There are part-time indoor gardeners; these are the ones that live in an area with cold winters – too cold for their outdoor plants to survive in. By transplanting or bringing the plants indoors, they can survive the colder months and add greenery inside the home. There are some considerations and preparations that should be made before you decide to become a part-time indoor gardener.
The most important point to think about before bringing a plant indoors is whether or not it will survive to be an inside plant. If the plant has high or very high light requirements and your house does not get a lot of light in the winter time – it may not be a good solution. As a back-up, you can invest in an artificial light source to supplement the natural light the plant will get.
How will you get the plant indoors? If the plant is already in a pot that will fit inside it is easy enough to move it indoors. But if the plant is in the ground you need to find a pot large enough to contain the root system and one that will not be too difficult to move. Keeping in mind that when a large plant is transplanted (re-potted or put in a pot for the first time) it may go into shock. Although with careful attention, you can nurse your plant through this.
Most likely you have been taking care of your plants outdoors and they do not have any pests or bugs on them. But it smart to double-check. By bringing an infested plant indoors you are putting all of your other indoor plants at risk of becoming infected too. Either forego bringing the plant inside or treat the pest problem before the cold weather arrives. You may enjoy having your plant inside all winter that you decide to keep it there come springtime.
Chocolate cake with candied violets - Photo: Wikimedia
Edible flowers are often used as a garnish or as an ingredient in salads. While not all flowers are edible, there are many out there that are. Very few supermarkets carry edible flowers, but they are available at specialty markets that carry gourmet produce. These flowers can be stored up to a week in the refrigerator as long as they are wrapped well. This is fine if they are to be used in a salad, but when they are used in cake decorating they need to be fresh.
You should never eat flowers that have been sprayed with pesticides. Some of the most popular edible flowers are:
Nasturtiums have a Peppery flavor, Chive blossoms taste like a mild sweet onion, Roses, Violas and Pansies taste a bit like grapes. Other edible flowers are apple blossoms, almond, lavender, borage, chamomile, lovage, lemon, orange blossoms, plum blossoms, peach blossoms, and squash blossoms. We also have daisies, chrysanthemums, geraniums, marigolds, jasmine, lilacs, and violets.
Candied Flowers
Candied flowers are great for desserts and in cake decorating. Here is a recipe to make your own.
Time to prepare: 8 hrs. and 15 minutes
Yield: 2 dozen flowers.
1/4 cup beaten egg whites
1/2 cup superfine sugar
2 cups edible flowers of your choice
Clean and blot flowers dry with a paper towel. With a paintbrush, brush on a thin layer of egg white on each side of the flower petals or blossoms. Place flowers into a shallow bowl of superfine sugar and sprinkle more sugar over the flowers so that they are coated. Make sure all of the flowers have been sprinkled with sugar. Remove flowers and place them on a sheet of waxed paper. Sprinkle each flower with another layer of sugar, again, make sure the entire flower gets a layer of sugar.
Allow flowers to dry on the waxed paper for 8 hours. Store these tasty treats in an airtight container at room temperature until they are needed.
We are seeing more real flowers and fruit in cake decorating than ever before. The addition of these wonderful edible gifts of nature gives the cake an elegant look. Whether you are making a wedding, anniversary, retirement, birthday, or a cake for any special occasion, you will get many compliments on your choice of decoration.
Cake decorating can be a bit frustrating and time-consuming, but once you learn the techniques and utilize the newest ideas when cake decorating, you will find that it can be fun, rewarding, and lucrative. Most cake decorators have an artistic background or artistic talent.
If you are thinking of starting a cake decorating business in your home you will need to keep up with the latest trends in cake decorating to be able to offer your clients new unique and wonderful choices. As with anything, designs get old, while some will stick with the traditional white or ivory for a wedding cake, but there are those who want to step out of the mold and have a little color in their wedding cake.
Given the many types of Christmas trees available and the various ways in which they can be bought, it's important to know certain qualities that a Christmas tree should have so that it will be suitable for decorating and will also last through the season.
One of the most important qualities a Christmas tree should have is freshness. This makes buying a tree from a Christmas Tree Farm the best option because you will observe the tree being cut at the time it is purchased. If a tree is bought elsewhere, such as from a retail lot, it is important to find out where the tree came from and when it was cut.
To determine the freshness of a tree, observe whether it looks green and healthy, has a fragrant scent and has needles that are moist and flexible. If the needles appear dry or show browning, then that is a sign the tree isn't very fresh. If a large number of green needles fall when a few branches of the tree are shaken, that's also a sign that the tree isn't the best one to buy to last for the entire season. The needles of fir trees should break crisply when they are bent. If a fir tree needle is bent and doesn't break readily with pressure, it might mean that the tree isn't absorbing water and that will affect its longevity.
Another reason a Christmas tree farm can be a better option for purchasing a Christmas tree is that it will be more likely to offer more species of trees and therefore a wider variety of shapes and sizes.
For those Christmas trees that are located on retail or other commercial lots, freshness can be determined by looking at the conditions in which the trees are kept. Observe whether the trees are kept in stands that hold water if baled trees are protected from the wind and sun if a fresh cut is put on trees and if the trees are tied down correctly.
Another quality to consider in selecting the right Christmas tree is its size. Before buying a tree, it is important to decide where it will be placed so that space can be measured. You will need to do a floor to ceiling measurement and then subtract at least 10-12 inches to get the maximum height for the Christmas tree. It is recommended that at least 10-12 inches of space should be between the top of the Christmas tree and the ceiling.
The bottom of the Christmas tree also needs to be checked to make sure there is adequate space between the end of it and the lowest branches. A small diagonal fresh cut, such as an inch, is made in that area to enhance absorption of water, which will make the tree last longer. This cut should be made just before the tree is placed in water. If a fresh cut is done and the tree is exposed to the air too long, the vessels can become blocked.
Along with freshness and size, a tree should be selected based on the shape that you like, the smell of the needles and bark and on how dense and sturdy the branches are. For the density and sturdiness of the tree, you need to have an idea of how the tree will be decorated - how many heavy ornaments, Christmas lights or bows will be used. As an example, a fir tree that has sturdy branches will be better for holding heavy ornaments and a pine tree is good for Christmas trees that have light decorations such as bows and a string of Christmas lights.
The texture of the branches and how durable or long-lasting the tree will be are also worth considering in choosing a perfect Christmas tree.
For this recipe, I use either muscovy duck, a Brazilian breed which is known for its incredible flavour and lean profile, or wild-hunted duck. Other breeds, such as moulard or Pekin, will do fine, but be aware that the principal difference among these types of duck is the fat cap underneath the skin. With any breed of duck, to cook it properly, you want to render the fat from under the skin of the breast at a cooking temperature and time that will allow the skin to brown perfectly, once all the excess fat is rendered away.
For all breeds, lightly score the duck breast, skin side, so that the skin is pierced (freeing the fat to render away), without going into the flesh of the breast. To do this, you will need a sharp knife. Score the breast at 45 deg. angles, so you end up with a diamond pattern on the skin side of the breast.
To prep, the duck for cooking, score it and season it with salt and pepper on both sides. Allow the duck to rest for 30 minutes. When you are ready to serve, do not add butter or oil to your pan - just set the duck, skin side down, in the pan and cook over low to moderate heat. As the fat renders away, pour it off. You want to adjust your heat, and your time in cooking the skin side, so that most of the fat is rendered about the time your skin is browned nicely.
For 6
6 hen breasts, or 3 drake breasts (of mould or Muscovy), each portion being app. 8 ounces, uncooked.
Corn Crepes
Corn Crepes
4 cups corn kernels (about 4 ears)
salt
white pepper
1 ½ cups flour
4 eggs
1 ½ cups milk
3 tbsp melted butter
nutmeg (a couple of pinches)
4 tbsp minced chives
Olive Oil
Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add corn, salt and pepper and cover, cooking about 3-4 minutes and tossing through a couple of times. Process in food processor and cool. Once cool, add flour, eggs, milk, butter and nutmeg. Blend until smooth. Fold in minced chives. Refrigerate at least 3 hours. Prepare crepes with olive oil in non-stick per s.o.p. Cool and set aside. At service, take 3 crepes and reheat gently. Fold into triangles.
Sage-Sour Cherry Sauce
2 cups pinot noir or good burgundy
1/3 c shallot, minced
1 cup sliced, dried tart cherries
2 cups duck demi-glace, 4 cups (thin) duck stock, or 2 cups demi-glace (more than gourmet will work o.k.)
1 tsp minced sage
pinch of minced thyme
1/3 tsp balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
Simmer wine with shallots, cherries and duck sauce until reduced back to 2 cups. At service, bring 2 ounces of sauce (with cherries) to simmer and toss in sage, thyme and balsamic vinegar together and heat through. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
At Service
Pre-heat oven to 375F.
Fleur de Sel (top layer, harvested sea salt if you have it)
Sear duck as above. Once the skin is browned and fat is rendered, "kiss" flesh side approximately 1 minute and place in oven. Remove from oven when duck breast still has a good deal of easy "spring" to the touch - you do not want to go beyond medium (I prefer medium rare). Remove the duck from the cooking/roasting pan and cover loosely with foil, shiny side out. Meanwhile, reheat crepes in a pan with a touch of olive oil, fold in triangles and place in an overlapping mound at the centre of the plate. You also want to saute some coarsely chopped rainbow chard, which adds some caramelized sugar, bitterness, and colour to the plate (use organic if possible - it will contain more natural sugars). Thinly slice duck and arrange on either side of crepes; drizzle with warmed sauce (including cherries), and place a few crystals of fleur de sel over the meat (if you have it).
Properly caring for your Indoor Bonsai Tree is essential, but by simply following a few growing procedures, you can grow some really beautiful Bonsai Trees. If you merely keep these few basic tips in mind you should have no problem growing the indoor Bonsai Tree.
The First thing you should keep in mind when growing the indoor Bonsai Tree is choosing the right growing environment. Your Bonsai Tree should be kept in a room that is just the right temperature, not too hot and not too cold. In addition, the room should have a source of natural light. You will want to keep your indoor Bonsai Tree in a room with plenty of large windows to allow your tree to receive as much indirect sunlight as possible.
Another important factor in growing the indoor Bonsai Tree is using the correct soil. Not only do you want the highest quality soil available, but also you may need to use different types of soil for the various Bonsai Trees. The best way to determine which soil is right for the type of indoor Bonsai Tree that you intend to grow is to visit a gardening store and ask them. Make sure that you inform them exactly which type of Bonsai Tree you need the soil for.
Not applying fertilizer correctly can be devastating to your indoor Bonsai Tree. This is a common mistake for beginners. The indoor Bonsai Tree needs to be given a water-soluble fertilizer at various times. It is also important that the fertilizer is applied only when the soil is wet. In addition, it is recommended that you use the highest quality fertilizer available.
Watering your indoor Bonsai Tree correctly is easily one of the most important elements of growing the tree successfully. If you don’t water enough the tree becomes dehydrated and soon dies; watering too much drowns the tree with a similar result. A good rule to follow when watering your indoor Bonsai Tree is to wait until the soil begins to dry out but is not completely dry. At this point, you want to add enough water that it saturates the soil and seeps out the bottom. Don’t water again until the soil begins to dry out.
Pruning the indoor Bonsai Tree is also important to successfully growing these trees. There are two different steps to pruning the Bonsai Tree. In the spring the branches of the trees should be trimmed, leaving only those branches you wish to keep. Root pruning should be done when the roots have bound up in the pot.
Once you have learned the basics of caring for the indoor Bonsai Tree, you will find these to be wonderful plants for your home.
When cooking meats of any kind, there is no sauce like a sauce made from the meat trimmings and bones of the animal itself. Here’s one suggestion for a great venison sauce; use it with any roast or pan-roasted venison, such as leg, rack or loin - the black pepper and juniper lends itself well to the caramelized flavor of the roasted meat.
Yield: 1 cup
½ cup canola oil 2 ¼ lbs. venison bones, chopped into 1” pieces (or, 2 lbs bones, ¼ pound meat trimmings) 1 quarts water 1 quarts light chicken stock 2 quarts veal demi-glace (best: make it yourself; more than gourmet’s ready-made is not bad) ½ lbs. carrots, cut into ½” pieces ½ lbs. onions, ½” 5 ounces celery, cut into ½” 3 peppercorns, crushed 2 juniper berries, crushed
Heat canola oil over high heat in a heavy pan large enough to hold bones in one layer, until just before smoking. Add bones and cook until well-browned and caramelized – do not turn before a good crust develops, and once turning, do not stir bones. You want a good, deep, rich caramelizing layer. The last few minutes, add the meat trimming if you are using it. You want a good russet color to the bones, not black – watch for this and discard any blackened bones. Pour off fat from pan.
Add a little of your water, enough to deglaze the pan, reserving the rest for later. Using a wooden (ideally, flat) spoon, scrape the bones free and scrape up and loosen any browned bits. In my kitchen, I use to tell my chefs the pan should look, on the bottom, as if it had been washed. Add a little more water and allow to work – listen for the crackle to die down to a gentle bubbling, then, as the water evaporates, the gelatin will extract from the bones and it will begin to crackle again. Add ¾ cups of the light chicken stock and deglaze/reglaze as before. Add vegetables and stir to deglaze/reglaze. Add remaining water, chicken stock, and veal stock. Deglaze fully and transfer to stockpot.
Bring to a simmer over medium heat, with pot offset to one side to set up a convection for skimming – throughout the process, you don’t want to allow accumulated scum and impurities to be reincorporated into the sauce, so skim the surface regularly. Skim and simmer for 30-45 minutes or until stock is at a level of bones. If you have a fine mesh sieve, first strain the sauce through a coarse strainer then through the fine mesh sieve. If not, a coarse sieve with a layer of cheesecloth will do. The important thing is to strain with the coarse strainer first, then pass through the fine strainer. Pour strained stock into the pot. Simmer until reduced to sauce consistency. Last ten minutes of reduction, add your crushed peppercorns and juniper berries and reduce to 1 cups. Double strain again and serve.
Hunting can bring good food to the table. As a chef, I always sought to marry what I knew with what hunters and farmers always knew - the best food comes from the season and the land one knows. I hope you enjoy this recipe. Visit me anytime for more tips and thoughts on the outdoor life - a1-outdoors.com.
Rix Dobbs plants vegetables in his home-built nutrient film technique hydroponic system in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Hydroponic gardening is the way of the future for environmentally controlled agriculture.
Hydroponic gardening eliminates soil-borne pests and diseases and maximizes water and nutrient uptake by the plant. Incredible yields can be achieved in a relatively small space with hydroponic systems. There are many types of hydroponic systems available for home and commercial use.
These systems include the Europonic Rockwood System, the Ebb and Flow System, Aeroponic Systems, Continuous Drip Systems, and Rockwool Based Systems. Hydroponic systems come in all shapes and sizes and can be adapted for nearly any budget.
Nutrient Film Technique, or NFT, is another popular system. The plants are held in troughs with nutrient solution constantly trickling over the roots. A reservoir with a pump that is submersible re-circulates the nutrient solution continually, pumping the solution to the top of the troughs to trickle back through the system. Larger Nutrient Film Technique systems are used commercially, both abroad and in the United States. When choosing a Nutrient Film Technique system, care must be taken to choose the correct trough size.
Large commercial systems use wider troughs with greater flow capacity. Aeroponics is a system in which the plant’s roots are suspended in air. They are excellent for growing herbs and leafy vegetables. The plants are held in web pots with neoprene inserts to support the plant. Different hold configurations in the top cover provide the proper spacing. Aeroponic systems are also great propagators. The seedlings can be germinated in rockwool then transferred directly to the web pots.
The Europonic System is modeled after commercial systems that are used in Europe. A basic system has three trays and holds eight plants each. The system may also be expanded to five trays if desired. A nutrient solution is pumped from a thirty-gallon reservoir to individual emitters at each plant. The solution trickles through the Rockwool, over the roots, and back to the reservoir where it is re-circulated on a constant basis. Rockwool, or mineral wool, is the most popular and highly used hydroponic medium. It is made from spun material fibers and has a high water and air holding capacity.
The Europonic System uses Rockwool slabs with two slabs fitting into each tray. Rockwool is easily able to support a relatively extensive root system so the Europonic System is ideal for vine crops such as tomatoes, cucumber, and peppers, plus large flowering plants.
In a continuous drip system, a single pot is used with a two-gallon reservoir underneath. The system acts like a percolator as air is pumped down a vertical shaft, creating pressure, and nutrient solution is forced up another tube. A drip ring constantly irrigates the substrate, and the nutrient solution drains back into the reservoir. This type of system is easy to use, inexpensive, and great for individual experimentation. However, it is impractical for most commercial applications. Ebb and flow systems are also popular in hydroponics. They are good for crops such as lettuce, pepper plants, miniature tomatoes, and potted flowers.
As the water evaporates between flooding, the salts are left behind as a residue and may rise to toxic levels. It is best to flush the system with pure water periodically to take away any toxic salt buildup.
