Granola

Did you see my column earlier this week in the Dominion Post about my adventures in making granola?

If not, here's a quick recap - after a few fails, I finally got the process down and now can make granola which is just to my taste!

I will share my recipe and some tips later this week.

In response to my column, the awesome local Cindy Gay sent me her recipe for muesli, which looks delicious!
Cindy is a local nutritionist - you should definitely check out and follow her blog.

Building Hugelkultur Garden Beds

Each spring I prep garden beds, pull weeds, often till the soil and start my plantings.

Each year, my plants die, or get eaten or just don't thrive. Or a combination of all three. The most success I've had has been with herbs and some other annuals. When my veggie plants do grow nicely, they often don't produce more.

Knowing that just a few inches under my garden soil lays clay, I've always tried to supplement with natural materials I have on hand (compost, chicken poop, decaying wood chips, etc), but it seems to never be enough.

A few years ago my mom, sister and I built hugelkultur beds and had good luck growing potatoes in them. So this year, I decided I'll build as many as I can, and try to grow most of my produce in these hills.

Hugelkultur means mound culture -- these garden beds are essentially piles of logs and branches, covered over with topsoil. The idea is that the wood decays slowly, providing good drainage during times of rain and releasing retained water in droughts. It should also warm up faster in the spring due to bacteria causing composting to occur, and the wood will release nutrients into the soil.

Of course, you can get fancier than the basics, which can help with effectiveness of hugelkultur beds, particularly by adding nitrogen sources to balance the carbon of the wood.

This is how I built my beds:

First, I dug out my plot (roughly 4 ft by 8 ft) about 4-5 inches deep. Then I filled it with a few logs and more branches which I obtained by pruning some apple and pear trees.

Next I added a layer of chicken manure (with some newspapers -- which I'd prefer to omit due to possibilities of toxins in the ink, but there was good poop on those papers, which I didn't want to waste). On top of the manure I added compost from my home pile.

Then I meant to add wood ash, but forgot, so I put the top soil back on. Remembering the ash, I added a generous layer, and then wood chips as mulch -- these chips had been decaying for a year or two.

Finally, I planted a corner up with spinach! It's been slow growing, making me wish I had covered it to speed things along. But I have high hopes for a better harvest this year than I've experienced before!

What's your favorite way to garden?

New DIY Feature!

Hi friends!

If you read the Dominion Post, you might have noticed I have a new feature (usually) on Sundays. It's a DIY, learn new skills while we are following quarantine protocols. Last week I wrote about how to use natural dyes to color Easter eggs.

I'd really love to hear from you for inspiration on for this series; what new skills would you like to learn? What projects have you done during the last few weeks?

New pet - ginger bug

Have you made or used a ginger bug? I’ve just started one with instructions from the Wellness Mama, and my house smells so gingery. I cannot wait to make my first batch of natural ginger ale, which should be ready in a week (5 days of ginger bug nurture, plus two for the drink itself) if all goes well! 

I was inspired to start this project when writing my column in yesterday’s Dominion Post (it was about how it’s not easy to recycle tops from glass bottles, if you missed it). I can get beer in growlers no problem. But ginger beer is tougher. 

I generally try to avoid ginger beer because of the sugar content and because I love it so much I can easily drink wayyy too much of it. I’m hoping a probiotic homemade option will be both satisfying, healthy, and control my portions.

If you’ve ever made a ginger bug or homema soda, I would love to hear about it! 

Floral dinner review

It isn't often that I have the chance to both preview and review a subject, especially events. But I wanted to share my opinion of the Florist to the Field book signing, dinner and floral arranging demo that I wrote about last week. 

The ambiance was as elegant as I expected - Trellis, Lucas and their team filled the small church space with round tables, and minimal decor. I thought the rustic interior of the church was plenty without extra fuss. 

Authors and florists Greg Campbell and Erick New gave an introduction and quick demo before dinner (which was delicious), and shared more stories and information and created two arrangements during dessert (which was also delicious). 

They talked about when they first started working directly with flower farms, and how it raised their awareness of seasonal blooms which influenced their arrangements and business. Greg and Erick did note that some flowers, such as roses, have to be available for customers year round. 

 

The team recommended using a variety of materials, beyond flowers, when arranging. As examples, they incorporated chestnuts, crabapples and a pumpkin. They also said even if you know a particular flower won't hold up well in water, don't be afraid to use it - just enjoy it for the days it blooms. 

Instead of just putting the stems in a vase of water, Erick and Greg said they prefer sticking flowers into Oasis floral foam, which can be kept saturated with water and provides a more stable base. Apparently, it is biodegradable (takes over a year, but still) which helps counter balance the fact that it is a one-time use product. Personally, unless I have a particular vision, I think I'll skip the foam for my home arrangements to keep my household waste to a minimum. But I did think it was great that these florists were conscious of whether their business byproducts were earth friendly. 

They spoke a bit about various places they source flowers from, how flowers are shipped, challenges of flower farming, anecdotes about events they worked on as well as some of the techniques they use for arranging flowers. After the presentation, attendees asked questions, and then had their books signed and socialized with the authors. 

Overall, I thought it was a lovely event, I am even more excited for this new local venue (I'm excited to take yoga classes next month), and I encourage you to check out their next event, especially if it is in the rustic church. 

*full discloser, after interviewing Trellis for my column and first blog post about this event, he offered to comp me a ticket if I wrote a review blog post as well. While I got a delicious dinner and great experience in exchange for this particular post, I shared my honest opinions about it - even if I'd paid for my ticket I would have thought it was a lot of fun.

Upcoming events

If you're looking for something to do this weekend, check out my column tomorrow in the Dominion Post! I shared some info about the Pawpaw Festival in particular, along with some other recommendations for things to do.

Below is a list with links to various events! It's a busy weekend in Mon and Preston Counties (and don't forget, Pittsburgh is having free days this week, weekend and next week!), and this list is not complete - below is also a link to some more events, and I'm sure even that list isn't complete.

What upcoming event are you most looking forward to?

Thursday - Sunday
77th annual Buckwheat Festival


Friday Sept 28

Art walk, downtown Morgantown starting at 6 p.m.


Saturday September 29 

Morgantown Farmers Market
Morgantown Marketplace from 8:30 a.m. - noon

Kingwood Farmers Market
McGrew House, from 9 a.m. - 11 a.m.

Friends of Deckers Creek fall creek cleanup
Outdoor Learning Park (behind Kroger in Sabraton), 9 a.m.

Storytime: I am Neil Armstrong
Barns and Noble, 11 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

Paw Paw Festival
Core Arboretum, 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Oktoberfest
Terra Cafe, 12 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Krish Mohan's Empath On Sale!
Monongalia Arts Center, 9:15 a.m. - 11:15 p.m.

Making Your Cell Phone Photos Sing

West Virginia Botanic Garden, 2 p.m. - 5 p.m.

And even more listed here! 

Tortellini - new obsession

My latest cooking obsession is tortellini.

We all know I love all carbs, and in particular pasta. I also love cheese and herbs, so really there was no question that stuffed pasta would eventually work its way into my regular meal plan.

For the dough I use either this recipe that I shared before, or simply flour, a bit of olive oil, one egg and enough water to make the dough hold together without being sticky - my apologies, I don't measure for a lot of recipes.

Of course I didn't measure for the filling either, but I really don't see how you can go wrong here. I just mixed a container of organic ricotta cheese, grated parmesan cheese and some shreds of mozzarella. Too much mozzarella will make the filling chewy - not disastrous, but easily avoided. Into the cheese I mixes a blend of fresh herbs from my garden; basil, thyme, parsley, oregano and chives. Add salt and pepper, and you've got a winner.

I rolled the dough through my pasta maker, and then cut circles using a glass. Add a dab of the filling in the center of each, fold the circle in half and pinch the edges closed, fold in half lengthwise and pinch the corners together, and voila! Perfect little tortellini.

Topped with butter or olive oil and some more cheese, this is a tasty dish with green beans or salad or any veggie on the side. I've found this is a great dinner to make when having a friend or two over - extra hands make the process go a little faster and who doesn't love cooking together?

What's your favorite pasta?