Building a simple compost sifter
By Barbara Damrosch, published Thursday, August 16, 2007 in The Washington Post
If compost is the holy grail of organic gardening, what's holier than thou? Sifted compost.
What you want in a perfect mature compost is, of course, organic matter so fully broken down that the original ingredients -- whether straw, weeds, kitchen scraps or goat droppings -- are no longer recognizable. Finished compost looks like very rich, dark, fine soil. But even the best soil contains stones, twigs and the like. Sifted compost doesn't. It is the 400-thread-count soil amendment.
Grade-A sifted compost has many uses. Let's say you want to renovate the lawn in the fall. Using a shovel, you scatter sifted compost over the worst patches, rake it into the iffy grass growing there (if any) then sow seeds and water it thoroughly. The fine-textured compost provides an excellent seed bed. In fact, it is a good seed bed for anything, especially small, hard-to-germinate seeds such as carrot and onion. One trick is to dig a planting furrow, then fill it with sifted compost. You can even use it to start seeds in flats -- although compost must be completely mature and mellow for this purpose -- too much high-test nitrogen can burn tender seedlings. It is also a wonderful top-dressing for a vegetable garden, a luxury mulch that provides a good nutritional multivitamin while making your garden's soil look as dark and lustrous as a mink coat.
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Added on: Aug 19, 2007 in
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Lebanese okra and tomato stew
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A whole range of simple Lebanese vegetarian dishes, referred to as bi zeit in Arabic, are cooked in and primarily flavored by olive oil. This vegetarian dish combines the flavors of okra and tomato with garlic and cilantro. If you have fresh tomatoes from your garden, by all means, use them in place of the canned.
Ingredients
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 pounds fresh or thawed frozen okra, patted dry
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
5 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro leaves
One 28-ounce can peeled Italian tomatoes, chopped, juices reserved
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Procedure
1. In a large skillet, heat the vegetable oil until shimmering. Add the okra and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until bright green and crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Transfer the okra to a plate with a slotted spoon; discard the oil.
2. Add the olive oil to the skillet and heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat until softened and golden, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cilantro and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and their juices and bring to a simmer, then cook until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.
3. Return the okra to the skillet and season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer over low heat until the okra is tender and the sauce is thickened, about 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Serves 6
Recipe source: Food and Wine magazine
Photo credit: Arobotar
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Photogenic: this picture's a peach!
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We loved this photo when we first saw it. Note the paper towel for catching all the juices.
Do you have a great food or garden photo to share? Feel free to send it our way here.
Photo credit: Savannah Grandfather
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How to make compost
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With autumn leaves falling, lush grassy lawns springing back from summer's heat and drought, and gardens generating heaps of tired vines and other vegetable wastes, this is the perfect time to start a new compost pile or breath some new life into your old one. Our latest how-to video shows you what you need to know to create a pile that smokin' hot.
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| 4. |
Building tomato cages
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By Roger Postley
First of all -- lets get this straight!!! There is absolutely only one correct way to raise tomatoes! (And that is whatever method works for you.) I have used stakes, trellises, store-bought cages, 'post and weave', and homemade cages. The latter has worked best for me and allows me the greatest production in the smallest area. The disadvantage is cost, construction time, and required storage space.
I like tomato cages! Concrete remesh can be found at most major consumer lumberyards. It comes in 50’ and 150' rolls. The wire is very strong and can be difficult to handle. Three essential tools are a small pair of bolt cutters, a large pair of slip-joint pliers, and a screwdriver type nut-driver with an interior hollow shaft diameter just slightly larger than the diameter of the remesh wire. There is variation in the rigidity of remesh – choose accordingly; stiffer wire is stronger but harder to bend.
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Good Fats, Bad Fats
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Fats have gotten a bad rap. Cruise any supermarket aisle, and the promises of
“fat free” and “no trans...
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In the last decade, this city of two million has awakened from its drug nightmare. Bullet-riddled neighborhoods are coming to life with art museums and well-designed parks, and the constant rumble of construction can be heard throughout the city.
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Dairies that produce unpasteurized milk are suing to stop the state from enforcing strict new standards.
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