Home Farm Herbery

Autumn Apple Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

1/4 cup lard, 2/3 cup sugar, 2 eggs, beaten, 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 cups raw, coarsely ground apples, 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind, 2/3 cup chopped nuts.

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a standard-size loaf pan; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream lard and sugar together with an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs.

3. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into another bowl, and whisk to combine.

4. Alternately add flour mixture and apples to creamed mixture, mixing well. Stir in lemon rind and nuts.

5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

6. Cool bread completely on a wire rack before turning out of pan.

May the Creative Force be with you as you tread the earth lightly!

A recent email question asked, “Is there just one type of lavender to grow?”

Here are some varieties you may want to consider as you begin farming lavender.

English Lavender (Lavandula augustifolia) is a perennial in USDA zones 5B through 8, this is the most widely grown lavender species. It's used for dried-flower production, fragrance such as in oils and perfumes and flavoring. According to the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension Service, most plants are 2 to 3 feet tall. Buena Vista, Munstead and Hidecote are three popular varieties of English lavender. 

Spanish Lavender (Lavandula stoechas) has varieties in this species that include Tiara, Blueberry and Hazel and they have flower pedals that don't look unlike helicopter blades growing from the top of the flower pod. These are often used in dried-flower production and grown as annuals. 

French Lavender (Lavandula dentata). You will find that the buds of these large plants are rosemary-scented and the leaves are "fringed” or serrated. They thrive in warm, temperate regions and are often grown as annuals in the U.S.

Wooly Lavender (Lavandula lanata) aka, SpanishMountain lavender and this type has a strong balsam-lavender fragrance so it’s most often grown for potpourri. It can reach 2 to 3 feet tall. 

Spike Lavender (Lavandula latifolia). This is the lavender type grown for its essential oil, especially for soaps, but it’s rarely grown in the U.S. because of its Mediterranean-climate needs, according to the North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension. It can grow to 3 feet tall and spread out. 

Lavandin (L. hybrida, L. x intermedia) is also called Dutch lavender and this is a hybrid of L. angustifolia and L. latifolia. These 2- to 3-foot-tall and -wide plants bloom once in late summer but produce the highest yield in flowers and more oils than English lavender, but the oils are not generally of as high of quality. Lavandin buds tend to fall off of the stems, so these varieties don’t make good dried-flower lavenders. Lavandin produces sterile seeds, so can only be reproduced through cuttings, according to Colorado State University Extension. Grosso, Provence and Silver Frost are a few varieties to know.

May the Creative Force be with you.

A recent email question asked, “What are Cucamelons?”

Cucamelons (Melothria scabra) are also called Mexican sour gherkins or mouse melons. They are close relatives of cucumbers and other cucurbits and are native to Mexico and Central America and have been grown for centuries. Here in the U.S. we've only just "discovered" them. They are probably the cutest little things I've ever grown. They are rare.

We call them Mexican Miniature Watermelons and we have the seeds for sale.

Like their cucumber cousins, cucamelons are monoecious, meaning male and female flowers are borne separately on each plant. The male flowers provide the pollen while the female flowers will go on to produce the fruit.  The flowers are very tiny being a 1/6 inch tiny and the little, iridescent native bees love them! Even if you don't harvest the fruit, they make a great pollinator plant. 

Don't let the plants ramble; instead, grow them up a trellis or fence of some sort. If they're left to spread out over the ground, harvesting them will be a major pain. There are so many fruits; you'd be bending over for hours just to harvest them all.

The seeds are extremely small, but they hold a lot of potential. Don't plant the entire seed packet, unless you plan to eat a lot of cucamelons! Start with a dozen seeds at most. You can always grow more the following year. 

Each fruit is about the size of a grape, but the texture is far crunchier than you'd expect. They make delicious little dill pickles just by using one of those pre-packaged dill pickle spice blends you can get at the grocery store. The seeds are carried by Home Farm Herbery. http://www.localharvest.org/watermelon-seeds-mexican-miniature-C26657

Another email question asks, “How Do You Garden in a Drought?”

The seasons are changing. Here I have notice for the past 2 years that February really doesn’t end until April and September is like July. Thus we act accordingly. At Home Farm Herbery we tend to use raised beds, straw bale gardening. You can grow a lot in a 4 ft x 4 ft or 4 x 8 ft raised bed and it doesn’t take a lot of watering.

If your property is not large enough to have holding ponds then seriously consider rain barrels to catch all that early spring rain. Everyone has their garden favorites, but open your mind and your palate to varieties more suited to your climate and changing weather patterns. When buying seeds, look at the plant descriptions and choose varieties that are heat tolerant. Most squashes, pumpkins, melons and beans do very well in the heat, though they still need irrigated. There are so many things that we have no control over, and the best we can do is to adapt to the changing conditions

May the Creative Force be with you as you tread the earth lightly!