Sometimes when I see or read an idea, I know instantly: I will do that. I latch on to it and become determined to make it happen. That’s how it was for me when I first heard of wildflower jelly.
Last year I made dandelion jelly first, but was sad to have missed the wild violet season. This year I was determined to make the violet jelly, so I did that first.
I have a growing collection of edible flower recipes which I will share this summer as the flowers come in season.
The jelly has a sweet floral fragrance and taste. Not very strong. But very beautiful.
The common blue violet has grown as a “weed” in our lawns in Utah, Kansas, and Indiana. The leaves are dark green, heart-shaped and toothed. There are five violet-colored petals that are irregular in a group of two and three. The blossom hangs off of a crook at the top of the stem.
Make sure you are confident in identifying the common blue violet before picking some blossoms. Always make sure you are harvesting from an area that is not sprayed or treated with any chemicals.
Gather 2 cups of blue violets. Pour 2 cups boiling water over the blossoms to steep them like tea. Steep blossoms in water overnight.
Strain the blossoms out by pouring water into a second container through a floursack towel to keep out all the dirt. (See what got left behind?)
The violet water is a deep blue color, but when you add lemon juice (the acidity is necessary to preserve the jelly) it turns a bright fuchsia color.
Add water if needed to make 2 cups. Add lemon juice.
Follow directions for your pectin. For example my directions stated: Add pectin to juice. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve. Add sugar, return to rolling boil, and boil for one minute exactly. Ladle into jars and process in water bath canner for 10 minutes. (Makes 12 4oz jars)
A sweet fuchsia-colored jelly made from wild common blue violet blossoms.
Ingredients
2 cups violet blossoms, stems removed
2 cups boiling water
juice of one lemon
1 package pectin (I used sure-jel for these)
4 cups sugar
Instructions
1
Steep blossoms in water overnight. Strain out the blossoms. Add water if needed to make 2 cups. Add lemon juice. Follow directions for your pectin–my instructions were: Add pectin to juice. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve. Add sugar, return to rolling boil, and boil for one minute exactly. Ladle into jars and process in water bath canner for 10 minutes. (Makes 12 4oz jars)
Honey Sweetened Violet Jelly
I experimented with using honey instead of white sugar to make the jelly. I use Pomona’s Pectin. I used one cup of the violet water and followed the directions in Pomona’s for a basic jelly. It was 1T lemon juice; 1/4 cup honey; 1 tsp of the calcium water (that comes with the Pomona’s Pectin); and 1 tsp of pectin. (Makes 3 4oz jars)
Next time I will use a little bit more pectin because it was a pretty loose set, and I may add a bit more honey–it was a very mellow jelly. It definitely has some floral hints to it and I could taste the honey. Obviously the jelly was more cloudy from the honey.
On my suburban lot I like to use my space as efficiently as possible. So I plant my fruit trees in a food forest of overlapping fruit tree guilds.
In a FRUIT TREE GUILD all the understory plants contribute to the health of the fruit tree, but many of the plants offer one or even two additional benefits. These benefits include: attracting pollinators or deterring pests or weeds, providing living or biomass mulch, providing nitrogen or other nutrients to the tree, or being medicinal or edible to humans or animals.
I prioritize many of the blooming plants that are pollinator attractors or can be used as cut flowers to help beautify my orchard because my orchard is in the front yard of my house. I also prioritize edible plants and herbs to make the most of the space.
I currently have 4 apple trees, 1 sour cherry tree, 1 peach tree, 1 native plum tree, 1 persimmon tree, 3 paw paw trees, 1 fig tree, and 1 dwarf mulberry tree. I have designed a naturalized-style planting of a food forest where the benefits of the plants provide for multiple trees at once.
20 Fruit Tree Guild Plants Grouped by Benefit to Orchard
When planting my orchard I have tried to look for plants in each of the categories to benefit my orchard. The parts of a guild are not set in stone so you may find various lists with different beneficial parts to a guild.
Sometimes they are just additional sub categories of a more basic category. “Cut Flowers” is not traditionally a fruit tree guild benefit–it is a subcategory of human benefit—but I found it informative to my style of gardening to know that some of these plants traditionally found in fruit tree guilds have this additional human benefit as well.
Guild Benefit
Plant
Pollinator Attractant
Bee Balm Echinacea Yarrow Borage Calendula Fennel Elderberry Mint
Table of Fruit Tree Guild Plants Grouped by Benefit to Orchard
These plants can be grouped in any combination. One plant can fulfill many roles to benefit the guild. Or you can choose different plants fo provide each benefit.
In addition it simply benefits the guild more and adds more diversity to add any additional plants from each category.
I will share three examples of fruit tree guilds in my orchard, and after that I will share photos and tips for all the listed plants.
Example Cherry Tree Guild
My fruit tree guilds overlap into a larger food forest. So far these are the plants I have closest around my Montmorency Sour Cherry tree comprising my cherry fruit tree guild:
Pollinator Attractant: bee balm
Pest Repellant: onion chives
Nutrient Accumulator: yarrow
Living Mulch: wild violets
Mulching: borage
Grass Suppressor: daffodils
Medicinal: echinacea
Nitrogen Fixing: peas
Example Apple Tree Guild
Johnny Appleseed wanted to see apples all across America, and many people do choose apple trees for their home orchard. I have four different apple trees: Jonafree, Pristine, Enterprise and Gold Rush. This is the list of guild plant I have planted around my Enterprise apple tree:
Pollinator Attractant: fennel
Pest Repellant: perennial garlic
Nutrient Accumulator: yarrow
Living Mulch: strawberries
Grass Suppressor: daffodil
Medicinal: calendula
Edible: strawberries
Nitrogen Fixing: lupine
Peach Tree Guild
I love growing peaches because they are my first tree to leaf out each year and that always gives me so much hope for the upcoming year. I have planted a Redhaven peach because it is self-fertile. Here is a list of plants in my peach tree guild:
Pollinator Attractant: mint
Pest Repellant: chives
Nutrient Accumulator: yarrow
Living Mulch: wild violets
Mulching: rhubarb
Grass Suppressor: chives
Edible: rhubarb
Nitrogen Fixing: lupine
Fruit Tree Guild Plant Photos and Tips
Bee Balm: Pollinator Attractor– It is totally adored by the bees. It did not bloom the first year I planted it. But by the second summer it was already taller than the dwarf sour cherry tree I planted it next to.
Around here I often see a bright variety in people’s yards as well.
Echinacea Pollinator Attractor, Medicinal– These flowers, also known commonly as “purple coneflower” attract all kinds of flying insects. The butterflies are especially fun to watch.
Echinacea is traditionally used to support the immune system. I have not yet experimented with using my home-grown echinacea medicinally.
Yarrow: Pollinator Attractor, Dynamic Accumulator, Cut Flower–I planted my yarrow from a seed mix called the “Colorado Mix”. I ended up with a white, yellow, hot pink, and pale pink.
It spreads readily and needs to be split every third year. I have it planted quite a few places in the orchard and I’m really excited with how much it’s grown and how much the plants are are filling out– the colors are really fun as well
Yarrow can be used in cut flower bouquets or can be hung and dried to use as a dried flower as well.
Borage: Pollinator Attractor, Dynamic Accumulator, Mulching Plant, Edible–It produces periwinkle blue flowers that are edible. People say it tastes like cucumber. I don’t notice a specific flavor other than a sweet drop of nectar.
The plants grow quite tall (around 3 feet)and leafy which will die down in the fall and provide mulch.
Calendula: Pollinator Attractor, Medicinal, Edible, Pest Repellant–Calendula flowers can be collected to infuse in oil and use for making salves and lotion bars. If left on the plant the flowers go to seed and will self-seed each year easily.
There are many varieties, but this classic orange “Resina” variety is the most prized for medicinal usage.
Violas Living Mulch, Edible–I planted some little violas from seed. They have edible flowers to use in salads or sugared or pressed in to cakes or cookies.
Strawberries Living Mulch, Edible. They have taken well in the wood mulch and they are spreading through runners.
Crops such as strawberries may not produce as much in a fruit tree guild as in a dedicated strawberry bed. But the trade-off is the benefit it is giving to the tree.
Fennel: Pollinator Attractant, Edible–My kids love to chew on the licorice-flavored fronds which are also good with fish. If you dig up the bulb it is good in soups and salads.
In this picture it is very young. By the end of the summer the fennel can grow 5 feet tall. The seeds can be collected as well and are a common ingredient used in sauerkraut.
Perennial Garlic: Pest Repellent, Grass Suppressor, Edible–Hardneck garlic is perennial and so you do not have to harvest it each year. But you may need to split the clump every few years.
It also produces edible “scapes” which can be eaten. However they develop further into little edible “bulblets” of garlic that are more similar to cloves of garlic that you can use and still leave the bulb in the ground to benefit the orchard.
Wild Violets: Living Mulch–I would rather not have quite so many. Wild violets are a “weed” in my area, and 6 inches of wood chip mulch over cardboard didn’t offer much deterrent.
I’ve decided to accept their presence because they do make an effective living mulch in my orchard guilds.
In the spring they produce sweet edible purple flowers, and their leaves can be added to salads as well. (If you did not purchase the plants or seeds always be sure you are 100% certain you have properly identified a plant you believe to be edible.)
Onion Chives: Pest Repellant, Grass Suppressor, Edible, Nutrient Accumulator–All parts of the plant are edible. It is easy to grow from seed or you can spilt a large clump to divide into two.
It will bloom annually starting its second spring.
Daffodils: Pest Repellant, Cut Flower, Grass Supressor. Traditional wisdom states that if you want to prevent grass and moles or gophers from getting close to your fruit trees you should plan daffodils in a circle touching bulb to bulb the whole way around.
Unlike your prized tulips, deer will not eat daffodil bulbs, so plant away!
Daffodil bulbs spread, and if you want to keep enjoying blooms you need to make sure they don’t get too crowded.
Rhubarb: Mulching, Edible. Rhubarb leaves contain toxic levels of oxalic acid and should never be eaten by humans. However, when the plant freezes in the fall the leaves create good mulch in the orchard.
The pink or red stems are tart and edible, usually cooked into chutneys or pies.
Elderberry: Pollinator Attractor, Mulching, Edible, Medicinal– Always consult a wild edibles book to properly identify elderberries to make sure they are safe to eat. We dug up some shoots from down by the creek–a common place to find them.
Elderflowers smell delicious and you can make them into a syrup for elderflower cordials. When fully ripe the berries can be cooked into a medicinal syrup to support the immune system.
Blueberry plants: Edible–Blueberry plants have specific PH needs. They prefer soil PH as low as 4-5. If your native soil is unfavorable you may find they perform better in pots. Peat moss is often used as a soil amendment to lower PH along with “acid-lover” fertilizers.
Raspberries: Edible–Berries are a delicious layer to the food forest. Providing food for people and animals alike.
Take not of whether your variety is summer-bearing or fall bearing. This will dictate the maintenance they will need.
Nasturtium: Pest Repellant, Mulching, Edible–Nasturtium have beautiful spicy edible flowers that are sharp like mustard greens and fun to add to salads. They will vine out quite large and provide some mulching benefit.
Mint: Pollinator Attractor, Pest Repellant, Living Mulch, Edible, Cut Flower– I rooted some mint cuttings to plant in my orchard. I hope they will compete with the wild violets and creeping Charlie. Mint is known to be an aggressive spreader, so take care if that is not what you want.
Mint is a fragrant addition to cut flower bouquets, but is also edible and commonly used in baked goods and drinks.
Peas: Nitrogen Fixer, edible–The first year I planted my orchard they were all just bare trunks with tiny “feather” branches. So I figured I might as well use them as little pea trellises. Pease help make nitrogen available to the tree and are delicious to eat as well.
Lupine: Nitrogen fixer, Pollinator attractor–Going forward I want to add more lupines as a beautiful nitrogen fixer to my fruit tree guilds.
Why These Plants are “Easy”
Many of the plants on this list are perennial which means they will grow back each spring. So you do not have to plant new ones each year.
Also, most perennial plants spread over time. The group or clump will get bigger and bigger. After a few years you can split these clumps to move part of it to fill in a spot that is empty.
These include: bee balm, echinacea, yarrow, elderberry, daffodils, lupine, mint, raspberry, wild violet, strawberries, onion chives and perennial garlic.
Quite a few of the rest of these plants are prolific self-seeders. This means that even though the plant will die each winter, if you leave the blossoms on the plant to dry in the summer and fall, they will drop their seeds and plant themselves again for next year.
These include: borage, calendula, fennel, violas, and nasturtium.
Through perennial spreading and self-seeding you can increase the number of plants in your orchard without heading to the nursery to buy any more.
How to Plant a Fruit Tree Guild
Plants in a fruit tree guild will do the most benefit for the tree if they fall within the “drip zone”. This is the area under the fruit tree where the majority of the roots of the tree reside and generally corresponds with the diameter size of the canopy of the tree.
Since your fruit tree will immediately begin to grow branches, you can start by adding your guild plants within a 3-4 foot diameter circle around the tree. As your tree gets bigger you can expand that circle by splitting and spreading out your perennials, or adding additional plants outside that original circle to correspond with the growing size of the tree.
Have you planted a fruit tree guild? Share your favorite plants in the comments!
Guild Plants Video
If you want to see how this all looks together in my orchard, watch this video:
Garlic is on of the easiest things to grow in the garden and also it grows at a time of year when nothing else is growing which is really motivating and enjoyable as a gardener.
There are some important tips to help the garlic that you grow to be even bigger. I know that I hate peeling off a little garlic papers when I’m trying to chop garlic for dinner so bigger cloves of garlic is definitely a win.
To grow the biggest cloves of garlic you need to select the largest heads and cloves for planting, plant in the fall for proper vernalization with generous spacing, fertilize properly, and avoid harvesting prematurely.
Read along and I will explain each of these steps.
Plant only the Largest Cloves
The first thing to do is separate the clothes of garlic from the head. You will start to see that some of the cloves are bigger than the others. Only keep the largest cloves to plant. You can take these little ones and put them in the cupboard or in fridge to use in your cooking.
You want to leave the paper around the clove in tact. It is going to help the clove to not rot in the soil before it starts growing.
Consider how many heads of garlic you use in a week or month to decide how many cloves to plant. Each clove of garlic will grow a whole new head of garlic.
Plant 4-6 Inches Apart
I plant my garlic at least 4 to 6 in apart. This will give the garlic plenty of space to for the heads to plump up nice and big.
Every once in a while I’ll accidentally plant two smaller cloves of garlic that are together wrapped up in paper and look like a single large clove. When that happens I’ll get two shoots growing out of the same spot and both of them will compete for sunshine and nutrients and I end up with two very small heads.
Plant with the flat side down–that’s where the roots are going to come out. And the pointy side up–that’s where the shoots grow from. Plant 2-3 inches underground. The hori hori is a great tool for this job.
Plant in Late Fall
For most places the proper planting time is late fall. In the Northern Hemisphere this is usually mid-October to mid-November. This is after we’ve had our first freezes but before the ground is frozen solid.
(If you live somewhere that doesn’t go through such a harsh winter– you may not need to plant your garlic so early. You may wait until January or later to plant your garlic so just check your local Extension office.)
With a good late fall planting there’s enough time before the ground freezes for the garlic to start start to sprout a little bit. And it will send out some roots and it will just wake up from its dormancy a little bit. It may even get a few inches of shoots above ground.
If it goes fully dormant for the winter before it has sprouted the garlic will sit there in the ground and it could simply rot.
If you wait until spring planting time to start planting your garlic what you’ll end up with his clothes of garlic that will grow and they will send out shoots out the top but they will never form a head of garlic underground. This is still usable product it goes by the name of green garlic and it’s delicious for making pesto or for using in stir fries.
It does not form a head because it did not get it’s period of cold vernalization. You can experiment with getting around this by purchasing pre-chilled garlic, or try chilling it in your fridge for a few weeks before planting.
Mulch 4-6 Inches
Cover the garlic with a nice thick 4-6 inch layer of a light mulch like straw or leaf mulch.
This is to help the soil retain moisture and to prevent erosion and prevent nutrient loss over the course of the winter. This is going to let the garlic start growing nice and early in the spring as soon as conditions are perfect.
Spring Maintenance
There are two necessary jobs to do in the spring.
Even though you planted your garlic in fertile, healthy soil, garlic is a heavy feeder which means it really needs an application of fertilizer in the springtime. Liquid seaweed fertilizer is a great natural fertilizer to use.
The second job you only have to do if you are growing hard neck varieties of garlic. Hardneck garlic will grow scapes in the springtime which need to be trimmed off.
Scapes are flower buds that grow out the middle of the plant on a stalk. The flower bud develops into small bulblets of garlic. These bulblets are intended to grow new garlic plants, so a lot of energy from the plan goes into develop those plants. So if you’re growing your garlic for nice large heads you want to trim off those garlic scapes to prevent that energy loss.
Don’t Harvest Too Early
To get the largest head of garlic it’s very important to harvest at the right time. Many people may see their garlic pop up in the spring and think that then it should be ready to harvest in a month or two, but this is not the case.
In most areas of the country garlic is not ready to harvest until at least the first week of July. To see if your garlic is ready to harvest, look for the bottom two sets of leaves to start to dry up and turn brown.
When you see this sign you can dig down a little bit and pull out a test head of garlic from the ground. Look for ridges or lines between the cloves showing a definition between the cloves of garlic. Once they start to form ridges with this definition between cloves you know that the head of garlic has reached its peak of growing and that it’s about as large as it’s going to get, and you can harvest at that point.
Plan for Next Year at Harvest Time
I like to pull off the outer set of leaves right at the time of harvest because they come off so easily at that point. Then you have beautiful clean, white garlic. You need to set out the garlic in shady spot with good air circulation to cure until the stems are dry.
This is a great point of time to sort your heads of garlic and put aside the largest head. Save your largest heads for planting next year.
This process of only planting the largest heads that you grow and only planting the largest cloves of garlic from each of those heads is going to over time select for those growing properties. And your garlic will grow larger and larger over the years.
There’s always variations of weather and climate from year to year which will cause variations. So it’s not always a linear progression but over time you will see larger and larger heads of beautiful garlic.
My kids always eat fried rice and never complain about it. It comes together really quickly and easily for a fast weeknight dinner. And you can actually switch out the meat and vegetables to use the things you have on hand.
Fried rice can be made vegetarian without any meat. It can also be made including almost any kind of meat–fresh or preserved. Ham or shrimp are common, but chicken and beef are popular as well. Fried rice is traditionally made with leftover vegetables. It almost always includes onions, but can also include peas, mushrooms, carrots or many other vegetables.
I intentionally buy a ham larger than our family needs for one meal, so that I can use the leftovers for recipes like this.
I like to make fried rice using the leftover chunk of ham on the end of the ham bone that was not spiral sliced so I get nice cubes of ham. But you could use ham slices chopped up as well. (If you want to know what to do with the ham bone, check out this recipe!).
Slice ham into half inch cubes.
Slice 2-3 green onions into quarter inch slices. (Have you ever tried regrowing green onions from the root ends? It actually works pretty well.)
Set aside the green slices for garnish.
Crack four eggs into a bowl. Whisk eggs.
Add 2 tbs olive oil in the pan and 2tsp toasted sesame seed oil to wok or cast-iron skillet. Heat up until oil shimmers.
Add the ham and the onion to the skillet along with frozen peas and sauté those up for a minute. Next add the rice.
It’s best to use cooked and cooled rice. If it isn’t fully cooled down then fried rice will end up a little more gummy. But in a pinch you can still use it.
Then then I add a splash of soy sauce for a little salty flavor.
Finally, pour in the egg. Immediately start stirring the rice. The idea is to get every grain of rice coated with a little bit of egg. After stirring, let it sit for a minute to cook on the bottom and then stir it again.
When there is no more uncooked egg, remove from heat. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and with some green onions.
Serve along with potstickers or just enjoy fried rice as a main dish itself.
A delicious family-friendly recipe to use up extra ham.
Ingredients
1 cup rice
1 cup cubed ham
2-3 green onions
4 eggs
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
Instructions
1
Cook rice your preferred way. Fluff rice, allow to cool.
2
Slice ham into half inch cubes. Slice green onions into quarter inch slices. Set aside the green slices for garnish. Crack eggs into a bowl. Whisk eggs.
3
Add olive oil and toasted sesame seed oil into wok or cast iron skillet. Heat up until oil shimmers. Add the ham and the onion for the skillet along with frozen peas and sauté those up for a few minutes until the onions soften. Next add the rice. Then pour soy sauce over the rice, stir.
4
Finally, pour in the egg. Immediately start stirring the rice. After stirring, let it sit for a minute to cook on the bottom and then stir it again. When there is no more uncooked egg, remove from heat.
5
Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and with some green onions.
Notes
Serve along with potstickers or just enjoy fried rice as a main dish itself.
Have you ever thought of self-reliant home decorating? Maybe the thought of self-reliant home decor doesn’t rank high on your list, but any time that I can get something from my backyard instead of the store, I call that a “win!”
A handful of the cut flowers I grew can also be dried for crafting. Keep reading for some varieties you may want to try growing, and for a tutorial on creating a dried flower hoop wreath.
(If you are interested in some other flowers I enjoy growing that will self-seed and regrow next year without having to plant them read this article.)
4 Easy-to-grow Dried Flowers for Crafting
Gomphrena
Globe amaranth is also called gomphrena.
My favorite stage is when it is these almost perfectly round blossoms. That’s where it gets the name of “globe” amaranth. If you let it keep growing the globes elongate into more of a gumdrop shape.
Other varieties of amaranth dry well including upright and trailing varieties. But the tiny globes ar a good scale for this type of project.
Statice
One flower that you probably already familiar with, because it is very common in grocery store bouquets is called statice.
Statice is very common in grocery store bouquets because it looks good even when it’s not fresh. That’s one of the things that makes it good for drying–it holds its shape and its color really well.
Statice is really easy to grow. It’s one of my first seedlings to pop up when I am seed-starting and it’s very hardy so you can get it started really early in the spring and might even be able to get it to overwinter where you live.
Strawflower
Straw flower is sometimes known as “everlasting flower”. It is very common for drying. It’s called strawflower because of the way that the the petals almost feel like straw.
You can harvest them at many different stages of bloom. Be aware, they will continue to open a little bit as they dry.
Strawflowers are interesting because sometimes when the front of the flower is a little over-opened–the back of the flower has a really interesting look and can be used as well.
Strawflower is wired by making a “U” out of the wire and pressing it through the center from front to back. Then twist the two ends of the wire together to make a bendable “stem”.
Bunny Tails
Bunny tails technically aren’t a cut flower–they are a grass. But they are so much fun in dried flower arrangements.
Mine did not have the longest stems, but long enough for a wreath project.
Constructing a Dried Flower Hoop Wreath
In addition to the dried flowers, some other supplies that you will need for this project are floral paddle wire, nippers or scissors, and a hot glue gun.
Hot glue is the fastest material to work with. You can work with craft glue if you want it just takes longer to dry.
Finally, for the hoop you will need a wooden embroidery hoop.
Embroidery hoops come in a lot of different sizes. The wood is a nice natural material that goes well with the flowers.
They have two pieces to them so when you buy an embroidery hoop you actually can make two wreaths from it. Just make sure to cover up the hardware with flowers.
To create the floral swag on the wreath you need to construct a number of tiny little bouquets. Doing this gives a more even feel and a more balanced look to the swag on the wreath.
Once you have created a little bouquet or a little bundle. You can wrap wire around the stems to hold it together. (Or use the wire from the strawflower if you have wired it.
Then glue the little bundle onto the hoop. Continue making these little bundles of flowers.
Glue the second bundle down over the stems of the first little bundle to cover up the stems.
After doing 2 in the first direction go about a quarter of the way around the hoop and place and glue the next bouquet with the stems going the opposite direction so that the stems are pointing back toward the first two bundles.
Layer the bundles as thick as you want. I have done two in each direction.
In the middle there will be this place where the stems are crossing over, or touching. Cover that area with straw flower blossoms. If any blossoms don’t have a stem– glue it to this stem of another of another flower.
Once the middle is filled in with strawflowers, look over the wreath to see where it needs a little bit of filling in or if it needs a pop of color somewhere and individually add a few extra flowers or bunny tails.
If you glue in the bunny tails in with their stems a little bit long — they will have some movement in them. Instead of just being stuck next to the flowers.
There are a couple different ways that you can hang a hoop wreath. One way is to hang it with the floral swag down on the bottom or over the top.
Another way to hang it is to have the flowers off to one side.
If you want to see me demonstrate the construction of these wreaths, watch the video below:
At one point in my life I would have thrown away my ham bone. I would have looked at the bone left over from a spiral sliced ham and I would have seen that there was still meat on it, but not really known how to best use that.
As I’ve tried to gain more homesteading skills I’ve looked for ways to use more of the animal than I would have in the past. Because one day, this could be the ham bone from a pig I raised on my own homestead.
I love this recipe for ham beans because it uses every last bit of goodness that the leftover ham bone has to offer.
Begin by rinsing and sorting 1 lb of pinto beans. You used to occasionally find small rocks mixed in with dried beans but I think the mechanical sorting process has gotten better so I rarely see that any more.
If you want to pre soak your beans the cooking will go faster, but it’s not necessary. Add your ham bone to a 5 or 6 quart dutch oven then add in the beans.
If you plan ahead when you cook the ham you can save any juices leftover in the roasting pan. Adding these juices will make the flavor of the beans even better. And any collagen and fat help the texture and mouthfeel of the beans to be silky smooth.
Slice an onion into small pieces. Mince a clove of garlic.
If you like spicy beans, dice one jalapeno. This will cook for a long time and mellow the heat, so my kids are usually ok with it in this recipe.
Add vegetables to the dutch oven.
Fill the dutch oven with water to cover the beans. Start the dutch oven on a medium heat with the lid on and leave it to begin boiling. Once it comes to a boil turn down the heat to a nice bubbling simmer.
I’ll come back and check on the pot periodically and make sure that the beans are still covered with water. My 5 quart dutch oven is a little small for this recipe, so I add water once or twice while the beans are cooking to keep the beans covered.
After a few hours all the little ham pieces of cooked and separated from the hand bone so at this point you can remove the ham bone.
Take out those pieces of ham and chop them into small chunks. This way when you mix it in there’s bits of ham all through the beans.
Serve with some homemade cornbread on the side.
Tips
If you plan ahead when you cook the ham you can save any juices leftover in the roasting pan. Adding these juices to the cooking water will make the flavor of the beans even better. And any collagen and fat help the texture and mouthfeel of the beans to be silky smooth.
If you soak dry beans in water at room temperature for a few hours, up to overnight, you will reduce the cooking time needed. You can either drain off excess soaking water or use it to cook the beans in.
If you don’t have a leftover ham bone you can substitute a smoked ham hock. These are available in the meat department of most grocery stores.
Meaty and delicious use for the leftover spiral ham bone to get every last bit of goodness from it.
Ingredients
1 leftover ham bone (or ham hock)
1 lb dry pinto beans
1 onion
1 clove garlic
1 jalapeño (optional)
Instructions
1
Rinse and sort 1 lb of pinto beans.
2
Add your ham bone to a 5 or 6 quart dutch oven then add in the beans. Add juices leftover from cooking ham (optional).
3
Dice an onion into small pieces. Mince a clove of garlic. Dice one jalapeño (optional). Add vegetables to dutch oven
4
Fill the dutch oven with water to cover the beans with two inches of water. Start the dutch oven on a medium heat with the lid on and leave it to begin boiling. Once it comes to a boil turn down the heat to a nice bubbling simmer.
5
Check on the beans periodically and make sure that the beans are still covered with water. Add water, if needed, to keep the beans covered.
6
After three hours all the little ham pieces of cooked and separated from the ham bone so at this point you can remove the bone. Take out those pieces of ham and chop them into small chunks. Return to pot and test the beans to see if they are soft all the way through the middle. Cook up to an hour more to soften the beans. Test flavor, add salt if needed.
7
Serve with homemade cornbread on the side.
Notes
If you want to pre soak your beans the cooking will go faster, but it's not necessary.
Many people choose raised bed gardening because of its consistency and predictability and the solutions it offers to a number of gardening challenges. However there are many valid reasons, especially if you have a larger plot of land, or lower annual rainfall why you may choose to garden in-ground instead.
Gardening in ground is the most well-known type of gardening and has been around the longest, but people began raised bed gardening for a number of beneficial reasons. Let’s discuss first some of the pros and cons of raised bed gardening, and then move on to the reasons to choose one over the other.
Benefits of Raised Bed Gardening Over In Ground:
Complete Control Over Soil
In the ground one area of your soil may have a lot of organic matter, while another area may be completely clay. When filling raised beds you can ensure that your soil mix is consistent across any number of beds. This will lead to more consistent results in your gardening.
In a raised bed you add everything to the bed that the plants will grow in, so you ensure that it is the perfect medium for growing. You don’t control the composition of your native soil. So even though you could add amendments to your soil, you still have less control over the composition.
This complete control over the soil can allow you to crow crops with very specific soil requirements. Blueberries require a higher than normal soil Acidity. It is easier to achieve this in raised beds in areas where the native soil is not useable.
Start Planting Earlier in the Season
There are two reasons why you can get a head start in your garden when using raised beds. Drier conditions and warmer temperatures.
As winter snowmelt and late winter rains saturate the soil it makes it impossible to start your garden.
An old gardener once taught me that in the spring, the proper time to start planting is when you can pick up a handful of soil and it will clump together in your hand, but when you drop it on the ground it will break apart. If the soil is too wet then when you drop it it will land in a glob on the ground and not break apart.
Overly-wet soils create poor growing conditions where you can experience root rot, and undesirable fungi. Also, you will really destroy the soil structure by digging it up while it is so wet.
Because the raised beds are above ground level, more of the rain water drains out of the beds into the soil beneath. So even in the early spring when the soil around the beds is muddy and squishy, the raised beds will be ready to plant.
Being above ground and holding less water also helps the beds to warm up from the sun earlier in the season before the ground does.
Seeds germinate when all the conditions–including soil temperature–are perfect. These warmer raised bed conditions will give you a head-start on planting.
High Intensity Planting
Traditional gardens hold beautiful single rows of vegetables–each separated by a pathway large enough for a wheelbarrow to go down–or at minimum–a person to walk down.
Raised garden beds use a high intensity planting model, where we take the spacing recommended between plants in a row, and give the plants that much space in every direction, but plant multiple rows next to each other.
This creates the appearance of a grid in the garden bed. By getting rid of the space between the individual rows of vegetables–a gardener is able to plant exponentially higher numbers of plants in the same amount of space as the traditional garden.
There are additional benefits to this high intensity planting model. The plants themselves act as a sort of living mulch, helping to prevent nourishing sunlight from getting to weeds and helps retain moisture in the garden bed.
Avoid Wasting Amendments or Materials
Many people find it necessary to add amendments to their garden–whether that be sand or peat moss or compost or other fertilizer to help promote satisfactory growth.
The traditional model of gardening is very wasteful in this respect. Amendments are spread across the entire growing space and tilled into the ground. But only a portion of that is in the soil that will actually hold a plant.
In a raised bed garden, you will only add amendments to the raised garden beds. None of the amendments will be wasted in the aisles or walkways. This also helps avoid the environmental impact of fertilizer runoff.
This same principle affects using things like row cover, insect netting or greenhouse plastic. You can get more plants covered with less material than traditional rows.
Structural Benefits
There are a few benefits to be had from the actual structure of a rigid raised bed.
Raised beds which are constructed with sides out of lumber, stone or metal can be any height you desire. This makes raised bed gardening ideal for people who are unable to bend over to tend a traditional garden. People using wheelchairs, or the elderly are often able to garden in a raised bed built to fit their needs.
Raised beds with rigid sides can also be constructed with either a rigid bottom, or a screened bottom using hardware cloth. These garden beds will help keep out burrowing animals such as moles and voles. This may be the only way gardeners with this type of animal pressure can successfully garden.
Non-compacted Soil
Having the raised beds distinct from the path ensures that the planting area does not get stepped on. Stepping on the soil compacts it and makes it harder for the roots of your crops to grow.
For this reason many people build raised beds no longer than 12 feet so the gardener will never be tempted to step in the bed to get to the other side instead of going around. For the same reason others suggest only making beds 30″ wide so that the gardener can simply step over the entire bed to get to the other side.
Drawbacks of Raised Bed Gardening:
Beds Dry Out More Quickly
One of the major drawbacks of raised beds is that they will dry out much more quickly than the ground. This may be a bigger problem depending on where you live. Most crops grown in the garden need at least an inch of water every week. If this is not provided through rain you will need to have a system for supplementally watering your garden.
Cost of Materials
The biggest drawback to constructing raised garden beds is the cost of materials. Inexpensive raised beds can be constructed out of pine boards. (See my DIY Raised Bed Instructions)
Cedar or Redwood will be more expensive. Stone, brick and metal are also options that will cost more but can be very attractive.
The simplest raised beds can be made by forming mounds of soil that have no rigid side at all. But regardless types of raised beds will need a substantial amount of soil ordered in.
Semi Permanent Nature
One additional drawback to building raised beds is that it would be difficult to move them.
If you want to till up part of your yard and plant a few rows of a garden one year. You could easily reseed that area with grass and move your garden to a different location if you realized it was not the best spot, or you did not enjoy it.
Moving raised garden beds would be in some cases impossible, and in every case a lot of work.
All of these considerations about the pros and cons of raised beds help inform the decision of how to grow your garden. The following indicators about your personal situation can help you determine what type of garden you should grow.
When to Choose Raised Bed Gardening:
You only have a small plot available
You have very poor native soil
You have heavy clay native soil
You have burrowing animals like moles and voles
You have trouble bending over to ground level or getting up and down
When to Choose In Ground Gardening:
You don’t want to put money toward bed construction
When we lived in Texas one of our favorite restaurants to go to was Torchy’s Tacos. I was partial to a “trashy” Trailer Park taco. (But I would often add a deep fried avocado slice from my son’s kids meal.) We liked to try the taco of the month as well.
The great thing about Torchy’s is all the combinations of sauces and toppings on their tacos. I grew up eating a very basic prescribed taco. Torchy’s Tacos taught us a better way.
The first easy fix was learning what the crumbly white “cotija cheese” was, and that it’s readily available in mainstream grocery stores. But we also needed to get a little bit more adventurous with our taco toppings.
Pickled vegetables make great taco toppings, and these pickled radishes with cilantro and carrots are a fun recipe to make from the spring garden.
Tips for Garden Fresh Ingredients
Many people think of cilantro as a summer salsa ingredient. But cilantro is actually a cool season crop. It does not like the heat and tends to “bolt”, or go to seed, quickly. There are a few ways you can try to get a longer harvest from your cilantro in the summer: plant in partial shade, succession plant, plant a slow-bolt variety.
Cilantro can grow in partial shade. Crops grown for their leaves need the least amount of sunlight, which is around 3-5 hours of direct sun. It would be best if this was morning or afternoon sun, avoiding direct sun during the hottest time of the day. Planting cilantro in partial shade will help it grow longer in the summer without bolting.
Another thing you can do is succession plant cilantro. Basically this means to plant cilantro a number of times a week or two apart. This way you you have cilantro getting ready to harvest in succession. Just plan on harvesting the whole first crop before going on to the next. Hopefully you can use it before it bolts.
If it does get away from you and starts to bloom, just move on to harvesting the next crop. You can succession plant next to the first planting or you can gow successive crops different places in your garden.
One more thing you can try is to grow a “slow-bolt” variety of cilantro that has been cultivated to tolerate heat better than standard varieties. I received some slow-bolt seeds from a seed swap this year and will be trying them this year.
Radishes are an easy spring crop and are ready to harvest at the same time as cilantro and lettuces.
Radishes and lettuces are also both good things to succession plant to extend their harvest. (See the second row of radish sprouts popping up in the foreground?)
Everyone needs to grow radishes, though. They come in the most beautiful colors, and they are ready to harvest so quickly, it gives you a real gardening confidence-booster at the beginning of gardening season.
If you don’t like the heat or spice of radishes, don’t worry. The pickling process of this recipe actually takes the heat down quite a few notches. You could use homegrown carrots in this recipe, but I did not have any ready at this time.
Recipe Instructions
Begin by making a basic salt water brine. Combine 2 cups of water with a tablespoon of pickling salt. This brine can be used to pickle any hard vegetables. (Soft vegetables like cabbage create their own brine simply from adding salt).
I like to prepare my vegetables with a mandolin. It makes it very easy to create consistently thin slices and matchsticks.
Slice the carrots into matchsticks.
Slice the radishes into rounds. You could also slice them into matchsticks like the carrots, but I liked the contrasting shapes.
Chop up cilantro.
Toss all the ingredients to combine.
Then just appreciate those beautiful colors for a minute!
Pack veggies it into a mason jar.
Cover the vegetables with a salt water brine.
I like to put a little jar on top to keep oxygen out but it will bubble and spit as it ferments so set it on top of a plate to catch that bubbling over. You can buy a specialty fermenting lid, but I don’t have any yet.
Leave it on the counter for about two weeks. Then taste test it to see if it’s fermented enough. If the flavor is not very strong yet you could let it ferment longer.
In the middle of summer temperatures you want to ferment it in a cooler location in your home, and it may only take a week and a half before it has fermented enough. At that point you can store it in the fridge. Add it to your favorite tacos!
Pickled vegetables make great taco toppings, and these pickled radishes with cilantro and carrots are a fun recipe to make from the spring garden.
Ingredients
1 C carrots
1 C radishes
1/2 C cilantro leaves
1 Tbls pickling salt
2 C water
Instructions
1
Begin by making a basic salt water brine. Combine 2 cups of hot water with one tablespoon of pickling salt.
2
Slice carrots into 1 inch matchsticks. Slice radishes into matchsticks or thin slices. Roughly chop cilantro.
3
Toss all the ingredients to combine. Pack into a mason jar.
4
Cover the vegetables with salt water brine.
5
Cover with a fermenting weight and lid. Or use a little jar on top to keep oxygen out. The jar will bubble and spit as it ferments so set it on top of a plate to catch that liquid.
6
Leave it on the counter for about two weeks. Then taste test it to see if it's fermented enough.
7
If the flavor is not very strong yet you could let it ferment longer. Ambient temperature affects the fermentation process. It could take as little as one and a half weeks in warm summer, or up to three weeks when very cool.
8
Store in the fridge. Add it to your favorite tacos!
I don’t know what area of the United States does not have predominantly clay soils, but it’s no where that I have lived. But that hasn’t stopped me from planting gardens and even fruit trees.
There are many important steps to take at planting time to ensure the good health and growth of fruit trees that this article will discuss, but the most important principle to successfully planting fruit trees in clay soil is this:
Fruit trees can be planted in heavy clay soils by planting the tree in a mound at least partially above ground level, which raises the roots above the ground water so that they will not drown during wet periods.
Here is the method I have used to successfully plant fruit trees in heavy clay soils in two different states.
Mulch Planting Area in Advance
Fruit trees are nourished through their roots and much of the important nutrition and water is actually provided through a symbiotic relationship with a type of fungus called mycorrhizae.
As far in advance as possible, prepare the soil where you will be planting fruit trees.
Lay down unprinted cardboard and a few inches of wood chips, straw, or raked up leaves. If it is not a wet time of year wet down this material periodically.
Naturally occurring mycorrhizal fungi is activated to begin breaking down this material. You can inoculate the material with this fungi, or let it come naturally. It will spread and begin creating a fungal network through the ground that will ultimately benefit your tree with greater health.
Dig the Right Hole
Once you acquire your tree you can dig your hole. Do not dig a hole too far in advance in clay soil or it will crust over .
The hole needs to be more shaped like a wide bowl than a deep bucket. It should be about as deep as the roots and 3-4 feet wide.
Score the sides of the hole vertically with your shovel about every 10 inches so that the sides are not slick and smooth. This will give the roots a place to catch and dig in to grow outwards and not in a circle.
Prepare the Tree Roots for Planting
If you receive the tree dormant with “bare roots” you should be prepared to plant it within a day or two. Do not let the roots dry out while waiting.
The roots re often packed with shredded paper or something similar. If it is drying out and you will not be immediately planting the tree, spray the paper with water so that it is moist, but not dripping wet.
To prepare the bare root tree for planting remove any shredded paper or other medium the roots may have been shipped covered in and submerge roots in a bucket full of water for at least one hour, but less than three hours to rehydrate the roots before planting.
Set the Tree at the Proper Hight
It’s most crucial that you plant the tree high in its hole.
I like to lay a rake handle across the hole to accurately gauge the hight of ground level, and make sure that the upper roots of the tree are above the ground level level.
Mound up some soil in the bottom of the hole to set the tree on at the proper height. Spread the roots evenly around the mound in a circle.
Backfill With Native Soil Only
Put the same soil you dug out of the hole right back into it. Do not add any extra organic matter.
Adding organic matter only creates an easy “path of least resistance” compared to the clay around the hole, which encourages the water to seep into the hole and drown your tree.
The only thing I add when filling in the hole are a sprinkling of Azomite trace minerals and mycorrhizal fungi.
Water in the Roots
When half the soil is back in, and once again when the remaining soil is back in the hole, gently tamp down the soil by stepping or pressing on it, and run water over the soil.
This will help the soil to settle and prevent air pockets which would kill your roots.
Mound with Amended Soil
After I have returned all the native soil to the planting hole there are still roots of the tree exposed above ground level.
Create a planting mound up around the tree with raised bed planting mix to cover all the upper roots. This is light and airy soil that will ensure you tree gets all the oxygen it needs and that you never have all the roots completely submerged in groundwater.
If you want to mix your own use one part each topsoil, peat moss, and sand.
Leave Graft Above Soil
Identify the graft union of your tree.
Mound soil over the roots and all the way up to the trunk’s previous planting depth (where the bark changes color). This should be about 2-3 inches below the graft.
Always leave the graft 2-3 inches above ground level.
Mulch Tree Mound
Mulch around the tree with wood chips or straw. The more aged the better.
Keep the much away from the trunk a few inches to avoid rot.
For the best health of the tree keep the tree mulched in its entire drip zone. Basically, however wide the canopy of the tree is–that is how wide the mulched are beneath the tree should be to help keep the mycorrhizal fungi for the roots happy.
Add Beneficial Plants to Create a Fruit Tree Guild
This is my Summerhaven Peach immediately after planting.
Here it is in its second summer after planting.
The tall buttery colored flowers growing underneath it are Yarrow which is a dynamic accumulator, pollinator attractant and used in bouquets. Behind the tree is mint, thyme and oregano, which are all pest repellants, edible, and pollinator attractants. To the right of it you can see a small rhubarb plant that is a mulching plant and edible. Also, in the spring this area had daffodils which are pest repellants and can be used in bouquets.
Further back to the right is our American Persimmon, surrounded by medicinal calendula. In the very back are some tall elderberry plants which are edible and medicinal.
When you plant an herb like chives you are setting yourself up to have years and years of more fresh herbs than you even know what to do with–that is the right kind of problem to have!
Chives is perennial herb in the allium or onion family. Chives have a zesty flavor similar to onions but that is milder, not quite so sharp. To retain their bright flavor chives are most often used raw.
I want to share with you three ideas of how to use your home-grown chives–each at a different stage of the plant.
chive and onion dip
chive blossom vinegar
harvesting chive seeds
Chive and Onion Dip
Harvest a small bunch of chives by snipping them low on the plant, about an inch above the base.
Mince 3 tablespoons of chives. (Printable recipe at the bottom.)
It is quick and easy to mince chives by using scissors or nippers to cut 1/4 inch slices of a whole bunch at once.
Measure 1 teaspoon each of salt, onion powder, and dried, minced onion.
Stir the spices and chives into 16 ounces of sour cream, reserving about 1/2 tablespoon of chives. Sprinkle remaining chives on top for garnish.
Serve with chips or with sliced vegetables like carrot, celery, and sweet pepper sticks for dipping.
Chive Blossom Vinegar
Chives produce beautiful purple flowers that are edible. Chive blossoms have a very similar taste to the the chives, mildly spicy and onion-flavored.
Why do your chives not have blossoms? Chives begin flowering their second spring in the garden, and continue to spread.
Here’s the size comparison of my chives their second and third Springs in the garden.
The blossoms make a great edible garnish for soups or salads.
Chive-blossom vinegar is a well-known product that sounds gourmet, but couldn’t be simpler to make.
To harvest, snip or pinch chive blossoms from the end of their stems.
At this point you can trim back that stem to an inch above the base. If you leave the stem it will dry out hard and brown in the center of the chives.
Collect enough blossoms to fill a jar of your choosing.
Fill jar with chive blossoms and cover completely with white vinegar.
Store jar in a dark cupboard for two weeks. The vinegar will become infused with the oniony flavor and amazing color of the chive blossoms.
Strain out the chive blossoms and store the vinegar in a clean jar.
Chive blossom vinegar is great to use in salad dressings or marinades.
Harvesting Chive Seeds
If you do not harvest the chive blossoms they will dry up and produce seeds.
You should remove these dry heads if you do not want your chives spreading any faster than they will simply from the bulbs underground.
But the seeds are easy to harvest and plant.
Rub the dried flowers between your hands to break up the blossoms and release the seeds.
You can separate the seeds from the chaff a bit, but really don’t need to. Sprinkle the seeds on top of potting mix and spray well with a spray bottle. Cover with a sandwich bag to keep in the humidity.
Keep moist for 1-2 weeks and keep indoors or in a semi-shady area outside, until you see about half the seeds sprouting. Then remove the plastic. Let the chives “harden off” in a semi shady area outside for a few days, then move to a semi-sunny area for a few days before planting out.
Why would I want more chives?
LOL! A pot of chives makes a great gift for someone to keep on their kitchen windowsill.
Chives are a great pest-deterrent in a vegetable garden or around fruit trees.
A group of chives has a beautiful spiky form with dark green shoots and showy purple flowers in the spring that make them an excellent specimen for cottage gardens or formal planting borders alike.
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