How to save sunflower seeds
16.3 years ago harvest, sunflowers
The trickiest part of harvesting sunflower seeds is timing. If you wait too long, the birds will let you know when you wake up to the head of the flower on the ground with seeds devoured. There are a couple of ways to get around this when the backs of your sunflowers begin to get yellow cover them with a paper bag or cheesecloth to inhibit the birds from stealing them. Given I probably would get a letter from my HOA if I did this in my backyard I opted to cut off the heads a few inches down and hang them upside down in my garage with a paper bag below to catch any loosening seeds. Every few days I run my hands across them if seeds start falling easily it is time to harvest. The best method I have found is using a painter’s roller screen used for 5 gallon buckets. I couple passes over this and the head is clean.
I am too lazy to roast and eat the seeds so I normally save a handful for next year’s planting and give the rest back to the birds over the fall/winter.
Tags: birds, cheap, garden seeds, outdoor plants, vegetables
Picking wild blackberries (Blackberry pie recipe)
16.3 years ago blackberries
Given the price of produce these days and how blackberries cannot be killed here in the Pacific Northwest there are not too many trails that don’t have these bushes attempting to overtake them I decided to take my 4-year old with me blackberry picking. In just about 15 minutes (also length of time 4-year old has for blackberry picking) we were able to pick exactly 4 cups of blackberries. Since my 4-year old wants to “grow up to be baker like daddy” (obviously has no idea what I do for a living) we decided to use our fresh berries to make a blackberry pie.
Blackberry pie recipe
- 4 cups fresh blackberries
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2 frozen pie crusts
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- Egg wash (1 egg + 1 tsp water)
Directions: Take 3-1/2 cups of blackberries and add with 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/2 tsp of lemon juice and mix. Pour contents of bowl into pie crust and top with remaining 1/2 cup of blackberries.
Cover with top crust and pinch edges closed. Brush the top with egg wash and sprinkle with a few pinches of white sugar. Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes, then at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
Tags: cheap, led, vegetables
Easter Lilies Blooming
16.3 years ago Uncategorized
Nope, this is not a mix up in the date in this post. Last Easter we received as a gift from a friend, after the foliage had died off I planted I planted the bulb and what was left of the foliage in one of my garden beds. Given how the plant is forced to bloom in March/April I was pessimistic that it would even bloom at all, let alone this season. Well guess I will take it as a late summer surprise.
Tags: cheap, outdoor plants, vegetables
Hey, those cucumbers look like pickles
16.3 years ago cucumbers, summer
That was a statement my oldest daughter (6 years old) made which I must admit I am pretty sure I was much older before I had that thought. Seemed like a good opportunity for teaching the kids were pickles come from and a great excuse to make some sweet summer pickles. While heading out the door to get some spices we were lacking my wife told me, "these better not be $20 pickles." I have some history here, taking that advice I only came back with just mustard seed and decided to improvise the rest, here is what I came up with.
Cheap Vegetable Gardener’s Sweet Summer Pickle recipe
- 1 cucumber
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 3 T sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp coriander (mine were still a little green from garden)
- 1/4 tsp mustard seed
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Directions: Pretty easy, just cut the cucumber into slices 1/4 in thick and add all ingredients to sealable container, shake well, and place in refrigerator. Wait at least 3 days and eat. Once empty just add more sliced cucumbers and repeat.
Tags: cheap, garden seeds, garlic bulbs, pepper plants, vegetables
Picking orange tomatoes
My youngest daughter has been very excited waiting to pick our tomatoes. She picked a green one a couple weeks back which I informed her that she needs to wait until they turn red, guess I needed to be more clear about “dark” red, since yesterday when we went out to our garden the first thing I heard was “I picked a matoe” which she is proudly displaying below.
Tags: cheap, tomato plants, vegetables
Getting kids to eat vegetables from the garden
16.3 years ago potatoes
One of the original ideas when starting my first garden was a way to hopefully to get my kids to actually eat some vegetables if they helped growing. Other than a couple bites of carrots this has not been very successful until recently. I was able to convince my four year old to actually eat some potatoes from the garden…well okay potatoes are not technically scientifically classified as a vegetable, sure I had to slice them up coat them with oil and salt to get her to eat them. Guess it doesn’t really matter since we had fun digging up the potatoes and preparing the fries.
Baked French Fries
- 2-3 large potatoes
- Vegetable spray
- 1 tsp salt
Description: Preheat oven to 450F. Peal potatoes and slice to desired thickness. Soak in water with 1/2 tsp salt for 10 minutes. Strain out water and pat potatoes dry on paper towels. Spray cookie sheet with vegetable spray and then lay out potatoes on single layer and spray with another coat of vegetable spray. Sprinkle remaining salt on top of fries. Cook until fries are golden brown (about 10-15 minutes) flip them over and cook until the other side is golden.
Tags: cheap, vegetables
