Heirloom peas or garden peas originated in middle Asia, from northwest India through Afghanistan and adjacent areas. A second area of development lies in the Near East, and a third includes the plateau and mountains of Ethiopia. In these areas wild field peas have been found, along with many cultivated forms of P. sativum, but wild P. sativum has never been found. Vast areas in southern Russia and southern Europe still have large tracts of field peas growing wild. The garden pea was an early introduction in northern Europe and Asia and as far west as England and east as far as China.
Early heirloom peas were cultivated for their dry seed, similar to today’s “split peas” for soup. The varieties known a thousand years ago had seeds that were much smaller, dark colored from the modern garden peas. They were an ideal supplement to an early hunter gatherer lifestyle that was just beginning to transition into agriculture. They were durable, easily carried and their germination lasted for several years. They needed only a short season to produce food for both man and animals and flourish in soils too poor for early cereal grains which were being adapted to early agriculture at about the same time. No doubt that during times of scarcity of animals to hunt, peas became a chief source of protein.
Primitive garden peas have been found during excavations beneath houses of the Swiss lake dwellers around Morssedorf, Switzerland dating back to both the Bronze and Stone Age. Peas also were found in a Hungarian cave dwelling, believed to date back even further. Charles Pickering says in his 1879 Chronological History of Plants, “Of culinary vegetables, Pisum sativum the only kind that can with certainty be traced as far back as the Stone Age;…” He also mentions a type of Fava bean, parsnips and carrots found in the excavation.
Garden peas have been found in the excavations of ancient Troy. The Aryans from the East are thought to have introduced peas to the Greeks and Romans, who grew them in ancient times. Theophrastus, considered by many to be the Father of Botany, described peas in detail and their cultivation in his Enquiry into Plants in Chapter 8 which is devoted to cereals and peas. He is the author of the oldest existing treatise on botany, having died in 287 BC. U. P. Hedrick wrote about Theophrastus in his 1928 book The Vegetables of New York, “He wrote at a time when gardening, farming, orcharding, and the cultivation of flowers and medicinal plants were far advanced, when all food plants derived from the Old World had been named, domesticated, had their varieties and had been cultivated for many centuries. He was writing in a advanced stage of agriculture and civilization; quotes other books about plants and had much of his information from predecessors whom he looked upon as ancient as we look upon him as belonging to an age long, long ago.”
Heirloom peas were one of the most widely grown vegetables of northern Europe during the Middle ages, as their description and cultivation was evident in almost every early gardening or agricultural book of any language in middle and northern Europe. They were almost as widely grown as the early cereals as an easily produced storehouse of nutrition for the population and for food for the armies of the time. In 1066 they were one of the chief crops grown in England, and by 1400 peas were frequently mentioned in the “Expenses of Collegiate and Monastic Houses”. From the 1400s to the mid 1600s, peas were so commonly eaten that “pottage” and “porridge” were terms meaning peas as well as the dishes made from them. Sugar peas were common and described in John Worlidge’s Systema Horticulture, or the Art of Gardening in 1677.
Eating freshly shelled peas, or what were called green peas became a very popular delicacy with the aristocracy after the restoration of Charles II when they were parched, fried or boiled. Louis XIV was highly fond of them, and so was his entire Royal court. In a letter written by Madame de Maintenon dated 10 May 1696, she describes, “The subject of Peas, continues to absorb all others, the anxiety to eat them, the pleasure of having eaten them, and the desire to eat them again, are the three great matters which have been discussed by our Princes for four days past. …It is both a fashion and a madness.” Commoners didn’t partake of “green peas” until the early 18th Century.
Subsequently, American gardeners have embraced heirloom peas wholeheartedly with many breeders improving yields, flavor and pod size. We have a nice selection in our Heirloom Pea Department for you to enjoy!
https://underwoodgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Sugar-Ann-Snap-Pea-Web.jpg250250Stephen Scotthttps://underwoodgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Survey-Header.jpgStephen Scott2012-03-20 19:20:412024-04-30 17:34:02The History of Heirloom Peas
First off, watch the trailer about this crazy Australian who comes to America and spends 60 days on a complete juice fast-
Now you’re wondering- “What in the world does that have to do with my home garden?”
Surprisingly more than you think!
In “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead”, Joe Cross regained his health, lost weight and ditched a lot of prescription drugs (with his doctors approval!) by changing his diet and eating better. Specifically- eating a lot of fruits and veggies and losing the processed, packaged industrial foods that put him in that corner to begin with.
Here’s where your heirloom garden comes in; right in your backyard, on your porch or balcony. It can be easily explained in one simple, overused word- nutrition. You have much more positive influence on your health with a home garden than you would think. By tending to your garden and growing just some of your own food, you will be eating much better from both a dietary and nutritional viewpoint than almost any other way.
Let’s look at how this works-
Creating and maintaining biologically sustainable, healthy and fertile soil is the first step. This builds the foundation for strong, healthy, productive and disease/pest resistant plants that grow food that is not only healthy but highly delicious as well. This can be done no matter the size of the garden, all the way down to a few containers or an Earthbox.
Many folks don’t stop and think about how important the soil is to the overall flavor and nutrition of the produce. In biological, sustainable agriculture a term called “Brix” is used a lot. It means the amount of plant sugars that are present in a drop of sap from the stem, leaves or fruit. The higher the Brix, the healthier the plant and the sweeter (and tastier) the veggie or fruit. Higher Brix plants also have fewer pest and disease pressures.
Very few people have tasted high Brix vegetables, and those that have remember that they tasted like no other. For example, a simple bell pepper that has a Brix of 4 will taste bland, unremarkable and somewhat bitter. Now raise that Brix reading to 12 or 16 and it will taste like an apple in its sweetness! Not only will it be sweet, but rich and complex in flavors that you have not tasted in a bell pepper before. Another example is green beans. 4 Brix green beans need some sugar before kids will eat them, yet at the 8-10 Brix level kids will go out to the garden to pick them fresh and few make it to the kitchen. Most green beans at the supermarket are in the 4-5 Brix range.
High quality seeds are the next step. They provide the next link in the chain of growing food, but are often thought of as a commodity and not very important to spend time on getting the quality needed. While it is true that great soil can grow mediocre seeds, you don’t really want to go there do you? After the time spent in getting the garden planned, soil built and amended why use second-rate seeds?
The nutrient-dense, highly nutritious and delicious vegetables from your heirloom garden are the final result. Here’s where all of this ties into “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead”, as Joe found that drinking juice made from several different kinds of vegetables gave him the nutritional boost to get his systems back in order, his health back and lose the weight from years of not eating right. He bought his veggies from stores, and talks a bit about buying organic instead of conventional vegetables. He had no choice in growing his vegetables, as he was traveling. If his remarkable progress is possible with store-bought produce, can you imagine what you can do with nutrient-dense vegetables that you’ve grown in your own soil?
I’m not talking about just growing for juicing, but eating the produce from your own garden can have a similar positive impact on your health, when grown as described above. If you have the space and can grow veggies for juicing, you will see even more beneficial results in addition to eating them.
Pretty amazing to see what benefits a home heirloom garden can have, isn’t it?
Please realize that this article is not advocating eating only vegetables, only juice or not eating meat, but is looking at how we can achieve some impressive results with tools and opportunities that many of us already have. The absolute fact is that most Americans really need more vegetables in their diets with a corresponding reduction of the processed, packaged industrial foods that are all around us every day.
It is well worth watching “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” and visiting Joe’s website- FatSickandNearlyDead.com. The movie is available through Hulu and Netflix, among others.
Just imagine- eating nutrient-dense fresh vegetables and drinking juices made from them grown in your own garden as a method of greatly improved health. Pretty radical thought, isn’t it?
https://underwoodgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Green-JuiceWeb.jpg250250Stephen Scotthttps://underwoodgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Survey-Header.jpgStephen Scott2012-03-16 12:21:072024-04-30 17:34:02“Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” and Your Heirloom Garden
Catania is an old city on the south-east coast of Sicily, fronting the Ionian Sea. During the Renaissance, Catania was Sicily’s most important cultural, artistic, and political hub due in part to its major seaport. In 1434 the first university in Sicily was founded and today it is one of the main economic centers of the island and an important hub of technology and industry.
Cantine del Cugno Mezzano, located on the Via Museo Biscari is one of the chic restaurants in the old downtown that are reviving the ancient farm cuisines and elevating them to fine dining status. What is notable is that the flavors need no “freshening” or “elevating”, only the surroundings and atmosphere is needed to create the fine dining experience. The old recipes and locally sourced farm-grown ingredients are what make the flavors so memorable. The chef drives out to the surrounding countryside every weekend and goes from farm to farm on a well-established routine buying the foundations for the next week’s dishes.
This is a substantial and deeply satisfying, yet not heavy winter soup that has sustained farm families and farmhands for many generations. It is eaten during the cooler weather in Sicily on the farms, but is in demand year round in the restaurants. Get the best quality sausage possible, as it is the foundation of the flavors here. The smoked sweet and bittersweet paprika will add an intriguing depth of flavor to the soup, with the oregano backing them up. Another option to broaden the flavor profile is to use a home made beef stock instead of the water in the lentils, or split it in half. This freezes well to provide a delicious backup when time is short or plans change during the week.
Add some thick slices of fresh artisan peasant bread with butter and a good beer for a taste of what our ancestors ate after a long workday in the fields!
5 Oz Swiss chard or Kale leaves, stems removed, rinsed and coarsly chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Optional seasonings- 1/8 Tsp each of smoked sweet and bittersweet paprika, 1/2 Tsp oregano
Dollop of sour cream
In a small heavy bottomed pot cover the wheat berries with plenty of water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, remove from heat, cover and let sit for 1 hour. Drain and reserve the cooking water.
Using a cast-iron pot or flame proof clay pot, add lentils and cover with 6 cups of water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat so that the lentils are just above a simmer until they just start to turn tender, about 15-20 minutes.
While lentils are simmering, heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage and onion and sautee for 5-7 minutes, until the onion just turns golden. Lower the heat, add the celery and carrots and cook until the carrots are just tender, about 10 minutes. Add the Swiss chard or Kale, stir in and cook until dark green and just wilted, about 3-5 minutes.
Add wheat berries and sausage and vegetable mixture and stir well. Season with salt, pepper and optional seasonings if using. Add enough wheat berry cooking water to cover slightly and bring back to a boil, immediately reduce heat to a bare simmer and heat soup through, about 3-5 minutes.
Raising backyard chickens is becoming increasingly popular, no matter where you live. There have always been rural chickens, but now there are small and large city chickens, happily living in coops and backyards all across the country. Chickens can do a lot for you, both in the garden and in the kitchen. First off, they give you a real measure of food security and increase your resiliency. The eggs are a great bartering tool, as very few folks that we’ve talked to weren’t interested in some fresh home-raised eggs. Chickens are great for bug control, light soil tilling and fertilization. The chicken manure is very high in Nitrogen and is a great addition to your compost. Home raised eggs are some of the highest nutritional content of any chickens, including free-range. The reason is that most home raised chickens are pampered and given extra nutrition and care. It is very easy to provide a highly nutritious and healthy diet for your backyard chickens from your home garden. We will look at several heirloom vegetables, herbs and flowers that you can easily grow in your garden that will not only provide some tasty treats for your chickens, but give you some great greens as well.
Almost any of the greens and vegetables that you enjoy your chickens will love. You have probably seen them get really excited if you share salad fixings or old veggies from your refrigerator. Think of how they will get when they know that the garden is providing treats for them all of the time! You don’t have to plant a special garden just for the chickens, as they will happily devour any greens that come their way.
The question is often asked of why grow your chicken’s food, why not just buy the 50lb. bag of chicken scratch and call it good? There is nothing wrong with going this route, and realistically you will most likely need to have some commercial feed available as your garden may or may not produce enough greens and grains for your flock. This will vary depending on the size of your garden compared to the size of your flock. The real answer to growing fresh greens for your chickens is the same answer as to why you would want to grow your own garden- taste, nutrition and choice.
Spring Chicken
Let’s look at several varieties of vegetables and herbs that are easily grown in a home garden setting that will provide some tasty and highly nutritious greens for both you and your birds. Starting off in the cooler season with some cold-hardy greens will help jump-start the hens energy levels. Kale, Swiss Chard, mustard greens and beet tops are a great start to the season. They all like a cooler soil, sprout quickly and will provide some serious nutrition. Speaking of sprouting, sprouts are an absolute powerhouse of nutrition and are ready to eat in 4-7 days. Alfalfa sprouts are possibly the best known, but there are several different types of sprouts such as radish, mung bean and red clover that work well. Sprouts take up minimal space, use little water and need only the most basic equipment to produce a couple of pounds of fresh food. This is a technique that works especially well in the depths of winter when other greens are scarce and expensive. You can produce plenty of sprouts for yourself and a half dozen chickens from a half gallon jar with a sprouting screen lid on your kitchen sink.
Once the weather starts warming up more options open up for different vegetables and greens. Cabbage, chicory, mustards, spinach and a number of greens do well in the early spring once the soil has started warming up. These include Miner’s Lettuce, French Purslane and Aztec Red Spinach. Once the true spinach starts to bolt in the warmer weather, switch to the spinach substitutes such as red and green malabar spinach, the Aztec Red spinach and New Zealand spinach. All of these love the heat, won’t bolt and produce all through the hotter weather. Traditional winter cover crops such as alfalfa, clover, vetch and annual rye should be considered for later in the year.
If you have the space, pumpkins and squash- both summer and winter- can be excellent feed choices. Winter squash and pumpkins that can be stored until later in the winter give you an additional resource for high quality feed when nothing else is growing. Corn is another great choice, space permitting, as it is the base for the commercial feeds. Other grains that will grow well in a smaller home garden set up is Mennonite Sorghum, Amaranth and Quinoa. Don’t forget Sunflowers, as they can provide both shade and a wind break for your garden along with seeds for your girls.
Many folks don’t think of herbs when it comes to providing food for chickens, but there are some great choices here. Borage is one such, as it has lots of mineral-rich leaves as well as flowers that are edible and make excellent additions to a chicken’s diet. Comfrey is in the Borage family and is another great choice.
To help you get started, we have created a section on our website called “Backyard Chickens Collection”, appropriately enough. We list all of the varieties that are mentioned in this article to save you the time of looking throughout the website to find them. It is really easy to incorporate the chicken feed aspect into your existing gardening plan. Planting one or two extra plants of each variety for each half dozen chickens is usually sufficient, with grains such as Amaranth and sunflowers going almost exclusively to the chickens. As with most things gardening related, a little experimentation will prove the way as you see what volumes of fresh garden produce you particular flock of chickens needs.
Seed starting media is what is used to, you guessed it, start your seeds in! Why does starting seeds require its own media? Why not just use some good garden soil or well-aged compost? What is the difference anyway? These are valid questions that all too often go unanswered, leading to disappointment, frustration and failure for the home gardener trying to get a jump on the season by starting their own seeds for transplants.
The first thing to recognize is that starting seeds inside and growing them into transplants is much different than what happens in the garden with direct seeding. Growing inside has advantages and challenges that simply do not exist in the garden, with its own rules. Temperature can be controlled and modified inside, as well as lighting to ensure success. Humidity and soil moisture levels are other things that can and need to be controlled to get the young seedling to the strapping transplant stage. A good seed starting mix provides a sterile environment free of fungus, mold or viruses, good drainage to allow better soil moisture management, and minimizes nutrient leaching from the young root systems. These are all things that are just not possible to control outside, forcing the gardener to wait until conditions are right before sowing the seeds directly into the soil and hoping that the weather cooperates. Thus the entire reason to start your own seeds inside, in a nutshell! You have control- control of the choice of what to plant, what varieties of tomatoes, peppers and such that are not available at the local garden center or nursery, and control of all of the variables that will grow a healthy, sturdy and productive member of the garden.
It all starts with the choice of the right seed starting media or mix. Get it right and you are well on your way to success. Get it wrong and you could have some challenges that slow you down. Luckily, it is not difficult at all! When you visit your local garden center, home improvement store or local market, it might be confusing on which growing media to buy. For the beginning gardener, buying seed starting media is the best and safest choice for success. This is not the time to overthink or overcomplicate things. Find the simplest, most successful way possible and stick with that method. You will have plenty of time to experiment with different approaches and systems once the seedlings are transplanted into your garden. What you need for starting seeds is a dead-simple, easily repeatable, always successful method to get the seeds up and healthy. As you gain experience and knowledge you can do some experimenting to see what “recipes” or hand-made mixes work well for you. Below we will tell you more about each type.
Perlite
Perlite– An amorphous volcanic glass expanded to about 13 times its original volume by heating to 1,800F; it is used as a soil additive to help prevent water loss and soil compaction and is white in color. Perlite provides aeration and optimum moisture retention for superior seedling growth. It is sterile and has a pH of approximately 7, or neutral. Used to condition garden soil to improve aeration and drainage.
Vermiculite
Vermiculite– A mica mineral expanded by heating it to 1,400F; used as part of peat-lite mixes. Similar to perlite it is lightweight, highly absorbent, increases aeration and moisture retention, and minimizes fertilizer leaching.
Peat Moss
Peat moss– Organic material used in many soil mixes to grow plants in. It comes from Peat bogs, which are natural deposits of peat moss. Peat Bogs are found in very Northern Countries such as Canada. This is a finite resource.
Peat pots– Pots made from compressed peat moss and paper.
Rock Wool
Rock Wool– A growing media is an inorganic product that is made by melting together at a very high temperature a mixture of basalt, coke and limestone into lava which is blown into a large spinning chamber which pulls the lava into fibers like “cotton candy”. Rock wool fibers hold a lot of water; this medium is usually used in greenhouse production.
Compressed Coconut Coir
Coir– A natural fiber extracted from the husk of coconut and has a large capacity to absorb water and still provide aeration. It is a strongly recommended substitute for sphagnum (Peat) moss because it is free of bacterial and fungal spores, and produces good results without the environmental damage caused by peat mining.
Wetting agent– Material added to water to reduce the surface tension and make the water wetter.
Seed Starting Mix
Many common Seed Starting Potting Mixes will contain peat moss, perlite, a fertilizer and a wetting agent. There are many different brands of Seed Starting Mixes on the market or you can create your own. Take a look at our Seed Starting Department for ideas and tools to help you get the best out of your seed starting efforts.
Here are a couple of hand-made mixes from The New Seed Starters Handbook by Nancy Bubel. Nancy was the author of many books at Rodale and the author of the Storey Publication Grow Super Salad Greens.
Good and Simple Potting Soil
One part finished compost
One part vermiculite
Home-Style Potting Mix
One part finished compost
One part either loose garden soil or potting soil
One part sharp sand, perlite or vermiculite or a mixture of all three.
If you are a beginner it might be easiest to buy a bagged mix or a tray with coir pellets to start with. After a little experience you will find what works best for you.
A personal favorite is using a soil blocker and creating your own custom mix based on Eliot Coleman’s methods. Chapter 14 of The New Organic Grower covers the complete use of soil blocks and blocking mixes. If you start a lot of starts or are a larger grower this method might be worth exploring.
With an understanding of the importance of a good seed starting mix, and the ingredients commonly available, you have the tools needed to have a successful start to your seedlings, a more productive garden and great home grown food. We will be continuing the planning, seed starting and planting series with some seed starting basics, tools and experiences that have helped us have a high success rate.
https://underwoodgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Seed-Starting-Mix.jpg200300Stephen Scotthttps://underwoodgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Survey-Header.jpgStephen Scott2012-02-09 13:21:592024-04-30 17:34:02Seed Starting Media for the Home Gardener
French sorrel is known as “lemonade leaf” and has been prized for its nutritional and culinary qualities for centuries. In many climates it will nativize.
The History of Heirloom Peas
Heirloom Peas Have a Long History
Heirloom peas or garden peas originated in middle Asia, from northwest India through Afghanistan and adjacent areas. A second area of development lies in the Near East, and a third includes the plateau and mountains of Ethiopia. In these areas wild field peas have been found, along with many cultivated forms of P. sativum, but wild P. sativum has never been found. Vast areas in southern Russia and southern Europe still have large tracts of field peas growing wild. The garden pea was an early introduction in northern Europe and Asia and as far west as England and east as far as China.
Early heirloom peas were cultivated for their dry seed, similar to today’s “split peas” for soup. The varieties known a thousand years ago had seeds that were much smaller, dark colored from the modern garden peas. They were an ideal supplement to an early hunter gatherer lifestyle that was just beginning to transition into agriculture. They were durable, easily carried and their germination lasted for several years. They needed only a short season to produce food for both man and animals and flourish in soils too poor for early cereal grains which were being adapted to early agriculture at about the same time. No doubt that during times of scarcity of animals to hunt, peas became a chief source of protein.
Primitive garden peas have been found during excavations beneath houses of the Swiss lake dwellers around Morssedorf, Switzerland dating back to both the Bronze and Stone Age. Peas also were found in a Hungarian cave dwelling, believed to date back even further. Charles Pickering says in his 1879 Chronological History of Plants, “Of culinary vegetables, Pisum sativum the only kind that can with certainty be traced as far back as the Stone Age;…” He also mentions a type of Fava bean, parsnips and carrots found in the excavation.
Garden peas have been found in the excavations of ancient Troy. The Aryans from the East are thought to have introduced peas to the Greeks and Romans, who grew them in ancient times. Theophrastus, considered by many to be the Father of Botany, described peas in detail and their cultivation in his Enquiry into Plants in Chapter 8 which is devoted to cereals and peas. He is the author of the oldest existing treatise on botany, having died in 287 BC. U. P. Hedrick wrote about Theophrastus in his 1928 book The Vegetables of New York, “He wrote at a time when gardening, farming, orcharding, and the cultivation of flowers and medicinal plants were far advanced, when all food plants derived from the Old World had been named, domesticated, had their varieties and had been cultivated for many centuries. He was writing in a advanced stage of agriculture and civilization; quotes other books about plants and had much of his information from predecessors whom he looked upon as ancient as we look upon him as belonging to an age long, long ago.”
Heirloom peas were one of the most widely grown vegetables of northern Europe during the Middle ages, as their description and cultivation was evident in almost every early gardening or agricultural book of any language in middle and northern Europe. They were almost as widely grown as the early cereals as an easily produced storehouse of nutrition for the population and for food for the armies of the time. In 1066 they were one of the chief crops grown in England, and by 1400 peas were frequently mentioned in the “Expenses of Collegiate and Monastic Houses”. From the 1400s to the mid 1600s, peas were so commonly eaten that “pottage” and “porridge” were terms meaning peas as well as the dishes made from them. Sugar peas were common and described in John Worlidge’s Systema Horticulture, or the Art of Gardening in 1677.
Eating freshly shelled peas, or what were called green peas became a very popular delicacy with the aristocracy after the restoration of Charles II when they were parched, fried or boiled. Louis XIV was highly fond of them, and so was his entire Royal court. In a letter written by Madame de Maintenon dated 10 May 1696, she describes, “The subject of Peas, continues to absorb all others, the anxiety to eat them, the pleasure of having eaten them, and the desire to eat them again, are the three great matters which have been discussed by our Princes for four days past. …It is both a fashion and a madness.” Commoners didn’t partake of “green peas” until the early 18th Century.
Heirloom peas were introduced very early on by European explorers, possibly starting with Columbus himself on his 2nd voyage. It seems they were widely traded and spread rapidly. In 1535 Cartier mentions the natives of Hochelaga (now Montreal) growing peas, and in 1613 French traders obtained peas grown by the Ottowa River by the native tribes. Francisco Vasquéz de Coronado mentions “small white peas” in New Mexico in 1540. In 1614 peas were a food staple of the New England native tribes.
Subsequently, American gardeners have embraced heirloom peas wholeheartedly with many breeders improving yields, flavor and pod size. We have a nice selection in our Heirloom Pea Department for you to enjoy!
“Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” and Your Heirloom Garden
First off, watch the trailer about this crazy Australian who comes to America and spends 60 days on a complete juice fast-
Now you’re wondering- “What in the world does that have to do with my home garden?”
Surprisingly more than you think!
In “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead”, Joe Cross regained his health, lost weight and ditched a lot of prescription drugs (with his doctors approval!) by changing his diet and eating better. Specifically- eating a lot of fruits and veggies and losing the processed, packaged industrial foods that put him in that corner to begin with.
Here’s where your heirloom garden comes in; right in your backyard, on your porch or balcony. It can be easily explained in one simple, overused word- nutrition. You have much more positive influence on your health with a home garden than you would think. By tending to your garden and growing just some of your own food, you will be eating much better from both a dietary and nutritional viewpoint than almost any other way.
Let’s look at how this works-
Creating and maintaining biologically sustainable, healthy and fertile soil is the first step. This builds the foundation for strong, healthy, productive and disease/pest resistant plants that grow food that is not only healthy but highly delicious as well. This can be done no matter the size of the garden, all the way down to a few containers or an Earthbox.
Many folks don’t stop and think about how important the soil is to the overall flavor and nutrition of the produce. In biological, sustainable agriculture a term called “Brix” is used a lot. It means the amount of plant sugars that are present in a drop of sap from the stem, leaves or fruit. The higher the Brix, the healthier the plant and the sweeter (and tastier) the veggie or fruit. Higher Brix plants also have fewer pest and disease pressures.
Very few people have tasted high Brix vegetables, and those that have remember that they tasted like no other. For example, a simple bell pepper that has a Brix of 4 will taste bland, unremarkable and somewhat bitter. Now raise that Brix reading to 12 or 16 and it will taste like an apple in its sweetness! Not only will it be sweet, but rich and complex in flavors that you have not tasted in a bell pepper before. Another example is green beans. 4 Brix green beans need some sugar before kids will eat them, yet at the 8-10 Brix level kids will go out to the garden to pick them fresh and few make it to the kitchen. Most green beans at the supermarket are in the 4-5 Brix range.
High quality seeds are the next step. They provide the next link in the chain of growing food, but are often thought of as a commodity and not very important to spend time on getting the quality needed. While it is true that great soil can grow mediocre seeds, you don’t really want to go there do you? After the time spent in getting the garden planned, soil built and amended why use second-rate seeds?
The nutrient-dense, highly nutritious and delicious vegetables from your heirloom garden are the final result. Here’s where all of this ties into “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead”, as Joe found that drinking juice made from several different kinds of vegetables gave him the nutritional boost to get his systems back in order, his health back and lose the weight from years of not eating right. He bought his veggies from stores, and talks a bit about buying organic instead of conventional vegetables. He had no choice in growing his vegetables, as he was traveling. If his remarkable progress is possible with store-bought produce, can you imagine what you can do with nutrient-dense vegetables that you’ve grown in your own soil?
I’m not talking about just growing for juicing, but eating the produce from your own garden can have a similar positive impact on your health, when grown as described above. If you have the space and can grow veggies for juicing, you will see even more beneficial results in addition to eating them.
Pretty amazing to see what benefits a home heirloom garden can have, isn’t it?
Please realize that this article is not advocating eating only vegetables, only juice or not eating meat, but is looking at how we can achieve some impressive results with tools and opportunities that many of us already have. The absolute fact is that most Americans really need more vegetables in their diets with a corresponding reduction of the processed, packaged industrial foods that are all around us every day.
It is well worth watching “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” and visiting Joe’s website- FatSickandNearlyDead.com. The movie is available through Hulu and Netflix, among others.
Just imagine- eating nutrient-dense fresh vegetables and drinking juices made from them grown in your own garden as a method of greatly improved health. Pretty radical thought, isn’t it?
Catanian Wheat and Lentil Soup
Catania is an old city on the south-east coast of Sicily, fronting the Ionian Sea. During the Renaissance, Catania was Sicily’s most important cultural, artistic, and political hub due in part to its major seaport. In 1434 the first university in Sicily was founded and today it is one of the main economic centers of the island and an important hub of technology and industry.
Cantine del Cugno Mezzano, located on the Via Museo Biscari is one of the chic restaurants in the old downtown that are reviving the ancient farm cuisines and elevating them to fine dining status. What is notable is that the flavors need no “freshening” or “elevating”, only the surroundings and atmosphere is needed to create the fine dining experience. The old recipes and locally sourced farm-grown ingredients are what make the flavors so memorable. The chef drives out to the surrounding countryside every weekend and goes from farm to farm on a well-established routine buying the foundations for the next week’s dishes.
This is a substantial and deeply satisfying, yet not heavy winter soup that has sustained farm families and farmhands for many generations. It is eaten during the cooler weather in Sicily on the farms, but is in demand year round in the restaurants. Get the best quality sausage possible, as it is the foundation of the flavors here. The smoked sweet and bittersweet paprika will add an intriguing depth of flavor to the soup, with the oregano backing them up. Another option to broaden the flavor profile is to use a home made beef stock instead of the water in the lentils, or split it in half. This freezes well to provide a delicious backup when time is short or plans change during the week.
Add some thick slices of fresh artisan peasant bread with butter and a good beer for a taste of what our ancestors ate after a long workday in the fields!
Zuppa Di Grano e Lenticchie
Makes 6 servings
Heirloom Gardening for Backyard Chickens
Raising backyard chickens is becoming increasingly popular, no matter where you live. There have always been rural chickens, but now there are small and large city chickens, happily living in coops and backyards all across the country. Chickens can do a lot for you, both in the garden and in the kitchen. First off, they give you a real measure of food security and increase your resiliency. The eggs are a great bartering tool, as very few folks that we’ve talked to weren’t interested in some fresh home-raised eggs. Chickens are great for bug control, light soil tilling and fertilization. The chicken manure is very high in Nitrogen and is a great addition to your compost. Home raised eggs are some of the highest nutritional content of any chickens, including free-range. The reason is that most home raised chickens are pampered and given extra nutrition and care. It is very easy to provide a highly nutritious and healthy diet for your backyard chickens from your home garden. We will look at several heirloom vegetables, herbs and flowers that you can easily grow in your garden that will not only provide some tasty treats for your chickens, but give you some great greens as well.
Almost any of the greens and vegetables that you enjoy your chickens will love. You have probably seen them get really excited if you share salad fixings or old veggies from your refrigerator. Think of how they will get when they know that the garden is providing treats for them all of the time! You don’t have to plant a special garden just for the chickens, as they will happily devour any greens that come their way.
The question is often asked of why grow your chicken’s food, why not just buy the 50lb. bag of chicken scratch and call it good? There is nothing wrong with going this route, and realistically you will most likely need to have some commercial feed available as your garden may or may not produce enough greens and grains for your flock. This will vary depending on the size of your garden compared to the size of your flock. The real answer to growing fresh greens for your chickens is the same answer as to why you would want to grow your own garden- taste, nutrition and choice.
Spring Chicken
Let’s look at several varieties of vegetables and herbs that are easily grown in a home garden setting that will provide some tasty and highly nutritious greens for both you and your birds. Starting off in the cooler season with some cold-hardy greens will help jump-start the hens energy levels. Kale, Swiss Chard, mustard greens and beet tops are a great start to the season. They all like a cooler soil, sprout quickly and will provide some serious nutrition. Speaking of sprouting, sprouts are an absolute powerhouse of nutrition and are ready to eat in 4-7 days. Alfalfa sprouts are possibly the best known, but there are several different types of sprouts such as radish, mung bean and red clover that work well. Sprouts take up minimal space, use little water and need only the most basic equipment to produce a couple of pounds of fresh food. This is a technique that works especially well in the depths of winter when other greens are scarce and expensive. You can produce plenty of sprouts for yourself and a half dozen chickens from a half gallon jar with a sprouting screen lid on your kitchen sink.
Once the weather starts warming up more options open up for different vegetables and greens. Cabbage, chicory, mustards, spinach and a number of greens do well in the early spring once the soil has started warming up. These include Miner’s Lettuce, French Purslane and Aztec Red Spinach. Once the true spinach starts to bolt in the warmer weather, switch to the spinach substitutes such as red and green malabar spinach, the Aztec Red spinach and New Zealand spinach. All of these love the heat, won’t bolt and produce all through the hotter weather. Traditional winter cover crops such as alfalfa, clover, vetch and annual rye should be considered for later in the year.
If you have the space, pumpkins and squash- both summer and winter- can be excellent feed choices. Winter squash and pumpkins that can be stored until later in the winter give you an additional resource for high quality feed when nothing else is growing. Corn is another great choice, space permitting, as it is the base for the commercial feeds. Other grains that will grow well in a smaller home garden set up is Mennonite Sorghum, Amaranth and Quinoa. Don’t forget Sunflowers, as they can provide both shade and a wind break for your garden along with seeds for your girls.
Many folks don’t think of herbs when it comes to providing food for chickens, but there are some great choices here. Borage is one such, as it has lots of mineral-rich leaves as well as flowers that are edible and make excellent additions to a chicken’s diet. Comfrey is in the Borage family and is another great choice.
To help you get started, we have created a section on our website called “Backyard Chickens Collection”, appropriately enough. We list all of the varieties that are mentioned in this article to save you the time of looking throughout the website to find them. It is really easy to incorporate the chicken feed aspect into your existing gardening plan. Planting one or two extra plants of each variety for each half dozen chickens is usually sufficient, with grains such as Amaranth and sunflowers going almost exclusively to the chickens. As with most things gardening related, a little experimentation will prove the way as you see what volumes of fresh garden produce you particular flock of chickens needs.
Seed Starting Media for the Home Gardener
The importance of proper seed starting mediaSeed starting media is what is used to, you guessed it, start your seeds in! Why does starting seeds require its own media? Why not just use some good garden soil or well-aged compost? What is the difference anyway? These are valid questions that all too often go unanswered, leading to disappointment, frustration and failure for the home gardener trying to get a jump on the season by starting their own seeds for transplants.
The first thing to recognize is that starting seeds inside and growing them into transplants is much different than what happens in the garden with direct seeding. Growing inside has advantages and challenges that simply do not exist in the garden, with its own rules. Temperature can be controlled and modified inside, as well as lighting to ensure success. Humidity and soil moisture levels are other things that can and need to be controlled to get the young seedling to the strapping transplant stage. A good seed starting mix provides a sterile environment free of fungus, mold or viruses, good drainage to allow better soil moisture management, and minimizes nutrient leaching from the young root systems. These are all things that are just not possible to control outside, forcing the gardener to wait until conditions are right before sowing the seeds directly into the soil and hoping that the weather cooperates. Thus the entire reason to start your own seeds inside, in a nutshell! You have control- control of the choice of what to plant, what varieties of tomatoes, peppers and such that are not available at the local garden center or nursery, and control of all of the variables that will grow a healthy, sturdy and productive member of the garden.
It all starts with the choice of the right seed starting media or mix. Get it right and you are well on your way to success. Get it wrong and you could have some challenges that slow you down. Luckily, it is not difficult at all! When you visit your local garden center, home improvement store or local market, it might be confusing on which growing media to buy. For the beginning gardener, buying seed starting media is the best and safest choice for success. This is not the time to overthink or overcomplicate things. Find the simplest, most successful way possible and stick with that method. You will have plenty of time to experiment with different approaches and systems once the seedlings are transplanted into your garden. What you need for starting seeds is a dead-simple, easily repeatable, always successful method to get the seeds up and healthy. As you gain experience and knowledge you can do some experimenting to see what “recipes” or hand-made mixes work well for you. Below we will tell you more about each type.
Perlite
Perlite– An amorphous volcanic glass expanded to about 13 times its original volume by heating to 1,800F; it is used as a soil additive to help prevent water loss and soil compaction and is white in color. Perlite provides aeration and optimum moisture retention for superior seedling growth. It is sterile and has a pH of approximately 7, or neutral. Used to condition garden soil to improve aeration and drainage.
Vermiculite
Vermiculite– A mica mineral expanded by heating it to 1,400F; used as part of peat-lite mixes. Similar to perlite it is lightweight, highly absorbent, increases aeration and moisture retention, and minimizes fertilizer leaching.
Peat Moss
Peat moss– Organic material used in many soil mixes to grow plants in. It comes from Peat bogs, which are natural deposits of peat moss. Peat Bogs are found in very Northern Countries such as Canada. This is a finite resource.
Peat pots– Pots made from compressed peat moss and paper.
Rock Wool
Rock Wool– A growing media is an inorganic product that is made by melting together at a very high temperature a mixture of basalt, coke and limestone into lava which is blown into a large spinning chamber which pulls the lava into fibers like “cotton candy”. Rock wool fibers hold a lot of water; this medium is usually used in greenhouse production.
Compressed Coconut Coir
Coir– A natural fiber extracted from the husk of coconut and has a large capacity to absorb water and still provide aeration. It is a strongly recommended substitute for sphagnum (Peat) moss because it is free of bacterial and fungal spores, and produces good results without the environmental damage caused by peat mining.
Wetting agent– Material added to water to reduce the surface tension and make the water wetter.
Seed Starting Mix
Many common Seed Starting Potting Mixes will contain peat moss, perlite, a fertilizer and a wetting agent. There are many different brands of Seed Starting Mixes on the market or you can create your own. Take a look at our Seed Starting Department for ideas and tools to help you get the best out of your seed starting efforts.
Here are a couple of hand-made mixes from The New Seed Starters Handbook by Nancy Bubel. Nancy was the author of many books at Rodale and the author of the Storey Publication Grow Super Salad Greens.
Good and Simple Potting Soil
One part finished compost
One part vermiculite
Home-Style Potting Mix
One part finished compost
One part either loose garden soil or potting soil
One part sharp sand, perlite or vermiculite or a mixture of all three.
If you are a beginner it might be easiest to buy a bagged mix or a tray with coir pellets to start with. After a little experience you will find what works best for you.
A personal favorite is using a soil blocker and creating your own custom mix based on Eliot Coleman’s methods. Chapter 14 of The New Organic Grower covers the complete use of soil blocks and blocking mixes. If you start a lot of starts or are a larger grower this method might be worth exploring.
With an understanding of the importance of a good seed starting mix, and the ingredients commonly available, you have the tools needed to have a successful start to your seedlings, a more productive garden and great home grown food. We will be continuing the planning, seed starting and planting series with some seed starting basics, tools and experiences that have helped us have a high success rate.
Large Leaf Sorrel or Lemonade Leaf
French sorrel is known as “lemonade leaf” and has been prized for its nutritional and culinary qualities for centuries. In many climates it will nativize.