Branching Out's Seeds and Sprouts

[Branching Out]

Are those feta cheese cubes on the salad! Did you grow everything in that salad in your garden?

It is indeed feta, and yes-- all of the herbs and vegetables were from the garden. Mint is not something I would typically put in a salad, but it was really nice and refreshing in this dish. https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/israeli-salad-with-feta.html#tabrecipe

 

[Branching Out]

Are the mustard seeds going into a pepper grinder, BranchingOut? So you will be using them in the kitchen?

I find that an easy way to thrash the mustard is to 1 put a tarp down on the lawn, 2 walk on the mustard, 3 separate out the larger debris, 4 climb up on my ladder with some seeds & such, 5 dump that back down on my tarp, and allow a nice breeze carry most of the debris away. The seed has good viability over several years but, I guess that I would feel the need for cleaner conditions if kitchen use was intended .

Steve

The plan is to add the mustard seeds to pickles and ferments, and we also use them in Indian dishes such as sauteed potatoes. The store bought yellow mustard seed doesn't seem to have a lot of flavour, but these fresh ones are really tasty. And thanks for the threshing suggestions. As I twist and scrunch the stalks I can hear the little yellow balls falling in the bin, so I'm hopeful that most of the seeds will fall out of the pods. If not I'll try putting them in a pillow case and stomping on them. A 1/4 cup or so of seed would be enough to get me through to next year. Good chance I'll grow some more next year, as they were quite prolific. I also grew out some black mustard seed, however those ones yielded very little seed.

 

[flowerbug]

... If not I'll try putting them in a pillow case and stomping on them.

you may find that for the tougher pods and stems that it rips the pillow cases, you may need a sturdier canvas type fabric.

 

[Dahlia]

It is indeed feta, and yes-- all of the herbs and vegetables were from the garden. Mint is not something I would typically put in a salad, but it was really nice and refreshing in this dish. https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/israeli-salad-with-feta.html#tabrecipe

Yummy! Thank you for the recipe! I'm tryin this one out!

 

[Dahlia]

Yummy! Thank you for the recipe! I'm tryin this one out!

I tried your Israeli feta salad tonight! It's delicious! Thanks for the recipe!

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

After reading all the above ground critter issues rabbits, moles, voles, gophers, deer ,raccoons, chipmunk's, squirrels and marmots. I got them all…just need to add foxes, elk, coyotes and bears. Hot wire fence doesn’t stop any of the deer.
We are in a constant war zone.

 

[Dahlia]

I tried your Israeli feta salad tonight! It's delicious! Thanks for the recipe!

After reading all the above ground critter issues rabbits, moles, voles, gophers, deer ,raccoons, chipmunk's, squirrels and marmots. I got them all…just need to add foxes, elk, coyotes and bears. Hot wire fence doesn’t stop any of the deer.
We are in a constant war zone.

Looks like you might need raised garden beds with chicken wire on the floor, a deer fence around the perimeter, and netting to keep the birds out!

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

I do have raised garden beds and the gophers still crawl in between the bottom and sides wire inside the built up beds. Even stapled and closed up the sides and surrounding area. I’ve been gardening in this space for 36 years. I think what the best deterrent to eliminating critters is to simply not grow food for ‘Them . Easier said than done. But as I have aged and reached a place where the is no place for hard back breaking garden work in late 70’s. I have many scars to show all my misfortunes over the years. Now I use the “Mindfulness” technique to think and plan ahead to head off any difficulties at the pass.

My garden and my life is much better without a lot of critter hassles. Can’t eliminate them all from sneaking in , but it’s just a bit more peaceful without the constant disappoint of loosing plants and veggies to critters. The horses , dogs and cats are also a big help keeping many critters at bay. I have lost a small fortune over the years to the animals foraging in my gardens. Sometimes it can be eye opening experience to just sit back ,reevaluate our priorities and try to outsmart the animals that continue to use our gardens as their own personal salad bar. Deer and elk bring generation after generation .

Since I have started that new routine of growing little to no food for the animals, life has been a lot easier and less spendy .
My pastures used to look like a 141 hole golf course constant danger for the horses and fixing hot wire fences. By eliminating the food in the pastures that drew in the gophers as well as worms for the moles no more holes. Learning how deer, elk, moles and gophers forage along with the long list of other creatures was an important step towards making my property mostly pest free.

To be honest … Now the apple trees , grapes and hazelnut trees is a whole other ballgame. Probably will eliminate them next season. It’s sad to imagine and at the same time a peaceful pasture and garden is for my personal choices in life today. I suppose if I had help some of these decisions wouldn’t seen so drastic. In general I really have no choice or let the pastures turn into dust mounds and mounds everywhere eventually into a dust bowl.

Now maybe ask me next year if this technique is still working. Maybe I will have to eliminate the trespassers all over again. Just hoping I can continue to be the guardian of my property not allowing animals to destroy what i have spent a life time creating.

 

[heirloomgal]

The plan is to add the mustard seeds to pickles and ferments, and we also use them in Indian dishes such as sauteed potatoes. The store bought yellow mustard seed doesn't seem to have a lot of flavour, but these fresh ones are really tasty. And thanks for the threshing suggestions. As I twist and scrunch the stalks I can hear the little yellow balls falling in the bin, so I'm hopeful that most of the seeds will fall out of the pods. If not I'll try putting them in a pillow case and stomping on them. A 1/4 cup or so of seed would be enough to get me through to next year. Good chance I'll grow some more next year, as they were quite prolific. I also grew out some black mustard seed, however those ones yielded very little seed.

I remember once doing a pillowcase full of radish pods, long and skinny. Awful job. They were very difficult to thresh, and I ended up putting the last half aside as I couldn't get them to release. By luck, I happened to leave them in direct line of a rotating fan I had set up. When I went to try threshing them again a few days later, they released like perfect pearls. Don't know how much that applies to mustard, but utter dryness can really help in some cases.

 

[flowerbug]

i'm so glad we don't have elk or moose here to contend with, deer are bad enough but a high enough fence does keep them out, at least as long as they don't manage to run through it...