Cleaning the Garden (Spring is just around the corner...)

Garden Update

And the latest garden news is...
The gardens are unsightly, but fine, but the deer covers are in bad shape from excessive snow. The great news is that our official “Critter Cage” prototype from the Square Foot Gardening Foundation emerged unscathed! The secret was the fact that it was held together with twine. Unfortunately, the chicken wire cages that my classes built last year are ruined. We must either re-build them or start from scratch. As has always been the case, something will work out.

We will be growing a themed garden this spring; a "salad garden." With that in mind, students are suggesting, researching, and selecting vegetables that can be grown in the number of days until our end-of-year salad party, which will happen the week of May 24th. That was 88 days from yesterday! We have found some interesting plants, such as "Deer Tongue Lettuce," an heirloom variety dating back to the 1700's! Stay tuned for our selections...

February Garden Update

Our Email to Victoria Boudman with the Spare Foot Garden Foundation:
Critter Cage Update:

The Critter Cage arrived late last fall, and we did not get it together until after exams were concluded and time permitted. I required the students to re-write your assembly directions, and the group with the "best" directions got to be the assemblers. I'll attach the revised directions that also contains our pictures. Since that time the gardens have been overwhelmed with snow. First, the snow plow driver made our SFG Critter Cage his target, then he made sure that during every subsequent visit he piled on more snow. I'm sad to include the latest picture of the poor cage.

The good news will probably be that the critter cage will survive. Before the snow got piled deeper, it was obvious that the strings holding it together broke, saving the wooden panels. For that reason, we think using string to hold it together was a good idea. We have great hopes that it will be OK. Prior to the snow we were still growing fall/winter vegetables, with a cabbage harvest on January 7! After the first snows we could see the deer and rabbit tracks coming up to the gardens to see if we had left them unguarded.

We will send more information after the spring thaw!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Sellers' Sixth Grade Science Classes

The Critter Cage is Built!

The Last of the Fall Garden

December 7, 2009


January 7, 2010

Who could have predicted the change in weather in a month? Although there is no picture with which to document the ice and snow that surrounded our gardens upon return from Christmas break, suffice it to say that before I could saw through the frozen cabbage heads to harvest them, I had to saw through frozen snow just to get our critter covers off .

Here is what we did: after I cut each solidly frozen head, we put it in a plastic bag and put it into the freezer. Each class had one frozen head of cabbage to cook before their exam. Students researched and selected cabbage recipes, and each day I took a frozen head from the freezer, cut out its core, and placed it in a pan of water. As the leaves separated we washed and dried them. Those were then chopped and used as directed. Delicious!

Our favorite cabbage recipes:

HOT CHINESE CABBAGE (LA PAI T'SAI)

1 head of cabbage
2 chili peppers, shredded
2 tbsp. oil
3 1/2 tbsp. sugar
2 1/2 tbsp. vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp. salt

Cut cabbage into 2 inch strips.
Heat oil. Add chili pepper and cabbage. Fry over high heat. Add seasonings. Mix and serve cold.

POTATO, LEEK, AND CABBAGE SOUP

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 head cabbage, finely chopped

1 leek (white portion only), finely chopped

1 medium onion, sliced

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

1 large russet potato, peeled and diced

3 (14 1/2-ounce) cans chicken broth

1/2 cup cream

4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese

1 bay leaf

1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Salt, pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large pot or Dutch oven on medium-high heat. Add cabbage, leek, onion and celery. Cook until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chicken broth, bay leaf and thyme. Bring to boil. Add diced potato; simmer until potato is fully cooked.
Add cream and cheddar cheese (may substitute blue cheese in place of cheddar).
In a saucepan, make a roux with the butter and flour to thicken. A roux is a mixture of equal parts of flour and butter used as the basis for a sauce or as a thickener that is cooked gently (the flour should be added gradually) until it takes on a very light brownish color and the flour has had a chance to cook a bit. Just keep stirring and don't let it burn, and you have a roux.
Add the roux to the soup and stir to combine; cook until cheese melts and soup is hot.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.

January Harvest??

Now that Christmas is over and a new year has begun, we have one last thing to be harvested from our fall garden. The onions and garlic that we planted this fall will wait, but the savoy and dutch cabbage will not. It will be interesting to see how (and IF) they made it through the snow and extreme cold. What better example of a true experiment. Updates will follow soon...

Good Food from December Harvests

Following last week's test we enjoyed a day to cook! Each class selected and prepared their own recipe. (As time goes by, I help less and less.) 1st period made Broccoli Nacho Dip, 2nd period made Broccoli and Beef Pasta (thanks to Ryan Thompson and his mom who sent delicious stir-fry beef and more!), 3rd period and 5th period made Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli, 6th period made Cheesy Rice with Greens, and 7th period made Cajun Beans and Greens. I rated all of them a 10!

We will have recipes available soon. All that is left in our garden now is Savoy and Dutch Cabbage. We'll watch it carefully, but I expect to harvest it in January. Then on to plans for our spring gardens...