The Main Antagonist of Your Organic Gardening Venture

Organic Gardening - Photo: Pixabay

Yes, you are helping nature by doing organic gardening. But nature has a bigger scope than soil, plants, sunlight, water, and air. There may be good insects that will be beneficial for your organic garden. But there are certain pests that you have to be vigilant about in order to get rid of them while you still can.

If you are only starting this hobby or business, however, you'd like to put it, you may be wondering about the pests. How are you going to be able to get rid of them without turning to synthetic pesticides? The short and quick answer is that you buy an organic one. There are actually many brands that are available commercially. You just have to ask around what are the types that will work best in your location and with the kinds of greens that you are growing on your garden.

But before you start choosing the right pesticide, you must be fully aware what the problem really is. To do this, you must inspect your garden thoroughly. Take down notes. You can also take pictures if you are not so sure about the kind of pests that are pooling in your garden.

Then you can go to the store and detail to an expert the problems that you are having. This way, you will be given a brand that will best fit and solve the problems that you have in your garden.

The other way that you can do so that you won't have to turn to pesticides, even the organic type, is to do things manually. Yes, this is harder. But just consider this as a challenge that you need to overcome to help yourself become an expert. 

If the plants are infested by unnecessary pests, what could be the problem? One root of the problem could be the plants themselves. They may be depressed or stressed. What have you done to them? This type of gardening means that you are to take things personally. You are being one with nature. So this succeeds on this, you've got to take things seriously.

What makes a plant depressed? You may not be spending enough time with it. It may sound weird, but talking to your plants or singing to them may help you with the whole process. Throughout your gardening trek, you should be able to familiarize yourself with all the plants in your garden. You have to know how to make your plants healthy, happy and productive.

If you have to pick out the pests manually, then do it. This can be done as long as there are only few that can be found in your garden. You must only resort to the pesticides once the situation becomes uncontrollable.

You can also add some insects and animals that will help you kill the pests. This way, you are still staying in touch with nature and helping in the process of the food chain. For example, a ladybug would eat up an aphid banquet. Frogs and lizards can also help you sort your problems with these pests.

Above everything else, whatever problem you may encounter in organic gardening, just think about nature. How are you going to solve things that you will still be able to help nature and be one with it?

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ABC Of SOUP Making

English: soup Deutsch: Suppe (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lean, juicy beef, mutton, and veal, form the basis of all good soups; therefore it is advisable to procure those pieces which afford the richest succulence, and such as are fresh-killed. Stale meat renders them bad, and fat is not so well adapted for making them. The principal art in composing good rich soup, is so to proportion the several ingredients that the flavour of one shall not predominate over another, and that all the articles of which it is composed, shall form an agreeable whole. To accomplish this, care must be taken that the roots and herbs are perfectly well cleaned, and that the water is proportioned to the quantity of meat and other ingredients. 

xxxGenerally a quart of water may be allowed to a pound of meat for soups, and half the quantity for gravies. In making soups or gravies, gentle stewing or simmering is incomparably the best. It may be remarked, however, that a really good soup can never be made but in a well-closed vessel, although, perhaps, greater wholesomeness is obtained by an occasional exposure to the air. Soups will, in general, take from three to six hours doing, and are much better prepared the day before they are wanted. When the soup is cold, the fat may be much more easily and completely removed; and when it is poured off, care must be taken not to disturb the settlings at the bottom of the vessel, which are so fine that they will escape through a sieve. A tamis is the best strainer, and if the soup is strained while it is hot, let the tamis or cloth be previously soaked in cold water. 

Clear soups must be perfectly transparent, and thickened soups about the consistence of cream. To thicken and give body to soups and gravies, potato-mucilage, arrow-root, bread-raspings, isinglass, flour and butter, barley, rice, or oatmeal, in a little water rubbed well together, are used. A piece of boiled beef pounded to a pulp, with a bit of butter and flour, and rubbed through a sieve, and gradually incorporated with the soup, will be found an excellent addition. When the soup appears to be too thin or too weak , the cover of the boiler should be taken off, and the contents allowed to boil till some of the watery parts have evaporated; or some of the thickening materials, above mentioned, should be added. When soups and gravies are kept from day to day in hot weather, they should be warmed up every day, and put into fresh scalded pans or tureens, and placed in a cool cellar. In temperate weather, every other day may be sufficient. 

Various herbs and vegetables are required for the purpose of making soups and gravies. Of these the principal are, Scotch barley, pearl barley, wheat flour, oatmeal, bread-raspings, pease, beans, rice, vermicelli, macaroni, isinglass, potato-mucilage, mushroom or mushroom ketchup, champignons, parsnips, carrots, beetroot, turnips, garlic, shalots and onions. Sliced onions, fried with butter and flour till they are browned, and then rubbed through a sieve, are excellent to heighten the colour and flavour of brown soups and sauces, and form the basis of many of the fine relishes furnished by the cook. The older and drier the onion, the stronger will be its flavour. 

Leeks, cucumber, or burnet vinegar; celery or celery-seed pounded. The latter, though equally strong, does not impart the delicate sweetness of the fresh vegetable; and when used as a substitute, its flavour should be corrected by the addition of a bit of sugar. Cress-seed, parsley, common thyme, lemon thyme, orange thyme, knotted marjoram, sage, mint, winter savoury, and basil. As fresh green basil is seldom to be procured, and its fine flavour is soon lost, the best way of preserving the extract is by pouring wine on the fresh leaves. 

For the seasoning of soups, bay-leaves, tomato, tarragon, chervil, burnet, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove, mace, black and white pepper, essence of anchovy, lemon-peel, and juice, and Seville orange-juice, are all taken. The latter imparts a finer flavour than the lemon, and the acid is much milder. These materials, with wine, mushroom ketchup, Harvey's sauce, tomato sauce, combined in various proportions, are, with other ingredients, manipulated into an almost endless variety of excellent soups and gravies. Soups, which are intended to constitute the principal part of a meal, certainly ought not to be flavoured like sauces, which are only designed to give a relish to some particular dish.

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The Pros and Cons of Going HYDROPONIC

Rix Dobbs shows the roots of a lettuce plant growing in a nutrient
film technique hydroponic tube he built in Durham, North Carolina.
 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hydroponics is a Latin term, which literally means “working water.” What it means to horticulture is the growing of plants without soil. Hydroponic gardening is an exciting field that offers solutions to several problems faced in the world of food production. For impoverished people who live in a terrain or climate inhospitable to agriculture, hydroponics offers a means of growing food. In areas where food is traditionally produced, but where fields are over crowded or stripped of their nutrients, hydroponics is a way food can be produced using a minimum of space and resources. 

Hydroponic growth leads to an increase in production over traditional farming in two ways. For one, hydroponic gardening just plain saves space. Plants can be placed much more closely together than in traditional fields; as many as four times as many plants can be grown in the space using hydroponic techniques as opposed to traditional methods. Secondly, hydroponics eliminates many of the problems associated with traditional farming that leads to sickly, damaged, or wasted crops.

Because hydroponic growers produce their own nutrients mixes, it takes the guess work out of figuring out which plants will grow best in a field and what nutrients need to be added to the soil. The nutrient mixture is the right one for the plant, in the right ratios, every time. The fear of soil-based diseases is eliminated, because, of course, there is no soil. These two factors come together to make hydroponics an extremely efficient method of food production. 

Hydroponics is also environmentally sound. The water consumption in hydroponic growing is significantly less than traditional growth methods; in many cases, hydroponic crops use a tenth of the water of equivalent traditional crops. Also, the water that is used is used more effectively; in hydroponics, weeds do not steal part of the crop’s water supply.  

The benefits are not without their costs, however. The environmental good that hydroponics produces with its decreased water consumption is somewhat negated by the amount of energy needed to support hydroponic growing. Much hydroponic growing happens in greenhouses, where significant amounts of electricity are used trying to give the hydroponic plants all the light the need.

The electricity consumption is environmentally damaging and expensive, and expense is another area where hydroponics comes under the gun. The nutrient mixtures and growing mediums used can be very expensive. While research is happening to try and bring the costs down, and there are some promising leads, like the field of aquaponics, hydroponics is currently financially prohibitive for some.

There is a common misconception that hydroponics produces organic food. While it is possible to grow organic food through hydroponics, this is the exception and not the rule. Most growers used pesticides on their hydroponic crops. Though the pesticides used in hydroponics do not run-off and pollute the surrounding environment like the pesticides used on traditional fields, they are still on the plants themselves. 

The field of hydroponics is filled with promise, and much research is being devoted to solving the concerns that currently stop more farmers from going hydroponic. Until these problems are solved, however, farmers and amateur gardeners alike will need to carefully weigh the pros and cons of hydroponics before making the leap to that style of growing. 

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Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir - Photo: Pixabay

Pinot Noir is a variety of red grape used to make wines. Although Pinot Noir has great popularity it is very hard to cultivate and process in wineries. The wine lovers across the world have some passion for this grape. 

This particular grape is being cultivated from the ancient age. Its name was Helvenacia Minor in the ancient Roman era and it was used for winemaking. Pinot Noir is harvested around the world with several alias names, such as Blauburgunder in Austria, Burgundac in Yugoslavia, Clevner in Switzerland, Spätburgunder in Germany etc.

Pinot Noir achieves reputation so much that it is harvested in France over two-mile-wide, thirty-mile-long stretch of hills, called the Slope of Gold.

Pinot Noir makes an ever-lasting effect on the wine lovers' memory. Its flavour is very complex and it is very rich in texture. Sometimes cinnamon, sassafras, or mint is added to make it spicier than any other red wines.  It is rich but not heavy or acidic in texture. The alcohol level is high in this wine. It is not tannic. The most attractive quality is the soft, silky taste of pinot Noir. It can be preserved in bottles for five to eight years after vintage.

The Pinot Noir leaves are smaller than cabernet sauvignon leaves and larger than Syrah leaves. The grape berries are small and cylindrical. It is believed that this grape is named after its pine cone-like shape. This grape variety is very sensitive in the vineyards and wineries as well. It is very low yielding and thin skinned, which causes fungal infection and branch rot. In wineries, this grape needs a delicate fermentation with yeast strains. Due to these reasons, Pinot Noir is supposed to be made by the evil whereas Cabernet Sauvignon is supposed to be made by god.

The wine tasters sometimes get confused by the wide areas of flavours, bouquets, aroma derived by the Pinot Noir. The Pinot Noir wines’ colour is lighter than other red wines as it has low counts of red pigments for its thin skin.

It is blended with Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier to make Sparkling Wines like Champagne. Pinot Gris, pinot Blanc and pinot meunier are the members of Pinot Noir family. Pinot Noir tends to mutation and as a result, almost 50 clones of it are vastly used in France.

Pinot Noir is crossed with Cinsaut, a South African grape variety, to develop an exclusive type of grape called Pinotage.

Author: Abhijit Dey

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Dealing with Barren Trees

Barren Tree - Photo: Pixabay

One of the most frustrating things that can possibly happen to someone who has slaved for hours and hours in growing a fruit tree is the unexplainable barrenness that can sometimes occur when there should be a plethora of fresh fruit. I know this from experience. My neighbors all consider me the gardening guru because of my extensive knowledge. But this is only because gardening has been my passion for years and years, and like a sponge, I have accumulated so much information in my mind. My learning has also come from past experiences with failure. For about 5 years after I started planting fruit trees, I did not see a single fruit for all my labor. I was nearly ready to give up until I met who I think is truly the guru of gardening.

I was in the gardening store, looking for some sort of new fertilizer to put my hope in for my quest to obtain fruit. I don’t know if there was a look of desperation in my eyes, but a kindly old man came up and started speaking with me. He introduced himself as Ralph, and for some reason, I opened up to him and told him about all of my difficulties. I’ve never been the type to spill all my problems on anyone who asks, but Ralph seemed like such a nice fellow that I just couldn’t help it. And I’m glad I did because what he taught me truly helped me to get my fruit trees in gear and start producing.

I learned that generally, the inability to produce can be caused by a number of factors. Sometimes the tree is simply too young; If your tree is less than four years old, you shouldn’t exactly expect it to be producing yet. If it has reached 4 years and you still have seen no sign of fruit, then you should start to consider other factors that might be causing the barrenness.

If the tree is undergoing any type of water stress (this can be poor drainage, too much water, or too little water), then it will have trouble growing. If you suspect this is the case, you should evaluate your own watering techniques and compare them with the needs of the tree to see if you are causing water stress. Also always be on the lookout for any diseases or pest damages. If your tree is constantly being molested by all kinds of little creatures, then you can’t expect it to be lively enough to produce fruit. 

If your tree blooms but still doesn’t produce any fruit, this could be because of cold temperatures during the bloom. The coldness damaged the flower bud or damaged the baby fruit. Aesthetically the tree may look fine, but the inside could be damaged beyond any hope of ever seeing fruit. Unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do in this case except for wait until next year and hope that it doesn’t happen again.

If the tree’s pollination process has not been fully completed, it could have troubles growing fruit. If you planted different varieties, you may find that the requirements are different than you had originally thought and they were incompatible. In this case, you need to replant the correct combinations. 

Once I evaluated the conditions of my tree and everything that has occurred in its life, I realized that not only had I cross-pollinated slightly incorrectly, but I was also giving my tree too much water. After I fixed these problems, I had learned my lesson and I have not had any trouble bearing fruit since then.

So if you are struggling with a plant that is not being cooperative, you should consult an expert gardener. If you can find a gardening mentor like mine that is willing to teach you everything they know, then you should be able to get your garden on the right track with no problems.

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BBQ Food is the Mental Cue that summer is Here

BBQ Food - Photo: Pxhere

Winter is over, spring has sprung, and summer is on its way. It’s the perfect time to take the cover off of the barbecue grill and get grilling. BBQ food is the perfect start to a great summer. As the smells of neighborhood grills begin wafting down the streets of towns all across America, there is a theme that permeates the breeze. Summer is here; it’s time for fun in the sun.

There is nothing that takes me back to my childhood quite like BBQ food. The smells, the flavors, and most importantly, the feeling of quality time spent with family and the knowledge that we are building memories for our children to someday share with their children. If you think about it, you can have BBQ food of some sort, almost any night of the week. As long as you are willing to use your grill, which has the benefit of keeping the heat of cooking on the outside of your home.

Here are some great grilling ideas that will enable you to have BBQ food almost anytime you want. 

• Veggies taste better when cooked on a grill. You can also have fun mixing flavors and seasonings. Kraft had a great idea of butter mix-ins for vegetables, I also like to marinate mine in Italian dressing and grill them in foil packets. 
• Almost any meat you can purchase will taste better cooked on a grill. I even enjoy smoked sausage cooked on a grill with BBQ sauce. 
• Make it a great night by allowing family members to make their own shish kabobs. 
• Have theme nights for your BBQ food, you can do Italian BBQ, Mexican BBQ, Caribbean, be creative and have fun. 

The real beauty of BBQ food is that it is an excuse we use to build lasting memories of good times with family and friends. There is no reason we can’t make meal times special each and every day, not just during the summer months.

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The Olive – History and Production

Black Olives - Photo: Pixabay

The Olive tree dates back to early ancient times in both biblical and classical writings.  In these early writings, the olive oil is referenced as a symbol of both goodness and purity, and the tree represents peace and happiness.  In ancient times, the oil was also burnt in sacred lamps at temples during the Olympic Games, and the victor was crowned with its leaves.

Olives have been cultivated since prehistoric times in Asia Minor.  Today olives are commercially produced in Spain, Italy, France, Greece, Tunisia, Morocco, Turkey, Portugal, China, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, Angola, South Africa, Uruguay, Afghanistan, Australia, New Zealand, and California.  The Mediterranean area produces 93% of the olive production.  Currently, there are some 800 million olive trees being cultivated.  California is the only state where olives are grown commercially.  Over 90% of the olive production is used to make olive oil.

The Olive tree is considered an evergreen tree.  These trees can live to be over 2,000 years old.  They grow 20-40 feet high and begin to bear fruit between 4 and 8 years old.  The tree blooms with small whitish flowers and has a wonderful fragrant.

A Franciscan missionary planted the first olive tree in California in 1769 at a Franciscan mission in San Diego.  The olives grown in California are called ¡°mission olives¡±.  Of all the species of olives, this olive is especially good for its oil.

Olives are not edible, green, or ripe, and must be treated with lye and/or cured in brine or dry salt before being edible.  They contain about 20% oil.  Olives must be processed to remove the bitter glycoside oleuropein before they are edible, so they are usually first treated with lye and then pickled. 

Greek olives are not treated with lye.  They are strong tasting because they are just packed in dry salt, or pickled in brine for 6 to 12 months (where they undergo a process of lactic fermentation), and finally packed in fresh brine.

Spanish green olives are picked before they are ripe, treated with lye, and then placed in a brine and allowed to ferment.

California olives are treated to set the pigment, treated with lye and then packed immediately in brine and sterilized.  They do not undergo the fermentation process, and the sterilization 'cooks' them.  This lack of fermentation and the 'cooking' when they are sterilized produces a bland, uninteresting olive

Ten medium size black olives have 50 calories and 4 grams of fat.

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