Uwharrie Farm
06 Oct Tue 2009
Baking a Delicious Sweet Potato Cake packed with Nutrition
Sweet Potatoes - Delicious - Nutritious - Keep well in storage - Very versatile
As we all know we need to limit our sugar intake. That being said, if you want something sweet now and then, this is a great recipe. Made with organic whole wheat flour, organic sweet potatoes, organic milk, extra virgin olive oil and free range eggs it packs a lot of nutrition. With or without frosting, it is a winner.
Cake Ingredients:
1/2 cup organic milk 2 1/4 cups organic whole wheat flour
2 cups sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon baking powder
3 free range eggs, separated 1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups grated and peeled organic sweet potatoes 1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large mixing bowl with electric mixer blend the olive oil and sugar until well blended. Separate eggs. Add egg yolks, vanilla and milk to oil mixture. Blend well and set aside.
Sift 1/4 cup of the flour over grated sweet potatoes. Toss to coat all sweet potatoes well.
In a separate bowl combine the remaining 2 cups of flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Add this to the oil mixture and mix well. Fold in coated sweet potatoes.
Beat egg whites stiff and fold into the cake batter. Pour batter into a 10-inch tube cake pan that has been coated with oil and flour. Bake cake 55 minutes or until done.
Frosting Ingredients:
1 cup organic milk , 3 tblsp. organic whole wheat flour
1 cup powdered sugar, 1cup organic butter or Smart Balance, 1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup coconut, 1/2 cup pecans
Place milk and flour in a sauce pan and use a whisk to blend well. Cook over medium heat until it thickens stirring constantly. Remove from heat and allow to cool thoroughly.
Place sugar, butterorSmart Balance and vanilla extract in mixing bowl and mix well with electric mixer. Add flour mixture and mix well.
Stir in coconut and pecans.
23 Sep Wed 2009
The Home Garden, September, 2009 plus Greenhouse Tomatoes
The summer home garden is winding down and the fall garden is growing well. In the past week, from our home garden, I have gathered corn, green beans, lima beans, sweet potatoes, tomatoes and peppers. The October beans will be ready to pick soon followed by pumpkins, collards, cabbage and broccoli. The collards are sweeter after they have had some frost. I have picked a few worms off the fall plants and the greenhouse tomato plants. If the numbers increase I will spray the plants withBacillus Thurningiensis(Bt., brand name Dipel). The last plantings of tomatoes and corn had a lot of disease and pest problems that are a normal part of late summer, but still produced enough to be worth while. Over all the garden produced beautifully this year except for the eggplant which finally succumbed to the flea beetles.
Now it is time to do the ground work for a successful garden next year. Clean up the garden, plant the cover crops, add the fall leaves and lime if needed (this can be determined by a soil test, see your local extension office).
The greenhouse tomato plants that where planted in August are beginning to bloom and should produce ripe tomatoes from November through January. In the photo on the right the tomatoes are being hand pollinated. In the outdoor garden tomatoes are pollinated by wind, bees and insects. To insure better pollination in the greenhouse we hand pollinate or release bumble bees in the greenhouse. The humid days and damp nights of August and September create an ideal environment for powdery mildew to grow on greenhouse tomato plants, however this year it has not yet become a problem.
I have also placed a few cucumber plants in the greenhouse which should provide us with cukes into December, thought I would make moreBread and Butter Pickles. Though not everyone wants to grow a large crop of greenhouse tomatoes, a small greenhouse makes a great addition to the home garden. It increases the length of the harvest and enables you to grow your own vegetable plants.
21 Sep Mon 2009
Uwharrie Farm Planting Schedule: Sept. - Dec.
Remember we are in USDA Hardiness Zone 7
I love fresh strawberries from my organic garden in the spring. September is time to start preparing for these delicious berries. First I till the area where I want my strawberry bed. The photo on the left above shows the area and the raised bed I have partially built. I pull two lines down the length of the area spaced three feet apart to mark the area for my raised bed. I shovel soil from outside this area onto the bed area to create my raised bed. When the bed has been built I place two drip water lines on top of the bed about nine inches apart. In the photo on the right above black plastic has been pulled across the bed and is being secured by shoveling soil onto the edges. Chandler Strawberries have been planted in the bed in the lower photo above. The first two weeks in October is the ideal time to plant Chandler Strawberries in this area. They do well when planted in the fall but not so with all strawberries. The raised bed and black plastic help warm the soil early in the spring which hastens plant growth.
Winter cover crops can be planted in October or the first of November. I usually plant Rye and sometimes Vetch and Austrian Winter Peas. Cover crops protect the soil and prevent erosion. When turned under in the spring they add organic matter to the soil.
Garlic can be planted in November or December. I have found that this advice concerning garlic works well for me - plant on the shortest day of the year and harvest on the longest day of the year. Garlic does well in a mulched bed as it does not compete with weeds very well.