus of the book.  I'll save more substantive comments until I've finished reading.  It's available through Chelsea Green Publishing.

Cooking

Way back in the middle of the winter I bought a pizza stone after I read some great recipes for homemade pizza dough from Mother Earth Magazine.   Grit Magazine also has some recipes I want to try out.  I haven't been able to use the stone, though, since our propane oven was not functional.  We finally were able to get a professional repairman in a few weeks ago after our own efforts to fix it weren't successful.  Turns out that the oven won't ignite when there's insufficient charge in the batteries we use as part of our solar set-up.  Since we often try to bake at the end of the day, often when the sun is no longer on the panels and when our batteries are at their lowest level of charge, that's why the stove wouldn't ignite.  Now we know to check the charge level before baking, and to try to bake during the sunny part of the day; if that's not possible, we may need to start the generator just to give the system sufficient boost to ignite the burner on the oven. 

Anyway, here's the recipe I used:

3 1/2 cups lukewarm water*
1 tbsp granulated yeast
1 to 1 1/2 tbsp kosher salt
7 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/3 cup tomato topping (Use sliced, garden-fresh tomatoes, Italian-style plum tomatoes straight from the can, or prepared tomato sauce, with or without seasonings.)
Fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2-inch chunks or slices
6 fresh basil leaves, whole, thinly slivered or torn
Olive oil for drizzling over pizza
Flour, cornmeal or parchment for pizza peel
* Substitute 1/3 cup of olive oil for 1/3 cup of water for a marvelously flavorful, slightly richer dough.

Mixing and Storing the Dough
1. Warm the Water Slightly. It should feel just a bit warmer than body temperature, about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Using warm water will allow the dough to rise to the right point for storage in about 2 hours. You can use cold tap water and get a great final result, but the initial rise will take longer. (Some people prefer the flavor of slow-risen dough.)
2. Add Yeast and Salt. Combine with the water in a 5-quart bowl or, preferably, a lidded (not airtight) plastic food container. Don’t worry about getting the yeast and salt to dissolve completely.

3. Measure and Mix In the Flour. Use the “scoop and sweep” method: Reach into the flour bin with your cup and scoop up a full measure all at once, then sweep it level with a knife. Mix in the flour with a wooden spoon, food processor with a dough attachment, stand mixer with a paddle, or a dough whisk. (See Pizza-Making Supplies: Build Your Arsenal for our favorite pizza-making products.) You may need to use wet hands to get the last bit of flour to incorporate, but do not knead the dough. You’re finished with this step when everything is uniformly moistened and the dough is loose enough to conform to the container.

4. Allow the Dough to Rise. Cover the dough with a lid (not airtight). Allow the dough to rise at room temperature until it begins to flatten on the top (approximately 2 hours, depending on the room’s temperature and the initial water temperature). Do not punch down the dough. With our method, you’re trying to retain as much gas in the dough as possible, and punching it down knocks out gas and will make your pizza dense.

5. Refrigerate. After the dough has risen, refrigerate and use it over the next 2 weeks. The dough will develop tangy sourdough characteristics over that time. Fully refrigerated wet dough is less sticky and is easier to work with than dough at room temperature, so the first time you try our method, it’s best to refrigerate the dough overnight (or at least 3 hours) before use. After it’s chilled, the dough will collapse, and it won’t rise again in the bucket, which is normal.

How to Make Pizza
6. Prepare and Measure Toppings. Doing this in advance will help you top the pizza quickly so you can get it into the oven before it sticks to the pizza peel.

7. Preheat a Baking Stone. 30 minutes before you’re ready to bake, place your baking stone in the bottom third of the oven and preheat it to the oven’s highest temperature. (Consider a longer preheat if you’re finding the crusts too soft.)

8. Shape a Ball. First, prepare a pizza peel with flour, cornmeal or parchment to prevent your pizza from sticking to it. Sprinkle the surface of your refrigerated dough with flour. Pull up and cut off a half-pound (about the size of an orange) piece of dough using a serrated knife. Add a little more flour to the dough as needed so it won’t stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all 4 sides, rotating the dough a quarter-turn as you go, to form a ball. Most of the dusting flour will fall off (it’s not intended to be incorporated into the dough). The bottom of the ball may appear to be a collection of bunched ends, but it will flatten out when you roll it into a pizza. This entire process should take no longer than 20 to 30 seconds.

9. Roll Out and Stretch a Crust. Flatten the dough with your hands and a rolling pin on the counter or directly onto the pizza peel (or shape the disk by hand) to produce an eighth-inch-thick round, dusting it with flour to keep the dough from adhering to your work surface. However, a little sticking to the surface can be helpful in working with the dough and overcoming its tendency to spring back. Use a dough scraper to unstick the dough as needed, and transfer it to the prepared pizza peel (if you didn’t stretch the dough directly on one). When you’re finished, the pizza should be about 12 inches across and should have enough flour under it that it moves easily when you shake the peel. As you add toppings, continue to test for sticking by gently shaking the peel. The pizza should move freely. If it doesn’t, use the dough scraper and some flour to unstick.

See  http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/easy-homemade-pizza-zmrz12fmzalt.aspx?PageId=2#ArticleContent at Mother Earth News for the rest of the directions. 

I modified this recipe and used whole wheat flour instead of white flour because I'm trying to use fewer processed foods, including refined grains.  I also coated the bowl and the top of the dough with vegetable oil before letting the dough rest, because I know from past experience that the exposed surfaces of the dough will dry out otherwise.  Even with the oil, the surface of the dough dried out and left me with some tough, dried out bits of dough that I worked into the dough when I kneaded it.  They weren't apparent in the final product, though.  The air is incredibly dry here; you might not have the same problem. Also, because of our elevation (between 6,000 and 7,000 feet), things take different times to cook than they do at sea level.  My pizza was done cooking in under ten minutes. 

Pizza dough in process

I also don't have a pizza peel so I put the pizza together on my wooden cutting board (which I first floured) and then with Mike's help we tried to slide it onto the pizza stone.  There was a little mangling of the pizza but not too much.  Definitely a pizza peel would be a useful thing to have.

The finished product was yummy. Since we've moved here where the idea of delivery pizza is laughable, we've made do with frozen pizza from the grocery store.  I finally put my foot down and decided that I'd rather have no pizza at all than store-bought frozen pizza, so we hadn't had any pizza at all in awhile.  While my handmade pizza didn't taste like delivery pizza, it was really good, especially since I knew exactly what it was made from, I had the satisfaction of making it myself, and I used some fresh oregano and basil from our garden as toppings.  There will definitely be more pizza-baking in my future.  I have no pictures of the finished pizza.  We ate it before I had a chance to get my camera.