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Category: his thoughts (page 6 of 13)

When is the Best Time to Harvest Chia Seed?

When is the best time to harvest chia (salvia hispanica) seed?

After the flowers have dropped, and the seed pods have turned brown. You can pinch a few of the pods and smush them between your fingers to see if the seeds are black and fully ripe.

chia is a great homestead crop.It even grows well inter-planted among the sweet potatoes!

Last year we snipped off individual stalks of seed pods, there are anywhere from 1-20 on a plant depending on vigor, but this took a bit of time. Because the seeds seem to stay in the pods fairly well and not shatter and fall off when the plant is disturbed, I think this year we will just snip the chia off at the base with pruners and then shake the seeds out in one go.

the pods on the stalks turn brown when the chia seed is ripe

These plants are all volunteers form last year and have done fairly well. Chia, which is related to sage, is an ancient crop from central Mexico, with high levels of omega-3 fatty acids and other micro-nutrients. It is said that 1 tablespoon of chia seeds could supply a long distance Aztec runner with all the nutrition he needed for a days journey. We add the seeds to water, where the germinate into gooey globs of goodness that take the edge off of an empty stomach and just make the water taste better. Chia!

Kale! The Superstar of the Fall and Winter Garden

October 21, 2014 / jason / 2 Comments

As the leaves start to turn and the acorns start to drop, the summer garden is ready to be put to bed. This is a time for mulching and cover-cropping, but it’s also a great time to grow a fall/winter garden. In reality, fall garden planning starts in the summer, but our homestead wedding took most of our energy and attention during that period of time. Still, we will not be going without fresh garden produce entirely. We can thank kale for this. The wonderful, green, nutritious, and delicious superstar of the fall and winter garden.

sweet potatoes and chia are some of the last crops of the summer garden

We planted a whole bunch about 2 weekends ago, in the empty garden spots vacated by our potatoes, and it has germinated and is off to the races. Our mild weather is helping it to establish itself before it truly gets cold, but even then, kale loves a frost, which just makes the leaves sweeter.

saving kale seeds was easy, and our germination was great!

We have 3 varieties in the ground, Vates (heat /cold resistant and tasty too), Lacinato (Italian heirloom from Tuscany also known as Dinosaur Kale), and our Siberian Kale seeds that we saved from last year. This should keep us well stocked with kale, and give us plenty of chances to make our famous kale soup with Neese’s sausage and homegrown potatoes!

Black Walnut Trees in the Home Landscape and Garden

October 20, 2014 / jason / 1 Comment

The other day, I was asked a great question in the comments section on my post about what wood to use in hugelkulture about planting black walnut trees. Specifically, about the ability of black walnut trees to “poison” other nearby plants with “chemical warfare.” I figured I would write up a post about some things to consider before planting these magnificent trees at your home or homestead.

First off, why do we even need to be concerned that a black walnut tree might kill our plants? Well, black walnut, along with hickory and pecan trees, produce a chemical called juglone. This chemical is toxic to many, but not all, species of plants and even some animals if consumed in large quantities. This gives black walnut trees an advantage in the wild, helping it to compete among other trees, vines and shrubs for sunlight, nutrients, and water. But not all plants are sensitive to juglone. In fact, many plants that co-evolved in the same areas with black walnut are not affected by the alleopathic effects of the juglone.

Furthermore, there are many factors that can influence a plant’s ability to live near a walnut tree and not succumb to the juglone poisoning. A few of the factors are related to soil and site conditions (pH, moisture, soil life), while others have to do with proximity to the tree. Because juglone does not travel very far in the soil, only plants immediately around black walnut trees are susceptible to poisoning. Also, by planting buffer trees, or trees that are not affected by juglone such as black locust, mullberry, elderberry, and black cherry, you can essentially contain the juglone to the area immediately under the tree.This area is particularly high in juglone because of the accumulation of leaves, nuts, nut hulls and roots.In this area, it’s best to only plant plants that are tolerant of juglone (check out a great resource here).

Plants that are not juglone tolerant include:

apple
azalea
birch, white
blackberry
blueberry
chrysanthemum
crocus, autumn
forget-me-not
grape, domestic
lily-of-the-valley
linden
mountain laurel
peony
pine
potato
rhododendron
thyme
tomato

Keep these far away from your black walnut tree, and make sure that when it drops its leaves in the fall, that they don’t settle down and decompose around these plants.

Personally, I think that there are a lot of options when it comes to using black walnut in the landscape, particularly in a food forest setting. With a little research, and some planning, anyone can take advantage of its majestic shape, delicious nuts, and extremely valuable timber. The nuts are easily planted in the fall, 3-4 deep and covered with a layer of either straw or leaf mulch. After freezing and thawing all winter, they should germinate in the spring. Just make sure to mark them off so you don’t mow them down next year!

Kuska Wiñasun Homestead is on Facebook! (Finally)

October 17, 2014 / jason / Comments Off

Well, the loyal readers and followers of our ochre way have asked us many times to get on facebook and we finally listened. That’s right, we are on facebook! This is one of the many upcoming changes that we will be implementing in the next few months, so friend us at https://www.facebook.com/ourochreway to stay on top of everything and not miss a thing.

Also, we’d like to thank everyone who has read our blog, left a comment, shared a post, or linked to us or one of our youtube videos. It means the world to us, and we hope to bring you more homestead adventures, thoughts and recipes in the future. A special thank you goes out to all those who have supported Kuska Wiñasun Homestead and shopped on amazon after clicking through our affiliate link.

Thank you all so much! Stay tuned for more exciting developments, and be sure to follow us on facebook!

Turtle in the Woods!

October 9, 2014 / jason / Comments Off

Fall is a great time to walk in the woods. Emma and I have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather to explore our woods and watch the seasons change. The acorn crop this year is a big one, and we have already harvested some wild lion’s mane mushrooms.

But today, I stumbled across a turtle. A cool, little box turtle was hanging out under the shade of a great oak tree and hung out for a few minutes while I snapped his picture.

Lobster of the Woods: Cooking Lion’s Mane Mushroom

October 7, 2014 / jason / 6 Comments

After researching our lion’s mane mushroom find, Emma and I felt safe enough to harvest the mushrooms and eat them. But what is the best way to cook and enjoy a lion’s mane? Well it seems that the internet agrees that frying them in butter until browned is the best way to experience their delicate texture, and lobster like flavor. Sounds good to us!

Lion’s Mane Mushrooms are both a delicacy and a medicinal powerhouse

After cutting the mushrooms off close to the bark of the standing dead tree, we trimmed off some of the dirtier pieces, and shook off any remaining debris. We then sliced the mushrooms and started heating up some butter on the stove.

Sliced Lion’s Mane, ready to be fried in butter and garlic

To the melted butter we added a few cloves of chopped garlic to infuse a little more flavor into the dish. Once the butter was nice and hot, in went the sliced mushrooms.

The hairs crisp up, while the mushroom absorbs the butter! Yum!

We gave them a good fry on each side, and because the mushrooms are so absorbent and soaked up so much of the butter, we needed to add more butter to the pan.

Nice and browned, these lion’s mane mushrooms have a delicate seafoody flavor and amazing texture.

After about 3-5 minutes, it was time for the first taste test! Delicious! The lobster/scallop flavor was not as intense as I expected, but rather a subtle and interesting note. We figured out that the mushrooms had absorbed a little too much butter, and so we pressed some out of them with paper towels. This made a big difference and allowed us to experience more of the unique texture of the lion’s mane. It’s hard to explain, but the contrasts between the hairs, and the almost rubbery texture of the inside makes for an amazing culinary experience.

This batch was a little over. The hairs were very crisp, but the delicate flavor was overwhelmed.

We fried the mushrooms in batches, and our last batch was a little over done. Lesson learned, don’t overcook these mushrooms. The flavors and textures are subtle and delicate. Nothing more is needed than a quick saute, and a pinch of salt. Well, maybe a glass of wine too.

A Great Woodland Surprise! The Lion’s Mane Mushroom

October 5, 2014 / jason / 2 Comments

Today in the woods, while walking the dog, emma and I stumbled across something great. It was there, perched on the side of a dying tree in our woods, 2 lion’s mane mushrooms in all their glory. Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus), was one the mushrooms we considered when we began our mushroom growing operation. Although we ended up deciding on growing shitake mushrooms on logs, the legendary buttery textured and lobster flavored lion’s mane was one we dearly wanted to try.

Lion’s mane mushroom growing on a standing dead tree in the wild

So, you can imagine or delight when emma saw these two white orbs growing out of the side of a tree. Our shitake logs are not yet fruiting and we’ve been itching to eat some mushrooms. We recognized the mushrooms as lion’s mane, but when it comes to mushrooms, you can never be too careful. We headed back t the house, and after consulting both the internet and a mushroom field guide. We learned that lion’s mane mushroom have no look-a-likes, and we were able to confirm these wonderful delicacy as safe and edible. This is very important if you ever consider foraging for mushrooms, the need to be 100 % certain before eating any wild mushroom.

the lion’s mane mushroom is very distinctive and doesn’t have any look-a-likes

We will be headed back out tomorrow to harvest these mushrooms, and will most likely saute them in butter with garlic, the method that seems to bring out their rich flavor the best. Stay tuned for updates, and keep your eyes peeled when you are out and about for edible delicacies!

Compost! A Gardener’s Best Friend

September 30, 2014 / jason / Comments Off

One surefire way to improve soil health, life and fertility is with compost. Compost is essentially human created humus, decomposed organic matter teeming with beneficial microbial activity. The recipe for compost involves acquiring enough organic material to start a heap, maintaining a good moisture content, and then turning it to add air to the equation. Compost not only provides nutrients like Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphate, but it also provides a healthy dose of the bacteria and fungi that help plants utilize and acquire what they need from the soil.

Our compost pile, the perfect soil conditioner for the homestead or garden.

I started a compost pile the other day when I had a surplus of bagged plant material laying around from work,in addition to fresh grass clippings from our wedding preparations.These count as greens in the composting world, or things that are high in nitrogen. Other greens would be animal manures, legume hay, blood meal, and food scraps. The ratio I was shooting for was 1/3 greens to 2/3 browns. Browns are anything high in carbon, like paper, wood, sawdust, straw, or bagged leaves from fall cleanups. The key to good composting is waiting until you have enough material to make a pile that is at least 1 cubic yard in volume. This insulates the pile, helping to maintain the high temperatures needed to break down your organic material while minimizing losses to off gassing.

I layered my browns and greens, and added water after each layer. I wanted to have the pile wet, but not dripping or soaked. Roughly around the moisture content of a sponge you just squeezed the water out of. This aids the microbial breakdown, while keeping the pile from getting too anaerobic. After I had a pile that was up to my shoulders, I let it sit for 4 days. After 4 days,it was time for the first turn, and I grabbed my pitch fork and fluffed layers from the pile to an open space right next to it, adding water if it seemed too dry. It was nice and steamy, which let me know that the process was working!

Today, 3 days later, I turned it once more and added some leftover stale beer to feed the microbes a little more. From this point on I’ll turn it every 2 days, and after 2-3 weeks, we should have roughly a cubic yard of black gold,ready for the garden or for a wonderfully complex brew of compost tea!

A Missing Link In Sustainability: Metal Recycling

September 2, 2014 / jason / 1 Comment

Everyone has seen the bins, cans, and rolling carts out on trash night that hold millions of peoples recyclable plastics, glass, and paper products. But what about that stuff that your recycling center or municipality won’t take? That old vacuum cleaner, desktop PC, or dryer that quit working and was replaced. Most people take these items to the dump, where they sit in landfills slowly leaching out pollution into our streams and groundwater. However, these products are recyclable too.

The metals can be melted down, or reused for other purposes. This is both more economical and more environmentally friendly than constantly mining metal and ore from the earth. The wiring, motors, and other electrical components often contain copper, a valuable metal with hundreds of industrial uses. Copper is also present in your old Christmas lights, so don’t send them to dump, find someone who recycles them.

Other little thought of recyclable products include:

washing machines
furnaces and AC units
scooters, bikes, and cars
extension cords
refrigerators
keyboards, mice, and speakers
rims for tires
old pipes and pumps
scrap metal
anything with metal, a motor, or a cord

All of these can be broken down into their base components, and either recycled or reused. This is a million times better than sitting in a landfill for decades. Many people specialize in recycling metal, commonly called scrapping, and they often take old appliances and large items for free. So next time you have a large item that you no longer want, before you send it to the dump, call someone to recycle it. It’s better for everyone.

Remember, if you are in the Greensboro/Triad, and have something you need recycled send an email to jason at ourochreway.com

Some Herbal Remedies and First Aid in Action

September 1, 2014 / jason / Comments Off

In the past week, due to some minor accidents, I had a few chances to try out some herbal remedies. Herbs can provide gentle and effective healing and because they are often easy to grow, they deserve a place on any homestead.

The first incident was brought about by picking up a cast aluminium dutch oven that had been reheating food in the oven. Ouch. It was heavy, hot, and I didn’t drop right away. After running some water over my hand, I snipped off some aloe vera from the plant by our sink, squeezed out the juice, and rubbed it onto my palm. This instantly relieved the burning pain and helped me thin a little clearer.

Aloe is a great plant, it has many uses from sunburn relief to helping improve digestion, and is easily grown as a house plant in a sunny location.

I then went out and picked a large comfrey leaf. Comfrey is probably the best herb when it comes to bone, skin, and tissue regeneration and healing. The chemicals in comfrey are often added to skin care products, but nothing can replicate the healing power of whole leaves.

Emma chopped up the leaf in a small food processor, and then took the half paste, comfrey pesto and applied it to the burn before wrapping a bandage around my palm. I left this on for a few hours, and by morning my hand had no pain, no marks, and I had completely forgotten the burn because my hand was healed.

A few days later, I woke up with a sore and scratchy throat, probably brought on by dehydration. It was pretty uncomfortable, but I turned to our tried and true home cure for sore throats… vitamin c. I prefer vitamin c in powder form, but it also comes in a variety of capsules, pills, and tablets.

Dissolved in a glass of water, it helps to re-hydrate the body, soothe the throat, and increase immune function and healing. Vitamin c has been used for many different treatments, from helping to prevent soreness after strenuous exercise to fighting withdrawal symptoms in heroin addicts.

These 3 natural remedies, aloe, comfrey, and vitamin c, are just things that we have on hand. The aloe and vitamin c are in our kitchen, easily within reach on a day to day basis. The comfrey is growing in a few places on our property, some in the garden, some in the food forest, and soon we will have some growing everywhere as we propagate more.

While herbs are great as first aid, their best use comes from a more holistic approach. By using them daily in cooking and teas, they are able to help our bodies stay strong, and fight off problems before we, or a doctor, can diagnose them. This is the best use of herbs, and the reason we should all try to include them in our lives as many ways as possible.

KW Homestead

Pasture Raised Poultry & Edible Landscaping Plants Since 2013